There are a few things I've learned in life that you don't hear too much about. These things need to be brought to the attention of everyone who has any dealings with any other human beings. So read on. You are about to be educated.
1. One of the "conveniences" of living in this day & age is the telephone. No one calls it a telephone anymore. It is simply a phone. Like no one refers to a television as anything but a tv. We have shortened everything. In the past 15-20 years words that were 2 words are now 1 word with 2 upper case letters & no space. PowerPoint. PayPal. WorldCom. I suppose hitting that space bar to separate the words became inconvenient. Extra work.
We have simplified & we have over-convenienced ourselves to the point of inconvenience. The word "convenient" itself no longer seems to mean what it set out to mean. Case in point: That call holding feature most people have on their phones. Beep. (It should really be "bleep" instead of "beep" as it is so often associated with frustration, cussing & more cussing.) You are on the phone with your mother when she gets the beep. Oops. You're gone. "Hold on. I have another call. It could be (insert here someone - anyone more important than you)". You protest: "No. Wait. I have to talk to you. This is important." Too late. She's gone. Gone to the other side. The beep. You are left terribly frustrated because you now know that you are not as important as whoever it is who beeped in on you. Instead of that other caller getting a busy signal & having to call back, he/she gets through, & you get put on hold. And that's not fair because you were there first. Being tired of this after years & years of phone abuse, you finally have learned to hang up when you get put on hold. She calls back when the "important" call is finished, curious, & a little put out, as to why you would hang up on her. Don't you have all the time in the world to hold a phone to your ear, just waiting & waiting ? So you learn a new tactic. You hang up once you are put on hold. You wait a few seconds then you dial your mother again, knowing she will put that other call on hold because whoever is beeping in is ALWAYS more important than the one she is currently speaking with. And there is your convenience. Now you are the important one. If you hear your mom's phone beep again, this time you just hang up, consider yourself an orphan, & never call her again.
2. I am not lover of fast food. I don't even know what a Whopper contains. I don't know what a Big Mac is or what any of those new wrap things are that all of the fast food restaurants seem to be introducing lately. But I do know a little about value & service. The only fast food I eat every once in a while is an Egg McMuffin. Only I don't like to have any meat on it (ham), so I have ordered an Egg McMuffin without the ham. They give it to me & charge me the full price for the Egg McMuffin. No discount for not having the meat. What do you expect? It's fast food. But if you order a Sausage McMuffin which is on the dollar menu, you pay a dollar. If you order a Sausage McMuffin without the sausage, it is still a dollar. A lot cheaper than the Egg McMuffin without the ham because the Egg McMuffin is not on the dollar menu. And the interesting part is - - the cashier won't tell you about the difference. Don't they do this every day? One time the manager took my order. When I ordered the Egg McMuffin without the meat he said, "My wife likes it that way too." But he still charged me the Egg McMuffin price. That was when I was still naive about the McAnything world. Isn't this something a cashier/order taker would know about? The price difference between the Egg McMuffin & the Sausage McMuffin. They are both the same with the meat. But the price is different. I know not to expect a lot from fast food places, so when I do step foot inside one, I figure I get what I deserve. But at least I've learned the secret of the Sausage McMuffin. And this, my dear friends, I am passing along to you.
3. It is indeed hard times when your husband has to race around from store to store to find & stock up on - - rice. Yes rice. We are now experiencing the Great Rice Shortage of 2008. I was advised of this shortage by my husband as we sat at McDonald's yesterday gloating in our "way around the system" with regard to the Sausage McMuffin without the sausage. We had taken 2 of our cars to Discount Tire to have the tires rotated & decided to go to McDonald's just across the parking lot to wait the 45 minutes. After a sip of coffee, apropos of nothing, my husband announced, "There's a rice shortage, you know." I did not know that. I didn't even realize we were talking about rice. I couldn't help but laugh. He did not. He was serious about the rice shortage & worried, as only Lewis can be, about what we could do. He likes to buy the bags of frozen rice from Trader Joe's. Then I hear, almost to himself, "That's probably why I couldn't find the rice I usually get at Trader Joe's the last time I was there." A worried look crossed his face. I knew he had crossed a threshold then & there. The wheels were in motion. We went back to Discount Tire to retrieve our cars. He said he would meet me at home in a while. "In a while" usually means he's not coming right home. I knew he was on his way to Trader Joe's again. The Kowal Rice Hunt had begun.
