Back to the stone age

My wonderful broadband linksys wireless connection decided not to connect anymore. So, I call Wave, who determines the signal is at the modem. So I call Linksys, who determines my configuration has been lost. Just hook the modem to the computer and all will be fine. However, the modum is 50 feet from the computer. Which is why I have wireless. Well, hook up a laptop. Well, I don' t have a laptop with a internet connection. Well, you can't get reconnected without a direct link. If I had a direct link, I wouldn't need wireless. So, I'm back to the phone line and 24 KPS and two minutes between screens. Stone age. Yet, I did this for ten years and somehow survived. I just don' know how anymore.

Nellie the cat. 

Trouble with cats

Well, they don't bark, but...

We have a little Siamese.

As part of the reduction of barking program, when we heard my cat and another cat snarling at each other on our fence last night, I didn't let them out to bark the other cat away. Unfortunately, before I could get there, the other cat took the liberty to shread my little cat. So, now it is off to the vet for stitches and internal checks.

All I had to do was let them out, they would have barked their brains out for five minutes, and I would have a happy and healthy cat, instead of catburger and a vet bill. No wonder people live where other people don't.

Consumer reports

Truck is still in the shop, awaiting fix or die directive. Looked up truck in Microsoft consumer reports to check repair problems. Truck- 1998 Frontier - got an 8.5 consumer rating and listed worse problem as check engine light comes on without reason. They are correct. Truck check engine light is always on. However, when rest of truck isn't working, the light doesn't go off.

Checked 2003 BMW - 9.5 consumer rating. Only problem listed is coil. Only thing I have had fixed in 60,000 miles is coil. Two for Two.

Checked 2000 Sable. 8.5 consumer rating. Listed lots of stuff. Three for three.

Checked 1994 Miata. 9.3 consumer rating. Listed spark plug wires. So, four for four.

Conclusion: Way too many cars.

Barkers

I have five of them. All asleep at the moment. Got an antibarkerhateophonecall. So, am on antibarking mission. Which means when they are outside, I'm outside. Actually works. Barker curtailment number one. I let the dogs out and stand in the middle, whispering "Don't bark" over and over. And they don't. The chief barker chased a bird and didn't bark at it. However, squirrels and cats, well, they can't be perfect. So, barker curtailment number two. They start barking and I tell them to go into the house. And they do. Amazing. If only my employees would mind like that.

Got a Pom book on how to. Says they have to be able to bark somewhere or sometime, like a designated barking area. So, inside is their designated barking area. Probably means I'll never have another visitor, but I'm facing enough lawsuits at work, just for being in Mental Health, and don't need them at home, too.

Freckel is developing a whisper bark. Emily is working on an almost bark whine sound. At least they are busy.

OA vs. MAA vs. YA

Vacation thoughts:

If Old Adults are over 65
and Middle Aged Adults are 40-64
and Young Adults are 16-25,
what are the 25-40 set called?

My insurance moved me from the under 70 set to the 56-69 set, which lowered my rate. The ratings also say that no one under 25 can ever drive one of my cars. It probably helps that I don't even know anyone under 25 with a drivers license.

Movies can be R rated if only the language puts them there. I wish some conversations could be R rated. I used to work in construction as the gopher (a very long, long, long time ago, like 40 years or so). I would have to ask the gopheree to just say nouns when they wanted me to get something, because they used so many descriptive adjectives and turned them into nouns, I could not figure out what they wanted. I was quite amazed what they thought tools were capable of.

Construction guys lived that language, and most never saw the inside of a college or even got to twirl their tassel (HS grad). However, where I work now (a very short, short, short time ago, like last week), the people, virtually all with MS or PhD sub-titles in social stuff, talk just about the same way. I'm sharing vacation with my five dogs, who all bark a lot. But, not one of them has barked a single bark deserving an R rating.

I don't drink beer, ever. But, I'm still fat. Actually the health ratings for my height and age say I have to lose 20 pounds before I can consider myself merely fat.

I walked four and a half miles today in one outing. I started out on Saturday at at two separate half mile outings and worked up to it. I've managed to lose a pound. At this rate, if I can walk four miles a day until Christmas, I'll finally be fat again.

Summer Vacation

For those very few of you who were stopping by to read Novas, you will have noticed I gave it up in May, and almost gave up blogging in general. It isn't that I don't know what happens next. when it came to me, I didn't like it. So, I'm waiting for something else to come, which of course, doesn't work.

I've been spending my "free" time trying to save Runners Part Two from the scrap heap, where it probably belongs. But, I can't do that, as Runners Part One has sold some books and people, whoever they are, may want to know what happens next. Unfortunately, so do I.

Runners Two and Three were written and I thought ready. But the minor editing turned into a major revision of Two, which of course will carry over into Three. Fortunately, it will not carry backward into One, or I would really be in trouble.

