What’s that???

Posted on by | No Comments

What’s That you Say?

Yes, there’s no doubt I’m getting older and with old age things just don’t work as well. My joints hurt, my knees pop and my ears ring.

1,800+ Person With Hearing Aid Stock Illustrations, Royalty ...

 

 

The only thing that seems to be improving is my eye sight. According to my eye exam my eye sight is getting better. That’s even with a cataract starting in my left eye. Go figure. I passed the eye test at the DMV so they removed the eye glass restriction from my license. Am I happy about this. Not by a long shot. I feel like I’m squinting when I drive without my glasses and I don’t even try to drive at night unless its in  my own, familiar neighborhood. But today I wanted to talk about things we don’t really hear correctly.

Lowes

Do you have a Lowes store near you? I ask because this is an example of not hearing things correctly. Let me explain. In the morning I use my computer to pay bills, review emails etc. while my fitbit charges. I have 2 monitors set up and on one screen I play music while I work. Of course there are advertisements and the other morning I heard something about “Milo’s Club.” I didn’t pay much attention but I did briefly wonder who Milo was. 

Over the next couple of days I heard Milo’s club mentioned several more times but I’m very good at ignoring things. Then one day I was watching TV when an ad for Lowes came on and the announcer was going on about the savings you can get from My Lowe’s Club. 

Light Bulb Idea stock vector. Illustration of electricity ...

I got it! They weren’t saying Milos’s Club. They were saying My Lowes Club. I’m terribly afraid I will never be able to hear it correctly. Milo’s Club is stuck in my head now. 

Song Lyrics

This happens all the  time with song lyrics. 

For example do you remember the song by ABBA, Dancing Queen? One of the lyrics is “Feel the beat of the Tambourine” but loads of ABBA fans have been singing “Feel the beat of the Tangerine“

 

 

Then there’s Queen singing We will we will rock you and while they are doing that they’re “kicking your cats all over the place. ” The real lyric is kicking your cans all over the place.

 

Soft drink cans hi-res stock photography and images - Alamy

There are many more that come to mind but can you think of any?

Its 2025!

Posted on by | 2 Comments

Happy 2025

This pretty much says it all!

Happy New Year Kitten Stock Photo - Download Image Now - Domestic Cat, Party Hat, New Year's Eve

 

Resolutions?

I think NOT. At my age I’m pretty much set in my ways. Plus experience has proven that no matter my intentions I’ll fail in my resolutions and usually in a spectacular way. After all habits, especially age old ingrained habits , are hard to break.  For example, when Rocky crossed the Rainbow bridge I said no more cats. I’m too old. I will outlive them. Nope I’m done. But look who’s sharing my home now!

Banner & Balboa on Cat tree photo credit Deb Neumann

I’m sure we’ll have many adventures together but for now its time to change the kitty litter so we can start the New Year off nice and fresh. Then maybe I can make a nice breakfast and watch the Rose Parade 

 

Happy New Year Everyone. My Best Wishes to all!

 

 

RIP 399

Posted on by | 2 Comments

Grizzly 399

Grizzly 399 was , without a doubt, the most famous Grizzly in the Yellowstone/Grand Teton eco-system. She was so famous that when I went to Jackson Hole in 2017 even I had heard of her.  Sadly Grizzly 399 was killed in a car/bear accident about a week ago. She was 28. 28 is old for any grizzly but especially a wild bear. 

photo credit- unknown

Grizzly 399 was unique in that she was still birthing cubs every year.  This bear produced 18 offspring over the years. Another reason she became so famous is that she lived close to Jackson Hole so was more visible than most. It wasn’t unusual for her to be spotted along a roadside with her cubs. Fans even sent texts and posted on social media where she might be seen. That was how I was lucky enough to get a glimpse of the  bear and 2 cubs when I was in Wyoming and know that it was this famous bear,

My Sighting

I was heading back to the condo where I was staying after a day touring Yellowstone National Park. The geysers had been plentiful but wildlife had been scarce. I’d just crossed into Grand Teton National Park when I saw a lot of cars pulled off the road. I parked, grabbed the camera and trotted up to the crowd. I could see a lot of pointing and low talking so I approached one of the people in front of me. He told me Grizzly 399 was in the area with 2 cubs.  Right about then I heard someone say “There she is!” And cameras came out all along the roadside. I got as close as I could but having arrived late I wasn’t in the best location.  Here’s what I was able to capture.

3 bears out for a stroll

Grizzly 399 and 2 cubs -2017 photo Credit Deb Neumann

Into the woods

Grizzly 399 -2017 photo Credit Deb Neumann

Mangelsen Gallery

If you want to see really beautiful photos of Grizzly 399 you have to visit the Mangelsen Gallery in Jackson Hole. His work is some of the finest Wildlife Photography I have ever seen and he has some outstanding images for Grizzly 399 over the years. 

Ode to 399

28 is old for a bear and sooner or later we were going to have to say goodbye to this iconic grizzly. At least we know what happened to her. She could have denned up for a winter and never come out. No matter what it would be sad. Part of me is thankful that we know what happened to her and part of me is angry that it was due to humans that this amazing bear is gone. At the same time having driven those roads and seen how dark they can be I can understand how it happened. RIP Grizzly 399. You will be missed.

 

Photo credit -unknown

 

 

October Update

Posted on by | 2 Comments

Its October All Ready!

