Good Evening, Flowers! Well, I was here once tonight and when I hit the post button it said the server was busy and to come back later! I don't remember half of what I had to say so it must not have been terribly important.
'Gma' -- We have students who hate to read and we have to read silently for 15 minutes every day. Supposedly it will increase their vocabulary; most of them just hold the book and fake it. We discussed whether or not they were read to when they were little and most of them had not. I'd say Thomas is off to a good start if he can read the menu! Gas is $2.43 here or it was yesterday when I filled up. If we don't go out of town I can go two weeks on a tank full. I wish you lived close to me and I would hire you to clean for me! I will keep your bil in my thoughts and prayers that he will be able to find a new job. Perhaps they will have to relocate which isn't easy later in life either.
Hope you all have a terrific Thursday. We get out of school at 1:00 and I plan to stay just long enough to clear off the top of my desk.
Good morning gals. Must be chilly outside as the furnace just kicked on for a few minutes. I had one of those rough nights where I have disturbing dreams that wake me up a lot. From time to time I have dreams about my parents, Jack's parents or my grandparents who are all deceased and that is always hard for me, plus you are going to laugh big time. I have dreams where I am in a situation where the house is a total cleaning disaster and I am responsible for getting it all cleaned up. I had one of those last night that my mother was in. It was the kitchen and looked like there were dirty dishes from 3 Thanksgivings to do. I had a dishwasher, but they all had food etc still on them and had to be cleaned and stacked. I was an adult not a kid or teen, but she didn't help at all for some reason. The problem was I kept going back to the dream when it would wake me up!
Jean: My bil is still not out of the woods. They had a company wide meeting and he was given a list with 13 of his 16 employees to let go. My opinion is these three guys are going to be wrapping up contracts they still have with hospitals and such that still have their machines. His boss was in Europe so he might still get the axe today as his boss will be back today. I guess they gave each person 60 days severance, but that sure won't go far. I am glad when we lived in Indiana that Jack never applied for one of the positions there. My bil originally was a tech that traveled 5 days a week and lived in Indiana even though the company is in CA. He would have to go out there occasionally for meetings but he did everything on the road like a salesman. They had an open slot that he tried to encourage Jack to apply for, but we would have had to move to the "territory" so Jack passed and boy now I am glad he did! He might not have a glamorous job, but at least he has a fairly secure one. He is in a position where he has to do something really bad to get fired and they aren't going to lay him off because they HAVE to have 2 people in his position and there are three right now. He is not low man and the top man is moving to the other plant, which would make Jack top man, thank goodness. We can thank our lucky stars to the fact people are always going to have sewage and someone is going to have to keep the electronics going on the machines that do the work. On top of that with them, his company has 401K not pension and they have continually borrowed from it, in fact they just borrowed 50% of what he had in there a month ago. I have tried to tell her repeatedly when we have talked that I was really worried about them retiring and she keeps saying they will never be able to retire. I can't get through to her that in 10 years or so she won't be able to type 100 WPM anymore and won't always be able to work as a legal secretary, but she has blinders on about SS age. They have no pensions for either of them except his Marine retirement and with having borrowed from what they have if he gets axed they can't roll it over without paying it all back before they do and they only have like 90 days to roll it over into a private one or something like that. Oh, and the moving thing, they are trying to avoid because they still have a dd who is a freshman in high school. She is already throwing a fit about moving (she is a very spoiled late in life baby)
Well, I hear Jack is up so guess I should go up and make the bed and get Fortune outside!
Good Afternoon, Flowers! I am officially 'on spring break' as of 1:45 this afternoon. Our weather is crappy . . . HUGE snowflakes early this morning, rain, back to regular looking snow, rain, and now it is misting/almost sleet. The radio said to be aware it could start freezing any time. Joy! Kids were squirrely in anticipation of getting out early and spring break all next week; the principal let them go 5 minutes early and you'd have thought summer vacation had started the way they all cheered. It didn't take long to clear the halls.
