Thursday This n That

The other day, the phone company guy gave me his direct number and told me to call him if the static problem returned.  I have tried the number on several occasions and always get a 'voice mail box has not been set up' kind of message.  Thanks for nothin', phone dude.

The other night, we heard a strange noise outside.  It sounded like an owl, but not like any owl we've heard before.  I thought maybe it was a barn owl, so I checked out that call.  Nope.  So I went through every owl that lives in MO/AR but that I didn't think I'd heard before.  Nope.  Then I checked out the great horned owl to see if it made any non-typical noises that it could've been.  Not that either.  My last hope was the barred owl, but I didn't think it could be that because we hear their standard call quite often here.  Yep.  It was a non-typical barred owl noise.  

The next night, we heard a different strange noise outside.  Kind of between a growl and a yowl.  Checked out foxes.  Nope.  Not a raccoony type noise either.  Tried bobcat.  Yep.  It was a sound they usually make in series when they're looking for another bobcat, but this was only once.  Silly kitty.

Ah, livin' in the woods.

Hubs just stopped by my desk to fill up my coffee and he was chuckling.  I asked him why and he chuckled some more before he finally said "No, I don't want to get that stuck in your head."  I then said "Well, if it's giving you a chuckle, maybe it'll give me one, too."  He chuckled some more and replied, "No.  I don't want to risk it."  He's so funny.

Tuesday, I was at the bank chatting with my BFF when she suddenly whips out her phone and tells me she's got to show me something, saying it always made her smile.  It was an old video of Allan Sherman singing 'Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah.'  Too fun and it definitely made me smile.  I'm not sure when or where I first heard the song, but it's been my head for decades. Hubs and I are both fond of it and often quote the line I'm sure we'll have some fun if it stops rainin'.

That line is kind of apropos for this week.  Holy sploosh.  It's rained every day this week.  Wet wet wet.  Good thing Hubs and I worked on repairing the drainage before all this started.  All the rain is nicely flowing around the house instead of straight at it and puddling up in front.

And on that wet note, I'll let you go.  Have a great day, everyone.  :hugs:

Thursday This n That

Ugh.  I slept late again.  Of course, late for me is after 6am.  But it throws off my morning, hence this post getting written after 7:30.  And posted after 8.  Derp.

I hit the Wallyworld yesterday.  Actually, I went down to get feed for the deer, but since I was in town, I figured it would be good to go to the store, too.  Meh.  Anyway, as I was walking from my car to the store, I heard someone shout 'Hey, where's your mask?  Put your mask on.'  It was in my hand so I held it up and waved it.  Then I noticed the person shouting was talking to a friend of his.  :shrug:  You never know.  I put the damned thing on before I got to the door, but I'll be damned if I'll walk out in the open air with the thing on.

Speaking of the 'rona, Missouri's governor and his wife tested positive.  I wish them both a speedy recovery.  Some people on FB were laughing about it, because he's been very 'anti-chaos crap', calling it Karma.  Assholes abound.  I expect both he and his wife will weather through it and come out the other side no worse for wear.  Sort of like Tom Hanks and his wife did.  

Yesterday was the anniversary of the release of George Strait's 'All My Exes Live in Texas'.  And now that song is stuck in my head.  You're welcome.  And sorry.

Having that song stuck in my head reminds me of the summer I spent hanging out at a country/western bar.  My brother and his wife were regulars and they took me there for my 21st birthday.  The rest of the summer just went along that route until I went back to college.  One of these days I should scan and post the photos of that summer, with my semi-mullet-esque hairstyle, drunk off my ass.  Unfortunately, I have a lot of 'drunk off my ass' photos from over the years.

Other than a couple sips of beer while I'm making bratwursts (and nine times out of ten, that was near-beer), I haven't had a drink since back in CO... Eight years?  For the life of me, I can't imagine why I ever drank.  

I feel the same way about football now.  For the life of me, I can't imagine why I was ever so into football.  Cold turkey now for... I think this is the third season I haven't watched.  Not even a sip or two.  ;o)

Oh, yeah, when I was at Wallyworld, I picked up a bag of Granny Smith apples.  Romanian Apple Cake, here I come!  You know, once I get off my butt and prep the apples.  ;o)

What's on your this n that today?

