Book Board Chat

http://www.ebay.com/itm/162231795712?ssPageName=STRK:MESOX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1561.l2649 Hi, all. Much as I complain about ebay, it is still the place to get some items sold for a decent price. I have all these niggling little "due from patient" amounts from several different places after having the cataract surgery this summer...making small payments to each, but maybe I can now get caught up a little. I mentioned to some of you on FB that I had lucked into an auction where i found some Chase chrome pieces and got them pretty cheaply. I finally put together the listing for a rare set with some damage....settled upon what I thought would be a fair price, listed it last night; got a "best offer" quickly but didn't respond right away, and this morning woke to find it had been purchased at my asking price. Yay! I'm very happy. There is one other small group I haven't written up yet, and I have two other groups up now that haven't sold, but I'll keep messing with the price until they do. Considering that I got the flat with the chrome pieces for $25, I am a very happy camper! Doesn't often happen this way, as we all know. Joanne, hope you and Jack are thriving! Many of you I see on FB which occupies more of my time than I should allow. Glad Matthew wasn't worse....it was bad enough as it was. Mysteryhorse: I miss seeing the updates on the Sunshine Kids! I gotta get in here more. Beth, you are everyone's idol when it comes to ebay selling. How's your student? Do you hear from him at all? June, good to catch up on you also. Diane - do you find coins any more? I keep meaning to ask on fb and forget....

Joanne, I used to buy the bigger bags of sunflower (black oil) seed and get them lifted into my vehicle near the back door, then put a tote under there and open the bag, pouring as much out as I thought I could deal with, and put the lid on and keep it near where my feeders were. I've found a brand of seed here that has quite a good mixture, unlike some of the really cheesy brands that some birds won't eat....it's called Little Wings, and is quite inexpensive...I think 25 pounds is $11 and 40 pounds is $16. Of course, I had a van, and didn't mind having a partial bag of seed near the back doors until I could lift the remainder out and fill the tote completely. I'm watering the yard and have to go downtown and buy a nozzle and a sprinkler that will allow me to water a long narrow strip (ex apparently took that with him when he packed up the loose stuff around the garage. On the side of the house is a strip of lawn that needs watering and I don't feel like doing it by hand for a half hour or more. Back later. Glad for Family dollar - they stay open on holidays and Sundays too. I got spoiled in NY where you could get nearly anything at nearly any time of the night 24/7...

EVEN? lol. Joanne, you should even have Eastern Bluejays somewhere around...and they will zero in on those peanuts like you wouldn't believe. I sure miss feeding those. I have had one or two show up, but only briefly - - this is way west of their territory. The Pinon jays I used to feed in Bridger, MT though, sound a lot like the other jays, but are a dusky blue color and just beautiful to see....and they would eat peanuts non-stop, and then bring their fledglings to teach them how to grab a peanut and peck it open. I had many happy hours watching them. I get a package of unsalted peanuts every month and put a handful out for my squirrel every few days I met an old friend today whom I know used to play darts and I am going to try to rejuvenate my game a bit and maybe start playing again. It's been several years. My ex was unable to continue to play because of his eyesight and bad back, and the third member of our team had some physical problems so I just gave up - didn't want to start playing with other people who might not be serious about a league. I hate people who are cavalier about commitments - when you sign up for something, you should intend to carry through. It will keep me occupied, and I should still be able to play decently with a little practice again. It was something I did enjoy. Even old pharts are entiitled to go forth and have fun, I think.

(18 minutes later) I think I'll watch "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives".

(fifteen minutes later) Okay, is it too late to change my mind in re: the libertarians? At least some of them are making noises like flakes.

I am sitting here drinking Tangerine Mandarina Gator-Ade (only the best tasting drink I've found in awhile)...and watching the Libertarian presidential debate on C-Span. Interesting. Without Ross Perot, they sound pretty sensible. Yes, they do. They seem to be for legalizing weed, keeping government the hell out of our personal business....could you ask for anything more? lol

Hi guys. If Jamie can't read cursive, but I'll bet he can - - I'm sure Beth will help him with his cards. Never once did it cross my mind, either. It was just something everyone learned, and practiced and I would hate to see it disappear. I guess when WE disappear, so will cursive. Went to the "big city" yesterday to Walmart to get my month's supply of cat food, etc. Enjoyed my trip, not having to worry about anyone else's preferences...had lunch at Famous Dave's, played at a casino awhile, and headed home in time to get my two tacos from the wonderful Mexican food truck that is open one day a week in our town. They do a land-office business, and only because she is home schooling their children this year have they cut back on their "open" times.

Joanne - if you are so inclined, pick up a package of UNsalted peanuts in the shell for your squirrels. I can't tell you how much they enjoy them. I was looking in the pet food sec tion of Walmart yesterday and finally asked a worker about squirrel food....I knew I couldn't be the only one who fed squirrels. She said, "oh, that's over in the garden section". Well, that section was completely at the other end of the store, and my cart was impossibly heavy by then, so I had to pass on trekking back over there. I'll find some around here. I rigged up a little "bird feeder" from an auction box - it is useless as a feeder, but perfect for what I did - it's about 8" high, one wall is open, and one is glassed in. I threw something over a branch about 10 feet up in the front yard tree, then tied the box to that, and I can raise and lower it to fill with peanuts and little bits of celery or carrot...the cats go nuts watching him sit on a branch, taunting them while he eats. I saw him cross the street yesterday after I had gotten the cats inside...I don't know where he hangs out when he's not in my tree, but he was sitting in the middle of the neighbor's lawn yesterday. Phone rang, so I didn't get to see where he ended up going!

Okay, I'm mailing out the card and a little $ for your student tomorrow. The last name is Brown, NOT Frank, correct? I had two messages and just wanted to double check here. I hope the boy will finally see a turn-around in his lilfe. Unbelievable how much he's had to endure just to get an education - something many of us considered a pita when we had to get out of bed and go to school, when there were so many other things we thought were more important!
So glad you've shared your journey with us, Beth. It's due to you that he's made it this far and you have my admiration for your work!!!

Mystery - that kid is amazing! 2nd grade and she's already sounding like Diane Sawyer! lol

I feel awfully sad at losing Liz, but if she had ceased the dialysis it would have hastened the end of her struggle, and I think that's what she opted to do, since hospice was involved. I can't say enough good things about the hospice situations I've witnessed or been part of . I'm sure she stopped by the Rainbow Bridge and picked up a few old friends waiting there for her.

I remember her saying in one of our email exchanges once that she would never endure having to have dialysis again as she had for those years before getting the transplant. And I wouldn't blame her one bit. Tough lady, great sense of humor...and a great cyber friend. As time goes on, and we lose some of our bb friends, it's incredible how well we feel we know them. Better in some instances than "brick and mortar" people we see from time to time! For this, I thank the internet. So happy to "know" all of you.

Very sad news. I just saw this posted on Liz' daughter's page;

"I'm not really good with words but just wanted everyone to know moving my Mom to Hospice care. Just want to Thank everyone for being there for the family its been a rough couple of months."

I think our friend has had enough of this and wants to move on. I'm so sorry, but she's endured a lot for a very long time and the best we can do is pray for her now.

A great idea....and I look forward to sending him a card. I pray his life gets easier as time goes by.

Joanne, I was just reading about your walker dilemma and wondered if those rolling walkers with the fold down seat might work very nicely for going into a restaurant, having a chair removed from your table, and just scooting right up to the table with your sitting walker thing! I've never had to use one, so I just don't know, but ever since I browbeat Dan into using one he was quite taken with the thing and used it a lot for about a year when he was gimping around and in a lot of discomfort.

Hey, Beth! Hope this will be a splendid day. And if Angie (dp) still looks in at all, Happy birthday to you as well. For no particular reason, I was browsing through the "dealers I follow" on ebay, and I see that Acuity4U is no longer a registered user. I wonder what might have happened to him? And I still wonder about Adderbolt...tried emailing b oth of them a couple of years ago but was unsuccessful.. And of course there's Laurie (from Wisconsin) who may not even have a computer any longer....

I think that's true, Jim, kids share tricks with each other (of course maybe their minds are more nimble than ours?) and progress faster. When I worked for the city of NY, my boss was head of the Medicaid program and she threw me into the pond (word processing) without any training! One day, IBM typewriter, next day - 4Phase system word processing by Motorola. That system was very simple...I was really able to zip on the keyboard and the wrap-around feature made it even faster. She had me doing RFP documents and things like that. We worked nicely with that system for a couple of years and then the powers-that-be decided to "upgrade". I was in charge of two other people and the 3 of us produced many documents for her and her two assistants. Lots of pressure, but we handled it. Then we heard that they were going to switch over to another system, which would require that we use Word Perfect (I think that was the wp program). Super. Except that none of us had ever used it, knew nothing about it and needed to be trained on this new program before we could do ANYTHING. I wrote a couple of memos to her warning her that we could not produce anything until we knew how to use this new program and begged her to insist that 4 Phase and this new thing run concurrently so that in a pinch we could change a document or get something out the door quickly. I knew that in their arrogance the computer people downstairs would simply dump the old program and that would be that. Sure enough, several of us from the agency attended 3 days of classes on the new (more involved and harder to learn) system, still didn't really know enough to use it.....and boom. Down went 4 Phase. All those documents disappeared, and we were blindsided. She flipped a hissy but to no avail. It was newer, therefore better. Luckily this was right around the time when I left the agency to move back to WY so I don't know how it all worked out. Badly, I'm sure. I have always laughed at people who said how much paper computers would save. The thing was, that everybody wanted a hard copy of everything they generated. So, MORE paper. Main reason was that once they found out they could tweak a document and we could correct it and print out a new one, they did that -- over and over and over. It got so bad nothing left the office for a couple or 3 days, simply because they had the ability to keep trying to improve something instead of getting the thing out the door. It was strange. Then the boss asked why things weren't getting out in a timely manner, and I told her. Exactly. That put a stop to most of it. But we weren't going to take the heat for someone who couldn't commit to paper. Rant over

Diane, I don't think I would ever be comfortable ordering online except for pet food... I'm so picky about meat and veggies...though I guess it could come to that. I can see specific brands of things, canned and packaged...but I would need to pick out meat and veggies myself. It's a great convenience for city dwellers, though. And I think the senior center here has a van that will pick up anyone for about 1 or 2 dollars a trip and take them to the store or downtown to the drugstore...good to know. I passed my eye test the day after surgery so that now I can drive and intend to do just that in a little while. Going thrifting.

Hi, all. I just saw Erin's (Liz' daughter) post that Liz is back in the ICU, still has pneumonia and a bladder infection. I'm so fearful for her...sent up a couple prayers, because there is nothing else I can do.

Beth, if you could, maybe get your student something that he'll always have to remember you by. It could be an ID bracelet (not anything his family could sell, but steel, or some such) or some sort of St. Christopher or other medal on a chain... PLUS a card. I suspect he would like to sense that you are nearby via a tangible item that he can look at or touch to give him a little strength when the road is rocky. And it sounds like he's had almost NOTHING but rocky roads. You've made an immense difference in his life.

Downsizing. I'll address that later. Things are changing here and I need to divest.

Had the L eye cataract surgery on the 10th. True to their claims, though I was scared...they do NOT inject needles near your eye; there are assorted drops and they set up an iv port and use two different tranquilizers to put you into a twilight sleep, where you can talk but don't remember a thing afterward. I can see quite well out of the eye, but NOW I have to wear drugstore glasses in order to read. a PITA. I'll see my regular eye dr. next Wed. and by then I shoudl have an idea what I need to have to keep from putting readers on every couple minutes...I hate this. I don't mind wearing glasses, still, so I have to figure out what will work. A plain glass, plus a bifocal for reading, on the Left, plus the corrective that's already there on the right, I guess. I'm still in shock over the cost of those eye drops they sent to my druggist....$595.92! I was in tears when I called to ask when I needed to start the drops, knowing it was prior to the surgery, and heard the bad news. I never in this world thought that it would be so much! And oddly, the surgeon didn't know himself...they fax in the rx to your drugstore, but he was totally shocked when I told him I'd had to scramble to get the meds...I toyed with the idea of postponing or canceling the surgery, but it wasn't much of an option....I really needed to get the good eye done. So now, having told the surgery center and the dr. himself about the horrendous cost of these, I hope they may be able to help someone else get them for less or on a sample basis or something. I can't get a Medicare additional plan here...not much available, and I have copd so they don't want to know me. I never had any meds that costly before.

