Saturday 9: You'd Be So Nice

Saturday 9: You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To (1943)

Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.
 

1) In this song, Dinah Shore goes on about listening to the breeze. Is it windy, breezy, or still where you are today?

A. It is hot but there is a nice breeze. The humidity is high but not as bad as the day before. The skies are partly cloudy, the blue up there is a light baby blue today. The haze from the fires in Canada is not so bad so I can see the mountains.
 
2) The August moon is bright in Dinah's musical fantasy. Let's look at your calendar. Is anything special coming up in August (birthdays, anniversaries, vacation getaways . . . )?

A. Friend have birthdays but we ourselves have nothing special happening in August.
 
3) Dinah was one of TV's pioneers. Her first show was a 15-minute variety show that ran two nights/week in 1951. What's the most recent show you watched?

A. Jack Ryan on Amazon Prime. It's an intriguing series if you're into spy/government stuff.

4) She followed that in 1956 with the Dinah Shore Chevy Show. It was an hour long and sponsored by the car company. At the end of every show Dinah encouraged her viewers to "see the USA in your Chevrolet ..." Today Chevrolets are still the most popular cars manufactured by General Motors. Tell us about your car.

A. I have a white Toyota Camry. We bought it in 2014 and it has less than 60,000 miles on it.

5) From 1970 to 1991, Dinah hosted daytime TV talk shows and found tremendous success, winning 6 Emmy Awards and repeatedly appearing in the Gallup Poll of America's most admired women. Do you remember her?

A. I remember her. I didn't make a point of looking for her or anything, but I remember her.
 
6) Dinah was such an avid golfer that, in 1972, she founded one of the LPGA's major tournaments. Though now officially titled The Chevron Championship, it's still often referred to as "The Dinah Shore" in her memory. Do you golf? If not, would you like to learn?

A. I do not watch golf. It might be fun to learn.

7) In 1943, when "You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To" was popular, so were tablecloths. It was common to have cotton tablecloths for everyday use, fun and festive ones for 4th of July and Christmas, and linen for formal occasions. Do you use tablecloths in your home?

A. The only time I put a tablecloth on the table is Christmas, and then it is part of the holiday decorations, used to make it feel more festive.
 
8) Beatle George Harrison was born in 1943. Which of the Fab Four is your favorite?

A. I don't really have a favorite, but I will go with Paul McCartney.

9) Random question: Would you rather live on a houseboat or in a trailer?

A. I'd rather live in neither, but of those choices, a trailer at least would be on solid ground.

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I encourage you to visit the posts of other participants in Saturday 9 and leave a comment. Because there are no rules, it is your choice. Saturday 9 players hate rules. We love memes, however.  

I Baked

 

The garden is starting to produce well now. This is the first garden we've had in several years. The fresh veggies are nice to have, except for times like now, when everything comes in all at once.

I have already made two loaves of zucchini bread; one is in the freezer (we ate the other).

This time I wanted to try a different recipe for zucchini muffins. It was supposed to make 12 muffins, but the author of this recipe must make HUGE muffins. I made 12 muffins plus something we'll call a small zucchini cake from that batter. I could have made 18 muffins easily, had I been more muffin-inclined.

Since I seldom follow recipes, I can't send you, dear reader, to a link. It wouldn't be what I made. But I can give you the recipe as I prepared it (which is not the same as the recipe on Simply Recipes, which is where I found a recipe for zucchini muffins that I then changed.)

Anyway, here goes nothing:

Ingredients

2 eggs

1 1/3 cup sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3 cups grated zucchini (I put mine in the food processor and chop it up that way)

3/4 cup melted unsalted butter (this works out to 1 full stick plus all but 1 tablespoon of a second stick. That's what I used, anyway, I'm not sure of my math. I melted it in the microwave.)

2 3/4 cup self-rising flour

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon cloves

9 ozs raisins

Preheat oven to 350 F.

