What made you smile today?

Good day in many ways, starting with my liking my surgeon for the next eye go-round. Immediately liked her, eye contact, relaxed, listened, sharp as a tack, thus much was resolved re med/surg/eye issues in the conversation, in short order. And she zoomed in on my shoes, which she also wears (a certain kind of clog). I have walked ten miles on concrete in mine, and she agreed - we bonded over having high arches and the shoes being the best ones for us. That part took around a minute, but was neat.

Then I chased around for the second time trying to find a certain eyeglasses company in a neighborhood I'm not ordinarily familiar with and had given up on because of bizarre traffic the last time I tried. This time I memo'd the map all around, found the exact block, and no, not there at all. The first time I couldn't find it, I crossed the river and went to a local eye glasses place. Seemed like a million dollar emporium, in a non such place, and, besides, no glasses in the whole place would take my prescription. So today, I said, ok, ok, I'll go to Walmart.

Now, I have long been unhappy re Walmart, including fighting them in another place on their effort to build at a key space in that city, in terms of natural wonder/etc. We even won. I might not have liked it but I wouldn't have fought if they built another place in the area. Because of various negs re walmart, I've only been into one two or three times, but the last time was also to check out glasses and prices. They had been helpful, and sent me to an old codger (my age) who could find me some trifocals in executive style, and he did. (I had forgotten his name and address in the meantime).

Presently I'm wavering on tri or bifocal, but that isn't the point. I went there today, maybe I'd try bifocals again if they were cheap enough... and the same woman from a few years ago was there and helped me again. Old Codger doesn't sell glasses anymore but he knows who in the area can do or get what. She gives me the info again. She tells me that from her experience that people who have gotten used to and like trifocals are rarely happy with going back to bifocals... which I'd suspected. I see things in my room best with a tri.
She told me - something I never suspected, that if I tried the bifocals at walmart and didn't like them, they would refund.

I'll be looking on the internet (already have before) but I didn't have the measurement for pupil distance that is needed should I want to order. I said I'd pay to have her measure that. She said, no, no, she'd be glad to give me that info.

Ok, I have new respect. The company has kept a capable woman in place.
Plus they are apparently making efforts in China, however belated.


In the middle of all that, I went to the grocery store. It was a smiles day. One of the things I noticed about Albuquerque when I visited Dys and Diane the first time, was that people smiled in the grocery store. Not that they don't everywhere else, ever, but this was noticeable to me (and not all from staff).
It turns out that in real life past a visit, people aren't all that much more smiley here - which is good, as I'd get sick of it. But today was a good'n. The guy buying cookies smiled, the woman wrassling baskets smiled, the woman coming in the door smiled.

I may have to rest from all the good vibes.

No--I don't know Arby's John. It seems that my ignorance is not too disadvantageous though.

An exiting day here -
I arrived home after going to the bank and then having lunch with Dys and Diane - at the same time my duplex neighbors were out by her car saying goodbye to each other as she was going to work. We all said 'hi' and she asked me if I had any leaking pipes. No, not that I knew about but I always worry about it because of a difficulty with certain kinds of pipe in this neighborhood in the past. In fact, she had previously had a leak and spent a lot of money getting her laundry room wall back in order.

They said they could hear water in the wall from their side, and it wasn't where they had any water fixtures. So.. she went on to work and her husband came over, looked at my laundry room and said it must be there, since that is right about the spot where they heard the dripping sounds. My heart fell, since I don't need a) a flood, b) expense, c) dealing with insurance company... or even to find a plumber to come out fast, fast, fast.

Making a long story shorter, I called Mike, and he and his wife came over (I know them both, and they had just gotten off of work). Mike used to work for the contractor I hired back in the old days here when I could do some house fix up and then went out on his own as fix it man. I always thought he knew more than that contractor..
anyway, I wanted him to check it out, and either reassure me, fix it, or give me the name of a good plumber.

Ok, it's in the neighboring wall... and he told the neighbor husband how to fix it. I tried to pay him, but he said, no, no, that's ok.

