title explained

Onward and upward! something that you say in order to encourage someone to forget an unpleasant experience or failure and to think about the future instead and move forward.

My e-mail: jjmiller6213@comcast.net

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

~~There Will Be A Test Later~~

Today's high temperature was: 20
Sunny
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It was the crack of dawn--well, 8:00, and the phone woke me up.  It was Dar.

"Is your power out?" I could hear the panic in her voice.
"Let me check."  I looked at my clock.  "No--everything seems to be working here."
"My power just went out...in the whole house!"
I got up and looked out the window to make sure her place wasn't on fire.....
"Tell me what you were doing when the power went out."
"I was drying my hair in the bathroom...and the dryer just quit working."
"Did it get overheated?"
"I don't know--it smelled kind of funny."
"Okay--go out in your kitchen and see if you have power there."
"OH MY GOSH--what am I going to do?  My hair is sticking straight up!"
"Are you in the kitchen?"
"No--okay, I'm walking.  Okay, I'm here--what do you want me to do?"
"See if your lights work."
"Yes...they do.  Now--this is strange. "
"Is the refrigerator working?"
"I think so...the light came on when I opened the door."
"Okay--what about in your living room.  See if the lamps work."
"Yes--the lamps work, but my TV won't come on."
"Okay.  Go back into the bathroom."
"I'm walking....okay, I'm here."
"The outlet you had your dryer plugged into...."
"Okay, just a minute.  Yes, I've got the dryer plugged back in."
"No!  Unplug the hair dryer from the plug."
"Okay--I thought you said to plug it in."
"Dar--you aren't listening because you are upset.  Take a deep breath--calm down and we will take this one step at a time."
"Ah...okay."
"Look at the outlet where you had the dryer plugged into."
"You mean the switch plate?"
"The outlet--the plug, where the dryer was plugged into."
"Okay---I'm looking."
"Does it have another plug-in place on that same....ah...switch plate?"
"Yes.  Just below the first plug place is another one--each of them have two holes--like where you plug things in."
"Great!  Now between those two plug-in places, is there two flat sort of buttons?"
"Yes...one is white and one is red."
"Great!  Is the red one sort of sticking out--not flat against the.....ah switch plate, button sticking out a bit?"
"Yes."
"Okay, push it back in so it is flat like the white one."
"Okay--it clicked when I pushed it in...is that okay?"
"Yes--that is perfect."
"Thanks.  I'm going to get the hair dryer again........"
"WAIT!"

"Oh--what?  I plugged the dryer in and turned it on and it won't start and that red button is sticking out again."
"Throw the damn hair dryer in the trash!  It's fried!   Every time you plug it in, it will trip that button and stop anything connected to that electrical line from working."
"Well-what do I do now?"
"Push the reset.....ah the red button back in.  Go get something else...like a small lamp or ...whatever to plug in and see if it works."
"I have a curling iron...would that work?"
"Sure--plug it in and see if it comes on."
"I did, but the red light isn't coming on."
"Did you push in the red button on the...switch plate?"
"Oh--okay..I did now and the light came on the curling iron!  YAY!"
"Okay--you're all set."
"I'm in the living room...guess what..."
"Your TV is working--right?"
"Yeah--it is.  Why did this happen?"
"Do you really want to know?"
"Yeah...so if it happens again I will know what to do."
"Okay--any plug in your bathroom or kitchen that is near a water source, by law, has to have a reset button, so that if it gets wet, it will disconnect the electricity running to that plug.  Your TV went off because it must be on the same electrical line as your bathroom plug.  Your hair dryer malfunctioned, or over heated, or shorted out because something is wrong with it.  That tripped the reset button in that plug.  That little red button pops out to indicate that the electricity has been cut off--so you won't get a shock or a fire.  You have to push it back in to get the electricity running to that line again."
"Oh my gosh...hmmmm...I have a plug in my kitchen that won't work...I wonder.      Guess what--the red flat button is sticking out!  Mm--there I just pushed it in."
"Well, when you have a chance, plug something into THAT plug and see if it now works.  Do you want me to bring over my hair dryer?"
"No.  I have another one--in the other bathroom.  Thanks."  <click>

=====================================

I got busy after that--did the laundry and played with my new toy.




 as you can tell--I like a little bread with my butter.


