The Sandcastle

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

In 1963, Leslie Gore sang a song about a boy who thought he could dictate how she lived simply because she dated him.

I experienced that at age 15.

It started when a boy at school invited me to the homecoming dance and I accepted.

Next a woman from our church called to tell my mom that she knew the boy and I would be safe with him. Mom was puzzled by that but accepted it.

Then the boy suggested we attend the homecoming bonfire the night before the dance. He said his father would drop us off and pick us up. Then he assured me that wouldn’t happen the night of the dance because we would be going with his older cousin and the cousin’s girlfriend. Then he warned me we would not be able to eavesdrop on them as they only spoke to each other in French.

So, we went to the bonfire then the dance and had a good time at each.

Next he showed up at my locker saying he had made arrangements to walk me the mile home from school then go on to where his father worked to wait for a ride home.

He continued to show up at my locker after school each day.

I didn’t want him to walk me home but I was not brave enough to tell him that.

So, I took everything with me to my last class and left from there without going to my locker.

I don’t know how long that would have gone on if Mom had not said we were moving to Minneapolis three days later so I never saw the boy again.

I eventually figured out the boy chose me because we were in second year Spanish class together so he decided we would be like his cousin who only spoke French to his girlfriend.

He never asked me what I wanted.

TTYL,

Linda