No “Phone Home”

As of today, you may not “phone home” like E.T. and reach me. I canceled my home phone and internet. I’m working exclusively off my wireless and 3-G modem card. Talk about freeing.

It was another busy day. I took apart my desktop computer and monitor and packed them up for my cousin. I decided late in the morning to go to the movies and dropped my packages off at the post office on the way.

The movie I saw, Easy A, was extremely entertaining, though a weird plot. The heroine pretends to be promiscuous for all type so noble reasons. The movie is all about the effects of that pretense.

I just had a one and one-half hour nap – boy, it’s great to be retired. I’d been archiving some more tapes and got very sleepy.

Tomorrow, it’s back to the chiropractor then Richard is coming over. He’s found someone who wants to buy my Kitchen Aid mixer. I’ve made a lot of cookies using that mixer, but won’t need it in the camper.

Don’t forget: if you want to call me, use my cell phone number. If you want to email me, use my kathy@kathydillenbeck.com email address.

Until next time…

A/C Okay

Today was the day the fellow from US Air Conditioning came to the house for the 6-month checkup on my A/C. Everything checked out okay – just some minor maintenance in the form of a new filter and UV bulb. Good now for another six months – hopefully, my cousin will have to handle that one.

I spent the morning cleaning off my desktop PC (I backed it all up yesterday) in preparation for packing it up and sending it to my cousin Ethelyn for her son William. I had stored the boxes for both the monitor and the computer in my shed, so I’ll be getting rid of 4 big things: the 2 boxes, the monitor and the PC, to say nothing of the keyboard, mouse, and camera. I hope it weathers the trip to New York State.

I also began cleaning off my old laptop. I don’t know what I am going to do with that yet.

My Go-Video VHS to DVD converter (and vice versa) isn’t working correctly so I took it to Best Buy today. They don’t fix them there and gave me the number of a repair place. After I got to my truck, I called the number – it hadn’t been the repair shop for several years. Instead, it was an AAMCO transmission shop.

Tonight I’ve been working on more tapes: John Anderson, Kathy Mattea, and two of the three Tom T. Hall tapes. I forgot how much I like their music.

I have one more box of books to pack for my friend Linda, who has graciously agreed to take all of my fiction books. The next thing will be getting them in my friend Karen’s car so she can take them in to work with her. She and Linda work together.

I’ve been having a lot of fun with my cell phone, in prep for turning off my home phone tomorrow. I’ve been experimenting with voice commands, but sometimes it just doesn’t listen properly. I’ll have to work with it a little more.

I’ve worked all day to day using my 3-G modem instead of my DSL. It’s at least as fast if not faster. Tomorrow, I’ll cancel my home phone and internet.

Once again, I’ve worn myself out listing all of the stuff I’ve been doing. It’s almost like doing it all again.

Until next time…

Books, Packed and Unpacked

What a day! I got so much done.

My day started with a nice long, with me bouncing along accompanied by ABBA and all that wonderful music used in the movie Mamma Mia. So far, I haven’t allowed myself to use any excuses to avoid my walk, probably because i really enjoy the exercise.

After breakfast, I headed to Plant City where I dropped off five boxes of stuff at Good Will, then on to Sam’s where I got some batteries and boxes. As you will see by the pictures, the boxes are a little big, but I only filled them 2/3 full. Still, they are still too heavy.

There are a few more books on the shelves, as you can also see from the pictures and some in boxes already. Of course there are 3 more bookshelves in my bedroom, but they are specialty books: writing books, I intend to give to my former writing teacher, books by Kay Arthur and Gene Edwards and, of course, the Left Behind books. I may try to store some of them or just put them in the camper.

What a disaster this room is!

Tomorrow, the A/C company is supposed to come by between 10 and 1, so I know where I’ll be then. I’ll spend the time working on my packing. Will I ever get it all done? Sometimes I wonder.

I’ve been learning a little more about my cell phone, now that I will be using it exclusively as of 9/30/2010. I think I finally mastered my Bluetooth headset which is a lot better than the wired headset I used with my landline.

Today, I learned I can use voice commands to call people. My brother Ray, whom I called to show off my new skills, thought it showed how lazy I was. I just told him I was retired and it was okay to be a little lazy.

Well, tonight is one of my favorite TV nights: NCIS, NCIS-LA, and Parenthood. I’m also looking forward to seeing No Ordinary Family; the previews looked great.

Until next time…

Closed Forever

Today, I closed my eBay store forever. I’m all done with the packing and shipping of my household goods that people saw fit to buy. I no longer have an excuse for not getting my house packed up and ready for my cousin once the sale goes through. I’ll just have to blame my lack of progress (if there is any) on my inherent laziness.

I spent the morning closing the store and backing up my Desktop PC in preparation for taking deleting my files and taking it apart. I promised it to my cousin’s son (also my cousin, obviously) William. I was going to take it up there next time I went, but I think I’ll pack it up and ship it up there. Where would I put it in the meantime? It’s a great computer with RAID-protected disk drives.

