I Think

Hmmm. Do wasps bite dogs?

Rocky has been known to kill a few. But, a whole nest - I put him away, because I didn't want him sticking in his nose as I sprayed the poison.

Examined the wasp nest in daylight. All are dead. The nest measured an oblong 3 1/2" X 5" and their bodies had fallen in enough weeds that I could not get a count.

I just finished watching 12 Years a Slave. I highly recommend it to anyone that reads this.

People seeing some of my quirks for the first time assume they are in the presence of a doddering old guy in need of help. Instance: At the grocery store yesterday, I went to the self check out and was doing fine, until it came time to punch the screen, after I had logged my pin number and punched that I did not want money back. I hit the wrong button. So I took out my glasses, to better see what I was doing. As I tried to put them on, a screw came out on one side and the glasses fell to the floor. No sooner did I stand up from picking them up than the person overseeing the self check out slipped in front of me and completed the transaction for me. Bagged it and handed my stuff over. I didn't appreciate it, but I thanked her. I have always been a bit clumsy around such devices. A long time back, when I was in my forties, I was replacing door locks and doing other small jobs for a man I knew. There was a tool I forgot to bring with me and I made some odd moves to compensate for having to do without. I heard the man, later, recommending me to a new customer. He said, "He will walk around like he doesn't know what he's doing, but he will do a good job." I have never looked ordinary to other people. When a person shows me a paper, my eyes do not immediately focus on the subject matter. But I don't have trouble seeing it about a second later. People almost always put their finger on the pertinent part, think I need guidance. It's going to be a tough old age, as I look more and more incompetent.

Join the club. My 'access time' so as to get my brain out of neutral into gear is a bit slower these days. I notice this phenomenon often times at the checkout line. They have jamming devices there - I'm sure of it. Further proof of that fact is seen right afterwards when I go out to the parking lot and attempt to find my car. It doesn't matter how many cars are in the lot, either.

Forgetfulness: When I was a teen, my mother called me "the absent minded professor." Now that I am old, it's to be held against me.

ahah! But the rub is that you remember that fact!

Fact? What fact?

my sister and I have this same sort of discussion about the issue of fleeting memory. while we both possess fairly good long-term memory, the short-term memory seems far more volatile. Must be in a different part of the brain.

I'd take ginkgo biloba but I forget where I put it. I'd buy it again at the store but then I'd forget how to spell it and why I was buying it.

I make lots of mistakes on the job, because of my overlooking details and having to backtrack. What saves me and always has saved me is my willingness to correct myself and still do the best work I can. The end product has generally always impressed the bosses.

I replaced patio light fixtures today. Only did four and it took 3 1/2 hours. The thing about it is, you have to pass through an occupied apartment each time. The first one, I had to work slow, so that I could carry on a conversation with a man I have known and liked for perhaps 15 years. He showed me his Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale baseball cards and we discussed Willie Nelson's daughter, who often performs in Tomball. The next fixture, I had wasps to deal with. There were a number of cracks on the patio overhead which afforded the wasps a nice shelter. I caulked up all the cracks and blasted a number of wasps. Third fixture. The resident had a daybed and piles of personal belongings in front of his patio door. Rather than fool with that, I went out back and fetched a ladder. I went over the rail. Number four was uneventful. During the installation time I went and had a look at a strip vinyl floor that was not laying properly. Wasted much of the half hour I had left. Tomorrow will be a repeat.

Dinner was easy enough. I cooked rice, heated a can of beef stew, and, viola - Dinner is served. With glasses of tea.

I was not scheduled to work today. About three thirty, the boss convinced me I needed to come in to help track a water leak. The regular guy had been searching without any luck. He had already checked all the hot water tanks and washers. The running water was hot. We went in the attic, but found nothing. The water was coming out of a weep hole in the bottom of a wall and the apartments all were dry inside. We prepared to cut away the sheetrock in a wall, when I suddenly thought to ask him if when he checked the hot water tanks, he had felt of the pressure relief lines. He said yes, that the one upstairs on the end was hot. Mystery solved. We finally determined that the bricklayers had walled over the pressure relief outlet, and that the water ran down the bricks on the inside, to the bottom. I left him to take care of the rest of the work. - This is the main reason they gave me a reason to keep coming back. The other guy would have kept going and begun tearing up the wall.

Admitting that we all make mistakes is not always that easy when we do it, but I found those who admit their mistakes can be trusted.

How has your cruise been? Have you been to Iceland?

I want to thank the politicians that screwed with our postal service. I am expecting a package that was sorted through a facility in Miami on Sept. 24 and still hasn't made it to Tomball.

The cruise itself had many flaws because of the ship, the Royal Princess, but the destinations were excellent. Yes, we had a port stop at Reykjavik, Iceland.