Wow, I see Rapid City has gone urban.

Reminds me of the urban cowboy's refrain, "Home, Home, on the out-of-range."


Looks promising.

Trailmix has already heard all this but my sister-in-law has two. (Damn. Wish I'd kept that email. Wouldn't have to rewrite it here. LOL) She gave one to her daughter who moved to Korea, and she has one for herself. When we go to my in-laws for family gatherings, she plugs the jack into the computer, plugs the phone into the jack, and we all get to talk to Antonia for free. (Either Sharon calls her, or she calls Sharon.) The thing is awesome. I have no idea why I haven't ordered one yet.

So far I have called my Sister in nebbie and my Mom in Canada - works like a charm!

Few things to consider:

1. The area codes you have to choose from, when you choose your number, may not be local, for instance ours is for Dade County - not really near. Could be an issue if it is your primary phone and you have people calling you locally.

2. Call display - displays the number on the comp monitor rather than on your phone - not a big issue really.

I haven't set up the voice mail yet, but will report back in with my findings!!

Voice mail set up - cool.

Had lovely chat today with guy at Canadian customs. Why am I not emigrating to Canada? Seriously. So nice, answered my questions, and gave me advice at the same time.

If only USCIS were that nice....

Well, I am smiling today:-) Earlier this afternoon I saw my first hummingbird of the season! It was hovering around the flowers on the rosemary bush at the back window, exciting the cats who were in crouch stalk position, their ears lowered sideways and making that chittering noise they make with their teeth. Of course, by the time I got my camera out he had flitted away. Still, it is good to know they are back, so I went and put the hummingbird feeder out again. And - our iris are blooming! We have a friend in Missouri who used to breed, show and sell iris professionally. A few years ago she started to cut back on her beds due to getting older and not being able to look after them all properly. She offered rhizomes to friends who would give them good homes and we took 100. They didn't bloom well the first year but last year was spectacular and this year they are doing even better! The smallest patch is in the front garden - all purple "Dusky Challengers" although 3 "Orange Popsicles" sneaked in too. There are currently 36 blooms either in blossom or about to blossom there. Out back along the left edge of the hill there are 160 blooms either in blossom or about to blossom - mixed colours of burgundy, pale blue, lavender, yellow, gold, violet tinged with purple and white. Over on the far right is a smaller patch mainly white and yellow and pale mauve with 103 blooms in blossom or about to blossom. It felt delightful out there tonight filling up the bird feeders and seeing these gorgeous flowers! And, one of the yucca plants in our dessert type hill garden is also about to bloom. What really is nice is that when I moved here it was just a barren, rivuleted, ugly clay hill where only weeds and kudzu grew. Slowly, we are making progress in reclaiming it:-). Tonight was one of those nights I just wanted to smile looking at it all:-).

I'm partial to lilies myself but I know a bit about irises. Are they bearded, crested or beardless? Dusky Challenger and Orange Popsicle are both bearded I believe. A Dusky Challenger, I've never of that colour, only Go Mango, Plum Crazy, Banana Yellow and Panther Pink. Only daffodils are blooming around here. At least the figs are swelling in the basement and the frangipani and jasmines are going crazy, time for the boys to go out.

Hmmm frangipani and jasmine! The Dusky Challengers are a deep rich purple and the Orange Popsicles are a nice shade of pale apricot -but they smell like orange popsicles, hence their name. yes, these are all tall, bearded iris. I do have a list of all of the different names and their colours in my files but I end up sending photos of them back to their breeder so she can tell me which are which:-) and I can remember what they look like:-).

Our daffodils are long gone and the azaleas are over as well, but the iris are late which is perfect since we had a cold spell about 10 days ago. Last year they were earlier and we had 3 nights below freezing just as they were coming into bloom and I lost quite a few even though I covered them - the temperature just got too cold for them:-(. Tomorrow I will be putting outside the outdoor plants that we winter inside as I think they will be safe now.

We have lots of day lilies and canna lilies as well - they are not in bloom yet but the day lilies will come in after the iris and along with the red hot pokers. The canna lilies will bloom all summer as well. I have to move some of the cannas up to the top of the hill but the garden bed isn't ready yet - we have had rainy weather the last number of weekends and haven't been able to get the work done that needs doing. They may not have a chance to get very big up there this year but next year they should be lovely again.

Oh, your garden sounds lovely, Kathryn. You need to post pictures.

Hubby is booked to come see me and he will be here day after tomorrow. It is an unplanned visit of sorts and only initiated because all my labs came back bad earlier this week. Nothing life threatening, but all I can do is giggle and think: see what prolonged immigration will get ya? I am now borderline diabetic, got a hyper-something thyroid, blood pressure has almost tripled, horrible cholesterol levels and a brand new diagnosis of asthma to top it off. I haven't slept more that 4 hours a day in months and I seriously miss sleeping. The only thing working right seems to be my liver. Even my skin disorder is going nuts and now I have 'special soap' and lotion. Doc wrote me a pad full of scripts for this that and the other thing and I really don't want to start down that path. I will start the thyroid stuff, but am going to try hard to manage the other issues with diet/exercise changes first before I become a pill-popping fanatic.

Hubby has always been reluctant to brave both Canadian and U.S. Border Patrol and both hassle him equally so he was planning on not coming to the U.S. until the U.S. Congress deemed him 'acceptable' and sprinkled water on him and waved smoke around him while dancing in their tribal suits and ties. His work sites are pretty much closed to him due to a bad winter in Toronto all the new construction is behind schedule, so he is not working this week or next, so why not spend that time with me? He is coming down armed to the teeth with my new diet/exercise plan and willing to help train my somewhat disobedient dog (doggy boot camp of sorts) while I still have to go to work.