Once I was home he called from Trader Joe's to ask me if I would eat brown rice. I don't like brown rice & he knows that. He asked if I would eat it if he put a sauce on it. I said I would, but I probably wouldn't be too hungry that night. Thankfully, he didn't buy brown rice. I get another call later from Costco, still on the rice hunt. It goes on & on. I'm sure this is not the last of it. Lewis likes grocery stores. He likes to shop. This is not over. Just to warn you, if you like rice, go now. Stock up. Your dinners depend on it. Oh, & the best part - - He had to buy a rice cooker. I told him we could cook rice in a regular pan like we had always done. But there's no reasoning with him now. At least not until the rice shortage is over & he moves on to something else to worry about.
4. Our sweet little Sparky had a birthday on Friday (4/25). She is 8 years old now. I should say 8 years young because you would think she is still a 1 year old puppy - - the way she runs & plays & prances & teases. She even jumps & catches a ball in the air. She's the sweetest little thing. So Happy Birthday, Sparky !
5. My necklace is tangled. I bought it about a yr ago & put it in my jewelry box. When I opened the jewelry box to take it out to wear shortly afterwards, I noticed it had somehow gotten connected to another necklace that I love. (Exactly what happens in there when you close the lid to the jewelry box?) They both have lots of little links. I can't get them apart. It's been close to a yr now that I've been working on them. I have it about 50% of the way untangled. But the remainder seems harder than the first part. Both necklaces are made of various strands, so we're not just talking about 2 connected chains. It's more like 8 connected chains. Very frustrating. (But not as frustrating as being on a call & having someone beep in on you). I used to always take my tangled jewelry to my mom to untangle, but she's so busy these days that I don't have the heart to bother her with it. Besides, she's getting ready for her Thelma & Louise road trip now. But my mom is undoubtedly the queen of untangling. Always has been. I'm sure it has something to do with her patience too. Oh, I'm sure it will still be in need of her when she returns from her trip. Maybe I'll impose on her then.
6. It's Sunday. I was awakened around 10:30 a.m. by noise in the bathroom. Lewis had pulled everything out of the linen closets & was throwing away all of the old, expired medicines & organizing the other stuff that was up there. I didn't realize we have about 10 boxes of Band-Aids. Big, small, medium. And Alka-Seltzer. We ended up with 3 large garbage bags of expired stuff. It's almost empty in there now. We have to re-stock. All of the sunscreens are expired & Lewis uses that every Sunday when he plays tennis. I even found Alex's first toothbrush. (Mickey Mouse). Have to save that. So it's really clean in there now. Lewis even cleaned out under his sink. I have been motivated by that to work on the area under my sink today. Who knows - - This house just might be clean (& organized) enough to put on the market eventually.
________________________________
We dropped Alex off at a friend's 14th birthday party last night on our way to dinner at the Grand Luxe Cafe in Scottsdale Fashion Square. I had the best salad I've ever had in my life. Yes, a salad actually can be exciting as long as it isn't made of those weeds they call "field greens". For dessert we had a chocolate cake & ice cream with hot fudge which was way too big for the 2 of us to eat. We ended up bringing half of it home for Alex.
I just made a pitcher of lemonade for my boys. They are in the family room screaming & yelling at the tv as a Phoenix Suns basketball game is presently their world. Alex just woke up around noon, then they put the game on. Why is there always a game on? At least it gives me time to write a little, check my email accounts, play Boggle, & today, work on cleaning my part of the bathroom. But before I do any cleaning, I see 2 large stacks of CDs on my desk that have not been downloaded to my iPod library yet. I think that will happen first. But the iPod still isn't cooperating. The library on the hard drive & in the external hard drive are both fine. The iPod itself won't connect & sync. I'm so tired of this thing. I went to the iTunes help site, did everything it told me to do. Still nothing. But I can't give up. I'm not going to forget all the music that means so much to me. Just wish me luck on this. It's driving me crazy. I think this is how Lewis feels about the Great Rice Shortage of 2008. Very frustrating. What can ya do? !
Phoenix Suns basketball game half-time & Alex is now outside in the driveway playing basketball. A 1-track mind!
