Here's a couple of photos taken from the roof cam this week. 

Nooby has had a cough for a few months, I was reluctant to get him into the vet because I didn't know how he would take it. He peed in the carrier and went a little crazy once we got him out of the carrier in the examining room, ran behind the trash bin. I picked him up, held him close and Brian stroked his head while I nuzzled him with my face. The vet had the techs take his blood in the examining room instead of taking him in the back and doing it there. He was a great cat, not a problem. He was wrapped in a towel for his X-rays. 

He has allergies, which is why the cough. The vet didn't want to prescribe drugs until the bloodwork came back. He has borderline kidney disease and she wants to see him in a couple of months for a recheck. He'll be on prednisolone and an antihistamine for the allergies. 

We've used Gmail for our business mail for years. We have it set up to pull from our domain website. We've been using a thing called Pop3. Gmail is discontinuing that. It was advised to use forwarding from the website but it was hinky. Reply mail was sent to the customer and a copy to us. The return addresses were not correct. I did some research and decided to try Google Workspace. 

It took almost a full week and over thirty hours in chat with Google and Intuit. We use an old desktop version of Quickbooks for our accounting. There was a big problem with sending invoices. I couldn't send them from "sales" I had to send them from "Brian" and that just wasn't professional at all. Brian finally told me it would be worth the additional $14 a month to set up an additional user.  I spent two hours in chat with Intuit support and the guy was clueless. He kept having me try things that hadn't worked yet, but "hey, let's try this!" and finally said "the problem is you have an old version of Quickbooks, you'll need to upgrade to a newer version to do what you want to do". But, see, here's the thing. I doubt I send fifteen invoices a month. I'm not going to pay $185 a month to send. The online version is cheaper, but I don't want to deal with online. I have what I need set up. Anyway...

I ended up finding out what I needed to use (the app password thing), but then I got locked out of the account and couldn't log back in. So, back to Google support. I never want to do this again. Hopefully, Brian will retire next year and I won't have to.

I did get the new NAS set up. It's nice, not as scary as I imagined. My side of the office is a lot cleaner looking than it had been. Nice. I'm working on getting the movies I've purchased over the years downloaded. It's going to take a while, there are so many.

Other than that, things are just rolling along. 

Anyway, we're here, we're fine. 

First newest news, we rescued another kitty last month. Little girl, probably 4-5 years old, dilute tortie. We named her Jessie. She had been hanging around our entry way in the evenings for a couple of weeks and I was able to grab her before the coyotes did. 

Brian had set up the bathroom like he did with Natasha. It was only a few days before she had house access. Still not letting her outside, it's too darned cold to manage following her around outside. We still have the hissing going on, but that should lessen over the time as she's no longer hiding somewhere. Pictures to come.

I've been busy with computer and networking stuff. New router, new settings, really time-consuming, and it wears me out. I finally got all the old stereo cables and equipment out of the office since I have all the Google nest speakers. Pulled out cables no longer in use and finally set up a new router. Still fine-tuning it all. 

Closing out the books for 2025, setting up for 2026, upgrading windows 10 to windows 11 (because Turbo Tax won't work on 10). 

I think this will be the year I get rid of all the old things. I hope. Forty years of saving up, I guess. Lots of mugs (from when my dad died and mom moved to her home and from when she passed away and we cleaned up). I've already gotten rid of the appliances I just had to keep that I never, I mean never, used. They just took up space. Rice cookers, electric grills, you know, things that need to be plugged in. 

So much to do.

And my ingrown toenail is back. Last October I actually went to urgent care for it, but apparently I'd already gotten rid of most of the problem by digging it out (yeah, that effing HURT). The doctor scraped out a few remaining pieces and within days, there was no more pain. Well, it's back. Brian and I discussed him maybe dropping a sledgehammer on it, maybe they'd pull the nail off and no more toenail pain!  lol  Not gonna happen, but, damn, this is getting old. 

Anyway, have a load of laundry to get started. Daylight's burning.

Orders are way down. Not a surprise with how the economy is doing. I'm very happy we got the house paid off earlier this year. That's $2K I'm not scrambling to find any longer. That was never fun. The upside is keeping up with paperwork is a snap. lol

Getting used to the GLP-1 meds is ongoing, I'm thinking my body is still adjusting. Almost two months now. I'm down over ten pounds, which is nice. 

