Do You Know What the White Cane Means?

In a recent Wall Street Journal Article, I learned that people under the age of 35 don't know what the white cane means. http://www.wsj.com/articles/hey-whats-with-the-white-cane-1476228132 Back in school, we were told that a white cane means the person is blind or visually impaired. I knew a man that went to college with me that was 75% blind. He could see a little during the day, but he needed his cane for nighttime. Most people use the white cane to scan the sidewalk ahead for obstacles. It's not unusual to see the person clicking the cane ahead of him with his cane. He's scanning the area ahead like you and I would scan with our eyes. He clicks with the cane to determine where the steps and curbs are. I came across a woman on our recent cruise that had a white cane. So, I know people are still using them. If you see someone with a white cane, grant them some courtesy and give them some room. I may even try to point out obstacles for them.

Light Flashes in the Eye Can Result in Blindness.

I have been experiencing light flashes in my eye for quite some time. And called the doctor about it. The last time I saw the doctor was back in March. So, I called the doctor to ask about them, and the nurse told me to come in same day. When they work one in same day, it's something potentially bad. I arrived early, and while sitting in the waiting room, a couple left the exam room, and the nurse got on the phone with our local retina expert. She set them up for later that afternoon. When they left, she said the patient had had flashes yesterday, and was blind in one eye today. So, if you have light flashes, or they're getting more frequent, call today. Because it could mean a detached or detaching retina.

Computer Hassle! What? No DVD Drives?

We tried to upgrade a Windows 7 to Windows 10. It had been getting crankier and crankier. We thought it had done it, but asked for a restart. Then it crashed. My husband had lost the recovery drive long ago, and somehow it had removed all my restore points in the so called upgrade. I know I had restore points at one time, because I'd had to use them a few times. So, off to Best Buy for another computer. Our sales man pointed at a machine and said it still had a DVD drive. My first question: You mean some don't? Apparently the notebooks haven't had a DVD drive for some time, and they're phasing them out for the Desktop models. Fortunately, we could still get a computer with a DVD Drive. Good thing too, because we had just purchased Quicken and Turbotax in DVD format! Move forward to installing my Quicken and Turbotax on the new machine. I couldn't find a button anywhere on the machine to open the DVD drive! Been using computer for over 35 years, and I couldn't open that annoying drive! Finally, I remembered we could open it by going into explorer and right clicking on the drive and pressing EJECT. But be careful! EJECT is right next to FORMAT. Now the kicker! I won't be able to install a lot of my software on newer systems, because they won't have DVD drives!

Driver's License No Longer Enough in Five States

If you're in Minnesota, Illinois, Missouri, New Mexico and Washington, a driver's license will no longer considered acceptable identification for going between state lines. You'll need a passport. Only half of our states have the proper identification, and the other half were given an extension into October. So, if your from one of the five aforementioned states, be sure to take your passport, just in case you need to fly back. Not sure how they're going to check everyone traveling, but Fox News mentioned needing the correct identification to enter army bases. We renewed our passports this summer, and it took about eight weeks. Be sure to check the photo rules, because they're gotten more strict since the last time we renewed.

Lost Art of Thank You Notes

Now the holidays are over, it's time to send those Thank You cards. It's becoming a lost art. My mother insisted I send out thank you cards for each gift. And that's what we did. She's passed on now, but I still hear her reminding me to send them. She and her sister used to mail letters every week back and forth. Thank you notes are better with the write stationary. I like Carol Wilson Blue Hydrangeas 10 ct Embossed Note Card Set For Arts Sake. Been using it for years!

Christmas Shopping

Back in my working days, I would get one afternoon off for Christmas shopping. And I would have been pretty unhappy to have to walk through a bunch of shouting people only to find the stores closed, like what happened yesterday at the Mall of America. Instead of yelling, why not sing carols and give them a gift? A gift with their group and a slogan printed on it with a website may further their cause in a good way.

Christmas Baking

I've made my mincemeat squares, and this year, with the help of the OXO Good Grips Measuring Cup for Sticky Stuff, 2 Cup it was much easier! Just scoop the mincemeat into the cup, push down on the plunger and it pops right into the pan! It separates for easy cleaning!

