Journal: Hurricanes, Earthquakes, and Laundry Bags, Oh, My!

 

It’s autumn in Nebraska, and the trees – the ones that haven’t already lost their leaves, at least – are turning colors.  Not as brilliant as trees in the east, but pretty, nonetheless.

There’ve been a number of large earthquakes in the last week, several registering over 6 on the Richter Scale.  Most, fortunately, occurred in locations where few people dwell, or deep under an ocean.

A magnitude 6.1 (the red circle) hit the Russian Kamchatka Peninsula earlier today.  There have been a lot of large tremors in this area lately.  That’s approximately 760 miles west of Attu Station, Alaska.

A week ago, an M_w 6.1 also hit a city in Turkey, collapsing buildings.  Amazingly, there have been no reported deaths.

A day later, Hurricane Melissa made landfall on Jamaica as a Category 5, with sustained winds of 175 mph and gusts up to 215 mph.  There was a spot wind gust of 219 knots.  That’s 252 mph.

Wow.  Those winds are practically unimaginable.  We think the wind is awful if it gets up to 60 mph!

Somewhere around 50 people have died in the Caribbean from the hurricane and the storm surge.  It was Jamaica’s worst hurricane since hurricanes started being recorded by ‘modern’ instrumentation in 1851.

Hurricane Melissa produced 15 to 30 inches of rain (with isolated totals up to 40 inches in mountainous areas) in Jamaica and southern Hispaniola, and a storm surge of up to 13 feet along Jamaica’s southern coast.  Eastern Cuba experienced 10 to 20 inches of rain (with isolated areas up to 25 inches) and storm surges up to 12 feet.

We don’t have big earthquakes or hurricanes here in Nebraska, but we do have tornadoes.  However, most of us have places to go for protection from those.

Last Monday evening, I cooked chicken in the Instant Pot, and we had steamed and buttered broccoli with it.

Larry worked on one of our great-great-nieces’ cars that evening.  Uh, that is, he worked on a car belonging to one of our great-great-nieces.  (She only has one car; we have many great-great-nieces.  English, tsk.)  The car, a BMW like Larry’s, only newer, wasn’t running smoothly.  He used his engine scanner on it, and determined that the trouble was probably caused by the type of oil that had recently been put in it.  BMWs can be mighty picky about things like that!

Tuesday midmorning, it was 48°, with a windchill of 36°.  Winds were at 17 mph, gusting to 27 mph.  I had a south window open a couple of inches, and it didn’t feel that cold.  I checked wind direction.  Yep, winds were from the NNW.

In looking at the weather, I saw that an M_w 6.4 earthquake had just occurred at 9:40 a.m. in the Banda Sea.  That’s one of four seas that surround the Maluku Islands of Indonesia.

Keeping track of stuff like this has always been an interest of mine.  My mother thought it was funny when she’d take me to the library when I was little, and I’d zero in on the rack of current newspapers from around the world.   Most of them had the weather printed in the top corner, right next to the location. I remember her laughing when, upon discovering that Norway was expecting a whole lot of snow, I asked, “Do you think we could go there?”  I didn’t know what was so funny; I meant it!

She taught me the formula for converting from Celsius to Fahrenheit when I was about 7 (I was in third grade, and we’d just starting learning division; we’d learned multiplication in 2^nd grade):  °F = (9/5 × °C) + 32.

A few hours after the Banda Sea earthquake, it was upgraded to 6.8!  That’s a big earthquake.  There was no tsunami threat, as it was at a depth of 85 miles.

I paid some bills, washed another load of clothes, cleaned the kitchen, ordered some groceries, and then went upstairs to work on the French Braids for the Soaring Eagle quilt.

Remember last week’s episode of Florida Man attempting to cross the San Juan Mountains on Engineer Pass?  (He got stuck in a snowstorm.)  This week, let’s hear it for Texas Man!  Again on Engineer Pass, elevation 12,800 ft. – it snowed.  On October 27^th  Imagine that.  🙄  A couple and their two dogs got stuck (they were in a Tahoe, would you believe! – must’ve mistaken it for a snowmobile), and proceeded to try walking out through very high, dangerous drifts.

Fortunately, the local rescue teams are experienced, and they have the equipment and know-how to traverse deep snow on treacherous trails in inclement weather.