Time flies when you are having fun. Or maybe I should ask…Are we having fun yet? For someone who is retired and should have all this time on my hands I never seem to get everything done that needs to be done. Of course my mornings are much less hurried now. The kitties get me up between 6- 6:30 am every day. No need for alarm clocks but I don’t rush around. I feed them, then I check my emails and pay any bills that have come due. After that I play a little FreeCell while I wait for my Fitbit to recharge. Once that’s done I clean kitty litter and then make my breakfast. Hard to believe but that brings me to around 9 AM! that’s when  my day really starts with making my bed and taking a shower. Then if I was lucky enough to get on the door dash schedule I go to work.

Door Dash

DoorDash TROs Signal a New Frontier in Mass Individual ...

Door Dash slowed way down in September. I don’t know if it was kids going back to school or summer’s end but the dashes dried up and even when I could get on the schedule I was only getting 1 or 2 deliveries. Needless to say I couldn’t keep my 30 day deal count up so I dropped to Gold Status. Now I have to schedule my dashes and for 2 weeks the only times available were midnight to 4 am. Nope- not for me so I got an unplanned vacation. Its been picking back up now so I’m back out on the road again. 

October is Doctor Visits

October seems to be the month for doctor visits. Not just for me but for the kitties too. Annual physicals and in my case , specialized tests. I’m reaching the “elderly” age when my doctor wants to be sure everything is tuned up. I think they are just looking for something to keep them earning vacations. 

I had to drug Balboa for his annual physical so about 2 hours before the vet (Ross Veterinary House Calls)  got here I dosed him. 15 minutes before the vet’s arrival I put a mildly subdued Balboa in the bathroom so he couldn’t sneak behind the bed.  He did much better with some drugs in him.

Balboa 2024- Photo Credit Deb Neumann

Balboa gained a whole pound. He now weighs 12 lbs! That’s too big for a cat his size so I’ve been told to cut back on his kitty food. 

Banner 2024 – photo Credit Deb Neumann

Banner didn’t do very well in the weight control area either. He gained half a pound so his fluffy butt now weighs in at 16 lbs. He’s now on restricted rations too.

My visit for my annual physical came in a little better in the weight department. A side benefit of doing door dash is that I get more exercise so I’m actually down 17 lbs and 2 pants sizes.

So in Conclusion

There’s more to tell you about but we’re out of time for now. In conclusion it looks like aside from being busy with all of these appointments we’re doing pretty well here. I’ll have to steal a few minutes for another update soon.

A Dashing We Will Go

Posted on by | 2 Comments

Dashing

Its Sunday evening and there’s nothing on TV! I could just as well have stayed out dashing until it got too dark to see the sign posts but I didn’t. Let me tell you a little about why and how I “Dash”.  So far its working out pretty good for me. 

Getting started with DoorDash Developer | DoorDash Developer ...

 

 

What’s a Dasher

You probably know what a dasher is. It’s basically a food delivery person who works through Door Dash. Notice I didn’t say works for Door Dash because you don’t. You might as well think of it as being your own business. You control when you work, where you work and how much you work. No punching time clocks, no bosses looking over your shoulders.  That’s not to say there aren’t rules and standards to meet but I haven’t found them to be too tough.

Dashers don’t just deliver food either. I’ve delivered balloons for parties and flowers to girl friends. There’s also “Shop & Go” orders where the “dasher” Gets a list and does the shopping and then delivers it. So there’s lots of variety.

Dasher Levels

There are 3 levels when you join Door Dash. The first is Silver. That’s where you learn the ropes. I was amazed when I first started how nervous I was. I’ve certainly done harder jobs so why was I so scared? Funny thing is as I’ve met other “Dashers” they mostly admit to the same thing. Newcomer nerves. 

On this first level you get small orders so its hard to make much money but I found I was kept busy because there are lots of small orders.  

The next level is Gold. To reach Gold you have to maintain a certain level on things like acceptance, customer ratings, and completion rate. I forget what they are but they need to be even higher to reach the top Tier which is Platinum. That’s where I’m sitting right now and where I try to stay.

Platinum Tier

Platinum is currently the highest level a “dasher” can reach. The perks are you are prioritized for large orders, you can dash whenever you want, and you also have priority for “High paying offers”. One requirement for Platinum is that you must have 100 completed orders in the last 3o days. That’s why I was Dashing today. It’s been really slow this week and my delivery count was down to exactly 100. I was afraid if I didn’t dash today it would drop below that magic number and I’d be downgraded to Gold. If that were to happen I would lose my dash anytime perk. Scheduling can be tricky and I love not having to do that.

How Much Do I Dash

I like my freedom. I putter around the house in the morning and usually go out to start a Dash around 11:30 or 12. I dash until around 3 or 3:30 depending on how busy it is. There is some downtime so my stats show that I actually make deliveries only about 10 hours over a 5 day week. I always have a book with me for the “Down times” .

Can Dashers Really Make Money?

Money Cartoon Images – Browse 502,201 Stock Photos, Vectors, and Video | Adobe Stock

I’ve met some folks that are really working at it close to full time and they are making a couple of grand a month. I make close to $1000 a month working , as I said above, about 10 hours a week .  I could work more days or longer shifts if I wanted to make more money but so far I like having the little extra but don’t feel the need for a huge payday. So there’s lots of things I like about it but most important I like the freedom to control my time and hours