Monday Meanderings

If you really want to scare your co-workers, try a special 10-minute coughing spell - the kind where you turn blue in the face and gasp for air as you try not to pass out. They don't come near your desk for the rest of the day. My mother used to call this "coughing your toe-nails up." Yes, it's that gross.

A few weeks back I posted about finding valuable repair tips on the Internet and my Sis mentioned a site called www.fixya.com. I tried it when the touch screen on Mom's Palm quit responding. I found a fix - it worked great and now every one is happy but Mom; she was thinking "iTouch, come to Momma!" I did have a part left over, though, so maybe all is not lost.

Stopped in at Whataburger the other evening and saw a local manifestation of "Swinehysteria." A timer went off behind the counter and the manager yelled, "Wash up! Everybody wash their hands!" And the entire crew stopped and went to the hand washing station. Then the manager set the timer for another 15 minutes and they all went back to work. In a 10-hour shift you get to wash your hands 40 times. Not that I think that's a bad idea for a food handler, anyway. Especially when it is my food they are handling.

Addendum to the Palm repair story. I found out what the spare part was; it's a little clip that keeps the stylus from flying across the room when you move the Palm. Mom discovered this stylus trick and pointed out that the device was not exactly all fixed. Unfortunately for her, I'm now an expert at opening the Palm and making repairs.

We still don't know what the protest vigil is all about. We stopped and Mom went to see what the woman's sign said, but talented as she is, Mom doesn't read - or speak - Vietnamese.

I leave you with a treat - a new bird at our feeder:


This is a male Indigo Bunting in full breeding plumage - just like the one at the feeder the other afternoon. For a bird supposedly as common and widespread as the book says these are, I marvel that I had never seen one before.