Fireplace

Our fireplace died last winter.
I had 2 companies come out for estimates and both said it could not be repaired.
One company only repairs and doesn't offer new ones.
The other company offered me a new one but my God it was so expensive to us.

Summer is here and I don't need to turn it on right now and I thought it'd be a good time to call.  Today is 94 degrees and I began calling around to see if someone can come to my home for an estimate to replace this.
Look if this was my forever home I'd rip it out. I hate anything Colonial looking. When you move to the mid-Atlantic that is all there is. Ugly, ugly, ugly to me.
Colonial flat front box houses, colonial round poles, colonial brick, everything is colonial, and if like Rick and me you don't like it you are royally screwed.
No variations of homes at all here. I live in cookie cutter colonial hell.

We got an estimate for the new windows for the back of the townhouse.
We got an estimate to repair our sink and now I was looking for an estimate to replace the fireplace insert.

Now we are hoping to move next year so we need to sell and get this stuff done.
Everyone that has been here has been great. I am going to wait another few weeks for the windows to be repaired and I have someone coming next week for the sink.
So it's the fireplace that is the thorn in my side.

I called 7 places today. 2 answered the phone. One said it was $200 for an estimate. I said no thank you. She said, but you can deduct it from anything you may need to buy. I said no thank you. She actually called me back. (I imagine this is a slow time for fireplace people being 94 degrees outside) She tried to plead her case. I listened. When she was done I told her I still felt the same.
I explained that if I chose not to go with her then I am out $200 and for an estimate, I find that a bit high for me for 5 minutes of your time. I was very nice to her but I could tell she's heard this before and was frustrated. She sighed, thanked me, and then said okay and that was that. I really do get why they do this, I'm just not falling for it.

Hey, they can charge whatever they want or whatever they can get. I understand that but I too can pay what I want and I want a free in-home estimate. If anyone knows the cost of an estimate it is me. The gas, the tolls, the time not working and making $$. I get it. We still offer free because that is what we think should be done. They have the right to ask for money and I have the right to say no thank you. I seriously didn't think she would call me back like that.

Out of the 7 that I called, 5 of them told me the following things on their voicemail.

• Leave a message and someone will respond within 48 hrs. (2)
• Text MaryJo at this number xxx-xxx-xxx and she will call you when she can (is mary jo shopping?)
• Leave a message and someone will respond within the week
• They list hours of operation and how they appreciate our call but they don't answer the phone so leave a message and someone will get back to you when they can. 

So those were one of the 4 things I was told by the 5 of them. 

2 that I spoke to only repair the inserts they install so they won't look at ours.

Great.

No one answers the phone and I don't get it. How do they stay in business?

I went to one website that wanted photos of my fireplace and all this info and then they write back and said someone will get back to me in a couple of days.

Why does this annoy me so much? 

I sure as hell know if I didn't answer the phone it goes to the next guy. 

I have had it happen. When I leave at lunch and voicemail says I'm at lunch they still call the next person and they get the job. I would see a number on caller ID and call them back and apologize for being at lunch and they'd say it was okay but they called someone else because I wasn't in. 

So I tried that. I did not leave a message and went to the next one on the list. But they all don't answer their phones at any hours of the day so it doesn't seem to matter. No one answers their phones period. I don't get it.

But I'm frustrated as hell. 

Tuesday

I'm going to clean my office today. I want to take advantage of the phones not ringing all that much. 
I know - you'll believe it when you see it. Actually me too. :-)

So here is something Rick showed me from his FB. (Remember I no longer have Facebook.)  And didn't this wall below fall over? Didn't I read that somewhere?
Guess he had no Mexicans to build the wall. Oh, I make myself laugh. 

Mondays thoughts...all over the place.

This is the week annually that we take our vacation and go to the lake. 
I will work from there but it is always dead city this week - every year. 
Last week everyone I spoke to kept saying they were going on vacation let's book it for the return. So I have it made, Rick sadly does not.

So I plan to take advantage of it. We have been doing double the work since the pandemic and while we are so damn fortunate it is catching up with us.
We also thought with people losing their jobs it may be easier to find people but it's not. No one wants to work full time so perhaps it will be a part-timer. The problem is everyone needs us but it's beneath them to do labor. 
Rick had a man yelling at his son for not doing some school work and pointed to Rick and said, 'do you want to end up like a grunt like this guy? Then you better crack the books so you can get into college." 

Rick was so offended he made it a point to tell the man in front of his kid that he had a degree and his last job was that of  VP of Human Resources in aerospace but got tired of the whiney entitled brats who haven't a clue on real-life so he now does this. So I take great offense to you calling me uneducated and a grunt. 

Funny how that works isn't it? The guy's face turned every shade of red and the kid asked Rick if he liked it better than white collar. He told him yes he did and if you go to school for a trade and get good you'll make more $$ than your father here.  And Rick walked away. This wasn't the first time this happened to Rick. 
It's just the first time Rick spoke up. He didn't care if he was asked to leave and walk away from the job, he was not going to be insulted and made to look like a monkey when this number-crunching accountant said these things about him as if he wasn't there or had no feelings. Nice thing to teach your child Mr. Accountant.

