Wednesday, March 27, 2024

The Wall That Heals

 I'm still alive and kicking, in spite of the once again 44 degrees with four days of rain.  Will this ever stop?  I really could use more of that sitting out and soaking up the sun.  Yes ... still coughing, just not as bad!

It's the night of the week ... another rousing fun-filled night of complaints and angry peasants.  So first, let's enjoy the best part of the day.


Here's my little man getting some Zzzz's only an hour after we got up.  Oh to be able to sleep like a puppy!!


The first chore ... fix the tail lights on my truck.  I thought one of the bulbs had burned out since the bottom half wasn't lighting up.  I keep extra around just for the occasion.  That's funny .. the bulb didn't LOOK burned out and the sun is too bright to really tell.  No one yelled any bad words at me while driving, so I'm hoping it's fixed.  I'll check when it gets dark.


Next up ... oh yeah ... let's get frustrated at the insurance bill for the Lodge.   Remember budget?  Gosh ... I don't even do this much investigation on my OWN house insurance.  I was at the lodge by 1:30 meeting up with our bookkeeper.  She's a joy to work with, so there's that.  

Funny ... several people were hanging outside the back door of the lodge.  What's up?  I had completely forgotten the Wall That Heals was coming to town.  The Elks Lodge donated quite a bit so it would make a two day stop, all organized by a very young college student Elk member who lives here.  It's a replica of the Vietnam Veterans War Memorial, touring across the entire United States.

One big thing our Lodge does is support our military veterans.  Especially these guys!  Sorry I turned my phone, but at least I caught it passing by.  It was preceded by six motorcycle cops with lights flashing, along with several Highway Patrol cars and motorcycles that blocked the entire street.

The truck was followed by about 200 motorcycles, most of whom were Vietnam Veterans.  Everywhere it goes, Veterans are invited to ride along and escort the truck.  It was followed up by six more patrol cars from the Highway Patrol and Merced Police Department, along with several unmarked cars.  It was amazing to watch, and as an old motorcycle gal, it was even more fun to hear all those bikes going down the street.  

After another hour of budget problem solving, it was time for the wonderful game of Bingo.  We were going to be short five people on this night, so I headed up to get the keys to unlock the games.  Who should I find but the King celebrating his birthday.  We even got CAKE!!!  That made up for ALL the budget stuff!

There would be a picture here, but my
email has decided not to accept anything 
I send to myself.  What's up with that??

Oh yay ... it finally came through after I rebooted my phone AND the computer.  There were several rousing rounds of Happy Birthday before I went back to work.


With everything set up, let the games begin.  We were swamped with 135 bingo folks who were quite patient on this night.  That's a first!!  The mini infernal machine, better known as the debit card machine, threw a hissy fit a couple of times, but for the most part spit out all the required receipts.  

Here's the thing.  In order to buy MORE cards, you must have your receipt.  If not you get charged the FULL price instead of the EXTRA CARD price.  The nice lady wanted more cards, but could not come up with her receipt.  That meant she had to pay $3.00 more for the first "extra" card.  She was NOT a happy camper, but paid it, only to come back and demand a refund. 

I SPENT $177 DOLLARS HERE she yelled.  You know I did, why don't you just give me those cards?  Because $125 dollars of that was cash back ... and everyone has to pay for those cards.  I WANT A REFUND.

No problemo ... bring me your cards and I will happily give you your money back.  That wasn't good enough.  She went to the King who by now had been celebrating his birthday for five hours.  He rolled his eyes, she finally brought her cards over and I refunded her $52.00.  Just another happy customer at Bingo!!!

The night was long, but it finally ended.  Well, not until I went another round of insurance budget conversation before escaping out the back door.  I'm pretty sure today will be a COUCH day.  Here's hoping everyone gets a little sun to brighten up their day.




Tuesday, March 26, 2024

Paying It Forward

It's time to celebrate!!  The coughing has almost gone away.  I spent very little time yesterday bent over coughing my brains out.  Let's hope there's enough left that they will regrow.  I did find that I didn't cough nearly as much when there was a peanut butter cookie in my mouth.  I made the sacrifice and looky here ... I'm BETTER!!

Better enough anyway that I made the long trek out to my mailbox because someone suggested that was a good idea.  It was worth every step.  I wasn't too sure when I saw the envelope from Kenneth, especially since I don't know any Kenneths first hand.  Wasn't I surprised to find this cute Easter card from my childhood school friend Frances.  You surprised me girlfriend ... and I thank you so very much!  This is so thoughtful ... hardly anyone sends cards any more.  AND remember she sent me a case of coffee???????


And then I found this .... this one said Barb and Jim.  What goes around really does come back in spades.  I received these gift cards in return for the quilt and fox pelt.  I wasn't expecting anything at all.  It just goes to show you there really are wonderful people left in the world.  You three friends MADE MY DAY!!  


