Your Dream Boyfriend

Young girls dream of the perfect man for them.  They role play their Barbie and Ken, they gather intel from movies and TV they watch.  Even "the boy next door" adds something to that dream.  

I was the same. My boy next door was Mikey, a year older than me, blonde hair with green eyes.  (That was 50+ years ago!)  As I grew older, dark hair and brown eyes caught my attention. 

But what makes a guy the Dream Boyfriend??

Tech is changing every day, and artificial intelligence is a huge part of it.  I remember growing up they would use phrases like "someday computers will replace humans".  And in many ways, they have. 

How many times have you dialed the operator or 411 to get info?  Now you can just grab your phone and look it up yourself.   

Which brings up the next phase of AI, the realm of an iBoy, or dream boyfriend. Young girls always fantasize about their future life partner with a list of whatever is important. It could be blonde or brunette, height.  It could be other things like sense of humor, compassion, empathy.  With the help of AI, a gal could have it all! 

I've considered trying one of those apps, but I'm more cautious than I used to be. And some want money... not gonna happen!  That was the appeal of IRC, it was free.  

But the thought of having a "personalized boyfriend"..... or would it be customized? Tailor-made?  Either way, it truly makes a gal think!!!  With my kind of luck, my AI boyfriend might look like this ... ?!?!?!  hahaha

Last Doggie Day

Heard from my nephew this morning. His ex is coming over to watch the dogs tonight, so I get to sleep in my OWN bed tonight!  I used to consider that a luxury, but now I consider it a necessity to a good night's sleep.  

The heat and humidity wears out the dogs so they've been crashed out all morning!  I've finished with all my little projects, one of them being organizing the linen closet 

So after a late lunch, I should be heading for home.  And back to my own routine. Yay!

Skip

Doggie Daycare

Day 2 of the dog sitting weekend and it's supposed to be 112 in the Valley of the Sun.  Too hot for dogs to be outside.  

Skylar

I've been keeping myself busy. Made a jaunt over to Mom's as she's getting her new AC unit today.  They're expensive to replace, but now she'll have 10 years worry free of AC. (Old one out on the left,  new one on the right.)

A good book and a cool drink are the agenda for the rest of the day. Stay Cool!

Dog Sitting

I am dog sitting for two days at my nephew's house.  He has three dogs: Beau, Skylar, and Skip.  They're bigger than my Sadie was, but they are well trained!  

What amazed me is how much stuff I needed to drag along.  Not only did I need clothes, and food, but stuff to do as well.  I dragged along my rocks and paints.  

I picked out 25 small rocks and am painting them with simple designs.  After I seal them, I am going to hide them around the house. lol. Something for the kids to do when they come home! 

Yep. That's my kind of thing!

Beau (1 of 3 dogs) 

Internet is Back!

I'm lounging and reading (all the time it seems) since my 'net went down. All of a sudden my phone beeps and man oh man I jumped up and ran into the other room to check my router ......

I Got Internet Again!!

And after 5 days, I'm back watching my binge, Heartland. 

Isn't it amazing how "not normal" you feel when something breaks down ... and even more normal again when its fixed?

High Tech High

I was better at tech some years ago; there have been so many changes!  But I'm doing a happy dance today!  

I got an email from my FMLA company.  I needed to print pages, but without internet, I couldn't download the items.  So I finagled my phone to do the download, plugged my phone into my desktop,  found the file and TA-DA!   I printed it!

Sometimes its the little accomplishments that make your day!

My Aspire

I call myself an internet junkie.  I was introduced to the wonder of the world wide web in the early 90s.  I was fascinated with newsgroups at first, and a guy I was "talking to" introduced me to IRC, internet relay chat.  Along with that came Yahoo's instant messenger, AOL had its own version as well.  

I. Was. Hooked.

I made some awesome friends via IRC and am still friends with many 20+ years later, via Facebook for the most part.  One was a guy named Mike.  We have been friends for 20 yrs.  We would send music files, movie files, etc via IRC.  Some of the files were large, and protocols wouldn't allow sending large files.  

Back around 2010, he shipped me an Aspire laptop.  On it are several favorite movies.  I always watch Father Goose and Pillow Talk on it.  There are others, but those are my favs.  The nice thing about having the movies on the computer is you can watch them without internet connection.  

Sure, you can watch them on DVDs but the viewing program on my Aspire allows me to "loop" them back to back; uninterrupted viewing which is good for someone who needs tv running in the background at night.  (I blame my second husband for this habit.) 

