Scrabble anyone?

When my children were young we all loved to play games.  One of our favorites, especially mine, was Scrabble.  I'm such a fan of the game that one Christmas my husband gave me a deluxe set with a board mounted on a turntable so it could be rotated from player to player around the table.  The board also has little ridges between the squares so the tiles stay where they are placed, and don't slip slide around, thus eliminating a lot of aggravation. Then the only aggravation was when I didn't win.  I can be rather competitive.  One memorably aggravating game was played on January 12, 1995.  My son was 24 at the time.  I know the date of this game because he taped the score sheet inside the cover of our Official Scrabble Players Dictionary.  On that memorable evening he scored 464 points by spelling not one but three seven-letter words, and he's never let me forget it.  Now I would like to proposed a change in the rules of this classic game.  Traditionally, proper names are not allowed but I think an exception should be made for the names of medications advertised on TV.  Words like BOTOX, ZANTAC, RINVOQ, INGREZZA and OCREVUS would certainly add some flexibility not to mention scoring possibilities.  Love those ten-point Zs.  Scrabble anyone?

snake tales continued

 My closest real encounter with a snake was when Charlotte came to visit.  Charlotte was a fairly young, four foot long boa constrictor who spent one summer living in our basement when my daughter and her boyfriend (later her first husband) brought her home from college for the summer.  The snake and the boyfriend spent most of the summer with us because the boyfriend's mother flat out refused to have a snake in the house.  Charlotte spent most of her time in a large glass terrarium on the bar in the basement family room.  It was nice and cool down there and she had a window view.  She ate an occasional mouse (shades of great grandma's black snakes) but these were purchased at the pet store and brought home in little cartons (picture the cartons that Chinese food comes in) with a phrase printed on the side that said "Somebody loves me and is taking me home."  Well Charlotte certainly loved them.  I did not watch when she ate.  Sometimes Charlotte was allowed out of her glass box to get some exercise.  She liked to twist her body through and around the rungs on the back of my dining room chairs.  She also, and I know this may be hard to imagine, would curl up on my lap and let me pat her.  It certainly wasn't like patting a fluffy cat but she did have a nice cool leathery feel.  When the kids went back to college the snake went too, and was returned to the pet store.  I think the novelty had worn off.  Some pets, and some husbands, just aren't there for the long haul. 

snakes

 I have had several encounters with snakes in my life, none of them poisonous, but all memorable to me.  It started when I was a child when my father jokingly referred to tapioca pudding as 'snake eyes.'  I do not eat tapioca.  When I was a little older my mother, in a effort to help me think kindly about snakes, told me about her grandmother who kept two large black snakes in her basement to kill any mice that tried to get into the house.  We did not keep snakes in the basement but, since we lived in the country for most of my growing up years, we occasionally saw snakes in the grass.  My youngest brother (that west coast brother I often refer to) wrapped a dead snake around the gas peddle in my car which, when I realized what my foot was on, got me out of that car, and chasing my brother, at a speed I have never duplicated since.  One of the funniest scenes I remember (while not funny for the snake) happened when our miniature dachshund Remington managed to kill a garter snake when we were all outside doing yard work.  He immediately went into "Look at me, the mighty hunter." mode.  He ran around the yard flinging that snake into the air, catching it, and repeating the process over and over again.  Throughout his life Remington chased lots of squirrels and an occasional cat but that snake was the only wild life he ever caught.  Tomorrow night, memories of Charlotte.  

anything cool

 My west coast brother informed me that today is National Ice Cream Cake Day.  Since he lives in Spokane where the high tomorrow is supposed to be 106 degrees, I'm sure he would enjoy some ice cream in any form.  

Fifteen years ago my son moved his family back to Fort Wayne from Phoenix because even then it was too hot in the summers for his children (then toddlers) to play outside.  I know people say "Yes, but it's a dry heat."  It gets to a point though where hot is hot, wet or dry.  I remember walking across a mall parking lot on a summer visit to Phoenix and feeling the reflected heat from the pavement burning my ankles.  It was probably over 100 that day.  On the other hand, one July I attended a business conference in Atlanta.  I had been inside for several hours and decided to step outside during an afternoon break to get a breath of fresh air.  Hah! It felt like I had walked into a steaming hot washcloth.  I went right back inside.  As I said, hot is hot but personally I'll take 80 and humid over 106 any time.  

