WHAT Was I Thinking?

Apparently, not much at all late last night.

And so this short post is an apology of sorts to any fellow bloggers who may have read that earlier post, which has been deleted. Briefly, I was ranting about the week-long extensive media coverage to a TV celebrity's (very) high profile assault and robbery.

While I disagree with the news space directed toward this and other items, not excluding bickering and backstabbing in the U.S. presidential race, I realized that this blog space was not where I wanted to vent these rants. And, for the record, I empathize with anyone who has suffered such an experience or anything similar. It surely must be a life-altering incident I hope to never experience firsthand.

Therefore, I deleted that post and going forward will concentrate on the good great things going on because life is sadly way too short to complain about most things. And, as a good friend once told me, step back and ask: "How does this affect me?"

So, after that rant published, I did that and it's gone. (But I'll admit that it felt good to vent.)

When Things Go Wrong

Ever have one of those days or worse yet several?

We've had a few lately, starting with last week's report from the NTSB (national transportation safety board) that certain year models of Jeep Grand Cherokee and Liberty were prone to catch fire and explode in rear end collisions. Jeep maintains the vehicles are safe and so far has declined any recalls.

Both Grenville's Grand Cherokee and my Liberty are among the vehicles/years cited. This was NOT the sort of news we needed to hear before heading out on a family visit(s) road trip. Wonder if a rear sticker "Fire Danger — Stay Back" or "May Explode on Impact" would work to keep other cars at a safe following distance?

Then came the GPS unit that didn't want to stick to Grenville's windshield. As it came unglued, so did he and ranting and yelling at it didn't seem to work. So, we wondered, what would YOU have done given these choices — all of which we tried, except one.

(1) tape it with duct tape?
(2) try masking tape?
(3) use a glove to hold it in place? (this worked once)
(4) throw it out the window? (remember to unplug from the car or it could come back and injure you)

In the end, NONE of these worked this time — NO we didn't try #4 as we really needed the GPS for our trip. What DID work was using the dash mount from a previous unit and cleaning it and the GPS suction cup with window cleaner and then it finally held in place — who knew?  We do, NOW.

That problem solved, then came the road trip from VA to PA and as luck would have it (or not) we were driving in the path of tropical storm Andrea. It was a weather day not fit for cars or horses.

We safely made it there safely. Thankfully the weather cleared enough for us to do visiting and train exploring which Grenville will be posting about later, of course.

Checking in at our PA hotel, we were informed that the internet connection worked well with PCs and Mac computers, but not so with iPhones, iPads, iPods. As luck would have it (or not) we were traveling with the last 2. No problem that a call to the hotel's internet provider could not solve we were told. And, it did — some 30 minutes later as we learned that the provider's servers were having problems with recent iOS updates. YES, we had the same opinion — that the hotel should get a NEW provider.

THEN, as we reached out next stop in NJ we discovered that we had forgotten our small cooler at the last place we stayed. Now, of course, we could easily replace it with a new one, but this is a favorite that has travelled on many road trips. A phone call to the PA hotel solved the problem. Yes, they found it and could mail it to our home at a cost of about $10. Sometimes, things are just worth the cost with NO logic involved.

Today, was another rainy ride with the news of tornado warnings back home along the VA eastern shore and the east coast as well.

We hope that this bad weather is NOT affecting your area  — things are getting better than for us as. Our next stop will be RI to visit with the grandkids and other family as we celebrate a milestone event — more on that to come.

The FM Principle

Once again it was the FM principle working at The Frog & PenguINN. And, shame on you for thinking that FM meant anything more than “Fairy Magic.”
Here at The F&P we have a resident group of Glass Fairies who have been known to rearrange wine glasses. Another group, the Card Fairies, mysteriously leave cards and notes for special occasions and holidays. Always a good thing.

There’s also Stuff Fairies that are far less helpful and often make more work than not. The less said about this group, the better cause less stuff is what we are hoping to have.
BEST of all these groups are the Magic Fairies who come when least expected — and can return anytime.
HOW do we know?

A month ago, one of the back burners on our just over-a-year old gas stove wouldn’t light. When turned, the electronic igniter would emit a hissing sound indicating that gas was getting through, but no flame. Grenville went through all the manual’s troubleshooting steps (yes, we sometimes do that). Still, nothing worked, and as any service call these days entails a minimum fee, just to look at the problem, we were either not using that burner or Grenville would manually light it. We figured that sooner or later we’d get it repaired, but we still had 3 good working burners and only 2 in the household so there was no BIG rush.

