Pickup sticks 11.16.18

            In the olden days, when I was a little person, we use to play pickup sticks. That was a game that was normally played on the floor. It was a little less expensive than today’s games, but it took as much, if not more skill, that today’s games. Since it wasn’t on a computer or other electrical device, the bad people weren’t able to track us and or communicate with us when we played the game. Just kids playing with kids. The olden days, may have been a safer time for kids.

            Speaking of pickup sticks, I did that yesterday afternoon when the weather warmed up, in the front yard. If we continue to have those very windy days, I will not have any dead branches in the trees, they will all be on the ground. I even picked up a squirrel nest, or it was about half a nest, that did not make me unhappy, as I do not like squirrels. I am not sure that the nest was from our trees, it may have come from the neighbor’s tree.

            I found a digital camera in some of my antiques (it is a Sony camera) and it has an unusual memory stick. It is twice as long as the usual SD card, and it is 512mb, and it is a “Memory Stick Pro”, it don’t have a lot of memory. I have an even older digital camera, but I did not get it out today. I have a photo from the old camera, it is of Tejas. I think, he looks like Tres?

            How old does electronic items need to be before they are either antiques or collectables?

            I remember when I purchased my first lap top, I believe it had a 256 processor in it. It cost a lot more then lap tops do today. It did very little but I thought it was something special. Now that I think of it, I use to spend money on things that I really did not need. Now that I am on a fixed income, I have no money to spend. 

            I walked out into the garage to get a little ice for my drink, when I noticed that the freezer at the bottom of the refrigerator, was not totally closed. I pushed it shut and it popped back open about an inch. That caused me to put the drink down and jump into action. I just happened to have a large ice chest in the garage. I removed all the items from the freezer. I then removed the top tray, then the bottom tray. I could see ice had built up on the bottom of the freezer so I procured a bucket of hot water, and towels. The hot water helped to loosen the ice. I removed a single piece of ice that was possibly 18 inches by 24 inches. I lay it in the drive way.

            I then dried all the inside of the freezer with towels and began to repopulate the freezer drawers. All in all it took about half hour. I was still able to enjoy my drink/s.

            Even in the face of an emergency like, “The freezer catastrophe”, as it is now known here at the Homestead on Oklahoma Ave., one should be able to enjoy a cold beverage around the five o’clock hour. J     (The smile face may show up as a “J”.)

            For those of you who view my outstanding articles on a cell phone, the smile face at the end of a sentence may show up as a letter. If you see odd looking letters at the end of a sentence understand that I have placed either a smile face, or frown face there, for effect. 

            I have created a one of a kind, 3 by 5 card and pencil holder, which can be displayed on an executive’s desk. Although we have not had the experts give us an appraisal as to the value of the art work, we are sure, since it is a one of a kind, its value will be in the thousands. Please, no offers until it has been professionally appraised. First photo front, second back, click to review.

   

         Today is Friday and it is supposed to be in the mid-60s, which is nice enough for a senior person to go outside the Homestead.

May your day be filled with sunshine and love!

Senior inventor; Don Ford

Virus-free. www.avg.com

Another lunch 11.15.18

            Yes we had our second thanksgiving lunch this week. I assume there will be a larger Thanksgiving lunch next week, possibly with turkey. We enjoyed lunch yesterday and we met Alex’s teacher. She kept saying that Alex is a very good student, I knew she was feeding us a line of it, but I smiled and acted as if she was right. There is a photo of the three of us after we ate, yes my belly was full but do not look at it!  Click if you are not going to look.

            Alex was enjoying his lunch and was unaware that I was taking a photo of him eating. He even ate a piece of my chicken. Chick, I mean click to enlarge.

            Too many chicken lunches for me, I may be on a diet for the next 4.3 weeks.

            Different and kind of the same subject; Grade cards came out yesterday, both Gabi and Alex made good grades. I am glad they don’t take after me, I almost never made good grades. I think I made decent grades until we moved to the country. I was in the 6^th grade at the country school. It was a two room school with the first through forth in the basement and fifth through eight upstairs. I have told this story before so if you have heard it just skip it.

            Toward the end of my first day in school, the teacher Mr. Hurt went to the chalk board and was writing some math problems on the board. They were fraction problems and he said, this is homework, write the problems down and do them at home tonight, turn them in tomorrow. I, wanting to be a good student, began writing them down, they were very easy problems so I was answering them as I wrote them down. I thought, I will have these all done now and not have any home work. I had the work completed when I learned it was homework for the eighth graders. I was doing eighth grade work! I truly believe I didn’t learn anything the rest of my time in that country school (Juden School).

