Happy, Little, Time Waster

 

The Pink Panther Pink, Plunk, Plink

The Friday Five Good Things

 

1.  The Eldest was able to make arrangements to stay at the hospital where she works to ride out the storm on Sun. and Mon.

2. "A" showed up at 2 pm Monday to make a first pass of snow blowing the driveway

3. We didn't lose electricity through the storm.

4. A fun chat with the Young One. She told me about a game, Beast of Yore from Inkulinati where you battle with drolleries from the margins of medieval manuscripts.

5. Teague and I hoping the warm weather arrives so Two Old Ladies On the Road can plan another trip

How was your week?

TBT Reprints from CJ's Whine and Cheeze

  In 2003, Ma had a stroke. Dad was her full time caregiver until he he had a car accident that totaled the car. So in 2006, I became their chauffeur among other jobs.

At the time, to deal with the stress of running two households and working, I kept a blog entitled CJ's Whine and Cheeze. Egged on by some friends who enjoyed the first read through, you'll see your part when it comes by. 

Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Can You Hear Me Now?, 2

When the phone rings, I ignore it unless I recognize the caller ID. When the call came through from the phone company, I ignored it. We dumped the phone company in favor of having our phone and Internet services bundled through the cable company. So I thought the call must be a “we want you back” call. We also dumped their wireless phone service in favor of pay as you go Tracfone. When I heard the message tone, I thought it must be in reference to the 17 cent balance on the wireless bill that I didn’t pay.

The message was from a customer service rep. Dad gave her my phone number so she could talk to me about switching his DSL service to FIOS, since I pay for his DSL service. Help me, Lord, what now? I called her back.

The phone company, like other providers, offers a deal where the customer will save on services if the services are bundled. Dad had received information about lowering the telephone bill, and he was very much interested in that idea.

The phone company had wired the Weebles’ street for FIOS (fiber optics). Dad was under the impression that since the phone company had done this, he would automatically get the deal for a flat rate monthly phone bill. He would be able to call anywhere in the lower 48 and not pay extra for long distance calls.

He was indignant to find his bill didn’t reflect any change. So, he wrote a letter to the vice president of the phone company stating if they didn’t give him the monthly flat rate service, he would take his business elsewhere.

I nearly choked with laughter. Where did he think he was going to go?

The phone rep. explained the FIOS deal to me. Dad’s telephone and Internet service would be bundled and appear on the same bill for a monthly rate of $70.00 (give or take taxes). Now, I was only paying $14.95 for his DSL service which was cheaper than the dialup service I had started him with.

The Phone Rep was happily chattering on about savings. My mind was whirling with the fact, once Ma saw the “new” phone bill, now $20 or so more than the “old” monthly bill, there was going to be hell to pay. Not to mention though Dad may save on his phone bill, the Internet service I pay for him is going up a whopping $55.05

I called Dad to discuss the finances with him. He insisted he wanted the phone company to wire the house for FIOS though he didn’t understand why he didn’t have it already. He saw the phone technicians working on the poles.

“Dad, it’s like the gas company. They run the gas pipe down the middle of the street, but if you want the gas company to heat your home, you need to have the gas company connect your house to the street.”

“Oh.”

Several go arounds with the need to save money had me wishing I could take the gas pipe.

By this time, Himself came home, and he had the pleasure of sharing a bottle of whine with me.

“He isn’t going to be able to afford $70 per month. We can’t take on his bill for $70 a month either. I just thought letting him have a computer was a good idea. It would open up a whole world for him. He’d be out of Ma’s hair. How do I get myself into these things?”

Himself graciously refrained from saying, “You had parents.”

We finally decided the best solution was to split the bill with Dad. Afterall, we owned the furnace, why not FIOS too.

The customer service rep was very helpful when I called back. (We also held a Weeble support group meeting as her dad is 86.) She explained the wiring that would be done inside and outside the house. I made sure there would be no installation charges involved. She explained once the house was wired for FIOS if for some reason he hated it, the computer could not be switched back to DSL. There was a 30 day trial period if he hated FIOS, it would be uninstalled without breach of contract or de-installation fees. She also agreed to have the bill sent to me.

“There, all set,” she said brightly. “He’ll be amazed at the speed.”

“The speed won’t really matter because he can barely turn the computer on. You did say the technician would be installing a new modem with a wireless router?”

“Yes”

“At least there’s the little ray of sunshine. We can bring our laptop and get work done.”