I packed up my vinyl records today – three bankers boxes – about 200 of them. I’ll let my cousin Dickie go through them and the ones he doesn’t want, I’ll probably take to a local record store called Vinyl Fever. It would be a real shame to just toss them out. I found about 10 that I think I will put on my iPod. It takes some time, but I think it will be worth it.

Oh, I also made some more delicious bean soup – if I do say so myself, this time adding a can of tomatoes. It makes it so much richer and more tasty. Beans are filling, nutritious, high in fiber and one of my favorite foods. – good thing, ‘cause I eat a lot of them.

I think tomorrow, I’ll head to Sam’s and get some boxes for packing up my books. They really represent the most of what I have left to get rid of – well, aside from going through five two-drawer file cabinets full of who knows what.

You know, I’ve spent 50 years collecting these books. It’s kind of tough to see them go, but I can’t afford the space or the weight. Wish I could have bought all of them for my Kindle and, realistically, I probably wouldn’t re-read them anyway.

I’ve made some exceptions: my Janet Evanovich books, my Sue Grafton books, the Left Behind series (but I’ll get rid of them once I read them all), my books on camping, my Gene Edwards books. Oh dear, that sounds like a lot of books. Maybe, I’ll have to re-think some of them.

Well, once again, it’s getting late and I have to watch either Hawaii Five-O or Castle, though I’m pretty sleepy. I’m taping both anyway and watching stuff like that gives me something to do while I do boring things like packing up books.

Until next time…

Tapes, Tapes, and More Tapes

Today, I probably archived about 15 tapes and I think they have stopped multiplying so maybe there is a non-train light at the end of the tunnel of tape. The tapes I copied today didn’t require constant vigilance since there weren’t music tapes so I was able to do some organizing and packing.

Terribly muggy today although it was quite cool this morning – 73 or so. Of course, that temperature didn’t last long. I had a great walk tonight, but couldn’t use my new iPod while walking because there was nothing on it. I attached it to my laptop to re-sync and used my old iPod instead. The music of ABBA is ideal for walking. Several peppy songs in the beginning and then tapering off. I walked about half and hour. It’s so different walking in the dark.

I’ve been reading a Ted Bell book today – I’m working my way through the Alexander Hawke series. It’s a great series, though Hawke’s friends and acquaintances seem to get killed off pretty regularly. But there are real good guys and real bad guys and the good ones win in the end. What more could you want?

I tried to fix my Go-Video which I use to copy VHS tapes to DVD, but can’t figure out why the DVD player won’t eject. I took the top off, but to no avail. I’m going to call the company tomorrow to see if they can direct me to some kind of reset or something.

Tomorrow, the A/C people come for my “FREE” 6-month checkup – it’s never been free. On the contrary, they always find something to do that is expensive. But at least the last time it made a huge difference in my electric bill.

Time for night-night.

Until next time…

Another Exhausting Day

Got up this morning and took a fairly long walk while I listened to a tape titled 7 Reasons You Can Trust the Bible. I think the speaker was Erwin Lutzer – yep, I just looked up the book by that name and he’s the author. It was a good tape.

I’ve decided that instead of listening to the same music every morning (ABBA if I want to walk fast or Gaither Homecoming Israel if I don’t), I would try to learn some stuff. I have hours and hours – probably hundreds of hours – of tapes on my iPod, mostly from Worldview Weekend and Precept Ministries. I look forward to learning a lot. Of course, I won’t be walking all that fast, but I’ll be walking longer – most of the tapes are 35 – 60 minutes long.

I spent some very frustrating hours trying to get Internet Explorer 8 to work right on my laptop. It still isn’t working right. Clicking on links has no result – no error message, nothing. I finally downloaded Mozilla Firefox. It’s 10 times as fast as IE8 and all of the links work.

I spent a bunch of time updating the info on my iTunes – adding Genre, etc, then updated my iPod with it. I also archived a few more tapes.

During the course of the day, I went to the post office and the grocery store. Just had to get some more of those delicious Concord grapes.

I also finally reached my brother Ray. I’d been trying for two days to call him, but didn’t even get his voice mail. I finally got hold of his wife Margie and she had him call me.

My cousins finally got home from Texas; she called to let me know they were home safe. It will be great to be able to talk to her even every day if I want again.

Well, time to go to bed and read a while.

Until next time…

Is It Still Friday, Sepember 24, 2010?

Just woke up at 1:56 and wondered if I had done my blog for Friday – I had not. In hopes of going back to sleep, I’ll be brief.

1. I walked
2. I showered and dressed
3. I drove to the chiropractor and saw him
4. I went back home and had breakfast
5. I got eBay packages ready to send
6. I took the truck to Jarreett-Scott Ford for an oil change and tire rotation
7. I went to the post office
8. I went back home and ate
9. I did more work on eBay
10. I read my email
11. I studied some photography stuff
12. I watched Medium, CSI: NY, and Blue Bloods  -- enjoyed them all.
13. I went to bed
14. I got up and remembered my blog
15. I wrote and posted my blog
16. I went to bed

Until next time…

P.S. I hope everything is spelled right. I’m trying not to open my eyes too much so it will be easier to go back to sleep.

Whew!

