Service Is Denied

After I ate my breakfast I sat at the computer to check emails, Facebook, and all the blog posts that had accumulated overnight.  I got through the first two just fine, but when I tried to refresh Feedly (my news aggregator) nothing happened.   I tried a couple more times and got the same result.

A quick Google search told me why.  They'd been attacked!  As their blog explained:

"Criminals are attacking feedly with a distributed denial of service attack (DDoS). The attacker is trying to extort us money to make it stop. We refused to give in and are working with our network providers to mitigate the attack as best as we can."

The post went on to say that as soon as the attack is neutralized they'll be up and running again.   I'm glad Feedly's not giving in to the 'bad guys', and I hope it doesn't take them too long to come out on top.

Five years ago today: No More Indoor Dust Storms

Muted Movement

It's been three weeks since I sprained my wrist.  Now it's pretty much back to normal, but once or twice a day I'll do something that reminds me it still isn't completely healed.  The chiropractor told me I should move the joint on a regular basis, so I researched wrist exercises and I'm trying to do them a couple of times each day.

Yesterday and today have been very slow at the Customer Service desk, and I decided to take the opportunity to do some discreet wrist strengthening.  If you had walked by at the right time you would have noticed me flexing my fingers, rolling my wrist, and doing wrist stretches with my eyes peeled for anyone walking my way.

Five years ago today: Nibble And Nosh

Tear It Up

Hubby Tony is helping to organize an event at church that will take place next month.  Last week he created a registration form and submitted it to the office for publication.  When I opened up the bulletin on Sunday his form was on the bottom half of the left middle page.  I know he hopes everyone will register right away, but just in case the form will also appear on the parish website, and for the next few weeks he'll have extra copies in the office and church vestibule.  He's making it easy for people to sign up!

This afternoon I did a double take when he walked in the door carrying a huge stack of church bulletins.  I asked him what was going on; he said he realized that instead of making copies he could take his form out of the extras that were going to be recycled.  That would save money and be 'green'.

After dinner he left for a meeting.  I was looking for a mindless activity to do, and decided to help him out by tearing out the page he needed.  Soon I had an assembly line going.  First, open the bulletins and lay them face down.  Next, rip the whole thing in half. Put the correct page in one pile and put the rest in another.  Repeat.  I was almost done with the job when Tony got home.  With his help the job was finished quickly.

Now all he has to do is cut each page in half and put the copies in the right places.

Five years ago today: The Famous Question

Bathrooms and Budgets

 Our house is about 25 years old.  We've already done a couple of upgrades to it, and the next one in the queue is renovating the master bathroom.

Some of the room's issues are cosmetic.  The polished brass finish on the light fixtures, faucets, and shower frame is starting to wear off.  One of the two integrated sinks in the cultured marble counter top is cracked, and the vinyl floor has a couple of stains.  However, the shower needs some major work. The pan is permanently stained, the grout between the tiles is cracking, and a few of the tiles are coming loose.

One day last month after a trip to the gym I stopped at a nearby kitchen and bath showroom to look around.  There were so many options I left more confused than when I walked in!  The store has a monthly kitchen and bathroom renovation seminar which I thought it might help unconfuse me, so I signed up to attend.  Yesterday morning Hubby Tony and I were sitting in the company's classroom along with about a dozen other people. 

The (very interesting) seminar covered things that would be applicable for someone doing either a kitchen or a bathroom--types of cabinet woods, counter top materials, and cabinet construction.  It was eye-opening in terms of expected cost and job completion time.  Did you know that according to the National Kitchen and Bath Association you should budget 5-10% of your house's value on a bathroom renovation?  It was shocking news to me; we'll be spending much closer to the lower amount.  I thought since we wouldn't be doing anything crazy in the room it would be an easy job, but I learned that things like replacing a shower and counter tops pushes the job into the 'major' category, which could take three to four weeks!

Based on what we learned yesterday, we're taking some baby steps toward getting the job done.  I've started browsing home improvement websites to get an idea of what we want in the room and we'll set up an initial appointment with the showroom to get their input, although I'm not sure we'll use their services.  The job will get done when it gets done; we've lived with the room as it is for so long, I don't know that a month or so more will make that much of a difference.

Five years ago today: Nighty Night

Happy National Chocolate Ice Cream Day!

Did you know that June 7 is National Chocolate Ice Cream Day?  In honor of the event, Hubby Tony stopped for cones after our trip to the gym.

Coconut Chocolate Almond and Chocolate Peanut Butter

Five years ago today: Tower of Goodies

Instant Garden

It's been a crazy spring for planting around here. I usually aim for getting the few tomato and pepper plants that pass for a 'garden' in the ground around Mother's Day.  We were busy that weekend and it didn't happen, which is a good thing.  The next day the temperatures took a tumble and for the next week it was much cooler than average. About the time it warmed back up again I sprained my wrist and couldn't do any digging in the dirt.