I'm also planning on putting a bunch of authentic basketball jerseys on eBay today. They all still have tags on them & they are HUGE. Never worn. What else am I going to do with them? I have the text written for each of them. Just have to take the pictures today. And if all of that gets finished before I go to bed tonight, I just may work on my novel. It's almost finished & ready for the printer. Just have to do a little more editing.
My second lesson in remote controls was postponed because there was another basketball game on the night I was scheduled to have it. It had better happen before June !
Later.
Hugs,
Candace
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Friday, April 25, 2008
Lesson 1 - What the heck do all of those remote controls do?
Almost 53 years old & I'm finally learning the art of - - operating the tv. First you pick up one of the 6 remote controls. Then you just stare at it wondering if it's the right one & what to do next. They all have a little button that says ON/OFF or POWER. But that is deceiving. Read on. I know which one turns the tv on/off. That is the one I use for volume & changing the channel. After that, it's anyone's guess. When I ask which one I should use for the DVD, I'm told "The Sony one." Fine, but 3 of them say Sony on them. Will I be getting any clearer instructions than that, boys? I sure hope so.
I need to learn all of this before they leave. Lewis just says, "I've told you this 100 times." Alex is more patient. I'm learning it from him. Hopefully, I'll repay his kindness one day & be the one to teach him to drive rather than his dad.
My next lesson is tonight. We're going to watch something we recorded on the DVR & I will take notes as it's happening. After that, we will put a DVD in & I will be walked through the whole process.
First you have to get up to press the power button on this top receiver. Now let me ask you - - - Why, with all of these remotes, should I ever have to get up out of that chair? Get up ? Maybe we need a seventh remote.
Then you press the power button on the receiver on the shelf below it. (I guess this would require an extra remote as well. Or maybe we have them but he just doesn't use them for power). Then you go back to the chair & play with the remotes. I believe this is part of the home theatre system, but I can't be sure just yet. If sound comes out of the speakers in our ceiling & the windows rattle, I will know.
I just hope I'm as good a note taker as I think I am.
And don't even ask me what that other black box is in the corner of the family room that is supposed to have something to do with the whole system. I've never known what that thing is. I just know that Lewis has been saying we need a sub-woofer. Whatever that is. Just another mystery I don't care to know about. But it's probably black & it will probably sit on our floor also.
When Alex was about 7 yrs old I told him that when his dad & I were young, we would have to get up & walk across the room to change the channel or adjust the volume on the tv. He looked at me like I was crazy. I think he was first thinking I was making it up. He was wondering if I was just teasing him or if that could possibly have been true in "the olden days" when his parents were young. He did not believe me. And I would never have believed I'd be having to take lessons on how to work all of that electronics equipment in my family room. I just want to watch a couple of good shows, every episode in every season of "Northern Exposure" another couple of seasons of "Arrested Development" & maybe rent a movie or two. Is that asking too much? We already have the "Northern Exposure" & "Arrested Development" DVDs. So the rest should be easy. Right? Easy? Does that word come into play anywhere in this whole thing? I'll keep you posted after lesson 2. I know you can't wait.
Hugs,
Candace
I never considered myself technologically challenged until I had 6 remotes in front of me & a blank tv screen.
When Lewis & Alex are gone for a while I will not know how to use the DVD player, the DVR player or even the old video recorder. Forget completely about the home theatre system, the stereo or the separate CD player. They all have their own remotes that I will not even be touching. As far as the home theatre, I don't care if the sound comes through the ceiling at this point. I just want to know how to work the damn thing.
With my digital camera, I took pictures of all of the remotes & then of the one main one itself. The pictures are 8x10 & came out very clear. Lewis & Alex have been giving me instructions on how to operate each component. I've got little arrows on the pictures from button to button, instructions on another page, more arrows & lines on other pictures. I probably should color-code my instructions as well. I've already given each remote a number. Numbers & colors. I'm doing my best.
Alex told me this last night: If you want to turn on the tv & you hit ON & it doesn't go on, then you have to point it to this one black box, hit CABLE, TV, & then ON again.
Why?
I want to know why I can't just hit ON to make the tv come on. How hard can that be? But that's not why we're doing this.
(That's probably like the green button on the bottom left of your computer screen that says START. You have to click START to get to the point where it says you can shut down your computer. So you have to hit START to stop. Makes about as much sense as this whole tv thing.)