Brian will be hitting a grocery store, maybe picking up a couple of frozen dinners for Thanksgiving dinner. Yeah, we're at the stage where holidays aren't a big deal, we've been there for a long time. His mom used to do the holidays, yes, the kids would all help out, but she was the glue that held us together. I miss that woman.

I have many idea for crafting things, but I can't seem to make myself get up and do them. And it's really annoying. In bed between trips to the bathroom (old woman pee breaks), falling back to sleep I think of all the things I want to work on. Next morning? Everything is back to "nah..."

Anyway, I just wanted to let those who still read this that we're alive and kicking. Not dead yet.

Cats are okay. Nooby has a small cough, but he had that when he first came here. It doesn't seem to bother him, and it's not that often. Wendy and Goose are chonks. 

I got a new soundbar for our television. The old one didn't have a night mode. (This new one is expressly for Roku televisions.) . Car chases, explosions, "background" music. No longer have to adjust the volume. I started checking out options when Brian was watching "Wednesday" and I got him to use his headphones, the volume was so annoying. This was a good decision.

I added another HDHomerun tuner for local stations. These tuners give one the ability to stream local tv to all devices in the home. An antenna is attached to the tuner, you choose your channels in the software, and download the app for your devices. The problem is there's only one antenna per tuner. When our rooftop antenna is pointed in one direction, we don't get the channels that are in the other direction (we're just talking about CBS, ABC, NBC, CW, and a few independent stations). 

We do have an indoor antenna set up in the garage that we got back when CBS wanted more money from Cox. Cox said "nope," and CBS cut the feed for Cox users. The blackout was just a couple of days, and someone blinked. We never had to use the antenna, but it was there if we needed it. Well, I thought it would be nice to get ALL of the stations, so I got the additional tuner. They both show in the software, and I'm able to choose all of the channels now. There are a ton of Mexican stations, but I only know a few words of Spanish. Tortilla, burrito, taco, bueno, quesadilla, if you catch my drift. Those channels are not on the chosen list. Obviously.

Because our WiFi signal was so iffy in the house, I had the scathingly brilliant idea to move the router. I figured out what I'd need (cables, switch boxes, etc). I also got a new router! I'm waiting for the weather to cool down because this is going to be a nasty, hot job. Lots of old equipment to move out. Not looking forward to actually doing the work, but I know it will be a lot cleaner setup than I have right now.

Meanwhile...

I upgraded our mesh system to the TP-Link X55 Pro. We did have the X55. The pro turns out to be a fabulous upgrade, with much better coverage. (Rethinking moving the router - no, I'm not, it's definitely gonna happen.)  I was able to take down a few of the older devices. I needed to use one of the older ones for the new tuner, since it isn't WiFi, but needs to be connected via Ethernet. All of the mesh devices have ports for Ethernet, so it works out nicely.

Last month, we got a notice in our mailbox that a company by the name of Wyyerd Fiber was in the area. I've mentioned how I feel about Cox. I checked out the Wyyerd website. Their plan for the same download speed we get now is $95.00 with NO data cap. Our current Cox plan is $120.00, and a data cap of 1780 GB a month. Normally, that wouldn't be an issue, but it is when I get a bee up my butt to download series that I know we'll watch again and again (Justified, Elementary, etc). I'm very interested. 

Since that notice, I've been paying attention to Reddit complaints about Cox. The data cap is a big one. Most big providers no longer have data caps. Cox is one of the remaining few who do. And I read multiple posts that when there is competition, Cox will meet or beat the competitor's price. 

Sunday, I initiated a chat about price matching. Totally forgetting what a nightmare it was in January when I ended up cancelling our cable service. After a few back-and-forth messages with chat, I realized I was once again wasting my time, and I figured "eff this" and left the chat. After which, I got a notice for a survey about the chat I just had. I was brutal. Actually called the chat CSRs liars and just didn't want to deal with them. Monday, the phone rang. It was a Cox loyalty representative. Wow, they still have those?

Anyway, the rep was super nice, super polite. He listened to my issues and how I was most likely going to change providers. He wanted to know what it would take for me not to leave. I told him they'd need to match the price and lose the data caps. He said he'd get back with me on Tuesday. He didn't. 

But he called yesterday while we were at the doctor's appointment. And he called again later. Guess what? My new plan. Guaranteed for 24 months. So, yay!

It's  $30 savings over what I was paying.