L. L. Bean Is One of the Best!

I've used L. L. Bean products for years, and they're generally high quality.  They have a lifetime guarantee, and I've returned luggage after 10 years!  You need to keep your receipts, or they'll credit the last price available (usually a sale price).


Well, I submitted three less than favorable reviews yesterday, and they posted all three! They have free standard shipping, and if you get the L. L. Bean Visa card, you also get free return shipping.

Give them a try!  If you go through MR. Rebates or eBates, you'll even get credited for a rebate!

Market Correction - REALLY ???

The first time I heard the term "Correction" it shocked me.  That's the term investors use when the stock market is going down.  They never say it's going down or dropping.  They say there's a CORRECTION.

With that logic, does it mean that the stock prices going up is a mistake?

The investors REALLY need a better term than "Correction" when the stock market plummets!

Amazon Prime Service

I've been using Amazon Prime (One Year Membership)  for a while now.  I love the fact I can order a lot of supplies from them and get the two day prime shipping.  Now they've started a new twist.  For the 5-7 day shipping, we can get $1 credit on our e-books! Since my husband downloads a new e-book every day or two, that's a lot of savings!  For a short while, they had $5.99 off groceries through Prime Pantry.  We also have access to the Kindle Owner's Library that lets us borrow one book a month.  Kindle First that will let us "buy" one soon to be published book each month.  And Kindle Prime Instant Video works well with my Kindle Fire HDX 7", HDX Display, Wi-Fi, 32 GB - Includes Special Offers (Previous Generation - 3rd).  They also have Prime Photos (Unlimited Photo Storage).  Several formats are allowed, including RAW format files.  With the larger megapixel cameras, photo files have gotten quite large.  Prime Music is also available for the prime membership.

Amazon Prime Membership offers much more than they used to!

Tax Season's Here!

Did you know that aluminum can income must be reported to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS)?   I just about fainted when my IRS Auditor told me I had to report income from hauling my cans across town, and it never even came up to $5 a year!    I think I was getting 15 cents a pound.  Talk about hassle of keeping all those cash receipts, because they paid me in cash.  After my husband retired, he told me no more driving across town to get coffee money for my soft drink cans.  He does drive down the street and drop them in the recycle collection dumpster along with our newspapers.

I've used TurboTax Home & Business 2014 Fed + State + Fed Efile Tax Software + Refund Bonus Offer - Win and Quicken Home & Business 2015 for years.  While we do hire an accountant for the hard stuff, Turbotax and Quicken help organize our taxes and lower our payments to the accountant.   January 1st, I set up a binder with indexes.  These indexes correspond to the various tax schedules:  1040, Schedule A, Schedule B, Schedule C, etc. As I work my quicken during the year, my paperwork goes in the proper tab.  So, at the end of the year, it's just a matter of printing out the tax schedule, importing or keying it into turbotax and off to the accountant.    I have a friend that works in as an auditor for the IRS and told me that just using an accountant every once in a while can actually cause more harm than good, since many customers may keep doing their taxes like the accountant did them.  But laws change!

Read Your Bills Carefully!

I got my cable/internet/phone bill this month and couldn't understand why it was $40 higher.  After looking at the bill, they'd added a charge for a service call even though I pay a $5 monthly fee so my service calls are supposed to be free.  They were kind enough to remove the charge, but why did I have to phone them when I was on the service call included plan?

Another time, we found the phone company had switched phone services without our permission, and the only way they'd let me switch back was to give them all sorts of information.  Needless to say, we signed up with another carrier.

Read over your bills carefully.  There may be something they stuck in there that shouldn't be.

Yarn Tip -

I had visited our local yarn store to get some skeins for the latest project, and had picked several colors from the same company since my project was a multicolor sweater.   I wasn't as worried about matching dye lots since I was doing an entrelac sweater Entrelac: The Essential Guide to Interlace Knitting .     They'd promised me that I could return yarn at any time as long as I had the rececipt.   But imagine my surprise when some time later, I discovered that not all yarn is alike, even when it's the same weight.  I had a combination of superwash and regular worsted yarn.  And the clerk had sold me this combination even though she knew I was using it in the same project.  The problem with using superwash and regular yarn is when you wash them the regular felts, but the superwash does not.  Not too bad if you plan to dry clean your knitting, but when knitting oven mitts, that you felt in the washer, I found that half felted and the other half did not.   

