Age is Just a Number

Trash or Treasure?

I'd like to gripe about outdoor Christmas decorations.    These are solely my opinions.   

Disclaimer:   I love red and green lights against a lovely wintery night, white lights twinkling under a layer of snow, evergreen boughs with red ribbon, and candles spotted in windows.   I am learning to love the season again after about 6 years of dark and stressful holidays, and generally get a kick out of friendly, neighborly competitions to light up the neighborhood.    However....

1.   I think if you're gonna decorate, then be tasteful - of course this is only my view of tasteful, which is relative.   

2.  Pick a Theme.    Santa on the roof with reindeer does not go with baby Jesus on the lawn.   

3.  At some point, quit buying plastic Christmas statues, and quit trying to fit everything you own in your front yard.

4.  Either do tiny lights or big lights, white or multi-colored, blinking or not.    Every strand of lights you own and have inherited over the years does not necessarily need to be used on the front of your house and in the trees.

5.   Big Plastic Snow Globes.   While some may think they look cutsie in the dark of the night, it's nothing more than a Christmas Junkyard during the day; like every King Soopers bag blew into your little corner of the world.    A deflated snow globe on the roof is really not attractive at all.

6.   If in doubt, do less.

7.   What's up with decorations on cars?   It's a car, and unlike your house or trees, it travels down slushy and muddy roads, rendering the big red bow ... brown.

8.   Practice Scale and Reality:  Candy canes the size of Rudolph are not natural.

Just Another Diving Day

This time last year we were ramping up for our trip to Saipan to visit my brother and wife for the Christmas and New Years Holidays.   A little summary:  they are scuba people living on this little island in the Northern Mariana Island chain north of Guam.

Occasionally my brother sends a great picture of island life.   Here is one of their friend's dog who goes along on dives to make sure everyone is diving safely:

I think clowns are kinda creepy, but the locals have some really creepy ideas of tourist buses:

It is reported that this bus is called "Chicky-Chicky-Bang-Bang".   I shiver.

However, not all is creepy:

Techy Bob

Hi, it's me.   The no frills, Lo-Tech, Minimalist.   I went to the phone store today to accomplish a To Do:  see if they can download my stored phone numbers.   Nothing's wrong, it's just preventative.  After all my phone is 3 years old, nearly 2.5 years past its disposable date.   It even has it's original battery.   Wow!  you say?    Hmmm.   I happen to like this phone because it does exactly what I want:   Call a person, Take a call from a person, Tell me their number, Let me store that number, and Take a message.   I think it even has solitaire in it somewhere.   I don't go to those menus.  Oh, and I can change the ring, which I don't do because this day and age I actually sound different than everyone else's - I know when it's mine.

So while Techy Bob (not his real name) got past my request with a slight grin he proceeded to download, I proceeded to check out new phones.   I found one similar to mine;  once again, a precaution ... in case my trusty phone dies, can I get something similar?   Maybe it's an age thing - I want something familiar to replace the lost item.   I fear that my no-frills character and request are an affront to consumerism and a personal insult to his salesman mentality.   "What?  You DON'T want a camera phone?!"   It could be a crime.

Here are a couple lines from our not very extensive conversation:

Techy Bob:   How do you want this downloaded?

Donna:   Can I have it digitally?

Techy Bob:   Whadayamean?

Donna:   Like on a disc, not hardcopy.

* * *

Donna:   Which one of these phones is most similar to mine?  This one here?  (I point)

Techy Bob:   Well, ya, but you can't downgrade much more than that (with a chuckle).

* * *

Techy Bob:   Okay, here it is (turns the screen my way), the phone numbers are going to be goofy so you'll have to fix them (as he points to the column).

Donna:  (I am imagining having to interpret phone numbers, edit the spreadsheet, and reshuffle names to match the numbers when I actually get it - via email)   I see that it is simply a "change column width" issue, or better - click and drag.   Does this dude think I am a cavewoman?

It's gotta be the gray hair.   

Today's Chuckle

A Different Sort

When's the last time you called a 25 year old on his cell phone and he had to turn his music down....and it was Opera?

I Ain't Gonna Get Political

With all of Kerry’s follies, this is the part that stood out to me:  “…you make an effort to be smart…”.   Does that mean that Forrest Gump actually had a chance to change his IQ?  I guess I thought that your smarts were genetically predisposed – that’s why not everyone is a rocket scientist.  But then what do I know, my previous spouse thought I was smarter than the average 100 IQ bear; he guessed I was maybe 110 or so.  Since he was a self proclaimed Mensa candidate I guess he’d know.   

I hope Kerry is smart enough to zip it up for a while.

This is as political as I'll get – maybe if I make an effort…



WHAT  EVER.