The Sandcastle

It’s time to renew my driver’s license.

I go online and find ways to make an appointment to take drivers tests or to get a Real ID. The second is interesting since that deadline has passed. But, I find no way to make an appointment to simply renew a license.

So, I think about that and decide I will simply show up at the county service center and take my chances.

But, not on a Monday or Friday since those tend to be busy days.

And not when it’s raining as getting my Scoot into and out of the car in the rain is not fun.

And not when we are having a heat wave.

And not the week of the 4th of July when way too many people take vacation days.

So, today was the day.

I don’t do early mornings which is OK because way too many people go then.

So we left home about 1:00 in the afternoon and arrived at the local service center a short while later.

There was a line of people waiting but only 4 or 5 people in it.

The woman working the welcome window waited on all of them–not fast but not slow.

By then it was 1:30 so she asked all the people who had 1:30 appointments to come forward.

I waited some more since I didn’t have an appointment.

Finally I got my turn at the window and she asked me if I applied online. How was I supposed to do that? So, I said no.

She gave me a paper to fill out and said bring it back to the window to get my number.

Done. C274.

The various service windows have the numbers above them of the people they are serving now. The far window says C273.

But we hang back near the entrance because who knows which window will serve me.

The call an N number then an M number so I wait.

C273 goes blank and that worker no longer appears to be there.

I finally get called to a window just behind me.

We do the paperwork and she sends me down to another window near the far end for an eye test and photograph.

I can’t make the eye test machine work. You just press your forehead against a bar then read the letters you see. No letters became visible.

So she moves me to the photo area and makes me take off my glasses, which I normally only do when sleeping. My old license had my picture with my glasses on. She says they don’t do it that way anymore. She takes two photos because the flash of the first one made me blink.

Then she takes me to another eye test machine and I can’t make it work, either. It turns out you can’t just place your forehead against the bar, you have to place the TOP of your forehead against the bar. It works and I pass.

She gives me a paper to read that shows what my license will read. I had checked the boxes for having a living will and the one for being an organ donor but not the one for being a veteran. That all looked right so I signed it and gave it back to her.

Dave pays and she gives me the temporary license saying the new one will come in the mail in 2-4 weeks.

I stop at the bathroom on the way out. We were still there less than 3/4 an hour. And the line of people waiting is now out the door.

I guess I picked the right time to show up without an appointment.

TTYL,

Linda

I suspect many of you have had the experience of sitting in your chair feeling yourself drowsing off only to have your head fall forward waking you up.

(You can click on photos to make them larger if you wish to do so.)

So when I found a potential solution on the internet, I realized we owned the parts necessary to make it a DIY project.

It started by checking out our junk drawer to find a large piece of double sided Velcro left over from a previous project. It had to be long enough to wrap around the headrest of my chair.

Which Dave then wrapped and tightened.

The he dug though our travel gear to find my sleep mask and fastened it to that strap.

Then tucked it away on top of my chair so it wouldn’t get pinned behind me when I sat down.

Now, when I want to nap, I just pull the mask down over my eyes and it keeps my head lifted.

No more bobblehead!

And, if you are still traveling, it can be used on planes, trains, and automobiles.

TTYL,

Linda

A child had just been rescued when she said, “A stripper saved me, momma.”

“What do you know about strippers? Never mind. What made you think she was a stripper?”

Because she said, “Imagine! Me, a stripper, saved a child!”

Then she asked, “What’s a stripper, mama?”

After a moment her mother replied, “A stripper is a woman who dances on a stage.”

“Dancing is fun. I’m glad she gets to do that.”

TTYL,

Linda

My husband, Dave, is a very smart man. That got him lots of raises and promotions during his working years. But, his employee evaluations also included comments about his poor communication skills. Here’s a recent example from our current life:

Our shower enclosure includes a hand held shower head that rests on a bracket that is height adjustable. I recently asked him to lower it. Which he did.

So, while it was now easier for me to reach, it also became harder for me to lift the shower head from the bracket.

So I asked him if he twisted the shower head.

“No.”

Did he turn it?

“No.”

Did he swivel it?

“No.”

…

Finally he said, “I rotated it.”

*AARGH*, I said within my head.

Out loud I gently asked, “Whatever you did will you, please, undo it?”

“OK.”

Apparently, I need to be careful with my wording when asking Dave a question. Perhaps, if I had asked, “Did you do anything else to the shower head other than lowering it?” I would have received a correct answer immediately. But perhaps not since what he lowered was the bracket in which the shower head rests rather than the shower head itself. Perhaps, I needed to ask about the bracket.

But what if “bracket” wasn’t the right word, either?

TTYL,

Linda

It’s been said that the USA and England are two countries separated by a common language. Here are some examples of that.

USA : England

Bangs (hair on forehead) : Fringe

Hood (of a car) : bonnet

Trunk (of a car) : boot

French fries : chips

Chips : crisps

Bag (of chips) : Packet (of crisps)

Privacy (long I) : Privacy (short i)

Zebra (long A) : Zebra (short a)

Crosswalk : Zebra crossing

Tennis shoes (canvas) : Plimsolls

Tennis shoes (leather) : Trainers

Cell phone : mobile

Desert : pudding

Sweater : jumper

Braid (hairstyle) : plait

Boots (rain) : wellies

Eraser : rubber

Sledding (on snow) : sledging

First floor : ground floor

Second floor : first floor

That last one caught us out when I wanted to not have to climb stairs only to find out the room I reserved was not on the ground floor. Chose your words carefully when traveling to England.

TTYL,

Linda