Christmas Day 2016

The day is almost done which means it’s only 364 more shopping days until next Christmas. So, you better get out there and rake in all those after Christmas bargains so you’ll be ready. Don’t, however, hide them in places like we do that turn out to be the best place ever to hide things because they seem to just disappear.

Last night our church conducted its traditional 11 pm Christmas Eve service for the first time in many years. Our previous Pastor moved the service to 9 pm the last few years because he had a long commute. It was good to get back to tradition and many folks participated. It was a good evening, led by our Council President, Angela. She was nervous, but did a great job, and the order of service that she and Nancy authored was excellent. Very meaningful, filled with songs. It was all about the Christmas story. Very nice.

Staying up so late is something we’re not used to and getting things ready for the family crowd today didn’t leave much room to sleep in for long. I did, anyway, because the dogs still got me up at 6-ish. Diane got up pretty early, too, but she left me sleeping in my normal morning napping spot on the couch while she went down to her girl room and wrapped presents. Lots, and lots of presents. I was oblivious.

All of our children and grand children were here as well as Jennie & Dan’s ‘adopted’ exchange student, Ahmed who is from Pakistan. This was the first time he’s ever participated in a family Christmas gathering so it was quite an experience for him. Lots of happy noise, good food, and a very slow process of opening presents. This year we alternated from the youngest, Jerrie Anne, to the oldest, Diane’s Mom, Jean. Then came Baylee, Me, Gilligan, Diane, Ahmed, Jeff, Jeran, Heather, Lydia, Daniel, Cedric, and Jennifer, in that order until everyone had opened all their presents. It’s a slow process but it’s one of our traditions that allows everyone to experience the joy of watching each person open their gifts instead of having paper flying everywhere like it’s a free for all. That’s just not fun for us.

On family days like this Diane always wears herself out with cooking and making sure everyone is properly fed, just like a super star mom should. This year she made her world-famous Black Bean Vegetable Soup for everyone, and her most excellent Clam Chowder (for Lydia). I cut up all the vegetables for the soups and for the vegetable tray. Sounds simple, but I managed to slice a bit from the side of a finger while cutting up tomatoes. I finally had to quit and put on a rubber glove when I started getting blood all over the carrots. Thankfully the carrots cleaned up OK and I don’t think I’m still contagious so everyone should be OK.

Diane’s Mom always comments on what a lot of work it is for Diane to host events like this forgetting, I think, that I actually participate in lots of the work. My part is to do exactly what I’m told to do and to not volunteer to step in to take over a task that Diane is already working on. I used to get in trouble for that all the time. It took me about 47 years to figure out that she was actually serious about asking for my help when she needed it. So now I just sit around doing other stuff, ready to jump up and help whenever she calls me. I have to admit that I’m still not very good about doing things that are scheduled a day or two out. I’m much better at helping when it’s needed right now.

I always to it cheerfully, too, because I’m the best husband in the entire world.

What else could I be for the best wife in the entire world?

Now the day is done and I must call it quits. Both Diane and I hope everyone had a terrific Christmas and that when the celebrating was done you made it safely home.

Joy and Peace to you all.

Public Toilets

I read the news again this morning, a task I’ve been avoiding, and found a story regarding the LGBT community and public bathrooms. There was no mention of the non-LGBT community which is surely affected by decisions to support the other side of that coin, but that’s OK. The bottom line, as I understand it, is that the LGBT group want to use toilets that are specific to their chosen, genetically assigned, or surgically manipulated gender. I respect that need. When ya gotta go, ya gotta go, you know?

After giving this thorough consideration I’ve come up with two possible solutions.

  1. Close all public toilets. Instead, focus on encouraging folks to go to the bathroom before they leave home, just like parents do with their kids.
  2. Place portable toilets on each side of entrances into large stores, like Macy’s, Nordstrom, Wal-Mart, etc., and in school breezeways, and throughout large parking lots.

This may pose problems for eating establishments that are not located inside a mall, but I have a solution for that, too. Have one bathroom that has 4 sinks so folks can wash their hands after using the portable toilets next to the entrance on their way in.

I, personally, really don’t give a hoot which bathroom anyone uses. When I have to use public facilities I don’t take an inventory of who’s in there with me. I’m not there to judge or strike up a spirited conversation. I just want to do my business, wash my hands, and leave. Emphasis on “wash my hands.”

