Going fishing, a woozy head, a humble apology & what happened Desi?

Friday morning I awoke early and made a cup of coffee, then got right to work installing that new toilet seat I bought on Thursday, so I could do a quick photo-blog about it.

In hindsight (no pun intended) I'd like to offer an apology for posting a blog yesterday about my new toilet seat.  I have better things to write about and ruminate on.  It's just been something I've been after myself to do for a couple years, and was glad I finally got around to getting it done.  But I didn't need to write a blog about it for crying out loud, who wants to see my throne anyway?   So... I'm sorry.

It wasn't too soon after posting it, I was sitting in front of my tv and eating my breakfast and watching a show about the Amish, my left temple & eyeball began to build with pressure and pain.  Left me with no choice but to head into the bedroom, shut the door and lie down until noon.  I cannot shake the symptoms of this long covid.  It flares up every day, sometimes in the eyes, sometimes in the sinuses and mouth, and when it does it makes it difficult to eat or drink anything besides warm coffee.   

I should be sorry for sharing all that too, but truthfully I'm not.  I only share this stuff on my blog or with one person, my friend Diana.  It's not as awful as it was 2 years ago, but it has still put a halt to normal, everyday living.  

After the head stuff died down somewhat, I put on my shoes and combed my hair and made a beeline for the door.  We're supposed to get a couple inches of the white stuff Sunday night, but on Friday it was 60F outside with big 50 mph winds and I wanted to be a part of it.  I headed up the street to the church for the start of this seasons Fish Fry, but  it was only 2pm and they didn't open their doors until 4, so I got this slab of fish at the deli instead.  Doesn't it look good?  It was sizzling in the container on my walk home.

Finally, I wanted to share this:

Why does this make me sad?  This is a recent photo of Lucie Arnaz hugging her brother Desi Arnaz Jr.  The caption said it was a "rare" public appearance by Desi.   

Lucie was born in June 1951, making her 74 years old.  Desi was born in January 1953, making him 73.  I don't know what Desi's been up to, but he looks like a hermit.

I think this struck a nerve with me because just recently, a couple weeks ago, I began watching Here's Lucy on the Roku Channel.  Do you remember this show?   It aired Monday nights at 9pm on CBS, from 1968 to 1974.

It starred a wailing fiftysomething Lucy, a bellowing sixtysomething Gale Gordon, and Lucy's smirking, eye rolling kids Desi & Lucie as Craig & Kim Carter.  Sometimes the kids came across a bit square--"My brother owns all your records, Mr. Wayne Newton!"  but they usually played their rebellious teen parts well.

When I was a kid, I was fascinated with this pair--I knew they were real-life siblings and thought they were groovy.  I watched the show (when I could) just to see them.  Sometimes it would just be Mom & myself still up, and she'd say "Honey, isn't there anything else on tv?  That broad (Lucy) gives me a headache."   But sometimes we'd talk about Lucy's kids, and wonder about their famous lives.  

I don't know where I'm going here... it just makes me sad to see Desi looking so alone, and so old.  I'm getting my first social security check this week and that's nice.  But I'm getting old too, and that's not so great.  At the risk of sounding mean, I don't want to look as old as Desi here in a few years time.  I am definitely never growing a beard.

Doug the Handyman at your service

The other day, my blogger friend Margaret posted a picture of her guy John installing a new thermostat in her refrigerator and it inspired me to be a handyman too.

For the last couple years I've been wanting to replace my toilet seat.  You can't tell from the photo above, the lid is closed--but the seat is a real mess.  

DO NOT USE CLOROX BLEACH WIPES ON PAINTED WOODEN TOILET SEATS.

Over the past 3-4 years, the bleach from those wipes ate into the white enamel, causing streaks and splotches.  It gave the appearance of being an unclean seat.  

I walked up the street to my local hardware store (and was woozy and soaked when I arrived, I think I'm still recovering from that flu last week) and was surprised at the number of toilet seats they had.  Plastic, wood, soft close, padded, round, elongated.  Those padded seats looked nice, but I worked in Home Improvements in the 1980s, and padded toilet seats never seemed to last long.  

Also, I need the ability to stand on the lid if need be, to hang Damp-Rid bags in my bathroom ceiling in the summer.  Seats ranged from $14.95 to $32.95, mine cost $25.00.   I thought they'd be more.