Every  so often, we would try lighting the burner; this weekend to our surprise it worked  . . .

You may scoff and say there’s no such thing as fairies, but as for Grenville and I — we believe !

NOW, if we could only find those House Sale Fairies.

Ever Hear Voices?

No, not from your loved ones, but those unexplainable inner voices – often called premonitions – cautioning you before you go somewhere or do something. Some studies claim that folks who have premonitions about the simplest or silliest things in daily life, could be on the way to developing psychic abilities. Most advise listening to these inner self messages.

If ONLY I had done that today!

Here’s why – heading to the recycle center, I stopped at the post office for our mail (no street delivery in our part of town) and decided to separate the “junk” from the “important” mail, placing each in a white envelope. I heard  a warning voice, “don’t throw out the wrong envelope.”

Off to recycling, then to an appointment and a thought to check the “important” mail envelope, YIKES it was the “junk” envelope! Luckily, the recycling center was less than a 5-minute return trip, although I might have made it in 3 minutes.

WHERE was the right one?
SOMEPLACE in here . . .

After explaining my dilemma to the recycling attendant, he handed me a long grabber pole and wished me luck – LOTS of luck.

Finding a white envelope in this pile would be a challenge.

What was in the envelope? Bills, end of year statements, new insurance cards – items which could be replaced but not without some MUCH frustration.

After a seemingly hopeless 10 minutes of reshuffling, some of the recycled paper started to look “familiar.” YES, it was recycling we had tossed out when EUREKA, the envelope !

Amazingly, all the inserted paperwork was still inside. despite all the reshuffling I had done.

Basking in my good fortune (and saying a few many prayers of thanks), I went to the local CVS retail store to pick up cough suppressant for Grenville (he’s feeling better, but still coughing). A sale advertised “buy one, get one half-price”  so I did and was going to toss the receipt. But, “something” advised keeping it until I got home. Too bad it didn’t advise me to check it too !

WHY?  both had rang up full price.

 

A return trip (another 5-minute drive) to correct the overcharge. The cashier redid the purchase and got a $3 rewards toward future purchases.

So, the next time that nagging voice comes around, I’m going to listen to it the first time !

Redesign Means Gone?

It’s NOT the penguins fault.

This time it’s Google Mail (Gmail) driving me a bit crazier than usual.

Gmail has a new design. Today, I found out that my mailbox contents were GONE – all GONE, saved emails too.

Normally, this wouldn’t be an issue, but in a post last week, I invited fellow bloggers who wanted to do a holiday card exchange the old-fashioned way (postal mail) to send me an email.

Several fellow bloggers responded and I saved their info in my Gmail account. But tonight there were NO emails in my Gmail !!!

BACKUPS are always a good thing as I’ve learned from past experiences. This weekend I had copied the card exchange info to a file on my computer.  To date,  these bloggers had replied: Artic View, Dancing with Daisy, Montanagirl, Wspersweetly of Cottages, Mamabug’s Nature Photos, and The Cottage by the Crane Lake.

IF anyone sent an email in the past day or so, it may be in Gmail never-never  land. So, please resend to the email address listed on my blog profile page. I’ll check my Gmail account later and hopefully will get it.

What’s this ALL about – here’s the “guidelines.”

• Post by snail-mail only (please)
• Include a photo of yourself, family to share
• Add a personal note (pretty please).

We’ll do the same which means you can “see” Grenville & Beatrice.

• Email Beatrice (check her blog profile page).
• Include your email, name, and mailing address.
• She will email back and provide OUR mailing address.

Backed-Up

NO, not in the sense of a PC backup, but a bathroom problem – no sh*t – or anything else.
And, of the two back-up choices, a bathroom problem is NOT the one you want to have cause it’s serious and potentially more costly.

Grenville blogged about the attacks of the electro-gremlims which started on our NH road trip, then continued on our Oct 31 arrival home with the failure of the tabletop Sirius internet radio, downed network, weather station outage, and finally Grenville’s cell phone going for a wash.

