Wisdom of the Aged

Here’s a little nugget of wisdom:

Cool-Whip Lite makes sugar-free peach jello palatable.

Blood Will Tell

Like the rest of the grandchildren, Bella has no physical characteristics like mine. She has brown eyes; mine are blue. Her hair is dark; my hair was light. My skin is very fair; hers is darker. She has very long legs; mine are short.

Recently she stayed the night with us. The next day when she was gathering her stuff to take home, Mr. Fixit noticed a pair of her shoes that she hadn’t packed. I said, “I didn’t notice that you weren’t wearing the sneakers yestersday.”

She said, “Well, these sneakers didn’t match what I was wearing yesterday.  I was wearing brown pants so I had to wear my brown shoes.”

Yes-s-s! That’s my girl!

Instant Gratification

I love Kindle! I never thought I would say that because I love hold-in-the-hand books.

I buy gift cards from our local Best Buy so that I don’t have to give my credit card number when ordering on line. Mr. Fixit gets a little nervous about having that number floating around out there in the ether. If I finish a book using the Kindle reading program on the e-pad at 3:00 am, I can purchase another one without leaving my bed and in my pj’s. It takes about 30 seconds to download a book. Having a set limit also keeps me from going overboard which I have a tendency to do when purchasing books.

It’s possible to download free books, and sometimes you can find great bargains on brand new works. An author mentioned on his blog a few days ago that his new book is available for Kindle readers. The price—$2.99! That’s far less than the cost of a paperback, and I don’t have to wait for a year for it to hit the stands in soft cover.

Amazon offers a free reader for computers so that an e-reader or e-pad is not necessary. I used that before one of my sons gave me the e-pad for Christmas. Using a smaller unit is more convenient than using a laptop if you like to read in bed.

The Results Are In

Mr. Fixit had his test done this morning. The doctor said there is no indication of problems.

He took a long time to come out of the anesthesia, and they didn’t give him quite enough time to wake up. He experienced some uncomfortable side effects, but he says he’s feeling better now. He was groggy in the car and he threw once on the way home. I helped him into bed and he slept until 4:30 this afternon.

He can get back to his regular diet tomorrow.

I’m thankful and he's relieved.

Testing 1, 2, 3. Testing

Tomorrow and Wednesday should be very interesting. I know things will be extremely tense around here.

Mr. Fixit is going into the hospital for a test Wednesday so he can’t eat anything at all tomorrow. He can only have clear liquids, jello, broth, tea, and coffee with no cream. He gets very testy when he can’t eat. In fact, he can be a misery to be around. I wonder if I could desert the Fixit ship until Wednesday afternoon. That would be the coward’s way out, wouldn’t it? No one ever said I would ever be awarded a medal for bravery.

It’s going to be a l-0-0-n-g day and a half.

Anniversary

Today is our 45th anniversary. Wow! And they said it would never last.

Big Brother, Little Brother Conversation

Today was a teachers’ work day for Noah and Owen so they are visiting with us. They asked if we could go out for lunch. We decided to go thru drive-thru and eat at home.

After we had the food in the car, Owen asked if he could start eating. I said, “No, let’s wait until we get home.”

Owen asked, “Why can’t we eat now?”

Noah said, “She wants you to suffer.”

The Realities of Aging-Hair, Money, Vision

As usual when at the hairdresser, the talk turned to my thinning hair. The young lady there suggested that I try her products for thinning hair. I’m not an idiot; I know there are very few products that actually grow hair, but I decided to try the suggested shampoo and conditioner.

When she told me the price, I almost changed my mind. Even when I didn’t have to worry about every penny I didn’t buy $10.00 shampoo or $10.00 conditioner. I bought the stuff anyway for some reason. As I headed out the door, I was thinking about all the things I could have bought if I had forgone the expensive shampoo and purchased Suave products as I usually do.

Surprisingly, the stuff actually does camouflage the thin spot by plumping up the hair or something. I’m sure that there is no new hair growing. But I’m not sorry I bought the expensive stuff.

The only problem is that the packaging is almost identical on the tube of shampoo and the tube of conditioner. They also smell the same. This morning for the third time, I picked up the wrong tube and squeezed out conditioner first, wasting the costly conditioner. You see, (really bad joke) I don’t wear my glasses in the shower, of course, but my aging eyes really need my reading glasses to tell one from the other.

This is how I am trying to solve the problem.

I hope the big green “X” doesn’t wash off. I used a permanent marker.

Aging means you have to use your problem solving skills a lot more often.

It’s in the Small Print

This morning Ms. Bennett, of Time Goes By, wrote that manufacturers, retailers, and advertisers have begun to recognize that elders, too, spend money to buy their products. They are beginning to change their products, packaging, and advertising to accommodate those of us who are older.

Small print should be taken into consideration; it drives me nuts. It seems that my magnifying glass has become a permanent extension of my right hand even though I wear corrective lenses to compensate for my aging eyes. With my glasses, I can read most books, newspapers, and magazines. I do have trouble with more than a few items with extraordinarily small print.

Below is a scan of a page from the instruction manual of my e-pad along with a page from a normal paperback book. The print in the manual is miniscule when compared to the paperback print. Even with my trusty MG, I find it almost impossible to read.



The instructions on OTC medication packaging and containers are sometimes so small that they are  impossible to read. I have sometimes resorted to scanning the containers and enlarging/zooming in on the print.

I suppose that I should invest in a stronger magnifying glass.

(I wondered if I should add the unusal "click on photo to enlarge." It seems a little ironic for this post.)

Owen

Last night Owen's school held its annual talent show. The children range from kindergarten to fifth grade. These children who participated are so poised, and talented, of course. Several times there were little glitches with music, and no one was disconcerted. They simply waited with grace and patience until the problem was cleared.

The show was held at the high school auditorium which probably seats more than 500 people. Almost every seat was taken to see the 26 different acts.

There are some students who are incredibly talented. One little girl sang "Over the Rainbow" with a bluesy flavor. Her phrasing was wonderful.

Owen did another hip-hop routine.

Get Thee Behind me, Amazon!

One of our sons gave me an e-pad, or epad, (one of those things like an Ipad) for Christmas with the Kindle software. The other son gave me an Amazon gift certificate. I love it and the ebooks. I have used up my gift certificate plus a little more.

Every day I receive email from Amazon advertising Kindle books. Today’s was the biggest temptation yet. I found ebooks available by some of my favorite mystery writers—Dana Stabenow, J. A. Jance, C. J. Box, Michael Connelly, Jonathan Kellerman, etc., etc.

The temptation is killing me. Have a heart, Amazon, no more advertisements for a while.

Buzzards (I Think)

We have noticed in the last few weeks a lot of buzzards—even in our neighborhood. The other day there was a smushed squirrel lying in the street up the hill from our house. As we passed I saw a huge black bird (a little smaller than a wild turkey) sitting on the side of the street waiting for his lunch. He seemed unperturbed at the closeness of our car and waited for us to pass. He was U-U-U-G-L-Y!

A few days later we saw several along a four lane highway. They too were undisturbed by traffic.

Yesterday while we were out exploring we noticed (couldn’t help but notice) several skunks who had successfully committed suicide by the motor vehicle. At almost every suicide there were one or more vultures. How do they stand the smell of skunk? I wonder if birds have a sense of smell? Something else to research.

I also saw several roosting on a tumble-down house. Creepy!

I know that every creature was put here on earth for some good reason. Scavenger birds are our cleaner-uppers, but did God have to make these useful birds so butt-ugly?