Category Archives: commentary

Welcome 2023

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 A Warm Welcome to 2023

Happy 2023. How many of you stayed up to Welcome in the New Year? Watch that shiny ball drop in Times Square? According to my Fitbit I made it to 10:30 pm before I fell asleep in my recliner. No ball drop for me.

Resolutions

Looks like my resolutions are a bit of a struggle in 2023. Normally I would promise to be more consistent with my blog posts but I am struggling to think of interesting topics when I am not sure how much or even if I’ll be traveling this year.  No Hawaii in February this year. 

I was watching  Nat Geo and a show came on with pictures of a mountain range. I said to the cats, look it’s the Grand Tetons right before the moderator said we’re in the Grand Tetons outside of Jackson Hole. Later they showed a geyser and I identified it as Old Faithful. I was right! Same with the elk horn arches in Jackson Hole.

Old Faithful Erupts

Old Faithful 2017 – Photo Credit Deb Neumann

 

 

Elk Antler Arches Jackson Hole 2017 – Photo Credit Deb Neumann

I hope I am not going to become an arm chair traveler. There is too much to see and experience!

Of course I always say I’ll lose weight. That’s a standard resolution but usually that means that I’ll add 10 lbs by year end.

 

May be an image of cat and text that says 'Think you better get started on your New Year's resolutions. So many improvements needed, and so little time. IGANHASCHEEZBURGER.COM'

Financial Goals

I can say I don’t want to get a real job but I need to have something to do to supplement my retirement fund if I’m going to take even short trips. But I don’t want to have to punch a time clock any more. I’m enjoying that part of being out of work. A few hours on the computer would be a comfortable work schedule. My cats might even leave me alone that long. I wonder if anyone would pay me to travel? 

I got my year end E-Trade Statement. Very scary. While at Redfin I took advantage of their profit sharing employee stock plan. At it’s height of almost $100 a share I was well on my way to a secure retirement.  Today my stock sits at $4.00 a share. I own 468 shares. You can do the math. Its not worth much right now. Maybe in another 2 years it will rebound. Fingers crossed.  My 401K wasn’t much better but I had to close that out when they laid me off. So we won’t even think about that. 

Lets get Going 2023

So 2023 is going to be interesting to say the least. I have no real direction yet. I’m hoping for clarity as the year gets going. How about everyone else? Are you as confused as I am?

Just a Little Behind

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Behind?

I’ve had a rough couple of weeks so I’m behind on my research for my next vacation. The first glitch came two weeks ago. I was really cooking along. I’d gotten a couple of locations down and prepared my posts then all of a sudden I couldn’t get into my site!? It took a few days to track down the culprit. Blue Host, my web hosting company, had done an update and I’d also done an update and they weren’t compatible. Once I finally got to the right person it was fixed in a snap.

Snap Fingers Cartoon Images – Browse 1,001 Stock Photos, Vectors, and Video | Adobe Stock

But it was now mid-week and work commands my attention then. 

Life interferes too

So Saturday rolls around and I have a long list of errands to do including the aforementioned mentioned research. Idaho & Indiana are next on my list. I made the unwise decision to start my weekend with my annual flu shot. While I was making my appointment for that the CVS website recommended a COVID booster. It’s been awhile since I had one so I marked OK on my appointment. I was smart enough to ask the pharmacist if it was stupid to get both the Flu shot & COVID at the same time. She looked at my shot record and said I’d  “probably” be fine. Then Stabbed both arms, COVID on the Left, Flu on the right. I got two cute little Band-Aids  and left.

Cartoon character a woman getting a vaccine Vector Image

OOPS! Saturday afternoon the chills started, my ever present cough became unbearable and all I wanted to do was sleep. Nothing got done except cuddles with the kitties. I promise I won’t get both shots at the same time again!

Rain Rain and more Rain

As if those delays weren’t enough I think I’ve been transported to Seattle and the Norwest Rain forest. All it seems to do here is rain. I wake up every morning to drizzle. We had 2 sunny days this week. All the rest was rain. Well the good thing about it is that its not snow and the weather folks can’t complain about drought. Now they just warn of flash flooding.

And the Last Straw

My Dad always said he drank beer because he saw what water did to pipes. (He was a plumber) I have the unpleasant opportunity to see that for myself as the kitchen faucet split. Apparently the cover is plastic and it just gave out leaving rusty, nasty pipe to look at.

 

So its Saturday again and raining and my plans to dig into vacation planning have to take a step back so I can go to Home Depot for a new kitchen faucet.  At least it isn’t leaking and I have a contractor who will do the replacement for me. Could be worse I suppose.

Know that I am working on that vacation research and will update when I can. Maybe next post!

Well, here’s another nice mess you’ve gotten me into

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Here’s Another Nice Mess

Or How I lost my Domain Name. Yes I’m going to share my tale of woe. It is a cautionary tale.  It begins with a bank that tried to do the right thing. 

Once Upon a TimeWell, here's another nice mess you've gotten me into

Once upon a time there was a bank. In a world besieged by hacking and bank fraud this little bank installed safety and security checks to protect it’s customers. 

One day it saw a strange charge on one of it’s customers’ credit cards.  The bank’s security team sprang into action!

A fraud alert was sent to the customer! The credit card in question was frozen to any more charges. The customer called the bank. Let me check this before you cancel my card, pleaded the customer. The customer then called the number for the questioned charge. It was legit. The customer called the bank back with the good news. “Unfreeze my card please, that was really my charge. The company just changed it’s name so I didn’t recognize it at first.” But the bank’s security team said “Oh so sorry, we’ve already canceled your card. A replacement one is on its way” The NOoooooo was heard for miles but the damage was done.

