respublica

Handy hints?

Here is an article which may be helpful...or not. It sets out handy hints to fix common household issues. Some are usable, others are strange and here is the one which made me laugh out loud.

How to fill up a bucket which won't fit under your sink faucet. We've all been there but this is just...Use a pool noodle...

Satire becomes real life

Not The Bee is a website with links on Facebook, Twitter and everywhere else most likely. This Bee is created by the same people who have the satirical site, The Babylon Bee. The Not the Bee is not satirical, but they find things which are real but seem satirical. Today they have a post which I'd have to rate as "mostly true".

If you can't read this by clicking to enlarge, it says, " Having served their purpose as political props, National Guard kicked out of the Capitol and forced into parking garage." True

Our daughter had to be in her senate office yesterday and saw this on the way into the Capitol. It's a parking lot of sorts.

And more of this today: Headline: National Guard soldiers ordered home by governors amid outrage over being moved to Capitol parking garage.

New to make us even more stressed

Some things just will not stop and that includes daily advice on the Covid and here are a couple I read this morning.

The first headldine warned: "It's time to be extra cautious when it comes to grocery shopping."  Seriously? Now a new set of warnings and advice for doing something, maybe the only something, we actually have to do regularly. They are scaring us sick. It seems what we've been doing for months when it comes to grocery shopping isn't enough to protect us. Try to shop for only 5 minutes, this is much safer than 30 minutes or 20 or 15. Even better is curbside pickup or home delivery. Many people have done this fairly regularly and I've watched the workers who fill the orders for months. Watch them peer into their phones looking at lists, checking products from what's on the list. Frankly, I believe it's better to have a list, know where things are in your store and do it efficiently and head home. I still am obsessed with wiping down the packaging at home and then going our and wiping down my car steering wheel, directional signal handle and the gear shift and seat belt. But trying to make people even more afraid by limiting time in a grocery store is wrong. 

And here is another. 45,000 residents of Madison County have taken the Covid vaccine survey in order to be eligible (or on the list) to receive this shot. 45,000! And I am one of them and now have little optimism about even getting it any time soon.

And then this: Being around someone talking is worse than being around someone who coughs. It seems talking spreads Covid more than coughing. Right. Now we have to stop talking to people even with a mask on. Give me a break.

And now recommendations to double up on mask wearing. Even the inevitable Dr. Fauci has jumped on this train.

Happy Friday everyone, have a great weekend without groceries or talking.

Clacking car

All a sudden when I turn the heat on in the car a loud clacking noise starts up. Clack Clack Clack. It doesn't go away if I turn the fan off. I googled it but got no real answer. I'd bet it's something with the fan, but my worry is can I drive it safely? Or will part of the fan break off and go through the radiator?

After the car ran for while and warmed up, the clacking stopped. My real issue is that we have no knowledge of any car repair places here in town and I don't feel comfortable driving it over to St. Louis to the repair shop we've used before.

Inauguration Day

This day will be different from other Inaugurations due to the Covid restrictions. No crowds seated at the Washington Mall, no afternoon parade, no Ball at night. I'm sure there are plans in place to make this as memorable as possible and we wlll watch most of it as we always have. As I wrote in another post we had the opportunity to attend on of these for George W Bush's first inaugural. Lizzie and Darren were able to go to two Inaugural balls, 2005 and 2009, I believe. So here are a couple of family archive photos. As many years a Katie has been out there,  don't see any indication she ever went to any inaugurals.

Lizzie standing in a chilly drizzle in 2001, the year we were there. No such thing as digital photos then, this is from a print.

2005

2009

 

Trying to make sense of the Covid Vaccine

I have to be upfront. I really want to get the vaccine. However the logistics for this are looking hit and miss or, maybe, very difficult. My sense is many of us want this shot and the supply is unknown. I've signed up with the Madison County Department of Health which will communicate when we will get an appointment. This is fine, but the difficulty is the need for a second shot within a certain time frame and I haven't heard how this will be handled.

There are more than one Covid vaccines out there, which one will be available in our area? How many weeks between shots? Now I read another vaccine has appeared which is a one shot and done. Who will get this version?

In any event I'd guess the numbers of those wanting this will be sky high in every community which will surely necessitate those in charge finding a way to get this done as simply and efficiently as possible. And be prepared ahead of time for any possibility that might come up.

Watching the Inaugural Tommorow?

Here is a pretty complete summary of what will be happening when. It will be very different from past inaugurals due to Covid, much will be virtual and the crowds will be much less. Security will be tighter than ever before.

But, it's always fascinating to watch. We were able to attend George W Bush's first inaugural because our daughter Elizabeth was working for the House at that time and that day is something I remember very clearly. As with so many recent changes in the presidency, there had been controversy and anger ahead of it. Bush was coming off the tight election against Al Gore and feelings were still raw. But, the ceremonies went off well as did the rest of the day. Except for a light rain and chilly temperatures.

What I remember the most was how difficult it was to get out of the Washington Mall at the conclusion. There were so many people we could barely move and it was a real effort to keep from losing other family members.

In spite of all this, it was a remarkable experience.

This year we have another daughter (Katie) working out in DC but all staff have been ordered to stay home and work this week.

Too many clothes

Since we've moved back to Collinsville into a much smaller house, I've discovered that Dale has way too many clothes. I mean, way too many, most of which were not noticeable at the seminary because that house had closets everywhere. Two in our bedroom, 3 in the hallway down from the bedroom, and big closets in the other 3 bedrooms. And that is just the second floor, the main floor had multiple closets as well.

I have no idea how to manage all his slacks, jeans, shirts, underwear, sweaters, dress shirts, suits, ties and on and on. I attempted to try things over the weekend but I'm at a loss as to what type of storage things will stow these things as well as look decent. We do not have space for more dressers, but some sort of nice storage bin or box or basket would help. After scrolling through many websites I learn most places don't keep these things in store, but use delivery. I'd really like to see these things in real time before I buy them. They may be much smaller than they look or even look awful.

And, trying to look at websites these days means having to be interrupted multiple times by big ads covering the screen. Cooking sites are just as bad as store websites with this practice.

In any event, I plan to go looking and see if I can find anything.

January

We were talking the other day about how long the days seem during this Covid time. But, it also seems that the days are long but the weeks are short. And that brings us to January 2021. I read this last night and it seems about right.

"This January is not Januarying like the other January’s januaried."

Two dog stories

Yesterday Katie, Charlie and the two boys got a new puppy. They already have a young Aussie Doodle who they love and learned of a puppy of the same breed coming available. I thought, oh boy, two young, energetic, loveable, huggable, Aussie Doodles. After not quite 24 hours, Dottie the puppy and Sydney the veteran, have had a blast.  Want to know the most amazing thing about this new puppy? The place they adopted here from was the same person who sold them Sydney a couple of years ago. She brought up the file and learned that these dogs are actual sisters! Not from the same litter but they have the same father and mother. How cool is that?

One the ride home from the adoption.

And meeting Sydney for the first time both dogs take a big sniff in the grass.

Then a solo walk to learn the surroundings

Then a bit of snuggling with the boys.

It's a really good thing Katie and Charlie have to work from home next week, the energy level in the house will be off the charts.

And, one more dog story. A man in Portland Oregon was taking his Christmas lights off his roof-line when he turned around and saw his Golden Retriever had climbed up the ladder and was standing with him on the roof! His security camera caught the whole thing he noticed later. But, how to get the dog down the ladder? The man somehow carried him. Goldens are kind of like this, they want to be with their people.