Life Without Internet

 

The Power Blinked off and returned – but the internet didn’t. 

The lights in the office indicated that the internet was up

and running. 

But no internet

on any device. 

No internet. 

No cable.

I was in the middle of facebooking someone

a message. 

I need the internet to play games

with my daughter

– better be back up within a couple of hours

I would hope. 

But it’s been more than an hour that we’ve been without. 

The weather’s been nice today.

 

                          What is up with the Internet not working?!?

And Alexa Stacey giving us attitude.

Alexa Emily worked most of the day. 

                          That was yesterday.

Not working this morning.

 

Of course I can’t post any of this until the internet is up. 

Jai called just before 4:00 p.m.

Still down.

No wait!

                          We stared to play

4:00 p.m.

Power down.

Oh, come – on . . .

 

                          Spectrum came early this morning

Now almost 24 hours later I am able to post.

It’s the Fifth Sunday of the Month – You Know What That Means

           Actually, I don’t.  5^th Sunday used to mean a combined meeting among the Relief Society and Elders Quorum.  Did it change?  According to the LDS website (now referred to as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints – we have been encouraged NOT to abbreviate)the fifth Sundays are under the direction of the bishop.  We have had some combined meetings, but mostly we’ve just had Sunday School.  Makes sense today as we have not had a Sunday School all month.

          I’ve been fighting a cold since last week and had opted not to go to either of the meetings last week though there was an after meeting that my RS president wanted me to attend.  I did.  I wore a mask.  Last night I went to the Halloween party but left early.  Today I went to Sacrament meeting than had Richard bring me home.  I think he should have stayed home as well as he still has a nasty cough.  I know that 47 degrees is not warm by any means and yet I feel so hot. Gosh darn.

 

         I really was feeling better.  Two more days maybe.

Headache, sore throat, body ache, etc.

          Richard’s birthday is October 3.  Every year around his birthday or sometimes not until before Thanksgiving he will catch a cold that will seemingly linger more each year.  This year happened within a few weeks after his birthday.  He happened to be in San Diego at the time.  He picked up a cold!  I told him NOT to bring it home.  But he did.  First he shared it with our youngest son and brought it home to me.  Oh, gee.

         Cold symptoms effect different people in different ways.  For me, it was like getting hit by a MACK truck – not that I’ve ever really been hit by a MACK truck mind you.  I just imagine that is partially how it would feel.  Like every tissue and organ within your body has felt the weight of heaviness smacking into it until it is too weak to function on its own. 

         I asked Richard to bring the walker from the shed just so I could use it to support myself as I slowly maneuvered myself from the bed to the toilet – moaning in pain.  For a few brief moments I had considered that it could be COVID but overall I felt too weak to even care.  I certainly wasn’t about to leave the comforts of home to maybe possibly be tested.  That was Monday. Richard (though he still has a nasty cough) waited on me hand and foot.  And kept me drugged.  Niquil, Dayquil, Alka-selzer whatever.  I am misspelling those drug names?  I feel like I am.  I continued to remained drugged – not that I wasn’t far from disoriented without them.

         I hadn’t gone to Church on Sunday – neither of us had.  But I did attend a meeting that I probably shouldn’t have.  But I felt much better Tuesday and yesterday – not enough to attend the luncheon  I don’t think Richard should have either.  I feel better today than yesterday but do tend to hack up phlegm if I have to talk – which I am trying so hard not to do.  But I do want to play games with Jaime – who must think I sound like Darth Vader.  But I am getting better.  I feel better.  I have ditched my walker.   I doubt I have COVID. I’m certain that Richard doesn’t have it.  Still he could have brought it home.

         I’m grateful for modern day medicines and technology.  I’m grateful for restored health.

Internet Problems Because of the Weather?

 

Played Phrasel with Jaime this

morning and afternoon. 

Still foggy outside.  Seems to

be interfering with

many of the sites on the internet. 

 

Played games with Jaime but had

problems opening other games or

even continue with scrabble cheat. 

