Thou shalt not snivel

Snivel:

1. To sniffle.

2. To complain or whine tearfully.

3. To run at the nose.

Our refrigerator door is covered with magnets. Some are funny like the picture of a shirtless old guy holding barbells that says "Growing Old Is Not for Sissies." There is a "Don't Mess with Texas" one, and a Kilbourn Public Library schedule and lots of pictures of Tom's grandchildren.

There is also the "Thou Shalt Not Snivel" message above. I have to be reminded of that from time to time. As I whine about not getting a job with better hours and better pay, I read the papers about how food stamp usage is at a record high. One of my friends volunteers at the local food pantry, and she says they are being swamped by people in need.

I am not now, nor am I ever likely to be, on food stamps or using a food pantry. I live in a comfortable home, have plenty of clothes and delightful (most of the time) human and feline companionship. I can buy the odd trinket for my room and Tom will get the odd fountain that I think is cool. The price of gasoline keeps climbing, but I have a car to put it in and can even afford the regular oil changes. Even though I lack health insurance, I can pay my medical bills out of my savings without a real pinch. I have no financial debts other than my monthly credit card bill which I am always able to pay off in its entirety.

So my nose may be runny, but I have no sniveling rights beyond that. I just need to go take an antihistamine and act like an adult.

Poor Baby!

Last night we saw that there is a cheese curd festival in Ellsworth, WI ("Cheese Curd Capital of Wisconsin") at the end of June. If you don't know what cheese curds are, welcome to the rest of the United States. (No, it is not cottage cheese.) As Wikipedia informs us,

Cheese curds are the fresh curds of cheddar cheese. Cheese curds are little-known in locations without cheese factories, because they should ideally be eaten within hours of manufacture. After twelve hours, even under refrigeration, they have lost much of their "fresh" characteristics, particularly the "squeak". This "squeak" has been described by the New York Times as sounding like "balloons trying to neck". After twenty-four hours, they will lose their freshness entirely.

Their flavor is mild with about the same firmness as cheese, but have a springy or rubbery texture. Fresh curds squeak against the teeth when bitten into, which some would say is their defining characteristic. Cheese curds are sometimes referred to as "Squeeky cheese."

Our friend Michelangelo is a big cheese curds fan. Whenever he comes to visit he has to rush out and get some and squeak his way through them. So I let him know about the festival and asked if he wanted to join us. Turns out he will be teaching a course on Greek drama -- in Greece, yet -- on an island, yet, in the Aegean -- at that time. Poor baby! He has to go to Greece on an all-expense paid trip and will make a couple thousand dollars for teaching a couple of hours each day for two weeks.

It that isn't bad enough, he spent Christmas break chaperoning a group of guys from St. Rita Catholic High School were he teaches -- where, you ask? Spain, I answer.

His life is so rough!

(I won't mention that he broke his foot falling on ice right before the Spain trip, but things worked out so that he was able to go and enjoy himself anyway. And I have no idea what that is perched on his head in the picture ... or why.)

Sunday Zen [Updated]

[UPDATE: Tom was able to find a picture of our fountain, so I have replaced the other photo with that and revised the text.]

We went over to Home Depot to look for something to put around the open sides of the deck to make it safe when we have visitors with small children. I always go moon over the fountains in the garden center, and today the Zen fountain that I have much admired was marked down about 75% -- the box had been opened and returned, apparently. So with some reluctance, I agreed that we should get it. It is now set up on the deck and seems to work fine. It is a squared column, topped by a round basin filled with river rocks with a large sphere out of which comes the water. It stands about three feet high and has a nice, gentle sound.

Another example of Tom's generosity. I suspect he thinks a fountain is just another thing to have to maintain. I got the "You're going to have to keep it cleaned" lecture.

So now we just have to make sure that kids on the deck don't climb up and pull it over on themselves!

Saturday shopping

It was a crisp sunny day, so we decided to go into Madison and bum around. Tom wanted to give his broken snow blower to the guys at Riverside & Great Northern Railroad because they have the shop, materials and wherewithal to repair it, and they can use it next winter to help clear the walks and things. So we went by there first to drop it off.

In Madison we went by Mad City Power Motors so Tom could pine after the Honda Ruckus, but they didn't have the sleek black one he liked and he got over it. For the time being, anyway. Then we had Chinese at the Flaming Wok before hitting Michael's and Target where he picked up shoe stretchers for some work boots he just bought.

Then over to Cost Plus World Market where I broke down and got the little Kwan Yin shrine pictured. Kwan Yin (also Quan Yin) is a Chinese Buddhist goddess who represents mercy and compassion. I had seen this little statue/shrine when we were Christmas shopping, but back then I resisted the temptation to get it. I recently saw that they were down to only a few and the price was about half of what it sells for elsewhere. So that was my treat for the day.

On the way back we stopped at Menard's and Tom got a new lawnmower. We discovered that they had pink flamingos, so he picked up another half dozen to add to the flock. They also have a couple of flamingos that light up in the dark, but he reasonably chose not to invest in one of those. I told him if Peggy asks me what he wants for his birthday, I will know what to suggest.