'Gma' -- I hate nights when I seem to wake up quite often. If I dream I don't remember them which is probably good. I will keep my fingers crossed for you sister and bil. I don't think anyone's job is really secure any more. Bob keeps telling me that his manager (who was a lousy agent and is not any better at managing) could cancel Bob's contract on a whim 'just because.' Bob's been there almost 25 years and there is the local board that would go to bat for him, but the bottom line would be that he is out the door. He is now the 'senior' agent and has alot of respect from the other agents in the surrounding counties, so I'm hoping he will be ok. He's not a big life producer and that's what the managers make their money on. By the same token he has more business on the books than several other agents put together so that is good.
Guess I will go watch Dr. Phil since I rarely get to see him. Have a fantastic Friday tomorrow!
Good morning gals! Good news that my bil's job is safe for the time being. Thanks for your good thoughts!
Jean: Have a good time on your week off. Why don't you come on over, sit down and visit.... Luckily, Jack is close to a guaranteed pension. Ok, since you watched DR Phil, did you not find that girl's story about her boyfriend jumping in front of her a bit lame? I really felt sorry for the family who lost their son and the other family had NO sympathy and certainly didn't seem to have remorse about it as they made this huge deal about he was an abuser. My ??? was if that were true and they are such excellent parents, why did they never have him arrested? The girl said he beat her up on camera, but there are no police reports about it. Anybody who can drive home and cover up the crime DID the crime. Besides, her innocence hangs on the fact that she says the police report says the tracks in the grass could have been days old, but the fact is, there were treadmarks on the STREET, which means she braked and she said when she hit him she just kept going being in shock she didn't know she had hit him. DUH, let's see, she laid rubber, which means she braked hard, she had a huge whole and half crushed windshield glass and she hit him hard enough to knock off his shoes (one of the crime photos shows one of his shoes and a shirt) so she sure wasn't going 20 MPH as she said. Her parents, though I understand their upset, should pull their heads out of the sand and admit she needs to pay for hitting him, period. We didn't see the last couple minutes because we left to go out to dinner.
I hope everyone has a great day. Time to hit the chores!
(oooh, my new handbag comes in today!)
Faye
Happy Green Friday! The sun is shining brightly although it is cold. At least the snow is melting so the robins don't look quite so silly. They are eating the dry cat food that is on the deck for the outside cats. I got my hair cut this morning and ran a couple of errands. She always cuts it too short and I keep telling myself it will grow. By the time I like the length it will need a perm again.
'Gma' -- Thanks for the Dr. Phil synopsis! My neighbor came over to borrow and egg and we ended up chatting for most of the hour Dr. Phil was on. We are the "talking out in the driveway when the weather is nice" kind of neighbors so don't see much of each other during the winter months. She did cat sit for us while we were gone so guess I have visited with her more this winter than ever before. I will have to read your letter from Maggie. I got one too, so I imagine they are pretty similar. I am surprised she hasn't found a computer in the public library so that she could check in. Maybe the site is blocked like it is for me at school.
I have laundry to do and a pile of ironing that I could do while I watch Dr. Phil. Have a fantastic Friday and a super weekend!
