What are the odds.

The repair guy for the fridge came yesterday around 4.  He was sure he had the right part this time.  He had spend 30 minutes on the phone with LG explaining the situation.  They assured him this part (the 4th one) was the right one.

He entered my kitchen and pulled the fridge out and then started to unscrew the back panel.  I whispered to my husband, "So far, so good!"

And then there was a whole lot of quiet.

Finally I heard him talking on his phone to his boss ... "Did you get the picture I sent?  Yea, I don't know what to tell you.  I talked with them at length about this."  The conversation went on a bit more.

But I knew - it would not be fixed.  Not now!  Not Ever!

I give BGE Home (our appliance repair vendor) credit.  They tried.  They were so apologetic.  They admitted they could not fix our fridge.  They suggested that if we called LG and have their technician come out - BGE Home would pay the cost of the labor and repair whether or not LG could fix it.  The technician also suggested that when some imports (LG is Korean) change their product line they also stop producing replacement parts for previous models.  Then the parts become impossible to find.  Sounds like us, doesn't it.

We decided to cut our losses.  

A new GE refrigerator will be delivered to us on Wednesday.

Five more days of buying ice every day and eating strangely because I can't really cook.

But the end is coming.
And if when the new unit fails (which with our track record is entirely possible)
 it is American made, so parts are available.

Remember folks,
DO NOT BUY LG!

Maybe today

.... the saga of the fridge!

What can I say.

Still not working. 

Today is day 22 of living in the 19th century (that is an exaggeration of course, because I do have air conditioning and indoor plumbing. haha!)

Readers who saw my post on June 15 know the story of an expensive fancy fridge that is only 19 months old and died on June 1st.

Since that time - the repair vendor has tried 3 times to get the correct part - each time the wrong part as sent.  Supervisory staff got involved.

Today, sometime today, the right part is supposed to be installed.  Will see.  It is a 4th try after all.

The drama wasn't over for this week.   You know, first it was the commenting problems, then there was the 'wall' I am building and don't forget about my tomato plant (if you don't know what I am talking about you need to go back and catch up).  So on Monday, the elevator in my building died as well.  While I don't mind taking the steps to the second floor, 30 pounds of ice hauled up the steps every single day - well ... it just added something - at a loss for words.  ("Joy" seems like the wrong word, don't you think? 😀)

BUT the fix for the elevator is promised also for today!!

So ... maybe today I can leave the 19th century and return to the 21st century with all of you fine people!!

Really, as crazy as this month has been - I am doing just fine.  There are so many more terrible things in life.

Cheers!

A Red One

Lookie-here!!!

  

A red tomato is peaking out!  

Too exciting.

I have named my first red tomato Tomosita! 

She is a beauty! 

I feel just like a mother or something!  Taking pictures, admiring the fact I 'birthed' a tomato!!!  HA!

But I think I need help.

No ... not professional help ... advice!!

Some leaves on the tomato plant are beginning to look sick.

I am seeing more and more of this yellow leaf - and they finally turn brown.  That can't be good.

Here is the back of a leaf that is all yellow and turning brown.  Any ideas of what I should do?

I am getting new growth at the top and the bottom of the plant.  I do not see any little bugs.  Is it too much water, or is it missing some nutriment??

My 19 tomato babies are at risk, people!!  I need to turn this around before too long, I am sure.

HELP!!

Aren't you glad I am not a hobby farmer with an acre of garden!  

I've been told I could make a pet out of anything.  

Apparently 'anything' includes tomatoes.

A Rant: Time to build that wall!

Fair Warning 
to readers.
If you are a Trump supporter, please stop reading now.  
This is a rant.  It is my personal opinion.  
It won't be repeated in the future on this blog,
 but it needs to be said.

I am putting up my own "wall,"
 on the crazy and depressing political scene,
 on this day,
 with this blog post.

I have lived in a state of disbelief that Trump was elected President.   My gut said this man was wrong for this job.  But in the beginning - without a track record to measure against - it seemed unfair to judge him.