On a non-weather related note, I can be sure of ice cream cake at least four times a year because it is a favorite birthday cake for my son and his family.  Hmmm, the next birthday in their family is in July.  Of course that's when my daughter-in-law turns 50.  I'm not sure how much she will feel like celebrating (although she is a very young looking 50) but I'm pretty sure there will be ice cream cake.  

wave that flag!

 I know our country has problems but sometimes it's good to feel unapologetically patriotic.  This evening was one of those times.  The weather was perfect, it didn't rain, several hundred of us gathered at Parkview Field to enjoy the Fort Wayne Philharmonic's patriotic concert.  The first time they've all played together since before the pandemic.  It was wonderful.  We heard the history of the National Anthem, enjoyed several stirring marches, sang along to 'My Country tiz of Thee' and other patriotic songs, saluted veterans and active duty military persons and watched fireworks while the orchestra played the theme from 'Star Wars.'  Not quite sure how that fits as a patriotic tune but everybody loved it.  All in all it was a rousing, feel good evening.

Ho ho ho...

 Today is my west coast sister-in-law's birthday.  When I texted birthday greetings (I did send a proper birthday card also) my brother reminded me that June 25, in addition to being his wife's birthday, is also exactly six months 'til Christmas.  I was not thrilled by this reminder.  I do love Christmas, in its proper time, which is December.  I'm not thrilled to see Christmas decorations in the stores before Thanksgiving, let alone have reminders in June.  But, being one of the world's best procrastinators (it's my super power) I have determined to put it firmly out of my mind, at least until October.  

above the door

 This a a reflection of the age of the house and not my age.  When I was eight years old my family moved from an almost new three bedroom house in New Haven to a 100 year old small, one story farm house on five acres. My mother had read a book called "Five Acres and Independence" and my parents were giving it a try.  They did keep their day jobs.  I was reminded earlier today of a nifty feature of that old house.  I was watching a Perry Mason rerun.  The fact that I enjoy these really is a reflection of my age.  In one scene, Perry climbed up on a chair in a hotel hallway, and peeked in the transom to see if anyone was in the room.  Do you remember transoms?  They are narrow rectangular windows mounted horizontally above doors.  The real reason for these wonderful little windows was ventilation.  We did not have air conditioning in our old house but we never missed it. With ten foot ceilings and all three (we had three exterior doors) transoms open there were always breezes circulating through the house.  I'm sure it helped that we lived in the country where the wind was almost always blowing, but still it was a very clever invention.  One thing we didn't have.  In another Perry Mason episode, Paul Drake, the handsome detective, used a boxy periscope to look out the transom window over another hotel room door, to see who was in the hallway.  I'm sure my brother and I would have loved to have one of those periscopes. 

drink up!

 Do you have a glass of water handy?  Today is National Hydration Day and also National Pink Day (the color, not the singer).  It seems to me that pink lemonade is the obvious beverage choice of the day.  I do drink a fair amount of water every day but I'm not fanatical about it.  It seems to me that coffee, tea, soup and other liquids should also count, but I've heard differing opinions on this.  When I was a school teacher many years ago, I drank a lot of water from drinking fountains.  There always seemed to be one located fairly close to my classroom door, which was good because I didn't have a lot of time between classes.  Now it seems, everyone carries water with them everywhere they go.  I don't mind but it does sadden me to see all the disposable plastic bottles in use.  When I was a child, we had really pretty bad well water, rusty and smelling of rotten eggs but we were used to it.  We used to laugh at a friend of my mother's who would always bring a thermos of city water with her when she came to visit us.  Now, no one would be at all surprised to have a friend drop in carrying their own water.  Recently Fort Wayne was honored as being one of the top three cities in the country for water quality.  Since I've know for a long time that the water is good here, I regularly drink it 'gasp' right out of the tap.  Since water comes gushing out whenever I turn on the faucet (except tomorrow when the water will be turned off in our building while they repair a water line) I do not buy bottled water.  Not so much because I'm  concerned about the environment, although I am.  Really, I'm just miserly enough to hate the idea of buying water in the grocery store and just lazy enough not to want to haul it home.

if at first you don't succeed...

