The End of an Era

I began feeling nostalgic this week when this item appeared on our curb.

The suburban city where we live and where I grew up has had, for some thirty-five years, trash receptacles for residents unlike any I have ever seen elsewhere. They're underground. And what's more, I remember when city workers and their equipment came around (I believe in the early 1970s) and dug the holes for installation. The holes have lids that look like this:

Pretty bad, I know. It should be totally green and wholly intact. But it's a great system. You walk to the curb, step on the petal, and drop in your trash bag. Inside the hole there's a large metal trash can that can be lifted out on pick-up day by using a swing-over handle, sort of like a child's sand bucket. Animals can't get to the garbage and make a mess. (There was one time that I found a possum -- not an opossum -- in the underground can, but that's a story for another time.)

We got word at year-end that the city planned to end the underground trash pick up, would issue residents the rolling cans, and would eventually come around to each neighborhood, remove the old cans, and fill up the holes. Like everyone else, the city is having to trim its budget, and the new, rolling cans can be picked up and emptied by a truck, and not by a human being. Plus, they're larger than the in-ground cans, so we'll have service only one day a week instead of the two we now have.

So, that's why I'm feeling nostalgic over trash cans. Sad, isn't it. James is feeling sad too, but for a different reason, and if you've ever been to our house, you'll know why. City ordinance prohibits leaving the rolling cans at curbside except for the evening before, and the day of, trash pick up. So, once a week, he'll have to roll/push/pull the can up our driveway to the street. And I do mean UP! It was hard for me to get a good shot of the incline of our driveway, but this will give you an idea.

I Need Some Help

After many months, someone finally noticed that all of my post labels start with the letter F. When I first began blogging and thinking about categories, it turned out that many of them began with F already, so I decided to work on making them all begin with that letter. In case I didn't make it obvious enough, here are the labels and what they include.

• Fabrication - anything I've made
• Factory - things about work
• Faith - easy enough
• Fall - the season, not a verb
• Family - ditto easy
• Finale - where I tell the end of any story begun earlier
• Finds - shopping/bargains
• Flitting - travel
• Food - double ditto easy
• Friendship - triple ditto easy
• Frustration - annoyances and general grumbling
• Fun - quadruple ditto easy
• Furry - animal stories, mostly about the Blinky cat

There are some posts that are unlabeled because they don't fit into any of my categories; they're sort of random. But I can't seem to come up with a word to use, unless I call these posts "Fitless," which is sure to be mistaken as a misspelling of "Fitness." Any ideas?

Being Owned By a Cat

She makes herself comfy wherever she pleases.

She insists on a belly rub. (The only cat I've ever known who falls down belly up in order to get a tummy rub; most cats won't tolerate it.)

She wants to be nearby when I'm doing laundry (or any time, actually).

I Can't Take It Any Longer

Before:After:
Much better!

Bad Language - Part II

I got my new ultrasonic contact lens cleaner in the mail this week. I'm not sure where these things are manufactured, but it isn't where they wave the stars and stripes. Here's the description of what I got (verbatim): This product is the application of ultrasonic principium, which cleans out protein deposition coveried the surface of contact lenses rapidly and completely.

When in use, the unit is supposed to be filled with saline solution. At first glance, I thought they included a small sample bottle to get me started. Turns out it was just an empty bottle. Useless. I can't even sell it. On second thought, I decided to keep it in case I need to put an approved-size container of saline solution in my carry-on for air travel.

The operating instructions are loosely translated into English from an unknown native tongue. When operating an electric appliance, I am always (yeah, right) careful to read any safety precautions. Here are a few for this particular product (word-for-word):

• Avoid the risk of fire & casualty.
• Operating strictly according to the users manual.
• Don't plug in absence of people.
• Apart from heat, and place in a dry and flat surface.
• In case of abnormal working, if the case couldn't work as normal, stop it.
• Do not use tap water rinse the product, to avoid the risk of damage and creepage.

I definitely will watch that last one. I don't need any (more) creepage in my life.

The operating instructions are a bit better, with a couple of notable exceptions:

• Remove the lens basket and use tweezers to put the left contact lens into basket which marked with "L", same as the right contact lens.
• press "CLEAN", the green light on, which indicates the cleaning is ongoing. After 2 mins cleaning, the cleaner will automatically shut off. (Cleaning is over)

And so is this episode in translation interpretation.

