Got er done

This little guy has been hissing at me for a few days, but we managed to get a picture of the feral kitten yesterday. I understood his mood as we had been trying to get a new 5G cell phone working for a few days with no success. It all started when our cell phone provider informed us they would longer allow my 3G antique cell phone and stopped support.

So they sent a brand new 5G cell phone, complete with instructions to the house. Once I opened the box and took out the contents I realized it was going to be trouble. Three days, and five hours of talking to a tech on the phone later, it was still a paperweight. A supervisor finally concluded that the problem was not on their end and the phone was bad. Said supervisor told us they would send us another phone in 4 days.

So I went out to the local cell phone provider store to see if someone there could fix the phone or give me one that might work. Boy howdy, I hate progress. This store did not have any cell phones on site and shipped all phones by Fed Ex the next day. And I was told I couldn’t just get another phone from them but would have to deal with the main office. Or I could wait and one of the stores techs could take a look.

Told it would be around a 15 minute wait I decided to see if they could get the paperweight to accept calls. An hour later I was taken back to a little desk with a sneeze guard down the middle and the told a tech would be out in a few minutes. 15 minutes later the tech graced me with his presence. He figured out the wrong SIM card was in the phone, made some calls, put in a different SIM card, and got the flip phone from hell working.

Not sure how I’m going to like it but do know I like it a little better now that it’s working. I want to thank the wife for putting up with my attitude during this trying time. Now I just have to figure out 9,462 preference settings and I’m good to go. Enjoy our Saturday since it’s here. Now for more coffee.

Upcoming eclipse

If you are a fan of such things, are awake to see it, and the clouds don’t get in the way, we can watch the Full Blood Super Moon AND the first total lunar eclipse of 2022. The other total lunar eclipse will happen on November 8th. A super moon occurs when the full moon is at perigee, or its closest to the earth for the month.

Total lunar eclipses occur when the whole moon passes through the innermost portion of Earths shadow, known as the umbra. During these types of eclipses earth blocks all direct sunlight from reaching the moon. The earth blocks the sunlight and gives the moon an orangish red color while all sunlight is blocked.

If you’re on the east coast of Iowa the eclipse should start around 8:32 pm on May 15th and end around 1:50 am on May 16th for a total duration of 5 hours and 19 minutes. If you are elsewhere, you should be here anyway. Or just figure in your time zone and you’ll be close enough.

Said lunar eclipse will make the moon appear red at times, hence the blood moon. We saw the last one and about mid-eclipse it did look red. This eclipse will also be visible in parts of Asia, Australia, northern and eastern Europe, and most of South America.

We going to hope for the best and plan for the worst. We’ll have the camera batteries charged up for best case, and a frozen pizza ready for the oven in the worst case. That’s what we know, and now you do also. Enjoy our Friday. Now for some coffee.

Confused again

We’ll forewarn you that this post will upsetting to some. So, if you still wish to continue reading, please make sure you have a safe space nearby. To others who are not so easily upset, this is an opinion piece and chances are mine may differ from yours.

Guess confusion happens when you have common sense. The latest news that had me cross-eyed was that Biden signed a new law that requires all gas-powered vehicles built after 2026 to have a remote shut-off switch. We’re told the law doesn’t include electric vehicles as they already have said switch.

So I’m thinking, inflation is high, gas prices are through the roof, drug and alcohol abuse are skyrocketing, crime is on the increase, taxes are up, and a shut off switch is more important? Can’t blame this one on the younger generation as Biden is older than myself. When is everybody going to wake up to this nonsense.

And I heard a politician crying over the possible end of Roe v Wade stating that the government has no right to stop womans reproductive rights. Huh? Isn’t abortion the exact opposite of reproduction? Obviously, I’m not a woman so I don’t have a car in that race, but I do have an opinion. Said opinion may have some spitting out their coffee if they read it, but it is my opinion.

Hasn’t abortion become more of a cosmetic surgery as opposed to real health problem? Seems like some people who are happy they got an abortion so a baby wouldn’t get in the way of their career or they felt it would ruin their figure. Abortion is not a Constitutionally protected right nor a God given right.

To those still with us, enjoy our Thursday. Now for more coffee.

A few things

A reminder to all the guys out there that Mother’s Day is this Sunday so if you want to start early shopping, today would be a good day to do so. Not going to say what I’ll be looking at because it’s a secret and when I know, so will you.

Also heard the Kentucky Derby is tomorrow if you’re interested in such things. There are probably a lot of things going on this weekend but the above are the ones we know about. We’ll see what the weather looks like before we make any plans.

And since it’s the end of the week we’ll be off in a short while to get groceries and sticker shock. Some of the prices we’ve seen lately have us shaking our heads. There has to be something that hasn’t gone up in price, we just can’t think of it. For what things cost it should all be covered in bubble wrap.

We didn’t get any pictures yesterday as the lighting was terrible and it rained off and on. If we don’t get any pictures today we will over the weekend. And if they turn out alright we’ll share next week. Hoping my luck holds out.

Enjoy our Friday as we will. Now for some coffee.

Strange start

It won’t be long now and the sky should look like this. Right now it’s just a tad darker. Just came back in from seeing what it looked like outside and that took me back to my time in the Navy. Heard a helicopter, it was making a lot of noise, and I figured it had a medical helicopter at the hospital a mile away.

Not sure what was going on, but the racket continued for about 10 minutes before it took off and headed southeast. Used to be able to tell what model said helicopter was and where it located, and at least I got the last part right this time.

In about 5 hours we’ll cruise west for about an hour to a university clinic that specializes in the wifes illness and explore options not readily available here. We are hoping it’s good news, or some options that aren’t available here.

