What's in a name

Names are important.  It's a huge part of who we are - how we're identified.

Petey is 100% Sicilian.  All four of his grandparents came from Sicily.  

Probably when his paternal grandfather came through Ellis Island, whoever was manning the desk that day pronounced his last name as Alta . . . more.  The melodious ring was gone and I suppose he didn't feel comfortable schooling this "American" on the correct pronunciation of his name.

And so it goes.

Until now.  I always told Peter that if we ever moved out of Allegan we were going to reclaim our name.  Give it the old Sicilian swing.
We've been (ok, maybe just me) practicing the last few years when we spend a few chilly months in Florida and it felt right.

I realize we haven't moved very far away (only 22 miles) but in the new digs in the new home town our name is pronounced 

                                       Alta more a (long A)   

First Night in the Red House

The move yesterday couldn't have gone smoother.
Thank you, Two Men and a Truck.  Actually, there were 3 guys and they flew like greased lightning.  
They finished with 15 minutes to spare on the low end of the estimate.  Yea!

Petey and I worked like crazy but not too crazy getting things put away.  There is still a lot of tweaking but we slept in a bed with sheets on it so I'll call that good.

We had lunch at our dining table and a wonderful dinner provided by our friend, Paula.

After dinner I decided to give the dishwasher a whirl.  I haven't used one since the early 70s.  Things have changed.

Luckily I was Facetiming with my sister, Lisa, when we realized that the "pod" I put into that new fancy machine was meant for the washer!!! The one that cleans your clothes - not your dishes.

The dang things look exactly alike.

Fortunately, I saw my error quickly and we didn't end up with a floor full of suds.

This was after trying out the gas oven and the new microwave.
There's a big learning curve ahead of me.

We slept comfortably and woke up to an early morning coffee on the front porch.

We're very happy in The Red House.

A Big Change

Today we close on our Allegan house and start the move to our new Holland house.

I've been saying the words "we're moving to Holland" for a while now but seeing it on the screen really makes it feel real.

I've lived in Allegan for all but 10 years of my life.  Peter and I have been in this house for 42 years!

We've been having the "do we stay in this house forever?" discussion for quite a while.  We love southwest MI and knew we didn't want to go far and recently all the stars were aligned and we bought a home in a 55+ community in nearby Holland.  It's only 22 miles away.

There are many things we'll miss about Allegan and this old house but, like I said, we're only 22 miles away.  

More details will follow as we go through this process but I have to stop now and dab at my eyes.  Something weird is going on there.

Have you been updated?

My friend, Kathi, recently had an issue with her iphone.  She needed my help.  Rut-ro.  I'm not much help when it comes to tech issues so I put in a call to my geek buddy, Jeremy.  

After I described the issue he said "Rut-ro. You're gonna need a bigger boat."  hehe  Get the reference?  You didn't?  How old are you, anyway???

The problem was that iphone had an update that caused a problem for Kathi which could only be rectified by an Apple pro so off to Best Buy and their Geek Squad.

Problem solved quicker than we imagined and we were on our merry way.

Yesterday I was on my merry way to Michael's (big sale) and needed to use my Google Maps but . . . Rut-ro.
What???  Nothing was working right.  Then I saw a notice on my screen which made my blood run cold.

UPDATE COMPLETED

Ok, fine but now - because of APPLE - I needed my id and password to get the thing up and running again.

Do I know my Apple id?  Yes.  Do I know my password?  Hell, no!!!

Now I can't access the coupon I need while in Michael's in order to get even MORE of a discount!

I have a list of user names and passwords in a doc on my phone BUT I CAN'T GET TO THEM BECAUSE - well you know . . . .

Fortunately, the kindly cashier took pity on me and gave me the extra 20% off my entire purchase without seeing the coupon ON MY PHONE.

I think it was the puppy dog eyes brimming with tears that softened her heart.

I love my phone.  Use it all the time but I sure wish Apple would send out a big fat "heads up" before they turn my life upside down.

Feeling much more settled today.  

Thank you for listening.

Yellow is the new green

I'm talking traffic signals.  You know, stop lights.
We all know what the red means, right?  STOP!

We all know what green means, too.  GO!

Yellow is a little iffy, though.  I think it depends on how far away you are when it shows up. If it changes while you're in the intersection . . . obviously you breeze right on through.

If you're exceeding the speed limit by 5 or 20mph and you're fairly close then do you stand on your brakes or continue on your law-breaking way???

I have seen more people run - and by run, I mean who-are-you-kidding-me?-run through yellow/red down here. More red than yellow.

I was half way through a yellow the other day and checked out my rear view mirror to see who would be following me.  I swear 3 cars were lined up without a backward (or sideways) glance to see if anyone one else was coming (legally) from the other direction.

I was talking to someone the other day that said he thought he remembered a time when there wasn't a yellow.  Really?  He didn't look ancient but I wonder if that was so.

This wasn't a rant and it wasn't a complaint.
Just an observation because I'm observant.

Mom - not afraid to try . . . anything

I know, I know.  What the heck is the deal with that T-shirt and how is it connected to my mom?

Hang on.  The explanation is comin'.

So mom had a zest for life and when she was curious about something or how to fix something or how to "change" something to make it better, she'd go  looking for an answer.  

Often times there was paint involved.  You could find those huge colored paper clips holding things together and rubber bands used in very unique ways.

I have a million examples but, you know me, I'm not into the long blog so I'll cut to the chase.

The house we're renting in FL has air vents at the top of the walls, near the ceilings - no basements down here.

Well, when we turned the AC on the air in the bedroom shot across the room, hit the wall behind the bed and dropped right down onto my head.

I, like my mom and my younger sister, Lisa, (haven't asked my older sister, Stacey yet) can't deal with that.  I was draping my bathrobe and other items over my head to block the jet stream.  It wasn't a satisfactory solution.

So Lisa, was telling me about the vent in her bedroom and she had the same problem.  She solved the issue by attaching a piece of cloth across the vent. I think there were paper clips involved.  It didn't completely block the air; let in enough to cool the joint down but didn't freeze her ears off.

I took another look at the vent in our place.

Hence the T-shirt shoved between vents using a wooden spoon.

Ta-da!  Mom would be so proud.

Turning signal

So.  Do you use yours?  All the time - without fail?
I sure try to.  I even use mine when I'm in a "turn only" lane. 

I don't call that obsessive.  I call that being aware of my surroundings and trying to make sure everyone near me knows what my next move is going to be.

I've noticed that people here in St.Pete are pretty good about using their blinkers.  That's probably because there's so much more traffic here than in my little town of Allegan. 

Three, sometimes, four lanes all going what feels like TOO DAMN FAST to me.

The use of their turning signals does not stop them from jumping from lane to lane, however.  Dang.

Also, have you ever noticed the solid white lines on the pavement as you approach the stop lights on streets that have 2 or more lanes?

That means you're not supposed to be jockeying for position at the last second when the light turns green.  
But I see people doing it all the time.

And speaking of traffic signals.  I would suggest you not be in an all-fired hurry to be the jack rabbit when that light does turn green.

Know why?  Cuz the person on the intersecting street will more than likely be running the red light.
Duck!!! I've lost count how many times I've seen that happen.
However, if you're too slow getting out there, you can be rest assured the knucklehead behind you will let you know about it.  Honk, honk.

St.Pete is busy.  Much more traffic than I'm used to in my 3-light little town but Petey and I are used to it (pretty much) and have sharpened our defensive driving skills.

Having said that, we're usually back, safely on the couch, by dark unless we're pretty darned close.

Does this sound like it's written by someone in her 70s?  Poop!