You had me at Red Lobster!!  See the word HABIT on the right?  That's English for Habit Burger, which just happens to be my all time favorite burger joint and lives just down the road a few miles.  What a coincidence ... I'll be driving right by it because I'm headed to the metal fabrication place in town to fix Jonathan's travel cage.


I thought if I could get these little legs cut off, the cage would fit under the cabinet in the RV.  Surely a metal fabrication shop would have something to chop them off.  I went inside to find two huge burly men sitting there ... kind of scary at first glance.  

I explained my problem.  He said that will be $1,000.  YIKES!!!  Good thing he was laughing!  He said sure ... and sent his guy outside to do the cutting.  I offered to pay whatever he wanted because I appreciated the fact he said yes.  He told me no charge .... told me to pay it forward the next chance I got.  I told him he was a scholar and a gentleman ... and I would definitely do that.


Next stop ... you know where ... Habit Burger!!!  I think I was over the moon for the guy at the fabrication shop and my brain skipped a gear.  Habit has changed their menu ... and the salads looked SO good ... on the sign anyway.  I chose badly!!

This is a Santa Barbara cob salad.  I'm not sure where the cob went, but it had lots of blue cheese, which never touches my lips EVER!!  Well this was a big mistake!!  

Deciding this was a good place to pass it on, I tipped the very young girl with a mouthful of braces $10 for her fast smiling service.  She said I didn't know how much she needed this.  Okay then ... eating the tiny pieces of blue cheese that I could NOT pick out of the salad was worth it.  


On the way back home, there was a guy picking up bottles and cans from behind all the buildings.  He had three big bags hanging on his bicycle.  There's a guy who is maybe down on his luck, but he's sure working hard for all those plastic bottles.  

I stopped him ... said someone just did something very nice for me, so I'm passing it on ... paying it forward.  Here's $20.00.  You won't believe what he said ... I'm good, but I know someone who could really use it.  DONE.

So ... with the taste of blue cheese finally OUT of my mouth, I drug this very heavy cage out to the RV, praying it would fit under the cabinet.  I had a quarter inch to spare.  I wish it was a little smaller ... it takes up quite a bit of my counter space, but Jonathan will appreciate having a little more room.


It even matches the decor!  Hah!!  And he can scream in my ear very nicely!!


Finally back inside with only intermittent coughing, I spotted two of these in the Habit Burger bag.  What the heck?  Okay, I get it.  It's supposed to look like a burger.  Turns out it's a gummy bear type of thing.  I popped it in my mouth ... and popped it right back out into the garbage can.  Who feeds this stuff to their kids?  It tasted terrible and was like chewing on a piece of rubber.  I'd rather have blue cheese!!


And so ended a very nice day of not coughing too much, eating lots of peanut butter cookies, feeling warm and fuzzy from the mail pickup and VERY thankful for friends and the nice people at metal fabrication businesses.  It doesn't get any better than that!!!



Monday, March 25, 2024

HURRAY FOR SLEEP!!

Mother Nature has changed her fickle mind yet again and brought winter back to roost.  It's a chilly 46 degrees this morning, requiring heavy duty pjs and wool slippers to return.  My plan to sit out in the sun disappeared behind the clouds, along with the sunlight.

On the bright side, I got some SLEEP!!  Sometimes it amazes me how I can fall asleep in the middle of the day ... and then when I WANT to, I'm wide awake.  I was so wide awake that I finally drug out the vacuum.  The dust bunnies were actually following me around the house.  

You're not going to believe this ... I even vacuumed the FURNITURE!  I must be sick.  Oh wait ... I am.  Sadly I didn't finish and the vacuum now lives in the middle of the hallway to my desk.  Maybe today I can get it finished up.

This was certainly a nice surprise.  I don't think I have ever seen clouds like this since I've lived in this part of California.  It was a good excuse to put the vacuum down and take pictures, which is why it's in the hallway.


First off ... breakfast.  You all know I like sweet, but that last waffle with maple syrup was WAY over the top ... even for me.  I decided I should actually make their recipe and see how it was.


It had peanut butter melted with creme fraiche ... a kind of cream cheese maybe?  Followed up by honey stirred into cherry jam.  Well right off the bat, I heated up the peanut butter mixture too much and it turned into a grainy glob of goo.  I smeared it on anyway.  Next ... the jam ... making it look oh so professional with swirls on the plate!!  I topped it with thin slices of fuji apple.  

I have to admit it was really good!  Not near as sweet and not the peanut butter and jelly sandwich I thought it would be.  I've got two more waffles to enjoy, but sadly I used up all the toppings.  I'll have to come up with something else.