Well, I brought the yarn back to the store with my receipt and she informed me "store credit only" for the yarn still in hanks.  But she wouldn't take the two skeins back that I'd wound them into skeins.   So, annoying since we can't knit the yarn up without winding it into skeins.

Amazon Kindle Book of the Day - Eight J. D. Robb books at $1.99 Today Only

Eight of J.D. Robb's Eve Dallas Books Marked to $1.99 Today Only

I really enjoyed these books!  Now's your chance to get the first eight at greatly reduced prices!

Kindle Paperwhite In Stock for Immediate Shipment

You still have time to get a Kindle Paperwhite, 6" High-Resolution Display (212 ppi) with Built-in Light, Wi-Fi - Includes Special Offers by Christmas.   I'm so glad they're still in stock, I lost mine last week at the grocery store.  Whoever picked mine up will have to figure out my password to even get into my reader, and by that time, I'd deregistered it.

I really like this model, because of the lit screen.   My husband gets up earlier than me, so when we travel he can read his Kindle Paperwhite, 6" High-Resolution Display (212 ppi) with Built-in Light, Wi-Fi - Includes Special Offers   in the dark without waking me.    We prefer the 3G model, because we can download material anywhere.  Also, many eBooks are cheaper than their hard copy cousins. 

With arthritis in my hands, I have a lot of trouble holding the heavy hardback books, but with the Kindle Paperwhite, 6" High-Resolution Display (212 ppi) with Built-in Light, Wi-Fi - Includes Special Offers a thousand page book weighs the same as a hundred page book.

Review - Sideswipe for Kitchenaid

I broke down and bought a SideSwipe for KitchenAid Tilt-Head Mixers: 4.5- and 5-Qt, in Blue for my 34-year-old Kitchenaid Mixer.   For those with fancier mixers than mine, you can also get SideSwipe for KitchenAid Wide Bowl-Lift Mixers: 5-Plus, 5.5- and 6-Qt Standard, in Red for the five to six quart bowls.    The first one I tried, didn't quite fit into my mixer, so I sent it back and the second works well.  I love not having to stop the mixer and scrap it down with a spatula.  Another item that I'm asking myself, "why did I wait so long?"

When making cookies, I always spend more for pasteurized eggs (Alton Brown Tip) because I know I'm going to taste the batter.  After all, I don't want to give away sweets where I've forgotten the sugar, which almost happened once.

Alaska Cruise Review on Celebrity Century

Celebrity Century
Concierge Class, #9065

Embarkation - We were told to arrive at noon instead of 10:30 am, and as a result, everyone seemed to arrive at once.  Everyone was packed into the terminal waiting.    We got in what looked like the shortest line, but learned it wasn’t when it began to switch back and forth.   We finally got or seapass cards, then were directed to another long line for security.   It didn’t help that they delayed embarkation two hours due to immigration the ship before us.  They tried to fixe this in Astoria, by bringing the customs aboard and making us go through customs before leaving for the day.  So, we actually had this problem with long lines twice due to customs.  Once with the arrival of the ship prior to our cruise, and once at a port of call.

