Tuesday, June 28, 2022

Showers, Claws, Music, Motel, Fireworks

  I know people were appalled about the length of time between showers. How does 18 years or 25 years strike you. I have always taken baths. I feel like I am being punished when I have to get into a shower. However, it beats not having water all over. 

I grew up without a shower. The shower was one thing I hated about college. I was willing to scour the tub everyday in order to have a tub sanitary enough to bathe in. We lived in a house in a neighborhood nearby the campus. 

Even now, I prefer washing my hair in the sink. His sink is not large enough, so I wash my hair in the kitchen sink. At my house when water was not functional, I went to the yard and used a water hose full of hot water for my hair washing. Several times, I went out back of the house, concealed from everyone and wore a nightgown and bathed in the gown, soaping up underneath. Then, the water hose rinsed me and my gown. Our electricity was off for a week, so no way to get hot water. I did not want to heat water on the grill since I knew it was hot in the hose, cold in the house. 

My 94-yr-old neighbor had not been in a tub or shower for 20+ years since she could not get out. She always smelled very fresh and sweet. Since then, I have learned that many older people do not regularly bathe, shower or bath. They wash up in a little tub in the kitchen sink. Tommy is edging closer to getting a shower with flat bottom and no ledge to step over. He said, however, that the 1.5 ledge was fine. 

Finally, I remembered to buy claws for my hair. I was in Publix and found a worker and asked her to get a gallon of milk down from the shelf. She had a handful of hair claws in her hand, stocking the shelf. I told her I wanted one of those, so now I have clips. I love Goody items. My hair is not quite long enough yet to get it all up in one try since I mutilated my hair, getting it too short. But, it is all up. Tommy said I looked like someone who is going to work in the yard. It feels good. 

The cleaner is scheduled for one morning to clean in my bedroom. I am not sure how many hours, but I hope it is three hours. Maybe she will get back to the bathroom to further clean. The guys will come another morning and finish the cabinets. I don't want them in my bedroom. I might have to schedule them at the same time to lift the doors for her to clean.

When we had glass shower doors in one house and the tub, my children and I took baths. For some reason my son took to getting up in the night and peeing on the shower doors. I was far along in my pregnancy. So, despite my husband not want to, I made him remove the shower doors every morning and clean the bottom of the doors and the track. I have no idea why my son started doing this. He was actually standing in front of the commode--sideways. He was very good all this life at hitting the bowl. He never went on the floor or walls. Then, this.

I now have reason to learn how to put music on my phone. I carried my boom box to the motel to have my sleeping music. What a pain! Tommy had to get up in the middle of the night to eat since his before bed snack was not enough. I had packed Wheat Thins and Baby Bel, so he ate that at 2 am. I brought a pint of my a2milk to have milk for breakfast. I had packed it with two blue ice packs to keep it cool. Next time, I will put it in double bags, so I don't have the bulk and weight to carry back home. For the quick trip, I should have left my laptop at home, but I am glad I had it. 

Monday night, I was so tired I went to bed at 10:30 pm, highly unusual for me. But, I slept until noon today. I did have to get up for an hour and sit so my bed and body would cool. This is the way I deal with the heat, sweat a bit and cool a bit. So, I was catching up from travel, little sleep, and stress. And, I have not felt a need for a nap on Tuesday. 

While I was in Publix, I found a fireworks display! What is the world coming to? Well, I now don't have to stop in Crazy Bill's to buy fireworks...lol. I have never gone into one of those trailers to buy fireworks. I just don't buy fireworks, ever. Now I have sparklers and those little white wads of paper with gunpowder in them. Tommy did not know how they work, so I took two and threw them on the ground to make them explode/pop. I love those things. I don't know when we will light the sparklers, maybe every night of the 4th weekend.

I am posting early tonight. I am not sure why...lol. No, I have done nothing yet about the motel nightmare. I was busy listening to Jan 6 hearing. 

Where do you buy fireworks if you do? Do you enjoy fireworks? I know you have a wild and crazy fireworks story. Share with me please. Or, maybe it is a tame story. 












