Annual Kunia Orchid Show

It was time again for the Kunia Orchid Show on a very rainy, soggy Saturday. Mom loves orchids although she's given up raising a lot of them. She keeps a few and the bulbuls have taken pity on her and not bitten the buds off for a while.

Going to the annual orchid show is a truly special time for mom. She absolutely LOVES seeing all the new varieties that show up every year.

The orchid show is set up at Leilehua High School gym. We'd been given free tickets by one of my Zumba friends, but we gave a donation anyway. Door prize tickets were given out at the entrance.

A dizzying array of orchids of every kind greeted us and we didn't know where to start.

 There was a wonderful display of flower arrangements. It was surprising to see that a couple of the arrangements had cherry blossoms. Since the season is over in Hawaii I can't imagine where they got the blossoms. I took a close up photo to show they are indeed real blossoms!

Mom loved every minute and was constantly telling us what we should photograph.

We couldn't quite figure out why the plant on the left was so unusual. We loved the very, very teeny orchids on the right.

 Isn't this bottom asymmetrical purple orchid weird? 

The cascading orchids were fun to see.

This bottom one had unusual coloring.

The Floating Jelly-Fish were just sea urchin shells with tallansia air plants growing out of the bottom. I thought that was a rather clever idea. The Chinese Lantern plants were pretty too.

It was very difficult to choose which orchids to feature on this post.

Door prize numbers were called out during the orchid show.

Can you believe we won this $20 orchid plant? It's a coelogyne pandurata orchid. We were surprised that it was actually an orchid. The leaves looked more palm like.

It was still raining when we left the high school. A short jaunt to Shige's Saimin Restaurant where mom could have her favorite wun tun min made for a very perfect Saturday outing.

The Life of a GAR Rose

When we participated in the Great Aloha Run (GAR) last month, Art was able to get a couple of roses from Watanabe Florist who passes them out every year during the walk.

Art took an extra rose for Al who was walking with us so he could give it to his wife.

One rose was in excellent shape, but the other one (wrapped in cellophane) had brown edges and looked like it had been battered a bit. Art propped the roses in his backpack and I told him to be sure to give Al the fresher rose at the end of the race.

When we brought the rose home, I decided to just peel off four of the brown petals to see what would happen. The following morning, I was thrilled to see the rose was still alive though the outer petals had brown creases in them. I cut the stem a little and put it back into fresh water.

On the second day, the rose unfurled its petals even more. It was beautiful. I cut the end again and changed the water.

On the third day, I plucked a few more petals off and added a little of the florist fertilizer that I happened to have from a few months ago when I changed the water again. And I did cut another sliver off the stem.

I wanted to see how long I could keep this rose alive. (It's amazing what retired people who blog will do for a post.)

OK... This is Day #4 and Day #5.

The rose still looked really lovely on Day #4. However, on Day #5 the middle bud had stopped unfurling. I decided to remove more of the lower petals to see if it would provide more energy for the rest of the bud to bloom. I'd been noticing that there was some kind of glitch in that bud that was now evident. I wondered if that deformity was preventing it from blooming all the way.

We shall see on Day #6.

Looks like 6 days is it. However, I wasn't giving up yet. Granted, the inner bud isn't unfurling much anymore and the outer petals were soft so I plucked them off again.

The stem was slimy even though I've changed the water every day so it looks like the rose is approaching the end of its life span. I'm not going to euthanize it yet though. We'll see what happens tomorrow.

At this point, mom was wondering what the heck I was up to. She reminded me that the rose was really quite dead.

However, on Day #7 I thought I would give it just one more day.

OK, OK... On Day #8, the rose looked almost like a dried flower. I know I could have hung it upside down and turned it into a real dried flower, but then mom would have really wondered about my sanity.

Instead, I did an autopsy. You can see there were still petals that could have unfurled. Unfortunately, I was not a good enough flower doctor. Sigh...

Ah well... I did keep it alive as long as I could.

Where Germs Lurk When You Travel

Yes, Art and I do travel. When you live in Hawaii and your children live on the East coast and Midwest, you must travel to see them as well as your grandchildren.