Have you all watched Tough as Nails on CBS? I believe it's on Tuesday nights. 
I don't recall but thankfully my DVR does. It's basically a reality show which I normally hate and don't watch but this one I have enjoyed. With the exception of the dude who was military. I swear if you made a drinking game of every damn time he tells you how it was done in the military you'd be 3 sheets to the wind in 15 minutes. It is quite annoying to me and Rick. Otherwise, he is a cool dude.

These are all blue-collar workers, firemen, window washer, even a farmer in there. You know, the people who make the country run. 
They compete in tough physical challenges. Rick says it is not fair because the women no matter how strong will never be as strong as the men. True! 
But I do enjoy the women on there. This older woman is small but kick ass. 
She is someone I'd want on my team because everyone thinks at first she is no threat. They found out soon enough she is indeed a big threat. I love all these characters and I just enjoy the show. Something different to watch and I like that it's not about clothes and being mean to one another. This is very team-oriented and no slimy side-eye looks or anything like a reality show that I hate. This is more like Amazing Race but not quite. Same producer and host. He and his wife wrote the show and produce it. It's something to watch for the Big Guy and me.
It's been slim pickin's.
_____
We were to go to VT this fall. But due to the pandemic, we are not going.
We were to go to NC 2 times by now and of course, we can not do that.
I did not mind being homebound for 4.5 months but it is now getting to me.
____
Locally the MGM at the harbor front is laying off over 800 employees.
That is a lot of unemployed folks around here. I don't care what anyone says, the economy is not as good as one thinks. We can't have this huge dip in the gdp and still keep pretending all is well. I don't get a lot of fiscal stuff but this seems like common sense. We are going to take years to get out of the orange mess.  Anyone seeing a big crash coming?

I saw where they were asking for covid-19 test dummies. I would not sign up for the vaccine to test. I am not that nice. I pray others will be brave for me. Then after you get the vaccine to you walk around unmasked and licking doorknobs in hopes of seeing if you are in contact you will be fine? How do they test this is what I wonder? I need to start looking for answers to this because God knows we don't have leadership telling us anything but hate speech.

Hope you all have a wonderful and fun Monday!

Designing Women

In the 80s I watched a show called Designing Women.
I loved that show.
The other night we saw an episode and while it still tickles me it showed its age, with big hair, big shoulder pads, etc. I loved each character but when Julia went off on any one of her tirades I was a happy camper. One episode she called Donald Trump. This was back in the day when he was just a man whore who lied and cheated everyone he came in contact with as opposed to a man who lied and cheated everyone he came in contact with and was President. Better known back then as THE Donald. Again as opposed to THE ASSHAT



There was a character named Bernice. The two Shugerbaker women who own the design firm. Their mother moved to Japan and asked her daughters to look after Bernice. Bernice is certifiable, to say the least.

She would sing this stupid song, Black Man, Black Man. This was done in several episodes. Rick and I would just laugh.
Then we moved to Seattle.



Our first year there we rented an apartment. We were on what was called the Plateau. Sitting on my balcony I was looking at nature and a trail that went up the rest of the mountain. I would watch young people stop and walk with their bikes. I would see joggers running and then pause before continuing on up. I never saw anyone just run up the mountain nonstop.

Then there was a man who was gorgeous to view from my balcony.
He came by daily.
He had to be over 6'5" and he was built. 
He was built like a football player.
We lived near a lot of Seattle Seahawks so we thought maybe it could be a professional athlete. He would just stride up that mountain like it was nothing. He had such great posture and arms, hell great body, and he would stride up the mountain like it was nothing, as if just floating. I loved watching him.

Rick would laugh at me but he too said watching him was really something the way he would just take these long strides and be up the mountain in no time.
The man did this daily and I knew his schedule. I'd grab my morning coffee and watch him run up the mountain while sitting in my chair on the balcony.

One day I didn't watch him and I was in the bedroom getting dressed.
Rick was in the dining room and he sang, "Black Man, Black Man" and I came running around the corner so fast I tripped over the corner of the sofa but didn't fall and kept going. When I got to the sliding glass door in the dining room Rick was laughing so hard he was crying. My big man was not running, in fact, Rick made the whole thing up to see me run.
He thought he was so funny.

So you really enjoy that guy do ya?
Yes, if it was a blonde in short shorts and tank top wouldn't you? Besides, it's pretty to watch the way he glides up the mountain.
But Margaret I would never trip over anything to get to the door.
The hell you wouldn't.
No, I would act cool.
But if I was cool, and he was really there and you weren't an ass, he would have been gone by the time I got here.
True.
To this day Rick will sing that and it makes me look of course.

So the other night when nothing was on TV we rewatched an episode of Designing Women. Rick's favorite and possibly mine is when Mary Jo is given money from her uncle after his death with the directions to only use it on something you'd never buy yourself or something frivolous and have some fun.
So she decided to use it for bigger boobs.

