GOOD THOUGHT

WISDOM IS FREE.

WHAT WE PAY FOR IS

FOOLISHNESS.

Karen Maezen Miller
Author

RITA CALLED WITH AN UPDATE

Rick and Angela stayed in Wall last night.  They left, early this morning, to make the final lap into La Crosse later today.  This is, obviously, a big deal.  I understand, even the dogs went to the beauty parlor to get a wash and cut and are all clean and shiny for the festivities.

AUNT WILDA IS GETTING COMPANY TODAY

Paul, Dorothy and Uncle Bob are going to take a trip to Viroqua.  They called me and I would love  to have gone but I'll be at Rita and Roger's all day tomorrow so I've got too many chores that have to be done today.  I'm sure we'll get up there, sometime, this summer.  Rita and Roger and I were talking about that the other day.  Too many things going on right now.

HAVE YOU SEEN THE COMBOS LIST OF THE MANLIEST CITIES IN AMERICA?

I see Oklahoma City came in at #1.  Houston made the list at #6, Milwaukee #19, Chicago #37 and Minneapolis #40.  And, guess what?  I didn't see Austin on the list at all.  I'm sure there are quite a few Texans, in the hill country,  that might not be too happy with those results!  SEE THE FULL LIST HERE

TAKE ME OUT TO THE BALLGAME.

In case you missed it, HERE'S AN ENTRY FORM to win a trip to Kansas City to see the ALL STAR BASEBALL GAME on July 10.  The prize includes 4 tickets to the game, airfare and hotel.

WE'VE GOT A COLD FRONT MOVING THROUGH TODAY

That's going to bring a good chance for thunderstorms through tonight.  Some could be severe with large hail and damaging winds.

Then, that will all clear out and bring a BEAUTIFUL SUNDAY with a sunny sky and a high near 80.

That sounds perfect because I think there's a family gathering tomorrow to celebrate Father's Day and RICK AND ANGELA'S ARRIVAL.  I'm pretty sure I heard something like that, but, being a true Solberg, I only half listen (unless it applies to me) and what I do "half hear" I mostly forget or screw up.

I LOVE THIS ONE

The New Yorker CARTOON OF THE NIGHT is too good to miss.

APPRECIATE DAD WHILE HE'S STILL AROUND

There are some nice thoughts in Geri Parlin's La Crosse Tribune column about missing a dad who's gone too soon.  Read it here.

"LOVE THY NEIGHBOR"

Citizens in rich countries spend $150 billion a year on alcoholic beverages which would wipe out world poverty for about a year.

CONGRATULATIONS

NIK WALLENDA

HE DID IT!

GOT A NICE NOTE FROM GLADYS TODAY

"I have been in the fast lane around here.  I thought when people reached my age (89) you just sat still.

Have had lots of company, kept my great grandaughter for a week.  I had forgotten how "in your face" and busy one little kid can be.

Many of the Texas family will be coming for the 4th.

Attended a bridal shower today."

ANOTHER REPORT FROM GEORGIA

LYNNE'S TRIP UPDATE

"We really enjoyed the cable car ride up Pine Mountain.  Beautiful carving on the side of the mountain.  I walked down the rough terrain for a closer view but Bob waited at the top.  Also a nice train ride around the mountain when we got down again."

TALK ABOUT A NEGATIVE INFLUENCE!

DONNIE SAYS: "There's a new book out by a New York Times writer.  She slams Texas, royally, for it's backwardness and for its negative influence on the rest of the nation.  She'll be here in Austin promoting the book.  That should be fun to watch."

 

AND, I SAY:  If the good lady thinks Texas is a negative influence on the rest of the nation she should stay closer to home and visit the Congress of the United States in Washington, D. C.  Now, there's a place that invented the negative influence on the rest of the nation.

TALK ABOUT CONFUSED!!

