Stadium Pal

May 16, 2015 kathygetto 4 Comments

Meridian, Idaho

As you read this Gentle Blog Reader, Rich and/or I will be down at Idaho’s Largest Garage Sale. We hope to sell oodles of things we don’t need anymore.

There’s some good news and a bit more bad news.

The bad news is that it’s supposed to rain. Hopefully not hard, but the event will go on “Rain or Shine”.

The good news is that the event is highly attended, and, according to my daughter who has had friends do it, vendors sell lots of their stuff and make “shitloads of money”!

The second piece of bad news is that, because the event runs from 6:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., I’ll be there for hours because vendors can’t leave early!

I’m a bit concerned about how far I’ll have to walk to use the restroom facilities. I will have to leave the booth unattended while Rich isn’t there…

Thinking about that reminded me of David Sedaris’ essay on a product called Stadium Pal. Sedaris outlines an experiment he conducted with bodily fluids and a tube and a bag…

(Maybe I can find a Stadium Palette (Stadium Pal for gals) at the Garage Sale to use today. 🙂 )

I think it’s one of his funniest pieces ever!

Here it is. Enjoy…

PS Stadium Pal is a real product! 🙂

Just Stuff

I’m Not as Blind as I Thought I Was

May 15, 2015 kathygetto 6 Comments

Meridian, Idaho

We got DirectTV yesterday. Included in our package is HD–high definition–for all of our TVs.

We’ve never had HD before. We’d seen it at other people’s houses, but I guess we never paid that much attention to it then because we were too busy visiting…

WOW–are we shocked at how clear everything is on TV now. 🙂

For example, we watched a commercial for the new San Andreas movie.

On Dish, where we didn’t have HD because we would have had to pay more for it, the commercial looked somewhat like this:

With HDTV it looks more like this:

I had no idea how much differently things would look in HD. Amazing.

All this time, I thought I needed better glasses.

I just needed to get a better satellite package or cough up more money for a better picture. 🙂

Just Stuff

Netflix 101

May 14, 2015 kathygetto 4 Comments

Meridian, Idaho

I spent some time yesterday catching up on computer stuff. Now that I have DSL, that’s actually FUN! Yep, I’m a computer geek…

And what made that time even MORE FUN was the ability to watch something on Netflix while I’m working on the computer.

I love Netflix.

It’s so great to have something on while working on something else. During those times, I only watch something I’ve watched before. The only time I watch something new is when I’m not working on something else.

(I just wanted to see how many times I could use ‘something’ in a paragraph and hopefully make some sense… 🙂 Apparently, it’s five times. )

I watch TV series or miniseries the most. I was intrigued by House of Cards so much that I actually bought the trilogy of books it was based on from England. (Very good books.) Law and Order reruns, any of the three, are perennial favorites of mine. Top of the Lake was excellent. And I’ve lost count how many times I’ve watched (let alone read) Lonesome Dove.

While I was deciding what to watch yesterday, I got to wondering a bit about Netflix. So here’s a little Netflix 101 with most information coming from Wikipedia…

First, the most shocking statistic about Netflix:

Nearly 35% of ALL Internet downstream traffic is for Netflix!

Now some less shocking information.

Founded in 1997 by Marc Randolph, a former math teacher, and Reed Hastings, a co-founder of a computer mail-order firm.
Randolph and Hastings worked together at a software company that Hastings founded–Pure Software.
Hastings sold Pure Software for $700 million and invested $2.5 million of that into starting up Netflix.
Hastings came up with the idea for Netflix when he was forced to pay $40 in overdue fines after returning Apollo 13 well past its due date.
Netflix launched in August 1996 with 30 employyes and 925 titles available for rent.
In 2000, Netflix was offered for acquisition to Blockbuster for $50 million, but Blockbuster declined.
Netflix initiated an IPO in May 2002 and June of 2002 selling over 6 million shares of common stock for $15 per share. ($83+ million)
Netflix did incur substantial losses during its first few years, and it posted its first profit in 2003–earning $6.5 million on revenues of $272 million.
In 2005, 35,000 different titles were available and Netflix shipped 1 million DVDs out every day.
In July 2014, Netflix surpassed 50 million global subscribers, 36 million of them from the United States.

Happy Streaming!

People Are Good

Kudos to Stephen Colbert

May 13, 2015 kathygetto 4 Comments

Meridian, Idaho

Today’s bit of Good News about Good People is about Stephen Colbert–a television host, actor, and author who hosted Comedy Central‘s The Colbert Report–a satirical news show from 2005 to 2014.

