The rifleman

When there isn't anything good on TV in the evenings and Dave and I want to have something on while we are working on our computers, Dave finds the old classic TV shows. I love Lucy, The Andy Griffith Show, and finally The Rifleman. I am enjoying watching these shows, but especially The Rifleman. I especially like the relationship between Lucas McCain and his son Mark. Lucas listens to his son, but yet is a stern disciplinarian. They have their differences and disagreements and sometimes Mark disobeys Lucas, but then they have a good sit down talk and they actually communicate their feelings and thoughts to each other. The story lines are weak, but they are just the vehicles to get across the themes of duty, honor, love, truth and justice. And that Mark McCain is one cute kid. Why didn't I have a crush on him when I was younger. I don't remember having a crush on him. I should have. I was about his age when the shows were on.

Football, falling and other fun things

Yesterday Dave and I went to the Eastern Michigan vs Western Michigan football game at Eastern. It was raining, but we hoped that it would quit by game time. The photographer that originally wanted to take pictures and we were counting on had something come up and would not be there, so I was going to take some pictures.

While walking down the steps of the bleachers to the field, I must have twisted my ankle, and I fell down hard on the steps. My back end hit the corner of the aluminum seat, so I have a pretty deep bruise on my hip. It will be pretty colors in a few days. My pants got wet from the steps and my ankle was a little achy, but after sitting for a bit, I was able to get up and go down to the field. What amazes me is that no one saw me or if they did, they chose not to come to help me. Granted there wasn't anybody near by, but I would have thought someone would have seen me. Oh well. Good thing I wasn't hurt real bad. I would have called Dave down from the press box to help me, but they had the music playing very, very loud. I did call him once I got the field and was able to get away from the speakers.

Well, I stayed on the field for the first half. The rain did clear up and I got a few good shots. Today I am a little achy, but not too bad. The game was good. Eastern won.

More later....going to Lansing to see baby Luke.

annoying neighbors

The "old guy" across the street has an "old woman" living with him. Right now - 8 p.m. at night, dark - she is trying to position a trailer that is attached to an old van that she sometimes drives. The van has a bad muffler. She has been positioning the trailer and van for 45 minutes now. All I hear is varoom, varoom, varoom. She inches forward, she inches backward, forward, backward, turn the wheel, forward again, now backward.....She is really irritating me.

emptying the dishwasher

I hate to empty the dishwasher. I don't really know why. I would rather wash the dirty dishes that are piling up (because the dishwasher is full with clean dishes) than put away the clean dishes. I am okay with puttting away the plates. The cups seem to be a little more of a problem for me. But I really get hung up at the silverware. I noticed that if I do one section at a time, first the plates, then the glasses, then the cups, I do better. But the silverware is a jumbled mess that just makes me want to go back to watching TV or reading my book. The spoons, forks, knives and spatulas are all jumbled together. It would be nice if there was a spot for each of those. All the spoons in one section of the silverware basket, all the forks in another. I did find that if I empty one section at a time that it works a little better for me. Does anyone else have this same problem?

crazy conure

I have a nightgown that has tiny snaps down the front. Riley the conure likes to chew on them until the come apart. He is really good at getting them unsnapped.

On another note, Riley likes a certain flower like seed that smells like licorce. A very pleasant smell.

Sunday, October 7, 2007

Sunday - My dad celebrated his 85th birthday on Thursday. I called to say happy birthday. Turns out he isn't having a happy birthday. Yesterday half of his electricity in his mobile home went out. The lot owners are telling him that he has to pay to get it fixed. The line somewhere between the meter (four units down) and Dad's unit is bad. The lines are buried with the other lines, cable and such. He was initially quoted a price of $6,000. Oh, my. This doesn't sound right to me. How come if you rent a lot from a mobile home park you have to pay for the cost of a line that is buried on the mobile home park's premises? He is going to have a lawyer look over his lease and get other quotes. I am going to call him sometime this week and see how things are going.

Update: I started this on Sunday and didn't finish it. I still have to call my dad. Reminder to self, call your dad.

not sure what to say

I got to sleep in a little bit this morning. Dave had to get up early to work for a couple of hours, but I was able to sleep until almost 9 a.m. Then I made us some breakfast, took a shower, and then slowly got dressed. I was out the door a few minutes after Dave. Dave was off to watch the EMU vs UofM football at Al's house. I declined, as I wanted to take this opportunity to do whatever I wanted to do.