So until internet is restored, its Father Goose and Pillow Talk for me!  Internet has been down for four+ days now, so I've watched these two many times!!

Thanks, Mike!!

A Quick Laugh

Staying at Mom's, I got up Saturday and was gathering up my clothes when I heard music. Wth? It was faint, but louder as I leaned closer to the wall where the TV antennae was hanging.  Very weird!!

Called Mom to come listen, to ask her about it. She could hear it the fist time she leaned in, but not the second time.  Huh.

Later that afternoon I grabbed my travel bag off the floor and could hear it again.  This time I checked my bag. Turns out, my MP3 player had turned an, we could hear it faintly through the headphones.  

Do we always want to believe in things strangely magical? I do!!

I didn't tell mom I figured it out.  lol

No Internet

This was my weekend at Mom's to help care for Mr.Z. We had a good time doing things, he built a pine derby car, we painted rocks, and he found a zillion different games to play on my phone.  lol

Turns out it was a good weekend to be away. My house lost power for 90 minutes, some underground cable problems is what we were told after it was repaired.  I dashed home Friday evening to make sure the AC was working, temps were over 105 and the internet had stopped working.  My thermostat is wireless controlled so I can check/change temps from anywhere, until the internet goes down.  It was fine.

I wondered if the heat combined with a  power surge might have caused router problems. Later that evening, email from my provider said they had a problem and it would be fixed by 10pm Saturday.  This morning, another email that it will be fixed by 6pm Sunday.  We shall see. 

In the meantime, I am using my Verizon plan for minutes on my phone.  Its weird how we've all come to depend on connectivity!  Growing up, I couldn't have imagined it, but here we are!! 

If I don't get internet back, I will resort to watching movies on an old laptop this evening.  The story behind that to follow in my next post.

Hooray for technology!

Keep 'em Busy

How'd your Saturday go? For me it was keeping my 7 year old great nephew busy.  His Dad is out of town for a wedding.  My morning consisted of TV:  Lingo (again), then Totally Funny Animals, Totally Funny Kids, then Mom flipped it to some broadcast channel.  I turned it off when it got to a scene of a woman wearing a skimpy bikini, standing in a bathtub pouring champagne over herself.  Great Saturday morning television viewing.  What happened to cartoons? 

We flipped off the TV and I grabbed my exercise bands.  We each stuck them around our ankles and side stepped around the kitchen table, then reversed direction.  A few arm stretches and back stretches and they'd had enough.  But it kept Mr.Z. busy for a time.

After a short (very short) stint of trying to paint rocks, he grabbed Mom's iPad and found a baseball game, and a soccer game.  Self entertainment at its best.

In the meantime, a Diamondbacks game came on, so Mom's entertained too!!  I have to admit my fav Dback is Corbin, he sure can run!

At Mom's

At mom's today. And I'm predicting its going to be a long 2 days.  Game shows. Talk shows. Soaps. Until some kind of sport comes on. Its baseball season Go Diamondbacks.  I watch baseball because its something to talk about with her.  She watches EVERY game, I catch a few innings here and there. 

I've been trying to be observant when I'm here. And the one thing that stands out is that she likes to keep her house "ready for company" at all times.  If we have lunch together, once I finish my meal, she jumps out of her chair and clears the dishes, rinses and puts them in the dishwasher.  House ready for company again.  Was it always this way? Or something related to age?

I'm also trying to be tolerant in letting her live her own life as she sees fit. But its not always easy, but we survive.  In the meantime I lost power at my house ... SRP notifies me by text every time.  But it was over 110 today so I dashed home to make my AC was running. It was but I lost Internet. Not sure if it will come back after it cools off, bet I need a new router. Ugh.  

Is it bedtime yet??

Different Times

When we're little kids, an overnight trip to Grandma's can be exciting.  You don't need much in your bag, maybe grab your fav teddy bear and jammies and off you go!

In your teens, an overnight visit at your best friend's house and you end up with a bag full of things "you might need".  

In your 20s, sometimes all you grab is a change of undies and your toothbrush. By your 30s and 40s, you know just what you need, and if you forgot something you know you could make do without it for a couple days.

In your 60s, you end up with a large bag of stuff again. But not because "you might need" something.  Instead, your bag is full of must haves. Because as we age, things kinda fall apart. Ugh.  

I'm busy packing a bag to spend 2 nights with mom because she is 86 and watching he great grandson who is 7.  Gotta have the meds.  And my knee brace.  Tablet. Charger. All the essentials that go with aging.   When she lived in California, I kept spare clothes and necessities there in a drawer, that way I could pack light.  Since she moved to Arizona, I haven't had to sleep there.  I can't remember what I left behind, so we shall see.  If I forget something important, its only a 15 min drive.  Thank goodness!  

