2026, Automotive, Business, Family, Mysteries

Forwards / Backwards

23 Comments

When YA and I out together, I drive 99.9% of the time.  She likes to keep her car pristine which means driving it as little as possible; I get nervous being in the passenger seat when she drives.   So, me doing the driving is better for both of us.

Of course YA doesn’t think that being the passenger relieves her of the duty to backseat drive.  She wants to me move to another lane is the traffic is too slow for her.  She wants me to move back to the right lane sooner if our exit is coming up.  She wants to make sure I’m going at least the speed limit at all times.  She thinks I leave too much space between us and the car in front of us.  For those of you who have met YA, you know she is not shy about sharing my “failings” with me.  Ignoring her or “I am aware” are my usual modi operandi.

Parking is often an issue for her.  She is forever instructing me to back into parking spots so we can pull straight out when we leave.  Since I detest backing into parking spots (can’t even remember the last time I did), I always decline.  I’m pretty sure that the time it takes for me to back in is longer than the time to back out into the parking lot.  YA is adamant that it would save time.  I told her once that I didn’t want to stress myself out to do something would only save a nano-second.  She quickly replied that all those nano-seconds over a lifetime might add up.  Pretty fast thinking on her part but how would I ever know if it had added up?  I doubt on my deathbed and I’ll get a sign that I had 25 more minutes because of the times I backed in.

I was thinking of this last week when I was at the Dunkin drive-though very early.  The only three cars in the lot were parked in the very farthest corner from the building and all were backed in.  My first thought was that you must really be glad to be done with work if you need to roar out of your parking spot head-first at the end of your shift.  Made me laugh a little.  Second thought was that management “suggested” it to employees so that it would be clear that employees weren’t hogging the good customer spots.  This was the case in a few malls that I’ve worked at over the years.  Third thought was that it was a coincidence; you all know I’m not that great about coincidence.   But I’m not going to ask.

What about you?  Pull in or back in?  Any good parking stories? 

2026, Family, Government, Uncategorized, work

Unlicensed

24 Comments

As always happens the first week of October, the email from the ND Board 0f Psychologist Examiners arrived reminding us that it is time to renew our licenses. Husband has been licensed since 1991. I have been licensed since 1994.

This year is different for us, since neither of us is renewing our licenses. We are retired. We no longer live in ND, and we haven’t accrued the 40 hours of continuing education over the past two years necessary to maintain our licenses., which formally expire January 1, 2027. We plan to email the Board office this week to let them know we aren’t renewing. Husband will also step down as the Board Investgator of ethical complaints against licensees on January 1.

I have mixed feelings about all this; happy to be retired and not having to pay for relicensure, wistful about letting go of a huge part of my identity. Husband notes with great irony that the Board is trying to enlist two licensees to do the complaint investigations that he did all by himself.

I was the Board president for 8 years, and I remember hearing from the Board office about people who initially decided to let their licenses expire when they retired, who then decided at the last minute to renew, and needed an extension from the Board to complete their continuing education hours. That will NOT happen for us. Done is done, but my, I will miss it.

Did your employment or some other aspect of your life form your identity? How has your identity changed over the years? Ever file a complaint against a licensed. service provider?

2026, books, Family, Gatherings, Uncategorized, Words

Reading Aloud

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Husband and I read aloud to our children countess hours when they were little. We were both really good at expressive character voices.

I was a little disappointed realizing that our new church here in Luverne had a much reduced music ministry compared to our ND church. The choir sings only perhaps once every couple of months instead of every Sunday. We have found a new and fun niche, however, in being readers of the scriptures, Psalms, and prayers during services. The pastor reads the Gospel passages.

Our fellow church members really like the way we read. Husband says I speak very clearly and read expressively as though there are children listening (which there are). Some people who had my mother as a Grade 3 teacher or knew her well tell me my voice is just like hers. They seem to find it comforting. When Husband reads you can tell he understands everything he is reading and imparts that meaning. Last Sunday I had to read a selection from Isaiah in which the writer had God speak in a really pissed off voice. I used that sort of voice as I read. People were very appreciative and complimentary.

We have choir rehearsal twice in the next two weeks for the Reformation Day service later in October. We only read in church about once a month. Now if we can only figure out how to get more reading time in with our grandchildren.

How would describe your reading voice? What might you like to read aloud in public if you got the chance? Who read to you when you were a child and what were your favorite things to hear?

2026, animals, Food, holidays, Nature, Uncategorized, Weather

Winter Is Coming

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i don’t know what got into me this weekend, but I fulfilled one of my priorities and did all the ordering for my Christmas baking. It involved ordering:

Glaceed orange peel, glaceed lemon peel, glaceed cherries, and glaceed citron, 4 lbs of pecans from an orchard in Georgia, my yearly purchase of 10 lbs of a really nice chunk of parmesan from Italy (it is cut from a wheel and lasts for a year), eight 2-cup containers of leaf lard from a Pennsylvania butcher shop for pie crusts and lefse, Swedish pearl sugar, sliced almonds, black currants, golden raisins, Danish marzipan, and a gallon tin of Turkish olive oil.