I need to learn all of this before they leave. Lewis just says, "I've told you this 100 times." Alex is more patient. I'm learning it from him. Hopefully, I'll repay his kindness one day & be the one to teach him to drive rather than his dad.
My next lesson is tonight. We're going to watch something we recorded on the DVR & I will take notes as it's happening. After that, we will put a DVD in & I will be walked through the whole process.
First you have to get up to press the power button on this top receiver. Now let me ask you - - - Why, with all of these remotes, should I ever have to get up out of that chair? Get up ? Maybe we need a seventh remote.
Then you press the power button on the receiver on the shelf below it. (I guess this would require an extra remote as well. Or maybe we have them but he just doesn't use them for power). Then you go back to the chair & play with the remotes. I believe this is part of the home theatre system, but I can't be sure just yet. If sound comes out of the speakers in our ceiling & the windows rattle, I will know.
I just hope I'm as good a note taker as I think I am.
And don't even ask me what that other black box is in the corner of the family room that is supposed to have something to do with the whole system. I've never known what that thing is. I just know that Lewis has been saying we need a sub-woofer. Whatever that is. Just another mystery I don't care to know about. But it's probably black & it will probably sit on our floor also.
When Alex was about 7 yrs old I told him that when his dad & I were young, we would have to get up & walk across the room to change the channel or adjust the volume on the tv. He looked at me like I was crazy. I think he was first thinking I was making it up. He was wondering if I was just teasing him or if that could possibly have been true in "the olden days" when his parents were young. He did not believe me. And I would never have believed I'd be having to take lessons on how to work all of that electronics equipment in my family room. I just want to watch a couple of good shows, every episode in every season of "Northern Exposure" another couple of seasons of "Arrested Development" & maybe rent a movie or two. Is that asking too much? We already have the "Northern Exposure" & "Arrested Development" DVDs. So the rest should be easy. Right? Easy? Does that word come into play anywhere in this whole thing? I'll keep you posted after lesson 2. I know you can't wait.
Hugs,
Candace
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
More of everything you don't need to know
Passover came & went without me. I was sick all week-end. Probably just a sinus infection. The NyQuil worked & the DayQuil worked. Did a lot of sleeping. Lewis & Alex went to Lewis's parents' on Saturday for dinner. We were supposed to have dinner at our house on Sunday, but no one wanted to get close to our house. I don't think a sinus infection is contagious, but everyone else does, apparently. So I was alone for both days. Just Sparky & me. We didn't even have quality girl time. We only had sleeping time. I would sleep & Sparky would curl up against me, probably feeling sorry for me. Lewis & Alex brought food home for me. I love Sevilan's cooking. Lewis made the spinache latkes & the charoset. I was supposed to make those 2 items (as they are the only Passover foods I can make), but again, no one wanted my germs near their food. So I stayed in the bedroom & Lewis did the work. Friday night he brought home vegetable egg fu yung for me. I love that. I had half of it Fri & the rest on Sat for lunch. Egg fu yung is highly under-rated. It's a really good meal. I even made it myself once. I started feeling a lot better on Sunday afternoon. Didn't have to miss any work.
Well, I did it. Got hooked & bought the computer version of Boggle so I can play every minute of the day if I so desire. I love that game. I also have the computer versions of Trivial Pursuit & Scrabble. Seems when I sit at the computer playing I lose track of time & forget to eat. That is now what I call the great computer diet. Just keep me supplied with ice water & I'm happy.
I downloaded the Trivial Pursuit to my Palm Pilot. When Lewis & I sit somewhere waiting for Alex we play that.
Alex has been doing very well in track. The first meet he ran the 100 meter & the 400 meter relay. It's amazing to watch my baby boy run past kids. Who knew he could run that fast?! At practice after the first meet he beat his best time. This is a whole new world to him. He's always played basketball & baseball. He loves it. He's sure in good shape ! Maybe he'll be playing tennis with his dad one of these days. He took tennis lessons for a while when he was younger but never seemed to get into it as he did the other sports. When his cousin Natalie comes over to spend the night they do play tennis then because Natalie loves it. Lewis plays tennis every Sunday morning & has for about 14 years. With the same group of guys he plays poker with. They even play in the summer. 7:00 a.m., but it's still about 90 degrees at that time. That's just crazy. But they're fanatical about it.
