Monday Meandering - 9.30.2013

My, whatever happened to September? Oh well, that just brings us closer to Real Fall here in central Texas.

Pray tell - what is the purpose of the road-side sign that says "Guard rail damage ahead"? Is the intent to let you know that this is not a good place to have an accident; you should choose another spot? Maybe it means just the opposite; aim here - this spot is already damaged, so it's okay to hit it. IMWTK

Became concerned about the TV the other night. In the middle of a broadcast, the sound suddenly went silent. We waited patiently, but to no avail; all was silent. Was the problem with the program, or was it the fault of the TV? I finally decided to check another channel to see, only to find the remote jammed under the computer lap desk, mute button firmly pressed.

And in other disruptions of domestic tranquility, I finally was able to fish a foreign object out of the the kitchen disposal, the cause of a horrible, metal-to-metal grinding noise. The culprit was a badly damaged metal screw, just over a quarter-inch in length. The question is, how did a screw get in there in the first place? It was a wood screw, not a machine screw, so it likely was not from the disposal itself. Maybe we should start x-raying our vegetables.

Sometimes I think that we don't live where I think we live. According to the map below, our house is situated between the two pins located in the center of the map. So, based on the traditional colors used on a weather map, it should have been raining at our house. Raining hard, in fact. But at the moment that picture was snagged, there was no rain falling. Curious.

The good news is that map or no map, it did rain at our house this weekend - more than 6 inches, according to the weather channel. And that's the good news from Lake Wobegone.

The LA-Z-BOY Saga

7/8/2013
"Sproinggggg"
Me: "What was that?"
Barb: "I think it was my recliner."
Me (looking at up-ended recliner): "Uh oh, not good. A seat spring is broken."
Barb: "I guess that's why I sit all slumped over now."

7/9/2013
Me: "Hello La-Z-Boy? I need a seat spring repaired on a recliner."
Mary from the Round Rock store: "I'll send Technician Eddie. There will be an $86 trip charge and $100 an hour for repairs. The good news is that there is no charge for the parts."
Me: "Hmm. Wow, that's a lot.
Barb: "Ahem. You are not the one sitting slumped over."
Me: "Okay. Let's do it."
Mary from the Round Rock store: "Okay. I'll send Technician Eddie on... let me see... on the 22nd.
Me: "If I bring it in, can we get it done faster?"
Mary from the Round Rock store: "We don't have a repair facility. If Technician Eddie can't fix it in the home it will have to go to Dallas and there's a $100 pick-up and delivery charge for that."

7/22/13
Mary from the Round Rock store: "Technician Eddie is sick. He will be there on 7/23."

7/23/13
Technician Eddie: "Yep, it's a seat spring. What we call your basic zig-zag or serpentine spring. Do you want all four repaired or just the broken one?"
Me: "Might as well do them all."
Technician Eddie: "I can't repair four springs in the home; I'll have to send the recliner to Dallas for that. It'll take about a month, and there's a $100 pick-up and delivery charge."
Me: "Can you do one spring in the home?"
Technician Eddie: "Sure, but I'll have to take it all apart. It'll be messy and loud."
Me: "That's okay. Get 'er done."
Technician Eddie: "I don't have the parts with me. I'll have to order them and come back later. That will be $86.00 trip charge, please."
Me: "Are you going to charge me for another trip when you come back?"
Technician Eddie: "Nah. Just the repair charges. But the good news is that there is no charge for the parts."

8/23/13
Me (on the phone to Mary from the Round Rock store at 9am): "It's been a month. Where is Technician Eddie and the parts?"
Mary from the Round Rock store: "There's been a problem with our inventory. We are recounting now. I'll call you back."
Mary from the Round Rock store (at 2:15pm): "We found the parts. I'll send Technician Eddie by on Tuesday, the 27th."

8/26/13
Technician Eddie: "I have the parts. I'll come tomorrow, the 27th. And I have it down that you are going to install this spring yourself."
Me: "That's not what we agreed, but if that's what it takes to get it fixed, bring me the parts!"

