LIFE LONG LEARNER

       I think that I have always been a life long learner. As a child I went to a country school with about 12 students from gr one to nine. I was the only one in my class from gr 4 to gr 9. Needless to say the teacher was busy. I had a strategy that was not directly learning but I did learn. I would hurry and do the work assigned and then quietly go to the little library and read. The teacher was happy to see me disappear into the library. Nobody else wanted to come in the library as they weren't interested in books. There were were only about 50 to 60 books. Sometimes they brought in an extra box of books. 

      I will never forget the set of encyclopedias. They were old...very old. Pictures were black and white. The reading level was adult. They must have been 30 or 40 years old.

      Well what got me on this topic today? I was in the library...like city library. I asked one of the librarians about ebooks and how you find them. She was excellent. She went through how the ebook system works and how you find books. I was amazed  as I've only read two ebooks and like the system. Her best advice was play around with the system and don't forget to ask a librarian for assistance.

      So when I thought back, I may be a life long learner but I'm also a life long forgetter. I think the librarian could see that I would forget most of the things she told me.

     At this age, I seem to be forgetting most of the day.

      And bloggers would probably appreciate a few tips from Steve, the library tech, at Shadows and Light.

A TWO JACK RABBIT WALK

            I walk three or four times a week. If the weather is nice , I may walk 7 or 8 times in a row. I usually walk 3 to 4 Km. I like to walk after supper. In the summer it's light and I meet many people and their dogs. About the end of September it gets dark before 7 PM . So I walk at 7.00 PM in the dark. In the past I have walked all winter in the dark. Now I'm worried about ice and falling so I walk less in the winter. Many times I do not meet  a person on my winter walks. Most of the time there  is not a car going around. 

        So on to the Jack rabbits. I like all wildlife.  At this time most of the Jack rabbits have turned white. We didn't have snow until today so   without snow it was easy to see these critters.

       So since I've been walking in the dark it's easy to see the Jacks. Last night I saw two. About  week ago I saw seven on my walk. Last night one of them didn't move until I was less than three meters away.

      Usually I see four or five deer but not this year so far. You would see four or five bucks in one place and once in a while one would pick a little shoving match with another. As soon s one's head was turned the contest was over.

     So you see why I walk at night. There are many critters to see.

COVID VACCINE

    My province, Alberta Canada, decided that people  would pay $100.00 for covid shots. Seniors living in residence would not have to pay, but old people like me living in my own home would have to pay. It gets crazier as you have to order your shots 6 months in advance. How many people  will croak during that time.? After that you have to make an appointment to get your shot,

   Needless to say I have disgust for such a plan. How many people are that organized that they could work through this scenario?

   I got my covid shot today. I had no idea how I would pay for the shot. Cash? check? credit card? So when I checked in I was told that I would be sent a bill in he mail. How many government employees will be needed to count the money?

    So In I go to the little room to get my covid shot. I was asked about health conditions and medication. Oh she says, You're on statins. You don't have to pay!

    That did it! I didn't know that  a government could be so goofy. If this was the case it should have been publicized. Anyway  I've got my shot an still have my $100.00.

TIME CHANGE

        I usually have something to say about time change twice a year. This year is no different. Time change means changing time pieces and then getting used to the change.

      In this house someone has a strict routine for time change. I's not me. The micro manager has all clocks set at the new time the day before the change. So tonight at 2:00 AM or some such ridiculous hour, the time is supposed to change.

       We have an amazing 4 old clock radios. Two of them don't give the time. They only  give the minutes and not the hours.    None of them give decent radio reception so they are of very little use for listening pleasure.

      So the Micro Manager runs around the house carrying a small office desk clock setting clocks. We have seven that need to be set. I think. It could be more. Neither one of us wear a wrist watch. The watches are left in the drawer and the time is not changed on them.. 

       The  oven is of particular worry. She thinks the oven clock buttons are fragile and that they will break and then she can't use the oven which she never uses anyway.

      So the hardest thing for me to do is get used to doing the routine things an hour earlier. At one time the time change didn't bother me. Now it takes a few days to get used to the change.

      

EYE SIGHT

          I have a friend who has very limited vision caused by glaucoma. At 93 he is able to get around in a walker. In fact, he goes to a store about two blocks away. I worry about that one as he has to cross a major street at some lights. He lives in  senior complex with meals provided. He likes more fruit than they serve so that is why he makes the trip to the store. Now to get an idea of his vision, he likes strawberries. He found some strawberries and they were a good price. When he got home he discovered that he had bought tomatoes rather than strawberries.

         He has been seeing a specialist for years about his glaucoma.

         Recently he has found some technology that will help him use the vision he has left. Apparently Apple has developed a number of devices which work with improving the vision you have. He reads best with a green background and yellow print. He can put his reading material under a scanner and is able to read it. He likes this device as he can read his letters. He will go back to this business to try other devices.

      So it's good that some high tech devices have been developed for the  visually impaired. He also has an appointment with CNIB. When my Dad visited CNIB around 2000, the only thing he got was a white cane. Dad was a little disgusted with the limited help.

      Some bloggers I follow, have some visual problems and I hope that they have discovered devices to enhance what vision they have.

DON'T TRY THIS TRICK

            I am in the category known as very aged. So some of us have some common characteristics or you might say disabilities.. 

We have become very forgetful. We misplace things and can't find them. We don't know where we put things.. We do not interpret accurately. We get lost. So in general we have some disabilities.

          I know that I have some disabilities. The disabilities don't really bother me but they do bother other people. Some of these disabilities an cause serious problems.

          I make the breakfast around here. We each have a different breakfast. So I set the table. I'm not supposed to forget plates! Materials have to be made available. The Micro Manager  has cold cereal. I always have hot cereal. I make the coffee. So there are a number of steps that have to be done but it's not rocket science.

        How could anything go wrong? Well it did. Strange things can happen when you forget one thing.

        I forgot to set the coffee pot in the coffee maker. In fact ,  I didn't notice this omission for quite some time. I didn't notice it until the basket was overflowing. Then I noticed the coffee pot sitting on the counter.

       Well the coffee maker doesn't stop on a dime. So coffee  and coffee grounds began running out of the coffee maker on to the counter and floor . So in a few seconds you have a huge mess. Such a big mess that you feel like running away and hiding,

      So needless to say there was no coffee. Other things were also on hold.

      And I was  upset with myself and don't ask me about the micro manager's tantrum.

      So I would strongly suggest that you always put the coffee pot in the coffee  maker.  I'm warning you, don't try this trick.

BLOGGER DISAPPEARED

                I suffered  some distress this morning.  I usually read a dozen or so blogs right after breakfast. I took a quick look  and all he stuff seemed to be from yesterday so I went on to other sites. I checked email. I checked MSN. I looked   for the results of our Monday election. That hadn't been posted yet.

               So I went back to  blogger. Blogger still looked silly. I began to worry that my shiny new laptop was faulty.

              I restarted my computer. No improvement. I thought  well let's wait, It was still the  same with yesterday's posts. After a while I began to think that this was a blogger problem. So sometime later blogger appeared with the up to date material.

               So, did anybody else have the same experience with blogger today?