Friday, April 3, 2009

Random Friday thoughts that I haven't blogged this week

This is not a good time of year to buy fruit. The apples just aren’t as tasty and crisp as in the fall and it seems when I buy a bag there are often a lot of bruises that I don’t see until I get home and pull an apple out of the bag. Grapes are just more expensive and they too aren’t as sweet and good as earlier in the year. Clementines, if available, have gone back up to a price I refuse to pay. Strawberries shipped in from California are usually a nice red, but they just aren’t very sweet. Fresh strawberries are still at least seven weeks away.

Last night I went with Glenn and Renae to her induction in Beta Gamma Sigma, the business honor society. It was fun to see her recognized for her hard work the past four years.

Five weeks after the second rain storm that sent water into my basement, the situation is still not corrected. I’m frustrated and tired of getting water up out of the carpet. This is one reason not to be a condo owner.

Last night before leaving for Renae’s honors dinner, she saw a muskrat in the pond. I got the 22, went out on the deck, put the gun on a tripod, found the muskrat in the crosshairs, and plucked it off with one shot from 50 yards away. I thought I’d get a little love from my niece Jaimie about it, but she didn’t answer her phone. Tonight I have to go out with a shovel to bury it as there wasn’t time last night. Maybe another animal got it during the night so I don’t have to. In Klopfensteinese—it eckles me to pick up a dead muskrat with the shovel.

My company has instituted every other Friday shutdowns which results in a 10% reduction in the paycheck. I’ve been analyzing my budget to cut out fluff. One expense I could cut is the newspaper, but my mother said when I was home, “You were born with a newspaper in your hand.” (She also has said I was born tired, but that’s for another post.) I’ve read the paper almost daily since I can remember. As kids we would all try to see when the paper ladies turned on our street and would race to be the first to get the paper. In college I always made sure I ordered the paper for the year to be delivered to my dorm room—The Greenville News had a rate of $20 for the year at that time!!! One of the first things I’ve done whenever I’ve moved is get the paper started. When I was in Illinois I said I knew my life was ok if I had time to read the paper every day, and it was really good if I got to read the paper and watch Jeopardy. I should probably not get the paper now since the rates went up in late fall and will probably go up again, but the fact is that I like the newspaper. So for now I’ve decided I can keep my house a lot colder now and will keep it warmer in the summer to keep getting the newspaper.

Jayne from handbells. I haven’t mentioned her for awhile so I thought I would today.

So which of my random thoughts interested you?

3 comments:

Nog Blog said...

The thought of Rhoda with a gun shooting muskrats? That's interesting!

prl said...

Too bad about the water. You must be getting really frustrated.

renae said...

You forgot to say that the food was really good at the dinner. There was grilled chicken wrapped in proscuito, asparagus, and mashed potatoes. The salad was very good, and dessert was a choice of chocolate cheesecake or a caramel apple mousse kind of thing.

You also got a rose for being a person who has encouraged me the last few years while I worked on this program.