Cheers!

Welcome to the Seventies

I’m a day early on this but wanted to get it out there. My favorite wife, my first one, is having a birthday tomorrow and she’s moving into the 70’s tomorrow. In honor of that were having a little party tonight to celebrate her last night in the 60’s. I’m pretty sure she isn’t aware of it, yet, so I guess you could call it a surprise.  Just cake and the Walters Clan because this is their only day off. I’m sure we will connect with the rest of the local Cate Clan this week to complete the celebration.

Okinawa, 1968, when we were newly married.

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More recent

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Diane’s Pantry & Snow Days

 

So … I reorganized Diane’s pantry. What do you think? It’s much easier to find things, now. Before we had to dig through all the shelves to find what we were looking for. Sometimes we just dug around to see what was there. Now, everything is right out there in the open and easy to see. The dogs love it because it’s like wandering around in a grocery store, picking out the things that look good.

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It snowed a few days ago and doesn’t appear that it’s going to leave us soon. Watching the news yesterday about all the traffic jams almost made us want to move into Portland. It was an incredible mess. Those “in the know” pointed their fingers of blame at the Oregon Department of Transportation for not using rock salt on the road. Washington does, and they don’t seem to have any difficulty getting around in snowy weather. Oregon uses lots of gravel at intersections, which is good, and lots and lots of chemicals on bridges and main roads. Out here in the country, things are quite good by comparison because most of the drivers have an inherent knowledge that they should drive a lot slower when there is snow and ice on the road. Many Portlanders don’t have that ability. Consequently, they cause problems that all the news stations just love.

Now for some snow pictures, just to prove we actually had some. Not much, this time, but some. Just enough, actually, for the district to close schools for a couple of days.

I think I mentioned on my first posting of this photo that our balls look much nicer with snow on them.

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Ozzie either isn’t a fan, or he’s got a problem with Panzee taking advantage of an opportunity to sniff his butt. Or is she just looking at it?

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Our snowman even got snow on him. You’d think it would just absorb into him, wouldn’t you?

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Regarding Diane’s pantry shelves. This is what I really did.

Right side

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Left side. I loaded up all the drawers so, of course, everything is in the totally wrong place. Just just stacked stuff by size, not content. Diane said she’s going to reorganize them one of these days. Right now I’m the only one who knows where stuff is which makes me feel kind of powerful.

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I’m going to add a couple more drawers. Just have to build them. Ran out of material for the drawer bottoms.

Showers, Doctors, & Jack

Before going to the doctor I always take a shower. Diane insists. I suspect she does that because it’s assumed that one would put on clean underwear which is the really what she wants me to do. You see, it’s illegal to go to the doctor unless you have on good, clean underwear. The only exception is for emergency visits for medical attention, something I’ve done more than a few times.

The thing about those showers, which I always take because I know Diane is keeping track, is that I’ve been taking a lot more of them lately for  one reason or another. Simple stuff, like a congenital ingrown toenail, a sore thumb, a couple of routine checkups, and most recently, like today, for a bulge in my right bicep.

I suppose some may find that amusing because normal male people strive for bulging biceps. In my case, I only have one of those and, it’s lopsided. And it hurts a little. So, I call the doc to see if there’s an opening in her schedule, which there was at 3:45 pm, then worked a while longe on a piece of sheet rock I cut to fill the hole in the ceiling of Diane’s Girl Room when I worked on the bathroom above it about 4-5 years ago. All the sudden she said it’s got a gold breeze coming out of it. So, I fixed it. Then I took my shower and went to the doctor.

After looking at my arm, confirming my belief that it was malformed, my doctor said I should contact my orthopedic doctor for a more informed diagnosis, but she thought it might be a ruptured bicep muscle. Personally, I think there’s something growing in there because I can feel it, make it move around like a big marble. But, maybe that’s what a ruptured muscle is like. I won’t know for sure until I visit the orthopedic folks.

My first query to the orthopedic people I know is to find out if they are the correct ones. That field is so specialized now that I think they have different clinics for shoulders, shoulders to elbow, elbows, elbow to wrist, wrists, then fingers. Hopefully I’ll know more tomorrow.

