I have been pretty quiet about our Garbage Gestapo but I find myself wanting to rant (just a little) about how they "required" the citizens of Cedar Rapids to have their garbage, recyclable and compostables at the curb by 7:00 am. It seems to me that various agencies require their "customers" and the ones paying their salaries to jump through all sorts of hoops in order to receive the benefit of their services. As I am sitting in my office writing the blog, the window is open and it is a gorgeous morning I hear the first of the 3 garbage trucks go by. It is 10:15 am. Now my trash has been sitting at the curb for over 3 hours. I got up early, got my stuff rounded up and dutifully placed at the curb before 7:00 am. I think they should accept the onus and tell us each week the approximate time of their pickups. Working folks need to curb their garbage before they go to work, those of us lucky enough to be retired or those who are at home can place their stuff at the curb before the expected pickup time. I mean they are providing the service after all.
It has also been brought to my attention by my neighbor, MS that the UPS truck goes past our homes 2 times each day. The first time by they deliver to whatever address. The next time past is non-stop. We are theorizing that UPS has a rule about never making left turns. Seems like we heard that somewhere. This observation came to light yesterday. I was mowing the back yard and my current wife was watering or something when MS came and started visiting. After I finished I joined in the conversation. Now, usually when I walk up to a conversation it is normally over rather suddenly. It doesn't matter who are talking. It is just a gift I have, I guess. Anyway, we have wanted to install a fence between us. What should be an easy deal has gotten very complicated. I have this big green and rust colored electrical box in the corner of the yard. At first I didn't think it would be a problem but my current wife point out the label on the box stated that I have to maintain at least 10 clearance on the side of the box where the fence was to run. Crap! I asked MS if she knew where the property line was. No luck there. Instead of a straight line of chain link fence with a small gate now has morphed into something with a jog in it, an expense to get a surveyor to determine the property line and a more expensive installation cost. Good Grief Charlie Brown. I don't understand.
Oops! I just fell off my soap box. I will add that to my project list for the summer. It doesn't sit evenly and is wobbly. Okay, one of our friends, we will just refer to as Ms. Doe, related to us her visit to the Autumn Years Dating Agency. As you might expect there was the standard registration questions like name, age, address and such. Next there was the personal profile. It was a length questionnaire. Here again mostly the obvious questions covering such things like likes, dislikes, habits, personal status and personal traits. Ms. Doe was comfortable with all of this as she had prepared and braced herself for this personal examination. When completed, the consultant reviewed all of the responses but was confused when she said, "It says here that you'd prefer someone with regular bowel movements...Does it matter if they're involuntary?" Stunned, Ms. Doe responded, "No, it doesn't matter." She is now regretting her response. She has had a few meetings/dates all which were continually interrupted with the "involuntary regular bowel movements". Ms. Doe is looking for a new dating agency.
The bathroom remodel and the edging in the back of the house are in the rear view mirror now. Just completed - rebuilding our retaining wall at the corner of the house. This was originally on our 2008 project list but kind of got delayed because of a flood. I have before and after photos below.
Next on the list of todo's is a new retaining wall along the side of the house. A photo is attached also.
This is a big project involving 300+ blocks covering 35+ feet. The fun begins this afternoon. Also coming up is the attempt to bury our downspout to redirect rain water into the yard.
Still on the outdoor lawn and garden subject, I was stunned to see that our church had some brown circles in the grass outside of our fellowship hall. Not to go off on a tangent but these looked exactly like small crop circles. You remember the crop circle sightings over the years. We saw them mostly overseas but also in the US as well. These were huge usually in a field of wheat, grasses or some other type of crop. Over the years the designs evolved from circles to rather intricate designs. The creators of the crop circles were allegedly aliens from somewhere in the universe. Definitely not humans. I was always fascinated with these but I had not heard much about them in recent years until last weekend. I looked at these closely. A thing I noticed was that there was always a dandelion(s). Now to be perfectly honest they were not all perfect circles. Some were rectangular, squarish and some looked like someone painting outside the lines. I speculated that these could have been done by aliens like other crop circles. I googled trying to find references to small grass crop circles. I almost gave up when on the 17th page of my search list, I found and obscure and short reference where it was reported that these small circles were actually the results of training young aliens. Hence the seemingly irregularly shapes of some of the circles. Apparently, one of the youngster didn't quite get the technique. Sue, you will remember as my current wife, brought these to the attention of Charles, not his real name. He was already aware of them. He quickly pointed out that the grass was already growing back. Puzzled by his quick response, she asked some others and it seems that instead of aliens, these may actually have been created by humans and something like Roundup or Weed-B-Gone. Seems as though the target was the dandelions not the grass. Who knew?
You know you are in a recession when:
1. Your neighbor gets a pre-declined credit card in the mail.
2. CEO's start playing miniature golf.
3. Exxon-Mobil lays off 25 Congressmen.
4. If the bank returns your check marked "Insufficient Funds," you call them and ask them if they meant you or them.
5. McDonald's starts selling the 1/4 ouncer.
6. Angelina Jolie adopts a child from America.
7. A truckload of Americans is caught sneaking into Mexico.
8. A picture is now only worth 200 words.
9. When Bill and Hillary travel together, they now have to share a room.
10. The guy who made $50 billion disappear is being investigated by the people who made $1.5 Trillion disappear.
Jenny the elder is working with us to become more organic aware. We went down to the New Pioneer market. It is a coop affair. You join paying a one time fee and get to participate in organic and healthy food at a reduced cost. Shoot, they even pay you a dividend at the end of the year if they have a profit which they often do. I was under the impression, which proved to be false, that all French Roast coffee was the same. I had purchased organic French Roast from our local grocery store a while back. I noticed finally that this stuff just didn't have any flavor or aroma. I purchased some organic French Roast at this store. They had not one but 3 types of French Roast. I picked one that had the most recent brew date. Yes, they put the date the coffee beans were roasted. Cool. This stuff really smelled great. You fill your sack with coffee beans and then grind them. I got just a little excited and filled the bag up to the top. You couldn't get another bean in if you tried. You really should leave room to close the bag - I didn't do that. Now Sue pointed that out quickly and I simply explained (lamely) that that was the way I planned it. She didn't buy it of course. I just split the ground coffee into 2 bags. No problem at all. I had the French Roast every day since and it is great. No more thinking it is all the same. I have learned.
Well, my friends it is now almost 2:00 in the afternoon and I am still writing this blog. I have to stop now because I have a date with a retaining wall. Writing this is so much more fun. Oh well such is life. In closing, to all my friends and relatives who have sent me best "wishes", chain letters, "angel" letters or other promises of good luck, NONE OF THAT CRAP WORKED! Could you please just send cash, vodka, chocolate, Italian food, wine, or airline tickets instead? Thank you and TA!
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