8/27/13
Mary from the Round Rock store: "Technician Eddie is sick and can't bring the parts. It will be Thursday. And are you really going to do this repair yourself?"
Me: "No, but Technician Eddie thinks I am. I want Technician Eddie to install the spring, like we agreed."
Mary from the Round Rock store: "I'll tell him that he is doing the repair on Thursday, August 29th."

8/29/13
Mary from the Round Rock store (at 7:30am!!): "Technician Eddie didn't leave his schedule, but he should be there sometime today."
Linda from the Dallas Repair Facility (at 8:30am): "Hello, I've been talking to Mary from the Round Rock store and there's some confusion. Technician Eddie can't replace a seat spring in the home or anywhere else; the chair has to come to the shop here in Dallas for that repair. We'll waive the $100 pick-up and delivery fee and there is no charge for the parts. We'll pick the chair up on Wednesday, September the 4th. The Driver from Dallas will call you the day before to let you know when. Have a good day."

9/3/13
Driver from Dallas: "We'll be by tomorrow between 11am and 1pm to pick up your recliner."

9/4/13
Driver from Dallas (at 2pm): "We are here to pick up a recliner."

9/11/13
Linda from the Dallas Repair Facility: "Your recliner is repaired. We'll deliver it on Wednesday the 18th. The Driver from Dallas will call you on Tuesday the 17th to let you know when."

9/17/13
Driver from Dallas: "We'll be by tomorrow between 7am and 10am to deliver your recliner."
Me: "If you come at 7am, just leave it on the porch."
Driver from Dallas: "I need a signature."
Me: "I'll sign a blank paper. It'll be on the porch."
Driver from Dallas: (something in Spanish I thankfully didn't understand).

9/18/13 - 72 days from the "Sproinggggg"
Driver from Dallas (at 9:30am): "Here's your recliner."
Me: "Do I pay you?"
Driver from Dallas: "Nah. We're not allowed to handle money. They will bill you. If you don't get a bill, forget about."
Me: "Count on it!"

Monday Meanderings - 9.23.2013

And what phrase beats "Disturbance in the Gulf?"  That would be: "Flash Flood Warning." Thank you, Lord! And not only did it rain, Fall showed right on time. Well, at least for a few days.

There's a panhandler on a near corner that has caught my attention of late. First, he has a Duck-Dynasty-Worthy beard; about a foot long and well kept. His hat is a cross between that of a U.S. Calvary officer in a Western movie and that of Hoss Cartwright on Bonanza. You do remember Bonanza, don't you?

His signage varies; the other day it read, "My wife ran off with another woman, my dog ran off with another man, and I ran out of beer." The other evening it said, "A beer a day keeps the doctor away." Based on that message, it looked like the doctor was far, far away at the time.

We were waiting on the light and he was shuffling our way when he stopped in seeming surprise, looking at me. Then he stroked his beard, looked at mine, and shook his head like "You've got a long, long way to go to match me, Junior."

One of my doctors came in the exam room the other day, greeted me and said, "The other day the teacher was having all the kids tell what their father did. One kid said, 'My Dad is a male stripper at Le Bare.' When the kid got home his mother was waiting for him: 'Why on earth did you tell Mrs. Stewart that your father was a male stripper?' The kid said, ' Mom, I couldn't tell her he was a defensive coach for Texas, could I?'"

I have always thought a good, hot pizza was a "divine experience," but I didn't know how divine until I noticed on this delivery box label just who "managed my pizza experience."

Stories from my Father - School Days

At the age of 93, my father set out to write down some of the things that he remembered over a long and active life. My brother transcribed these recollections, and I share some of them with you now.

The Possum

On his way to the rural school one morning Eddy Sims saw a half grown possum run out from a culvert that crossed the road.  He gave chase and caught the fleeing varmint.  He planned to put the animal in one of his mother's chicken coops and make a pet out of it.  But what to do with the pet until school turned out that afternoon?  He did not have time to return home and then back to school before being tardy.  When remodeling the schoolhouse the summer before, the workmen had stacked some extra windows in a corner of the school room.  Eddy thought of the space behind the windows.  He hurried to the school and before anyone entered he ran and placed his pet behind the windows.  Of course the young possum slunk back into the a narrow space to feel secure. 

