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 My blog was filled up. I'm too lazy to clean it out. So I started a new one. |
| I have tried following package instructions, but either the directions are badly written, or the packages are badly designed, or I am extremely dense. I try ripping off the top above the red line on a resealable package, but it still won't open. I have used scissors to cut a straight line, but it still doesn't work. I frequently have to cut below the plastic zipper to get it open. There are household cleaners and medicines that require you push down while turning or squeeze while turning to get the top off. You end up spilling and possibly using language you don't want the children to hear. I can seldom open a child's toys without retrieving tools from the garage to cut or untwist wires and plastic straps. To prevent shoplifting, companies pack almost everything in vacuum sealed plastic, from ink pens to scissors, to batteries. And if your package comes by mail, it's inside other packaging, then wrapped or boxed again. You can see why shipping and handling cost so much. It's all the wrapping and boxing and sealing. Why have prices gone up so much? The food content in a bag or box may cost $1.00, labor and materials, but the packaging will cost another $1.00. They still want to pay overhead and make a profit. Then the distributor wants his share for handling it. Did I forget to mention they have to fill the bag or box (cereal for instance) with air to give a cushion while shipping? The air may be a precaution, but it also makes it look like you're getting more than you really are buying. Packaging is important to keep products safe, to aid in shipping, and to allow inventory to be kept as accurately as possible. But sometimes you wonder if the people who design these packages ever have to open them themselves? Does the guy trying to cut costs in the factory ever have to open a bottle of his company, or assemble a toy on a birthday or make a sandwich in a hurry? I think it should be a requirement of his or her job. |
| At one time. it appears, movie directors and actors thought smoking was sophisticated and sexy. Barbara Stanwyck, Bette Davis and glamour girls all smoked cigarettes. The men always had a light for them and would fight to see could get get the flame to her first. Even poor people were portrayed as smokers. Cool, level headed Andy Taylor smoked in bed. Jackie Gleason smoked cigars. I am appalled at how frequently we see famous people light up in old movies and TV shows. Today we would think they're throwing money away and endangering their health. I haven't kept track of more modern shows to see if characters were asked not to smoke or to take it outside. In real life tobacco products still sell by the truck loads. Employees take smoke breaks in between lunch breaks and official breaks. Non-smokers go out with them just to have equal time away from the desk or assembly line. Nobody in my family or circle of friends smoke. It would turn me off if a date lit one. My ex smoked heavily and was very annoying about it. I would find ashes inside the refrigerator door where he held one idly in his hand while searching through the shelves with the other hand. He thought he was doing me a favor when he rolled the car window down so he could smoke. The car still stank. It is just hard to imagine that a whole generation thought it was glamorous to light a cigarette in a romantic moment on screen. |
| I just perused a calendar I made for 2013. It had photos of my family from various occasions, some current at that time, and some even older. What fun to review them. One month was dedicated to cousins on my father's side and their offspring. Most of them are college graduates by now. Another month was for cousins on my mother's side, which included one photo of all of us years earlier at our house at Christmas. A lot of those people are no longer with us-my grandparents, my parents, several cousins, and two of my brothers. All of the kids in those pictures are grandparents now. I gave one month to each member of my immediate family which accounted for 6 months, one for my sister-in-law, and one to Thanksgiving decorations I use each year. It is fun to go thru them all grouped like that, and family members like to look once in a while. I like to show the younger children what their mothers looked like when they were their age. It occurred to me that this is a great idea for clubs and church groups. A collection of photos that you could keep long after the year was over. In fact, I think I need to do a new one with the next generation of my own family. They will have something to show their kids some day. |
| I just perused a calendar I made for 2013 It had photos of my family from various occasions, some current at that time, and some even older. What fun to review them. One month was dedicated to cousins on my father's side and their offspring. Most of them are college graduates by now. Another month was for cousins on my mother's side, which included one photo of all of us years earlier at our house at Christmas. A lot of those people are no longer with us-my grandparents, my parents, several cousins, and two of my brothers. All of the kids in those pictures are grandparents now. I gave one month to each member of my immediate family which accounted for 6 months, one for my sister-in-law, and one to Thanksgiving decorations I use each year. It is fun to go thru them all grouped like that, and family members like to look once in a while. I like to show the younger children what their mothers looked like when they were their age. It occurred to me that this is a great idea for clubs and church groups. A collection of photos that you could keep long after the year was over. In fact, I think I need to do a new one with the next generation of my own family. They will have something to show their kids some day. |
| Andy was a humorist/columnist who appeared on 60 Minutes each week and wrote quite a few books. I picked up my Dad's copy and starting reading. He had such a unique outlook and a twisted sense of humor. Every day topics, like women's high heels, or glass, could be a lengthy subject for his thoughts. He made so much common sense with his humor. And it was inspiring. Anyone having trouble blogging could use a little look at Andy Rooney's columns and get ideas. Who would guess such trivial matters would ring a universal bell with people. /the copy I'm reading was from 2001. I can only imagine how he would feel about things now. Women's shoes in 2025 might have a different take. Fashions for men have changed, too. Church clothes have changed to casual except in some black churches. And everyone has cell phones, which have stylish cases. Eye wear has evolved since then. As for advertising, newspapers are hard to come by and magazines are almost history. Ads are on the Internet and TV. And let's not forget podcasts. I'm sure Andy would have one if he were still living. Ads interrupt those as well. I thought I had run dry on blog ideas, but Andy has fueled the fire. I recommend any of his books. |
