Just Another Day at the Donk Store

I've been working on the 1950 census project at FamilySearch. They used OCR to read all the docs into their system, and volunteers are checking the entries against the images to make any required corrections. In one doc, the software had erroneously read one person's place of employment as "Retail Donk Store." 

 

I could NOT. 

Stop. 

Giggling.

No wholesale. Retail donks only.

 

I don't even know what a donk would be, but it cracks me up. (It was actually "retail book store.") 

 

Also from my genealogy activities... I was telling Jeff about the evolution of the German name "Koch" through the last couple of centuries in the US. There are still Kochs around- some pronounced kawch and others coke, but many families switched long ago to the Americanized "Cook." I told him I wasn't sure what koch actually translates to in English- maybe "chicken?"

Turns out it translates to COOK.

 

Bwahaa. Thanks, Google.

 

Yadda yadda... Well... Gotta get back to my job at the donk store. 

Yep. Still hilarious.

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Weekend

KathyL and I went shopping at the Hill Country Galleria yesterday. Superfun! Spent most of our time at HomeGoods, filling two carts with all sorts of amazing stuff there. My advice is to shop at regular stores before going to the discount store. We started at HomeGoods and then were hesitant to spend money on regularly-priced items everywhere else. Ha!

 

J and I watched "The Big Conn" on Apple TV+. It's not the best documentary ever, but the story and people are interesting enough. The producers never seem to be sure whether they want to present an amusing tale of a kooky Kentucky lawyer, or move you with the sad stories of people who were screwed out of legitimate disability claims. A quite disjointed story. The musician Mason Tackett is the BEST though. He should have his own television show. He is affable and hilarious, popping in every so often with his entertaining commentary.

 

Stanley Tucci's "Searching For Italy" show on CNN is one of my faves. So glad it is back for a second season. It is beautiful and interesting, and reminds me how much I would love to spend a month in Italy. Also, "Somebody Feed Phil" is making a return on Netflix for Season 5 on May 25! YAY! World travel food shows rock.

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Layne's, Cane's and Washing Fences

 I power-washed part of our fence this weekend.

About three-quarters of the way down the line, our next-door neighbor came over to impart the required teasing of a neighbor washing their fence. At that moment, I thought I was just soaking wet from all the water, when I glanced down to see instead, I was literally covered head-to-toe in black fence dirt, or whatever fence dirt actually is. So gross. 

 

The next time we meet, no matter what I look like, I will be a thousand times more presentable. So there's that.

I don't know why this is on my mind today, but we have an ongoing discussion in our household about Layne's of College Station (now franchising near you, but not me sadly) vs. Raising Cane's. Other than Layne's obvious College Station superiority and the fact that it was established prior to Raising Cane's, these two restaurants are the same to me. The menus are the same. The fabulous sauce is the "thing" about both restaurants, and it is... the same. If you ask Jeff and Lolo, they insist that Layne's tastes far better.

 

I looked up the copycat recipes for both sauces and they are slightly different ratios of the six exact same ingredients. Buh-bam!

So, Layne's if you have access to one. Otherwise, Cane's is a virtually identical stand-in.

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Mini Vacay

First vacation since the pandemic started! Whee! 

 

J and I did a little San Antone trip- mostly restaurant experiences, since we've pretty much covered the San Antonio area over the last three decades or so. I also introduced him to La Panaderia and their friggin' amazing tequila almond croissant.

We did go to Fort Sam one afternoon to visit the US Army Medical Museum and the Quadrangle. You have to do a few cartwheels to get on base these days, but the stop at the visitor center prior to entry is relatively painless. You need a driver's license, proof of car insurance and a photo of your car registration sticker to get a pass. 

 

The outdoor area of the Quad is so pretty! There is a story (not true) that the deer were introduced to the space when Geronimo and other Apache prisoners were there in the late 1800's, so they could hunt and eat them, since they didn't like the army food. The Quadrangle is a large space, but not THAT large. Talk about shooting fish in a barrel! Ha! 

