Good morning to you all. It is cold in my part of the world this morning though it is dry. I guess I am going to have to call the maintenance company for the condos as our down spout has a long rip in it and is dripping water something fierce.
Does anyone besides me get tired of dealing with foreign outsourcing when they call about an issue with a company you deal with? I just got off the phone with direct tv because the payment I made never came through the bank. I hadn't been contacted, no email, nothing so I went to my account and found they had reversed the payment. So, I called, got someone one from either Pakistan or India on the phone and went through the whole rigamarole and she asked me if I had called my bank. I told her I didn't need to call my bank that it was direct tv that reversed the payment and not my bank that had denied it! GRRRRR! I went round and round with this woman and finally got so mad I just hung up on her and emailed them. I told them off pretty good. I have never had problems with direct tv in the 5 years we have had satellite, but this really irks me because I am afraid of them double billing me or something since it now seems screwed up. I am also mad because they never even let me know they had reversed the payment even by email! I now have to go back and resubmit payment and hope they don't take it out twice. I usually handle stuff by email as I don't like dealing with the foreigners who you can't understand on the phone and half the time they don't understand you. I had to tell this woman 4 times what my phone number was and then she still couldn't get it so I had to give her my account number, which I had to look up. On top of that, then she said the account number didn't exist, then chastised me when she said that the reason she couldn't find it was because I said there was a zero at the beginning of the account number and there was no "0" at the beginning of the account number. I was sitting here at the computer online at direct tv looking right at the number!!! What a way to start the morning!
Maggie: Glad you got your wok. They are always fun and a quick way to make meals I think. I have a Bissell that we love though it is heavy. It does a great job whether you are cleaning whole carpets or just spot cleaning. The attachment is easy to use too, which is nice.
Jean: I was talking to Jack last night about having watched Graham Norton on tv yesteday and Kurt Russell was on. They were talking about him playing Elvis and such and I said something about Elvis's birthday was last Saturday as we were talking about Jack having Monday off. I said I thought if they were going to give them a day off for MLK then they should have Elvis's birthday off too, because he did a lot more for this city than that rabble rouser ever did. I got to chuckling at your comment about trucks of snow as it reminded me of a movie I love. Have you ever seen "The Thrill of it All," with Doris Day and James Garner. In the movie the company she makes commercials for unbeknownst to her puts an inground pool in her backyard so they can do their laundry soap commercials at her home. They set up the "scene" with the soap boxes and such set up next to the pool. Her husbandthe doctor, not knowing about the pool, drives into what used to be the back parking and right into the pool with his convertible. He is so mad he kicks the soap powder into the pool and the pool filter converts it to tons of soapsuds. The whole back yard looks like fog from the suds. They try to truck them out in dump trucks and you see them driving down the street with the soap suds floating out of the trucks into the air. It is a funny part of the movie.
I guess I better get a move on. I finished my one book and it was really good. I need to work on socks so I can get them all finished. Have a great weekend all. Faye
I wonder why that happens because there was enough time lapse. I always ask for someone in the U. S. who speaks understandable English and usually get transferred right away. That is so frustrating for you! 
I think I've seen all of the Doris Day/James Garner movies. They were the best kind -- no blood, guts, or violence.
from Iowa!
I have a running list of what I have in my pantry [a hall closet w/shelves] also so I have no surprises there either. I have large containers of the herbs and spices I use quite often that I get at Sams. Sure pays to buy in the larger container that is if you use a lot. Some things I just get in the small containers because they lose their freshness quicker then other items. But if they get "old" you can always just use more of it. Sure a lot of ambulances and cops and fireturcks going by today ~ wonder what's going on. The dispatch center is close by here a few streets over and we hear when they leave the station. They usually get the outside neighbor dogs to barking but not today. When the outside ones bark then our two think they need to help them and join in with a bark or two. I am glad they don't go on and on. I can handle a couple barks but . . . gracious sakes out they go if they don't stop. Most of the time it is very quiet here in this neighborhood. I like the sounds of silence. You can hear the corn grow if you are real quiet in the field. When I was 5 my grandpa told me that and I got real quiet and the breeze ruseled the leaves and I was convinced he knew what he was talking about. I heard the corn grow. I think he just wanted me to pipe down and be quiet ~ looking back on it with adult eyes. He was such a good grandpa. Taught me lots of stuff he did. I loved to go stay the summers with them as a kid. My siblings weren't so keen on staying the whole summer so you can imagine what I got into.
My grandpa bought me a pair of overalls for work and my grandma braided my hair and I was set. Now aren't you glad I took you down memory lane and you learned about that.
Makes sense to me. There is a closet at the beginning of the hall-way but Will has some of his outside things in there using up the space. It doesn't have as much shelving in it as the one further down the hall I use for a pantry. Ragg Mopp used to have all the toys in the living room floor. Now Beanie comes along and they are all at the beginning of the hall-way. All of them. Nothing is sacred. He has taken over all of Ragg Mopps toys. AH but when Ragg Mopp wants one he just goes and gets it. But there they all are right in the walkway from the living room to the kitchen and the entrance to the hall-way. Right in the way. Plus if anyone came in the front door right now he would be greated by a bunch of doggie toys laying on the rug a little ways before him. Aren't pets fun.
I have fond memories of my maternal grandparents; we lived with them for a couple years while my dad was building a new station and living quarters after moving back from MN. My dad's parents were divorced. My grandpa remarried and had two children just slightly older than I. I would spend some time each summer with them on the farm and what fun we had. My grandmother lived next door to us . . . not so many good memories there. Long story short is she thought I was a spoiled brat and didn't hesitate to tell me so. I was the 2nd granddaughter and the 1st was her favorite. Thanks for closing the thread I started; I did go back but didn't see "delete" anywhere.
He is a lot of wonderful things, neat he isn't! 
with a wind chill of 6 degrees this morning. It's only supposed to get into the high teens. Snow showers tomorrow, Monday, and Tuesday . . . enough is enough, I want some sunshine! 
Today is laundry with more sorting and pitching along the way. Leftover pasta casserole is on the menu for lunch. 
There is a group of 4 guys who went to college here and formed a group that does the same thing as SIX. They are really good and have been to Vegas. I want to see Elvis in Branson too. I'm surprised they aren't advertising their 2011 programs although this is a slow time of year for them. When we were there, most didn't get going until after Easter which is late this year -- April 24th, Beth's birthday. I hope you get your tax refund asap so you can buy a dryer. We wait until the last possible moment to send our's in! 
Sounds like you are ready for Spring to arrive. Wouldn't it be nice. Soft Spring breezes. Coats all stored in the closet till next Fall when it starts to get chilly. Your trip to Maui will get here quicker than you realize now. Nice of Bob to replinish the food for the critters. We don't encourage them to come around here and get used to food in the Winter for they have "memory" and would be back in the Spring and we don't want them in our garden. We have to net our apple tree to keep the birds from pecking the apples.
They just like the fruit. We like it too and want to get some or all of what we planted.
Talk about being dense! I didn't realize the Elvis guy was leaving for good. I guess there is one in Vegas, but I haven't heard anything about him. There's nothing worse than a bad haircut! Over the years I've taken pictures along with my 2 cents worth, and the gal always does it "her" way. 
I hope the WW scale is kind to you tomorrow night. The med I take is for cholesterol, and it does say not to eat grapefruit; I checked Bob's and his says the same thing.