Y'all are so nice to me, and you have been so nice to me for so long. I am deeply grateful. I really appreciated hearing that you have had similar experiences with loved pets and loved people. I would really love to hear more. Please write to me at jimchaney@cableone.net One of my wonderful nieces had the same suggestion of getting a new kitty, and when I arrived back at the house a few days ago, my niece, who has a doorkey, told me to close the front door quickly. I asked why, and she pointed to a doorway, where I saw this little black streak running through the den and then the connecting living room. My niece had called the "pound" in five counties to find a cat that looked like Abigail. She went 50 miles to get my kitty, who is black with white on her throat and part of her belly. I named her Esmerelda and call her "Izzy." Izzy is a nine week old darling ball of black fluff who sleeps on my chest when I am in bed, except when I turn over onto my tummy and then she sleeps on my butt. And purrs. Funny sensation, the sense of whirring in your butt. The last two days I've been studying for an exam-12 hours a day, and Iz sleeps on my tummy except when that cute black furry face looks over the top of my book at me or gnaws on the edge of the book. Iz is what the term "beautiful cat" is all about. I've been at the computer for about an hour and in that time she has managed to turn over the trash can, run through the house many times, has snuggled up to my feet, looked up many time with an "Isn't it time to play?" look, and is driving her 7 year old thirteen pound stepbrother Tupelo to distraction. Tupelo jumps up on the desk to get away from her and then sits on the scanner. He's now licking his left front paw while he stands up. Tupelo is very patient and usually gives me 5 minutes before he throws the papers off the scanner so he can lie down. Cats are hilarious. Please let me hear from you. Jim

We went to the movies last night and I packed myself some carrot stick and hummus and a big bottle of water, instead of splurging on a bucket of popcorn and diet soda. You know what, I didn't even miss it. But I will admit to buying a package of peanut M&Ms, but I only had them after the carrots, and I only had 10. :-) I'm still hovering around 27 lbs of weight loss. Still working on the last few pounds. I fell off the exercise bandwagon last week, but I going to get back on it this week.

Like many of you, we bought a new LG fridge in Dec 2024, LF29H8330S. Water and ice totally undrinkable due to plastic/chemical taste. I pulled the water filter and could tell it was bone dry (it was very light). Reinstalled it so it was fully seated (you should hear the water rush into it). Another way to tell if your filter isn't fully installed: the water pressure coming out of the dispenser was really high, a real jet. Back to normal after the filter was back in the loop. So the water tasted much better...for about a day, and then it started to get progressively worse. The ACTUAL cause of our problem was... ...the mandatory new hose that (Home Depot in our case) sold us with the fridge! 12ft section, p/n M932-12 "Upgraded Water Line". I could tell immediately when I disconnected it that it was the cause--- you could smell it. Likely poorly-cured polymer tubing inside the braided hose. I had kept the old hose just in case, so when I swapped it out, OUR PROBLEM WAS SOLVED FOR GOOD. So, don't let anyone tell you your home plumbing is the problem if the water tastes fine coming out of every other faucet in your house! Our water quality is great, so I knew it was happening somewhere beyond the wall valve. Just glad I didn't have to replace the water tank or tubing inside the fridge. It's brand new, fer cryin' out loud. PS. Funny ending, when I returned the defective hose, the young gent at the return desk had taken a couple of sniffs at my suggestion, and before I left he was sneezing and almost gagging. You do NOT want your drinking water going thru this hose!

I'll give you an example of what happened to us. New home to us needed expert, specialized work on a metal roof. We identified a contractor who was capable of doing the work. We started calling. No response. My DH decided to make it a project. He called everyday for two weeks leaving a message. No response. After two weeks, Eureka. The Contractor called. He said that he had been out of town on a job. At some point while out of town, he stopped receiving messages on his phone. He couldn't straighten it out until he got back home. Once he got back home, he was able to access his messages. We were the first people he called. He said he admired our persistence. The point is, he was the right contractor for the job. He was a one man office. His technology failed him. He did a great job for us. Rural contractors work in areas where cell phone service and messaging can be spotty. Keep trying. Don't be shy. They've got more work than they want and not enough hours in the day. Once you get hooked up with a good contractor, all of the other doors will open.