I've been up for hours, convinced it was Saturday.  I have been busy doing Saturday stuff.  I just looked at the calendar and discovered it's Friday.  Now I have a lot of my Saturday stuff done but I haven't even started on the Friday stuff so I'm way behind.  I'll probably never catch up and the day will be a complete waste.

If you think my life is easy, think again.

GOOD LUCK NIK!

Those of you who know me know that I don't remember very much but I do remember seeing the Wallenda's, as a kid, at the circus in Sioux Falls.

The Wallenda family has been performing in the circus ring for over 200 years and, tonight, the tradition continues as Nik Wallenda attempts to walk the tightrope over Niagara Falls.  I'll keep my fingers crossed.

STORMS LAST NIGHT

I know I woke up, sometime during the night, and heard some pretty lound thunder.  That's all I remember about the storms and I don't see any reports from around La Crosse.

I did see reports, however, of trees down around Genoa, power outages in Rochester and 1.25" hail in Wabasha.

BIG DAY TOMORROW

HERE THEY COME

I hope Rita and Roger haven't completely worn themselves out getting ready for Rick and Angela's arrival tomorrow.  There's going to be a lot excitement, at the ranch, this coming week.

NOTE TO LINDA:

CONSIDER YOURSELF LUCKY THAT YOU DON'T FEEL AS OLD AS I DO.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

"How fortunate for governments that the people they administer don't think."
Adolph Hitler

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! WENT THE TROLLEY

I was happy to see the La Crosse Sight Seeing Trolley bus is back.  It's been four years since the trolley last operated.  The trolley offers 90 minute tours around La Crosse including the Castles on Cass.  I'm not sure if they point out my home or not.

A SENIOR CITIZEN MOMENT

STUFF YOU REALLY DON'T NEED TO KNOW

Yvonne De Carlo was paid $25,000 for her role in the 1956 Cecil B. DeMille production of "THE TEN COMMANDMENTS".  That was big bucks in the 50's.  Today, you can spend that on dinner in Hollywood.

NEVER MAKE A BET WITH A TURTLE

GOT A NOTE AND PICTURE FROM RITA

"Renee painted the kitchen and entry.  Looks great!!!

I'm getting too old to shop.

Had a little problem at the grocery store today.

Apparently, when the cashier said "Strip down, facing me" she was talking about my debit card.

BAT DISEASE COULD BE BAD NEWS FOR FARMERS

A bat disease is killing off the bats in northern Iowa, near the Wisconsin border.  Bats eat a lot of the insects that can devastate crops so it could become pretty bad news.  The story is here in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinal this morning.

DONNIE ON TWEETS:

Got a vitamin pill stuck in my throat this morning.

That sounds like a tweet. 

I still don't understand tweeting. But Steve Martin does. At library yesterday I picked up his new, short book of his own tweets, and some replies. He, of course, tweets as an act, as a professional performance, as material for this book...as income! But it is a short and funny book, and I read it all in little more than an hour, as I toured four of Austin's "independent coffee shops" yesterday. These are locally-owned (that is, non-Starbucks) hangouts, and homes to the collections of weird characters that are a large part of Austin's fame. (Of course every city and even small town is full of odd characters, but Austin makes "weird" into a city slogan.)

WAY WAY WAY UP NORTH!

Ron and Penny got home recently from their trip to Alaska.



