Lily Sickles, or, Silly Lickles as one of our vicars liked to call her, was my grandma. She lived near our church and school as long as I knew her, and she was elderly as long as I knew her. Silly Lickles was in her 70’s when I grew up, and lived to be just three months shy of 100 years old! She was German but I don’t think about her being the stern and stoic–type, at least, not around me. For ten years I worked at the old folks home where she lived so I got to see her daily. Grandma’s birthday was October 9th, the same day that my niece, Alayna, has a birthday. Lily would have been 125, and Alayna just celebrated being 20.
Grandma has been on my mind for another reason besides her birthday, though. While she was pretty subdued, feeling like she was supposed to be that way, occasionally she would come out with something to make us laugh (we loved to laugh in our house, growing up…so much was funny!). Grandma used to talk about Coffer Dam, I can’t remember the whole thing, except the punch line of ‘cough her damn head off’. I am sure someone else in the family remembers the whole thing. But as I cough here at home, I think of Coffer Dam, and Grandma Sickles!
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There are some advertisements on TV that really make me chuckle, at least the first 25 times I see it. One is run by the LaQuinta Inn chain, where the guy gets such a great night’s rest at the hotel that he can actually sell ice to an Eskimo! Another guy sleeps so well that he can go to work, kick some butt and take names, as he actually goes down the hall, kicking people and grabbing their name tags! I get it!!! On the other hand, I am tired of Susie’s lemonade machine being empty. Come on, Verizon, time for a new commercial, I grow quite weary of this one!
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It sure is nice to have the sun back on my face at the desk, it seems like a week since the rain and clouds arrived. Yesterday a home inspector came to size up the damage and such from the leaks, in order to determine the source and the fix. Connie told me they think it’s a window in the 5th floor unit now being rented out. It’s not such a great problem when the leaks are ‘only’ in the river rooms or the now-enclosed porches, but when the water gets into the actual rooms and makes our power strips smoke, hiss, and singe, well, something must be done!
The guy noted the buckling paint on the wall and ceiling, detected moisture remaining, of course, in the floor and wall. I might have some remaining boards from this floor (2005-06), installed before I moved in, but Justin will have to check the storage closet to see if it’s there, and if it’s usable. Repairs, if made, would have to be done quickly now, or after Christmas as I am hostess for the Ladies’ Group Christmas party at the beginning of December.
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Justin came by after work last night to shower before we headed to Johnny Angels’ Diner for our weekly humiliation and good times. With a quick push of a button or two, he managed to get my blackened laptop monitor to illuminate again. He also showed me how to click and drag my Word document from one monitor to the other so now I have two active monitors in front of me! “Ground Control to Agent Tom….” Or, “Houston, we have a problem…”
