Hello and welcome to the 2016 edition of the Dogpound. Seems strange saying that, but at least I have not written any checks using 2015 as the date.
Anyway, the start of 2016 has not been overly pleasant. My old cell phone finally gave up the ghost. It would show me four bars but have no signal, or I would have no bars and it would work fine, or it would just show me the image of a phone with a cross over it.
I took out the battery and SIM card, cleaned everything, put it back together, worked for a while, but the service was still random at best. At first, I thought cell service might be spotty due to the numerous storms in the surrounding area, but a call to my cell provider told me that everything in my area was working fine and it was probably my phone. So I got a new one, just another flip phone. I’m not ready for one of those big fancy iPhones, and besides, I want something I can easily put in my pocket and not feel like I have a pet rock in my pants. (Plus, it only cost me $16).
Then, to add to the joy of a new year, my dryer started to squeal like a stuck pig. Sounded like the belt was going through the roof, but the repair man told me that the brake shoes were worn out and if not replaced they would have ruined the rotor. Translation: any more dollars over the hundred and five it just now cost me.
There was however, some good news, my Buckeyes ran over Norte Dame in the Fiesta Bowl. (Side-bar, it is no longer called the Tostitos Bowl; it is now called the BattleFrog Bowl… No lie, look it up)! And there was no need to put up Christmas tree lights on the house this year – got, as a gift, a laser light that covers the whole house in laser light patterns. Pretty cool and super easy to install; no more hanging from the gutters for me!
THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK
“We spend January 1 walking through our lives, room by room, drawing up a list of work that needs to be done, cracks to be patched. Maybe this year, to balance the list, we ought to walk through the rooms of our lives… not looking for flaws, but for potential.”
– Ellen Goodman
MY GOOD STUFF
When Sam returned to the house one evening, his wife Sarah announced that the new cleaning woman they had hired had stolen two towels. “Yeah,” said Sam very disinterested, and reclining on the sofa, “that wasn’t very nice of her to do.” “You’re darn right it wasn’t,” Sarah said. “And they were the two best towels we had …. you know the ones we got from the Hilton Hotel while we were on vacation!”
Ok, better end this and get on my taxes. Yeah, they are coming, but first comes Valentine’s Day. I spotted a whole row of the stuff in the local Wal-Mart the day after Christmas. As always be good, do good, play safe, and remember it is never too late to start again.
JR
