REFLECTIONS

A comparison of what is practical and what I can afford vs a luxurious waste of money.  I'm not that rich but completely happy with what I have.   Much of the manufacturing of their pens is done in Italy. "Is available for purchase as a Group Buy" (= on sale?)  $1, 341.00 Germany for sterling silver and other metal pens. Depending on the work required, however, specific work will be done where the best skills are available. For example a number of the pens have painting work done by craftsmen in Russia. Here's a link to their home page: Krone | Luxury Pens and Timepieces (also other videos) This is more my style.

I've posted before about a few different mind maps that I thought were great. So here I go  again. I just like planning I guess. Sometimes I think that maybe that way I won't actually get around to doing it. But most of the time it does help clarify things. Hopefully this will be the final mind map I'll regularly use.  It's free, which is important. It's fairly easy and fun, if you like planning. This video explains its features better than I can,

For a long time I've been having trouble pumping gas in both my cars, Chrysler Concord 2001 and  Toyota Camry 2003.  At first I thought it was the gas stations' fault.  It gradually became worse. I finally tried asking my mechanic. He suggested that it may be a problem with the vent by the gas tank being clogged.  By forcing air through a hose it may become unclogged.  It's not expensive except if a part needs to be replaced. Here's a better explanation: "There's a problem with the Onboard Refueling Vapor Recovery system. As you fill the gas tank, the gas vapors are supposed to be forced thru the carbon canister in the EVAP system before the gas tank is allowed to vent back into the atmosphere. If there's restriction in the ORVR system the gas tank can't vent and this causes the pump to shut off. Have someone check all the hoses in the EVAP system for a restriction. Did you know spider egg sacs can cause this problem? Tester"

I'm eating chicken liver because it's  is a good source of iron, for my low blood iron levels.  Iron supplements cause intestinal irritation for me so I can't take them.  Even Flintstones chewable tablets are too much for me. Besides, I like the way chicken liver tastes. "Ingredients: 4 chicken livers (remove the tough tendons if you’re finicky) 1 tablespoon olive oil Kosher salt  Cook the chicken livers: Heat the oil in a small fry pan over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add the livers and sprinkle with a three finger pinch of salt. Cook until well browned on the bottom, about three minutes. Flip the livers, an cook until well browned on the second side and the pink color is entirely gone in the middle, about three more minutes. If the livers are browning too quickly, turn off the heat and let them finish cooking in the residual heat of the pan. Remove from the pan and  serve." Quoted from Dad Cooks Dinner bog. I found this "recip

I want to try something new. Right now I enjoy: Blogging Searching Internet Gardening  Houseplants Photography  Genealogy Family Tree Good TV  Parks I used to enjoy: Learning Italian Bowling Chess Writing I wrote two novels. I tried to find an agent for a long time but no luck. I tried selling them on my own as e-books but I did not know how to promote them.  The best benefit was the fun I had in writing them.  Now I just want to organize my notes and safely save the books.  It takes too much time and effort to write such a large project as a novel. Maybe I can try writing short pieces. I want to try: Cooking once in a while Read more Find new activities Here's a list of hobbies from Wikipedia: List of hobbies - Wikipedia I'm sure there are more hobbies that are not listed.

For a while I could not make a comment on anyone's blog post.  It was very frustrating.  I could not even reply to anyone's comment on my blog. I searched the web but all the suggestions did not help.  Then I took a chance and experimented on my blog settings. Finally I found the cause.  I had Ghostery installed to prevent some advertisers from tracking what I looked at on the web.  It's not just the advertisements, which are a nuisance; my privacy was being attacked. Anyway, by adjusting the settings on Ghostery to "Trust Site", it allowed me to comment again. Thank goodness.

I set the base of the stove on "furniture cups" to protect the carpet. The Finished Project I used a small lamp with a dim bulb to let the stove act as a decorative lamp stand.   The stove is a deep black and I couldn't get the details to show in this photo. The hardest part after moving the heavy sections of the stove was inserting four screws and nuts to prevent it from shaking.  Finding the right sizes and reaching into the stove made it difficult. But now I'm finished. 

