MANY ERRORS MAY LEAD TO DISCOVERY

     I have been trying to sell my skates and skis on Kijiji. People reply to my adds. I give them my phone number to contact me. Most of the time they don't contact me.

     We also get very many telemarketer calls. We have call identification so if we don't recognize who's calling we don't answer. If there's a message being left and we know who it is we can quickly pick up the receiver and answer. If it's somebody who really wants us , they can phone back.

    So the other day we got a call and I did not recognize the caller. A few days later I suddenly thought that the caller could be someone replying to my add so the Micro Manager called the number.

    The person who answered was confused because she hadn't called and didn't want any of my stuff. She had been away in Mexico. Some how the Micro manager started chatting with this lady. The Micro manager had given our name. 
The lady suddenly asked if I was the teacher who taught at Eastview. Well yes. She said he was my teacher in 1972!

     So I got on the line and had a very delightful conversation with a student from 1972. She'd lead an interesting life. At about age 30 she had gone to University and got her teaching degree. She'd taught music in the system when I was still teaching but we didn't make contact.

     So sometimes if enough dumb mistakes are made  we end up with an interesting discovery. However, I don't recommend using this method.

RETURN TO A ROOM

     Many people do not get to return to a childhood home because people move very often.  The home that I lived in from 8 to 17 is still standing but will be destroyed this spring. The old home has meaning to me and brings back many memories.

     I've lived in my house since 1970. My kids were brought up in the house. We bring back memories when we talk about what happened when the kids still lived here. My son left at age 17 and came back a few times and lived while he was at school. Since that time he has rarely been back.

    A couple of months ago he came back for a day. It was interesting to watch him go through the house. I caught a few unfocused photos of him as he checked out his old room. Now how many of you can go back to your old room?

    So this was his five minute tour.

  This was an age when he had his room the way he wanted it.

    Looking out the window to the once familiar back yard.

   Thinking about what was in that corner when he was a kid!

  
   The room looked big when he was little but now he fills it.

      My son was small as he was growing. He always said he'd sue God if he didn't grow as tall as Dad. His growth was funny. He grew an inch when he was 21. He's now 6' 1" and as he says getting shorter,

     I enjoyed his visit and lunch even though his visit was short.

WINTER PHOTOS

      I don't have very many photos on my blog. Lack of photos concerns me but many of my topics don't lend themselves to photos.
      
      Today will be different as this is a photo post.

      I spent the afternoon going over photos and found one set of photos that I liked and decided to post them. The photos are from 2015 but they show some nice winter days after a big snow fall.

SOME BIRTHDAYS NEVER ADD UP

aspirin       My sister would have been 78 today. Instead she has remained 11 years old. Birthdays come and go but she stopped at 11. 

       In Feb of 1953 our family met a tragedy. My sister died of illness which was not diagnosed and not treatable at the time.

      Our family was saddened and the loss was felt by each one of us to this day.

      My Mom came to terms with the loss but my Dad never came to terms with the loss.

     All of us were influenced one way or another. Mom and Dad found it difficult to be parents. So teenage boys were on their own and some of the behavior was unacceptable.

     So instead  of being 78 on Jan.1,  my sister is still eleven years old. At the time my sister was diagnosed with rheumatic fever. Today I think it's called Kawasaki's disease and is treatable with aspirin.aspirin

HAPPY NEW YEAR FOLKS

    The years seem to go faster and faster. If I look back things have been great. I look forward to the future and 2020.

    I have one special story for New Year's Eve and I've written about it before. So look for it 1964: A New Year's Eve to Remember:

    Happy New Year. All the best in 2020.

IF I HAD TO ORDER ALL MY FOOD ON LINE , I'D BE VERY HUNGRY.

      Now I'd be the first to admit that my computer skills are some what limited. But every once in a while the Micro Manager fancies a pizza. She's a little discriminating about pizza so it has to come from one place...Papa John's!

      Now for Papa John's pizza you have to order on line. We haven't tried to order on line for about three years. We looked at the menu and chose a pizza. I was crying that I couldn't figure out how to order on Papa John's system. 

    So the micro Manager got on the phone and phoned Papa John's. She got a very nice lady who walked us through the complete ordering of our pizza . No problem.

     Now if I had to do it all over again I couldn't. The first problem I get into is that Papa John's is an American company and they ask for zip code and not postal code. Right there I'm finished. This lady had me click on a couple of things and my postal code was accepted. Simple if you know how but there is nothing to point the customer in the direction of postal codes.The on line order is long and convoluted . You have to bounce all over the page. She would say ,"Do you see----? "   It would take me a while to find what she was asking for.  All the things she asked me to find were spread all over the page...sometimes bottom, sometimes left, sometimes top!

     You have to anticipate what you are going to be asked. I couldn't anticipate what they wanted on their order form. There has to be a logical sequence in what you do. There's no logical sequence.

    What I learned that it's pretty slick to order pizza on line if you know how, but I still don't know how.

    Now am I the only one who would go hungry because I can't order on line? 

A CHRISTMAS GREETING THAT TOUCHED ME.

      During the time of Christmas and New Years we give and receive many greetings. Sometimes I think that our greetings are very shallow social things. What do we mean by Merry Christmas? Everybody's Christmas is different. We have different families and our backgrounds indicate what Christmas celebrations we may have. So I'm starting to wonder if my greetings have any meaning at all? 

     Well, maybe I'm taking this to an extreme. Maybe I shouldn't be taking some of the pleasantness of the season away.

     What got me thinking about this?

     Well, I went for my regular walk Christmas Eve. As usually no one is out except this time somebody went by.  A mule buck had crossed the street in front of me and entered the woods. A minute later someone had ridden their bike out of the dark unlit woods trail. I was startled when someone behind me said Merry Christmas! It was a homeless man going by on his bike with his cart. I knew this man. He is  Basil and sometimes stays at a house 5 doors away from me. Basil is an aboriginal and most of his life has been a downer. 

    So a cheerful Christmas greeting from a man who has had nothing but trouble in his life really made me stop and think about the world. I was touched more than any other greeting by the wish I received from Basil. I'll remember it.