Good morning gals! Whew, I am than a hornet. I was supposed to have my handbag delivered yesterday and not only did they not deliver it, they lied and said there was no one home to sign for it. I was home all day and watched for that package, plus from the time Jack got home (3:30 PM) until I discovered on the website they said they had attempted to deliver, we checked the front door at least 4 times and I checked to make sure the gate was unlocked several times even going out to the mailbox at right before 8 PM to see if there was something there. From about 6 PM on I had the website up on my computer screen and was checking it whenever I would check the back door, which was every TV commercial. So, I guess that would be about every 15 minutes or so. According to the site, they said they attempted delivery at 7:56 PM, which is pretty funny since I got up and went outside at about just that time (the tv show Deal or No Deal had finished and it was the commercials between it and Las Vegas and I wanted to check outside again before my favorite show started) and there was NO truck anywhere, Jack checked out front with a FLASHLIGHT no less to make sure we didn't miss anything and I again went all the way out to the mailbox. It is almost impossible to get an agent on the phone with UPS anymore. They don't even give you that option on the automated system. I had to pretend to screw up to get offered an agent. Well, I unloaded and I apologized for getting upset with her as I knew it was not her fault but I told her I was livid they lied and said to her, what if this had been a gift for my grandson's bday or something? You people don't deliver on Saturday's so I would have to wait until Monday and if his party was on Saturday we wouldn't have anything or would have to go and buy something else. I took copious notes and I am supposed to get a call from a supervisor by Monday, but I am really burned up by this. It was the outright lie that made me mad. I asked the agent if the package had a demand for signature and she looked and said no and she said that he didn't deliver because he couldn't get a signature, which didn't jive. I also asked her if it wasn't true that if they couldn't deliver they were supposed to leave a door tag or something to indicate they had tried and she said yes and I told her how we had looked all over and no tag was anywhere. I also contacted HSN and told them what happened and am writing the CEO of UPS and unloading on him as well. Jack said they won't do a thing to the driver because they are Teamster Unionized. I don't care, I am going to have my say anyway! I did get an e-mail from HSN thanking me and saying they were going to research this so maybe they will complain as well.
On top of that, someone came in last night and overbid my top bid for the Treehouse so I am going to wait until right before the close of bidding and bid just a bit more to see if I can get it. It has not been a great time
Ahh, well, people just don't care about good service anymore!
Good Evening! We just got home from visiting kids and grandkids. I worked in the hospital gift shop this morning and just as I was about to count the money and close the books, a lady wandered in. I figured she was just browsing so kept on counting the money. Well, 45 minutes and $33 later she finally left! She just couldn't decide which decorated Easter eggs she wanted and she had this friend who would just enjoy seeing the gift shop etc., etc., etc.! I kept looking at my watch knowing Bob was waiting for me and I wanted to close . . . it never fails that when I have all the time in the world no one shows up to shop.
Our weather is supposed to be crappy for the next couple of days. . .snow starting tonight, wind, and more snow through Monday. We are on the edge so I hope we don't get much if anything.
'Gma' -- Do you supposed the driver was late for his supper, just skipped stopping at your place, and lied about it? I hope you get your purse! The one item that I bought on Ebay, I did just that! There was about 5 minutes left before it closed and it was well past midnight here, but I got the item! Good luck!
Guess I will put in another load of clothes and read the newspaper. Have a super Sunday tomorrow!
Good morning gals. It is cool and rainy here so there will be no working on cleaning the deck, trimming the shrubs etc today. We are going to shampoo the upstairs today and I am going to make an attempt at painting kitchen cabinets. I fell asleep on the couch yesterday with the dog right at my chest and woke up with a big ole strained muscle on the right side middle of my back. I put heat rub on it last night but it is really sore this morning.
Jean: I am not going to bid on the treehouse. It is now up to nearly $30 and it isn't worth that. Let the collectors have it. As for MR UPS, I have no idea why he did it, but I am not pleased. I am wondering if it is a different guy, because the one that usual does our route is just so nice. I wrote a letter to the CEO too and voiced my displeasure. I told him I knew the guy wouldn't even get a slap on the wrist because he is a TEAMSTER! See him choke on that one. I think these service companies really think people will just lie down and take whatever they dish out, but you know me, I fight! It isn't the first place I have complained and loudly and won't be the last. It wasn't that I didn't get my handbag, it was the lying about why he didn't deliver that got my goat. I would have told your "patron" that I was going to have to close in 5 minutes and then stuck to it! Hey, you are a volunteer, what they gonna do, fire you????
Two weeks from yesterday and my sister will be here. Horrible as it is, can't say I am looking forward to it. She is kind of a pain, but I am going to do my darndest to show her a good time while she is here. She can't complain about her room as the whole thing is pretty much brand new from the bed, to the linens to even the curtains! She is kind of a whiner about things, but one of those people that doesn't do anything about it to make it better. I just hope her dh is in good health when she heads down here or that will be the topic the whole time she is here and she might as well not come if she is going to stress out about that the whole time. The whole reason for her coming is to "get away" from things for a few days. We shall see, I hope she has a great time here and goes home rested.