Off the subject ... On one of my quick trips to town, I picked up a roasted chicken for lunch.  That will be the last time I go anywhere but Costco.  It cost me $8.99 and tasted TERRIBLE!!  Even Cooper wouldn't eat it.  Not to be wasteful, I tossed it out for the kitties who roam at night, and the BIG kitties better known as foxes.  They are always so vigilant.


Coughing continued all morning long ... like every 30 seconds.  Not big hacking coughs, just enough to be terribly annoying.  However nothing could keep me from watching the finals of the Colt Breaking National Championships.  

This is Tik Maynard from Canada.  He rides only English and has won every eventing championship there is, including the Olympics.  Maybe my Canadian friends have heard of him?  When he decided to do this, he spent eight months preparing by riding a western saddle.  Quite the change for him.  I knew from the start he was going to win.  

You have to be able to read horses to break them to ride.  You have to wait on them, which gains their trust.  You can't force them to do anything.  This is the third day where they had 20 minutes to warm up the horse before going outside the pen.  

Once they showed the walk, trot and lope in both directions, they had to stop, back, get off, lift up their horses feet and remount before heading off to the obstacles.  In normal training, all you get done on the third day is MAYBE saddling them, definitely not RIDING them.


They had to walk around those poles in the background, over a tarp (which none of them did), walk up these steps, go through the car wash (pool noodles sticking out the sides of poles) ... so many crazy things, when at this point you can't even ride them in a straight line.  It's pretty fascinating to watch.  It brings back so many memories of my horse training days.  I'm yelling at the TV ... WAIT ON HIM!!!


In the end, Tik won with flying colors.  Even though he had to skip some obstacles, his horse did the remaining obstacles better than anyone because he gave the colt the time to stop and think about it.  He did in three days, only 2 hours each day no less, what would take the normal trainer a month or more.

I tried to pick up some tips on training this kid, but I'm only good at giving him treats!!  He slept through the whole thing.


In the end there were even more amazing colors in the sky.  Yes, the vacuum is still in the same spot.  I promise I'll get to it ... some time ... maybe.  I took a chair outside and watched the colors pass by.


I slept fitfully, but at least I slept with very little coughing.  Today I'm going to concentrate on NOT coughing as I eat those Ricola cough drops like candy.  I'm even going to call the doctors office again and see if they have any recommendations.  I'm getting pretty tired of all this nonsense.  

Besides that, it had me so distracted I forgot to pay some bills.  I wondered why I all of a sudden had so much money in my account!  




Sunday, March 24, 2024

Pomp and Circumstance

The good news for today is that I'm still alive and kicking.  Although I'm on day 42, I actually did get well for a couple of weeks (even though I continued to cough) before catching whatever this is again.  I'm sure it was the gal at Bingo who coughed in my face.  Why not go to a doctor?  I tried.  Here's the story about THAT!

It seems there is a doctor's consortium-like thing here.  They took a certain insurance for medical care.  For whatever reason, they decided NOT to accept the most widely used insurance company.  Don't ask me who that is because no one would come forth with the info.  Since those doctors refuse to see patients unless they pay cash, all those patients went to OTHER doctors (mine included) and are now so many that I cannot get an appointment for three months.  

If you go to the hospital here, you are most likely to die, so check that one off the list.  The two Urgent Care facilities can't get you in either ... not for just a cough with no fever or other symptoms.  Heal thyself is the current medical care here.  

On THIS morning, I'm not coughing near as much.  I don't know why since I was up all night.  But I'm getting ahead of myself.  I stayed on the couch all day long, feeling just fine except for the cough. The big Elks Installation was last night ... one I've never been to because I'm always in Arizona this time of year.  


Did I ever mention I'm an introvert?  Being single when everyone else has a partner has always been a problem too.  Who do you talk to?  Who do you sit by?  Upon arrival, I walked around the upstairs bar not finding a single person I knew.  I rarely drink, so I don't hang out there.  Finally it was time to head downstairs to meet the incoming group of officers who usually arrive in a limo.  

There aren't any limos in our little town, so the new "boss" drove everyone in his RV.  Little did he know, there is NO parking allowed on this street.  Sooooooo ... who is going to go park the RV since he needs to go upstairs???  There was a mad rush to find a driver.  I just kept my mouth shut for once.

Finally all together in the lodge room, the installation went as planned with lots of pomp and circumstance and hours of clapping.  That was okay since no one could hear me hacking and coughing.  I actually felt okay ... I just could not stop this dry cough.

Next up ... the best part ... dinner.  Table assignments were made.  They told me there would be a Trustee Table so at least I would know SOMEONE!  They lied.  I was seated at a table with complete strangers.  I can't tell you how uncomfortable that is for me.  They introduced themselves, none of whose names I can remember except one.  