 This evening was the second time for auditioning for the play I would like to be in.  When I went to the audition on Sunday there were only eight or nine people there to try out for a comedy with eight roles so I thought that I might have a chance.  However, this evening thirty more aspiring actors showed up and most of them were pretty good.  Some I knew from other plays we were in together, so it was fun to see them again, even as I realized that my chance at a part in the play had diminished exponentially.  Ah well, it was a happy little daydream. 

working cats?

 Today is Take Your Cat to Work Day.  My west coast brother invited his cat Ace to go to work with him but Ace informed him that this is an "ill conceived holiday as cats and work seldom go together."  I think Ace is right.  Through the years that I was married and raising children, my husband and I gave house space to five cats - Buckeye, Olympia, Athena, Frances and Claire. Not all at the same time!  All females and all, as far as I can recall, completely opposed to work.  One caught a bird that got in the house and a couple of them liked to chase field mice that occasionally got into our garage when we lived in the country.  But I really don't think they considered this work.  Dogs, on the other hand, really can work.  Not my dogs mind you.  Remington and Heidi really didn't do much more than the cats.  But some dogs herd cattle or sheep, retrieve game or chase down criminals.  Even my dogs would fetch.  Have you ever tried to get a cat to fetch anything?  But cats are, and this is important, champion nappers.  Perhaps their job in the great scheme of things is to teach this skill to humans.

Just do it.

 There were auditions this afternoon for the first play scheduled in First Pres Theater since the pandemic shut everything down.  It was a stretch to think that I might qualify for any of the parts in this play, I'm a little on the old side, but I decided that I would certainly not get a part if I didn't try out. So I did. It was a fun experience.  The director, who had directed another play I was in some years ago, seemed genuinely happy to see me and the play is a comedy so it was fun just being on stage and reading the lines.  It helped that not too many people turned out today, maybe because it's Fathers Day, so I got several chances to read.  The only real problem I can see is that whatever part I might qualify for, there is one scene where I'm required to get down on my knees with everyone else.  Now, getting down on my knees is no problem.  Gravity helps.  But getting up again is not a pretty picture, although it might get a laugh. There is another audition scheduled for Tuesday evening and the director encouraged us all to come back, so I will.  We won't know until the end of the week who will be in the cast, but I really do think it would be fun to be in one more play.  Fingers crossed.

a day to celebrate

 Today, Juneteenth, has just become a federal holiday, and coincidentally, it's my oldest grandchild's 20th birthday, so from now on he'll be able to celebrate his birthday on a national holiday.  I don't know if that means he will get the day off from work but who knows?  And if that's not enough to celebrate, it's also World Juggling Day, World Sauntering Day and National Eat an Oreo Day.  I can't juggle but my grandson can. It's that coordination thing again.  I don't have it.  My only A in a phys ed class was archery, and that was because I didn't have to move my hands and feet at the same time.  Learning to drive a standard transmission car was a real challenge.  But I can saunter and eat Oreos at the same time.  It's a little bit like walking and chewing gum at the same time but with a cookie.  My husband and I could never agree about how to eat an Oreo.  I like to twist mine open and eat the frosting out of the middle first, while he insisted that that was all wrong.  A person must just eat the whole sandwich cookie in a few bites.  Now I ask you, where's the fun in that?  