She went to the doctor and got some different size inserts to put in her bra to try out what felt best for her. That whole episode so rings true to me and it makes me really laugh.



Did you watch this crazy show?

Streaming

Since the pandemic, we have been watching more TV than ever.
We wanted to get Apple TV but they won't allow us to have it because we can't sign up on an apple device. There is no way in hell I am getting anything apple ever. So looks like I can't watch that channel either unless I figure a workaround which I may have done so.

I can get it on my TV but to sign up you can only sign up on an apple device.  
When I called to see if that was correct she laughed and said, " yes."
Then in her snarky apple tone, she asked, "you mean to tell me you don't have an IPad, phone or Imac?  I responded with, "No, instead of an ipad I have a surface, I have an android phone and PC. So if I understand you, you are telling me that 50% of the world is on android and you have no need for them to be customers. You do realize that telling me this is why most don't have apple.
She said, "Oh well, I'm sorry because it is truly your loss" and hung up.
So another day of great customer service from a millennial little shit.

Last evening my niece suggested I sign up on her device since I have an itunes sign in and password. I only had that for a few podcasts but they left apple and now I have no need for the sign in. She was in a parking lot waiting for my mom and I told her I'd call her tonight. If I can do a work around I will otherwise no Apple TV for me.  Gosh, I really don't like Apple and this interaction didn't make my impression of them any better.

We watched a series on Netflix that if you had told me to watch it I would have crinkled up my nose. Rick wanted to see it. I asked him, do you even know who Zac Efron is? He only knew of him because he was on an adventure show with Bear Grylls.

The show is called Zac Efron down to earth. I really enjoyed it. Surprise!  The man he travels with is a different sort. I don't believe all his pseudo-medicine and his comments about goat milk are absurd but the show itself was interesting. Hey, nothing else on the tube. I am sick of puzzles and lately if I read I fall asleep.

Anything Streaming anywhere but Apple that you've watched that surprised you to like? 

Funny Falwell

This story makes me laugh more than anything.
I have a great dilike for the self righteous.
They always end up being slimy don't they? Well they didn't end up that way, they generally started that way but eventually they show the world their slim.

When we would drive to our lake house we would drive by this university and we would flip them the bird just as we do on I66 when we pass the NRA building. It doesn't hurt them and it makes us feel better. However petty.

When we first moved to the lake house about 1.5 hrs away from Falwell city (lynchburg)  we were told by Comcast that we could not receive FX (we watched a denis leary excellent show about a bunch of firefighters called Rescue Me. If it is streaming Watch it!)
Comcast said because of Falwell / Liberty University we can't show those channels in this area. They were "blacked out"
Imagine our feelings about this bullshit.

So we immediately switched to Dish as we have at our primary home. Screw comcast and Falwell.

Why is it that those who claim to be so pius always do this sort of thing?
The same ones who are unkind to groups of people yet they are those people.
Gay, peodophile and the like. It's like the republican congressman who says hatefull things about gay men, then caught with a bevy of gay men. Thou doth protest too much!

These so called religious folks are the same way. Their behavior is the opposite of what they preach. Not all of it, because they preach a lot of hate, but so called "christian" behavior, whatever the hell that is. I have never seen it by anyone who called themselves that. But then again this could be all in my imagination because I have a great disdain for organised religion. But I firmly believe you don't have to walk around calling your self Christian because if you are it will show. At least the definition of "christian" that these people impose on themselves. It's like a person I used to work with lied all the time. Then one day she proclaimed she never lies, that is so disgusting she lamented. Well honey, you're lying right now! (higher the voice, bigger the lie - pay attention it is true)

Look if Falwell likes to watch his wife have sex with others so be it.
It doesn't hurt me. What consenting adults do in their home is fine with me as long as they do not have unwilling participants, (rape) hurt children or animals.
If Falwell gets his rocks off on watching this stud do his wife well, good for him.
But then to lie about it makes me sick. Yes, it's embarressing. Suck it up (ooh perhaps a bad phrase for this topic) buttercup and fess up and instead of saying how sorry you are just shut up. You did it, you aplogize for what? Getting caught? You weren't sorry before you got caught? So fess us, aplogize to your family in private and shut up.

There are dumb people everywhere.  HA, look at the red hat cult.
This religious cult of Falwells will make his followers blame others, will point the finger at the innocent. They will blindly following and continue to do and say stupid things to protect them. I will continue to go to the lake and flip him the bird as I pass by their university of rednecks and self righteious dudes with their guns and bibles.

In the meantime his old man who was a piece of work himself, is rolling over in his grave. Me? I'm laughing.
Never say never people.

So damn sick of this!

Whoops, that's an error.

We apologize for the inconvenience.

Try refreshing the page to see if things are back in order.

This is what i get when I comment on everyone's blog. I can comment on a handful only. I am certain those will bite the dust too.  No refreshing will help! I even cleaned cache etc. To no avail. I quit.