Bad Language

I don't have an English degree or anything, but it bothers me when I hear redundancies that I find annoying. Here are some prime examples:

• ATM machine
• PIN number
• SAT test
• ISBN number (Although I will admit that I work for a book publisher yet didn't know that ISBN stands for International Standard Book Number until I looked it up just now. But I did know that the N stands for Number. And here's another tidbit, whether or not you're interested. ISBNs used to be ten digits, but unused ten digit numbers are as scarce as silver dollars these days, so ISBNs are now thirteen digits.)

Here's one that is often heard in voice mail messages: I am currently away from my desk at the present time. Well, it's hard to be currently away from your desk yesterday. Finally, when I visit my family doctor and they want to mail me lab results, the girl hands me an envelope and asks me to self-address it to myself. Since, to my knowledge, I have not yet been cloned, it would be a breach of all the medical privacy laws to self-address it to someone else. My clone or I would have to go directly to jail without passing GO for that.

Wallpaper Woes

I'm still scraping wallpaper at my in-laws' house. The good news is that the paper in the large- and medium-sized rooms is strippable and/or the wall was properly prepared before the paper went on. In any event, it is much, much easier to remove than the paper in the bathroom. I've almost finished the biggest room in about 1/4 of the time it took me to do the tiny bathroom.

Here's why the paper needed to come down -- this sample of the floral paper shows the part that was visible on the wall along with a small section that was covered by a chair rail.I thought the lower part of the paper was solid tan. I thought wrong.

CVS Paid Me $3.85

They are so nice at CVS. They paid me $3.85 to take this stuff home and some (or all?) of it will be going in the giveaway box. Here's how I did it:

There was a deal for buy $20 worth of various "tummy remedies" and get $10 in EB. I bought the three items pictured, which totaled $20.87. Since I had a CVS coupon (actually, I have several) for $5 off $25, I had to add another $4.13 of stuff that would end up being free. I roamed around the store looking for anything that was on clearance and/or that I had a CVS coupon for. I got the four lotions off of the clearance shelf for a total of $4.64. That would have been a good deal even if I'd paid for them! I had a coupon for $1 off any CVS-brand lotion, so I used it. I also had two CVS coupons totaling $8 for the tummy remedies that were a part of the EB deal. And I used $5 in manufacturers' coupons. So, I had $14 in CVS coupons and $5 in MFC, which brought my final total down to $6.15. And then I got back $10 in EB.

I also made $1 (once I send in the rebate) on some shampoo at Rite-Aid (like I needed more shampoo).

Publix and Kroger weren't as good. I saved 53% at Publix, but only 35% at Kroger. Sorry, but I've been in the mood for gumbo for a while now, so my Kroger savings took that hit.

A Place to Worship

Midway Presbyterian Church spent the weekend with an open house and dedication of our new sanctuary and fellowship hall. My post title is borrowed from Saturday's title of an article on the front page of the Lifestyle section of the Marietta Daily Journal. Here are some photos I made on Friday night.

The front doors.
The sanctuary, with the choir loft in the middle of the back balcony. The empty space will hold the pipe organ, the installation of which will begin next week.
Closer view of the choir loft.
View of the sanctuary from the choir loft.

The new pulpit (Pastor David Hall seated).

Closer view of the mahogany pews.

One section of the lobby. There are several different nooks with seating areas like this one.

The sanctuary has hardwood floors and marble title, but the lobby area is carpeted, including some neat inset areas.

Friday night was a children's' concert, including the Atlanta Boys' Choir, the Midway children's choir, and the Midway Covenant Christian School choir. Here is Judy Dodd directing the Midway children (Atlanta Boys' Choir members in the background).

The sound "booth" is located on one side of the balcony. Pictured is the world's best church sound board operator.

A Question for Anyone

Inquiring Minds Want to Know: What's the difference between picante sauce and salsa?

Whining Works

He had pity on my ineptitude.

