Wednesday, November 30, 2016

Many Decisions

I have much thinking to do.

Into the Darkness


Yesterday evening after dark, in the rain, I noticed two separate drivers without the lights on in their cars. One was coming as I was turning and I saw her at the last moment. I tried to tell her to turn her lights on; but she was extremely angry with me for cutting her off (because I couldn't see her coming in the dark). Between the rain, people who won't stop for red lights or get over for emergency vehicles, this makes driving dangerous!

But this morning, I made a mistake too. I came out of the well lit bathroom like I always do but when I turned out the light it was completely dark in the hallway. So I walked for the kitchen like I always do; because we have a motion light that comes on. But I misjudged where the corner of the wall was, leading out to the garage. So now I have a good reminder to be more careful!

Tuesday, November 29, 2016

Watch for Email Deception

Be careful of emails. I just received one that said it was from Amazon and to click to download my invoice. If you hover over the active link, it shows you what it is and it was not Amazon.

Monday, November 21, 2016

Warning about Walmart Online Orders

I ordered something from Walmart online.
When I got the notice it was being shipped it included the information that I could not return it to Walmart but had to pay shipping to return it to the original manufacturer.
So I cancelled the order by cancelling delivery through FedEx.
I will never trust using Walmart to order online again.

One Coat Paint

We recently painted our bathroom. We were talked into an expensive "one-coat" paint because it had a rebate.
In my world, there is no such thing as one-coat paint. Not the one we just used and not any other. I prefer to paint twice; as opposed to going back to touch-up 37 times afterward.
I do not believe in one-coat paint!

"This paint is so great you need only put a few drops on your brush and touch it to the wall and the entire room will be painted!"
Sure it will.

Friday, November 18, 2016

CuTRis Plans Another Daring Escape!


CuTRis Plans Another Daring Escape!
UnAssociated Press
November 18, 2016


CuTRis is rumored to be planning another daring escape! No actual details of the escape have yet been made public—because the escape is a highly guarded secret and I shouldn't even be telling you about it! So Shhhhhhhh!

Thursday, November 17, 2016

It's Wrong

I recently posted an unfortunate incident a friend of mine experienced on the light-rail. Today a different friend messaged me that a white guy was harassing a black guy on the train. I told him to call the police. There is no room for bad behavior regardless of who it is directed at. We all know racism and being mean is wrong; so why does it still happen?

Tuesday, November 15, 2016

Electoral College

For anyone who is of the opinion that the USA should ban the Electoral College as the outdated, dysfunctional system that it is, I say, "Yes. We should definitely ban it." While it may have once had some usefulness, I no longer write books on a typewriter and there is no good reason to continue to do so. Nor is there a good reason to use the Electoral College—except to continue to have Presidents who won the election despite losing the Popular Vote.

Saturday, November 12, 2016

Vote for IKEA Soft Toy Contest!

https://info.ikea-usa.com/softtoy/voting/home

In case you want to vote for Grayson's contest drawing,

Blues
Drawing ID 811047
Grayson, Age 4
IKEA Twin Cities


Votez pour le dessin de Grayson s'il vous plaît!


Friday, November 11, 2016

Refrigerator is Warm but Freezer Cold?

If your refrigerator is warm but the freezer portion is cold, likely the refrigerator is working properly—but someone has improperly adjusted it. If your refrigerator has a temperature control that turns manually, it is likely operating a diverter valve. That means that turning it to "colder" in your freezer is likely diverting the cold air away from going into the refrigerator portion. Even if you "turn up" the colder knob in the refrigerator, the cold airflow from the freezer has been closed. The problem can be compounded when the freezer becomes too cold and ice develops inside of the airflow conduit. Simply by turning the "cold" back to the mid-range in the freezer, your refrigerator may recover in a day or two. This, in most cases, is preferable to buying a new refrigerator.