About mid-morning, when the classes were underway, the little possum grew curious and began to peek from the hiding place.  Before long a pupil saw the animal and gave a snigger.  That attracted the attention of the other pupils.  Before long all of the pupils except the ones who were reciting before the teacher's desk were watching the possum and giggling behind their hands.  That of course caught the attention of the teacher.  She looked in the direction the pupils were looking and saw the young animal student.  "Who brought that wild animal in here? She said sternly."  No one replied.  She repeated the question.  No reply.  She then told Herman Wallace to take the animal outside and release it. 

Seeing his pet about to go, Eddy spoke up and claimed the animal.  He begged the teacher to let his pet stay there until evening but she would have none of that plan but told him to take the thing promptly out and release it.  Reluctantly Eddy had to comply and his dream of a pet possum floated away. 

The Airplane

The year was the fall of 1918.  The two room rural school house was located in the Northwest area of Johnson County, Texas, about on the divide between the rivers Trinity and Brazos.  Surrounding was the gently rolling prairie of the community of Bruce, so named from an early pioneer.  The official identification of the school was No. 46 of Johnson County.  I was a fifth grader of the six grade school. 

On a mild afternoon the quiet of the pupils was startled by an airplane swooping low over the school house.  In a few moments the same plane dived low over the school house.  When the plane had made the third pass the pupils ran out of the schoolhouse as if they had been poured out. The plane had landed in a nearby field and was taxiing up to the fence by the school.  It stopped and a young man in uniform and helmet and goggles crawled out of the plane and came to the fence. 

He introduced himself to our young lady teacher.  That was the purpose of his antics over the school - to meet the one he was sure would be a young lady.  We pupils were told to remain on the outside of the fence because he had not turned the engine off.  The propeller was still ticking over on the biplane trainer.  The lone pilot could not start the engine by himself because it was cranked by spinning the propeller. 

After flirting with our teacher a few minutes and exchanging addresses with her, the pilot returned to his plane and taxied to the back of the field and turned in a take off round that carried him over our heads. With a wave to us, he continued on his way back to the training field at Everman. 

The teacher finally got us all back in the schoolroom but we were too excited to resume classes.  She finished the afternoon off with a spelling bee.  Then we scattered to our homes to tell our parents of the adventure of our first close-up look at the planes that flew over the area  every day. 

High School Play

It was the custom for the senior class to put on the "senior play" at the end of school.  The play our teacher selected called for one character to play the part of a black maid.  There were six girls in our class and four boys.  Not one of the six girls wanted to take the part of the black maid; didn't like blacking up face and hands with burnt cork.  We did not have real stage paint available.  So I volunteered to be the black maid, most of whose lines were comedy anyway.  Night of the play I dressed in my mother's clothes, which were a little large for me but that only added color to my part.  Alas, I lost my petticoat smack on the middle of the stage.  The audience applauded because they felt I did it on purpose.  Saved my embarrassment over the accident. 

Undressed by a Horse

When about 12 years old I went to the back of our pasture to drive a few horses and mules to the barn lot.  One of the animals was a gentle old mare that I easily caught and started riding bareback without a bridle.  We were going along very well when a young horse started running and jumping in play.  When he came by the mare and she jumped and began running also.  That was when I lost my perch on her back and hit the grass sliding.  That slide shucked me out of overalls as slick as if I had pulled them off.  By the time I got back in my overalls the horses were already at the barn lot.

Robert Bernard Anderson

Robert Bernard Anderson [a child-hood friend; no relation], suffered polio as a young child and therefore could not run, but he was a very good batter at baseball.  I could not hit a baseball with a tennis racket.  So it took the two Anderson boys to make one ball player.  He would bat the ball out and I would run the bases for him.  Because he was crippled, the other boys did not object to our collaboration.  We never got a home run out of the arrangement.  His sister, Velma, was one grade ahead of me and Bernard was one grade behind me.  He was always tops in debating.  Made up in intelligence what he lacked in the physical.