Tonight, Tommy is having the carne asade sliced thinly, salad and whatever on a wrap and squash. I will have chicken, salad and cheese on the wrap and squash.

14 comments:

  1. I actually despise large fireworks (air) to the Nth degree! They are so loud and disruptive. They scare not only pets, but nature, Veterans, babies, some elderly. It is usually insane around here - and it just makes my anxiety level go through the roof. This is the one holiday I do not like. I do appreciate and love my country - just quietly!

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    1. I don't like fireworks displays enough to go to them, except to my friend's street party where we watched Thunder on the Mountain, a display on Red Mountain. I only went for the fun at her house, but I thoroughly enjoyed the display and the noise. But, I am sorry it disturbs you.

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  2. I know I am now old and cranky because this time of year the fireworks start and there are neighbors that do firecrackers morning (I am talking 7:30am - 9:30am, noon, and night, from dark until near dawn.) It is not just one house of people but the kids and teenagers in many differeent houses at many different times of day. Any day now the fireworks that sound like homemade small bombs will be going off. I hate being wakened by fireworks, and I may be napping anytime of day. Our little dog who died recently was never afraid of fireworks because when we got him, I used to stand at the front door wiith him in my arms and watch the fireworks. I always laughed and acted like each one was an exciting amazing thing. I wasn't so cranky 17 1/2 years ago. He wasn't afraid of thunderstorms either because I generally acted the same way about lightning and thunder, and acted like it was good excitement. He did used to get mad when big hail hit the house, I'd be sitting in my tornado corner with him and he would break away to bark at the front door because he thought the hard hitting hail sound was someone pounding on the front door, and it would make him furious. A new little black Pomeranian pup is in the works for us, knock on wood. She will be a littler one than our Fuzzy was. I am looking forward to having a dog in the house again.

    I would very much like to have the bathtub in our house replaced with shower with just a small step up in. I don't step over the giant tub wall to get into the tub to shower, but I sit on my shower stool that I place with two legs in the tub and two out, and swivel my body & behind as I lift my legs one at a time over the edge of the tub. Then I stand up again and take my nice warm, relaxing shower and wash my hair. I have always loved a nice shower, and it is especially nice now that we have the hand held shower that I spray and rinse my body with while holding it in my hand and then put it back up on the wall to wash my hair. Heaven knows what it would cost to take out our old cast iron tub which is currently covered with an fiberglass tub and wall insert, or how many days it would take to get it done. It's in our only bathroom, so it would probably lower the value of our home, but it would sure be worth it to me. My husband and I hope to live in this house until we are done for.

    Have a fun day.

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  3. susie,
    You effectively, noise-proofed your dog so it was all good with loud noises. You can do the same with the next dog if you use a cap pistol when you feed her. She will associate the sound with food. Only do it when you feed her. I forgot what the next step is, but this is how hunting dogs are trained to noise. You won't have to progress to shooting off a real gun outdoors. Find out how hunters habituate their dogs to loud noise.

    I like the way she acted about hail. She was going to chase it away. Good dog!

    At my house, I was afraid that the fireworks would land on my wooden house built in 1902 and burn it down. All the houses in my neighborhood were wooden and very old. None of the residents in my neighborhood, the Historic District shot fireworks, only the renters on blocks behind us. Around here, a few people shoot off the stray firework, but not round the clock, thankfully.

    If you plan to live in your house, maybe it would be worth at least looking into. He has a half bath that is difficult to get to or use, so it would be an ordeal to lose the bathroom for more than a day or so. And, we are not going to vacate the house for workers. One of us is in there every hour. He cannot use the commode in the half bath. It is the low kind. And, it has no grab bars in that bathroom! Neither does the main bath, but it has the high commode and a shower and vanity I can use to push/pull up.

    I like the way you get into the tub. The glass shower doors would not let me swing my feet around. And, he needs the shower to pull himself into the tub.

    This next week will be bit cooler for us, hopefully for you, too. But, it will rain every day, so the humidity will be miserable. Try to stay cool.

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  4. I love firework displays; I have never bought any - unless you count 'sparklers" we had them on 7/4 as kids. I wonder if they are allowed to sell anymore to children. I would be surprised.

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    1. Displays are fun but not something I seek out because of distance I have had to walk to view. We never bought any. Our parents had to do that. And, we only got sparklers and the one-inch long firecrackers which we weren't allowed to hold and light and throw until I was ten and brother nine. Tommy said the signs say a person has to be 21 to purchase any fireworks.

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  5. I'm 60 and had a total knee replacement six months ago. I couldn't lift my leg high enough to step into the shower for 2 months, so I did the wet wash cloth deal. Did my hair in the kitchen sink. Sometimes you just have to make do with what you have. I decided if I ever get to redesign the bathroom, I'll have a step-in shower!

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    1. angie,
      I am glad you can take a shower now. It is not ideal to use a washcloth, but clean, sanitary, and that good feeling can be had with a washcloth. I am wishing aloud every day we can get a walk in shower! Thanks for the comment.

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  6. The older I've got I find it easier to shower.

    All the best Jan

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    1. Jan,
      Well, I can no longer get up from a bath, so I suppose same here. But, I sure do long for a soak. I have to sit on the bench even to shower!

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  7. I grew up without a shower and I absolutely despise baths and cannot be bothered with them anymore.
    Growing up, my baths were 1 inch of water in the tub while in knelt inside to put my head under the faucet to wash/rinse my hair. I had to be finished in 10 minutes or less. That's the way it was in a family of 7 with one bathroom. And why my parents couldn't be bothered to install a shower head is a question for the ages.

    Linda, you can have that glass shower door and track removed (your LDS helpers could do it!) and just use a tension rod with a shower curtain instead. It's easy peasy and will only leave a few holes on the walls and grout on the tub edge, which can be scraped off. Then you can do a shower chair swivel like susie@ to get in and out!

    You can also have grab bars installed for the two of you. If you go that route, be sure to look into Moen grab bars. They are better then Kohler brand because they don't require a stud to be secured.

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    1. Sue,
      There were five of us kids, so that makes seven. We did not have a shower until all but one child was gone! So, I understand but never wanted a shower. I never heard it discussed. Maybe it was.

      If it were up to me, the glass doors would be gone in a minute! I have some grab bars I bought for $1 apiece and still in the box. I forgot how they attach, but worry they won't hold. Glad to know about Moen. I will keep that in mind. I have mentioned grab bars, but he is dead set against it. We will see...lol.

      I like susie's idea.

      His whole bathroom needs to be redone to get rid of all the tiny tiles on the floor and tile countertop that has been broken in a hundred places and pieced and stuck back somehow, probably with grout.

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  8. My Dad and Grandpa and all of the men in the family used to hunt using bird dogs. That was when my dad was about 12 years old or so. One day one of my Grandpa's friends offered him a female birddog that was afraid of gunshots, so the guy wanted to sell it cheap.
    My grandpa didn't want the dog , but my Dad did. I don't know where he got the money for it because he was only about 14 years old or so by that time..
    My Dad always had a way with all kinds of animals and he was able to train that female dog so that she was calm as could be around shooting and she was a great bird dog then. The icing on the cake was that Dad was able to breed her with my Grandpa's bird dogs and sell the puppies. He did that several times. Dad would pet the dog and put his hand on the dog's back to calm and steady it before the shot went off. I think before they got to that point there were a lot of other steps he did to calm the dog and get it to be his dog and calm when shots were fired. Dad was shooting and hunting since he was a kid. He got his first rifle when he was 12. Good thing he knew how to shoot so well, because when he went into the Marine corp, they put him on the firing range to train new Marines to shoot. It was during the Korean War. Then they saw that he scored high on an electronics and electrician test, (I don't know where he had learned about that). So he ended up on an aircraft carrier in the Mediterranian ocean working on some of the earliest jets aircraft electrical systems. The Korean War ended and he came on home and married my Mom. Dad never went hunting anymore then. and we never had any bird dogs.

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    1. I wonder what all your father did for the dog to make her unafraid. That is an interesting story. Why did he never hunt or have bird dogs again? Too much shooting in the war? Guns reminded him of war? I hope you write all these things down for your kids.

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