Scam calls -- how to easily get sucked in

You are all too funny, but the bottom line is that you catch more or accomplish more with sugar than with being rude. It's not sucking up in the least, but simply respect. If I could change one thing in the world, it would be for everyone to have more respect for everything, not just people, but property, the earth, animals, and each other. 

Well, it was an interesting day, and as usual, when you ask if there is anything that needs fixing or doing, the answer is no. Then, as the day rolls on, OH MY --- the little niggly things come out of the woodwork. The wheels on the wheelchair don't turn as well as they should. I have clothes that I don't want, etc. (Dad). And as Margareta mentioned in her book, try to ask what they want/can get rid of now, since they no longer use it. 

Case in point, my Mom only wears a caftan these days as it's much easier to get dressed. No problem, but what to do about ALL the clothes she has? Can we look at getting rid of them? Her response? "I don't know what to do with them!" Sigh. Then I have the conversation that that is why I'm asking, because I can find a home for them. Then she insists that she has to sort them. Why? You will never wear them again. If it makes you more comfortable, keep a pair of pants and a couple of tops, but you do NOT need all this crap. 

So then we have the discussion that, as they are getting older (they are both in their 90s), and that one day, they will likely be downsized to a room in a nursing home, someone will have to clean out the apartment. That someone will NOT be either of the brothers, but it will be me. And I'd like to remove what I can so I don't have too much to do later. Thankfully, it's not as bad as the two houses were, but still a lot of crap. Trust me—I will get a dumpster—just because! It's a long story, and I won't go there - at least not publicly.  

I hope that got the light bulbs working and that she has time to sort through some stuff while I'm here. But gosh, it's frustrating as all get out that she needs to keep stuff that she will never wear. I'll bet most of it has never been worn!!! It's a challenge, and there is lots of other stuff in that place that I'd love to get my hands on and out the door, but Rome wasn't built in a day, and I'll just have to be patient and try to do what I can. At least no more stuff is coming in, and that's a good thing. 

Hmmm—maybe it's a good thing my Dad is so averse to shopping for anything. I just hate to see him struggle when all he needs is a good lamp over his desk. I must remember to get one for him today. It's not even a money issue—they can afford a new lamp. The same with my Mom, who says she doesn't read in the winter because she doesn't have a lamp near her chair. Well, that is easy enough to fix, except if I put one behind her chair, she won't be able to reach it. Sigh............ Yes—I could get an Alexa, but that is not going to happen. If something goes wrong? I don't want to deal with that. 

I do have one question, and if someone knows the answer, I'd love to hear. Whenever I come out, I check the finances to make sure that everything is set up so their bills continue to be paid, and they have enough to cover their expenses. It doesn't take long, and I go through it with Dad every time and explain it to him, but I don't think he gets it. That's OK. I get the satisfaction of knowing that it's been done. 

But can you tell me why what you see online for the credit card is never the true balance? It's so frustrating for him, and he gets worried that he'll go over his limit. I checked how much he spends each month, and he has plenty of room, but the online statement doesn't update, so he gets worried. Credit card people—are you listening? Get that information up to date!!!!! 

I hate not having access to his banker and accountant, but that's OK. I know -- POA, but it's not going to happen. It's set up for something different. No big deal - I just write emails from his account. I know they will know it wasn't Dad who wrote the email, but I'm not asking to withdraw either. Just questions. 

But this is how quickly things can go wrong with phone calls. Dad and I were sitting at the computer last night, and the phone rang - UNKNOWN caller. Personally, I would NOT have answered the phone, but my parents are compelled to answer the damn thing. They are getting better, especially my Mom, but Dad decided to answer. At first, I thought he knew the person because he was starting down a very friendly conversation. The next thing I knew, Dad was telling him what we had for supper (dinner in city terms), and I heard Mom on the extension even say what kind of soup we had. 

So it has to be someone they know - right? Then Dad holds up the phone to my ear, and I realize that someone is going through a script. I didn't catch on right away, but then I took the phone, said, "No, thank you," and hung up. They mentioned "police" at the beginning of the call, and my Dad, trying to be Mr. helpful, thought it was something he needed to be part of. While it may have been one of the fundraising police things, we wanted no part of it. I shall have a conversation today about answering calls from unknown numbers. They will call back if it's important, and the time of day matters too. If it were a medical appointment, they most likely would not be calling in the evening. They are also not expecting any calls for medical appointments. 

