Confession

I did sort of a mean thing the other night.

Every night I fix the cats a little bedtime snack of real chicken. (I started giving them chicken when our black and white one was having trouble eating.) I cook a few thighs at the time and then put the meat in the food processor. They’ve come to expect it every night. Then Mother Cat goes out, no matter the weather, and the white stays inside. He stays outside at night, too, when the weather is warmer.

Since it’s a little cold still, I’ve been keeping him inside. This night though he outfoxed me and sneaked out. I called him several times and he just sat on the deck and ignored me.

I went up to get ready for bed and to read for a while. Thirty minutes later I tried again to get him in. Still, he ignored me. I waited a little while longer before trying again. I was tired; I wanted to go to bed.

When he still ignored me, I almost decided to leave him out. Then a mean (well, a little mean) idea occurred to me. I turned on the food processor and he came running. I closed the door quickly, and he spent the night inside WITHOUT a second serving of chicken. I think I received a dirty look. That’ll teach him to ignore me!

Have I Missed Much?

It’s been 12 days (but who’s counting?) since I turned off my television. I did have it on most of the day during the hunt for the Boston bombing suspects, but I’m not counting that as recreational viewing time.

Do I miss it? Not as much as I thought I would. I turned it on last night to watch “NCIS,” but I only watched a few minutes. I don’t like this ongoing plot line.

Sometimes when I walk into the kitchen, my hand reaches for the on/off switch for the TV that’s in there. It’s sort of like quitting smoking. There are times when most smokers light up—getting into the car, picking up the phone, or after meals. It becomes a ritual almost. Giving up those rituals is  hard even after you have conquered the physical addiction. I’m still haven’t conquered the ritual of the on/off button, but I’m getting there.

Play of the Week

Last night Levi had his second coaches pitch baseball game. He did very well. He made a hit at every turn at bat, and he made some very good defensive plays. All of our grandchildren are outstanding athletes. Grammies get to brag sometimes.

The Play of the Week happened when one of the smallest players on the team came up to bat. He looks about 5 years old, but he could be just small for his age. After several pitches he finally connected. He drove the ball down in the dirt in front of him. It was barely out of the batter’s box, but it was in fair territory. He ran for first base and made it safely. Someone threw the ball and the player who was supposed to catch it missed the ball. This happened several times. Our little guy scored a home run on a ball that went about two feet! Yea for him! I hope they gave him the game ball.

I love watching the little guys play!

A Real Turn-Off

Since I was seven years old, television has been a huge part of my life. I would rush in after school and stare at the Indian head test pattern until our one station signed on. Back in the early ‘50’s, the broadcasting day ran only a few hours. I would watch John Cameron Swayze doing the news and every program until 9:00 pm when I was sent to bed. Even then when “I Love Lucy” came one I would peek through the doorway until I was caught.

Very few days in the last 60 years have passed that I haven’t watched television . The kitchen television is turned on the minute I enter to cook breakfast. As I move from room to room during the day, I turn on the closest set. There have been times when there are three sets running at the same time, and I am alone. One television or the other is on from the time I get up until I go to bed.

If I’m reading the television is on; if I’m on the computer, the television is on; if I’m washing dishes, cooking, or cleaning, the television is on.

We don’t have sets in the bedrooms now although we did in the past. I do have a portable VCR player in a bedroom for those nights when sleep just won’t come. I also can access the internet in the wee, small hours to stream a little entertainment if necessary.

Last night I was channel surfing trying to find something to watch (or at least to listen to while I was working on a project). There are over 100 hundred channels available and I couldn’t find one thing that looked interesting. I don’t watch reality shows, comedies are all based on tasteless subjects, and I had seen every movie on last night several times. I did something I seldom do—I turned off the set. I found a video on the shelf to watch, and I went to bed at 10:00 pm and read for a couple of hours.

I mentioned to Mr. Fixit this morning that my television hadn’t been on since early yesterday evening.  I wondered if I could make it more that a few hours without the background noise. I have the internet for news, games, and streaming programming from the networks, plus a large collection of movie DVD’s.

Here it is 9:00 Saturday evening and the TV is still off. It helps that we have been away from home all day. Tomorrow we have a full day of baseball tournaments. If I can start my day without Lester Holt and “CBS Sunday Morning,” I may be able to go another day without television.

Mr. Fixit said that if I don’t go nuts without it, we could save a lot of money without that Directv bill every month. Yeah, right! He’s also glued Encore Westerns for far too many hours a day. I think the loss would hurt him more than me.

Rudeness?

My doctor’s practice includes two doctors and one nurse practitioner. There is also a lab and a small emergency facility. The three are separate entities under the same umbrella organization. They share a large waiting room.

When I go into the lab/emergency waiting area, I tend not to make prolonged eye contact with those waiting. Somehow it seems intrusive to me to show any curiosity when someone is sick.

This morning when I went for my blood work for an upcoming appointment, I noticed a young woman waiting but I didn’t really look other than to smile to acknowledge her presence.

A few minutes later as I was reading my book, she made a telephone call detailing the reason for visit to see the doctor. She said that she had cut her finger while washing dishes and she had been bleeding for over an hour. That’s when I looked up and saw that she had large amount of gauze wrapped around her hand.

While the young woman was still talking to her friend, the nurse came out to check the wound and to re-wrap the hand. The young woman continued to talk while the nurse was working on her. The nurse finished and the phone conversation continued without pause.

I think it’s rude for customers to talk while their groceries are being checked out. This seemed beyond rude to me, but, of course, I could be described as an old fuddy-duddy.

My dentist has the right idea, I think. There is a sign in the office that says, “Please turn off cell phones. If your phone rings during your appointment, the appointment will be terminated.” I would be willing to bet that there has never been a cell phone ringing in his examination rooms.