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Old 03-12-2013, 09:35 PM   #11881
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Sorry to hear about your mom, Dawg. You have been a great son to her. Hope things are going well for both of you.
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Old 03-12-2013, 09:56 PM   #11882
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I am being a vampire tonight. I have a lot of things on my mind and can't seem to get to sleep. No problems, just thinking about a friend who is going through that wicked first year as a widower.
I spent this morning helping him get his kitchen cleaned up. He's not the best about being orderly, so his kitchen had reached disaster proportions.
I sat him in a chair as supervisor and passed things to him so he could make the "keep, throw away or donate" decisions.
He gave me a beautiful cotton throw blanket with a pine tree design, and a few small things for my kitchen.
He is decluttering the other rooms on his own. Most of the stuff belonged to his late wife, and it is very difficult for him to perform that task. BTDT. I am very respectful of "her things" and let him point out what needs to go. I do the boxing and relocating to the staging area in the garage.
The good news is he trusts me to let him decide versus "taking over". I will be going to visit and continue the operation while Mr B does taxes.
The silver lining...all unwanted kitchen things will be given to 2 neighbor ladies and the rest will be donated to the CNY Veterans' Outreach Center.
Once the declutter operation is done, I will get the vacuum out and spruce the place up. He offered to pay me. I will not take money, but told him he could treat me to Red Lobster once a month. I'm getting the better deal here.
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Old 03-13-2013, 07:44 AM   #11883
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...I gave Mr B "the look" ...
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Old 03-13-2013, 07:56 AM   #11884
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....... I have a lot of things on my mind and can't seem to get to sleep. No problems, just thinking about a friend who is going through that wicked first year as a widower.
......
This is so thoughtful and generous of you.
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Old 03-13-2013, 03:04 PM   #11885
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Skated as usual on Wednesday. Enjoyed the snow falling while the sun is shining. Temp about 36F, snow not sticking to the roads.

Spent an hour online to fill in and efile my 2012 taxes.

Resume normal life.
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Old 03-13-2013, 05:26 PM   #11886
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Got myself a new vehicle.
Everything I've been reading is true -- trade-in values and used car prices have never been higher. More recently, I've read that this situation will revert back to normal by the end of the summer, so I decided to strike while the iron was hot. Glad I did. Bought the exact same make/model in the same color, just five years newer. What fun to have that new car smell and the newly added bells and whistles (including significantly better fuel economy)!
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Old 03-13-2013, 05:44 PM   #11887
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Funny, DW a month ago traded in her Buick lesabre limited. Got more than I thought it was worth. Got a Caddy CTS. I found out about the deal when she wanted me to go test drive it for a technical opinion. Her money, so she insisted on doing the dealing on her own. The new car is good, fits her driving style, and she likes the ergonomics.

I think the higher trade in value was masked by creative pricing by the salesman, ie, I think she did not get a good deal, However, unless I found a technical defect of some sort it was a done deal. She does stuff like that on a spur of the moment with little research. Fortunately it does not effect either the joint or my finances.

Bottom line, she is happy, so all is well with the world.
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Old 03-13-2013, 10:17 PM   #11888
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Coffee and bagel at Panera with DH, along with people watching and guessing their stories.

Then, we took off on back roads to Ft. Smith, AR where we ate lunch at a wonderful Vietnamese restaurant. We then explored the Ft. Smith historic site..Judge Issac Parker and all the hangings he ordered...and sad info on Native Americans forced out of their lands. Info we had heard before, but always sobering.

We drove different back roads home.

Beauty and interesting things can be found in your own backyard.

Some beer and wings at a local pub. Back home- always the favorite place to be at the end of the day.

Spring break is next week. We hope to avoid all the kids out and about.
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Old 03-14-2013, 12:23 AM   #11889
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Went to the RV place to try to get some answers...they are either dishonest, or clueless...or both.

Came home and chatted over the fence with a neighbor. She needed advice on what to do with a weed patch on her place. I offered to till it with my tractor/rototiller. Took me a half hour or so, and brightened someone's day. Got the sprayer out and killed weeds the rototiller did not reach on my place. Pulled the forms off the concrete I've been pouring over the past week. Planted some tomato and strawberry plants, and some watermelon, cantaloupe, pumpkin, cucumber and rocket/arugula seeds in my garden.

Got a text from my former PA. She has been supporting my successor for the past 10 weeks...until today. He fired her for not making sure he was flying first class...on a two hour flight, on a plane that didn't have a first class section. I called her to see if she was ok...she's actually relieved to be going, and had been struggling with trying to keep the new guy happy. He's a bit of a prima donna...very demanding and wants all the personal trappings of power. Spoke with my former CFO as well. He confirmed the above, and is also struggling, and demands from corp HQ are escalating. All I could think after these phone calls was 1) I feel sorry for the folks I left behind, and 2) boy am I glad I'm outta there.

