I Continue to be Amazed

== Another wonderful use of video technology! I can’t really call it baby sitting because the child in question can no longer be a baby - far from it. So let’s call it being there just in case. An 11 year old grand was sick today. Now at 11 he is old enough to stay by himself for a while and has done so. Today though he was sick. Mom’s job is only for 3 to 3 1/2 hours but still - he was sick. And so we arranged for the Mama Susan to stay in touch. Our Skype windows were open. I let him know by IM that I was heading for a haircut and was on my phone. I let him know the same way that I was home and on Skype if he should need to IM or video chat. He was fine - rested, slept and watched Netflix and I didn’t hear a word until his mom came home. 

What I learned is that I needed him to check in - just once - just a quick IM - Mama Susan, I am fine. :) The important thing is, his mom didn’t have to worry and made it through the first day on the new job just fine; I was here for him just in case; and it all worked out. 

Rolling Thunder

There is a line in the hymn How Great Thou Art, “I hear the rolling thunder.” Last night I was awakened by a great rolling (before I ever thought of the hymn). It woke me, I wondered, I realized and I grinned. Thunder. As I was drifting back to sleep, another less loud and less long roll came by and then I heard the rain. Smiling now, I snuggled down and went back to sleep. What a lovely, lovely night. 

We are Not You

When were restaurant servers told to use “we” when what they really mean is “you”? “Have we decided what we will have for lunch?” I was So tempted once again to say, “well, I don’t know about you, I am having the seed waffle.” *sigh* 

And so with the first words out of his mouth the young man turned me off. Otherwise, he said nothing different than any other server but there was something about his attitude that bugged me. He is new to this restaurant (a favorite of ours) and I really wanted to ask for one of our usuals. Oh well. 

I still want an answer to my first question ~ and Please, restaurant owners, stop that habit before it forms. 

The Perks of Aging

There are definitely some perks to being 71. One is being able to stay home if you don’t have to go. Gym is for my health and well-being and this morning, my health and well-being said, stay home and don’t stress over driving in the first real snow of the season. So I did. I think my exercise may be rocking in front of the fire holding a cup of tea in one hand and a book in the other. Why I may even spring for a cup of cocoa later in the day. Sounds like a good day to me! 

Degrees of Separation

The names have been changed to give some degree of privacy in this not-so-private world. 

How many degrees of separation? Today is Mary's birthday. Jane, her little sister, posted a greeting on her FB time line. FB told me Jane, “friend with Bill Smith”, posted on Mary's wall. Now I don’t know Jane, but I know her sister out here in Tahoe. Bill was my student in Fredonia NY in the 70’s when he was in middle and high school. He and Jane know each other well enough to be friends on FB. Social media has cut the degrees of separation at least in half. 

I Love Learning

First a promise ~ I will not tell you every new and interesting fact I learn while making my way through some 3000 years of the everyday life of the human race. Promise. 

Having said that, I have to tell you this. Human beings were not predisposed to build cities. The first ones were simply blocks of spaces with shared walls. There were neither streets nor doors. If you wanted to visit your friend who lived several spaces away, you climbed a ladder to the roof, crossed over the flat roofs, climbing up and down as necessary, and went in through a hole in the wall. Archeological affirmation of this fact comes from the city of Catal Huyuk in Turkey. According to the lecturer, Professor Robert Garland of Colgate University, some “Neolithic genius” (I Love that phrase) finally created the idea of streets and doors. 

If I had thought about it all, I would have assumed that as caves had “doors” so would houses when they came along. And they did have openings - just not doors. There were no streets on which doors could open anyway. Fascinating. 

An Early Review

The other day a Great Courses catalogue arrived in our PO box. I had heard about this but had never explored or researched the program. As Dean and I both perused the catalogue, we became fascinated with all the courses offered ~ and by the fact that they were on sale: a Really Good sale! And so we took the plunge. 

The Great Courses are indeed great. I love my professor, my dvds and my book! The book is not a direct transcription but more like Cliff Notes. So after listening to two lectures last night, I went to the book and marked some of the particular places that had interested me and that I wanted to set in my brain. It is fascinating and I am enjoying it thoroughly. Also glad I am at the age where this is learning for my own pleasure and not for a test.

Of course an email arrived today with another great sale. It is hard to pass up a $320 item that is on sale for $50 and I think I have enough to occupy my brain for a while. I am learning more about a subject that has fascinated me for years: the ordinary lives of ordinary people in the ancient world. Dean will use this weekend to delve into Storytelling and Gardening (not in the same set). I am absolutely delighted with our purchases and believe we have established a new learning curve for ourselves.