Having some iPod trouble. Again. I don't seem to get along with my iPod very well. Don't know what I keep doing wrong, but at least this time I didn't lose my entire library of 1,400 songs. I still haven't completed putting all of the songs on that I lost last time. I have about 700 songs in the library now & on the external hard drive. So I'm taking an iPod break for a while because this is really maddening. I will get back to it in a few days when I'm not so mad at it.
Rosalie & I tried the new neighborhood bar, Temple Bar & Grill. (I guess if "grill" doesn't have an "e" after it, you can expect it not to be so fru fru). It's a nice little neighborhood sports bar. Only been open since Feb of this year. There were families in there eating & playing games out on the patio. It's not one of those singles places; just a nice family place. They serve what I call "comfort foods" - - mashed potatoes & meat loaf, fish & chips. That kind of thing. They have a good selection of appetizers that you don't find at a lot of other bars. We had our standard - margaritas. Funny, but they don't have a blender in this bar. So you can't have a blended margarita. They were good anyway.
You may not know this, (& you may not care), but I am a mystery shopper. Have been for about 9 years. I get emails from mystery shopping companies whose clients are bars, restaurants, retail stores, etc. I can choose to accept the assignment or not. And hope I get my response in before someone else gets the job. Lewis & I like doing the restaurant shops. We've had brunch at the Cheesecake Factory several times & once at their sister restaurant, Cafe Luxe. Lately, I've been doing breakfast shops here at my office cafeteria at American Express. Talk about convenient ! The pay is good & I get paid for what I buy up to a certain amount. The amount I'm allowed to spend is always very reasonable. I have only taken a few of the retail assignments. Prefer to do the restaurants. Z'Tejas was good for dinner too. It's free to join these Mystery Shopping companies. If you would like any of their email addresses to register, just let me know. I have a whole list that I give to anyone who is interested. And no, I don't get any points or money for referring anyone. You don't even have to say you were referred. It's really a great way to get some free meals -- plus get paid a fee for doing it. I am registered with about 12 companies. Sometimes you may get an unsolicited email advertising a mystery shopping company. Just send $29 & they'll send you all of these lists. Don't do it. You don't need to spend a dime to register with these mystery shopping companies.
It's almost Cinco de Mayo. Best time of year to party in Arizona. I remember one year when Alex was about 8 or 9 years old, he had a baseball game on Cinco de Mayo so we turned down an invitation to a Cinco de Mayo party. After his game, we went to this little Mexican restaurant in the neighborhood for dinner. Seemed like his whole team was there with their parents. He knew every kid in the place. I am planning a Cinco de Mayo lunch here at my office. I've convinced 2 people to make homemade guacamole. I'm bringing a blender & someone else is going to bring the ingredients for virgin margaritas. Has to be virgin. This is a place of business, you know!
My boys now have their tickets for New York & Israel. They are planning on seeing a Yankees game during the 3 days they're in NY. It will be Alex's only chance before the stadium is torn down next year. He's always wanted to see a game there. My dad was a major sports nut - - every sport, every season. Now I have one of those on my hands. Alex talks sports stats just like my dad used to. It's a totally different language to me, but he's very excited about it. Lewis, Alex, my brother-in-law Dennis, & my nephew Adam are all on the same wave length as far as sports go. Alex is more excited about the Yankees game than he is about going to Israel.
I think Lewis told me they were planning on seeing a play also. Three days isn't enough time to do the whole New York tourist thing, but they're going to try to fit as much in as they can before leaving for Israel.
Friends Ron & Jill (who live iin NY) recently got married. Ron lives in NY & is a childhood friend of Lewis's. They've known each other ever since they were little kids. Ron was in our wedding - - which was almost 20 years ago. May 1 will be our 20-year anniversary. No, it doesn't seem that long to me either. Where does the time go!? And here we are with a 14-year old. When Deb & I went to the yard sales on the 12th, she said she couldn't believe it had been 20 years since she was in my wedding. We don't feel old, but time keeps moving on. How does that work?
