We were awakened by a thunderstorm early this morning, with blinding lightning and thunder that shook the house and rattled the windows. Sounded like a bomb dropped. We nearly jumped out of our skins.
We went back to sleep after the storm subsided, but then got up at 6 a.m., so we could have an early breakfast. Skipped my treadmill session again, in order to be dressed and ready when the air conditioner guys came. They arrived promptly at 7:30, and were here all day, until around 4 p.m.
Mother came over mid-morning, and chopped veggies for split pea soup. At 11:30, we met our appointments for haircuts. At the shop, my hairdresser noted that her husband's SWAT team went to Joplin, MO, to help guard large businesses from looters. While guarding a home improvement store, they witnessed rescue workers recover five bodies...the store's manager, a husband and wife, and their two children, one of whom was a baby. These people were at the front of the store, where a wall fell on them. It was a heart-wrenching sight for the team to see, especially the bodies of the children.
Back home, I did household chores, while Hubbie went to the office computer upstairs. Presently, he came back downstairs to fetch me to check the computer, which was doing something funky...the opening screen was warped and was rapidly rolling. I feared the thunderstorm this morning might have zapped it. I tried re-setting it, and unplugging and re-booting, to no avail.
So I called my favorite computer guy, who asked that we bring the computer to the shop. We did, and he discovered that the tower is working, which meant the fifteen-year-old monitor needed replacing. So I bought a new flat-screen one.
Since I was at the shop, I asked the computer tech to check my CD burning program, which I've been unable to work since Nephew installed a program for transferring audio books on tape to Cd's. When I checked the burning program, a screen popped up telling it was either out of date or corrupted. I thought I'd have to download a new one. But the tech found that the only problem was that the program had somehow switched default functions. Don't know how this happened.
I also complained that the computer seemed awfully slow, and the tech removed some never-used programs from it, which will help the computer's efficiency. He also checked the computer's memory, and said there's still plenty and doesn't need to be upgraded.
He did say that the current anti-virus I'm using tends to slow the computer, and that his shop no longer uses it, but rather uses one that can be downloaded free. So he put an icon on the desktop, where I can easily access it for download when my old program expires.
He charged nothing for his time doing these things, since we bought the new monitor from the store. He's not the store's owner, but he and the owners frequently throw in minor services or products free of charge, because we are good customers.
From there, we went to a farm store, looking for banana pepper plants. No dice. Hubbie had checked the produce department at the grocery store this morning and didn't find any for our soup today. We haven't seen them anywhere, so we were hoping to grow our own.
Checked at the WDCS, too, but hot peppers were all that were available. While I was at this store, I bought a new laptop cooler, since my old one quit after only five months. I used a $5 store gift card toward the purchase. I wasn't sure the gift card was still valid. The store had issued these cards to all its customers last year after extensive remodeling. I'd forgotten I had the card, but found it in my billfold today while looking for something else. I was delighted when the clerk swiped it, and it was still valid!
Unfortunately, I already don't like the cooler, since it isn't cooling enough, and the rubber grips on the bottom of it dig into my legs. So I'll be returning it the next time I go to that store. Hope I can find a better one to replace it.
A visit to the gas station completed our errands. Back home, we didn't do anything important. I mentioned to Hubbie that I was tired of seeing our white cat scratch...she has fleas. He was able to get anti-flea med down the throats of the other two cats, but even tightly wrapped in a towel, we couldn't control the white one. So he threw her in a carrier and whisked her out to the vet, where the vet and an assistant grabbed the cat and chucked the pill down her throat before she knew what was happening.
Our supper of split pea soup with peanut butter and crackers was very good. Mother went home afterward, and Hubbie and I watched TV, including this season's final episode of "Dancing with the Stars."
We also watched the 2006 movie, "Legacy of Fear," from Lifetime Movie Network. A female detective hunts for the same serial killer whom she witnessed murdering her own mother 30 years earlier.
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