Willing Wednesday

[DeeClutter]

Yep, that counts, MT. Mine worked on the Corona Project (or Spy in the Sky which has now been declassified so he can talk about it somewhat). Also worked on the Hubbel Telescope and their department was the first to develop the digital camera. How far down that Big Yellow Box has come since dh retired from thee.

Went to W egmans and got my calcium supplement. I remembered why I probably stopped taking them -they're so big. I took my first one, but did not have the problem getting that down as I'm having with my diabetic medicine. I used to take 2 5mg Glipizide tabs -twice a day. Insurance stopped covering that so had to go to a 10mg tab -twice a day. I have a terrible time getting this one down -it's powdery or something and I think that's when I started having trouble with my numbers. Will ask when I go to the Dr's for my next appointment -which has to be soon since we leave in a little more than 5 weeks.

Have some computer work to do for dh so guess I'd best get at that so I can pronounce it done when he gets home. He has a lot of data written for the past 3 or 4 years and wants it in typed form in 'tables'. Told him I'd do it and print out and then we can proof it together to make sure I have the right numbers in the right places.

DD & DsonIL may have a computer job for me starting some time in October. I'll be able to do it anywhere and save it to the C loud. They'll be able to access it from home then.

[Cowinkie]

Yes MT that counts...and when I was working my way through college as a kid, I had a summer job at Bendix. I first worked on transistors...didn't have a clue what they were, just that they were tiny tiny and I had to sort the good ones from the bad ones...and then later tested some funky metal spider looking thing that had the transistors in them to the tune of 10,000 a day Back then it was too noisy to play a radio so I would sing every song I knew to myself...well out loud, but no one could hear me. ...to make the day go faster. However, one of my little spider thingies ended up going to the Moon. If you look at Neil walking up there you will see his shoe...such as it was...had the name Bendix on it. Who knew NASA was into naming their sponsors brand names. Sort of like Nascar today....

Norma...I wondered if you would mention that Mr. Guy was a breadman after Harriet's comments. I love it when he tells stories about his job.

My first real jobs...
* selling Carnival Ice Cream from a truck
* Making tile in a tile factory....8 hrs on an assembly line stuck between 2 overs...110*. Kind of got me ready for AZ
* testing transistors for Bendix
What were yours???

[helia]

Absolutely, MT! Wow, all the smart talented people I'm learning about here today! I'm curious to see Marquette, KS. I don't know where it is!

Adding. . . . . even if they're not technically "inventors," I have a feeling all the dh's here are pretty darn smart and resourceful, if for no other reason than that they married some pretty darn smart women.

Random thoughts on intelligence: Adding one more thing, which is that I know some extremely intelligent people who were/are more humanities-oriented; I have this discussion once in a while with a friend who sees math/science as the superior arenas for intelligence. I strongly disagree with her on this point, and so does dh who is himself entrenched in math/science fields. For example, the Inklings crew were brilliant thinkers, imho, in a variety of ways, from theology to philosophy to social commentary to creativity - stories. Their brilliance is perhaps not as accessible as that of inventors of physical items, being more abstract and theoretical. In his own way, Tolkien did invent; he invented entire cultures and races and geography and languages(!) and an entire history of entirely invented lands. Not to take away from the inventors out there, including my own dh, who invent within the confines of the laws of the physical world, but dealing with concepts, inventing theories (humanities), etc. takes a special brilliance too! imho. . .

Done:
x errands through to unloading
x chicken in the oven for jambalaya; I realized later I could have just pan fried it.
x 3 DPCs made! And they weren't difficult or painful or anything. I still need to make that mammogram appt.

I snacked too much this afternoon. . not good. . . .

Next:
-start laundry
-tidy up kitchen
-clear granite island

[ellyphant]

Cowinkie--My first real job, which I had during high school, was waitressing in a steakhouse. It was a busy place...lines out the door on weekends. I went home with pockets full of money!

[Harriet]

I wouldn't be surprised if one of us came in and said they were prohibited from explaining all their contributions because of national security reasons! For all we know, 007's counterpart is here among us. We are all multifaceted villagers, for sure, with husbands and children all the brighter because they are associated with us.