Joanne, and Jack - glad to hear you like your stair climber. Mystery, hang in there! June....I need to move a ton of books out of here, too. Worst part of this surgery...for two days I couldn't read. lol

Hi...I didn't list a lot, but on ebay I sold a set of barkcloth drapes for $75 (paid 10 for those and another set I haven't listed yet), I sold a few pyrex bowls on a facebook site; and a pair of MCM wall plaques with Siamese Dancers (chalkware). All I can think of right now. And the casserole I mentioned which I need to pack...

I bought a set of Pyrex verde bowls (ranging from a deep avocado to a gold color (for the smallest) at the auction; spent 10. He had separated them into two smaller bowls and two larger ones, saying they were not a set (but they are, just strange to see the color change). So I got them for 5 per "handful"... and 3 amish butterprint pyrex bowls that always sell. These have some light scratches but those dont show and most of those pyrex collectors are obsessive and display their stuff - wouldn't dream of (gasp) cooking in it! lol I also bid "choice" on a group of ashtrays, many of which were mid-century...picked up 5 of those. Oh, and an electronic dart board for $10 (ours went out the door 2 years ago. ) I'm going to start throwing again, I think. I can't do much, but that doesn't take great strength, and I still have hand-eye coordination, at least I hope I will after next week's cataract removal!! I was wiped out by 5:00 and had to drive 72 miles home. It gets harder and harder, but I can't just give up. Luckily our post office is 2 blocks from here, so I can ship quickly.

Hi again! Beth, I'm glad you're going to do a little something for your student...and to heck with what the school thinks. I remember when you were able to get some help for making his Christmas special a couple of years ago. I wish we could help change his situation now, but of course there's nothing that can be done, sounds like.

Diane, I still, after several years, miss my Beau so much....we did rescue one other dog after that, but were able to place her somewhere else. I would not be surprised if another animal in need found you...they always seem to find us, and for years I've thought they had a newsletter!

Hi, Bob, long time no see.

I'm heading for an auction tomorrow; don't expect to find much, but you never know. Wednesday I was in a little Church thrift shop and picked up a Corning casserole dish with lid - - had an unusual pattern. Someone else was grabbing the "usual" corning dishes and pans with the blue flowers that I don't even bother with anymore. Long story short, I listed the casserole dish (from the 60's) in a pyrex site and it sold quickly. I think they charged me $2 for it and I got $35 including the shipping, which will probably be 12-14.00. Sometimes I overpay at that thrift because they are SO cheap, and I feel guilty. I sure never thought I'd be selling mid-century drapes (a very hot commodity, if you can find barkcloth) and pyrex. Not my first choice, but we change with the times. I miss New York and the lovely art pottery and the antique shows and all that stuff. Of course I'm an old crock now and could never do it anymore. I'm not even sure I can mount a yard sale, truth to tell, and I need to do one.

I don't know what it is with Amazon....the only time I ordered a book it was a Robert Sabuda popup for $25 - the alice in wonderland. It arrived in a tyvek envelope with a crushed corner. I raised hell and returned it. The replacement came back in a BOX with peanuts and paper packed around it. That book is still sealed in the shrink wrap - I had bought it just to keep or maybe resell, since I had a copy somewhat damaged.

June, our Methodist church here has one as well....

I can see it all now - Joanne and Jack are going to have hand lettered signs out front offering rides for 50 cents; 3 for $1...just to defray the cost of upkeep on the unit!!!

I'm so worried about Lizzie...hope all this stabilizes and she's back to her feisty self again soon. I posted to her daughter that she was supposed to GIVE ulcers, not GET them. I suppose it's all those meds.

Beth, sounds promising for Jerome. If it isn't one thing, it's another - getting on in years is NO fun.

LOL. I thought this was funny. There's a site, Billings Montana Classifieds in FB that has lots of silly drama going on all the time. This person posted a bunch of symptoms with stomach pain, fever, dry heaves, blah blah, and said the Dr. she went to said she wouldn't know. Huh? Anyway she posted asking the general public what they thought, so of course everyone had a response (mostly sensible stuff like go to the ER) but this one touched mah heart: "Gal bladder. When my gal bladder was inflamed i couldn't move or breathe. It was horrific. I had to have mine removed because it was so inflamed" Yessir, FB is like the Jerry Springer show some days.

Hi, everyone. I'm going to make it my business to get out of FB and back in here to see the rest of my old ebay buddies!
Have read a thread from Liz Killian's daughter, who is keeping us up to date on Lizzie - most of us know her, I'm sure. She had a huge ulcer, as it turned out, took 4 pts of blood because it had been bleeding, and that affected her kidney so for now they're using dialysis (praying that that situation will stabilize soon)...she is being moved to a care center until she regains some strength since she still has some pneumonia, but then she can go home. Poor thing. Though we have never met, she's one of my favorite people (as are MANY many of you!).

Joanne - glad to hear you have a stair-climber...it'll save you two a lot of aggravation and pain! Good to see that you are still getting out and about to your diner and appointments. It's important to keep moving when we can, I think.

Beth - - my heart breaks for your student. My God, the kid has had so much to overcome, it seems like there is no justice in the world. Do let us know if he manages to graduate and how he does...we can only hope someone will mentor him if he seeks employment...and there is considerable help in that field for those with any kind of disability. Without you in his life, he'd have been lost long ago. You did great on his behalf, though I know it's sad to be involved in such an awful situation. Is Jerome doing better?

Ann - I discovered that there were two more Jane Whitefield books Thomas Perry wrote in 2012 or so, that I hadn't been aware of - the last one is called A String of Beads. I have it sitting here while I read Runner, which I missed when I first read these. My library only had a few of them, and until I bought a few through Thriftbooks I had missed many. Glad to be able to enjoy that character again. And the latest C.J. Box, Off The Grid, is being held for me at the library when it comes back in. He's a good author, but his books are not for the faint of heart...but then the life of a game warden and the atrocities he encounters is not either. The stories are set just on the other side of the Big Horn mtns from where I live, so I like them for that reason. I had always hoped he would get a series like "Longmire" - but they may be a little too, too.....down to earth, as it were, for some.

Diane, I see you and Patsy both in FB a lot, so we're caught up, pretty much... Anyone I'm missing? Don't mean to!! Hugs to all.

Hi! I'm surely not getting in here as often as I should...FB takes up way too much time, but I'm trying to sell things in a couple of groups there and you have to monitor constantly (one drawback). Today, I managed to sell 4 Pyrex pieces in about 15 minutes which was a good thing; the thing about it is that you need to be honorable and take first in line, according to time posted with interest or "I want this" or whatever. And then a lot of people waste time looking up shipping cost for people who then back down. I don't - I know it'll be costly, so I build in what I expect it'll cost and offer "FREE SHIPPING". One girl just messaged me back asking if I was going to invoice her separately for the shipping cost....she had simply read the heading and not even noticed my shouted free shipping! lol Anyway, glad to see all are well!
'
I've been re-reading (actually there are some I hadn't read) the Thomas Perry Jane Whitefield series....and enjoying them even more; also went back through the C.J. Box Joe Pickett books. I'm going to have a cataract removed on May 10TH - hoping all goes well.

Homechick; the only people I've ever met who had problems with retirement were those who had no outside interests and suddenly found themselves at loose ends 24/7. Men, I think, experience this more than women. It can lead to depression and a loss of self worth, especially if a man's job was what defined him. My former husband had all sorts of problems - he'd never done much but go to work and go to movies and out to dinner, etc. but had no hobbies of any kind; wasn't a reader except for newspapers. It was pretty bad for awhile. Be of stout heart!!

Hi guys. Thanks for your kind thoughts, though I really hate to have any attention paid to my birthdays (old and grouchy, here) - I find nothing to celebrate anymore. Still, we've all been friends for a very long time and so I thank you for your friendship. Lots and lots of water under the bookboard bridge, no? I'm happy that books are still being sold, and haven't disappeared, as many thought, upon the appearance of Nook and other electronic reading devices! Even a librarian here in my town said she thought there would BE no paper books within 10 years. That was almost 10 years ago. lol I'm reading a CJ Box book I'd somehow missed in his series, and found a pleasant little phrase that I liked (remember how we used to share passages from our books from time to time?) ..."The river in the fall was no more than an exhausted stream marking time until winter came and put it out of its misery...." Like so many streams in these western states, they'll sometimes run dry mid-summer; then if the snowpack is good enough, they'll be viable again come spring.

Hi guys! See the talk is about diners/cafes, etc. Years ago, my dad would get up at 5 a.m. and head downtown to shoot the breeze with his cronies (he had a small trucking company and I dunno what the others did) - this went on for years. In Montana, where we lived before coming down here, there was a cafe, but most of us went to a bar to have coffee and gossip. It's just the way it was. The cafe had lots of people passing thru town and didn't have the little cliques you sometimes find in those places. The bars did. lol Kathy Barnett is trying to sign in here and says she's having trouble. I gave her the link and told her to contact curt, but I don't know what's wrong. She said to say hi to everyone until she gets here. Diane, I just had to replace one of the long tubes on one of my wind chimes...we have had horrendous winds here (one place had gusts over 100 mph; ours were in the 60-70 range). Been this way for several days. I love wind chimes and have probably 20 on the eaves of the garage, and a few others on the house and in the yard. I do have a couple of the big ones that sound so pretty...I can't leave an auction without a wind chim if there are any for sale. My roomie gets annoyed, but oh, well.

Have been watching MSNBC (Rachel Maddow et al) - most enjoyable. I used to like CNN but it's changed and looks more like FOX with the blonde talking heads and not much news.

Jo-Anne, hope Jack is doing okay and putting on some weight!! June, I'm out of good authors again, but re-reading some oldies. Any suggestions? You and I seem to like about the same type. I lost all my addresses when I had to get a new computer 3 months ago....I now have Windows 10 but they couldnt' save my email addresses. If you still have mine, send me an email so I can put 'em back!!!

http://s30.postimg.org/832j3ildd/kenbb.jpg

Hi, everybody. Thanks, June, for letting the FB group know about Ken's passing. I did still have a picture or two I'd saved from one of the BB picnics or something....I'll try to post it here. I think in one he's sitting alongside BriGuy, who was in the original BB too. Wonder how he is? And Chris, and a ton of people we don't run into any more.

I admit it, I'm bad. I'm mostly just communicating on FB and I forget to come in here; I see a lot of you on FB but this is important to keep alive, and I'm sorry I've been neglecting y'all.

ISO: a good preschool. Preferably small and I would love for it to be non demonizational christian.
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Samantha Dalton Small Wonders childcare & preschool. What age are you looking for?

So, was this a BAD misspelling or a spell check thing? Love it! It showed up in a Cody, WY classified thread tonight. lol

Thank you, beth! I did prowl around in conrol panel but haven't changed things to my satisfaction yet. I'm getting braver, though, and will start trying to whip this thing into shape!