That night, totally forgetting I was going to use Monday night’s leftover chicken and broccoli and add rice to it, I warmed up Campbell’s Pub-style Chicken Dumpling/Vegetable soup and we each had a slice of Nature Craft Ancient-Grain buttered toast and applesauce with it, and a toasted-oat muffin for dessert.  Larry added the leftover broccoli to his soup.

After a bit of a search, I found our marriage certificate, which the Social Security Administration was requesting.  I’d had it framed shortly after we were married, so I had to cut it from the frame to send to the Social Security office.  (No, they would not accept a copy.)  Aggravating.  Every time I look at the destroyed back of that frame, I am aggravated further.

Ah, well.  When (if?) they ever return it, I’ll just tuck that certificate into an envelope and put it in the box with other important papers.  I haven’t had it hanging for a long time, anyway.

I finished one more French Braid and got part of the next two cut that night.  I had to add a skinny red border to the central panel in order to make the Braids fit properly.

Tuesday night was another night of little sleep.  I gave up and just got out of bed, showered, ate breakfast, and was soon back in the quilting studio.

At 8:30 a.m. Wednesday morning, it was 38°, but with the wind gusting to 28 mph, the windchill made it feel like only 14°.  Brrrrr.

It was chilly upstairs in my sewing room.  I put on leggings, Sherpa-lined suede slippers, a chenille sweater, and a chenille scarf – and then I went back downstairs and actually made myself hot coffee (as opposed to the cold brew I’ve been drinking over the last several months).  I opened a new bag from Aroma Ridge, this one called ‘Pumpkinlicious’, which has pie spices and creamy caramel flavorings added to the beans when they are roasted.  Soon I was much warmer both inside and out, warming my hands on the heavy stoneware mug.

Here’s a post I saw on Facebook that day:  “Restrict yourself from social media and your metal health will improve.”

‘Metal health.’  Uh, ...  you mean, social media restriction will work like chelation therapy (for metal poisoning)?  😅

And anyway, they were wrong; my mental health would not have improved one little bit if I restricted myself from social media right then, ’cuz I had IST (Important Stuff ’n Things) I needed to read and write that day!

Motto for the Day:  Go ahead and restrict yerseff iff’n ya wanna; just don’t restrict me.  😄

Having had breakfast earlier than usual, I found myself hungry in the early afternoon.  A handful of nuts and a slice of Colby Jack cheese were exactly what the doctor ordered.

A distant cousin who doesn’t really understand why I do most of the things I do asked that afternoon, “Will you ever get done making quilts?”

“I hope not!” I retorted, feeling a tad irked.

If I talk about gardening, she says, “Gardening is not my thing.”  Sewing/quilting, “Using a sewing machine is not my thing.”  Playing the piano, “Playing an instrument is not my thing.”  Hiking around a lake taking pictures, “Hiking is not my thing,” or “Photography is not my thing.”  Cooking or baking, same thing.  Anything I say, same response.

Can you understand why I feel impatient, then, when she complains of being ‘bored’?

Still, she’s not well these days (and indeed always did have some physical difficulties), so I try to be sympathetic, and truly do feel that way, most of the time.

After my retort, which confessedly was not made with a whole lot of patience, she responded, “I should learn to do something constructive, instead of word search puzzles and playing with my phone.”

At that point, my conscience smote me, and I assured her, “Well, I am glad you like to text with your phone, because I enjoy our conversations! ❤️”  And I meant it.

While Larry was working that day, he missed a phone call from the Social Security office.  They then sent an email.  “Did you forget the appointment for our phone consultation for today?” it read.

But the appointment had been for the next day, for Thursday, and Larry had their previous email to prove it!  We figured there was very little chance that they would now call on the day they’d set, and Larry would have to make another appointment and then wait another month and a half to talk to them.  Ugh, they’re such a troublesome entity.

I completed the third French Braid and nearly got the last one done before it was time to don my glad rags for our midweek church service.

I made a fresh pot of Pumpkinlicious coffee and took along a Thermal mug when I headed to town, and it was still piping hot when the service was over.  I sipped it as I drove out to Walmart to pick up the groceries I’d ordered.  Larry didn’t get home from work in time to come to church with me.

Walker Foundations, where Larry works, once had a problem with their Internet signal, and the tech couldn’t figure out what the trouble was, though he went to their shop and office a number of times.  Back then, they were receiving their Internet from a local cell tower that transmitted to a dish they had on a corner of their building.