Ta-da!  To be honest, I had a heck of a time removing the bolts from the old one, you definitely need a wrench for both the removal and installation.  But this new seat fits like a charm and now I won't have to go into a frenzied explanation if a houseguest asks to use my powder room.   

My work for the day is done, think I'll go make a late breakfast.  🛠

Kuhn's before & after--and a little guilt, and a little rage

The picture on the top is my home away from home, Kuhn's Supermarket.  It's your average 1960's-sized supermarket, and has always suited me just fine.  I've been shopping there 35 years.

The bottom photo (I took this Saturday) shows the NEW Kuhn's they're nearing completion of, and it's MAMMOTH.  It's the size of 3 of the old Kuhn's lined up next to one another, and is slated to open this summer.  When I walked to the store on Saturday and saw Mike (the manager) I expressed my surprise and asked what they intend to put in there.  One of the cashiers said "We're going to have our own bakery, pizza shop and a big hot foods station, right Mike?"  He said yes, and a few more surprises.

I'm excited, but a little nervous too.  I know life is all about progress, but do we really need a superstore in my little neighborhood?  My belly may be rounder than average, but there's only so much it can hold.  I'd love to know what they're going to do with the original store.  More to come... stay tuned.

This may sound silly or dumb, but I did something the last two nights and I don't feel great about it.  When it comes to tv, I watch the Roku Channel & Peacock for free.  I watch HBO Max & Paramount Plus, which I pay for.

I pay an annual amount of  $139.00 a year for Paramount ad-free, and $159.00 a year for HBO Max ad-free.  They are both coming up for their yearly renewal in March.

So, two nights ago I'm looking around for something new to watch on HBO Max, and wasn't that impressed.  Curious, I went to my Accounts page, than my subscription page and saw a "Cancel Subscription" button.  Wonder what would happen if I clicked it?  So I did.

Right away I got a "Don't Go" pop-up, and an offer of  $40 off my next renewal on March 21.  I never had any intention of canceling, I was just playing around.  But sure, I'll take a $40 discount.

So last night, I'm sitting here watching Paramount Plus and thinking "I wonder if I could do that again?" and went to my Paramount subscription page, saw my annual payment was due March 3 and clicked 'Cancel Subscription'.  I got this.

I hit "Redeem Offer" and just like that, my annual price of $139.00 dropped to $69.00 on my billing page.  

(If you subscribe to HBO Max or Paramount, and pay an annual amount like I do... you might want to check this out, and save yourself a few bucks too.)

The thing is, I wasn't looking to save and wasn't planning to cancel either.  I like both services very much and feel I get my money's worth (especially as I don't have to sit thru any ads).  But it was my understanding Paramount Plus was underwater and here I am, squeezing them further?  They're just a big corporation, right?  I still feel guilty.

Finally, is anyone using TurboTax Online to do their taxes?  I'm ready to hurt somebody.  I get on there to do my taxes, I keep getting interrupted with "Do you want  Expert Help?  Say the word!"    

After completing the Income portion of my taxes (where they graciously offered to download my investment documents from Vanguard and I accepted)  I kept getting "Before we can proceed, you need to review."   I checked the various numbers I'd entered with the numbers on the forms they downloaded, they all matched up.  But every time I hit proceed, I got "Unable to continue, you need to review."

Finally an emoji of an Asian woman appeared, saying "Expert help is here!  Click on me to take over for $59.95!"  NO THANK YOU, ASIAN LADY.  I gave up and signed off, and went to bed.

As I lay there in the darkness, I wondered if it was something on their end, not mine.  I got back up, looked at the online document and what they downloaded.  That's when I noticed Turbotax chopped off the "CO" in the payer name.

VANGUARD FIDUCIARY TRUST CO  (the Payer Name on my investment form)

VANGUARD FIDUCIARY TRUST        (the Payer Name that Turbotax downloaded)

I added "CO" to the Payer Name they downloaded to my tax form, hit enter--and sure enough, the "review" box disappeared. So, they wanted me to pay them an additional $59.95 to locate THEIR typographical error??

If that Asian lady emoji had a neck, I'd strangle it--just kidding!  Okay, deep breath... relax... back to my taxes.