I Can Count

Yesterday we celebrated Sunday by getting carry-out (!)

Total bill $11.47.  Got out $12.00, ready to hand it to the window person.

"$10.47."  Dumbly, I handed her the  $12.00. She handed back  .53 change and kept the extra dollar.
It was not a tip. I immediately realized something wasn't right. We got home and there were two cash register receipts in the bag.  One was for $11.47 and one was for $10.47 with a (old age) discount.


So, I guess it was tip.

Almost a Boo Boo

Last week I was back at the only store in town (that I know of) that sells the brand of yarn that I use.
I didn't use a shopping cart and picked up five skeins of yarn, tucking one under my right arm.

When I reached the cashier, I put four skeins on the moving counter and reached for money in my wallet. She checked me out, put the yarn in a sack and gave me change. All of a sudden I realized I had another skein under my arm! She hadn't seen it and I don't know where my mind was.

I apologized and she said no problem and rang it up.  We both laughed; me a little nervously?

I really was not trying to get out with a free hank of yarn.

Sunday Tea

I enjoy a sweet tea now and then.

This morning as we returned home from an errand, we stopped at the fast food shop and I ordered, "Sweet tea, please."

Got home.  Plain tea.  Oh well, I could always add some sugar but maybe it's better that I don't!

I wonder how many orders they get wrong in one day. We seem to get our share every time we go there.

  Should I take a sip before driving away?


Such a minor problem in today's world!

Duffer

A friend/blogger posted several photos of her Border Collie sitting among a large field of daisies. Beautiful dog and great pictures!   It made me think of our McDuff, Bassett Hound puppy, near our old cement porch in 1962. He was a good dog for the kids but destructive. We got our first Great Dane and sadly found Duff a new home. I don't know if he chewed on the siding of their home or not but I remember getting a note saying he used their new white shag for relieving himself. 
They did not care for the new color scheme: brown and white.

Something New to Be Solved

It's a nice cool morning to run errands. The last stop was the grocery store. (We needed ice cream.)
So we drove home, parked in the garage and went to the back door of the van. Lee says, "It's locked."
I said that I must have hit the button when I got out. Back to the driver's side, press U for Unlock.
Nothing. Tried toggling the switch. Nope. Turned on the engine, toggled the button. No.

Meanwhile the ice cream is probably melting in the back of the warm van. Ah! There is a place for a key to unlock the door, right below the handle. How silly not to see that.

That didn't work either. Key goes to and fro with no result.

Guess who had to get the step stool, climb in the side door and around the third sea to the inside handle?  Got it open.

Ice cream and groceries put away.  It still won't open.

Can we use the side door for loading now? Boss says no.

Old Expressions

I was watching an old movie, The Strawberry Blonde from 1940, starring James Cagney, Rita Hayworth and Olivia de Haviland, Alan Hale and Jack Carson. Set in the early 1900's, it had some expressions that I had never heard before and some that I had forgotten.

At a bar a man was telling a tall tale. Another guy told him, "Leave that bull tied outside."  That was a new one for me. What a great way to tell someone he's "full of it."

At another place, Cagney was telling his father he was a wimp but he used the word, pussy. That one surprised me - used in 1940.

Imagining a blind date, Cagney said she's probably "a crow." I had never heard that term used to indicate an unattractive person.

The one I had heard before but not for a long time was, "I love my wife, but oh you kid!" And of course, "Twenty-three skidoo."

One of my parents friends used to tell me, a nosy kid who often asked him where he was going, "I've got to see a man about a dog."

My mom saw young boy riding a bicycle and said, "He certainly is a tow-head." In my mind it was "Toe head" and I tried to see if his head was shaped like a toe.

"Hold the phone" was another common exclamation I heard a lot.  Then my dad used to say our small bathroom was "Not big enough to cuss a cat in." I thought cuss was a bad word so when I told my cousin I said catch. When you think about it, that doesn't make any sense at all; well either version, actually.

Is this what you call a stream of consciousness?

Left Out

Yesterday a new phone book appeared on our front porch.  Sealed in a plastic bag, it is about the size of previous copies. However, for several years now, the book is almost completely full of businesses in our area. In fact, the book is called and "Area-wide" phonebook.

There is a slim section of white pages listing all of us that still have a land line. That's what the old CBers called a wired phone.

For the first time, we are not listed. Lee doesn't care. I think it's terrible.

We pay our bill every month but for some reason the publisher didn't receive our listing.

Oh well.

Does Directory Assistance still exist?

The Joys of Not Being Prepared

It's finally happened. I have become the elderly lady in the check-out line that fumbles around trying to use her debit card.

We went to the grocery store for a "few" things. The basket was far from full; the same for our wallets. I started shelling out fives and saw I was short. Lee gave me his bills and we were still short. I was trying to stuff them back in my purse, (dropping a five on the floor) and get the debit card out. Since I never use it, it didn't "swipe." The cashier was so nice. I apologized and he swiped it. Got the pin number right and we were on our way.

I can only imagine the thoughts of those behind us. I know my husband has very little patience for these moments. This time he couldn't complain since it was US!

When I got home, I counted what we had in our wallets - we were $3.33 short of the $73.33 cent charge. So close. From now on, I will try to manage to have more cash on hand before we shop.

Helpful Shout Outs

Today was a trip to the clinic for my husband to get lab work. As do many others, we drive in past the front door to an unloading area for patients. I drove around two parked cars, swung in and turned, getting the rear end of our club wagon Ford van "in" from the drive area. After my husband got out, I checked my mirror and a red SUV was passing me. The lady from Barton County called out, "Learn how to park."

I wonder if this made her day happier. If I could have answered her, I would have said, "Still trying and getting better every day."

Evidently it wasn't too awful because her husband had no trouble getting past me.

Some day it would be fun to drive a tank.

More on Dog Feeding

Everything is going well here at the dog house. The dogs are eating dog food from a can. Someday I would like to transfer to dry but I'll go with what is working for now.

So yesterday, the other half says, "Maybe we should wean them by adding just a little steamed hamburger to their meals."


They are already weaned!