Bart is a new officer, the owner of a small trucking company in a nearby town.  It was nice to meet him and his family.  It certainly made the dinner go by faster (and more comfortably for me) because we had one thing in common.  We both love to drive D9 caterpillars!!  

Dinner was the usual scalloped potatoes, bacon and onion green beans, salad, rolls and a big whopping chunk of beef.  Looks like prime rib, yes?  But this is actually a WHOLE New York Steak (because it's cheaper) cut in 1-1/2" thick slices.  I already ate a good portion of it, so I brought the leftovers home to share with Cooper.  Yes it is rare.  If you've ever raised beef in your life, this is how you eat it.  It's as tender as those scalloped potatoes.


Hopefully I was able to explain some of the sidelines of Elkdom to one of our newest victims ... I mean volunteers.  He's young enough to stay around for many years, yet old enough to be old school.  It's going to be a good year.

I did not stay for the dance afterwards ... with a BAND no less.  Why not stay?  Because I'm the only single person.  Wives do not like their husbands dancing with someone else (yes, its a thing), which was no problem at all because I just wanted to get OUT of that tuxedo!

The clouds looked pretty ominous.  I'm driving right into it!


They got worse as I went along and it began to rain.


By the time I got home and thankfully in the house, I heard a terrible noise.  It was so loud I went to see what was up.  THIS was happening!!  My gutter is once again plugged.  I just cleaned these things out!!!  This is SO not good.  


So guess what I'm doing today?  Maybe in six or seven hours, because I could NOT go to sleep last night at all.  My brain would not shut down and the coughing would only subside if I sat upright.  Cooper was not of any help since he kept wanting to get up ... I've no idea why.

I finally just stayed up ... no sleep at all for Nancy on this night.  I'll try to catch some zzzzz's later this morning, after I fix the gutter!   

Maybe some sugary waffles will help!!!




Saturday, March 23, 2024

My Couch Is Safe

 I'm still alive, which is a good thing, until you get that racking cough that makes you think your head is going to explode any second.  I would dare say I'm a little bit better, not nearly so exhausted this time around, but I don't want to jinx it.  

Thank you so much for all your well wishes.  It helps a lot when you are down in the dumps feeling like you got dumped on!!  

Still coughing?  Yes  Still miserable?  Kinda  Mostly because I'm missing out on all the activities I could be attending.  Yesterday and again today, my friend asked me to check out the Back Country Horsemen gathering.  They specialize in packing horses and mules and clearing all those hiking trails folks love to follow on foot.  Mostly I just sulked all day about missing it since it only happens once a year.

This morning when Cooper and I made our way outside, we were greeted by the moon peaking out behind the clouds.  You're going to love this one.  It's the WORM moon.  It's the time when the soil supposedly warms up, bringing the worms to the top so birds and other critters can have a nice meal.


That's what I thought I would have ... a nice meal.  Here's the FREE breakfast I chose this week.  WOW ... these waffles are over an inch thick and six inches across.  Definitely four meals for me here!


Yup ... I chose badly.  I chose to smother it in Canadian Maple Syrup and butter instead of the healthy peanut butter apple recipe.  Boy was I surprised when I took that first big bite!  YIKES!!  It's almost pure sugar.  Apparently they doused the waffle in brown sugar.  I got so much sweet in that first bite, it almost had me vacuuming the house.  Next time I'll hold the syrup since I've got three more to eat.


Nancy was a good girl and didn't over do it, even though she felt better and wasn't coughing too much.  I'm happy to say my couch is safe since I sat on it all day.  I watched Road to the Horse again as one guy was years ahead of the other two.  He won the Wildcat round and went on to the main competition.  That's where it all went south.

While talking bad about how distracted and hard to work with the FILLIES (the girls) were, they discovered the colts (the boys) were even worse.  The Wildcat winner came in last in the first round.  Ouch!!  In an effort to heal up a little bit more, I'll be on the couch watching round two today.

I really tried to be good and rest, my least favorite thing to do.  I even laid out in the sun for an hour, soaking up all the vitamin D I possibly could.  Not that it matters, because I take plenty of it, but it did feel pretty good to be warmed up by the sun.


Not that I'm counting, but it's been 41 days since this sicky nonsense began.  Tonight is the installation and dinner at the Elks Lodge.  I'm hoping to feel good enough to make the 30 minute installation before grabbing a clamshell full of food to bring home.  At least I will make an appearance, assuming of course that I'm not coughing my head off.  The world still turns in spite of me holding the couch down.

Here's to better days ahead!



Friday, March 22, 2024

Stock In Kleenex

 Well ... well well well ..... a really deep subject on this day.  Low temperature overnight 56.  High today 76.  Perfect weather to be sick, yes?  The good news is the 50% chance of rain this morning, so I don't feel     QUITE as bad that I'm sitting on the couch all day.

