28 April …

There was an interesting phenomenon  last friday morning … fog and frozen rain on the front deck. The day before it had rained hard (a couple of cloudbursts along with the softer shower times).

 Subsequent days brought morning fog followed by various cloud cover and cool but not cold temperatures.

I was supposed to water and weed this morning but we had enough rain overnight to make watering unnecessary and it was too wet to weed.  

Guess that will be tomorrow morning’s chore.

~~~

Last saturday was a full day.  

It was the evening which was particularly full.  

It began at 1730 when a neighbor took me over to the pre-Easter service and for Paul’s Baptism.  He’s ten and chose to be baptized as Paul Michael Francis ( Paul Michael for folks in his mother’s family (and also a nod to one of his Dad’s brothers I like to think) and Francis for the Saint due to his connection with animals.

Paul had chosen the day between Good Friday and Easter Sunday after spending time during Lent for study.

The Baptism was a simple service. His mother’s parents were in attendance from Baltimore, but only one of the chosen GodParents was able to be there. The other was visiting his family in Korea and attended via computer link.

It was a simple service containing a question and answer section and a sprinkling from the nice baptismal font which had been a gift in1928 in memory of a child.  Then a collection of pictures were taken and we all returned to the sanctuary for the rest of the Easter Vigil service.

That was followed by a full family dinner at Casa Ramos, 2100 for us, midnight for the east coast folks.

Mark brought me home because I’m still leary of night diving over 89 since the logging trucks are active after dark.  That meant I didn’t get to bed until around 2200 … at least 3 hours later than usual for me.

Guess what my sunday morning was like.

This coming sunday the Bishop of the Northern California Diocese will be here in southern Siskiyou County and will be preaching the homily at Mark’s church.

I met Bishop Meagan earlier this year (we are both interested in genealogy) so even though I usually watch just the homily on YouTube the following monday or tuesday, this coming sunday I will go to the entire service for the opportunity to say “Hello” again.

~~~

At 0200 last monday I was awakened by a thunk and realized the bear had made a call.  I got up and  checked out the back door but s/he had been disappointed and left.  I turned on the back porch light, left it on, and went back to bed.

I knew the bear had been disappointed because when I went out first thing in the morning to set the bin back up, nothing had been scattered or sampled.  I learned my lesson the last time and kept every package item which had been in contact with food, as well as any food too large for the disposal, in bags which I stored in the locked shed and didn’t put in the bin until after 0730.  The collection truck doesn’t get here until afternoon, so that will be the pattern from now on.

~~~

Last week Bob’s Red Mill, an employee-owned company in Oregon which mills their own flour and sells mill based products, had an offer online for a new product not yet available in stores.  I tried ordering online rather than driving to Yreka to buy at Raley’s.  

I don’t have a credit card, only a debit card, and have had trouble ordering online in the past because the seller’s computer didn’t understand that a debit card is the equivalent of a check.

I placed an order for some of the new products and something went wrong so I called their help number and talked with a nice gentleman named Robert.

He did the order for me and my card was again rejected When he told me about the rejection, I told him of my previous problems with debit vs credit.  He then talked with his boss (Bob himself?) who said that due to a computer problem they were having, my order would be sent free.

Wow!  

I told Robert to let his boss know how surprised I was and that I would be a 90% sure customer from now on (probably based on local availability) and I’d be sure to tell everyone I talk with about the positive, polite interaction with Robert.

I don’t know how widespread their products are, but if they are available where you are I recommend them.  The products are good and their customer service is outstanding.

~~~

I HATE going to the dentist.  Holdover from childhood trauma.  But it was time to brave the problem and go in for a checkup.  I was to have a cleaning which is also a problem, but this time because of a hyperactive gag reflex.  

However, I dodged that bullet because the hygienist called in sick.  I see her the 5th of May.

 The dentist told me my next appointment is my call.  I still have enough of my own, albeit OLD, teeth and he said there is work to be done but I can decide when.  

We shall see …

~~~

… and a final observation.

Seen in a Facebook post … “This social app prohibits edited photos to encourage users to be more authentic”

No toasts of coffee or tea, but it has my approval.  This opinion seems to be growing.  Guess I’m not the only one who appreciates seeing trees, flowers, and foliage in their own colours unless used by an artist in paintings or photographic creations, not just because it can be done.

So,‘til next week …