Last evening I phoned to a local store that is part of a nation wide chain. I got a message and what a shock. The message was that if I wanted the store to return my call there would be a $3.00 service charge!!!. What is going on here?
The message to me is that this store does not want my business of anybody else's business..
Now this is happening to a little old guy who grew up in the forties. Our phone cost $10.00 per year! What a change!
Has anybody else received a message that a return call would cost money?
A few months ago I was ordered to undergo one of those invasive procedures where they "just have a look inside." They phoned and gave me a 12:30 PM appointment. I tried to tell them that this wasn't an appropriate time. They had little time for me and abruptly told me the doctor was going away and this was my only chance for an appointment. What else could a poor boy do?
Don't worry. I'm still on my topic.
Some of you know the drill for this test. Ya gotta empty your whole digestive system of every microscopic particle. The way they do this is start you at 2:00PM the previous day with a marvelous drink. You have to drink two liters in a little more than an hour. After that, the contents of your digestive system make a hasty exit. You don't feel at all well at this time. For supper you can have liquids. You have to get up at 4:00 AM and drink another two liters of the vile stuff in an hour and a half. No more food after that.
So after this punishment you feel absolutely miserable and you haven't eaten since lunch time the previous day.
So like a good boy I arrive at the institution at 10:30 AM for preparation of the procedure. This goes tickety - boo and I'm in the bed with all the necessary piping in place.
I haven't forgotten about the dog!
Around 12:15 PM I'm rolled into the "room" and placed on the viewing table and the remainder of the preparations are made. You remember I protested the 12:30 PM appointment.
I was ready at exactly 12:30 PM as there was a big clock on the wall I could watch.
At 12:30 PM they told me the doctor wasn't there at that time. The told me "The doctor had gone home to let the dog out!"
They thought and I thought it would only be a few minutes. When did the doctor come back? At exactly 1:00 PM!
Well we got the job done. So after a miserable procedure in the first place I was finally able to get home by about 2:30 PM for a bit of lunch. And I didn't have coffee for more than 24 hours!
Well what do you do? By this time I was just happy to have the procedure over with and be out of there.
It will be a long time before I forget about the doctor who had to let his dog out.
The sun here is low enough in the sky that long shadows are cast. It's also bright enough that we see fairly dark and sharp shadow.
I went out this morning intending to get snow photo to show the recent snowfall but the shadows got in the way.
Today was very bright so the snow shows up well and the shadow is emphasized. I might not get many more bright days for a while.
I have been suffering a blogger problem for some time. I've tried all I know to solve it so now it's your turn.
My followers widget is acting up. When I click on someone who is following me the screen breaks up and I cannot get to the person's blog. I've renewed the widget and that doesn't help. I've tried blogger and this is the first time they let me down. They didn't email a solution and I couldn't find the answer on their convoluted chat line. Has anybody else had this problem?
Now here's where it gets murky for me. I'm not sure if the followers widget has anything to do with people being able to follow me??? People have reported that they can not follow me. So what causes that one? I suspect they are related. I also suspect that the solution is simple.
Any ideas?
Most of us know someone who's had Parkinson's or is living with Parkinson's now. My Dad had Parkinson's. After a long slow helpless slide, Dad died in 2008. Nothing was done to treat Dad's Parkinson's. He was just looked after.
So when I heard an interview about a book on Parkinson's I decided to find it. The interview was with the author , Jon Palfreman, and he caught my attention.
The book is called Brain Storms : My fight against Parkinson's and the race to unlock the secrets of one of the brain's most mysterious diseases.
Brian Palfreman worked in journalism and once diagnosed with Parkinson's became preoccupied with discovering all he could about the disease and if he could be treated.
Parkinson's was discovered in 1817. Going back before 1817 many people of historical significance can be identified as having had Parkinson's.
So Palfreman goes through the history of the many things that have been done to discover what causes Parkinson's and the many things that have been done in an effort to treat Parkinson's. Many discoveries have been made that seemed promising and then turned out to be of little value. Each discovery and trial has lead further but not to a conclusion.
The main area of research now is genetic. The hope is to find a cause and then to be able to treat Parkinson's.
So on down the line we have drugs, surgery, grafting, exercise and gene therapy.
"Parkies", as they like to call themselves, are optimistic and hopeful that treatment and prevention will be developed. I hope they're right as many of us will develop Parkinson's.
I found this book to be a fascinating read.
A common saying is that the artist and his art doesn't become famous until after he dies. For some struggling artists , their ship never comes in. However, today's post deals with an artist who is being uncovered but not likely his art.
My Dad liked to draw and was interested in art in a limited way. Sometime in the late 40's or early 50's when we went to the local beach an artist had set up his easel. He was there to paint and sell pictures as fast as he could. He had a system. He painted basically the same picture over and over.This was a mountain in the center, a lake in front of the mountain and trees on each side of the picture. There were a few variations. Some pictures had a waterfall leaving the lake. Some had a small animal on a ledge. Some had a canoe on the edge of the lake. .
Well this guy mesmerized Dad. Dad would have really liked to paint like this guy. The guy was a speed painter. His spruce trees took about two seconds flat to paint. Spruce trees seemed to just grow out of the canvas.
Well, you can predict that Dad was going to by one of these paintings. I'm sure the painting didn't cost much...maybe $10.00 or less. Dad was very proud of his purchase. He took it home and framed it. He showed it to all people who came to the house.
Mom? Well, Mom did not like the painting Dad bought. She grumbled about his painting to the end of her days.
Sunday morning I turned the radio on and they were half way through an interview. I wasn't listening. I did get that they were discussing a documentary. I was waiting for the news. Then I got that the documentary was about a prairie artist and then I heard the name "Flexie". The name Flexie grabbed my attention. Flexie was the guy who painted the picture Dad bought. Check out the link as there's an interesting bio on Flexie.
So a documentary of Flexie was made and a show of his art was set up and shown in Regina Sask. I think it's also going to be shown in Calgary Alberta as well.
So one little old radio interview brought back an interesting family story.
I'm always amazed when I discover something for the first time in my 76 years. I have to ask myself, where have I been that I didn't know this before.
Well, it's about dreams.
Dreams have become less frequent the last few years. I can remember times when I would have several dreams in the same night. So I've had experience with dreams.
Last night I dreamed that I was visiting China. Someone had picked me up in a truck and was taking me to a place to visit. There were no roads. There were only green fields that looked somewhat like AstroTurf. We drove into a pond and I thought here we go, we'll get stuck. No way. We just sailed through the water.
I was taken to a dining hall where about 30 people were eating. It seems to me there was only one thing to eat...pickles! People left the dining hall and one woman and two children were left and they were setting the tables for the next meal.
Through all of this activity there was no sound! No sound for the truck. No sound from the young man driving the truck.
No sound of voices. No sound from the dining hall.
So when I awoke this morning and remembered the dream, I started to wonder. Have any of my dreams had sound? Have I been having dreams for my whole life and there's not sound?
I guess I'll never know. I will be ready to check on the sound the next dream I have.
Do your dreams have sound? Do your dreams have color?
Sweet dreams!
