Beep, Beep, Beep

I remember watching an old episode of NCIS. It was Halloween and someone was playing tricks on the agents.

Dr. Mallard repeatedly heard a beeping sound in his morgue, and it was driving him crazy that he couldn't find the source of the noise.

I felt a little like that the other day. I was on my computer, and kept hearing a strange beep. I thought it was the TV. I had the hockey game on and figured it was something on their broadcast.

I had just e-mailed my brother and was tempted to call him instead, to see if the noise I heard was on his TV too, as I knew he'd have the game on.

But that would be foolish, so I ran a test first, and muted my television. Silence, nothing but silence. Oops, not so silent...a beeping sound.

The smoke and CO detectors were okay, so was the phone by my bed. And then I found it, the phone by my chair was slightly off kilter, or off the hook as we old folks would say.

So, I checked the phone...and there was a message from my brother. He was calling for the same reason as I had e-mailed him, to confirm our lunch date. I called him back and we laughed at my search for the annoying beeping sound,

We meet, trying for once a month, allowing for the weather, at a half way point between our two homes.

He has the worst of the drive, from west of Toronto to the east side. He has rush hour traffic up to as many as 8 lanes of traffic. I travel the same highway, but out my way the highway has just increased to 3 lanes.

I get a nice lunch out, a visit with family, and while in the city, a chance to shop at Michael's Craft store...a win/win.

Working on a Theme

April is right around the corner, and that means the start of the A-Z Blog Challenge.

Daily posts, (with Sundays off for good behavior) each beginning with a letter of the alphabet.

In preparation I was working on a list of things, connected in some way, a theme you might say. This gives the 26 posts for the month some cohesiveness, and me some inspiration as to the subjects I can write about.

My first list was inspired by a page from a Word Search Puzzle book.  Demons and Monsters, many from movies,  like The Blob, The Fly, The Mummy, King Kong, and let's not forget all the ghouls, godzilla, vampires, werewolves and zombies.

My next list was famous animals, like Lassie, Old Yeller, cats like Garfield, Elsa the Lion and Sylvester. And then there were the fish, Moby Dick, Flipper and Nemo.

But I was really stuck for the letters Q, X and Z.

So, I'm making life easy, and going with food as a theme.

Quick to Judge

There was a posting on Facebook, a man telling the story of why he was posting a 'selfie' with a cup of coffee, and making a peace sign. Apparently the man got cut off in traffic, and was yelled at and given the finger.

He followed the culprit off the road to the coffee shop, didn't see him and got in line. The other man came out of the bathroom and stood behind him.

The first man (the one who got cut off, am I making any sense here?) offered to buy the other man a coffee and explained who he was.

The man was having a difficult and stressful time, and apologized. And, apparently he did use his blinker but didn't know it was burnt out.

The point of the message, was not to jump to judgement, everyone has a story.

This was timely, as I thought of this kind of thing when I saw a teenager walking along the street the other day. The sun was shining, but it was by no means a warm day. It was still coat weather, and yet here was this teen walking along wearing only a short sleeved T-shirt.

My first thought, what a stupid kid, who was he trying to impress? He was obviously cold, shoulders hunched, hands in his pockets.

Second thought was...where were his parents, letting him out like that? I can't blame the parents, who might have had to leave for work before the teen left the house, and we all know that for a teenager, peer pressure is greater than parental disapproval.

Then I thought, maybe he'd been bullied, and some other kids had stolen his coat. This almost happened to my son once, so a plausible theory. My last thought was maybe he had a bad home life, and his father had kicked him out, not caring if he was dressed or where he might go.

Of all these scenarios, I hope he was just some dumb kid, thinking he's tougher than the weather.

Monday Monday

Do you remember that song Monday, Monday, by the Mamas and the Poppas? I thought of it today, first Monday back after March Break.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h81Ojd3d2rY

How harried so many households must be today, so hard to get the kids in gear for early mornings, that rush to get the bus, where's my backpack, and the best from my granddaughter last night....I wish I'd done my homework earlier in the week.

My sympathies, sort of, been there, done that.

Levels of Genius

When I have a problem with my laptop, I call my daughter. As a matter of fact, when my old laptop died on me, I sent my daughter to the store to make the purchase. She knew what I wanted, and all I had to do was pick it up and pay.

She's smarter than me, as she put a virus protector on this one, which is beneficial with the amount of time I'm on the internet.

I'm always surprised when the grandkids are here and want to use the laptop, that they know exactly what games they want to play, and how to access them. Experts already.

My neighbor is 88 years old, and just purchased her first laptop, which happens to be the same as mine. I saw her coming my way yesterday, and when I opened the door, she had a sheepish look on her face.

I find it funny that she comes to me for assistance with her computer problems. Though I did help her with Facebook, and set her up with some nice photos for her profile. Also helped with her E Mail, in setting up folders, and I don'y even want to start on our playtime on Pinterest.

She uses E Mail and plays games more than anything else, but I can tell she's getting a bit more adventurous with the new laptop than she was before. That was why she had come looking for help. She had tried to watch a program on the internet, and couldn't get out of it.

She couldn't find an X to close.

I went over, and she was right, there was a screen, frozen, asking for passwords or such, and I couldn't figure out how to close it either.

I used my tried and true method, and shut down the computer, though I'm not sure that's really for the best. But it worked, got her off that frozen screen and she was good to go.

I think she's had a few other issues that she's tried to deal with on her own, and was so frustrated that she had called the store where she bought her laptop, and got no response. Yesterday, she was about ready to toss it out the window.