SOME NEAT PUNS FROM CARL

I changed my iPod's name to Titanic. It's syncing now. When chemists die, they barium. Jokes about German sausage are the wurst. A soldier who survived mustard gas and pepper spray is now a seasoned veteran. I know a guy who's addicted to brake fluid. But he says he can stop any time. How does Moses make his tea? Hebrews it. I stayed up all night to see where the sun went. Than it dawned on me. This girl said she recognized me from the vegetarian club, but I'd never met herbivore. I'm reading a book about anti-gravity and I can't put it down. I did a theatrical performance about puns. It was a play on words. They told me I had type A blood, but it was a Type-O. A dyslexic man walks into a bra. A double A "Energizer" got arrested. was Charged with battery. I didn't like my beard at first. Then it grew on me. How do you make holy water? Boil the hell out of it. Did you hear about the cross eyed teacher who lost her job because she couldn't control her pupils? If you get a bladder infection, urine trouble. I wondered why the baseball was getting bigger. Then it hit me. Broken pencils are pointless. I tried to catch some fog. I mist. What do you call a dinosaur with an extensive vocabulary? A thesaurus. England has no kidney bank, but it does have a Liverpool. I used to be a banker, but then I lost interest. I dropped out of communism class because of lousy Marx. All the toilets in New York's police stations have been stolen. It is a shame the Police have nothing to go on. I got a job at a bakery because I kneaded dough. Haunted French pancakes give me the crepes. Velcro - what a rip off. Cartoonist found dead in home. Details are sketchy. Venison for dinner ? Oh deer. Earthquake in Washington ... obviously government's fault. I used to think I was indecisive, but now I'm not so sure. I do not enjoy computer jokes. Not one bit. Be kind to your dentist. He has fillings, too.

WHAT SHOES ARE YOU WEARING?

There's an article on Yahoo!, this morning, that says you can tell an awful lot about a person by the shoes they wear.

As I was reading it, it occured to me that I really don't pay any attention to what shoes people are wearing.  What does that say about me?  I suppose it means I'm not all that interested in learning a lot about another person.  Let's be honest.  It's really all about me.  Read the article here and see what you think.

WIND GUSTS

TO 30 MPH

TODAY

TODAY IS HEAT AWARENESS DAY

Here's all you need to know to protect yourself from the heat:  HEAT AWARENESS INFO FROM THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE

As far as I remember, I've never been overheated but I sure, as hell, have been overcolded.

WILLARD REPORTS

Blue Jay #1 swooped in and picked up a piece of bread.  Flew to the top of the patio fence to eat.  A few seconds later, blue jay #2 arrived and sat next to blue jay #1''

I assume Blue Jay #2 is a female as she frantically flapped her wings and opened her mouth for some bread.   Blue Jay #1  immediately gave her his helping.  The both flew off to form their nest.  Maybe some baby blue jays on the way?

BEEN THERE DONE THAT

STATEMENT FROM THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE

The latest forecast has chances of showers and thunderstorms in it, nearly every night and day, through early next week. Note that the entire period will not be wet, but trying to find times of dry weather is difficult to predict. What is certain is that over the next few days, moisture and warmth will be streaming north through the Plains and into the Upper Midwest, ahead of a low pressure system in the Dakotas.

More warmth and moisture makes it more favorable for showers and thunderstorms. Some of the difficulties in predicting rain this week include:
1.Dry air trying to stay in the area from high pressure shifting east into the Great Lakes 2.Development of showers and thunderstorms across the Plains, which depending on their placement can briefly impact the increase of moisture and warmth
3.The speed of the low pressure system moving east is uncertain. The closer the system is to the area, the better the chance for precipitation.
4.Tracking and timing of upper level troughs of low pressure coming off the Rockies. These troughs can trigger showers and thunderstorms Given the uncertainities for rain and thunderstorms, if you are planning activities, pay close attention to the latest radar and forecasts.

IT'S NOT ABOUT THE COMFORT

IT'S ABOUT THE WARMTH



SUCH A DEAL!

I was just thinking, the morning, that I have to buy some more socks.  I'm really running low.  When you walk as much as I do they don't last long.  I just made a pill run to WALGREEN'S and guess what I found.  The have men's and women's socks on sale at 5 pair for $5.00 and they're really nice socks.  I killed two birds with one stone!

OH! NO!

The water department is back on Cass this morning.  I hope we're not going to have another shut off!

WE GET AROUND

This morning we've had visits from the USA, Russia, Switzerland, Germany, Portugal, Sweden and the United Kingdom.

WHAT A DIFFERENCE A SHOWER HEAD MAKES!

