Yesterday was the 6th anniversary of my blog. I had meant to write something, but, obviously, I didn't.
I've enjoyed writing about my adventures, both planned and spontaneous, my cats and just my view on life in general. I hope you've enjoyed it too. If you haven't, I hope I inspired you to look at the other side of things and maybe open a discussion or two.
I hope to do better next year. Until then, Happy New Year! Keep safe and warm.
Tuesday, December 31, 2013
Saturday, December 28, 2013
Adventures in Driving
Last week my son came in for Christmas. He flew into Philadelphia airport which I had never driven to before. Since I no longer trust my "man" on the GPS, I got directions from MapQuest. It's very difficult to travel on the interstate while trying to read directions. But I tried.
Everything went well until I turned onto the NJ Turnpike. While driving along, I remembered that I had to exit for Pennsylvania, so I took the first mention of Pennsylvania. It was the wrong one. After a series of wrong turns, I asked how to get to the airport and was told to take I95 South, which I did. After a little while, I took another wrong turn/exit and wound up in a residential area. I saw two youngsters and stopped them for directions. They told me how to get back onto I95, but I'm sorry that I didn't tell them how smart they were not to get too close to my car.
At this point, I was so lost that I actually decided to "trust" my "GPS Man". Now I was back on the road, headed to the airport. I took the right exit and pulled into the parking garage, but it was the wrong garage. Back onto the road and another series of wrong turns. Back to my "GPS Man". He told me to take I95 South which I did for several miles even though my gut said otherwise. When I saw that I had left the Philadelphia airport way behind me, I decided to finally trust my gut and get pack on I95 North. After driving around for about 3 1/2 hours for a 1 1/2 hour trip I got to the airport and met my son.
Then we went back on the road to my home.
Today, I let him take care of the directions and we arrived at the airport in about 1 1/2 hours. I parked the car and dropped him off at the TSA checkpoint. Then it hit me. I never took note of the area of the parking lot when I left the car. I knew what section I was in so I walked around, periodically pressing my clicker which resulted in silence. Then I remembered that we had crossed the road, not taken an overpass like I had when I left the terminal. So, I reversed my steps into the terminal, and found the exit which would take me to my car on the ground level of the parking garage (not the upper level where I walked around).
My car was just where I left it and I was able to find my way back home. The trip home was not as difficult as last week's to the airport. There has to be an easier way.
Everything went well until I turned onto the NJ Turnpike. While driving along, I remembered that I had to exit for Pennsylvania, so I took the first mention of Pennsylvania. It was the wrong one. After a series of wrong turns, I asked how to get to the airport and was told to take I95 South, which I did. After a little while, I took another wrong turn/exit and wound up in a residential area. I saw two youngsters and stopped them for directions. They told me how to get back onto I95, but I'm sorry that I didn't tell them how smart they were not to get too close to my car.
At this point, I was so lost that I actually decided to "trust" my "GPS Man". Now I was back on the road, headed to the airport. I took the right exit and pulled into the parking garage, but it was the wrong garage. Back onto the road and another series of wrong turns. Back to my "GPS Man". He told me to take I95 South which I did for several miles even though my gut said otherwise. When I saw that I had left the Philadelphia airport way behind me, I decided to finally trust my gut and get pack on I95 North. After driving around for about 3 1/2 hours for a 1 1/2 hour trip I got to the airport and met my son.
Then we went back on the road to my home.
Today, I let him take care of the directions and we arrived at the airport in about 1 1/2 hours. I parked the car and dropped him off at the TSA checkpoint. Then it hit me. I never took note of the area of the parking lot when I left the car. I knew what section I was in so I walked around, periodically pressing my clicker which resulted in silence. Then I remembered that we had crossed the road, not taken an overpass like I had when I left the terminal. So, I reversed my steps into the terminal, and found the exit which would take me to my car on the ground level of the parking garage (not the upper level where I walked around).
My car was just where I left it and I was able to find my way back home. The trip home was not as difficult as last week's to the airport. There has to be an easier way.
Friday, December 27, 2013
Christmas Carols
Today would have been my mother's birthday. She would have been over 100. Listening to the Christmas Carols on the TV all week reminded of her 75th birthday.
My brother and I had arranged for a dinner at a very nice, old restaurant on Long Island. We reserved a room and invited her sister, niece and some old friends. Of course my brother and I were there with our spouses and our children.
During the course of the evening, some carolers came into our room and offered to sing for us. They asked if we wanted to hear anything special. We all thought for a while, then one of her grandchildren (there were four), suggested a new and favorite carol. We were somewhat embarrassed when we heard the request. One of the cherubs asked for "Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer".
My mother lead us in a great laugh, then we all sang along.
It was a good party with some good memories.
My brother and I had arranged for a dinner at a very nice, old restaurant on Long Island. We reserved a room and invited her sister, niece and some old friends. Of course my brother and I were there with our spouses and our children.
During the course of the evening, some carolers came into our room and offered to sing for us. They asked if we wanted to hear anything special. We all thought for a while, then one of her grandchildren (there were four), suggested a new and favorite carol. We were somewhat embarrassed when we heard the request. One of the cherubs asked for "Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer".
My mother lead us in a great laugh, then we all sang along.
It was a good party with some good memories.
Wednesday, December 25, 2013
Friday, December 6, 2013
Instructions
About a year ago I bought a steam mop for my house. I needed something like this because, sometimes, the one of the cats has a digestive upset in a hard to notice spot when I'm not around. It may not be discovered for a few days and is hard to clean up.
Well, I got the mop, assembled it and started to use it. I've never been completely happy with it. It does clean well, but the mopping cloth would just slide around on the mophead. No matter what I did, it slid around.
Today, I had such a spot to clean. I knew the mopping cloth was dirty so I looked in the closet for a cloth for another mop. Instead, I found a mopping cloth for the steam cleaner, but it looked too small. I looked further and found another mophead, but this one was much too big for the new cloth.
Then I realized my problem with the cleaner. I was using the larger cloth on the smaller mophead. No wonder it kept sliding around. I put the smaller cloth on the cleaner and it worked beautifully. Now my floor is cleaner and I had no aggravation.
All my problems could have been avoided if I had just read the instructions that were included and not just put the pieces where I thought they should have been.
Not reading instructions has always been a huge problem for me. I remember when I was a teenager and trying to lay out a pattern for a dress I was making. My mother saw my problem and reminded me that, "Someone was paid good money to write the instructions for layout and cutting".
I guess I'll never learn.
Well, I got the mop, assembled it and started to use it. I've never been completely happy with it. It does clean well, but the mopping cloth would just slide around on the mophead. No matter what I did, it slid around.
Today, I had such a spot to clean. I knew the mopping cloth was dirty so I looked in the closet for a cloth for another mop. Instead, I found a mopping cloth for the steam cleaner, but it looked too small. I looked further and found another mophead, but this one was much too big for the new cloth.
Then I realized my problem with the cleaner. I was using the larger cloth on the smaller mophead. No wonder it kept sliding around. I put the smaller cloth on the cleaner and it worked beautifully. Now my floor is cleaner and I had no aggravation.
All my problems could have been avoided if I had just read the instructions that were included and not just put the pieces where I thought they should have been.
Not reading instructions has always been a huge problem for me. I remember when I was a teenager and trying to lay out a pattern for a dress I was making. My mother saw my problem and reminded me that, "Someone was paid good money to write the instructions for layout and cutting".
I guess I'll never learn.
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