 

There were no deer around when we were there. It's a closed space, so I'm not sure where they were hiding.

 

There is a very dense population of large birds, including tons of regular and white peacocks, along with geese and ducks. Since you can feed them, they will approach you, curious if you have something for them. They're slow though, and not aggressive. The peacocks are so loud. Oh, and keep an eye up, because PEACOCKS ARE IN THE TREES, Y'ALL.

I was walking under this gigantic tree when a squawk came from overhead. There were a few up there at the time. Freaky! I had no idea they hung out in trees.

 

The small Fort Sam Houston Museum is in the Quad, and worth a walk-through as well.

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Wordle

I've lost my Wordle stats twice now, with my fickle taste in web browsers. When I researched how to fix/retain them, I found out you can actually set them to anything you want with a minimum of effort. Eh. Anyway, here are my latest real stats for the last 23 games I played (in Firefox- lean and mean, but doesn't work best with my genealogy tools):

 7-7-7! Very well distributed today.

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Which Way to Llano?

For my birthday last weekend, we took a long drive out Hwy 71 up to Llano and Mason to see wildflowers. Just fyi, there were hardly ANY. Always a nice drive though! Great views of valleys and hills, just no flowers this year. It happens. Meh. (Plenty of flowers here in the ATX. It is green here, but serious drought time out west.)

On the trip, Siri, who isn't known for her regional dialects, decided to wow us with her newly found Spanish accent, and called Llano "yah-no." *wild applause* Unfortunately, in this case, it's... not actually yah-no. It's lanno, y'all! 

 

Nice effort, though.

We took a little internet-specified "wildflower drive" around the Mason metropolitan countryside, and towards the end we approached a crossroad. I pulled out my phone to check the map, to see which direction we needed to go to get back to Llano. Jeff pulled over onto the shoulder and stopped. I fiddled around for two or three minutes within the map app (it kept zooming in and out too far- GAH), when finally I was able to see that we needed to turn left ahead.

I put away my phone, looked up, and:

Ha!!

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Oscars So Weird

I didn't realize Will Smith's feelings were so delicate that he had to slap the crap out of a comedian making a joke. That is jackassery at it's finest. And why didn't the Oscars folks remove him from the venue? SO weird. It is the very least they could have done. I guess A-listers are just allowed to assault people on live television now?

 

And the nerve of the Oscars to try to get President Zelensky to speak at their event. This show is celebrities giving each other awards for entertainment. It is not the UN. Like the amazing Wanda Sykes said, "He's busy right now... Know your lane." Yeesh. Again- SO weird.

 

Anyhoo... here's a text conversation I had this morning:

 

Me: ...GIRD YOUR LOINS!

Lauren: what hahaha

Me: something people say to warn of impending doom. maybe from a movie? not sure

Lauren: sounds like something from Monty Python

Me: it does

Me (after googling): "This expression comes from the Bible (Proverbs 31:17) and originally alluded to tucking up the traditional long robe into a girdle (that is, a belt) so it will not hamper physical activity."

Me: new show! Bible or Monty Python?

Lauren: lmaooooo

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Slow Motion Fall

I was at the grocery store Monday morning, heading out to my car in misty rain, when I slipped on a painted arrow on the pavement. I managed to hold on to the cart handle with both hands, so I sort of slow motion fell onto my knees, scraping my shins on the ground. 

 

I would have been less embarrassed to have fallen flat and knocked myself out.

 

Lauren, Troy and Jaxon hung out last Saturday night! Jaxon was visiting from teaching English in Japan and Troy came down from Dallas. So great to see the old besties together again. I'm so glad Lolo felt well and was able to see them.

We had friends over for dinner last night, and we were talking about if you remember your childhood phone number. It reminded me that my family's Houston phone number, when my dad worked at NASA, happened to be one digit off from the main number to the Johnson Space Center. We got calls every day for them! I actually remember both numbers. We would answer "hello" and the person on the other end would be like, "Is this NASA?" We would say, "No, their number is 483-0123." (Just checked, and their number is still 483-0123. Awesome.)

