Monday afternoon 08.17.2020

            What have I done today, as usual nothing but sit around? The Tres and I did go for an early morning walk, I carried a flash light as it was not day light yet.

            I did go to the wally world store early this morning to purchase some tape. I needed the tape to secure the electric bike back into the carton.

            While at the store I ask an employee, who was on her hands and knees stocking a shelf, where the tape was. She very rudely said around the corner across from the candy. She did not look up at me and sounded as if she was in one bad mood.

            I found the tape and then went to the dog food area to get some treats for our pot hound. I did notice as I passed other so-called employees, none of them made eye contact and none seem to be happy. Now it was about 7:30 so they may not have been a wake.

            The lady at check-out was very friendly!

            I did get to go to the star coffee place for a cup, and then headed for home. Yes, it had coffee in the cup.

            Arriving back at the homestead I was getting ready to begin the process of dismantling the bike, when I noticed a problem. Even when the bike was shifted into first gear according to the shift lever, the bike chain would only go to second gear. So, there is another problem with the bike.

            I carefully dismantled the bike, to the point that it was dismantled when it arrived here. Then I tried to understand how to put it back in the box. A couple parts were understandable and I got them in correctly, the rest went by guess. Would you believe, I used a big hammer to get a couple items in?

            My favorite spouse came out and help me get a couple areas taped. Then I finished taping the bottom and ends of the carton. The bike and carton weigh 70 pounds!

            The carton had been laying on its side, so I stood it up and went to work on the top. I have a couple photos which may help you understand my efforts.

                                   

            You might wonder why the clamps. I wanted to get the top as close as possible before taping. In other words, I wanted it to be very tight.

            I have a secret that I will tell only you, don’t tell anyone else, I used super glue on the plastic straps. I had cut the plastic strap when I opened the carton and I knew the plastic strap would help hold the carton closed, so I tried the super glue. I put tape over it so I don’t know if it helped or not.

            When or if they send another bike, I will open the box, take a photo, and then take other photos as I remove each item. I will not cut the box open, just incase I have to send it back too.

            Later I took a nap then went out and watered the black berries.

            Now I am typing this boring message, which you do not need to read.

 

            It is now 3:00 so I will need to get to reading. Hope you have more to do then this ole man.

 

Be kind to ole people!

 

Senior carton packer, Don the Ford

           

           

  

Lunch out with 08.16.2020

            Saturday my favorite wife and I along with Patrick and Karla went out to lunch. We went to a Mexican restaurant as I wanted some fajitas. They were very slow at everything from bringing the drinks to bringing the food. I assume they have minimal staff doing the work. We were there over 1.5 hours.

            On the way home I stopped by the booze shop to see if they had a bottle for me. We pulled up to the drive through window and the lady opened the window, she did not ask what I wanted, but how many. I said one and she walked away. There was a discussion that I might should have bought two. When the lady returned, I asked if she could get me two bottles which she did. I offered her a couple dollars for a tip and she refused saying, “You are a good customer”! She knew what I wanted, with out me asking, I must be a good Customer!

            When we arrived back at home, we found that David was there. He had brought a computer over for Patrick to look at. We all had some interesting conversations, including some political discussions. Basically, those of us present, had much of the same opinions.

            It was 106 yesterday and when we walked outside it was literally like entering and oven.

            I had some communications with a friend via text messaging. I guess neither of us thought about picking up the phone and calling. 

            All in all, a good day.

 

            Today it is supposed to be hot again, and tonight a cold front is coming through. We might get a chance at rain, and the temp might get down into the upper 90s next week. I have set up a sprinkler out back this morning prior to sunrise. It has been moved twice, and now the sprinklers in the flower beds are running. It is super dry due to this extreme heat. 

 

Mask not, wash not, live not!

 

Senior connoisseur of good food, Don the Ford

Posting

Send it back              08.15.2020

            Thanks to everyone who wished this senior person happy birthday. It was a good day except for the heat and something I ordered.

            I ordered a bike for my wife. We received it yesterday. We had decided to get a bike we could both ride for a while, and then, if we liked it, we would get a second bike.

            I put it together even though the instructions were not very good. I did watch a video showing how to put it together which helped. I can tell you the video helped, but there were differences in the equipment on the bikes.

            Once put together, I was attempting to learn about the controls. My favorite wife came out and as I was attempting to show her the way it shifted gears, when the chain came off. I put it back on, and it keeps coming off. We also noticed the back-wheel wobbles some.

             I contacted the company through Amazon and they said they will send me a return authorization. They indicated they will send a new bike.

            That means I will need to take the bike apart and put it back in the box. A bunch of work!

 

May your day be filled with items that work!

