TIME IS ON MY SIDE

I have been working 4 X 10 shifts at work which result in an extra day off those weeks. When the business needs allow one of those days can be a Friday. When all the stars align then next week the day of can be the Monday resulting in a four day weekend.

This is brilliant. It is just wonderful.

I was off Friday. I lounged around in the morning having extra coffee. I went to Costco and filled a cart. I came home, had lunch and put some ribs in the oven.

I visited on social media sites and blogs. I read a book on my Kobo reader.

I cleaned my kitchen and put away the Costco stuff.

Friday night I was on my Rock Music of Our Time Facebook page (Come join us. Lots of fun) until late enjoying the posted music of the group and posting tons of fabulous rock music myself. Day 1….a great success.

Day 2 (Saturday) I slept in, snuggled in a warm bed. I pulled out my reader and continued with my book propped up in bed until the want of coffee forced me to get up. Did I mention I have the house to myself? Ahhhhh.

I played a hidden object game on the computer that morning. Just a little something to stimulate my mind. I love those games and played this one from start to finish.

Time to pull out the slow cooker for a couple of beef roasts. The house smells of onion and garlic and the cooking beef. The snow is falling lightly and I feel so content and relaxed.

The phone rang and it was my mother-in-law. We talked for an hour and half and it was so nice. I was not in a hurry. I was not tired. I was happy to have a visit on the phone with her.

The afternoon was filled with the cleaning up of my bedroom closet. Packing up items for charity. Folding and hanging. Sorting. All in preparation for a move hopefully in the near future.

More reading, more social media, more computer time. The TV has been off. The snow has been falling but not sticking. It melts on the roadways right away. I don’t have to go anywhere.

By the time my pot roasts are ready I am not hungry but I package them up in vacuum sealed bags in their gravy bath for the freezer. One day when we pull them out for dinner on a busy work week I will smile and remember this loooong weekend of mine.

So today is Sunday. I awoke at 7:30 and again picked up my Kobo reader. I want to finish my book. I have now finished 7 books since I got my reader for Christmas. I used to read all the time but over the last few years have not found the time to relax and grab a book. With the reader I order books through the library and make a point of finishing them before they have to be returned. This is free…FREE PEOPLE… I am happy to be a reader again.

I pull myself out of my warm cocoon and make some coffee. I have some things planned for today. I am going to shower and get dressed. Woohoo. I am going to make my famous meatballs (click here), again loading up the freezer for those mid week meals.

There is a new library book waiting for me that I hope to start today but I am going to also do my laundry and maybe attack a couple hall closets.

There are lots of chores in my weekend but the most amazing feeling is that come tomorrow, Monday, I am still off work. I feel as if I have had a vacation. I will head back to work on Tuesday with a renewed energy and outlook.

This is a most wonderful long weekend and it is doing me a world of good.

So…. how you doin? 

TEENS TO BE PROUD OF

So often we hear the bad news about teens. The drinking games posted on YouTube that are killing teens. 

The stupid, risky behaviour, the nasty music, drugs, parties, vandalism, fighting. 

Well here in B.C. I am thrilled to share a video of some Kelowna teens who decided a different kind of teen challenge should be on YouTube. 

These young men went out grocery shopping and made up care packages to give to the homeless in their area. 

They said why not do something that down the road you can be proud of on internet instead of ashamed. 

You guys are awesome. Keep up the challenges. Let’s see if this can be a trending topic on the internet.

ME EITHER - COULDA PUT SOMEONE'S EYE OUT

STEP UP TO THE TABLE

Let’s file this in the “Signs of the Times” folder. Then let’s toss it in the garbage because it needs to go there.

My sister took me out for dinner Saturday night. We went to a nice restaurant and sat at a little booth.

Shortly after we were seated a woman came in and was seated across from us at a bigger booth and I heard her asking for a booster seat.

Uh oh I thought. This is an adult type restaurant. No kids menus. No coloring books. Here we go again thinking back to the dinner out we had on my birthday. You can read about that here. I will wait until you get back to continue.

