I get my internet, telephone, and TV through Spectrum ... and they have been having service outages off-and-on for several days now. Service is spotty so I never know what will be working and what won't work. A wide area was affected. I keep seeing Spectrum trucks in the neighborhood, so at least they are aware of the problem.

Jim With the decline of smoking, I've noticed that I seldom see book matches anymore. When I was younger, I had a matchbook collection. As I would go to restaurants, bars, hotels, and many other businesses I would pick up free matches. Matchbooks were a good source of advertising for these places back then.

It's been quiet around here. Sis and her DH have been gone the last two weeks on a trip to Costa Rica. The neighbors on the other side have been spending more time at their place out in the country. Another set of neighbors have been in Florida for the past week. The quiet does not bother me at all, but it seems strange not to see people and vehicles coming and going.

I am in Facebook Hell. I got an e-mail from them over the weekend stating that my account had been suspended. They never said just why this happened. My efforts to contact someone at Facebook have failed. I'm not sure how much time I want to spend trying to resolve this. Facebook is good for some things, but I could easily live without it.

Sis and I both had measles and chicken pox when in elementary school. I was born in 1954 and Sis was born in 1957. Just about every kid we knew had them also.

Jane I had cataract surgery a few years ago. What I remember most about the after-surgery is how glaringly bright everything seemed to be. Just looking out the window on a somewhat sunny day made me want to reach for my sunglasses.

We had our share of bad weather over the past week. A string of strong storms moved through the area and towns near us had tornado damage. For a few days we had very strong, howling winds. The sound of that wind really bothered me. The cats didn't like it either!

Diane Happy Birthday to you. From what I saw on Facebook, it looks like today is your actual birthday.

Sis's DH ran into that problem when he was working on a landscaping project. He likes to work with plants and occasionally takes on a side job working in other people's yards. The phone had fallen out of his pocket but, since he always turns it off when he is working, it wasn't possible to call the phone in order to locate it. The phone was never found and he ended up buying a new phone.

It looks like he "leap year glitch" is still with us. My birthday is actually today, March 7th. However, I do want to thank those of you who wished me a Happy Birthday yesterday,

Not much going on here. I live a nice calm quiet life ... and like it that way!

I am so glad that I did not lose power at my house. Towns about an hour's drive south of me got hit hard with the freezing rain and ice, which knocked down trees and power lines.

I still check this Board every day, but seldom have anything to chat about. I have a nice calm quiet life ... and I like it that way.

The man who took care of the frozen section at our local Shop 'n Save grocery store used to save boxes for me. Even though I haven't sold on eBay for quite some time, I still have a bunch of boxes on hand ... and when I see a nice sized box at a store now, I am still tempted to bring it home with me. If nothing else, my cats love playing in those cardboard boxes.

Diane Don't take it personally that nobody mentioned your absence from the Board. We've gotten used to people "disappearing" for a while and just assume they are dealing with other things in their lives.

It's been a rough week here. Earlier this year my house suffered hail damage from a bad storm. Well, last week workers were here installing new siding on the house. During the installation somehow the electrical box on my house was damaged and I was without power for two days. I'd forgotten how miserable that can be! It was a mess figuring out who was responsible for the damage, then waiting for someone to come fix it, get it inspected, and finally have the power company come out an hook me back up again.

A few weeks ago we had a storm come through that caused hail damage on the roof and siding at both my house and sis's house next door. The roofers came yesterday and put a new roof on sis's house and they are back today doing my roof. I had forgotten how noisy this process can be!

Beth Thank you for posting JoAnne's obituary. I had not heard that she died.

DH and I registered on eBay in late 1997. It never occurred to us that we would be selling anything on-line. At the time, we thought it might be a good place to find some of the books DH wanted that weren't readily available in our area. That proved to be true.

Over the years, DH had accumulated quite a few books that turned out to be duplicates or just weren't what he wanted. Eventually we decided to try selling some these "extras" on eBay. We sold our first book on eBay in February 1998 ... and the rest, as they say, is history!

My mother also suffered severe vision problems. That's why the last few years of her life I took care of her finances. She could not see well enough to write out a check. I was always careful to let her know what had been paid. If she had a CD that was maturing, I would do the research to see what rates and terms were available at local banks and tell her the information so she could decide where she wanted to invest.

Jim There are still bookies here. I like to think we are all busy reading books.

I don't know if there was a problem with this site, or with my computer, but I have been unable to call up the site. The problem seems to come and go. So far all seems to be working OK today.

Jim I've noticed the same thing with my car insurance. The premiums keep going up, supposedly to offset the higher costs for parts and labor when repairs are needed.

Sis and her family have been gone on vacation for the last week and it seems so strange not to have activity at their house next door. Normally there are cars coming and going and I see my BIL outside working in his yard.

I haven't been watching very much of the Olympics. I do turn it on every once in a while just to see what events are happening, but most do not interest me. I don't recall skateboarding or break dancing being Olympic sports before, but it seems like they are frequently adding new events.

Tuesday was a challenging day in this area. According to my rain gage in the backyard, we had a full six inches of rain and some neighboring communities got even more than that. There was a lot of flooding in the area but thankfully my house is OK. Many of the roads around here were closed because of the water. We aren't used to getting that much rain so quickly.

I had a brief visit last weekend from my stepson. He and his spouse were in the St. Louis area visiting friends and other relatives. It had been about two years since I last saw him. We generally keep in touch through Facebook and the occasional telephone call.

I still check the this Board regularly, but seldom have anything new to share.

Hope all of you are doing well.

