All's well

 All's well here.

It rained over an inch on Wednesday (didn't have to run sprinklers).

It is quiet.

Mowed front yard this morning.  Bought a new battery for mower.  It was an amazing new battery. 

Weed Et the front sidewalk.  Used the weed eater that I bought for my wife years back - battery powered.  it did a fairly good job but is made for shorter-than-me people.  Next time I will use my gas machine, known locally as the Terminator.  it is so much better; but, it weighs so much more.  I cannot weed eat the front and back in one day.  Maybe if I take some Geritol.

10 days till the wife turns 84.   I call it  83 and 11/12ths and 3/4ths.   There is a certain age that you list your age as 83 and a half.  83 and three quarters.  Sorta like when you were a kid and you were 2 1/2  not just 2.  

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I know why.  I'll ask anyway.  Why do charities keep sending me stuff.  I'm not rich.  I might send a couple of bucks to some place.  I cannot afford to support every charity that finds my name, which, of course, brings up the question.  How did they get my name?

I know how.  Let's suppose that I give $50 to charity A.  They turn around and sell their donor list to charity B.  Charity B sends me a dun. If I send money to  B, I won't have money to send to  A.  Isn't that how it works.  I suppose they are making more money off selling the list than I give them.  I suppose.

Years ago, a friend of mine taught band at Boys Ranch near Amarillo.  I was teaching and had a bit of cash.  So, at Christmas time, I sent a donation to Boys Ranch (near Amarillo).  Within 2 months I was getting requests from 5 different  groups like them.  There is a boys ranch in Nebraska, a girls thing in the Panhandle, an Indian group up in the Dakotas . . .  So, I quit sending to all of them.  Save my money.  

It would be nice to be able to support the whole World.  When I had monetary problems back in the 80s, nobody show up at my door to help out.  I just worked a little harder.  I don't spend my money on cigarettes and booze.  Nowadays, I do get some diet cokes though.

About 3 - maybe 4 - years ago, I sent $50 to Alzheimer's charity.  I have my reasons.  Immediately, I began to receive request for more.  Some days I would get 3 Alzheimers requests on the same day.  It was relentless.  Flood of mail.   After a spell I started keeping track of their requests.  Using regular postage rates, they soon spent more than $50 writing letters to me.  I don't get it.  Finally, I wrote them and explained why I was not sending them any more money - instead I was just going to give the $50 to the US post office and eliminated the middle man.

It didn't faze them.  The mail continues to this day.  Go figure.  Yesterday I got a grocery type bag from a group supporting some aspect of the military world.  That's nice.  I just don't have the extra cash to support everyone.

I use to pack up the Christmas cards - and other greeting cards - that came here.  Then, I would drop them off with my extra magazines at a certain home for old, poor people.  I was told they were thrilled to get them.  I don't know.  

nuff, see ya, m