Things I Learned This Week

 Did you know . . .

Silas helped Peter write the book of I Peter?  (See I Peter 5:12 NIV - KJV calls him Silvanus (Greek name))

This is a picture of a tardigrade:

Source:  https://www.britannica.com/animal/tardigrade

Tardigrades, also known as water bears, can live 30 years without water!  It is only about the size of a grain of salt or the period at the end of a sentence.  I first heard of this creature at the soccer camp I helped with this week.

Two Things I Learned This Week

 Did you know that . . .

(1) You should never throw cold water or put a wet towel on the back of an overheated dog?  Instead, first give lukewarm water to drink, then cool the soles of the feet and chest/lower abdomen with a damp towel. Then put the dog in the shade on a damp towel!! (Source: Facebook post by Cathy Moore)

(2 ) Washing clothes in cold water is just as effective as getting them clean with warm or hot water. Also, is cheaper and better for your clothes. (Source: WKYC news on 6/18/23)

Please leave a comment sharing something you learned this week.

5 Fun Facts For Friday June 16, 2023

I used to post what I learned each week at the end of the week and it was pretty popular so decided to continue along those lines and do Friday posts with some fun facts, but not necessarily learned in just the past week.

Did you know . . .

1.  When a flag is torn and faded, it is disrespectful to fly it.  It should be taken to a VFW post or the American Legion post to be disposed of properly.  We had to take our flag in on flag day.  I knew it was worn out but didn't realize it was being disrespectful to still fly it until I checked on Google to see how to dispose of it properly.  

2.  Octopuses have three hearts and blue blood?  (source:  March-April All God's Creatures devotionals)

3.  The 30th president of the USA, Calvin Coolidge, had  a pet racoon! 
(source:  Explorers, Presidents and Toilets by Dan Gutman)

4.  The Jordan River doesn't flow into an ocean, but rather goes into the dead sea and stops there.  The dead sea doesn't run over because the valley is hot and the water evaporates as fast as the river flows into it. Pretty amazing! (Source:  Book of Life, Book 2, Bible Treasures, p. 26)

5.  Our dog, Roxy weighed in at 71 pounds today at the vet.  Her comprehensive exam plus vaccines cost more than my husband's and mine annual checkups combined!  ($271)

Please share a fun fact of your own in the comments below with me.

Did You Know? (peacocks, Walmart and us)

Did you know peacocks live in California?  I just learned that on Happy Tuesday's blog hop when I visited Bailey Unleashed.

When I went to Walmart to pick up our prescriptions, they were only letting people in through one door.  I wondered why and then saw on the news the next day that Walmart is limiting the number of people in the store at one time.  I like this idea! 

Today we put out our porch furniture and hung up our wind chime.  Hopefully we'll actually be able to sit out there comfortably.   

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I Just Discovered One Note!

Last week I just learned how to use One Note and love it!  It is like a digital notebook where you can take notes, draw, make to do lists, save links, save videos, pics or documents to and have them all handy in one place.  You can organize with as many different sections as you want (think tabs in a notebook).  It has instructions and a tutorial video that shows you how to use it.

It is sort of like having your own private instagram, but you can share your notebook or pages from it if you want. If you share pages, others can also add things to it which you can see as well.

Apparently, another bit benefit is that you can have it on your mobile device, but I don't have any.  The only drawback that I know of so far is that you can't print things from it.

My main use for it so far is to collect pickleball tips and videos in it.  It's pretty cool!

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5 Things I Learned Last Week

1--Did you know that statistically, one out of ten prisoners on death row is innocent?  I learned this when I read The Sun Does Shine (click on link to my review of it).  It was a very moving read for me.


2--I also learned from reading Little Shoes (click link to see my
review) that often eye witnesses are unreliable, but Juries often put a lot of weight on their testimony.  Also, police sometimes form a line-up with the guy they suspect but don't include anyone else who looks anything like him.

3--The cute little 2-yr old female leopard at the Cleveland zoo was moved from the nice new Asian Highlands exhibit back to the Primate building to await her move to the Bronx zoo in a couple months.  This seems so mean.  She had a ball in the new exhibit but because of some faulty construction, it was deemed unsafe for her to stay.  Plus the zoo wanted to move the three new baby leopards, her two brothers and sister, up there and needed to make room for them and the mother.  Both the father and mother are up at Asian Highlands as well.