Hey Protesters

Okay, I understand that some people can't accept that "their" candidate was not elected. But while you have the right to protest, you do not have the right to put lives in danger by protesting on the freeway! Did all of these protesters vote? I know an idiot with a lot of opinions who posted a photo of his election ballot that he had written in a fictional character from a movie on! Nice move idiot! You might as well have stayed home because your "protest vote" did no good except to (presumably) "impress" your Facebook friends. And to the people who now have a "black void" where their photo was (again on Facebook), your candidate lost. I understand. Mine lost too. But we live in a country where we vote instead of having a bloody coup d’état to choose our leaders. It might not be perfect and it maybe didn't go the way you wanted it to go—but grow up. You won't always get your way and you still "don't get to" endanger lives by stopping freeway traffic because you didn't get your way. You don't have the right to defy police or authority either. You certainly can protest and act like a spoiled child and do and say ridiculous things and spout out nasties on Facebook if you wish. But it doesn't change a thing. It only shows that you have a lack of maturity and self-control. And maybe it's people like that who ruined the election for you. Maybe the nasty names you called your friend because he disagreed with your whining makes you sound just like that guy you didn't want to win. So if you think it is fine to act just like him, why are you so upset that he won?

Wednesday, November 09, 2016

Now that Trump has Won

I won’t deny that I am not only shocked by the outcome of the presidential election, but I am a bit depressed by it. But I’ve been around long enough to have learned a few things. One is that I/we survived Ronald Reagan; and so we will now survive this as well. Two, being a Minnesotan, I saw voters abandon established politics and politicians in favor of a former “pro wrestler.” It seemed like a good idea at the time; but Jesse turned out to be a bad choice.

So is it possible that while he appeared to be a bad choice from the start, that Donald Trump could be a good President? I don’t know, but we have to give him the chance now that he has won the election. It is our way and our law. He did, in fact, in his acceptance speech, ask for all of us, whether we supported him during the election or not, to join with him to reunite our country after a mean and nasty election. And whatever else I might think, I think we owe him that much. Because enough people in the country did vote for him so that he won. If you can’t salute the man, at least salute the rank.

Are there tough times ahead? Yes, that is likely. The guy who pulled a gun on me in traffic over a year ago, has posted his gun on his Facebook to commemorate the victory. I can only imagine that those whose demographic groups were attacked in the election campaign process must be bitter this morning. Yet the news media found representatives from these same groups who were overjoyed by the victory of Trump and of the GOP.

So now I will advocate that we stay calm and make the best of the next four years. And if we aren’t happy with the person who is President four years from now, use your vote to change it then. Humanity seems to need to swing from one side to the other—often missing the middle completely. Those of us in “Middle America” know that very well; because the candidates never quite seem to represent those of us in the middle. But we are here now. So we must work for the common good.

—KJC

Tuesday, November 08, 2016

Monday, November 07, 2016

The New (Old) Cedar Bridge

We visited the (new) Old Cedar Bridge yesterday. I remember the old bridge was how we got to my grandparents' houses when I was a kid. When it was closed, I still used it to access both sides of Long Meadow Lake when I hiked in the Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge. The improvements are amazing! It is a fantastic area for hiking, biking and birdwatching.



Friday, November 04, 2016

Dock Fishing

I went fishing from a dock for a short time today. That isn't so unusual; except that it is November 4th and the temperature outside was 65 degrees (F)!

Blatant Racism

I hate to believe that blatant racism still exists, but it does. My friend was telling me about his experience on the light-rail system the other day. He said a guy refused to move his legs so that he could get past to sit down. The same guy refused to let an elderly woman pass as well. Obviously he was looking to start some kind of trouble but neither my friend or the woman fell into his plan. But each time when the guy kept his legs in the way, he loudly said, "White F__k Face!" So yes, I'm sure racism is still a problem.

Thursday, November 03, 2016

Good Ear



Sorry, I didn't hear that. Could you say it again in my good ear?

Tuesday, November 01, 2016

Afficher annulé!

Pardon! Le spectacle CuTRis au Théâtre de la Grande Comédie, le vendredi 2 décembre 2016, a été annulé.
CuTRis sera à Saint-Paul ce jour-là.

Voir CuTRis au Théâtre de la Grande Comédie

Venez tout le monde! Voir CuTRis au Théâtre de la Grande Comédie vendredi 2 décembre 2016! Les billets sont à 45 EUR de prévente ou 55 EUR à la porte jusqu'à ce qu'ils soient épuisés!

Hillary Clinton May Have Emailed Anthony's Weiner


Hillary Clinton May Have Emailed Anthony's Weiner
UnAssociated Press
November 1, 2016


The FBI is investigating whether Hillary Clinton emailed Anthony's Weiner from an unsecured email server (several years ago). If so, it may have been a breach of dietary protocol. The weiner was found by a strange wife on a shared device, partially eaten.