Someone finally noticed that the signal loss happened at approximately the same time every day; so they asked the tech to come at that particular time.

He did – and spotted the trouble when he was still a couple of blocks from Walkers’ office.  A large delivery truck (semi and trailer) was parked in the precise location that would block the signal from tower to dish – and that truck brought supplies and equipment to Walkers and a couple of other nearby businesses at that same time every day, and parked in that very spot every time. 😅

I discovered when I got home from Walmart that, once again, the boy had thrown bottles of juice and even boxes of pizza into the back of the vehicle without putting them in bags.  Plus, all four bananas had big black mushy bruises all along the undersides.

I got a refund for the bananas – and this time, I filled out a survey and complained about the lack of bagging.  “Apparently,” I wrote, “the person who threw stuff into my vehicle without putting it in bags has never once ever had to carry groceries into the house!”

I was surprised to receive an email a couple of days later from a Walmart representative apologizing for the grocery-pickup problems, telling me how to get a refund, and saying they would talk to the ones who bag and carry out the groceries.

“Thank you, I responded.  “I did get a refund for the bananas – a whole $.61!  haha  I’d only ordered four bananas.  But... I had my chops all polished up for them, and then we couldn’t eat them!  Ah, well.  I’ve had worse tragedies befall me.  😉  Again, thank you.”

I hope nobody gets in really serious trouble on account of my complaints.  The boy was very friendly, and quick, too, after all.  (Maybe he was quick because he didn’t bother with bags, heh!)

Thursday was Kurt and Victoria’s 9^th anniversary.  We gave them a couple of autumn tea towels and a set of cooking spices.

Midmorning, it was 43°, on the way up to 59°.  I started a large load of laundry, then ordered more of those good-smelling Downy scent beads.  I’ve tried half a dozen different scents and have yet to find any I don’t like.  This one is called Crisp Rain & Blue Eucalyptus, and it’s mmmm, good.

Back in my quilting studio, I finished the last French Braid, then made diamonds-in-rectangles for the Braid-border corners and began attaching them to the quilt.

Larry came home at 2:00 p.m. that afternoon, in the nick of time for the phone appointment with Social Security personnel, so that I could join in.  I expected no phone call at all, since they’d apparently gotten the date screwed up; but Larry is a more optimistic soul than I am.

Astonishingly, his phone rang at 2:02 p.m., and it was actually someone from the SS office.  

I don’t know if Larry getting home in time, or someone from SS calling when they said they would, is more astounding.

In the course of the phone conference, they discovered that, sure enough, Larry had gotten locked out when trying to apply online a couple of months ago, because his selfie supposedly didn’t match the picture on his driver’s license.  It took the lady awhile to unlock it and get things sorted out.

She confirmed Larry’s information, then mine.  This all took a good 45 minutes.

Fifteen minutes after the phone call, I took a look at my personal page on the Social Security website, and was surprised to see that they had already marked my application for Spouse’s Benefits as ‘Approved’.  “You should receive detailed notice in 10-15 days,” it read.

Since that much was accomplished, I tried to find out if I was enrolled for Medicare, Parts A and B.  I’d attempted enrollment way back in August, but was not allowed to complete the process.  It seemed I was possibly enrolled in Part A, as the website would not allow me to go to the A or A & B sign-up page.  

A sudden pop-up box informed me that things are slower, since staff is cut due to the government shut-down.

So that means it’s gone from snail to glacier speed.  Got it.

I pressed on, and tried to sign up for Part B.  On the first attempt, I got all the way to the pdf form that is to be filled in – but the first line requires the number on the Social Security card they will hopefully be sending soon.

Just for kicks, I tried starting entirely over with an application for Parts A & B.  I soon arrived at the same page I’d encountered before.  “We’re sorry, we cannot process your request,” it said, and then gave me a couple of numbers to call.  Yeah, I already tried those numbers before, and didn’t care to waste more time doing it again.  I think the workers are especially trained in ‘Giving-People-the-Run-Around’.  I wonder if they get bonuses if they cause people to miss the so-called ‘window’ where they can get signed up?  (Maybe if they played John Philip Sousa whilst I was on hold instead of that spine-numbing stuff they usually play...)