It was a different time

 At least on TV it was apparently a different time.  I will admit that from time to time I enjoy watching old television shows on channel 33.6.  This evening, for example I saw part of an old Carol Burnett show, a scene where she and Harvey K were playing a married couple having an argument in their bedroom.  Gasp, a bedroom scene.  They were in twin beds of course, with a three foot space between them.  Funny thing though, my parents never slept in twin beds.  For all their married life they slept in a double bed, and they were an untraditional couple in other ways.  My mother was six years older than my father.  Actually in my family that wasn't so unusual.  Both of my grandmothers were six years older than my grandfathers.  And one of my cousins was six years older than her husband.  But among other unusual things, my mother was a teacher with a BS degree, my father was a carpenter who had to quit school at 16.  My mother took flying lessons and could pilot a small plane, my father's only flight was on a troop plane coming home from Brazil near the end of WWII.  You get the idea.  They were a very unlikely couple and yet they made it work, just like an old time movie.  

sweet memories

 Today, once again according to my west coast brother, is National Apple Strudel Day.  That immediately makes me hungry, but it also makes me think of things German.  That logically leads me to memories of my college roommate's mother who immigrated to the United States from Germany as a very young woman.  She was an excellent cook, and especially dazzled with her baked goods.  I should mention that my roommate was very generous about sharing the goodies that came in the mail from her mother.  Even better, when she and I were coming home for the same weekend or holiday, I would ride with her to her home in Fort Wayne, then wait there until my dad came to pick me up and take me the rest of the way home. While I waited we were treated to whatever was just coming warm out of the oven.  As we ate, we listened to the sound of many coocoo clocks marking the hour.  Sweet, sweet memories.  

mastering the simple

 I love to watch cooking shows like "Master Chef" and "The Great British Baking Show."  The cooks come up with some really amazing creations and I marvel at their creativity.  Mind you, I don't have any intention of trying to duplicate their efforts, but while I was watching "Master Chef" this evening I started wondering what special dish I could cook for the judges.  My almost grown grandchildren still like my salmon patties, usually served with macaroni and cheese (the bright yellow kind from a box).  I like my 'original' spaghetti made from canned spaghetti sauce with lots of extra goodies tossed in.  Give me ground beef, cheddar cheese and mushroom soup and I can make a delicious casserole, my late husband's favorite.  My daughter loves my bean soup, again started with canned beans, and I do make really good chili, again beginning with some chili seasoned beans.  I guess, looking back at this list, if there is ever a cooking competition on TV called "Cooking from Cans" I could be a contender.  

lightning

 Today, according to my west coast brother, is Global Wind Day and also National Electricity Day.  Interesting combination.  It makes me think of the big windmills generating electricity all over Scotland.  But more recently I saw an amazing display of electricity right here at home.  Three nights ago, when it was hot and muggy, I was out on my balcony about 11:00pm (a nightly habit before I go to bed) and I was treated to an incredible heat lightning show.  It went on and on, sharp jagged slashes across the sky alternating with big soft blooms of light and no sound at all.  It was beautiful.  My friends know that I am easily entertained, but really this was an amazing show.  

How historic...

 Today is Family History Day, so I've decided to share a bit from my family history.  My father told me that when he was a small boy, about three years old, (in about 1919) he would travel with his mother to visit her parents every weekend.  Evidently she went home every weekend to help her mother with the housekeeping, and he was too little to be left at home with his two older sisters.  What I found most interesting though was they way they traveled.  They were traveling from the small town of Woodburn to a farm outside of a slightly larger town called New Haven, a distance of about 10 miles.  On Saturday mornings my dad and his mother would board the train in Woodburn and ride to New Haven where her father, his grandpa, would be waiting with his horse drawn surrey to drive them to the farm.  On Sunday afternoon dad's dad, my grandpa (are you confused yet) would drive to the farm in his model T Ford to take them home.  I think it's fascinating the three kinds of transportation they were using.  From time to time Daddy would tell other little snippets about the farm, like watching a tornado come racing across the fields or learning that his cousin had been hit by a train, but I never heard details.  Family history can be a very sketchy thing.

going back in time

 A friend and I walked over to the old fort this afternoon.  It was a beautiful day for a walk, sunny with a cool breeze.  While we were there we enjoyed the performance of a string quartet playing patriotic tunes.  As we strolled around the fort, we watched the soldiers drill and shoot their black powder rifles.  Just a side note, it occurred to me that if the only guns terrorists could use these days were black powder long guns, it would definitely cut down on numbers killed.  But as I was saying, it was a lovely day for a stroll.  It's nice that the re-enactors attempt to create the authentic feel of an encampment with their tents, and costumes, and I enjoy it when they stay in character while they explain things.  As long as I could keep my back to the highway, and ignore the traffic sounds, it seemed almost real.  Well, except for all the visitors wandering around wearing shorts and sleeveless t-shirts.  Still, it was a fun afternoon.  

real or TV movie?

