Day Seventy-two: Sweeping clean...

Everyone should be as laid back as I am now. I had a couple things to do on my way to getting my Prius serviced, mailing something at a local mail box to keep it and buying my lottery tickets. (My wife told me that mail boxes that don't average 25 pieces of mail a day are removed, which is not all that much in this era of online Bill Pay. So, she had me take everything we had to mail down to this one local mail box. I don't know whether or not this is still true but I still do it.) While at the store where I buy lottery tickets, I realized that I didn't have my cell phone or my iPod Nano. Without either one, it would make my wait for my car servicing seem longer. So, I went back to my house to pick them up even though doing so would make me "late" for my servicing appointment, which I was. I didn't care and, it appears, neither did they.

Now, the ironic thing is, I didn't use either one while I waited because I discovered that Toyota has a free wifi for its customers, at least at Putnam Toyota, and I did have my MacBook.

I'm going to have to use my motorcycle more so I don't rack up so many miles on the Prius. There are only a couple more months of good weather for doing so. I really would like to do a longer motorcycle trip to/through the Sierras, possibly to Reno. So far though, amazingly, I haven't had the time.

After Putnam, I went to AAA Sewing and Vacuum to buy a new vacuum, one that would do floors, rather than carpet. I called one of my son-in-law's mother because when I visited I was impressed with their vacuum. She still thought, and spoke, highly of it. Before I had left, I did my research online. Her particular model didn't seem to be available online, so I found one of the few stores in the area, which miraculously was close to Putnam Toyota. They did have the Miele Naturell but while there I kept thinking why have two vacuums, one for carpet and one for floors, when one would do. So, I bought the next one up, the Miele Plus.

When I got home, I put it to good use. I know the floors haven't been this clean since we had help cleaning them. I also vacuumed the carpet. Of course, the old carpet vacuum cleaner hasn't disappeared, nor has the old under powered missing attachments cannister vacuum, and I even used the shop vac today. So, I now have four vacuums. At least Marilyn gave away the Orreck version of the DustBuster. I think I remember using it once. It had a weird shoulder strap and didn't seem to vacuum all that well. Still having to get a new vacuum every ten plus years isn't too bad. I wish everything lasts so well in my Life after Layoff.

I'm going to take a tangental aside at this point and make an observation. My parents are probably the most congenial people I know. They literally have traveled around the country staying with and visiting distant relatives/strangers. They met my wife's parents and her family and may have my sisters' husbands' parents but they never did have the now extensive interaction I have had and hope to continue with my children's spouses' parents/family. When a child marries you are supposed to gain a daughter (or son). I feel as though I have been adopted as well. It just goes to show me how great the families my children are joining truly are.

Next, even though my son and his fiancee cleaned the bathrooms, I cleaned portions of them again. Then I cleaned the kitchen. Mind you I used rubber gloves while cleaning the bathrooms and washed my hands before and during my kitchen cleaning. In fact, I've washed my hands so much today that I need to put some lotion on them.

Dinner was in front of the TV with my son. We each had a Lobotomy Bock with our organic blue corn chips and tasty, but not truly spicy, chipotle salsa. I then further had a tomato on my homemade artisan whole wheat bread, a Cherokee Purple heirloom tomato, of course, Marilyn's favorite. (I am going to have to have a whole topic on tomatoes in my Memories of Marilyn.) For a number of years, I would refuse to eat tomatoes as the mechanically picked tomatoes felt and tasted like wood. Heirloom tomatoes, on the otherhand, taste like tomato ambrosia, and cost almost as much. I still make sure that my heirloom tomatoes are rung up last and packed on top. Marilyn would take charge of them and hand carry them from the store. She would always have some growing, and believe you me, the store bought ones at $6.00/lb. were always cheaper.