Sunday Stealing

Welcome to Sunday Stealing. This feature originated and published on WTIT: The Blog. Here we will steal all types of questions from every corner of the blogosphere. Our promise to you is that we will work hard to find the most interesting and intelligent questions. Cheers to all of us thieves

Stolen from League of 

Extraordinary Penpals

1. My favorite sources for delicious recipes
At one time I had 300 cookbooks.  Now I only have a few and I get most of my recipes on line. I watch a lot of TV cooking shows and get many recipes from Foodnetwork.com (though I don't cook any more, so I don't do that often!)

2. If I had to repeat a day over & over, how I’d want it to go

It would be a day that would include family, including David and Paul, and lots of partying...possibly Tom's birthday BBQ.

3. Who or what has saved my life
I can't think of anything or anybody who has saved my life, though there are several people who made it much better.

4. Something I can never seem to start or finish

Anything having to do with housework, for starters.  And a lot of projects I have on my computer...like organizing my hard drives, which will never get done,  though periodically I give it a try.

5. How my taste in food has changed over the years
It's pretty much been the same most of my life, though there are a couple of foods that I used to hate and now love--like mushrooms and cilantro.

6. The last time I cried

I got kind of teary this morning, realizing that it's about time to have Bouncer put down and that Ned was calling about euthanasia today.  I've come to love that dog.  We'll all miss her. (getting teary as I write this!)

7. The best parts of human nature

Compassion and Kindness

8. Concepts and ideas that bend my mind

Listening to anybody who thinks #45 was a wonderful president and should be president again bends my mind greatly!

9. What I’m most likely to ask for help with

Probably computer stuff.  Ned is pretty good about helping me with my printer when it doesn't work

10. The story behind one of my scars

I don't really have any scars.

11. I’ve never said this out loud...

If I never said it out loud before, why would I print it here?

12. Times I’ve been the leader/the one people count on

I lead La Leche League meetings for 7 years and helped women breastfeed their babies.  And to my great surprise, I seemed to do a good job starting out as office manager for the ob/gyn office for which I worked at a time when we were moving to a new building and someone had to make all the decisions and I kinda did.

13. Whenever I see these people, my heart lights up

My grandkids, of course.  And my children.

14. With my financial needs met, here’s how I’d spend my time

Doing what I'm doing now...futzing around on the computer, reading, watching TV

15. The people I talk to when I want the truth 

Ned is good at telling me the truth, even when I don't want to hear it.

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Saturday 9

Welcome to Saturday: 9. What we've committed to our readers is that we will post 9 questions every Saturday. Sometimes the post will have a theme, and at other times the questions will be totally unrelated. Those weeks we do "random questions," so-to-speak. We encourage you to visit other participants posts and leave a comment. Because we don't have any rules, it is your choice. We hate rules. We love to answer the questions, however, and here is today's questions!

Saturday 9: Promises, Promises (1983)

Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.

1) In this week's song, Naked Eyes lead singer Pete Byrne admits he believed his girl's promises, right from the start, but now he knows he should have been more careful with his heart. Do you consider yourself more trusting or skeptical?

Trusting.  Perhaps not the best way to be.

 

2) He looks back on when he and his girl laughed like kids. When did you recently literally laugh out loud (opposed to keystroking LOL)?

Our dog Bubba makes me laugh every day.

 

3) He accuses her of not being able to finish what she starts. How about you? Do you finish what you start, or can you think of projects that you're unlikely to ever complete?

Oh lord...there are SO many projects I'm not likely to ever complete -- organizing my disk drives, for one!

 

4) Naked Eyes was a British New Wave band who had four Top 40 singles, including "Promises, Promises." They never toured 40 years ago because it was difficult to recreate their synthesizer-driven sound onstage. Is there a band or singer you would have liked to have seen perform live, but never did?

Not really.  I have seen several individuals, primarily Judy Garland!, and a few groups like the Kingston Trio and I can think of other performers and/or groups that I like and haven't seen, but I don't have any sadness for anything I missed.

 

5) While "Promises, Promises" is about an untrustworthy lover, Peter Byrne says he and bandmate/cowriter Rob Fisher worked well together because they knew they could trust one another professionally. By sharing honest assessments of creative ideas, they knew Naked Eyes would never put out "rubbish." If you want an honest opinion on something important, where do you turn?

Depends on what it is, but either Ned or my BFF Char.

6) Madonna was a Naked Eyes fan. Are you a Madonna fan?