My first stop was Krogers. I had purchased some lightbulbs for the ceiling fans, only to find out they were not the correct size, so I thought I would return them. I also had cans to return and needed some cooking oil, q-tips, and anti-diarrheal medication. (what a combination) So that is what I did. I had to get tough with another shopper in the U-scan line. She was going to get the next open spot, even though I had already been standing in line before her. Granted, I was on the other side of the sign, but the sign was in the center of the area where people stand. I didn't feel too bad about gently reminding her that I was next, since she was the one that was causing problems at the service desk and I had to wait for her to do her business there for a good 10 minutes.

I then headed for JCPenney's to purchase needed underwear, socks, and a couple shirts for Dave and I. Penney's was having another sale (do they ever not have a sale?) and I was able to get some good prices on the needed items.

Next stop, the library. I had been without a book to read for a couple of weeks. I have been too busy with setting up the work, setting up the website to work with Joomla, and trying to find time to relax. I got three books. We shall see if I read them. I have already read all the books in the mystery series that I had been involved in and I didn't see any new books in any of the other series of books by other authors that I usually read, so I guess I have to try another author or two and see if I can get interested in their series of books.

After the library, I stopped to get some KFC, since I have been having a craving for that and Dave doesn't like it. I went home and watched a Lifetime Movie. Lifetime Movies are pretty silly and it is hard to watch them with other people around, especially Dave. He always points out how ridiculous they are. Of course, I do the same when he tries to watch bigtime wrestling or something like that.

All in all, it was a nice day. I got a little bit of cleaning done and hope to get more done tomorrow.

huge child

Oh my, check out this 17 pound baby.

http://news.yahoo.com/photo/070926/ids_photos_ts/ra3291886192.jpg;_ylt=Ao7zbpjRYWQs8CXHuPJyjeyek3QF

allergies

I feel bad because I don't post very much. I think about it and then never have the time. I am going to try to post a couple more things today. Right now I want to complain, but don't want to actually complain to anyone specifically. I am having a bad day. For some reason I am having a horrible allergy attack. I have different kinds of allergies. Some are the sneezing and some are the asthma. But this one is the itchy nose. I mean itchy all over. Outside, inside and scratchy throat. If I am not careful, I will rub my nose raw and get an ugly scab on the top of my nose. I have done it before. I am trying to work and deal with this. I took an allergy pill, a benedryl, some cough medicine with codeine and have put an ice pack on my nose. Oh, and I sprayed the inside of my nose with Astelin. I still itch.

perfect salad

I think I made my perfect salad. At least perfect for me.

Crisp iceberg lettuce, cut up in small pieces.
Grated colby cheese
whole grain bread crumbs, toasted in skillet with butter
White wine vinaigrette, homemade (oil, white vinegar, sugar, garlic powder, salt)

Very tasty, yep, it was very tasty indeed.

Lazy Saturday

Well, I am having a slightly lazy Saturday. Dave is busy writing articles for Blue Ribbon YearBook and then he probably will have to start on his CD reviews for Living Blues. I left about 8:30 this morning to give blood. The Red Cross had been calling and calling me to see if I would give, as there is quite a blood shortage right now in the Detroit area. It seemed like it took forever to fill that pint and now I am feeling more weak that usual after giving blood. So I am just sitting around, reading a book, and intermittently popping up and doing a little bit of housework. I have cleaned the tub and sink in the bathroom, done 1 load of laundry and have two more to do. I want to put some nail polish on my nails and do some other little chores also. I am also feeling a little out of my element, since I have the website done and don't have too much more to do with that. I did want to set up a better photo gallery if I can.

Well, that's about it for now. More later maybe.

computer software

Dave has me working on a project for MAC Report Online. We want to change the website to a content management program. So I have installed Joomla and have been busy trying to configure and program it so that it is useful to our needs. For me this is fun (and frustrating sometimes) because the program is free, the addons and plugins are free, and I love taking software and figuring it out. We did pay for a template.

