Great Sandwich

Had to share the sandwich I made for lunch for which I give myself an A.

smoked turkey, swiss cheese, cole slaw, sliced dill pickles on rye... gotta say it was delicious

Two Quickies

So far so good on Calamity Jane. I'm up to her mid-20s when she moved to Deadwood. Very hard, very sad life so far. Both parents (who were not wonderful) died by the time she was 12 and she was left in charge (as oldest) of her siblings. No way to support herself.

Then, on a totally different topic, I had Marilyn buy me my 2016 "Month at a Glance" calendar. This is a format I like, and yes, I still like a paper calendar. So this is the barebones, industrial style, spiral-bound... and I warned her that it was going to be $10 at Staples. I remember being stunned by the price last year.

She returned and asked a bit meekly, "How much did you think the calendar was going to be?" Turns out it was $20. She thought it might be mismarked so she brought three of them up to the register to check, but no, it was $20. Really a rip off, but I will amortize the cost psychologically over a 12 month period.

Time-Warner's Useless "Virtual Assistant"

I typically have been going to Time Warner's (my cable provider) website for TV listings. For the past week or so, that part of the site has been down, shows nothing and I went just now to see if it were working again; it wasn't but I was prompted to ask the "Virtual Assistant" so I typed in my question. Here's how it went:

Ask TWC:

Hello, I am a Virtual Assistant here to help you with many of your questions. Please type a question below.

what' s up with your tv listings? Is it the site? Haven' t had them in days.

Ask TWC:

I see that you are asking about Internet. I have found some related questions (FAQs), but did not fully understand your question.

Please try rephrasing your question or clicking one of the related FAQs.

Did you mean:

• Why is my TWC TV App not working?
• How do I troubleshoot my phone issue?
• What is my local channel lineup?
• Where can I find info on the SEC Network?
• Will I have to pay an early termination fee if I move?

TWC' s website: are TV listings broken?

Ask TWC:

I'm sorry, I didn't get that. Please rephrase your question.

Did you mean:

• Why is my TWC TV App not working?
• What is my local channel lineup?
• Where can I find info on the SEC Network?
• How do I download or print a copy of my channel lineup?
• What if an outage is impacting all my services?

TV listings on TWC Website

Ask TWC:

I’m sorry, I still didn’t get that. Please try again.

Did you mean:

• Why is my TWC TV App not working?
• What is my local channel lineup?
• Where can I find info on the SEC Network?
• How do I download or print a copy of my channel lineup?
• Can TWC provide me a channel lineup with large font?

I surrendered. Will find my listings elsewhere.

Mary's Tree and More

She says:

This is my neighbor Matt's tree. I love it year round but today in the sun it's spectacular.

Mary's Tree Part 2

Mary posted this tree photo on Facebook and Jorge responded with his own:

  He said:  "This is a millenary dragon's tree in Tenerife, we're just back from the island. It's trully amazing to stand near it. Always green though."

About this tree from a tourism website:

It was believed that the millenary Dragon Tree of Icod de los Vinos was 3000 years old, but the truth is that there is no research corroborating this. Recent researches indicate that its age is between 800 and 1000 years. In 1917 it was declared a national monument. Since Roman times, the millenary Dragon Tree of Icod de los Vinos was very exploited due to its resin, which when condensing, acquires a bloodlike color to which healing properties are ascribed. Nowadays it receives all the proper cares, as the Dragon Tree was so exploited that now is seriously ill and internally hollow. Those responsible for taking care of it have installed an internal ventilation system to eliminate possible infection problems. Farmers in the area consider the millenary Dragon Tree of Icod de los Vinos is a biological clock; they say that according to its flowering the Dragon Tree predicts good or bad harvest. Anecdotally, it is said that in years of good flowering it can bear up to 1.500 bouquets. If you are planning to go on vacation to Tenerife, you cannot miss the millenary Dragon Tree of Icod de los Vinos, that not only offers his majesty but also is surrounded by a welcoming environment you can enjoy. 

And Fran weighed in with her own photo. She writes:

Matt's tree is gorgeous and Jorge's tree is stunning. In keeping with today's tree theme, here's a shadow of one of "my" trees in front if the Methodist Home. Love those tree shadows.

Calamity Jane Arrived

I am officially throwing in the towel on the Swedish book... this sounds callous but the whole book is about a missing/killed child and I have formed no attachment to this kid. And his mother is annoying. Enough said.

Anyway, now my attention has turned to:

Growing up, I was so hungry for female role models/meaningful historical figures that when I first heard of Calamity Jane, I was excited. On a trip to Deadwood, South Dakota, when I was about 12, the word was that she was Wild Bill Hickock's "girlfriend."  But she was also her own woman -- independent, out there by herself.

Here's what Amazon says:

Everyone knows the name Calamity Jane. Scores of dime novels and movie and TV Westerns have portrayed this original Wild West woman as an adventuresome, gun-toting hellion. Although Calamity Jane has probably been written about more than any other woman of the nineteenth-century American West, fiction and legend have largely obscured the facts of her life. This lively, concise, and exhaustively researched biography traces the real person from the Missouri farm where she was born in 1856 through the development of her notorious persona as a Wild West heroine.

Book Dilemma

I am not enjoying my Swedish bestseller. One voice says, "Can 8 million Swedes be wrong?" My other voice says, "Dump it."

So far, I would give the book a C+. I find the main character annoying and I believe I am supposed to be sympathetic.

I realized it's Sunday night and I didn't read a page of it all weekend, which is unusual for me. If I had some great book waiting in the wings, I'd move on. Maybe I'll give it another day or so.

I did order a new biography on Calamity Jane since I had a credit at the History Book Club. If that comes, it's {however you say goodbye in Swedish} to this book and Howdy Pardner to Calamity Jane.

This Morning's Race

Mary writes:

Here is a picture of the kids who did the charity Race for Hope for the National Brain Tumor Society in Philadelphia this morning. Left to right, Matt [nephew], Lindsey [Scott's partner], Scott [nephew], Gwenyth [Scott's daughter], Laura [niece], Jay [Laura's husband], and Adelyn [Laura and Jay's daughter.]

I'm proud of all of them.

And here's Matt [Mary's nephew] and Adelyn [Mary's grand-niece]: