I just wrote a lovely post about this beautiful artichoke. Guess what – WP crashed, post GONE! For some reason, the “save draft” wasn’t working well. Early morning tech issues OR the Universe wasn’t keen on the post I had written, wanted me to START OVER! LOL
So, as my creative thought process has now disappeared, I will say… I was in California this past weekend. I went to Half Moon Bay by the ocean. It was wonderful to smell the fishy salty air and hear the fog horn. I used to go there a lot.
While walking on Main Street, I came across a gardening center and saw these artichokes. I don’t eat them much and always wondered how they grew. Now, I know. Seeing them makes me want to give them another try. I was reading that they are a good source of fiber.
Any artichoke lovers out there? What tips do you have to share on peeling / cooking them?
We all know that ordering off of Amazon is quick and easy. I don’t do it very often, prefer to shop local, but when I can’t find what I want —> There is Amazon.
I recently ordered a backpack. I needed one, shopped around, was trying to find a sale, wasn’t finding one, so had to buy at full price. I found this Adidas bag I liked. It was $60, I wanted to spend $30 or below; however, my daughter has one, good quality, I liked the style, so bought it.
Imagine my SURPRISE. I am looking it over and I see this tag that says, “CLEARANCE $17.98”
It’s hard to be HAPPY with a purchase, when we see a tag like that. I engaged with Amazon’s Customer Service. They said they understood my frustration, but sales come and go, they couldn’t do anything. So, I have to decide, how much ENERGY do I want to put into this? I KNOW I should write to the top, let the CEO know what’s going on. If they are selling at $60, sale over, then take the $17.98 Clearance tag off.
Actually, writing to the top helps. I recently bought a sofa from a big Dept store. They sent me a USED sofa, it must have been a floor model or been in storage for YEARS. I called Customer Service, they said an inspector would need to come in 3 weeks, etc. I didn’t want to deal with that. So, I wrote to the CEO of the Dept store. I took a guess on his email.
Guess what, within a day, I received a response. Within four days, bad sofa picked up and account credited. I had sent photos of the “bad sofa,” I was polite, but asked if this was the type of quality this Dept store was sending out. I wanted HIM (CEO) to be aware of this.
So, as I write this…
I KNOW — I must once again, sit at my computer, crack my knuckles and write a stellar message, wasting valuable time to seek justice OR at least alert the top that this is happening.
MAYBE the top will have the same message as Customer Service, an “Oh well, sorry.” However, there is a chance that they will be “shocked too,” and make things right!
I was catching up on the news the other day and I saw a short segment on this bald eagle and his rock. Have you seen it?
This bald eagle’s name is Murphy, he lives at the World Bird Sanctuary in Missouri. Apparently, he’s a devoted Dad, he’s incubating a rock. He wounded his wing when he was young, so will never fly. Murphy is going through Spring hormones, so that’s why he’s in “nesting phase.” He built the nest, found this rock and has been taking care of it. He’s very territorial of his rock. It takes 35 days before an egg hatches. Well, we know this “ah… egg” won’t be hatching.
Last night, I was looking for a show to watch on MHz Choice, an international streaming app. As I was browsing, I saw this movie, “Rivals Forever – The Sneaker Battle.” You can tell from the photo that this looked interesting. German subtitles.
Imagine my surprise when the story turns out to be about the sneaker brands, Adidas and Puma. I had no idea these brands were German and created by two brothers. If you don’t know the story, I don’t want to give it away. Definitely, interesting and eye opening. A great, but sad story.
Since St. Patrick’s Day is this week, I thought I’d share this book. A friend recently told me – GO GET IT! I listened to it in audio. As with any book, some really “good” parts, then parts where I yawned a bit, but didn’t want to “fast forward,” because I “might” miss something CRITICAL.
Has it changed my fortune? Stay tuned in the coming months to FIND OUT.
Spring is almost here. LUCK does seem to be in the air!
When I was at the grocery store, I saw Pierogi, so many choices. I have a friend who gets in the mood for them. It’s interesting, because they are like Italian ravioli. Then, I thought, you’ve got the Asian pot stickers. All a little different, but the same idea with a different name.
Do you have a preference for any of these? I wonder, do the Germans/Austrians have something like ravioli or pierogi? I know they make great dumplings.
Thinking of dumplings, I’m getting in the mood for Matzo Ball soup now!
Something really funny happened to me recently. I walk a lot and needed some Earpods. The Powerbeats that Apple recommends are good, but pricey. I have a pair, but they are getting old.
I was at TJ Max the other day and I saw these Earpods that looked pretty snazzy. Great price, around $35, I think. DONE, I decided to stop searching for Powerbeats, buy these instead.
There’s a reason why Apple always recommends using “their” products versus other brands.
Here’s what happened…
I charged these new earpods, which seemed to do well. I put them in my ears and headed out for a walk. My girlfriend called. I could hear her really well. I was feeling proud of my purchase and saving money. BUT WAIT… that didn’t last long.
Here’s where it went haywire. It was really windy, I went to put my hair behind my ear. Doing this, I gently touched the Earpod. Well, that hung up on my girlfriend and turned my audio book on. How weird is that. I didn’t push on anything, just barely touched the headphone. My girlfriend was calling me back and I was still trying to turn the audio book off.
Wait – there’s more. Somehow, these Earpods made my Garmin watch go crazy too. This has NEVER happened. Suddenly, my watch was indicating that I needed to count my breathing. I did E -V-E-R-Y-T-H-I-N-G to get out of that breathing segment. No button I pushed worked. My Garmin watch kept telling me how PROUD they were of me for using the breathing segment. You know, those rah-rah messages they send us. I was really going insane.
Man-O-Man! When I took those Earpods off they were constantly flashing red/blue, red/blue. It was so annoying. I wondered what other device of mine these Earpods were trying to “attack!”
I had renewed appreciation for my Powerbeats. I never had an issue like this.
So, cheaper is not always better. Not in this case.
Sometimes a photograph is all we need to brighten our day. Winter in Italy.
My friend recently took this beautiful picture of Cinque Terre. I haven’t been there. It looks like we would definitely get our hiking/steps in, right.
Spring will be here soon. Time to go on an adventure somewhere.
Whenever I’ve traveled to Italy, it’s usually been in the Spring right before heavy tourist season in June. My daughter was able to find a good flight to Italy, winter rates, so was just there. We’ve learned there are pros/cons to traveling off season.
She noticed not very many tourists, that’s a pro. She could take pictures of special places with no people around. However, major con, many shops and restaurants closed. They had signs on their windows, back in March. I told her, she would have to ask the locals where they go. Also, find grocery stores, she could make sandwiches herself. We chuckled, we like pizza, but not every day for 10 days.
I thought this was a beautiful photograph of St Peter’s Basilica in Rome. I didn’t crop the photo, because the sky is amazing. The light behind the clouds, above the Vatican, it gives us pause to think.
She also took this photograph of the Virgin Mary. I was pleasantly surprised to see she was able to light a candle. In most Italian churches they use the electric candles. Have you seen that? You flip a switch and the electric candle lights up. It’s not very spiritual, prevents fires, so I understand.
I have a few more photos I’ll share of Italy in the next posts.
Right now, airlines are having low fares on winter travel until end of March. BOOK NOW!
Sharing my rose with you. There are some people who feel sad on Valentine’s Day. I don’t. I feel like it’s a sweet day for everyone and anyone to show love / kindness for someone else. Not just for sweethearts.
Brilliant Viewpoint 