Sunday Stealing

Time Keeps On Slippin'
 
1) Do you think Daylight Saving Time is still necessary? I have no opinion on this. And, when you consider how opinionated I am, this is noteworthy.

2) How long does it take you to adjust to the time change? I'll be good with it by Monday.

3) What's the hardest part of the time change? I don't think there's anything hard about it. I struggle sometimes when I travel, especially to California. But this single hour business isn't much.

4) How many clocks are in your house? Three: one in the kitchen, two alarm clocks in the bedroom.

5) Are you generally early, late, or on time? Late.

6) If an invitation to an event listed the time as 8-11pm, what time would you arrive? 8:15. I don't want to be first to arrive.

7) Do you wear a watch? Always.

8) Have you ever glanced at the time and had to glance again because you didn't pay attention the first time? Always.

9) Are most of your clocks digital or dial? Dial.

10) What does your alarm clock sound like? They both have very tinny and annoying twin bell alarms.

11) Do you use the snooze feature on your alarm clock? They don't have snooze features. Both are very old school. Here's Lucy and Ethel at the chocolate factory. It's the one that goes off first. The second one, similar in design, is the Beatles.

12) Does clock ticking drive you nuts? Nope.

November Challenge -- Catch Up Day

Day One -- Five Ways to Win My Heart

•  Have integrity
•  Have a sense of humor
•  Be smarter than I am
•  Take the world around you seriously
•  Have really good hair

Day Two -- Something I Feel Strongly About

Guns. You do not need an assault rifle. Are you active military? No? Then let me repeat, you do not need an assault rifle. This is not "an attack" on your Second Amendment right. This is common sense. To paraphrase Sarah Palin (who gets everything backwards anyway), do not reload, retreat. I am so fucking sick of the crazy and the criminal being able to squeeze off approx. 10 rounds/second. No way do I believe this is what our forefathers had in mind.

Look what I found!

Kwizgiver and Boss Nurse are doing this. And so shall I!

 

Saturday 9

Saturday 9: Twilight Zone

Unfamiliar with this week's featured song? Hear it here.

1) This is one of the first songs to see a bump in sales after its video was shown on MTV. Do you ever watch music videos? Nope. I haven't

watched videos with any regularity since they starred Huey Lewis. And yet "Blurred Lines" was so pervasive last summer that somehow I managed to see that one. I wasn't pleased. I want Growing Pains' Jason Seaver to call his real-life son into the kitchen and give him a stern talking-to.

2) Golden Earring is from the Netherlands. The average life expectancy there is 79 years old. Who is the oldest person you know? I have an uncle in California who must be 80.

 

3) The song's composer says the song and especially the video wereinspired by the 1980 book, The Bourne Identity. The espionage thriller was finally made into a movie with Matt Damon in 2002. Do you have a favorite secret agent/spy? I have two favorites: Napoleon Solo, the original Man from UNCLE, and his partner, Ilya Kurayakin. Guy Ritchie has made a theatrical version that will be released in 2014. I hope Henry Cavill does justice to the Robert Vaughn role. As originally written, Napoleon Solo was daring, almost insanely upbeat and wily, but not big and strong. Henry Cavill was the most recent Superman, so he's a rather physically imposing guy.

4) The song's title comes from The Twilight Zone TV show, which ran from 1959 to 1964. Are there any old shows that you enjoy watching in reruns? I recently discovered Remington Steele on ME-TV and really enjoy it.

5) "All guys cheat on their girlfriends, so yeah, I forgive him." Sam heard a young woman say that into her phone as they waited in line at the drugstore. While Sam is always surprised by how much personal information people share in the public, that's not what we're concentrating on this morning. Do you think that it's true? Do all guys cheat on their girlfriends? No. A lot do, but not all.

6) Whenever Sam goes to the grocery store she picks up Snausages  because her dog looks at her with sad eyes when she tries to reward him anything else. What product has your brand loyalty? As a pet owner, I take my paper towels very seriously, leaning toward Bounty or Viva. I find that spending extra for the quality is ultimately worth it.

7) Do you have a piggy bank or a coin jar? Pennies go into the piggy bank, quarters (for laundry) go into a mug.

8) Sam knows that she's always supposed to wear sunscreen, even on cloudy days, but she sometimes forgets. What do you know you should do, but sometimes don't? I should floss more regularly.

9) Retailers report that sales of Halloween costumes for grown-ups are strong. Since Halloween was earlier this week and there will be parties this weekend ... What's your costume for Halloween 2013?  If you aren't dressing up this year, tell us about one of your favorite outfits from a Halloween gone by. I didn't dress up this year at all, but my favorite costume of all time was Harpo Marx. Curly blonde wig, oversized man's coat and hat, and a big bicycle horn. It was fun. I wonder, though, if Harpo would be well recognized today. I just learned last night that my 21-year-old niece had no idea who Clark Gable was.

 

Accentuate the positive

Yesterday was a mixed bag. A gun-loving nut job went on a shooting rampage at LAX. As always, these acts of random violence weigh heavily. I was home, and able to watch the coverage live, because the handyman was here to repair the walls in the livingroom and shower. He was unable to fix the peeling paint above my through-the-wall ac because the wall was still wet from our Halloween rainshowers. He did a little investigation and found the root problem is cracked and broken sealant around the ac on the outside of the building. It's not a complicated fix or especially expensive fix, but it will be difficult because I'm on the top floor and my handyman just doesn't have the ladder or other equipment to reach up this high. In the meantime, I have about 3" of exposed wall over my air conditioner. I've covered it with a towel, so I guess it looks no worse than the peeling paint did. But I'm not happy.

Still, there's much on the bright side! He patched the holes in the walls and replaced the curtain rod -- repairing the considerable damage done by a certain skinny beige cat. I'm sitting here admiring my new drapes. I'm not in love with them yet, either, but with the new rod it will be easy to experiment with new window treatments. And what I'm gazing upon right now is better than what was there 24 hours ago. Much better.

Then, of course, there's my new shower! He repaired the hole left last month and installed a new shower head. It feels like Christmas morning to look up and see a shiny new shower head.

Best of all, it came in under budget. Plus, my handyman is very good looking and I enjoyed having him around all day. Really, with his blond hair and adorable cap, he looked like a smarter/less glamorous Brad Pitt.