The Pandemic Theme Song

Weekend

I wish 2020 would go away as fast as my weekends go by.

Rick worked on Saturday and I made him an appointment for a massage for him at the end of his day.

He had a massause that he loved and she moved out of state. 

Then he finally found someone he liked and this place never answers their phones. All mesages go to their voicemail and eventually they will call back and sometimes they don't. I left so many vm's and never heard back. I gave up and Rick was fed up and said let's find someone new. I know the last time he was at this place he told her they don't respond quickly and it's difficult to get an appointment. She said yes, we hear that a lot but we don't understand technology and we do the best we can. (yes they are older husband and wife)

WHAT? technology? It's voicemail for heaven's sake. 

So I have booked him at other places trying to find "his gal" again but they are all what he calls,"wussy"  He wants a deep tissue massage and the one on Saturday didn't understand the meaning. He came home so frustrated. Not the least bit feeling better or relaxed. He said when she got to that big knot in my right side she was barely touching it. He told me that at one point he told her, "it's okay you aren't hurting me and if you go too far I'll let you know."

I am listening to him and laughing because it sounds a bit sick but I knew what he meant. But he also had to show me how bad she was. He was making me laugh.  But I get it. So we will continue to find that person for him. He misses Shanti so much. He may fly to Arkansas and track her down. 

While he was having a lousy massage, I was having 2 crowns done. 

I still think a lousy massage is better that what I was going through.

I have my temporary crowns on right now and I return in 2 weeks for the final crowns. My God those aren't cheap and I hate spending all this money on mdeical. I am up to my ears in medical crap. I assume this is that phase of my life now, I'm getting old and all my bills are medical. I remember when my money was spent on clothes and shoes like this. Dental work and medical is not what I want to spend my money on.

Dental insurance is good for some things but I don't find 50% for crowns all that awesome. 

My Saturday was more fun that anyone should have on an early Saturday morning. I grind my teeth and even though I wear that fabulous looking mouth guard I have still done a number on my old teeth. I grind my teeth so badly I have broken mouth guards in my mouth at night. The last one I broke I awoke to choking on a piece. This newest one is the strongest one I've ever had. I've had this one for a few years now and it is still holding strong. None have ever made it a year. So all this grinding is cracking and or breaking my teeth so hence the crowns. 

My jaw still hurts from them keeping my mouth open as they do to reach the back teeth. The dentist said it is harder because I have a small mouth.

I asked if she wanted to tell my hsuband that. She laughed and told me that big sounds come from little mouths too. I told her she was of no help to me then.

This dentist is adorable in personality and looks. Well in looks she is drop dead gorgeous. I just know that anyone wearing a cap on her head as this dr. does and a full mask and can still look that damn pretty is obviously pretty! (I've seen her without all this as well) Her personality though is also beautiful. If my husband saw my dentist (no we don't go to the same places) he would have all his teeth ground to nubs. I know him oh so well.😛

Remember that wedding that was canceled due to Covid? My niece was to get married in Sept. I was having a bridal shower for her in July. None of that took place sadly. My niece, Ariana, got married on Friday. I copied this picture from my sister (her mom) instagram feed so ignore the number in the upper right hand corner. My sister did a live messenger thing for me to watch the wedding at the court house. 

I can't say this enough - Ariana and Randy have both handled this with such grace. And I have never ever been to a wedding where I felt so strongly that these 2  belong together. 

There has been no whining, no complaining. 

I am not sure most of us would have handled this as well. 

God knows I wouldn't have been as cool as she was. I would have whined then eventually gotten over it and moved forward.

She never complained.

I asked her mom and she said, not once. 

Their honeymoon was a cruise that was canceled as well. 

Cruises are floating petrie dishes in the best of circumstances. 

So that was good that it was canceled.

So they ran off for a week to a little town they love. They rented a cottage and they will be alone and enjoy nature. When I asked about the honeymoon and if she could take the cruise later she said yes but this will be great too, "Aunt Peg , I'm with my HUSBAND and our own little hideaway. Isn't that a honeymoon by definition?"  God I love this kid!

In other news - I saw these two memes and they made me smile.
Of course Betty White is correct.

Loved this self potrait. I have the opposite issue.

Hope your Monday is a great one!

Friday Tid Bits

This week I have gone to a few blogs and left messages. All of the messages blinked and then disappeared. I tried it several times and gave up.
Grace, Jean, Paul, and Ami to name the ones I remember. I'm reading you all but the comments are giving me grief and I don't know why.
____________
Last night Rick made himself a bowl of vanilla ice cream with a raspberry swirl.
It's a new ice cream company he discovered out of Oregon called Tillanook I believe. It was very good ice cream he reported.
He asked if I wanted a bowl. Hmmm...
Yes, I want a bowl but no don't make me a bowl.
Rick looked at me and said, "I hate when you are starving yourself.  I like fun Peggy who eats, drinks, and laughs with me.
I'm still here I am just choosing not to eat.
But your weight isn't about the eating so let it go - I love you any size.
HA, you say that but when I am a complete weeble you may not feel the same.
Do you at least want a taste?
Again, no thank you.
My God he is an enabler.
____________
We were humming to the commercial the other day and I realized something.
When I was a kid all the music in commercials was old people music.
You know like while in the grocery store or the elevator.
But now the commercials are rock and roll and I find myself humming away.
Just like the day in the grocery store when a favorite Bon Jovi song was playing, Wanted Dead or Alive. I found myself singing down the aisle. 