Good to see Gail and Bob and June and Patsy and of course Jim, the globetrotter. Ann, I think you said your DH got easy share to work okay so he wouldn't have to change? I'm wondering how Kathleen is - whether she is still a high volume book seller or if she's given it up? Anyone hear anything about or from her? Glad Diane's trip went okay; isn't it funny, we love to take trips, really we do, but we're always so glad to just get home again now. That's what getting older does, I guess. It's the middle of the night and I guess I'll go back to bed. Had cramps in one foot and a calf muscle so I had to walk THAT off, then since I'd dozed awhile I was wide awake. That cake of soap thing under the sheet doesn't work, I did try it once a couple years ago, just in case....lol

Hi, everybody. It's been awhile since I checked in here; as you know my computer died, and then I bought a tower (it was marked 319 but I was only charged $279 for it when we checked out...it had 8.1 but when I gave it and the old tower to the techs (the one great thing about our ISP is the tech support) I asked them to go ahead and load Windows 10 so I wouldn't have to learn TWO new programs. I struggled for a week or so after getting the computer back, but I like it. The only thing is that I can't seem to make the text darker (not so much THIS, which is okay, but the notations and other things in sites are written in pale blue and hard to read. Also I need to learn how to import a particular font I like. Oddly, this computer has a very limited list of fonts. I lost my email program I'd used for years, and have to go a different route, but my address is the same, at least. I don't have anyone's emails anymore, though, so if you'd care to send me YOUR addresses, I'd appreciate it (those of us who did contact one another from time to time....you know who you are). I'm pauladanbeau@tctwest.net. Let's see....after reading and catching up on all the stuff I've missed: ebay. Well, I've made no secret of my opinion of it; though I'm again listing some things and doing okay. For awhile I could not get facebook (the real program rather than the app, which seemed to operate more like it would on a phone, so that I couldn't list there). Suddenly FB fixed whatever problems there had been with Windows 10 and it works fine now. My pictures all go into sort of an odd folder and I don't know how to straighten that out, but it's okay for now...I'll fool with it later. Baby steps. At least when I go to upload pictures, that one album does open up where the pictures went, so then it's simpler than before to just pick the thumbnail I want, and insert it. Faster than it was with easy share. Beth really IS amazing. She and I think Ilene (Baltimoreandmore) are two who probably make a good living by running it as a business. I believe over half the sellers we all knew just drifted away or quit because of all the restrictions ebay put on us. I still resent being treated as though I'm trying to put one over on a buyer. NOT!! Jo-Anne, I hope Jack gets back to normal soon....if he's now pretty tentative in walking for fear he might fall again, maybe one of those walkers like Dan used (fought me on it, until he actually tried it) for a time might be the answer....the one with the seat that pulls down in case of dizzyness or just needing to stop for a minute or two. Those have been a godsend. Dan fell last week, while mowing the lawn (it's been up around 80 degrees here for a couple of weeks). He stepped backwardand stumbled on some landscaping rocks out front, landed on his backside (which is bruised), then rolled over off the curb, ending up in the street, jamming his thumb pretty good in the process. He finished the yard anyway after I checked him out a little and he pulled the thumb back into alignment (ewww) I made him go to the Dr. next morning because of the swellin and pain in the joint. She x-rayed it, and thought the bone at the tip was broken, and that maybe he had damaged the first joint. She referred him to an ortho guy in another town (this was on a Saturday) and on Tuesday he finally made contact with that office to try to set up an mri, since his Dr. thought it might require surgery to repair the joint. They said they couldn't see him for a week, so he gave up on that and has been trying to bend the thumb and maybe get it to function right again. We'll see. Mystery: Sorry about Cooper...he will also be sad, I bet. Someday you may be in the stands at the Summer Olympics, watching SSG perform! She's certainly found her calling. I'm going to post this much so I don't accidentally erase it, as I've done many times!

Interested in seeing how Ann is doing with the photo site on Windows 10? I have to say that as much as I liked easy share, this editing program is even better and not difficult at all. I found that clicking on "enhance" up at the top doesn't always make it better, but the symbol next to that one, the pencil, when you click on it, it opens up an assortment of editing helps. The one thing I need to do is find out how to just make an album and have stuff go there....I'm using the one my tech found, and I don't dare touch anything. lol Welcome home, 'Diane. I miss my job running the highways; but it was probably time to stop.

I was listening to MSNBC tonight and one guest on a show was saying that the NRA is so powerful that congress people are afraid of them. They can destroy a person's career, and have done so (I wonder if they could do even more than that, if need be, like "rub somebody out" ala Al Capone?) That is terrible. That group has so much power that nobody in pubic office will go against them? And we think we live in the land of the free and the home of the brave?

AEG: I hated that I can no longer use tghe old easy share program I'd had around for several years, but I think I will like this way of handling pictures once I get a handle on it. I lost a bunch of easy share albums, but some of the best things I'd done were actually in my photos which they did bring over to this computer. So I didn't really lose much at all. I need to know how to make albums and sort stuff....and not being able to "name" pictures is different, but I also see that I can save time using this method - I can see the picture (after I edit it) and just add it to the ebay listing. I am about to try one more listing to see if I can really do it...wish me luck!

Hi! I dunno if I had much in the way of sales in Sept.... just a few I was able to copy/paste here. Shipping is so expensive that heavy stuff like glass doesn't sell for as much as it used to.

Vintage CHALKWARE FISH FAMILY - $12.99

HAZEL ATLAS Moroccan Amethyst Chip/Dip vintage..$19.99

1960'S Mid Century VASE Abstract Ikebana style by PALO VERDE Pottery, CA - $43.00

MILLER HIGH LIFE Beer Tray Maid in the Moon 1950s, Minty: $25

Vintage PYREX BASKETWEAVE Casserole/Cradle 1970s Promotional item: $26...

Hi all. Yesterday, I had a tech remotely fooling around with my computer for a couple hours...he could not get facebook to open no matter what he did, so suggested that I might have to bring the computer in to them to run tests. Not bloody likely!! I realized he was one of the newer techs who was just going down a troubleshooting sheet.. I asked about "system restore" but that didn't work since this is a brand new computer with no restore points. He said I might have to go back to 8.1, which was what was in this computer when I bought it. .I was reduced to tears by the time I got off the damned phone with him. I had decided I would just have to do without facebook until maybe FB fixed whatever problems 10 has with it. This morning another tech called me, and I remembered one of the techs telling me before I took my computer in that they had a "guy who was really good" named Zac who could solve almost any problem. Guess who was on the phone? He undid a couple of things I had done (I went online to Microsoft support thinking I might find a forum with help, and they got me to sign in and create an account. When I turned the computer on this morning, boom, here was a different picture and welcome page, and a request for my password. OMG. At that point, I called the tech service, and I did plug in a password and finally got the computer to open, but I asked Zac to please undo that damned account I'd signed up for, which he did in about a minute. Then he went to work on the FB problem and finally got me onto FB using an app to open it and then I changed my password (again) and I have some functions on Facebook, but it behaves more like a phone, I think, than my usual website. I can't play Criminal Case, and I have to hunt around to see things, but it's at least a start. I know there are some issues with 10 and FB so maybe down the road I'll be able to get on the "old" website. Frustrating. I fiddled with the picture upload (my card reader and Sandisk) and got pix uploaded okay...I think I will be able to take ebay pix and find them and put them into a listing without too much trouble. I can't use my old Easy Share program (tried to load it, but trhe computer wouldn't accept it. It has its own which isn't half bad. So, bit by bit...

Hi. Well, last night I thought I was well on the way to getting a handle on this new windows 10...I had gone into Facebook, all my old groups were there, and I posted a couple of things. I played a game or two in Pogo, figured out how to get little shortcut icons onto my desktop (like my old XP...but this morning, I can't get into FB at all, and when I click on the Pogo shortcut, I get an ad for something that's supposed to "speed up" my computer. Not going to do that. I can't figure out what's wrong now. (sigh)

Hi again. Heard from the techs that they had to remove the card from my old computer since they couldn't get it to boot up, but they think they can get most of the information from it and upload it into the new Win 10. I may actually get it back in a couple days. I see we're still on the subject of what we carry with us...I have for a long time kept extra little salt and pepper packets and napkins and maybe plastic cutlery in the glove compartment...you never know... In my bag that goes in the car always, I have just about everything one could want; though I won't be driving the pilot pickup now since my boss retired, I probably don't need as much, but I have: small 10 power nikon binox, a couple small flashlights (and by the way we've discovered some tiny flat ones about 3/4" x 2" at Family Dollar in the automotive department for $1 that are GREAT.) Then a pair of pliers, a wallet with cards I don'[t often use, a paperback or two, packets of instant coffee or crystal lite drinks, notebooks, small camera, a fanny pack with a little makeup, a pill box, extra inhaler, pens, etc. car charger for camera and hone. My small pistol. Orange gloves that come in handy if you need to stop or the car quits...they can be seen for some distance, and I've used them NOT just on the flagging trips, but even in town when our Expedition quit on us and I had to direct traffic around it. As Jim said, we thought we had died and gone to heaven a few years ago when we discovered cargo pants...we wear them often, especially on trips or to auctions. The aforementioned tiny flashlights (for looking into boxes or under tables), a tape measure, small knife, inhaler, cash, etc. I do like having my hands free. And all those years I carried heavy shoulder bags and I wonder why my head aches??? It's better now, but between that and spending time hunching my shoulder while talking on a phone at work, and typing at the same time... it's a wonder I'm not in worse shape than I am. Now they're saying that people are devloping a sort of dowager's hump from constantly looking at their phones and keeping their necks in a peculiar position for hours on end. Not moi.

Nice travelogue, Jim. gail, good to see you. Kathleen, you could stop by and say hello, you know! We don't bite. Happy Birthday.

Wow. Very nice cabin indeed! I'm in waiting mode now - the two towers are in the hands of techs and hoping I can get my new one back this week sometime. Then comes the fun part of trying to learn how to use 10. I am very grateful that this old laptop is cranking along sufficiently that I was able to send an invoice to a lady who bought a vase and actually counteroffer HER best offer...no glitches at all. You know, I guess that our neighbor had been trapping feral cats in the neighborhood and they'd been taken to the shelter/pound here, where a couple ladies got them neutered and found homes for them. In a way it's been helpful for me, because I'd been feeding quite a few in the back of our property - how can you NOT? but it gets to be a bit much. One old fellow we called tux (a b/w tuxedo with nice long whiskers and a nice face has been around for a couple years. My friend Barbara took him after he'd gotten into the trap, had him fixed, and took him to her place where she has acreage and can shelter cats and take care of them there. This was a couple weeks ago. He showed up back in this yard about 3 days later.. she says she's about 4 or 5 miles from me! So - we bundled him up and she took him back home again. Kept him in a large pen this time to try to acclimate him and we thought he would pick a "house" or place to call his own in a barn or somewhere. Nope. This morning I was feeding the 3 outside cats and here he came sauntering up the sidewalk in the back yard again! I guess he wants to live here, and that's it. No problem, there are places where he can be in out of the cold. It's like that old song, "the cat came back. Thought he was a goner, but the cat came back, 'cause he couldn't stay away." You have to be a codger to remember THAT!! Amazing that he found his way back the first time; and this time even more quickly. Crossing roads and streets...without mishap. He isn't about to let me close to him right now - I'm sure he thinks I'll just send him away again. Made me a little sad when I realized he wants to be HERE. Period. But okay, what's one more mouth? That big cat rescue sounds great. How people can mistreat animals has always shocked me. But they do. The ladies I speak about here in town are activists and are trying to set up a trap neuter release program here (TNR). Of course the town council just looked blankly at them at first, thinking they wanted to grab cats even if they belonged to people....lord, lord. It's good that they are here - WY doesn't have a lot of help for homeless cats and dogs and people don't think about spay and neuter as they should so problems develop all the time in these little towns.

I will certainly be glad when I can get on FB just a little bit...think of what-all I'm missing!! Jo-anne, glad Jack's surgery went well and the two of you can stop fretting!

Purses. When I lived in the city, I had a shoulder bag PLUS usually another bag with either my camera and an extra lens or two or a couple books, or.... I carried anything I thought I might need in the course of a day away from home. When I left there, it took a couple years for me to get used to NOT carrying a purse but as you say pockets are a godsend. I( have a green Sierra Club bag that has all sorts of things in it that travels with me ijn the car, though I don't carry it on my shoulder. I have a folder with ccs and some cash, then my inhaler and assorted stuff in my pockets...hands free. It works out well, but the habit of carrying a purse was hard to break.