I'm taking out stock in Kleenex because I think I've gone through two boxes so far.

The sad part ... I was invited to the Back Country Horsemen gathering today for some training classes.  I guess that's not going to happen, though I do feel better ... not coughing as much ... I just don't feel up to it.

More good news ... I have no fever, so I'm guessing it's not an infection ... but who knows.  I also check my oxygen levels just for fun, and it's at 98-99%, so there's that.

I spent all day on the couch.  You can imagine how hard that is for me to just sit and vegetate.  I was a tad bit lucky since the Road To The Horse competition was on.  You couldn't get any more up my alley than this.

They chose three guys ... all men this time ... to take a colt provided by a big name ranch and break it not only to ride, but to go through crazy obstacles, in only two days.  This year they decided to add one more person with a wild card round, which is what I got to watch.  


These fillies have never been handled before at all.  It's also interesting to see the difference between fillies and colts.  Colts just do their thing ... but fillies ... they don't want to be away from the herd, so it's harder to get their attention to do what you are asking of them.  

So that's it ... that was my entire day.  Oh I did do one very exciting load of laundry when I discovered after five years that I could set that thing up the way I wanted instead of using their pre-programmed settings.  I mean really ... the excitement ... the euphoria!!!

I'm not coughing as much as I was, but I'm tired, and so another rousing day on the couch is in my future.  Maybe, just maybe if I'm a good girl, I will feel good enough to go to the Elks Installation dinner tomorrow that I paid $30.00 for.  In 14 years, I've never gone because I was in Arizona.  Now I'm finally here and I'm a sicko!!  RATS!!

Here's to better days ... SOON!!






Thursday, March 21, 2024

Sicko One Again

 Well .... let's start this day off with some good news.  In the next eight days, it's going to rain SIX days.   So much for soaking up some vitamin D to help with this crazy cough/flu crapola.  Here I was thinking it was all the pollen floating around in the air from the last big wind.

Nope ... I'm sick once again.  Not as bad as last time since I'm not nearly as exhausted, but the cough is lung wracking.  It's one of those you can't help yourself ... that tickle in your throat just screams COUGH! You can feel it down to your toes.  

The only exciting thing that happened all day long (because I spent it laying on the couch) was the addition to my larder of another Hello Fresh box.  To be honest, these boxes of food are cheaper than going to the grocery store.  I stopped in at Save Mart for a few staples and came out $150 poorer.  There wasn't even anything I could make a meal out of.  


Here's what's in the insulated box, all packed in green frozen blocks.  Each meals ingredients come in a separate brown paper bag.  The meat is always in vacuum sealed packages BETWEEN the ice blocks to keep it cold.  

One of the things I got when I signed up was free breakfast for life.  There is also waffles with apples and a homemade sauce from honey and jam.  It should be quite tasty ... not that I'm the least bit hungry.  This cold flu stuff takes your appetite away completely.  I will get eight meals out of this $45 box of food.


Though I really wanted to just stay home, I was able to get the two Trustees to show up for more budget stuff, so I went ahead and drove to town.  After an hour of discussions, we finished up the budget ... which now will go to the bookkeeper to input.  There's no telling how it will come out in the end, hopefully not too far off!!

It is interesting to note our minimum wage is now $16.00.  We have had to lay off people because we cannot afford it.  Some, if not ALL, fast food restaurants now have to pay $20.00 an hour.  Can someone explain to me why a high school student needs $20.00 an hour?  Are they buying a big house?  Taking care of six kids?  Do they have loads of bills to pay? 

 I have no doubt you will no longer receive service from humans.  Robots ... made in China ... will be taking orders, giving you change and cooking all the food.  That means even MORE people will be out of jobs!  So how is this supposed to be better????

I hit the door running.  When I got outside, this weird sunset caught my eye.  I got home and crashed on the couch.


Yes there is a lodge meeting tonight, but I'm not going.  My plan is short and simple.  Lay on the couch all day watching Rodeo.  Hopefully I have something a little more interesting to write about tomorrow!!

Cough Cough ... COUGH!!!!!





Wednesday, March 20, 2024

There Was A Farmer Had A Dog .....

 and BINGO was his name-o,    B-I-N-G-O,    B-I-N-G-O,    B-I-N-G-O and BINGO was his name-o.  Anyone remember that awful bus-riding song?  Almost as bad as 100 bottles of beer on the wall.  And so here I am at my Bingo station for the night.  But first ...

Let's go over some budget stuff and see what these 99 line items actually ARE, before discussing the current news that every employee now gets 40 hours of sick leave, even if they only work two or three hours a week.  It used to be based on the number of hours they work ... but no more.  It's no wonder so many businesses are closing up shop and putting a huge number of folks out of work.  They think they are helping people, but actually they are getting them all fired.  Why can they not see this?