 Do you ever wonder, when you're watching a sporting event, if the dramatic, come from behind end is real or staged?  I know, how very suspicious of me, and I don't really suspect fraud, but sometimes????

For instance, this afternoon I was watching a car race.  It was a choice between that or golf while I was doing my 30 minute ride on my exercise bike.  Somehow I thought a car race would be more motivating than golf.  The race was on an interesting track in Detroit and really fun to watch.  They had a few laps left when I finished my ride so I kept watching (not pedaling, just watching).  One driver had been in the lead for some time.  He had an impressive number of wins to his credit and was highly favored to win.  Running in second place was a younger driver trying for his first win.  About three laps from the end, a driver farther back in the pack, ran into a wall.  No serious injury, but the yellow flag when out and then the red flag.  While the track was being cleared all the cars were stopped, then lined up in the order they were in when the race was halted.  Ok, here comes the drama.  As they were getting ready to resume the race, the lead car wouldn't start.  It was a very hot day which may have contributed to the problem.  As that team's mechanics scrambled to fix the problem, the other cars took off and, no big surprise, the car that had been in second place won the race.  Hummm.....

the final curtain

 Tonight was the big show, the grand finale, the campers' performance for their families.  The theater was packed, SRO, and the children all did well, except for a few tiny things.  I arrived in good time to be trained in running the lights.  The real theater tech had everything programed into the system and all I had to do was push one button, cleverly labeled 'go' at each change of scene, and, oh yes, there was one other button, a big red slide actually, that she cleverly called the 'heart attack button.'  It brought up all the lights very quickly in case someone falls off the stage or has some other catastrophe.  Luckily that didn't happen.  However, during the one and only full rehearsal, right before the actual show, they ran the numbers in a completely different order than what was printed on the program, from which she had programmed the whole show.  So suddenly, instead of one button, I had a mouse and a lot more flexibility, and more responsibility.  Happily, I had it all figured out by the end of the rehearsal, which is when the choir director came to our booth and informed us that he had it wrong and we would be following the original printed order.  So there I was, back to the original one button. So easy.  My part went very well for the rest of the evening. Sadly, one of the littlest singers threw up while they were all lining up for the opening songs, which were performed with the children standing in a large U until the mess, quickly covered with a mass of paper towels, could be really cleaned up by the custodian.  Live theater is such fun. 

rising to new heights

 Today was the last morning for MAD2 camp.  Tomorrow evening the children will put on a show for their parents and then this busy week will be over.  After the kids went home today, the real theater tech guru asked if I could stay behind and help her hang five additional lights over the stage for tomorrow's show.  I had time so I said yes.  Hanging each light involved climbing up a 30 foot extension ladder while carrying a 35 pound light fixture, perching at the top, making the necessary connections, and then asking someone in the light booth to press the 'on' button. Guess which job was mine.  The rest of the job was to call 911 if she fell off the ladder.  Happily, I didn't have to do that.

it's a plot

 I suspect that my laptop conspires against me from time to time.  Sometimes it's simple things like misspelling words, even though I'm supposed to have spell checker.  But sometimes it's nastier than that.  Take this evening for instance.  I've been paying my bills on line, like I do every month, and everything went well until I got to the last bill.  I entered my ID and password and it rejected me, telling me something didn't match.  I tried not to take it personally.  I reentered and reentered and reentered, being very careful to be accurate.  But, alas, nothing worked.  So I gave it up for a while, turned off my computer, fixed a snack, watched a little TV, and then, when it wasn't watching, I snuck up on it.  I logged on, found the site, keyed in the exact same information, and, hey, presto, it worked.  At least I think it worked.  It gave me a confirmation code and everything.  I guess I'll know for sure when I get next month's bill.  