I think I have around 50 friends (though some are just people with whom I had a sales transaction and we friended one another so we could pm back and forth...) I really only hear from fewer than a dozen though I follow some political posts (not many, because it's so depressing. I tune in to the several groups I belong to - where Dan and I either list things or look for things for sale (I do believe it's probaby a bit safer than craigslist, but I don't know for certain. I laugh every time I agree to meet someone in a parking lot someplace, or I see people exchanging a bag of stuff for cash out of the trunk of a car... looks a little like drug deals or something. This used to go on in a neighborhood I lived in in NY - I played poker with several girls from the neighborhood a couple nights a week - 3 were married; then me, and two others who were single. The married women were Italians and their husbands were forever bringing home stuff that "fell offa da truck". They would then sell the purses, coats, whatever to trusted people in that area. Not saying that Italians were necessarily the most likely to be standing in the road when something "fell offa da truck" but ... maybe SOME Italians were? Enough, already. I'm rambling again.

Well, this morning I toted the two towers to TCT (alliteration, much?) and will hope the techs who work on the weekend might get a start on the work. Or not. I wish I could figure out why I can't open Facebook. Anyone know what powers it, mostly? Is it Java or Adobe Shockwave, or what? This system has Java blocked (somemthing to do with how old the thing is) - I did finally get an update for Adobe downloaded and this is now running a bit faster. I can play SOME games on Pogo, but not all (again, Java) I will be grateful when all is well, once again, in computerland. This isn't too awful, though. At least I can say hello to many of my online friends, and just Iook at the time I'm saving, not being abloe to open FB! That's awfully time consuming. I see why some people can't tear their eyes away from the phone screen enough to cross the street...gawd forbid they miss a comment from one of their friends!

Beth, I don't know what's wrong with my old computer, so I need to have them see what's going on..(I can' t boot it up at all) .but I will keep what you said in mind, just in case I need to ever do this AGAIN! And I know I could probably save a little by uploading Windows 10 myself (it has to be "official" somehow, and I don't know how that works. Though I guess if you went to MS online you would know you had the legit and not pirated version of 10.

Hello again. I heard from TCT and the tech I spoke to said to transfer my info from my XP to my new one.and to install Windows 10 will about $125. I can prolly live with that. They'll do a diagnostic on my old puter and see why the dreaded blue screen appeared and then transfer stuff out. I really hope my Easy Share program will continue to work wi9th this one....it installed just fine when I upgraded last, but I wasn't sure it would, being quite outdated. Still, it's very simple to use, and I can put the pix from this little NIkon I have onan SD card and it will accept those (I thought you had to be using a Kodak camera, which I don't any longer, but the SD doesn't care what machine took the pictures.... We unpacked the new tower. Good grief. It's a dwarf, compared to my old one. Several inches narrower and shorter. I hope I won't have a lot of problems learning Windows 10. I used to think I was a smart person but there are times when I have grave doubts. Guess I'm just borrowing trouble. Once I dive into the water, I'm usually fine.

Hi guys. limping along a little on this old HP laptop. A tech from our broadband/tv/phone co. spent a couple hours or more linked to this, cleaning it up and trying to get my email program open...makes a big difference. I can't use Adobe Shockwave, apparently, on this old one, so can't play some games, but that's okay. Can't get onto Facebook either at the moment, but I'll live. We went to Yellowstone, stayed overnite at Gardiner, MT, just outside the park, and it rained both days (this time of year it's very common). But we got out of the house for a day or two. Then stopped at Walmart in Cody on the way home to get a big bag of cat food, and looked at towers (I was surprised they had any) - bought an ACER (same as the nice monitor I have, thanks to Beth)...it has a lot of room, much more than I iwll ever use, and 8.1 inside. I have a message in to the tech department at TCT to find out about how much it will cost to send my old puter and this new one and havbe them transfer the stuff into it. The work he did the other day was FREE, mind you. They remotely take over your computer with a program called Bomgar, and fix what they can...a godsend. If my old computer isn't fried, and I don't imagine it is, I'm hoping they can take both and also upgrade it to Windows 10 before I ever start working on it. Stupid to learn about 8.1 and then have to upgrade while 10 is free and have to learn THAT. The man who did the work last time for us seems to have disappeared, so I'm just going to put it in the hands of our ISP techs. Shouldn't be awfully expensive. And they'll just add it to our monthly bill. Anything anyone knows about 10 that I ought to know? I opted not to get a laptop since I do a lot of typing and dont' like the keyboards especially on the laptops There's something, um, comforting about a tower humming away (when you're old and not wanting to change!!).

Hi, guys. Well, for sure the computer is dead now, and I can't get a response from my computer guy...tried booting up this old HP laptop, but am having no luck with it; it was set up to go wireless (in motels, etc) and for some reason, even though I plugged in the phone line, it still goes on about wireless network detected....but I can't use one because none is close enough to piggyback .... and the ones further away in town require a password r something. So to the library tomorrow. The bad thing is that I can't get into my ebay on this computer (we are hooked together somehow; dan is the primary and I have the secondary puter but the email addresses are a bit different. No matter what I try, it goes to Dan's ebay account and not mine. Wouldn't matter except that I still have 3 things running, AND worst of all a guy bought something and hadn't yet paid, but I haven't a clue what his address is. I will hope to get into Paypal and straighten that out. Lord. Really disgusted. I will come on here (Dan's computer) when I can and say hello.... Jo-anne, good luck to Jack...I know he'll be just fine.

PS: I did find a new with tags Laurel Burch shoulder bag/purse....she passed away a couple years ago, I think...was the one who did the cats all over cups and fabric; this purse cost 75 cents and I should get at least $15 for it! I love that little St. John's thrift. I donated some stuff to them a couple months ago and hope they made some money, but they just don't charge enough. Most thrifts have gone round the bend price-wise.

Hi everyone. Well I have about a dozen things listed and not one has any action on it. I'm not used to that at all. I think I may be invisible to people until the last day or so of the auction or bin sale...I don't jump through their hoops and I think there's some criteria you have to meet to appear "high up" in the searches. We shall see. I've been re-reading a few of the J.A. Jance books....picked up one of the Beaumont books I had never read (odd, because I try to read everything by an author I like)...then realized it had been long enough I could follow to the next one and see how he and his lady resolved their situation. Plus - always a happy day - there's a new Linda Fairstein out! (Devil's Bridge) I have it and will start it on the weekend, probably. I picked up a few at a thrift today - a couple I probably have read but years ago; that's what I've been doing lately to make up for the lack of new authors I like....re-reading some favorites. It's working out well. I'll save the new stuff for "dessert". Is everyone else disgusted by the Kim Davis thing? So tired of the wrangling and game playing going on. And then they pulled a Sarah Palin thing, using a "theme song" without getting permission from the band that wrote it. Palin's faux pas was using "Barracuda" after which Heart told her to cease and desist, and this one was "Eye of the Tiger" by Foreigner. Rumor has it the record company OR the band itself may file a law suit, just to keep things even MORE stirred up . I yearn for the good old days. Many of us know how things were, and basically people were a lot more respectful... there were problems, of course, but nothing like today. And of course hamburger was about 37 cents a pound back in the 50's! lol

I finally got pics uploaded and forced myself to get some listings written for ebay. I have some mid century things and decided to lump them all in the same week...still have a few more to do, but it's a start. I don't know why, but it's like pulling hen's teeth to start flat footed (what I mean is, when you have NO ebay listings and you have to start filling the page from scratch). Just contemplating it made me tired. So I'd put it off and do something else. Now I can feel all virtuous for a day or so. lol!

Jo-Anne, I don't know about Greek weddings, but possibly that was a favor that had been given out to guests...or, the boy felt that he needed to reciprocate gift for gift. I don't think I'd worry about it...it was classy of you to send a small gift, and you also wrote a thank you note for the gift he chose to give you! When Greeks give you salad tongs, make a salad!!! lol

Hi everybody. The only thing I listed on ebay in August were two Wilton cake pans I picked up at a thrift (minnie and mickey mouse) 1994 and 1978. Surprisingly I got $50 for the two pans, for which I paid $4. I remembered when I saw the box that they sometimes sell for good money so I picked a couple out. I have a few more now, which aren't as good, but I'll try to sell those on FB locally. I am about to list some Mid-century items I picked up from a sale last Saturday. The lady had some great things, and some of the smalls were mid-century modern - I'll try on ebay I think first because the site where you can list mcm allows bumping only once a week...that's crazy. I only spent about $80 and got beer trays, farber bros. chrome and cambridge glass liqueur set, some oriental figurines trimmed in gold, a couple of ashtrays from that period, signed potteries, and a nice Hazel Atlas chip & dip in a cradle - perfect- in "moroccan amethyst". It so happened I had a couple of matching ashtrays here that I'd never listed...so those can go with it. I had things here from that period too, so I'll see how it goes. I bought a huge Pyrex roaster with lid in cranberry (which was only made for a year or two back in 1991-2, and sold it locally. All I've done is switch from Fire King over to Pyrex, which is still very heavy and hard to ship. Jeez, I miss selling books! Forsooth. Off to catch up on the latest!

I'm so sorry to hear of Pat's passing, and sending prayers to Kym and Kathy. You are in our thoughts and please know we share your sadness.

A few sprinkles here....had a shower last nite too, as a cool front blew through. IT was just 60 degrees this morning, prolly lower during the night....and I was COLD getting up in this house! Back to the 90s in a couple days,I think

Beth, actually, I'm not sure about the Pyrex site I invited you into - they may not have such strict rules like the "Anything Vintage Kitchen" site does.... I'll have to check that out. (regarding first, second in line, etc.)

Hi, all! Yes,June, I saw that mentioned. Funny. I like black cats and a couple or 3 of the outside ones I feed ARE black. (One tuxedo, one solid, and a "tippy toes" with white tips on toes and a little splotch of white on his muzzle and nose. )

Jo-Anne, I knew someone had mentioned that Vanity Fair article - it was you!! We who had copies owe you a debt of gratitude, because the book caught fire again, burned brightly across the literary sky (barf) and then sank in the west for a few more years....I picked up a copy of The Torch is Passed just the other day - I think it was 25 cents and I realized I didn't have one now, must have sold it somewhere. I still have copies of Life and the Sat Eve Post from that period....lots of Kennedy material in my book room - likewise for Bobby too. I can't ditch those magazines. I just can't. I wish mom had had more of the Vogues and that type of mag - those really bring some money. I do still have some Redbooks, too, and a few Cosmos, I believe. Dan made me toss out a LOT of the old mags from the garage....I agree that they don't generate much interest or I don't know how to present them, but just a few have brought serious money, too. I remember reading about some baseball card that was tipped in to an April 1967 magazine, and went out to check - sure enough, I had that mag, with the card still bound into it. And then there was a Vogue with a not-advertised article about Marilyn (some candid shots of her...turned out to be probably the last photo shoot she did, in May of 1962 or so.) That brought $20. Now that I also belong to a Mid-Century Modern group which is fascinating, I think there could be a market in its sister group for selling and trading for the 50's and early 60's magazines because of the ads for stuff. Those people research constantly trying to figure out the makers of the MCM style things they look for...and what better place than the magazines? Again, wish mom had more of the upscale publications rather than the typical family ones, like women's mags and ones for my Dad. I also have 3 or 4 Sears and Mont. Wards catalogs from back then...I'll have to go thru and see what looks good. I sold a couple that had large toy sections. Collectors love to find old catalogs with ads for various toys from the 50's etc. Who knew? And of course so many got damp and damaged....

