Five things that made me happy today – 10/16/21

…in the world as it is, the people with influence are the people who show up.

Hugh Hollowell

1. High 50a and still when I got up (late – see #2). The weird, warmer weather continues, mid to upper 50s when I got up. Scattered clouds after lunch, and a high of 65.

2. I was up really late (for me) last night. I didn’t get to bed until after 11:00 because I had to pull the Ducks through for the win. They had a hard time getting into the game after a week off, and several of the players they count on injured. but “Defense seals the deal with a fourth-down stop at the two-yard line with :02 on the clock.” It’s amazing I got to sleep at all.

3. Lunch was hot dogs and buns. I added chili and onions to mine, because that’s the way I like it.

4. The day was spent vegging out in front of the TV watching football. Arkansas v Auburn early – right after breakfast – Razorbacks lost *sigh*. Arizona v Colorado at 12:30 (Colorado found themselves), Stanford v Washington State at 4:30, then alternating with UCLA v Washington starting at 5:30, and Arizona State v Utah at 7:00. All times are Pacific Daylight Time (in case you were wondering.)

5. I rebelled today, and refused to go to the Wellness Center, or even go for a walk. I’m a slug – I admit it.

How about you? What made you happy today?

Five things that made me happy today – 10/15/21

I remember it as October days are always remembered, cloudless, maple-flavored, the air gold and so clean it quivers.

Leif Enger

1. The day started 55 deg and cloudy. I would prefer rain to drippy gloom, but, oh well… We went from cloudy to partly cloudy early in the afternoon, with the temperature topping out at 62 deg.

2. I spent most of the morning worrying over this. I’d love to hear from you.

3. Good workout with my personal trainer, including a long walk around the campus.

4. Lunch was a rerun from earlier in the week – Gumbo!

5. The Ducks are playing tonight instead of tomorrow. Fingers crossed that they maintain their #9 spot.

How about you? What made you happy today?

To Facebook or not to Facebook

The recent articles by Facebook Whistleblowers have again forced me to look at my relationship with Facebook.

I know that earlier in the summer it occurred to me that I was becoming “outrage addicted.” I would fall into a rabbit hole when I opened Facebook before breakfast, and obsessively scroll through what was presented to me – “liking” “hating” “crying” “loving” (all via emoji) searching for the next outrageous thing Trump had said, or Bannon had done, or anti-vexers had posted.

When I realized how I was stuffing my brain full of “junk” all in the name of refuting “fake news”, I deliberately stopped clicking and commenting, except on innocuous posts of skyscapes, or puppies, or friends’ reports of their kids accomplishments. I also carefully went through my newsfeed and clicked the little … in the corner to tell the algorithms that I didn’t want to see so many repeat advertisements for diets, or containers, or the latest food that would improve your mood.

That worked for a while, but it’s a continuing process, and has to be repeated weekly, and eventually I got tired of trying the see what I wanted to see, and I found myself back on the slippery slope of addiction.

I’ve toyed with the idea of leaving the platform entirely. but I realized that there are some services Facebook offers that are not available elsewhere.

• I publish this blog on WordPress, but a lot of my regular followers don’t subscribe – instead they wait to see a link I post on Facebook.
• I love to watch Heather Cox Richardson on Facebook Live twice a week.
• My church is no longer using Facebook Live to broadcast Sunday Worship – they have moved to YouTube Live, so I’m no longer tethered to Facebook for that reason.

If anyone can give me tips on leaving Facebook, I would appreciate it. Thanks so much. gentle readers.

Five things that made me happy today – 10/14/21

Never be afraid to raise your voice for honesty and truth and compassion against injustice and lying and greed. If people all over the world…would do this, it would change the earth.

William Faulkner

1. Wet streets and upper 40s when I got up. The sun came out sporadically in the early afternoon, but it didn’t warm up much – 58 deg for the high. More showers in addition through the afternoon.

2. My Kindle needed to be charged up this morning, so I wasn’t able to spend a lot of time reading. I entertained myself with working a jigsaw puzzle I found in the free Apple apps.