I feel like it is Christmas when I get new software to work with. This is even more exciting; there are all kinds of plugins, addons, etc to play with.

It is a work in progress, but you can watch the progress by going to www.macreportonline.com/Joomla


Comments, help, questions, constructive criticisms are welcome.

gross advertising

Watching TV and working on the laptop - commercial comes on for AllBran. It is a construction worker at a work site eating something from a bowl, walking around the job site. He is telling about how AllBran has really helped him. I don't think he uses any wording that describes the actual bowel process, just that he needed to be more regular. But behind him you see first a man pulling a huge iron girder out of a wall and then a dump truck dumping a load of bricks. How gross is that? Was that suppose to be sublimal?

Frank Marino

The last act at the Blues Festival in Pittsburgh was Frank Marino and Mahogany Rush. There were a lot of "groupies" in the audience, but by the time Frank played, a lot of them were so drunk they probably don't remember any of the concert. Frank is know for his hard, loud rock 'n roll blues. He also doesn't like to take breaks or stop playing. He is known for three hour long concerts. He had to cut his usual concert short for the festival format, but it still was not disappointing.

Well, that wasn't enough of Frank for Dave, so this last weekend we attended his concert in Detroit at St. Andrew's Hall. This was the real thing. Three hours and five minutes. No breaks. No chairs to sit in. No air conditioning, just fans. Oh my. Dave and I came prepared with ear plugs, comfortable shoes, and well-hydrated. Still, I had to sit down by the wall after 2-1/2 hours. Dave hardly noticed that I was gone. I think he loved it.

The sky is falling, the sky is falling

Well, at least it seems like it. Helicopters, small planes and now a bridge, just falling out of the sky. Sheesh.

Road trip to Blues Festival in Pittsburgh

Well, two weekends ago, Dave and I had a road trip to see a blues festival in Pittsburgh. Here are some pictures.

Larry McCray. Good, as always.


















Bernard Allison. He was a surprize for us. This is the first time we had heard him and he was very good. Plus he has two of the whitist band members, and they seemed even paler in comparison with the blackness of Bernard and his drummer. All musicians were awesome.

He even copied Lonnie and Ronnie Baker Brooks - going out into the crowd while playing. He doesn't have the handshake down yet, but the crowd loved it. I took this picture as he was walking past me. I was seated of course.

All and all, Dave and I had a good time, even if we did have to wait a long time for the music to start.

Blues on the Mall - Lansing, MI

We went to see Ronnie Baker Brooks in Lansing last Thursday.









I took this picture of these ladies dancing. What I find endearing is that they were just dancing away, not caring how they looked. They were happy, like little kids moving and shaking. How cool that we adults can sometimes just let loose and become kids again.





Ronnie is great at performing. His signature style, as is his dad's, is that he goes out in the crowd while playing a song and shakes hands, plays the guitar with a bottle (slide) and plays the guitar behind his back.


Mindy and Mike and Luke met us at the mall for the second half, after they got done meeting with Joel Zumaya and getting their picture taken with him. Check out Mindy's blog for that picture.

Finches visiting our birdfeeder - thanks Cindy

My sister gave me a thistle birdfeeder. We have seen two types of finches so far. A gold finch and a house finch. They are beautiful. I have the hummingbird feeder hanging out, but haven't seen any activity by it yet. They are probably too fast for us to see.

work today

Wow, what a day at work. I think I did pretty good at keeping up with things and not going crazy, but probably I could not have not whined to Kari or Bob about how busy I was. I had one VPN connection to get corrected, then immediately more calls started coming in. One to fix another VPN connection, one to fix some templates, another to install two of our programs on three computers, one of which proved to be a big problem, an email came in to fix a file on one website, another email to fix a graphic for a template, multiple questions about the software, more training for a new transcriptionist and a couple Instant Messages with questions. I barely got time to eat or relieve myself. I haven't had a busy day like that in a long time. It felt good to be able to handle things, but yet frustrating that I couldn't fix the couple things that I have left unfinished. Sometimes eight hours are not enough to handle all the problems that crop up.

Hopefully tomorrow will not be that busy.

Riley - ninja warrior

This is Riley sitting on his/her tail - preening - with the sound from the G4 TV show - Women Ninja Warriors.