We prefer Voyager Class Junior suites on Royal Caribbean, so this was very small.  So, strange, the bed was too short for my husband, and the safe was too high for me at 5'5" tall. The safe was on a shelf so high , that I couldn’t reach all the way inside it.    There was a very steep step (8-10")  into the bathroom.  While there was a grab bar next to the toilet, there was no grab bar outside the bathroom for stepping into the bathroom.  Very tiny room, bed was so small, my husband’s feet stuck about a foot off the edge of the bed.  We had a good sized shower!  And there were two small towel bars for hanging socks, but no towel bars inside the shower area.  If Celebrity wasn’t selling this ship soon, we wouldn’t book this class room again on this ship.   Nice view out the balcony from our sofa, which made it wonderful when exploring Tracy Arm Fjord.   In this respect, the Concierge Class is actually better than the Sky Suite where we couldn’t see out the balcony from the sofa.   Some of the walls took our magnets, but the door didn’t.   The cabin is an excellent location, and easy to find right off the elevator bank.  We were across from the cabin steward station.   Regarding storage, our room was very well designed (except for the desk again too small).  Lots of shelves, and drawers and they held our packing envelopes!  I mention this, because the drawers on the Royal Caribbean Vision Class ships (JS) are too small to hold our 15" packing envelopes.  We had two small closets, so I put my things in one closet, while my husband used the other.   The night table “stands” were way too small.  We usually use our night table stands for our sleepware, but no room.  Mine was covered with the telephone, and the cord wasn’t long enough to reach the sofa next to it.    The desk was way too small.  We had two US electrical outlets on the desk, and two on the first shelf above the minifridge.

Excellent service throughout the cruise with the exception of beverage service in the Island Café and the Elite Coffeehouse Breakfast.   In the Island Café they would not serve us free drinks like they used to on Royal Caribbean.  Since Celebrity is supposed to be a step up, this surprised and disappointed us.    After I sent in my mid-cruise evaluation, they had a traveling free coffee service on day, then that stopped.  In the Elite Breakfast we ate there only three times.  The service was terrible the first two times.  We got our food with no drinks, and both times they seemed to forget our specialty coffee orders.   Both times, we were the last people seated at the table.   I also wrote about this experience in the mid-cruise evaluation form, and got a personal phone call from the C & A representative.   She actually admitted to visiting our table during the time we waited for our forgotten our specialty coffees.  The service was better the third time, but honestly we didn’t really trust them after that.   We were treated to welcome aboard Champagne, Mimosas and also some non-alcoholic drinks.  After each shore excursion we were treated to refreshments right after visiting security.               


Cabin Steward - Fatkul - Excellent!  He personally brought our breakfast room service!   I gave him our list of needs on day one, and he handled them well.  We seldom had to open our door while he was around.   We got a red rose on the first formal night!.   Due to being on antibiotics, we had to wait until day 6 for our bubbly.    I asked about storing the wine, and the very first night we found the minibar cleared and our bubbly inside!

Aqua café was o.k., but not much variety.  We ate there maybe half the time.  We’d been planning to eat there each morning, but to be honest, we weren’t drawn to the place.  There were always open tables.


Dining Room - Stanley - Another excellent worker!  He read through my list of needs on day two (we had Murano’s on day 1).  We had requested a quiet table near a wall, and they stuck us in the middle of the room.

Obvious signs of cutbacks between this cruise and the one last year.  No flowers on the tables in the main dining room.  No turndown chocolates.  We were promised personalized stationary in our room as a stateroom perk, nothing with our name on it, and only one sheet with the name of the ship on it.  We did get one chocolate dipped oreo cookie on the first formal night, but none on the second formal night.

Next cruise office - We had a wonderful offer! $300 onboard credit to use on the current cruise, and $300 on a future booking!  Amount varied depending on booking.  So, we used the onboard credit to upgrade one of our shore excursions.

Excursions - 15 Minutes Between All Aboard deadline and Sail Away.  A bit tight since they told us if we missed the ship they wouldn’t let us back on the ship in future ports due to the Passenger Vessel Services act.

San Francisco - Pre-Cruise Day, Dylan’s Famous Tours.  Wonderful and as advertised.  Several stops at the Golden Gate.  If you shoot pictures on the manual setting, we didn’t have quite enough time to shoot pictures and make it to Cathedral Grove in Muir Woods.   Having spent the last 30+ years in West Texas, I’d forgotten just how breathtaking Muir Woods is.     

Ketchikan - Duck Tour - NO LEG ROOM, I have short legs, but my knees were jammed into the seat in front of me.  So, glad this was only 90 minutes.   The guide was funny and informative!  This excursion has scared us off of any future duck tours.

Juneau - Gold Creek Salmon Bake.   We had only 30 minutes between the end of the excursion and sail away.   Loved the setting, loved the food, loved the falls.  Too rushed to find dessert and to roast marshmallows.   If you have a choice, do the waterfall!             