Well, it occurred to me as I was tapping along with a BMW commercial with AC/DC playing Thunder Road, I realized they are still playing old people music on commercials. It is just now I am the old person. 
I did not like that realization. Damn, I'm old.
________________
I spoke to my specialist yesterday.
I indeed have CIRS. This treatment has been known to take 7mo-1yr.
Yipee.

But the worst part for me is the money. 
It is $600 for this other specialist I was sent to see. $600 for 2 hrs of his friggin' time. God how I hate this. This step is the final one with doctors that is.
Then they wish to send someone to my home to find the culprit. With their meters etc. That starts at 2400. No, I can't do this.

We have a pile of things that are a priority to this. It should not have to cost me all this money to get well and it makes me so damn angry.
But I learned how I got this and why. Part of this is a gene that is defective and while it makes perfect sense when listening to him and his youtube talks on this it makes sense, I, however, can't repeat it and sound the least bit intelligent.

I may have been bitten by a spider, deer tick, mold etc. The bottom line is when it goes on this long that usually happens with only 20% of the people. Meaning others get well from their treatment and some 20% don't. They never understood why. In the last 2 decades on further testing, they found that all these people had an autoimmune disorder either diagnosed or undiagnosed and they will only get worse as time goes on. This 20% they have found has this one gene defect shall we call it and apparently, I am lucky and have that. 

Why the hell can't I be that exception and win the lottery? Of course not.
The protocols include all this shitty stuff I'm doing now. I hate these meds and grainy shit I put in water to drink. It is gag worthy!
I will find out the rest when I talk to $600 dollar doctor man on the 2nd of Sept.

I tried to explain this all to Rick and he got some of it and then I sent him to watch him on youtube. He gets it and I am thankful. 
The intake person yesterday told me that a woman who now works for them was like me. Her husband thought it was all in her head and was going to divorce her. She was sick all the time. Then when she was telling the doctor this he called her husband. The doctor was angry and told him everything. They are still married, she is now healthier than ever in her life and weight fell off her. (from her mouth to god's ear for me) Then she got a job there. This specialist is in Chicago. 

I was told that there are 40million + with CIRS. That is way too many.
Because the symptoms are all over the place everyone goes from doctor to doctor and nothing gets fixed. Yep. I am aware. Most never get a diagnosis. This affects your brain (the inflammation) and truth be told that is what causes Alzheimers so I want to get this fixed before I have to worry about that.

She also asked how I can work so many hours and do so much. 
I honestly don't get the question. 
Is there another choice that I am unaware of? 
I have to work, things have to get done so I do them. I can't go to bed because of pain and mind-numbing fatigue. If I did that I would never get out of bed. And truth be told it was far harder when I was a senior sales executive and traveling all the time. There were days that I was in so much pain and walking around Manhattan in heels and eating ibuprofen like Pez. 

I guess I am stronger than I thought and as stubborn as I know,  so I move forward / power through it all I guess. I don't know why that is a question. It is what needs to be done. Or my bed would be at a homeless shelter. Besides when every doctor tells you nothing is wrong with you then you have to make a decision to either collapse and give up or power through and make a life.  I chose the latter. 

Rick knows when it's really a bad day. And when I have that day he always picks up the slack and like earlier this week he told me to just go to bed. I didn't feel like eating dinner. I just was in that state that he is aware of. I looked at him and said, "you know I think I'm going to. I'm sorry."  I took a hot shower and climbed into bed. I took a couple of CBD's and turned on TV. Rick text me and asked if I wanted anything. He makes me laugh. I had only been upstairs for 45 minutes. Nope don't need anything. I watched some TV and fell asleep until 6am. It was wonderful. He even took the dog at 5:30.  I woke up feeling better so it was just one of the debilitating days and they pass.  I mean to tell you I am in pain every day and while I have never talked about that here until recently I don't want sympathy. I am going to get through this. People have things far worse than me, like Alzheimer's, ALS, Parkinson's, cancer, etc. This is just a test I have to go through for some reason. If there is a lesson I hope I find it. :-)

I have a piece of art I LOVE on the wall that I think applies here. 

(We Tend To Seek Happiness When Happiness is Actually a Choice.)

I choose happiness, lightness, and humor. I do think that has served me well during this ordeal. And when I forget this I crumble and bitch on my blog. 
😁

Flashback Thursday

Back in 2010, I wrote about why 3 names were on my blog.
Today a blogger asked me in private if I prefer one over the other.
Nope.

