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Welcome to the new normal!

 

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We needed to check out our balance. Usually, it is easy and we check online. There were irregularities. Not big ones, but big enough to mess up our day. We are used to having more month than money by two weeks. We manage. But this little bank oopsie was enough to keep us in suspense all day.

We had no choice but to call the bank. Do you remember talking to real people? Yeah, you are old like me. So ‘All agents are busy, thank you for your patience, blah, blah, blah!’ And then the guitar music plays. Four hours! We finally gave up. We figure there are no agents or only a few and if you are the lucky ones you might get to speak to someone on the other side of the globe. The whole household sat on tenterhooks waiting as one of us would have to go to the store to pick up the needed stuff, if we could recoup the loss. This represents all of us!

 

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Luckily my son helped us out. We figured at fourish here on the west coast, it is after closing time on the east coast. So we hung up. At least we were not on cell phones all that time. Landlines are so much better for sitting on hold.

Whew!

The lesson, check your balances often. With fewer employees at any business, complications will arise.

By the way, this is Linda’s newest prompt to help us all connect during this crisis time.


I could think of nothing better for One-liner Wednesday!

Linda G. Hill's avatar

โ€œAll difficult things in the world are sure to arise from a previous state in which they were easy, and all great things from one in which they were small.โ€
โ€•ย Lao Tzu,ย Tao Te Ching

The first half of this quote is becoming all too obvious in the world we live in. But the second half remains a challenge. Think about it. What small things in your life do you now have time to make great?


If you would like to participate in this prompt, feel free to use the โ€œOne-Liner Wednesdayโ€ title in your post, and if you do, you can ping back here to help your blog get more exposure. To execute a pingback, just copy the URL in the address bar on this post, and paste it somewhere in the body of your post. Your link will show up in the comments below. Please ensure thatโ€ฆ

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Since we are retired folk, our lives are basically the same as usual. My bother and son live with us and have volunteered to do the shopping and getting the mail from the post office. Our small town is having as hard a time as everyone else. Our school and library are closed. I would assume the few restaurants are closed. We have two small stores, Cheron convenience, and a little grocery. We had already done the first shopping of the month so we won’t need toilet paper for a couple weeks.

So life continues around here, right now, as usual, with me knitting socks and hats, and the big guy doing his researches online. All the while we are bingeing our shows, like always.

We are finally caught up with one I didn’t like the first time I tried it. Westworld:

I think I may be willing to try Battlestar Galactica now. I have been able to follow the characters better than I used to. That had been one of my problems. The other was the treatment of women. But stick with it if that is your issue. These fems are kickass!

We are also caught up on Outlander. And I can say my reading is ahead of the television series.

I don’t know why I like them and seem drawn to them, but I love to watch disaster movies or medical shows. I just finished this one yesterday, the old classic Outbreak. I’m left with the question: What happened to that cute little monkey?

Last night I needed something I consider light–because I’ve watched it so many times, Greys Anatomy. I ended up watching several in a row. And I wonder why I didn’t get to sleep until 4? I was reading Outlander after watching the show. Common sense, Dar! I know!

The weather doesn’t want to settle down and be spring. Remember last night where the raindrops froze on the storm door window? Here’s tonight’s pic:

I hope you all are staying safe and warm. This was my edition of What Day is it Anyway? This is another great Linda G. Hill prompt.

 

 

Making it Monday


There is still a lot of snow on the ground. Flurries and rain made me wonder how the Carpenter’s song would go if they could sing it today. The snow was melting at one point. While enjoying a video chat with friends I took this one through the front picture window.

A few minutes ago I heard something hitting the window. I didn’t know if it was rain or snow. I went to the storm door and saw drops on the window. I reached out to touch the droplets. They were frozen. It makes the window look like bathroom glass. Kind of cool. We are expecting about four inches of snow tonight. Makes me want to pull out the Christmas lights and start singing carols!

So what am I making? More socks! I am nearly finished with my daughter’s first sock. I just need to bind off. I’ll probably do that tomorrow. It’s the one on the right. The other one is at the point of the heel. The hardest part of the sock is the ribbing. I am doing this part with four purls, four true-knit stitches. The rest of the sock is the flat knit-stitch.

As you can see I am making these on the KB His and Hers looms. I now have two sets of the same size so I can keep the pair of sock as close to the same size as possible.

And here are the boyfriend’s socks started on the His looms. I am going to take the stitches off the bigger purple loom, upper left, and put them on the empty smaller one. These two looms have the same amount of pegs. I like the smaller set better as they are more comfortable for my hands.

 

Oh, I worked on the soft hat, too.

This may be close to being done.

I have other projects but my hands seem most attracted to these WIPs.

Just Sayin’


40% chance of precipitation.

 

Kali thinks I can control this. Poor puppy! At least the rest of us have places inside for our needs. One word: Piddlepad.


socs-badge-2019-2020

Per Linda:

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is โ€œwire.โ€ Use โ€œwireโ€ as a noun or a verb or any way youโ€™d like. Enjoy!

More slipper socks finished. Yay!

