Monday Misc for Nov 17th

Weather Update:  Yep, it's COLD!  The good news is that we didn't get any snow over the weekend which surprised me since the weather forecasters here are usually spot on when forecasting weather. However I'm glad they were wrong and we didn't get snow. I'm pretty comfortable driving on snow myself but worry about the other people on the road.  The high today is supposed to be 19 and down to 7 tonight (chill index will be below 0) which will break the record for the coldest day on this date since 1903. The day highs are usually in the 50's this time of year... At least later in the week we should get above freezing...  The 70's in San Diego next week are looking pretty good to me....

Gas Price:  I filled up yesterday with $2.59 gas at a Quick Trip and was really surprised to see gas prices the lowest I can remember in years. Gas is always highest in Calif so it will be interesting to see what we pay there next week.

Years of a big birthdays:  I met a lady in last week's photography class who turned 50 this year.  She was talking about how she decided to do something fun every month during the year.  It has ranged from a trip to Mexico to doing a zip line in Missouri.  Some of the things are just things in the KC area that she has never done even though she has lived here for years.  She wanted some info on doing a book of the year using pictures she has taken during the year.  I kinda like that idea and am thinking I should do something like that for 2015 when I turn 50...

Dec edition of the Quarterly:  I finished the Dec edition of the Quarterly magazine that the Johnson County Genealogy Society publishes.  It is 32 pages long and was quite a chore but I had fun doing it.  After I get it done, I email it to 3 people who do the proofing and catch all my grammar and punctuation mistakes.  I warned the board before I agreed to do it that I was better at putting it together than I was at proofing. Now my impatience sets in when I have to wait on others....  I want to get it to the printers on Thursday.  One of the members did a great article about the "First Olathe Soldier Killed in WW I". Olathe is a neighboring suburb.  She found in old newspapers a letter he wrote to his mother from France a few months before he was killed, a copy of the telegram notifying his parents of his death, a lengthy obit, a poem his parents wrote on the 1 year anniversary of his death and info from the local American Legion what is named after him. She also found an item where he was buried in the Olathe cemetery 5 years later.  In WW I, the bodies of soldiers where were killed were not immediately returned for burial.  They were buried in France or wherever and then some were returned after the war and some remained buried overseas.  She really did a great job an it was so interesting.

Home Depot, Hackers and other stuff

Home Depot:  Remember the issue when they got hacked and files stolen a few months ago?  I got a letter from my credit card saying my card was in the bunch stolen and they were issuing me a new card.  Well that was great but then I had to go online and change the credit card number with everyone from utility companies to Vera Bradley. The new card had the new fangled security chip in it but I have only found 2 stores who have credit card machines that are new enough to use the security chip.. Then I get a letter from Home Depot saying my email address was in a bunch that was hacked!  Now I am getting emails from Ghanda wanting me to help free someone from prison, American Express saying my account was frozen and to "verity" information to unlock the account and the list goes on and on.  I get 5-10 of these a day. Bells went off in my head when I got the American Express email so I called them and sure enough it was not legitimate. I could change my email address but I have had the same one for over 25 years and do not want to change it so will just keep deleting emails for now. At least they didn't make any charges to my old card....

Larry's Mother:  I got a call from Georgia, Larry's sister, yesterday letting me know that their mother had passed away. Barbara was 93,  had severe dementia  and other problems so she is at peace. It's tough on Georgia since she is the only remaining child and the McClelland name stops with her on her Grandfather's line. I'm going to go visit Georgia & Cass in the spring and go with her to take her mother's ashes down to Cambria, CA for burial in the O'Neil family plot of the little cemetery there. Larry and I visited that cemetery a few years ago and it is a really neat place - small, surrounded by woods, up on a big hill with an abundance of wildlife roaming the grounds.

