possibly the best thing about Net Flix

It may be true that I'm one of the last ten people in the United States without cable TV.  I make up for it though by turning to Net Flix when I want to watch something entertaining (either new or reruns). This evening I realized that, besides the variety of shows, there is something else I really appreciate about Net Flix. There are NO POLITICAL COMMERCIALS. Bliss!!!

Kudos to the Social Security Administration

I wasn't planning on it but I ended up spending some time in the Social Security Administration office today.  A friend who doesn't drive needed a ride out there and I was available.  When we walked in, the waiting room was packed and I anticipated a really long wait. Since I had something I had been wanting to check on I signed in on their electronic system and was impressed that it was a straight forward, easy to use, touch screen system. We took our numbers and found two seats together. The wait, just a little over an hour, was made easier by the large flat screen TV mounted high on the wall which, among lots of other information, posted the numbers as people were called.  One of the messages that came up frequently was a long list of Social Security related questions/processes that you could take care of at home on your computer. Like "Why are you all sitting here? Go home and do this on line." I also spent some time people watching, trying to be unobtrusive about it. What a variety of shapes, sizes, ages, colors and hair styles!  When my number was finally called, I was very pleased with how efficiently my question was answered.  My friend was called next and I was most impressed with the gentleman who worked with her. I got to sit in on the conversation. She (a somewhat mentally challenged 26 year old) was applying to get control of her benefits. All of her support team feel she is ready for this move. Her mom, who has a drinking problem, has had control until this time, and seems to have been drinking up at least some of the money that should be coming to my friend.  Anyway, the gentleman who met with my friend carefully took her through lots of questions - proving to himself that she was competent. He tried to trick her with one question, asking her in which city in New Jersey she was born. She was born in South Carolina and told him so in no uncertain terms. She answered every question correctly, was well prepared with paper work and at the end of 15 minutes was awarded control of her own finances. I came away very impressed with the care he took and his ability to put her at ease. he made sure she had his contact information and explained carefully the best way for her to contact him if needed. I hope the Social Security people appreciate him.

my suspicious nature

I get several phone calls or letters each year from my supplemental insurance provider insisting that I need a House Call.  They want to send someone to my home to check up on me.  It is supposedly a benefit of my plan, "a health and wellness program." So far I have resisted their efforts.  This is where my suspicious nature comes in.  I can't help wondering what they're trying to sell me. Just received another letter from them today and this time they've upped the anti. If I allow someone to come "visit" me I will receive a $15 gift card for Walmart.  Humm, I may have to give this some thought. Maybe if I wait six months they'll up it to $30?

pumping iron

I do know how to iron.  My mother taught me when I was ten years old.  She started me off on pillowcases and it wasn't too long til I had graduated to my dad and brother's dress shirts and just about everything else that needed ironing. I didn't mind ironing because it was an indoor activity, as opposed to pulling weeds in the vegetable garden, and I could watch TV while I ironed.  All in all, not a bad job back then but over the years I have developed a real aversion to ironing. I suspect my mother felt the same way back when she so graciously let me do the ironing. It's not that it's such a hard job, just not very exciting. Luckily, these days thanks to knit fabrics and dryers ironing isn't often necessary. I can't tell you the last time I ironed a pillow case. It had been at least five years since I had ironed anything but wax beads. Once, a few years ago, a visiting friend asked if she could use my iron.  After some frantic searching I had to admit to her that, while I was sure I owned an iron, I couldn't find it. I did spot it some weeks later tucked in the back of a closet, and I did bring my iron and ironing board with me when I moved last year.  It's a good thing because this morning I discovered that the dress I wanted to wear to church had gotten wrinkled in the closet. Not only did I find my iron and ironing board and the distilled water right where I had put them when I moved in here 11 months ago, I managed to turn the iron on (after I remembered to plug it in) and actually ironed the dress without scorching it at all. Whew! That's enough of that. If I hang my clothes a little more carefully I may never need to iron again.