Here's the first bad news ... my Fairy Godmother who sets all this stuff up is off for four weeks.  The Castle is in an uproar ... well at least "I" am.  Now I have to go in even earlier to set everything up.


I grabbed a couple of Bingo Peasants to help me ... wonderful ladies they are ... and we even got the pull tab bar pulled out and the payout table set up.  All the while, I'm still coughing, a leftover from the old crud.

These are the pull tabs ... the REAL moneymakers at Bingo.  All the money I collect for selling bingo cards is paid back out in jackpots.   These little jewels are then purchased by the players for $1.00 each.  If they buy the right one, they might get $125 or maybe even $250.  I think they come in a box of 1,000 and we usually have 120-130 players a night.  

These are all one dollar winners.  They will buy 100 at a time, then sit and pull off the tab (which is why they are called pull tabs) to uncover their big prize of the day.  This is what makes all the big bucks we donate to charities year round.  One guy bought 100, cashed in $87 and bought 60, before cashing in $32.  You can do the math ... I'm too tired this morning.


__ I-N-G-O, __ I-N-G-O, __ I-N-G-O and Bingo was his name-o.  Yeah, that's been going through my head all night.  I thought I would share.

Here is the infamous RED TICKET.  I think I've explained this before.  Everyone gets a red ticket when they buy in.  This is the one they are always fighting about saying I never gave it to them.  Amazingly, a very sweet young peasant girl found this one on the floor and turned it in.  

All night I waited in anticipation of telling them they dropped it.  I'm in shock ... NO ONE came to my table to get another one.  It turned out okay though, because their number was never called anyway.


My Lady in Waiting (the Castle Counter) blasted through 133 peasant purchases, not making a single error.  I knew she would always do a good job.  We worked together for 12 years as bean counters.  She makes my B-I-N-G-O life easy as eating pie.

Speaking of which ... after our fabulous deep fried chicken tenders, I spotted these hiding in the back corner.  Oh yeah ... Costco cupcakes!!  Talk about a sugar rush!  I only ate 1/4.  Not because I'm trying to be so good, but because I can make it last through FOUR meals!!  That's four times the sugar fun!


To our amazement, there were no knock down hair pulling fights on this night.  It seems two of our most problematic peasants stayed home, making it absolutely pleasant for the rest of the crowd.  No pitchforks were spotted.  Well maybe one, okay two.  The first barged into the front of the line, waving her receipt and cards.  I ONLY GOT ONE OF THESE.  

One of the Knights started to hand her another one.  CAN I SEE YOUR RECEIPT PLEASE?  I stopped him in his tracks.  She only bought ONE.  See right here?  There was a very quiet "oh" and off she went.  It happened once again, and this time (against my better judgement) we gave her another one.  She brought it back 15 minutes later saying she found it.  At least she was good enough to do that, if only because it's bad Karma.  You will never win if you steal at a B-I-N-G-O game.

And so ended another lovely night ... with a little more bad news.  I coughed all night long and this morning, I'm sure I have the creeping crud once again.  No doubt it came from the peasant at B-I-N-G-O who literally coughed in my face last week.

So much stuff going on ... budget, employee contracts, officer installation night, lodge night and a weekend long horse show ... and I'm playing sicko again.  BIG SIGH!!!  I hope your week goes better than mine!!


Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Amazon Returns

Adding a disclaimer to the bidding site.  If you dig down far enough, you will find a note saying things may be broken or have missing parts.  Well that's not good!!!  So buyer beware.  I don't know if they charge PER bid ... I haven't found that out yet.


 It was a bed-head hair kind of day.  I was looking just as scruffy as Cooper when my feet finally hit the floor.  Trying to catch up on sleep doesn't seem to work for me.  The longer I stay in bed, the more bogged down I seem to get.  


UP AND AT 'EM ... there's CAKE to eat for breakfast!!  This is the last of the $325 cake purchased by one of the guys at our table.  I didn't want it to go to waste, so I took home the last piece.  It was perfect for St. Patrick's Day.  I could wear green crumbs on my shirt and not get pinched.

By the way ... here's THAT story.  You are supposed to wear green on St Patricks Day so the leprechauns don't SEE you.  It makes you invisible.  Leprechauns are mischievous little people who will pinch you if they see you, just because they can.  


I was off to the dentist at noon for a good teeth cleaning.  I could probably go to Algodones, but to be honest, I'm scared to death of dentists.  My first encounter was with a guy who held me down and drilled with no novocaine of any kind.  It took me 25 years to go back.  These folks take extra special care, so I only go there.  