Latest incident is the back-up of the second floor bathroom, which Grenville battled with most of Friday and is continuing to work on this morning.

Bad news is that we only have one full bath, sadly the one with the” problem.” Our YMCA membership came in very handy for exercise AND showers yesterday and possibly today as well.

Luckily, Grenville’s background includes plumbing know-how. He and his “helpers” of drain-clearing chemicals and (very long) snake have been fighting the battle.
And winning (hopefully) cause a few minutes ago, he announced a tentative VICTORY –  water was going down.

But, just to be sure, he’s adding more drainage cleaner and re-checking later.

Un-Adaptable

That’s how to describe Grenville tonight.

Sadly, the AC power adapter for his netbook came up lame this evening, so he did the only thing possible – he shot it.

Well, not really, but he did mutter a lot at this inanimate object.

He was planning to post two NH train ride tales. If you’ve been reading this blog, you KNOW how he likes loves  trains!

So, he asked me to to let everyone know that the train post  will be delayed for awhile. Tomorrow, we’re heading to a Best Buy electronics store to see if he can find a replacement. (It’s nice to be staying in an area that has these stores nearby.) 

He hopes to be back on track soon after this derailment.

Sorry for those last puns, but they were irresistible.

EGGS-plosion in the Kitchen

Ever have one of those days?

The “yolk” was on me today, well not me exactly, but the stovetop and kitchen counter and floor.  But, this was no laughing matter.

WHY?  . . .  cause I left 4 eggs boiling on the stove, went to do something else, and forgot about the eggs. It’s definitely NEVER a good thing to leave a pot unattended.

The water boiled down, and the eggs EXPLODED onto the stove and floor. The kitchen and dining room got extremely smoky.

It was quite a MESS. Those eggs were a total loss, but the pot was my concern. This is WHY stainless steel cookware is a great  thing

The pot was salvageable and cleaned up well after lots of scrubbing with steel wool soap pads.

Next time, I’ll take the kitchen timer with me when I go upstairs.
Better YET, I’ll stay in the kitchen until what’s cooking is done.

Bundt?

Ever happen to you?

Bake something that didn’t want to release from the pan?

That’s what happened to me with this pecan bundt cake last Saturday . It wouldn’t come out of the pan, even after a cool-down, and careful edging to loosen it.  In desperation, I smacked the pan with the results shown above – it came out, but in several pieces.
But all was NOT lost because the pieces were delicious served with some butter pecan ice cream brought by friends M&B and served after after dinner.

What’s a bundt?
If you are a movie fan – like Grenville and myself – you may recall the exchange from the 2002 film, My Big Fat Greek Wedding in which a  young Greek woman (Toula Portokalus) falls in love with a non-Greek teacher (Ian Miller) and worries whether her family will accept him. At a family gathering, Toula’s future mother-in-law brings a bundt cake. Toula’s father (Gus) introduces every family member to Ian’s parents, the Millers. When the introductions are over, Mrs. Miller holds out a bundt cake. Completely confused, Toula’s mother asks,

“What’s this?” “It’s a bundt cake.” Mrs. Miller says. Completely dumbfounded, Toula’s mother repeats, “Bundt?” “Yes, bundt.” “Bundt?” “BUNDT!!!”
“Oh…It’s a CAKE!” She finally confirms, adding “This cake has a hole in it.”

The term bundt cake is is used chiefly in North America to describe a dessert cake that is baked in a bundt pan, shaping it into a distinctive ridged ring. “Bundt”
derives from the German word, bundkuchen.  The German word bund in bundkuchen originated either from bundling or wrapping the cake's dough around the pan's center hole or because a bund is a gathering of people The d in "bundt" is assimilated into the t.
The term, bundt, was trademarked in 1950 by H. David Dalquist, founder of Minnesota-based Nordic Ware. Dalquist developed the pan at the request of members of the Hadassah Society chapter in Minneapolis, Minnesota who wanted a lighter version of the traditional German cast-iron Kugelhupf (or bundkuchen) pan. which were heavy and hard to use. The women called them “bund pans.”

Dalquist modified existing Scandinavian pan designs and made an aluminum pan. The pans sold slowly until 1966 when “Tunnel of Love” was baked in a bundt pan and won second place in a Pillsbury Bake Off contest. Sales of the pan increased and it surpassed the tin Jell-O mold to become the most popularly sold pan in the U.S. Since its introduction, more than 50 million bundt pans have been sold by Nordic Ware. Pillsbury licensed the name in 1970 for a line of cake mixes.

