It’s One Of Those Days.

Hello everyone on this fine day which is also the last day of July.  Because it’s the last day of the month I thought maybe something a bit humorous would be nice for today.   I plan on doing this probably once a week, to pick out something from my notes on humorous things that have happened to me and share them with you.  Speaking of humorous, Sugar was around this morning.  That’s a skunk.  If you don’t know what a skunk is, you are fortunate indeed.  The worst smelling animal that there is.

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Coming up to my deck.

Speaking of phones.  It’s getting late, so off to bed I go.  I lie down.  Within 5 minutes the phone rings.  Okay, beeps.  I answer the phone.  That annoying noise again which nearly takes my ears off.  This happens quite frequently at times.  Sounds like a trumpet with a sore throat.  Very loud.  I hang up and get back to bed.  Within 5 minutes the phone beeps.  I answer the phone.  Nothing this time.  Not a sound.  This also happens frequently.  I hang up and wait a bit.  Nothing happens, so after 15 minutes I go back to bed.  Within 5 minutes the phone beeps.  I answer.  Nothing again.  This time I go look out the window to see if anyone is watching.  I mean, 3 times in a row.  That is quite a coincidence.

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A small flowering shrub in my landlord’s garden, no idea what it is.

Phones can be annoying.  The phone number was blocked, so call display was useless. Other things can be annoying too.  I am coming out the door at the store.  Automatic door.  It closes before I get through the door.  The people ahead of me didn’t have that trouble. It didn’t want to open again either.  Store employee had to help.  Amazing really. My friend unlocked his car door one day so I could get in.  Just as I grab the door handle it locked again.  Never did that before, he said.  Naturally.

Then there is my printer.  It argues with me.  I go to print something.  It says the paper tray is empty.  It is not.  I rearrange the paper.  Hit print.  It says the paper tray is empty.  No, it is not, I tell the printer.  I again rearrange the paper.  Hit print.  It says the paper tray is empty.  At this point I’m bouncing on my chair and banging my head on the desk. And I’m ready to throw the printer out the window!  So what to do now?  What any sane person would have done before this, I turn off the printer and go do something else.

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Another fritillary butterfly.

Other times it is half finished printing a page.  It stops.  Says printing is finished.  Kicks out paper.  That is a bit annoying.  Try again.  Gets nearly done.  Stops.  Says printing is finished and kicks out paper.  That is very annoying now.  Try again.  I guess I like being annoyed.  It says paper tray is empty.  AAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!  Another time, after hitting print, I wait.  Nothing happens.  Then it says printing is finished.  Crazy machine.  Try again.  It says printing is finished.  I try again.  Honestly, I really must like being annoyed.  I wait.  It starts up.  Amazing.  Doesn’t print though.  Just kicks out paper.  Fast.  So it flies on the floor.  Then it does it again.  And again.  Paper flying everywhere.  I try to stop it.  Can’t.  I try to catch the paper.  Only succeed in crumpling it.  One piece hit me on the nose.  Paper cut.  Touch my nose.  I’m bleeding.  Naturally.  Then I touch the paper.  Now I have blood on the paper.

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A little blue flower called bachelor button.

Another time it decided to take all the paper at once, 20 sheets of paper.  It jammed.  Naturally.  It tells me the paper jammed.  No kidding.  I think I noticed that already.  You’re only supposed to take one piece of paper at a time.  Now I’m talking to a machine.  What a time I had getting that paper out of there.  Every last piece was ripped and crumpled.  I now have a new printer.  No more problems I say to myself.  First time I use it my computer says, the printer does not exist.  I turn it off and go do something else.

Well, I hope you have enjoyed today’s look at some things that happen to me.  Looking back at it I can laugh quite a bit, even if at the time it was a bit annoying.  I hope you have a great day and God bless!

Steve and Muffin.

© 2019 Steve McLeod.

Midweek Coffee Time.

Good morning everyone on this last day of July.  A perfect time for coffee and a chat.  Maybe even pet the cat.  I couldn’t resist the poetic influence.  Actually it’s always a good time for coffee and chatting with friends.  But if you are going through some hard times then it’s an especially good idea.  That’s one way that friends can really be a help to each other.  So if you know someone that’s having some problems right now, why not take them out for coffee, or invite them over, and talk.  Even if you don’t know what to say, just listening can be a big help to someone.IMG_3895

Today I thought we would go check out a different kind of park.  An fitness park.  I didn’t even know we had such a thing until this year.  But here it is.  And it’s right next to the park we visited last time.  So we are back at Rabbit Lake again to enjoy the beauty of this park on this bright, sunny morning.

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The exercise area, something for everyone here.

There is an area of different exercise machines to enjoy if you like to exercise during your coffee time.  There is also a number of canoes available for anyone wishing to go out on the lake after our coffee.  Nice day to be on the lake, not much wind, the sky is just such a bright blue today.  There is only one picnic table in this area but I brought enough chairs for everyone.  Or if you prefer, just spread a blanket on the ground and sit with your coffee.  I actually like that better myself, but everyone is different.  Fortunately it’s a bit warmer this morning, not like the last couple mornings.IMG_3893

There’s a couple crows looking for their breakfast, with 3 young ones chasing after them wanting to be fed.  However the parents seem to be ignoring them, after all they are old enough to find their own food now.  A white-throated sparrow is singing happily somewhere in the trees over there.  And there is a red-winged blackbird down by the lake.  And listen to that one.  Such a loud, though simple song.  That’s a tiny bird called an oven bird.  Not sure why they chose that name for this little bird.  It’s easy to hear, but almost impossible to see it, they are a very shy bird.

And look over here, a beautiful blue damselfly.  They are sort of like a dragonfly but smaller and slim and they fold their wings back against their body while resting.  Dragonflies keep their wings spread out.  I like these little critters, dragonflies too.  Dragonflies can really make a difference in getting rid of nasty insects like mosquitoes and flies.  So they are nice to have around.  And I see there is some mosquitoes around this morning.  Fortunately not very many so they won’t be a problem.

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A nice blue damselfly.

 Did you hear that?  Listen.  There it is again.  So loud and long and a very colorful song from this very tiny bird called a winter wren.  I’m not sure why it’s called a winter wren when it’s only here in the summer.  Very odd.  But for a tiny bird it has a loud song that can be heard for a long distance.  And it is so long, sometimes it sounds like he will keep on going and not stop.  And it’s another of those shy birds that is next to impossible to see without putting some time and effort into locating it.IMG_3891

This really is a lovely park, or maybe I should say, 2 parks.  There is a good combination of sunny and shady areas so everyone has something they like.  Personally I like the sunny areas.  But that’s just me.  This is also the home of our local rowing club.  But I will talk about that more another time.IMG_3888

Time always goes by so fast on these coffee mornings but I know everyone has things to do. I am so glad you could join us here today, it really is a beautiful morning even if it is a little cooler than what you might be used to having.  Until next time, I hope you have a wonderful week and God bless!

Steve and Muffin.

© 2019 Steve McLeod.