4--I also found out that the zoo rotates the leopards around in different exhibits now at Asian Highlands so they get more variety and can smell the scent of other leopards.  Above is a picture of Edgar, the zoo's Amur leopard who likes his new home.  I thought that was good!

5--When we were assembling our new electric lawn mower, I learned what a cam lock is.  It is supposed to work easy but we could not get it into the lock position.  It is made of plastic and I was afraid to push any harder because it felt like it would break.  We called a neighbor over to see if he could help us, and he tried too with the same result.  I checked on YouTube, because you know you can learn how to do practically anything from those YouTube videos, but the ones I watched had no problem at all getting it locked into place.  I called the help line and was told to try turning the circular part one revolution.  I tried and couldn't even get it to turn 1/4 of a revolution.  Then I gave up and decided to try again later.  To my surprise, I got the one on the right side to turn and sure enough, then I was able to lock it in place!  Finally, after a few more attempts, the right side turned too and I had to give that side a couple revolutions but finally got it locked into place.  No tools were needed   What a relief! We got it to work but it will take some practice getting used to keeping that cord out of the way and not stepping on it.

Ordered it from Walmart - no tools required for assembly and beats our push mower.  

   

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My First Colonoscopy: Live and Learn

This is a big drink!

Last Friday, I had my first colonoscopy and a couple very good things happened:  (1) I put it off until now (age 63) and (2) the prep drink did not taste as bad as expected--there was a lemon flavored packet to mix in to make it taste sort of like lemonade.

Thursday, the day before the procedure, I could not eat any solid food except for Jello and had to drink lots of water to avoid getting dehydrated.  Then starting at 4:00 I had to drink a prescription concoction 8 oz. every 10-20 minutes until I had 3/4 of it done.   The doctor or pharmacist neglected to tell me that between every glass, I would be going potty!  Ugh.  It took me 3 hours to get through it all because I just couldn't do it every 10 minutes because I was hurting from so much wiping.  I had to finish off the jug 6 hours prior to my appointment which was 4:15 a.m.  (not too bad because often I get up at that time anyway--it could have been worse).

Here are my tips for anyone having to do this and to remind me for the next time:

1)   Do not plan on going anywhere once you start this big drink.
2)   Take these things in the bathroom with you and plan on camping out for a few hours:  the jug, a cup, a timer and a book.  Just sit on the toilet the entire time to avoiding having to wipe so much, after each 8 oz. drink set the timer for 10 minutes and read in between as you go.  (time may vary depending on your doctor's instructions)

Friday, everything went according to schedule.  The hardest thing for me was skipping breakfast.  I couldn't eat or drink anything after midnight Thursday and nothing at all on Friday expect the rest of "the drink" starting at 4:15 a.m.  The doctor's assistants sang a "Happy First Colonoscopy Song" to me and the doctor congratulated me on doing the prep so well.  I got in a very nice nap (anesthesia assisted), everyone was very nice, I was comfy under a light warm blanket and woke up with not problem, no pain and no grogginess or nausea.  Poor Gerard had it much worse just waiting around in the small waiting room.

My Colonguard* test result was correct, the results were not very good.  The good news is I feel fine; however, the bad news is they found some hemorroids and one palyp that wasn't high enough for my doctor to remove.  He will do a biopsy to see if it is cancerous, but said it should be removed which means surgery.  I'll find out more in two weeks when I meet with him again.  Ugh!

 I am feeling disappointed that this couldn't have been taken care of all at once.  I only have 3 vacation days left and hope I won't have to miss a lot of work.  I dread having to go through this all over again, but at least I'll know better what to expect.  Please pray that God would give me peace about this and that I don't dwell on it or let it get me down.  I'm trying to stay positive. 
____________________
*The Colonguard test is done at home.  You get a little kit in the mail with instructions.  Poop into the container provided in the kit, follow the directions and mail it back to the lab in the same kit box using the return postage label provided.  My husband was fortunate that all he needed to do was this!


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5 Things I Learned Recently

(1)  Because my bus stop moved, I discovered that the next one coming home is actually closer to my

house than the one I've been using for years!  The morning one is farther though.  I'm just happy they didn't cut out my bus route altogether!  I even have a little puzzle for you.  Can you guess what that big red spot is to the left of the sign?  (I'll give you the answer at the end of this post.)

(2)  Admission to The Cleveland Rock Hall of Fame is $20, BUT during the week of the Republican Convention, admission will be free!  I heard this on the morning news yesterday.  Looks like we'll be going after all.