more and more festivals

I never knew how many festivals Fort Wayne has each summer until I moved down town.  I've mentioned some of the biggies in previous blogs but this weekend there wee three more. One I had heard of before - Taste of the Arts, food, music and lots of booths set up with information about all sorts of artistic venues in Fort Wayne.  In addition, there was a new festival this weekend.  I think it was called Fitness Fest. Unfortunately I didn't hear about that one until it was over.  The third one was called Amnesty Fest and they evidently gave away food to needy people and had a big picnic.  On top of those three there was an event (not a fest) at the Grand Wayne Center called Brick Road where participants showed off amazing Lego constructions. Who says there's nothing to do in Fort Wayne?

it's time to start exercising

Lately I've been thinking that I really should start some regular exercise routine.  I had been walking but since school started I'm spending a lot of time driving to pick my grandkids up after school. This gets me out of my apartment and it's fun but it's definitely not exercise. Friends have suggested I should try Pilates, or Yoga or 3B. That last is an exercise group that meets at our church. Anyway, I haven't decided on what to do but after what I saw on TV this evening I think I must do something.
There was a news report about a 93 year old man who just finished running (it looked more like a fast walk but who am I to criticize?) across the United States. He ran five miles each day and it took him three years to do it but he did run from California to Florida.  He was running in honor of other WWII veterans.  
But hey, here's a happy thought. I just realized that if I want to emulate this old veteran I have 22 years to get in shape. Maybe I won't rush into this exercise thing.

happy news on the family front

I just received a voice mail from my oldest nephew, age 37, telling me that he's engaged, As he put it "I finally got up the nerve to ask her."  He also said "I know you'll like her." There's no doubt about that.  I am so pleased that he's getting married, I will automatically love her. He came close once before with another young lady but now, it seems, it's really going to happen.  They've set a date, May 20, and will be married in Seattle. Goody, I'm delighted to have a happy reason to take a trip to Seattle.

Tornado warnings

There were tornado warnings all over our area this evening, and the last I heard 8 had actually touched down with some damage to barns and houses but no loss of life.  I am reminded of a buyer I worked with some years ago who was moving to Fort Wayne from California.  She was deeply afraid of the idea of tornadoes, insisted on buying a house with a basement (never a bad idea) and wouldn't believe me when I told her I had lived here in the mid-west almost all of my life and had never actually seen one in real life. My father, who lived all his life in this same area remembered seeing a tornado when he was three years old. That was the only time. I don't mean to downplay tornadoes, they can be very destructive, but when I compare them to the flooding in Baton Rouge or the earth quake earlier today in Italy, or the fires in California, I think I'll stay right here.

WiFi Woes

I've been unable to blog for a couple of days because my WiFi connection wasn't working. After trying the usual fix - the one Verizon recommended the last time I called them - tun it off, wait 30 seconds and turn it on again - to no avail, it gradually began to dawn on me that the problem might be with my computer.  My first clue was that I could still send and receive e-mails on my tablet. I'm slow but I do get there eventually. I did some trouble shooting with the help of a nifty program I found on my computer and was told, after the usual turn it off and turn it on again, to plug in an ether net cord to my computer and the router.  I have been wondering for a long time what that yellow cord was that the guys left bundled up beside the router when it was installed but didn't want to throw it away. So glad I didn't. Turns out that it's the ether net connector cord. Who knew? Now the big question is what will happen when I unplug the cord so I can put my laptop away. We shall see.

skits then and now

This afternoon I attended a band picnic with my grandson and family. The carry-in food was plentiful and delicious. The rain was relentless (but happily they moved us inside) and the skits were, well, the skits were a revelation to me. When I was told that the entertainment would be skits presented by various groups in the band, the brasses, the clarinets, etc., I envisioned skits as we did them when I was in school - small groups doing little gags or song and dance routines. I was once a dancing (and I do use the term loosely) California raisin in a skit. How wrong I was. The skits I saw today were, with one exception, all prerecorded and shown as movies on a big screen in the auditorium. This allowed the skit producers to film city and country scenes, use swimming pools, cars, bicycles and one weird doll as props and generally go to great lengths to tell their stories. I found the skits humorous while the band members in the audience found them hilarious.  I think you had to know the inside jokes.