He will soon succeed David Letterman as the host of CBS‘s Late Show.

Colbert, a South Carolina native, recently donated $800,000 to fund more than 800 South Carolina’s teachers’ requests for over 1,000 special projects.

Now that’s what is called Good Work!

PS: Happy Birthday to Stephen Colbert today!

From the Washington Post

For nearly a decade, Stephen Colbert sat at a desk to dish out his own brand of “truthiness.” Now, he’s using the money raised from auctioning that desk to help fulfill every grant request made by South Carolina public school teachers on the crowd-funding site DonorsChoose.org.

The donation of $800,000 will fund nearly 1,000 projects in more than 375 schools. More than 800 teachers from the state have projects on the site.

“Enjoy the learnin’, South Carolina!” Colbert said Thursday to teachers and students assembled at Alexander Elementary School in Greenville, S.C. His remarks — made from New York via a live video feed — were captured by the Greenville News.

The contribution includes the proceeds from “The Colbert Report” set’s auction and matching funds from Share Fair Nation and ScanSource, according to a news release.

Colbert noted that he was a product of South Carolina public schools. “I’m sure there’s a monument,” he joked.

Maybe not, but state schools superintendent Molly Spearman said Thursday: “We are so proud that you’re from South Carolina. That’s something we’re trying to teach all our students: to always remember where you come from and to always give back to your community.”

Among the schools that will be helped by the donation is Alexander Elementary, a Title I school where the entire student body qualifies for free or reduced lunches. Funding requests for that school include $545 for basic school supplies and $504 for a trampoline and treadmill that the school’s special education teacher will use for sensory therapy.

Cerebrations

I. Have. DSL. Internet!

May 12, 2015 kathygetto 4 Comments

Meridian, Idaho

Color me happy, happy, happy!

I have REAL INTERNET!

For most of the last year, I have had to use an Internet connection that goes through a wireless tower. Well, I guess that’s how it came to me. I don’t really know. All I know is that it was really, really slow Internet. At times, like dial-up. Remember that?

As of about an hour ago, we now have a DSL connection at our house.

If you were listening carefully, you probably heard a “WOOHOO” wafting through the air…

As I was doing a happy dance…

Today’s post is late because I kept hoping we’d get the DSL connection earlier rather than later.

Alas, we did not.

But it’s here now! And I’m happy, happy, happy.

Food

Great Granola!

May 11, 2015 kathygetto 6 Comments

Meridian, Idaho

Yesterday for the first time in over a year I made my favorite granola.

I had been missing that granola more than I missed brownies since we didn’t have an oven in our motor home. (And I missed brownies a lot…) I eat some sort of granola most every morning with some Greek yogurt. Yummy!

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I found the recipe on allrecipes.com, but this recipe is so good that it’s on multiple sites when you do a search for it by name. It’s called Megan’s Granola.

I change the recipe quite a bit and it’s very forgiving with substitutions. I add bran cereal, more nuts and more dried fruit. Oh, and I use less oil than it calls for…

My only caution should you try to make it is to follow the 20 minutes in the oven rule.

The recipe says to bake in the preheated oven until crispy and toasted, about 20 minutes. Stir once halfway through.

The problem is that it doesn’t get crispy until you take it out. If you wait until it’s actually toasted, it’s darn near burned.

Oh, and it tastes best with my morning glass of Diet Pepsi!

Memories, People Are Good

An Angel Named Wilfred

May 10, 2015 kathygetto 4 Comments

Meridian, Idaho

I stopped at the bank yesterday and while I was there an elderly man walked up to me and said, “Here is a penny from heaven that an angel’s sent to you,” as he handed me a shiny new penny.

I then watched him do and say the same thing to one other person in the long line.

Turns out his name is Wilfred. I didn’t get a picture of him but my guess is that he’s between 80 and 90 years old. He looks a little like this…

Very distinguished and dapper.

Wilfred was greeted by name by the bank teller. As she cashed his check, she told him she was going on vacation for two weeks. If he came to the bank while she was gone, another teller would have to help him with his withdrawal.

His transaction required two parts: getting cash and using a bit of that cash to purchase pennies. He bought six dollars worth of pennies. All wrapped and shiny brand new!

I watched Wilfred walk away with a smile on my face as I went up to the teller to complete my transaction.

I had been having a hard time because it’s my first Mother’s Day without my mother.

And I’m firmly convinced that the penny Wilfred gave me was a gift from Mom…

And that gift, through Wilfred, helped me find a peace that has been missing…

Happy Mother’s Day!

