Tuesday Morning on Sunday afternoon . . .

This afternoon, I headed over to Tuesday Morning. We had received a flyer about a sale that starts on (wait, now) Tuesday and I wanted to see what kind of place it is before the sale.

It was as disorganized as any antique store in Abbeville, North Carolina. Which pretty much means that if you are looking for anything specific, good luck to ya. It was fun to browse.

My guys might not think so, but it was like treasure hunting. Wouldn't you think the hunter half of a hunter/gatherer duo would relish the challenge. But no.

That's why I went by myself . . .

Numisma - what?

Not being a collector of coins, there is no good reason why I should have noticed that the 2005 nickel had a different scene on the back. Instead of what I thought should be a view of the Capitol building, there was a seascape.

When I tried a magnifying glass on the coin, it did prove to be a seascape. It turned out to be part of a Westward Journey nickel series - information provided by Google.

That domed building on the reverse side of our usual nickel? It is not the Capitol. It is Monticello.

Duh!

Bronze

When I bent down to collect the morning paper, a gust of wind blew my hair inside out like a palm tree. I was looking through it when I stood up. It didn't take me long to hustle back inside. The wind chill was formidable.

A recent local windstorm snapped the trunk of a neighbor's ficus tree across the street and caused a tall schflera behind us to lean dramatically along the fence. I looked out to see if today's wind had toppled it further and it's gone. It either walked away like an Ent or our neighbor took care of it. It was rooted on his side of the fence: probably a present from a fence-sitting bird.

In the women's relay last night, the US Olympic team was so far behind they were out of our picture when the Korean skaters were disqualified. I told J this morning that even though our women won bronze by a fluke, they will brag about it all of their lives. But then, so will the Chinese women who took the gold when Korea DQed. It's all good, unless you are of Korean extraction. Depends on perspective, doesn't it?

Not you, not I . . .

While driving a car do you: Text (OMG)? Talk on the cell phone without a headset (meaning that there is only one hand on the wheel)? Talk to dumb drivers through your closed windows as you motor along? Use non-subtle gestures?

While riding in a car, do you assist the driver operate his/her vehicle from a passenger seat? Is your brake foot frequently pressed to the floor even though the brake pedal is on the opposite side of the car? Do you grab the flimsy handle above the armrest as though it might keep you from flying through the windshield in an emergency?

Do you lane-surf with your cruise control on? Cut off, or out, other vehicles? Make the decision at the last possible instant whether to take an exit, or not? Pull out into traffic and depend on the goodwill (reactions) of other drivers?

Are you driving on the streets of my city? I think so. I seem to see you every where.

No encounters, please . . .

Free coffee, too . . .

Surfacing, here. I've been submerged in the Olympic experience since the beginning. Vicariously, that is.

Yesterday, I did take the car in for it's recall visit. Turns out we were safe all the time. Our accelerator pedal design is not one of the ones recalled. But, an oil hose that can develop a leak was retro-fitted. The oil hose was a recall that only showed up on the computer when the tech entered the car's VIN.

Also, if the floor mats come loose from the fastener, the accelerator is high enough to remain clear. No worries. Yeah, sure.

We never take a vehicle to the dealership and walk away with no charge for the repairs. Funny feeling.

But nice . . .

How to raise and train a rose?

Yesterday, we gathered to celebrate J's birthday. After dinner, we went back to Zeta's and M's where we ate ice cream and cake. J received many thoughtful gifts and we (or at least I) ate too much.

At the restaurant, Adam and Veronica had given each of the ladies three Valentine roses. Last night, when we got back home, I filled an enameled roasting pan with cold tap water and submerged the roses in it. I cut an inch off the stems while they were submerged and weighted them gently so they stayed almost completely under the water.

This morning they are perfectly revived and fresh. I had read about soaking flowers and can testify that it really works. I am not sure whether the trick of not exposing the cut stems to the air is necessary but they are back to life and all three are in a bud vase. I hope everyone has as nice a time, today, as the roses are having.