I'm on vacation this week, which means I only have spent half of it working, instead of all of it. I would like to say work is better, but it isn't. Too many good people who work where I work don't want to be there. And the inverse works, too. Going back will be a real trial, as it was last time I took a week off. But, I made a commitment, and I'm sticking to it until...well, just until.

Two of the squirrels, mom and kid. 

There are five squirrels in this photo. Can you find them? 

Ebenezer 

Pixel (blonde) and Freckel (eyes open) 

Emily, Ester, and Freckel, who anticipated the flash and closed her eyes. 

Barely viewed in center. Left white dot. Right white dot is sunshine. The golf ball that hit my house during the last post. Landed right where the dogs were a half hour ago.

Golf balls

Bottom to top sequence of golf balls and (THUNK!) one just hit my house about five feet from where I'm sitting. Anyway, I'm under siege on weekends.

While photographing ball in ivy, this ball hit neighbor's house and my fence (black to left) and nestled in lawn. Time to retreat. 

Golf ball that landed in yard as I was photographing morning harvest. 

Morning harvest.  

More golf ball patches in yard. Unlike ivy, golf balls surface in winter. 

Christmas 1987 gift from sister of ivy basket. It grew. 

Finding golfballs is like Easter egg hunting 

Ebenezer and Ester resting in the wild 

Netting

The xxxx's with the leaves trapped is netting in front of the window to protect from golf balls.

Backyard Dog Prison

This is a corner of my backyard, with the grass tromped to death by constant dog pacing in their prision corner, of which the boards are drying and separating for the summer. In the winter, the fence is solid. Dogs are clockwise from left top: Ester, Freckel, Emily (blonde) and Ebenezer (largest) Pix was watching me from the dining room and declined to participate.

Occasionly neighbor dog Jack Russel terrior will poke nose through, to much excitement.

Backyard Dog Prison 

Taking it in the shorts

Haven't posted for awhile, cause life has simply been so much fun. Thinking about Thelma and Louise, the quote, "You get what you settle for," and then they drove off a cliff. So, rather than deal with the you get what you settle for part of my life, I've been thinking about the people I wish would consider setting for what T&L setted for, that is - cliff drivers.

I have a clunky 1998 Nissan 4X4 PU, heavy on the PU part of PU, which costs about $1 a foot to drive. It was clunking along one day and I took it to JIFFY LUBE as the oil was old and maybe new oil would reduce the clunk. Well, oil changing was $30, suckering added $80. They flushed the engine for $40 and replaced the transmission fluid for $30. Maybe that would help the clunky part, who knows, so I bit. Knew I was screwed when they wanted to clean the fuel injection jets for another $40. My clunker has a carb. SHORTS! As in nailed in them. Since they had my credit card number, I tiptoed out and simply vowed NEVER to return to SCREW YOU LUBE. Should fit well on their markee, or whatever sign thing is called. Cliff drivers, all of them.

Bye the way, the clunk turned into C&B, (crash and burn). The chain thing broke to the tune of KURCHUNG - $1,000 - no vacation this year. In penetrating the truck to fix the chain thing, they found all of the tooth things looking like the lady in the Polident commercial. KURCHING, KURCHUNG - $1,000 - garage guys like round numbers. I shouldn't complain. I round everything to the nearest $1,000 at work. Course, I'm working with billions. Maybe they are too, by the time they finish. Maybe the garage guys aren't cliff drivers, but the truck is.

Speaking of work, this was an entertaining week in an entertaining month. I got to watch fights that would make hockey players jealous, back stabbing unparalled in texture and depth, big, important people squishing little unimportant people just cause they can, people actually conspiring to harm other people and feeling good about it, a bit of robbing of Peter to pay Paul (Paul being the robber), firings, hirings, firing the hirings, hiring the firings...no dog chasing its tail can compete. Cliff drivers, hundreds of them. Well, exageration. Maybe only dozens. I've been taking it in the shorts for 11 months as of today. And getting what I settle for.

Watching the Mariners lose six in a row, usually with their favorite score of 6-2, was the highlight of the month. This "team" is AWFUL. And I like baseball, liked baseball (past tense). The whole team could take some driving lessons. The citizens of Washington, paying zillions for their stadium, could have better spent the money on new shorts.

OK, I'm not a person who wishes people would drive off cliffs. But I'm certainly tired of getting what I settle for. And constantly shopping for new shorts to take it in.

Just noticed we have a squirrel production in our back yard. Today was coming out day and about a half dozen of the little rats with fluffy tails are sprinting around the trees to the tune of severe bark attacks from the five noise makers we stupidly accumulated. If they all bark at once, they can drown out all other sounds. They give my headache a headache. Now, maybe I don't wish people to practice their airborne driving skills, but the squirrels could. And maybe they could lure the dogs over while they're at it. Or not.