If Madonna walked up to me, I wouldn't have a clue who she was.

7) In 1983, when this song was on the radio, the Lotus 1-2-3 program made it easier for PC users to build spreadsheets. Are you answering these questions on a PC or a Mac? Laptop or desktop? Android or iPhone?

A PC desktop

 

8) Also in 1983, America West Airlines took off for the first time, taking passengers from Las Vegas to Phoenix. Where did you go on your first flight? What about your most recent flight?

We had been on a cruise from San Francisco to Los Angeles (a trip I won in an essay contest) and we flew back to San Francisco.  This was about 1958 or 59.  I'm not sure what our last flight was, but probably home from our Mediterranean cruise...the Venice airport....or the airport near Venice!

9) Random question -- Finish this statement: If I knew then what I know now, I would have ______________.

If I knew my friend was such a wonderful dentist, I would have gone to her much sooner and saved us thousands of dollars getting my dental problems fixed.

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Bouncer

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 8274

Murder

Except for my sister, who was murdered by her partner in 1971, I've never known anybody who was killed before.

Yesterday there was a notice  that went out from the Davis police that a man had been killed in Central park...I believe it was the first murder in Davis in 3 years, but I may have read that wrong.  Anyway, there was a man murdered.

This morning I read that the man was "stabbed several times."  So very sad.

This afternoon I read the name of the guy who was murdered and while it was not someone that I actually knew, it was someone I had dealings with in the past.

David Breaux was known around Davis as the "Compassion Guy."  He spent five years, Monday through Saturday, standing on the corner in downtown Davis with a journal into which he invited people to share their ideas of what the word "compassion" meant.  His goal in encouraging people to discuss compassion was to strengthen our understanding of interconnection and inspire us to act toward the alleviation of suffering in the world.  He shared his favorite submission: “Compassion is giving a friend a $3 chocolate chip cookie from the Co-op when you were saving it for later.” To him, compassion means growth toward truth. 

He compiled a book called Compassion Davis, CA: A Compilation of Concepts on Compassion from a portion of the thousands of anonymous entries he gathered.

I don't remember what I wrote in his journal.  It probably had something to do with Compassion, International, from where I sponsor kids around the world.

At some point he got permission from AT&T, who owned the property, and organized volunteers to build a "compassion bench" on the property where he had been standing for so many years.

After his time in Davis, he visited cities throughout the US organizing community-based discussions on compassion, providing presentations on the concept of compassion as well as reflections from his work and personal experience, and facilitating the creation of monuments to compassion within local communities.

A note about his book, which was published after he returned from his tour read, "On June 3rd, 2009, David H. Breaux began asking people to share their written concept of the word "compassion" in a spiral notebook. "Compassion: Davis, CA" is a compilation of over 3,000 of those entries collected at the corner of C and 3rd in Davis, CA from June to December of 2009. Covering a wide range of ages, socio-economic backgrounds, ethnicities, religious beliefs, and cultures, reading each entry will inevitably get you thinking about your own concept of compassion and how it fits into the world today."

On the day he died, David planned to host an online gathering “in the name of truth and peace,” something he did on a weekly basis.

To look at the hundreds of pictures of people who had signed his book, it's hard to think that any one of them would hate him so much as to stab him "multiple times."

KDRT report on Breaux

Davis Mayor Will Arnold’s full statement:

The death of David Breaux is utterly and completely devastating.

Many of us knew David. We talked with him. We shared in his vision for a kinder world. We connected on what it means to be human and humane. David was gentle and kind, soft-spoken and thoughtful, brilliant and selfless.

David was well-loved and well-known, an icon to the core of our community. He touched so many lives in such a determined and inspired way that many of us in our lifetimes will never reach.

How we walk through this world, together as a community and independently as individuals, is important. It’s the people we meet, the messages we share and how we eventually leave this world in a better place.

David asked us to reflect on our actions and words. So let us do that together to honor his memory and acknowledge the work he did to make this world, and Davis, a better place.

Today, tomorrow and every day, please be kind with your words, be generous in your actions and act with compassion in whatever you do.

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Eating

I saw this on Facebook this morning and it took me back to my childhood.  My mother was a good cook, but she cooked a few "normal" things like meat loaf, beef roast, pork roast, fried chicken, spaghetti.  I remember the day she was excited to try a new recipe she'd just learned about.  It was called "lasagna" and it ended up being so popular that it became part of her regular list of things to cook.  My father loved Italian food so much he insisted he was part Italian, not Irish (to the best of my knowledge there is no Italian blood in my DNA).