More stuff: the bundt pan has its own celebration since the Governor of Minnesota declared November 15 as National Bundt Day. Some early bundt pan designs are on display at the Smithsonian Institute.

We now know — and so do you about “bundt.”

Shattered

Ever have one of those days?

That was mine yesterday – I went to get a measuring cup from the cabinet above the stove, but it slipped and fell. This taught me 3 things: glass measuring cups do not bounce on a stone floor and that no amount of glue could repair this cup.

And the 3rd thing learned was to reorganize the cabinets so the measuring cups are easier (and lower) to reach.

Now, if only Grenville can find them when he needs one. (Yes, I did tell him they were moved.)

We’re Home and So is Libby

IK, you already know from previous posts that Grenville and I are back home at the Frog and PenguINN after our Maine road trip. Since we didn’t mention anyone with us, the question may be (or not) who is Libby?

Libby is a not a who – it’s my 2007 Jeep Liberty.  Back in mid-September, my Stuff Happens post described how a $20 oil change resulted in (what we thought would be) a $3,000 repair bill

A brief recap: we were headed for service when another driver didn’t see Grenville’s left turn signal and rammed into the left rear quarter panel. Thankfully, there were no human injuries. Libby was “hurt” and the tail lights were smashed, bumper cracked, rear quarter panel bashed, tail lift damaged, cut in rear tire –  but no glass was broken and no air bags deployed – maybe a few thousand dollars in damages?

NOT QUITE – make that a $6,235 repair bill.

Before we left, an insurance adjustor appraised the damage at $3,544. A week later, the repair facility told us it would be closer to $4,500 – apparently both were a bit off – it  seems there’s no clear cut way of estimating damages until repairs are actually underway. The 4-page auto appraisal report listed all sorts of repairs from the left rear axle to the rear tail lamp and tire. Biggest costs were labor and sheet metal, followed by parts. No surprises there.

Here’s a few shots of the “after” repairs. Alas, no camera with me the day of the crash, so no “before” photos.

It’s good to be home !   Our thoughts too.

Stuff Happens

When does a $20 oil change turn into a $3,000 repair bill?

Ans: when the driver of the car following you – way too closely – doesn’t see in time (or at all) that you are making a left turn and drives into your car!

!!##!!***##!! YES, our thoughts EXACTLY – well, maybe some.

Yes, we are OK.

There were no injuries to the driver (Grenville)  passenger (Beatrice) resident back seat Teddy Bear, or the other driver (nameless). And, there was no broken glass or deployed air bags. The responding Pocomoke, MD police officers were concerned and polite. We are definitely most thankful for all these things.

What’s not so nice is that Libby – my 2007 Jeep Liberty was hit in the left rear quarter panel – that’s directly in back of the rear door on the driver’s side. We didn’t have a camera with us, so no photos.

Damage tally – just in case you were curious

• Rear quarter panel bashed below gas cap
• Tail lights smashed
• Fender cracked and half broken off
• Rear door gate dented on side - doesn’t open easily
• Small cut on tire, but it didn’t go flat
• Rear axle bent, but fixable.

Total repair cost wasn’t available yet, but the service manager was figuring on around $2,000 – that  was BEFORE they put the Jeep on a lift and saw the bent axle.

Amazingly, this happened within a half mile of our destination, which is a 45-minute drive from the Frog & PenguINN. Of course, it’s possible to play the “what if” game:

• What if we caught another light?
• What if the other driver wasn’t there?
• What if we left earlier – or later?
• What if we didn’t go today?

And so on and so on . . .ad infinitum.

But it happened. And, something else happened before the crash. Maybe a premonition? As Grenville was driving, I was going through the glove compartment (why do they call it that as no one ever keeps gloves there?) and found info from our insurance company about filing – guess WHAT – an accident claim. That’s exactly what we were doing less than 30 minutes later when we called the claims dept.

Ever happen to you (no, not  a crash) but getting a 6th sense (maybe ESP) about something before it happened?

. . . So what else could go wrong this week?
Don’t get me started about the issue with my notebook PC. I’m saving that story for a future post.