 

Senior bike assembler, Don the Ford

 

Birds in Hewitt 08.14.2020

              As the Tres and I walked yesterday morning, prior to official sunrise, I observed what appeared to be a couple large birds “doing it” in this person’s front yard. As we proceeded up the street the birds stopped flapping their wings and I could see the bird on top was a hawk. He was not a large hawk, possibly a red tail hawk. I could hear other birds in the trees making a lot of noise. Suddenly the hawk flew away and he had a smaller bird in his claws.  Could not tell if it was a baby bird or if it was just a small bird.

              I have a happier bird story. I had written in the past about a white wing dove who was nesting in a tree near the black berries. In that posting, there was a photo of the dove on her nest. I was surveying the back 40 yesterday when I noticed a dove on that same nest. Do they re-use the same nest, or is it another bird using that nest? If you know that answer you are allowed to tell me.

              Yesterday, it was the first time!              Literally, it was the first time I had heard those words!        Now my favorite spouse said those words to me, and I gave her a big hug!      I think it was the first time anyone, not just my spouse of over 5 decades, had ever said those words to me!               Feeling that good for the first time, wow!

              This morning, after Tres and I had our morning constitutional, my present spouse and I took the time to see if we could remove a piece of tape from the Tres belly. It has been there since the operation, it was several inches away from the main incision, and it seemed to be stuck in some hair. Upon further observation we determined that Tres still had staples in him! We called the vet, they said bring him over. I took him to the vet and they did remove the tape and the staples. They didn’t even say sorry, we missed those staples.

              Today (Friday) is this senior retired person who is on a fixed income’s birthday. Now that I am legally old enough to have an adult beverage, I might drive into the city later today and again attempt to get a bottle.

              Speaking of adult beverage, when I was stationed in Fort Lewis Washington, I was 20 years old. I was old enough to learn to kill, but not old enough to have an adult beverage.

              I need to go out to the DIB center and pick up a retiree order. Before that one person asks, I am the retiree!

              What?  Oh, I didn’t tell you what the word was, sorry, I thought I had enlightened you. Here is how this all played out. The Tres had taken me for a walk, I was hot and sweaty, and I had another project to do outside in the morning heat. I said to my first wife, “I am going to do the other project before I take a shower”, to which she replied, “You are smart”! I can’t remember anyone ever saying, I was smart. I did give her a big hug!

May your day be fill with nice comments!

Senior sweaty person who is now considered as smart, Don the Ford

Marbles a kid's game 08.13.2020

            Before we get started with Marbles, allow me to say, the Tres took me for a walk this morning and upon returning home, his upset stomach seems to have been corrected. Now before that one person who is, “The north end of a south bound horse” asks, I did not get a photo of the Tres’ dropping! I don’t know why I allow that person to read these wonderful postings? 

            Marbles, do you have all your marbles? Heck, do I have all my marbles. I am not writing about mental acuity; I am writing about an old-time kids’ game of marbles. I do not have all the answers about the game, I am hoping someone has a better memory and can enlighten this author. 

            I remember being at May Green School, which is in Missouri. Along the west side of the playground there were trees and in that area the grass had been trampled to a point, of only having dirt and dust. That is where we would play marbles.

            Consider for a moment, kids getting down on their hands and knees in the dirt playing marbles during recess, and then returning to the class room for an exceptional learning experience.

            To play this game one would draw a circle in the dirt. Then the players would drop marbles into the ring, each dropping the same number of marbles. The players would determine whether they were playing for keeps or for fun. Obviously, keeps means you kept the marbles that you were able to knock out of the ring.

            It seems that each boy had a marble that he used to shoot with. I do not know why but these were called his Tall. There were situations where ones Tall became stuck in the ring, and if the opponent could shoot it out of the ring, he would say, “Two or your Tall”, meaning, give me two marbles or I keep your Tall.

            There were steelies, these were metal ball bearings. They were band in most games. There was a large glass marble and we called them lobbies, due to their large size. There were cat eyes, and they got their name from their appearance, they were not a solid color.

            Most boys who played marbles, had a small pouch like container in which he carried his marbles.

            If you have additional input about the game feel free to share them with me.

 

Winners wear masks and wash their hands!

 

Senior marble-ologist and one time covered in dirt or dust, Don the Ford

Returned 08.12.2020

            How do I begin? Yesterday (Tuesday) I decided to get my hair cut even though there Is still the chance of getting the virus from a stranger. I arrived at the stylist’s shop and there was a lady sitting outside. I thought, she was there to make sure I didn’t have the virus before I entered the establishment. I was wrong, she was the hair chopper. I don’t think referring to her as a barber would be correct, and they do not have one of those barber shop poles that looks like a big candy cane that goes around.

            She welcomed me and put me in a chair. I asked if she could give me a haircut that would make me look younger, smarter, and richer! She looked at me and said, “NO”! I said ok a hair cut would be ok. She was a good conversationalist and she did a fair job of removing my hair. Her political views were the same as mine. Yep, I tipped her!

