Gardening, Storms and Internet Shopping

Last night more bad weather went through the Dallas area. Again my part of Frisco was spared, but this storm got too close for comfort. My house is very open. The walk-in closet in the master bedroom has an outside wall so I do not feel that it is a good place to go. I heard a discussion on the radio, and it was recommended that the bathroom is a good place because the pipes in the wall add some reinforcement. My bathroom has a big window right over the bathtub. Last night I was desperate. I went in the toilet compartment. I put the lid down and sat there with a flashlight in hand. The lights flickered 3 or 4 times, but the power stayed on. Finally the storm was over. I noticed the refrigerator was making a rather strange sound. I opened the door. There are digital displays of the temperature. The freezer was at 16 degrees when it is normally at 0. The refrigerator compartment was at 40 and is normally at 37. I read the manual and hoped that the refrigerator was just in a defrost cycle. An hour later the freezer compartment was at 9 degrees so I was fairly confident that all was well. I did wake up at 3:30. I walked to the kitchen and checked. The freezer compartment was at 0 degrees.

 

Yesterday I got an email from Amazon.com with a tracking number for my new printer. It is scheduled to arrive on Monday. Canon now has all the manuals for the printer in PDF format online. I downloaded them and read the setup instructions. I am really glad I waited for this printer. It contains all the drivers for Vista and the manuals have step-by-steps instructions for installing the software on a Vista pc and show actual screen shots on how to use the software with Vista's scan and fax program. It also said that all you have to do is plug the printer into a router and it should automatically find its IP address.

 

The USPS tracking information is not on a par with FedEx or UPS. I keep checking for some clue as to when my watch will arrive. Since May 1 it just says they were electronically notified to pick up the package. There have been no updates. I have no idea where the package originated.

 

It is two and a half weeks since I planted my caladium bulbs. I had given up on them. This morning I found three leaves poking up through the soil. They are rather large leaves and have the markings of Red Flash caladiums. Now I am hoping that I will find more tomorrow. I planted fifty bulbs.