I used muffin cups in my muffin tins. If you don't use cups, then you'll have to spray them with Baker's Joy or something.

Mix eggs, sugar, and vanilla. Add in flour, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves. Stir in, then mix with mixer until it starts getting a little stiff. Add in zucchini, stir with spoon, then stir with mixer for 30 seconds or until well mixed. Stir in raisins.

Spoon into muffin pan. Cook for 20-25 minutes. They're done if they bounce when you touch the tops and/or toothpick comes out dry.

Makes 18 large muffins.

If my husband liked cranberries, which he doesn't, I would have used cranberries instead of raisins. You could also add nuts. Or go crazy and do cranberries, raisins, and nuts. You could also add nutmeg (the original recipe called for nutmeg, not cloves), but I am not a nutmeg fan so I substituted cloves.

Also, the Simply Recipe directions said prep time was 15 minutes. It took me about 40 minutes just to get this all together and into the oven. Just something to keep in mind, especially if, like me, you're not a cook and don't have everything on hand or handy.

Thursday Thirteen

One of my blogging pals (here's looking at you, Gal), called herself a "spinster" in her response to one of my recent posts. That got me wondering what else an older woman may be called.

I actually consider myself to be a crone, now. Not in the derogatory sense, but in the "I'm old and wise" sense. Most women probably wouldn't like to be called that, I imagine.

Anyway, I looked up words for older women in the thesaurus and have included their definitions.

1. Matron: An older woman who is dignified, respectable, and often associated with being married and having a family. This is not a word I see often and seldom hear used in speech.

2. Dowager: A widow, especially an elderly one who holds a title or property inherited from her deceased husband. This is another word I don't hear often. I see it in books.

3. Grandmother: A woman who is the mother of one's parent, often associated with warmth, love, and wisdom. I called both of my grandmothers "Grandma," but I know today grandmothers often prefer to be called something else, like Mimi or whatever. I think this is common usage.

4. Matriarch: A highly respected and influential older woman who is the head of a family or community. My mother-in-law is the family matriarch. I have heard this in conversation occasionally, but not often.

5. Crone: A derogatory term for an older woman, but sometimes used in folklore to describe a wise and elderly woman with magical knowledge. No one I know uses this word in speech, and I see it mostly in fantasy or mythology books.

6. Elderly lady: A polite and respectful way to refer to an older woman, emphasizing her age and experience. I have seen this in writing and heard it spoken. I personally don't think it's that polite to call someone "elderly" and would prefer "older" myself. Even "seasoned" sounds better to me than "elderly."

7. Senior citizen: A term used to describe an older person, often associated with receiving benefits or discounts related to their age. (I stopped using this in my news reporting after someone complained about it making him sound old. After that, I just said, "Jill Schmoo, 74, still climbs on her roof to fix her shingles," or whatever. Not "Senior citizen Jill Schmoo still climbs on her roof."

8. Golden girl: An affectionate term for an older woman who exudes grace, elegance, and charm with age. (This comes from the TV show, of course.) I can't imagine calling someone this, personally.

9. Sage: A wise and knowledgeable older woman who is respected for her wisdom and advice. I don't hear this as a noun very often. I usually see it accompanying the word "advice," as in "sage advice."

10. Grande dame: A woman of great dignity, sophistication, and often belonging to a high social class. I would have to be speaking about someone of nobility or high rank to use this term, I think.

11. Veteran: An older woman who has extensive experience or service in a particular field or profession. I would use this as an adjective more so than a noun. As in, she's a veteran nurse who has served for 40 years, or something like that.

12. Elder: A term used to denote an older person, suggesting their seniority and life experience. I usually see this in conjunction with religion. "She's an elder in her church," meaning she holds some position there, and has been at it a long time.

13. Old-timer: An informal term for an older woman, often used in a friendly or nostalgic manner. I generally see this use more in describing men than women. I can't recall ever seeing it used to describe a woman, actually. (I was getting low on words.)

