We went off to IKEA today (an adventure for me as I do not get there very often and could really spend a whole day there) - it is only about a ten minute drive when like Mathew says of his dad "he is flying low" anyway that is another story which I will not get into today. We bought a piece of furniture for Samantha - Oh yes - but it was a practical purchase. It is a set of stacking benches that are upholstered and nicely replaces her old seen-better-days box set up for her to look outside. She loves it and it looks quite nice. I was quite impressed with the young sales clerk, she went out of her way to be helpful and took time to do some re-arranging to complete the sale but what a pleasure to get superb service, something that we do not often see anymore - she made my day and restored my faith in the younger generation at least until the next time some rude young person pushes me aside to get on a bus!!!
Surprised to learn that all three homes to the left of ours had severe flooding in their basements due to the rain storm a week ago Thursday and each one of them had their back yards built up at some point in time. Although we had quite a pond of water out back it did not reach our basement. Glad we did not have to clean up the mess that our neighbours were faced with although the insurance company sent people around to do the work the place next door is vacant and owned by people from Sudbury - a brother and his family had the task of clearing the place out and mopping up.
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THOUGHT FOR TODAY
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"Get over the idea that only children should spend their time in study. Be a student so long as you still have something to learn, and this will mean all your life."
--- Henry L. Doherty
Tuesday, September 21, 2004
Ventured out yesterday to purchase a new dryer and yep, you guessed it we are now the owners of a dryer that has all the bells and whistles and I will most likely have to read the instructions after I throw my clothes in to find out which setting will "properly" dry my clothes - reading instructions is not my thing!! After this purchase we set out to buy a new mantle clock and after much discussion and debate settled on one that I can see from across the room without my glasses and has no chimes to wake me at night - I do win sometimes!!
Sunday, September 19, 2004
Time to say goodbye to our dryer after 24 years. Many parts have been replaced over the years but it is now telling us it wants to go to the old dryer graveyard so we have decided to put it out of its agony and end the mournful sounds that eminate therefrom. After 24 years the price of dryers have escalated "somewhat" and they now have many bells and whistles that tell you things you really do not need to know. The basic dryer is not rocket science it is basically a heater with a drum but modern technology has to make it all as complicated as possible so people will think they are getting something new and wonderful!! So it is off to the store this week to purchase an overpriced, bells and whistles, dryer that will take a day or so to find out how to turn it on??
Wednesday, September 15, 2004
It was surprising the number of basements that were flooded in this area during last week's downpour - we had a lot of water out back but lucky not to have any in our basement. Place next door which is vacant now had a lot of water in their basement which was not discovered until the day after the rain. Most of those who have had water come in are ones who have built up their back yards over the years. Cannot imagine having to clean up such a mess but then again we could use some new carpeting!! Samantha is now on her second round of antibiotics as the first ones made her quite sick and hopefully these weaker ones will do the trick - we shall see in three weeks.
Sunday, September 12, 2004
One of my peeves these days is when people say "must be nice to be retired and have so much free time" - being retired (and I used the term loosely) means that I do not have to go to a second job which I did most of my life and perhaps one of the reasons my old body tends to be uncooperative a lot of the time. Not to mention that keeping house becomes more of a chore than it was when nobody was at home all day. It would be nice to get up in the morning and know there was no work to be done, no meals to prepare etc - just one day a week would be nice - even God took a day of rest!!! On that note I shall digress and get on with my chores!
Monday, September 06, 2004
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THOUGHT FOR TODAY
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"In the long run, we only hit what we aim at."
--- Henry David Thoreau
Thursday, September 02, 2004
Our little Samantha has been having a rough time lately - she had not been well for a while so we took her to the animal hospital where she went through a battery of tests and X-rays. They could not pinpoint the problem but did mention a couple of things one being a large suspicious area that show up on the X-ray. She was referred to a specialist in internal medicine who confirmed the suspicious area was her "stomach"!! He recommended a fibre additive be given and she was prescribed a pill that would coat her stomach and hopefully give her some relief. Today the vet phoned with the results of her tests and indicated that she has three different bacterial infections and prescribed an antibiotic which needs to be handled with gloves as it could cause a disease in humans (something like one in about 100,000 thousand could contact a disease that could cause a bone marrow deficiency) but it is the only drug that can combat this type of infection. Hopefully, she will be healthy soon and we will not have to rob a bank to pay for the veternarian specialist's expensive lifestyle!!