2012 October 21 Sunday

            Saturday 20^th started out overcast but by early afternoon it was all sunshine.

            I had called the Polk County Iowa Election Office to request absentee ballots for Ella and I.  They gave me the website where we could download the request forms.  We did.  They are completed and dropped in the mail.  I was told that they will mail out the ballots on the same day they receive the requests.  We just need to vote and mail them back so that they are postmarked the day before the election.

            Frankly, I’m not much of a political animal.  I’m thankful to live in a country where one person in the presidency can’t screw up the country too badly.  I do tire of trying to choose between the lesser of two evils.  Unfortunately, I don’t see that changing any time soon. The people who I would want to run the country are never likely to run and even less likely to win.  Pessimist / Realist?

            The only glitch with sending the ballot request came when I had to print it.  We had purchased a printer/scanner before leaving Iowa.  We had not set it up or installed the software in the computer.  Saturday I unpacked the printer, removed the various pieces of tape, installed the ink cartridges, attached the power cord and loaded it with paper.  The next step was to load the software in the laptop.  Easy!

            Yep!  Easy!  The instructions were to insert the CD and follow the on screen instructions.  All was going well until I was instructed to attach the printer cable between the printer and the computer.  What printer cable?  It didn’t come with a printer cable.  It wasn’t missing … it doesn’t come with the printer.  I guess in this day and age that it is assumed that everyone has a printer cable.  Which we do.  Back in Iowa!

            Now that meant that we had to do a forty minute drive to the nearest town with a WalMart.  I love the peace and quiet afforded by living so far off into the hills at Shady Oaks.  It does come with this downside also.  We are used to just running to the store for anything at any time.  Now, it requires a bigger commitment of time and resources.  The other day we drove thirty minutes to buy a 7 cent screw and a 14 cent nut.  Now we had to drive forty minutes to purchase a $15 item.

            Of course, we can’t go into WalMart and come out with just the one item (actually I could … but Ella couldn’t).  So, we ended up making other purchases also.  Now understand, we didn’t buy anything that we didn’t need.  I would just have liked to wait until next week when our bank account ‘reloades’.

            Another event that was triggered by the adventure with the printer is the TV is now functional.  When I was looking for a place to store the printer/scanner, behind the flat screen TV seemed an excellent choice.  The Hitch Hiker was manufactured in 1997 which was before the age of flat screens.  So the place designed for the TV is much larger and deeper than need for the TV alone.  The printer hides nicely behind the TV which sets on top of the DVD player.  That means the hidy hole designed for a big old clunky VCR is now an extra drawer for hiding reams of paper, CDs and DVDs..

            Anyway … I attached the TV and the antenna cable and ran the auto search channel function.  Zero channels found.  Opps!  I forgot to raise the antenna.  So, after raising the antenna, I reran the auto search.  Still zero channels.  Oh yeah!  I forgot to turn on the antenna power booster.  After turning on the booster, I re-reran the program and Ta Da! we have three TV stations.

            The poor TV doesn’t get much use.  When we want to watch TV we watch it on our Droid Razor X smartphones.  Ella can watch what she wants (Bob’s Burgers?) and I can watch intelligent programming such as Doctor Who.  On those rare occasions when we both want to watch the same thing at the same time (America’s Got Talent) we use a HDMI cable to attach one of our Droids to the TV and run the program through the larger screen.

            Sunday 21^st  We attended “Cross and Spurs Cowboy Church and Arena” today.  The service is in a tent with folding chairs on the blacktop floor.  They have around 200 hundred members and I’d guess there were about a hundred and a half in attendance today.  One of the members sang four songs (Southern Gospel / Bluegrassy) and then one of the Elders (who was filling in for the pastor who is in Nebraska/South Dakota on a mission trip to some tribal lands) delivered the sermon.  It was similar to Union Park’s Saturday Praise Service in style and substance.  The service started a little after ten.  We arrived about nine fifteen and found about thirty vehicles in the parking lot already.  First order of business was Praise and Prayer Requests.  This took between half and three quarters of an hour.

            When we returned home, the navy beans and ham hocks was making the place smell really good.  While Ella changed clothes, I removed the hock and added some instant potatoes to the bean soup.  It was just a little too soupy for my liking.   After I had changed clothes, I removed the bone and rind from the hock and shredded the meat before returning it to the beans.   Yummy!

            Then it was time for a nap!  I had dozed in the recliner for maybe a half an hour when the air conditioning kicked on.  So, we closed up the windows and door and accepted the gift of conditioned air.