Please note that some of these terms may carry different connotations and cultural contexts, so it's essential to use them with sensitivity and respect.

*Bing AI Image*

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Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here if you want to read other Thursday Thirteens and/or play along. I've been playing for a while, and this is my 817th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday. Or so sayth the Blogger counter, anyway.

The Wet and the Dry

For months now, we have watched the rain go around us.

It went along the mountain ranges to our north and west and missed us almost entirely. We had a dribble here and there, but not enough to make a difference in the growth of the hayfields.

While the northern part of the county has been dealing with flooding, we've been in a drought since the first of the year, more or less.

Our first cutting of hay was only half of what it should have been.

The second cutting, which should be underway, so far has been skimpy.

My husband started the second cutting last week and finished up two fields. On Sunday, the forecast was for no rain until Wednesday, so he cut 5 acres.

It rained Sunday night. Here! At our place!

And then it rained Monday. Here! At our place!

And it rained last night. Here! At our place!

The good news is it appears that the systems that had the rains passing us by have cracked, and we are now getting rain.

The bad news is, we've lost 5 acres of hay. Once it's soggy, it's (a) hard to bale and (b) the animals won't eat it because it molds.

It will be baled as soon as it dries up but put aside. Maybe it can be used as a place for the babies to lay when it snows, but that's about all it is good for.

Bing AI image

Being a farmer is weather dependent, and with climate change, it's scary. We have no way to gauge what is going on, really, because the weather isn't like it used to be. The fronts are coming in from strange directions. We have smoke-filled skies from Canadian fires, so smoky that we can't even see the clouds to judge if they're up there or not. Sometimes it's so hazy it's like the sun has been veiled.

All we can do is roll with it, and hope that this second cutting of hay perks up with the rain, and we get more than we lost on the 5 acres that is now too wet to bale.

Be Kind

Bing AI image

One of the trends of today that has upset me is the lack of kindness in the world.

Specifically, I see people at my local county leaders' meetings being jerks. And not just jerks, but mean jerks. They talk to my local supervisors as if they are not people, as if they aren't human, instead of public servants who are doing the best they can in a weird world that doesn't function like it did even 10 years ago.

My supervisors make about $8000 a year - maybe $10,000 if you're nominated chairman. None of these people are in it for the money. Yet, I hear people stand up there and say, "My tax dollars are paying for you to be here!" 

Well, no. My vote is why they are there, or at least, one of them. I can't vote but in one of the five districts in the county, the one I live in. So, you only have one representative, but they vote on everything that goes on in the county. If we had at-large voting, I guarantee you we'd have representatives who all came from the southern end of the county, where most of the growth is. And then people would be really mad.

Anyway, for years now - since about 2017, and I don't need to tell anyone what happened then - I've listened to the "public" turn out at meetings and become more and more rancorous. They demean the supervisors. I wouldn't talk to a dog the way some of these people talk to their supervisor. They have "othered" them to the point where I can see the spittle coming out of their mouths in their anger over some emotional topic.

They seldom get upset about anything important, these people. They go to meetings to complain about removing a Confederate monument. That died down, and they started complaining about books in the library, which is the current issue. In between, there have been other smaller concerns, all of them parroting the lines of the major national pushers of idiocy who send these semi-crazy people out to do their dirty work.

It is beyond appalling for someone to address my elected officials as horribly as I have heard these people do. I despised the former president of the United States, but if I had had the misfortune to be introduced to him, I would have called him, "Sir," and said, "Yes, Sir," and perhaps, "I respectfully disagree." 

This is because I would have been honoring the office of the presidency, not the man. And I expect the same at the local level. I expect people to honor the office of an elected official - or even an appointed one - because it is worthy. And what the office stands for is important. The office stands not for that one person, but for the 6,200 people they represent here locally.

I do not expect people to treat my supervisors with disdain and talk down to them. I do not expect to hear them be condescending, arrogant, and profess superiority when I can tell just by listening to them that they haven't a clue what government is about, nor understand what it is they are trying to talk about.

