Wednesday

Zip codes and office chairs. Those were today's swimming thoughts. Last night on Jeopardy, there was a q/a about zip codes which were first used in 1963. Prior to that the only numbers in U.S. mailing addresses were house or post office box numbers. Except for some big cities that had numbered zones.

Zip codes made mailing stuff grow up. I just looked it up. A stamp cost a nickel. (BTW. Neither the Echo nor OK Google gave me the answer when I asked them. They are both in time out.)

My paternal grandparents (Momoo and Popoo - my cousin named them) lived in a tiny town in Missouri. We used to address cards and letters to them like this:

Momoo and Popoo Schubert
Chaffee, Missouri

They always got everything we sent. Really.

That led me to why I remember that so clearly. From the time we could hold a writing implement, my Mom required thank you notes. On birthdays and Christmas, we could play with our presents to our hearts content on the day. We were not allowed to touch any of it on the day after until all gifts were acknowledged with a hand written thank you note. No exception. NONE. The first years were drawing a picture. Then Mom would write out a note and we would copy it and then we were on our own. Once all gifts had a note written, addressed and stamped, we were allowed to play. It was torture. We cried and whined and bitched and made her life miserable - especially as we got older. She never wavered even a tiny bit.

And yes, I have really appreciated the lesson over and over again. To this day, I honestly cannot enjoy a gift until I have let the giver know how much I appreciate the gesture.

My back is just exhausted from sewing. Swimming helps a bit but I think it's time to rethink the ass accoutrement for sewing. I'm currently using an elcheapo doctor's stool. Clearly that needs to be replaced. But with what? A better stool? A chair?

I love the stool because I can tuck it under the table or hide it in the closet easily. I don't want something big that I cannot easily make disappear. So this morning I've been combing the internets. I've found several options that look like they may work but I think I'm going way out on a limb here and getting this one.



Actually, I just ordered it. And, for some reason, got $10 off! It will be here Friday. It won't be anything I can hide in a closet and it may not work at all. But, heck, if it does... woo hoo! I think today, I'm going to try using one of my folding bridge chairs.

Yesterday, I spent some time investigating and gathering local news sources. I got a list of the best neighborhood blogs and other sources and gathered there rss feeds into one place for easy reading. AND, oddly, a guy behind a new app called Zolt sent me Tweet asking me to look at his news app. I did and my initial reaction is KEWELL!! It grabs a photo and headline and adds a 60 word summary with a link to the source - grouped in like bundles - national, international, tech, entertainment, etc. I spent all of dinner last night being gracefully updated in a very handy way on all the news.

I may well have a viable plan created!

OMG Capital One scores again. They are sending my new credit card via Federal Express. This ensures it will not get lost in the junk mail pile that I routinely toss. But even that is not good enough for them. They just sent me the freakin' tracking number!! I plugged it into Google to discover that it's already here! Holy crap. Discovered it missing on Monday. Filled out form. New card on Wednesday. I love these guys.

Guess I'll go down and get it and start changing the number on my online accounts.

Edit: The card has a new number BUT they kept my online account as it was and just swapped numbers so all my charges are the same - even the pending ones. WAY nicer than the way Discover does it.

My tweets

• Tue, 12:20: I feel the same way. https://t.co/Eba3q6z8Vm
• Tue, 12:32: Just saw on Twitter that 10,000 people are suffering a power outage in the… https://t.co/zjAwS2yydj
• Wed, 09:07: While I don't always agree with them, The Stranger election… https://t.co/cabhxx57tn https://t.co/9dJyMmGSL5
• Wed, 11:13: @ameriprise you really need to fix your website. "Response times are slower than normal" - no login possible. FOR 3 days!
• Wed, 11:57: More and more I'm having to use a User Agent on my chrome book to access certain… https://t.co/oHGZ51B4vH

Ok Corral

My brother got me hooked on a book I would have never thought I'd be interested in. Lady at the O.K. Corral: The True Story of Josephine Marcus Earp by Ann Kirschner. Wyatt Earp's common law wife or long time girlfriend was born during the time of the Civil War and lived until 4 years before I was born. And spent 47 of those years with Wyatt Earp. It's fascinating.

When I first moved to Seattle in 1992, the Seattle library had a very crude, convoluted but nonetheless magical way you could tunnel into their system and request holds and check on what holds were ready for pickup, etc. Even though my office at the time was next door to the downtown library, I'd check their system before I walked across the street.

Today, my brother in Texas casually mentions this great book he's reading. I log into the Seattle Public Library and check out the Kindle version. I put a copy on my tablet and a copy on phone. I have 30 days to read it.

Honestly, that all just feels so magical to me.

My folding bridge chair did NOT work for sewing. At all. But I did manage to finish the shirt and then give the machine a thorough cleaning and make a doll. And then my back said 'that's all for you today'.

But, mainly, I spent a lot of time getting my credit card number changed on various websites. Amazon and Google tie for easiest and most convenient. Change it one place and the change is propagated throughout all of the various Amazon and Google properties. T-Mobile is just confusing. But, Etsy is the worst. You actually cannot add a new card until you check out. Lame. But, at least I had a master list. I'm becoming quite a fan of Capital One. I'm still waiting for the debit card from the credit union. I got the pin number in the mail yesterday. Lordknows where the stupid card is. But, I really don't need it. I have a Capital One debit card. I don't really need both anyway.

I think I'll go back to my book for a bit.