I wish my computer genius would drop by, I can't seem to get the new laptop to talk to my printer. These darn machines, they can be so temperamental.

Glue on my Elbow

I was working on a little craft project today, something left over from my Christmas homemade gift list.

It was going pretty good, but suddenly I needed two hands, and not wanting to put down a paint brush loaded with glue, I put it in my mouth. All was well until I leaned in, turned my head and brushed all that glue along the sleeve of my shirt.

This is why I normally wear old, short sleeved T-shirts for art and craft projects. That way if I get anything on it, it's no loss, and sometimes you need to quickly wipe paint of glue off a finger.

Like my old blue coat, my painting T's are in pretty bad shape. I need to get some new ones and rededicate others to craft binge wearing.

I think I got all the glue off, hope so, as this is a favorite.

My Old Blue Coat

The jacket that I've worn for the last, too many, years, is really showing its age and wear. It is supposed to be a light blue, but it looks more grey than blue. The cuffs have that beaten in dirt that no amount of pre-cleaning and scrubbing will ever erase.

I hang the coat on a hook on the door, easy access and all, and as it's just me, it works. But having the jacket hanging in the open, I see the dirt and stains I miss when I'm wearing it. Like when did I sit or lean against something black and greasy?

I like the deep pockets and the fact that there's an inside pocket where I can carry money, or my bank card when I don't want to carry a purse.

I've been going to buy a new coat for about five years. I think that's about when the zipper broke. As I never venture out often, or for long, I've been okay with that, and make sure I wear a sweater or sweatshirt underneath.

But this year I am determined to replace this jacket. I think it's time to retire the light blue.

I haven't been totally disreputable going out, I do own a beautiful chocolate brown coat that hits mid calf...my dress coat, so to speak. The long length looks good but is so heavy to wear for things like shopping, so I keep it for special occasions.

The weather is mild, the skies clear, I have no excuse to not go shopping, and isn't it timely, the end of season sales should be starting. I hope to begin next winter off in style, and will give my old blue coat a proper sendoff.

Goodbye Lily

It's a funny thing, but I think Lily was feeling homesick on Thursday. She was a bit more restless than usual, often signalling she wanted to go out and then did nothing but look at the court, as if waiting.

Yesterday, I would catch her sitting in front of the love seat, and I thought she wanted permission to get up on the furniture, but that was a No No.

I finally realized she was watching out the window, as she's big enough to see over the back of the love seat. Homesick it was, as if she could sense the family would be home soon.

My daughter sent me a message when they landed Friday afternoon, and they had to fight rush hour traffic across the city to get home. Worse than the flight, I'm sure.

The plan was that they would retrieve Lily today, giving them the evening to relax. But that wasn't what happened. They needed some food, as the cupboards were bare, and my granddaughter missed the dog so much she couldn't wait.

I watched for the car, and walked out with Lily when I saw them approach. She heard her name called and it was a frenzy of tail wagging and wiggling. What a homecoming, Lily couldn't get enough of her young friend, and vice versa.

We gathered her belongings and stowed them in the car. Lily got in the back, and I'm not sure we could not of gotten her out again. She was basking in the love of family.

Off they went, and I will admit to feeling a bit forgotten, ignored. After all the love and attention I'd given that dog all week, not to forget treats, I was second place to an eleven year old.

And when you think of it, that is how it should be, That dog has known that little girl all of her life, and that child has known that dog for all she can remember of her own. They are a constant in each other's lives, a constant source of love.

I've had many pets in my life, but never one that was constant throughout my childhood. And only one cat that I had for a good number of years as an adult.

I guess that is one reason I love that commercial for dog food that shows a young boy growing up, the dog aging by his side. I stop whatever I'm doing every time I see it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJPYPE335KI

There's just something special about the bond between a human and a dog.

Countdown

We're on count down, only two more sleeps before the family comes to pick up Lily and return her home.

For a dog that is not trained, she's been very obedient. She never leaves this area in front of my place, well, almost never. When my son and his family arrived the other night, she ran to greet them.

Checking out the neighborhood. Knows her boundaries.

All my fears about letting her out, afraid she'd take off, curiosity such as it is, were unfounded. And with the cold, cold weather, she does her business outside and runs back in the door as quick as can be.

I bought her small biscuits and some treats that look and smell like bacon, a very nuclear bacon, the smell is getting to me. When I sit down for my dinner, I give Lil a bacon strip.

This has been a fun week. Winter has made it easier, not sure how it would be in the warmer weather.

One last photo.

A sniff of fresh air.

A Change in the Weather

Yesterday the weather showed its winter face, freezing temperatures, wind chill in the double digits, and a combination of rain and snow. The wind was shaking the windows and I feared we might lose our power, but thankfully that never happened.

I woke with a headache that lingered for most of the day. Lily, my faithful dog companion, also seemed to feel the change. When the wind struck against the windows, she went on alert, staring at window, the door, so restless. She paced about, seemingly unable to settle.

My neighbor-of-the-shared-wall was making a lot of noise, banging and crashing. This seemed to upset Lily even more. She went to the door and stared back at me. I figured this was her way of telling me she had to visit the outdoor facilities.

I let her out and shivered in the doorway, waiting for her to do her business.

But, she never ventured to the grassy area that is her usual relief station. This time she walked the outside of my unit, crossed the path to the neighbors’ doors and stood for a moment looking out over the court.

All was quiet, all was safe. She returned to the house and settled in. Nice to think she’s alert to any supposed danger. That seemed deserving of a treat.