Thursday This n That

It's February.  I suppose I ought to change my calendar.

I've had the same song stuck in my head for DAYS, and it's making me crazypants.  I won't mention the title here because I don't want to see this and get it started again.  You know, in the off chance I ever get it stopped.  I keep trying to replace it with other songs and that works for a while.  Then next thing I know, it's there again.  Arrgghh.

What's up pussycat? Meow, meow, meow.

Okay, now that that's over for a while, maybe I can think about other stuff.  Let's see...

Hubs and I were watching See No Evil last night when the lead-in showed a rabbit underneath a car and we were both like 'Bunny!'  Then we started joking about how traumatic it must've been for the rabbit and now it's got to be in the Rabbit Protection Program.  We were cracking each other up.  By the way, the bunny never figured into the murder.  Talk about 'gun on the mantel'.  ;o)

By the way, we each shout out animal names as we see them.  So, if one of us is by a window and sees a rabbit, the viewer will shout 'Bunny'.  Most often, though, it's 'Deer'.  Yesterday, we both happened to look out the front window as a big red-shouldered hawk was flying through and we both yelled 'Hawk' at the same time.  Yep, we're weird.

I bought a couple pairs of thermal socks last year.  Women's thermal socks.  They never fit right and they're actually kind of nubby, so they hurt to walk on.  But I paid good money for them and I am going to wear them, goddamnit.  (No, I couldn't take them back.  I washed them before I discovered they were foot torture devices.)  Except this morning the pair was hurting so bad while I was standing in the kitchen, I took them off and threw them away, crying "Socks shouldn't hurt!  Why am I wearing socks that hurt me?!"  The other pair will get thrown out the next time I'm by my sock drawer.  I now have soft, fluffy thermal socks on.  Men's thermal socks because, even though they're too big, they don't hurt me.

I have to wear thermal socks pretty much all winter because I get really cold feet.  Sometimes it's hard to cram on shoes because my socks are so fat.  But they're warm, so I live with it.  If I had all the money in the world, I'd have 'winter shoes' a half size larger than 'rest of the year shoes', just for the socks. 

Okay, I think that's quite enough out of me.  What's on your radar today?

Thursday This n That

Today's bird of the day is a toucan.  I having a feeling that I'll be quietly craving Froot Loops (tm) all day.

I saw a quote this morning that said something along the lines of 'the mistakes you never made are the ones you regret the most'.  I call bullshit on that one.  I don't have any regrets about not moving to Australia - a goal of mine back when I was like 16.  That would've been a HUGE mistake.  And I have absolutely no regrets about never getting into drugs.  Oh, sure, I tried pot when I was in college.  Regret that seriously since its effects on me were extreme technicolor yawning.  Massive, major, 'I will never ever forget that' ralphing. So much so that even a brain injury could not wipe that memory away.  Fun, fun.

This lead, of course, to a conversation in which Hubs and I tried to figure out once again why people do drugs.  Which reminded me a Robin Williams bit from his 'Live at the Met' show.  "Cocaine.  Anything that makes you paranoid and impotent, give me more of that."  I seriously don't get it.  Well, maybe a little.  I was a serious drinker once upon a time, and looking back, I figured out I was drinking so heavily because I was trying to blank out from everything.  I got over it.  Maybe if people spent more time using their brains instead of trying to blank them out, they'd be better off.  :shrug:

Unfortunately, this conversation also led to me mentioning that Lewis Carroll had to be doing some serious drugs when he wrote Alice in Wonderland, which led to me thinking of that silly song from the Disney movie about the momraths.  And now it's stuck in my head.

The fall bird migration has begun here in the Ozarks and we're seeing the travelers in the yard.  So far, mainly warblers.  Yesterday we had a cerulean warbler and two yellow-rumped warblers.  So pretty.  And so small.  You really have to be paying attention to see those buggers.

It's also gotten cooler this week.  Yay!  I'm actually wearing socks and sweatpants this morning.  And a sweatshirt!  =o)

What's up in your this-n-that world today?