Claude Clemmons Online

Watermelons

Claude — Tue, 01 May 2012 23:36:47 +0000

Summer means watermelons and cantaloupes to people who like summer fruits. I love watermelon and tend to buy one at least every other shopping trip throughout the summer. most of the watermelons seem to be grown in the western states like Arizona and New Mexico, but I understand that Florida is growing a lot of them now, too.

In fact, I watched a TV commercial for Florida watermelons today. That was a first! It was odd to see a commercial for one particular fruit and odd to see that it was talking about Florida. So besides Florida oranges and grapefruit, I guess watermelons are a big cash crop for the Sunshine State now.

Maps and Phone Books are Obsolete

Claude — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 23:32:58 +0000

Happened to glance at the bookcase in the spare bedroom and see all the books that I own but never seem to read after the first time. why did I buy all these books? I should have used the library!

There are a stack of phone books on the bottom shelf. I might as well throw those away. Who uses phone books for anything anymore? Not me! I can find it online faster and easier without having to heft a big cumbersome book and search through thousands of pages and other listings.

Maps are also pretty much obsolete. If you don’t have a GPS for your car, you probably have a mapping and location program or app on your smart phone. Who needs maps anymore? They are obsolete, too.

Barking Dogs Next Door

Claude — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 18:27:06 +0000

When I moved in this house my neighbors did not have a dog. Then, a couple years later they had to move and they sold the house to a nice, older lady. She did not have a dog when she moved in, but one night she had a problem with a criminal attempting to break into her house. They thought no one was home because all the lights were out and there was no car in the driveway. Her house is set back from the road a good ways, and without even a nightlight or stove light left one, it looks empty or abandoned.

After the attempted robbery in which that guy was lucky he didn’t get killed because she did have a gun and she shot him while screaming into the telephone to the police to come help her, she decided to get a dog. It’s supposedly for protection, but the Golden Labradors are not known for their guard dog abilities. What are they going to do? Lick the burglar to death?

I don’t blame her for wanting a dog, but if it was truly for protection she should take it to be trained and it should not be left outside at night to bark and disturb all the neighbors. I have not figured out a polite way to approach her about this yet, but the constant barking at night when she is not home to stop it is driving me nuts.

Online Shopping is a Breeze

Claude — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 23:20:42 +0000

Whoever make the prediction 20 years ago that we would be using the internet for a lot – if not most – of our shopping, was totally correct and should be recognized. I don’t know how I would go about finding who that person was, but they do deserve a big pat on the back.

My buddy, Owen, orders everything online but groceries and gasoline for his car. I know in some big cities you can order groceries online and have them delivered to your door, but we aren’t that sophisticated around here yet. With the price of gasoline going up, I’m not sure that anyone can make a profit on delivering things any more, anyway.

I order some things from Amazon, and I recently ordered a few things from Overstock.com and both are very good about processing the order, getting the order right, and delivering in a timely manner. I ordered some items from Sears.com at Christmas, too. So far, everything has gone great. What a nice advancement for shoppers – online ordering and delivery to your door!

Sunrise Service and Dinner

Claude — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 21:09:37 +0000

My Easter plans include Sunrise Service and then a nice dinner at my daughter’s home. I like going to her house on holidays because she is a great hostess and a wonderful cook. She takes after her momma on those qualities, for sure.

Whatever she cooks will be tasty and I know she will be serving ham because I went and bought a Honeybaked Ham for her and dropped it off at her house Friday night. I hope she makes some scalloped potatoes to go along with that – no one makes scalloped potatoes like her momma except her. Good stuff.

Spring Raking and Pruning

Claude — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 21:02:32 +0000

Today was a good one for working outside. I have so much yard work to do, but it is hard to get motivated sometimes. Especially with all the rain we’ve been having. The wet leaves and mud are not conducive ro yard work, and the very few days we’ve had with no rain are days that need to be spent doing other things.

I had an extra hour this morning, so I grabbed my jacket and rake and headed out. The front yard didn’t need much attention – just a few odd burr balls and small twigs. But the back yard is a mess of burr balls, a layer of leaves and lots of twigs and branches that have fallen over the winter months.

Some of the bushes need pruning but I can’t find my pruning shears anywhere. I wasted a good 20 minutes looking through boxes in the garage for those things. Looks like I need a quick trip to Lowe’s to buy another pair of pruning shears and maybe a couple bags of weed and feed for the lawn.

Mud Season

Claude — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 16:45:53 +0000

The good people up North, like in Maine and New Hampshire, are used to a wet Spring. In fact they brag about having 5 seasons up there, Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter and Mud season.

We have had so much rain here that we are having a Mud Season. I haven’t heard anyone else call it that – maybe I should drop a note to the weatherman on TV and suggest it? I want credit for the phrase, of course. And let’s hope it is over soon so we can move forward to a proper Spring.

Too Many Bananas

Claude — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 23:42:25 +0000

In a moment of shopping hysteria, I bought a bunch of bananas on Saturday. I’ve eaten two of them at breakfast, but there are still a lot of bananas on the kitchen table and they’ve got to go! I have no idea what to do with all these ripe bananas. What can I cook with them besides bake banana bread?

No Mail for Four Days

Claude — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 23:38:34 +0000

The last mail that made it to my mailbox at the end of my driveway was last Wednesday. Of course, they don’t deliver mail on Sundays, But no mail on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and none today either. That must be a world record.

Either I’m caught up with all my bills or someone is stealing my mail. I think I need to watch for the mail truck tomorrow and ask him if he has noticed the same pattern or anything suspicious.

Great Advice – Know When to Shut Up

Claude — Sat, 10 Mar 2012 16:35:38 +0000

I know that sometimes we all blurt out things we later regret. I have trouble with that myself. It is even harder on Facebook, when it is so easy to make a snarky comment and then end up offending a bunch of people who can’t seem to take a joke. So I need to keep my mouth shut a little more often and watch those typing fingers, too.