The real estate market

I know people looking for houses, and realtors looking for listings. Yesterday in an elevator I met a guy in shorts and t-shirt carrying a bag of food. We chatted, and he apologized for using his phone--said it was his business. He told me he was a real estate agent working as an Uber-Eats delivery/driver to make ends meet. I admire that perseverance and dedication. The ups and downs of real estate are not always about Biden induced inflation, sometimes it's personal choices, but I believe this ridiculous market should send Democrats screaming away from their party.

My new slow cooker

I sort of outsmarted myself.  I was looking for another slow cooker and saw one on sale at Wal-Mart, so I bought it.  It was only $3 more than a smaller one.  But when I got it home, I discovered that the overlap of the removable pot wouldn't allow the cabinet door to close.  So I have the heating element in one cabinet, and the removable ceramic pot in a deeper, over the frig cabinet, which is a little tricky to get to.

“Enjoy home cooked meals in your own dining room or on the road with a Crock-Pot NCAA 6-Quart Slow Cooker. It's ideal for making a fluffy corn casserole or enough savory chicken stew to satisfy a hungry crew. The Crock-Pot slow cooker is the busy family's best friend: pop dinner in before you leave for work and it's ready to serve when you walk in the door. The large-capacity device serves at least 7 people, has customizable temperature settings and uses a secure lid-locking system to make it easy to take with you. Both the interior oval stoneware and removable glass lid, which do not absorb food odors and make it easy to check on its progress, are dishwasher safe. This rice slow cooker is available in various team colors, making it a smart way to display your school or state pride. Each cooker comes complete with unique recipe ideas. “

The rating was 4.6—one person said 5 were purchased for their kids as Christmas gifts. One woman said she got one for her husband, and he loves how much it will hold. Maybe my kids can borrow it for an OSU football party.

I'm trying this out with my frozen corned beef to make sure it works before I put the box in the garage. One think I noticed immediately is how hot the outside gets.  I think you could burn yourself.  I don't think the ceramic container could be removed to serve from it separate dish.  Too hot. 

Ridiculous Black Friday stories

After we left our daughter’s home yesterday they were going to go out to buy . . . king size sheets.  One of the specials for Black Friday which started on Thursday. She should have been exhausted from her 2 days of cooking and planning, but there’s something about shopping that energizes some people.  Maybe I had that sort of energy in my 40s—and just don’t remember.

On Fox this morning I saw a story about 2 women who had shopped for “mini-sports” cars for their kids, and the containers for the toys wouldn’t fit into their cars.  So with the Fox reporter guarding their finds, they went off to find a rental car that would hold their treasures.

Now, think about it.  How much money can be saved if you need a rental car to haul home your treasures?

Advent Lutheran Tag Sale

                                 

Love this annual sale!  Spent $6.50 at the Advent Lutheran Church Tag sale. I got "The chocolate Deck" for $.50, not sure what I'll do with it but if I'm ever hungry for Grilled chocolate-stuffed bananas, I'm all set.  Also got 4 CDs, 2 were Phil Dirt and the Dozers, a very popular 50s-60s group in Ohio—when they play at Lakeside, they really pack the house and give a stunning performance. 

TRACK LISTING: Vol. 1
1) Phil Dirt Theme 2) Denise 3) 16 Candles 4) Why Do Fools Fall In Love 5) Silhouettes 6) California Girls 7) Morse Code of Love 8) Ten Commandments of Love 9) Walk Like a Man 10) Papa Oom Mow Mow 11) My Girlfriend 12) Leader of the Pack 13) Dance, Dance, Dance 14) Gloria 15) Only You (skip version) 16) The Lion Sleeps Tonight 17) Hey There Lonely Girl 18) Don't Worry Baby 19) When You Dance 20) God Only Knows 21) No Particular Place 22) Baby Workout 23) Only the Only

TRACK LISTING: Vol. 2
1) What's Your Name 2) Pretty Little Angel Eyes 3) Duke of Earl 4) Little Darlin' 5) Help Me Rhonda 6) Runaround Sue 7) Hurt 8) I Get Around 9) I Knew You When 10) And Your Dreams Come True 11) Mr. Bassman 12) Unchained Melody (Vito & the Salutations version) 13) Teddy Bear 14) Get A Job 15) Smoke Gets In Your Eyes 16) Higher & Higher 17) Twilight Time 18) The Way You Look Tonight 19) Unchained Melody (Righteous Brothers version) 20) Rag Doll 21) Summer of the Century 22) Sh-Boom 23) Marlena

An extra computer mouse for 50 cents,  because you never know. . . And a small table for $3.00 with heart shaped shelves that appears to be hand made--maybe a shop class project. One of the volunteers told me she has one just like it made by her father-in-law, and her husband is 80. We have a small, cheap plastic table at the lake house collapsing from all the books I've put on it, so this will replace it. Mine is stained, but not varnished, but found a sample and a template to make it on the internet.