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Ukraine

Heartbroken over the war in Ukraine. It's difficult to find a balance of watching enough CNN to be aware of the daily details, while not watching so much as to be completely absorbed in it. 

It's incredibly ridiculous in the modern world for one jackwagon individual to cause so much death and destruction. It's frustrating that we can't do anything militarily without risking world war. So glad to see companies participating in cutting Russia off temporarily, along with government sanctions. If these are the only measures we can take at this time, more companies need to get on board.

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Accidental "Login with Google" Triggers Blizzard of Spam

I have an ancient "trash" email address at Outlook (formerly Hotmail), that I use for shopping, email lists and any organizations/businesses I don't trust to keep my email address to themselves. I keep my "real" email address at Gmail protected, using it strictly for friends, work and the very few organizations/businesses I trust not to share or sell my email address. That system has worked fabulously forever. Until the following experience, I had years of literally zero spam emails at my Gmail address.

I was directed to Pinterest from some search results several weeks ago. My browser asked if I wanted to login using Facebook or Google (which has always annoyed me and turns out can be turned off- see below) and I accidentally clicked the 'Login with Google' option.

NEVER DO THAT.

When you choose the Google login option, it automatically gives that website your Gmail address (and your name and profile photo). Ever since then, I have been barraged with every type of spam in my inbox at Gmail. 

I actually had a Pinterest account that I could have logged in with that day, but nooooooooo... 

I deleted my Pinterest account. My next move will probably be deleting my Gmail account and starting a new personal email. Such a pain.

I deleted my Facebook account a while back, so I don't know how to remove prompts to log in using Facebook. To turn off suggestions to log in with Google:

1) Go to your Google account

2) Click on Security in the left sidebar

3) Under 'Signing in to Other Sites' click on 'Signing in with Google' 

4) Turn off 'Google Account sign-in Prompts'

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Celeb Big Bro

So, this is what brings me out to the blog, evidently. 

In a world where lately "evil" seems to win more often than not, it was particularly disappointing to see the two most mean-spirited players end up as the CBB finalists. I had just said before the vote that the jury was going to have to choose the lesser of two evils, and Teddi said the very same thing when she started the voting. 

I agree that between Todrick and Miesha, Miesha is the lesser evil. I was initially very excited to see Todrick on the show. I thought he would be really entertaining, and a positive, joy-bringing member of the cast, but he quickly took things so negative, and also to such a personal level, like telling Chris Kirkpatrick that he didn't want to be friends with him outside the house, and that Chris's son would be embarrassed by him.

It's a game, dude. Yeesh.

Todrick made nasty comments about other cast members all along. I was just so surprised at who he really is, behind all that talent. 

The lie about Shanna playing both sides of the house was the worst. Neither of the final two would have been in the finale, had it not been for that deception. Miesha continues to defend herself by saying Shanna initially played both sides, but between Todrick straight up saying it was a lie he concocted, and Miesha's reaction when she was brought into it, she knows what she did.

So glad Carson won Fan Fave. While the Shanna thing was happening, I just kept thinking how bad Carson was going to feel when he found out what went down. He did, and apologized to Shanna on the finale.

I was initially going for Chris, then Carson, then Cynthia. Even though Cynthia sailed through the game with the help of others, she obviously worked the social side to get where she was, and should have won!

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Downton Abbey Binging in 2022

This morning the lawn guys came to do a top dressing on our lawn. We have a section of wood fence that blew down in the storm last week (trying to figure out with our neighbors how to fix it exactly), so Jeff told the lawn guys to just lean the piece of fence against the remaining fence to work on that section of grass. He watched and told me that instead of leaning it against the fence, they kept balancing it IN the empty space where it belongs along the fence line, and it kept... falling over... as one might expect. I only wish I could have watched that whole scene. That's pandemic entertainment right there.

New Netflix binge! We'd never seen Downton Abbey. Well, we did see the movie, but never an episode of the show. Now we've binged the first two seasons and are starting into Season 3. I watched so much Downton Abbey in such a short time that I'm thinking in a British accent. It hasn't actually come out of my mouth yet. Only a matter of time, I'm sure. 

