Word of the Day

Pleather - Plastic leather.

On the Road Again - Day 4

We left Des Moines at around 9 AM. The weather started off cloudy. We could see that it had rained during the night while we slept. As we headed north, we could see the sky clearing. It was another perfect day for driving.

Since the weather was so nice, my folks decided to continue on following us all the way to The Lake instead of heading off on their own to spend the night at their home in Eau Claire. We stopped in Faribault to enjoy a Chinese buffet. Very good! And then it was on to The Lake after a quick stop to pick up a few groceries. We arrived at The Lake at around 5 PM.

Ladybugs Everywhere!

Ladybug, ladybug fly away home! Every year we have to deal with the little pests. They aren't real ladybugs. They're Japanese beetles. And they bite. And they make a messy stain if you squish them. We decided to deal with them tomorrow.

HTP got the TV up working with the satellite. We weren't so lucky with the computers. While I do have computer...kinda (dial-up and I may be tying up someone else's line to do this)...when things go wrong they do. Our DSL isn't working and no-one can call us except on our cell which charges three times as much because although there are two close cell towers they aren't our company's cell towers so we roam up here in paradise. When they hooked up our DSL they screwed up our phone and the DSL won't work because...they screwed up our phone. I knew something was odd when I came in to find our burglar alarm frantically signaling that all was not well. No burglars, no break in. The system just couldn't call itself because somehow our phone number won't receive calls. I can call out but no-one can call in...at least not at our number. I found this out when we called #1 son and he told us that his caller-ID came up with a "funny" number when we called. And then to check it out we had him call us using our phone number and...nothing. But...we got the number from #1 son on his caller-ID and then my Dad called that number. It rang on our phone and some other poor guy's house west of town. We seem to be sharing a phone number from some other poor guy in town who I've never met for those incoming calls. Oh well, CenturyTel promised to fix things. Someone crossed the wrong wires somewhere while they were trying to hook up the DSL.

We're here in Wisconsin. Everything and everyone is fine. I can see on trillium blooming in the woods. The leaves are just starting to bud out. My tulips and daffodils are blooming. I'm amazed at the icicle pansies and johnny jump-ups that have continued to blossom since I planted them two years ago. They've seeded themselves and are coming up in other places too. I'll have to dig them out where I don't want them and put them in better locations. That which is growing where you don't want it to grow becomes a weed. Our road hasn't washed out! The blacktop solution fixed the annual washout problem for this year at least.

Murphyism of the Day

Avery's Observation

It does not matter if you fall down as long as you pick up something from the floor while you get up.