“There’s one other thing I noticed about their phone bill.”

“What’s that?”

“Do they know anyone in Kingston, Jamaica? There’s a $30 phone call to Jamaica.”

“Jamaica? They don’t know anyone there. I’m about the only long distance call they make.”

“Fine, that's what I thought. I’ll have billing remove the charge.”

It occurred to me after I hung up the phone, Ma might have made the call to Jamaica. She probably received a call this number to find out if you’re a winner. To her, Jamaica would be Jamaica Plains, a suburb of Boston, a local phone call and not a foreign country. Go ahead 

 I did the same thing. I’ll wait.

The last phone call of the day was to Dad to explain the billing and that a technician would be going into the house to install any wiring.

“And I’m saving money!”

“Yes, Dad, you’re saving money.”

Lord, can you hear me now?

The Empty Page Journal

 

I'm taking a 6 month journal workshop called The Empty Page with Lindsay Ostram. It's an approach to get over the fear of staring at a blank page and not knowing what to do. In a live video class, Lindsay steps us through projects with suggestions for tools and how to make your own journal fodder.

 "Let us be grateful to the people who make us happy; They are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom." - Marcel Proust. 

T Stands for My Prayer

 

For all that is good and holy, STOP SNOWING!

Drop by hosts, Bleubeard and Elizabeth's blog to find out what the rest of the T Stands For gang is up to. If you want to play, include in your Tuesday post a beverage or container for a beverage. Don't forget to link your blog to Bleubeard and Elizabeth's page.

Monet and Me

are showing more pages from the February Hearts journal

The Supberb Owl

A Valentine from Nan. Her envelope with the sweet kitty Love stamp tucks inside the bag opening.

A Valentine from Deb over at Learning 2 Just Breathe. It was too big for the book, but worked with a little sticking out if I turned it sideways. I made a heart paperclip to hold the valentine in place.

Teague introduced me to this John Denver song: Friend, I will remember you, think of you, pray for you. And when another day is through, I'll still be friends with you. The teddy bears were stamped and cut out. The right hand page, slips into the tuck spot created by the bottom of the bag.

A Valentine from Calli and Quill: Rose are red, Violets are blue, Put food in our dish, And clean up our poo.

From my tablemate, Lee, when we took the 2017 Reggie Ezell year-long class. Lee always draws lambs and has sent me a valentine every year since our class. The envelope with the 2026 Love stamp featuring birds and hearts and a very clear Love postmark slips into the bag opening.

The Valentine from Himself was too big for the book. A little slice and dice solved the problem. The bottom heart acts as a pocket. When opened, it also has his signature. The top of the card fits into the pocket and is held in place with the paperclip.

Lindsays' suggestion was S.W.A.K. Sealed with a kiss. How we used to decorate the back of an envelope back in the day.

On his birthday in memory of Darrell, I met him in computer school, and he became the brother of my heart.  The quote from the Wizard of Oz to the Tin Man: ...a heart is not judged by how much you love, but by how much you were loved by others. Happy 84th Birthday, Derry!

How Does Your Garden Grow?

Sunrise, Friday, February 20. Red sky in the morning, Sailor take warning

Some snow avalanched off the solar panels. I hope none of the little critters got buried.

Red sky in the morning and snow it begins

Not much of a storm. 1.5 inches of snow. There might have been more snow, but during the overnight hours, we got some sleet. The top layer of snow was a hard crust.

"A" came to clear the stairs, walk, the mailbox, and to remove the slush from the end of the driveway.

The Tundra

The squirrels were busy this morning as we wait for Da Snow

The weather dudes have been dancing and wishing all Winter. They are finally getting the big one. A storm is coming up the East Coast, known as a Nor'easter. It has the potential for blizzard conditions. I'm in the 12 -18 inch path though the weather dudette this morning said we might be on the line for the up to 2 feet.

I think this is a much more accurate weather map for the 600th day of February. Will someone knock that insipid smile off the face of the snowman? Is it July, yet?

Happy, Little, Time Waster

 

Watch me make 5 fun things for art journaling in less than 5 minutes

The Friday Five Good Things

 Five good things that happened this week.

1. We had a nice Valentine's Day dinner at home. Himself gave me a beautiful steak to cook and he made his awesome mashed potatoes and a salad.