The weather in Austin has been gorgeous! Sunny and cool. Disturbing manifestation of global warming? Perhaps. But gorgeous! 

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Goodbye 2021

 It's just anoooother New Year's Eve...

Happy last day of this sucky year! Woohoo!!

We started watching "Maid" this week. Fantastic show! My favorite moment so far is Andie McDowell's whirlwind of a character angrily declaring that her ex-boyfriend's wife, Petal, who is cradling a baby in the background, "looks like a f*ing bitch!" Bwahahaa. (You may have had to be there. Seriously hilarious.) So far the lead character (played by Andie McDowell's real-life daughter) is making questionable life choices, but I'm hopeful she will start standing up for herself and taking help when it's offered. It's not really about being a maid, like I thought it would be. Looking forward to the next episode.

I've temporarily gone back to curbside shopping now, with the new covid spike in full force here. Hoping it will be shorter than the previous ones. Then maybe we can all start back towards actual normal-normal!

Saturday 9: Drivers License (2021)
Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.

1) This song is about a girl who just got her drivers license. Who taught you to drive?

my boyfriend at the time, in his Fiat

2) Do you like your drivers license/state ID photo?
It's fine. 

3) Think back to the first ticket you received. How old were you, and what was it for?

I was 20, and it was for having an outdated registration sticker. He also mentioned the A&M stickers I had on my license plate were illegal (even though they were very cool and we ALL had them!), but didn't ticket me for those. 

4) In this week's song, Olivia Rodrigo is brokenhearted, driving through her boyfriend's neighborhood, certain that he has taken up with the sophisticated blonde girl. When it comes to romance, do you have a jealous streak?

not generally

5) Olivia grew up in Temecula, California. Temecula is home to 40 wineries and dozens of tasting rooms. Have you ever attended a wine tasting?
several, yes

6) Her first on-screen appearance was in a commercial for Old Navy stores. Old Navy is owned by the same company as Banana Republic, Gap and Athletica. Have you done any of your holiday shopping at one of those stores? (Yes, their websites count.)
Nope.

7) She went on to star in projects for Disney studios. That's also how pop stars Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake, Miley Cyrus, and Christina Aguilera got started. Arguably the first teen star created by Disney studios was Annette Funicello. Do you remember her?
I do, because she was in the Beach Blanket Bingo movie(s?) with Frankie Avalon, who was in Grease.

8) "Drivers License" was one of this year's most popular songs. One of this year's most popular books is John Grisham's The Judge's List. Do you expect to do much reading between now and the end of the year? If so, what's on your TBR (to be read) list?

Mostly cookbooks.

9) Random Question: What is the longest line you ever stood in, and was it worth it?

I have been in many, many overnight lines for concert tickets, back when we had to buy them at record stores. SO fun! Always worth it.

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Misc Wednesday

Laughing at the ad for dog treats covered in "peanut butter flavored yum." Whatever in God's name YUM is... *gag* 

We finished Part 5 of "Money Heist" on Netflix. Sad day. It is a very well-written action/drama show. Fun to watch. Now it's complete. Be sure to catch all the extra behind-the-scenes videos, including "From Tokyo to Berlin", to hear some funny and interesting production stories... and also to see the regular, non-geeky version of Álvaro Morte (The Professor). 

Luckily "Who Killed Sara?" season 3 is coming out sometime, so we can look forward to that for our next foreign TV thriller binging. 

Zoom Christmas was good. My brother-in-law and nephew had/have covid. They gathered with my in-laws and other local Dallas family members, but we declined to be a part of that. We've spent waaaay too long being cautious to catch covid on what may be the last significant round of it. *crossing fingers* 

Best Zoom Christmas conversation tidbit? Here ya' go:

Grandpa: I don't play golf, because the water always sucks my balls.

*mic drop*

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Keep Apple Music Curated Playlists Playing and Updated

So. I have been enduring this Apple Music problem. 