Just got back from an energetic walk – my hip and right leg finally quit hurting for a while and I really enjoyed the evening air, in spite of the warmth and humidity – my thermometer says it’s still 82. Since I got my hiking poles, I’ve only missed walking one day. Of course, the hiking poles make it so much fun.

Today has been an extremely busy day. I’m trying to get things ready so I can cancel my home phone and internet service in prep for going on the road with my laptop and 3-G card.

What I didn’t realize until I talked to Verizon today was that my Verizon email address will go away when my phone and internet connection do unless I buy that domain name. Since I already have another email, I decided to let my Verizon email go away. Of course, that means I have to notify everyone and every company I’ve given my email address to of the change.

Much of my morning was devoted to contacting all of the companies I do business with and letting them know I was disconnecting my home phone and they should use my cell phone to contact me. Then, I found out about the e-mail address switch and had to contact a bunch more companies.

I also went to have lunch with my cousin over in St. Pete. In addition to my usual fried fish, I had some delicious lentil and sausage soup. It was hot and spicy with little sausage balls. The fish was crispy and tasty – makes me hungry just thinking about it.

Well, time for The Mentalist so I guess I’ll sign off for now.

Until next time…

The Movie Alpha and Omega

How refreshing to see a movie without senseless vulgarity. The cartoon movie Alpha and Omega was a thoroughly enjoyable movie, the story of wolves, an alpha female and omega male, who get separated from the pack and moved from Jasper in Canada to Idaho. Being alpha and omega is kind of like a tragic Romeo and Juliet situation – they are not supposed to hang around together.

I can’t imagine that anyone wouldn’t enjoy this movie. There are some unique characters that provide a lot of comic relief.

Tonight, I’ve been developing a list of businesses I need to contact to change from my home phone to my cell phone as the main contact. By the end of the month, I’ll be cancelling service on my home phone and internet connection and switching to my cell phone and 3G card for internet.  This will be one less thing I’ll have to do before hitting the road.

I went to the chiropractor this morning and he predicted I’d be feeling 80% better by Friday. I sure feel great right now, but we’ll see how it is after I go to bed. Lying down does not help my back at all.

Speaking of going to bed, it’s now 11:15, so I think I’ll try to sleep.

Until next time…

New CPR Technique

From my friend, Tammy : If you haven't seen this, you should. It may save a life. If you have seen it, it won't hurt to see it again. This is a new CPR technique which is much simpler. Please watch and forward to your friends and family.  You never know, the life you save could be your own. http://tinyurl.com/2fx8r59

The Town

This morning, I met my friend Joan at AMC theater where we saw the movie The Town. Ben Affleck directed and stars in the movie. Unfortunately, whoever wrote the movie has a very limited vocabulary, mostly words beginning with “f…” Whatever happened to our fine English language, the rich and colorful words that can stir the heart. I think I would have been better off watching the movie without the sound.

I suppose these folks justify their flagrant use of these vulgarities by convincing themselves that this is the way people talk, that it adds realism to the movie. How great it would be to have movies where the plot can stand by itself and doesn’t have to be propped up by foul language.

Sorry for the sermonizing, but it drives me crazy.

Until next time…

More Packing and More Packaging

Today, I packed up some more boxes, including a couple with some stuff I’ll have to make room for in the camper.

I also had to get 13 eBay packages ready for shipment and take them to the post office. Thirty-three dollars and fifty-five cents later they were on their way to my happy customers.

I’m making real progress on my tape archiving too. One of the tapes contained 20 songs by Boxcar Willie. I wasn’t originally going to archive that one, but it seemed a shame not to. He’s kind of a unique character and the songs were pretty good even though he wasn’t that great a singer.

I’ve also almost finished Hawke: A Novel by Ted Bell. I want to read the series in sequence; he has a new one out called Warlord. I don’t know how many more I have to read before that one.

The season’s 14th tropical storm has just formed in the Atlantic – Hopefully, it will go north and weaken over the cooler waters.

Well, time for bed.

Until next time…

A Quiet Sunday

Today has been a fairly quiet day. I walked 35 minutes this morning in the pre-dawn coolness – well, if you consider 70+ to be cool. It was beautiful, though – not humid and no bright sun shining in my eyes as I walked. I didn’t know how far I’d be able to go after all of the walking at Sea World yesterday, but it seemed like every other day.

I archived a bunch of tapes today – Conway Twitty, Johnny Cash, The Cathedrals, a Singing News compilation, and others I can’t remember. It’s an easy job since you basically sit and wait to signal the next track. Only about 120 tapes more to go. Then, I want to see if I can copy some 8-track tapes – highly unlikely, but I’ll give it a try. I’m not sure if my 8-track player still works. And the 8-tracks themselves are probably worn out anyway.

The first 8-track tape we had was Merle Haggard’s The Fighting Side of Me. We bought it in South Carolina and played it on our new 8-track player the whole way home – yep, all 13 hours of it. I know that one is worn out.

While archiving tapes, I read Hawke: A Novel by Ted Bell. It’s a great book and the first book in a series of I don’t know yet how many.