a strange little restaurant

This evening and friend and I drove to Warsaw, Indiana to see the musical Grease at the Wagon Wheel theater. On our way we stopped in the town of Pierceton to have supper at a restaurant he had seen reviewed that sounded pretty good. It was called The Old Train Depot. It was down a quiet little side street but not hard to find. We walked into what looked like a main entrance and realized that we were in the middle of some kind of private party (turned out to be a rehearsal dinner), so we left and walked on around the building to another entrance. walked in, no one around, a small (four tables) dining room or waiting area off to one side and a flight of stairs leading up to a bar. Sign on the steps said "must be 21 to enter". We figured it was the bar but didn't know where else to go so went up stairs to what was obviously the bar, with a couple of tables along one side. We asked where the restaurant was and were told "This is it." The food turned out to be good, the service was good but quite casual, a fun dining experience once we got to the eating part. The play was pretty good too.

An Olympic mystery

Beach volley ball is an interesting sport, and I think it's fine that it's an Olympic event, but I don't understand why the men beach volley ball players wear knee length baggy shorts and long, loose tank tops while the ladies wear teeny tiny sports bikinis. Mind you, I'm not implying that I want to see the men bouncing around in little speedos but fair is fair.

nature's performance

This evening I tore my eyes away from the Olympics to watch a brief, but impressive, downpour outside my windows. For a lovely moment in time the rain created misty curtains and the indistinct layers of trees reminded me of a Japanese painting. Then, as the rain moved on to the east, the sun came out and I thought there should be a rainbow so I walked out on my balcony and there it was.  It was vivid, brilliant colors and gradually a faded twin formed above and beside it so I had a double rainbow. I felt like nature was putting on a show just for me,  At one point the end of the rainbow dipped right down into the river below my apartment.  I think maybe I need to go rent a Kayak and look for that pot of gold.

this turns my stomach

I've been happily enjoying the Olympics recently and avoiding the news, especially politics, but this evening I heard a news report that made me sad and mad.  Evidently the KKK is advertising from somewhere in Auburn, Indiana trying to recruit members.  Really?  I thought, hoped, this hate organization had died out long ago. Many years ago Indiana had the reputation of being the "most southern northern state" and it wasn't meant as a compliment.  25 years ago, when I first started in real estate, Auburn had the reputation of being a very "white" town, again not a compliment. They certainly weren't the only town in Indiana with that kind of reputation. Sixty years ago the small Indiana town in which I grew up still had a sundowner law - if you weren't the right color or ethnicity you were expected to be out of town before sundown. Again, all of this is, should be, ancient history and long over.  I'm guessing these KKK wannabes are focusing on a new enemy - Muslims.  I don't know that, it's just a guess. It did occur to me, as I looked at the sketch on the flyer of a Klansman in his pointy hat cover up that if you lopped off the point. it would look like he was wearing a burka. Hummm...

Olympic track and field with flare

I am not a runner,never have been, never will be, but I do enjoy watching the 200 and 400 meter races among others. I do not enjoy watching the races where they jump over the hurdles. Who ever thought deliberately trying to trip up really good runners was a fun idea? Anyway, I enjoy watching the races but I do think the women runners are more interesting than the men; not because they're better runners but because they have more flare - fancy hairdos, jewelry and wild manicures. I don't think that long nails work well if you're playing beach volleyball (nobody is looking at their nails anyway) or gymnastics, but they seem to work for runners. You go girls!