I most frequently listen to Apple Music's curated playlist 'A-List Pop.' Their playlists are updated weekly, so I'm always listening what's new in pop music. I went to the playlist on Apple Music and hit Play. I assumed that it would just play on (unless I listened to something else, of course), automatically updating every Friday when the list was updated. If the list had been updated since the last time I listened, I figured it would finish out the current song, then just play the first song of the updated playlist. 

But no.

If a curated list has been updated since the last time you listened, your device finishes the current song from the old version of the playlist, then ditches the playlist and starts playing random music from your Library. 

I have finally found and configured a valid fix, and it is workinggggg! Here it is:

If you mostly listen to one Apple Music curated playlist, don't play the playlist IN Apple Music. Download their playlist to your Library (just press the download button at the top of the list, or the "..." then "Download"). Then play the playlist from within your Library. It will auto-update every Friday from Apple Music to your Library, and work flawlessly, finishing the current song and moving on to the first song of the updated playlist if it has been updated since the last time you listened.

Ta. Da!

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Clash of the What?

Based on the ads, the bands on the show "Clash of the Cover Bands" aren't cover bands. They're tribute bands. Weird. Why not "Clash of the Tribute Bands"? Alliteration shouldn't be that important. If it is though, to be fair...

...there may not be a good T word to use for "clash." 

This morning in a "Happy Thanksgiving" text, Kimberly messaged me a photo of myself our senior year of high school. I'm at her house by the fireplace, on my way to a Prince concert (the Purple Rain tour), wearing high heeled boots, a mini skirt and a super-awesome 80's top, with my hair in an up-do, and I look mostly... SO TALL. YES! 

The only time I've ever actually been tall was in fifth grade. I reached my full adult height (5'4) the summer before that year, and the rest of my classmates spent the next 2-3 years catching up... and eventually passing me by. As an added bonus, my hair was thick and wavy, and it frizzed in the Houston humidity, and I would not figure out how to tame it until I got a curling iron (thankyouJesus) in sixth grade. 

I was in a trio of best friends during that time- Lori, Kim (another Kim!) and me- and Kim had a "boyfriend" in fifth grade for a few weeks. That little twerp always called me Amazon Woman. (It sounds vaguely racist today, right? They haven''t been around since 500 A.D., so it's prolly not an issue.) I had no idea what he meant. When I asked him, he said Amazon women were tall and had big hair. He could have said, "You know, like Wonder Woman!" But no. 

Now, living life in the petite section, it's hilarious that long ago, I was so freakishly tall that someone made fun of me for it.

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Randomness!

That Target commercial where they say "Come in for a soccer ball... leave a part of the team." should be "Come in for a soccer ball... leave with a cart full of crap you didn't need."

Can anyone tell me why Apple Fitness+ HIIT workouts do not go with the beat of the music? Is that typical of HIIT? It gives me the heebie-jeebies.

Sunday Stealing

1. When you looked at yourself in the mirror today, what was the first thing you thought?

Need mascara.

2. What shirt are you wearing?

Texas A&M t-shirt, baby! WHOOP

3. Do you label yourself?

I labelled myself "not a survivalist type" last night. We were talking about a worldwide catastrophe situation, where one would have to find their own food, build a shelter, etc. I know nothing about that kind of stuff. Also, I sunburn easily. That is the first clue that you are not going to survive the apocalypse.

4. What does your watch look like?

Looks like... an Apple watch, silver with a blue band.

5. What were you doing at midnight last night?

sleeping

6. Last furry thing you touched?

Maya the kitty

7. Favourite age you have been so far?

There are wonderful things about every age, but 30 was pretty great. The kiddo was a toddler and I was really active in my mommy club and Bunco group. Superfun!

8. What is your current desktop picture?

I have the dynamic "Tree" background on my MacBook. Pretty.

9. If you had to choose between $1,000,000 or to be able to fly what would it be?

Million bucks.

10. The last song you listened to?

OneRepublic, "Someday"

11. What do you do when vending machines steal your money?

Sigh and walk away. Eh.