I got 11 eBay packages ready to ship tomorrow. Of course, I might have more sales tonight.

The other exciting thing I did was make some bean soup. From 1 cup of beans, I get about 5 cups of soup. Of course, I add onions, red peppers, green peppers, yellow peppers, Wickles peppers (very hot), celery, carrots, and roasted red peppers. With a healthy teaspoon of cinnamon, cumin, paprika, and 1/2 teaspoon of cayenne pepper, the beans are very tasty and extremely filling. It makes for a quick meal when I’m too tired (for tired, read lazy) to make a meal.

My cousin Ethelyn called from El Paso tonight. She and her husband are visiting there. I miss talking to her every day or so, but she’ll be home before long and I can bug her more often.

Until next time…

Sea World and Bass Pro Shop

Today, Karen and I visited Sea World in Orlando. It was a beautiful, breezy day it was, but very hot, so hot that we skipped the Wild Arctic exhibit, but saw almost everything else.

The first show we saw was Blue Horizons at the Whale and Dolphin theater. It featured a number of dolphins, but they were only in the show about half the time. Most of the show involved diving and acrobatics by cast members. They no longer use the false whales in the show at all.

Some other attractions we saw included

1. The Manta Ray petting poll,
2. Dolphin Cove, where you can see dolphins from underwater,
3. The Manatee viewing area, both above and below ground
4. The alligator pond with lots of alligators
5. Penguin Encounter with the penguins, but also some very lively Puffins
6. Pacific Point Preserve with lots of very loud sea lions and seals
7. Clyde and Seamore Take Pirate Island at the Sea Lion and Otter stadium (the funniest part of this show takes place before the show starts – there’s a mime who entertains as the crowd comes in
8. Shark Encounter

They have a new roller coaster at Sea World called Manta in which the victims, excuse me guests, lie face down for the ride. It looked like a wild ride. I think you get wet on this ride just like you do on Atlantis.

Are you out of breath yet? It’s a grueling day, but a lot of fun. We ate lunch at the Voyager’s Smokehouse delicious barbeque ribs. I left all but two of my fries and didn’t eat the roll, but I did have a few barbeque beans.

We left without seeing The Wild Arctic, with the polar bears and beluga whales and without seeing Believe, the show held in Shamu stadium which features the Orcas.

After leaving Sea World, we went to Bass Pro Shop, where I got my new sneakers I needed, then it was heading for home. We were back before 4 pm.

I just woke up from a two-hour nap and will probably go back to bed soon. I need my beauty sleep, after all.

Until next time…

Back to Dr. Tom

This morning, I went back to see Dr. Tom, my chiropractor. Since I got there about 1/2 hour early, I decided to walk around the pond that is in back of the doctor’s office. I had put my hiking poles in the truck, suspecting I might get there early.

My only problem was there was no way to walk around the pond, but I still walked about 20-25 minutes just in the area around the place. I didn’t walk very fast because I didn’t want to get all sweaty, but the exercise was fun.

I got to spend 15 minutes in their massage chair this morning – wow, do I ever miss mine. Oh well, maybe next spring, I’ll visit it – it not resides at my brother Ray’s in Tennessee.

When I got home, I had a lot of eBay business to take care of, including 7 books to one guy who lives about 5 miles from here. I’ll be dropping them off tomorrow morning on my way to Sea World.

I’m curious to find out what kind of show they are putting on at Sea World’s Shamu stadium since the trainers aren’t allowed to go in the water with the Orcas anymore. After we go to Sea World, I hope we’ll have enough time to make a trip to Bass Pro Shop. I need some new sneakers and it’s always fun to go there.

I spent an hour this afternoon watching a video on Depth of Field. It was informative and reinforced a lot of info I’ve read elsewhere. I hope it will make a difference in my photography. I also archived a couple of more tapes.

Until next time…

What If…

Had a great walk this morning (and again tonight), then packed up some more stuff from my kitchen and took care of some eBay packages. After stopping at the post office, I went to AMC to see the movie What If…

The movie, which was produced by Jerry B. Jenkins of Left Behind fame, starred John Ratzenburger (Cliff from Cheers), Kevin Sorbo (from Hercules, the Legendary Journey) , and Kristy Swanson (from the movie – not the TV show - Buffy, the Vampire Slayer.

To put it succinctly, this movie was about redemption and second chances, almost reminiscent of It’s A Wonderful Life, but instead of seeing how life would have been if he hadn’t been born, Ben Walker (played by Sorbo) sees what life would have been if he had followed his calling to be a minister.

It was a thoroughly enjoyable film, a welcome relief from the violence and bad language of the last few movies I’ve seen. I’d recommend it to anyone.

This evening, I spent some time archiving some more cassette tapes. I don’t think I’m ever going to finish – they seem to be multiplying. Do you think that’s possible?

Well, back to the chiropractor tomorrow, so I’d better get to bed.

Until next time…

Welcome Relief

This morning, at 8 am, I visited my chiropractor. They first hooked me up with a couple of sets of electrodes and some cold packs for about fifteen minutes. Then, I sat in a chair with a heated pad for another 15 minutes. After that, the chiropractor made some adjustments on my back.