But I tried clicking on Part B alone just one more time – and arrived at a page with a green checkmark saying. “Authentication Successful!  Acknowlegement for Website Access.  I understand that the Social Security Administration will validate the information I provide against the information in the Social Security Administration’s systems.  I certify that:  I understand that I may be subject to penalties if I submit fraudulent information...” and more blah-blah along the same lines.

You’d think, if my ‘Authentication’ was ‘successful’, I’d be able to continue, wouldn’t you?  But noooo.

I tried... then tried again... and got this:

I think the word ‘chunks’ in the URL is the most significant part of the whole page.

Okay, I was done.  I was going back to quilting.  At least I do know how to do that.

A couple of hours later, I was starving, and it wasn’t nearly time for supper.  I ran downstairs and grabbed a slice of cheese and two or three crackers to go with it.  Hmmm... ((...rummaging around...))  Oooo, I found a slice of dried mango to go with it!  I love dried mango.

A friend with whom I was chatting asked about mangos, so I looked it up:  Mangos are a fruit that originated in the Indo-Burma region of South Asia and are now grown in tropical and subtropical regions worldwide, with India being the largest producer.  They were spread through Asia, Africa, and eventually the Americas via trade routes and have been cultivated in India for over 4,000 years.  Today, they are cultivated in many parts of the world, including Mexico, China, Thailand, and parts of the United States like Florida and California.

By suppertime, the French Braids were finished and attached to the Soaring Eagle quilt.

For supper that night, I cooked rice, then added chicken and a mixture of green and red peppers and onions.  I like to add the peppers and onions after the chicken is good and hot, and then let it cook a wee bit longer until the vegetables are also quite hot, but not mushy.  Mmmm, it was good.

Later, I added a plain maroon border to the quilt, and called it good for the night.

It’s always a bit of a gamble ordering fabric online, since the digital swatches are small. Color, fabric design, and scale can often be a surprise.  I ordered just one piece of fabric for this quilt; everything else I had on hand.  It was this piece here in the middle, a white background with a pale blue and silver design on it.  I’m really happy with it; I think it was just the ticket.

I retired to my recliner and read some news and answered some messages – and found this comment under a post with a couple of poor-quality pictures:  “If this had any less pixels it would be radio.”  hee hee

When I was little, a man visited our church with a trunk-load of instruments – some conventional, some not.  He had a broom with strings attached to it so he could play it like a guitar.  He had a saw that he played by sawing on the blade with a violin bow, and by bending the blade, he controlled the tones.  He had a carburetor that he played like an oboe.  He played hymns with those things, and they were quite recognizable, and sometimes the tones and sounds that issued from them made everybody laugh.

Oh, whataya know, that saw is called a ‘singing saw’!  Listen to this lady playing Somewhere Over the Rainbow.  That is, she’s not over the rainbow at the moment of playing; rather, she’s playing the song ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow’.  Again, English.  Tsk.

After sending a note to the girls asking for the grandchildren’s sizes, Victoria sent me an audio clip from Willie, in which he informed me in all sincerity, “I’m growing like a seed!”  😄

Willie likes to do his own translations and interpretations.  Also, he has helped his Mama plant seeds in the springtime, which they later planted in their garden; so he knows all about seeds!

“It’s too cute to fix it, 😆” remarked Victoria.

“Plus, it makes perfectly good sense!” I agreed.  “(Though weeds are faster.)”

Victoria sent pictures of her bedroom, which she’s been cleaning.  Just like she’s always done (and like I have done), she’d piled things high on the bed as she sorted through everything.

“Well, the floor’s clean now,” I told her.  “Just vacuum the bed, and you’re done!”

It wasn’t long before she sent a video of the room, all spic and span.  Here’s a screengrab.  Recognize the quilt?

In our chat, I told Victoria some of the things I’m planning to do in the next few months:  scan photos, quilt, clean, sort, sew, etc.

She soon sent another audio clip of Willie saying, “That’ll keep you occ-uh-pied!”  😅

That day I got the next border attached to the quilt.  EQ8 calls that outer border design ‘Big & Little Points In’.  It looks like an anticlimax after the French Braid border; but don’t worry!  After the next simple dividing border, there will be a wide piano-key border that will tie it all together properly.

Saturday morning was a chilly 44°.  I put on leggings and an extra sweater, then had to remove the sweater in order to wash the dishes and sweep the floor.  That warmed me up every bit as much as the sweater had done.