I am tired of life and the daily battle to stay sane and there never seems to be a light at the end of the tunnel, except of course, for that on coming train. Perhaps by the time I come back next week to look at who's been approved and who hasn't, I will have moved up a spot or two on the list. For now, I think that elusive approval just isn't ever going to happen and he and I will be living in our own level of hell reserved for the foolish and hopeful idiots like us.

((((((((((((((Delicia)))))))))))))))))

I hope you are feeling better soon and that your husband's visit will lift your spirits.

My heart goes out to you. A hyperactive thyroid will have you crawling up the wall. I hope the rest of your health problems clear up and if you need a bit of succor, we'll do our best to provide it!!!! The hellacious imbroglio you find yourself in will end, so don't give up. That's exactly what the USCIS wants you to do, don't give those f*ckers the pleasure.

Good morning everyone.

g'morning everyone. i see someone beat me to the coffee again. ya'll get up too early in the morning for me, i usually don't post on vj until i get to work

Well you will just have to start getting up a little earlier Charles and then post and then who knows what else you will have time for before you go to work lol. Have a great day, wish I could say I was at work, oh soon I am sure.

Good morning everyone and thanks for the coffee Leafs.

Mmmmm. Does that ever look yummy!

I've been trying to get someone at Centura to talk to me about mortgages for about 3 hours now, leaving a call back number, getting a recorded message that someone will call me back, being given a mortgage guy's number that has been disconnected.

Just on hold now with customer service.

Oh anddddd - my skin isn't dry anymore!! yay Florida!

Yeah, banks here are terrible. Here's another contact for you. We found her to be very professional and pretty straightforward to deal with. She was with Suntrust then.

Beverley Sackman
Home Loan Consultant

407-643-2911

thesackmanteam.com
beverley_sackman@countrywide.com

I have a bunch of cellphone numbers and her assistant's number, too, if you get tired of being on hold with Centura. The website looks pretty good.

yeah, like get yelled at by nessa for wandering around the house so early and waking her up

Try to be a bit more quiet Charles. Just because you're fully aroused...errr...I mean awake...that's what I meant to say.

Thanks krikit! I have emailed Beverley!

I got my EAD today!!!!
it's so pretty!!

Well let me be the first to congratulate you, CONGRATS!!!!

Congrats!!!

I shall supply the coffee today!! Enjoy

Thanks for the coffee, Flames. I see you've got the moose.

So we went to visit our bank manager yesterday. There had been some very strange things happening to our accounts and we wanted to find out why. Apparently they had a bunch of hillbillies working for them and they didn't know what the hell they were doing. We were supposed to have the super-duper deluxe accounts with no fees and a shiny new safety-deposit box, but they had given us the no frills version and had been charging us through the nose. So now we're all straightened out, we both have shiny new keys, and...... ta daaaaaah...... I got offered a job! I'm thinking I may look into it.

Hey that's nice, even if you aren't interested, still nice to have the offer!!

Thanks for the coffee flames, Canadian Cafe in Moarovia, CA, maybe I will open up a Canadian Cafe here!

thanks flames. i slept in today

I will be your first customer!

Yep, it was nice to receive the offer. But I think I may have gotten ripped off on my account. I'm pretty sure you're supposed to receive a free shotgun with each new account opened.

Ha! that was in Bowling for Columbine!

Pfft. Shotguns are lousy. Sure, they looked cool in T2, but they're really not all that good. Unless you're very close to your target, shotguns are incredibly inaccurate and half the reason to have a firearm in the first place is so you won't need to be close.

True, but they are a bit more convenient than an ICBM.

They are and they're much less expensive; however, they're nowhere near as fun to use. On that note... who wants to play "Global Thermonuclear War with W.O.P.R./Joshua" today?

Ferris Bueller.

So we went to Walmart today to return the Alltel phone that we bought in Nebraska, which has never worked.

I must say Alltel has some of the worst customer service i've encountered. Anyway, Walmart said they wouldn't take it back as they don't stock that particular phone (what I didn't know was that was because I also didn't have the receipt) long story short, while looking in my purse for a receipt for something else we were returning, I found the phone/phone card receipt and they gave us our money back!

As long as you got your money back.

Yay! I'm glad you got your money back.

Well, I guess it's my turn to make the coffee. Click to view attachment

Where is somebody?

dang ya'll get up early!
ty for the coffee

actually, a shotgun is the most deadly firearm at close range. 00 buck contains 9 .32 caliber balls, probably 4 of which outweigh the heaviest bullet fired by a .44 magnum. plus the shooter is pretty much insured of a hit with a shotgun while a single round shooter (pistol, rifle) isn't. and a shotgun slug is way heavier than anything fired by a rifle or pistol.

Thanks for the coffee. Sorry I was outside cutting the lawn before it rains. How is everyone doing today?

At 0900 on A sunday morning!! ur crazy!! Any of ur neighbors yelling at ya? lol

Good morning all. Well we stayed up late and slept in a bit. Thanks for the coffee krikit. Another beautiful day in Florida, 27 degrees right now, supposed to be around 30.

Just finished breakfast, drinking my tea (thanks for the coffee though) and reading VJ! Lawn is still too wet to mow but we will be outside roto-tilling the terrace garden so I can get the peppers and vine type crops in (tomato, cucumber, zucchini, cantaloupe, watermelon, etc.) Overcast here and on and off rain called for - a perfect day to be lazy, rats! heheheh.

You watched a lizard - I watched a bunny and the birds. The indigo buntings are back. 72 degrees right now. Good morning!

so nice to sleep in.. I woke up just a little while ago =)

Doing the VA online driving course...
sigh

Well, Southwest has a seat sale to Buffalo at the moment, and I have some airmiles to use, so I think I'm going to book a flight home for Mother's Day. $84 for a round trip ticket home sounds like a good Mother's Day present to me.