Now I will be set for any baking needs for Christmas and for the year. Then I started to think about other winter preparations. I filled the water softener with salt and changed out the furnace filters. We have two furnaces in our home due to an addition to the house a few years ago. Did you know you can get furnace filters with small batteries that will alert you when the filters need changing? Husband did some yard and flowerbed clean up yesterday. I heard from a foster parent I know from western ND who told me she had to scrape frost off her truck windows Sunday morning. The bison at the park here are getting furry. Winter is coming and I couldn’t be happier.

What winter preparations do you need to complete? How good are you at changing furnace filters? Watch Game Of Thrones?

2026, chickens, Farming Update, Theatre, Uncategorized

GOOD FOR THE SOUL

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This weeks “Farming Update?” from Ben

I got a massage the other day and the salt wall in the header photo is the wall of their waiting room. It has a nice amber light that is very calming, and they say it supports relaxation to help reduce stress. I just like the look of it.  Daughter has a salt lamp that is the same color. It sweats due to the higher humidity in our house, and kinda makes a mess, but it is a very nice warm light.

It’s been kind of a busy week. 

There was no farming this week, unless you call cutting the grass and picking up sticks and feeding the chickens and collecting eggs farming. And that was done by Kelly and daughter respectively. I got diddly squat done at home between Work work, tech rehearsals for Sweeny Todd, several meetings, homework, and yes, the massage. That’s how I spent the week. Well, at least until I got to Friday. I got a few things done Friday.

Filling the drill with the seed tender

I must say, I am acing the humanities class. 100%. And this comment from the teacher: “You know you’re going above and beyond, right? I mean that you’re writing 2-3x as much as your classmates… but you’re probably also having 2-3x as much fun!”  I wrote to her and said I knew I was writing too much and I felt sorry every time I submitted a paper to her. She responded, ” No, it’s fine. Write away! At least I can hear YOUR voice in your writing and it’s both personal and wise. Plus, you really enjoy doing it.”

That made my whole day… 

Music class… eh. 8/10 on a workbook and that’s the only grade posted so far. I go see the teacher weekly and we have a good time talking. It always makes so much sense when she tells me. It doesn’t sink in from the book. Course it would help if I actually read the book first and didn’t just jump into the middle. I can “wing” a lot of things, but evidently not this so much. Geez, sounds like high school all over again. 

At college one day I made an electric cable. You know, lighting fixtures used to come with a cord, and you just put on the end you needed. It might be either of a couple specific theater kinds of ends like, ‘Stage Pin’ or ‘Twist Loc’ (new or old style) or regular old Edison like at your house.

Stage Pin
Twist loc, new style, tab in

Then they, “They”, stopped putting cables on the light. You get a ‘receptacle’ on the back of the light fixture, and you hook up a power cable. They were ‘powercon’. So, I made powercon cables and adapters and couplers, because you couldn’t simply hook one end to the other. And from powercon, now they created ‘True 1’ connectors. “New and Improved!” Here I am making MORE cables. But at least this connector can hook end to end without a special coupler. 

Power-con
New and improved! True 1

A few years ago I learned if you read the printing on the cable, the female connector will go on the right hand side, because the woman is always right, and that way you don’t need to twist the wires to connect to the proper terminal. HUH! 

Sweeny Todd opened last night, Friday, at the Rep in Rochester. I’d seen the show once before, never saw the movie. I know the plot, but I didn’t know the show that well. This version, this director, Philip, really brings out the humor in the show. There’s a lot of sarcasm. Sweeny goes off on this big song of bringing vengeance on all those that have ruined his life, and Mrs. Lovett sits for a moment and finally says, “Well yes, that’s all well and good…” 

Lighting it has been fun. We ended up with 206 lighting cues. A handful of those are before the house opens; turning on house lights, checking all the fixtures are working, etcetera, but the bulk are during the show, when Emilie, our stage manager, is also triggering 200 sound cues. It’s OK, she has 2 fingers; one for sound, one for lights. We don’t have an orchestra for this show, we have recorded music. (Musicians are busy, and it’s often hard to find enough to cover the run of a show. If they’re in a band, they’re usually playing weekends as well). Emilie is busy! And she does a fantastic job. 

Here’s some looks from the show. 

I love these colors on Mr. Todd

There was an auction again. See how this newer tractor sold for so much less? It has a lot more hours, and it needs tires. Looks like its been ‘rode hard and put away wet’. Tires will be about $20,000 for all 8 of them.

The top tractor only has 5000 hours. The bottom one has 11,000 hours.