2. I got a lovely text message from a former student.

3. I had a check up at the dentist, look, Ma, no cavities or other problems

4. A 40° day felt like a warm Spring day so Teague and I went out for ice cream.

5. I love my Tuesday afternoon online calligraphy class. It's a nice group of women and we had such a fun class.

How was your week?

TBT Reprints from CJ's Whine and Cheeze

 In 2003, Ma had a stroke. Dad was her full time caregiver until he he had a car accident that totaled the car. So in 2006, I became their chauffeur among other jobs.

At the time, to deal with the stress of running two households and working, I kept a blog entitled CJ's Whine and Cheeze. Egged on by some friends who enjoyed the first read through, you'll see your part when it comes by. 

July 18, 2007

New World Order

Since Ma and Dad first were married 64 years ago, Ma managed the purse strings, and Dad got an allowance. Instead of working as a team, both of them have this silly “my money – your money” concept. Their system generally worked fine until about 20 years ago when Ma became addicted to the phony lotteries and scam artists, and she whizzed through their savings. She blithely writes checks without having the funds to cover them. The bank happily slaps her with finance charges though they are generous in charging only $5 per bounced check instead of the $35 per check most banks charge their customers. The finance charges add up to a tidy sum per month.

A city girl, born and bred, Ma hated the town they moved to. She wants to move. She wants to move back to East Boston and into an apartment for $100 per room. She wants her rent to be $300 or $400 per month, utilities included!

She wants to teach Dad a lesson so she issued him an ultimatum. She will no longer pay for "anything". So, Dad took her up on her challenge. He went to their bank, had his social security check removed from the direct deposit to Ma’s checking account. He went to another bank, opened up his own account and authorized his social security check to be direct deposited into the account. Yes, you can say it. It’s about #%@#@ time!

I was concerned initially he might not be able to handle the expenses, especially the property taxes which are paid quarterly.

He said he would be able to manage. "I'll do alright as long as I can hold her off."

"Her" I assumed was Ma. "What do you mean?"

"The other day she asked me to write out a check so she could send it to one of the scammers."

Altogether now, 

"What happened?"

"I told her 'No!'"

I think Dad's enjoying himself. Long live the King!

The Empty Page Journal

 

I'm taking a 6 month journal workshop called The Empty Page with Lindsay Ostram. It's an approach to get over the fear of staring at a blank page and not knowing what to do. In a live video class, Lindsay steps us through projects with suggestions for tools and how to make your own journal fodder.

Above is the February homework page. Lindsay sent her artwork to be traced, colored with water colors, and doodled.

On the opposite page is a companion piece, a work in progress. "Let us be grateful to the people who make us happy; They are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom." - Marcel Proust

T Stands for Love Has Wings

On Valentine's Day I woke up to a large package in my shade of blue from Himself. First, a cup of tea.

Fragile — it must be Italian! from “A Christmas Story”

Inside, not a sexy, leg lamp, but an adorable pig planter and the pig has wings!

Drop by hosts, Bleubeard and Elizabeth's blog to find out what the rest of the T Stands For gang is up to. If you want to play, include in your Tuesday post a beverage or container for a beverage. Don't forget to link your blog to Bleubeard and Elizabeth's page.

Monet and Me

would like to show the February journal made from paper bags. This is the project I chose to do for the Creative Hand Lettering and Doodling with Lindsay group on Facebook. Lindsay had suggested decorating a small box, but I didn't have anything that would work

The title page is the group project page folded into an origami heart with pockets. Inside the pocket, an origami cat.

Lindsay's suggestion for the first page. Washi tape, watercolor hearts, and faux calligraphy

For most of the pages, I decided to go my own way. So celebrating Ground Hog Day. The nasty groundhog saw his shadow meaning we get 6 more weeks of Winter, and the groundhog goes back into his hole. In this case, the groundhog gets tucked in the flap provided by the bottom of the paper bag.

This idea was a combination of Lindsay using the John Lennon quote, "All you need is love" and a heart doodle that was done in the Monday Doodling for Stress Reduction class. To all you need is love, I added and chocolate along with a Love and Kiss stamp from an envelope I kept.

Lindsay did a tag with Start each day with a grateful heart, tucked inside a belly band on a card. I used a piece of origami paper for the background.

Lindsay had talked about the candy hearts with saying we used to get as kids. I punched out a bunch of small hearts, colored them with Tombow markers, and wrote the little setiments.

Another hybrid piece. Lindsay painted flowers and cut them out. I think she mentioned hearts and flowers, too. I colored a heart using the bottom of the bag as a tuck space for the flower. The sentiment was something someone had written in a photo album my mother had when she graduated from high school. "Hearts and flower go together, True friends part never."