Icy Strait Point - Went into one of the shops containing Alaska souvenirs and saw a “Made in China” sticker.   In Alaska’s Wildest Kitchen - Got half a dozen recipes and samples, but this was mainly a vehicle for them to promote their canned salmon.  Personally, I found her story of how she made it to Alaska and lived on a boat home  more interesting.

Skagway - Ultimate Alaska Experience ??? - We had Summit Drive, Followed by the White Pass Train, followed by Lunch and Gold Panning.  Loved the summit drive, and our guide was kind enough to take photos of us at several stops.  We also got a nice stop at Bridal Veil Falls as the Train went past!  The lunch was wonderful, the Gold Panning was hokey.   As I’ve read elsewhere, they add some gold flakes to the water to let you believe you’re getting gold.   We got about $8 worth of Gold (others panned as much as $20).  The offer to make it into a necklace would have cost more than the gold.  No offer to sell the gold back.

Astoria - Ultimate Oregon Adventure - Get the passenger side of the bus on the way up!  We missed a lot of views because we were on the left-hand side of the bus, and the views were across from us, still breathtaking.   The WWII Air Hanger museum was a let down.  Lunch was a bag of chips and a half of a sandwich, rice krispy treats and brownies.  We’ve had bigger snacks on shore excursions than this “lunch.”   The Tillamook stop was a crowded tangle.  They had about six cheese samples.  But the ice cream promised in the Celebrity brochure was at our cost!  Even so, we’re glad we didn’t cheap out.  The scoops were huge, and the ice cream delicious.  In fact, we had a couple on our tour that had booked this tour specifically for the Ice Cream!  Cannon Beach was beautiful with lots of shops to browse.

Victoria - Non-Celebrity - Victoria Pedicab - Our second time we booked this, and we had a blast!  Wonderful weather and wonderful guide.  Be sure to visit Roger’s Chocolate, rivals Belgium Chocolate!  We should know, because I insisted in getting some chocolate in Belgium last spring.

Take 25% off Any Physical Book - Ends December 15th

Bookdeal25 Take an Extra 25% Off Any Book (Excluding EBooks)  here's you chance to get another book for 25% off (up to $10 discount).  Enter BOOKDEAL25 at checkout under Gift Cards and Promotions.

A Few Holiday Baking Tips

Now is the time where we start baking all those goodies!  I discovered the Silpat AE420295-07 Premium Non-Stick Silicone Baking Mat, Half Sheet Size, 11-5/8-Inch x 16-1/2-Inch several years ago, and it works really well.  No grease is needed.  Just remove your cookies from the oven and let them cool, and they'll slide right off!

Another way to have good layer cakes is to spray the bottom of your layer pan with Pam Cooking Spray Original - 12 Pack, line the pan with wax paper and spray that again with Pam Cooking Spray .  Add your cake batter, then line the outside of the cake pans with Regency Evenbake Cake Strips or wet paper towels, but the Cake Strips work better.  To avoid a fire hazard, be sure to make sure they're dripping wet.  You should know the cake is done when it has pulled away from the sides of the pan, pressing in the center doesn't leave a dent, and no crumbs or batter sticking when inserting a OXO Good Grips Cake Tester.  Leave your cake pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes before removing from pan.  It may also be a good idea to bake one extra layer just in case the cake splits when removing from pans.

It's also a good idea to have a Household Extinguisher handy in the event of a kitchen fire.

Make Your Own Handknit Project

Seen all the pretty knit sweaters around.  Try your hand at knitting or crochet.  I've been knitting since I was ten.  Some professionals tell me I have a "Non-Standard Knitting Style," but I figure it gets the job done. 

I have very sensitive skin, so it's only merino yarn for me.  For years, I had to wear high turtlenecks in the wintertime, because the knit scarfs made me itch.   But at Stitches Midwest, I heard the pros raving about Malabrigo.  So, I picked up a few skeins for a scarf.  And no itching!  You won't want to wash this in the washer, because it will felt.  For machine washable yarn, be sure to look for the word "superwash," which has been specially treated to hold up in the washer (but I'd still set it on delicate).