Getting on the airplane is not something I look forward to. Those long flight times in a space that gets more and more cramped every time is no fun.

Then there's those germs that are supposed to be lurking in secret corners. Since I'd rather not get sick, I bring antibacterial wipes and lotion with me.

Art thinks I'm rather fanatic about it so I was beginning to relax my guard a bit. But then he showed me this AARP article.

They gave a link to Insurance Quotes, an article called Germs at the Airport.

I was surprised to see that the self-help ticketing kiosks contained the HIGHEST germ count of any surface tested. It had 253,857 CPUs (colony-forming units).

Then they gave other results.

Toilet flush handles: 95,145 CPUs
Airport Bench armrests: 21,630 CPUs
Drinking fountains: 19,181 CPUs
Seat-back trays: 11,595 CPUs
Seat belt buckles: 1,116

Another study in 2015 said seat-back trays had the most germs on airplanes and drinking fountains at the airports.

On our last flight to Maryland, I did wipe down our tray tables and armrests on the airplane. I avoided touching toilet door handles going out and always washed my hands after touching the toilet flush handles.

However on both legs of our journey to Chicago for the stop over and on to Maryland, I sat next to two people who were coughing and feverish. Somehow, I managed not to get sick. I'm still marveling at that.

A friend told me that they went to Vegas and her husband wore a mask while she didn't. And yet, they both caught the flu.

You just never know.

What the Heck is BB Cream?

I don't wear full make-up with foundation, concealers, powder and I don't know what else there is. The bottom line is that I'm too lazy. I do use Oil of Olay moisturizer with sunscreen during the day. If I'm going to be in full sun for a long length of time, I'll use Neutrogena sunscreen even though it's reputed to be one you should avoid. I just don't use the SPF 70. Mine is SPF 55 so MAYBE it's OK. Who knows?

Anyway....

I've been hearing about BB creams. I didn't know what it was but it sounded like something good from what friends were saying.

The other day my very good friend gave me a sample from a tube of Missha BB cream (SPF 42) that she had, so I tried it. As she warned, it would go on light, but would then blend into my skin after a while. When I showed my daughter on Skype, she said it looked a little gray, but I think it was OK later.

Then I noticed that the small bottle of sunscreen Art bought me in South Korea about a year ago is also a BB cream. I decided to look up what BB cream was.

Here's what I got from the Elle website:

"BB creams are nothing new, but what is BB cream really? According to dermatologist Sung-Jae Jung, MD, founder of BB staple Dr. Jart+, a beauty or blemish balm (BB) "moisturizes, protects, and corrects," consolidating your skin-perfecting products into one product."

OK.... now I know.

I asked Art if he could tell I had the BB cream on. He stared at me, made a face and said, "It looks like you have some kind of make-up on that your friends wear."

"So is it better than usual?" I persisted.

"Ummm... have to go." he said as he started backing away.

"Do you think I should use this?" I nearly yanked his arm.

At this point, he started brushing his teeth furiously, pointed at his mouth and shook his head to indicate he couldn't talk.

Do you see me rolling my eyes?

Artistic Grandchildren

I love seeing my granddaughter, KC's picture on my wall. I've replaced her drawings with a new one whenever she comes to Hawaii.

She did this drawing in summer of 2016 (when she was 9 years old) illustrating how she and her parents were enjoying the beach. Unfortunately, you'd need to blow it up to a humongous size to see that she'd drawn spam musubi under the umbrella along with her mom taking a photo of her and her dad on boogie boards.

When we were in Maryland in December we had 2 year old, JD draw a picture also.

Of course, that meant hanging them on the wall here in Hawaii. Hanging pictures is not something Art loves to do, but it turned out just fine.

We now have two frames up. JD's picture is on the right and some day, when his brother is older, we'll put his drawing in the other frame.

Hmmm... KC is coming this summer. It'll be fun to see what she draws this time.

Keiki Swap Meet.

We've gone to the Hawaii Children's Discovery Center Keiki Swap Meet in Kakaako for several years now and had a great time. Children are out on the park selling their old clothes and toys so we never bargain and there's no need to. Almost everything is truly out to be sold.