6 months later

It was a long and painful process. So many automatic renewals had been set up to charge to that credit card. The customer couldn’t even remember all of them. Some were found because the renewals were kicked back as declined but it looked like most had been located and accounts updated to the new card number. Then the renewal for the domain for aroundustyroads.com came due. Low and behold the company holding the domain sent a receipt showing the renewal was paid through April 2024. There were no red flags. A few notices came along in emails without identifying accounts saying the payment needed to be updated but when unidentified they were ignored as spam.

February 2022

Fast forward to February 2022. Dusty felt terrible. She was coughing and sneezing and just felt miserable. Covid had shut down travel so she missed her February Hawaii Break. This girl needed sun and warm but all that was available was snow, sleet and rain. No sun in sight. Needless to say there wasn’t much to write about and aroundustyroads was neglected.  

May 2022

Dusty has been lazy too long. Time to check in with her friends, family and fellow bloggers but wait! What’s this? I can’t locate aroundustyroads.com. It’s just gone! Oh my heart and soul! 10+ years of my life wiped out- just gone!

 

My hosting company was so nice. They helped me trace what happened. Those unidentified emails I thought were spam? They were notices of the problem with my renewal. I’d missed this one account when I tried to update my credit card. That receipt had given me a false sense of security.  My domain had expired!

The Result

 A big domain company wasted no time in snapping up my little blog.  They offered to sell me back my domain for a measly $2338.00.  As much as aroundustyroads is a part of me, I couldn’t justify spending that much money. Maybe if my blog was a money maker but not just for an online diary of sorts. Once again my hosting company came to my rescue.  They suggested Arounddustyroads.com and transferred all of my old content over.

I admit, it looks strange to me to have the “Double D” in the  middle but it’s close enough so that I hope I’ll get back any followers that I may have lost. I suppose I will get used to the new name. I’m thinking that maybe I should give it a new look to go with the new name? But in any case 

Welcome to Arounddustyroads.com

Things are Happening Here

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Things are Happening

I may have been MIA the past 2 weeks but that’s not to say things aren’t happening here. Where should I begin? Maybe with the excuses on why I haven’t posted lately. 

The Annual HOA Meeting

The first miss was 2 Saturdays ago. I had planned to write something after the HOA meeting. I hate these meetings but go because I think owners need to be aware of what their board is doing. We just had an assessment for new decks but nothing has been done so far and I wanted an update. I never dreamed that before the meeting was over that the police would be called when a 40ish unit owner provoked a fight with our 70 year old property manager. Basically we have two loud mouth bullies that hijacked the meeting. They yelled over everyone else and were disrespectful of our board. Our 1 hour meeting lasted 4 hours! In the end the new owners were intimated into voting most of the old board off the island. I am sick over it. If I could sell my unit and move I would.

So what about Sunday

2021 Equinox

Well I could have taken time for a post on Sunday but I had an appointment at the car dealership. I guess there is a big demand for used cars so the dealership called me to see if I’d like to upgrade to a 2021 vehicle. I agreed to take a look at what they had available on the lot. My last 2 cars had been a dark gray and a black but I’ve always loved white cars. Sure enough, they had 1 white Equinox left. I couldn’t say no. So after about 4 hours of doing paperwork and a short test drive we moved my personal belongings from my black 2019 Equinox to my new 2021 White Equinox. It always amazes me that I can just drive right off the lot with the new car. Of course I’ll need to go back on a weekday to get my inspection sticker but other than that, I’m good to go. 

Basking Shark

Meanwhile off Cape Cod

Captain John’s Boats are posting lots of Whale pictures. One research boat spotted a Basking Shark! Very rare in Cape waters but the big news was the lobster fisherman who tried to imitate Jonah. Yup Unbelievable. He actually got “eaten” by a humpback whale.  The whales feed by opening their mouths and lunging though schools of fish scooping up anything in front of them. He was in the wrong place at  the wrong time. Luckily he was spit back out with only some bumps and bruises. Now he’s telling his story on the late night talk shows.  

So you see, in spite of my silence, things are happening here!

Humpback Whale feeding

Still NO TP

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The TP Shortage Continues

We’re now 3-4 weeks into the quarantine. You’d think the hoarders would have stocked up but toilet paper, facial tissues and other paper products continue to be in short supply. Bottled water is also in high demand. We can add banking to one of the new aggravations. I needed quarters to do my laundry. I always go to the bank on Saturday morning to get two rolls. When I arrived at the bank this Saturday only the ATM was open. The Lobby was closed and dark.  Cars were lined up at the drive through but you can’t get coins in the drive through. The weight will damage the money drawer.

Social Distancing taken a step too far?

While I pondered my options two young women drove up. They arrived in the same car and attempted to go to the ATM together. A bank employee rushed out to tell them only 1 person could be at the ATM at a time. The argument that they came and in the same car and that they were sisters fell on deaf ears. I know we’re all a bit paranoid these day but come on! If one sister had it the other would have been exposed in the car.  What happened to common sense? Anyway as the sister that was booted out complained to me I vented my frustration about the coins. My new friend perked up. Her sister had change and she couldn’t deposit it either. Maybe we could help each other out?

 

Looks Like  Drug Deal Going Down

About then her sister came out of the bank. We explained the situation and she said she had a ton of quarters. She immediately started counting out quarters. She had a baggie in the car so she dropped the change in that. In no time at all I had $20.00 in quarters in a plastic baggie. We all got a good laugh as we exchanged the money for the baggie. We looked like a drug deal going down in front of the bank! With lots of laughing and waving we parted ways. The day suddenly seemed brighter somehow. I guess we’ll all get through this somehow. We just need to keep a sense of humor.