The Way You Wish it Wasn't

I’ve been hanging around for 86 years, and I’ve seen a lot of new inventions in those years.  I have been wondering which may have been the greatest invention of all time. I’m not sure, but I bet toilet paper caught on pretty quick. Who invented toilet paper? No, they didn’t teach that in school, they taught you who invented the cotton gin. Who cares who invented the cotton pickin cotton gin. I don’t think I’ve had any use for that piece of knowledge in my entire life. What a waste of my school time. Even if I were on Double Jeopardy, they wouldn’t ask that one. 

I don’t know when it was invented, but the bread toaster was a great one in our household. We never had toast. My mother would make a pan of biscuits from scratch each morning. Mixes were not in existence yet. She also had to build a fire in the stove to bake them in. The first toaster we had was not automatic. It had a panel on each side that you dropped down so you could flip the toast and burn/toast the other side. Someone had to man the toaster because you had to guess when it was done. I wonder how many slices of bread went up in smoke in those days. 

Speaking of bread, my mother always made our bread, and one day we bought a loaf of bread from the store. We were bowled over because the bread was already sliced. What will they think of next! We constantly hear the expression ‘the greatest thing since sliced bread’. I still think we should say ‘The greatest thing since toilet paper’.

We even had electricity in our house. Many people didn’t have it yet in our area. We lived without it for a few years. It was like camping forever. Who wants to camp forever?

The day our new refrigerator was delivered was a day of celebration. People kept their food in ice boxes. People continued to call the refrigerator an ice box for years. I think some still do.

Our first washing machine had a gas motor. You pulled on a cord to start the motor. It was something else for us kids to fight over. It went like this. I get to pull the cord. It’s my time, you pulled it the last time. Did not. Did so. We didn’t have many toys in those days. On wash day everyone gathered around the washing machine, and watched the agitator go back and forth. As I recall, we had to bolt the washing machine to the floor because it danced all over the porch.

Those were the days I don’t want to relive. 

Things that Make Your Hair Turn Grey

Life is so full of money grabbers and other greedy bodies,  it’s impossible to keep ahead of their game. 

Charter Cable Co must hire a full time staff to decide how to suck a little more money out of you. Every service they offer has a variable price. Internet, telephone, TV service.

Why can’t they put a set rate on each one? My garbage can has a set rate. They don’t send a letter telling me I’ve used the can for a year so now I have to pay another 20 a month for it. The Cable Co. would. In July of 2015 my telephone goes up another $10.00 because it was on a special rate for a year. They advertise on TV constantly that you get internet for $29.99.  They don’t explain that it’s a one year rate.

The Cable company decided to raise my bill $5.00 a month, no explanation so I called to find out why, and it’s because there is a TV-Surcharge added beyond their control.

I found the following link.

It’s rather interesting. 

http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Charter-Starts-Charging-Broadcast-TV-Surcharge-110316

Cousins Growing up Together

Leah and Chloe

 Leah and Chloe a year later

Here we go again.

 Fun at the park

Now it's a sleepover at Leah's house

Leah has a little sister, Shelby

Shelby

Leah

I couldn't resist showing off the grand kids. They don't live in the same town, but still get to see each other a lot. I think Nana and Papa's is a favorite meeting place.
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The following is my post 12/24/10. It shows what was going on at that time.

Chloe, get your diaper bag packed. You are going on a trip.

 

 

I'm all dressed up and waiting for you.

I've been waiting for a long time.

 

I can't wait to meet my parents. 

 

I can't wait to show you my new teeth. 

 

 

Here we are in 2014

Hospital Surprise

I recently had a medical problem, and spent one night in the hospital. Hospital care is expensive. I received a notice from my insurance company today, and the total cost with all the test that were taken it came to a little over $8000.00. Everything was itemized, and at the bottom it had a line that said, Amount you are responsible for is $.01
I thought it was kind of interesting. I can probably afford it, but I can't afford the stamp it will take to mail it in. 
The hospital has improved their care beyond belief. I can't complain about anything. I won't even complain about the one cent charge.

It's A Cat World

Living with a cat is a new experience for me. To start out with, she was a foster cat until her owner got well, but her owner passed away, and by then I had fallen in love with her. She is so much company, and I truly enjoy her, however she has a couple flaws, 0ne is that she has an extremely willful personality. Meaning it will be her way or no way at all. For one thing she insists on sleeping on my bed, which is fine with me, if she would find her own spot and stay in it. I don’t think it is ever going to happen. She has learned that if she gets next to the touch-tone bedside lamp it will automatically come on. Not a good thing at two in the morning. If I turn off the lamp she will wait about ten minutes and then start nibbling on my toes.