3. Very interesting lesson from HCR today. She talked about how problematic the Little House books and TV show were for the country. The books are really good literature, but they aren’t really very good history. And the TV show furthered the myth of the lone cowboy/settler who survived on his own with no help from the government. She posits that Reagan swept into the presidency on the backs of TV shows like Bonanza and Little House – which ignore the contributions of women and people of color.

4. Nice dinner of pork chops, cinnamon applesauce, corn and boiled red-skinned potatoes.

5. Vaccine mandates seem to be working – new cases of COVID are on the decline. TBTG!

How about you? What made you happy today?

Five things that made me happy today – 10/13/21

A nation grounded in fiction, rather than reality, cannot function.

Heather Cox Richardson

1. The really cold air seems to have blown away overnight because it was in the low 40s and cloudy when I woke up. Not much, if any, improvement through the day with a high in the lower 50s and periods of drizzle.

2. I’m grieving for my friends and acquaintances at the Islamic Center of Tacoma. It was fire-bombed Monday night and is completely unusable. We have had a group of Lutherans, Presbyterians, Muslims, and the Jewish Temple who have met regularly for the last several years. We have celebrated Seder, broken the fast during Ramadan and shared meals with the Lutherans and the Presbyterians. This is breaking my heart.

3. I worked out and then met with my Personal Trainer and we took a (semi) long walk.

4. I fixed little pizzas on 10″ flour tortillas for lunch today. I used ham instead of pepperoni and lots of onion. Very easy and very acceptable.

5. The trees are stressed this year, and not as pretty as they change color. They also seem to be a couple of weeks behind themselves, even though they have finally begun to turn.

How about you? What made you happy today?

Five things that made me happy today – 10/12/21

A change is brought about because ordinary people do extraordinary things.

Barak Obama

NOTE: File this entire post under the heading of “the best laid plans…” I started early this morning and wrote most of it, based on the information I had at the time. Major edits were necessary to #1 (weather belied the forecast), #2 (Bible Study cancelled) and #4 (no HCR). I’m posting this quickly because I’m afraid if I wait Griesser Girls will be cancelled.

1. Coldest morning of the fall, so far – 35 deg when I woke up, with a wonderful sunrise over the Cascades. Of course, it promptly clouded up, so most of the day has been gloomy. A misty rain started abut the middle of the afternoon, and threatens to continue indefinitely. 48 deg for a high. Brrrr

2. Bible Study was cancelled for today – several people had to be gone and we have a guest preacher on Sunday. That gave me a whole morning with not too much to do, so I filled my time with picking up groceries (ordered yesterday), reading emails and blogs that had been hanging around a while, and trying my hand at a NYT Tuesday crossword (didn’t do so well).

3. Housekeepers came and I have clean sheets on the beds, swept, mopped, and vacuumed floors, a clean kitchen, and clean bathrooms.

4. I had a ham sandwich and one of the little tomatoes I got at the commissary. Big Al fixed his own lunch while I was at the Wellness Center – not listening to HCR’s Politics Chat that was cancelled.

5. Greisser Girls Gab – I’m keeping my fingers crossed that the cancellation bug doesn’t get us.

How about you? What made you happy today?

Five things that made me happy today – 10/11/21

Try not to stress; practice self-care; avoid the rabbit hole of paranoia. Get outside; connect with a friend. Vote! Let’s kick some ass.

Gretchen Staebler

1. Cold this morning when I got up – near 40 deg. Rain drops on the windows, but clearing over the Cascades. 52 for a high this afternoon. At least the wind isn’t blowing too much.

2. I finished the NYT Crossword Puzzle today. Unfortunately, I made one mistake – the language in Iran is “FARSI” not “FARCI”. *sigh*

3. We had the gumbo that I cooked yesterday for lunch today. It made 14 servings so we’ll have it at least one more time this week and have some more available in the freezer.