(3)  When we asked the 5th and 6th graders in our Sunday School class to write memorial poems about God using some specific instructions, we were surprised that some of them didn't know what a verb was.  Did they stop teaching grammar in schools now too?

(4)  If you have a game called THE SETTLERS about settling Canaan, here are some tips on how to shorten it:
                  1.  Give everyone some free resources to start and/or a development card.
                  2.  Wait 3 rounds before putting the plague into play.
                  3.  Take some rows off the Jerusalem wall.
                  4.  Give the tokens a head start so players don't need as many victory points to win.
                  5.  Take a resource card for each one you build a settlement on.
  If you strictly follow the rules, it lasts for hours!

(5)  Handle anxiety by saying "I'm excited!" (not "stay calm") and when praising people for things they do, connect the behavior to their character such as instead of saying "That was nice of you to give that homeless person some money" say "You are such a kind, generous, caring person."  These are just some of the things I learned from reading "Originals--How Non-Conformist Change the World."  (A Best Seller by Adam Grant)

Answer to puzzle in #1:  It's the bill of my husband's baseball cap.  He's so sweet, he walks me to the bus stop every morning and waits with me until it comes, then meets me when I get off in the evening.  It's nice to be loved.

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4 Things I Learned Recently

This used to be a popular feature on this blog and I've missed doing it so decided to try starting it up again.  Feel free to comment on what I've learned or share something you learned recently.

(1)  Lobsters grow by becoming uncomfortable and growing a bigger shell. Watch this:
I saw this on Facebook and thought it was both true and interesting about how we need to handle stress.

(2)  When reading Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys, I learned about the sinking of a German ship called the Wilhelm Gustloff that  had way more people than the Titanic.

(3)  I always thought that once I deleted an email from my deleted items, there was no way to retrieve it, but I was wrong.  One of my co-workers showed my a folder tab in Outlook that says "retrieve deleted items."

For some reason I do not know, it works at work but at home, that option is grayed out.  Any explanations?

(4)  Don't trust the protective netting at ballparks to protect fans--a Rays fan was struck in the face by foul ball that managed to get through the protective netting.  See video.


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Learning New Things: Creating Video Thumbnails

My Cutest Thumbnail Yet

When I make videos and post them to YouTube, I seldom like the three selections that show up to use as the screen shot for the video.  When I make a title at the beginning, it never seems to be one of the three choices that come up to use.  When viewing "Tips for New Booktubers" by ChapterStackss, she mentioned that your videos are more likely to be watched if you use a custom thumbnail.  I think this is very true because based on my own habits, when I see a list of videos pop up on a related topic, the ones with the bright or cute thumbnails are generally the ones I watch.  If you upload any videos to YouTube, I highly recommend you watch her tip video.

I finally found out how to make a custom thumbnail (that's is what the video screen title is called).  I came across a tutorial on creating custom thumbnails for videos on Readables channel.  Although she specifically showed how to do it using GIMP, I found I can make some simple ones using PicMonkey and maybe my photoshop software (but I haven't tried that yet.)

Basically, it's pretty easy:

1.  When you upload your video to YouTube and the 3 options come up for which thumbnail to use, there is also a custom option which you click on.  (You must verify your account which is just a matter of typing in your phone number, receiving a secret code and putting that in the box.  This is a one-time step.)

2.  Choose a picture you want to use for your customized thumbnail and edit it the way you want.  The resize it to 1280 x 720.  (In picmonkey, I can only get one or the other because it automatically sets a different size for the other number, but I found it still works out.)

3.  Save your picture and then click on the custom thumbnail option to upload it and select it.  Remember to save your changes and it usually works.  Your custom picture will show when the video is displayed.

Do you use thumbnails for your videos?  I am so excited about learning how to do this!  Check out my YouTube Channel:  http://youtube.com/kzemek 

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6 Friday Fragments (Kindle, TV, Moon, Life, Brain)

Friday Fragments is hosted by Half Past Kissin' Time for bloggers to post a list of short things on their minds that aren't really enough for a whole post. I have a few this week:

Big News

Over at the Conscious Cat I learned about the Kitten Bowl that will be shown Feb. 2 on the Hallmark Channel. I am definitely going to watch this! It is part of Hallmark's pet project to help get more shelter cats adopted. We will be rooting for the Tabby Lions (Manny's favorite) and the Home and Family Felines (Spunky Doodle's favorite). There will be 70 kittens in this event!