If you're out of state, you may not have heard that last night was another siting of mysterious lights in the sky. UFO. Eleven years ago, my friend Martha was in her front yard in the evening watering her plants. She looked up & saw what is now referred to as "The Phoenix Lights." It was visible for about 3 hours. Never an explanation. You won't believe this, but last night, again, Martha was out in her front yard watering her plants, she looked up & there it was again - - 11 years later. This time it was only visible for about 15 minuts. Luke Air Force Base said they had no aircraft in the sky last night. Sky Harbor Airport air traffic controllers saw it but didn't know what to make of it. No one is taking "credit" for it, but at least they're not telling us it's a weather balloon like we seem to hear & read about too often. I'm still amazed at Martha. How many people see UFOs in their lifetime? Mostly none. But Martha saw it twice. She called her daughter Sheila. Sheila grabbed her video camera & recorded it. She didn't look at the recording yet so she doesn't know if it even came out. I'm going to call Martha tonight & see if Sheila looked at it yet.
Won't be too long before Nick & his wife Ann are back in Phoenix. Dragging a U-Haul & their dog. He got a great job with The Boulders Resort. (Nick, not his dog). His background is in resort management. It was an opportunity he couldn't pass up. Mom is thrilled he'll be back here ("where he belongs" she adds).
We rented the movie "The Number 23" a few nights ago. Not too bad. Not too great either.
That's it for now.
Hugs,
Candace
Well, I did it. Got hooked & bought the computer version of Boggle so I can play every minute of the day if I so desire. I love that game. I also have the computer versions of Trivial Pursuit & Scrabble. Seems when I sit at the computer playing I lose track of time & forget to eat. That is now what I call the great computer diet. Just keep me supplied with ice water & I'm happy.
I downloaded the Trivial Pursuit to my Palm Pilot. When Lewis & I sit somewhere waiting for Alex we play that.
Alex has been doing very well in track. The first meet he ran the 100 meter & the 400 meter relay. It's amazing to watch my baby boy run past kids. Who knew he could run that fast?! At practice after the first meet he beat his best time. This is a whole new world to him. He's always played basketball & baseball. He loves it. He's sure in good shape ! Maybe he'll be playing tennis with his dad one of these days. He took tennis lessons for a while when he was younger but never seemed to get into it as he did the other sports. When his cousin Natalie comes over to spend the night they do play tennis then because Natalie loves it. Lewis plays tennis every Sunday morning & has for about 14 years. With the same group of guys he plays poker with. They even play in the summer. 7:00 a.m., but it's still about 90 degrees at that time. That's just crazy. But they're fanatical about it.
Having some iPod trouble. Again. I don't seem to get along with my iPod very well. Don't know what I keep doing wrong, but at least this time I didn't lose my entire library of 1,400 songs. I still haven't completed putting all of the songs on that I lost last time. I have about 700 songs in the library now & on the external hard drive. So I'm taking an iPod break for a while because this is really maddening. I will get back to it in a few days when I'm not so mad at it.
Rosalie & I tried the new neighborhood bar, Temple Bar & Grill. (I guess if "grill" doesn't have an "e" after it, you can expect it not to be so fru fru). It's a nice little neighborhood sports bar. Only been open since Feb of this year. There were families in there eating & playing games out on the patio. It's not one of those singles places; just a nice family place. They serve what I call "comfort foods" - - mashed potatoes & meat loaf, fish & chips. That kind of thing. They have a good selection of appetizers that you don't find at a lot of other bars. We had our standard - margaritas. Funny, but they don't have a blender in this bar. So you can't have a blended margarita. They were good anyway.
You may not know this, (& you may not care), but I am a mystery shopper. Have been for about 9 years. I get emails from mystery shopping companies whose clients are bars, restaurants, retail stores, etc. I can choose to accept the assignment or not. And hope I get my response in before someone else gets the job. Lewis & I like doing the restaurant shops. We've had brunch at the Cheesecake Factory several times & once at their sister restaurant, Cafe Luxe. Lately, I've been doing breakfast shops here at my office cafeteria at American Express. Talk about convenient ! The pay is good & I get paid for what I buy up to a certain amount. The amount I'm allowed to spend is always very reasonable. I have only taken a few of the retail assignments. Prefer to do the restaurants. Z'Tejas was good for dinner too. It's free to join these Mystery Shopping companies. If you would like any of their email addresses to register, just let me know. I have a whole list that I give to anyone who is interested. And no, I don't get any points or money for referring anyone. You don't even have to say you were referred. It's really a great way to get some free meals -- plus get paid a fee for doing it. I am registered with about 12 companies. Sometimes you may get an unsolicited email advertising a mystery shopping company. Just send $29 & they'll send you all of these lists. Don't do it. You don't need to spend a dime to register with these mystery shopping companies.