Whoo? whoo?

 I used to be a morning person. able to jump up at the crack of dawn and head off to my job, where I would get most of my work done before noon.  That all seemed to change after I retired.  I can still get stuff done in the morning but morning doesn't start 'til about 9am.  None of this up with the birds stuff, although the birds are being pretty persistent these days.  Did you know that birds start singing, chirping, honking and tweeting before 6am?  I only know this because this week I am getting up at 6am to help with camp.  I've been getting there on time and am happy to report that I got everything in the theater set up, turned on, unlocked and generally ready all by myself this morning, without any problems. I was actually feeling pretty wide awake until the first group of campers (pre-k and kindergartners) came bouncing in.  No one should have that much energy before 8am.  I'm really glad that I can sit and watch them from a distance.  

just call me guru

 MAD2 (music, art, dance and drama) camp started today.  We couldn't call it MADD because that's been taken and DDAM camp didn't really sound good for a church.  Anyway, it is off to a good start.  As far as I know all 100 campers showed up.  Unfortunately our nifty camp t-shirts have not arrived yet.  They may end up being an end of the week souvenir.  My volunteer assignment, as I mentioned Saturday, is, and this title wasn't my suggestion, Theater Tech Guru.  Today went really well, mainly because I had our real on staff theater tech guru available to train me.  We went over everything multiple times and I took copious notes.  Some parts are pretty straight forward, like turning on the lights and unlocking the doors to the theater. I can do old tech.  The trickier parts are pushing the right buttons on the sound board to make sure there is power to the microphone.  And of course not pressing the wrong buttons.  The rest of the time I spent sitting at the console, looking like I knew what I was doing, and answering the occasional question.  Easy questions like "What time does the next class arrive?" and "Where can I find some Kleenex?" and one trickier question, "Is the piano back stage?"  Actually I knew the answer to that one also.  There was no piano back stage.  Evidently there was supposed to be one. Happily, piano moving was not part of my job description.  Those musical types who needed the piano for the singing class at the end of the morning found one and had it in place on time.  All in all I think we're off to a great start, and as I watched other volunteers moving groups of rowdy kids from class to class I decided that being the TT Guru is just fine with me.  

Three down...

 ...one to go.  Today my third grandchild, of four, graduated from high school.  They are stair-step cousins which means the first graduated in 2019, the second in 2020, and the third today.  Each graduation has been memorable in its own way.  The first was a nail biter - would he get his last assignments in on time?  He did.  The second was during the Covid shut down so I attended by livestream from my recliner (not all bad).  Today it was back to the coliseum for the Carroll High School graduation.  Families had a limited number of tickets (my dear son-in-law gave me his) and alternate rows were blocked off.  On the floor of the arena the graduates were spread out in their rows, about three feet apart, a sea of blue, and all of us were required to wear masks.  The grads were allowed to take them off when they walked across the stage to get their diplomas.  Everything went smoothly and 600 grads walked across the stage in a reasonable time.  One large burly young man did fall down on his way across the stage, but he rolled and got right back up.  Probably lots of practice as a foot ball player.  I was concerned when he fell, of course, but at the same time I thought it looked a little staged.  Later my son-in-law told me that this is becoming a dare at graduation ceremonies. "I'll pay you $50 if you fall down on stage."  I did find it interesting that there were three valedictorians and two salutatorians.  The vals spoke at the beginning of the program and the sals at the end.  Each of them limited their speech to five minutes.  My granddaughter was not one of these, but she did get a 4 year scholarship for college so I think she'll be ok.  All in all it was a nice event and fun to be in a crowd.  