Wi Fi Spot

Last week I was excited to discover that practically right across from where I work is a wi-fi spot where I can get my Kindle updated! I found it when the one farther down the street wasn't working one morning so I decided to give the other Arcade a try that is on the south side of Euclid Avenue and it worked!

Moon Names

I just learned last week that the full moons of the months have names! I posted about it earlier this week: Bus Stop Chit Chat Can Be Informative.

One More Hall Made a Difference

Last week at the nursing home, we were ready to leave but the lady that walks around with us wanted to show us the hummingbird puzzle she finished. Abby and Gerard stayed up by the nurses station but I went down the other hall with her and near the end of the hall we saw a woman lying on the floor calling for help. Good thing we went down that way! I went back to the nurses station told them about her falling and they came right away.

Brain Games

I got two DVDs of BRAIN GAMES by National Geographic for Christmas and really found them very interesting about how our brains work. I am very excited to find that this is an actual TV show and a new season is just beginning on the National Geographic Channel. Fascinating stuff!

 

 

Brain Exercises

I gave in and re-subscribed to Lumosity.com for individualized brain training--just 15 minutes a day for just $5 per month. I decided to use some of my Christmas gift money on this because it does help sharpen up my brain and some of the games are actually fun! I also like seeing how I compare with other age groups. I compare well with my own age group but very low to the 30 yr. olds. I do way better than the teen group which made me feel good. Check it out at lumosity.com. I think you can even play some of the games to try it without paying anything. It keeps track of your history so you are challenged to try to beat your previous high scores. Share this:

Bus Stop Chit Chat Can Be Informative

Picture is from my sweatshirt--Didn't think to get a picture of the moon I saw (forgot I had my camera with me)

While chatting with a guy at the bus stop last week, I mentioned that the moon was still out.  It was a bright, full moon and I was admiring it.  He said it was called a "wolf" moon.  I didn't know what he was talking about and told him I didn't know that.  He said every month there is a different name for the moon.  He went on to mention some of them but couldn't remember them all.

I thought it was very interesting so googled it and sure enough, I found a list of moon names which apparently date back to Native Americans of the northern and eastern United States.  Here is the Farmers Almanac's list of the full Moon names:

January - Wolf Moon (He was right!)
February - Snow Moon
March - Worm Moon, or Crow Moon or Sap Moon
April - Pink Moon or Grass Moon
May - Flower Moon
June - Strawberry Moon
July - Buck Moon or Thunder Moon or Hay Moon
August - Sturgeon or Red Moon
September - Harvest or Corn Moon (I have heard of the Harvest Moon before)
October - Hunter's Moon or Harvest Moon
November - Beaver Moon
December - Cold Moon or Long Nights Moon

I found this information at www.farmersalmanac.com/full-moon-names

Did you know all these different moon names before?

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7 Friday Fragments (funny, educational, life, products)

Friday Fragments is hosted by Half Past Kissin' Time for bloggers to post a list of short things on their minds that aren't really enough for a whole post to give Mrs. 4444 a break for the summer. Here we go:

Screeching Stopped

After about a month of screeching, we took our KIA into the repair shop. Whenever we started it up it would screech but then stop once we got going. It would screech when we turned the steering wheel sometimes too. In half an hour, it was fixed--just something going on with a belt. The best part was meeting a huge German Shepherd named Tank.

Nice Watch

We got a free watch with our Blair order. It's really nice with easy-to-read actual numbers. Too bad is doesn't work but what do you expect for free, right? It was disappointing though because that was really the only reason we placed an order. Although the velour shirts are very nice.

Stop the Stink

This is the funniest commercial I've seen in a long time. It was at the beginning of a Just For Laughs video but when I went to embed it, there was a different commercial so I looked it up on YouTube and here it is for your laugh of the day.

Happiest Story of The Week

Lady and her cat got reunited after 5 years thanks to a microchip in the cat. We have one in Abby but not in our cats since they stay indoors.

Joint Juice

I just found a Glucosamine-Chondroitin supplement drink with vitamin D3 that I like. Find out more at jointjuice.com. Unfortunately, Giant Eagle is discontinuing it.

Picasa

Anyone know how to delete pics from a picasa album. It seems every picture I ever uploaded to my blogs is automatically in there. I just recently discovered that I can reuse pics from there so I have many duplicates.

