Those Were The Days

Maybe not the best days, but memorable.

I had the 70s on 7 on Sirius on my radio this morning and the first song I heard was One Bad Apple. Do you remember that Osmond Brothers hit? Apparently, I'm the only one that I know who does.

Granted, it was a hit before my time (released in 1970 and I was clearly not into pop music then) but I was still a fan. But behind the times because when I got this lunch box in the Fifth Grade, I was seriously ridiculed.

I thought I was styling

Regardless of my childhood trauma, hearing the song today convinced me it was going to be a great day. And, it was. Right up until about 3 PM but that's another story.

For those who can't remember the song, or have no idea what it even is, here's a YouTube:

Those outfits, those dance moves!

Technology Terror Stories

I admit, I'm addicted to my electronics. Even when they're ticking me off (another blue screen of death!?!?!), I know I don't want to live without them. I really don't.

So, picture this situation. I was at the airport for my last trip to Des Moines to see Jimmy Buffett. Phred Parrot and I were at the bar having breakfast beers (OK, one beer and it was just for me) when I decided I needed to get his picture.

Except I couldn't find my phone.

Panic immediately ensued. I had switched to my travel purse and frantically went through it several times then searched my backpack in the off chance that I'd put my camera in there. The more I searched, the more this line of thought developed.

"I'll just have to buy a new camera right when I get there."

Did I need a new camera? No. Was I willing to go without one for one weekend? No. Would I have been happy with just a cheap digital to get me through the weekend? No.

I saved myself several hundred bucks by finally checking the one pocket in my purse where I never put my camera and there it was! I almost kissed it, I was so happy.

When I got to Des Moines, I told a couple of people the story and they, too, couldn't imagine me without a camera in hand. It's that inconceivable.

This past Sunday, we were driving back from Laughlin and my MacBook Pro was in a duffel bag in the back of my friend's Jeep Liberty. It was piled in with suitcases, a box of booze, coolers and other bags.

At our lunch stop, the driver opened the back to see that one of the coolers had a loose lid and was splashing water all over. My duffel looked like it was fine but, when we got home, I saw that it was soaked. As was my suitcase and, terrifyingly, the soft case on my Mac.

I took the Mac out of the case right away and it was moist.

Uh oh.

I opened it up and hit the power button and it looked like it was going to boot but then it froze.

Uh oh, part deux.

I closed it up, wiped it down and prayed to the technology gods that it would all be OK. I was too sick at heart to even try it again that night. I was having visions of having to explain why my work machine got wrecked by cooler water in Nevada. That wasn't going to be a happy conversation. I was also mentally cataloging all of the stuff I had on the machine that wasn't in the clouds and hoping that if it were wrecked, at least the hard drive could be saved.

When I got in to work in the morning, I plugged it in to its power cord, the monitor, keyboard and mouse, hit the power button and continued the prayers.

It took forever (minutes) to boot up but it finally did. The relief was immense. Even though all seems to be working well but I've been flinching at every little thing that appears to be odd because life without it would be so very, very sad.

Clearly, I would never make it as a Luddite.

Book Review - A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was our book club selection this month. Surprisingly, even though it's a classic, none of us had read it.

I really liked it. The story takes place in Brooklyn before WWI and our heroine is Francie. Her family is poor, her Dad's an alcoholic and this is back in the day when people were lucky to get to even an eighth grade education. However, as grim as their life may be, there was hope, love and determination.

A wonderful cast of characters with Aunt Sissy being my favorite. She was an unapologetic promiscuous woman for her time but had a great heart. Francie's Mom, Katie, was a strong woman determined to do things right by her children. And, Francie was pragmatic, observant and caring in her own right.

If you haven't read it, you should. Not only because of its status in American literature but because it's a good story with both humor and pathos.

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The Most Interesting Parrot In The World

Phred Parrot, club mascot, bird of the world.

I don't want to say that Phred Parrot gets around but, damn, that bird gets around and gets remembered!

On my last trip to Des Moines, Phred was my companion and we headed to the bar for breakfast beers after we got through security. (He was smuggled through security in my backpack. I'm not paying for his own plane ticket.)

As I got him set up for a picture, the bartender said, "Hey, I know him. That's Phred with a P H."

Yep, it really happened.

Turns out that Gretchen the bartender remembered Phred from a previous visit to the bar while he was on his way to "somewhere beachy". That doesn't really narrow it done for his travels so I described some of the humans he'd been with lately but she only remembered him.

Turns out the trip was with Goat and Queen as they visited Hawaii. 

