Accessible Gardening: #19 Practical Matters for Physically Challenged Gardeners , 0 by Agavegirl1

Agavegirl1 wrote:
Good morning all. Not sure what category I fall into. Hey...don't make fun of combat boot and filly skirts. That's what I wore in art school in the 80s. I had my own boots going INTO the military! I also had my own designer shoes too. I earned them Mom & Dad didn't buy them for me.
Perfect statement and summation of what my generation was all about though. Who we really are and how we really feel versus what we want and how we have to be so we may achieve a level of social and financial security that allows us to be who we really are and show how we really feel without living at mom and dad's. I'm a generation X-er! Yep. First generation to never do as well as their parents. Let's hear it for the underachievers!

I guess punk for my generation was what hippie was for yours. We weren't interested in being proactive though. We were all just p.o.'d by everything in between the hippies and us that had happened that sabotaged our futures. It wasn't until my late 20s that I gave a hoot about something in particular unless it effected me personally. Then it until my mid 30s when I started to care about things in general because they not only effected me for a longer period of time but everyone else to.

Now I am at the point where I'd like either like to start the white middle class riot or just sit back and indulge in my own self destruction or see if the world beats me to it first.
(What shoes does one wear to start a white middle class riot? Combat boots are too militant; tennis shoes don't quite make a statement; heels aren't practical for this; sandals are laughable; I don't "do" cowboy boots; Suggestions? I'm leaning towards black leather slip on ballerina flats...stylish, dress up or down; and you can run in them if need be; no arch support though, hurts if someone steps on your foot. Uhm...equestrian riding boots! Stylish, practical and just that right amount of commando military flair!)

Now that all the Gen X-ers are tired of being underachievers we actually want to go achieve something!
It's getting to the point where I alternate being disgusted and amused with most of these high functioning retards we call the human race. It leaves a wide berth to ponder the phrase "made in God's image". Personally I think his quality control managers have been slacking off. There needs to be a factory recall on the product. Can we start with Walker, Boehner and the Koch brothers? And nobody understands why I like to talk to cacti.

Don't mind the Beetles. They're fun. Beetle mania missed me. Got older and listened. Like them. Appreciate the Rolling Stones a lot more. Far more edgy, grittier, and a little more to say. Not so much bubble gum.

Wise Cactus wants to know if Jim will stay enlightened about not bouncing around on a tractor fresh out of back surgery? :D He suggest for now that it is better to let the lady mow the grass. For the time being she can "see" the wisdom of this even if he can't see if he can't tell wisdom from the doctor's waiting room.
Poor Jim, the human popcorn machine! Glad he's feeling better though.

Yep good old D.O.s Love mine. I keep my Osteopathic doctor for when I fall on my head. At times I've had to go get my back, shoulder, arm or whatever adjusted and put back into place after I've fallen. All you hear are a few snap, crackles and pops and you feel a hundred times better. Ahh........no longer walking like Quasimodo.

Poor Nadine what a nightmare. :0 I hope her credit wasn't ruined and they didn't get her social security number. I bet that realtor is probably super embarrassed. That's probably why he won't admit it or help. Life Lock is good. Hopefully they'll get it straightened out for her.

PAPER PAPER PAPER PAPER PAPER....PAPER!
If you don't want it hacked, stolen, lost, used, or transmitted USE PAPER and the phone! Why doesn't anyone use paper? They can't hack your check book. Most people without I.D. can't pass your checks. (Name one place that takes a check without i.d.?) It works the same as your debit or savings. Don't take checks? Fine they take cash....PAPER!
Credit cards I call BEFORE I shop. I tell them I'm going to the mall (as if; anymore); bunch of little small dollar multi transactions in a few hours time. It's me. Let it go through. I saved for furniture. I called the credit card. Told them how much it was and that I was chagrining it. Let it go through. They did. I also paid it of immediately.

In person I MAKE the sales people check my I.D. with my credit card. I'll ask them, "Would you like my I.D. with that or are you just going to assume the card isn't stolen?"

I don't have anything, go anywhere or do anything, or own anything of real consequence because I have no debt. We pay everything off except the house and monthly utility bills. No car note, no credit card bills, etc. So in a way I guess we're lucky. No bill collectors calling.

We also don't have dish or cable. We killed them. We bought a super long range antenna that picks up all the local channels out of Phoenix and Tucson plus a tons more. We got Roku direct stream t.v. so we watch what we want which is primarily Netflix and a couple of other things; we have magic jack for the phone (best thing ever!) and really the only thing we even need a "cable company" for is internet. We cut our bill by $89.00 a month! We've had Sirius satellite commercial free radio for almost 10 years now. We own it for a lifetime. First 5 years you pay then it is free for life.

If we want it we buy it or charge it and pay it off in full. Another reason why the credit card company would know something funny was happening. I don't run a balance. If I have to pull it out of my savings I will but I never leave a balance on my credit card. I just pay the bank account back every month instead like a bill.
All these places take checks as form of bill payment.
I have duplicate checks. When I write the bill I keep my half of the bill, staple my duplicate of the check to it and put it in the appropriate folder (utilities, mortgage, etc.) When the check clears I write on the bill the date the check cleared. If anyone tries to call me and say I owe them NOPE!! Good luck! I keep this stuff 2 years. Then I burn it. (Yes, burn)

I don't pay bills on line. COMPUTERS GET HACKED. Why give my account, phone, address, billing information, credit card numbers, banking information, etc. on line? I don't give that stuff to people I owe money to. I give them a check! They make me mad enough I'll pay $1.50 and give them a money order (LOL). They can only be cashed BUT they can't be deposited like checks. Someone who works there actually HAS TO go to the bank and cash it! (LOL)
I love my cell phone company.
It just irks me beyond belief that they don't take checks. They'll only take credit or debit or cash. So...I just hand them a money order when I pay them. (*grin*)

