Category Archives: Of This and That

Maybe a Coincidence….

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A friend who is a local radio personality has me come on one of the location-specific show sometimes. It’s a bit of a drive, but takes place at a fun waterside restaurant in Islamorada. Hubby and I usually go down, have fun on the show and enjoy dinner after. Last night was the exception as traffic was terrible and he had to work all day which meant we had to drive separately. I say traffic was terrible although it was for only part of the route. Fortunately, he had not started out yet. I called the dive shop and told him not to bother because there was no way he would make it in time for the show and better for him to head home. I would plan to grab a bite either at the restaurant or at a fast food spot on the way back.

At the end of the show, there’s usually a give-away and I take a copy of whichever book I discuss. For last night, I had a copy of Small Town Lies since that’s the first of the series I’m finishing up with Small Town Quilting Treasures, due out January or February. There must have been around 20 women in the audience (only women get a ticket for the drawing) and since it’s random, one never knows what someone likes in books. I always explain it can be re-gifted and offer to inscribe it for the individual who wins, someone specific or generically. The first thing the woman who won said is, “I am an avid reader”, and she had just finished the book she’d been reading so was ready to start another one. Added to that, she has done some quilting. I suppose there might have been a better match for the book somewhere in the audience, but probably not. And traffic was definitely better on the return trip.

The Principle of Cost….

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Having owned a Saab, a Mercedes, and a Jaguar, I take nothing away from those vehicles. They were quite nice and no, that’s not meant as an understatement. With gift-buying time here (and the number of car commercials seems to have increased), there can be the urge to spend more than is necessary. What actually set me off today is another Christmas party we attended last night at a place I won’t mention. It involved an activity which most everyone enjoyed and there was a nice buffet. There is also a bar/restaurant and we were among the last of the group to arrive. Most already had drinks and the group was moving to the area where we would have our party. The host told us to go ahead with everyone and thought there were drinks waiting there; if not they would be along shortly. There was a bit of a delay with that and I told Hubby I would just go back to the bar and get the first round for the two of us. Now, in somewhat of a degree of fairness, when I ordered a draft for him and asked if they had sauvignon blanc, I did not specifically ask if they had it as a house wine. I did see what bottle it was poured from and therefore when given the check showing the glass as $17.00, I was stunned. While that was the only glass of that I drank, it did raise my hackles. One of two things applied; either they priced all their wines absurdly, or the bartender simply decided to sell me a more expensive type than mention what their house was. I don’t care for either answer, and that brings me back around to what I am willing to pay for.

I certainly indulge at times in expensive things. By the way, the Mercedes and the Jaguar were both purchased used (low mileage) through Carmax. As much as I appreciated those vehicles, it was the cost and inconvenience of service that caused me to turn away from luxury brands. That includes having to run premium gas in them for the best performance. For us, in many cases, it isn’t about can we afford a particular thing – it’s are we getting what we consider value for that item? In some situations, absolutely – like when I booked us first class last year on the Acela train to NYC. Many times though, it is not, which is why we didn’t dine in the famous, ridiculously priced NY restaurants. We’ve had that experience in other cities and don’t need to repeat it too often. The same with gifts; it can be appropriate to spend extra for something truly wanted. Measuring a gift simply by the cost is not our style though.

Another Classic Movie….

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I was looking at some of the old VHS tapes as I’m not even sure I still know how to use the player since we’ve been using DVDs for so long. “We’re No Angels” is not considered a Christmas movie although it does involve a Christmas setting. The fact it’s set in the sweltering Caribbean may have something to do with that. It was made in 1954 with a marvelous cast. Humphrey Bogart, Peter Ustinov, and Aldo Ray have escaped from a place similar to Devils Island. They take refuge in a store where Leo G. Carroll, his wife, and daughter live. A loving husband and father and terrible business man whose wealthy cousin, played by Basil Rathbone, is determined to turn him out, family or no family.

The convicts declare they shall kill the family, and steal whatever they need to make their getaway. Well, as they pretend to be out on work-release and offer to repair the roof, maybe they can help out with a few other things first. The story is wonderfully tongue-in-cheek as the daughter, who is infatuated with her second cousin, doesn’t realize how selfish and shallow he is. And since the convicts are staying for only a few days, perhaps they can help her with her love life. Humphrey Bogart’s character is an expert forger, so why not fix the store’s books while they are there? And it really wouldn’t be seemly to kill the family on Christmas Day, would it? There is also the matter of the pet poisonous snake that causes complications.

I don’t know if the movie can be found on streaming services (and no, it’s not the one of the same name starring Robert DeNiro and Sean Penn), but if so, it is a pleasant way to pass a couple of hours.

Desert Musings…..

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We were watching one of the Science channel shows the other day and there was discussion of sand storms. Having lived in West Texas for three years, hard wind and dust devils were fairly common. Having grown up in the Deep South, tornadoes were common and in fact, I had a car damaged once when serious hail was dumped by a tornado that fortunately didn’t tear too much up. When we were in Desert Storm, sand storms took on a whole new meaning. Watching a towering “devil” in the distance would definitely get your attention. When a storm hit though, it tended to do so with little warning. We never had the prolonged ones so there weren’t mounds of sand to dig out from, but the wind was ferocious. There were times when large tents would be yanked out of the pegs and basically twisted or collapsed inward. And of course, you’d be brushing sand out of all kinds of places for quite some time.