This year, my friend, Diane joined us since her husband was busy. They have several granddaughters and the swap meet really is a great place to find things for little girls. Girls don't seem to wear out their clothes and toys as quickly as boys do. I know that's a stereotype, but well... that's what it seems like.

Diane did find a lot of wonderful toys and clothes for her girls. But, no, I did not go away empty handed although Art kept telling me I shouldn't overdo the cars and trucks for our grandsons.

I found a cute Pandamania t-shirt for my granddaughter and some Kumon Japanese books for my 11 month old grandniece who probably won't be able to learn from them for several years. It even came with a DVD.

And yes, I did get some cars and trucks for my grandsons, but these were extra cute with movable parts and noise. Hmmmm... Did my son say I should sort of tone down the noise toys?

Ah well, the puzzle map is quiet.... and educational.

Ummmm.... the bag of marbles? Would you believe Art bought them for himself? 

Prisms for Art

We returned from Maryland last December with a floater in my right eye and Art's double vision. What the heck is going on?

There's no cure for my floater and I just have to live with it.

Art has had double vision before, but they've been temporary and he'd get back to normal. For the last two and a half months, he's had double vision consistently when looking into the distance. His near vision is fine. He's often been driving with one eye closed.

I finally made an appointment for him with our optometrist who said he really needed to try prisms.

We went to Optical Supplies, Inc. in Halawa who fitted one of his eyeglass lens with a temporary plastic prism. He's supposed to try the prism for a month or two to see if it's the right type.

Art was absolutely amazed. We were worried the prism would affect his near vision, but it doesn't. It only corrects his distance vision so he can just see one stop light instead of two.

You can feel the slats of the prism though you can't easily see it. It's truly magical!

In a month, he'll buy a new pair of glasses with permanent prisms in them. What a relief that there was a cure for his condition.

POSTSCRIPT:  Also... much as we love our optometrist, the prism glasses were half the cost at Costco where Art also bought a pair of prism sunglasses for driving, all for what would have been the cost of the one pair that was quoted.

Pi Day or White Day

Art loves wearing this t-shirt on March 14th that our daughter gave him because it's Pi Day and it also happens to be Albert Einstein's birthday.

I got this from Wikipedia to explain what it's all about:

"Pi Day is an annual celebration of the mathematical constant π (pi). Pi Day is observed on March 14 (3/14 in the month/day format) since 3, 1, and 4 are the first three significant digits of π when represented in base-ten. In 2009, the United States House of Representatives supported the designation of Pi Day."

Actually, to be honest... I celebrate it just because I get an excuse to have some pie. Art was kind enough to get me a chocolate haupia pie from Ted's Bakery. No, we didn't eat the whole thing. We shared some with our neighbor. He would have preferred a blueberry pie.

I wrote to my family about it and got this text from my nephew's wife who lived in Japan for many years.

"What is more unique in Japan is that there exists a “White Day” which takes place on March 14th, exactly one month after Valentine’s Day. On White Day men are supposed to return gifts to women who gifted them chocolates on Valentine’s Day. More often the color of the chocolate is white because of the name of the day. Flowers, candies and other gifts are also popular along with the chocolates. Department stores have many advanced reminders with gift displays so men will have no excuse to forget about this special day which is important for women."

 I'm finding it a little backward that on February 14th, Valentine's Day in Japan, it's the women who are expected to give men the chocolates.

Hmmm... I'm thinking not all men are finding this reciprocal custom disagreeable. However, I do remember one of my cousins in Japan complaining that the men in her office were expecting far too extravagant gifts on Valentine's Day from their female counterparts. I can see her point since Japanese women are not paid equitably in Japan.  Hmmm... then again, it's the same problem in the U.S.

Sooo... what is your favorite pie? And did you get some yesterday?

Tennessee Lynching Mural

Did you hear about the controversial mural at North Cumberland Elementary School in Tennessee?

The mural depicts a white boy in blue hanging from a tree by a rope or strap of some kind while another fellow in red holding a confederate flag looks on. David Clark who is a janitor in a nearby school saw it and lodged a complaint with the school board who did nothing.