Next up ... Amazon returns.  The descriptions of some things you buy are about as accurate as the weather guessers.  These were boot trees to keep my boots upright and straight.  Made especially for TALL cowboy boots.  WRONG!!  They were not only not tall enough, but not wide enough either.  Sadly, the best company in the business went OUT of business.  

Here's what I learned today.  They have figured out a way to CHARGE you for the returns to the benefit of the UPS store.  ALWAYS the returns have been drops offs ... no boxes or bags required.  This time I did not notice the "Customer Packed" notation on the return code.  What it means is YOU have to pack it back up in the box it came in ... even if the box is twelve times too big ... before they will return it for free.  

If not in the original box, they charge you.  In this case it was $4.00 for this to be sent back to Amazon.  Lucky for me, I had stuck the bird cage back in the original box, so no charge.  From now on I'll check this return code to see if I need to REPACK it before taking it back.  Makes you wonder what the difference is.


I did check out the BidRL website in the afternoon.  Maybe things will be bid up, but the prices are crazy good.  I think from now on if I'm buying something from Amazon, I'll check this site first.  One foldable dog kennel I paid $100 for went for $2.25.  Maybe that $80 bird cage will come back up for $2.00!!

I got home late, but it was a gorgeous sunny WARM day.  I decided I would pretend I'm Patsy and hang out in the sun reading for awhile.  I have to admit, it felt wonderful!  I almost blinded myself with my no-tan legs, but maybe that will change.  I could have fallen asleep were it not for the slimy yucky ball being dropped on my feet every few minutes.


The rest of the day was spent at the sewing machine.  I have nine more of these squares to make.  I do so wish it was going to be only two colors because I love it.  On the other hand, I'm using up yards of fabric that's been hanging around for some time.  Isn't there an old saying .. the more you use up, the more you can buy???


And so another day has passed ... a rather nice one in my book.  Today will be full of budget stuff and you guessed it ..... BINGO!!!  




Monday, March 18, 2024

A Working Sunday

 The sunshine is working again in California.  It's been gone for quite a long time, hiding out behind the clouds and rain.  We should actually get up to 75 degrees this week.  What an odd weather year.  There are two things about all that rain .... the first one being it makes the weeds grow like they are on steroids.  

That's a bad thing since we have some fireworks fanatics around here that could set my back corrals on fire.  And so I spent the first two hours of the day carrying around a large backpack, spraying said weeds.  My back complaineth.  It wasn't a full 4 gallon load, but enough for me to call the Weed folks today.  I didn't quite finish the left side and never even TOUCHED the right side corral.  

It's worth the price I guess since if the weeds are gone, the grubs are gone and the SKUNKS are gone.


On the other hand, the roses are starting to bloom like crazy.  As long as it doesn't require any care at all from me, plants seem to thrive.  If I get involved, they die.


Next up ... empty the tanks on the RV.  Why oh why they would put the dump handle right over the axle, I don't know.  This has to be a MAN engineering job.  Us women would put an extension on it so we didn't even have to bend over.  On the other hand, you do get a nice splash of water in your face to wake you up when you pull the handle.  I now reach in with a very long hay hook from my days of bucking hay for the horses.


Next up ... the hot water tank.  My old rig had endless hot water that I never had to do anything with.  This one, it's a lot of work remembering exactly what to do to empty and fill it.  If I'm on super saver mode, it takes one plastic bottle full before it becomes hot.  In the other rig, it took three bottles ... so there's that.  Why use bottles to capture the water?  So I could last well over a month before refilling.

The little green cutting board is just to keep water off the directions on the door.  The last time I removed some directions like that (on a house), it cost me a chunk.  DO NOT remove those labels.


Along the path to the rig, I discovered my rosemary was blooming like crazy.  I guess spring really is here and summer is on the way.  I don't know what variety this is, but it makes the BEST tasting pork loin.


With three things on my to-do list marked off ... which gives me great satisfaction ... Cooper and I watched the Houston Rodeo Finals.  So far this rodeo year has been about as weird as the weather.  The top guys are all out with injuries and the 19-21 year olds are taking over.  They look like they are 14!

While that was going on, I began yet another "wonderful" dinner from Hello Fresh.  Honestly, I don't think I chose these meals.  If you forget, they send whatever they want.  Mistakes can be made ... this came with chicken instead of PORK.  I also just noticed the calories listed at the bottom.  This is what it SHOULD look like.


Here's what it DID look like.  Carrots must be in season because I seem to be getting them with every order!!  AND everything once again was roasted in the oven.  I admit, it's a quick no-dirty-dishes way to fix dinner.  The sauce on this one made my mouth pucker up like eating a lemon.  Woohoo that balsamic vinegar was SOUR!!

