New Vocabulary

Hello,

I have been telling people that the car is half fixed because we decided not to do the shocks and/or struts. Those two parts were not in such bad shape. Then usually someone will ask what was fixed. I knew that it was something with the front brakes as well as something else I could not name. Now I know it included the sway bar links. I consider my auto vocabulary increased. It was especially helpful when I looked it up to see just what that was. The mechanic had told Leroy that I could be in trouble if I had a collision. I am happy to have it fixed. I will say that the drive to work was much quieter than it had been. It is nice that noise tells us something about the condition of the machine.

We are still looking, but not in a serious rush, for a different car. When the right item comes along we will be ready to make that purchase. Does intuition work when making such a large expenditure?

I have found some new exercises for stretching and strengthening my body. If I actually do these, it would be an improvement for my body. I am also toying with the idea of increasing my vocabulary from time to time to stretch and strengthen my brain. Can I stick with either of these resolves?

Doing yoga and tai chi once a week is good, but I suspect that there should be more time spent. I liked it when we lived in Chariton and I did yoga and tai chi three times a week with a group. People in Ely would like it more, but it does not fit into my schedule to do that. I am not going to drive there anymore than I already do in a week.

At the library, I will be doing one yoga session for children and their care givers. I have been reading about yoga and children. I did acquire some new learning for that, although it was not vocabulary. Apparently at age seven we have our maximum flexibility. After that how we move in our daily life starts to set our muscles. It is not age that makes the changes. Children start sitting more after that age altering posture over time.

Paula

Looking Forward

Hello,

Leroy made an appointment with the second opinion mechanic to get about half of the auto work done. The rest is not so pressing. Hopefully this will take away the banging sound that I had heard when going over a bump. I have enjoyed driving the newer car.  Improvements are noticeable. We will start looking for a replacement for the older vehicle with no hurry to get it done. We will hopefully find just the right possibility.

I told people at Tai Chi about our upcoming winter travel. They all thought it was great and cheered us on.

Miriam also expressed delight that we were venturing forth as she informed me that we should spend our money rather than save it for them to inherit. I also told people at work about my feelings about spending all this money. The response was much the same with someone commenting that we lived very simply and we could splurge once in a while. There was also a remark about how we cannot take it with us when we die we so should enjoy something now.

So far no one has expressed any concern that it is a bad idea, except me. I am swayed by public opinion; consequently I am coming around to the idea that it is an ok thing to do. Certainly after spending all this money I should just enjoy and take pleasure in the result. In the last ten years I have only left the country twice and that was for trips to Kenya. Leroy only left once. I guess we can take another bigger trip. Although we both want to go back to Slovakia, here we are going off to another place. We are doing this because of traveling with friends. This will be a new experience. As we have usually traveled alone or with family.

I remember doing some personality studies and the person leading it commented that I have a hard time having a good time. Is that what all this about?

Paula

Money In, Money Out

Hello,

Our incomes are quite adequate for us to live comfortably as we do. We can even share a bit of this wealth. We are probably at a point in our lives where our expenses, with no children dependent on us, allow us to be extravagant.  With the urging of some friends, Leroy and I have signed on for a Mediterranean cruise in January. Our past travels have been on the edge of respectability with an eye on expense at all times. There are two couples with whom we enjoy spending time. We look forward to that part of the experience. It requires more money than we have ever spent on something that is so frivolous, just for ourselves. I am working to wrap my brain and emotions around this commitment. It feels like stepping off the edge into the unknown.

This morning Leroy took my car to a mechanic to get a repair estimate for the hitting bottom clang that happens when I go over serious bumps. Their suggestion of expenditure came back just above that dollar amount that we had discussed not going beyond. Now we have to consider is repair what is best? Or should we just get a different car? After a bit of discussion, we have decided to get a second opinion as more than one person recommended a mechanic. The place where Leroy took it said that it was not dangerous to drive so he told them we will “think” about it for a while.

Buying another car is a big deal for us to tackle so we are learning more to getting it fixed and looking for a not to be missed special of some type or another on a different car.

We both liked living in Slovakia where we could live quite fine without a car dragging us down with responsibility. I suppose a solution would be to move to a large city in this country that has excellent public transportation. If I were a rich person I would fund public transportation in style where we wanted to live as very large cities do not attract me.

Paula

Community Garden

Hello,

Right now most of community garden is a big thriving weed patch. There are plants in there that we care about, but you have to know what you are looking for to find them and realize that they are important. I weeded a bit this morning. Hopefully I saved tomatillos and not weeds, but it is a guess since I have only seen them once about four years ago.

Daughter Miriam grew them in her garden and declared them a weed when they came back in abundance the following year. We are taking a chance, but we are used to pulling so many weeds that we figure they can just join the crowd.

