Stone Soup

Do you remember in 1969, when John Lennon and Yoko Ono staged a week-long 'bed-in' protest for peace at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal?

A 16-year old student, Gail Renard, managed to sneak in to the hotel, knocked on the door and asked John and Yoko if she could interview them for her school magazine. Security never was too tight around John, was it...and that eventually led to his death. But I digress...The Lennons agreed to the interview and even invited her to spend the rest of the week with them.

It was during this 'bed-in' that John recorded Give Peace a Chance and gave the Gail the hand written lyrics for the song, telling her that someday the piece of paper would be worth a lot of money.

That young girl, now a comedy writer and approaching her retirement years, is selling the lyrics at auction in July. They are expected to fetch $600,000. A nice little nest egg don't you think?

I am just sitting in the living room, feet up, laptop on my lap (oh I love wireless) watching the news while I check some blogs here and read my email. A segment on the news was about motor scooters and now I want one. I think the money I would save in gas would quickly pay for it. They start at $3,500 and go up to $10,000. I will look for the lower end scooter.

Well, maybe not too low end.

But one like below would do me nicely. My Honda Accord uses one grade above regular gas, and at $1.26 a litre, I think I need something less costly.

I will start looking for one. I could drive this (on dry days) from April to October and maybe even November. Of course, I will need a gas mask on the 401! Seriously, I am really thinking about getting one.

My eyes were a little better today...fewer episodes. Honestly, over the weekend I was sure I would have to go back to the opthamologist first thing Monday morning. Tonight, it seems to be clearing quite a bit...and I was on the computer all day too.

A bit of hopeful news...Lynda at work showed me an online update about the puppy I want to adopt...Biscuit's housebreaking is coming along. The foster is working on it with him. I haven't heard from the rescue people, they called my references and then I didn't hear any more. So, I left a voicemail today and also emailed the foster; she replied that the person doing the home visits has been sick and didn't let them know. I should be hearing from her soon. Soooo, please keep your fingers crossed for me. I want this dear little puppy.

I am just sitting in the living room, feet up, laptop on my lap (oh I love wireless) watching the news while I check some blogs here and read my email. A segment on the news was about motor scooters and now I want one. I think the money I would save in gas would quickly pay for it. They start at $3,500 and go up to $10,000. I will look for the lower end scooter.

Well, maybe not too low end.

But one like below would do me nicely. My Honda Accord uses one grade above regular gas, and at $1.26 a litre, I think I need something less costly.

I will start looking for one. I could drive this (on dry days) from April to October and maybe even November. Of course, I will need a gas mask on the 401! Seriously, I am really thinking about getting one.

My eyes were a little better today...fewer episodes. Honestly, over the weekend I was sure I would have to go back to the opthamologist first thing Monday morning. Tonight, it seems to be clearing quite a bit...and I was on the computer all day too.

A bit of hopeful news...Lynda at work showed me an online update about the puppy I want to adopt...Biscuit's housebreaking is coming along. The foster is working on it with him. I haven't heard from the rescue people, they called my references and then I didn't hear any more. So, I left a voicemail today and also emailed the foster; she replied that the person doing the home visits has been sick and didn't let them know. I should be hearing from her soon. Soooo, please keep your fingers crossed for me. I want this dear little puppy.

I had a bit of a scare this week. Back on Monday, the vision in my right eye, my only good eye, began to bother me. There was something dark just to the right of center vision and it was in one place but moving in place. It came and went in the morning, I thought it might be eyestrain, but by day end it was difficult to see through it. Of course, when something like this happens, we think the worst. I was lucky to get an appointment with an opthamologist for the next morning. He says it is aging! The vitreous is shrinking and the dark thing I see is the edge of my retina where it is pulling. Just to be sure the retina isn't detaching (he thinks it is not ) I will go back next week for an examination with my eye dialated. He says I will either get used to seeing through it or it will fall to the bottom and won't bother me as much. Trying to see around this dark thing is annoying.

Anyway, I am going to see an opera with Bernadette this afternoon and looking forward to it. It is something new, opera in a movie theatre, broadcast live from the Metropolitan Opera in New York. She says it is even better than live opera because the camera zooms in and you can see more detail. Also during intermission, they take you behind the curtain. I am looking forward to it!

Biscuit is a beagle who arrived in Ontario last Saturday from Kentucky via an Animal Rescue Organization. This is where they found a quick foster home for him....they are not a shelter but have a list of foster parents on call to accept puppies who were headed for the gas chamber. Biscuit was a stray who was picked up somewhere in Kentucky by Animal Services and the rule there is euthanasia after 3 days if a dog is not claimed. By providence, Biscuit escaped the gas chamber not once, but twice...and now he is here in Peterborough, Ontario.