I didn't make the potatoes.  If I have to choose between roasted or mashed, it's mashed every time.  I'll have them later with something else.  At least this time I got a WHOLE piece of chicken.


I really can't complain ... it hit the spot and was semi tasty, but I won't put this one on my order again. 

Lucky me, I have a dentist appointment today.  Just cleaning so no big deal.  Then it's Amazon return time.  That reminds me, while at the fundraising dinner, there was a table next to us purchased by a BID company.  I finally asked who they were.  

It seems all that merchandise that's returned to Amazon, doesn't go to Amazon after all.  It is picked up by these guys and sold at auction (kind of like Ebay) several times a week.  It's not shipped to you, you have to go pick it up in person.  Anyone know if this is legit?  Surely Amazon just doesn't give it all away.  I'll let you know what I find out!!




Sunday, March 17, 2024

BID FAST, BID HIGH!!

 

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!!!!

I hope ye be wearing green something or other, or the locals will be pinching ye!!  Seriously, I don't know where that came from.  I got pinched a lot as a kid because there was hardly EVER any green in my wardrobe.  There still isn't, but lucky for me, there is no one here to pinch me ... except maybe Jonathan!

And so today ... I'm as sore as I can be.  Lifting those heavy cages appears to have given me a workout I didn't know I was getting.  After a lot of cleaning and a little more sewing, I was off to the Elks Lodge once again.

THIS time it was for an event I usually do not participate in.  This is like gambling to me ... it never fails that you get carried away and spent WAY more than you wanted.  This is the Merced Search and Rescue fundraiser dinner.

Here's how it works ... the Elks Lodge donates to this charitable organization, which means we get a table for ten at the dinner.  It's prepared by our Sheriff, and since everyone knows how good his food is, the place is packed to the brim.  It helps that he's the most popular Sheriff of all time around here, but I won't go into that.


This is truly a fundraiser.  You buy tickets, about 25 for $20.00, that you tear up and place in bags by the items you would like to win.  Then there is a silent auction of similar items.  Of course we all paid double for dinner, and add to that a live dessert auction AND a live auction with probably another 30 items.  


And the most popular event ... yes there is one more ... is the gun raffle.  Here's how that works.  They pull out a deck of cards, and you pay $20 for each card you pick.  They are torn in half and placed in a bucket.  When the drawing is held, if you have the other half, you win the handgun.  I think there were EIGHT.  Here's the kicker.  They throw all those cards away and bring out the NEXT deck of cards and do it all over again.  

One guy bought half the deck, and of course won.  He did that THREE times.  I don't have that much money to throw away.  I think if I did, I would just go buy the gun at the Gun Shop.


Nor did I win anything with the 50 tickets I placed in the bags.  It's okay though, it's going for a good cause.  By the way, the entire time, the actual search and rescue DOGS were roaming around the room.  One was even posing for pictures with you ... barking up a storm.  That was pretty fun!!

On to the dinner (you can see all my losing tickets there), we had to wait quite awhile to be served.  There had to be 20 tables, and we were at the back end.  It took well over an hour before we got a plate, but it was full to the brim.  

Barbecue chicken and tri-tip, scalloped potatoes, green beans and vegetarian lasagne (??) with a roll.  It was good, but not up to the normal Sheriff standards.  Turns out he has a brand new barbecue on wheels that isn't seasoned yet.  It's okay though ... I was stuffed to the gills.


I bid a couple of times on the dessert auction items, but as usual, things went crazy.  Four dozen cookies went for $375.00.  The pistachio cake that was bought by someone at our table was $325.00.  It was good, but not THAT good.

If it looked like an item was only going for $125 or so, I would bid it up, then drop out.  It's crazy what these things went for.  The last one was a dutch apple pie in a beautiful red and white dish.  My favorite!!  I bid on it just for kicks.  I'm not kidding here ... that pie went for $1,150 ... that's ONE THOUSAND ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS!!  There would be NO pie for Nancy!!

Sadly, this was one of the last things to go, and I couldn't stay and watch.  This is the sweetest, quietest, most well behaved little girl EVER!!  She is a rescue ... and I wanted to take her home, just to be sure someone didn't buy her and not take good care of this sweet baby.


I couldn't stand it any more.  No I didn't buy her, but I had to leave the building.  My Elks friend sitting next to me MAY have though.  He and his wife would give her the BEST home.  He was very tempted ... loved the little girl, but they really didn't want a puppy.  I'll find out today who she went to.  

On the other hand, you know those little cars that kids drive around the yard?  The little Jeep went for $1,000 as I headed out the door, with $80.00 less in my wallet.  For once I showed great restraint!!!

So bless your little Irish heart and every other Irish part ... and never iron a four leaf clover, you don't want to press your luck!!  Hope you have a Happy Green Day!!