Happy Valentines' Day.

One more little whine . . .

On the last (I promise) whiney note: I am checking this site every day. I intend to bombard AT&T with requests! That's enough, already.

Canada intends for the Olympics' opening ceremonies to appeal on an emotional level, quoth a representative Canadian on the Today Show. Hah! Good spin on not being able to muster as large a spectacle as China had done.

I am willing to be emotionally appealed to instead of astounded. I just hope they have enough snow. Amazing that the US wishes it could export some of the monster snowfall some states received this month, and Vancouver's is less.

Feast or famine, TV style

The Olympics begin this week. The OLYMPICS begin. The athletes look forward to this with more eager anticipation than we do. Maybe.

The newest Survivor starts on Thursday and the Amazing Race on Sunday. This is too much reality goodness for the DVR to stand. After all, Masterpiece is on Sunday, too. Add in the Heat games and we are in simultaneous-broadcast trouble. I suppose we will have to see if the VCR still works.

I do long for the future when . . . never mind. Enough whining about U-verse.

Y'all come

We (meaning the Camry and I) have an appointment at the Maroone Toyota place in Broward. It will take a while for the recall work and they offered to drop me off at Sawgrass Mills and come back for me later.

I did call the place on Dixie (which shall remain nameless) and they are not making appointments. First come, first served there.

A trip to the outlet mall might make the whole day more expensive than it is supposed to be. I'll have to consider how much I can save by spending.

I never claimed it was logical . . .

Can you hear me now?

Hello internet. I missed you today. You get a big (huuuuggg).

This morning, I called my ISP to inform it that the 'net and I did not connect at all. Network outage in my area, the automated voice told me. Working on the problem, the voice said, implying that I should go away and leave them free to work without interruption.

This afternoon, the automated system relented enough to let me speak with an actual person, named Andre. Andre told me our outage should be tamed by 3:45 p.m.

At 4:30 p.m., I called again and spoke to Marcus who had me plug the ethernet cable from the modem directly into the laptop, bypassing the router. Ah were awn the net.

Marcus told me there was something wrong with my router. I thanked him for the information and said I would contact the person who set up the router.

Then I shut everything down, disconnected the power and the ethernet cable from the router, reset it, powered back up, and guess what? I can talk to you, i*n*t*e*r*n*e*t. *

Hello beautiful . . .
___________________________________
* Asterisks inspired by The Education of Hyman Kaplan

Hunter gatherer . . .

The new Sedano's is giving Publix a run for its money. Last week, it was pork shoulder for 59¢ a pound. This week it is pork ribs for 99¢ a pound. We scored a vacuum-sealed, double rack from Smithfield. I am so impressed with my bargain-hunting skills.

Okay, to be truthful, they send out flyers and therefore there is no hunting involved. But, it feels like bringing down prey.

I think . . .

One step back . . .

It's an odd day when you don't learn something, right? Today we discovered that parking permits are no longer renewable on line. We almost discovered the hard way.

You know, as in, "Ma'am your permit is expired. Here's a citation to remind you in the future. Have a nice day." (I assume the ma'am because Southern cops do that. Most of 'em.)

The application for renewal is available for download on line, though. It felt strange to download, print out, stuff an envelope, and then affix a snail-stamp to what used to be a strictly internet process.

Progress is a strange beast, sometimes.

Front row or nosebleed seats?

Today is the day to have an appointment or have the need to travel. Yesterday was so stormy that the front door actually got soaked clear to the top. For that to happen it has to rain sideways from the north or vicinity.

Yesterday evening Zeta asked if we had waterfront property. I said yes but that we didn't need to install a dock yet. The Javier Souto drains (I have named them after the city commissioner who pushed for the installation of drains) still took care of the overflow. Eventually.

Today is the kind of day tourists pray for when they make their hotel reservations. We will just see if it lasts until Sunday. I asked J if we would need to take our jackets to the Super Bowl. He and BigEd just laughed at me.

I don't think they expect it to rain or turn cold inside our living room . . .