Better

Yesterday morning I went for an hour long walk. This was how I had
envisioned my life in Frisco Lakes. I love to walk. I walked through
an estate series neighborhood. I had not been able to drive in that
area because there so many construction vehicles blocking the streets.
I then walked back toward my house and went all the way to the
entrance on Stonebrook Pkwy. I intend to go out again this morning.

I spent a very quiet day. The CNN associate producer called and
conducted the interview. The topic was the emotional impact of
retirement. I have been retired over ten years now. I cannot remember
retirement having too much of an impact on me. The most unsettling
things that have happened to me are the hurricane and dealing with
this move. I am so fortunate that my life has been so problem free. I
watched a program on CNN about how the people in Bay St. Louis are
having so many problems a year after they lost their homes to Katrina.
It made me feel rather ashamed of how much whining I have been doing
about my rather minor problems. The CNN producer said the interview
would appear on the CNN website in about two weeks. She said she would
email me a link to the article. I will put the link in the blog.

Last night I finally started to look at the manual for my new Uniden
phones. I programmed each of the five handsets and the base station so
they are set up to call AT&T's CallNotes with one button. Now all the
handsets and base flash a light when a message is left on CallNotes. I
also learned how to store a number from the Caller ID list. There is
lengthy list of ringtones I can assign to numbers that are stored in
the phonebook. Some of the ringtones are quite amusing. I am so behind
the times. I have been using the same phones since 1980. They are the
ones I leased from the old AT&T. When AT&T was broken up, they sent
out an offer to purchase the leased phones. I bought them because they
were built like tanks and designed to last forever. They sent me
stickers to place on the bottom of each phone to show that I owned
them.

Fortunately I have not found any more significant house problems. I
was able to see something that was very messy on the edge of the
medicine cabinet by looking at the edge in the bathroom mirror. I thought
it was paint, but I was able to clean it off with a damp paper towel.
The other thing that is bothering me is that both sweet gum trees in
the front yard are looking very sick. I cannot decide if they have had
too little or too much water. The water regulations do allow tree and
plant watering with a garden hose and nozzle for one hour a day. My
hoses and nozzles are packed in boxes in the garage, and I do not have
a clue as to which box to open. I have a feeling that at some point I
will be replacing landscaping. If the drought ends I will get things
replaced in kind. If the drought continues, this place will need
landscaping that is appropriate for the desert.