Hi, June.

 Hello, June

June’s full Moon, the full Strawberry Moon, occurs on Saturday, June 3.  

 

June Holidays or Occasions

Flag Day
Fathers Day
Juneteenth
Paul Bunyan Day
National Rose Month

National Dairy Month
African-American Music Month
National Ice Tea Month
National Candy Month

June 1: Say Something Nice Day
June 3: Chimborazo Day
June 6: National Yo-Yo Day
June 8: Upsy Daisy Day
June 21: Go Skateboarding Day
June 30: Asteroid Day

Symbols of June

• Birthstone: Pearl
• Flower: Rose
  
  
• June 5 is World Environment Day—a day meant to raise environmental awareness across the globe.
• June 14 is Flag Day (U.S.). Be sure to raise the flag! Learn about the U.S. Flag Code, which provides guidelines for displaying the American flag properly.
• June 18 is Father’s Day this year. Find activity ideas and learn about the history of Father’s Day.
• June 19 is Juneteenth (also known as Freedom Day or Emancipation Day). On this day in 1865, Union General Gordon Granger read the Emancipation Proclamation aloud in Galveston, Texas, effectively liberating enslaved people in the state, which had thus far been beyond control of the Union Army.
• June 21 is the summer solstice, which heralds the start of summer in the Northern Hemisphere. It’s the day with the most hours of daylight. In the Southern Hemisphere, winter begins at this time.
• In Canada, June 21 is National Indigenous Peoples Day (Canada), recognizing the contributions of the many First Nations, Métis, and Inuit peoples.
• June 24 brings Midsummer Day, also St. John the Baptist’s Feast Day. Traditionally, this was the midpoint of the growing season, halfway between planting and harvesting. It is celebrated in many cultures on the night of June 23, as Midsummer Eve! Learn all about Midsummer traditions.
• June 28 is the anniversary of the 1969 Stonewall Riots—a watershed moment for LGBT rights in the United States. 

 

Memorial Day

Happy Memorial Day.  Let's take a minute to acknowledge the sacrifice made by so many for all of us.  

There seems to be a little confusion about the difference between Memorial Day and Veterans Day.  For example I hear on TV and I see posts on Facebook where people are thanking all veterans for their service. Being a veteran, I say you're welcome but I don't feel I've earned the right to be lumped in with Memorial Day veterans.  

Veterans Day is for all who have served.  But Memorial Day is for those who gave their lives in the service of their country.  There's a very big difference.

It's certainly not an issue to start arguments over but I think the distinction is important.  

Update

 This is an update on yesterday's post.  My eye doctor has assured me that things will improve over time.  And as of this morning there has indeed been a great improvement.  I have another appointment next Tuesday at which time I expect even more improvement. 

Stay tuned.

Not happy with cataract surgery

 Yesterday morning I had cataract surgery on my right eye.  My left eye is scheduled to be done June 12th. But I'm not happy with the results thus far.  Granted it's been barely 24 hrs but from what my wife and friends have told me they had instant results.

For me, it's like sitting in a smoke filled room.  A white vale and generally blurry images.  Definitely not what I expected.  I see the doctor this afternoon for a follow up so I'll learn more but if this is as good as it gets or even just a little better there's no way in hell anyone's touching my left eye.  My vision in that eye isn't all that bad anyway.  

I'll be back with a follow up to this situation.

Got something to sell? Try Facebook Market Place

 Remember the good old days when if you had something to sell you simply ran an ad in the classified section of your local paper?  Well, no one reads newspapers anymore so now what do you do?  Simple. Try Facebook Market Place.  I hear also that Craig's List is a good alternative but I've heard some negative things about it plus I don't have any actual experience with it so I'm confining my observations to Facebook Market.

I've either sold or given away 5 different things:

Wood burning stove: $750
Two single beds with frame and mattress: free
Antique Victorian Settee: $200
20 yr old log splitter: $600
Two gallons of hydraulic fluid: free

The process for listing these things is very easy and it doesn't cost anything.  But like anything else you're selling at first you're likely to get a big response but much fewer actual visits to view the item.  

I sold my stove in no time at all which leads me to believe I could have gotten more but that's the way it goes.  On the other hand I valued my splitter at $800 but after two guys looked and passed on it and others weighed in with lower offers I finally had to come down a couple of hundred dollars but hey, that's gone too. 

The messaging system on Facebook is convenient and you can always switch to private texting if you don't mind giving out your phone number.  

One thing to watch for: people trying to get you to use various auto deposit apps like Venmo.  I insisted on cash for everything.  That way it's right there in your hands.  

Good luck.

Back from Florida...and what a trip it was!

 Well, here we are, the first full day back from Florida. We left warm, sunny weather and arrive to chilly, overcast weather.  Aside from that there is nothing good to say about our recent trip to our condo. 

Our troubles all began when our limo driver never showed up to take us to the airport.  I called the company to find out where he was and they said he had the wrong time.  By then it was too late for them to pick us up so we cancelled.  I was able to salvage a little bit of the day by booking a later flight from a different airport.  Then we called a different limo service and in spite of the last minute we were able to arrange for transportation.  

By the time we got to our condo it was really too late to do anything so we watched a little TV and went to bed.  The next day I did a few chores on my list but was increasingly bothered with a bad cough and stuffy nose so I went to urgent care.  I got some cough medicine and an antibiotic. By the time we got done there it was too late to get anything more accomplished on my list.

The next day we spent replacing burned out light bulbs and low batteries.  It was also time to change the A/C filter. Things continued to go fairly smoothly until I heard my wife yell out a scream.  There in the middle of our hallway was a 4 foot long snake.  I think it must have slipped in when I was unloading stuff from the car.  When we have several trips to make from the car to the condo we usually leave the front door open until we're done.  

My wife gave me a blanket to throw over it and the plan was I would gather it up and toss it outside.  As we approached our little friend he slithered into the front bedroom and hid under a bed.  We decided to close the bedroom door and seal the bottom with duct tape.  Then we called our property management company.  They sent someone over but when we went back in the bedroom we couldn't find the snake.

Our next step was to call a company that specialized in removing wildlife from people's homes.  They came over the next day and were able to locate it and get rid of it. That meant we had to spend the night with a snake trapped in one of our bedrooms.  I slept fairly well but my wife was up off and on all night.

After that we were able to continue with our chores and prepare our condo for a long period of absence. But all in all it wasn't one of our more relaxing trips.