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And the snow is falling. About an inch in an hour. Here’s the latest of my porch banister that was just wet and brown an hour ago:

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(revised edit: two inches now at the finish of the blog)

That is the peaceful scene I wished for in December or January. Here we are early spring and I wanted to start getting out for walks. But I guess it is helping all of us stay inside and meditate our lives.

You know at any moment we all could have died. Let’s say by accident or gunshot or our own stupidity. I guess the risk-takers would have been more prone to death than those who live from a cautious point of view. It’s all according to how we are wired.

Heck, we have enough coyote-to-roadrunner ratio here that we could have been hit by:

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Pixabay.com

The loss of life from any or all those incidences are devastating. Yet, they happen every day, bar the anvil. We try to protect ourselves as best we can from any of these, yet our thoughts don’t stray to or remain on the what-ifs.

Our new shared reality is built of constant worry on top of the regular worries of paying bills and surviving winter.

Some of us are wired to be gregarious. We must be around people at all times. Others of us are more of quiet wiring. Many taught to greet with a hug or handshake are shaken to bows or not even meeting people. Besides, who has toilet paper these days? You don’t want to shake that hand!

This is a time for the introverts to enjoy not feeling guilty for staying home, enjoying our own company. This is a time to reflect on how death has always been just around the corner. But facing that it may or may not be your own is hard to grab onto.

We came into this thinking it one more hoax, one more conspiracy. A joke. But even if so, life has come to a halt. Many I know are finding people they know have the virus. Many have it that can’t be tested. It is fear upon fear.

It is like we just opened a new book and we find ourselves in The Walking Dead or something like it. Panic is our worst enemy. Take a lesson from the disaster movies. Stay put and use your time to ponder.

I am finding it hard to listen to the constant fears of others. I’m 70 after all! I have lived a wonderful life. I have a great extended family and fantastic friends. I would hate, at any point in my life to have lost any of them.

At the same time, I have been the young mother as my young children romped about me. I chose not to take my children to see grandparents if any of us were even the slightest bit ill. So I don’t believe in my heart I cause their demise. Yet, at my age, I have lost many I have loved. This is something you never get used to. I assume if it happens on a large scale the loss will be overwhelming. Let’s hope that that doesn’t happen.

Meanwhile, what if we only have a few days to be alive? A few days to enjoy the amount of health we do have? Why spend our last moments worrying. Outside of proper precaution, what more can we do? I’m not saying ‘eat, drink, and be merry,’ I’m saying love your people. Spend as much time as you can by connecting in the ways earlier pandemics didn’t have: Skype, FaceTime, google chat. Talk on the phone if you can handle it. Write out your thoughts, email. If you are so inclined: write letters. I don’t know if sending the letters is advisable as others will have to touch and handle the mail to their detriment. But once this passes, and it will pass, there will be ways to reach out or remember each other.

I do believe we are wired to LOVE.

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Pixabay.com

 

 


Going BovineGoing Bovine by Libba Bray
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book was recommended to me by a very good friend. I couldn’t afford to buy it at the time. Luckily the library had the Kindle and Overdrive versions. I seemed to like listening to the audio more than trying to track the Kindle.

Guys doing girl or women’s voices as it always sounds condescending, to me, but Erik Davies (Narrator), kept my interest and I soon lost the distraction of his female voice.

Though a serious subject matter, this story has you wondering what is happening and nearly breathlessly following the characters on their adventures to save the world and the main character, Cameron’s life.

It has been labeled “Quirky”. I agree! It is certainly worth the read.

View all my reviews


Drums of Autumn (Outlander, #4)Drums of Autumn by Diana Gabaldon

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Oops! I nearly forgot to review this one. I just moved into the next read (a library book).

I really wish I would have read this before the series on television. I liked the rhythm of the story better. I like the viewpoints presented here as Clair’s rather than Bree. It is different not having the information that comes with the daughter making the voyage back in time and back to America.

I think we got into Roger’s head a little more, too. It doesn’t take away from the show. It is actually interesting the take the directors and actors took the storyline without losing the story.

No spoilers here. Just glad I read (listened to the Audible) it and can’t wait to get into the next one!

View all my reviews

One-Liner Wednesday


Take care of yourself; live today and not the worries of tomorrow.

 

Per Linda:

If you would like to participate in this prompt, feel free to use the โ€œOne-Liner Wednesdayโ€ title in your post, and if you do, you can ping back here to help your blog get more exposure. To execute a pingback, just copy the URL in the address bar on this post, and paste it somewhere in the body of your post. Your link will show up in the comments below. Please ensure that the One-Liner Wednesday youโ€™re pinging back to is this weekโ€™s! Otherwise, no one will likely see it but me.

Travel Day


Kali!

What?

 

Kali, we’re going Bye-bye!

Really?

 

To the vet?

Bleah!

But the trip in the new to us car was so smooth and we listened to music from my phone. No pain! The people at the vet were so sweet to her and she seemed happy to be there. Even the shots and nail trim didn’t seem to phase her. So she’s good for another year (three for the rabies shot). And I am not so scared of that long drive because it was nearly painless. Yay! Thanks to Kali’s Alma Mater I only had to pay $8 for the last part of the bill. Let’s have another YAY!

Now Kali sleeps.

Though painless the trip is long for all of us. I, too, had to nap when I got back.

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