The Best Bargain Ever

I spent this week fixing up my diabolical mess from last. The fallen trees were removed, the skylight was replaced, the air conditioner was serviced again, and my dog is doing better. Further, my wonderful landscaping service redid my front yard, and my cleaners made my interior immaculate. Needless, to say, it was a pricey week, but I also scored the best bargain ever.

How? My mom taught me how to shop long before the pandemonium for designer clothing and Labubu dolls. She clipped grocery coupons and dragged my sibs and me to Strouss’ basement’s sales. (If you were raised in Youngstown, Ohio, you’d know Strouss. It was an Ohio version of Nordstrom’s, particularly The Rack.)

The first Wednesday of the month at Phoenix groceries is Senior Citizen Day, where seniors get 10% off most stuff. I wandered into a high-end, signature store that not only sells food staples, but clothing, shoes, dishes, toys, and linens. Since I needed to kill some time before my next stop, I moseyed through the aisles and ended up in the shoe department which carries one of my favorite brands of cool tennis shoes. On the shelf was a sign: 90% Off. Damn! I looked at the shoe box–size 10. Too big for me, but not too big to donate. In fact, some teenage girl would probably adore these trendy, silver shoes to wear to homecoming.

I put the originally-priced $50.00 shoes in my shopping cart along with the rest of my groceries and checked out. I strode out of the store smiling, for I knew someone would delight in my best bargain ever: $1.34 including my senior discount. Move over 47. That was an “”art of the deal.” Who knows? It may be worthy of a Nobel Prize.

Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too

In the midst of everything gone awry both nationally and internationally, my blog today takes a new turn.  Do any of you recognize this former Youngstown, Ohio resident?

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His name is James Jonah Cummings, AKA Jim Cummings.  He was born in Youngstown in 1952,  attended St. Columbia Elementary and graduated from Ursuline High School in 1970.  Curiously, both my brother and I are trivia addicts–we collect random stuff in our minds.  Jim Cummings is the most recent.  He’s:

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True, he ‘s been the voice of Winnie since 1988 and the voice of Tigger since 1989.  Currently, in production, he will be Christopher Robin’s voice too!  Jim has a fascinating repertoire of voices.  He was the Darkwing Duck and the Tasmanian Devil.  His voice has also been used in  The Lion King, Aladdin, Shrek, All Dogs Go to Heaven, and a myriad of other films.

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There you have it.  Another great story from Youngstown, Ohio.  And a worthless piece of trivia to consider and to share with others.  But how cool is it to tell your kids and/or grand kids Winnie and Tigger are from Ytown?  Though AA Milne, author of Winnie the Pooh, was from England, a teller of taller tales could further suggest Mill Creek Park is, indeed, the hundred-acre wood! 

 

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Absurdities: Mental Test and Open Shelving

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What a week it’s been!  As some of you know, I managed to survive a graceless fall which resulted in forehead cuts, a protruding bump, and two, black eyes.  (You really didn’t expect me to show my face, but this picture depicts my current status.)  I mopped up the blood, bandaged the wounds, and went to bed with a raging headache.  Then it occurred to me,  “Sue, are you mentally with it?”  I asked my dogs aloud:

“What is your name?  Sue Skidmore.”

“Where were you born?  Youngstown, Ohio.”

“What year is it?  2017

Well, this nonsense went on for a few more self-asked questions.  Suddenly, it occurred to me if I suffered a head injury, how would I know?  I could have said my name was Mary Jane Brown, born in Ames, Iowa, and the year was 1943.  My dogs wouldn’t have objected.  And if I was crazy, how would I know?

Given my astounding revelation, I practically fell off the bed with laughter.  Absurd lunacy!

Then to add proverbial insult to my injuries, the next morning a guy came by to give an estimate on redoing my kitchen cabinets.  Since the cabinets would have cost a fortune to replace, I hoped Andres would offer a less expensive alternative.  He did.  In my naïveté, I expected: “I’ll be back in three to six weeks to start this project.”

No.  He retrieved from his truck his fancy battery-operated screwdriver and swiftly removed all the cabinet doors.  I was busy dumping stuff from the drawers–stuff from several junk drawers I hadn’t seen in two decades!  Damn, I’ve acquired a lot of scotch tape and too many bottles of the same spice.

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“Sue, it will take a couple of weeks for me to get this done.”  Off he went with doors and drawers.  Maybe I did have a head injury, for I spent half the day trying to close non-existant drawers and doors.  A visual nightmare through half-swollen-shut eyes.  Visual proof of my ineptness as a housekeeper.

Ok.  I can survive this chaos.  Until…I read this article today.

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I don’t give a rat’s hind end about that trend at my age.  Doors are made to keep out Phoenix dust and to make my kitchen look presentable at a party.  Absurd lunacy!

BTW, I think my real name is Hucklebarrie Finn.  I think I’ve floated down the mighty Mississippi in Hannibal on a number of occasions.  I own 12 pair of scissors and 9 tins of cinnamon.  I have over 20 coffee mugs, 15 random plates, three old skillets, and five aprons.  (Aprons? I prefer a clothes change.)  Message me if you’re in need of any of the above.  Downsizing….