Dad would never consider saying, No, thank you and hanging up. He gets confused and is not sure what to do. That would be a lack of respect, but getting a call asking for money, and even going through that initial part where they very quickly chatted him up, is not respectful. They knew they had a live one on the end of the phone and were going to milk it. He needs to just say NO and hang up. 

Enough about that; I have to share my adventure from the day before with you. I have a little routine when I arrive in Saskatoon, and I always plan the arrival for a day when shops are open. How silly of me, since I don't need anything and usually have zero room to take anything home. But this time I have that larger suitcase because I brought the quilt with me. 

I stopped at The Sewing Machine Store to chat with the ladies. They were extremely busy when I arrived, so I picked up two spools of thread and a package on the Pony Express. 

The Pony Express pickup

Then I was off to McNally Robinson bookstore. But not before I noticed there was a wool shop in the same plaza as the sewing machine store. Hmmm --- should I stop? No!!

I love the bookstore as there are always quilts on display from the Saskatoon Quilters' Guild. Here is one of them. Circles made from scraps!!!! This is a very good guild and has one of the best quilt shows around. 

Scrap quilt

Oh my --- they have a very large jigsaw puzzle section. 

Jigsaw puzzles

Jigsaw puzzles

More puzzles and games

Have you noticed that jigsaw puzzles these days are no longer photographs of beautiful scenery? Well, some are, but there is a new style—hand-drawn images with loads of crazy things on them. Donuts!!!! I did not buy this one. 

A donut puzzle

They had some beautiful ones, and OK, I confess, I bought one. I know --- your mind immediately went to my mother -- didn't it? Well, I do the puzzles, and then I give them away. I have NO puzzles in my collection that I have completed. I finish and donate. As I wind down the freelance gigs I've been taking on, I'll be spending more time on the puzzles. I have one on the go at this moment at home. So yes—I should stop buying them, but I'm working on them. 

I think they have every EXIT Game there is. That is a whole lot of them all in one place, which is pretty impressive. I didn't buy any, as we still have a lot at home and don't get much time these days. I do, but DH has a new role, and he seems to be working all the time. So I'm going to have to force him to take a break and do the puzzle with me, and then he can go back to work. We haven't even done the 2025 Advent Calendar. 

EXIT Games

Then, when I was on my way from the bookstore to the thrift store, I decided to stop back at The Sewing Machine store to see if they were no longer busy, and I might just stop at the yarn shop. 

OH MY --- the outside of the yarn shop (Prairie Lily Knitting) was very deceiving. What an amazing place, and I could have stayed for hours looking at all the neat things. I'm not a knitter per se, but I know how to knit and crochet, and I love wool!! or yarn, string, or whatever you want to call it. 

Inside the knitting shop

I was looking for roving, and I hit the jackpot!!!! She had six boxes of roving, and each one had 20 different colors. I would have loved to just take one of everything, please!!!!! It was reasonably priced as well. What a find!!!!

One of six boxes of colored roving

And they had these teeny balls of yarn for amigurumi crochet. Very cute, but not my thing, so I didn't buy any of that. I got my visit in, and then I was on to the last stop - the thrift shop. The same one we have at home. 

Teeny balls of yarn

OH MY --- I found THREE puzzles from my favorite brand, and they're $3 less here than what I pay at home. One of them did not have a picture, so it was even cheaper. And it happened to be seniors' day, so I got three 1000-piece puzzles for just over $10, including tax. I couldn't leave that on the shelf, especially since I have room in that large suitcase and need to fill it back up!

Three new puzzles from the thrift store

Do not yell at me for that --- I love these and will be getting to work on that puzzle when I get home. Once it's done, it goes in the donation box. I know I said that the closet is full, and it is. I need to reorganize the shelves because I'm sure I can find room. Or I'll just need to work faster. I think that one without the photo is going to be quite the challenge, and maybe I already have it. No worries -- it cost practically nothing. So says the puzzle hoarder!

So lots happened yesterday, but I'll save that for another day because today could be a boring day, and what would I have to chat about?

I don't know if you are like me, but I have everything neatly contained in my backpack and suitcase when I travel. The fewer things to keep track of, the better. But the moment I get in the car, things are everywhere! I'm slowly bringing it into the hotel room and repacking the suitcase as I finish something, like the shopping. I also had a lot to deliver while I was here, and I hope to make the last delivery today. 