Early that afternoon, Larry called and told me to look on the front porch.  A friend had dropped off boxes and a big bag of fabric he’d gotten at a yard sale, plus a quilt rack that hangs on the wall.  He was told he could have it all for $10!  He called Larry to ask if I might want it, and Larry said yes, and he would give him the money after work.

I put my sweater back on, slid my feet into some suede slippers, and went out to bring it all into the house.

Hmmmm... (grabbing measuring tape) that quilt rack is 74” wide.

I began working my way through the boxes.

One box was full of various types of stabilizers for embroidery, and two big balls of chenille yarn.  The bag has a couple of pieces of fabric printed with lighthouses, some thin stuff (batiste, maybe), and a few half-done quilted projects that were probably intended to be large pillows.  One was being hand-quilted, and had been sandwiched with those plastic tag pins that are shot in with label tag guns.  On to the next box!

This box has a bunch of knitting needles, some falling out of half-done knitting projects that are tangled and unraveling; a giant crochet hook, a large scorched potholder, a stained mat, purportedly to go under a dish drainer, lace curtains, damask curtains (that feel like they need a good washing), and ---- time out; there’s a squirrel racketing around in the eaves.

Oh!!!!  It wasn’t a squirrel, it was a Northern flicker!  I nearly startled the white fluff of feathers off of his posterior when I flung open the front door.  He wouldn’t be a flicker anymore, if that happened; he’d be a duskie!

Now, to add insult to injury, a much bigger Eurasian collared dove chased him off his perch in the mulberry tree, where he was trying to smooth his feathers and regain his composure.

Okay, the contents of the box.  Here are some Christmasy looking fabrics, composing a... ummm... ummmm... ummmmm...  thang.  A Christmas thang.  Part hood, part pocket.  A thang.

And three million, five hundred and six heavy-duty plastic zippers.

No, I miscounted.  There are only three million, five hundred and five.

Here are some pretty (new) hand towels and tea towels, including two matching ones – except one’s been washed and one hasn’t.  These are nice enough to add to gifts.  I’ll iron the washed (crumpled) one, and make sure not to give it to the same daughter to whom I give the unwashed one.  >>snerk<<

As I mentioned, there’s a huge assortment of knitting needles and crochet hooks.  One of the hooks is skinny and about two feet long; never saw such a crochet hook before.  A quilting friend told me, “The long crochet hook is for Tunisian crocheting.  It is a method of adding loops across the piece, then completing the stitch and removing them on the way back to the start.  It produces a knit-like finish but is crochet.”

One of the knitting needles is warped into a figure C.  Maybe someone got totally frustrated with her project and bent the hapless thing over her knee?

Here’s some Velcro... and two giant rolls of narrow bias tape.

And a wooden paint stir stick.

Next box!

In this box I have found some of that stiff cotton(?) fabric that shines like ever’thang...  a piece of an envelope with five uncanceled 4¢ stamps with stagecoaches printed on them and one 2¢ stamp with an 1870 steam locomotive printed on it – and a person’s name on the other side.  (((...pause...)))  I have now learned that the man whose name was on the other side of the envelope died July 31, 2014.

Let us continue.

Here are some partially-done bag-or-pocket-like things with cute embroidery on the front, and that Teflon stuff on the back.  Betcha these are for cooking potatoes in the microwave, whataya bet?

Oh, yep, yep!  Here’s one that says ‘Hot Potato’ on it, and she was starting to bind it.

Ooooo, look at this.  There’s a good 4 yards of this bird panel print.

And four yards of this chicken/barnyard border print.  I’ve never seen fabric quite like this one.  The print is only along one selvage.  What would you do with it?

Ohh!!!  She made curtains with it!  I just found some panels where she’d ruffled the top edge and put in a casing.  She had a serger that made a nice stitch.

There are a gazillion and three smallish white tea towels from 1888 Mills – 55% cotton, 45% polyester.  She probably intended to machine-embroider them, judging from these other projects.

Here’s a big piece of tablecloth fabric – plasticky on top, felt-like on the back – that only needs a hem, and it’ll be done.  It’s a pretty blue, printed with lighthouses.  There are hand towels with the tops cut off and embroidered pieces with them that she apparently planned to sew to the top to make those towels that hang from an oven handle or suchlike.

And a finished Tweety Bird bandana with a diagonal serged seam through it – so the print doesn’t line up.  The figures and objects on the bandana could be used as appliqués, I guess.