Last night Leroy and I got rid of three vines by the house that our MN visitors declared a weed. I had kept it alive because it grew in a place I thought I had planted something viable. We also weeded around the house. Then we tackled the stuff growing in the sidewalk cracks. Is all this weeding after guests have gone making true that old saying about “closing the barn door after the horse is gone”?

This afternoon Leroy and I are traveling to a wedding in Burlington. It is to be outside and we are really in a quandary about what to wear. It is quite cool here, only in the high 60’s. There, it is to be 74 which in our minds seems much warmer. I had planned on wearing a summer dress, but I am tending to put that plan aside. The reception is indoors, but often the air conditioning is set so low that I am cold. So I probably should dress warmly. Besides warmth we must also consider what fashion standard we need to meet. As the wedding is outdoors, does that mean casual? It is beyond our experience to know how to dress.

Paula

Biking and Rain

Hello,

I rode my bike 12 miles to work on a weekday which I have never done. I left home in spite of the threatening clouds. The forecast was for rain after I would get to the library. I should be spared getting wet. The rain, supposedly, would be done so that I could travel home with a group from church. This group was meeting on the edge of my city and traveling down on that great bike trail that I use to get to work.

I headed off on my bike with a change of clothes, lunch, and enough snacks to fortify my ride home packed in my bag. About two miles from home the clouds looked worse, but I still kept going hoping those weather people have a grasp of reality. I rode past a place on the trail that had obviously been rained on just a short time before my arrival. About three miles later there was another mile segment that had been rained on just ahead of my presence. Up front, the clouds were starting to look quite dark. I felt tired but did not dare slack off the pace if I wanted to miss the rain. It was wonderful to get to the library without having rain fall on me.

Probably about an hour after I got there someone reported that it was starting to rain. I put my bike in the storage room along with various other items. That place is always so full of this and that. I was forced to move a few things to make my bike fit.

As the day went on the rain came and went with a certain amount of regularity. My heart would lurch to see it falling and then perk up again when it quit. About an hour before I expected to leave, Leroy called to say that he was the only person at the bike ride meeting point. It had rained on him two separate times in that three mile trip. After some discussion he decided to bike home in the light rain, get in the car, and rescue me.

It was still raining a bit when he arrived to take me home. I was relieved to see him. We never would have made it home dry in any sense. Also it was so dark at that point that it would not have been my ideal biking experience. Leroy has better bike lights than I do.

Paula

Guests: Invited and Uninvited

Hello,

Just a short note before I ride my bike to work. I am counting on the prediction of 40% chance of rain to be slight.

We had a wonderful overnight visit with our invited MN friends. We talked almost nonstop, laughed, and shared. It was an uplifting time indeed. What would the world be like without friends? Rather dim and dull. Getting from one day to the next would be a plodding affair.

This morning I went out early to water the plants. The lilies had buds bitten off. And the broccoli plant was seriously diminished. My friend who has experience with this type of scavenging pronounced it deer. I have never seen a deer around here, but who knows who visits under the cover of darkness. This is certainly done by something taller than a rabbit and not invited by me. Perhaps the netting needs to go back up and be a little taller if we can manage. It seemed the leaves where being stifled by the net as they stretched up to gather the sun to their souls. So we took it off hoping the marauders were small and done eating.

I like to see the deer, but we can quickly change our relationship depending on how they browse. Feelings of admiration turn to aversion in a munch.

Paula

New Phone Number

Hello,

Our new phone box came for Ooma which is our internet phone provider. Last week, Leroy had cleaned the frig causing our former box to fall on the floor and break. Even though I had considered not having a home phone I did miss it. Almost no one calls us for any reason so it is not missed too much, except when my phone battery needed to be charged. Then I felt like I was not a part of the modern age just in case someone might like to contact me. How did people live comfortably without phones?

The new box means that we have a new phone number. The biggest stretch is that I need to memorize a new number. This number looks easy. Do you think I will know which is old and which is new when sorting through the possibilities in my brain? It might all get mixed up with some old or new password.

I also had to put a new message on the answering machine. That was also a brain stretch as I had not done that for about five years. I like to have a message with our name on it. The last name is the only one I use. I make calls for overdue books at the library. I find I always wonder if I have the right place if there is no name or if that name is different than the one on my records. Then there are some people who have full mail boxes so I cannot leave a message. That requires much more time making repeated calls.

Now we need to think of all the places that have this phone number such as the doctor and dentist. Much interchange has been shifted to the online possibility so it would not matter for many business places such as our bank, financial, or insurance people. It would be nice to send a message to all of them with that new number.

I surprised Leroy with a Father’s Day gift. I always said that we did not need gifts on Mother’s or Father’s day because we were not the parents of each other. I saw a bike tool set that I got. His old one that he still intends to fix came apart from the vibrations as he rides. He had been quite unhappy about that. Feeling a little unprepared as he rides because you never know what he might need.

Paula