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Old 03-14-2013, 03:54 AM   #11890
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Went to the RV place to try to get some answers...they are either dishonest, or clueless...or both.
Sadly, you probably hit the trifecta.
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Old 03-14-2013, 05:38 PM   #11891
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We ran outside a couple of times when we heard the eerie nonstop sound of geese calling way up high in the sky as they moved north, another sign that winter is almost past.
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Old 03-14-2013, 05:55 PM   #11892
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Went to the RV place to try to get some answers...they are either dishonest, or clueless...or both.
....

I prefer to think of their methods as: premeditated stupidity.
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Old 03-14-2013, 06:02 PM   #11893
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Another nature story, that you may have seen before on TV. Ms G and I are out fixing the rattlesnake proof(not) fence around the homestead. The Guinea hens, like to scratch the dirt next to the fence. So here I am fixing away when a 4 inch what we call a Tree lizard, back east you call it a fence swift, that wants to be my bud. So I brush the lizard away gently with my hand, and the lizard crawls into my glove which is on my hand. So gently I take my glove off, and the little critter runs up the sleeve of my shirt. I take my shirt off shake it, the lizard lands on my boot and ducks into my jeans. Me I am laughing and taking off my pants, I think Ms G thinks I am getting frisky. So she comes over to help, In would love to be able to say it than went on her, but we never found it. Made the chore go that much faster.
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Old 03-14-2013, 06:05 PM   #11894
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I think Ms G thinks I am getting frisky. So she comes over to help, In would love to be able to say it than went on her, but we never found it.
The lizard?
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Old 03-14-2013, 06:09 PM   #11895
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Made reservations for Sunday at a very nice restaurant on Tampa Bay. My wife's 75th birthday. Son coming up from Naples with his latest squeeze and of course my daughter and hubby who live in the area. Grandkids are spread out too far so it'll just be our immediately family. Also ordered a southern style "red velvet" cake. I've had red velvet before (her favorite) but not the southern style. It has pralines all over the top of the icing. It'll be interesting.

She already got her "birthday present" couple weeks ago when we picked up "her" new Toyota Prius V. I say her's because she has been talking about a Prius for a couple years and I finally caved. I'll have to say that it is quite the vehicle. Coming from an old GM guy, I am really impressed.
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Old 03-14-2013, 10:12 PM   #11896
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This evening was Testing Day. I took the Technician and General Class amateur radio tests, and passed both. Now, I get to twiddle my thumbs for a week or two waiting for my name to appear in the FCC license database, so I can get my callsign and transmit.
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Old 03-15-2013, 07:11 AM   #11897
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This evening was Testing Day. I took the Technician and General Class amateur radio tests, and passed both. Now, I get to twiddle my thumbs for a week or two waiting for my name to appear in the FCC license database, so I can get my callsign and transmit.
Welcome to ham radio. Happy days and 73

I got my general license in Anchorage in the early seventies while passing through to the Aleutians. Have not been on the air in years but still keep up my license. Too many hobbies. I never changed my callsign of N2 land which was issued for NY where I lived then. Even though now I live in N3 land. Do keep a 2 meter in the suburban just to read the mail.
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Old 03-15-2013, 07:34 AM   #11898
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Congratulations and 73!
I think there are quite a few hams here.
Got my Technician license in 1977, upgraded to Advanced in 79, then Extra in 80. Still keep it current, but hardly ever get on the air any more. I really should get back into it.
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Old 03-15-2013, 10:10 AM   #11899
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Frank has been an active ham for over 40 years, with an Extra license, but not me although we go to a lot of hamfests together. Congratulations!

Delivery was completed this morning on the first TV I ever bought from Amazon. I couldn't be more pleased. The two delivery men brought in the 55" TV and unpacked it so that I could sign off on it as not being damaged. But then they went above and beyond what they were required to do, by attaching the TV stand, putting the TV+stand on the entertainment center for me, connecting up my cable TV box, and confirming that I had a nice picture. They were polite and professional, and removed every bit of packing materials as I asked. The TV was not damaged at all in its crosscountry journey to my home in New Orleans.

Absolute perfection. I will never again hesitate about buying a TV from Amazon.
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Old 03-15-2013, 10:17 AM   #11900
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Frank has been an active ham for over 40 years, but not me. Congratulations, though!

Delivery was completed this morning on the first TV I ever bought from Amazon. I couldn't be more pleased. The two delivery men brought in the 55" TV and unpacked it so that I could sign off on it as not being damaged. But then they went above and beyond what they were required to do, by attaching the TV stand, putting the TV+stand on the entertainment center for me, connecting up my cable TV box, and confirming that I had a nice picture. They were polite and professional, and removed every bit of packing materials as I asked. The TV was not damaged at all in its crosscountry journey to my home in New Orleans.

Absolute perfection. I will never again hesitate about buying a TV from Amazon.
Jealous here. We paid an $89 installation fee to Chicago's no. 1 appliance store for exactly what your delivery guys did and the cable company wouldn't let them connect the cable box (to what turned out to be the broken TV, to be replaced next week). We will be getting a speaker sound bar thingie from Amazon!
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