Here’s a Peanuts panel; cute, but flimsy fabric.  It feels like polyester.

Last box: 

At the bottom of the biggest box?  A large, mostly done quilt with nine-patches and plain blocks of small florals – thin fabric that’s probably a good part poly.  It’s poorly put together; the points don’t match well at all.

But the BIG problem is that someone tried to ‘quilt’ it by doing fancy stitching on the seamlines.  It’s a badly puckered mess, and with all those tiny decorative stitches (looks like Bernina, to me), it would be enormously prohibitive to try to remove them.  Siggghhhh...  It could’ve been nice! 

I always wonder if things like this happen when a person is either losing eyesight, or possibly mental capacities.  Whatever it was, I like to imagine that she didn’t have any idea things were going awry, and was simply enjoying the process.

There’s fairly decent batting in the quilt, and the whole thing has a really nice, soft feel to it.  I repeat myself, but...  Siggghhhh.

There are quite a lot of other pieces of fabric, good and not-so-good, in these boxes.  I’ll try to pawn off all the crochet hooks and knitting needles on the girls.  Maybe I can incorporate some of that lace curtain into Violet’s Crinoline Ladies quilt.

Hmmm... anything else of note? 

Oooh, yikes, a piece of glass from an 8x10 frame!  (dropping it into a frozen pizza box in the trash)

And one Leg of Jean.

Sort of like leg of mutton, but less meaty.

And that’s all, she wrote!  And with that, off she goes to her quilting studio, leaving a jumbled mess behind.

But before heading upstairs, I made a fresh gallon of cold brew – a flavor called ‘Lazy Bear’ from the Aroma Ridge Coffee Company, with flavors of wild honey and blackberries.  It would be done brewing by morning when I was getting ready for church.  If it tasted as good as it smelled, it would be scrumptious!

In the meantime, I filled one of my thermal mugs with the last of the Pumpkinlicious cold brew (with pumpkin pie and sweet caramel flavorings) and the other with Tropical Vibe Celsius.  If the quilting room was too cold, I’d come back downstairs and make myself a hot cup of Apple Cinnamon tea.  On with the Soaring Eagle quilt!

First, I added a plain border; after that, I cut the ‘piano keys’ for the next border.

It took several minutes of math skill usage to figure out the exact measurements for the rectangles – 116 of them – that would make up those ‘piano keys’.  I then printed a couple of templates, and was ready to cut fabric.  At the top and bottom, there will be 29 rectangles measuring 3.17” x 12”, unfinished.  On the sides, there will also be 29 rectangles, and these measure 3.35” x 12”, unfinished.  And those sizes right there are why I very rarely share or sell my patterns. 😄

There will be a large Diamond-in-a-Square block at each corner.

At 4:30 that afternoon, something flew past my window.  I quickly looked out – and saw that the flicker was back – and he’d brought his mate with him. 

“See?” he told her, “I was perched right there (flapping a wing), just pecking on the house and minding my own business, when that door (a flap of the other wing) flew open, and a li’l ol’ lady came dashing out!  Plumb near skeert my white fluffy pantaloons off’n me.”

Pictures from All About Birds and Birds of the World.

Oh!!!  The juncos are back, the juncos are back!  First time I’ve seen them this fall.  They come all the way from the Northwest Territories, some of them.  They’ll stay around all winter.  Compared to where they nest, this part of the country surely feels balmy and warm to them.  They’re so cute, in their little tuxedos.

Picture from the National Audubon Society.

At 8:00 Sunday morning, it was 34° and feeling like 26°; but it was on the way up to a sunny 62°.  I had my first taste of the Lazy Bear cold brew I’d made the day before, and that promising aroma of wild honey and blackberries did not disappoint; it was indeed scrumptious.  It is now listed as one of my very favorites.

I’ve been making hot coffee and tea sometimes as the weather gets colder, but Sunday mornings when I’m getting ready for church, I get hot, hot, hot, while blow-drying and curling my hair.  Why do I get so much hotter on Sunday mornings than other mornings??  Maybe because I’m in more of a hurry?  Maybe because I keep the bathroom door shut while using the blow-dryer, so as not to awaken Larry?

Victoria brought me home between Sunday School and church because my stomach was hurting.  It had started suddenly at 9:15 a.m., and Mylanta didn’t help a bit.  I went to church anyway, thinking it would get better, as it usually does.  It didn’t.