Another aspect was issues driving because most of the bases set up were not on roads and despite the lack of elevation, flat didn’t mean without “bumps”. The way the sand shifted around, even if the sand was flat rather than rippled, that didn’t mean it was solid. The command had to issue an order for the HMMVs (Hummers) to be restricted to 45 miles per hour cross-country because of so many over-turns when drivers hit an unstable surface at too high a speed. The vehicles are designed to manage all sorts of terrain, but driven in a controlled fashion.

The sand also retained a fair amount of heat and that was why cots were used as opposed to the standard of just putting sleeping bags on the ground. The several inches of clearance between the sand and the bottom of the cot made a major difference in the ability to sleep. Interesting memories of all that.

 

Interesting Discussion……

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I have once again been put onto a news story that became more complex than originally anticipated. Our once a week paper doesn’t have “breaking news”, although I do get short-notice calls at times to scramble to get a story when the timing is right (or generally wrong from my perspective). As I may have mentioned in a previous post, notwithstanding the fact I wanted to be a writer from around age 9 or so, I never wanted to be a reporter. (Sorry, Lois Lane) I still resist the term despite having been writing for the paper here for quite a while. And yes, I really do contribute to the community.

Anyway, a gentleman who has a service dog due to his PTSD from his Army years did an editorial about “Fake Service Dogs” that was passed along to our paper. Since it involved a former military individual, it came my way. His letter was very pointed at people who are falsely having their pets declared as emotional support animals (ESA) and causing problems for genuine service animals.

In being fair to those who function from misunderstanding as opposed to selfishness, there are actually four categories; service, emotional support, comfort, and therapy dogs. (Yes, there are other animals used, but we’ll stick to dogs here) In essence, service dogs are highly trained, specifically so to behave safely in public places. Although the remaining types have been shown to provide benefits, the same level of training is rarely the case. (https://adata.org/guide/service-animals-and-emotional-support-animals has a lot of detail).

There is plenty of data to show the health benefits of having a dog. As more people seek to have a dog declared in an ESA capacity, the focus may shift more to what benefit the human receives than to the training/temperament of the dog. In other words, while a dog may bring comfort. etc., to the human half of the pair, how does it behave in public, especially if it is crowded? To add to this, capitalism and entrepreneurship being what they are, identification of ESAs has become a marketable commodity.  On-line sites provide the identification, vest, and leash for the dog for a fee. Of the two sites I checked, my impression was the prime consideration was not about the dog. One expert with a service dog organization said there are sites that will issue the documentation based on nothing more than a photo of the dog.

Being unwilling to acknowledge the unsuitability of a dog is no different than someone who doesn’t recognize when their child is ill-behaved. Deliberately having a dog falsely declared as an ESA is no different from an able-bodied person borrowing a Handicap tag in order to get a better parking place. As I said, I discovered some interesting things during my research.

 

 

Ah, The First Nutcracker….

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While I don’t do much “grandma” stuff on the blog, our granddaughter will be in her first Nutcracker performance this year – part of the Mouse Army, as is common. She actually was in the Spring performance in June as a “chick” and apparently the kinder ballet instructor is having to explain to the budding ballerinas that these are different movements.

At any rate, I remember when my sister and I guess it was another mom took young sons to their first Nutcracker in Houston. It was a gala affair with getting dressed up and enjoying either dinner before or perhaps it was ice cream treats after in addition to the wonder of the experience. (That has been quite a while ago.) For reasons that I don’t exactly recall; probably because we had back-to-back overseas assignments, our son didn’t attend his first Nutcracker until he was in middle school in Hawaii. He enjoyed it and somewhat ironically, he didn’t seem enamored of it. I don’t think the later “spark” was initiated that evening, but who knows if there was a lingering impact. I’ve lost count of the number of times he has now been in Nutcrackers and doing the Russian Dance for Delta Festival Ballet in New Orleans was his first professional appearance as in someone paid him. He generally dances at least two and sometimes three each season, although this year it’s only one, plus “A Christmas Carol” for a studio that often calls on him. There is a scheduling conflict with New Orleans, so he won’t be able to join them this year. On the other hand, that means he isn’t flying back on Christmas Eve for a change. That will make the week of Christmas a bit less hectic for them.

Granddaughter dressed up for the first ballet she attended.

New Hummingbird and Bee….

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Just had company in for a few days, plus had an unexpected deadline today, so got off-track a bit. I can’t post a photo because certain creatures are really fast. The first morning our friend was visiting, she was admiring the way the backyard had been refreshed. She made a comment about the hummingbird. No, we don’t have a hummingbird – must have been one of the big butterflies. But, she was correct as the little thing zipped rapidly past and flew off. He (or she) seems to only come around in the morning, so we may be on some kind of “yard circuit”. Hubby is trying to figure out how he’ll manage to get a photo at some point.