Over the first year, I have watched all the repeated 'political fire storms' of this administration on the news and in social media daily.  Every single day!  It never ends.  This President intentionally creates most of his own problems and seems to thrive on it.  He has made terrible picks for many of his most important positions.  He says things that have to be 'translated' by his staff, because the general population finds his words at times shocking.  This past week I watched "Trump: An American Dream" on Netflix.  The series followed him in his business and personal life up to the point he entered politics for the Presidency.  It highlighted the fact that his ideas, his words, his behavior,  has not changed a smidge since he learned to walk and talk.  Granted - you can argue that any sources of information can be slanted.  But I have heard enough words said from his own mouth on camera  over and over and over again to know that my gut was right all along.  This is the wrong man for the job of leader of the free world! (which, by the way, we are not any more.)

This month, in a string of upsetting stories (as if the threat of a nuclear war with North Korea and making friendly nations adversaries while admiring our historical adversaries ... if that wasn't enough), I saw a video clip where Trump was admiring the North Korean dictator's followers - all those people who sit up and take notice when their dictator speaks.  Setting aside the fact this dictator will kill you if you don't 'sit up and take notice,' our President (in his own words - on tape so that there can be no misunderstanding) wants "his people" to do the same for him.  The President's interpreters wanted us to think he was "joking."  Joking - no one with two brain cells would believe that after the last year.  Then the stories of immigrant children being separated at the border from their parents.  And from the UN yesterday - we have withdrawn our representation on the UN Human Right's Counsel.

And that, folks, was just this last month!

I am just done.

I can't continue to watch our country sink to a new low - every single week - for another 3 years.  I have all the information I need to confirm that my gut was absolutely correct in 2016.

So I am building my own wall - a virtual wall to separate me from the grim drama in our government and the man who creates it.  I am banishing all Trump information as much as possible - from my life.  I have seen enough to know that I will vote against him and against anyone who supports him.  I don't need to hear more.   I deleted all Facebook postings (including a few 'friends') from my newsfeed ... people who routinely push Trump stories.  I will not forward any more Trump posts on Facebook.  I just add to the stress of others by doing so.  I no longer watch CNN. I agree with their point of view, but it is Trump, Trump, Trump - 24/7!  Just can't have a steady diet of it anymore.

And I will take the only action available to me - I will vote!

It must look to some like I am sticking my head in the sand.  They would argue that all citizens remain continually informed and ready to fight against America's wanna-be dictator.  They believe keeping the electorate in a constant of agitation and frustration is the way toward change.  Maybe ... I hope so.

But for me personally, and for my own health and peace of mind, I must look at this situation through a different lens.  I will vote.  I will encourage everyone to VOTE.  My elected representatives already reflect my point of view.   They are doing what needs to be done: RESIST.  In fact, our Governor, Larry Hogan, (a Republican Governor in Democratic Maryland) has pulled our National Guard Troops and a helicopter from the Texas border until the current policy of separating immegrant children from parents is changed. Thank you Governor Hogan.  It isn't a large gesture because our commitment wasn't that big.  But it is a stand and a statement!  Governor Hogan has my vote.  I look for other states to take the same stand.

Voting - the only tool I have.  I leave all the rest to younger more energetic citizens.

VOTE is my mantra!

And as for my wall ...  for the record - I am not asking for anyone else to 'pay' for it or to join me in building one.  What I am asking of everyone is to

VOTE
 everyone!!

 VOTE!

Stepping down off my soap box now.  I won't be tarnishing my blog with his name ever again.

VOTE

An apology and a disclaimer:

My apologies to any readers who are ardent Trump supporters.  

It is not my aim to make your position somehow wrong.

  But, this is my blog, and my peace of mind has been negatively affected by this elected official

 and I have a right to express my opinion on it - on bended knee if I choose

because the Constitution allows it ... 

at least at this point it does.

Commenting Problems.

Since returning to blogging I have received a few emails saying they couldn't find a way to comment on the blog.  Obviously this is not a problem for everyone.  But I wasn't sure exactly what was happening.  I checked all my settings and everything seemed fine.  I send an email message about this problem to Blogger Support Forums.  Here is their response.

