Just the Tip of the Iceberg #T

We have a poltergeist living in our house.  We cannot catch him in the act of performing his nefarious tricks, but he is busy.  Worse, he seems to strike with increasing frequency as the weeks
 and months go by.  It is no longer amusing.



In November while BBBH was away vanilla laid a hearing aid on the table next his work station.  The next morning he noted that it was still just where he put it.  No need to wear it, he thought, there is no one here and certainly there is nothing worth watching on the tube.  So he left it.  The day passed and vanilla retired for the night.

The next morning vanilla decided that since he was going to the library that he might utilize the equipment, so going to the table, what?  The hearing aid was not there.  In a certain degree of frustration, looked the house over, wracked his brain for a clue as to whether or not he had moved it and forgotten about it.  After about the third day, vanilla decided that when BBBH returned she would easily locate the lost item.

She came home.  She did not find it.

Then last week vanilla filled out a ten-page admissions questionnaire for the hospital.  There was a line requiring the spouse's signature.  He had her sign it.  She remembers signing it.  A few days later he went to the folder where it should be and it was not there.  It was not on any table, bookshelf, desk, or anyplace else that vanilla and BBBH looked, which was essentially everywhere. Numerous times over the course of many days.

Both items are still missing.

But if I get my hands on the poltergeist, well, mayhem may ensue.

OS:? Oh, yes.

I have an eye-dee ten tee problem.

Speaking of ten, I chose yesterday to download a new OS.  I have been quite happy with Windows 7 and have become familiar with it, warts and all.  I like it.

So I was advised that Windows 10 would enhance my computing experiences, I would "love it," in today's vernacular.

I am an idiot.

If I go to a "restore point" just prior to the download, will I get my "7" back or am I, again in the vernacular, screwed?

Ta ta da!  Got "7" back.

Social Obligation

January 18 we were invited to dinner with friends whose house is less than two miles from ours.

January 20 mailed bread-and-butter note.

January 28 the note was in my mailbox.

Right, I am an idiot.  I am the one who neglected to stamp the envelope before posting it.  Yet. Yet it took the postal service eight days to get it back to me.

Well.  They were working for free, so. . .

Love Letter

from the People.

A pox on both your houses.

Tax Day

This date has become known as "Tax Day" in America.  It is the deadline for filing the 1040.  No one wants to pay more taxes than they rightfully owe.  Most people understand the necessity for taxation. Most people would much more cheerfully pay their taxes if they understood the expenditures.  I don't mind paying for what I get, except of course in the case that I feel I am being robbed.  Let us not even delve into the issue of "government waste."

At any rate, as a good citizen, I can report that my forms are filed and all should be well.  You might want to be sure to get to the postal drop before the deadline, or of course you may exercise the option of e-filing.  Anyway, the government is serious about its deadlines.

Remember, if we did not pay taxes, we would have no government, no cadre of eager public servants in Washington to look after our interests.  Worse, much worse, we would have no military protection.  We would have no...

You get the idea.  Pay your taxes!

"13"

A year ago today I wrote a glowing tribute to my wife and the twelve happy years of marriage we had experienced together.  I prefaced the article with the above picture, and I repeat that here now because 1) we don't look any better today than we did then, and 2) it is quite possible that this is the most recent picture of the two of us together.

So.  Today is our thirteenth wedding anniversary.  The number won't seem very large to our contemporaries in this walk down life's pathway, but to two people who were well into their sixties before they started this adventure, it seems pretty significant.

This thirteenth year was no less tempestuous than any of the previous years, but the love is stronger, and if we live long enough we'll let you know how year fourteen went, in, say, about 365 days.

I still love you, JoAnn.

p.s. It turns out that there is a more recent picture, and I've used it before, too.  We were in the jewelry store, just before Christmas.  And here's how it was done.

She took a picture, I took one; and here we are!

Singing for Supper Won't Get It

Vanilla is sitting here typing, but hungry.  No supper tonight.  BBBH decided what she was going to fix for dinner.  She started looking for the item which was part of the grocery purchase four days ago.

I "help" in the kitchen.  Such things as clean-up, pots and pans, and loading and unloading the dishwasher comprise the basic chores.  On shopping days, I also carry in groceries and put them away.  

When Beautiful could not find this item in the freezer, she went into search mode.  Destroy mode came later.

The box was found in the pantry.  And why not?
Does not this item look like all the other boxes that one would store in the pantry?

I probably don't need to tell you that when I dug this from the waste bin to take the pictures the odor almost knocked me down.  (I wondered why it smelled funny in the pantry the last day or so.)

Anyway, it is my fault that there is no supper tonight.  Clearly my fault.  Destroy mode?   BBBH found it necessary to "mention" that that was $8
down the drain.

I am going to build a "man-cave" and retreat into it.
Maybe even pull it in after me.

Yoghurt, Tractors, and Irritation

I understand pop-up ads.  I don't like them, but I understand them.  For the most part, they are fairly easy to dispose of, although the nerds who create them are getting trickier.  Starting with sneaking past the pop-up blockers.  Then there is the trick whereby clicking the traditional "x" in the upper right hand corner to close, or get rid of it, actually opens it instead.  Bad, but right-clicking on the face of the ad would then open the "Close" option which would work.

Now, though, they have come up with the co-opting of the desired web page by plastering the offending ad across the middle of the page.  And you can't get rid of it.  There is no "x" to click, right-clicking will not provide a "Close" option, and clicking on the page away from the ad does nothing by way of "disappearing" the offensive garbage.  The only way I have discovered to remove it is to close the entire page and start over.

Help?

Meanwhile, I am going to start a list of offenders, a "garbage list" if you will, and boycott the products advertised.  Like that's a big deal.  Chances are 99.99996% that I would never purchase the product anyway.  I mean, Yoplait, or Massey-Ferguson tractors?  Not likely.

And what I truly don't get is this:  Are there really people who buy stuff because of these ads?  Unbelievable.