| It might be raining, so we will be confined indoors. However, My niece and her fiance will find a way to grill whatever is on their menu. Knowing her kids, they will play in the rain. I've thought about this. There will be two fathers there, the fiance and my brother. Only 3 kids with fathers will be there (two belong to the fiance and one is my nephew).All the adults have lost fathers and grandfathers. Three children have lost a father; the seven year old was halfway between heaven and earth when his father died at age 36 of a heart attack. He never got to meet his father. Those children have lost both their grandfathers and a great grandfather, my dad, in their lifetimes. So it's kind of a celebration and kind of a memorial. Or in our case, just an excuse to get together in the country and eat. They were all great fathers. Patient and giving, they were strong men who put family first. I'm sorry the little ones couldn't know that for themselves. The rest of us will remember and honor our fathers. (Mine was a daddy because I'm a Southerner.) |
| I was back outside this afternoon piling up brush that had been flattened slightly by rain. I ended up breaking off more dead pieces of the butterfly bush. I had not planned for this, so I had no gloves or clippers. But I found it oddly satisfying to stand there in the bright burning sun breaking off these "finished" twigs and branches. I left a big pile of them on the ground. I only quit because the skin on my arms was starting to hurt from the prickly dead twigs. I usually complain about the never ending work that needs to be repeated so soon. Today I found myself feeling satisfied and enjoying trimming these branches. I'm beginning to understand a little of why my older friend enjoys pulling weeds. No, I won't go that far. I just understand she gets some satisfaction from it. I was not on the ground, not crawling around, just doing tedious repetitive stuff. My mind was free to wander. Maybe work is its own reward. We don't have to have a paycheck or see beautiful results. Just doing the work fills something inside us. If idle hands are the devil's playground, then I was safe this afternoon. |
| Yesterday was my birthday. I can't believe I'm really this old. I guess we stay young in our hearts forever. Only the mirror and the calendar tell us differently. And the way our joints creak. To cap it off, the electricity was off over six hours. I was expecting my niece and her extended family to come by my house since they were in town. But without air-conditioning, they opted for the local park and picked up pizza and doughnuts. So we sat on damp park benches and only two kids cried (one 7 years old, and one 9). But it was cool after the rain, and we watched ground hogs and birds. I went home, lit a candle before it got dark and sat with a flashlight in my lap. I did not want to run the phone down, so I had nothing to listen to or watch. Thank goodness I had a small battery-operated fan to set on the table beside me. I always have internal dialog, so it gave me time to think. It was too dark to write. I tried to use a flashlight to read my Kindle, but that was boring and tedious. Just as I was going to bed (I brushed my teeth by candlelight), the power came on. What timing! Now I am officially a whole year older. I still don't like to say the number out loud! |
| When I started the rehab program, it was scary. I thought it was too soon after surgery. But I soon learned that I was safe. The staff wasn't going to push me past what I was able. I felt self-conscious about my lack of speed and my ordinary clothes. It looked like a gym, and some of the patients looked like athletes. Now I am approaching the end of my program and it feels like it has flown by. I know I am stronger and have more endurance. I'm faster according to the tests. There is still so much to accomplish. But I've taken the baby steps. When I'm done, I'll take some more baby steps. On the nutrition side of things, I've learned that fast food places are the devil's playground. I can't walk down the frozen food aisle in the store because that's where the highly processed foods are. I have always preferred fresh produce to frozen, so that will continue. I just have to do more greens more often. I will miss my pot pies and the occasional prepared meal. I've swapped some old bad habits for some new bad habits. A loaf of bread would stay in my house until it was stale or moldy. Now I am only buying sourdough or whole grain bread, and I like them too much. I've also discovered natural peanut butter, no sugar or salt or oils added. You have to refrigerate it once you stir it up. So now I consume too much of that in place of cookies and potatoes, etc. You can't accomplish it all in a short time. Baby steps. Just baby steps. If I want better quality of what remains of my life, I need those baby steps. |
| Like housework, yard work is never done. If you pull up the weeds by the roots, they will grow back. No matter how you cut the grass, you will need to do it again soon, like cutting your hair. It always comes back. Yard work can become an obsession. Once I get started, I want to keep going, until I'm cut up and bleeding (I'm on blood thinner and like a lot of older people, have thin skin) or have too many bug bites. Then there's days like today, when I just can't make myself go out there and do anything. I have a fried, 80 years old, who loves pulling weeds. Her vision of Heaven has a little plot of weeds that she can weed every day. She talks to herself and to God while she's on her knees. She lives in a very classy, upscale neighborhood, and likes to brag that she's the last person in there doing her own yard work. Believe me, if I had the money, I would have someone else prune my hedges, cut the grass, cut down all the unwanted vines and ivy. and haul away the brush. As for housework, I've decided I can live with dust. As long as the laundry is done, the bed is made and the toilet and sinks are clean, I'm okay. I will never be labeled a good housekeeper. But that outdoor stuff weighs on my mind. I dream of getting my patio redone (weeds between stones) and having some trees trimmed or removed. I shopped for tools today, but didn't get any. I'm on a budget. I will have to get by with what I can. |
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