It’s like the towers aren’t getting

signals due to the fog. 

 

Only YouTube hasn’t been given me

problems.  Not the way the other

sites have.  Even this site was 

giving me a problem at first.

Come Follow Me

                I am so grateful for the Come Follow Me program

and have expressed my gratitude towards those that

share their talents through Podcast and YouTube and for

the Come Follow Me site on facebook. 

I am really good at following the program until about

mid-May.  Summer comes and I am not near as

diligent and tend to miss out.  At least  this year.  It

appears I had only missed one week of the

Doctrine and Covenants.  And that was in November –

the week of Thanksgiving when all of the family was

sick accept for Jaime. 

I do have another confession – though I’ve returned to the

program and some sources I have not been so diligent about

the Come Follow Me page on facebook.  It used to come up in

my feed when I was diligent about my research.  I need

to revisit.  I need to get back to my routine.

I am better with the fall.  If it would only stay autumn always.

This Site is a Scam!!!!

 When you call a company - any company - make sure you are on their site and not just one that claims to be.

Recently just saw another ad for JUSTANSWER promoting pet advice.  DON'T DO IT.  Just Answer is a fishing site.  BEWARE!

You don't even have to click continue. This will come up automatically. 

 DO NOT PROVIDE YOUR ACCOUNT NUMBER!!!    You will be paying far more than just one dollar.

Wednesday is Garbage Day

 

          Garbage day was Thursday when we were living on Jenny in Myrtle Creek.  It was easy to remember when we would load Jaime up in the car to drive her to the church for young women, we would put the garbage out.  The garbage pick up was on Wednesdays after our move to Tri City.  Same days we took Jaime to YW – and we haven’t always been good at remembering.

          The garbage would get picked up just before 7:00 and if we hadn’t put it out when she started seminary, there was still time when we observed other cans out on our street.  But now the garbage gets picked up at 4:00 a.m.  Usually the trucks will wake me up.  Surprisingly they didn’t a couple of days ago.  Neither Richard nor I have been sleeping well this week.  We don’t know why.

Persistence

     When Jaime was little she had this admirable persistence that I don’t recall having seen in many children.  She would go after something and keep at it until she accomplished whatever it is she was trying to do.  She didn’t get upset or frustrated.  She never gave up.  That was so admirable as it started before she could walk.

          Two specific examples I remember were when she was in the tub and there was a sliver of soap floating around.  She was determined to pick it up out of the water.  Of course it would slip from her grasp and eventually became smaller and non-existent.  So it was the soap that gave out.  She continued to look for it though.

          She would see me remove bottle caps from the water I was drinking and replace the cap.  She tried her hand at removing the cap also until she was finally able to do it.  Replacing the cap took a lot more effort.  I don’t know how old she was when she mastered that one – but she could remove it long before she was walking whereas I don’t think she mastered replacing the cap until maybe two. 

          I love her persistence and for how often she has been an example to me.

I Like That Tall Toilet – But the Bathroom Got Smaller

           I don’t bend so well anymore.  My left leg often hurts and I wear lifts under my right foot to even them out.  I got up at 1:30 this morning to take Bonnie out and noticed a pain in my right leg.  What was that all about?  So both of my legs were hurting and I decided that I would soak them in the tub.

          The knobs for the master bath broke off a long time ago and I haven’t used the tub for a while – perhaps a couple of times before Biff and his family moved in but never while they were living here.  I did not realize how tight the bathroom was until this morning.  No wonder Biff is so happy not living here anymore! I’m wondering how they were able to get along in such a tight space. 

Bonnie Of Mice And Men

          Many of us experience a devastation after an automobile accident.  We may lose sleep over replaying the situation in our mind.  We are more cautious when we return to driving.  After a while we return normal sleeping habits and may become a little more lax in our driving habits – or whatever it may be.  Automobile accidents is just one of many scenarios.  I picked that analogy as I think more people may be able to identify with it than to pitbulls or the learning impaired.