Olympic musings

I'm so excited.  I'm finally able to watch the Olympics. For some reason last week they weren't available on any local TV station.  Since I am (probably) one of the last ten people in the US who don't have cable that meant that I had to be satisfied with short new bits. However, today when I checked the TV listings in my Sunday paper I discovered to my delight that this week Olympic events will be on almost all day, every day, on channel 21.2 - an NBC station that wasn't even listed last week. Anyway I'm happy to be seeing the Olympics. It does seem to me, however, that senior citizens (of whom I am one) are woefully underrepresented at these Olympics. Granted they have brought back golf as an Olympic event but I would like to suggest a few more. How about golf cart relay racing, beach quilting or synchronized breathing?

the strangest play I've ever seen

I went to the Arena Dinner Theater with a friend this evening. The food was very good and the play was very unusual. The title THEY CAME FROM MARS AND LANDED OUTSIDE THE FARNDALE AVENUE CHURCH HALL IN TIME FOR THE TOWNSWOMEN'S GUILD'S COFFEE MORNING gives a clue as to its strangeness. It was a play within a play with the chubby church women playing almost all the parts including little boy, robot and Martian and taking time out, during the play, to judge a flower show, show photos of a recent trip to London and announce upcoming events.  The true humor was slapstick action reminiscent of a Vaudeville show. After an opening scene where a large collection of furniture and props are repeatedly moved on and off stage and rearranged randomly the house keeper uses the iron as a telephone because there is no telephone on stage, the door can't be answered because it's the wrong way around with no doorknob, It was all down hill from there. I thought there were lot's of hilarious bits in the play but six of the eight people at our table left at the intermission. Happily that wasn't true at all the tables. I didn't notice anyone else leaving. I guess it wasn't to everyone's taste. As my friend said when it was over "It was fun but I wouldn't want to see it again."

Is it hot enough for you?

I'm never quite sure how to respond to that question. Yes. Yes it is.  Any time the temperature tops 90 degrees its more than hot enough for me. So how did I choose to spend time this hot and humid afternoon? Why, standing outside, in the sun, watching a glass blowing demonstration. The results of the demo were interesting but it was hot, hot, hot. I could only imagine how hot the artists were. So, after all of this fun that I could take (ten minutes maybe?) I went into the Fort Wayne Museum of Art, strolled through their cool, air conditioned galleries and enjoyed a truly amazing glass show. Cool in all the ways that count.

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

I tuned into the last few minutes of the 'reality' show Master Chef just in time to hear a judge review one contestant's strawberry rhubarb pie. He said it looked pretty but the flavor was "bland and disappointing."  Really??? My step mom used to make strawberry rhubarb pie and it was wonderful.  Rhubarb has strong flavor of its own and everybody know that strawberries are delicious. I'm trying to imagine what you could possibly do to that mixture to come up with a bland flavor.  Nope, can't imagine it. All I'm accomplishing is making myself hungry for strawberry rhubarb pie. Happily, my brother's church recently had a homemade pie crust sale and he has saved six for me. So, as soon as the weather cools a little I may have to bake a pie. Any volunteers to judge?

a laundry revelation

When I sold my house and moved to my apartment, almost a year ago now, I though that the one thing I would dislike the most would be doing my laundry in a public laundry room in the basement. But I didn't realize until today, when I did a couple of loads of laundry at my daughter's house (having to treck up and down their basement stairs six times and wait to run a second load 'til the first was washed), how spoiled I've become.  It's very nice to be able to ride an elevator down to a room that is always kept shiny clean and do two or sometimes three loads of laundry at the same time. Since I'm one of the lucky retired ones I can do my laundry any weekday morning and know that there will always be washers and dryers available. Funny how something that seemed so strange a year ago has now become a convenience.

more differences between then and now

It occurred to me, after I was in bed last night (as these things often do) than another difference between 50 years ago and now is that back then we snarfed down donut holes - such a fun little treat. Now we talk about being "in the donut hole" - not fun at all.

Today another age indicator was brought to my attention. Two of my granddaughters, ages 12 and 13, are having a sleepover with me tonight and we spent a couple of hours at the pool this afternoon. I "swam" (and i do use the term loosely) for about 30 minutes, they were still going strong after two hours.  I climbed carefully in and out of the pool using the steps and railing provided for us old folks - once in, once out. They, choosing to ignore steps and ladders, used their arms to hoist themselves out of the pool, then jumped back in. They repeated this performance over and over again. Ah youth.

