A Dollar Well Spent

A couple of years ago, I decided to augment my CD collection, and started watching for specials at Barnes and Noble.  Sometimes, when they have a coupon, even if there is not something I really think I want to buy, I browse.  I rarely buy a CD full price.  Usually between the coupon and the membership discount, I save enough that it is equivalent to taxes, sometimes, the savings is even more.

Well, one day at the counter I noticed a display of clear little plastic boxes, labeled
"CD opener"  So, for a dollar, I bought one.  It is a little round plastic device with a slit, about the width of a CD, that has a blade in the bottom.  It slices through the shrink wrap.  And, a second slice takes it through the sticky label beneath the shrink wrap.

I am old school.  Give me paper, scotch tape, and string.  I do not know the secrets of getting through shrink wrap and plastic bubbles and clam shells.  That is very wearisome for me. 

But this CD opener is great.  It was a dollar well spent!

Another Cat Mystery

Tonight, I noticed, for the first time, that as Haiku was sitting on the new toilet seat on the new toilet, she was biting on the flush handle.  I don't get it.  I am not sure why that was, but she has made multiple tooth marks on the handle. 

Another cat mystery!

My Fingers Split

My fingers split  The worst is around my nails. It seems to happen for no reason, and it is very  painful.

My mother used to say that her fingers split.  Mostly when she was knitting and it was cold and the humidity was low. Well, these are the same conditions under which my fingers split. I try to keep my fingers lubricated so the splitting will be minimal, and the healing rapid.  But having these finger splits is very painful.

What The Heck

I have been thinking about getting a heated massage pad for some time.  Tonight, as I was doing some shopping, I saw one for $20.  I decided, what the heck.  I am not sure how much it will help me, but it certainly feels good and will not hurt. I am not thrilled that the heat is not as intense as I would like.  But the massage is really good.

Thank You to My Brother

I should have written this yesterday, but got distracted.  My oldest brother sent me a giant crossword puzzle.  That was so sweet of him.  It is something I am enjoying working on. I called my brother to thank him. My brother said he could send me the solution. I told him to wait until I had had a chance to work on the puzzle. Yeah, puzzle.

Being Cold and Hurting

Over the weekend, I was experiencing a lot of pain in my joints and muscles, as the weather changed. I was miserable. My back hurt, my shoulders hurt, my hips hurt, and even the bottoms of my feet hurt. Interestingly, to me, by late afternoon, Sunday, when the front had moved in, the pain dissipated. 

Today, again I was experiencing a lot of pain, until mid-afternoon.  By then the weather change had occurred: it was warming up in Lubbock. Not a lot, but some. 

I have to think that the pain I feel is not due so much to the temperature as it has to do with the barometric pressure changes.  Who knows.

The Candy Bomber

I watched the PBS show The Candy Bomber  Fhttp://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/airlift/sfeature/candy_06.html. I had heard part of this story before.  I was really thrilled to hear that Elms College http://www.elms.edu/ contributed to the effort.  It makes sense.  Elms College is in Chicopee, Massachusetts.  It is not that far from Westover Air Force Base http://www.westover.afrc.af.mil/ which supported the Air Force efforts during this time.

Go, Elms College!