It rained yesterday and last night. It might rain more today. I think I'll work on finishing the craft stuff I started a couple of months ago. I did make another Automata, a little flip thing. Still need to do videos. My mind is just all over the place lately. lol 

Growing old ain't for sissies.

Like the video for the Glimmer crafts, I couldn't get the sound to work. Downloaded an app that I didn't like. Finally figured out the sound and decided I didn't like the camera. It was a cheap one I got a long time ago, and the quality of the video left a lot to be desired, so I ordered a camera like I got for Brian's Zoom meetings with his doctor.

Surprise, surprise, the video was just as crummy.  Guess what? There are these things called SETTINGS! Who knew? Anyway, got that all taken care of, then did a few test videos. Hand's look old (really? a seventy-one-year-old with old-looking hands? Get out!). I had to polish my nails, maybe that would help (it didn't - hands still looked old, but my nails were great). 

While I had waited for the new camera to show up, I started playing with the W R shadow box punch board. So, there was another rabbit hole (I still don't have the folding the edges figured out, even though I've watched multiple videos). The corners just don't look clean.

Meanwhile, paperwork was piling up, invoices needed to be generated, bank account reconciled, bills needed to be paid, and then there was the filing of the paperwork.

Then it got hot. And a nail split at the finger, so I cut them all back. Life is easier now. 

Then it cooled off. 

And I thought (craft videos pushed to the back of my internal to-do list) "hey, why don't I see if I can rip some of these tv show DVDs I've had forever and see if any of my software can automatically split the episode (why, yes, this one will work and it uses AI to better the actual video) which took time. I had to redo a couple of episodes, but it's a learning process. Unfortunately, the subtitles looked awful, so I decided to go with another option for those. But first I had to rename all of the episodes. They were saved with generic names. "Disc 1 title4" instead of "Series name S0XE0X_Title of episode," which had to be done manually and was time-consuming. Once that was finished, it was time to do the subtitles. Which takes longer than I hoped it would, but, hey, what else do I have going on? Right?

Last Friday, when pulling the disks from the cabinet, I realized I hadn't dusted in a while. So, I got hot on that. It was pretty bad. lol...note to self, don't put it off like that again. I need to finish in the bedroom today, then it will be okay for a while as long as I stay on top of it (HA!).

And tomorrow, I'll most likely start on the craft videos again.

Playing with the shadow box maker, the 1/4" punch didn't put the hole in the right place to work on the shadow box. I played around with it, punching many holes on paper, but nothing lined up right on the shadow box. I finally got one that was perfect placement on the shadow box cover sheet, but now what? How do I replicate this?

I ordered a 1/4" hole punch from Amazon and figured I will make a guide for the hole placement. I figured that Curio stencil material would work nicely. Except I had no idea where it was. I found the metal blanks, I found the tools, but I could not find the stencil stuff.

I pulled out my bag of acetate sheets, maybe they'd work, but still looked for the stencils. Probably spent an hour searching when I finally looked in the storage container under the new Curio and I opened it. Well, damn, who'd have guessed the Curio supplies would be in the Curio storage container? Not me.

Anyway, I ended up going with the acetate. It wasn't as thick as the stencil material and it's clear where the stencil is translucent. 

I made a couple of the guides. Now, I'm ready to actually make some different sizes of shadow boxes. 

At least I found my Curio stuff. 

A sad aside - the website where I bought the stencil material is no longer there. Their last post on Facebook was the end of last year. They were a super company to deal with.

In one of the later seasons, Beth makes dinner for Rip and Carter. She made Hamburger Helper, but with tuna. She was so proud of herself. Rip did mention to her that "you know, there is Tuna Helper". No, she was not aware of this.

One of the questions I had at the time is the Yellowstone is a cattle ranch. Why doesn't she have hamburger? Brian theorized that they have steaks and ribs and roasts and stuff like that. Hmmph. I find that hard to believe. A cattle ranch with no hamburger.

Anyway, back when I was in high school, there were also "Skillet" dinners. Same idea as Hamburger Helper, but, in my opinion, they were WAY better than Hamburger Helper. My favorite was the Skillet Lasagna.

Out of curiosity, I started checking out the current options for these types of dinners. None of the Skillet dinners, but plenty of the Helper dinners. We have Walmart+, and I scrolled through the available choices. Unlike Amazon, you can purchase one box, not a half dozen. And they're cheaper. I spent over fifty dollars on different varieties of the Helper meals. They arrived the next day.

