What are you doing today?

[LovelyLadyLux]

As to Jury Duty - if they ask me again in another 60 yrs I'll be fully prepared to take my turn again!

As a piece of trivia - we actually have very few jury trials here compared to our neighbor in the south where a jury can be empaneled for a traffic ticket. Usually here to have a Jury trial means the issue is a big one. This one was a shooting (but that is all the Sheriffs said).

Today I'm watching the granddaughter for a while this morning as my daughter is taking the twins to have their eyes checked. Since school started the youngest has complained of a couple headaches (which was quite sudden and also quite out of character). They're both reading lots.

Interestingly (and maybe I talked about this before) I started a game with them whereby I'd give them $1/book read up to 100 books. Every time they finish 5 I give them $5 and between the daughter and I we've set up other prizes at random points to keep the reading going. And the reading had to be a chapter book.

They like reading anyway and their reading is quite advanced but NOW that they've passed the 75 book mark and have realized what $100 can buy them each (the latest greatest something related to Star Wars) the Issue at home is "turn the light out and go to sleep" as they can literally taste the $100 burning a hole in their literal pocket and are reading through books as fast as they can! The light at the end of the tunnel is now burning bright and they're wearing their little fingers down turning pages. They get to read for 45 minutes before they have to go to sleep each night (but they're also reading during the day too) and sometimes it is hard to get them to stop reading The argument with the youngest twin is to get him to stop reading encyclopedias. He professes minimal interest in 'stories' and is preferring to just acquire straight knowledge. Guess he is practicing to stake his financial claim via winning Jeopardy!

[Horus]

Great idea to get the kids interested in reading and I am sure that intellectually they will reap far more in the future from their learning than your initial $100 outlay could have purchased for them in any other way.

[Ruby Slippers]

My grandaughter is such an avid reader that we bought her a Kindle Paperwhite for her birthday last year, and her Mum has set up an Amazon account for her. Her birthday list this year included Amazon vouchers, although she also reads a lot of 'print' books as well. This pleases me no end as both I and her Mum read a lot too. She's 9 now and also knows the value of money and what it can buy. Her other grandparents bought her a Segway for her birthday and she loves that but not at the expense of her reading.

[Horus]

Sounds like a good compromise, some fun and some learning

[LovelyLadyLux]

Today I out and about to the store seeing what was 'on sale' re: dishwashers. I have a dishwasher but it is now 10 yrs old and is a lower end model and and and before it actually breaks or worse LEAKS I want to replace it. It came with the house and may never ever leak but I don't want the worry or hassle so since dishwashers were on sale today I went to look. Then went to Dami Sushi for lunch (salmon avocado sushi + tea). I could sit there and chow down all day on their sushi.

Now I'm home, having a cuppa, going to research the reviews and ratings on the couple of dishwashers I saw and liked (Bosch is my fav)

[Horus]

Bosch is good

[LovelyLadyLux]

@H - Agreed

[Grandad]

As far as tablets are concerned, I have been using two, both rather ancient. A 10 inch Archos and a 7inch Samsung. They are both slow and I thought it is time to get a new one. My wife has a 9.7iPad but I don't need one of those because most of my work is on the desktop Lenova. I bought a Kindle Fire HD 10 and so far after just a few.hours O think it is good value for money. It is 32gb but I will expand to 64. And Alexa is 'hands free'.

[Horus]

Nice purchase Grandad

[LovelyLadyLux]

I have a Kindle Fire and wouldn't be without one. Love it. Mine has 32 GB and is expandable but I've never expanded it. Been thinking about it though.

Today I went to pottery and will show you my latest and greatest efforts soon. Then I had a group of the ladies over so we could put together the Craft Boxes that we donate to the local domestic violence shelter for the kids there. I've been collecting "stuff" (craft supplies) for months now and really wanted it all into the 30 plastic shoe boxes and outta here. Wolfed down supper and went out with the daughter to the one local Thrift Shop that is open evenings as she wanted company whilst looking for a Pirates costume for herself for Hallowe'en as the twins and granddaughter are all going out Trick or Treating as Pirates this year.

Turns out today was a LONG one. Now am just reading emails, posting on here with a cuppa and thinking if I will have a hot bath before jumping into bed.

[Grandad]

Oh well, that was short lived. I had a 16gb card in the Samsung so I thought I would put it in the Fire so as not to forget and leave it in the Samsung. Then a problem. There is a fault with the micro SD slot and it will not retain the card so I have done a return and will post back in the morning. I have asked for a refund and will think about getting a replacement later. So back to the Archos and Samsung just for now.....

[Horus]

Grandad, not saying you have not done it correctly, but ..... those Micro cards are notoriously difficult to fit at times. It is very easy to insert them upside down, they usually have a small ridge on them that will be uppermost to the device when fitted, also you often have to press them home with a fingernail in order to get them all the way in until they 'lock' other wise they keep popping back our again.

Edit: Grandad even if the card slot is faulty I don't see that as a good enough reason not to just request a replacement, a fault like that is quite rare especially with Amazon stuff which is quite well made.

[LovelyLadyLux]

My Kindle Fire hasn't given 1 second of a problem. They're TERRIFIC! I'm sure if you got another one you'd love it and (I think) you can buy them from Amazon with extra memory in them. You can here. Here you can buy them with 16, 32 or 64 gb in them. I have a 32 gb and it just flies along.

[Grandad]

The standard Fire here is 32gb LLL. It was fine but if it will not retain a micro SD expansion card it has a fault IMO. It has gone back and I may re-order but not right now for good reason that I will divulge later.

As for today, flu jab at the docs this morning and a few shopping calls then little else. We have some very warm (for the season) weather forecast this weekend. Could be into the low twenties, and I only stored the loungers a couple of weeks ago.

[Horus]

Had my Flu jab on Thursday Grandad along with one for Shingles, when I asked about having the Pneumonia vaccine as well the receptionist said “I will need to check as we only have four doses left” “Well I only want one of them” was my reply, in any event it seems that I already had it back in the year 2000. No after effects, but my right arm (the Shingles jab) does ache a bit this morning and feels a bit bruised around that area, so it looks to be working. They are always telling us that we should get the Flu jab to stay well, but they do seem to be expecting a particularly virulent version to hit the UK this year.

[Mad Dilys]

I had no vaccinations as a child, as I was too fragile.

I had Shingles, unfortunately before a vaccine was available on the other hand I don't have a great history with vaccinations.

As an adult I have had the flu jab every year and get one bout of flu a few weeks later, I had the pneumonia jab and have had 3 or 4 bouts of pneumonia since, I had the typhoid vaccination and got typhoid, I was given 6 jabs against tetanus in 18 months following dog bites when working in Quarantine kennels and now I'm very allergic and couldn't have the full course of cover the Dr said I was more at risk from having more injections than getting Tetanus while gardening!

[Horus]

Ah but the flue jab protects you against the really nasty versions, it does not say that you will not get 'ordinary' flu

[Mad Dilys]

As a nurse my mother had to have cover against TB. They would regularly test her to see if she had resistance - she had none so she was then given an anti TB injection ................... and her next test showed she had no resistance, again and again. Odd.

[Horus]

Obviously she did not make any antibodies that most vaccinations are meant to trigger.

[Mad Dilys]

Exactly, but why?