We didn’t get any pictures yesterday as things just didn’t work out. At some point today we will try again. It should be a lot better day for a Kodak moment. We may even get more pictures of the woodpeckers that are at work in a nearby tree. It’s hard to get them to pose without branches, or something else, in the way.

Enjoy our Wednesday as it’s here. Now for some coffee.

Not bad

While at the grocery store Friday, the wife came up with an idea that turned out great. We were back by the meat department when it was announced that certain steaks were on sale at half price. Walked up to the counter and saw two that caught my eye and bought them. They were bacon wrapped tenderloins about an inch and half thick and looked good enough to eat.

Well I grilled them yesterday afternoon and that’s when I discovered that I didn’t know how to grill meat that thick, or expensive. Learned that the meat doesn’t have to look like charcoal when you take it off the heat. I worried for nothing as both turned out perfect and it was the juiciest, tenderest meat we’ve ever had. The wife and I agreed we could get used to having these steaks on a more regular basis.

Was also outside quite often yesterday and noticed there wasn’t a lot of critters around. We’re supposed to get over an inch of rain tonight, which is also why I grilled this afternoon. The upcoming storm made me wonder if that is what kept the critters away. We’ll get some more pictures to share if the rain goes away in the afternoon.

Enjoy our Tuesday since it’s here. Now for some more coffee.

Got it done

The good was Lord willing, the creek didn’t rise, and the yard got done yesterday. At least the back section did. Before starting I decided to charge 2 batteries just in case. Good thing I did as it took both batteries to finish the job.

It even felt like I’d slipped into the ‘Twilight Zone’ for a while. Usually, I’m aware of my surroundings and who’s around me when doing chores like the lawn, yet I didn’t this time. Turned around and almost bumped into a giant of a young man who had to stand around 6 foot 3 and weigh in at around 280 pounds. This guy looked like he could scare off bears!

So I said hello and set the trimmer on the trash bin to work on the string. Again, when I turned around this guy was watching me work on the trimmer a few feet away. Popped in another battery and went to do the side yard and felt this guy following me. Sure enough, when I turned around he was right there. Just stood there watching me use the trimmer.

About this time it hit me, this guy wasn’t a threat, he was just slow. When I finished the side yard I took the battery out and placed the trimmer back in the garage. When I turned around the young man was gone. I guess he got some entertainment for the day and I was blessed not to have a heart attack when I noticed him. If I was still drinking I’d have tied one on. But the yard looks a lot better and that’s what I was after.

Enjoy our Saturday. Now for another cup of coffee.

Good intentions

There is a lot of speculation as to the origin of ‘the road to hell is paved with good intentions’, but whoever first said it got things right. Had the idea to get up early, do a post, run errands, then trim the lawn where it’s getting a little fuzzy.

Couldn’t get to sleep so I overslept, when I did get up it was on the run with so many things to do today, and everything is behind schedule. We did get the groceries and my smokes, things got put away, and now have time for this post.

But what threw me a curve was the lawn, or the trimmer I was going to use to trim it. Silly me, I thought the battery was charged and ready to run so I checked the trimmer to ensure it had enough line to do the job. Grabbed the battery and checked it only to find out it had not been charged recently. So it’s on the charger.

With the old gas trimmer, if we were out of gas, a trip to the nearby gas station would have it up and running in 10 minutes. With the cordless version, I’m still waiting on the battery an hour and a half later. Progress? If it wasn’t such a hassle to start the gas-powered version the first time of the season, I’d still be using it.

So now we play the game we call ‘will we finish before the rain?’. Time will tell if we win that game or not. At any rate, enjoy our Friday; just don’t make plans. Now for coffee while I watch the charger.

You’re welcome

There was no super early post this morning as I put the time to better use. Went to bed early and solved one of the world’s biggest problems. Think about it, in this time of inflation, unrest, and a general malaise an idea came to me to end all these problems; make the world a happier place, and solve all the worries that bother us now.

During this time of ever rising prices and a supply shortage this idea would put a smile on the face of all who see, and use it. The world doesn’t need a Biden 2024 t-shirt, more rainbow flags, a new pope, or less violence. It only needs my new invention, patent pending. No, the world needs a robotic brick and we’ll explain why.

This remote controlled brick would not only glide over any surface but also fly, and we’ll call it ‘Bob’. The possibilities are endless. Want to end war as we know it? Send in Bob. The enemy would be so busy dodging flying bricks they wouldn’t have time to shoot. Oil shortage? Bob runs on batteries and could zip over to the local store and pick up your six pack using no gas.

Worried about climate change. Bob is climate friendly and puts no greenhouse gases into our air! The possibilities are endless. Don’t like doing yard work? Just hook Bob up to your riding mower and turn it into a giant remote controlled lawn trimming machine. And how about during boring speeches or declarations or war? Just use Bob and a few passes over the heads of the people and said speeches would be forgotten.

I could go on but I don’t like to brag. You can thank me later. Enjoy our Thursday as it’s here anyway. Now for some coffee and Corn Pops.

Crinkly day

If you’re wondering what a crinkly day is like we’ll try to explain. It’s when just getting out of bed sounds like pouring milk over a certain breakfast cereal and doesn’t get any better. Every time I moved there were sound effects and my left leg gave out on me twice. And that was in the first hour I was up yesterday.

Since there was no sneaking up on wildlife as they could hear me before seeing me. Getting older is a part of it, but I’ve had doctors look at my leg for years. They came up with involuntary tremors. I knew that much before going in, just wanted to know why! It does get old when your leg folds up like a cheap card table though.

We didn’t get any pictures so we’ll try to get some today. Have a feeling today is going to be a decent day as there was no noise when I got up. So there may be some dancing in the car when we get from a doctors appointment today. Don’t think us oldfarts can ever be pain free, but it’s nice to catch a break once in while and run with it.

So enjoy our Tuesday while we still can. Now for some coffee.