He then went to the superintendent who said it would be changed in February, but it didn't happen either.

Mr. Clark, who belongs to an anti-racist organization called Shelbyville Loves put it on Facebook and added the phone numbers of school officials. In 24 hours he had 500 comments and 200 shares. Later that day, the confederate flag was painted over and the lynching was taken off.

There was some opposition to its removal. Some people felt it was merely a poster about rivalry between schools. Some felt it was unpatriotic to take it down.

Others felt children didn't need to be exposed to these sort of images that recalled their racist past.

I'm reminded of the song from South Pacific, "You Have to be Carefully Taught."

You have to remember that racism is also sadly carefully taught.

The Shape of Water

Ever since Art saw a review in a magazine about The Shape of Water a few months ago, he'd been wanting to see it, but we never got around to going to the theater. As a matter of fact I do believe we only see a movie every two months, if we're lucky. So we ended up forgetting about it.

Then The Shape of Water won the Oscar for Best Picture and I decided we should go see it. I checked the movie listings and it was no longer showing at any of the theaters close by. We'd have to go clear across town and beyond or to the other side of the island... and on top of that they were older theaters. Art was really balking at traveling so far just to see a movie. He was figuring on waiting for it to come out in Redbox.

Since my classmate, Diane and I were walking that morning I asked her if she'd like to go. Diane said she'd go for the hot dog and popcorn. She doesn't usually enjoy going to the theater. I told her it was a "monster" movie which she enjoys so she was onboard. Her husband, Dave does love movies and was probably surprised that she agreed to go.

I knew the basic storyline... sort of... and I've read the mixed reviews that other bloggers have written.

To be honest, I still wasn't sure what to expect. I didn't even know it was R rated (and deservedly so).

As we entered the rather empty theater the ticket taker looked at our ticket, smiled knowingly at us and said, "Good luck."

Hmmmm.... what did that mean?

Well, the movie was still a surprise for me and it actually appealed to all of us. Dave likes vintage movies with musical numbers, Diane likes monster movies, I like fairy tale happy endings and Art likes science fiction. This movie had everything. It also threw in civil rights, workplace sexual harassment, homophobia, strong women, quite a bit of violence (I shut my eyes), ummm... nudity and all that comes with it, loneliness, hearing impairment, etc.

Anyway, the four of us walked out smiling and happy we'd gone to see it. Whether we think it should have won the Oscar for Best Picture, I don't know since I haven't seen the other movies.

Whatever the case, we enjoyed the popcorn and hotdogs for dinner.

It's good to just have fun sometimes.

And Then the Family Retirement Celebration!

I'd insisted a while ago that Art and I wanted to have a family celebration for my baby brother, Dennis who had retired after 33 years. This was decided before he'd been feted by the police station where he worked and a wonderful group of his close friends who also surprised him with a party.

We went to the Rinka restaurant since my nephew had given us a generous gift certificate to that restaurant for Christmas.

Rinka is a very authentic Japanese restaurant. Service was excellent and the ambience lovely. Notice this rock garden is created with rocks in the shape of the Hawaiian island chain.

We all enjoyed the food there and everyone had a great time.

We gave Dennis a retirement t-shirt and mug.

And then we discovered that my sister-in-law, Nancy had also given him a mug and several t-shirts. It's amazing that we didn't buy the same one.

Well... I must say, Dennis should consider himself thoroughly retired now.

Farewell and Fond Aloha From the Police Department

After 33 years, my brother, Dennis retired from the Police Department. I asked him a while ago if there would be some kind of retirement acknowledgement, and he answered that he was planning to sneak out on his last day.

My gentle brother is the most humble, kind, forgiving, super smart fellow I know. He doesn't like people making a fuss over him, but he will give the shirt off his back to help others. He will ride his motorcycle over to a friend's house on the other side of the island to help him or her with their computer. He has worked tirelessly at the police photo lab to support his family and even had a back breaking, sleep depriving side photofinishing career for a long time.

When the time neared for the day of his retirement, he told me that a few people had absolutely insisted that they have a "little" luncheon to say farewell. He said there would probably be about 10 people there since they were the ones he worked most closely with.