Oh, yes, Norma and I have chatted several times about our dhs having worked in similar surroundings, Cowinkie. I'm sure the two could start talking and be rolling their eyes about the oddities of large food processing plants in no time. HRH actually started in our area's giant Coca Cola bottling plant, and the charming story there was the time there was a mistake "above" him (figuratively and literally) and he was doused in Sprite syrup. I would think it's a lot better if that happens to you when you are young.

After some time as a temp secretary, I detoured for a few years into selling bridal gowns and furs in our area's nice dept store while my late dh continued his college on the G.I.Bill. Later a story-writer while a church secretary and crisis ministries secretary, and then a journalist. So I was always well versed in words and always admired the not-so-math-and-science type of brightness, lol. helia, my dsil, who is irritatingly knowledgeable, says that he sees Trivial Pursuit as a pretty good measure of intelligence. He says this because he can beat me at Trivial Pursuit, which is hard to do, and which he knows exasperates me! I certainly agree with your example of Tolkien and the worlds he invented.

Wow, Norma and Cowinkie have both experienced storm situations lately. Yikes - so glad neither was worse. And it is also the season for winds from the southeast, huh, Floridian villagers? I hope we are not watching "categories" too much more on the Atlantic Seaboard (and Gulf Coast).

[helia]

Actually, it's true! I can't tell you one project dh is working on (I think they have that project) for that reason. . . . .He regularly does work for DARPA, but that is not classified. And my father, a civil eng. prof., did some nat'l security work way back when we were preparing for possible nuclear war.. . . . I found out about his work many years later. I still don't feel like I can share specifically what he was designing, though it probably is OK 35? years later. . . Still. . . .

Well, I don't know whether this adds or detracts from your theory, Harriet, but dh stinks at Trivial Pursuit! LOL! He is at a disadvantage, though, b/c he didn't grow up in this country and English is technically his 2nd language - AND he is dyslexic. And he has no interest in sports or popular culture. He does very well at science questions, I'm sure! Probably geography too. . . I'm trying to remember the categories. . .

Dh is home. I need to finish dinner.

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

Lucylee re: random dying of car. We had that with our Dodge Caravan and it was very traumatic. Never trusted the car again because it never had any error codes on the computer by the time it was towed into the dealership so we traded it at 62K miles because of that.

Interesting discussion on careers and dh's inventions.

Me, I'm an at-home Mom. I worked selling personal computers and customer support back in 1979-84, then 'retired' when I had dd. My job has always been managing the family (handling income and expenses, investments, tax filings, purchase and maintenance of the buildings and vehicles, and overseeing the members' nutrition, education, health care, transportation, entertainment and motivation needs.) Because the business is run out of the house, it fell under my management when dh started it so he made me president. Now I have a legal title but my 'work' changed little. My personal mission statement (written over 10 years ago but still relevant today) is, "With God's guidance and inspiration, to be a Mom; caring for, guiding, supporting and empowering others."

Dh is not 007 but did work for several years for the US Defense Intelligence Agency. But his part was unclassified (partly because he's a foreign national) for use in a classified environment. Just today he found out another project he designed and wrote himself is going swimmingly well, with 20 million documents of about 4 pages each being produced every year (Word's mail-merge doesn't work with 20 million names so dh designed the system for them.)

Dh is having a good day - this morning the doc said he seemed healthy at his physical, our financial checkup went well and then he heard how well his system is working in California (they are part of the health care system and were able to use it to meet some new regulations without having to have anyone come in and produce the new reports for them.) And he gets Chinese food for dinner tonight!

Ds was supposed to come after work with his sister's school ID so I could mail it to her but he didn't show up. I'm now annoyed because he promised to mail it on Saturday and she's desperate for it. Plus I have things here that he left on the weekend.