I remember when my father tried this new food he heard about.  You had to go to the store to get it. It was called "pizza."  This little hole in the wall place in North Beach made the pizza when you came in.  I got to stand on a box to make me tall enough to look over and see them making it--and they would give me pieces of cheese while t hey were putting it on the pizza.  We never had things like "pepperoni" or "sausage."  When we got the pizza, we would go to the liquor store next door and pick up a gallon jug of  red wine for my father to have with his pizza.

I don't remember when my parents learned that you could order Chinese food and have it delivered.  "Let's have C* food" (my parents always used the negative slang term for Chinese which I never realized was not polite until I was an adult).  We usually had fried shrimp with hot sauce, fried rice, chow mein, and fortune cookies.  I don't remember a vegetable dish, but we probably had at least one.

I remember waiting for seasons for fruits...you didn't have strawberries until strawberry season, or oranges until orange season (which was in the winter, so Santa could put oranges in our Christmas stocking).

I never had yogurt or curry foods until I was an adult.  Most days we had oatmeal or cream of wheat for breakfast. Oatmeal was served with cream (real cream) and brown sugar and cream of wheat with white sugar. If we had cold cereal, it was either corn flakes or Rice Krispies...never sweetened cereals (did they sell them?).  Lunch sandwiches were peanut butter & jelly, bologna, or tuna or egg salad, always on white "balloon bread" (which I still prefer)

I remember seeing pineapples, but didn't know how to cut one and I was an adult before I tried.  My mother made pineapple upside down cake occasionally, but always with canned pineapple.

 Things are so different today, and I suspect our kids had even stranger foods than most of their friends, since we often had food from the country of the guests we were hosting (I got to be a good Brasilian cook!)  How many of our kids' friends knew about feijoada?

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Happy Birthday, Char!

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My Coronation

 I had a crown prep done yesterday.  Charles and I will receive our crowns next month.

I've had crowns done before and have never had a problem.  In fact, when I needed "work" done (rather than just routine cleaning), I kind of enjoyed it because my dentist and I have been friends for more than 30 years, friends before dentist-patient, and when there is "work" to be done, she does it, rather than one of her hygienists so we get a chance to visit and catch up on each other's lives and families.

But she retired awhile ago and there is a new dentist now.  I was surprised at how nervous I was going to the appointment.  I'm never nervous before dental appointments, but I didn't know what she would be like and, in fact, I don't even know what she looks like because everybody wears masks.

The day started weird.  I brushed my teeth and was surprised that the toothpaste didn't taste right.  But I went ahead and brushed my teeth and then when I started to rinse the paste out of my brush, it wouldn't rinse.  That's when I realized I had brushed with Desitin cream instead of toothpaste!  Brushing again with actual toothpaste was much better...and it washed the Desitin out of my brush.

The hygienist took me back to the chair where the work would be done.  I've always enjoyed  the view out the window of the dental office.

I can watch people walking to appointments at other offices, see the greenery and it's just very pleasant.  There have also been colorful posters on the ceiling, interesting things like types of flowers or plants or insects, etc.  When I pointed out that the poster had been removed and that I missed it, I was told they were in the process of installing television sets as well, so that the next time I needed work done, I could watch TV while it's being done.

I was glad I'd brought my phone with me.  In previous experiences, as I said above, we spent time chatting about life and family, and I knew that wouldn't be happening this time so I had a book to read on my Kindle.  I did mention something about something David did when he was a kid and got a stab in the gut when she asked "and how old is he now?"  After all these years, I'm not accustomed to people in Davis NOT knowing about David and Paul.

The work took about an hour and a half and it wasn't UNpleasant, but I realized what a good dentist my friend is.  Things were done differently and I was uncomfortable--not from the drilling,  but from leaning on my lip, not suctioning my throat so I choked on water, etc., having to wear sunglasses to prevent lights from shining in my eyes (the glasses didn't fit over my other glasses and didn't do anything to reduce the light, so I just kept my eyes closed) All in all, not as "pleasant" an experience as it has been with my friend all these years, and I missed her.

I go back May 15, a week after Charles gets his crown to get my permanent crown.  I doubt there will be much of an audience for my coronation.

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Life Changing

57 years ago today my life changed completely:  I became a mother.  Best thing that ever happened to me!

I've been thinking about Jeri's birth and early days today.  I remember getting ready to go to the hospital, looking around our apartment and realizing that things were never going to be the same.