Good Morning! It is cloudy and cold in my corner of the world this morning. Bob is singing at both services; I went to the early service and made a trip to the grocery store w/o a list . . . big mistake! I'm sure I forgot some of what I needed but have the basics if the weather hits today.
"Gma' -- Will your sister drive down so that she (and you) will have a car available to gad? How long do you expect her to stay? I'm kind of surprised that she would leave her DH for any length of time considering his health isn't the best. I hope you and she have a good visit together. You have certainly done your part! That is too bad about the treehouse; maybe there will be another one sometime.
I just got an email from my cousin in CA. Last night her son died at age 24 from MD; he lived at least 10 - 15 years longer than expected when diagnosed. I need to call my other IA cousins and let them know.
Have a relaxing Sunday and do something nice for yourselves!
Good morning flowers! We are getting rain, rain, rain this morning. It must be cool outside because the furnace kicks on, but I am not cold.
Jean: I am so sorry about your family's death. It is such a horrible disease that in some ways death is a blessing. You have my sympathy. You are better than I am without a list. I end up buying junk when I don't stick strictly to a list. I am so bad about going to a grocery store before eating and that is always trouble. My sister IS driving down here witha a co-worker whose family lives here in Memphis some place. It is my sister's van so yes, we will have a car to go out and about. We are planning on taking her for BBQ on Saturday night if she gets in early enough as that is one of the things she wants to do. Sunday is kind of open then Monday while Jack is at work, we will probably go see where my dd lives and other stuff she wants to see then in the afternoo we are going to T's first soccer practice then down to the casinos and spend the night. I think she will be shocked as she is used to "boat" style casinos in the Chicago area and these are nothing like that. The MS state law requires casinos to be on the water, but the tricky folks here dug trenches from the Mississippi and sat the hotels/casinos on top of the trenches! They look like something you would find in Vegas actually only smaller. They are semi-themed, but not touristy like Vegas. They are strickly gambling "joints."
I painted kitchen cabinets yesterday and have a pulled muscle in my back so I have to deal with that today and try and get some more done. I did all the bottom ones yesterday so have to face being on the ladder today. I usually do one set then take a rest then do the next etc. It kills my bad knee to be on that ladder for a long time so one set at a time is about all I can stand. Since it rained all weekend we didn't get any carpet cleaning done. We will tackle it on dry days this week after Jack gets home. That is the last big job to do except the deck/patio and that is going to have to wait until it is dry.
I had to be subjected to College NCAA basketball all weekend, UGH! It is the one thing Jack still gets involved in on a regular basis and even then will go to dinner or whatever if I want to leave the house. My bil from CA won't move his behind when he is watching stuff like that and he is much worse than Jack as he watches sports constantly. Memphis won yesterday, which made him happy, but Indiana lost.
Well, I am wasting time. Should go and get started on some cabinets.
Good Afternoon and Happy Spring, Flowers! It doesn't look very 'springy' in my corner of the world, but so far we haven't gotten any of the snow from the west. The weatherman's map shows Kansas and Nebraska covered and we are still 'on the edge.'
"Gma" -- Just reading about all of your painting and cleaning makes me tired! I've been on the phone most of the morning talking to my IA cousins and then trying to find the CA funeral home online which it isn't. They aren't even listed in yellowpages.com at the location I was told. GRRRRRR! We had basketball on the TV this weekend too. Our boys state tournament was on then we switched to college games. I don't mind watching some but enough is enough. Bob will do something else if I want, but yesterday was just a lazy day at home. Are you getting part of the rain that went through Texas and did the damage there? Hope not!