They Ain't What They Used to Be

Fridays aren't nearly so wonderful as they were before I retired. Most of today was spent scraping more wallpaper at my in-laws' house. The good news is that the bathroom is finished (the smallest of the three rooms I have to do), and I'm about 2/3 finished with the biggest room. My brother-in-law and I decided a few days ago that a particular wall cabinet in the kitchen that had been added after the fact needed to come down. It, and the associated base cabinet, were in the way, and there are gracious plenty cabinets without these two small ones. Neither of us had any tools with us the day we decided this, so today I brought some tools. Even though I was there by myself, I thought I'd see if I could take the cabinet down alone. I removed the trim on both sides of the cabinet and then looked inside to see if I could determine how it was fastened to the wall. I saw screw holes, but couldn't really see the screws there. So, I stood on my step-stool to get a closer look. When I actually held onto the cabinet, it seemed a little loose, so I wiggled it a bit and pulled, and down it came. Yep, I ripped the cabinet off the wall with my bare hands. It was attached with a few screws and a few nails, none of which were in a stud, and none of which went more than about an inch into the wall. It's a miracle the cabinet (once loaded with stuff) didn't fall down long ago.

There's Just One Problem

I got a new cell phone this week. So what is the problem, you ask? (Of course you're asking that. Otherwise, I'd be talking to myself.) The problem is that my tech support is in Tampa. I owned my previous cell phone for over five years. I could make and receive calls and sometimes add a telephone number. Sometimes. The End. What I want is for someone to figure out all the features and explain it to me. Better yet, set everything up according to my preferences, and then explain it to me. This telephone makes pictures, has Bluetooth capability, is a speaker phone, can surf the web, and can be a GPS device. Not that I will ever do all of that. I did make a picture of Blinky that I do not know how to retrieve. If I don't answer your call and find your voice mail, please forgive me. I'm going to have to read the book myself and see if I can figure out my new phone. I might as well start with this page.

Totally Tuesday

Today was spent scraping wallpaper and then a follow-up visit to the eye doctor. I have a long-distance vision contact lens in my right eye and a short-distance vision one in the left. (This is what I had last time, about five or six years ago.) The brain is supposed to compensate for this oddity, but so far mine hasn't. I wasn't able to see very well at any distance and I didn't want to attempt anything detailed without my glasses or until my brain catches up, assuming I haven't consumed too many Diet Cokes for this to happen. Anyway, today the eye doctor changed the short-vision lens in my left eye, which made everything better.

Yesterday James measured the sewing room for me, I redrew it to scale, and added to-scale furnishings so I could see if everything I wanted would fit. It will. I have two six-foot tables that I will use for sewing, and the drafting table is a great height for cutting things out. It's several inches higher than a table or counter top. A plus is being able to move the treadmill out of the den. I originally wanted it there so that I could watch TV. However, in time I learned that there's not much of anything on TV that will hold my attention while I'm on the treadmill. But online games will. James donated an old laptop computer to the fitness cause, and it's bungee-corded to the book shelf of the treadmill. I walked for forty-five minutes last night, and that was after I played and tennis and Wii Fit earlier in the day. I may not lose any weight, but I hope to at least stay even with my chocolate habit.

This is Why I Spend $35

I love a good haircut. When I can get up in the morning and all I have to do is brush my hair and everything is in place, it's worth what I pay. Thanks, Mona.
P.S. I understand that there is a genetic hindrance to any blood-Vreken ever getting this kind of wake-up hair.

It's Not Easy Being Green

BEFORE

We're slowly getting the sewing room painted. I would have preferred a shade of green leaning a bit more toward lime, but James mixed up all the partial cans of paint we had in the basement and came up with this color. In the interest of good steward- ship, I'm OK with not buying more paint. James has done most of it, but I worked some on the edging today. This is in between scraping wallpaper at my in-laws' house. Another few days of these two activities and I'll be ready to go back to my full-time desk job. AFTER:

Only Your Own - Thought for the Day

This morning our pastor's sermon text was from John 14, particularly the portion wherein Jesus tells his disciples about the Holy Spirit. The pastor pointed out that one of the Holy Spirit's roles is to make believers holy... to convict them of unholiness in their lives. Pastor Hall also noted that the Holy Spirit only points out a person's own sin. He is not in the busybody business of pointing out someone else's sin. It made me think of Aslan's words in The Chronicles of Narnia. I believe he made this same, or a similar, statement to more than one child who questioned him regarding another character in the story. Aslan patiently explained to the child, "I tell no one any story but his own." And so it is with the Holy Spirit.

Post script: We did not get the necessary permits to worship in our new sanctuary, but the permits are "sure to happen" this week.

