Scattered Thoughts . . .

We've been without the use of a dryer for about three weeks now.  It wasn't the end of the world though.  I set up a couple of clotheslines behind the house so we could continue to do laundry when it wasn't raining but I like absolutely nothing related to hanging clothes outside on a line so it has been a long, frustrating three weeks. First, I really hate seeing clothes hanging in someone's yard or over a railing.  That is not the place for clothes.  Next, drying clothes is then dependent upon the weather and we get a lot of rain-days here in Waterbury.  Worse yet, all the clothes turn out flat, stiff, rough and I think some of them have gotten moldy due to the lack of high heat that a good dryer would apply to each load.  When we would bring clothes into the house to be folded, we could just stand them up in a corner because they were stiff as a board.  If they had that freshly pressed look, that would be great but they looked like they spent the afternoon drying in

Our new refrigerator finally arrived this morning and the installation was flawless! As I wait for the temperature in the refrigerator and freezer to drop to safe levels, I decided to capture a few photographs of it to share here...  I've already flushed two gallons of water through the fridge water lines so it is ready for drinking... the ice needs 24 hours... then dump all the ice and it is ready to go after the new ice is made... Sheila is particularly excited to be done making ice in ice trays! This fridge sports a partial stainless steel interior... It is difficult to see here because the kitchen is so dark on this dark, dreary, rainy day but this next photo shows the quick access door... This is a Bi-Zone drawer... we can choose any of four preset temperatures for this drawer ranging from deep freeze to mild refrigeration... Much of the interior of this particular refrigerator is stainless steel... And, of course, it is a Samsung... So.

I truly love technological advances. What's not to love about the ability to use new, more effective tools to organize and streamline our lives or to make certain tasks easier to accomplish?  Even home entertainment is far better today with affordable, large screen, high-definition televisions, impressive surround sound and digital streaming media. It is always great to move forward and to improve our lives through technological advances. Cell phones are a part of these important technological advances. We all probably agree that today's cell phones provide us with some amazing and effective tools and, for these very reasons, I've owned a personal cellphone for more than 15 years and I'll continue to own a cell phone. I've used cell phones manufactured by Motorola, Nokia, Blackberry, LG, ZTE and now Samsung. There is no doubt that my current Samsung Galaxy cell phone is the best phone and mobile tool I've ever used and I really love how well it works

For the past year and a half, I've been a very happy user of the original version of the Kindle Fire 7" tablet. This tablet was useful for so many reasons... it housed my complete magazine library, it also housed my complete book library, it provided a beautiful and easy way to show photos, it held all my maps and travel guides in one place at my fingertips, it allowed me to browse the internet quickly and easily, and my old, trusty Kindle Fire allowed me to watch movies, listen to music, play videos, etc. All in all, this trusty, first-generation old dog served its purpose and it served well. So, if my original Kindle served its purpose and served well, why did I feel the need to upgrade?  Only two reasons...  size of the screen and storage capacity. As you will see as you read more of what I have written below, there are many valid reasons to have upgraded but the two aforementioned reasons were my justification for upgrading. As I age and as my health deteriorates (b