I was going to take a nice leisurely bath this morning. I went to pick off what I thought was a thread and come to find out it was a crack! As soon as I touched it, it cracked more and looks just like an egg shell! The tub was new a couple of years ago and we had to cut a hole in the bathroom wall to get it in plus the fact it is upstairs! Bob is going to pay a visit to the place where we bought it this afternoon. I can't excited about replacing it; I know there is a procedure where they put a seamless covering over the whole tub and I'm thinking that is a better way to go than a patch job. It's always something that needs to be fixed! *sigh*
Good afternoon gals! I am done PAINTING! I finished a little while ago. The rest is going to be spot cleaned and that is all. I am tired of doing it. I only have some marks on the door to the extra bedroom I think they put on it when they moved in the new bed, but I need to buy me another one of those magic erasers. Those things work pretty well!
Jean: Oh gosh, I can sympathize with the bathroom woes. We have our bathroom in our bedroom we can't use at all right now. It has a leak somewhere in the tub area and in the toilet, both of which are covered by our home warranty, but since we had that expensive new furnace put in, I am trying to hold off putting in another call to them for awhile. We have the hall bath we can use to bathe in and we have another 1/4 bath downstairs next to the laundry room we can use too to go to the bathroom. We have to have the spout replaced on the tub, which is out of pocket, but the leak is somewhere else. We have had more plumbing issues than anything else in this place. I think it is a lot of copper pipe, which is what they used to use and it wears out more than the plastic. Ahh, well.
Gosh, I thought I was going to choke to death at lunch time. I got a little piece of sandwich and it was tiny lodged in my throat and I was choking badly. I have never had it cut off my wind before. I couldn't get it up. I was coughing so hard I was wetting myself. I only semi panicked though because it scared me so much and ran to the sink in the kitchen and pushed the sink into my abdomen as hard as I could while I kept trying to cough it up and it came up, along with all of my lunch and probably breakfast too. Thank goodness I was over the garbage disposal! It was really scary though, but now, my ribs are sore and I have kind of a sore throat with it, but that is ok with me, that stuff will go away. Boy, you just never know, do you? I mean, I had chewed and just swallowed and it didn't go down. The piece that lodged was about the size of the end of a pencil eraser no bigger.
Well, gals, need to go check on my towels in the dryer and go check and see if the mail has come. NO UPS package yet, but a local person called me this morning and said if it isn't here by 5:30 PM to call the local # she gave me and they will make sure it is brought right to me. We shall see!
Faye...and to continue
morning gals. I have to be quick as I am taking Jack to work this morning, but thought I would just add to my afternoon post of yesterday.
My package finally came but not until after I had to call them and then it wasn't delivered until nearly 8 PM. I don't know what's with that, but I am hoping my complaint will make them look at this guy's route.
Hope everyone has a great day today and will check in a little later. TTFN,
Faye: How wonderful that you finally got your purse. That is some saga of non delivery. My ds sent me a purse last year for my birthday and it was delivered two streets away even though it had my correct address and zip. The fellow who got it looked me up in the phone book, called and then hand delivered it. I thought that was nice. Faye, it is awful to have something caught in your throught. You were smart to use the edge of the sink to help dislodge it. Also, congrats on finishing the painting. That is a long job and well done.
Jean: Having a crack in your bath tub is about the last thing I would expect. Of all the appliances that can go bad in a home....the bath tub! I definitely would look at a cover over the tub but I'll bet you will still have to patch the tub first. Still that will mean you don't have to cut another hole in the wall to remove it and replace it. Good luck.
My girl friend on the Cape...the one we visit every 4th of July...had a small stroke 3 weeks ago. She has been in rehab since then and has improved enough to be going home today. She has some slurring of speach and weakness on the right side but has had therapy and exercises and is doing much better. She is 84 and her husband is 86 and he has Parkinson's and shakes quite a bit. They have a bedroom and bath on the first floor and he has installed a grab bar in the bedroom on the wall near her side of the bed and they already have a grab bar in the bathroom. They have moved some furniture around to make it easier for her movement with the walker that she now needs. I am concerned because he is so shaky that if any thing were to happen he could not handle her. Their house is very large and she always was on top of the cleaning etc. Maybe they will have to downsize and move into a 1 floor place but I don't know if he will really ever leave the homestead which is right across from the ocean. He loves it there.
