Ball Drone

 We got a new toy, a small ball drone, consisting of a wire mesh ball encircling 4 tiny propellors.After reading the manual, charged it as instructed until the light was fully green. I pushed the button, raised and lowered it quickly three times, and it buzzed to life.  Gently tossing it upwards, it ascended higher than expected, dropped a foot, then lifted.  It shot off to the side rapidly when Larry reached for it. 

Operating this was going to be tricky. Clearly it responds, but we are unsure if it had sensors or if it did, what the sensors reacted to.

After experimenting with how to manipulate its direction, we were able to play back and forth. Then the dogs discovered it! Good thing they are little dogs!  They bounced excitedly beneath it. It would fly off in an opposite direction depending on which side they jumped under it. When the drone hit a wall it would bounce off or bounce along for a distance.

 However, it could only stay airborne for minutes, ten at most.  It was great fun and a distrating break in the day's routine for the dogs.  After a few months, the drone didn't want to hold a charge and fly time dropped significantly.  It was a cool toy and a good start for future toy designs.

Fly in the Ointment: Thanksgiving Dinner 2025

 Fly in the ointment: We had a relaxed Thanksgiving. Turkey, dressing, gravy, yams, potatoes... golden sauted, mashed, and potato salad, an assortment of veggies... carrots, celery, jicama, and green onions, and pumpkin pie with homemade whipped cream. 😋The issue came when I went to plate them.

I used a creamer for the gravy, since that was right size for the amount of gravy we might use. Each time I reach for that creamer, I am reminded of its twin that was stolen many years ago. It miraculously returned after I mentioned the loss. However, an extra stoneware gravy boat I had disappeared and never returned, as did cut crystal salt and pepper shakers and silver plated ladle given to me for my wedding. I brushed the thought aside and continued with the preparations. Gaslighting and theft from our home has been a major issue since we moved to San Diego. ​😖

When I retrieved my carefully packed away, vintage, veggie platter, I discovered that three curved container sections and their tops had been taken, leaving the center bowl and one container with a discolored and badly cracked lid atop the platter tray beneath its clear plastic cover.☹️

I recalled seeing curved sections with lids at my son's house. My son said his wife had 3 curved containers with lids. How coincidental that I am missing 3. 🤔 I asked if she hadn't had four. He said she'd had one that the top was damaged and discolored, but she must have gotten rid of it, since he hadn't seen it in a while.

As I pulled my placemats from the sideboard, I discovered a missing special Thanksgiving placemat that I made specially for heated items to sit on.😧 It's thicker than the placemats in the photo with the same fabric.

My hope is that by posting about items I discover missing it will explain to people how gaslighting-theft works, what's been going on for the past 15 years at my house, and raise awareness of this growing crime. In talking to other seniors, a few are experiencing similar incidents, while people in their lives tell them it is in their imagination.☹️

Sometimes it might be, but this is not. Having been legally blind until the end of 8th grade, I learned a lifelong habit to keep parts of things together. Otherwise I would struggle to find them.

I now have a witness who can verify things "magically" being damaged or disappearing.😊 I also hope to jar something loose in my son's memory.

In the meantime, I am thankful for regaining purpose and happiness, inspite of the major losses of both family and property.
I am pursuing starting a non-profit that I was about to file just prior to Covid to help catastrophically disabled people enjoy their lives. 🤗
I have dear friends I love and care about and am back to playing games and laughing.😄

74th Birthday Disappointing Meal at Denny's

 My 74th birthday brought a lot of love from friends and acquired family, for which I am ever so grateful, and fun with my dear friend Larry as we went shopping for Thanksgiving!

To my surprise, I received a beautiful globe of flowers from Anthony, and from Andrea a beautifulbox of handmade biscotti, a gourmet gift box of sausage, cheese, crackers, condiments, chocolate hazelnut cream-filled wafers, and nuts! 💝

Larry, so sweet, gave me an Echo Show, a Hula hoe (which I desperately wanted), and a lovely poinsetta and pansy pot.💕The night before, I'd gone out to check the gate in the dark of night with a flashlight, but was focused on skirting by the azelea, any spiders on the fence, and the gate lock, so didn't look down. Larry thought I'd seen the flowers, that he'd set to the side of the gate, so he brought them in early for my birthday.

A fly in the ointment made my birthday dinner memorable... we went to Denny's, which I used to completely enjoy. It had been our go-to for decades across the country.

It was the first time we'd encountered blatant false advertising at their restaurant that previously had good food. I ordered nachos that are NOT in my diet, but had been one of my favorites in decades past. What came had lots of chips, no meat, and $2 extra for a few thin semi-slices of avocado, although the menu description and photo (on left) clearly shows ground beef mounded on chips. ☹️

I asked the waitress and manager who both confirmed they use "meat sauce," not ground beef and that it was extremely popular.😲

I started to eat it, but it was soupy, like gravy on chips, not like nachos. Quickly the chips became soggy. It was such a bad dish that I had to laugh. This would be one of the most memorable meal disasters I'd experienced. 🫤

I can't imagine that Denny's would put a deceptive plate on the menu. 🤔 My suspicions kicked in for the cause of such disparity between the described and served plate and how many other people had been duped the by meat sauce instead of ground beef? Was someone at this particular Denny's skimming the food budget to produce a lower grade plate than Denny's had carefully make with cost restraints?

Another difference from years ago was the manager removed the cost of my meal from our bill, since I ate very little, but offered no compensation. While I would have graciously declined such an offer, I was surprised that they think that the fact that they ruined a birthday celebration didn't deserve a profound apology. But, that's another blog... How to Apologize.😉