Community Dinner

I'm looking forward to helping with our church's community dinner this coming Thursday. I'm taking the whole day off since it's the same day as my bone density test. This way I can help set up in the morning and help wait on tables or distribute the groceries. We are planning to give a nice bag of groceries to every family who comes that they can take home. The stockpile of donated groceries is coming along nicely.

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Friday Fragments

Friday Fragments is hosted by Unknown Mama for bloggers to post a list of short things on their minds that aren't really enough for a whole post to give Mrs. 4444 a break for the summer. Here we go:

Fifth Third Bank

I always thought Fifth Third was the dumbest name for a bank (or any company for that matter) and this week I found out how they got that name. Read my "What a Dumb Name" post to find out.

Look Down

Wow!  How much is here?

It pays to look at the ground as you walk--found $50 at the Indians game when going for pizza! It was just lying on the floor by the exit from the Club lounge. I didn't see anyone drop it and no one seemed to be looking for it, so finders keepers, right? I figured if I didn't pick it up, someone else would so it might as well be me. I really feel bad though for the person who lost it. That's a nice chunk of change. Since all the food in that are is complimentary, I wonder why they even took out their money.

Baked French Toast

Baked French Toast

Ever had baked French Toast? I never heard of it until yesterday at the Indians game. Since I like French Toast, I gave it a try and YUMMY! I had three helpings of it. Couldn't convince Gerard to taste it though, he missed out on a delicious treat there!

Baseball

We are both excited that the Red Sox and Indians are doing great this year and hoping both our teams win their divisions. The Red Sox lead in walk off homeruns and the Indians are right behind them--makes for an exciting season! We're loving it! Had a great time at the Indians game yesterday--now they have an 8-game winning streak going! Drew Stuggs expresses exactly how I feel about this year's Indians team in this short interview after yesterday's game: Stubbs Praises Raburn, Talks Win Streak.

Dog TV

When I saw Abby actually watching Dog TV when we first put it on yesterday, I was impressed. However, her interest in it has waned. We tried leaving it on for her while we went to the Indians game and when we got back, our goofy TV was on power saver and had switched to the Indians game channel! Have no idea how that happened, but Abby must have wanted to watch the tribe game instead. It's a mystery! I like the relaxing music though and the beautiful scenery. This morning though when we put it on, she showed no interest in it.

Pride and Prejudice

I am currently trying to read this book but find it to be very boring and absolutely hate the writing style. I've heard so many raving about how great it is that I was curious so got it from the library, but it is slow moving because I keep dozing off on it. Maybe it's just I'm strange, but so far, I really hate it. Have you ever read this? What did you think of it.

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What A Dumb Name!

I was looking out my office window today (actually, my boss's window) and saw the Fifth Third Bank building.  I think that is the dumbest name I ever heard for a bank, or any company for that matter.  I could see how it could be a 5th bank or a 3rd bank, but how could it be a Fifth Third Bank?

My boss, being inquisitive and liking trivia put the question to to Yahoo Answers and we found out that Third Bank and Fifth Bank actually merged in 1908 and they kept both names.  You may wonder how they chose Fifth Third rather than Third Fifth.  The answer said "the merger took place during a period when prohibitionist ideas were gaining popularity, it was believed that "Fifth Third" was better than "Third Fifth," which could be construed as a reference to three "fifths" of alcohol."

I would think the executives would be able to think of a brand new name that would be better, wouldn't you?  

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5 Things We Learned This Week (animals, pets, life, food)

Friday Fragments is hosted by Unknown Mama for bloggers to post a list of short things on their minds that aren't really enough for a whole post to give Mrs. 4444 a break for the summer. Here we go:

Turtles

Painting a turtles shell is harmful to them so Never Paint on a Turtle.  I learned this from a turtle blog called "Underneath the Shell" where you can find out more.

Poop Tip

Using a zip-lock plastic bag for the cat and dog poop keeps the stinky smell trapped in the bag. See "Yes, "Pack It Out" of the Wilderness Means Your Poop Bags Too" about being a responsible pet owner. This blogger even picks up others poop!

Weigh In

Our Spunky Doodle went from being obese down to heavy at 11 pounds. At least we are heading in the right direction, but the vet said her ideal weight is 9.5 lbs. I'm already barely feeding her as it is, only about 1/8 cup of dry food per day!  Her blood work came back good and no parasites, yippee!