When I was growing up, these are the kind of Woodpecker's we had--Red-Headed--now they seem to have become rare--although Susan and Chuck said they have one that appears occasionally, and my friend Becky, got a photo of one today at her feeders.  I haven't seen one in years--this is a Google Image.


These are the kind I get at my feeders
The Downy and the Red Bellied Ladder Backs.


Late this afternoon, I made the Tuna-Mac casserole that I like so well--which amazes me because I don't really care for Tuna Fish.  I had a chunk for supper and 6 more suppers left over.  This freezes and re-heats so well.



Can you believe the price of groceries?  The price of meat?  I got a chuck roast the other day--2 pounds at $5 something a pound!  EGAD!!  I cut it in half and cooked half all day in the Crock Pot and put in some potatoes/carrots/onions and I have had two meals from it and two in the freezer, plus the other half in the freezer--so it won't have cost too much when I  have used it all.  I do not know how families can afford to eat!!!.
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Okay, today's test.  If you read this post--it is MANDATORY that you leave a comment.  Just your name and City and State is okay, but I have readers on here from Oklahoma and Kansas and other places and you never comment so I have no idea who you are!!!  

You see--over on the right side-bar there is a list of places from where people drop in--but no names--IT DRIVES ME NUTZ wondering who you all are.  You don't have to have a blog to leave your name and City/State in the comment. 

So please--tell me who and where you are from?  thanks!!









`

28 comments:

  1. My name is Cheyenne and I live in the Lehigh Valley in Pennsylvania. Usually the city that shows up is Schnecksville. I don't live there, that is where my ISP resides; it is a few miles north of where I live.

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  2. Good Morning from cold Cape Cod!! You already know who I am, but I'm introducing myself to Cheyenne and saying welcome.
    Bread and your cooking looks so good, Judy, and really a thrifty way of having some yummy things waiting in the freezer. I try to do that too. Food is so expensive....much more so here as everything trucked over the bridge to us is so much more pricey, and I shop at a small family owned market rather than drive to the big stores often. When I need a lot of staples or am visiting little Teddy and family, I will make a stop at the big box but not often. Even though the prices are higher at the little mkt, I spend less because there are not as many choices. My rationale, anyway.
    Those calls and visits with Dar are such great entertainment....and you capture the moments just right ....LOL Hope the car is all done and spiffy again.

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  3. Hey, there. I'm Cari from Sun City Az.


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  4. Hello, I'm Ann from Illinois. So glad I found your blog. Really enjoy your every day down to earth comments, observations. Makes me feel like I am listening to a friend describing her adventures. I am also a widow now, seven months. It encourages me to read that others continue on with their now so very altered lives. Thanks for writing your blog!

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  5. Hi Judy. I am Vickie from Oklahoma City. I love your blog. I never leave a comment because I am kind of shy. Now that sounds silly!

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  6. You already know me but for the others I'm Jean from Grand Rapids, MI and I also blog.

    Judy, I get all three of those woodpeckers coming to my feeders. The large red-headed woodpeckers only come if I have a certain kind of seed block out.

    Dar is very entertaining and your casserole looks great. I love tuna but rarely fix it. I get sticker shock each time I go to the grocery store lately!

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  7. You and I comment ofen
    and this one lives at the edge of the woods
    in Northern, Tenn. A dream that came true.
    The tuna dish - have not made in years and
    use to make it when children were small.
    I am making a meat loaf today
    a little different with 1/2 ground turkey and 1/2 ground beef
    instead of crackers adding ground oats :)
    something I read somewhere :)
    Snow due today :)

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  8. Carrie, Portland, ME : )

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  9. Hi, I'm Margie and live in Texarkana, AR but I think it comes into your list as Texarkana, TX. I have been reading you since your other blog. It amazes me how much you do for yourself, it inspires me. Thanks for writing.