I am driving to Peterborough to meet him tomorrow. I spent the evening filling out a 6 page adoption form, calling my 4 references to let them know they would be contacted, and emailing the agency and foster mother who is taking care of him. She says he is a gentle sweetheart who gets

along well with her other dogs, ignores the cat unless the other dogs are bothering her and then he joins in. He isn't housetrained yet...may not have been indoors much in his short life. He has been neutered and his shots are up to date.

Isn't he just a darling little dog? He weighs only 16 lbs but may put on a few more as he matures. I think he and I will be happy in my small condo. I am a tad worried about the house training but think I can handle it even though I am out all day...I will use a crate until he can be trusted.

Do you know a keyboard can have more germs than a toilet seat? After learning this I swabbed mine, at home and in the office, with disinfectant wipes.

I was reading about dirty keyboard solutions recently and read about a keyboard with a roach infestation. I am sure I would thrown it out but a cleaning method was offered instead. The biggest challenge is to remove the keyboard from your laptop. ( you have to unscrew many tiny screws underneath the laptop, then pry gently up being careful not to break the wires.) Then turn the keyboard upside down and submerge in a pan of pure isopropyl alcohol. This is the kind of alcohol used to clean heads of analog tape decks or vcrs. Swirl the keyboard in the alcohol, use a soft bristle toothbrush to clean between the keys, remove and cover again with fresh isopropyl alcohol soaking for 1/2 hour. Let dry for 24 hours, reattach keyboard...carefully.

I also heard that you can put the keyboard in the top rack of the dishwasher, run the cycle with no soap and let it heat dry. I have never tried this or the previous solution with isopropyl alcohol and do not know anyone who has. Let me know if you do!

The above seems a little extreme but maybe for extremely dirty keyboards one needs extreme cleaning. What I do is vacuum the keyboard occasionally and now, since learning about the toilet seat/keyboard comparison, I also wipe the keys with alcohol wipes.

Typing on a germy keyboard has to clog up your thinking--it is just bad feng shui!

What are three police cars doing in the parking lot as I leave the office today?

A young lady had arrived early for an interview this afternoon and was waiting in her car for the time to enter the building. Some men came up to her car, she rolled down her window a little and one of them said to her, "I have a gun. Get out of your car and give me your keys." They left with her car and can you imagine how devastated she must have been as she ran into the building for help.

The company I work for is located in what is considered a high crime area of Toronto but we have never had an such an incident in our parking lot. There are cameras everywhere, which I am sure will be very useful to the police.

What have I learned from this? We aren't safe anywhere. Always be suspicious of a stranger who walks up to your car. Never roll down your window, even an inch. Lean on your horn if they do not go away.

What would you do?

What are three police cars doing in the parking lot as I leave the office today?

A young lady had arrived early for an interview this afternoon and was waiting in her car for the time to enter the building. Some men came up to her car, she rolled down her window a little and one of them said to her, "I have a gun. Get out of your car and give me your keys." They left with her car and can you imagine how devastated she must have been as she ran into the building for help.

The company I work for is located in what is considered a high crime area of Toronto but we have never had an such an incident in our parking lot. There are cameras everywhere, which I am sure will be very useful to the police.

What have I learned from this? We aren't safe anywhere. Always be suspicious of a stranger who walks up to your car. Never roll down your window, even an inch. Lean on your horn if they do not go away.

What would you do?

Waiting for my first cup of coffee to drip. Yes, I am up late but yesterday morning I promised myself I would do this today...sleep in. ...be right back, the coffee is ready.

And now I am sipping coffee in bed with my laptop.

While I was waiting for the coffee I thought of what I was supposed to be doing today, attending the International Home Show downtown with a friend. We got our emails crossed and crossed again, I cancelled plans for the wrong day, now we are supposed to go tomorrow but I have other plans...oh gee, I will give her the tickets and she can go with someone else.

This friend was inspired, when she came for dinner one night, by by the lack of clutter here. I discovered a while later she had begun the job of clearing her own home of years of things she was storing. She donated to Good Will and advertised in Free Cycle and got rid of a huge amount of "things" that were cluttering up her life. She is enjoying the feeling of airy freedom she has created and it even takes way less time to clean the house.

Today, the final job. She is emptying her garage and will put back only what she absolutely needs. As she was telling me about it I found I was feeling inspired by her!. Downstairs pouring m ycoffee, I looked around and noticed "things" that were beginning to accumulate, on the counter, the top of the fridge and the chair....a little here and there. So, decluttering is the order of the day for me. I find that if I am not vigilant, it collects quickly and I feel muddled, unable to put my finger on what is wrong. To inspire me even further, the television is showing the staging of a home on HGTV. I love the before and after pictures. Perhaps I will take some of my own.