As I was driving home, my hip and leg hurt a lot, but after I got home and moved around a little, it got steadily better. At this moment, I have no pain at all. I have another appointment on Friday morning, same time, same place and hope this will do it.

My cousin Dickie came over today. He’s having a lot of trouble with this knees and had a lot of trouble moving around, but we had a great time as usual. We had a wonderful lunch at Old Towne Pizza and dropped off a bunch of stuff at Good Will.

While he was here, he told a story I hadn’t heard before about my Aunt Ruth (his mother). She was a tremendously gifted cook – I am partly a product of the food she made. He told that one day he came home from school and sat down at the dinner table. As the family was eating, he asked his mother what they were eating. “Spanish rice” was the answer. “But Mom,” he said, “there’s no rice in this dish.” We had a great laugh.

The rest of the day, I’ve just pretty much goofed off, including taking the time to read a lot of e-mail I’d been putting off reading.

I’m skipping my walk tonight, just to give my body a bit of rest, but will take a nice long walk in the morning. Other than that, I don’t have any plans for the day.

Until next time…

Any Takers for Takers?

I spent most of the morning packing stuff out of my kitchen cupboards. Since some of it required washing, it took me a bit longer than it probably should have. Right now, I have four boxes of stuff in the back seat of my truck ready to go to Goodwill.

This afternoon, after shipping a couple of packages at the post office, I went to AMC to see Takers. I can’t get over how much less expensive it is to go to the movies when you don’t get popcorn and a drink. I did get a coupon for a free small drink, but since I’m sworn off soda, I’ll save it for Karen the next time we go to the movies.

The movie Takers, starring Matt Dillon as a cop who is hunting down a very clever gang of thieves, had lots of action, lots of shooting, lots of chase scenes – a perfect way to spend an afternoon relaxing. There was a large cast of characters, but the only other people I recognized were:

1. Hayden Christopher from the movie Jumper, but I didn’t remember his name or where I’d seen him until I looked it up on the Internet tonight.
2. Marianne Jean-Baptiste, from Without A Trace
3. Paul Walker, who was in the first two Fast and Furious movies
4. Chris Brown -- I think he beat up Rianna

Tomorrow at 8 am, I have an appointment with Dr. Tom, my chiropractor. Hopefully, my back will be back to better than normal once I get done there, though I suspect it’s going to take a few appointments to really do the job.

Well, it’s getting pretty late. I guess I need to get to bed so I can get up in time to be there by 8.

Until next time…

Machete – A Cutting-Edge Movie

Today, after mailing my eBay packages at the post office, I went to AMC and saw Machete. Words fail me, which I guess you would expect just from the title. Lots of well-known actors were in the movie, including Robert DeNiro, Don Johnson, Steven Seagal, Cheech Marin, Jessica Alba, and Lindsay Lohan. Danny Trejo played “Machete," a Mexican Federale who believed in upholding the law, unlike almost every other police officer and public official in the movie except Jessica Alba’s character.

Needless to say, there were many, many violent, bloody, gross, gruesome, spurting, – did I say bloody? – scenes with lots of arms and heads and hands and legs chopped off. In fact, the violence was so over the top, it was almost laughable – well, really it must have actually been laughable since many in the audience laughed at the gratuitous violence. (I told you words failed me.)

Now, there were also several minutes of nudity involving Lindsay Lohan and some other woman who played her mother. ?????

I hope I’ve given you enough info so you’ll avoid this movie.

After the movie, I had a great salad from Anthony’s Coal-Fired Pizza and then went to my sister-in-law’s in Tampa to pick up some boxes I’ll be using for packing stuff from the house.

I did walk 30 minutes again today – weird how it doesn’t bother me to walk with hiking poles, but sitting in a chair or walking without aid cause some pain. Oh well, I have an appointment with my chiropractor on Wednesday.

As soon as Rizzoli and Isles is over, I’m going to bed.

Until next time…

A Quiet Day and Quiet Night

Today, I just walked for 31 minutes, went to Publix and then stayed home the rest of the day, mostly just reading.

I didn’t go to the Answers in Genesis conference this evening because the seating at Idlewild aggravates my sore hip and leg and it looked as if there was going to be a huge storm. I really hate driving in the dark and even more so when it’s raining.

Tomorrow, I ‘m calling my chiropractor and making an appointment to have him fix my back. What is interesting is that my neck and shoulders used to keep me awake  or wake me up at night. I read somewhere that 1/2 tsp of cinnamon per day would help with inflammation. Since I started ingesting cinnamon on a daily basis, I have had no trouble with my shoulders or neck. I wish it worked on my hip and leg.

This morning, I took an Alleve – it made no difference. About 4:30, I took 3 Ibuprofen. After about an hour, the worst of the pain vanished. Hopefully, once the chiropractor fixes me up, I’ll be pretty much pain free.

Oh, by the way, as of 8/30/2010, I have lost a total of 9 pounds. Eating right and exercising apparently does make a difference.

Until next time.