My new shower head has made my day.  I could have stood under it all morning!  My skin never felt so fresh and clean (except when I was still in diapers).  Thank you KOHLER -- I'm clean all over!

Donnie's comment: "The older you get the less it takes to make you happy."

STORMY WEATHER IN HOUSTON

Willard says they had "big time storms" last night.  "Power outages and damage around town.  Over two hour delays at IAH with 3 inches of rain."

How well I remember those big storms at IAH.  All the main roads into and out of the airport get flooded and you're really stuck.  Can't fly anywhere and can't drive anywhere either.  I'll never forget spending most of the night trying to get home from work during one big storm.

FORGET HILTON. CALL FOUR SEASONS!

A FOLLOW-UP FROM DONNIE

"The poor customer service I told you about yesterday only got worse today.

Suspicious that yesterday's operator got my two room reservations all screwed up, I called the motel in Maryland, today, to check, and was immediately connected back to the same 800 number.  There, another woman operator, also with a difficult to understand accent, searched the confirmation number her colleague had given me yesterday and announced that she had no record of any reservation.  "We don't even use numbers like that", she said.

So I called the motel again and this time asked the actual desk clerk not to transfer me, but to check her terminal, at the hotel, to see if I had a reservation for two rooms.

"Not quite", she said.  "We have you down for one room."

So, I got one person telling me I have two rooms, another telling me I have one and a third telling me I have none.  So, I say to the hotel clerk, "Just cancel that one room."  "Can't do that," she says.  "You have to go back to the original agent."

So tonight I will be calling the original 800 number and trying to resolve this.  I will be canceling (I hope) and will never stay at any Hilton hotel or motel again.

In the meantime, I also looked at my credit card account, on line, to be sure that the data I foolishly surrendered to the first poor woman is not being misused.  So far it is not.

Now, as a hotel veteran yourself, you may tell me I went about it all wrong.  Or you may tell me just to stay home."

As a hotel veteran, here's my advice.  If you want no hassle service, as I alluded to yesterday, you will have to pay for it.  It's NOT free anymore.

I don't know where, in Maryland, you're going but it it's anywhere near Baltimore go to this website: http://www.fourseasons.com/baltimore/

If you call a hotel and the person at the front desk is trying to help you with your reservation hang up immediately.  Chances are someone who has already booked a room, at the hotel, and paid on their credit card, is standing in front of the clerk trying to check in or out.  They are in no mood to stand there and wait while the clerk is on the phone, talking to someone WHO MIGHT OR MIGHT NOT book a room in the future.  The clerk is having a melt down because she's trying to deal with you while she's staring at the glare on the guests face in front of her/him.

Any hotel/motel that has a front desk clerk answering the phones or trying to take reservations doesn't know or care about customer service.

Pay the extra bucks and call FOUR SEASONS.  No one at the desk will answer the phones.  There are no phones at the front desk.  The front desk is there for people already staying at the hotel or are just checking in or out.  They are an IN HOUSE service and if the hotel has 100 rooms or more the front desk has all they can do to take care of the guests already in the building.

If the hotel is not willing to pay people to handle phones and reservations...THE BACKBONE OF THEIR BUSINESS...you can rest assured they're cutting corners everywhere else too and your experience, when you get there, will not be any  better than the experience you've been having on the phone.

Check the rates on the website above.  If you see something that looks good, and are not comfortable booking on line, call FOUR SEASONS and talk to a reservations agent who will be in house (but not at the front desk) and know what he/she is talking about.

If you're not interested in paying a little more then my next suggestion would be the alternative you suggested.  Stay home.  You don't have to travel all over the country to pinch pennys and be frustrated.  You can do that right where you are.

People who travel are not always aware of how much tension can build up while they're "on the road".  You're in unfamiliar surroundings, the food is different, the bed is different, all the noises and smells, around you, are strange.  A good customer service person understands that and takes that into consideration when you're trying to get them to help you.  If they DON'T understand that, whatever you pay is far too much.

