That's the Way It Crumbles, Cookie-Wise

At this rate, you may never break any records!

Joe Riley said:

Did you throw out all your old vinyl?

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Joe Riley said:

At this rate, you may never break any records!

Click to expand...

This conversation reminds me of the song, "Do I Hear a Waltz?".. Why you might ask?

I bought a Jo Stafford album, released in 1966. What was I thinking? It's the only song on that whole album I like. It was nowhere to be found on the internet or on any website that sells digital downloads. I always said one day if I get a turntable that would be the one song I'd transfer to a digital file.

But there's more...

There was a man on a seniors-only forum long ago and far away, who was familiar with that song and had that album. He said he melted the record into a fruit bowl. Was he pulling my leg? Did I dream this? Anyway, someone finally posted it on YouTube. They remastered it and the guitar noise overshadows Jo Stafford's rather soft voice.


I need to get out more.

Do I Hear a Waltz? · Elizabeth Allen

While I'm on this topic, this is an analysis by Fil Henley, of Jo Stafford's voice on another song, "You Belong to Me." The first 10 minutes are interesting, but probably only if you are a nerd.


I wish he would take the instrumentals out of "Do I Hear a Waltz" and send it to me.

Jo Stafford was one of the first musicians that I really remember. Back when I was little (early 50’s), our small town radio station went off the air every night at 10, and shortly before they shut everything down, they closed off with the song “The Night Watch” by Jo Stafford. It is a beautiful song , and was perfect for when the radio station closed down at night.

When I first moved here, the Georgia PBS TV Station would sign off at midnight with Georgia on My Mind, by Ray Charles. I think it's the official state song. Can't believe someone posted it on YouTube.

The new speakers arrived yesterday. They are bookshelf speakers, but they weigh 16 lbs each! If you adjust for inflation they cost less than half what the speakers I bought in 1973 cost and these are much better.

I've never heard about 10% of the songs they play on this new radio station. Half of them I had completely forgotten. Most of them I didn't even like when they played on the radio, but that doesn't seem to matter now.

I suppose one might wonder... Why not just download some songs, make copies and play them? I tried that. It doesn't work. I quickly memorize the order of the songs and get impatient to move on to the best ones. Same with streaming services. The randomness of this particular radio station is the key. I've only heard one repeat in 3 days.

This process is not conducive to thinking. I can't listen and think at the same time. Maybe I never could.

I mostly use Pandora or Spotify nowadays for music. You can have a free account with either one, or a paid one with no commercials, but I just have the free one.
I like that I can make playlists on Spotify, and on Pandora, I choose the type of music I want to hear, like country wester, oldies, or whatever. I have mine set on 60-70’s music, and I have a speaker set up in the bedroom window that connects to my phone with Bluetooth.
We have a vibration plate that helps with lymph removal, muscle tone, and balance, na I can stand on that for 15 minutes and listen to music as I am going the vibration plate exercise.

Last January I got an email "reminder" of an appointment I never made. It was with a physical therapist (PT) at AOC, the orthopedic clinic where I was first referred to about this shoulder injury. That first appointment was 8 months earlier, at which the Dr. announced that he would not do any surgery on my shoulder (which I would have refused anyway) and changed the subject when I mentioned range of motion exercises. He never mentioned coming back for anything.

I cancelled the appointment and thought that would be the end of it.

Yesterday I get another email reminding me of another appointment with a PT at the same place. So what's going on? ..Why not ask A.I. and see if it can handle this type question? I mentioned the clinic's name, but not the doctor, only that he did not recommend surgery or PT. This is what A.I. came up with.

"If the original doctor is a surgeon, he was likely trying to 'triage' his case load. This facility uses automatic rescheduling. The likely thing that happened was the Dr. checked a box that said something like "Non-operative care/Recommend Conservative Therapy" when he turned in his report, but failed to tell you. You should cancel this appointment ASAP to avoid no-show fees. Ask them to transfer your case to Dr. Smith (not his real name), who specializes in Interventional Pain Management, or consider another orthopedic clinic. "

This all makes sense, because the original surgeon did record our conversation. It was simply a case of bad communication from beginning to end. Nothing nefarious.

