Laundry and so much more accomplished

It was a Saturday that was, weather wise, miserable and weird. It was cold in the morning, then icy in the afternoon and started to get warmer at night. We are supposed to reach a high of 50+ degrees Fahrenheit today. And then plunge down to the teens on Monday. Joy and rapture. Weather is being really weird.

Despite the weather, I was determined to go out and get some things accomplished. A dvd player that I bought for mom at Big Lots is terrible and it needs replacing. Though she says that she is having trouble watching dvds as she can't follow them anymore. This is sad and scary. I don't know what to do about this at all. Just keep moving forward I guess. And in mom's case, a slow spiral downward. Sigh. I was thinking of heading to (ick) walmart to get her another one. Two things stopped me. First, I hate walmart. Second, the weather. I will keep thinking on it. I also wanted to buy a replacement pair of kitchen scissors. The ones we have had for years and years (and years?) broke this afternoon. The plastic just gave up the ghost. Why they were made of plastic is anyone's guess, but there you have it.

I got about a block away and realized that I had forgotten to put the laundry detergent in the car. It doesn't pour well when frozen (liquid detergent that it). I went back and got it and it wasn't until I was almost at the laundromat that I realized that I had left my phone at the house! Oh my god! Panic, panic, panic! What was I going to do without my phone for an hour or two?! What exciting messages might I not be able to respond to instantly? What about my food shopping list? What about playing bridge endlessly while waiting for my clothes to dry? Eeeeeek! But I chose to do my best to survive without the silly thing.

First stop, laundry. I stuffed my clothes into A washing machine (yes, I do not sort), put in some detergent and beat a hasty retreat - or rather an advance to the rear - to Wegman's. I had the realization that they must sell kitchen scissors. And they did! Except they were out. :( Until Friday. Can I live until Friday without kitchen scissors? Time will tell. I got my groceries - mostly my Apple, Beet, Carrot stuff to make juice with. Yes, I am still doing that juice thing, despite not noticing a sleeker coat or more sparkly eyes. I have no external mirror to tell me if there is a change. Which is one reason I seek a life partner. Oops, digression. Sorry, back to the narrative through line. All shopped and no Walmarting - since part of the reason I was going to go there was to get kitchen shears. Still thinking on how to get a DVD player without going to Walmart for it. If I lived nearer an urban center...Anywho...

Here is the mountain of Laundry that will become many mole hills

Back to the laundromat. My clothes were spinning as I arrived. Scoping out the space, I saw that many, many dryers were in use. Sigh. Last time, I was a little underwhelmed with how the lower dryers performed, so I was seeking all upper ones this time. I found three, not contiguous, but that was ok. I have some distinct clothing, so I knew could find them again. Without my phone, I basically people watched (one of my favorite pastimes) for half an hour. Then I tossed all of my laundry into the baskets - saving the joy of folding for mom and home.

Last stop, Lake Drum, the new place that has opened in town. I play a game with myself where I make a rule, and depending on the result, I make a choice. If x, then y sort of thing. In this case, if there was easy parking near Lake Drum, I would stop. As luck (fortune, kismet) would have it, there was a spot almost directly in front. Huzzuh?

Lake Drum is a pleasant place, all things considered. Nice atmosphere, interesting beer options - Victor does his best to pick only NYS beers - and I get to drink out of my Saucer #8 stein. Chatted with nice people and stayed way longer than I had intended. Oh well. Mom survived my absence, which is, I guess, the most important thing.

Dinner and then the coin sorting.

After dinner, I wanted to wrap my coins in their little paper sleeves. I had remembered to remove the coins from the car's center console (one of the things I did while waiting for my clothes to dry at the laundromat). So, I got the coins all together and realized that I had no idea where I had cleverly put all of the coin wrappers. They used to be in with the coins - in the collection box - but the box was too crowded so I moved them. Cleverly. I must admit that I was mildly concerned that I would have to end up cleaning (eeek) my entire room to try and find them. I did look in a few places, overturned piles of papers and such, to no avail. I basically gave up on the idea of accomplishing coin rollage last night.

