Saturday morning one of the tubes in the fluorescent light went defective. Mary went to Walmart to get new tubes and Kathi (since she was in the neighborhood) stopped by to give a hand replacing both tubes. Since the tubes are supposed to last 9 years we thought we might get two more and replace the two in the other fixture. That got me to thinking about statements such as "last 9 years" and guaranteed for 5 years`etc. What will you do if it only lasts 4? Where is the receipt. You usually keep warrantee or guarantee papers for larger items but what about the little day to day stuff like small appliances? as Yul Brynner said in South Pacific It's a puzzlement. I just look at cost of the item? Is there a protection plan? What does the item cost? Maybe the item becomes a throw away and replace. But, I stray, paid protection plans are different than simple guarantees. Otherwise you have a file full of paperwork and receipts. Enough ranting!!! Bright House showed up and quickly with a few adjustments most of the problems were solved. I say most because Mary was still left with a channel that inexplicably turned its' audio to Spanish at night and one with no audio. David had indicated that we were expected at 4:30 for the Green Bay--Seattle game and Kathi told Mary she was making flat bread pizzas. Since we were running a bit late we turned on the radio on the way to Kathi's. We almost fell out of the car when Green Bays' young running back Ryan Grant fumbled on the opening play from scrimmage. I told Mary not to worry that Brett had been down before and there was a long way to go. Seattle kicked off and on the first play from scrimmage Grant put the ball on the ground. Seattle turned it in to 7 points and 4 minutes into the first quarter Green Bay was down 14 points. Now even I was worried and I could think of a lot of fans I know in Chicago who were licking their chops thinking the old man Favre) had come to the end of the road. Oh us of little faith, from there in a driving snow (Packer weather) the pack outscored Seattle 42-6 for a 42-20 final. As I write this I am watching the other game with the Patriots leading Jacksonville 31-20 with 22 seconds left. Are we heading for Green Bay--Dallas and New England -- Indianapolis championship round next Sunday? Tomorrow we'll know. Kathi use a flatbread, sauce and the other typical ingredients pepperoni, sausage and if you want onions and peppers. They turned out quite tasty. The flat bread provides an extra thin crust and allows you to taste the other ingredients. Many times you get a pizza and taste more crust than anything else.
Sunday morning we met Kathi and Dirk at All Saints (Catholic Church) for the 11:00 AM mass. We then went to a little family restaurant nearby for breakfast. Unfortunately, Mary ran into something that did not agree with her. So, after driving me over to Kathi's for a haircut, we went home and hid out for the rest of the day. After watching the chargers surprise everyone (maybe even themselves) by upsetting the colts. In keeping with a day of upsets, we watched the Giants surprise everybody by eliminating America's team Dallas. As late as the pre-game show the on air experts were unanimously picking Dallas. Funny after the game they completely forgot that they had done that.
Monday, Mary was still not quite there so she skipped her morning exercises and took it easy. I had a first appointment scheduled with the personal trainer. Last week, we spent a couple of sessions together for a complimentary evaluation. About mid morning the fitness center owner called and said that Craig, the trainer had called and said that he had the flu and would call me when he was back on his feet. So I went to the center and did 20 treadmill minutes. David arrived and solved the cook top issue. As my friend Don said, anyone with the right tools can accomplish any of the standard installations. That may be true in general, but I am handyman challenged. Dave on the other hand has the innate ability to tackle anything and everything, having among other things designed and built an outdoor kitchen. In short order, he had the old unit out, the opening enlarged and the new unit installed and working. Before he left he installed a safety grab bar to facilitate my stepping in and out of the tub to shower. One of Dave's current money making projects is installing crown molding and other moldings in neighborhood houses to make them look like theirs.
