Christmas cards

I don't normally send out a lot of Christmas cards. However, I will be sending out a few this year. I got several free ones in the mail from a charity that I gave money to in the past and will be using them. This includes sending a card out to a friend, a former acquaintance I guess, who lives in Washington state. We corresponded for quite a few years in the past and I quit writing her after she got married. I didn't think that was okay but do regret that now. She was in the Navy and I met her at journalist school and ran into her a few times after that, whilc I was in the Navy and after I got out. She sent me her family newsletter last year. It didn't mean a lot because I lost track of her several years ago but she noted in her last family newsletter that she had a great year. I hope she sends me another card this year.
It's really too bad that we might have to stop sending Christmas cards altogether in the future. With the post office losing money, that could happen. Especially bad if I keep getting free Christmas cards from charities.

Holiday shopping

This year I'm going to continue a tradition that I have been following for several years. I will get Christmas gifts for the younger family members (under 18) and will give money to charity in honor of other family members. I have firmly embraced the belief that Christmas is for kids. It's difficult and extraneous to buy presents for the adults in my extended family. They are all working and I would have no idea what to get them. Besides, there are many many needy people in the world that should not be forgotten this time of year. I can't help all of them but can do my small part to lessen their unfortunate circumstances. It also occured to me many years ago how difficult it is to buy presents for others. I have no idea what that other person wants. They don't really need anything I can give them. I would only hope that maybe they would make a donation to charity on my behalf. Something to help others with disabilities. If you Google that phrase, I'm sure that there are many worthwhile charities out there. Merry Christmas.

Wireless Internet

This blog is a few weeks overdue. My older brother came down to visit from Richmond to install wireless Internet in my house. I had purchased a computer from EBay (more on that later) and wanted to get the wireless going so I could sit in my recliner and use the laptop. John had an extra wireless modem and hooked it up. Unfortunately, it didn't work. Even worse, I had to put in my user name and password for my Verizon acccount and what was entered was incorrect. My bad. Then, we called customer service. Some lady with a foreign accent answered the phone. She didn't sound like she grew up in America. She couldn't give me the password, she gave me a temporary one to use. Why such a hassle? Anyway, we got the account up bu the modem still didn't work. John had to go back to Richmond that afternoon but volunteered to come back the next week and we went out and bought a modem from Wal Mart and that works great now. Thanks John, Matt will be asking for some of your expertise when you visit again. His modem isn't working correctly, I hope he doesn't have to call customer service. What are the odds that he'll be talking to the same lady with the Indian accent?
Oh, and EBay. I got my laptop sort of by accident. I wanted to buy one but really didn't want to spend two much money. I had bid on them before but always got outbid, I would stop at somewhere around $200. This time, I went up to $250. However, somebody else was bidding higher. I then went to $260, he went higher. With about 10 seconds left, he bid about $275. I then bid $280 as time expired and I was the new owner of a Dell. Well, I didn't want to pay that much but it was mine now. It works great. I went to Panera's Bread to try out the wireless hookup and it was a lot of fun. One of my neices and her brother visited in August. She had been playing with the laptop and pushed the buttons to turn off the wirless device. We went to Panera's again and I thought the laptop was broken. Then I got it working again when I got home an read the instructions. No harm done.

Summer vacation

My niece and nephew came to visit their grandmother for a week last month. They are 7 and 11, respectively, the older one has a birthday coming up. They are both very smart and well behaved. I took a few days of vacation to help out and my mom rented a cottage at Fort Story for three days. That's located in Virginia Beach. We all had a great time. We visited the acquarium in Va. Beach and the ARE place where you can get enlighted on life and religion. The weather was very good but hot at times. Ft. Story is located like on the back bay but my mom told John and Louise that it was on the ocean. They probably figured that out when I accidentally confirmed my nephew's suspicion that it really wasn't the ocean when the waves were pretty mellow. Actually, the water does come from the ocean.
One of the most interesting events we did was renting a four seat bicycle and pedalling it on the Va. Beach boardwalk. It was very exhausting, the bike needed some maintenance to improve it's efficiency, and pedalling a bike with two adults and two kids takes a lot of effort. We didn't have a horn and the brake didn't work very well, so watching out for pedestrians crossing was quite a challenge. And to that young kid who backstepped onto the path and (I don't think) understood English because all of his relatives spoke only Spanish, we apologize for almost running you over. My Spanish vocabulary doesn't include words like "Look out!" "Jump!" and "We don't have a horn, sorry!" Mea culpa is the best I can think of now but that's not Spanish.
I enjoyed my vacation and always like interacting with my neices and nephews. They think that most of my jokes are funny, when they get older that probably won't be the case but then we can maybe philosophize on more serious matters, if they want to do that.
Anyway, we all had a good time and we are very appreciative for my mom paying for us to stay at Ft. Story. She suggested maybe doing it again next year. In the meantime, and for the next few weeks, I'll be watching "America's Got Talent" which John and Lousie introduced us to our tv viewing schedule. I don't think that the guy who balances flaming objects will last, and what will Grandma Lee do for an encore now that we know that she got in Pierc's shorts (or is that vice versa?) I think that one of the singing groups will probably win, maybe the Texas Tenors or that single guy who sings by himself. We shall see.

