Aug 22, 2021
In today’s time of COVID spreading like crazy, it’s not just keeping our distance that makes everything seem less personal. Random conversations don’t happen as often either. Mama Pesky says she even has a difficult time recognizing people she knows when half their face is covered.
I almost always smile at people I don’t know when I come face-to-face with them. Like walking into a store and someone else is coming out… I smile. I figure it’s just being courteous and pleasant. But now that so many are back in masks again — no one really knows if you’re smiling or not.
Or do they…
One of us was smiling in the photo above taken at Mom’s doctor’s office on Friday. Obviously, it’s not me. Guess I’ll keep on smiling even if I’m probably the only one that will notice. 🙂
Mississippi (120.5) just passed Florida (108.5) for the #1 riskiest state in the US to live in. Indiana (43.3) has passed Nevada (35.1) — and the entire US map (except for Nebraska that either is unbelievably healthy or doesn’t report) is RED. Crazy that Hawaii stayed in pretty darned good shape the first round — but with the variant and relaxed travel, they’re looking rough at 48.2.
No vaccine shaming… but just a prayer that y’all are careful out there.
TIL (Today I Learned): While filming Star Wars (1977), a prop Sandcrawler located close to the Tunisian-Libyan border caused Libyan dictator Mu’ammar Al-Gaddafi to threaten war against Tunisia because he believed it was a military vehicle.
Aug 18, 2021
Everyone has a side hustle and now I have one too! After trying to do one load of laundry for 2 full days, I decided it was time to do something.
The washer sort of did this before and Perry pulled the screens on the water hoses where they hook to the wall. It was all good for a time but starting getting worse last week. Unable to finish the load started, it was time for action! So I pull a HEAVY washer (full of clothes and water) away from the wall, take out my trusty wrench and go to work.
A new well a couple years ago and I’m pretty sure the sand from that time did a number on the screens. Although Perry cleaned those on the wall side, he didn’t do the water hose connections on the washing machine side. It’s all good now! No leaks and I’m doing laundry. BAM!
My new side hustle is washing machine repair. Let me know if you need my help. 😉
I did this job AFTER spending the day with the Peskies at Sam’s Club.
I purchased a ton of stuff that I separated and put in the freezer — and I have more food to eat immediately than I can likely get away with before it goes bad. That’s the down side of Sam’s… everything looks good but comes in bigger packages.
Mama Pesky and Mozzie waited in the car and both were probably happy to see us return. What a muggy, hot day it was today.
Spoke tonight to Julie (my friend whose son is a physician in Georgia) about COVID in his facility. He explained to her that he treated at least 50 patients in the waiting room and parking garage. They have no beds. He told her about patients in their 30’s that he treated the day before that are now on a vent or deceased. It’s his opinion it’s worse this round than before. Scary stuff.
Stay safe, y’all.
TIL (Today I Learned): Elephants stay cancer free as they have 20 copies of a key tumor-fighting gene; humans have just one.
Aug 17, 2021
As a kid, I wasn’t terrified of the dark. I didn’t lose sleep over bugs or monsters. It wasn’t until I was a teenager and read the book “The Exorcist” that I was scared to be in a room alone. I didn’t have to be afraid that I wouldn’t have a home or food to eat. I was fortunate… I hope you were too.
What I was most afraid of was being embarrassed. Crazy, right?
Sure, I was afraid of getting in trouble when I did stupid kid stuff, but I knew I’d live through the consequences. What I didn’t think I could survive was being self-conscious and distressed… embarrassed.
As just one example… when I was in Kindergarten there was a square dance thing planned that was to be held in the gym for all families to attend. I remember my dance partner was the local pharmacist’s son and as we practiced at school and held hands to dance his were stinky. Over 50 years later, I still remember those stinky hands… they must’ve been horrific, right?
I started dreading the “big event” at the onset. But not the parents and grandparents! They couldn’t wait to see my awesome performance. (Or at least I thought so at the time… before I had to attend my own kid’s school functions.)