*****

Your readers need to be identified, using their Blogger / Google accounts. Unfortunately, some readers security settings block their identity, inadvertently, from the commenting script.

http://blogging.nitecruzr.net/2015/05/when-you-comment-you-need-to-be.html

Any filters are subject to update, by the creator.  If the problem started a few days ago, your readers may have to look on their computers, and find out what product or accessory was updated, a few days ago.

http://blogging.nitecruzr.net/2014/01/almost-nobody-controls-their-own.html

First, as individually possible, each reader should clear cache, cookies, and sessions (yes, all 3) - then restart the browser, and check again.

http://blogging.nitecruzr.net/2010/11/clearing-cache-cookies-and.html

The Blogger / Google login status, and the ability to post comments, is sensitive to both cookie and script filters.  Your readers may need to enable (stop filtering) "third party cookies", in their browser and on their computer. And, have them check their script filters, too.

http://blogging.nitecruzr.net/2016/04/blogger-magic-enabling-cookies-in-your.html

http://blogging.nitecruzr.net/2016/04/blogger-magic-enabling-scripts-in-your.html

Third party cookies filtering, in a browser setting, is the most common solution, overall - but your readers may have to search for other filter(s) that affect their use of Blogger / Google.

http://blogging.nitecruzr.net/2010/11/blogger-layered-security-and-you.html

If any security product has a "block" list, ensure that "blogspot.com" (and any variants, as suggested above) is not in the "block" list.

[FAQ] Why Can't I Access My Blog / Comment / Follow Blogs?

Trying a different browser or computer is a good diagnostic technique - though not always a permanent solution.

http://blogging.nitecruzr.net/2013/09/diagnose-problems-using-differential.html

*****

Yikes!! 

I had to read this message a few times because I didn't understand it all.

I have made one change. For a few years I had "Comments Moderation" checked in my settings. I did this because I started getting targeted with unrelated comments that sounded like a spamming computer created them. As comments came in, I could review and approve them and post them to the blog ... or delete them after I labeled them as Spam. One suggestion above was to remove Comments Moderation. I have done that ... for now. But I did add "Word Verification" - which will involve you taking an additional step before your comment is posted to my blog. This step usually filters out automated spamming as well.

I would appreciate a few of you checking out your ability to comment on this specific post. Let me know if you can post AND if the Word Verification step shows up. I have temporarily added my email address to the right side of my blog. Let me know what you experienced.

Thanks all

The Eaglet!

Look at that face!! 

Isn't it the most beautiful face ever!!

I am talking about Eskarina, of course, my beautiful grand daughter, but the post is actually the story of this baby eaglet!  This stuffed toy baby eaglet!  It has a story.

You see ... about 37 years ago I was walking down the isle of a grocery story.   Yes, a grocery store.  (Don't you love it when a story takes an unusual turn.)  I had both my children with me.  My son was about 7 and my daughter was about 4.  Grocery stores back then had a child's section of toys that was designed to snag a youngster's attention and increase sales on non-food items.  Really, it was designed to create an argument over buying this, that or another thing.   On this day 37 years ago, it fulfilled its mission.

I was about half way down the isle when my son called to me that "this baby eagle needs a home."  
I remember turning around still staring at my shopping list and eager to finish up.  I had no intention of being sucked into purchasing a bit of fabric stuffed with artificial polyester - because 'it needed a home.'

He did not throw a tantrum - that would have been the quickest way to defeat - he knew that!  I remember him pleading towards my sympathies.

There was no other eagle in the display.  

This 'baby' needed a friend.  

We couldn't just leave him there.  

Who would take care of him.   

And so on and so on and so on.   

He was so sincere and I could tell he was near tears over this obvious abandonment of a baby eaglet!  (Remember folks, this is a stuffed animal.  Just to hammer the point home - it is still a baby stuffed animal 37 years later!!)  But, no matter.  My son had instantly bonded emotionally with the plight of this poor baby eagle.

Now it should be stated clearly ... I am not heartless.  I bought that baby eaglet (stuffed animal) ... my son took good care of him AND, after my son had outgrown his stuffed animals, that baby eaglet survived my purge of stuff - actually several purges of stuff - right up to the move to the condo.

This past weekend we took our adult children and our grand daughter out to eat - celebratory for an anniversary and a birthday.  I brought the eaglet to the dinner for Eskarina!

And when I pulled it out of the bag, my son got a small smile on his face.

Priceless! 

 Well worth the cost paid 37 years ago!

I do it again in a heart beat!!!

Father's Day

Happy Father's Day Dad.

It has been 48 years since I saw your face.

You died about one year after this picture was taken.

An accidental fall took you from your family way too soon.

You missed so much.

You were a troubled man, but I remember the father who tried.  

You were not the best of husbands or the best of fathers

 because of alcoholism but the seeds of that 'best' man were there. 

I saw and remember those seeds.

I honor those seeds.