So today is going to be Flashback Thursday since I am dealing with doctors and the like. I have a feeling I am going to be very depressed after meeting with the specialist so I am going to give you this post from 10 years ago to explain why the hell I have these names. I answer to all and have no damn preference.
______________________________________________

How I Got My Name

I get emails about my first name all the time.
I was asked yesterday why I have 3 names up there why not just pick one?
Well, it appears that some prefer one over the other and I’m crazy enough not to care which one you use.

So here’s the rest of the story…..

It was not planned trust me.
Back in the Stone Age when I was born my parents being the ever good Italian Catholic parents wanted to have me baptized. However, their church said, “Oh no you can’t have her baptized as Peggy.” My parents asked why and they were told that there was no Saint Peggy. (their church changed this rule a year later)

My mother loved the name, Peggy. She loved it from a book she read and loved the character.  They knew that the nickname for Margaret was Peggy Meg, Maggie etc so they had to name me Margaret so that I could be baptized. Now if you hear my full name in Italian boy I can’t deny my heritage. (starting with Margherita) But you put Peggy in front of it and you think there may be a chance that something else snuck in there.

If you ever meet another old person named Peggy (and they are all old because only women of a certain age have that name) most are named Margaret.
I hated that name Margaret all through my childhood. When I went to Catechism classes the nuns would only call me Margaret. It reminded me of “dumb ole Margaret” on Dennis the Menace. (I know, most of you are too young to know that reference too) But trust me I hated the name Margaret as a child. And so did my Mom. So everyone called me Peggy.

Then in my senior year of high school I met my future ex-husband. He said that Peggy didn’t suit me so he asked if he could call me Margaret.
Sure! Just call me was my thought!

When my youngest sister was 3 or 4 years old she asked me why he always called me that funny name. I told her it was my real name. She looked so confused and said, “NO, your name is Peggy.” The more I said that it wasn’t my name the more she got upset and then she began to cry. I was only 20-21 at the time but I figured out that this was upsetting and confusing to this poor little thing so I told her that he just liked to call me that. I told her it was in the same way that Daddy called her Jenner instead of Jennifer.  Wisely she said, “But that name doesn’t sound like Peggy.” Oh brother this wasn’t going to be easy to explain.

Then as I went away to school and met others outside of high school and family it seemed more people didn’t care for Peggy. They would always find out my name was really Margaret or ask if it was really Margaret. Then immediately they would ask if they could call me Margaret. I kept thinking what does Peggy look like if I don't look like a Peggy? This was so weird to me. But by now I was used to it so I would say sure. Some people have a strong opinion on it and it would throw me for a loop. It became where all my newer friends called me Margaret but family and school friends knew me as Peggy.

At my last job, my former boss would only call me Peg. I would make jokes to her about it like that sounds like a wooden leg, but she still insisted on calling me Peg. She would have my business cards sent to me and they would say Peg. When I was hired she had my email set up prior to me starting and it was Peg. So then everyone there called me Peg (wooden leg) and I got very used to that too. But there were a couple of people who I worked with that would ask me, “Is Margaret your real name?” And then next they would ask to call me that because they thought it suited me better. I always find that interesting. I have never thought when meeting someone that their name didn’t fit them.

Odd isn’t it?
Hello. Your name is Bob? Gee, I don’t think that fits you may I call you Theodore?

What the hell? Did you ever think that? I know how names will take on someone you know. I know that when a friend wanted to name her new baby daughter a particular name I cringed because I knew someone with that name and she was a horrible little backstabbing troll. So that name to me always represented the troll. Thankfully her husband knew that woman too and that name was nixed. Whew!

The very first night I met Rick he asked if I had a nickname. I told him my nickname was Peggy. So of course he asked what my name was.  Margaret.
He said I think that suits you much better may I call you Margaret?

Again who the hell are these people that do this? I laughed and said okay you can call me Margaret. What I was really hoping is to see him again so he could call me anything.

Another odd thing is how both really significant men in my life always have called me Margaret.
Yet both always will introduce me to others as Peggy.

Last night I asked Rick if he remembered that conversation about my name. He said he did. I don’t recall him ever telling me why exactly it didn’t fit me. So I asked now.

He looked at me so seriously and said, “really? Peggy sounds like a kid don’t you think? You walked into that restaurant to meet me and you carried yourself like a classy strong confident woman. After talking to you for just a minute I thought that Margaret suited a classy strong woman better than a kid's name.”

Okay, I laughed and said, “I’ll sleep with you, you don’t have to suck up anymore.”

So that is how I have come to have 3 names up there on the top of the blog.
Everyone likes to call me something different. 

I answer to them all. If you feel comfortable with Peg then call me Peg and so on.
I have been asked if I have a preference. I don’t really. I think it sounds incredibly odd to hear Rick call me Peggy. Very strange. Think about it, if your significant other just started calling you a different name – weird right?

And over time some family members have gone to Margaret too and I find it cute. No mention of it they just did.

