First, the mutterings.
- 64 :: When I'm...
- Dark :: Crystal.
- Honor :: thy father.
- Crystal :: Gayle.
- Postscript :: printer.
- Things :: go awry.
- Fever :: heat.
- Bare :: butt.
- Thump :: Bunny!
- Point of view :: slanted.
* * * * *
Chocolatesheep blogged that her household is off the innernetz for a few days because there are Major Problems with her connection. A technician will call on Tuesday to Fix It, whatever It is. This prompted me to do a speed test with my connection just out of curiosity.
Go check yours now and report back with the results and your approximate location:
www.speedtest.net | My Results | Take a speed test.
I am curious to compare my rural results to yours, given that the site rates my speed as a D.
* * * * *
I am making chicken soup this afternoon and just did something incredibly clever. Instead of sautéing the vegetables in canola oil as I always have done, I sautéed them in the schmaltz that I skimmed off the chicken stock. We shall see what that does for the flavor.
* * * * *
Both sons are here this weekend. The only time that has happened in the past six years or so is at holidays. Elder Son and a friend from grad school came last weekend after attending a wedding in the UP. They and Smokey then went camping on the North Shore for a few days. (This was the ten-day camping trip that Smokey and I were supposed to go on. It had been planned for at least six months. But his recovery from the kidney stone surgery delayed and shortened the vacation drastically, plus I had an important vote at the county board meeting on Tuesday night that I didn't want to miss. So I stayed home. All by myself, as long as you don't count the cats, books, wine, knitting, and NetFlix. It was sheer torture, believe me.) Andrew's friend, who came here from Somalia when he was 13, had never been camping in the woods and wanted to know what it was like. From all accounts he had a great time. Alí is a very friendly, outgoing sort. He says he learned to be that way when he was a beggar in Somalia because it helped him get more handouts.*
Younger Son is here finishing the dog run. Sadly for him, the outdoor temperature sucks. Don't believe this thermometer.
It lies. The real outdoor temp:
Poor Matthew. We set up a big fan to blow on him and moved the table with the umbrella so it would offer him a little shade. Right now he is skipping the hottest part of the day by making a supplies run -- in his air conditioned car -- to the Big Box Building Supply Store.
His and my car were sitting in the shade talking about the Old County (even though my car was actually made in Belgium).
* * * * *
Earlier this week I had to go out and about. After a little thought, I decided it would be prudent to take Smokey's car instead of mine because:
- We haven't gotten the new plates from the dealer yet.
- We haven't gotten the new insurance card from the insurance company yet.
- I haven't replaced my driver's license, which I lost sometime in the past month, yet.
I figured that if I were stopped for the lack of plates, that error would be compounded exponentially by #2 and #3. The first thing I did on my errand run was to apply for a replacement license. At least I will be legal, even if the car isn't.
* If you ever doubt the value of education (and opportunity), think of Alí. He went from begging on the streets in Somalia to grad school at the University of Michigan and hopes to work at the CDC. What a guy.