Childbirth was really pretty easy, as I recall.  No drugs, even though she was breech (which nobody had told me before I went into labor!)  After she was born they took me to recovery and took Jeri to the nursery and forgot to tell Walt that she had been born.  I finally asked the nurse if he was going to come in and she went out and told him -- he had been imagining all sorts of terrible things going wrong, when it all went right.

She was a good baby and I think in her first month between my sister Karen (who was a photographer) and me, we took 200 pictures of her sleeping in all of her outfits!  The only time I remember her being not a good baby was when I wanted her to be so good.  She was named for my friend, Sister Anne and when Sister Anne was in California, we drove to LA to see her and I could introduce Jeri to her.  Jeri cried the entire time we were with her.  I was so disappointed.  However, Sister Anne wasn't upset...and sent her a Dr. Seuss book for her first birthday.

I remember singing "Scarlet Ribbons" to her when she was growing up and it wasn't until I read my diary tonight that I realized I'd been singing the song to her ever since she was weeks old.  In July 1966 I wrote "I've sung 'Scarlet Ribbons' so many times I could sing it in my sleep"

She saw her first Gilbert & Sullivan operetta (Pirates of Penzance) at 3 months at an outdoor performance by the Lamplighters.  Little did we know that theater would be in her life all of her life.

It's been such a wonderful 57 years.  So many wonderful things I remember. I loved her relationship with my mother and her ability to fly out here from Boston several times a year just to see her.  In fact she saw her just a couple of weeks before she died.

The one thing I am very sorry for is that I couldn't give her a sister.  Every time I went to the hospital to give birth (they didn't let you know the gender of your baby before it was born in those days!) Jeri always hoped I'd bring home a sister for her, but after four attempts filled our house with brothers, we gave up trying for another girl.  Which makes her special because she's our only girl.

Happy birthday, Jeri.  We love you and we are sorry not to be able to share your birthday with you, but know that you have made the last 57 years of our life very happy!

Oh my god...I'm so old I have a child who is "pushing 60"!

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newborn Jeri in the hospital

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Penguin Day

Today, I learned, is National Penguin day.  When I hear about penguins I always think of Juan Ignacio Vergara, the leader of a group of kids from Chile who stayed in Davis in the early 1980s.  Juan Ignacio was the leader, who stayed with us for the three weeks.  I don't remember how we got "penguins" as a thing between us, but it was a special deal and I sent him lots of things with penguins on it and think of him whenever the subject of penguins comes up.

Juan Ignacio was a physician and I think he was appalled by the conditions under which he had to live for three weeks (in addition to the usual chaos, we were undergoing a major ant attack at the time and he once told us he could make an "ant sandwich" by putting mayonnaise on a slice of bread and turning the mayo side down on top of the kitchen counter....and the counter was clean in those days!)  He always had this air of detached bemusement mixed with a sense of being appalled, yet by the time the group left, he seemed genuinely sad to say goodbye to all of us.

Juan Ignacio was one of those people who made me believe in the "small world" theory.  We took him to Muir Woods, near San Francisco, to show him the giant Coast Redwood trees.  In the middle of Muir Woods, he ran into a guy he had gone to medical school with in Santiago.

As for this particular photo, it was taken in our kitchen and I believe Juan Ignacio is preparing something that is going to be served at the going away party we had.  Each of the groups of foreign students I coordinated had a going-away party at the end of their 3-week homestays, where the kids all prepared dishes and took care of decorations and music and gave their hostess (me!) a gift to thank me for having organized the whole experience.

The group prepared empanadas and other things and demonstrated the cueca, the national dance of Chile.  The house was decorated with Chilean and American flags.

We lost contact with Juan Ignacio for many years and then out of the blue we received Christmas cards from him for a few years.   He had finished his residency and had established a proctology practice.  He had married and had a couple of kids.  Then we lost track of him again. 

I didn't hear from him again until his group re-surfaced on Facebook.  Turns out that in the intervening years, Juan Ignacio had become the head of the military hospital which cared for former dictator Augusto Pinochet before his death and was the spokesperson for updates on the president's condition, so there were lots of newspaper articles, with more recent photos.

I did finally hear from him when the Chilean group started getting active on Facebook.  I had written to him to invite him to join all the fun everyone seemed to be having reminiscing.  He explained that he was not computer literate and didn't want to join Facebook, but that he was very happy to hear from me again, and gave me an update on his family.

I'm not sure when he died, but I heard from someone that he died of bowel cancer (an interesting disease for a proctologist!) and I still think of him whenever I hear about penguins.