I know what government is about. I am pretty sure I have been to more meetings than any of these people. I have covered government at every level, even federal (though with a local slant). I also paid attention when I was a kid and learned a lot from School House Rock. I know how a Bill is made in Congress. And I know how the law reads in the Commonwealth of Virginia. I know what the supervisors can and can't do here.

When you write about it for 35 years, you figure it out.

The meetings have been so contentious that I wouldn't be surprised if someone doesn't get hurt at one of them. 

It's a bad look. It's a bad look for the county as a whole, and it's an incredibly bad look for the people who are whining, moaning, yelling, screaming, and shaking uncontrollably because they are so emotionally invested in something that, in the long term, does not matter. 

If people want to get upset about something, be upset about poverty, greed, climate change. Fuss because people don't support local businesses. We have a small shop closing in the county seat because it can't stay afloat. We have local farmers who are struggling because half the county has had too much rain and the other half hasn't had any. Be upset about that, if you must be upset.

Maybe you should wonder why there isn't a fire and rescue structure in the most populated area of the county and go fuss about that. That is something to be concerned about. Or say something when the supervisors are looking to okay apartments. Not because you don't like apartments, but because we don't have a ladder truck here that would reach the top floor and people will die if there's a fire because it will take 20 minutes to get a truck here from the neighboring county. That's something to be upset about, I think.

Or maybe you should worry about the amount of pollution that the cement plant and the truck manufacturer in Greenfield are both dumping into the air. You and your kids are breathing that crap. I'm breathing that crap. But I don't see you jumping up and down over that.

No. I see you yelling about relocating a statue. Or worrying about some imaginary kid possibly picking up a book you disagree with that contains things your god doesn't condone. That's not worth it. That's just using emotional crap to take up time and to keep people from doing anything beneficial for their community.

Whatever you want to say to your elected official, try saying it with kindness. Try to remember they are people, too. They are not from some other planet. They are your neighbors. I don't agree with them a lot of the time, either.

But I am not going to shriek at them while the spit flows from my face because I don't have control of myself. I am going to politely state my point and move on.

Get a grip, people. Pick better battles.

A Catch-Up Post

Healthcare

Thursday, I saw my cardiologist for a follow-up on my echocardiogram. I am fine, except for "old age" issues. I have a right ventricular valve that's doing a little splashing about, which has caused the new heart murmur sound that had my primary care doctor concerned.

But the cardiologist was like a different person. He was nice when I saw him the first time. But this time, he was, frankly, a jerk. As soon as I asked one question about statins - how did they mix with medications I am already on - he immediately said I wasn't interested in taking them so there was no point in discussing it. I told him my PCP had suggested Zetia and he waved that away as if it were nothing. Then he went on to say that if I weren't going to take whatever drug he offered me, there was no point in my returning to see him. I could try diet and exercise and good luck to me. He wouldn't discuss "diet" either, as in, what I should or shouldn't eat. He didn't even offer a handout with diet information on it. 

He was rather combative, actually, and I was appalled.

This is why I dislike dealing with the Carilion Health Care system in Roanoke. I do not get good care there. This surprised me because my husband was with me and usually, I am treated better when he is there, but not this time. Of course, he didn't speak up, either.

There are many medications I cannot tolerate. I haven't tried statins for about 20 years, and I couldn't take them then. I have no idea what may or may not have changed in 20 years, but he certainly wasn't going to discuss it.

So I left without any drugs for my high cholesterol (I don't think it's *that* high myself, although I know the doctors do). I mean, if this were 1983, my cholesterol would be considered low. But it 2023, and so it is considered high.

Even red rice yeast makes me feel bad. I take a little of that, along with flax seed oil, to try to help with my cholesterol but I have to be careful with it. It makes me have brain fog and I like to think properly.