I am very happy that we went to see her yesterday before she went home. I will give then some time to come to some kind of normal living before we visit again but I do call her every week.
Gloria in MA....well I have been on the computer longer than I had planned...so off to do the laundry.
Good Morning, Flowers! We got more wind that snow, I think. The driveway had a big drift across my half this morning. Bob thought there was 3 - 4" on the deck; even the outside cats were smart enough to wait and not come out until he had shovelled. Now the sun is trying to peek through and it is melting where the pavement has been plowed.
The bathtub guy says that the cracking is caused by an air bubble in the vinyl and seemed to think it was no big deal. Well, it's a big deal to me! Anyhow, there is a number and name on the tub which he needs to have the fix-it guy come out and make the repairs. He claims they can patch it and it won't show. I'll believe that when I see it! Meanwhile he said to cover it with the clear packing tape and go ahead and use it.
'Gma' -- What a scary thing for you and to be alone when it happened! I'm glad you were able to handle the situation yourself. I have read where you can use the back of a wooden chair, but mine are way too tall for me to reach. I'm sure your sis isn't going to do the Better Homes & Garden inspection at your house! She is just going to enjoy being away from her everyday routine at her house.
Gloria -- I'm sorry to hear about your friend, but it is good that she is able to go back home again. There is no place like home that's for sure. I hope they will be able to stay in their home for a long time to come. There are two elderly couples from Bob's little hometown who are good friends of my mil. They are both moving on the spur of the moment and their houses will have to be sold. We are interested because both of our kids would like to live in this little town which would be nice for us. It just makes one thankful for good health and the ability to take care of ones self.
I just updated Norton so need to restart the computer. Have a great day!
Steel Magnolias -- #8
I don't remember half of what I had to say so it must not have been terribly important. 
We discussed whether or not they were read to when they were little and most of them had not. I'd say Thomas is off to a good start if he can read the menu! 
Gas is $2.43 here or it was yesterday when I filled up. If we don't go out of town I can go two weeks on a tank full. I wish you lived close to me and I would hire you to clean for me! I will keep your bil in my thoughts and prayers that he will be able to find a new job. Perhaps they will have to relocate which isn't easy later in life either. 
from Iowa!
They are eating the dry cat food that is on the deck for the outside cats. I got my hair cut this morning and ran a couple of errands. She always cuts it too short and I keep telling myself it will grow. By the time I like the length it will need a perm again. 
I will have to read your letter from Maggie. I got one too, so I imagine they are pretty similar. I am surprised she hasn't found a computer in the public library so that she could check in. Maybe the site is blocked like it is for me at school.
from Iowa!
You people don't deliver on Saturday's so I would have to wait until Monday and if his party was on Saturday we wouldn't have anything or would have to go and buy something else. I took copious notes and I am supposed to get a call from a supervisor by Monday, but I am really burned up by this. It was the outright lie that made me mad. I asked the agent if the package had a demand for signature and she looked and said no and she said that he didn't deliver because he couldn't get a signature, which didn't jive. I also asked her if it wasn't true that if they couldn't deliver they were supposed to leave a door tag or something to indicate they had tried and she said yes and I told her how we had looked all over and no tag was anywhere. I also contacted HSN and told them what happened and am writing the CEO of UPS and unloading on him as well. Jack said they won't do a thing to the driver because they are Teamster Unionized. I don't care, I am going to have my say anyway! I did get an e-mail from HSN thanking me and saying they were going to research this so maybe they will complain as well.
I finished a little while ago. The rest is going to be spot cleaned and that is all. I am tired of doing it. I only have some marks on the door to the extra bedroom I think they put on it when they moved in the new bed, but I need to buy me another one of those magic erasers. Those things work pretty well!
I have read where you can use the back of a wooden chair, but mine are way too tall for me to reach. 