Cleaning Tip

Posted on September 5, 2018 by Linda Andrews

We all have them. Some people have only one. (amateurs!)

I have at least three. Maybe it’s because I’m an overachiever. Or maybe it’s because I’ve lived in this house with 3 kids that I’ve had more stuff to hide in drawers.

That’s right. I’m talking about the universal existence of a junk drawer.

That stuff we’re afraid to throw away because we will need it. And according to everyone’s friend Murphy, you’ll need it right after you toss it out.

Recently, I was able to clean out one of those drawers.

I hadn’t planned to, but the hubbinator was making iced tea in the tea maker. He claims the pot was pushed tightly against the brewer but let’s just say the tea ended up on the counter and not the pot because of mysterious forces. He even made tea on the stove to show the brewer how it was done.

Which meant that a large quantity that wasn’t on the floor or counter ended up in the drawer.

I’ll confess it made the decision of what to keep and what to toss that much easier. And now I have only two more drawers to go. But don’t tell the hubbinator. I’ll clean ’em out on my time, or just dump the contents into a box and move it to our next house:D.

Until next time.

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Happy Labor Day

Posted on September 3, 2018 by Linda Andrews

To those of us in the US this is Labor Day.

A day off to reflect on what our forefathers and mothers endured to give us a 40 hour week, child labor laws, and decent working conditions.

While you fire up those barbecues, shop those sales, and, in some parts of the country, prepare for back to school take a moment to reflect on where we were 100 years ago.

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Time to Quit

Posted on August 31, 2018 by Linda Andrews

In an effort to get back to writing consistently, I’ve decided that a sacrifice must be made.

Sadly that sacrifice is Seeker’s Notes, a hidden objects game, on my iPad.

I’m only giving up for one month to see if my attitude improves and I get those pages written. I mean, we all know games are designed to be addictive. And I’m not crazy enough to give up Netflix or Candy Crush:D

Either way, I’ll be going through a few withdrawals over the long holiday weekend (it’s Labor Day weekend in the US).

So wish me luck.

Until next time.

 

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Only so far

Posted on August 29, 2018 by Linda Andrews

I find human nature amazing. On one hand, I look both ways before turning onto a one-way street. On the other, I trust others to recognize those white and yellow lines on the asphalt define a lane in which they will drive.

Of course, if I see a penny on the street, I’ll pick it up. If change falls from someone’s pockets when they’re searching for something, I’ll hand it back to the individual.

The other day, while taking the dog on his early morning walk, I found an apple charging line.

It was there, laying in the gutter, obviously having fallen out of someone’s car or bag. But there were houses up and down the street and no way to identify to whom it would have belonged.

Apple charging lines aren’t cheap (I know because our cat ate one of ours and we had to replace it). And clearly there wasn’t a way to discover to whom it belonged.

So what did I do?

I draped it over the mailbox closest to it in the hopes that whoever lost it, might visit their friends again and find it.

But three days on, and it’s still there.

The owners of the mailbox didn’t claim it. The other dog-walkers/exercisers in our neighborhood didn’t claim it. So now I wait to see how long it will sit there and wonder if it’ll match the months that a set of keys perched on a fire hydrant waiting for whoever lost them to find them again.

Until next time

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Rewriting

Posted on August 27, 2018 by Linda Andrews

I love mysteries. And the queen of mysteries is Agatha Christie.

Naturally, when one of Dame Christie’s mysteries are remade I’ll watch it. Such was the case this last weekend with the amazon prime series Ordeal by Innocence.

I had seen the story remade a few times, so I went in thinking I already knew the guilty party.

Except I didn’t.

The screenplay had been rewritten and a new villain selected. And the story remade.

I have to say I didn’t really appreciate the rewriting of the Doctor’s role (the alibi), but I understand why they did what they did as his mental health issues did play a part in the conflict.

There were the traditionally despicable characters and the sympathetic ones.

And the mystery was solid and in keeping with Christie’s style.

But I must say, the thing I liked best was the ending and the justice delivered. Sometimes, creative license with a writer’s work delivers a great new experience.