Weather: I know I wanted 4 seasons but this is ridiculous!  It isn't even Thanksgiving yet and the wind chill this morning was 3 degrees with snow forecast for Saturday.  The 10 day forecast doesn't have any days above 40.  The wind is brutal.  Otherwise, it isn't too bad if you are in the sun - it's cold but with scarf, gloves, etc I am o.k. With all the wind, I certainly appreciate the time you ladies in Tucson took to check out the chime sound on wind chimes. 8-)  Sometimes the sound just goes on and on with the wind.  I woke up in the night last night and could hear the wind chimes.

Visitor: There has been a gray squirrel in the yard ever since I moved in here.  He usually came through in the morning while I was having breakfast and I would watch Morris watching the squirrel. A few weeks ago the squirrel was in the yard and came up on the patio. So.....I decided to feed him. I go and get a squirrel feeder, hang it in the yard and waited but never saw him in the feeder and the food level was the same. So....after seeing him on the patio again, I put some food just off the patio in the grass and he ate it.  Then I put some in a dish on the patio and here he is having lunch.

This week is the first time I have seen 2 of them at the same time in the yard.  So I put food out and it disappears but I don't know when they are getting it. Yesterday I changed the seed in the hanging feeder to bird seed and will feed the squirrel on the patio. Easy entertainment.... 8-)

Monday Misc for Nov 10th

Weather:   Yep, weather is getting top billing again this week. Here is the weather forecast for the next 10 days. As you can see, it will be 40 degrees colder in the morning than the high today and the

 

high tomorrow is forecast to be 30 degrees colder than today.  Then in the 30's for the next 10 days and beyond.  I don't mind cold!  However, I didn't expect it this sudden, this soon. Then there is the wind chill which is another whole issue to deal with. We shall see!   8-)  On the other hand, 2 weeks from today I will be on my way to San Diego.....

Photography Class: I have taken many, many photography classes over the years but have never taken a portrait photography class until now. I'm taking it at the community college from an instructor I took a class from back in the spring. I wanted to learn about posing people, etc which is a lot more technical than just pointing a camera at a flower and pushing the button. After our class on Saturday, we had homework assignments to do before the class next Saturday.  So...yesterday my nieces were my subject for part of the assignment. We went out to lunch, wine tasting at a winery and then pictures outside at the winery. I did a bit of tweaking in Photoshop when I got home, added a vignette effect and here is the finished assignment.  

 Karen and Vivian.

 Karen

Vivian

 

Any volunteers to be subjects?  8-)

 

 

Monday Misc for Nov 3rd

Three weeks from today I will be going to San Diego to meet a Tucson friend and will come home the day after Thanksgiving.  I'm really looking forward to the trip.

Daylight Savings Time:  One of the good things I can say about Arizona, other than friends, is that they did not observe this silly, outdated thing called Daylight Savings Time. It might have made sense when it was enacted many years ago but not needed now days. It was a hassle yesterday to have to change all the clocks.  However, they are making new clock radios, of which I have 2 of them,  that connect to satellite and reset themselves so I didn't have to change them. That was pretty cool.... Of course I was ready to go to bed last night before the clock said it was time to and woke up this morning at a ridiculous hour. Oh well..... I guess it's the price I pay for green grass, real trees, etc.

Cookies:  I ran across a recipe a few weeks ago and got around to making them last Saturday morning.  They are Pumpkin Spice cookies with cream cheese frosting and really good. The best part is that they were so easy to make!  I had to get most of them out of the house so took some to Bill and Vida when I went over there on Saturday and will give the rest of them to Vivian tomorrow. I really want to experiment with baking but there is the problem of what to do with the stuff I make since I can't keep it in the house and eat it. I would put those hard lost pounds back on so fast.....

Land's End: I love the plain cotton turtle neck sweaters from Land's End. The Sears in Tucson quit carrying the Land's End products in their store and I prefer to buy something I can see rather than order it online. So last week I went to the local Sears here just in case before I ordered online and found a gold mine.  The local Sears store not only carried a very large selection of women's clothing, they also carry men's clothing , kids and plus sizes - all Land's End!!!! Prices are the same as online.

Have a good week everyone!