a new role

 I was given a new assignment today.  This coming week we are having MAD2 (Music, Art, Drama and Dance) camp at our church.  Starting Monday at 8am we will welcome 100 campers, pre-K through 5th grade for all kinds of fun art experiences.  People from the Children's theater and a dance school and an elementary school art teacher and others will actually be teaching the classes but I, along with several other church members, had volunteered some weeks ago to help.  I assumed that I would be helping to chaperone a group or serve snacks or help register the campers.  However, when I got the schedule and assignments at a training meeting this morning, I discovered that my assignment is "Theater Tech Guru."  At first I was a little panicked.  My theater experience is more of the on stage type but I was assured that I will get some training on Monday morning.  The more I think about it, the better I like this assignment.  While other volunteers will be shepherding kids hither and yon, I will be at the controls at the back of the theater turning on lights and adjusting sound.  I really won't have to deal with the campers at all.  Sounds good to me.  Of course there is the pesky possibility that I might accidentally hit the wrong button, plunge the theater into total darkness, and cause a panic, but, you know, what are the odds of that? 

tough choice

 According to my west coast brother today is Doughnut Day and also Shopping Cart Day.  If a person had to choose just one to celebrate, which would it be?  Doughnuts are delicious but hard on the waist line. Ordinarily I would have said that pushing a shopping cart around any large store would off set the calories in a donut but when I think shopping carts these days I think of on-line shopping and, let's face it, that doesn't burn up any calories at all, money yes, calories no.  Lucky for me, I got up too late to get a free donut.  They were being passed out in the lobby this morning.  Also luckily, I didn't have anything to shop for today.  So I saved calories and money.  But guess what?  It's also National Cheese Day and Cognac Day.  I celebrated with a cheese sandwich and some pretend cognac, aka ginger ale.  

high points

 Today is Chimborazo Day, which evidently celebrates a mountain, actually a stratovolcano, in Ecuador.  This particular spot is the highest point on earth.  And speaking of high points, I went to dinner with a friend this evening and we had prime rib.  We went to the Factory which evidently specializes in prime rib.  Given a choice, I usually order a petite filet and he always has prime rib.  Just for once I decided to have the prime rib.  It always looks good on his plate.  So I tried it, and let me tell you, it did taste pretty good.  However, I've decided the taste isn't worth the effort.  With a filet I just slice off tender, easy to cut pieces and eat them, and yes I do use the US technique of switching my fork back to my right hand.  But I digress.  Presented with a huge slab of prime rib, swimming in juice, which can splash if you're not careful, I diligently started to cut off a bite size piece.  The meat was pretty tender but cutting through all the fat and gristle to get to it was a challenge.  I persevered and eventually ate all of the edible bites.  I estimate my piece of actual meat was about the size of a filet, just not as tender.  Guess what I'll be ordering next time?  The onion rings were good though.  

Highway robbery???

 Or maybe not.  I took my car in to the dealership today to get a headlight replaced.  First they checked to be sure they had the part, then quoted a cost of $72 plus labor.  I gulped a little but they've always been honest with me before so I told them to go ahead and put it in.  An hour and a half later (admittedly I didn't have an appointment) the car was ready to go.  Out of curiosity, when I had time this evening, I googled Fiat 500L replacement headlight bulbs.  The prices quoted, average replacement cost, ranged from $94 to $103. My total cost, before tax, was $101.10, so I shall not complain, at least not much.  It still does make me wonder though why such a little bitty item costs so much.  I suspect it's similar to the reason why some little bitty pills cost so much.  One of my granddaughters is taking an Economics class this summer.  Perhaps I'll ask her.  

fun times

 America's Got Talent, one of my TV favorite shows, is back and I am pleased but also humbled.  I love to watch the variety of acts, some really good, some really awful, but all entertaining in their own ways.  But at the same time, I find myself measuring my abilities against theirs.  Dog trainer? No.  Stand-up comedian? No.  I actually did a comedy routine once and got laughs but that used up all my comic material from my only source, my grandchildren.  Sing in a choir? No.  I can, however stand in a choir and move my lips.  Swing from a trapeze? No.  Dance weirdly? No.  Play the piano? No.  I can't even crack walnuts with my butt cheek (although I admit I've never tried that one).  I guess I'll just have to stick to my one great talent, being an audience.