The thing that bothered me about the packaging is the pasta is loose in the box. The seasonings are in a packet. The reason this bothers me is somewhere along the line we got some bugs in the pantry, the little black things that like flour type products. Crackers, noodles, cereals...

Because of this, I started to package the Knorr's Sides in zip lock bags. Preventing having to throw out everything. The day of the Helper delivery, I sat on the sofa with all the boxes, opening them one by one, dumping the noodles in a zip lock bag and putting it back in the box. Not all boxes had the loose pasta, which was nice, but I opened every single one.

The Hamburger Helper is okay. I'm not real hot on it, but it's an easy meal to fix and Brian likes it. Tonight I made the Cheesy Tuna Pasta. It was good! I was surprised. I will get this again. 

I wish they still had skillet dinners like back in the 70s.

The  We R Makers - Shadow Box Punch Board.

The three little punches to the right (sold separately) are used to make a hinge.

Oh, and you'll need patience.  At least to begin with. (I can foresee watching video tutorials in my near future.)

                    Wrong, so wrong. Read the directions, dear.

That's more like it.

This is the other side. You can easily see the score marks. But now what? Time to watch tutorials to figure out exactly how this needs to be folded to get a nice shadowbox. 

I'll do that later. Looks like fun, right?

Adding the little We R video above, this was the first time I watched it and...duh...I found out where I was going wrong. Punch each side TWICE before going to the next one.  I tried it. The instruction sheet says to punch twice. The platform says to punch twice. The video says to punch twice.

Okay! Okay! I've got it!

So, we're all doing fine. Brian had a followup MRI for his kidney removal and an X-ray a couple of weeks later. It's all good!

It's hot. Then it's cold, then it's hot. Then it's cloudy and yucky and then it's hot and miserable. Here in these parts known as "May gray" and "June gloom". 

Cats are great. No problems since last year (knocking on wood).

I've been playing with DVDFab software for a few years now, adding video to my NAS system (which I run Plex from). I've downloaded a bunch of old shows that we're watching again. Like Moonlighting, NYPD Blue, Dallas, Twilight Zone. Just last week I got the Tommyknockers DVD and ripped it to a hard drive. It didn't have any subtitles with the way I ripped it, so I used one of the DVDFab programs to generate the subtitles and it did a great job.

I think my Lasik wore out. I'm sad about that. Back when I had the surgery, I was told I did have the beginning of cataracts, so I'll be keeping that in mind. I really don't want to have to start wearing glasses again. I'm okay with reading glasses, I wouldn't go for the mono sight option (one eye for distance, the other for close). 

I've also been learning how to use some of the crafting tools I have. The latest is a Glimmer machine that I got last summer. I've done a couple of test runs and am happy with it. I did find out that using the plates with the Sizzix that were warped (in other words, used) that the results were not optimal. Tried brand new plates and, yeah, that's the way to go. I'm getting ready to make a video with what I've done. I'm pretty excited about that.

For example - the first photo is just the foil, the second I've colored in. I got this hot foil plate on Amazon. 

I have a bunch of different hot foil plates and I'm going to experiment with them. I'll save the results and most likely use them in cards. What fun!  One thing I have learned is that there are two types of reactive foil. One is heat reactive, which the Glimmer uses. The other is toner reactive. Toner as it laser toner. The foil adheres to the toner on a laser printed page. The Minc (basically a laminator machine) uses this.

And what else has been happening....

A Facebook friend is dealing with diabetes and I'm following her progress. Even though I'm no longer taking the Metformin (for me, it was like a colonoscopy prep on a daily basis and I was getting sick because food went right through me) I'm still taking my glucose twice a day. From what the FB friend has shared, exercise really helps. For the last month, I've been on the treadmill twice a day, just for fifteen minutes each, but my readings have dropped considerably. I started with just the morning because my morning readings, after having not eaten for ten to twelve hours, was always higher than my late afternoon reading. I think it might have been the "dawn phenomenon". The exercising has helped a lot. Now, both readings are pretty much the same (between 90 and 110). I'm not losing any weight, but I'm not worried about that. 

So, I guess that's it for now. Hopefully, I'll be back before three more months have passed.

Oh, I almost forgot. After almost thirty years, we got the house paid off. That's a great feeling.

Yeah, time flies when you're getting older. Stay safe!