So apparently when I was young I was Peggy and now as an old broad, I’m Margaret.
Either way, I am a feisty old broad who will answer to most anything. All the things that bothered me when I was a kid or just a young adult about the various forms of my name don't bother me one bit now. Call me anything, just call me.

But here’s a tidbit I’ve never shared about names.
Both my husbands had the same first name!
Yep, that’s right I can’t scream out the wrong name in the heat of passion.

Neighbors and Birds

Let's Gossip Shall We?
My neighbor who is renting the townhome next door is an odd duck. 
He thinks a lot of himself, I, however, don't feel the same.
He even struts and Rick and I find it funny. 

He is single and my guess is he is in his early 50s. 
Drives a Tesla and Mercedes so cars mean things to him. 
Here is what I know.
He has a teenage daughter who lives in this development with her mom and that is why he moved here from MD to be near his daughter.
His entire first floor is completely void of any furniture and he has lived here for 2 or 3 months now.
His dog is what I call a velcro dog. Does not wish to be away from his owner. (like my dog) And when he goes somewhere he cries and howls the entire time he is gone. (my dog doesn't do that though)
I have to turn the tv or music loud so I don't have to listen to the poor thing. It breaks my heart. I have even offered to take the dog when he is gone for long periods of time because the howling breaks my heart - especially after 4 hrs.
It also is annoying but it mostly breaks my heart to hear him howl as if in pain.

He introduced me to his ex-girlfriend who was cute and bubbly and she sat immediately on the ground outside and just loved on Izzy.
A few days ago he told Rick he couldn't sleep because he misses his girlfriend so much. She broke up with him.  He then told Rick without provocation that his girlfriend was  'so pretty he may never find another that beautiful or pretty again.
And the reason I love Rick - He told him maybe his ex found that only liking her for her looks wasn't the relationship she wanted (I about died - Mr. No Filter)
The neighbor said, "that's what she says, but c'mon I do like her isn't that enough?"  Thankfully Rick let it go and just laughed. 
So the guy is looking for young arm candy.

He is not much himself and that always makes me laugh when they want arm candy as if they're George Clooney. More like Woody Allen.
Short, skinny, not offensive looking just average like most of us, IT nerd who works for the gov't and has a lot of money and pays little attention to his dog.  His ex-girlfriend put flowers on his patio and a bird feeder before she left him. Because we said something to him about his dog and the crying etc we felt we couldn't say anything about his bird feeder.

The birds eat at his place and shit all over ours. 
You know you the saying, don't shit where you eat?' 
Well, that is what is happening here. (yeah I know what that phrase really means but it works, deal with it)
Nice for the birds but not us.

The birds sit on the fence between us and poop all over our side of the fence and they get into our plants and flowers. Our fence looks like a Pollack painting of poop. Don't' get me started on my furniture.

I am not a fan of birds anyway or the mess a bird feeder makes hence why we only have a hummingbird feeder.  Rick used to have a bird feeder when we first lived together and those damn birds left shit everywhere and after that, he never got one again. I felt at the time I couldn't say anything because I moved into his place. He thought he loved that feeder and the birds until the poop was everywhere. I was thrilled when he realized it all himself so I didn't have to ask to take that down.

So as we watched them poop all over our patio this weekend and dive-bomb Rick, we had to devise a plan. We found a lot of things to put on top of the fence that would stop big birds like pigeons, crows, etc but it didn't do anything for the garden variety bird. We also didn't want something so obvious that it would look awful because we share this fence and he had to look at it too.

But then we found something on Amazon called Bird B Gone.
We don't wish to hurt them, we just want them to poop elsewhere - like HIS deck/patio and see how fast that bird feeder comes down!
It looks like a container of caulk. Rick put it in his caulking gun and did as instructed in the directions. 

This morning sipping our coffee on the patio we watched as a bird who didn't get told by his buddies, you can't sit there anymore, tried to get on the fence.  Oh, they put their feet there but don't like the sticky feeling so they fly away quickly. 
I watched them all morning try it and then fly away. I hope once word spreads amongst them they will stop pooping over here. So far so good.

And it was only $11.00. It states it will last for 6 months. Everything we had been looking at was far more expensive and we didn't even know if it would work. But so far so good here.  Watching them leave this morning so quickly after sitting on the fence made me happy and I think this could be the answer. I hope so


Here is the product. 

We have this white fence with a flat top on both sides of us. That flat top is a few inches wide so it allows us to put the Bird Be Gone on it. You can't even see that it is there. This is the photo they showed when I got the product. This is about the size of our fence top and this is exactly what Rick did. Easy Peasy right? It does not hurt the birds, just annoys them. I'm good with that. They annoy me so we're even. The reviews were great so we had to try it. Our biggest thing was to not hurt them, just make them go away.



A week without his birds pooping all over our patio would be lovely.  This picture is sad - it's far more colorful with all the plants now. But you get the idea of it all with the fence. Fingers crossed this really will be the answer cuz it's cheap and the neighbor can't see it so he has no clue and that is good. Can't piss off the new guy. The bird side is on the right which you can't see here.