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  10. Good morning! I'm Charlotte, aka lil red hen, from Arkansas. First thing, almost every morning, I check in with you. You're like a good neighbor!

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  11. The price of groceries drives me crazy! I buy store brands whenever I can, use coupons when I can get them, don't live on steak every night and still spend at the minimum of $100 every week for just the two of us!
    Oh yeah, Jeanette from Canton MI in case you didn't already know that!

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  12. Carly from up here in the frozen north (Winnipeg, MB Canada). Luv your blog. Hope ur enjoying the Olympics as much as me.

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  13. Karen - Jersey Village, Texas (suburb of Houston)! But I think you know that!

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  14. Lisa from Indy. But you know that!

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  15. Lisa from Indy. But you know that!

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  16. Debra from Los Angeles. Have been reading you for years and originally came to your blog via Surviving Middle-Aged Widowhood, which is now inactive.

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  17. Love the bread machine! Enjoy the sunshine today!

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  18. I am reading your Tuesday blog on Wednesday. This is Judy in Sarasota, Florida but I am a snowbird and spend 4 months here and the rest of the time in Ottawa, Ontario Canada. I also go on cruises. 2014 I will have almost 50 days on ships.

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  19. Wow - you sure got a lot of comments. Now you know who the lurkers are. LOL
    But, hopefully in the future they'll be leaving more comments.

    Mine shows up as Keystone Heights for some reason, but I figure you figured that out.

    Oh Law (as my grandmother used to say) price of groceries? Out of sight. I try very hard to buy what's on sale especially the bogo's.

    That DAR!! Gotta love that girl. And, God bless you for always helping her out.

    xoxo

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  20. I'm your old pal Balisha from N. Illinois.
    I enjoy your posts about "Conversations with Dar."

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  21. Good afternoon! I am Nancy from a suburb of MN. I check your blog out every day, yours and One Woman's Journey. I mean you two are a ritual every day. One I read for wisdom and one for entertainment. Love your sense of humor. Guess you can call me a lurker also. Thanks for sharing your life. You're like a fun relative I wish I had. :)

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  22. Marlyn from Hamilton, Michigan. Love reading your blog-do not write one, guess that makes me a lurker. Winter in West Michigan has been treacherous with record high levels of snow. We are on week two of our Florida stay of 6 weeks. 80 temps are wonderful.

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  23. Another Canadian lurker here! My name is Joan (aka AJ) and I live in Kingston, Ontario. I have followed your blog for a long time (including your previous site). I very much enjoy your posts and writing style. I too am shy about posting comments. In fact, this is the first time I've posted a comment on a blog! Thank you for sharing your life journey.

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  24. Gosh, I'm a little late to the party, but you know me! Marla from Indiana :)

    Now, about woodpeckers. When I was married, my husband worked for a Doctor who bought an old antebellum style mansion that sat in the middle of a woods, bordered by a creek. He cleared a bit of the land and added on a Great Room with a huge stone fireplace.

    Apparently he displaced a woodpecker, because that sucker would 'tap' on the metal piece that surrounded the top of the new chimney. DROVE.THEM.NUTS.

    I do love woodpeckers though, the way they travel 'around' a tree, how single minded they are, etc.

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  25. Julie from Cape Cod. Came here over a year ago from Marcia's blog.

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  26. Hey, Judy. It's me, Bella from Mechanicsville, VA. I love all the comments above. I read your blog for all those reasons: wisdom, entertainment, inspiration and the laugh-out-loud moments with your friends and your adventures in home maintenance.

    The price of food has skyrocketed and it's scary. I, too, wanted a chuck roast this week. It was $5.98 a pound at Wallmart. It was $18 for a three pound roast. I just wanted to make vegetable beef soup - pretty expensive soup. I remembered I had a roast in the freezer and used that one. When you're using such an expensive cut of meat you feel like you better make sure your soup is worthy of it. :)


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