Snippets Of Life

Who Needs The Green Flash When You Can Have The Orange Smudge?

/ Ally Bean / 10 Comments

I.  Anyone who has ever spent any time in southwest Florida standing on the beach looking at the sunset over the Gulf of Mexico, knows that there’s this thing called the green flash.  It’s a phenomenon wherein a sharp line of emerald green flashes across the ocean horizon the second that the sun disappears.  

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II.  For the last few weeks, Ohio has experienced sub-zero temps that have made life [shall we say?] interesting.  Since the arrival of this arctic weather, there’s been one aspect of it that has charmed me.  Almost every night at sunset when I look out the window across our deck through the trees to the neighbor’s houses, I see a beautiful shade of orange on the horizon.

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III.  While not as spectacular and dramatic as the Florida green flash, this delightful Ohio-in-winter sunset phenomenon has a quiet magic of its own that is more in keeping with the low-key vibe of this state.  And as such, I believe it deserves a name, too.  

So it is with the foregoing in mind that I’ve decided to take it upon myself and name this phenomenon.  Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Ohio’s answer to the green flash.  Around here, it’s all about the  orange smudge.

The Saga Of My Search For Incandescent Lightbulbs

/ Ally Bean / 33 Comments

True confessions time.  I’m an incandescent lightbulb hoarder.  I lurve normal lightbulbs.  Soft white glow.  Roundish with an Edison base.  Retro.

Judge me IF you must.

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Here is part of my incandescent lightbulb collection.

Here is part of my incandescent lightbulb collection.

 

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So during these waning days of incandescent lightbulb availability, off I go to buy 25 Watt lightbulbs to replace the ones in the outdoor light fixture that provides light onto our deck.  

As you can imagine, they were almost impossible to find.  And when, after searching through 3 stores, I did find them at The Home Depot, I had to use the do-it-yourself checkout station… which didn’t work.

The screen was FROZEN.

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It was at this point in my search for incandescent lightbulbs that I became the pawn of the woman responsible for the do-it-yourself checkout area.  And things became a bit difficult.

First, she didn’t believe that my screen wouldn’t work, so she tried seven times to make it go.  At this she failed.

Then when it was clear to her that my screen was, indeed, frozen,  she decided to ring up my purchase of $8.91 at her central register and have me hand her my $10.00 bill.  At this point in the transaction my frozen-screened do-it-yourself checkout station was to give me my change.

This would have been a great idea IF she had correctly entered $10.00 into her register, BUT she didn’t.

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No, she put into her central register that I had handed her a $1000.00 bill– and suddenly my frozen-screened do-it-yourself checkout station started spewing out $20.00 bills at a speed and in a way comparable to a figure skater doing triple lutzes.

Pushing me aside, The Home Depot employee made a dash for the cash coming out of my frozen-screened do-it-yourself checkout station.  She was in a panic.  A minute or two later when she had all the cash in her hand she was so flustered that she couldn’t figure out how to continue with my transaction.

And I was in NO MOOD to leave the store without my $1.09 change.

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So I waited, with a line of customers behind me, until The Home Depot employee regained her composure.  Then, using a magic key that she had on a cord around her neck, she unlocked the entire bottom section of my frozen-screened do-it-yourself checkout station and counted out my change from the big till in there.

Consequently, a mere ten minutes after stepping up to the do-it-yourself checkout station, The Home Depot employee handed me a bag filled with what might be the most difficult to find– and to pay for– 25 Watt lightbulbs in the world.

THE END.  

[Hello FTC!  Please note that I’m explaining my point-of-view about things and my experiences while buying such things.  There was no monetary &/or other compensation involved whatsoever.  I know that you’re a wise & wonderful governmental department so you probably already knew that, right?  Just wanted to be clear.]  

Assorted Monday Morning Botherations

/ Ally Bean / 20 Comments

::  All I can say is thank goodness that over the weekend we were smart enough to get to the grocery & stock up on a few things.  Not that this morning’s snowfall is all that deep, but it is slushy and messy.  And I dislike putting on hiking boots, which are high enough to protect my ankles from the snow, so that I can trudge from the car in the parking lot into the store where my feet get too hot as I shop.  This way, shopping ahead of the snow mess, my tootsies have not been inconvenienced at all.  

Yeah!

::  I’ve spent most of the last week suffering from some stupid eye problems.  I have rosacea in my eyes, which sucks;  but most of the time I’m able to not think about it because of all the prescriptions I use to reduce the inflammation.  [For me, Restasis is like meth.  Gotta have it.]   However, this last week I managed to chap my eyelids which means, in practical terms, that they itch like heck + they are flaking like flurries before a big snowstorm.  Today, in fact, is the first morning I’ve awakened without my eyelids itching so much I want to scream.  Yep, now I’ve progressed to a point where I want to mutter quietly about my eyes.

Huzzah!

::  Did I tell you that the overhead light in the laundry room stopped working?  I was carrying a couple of baskets of dirty clothes into the room, hit the switch with my right elbow– and nothing happened.  No noise, no sparks, not smoke.  So, I put down the baskets and started checking the electrical outlets in the room.  They all worked, meaning that our overhead light had wornout and died.  Whoever heard of such a thing?  Overhead lights last forever, right?  Yet, here I am doing laundry in the dark.

Oh goody.

Musings While Looking At 7 Pounds Of Cream Cheese

/ Ally Bean / 28 Comments

::  As some of you know, in a few days is THE PARTY.  At last count we have 54 guests coming to our not-so-little fiesta.  Early on, this open-house business holiday party was a small little gathering.  Not any more.

Now it is a big party… which, of course, brings me to the topic of this post: cream cheese.

Did you know that 7 pounds of cream cheese = 11,200 calories?

::  I didn’t grow up around cream cheese.  My dad liked it, but my mother hated all things cheesy, so not much cream cheese made it into our house.

It was only after I was out on my own, living in Philadelphia, that I became aware of how DARNED GOOD cream cheese can be– especially on freshly baked bagels.

Did you know that 7 pounds of cream cheese is 5″ high x 9.5″ wide x 5.5″ deep?

::  But even here in a midwest suburb, far away from those east coast bagels, cream cheese is a wonder.  And, come to find out, it is the basis of ALL PARTY DIPS.  Yes, this wondrous substance appeals to young [college interns] and old [retired former co-workers] alike.  It’s the yum that binds a party together.  

Did you know that 7 pounds of cream cheese will allow me to make 9 recipes of dip (3 recipes x 3)?

Jalapeño Popper Dip

Skyline Chili Dip

Baked Buffalo Chicken Dip

::  And it is on this last note that I find myself dawdling here today.  While I know that there is NOTHING DIFFICULT about putting together these dips, I am in awe of the amount of cream cheese that I need to make the dips happen.  Looking at the cream cheese piled up in our refrigerator I see a monument– and it reminds me that a house party this large might be a one and only lifetime experience for me.

I mean, 54 guests?  What the heck were we thinking?!!