More Great Info

Today was the second day of the Answers in Genesis conference. Ken Ham and Jason Lisle each spoke at two sessions today. They are very interesting speakers and I learned a lot. I’m looking forward to watching the DVDs I bought and even more to visiting the Creation Museum – probably next spring. I sat with a couple at lunch who had been there. They said it takes about 2 days to really do it right.

They stressed the young age of the earth and how even seminaries are not teaching that, but rather agreeing with the evolutionists and teaching that the earth is billions of years old even though there is so much evidence to the contrary. One of Jason Lisle’s sessions was about Dinosaurs and the Bible.

There are two more sessions tomorrow night that Esther and I are going to.

After I got home this afternoon, I did a couple of loads of laundry and relaxed a little.

Isn’t my life exciting?

Until next time…

Progress and the Answers in Genesis Conference

It’s 11:45 pm and I just got back from my walk.

Today, I made some progress in my kitchen, packing 2 1/2 cabinets of stuff to take to Goodwill, which I did. I probably won’t get back to it until Monday since this weekend there is an Answers in Genesis Conference at idlewild Baptist Church in Lutz.

The speakers at the conference are Ken Hamm and Dr. Jason Lisle. Both men are incredibly gifted speakers, easy to listen to, with excellent content. Esther and I met before the conference and went to dinner at The Vine Restaurant at the corner of Van Dyke Rd. and Dale Mabry in Lutz. She had the biggest scallops I have ever had and I had a rib-eye with the most delicious asparagus I’ve ever had and some pasta.

The Idlewild Church is HUGE. They have thousands in their congregation and still have two services on Sunday mornings. There are two more days of meetings and I’m really looking forward to them.

The Answers in Genesis organization (www.answersingenesis.org) is responsible for building the Creation Museum (somewhere between Louisville, KY and Cinncinnati, OH) and this year, started the www.IAmNotAshamed.org website. You’ve probably seen their ads on TV. They are a tremendous resource for Christians and the Christian worldview.

Well, it’s midnight. I guess it’s time to hit the hay.

Until next time…

I Still Have 15 Minutes

As you know, I made a promise to post something everyday. Well, I still have 15 minutes (whoops – make that14). I’ve spent most of the night working on resizing the partitions on my hard drive. ERRRRRR!

I’m tired and frustrated and think I’ll just wait to finish fixing it tomorrow. At least, I hope I can fix it. My alternative is to reformat and reinstall the whole computer. Needless to say, that is my last resort.

I haven’t walked today yet, so I think I’ll take off and do just that. Perhaps it will bring down my stress levels.

Until next time…

Yikes!

Sorry to be so late publishing this post, but I’ve been having some issues with my computer. My disk drive is partitioned into a C: and a D: drive with the operating system on C:. One would think that 116 GB is enough for the OS, but it filled up fast. I spent a lot of time tonight copying my D drive onto an external drive, deleting the contents of the drive so I could extend the C drive. Unfortunately, that did not work.

Now, this wouldn’t be an issue if I didn’t need to upgrade my TomTom GPS unit. I guess I’ll have to get some type of third party software to take care of this. In any case, I’ve wasted enough time and energy on it tonight.

After walking half an hour this morning, I took a shower and left to visit my cousin Richard. We had a great lunch at the Horse and Jockey British Pub on Pasadena Ave. in St. Petersburg. We both had fish, but I had salad with mine while Richard had the chips that are normal fare with the fish and chips.

I had two ceramic Christmas trees my mother made which I was supposed to take over to him along with a box of miscellaneous Christmas decorations. Being the ditz I am, I left the trees home. Oh well, there’s always next time.

I spent most of the rest of the day reading a book by Fern Michaels called Weekend Warriors. It’s the first in a series about The Sisterhood, a group of women who become vigilantes. I finished it while my files were being copied tonight. I’ll start the next one soon.

Tonight for dinner, I sweated out some peppers and onions and green beans, added a can of tomatoes and some Parmesan cheese and had it for dinner. It was an unusual supper for me, but it was delicious. I’m seriously working on changing the way I eat and it seems to be paying off, at least for now – since 8/30/2010, I’ve lost 7 pounds. That’s almost a pound a day. How great is that!

Well, it’s very late.

Until next time…

What a Day!

Today, I had a bunch of errands to run, including:

1. Going to the post office to mail about 30 eBay packages.
2. Going to the bank
3. Going to Sam’s to get gas – prices near my house went up 8 cents/gallon; Sam’s was 10 cents less than the $2.559 at RaceWay
4. Going to the movies – I saw The American with George Clooney. It was okay, kind of slow-moving, not at all the exciting film they advertised.  Oh, there were a few exciting parts, but it was mostly slow-moving. And I hated the ending. Also, they showed a woman completely full-frontal naked. I did get to see George’s bare butt.
5. Going to the Florida Department of Revenue for help in determining how big a penalty I had to pay for forgetting my sales tax report while I was away. I thought it would be $50, but lucked out – I only had to pay the 46 cents I collected.
6. Going to Publix

In the course of all of this, I kind of forgot it was Tuesday and that my cousin was supposed to come over. Well, as it turns out, he did come over. He called to let me know he was leaving his house, but I didn’t get the message because I wasn’t home. But he’s a forgiving guy and tomorrow, I’ll make my way over to St. Pete where we’ll go to lunch together.