Yesterday was a good (but tiring) day. I went with Sis, her DH, her Daughter, and three of her grandchildren to decorate family graves for Memorial Day. Decorating graves was always something my family did, and Sis and I are willing to carry on the tradition. We decided it was time to start taking some of the grandkids with us since eventually it will be up to them whether or not this continues, The kids found it amazing to learn that they carry DNA from the people whose graves we decorate. Even though the kids are only in elementary school, they know what DNA is!

briguy Good to hear from you !

Does anyone know if Beth decided to have the hip surgery? I was thinking about her the other day.

It has been very quiet around here. Sis and her DH are away on a trip. They are visiting Croatia, Slovenia, and ending with a couple days in Venice, Italy. They return home on Friday. I have been keeping an eye on their house and taking care of the plants. They have a lot of both indoor and outdoor plants.

This will be a "biggie" birthday, as I will turn 70 years old tomorrow. This just doesn't seem right. When I was a kid, anyone who was 70 was considered ancient.

With all the crazy up-and-down weather we've been having, I wasn't sure just when we would start to see spring.

My, we haven't been a very chatty bunch lately! Hope all are well.

I just heard that a new independent book store will be opening in downtown Belleville. I certainly wish them luck. It's awfully hard for a small independent book store to survive with all the internet competition and the mega chain stores like Barnes & Noble. I'm not sure just when the new store is opening, but I will certainly check it out when it does.

We do have some snow on the ground, but the biggest problem has been the wind. Just a few days ago we had wind gusts of close to 50 mph. When it's already bitter cold and the wind is that strong, it is miserable and dangerous to be outside. Thankfully my furnace is working and my water pipes haven't frozen, so I am quite willing to stay indoors and wait for better weather.

Diane I went to Wal-Mart the day after Christmas and bought a small artificial Christmas tree from the clearance aisle. The tree I've been using was left behind by a previous tenant and after many years of use it has become very sad looking.

It's normal for me to be up after midnight, so that's not an issue for me on New Year's Eve. By midnight I am usually in bed, but stay awake and read for a while before turning off the light and going to sleep.

I went to my Sister's house for brunch today, but only stayed a couple hours. That's about as long as I can handle her active noisy grandkids. I truly appreciate my nice quiet house.

Beth It was hard to leave things behind when I downsized and moved seven years ago, but like you I am relieved now to have less baggage. I am very sorry to hear about your medical problems. Is Jerome doing OK? Hopefully one of you can still get around fairly well.

I have always been a really good sound sleeper, but now I stay in bed even later because it's just so darn comfy in my bed, under a light blanket, with two cats curled up next to me. It's not unusual for me to stay in bed until 11:00 A.M. these days.

I had never heard of a dog trot house either. I often learn new things and that helps keep life interesting.

I seldom have much to post here, but do read the Board every day. I'm glad to see that Patsy and her sister were able to take their trip.

This has been a strange week weather-wise. One day the temperature will reach 80 degrees ... and the next day the high will be 60. My poor head really doesn't like all the temperature and pressure changes.

Sis and her DH are away on a trip. They are in Ireland. There is usually a lot of activity at their house as their daughter and her children stop by frequently, but for now it is extremely quiet. They get back home on Tuesday.

I remember meeting Teddi and Fred many years ago when they were in the St. Louis area. Nice people.

Regarding the Cussler books: I seldom see copies of them at thrift stores or used book sales. I am not looking for collectibles or first editions, so have been able to find used paperback reading copies on ThriftBooks to fill gaps in the various series Cussler wrote.

I have been staying indoors and doing quite a bit of reading. In particular, I have been going through books by Clive Cussler. Cussler had been around for a while, but he is new to me and I am really enjoying the novels. There is action, adventure and history and I find them interesting. Another thing I like about the Cussler books is that there are a lot of them ... so I will have reading material for a quite a while!

I have a beautiful group of pink Surprise Lilies blooming in my back yard. My grandmother used to call them Resurrection Lilies and I've heard other people refer to them using different names. Whatever you call them, they are lovely.

Sis and her DH watch a lot of those HGTV renovation shows. I don't know what it says about me, but more often than not I prefer the "before" to the "after."

My neighborhood is usually a calm quiet place, but that changed last week. One of my neighbors was hosting a family reunion at their house. There were lots of people and lots of noise. One morning I heard music and looked out to see a young man playing a slide trombone in the back yard! You just never know what that family is going to do when they all get together. The reunion lasted all week. All is quiet for now as the reunion caravan has moved on to the Carolinas to spend time with even more family members. I can't begin to imagine what it would be like to be part of such a large family.

Diane is correct in that not many of us still sell books. I quit selling on eBay about a year ago after the Managed Payments and other new rules/regulations went into effect. While I seldom have anything interesting to post here, I do still check the Board every day.

Good morning to all from Belleville, Illinois where it is a warm sunny day. On Sunday we got one and a half inches of much-needed rain. We are still below normal rainfall for the year, but this certainly helps the situation.

Beth What did you name your kitten? If you posted his name here, I must have missed seeing it.

In addition to the heat, we have had some air quality issues. It seems that smoke from the fires in Nova Scotia has made its way down here, causing alerts that anyone with asthma or similar conditions should limit their time outdoors. It just seems odd to me that something in Nova Scotia should affect my area.

Beth I'm glad to hear that the new kitten is thriving.

Jim I'm sorry to hear about your wife's fall. You may start getting calls from ambulance-chasing lawyers offering to take your case. There is no shortage of TV ads from these firms wanting to handle personal injury cases.

Curt Happy Birthday to you !!