I warned him to be ready with a little speech because he would not want to be caught off guard.

As it turned out, that "little" retirement party was anything but little. It was a catered affair with 4-5 times as many people as he'd expected to see. He was overwhelmed and extremely touched. Then came the presents, leis, candy, cards, posters, smiles, well wishes, toys for his granddaughter and love.

But the pièce de résistance was this poster that Paul, a graphic artist created.

No, Dennis doesn't have a beard. That was photoshopped.

This poster recognizes Dennis' expertise with technology, Photoshop, and his photo wizardry.

I told him that it absolutely needed to be framed and hung up somewhere.

Oh yes, I'm extremely proud of my baby brother. I wish everybody could have one as special as mine.

And now that he MIGHT have a little more time, maybe he can teach me a few more tricks on Photoshop. We shall see.

And so... dearest brother, let me say, "May the force always be with you."

Confusing, Confounding UNITED Website

When we were flying back from Maryland to Hawaii there was a problem with the fuel line on our United Airlines flight.

We had a stop-over at Chicago's O'Hare Airport and had to wait four hours past our connecting flight time to Hawaii.

It was aggravating and a NOT uncommon irritation of travel. United gave us all a $100 per person "Appreciation voucher" for future travel.

The email we received informed us that when we purchase our next United Airline tickets online we should type in the "Appreciation voucher" code at the Payment Information page.

When Art tried to buy tickets online for our next flight to Maryland he looked for "United payment types" under Payment information to enter the Appreciation Voucher code, but he couldn't find it.

WHAT THE HECK?

Looking back at the email, we saw that a phone call to set up the flight purchase would cost $25.

Good grief!

Soooo....

I told Art to try calling and telling them we can do the purchase on our own, but just need them to tell us where to put the darn code.

The United agent tried to look for it herself. Her accent made it very difficult to understand what she was saying. There was also a LOT of background noise on her end which added to the difficulty.

After conferring with somebody (probably the manager) she said she would make the arrangements for us. I'm making faces at Art saying, "Wait, wait, wait! What about the $25 fee?" I'm sure she could hear me too since we put her on speaker.

After it was clarified that United would waive that $25 Agent fee, we agreed to having her do the purchase for us.

All this took us nearly TWO hours with the United agent to complete. However, in the end, it was done and we were able to get the $200 voucher processed and our flights purchased.

Was all this hassle worth it? Hmmmm.... $200? Yes, I do believe so.

My question is this. Why does United Airlines make it so hard to cash in those "Appreciation Vouchers" for the vagaries of travel that occur on their flights?

POSTSCRIPT: Our flight confirmation email came the following day and it didn't seem to make any sense. It seemed to be telling us that we would have to pay a lot more.

Art called them again and spoke to somebody who said she didn't understand the way it was written either! She called the manager who eventually was able to explain it while apologizing for the confusion. In the end, we discovered we were paying less than what we thought. Why, you ask?

Would you believe that the seats are priced differently in Economy PLUS? The regular Economy prices are all the same. However, in the Economy Plus section window, aisle and middle seats are not priced the same! Because we didn't take the window seats, we got a $60 reduction in our total ticket price. (I'd told Art that United squeezes you like sardines in Economy so I wanted to bite the bullet and pay the price for Economy Plus upgrade. Sigh.... Flying from Hawaii to Maryland is excruciating!

I think we've both sprouted new gray hairs.

Floaters in the Eye?

While we were in Maryland awaiting the birth of our grandson I thought a strand of my hair had fallen across my face so I tried to brush it away. A bit later, I thought it was an insect. Soon after that I realized it was none of those things.

I'd just been talking to a friend of mine about floaters in her eyes. Art said he'd also had one for several years until it somehow moved away from his peripheral vision. Well, my floater didn't stay in one place. It moved as I looked right, left, up or down. It was absolutely annoying! I'd been curious about my friend's floaters and now suddenly I was not thrilled to find out exactly what it was!

When I returned to Hawaii, I went to my optometrist who did tests on my eyes and even managed to take a photo of the floater! Incredible. She was really surprised at how large my floater was. She also said the reason it was annoying is that it's so close to the center of my eye. Arrrghhh!