My father and brother both also have cholesterol issues, so I am sure this is hereditary. I am not going to worry about it too much. Maybe I should, but I honestly think the numbers are more about selling drugs than making people healthy.

Sunday

Sunday began ok, with us sleeping in for a change. Then my husband spilled his sugar with a little coffee in it (he drinks it like it's a syrup), and that was a sticky mess. Then he went to check on his mother and discovered the thermostat on her air conditioning unit wasn't working, so he had to call the repair people.

While he was over there with her, I saw a huge coyote come from the direction where the cows are, so I called him and asked him to go check the cattle as soon as he could.

He discovered a dead calf, which he then had to bury.

Aside from the coffee/sugar cleanup, this was stuff that affected him more than it affected me, but I still found it a stressful day. Losing a calf is always hard, and this was another newborn. Not only does that make me sad, but it's also a financial hit. Selling the calves after they've been weaned is how we make money raising cattle. No calf, no sale.

Plus, we have to watch the mom cow now to make sure she doesn't go into mastitis or develop an infection. 

When the cattle roam over a large acreage, we can't keep an eye on them constantly, and with predators like coyotes and vultures roaming around, it's a certainty we're going to lose calves now and then.

And besides, what affects him also affects me. How could it not after almost 40 years of marriage?

*Bing AI produced the images.*

Sunday Stealing

Sunday Stealing

1. What are the 3 most important things everyone should know about you?

A. I'm loyal, I'm smart, and I'm kind.

2. What is the strangest thing you believed as a child?

A. I don't know if it's strange, really, but at one time my life goal was to fly in airplanes until I was taken in the Bermuda Triangle so I could learn what it really was.

3. Thinking of school classes, which were your favorite and least favorite?

A. My favorites were definitely Algebra I, II, and Trig in high school. My favorites in college were English and Sociology. My least favorite shall always be Physical Education. 

4. What is your favorite fast food?

A. A cheeseburger.

5. What song comes closest to how you feel about your life right now?

A. Comfortably Numb, by Pink Floyd.

6. Have you ever taken martial arts classes?

A. I went to one once to observe to see if I could do it. I decided I could not.

7. Does your life tend to get better or worse or does it just stay the same?

A. It stays at a low-grade blah level, mostly.

8. What arts and crafts have you tried and decided you were bad at?

A. I am bad at drawing, knitting, and making paper.

9. What is the truest thing that you know?

A. We do not know what we think we know.

10. Are you more of a giver or a taker?

A. I hope I'm a mix, but I suspect different people would answer that differently about me.

11. Do you make your decisions with an open heart/mind?

A. I try to. But I am judgmental about a few things. Fascism, for example.

12. What is the most physically painful thing that has ever happened to you?

A. Abdominal surgery.

13. What is the most emotionally painful thing that has ever happened to you?

A. Some things are better left unsaid.

14. What is your favorite line from a movie?

A. What's 'taters, Precious? What's 'taters, eh? Po-ta-toes. Boil 'em, mash 'em, stick 'em in a stew. - from The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

15. Can you eat with chopsticks?

A. I don't know that I have ever tried. But probably not.

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I encourage you to visit other participants in Sunday Stealing posts and leave a comment. Cheers to all us thieves who love memes, however we come by them.

Saturday 9: Touch Me in the Morning

Saturday 9: Touch Me in the Morning (1973)

Unfamiliar with this week's song? Hear it here.

1) In this song, Diana Ross sings that nothing good lasts forever. Do you agree?

A. I guess everything has an end, even a rock. "Good" is so subjective anyway. We assign goodness to many things, but most likely they are neither good nor bad. They just are.

2) She sings about a happy past with her lover, and the strength she'll need to face tomorrow alone. Do you find yourself more often remembering the past or anticipating the future? 

A. I try to stay in the here and now, but I do remember a lot of things from the past. I don't have a lot to look forward to at the moment, something I am trying to rectify.