It's almost Cinco de Mayo. Best time of year to party in Arizona. I remember one year when Alex was about 8 or 9 years old, he had a baseball game on Cinco de Mayo so we turned down an invitation to a Cinco de Mayo party. After his game, we went to this little Mexican restaurant in the neighborhood for dinner. Seemed like his whole team was there with their parents. He knew every kid in the place. I am planning a Cinco de Mayo lunch here at my office. I've convinced 2 people to make homemade guacamole. I'm bringing a blender & someone else is going to bring the ingredients for virgin margaritas. Has to be virgin. This is a place of business, you know!
My boys now have their tickets for New York & Israel. They are planning on seeing a Yankees game during the 3 days they're in NY. It will be Alex's only chance before the stadium is torn down next year. He's always wanted to see a game there. My dad was a major sports nut - - every sport, every season. Now I have one of those on my hands. Alex talks sports stats just like my dad used to. It's a totally different language to me, but he's very excited about it. Lewis, Alex, my brother-in-law Dennis, & my nephew Adam are all on the same wave length as far as sports go. Alex is more excited about the Yankees game than he is about going to Israel.
I think Lewis told me they were planning on seeing a play also. Three days isn't enough time to do the whole New York tourist thing, but they're going to try to fit as much in as they can before leaving for Israel.
Friends Ron & Jill (who live iin NY) recently got married. Ron lives in NY & is a childhood friend of Lewis's. They've known each other ever since they were little kids. Ron was in our wedding - - which was almost 20 years ago. May 1 will be our 20-year anniversary. No, it doesn't seem that long to me either. Where does the time go!? And here we are with a 14-year old. When Deb & I went to the yard sales on the 12th, she said she couldn't believe it had been 20 years since she was in my wedding. We don't feel old, but time keeps moving on. How does that work?
If you're out of state, you may not have heard that last night was another siting of mysterious lights in the sky. UFO. Eleven years ago, my friend Martha was in her front yard in the evening watering her plants. She looked up & saw what is now referred to as "The Phoenix Lights." It was visible for about 3 hours. Never an explanation. You won't believe this, but last night, again, Martha was out in her front yard watering her plants, she looked up & there it was again - - 11 years later. This time it was only visible for about 15 minuts. Luke Air Force Base said they had no aircraft in the sky last night. Sky Harbor Airport air traffic controllers saw it but didn't know what to make of it. No one is taking "credit" for it, but at least they're not telling us it's a weather balloon like we seem to hear & read about too often. I'm still amazed at Martha. How many people see UFOs in their lifetime? Mostly none. But Martha saw it twice. She called her daughter Sheila. Sheila grabbed her video camera & recorded it. She didn't look at the recording yet so she doesn't know if it even came out. I'm going to call Martha tonight & see if Sheila looked at it yet.
Won't be too long before Nick & his wife Ann are back in Phoenix. Dragging a U-Haul & their dog. He got a great job with The Boulders Resort. (Nick, not his dog). His background is in resort management. It was an opportunity he couldn't pass up. Mom is thrilled he'll be back here ("where he belongs" she adds).
We rented the movie "The Number 23" a few nights ago. Not too bad. Not too great either.
That's it for now.
Hugs,
Candace
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Candace Kowal Tips
A few tips for those of you who live for tips. And I don't mean the monetary kind. These may seem basic, but I've found them helpful. And they're my own. They didn't come from some forwarded email.
1. If you refill those little vitamin containers with the days on the top of each compartment with your daily vitamins or prescriptions, where do you do the refilling? On a table where the pills can roll off onto the carpeted floor without you knowing it? Even if you don't have carpet on your floors, chances are you won't hear that tiny pill roll off & hit the floor. Soon you see a little piece of half-eaten pill on the floor & end up running your dog to the vet. As you know, this happened to me. Poor Sparky was in doggie ICU for the whole day. Caused her a lot of distress & cost us a lot of money. (Doggie ICU ! ) Now, I put a bath towel on the table when I'm refilling my little pill container. If one drops out of my palm, it lands on the towel & does not roll. I feel better & Sparky stays healthy.