Until that determination is complete, I’ll continue to work on the drawers for Diane’s pantry. Actually, all the drawers are done. I just need to stuff them in the cabinet and bolt them to the inside. After my doctor’s appointment, I went to ACE to get the proper size screws needed to finish the job. I should be able to get them done tomorrow. Unless I have to take another shower, that is.

In case you didn’t know, today is my big brother Jack’s birthday. He won’t tell me how old he is but I know he was born in 1938, or thereabouts. Following a family tradition, I called to wish him a happy day in person. It’s always good to talk with Jack, for any reason, but especially good on his birthday.

Next up for birthdays is my lovely bride – December 20th, my Christmas Baby.

Gotta go now.

Politics, Hallmark, & Projects

I’ve been thinking lately, not something I typically do on a regular basis. Normally I just roll with whatever’s going on at the time, oblivious to external influences. Consequently, I miss out on a lot of things that are apparently important to lots of people.

One thing that got my attention lately is the Texas Elector who decided he wasn’t going to cast Texas’ electoral votes for Trump because he’s an elector “to elect a president, not a king.” So, he’s resigning, leaving, which brings up another question in my head. How do these people get a job as an Elector?

Are they appointed by someone? If so, who might that be?

Did they win some sort of raffle at the last convention?

Did they happen to sit in the only chair at the convention dinner that had the winning envelope taped to the bottom?

Considering the fact there have been Faithless Electors in the past, those who do not vote for their winning candidate, I can’t help but wonder about either the validity of the elector process, or those appointed to serve as an elector. Seems like I read somewhere, in my long, arduous research on this, that the Electoral system was designed because voters couldn’t be trusted to vote for the most qualified candidate. Actually, I did read it somewhere, like here. Go figure.

Enough of that.

Now, how about some more interesting stuff? OK.

We’ve been watching a lot of Hallmark Channel movies lately, like we do every year at this time. All have Christmas themes, and all have great stories where the guy gets the girl and every one is happy forever after. Today was different, however. It was about a young woman who was transported 71 years into the future from December 22nd, 1945 to December 22nd, 2016. During her time in 2016 she learned about how small, kind things she did in 1945 had enormous impact on her town and families in 2016. Being able to witness these changes gave her a new outlook on life, changing her view of herself as insignificant to the understanding that even a small stone makes ripples in a pond. It was very good. So good, in fact, that we didn’t even take time to make popcorn. That is a stellar testament to our value of this movie.

I’d tell you the name of it, but I can’t remember.

I’ve got two drawers installed in Diane’s pantry. Only 8 more to go. As soon as I remember to buy the right kind of screws the next time I’m at ACE, I’ll be able to finish them up. I’m looking forward to the end of it because I’ve been talking about it for at least 7 years. That’s not all about procrastination, which I’ve very good at, but also about having lots of other things to do. So, drawers were never high on the list of priorities. That, and having emergent issues interfere with my 3-hour work day. Too many club meetings, also. Since I stopped going to all the meetings, I’ve been able to use my tools more often.

Part of the building process gave me an opportunity to use the drill press I was presented by PGE at my 20 year employment anniversary. I drilled about a zillion holes, some of which were countersunk to make shorter screws work like longer ones. All that drilling caused lingering pain in my right bicep which I thought was just normal tired muscles. Frequent checks, however, because it just feels weird, revealed to me that something is rolling around in there with that tiny muscle. I’m convinced it’s a growth of some sort, or that a portion of my bicep experienced a small explosion. One of these days I may call my doctor  to see if there’s a chance she can figure it out. Maybe it’ll just go away. In any case, progress comes with a price. Perhaps this is mine.

We’ve had snow. See.img_0787

Those are tiny little snow drifts made by our one day snow storm on our porch. I imagine they are pretty hazardous for small bugs in a hurry, but not too bad for people. The front yard was a winter wonderland, too, but I didn’t take a photo of that

I’ll stop for today on that note.

Oil Change, New Cars, & Travel Trailers

This morning I spent two hours at the local Chevy dealer, Emmert getting the oil changed in Diane’s truck, and having them install parts to satisfy two recall notices that’s I’ve apparently been ignoring. That gave me two hours to visit with my friends who sell cars there. They really like me because I make stupid decisions when buying vehicles. I think there’s probably a photo of me in their break room with a note about what an easy mark I am.

