Thursday This n That

I located my gumption.  It was hiding behind the TV.

Okay, so we all were taught there are three states of matter - solid, liquid, gas.  Years ago, I read something about there being a fourth state - plasma.  It's like fire.  Fire exists but previously had no assigned state of matter, so Voila! plasma.  I thought it was cool and seemed logical, so I taught that to my daughter.  Of course, she mentioned it to a teacher, who immediately told her she was wrong.  I had to talk to the teacher and explain where Owl came up with that and I provided sources.  Derp.  Which reminds me about my 6th grade science teacher who marked me wrong during our lesson on blood types.  We pricked our fingers, applied it to the paper with some solution, and watched for the reaction.  I already knew my blood type and the types of my parents, so it was easy enough.  Once the thing dried, though, the teacher said I didn't have what I had and said I had a blood type neither of my parents had.  I backed her down by pointing out that she was basically saying my dad wasn't my dad, and she changed my grade back to an A.  Silly git.

For the record, there's no way I could be adopted.  Sometimes, when I was a kid, I wished I was.  Sometimes, I felt like I was.  Mom explained it to me the easy way - we already had four kids, why would we adopt another one?  Harsh, but true.

I watch a lot of Long Last Family (the UK edition).  It's like a mystery show, and y'all know how I do love mysteries.  But it's real.  People finding kids they gave up for adoption, or adopted people looking for their birth parents, or siblings searching for each other.  Usually there are happy endings, and I love those, too.  

Is it just me or does Venus look brighter these days?

This morning, a barred owl was hooting out there in the woods.  They make a sound people liken to 'who cooks for you'.  The last time I heard it, it was just one big HOOT.  I tried to make squeaking noises to draw it closer, but nope.  Aw, well.

Which reminds me of this exchange I saw about people incorrectly correcting other people.  Someone had posted about a barred owl and another person corrected them by saying they meant BARN owl, not BARD.  ROFL

Okay, that's enough out of me.  Got any this-n-thats for me today?  What thoughts do you have on mine?

Thursday This n That

 The coffee maker I bought a month ago died.  It was a Toastmaster.  So, $15 down the drain.  Yesterday, I went to Wallyworld to get a new one.  They didn't have my usual Black & Decker model, so I picked up a Mr. Coffee.  And, of course, the less expensive models were all sold out, so I ended up with one that has more bells and whistles than we need.  (Literally on the bells... it chimes when the coffee's done.  As if we actually wait for the coffee to be done before we grab a cup.)  :shrug:  We have coffee.  That's all that matters.  And I really only spent $10 more than I would've.

You'd think with all the nifty things this coffee maker does, it would have a lighted clock.  But no.  And the clock is poorly designed because it's set back a little into the coffee maker and I have to lean over to look at it.  Thanks, Mr. Coffee.

In line at the Wallyworld, a masked-up woman rolled up behind me on one of their scooters - you know the ones the store provides - and she started bitching about how people weren't respecting the 6' social distancing.  She was about 3 feet away from me.  And every time I sidled away from her, she rolled closer.  Chattering away about her mother the nurse and the trials she's had to endure during her shopping experience.  I was pleasant and attentive, but eventually I had to turn my back on her and dealt with my purchases.  After I paid and put my stuff in my cart, I turned to tell her to have a Happy New Year and she said something like 'I'm glad I don't know you'.  Well, gee, the feeling is mutual, ya old bat.

Before that, at the cash register was another old woman on a scooter and she got really shrill when the cashier handed her bills but no coins.  A while back, Wallyworld went to a system where they round up on the change so if you're due a quarter, they give you a dollar.  I tried helping out the nice cashier, and explaining it to the gal, but it only made her madder.  As she rolled off, heading toward the customer service counter to bitch some more, the cashier told me she was only really due 8 cents and got a whole dollar instead, so she wasn't sure where the problem lay.  Maybe the lady collects coins.  :shrug:

Needless to say, the world is more than a little nuts right now.  I didn't let any of it harsh my day.  Hell, I got the dirt I've been wanting to buy and a new coffee maker AND donuts, so it's all good.  

Since it was raining yesterday, the dirt is sitting on the front porch and will go into the bed today.  Yay.  I got three more bags of Black Cow composted manure and two bags of what they're calling 'compressed potting soil'.  Supposedly there are 2 cubic feet in each 1 cubic foot bag and it will expand once it's open.  If it does what it says, I'll have 7 cubic feet of dirt to add to the garden and that should do it.  We'll see.  

You should've seen my little Cavalier yesterday.  Four 50lb bags of corn, five bags of dirt, all in the back seat.  (I have to put heavy things in the back seat.  If I put them in the trunk, it feels like I'm driving down the road doing one big wheelie for 20+ miles.)  I was riding low that day, lemme tell ya.  

I think the neighbors are finally moving into their new house next door.  It's been over two years since they started the project, but then the King Flu hit and supplies got harder to get.  Anyway, it'll be nice.  I wonder if they'll let me play with their dog.  He's a cool dog - like redbone coonhound mixed with Afghan hound.  He's all legs.  What a cute puppy he was.  

