India, Rain and Old Friends

We are getting a little rain storm. I took this photo standing in the shelter of my front porch, looking across the street. You can see the tops of my morning glories, which are growing like crazy - big green leaves and tons of buds - but have very few blooms. I think I've had about a half dozen so far.

The frost date in Kansas is October 15, I think, so they're not going to have much time to go through their cycle from flower to seed. These are all volunteer ones that came up from when I planted two or three years ago. I planted blue ones, but Sondra tells me that they will go back to the scarlet ones that they originally were since the blue is a hybrid. That's fine with me, as long as they grow. I need to look that up online so I understand better.

Teresa and I went out to dinner and when we came out of the restaurant there was thunder and lightning. The radio said it just came up in the last 25 minutes or so. At least my lawn is turning green from the brown it was a few days ago.

We went to Lone Star tonight and I snapped a pic of their flower pot by the front door. I really like the combination of plants, especially with the tall one on top. I'm not sure what they all are, but some I recognize. I have some of the purple vines in my front bed. Anyway, it's a nice mixture. Something to remember for the future.

I am weary tonight and think I may go on upstairs soon to rest. Maybe the ER doc was right that I need a little rest. I do have to run downstairs and move some things so the Culligan water guy can get to the tank tomorrow to change it out. I didn't have them come last month because of the floors and I've noticed a bit of lime build up so I must have gotten all the goodie out of that tank. Hutchinson sits atop tons of salt mines so our water is not the greatest. You almost just have to have a water system. But, by next year our Salt Museum will be open, which will be ultra cool.

Today I spent parts of the day off and on working on setting up a wireless network at home. I'm pretty adept with computer things so could not figure out why I could not get this to work.

Finally, I called Tech support for NetGear and got India. I despise that. Hate it hate it hate it hate it. Not because I have anything against India, but because I don't like doing complex things to my computer when I'm spending 75% of my energy trying to figure out what in the heck the person is saying.

As is the norm with such tech calls, the girl could not help me but as best I can tell, my modem and the wireless router don't like each other. She told me to go buy a hub. That's all she could tell me, repeatedly.
I told her I'd just return this product and get a D-Link. That's what I should have done in the first place. But, I wanted the extra supposed juice. Well, if it doesn't work, there's not any juice - much less extra.

Anyway, so I have to deal with that and I've spent some time I can't get back because their product - that searches for the modem and sees it - isn't smart enough to just tell you then that it won't work. I'm still connected with wires tonight. But, maybe tomorrow I can deal with that.

Tonight on my way in the door from dinner I picked a couple of flowers to put on my desk. It's about the only flat surface I have at the moment. I only had time to grab three stems before the rain started. Then I couldn't find my vases, so I'm using a creamer. In a few days my desk will be so loaded down there won't be a place for even a creamer so I figured I'd better enjoy it while I can.

Andrea came today and helped paint more in the dining room. I'm going to really love it when it's done, but it seems to be taking forever - but I knew this would not be easy when I started. I'll be so glad to get it finished. I haven't felt like working on it but maybe I'll feel a little perkier tomorrow and can get something accomplished around here.

I think I'm going to love having my office at home as an office. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with all the stuff that was stored in here, but I guess I'll just have to deal with it now. Necessity is the mother of invention they say.

Had two really nice chance conversations today. I ran into Rob Mackey at Office Max this morning. He's the local United Way Director and an all around good guy. Soon he will be leaving Hutchinson to work for United Way of America in Alexandria, Virginia. He will be a support person for about 900 United Way agencies around the US who make less than $1,000,000 yearly. They are getting an exceptional talent, and we are losing a magnificent man.

Rob is one of the kindest, sweetest, most gracious and generous people you would ever want to meet. We worked at the same radio station years ago and he was an amazing boss. He always gives you a big hug when he meets you, never has a bad thing to say about anyone, and is genuine - completely genuine - a trait I find in so few that I love so much. He is a man of sterling character. I will miss him and his wife very much.

On my way back, I called Teresa to ask about getting together for lunch and Randy, a former coworker, answered the phone. I had a nice chat with Randy. He and I started a book club some years ago, that was a really enriching part of my life for a long time. He, Teresa, Trish and I went to Lilith Fair one year in Dallas - that was a blast. I miss getting to talk to Randy - he used to be just one or two offices down the hall. We always found a lot to laugh about. He used to tease me that I always just "tell it like it is," and I guess he's right. Some people do think I'm opinionated. Who would have guessed?

This blog, of course, is a testament to my opinions. Mark told me once that the thing he loved about my blog was the juxtaposition of things. He mentioned one entry about a tea party with a photo of Jocelyn and me and I'm talking about how wonderful it is. The next entry was titled, "Things that Piss me Off."

Well, it's about time for me to get off the computer. We're getting enough lightning I should shut everything down for the night.

Just one quick little reminder... four months from now, Santa will be making his rounds. (There's a reason my nickname is "Miss Christmas!")