The Sling Shot

Judges 20:16 reads “among all this people there were seven hundred chosen men left-handed; every one could sling stones at an hair breadth and not miss.”  I never did attain to that skill with a sling.  In fact if I came within  20 feet of my target I was pleased.  At about the age of 10 I made a sling.  Trying to hit a cardboard box in the yard,  I missed and hit a chicken hen that had a brood of chicks.   Broke the hen’s leg.  My mother took corrective action with me and also destroyed my sling.  But we did have chicken and dumplings for supper that day.

Thespian Endeavors

I often played various parts in school plays and social groups which are now identified as community theater.  Listing some: a black maid, black slapstick comedian, an Indian chief, a young farm worker named Curly, with the curly hair, courting the fair young lady of the neighborhood.  Also a lead whitewashing a fence as in Tom Sawyer, or was it Huckleberry Finn?  Anyway, I got careless with the whitewash brush and got some on the assistant principal that no one liked any way.

My College

It may not be evident in my writing, but I did go to college.  I stayed one whole semester.  Ran out of money so went back home to help my dad.  The college was Thorp Springs Junior, located 4 miles from Granbury.  To help pay tuition  I worked part-time at the school.  First job was milking the cows that supplied milk and butter for the kitchen.  Did that job only a few weeks and was put in charge of the light plant that powered the whole campus. 

Dormitory life was about like it would be at any small college with one very startling experience.  My bed had old-fashioned bedbugs in it.  Wow! That was new to me.  As I was running the kerosene powered electric generator, I had access to plenty of kerosene.  On a clear day I put that mattress in the yard and applied kerosene to all the cracks in the rolled edge.  Let the sun dry the coal oil out and presto, no more bugs.  The bed frame was metal so no bugs there.  So I did get a little education there, how to become an exterminator. 

The school that became TCU of Fort Worth had its beginning at Thorp Springs years before I went there.  It was first called Add-Ran College, named after two educators, Mr. Addison and Mr. Randolph.  In 1928, Thorp Spring Christian College was moved to Terrell, Texas, and became a school for black students.

Monday Meandering - 9.16.2013

Tropical Disturbance in the Gulf of Mexico! For parched Texans, those are among the sweetest words ever!

When I go to my neighborhood Super Cuts I often get a Vietnamese woman named Tran. I mean no disrespect, but even in a quiet room, sitting face-to-face, with my hearing aids turned up to super-high, I would not be able to understand Tran because of her heavy accent. None of those circumstances are present during the time I spend in the chair, so consequently I don't understand a word she says. That does not seem to bother Tran as she never stops talking, so based on inflection alone she gets a lot of "Uh-huhs," and "Hmms," and "Reallys." I'm afraid to flat-out agree to anything she says - for all I know she is asking if I want my hair in a Mohawk this time.

This reminded me...

While rising from the couch the other day I heard a faint "beep." It sounded like it was associated with my movement, so I sat back down and heard another beep. Indeed, every time I shifted my position I heard one or more beeps. This was puzzling, because couches normally don't beep. I listened carefully to see if this was a smoke alarm beeping or some other electronic device but heard no more beeps. However, when I later went out to get in the car the door was locked. Sitting on my car key remote again!

I came across a number of Undeniable Adult Truths the other day. Here are a few of them:

1. I think part of a best friend's job should be to immediately clear your computer history if you die.
2. Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you're wrong.
3. I totally take back all those times I didn't want to nap when I was younger.
4. There is great need for a sarcasm font.
5. Was learning cursive really necessary?
6. Google Maps really needs to start their directions on # 5. I'm pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.
7. Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the person died.
8. Bad decisions often make good stories.
9. I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten-page technical report that I swear I did not make any changes to.
10. I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call.
11. I disagree with Kay Jewelers. I would bet on any given Friday or Saturday night more kisses begin with Miller Lite than Kay.
12. I wish Google Maps had an "Avoid Ghetto" routing option.
13. How many times is it appropriate to say "What?" before you just nod and smile because you still didn't hear or understand a word they said?
14. Shirts get dirty. Underwear gets dirty. Pants? Pants never get dirty, and you can wear them forever.
15. The first testicular guard, the "Cup," was used in Hockey in 1874 and the first helmet was used in 1974. That means it only took 100 years for men to realize that their brain is also important.

