Author: iagardener55

It’s all I want for Christmas this year.

A functioning jet pack, like the one bing used in the Star Wars TV series,“The Mandalorian”.

It is the neatest invention to date, as teleportation has not been invented yet.

Just think, if we had them we wouldn’t have to find a parking space, and, there’d be less traffic, on the ground at least. Not quite sure what emissions they have, or the atmospheric damage they might cause, but, come on, it’s a jet pack.

We have, just recently, been able to watch the Mandalorian series down here, and I have been taking full advantage of its availability before it’s gone.

That’s one problem we can’t seem to fix here; TV, and movie availability. It takes at least a year, sometimes longer, for a TV series, or movie to be available, and then, only for a limited time. Take the entire Chicago series- Fire, Med, and PD. We are light years behind the US, but at least we can watch them. In fact, I watched the 2020 season of Chicago Fire just a month, or so, ago. Can’t wait to see Chicago PD.

As a follow up, I am feeling a bit better these past 2 days, so have foregone the doctor visit. I know that I am taking somewhat of a risk, but am also very uninterested in taking antibiotics as I believe my body is still able to fight infections on its own. If that no longer is the case, then, I will have to go. Until then, I will ask my body to heal itself.

While that is going on, please, remain happy, healthy, and safe. Wash, cover, and protect yourselves.

You know, I wouldn’t turn down either a speeder bike, or a land cruiser. Just a thought.

I’m going to do it; I’m going to go see a doctor tomorrow for what I believe to be either a bladder, or a kidney infection.

I have put it off for over a week, thinking, incorrectly, that when I get up tomorrow, it will be gone; or at least better.

But, noooooo. That hasn’t happened, so I’m done with it.

I’m tired of being in pain, only worsening in the evening. Not to mention the fact that I’ve been out of my happy pills for almost a week, so all I do is cry.

So, Ivan, Liz, and I will be off to the doctors office at 4pm tomorrow. He’s over at the Plaza Taxqueña, where we can all walk to, and need no appointment. I hope he takes old, retired women, and is not an obstetrician. That would be comical, to say the least.

I doubt it will be anything of import, but I’ll let you know the results.

Until then, stay happy, healthy, and safe. Wash, cover, and protect yourselves.

I have had to buy yet another keyboard for this iPad Pro.

I seem to be hard on them, though I don’t know how that is happening.

I have lost my most recent one, a Brydge keyboard, to the last earthquake; it was closed, but upside down, (no rubber bumps were touching the tray) on my plastic TV tray/desk, so it shimmied off, onto the floor. It was never very operational after that, poor thing.

I have never spent very much money on portable keyboards, until recently that is. I didn’t spend all that much on the current Logitech, but it is the best one I’ve had in quite awhile.

The keys are easy, and quiet, to use. The special function keys, control, option, and command, all function the same as any keyboard, so, now that I am used to using them, it makes me a happier camper.

Not much else to be excited about, really. It’s been raining, frequently, for the past 2 months, so that is getting a bit old. As much as I love rain, it is getting a bit much even for me. Plus, I think I have a bladder infection. Lovely.

Stay happy, healthy, and safe. Wash, cover, and protect yourselves. This virus is not quite finished yet.

My iPhone XR died the other day. It was a horrible death, but died it did.

Thank the Lord for Amazon.com.

Today, I received my new, refurbished, iPhone 11 Pro Max, with 256GB, blah, blah, blah. It works. End of story.

Is it better than the XR?

Absolutely. Is it worth the price?

Absolutely.

The unfortunate thing is that my XR was so damaged, I could only transfer the chip,not the data. It will take me several hours/days to download all of the apps I need to make our lives easier here.

I will not bore you with the details of its demise; suffice it to say it was ugly. This one is slightly bigger, longer, actually, but definitely better. If you are in the mood for an upgrade, consider the 11 Pro Max.

Stay happy, healthy, and safe. Wash, cover, and protect yourselves.

(Rome-peh-ca-BEH-sas)

Puzzles.

Loosely translated, it means ”broken minds”.

EXACTLY.

You know that I really enjoy doing online puzzles. Here is one that took me, with only 441 pieces, over 6 1/2 hours.

The tiny red pieces were so alike in color that it was difficult, until I got many minutes into each day’s worth of piecing. Once the pattern, if one could call it that, kicked in, I was able to get quite a bit accomplished each time.

Of course, I didn’t do it continuously; it took me about 3 evenings to finish. I really don’t think I could have it any faster.

While I put together my puzzles, stay happy, healthy, and safe. Wash, cover, and protect yourselves.

We have been without the family for several days now, and the silence is deafening.

A relative of Liz’ passed away a few nights ago so they took off for Los Altos. It is so lonesome here, in the evenings, when they aren’t here.

Now, they are back. Both Liz, and Brandon have coughs; Liz is the worst. More than likely, it is the change in the altitude, and the climate. Neither has, or has had a fever, or chills, thank the Lord. Both are coughing, though, nonproductive.

They are all sleeping upstairs, in their little hovel, so they won’t make us sick. We wish they would come down here. It’s not contagious, if just a weather change.

We miss them so much.

Stay happy, healthy, and safe. Wash, cover, and protect yourselves.

We decided to change the seating arrangement in our bedroom; a “love seat”, for the “glider/ottoman” in the bedroom of the Garcia’s.

The glider/ottoman that we bought for Juan to use, is white. We bought it, thinking that he would use it when he came to live with us; after all of the renovations were through.