            It is cool again this morning, but not as cool as yesterday. We are supposed to hit 60 today so I plan to do some odd jobs in the yard. The plants in the hot house need to be watered.

            Yesterday, I was involved in a conversation about cell phones and music. That made me think about the olden days and the various devices we have had to listen to music and view photos. I knew we had a ZUNE somewhere. I had purchased it for the spouse, may moons ago. The Zune was a Microsoft item. I think it cost about $400.00 new. I found it and it still works. It indicated it has almost 4000 photos on it. There is some music on it, along with videos I had made, and it will play FM radio.

            As I was searching for the Zune I found a very small device named, “Brookstone”, on the back is, “Developed by Brookstone laboratory” made in China, number 10078. It has photos in it too, this little device is 1.5 inch square. It still works.

            I also found a small device that I carried with me when I traveled. It is a, “Nextar”. The Nextar is larger than the Brookstone, it is 1.5 X 3 inch. It also stored photos and music.  There was even a built in mic I assume for notes.

            Then I found a device named, “Creative”, and when it comes on the word, “ZEN” is on the screen. This unit also stores music, photos, and has a mic, it also has an SD card. I will charge these and see what is on them.

            I do remember carrying a couple of these when I traveled (one at a time not all at once) and I would look at the photos and videos of the grand kids usually at supper time. Eating alone in a restaurant is lonely and looking at the grand kids photos was comforting. On the air plane I could listen to my music and not the person next to me.

            Since I am boring you with all this I will continue: I have a photo viewer. It is in a frame and was made to be displayed on a desk or someplace and it would rotate through the photos you loaded into the unit. It has methods to get info into the unit and they are, SD/MMC, MS/MS DUO, XD, CF/MD, USB HOST, MINI USB. I need to find the power supply to see if it still works. The screen is 6 inch by 3.5 inch. 

Never throw anything away, it might be (antique) valuable!

Senior collector if junk; Don Ford

Virus-free. www.avg.com

What the heck... 11.14.18

            What the heck happened to fall? We are supposed to be in the low 70s during the day, and possibly 35 at night, during the fall of the year. This morning I didn’t want to get out from under the warm covers, but being the person who lets the cats and dog out each morning for their morning Potty, I popped out from under the warmth and did my duties.

            I went to the Ford’s ole garage and opened the door. There, in front of me, was the Ford’s ole Dodge van which was covered by frost. I knew it was cold, but that frost just provided more info about the cold. I then looked around and the houses in the neighborhood had frost on the roofs. I learned from the TV weather person, it is 23 degrees in Waco. The last time it was that cold on this date was back in 1940. 

            Yesterday, my present spouse and I went to lunch with Gabi. It was the schools version of Thanksgiving dinner so we had chicken from the local Chicken place, whose name is kinda like a plant or shrub (a bush). I do have a photo of the three of use, click to enlarge.

            That is my natural hair. Gabi had a bow tie and Donna was just saying happy Thanksgiving. After eating lunch as we were getting ready to leave, Gabi gave Donna a hug, but she hit me on the arm. I consider the arm hitting the same as a hug from Gabi.

            Today we get to eat lunch with Alex at his school. We will again have chicken, but we need to purchase it from a place whose name is kind of like a walking stick. Think about it, walking stick… (a cane) why do I even try.

            My present spouse and I did choose our Medicare plan for the coming year (senior citizens have to do that). We were told by our old plan that it was no longer available. We are staying with the same company but we have chosen different plans. Her plan is different than mine, we will learn which is best, if either is better.

Lunch with the third graders will be fun!

Senior Fellow at the Ford’s; Don Ford

Virus-free. www.avg.com

No Snow 11.13.18

            It is cold.

            They said we could see snow flurries today, we haven’t.

            Snow and snow flurries are a big deal here in Hewitt.

            I took Gabi to school.

            We are going to have lunch with Gabi today. Thanksgiving lunch, she wants chicken           tenders.

            Lunch with Alex tomorrow, he wants chicken tenders too.

            The wind is blowing hard again. In the last two weeks we have had several days of heavy          winds. These winds are a pain in the backside, but they do help remove the dead branches       from the trees.

            On the way home from taking the Gabi to school, I observed a large branch on the       ground, it was not dead, it was just a victim of the winds.

            Its 30 degrees outside and my wife wants to defrost the freezer in the garage.

            I have had a cup of coffee, I may have another.