So, Beth, any luck? I haven't been in to the Pyrex site this a.m. yet. Packing a couple items I sold yesterday. The only drawback to selling on that site and the "Anything Vintage Kitchen....etc." site (with 40k members) is that you then have to police your posting....if Maudie asks a question about shipping or whatever, and someone else asks about shipping to a certain zip, then a 3rd party says, "I want"! You have to be sure the first two don't want the item before you can outright sell to the 3rd party who "wants" it. It is more fair that way, but still some people try to pm the seller and steal an item out from under those in line. Happened a couple weeks ago. A newbie posted some bowls pretty cheaply. One lady jumped right away and was trying to get an answer from the seller, but meantime another person pm'd the newbie on the q.t. and offered her more. She sold them. Subsequently both were excommunicated from the site. The admins in the Anything Vintage are very intent upon keeping things on the up and up...and I believe they are right. You know something won't get stolen from you if you're trying to buy it, unlike some other sites where it's open warfare for some things! lol Also, the 5 admins don't allow snotty comments, or trying to sell YOUR item on someone else's post or any of that. Once a month they have a 3-day auction...in their sister site. I have not tried that...requires too much policing of your posts. I'm happy just tossing in a couple of posts that I think will sell...I gave up doing albums and so forth.

Wow, I'm so bad about checking in here and posting....I have to stop with the facebook stuff. I have found another site similar to the Vintage Kitchen..... etc site that has 40,000 members so it's hard to put up a listing and not have it buried down the way within minutes (and you can only "bump" or bring the post, album or pictures to the top of the heap every 24 hours. If they don't jump on it right away, it doesn't get noticed until the bump. This last few days I listed a few things on a Pyrex site and got bites on two out of 3 within 10 minutes. I had shown 3 mixing bowls by different makers and was gratified that they sold that quickly. Using paypal, it's quick to invoice and no ebay fee to pay. What I've begun to do is build in my best estimate of shipping (usually it costs me a little extra) but that's okay, assuming I bought pretty cheaply to begin with. These pyrex collectors are rabid! Rabid, I tell you. Oh, must tell you that I went to an auction yesterday featuring hundreds of pieces of Fiesta (all the old original colors. I was hoping to get a few examples of the uranium red (which was really a deep orange and was a little radioactive) but Bidder 17 came loaded for bear and probably drove a Brinks truck full of money. The auction was outdoors, at a nice place in Cody, WY, things set out in the front and back yards on tables. Plenty of shade, and I got there super early so was able to park almost in front of the house. I can't traipse very far when it's hot, carrying things to the car, so I make it my business to get out of bed and leave early. More and more I find myself understanding my Mom, who just couldn't find the energy to bother getting up and going anywhere after awhile. I won't let that happen to me, just for the sake of a little extra sleep. Back to the Fiesta! The auctioneer sold "choice", per piece on each table in turn. First table had mostly pitchers, vases, carafes and casseroles. First round of bidding, I kid you not, ended with Bidder 17 winning choice for $450 PER! He took several pieces. Next round was still high, about $200 per piece; he took more....it went like that through 4 tables and he got nearly every piece of any consequence. Amazing. I have no clue how much money he spent, though I might ask next time I see the clerk who likes me - - I would guess $5 to $8000. I bought a Frankoma casserole in the wagon wheel pattern....there was a whole table of that and it will sell, unlike so much of the Frankoma nowadays. I found some unmarked Coors pottery from Colorado and was thinking I might get away with it....did get a bowl early on for $5, but there were two pitchers on a tray that came up later on. I ran it up to $90, and thought I had the bid, but directly behind me was the winner...whom I hadn't seen bidding against me. Maybe the kid was paying attention to HIM and not me, while I thought I was in all that time, can't be sure. There was another bidder or two in the mix, too. Anyway, I'm not sorry, once it went that high, it isn't a hot seller either. Hard day. I was able to leave by a out 1:30 and just get home. We're going to another auction next Sunday over the mountains...another trip to Buffalo, our favorite town, overnight, then 15 miles to Story, WY to the auction site. There are a lot of tools, and I don't know what else...stuff I might want, though it may go high.

Reading back through, I hope Jerome and Jack are feeling better, congrats to Irene on 70 years! And bon voyage, Jim (again!!) Gives new meaning to the term Globetrotter. I see Jim mentioning selling books on ebay years ago. It was VERY good pickings in the early 2000s. I sold old children's books; mine and my sister's - and some went for amazing money. It was what you picked to sell that mattered. I had a copy of "The Haunting of Hill House" 1st Ed. that mom had on a shelf here...in primo condition...sold it for $450. I remember selling a golden book "Little Black Sambo" for well over $100 and that's how I met the book board! The buyer wrote to say there was a rip on a page. I found the bb and posted, to ask a question about what I should do. Some advised me to just refund and let him keep the book. I smelled a rat and decided not to, so I replied to him, telling him to send back the book and if I ascertained that it was the SAME book I'd mailed, I would refund. Never heard another word from him. That was when I made a small mark inside expensive books I sold so scammers had a hard time of it. Always a good idea anyway. I sure miss selling books...I did dabble in buying first editions for a few months and then found like Jim did, that they didn't bring anything because of how many were printed. Remember 3 or 4 years ago when a Vanity Fair article suddenly made the Manchester book, "Death of a President" a very hot item for about a month? I had one, and bought two more quickly from a collectibles dealer I knew who did not know of the sudden surge in interest...I know a few of us in here did well for that go-round. You never know.

We've gotten quite a few nearly new things at auctions; as Dan mentioned, the concentrator (he has one and this one I can turn on if the air here is bad and I'm having trouble (there are settling ponds somewhere near town and sometimes the smell is obnoxious; also the beet pulp sometimes from the sugar factory during the winter can be smelly...I'll use it from time to time just to get plenty of O2 into my body. We both use nebulizers a couple times a day - but still kickin'. But the roll-round walker with fold down seat has been really good for Dan, though he doesn't use it now; hope he won't have to for awhile.

When I came back here from New York, I had an awful time since the store here does have people to bag and carry out your groceries...usually I'll take my own, unless I have a 20 pound bag of dry cat food plus the other things...and I would try to tip the people helping me get groceries to my car. They will not accept a tip. Even supervisors or other checkers will answer the call to "carry out on 4, please". In other towns, too, there's help out with groceries. I always ask the checkers to pack the bags full - I usually carry them in myself and I hate having 5 little bags when it could fit into two. It weighs the same, after all. I am glad I still can carry things, but my breathing is not good, so I'll huff and puff for awhile. JoAnne, and Diane, also: do you have one of those rolling walkers with the seat that flips down? Those are such a godsend. Dan fought about trying one of those when he had such back pain, but I got him one from the senior center to try, and he ended up liking it! He hasn't needed it since the fusion, but still uses a go=cart to get around Walmart on our monthly trip...that's a big store to walk around in. Me? I walk, and usually end up out of breath by the time I load the thing full of cat supplies and our own things. I try not to buy much else there. Certainly not meat, sometimes a few things on special, but I'd rather give the Dollar store in our town the business. Family Dollar merged with Dollar Tree (I think that's the one) - and the store here keeps expanding and expanding its choice of products - soda, vitamins and otc drugs, canned goods and so on...it's cheaper than Walmart and convenient too. I have a good memory for prices and watch things like that. Even their cat food is as inexpensive, except that the variety simply isn't there. Oh! Today I drove to a nearby town to pick up an 18 pound box of Flathead bing cherries (from Northern MT) - I split them with our neighbor, Jesse, since Dan doesn't care for them. I guess I'll put a cupful or so into little sandwich bags and freeze them, and enjoy them in the dead of winter. They aren't as good as fresh, but I can at least get my bing cherry fix. They were just over $2 a pound this way, when they've been about 4.00 in the stores. Beautiful, big dark cherries! Fruit is horrendously expensive, and not all that good - I see apricots selling for about $4 a pound!! Peaches and Nectarines and plums are around $1.49/lb, which isn't at all bad right now, but they're hard as rocks. Oh, for the good old days.

Well, much ado about nothing - a sniper got the cat for the opening bid....I was secretly hoping for several people wrangling over it in the last minute....oh, for the good old days! But okay, not a bad thing!

Those are pretty close....thanks! Now just to see if any of the watchers bids on it. They are all waiting until the last minute, I guess.

I have two of the hippos; one that was Mom's and one sent me by a very dear friend in our secret santa party one year in the old Book Board. It has not attracted any attention, and it really should; they're tough to find now. I remember in New York I even found a couple of the canopic jars (the Egyptians would, when embalming their ruler or important personage, remove the organs and those were placed in a covered jar to be entombed with the mummy when it was time for burial. Those also had that blue faience glaze, and I should not have sold them....they were cool. But what did I know? lol Mom had a Lisa Larson cat with the stickers and markings intact, and I sold it last year for about $400. It had that flat face and a fairly nondescript glaze, but...Scandinavian pottery is pretty desirable. I see that the Italian stuff goes pretty high if it's Mid Century Modern, which seems to be "hot" right now.

HI, guys. I see some of you in FB but I have almost given up selling in there, at least locally....too many hem and haw and no contact. I have been listing a little on ebay again, and I put up an Italian ceramic cat figuring that looks a little like a ripoff of Scandinavian Mid Century pottery. It has a flaw, but oddly it has had over 150 "tire kickers" and about 15 watchers....yet no bids. I don't know if it's by a good maker or what and nobody even in the MCM facebook group seems to have a clue, but I do think it will spark a tiny little bidding war at the very end. Or not. If it were perfect, I think it would have already gotten bids. Should be interesting, no matter what happens. Loved reading about Beth's luck with the film cans, and the brass dog tags. I have a few I've saved, but they didn't sell the one time I listed them, and I was quite surprised. They should. Maybe mine weren't old enough...1950's and up. I like them. Anyway, that cat is ebay id# 161759190710 if anyone wants to look, and maybe one of you might have seen that style before.

Thank you, June, for helping me prove this out...I don't want to be saying anything that isn't true. Interesting that Beth, printing online postage, doesn't get that choice or the "fragile fee" or special handling! But in this town, most folks go to the post office and send off things to kids in college, the armed forces, whatever...once a month or so. We need WellingtonCT (Laurie Veness) to get on their case about this! Wonder how she is...I suppose she isn't online much any more.

Priority Mail Military™ Medium Flat Rate Box
Expected Delivery Day Military

Postage
Fragile Fee
Total

12.65
10.35
$23.00

11.30 This set of figures is the online price for postage
10.35
$21.65

Hi again. I just went online to the usps site I use, and someone was kind enough to give me a military apo number so that I could try it.... whether it is standard post or priority, once you get to section 4 under Content (hazmat, live animals, anything fragile, etc. and check if your package contains anything fragile, you're dead. That's what appears under "product selected". Without checking that fragile box, the postage would be $9.66 for a standard post box, slightly more for the priority flat rate. Insidious, isn't it?

Beth, I'm so incensed about this that I am writing a spleen-venting letter to the editor to help those who send out packages constantly from here.... I assume that's also the case with packages sent to sons and daughters in the armed forces? Anyone know for sure? I spent a lot of time last night in the usps site and finally found the rule; doesn't seem to have exceptions to it (I went in yesterday and said NO. Just, NO. My friend who works there told me it's only recently begun, so I think I might've gotten nailed once on it, but no more. I feel sorry for people who rarely ship anything and who use the fragile option and are going to be blindsided. I don't know if you ship something, write fragile on the box, but refuse the option and something happens to the item whether you could file a claim - - I would guess not. I plan to insure through my other insurance outfit and stay clear of a possible problem with the p.o. And I really don't think it'll go away, but I'll bet they get a LOT of unfavorable mail about it. It's not something they're going to tell you, and people will be backed into a corner and probably pay the postage, thinking they have no choice. I really REALLY dislike the sneakiness of it all. So....I'll do my part and get the word out with the large vintage kitchen group etc. I belong to. If anyone can tell if packages to armed services personnel are also subject to that $10.35 fee, I'd appreciate it. It's tough to wade through all that stuff, but I did once...maybe someone who has the addy of someone in the army could try filling in the details of a ghost package (in fact I would do it if one of you wants to send me a phony name but a real apo or whatever it is...just to be sure of my facts before I start writing my snarky letter, Grrrrr

Diane, that's pretty awful when nobody's around to play the guilt cards, but we STILL manage to do it to ourselves! I have a problem when I'm really sleepy and think I'll lie down for a little bit - then I begin thinking of all the things I "should" do. Pretty soon I'm up. Not that I'm doing the things, but I can't sleep now! lol It;s great to have other people we know come in, and this chat is probably the busiest of those Curt (bless his heart) created for us. We've all hung together for a very long time! And for the mellerdrammer we may miss from the "old" bookboard, well, for that, we have FACEBOOK! Some of those threads are funny. I mostly tune into 4 area buy/sell chats, and while some admins don't let you get away with jumping on someone, others just let 'er rip. The Billings Classifieds are an example. Drama aplenty, every day. I must say once or twice I' ve tossed a stick onto the fire, but you know how reticent and sweet spirited I am so it isn't often. Honest. Really. Swear to God.