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Dr. Juan Ignacio Vergara

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8267

Dog News

 Bouncer is getting so much older.  I notice her back legs seem to be weaker every day and she sometimes has a problem getting up from a lying down position (oh how I understand that!)  She also has a serious kidney problem.  She needs to pee so often and she's just like an old lady (in human years she'd be about 107 years old!) who can't hold her urine until she gets to the bathroom.  It's too bad you can't teach dogs Kegels!

She will hobble into my office on her way out the dog door, but she can't quite make it so she pees on the floor.  Ned has set up puddle pads in my office and they are used every day, but she also pees dozens of times out in the back yard.  If she comes into the family room the wrong way and is headed toward the glass door instead of my office, she pees on the rug.  Ned got the name on of a kind of vacuum cleaner which, I think, is designed to clean up animals accidents.  It takes him a long time to get the pee spot vacuumed up, but when he gets it finished there is no sign of the stain and no odor.

And then there is Bubba.  Bubba is a sweet dog, and as I have said many times, is definitely a lap dog.  He had his routine during the day of whose lap he is going to be in (or near...when Walt is reading the paper, Bubba gets on the couch right next  to him to sleep)

But as affectionate as he seems to be, he's got this growling thing.  You can be petting him and he seems to be enjoying it and then suddenly he starts growling.  If you remove your hand, he stops growling and if you go back to petting him again or even just touching his body, he starts growling again.  I haven't figured out why.  It doesn't seem like he's in pain or anything. But it's not just the petting, it's your body touching his body.  If I don't touch him, but my arm is along side his body, he growls.  He can be growling and wagging his tail at the same time.  Last night he was growling because his body was touching my body and when I went to get out of the chair, which involved actually moving my arm, he bit me.  He's six years old and obviously something happened to him in his first six years that makes this growling necessary.

But when he's not growling and is affectionate, he's great.  And he's such fun because he's the first dog we've had in years who actually plays with toys.

He and Bouncer haven't actually become friends, but they have reached the point where they can walk together up and down the stairs, and around the yard, but then...like the growling, suddenly Bubba will growl continuously if Bouncer is in the same room, though before he might have been sniffing noses  with him.

Dogs are so weird.

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8266

World Book Day

This is apparently World Book Day.  I just finished the two books I was reading, one by David Baldacci, which was not nearly as good as all of his books I have read, and the other by James Patterson and co-authors, which was OK, but nothing like James Patterson books.

So I was looking for something good to read.  I wasn't sure that I was ready to read another autobiography at the moment, since I have read so many of them lately, but with no other title that was calling out to me, I started this.  It starts  with a brief background of her life before coming to Hollywood (a part of her life which is apparently discussed in her first book) and it's so interesting that I'm "into" the book now and not looking for something else. 

It is amazing to me, having read so many autobiographies, how many stars we have known forever come from alcoholic families. Both of Andrews' parents were alcoholic and she ended up raising her younger siblings.

I found a free Tess Gerritson book for Kindle and downloaded that.  She is one of the authors I really like, so if I get tired of reading Julie Andrews' book, I can start the Gerritsen book.

I also found new podcasts that I'm listening to when I can't sleep.  I had discovered Brooke Shields' podcast which I didn't think I wanted to listen to, but I was interested in her discussion with Rosie O'Donnell...and then I found O'Donnell's interview with Shields, which I also listened to.

And then a new podcast popped up.  Apparently Kelly Ripa has decided to start a podcast and her first was a discussion with her husband (and now co-star), Mark Consuelos on marriage and intimacy (read sex).  It's an interesting discussion.  I kinda stopped watching Kelly and Ryan before Ryan Seacrest left the show and checked out the first couple of episodes with Kelly and Mark and probably won't be watching this either, but I might continue to listen to her podcasts, which are unscripted and she can say whatever she wants (the "f" word was used in the first 5 minutes!)

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More than a dozen blooms!

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8265

Sunday Stealing

Welcome to Sunday Stealing. This feature originated and published on WTIT: The Blog. Here we will steal all types of questions from every corner of the blogosphere. Our promise to you is that we will work hard to find the most interesting and intelligent questions. Cheers to all of us thieves

Stolen From Pinterest

1. Would you rather trade some intelligence for looks or looks for intelligence?

Well, that would assume I have "looks" to trade!  I'll go with intelligence, whatever I have to trade to get it.

2. If everything in your house had to be one color what would it be?
Probably a light blue...that's pretty much what it is now.