Gah, I need a dog.

Anyway, that's probably enough out of me this morning.  What's on your this n that radar today?

Don't I Know You?

Hubs and I were watching a new show - Flesh and Blood on Masterpiece - Sunday night and several of the cast members looked familiar.  So, as I often do, I went to IMDB to figure out where we might have seen them.

The creepy next door neighbor played Dolores Umbridge in the Harry Potter movies.  

The mom played Paul Atreides mother in the original movie of Dune.

The mom's boyfriend played the good cop in V is for Vendetta.

And each time I discovered who they were, I was all like 'OH!! That's where I know them from.'  

I do this all the time.  Especially watching old shows like Perry Mason.  There's a lot of 'hey, that guy looks familiar' on there. And during commercials or after the show, I hit the internet.  I hate not knowing where I know someone from.  It's a thing.

Sometimes I know where I know them from.  "Hey, it's the little guy from The Big Sleep." Or "Oh, man, I just saw him.  He's plays the neighbor on Hazel."  

A couple weeks ago, we were watching something else on Masterpiece - Van der Valk - and the main character looked totally familiar, but I kept picturing him as much younger.  Sure enough, he played Blythe on Band of Brothers.  (Don't get me started on Band of Brothers and searching for where I knew all of those actors from.  There were a lot of actors in that one that I knew I knew from somewhere else.)

Thank goodness for the internet.  This stuff used to drive me nuts.  Now I can look any actor up at any time and satisfy my neurotic need to know.

If only there were an internet database of everyone I've ever met, so I can figure out who all those people are that I run into and wonder 'don't I know you from somewhere?' ;o)

Sunday Update- Week 14

The days and weeks are blurring together worse than usual lately.  I know today is Sunday because it's Easter. 

Happy Easter, by the way.  We're having ham and I made a cake yesterday.  Other than that, just another day on self-imposed lockdown.  The real thing about today is it's the first Easter we've spent with Owl since 2012.  And I don't even know where the Easter basket is and we don't have anything to put in it even if I knew where it was.  I usually send her a gift basket or something, but this year, since she's here and it's chaos, we got nothin'.  But she's 26, so I think she'll get over it.

Still no writing or editing.  Maybe today.  I spent a lot of time thinking about it when I should've been falling asleep last night.  We'll see.  No marketing or sales either.

I only finished one book last week before the Reading Wrap-up.  Then I finished another one yesterday.  I DNF'd one yesterday, too.  Those'll be on Saturday's post.

In baking news, I made a cake yesterday.  Since I was out of baker's cocoa, I made a vanilla oil cake with franken-frosting.  The cake is okay, but it needs more flavor.  The frosting is really good.  I melted some chocolate chips and butter in the microwave, added the last of the powdered sugar and some milk.  Beat it until it was smooth, then added a heaping dollop of peanut butter, beat it smooth again, and frosted the cake.  I also did a batch of crisis cookies (cake cookies) with yellow cake mix and chocolate chips.  I have to do granola bars and oatmeal cookies this week because we're almost out of both.

As I said, today, I'll be making a ham.  I buy the bone-in kind, cover it with pineapple slices and brown sugar and throw it in the oven for like 20 min per pound.  It's like a 11 pound ham, so about 3.75 hours at 325F, or something.  I'll have to look at the packaging to figure it all out later.

Not a lot on the activity front.  I screwed up my hip washing the kitchen floor on Tuesday, which harshed doing anything else.  As for weight, I gained back two of the pounds I lost due to stress, so I'm now at 174.2.  Still down about 8 pounds for the year.

I did go fishing twice this past week.  One undersized bass caught each time.  The first time, I took Owl with me.  She'd never seen anyone catch a bass, so it was exciting for her.  She wants to go back.  Yay.  Unfortunately for her, she's a night owl and fish a lot in the mornings.  Yesterday, I went out and was home before she woke up.  Ah, yesterday...

It was an interesting experience, so I'm glad she wasn't there.  A LOT of people were fishing yesterday - lucky for me in their boats, so not near me.  The parking lot wasn't too bad when I got there, so I parked in my usual spot.  Shortly thereafter, some numbnuts started to block me in with his big ass pickup and trailer, so I jumped up and moved my car.  As I was walking back to my fishing spot, I noticed another guy standing at the edge of the parking lot, apparently gazing off into the river.  Nope, he was pissing, which I realized when he turned toward me zipping his pants back up.  Then he told his woman to go piss behind the truck that had almost blocked me in.  I bet the people in the mansion across the river from where he was peeing got a eyefull.  Oh, living in the Ozarks, where there's always a place to pee even when there isn't.  People are gross.

I fished for about an hour before a thunderstorm rolled in.  The thing about fishing from the bank is that I can easily avoid storms by walking to my car and going home.  All those people in boats?  So screwed. 

When I got home, I discovered why there were so many people fishing yesterday.  The crappie are plentiful in the river right now - with some people catching 40-50 a day.  :shrug:  This is one of the bad things about fishing from the bank.  If the crappie aren't near the bank, I don't catch them.

Anyway, that's my week.  What went on in your week?