The last few visits, however, I’ve disappointed them. I just talk for a while, sit in the show room vehicles (Corvette, Camaro, and Cascada today), then go out and wander around the lot just looking at ‘stuff’. I learned a long time ago that I need to visit them first before wandering the lot because the salesmen are always watching for a chance to bend a looker’s ear. They now know that when something is interesting enough to me I’ll let them know. They’re a great group of folks and I love the service department. I took a photo of Diane’s new car and sent it to her but she hasn’t answered back, yet.

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I looked at trucks, mostly, just for fun. The one that appealed the most cost $67K. That’s three times what we paid for our house! In Florida! Holy moly. They also had one of your typical Chevy Suburbans, that the government likes to use, on the lot for only $74K.

Yesterday I mentioned that I got new tires installed on Diane’s truck. When they gave it back the tire pressure on all four was close to 40 lbs. When I got the truck back after the oil change, and their multi-point inspection, the tire pressure was reset to 32 on three of them. I suspect they were supposed to drop the other tire, too, but got sidetracked. Anyway, they let out some expensive air from those tires and I’m going to have to get them refilled. I am, of course, relying on the digital monitor conveniently provided by Chevy that shows tire pressure on it’s DIC. That’s the Digital Information Center, in case you’re wondering. It’s a little TV screen that sits right between the speedo and tach. It’s really handy to have a little DIC like that. Diane relies on it all the time.

I’m pretty sure I’m going to get in trouble for that. It sounded better in my head.

While Diane went shopping she left instructions for me to find the book for our trailer and find out what needs to be done to winterize it. I went looking for the book, but couldn’t find it so, instead, I brought in a bunch of food that I figured didn’t need to stay out there all winter. I did find all the drain valves to dump the fresh water from tanks and lines so those are now clear. When Diane got home she led me to the trailer and we both looked for the books. I finally found them in the first place I looked. It was just in a folder not quite as large as I had in my head. Therefore, it was invisible to me.

Now I know that I also need to remove the batteries because batteries left in freezing weather won’t hold a charge very well. That one was new to me. I’ve never removed the batteries and never had a problem. So, being pessimistic, I suspect that when I reinstall the batteries in the spring, they won’t work. Guess I’ll see.

News around here is that it’s going to be snowing at our level next week. Yippee. Once we get a good cover on the roads it’s fun to find a spot near the highway so we can watch the wrecks. It’s a holiday favorite activity. It’s free and we take our own popcorn. I’ll take pictures.

 

Doctors & Pills

Yesterday I went to the doctor twice. Once in the morning for a routine maintenance visit to my Primary Care, then another one in the late afternoon to visit a hand surgeon to arrange an operation on my left thumb which is becoming less opposable as time progresses.

My visit to my PC resulted in a phone call today telling me the results of my blood work revealed that my LDL is elevated, possibly as a result of the fact that I quit taking them weeks ago because they are round pills and I only had to take half of one a day but I couldn’t break them in half. So, I just quit. I even told the doc that. Kinda. Anyway, she solved that problem by telling me to take the full pill once a day.

The blood also indicated that my BS levels are also elevated which is indicated by my 7.4 A1C. Now I have to take double the amount of Metformin that I’ve been taking for some time now.

Dang! I’ve been working real hard to eliminate pills from my life but it’s not working out very well. The daily pills is turning into a stunning, colorful array of different size pills. Such is my life. That’s OK. I’m still navigating OK.

Well, navigating OK most of the time. When my PC asked me if I’ve fallen since our last visit I truthfully answered “no”, but told her I had some close calls. Like the time in the garage a few days ago where I was stumbling around in the items scattered around on the floor, lost my balance, and fell against the garage door. Technically, that’s not falling down … it’s more like falling against, so it doesn’t count. Still, knowing that I have a small vertigo problem she suggested that I use a cane all the time when I’m walking. She followed that with a promise the order me a walker if I still had problems with the cane. “Excellent!, I thought, and actually said, “With a walker I’ll be able to board planes first!” Although she smiled, I don’t believe she saw the humor in it that I saw. She probably didn’t know I was serious.