In checking some of the other plants, though we had also seen a very strange looking flying insect. I got close enough the other day to try a photo with no success. I gave up and posted the description on Facebook. One of my gardening/nature loving friends came back with this: “Could be a mason bee. They are solitary bees, no hives, and are iridescent green. They are native and do not sting. They hover and don’t seem to be afraid of people.”

That matched the description perfectly and so barring any more input, we’re sticking with that. In fact, we seem to have more bees this year than ever before. We also have mostly small butterflies with the larger ones mixed in. What we don’t have yet are buntings, at least not that we know of. Oh well, those may also appear before too long. The one hibiscus we had in back didn’t survive the movement from one spot to the other after all. Hubby is thinking about whether to plant a new one or go with something else. We do have the three our front so maybe a change.

Always Enjoyed Walking, But….

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I have posted before about my constant struggle with weight. While I might not be the poster child for yo-yo-dieting, I could be in the running. During my Army days, it wasn’t as intense as I was younger and of course, we had strict weight limits as well as constant physical fitness training with required runs three days per week. In my waning days, there was the time I was cajoled into running a half-marathon, but that was most assuredly a one-time event.

Anyway, I hated to jog and after retiring, I swapped to walking instead which I did enjoy. I managed to not put on too much weight, then circumstances with available time changed and I allowed myself to basically get out of control. My aging didn’t help, nor was it the single defining cause. Despite having put on extra weight, I’ve always kept up a program of walking at least four times a week, using time walking as opposed to distance. What I hadn’t realized was my efforts had become less effective. I had previously posted about us getting a stationary recumbent bicycle after I injured my knee. At that time, I was using a combination of walking some days and on the bike others. A few years ago during my travels, I was on a treadmill in a hotel gym. I did the usual amount of time and comfortable pace/elevation. Then I looked at the number of calories burned and saw it was less than when I used the bike. There was also the one age-related factor of being out for a walk and needing to go to the bathroom. I admittedly cut the walk short by a few minutes on more than one occasion to make sure I arrived back at the house in time.

Despite the delays due to an improperly installed part, Hubby did keep working with the manufacturers of the new recumbent bike and it is fully functional. Indeed, there are functions I have no idea how to use and that’s okay. It gives me the kind of exercise I need. Well, the kind I’m willing to do. No doubt a trainer would tell me I could do more.

Halloween Prep….

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We live in a neighborhood where there are already a great many children. For reasons we don’t quite understand, residents invite friends/family to our gated community for Halloween which expands the population even more. We are generally here and I usually buy seven large bags of candy (we get the good stuff) and even with that, we often have none left for the latecomers. Now, to be honest, we think no one should still be out looking for treats much past 8:30. Anyway, I had already bought five or six bags with the intent of rounding out the stock when I discovered we probably had another commitment that evening. We talked it over and decided not to put any decorations out since we weren’t going to be at home.

We have some new neighbors moving in across the street. It’s a local move so they have been back and forth a good bit doing things. I took most of the candy and asked if they were going to be there for Halloween. They weren’t sure, but they also get lots of kids in their current location, plus they have four of their own, so were happy to take the offering. I did hold out two bags in case we returned home earlier than expected. We didn’t and even though there were still “creatures” out, it was coming up on 9:00. We made the decision to leave the lights off rather than get something started at that hour. Which means I now have too much leftover candy. As soon as Hubby chooses what he wants to keep, I’ll make another trip across the street. In talking with people who live in other neighborhoods, some were all set and got basically no kids. As we said though, had they not been ready,  dozens would probably have shown up.

Things Do Have To Give At Times….

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Ah, there are often “ripple effects” that impact our plans and November is a prime example. The big scuba trade show is held in Orlando every other year and we always go. It’s a great time to meet up with people we sometimes only see there, attend interesting seminars, enjoy Orlando restaurants, and we often add on a day or two to do something at either Disney or Universal. We were all set to make our reservations when Hubby realized they changed the dates by a week this year for reasons that I don’t know. That put it in direct conflict with the NASCAR Championship Week. Aside from the fact Hubby loves to cover this, NASCAR has decided to rotate the Championship in the same way as other major sports. This will be the last time it’s held in Homestead for the foreseeable future since there are 22 other tracks where NASCAR runs. Therefore, there was no way the scuba show could have a higher priority. We’ll put out a Facebook post soon to let all our dive buddies know we won’t be around this year.

Next up are Thanksgiving plans. Our tradition is to go to Covington to see Hubby’s family. The ripple effect this time is going to be availability of that group due to some medical issues (nothing life-threatening) and other travel plans. I’m still trying to get a handle on all that. There are also multiple events here in November, some of which are overlapping although most just require some tricky scheduling.

Lastly is my anticipated publishing of, “Small Town Quilting Treasures”, the final of four books in the series. The editor had some events occur which delayed that process and it is highly questionable if I can do a Thanksgiving release. I didn’t have my heart set on that one, so I will simply adjust to whatever makes sense once I know what all has to be done with the manuscript.