I saw a meme that had and image of a heart which said normal person's heart

and my heart was a cat in the shape of a heart. Perfect image to go with soul. I was Ink's heart and he was my soul. It will be 10 years this year since he passed away. I still miss him.

How Does Your Garden Grow?

 

There's still a good 8 to 10 inch snowpack on the ground. Instability clouds left a dusting on the ground Thursday when I went to visit Teague. Temperatures got just over the freezing mark so there has been a little melting going on. The video title is  Is this what winter is doing to you?

Only 126 days until the Summer Solstice.

How does your garden grow?

Happy, Little, Time Waster

 

I just heard about Internet Archive.  You can watch movies, television, listen to music and borrow books all for free. You just have to create an account.

I was hoping to find a translation and critique of the Arthurian romance, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, by J. R.R. Tolkien and I did. Except the book was listed as Borrow Unavailable Bummah! But what does it mean, Borrow Unavailable? Are there so many Medieval Lit scholars out there clamoring to read a book translated somewhere in the 1930s or 1940s and published in 1975 after Tolkien's death?

"Summary

More than 500,000 books have been taken out of lending as a result of Hachette v. Internet Archive, the publishers’ lawsuit against our library, including more than 1,300 banned and challenged books.

Books that are shown as “Borrow Unavailable” mean they cannot be borrowed by our patrons, including books you may have previously read or consulted. .."

Bummah. The lawsuit is under appeal, but that may take a long time to settle the dispute.

Meanwhile there are lots of other books, movies, and television series you can read or watch.

The Archive has the complete series of The Time Tunnel, a 1960s sci-fi series from producer, Irwin Allen (Lost in Space, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea)

So while there may be books you can't borrow because of the pending lawsuit, there are tons of other things that can happily waste your time.

The Friday Five Good Things

 

Five good things that happened this week.

1.  I started the Feb. homework for the Empty Page journal class

2. "A" came early to clear the snow from driveway and walk

3. A report from the dermatologist: nothing to worry about

4. The Tuesday night into Wednesday snowstorm turned out to be a nothing. We only got 1 inch of snow from the storm and no sleet/ice

5. Teague baked gingerbread with whipped topping for afternoon snack.

How was your week?

TBT Reprints from CJ's Whine and Cheeze

 In 2003, Ma had a stroke. Dad was her full time caregiver until he he had a car accident that totaled the car. So in 2006, I became their chauffeur among other jobs.

At the time, to deal with the stress of running two households and working, I kept a blog entitled CJ's Whine and Cheeze. Egged on by some friends who enjoyed the first read through, you'll see your part when it comes by. 

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

The Laying On of Hands

Long ago, in my former life, I was a computer programmer/consultant. Back in those days, the computer systems were the size of a Buick automobile, and programmers were treated like gods. I'd go to a client and personnel would part like the Red Sea as I walked through the office.  I would lay my hands on the machine and bring crashed programs back to life. Heady stuff along with the satisfaction of solving a problem, usually human error.

A year or so ago, we gave Dad a computer. I thought it would open up a new world for him, as well as keep him out of Ma's hair. I signed him up with America On Hold. Assured him I'd pay the bill so Ma wouldn't see anything. I'm not overly fond of AOH, but it is the easiest portal to use. I spent lots of visits with Dad going through the basics of turning the machine on and off, how to get his mail. Dad spent many hours trying percussive maintenance on the machine. h I constantly heard complaints. "They don't give me my email," as if there are little people inside the machine who like to aggravate the user. "I've never seen that screen before," in reference to the Windows logo that comes up when la machine is turned on.

DSL became available in their area through the phone company and for less money than I was paying for AOH. A lot of his complaints had to do with not being able to get online. I thought high speed would be the answer as he'd always be online. I cancelled AOH and signed him up for DSL. DSL would be better. He could surf and the phone would still be available in case of an emergency. The dial up always worried me as I thought what if there is an emergency and in their panic he forgot the phone was still connected to the computer. Yes, DSL would be better.

The phone company sent me an entire kit to make the connections, the modem, splitter for the phone. I only had one phone that proved to be a problem as it still had the four prong jack instead of the modern module system. It was an easy enough problem to solve. Since the room isn't in use, I unplugged the phone. There's a bit of residual static on the line. This from an old phone in the basement that was hard wired into the phone line. Not an approved telephone company procedure. However, it doesn't seem to interfere with the computer.