         Last month Jaime and I had decided to take Bonnie to Millsite just for a change of scenery.  Unfortunately our day did not end well.  I lost a tremendous amount of sleep over the events that took place.  But it’s been a month and I have started sleeping better but not have completely relaxed nor do I expect I ever will.

         Jaime and I were sitting on a bench and Bonnie was exploring.  Jaime had let go of the leash and Bonnie spotted a dog in the distance – and I do mean distance.  The other dog and her walker had to have been a good football field distance away.  I don’t know why Bonnie felt the need to attack. For a fat dog she is fast and strong.

         Jaime went running after her and lost her shoe in the process.  I cannot run that fast and was slow to trail after.  I saw the other owner running and calling after her dog.  Jaime and I both felt bad and were crying about it.  My concern was more about Jaime than either of the dogs.

Not wishing to encounter anymore problems we decided to cross the field and head towards the car so that we could return home.  Just before we approached another bench Jaime realized that she had left her backpack behind and went to retrieve it.  We both continued to pray about the situation at hand and expressed our concern about the other dog and her owner.

The dog and her owner were reunited but there was conflict. Evidently Bonnie had bit the neck of the other dog and there were threats made but also opportunity for us to leave the park – which we did.  Still there were many sleepless nights and thoughts of animal control stepping in to remove Bonnie from our household and put her down.

Bonnie is a sweet dog overall – if you’re human.  But not to female dogs regardless of size.  We are no longer welcome at the park – not that Bonnie ever was.  Reminds me of Lenny from Mice and Men or any situation of one who may be slower that his/her peers and acts up – perhaps causes harm to a child and the parent of the victimized student may petition to “not allow that retard in the same school”.  It has happened before.  It will happen again. 

We love Bonnie but she is a threat to other animals and that is too bad.  We need to find someone who lives in the country in which Bonnie is the only female dog.  Jaime does not wish to give her up.  She loves Bonnie possibly more than the other owner loves her dog - though I don't know.  It was a bad experience and situation for all of us.

 

         

How Blessed Are We

 

A week ago I taught the lesson in Relief Society.  I had read and listened to the talk several times in the course of a month and it just wasn’t resonating with me. As I prayed about how I should go about teaching the lesson I felt inspired to focus on the upcoming conference and how to prepare to hear whatever message we needed to hear for ourselves.

I passed out a paper with thoughts I had collected from both the church website and Deseret News.  It starts out with how blessed we are to get to hear the words of God through our prophets and apostles and other Church leaders.  Let me emphasize other Church leaders as we heard from many that serve in other capacities.  And what a great blessing it was to hear from each of them.

General conference is a gift that each of us can benefit.  Taking notes helps one to focus – at least it does me.  I know that there were some who were disappointed not seeing Pres. Nelson for three of the sessions.  I appreciated Henry B. Eyring’s as he addressed the “servants of the Lord” – they were all servants.  And all brought “words of truth and encouragement  and greater insight guidance”  I love that.  I love that we have the opportunity to embrace conference.  I didn’t always, but feel more connected and grateful with modern technology helping us to view more freely and fully.

Pres. Nelson is almost 100 years old.  He recently had surgery and sat down for his talk.  Prophets and apostles age.  They encounter health problems.  Eventually they or their spouses are called home.  I remember watching conference when Pres. Hinckley sat alone while those he assisted were absent due to health. 

I am so grateful for modern day revelation and inspired mouth-pieces of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.  I am thankful for prayer and the guidance of the Holy Ghost.  I am grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ.

My Favorite Christmas Song

          I LOVE Christmas songs.

I could play them all year wrong

which is sinful in Jaime’s mind –

Halloween should be honored. 

What a terrible thing it is to have

Christmas decorations displayed

side by side the Halloween.

 

We had taken her to Ashland to visit. 

When we picked her up we went to a

few second hand stores. 

In one we found three CDS –

one specifically for Christmas. 

Richard played each CD on the way home. 

Jaime cringed as the Christmas CD played. 

There was one song that played that

we both recognized but NOT as

a Christmas song. 

Jaime accepted “Feeling Good”