GREETINGS FROM STONE MOUNTAIN

Bob and Lynne are in Georgia visiting Dawn.  Lynne wrote, "Easy trip.  We drove through in 13 hours. 813.7 miles.  We love Dawn's apartment and surroundings.  We ate on the balcony at PARTY CHIC.  Delicious sandwiches and soup. Dawn has to work today so we'll go to STONE MOUNTAIN.  Will send more pictures when I get them on the computer."

A STITCH IN TIME

JUNE 13, 1790

THOMAS SAINT

PATENTED THE

FIRST SEWING MACHINE

SUNNY THE SUNFISH IS BACK WHERE HE BELONGS

The Onalaska icon has been absent for a couple of months for a facelift.  The story is in the LA CROSSE TRIBUNE-Read it here.

Here's Donnie hanging off Sunny before he got his new shine.

FROM DONNIE RE: ABE LINCOLN QUOTE

" Apologies--this now appears to be a fake quote. Should have known it sounds too good to be true. Even we liberals can succumb to the net's deceptions. But as Colbert reminds us, it's the "truthy-ness" that counts. In this post-truth info age, truth is what you want it to be. "

A SPIFFY NEW SHOWER

My shower is working again.  They threw out the old one and put in a fancy new one with all kinds of different spray settings.  I may spend the whole morning in the shower tomorrow!

I'M SUPPOSED TO RESPECT MY ELDERS, BUT IT'S GETTING HARDER AND HARDER FOR ME TO FIND ONE NOW.

WHAT'S IN A NAME?

I've, often, wondered how long it would take to make the change.  Franciscan Skemp became Mayo Health Services a few months ago.  Only us old timers remember that facility used to be a Catholic hospital run by the Sisters of St. Francis.  Gunderson used to be a Lutheran hospital.  That was back in the days before hospitals and insurance companies became money machines first and health care providers second.

Now it look like "Gunderson Lutheran" is about to become just "GUNDERSON CLINIC" with a new logo.  The full story is in the LA CROSSE TRIBUNE this morning.

DON'T GET TOO CLOSE

I couldn't take a shower this morning.  No pressure and no cold water.  Only super hot water.  Too hot to stand under it.  Like Rosanne Rosanadana used to say, "It's always something".  I suppose Thunder and I will spend most of the day with the plumber.  Thunder won't like that and neither will I.

NO A/C TODAY

Talk about roller coaster weather!  Winds are gusting to 20 MPH, this morning, and temperatures are on the cool side.  We'll be lucky if we get to 70 this afernoon.

IT'S NO LONGER THE WORLD WE GREW UP IN

I suppose, everyone, as they grow older, has the same feeling.  Everything changes too fast and you can't keep up anymore.

Donnie wrote, "Will be very hard to get me on many travels anymore.  Way too complicated.  Trying to make a hotel reservation for one night in Maryland was a horror.  Took, at least, 20 minutes by phone.

The woman's accent was so heavy I could hardly understand her.  The phone was scratchy.  She was, probably, overseas, representing a reservations service in Dallas for a motel in Maryland.  Globalization.

I had to spell my name a dozen times and she'd keep talking over me so I'd have to start again.  I have to give personal and financial data to these people!  No such thing as "customer service" anymore.  Everything is designed to move money from customer to company."

I spent a "few" years in customer service and I can assure you, it's still there.  The difference is that it's now reserved for only the very wealthy.  Having worked for one of the most expensive hotel chains in the world, I can tell you that the most expensive cost for any company is "customer service" and those that can afford it, get it.  And, when it comes to reservations, rich people don't make reservations.  They have servants who talk to to other servants who make the reservations.

This was bound to happen when we stopped shopping at the LOCAL stores owned by LOCAL people who were our friends and neighbors and decided we'd rather save ten cents shopping at HUGE, UGLY factory type boxes who have so many millions of customers in so many countries that they could care less if you ever come back or not.