12. Would you move for the person you loved?

Yep.

13. Name three things that you have on you at all times?

mask, credit card, allergy medical alert bracelet

14. What’s your favourite town/city?

Scottsdale, AZ or San Diego,CA

15. Does anything hurt on your body right now?
No

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Mmmkaaay

#BUTFIRST...

Howdy!!

Anyhoo... I was on my Amazon home page, and saw this:

Is that where I am now? Amazon thinks I would love some light bulbs for a little fall pick-me-up purchase? Oy. 

But I will take the Betsey Johnson earrings, thankyouverymuch.

Austin is finally starting to come down from the apex of our current and worst-yet covid spike, so YAY for that. We are masked in public unless we're outside with some good air flow. Hoping we can get back out more once we're down a stage or two. We take drives here and there on weekends, but don't do big group activities or dining out. It will be cooler soon, so eating outside will be more appealing. It's actually really nice out today.

Lately we've been watching Big Brother (Xavier fan since Day 1), Clickbait (finished) and Nine Perfect Strangers (finished). And of course, Ted Lasso. I also loved the Watch the Sound with Mark Ronson docuseries on Apple TV+. It is supercool. Megastars, music geniuses and very interesting content.

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Mistaken Identity

 

"I don't even know where the hole for this is." Bwahaha! Love the leather.

 

Jeff mentioned the other day that Daisy Fuentes and Richard Marx are married. WHAT? When did this happen? I'm a pop news junkie, for goodness' sake. How did I miss this?

 

Me: Wait wait wait. Isn't Daisy Fuentes married to the lead singer of Nine Inch Nails?

Jeff (NOT into pop news, Googling...): Trent Reznor?

Me: That doesn't sound right. I mean, yes, he is the lead singer, but it must be another band.

Jeff: No. She is married to Richard Marx.

Me: But she used to be married to a musician with leather pants and tattoos... 

Jeff: *shows me a photo of Daisy and Richard*

Me: Oh. That's not her. The lady I'm thinking of is less "girl next door." Maybe an MTV personality? CARMEN ELECTRA! That's who I'm thinking you said was married to Richard Marx.

Jeff: Totally different person.

Me: Yeah.

We went to Fredericksburg today with KathyL. Bought peaches at Jenschke's and had lunch at Altstadt Brewery. Visited Wildseed Farms. Good times!

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...Someone Else to Catch this Drift

I've been listening to Jagged Little Pill, so I'm in a "girl power" sort of mood!

 

Why are you so terrified of silence? 

Here, can you handle this:

 

... 

...

 

;-)

 

The second season of Who Killed Sara on Netflix is good, but not as good as the first. It's very "messy." The jumping around in time is sometimes throwing me off. There are a lot of things that feel randomly added. So many people involved in too many crimes to count at this point. Still watching!

We binged Halston in a few days. It was also medium-good. It is entertaining and has lots of pretty things to look at. I just couldn't find much to like about the title character. Talented, but his egomania and the careless way he treated most people just didn't give me any sympathy for him when things went wrong. The actress/singer who plays Liza Minnelli is outstanding, and of course, there's the greatness of Ewan McGregor!

I caught Valerie Bertinelli's new show, Valerie's Hot Dish last weekend. Comedic actresses Melissa Peterman and Nicole Sullivan ARE Laura and I cooking together. They are hilarious. I just looked it up, and there is only one episode. What the heck is up with that?! More please!

 

Dr. Mark Escott is stepping into his new role as Chief Medical Officer for the city, leaving his post as Interim Medical Director and Health Authority for Austin Public Health. For Austinites during the pandemic, he's kept us informed, and led at least once weekly press conferences, Q&A's, etc. He's been a voice similar to Dr. Fauci, always clear and firm on what is happening and why, explaining when we don't know the "why's" yet, and such. He's done a superb job. I'm not exactly sure what the CMO for a city does, but I'm sure he'll do that with the same integrity and competence. These days, those things seem in short supply all around.

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