                                     

Oddies, Endies, and Undies

Yesterday I noted that my husband squeaked through on registration to tour the new Dublin Methodist Hospital to get 3 credit hours in health, safety and welfare for his continuing education requirements. At supper last night (homemade pizza) he couldn't stop raving about the design, creativity and planned well-being for patients. So it is definitely a winner, all around. You folks who live in Dublin and surrounding areas are going to have one super community hospital.


As I was settling in for a nap (one of my favorite events of the day) about 2 p.m. I heard a loud crash. I was a bit groggy, but realized the roof was not above me--the master bedroom is there. So I walked upstairs carefully, thinking perhaps a mirror or painting had fallen. When I got to the master bath, I saw that all the marble trim tile had fallen off the edge of the vanity. If anyone had been standing there in bare feet, he would have had a broken toe. I walked downstairs and told my husband (he uses that bathroom), and he said he wasn't surprised, that it was noted in the inspection in 2001 when we bought the condo, but hadn't been fixed.

So I settled in again for my nap. The phone rang and my husband picked it up from the kitchen. I opened an eye and looked at the TV screen. A name and phone number appeared. The conversation was with the buyer of one of the condos that has been for sale for a year. My husband is president of the association, and this purchase has involved many meetings of the board. When he hung up he said the purchase was final. I asked the buyer's name, but he couldn't remember. Was it--and I mentioned the name that had appeared on our TV screen, and he said Yes. Now that's weird. We assume it is something in her phone, because to our knowledge, this has never happened before. Has this ever happened to you?

A nap was definitely out of the question after two interruptions, so I decided to go Christmas shopping. I had four cards from Macy's. Two for $15 off a $50 purchase, and two for $25 off a $100 purchase. The problem was Macy's was also having a one day sale--something like "take another 20% off the already 50% markdown." I'm math challenged. So when I got my carefully totalled gifts (in my head) to the head of the check out line (waited 10 minutes), they only came to $82. So I'm refiguring what we'd agreed on, and go back and pick up an item that was $18 (although the $9 would have done just as well). See, that's how they trap you. In my head, I'm deducting the $25 off my son's gift, so it evens out with my daughter's and son-in-law's, but the receipt shaves each item--and actually totals $26 and not $25. I'll stick with my head on this.

I still have two cards left, so I browse the ladies lingerie department--not for a gift, but for me. My favorite brand of undies (which always seems to be on sale) has a buy 3 get one free (ca. $18), although because of the sale, I have no idea what it will be when I get to the register. So I go down stairs and look at shoes to see if there's something in 8.5 AA, and I select 2 Naturalizers and take them to the desk (no one comes to you these days). You would have thought I'd asked for the moon. "We have no narrow sizes in any style," she sniffed (She was quite large, and I think that's why narrow sizes are disappearing). You see, I thought if I bought a pair of shoes I didn't really need, I'd get the panties I didn't really need almost for "free." Saved from consumer hell by a shoe width.

3896

Thursday Thirteen--Out damn'd spot, out I say

Thirteen things about spots in Norma's world

1) Lady Macbeth was hallucinating when she said that, but I wasn't. There definitely were rust-colored spots on the front of the on-sale, pale yellow, pants suit that fit me perfectly.

2) It sort of looked like small drops of blood! Just like Shakespeare!

3) A friend was in the store at the same time and I showed it to her. She suggested Tide to Go--said she'd had good luck with it.

4) I reluctantly put the suit back, but that day I bought the little instant stain remover that looks like a pen and is small enough to sit on the bottom of your purse and sneak back into the dressing room.

5) I returned to the store, went into the dressing room and applied a little to the smallest, least noticeable spot. Wow. It disappeared, and left no outline on the fabric!

6) I took the suit to the cash register along with a moss green blouse with yellow petal appliques.

7) The first time I wore it (pale yellow) I brushed up against something and got a much larger spot on the knee. I sat down with my little Tide to Go, and poof it was gone.

8) For several weeks I've had my eye on a pair of brown stacked heels at Meijer's. They were on a mark-down table because (I think) the right shoe had some really odd spots on the leather--maybe a mold.

9) Each week I looked at them when I shopped for groceries. I had the exact pair in black and they are the most comfortable shoes I own.

10) So yesterday I dug around in the laundry room and found some brown shoe polish. I put a small amount on a piece of cloth, put that inside a plastic bag which I placed in my purse and went back to the store.

11) The table had been moved and at first I thought the shoes were gone, but after walking around awhile, I found them. I slipped the piece of cloth out of my purse and wiped it on the spots. They did not disappear, but they did blend into the texture.

12) Because I had shopped there the day before, I had a coupon for shoes and jewelry (not cat litter which I really needed or a digital camera that I really wanted). So I bought the shoes that fit and look nice (and shiny) for $5.40.

13) Shoe polish doesn't come off your fingers quite so easily, so I probably looked like I'd just changed a diaper when I got to the check out, but I keep alcohol gel hand cleaner in the car, and that took care of my newest spots!