Trying to Get Into the House

I came home from work on Monday and saw this at the back door. It possibly doesn't look like much, but that's a spider and she had spun her web from the back doorknob across the entry. I had to give her points for ingenuity.

I don't have anything really against spiders. I've come a long way from wanting every single one of them killed to understanding the great benefit they provide. This isn't a "Charlotte's Web" kind of thing either. I know, from studies done by a myriad of people, we'd have way more harmful insects if we killed all the spiders. Flies, great disease spreaders, would overpopulate our ability to use insecticide to kill them. Spiders, even the deadly ones, provide a great service to humanity. We, in turn, provide great places for them to build their homes to catch their meals.

It's just that across my back door is not a good place for a spider. Neither is the corner of the living room or between the canisters on the kitchen counter. I don't like the half a dime-size black ones with the little yellow spots. They don't build webs, rather, they hide and leap out at their prey. Catching them to toss them outside can be an exercise in "OMG...Where did it leap to?"

It felt bad to have to destroy the web to get into the house. I picked her off the web using a nearby stick and put her in amongst the plants on the side of the deck with the admonition that her location was not in a good spot. This will be the first of many spiders relocated to better hunting grounds this year.

Beverage:  Dr Pepper

Deb

Red Green in Concert Without Duct Tape

Back in February, I got a ticket to see Red Green in concert. Red Green is a Canadian who developed a whole empire around a semi-clueless guy who did handyman projects with duct tape, belonged to a lodge (think real life Flinstones) and had a variety of friends with quirks. My sister exposed me to this humor back in the 1990's as she was able to pick up the show from a Sault Ste Marie, Michigan TV station. Red "invaded" the US in 2000-ish and duct tape has never been the same. Many PBS stations, generally not in the big cities like Chicago, picked up the syndication and Possum Lodge fever swept parts of the US. I had to go back to Iowa to see him, although he was picked up by a small PBS station in Chicago about 4 years ago. Unfortunately, I didn't find out until a couple years ago so missed a number of episodes. Plus, the show is on Saturday night and I generally have World of Warcraft plans, not TV plans, on Saturday night.

I think the TV show is funny, more so because I've known people who use duct tape in the manner in which the character uses it. The relationship humor is spot on. I think the show appeals to those of us out in the sticks who have had to "make do", "make up", and "make over" what life has given us. I thought, if the show is funny, the stand-up ought to be as funny, too.

The show was held in the Rialto Square Theater in Joliet, Illinois. It's a great 1920's era restored theater that is a gem to walk into and just stand there looking. The photos I took were really blurry, owing to the crush of people around me who wouldn't allow me to just stand in one place and shoot. Plus, inside the theater part, I felt conspicuous using flash. The marquee is above and the carvings and pillars above the entry are carried out throughout the theater. I believe they have theater tours and it might be something to look into.

I got there a bit early. There is next to nothing open in downtown Joliet at 6:25 p.m. on a Monday night. Parking, in the one garage I remembered was by cash only. I had no cash. I almost never have cash anymore as 99% of the places I go take debit or credit cards. The guy let me park on the promise I'd come back to him. I asked where an ATM from my bank was and he directed me beyond the theater. I walked 15 minutes around downtown Joliet and never saw an ATM for my bank. I gave up and went inside, worried that I'd have a parking ticket or worse, have my car towed. Neither happened, but this is a notice to me. I need to have a 10 spot in my wallet at all times for things like this.

Now, about the show. Red Green encouraged people to take all the photos they wanted. I know a bit about cameras and knew my little point and shoot wasn't going to get him in any kind of focus. He did stop occasionally, to make a joke and I tried to take photos during those times. This is the best I could do.

The show is humorous. There were times of knee-slapping humor. There were times to chortle, to guffaw, to snicker. There were also a few times, when stuff fell flat but I guess that happens to all stand-up comedians. Knowing the TV show helps the humor. I think anyone dragged along who didn't know the show probably didn't get some of the jokes. Of course, I can't, a day later, recall anything that was stand-out funny, but the show certainly had its moments.

There was a woman behind me and to my right who thought everything was funny, every joke, every movement, every stare, every point at the audience. I can't go that far. The venue was not sold out and there were very good seats in front of me which were not filled. A couple of people left half-way through the first act and several groups of people around me did not come back after intermission.

I did not realize it but the TV show is no longer in production. They filmed 300 episodes and are working to get all shows up on the web site for free. I do know one of the actors passed away about a year ago and several cast members had moved on to do other things. At one point, the Canadian Broadcasting Company was going to cancel the show due to funding but the faithful raised a lot of money to help keep it on the air for another couple of years. This tour seems to be a result of the cancellation. Let's take the schtick to the people.

The thing, for me, is that although I think the show is really funny, the live comedy wasn't as good. This is the first "concert", if you can call stand-up a concert, involving a comedian that I have seen. I don't know if, say, Jerry Seinfeld at his prime, was like this. It's one guy, on a vast stage and everything is on him to keep the audience engaged. We have a shared theme here, The Red Green Show, but, I knew several of the jokes he used (Internet memes) and some of the jokes were familiar schticks from the show. I don't know that I had any real idea of what the show would be. This was new.