One of my Elders from church sat down beside me the other evening. Here's a question. Would you seek guidance from someone wearing these shoes? Just asking.

Labor Day at the Lake Cabin

For nearly 50 years, the Anderson clan and associated families and friends have gathered at the Lake Cabin on Labor Day. Two years ago, the wildfires around Possum Kingdom came within scant feet of derailing that tradition, but thanks to timely intervention of some volunteer firemen, we continue to gather, and did so again this past Labor Day weekend.

We brought our children when they were babies; they grew up and married and brought their own babies; now those children and their spouses bring their babies. This is Cora, my great-grandniece, the most recent member of the family - at least for a few more weeks - and the fifth generation of Labor Day attendees.

Cora really, really wanted my ID bracelet.

It's a pretty simple tradition. You come as early in the weekend as you can so you can claim a good bed (though seniority does count for something); you bring enough food for a small army; you sit on the porch and visit; and if there is water (and you are young) you spend some time getting wet, or trying to avoid doing so. There are always one or more jig-saw puzzles underway, and the conversation goes late into the evening, sometimes beside the fire pit. Did I mention food? The table with desserts is known as the "Table of Good and Evil."

It may be, however, that we will have to start calling the place something besides the Lake Cabin, because there is no lake evident. The cabin itself is on a small creek that joins a larger creek at the edge of the lake proper, and it is not unusual for that small creek to dry up. Sometimes the larger creek also slows to a trickle. Today, if you stand on the eastern edge of the property and look off into the far distance, you can just see water. Holly and her family drove a number of miles simply to find a place to put a boat in the water.

Here's a picture taken by Rozanne to illustrate the current lack of water. This is the new dock; the old one was lost to the fire.

Sleeping at the Lake Cabin is always an adventure. No, there is plenty of room - there's a big room full of beds. And that's the problem. Fill that room with slumbering, snoring, up three-times-a-night for bathroom break folks, add in the baby, and the prospect for a good night's sleep is slim. If one has trouble sleeping in one's own bed in one's own home... you get the picture. So Barb and I made an end-run this year - the community of Graham is about 30 minutes up the road, and there are some really nice motels there. It may diminish the opportunity for fellowship just a tad, but sometimes there is such a thing as too much togetherness.

There are other businesses besides motels in Graham. You're on your on to figure this combination out.

As a side note, Graham plays a part in the family history as well. This town was my father's first relocation as a telephone man. Married exactly a year, he and Mother moved to Graham in 1929, at the tail-end of the local oil boom; wooden derricks were abundant and some exploration for new wells was still underway. Oil was cheap, less than $1 per barrel, but there were no houses for rent.

Mom and Pops moved to a furnished apartment and lived there about three months before a small house in someone's backyard became available for rent. It had two rooms and a path to an out-house. They had some furniture, but had to cobble up a kitchen cabinet from orange crates, stacked with a board across the top. My sister and brother were both born in Graham during that not-quite 5-year stay. It is interesting to think about the small triangle of Graham, Breckenridge and the Lake Cabin as a locus for much of our family's life.

Monday Meanderings - 9.9.2013

We joined much of the clan at the Lake Cabin over Labor Day. More about that on Wednesday. We must have been really, really zonked after the trip. We went to bed early, and during the night Barb got up and noticed a couple of red lights, seemingly in the neighbor's back yard. She was puzzled about that, but it was the middle of the night and she came back to bed. The next morning she checked the neighbor's yard and didn't see any crop circles or other evidence of alien invaders, so we set out on our errands, only to find that a short block over, a house had burned to the ground during the night and we slept through the whole thing!