4. The laundry is all done, sorted, washed, dried, delivered, folded and hung up.

5. Gazebo Group is going to be trying out our new “permanent” place in the Wellness Center tonight. I hope it works out.

How about you? What made you happy tod

Five things that made me happy today – 10/10/21

Time remorselessly rambles down the corridors and streets of our lives. but it is not until autumn that most of us become aware that our tickets are stamped with a terminal destination.

Joe L Wheeler

1. Cool, in the upper 40s, when I got up. There were wind and rain in the night, but it was clearing and still this morning. The day continued cloudy to partly cloudy with a high in the mid 50s.

2. Church was fun because we focussed on the variety of living things mentioned in the Bible – from bugs to snakes, to fish, to birds, to animals, to people. They all have their place in creation and our lives would be poorer without them.

3. We went to Boathouse 19 for dinner today. Big Al had a grilled cheese sandwich and tomato soup. It was FAR from Campbell’s tomato soup – much more upscale and tasty, and the sandwich had a couple of different cheeses on Artisan bread. I had fried cod, coleslaw, and polenta. I love polenta, but that’s about the only place I can get it – and Al won’t eat it, and it’s too hard to make just a little bit for me (it doesn’t keep well).

4. The Cowboys played the Giants this afternoon. Epic rivalry! 3/4 of the way through the 4th Quarter, the Cowboys are winning handily.

Of course, we didn’t get to watch it because FOX, in their great wisdom, showed the Cardinals and 49ers. NOT HAPPY!!!! Growl, snarf, snarl…

5. I spent some time this afternoon making Bill’s Gumbo to put in the refrigerator and freezer for us to have through the next couple of weeks for lunch and/or supper. It takes a fair amount of time to do all the chopping and sautéing and stirring the roue, so it’s not something I can whip up between my morning activities and dinner. With a stash on ice, I can cook a half cup of rice while the gumbo heats up and have dinner on the table in a half ah hour.

How about you? What made you happy today?

Five things that made me happy today – 10/9/21

“Nothing ever goes away until it has taught us what we need to know.”

Pima Chodron

1. It was in the mid 40s when I got up, with lots of clouds. It never got out of the high 50s this afternoon, and the sun never did come out. The wind blew most of the day, so it made it feel colder, even in the house.

2. We got our Official Voters’ Pamphlet yesterday for the election November 2. I didn’t have time to read it when it came, so I spent some time absorbing it today. Ballots will be mailed out October 15. This is a city and county election, and remember, all politics are local.

3. I’ve noticed several of my friends on Facebook are leaving that platform. I understand where they are coming from. I’m considering that myself. Remember, you can subscribe (for free) to this blog and get an email whenever I publish – you don’t have to stay on Facebook to follow me. I don’t think Facebook is evil, but they are definitely is this to make money.

4. We had hot dogs and Bush’s Baked beans for lunch. It makes me feel like I’m really at a football game.

5. Headed over to the Wellness Center to get my steps for the day out of the way between the Arkansas – Old Miss game and the start of the PAC-12 games – Oregon State v Washington State, Utah v Southern Cal, and UCLA v Arizona.

How about you? What made you happy today?

Five things that made me happy today – 10/8/21

(Maybe) the answer is to keep watching for beauty, and to keep asking, “Am I being sold something? Does that change the message?”

Hugh Hollowell

1. It was cold (low 40s) and cloudy when i got up this morning. It managed to get up to 59 deg this afternoon.

2. #2 son, his spousal unit, and mohawked doggie came over the mountains to help with Big Al’s and my acclimation to Apple after a lifetime on Windows.

3. Bill answered most, if not all, of Big Al’s questions about where some files had disappeared to.

4. Lunch was at Moctezuma’s because apparently central Washington doesn’t have any decent Mexican restaurants.

5. Then we went to the Comcast/Infinity store to see if we could change Wi-Fi and TV providers. Apparently this house is stuck under an old contract with a provider that went out of business a couple of years ago, Bill started to process of finding someone here on campus who will at least explore our options for us. Fingers crossed.

How about you? What made you happy today?