STEAK SANDWICH

    The steak sandwich is by far the Micro Manager's favorite dinner. In the last 10 years she's had very few steak sandwich's and most were poor. 10 or 15 years ago the suppliers started supplying a different cut of meat for steak sandwiches and it wasn't the same. The MM had only a half dozen steak sandwiches in the last 15 years. 

    A few months ago a friend told her that there were excellent steak sandwiches at Leah's bar and grill. The MM just had to go. She went.  I wouldn't go with her. Yes, the steak sandwich was wonderful. However, she didn't want to go back on her own.

    So the other day she said, "Since it's my birthday this month would you go to Leah's with me." I 'd be a heal if I didn't go for her birthday. 

    So a few days ago we went to Leah's .

    Shortly after we got our meal , the waitress came and told us that someone at the bar had paid for our food! What a surprise! Of course, everybody is sworn to secrecy so we didn't know who it was. That's the first time I was ever treated to a free meal! 

   So I guess it was a good thing that I went with the MM for her steak sandwich. 

CONVERSATIONS ON DEMENTIA

       Being in my mid eighties , I find more and more that former colleagues, old friends and relatives have someone in the family with dementia. I can understand that people get  dementia. It's a horrible condition which robs people of normal functions. It's extremely stressful for family as they go through the challenges of looking after one. 

     One thing that bothers me around dementia is the conversations we have or don't have about the condition. Some people are in denial and don't want to talk about the situation. Other people don't want to talk about the dementia patient in front of them as it may be very confusing for the patient. 

    So unless there are situations where relatives and caregivers can communicate without the patient in attendance, much needed communication is not done. 

    You hear from people that they feel so alone as they care for someone with dementia. It's very sad. 

     I have a friend who has yet to tell me that his wife has dementia. This dance has been going on for more than 2 years. I hear bits and pieces from relatives and friends. 

   So my question is, how do we communicate and support the caregivers and family of someone with dementia? How do we talk to someone with dementia when it progresses through it's many stages?

    My father had Parkinson's. I can tell you that regular people have great difficulty when it comes to dealing with somebody who is irrational. 

SO MUCH FOR THE ECLIPSE

      There was great hype about the solar eclipse. With 40% coverage here I knew that there would not be anything spectacular. I wasn't prepared to shoot the sun. I'll leave that to the pros. 

     I did take one shot shortly after 11:00 AM . and one at the height of the eclipse. Just looking out the window there was not much less light. the camera shows things a little darker. 

     Don't go by my times on the camera. The first shot is about 11:00 AM. the second shot is about 1:00 Pm. 

     So there wasn't a lot of hoopla at my place. 

2000 POSTS

      I just happened to notice a few days ago that the counter was on 2000 posts. I don't post every day. I make about 120 to 150 posts a year so it takes along time to get to 2000.

     I try to write about topics rather than personal daily events. Yes, I did say that I was a bit of a bumbler and I had some adventures to write about. The adventures have been fun for me to recount. 

     I also notice that I should change some of the things in my introduction as they no longer apply.

     I started Hiawatha House in 2008 when my daughter set up the basics of the blog. She left town the next day.  I spent the next year with Blogging for Dummies trying to set up other things on Hiawatha house. 

    I have enjoyed writing Hiawatha House. One thing I did not realize is that I would make many very good friends. I'm always saddened when a good blogger disappears. There is a tremendous amount that one learns from other bloggers. 

   I will keep on writing and visiting. 

   Well, here I was in 2008!

   

What else is there to do but bird?

                                A good supper

                       I think this was about 2022. 

YES, IT SNOWED TODAY

          When I woke up this morning it seemed brighter than usual. It had snowed overnight so I was waking up to a world of white. We probably had about 2 cm of snow on the ground. 

          It s normal to get snow at this time of year and sometimes we can get a storm with lots of snow. 

          It was foggy this morning so it was a very dull day. 

         However, my blue bells are coming up.

APRIL FOOLS

       The origin of April Fools Day is somewhat unclear. The day and celebration seem to have originated in various places and at various times. None of these origins are backed up by much evidence. 

      Many famous tricks and hoaxes have been done and then April Fools is said to let the person or people know that they have been tricked. The media has long had humor from April Fools day.

      Schools have had their fair share of good April Fool's tricks. I went to a one room country school from 1945 to 1954. It was standard procedure that we try to get something over on the teacher. A hand bell was used to call students to class in the morning and after breaks like recess and noon hour. So in many of these schools the gong was taken out of the  bell and when the teacher went out to shake the bell vigorously, nothing happened. Usually we were nearby so that we could see the teacher's reaction. We stood around for a minute as if we weren't going in the school and then everybody said April Fools. We weren't that smart as we did this every year.

     The past seven days the Micro Manager has not been in good health. Somehow she came down with a stomach ailment that produced diarrhea for 4 days and then another two days to reach normal. Now she kept on a liquid diet for four days and then another two days of being careful what she ate. By days 5 and 6 she was very tired from lack of regular food. So she usually goes to the Casino for breakfast or lunch and she was determined to go. I said no way but she doesn't listen to me. My daughter said be careful and stay away from big heavy meals. 

    So About 11:30 yesterday morning the Micro Manager had her coat ready. She was going out for lunch no matter what. She thoroughly  enjoyed a steak sandwich. 

   So this morning , a while after breakfast she said, "Guess what . I've got diarrhea again." She quickly said April Fools before I jumped through the roof.

    It' been a long time since there was a good April Fool's trick was played around here. 

ANOTHER CALL CENTER RANT

        I have ranted about my frustrations with call centers several times on this blog. Today, I had another very unpleasant experience with a call center.

        We had received a letter a few days ago from the bank telling us if we didn't want a certain investment to roll over automatically that we should phone a certain number to tell them not to roll the investment over. 

       The Micro Manager was doing that piece of business this morning. I was busy stretching but I could hear the conversation as the speaker phone was on. They asked for a couple of the usual identity questions . Then they kept going on. I came into the office to pay more attention and finally I told the micro Manager that these questions were unnecessary as far as identity was concerned . Oh yes they said we are updating our information and continued with pressure. They asked the Micro Manager's age. They already had her birth date. When they asked if she was a Canadian citizen and if she filed income tax in Canada , that was the end. 

     I felt that they were going on a fishing expedition to get information to sell me more product. It felt creepy. I began to think that they were scammers.  They really put the pressure on for answers to the last questions but we stuck to our guns and said no way. 

     So, unless we answered the questions , they were not going to do the piece of business we were asking for. So the piece of business was not done and we are contacting the local bank manager. 

    I'm thinking about the part on the phone introduction that says "This call may be monitored." I hope it was monitored