Just down the coast from Carmel is Point Lobos, a California State Reserve. It is a remarkable area of seashore and headlands, home to seals, sea lions, sea otters, birds and, seasonally,  migrating gray whales. It is also a favorite area for divers and underwater exploration. The area used to be the home of a turn-of -the-century whaling and abalone industry and a small cabin built by Chinese fishermen from that era still remains at Whalers Cove. 

We were visiting that cabin, looking out over the cove when we noticed a disturbance in the water. Thinking that it might be a couple of sea otters, we watched closely, only to be taken aback by two dark objects rising above the surface. Now thinking Creatures from the Black Lagoon instead of Cute Little Otters, we watched with growing concern... only to see two wet-suit clad divers emerge from the depths and begin making their way to the shore. 

In the course of a single day this week, the convenience store up the street from us listed the price of regular gas as $3.33, $3.09, $3.39 and $3.20 a gallon. And those were only the prices we saw. No telling what other prices might have been posted. Maybe the person in charge of the big price sign is numerically challenged.

After Barb and I met with our new sleep apnea doctor this week, she said, "Do you think that before we die, all our doctors will be 12 years old?"

Each Fall, we wonder what kind of crop the pecan tree in the front yard will produce. With the on-going drought, I expected nothing of mention last year but the tree fooled us and produced perhaps its best crop. This year I will be surprised if the squirrels leave us any pecans. It's one thing to scurry around on the ground and gather up the fallen nuts, but they are jumping the gun and eating them off the tree before they mature. To make matters worse, they litter the drive and sidewalk with the leavings. It is somewhat unclear, but here's what we face each morning - at least until Barb started a sweeping action.

Stories from my father - First Things

At the age of 93, my father set out to write down some of the things that he remembered over a long and active life. My brother transcribed these recollections, and I share some of them with you now.

"I was born on July 15, 1907 in a small, two room box cottage located one and one-half miles northeast of the Johnson County courthouse in Cleburne, Texas. The location was on what was then called the Old Grandview Road. By a box construction is meant the cottage was a single wall board and batten house with no two by four frame. It was the home on a fifteen acre sandy loam vegetable and fruit farm. My father supported our family of four by growing and selling fresh vegetables from house to house. I had one sister who was three years my senior.

A first toy I remember was a cloth elephant. It was stuffed with sawdust. When we at last wore a hole in the small toy, all the sand seeped out and I only had an elephant skin left. I also remember a doll I played with. It had a black China head on a sawdust stuffed cloth body. My sister played dolls so naturally I also did.

I received a small toy lantern for a Christmas present about 88 years ago.  It is a real working unit with a glass globe and a wick that is adjustable with the turn screw.  The small red fount was designed to hold kerosene.  But the lantern was dangerous because the oil seeped out of the seam in the fount.  Mother let me light it a few times but feared I would get burned or possibly set the house on fire.  So I kept the lantern as a keepsake for many years before passing it on to my grandson, John.

An aunt gave me a toy train when I was about 6 years of age.  It was a pull toy with an engine and 2 or 3 red cars.  I was disappointed because it was not a mechanical train on a track.  But when the aunt would visit I would get the train out and play with like I really liked it.

Our nearest neighbors were the Curtis family. A father who was a civil war veteran, and the mother who baked good cookies, and a spinster daughter, Miss Emma, who taught school in small county schools. Parker and Rio Vista were two of the schools. She was the friend who gave me the glass egg that is now packed in a box in the apartment closet labeled "Pop's glass egg".

On the other side lived the Richardsons. Mr. Richardson was our rural route postman.

My father's vegetable growing business must have prospered because in a few years he bought the adjoining fifteen acres the Curtis family formerly lived on. We moved to the larger house on that property. The two room cottage was sometimes rugged but most of the time it was used as a store house for different products. Dad's draft animals were a horse called Prince and a small red mule named Kate. Prince pulled the peddling hack that was filled with vegetables ready to sell. He was also the buggy horse and later drew the family surrey, one with fringe around the top and fancy carriage lamps on each side. This surrey was used to go to church in Cleburne.