I'm scrubbing the stove parts with only warm water.  The black paint I used years ago is still good so that's all it needed.  It will look real, not too shiny but still clean and black. I washed the small parts in the sink. I like the flower and vertical design. Here's something I didn't notice before I started cleaning. "Union Manufacturing Boyertown, PA" Next I'll have to buy furniture cups to protect the carpet from the heavy cast iron stove.  Then put the stove back together in the basement den.

A few quotes about nothing.  I tend to plan to be always doing something.  Feeling guilty about wasting time or missing out has a lot to do with it.   When I do spend time without specific plans I enjoy it. Maybe setting aside more time to just exist would be good. Any thoughts?

I took the stove apart so I could give it a final cleaning before using it as a decoration for our basement den.  This also makes it easier to move.  Made of solid cast iron it's very heavy! From the embossed letters and numbers: Leader Globe No 212  UMCO From memories of my childhood in Brooklyn, we used it to burn coal.  It probably also burns wood. Whenever we moved I made sure to take the stove with me.  It looks like a work of art. The special black paint I used on it decades ago is still holding up, no rust, only dust! I love the flower decoration on each corner and the trim design along the bottom ridge. Ash Door Slide Ash Door All the parts easily move and fit, just like new!

The furniture was delivered this afternoon.  Tomorrow, our TV will be delivered.  Saturday, Xfinity will hook up the cable.  Then we'll have our basement back after the flood a few years ago.  It took a while but it will finally be finished. We're still waiting for another chair and we need to find a coffee table.

It looks much better than a bare basement concrete floor.  The folded carpet is what was left over. Lynette said you can bind the edges to use it as an area rug.  Next the TV and furniture will be delivered but not until after Thanksgiving.  Here some heavy slate pieces are holding down the wooden trim until the glue dries. Today was a busy day; waiting for the carpet, taking the trash to the dump, calling Visa, calling the repair service for our microwave.  Thank goodness it's still under warranty.  I walked around the park and treated myself to an ice cream cone, piece of apple pie and a large ice  tea at McDonald's. The portions of pie and ice cream are small. 

It's been a while but we are finally restoring the basement after a flood a few years ago.  We didn't want to take out a loan so it took a long time.  It was the basement so there was no real hurry. All the old furniture and carpet had to be removed and the cinder block walls underneath needed a waterproof coat of paint before the new walls could be put in.  I bought two dehumidifiers to keep the basement extra dry to prevent mold. I'll show you more as it comes along.

  At first I wanted to disable her in order to preserve my privacy.  I was curious so I decided to try her out before doing do. Then I just could not put an end to her.  Besides, I have nothing much to hide anyway. I forgot to mention yesterday that you don't actually see her like this. She's only in my imagination. What Cortana would look like if she became an android someday.  I bet she can be programmed to cook and keep house. Between watching the Yankees post season baseball series and learning how to use Windows 10, I have not been able to do much blogging. Here's an interesting quote: "But her real standout characteristic, and the one Microsoft's betting heavily on, is the ability to strike up casual conversations with users; what Microsoft calls "chitchat."  ~Brad Molen

Lynette began her physical therapy the other day and her pain seems to be easing a bit.  Thanks for your kind thoughts. I've been having some computer problems this week.  I'm running Windows 7 on my desktop.  I'll be switching to Windows 10 on a laptop soon.  I've never had a laptop and like the idea of its portability. Now I want to erase any duplicate files on my old PC before I transfer my photos and files to my new laptop.  I've come across several ways to do this and this weekend I want to try it.  First I want to get a little used to Windows 10.

 Some of the many apple diseases were on display. The fair had a few country singers, no one famous.  Local crafts were on display for sale. We didn't play the bingo games but sat at one of the tables to get some shade from the sun. It was a quiet summer afternoon.