Pennies From Heaven

Today I found a penny,

Just laying on the ground.
But it’s not just a penny,

This little coin I’ve found.

Found pennies come from heaven.

That’s what my Grandpa told me.

He said Angels toss them down.

Oh, how I loved that story.

He said when an Angel misses you,

They toss a penny down,

Sometimes just to cheer you up,

To make a smile out of your frown.

So don’t pass by that penny

When you’re feeling blue;

It may be a Penny from Heaven

That an Angel’s tossed to you.

Pass this on to the people who you care

about and who you feel that are angels to you.

An angel is now watching over you.

Cerebrations, Shop

Bundles of Pains…

May 9, 2015 kathygetto 2 Comments

Meridian, Idaho

We’ve been working on getting Internet and television ordered for our new home.

After much research and discussion we finally decided to go with one company that will allow us to get Internet from them and pay for my cell phone from another company and pay for satellite television from yet another company all at one time. One check for three different companies.

It sounds good based on what the salespeople are telling us, and I’m sure we will love it once we have it all set up.

But here’s the part I’m having trouble with: we get $5 to $10 off of each of the three components of the total bill because all three services are ‘bundled’ within one company.

It appears that my cell service company and our satellite television company don’t want the hassle of collecting our money or dealing with us, so they are each willing to cut our bills up to $10 a month if we pay them through the Internet company.

The only thing I can figure is that customers are a pain in the butt.

So much so that companies are willing to offer bundling with another company to customers and literally PAY them to stay away. 😉

Food

A New Candy in Town

May 8, 2015 kathygetto 4 Comments

Meridian, Idaho

I have a HUGE sweet tooth.

And I indulge it often.

Favorite candies include Almond Joy, licorice, caramel, Heath, etc…

I also like Reece’s Peanut Butter Cups and Butterfingers.

Now there’s a new candy itown that is incredibly good if you like the last two candy bars mentioned.

Butterfinger Peanut Butter Cups can be described as a hybrid between the two candies. But it’s more like 25% Reece’s Peanut Butter Cups and 75% Butterfingers.

The chocolate on the outside its exactly like RPBCs, but the filling on the inside had only a hint of peanut butter. It’s more like a Butterfinger that’s been whipped until creamy with just a bit of peanut butter to make it the perfect consistency.

If I had been on the naming committee, I would have pushed for Butterfinger Cups. Easier to say and more accurately describes the candy.

Anyway, if you have a sweet tooth and like Butterfingers and RPBCs, you might want to give this new candy a try.

I’ve only tried them once. But I think if I try Butterfinger Peanut Butter Cups again, they will move up into my top three candies…

Oh my goodness, I found a recipe for cheesecake, my most favorite food, using these. Now that I have an oven, I might have to give this a try.

They’re as good as they look!

Cerebrations

City Living

May 7, 2015 kathygetto 8 Comments

Meridian, Idaho

This is the first time Rich and I have lived within city limits in nearly 40 years.

When we first got married, we lived in a single-wide mobile home on an acre of land that Rich had recently bought.

It was only three and a half miles from town, but in our small community that was a long ways.

Our next home was closer to town, but we still called it “Going to town…” whenever we went to the store or picked the kids up from school.

Major shopping, like to Costco, and most doctor’s appointments involved driving 65 miles one way to Reno.

Then we moved to our home in the mountains near Boise. I commuted 30 miles to work. All shopping and errands required at least two hours to complete. (This is High Bridge which we crossed on each trip to town.)

Now that we’re living actually IN the city, all that has changed.

Yesterday we decided to go buy a bed for the guest bedroom.

In the past we would decide to go, talk about all the other errands we should do while we’re in town, discuss it all again as we drove 30 minutes into town…

Total change of process now.

Decide to buy a bed.
Research options for five minutes online.
Get in car and drive seven minutes to store.
Talk with salesman and buy the bed within ten minutes.
Drive home and realize that we decided to get a bed, actually bought a bed, and returned home in less than 30 minutes–the time it used to take us to drive to town.

That is both good and bad. It’s good we’re saving time, but bad that we’re spending money in less than a quarter of the time it used to take. 🙂

Cosmic Kicks

Stadium Pal

I’m Not as Blind as I Thought I Was

Netflix 101

Kudos to Stephen Colbert

I. Have. DSL. Internet!

Great Granola!

An Angel Named Wilfred

Bundles of Pains…

A New Candy in Town

City Living

Cerebrations of Life