Monochrome

For some reason, the word monochrome brings up Paul Simon's old tune, Kodachrome ... "they give us the nice bright colors, they give us the greens of summer, makes you think all the world's a sunny day..."   I know he was singing about more than just a roll of film, and each of us might have a different interpretation of his lyrics.   And that's ok, it makes for good music!

But today's photo topic is monochrome. And black and white photography has always been my fav.  Maybe that relates to how much I enjoy all the old photographs. Sometimes things just don't look the same in color, sometimes b&w brings out different details.  And details make for great photos. 

Here's a wire dress form that holds my jewelry.  Since what I have is all costume, why hide it in a jewelry box?  

A Long Day

Nothing makes a day feel longer than when a doc says "stay off your knee". Its really hard to be moving around when your knee needs rest!  So it's felt like a very long day.  (Don't tell my doc,  but I walked 2k steps on the treadmill but only at 1mph, very slow and controlled.)

Today's pic topic: Yellow.   These flowers were on the tables at my son's celebration of life.  Its a happy color and they make me smile.  

Treasure your loved ones every day.

Medicare Weirdness

What do ya'll think when you hear "medicare"?   We pay into it all our working lives, there's no choice, it's automatic.  I don't want to guess how much I paid into it.  But for some reason, I thought I was paying in to a benefit to carry me into my "golden years".  Not so.

To my surprise in the mail today, I got a bill for Medicare Part B.  And it's much larger than the amount I pay for health insurance through work.  I can see now why some who are up in their years keep working.  This stuff can be a huge burden of paperwork to understand and wade through.  Much easier to go to work, let your company take health benefits deductions your pay and not worry about the rest.   My bill for three months is nearly $600.   Most of the time, this charge is removed from your social security payment, but since I haven't officially stopped working, I don't have social security at the moment.  It's all so weird!  

I tried to fill out the SocSec form online, to let them know I wanted to retire in July, but I can't use "a future date" when filing.  So now I have to wait ??  Because if I fill it out as retired in June, which is still considered a future date as of today, because it's a month prior to my 65th birthday, it "may" cause my monthly $$ to be $30 less every month than if I wait until the end of July.  I know, it's government work, but sheesh.  Talk about making it harder for us little guys! 

So I saw a doc today, I have a touch of arthritis in my knee, we're trying a cortisone shot as that's the easiest; the rest of the treatments involve much more.  So we shall see.  Today I'm resting, reading and just letting my mind wander for a bit.  Thought I could take care of some of the online work, but nope!

Of course all of these changes make a person just WTH is next!  We shall see.

On Father's Day

My Dad died in 2014 of cancer.  When he was diagnosed a year before, I pondered and wondered what I could do for him.  In reality, no matter how much I wanted to, nothing I could do would change the facts.

But then I realized that I could at least lift his spirits, give him something to look forward to.  Each week, I wrote a short note about a memory I had with Dad, sent them snail mail.  Vacations he took us on.  Little helps with household projects.  His firm but easy ways with discipline.  Even Mom says to this day I was always a daddy's girl!

Mom keeps those memories in a binder. 

In honor of Dad on Father's Day, I love you and miss you.

Tired and No A/C

I'm a bit tired today. Yesterday after grocery shopping, my nephew needed my help watching kids so he could hit the gym.  I grabbed some fruit snacks as I dashed over to help.  The kids like the treats and they're parent approved!!

Then came home to cook up my meats for the week.  At 430 Mom sent a text.... "I think my AC isn't working."  If that's so, then you better pack a bag, I told her and headed over.  We called a company she likes to arrange a repairman and they were able to be there within the hour!!

A sweet man named Kaden came out, took a look.  We knew it was an ollldddd unit, and that it needed to be replaced eventually.  He told us he could fix it but knew it wouldn't last.  So we sucked it down, and opted for a new Trane unit.  They will install it on Tuesday! 

I finally made it home at 8:15pm.  And spent most of the night crossing my fingers her AC stayed working!  Otherwise she would have been a guest at Casa Gal's. She's mom and I love her but we lead different lives! 

Long Time No See!

So today I grocery shopped at the Walmart by my house.  The Greeter smiled, said "Good morning!"  I answered back then he said, "Hey! Long time no see!"  If you haven't ever had that happen, its a nice feeling!  Made me smile!!