            Leaving the hair chopper, I headed to the booze shop to return the bottle. I was in line at the drive through behind a fellow in a pickup. I heard the lady inside the shop tell the fellow in the pickup, “Don’t come back”! When I pulled up, she said, “Some people are just rude”! I handed her the bottle and tole her that the fellow who worked there told me to return it for a new one. She looked at me as if I was rude, she took the bottle and walked away, and returned with the money. I still do not have a bottle. 

            Possibly it is a sign that I am not supposed to have an adult beverage!

            Topic change; yesterday, I finished reading the entire bible, it only took me eight months. I started with the new testament, and yesterday finished with the old testament. I guess I will start over today. I still can’t pronounce many of the names. I occasionally ask ALEXA how to pronounce a word. I spell the word for her and she is fairly good at many words, not always good at names.

            If someone is home schooling, they should have an Alexa for the kids to ask questions, she can answer most questions. Parents may not have all the answers to the questions, and it might save a parent from looking the answer up on line!

            Tres and I went for a walk again this morning, he did good at not pulling on the lead. Tres had a problem yesterday with his bowel movements, they were loose. As the day went on, they were looser and this morning he seems to be getting less loose. That was the best way I could present that info, to get to this point. We will keep an eye on him and see how he does, we may need to call the vet.

            I need to mow today, yes, yesterday was the normal day to mow, but I got side tracked.

 

Do what you need to do, but stay safe!

Senior dog walker and poop reviewer, Don the Ford

The vet said 08.11.2020

            We are back home from the vet and they got the staples out with no problems. We are to keep him from licking the incision for at least another week. That means I will not have any Tee Shirts as the Tres will be wearing them. He kind of stretches the necks about three times too big for me.

            The Tres took me for a walk this morning and about half way through our usual walk, the urge hit him to defecate, he does not do that while on a lead. We turned and headed for home where he relieved himself. A neighbor gave us some left-over Brisket yesterday, for the Tres. We gave him some, and today his stool was runny. No more brisket that was not cooked by my favorite wife! I know you are glad I used proper terminology and did not say he had to poop!  

            I went to the big city yesterday in an effort to purchase a bottle of Adult Beverage. I drink Tom Moore whiskey for two reasons.

1. It has a good taste when mixed with a diet soda.

           B.  It is not expensive like the better-known adult beverages.

           I went through the drive through and the female person said they still don’t have it, come back Wednesday after 2:00.

           Disgusted, I went to a different booze shop and went through the drive through. I told him what I wanted, and he went and got it. I noticed, as I sat there waiting, they had a no return policy sticker on the drive through window.

           He handed me the bottle already in a sack and I paid him. I told him to keep the change and he said thanks. I drove home.

           Arriving at home I removed the bottle from the bag and it looked as if it had been dropped or kicked around. A plastic bottle with dents in it. The bottle was still sealed so I did not give it much thought. Later at happy time I made an adult drink as I usually do. It tasted like crap. I tossed the drink out! I called the Booze shop assuming they would tell me to kiss off. The fellow who answered the phone was the person who sold the bottle to me. I told him about the condition of the bottle and the taste, and that I had told him to keep the change. He said he remembered me, and I should return the bottle and he would give me a new bottle.

           Now I have to drive back into the big city today to get a new bottle. I assume he wanted to get rid of an ole bottle in hopes it was ok.

            Yesterday as I sat out side without an adult beverage, I looked up and saw something unusual. There was a hawk, eagle or some other large bird flying over. This bird was very high an usually when a bird is that high they seem to be moving slow. This bird went across the sky super-fast. I have never seen an air plane cross the sky that fast. I assume it was in some type of fast air flow.             Could it have been a UFO disguised as a bird?

 

Look up, be amazed!

 

Senior retired adult beverage exchanger, Don the Ford

Made it through 08.10.2020

            We made it through the weekend with nothing special happening. We did have lunch Sunday from the Cracker Store, I picked it up and we ate at home. It was so hot this weekend that we tried to stay inside as much as possible, that is a lot of fun, NOT!

            The Tres has been wearing my Tee shirts, will they need to be washed before I wear them? We are scheduled to take the Tres to the vet today to get his staples removed. I am not sure how much he will like that; he doesn’t like to go inside the vet’s office.

            Tres took me for a walk this morning and I took a photo of a leaf that we saw laying on the street. We (Tres and I) just thought the leaf sent a message to us as we walked.

                                   

            I did purchase a new chair for my office. Yes, I had purchased a chair sometime back and it was expensive. The problem with the old chair is, “It is summer time in Texas”. That means your back and bottom sweats if you set on it for very long. The new cheap chair allows air to get to my back which is so much cooler and my bottom is cooler too!

            Well I need to get a cup of coffee before we leave to take the Tres to the vet.

 

Stay safe and stay cool!

 

Senior chair evaluator, now with a preference to cheap, Don the Ford