And It Was Interesting

I commented on the weather last week which began with rain on Saturday, followed by sleet, and then by snow. The comment was that travel on Sunday would be interesting. ¶ And it was. When it was time for me to leave for choir rehearsal the snow people arrived and blocked the driveway until they had finished their task. The city did not plow nor did they use any grit on the icy streets. My personal feeling is that they do something after the accident reports reach a certain number, a number known only to the Street Department. ¶ To continue, I made it up the incline to 28th Street and turned west. The street makes a curve about three blocks on and becomes Bragstad Drive. As one comes out of the curve one heads downhill. There are usually vehicles parked on both sides of the street so there is barely enough room to pass an oncoming car. As I rounded the bend there was indeed another car heading right into me and I began skidding on the icy street. I spun around just in time to avoid him and ended up with my trunk up against a parked truck and facing the wrong direction. Now I need to pull away from the truck and head the other direction. After several tries moving inches at a time I jostled around to just make it down the hill. How exciting can a Sunday morning be? There was no accident, thankfully. ¶ Our local paper, the Argus Leader, is not known as one of the masterpieces of journalistic endeavor. The latest move was to close the printing plant here. This is how far daily papers have gone down hill. 20 years ago one could not imagine a city of over 200,000 not having a locally printed newspaper. Ours is now printed in Des Moines, Iowa. ¶ I subscribe only to the on-line edition and peruse the articles of interest. Two times in the last two weeks there were paragraphs in a story that made absolutely no sense. I read them and re-read them and was as confused at the end as at the beginning. It was not just a typo situation. The syntax was so screwed up that it was like reading bits of disparate sentences put together with no end in sight. ¶ Each time I wanted to pass on these gems and did not do it at the time. In going back to send them later they have disappeared. It could only mean that the paper is proofread after publishing. Someone finally noticed that there was a major error and corrected it. It’s any easy thing to do electronically but interesting in that it actually occurs. It’s also disturbing to realize how easily news articles can be manipulated. ¶ Since last weekend’s interesting weather things have been cold, just plain cold. The forecast for next week appears to bring back early spring temperatures. Wait and see is the watchword. ¶ Sophia and I continue to enjoy the antics of the squirrels and the appearance of the birds. She does not seem to find one more interesting than the other. She obvioulsy was offended by the enbroidery on my fleece one afernoon and was determined to obliterate it.

¶ I’ve felt well this week and accomplished a few things that need doing. One of those was a visit to the optometrist. I last saw one following cataract surgery which was two years ago. I’ve had a bit of trouble at times in the last months. After a thorough eye exam I was told that my prescription was too strong. So off I went on a purchasing excursion for eyeglasses. ¶ For years I went to a very good optometrist who was part of a practice. They had their own facility for purchasing frames and lenses as part of their office. I really loved my doctor but he was rude enough to retire. As I recall I rarely paid less than $300 for frames with the lenses another charge above that. This doctor gave me my prescription and I went shopping. My surprise was that I have purchased two pairs of lenses and frames for $340! I guess I was paying for the convenience. ¶ Thanks for reading, for sharing, for thoughts and prayers, and for helping others.