I didn’t buy anything. I watched a few things, didn’t buy any. 

HOW MANY KINDS OF SALT IN YOUR CABINET?

DOESN’T EVERYONE HAVE A WATER SOFTENER?

2026, Fitness, Health, holidays, Uncategorized

We Didn’t Want THAT To Happen!

17 Comments

Last January I started going to an exercise class for old people (SAIL-Stay Active In Life). It is a well researched exercise program and is sponsored by a very nice county agency that organizes services for seniors. It meets twice a week and involves strengthening most muscle groups, improving balance and flexibility, and encouraging socialization.

There are many upper body and arm exercises which I heartily participated in. We are encouraged to use the hand weights provided by the class for the arm and upper body exercises. I used the two pound weights.

In May I noticed pains in both my upper arms, particularly when I would stretch to get laundry out of the washing machine or try to reach back to secure my brassiere. I am a side sleeper, and any pressure on my upper arms really hurt when I tried to sleep.

I finally went to my doctor in August. I know I have osteoarthritis in my lumbar spine. My doctor ruled put Rheumatoid Arthritis and Lupus, and sent me to an orthopedic surgeon. He took x-rays of my shoulders. There ought to be a pencil width strip of cartilage between the top of the upper arm and shoulder socket in which it rotates. I have none. It is bone on bone in both shoulders. It is mainly due to osteoarthritis. The surgeon was rather astounded that both my shoulders were so bereft of cartilage simultaneously. We figured I was a good candidate for this, and the arm exercises in my SAIL class sealed the deal. I need both my shoulder joints replaced.

I will have my first surgery in January. I will do the left arm first. It involves securing a titanium cap on the arm bone to replace the cartilage. I said I had to wait until after the Christmas baking was done. I need both arms to for that. Boommate and daughter-in-law have offered to help roll lefse.

Ever had joint replacement? When has something considered good turned out to be bad for you? What are your priorities these days?

2026, Family, Gatherings, History, Uncategorized

Men In Kilts

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We are just back from our family gathering in Colorado. We stayed at a hotel in the Highlands Ranch area of Denver, close to Littleton, where Husband’s stepmother lives. As we were getting out of our taxi when we arrived at the hotel I saw an older man in full Scots regalia in the parking lot, including a kilt and bagpipes.

The Colorado Highland Games were held September 26th -27th here, and our hotel was the center of activity for a meeting of the Clan Hay Society. There was a load of older guys in kilts walking around the hotel lobby and eating in the dining room. The dining room had to be closed early on Saturday as the cook became overwhelmed by all the Clan Hay members dining there. We had to order out. We also saw several women in long dresses, fancy bodices, and animal skins around their shoulders.

Sunday and Monday saw the kilted guys again. Many were eating breakfast or just socializing. We even saw Lord Larry Hay, son of the current Scottish chief the Earl of Erroll, in the lobby. He was dressed in a suit. Husband’s sister in law is a Campbell with grandparents who were born in Scotland, and she was quick to introduce herself to Clan Hay members. She acknowledges the Campbells were simply awful people, but none of the Clan Hay members shied away or denounced her as a traitor. (She once had a Scots store clerk in Portland do that. )

The Clan Society members all appeared to be in their 60’s and 70’s. Many had long hair in ponytails. They looked so proud in their kilts and I got the impression they wore those kilts as often as they could. I imagined them going through airport security in their kilts on their way home from the meeting, and wondered what the TSA agents would make of them.

If I were to dress in traditional ethnic costume I suppose it would be Dutch, with Klompen and a pointy lace cap, and full skirt with a close fitting top. I certainly wouldn’t want to walk around all day in the wooden shoes, though.

How did your ancestors dress? What ethnic costume would you wear in public? Ever had to wear a uniform?

2026, books, Media, Mysteries, Uncategorized

Pre-Beginners

26 Comments

I’ve got six different books started right now and between them, I’ve encountered a preface, a foreword, and introduction and a prologue.  Two of the books had a preface AND a foreword.  The foreword to one of these books was really grinding on me – basically laying out each short story ahead of time.  (I was listening on Libby in the car so couldn’t mess with fast forwarding.)  It occurred to me that I don’t really know the difference between all these “can we hurry up and get to the book” blockades.  So I looked them up:

Preface.  An introduction to a book, typically stating its subject, scope, or aims.  Written by the author, a preface is about the book: the history of the inspiration, what inspired it and how the writing of the book transpired.  Much more common in non-fiction books and usually includes acknowledgements.

Foreword.   The foreword, which logically come before the book is normally written by someone other than the author – another author, a friend, mentor or a subject expert.  A foreword might contain a short biography of the author, and salient points about the book.  Apparently getting a well-known author to write your foreword is a real score.

Introduction.  This is the playground of the author and is normally all about the book: a clue to what the author thinks the reader needs to know ahead of time, anything from character introduction to emphasis on themes… you name it.