2. Back to pills....If you take pills on a daily basis, take a drink of water before you take the pills. This makes your mouth & throat moist. The pills are less likely to get stuck in your throat & go down easier.
3. I was constantly writing myself reminders on scrap paper & would put it next to my purse so I would see it in the morning before I left for work.
The reminders were:
Take phone off charger & put in purse.
Take lunch to work.
Take phone & lunch.
Sparky ate.
on & on & on
So I had all these little scraps of paper around & kept losing them & would need to write more. I decided to get a 4x4" spiral notepad. The pages are more of a card stock than a standard paper weight. (Party stores carry them. Office supply stores probably do too.)
On one page I wrote "Lunch". On another page I wrote "Phone". Anything I would need to write myself a note about on a regular basis.
Now, the night before, I turn the little notebook to the appropriate page & set it on top of my purse so I'll see it in the morning & remember to do something. Usually take my phone off the charger or take my lunch to work.
If I come home from work & leave for some reason before Lewis is home, I turn to the "Sparky ate" page & put it on the counter in a special place where we leave notes for each other. That way he doesn't feed her again. That used to happen to us. Sparky was happy about it.
4. If you travel often (or even just for a week-end), you might come home to find all of your digital clocks blinking. Electricity went off while you were gone, but you don't know for how long. Could have been a few seconds, could have been a day or 2 - long enough to defrost everything in your freezer. When the electricity came back on, the contents of your freezer would freeze again. You would never know if your sirloins were defrosted for a couple of days. Put 1 ice cube in a Baggie in the freezer before you leave. When you come back, look at it. If it's a frozen puddle, you'll know the freezer was off long enough to melt the ice cube. Long enough to defrost your food. If the ice cube is still in the same shape, you'll know the electricity was only off for a short while & your food is safe.
Later.
Hugs,
Candace
1. If you refill those little vitamin containers with the days on the top of each compartment with your daily vitamins or prescriptions, where do you do the refilling? On a table where the pills can roll off onto the carpeted floor without you knowing it? Even if you don't have carpet on your floors, chances are you won't hear that tiny pill roll off & hit the floor. Soon you see a little piece of half-eaten pill on the floor & end up running your dog to the vet. As you know, this happened to me. Poor Sparky was in doggie ICU for the whole day. Caused her a lot of distress & cost us a lot of money. (Doggie ICU ! ) Now, I put a bath towel on the table when I'm refilling my little pill container. If one drops out of my palm, it lands on the towel & does not roll. I feel better & Sparky stays healthy.
2. Back to pills....If you take pills on a daily basis, take a drink of water before you take the pills. This makes your mouth & throat moist. The pills are less likely to get stuck in your throat & go down easier.
3. I was constantly writing myself reminders on scrap paper & would put it next to my purse so I would see it in the morning before I left for work.
The reminders were:
Take phone off charger & put in purse.
Take lunch to work.
Take phone & lunch.
Sparky ate.
on & on & on
So I had all these little scraps of paper around & kept losing them & would need to write more. I decided to get a 4x4" spiral notepad. The pages are more of a card stock than a standard paper weight. (Party stores carry them. Office supply stores probably do too.)
On one page I wrote "Lunch". On another page I wrote "Phone". Anything I would need to write myself a note about on a regular basis.
Now, the night before, I turn the little notebook to the appropriate page & set it on top of my purse so I'll see it in the morning & remember to do something. Usually take my phone off the charger or take my lunch to work.
If I come home from work & leave for some reason before Lewis is home, I turn to the "Sparky ate" page & put it on the counter in a special place where we leave notes for each other. That way he doesn't feed her again. That used to happen to us. Sparky was happy about it.
4. If you travel often (or even just for a week-end), you might come home to find all of your digital clocks blinking. Electricity went off while you were gone, but you don't know for how long. Could have been a few seconds, could have been a day or 2 - long enough to defrost everything in your freezer. When the electricity came back on, the contents of your freezer would freeze again. You would never know if your sirloins were defrosted for a couple of days. Put 1 ice cube in a Baggie in the freezer before you leave. When you come back, look at it. If it's a frozen puddle, you'll know the freezer was off long enough to melt the ice cube. Long enough to defrost your food. If the ice cube is still in the same shape, you'll know the electricity was only off for a short while & your food is safe.
Later.
Hugs,
Candace
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