Jeez, Jim, I knew there was a (supposed) coffee shortage, but I didn't know that there was also a dearth of apostrophes! I guess over time one could save a lot of ink by not using them, though. lol

Thanks for that post, Diane. I do my share with first class mail...still preferring to pay my bills the old fashioned way and not do online bill paying. Their prices have climbed for those of us remaining who don't choose to do everything electronically, though; and so it might be a doomsday kind of cycle. Jane: I am not sure WHEN this went into effect; I noticed a couple months back that you had to indicate on the little screen or declare to the clerk whether anything fragile was in the box, and so maybe that came into being at the first of the year and I didn't notice until fairly recently. I can't recall when they started asking that question, but it doesn't seem very long. I WILL be asking my friendly neighborhood postmaster that very thing - - soon. So instead of buying insurance for a couple of dollars, you pay $10 more if you check that box. It may be less for lighter weights...dunno. And you would still have to buy insurance if you didn't ship priority. Someday I believe the electronics are going to bite us in the butt...all kinds of stores are going to be unable to do business because everything is computerized now and there is no backup system in place. We had a power outage in this town of about 1 hour this past week; and the grocery store, drug store, post office, etc. could NOT serve customers. What will happen during a real long-lasting emergency? I'm sure you people in the south and OK, etc., could answer that. Do some businesses have backup manual registers or any way to sell people loaves of bread or gallons of milk or whatever? Disturbing to contemplate, isn't it?

And I pack well, also, Diane; have rarely ever had anything break in shipment. This just floored me. I wonder if I continue to write fragile in big letters on my boxes, but DO NOT check off the button what might happen? lol - it simply means if it's something expensive, I will buy my insurance through u-pak which is a good company, and keep away from the p.o. altogether on those matters....

Well, I have learned something I seriously never heard mentioned or read anywhere (my bad, I'm sure, it must have been buried in one of the many p.o. announcements). I tried this both ways, same weight, using my old NY zip code, and there is a "fragile fee" of $10 attached whether it's priority or standard post IF YOU CHECK THE ? on the little screen at the post office: "does package contain anything fragile". Same as for Honolulu. So it isn't more for HI, it's more, period. And I'm furious. It means that I will have to keep my hands off that little treacherous button and insure through u-pak, and pack well to begin with. No wonder I've been having problems with anything breakable costing more all of a sudden. I thought I was losing my mind. I may BE, but this is something pretty underhanded, I think. Of course, y'all know how I love the post office anyway - - they keep raising rates and their service isn't necessarily better. Dear Postmaster Donohoe, if THIS fits....shove/ship it. Pardon mah rant.

Wow. I just sold something weighing under 2 pounds. I quoted shipping as about $9 anywhere; (sometimes I'm right, and sometimes it costs me a little bit extra, but okay... the winning bidder is from Honolulu! I've never shipped anything to HI in all the years I've sold on ebay. the p.o. site is telling me it's about $23 shipping! What to do? I've written him a note explaining that I can't ship for $9 over there...offering to cancel his bid....I dunno what else to do. Boy, did this blindside me!

Diane, I have never tried MP3; I still have many cassettes and CDs and players here in the house, though I usually don't crank up the music in here - I save it for my vehicle where it bounces around nicely! I always have had to have music or something playing while doing something else...I hate silence. I listen occasionally to videos from sites on FB, though. I suppose the day will come when I will not be able to play either of those two (I really really hate planned obsolescence) - though I'm amused to see that purists still try to get the 33 rpm records in good condition, saying that the fidelity is better.

Hi, Jo-Anne! I remember old Las Vegas well; I happened to travel there with a friend from work and her parents, who were driving through on the way to CA. I didn't have a lot of money with me but I had decided I wanted to take a real vacation and see Vegas. That was ages ago, in the 60s. Well. I wandered around town for a bit, and ended up at the Horseshoe, where I decided to try my luck at Craps. For awhile I was somewhat ahead, but ended up losing about $87.00. I forgot that the chips were MY money. I went to the Mint, down the street, and spoke to a manager and asked for a job. I thought I would just work for a couple of weeks and go back to my job in MT. He laughed a little when I told him the truth, but gave me a job as a "change girl", wearing an apron with rolls of coins and responding to people playing slots who needed coins. Heavy, tiring work, but at least I knew I could eat and stay somewhere without having to call my folks to bail me out. I loved it; and would take my meagre tips to a nickle slot machine after work and sometimes could run it into a few dollars. It did dawn on me that if I didn't leave, I would end up there forever, playing 21 (my favorite game, and back then, you could play for $1 a hand) until I was old and decrepit. My mother was scandalized when I told her I had considered going to dealer's school to learn how to deal cards. I abandoned that idea, and did leave after nearly a year in Sin City (which then was not all that sinful - the Mob ran things and it was safe to wander around alone without fear of being attacked. I've since been back once, around 2000 or so, and it was incredibly built up and I remember the casino at the place we stayed in was understaffed so that overflowing ash trays and empt y glasses were everywhere; gone were the freebies like drinks for the gamblers, even free packs of cigarettes, passes to the buffets, etc. A huge difference. And I did hit a jackpot at one machine and had to carry the coins in a bucket and stand in line at a cashier booth to turn in the tokens for around $400. I belong to a FB group called "Do you Remember Old Las Vegas" which is so interesting, because some people who grew up there post many pictures of the way it was in the earlier days, and talk of their experiences and the stars who came to perform in the lounge shows as well as the theaters. I saw many of them in lounge shows and heard a lot of good bands. It was great! I can't imagine being in that town by myself now. Jeez, sorry to ramble on like this. I guess that's what oldpharts do - and I are one!

Ann is right; watching Diane's picture come to life is fun! It is a little like a polaroid, but a lot classier. lol

I have probably destroyed any chance I might've had to be welcomed at a brand new food truck business in another town. But, oh well..... In the Big Horn Basin Classifieds this evening was posted an announcement that Hot Diggety Dog's would be opening for business tomorrow. Okay, THAT much I could live with, but she posted a menu: Dog's: - - -(variety and prices) Hamburger's: (same), Side's: same. and last but not least - Panini's: blah blah. There were several other apostrophes as well, and it grated mah delicate nerves so much that I actually sent her a private message after thinking about it for awhile. Hey - I know the style on FB is to let it all hang out on the page, but I thought she might respond better if I kept it between us. Not that I think she will reply - or if she does, it may not be anything I'd want to repeat! I was compelled to do this. Maybe I'm sick in the head?

Beth, glad everything with the phone turned out okay. I cringe at the thought of having to do much with my cell - such a dinosaur, I am!

I'm meeting a lady in another town tomorrow: I posted some "In Search Of" ads in 3 groups to see if I can get my hands on a few collectible patterns in Pyrex...One responded so far (the woman I'm meeting, to buy a bowl) and another called. It could yield something good, or not. Free, in any case, and I'll have a few people looking for things, maybe. I started the request with a "Raid your mom's cupboard!" and on from there. We shall see.

We had a nice thunder shower late this afternoon; won't have to water for awhile. I pray that CA and Oregon get something...anything. Sleep well - I'm heading for bed. Omigod, I just noticed it's past midnight. No wonder I'm yawning. Niters!

I didn't sell anything on ebay this month; on FB:

6 pair of Sterling earrings and a Sterling mountain lion ring with black onyx cab: $290

Set of Pink Gooseberry Refrigerator Dishes (Pyrex) - $110
Three Flamingo Pink Refrigerator Dishes (Pyrex) - $60
2 local history books (to another book dealer) $65 (and I don't know which ones they were!) I've consigned some good WY and Western books to her - she and her husband own a great little antique store in another town, and I think they're going to do very well. I'm glad I have a chance to sell some of the better books I still have left here...I didn't pay much for them, but I won't give them away either; and I think the tourists and some locals will continue buying the books having to do with this part of the country - lots of people still want to have a physical book in their hands. I read a few days ago that despite the gloomy forecast for printed books, indie bookstores are starting to make a comeback.

Hi, everyone. We've been on the go a bit this past week...glad to see most of you are feeling okay - may it continue!!! Beth, I think you were right on the money about that knee pain. And should that happen again, get checked for uric crystals right away. I remember your description of the agonizing pain and it did sound mighty like gout. I'm very lucky; haven't had any arthritis and only a little assorted pain in the bad ankle and my knee (both old surgical sites that are bothered by barometric pressure changes or something!

I laid hands Friday afternoon on the very newest John Sandford: Gathering Prey! I'm saving it back for a couple more days while I catch up on a couple Kay Hooper woo woo (sort of psychic phenomena stuff) books.

We went to an auction Saturday; left at 7:30, drove 75 miles to the site after looking at one yard sale on the way, then had to hang around for many hours....left at 9:30 p.m. after DH had gotten the tools and tool boxes he'd been waiting for. I drove the van back and it was raining most of the way. The two lane roads bother me a lot at night; I have to drive with the low beams most of the time because of so much oncoming traffic...though Saturday nite it was better than usual and I was able to use the high beams to see further down the highway. I always hope for a "rabbit" - someone who is traveling the same direction and who passes...not driving overly fast so that I can tuck in behind them at a little distance and get an early warning in case of deer or critters on the road. That did not happen. I had some leg cramps during the night though because the van is a 1988 (the one he bought for 109.00!!) with still only about 75,000 miles on it. It's reliable, but the dimmer switch is up on the firewall (rather than on the steering column) and I had to stretch my legs out a bit to keep my foot near it. Tired as I was, I had to keep getting up and walking the floor until the cramp(s) eased up. That old bar of soap doesn't seem to help, alas.

Glad to hear that Ken is doing okay; wish he would communicate a bit with one of us, but perhaps he really doesn't feel like chattering away. AT least it's good that we found him! Thanks to Dramlin.

I am heading for trouble if I don't do something about preserving the contents of this computer against the day when it drops dead. About 8 days ago, for no reason, I could not open my outlook express mail. Contacted the techs at our isp, and one of them told me the program had disappeared from the computer, and the only way to access email would be through the magic mail system (the one you use when you're using a computer in a motel.... I was pretty bummed, because I save a lot of things in my mail. There was no trace of the program, for real. I shut the computer down and went to bed. Next morning I turned it on, and heard a familiar beep - outlook is always trying to get me to let it compress files - and here it was again! Talk about gremlins.... I wonder if Carbonite might be useful for getting everything out of here and safely stored somewhere where I could get it later? I'm still running a tweaked version of XP which I like, but I know pretty soon many things will stop working - even now Pogo is having trouble with Java - apparently Chrome or one of them is trying to take over the world and good old java won't work with some of the games. I don't want to join google or chrome...though I know parts of those are in this computer, but I don't use them. It's the same reason I hate Walmart. It wants to take over and drive everyone else out.

Nawp, Jim, I think they'll prolly call it the "War of Northern Aggression".