I started to school in Cleburne in the fall of 1914 after I was seven years old in July of that year. My first grade teacher was named Miss Green. The school was a wooden two-story building known as the South Ward. The yard around the building was filled with large post oak and blackjack oak trees. Similar trees are now in that same school yard. There was a caterpillar type of insect on some of those oak trees. We called it a tree asp. It had a bite or sting which was very painful. The teachers kept bottles of some solution that helped ease the pain of the tree asps.

The second grade teacher was a Miss Yeager. I remember some of my classmates. One was named Fred, another Tommy, and a girl called Benny Creed Frio. She died of pneumonia during the Christmas holidays of that year. She sat across the aisle from me.

When I was small it was traditional for all boys and most girls to go barefoot through the summer months. Walking through hot sand and getting into grass burr patches were hazards we accepted in exchange for the freedom of not wearing shoes. We could run from one shade tree to another to get through the hot sand.

One of my favorite play things when a small boy was a piece of rope, any rope, the longer the better. I used it to help climb trees, to tie loads of junk on my little red wagon, and yes, as a lasso. Once I roped our small weaning calf. The calf did not want to play and ran through a wire fence. I had to turn it loose to avoid being also drug through the fence. Then, how to get the calf back in the pen and retrieve my rope became a problem. I do not remember how I solved that problem but it must have been with mother's help, with a spanking as a bonus."

Monday Meanderings - 9.2.2013

Hope you are having a wonderful Labor Day. Once upon a time, Labor Day meant that school started on the morrow, but nowadays most kids have been back in classes for a week or so. Nevertheless, any day off is a good day, indeed.

Finally, after two seasons, we now get the Longhorn Network in Austin. Time Warner added the channel Saturday, the day of the Longhorn season opener against sacrificial lamb New Mexico State. Being an opening day patsy is profitable; NMS will take home almost a million dollars for coming to town and letting a big bully team walk all over them. I'm pretty sure that it is in the contract that they lose big-time. No big loss, no big payoff.

The City of Austin Resource Recovery Department - what we used to call the trash truck - picks up bulky items a few times a year. Got something big and unwieldy to get rid of? The Bulk Pickup Week solves that problem; just put it on the curb and if the trash-pickers don't get it first, the City will. It's all good - your unwanted stuff goes away.

What I see on the curb during these periods only confirms that people buy furniture in seasonal patterns. For example, there is a big, big push by merchants to sell furniture on Labor Day. In the early Spring pickup, it was obvious that Santa delivered a lot of new recliners, based on the old ones curbside. In the Fall pickup, it is apparent that a lot of folks got new mattresses in the past few months. We did, but we had them take away our old mattress at the time. For many others,  mattresses and box springs are the trash-de-jour items.

Barb has been reading one of those 900 page books for Book Club. We purchased a Kindle version of the book just because it was a 900 page tome. Big, heavy books will wear you out over the course; this way, you can slip a light-weight Kindle in your pocket or purse and easily read it no matter where you are. Barb has discovered that the Kindle will estimate the time needed to complete the book, based on your reading history. So periodically, she calls out, "Page 721 - 3 1/2 hours to go!" I feel like I need to get up and lead a cheer! Something like, "Chapter, chapter! Page and verse! Take that book right out of your purse! Or, maybe not.

The spirit of Leslie lives on! The other day I noticed a pan handler on the street in some kind of unrecognizable garb. When I got close enough - too late to take a picture - I realized that it was a really ugly dude wearing a filmy negligee. Under that, in true Leslie fashion, he was wearing lingerie of some sort. I didn't notice if he was wearing heels, but there definitely was not a tiera.

I went the eye doctor for a check-up and the new intake technician was filling out all the information needed on the new computerized system. She went down the list of possible ailments that might have a bearing on vision, and then those that were less likely to be connected, and finally she asked, "Do you have any aches and pains?" I just looked at her. "Lady, I'm 72 years old. All I have are aches and pains!"

Really?