If I Ran the World

If I ran the world, things would be a mess. But, if I were in charge of naming new subdivisions and streets, I would be queen. If you've ever driven in, through, or near Atlanta, you know that there are way too many variations of Peachtree Street. Here are some of my ideas.

• Subdivision Gemstone would have streets named Diamond Drive, Emerald Avenue, Ruby Road, Sapphire Street, Jade Junction, Peridot Place, Amethyst Avenue, Topaz Trail, Opal Avenue, Coral Court, and Lapis Lane.
• Subdivision Seaside would have streets named Oyster Avenue, Marlin Way, Snapper Street, Anemone Avenue, Perch Place, Salmon Street, Trout Trail, Carp Court, Poseidon Point, Lobster Lane, Barracuda Way, and Jellyfish Junction.
• Subdivision Creativity would have streets named Quilting Court, Watercolor Way, Sewing Circle, Knitting Avenue, Needlepoint Place, Tatting Trail, Sculpting Street, Photography Place, and Woodworking Way.
• Subdivision Celestial would have streets named Jupiter Junction, Andromeda Avenue, Milky Way, Saturn Street, Neptune Court (which could also be found in Seaside), Asteroid Avenue, Telescope Trail, Eclipse Drive, and Polaris Place.

Now you know what my brain does when I can't sleep at night.

Takin' What They're Givin'...

...'cause I'm workin' for a livin'

Here are some pictures that Phillip sent me this week. This first one is before work.
These three are after work and after he had washed up.





He still says he's having fun, even though he's really tired at the end of the shift. And by-the-way, don't worry too much about his dirty shirt. He has eleven uniform sets, and laundry service is provided weekly. He gives them five dirty sets, they return five clean sets, and he's wearing one. How many of you have this job perk? Or would like it?

Children & Chinese

I spent the better part of today watching Caleb and Alexa. They both have colds, but Caleb's is on the downside whereas Alexa's is still full-blown. If only she could. Here's how most of our day was spent, poor baby.The children got this gift for Christmas. If, at first glance, you conclude that it is a simple easel, you would be wrong. It is actually an indoor jungle gym.

Alexa felt a little bit better after I gave her some cold medicine, so she had to get in on the gymnastics as well. This is about the only five minutes I wasn't holding her.

There's only one problem with crawling through, around, and over plastic in wintertime.Not to worry -- her hair did calm down a bit later.Sort of.GOODY: We thought that our very favorite Chinese restaurant was gone. It had been in operation nearly thirty years, but their sign disappeared from the strip mall where they're located. Today, James discovered that they'd merely moved to the other end of the mall where they drastically cut the number of dine-in tables. Few tables were ever occupied at the old location because, after all, Chinese is the quintessential take-out food.

Yesterday's Events... And Today

1. I've waffled back and forth between glasses and contacts several times. I like wearing contacts, but with changes to my tears induced by allergy medicine, I had a difficult time keeping the contacts clean enough to get a month's wear out of a pair. So, I bought one of those ultrasonic lens cleaners to try. Stay tuned.
2. Headaches are something that I live with nearly every day. Recently, they've been accompanied by visual disturbances, and it was the eye doctor who told me that I was describing a classic migraine. So there you go.
3. I've mentioned that our church is toward the end of a building project. We may be able to worship in our new sanctuary this Sunday if we're able to get the CO today or tomorrow. So last night at the end of rehearsal, the choir went to the new choir loft (now located in the back balcony) to rehearse. It's going to be marvelous!
4. I'm keeping Caleb and Alexa today. That's why I'm blogging at 7 a.m. I'll probably be too dead after that!

Today's Events

1. Went to eye doctor. Came out with contact lenses.
2. Went to medical doctor. Came out with prescription for migraines.

A Daunting Task

I'm helping my brother-in-law get the in-laws' house ready for the rental market. He's doing some repairs to the sheetrock, and I'm starting to remove wallpaper from one large, one medium, and one small room. I think b-i-l would have been happy to just leave the wallpaper, and I would have been happy if it had been intact enough to be painted over. It wasn't. I just don't think that this rose-colored (now yellowed) floral wallpaper is going to appeal to any potential renter. It was pretty in its day, but its day was twenty plus years ago! I worked for 2-1/2 hours and then was basically wiped out for the rest of the day. The small, brighter-yellow patch is the only place where the paper is totally gone. Just shoot me now, rather than the slow, painful death I will be putting myself through in the next few weeks.