My afternoon visit was prefaced by a side trip to St. Vincent Hospital where Jean, Diane’s Mom, visited her surgeon to schedule her carpal tunnel procedure. While she and Diane were with her doctor I walked about a mile to the other end of the hospital to the cafe for sustenance. Jerrie was hungry, so he had a chicken burrito. It was pretty dry, but not too bad.

When they were done we met at the truck for our trek downtown to Good Sam for my visit with Dr. Kim, my hand surgeon. My appointment was at 4:00 pm and we arrived about 3:30 pm so I just went in to wait while Diane and Mom sat in the truck. Dr. Kim explained the procedure and told me once it was done and I was rehabilitated I would be pain-free. That’s my goal. Pain free. What he’s going to do is remove a small bone as the base of my thumb, where it connects to my hand. Apparently this little bone, the Trapezium, is like the Appendix of bones. It’s grinding bone on bone in my case and removing it won’t be noticed after the vacancy is filled with scar tissue. What a deal.

I have to wait until January for all the nurses and other support folks to return to work from their Christmas break because apparently, as a cost saving effort, the hospital will be closed from December 14th to January 6th, except for emergencies, of course. During emergencies that result in admission to the hospital, since the kitchen will be closed, they’ve hired a bunch of homeless vets to make runs to the nearby MacDonald’s for meals. If the patient is fortunate, their assigned homeless vet will have medical experience from tours in Viet Nam or perhaps Afghanistan.

My surgery is outpatient so I’m not sure why I have to wait until January, unless my doc wants some time off, too. That could be it.

Today, just for fun, I took Diane’s truck to Les Schwab’s and had new tires installed. The old ones weren’t too bad, just a little dirty, but I know how Diane likes a clean truck. So, new shiny tires fixed that.

Although it’s only 1:30 in the afternoon, my day is apparently done as far as addressing bodily functions. So, I think I’ll go fire up my table saw and find some wood that needs to be cut in half.

Later.

Black Friday, a Vet Visit, and Christmas Decorations

Thanksgiving is over, we survived Black Friday, so now we can focus on Christmas.

Speaking of Black Friday … did you see the news about the Nike store in Seattle that was trashed by a herd of BF shoppers? Kinda reaffirms your belief that there’s still good in the world, doesn’t it? Well, maybe not on the day after Thanksgiving. Personally, I’m not a shopper in the first place, but if I was Black Friday would be the last day I’d choose to shop. People just go nuts to get things they probably don’t need. I’m one of those people who just take my chances and shop online. So far, so good. No problems.

This morning I took Ziva and Breezie to visit Doc Snyder at the vet. Breezie hasn’t been in a long time and wound up needing 3 shots. She was not happy, but she did good. No one came away bloody from that evolution. Ziva got one shot and had a pedicure. She also has a lump on her right arm which may or may not be of concern. We need to watch it to see if it grows. I have the same kind of lumps in my arms so I’m not worried.

This is Doc Snyder and her assistant counseling Ziva about the shot she got and the tests they are conducting.

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Diane spent some more time at the courthouse this morning working on some vote recounts that needed attention. She had to be there at 10:00 am and I had to have the animals at the vet by 10:30 so I dropped off Diane and came back for Ziva and Breezie. Breezie managed to get outside before I left with Diane so there was a distinct possibility that she wouldn’t be available for the trip. I made a decision that if she didn’t show up by the time I returned to get them I would charge her a late fee for missing her appointment. The standard charge now days seems to be $35 but I really wanted her to feel the need to be on time so upped it to $45. Lucky her, she was in the house when I got home so avoided that problem. I suspect I would have had to file a small claims suit against her which she still wouldn’t pay, but it would screw up her credit.

Hope everyone has happy plans for Christmas. We’ve begun the process of getting out tree in and some of our traditional ornaments installed. The first thing up was this guy …

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He didn’t come with a name but we got him from Costco so I’m calling him Costco Man for now. Yes, he’s a snowman, but that’s not a name. It’s a gender assignment attached to winter weather.

We did this, too …

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Ziva’s just checking to see who’s been in the yard.