It didn’t happen. The glider, and ottoman, were in their bedroom, but they were unable to use it to the fullest advantage.

We did. We are.

Ivan has the wide chair/cilla, the pieces we thought were for an outside garden, with pieces of foam, cut to our specifications, from other pieces needed around the apartment.

MY chair, however, is the glider we bought for Ivan’s dad, mi suegro, about 3 years ago. The ottoman is actually a storage bin, but without anyone knowing it. We have put a few things in it, so, when I need those few things, I will have no idea where they are. Lucky me.

I don’t use the ottoman, but spend time gliding, gently, back and forth on the glider, and have, actually, put myself to sleep doing the very thing.

Relaxing. AMAZING.

You need one. Trust me on this.

We had a hammock, when we lived in Port Byron, IL. I have no idea how often we used it, but it was the most relaxing thing I have ever experienced.

If you ever have a chance to but a hammock, BUY IT. You will never regret the experience.

Stay happy, healthy, and safe. Wash, cover, and protect yourselves.

The other day, Ivan was out in the kitchen, puttering.

That’s what I call it.

Ok, he was messin’ in my kitchen. Usually, when he does that, he has decided that the fridge , or freezer, needs to be “cleaned out”, and/or reorganized.

Wrong!!! My fridge is micromanaged, poor thing. (I won’t even tell you about the freezer.) The mustards are all in one door pocket; the pickles, sauerkraut, and the like, are in another; the Oriental condiments in another; the really tall things, like the mega Costco bottles of catsup, yellow mustard, bottles of red, and white wine (for cooking,) fish, and oyster sauces, really nice dressings, all in another one, or two. The smaller things like Better than bouillon, instant yeast, freshly (at the time) squeezed lemon, and lime juices in the top slots. What’s not to like?

Everything is where it needs to be to open, grab, and cook.

Ok, so he’s puttering, then calls me into said kitchen, and I am ready to take on whatever challenge he’s put me up against.

There was none.

What?

He had taken the 3 jars of different brands of pineapple jelly, his favorite, and cut up a serrano pepper, and mixed it with the jellies.

I know you’re saying OMG why would he do that?

It is amazing people. It is sweet, but not too sweet, as one of the jellies, we discovered, was sugar free, but has the very slightest kick from the chile. Seriously. There is nothing like sweet, and spicy to take a dish over the top.

When I make us pancakes, I always fry one egg, sunny side up, for each of us. I put it between the top two pancakes, along with a dollop of salsa, then top it with the last pancake. Maple syrup, not too much, goes over the top. TRY IT.

As most of you know I am not a fan of sweets. Been there. But I have come to be able have the occasional sweet if it is mixed with something with a hint of spicy. Even Ivan has come to embrace this.

Here is the final product of his creation. I hope you will try it, and let me know what you think. Really, the serrano was not even whole; he used only half he said.

Seriously. If you have not tried sweet, and spicy, please do. It is simply out of this world delicious.

We plan on putting it on roasted pork tacos, carnitas, peanut butter sandwiches; well, you get the idea. Try a bite, at first, and see if you aren’t smiling when you’re done.

Stay happy, healthy, and safe. Wash, cover, and protect yourselves. And don’t believe anything CBS, NCC, ABC, MSNBC, or CNN tells you. Don’t be a spoke in the wheel. Be the wheel!!

Post script: think about bacon wrapped jalapeño poppers, sprinkled with brown sugar, just before they come out of the oven. It doesn’t get any better people. Trust me on this.

The hair, and the beard.

And, that’s a okay.

Ivan has been letting his hair, and beard grow, by my request, for the past month, or so. Yikes.

He shaved both, just now, and wow, what a difference. For the better.

He was not made for the Santa look. He is best bald, with a goatee. His goatee is a beautiful white throughout, and is kept trimmed nicely.

Enough experimentation. He, we, are both happy with the original look.

Stay happy, healthy, and safe. Wash, cover, and protect yourselves.

9.22.2022 1:32am.

We had another quake about 20 minutes ago.

The epicenter continues to be in the state of Guerrero, and this one has been considered violent.

The alarms went off on my phone, and iPad, thank the good Lord. Then, we noticed the wind chimes in our bedroom were swaying. (Yes, we put them there exactly for this reason, and long before I had the app.)

Jesús, and his family, got out before we even woke up. We had taken some Benadryl, hoping to get to sleep before sunrise, however, just as I was falling to sleep, the alarm started.

I staggered to my phone, shut off the alarm on it, then on the iPad as well. While I was walking/staggering to the kitchen, I could feel the floor moving under my feet. It feels as if one has had about 8 shots of some horribly powerful alcohol, drank within a 15 minute binge. (I assume as much, as I never drink like that.)

When I was able to get back to the bedroom, grab my phone, and get back to the kitchen, the chimes were banging against the closed door, making quite the racket.

Here are the last few seconds of the wind chimes in the laundry area, just at the end of the swaying. Notice the rug as well. It’s only 19 seconds.

Of course, we went outside, though not everyone did.

We are back in our apartment; the Garcia’s as well, and are trying to relax enough to go to sleep. Another 5am bedtime, if I had my guess. One of these days, we’ll be back on a better schedule.

Oh, we are fine; no damage to our building, or our possessions. It’s really mental stress, fortunately for all of us in the building. Evidently this building was given top marks for its ability to withstand the effects of most earthquakes. Good to know.

Stay happy, healthy, and safe. Wash, cover, and protect yourselves.