3) In the 1970s, Diana Ross had young daughters. To spend maximum time with her girls, she would sleep all day when they were in school. That way she could have dinner with them, bathe them and put them to bed before going to the studio and recording all night. Have you ever worked the night shift? 

A. Not exactly. I had very late meetings to report on sometimes - they could go until midnight, and I always stayed until the end, when I was younger. But it wasn't exactly a shift. Just a very long day.

4) Diana has five children altogether. There's a 16-year age difference between her oldest daughter, Rhonda, and her youngest son, Evan. Studies have shown that when there's a big gap between siblings, parents consider the older kids "built-in babysitters." In your family, were the older kids ever in charge of the younger ones?

A. :::raises hand:: Older sister here. Yes, I was in charge of my brother. He was three years younger than I, and I feel like I practically raised him. Bless his heart.

5) She says her favorite sweet treat is Famous Amos Chocolate Chip Cookies. Do you have a favorite cookie?

A. Chocolate chip, but I prefer homemade Nestle's Toll House. I will eat Chips Ahoy if I have to eat a premade cookie, and the Pillsbury Dough cookies aren't bad.

6) Around the time she recorded this song, Diana Ross considered making a movie called The Bodyguard. She was to play a singer who received death threats, and Steve McQueen would portray the man hired to protect her. Scheduling conflicts prevented the movie from being made. It wasn't filmed until 1992, and then with different stars. Without looking it up, can you name stars of The Bodyguard?

A. Kevin Costner and Whitney Houston. "I Will Always Love You."

7) In 1973, when this song was #1, Norman Mailer was atop the best-seller list with his controversial biography of Marilyn Monroe. Do you often read biographies and memoirs?

A. I wouldn't say often, but I do read them. I have read several this year, including Jennifer Grey's book, Out of the Corner. This was an honest memoir, I thought. She's apparently working on some kind of Dirty Dancing sequel.

8) Also in 1973, another Motown singer, Stevie Wonder, was injured in an automobile crash and still has a scar on his nose to show for it. Have you ever been in a car accident?

A. Yes, but I was not seriously hurt. I had a huge contusion on my knee from hitting it against something, and I received whiplash, but I was otherwise fine.

9) Random Question: What's the last thing you borrowed or lent?

A. I borrowed a guitar pick from my father.

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I encourage you to visit the posts of other participants in Saturday 9 and leave a comment. Because there are no rules, it is your choice. Saturday 9 players hate rules. We love memes, however.  

A Visitor

This guy showed up yesterday evening after dinner.

He was curious.

Definitely not afraid.

He was covered with ticks.

He just kept coming closer.

And then he was on the patio!

He probably weighs 125 pounds or so.

Probably a male tossed out by his mama this year.

This is how close he got to the patio door. By that time, I was moving away. I was afraid he was going to come on in.

Thursday Thirteen

I am having a year of reading eclectically. My reading habits so far have ranged from self-help to old literature to banned books. Here are 13 of the 44 I've read so far this year:

1. A Trick of the Light, by Louise Penny. The 7th book in the Inspector Gamache series finds our intrepid hero back in Three Pines to inspect the death that involves the art world. I had missed this one when I was going through the series last year, so went back and picked it up.

2. Unf#ck Your Brain, by Faith G. Harper. This failed as an audiobook, but it had some decent ideas in it. You can find worksheets that might be helpful at Faith G. Harper - Worksheets and Printables (faithgharper.com). 

3. The Jasmine Throne, by Tasha Suri. This fantasy is set in a world inspired by ancient India and is thematically about the power of nature.

4. Born With Teeth, by Kate Mulgrew. The audio version was read by Mulgrew, and I enjoyed hearing about her childhood and her work, especially when it came to Star Trek: Voyager. It stops before her time with Orange is the New Black, though.

5. The Great Alone, by Kristin Hannah. This Hannah book is set in Alaska, and is a coming of age novel.

6. River Woman, River Demon, by Jennifer Givhan. This is a psychological thriller with a little folk magic thrown in for good measure. It was a recommended library read.