I didn’t walk this morning, but waited until it got dark and cooler and walked this evening. I was really in a good rhythm.

Well, it’s late and time to go to bed.

Until next time…

Thirty-Two Minutes This Morning!

Yep, you read it right – I walked 32 minutes this morning – a record for little old sedentary me. Not only that, but I was walking at a pace that allowed me to almost double my distance in the that time frame. And my knee doesn’t even hurt. I only felt a couple of twinges in one of my shoulders, but it didn’t last.

I had so much eBay work from the weekend that I was busy until about 3:30 taking care of paperwork, including a forgotten sales tax report for the State of Florida, invoice preparation and packaging of the eBay items I sold. Then, after the power came back on – it was out a couple of hours – I worked until 11:40 on more sales stuff. I still have a little more to do, but I AM BEAT! I’ll finish in the morning.

Sorry for the short post. Going to bed now.

Until next time…

Lots and Lots of Tapes Archived

Today, I archived lots of cassette tapes, mostly Ray Stevens, Merle Haggard, and the Statler Brothers. In fact, I processed a foot high stack of tapes. It’s tedious work, but I was reading and watching TV at the same time.

I did take time out from my tape work to practice with my hiking poles, even though my right knee has been bothering me. I knew I could give myself that excuse for not practicing, but I decided I would not fall in that trap. So, I put on my iPod, strapped on my poles and took off. I walked for 20 minutes and my knee never bothered me once. It’s been a little sore today since, but it actually feels pretty good right now.

While archiving my tape, I came across a show on PBS called Appalachian Dimensions. It was a two-part series about people who hike the entire Appalachian Trail – a distance of around 2000 miles through 14 states. Wouldn’t be great to be in such good shape to be able to accomplish such a feat, but I think it probably sounds more cool that it actually is – imagine the muscle pain, walking through all kinds of weather, the difficulty of some of the more mountainous sections, to say nothing about the challenges just to go to the bathroom out in the middle of the woods.

It would be ?fun? but I guess I’d better work myself up to a mile first. He He He!

Until next time…

One Light Bulb At A Time And Other Subjects

This morning I received an email from a friend with the subject One Light Bulb At A Time. Thought you might be interested in the info set forth:

"Walk worthy in the calling for which you were called"
    Never thought about this before but I will be reading labels
from now on!

One Light Bulb at a Time - an interesting idea 

A physics teacher in high school, once told the students that while one grasshopper on the railroad tracks wouldn't slow a train very much, a billion of them would. With that thought in mind, read he following, obviously written by a good American..

Good idea...one light bulb at a time . . .

Check this out. I can verify this because I was in Lowes the other day for some reason and just for the heck of it I was looking at the hose attachments. They were all made in  China. The next day I was in Ace Hardware and just for the heck of it I checked the hose  attachments there. They were made in USA.

Start looking.. 

In our current economic situation, every little thing we buy or do affects someone else - even their job. So, after reading this email, I think this lady is on the right track.. Let's get behind her! 

My grandson likes Hershey's candy. I noticed, though, that it is marked made in Mexico now.  I do not buy it any more .

My favorite toothpaste Colgate is made in Mexico... now I have switched to Crest. You have to read the labels on everything..

This past weekend I was at Kroger. I needed 60 W light bulbs and Bounce dryer sheets. I was in the light bulb aisle, and right next to the GE brand I normally buy was an off-brand labeled, "Everyday Value.. " I picked up both types of bulbs and compared the stats - they were the same except for the price..  The GE bulbs were more money than the Everyday Value brand but the thing that surprised me the most was the fact that GE was made in MEXICO and the Everyday Value brand was made in - get ready for this - the USA in a company in Cleveland, Ohio. 

So throw out the myth that you cannot find products you use every day that are made right here..

So on to another aisle - Bounce Dryer Sheets . .. . yep, you guessed it, bounce cost more money and is made in Canada. The Everyday Value brand was less money and MADE IN THE USA! I did laundry yesterday and the dryer sheets performed just like the Bounce Free I have been using  for years and at almost half he price!

My challenge to you is to start reading the labels when you shop for everyday things and see what you can find that is made in the USA - the job you save may be your own or your neighbors!

If you accept the challenge, pass this on to others in your address book so we can all start buying American, one light bulb at a time! Stop buying from overseas companies!

(We should have awakened a decade a go..) 
 
Let's get with the program .. help our fellow Americans keep their jobs and create more jobs here in the U.S.A.

GOING THE DISTANCE

Karen and I went to see the movie Going the Distance this morning. I would not recommend it to anyone. While the story was kind of interesting and funny, the language and some of the scenes were so offensive I nearly walked out. I probably should have, but I kept hoping they’d have their fill of the F-Bomb. I bet it was used more than 100 times. Don’t waste your time or money.

HIKING POLE PROGRESS

This morning, I went out early and practiced with my hiking poles again. I must be getting better at it because I walked further in the same length of time as yesterday. In fact, I went up and back on a side street. This may seem like small progress to those of you more athletic people, but I’m really having fun and don’t want to do too much too quickly or I’m afraid I’ll tire of it.