50 years later

I attended a really lovely 50th anniversary celebration for two dear fiends this weekend and hosted three friends for the weekend who also attended the event. It was really fun to have time to visit with several friends and acquaintances and catch up on the latest in their lives. I can't help reflecting though on what a turn our conversations have taken in 50 years. Back then it was all about who we would marry, when we would finish college, would we get a job - most likely teaching for the women, what music we liked, should we try smoking and drinking and, if we were really looking ahead, how many children we might like to have. We would never have dreamed of discussing things like aches and pains, missing teeth, thinning hair (women really don't like this), fragile bones and dietary restrictions. Of course there is a really good side to 50 years gone by. While our bodies have played dirty tricks on us we can share stories of children and, wonder of wonders, grandchildren. Gray hair and wrinkles are so worth it.

Back to school

All of my grandchildren are heading back to school next week. The four of them (two sets of cousins) will be a sophomore, a freshman, an eighth grader and a seventh grader. The sophomore tells me he's most looking forward to solar astronomy, American sign language, band and lunch. The other three, all girls, are more interested in a little last minute back to school clothes shopping. The freshman will be attending school where her mom teaches French and, needless to say, will be taking French. I remember "back to school" as a student and later as a teacher. This time of year I always get a little twinge of longing for the excitement of that first day. Happily I usually get over the feeling very quickly, A glass of wine helps.

Retirement was such a wise decision.

Back at my old job today and everyone was so nice, excited to see me back. And it was fun, in a way, and yes, after a little while, I remembered how to use the systems. Turns out that what they really need my help with is the up coming news letter. I can do this. Assembling one more newsletter is possible. But, as I kept stressing to everyone today, this is only very short term. The only thing I was faced with this morning that I knew I couldn't deal with was the chair the new communication editor uses. I've never seen anything quite like it.  It looked like a giant ball on wheels with a tiny little back piece. Probably wonderful for your posture or something but I could only imagine myself rolling right off onto the floor. Happily our head maintenance man, who let me into the office, took one look at the chair, said "You can't sit on that." and immediately replaced it with a more traditional office chair, which looks suspiciously like the one I used to use. Welcome home indeed.

Back to work???

I'm going back to work tomorrow - but only for three weeks I hope.  The young lady who took over my job when I retired 18 months ago (and has been doing a wonderful job) was in a car accident some weeks ago, and, while she came away without any broken bones, she did sustain a rather nasty concussion which is taking a while to heal. For the next few weeks she's not supposed to look at computer screens or much of anything else so I have agreed to come back - very part time - to help with the bulletin and newsletter. I'm happy to be able to help but I have this dreadful feeling that I will sit down in front of her computer tomorrow and not remember anything about how to do the job. After all, I've spent a year and a half firmly putting all that stuff out of my mind and I think I've reached the age when forgetting is much easier than remembering.

Haggis and high kicks

Toward the end of our trip our guide performed a Haggis ceremony (see top picture).  The haggis was brought out with some ceremony and Jim proceeded to cut into it while reciting a lengthy poem by Robert Burns is praise of haggis. This was supposed to be accompanied by a bag piper but he didn't show up so some of our number found bagpipe music on their phones. In case you don't know haggis is bits and pieces of meat scraps mixed with oatmeal, stuffed in a sheep's stomach and cooked.  Everybody seems really grossed out by this but think about what sausage is made of and stuffed in and it won't seem so bad.  They served the haggis as an appetizer - a layer of mashed potatoes, a layer of haggis, a layer of mashed turnips (neeps) all covered with a gravy seasoned with whisky, actually quite good. The four of us who had gone to London first decided that this was the night to wear our "Kinky Boots" t-shirts, so here we are. "Kinky Boots" was an excellent play, great music, funny lines and a good underlying message about accepting all sorts of people. "Ladies, Gentlemen and those who haven't made up their minds yet..." was a frequently repeated refrain.