35 Years at PCU

In 2013 I observed 35 years at PCU with a lunch out at El Toro with my co-workers.  I was the "star" of the day, complete with a sombrero, and was offered a free dessert which I shared.
First day of employment = January 23, 1978.

Five years earlier, on my 30th anniversary at PCU, I was "queen for the day."

Long Lost Friend

A Major Senior Moment

I've just arrived home from running a couple errands.  I treated myself to a stop at Taco Bell to pick up something for lunch.  I ordered inside for carryout, and as I was waiting for my order to come up, I dug in my coat pocket for my car keys.  I dug in the other pocket, then both of my pants pockets.  No keys.  Oops-- I guess they are locked in the car.  I'll have to walk home and get the second set.  Not looking forward to that, but at least the temps are in the mid-40's and it's not raining altho it is a wet day.

I ate in the store, shoveling the food in and not really enjoying it.  I theorized that I accidentally left the keys in the car 'cause I was just bringing in my wallet.  I supposed I had set them down on the passenger seat when I picked up the wallet.  Didn't really make sense, but those were my thoughts.

I approached my car and peered through the driver's window, but I didn't see the keys on the seat.  Well, that theory was shot.

Then I reached for the door, and it opened!!!!  Yippee!  But where are the keys?

In the ignition.  That just seems so unreal to me.  I'm generally careful about hanging onto the keys.  What the heck caused me to leave the key in the ignition?  At least the car door was not locked.  But .....

As I reached to start the car, I discovered the car was already running.  I had not turned the car off!!!!  That would explain why I did not have the keys in hand because I pretty much automatically remove the key from the ignition when I turn the car off.  So, the whole time I was in the store, the car was running.  Anyone could have driven off with it.  (Likewise, anyone could have driven the car away with the key in the ignition and the door unlocked.)

What a nincompoop.

After arriving home and thinking a little bit, I'm still surprised that I didn't lock the door.  That's pretty automatic with me, too.  But I kind of think the car is safe-guarded to not lock with the key in the ignition.  I'll have to test that out some other day ..... when I am safely at home.

I'm Brilliant!

Yesterday's Final Jeopardy category was revealed, and I immediately gave my answer without seeing the prompt.  I said "Turquoise," the program went to commercial, then returned with the question.

Category:  Color Etymology
Question:  This word for a gem & a shade of blue derives from the name of a Eurasian country from which gems came to W. Europe

The contestant's responses were: topaz, azure, and sapphire.  But I was the only one to get it correct!  And before the question was even revealed.

I won!

BTW, turquoise was named from French "turques" meaning "Turkish," the original material found on the south slopes of the Al-Mirsah-Kuh Mountains (Iran), but which found its way to Europe via Turkey.

Today's My Birthday .....

..... and I spent the morning at the county courthouse.  Called up for jury duty.

We sat through an introductory video and explanations.  Then we all were dismissed for the day.  Approximately 45 minutes of instruction.  That's worth the $10/day payment.  I'll call tonight and see if I need to report in tomorrow.  

Then I went to Denny's and got my free birthday Grand Slam meal.  Afterwards, headed over to Meijer and looked through the half-price Easter candy.

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What Color Crayon Are You?

I took the color quiz, and it turns out that I am a yellow crayon.
Take the quiz.

Your world is colored with happy, warm, fun colors.  You have a thoughtful and wise way about you. Some people might even consider you a genius.  Charming and eloquent, you are able to get people to do things your way.  While you seem spontaneous and free-wheeling, you are calculating to the extreme.

 
I don't agree with all the bullet points, but I do like yellow. 

The 40-Year Plan

The College has a reception for retirees and service award recipients each May. Retirees are asked to speak for a couple minutes if they desire.

This is sort of what I said:

Three months ago I never expected to be here. I was on the 40-year plan. I wanted to know what the award would be for 40 years of service. [Someone in the audience said "a new car."]

My grandfather worked for 50 years for the U.S. Postal Service. He started in 1912, and was a rural letter carrier in Cumberland County, Illinois. He delivered the mail on his route by horse and buggy.

Grandpa was a "people person," and he enjoyed talking to people. Sometimes he was the only person the families on his route would see that whole week, and he exchanged news from town and among their neighbors with the folks he delivered to. He didn't gossip -- men do not gossip -- but he would tell them stories.