            This so-called office area is not heated. It is cool in here.

            Do not get on a fixed income! You may not be able to afford heat.

 

Above are “Thoughts of the Donald!”

 

Don Ford 

 

          Someone said, “You write too much”, they may be right. Instead of writing today, I just presented my thoughts. My thought now is to get another cup of coffee.

               (You, is referring to me, not you). Think about it and you may understand that statement.

           

           

Virus-free. www.avg.com

All about nothing 11.12.18

            I have occasionally bragged to myself and possibly to others, that I can sit down with no subject in mind, and write about nothing. It is easy to do, all one needs to do is, define nothing. When you know what nothing is, then write about it.

            Today nothing is a male subject. Age possibly early twenties. Temp outside was in the 40s. He was dressed in shorts, you know those silky kind, the ones that would be very cold in cool weather. He did have shoes on. He also had a hooded sweat shirt on with the hood up his hands were in the sweat shirt pockets as if he was cold. Anyone who would dress like that on a cool day is in my opinion, “Nothing”. 

            Subject to be announced: in December I will be sending a message that states, “If you want to keep getting emails about these posting, please let me know by the last day of December.” I know that everyone on the mailing list is not reading these posting, and I don’t want to be a bother and send emails to anyone that don’t want them.

            Did it rain last night? Well let me tell you, it did rain last night. As I lay in the Ford’s ole bed I was woken several times by the thunder. I even thought I could hear it rain a couple times but with the TV on who knows.

            This morning Tres and I went out to push the trash can to the curb. I said, trash can. I doubt that anyone has used trash cans for years now. Back in my olden day memory, we used trash cans for garbage and most of us poor folks had a barrow in the back yard to burn the paper or anything else that would burn. The garbage man, and that is what they were known as in the olden days, would physically pick up the garbage cans and dump them in the back of the garbage truck. Now I know that one of you use to refer to those containers as trash cans and the truck was a trash truck.

            Wow, I just thought, I haven’t seen a female person working as a Garbage woman!

            Oh by the way, while I was outside I also looked at the Ford’s rain gage. There was almost 3 inches of water in the gage. It did rain last night!

            Driving Gabi to school today I observed a female subject with a child walking in the bike lane on the side of the street. I guess that is a good place to walk on the heavy traffic street since there was no sidewalk on this side of that street. On my return trip, said female and child were still walking in the bike path, even though there was now a side walk.

Did this person consider the child’s safety? Did I note, the adult walked close to the curb and the child closer to the passing vehicles? Is that considered child endangerment?

they should have sidewalks near grade schools!

 

Senior rain gage monitor: Don Ford

Virus-free. www.avg.com

Need your input 11.11.18

            Yes I know, it is unusual for a super smart senior, such as myself, to ask for others input. I have two photos and am asking if anyone can help with the diagnosis. I think the black berries had such a tough time of it this past dry summer, that they have not recovered and may be on their death bed. Suggestions please? For that one person, “Don’t tell me to get a coffin!”

          

Those leaves do not appear healthy to me. Again I ask for suggestions. Some leaves are green and look normal.

I got on my hands and knees and pushed the oversized flower pot to the back part of the Hot House. I needed to do that because, the weather channel is indicating the possibility of temps getting down to 30 on Tue night. I then ran a wire from the homestead to the hot house and installed the heat lamp. If Tres leaves the wire alone, we are kind of ready for cooler weather.

Hoping to keep the berries alive!

Poor ole senior person; Don Ford      

Virus-free. www.avg.com

Tailgater 11.10.18

            I left the Ford’s Homestead with a couple errands to run Friday morning. I was able to afford a cup of coffee from the fast food restaurant with my name in it (Donald). The cost was $1.08 for a medium coffee. Being on a fixed income, I did not have the funding to purchase any food items.

            I went by the bank in hopes of getting a couple dollars but I did not get any funding. The teller machine was broken. I understand they have live people inside the bank, but I am not sure of that.

            Anyway, I was driving back toward the Homestead when I noticed this van come up behind me very quickly. The driver was a female and there was a handicapped sign hanging on the mirror. Leaving ones handicapped sign hanging on the vehicles mirror is illegal, but most of the so-called handicapped display them from the mirror all the time. I think it would be interesting if the police would start issuing tickets for this infraction.

            Anyway, this female subject must have been in a hurry as she was severely tail gating me. I could feel her warm breath on the back of my neck, or was it, the heater that I had activated to help keep the Fords Chevy warm in the frigid weather. I considered just for a second, “Would I have hit the brakes allowing her to rear end me, if I had an old junky truck”?