I had resigned myself to having nothing growing this year, but earlier in the week I noticed the temporary garden store next to Aldi was having a 'buy one get one free' sale (their sell-off before they close for the year).  By time I got there yesterday things were already pretty picked over.  However, at the far end of one of the greenhouses they had some healthy-looking tomato and pepper plants growing in 8" pots.  The original price of five dollars seemed a bit steep, but at half that I could get nice large specimens that already had tiny fruits:

See the baby tomatoes?

I bought two pepper plants and two tomatoes (one each standard and cherry).  I also got some small geraniums (they were buy one get THREE free).  When I got home I decided I wanted more, so this morning I went back for two more tomato plants.  After lunch Son Donald helped me ready the ground and plant everything.  Now, if I can fend off the critters I'll be harvesting yummy produce later in the summer.

Original purchase waiting to be planted

Five years ago today: Mow, Mow, Mow Your Lawn

Locating

An organization I belong to is doing outreach to let people know what we're about. They had informational bookmarks made and asked anyone who was interested to hand them out, or place them in public areas where people could pick them up.  I took a few and made a game of figuring out who to give them to and where to put them.

Soon I was down to just one, which I decided to locate somewhere in the mall.  I just had to figure out where.  The cleaning people do a great job of keeping the mall clutter-free.  If I set my bookmark on one of the tables or in the bathroom it would be quickly tossed out; they wouldn't even look at it. After a little thought I realized that the soda machine that I walk by on my way into and out of the mall would be a good choice.  Two days ago on my way into work I stuck the rectangular piece of card stock in the chute where the bottle comes out. iI would be easily visible there to anyone purchasing a soda.

I congratulated myself of my cleverness, but when I left work today the bookmark was still there. It looks like I underestimated the popularity of bottled sodas.  I guess most people get their beverages in cups from one of the mall food vendors.

Five years ago today: The Search Is Over

Computer Assistant

Pepper the cat thinks any computer project goes a little bit better with feline help.

Five years ago today: Get Your Kicks

Java On Ice

I have two cups of coffee each day--one with breakfast, and a second mid-afternoon (or after I get home from work).  During the summer, instead of having the afternoon cup hot I pour it over ice.   That does the trick, but the result is nowhere as good as coffee-shop quality iced coffee.

Last week I found a recipe for cold-brewed coffee, which is made specifically for iced drinks.  The recipe looked easy (there were only two ingredients) but time consuming (twelve or more hours of setting time, plus extra time to filter out the grounds).  I finally got around to making some last night,  strained it this morning before I left for work, and put it in the refrigerator to chill.  This afternoon I made a glass using skim milk and agave.  YUM-O!  My drink was smooth, rich, and flavorful. 

I can't wait to have another cup tomorrow.

Cold-Brewed Coffee

For coffee:
3/4 cup Ground Coffee
3 cups of room temperature water

For serving:
Milk, half and half, or water
Sweetener (simple syrup, agave, or honey)
Ice

Place the coffee grounds in a pitcher, add the water, and stir to combine. Cover and let set at room temperature for 12-24 hours. (The longer the time, the stronger the finished result).

Fit a coffee filter into a fine sieve and place sieve on top of a clean pitcher. Slowly pour coffee through the filter, then discard the grounds.

Chill until ready to serve. For each cup, pour 1 part coffee and 1 part milk, half and half, or water  over ice.  Sweeten to taste.

Five years ago today: Be Careful What You Wish For-You Just Might Get It

Weekend Updates

In case you were interested in the outcomes of a few of my past subjects:

• Two months ago I was at a baby shower where I received a miniature rose bush for a party favor.  I had to put it in the family room so the cats couldn't get to it.  It didn't get any sun there. After just a couple of days the bush wasn't thriving, so I moved it to an east-facing windowsill in the kitchen.  With all the heat there it needed to be watered frequently.  I forgot to take care of the job before I left town for a weekend, and when I came back the plant had died.  It went into the compost pile.

• The neighbor's cedar fence had a broken board that had fallen into our yard.  Since they wouldn't be able to see it I wondered if I should say something.  I eventually decided I'd wait until I saw someone outside at their house.  It took several weeks, but I finally relayed the message.  They thanked me for letting them know.

• At the end of April I took off the flannel sheets and put new microfiber sheets on the bed.  Several people (including me) wondered if they'd be comfortable once the weather got warm.  Right after I made the switch, the nighttime temperatures dipped back into the chilly zone, but last week it got warm enough to turn on the air conditioner.  So far the sheets have been comfortable, but I'm hoping we don't have any really hot weather this summer to test them.

Five years ago today: Hand. Hand. Foot. Foot.