I looked it up and found information here at the Mayo Clinic website: https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/eye-floaters/symptoms-causes/syc-20372346

"Eye floaters are spots in your vision. They may look to you like black or gray specks, strings or cobwebs that drift about when you move your eyes and appear to dart away when you try to look at them directly. 

Most eye floaters are caused by age-related changes that occur as the jelly-like substance (vitreous) inside your eyes becomes more liquid. Microscopic fibers within the vitreous tend to clump and can cast tiny shadows on your retina, which appear to you as floaters. 

Needless to say I'm not thrilled at all, especially since my optometrist says I could get more of them. She did caution me that if I should see a flash along with the floater, I need to come in right away because it could indicate a retinal tear. Arrrghhh...

This is what my floater looks like.

Sigh...

She said surgery wouldn't work for me because it's too close to my retina.

Sigh...
Yes... it's another sign of aging.

What else could go wrong anyway? No, no! I didn't say that. I'm not curious. I don't want to know.

Oh... she also mentioned cataracts. Arrrghhh....

Yahoo Search Engine Update Pop-Up

I really don't know what to trust on the computer anymore.

I have occasionally gotten pop up windows on my Dell desktop computer that says I need an update or an upgrade or whatever. Do I click on it or what?

This popped up on my window the other day.

I texted my daughter and son-in-law since I've never seen it before. My daughter texted back that if I don't use the Yahoo search engine I should UNinstall it.

Riiiiighhhhttt....

It took me a while before I finally found the UNinstall thing in my Systems folder.

Then I checked online to see what was going on. Turned out a lot of people were wondering about this pop-up.

I read one website that said the Firefox browser had changed its default from Google to Yahoo.

Aha! So that's why I got that pop up.

I looked online again and found directions to change my search engine on the Firefox browser back to Google.

OK... I'm done.

I sure hope I did it correctly.

If not, there's always my techie son-in-law or brother.

Healing Wall

We've been to this grocery many times and saw this wall being covered with tiny Post-It notes.

The other day, we decided to spend some time to check it out.

We noticed that notes and pens were provided for you by the shopping center.

It was a lot of fun to see what people posted.

But this note in the center gave me a chuckle.

I wonder if that 91 year old person had any takers.

What would you have posted on the wall?

Window Repair

When we did our home renovation in Hawaii, Art wanted to get CertainTeed windows because they'd worked so well in Illinois. Unfortunately, they haven't worked so well here in Hawaii.

In about five years there were leaks in the double pane glass. I wish I'd taken photos of how bad they got eventually. The gases between the pane apparently leaked and the glass got discolored and ugly.

When I tried to contact CertainTeed, I discovered they were bought out by Plygem or something like that.

It had a lifetime guarantee which is why Art liked them.

Whatever the case, it was wonderful to hear that Plygem would honor the guarantees.

They sent all these replacement glass panes.

A little while later, Alex and Leo came out and replaced all the leaking glass panes, but unfortunately noticed more windows that needed replacing. They said they'd order it and come back to install it.

On the downside, I don't know if I can recommend the CertainTeed windows. On the other hand, I'm really liking how responsible Plygem is in making sure their customers are satisfied. Keeping my fingers crossed that the Plygem replacement windows will be better than the original.

10th Blogaversary!

If somebody told me in 2008 that I would be writing this blog for 10 years I would have laughed and said, "No way." Yet, here I am thanks to all of you through the years. It's boggling my mind to think I've written 2,908 blog posts. Sheesh!

This seems to be the Year of 10. It was also the 10th Aloha Run/Walk and the 10th year that we've been back living in Hawaii.

Writing this blog has often motivated us to do things we might not have done. We've gone to different island activities, looked for interesting things to photograph, and researched topics that I could share.

And through it all, the engine that kept me going was your friendship, feedback, encouragement and support.

Thank you, arigato gozaimasu and mahalo nui loa to you all. You are the best!

And to Dina of Jerusalem Hills Daily Photo, I would like to extend an extra special thank you for getting me started and encouraging me through the 10 years that we have been doing this.