I'm up from my nap. Before going down I made a list of everything I have for the Silent Auction and am playing around with ideas of what descriptions to write and how to display the items. We sold 10 more dinner tickets than we have space for so my area in the basement has been taken over by more tables and we'll have to have the display area up in an office 5 stairs up from the basement. That's fine, but inconvenient for bidding, so I'm going to put the bid sheets on the walls of the basement, hand out 'wish lists' to people and they can view the items, note what they want to bid on and then come downstairs to fill in the bid sheets. We have 40 items but several are multiples so I only need to put up sheets for 30 items.

[Ivy]

Good Afternoon, Villager Ladies!

I got my walk in. DH finally made it home from grocery shopping. This is a bit embarrassing, but when I picked up antibiotics at the pharmacy, I picked up a free healthy eating magazine. I got a lot of neat ideas. But my grocery list was so long, it took DH forever to get home, I was worried about him, prayed, and decided to never do this to him again. At least we've got some healthy foods and he only bought 1 treat: brownies.

I did a lot of stuff, but when I looked into my Inbox, my Daily Writer's Prayer, deleted somehow. I start my day out with my Daily Writer's Prayer, so that I can try to bless others by what I write, try to do a good job, and it just helps my job better and it might be psychological, but I can't live without it now. It was written by a Bishop who lived from 1867-1930. I found it in my drawer, where I put it, which surprised me that I hadn't lost it, because I'm a SHE. I picked out pretty email stationery, wrote it and re-emailed it to myself. I feel relieved! Weird? It's my comfort prayer and it works for me, or so I believe in it.

DH bought me a "Woman's World" magazine and it's so neat when I get one. I save the romantic and mini-mystery stories, then cut out comics, recipes, and tips for pen pals, after I've read articles.

It's so very interesting to read about everybody's DH's and their lives with them, and about we Villagers, too.

Elly, I always thought that to be a waitress, a person would be so gifted, I never was one, because I'm a #1 Klutz, but I admire people who do that job well. I started out as a housekeeper at a nursing home at age 16 and went over to nurse's aide after training.

helia, It's a battle not to snack too much, sometimes. When I do that, I'm doing emotional eating or I'm just not thinking. I've lost 111 Lbs., but have to lose 19-29 more to be at final goal.

Interesting about Tolkien!

Cowinkie, 10,000 transistors a day sounds so hard of a job to do. You must have a ton of patience!

Dee, the Spy in the Sky project sounds so interesting and so does working on the Hubble Telescope! Wow.

Nancy, Glad the eggs are starting to hatch! Congratulations, "mom".

Emptynester, Your day of tourist sounded fun, too. Do you blog?

[scattered]

Sorry haven't had a chance to really cuop.

MT - don't float away.

On the way home I finally called V erizon about a charge on my bill that I had never noticed before for $14.95 for email, the lady was great! She went back through all the bills she could (through last Sept) and found all the charges which had been what they called "Stuffed" she said it is a way that companies scam you by signing up for something there is a fine print (if noted at all) for a hidden charge. I'm now getting a credit for $135! How many people can say they made $135 while driving home?

I then had DS13 put the chicken broth pot back on low on the stove and promptly laid down for a nap. When I got up I wrote out a grocery list and found coupons for the local grocery store that came in the mail and sent the DS's to the store. Gonna make chicken quesadillas for dinner.

ToDo/TaDa
Make Dinner
Homework
Bed

BBS

[Elizabeth]

Hi all. It turns out that getting child support reduced is much more involved than we thought, even if we both agree! I have an appointment with a lawyer next week. Girls' Night Out had a problem last night - my 5 min detour to the pharmacy turned out to be more like 50 min. DD10 was not happy and neither was I, but at least I got the meds. I am still doing document review at payroll, but I am getting paid this month! Tonight there is a Bible study at church I want to go to AND I finished the reading (a reasonable amount and lots of time to do it). I have committed to sewing cage covers for the animal org I work with. I have finished my DPCs for today. What I need to do after church is get cat food and litter (CRISIS!), and get a baby present. At some point I need to do a LOL, but I don't know if I will have time tonight. If there is time, I will work on a rug with a complicated pattern that I started last night.