 

Email Aggravation

When I went to access my Spunky Doodle email account, I got this message:

AT&T Service Suspension Alert
AT&T Yahoo! services suspended

You no longer have access to your AT&T Yahoo! account spunkydoodle@sbcglobal.net because your ATT Yahoo! Internet services have been suspended. If you are under 13 years of age, your parents need to re-approve your access to your email account and other ATT online services. Your parents can log in with their User ID (gkzemek@sbcglobal.net) to give that approval.

This is the one we use for our book blog and which gets requests for book reviews. I was able to get it reset but then a few days later, it came up again and I couldn't get it to reset. I called ATT technical support and after spending at least 20 minutes, mostly on hold, Vanessa said she would escalate it and I should be fixed in 24-48 hours! I told her to change it from a child's account and gave her my birth date instead of my cat's.

This was Wednesday and it is STILL not working!  GRRRR!  The Good news is that it finally was fixed as of Sunday!  Yea!!!

Good Treats for Dogs

According to the summer 2013 issue of "DogFancy's Natural Dog" blueberries and cranberries can benefit dogs. It said 2 or 3 berries are great for a small dog, a 50-pound dog could have a dozen. I'm going to check with our vet though first before letting our dog have any. So far, we only give her a little peanut butter once in a while.

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7 Friday Fragments (news, gifts, plumpy'nut, Bible)

Friday Fragments is hosted my Half-Past Kissin' Time for bloggers to post a list of short things on their minds that aren't really enough for a whole post. Here we go:

plumpy'nut

A child dies every 15 seconds from hunger and related causes, but World Vision is using plumy'nut (a high-protein paste resembling peanut butter) to save starving children. Your gift to help save starving children is multiplied 5 times thanks to grant funds. Watch this video to see how pumpy'nut and antibiotics saved Sabiou:

Musical Chairs

According to ESPN the Magazine, there is a musical chairs championship which had 1,200 participants!

Popes

I never knew a Pope could resign, did you?

Reporters

I think those CNN reporters who stood outside in blizzard conditions deserve a bonus!

Babies

Babies being born are at the lowest level since 1920 according to USA TODAY. Who will support the elderly population?

Valentine's Day

I was really surprised when I got this cute candy special delivery car on WEDNESDAY! I was so happy it wasn't flowers! It has chocolate covered pretzels, white frosted tiny pretzels with sprinkles, gummy hearts and individually wrapped chocolate hearts with a cute dog. We exchanged cards on Thursday and my sweet husband even had the pets give me cards. It's so cute, I love when he does things like that!  Got a cold on Valentine's Day again--had a bad cold our first Valentine's Day too!

Old Age

I've really enjoyed reading the book of Ecclesiastes these last couple weeks. For a good description of old age, read Ecclesiastes 11 12.  (Sorry about that. It's the first 5 verses of Chapter 12.)

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7 Friday Fragments

Friday Fragments is hosted my Half-Past Kissin' Time for bloggers to post a list of short things on their minds that aren't really enough for a whole post. Here we go:

Domestic Violence

According to Sports Illustrated, when a favored home NFL team loses, there is an 8% increase in domestic battery Men take losing hard and take it out on their wives. That is why when Gerard watches his teams, I watch upstairs and he watches in his basement man cave. I know to stay out of his way! (He never hit me, but he does yell a lot and throw things sometimes.)

Mail

As of August 1, the post office will discontinue mail delivery on Saturdays. Who cares?  I think it's nice the mailmen and mailwomen will get Saturdays off.  (I first saw this on Twitter--where I find most of my news!)

Monopoly Tokens

In the voting for replacing one of the Monopoly tokens, a cat will be the new token that replaces the iron which is exactly what I voted for! Hurray! Now if only the political candidates I vote for would win!  Read all about it and see the pictures of all the possible new tokens at Ding Dong The Iron Is Dead over at It's Just Life.

ICE

I think we had the biggest icicle on our street, if not the whole block! I finally knocked this guy down yesterday on my day off without it hitting me in the head!

Metronidazole

After eight days I'm still trying to figure out the best way to squirt the Metronidazole into Spunky Doodle's mouth and I have two days to go yet. Each day got harder, although today did seem to go a little better than yesterday even though I got some on my thumb while trying to hold her. She has to have this because she couldn't keep her soft food down with the powder on it that was first prescribed to get rid of the Giardiasis. I dread going into battle with her every morning at breakfast, but she is very forgiving and still loves me. It tastes very bitter and she absolutely hates it!