Yardwork part 2

I recently hired two guys to "raze" the weeds and ugly bushes in front of my house. I was amazed at how fast they worked and how thorough they were. They even edged and got rid of the weeds at the front of the sidewalk. I wonder if my neighbors noticed since they still don't talk with me. I never really introduced myself to them but they stay in their own worlds, too, especially the ones across from me. My yard will never look as good as some of theirs since they edge so diligently, but at least my yard looks quite residential now. I wonder if I should plant any more bushes in the front or just keep the weeds out. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Friends

I talked with a good friend on the phone this weekend. I've known Fred since I was a freshman at Virginia Tech (go Hokies). He lived next door to me in AJ hall. He even inspired me to major in geology for one quarter, then I realized it wasn't my calling. He went on to get a Ph.D in it and has done well in his field. Fred just moved back to Texas after living in Amsterdam for several years and he's glad to be back in the U.S.
Fred and I (or is it Fred and me?) quaffed a lot of beers over the years and had a lot of good experiences, such as the time when he gave me a ride to Illinois after we finished college and we went the wrong way for a good number of miles because my navigating wasn't good. He gave me a ride on his bike handle bars when he was at A&M when I crashed mine and then I naively agreed to play sniper while he shot at me with his BB gun. Maybe that was revenge for farting in his dorm room while I listened to classical music on the record player for the class I was taking at that time. Then again, he did plant a firecracker in my popcorn popper, which he had borrowed. It blew up of course and he never did replace that. Hey what are friends for?
When it comes to talking about people you've known for many years, it seems like you most remember the good and funny experiences you've had. I suppose the brain is wired that way. I hope that Fred finds a good house to buy in Houston and I'm looking forward to getting together with him again soon. Maybe I'll help him drive a truckload of furniture from Pulaski to Houston. That would provide some good material for a future blog.

The real ambushers

I recently looked into home security systems. I went online and asked for information from a couple of well known companies, Brinks and ADT. I kept missing the salesman from Brinks. I got several other phone calls, some which I missed at night, others which I ignored because I had just sat down to eat. I was particularly annoyed that they kept calling but wouldn't leave messages. Then, a Jessie from ADT called me. He was quite a character. He asked me if I knew what this or that particular term meant for their security systems features. He even said, "Get pen and write this down." I guess I was too naiive because I actually started taking notes. He went on to explain all the 101 (at least) unique features of their company that I guess nobody else in the home security system had. I wonder why they're not the only kid on the block that can do these things. Then, he told me about a feature that I didn't really think about at that time. He said they have a built in "ambush" feature. If I came home and I was put into an ambush situation, I could use a special code to turn off the system. Doing so would make it look like the system was being turned off but would really notify the police and they would start listening in on their special one way secret built in speaker. The unsuspecting ambusher's plans would stealthily be broadcast to the cops, who would rush to my house quietly and post haste. If they were going to hide me in a closet, the cops would hear that. I guess I would have to talk out of the side of my mouth to repeat everything in the direction of the system to guarantee the cops knew that. Of course, the would be amubushers would never know what's going on, right? They would have never learned about the intricacies of any of the security systems they ever encountered including the special silent ambush code that really doesn't turn off the system but only notifies the cops! Wait a second; if the system was off, I wouldn't need to put in a code to turn it off, right? And if it was on, how in the world would they ever be able to get into the house to ambush me? Sounds like a pretty lousy security system. I should have asked Jessie that question but after listening to his shmuck sales spiel for 20 minutes, I only wanted to hang up. I hadn't heard from Brinks yet so I told him I had all the info I wanted and would take everything into consideration and get back to him. End of conversation, right? No way. He then reverted into the quasi motorboat salesman mode (but but but just like the sound of an outboard engine) and told me he understood what I wanted to do BUT then said, why don't you schedule an installation and if you change your mind, you can call us back and cancel? Nope, didn't want to do that, kept trying to tell him that. He must have been going for his umpteeenth pushiest salesman of the month award. I finally said enough in so many words with restraint to not make the conversation R rated and hung up. My final thoughts were, I wonder what ADT must stand for? Then, the natural acronym popped into my head: Ambushes Done Tenaciously. Makes perfectly good sense. I think I'll look into some cheaper home security systems: maybe a tape recording of a dog that comes on if somebody bangs on the window (won't be hard, I can record the barkings of the vicious dog that lives next door) or something other low tech. Thank goodness I really live in a good neighborhood. I guess I learned my lesson: pushy salesman are a dime a dozen.