I did bring a puzzle and donated it to the two people who do puzzles at the apartment. I haven't seen the fellow I always chat with, but as I was leaving last night, a group of ladies was playing a game in the common room, and they asked if I wanted to join them. I was tired, or I might have. They were all learning. But what fun to live in a place like that, where you could have fun nights out and not even need a jacket. It's a shame that my Mom doesn't want to be part of that, but that's her choice. My parents lucked out to find a very nice place to live. I just hope they can remain there for several more years. 

Did you watch the Artemis II blast off yesterday? My Mom and I watched it, and it was so reminiscent of the 1969 moon landing! I don't remember the blast-off of that rocket, but we all stood around the black-and-white TV in our living room and watched, Neil say, "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." It was a memory to be sure!! Amazing how after 57 years, that quote never left my brain! 

And we are watching the Men's curling. How is it that Norway won so many gold medals at the Olympics, and their curling team hasn't even won one game? That doesn't make sense. 

Anyway, it's time to go. 

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!

On saying no to addictions

Someone asked for a side-by-side comparison of the Visual To Do list --- January 1 and now. Let's wait until the end of this month, and then I'll share it with you! That list watches me, and I watch it!! A few things on the list are almost done and just waiting for a label or a phone call, so I'm going to wait to share them with you! But all is good!!!

Something extremely unusual happened yesterday, and it was absolutely wild and pure luck. A bag of items was on the Pony Express, and it was my job to pass it along. The weather was amazing yesterday, and I called the person before leaving for my walk and asked if she was home. Yep -- she was home. I grabbed the bag, and I was off. 

We had a wonderful chat about lots of things, since we have a lot in common. We chatted about what to do with all the extra quilts that we own, and she showed me her closet. Oh wow—every quilter has a closet like that. But WAIT -- one immediately caught my eye. I spotted a particular fabric on one quilt and asked if she had any more of it. Turns out it was a quilt top that she no longer wanted, and it is perfect for something I need. So I am going to work out an arrangement with her, and I get something that I "need," and she gets rid of a quilt top she no longer wants. 

Hey -- if more of that happened, I bet none of us would ever have to sew again! Anyway, it was the right time, the right conversation, and a win-win for both of us. I'll share the quilt at a later date. 

In case you are wondering how I can control my addictive self from working on the jigsaw puzzle when I'm supposed to be working, it's easy! I have self-control and lots of it. I also have patience and perseverance. And I have a Visual To-Do list that will scream its head off if I work on the puzzle when I'm not supposed to. 

I simply put the puzzle piece boards on top of it and the box, and let it sit. I'm not even tempted because I use it as a reward at the end of a day, regardless of how good or bad the day was. You know what? It works well. I am loving those puzzle boards—sheets of foam core with a layer of felt. My mini design boards for quilting, and since I have four of them, I can spare them now and again! I'm almost down to ONE board with puzzle pieces on it!

The puzzle is "put away" during the day.

This is the state of the puzzle as of last night. I'm making pretty good progress, and I should be able to get that done by the end of this month. It's working out so well, I might just keep one puzzle set up in that spot, and when I have a free evening, I can work on it. My evening is for reading a physical book, so I may have to split my time between the two. 

Progress on the green jigsaw puzzle

While I'm liking The Kitchen House (audiobook), I NEED this book to end. There is so much pain and sorrow, and I just want revenge!!! I'm also very aware that what is happening in this book is real. This book is fiction, but the events in the book were very common. Why the heck can't people just talk to each other? So much of what happened was because of a lack of communication. OK -- that's not true since it's based on the actions of the "superior" white man, but they could have done something. At least by talking, they could have saved themselves a lot of despair. 

I did a bad thing, and I think we have no more fish in our pond. It was super warm yesterday, and not a single one has come to the surface. The bubbler died, and I thought that keeping the pond open with the heater would be enough. It was not. Of course, DH told me to get a new one, and I did not. But it might be a good time to do a deep clean in the pond. It's very full of plant debris. 

But as I was doing some cleaning in the backyard, Miss Murphy found a ball that had been in the pond all winter and was waiting patiently for me to get the net to fish it out for her. It's a bit messy for us to play ball right now, and I hope to get out there and clean up a bit more this afternoon. 