I have furniture to polish and floors to wash. I have closets and drawers that need reorganizing.

And here I am, doing none of them.

I think having some sunny weather would go a long way towards getting my energy back. These clouds and this drizzle...I am so over it. I want to open up the house and get a nice breeze.

Cats are doing fine although Nooby seems to be slowing down. Ike is still an asshole, Captain America is turning into a bully. Lots of sleeping cats with this stupid weather.

We had a hummingbird clutch for a few weeks, nest is empty now.

Lots of buds on the avocado trees, so I guess this weather is good for that.

I have to do the taxes (next week, I'll do those next week).

And that's it. That's the update.

Boring.

On the way, in our car, with a new trailer, only fifty hours in our possession, three cats in the car, one dog, a drunk in a truck ran a stop sign. Totaled the car and trailer, lost the cats (never to be found), my mom had broken ribs, I had a broken sternum and a broken back. The drunk driver died, leaving behind a wife and young children. No insurance.

I was in the hospital for a while and out of school for months. Life went on.

So, as I've gotten older, arthritis has hit the area of my back that was broken and if I overdo it, it takes a while to feel better. It's hard to take a deep breath when this happens. The kinds of things like making cookies or grating massive amounts of cheese seem to exacerbate the pain. It's a mid-back thing, I'm short, and reaching up to the counters puts my arms in an odd position.

Last week I got a new (refurbished) computer to switch out with the current system I use for Plex. I switched it out this past weekend and it went pretty smoothly. I decided I wanted to change out the power strip behind my work PC, which had many peripherals plugged in. Instead of a wide strip, I got a long strip that would be a cleaner option behind the computers. I started setting that up yesterday morning.

And the stretching woke up my back. I spent yesterday afternoon on a heating pad, last night on a heating pad, this morning was okay, but I did a little paperwork, and sitting at the desk got very uncomfortable.

Back on the heating pad.

I have work to do and it doesn't include the heating pad or ibuprofen or naproxen.

But the new system is worth it! 

They had loyalty programs for people who stuck with them. They had an actual phone number where you could pick up the phone, call a phone number, choose what you wanted to discuss (billing, service changes, service problems, internet problems, etc).

No longer. If you have questions, there's a chat. And the people behind that chat are outsourced to different countries. You no longer speak to a representative who actually gives a shit about the person (the customer) on the other end of the line. And last Sunday, I was done. I canceled our Contour Ultimate service. Why?

Because during the previous decade they started having bundles with a set price. There was no longer any kind of discount. What you saw was what you got. Unless there was a promotion going on. And the only way to find out?

Via chat.

Every year, I jump through the hoops. In December 2023, I jumped through the hoop and signed up for a 24-month promotion where the cost for the service would not change. When I checked the account, it was still "processing." On January 8, 2024, I initiated a chat to double-checked that the promotion had taken effect. I was assured it had. I questioned the representative multiple times about the length of the promotion. Twenty-four months it was.

Imagine my surprise to see on Sunday morning, January 12, 2025, that my new price was twenty dollars (plus fees) higher. Uh, nope. My 24 months wasn't up. I initiated a chat. It took hours. I am not exaggerating.

I kept getting transferred from representative to representative. Without warning. The only way I knew it was a different rep was each time, I had to repeat my name, my address, my PIN, my problem.

And each time was met with "do you want to sign up for our mobile service, that will bring down your monthly bundle charge". Here's the thing with mobile. I have Cricket Wireless. I pay $30 a month for unlimited text and talk and get 10GB of data. Cox has a pay-as-you-go plan, $15 for 1GB or a plan for $45 and 20GB. Since I'm pretty much always home, I've rarely even used a full gigabyte in a month. It would be a waste of money. So, thanks, but no thanks.

And not once did anyone address the fact that they were not honoring their promotion. But sure, we can drop your price if you reduce your services. Well, damn. Why didn't I think of that?

Not gonna happen.

So, while I'm in the chat, I have another browser window open, checking for other streaming services. We have antennas, so OTA stations won't be a problem. But we like TBS and TNT and Lifetime and SyFy and History and others. We'd lose access to just three movie channels. So, I'm sitting here, doing the math, comparing what we were getting with Cox compared to the ala carte options for other streaming services (Sling, YouTube, Fubo, Hulu, etc).

When the rep I was chatting with said, "No, your new rate isn't $173 (plus fees); it will be $228 (plus fees)" (!!), I said, "Cancel my Contour, not the internet, but the television service." 

