It's so hot the birds have to use pot holders to pull out worms!

The supposed first day of summer was yesterday and it sure showed up already knowing a lot about hot. Feel like temps are already over the century mark and we haven't really gotten into the hot weather (July-August) for our area yet. It is Tuesday, June 22, 2010 and I am home alone again. My wife has gone over to Louisiana to meet up with her two brothers and sister for a time of family reunion. Last night was a little eerie. Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse, or if there was one of them scurrying around I didn't hear him. I know from past experience how the peace and quiet can feel so good but within a few days, Thursday to be exact, I will be anxiously awaiting the return of my life partner who has become so important to me over these past nearly 46 years. One of the best memories coming out of my Father's Day is the sound of our grandchildren running up and down the stairs, playing with each other, and even an occasional outburst or two. This is no longer nearly as noisy as it used to be since most of them now are either on the computer, their cell phone, are using one of the gaming devices. But last night it was just me, myself, and I, the lap top, and the big screen up on the wall, and, of course, I was giving the remote control a much needed workout.

We've come a long way with the technology we have for television viewing today. I have been on a quest to make sure my fancy big screen TV is being provided with whatever the appropriate pixel count transmission it requires to put a super sharp image on the screen. I can well remember when I was a kid we had one of those rotary devices on top of the large cabinet with a small TV screen and it was used to rotate the antenna that stood way above the roof in search of a signal, any signal, to produce an image, any image, black and white, and maybe even fuzzy would do. Lately, I've decided to do battle with the cable people when things are not as advertised. I had a technician out last Saturday to do some checking. They always tell you that if it turns out to be your problem and not theirs they will have to charge you a service fee. I always tell them if it turns out they charge me anything more than what they already are for the lousy service I'm getting then they will have to deal with my thoughts on the subject. This technician was very good. Since I had previously gone through something similar I was able to tell him exactly what the other guy had done. We checked the feed coming into the main box and he immediately discovered a problem with the signal quality coming from the pole to our home. At least he confirmed that those gyrated start stop interferences I was seeing on the high definition channels was not my mind playing tricks on me. Now, the wait until the lineman for the county arrives to work on whatever is causing the low signal. It was supposed to be done no later than Monday, but guess what? It wasn't. I called again. The lady said that sometimes they have to prioritize their calls based on the magnitude of the problem. Maybe I will have to prioritize the amount I pay based on the magnitude of the quality received and the amount of hours I have lost trying to deal with it. But, when you are home alone, it does give you someone to talk to, right?

I'm so thankful to report that mom and dad made it back to their home in Louisiana from attending Uncle Asa's memorial service about half way down the peninsula of Florida. That's two days of hard driving there and two days coming back. Of course I know you could have figured that out, the two days coming back part, but I was using it as a way to illustrate the effort for folks out on the roads at their age. Thank God for cell phones. I was able to check on them throughout their journey and I'm sure they may have thought I was being a little over protective. In the old days they used to do the collect call deal to let everyone know you had made it to your destination. You would place the call through an operator, (I don't have time to explain about telephone operators to our younger readers), and ask that a call be placed to a specific person and that person would be yourself. You could hear the operator placing the call and the phone ringing and when it was answered the operator would say I have a collect call for, and then would give them your name. They would say he is not here and that would indicate to them that you made it and the message would be received without cost since the call couldn't be completed. Why wasn't the party there to take the call? Because you were lying, of course. I can remember doing that a few times but never feeling right about it. Here you would have parents spending years teaching their children the value of honesty and integrity but when they would go off somewhere they would be instructed to make that collect call to themselves. No wonder we can't figure out up or down, right or wrong, or even how the cow ate the cabbage. Think about that one and let me know if you come up with a good explanation. Have a blessed day and may God bless one and all! Amen. More later.