Prologue.  This is part of the book, almost exclusively fiction, that takes place before the main action of the book.  A good prologue sets the scene for the rest of the book, I guess since this is actually part of the story, these don’t bug me too much.

Knowing the difference doesn’t really change my mind about their status but it made me feel a bit better knowing.

Do you read all the prefaces/forewords/introductions in a book?  What about the acknowledgements at the end?

2026, Mysteries, Travel, Uncategorized

I Can’t Go Up There

32 Comments

My fear of heights doesn’t make any sense.  I’ve been up in the St. Louis Arch at least 12 times; I can walk through the viewing area with no issues and can actually look out the windows which are 630 feet above the hard hard ground.  I’ve been up in a hot air balloon twice.  I’ve even flown in an open air bi-plane.  None of these experiences bothered me.

But last week I was faced by one of my fear-of-heights nemeses – a glass elevator.  Four times I year I drop off cards for one of my charities.  All the elevators in the building are glass elevators – I checked the first time I went there.  I am only going to the second floor but every time I’m standing in front of those elevator doors, I’m wondering if maybe there are stairs someplace in the building to get me to the next level.

These aren’t the only glass elevators I’ve had trouble with.  Once, in Singapore, the hotel had two kinds of elevators.  The normal kind that went up to the 25th floor and then glass-enclosed kind that you had to take to get from the 25th to the 60th floor.  It was a glorious view of the cityscape but when I discovered that the hotel had put me up on the 50th floor (this was considered an upgrade because most folks LIKE the higher floors), I asked them to move me to a different room, preferably on the 3rd or 4th floor.  It did at least make me feel better when the front desk staff told me that this is not an uncommon request.  Phew! 

When I have no other option than to deal with glass elevators, my usual modus operandi is to stand facing the doors (which are rarely glass)… as close to the doors as I can get.  If I’m alone, then basically nose-to-door; if there are other folks, I try to keep at least a foot back so they don’t have me carted away in a pretty wrap-a-round sweater.  And I can guarantee that I am ALWAYS the first off that elevator.  I’d rather ride the escalators at the Mall of America than do glass elevators (which they also have at MOA).

So I really don’t understand why some heights don’t bother me and some heights REALLY bother me.  I’m guessing at my age I’ll probably never figure it out.

Would you rather ride in a glass elevator or hold a big snake?

2026, Family, home, Mysteries, pets

Foamy Mystery

29 Comments

Every rescue dog comes with its own set of baggage to sort through.  Freya loves to chew – probably some from anxiety but more likely from being caged most of her life and now finding a whole new world of tactile sensations.

Even though I pick up the toys most nights, by 9 a.m. she has most of them out of the bin and every one is missing something – an ear, a fin, a flipper.  Once she finds a way in, then she goes all in looking for the squeaker so the white toy stuffing goes all over.  Our living room right now looks like a stuffy toy abattoir.  Even the hard rubber toys are no match for her little shark teeth.

Unfortunately, it’s not just toys.  We realized right away that pretty much anything is fair game.  It took YA a bit longer to come to terms with this – she’s lost a shoe, a slipper and a pair of shorts.  We’ve taken to limiting her smorgasbord a bit right now by putting up gates to keep her in a smaller area and by keeping a very close eye on her.

She is however quite stealthy and if your attention is elsewhere, she can get around you quite nicely.  On Saturday I spent some time on the phone with one of my BFFs from Madison.  I had been upstairs before the call and when I came down, I neglected to put up the gate at the bottom of the stairs.  A few minutes into my call, I looked up and saw Freya chewing what looked like a big chunk of yellow foam.  At first I figured she had gutted a stuffy but most toys these days are white fiber fill; I also didn’t see any stuffy carcasses nearby.  When I took it from her and headed toward the trash, I noticed more yellow foam on the landing.  I had reconfigured the dog bed situation upstairs so I thought that maybe Freya didn’t like my renovation. 

When I got off the phone, I went to check it out.  No trail of yellow foam to the landing. No cover to whatever the item had been.  Both upstairs dog beds were intact.  In fact, everything upstairs was intact.  I even checked rooms with closed doors.  I moved the gate to YA’s room and looked around in there.  Bupkiss.  I even did a slow-pan video of her room and sent it to her (she’s out of town for work) and she says it looks fine.  We haven’t replaced bathroom rug yet.  All my pillows are fine.  Downstairs everything in order.  Piano bench fine, dining room chairs fine, breakfast room dog kennel fine (I checked this twice).  Not one bit of yellow foam anywhere else.

At this point I have given up looking for whatever it was in its past life.  I’m figuring that in three months or so I’ll be looking for something, won’t be able to find it and a lightbulb will go off.  Maybe.

Have you lost anything lately that you think you might find… eventually?  Any mysteries in your life this week?