Joanne, Sorry to hear about your cellulitis and gout too, or just cellulitis? I hear you can get gout in places other than the great toe - the most common area. A friend gets it in his knee, and I think mom had an attack or two in a thumb. I did, by the way, get a little brace for that tendon thing I mentioned awhile back, but it didn;t seem to immobilize the place that seems to need it so I've tried an ace bandage for the last couple days (makes it a little hard to type, but I think I need to try not to strain it for awhile, if I can). It's an annoyance, but I want it to stop bothering me. I don't know how many people did much here for Memorial weekend....it's been around 50 degrees and sprinkling rain every day for almost a week. We had planned to grill something in the bbq just for the heck of it, but had to do that indoors as it rained again. Tomorrow we have to go to Billings and stay overnite since DH has a small outpatient surgical procedure scheduled for something like 8 a.m. They seem to always DO that - live two hours away, so you get the early appointment! lol But okay, we'll deal with it. The cats will be mad, but we'll be back Tuesday in the early afternoon. Some friends in OK are really getting hammered. Hope this odd wx lets up soon.

June, Shannon K. Butcher isn't half bad. Picked up a couple at the Billings book place. Just FYI.

Just wondering, has anyone heard from Ebozo? aka Ken....I'm sure many of us sent cards, but I didn't get a response (had hoped to, but didn't expect to) - how is he, if anyone knows?

I have heard her voice, and while it is okay, it is her conduct that I just find reprehensible. Maybe it's the fogey in me?? I thought Madonna had a modest talent as well, and she worked hard to keep in shape for her dance moves and so on, but neither is a truly good singer, imo. Alicia Keyes is pretty good...and is a pianist as well...and Beyonce Knowles has a lot of talent, Hey, do any of you remember Ricky Martin? lol - La Vida Loca, indeed. There are a few pop singers I have heard and like a little...but I don't spend much time listening to any pop stations on the radio. Love the purple fridge story!

I was lucky enough to work for a couple of radio stations that had very large libraries of 33 1/3 discs. I was allowed to borrow and listen to my heart's content. Record companies sent freebies to stations around the country, and a lot of the places out here didn't program that type of music. I have twice lost pretty good sized collections of records I'd accumulated in moves where they disappeared when I went back for them. Alas. But my mom had tons of the good old stuff, some of it on 78s, and a great deal on the 33 1/3 rpm. She loved Broadway show tunes, which I never cared for, but even now I can sing the words to songs I didn't like, but could never get out of my head. I don't, out of respect to anyone standing nearby. (Can't sing, period).

I have not had much use for any of the "modern" women singers...I don't like pop music. I do remember the old blues and jazz singers - Ella, Nancy Wilson, Lena Horne, and some of the big band singers like June Christie and Morgana King, et al. Especially Ella Fitz who could sing anything and captivate an audience. I prefer the instrumentals to vocals anyway, Of course when were were all in the throes of young "luv" we might've listened to all the pop groups singing "You belong to me" or Shboom, or Whatever Lola Wants, or the like... but later on, those faded, for me, at least, into the background and I for a time concentrated mostly on jazz, then later moved on to an appreciation of metal (more for the virtuosity of the players than any words sung)...the drummers and some of the guitarists have major talent (not to mention stamina). But that is just mho. And I think had someone mentioned Miley Cyrus I'd have flounced out of ANY chat room as well. ICK. Same goes for Justin Bieber and their ilk.

I haven't much of an objection to stainless,...at least for a fridge, but I would think it might be interesting for a manufacturer to put a wide stripe down the wider door, in which you could insert a panel of whatever color you were using in your kitchen that year or years. Change it when you changed your color scheme. It would break up the institutional look of the place and speak to your mauve or yellow or green colors in the rest of the kitchen. But they wouldn't want to do that, since the whole idea is planned obsolescence. Stainless is OUT? Scrap it and buy _____ instead. Yeah. lol

Does anyone know if you can freeze corn tortillas? DH bought a package of 10, has used 5 in a recipe he's trying out, and wonders if he can freeze the rest of them. TIA

I know this is nothing compared to what the OK folks are suffering, but we had had several days of 70's weather, and then the bottom dropped out 3 days ago and it's been between 40 and 50 degrees and spitting a little rain each day since. I'm making meat loaf today just to warm the kitchen and Dan's "office" a little. Every time we think it's spring - - it is NOT.

Diane, I saw that lovely pitcher picture (lol) in FB and it is a beauty. I have not heard of Voltaren at all....I'll check into it. Not like Aspercreme, I guess....maybe more efficient? I have long used pliers for those pesky soda bottles...and why the two of us kept straining for several days on those Gatorade lids is beyond me...we deserve what we got. I have a jar wrench and we began to use that, and even with THAT the one lid I described had to be hacked in order to get the gatorade out. Now what I do is carefully fit the jaggedy small part of the jar opener over the cap before I put a bottle in the fridge, and twist until the cap loosens. Spares us both aggravation and pain. I'll give your suggestion a try if I can get some of that ointment.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JACK!!!

Y'all make me tired with the tile laying, the painting, the weeding...I'm short of breath after not much exertion and don't get much done. I go out back to feed the critters in the late morning and use my inhaler when I get back in the house. After being still for a few minutes, I'm fine again. What's annoying me more is a little tendonitis in my right thumb...I noticed twinges in it a couple of weeks ago, and asked my Dr. about it in the course of a scheduled visit to renew a prescription. He said it wasn't arthritis coming on, but that I must have strained it somehow, and recommended a little brace like people wear for carpal tunnel. Dan was having much the same trouble, in the same place and what we think is that both of us have struggled mightily to get the caps off the gatorade drinks we like...some of them are on so tightly that in one instance he had to stab through the cap and drain it out...even with jar openers, it wouldn't budge. So most likely this is what caused it. Dan had a brace from a previous wrist problem a couple years ago, and found that if he wore it sometimes it alleviated the pain in his thumb joint. I, of course, being of the "yeah, okay, whatever" school didn't listen well enough to the Dr. and thought it would just go away. It has not, and is danged unhandy (pardon the pun) at times. Not horribly painful, mind you, but just sudden ouches when I pick up a pan or something. I guess maybe I'll get a little wrist thingie and try to see if it will allow this to mend. I used to wear one for bowling, just for immobilizing the wrist as I threw a fingertip ball and wanted control...but I remembered when I stopped I gave away the bag, ball, etc., including that handy little leather wrist support. Dammit! And I had had one made, so I doubt they exist in the same form. Looks like a trip to the drug store to look over what's around. And that's all the whining I intend to do today.

Got into a moving sale a tad early yesterday and found a little bit of stuff - a socket set and skil saw for hubby and some Pyrex lidded casseroles which I think some people in that kitchen site collect. I've listed a couple small lots of it, though, and didn't get offers; maybe this is one of the "late to the dance" things I should let alone. Pyrex and Fire King (my personal fave) are H E A V Y.

Oh, and along with several others - - I sold nothing of any consequence on ebay. In fact, I'm not sure I even had a sale this month; save for the odd one on FB. I do need to knuckle down and get some things sold, though. So sad, when you remember the days of getting up and opening the site to check how your ebay listings did overnight...been a long time for most of us. Congrats to Beth on the Barbies, and June has her built-in audience for those wonderful flight books.

We went to an auction yesterday; left at 7:15 a.m. to stop at a yard sale in another town (nuttin', honey), and left the auction, which was still going on, at 9:00. DH bought 3 tool boxes and a few other things, and we had QUITE a time stuffing that into our Ford Expedition. We debated taking the van, and should've. It had a lot of stuff already in it, though, so we'd have had to transfer some of that "storage" out. I saw four of the Monterrey enamel plates with the brands around the edges, and thought, since the crowd was sparse, I would get them without a fight. Wrong. Ran up to $50 (which was a couple jumps past where I should have stopped) but lost them to a woman who wanted them very badly. Yes, condition was perfect, but they traditionally don't sell for more than $10-$12 per plate. Certain pieces in that pattern do very well, but not so much the plates. Still, I was disappointed, since there wasn't much I even wanted. What I DID get was a 4-pack of Pyrex coffee mugs in the spring blossom (also crazy daisy) pattern...in its box, never opened. I have a couple of casseroles with lids in that pattern, one white with green, and one green/white blossoms...I did sell a butter dish and creamer awhile back, so there are collectors for that. And at a thrift I found 4 corelle saucers in the crazy daisy, since I remember that at ANOTHER thrift up here I saw cups in that pattern with no saucers, for .10 each. I'll pick up four of them and have four c/s sets for about $2. I don't know if those sell as well. See? In the old days, I only had to go to the book shelf and get out a few children's books with great illustrations and list them and sit back and wait. Now I'm scrabbling around buying junk I never envisioned myself selling. Sometimes it's entertaining; other times - not. lol

For those of us who are guilty: We knew that.

For the rest of youse: Sorry, we can't help it.

Using a partial package of Red Lobster mix is an option; just zipping the rest into a zip lock bag for next time. You can usually figure out about how much half is, and it's only an add water mix, isn't it? Those are pretty good biscuits. I almost bought some last time at Walmart, but instead got a couple packs of 6-biscuit mix, and one for 6 cranberry orange muffins, which I think will make one or two of those miniature loaves. With the Krusteaz box of Cran Orange, I like to grate some orange right into the batter and have even been known to add even a few more cranberries to it...then I sprinkle some of those big sugar crystals on the tops when I bake them. Haven't done that in awhile; DH doesn't like that or the blueberry muffins (in fact he doesn't seem fond of muffins much at all). There's a Maverik chain of quick stops that has muffins we DO like, though we can't buy them here, since the baker leaves them in too long and I long since gave up asking that they not do that (they end up with an inch thick crust on the top, and they're not good) so when we travel, I buy them 50 miles away at another Maverik. He did like the Peach cobbler ones and I think a butter rum variety, but they don't have those all the time. (that's just our curse and we're well used to it). Said she, who bought 3 cases of Red bull lime just before they were all gone, and keeps it in the garage. I met the Red Bull man in Walmart 3 days ago while I was in line with my cat food, and it turns out he was the one who found the cases and brought them to the store in another town for me....I thanked him profusely, and we had a little talk about the "new" flavors they'd introduced; we agreed on a tropical flavor that seems to have replaced the lime....as I described it, I tried a can of that, and it tasted like Mountain Dew that had gone bad. Mtn Dew is bad enough as it is, picture it spoiled too. That about describes it. He laughed and said his co-worker hated it too. He had one taste of it and that was all for him, as well. It's just hell to be old and picky. Especially with our curse in full effect - "if you like something it will be discontinued forthwith". We have learned to laugh at the gods who do these things....

I have to give Jim a lot of credit for taking those cruise ships - it would drive me nuts to be jammed in with that many people and no way to get solitude anywhere except in my stateroom. I have to actually LIKE the people I'm surrounded by, in order to feel comfortable for very long; or at the very least have to have somewhere to go to be alone and recharge the batteries. I don't mind stepping into crowds for a period of time but I know I can leave when I want to. That, I guess, is the crux of it. Yesterday, I got under the kitchen sink where I store a lot of cans and bottles of stuff, like Murphy's Oil Soap, SOS pads....you get the idea....and thank God I did; I felt water on the tops of a couple cans. The plastic, or PVC pipe from the double sink, leading down through the floor had separated and allowed water to get into that cabinet; not a lot, and fortunately, there were a couple of towels which absorbed a lot of it...but I haven't a clue why...and just have to be glad it must have been only a day or a few hours or we'd have had an awful flood next time the sink was full of dishwater. I had to get Dan inside from his yard work and tell him....he was able to get it put back together. I guess with the pvc pipe you just tighten the joints by hand; no glue, no wrenches. This had been done maybe 10 or 12 years ago when Mom had a leak under the sink and the local handyman had replaced the old pipe. It's always something!! Next, we have to unblock the basement door and go down to turn on the outside faucets. That's always a project. In these older houses, there's a valve, or maybe two, in the pipes that run under the house and you have to turn them off in the Fall so they don't freeze and burst....then do the opposite in the spring. I remember hating to do that in the old house in Bridger, MT, where the basement was simply a sort of dugout area, and there was a tiny little screw-on cap on a pipe that you'd screw on, and then open a valve. That popped off once, and I happened to hear it, as I was in the kitchen, and heard water gushing down there....I lifted up the cellar door on the back porch and had to get down there and turn off the water as quickly as possible, and then we had to pump out about a foot of water from down there....that whole place was a comedy of errors, but my grandparents made do with it for years and years. AEG, sounds like you and the hubby are really into Steampunk! I don't have a full understanding of it, but it sounds funky enough to be fun. Good for you!