3. What animal would be the most terrifying if it could speak?

a mountain gorilla (though they really are fairly gentle, I read)

4. How do you procrastinate?

Answering questions on the internet.

5. If you had a warning label, what would yours say?

6. Would you rather go 30 days without your phone or life without dessert?

I can't remember the last time I had dessert, but I'd hate to say I'd NEVER go without dessert, so I'll choose 30 days without phone, since I almost never use the phone..

7. If one animal was made the size of an elephant, which would be the scariest?

A tarantula or maybe a cockroach

8. If you were reincarnated as a famous landmark, which would it be?

9. What celebrity chef would you like to make you dinner?

Ina Garten

10. How much would someone have to pay you to eat a spider?

That much money doesn't exist.

11. If you joined a circus, what would your circus act be?

I'd be in the tent with all the weird people.  I'd be the fat lady.

12. Do you have any superstitions?

Not really.

13. What cheesy song do you have memorized?

Good lord...I have a whole lifetime of cheesy songs.  I'm not sure how one defines "cheesy."

14. What’s something weird that you recommend everyone try at least once?

A river cruise..

15. What do you think is the most unpleasant sounding word? 

slaughter

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Lacie making cookies

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8264

Saturday 9

Welcome to Saturday: 9. What we've committed to our readers is that we will post 9 questions every Saturday. Sometimes the post will have a theme, and at other times the questions will be totally unrelated. Those weeks we do "random questions," so-to-speak. We encourage you to visit other participants posts and leave a comment. Because we don't have any rules, it is your choice. We hate rules. We love to answer the questions, however, and here is today's questions!

Saturday 9: I Won't Be the One to Let Go (2002)

Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.

1) Barbra Streisand begins by singing about dreams and wishes. What are you wishing for this morning?

What I always wish for in the morning--that I'll have mail.  And I did.  One pen pal letter.

2) Barry Manilow sings that "anytime you need me, you'll know where I am." If a friend needs you, what's the best way to reach you (text, phone call, email, knock on the front door ...)?

Probably text or phone call.  I check email less often.

 

3) Both of this week's artists are from Brooklyn. In addition to Barry and Barbra, Brooklyn is home to Coney Island, where America's first roller coaster debuted in 1884. Do you enjoy amusement park rides? If yes, do you have a favorite?

Not really any more.  I used to enjoy Disneyland, but I'm tired of it (and it's entirely too expensive now anyway)

4) Barbra and her husband, actor James Brolin, have lived in the same Malibu home for more than 25 years. How long have you been in your current residence? Do you think you'll be moving anytime soon?

In August, we will have been in this house 50 years.  And no, we have no plans to be moving in the foreseeable future.

5) Barry Manilow once lived in luxurious Bel Air. His neighbors were former President and Mrs. Reagan. At first he thought it would be great to have the Reagans nearby but quickly changed his mind because he disliked the Secret Service helicopters flying overhead. Tell us about one of your neighbors. (No pressure; we don't expect to hear about historic figures.)

We had problems with our next door neighbors for many years until I had my head shaved to raise money for children's cancer research, when the woman read about it in the paper, she went to all the neighbors and gathered $300 as a donation for me.

 

6) As a teenager, Barbra worked as a switchboard operator. Her job consisted of connecting calls by inserting phone plugs into the appropriate jacks. As telephoning became automated, these jobs were phased out and by 1983, the switchboard operator was obsolete. Can you think of another occupation that used to be common but doesn't exist anymore?

Medical transcription is being phased out by computerized medical records that the doctor writes during the appointment.

My godfather sold vacuum cleaners door to door.  You won't find any door to door salesmen these days....or milk men!

7) Loyal Fanilows can subscribe to ManilowTV. For $9.95/month, fans can watch exclusive content, like interviews and concert performances. Do you more often watch live broadcast TV or streamed content?

I watch a lot of streamed content, but mostly watch live broadcast TV.

8) In 2002, the year this recording was released, the Sears Wish Book offered seven different collectible Barbies. According to Mattel, the doll's manufacturer, there are more than 100,000 Barbie collectors all over the world. Do you collect anything?

Lately I've been collecting stickers purchased from Temu, but I think I'm finally finished.

9) Random question: Are you exclusively an online/ATM bank customer, or do you often go into the branch and interact with a teller?

I never interact with bank tellers.

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                                                   PHOTO OF THE DAY

We had sushi for dinner last night,
as we always do on Paul's anniversary

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