It works like a charm; I jump sky high and land on my feet. She takes off for dear life, and I slam the door shut and go back to bed. She waits until I am back to sleep and begins her night time serenade. Meow, meow, meow, meow. meow.  I ignore it and then she starts jumping against the door. I also ignore that until she gives up and goes to sleep. This morning the same routine started and I heard her jumping against the door, but fell asleep anyway until I felt her jump on the bed. I’m sure I looked like a deer caught in the headlights. I was instantly wide awake asking myself how she could possibly get through that closed door.  I got up and looked, she had managed to turn the knob and it came open. By now it’s 3:15 AM so I stayed up and she won again. Cat for sale!!! Oh not really. I still like her. Maybe ‘love’ is a little too strong

Sassy LeMassey

Happy Monday

Today I’m driving the Van on Tieton Drive on my way to buy toilet tissue, on sale at Shopko. I never  pass up a good bargain. Wouldn’t you know I’d get behind one of those stupid buses that make a stop at every corner to load/unload passengers. I looked back to make sure the coast was clear and there was nothing behind me at all so I pull out in the other lane to pass said bus. I am even with the bus when I hear this siren horn sound and glance in the mirror and the big red lights are right on my tail. I glance at my speed and it is exactly 35 which is the speed limit on that street. I whip around the bus and the big cruiser with the siren and red lights was moving on. I thanked my lucky stars right then and there, bless his heart; he was in a hurry.  Where did it come from? It must have dropped out of the sky because there was nothing behind me two seconds before. After buying toilet paper, I stopped at nearby store and bought tomatoes, corn, strawberries and a cantaloupe. The cantaloupe is delicious. The first good one I have bought this year.

That is my excitement for Monday.

Grandma's Favorites

 Some of my favorite pictures of the grand kids at various stages of their lives.

Emily, Cora, Laura, Katie, Molly

Chloe and Leah (cousins)

Leah and Chloe a little older

Terry and Laura

Chloe (a recent one)

Molly and Emily

Jim, Cora and Chloe

Me and thou

AJ

Tylor

Dylan

Deena

Katie

Leah

Happy Shelby

The Queen rules

In The Far Past

My flowers needed a frame.

When I used to type at the desk top computer with my hands over the keyboard, I seldom made a mistake, and now I peck out the letters like texting and I can't get anything right. Spellcheck must be from my era, it suggested ‘taxing’ for the word ’texting’. I guess it is taxing to be texting. Anyway it is for me.

My typing teacher would turn over in his grave if he could see how people type today. We had the old typewriter with the paper, and no eraser so you had to learn to do it right or else you would be out of a job. We even had to learn shorthand. A lot of the very young generation probably doesn’t even know what it means.

 You would be called into the boss’s office to take a letter. I always think of Carol Burnett and Tim whatshisname. I can’t remember it right now. Anyway she would take her shorthand book, and go into his office, the way she walked the little distance to his office was the funniest thing of all. The lady was a riot.

I got off the subject there for a minute. Well back to the olden days. Latin was a subject that was required in our school at that time. Latin scared the bejeebers out of me, how would I ever learn Latin. I even had trouble with English. So I dropped out of school and got married. Well, I got out of that jam, didn’t I?

That wasn’t really the reason I got married, but I guess it’s as good as any. There are no good reasons to get married at age 17. 

 Home Ec was another subject that has been rejected, which I think is a big mistake. I learned a lot in that class that was truly helpful to my future. They need more, down to earth, studies of that nature.

Everything seems to be geared toward getting a career. We need lessons on living life with budgets, raising kids, etc.

Most parents learn as they go along. Raising kids is not the same as adopting a pet. You can’t just give them a name and feed them.

I have more beeping gadgets around here.
What was that, the cell phone, the microwave, the TV or my hearing aide?  I’ll bet the three bears didn’t have to put up with that.

My Little Rant

There are so many commercials on TV and the Web about looking younger. You would think, looking old, is the worse possible thing that can happen to you. Not everyone has the money to buy all those expensive creams and surgeries. And a lot of people wouldn’t buy it if they could.

Why is it such a terrible thing to look old? We old people get our feelings hurt with all this being run down because we look old. How does that differ from a racial remark?

Heaven help you if you happen to be of a different race and also old. Why is it so hard to accept people just as they are, fat,wrinkled, grey,bent,old, skinny, ugly or just plain ready to check out. 

The commercials are convincing the world that it is an utter disgrace to look old. Maybe they should start making mask’s for us old folks to wear so no one will have to see our old faces. I could wear a wig and a mask so I can be 85, but no one needs to know.