Even if I tire of it, I still plan to keep walking. I hope I get less and less awkward with them – I guess I will as long as I keep at it.

I hope to add another 10 minutes tomorrow.

ARCHIVING TAPES

After returning from the movies and lunch, I started archiving cassette tapes. It really looked like there were more tapes to do than in reality. Mom had multiple copies of several tapes. I can’t say anything though. Before I started keeping a list of my books, I used to buy the books I already had.

Until next time…

Much Done; Much More to Do

I got a lot done today. Not only did I nearly fill a big blue bin with stuff or Goodwill, but I almost filled up a box for my cousin and threw away a bunch of stuff.

In the course of sorting through stuff, I found a shoebox with a bunch of CDs in, many of which were still wrapped in their original packaging. I scanned the CD covers, reduce the photo size and put them out on eBay.

I’m devoting this weekend to going through a bunch of cassette tapes. Boy, between what Mom has and what Mark and I had, there are literally hundreds.

Oh, I walked almost twenty minutes this morning using my new hiking poles. I’m sure whoever saw me probably got a good laugh out of it. Every little while I had to stop and get the poles going with the correct feet, but I really enjoyed my walk. I took my iPod and listened to the first 6 songs on my ABBA album. That may explain why my rhythms were occasionally off – the tempo is different in almost every song.

Still, tomorrow I hope to walk a little longer though I have to be back to shower and change by 9:00 am. Karen and I are going to see the new Drew Barrymore/Justin Long movie Going the Distance.

It’s early, but I think I’ll go to bed and read. I haven’t had much of an opportunity to relax today. I DIDN’T EVEN GET A NAP!

Until next time…

Eat Pray Love – It Was Okay

Today, I went to see the Julia Roberts movie Eat Pray Love. It was TWO HOURS and THIRTY MINUTES long. And the slowness of the movie in some spots made it seem even longer. On the whole, though, I enjoyed the movie. There were lots of beautiful scenery from Italy and Bali. I can’t say I appreciated the scenes from India.

Except for getting some eBay packages ready and taking them to the post office, the rest of today I’ve spent goofing off at home. Isn’t that awful? But I’m retired so I guess I can do that once in a while.

Yesterday I finally got the hiking poles I ordered. I’ve been testing them in the house and tomorrow morning will venture out into the outside world with them. They are kind of tricky because you have to:

1. Set them at the right height (I got the 3-piece poles, but there are 2-piece ones).
2. Make sure you have the right type of foot on the pole for the type of terrain you’ll be walking on.
3. Make sure you use the proper pole (they come designated right and left).
4. Adjust the straps correctly.
5. Make sure you don’t scuffle (drag the pole foot along as you walk) the pole foot as you walk.
6. Don’t white-cane, i.e. make sure you don’t put your cane out front like a white cane.
7. Use the left pole when stepping forward on your right foot; use the right pole when stepping forward on your left foot.

I’ve gotten pretty good at walking down the hall with them. Tomorrow, I’ll probably make a fool of myself in front of everyone in the park. But, who knows; I might be incredibly talented at it. I’ve been finding it easy to lose my balance and think the poles will make it easier to walk. When I’m camping full-time, I plan to do a lot of hiking and walking.

Most of you who know me realize I’m normally a very sedentary person. I want to change that and hope these walking poles will make that possible.

Until next time…

TheBlaze.com and Lunch with My Cousin

Today I was up at 5 am and had my laundry done and all put away by 9:00. I also got some stuff ready to take to my cousins:

1. A small cabinet that just barely fit in my truck’s back/front seat area
2. My mother’s punch bowl and pedestal – it’s older than I am and very heavy, but I don’t know if it’s crystal or not – Dickie’s going to take it to a consignment shop for me
3. My mother’s costume jewelry – he’s going to take that to the consignment shop too
4. A wooden hanger for plants

After I dropped off the stuff, I took my cousin to the car shop where his car was – I was glad to save him the cost of a cab, then we went to Quaker Steak and Lube for a great lunch. Boy, do they ever have great onion rings. Since I had had chicken wings last night, I had a very good gyro sandwich and their home-made potato chips.

THEBLAZE.COM

I hope you all will check out TheBlaze.com, a new website from Glenn Beck. He’s hired actual journalists and they are uncovering a lot of stories we used to get from the mainstream media. I think this site will become the place where Americans go for the real news.

Glenn doesn’t really have much to do with the content. He doesn’t pretend to be a journalist. You may have to refresh your screen a few times because the site is very busy. There a couple of stories on there right now that will blow you away.

There’s a good mix of audio, video and print.

Check it out, will ya?

A SLIP … UP

I got a slip indicating I had a package at the post office. While there I checked my post office box and found a check. I guess it discombobulated so much that I left the package sitting on a little table by the post office boxes. Needless to say, I didn’t waste any time going back. As Pauline handed it to me, she said some nice gentleman brought it in and gave it to her. What a ditz I am!

I don’t think I can top that story, so good night.

Until next time…