Monday, April 16, 2018

Kindness and Old Friends

I just finished perusing my May issue of Woman's Day.  I like to just go through it on the first day, then go back and read the articles and recipes.

This month there was an article, Be Kind Every Day which made me think and sit down and read.  This article gave ideas for each day in May for us to be kind.  Among them were offering to drive a neighbor to an appointment, helping a non-tech savvy friend with their computer, taking a walk and picking up litter, etc.

This article made me think about ways that I can help brighten the day for someone.  It also made me think about a co-worker at AIG, Esther.  Esther would greet me everyday with not just "Good morning", but she also found something to compliment, such as 'Your hair looks great", or "That color looks good on you", etc.  It was always a pleasure to see Esther in the morning.

We kept in touch for a while after I retired, but with all the changes at AIG and my laziness, we lost touch.  I have many good memories of my days at AIG and the friends I made there and still see.  I think I'll try to find and get back in touch with Esther.

Saturday, April 7, 2018

How Does Gibbs Do It?

Any long time fan of NCIS knows that Gibbs, aka Mark Harmon, builds boats in his basement.  Well, today I did the equivalent.

I recently purchased a new patio set - loveseat, coffee table, two chairs.  Of course, like almost everything you  buy these days, some assembly was required.  The weather here has been very unpredictable and I couldn't leave the boxes outside, so I had them put in the kitchen.  I now have two very big boxes sitting in the kitchen.

This morning I decided to put the chairs together.  Before I could do that, I had to open the box, that was a struggle.  I don't know what kind of glue they used, but it really held tight.  When I finally got to the pieces, I decided that I could do this.  After all I have put bookcases, bar stools and my desk chair together.  I didn't want to use my coffee table hold the pieces together since it has a glass top.  I decided it would be a very good idea to assemble the chair in my bedroom, using the bed as a table.  Nothing could get scratched or broken if I rested the arm of the chair on it while assembling the seat.

I moved everything into the bedroom and the assembly went smoothly, maybe too smoothly.  It was time to put it outside.

To my surprise, even though this house is designed for a senior citizen, the doorways are not unusually wide.  I couldn't get the chair through, no matter how I angled it.  I think, if there was not a wall there, it probably would have fit, but I'm not ready to knock down a wall.

Back to the bed to remove all the screws and bolts.  Even after I took one of the arms off, it still didn't fit.  Back to the bed to remove the other arm.  Finally, I was able to get it through the doorway with two pieces connected.

I gathered all the hardware and pieces and went out onto the patio.  I must add that I live on the corner and it gets windy and the temperature today was 41 degrees.

Fortunately, since this was the second time I was assembling the chair, I knew what to do.  It was a little hard since I had nowhere to sit, but I DID IT!  The chair is now fully assembled, but it's too cold to work on the other one.

So, now I still have two large boxes sitting in the kitchen waiting to be assembled.  I know I can do it, but I may get help with the loveseat since the box weighs about 70 lbs. and I don't know how I could maneuver the box to even open it.  But I will wait until it warms up a bit, I wouldn't ask anyone to work in the cold.

I guess when Gibbs wants to move the boat, he disassembles it and puts it together at water's edge.