Minutes later her husband came in along with their 4 young boys. The oldest appeared to be about 7 or 8 years old. I tensed up.

Turns out there was nothing to worry about with their behaviour. They were really quiet and yet I am still not happy. Why? Not because I am a grumpy old lady but because when I looked over at their quiet table of 6 you could see every one of them was using a handheld device of some sort.

(NOT THE ACTUAL PEOPLE)

IPhones, gaming consoles whatever. They were not looking at each other. They were not talking to each other. The parents looked up when the server came to their table for something but other than the odd word here or there they completely ignored each other.

Yes they were quiet and didn’t disturb the other patrons but I don’t think this is a solution. I am really saddened. Sharing a meal with your family and not even looking at them is shameful.

These children should be learning how to engage in conversations with adults and each other. They should be learning to look the server in the eye and say thank you when she brings something to the table.

They should be sharing their day, their ideas, their problems. Instead they are staring into a screen and isolating themselves from the world around them.

The parents are once again taking the easy way out and instead of teaching their children what is acceptable behaviour they are “medicating” them with electronics.

Also they are not even communicating with their spouse as both of them had their heads buried in their IPhones. This too is teaching their children how to relate to their spouse later on. Ignore them. Pretend they are not there.

It is a sad, sad thing. Step up as a parent or grandparent. Teach these young people how to relate to each other. How to converse. How to enjoy the company of your family at meal time. Also how to behave yourself. Not just for me of course but for the world at large and mainly for the kids.

LET’S GET MOVIN’

I have to say I am feeling out of sorts lately. I don’t like it when things are up in the air. I like to know what is going to happen when.

I don’t like it when I am at the mercy of the decisions of others. When I have to wait upon others to do things or decide things it makes me cranky.

We plan on selling our home this year. I think. Yes. No. YES.

So now we have to get it ready to sell. Do we do it before our son moves out, working around him and his ever growing collection of his own furniture and household items he is amassing for his move or do we wait until he is out before we spruce up and show a house?

Do we sell and then not find the right place to move to when it is time to give up possession? I don’t want to be rushed to move out buying a place that really isn’t what I want. No! I won’t do that.

So do you buy a new place and hope like hell you sell your old place? I would prefer to find the place I want…which I did but it sold before we made up our minds…that is another story….move into this new place at our leisure and clean out our old place and do the necessary repairs and fixes on an empty house so we don’t have to work around furniture and stuff to get it ready to sell.

I really don’t want to have to keep things clean and tidy, ready for inspection (doubt that I could) nor do I want to have to finish working a 10 hour day only to have to vacate my home so someone can poke through it.

The housing market in the Vancouver suburbs is always booming. That is not a concern. The concern is that I am part of a family and I don’t get to make all the decisions….otherwise… we would be already talking about my new residence! Lol.

 

FRIGIDAIRE & SEARS–WE ARE BREAKING UP. IT’S NOT ME IT’S YOU.

**UPDATE**

Electrolux has reimbursed me for the cost of the part only. That was about half of my bill. 

It is better than nothing.

I will say that this only came about once I took to social media with my complaint. Until I started discussing it on their Facebook page I was getting nowhere. Suddenly they wanted to look into it further. 

I am still not impressed by the whole situation and will not buy their products or deal with Sears any longer. 

The cheque came yesterday. 