Later he became postmaster of his small town, and he enjoyed conversing with the people who would come to the post office to pick up their mail each day because there was no home mail-delivery in their town.

I think it was the people that my grandfather enjoyed most about his 50 years working for the USPS.

And I think "people" is the thing that kept me here at Parkland College for 38-and-a-half years ... because I am really going to miss Parkland Library's subscription to People magazine.

Jim and Richard's Wild Ride

This happened a couple years ago.

I took two CDs to listen to in the car when I went to visit Mom at SC on Tuesday.  When I got home I had them in hand but put them on the back (trunk) of the car to walk out to bring the mail in.  I thought to myself, “Don’t forget these are here.  You’ll end up like Grandma W. who put her purse on the back of her car then drove off.”  

The next morning (Wednesday) while eating breakfast I got to wondering about where those CDs were.  I didn’t see them on the kitchen table – where they likely would be.  Are they still inside the car?  Then I just forgot all about them.

The following morning (Thursday) when I put my purse and tote bag in the back seat of the car I saw the Jim Croce CD on the trunk of the car.  It was really wet – I thought that’s an awful lot of condensation from just sitting there overnight.

But then I got to thinking: There’d been two CDs.  And I put them there two days ago.  Well, yeah, Jim Croce is soaked – it’s been raining buckets all day Wednesday.  And what was the second CD?  It’s obviously gone for good, but what was it?  Oh, no.  A favorite: Richard Carpenter (after Karen died) playing solo piano.  Bye, Richard, but at least Jim Croce survived.  What a ride he had – to and from work yesterday, plus sitting out in the rain all day yesterday.

So, if I saw the Jim Croce CD on the back of the car this morning, how come I didn't see the 2 CDs Wednesday a.m.?  I could have saved both of them.

I’d purchased both CDs on eBay, and they were both favorites.  I’m glad I still have Jim Croce, but I’ll miss Richard.  

Big Winter Storm

This winter's big snow storm was forewarned the end of January. The meteorologists started telling us about Friday, January 28, that a large storm was forming. Indeed, as it turned out, it impacted about a third of the United States. East central Illinois did not receive the possible 14-inch snow fall. It was more like 6-8 inches. But it was preceeded by freezing rain so conditions were treacherous.

Cold rain and snow began Monday afternoon, January 31. Most schools announced closings that evening, and I was thrilled to hear that the College was one of them. I heard the announcement on the radio as I was trying to fall to sleep. Not trusting that I heard correctly, I got up and watched the scrolling list of closings on the local television station. After seeing the College's name pass by a couple times, I figured it was safe to turn the alarm clock off.

Tuesday morning, February 1, was leisurely. No big snow overnight and traffic on the streets seemed to be traveling at a "normal" pace. But the weather forecasters were still preaching heavy snow and strong winds. Once again schools announced closings for the next day and, again, the College was one of them!

Wednesday proved to be a nasty day. The roads were definitely not to be traveled. Snow plows were making the rounds, but it took several passes before the main streets were plowed curb-to-curb and corners of intersections were cleared so that you didn't have to make what felt like a 90-degree turn.

John and I tackled clearing our driveway after lunch. It was not a simple task. The snow was "crunchy" with a layer of ice beneath. I was assigned with breaking through the snow, and John scooped and moved it away. As we cleared and approached the street, it was daunting to think of having to break through and remove the compacted snow that the plows had left at the end of the driveway.

After an exhausting 3 hours the driveway was cleared. I figure John did about 75% of the work, but that doesn't mean that I didn't have stiff and sore muscles for the next couple days.

Notice the chunks of snow. Click on the picture for a larger image.



Three days later, Saturday morning, February 5, we woke to a steady snowfall. It was quite pretty with a Christmas card-look. You can see in the photo below that our big efforts on Wednesday to clear our driveway were now covered.


The snow stopped after about 4 inches, and after lunch, John and I again shoveled snow. This was an easier snow to clear.

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Two weeks later, February 18. What a difference a couple weeks make. With yesterday's temperatures in the mid 60s (after being in the single digits just last week), this is the view in our front yard:



P.S. How many people have a periscope coming out the top of their house??? ;-)

Statue of Liberty

I was getting ready for work this morning and applying deodorant. I happened to glance in the mirror, and with one arm reaching above my head, I thought, "Hmmm. I look like the Statue of Liberty."