When I couldn't find the rolling stuff, I just put the coins in these

Over the next couple of hours, I sat and thought - ok, tried to nap, but couldn't. Sitting, thinking, looking around my room - when what did to my wandering eye did appear? A tower fruit cake tins. I don't know where I got them - four of them - all pretty and flowery and such. Hmm, why were they there? What could their function be, now that the fruit cake had been ingested, digested and er, eliminated? Why not get off my butt and see? Yay and ta dah! The coin stuff! Inside each of the cans was the coin sock for the coins and one of the four coin denominations generally in use: pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters. Huzzuh!!

Tins o'coins and wrapping materials (and socks)

I guessed that I would roll about $60 worth of coins. Anyone wanna guess? The rolling was made a little more difficult because mom wanted to chat the entire time. Which we did. Though some of my answers took a while until I got to a memorable stopping place.

More than $60! Rich, I tell you, rich!!

 Quite a day!

Fireworks

I can be a little obsessive. For instance, I did a search for fireworks in the area and found that there were some last night, tonight, Sunday and Monday! And I decided I wanted to go to them all. Well, I didn't end up going last night. The fireworks were at a Speedway - which to me seems to be a misnomer, since the track is dirt and short and well, I can't imagine that the vehicles are really going all that quickly. Then again, I haven't gone to a Speedway - though I would like to go. One day. Really! But it wasn't last night. Mom and I are planning on going to the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra's Red, White and Boom tonight. That ought to be fun! We bought her the most awesome-est of folding chairs for the eventuality of sitting outdoors. Yippee! Then we are going to the American Legion on Sunday night. And I am planning on going to some fireworks in a park on the 4th even if I have to go alone! Yippee for fireworks and obsession! :)

What else happened yesterday? I got up at a decent time and made lots of phone calls and got a few things checked off of my to do list. Always a happy-making thing. It was also coin rolling day! Every six months or so, I like to wrap coins that I have collected. I love coin rolling. Weird, but true. I don't like the machines that take the coins so easily. Sorting through the coins, counting them, wrapping them. I like it all. I ended up with $56 dollars!

Oh, I went to the movies with the women from Turkey. It was their first movie in America! And sadly it was a piece of dreck called Bad Teacher. I like Cameron Diaz. I really do. But this was a terrible, in my opinion, movie. Bad acting, silly predictable plot, bad dialogue. Just ick. I hope that they liked it more than I did!

Mom and I have decided to go help my brother Karl change houses. Every extra pair of hands is helpful, I guess. It is in a couple of weekends and will be a quick trip. I am planning on going to a couple of beer things - one brewery and one brewpub. Maybe I will write a book about brewpubs. That would be fun to research!

By the way - I just published a post from last year - it was a summary post about a road trip I made. Not scintillating, but it is more words... :)

Pictures from July 1, 2011:


The socks contain change that didn't get rolled last time - pink for quarters, white for pennies and the blue sock contains nickels and dimes.


Ta da! Some change was left for the next time. Yippee!


Not a great representation of the view from the park at the foot of Washington Street in Geneva...

Happy New Year 2011!

Wow, this is the year I turn 50, half a century. Goodness gracious.

I decided to take at least one picture every day for the next 365 days (I checked, not a leap year). We shall see how this transpires. Doesn't seem that daunting. Yet doing something every day does seem a bit, hmm, challenging(?).

Maybe it is just an excuse to type everyday. Goodness knows I do enjoy a good typage.

Maybe it is just a way for me to be able to hang a memory on every day. After spending 10 days with my mom and seeing how her memories of the past 12-24 hours evaporate, I was interested in seeing if I could create a way for me to stimulate my memory process.

Anyway, it is January 2. I did in fact take a few pictures yesterday. Nothing scintillating, mostly documentary. I like to take documentary pictures. I am in awe of people whose documentary pictures are also arty at the same time. Black and white might be part of the reason. Moving on...

So here we come to the pictures. Everyone ready? 1, 2, 3...


I used to roll my coins every 6 months. Now I am going to do it annually. With the advent of debit cards, my intake of change has dropped drastically. And I do not belong to a bank that has the round up thing invoked.


I think it came to $65 which is what I used to do in half a year. Oh well. The coin machine in the supermarket just doesn't give the same satisfaction...


Cate and Daniel - Cate playing Fable III while I wait my turn - Daniel playing Runescape while he waits his turn...


Cate made a "traditional" dinner meant to bring wealth and health and such into one's year. Ham, black eyed peas and collard greens.