Eating Lunch All By Myself

 Alright, peeps!  Big news!   You can now find me at  Fortuosityhouse.com   Want to know what happens when you buy a 180 year old house and have no renovation skills and limited tools?   This is the place to find out!   I'll also blog my new Ohio challenge, media memories from the 70's and 80's and a few of my favorite things.   And sure, a lot of random nothing, too!   A little bit of fortuitious little happy happenstances! This will be my new blog home.   It is much easier to navigate and the posts will be separated by categories making them much easier to find!     I can also be found on Instagram at fortuosity_house and Pinterest at FortuosityHouse.   See you there!  

I was cursed to have hair that is poker straight and grows straight out of my head.  There is no bend, whatsoever.   Imagine the roof on an A Frame house - that is my untouched hair.  It's been cut, dyed, teased, highlighted, shellacked, permed, unpermed, braided, shaved...not to mention thousands of dollars spent on products.  It's basically a work in progress.   I think it is fair to say everyone has a love/hate relation with their hair.  If you don't, we have nothing in common and will never be able to converse in small talk. My life has been an endless parade of famous haircuts - everything from the Toni Tennille to the Dorothy Hamill to the Markie Post mullet to the never changing Lisa Rinna.    I've also tried androgyny - if anyone remembers the 80's version of Darryl Hall which then grew nicely into the hair style for the lead singer of Kajagoogoo...Limalh.     One year my only goal was to French braid my hair.  ...

 It snowed last night.  A lot.    But fortunately, we bought a snow blower two years ago almost guaranteeing it would not snow last year.   It did not. But, this is a new year and this is my review. Model:  No idea. Maker:  I don't know.  It came from Lowes. Features:  It's red. Price:  It was on sale. Review:   Getcha one. Short and sweet.  Everything you need to know.  Why waste several hours with a shovel when you can turn this baby on and be able to enjoy the rest of your day?   Even the boss gave it thumbs up.

Tagalongs are my favorite Girl Scout cookie.  Each year I happily and willingly spend a lot of money on a box of 14 cookies.  They are only available once a year  - so totally worth the indulgence.  My favorite part of eating them is scraping the peanut butter goodness with my teeth. I had sampled the Aldi brand before and thought they were pretty good.  Tagalongs are delicious and this was a great $.99 treat in lieu of a Girl Scout cookie.    At least that is what I told myself.   Bonus, I could also scrape this peanut butter with my teeth. But, which is the better cookie?  How could we ever know?   I had never eaten them together, as I had never considered wasting a Girl Scout cookie to eat a store bought cookie of the same variety.   I had never faced such a conundrum.  Armed with only a degree in journalism and a few hours to kill, I knew I had to get the answer. What better way to get to the bottom of this t...

People must think I am an idiot.  Or bold.   Maybe they think I live on the edge.  I'm not really sure.  But this has been going on my entire life. My first memory is of our babysitter.   Every once in awhile we would be allowed to go out on the porch and watch the delivery of some milk trucks across the street.  The porch was concrete and about 5 feet off the ground.  Every time we went out there, the sitter would tell us, or me specifically, "Don't jump off the porch."   Even at that young age, (under 5) I had to ask myself - "Is she for real?"   Ain't no way you could even pay me to jump off the porch - why would I just do it?  We also had an elderly neighbor that I would visit from time to time.    She had an old washing machine that you had to put your clothes through the wringer.   Sometimes she would let me help her.  She would wind the machine and I was allowed to put the clothes...

                                          I was overwhelmed with responses to my blog of Jan 19 Singing All By Myself !   Apparently, I am not the only person that mishears or  misunderstands lyrics.   I guess there is some sort of comfort knowing I am not the only one out there. I'll start with one from my own collection.  In the mid 70's there was a song Black Betty by Ram Jam.  Black Betty lyrics were "Oh Black Betty bam ba lam."    My brother would sing "Come back Betty in a scramble van."   A scrambler van, to the unwise, is a vehicle owned by the Barbie.   I kind of prefer that version! Several mentioned mishearing Jimi Hendrix say "Excuse me while I kiss this guy" instead of "Excuse me while I kiss the sky"  in Purple Haze.    It was the 60's.....could go either way! A Chicago fan mentioned...

Why don't people respond to texts that require immediate attention or can be answered in one word?  Are you alive?   Yes. What time are you leaving?  9:30 What color is your car?  Silver What is the fastest animal?  Cheetah Beatles or Stones?   Stones See how easy that is!    Nobody is asking for a novel, paragraph or even a sentence.  A couple of words is all that is required. A simple emoji will also work.   👎🏻 🍾 🌨  🤔 👀   🐫 ⚰️   🦀   Apple and Samsung have done the work for you.  You just need to hit a button and everyone is happy. I promise if you answer my short text I will quit bothering you.  If you answer with more than a simple yes or no - there probably wont be a followup.   This will save a lot of time and government personnel as I wont have to call the sheriff to do a wellness check, physically drive to your house to see if you are hurt or scan your Facebo...

This happened today.    At a Starbucks drive thru, the cashier asked me if I would like to purchase the order for the person behind me as a random act of kindness.   I said "What?" and quickly added "No," which I'm sure was much more emphatic than the cashier expected.  What I wanted to say is "A random act of kindness is not random if someone asks you to do it!"   It kind of needs to be my idea and my want.  Not a suggestion of someone else. This isn't the first time a drive thru has asked me to purchase someone else's food.  The first time I was caught so off guard that I bought $18 worth of food for the person behind me even though my own order was a $1 iced tea.    It was then I realized the only person winning is McDonalds.  They get their money no matter who buys it.   Not random or kind. I'm not criticizing those that participate in random acts of kindness.  I've been on the receiving end and it's...

So the husband came home giddy with excitement. "I think we're having Pi Day this Friday!" he gushed and giggled.  Nothing excites this man like a piece of pie.  And several pieces of pie is even better. Of course, I had to ruin his excitement with questions.  What time?  What kind?  Where at?  For how many? He didn't know the answer to any of these questions and I could see his excitement slowly seeping out of him.   By the end of the conversation, he looked positively downtrodden.   He responded with tears in his eyes.  "I just want you to bake a pie." And so I shall.  Do you celebrate Pi Day at home or at work?    What kind would you make?  Visit me at  Facebook

A few weeks ago I got pretty cocky and said I would not use a hand soap with Clorox as a main ingredient.   I was wrong.  Touching bad.  Hugging bad.   Clorox good.  As a matter of fact, I might want to bathe in Clorox.  Seldom right and wrong again..... "Like a fella once said....ain't that a kick in the head." For no other reason and to forget about a possible health crisis - enjoy Dean Martin.  You're welcome. Dean Martin Ain't That a Kick in the Head

                                                            Exactly 30 days ago I was drinking a beer and watching YouTube videos.  I was enthralled by this guy named  WheezyWaiter that does 30 day challenges.   No Internet for 30 days.  Intermittent fasting for 30 days.   No sugar for 30 days.  No porn for 30 days(I might have made that up.) Walking 10,000 steps for 30 days.   I thought to myself, I should do that. Thinking is one thing - and doing is another.   My first mistake, and I blame this totally on the Ultra I was drinking, was telling the hubs I was going to walk 10,000 steps for 30 consecutive days.  He was all about it and was ready to create flow charts, maps, weather forecasts, shoe catalogs...and shit...What the hell have I done? With Der Kommissar at ...