Mattress Topper Update

I wrote a post a couple of weeks ago about a mattress solution we tried. Our 8 year old mattress from American Mattress was showing a definite depression which we could feel every night.

I thought we should try a mattress topper I'd seen at Costco. Art was very dubious.  He felt foam would be too soft and too hot. Art and I are opposites in so many ways. I will get cold in winter (on the mainland) and would want a heavier coat. He is quite satisfied with a lighter jacket. And he's thinner than me so he doesn't have that ummm... added insulation that I do.

He also sleeps hot. He thinks it's because he doesn't move around as much as I do and the heat builds up under him. For proof, he'll mention the few times I've bopped him in my sleep.

Whatever...

Anyway, he agreed that I could give it a try and we could always go mattress hunting (ugh!) if it didn't work. He was quite pessimistic.

I got big beach towels and some added small towels and filled the depressions in the mattress.

Then I put the foam mattress topper on it.

On top of that I added the new mattress pad we bought at TJ Maxx.

And on top of that we fitted the mattress topper cover that Costco sent with it.

It's been two weeks now and you know what? It worked. I don't feel the depressions and it's really comfy. I'm a side sleeper and my shoulders don't hurt in the morning. Even Art agrees that he's surprised it's not too soft. And the most important thing....

He says it's not too, too hot. I don't know if he's just trying to be nice to me, but he says it's fine.

Yay! Whether it will hold up for several years remains to be seen, but if it doesn't, we'd just have to change the topper and not worry about the whole mattress. Or... I guess we could still get a new mattress. There is that Casper mattress that was recommended by a blogger friend....

Well... This may not work for everybody, but it's good enough for us... for now.

RePurposing a Plastic Bedsheet Bag

Whenever we buy a bedsheet or blanket, we hate throwing away the sturdy plastic bag it comes in. They even come with a zipper. Therefore, I keep it and then it sits in the closet. When we bought our latest bedsheet, I thought of a travel solution that could work.

And yes, sure enough... our shoes fit in them very nicely.

Perfect! Even for Art's big shoes.

POSTSCRIPT:

I just saw another way I've used the bags. I used them to store our grandkids beach toys.

Presidential Sympathy Crib Notes

I was watching Trevor Noah on The Daily Show and he showed something that stunned us. President Trump was meeting some survivors and parents of the Parkland shooting in Florida. As Trump sat there with the group, some photographers snapped shots of him holding a slip of paper.

You can easily make out several of the items on his crib notes.
#1: What would you most want me to know about your experience?
#2: What can we do to help you feel safe?

You can't see #3 and #4, but #5 is: I hear you.

This president actually needs crib notes to help him express sympathy? With any other president, this would have been really big, appalling news. But, not Trump. This has become the norm. We are numb to it. We merely shake our heads and go on waiting for the next aggravation.

And yet, his supporters still love him. I'm sure they'll say he should be admired for coming prepared, not that he cheated.

I've been admiring the Florida students who are really taking a stand and trying to get gun laws changed. I keep hoping for change, but the NRA has such a choke hold on Congress. One of the Florida students tried to pin Marco Rubio down to get him to stop accepting donations from the NRA and he refused.

And should we arm teachers like the president suggests? I'm a retired teacher. I KNOW how insanely stupid this is.

But that would be another post.

Another Safety Bar

Art put safety bars in mom's bathroom, the guest bathroom and our master bathroom when we did the renovation 10 years ago.

When we added mom's safety bars, I clearly remember her saying with a huff, "I'm not that old, you didn't have to put those in."

She's glad now.

We thought we were well safe guarded against falls.

And then one night I stepped out of the shower from the side that didn't have a grab bar. My foot was wet and missed the bathmat. It slid out and I barely caught myself with my other foot. It was a very close call and I guess I must have shrieked.

I'm sure it wasn't a really loud shriek, but I guess it unnerved Art.

We went to Home Depot and bought another grab bar.

I've had several friends who happen to be seniors suffer a terrible fall while walking their dog, tripping on a curb,etc.

I nearly joined their number and shudder to think of the injuries I might have suffered.

And there it is. All done!

We've tried to make things as safe as possible around the house, but you never know.