Until next time.

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Missed it

Posted on August 24, 2018 by Linda Andrews

It rained last night. It’s actually rained the last several nights in a row.

I know this because when I walk outside with the dog, the vehicles, trees, and streetlamps have wet outlines on the pavement. Occasionally, there are even little puddles in the gutters.

And let’s not forget the smell of wet earth and asphalt.

Or the humidity.

There were even blisters of water on my son’s car and wet blotches on the brick pavers.

Sadly, everything was gone once I got in my truck to go to work.

But I was not about to be defeated. I purchased and installed those new wipers, I was gonna use them. So I sprayed the windshield with cleaner and turned on my wipers. No streaks. No streaks at all. It was marvelous.

Hopefully soon, I’ll get to use them in the actual rain:D

Until next time.

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Is This How It Ends

Posted on August 20, 2018 by Linda Andrews

I have Netflix. I watched it. I had to. I love end of the world scenarios.

And I admit that for the most part it was a darn good story.

But then it ended.

Not an end, really. You know, like closure, of story lines. But a cliffhanger.

I hate cliffhangers. I hate them in books. In TV series. In any way Dr. Seuss could present them.

And judging by his glare, the hubbinator does, too.

So, why, why did someone think the ending was smart? To get us to watch the next installment of the movie?

No.

I avoid things that are open ended. Open ended stories are constantly running in the back of my mind waiting for closure. I write my stories and close up most of the major plot lines. I darn well expect others to do the same.

This rant is now over. Feel free to move on with your life:D

Until next time

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Cups

Posted on August 17, 2018 by Linda Andrews

It’s kind of a weird thing. The majority of the glasses in my cabinet are made of plastic. Almost all of them are holdovers from when our children were young. Which given the durability of the plastic says a lot about their ability to survive.

Of course, some of them are just huge glasses that are perfect for Phoenix summers when hydration is on the front line of survival.

But lately, we’ve taken to acquiring pint-sized glasses. Most have logos of craft-brews or the Simpsons on them, so we’re not officially into adult glasses yet.

Which leaves me wondering… Shouldn’t I have nice glasses made of glass for when people come over?

And then I think. Nah, I have wine glasses.

No way would I deal with people in my home without wine or beer.

So the moral of this story is, let’s see if those plastic cups can survive the life and times of our grandchildren should we ever have any?

Until next time

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A Little Help If You Please

Posted on August 15, 2018 by Linda Andrews

So, my brain squirreled the other day, and I’d like some input.

You see I had a thought. An odd thought, but still a thought that is eating at the back of my consciousness like a tumor.

Here’s the situation:

Vampires are undead.

Zombies are the walking dead.

If a zombie bites a vampire, does the vampire die or does it turn from undead to alive?

There has to be some affect, as zombies contaminate the blood vampires need to survive, but what?

Logically, I think a vampire would die since its food (blood) would be infected with the zombie virus, leaving the vampire to starve.

Which begs the question: Is the government working on a zombie virus to protect us against an unseen vampire threat?

Enquiring minds want to know.

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It’s a Train Thing

Posted on August 13, 2018 by Linda Andrews

I’ll admit it. I love trains. I especially love trains I can wander through or ride.

On our last vacation, we were fortunate enough to catch the last train in Georgetown Colorado. It is a narrow gauge train that used to carry ore.

We had a diesel engine push us up the rails to Silver Plume then we were blessed with a steam engine guiding us down.

It was awesome.

It also rained. Since the car we were in was open air, we got a little wet and cold. But the ride was beautiful.

Here are some photos from our ride.

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Here is the river we crossed four times as we climbed up then down the hill.

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The engine. Yes, there are two of them.

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More cars on a side track. We could see in the windows that these were used as storage.

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Another view of the river.

 

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And the original station from the Victorian era. We didn’t get to stop long enough to go inside, but I plan to go back.

Thankfully the hubbinator loves trains too. So there will be plenty more train rides in our future.

Until next time.

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