7. Carnival of Snackery, by David Sedaris. The writer-tragic comedian offered up more morsels of his observations of life.

8. Little Fires Everywhere, by Celeste Ng. I had resisted this book for some reason but found it a fascinating story, with life lessons in friendship, relationships, and community.

9. Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck. Man's inhumanity to man. Or maybe it was humanity? At any rate, a classic, and one that leaves you thinking.

10. Out of the Corner, by Jennifer Grey. Grey's memoir settles the question about her nose, although I was left scratching my head as to why she did what she did. Not for prudes or misogynists - this is a tell-all, and she slept with practically every hot young Hollywood dude before she married.

11. Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret, by Judy Blume. This is one of Blume's first novels for young ladies, and one that is frequently placed on the banned book list. Apparently, young women should not read about breasts and menstruation.

12. Will Grayson, Will Grayson, by John Green et al. This is another banned book. It is about two young men who are both named Will Grayson. One is homosexual, the other is not. 

13. Tarzan of the Apes, by Edgar Rice Burroughs. This story of the well-known Tarzan of the jungle actually surprised me at the end, since I was only familiar with the story through the old Johnny Weissmuller (I hope I have that right) movies that I saw when I was young.

*Bing AI created the image. 

Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here if you want to read other Thursday Thirteens and/or play along. I've been playing for a while, and this is my 816th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday. Or so sayth the Blogger counter, anyway.

When the Cloud Messes Up

One of the game stages I use is called GOG. It has older video games on it, the ones I played back in the 1990s and early 2000s, along with other things.

One of my favorite set of games, aside from Bethesda's Elder Scrolls, were by 3DO and were called the Might and Magic series.

GOG allegedly syncs my game play in its cloud with the games saved on my hard drive.

The last few days, I've been getting this message when it goes to sync:

I have no idea how to fix this and can't find a way to contact anyone at GOG to ask about it. So, I just hit ignore and go on.

But isn't it fascinating that my files are now 53 years off? I didn't even know what a computer was 53 years ago. Well, maybe I thought it was the robot on Lost in Space that said, "Danger! Danger!" but that would be about it.

I have also wondered if GOG has been hacked. Or if I have been hacked. Nothing else is amiss on my end, though. At least, not that I've noticed.

Suggestions welcome if anyone knows anything about this.

Dreaming of Dead People

I spent the weekend dreaming of dead people. And then thinking about them since I'd brought them to my brain via my subconscious.

One was my dear friend Brenda, whom I have not written about much on my blog. She was an incredibly private person, and if I did mention her, I used B. and said only that we went to lunch or something. As a result, much of our relationship exists only in my mind now. We did not do things with other people, it mostly just the two of us running around together. I'm the one left to remember.

She isn't here now to ask me to take down a post, so I can write about her all I want. In my dream, she came to me and had written a bill she was going to present to Congress. It was up on a screen, with important points underlined and in blue (like a link), and she wanted my help getting the bill passed. I don't remember what the bill was about, but it was important.

This would have been unusual real life. She did not often ask for help. She occasionally sought my advice, but seldom my help. She was a martyr that way, constantly enduring whatever it was alone. She also talked to me as if I knew what she was talking about, when a lot of the time, I did not. She would mention people and expect me to know who they were, and frequently I was clueless because she'd never mentioned them before. We ran in foreign worlds, and they only crossed because we had formed a mutual bond over trying to protect the historic nature of our county seat. Then our mothers passed away the same year, and somehow that created this symbiotic relationship that lasted until she passed away in December 2021. At the end, we weren't as close as I would have liked. She had a progressive illness and refused to see me after Covid hit. I offered many times to visit, and she always refused. I probably should have "dropped in" anyway but I respected her boundaries.