The young man on the left of this photo is from my hometown. What are the chances of that? He is 27 and in IT  and he bought his house in cash. That is all I know and he's a great baker. We never ever see this kid. We met him, he brought us over baked goods and then we never saw him again. When you live on top of one another you see each other going to work and going to the garage or getting the mail at the corner mailboxes for the block. We never ever see him and couldn't pick him out of a line up. I think that makes a good neighbor. :-) 

Here we go again.

A few weeks ago I told you I was seeing a specialist for all my health "issues"
I have only had them forever or so it seems. At least since my late 20s.
Every year it just got worse.

I got the results of my last test. I can read the words but what they mean is a whole different story.

I sent them to my doctor because for some reason they send them to me.
I now have a phone consult on Thursday morning. He is still not "seeing" patients in the office.
Apparently, I have something called CIRS.
I read some info on this NIHA site.
I could cry - all of my symptoms are there. Some of which other doctors tried to "fix" but they are all connected to whatever the hell this is so I never got better.
Okay, I don't have clawed hands and feet or a lot of them but the majority (90%) of all listed are things I deal with daily.

I have been taking a boatload of pills and powders and horrible tasting shit for 2 months now. I hope the cure is far easier or something other than what I've been doing. If this guy can't help me then I may just look into going to NIHA in the city and see if they can help. It'd be nice to have 1 year of feeling as positive & good as I pretend I am. At least 1 yr of feeling great 24/7 before I die would be nice.

In other news....

This is pretty much the same except for the last paragraph. I wasn't aware of any of that but good to know.

I thought this was damn cool. I bet the poor girl didn't make a dime on this either.
But I thank her!

And this falls under, Told You So. I love that she didn't listen to the so-called adults but listened to her inner self. It has never failed me! Not always easy that's for sure but so worth it once you plow through. Yeah for her!!

Monday

It's Monday and as is the case of all Monday's I am buried with things from the weekend to deal with today. 

I find it fascinating that Home Improvement construction is skyrocketing as are the numbers for Home Depot and Lowes. So while no one is eating out, or going to the movies I do know what they are spending their money on while home.
I am most thankful for that. It keeps us in masks. HA HA 

Here are some interesting things I've seen of late.

I had such a great weekend. Rick worked on Saturday. Izzy went to daycare. I talked to a blogger on the phone and bothered her for way too long. I got to have a 2nd cup of coffee in the morning. That doesn't happen with the dog around. I would have been walking her then so that 2nd cup tasted even better!

I cleaned hardwood floors on the 3 levels including 3 bathrooms.  I got the floor cleaned on the entire first floor including powder room and no one was here to mess it up for a few hours!!  It was clean and perfect for a few hours and that to me is nirvana. 

You have no idea how nice that was. I got more things done in 3 hrs than I can get done with Rick and Izzy underfoot. Why is that? I think Izzy and Rick are like Pig Pen on The Peanuts Cartoon Strip - there is always a mess and smell that follows them. 😇

Monday mornings before work it is very quiet around here and it does drive me crazy.

Rick wakes up and instantly turns on the TV. Not my favorite thing. 

He watches a show called Yellowstone. In all honestly every time, I look at the screen someone is slaughtering someone like an animal and that too would make me ill or stabbing or kicking or shooting. 

So not my thing!  

He turns this western on and all must be quiet so he can watch it.

Oh he has never said to be quiet but I once said Good Morning and he paused the show and acted like this was a major intrusion.

It is barely 6am. I do not do this to him. 

I like shows that he finds awful and I never watch them and make him be quiet because he doesn't like them. So when he isn't around I watch them or sometimes I watch on another tv but most often when he isn't here.

I told him Sunday that it bugs the shit out of me that he turns it on instantly upon waking up and sits there glued. There is no talking - you ignore the dog. If I ask if you want coffee you only nod, there is nothing from you until it's over. Then you leave for work.

Why can't you watch this when I am not around like I do for you?

He looked at me and then began to laugh. Ooh, I felt my blood rising. 

Then he calmly says with a bit of a snicker, "you watch your shows when I leave for work right? Or before you start work or before I get home and you're done with work right? You work from home, you are always here when would I watch when you leave? Where are you going?"

OH MY GOD, HE'S RIGHT - NOooooo he's never right.

So it hit me and I realized that was obvious and yet it never occurred to me. What an utter dingbat!

Now I am laughing. He's right, he leaves, I don't so when would this time alone be for him? Damn it. I looked over at him in his big ugly chair with his shit-eating grin and said, "you are correct and damn that's funny. I was so pissed off that you do this every Monday morning. But you're right I'm always here but you know you could do it in the evening and go to another TV"  

The smart ass didn't miss a beat and immediately said, "But then I wouldn't be in the same room as you babe."

Oh yeah, we both had a hearty har-har at that comment. Please!