We already paid for a bundle with Hulu and Disney+ (no ads) which was $20 a month. Going with Hulu Live with no ads is $96 a month. Add $28 for the three other channels we were getting through Cox. We will now pay $124 and not that $228 (plus fees).

And a couple of actual WTF moments after this all took place?

I see on the Cox website that they have a 24-month promotion for $10 less for their Gigablast service (which we get). I applied for that promotion. I screenshotted everything. Their website, the date, the specifications and the terms as listed in my account.

Then I get an email "hey, come back! Here's an offer of a nice discount if you come back but it won't last long, click this link!"  Sorry, too little, too late.

I'm gone.

A day after all of this happened, I saw this new lawsuit.

I use an HDHomerun device for the OTA stations and it has a streaming app so the signal goes to all house devices. I bought a cheap antenna on Amazon in 2023 (after one of the networks wanted more money from Cox and shut off that service until Cox cried UNCLE and agreed to pay more). Which I'm happy I did right now. Brian set it up on the roof where the antenna from our BUD (big ugly dish) used to be. I didn't do much with it at the time, because we didn't need it. We do now.

Oh, my goodness.

It's a really fun concept. You use a die or a special hot foil plate, put it on this thingy that has a removable platform that heats up. Then you put a piece of heat-reactive foil over that, put your media (paper) over that, and run it through an embossing machine. Sounds pretty impressive, yes?

In the videos on the interwebs, it sure does.

Not here. Huh uh. Not even close. Either there's too much pressure running it through the embosser (which has a hand crank, by the way, it is not electronic, you have to work for this) and foil ends up on the media where you don't want it or there's not ENOUGH pressure and the foil isn't completely pressed onto the media.

And it's the SAME DAMNED cardstock and the SAME DAMNED foil! I'd punch it in the face if it had one.

So, on I go. Practice, practice, practice.

I did some research and found that there's an eraser that would probably work for the over-foiling (I read one how-to that said to just use a brush - didn't work). The eraser is called a sand eraser. I've got one on order, should be here by the end of the week.

Something I learned today after having spent money on hot foil plates these past few months was that the dies I already have will work just fine. Oh, well. Live and learn, right?

Oh, the weather? Dry. Cloudy. A Santa Ana breeze. It's supposed to be super windy, but it hasn't hit here in the San Diego area. I have a friend who lives in north of here and she said it was pretty bad last night. And I do NOT like the cold. At all. Let's have us a warm breeze, okay? Thanks.

We went to the doctor for our annual exams on the sixth of December. While there, Brian went with the nurse to check his memory, the doctor did my exam, then told me that she hadn't seen, until recently, my labs from the previous year.

The other doctor, who had seen them, never acted on what was there.

I'm diabetic. I don't believe I'm diabetic, my A1C was down from last year and is well within the normal range for my age. But, here we are.

I'm on Metformin and I'm at the four pills daily dosage. I take my blood at least twice a day. All within the normal range, well, there was New Year's Eve. I'd been feeling off all day long, then Brian brings home a big soft serve ice cream sundae. The high was two point over normal, but that was an aberration and he will no longer bring me massive amounts of ice cream, where I have to eat it all. Yes, I have to eat it all, that's how it works.

A quick update on what happened with Fury and Jingles last month. Fury's lung cancer, on the left lobe had grown and was pushing on his heart so that he could no longer breathe as much as he should have been. The heart wasn't working. His pulse was in the 130s, when a cat at the vet's pulse should have been over 165. He'd gotten much weaker over the past month and had quit eating that week.

Jingles CHF wasn't being controlled and he started to show signs of dementia. He'd just stop in the living room and pee on the floor. He was starting to stumble when he would walk through the house and it was obvious it was his time.

It was rough losing two so close together.

Our neighbors served us papers from their lawyer to remove our Sweet Gum tree. Walked down our driveway holding hands (I checked our security footage) and handed the papers to Brian outside. This was a complete shock to us. Anyway, the tree is down. It was there when we move in back in 1986. It was a great shade tree. But it was very messy, with a lot of those prickly pods. I'll miss the shade, but honestly, I won't miss the tree. But the neighbors took the nuclear action. They shouldn't have done that and after all the favors we've done for them over the years? Well, that won't happen any longer. They blew that bridge up.

Anyway, we're just plodding along at this point.