Gretchen also said that she'd tried to find him on FB so I told her to try again under "Phred Parrot". They are now FB buddies. 

Phred's got a lof of FB friends. 173 at the moment which is more than a lot of humans I know. He's just  a social kinda guy, er, bird. As he continues to travel, I'm sure he'll get even more friends because he's a total camera hog and people love to be able to tag friends in photos.

Well, maybe I'm the only one who loves to tag friends in photos. Because, whatever happens in real life does end up on Facebook.

Book Review - Death of Kings

Death of Kings by Bernard Cornwell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I love this series about the consolidation of England under the reign of Alfred The Great.

Uhtred has spent his life and his money in the service of the dying Alfred and then his son Edward in order to fight the Danes and others who don't share Alfred's vision of one great land under a Christian God. There are graphic fights, politics, murders, intrigue and romance. The heathen in me especially enjoys Uhtred's goading of the corrupt clergy that surrounded the devout Alfred.

The entire series is a fine set of historical fiction.

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Book Review - The Technologists

The Technologists by Matthew Pearl
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I always worry when I read historical fiction that I'm going to "misremember" historical facts afterwards. I don't think I have too much to fear from this book, however, because it's a rather outrageous tale.

The story revolves around the first graduation class of MIT. Back in the day, technology was feared and misunderstood. Workers feared automation would eliminate their jobs and the general public had little or no knowledge of what even the word technology meant.

When Boston comes under attack from an unknown person(s), it's up to our fledging scientists to determine how the terrorist like attacks were achieved and how to predict and prevent the next incident. There was a lot of science talk, well developed characters and, as it's a mystery, several red herrings. Good read and it gave a good feeling for what Boston was like right after the Civil War.

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Counting My Blessings

It's been easy to focus on all the negatives going on around me. Incessant work, overwhelming social activities, challenging travel...it's all been a pain in the arse.

The thing is, no matter how bad or frustrating your life is, someone has it worse. And, I found that out last Friday night.

My friend Morgan sent me a text while I was in Canada asking if I wanted to play in a charity poker tournament at his house on Friday night. I went directly from the airport to the game. Half of the money was going to the prize fund and the other half was going to his co-worker for medical bills.

The medical bills were for his co-worker's step-daughter who just had a heart transplant.

OK, imagine that you're a 16 year old girl who thinks you have the flu. You don't get better so your parents take you to the emergency room. They tell you that you just need an IV to get rehydrated but then, within days, you find out your heart is failing and you need a transplant.

Now, imagine that you're the parent of a 16 year old girl and an apparent flu episode leads to discovering that your daughter's left aorta is destroyed and only a transplant will keep your child alive.

I can't begin to fathom being in either scenario. How truly terrifying.

The good news is that she received a heart after 16 days on the list and the surgery was successful. The bad news is that there are a ton of bills to pay and she's going to be on expensive medications for the rest of her life.

All of us who played in the tournament decided at the beginning we would donate our winnings back. We ended up raising over $800 which was nice but probably a drop in the bucket for what they're on the hook for.

I learned a lot from the story. A heart issue in children and young adults doesn't manifest itself in chest pains, it feels like a stomach ache. A heart transplant surgery only takes 3 /12 hours. A very common source of organ donors are from the prison population. Not the death row folks, but the weaker inmates who don't survive the big house.

I also learned how fortunate I am in that I'm healthy, my family is healthy and the petty grievances in my life are nothing compared to the burdens in others' lives.

So Pretty!

Disclaimer:  this is not a paid endorsement for lia sophia jewelry.

Another Disclaimer:  I would happily be paid to endorse lia sophia jewelry since I sing its praises to everyone. Seriously, I've earned some dough for them.

I love jewelry. From the fancy to the simply elegant, I feel better and prettier when I'm wearing it. But, there are some pieces that I really, really, really love and I catch myself staring at them throughout the day because of my adoration.

Today, I'm wearing a new necklace.

Flower Pot Necklace

The picture doesn't do it justice. It's very bright and summery and very sparkly. A co-worker and I flew by each other in the hall and she called out, "That's a pretty necklace." I beamed.

I'm also wearing a new ring.

Forget Me Not

I love it! It's very sparkly and there's a touch of white enamel on two of the flowers that add just the right touch of color.

The good thing about hosting a party is that you get a lot of product at a screaming deal. The bad news about hosting a party is that everyone's stuff gets delivered to you and you separate it out. Of course, that means you have to look at every item so your wish list gets bigger and bigger.