Congratulations to Ted on his 20 years last December. He updated that he just received a nice pin and a letter not actually signed by anyone.
We also got a nice pin, a letter (signed by someone), and a certificate this week.
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The four of us at dinner last night, talking about the recovered yellow Jeep. Did it being bright yellow make it stand out as a target from the mechanic’s lot? We know it was easy to spot when the kid Kelly “bumped” went looking for her after his dad said to find her. (She was getting her haircut. He found her.) And then you wonder about the whole bear under the yellow jeep incident…
I declared, “When we get it back, I’m just going to have it painted camouflage.”
“That will make it stand out even more,” Kelly said.
After a moment of thought, Claire said, “That’s ironic.”
We decided Claire was right. An unexpected reversal of intention is an example of irony. I paint the yellow jeep camouflage and just about every boy in the area would want to steal it (per Kathy.)
Brilliant observation, Claire!
… which is a good thing.
This morning, mad dash to airport, out to car w/ Claire to drive her to school. Spun around outside of car hearing Clyde barking loud. Couldn’t tell if he was inside or out, didn’t want him jumping the wireless fence, went inside, found him, told him to hush, back to car, got in started up, backing out of garage about six feet “clunk”. Brake.
Uh-oh… luggage?
Pulled forward. Jumped out, middle of driveway briefcase laying down about 3 feet back, taller roller luggage standing about 6 feet back.
Ugh. Ran over my briefcase (with gas tank not wheels). Had put down with suitcase *before* opening trunk! Dang!
Leather scraped on concrete, flap open, corner of laptop a bit scraped. Otherwise working fine. Shoe polish will cure the leather briefcase. Maybe emery cloth on the aluminum.
I ran over my Mac.
Bad dog.
Mom thought Ted’s bird photo looked like a museum painting. So zoom in below to see this painting!
Card Notes 2010:
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Claire posted a long French paragraph on Facebook written to Kelly. She “used her head” to write it, and not a computer. I had to use Google Translate to understand what she had written.
What’s a father to do when his children start fighting in a foreign language… praise them or scold them?
My glasses from Sam’s Club were expensive because they were graduated bi-focals and indexed (dense / thin) lenses. The frames were “Crazy Horse” but this appears to be a Sam’s Club only brand, so it was really all in the lenses. There is a lot more measurement with graduated bi-focals because the optician has to help you determine what part of the lens will help you see far, what part near, and what part with a computer screen. I think they did a great job and the glasses really helped solve my growing reading problem, especially in the dimmer light of a restaurant or church.
I decided I needed to get a backup pair, so like Ted, I decided to try Zenni Optical. I chose a frameless pair of glasses that came in what I thought was a dark red for the corner hinges.
When they arrived I saw the metal corner hinges and the metal nose bridge (which was not displayed in the close-up sample on-line) were a shiny lipstick red. Kathy exclaimed why was I wearing pink glasses. She thought they were hideous and told me I could not wear them outside of the house, and I should even consider not wearing them in the house either. The rest of the family also had a good laugh over Dad’s shiny pink glasses.
The optics were not as good. Zenni is limited on how you can give them your measurements. And the lenses were a bit thicker, not as “indexed” for thinness. But they worked and would make a good back-up, and they were a fifth of the cost of my Sam’s glasses.
They sat in my drawer for about a year with little use, when I finally went to a craft shop and picked out some metallic paint with Gabriele’s help. I decided to go for a brown / copper look, thinking it might work best over the red. I also had to get a brown Sharpie marker to color the mottled red (pink?) and white ear pieces.
In the second photo, you can see the lipstick red color on the right and left nose-pad posts. I have already painted the nose bridge and corner hinge copper. I think it came out pretty good. I was even able to wear them in front of Kathy without her laughing. In fact, she didn’t even notice I was wearing different glasses, so I guess that is a good test.
I’m wearing them as I type this, so they help with reading, too!
Lesson learned: You can’t trust the colors on a computer screen.
Carol has a little game we’ve played since childhood called… “make Jeb think he’s going crazy.” It’s a really fun game, and she is good at it. I don’t know if she plays it with others.
In August, I installed a new ceiling fan in the family room after over 10 years of listening to the original fan buzz every 20 seconds. I took the old fan apart twice and could never figure out how to get rid of the buzz. That drove me crazy, but Carol didn’t know about that.
While on Skype up for a visit, Carol saw the new fan and said it was exactly like one they had in their house. EXACTLY! She saw the two chains (light / fan) hanging and asked why I had those. Why not just use the remote? I told her it didn’t come with a remote. She insisted it did, since it was EXACTLY like hers, and she bet I threw away the remote. Of course I paused, wondering if maybe there was a remote tucked away in one of the sides of styrofoam. That’s where I went wrong… pausing. She knew she had me. I said no, it didn’t come with a remote, because I didn’t want a remote (we have too many), and I would have noticed “remote included” on the box. It’s tough to prove a negative.
Cleaning out the basement this morning, I found the manual. No remote. I double checked the Lowe’s website. Under specifications it says “Remote Control Included: No.”
See? I’m not crazy. I’m just writing blogs about ceiling fans on Thanksgiving morning being thankful I’m not crazy.
P.S. We really like the super slow speed. More for looks. That’s something I always wanted our fans to do… have a lazy slow speed. Now we have one, and it doesn’t buzz. Hunter never lets us down.
P.S.S. At this rate I should have the basement cleaned out by the time I retire.
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