            Being a nice person, I slowed down until she finally got the message and backed off, then I again resumed driving at the posted speed. The rest of the drive home was uneventful!

            Now I will bundle up and begin moving the flower pots to the back 40. L

            This process took about an hour of, extreme physical exertion. Please don’t feel sorry for me at this point in the story, heck just getting out of my chair sometimes takes extreme physical exertion! I will continue, I used a wagon, I place the potted plants in the wagon and then pulled the wagon to the ole hot house. It seem in this process, I move a few flowers that should not have moved, too late now.

            There was one flower pot which I would say was over grown, as the plant spread over a large area. My frost I mean first wife calls this plant, ice, for some reason. I had permission to cut some of the growth in order to move the plant, which I did. The plant was inside a flower bed that had blocks of about six inches wide all around it. This made it difficult to get my feet close enough to the plant to lift properly. You know, lift with your legs, not your back.

            This pot weighed between 30 and 40 pounds. I was not lifting with my legs, I was about half way through the lift when the pain went through my back. I said some bad words. I wanted to drop the plant but I did not. I was able to get this plant stored properly. Oddly enough, this was next to the last plant that I needed to move. The last plant was too large for one person to handle.

            I began babying my back, as I was afraid I had done some real damage to, “The Ford’s ole back!”

            I was able to get a light lunch of homemade tamales, and then rested for about 20 minutes in the Ford’s ole recliner. There was a project where I was able to help with, which took us about 2 hours, after which I returned home. I then had about 20 minutes before I headed out to school where I waited for a while on Alex.

            Back at home with my spouse of almost five decades, I helped her a little but was in the way most of the time, all the while thinking that there was one more plant that needed to be moved. I secured my hooded shirt and went to the area where the oversized plant was located. My back was still hurting when I tried to bend over. As I stood there, literally knee deep in Jasmine vines. These vines had climbed up on and around the pot and plant, and would need to be removed prior to any attempt of relocation. I was able after several minutes of work, to get the plant and pot free from the vines. I devised a plan to move this huge pot and plant, without the help of others.

            I went to the Ford’s ole shed and procured the two wheeler (it is convertible and will also act as a four wheeler). I also latched onto a strap with a ratchet and proceeded to the area. I again surveyed the area, decided how to get the pot on the two wheeler, where and how to secure it to the two wheeler, and the path I would use exiting the flower bed.

            I carefully removed the unit, watching that my feet did not get tangled in the vines as I backed out of the flower bed. The two wheeler proved to be a back saver in the removal and moving of the flower. I used the neighbors drive way, the street in front of the Homestead, our drive way, and then I had to pull it through the yard to the hot house.

            To make a short story longer, I was able to get the pot inside the hot house but it is not properly placed. The pot is so big, and the cacti is very large, it is sitting just inside the door way. I may attempt to push it further into the hot house today. Not sure how I will do that.

 

That’s my story and I am sticking with it!

 

Senior fellow of proper lifting techniques;   Don Ford

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It is cold 11.09.18

               The weather has decided to turn cold. Some weather people say we could hit freezing tomorrow night, others say it will be Monday or Tuesday. The problem with that cold weather is, I will need to gather the flowers that are in pots and take them to the Ford’s ole hot house. Most of that work can be done by myself, except for one container. It is large and possibly weighs 80 or more pounds. This pot is over grown with a cacti type plant. I will get help in moving it.

            I will also need to run an electrical cord out to the hot house for those cold nights. As you can see, I never have a moment to take a nap, I work all the time. Some work from sun to sun, a senior’s work is never done!

 

            A follow up to the 11/08/18 posting, I indicated I had miss calculated a measurement by 1.5 inches, and I had to cut one board a second time, and that is true.

            I was incorrect saying I cut 1.5 inches, when in truth, I cut 3 inches off the top board. The lower shelf board was the correct dimensions for the top position so I moved it there and I then cut the top board which was 3 inches too long for the lower shelf.

            Now I can see that one person is wondering why I didn’t cut some off each board. The answer is simple. I switched the boards and made one cut instead of two, less cutting, less work!

 

            This morning, Tres and I ventured outside in the cold weather to get the newspaper. As it often happens, they did not leave us a paper. Tres usually gets our paper and brings it into our house. Not seeing a paper in our yard, Tres crossed the street picked up the neighbor’s paper and brought it to our front door. I had to take the paper back across the street.

 

Get the coats out, we will need them!

 

Freeze-ologist;           Don Ford

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