Man, what a good guy...

Osso, how I relate to your plumbing tale. A few years ago our washing machine failed to drain outside (no two plumbers, including a roto rooter guy, have given me the same reason for that). I had the wall separating the garage that housed the machine from a bedroom opened up and soldered the leaking pipes, but later we had water going into another room under the floor, at the same spot. We jacked up and replaced the pipes. Anyway, I have for the last few years taken our laundry to a laundromat--I'm actually afraid of our plumbing. There's nothing I detest more than flooding in my house. How much I pity New Orleans and Chile.
Good luck!

It's good to know that a few such good guys still exist, isn't it, osso?

Good luck, I hope his good advice fixes the problem.

A happy plumbing tale!

Hey, osso. Just call the super!

On the other hand, glad things got taken care of.

speaking of plumbing, yesterday morning I awoke to a cold house, Diane woke enough to tell me she had gotten too hot the evening before and had turned down the heat. I got up (chilly house) and turned up the but nothing happens. I light the fireplace and go out to the garage (where the furnace is) and can hear the furnace fan running but no flame/no heat. I take off the furnace cover to look inside and jiggle the switch--fan stays on but no flame/heat. I put the cover back on an voila, the flame turns on and in moments the house is warm. was a nice warm day so didn't think about the furnace. Last evening getting cool in the house so I go back out to the garage--fan running but no flame/heat. Again I pop off the cover, jiggle the switch, put the cover back on and fan turnbs off, no flame/heat. I give up and tell Diane I will have to call furnace man in the morning.
So this morning I get up and plan to turn on the fireplace and wait until 8 a.m. to call furnace repairman but it seems comfortable in the house so I go out to the garage and the furnace is running like jack the bear, warm and toasty in the house.
so it goes. (gonna take a shotgun, disconnect my brain)

Hope my paintings didn't get a chill.
I don't feel to sorry for you, Dys; you've got lady Diane to keep you warm.

So, do you have butylene pipes? They're the ones that people have sued about in this neighborhood, that I'd never heard of before. I don't know the resolutions on all of that, and don't want to knock them in ignorance. It may not be the pipes but the installation, or, or.... The developer here was a major sloppo in many ways, and I get to say that as I put in time as a designer for a major developer (which is why I then went entirely to dealing with private clients or probono stuff, but never mind). I think of this development as spray painted in three days with the spray gun in the wrong setting.

So when I was over there and Diane and I were going through books (we lend back and forth), I felt weak from the heat. Granted I am not in the best shape, but it was f/hot and airless in there.

Dys, you may remember my neighbor had a fire in the middle of the night at her house, probably two years ago now. Not the duplex neighbor, but the one eight feet away. When they all woke me at 4 a.m. and I finally answered the door (I'm from the city, I just don't answer pounding doors at 4 a.m. and the screaming helped) the house next door had flames rising to the sky.

I have that same old furnace. Not sure it is different from yours.

it was 56° & sunny in beantown today...

A meal shared with joeblow, Mame and Setanta.

There was a lot of hugging and laughing and a bit of singing (I sat THAT out).

Kim, the waitress, enjoyed it all quite a bit.

Opinions and french fries were shared.

Proof that I wasn't around. I only share opinions.

Glad you all had fun!

ha!

(someone here (who?) just said "ain't that the truth' )

Obviously Ms. Cleo. She's still offended because I ate a baby tomato that she was longingly looking at.

Oh, that sounded like good fun, Beth!

Lovely.

I just was driving my daughter to school and in front of us was one of these
huge, extra long SUVs with personalized license plates that read: BSFAMLY
My daughter pointed to it and said: "Look, it's the bullshit family!" We both
cracked up...

I presume Cal that the plate is a gesture of ironic self-deprecation such as the one I saw recently which read A2 WAT. Admiration is called for.

I know that ironic self deprecation is very rare in the USA. Possibly an endangered species which must be saved at all costs.