Now that I've seen him, I won't go to another show unless I give it as a gift to someone. For me, it wasn't the kind of humor that I am dying to see again. He's wry, he can make some very good topical humor, some pointed observational human traits humor, but about 25% of the show just wasn't, for me, funny. Still, I am very glad I went and if you know anything about Red Green, I encourage you to go to one of the shows.

I enjoyed going to this. The drive home was wonderful with a sliver of a moon, Jupiter and lots of visible stars. It was kind of the icing on a lovely evening.

Beverage:  Huckleberry tea

Deb

Using Them Up

You've all read the stories about how merchants love gift cards. Great Aunt Sally buys you a $25 gift card from Bath and Body Works because she really doesn't know want to get you. You're okay with the card although B&BW isn't one of the places you go to a lot. You stick the card in your wallet and, 18 months later, it's still there. It might have even expired. The store got Aunt Sally's money. You have a piece of plastic.

It's the same way with loyalty cards. It doesn't really cost Hallmark anything to issue me a $7.00 gift certificate for being a loyal purchaser of their product. I forget what the percentage I saw quoted is about certificate redemption but it might have been just over 50%. That means, there are a huge bunch of certificates which will expire before the customer uses them. I know that first hand. I just don't have a need for cards so the certificate hangs on the fridge until I find it with the every other month cleaning.

When you're trying to make every penny stretch, this is and isn't a good practice. I tend to get Hallmark gift certificates when I really don't NEED cards or wrapping paper or anything they have to offer. I like having cards available so I don't have to swing by the store for a birthday card, so I have a stash. I don't want to get more cards so I can get $5 off a $15 purchase. That's not cost effective. But sometimes, the money off actually works.

As part of Panera's loyalty program, they send out Internet offers. One of them was for free soup. I love their chicken with wild rice soup. An Internet offer, I am not likely to remember, print out or use so it costs them nothing to send it to me. This time, however, I got soup...and a brownie...and a drink, so lunch on Thursday was $2.97.

Today, I hauled out all the cards I've received over the months and tried to use them up. I stopped at the hardware store and bought more ant killer and a rake. Now, I can feel guilty about not doing more yard work, because I have a rake. That was $5.00 off on my total purchase. It wound up that the ant killer was, essentially, free.

I went on to Target and bought groceries. It was just a lot of little stuff excepting the cat food and kitty litter. I'm in a cooking frame of mind and the things I wanted to cook required one ingredient I didn't have. I'm good, now, until the end of the month. I received a $25 American Express gift card so that took care of half of the purchase.

My friend, Patt, sent me a Starbucks card for my birthday last year. I did get several of Starbucks' seasonal hot cocoa drinks, but I never used the card up completely. On the way out of Target, I got a hot cocoa and used up the card.

I forgot the $1 off coupon from CVS where I picked up my vitamin D pill script this morning. It's not a very costly script, but saving a dollar is saving a dollar. I have it stuck to the fridge and I walked right by it.

So, that uses up all except one. I did rather well today to get things I needed for less. I have a Best Buy gift card, won for knowing more answers to a trivia questionnaire than anyone else in the office when we were doing mandatory training. I do not know the amount. Some were $20. Some were $25 and some were $50. I don't know what I want to use this for. I thought I'd be needing a new mouse but that got resolved. Should I buy movies? I don't watch many now. Adding to the collection seems like a waste. Hence this card just sits. I don't think it has an expiration date but I'd rather just use it up than hang onto it and, by extension, lose it.

Any suggestions, and no, I won't mail it to you.

Beverage:  Water

Deb

Now For the Counting Part

It was a rough night last night so I sought solace in my stitching. It seems to center me, calm me down somewhat and helped me relax enough to fall asleep. All this in spite of the fact that I am to actual counting of stitches on this piece.

While the piece is done completely in full crosses, as I am climbing to the right top of the design, the yellow, light and medium copper colors are becoming intermingled. There are bands of color, to be sure, but, more often than not, there are two or three stitches of one color off to the side in another color. I was stitching all the yellow but realized, with the bands of medium and light copper working their way through, I would get off in counting where each color went.

My new strategy, employed after doing the middle yellow band that bends backwards on itself, is to work a section of color in a "line" somewhat. Then, when I've finished another band which adjoins it, come back to that color even if it eventually ties in with a band done previously. Got that? No? Well, suffice it to say, at this point, I'm not working all one color. With the random colors interspersed, I'll screw up the count.

After finishing that small yellow blob last night, I will come back with the light copper and fill in around it. After that, I'll come back with the medium copper. You can see a few holes on the right side. They were to be filled with medium copper but light copper was around them and I was having problems counting for the right stitch placement. I had a post-it I was using to mark the row I was on, but I don't know quite where that went. I lost it with the late night stitching over the weekend.

And, if you are still puzzling over the design, here's a clue. This is sunset.

Beverage:  African Rooibos tea

Deb