I explained I haven't done my own shopping for a few weeks because of my leg.  Instead, I've been utilizing the Free Pickup option,  which was kind of nice. Drive up, and they bring out what you ordered online.  Its OK in the interim, but I still prefer to shop myself!

Today's photo challenge was "Pattern".  Given the forecasted temp of 111, I opted for the pattern of my meals and green tea. I buy meat and cook it up, then divide it into servings, along with rice.  So I'm good to go for the next 3 days! 

Does it get boring eating the same meal? Not if you mix it up.  Beef and rice in a tortilla with some avocado and salsa makes it different.  Or dump the beef and rice over some lettuce, add dressing and tomatoes....  Well, you get the picture; make basics then make them better at meal time! 

What? Safe Mode??

When I woke up this morning, I grabbed my phone as usual.  I like to read early in the morning before I get up. Except today, I couldn't.  For some reason my phone was in "SAFE MODE".   My first reaction was WTF???  

I fiddled and it wanted my pin.  I entered it, but it told me it was incorrect and I had 9 more tries.  I entered it again, thinking its early, maybe I didn't didn't get it right -- you know, fat fingers and all.  Then it said I had 8 more tries.  FFS!!!

Thats when panic sets in.  I get up, start getting dressed- mind you its 5:40 am or so, and Verizon won't open til what, 9? 10?

Pace the floor. "I gotta go to Verizon today"

Try to think ... then the AHA moment!

Oh yeah! Grab my tablet off the treadmill and open Chrome and ask Google what do I do??? It said restarting the phone should fix it. And it fixed most of it.  My widget for Samsung Health was gone.  Weird, since its a Samsung phone.   Huge sigh of relief at this point!

Happy its back to normal.   For now.  Might be time to think about an upgrade.

In Limbo

Its so weird not working.  For 23 years, 5 days a week, I worked at the same place, doing basically the same work.  

But I can say for certain that:

I like not being slaved to my alarm clock. 

I like eating meals when I'm ready, and not according to the time clock.

I like being free to come and go as I please.

I like not having complaints build up.

I like doing laundry and shopping when I want, not being forced to do it on a day off work.

Maybe retirement isn't going to be so bad.

On the other hand, it could be easy to "let things go".  It's weird how its the little things. Mom doesn't like things hanging over her head. Her grandson has a wedding in 10 days and she was doing some hemming on his suit pants. So she started and didn't stop until it was done.  Me, I would have spread the chore out over 2-3 days. 

We're so different in that way.  She likes her house perfect, and that's not easy with great grandkids. She doesn't stop until her house is perfect again. Today was the first day I vacuumed in 2 weeks.  I like a clean house, but it sure doesn't have to be perfect!  I wonder how we got to be so different?? Or maybe I just wonder if she was that way when we were growing up? 

The things a person wonders about at times. 

Theme Songs

Tuesday is family night dinner.  While waiting for my nephew, my great niece was playing a computer game and an ad came on and the music for Super Mario started playing.  My boys played that over and over again. Boy does that bring back memories!

Today's walk was 1.4mi, 46 mins. I'm improving, but it sure is slow going. Because its so slow, I'm going to see a doc on Monday. Every time I go I see someone different.  Maybe this time I can get some solid answers about rehab and getting better.  

I noticed on HULU they added the old series LA Law.  I'm anxious to rewatch this, I liked a lot when it aired.  I queued it up, the opening music played and it was like I was transported back in time.  Its funny how music can do this!

Of course there are many iconic TV themes.  

"Theres a story about a lovely lady...."

"Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale ..."

And everyone recognizes the famous theme from Jaws "dunno dunnn... duuuunnnn dunno..."

Any others come to mind??? 

Bad Days

Sometimes we all have bad days. Today was my turn.  They usually happen after a night of bad dreams.  I was dreaming about being back at work then somehow I was walking along the beach boardwalk, with kids along. First one kid fell off the cliff in to the ocean, then another. Talk about a mom's panic!  No way I was getting back to sleep.  So I read to keep my mind occupied.

Bad dreams about kids always brings my son Brian to mind.  It will be 5 years in less than three weeks since he died.  As always, there's never answer to endless questions, including why???? 

There is a lot of mystique when it comes to suicide; I'm a part of a parent's survivor group and the one very obvious thing is feeling so alone.  People don't know what to say, or they just avoid you as if its something catchy.  I've come to accept it, but it leaves a huge hole inside.

Its become a part of who I am now, but that doesn't mean every day is a good day. So I muddle through the bad days and hope for a better one tomorrow.

Because of the lack of sleep, I missed my outdoor walk, but I've done 3 ten minute jaunts on the my treadmill (I call her The Beast! She's full sized!)