Then we got busy getting the tree ready for the house. This involved removing a very large plant from a very large pot so we could transfer the tree from its pot to the nicer pot that’s more suitable for indoor use. We’ve had the tree for about a week and it’s been sitting in the yard soaking up as much rain as it could. Consequently, it weighed a ton which was almost too much for me to lift from one pot to the other. But, I did it. Then we took it inside using a hand truck. Getting it off the hand truck proved to be problematic and resulted in me making a huge mess when it tipped over. Dirt everywhere. But, it cleaned up nicely and resulted in this once Diane got all the lights and ornaments attached. After the New Year the tree will be replanted in the lower yard where it can just grow as long as it wants to.

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After it was all done we had a snack and Diane loaded the dishwasher. Whenever the dishwasher is opened, Ziva shows up so she can prewash the plates, something that she was trained for as a small dog. Personally, I think all dogs inherently know that plates need to be prewashed so it’s not a large training curve. It’s kind of instinctive, actually. They just know what to do. Additionally, when the dishes are clean, and the door is open, she checks all the plates to make sure they’re clean. She’s very helpful.

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Now it’s time to fold things up for the afternoon and make preparations for popcorn and probably a movie of some sort. It’s that time of year.

Stay safe.

Happy Thanksgiving !

Even though cramps, actually just ‘a’ cramp, forced me to my feet at 0345 this morning, it’s still a good day. Yessir, it is. It’s pouring down rain, nothing’s leaking, the furnace works, we still have power, Diane’s Aunt Carolyn is cooking dinner today and we’re invited, and the animals seem to be content. At least they aren’t arguing over food bowls but that can change in an instant even though we’ve had serious discussions about how inappropriate it is. They don’t get it. Both of them want to be in charge. Ozzie stays away from the arguments and the cat really doesn’t care.

Yesterday I worked in the flower & herb garden that Jewel and I constructed over the septic tank a few months ago. Pretty much everything is growing well, including lots of grass, so I took all the newspapers Diane had read and spread them around the plants and over the grass. Then I added more mulch so it covered all the paper. In all, it probably only took me a couple of hours, but that didn’t seem long enough so I continued by adding a bunch of tile that I purchased from the Restore Store here in town. Cheap tile. I just flung it all over the place. Basically, the objective was to surround each of the little, and big, plants that appeared alive to ensure no one would kill them with a hoe or shovel. The starburst thing in the middle is the septic pump port (SPP). Since I wasn’t too concerned with symmetry, it went quickly and I had even more time on my hands so I fiddled around with the rocks see if I could get them to balance on each other. Just getting rid of a little whimsy.

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I also fixed the bathroom fan which was obviously not working correctly. Turns out the problem is common with fans using plastic fans – the hole, which is originally notched to fit a flat spot on the whirly thing, eventually wears out, making the hole round, allowing the motor shaft to spin relatively freely in the hole. Oh, the fan portion turns, but not as fast as the motor. It’s amazing how loud and annoying it is. So, I bought a replacement fan from Amazon. It’s metal and is held in place with an allen screw. No way is it ever going to fail. Ever.

A couple of days ago I repaired a lamp that Jewel tried to destroy. Actually, the little twisty thing that turned the light on and off twisted off in her right hand which is gaining strength every day, in case you’re wondering. Apparently it’s stong enough to wreck a lamp. I must clarify here that the lamp is an old one that Diane found either at a yard sale about 15 years ago, or at one of the many 2nd hand stores she likes. It was ready to break so it certainly wasn’t intentionally on Jewel’s part. I don’t think. Anyway, it turned out to be an easy fix. One that could have easily been accomplished without dismantling the switch mechanism, which I’d already done. I always go for the hard fix first. It’s always more fun.

Over the last couple of days I also fabricated a knife holder for Diane’s knife drawer. In the end it turned out to be a knife and wine stopper holder. Nifty. In case you’re wondering about the colors, it’s so I won’t get confused. Normally I’m only allowed to use the Orange one, but on certain days I can use one of the other knives for specific projects. Diane writes the color on our blackboard so I’ll know.

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Now it’s time for me to go scrape things from my body in preparation to venture forth into the wild to visit Uncle Bill and Aunt Carolyn for Thanksgiving dinner. In attendance, we’re told, will be Julie, Duncan, Terri, and Lisa. Counting us there will be nine. Since there’s only room for 8 people at the table I suspect I’ll be close by with a TV tray. That’s OK.

Cheers everyone. Enjoy the day.