Waiting patiently for me to rescue her ball

I had the embroidery machine working, but you'll have to wait until Wednesday to see it during my Facebook Live on felting with an embroidery machine. Everything about me is about learning! And while I'm making samples, I'm learning a ton!!

I have half of that large quilt done and will finish it later today as well. 

I also need to finish reading Smart Nation by 6:50 PM tomorrow, but that shouldn't be a problem. I'll focus on that this afternoon. 

But here's another interesting way to look at our smartphone use. The author is NOT condoning the use of smartphones for adults or children. Her emphasis is on how we use the phone. 

Case in point: a youth may need a phone for safety reasons—maps to get to school, checking the bus route, staying in touch with parents, class schedules, or whatever. There is nothing wrong with that. The same for adults: there is much we can do on our smartphones, perhaps too much, because there's an app for everything. 

And in the past, smartphone use was judged by how much time you spent on them. I only spent 10 minutes; I'm better than you, who spent 1 hour, but what did I watch or do with the phone in those ten minutes? You can't judge someone by how much time they spend, but by what they do in that time. 

An example in the book is of two children who get ONE HOUR of screen time a day. One watches children's TV with a parent and discusses what the child is watching. The other has headphones on and is watching a kids' YouTube channel on an iPad. The kid watching on the iPad gets bored, starts surfing, and ends up watching some horrible things, while the one watching TV has a great conversation with a parent about what they watched. 

Hmmm -- it's not hard to see which one got more use of their one hour of screen time. 

Here are some things you can check so you don't become addicted to your smartphone:

• Be ACTIVE, not PASSIVE, when using your phone. Watch content that encourages creativity and discussion to support brain engagement, learning, and communication skills. DH keeps insisting that he doesn't watch YouTube, but YouTube is a very educational tool when used wisely! 
• Communicate with other family members about their social media engagement. 
• Quality of Content. Is what you are watching of quality, or is it just a time-waster? 
• Remember that NOTHING on social media is regulated, whereas TV is. 

The whole thing is really an eye-opener into the use of a smartphone. Thankfully, I use my phone actively for almost everything I do. I did get caught up in reels, but now I don't. How do I do that? In the same way, I don't get tempted to buy candy when I'm at the grocery store. It's like an alcoholic who sees booze and knows that if they touch it, they are gone. You want it, you feel you need it, but you just say NO. And before you know it, you've moved on. How can one do that? Well, the benefits of saying NO are that you don't feel guilty, you don't need/want to restart your addiction, and there are no consequences. 

I know -- you think that I am depriving myself of stuff. I am not. I can't eat candy because I'm addicted to sugar, and I know what it does to my body. So while I still eat sugar through lots of foods, I do NOT buy a bag of candy because I can't stop eating it. If it's not in the house, I'm good. 

It's like not touching the puzzle during the day. I know that I will be in trouble time-wise, and I have set aside a specific time to work on it. I look forward to that evening, so I'm not depriving myself of anything. I have a small amount of chocolate every day because I love it, but I don't need more than my two little squares. It's not hard to say no - just listen to your body, your heart, and your mind. You decide what you want to do. 


And if you are still not convinced about the cell phone thing, read this story about Molly Russell. Oh my—I see a documentary was made about her. It's a true and very sad story about the damage of social media and the eventual suicide of a teenager. 

Still not convinced? I see that Meta (Facebook and Instagram, owned by Mark Zuckerberg) is being sued over its algorithms. This is just one lawsuit, but I think there are multiple ones. 

Do your part—if you have young children or grandchildren, encourage them to share what they are watching online. Encourage them to learn about the QUALITY of what they are watching. Encourage them to get physical exercise or do things with their hands, rather than just focusing on screens. And set a good example by NOT being on your phone the entire time you are with them. 

Go to an event and put your phone in your pocket. Apparently Coldplay is famous for bringing this to people's atention at their concerts. OH MY GOSH --- watch this video. It's 8 minutes, but look at the bottom of the screen at the beginning. It's OBSCENE!!!!

On that note, I'm out of here. Time went back last night, but with all the electronics, including our smartphones, we should never sleep in!! I have two great presentations to share this morning, and then I can share some of this stuff with you!! I love putting presentations together—I do a lot of research through my photos and online, and I hope they all like what I did!

Have a super day!!

Ciao!!