It's not any politicians fault or any company's fault.  IT'S OUR FAULT for making the choices we've made...all in the name of one of the seven deadly sins.....GREED.

The old saying is more true today than ever before.  "You get what you ask for".

SORRY TO HEAR OF THE DEATH OF SAM DRUCKER

Remember Sam?  He was the owner of the General Store in GREEN ACRES.  The Actors real name was FRANK CADY.  He was 96.

I DIDN'T KNOW THERE WAS A MAGNOLIA, ILLINOIS

There must be.  Someone from there read this blog yesterday.  I looked it up and found it southwest of Chicago, about in the middle of the state.  It's home to around 279 people.  You learn something new every day.  And, if that's a fact, I guess I'll have to resign myself to another fact that is that I'll never know everything.

DONNIE AND LINDA HAVE SOME BEAUTIFUL NEIGHBORS

DONNIE ON BRADBURY

Ray Bradbury died last week. The great writer didn't go to college and never learned to drive. Of his science fiction he said "I'm not trying to predict the future, I'm trying to prevent the future."

HOT TIPS ABOUT HEAT

Check out these HOT WEATHER TIPS from the National Weather Service.  Even though we're going to have a few cool days the first part of the week, we've got a long summer ahead and there's a lot more heat to come.

DIET

Check this out: TEN BEST FOODS FOR WEIGHT LOSS

FRIENDS



THUNDERSTORMS TONIGHT

COOLER TOMORROW

HOTEL RATES FOR BUSINESS TRAVELERS WENT UP 9.3% IN APRIL

FROM WILLARD

Used the Egg Wave Microwave egg cooker for the first time yesterday.  Poached one "test" egg.  PERFECT.

Later I set up to do 3 eggs.  About 60 seconds later I heard loud EXPLOSIONS!  If you don't secure the top to the egg cooker the top blows off and you have a MESS.  Have learned a lesson...won't happen again.

FROM DONNIE

We have at least three Great Horned Owls in the trees out back. Heard them yesterday at sun-up, very near, then again at dusk. Didn't expect to see these nocturnal creatures, but in the last shadows of the day one took flight, landed atop a tall cedar tree, and posed there for several minutes. Big bird! All we could make out was the silhouette, the "horns," and of course the whoooo-ing. But I didn't hear them this morning--maybe they were just passing through.

I SHOULD LIVE SO LONG!!

There's an interesting article in the HUFFINGTON POST about HOW TO LIVE TO BE 100.  Please note, in the article, that nearly half of the centenarians, interviewed, said that WALKING IS THEIR FAVORITE EXERCISE.

I always think about Vesta when someone talks about making it to 100.  Vesta's daughter, who was a nurse, said to Vesta, one day, "Mother, if you'd stop drinking and smoking, you could live to be 100."  Vesta's answer was "Who the hell wants to live to be 100?"

I'm with Vesta on that one.  The last thing I'd want to do is live to be 100.  I just bought a new pair of shoes but I don't think they'll last that long.

By the way, Vesta didn't quite make it to 100 but she lived into her 80's.  She was one of our neighbors in Armour and one of Mother's life-long friends.  I always thought of her as my "Auntie Mame".  She was one of a kind.  According to her will, she requested that a deck of cards and a string of Christmas tree lights be placed in her coffin.  The request was carried out.  Now, you see, why I called her my Auntie Mame.

WHILE WE'RE ON THE SUBJECT OF WALKING

It was on June 10, 1837 that Simeon Mills arrived in Madison.  He had WALKED from Chicago.  Mills figured he had walked enough and became the deputy postmaster in Madison before opening the first mercantile establishment in the city.  He was also the Dane County Justice of the Peace and was also Territorial Clerk of the Supreme Court.  That's what I would call a busy man.

ANOTHER HOT ONE

We hit a high of 91 yesterday and they're forecasting a high of 92 for today.  You know what they say, "It's so hot the trees are whistlin' for the dogs."