Saturday, I roamed around the house doing chores and thinking about Brenda. I was trying to remember our relationship in the best of times, and how we lunched often and laughed together. She had a hearty, somewhat squeaky laugh and I could almost always get her to guffaw over something silly. The last time I saw her was at a lunch at Shakers; that was right before the pandemic hit. She looked thin and wan but she was still my pal. I "accidentally" snapped a picture of her on my iPhone that I did not erase. I'm sure if I posted a picture of her, she'd prefer one from before she became ill. But I will continue to respect her privacy and not do that.

Saturday night, I dreamed about Mr. Hopkins. He wanted me to come back to work for him. He was an older gentleman whom I had helped out with a book he was writing. He paid well, and I called him my "sugar daddy" because it was easy work that I enjoyed, as well as a nice bit of extra cash. He has also passed away.

Sunday, I thought about Mr. Hopkins, and how sometimes I enjoyed that work, and sometimes, when he was being rather cantankerous, I did not. He was quite old fashioned in his work habits (he was in his late 80s) and I had to take down his dictation by hand. I tried using a laptop but he didn't like the fact that there was something in between us besides a notebook. So, he would dictate, I would write it out in longhand (I have long forgotten how to do shorthand), and I also taped it so I wouldn't mess up anything. I have a hard time reading my own handwriting sometimes. His book was about the Pacific War during World War II, which was where he was supposed to serve. However, he had malaria and was sent back stateside and never served there. I think it haunted him, that he didn't play a bigger role in that war.

I edited the book as best I could; someone else had started the first half and I finished it up. I had grave concerns about the book because he took whole pages verbatim from the work of others - not primary sources, but secondary sources, books others have written. Because of this, there are multiple instances of names being spelled differently throughout the book. I pointed this out to him (both my concerns about plagiarism, which he waved off, and the different spellings), but he ignored my concerns. He said that his book publisher would fix any issues. He wasn't going to pay me to go back through it and try to change the names one way or the other, so I left it alone. What else could I do?

But his book publisher did not fix any issues that I could tell, and the book went out pretty much like I had edited it. And I had not edited it perfectly, and reviews reflect that, especially the part about the different spellings of names. I learned my lesson and after that when I came across any name in a book I edited (I have edited many), I wrote down every name of person or place, and then checked with the author if a different spelling came up. I let that go once, but never again.

It was strange for me to dream of these two people over the weekend. This was no anniversary weekend for either of them, that I am aware of. They were simply on my mind.

Bing AI created the image.

Sunday Stealing

Sunday Stealing

1. Do you trust people at restaurants who handle your food that they aren't doing anything gross to it while you can't see them?

A. You kind of have to, don't you? Otherwise, you'd never eat out.

2. How do you wear your hair each day?

A. The same. I blow it dry and hope it looks ok.

3. Have you ever worn:

A gas mask? No.

A blindfold? No.

4. Would you be willing to go hang gliding?

A. Not at my age. I might have when I was younger.

5. What is the difference between a man's button down shirt and a woman's button down shirt?

A. I think the buttons are on different sides. And the woman's always costs more.

6. Have you ever taken a lock of someone else's hair?

A. Eww. No.

7. Have you ever given anyone a lock of your hair?

A. Eww again. No.

8. If you had a locket what would you put inside?

A. A picture of my husband.

9. Have you ever written something on a bathroom wall?

A. Not that I recall.

10. When was the last time you fell down in public?

A. It's been a while.

11. Are you more aggressive or mellow?

A. I'm just a little mellowed out sheep.

12. What have you done with your self to keep your life worth living?

A. Nothing.

13. What is the most incredible thing you can do?

A. Saving someone else's life.

14. Do you bury your pets, flush them, or throw them away?

A. Bury them.

15. What's your favorite thing that is yellow?

A. The little fireman that is on the shelf in the living room.

16. Do you have any tattoos or piercings?

A. My ears are pierced.

Bing AI created the images.

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I encourage you to visit other participants in Sunday Stealing posts and leave a comment. Cheers to all us thieves who love memes, however we come by them.