So, I got him up and running and still hear the same complaints. "They" are really out to get him.

Dad called this morning and as I thought he had given up on the computer was surprised when he said, "I turned it on, but nothing happens. It's been like this for three days."

Now, the Young One had played on the computer during the Ave Maria festivities. She didn't have any problems getting online to YouTube.

"What do you mean "nothing happens"? I asked instantly going into consultant mode.

"The screen is blank. I can hear the sound when I turn it on, but don't see anything."

"Is the computer on now?"

"No."

"Okay, turn it on and tell me what you see."

A few seconds later, I could hear the CPU drives engage and the happy chime of the Windows logo.

"There? Did you hear that? Now nothing."

"Nothing? Did you see the Windows logo on the screen?"

"No."

I started ticking off possible problems, the video card was blown, or a problem with the monitor, and I decided to go for the obvious. "Did you turn on the monitor?"

"What's that?"

"The television screen in front of you. Did you turn that on?"

"No. I never had to do that before."

I've always had to turn on his monitor, but I didn't want to get into an argument. "Ok, try turning on the mon...the television screen in front of you."

"How do I do that?"

I tried to picture his monitor. "There should be a button on the front of it."

"Oh, I see it."

"Push it."

"Oh! There it is!

Nineteen years away from the industry, and I still haven't lost my touch. I just might have to wear two cowboy hats because my head is so big. 

Sausage Apple Breakfast Casserole

 

Last week, I mentioned I had made a Sausage and Apple Strata. I was asked for the recipe. Regular readers will know that I am a half-assed cook.

What's a strata you ask? It's a layered egg casserole. You can put pretty much anything you like in it.

This is the recipe I used as my template for the number of eggs, bread cubes, sausage, and apples, what temperature to bake it and how long.

Sausage Apple Breakfast Casserole 

The recipe called for Dubliner cheese. I've never heard of it, and I don't really like cheese. If I had to use cheese for this recipe, I would have used a mild cheddar, but you use what you like. I left the cheese out.

The recipe called for bulk sage sausage. I had frozen breakfast sausage links. I cooked the links according to the package directions and then cut them into small pieces.

The recipe called for Sourdough or French bread. Didn't have any. Bread in a strata should be a bit stale. I toasted about 6 bread slices and cubed that.

The recipe called for fresh rosemary. You guessed it in the cheap seats. Nada. I left it out.

We're pretty much non-adventurous eaters here. Salt and pepper is fancy enough spices for us.

The casserole was made for a Sunday brunch and I heard no complaints from the diners.

T Stands for A Puzzle

 

Can you guess what it is?

Scroll ⬇️to find out

It's An Elegant Polka Dot Tea Set

Drop by hosts, Bleubeard and Elizabeth's blog to find out what the rest of the T Stands For gang is up to. If you want to play, include in your Tuesday post a beverage or container for a beverage. Don't forget to link your blog to Bleubeard and Elizabeth's page.

Monet and Me

and me made a book for the February project for the Creative Hand-lettering and Doodling with Lindsay group on Facebook. Lindsay suggested that people decorate a small box, but I didn't have an empty small box to use.

Instead, I decided to make a small book from folded paper lunch bags. A chipboard spine and covers were added to give the book a little more stability. The book is very cute and chunky measuring about 5 inches square. The bottoms of the lunch bags make handy tuck spots and the bag openings make pockets. 

How Does Your Garden Grow?

Snowing across the Tundra

Birds flocking to the feeder like we run out for bread and milk before a storm

The female cardinal stopped by for seeds on the ground. Hi, Ma!

The red-headed woodpecker chased the other birds from the feeder

The condition of the roads was pretty bad

This storm started out with weather forecasters on Friday saying my area would get a coating to an inch of snow. Saturday morning totals were upped to 2 to 4 inches with some areas getting 6 inches of snow. A lull in the storm the measurement was just shy of 3 inches of snow.

The road not looking great

When all was said and done, a total of 4.75 inches of snow. Not that I wanted to see any snow, but this was the anniversary of The Blizzard of '78, the benchmark of storms in New England. With that storm I was still living at home with my parents. Our area got 30+ inches of snow and paralyzed the state for a week.

"A" came early in the morning to clear the driveway, cars, and walk.

It's wicked cold and a good day to stay in and hibernate.

How does your garden grow?