Committed

The point in remodeling projects where you're committed is usually before you get to the hard part

 



Before





Done with the easy parts







The Land Line

As part of the changing technological times, our home phone, the land line, has been relegated to the same status as a junk email account. You know, the number you use when filling out forms from companies you don't want to hear from again, at least on your cell-phone. The number is still listed in the church roster because Jules and I didn't want to be fielding calls for each other or Wookie if we used one of our cell numbers.

So if a call is not from someone in the church, it is most likely a sweepstakes offer or the Republican party.

We get phone service from the cable company. "Could I get a discount if we dropped the phone service" I asked. "No" said the salesman. He explained the phone is now considered a free feature. Just like Yahoo and Google email accounts. Alexander Graham Bell must be rolling in his grave.

But the cable company does have a neat app. I can get land line voicemail forwarded to my cell phone. That's good since no one used the land line much and messages would lie dormant for weeks.

While I was at work the other day, my cell chimed to let me know the land line had a voice message.

I recognized Ty's voice "Mom, pick up the phone. I need your help". I hit redial and was surprised to hear a woman's voice. It was a bank manager in another county. "Uh, my son called from this number about fifteen minutes ago" I said. Turns out Ty was at job interview and locked his keys and phone in the car.

"Only had one number memorized, huh?" I joked with him when I brought a spare key to his rescue.

"Well that one and my own cell" he replied.

Me too. By the end of the day I placed the numbers of family and a few neighbors in my wallet.

In the seventies, it was a cub scout requirement to memorize your home phone number. I memorized my Dad's work number too. Those two numbers and a dime gave me complete access to all the phones available to my family. Not anymore, and the land line is now probably the least important number to memorize.

One feature of a land line used to be the "line" physically connecting the phone to the wall. Over the years, we migrated to the wireless handsets. Eventually those handsets all migrated to the handset graveyard - Wookies's room where they languished till their batteries died. I finally went to DI (Goodwill for those of you back East) and bought an old phone that connects to the wall. It is inconvienent, but at least we know where to find it.

We'll continue to keep the land line as long as it is free, but if you really want to talk to me, call my cell.

Fat Cat

What?

"Looks like I'll be getting that new carpet soon" quipped Jules as we watched our cat, Stitch, fail to to clear the top of the bed in an attempt to jump up. Jules is going to buy new carpet when the cat dies. She won't get it now because she doesn't want hairball stains on it.

In the past week we've watched Stitch hit the side of the bed, dresser, and coffee table.

He definately used a life on the coffee table - from embarrassment if not from a broken neck. Being lazy, Stitch jumped from the couch only to the 'edge' of what he thought was the table. He actually planted his front paws on a magazine that extended about an inch beyond the edge. His feet kept going till his face hit the table and caused him to flip backwards to the floor. It was the most ungraceful thing I've seen a cat do.

We got Stitch when Wookie gave up the "fire" about ten years ago. I don't know what that is in dog years but it doesn't seem too old to me. I suppose he is just heavier now and hasn't compensated for the extra weight. He used to be able to jump from my nightstand to the top of our armoire. Heck he routinely would make his way up the apricot tree to our roof to meow outside our window when he got locked out at night.  Now he rarely goes outside - and never in winter.

Years ago he got caught in a neighbors racoon trap. He was in it for about a day before the owner found him. Stitch started to limit his time outside then. One night we heard two cats fighting. The next morning we found orange tufts of fur all over the driveway. Stitch was missing for four days. When he showed up, he had a deep gash in his stomach. That's pretty much when he gave up outdoor life. Now he just stays in the house all day. He probably watches TV and eats cat nip when we are out.

So the cat is out of shape. I'll have to see what can be done to get him back in shape to put off the expense of a new carpet.