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?