About a week beforehand, my pap-pa told me that while I was performing in the gym in front of all my classmates and their families he was going to stand up, take his teeth out (he wore dentures), and yell:
“THAT’S MY GRANDDAUGHTER!”
I was so tore down I didn’t want to go to school anymore much less do some yee-haw square dance in front of everyone with ole’ stinky hands! I was TERRIFIED of being EMBARRASSED!
As you think about your early childhood — what scared you most?
And finally — in COVID related news and info…
The Biden administration is expected to advise Covid booster shots for most Americans. The timeline is said to start in September. I would be due a booster on December 1 — and I’m good with that. Yes, I’ll boost up… and yes, I’ll get a flu shot too.
The US is pretty much all red (high risk level) again with Florida in the worst shape currently. Nevada is barely higher than Indiana holding state slots 24 and 25 respectively. Indiana State Department of Health’s reported numbers (which aren’t the same as what CDC reports) have Perry’s work county in the highest red bracket. Jackson County is yellow while Scott and Bartholomew are Orange and Jennings is red.
TIL (Today I Learned): The Exorcist was the first horror film to be nominated for the Academy award for Best Picture. The MPAA ratings board thought the film deserved to be rated X, but accommodated Warner Brothers by giving it an R-rating. Some viewers suffered fainting and vomiting and others reported miscarriages and heart attacks.
Aug 16, 2021
The other day I posted a couple family photos taken outside at Cracker Barrel. In both, I was the only one wearing sunglasses. The reason is because I took those photos with my iPhone using my Apple watch to “click” and the sun was such that I could see better with them on. I positioned the phone at the level we were seated, and all those photos were decent considering the subjects… but I was wearing sunglasses.
So when a passer-by offered to take a photo, I took my glasses off — but because she was standing up and Mom and I were seated on the outside of the group — our heads were distorted. I looked like an alien and Mom had a bulge on her head that wouldn’t have been worse if she’d just wrested a grizzly.
It’s a common problem. You’ve probably had it happen too, right? A couple clicks within Adobe Lightroom under the “geometry” tab and voila!
Today’s Tip: If you don’t have Lightroom, don’t sit on the outside of a group photo being taken with a phone. Thank me later. 🙂
And one more tip…
Don’t think if you plan to go from one side of Seymour to the other you can accurately predict how long it will take. My 3.9 mile drive home from the restaurant that evening took about 50-minutes. We have trains here. LONG and SLOW ones that block US 50 forever. My brother was almost to Indy before I pulled in my driveway.
TIL (Today I Learned): Dr. John Kellogg who ran the Battle Creek Sanitarium starting in 1876 believed that most ailments resulted from unclean bowels full of toxins from undigested food. To that end, he administered enemas with a device capable of running fifteen gallons of water through a patient’s bowel in seconds. **Pretty sure my Mom will appreciate this one.**
Aug 3, 2021
Working mornings on Ben’s yard, I’m so looking forward to more weed wacking and clean-up tomorrow. 🙄 You know the quote as it applies to business, but I can attest to the fact that it also applies to yardwork specifically…
That blister is the least of my problems though. Ben sent a text this evening and said he thought he “got into something.” He sent a photo of his arm that’s broken out with some kind of creeping crud from the mutated weeds we’ve been attacking. I didn’t tell him, but whatever is on his arm is on my leg. And it ITCHES! It’s all I can do not to take a hairbrush to it.
In other news, my tomato plants still have green babies while the Peskies are delivering huge ripe tomatoes to me at least every other day. I’m eating those suckers like it’s my job — even for breakfast — and I still can’t keep up. My plants have a 90% chance of ending up in this week’s trash pick-up.
And… I won $250 bucks on a scratch off lottery ticket. First one I’ve picked up in forever, so now I might be addicted. Saving the best for last — I booked a speech today for a LIVE EVENT in October. Yippee! Things are looking up. Or, at least they will be if I can stop itching and eat more tomatoes. 🙂
TIL (Today I Learned): There is a little known island in New York City called Hart Island used as a burial ground for poor or unidentified people for decades. In 2012, Hurricane Sandy’s heavy storm surge tore at its shore revealing hundreds of human bones.