Tuesday, Mary went to exercise and run some errands, one of which was to find me some new Dockers. If Jean and a shirt with a collar is dressed up here in Florida, then Dockers must equate to a tuxedo. I do wear them to church on Sunday. I insisted that I could move down to a 42 waist since I had lost some weight. Of course, I was WRONG!! I tried them on last night and she returned them this morning. I went on to the fitness center to do some treadmill. Following that I went across the street and had trouble with a gas pump at the Shell station. Twice I went through the cycle at one of the pumps and twice the pump refused to pump. I went inside and he clerk ended up swiping my card and we treated it as a credit sale since debit did not seem to work. From there I went on to the Legion post in Safety Harbor and met some new folks. I also exchanged license plates. There is a custom among Legion Posts that calls for the visitor to leave a license plate (actually it is a facsimile and to receive one from the post visited. I arrived home and told Mary about my gas pump adventure. Always vigilant, Mary was nervous that something would show up on our account. Since I had not pumped any gas I suggest that the worst that could happen would be two 0 dollar transactions. I was shocked when I discovered two charges from the station for $75 dollars each in addition to the $20.00 I had actually spent. We went immediately to the station and the clerk was at a loss to explain what happened. After shuffling his tickets around, finding nothing he said that the manager would be in the morning until early afternoon and that he would be able to search the computer records. He also suggested I call my bank in the morning. Funny, when I got home I checked the transaction list and the two transactions had disappeared.
Wednesday morning I called the bank in Orland Park and they had nothing. On the way to the fitness center I stopped and talked to the gas station manager. Of course, he fell back on the old the computer did it excuse. I pointed out the facts and perhaps should have mentioned that computers do nothing on heir own and somebody must have done it. My cynicism suggested that perhaps the clerk was padding the transactions thinking I would not notice, thereby providing himself "cover". However, without more concrete evidence perhaps I could be wrong. I decided I would watch the account and since I would NOT use the station again any transaction would obviously be wrong. We met the kids for our weekly prime rib dinner. Dave's dad lives in a gated community nearby with a golf course. On Monday and Wednesday nights the clubhouse is open for dinner. The Wednesday night special is prime rib. This week however, I opted for the three cheese Lasagna which was very good, while Mary in an effort of responsibility chose the 5 0z prime rib. As we returned home, it began to sprinkle. The rain held off until we got into the carport. When it came it really came and was the most significant rain since we got here, with a nearby community recording over an inch of rainfall. This is very beneficial to an area that is a virtual tinderbox. Last week, the state conducted a controlled burn between here and Orlando along I-4. The controlled burn became uncontrolled for a while. It was a low lying area and foggy which is prevalent this time of year. The fog, coupled with residual smoke and darkness came together to form a very dangerous area. Early in the morning a chain reaction of crashes began. Survivors said it was like driving into a wall. Before it was over, 100 vehicles were involved resulting in 5 deaths and numerous injuries.
It had rained most of the night so we woke up to a sauna outside Thursday morning. Mary went off to Curves and I watched the morning news and did some work on these paragraphs. I shall be leaving for the fitness center in a little while, right now it is again pouring. This is my "off day". I shall be working with the personal trainer Monday, Wednesday and Friday afternoon. Following his suggestion that three days a week is fine. You work out 2-3 times per week and exercise every day. So today I did two 10 minute treadmill sessions with a short break between. The day was cloudy all day. The locals were commenting about the dismal sky and Mary reminded them that we get a bit used to this during a Northern winter. Tonight I paid some bills and prepared paperwork to inform the Illinois EPA that the car was now garaged outside Illinois. During the routine of getting it ready, I discovered that the car had been misrepresented with an incorrect VIN Number all these years. This came about because of a difference between the Insurance card and the registration which had gone unnoticed. I wrote the EPA pointing out the difference and said I confirmed the correct number by checking the vehicle. It might have been easier to leave it alone. However, I believe in accuracy but can't imagine the can of worms I probably opened. Tomorrow I must inform the Illinois Department of Motor Vehicles.
Friday, Mary started the day as usual with a trip to Curves. She and Kathi met and visited the flea market for fresh inexpensive veggies and Mary went on to a local retail store where she found a wonderful wicker chair for the "Florida" room. I went off to meet with my personal trainer at the fitness center and upon my return we went to Dave and Kathi's. The girls went to a play for a girls night out and the guys stayed at home and ate Pizza. As Chicago area residents we are Pizza spoiled. We have found a few that are tolerable. Unfortunately, this was not one of them. As usual Dirk amazed me with his skill and dexterity on the Wii video system in a very challenging Star Wars game. Kathi called and said they would drop Mary at our place so I headed out to pack it in for the day