People on the phone ask me for the last 4 digits of my social. NOPE. I tell them "You don't need that." They argue. I say "NOPE" here's my name, my mother's maiden name, my dog's name, shoe size, address whatever. YOU DO NOT need my social or any part of it. If they nsist fine. I remind them that the call is recorded and that if I experience any unusual activity I am holding their company and them as an individual personally responsible for it and will not be liable for any activity or bills. That usually stops them right there.
If they don't sound like they're from this country I don't talk to them. I hang up and call back.
I talk only to people. I do not give out my phone number or go through voice mail jail.
Quickest way to get a person is either tell them you want to buy something, cancel something, or it was lost/stolen. When you get a person on the phone go, "OH...I got the wrong thing BUT since I got you....." I don't deal with machines. Hint...if you need to call them they never put the right phone number on the computer. The right one is always on the bill!
Never settle for talking to just the person on the phone. ALWAYS get the supervisor on the phone too. I had someone tell me there wasn't one available. I said, "Really? So they gave you the keys this morning and you're the only one working there supervising everyone? No one is in charge? You're your own boss?" I got a supervisor a minute later.

I keep off of face book. I swear I am the only human I know NOT on face book. I don't tweet, hash tag, zip, zoom, and whatever else. Everyone I know who has gotten in trouble at work or had problems with identity was partially because of face book!
Let's see I know where you live, and what city/state. I know how old you are. I know if you got kids and how many and if you're married. I probably got a photo of you I saw on face book or whatever. Hmm....now how hard is it for me to make a fake i.d. and identity? Ever check Been Verified.com. Shoot I can get your complete address and phone! Then I can call the utility company, the bank, etc. and say I'm you!!! Oh and I also know what you said about your boss and his wife and your coworker and her brother and your neighbor and the hot guy at church who sits in front of you and....and...and...yeah! It's all too easy to compile someone's data and life.
Do you know you're the only people I'm "on line" with?

Like I said, technology is way too fast now. It either needs to slow down or stay where it is at and let us catch up. There is something to be said for paranoid and old school. :D

Here's our latest scams out here.
An air conditioning/heating company shows up saying I called to have something fixed on my air conditioner or the H.O.A. was sending them around and they are required to come inside and check my thermostat reading and look at my air conditioner. (If you rent they'll say landlord sent them. If you own they'll say H.O.A.) These are legitimate companies trying to sell you something. Even if they don't sell you something they still bill you for the "check up" and service call. Dave and I know better but they've zapped quite a few with it.

My other favorite has been people showing up in work clothes/uniforms saying "the city said it was required." to have them paint my address on the curb with reflective paint and stencil on my house numbers. I can choose a little design to put with the numbers (palm tree, cactus, flag, sun, AZ sports logo, etc.) This stencil is about the size of a license plate and is "supposed to go on the left side of your driveway".

Really? I didn't receive written notice prior. Do you have the work permit number? Do you have the number where I can call them? Do you have a city/state employee badge or i.d. or i.d. number? Why would the city let me choose a "design". The city would just slap the numbers on and call it a day. They wouldn't decorate it.

If the "city said" it was required to paint my address on the curb with reflective paint and pay you $40.00 for doing it with a stencil then they would have sent me a notice saying so or my H.O.A. would have. Also the city wouldn't require me to write you a check or pay you on the spot. I would get a bill. Checks would be made to "City of Casa Grande" or "Casa Grande Dept. of whatever". Get out! Scam!!!

Don't know what to tell you about freezing lemongrass since it is woodsy/grassy and water usually breaks this down into something unpleasant. Dried lemongrass is basically coriander.
I read somewhere you can melt butter snip up your herbs (dill, basil, etc.) mold it and freeze it that way and have herbed butter. I've seen that done in ice too for some things like mint but that usually goes into beverages. Not sure on the lemongrass dilemma.

Where I grew up in Ohio it was always fairly common but that was due to the large Greek and Eastern European communities. I about fell over here. Surprisingly it is very common! We raise sheep out here. Didn't know it but we do. The cotton was a shock too. We have a couple of places that gin cotton out here! There's a place that grows olives also and has an olive mill. It is tiny but it is there.
I thought for sure we'd have cattle! Nope. Sheep and a few dairy farms and cotton and cacti. They'll do alfalfa-cotton rotations a few years then let the field grow in the one year. The next there's sheep! Yep sheep! I guess they eat and fertilize and then they're back to alfalfa-cotton rotation. So getting lamb blade steaks and chops isn't hard. Leg of lamb isn't all that common but it can be had when in stock or ordered regularly. Believe it or not there is a really authentic and great Greek restaurant by my old house run by Greeks from the old country and there is a small monastery run by their orthodox church!
It is getting close to "Fall" here also. All the cacti are done blooming or what's left will very shortly. Today and tomorrow are the last two 106 days. Then for the next 10 days it is back to 103-100. I even saw a 99 in there! Time to take down the shade tents over the plants.
I have to go to the Neurologist tomorrow. No big whoop. Check up time. Just takes all damn day.
Talk to you later (Oh...and I hate Ronald Regan. Singularly destroyed the middle class.)

O.K. pic #1 Arizona cotton
pic #2 beautiful poppy I found on side of the road
pic #3 &4 SHEEP!! Yep, there they are!




This message was edited Aug 19, 2015 8:13 AM