Cheers to a better day tomorrow ❤ 

Shoes, or Happy Feet

There's an old adage that women and shoes go together, old jokes about how many pairs of shoes a woman owns ...  Carrie on Sex in the City has a thing for expensive shoes. 

Me?  I have a fair amount of them, but most of mine are geared towards a workday spent on my feet for 8+ hours. Yes, I own a couple pair of dress heels, and some boots but I usually have to dust them before I wear them.  

The pix topic is shoes, but how to make them interesting since none of them are remarkable in any way.  Mine have more the well worn, lived in look! And after years and many miles, I know that you need to treat your feet to good shoes!!

Walk in the Park

Today's photo topic: Water.  We're not all by a beach, but there is water somewhere close by.   This is the lake at McQueen Park in Mesa.  Lots of ballfields, tennis courts, children's playground and of course the lake, which they stock for fishing. 

Hi ducks!

Walk today 46 mins, but only 1.2 mile, its hot out there!!

An Ant's View

Yesterday I took a break from my rehab, just needed a day of "nuthin' much."  I did  10 mins on the treadmill, but that's not much compared to the 8+ hours at work.  And today I'm wondering if it was worth the break??  So I sucked it down, walked my route in my neighborhood (even tho it was 88 degrees when I started!) then another 10 on the treadmill for a total of 36 mins, 1.32 miles. Now its ice for 20 mins, not because it hurts, just preventive!

Today's photo topic is "an ant's view.  This is a bloom on my cactus that's less than 2 inches tall.  

Spare Change, More Fun

What a fun day yesterday ... groceries with Mom, a short walk on the treadmill and then I hit the showers.  At 6:15pm it isn't dark out, yet, I'm halfway through my shower and *blink* the power goes out. Can't just hop out and see what's going on, so I finish up then yup, power out.  I can hear sirens so assume it was a car accident of sorts.  No power, no internet so I stretched out to do some reading.  Power came back on 7:20.  Finally!  Houses heat up quick in summer! 

It used to be that you came home from work and emptied your pockets of spare change.  Not so often anymore now that so much is digital.  But I still keep a jar of change for whenever I find it!  That's the topic of today's pic:  spare change

Numbers

Numbers are all around us, they control who we are with social security, driving, working, and time.  Here in the Valley of the Sun we focus on temperature numbers.  The photo assignment is "Numbers"  and even though they are all around us, they're not so easy to photograph!

So on the wall over my dad's bar was a mirrored sign that reads "Beer 5cents".  My son, Brian, told his Grandpa he wanted that sign and now its in his room.  So that's the number I chose.   Cheers!

A Close Up

Photo topic:  Close Up

Choosing something for a close-up photo, for some reason everything sounded so boring, stagnant.  An obvious choice might have been a flower, or a small bug.  For some reason, a PBJ appealed to me! But then again, I'm kinda weird.  lol

In other thoughts, my self initiated rehab is going well.  Just over a 1 mile walk today, not much ankle/leg pain.  But I keep wondering how I'm going to work myself up to an 8 hour workday? I have only 19 days left without seeing another doc.  Or should I throw in the towel and retire already?  I can't imagine walking around my block for 5 or 6 hours to prepare for that first work day!!!  Sometimes I think "rehab" is much more work than actual work!! 

Kid Time

My mom is 86, her great grands are 3 and 7.  My nephew likes to go to the gym and drops the kids off.  She does OK with them, but since I'm not working, I'm here as well.  Kids are always fun, they always come over hungry and request waffles with waffle spray!  (ReddiWhip)  

Today's daily photo:  Composition,  rule of thirds.  Me being me, I tilted it! 

Rehab and Street Scene

Today's walk was just a bit further than yesterday.  I am hoping that my self appointed rehab is working.  Things are feeling a bit better, and less pain after walking, so I'm happy!

Today's photo theme is Street Scene.  Since I don't get out and about much - yet! - this is close to home. 

PixTopic: Red

Out for my 10 min morning walk, with my trusty phone in hand, and the daily photo shoot topic of "Red" in mind. 

I try to keep my mind open to possibilities as my feet wander. Along with that, I'm also trying to consider how I can make something ordinary look interesting, or artsy.  To me, that's the ultimate challenge. I could easily snap a photo of a red flower, but how can I make it be more?  

I hope I met the challenge:

I chuckled to myself as I imagined my Mom walking with me. First thing she would have done is wiped down the mailbox, then sweep the loose rocks from the sidewalk.  lol.