Upon returning home, I sat in my recliner with my laptop keeping me company.

Listen to this sentence from a news article I read (I changed the names):  “Jane Smith Doe, a member of the Smith family, has four sons with her husband, John Doe; making her the mother of four children in total.”

That news agency – or maybe that particular reporter – apparently doesn’t think their readers have very high IQs at all.  Or maybe the article was written by AI, in which case the programmer doesn’t have a very high IQ at all.  Or maybe they want us to know that John Doe is more mature than most husbands, so they aren’t counting him as one of the children this time.

Aaauuuggghhh, I just learned that Publisher will not be supported after October of 2026.  Not only that, no one will be able to edit or even open Publisher files after that (unless one has an older-version permanent download copy on one’s device).

“Just save your files to another format, such as pdf,” Microsoft advises.

Right.  All 3,342,987,648 of them, I suppose.  Open each file... click ‘Save As’... then convert to pdf.

This is the format in which I have a whole lot of my pantographs, and quilt patterns, too.  I’d better find out if there’s a way to do a mass conversion of those files, or find another program that can open Publisher files.  Microsoft techs suggest using Word or PowerPoint or Designer for whatever we were using Publisher for.  I guess none of those techs ever used all of those programs for specific purposes enough to know that Publisher does certain things those other programs don’t do?  And some things that can be done in other programs are only done with difficulty.  Ugh!

I use Microsoft 365; it’s an online program subscription that I pay for once a year.  I don’t like that, but it’s the only way to use the up-to-date versions of Microsoft – and I use most of those programs every day.  I looked, but there are no old freestanding versions on Amazon; either people snapped them up when they heard the news, or they’ve been out of stock for a while.  I have learned that LibreOffice can open and edit Publisher files.  Checking into that...

Remember that bowl I got at the Goodwill in Omaha for $7.99?  I hunted some up online, and learned that they cost anywhere from $40-$80.  😯 I got a better deal than I thought I did!

Obviously, I need to return to the Goodwill (here or there or somewhere in between) and try to find several more.

It wasn’t long before I found that LibreOffice opens my Publisher files, and edits very similarly to Publisher, too.  Files will save as .odg (OpenDocument Graphics) files.  But there will be no need to convert anything; that will happen when I edit and then save a file.

I opened a Word document in LibreOffice, too, then clicked ‘Save As’, and got the option of saving it in the .docx format it’s already in, though that might lose some of the formatting, as Word has more formatting options than LibreOffice; or I can save it in Libre’s own format, .odt (Open Document Text).

LibreOffice is free, though they do very politely ask for a donation when you download their program.

Okie dokie; I shall survive!  If I’m too poor for Microsoft 365 after Larry retires in a month or so, I’ll switch to LibreOffice and try really, really hard to convince myself I’m satisfied, ♪ ♫ oh-h-h, Satisfied! ♫ ♪  (I al’ys get all carried away when tech stuff works.  Me yikes aw dis he-uh tech stuff!)  (said in a 2-year-old grandson Nathanael accent)

Now to download the program onto my upstairs laptop.

It was a pretty day today, around 60°.  It’s Larry’s 65^th birthday.

Victoria sent Carolyn and Violet’s school pictures.  They’re wearing the cute little dresses she made for them recently.

“Pretty pictures of the girls,” I wrote back to Victoria.  “I love their dresses, and they coordinate together so nicely.  I’ve been thinking, ‘QUILT FABRIC!  QUILT FABRIC!!!’ ever since you sent me pictures of the bolts of fabric.”

“😁 I got some extra of Violet’s plaid to make pillowcases for my living room,” Victoria told me.

“If she sits on the couch wearing that dress after you make the pillowcases,” I cautioned, “she’ll blend in, and someone will sit on her.”

“She’s much too bouncy,” Victoria assured me.  “You’d never be able to land on her.”

haha

Way back on September 30^th, I ordered a small item from Walmart – a mesh laundry bag.  Turns out, it was coming from China.

It took three days to work its way from Dongguan, Guangdong, China, to the Hong Kong International Airport.  One more day, and it had made it to Los Angeles.  That was October 4^th.

It sat around contemplating its sins until October 11^th, when it managed to snag a ride to Olathe, Kansas, a suburb of Kansas City, arriving in 2 days.  It took only 3 more hours to land in Omaha, still on the 13^th of October.