Bravery

Abby got a certificate for bravery yesterday when she had her teeth cleaned and had to get a cracked one extracted before it caused more problems. They were amazed at how active she was after waking up from the anesthesia.  Oh, it was quite a day--$930 worth of vet care! We are considering getting pet insurance once again.

Hospital Design of the Year

Help our vet win the 2013 People's Choice Award for Hospital Design of the Year! Go to http://bit.ly/VucnFo and choose BARTELS BUSACK PET HOSPITAL RESORT & SPA for your favorite hospital. Voting ends on March 31st. Thanks for your support!

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6 Things We Learned This Week (news, money)

Friday Fragments is hosted my Half-Past Kissin' Time for bloggers to post a list of short things on their minds that aren't really enough for a whole post. Here we go:

Super Bowl

Wouldn't it be nice to have the day after the Super Bowl off every year? Over at NFL Gridiron Gab's post Would You Want A Day Off After The Super Bowl? I discovered there's a petition to make Super Bowl Monday a national holiday!

Each ref at the Super Bowl makes $1 million!

Too Hot!

According the Sports Illustrated, tennis players at the Australian Open played when the temperature was 140 degrees! I didn't know it got that hot in Australia and can't imagine doing anything outside in that kind of heat. I don't even enjoy playing tennis when it's over 88 degrees!

Omar

Omar Vizquel, former Indian outstanding shortstop has his first coaching job with the L.A. Angels as an infield coach. I sure hope he gets to coach in Cleveland at some point--I think he'd make an excellent coach!

Funniest News of The Week

When playing FreeKibble yesterday, I learned that a cat outperformed professional investment managers by throwing a mouse toy on a grid of numbers representing different companies!

Killer Cats

How many birds do you think were killed in the USA by outdoor cats? In USA TODAY Gerard found this tidbit: Outdoor cats kill 1.4 billion to 3.7 billion birds in the USA each year! Poor birdies. I wonder whose job it is to count. Who is reporting on these killer cats anyway?

Deer

Also in USA TODAY this week, Gerard read that You can get 60 days in jail and a $500 fine if you befriend a deer. How goofy is that? I wonder who came up with this crazy law.

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8 Things We Learned This Week

Friday Fragments is hosted my Half-Past Kissin' Time for bloggers to post a list of short things on their minds that aren't really enough for a whole post. Here we go:

Sisters

Dear Abby just died at age 94 and I heard for the first time that Ann Landers is her twin sister. When we used to get the paper, Dear Abby was one of my favorite columns. Did you know that?

Read it Twice!

Last Saturday when visiting at Legacy Place, I was thrilled to hear that the one lady read and liked My Funny Dad, Harry so much, that she read it twice! You made my day, Ginny!

SHAKA Sign

Do you know what a SHAKA sign is and what it means? I didn't until I read SHAKA, Hand Gesture I Golden Approve over at Sugar's blog. Sugar is a Golden Retriever who lives in Hawaii and is a blogging buddy of ours. It means to hang loose.

New Game

I love games and over at Comedy Plus this week, Sandy shared how to play "Quarters" which is a new game to me. I printed out the directions. All you need to play is dice and some coins--(wouldn't have to be quarters), could even use candy!

Embed Tweets

Attn cats!Sparkle is having a giveaway of Nekoflies (toys) Stop by if you live in US:tinyurl.com/a3k9bff #cats
— Karen Zemek (@kzemek) January 17, 2013

I just learned this week how to embed a tweet when entering Sparkle's contest: click on time of tweet, mouse over your tweet and it brings up an URL for just that tweet with an option to embed it or even email it. 

Passwords

Out of my 50 passwords, only 12 are very strong. I plan to do a post about this soon.

Work

My hubby learned to use a new bagging machine at work. He says it makes the task easier so that's good! I learn new things at work all the time too. It seems there is always something new to learn.

Snowmobile Accident

I always thought it would be great fun to snowmobile until I read about Tom Hedin's terrible snowmobile accident over at It's Just Life, "Reconfiguring? You Betcha!". He and his family could really use our prayers and even some financial support. He has a beautiful family but suffered serious injuries including a brain hemorrhage and many broken bones. He's only been at his new job for six months so does not qualify for FMLA. Please follow the link to learn more and see the family picture.

A Surprise

When I went to link up this post, I saw this Amazon ad for my book come up at the bottom of the screen:

(I wanted to just show the ad but didn't know how to get it so printed the whole screen into paint.)



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