**************************

In 2009 we bought a new gas range from Sears. It was a Frigidaire Gallery series and it was not cheap. Today it is $1600.00 for the same stove with the same warming drawer and the convection oven which mine has. Within a few months of the warranty expiring we experienced problems with the keypad that controls the gas oven, clock, self cleaner, convection, timer etc.
Some of the numbers wouldn’t work no matter how you pressed on them. We worked around it for a while using the 6 instead of the 5 when setting temperatures. Then we called the repairman. He came by and checked it out. Unplugged the keypad from the back of the stove and when he plugged it back in it was working again. Just a reset apparently. This keypad has steadily been failing, number by number, since then.  More numbers. The convection button.Then the timer. The last straw was when we could no longer shut off the gas oven. The keypad was dead, other than the clock. In order to shut off the oven we had to cut the power to that part of the house so that when we turned the power back on the oven had shut down. I consider this to be outside of normal wear and tear. This is a faulty keypad. This has been confirmed by the fact that not only have they stopped using that original part, they are completely out of stock everywhere in Canada of the new part that replaces it. They don’t have it in the US either and if they did it isn’t certified in Canada so if our house burns down because of it we are not covered by insurance.
I have 2 weeks to get ready for Christmas. Two weeks to bake in preparation for Christmas and then of course to actually cook Christmas dinner and our Boxing Day party food as well. Oh ya, New Years Eve too.
Frigidaire says they have an agreement with Sears. Sears says it isn’t their problem. They can send a repairman out but they don’t have the part anyways. I have a repairman thanks. What I don’t have is any more patience with this issue.
We will be buying a new stove. WE WILL NEVER, EVER BUY FRIGIDAIRE APPLIANCES AGAIN AND WE WILL NOT PURCHASE ANY NEW APPLIANCES THROUGH SEARS. EVER. AGAIN.

LET IT SNOW…OH NO, NO!

I live in a rain forest area. There are times when we in the Lower Mainland of Vancouver, British Columbia complain that it won’t stop raining but we then leave the house dressed in pants and  a shirt and maybe, if it is really, really blowing rain sideways, we wear a jacket or sweater. Scroll down to see the photos.

SnowFrio_invierno by lorenglish

The odd time we get snow. Maybe once a year, an inch or two and it is usually gone in a couple days. We have had some years with lots more but mostly we escape the troubles of snow in the cities. Our ski mountains can sometimes suffer from the lack of the powder.
Snow at our cabin is a welcome thing for those who want to get on a snowmobile and blast around the mountains and trails.
Now I am reading about all of you getting lambasted with snow and ice. The temperatures are dropping and many of you are losing power.

• How much snow are you getting?
• Can you get to work or the grocery store?
• How much damage is being done in your area?
• What do you do to ride out the storms with your families?  

A PARKING LOT ENCOUNTER

There is a young man in our small town who is not coherent most of the time. He sits outside of either the 7-11 or a local Shoppers Drug Mart store.

He mumbles. He rants. He curses. He scares most people.

He may or may not have a drug problem. I don’t know. He appears to be more schizophrenic then drugged.

I have given him money. Not a lot. A buck or two. I give it with the understanding that what he does with it is his business. I know of someone who asked him once if he wanted to go to Subway for a sandwich. He said yes and then walked a completely different route than my friend to get to the restaurant and took his sandwich and left.

The second time I gave him money I introduced myself and asked him his name. He said it was D.C. Just initials. No name.

All he ever says is thanks…. until today.

I got to work in the same complex as the 7-11 he sits in front of at 7:15 this morning. Parked my car and walked to the sidewalk to get the company mail from the mailbox.

As I walked back to my car to grab my purse, coffee mug and lunch bag D.C. started yelling from across the lot.

“Hey, hey” he yelled as he came toward me. I wasn’t sure what to expect.

“Hey”

“Happy New year D.C.” I said. “How are you?”

“Good, Happy New Year”

I am not sure what else he said but it was a civil conversation and I joked about being old and managing to stay up until 2:00 am. He laughed a little.
“Well I have to go to work or I will be late. Take care D.C.”

“Okay, bye”

By the time I got to the door of my work he was back over by the 7-11 and he was again pacing back and forth loudly ranting about something.

I don’t even know what to think about this exchange. I have never heard of him harming anyone. Did he just have a moment of lucidity and recognized me? Did he recognize me? I have never seen him approach anyone before. He is always eyes down.

My heart is sad when I see such lost soul. Mental illness is a brutal thing whether it is organic or brought on by drug use. Again I don’t know his situation but because his routine is so set I don’t think it is drugs.

So many people refuse help that they desperately need. And for many others the help they need is not available.
I wonder what tomorrow will bring.