Sigh. I have been entrapped on facebook a lot, since I had listed several things in 3 more or less local sites, and you then have to answer questions and watch and bump items when you can, etc. etc. world without end, amen. Amazing how time consuming it is, and I have to stop it!!! I will get sidetracked with a video someone posts, then have to comment, then there's another one....I had a lady pm'ing back and forth with me two nites ago...I had listed a bunch of Fire King casseroles, different patterns, a stainless tea or coffee set on a tray, and 3 of those Pyrex Vision Cranberry glass saucepans from about 1990. I bought those at a thrift for a total of $8, with the lids...1, 1 1/2 and 2 1/2 liter sizes, and listed them for $45. The lady said she was interested in my pans, blah blah, and I said I had a jadite (green) fire king mixing bowl as well as the other pieces. She immediately perked up and wanted to know condition, etc. Back and forth some more...and she suddenly asked if I'd take $60 for the pans and the mixing bowl. I said I had to have at least 80....she said I had mentioned 45 in my ad, and she had that amount all ready for the pans and that was her final offer. I got a little huffy but thankfully didn't unload on her (I had typed a response about wasting my time, etc., but had copied it and NOT posted it.) I said, simply, that I had NOT mentioned a $45 figure in my ad, and I had paid more than that for those groups, whereupon she replied, "are we both talking about the Vision cookware?" I was SO mortified when I realized I had been fixated on that group of fire king baking pans, etc., totally forgetting I'd listed those saucepans that same day. I apologized, and said if she didn't mind dealing with a crazy person that I'd be happy to meet her with the items. We had a good laugh over it. I love not having fees and sometimes things will sell almost immediately, but it's not as organized as ebay and you have to watch more closely, and be prepared for people who want, want, want, but can't pay or try to beat you down or simply don't show up. Still, it tops ebay and their uncaring customer service reps by a long way.

At an auction Sat. I bought 3 lots of sterling silver western style earrings with inlay, and some stones...15 pair of clip ons, and 8 pair of pierced. These are from the store of a silversmith I dealt with for many years...and I got them for about $3 per pair. I should have gone for all of them, I suppose. I believe they'll sell nicely; just trying to figure out where to list them for the greatest response. Any suggestions? And as I said I ahve some local history books consigned at an antique shop in Greybull, WY with a long-time book dealer who owns the shop and has a booth of books in there. I think that's the best way to sell them; tourists and locals like to have real books about real happenings out here....and there were certainly plenty of things happening.

JoAnne, glad that Jim is visiting. Don't wear that poor lad out! I'll be interested to see what you get for your g'father clock....I remember when we talked about it once, and I said I yearned for one, but I was too far away to even make an attempt to buy it, should you want to sell. You should do well.

Ah. It IS Kentucky Derby time! I was once so hooked on the whole racing and betting scene....now I barely pay attention. But of course all we have out here is quarter horse racing, and it's only for a week here and there....alas. I miss NY for that! Loved going to the tracks, buying the Morning Telegraph and Racing Form and handicapping late into the night... them wuz the days! Hope your horse does well, this season, Jane!

June, I'm reading Maya....right in the middle of Whispers in the Dark which I like a lot; it's reminiscent of Kay Hooper and her empaths, etc. Just finished the latest Stuart Woods - Hot Pursuit - which was excellent! He may be writing faster, but he's not slipping any...this book was a good one.

Beth, bless you and the Barbies!! lol It think it's fantastic that you went back to get them and ended up with that treasure trove. Part of it is that you're making a LOT of crazy....well, maybe not, maybe just enthusiastic ... Barbieophiles happy! That's how I felt when I sold Mom's paperdoll collection...they went to good homes with people who would love them. Same goes for barbies.

I will leave you with this little observation.....Only in WYOMING can you walk into the supermarket and in the foyer, on the glass windows, see, hanging with all the "for sale" and lost dog ads, one that says "FREE MANURE. WE LOAD, YOU HAUL" and a phone number. No chit! That's as bad as all the bars that have signs advertising "live bait". ICK

Last fall, I was on a pilot trip into Montana, and I noticed a tire pressure notice for the left front tire. I had seen that earlier and asked the boss, who assured me he'd checked the tire and it was fine, and to just reset that notice (because it was obscuring the odometer, and we needed always to keep track of how many miles we traveled with the load. I did reset it, and then an hour or so later, the big truck ahead of me had a flat tire, so he had to stop and we contacted a road service vehicle to come out and change, then repair the tire. While the tech was there, I asked him to please check the tires on my pickup. He did, and lo and behold, it was the RIGHT rear tire that was very low. He said at some point they'd rotated the tires on the pickup so that now the reading was for the wrong tire! He aired up the tire for me, and I checked it frequently until we got back to Wyoming a day or two later. I explained it to my boss, who got defensive and said HE hadn't rotated the tires, and I said that really didn't matter; what mattered was that the right rear had a slow leak and it needed to be fixed. He didn't seem to believe me. Next morning, though, he called to say he had gone out and checked the tire himself and it had 10 pounds of air. DUH! The man does that to me all the time, as though because I'm a woman I don't know anything. And he argues!! But I'm usually right. And I did point out to him that I have a vested interest in taking care of whatever vehicle I'm driving (a 2007 Silverado), and that I would continue to call him if I thought something was wrong and to just DEAL with it. Pffffft

Jim, Diane may well be right....if you don't happen to screw on the gas cap tightly after fueling, that damned check engine light will light up, and it may take a couple cycles of starting, driving and stopping the car before it will go out. But now Onstar has conspired with the dealer to send you for a diagnostic which may run you a few hundred dollars. I don't care for dealerships much, though with a new car you almost have to play their game or risk the warranty being voided.

Welcome, Lynne! So glad to see you. Okay, I'll set up the coffee pot when I leave at night, and you can switch it on in the ayem. That work? Meantime, I'm headed for bed now....talk to y'all tomorrow! Oh, and Happy Birthday, Jim!

Dammit! It was 71 today here in No. WY. Been very nice for a week. Then this showed up this afternoon in our forecast...just when we were beginning to feel "springy".

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RIVERTON WY
212 PM MDT MON APR 13 2015
AFTER A WARM AND WINDY TUESDAY...SHARPLY COLDER WEATHER...WIND AND
SNOWY WEATHER WILL RETURN TUESDAY NIGHT AND WEDNESDAY. UNCERTAINTY
REMAINS ON EXACT SNOWFALL AMOUNTS AND LOCATION OF THE BEST SNOW BUT
MANY AREAS WILL SEE AT LEAST 1 TO 3 INCHES OF SNOW WITH MORE POSSIBLE
IN THE UPSLOPE FAVORED LOCATIONS ALONG THE CODY FOOTHILLS AND SOUTH
OF TEN SLEEP NEAR BIG TRAILS. THE SNOW WILL COMBINE WITH A NORTH WIND
OF 20 TO 30 MPH WITH SOME AREAS SEEING WIND GUSTS TO 50 MPH. STAY
TUNED FOR THE LATEST FORECAST ON THIS DRAMATIC CHANGE BACK TO SNOW...
WIND AND COLD LATE TUESDAY NIGHT AND WEDNESDAY.

Yes, Diane....out of the blue, Lynne happened to see that I'd posted something in Ken's blog, hoping to hear from him, and so she got in touch. I asked her to join us here; sounds as if she might!

A former ebay book boarder named Dramlin may be joining us soon! She contacted me about Ken (ebozo) - - many of us had been looking for him for awhile. So grateful to know the situation. So, Mark, if she applies, please approve! Thanks. And welcome, Lynne.

So glad to see Liz stopped in! She's one of my favorite people - great sense of humor. Next time you see her, chain her to the radiator so she can't leave again.

Hi, everyone. Just a quick update since I've been among the missing for a few days; had to catch up on all the doings....I agree on the expensive weddings and the high expectations today's young folks seem to have (maybe SOME moms and dads have deep pockets, but good grief!!!) It's the old "keeping up with the Joneses," I guess. When I lived in NY, I dated an Italian for a couple of years, and went to some of the weddings as his date...the receptions were hilarious, sometimes, with the bride's and the groom's families not always getting along, and two armed camps glowering at each other under the big chandeliers, while guests filed slowly by the dais where the couple were seated, handing envelopes of money to them. Same went for a couple of Irish weddings/receptions I attended...I thought the giving of money was far wiser than gifts that might not suit. I learned a lot about how several other religions celebrated nuptials, as well as the way they mourned those who passed on. I even (gasp) was privileged to be dragged - sorry, invited - to what they call a Briss (sp). I could explain it, but maybe I don't need to.

We had two call-outs; one on the 6th of April (a short trip) and then on the 10th, where the boss and I covered almost 1000 miles in two days. We left at 4 a.m. to drive 140 miles to meet the truck, then all the way to Eastern Montana, and north to the Canadian port of entry. We arrived there about 4 p.m. and he told me I could start home. I told him there was no way I was going to drive another 500 miles without stopping for some sleep somewhere. He made it all the way back home by midnight, but I prudently stopped when it began to get dark,, and slept a few hours. There was no need to push like that, and I wasn't about to take a chance. I sometimes think he's a little tetched in the head. lol

That's the one! Dum da Dum "with a mighty triumph o'er his foes" DUM DA DUM

Faintly reminiscent of the "Jaws" theme, no? lol There were a couple others that the minister seemed to only have the congregation sing around that time of year...any hymn written in the minor keys always appealed to me, too.

I'm getting a little silly; maybe it's time to turn in for the night? I'm babbling today.

Niters, all

Hope everyone had a lovely Easter. I used to love to go to church on Easter because of the rousing hymns our church favored on that day..."up from the grave he arose..." AEG I think knows that one; I remember several years ago seeing a quote from it by her on another Easter morning. Anyway.... I kept one of Mom's old Methodist hymnals, because I saw that they seemed to have modernized them at some point, and not sure all the old favorites were in the newer ones.

Bob, that must have been a heck of a fright - having someone hit your mobil home hard enough to move it like that! Sure am glad you're being compensated for your injury, too.

Beth, nice going on the evening gowns! And the gambling, too. We go to a casino nearly every time we go to Billings for Dan's dr. appointments. Sometimes it's profitable - but not always.. Still, we like it.

Jo-Anne, a young single woman renting an apartment has NO privacy, if (as I did) she rents a downstairs apartment in a private house, or there's a lecherous old landlord overseeing a two story apartment complex of perhaps 18 or 20 units. I had a landlady who would creep down the steps from above to see what was what, I guess....woke me up a couple times and I started storing a few boxes of things on the stairway to keep her from coming down there all the time. No call for that. It always offended me; I felt if I paid rent I should have the right to privacy, short of an emergency. And once in Phoenix, I was staying in a 2nd story small apartment in a pretty run-down apartment building...I had been looking out my window early one morning, and saw a lady going through the garbage cans down below - - I got two or three dollar bills, wrapped them around something kind of heavy, with a rubber band, and was about to drop them to her, when I happened to glance out in the parking lot, and here was a guy looking up at ME, and he exposed himself, then started toward the back entrance to the u shaped building. I was petrified. He showed up on the walkway outside, and I had no weapons, except for a knife from the drawer. I stood with my back to the door, hardly daring to breathe, while he tried to look in the window and rattled the door handle. I called the police and told them I had seen the car the guy left in, and what had happened, and they were unimpressed. Then I called the manager or whoever he was, and his wife said I should not have been looking out the window! Like I had invited this perv. After that I had a pistol under my pillow, and a few days later, heard a knock at the door, but I didn't answer because I was still in bed sleeping. Next thing, I heard a key in the lock and the door opened. That old manager came into my apartment and stopped dead in his tracks - - I was pointing a .38 right at him. Needless to say, he didn't try that again. Things like that happened a lot. But I felt less at risk with a weapon in the place. Phoenix was pretty wierd even back then.