It was only an hour and a half away from us.

However!!!!!  That silly little parcel, having nearly gotten here, then decided it wanted to go back to China! 

Two days later, it was back in the City of Industry, California.  

Yes!  That’s the name of a real town!  Really, it is!  It’s a suburb of Los Angeles.  This is what Google Maps has to say about it:  “The City of Industry is a city in the San Gabriel Valley in eastern Los Angeles County, California, United States.  It is almost entirely industrial, containing over 3,000 businesses employing 67,000 people, with only 264 residents as of the 2020 census, making it the third least populous city in the state.”  You can read its history here.

Okay, we’ve made it to October 15^th; what happened after that?

Well, the package rattled back and forth like a pingpong ball for a while, out there in Calleefornee.  This is totally nuts:

October 15:  Rancho Cucamonga

October 16:  City of Industry

October 16:  Rancho Cucamonga

October 17:  City of Industry

October 17:  Rancho Cucamonga

October 18:  City of Industry

October 19:  Rancho Cucamonga

October 20:  City of Industry

October 21:  City of Industry

October 21:  Rancho Cucamonga

October 22:  City of Industry

October 23:  City of Industry

 

And then, after all that “I don’t want it, you can have it!” “No, I don’t want it, either!  Back to you!” business, two more days passed – and the parcel landed back in Olathe, Kansas.  That was October 25^th.

On the 26^th, it arrived in Omaha.

Then ... ... ...  it went back to the City of Industry, California!!!  It got there on the 28^th.

On the 31^st, it showed up in Olathe, Kansas, again.  Five hours later, it was in Omaha.

At this point, there was some kind of a major breakthrough, and that package went all the way to Norfolk, bypassing us as it went.  It got there on November 1^st.

On November 2^nd, wonder of wonders, the parcel arrived in Columbus.  An hour later, at 10:10 p.m., it was listed as ‘Out for Delivery’.  (Nothing is ever delivered at that hour.)

It stayed on the truck for 16 ½ hours, and was finally put into our mailbox.

Now, I want to know, where will this mesh laundry bag take the clothes I put into it after I pop it into the washing machine?!!  It’s obviously a wayward vagabond and not to be trusted.

I wonder if anybody, anybody at all, ever noticed that that parcel was misbehaving?

At first glance, the label looks perfectly normal, with my address in the proper place, and the sender’s address --- wait a minute!  It says the sender is in Rancho Cucamonga, California!  Not China, but California.  And that label was put on top of a different label, on October 10^th!

That was 6 days after it arrived in California, and the day before it headed east to Olathe, Kansas, for the first time.  So why on earth did someone in Kansas send it back to California, and why couldn’t it gain any traction once it landed out there???

I tried peeling the newer label off the old, but it’s waaay too sticky, and I can’t get them apart at all.  At least, not without destroying the underneath one, I can’t.

Parcels sent from China through China Post are usually handed off to the USPS, which is exactly how this parcel was handled.  It wasn’t China Post’s fault – unless they put a homing device in that mesh laundry bag.  Maybe the original sender is short on clothes, and figures if all the laundry bags he sends out return to him full of clothes, he’ll be all set for the rest of his life.

From an old journal:  Victoria, at about age 3, was sitting at the table beside me drawing a picture.  She made a few lines, then frowned down at her paper.  

“I start to make a girl,” she said, tipping her head consideringly, “but it always turns out being a straight line with a circle on top.”  hee hee

We had Prosciutto and Arugula Pizza tonight, and Apple Crumb pie for dessert.  I got Sea Salt Caramel ice cream especially to go with the pie.  Perfect.

This pizza is so good, with the thin slices of Italian ham that are put on immediately after the pizza is done baking, and the balsamic glaze that is then drizzled over it; but why do they have to put that glaze in such a hard little plastic pouch??  It’s impossible to squeeze all of it out!  And believe me, I try.  We had White Grape/Peach juice with our meal.

Eeek, I just read how Prosciutto is prepared.

Uh, ... I’d better not dwell on it, or I’ll never want this pizza again.

Quilting!  I gotta git bizzy piecing and quilting!

As one of Colorado’s meteorologists signs off, “K bye.”

,,,>^..^<,,,          Sarah Lynn          ,,,>^..^<,,,