Friday Goofy

The puppy was an unwilling partner in the love affair of Walter and the Pink Pig.

How Gross Is This?

That's the door to the ladies' room at the Movie Tavern. I imagine all that goo is from the "buttered" popcorn. Yuck.
I used my foot to open the door.

No Hello for the Living

I was thinking about something sad today. A few years ago when we had the big scare with my father-in law, his daughters showed up and were frequent visitors. I haven't seen them since.
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See, my FIL is actually my husband's stepDad. He has three daughters from his first marriage. I've met them a few times but couldn't pick them out of a line-up. They are never over there on his birthday or father's day. I know this because we usually are. I've only seen them around the Christmas holidays one time and my 27 year old daughter was still in high school. So that's been a while.
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I wonder why it is that when it comes to old people, everyone makes time for goodbye, but no one ever bothers with hello.

Wishing and Looking Ahead

Dave, one of my facebook buddies, posted that picture today and it was like salve for my brain. I think we are on 30 days this year of triple digits and 23 days in a row of triple digits with this whole next week expected to be in, guess? Yes! Triple digits! We are stilll not real close to the record year of 1980. I think that was 60 days of triple digits and and 13 days of over 110°. The funny thing about that is that was the year I worked as a groundskeeper at my parents' country club. And I had to wear long pants every day except Monday. I guess when I was nineteen, I was much hardier.
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I do have a mental exercise to keep cool. I have booked a trip for October to spend four days with Mom. When I think about the trip I think things like:
1. I bet I'll have to wear jeans
2. I bet I can wear my hair down
3. I may even need a jacket
These are very refreshing thoughts. Just imagining being chilly is nice. In the meantime, I can always look at Dave's picture.

Heat Ennui

I'm pretty much reverse hibernating. It's too hot to do anything. I go to the grocery store on Tuesday, do Meals on Wheels on Friday and we usually do something simple on either Saturday or Sunday. Other than that, not so much. I guess I'll start reading my third autobiography soon. It's the Keith Richards one and has gotten great reviews. I hope he tells some stories about being freezing cold. I can't even remember what that is like.

Surprise!

We went to see Horrible Bosses at The Movie Tavern tonight (Sunday night I mean). I ordered an individual sausage and bell pepper pizza. It was delicious. There was a foil packet tucked in one side between a slice and the pan. It's dark in the Movie Tavern, because, you know, we are all watching a movie. I assumed it was a wet-nap. So after I had eaten all I wanted to eat, I thought, "Ooh that wet-nap was a good idea. I'm going to use that." I figured that was way more convenient than digging through my purse for my hand sanitizer. So I grabbed the packet, ripped it open and poured aged parmesan cheese all over myself. My Sweetie thought it was hilarious. The movie was funny too.

Friday Goofy

............Granny didn't get this far by not knowing how to take advantage of a situation............

And It Was Good!

When I was 5 or 6 my mother was in a bowling league and all the children at the bowling alley were allowed to run around like a pack of wild dogs. I remember playing the juke box and dancing and I remember exploring the back rooms. One time in one of those back rooms, maybe the ladies' locker room, my brother dared to me to touch two electrical wires at the same time. They were sticking out of what had probably been an outlet but was just an open place in the cinder block wall. Being 5 or 6 and not knowing any better I of course grabbed the wires and was thrown backwards by a horrible electric shock. I'm surprised I didn't have a pants accident.
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As all childhood traumas are wont to do, that particular experience gave me a lifelong fear of electricity. Well today, I conquered that fear. I installed a new light fixture in my laundry room:

I did a previous post about the light fixture being some sort of idiotic halogen bulb and how hard it was to replace and that I had bought a new fixture, but in that post I also said I was going to have an electrician replace it for me. Well the first guy came down with a case of mononucleosis and so I called another guy and they kept forgetting about me. So today (Monday I mean) I decided to do it myself.

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After removing the old fixture there was a black wire and a white wire sticking out and I made myself touch them. Not at the same time like when I was 5 or 6. I would stand at the top of the step stool and look at them and then go have a beer and then stand at the top of the step stool and look at them and then go have another beer until I had finally worked up my nerve. I got back up there and quickly tapped my right index finger against the black wire. Nothing happened. I was so relieved. But I did go have one more beer before I touched the white wire.

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Once I realized I would not be shocked, I quickly did all the simple steps and had a new light fixture that uses a regular bulb. I was so tickled. Not that I had a new light fixture and not that I had saved $75. I was tickled because I had done it myself. Myself! I had conquered my lifelong fear and touched those wires. I said, "Let there be light!" I flipped the switch. It came on. And it was good.

The Help

I read The Help recently and found it very interesting. It is set in Mississippi in the early 60's and explores the relationships between white families and their black maids. We had a black maid named Bessie in the mid 60's. She took care of me while my mother slept because my mother worked nights. I think she also cleaned and prepared lunch and dinner. I have very few memories of her because I was a toddler. But I do remember sitting with her on the front porch. Bessie was eating lettuce. She would shake salt between each bite from the lettuce leaf. I remember that I asked her why she was salting the lettuce and she said it tasted good. I asked to try it, and I liked it. That's my only real memory of her. I guess my mother moved to the day shift and I was put in daycare. Plus we moved across town.
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For Mother's Day, one of the gifts I got from my daughter was a coupon good for "A Movie Night Out." So last week, I gave my daughter the book and said, "Read this book and then I am cashing in my coupon for the movie night on August 15th for the movie." The movie opens August 12th and her husband is going to be out of town then anyway, so I figured that's a good time to go. I hope they do a good job with the movie. I'm looking forward to it. And also to a fun night out with my daughter.

Friday Goofy

Walter, though amused by the puppy's antics, did not make note of it in his journal that day.

More Uses For The Internet

I just read an old novel from 1971 that was set in Bergen, Norway. So to get the feel of the place I went to Google Earth to look around. Also some important scenes are set around the Stavkirke of Fantoft. It was described in such a way that I couldn't quite picture it, but I could look it up and there it was (pictured above). I also was able to see what a funicular looked like.
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I first did this years ago when I read The DaVinci Code. Every time a painting was described, I would look it up to see for myself. Maybe it's because my brain is like that of a small child, but it's kind of nice to have pictures to go with my stories.

July? .... Really?

I'm really not sure what happened to June. June was busting out all over and then boom! it was gone. I am very proud of myself for making it through June without going on and on about the heat. I made a vow not to do that this summer. Well, I made a vow not to go on and on about the heat on my blog. I inflict that crap on my facebook friends now.
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I ran out today and bought hanging metal stars for my Meals on Wheels peeps. I gave them festive flags last year. I thought these were cute.:

I just realized that you can't tell from the picture but they are not flat. Anyway, one thing I've learned about old people is they are very patriotic, so I think they will like these. Speaking of old people, now that I am an old person, I decided to do something weird. Well, weird for me. Gnightgirl posted this pic a little bit ago:

I've never had a pedicure in my life and I don't think I've painted my toenails in years. I figured it just draws attention to my Fred Flintstone feet. But after seeing that picture, I called my daughter, the pedicure queen, and asked if she would take me to her place to get my toenails painted funny for 4th of July. So we are going on Saturday. Kate says they don't speak English well, and suggested I bring that picture, so I guess my toenails will look just like that. I wish the rest of my feet did. Happy July!