Anyway, I called AOC. They said the appointment with the PT was a mistake, and had already been cancelled. They agreed to transfer my case to Dr. Smith and I have an appointment with him in September. I know I said I was done with this, but I'll give it one more try. I can figure out what to do myself if I know what's going on.

I'm again on a mission to reduce the amount of dust flying around the house upstairs. It's not a problem downstairs.

The house I grew up in was one story ranch style. Before I started 1st grade, my father converted our furnace from coal to heating oil and installed hot water baseboard circulating heat. We didn't have AC. There were no blowers. We had those wide aluminum Venetian blinds. They say they didn't generate static electricity, which attracts dust like plastic miniblinds. Of course, my mother would have kept up with dusting, but I don't remember ever seeing her doing it, and it certainly wasn't one of my jobs. I don't remember seeing dust (or giant cockroaches) until I moved south.

When my parents moved here in the mobile home, they bought a large air purifier that sat on the floor. My mother swore it helped with dust, so she must have discovered more dust after leaving Ohio also. The filters are no longer available, and it was very noisy, so I tossed it. New ones cost at least $100 and they say you need one in every room. [Really???]

There are two separate HVAC units in this house---upstairs and downstairs. Here's what I have learned.

In a 2-story house, even if you have two HVAC units, an open stairway can act like a wind tunnel pulling dust up from the first floor, because heat rises. Braided rugs can act like little puffers, puffing out dust every time you step on them, but still better than wall-to-wall carpet. Curtains trap dust worse than miniblinds. Dust builds up under a bed, not just because you dust under there less often, but because there is less moving air under a bed. Once dust in the air gets under there it doesn't move on. A bed likely acts like a puffer also, especially if you jump on it (which I don't).

I did an experiment by taping a regular 20" x 20" air filter to the input side of a cheap box fan. It's been going 24/7 for about a month in the bedroom. There is clearly dust building up on the filter now, but it took a long time. This fan is so quiet on low speed I can barely hear it. I'm going to build one of those boxes with 4 filters and the fan, put it in the hallway upstairs, and see if it catches dust trying to sneak up the stairs.

The next project is to change or improve as many of these things as possible.

Can You Run an Air Purifier and a Fan at the Same Time?​

"Imagine it’s a hot, sticky summer day and you want to turn on your fan but you don’t want to compromise fresh air from your home air purifier. So, you’re trying to figure out whether you should run your air purifier and fan at the same time. While you’re focused on the cooling sensation from the fan, you contemplate turning off the air purifier. It’s a conundrum. "

"But wait. Did you know you don’t have to choose between cool or clean indoor air? It’s actually often more effective to run an air purifier and a fan at the same time. Air purifiers, such as Alen air purifiers equipped with powerful filtration, are designed to clean your indoor air by capturing pollutants while your fans circulate more air for the air purifier to filter. By pairing a fan with your air purifier, you can create indoor air that’s comfortable and supports your health. Hang tight, we’ve got a few tips on using air purifiers and fans at the same time for optimal indoor air." MORE

I think I saw this on Facebook, and it looked like it would work as an air purifier and not be expensive either, @Nancy Hart

Yvonne Smith said:

I think I saw this on Facebook, and it looked like it would work as an air purifier and not be expensive either, @Nancy Hart

View attachment 2003

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Yes, I made one like that this morning. The fan has been running on high all day. If it helps, I'll make a smaller one when the filters need to be changed. It takes up too much space. If that works, I'll make one that is easier to change the filters. There is a triangle version also.

Joe Riley said:

Can You Run an Air Purifier and a Fan at the Same Time?​

"Imagine it’s a hot, sticky summer day and you want to turn on your fan but you don’t want to compromise fresh air from your home air purifier. So, you’re trying to figure out whether you should run your air purifier and fan at the same time. While you’re focused on the cooling sensation from the fan, you contemplate turning off the air purifier. It’s a conundrum. "

"But wait. Did you know you don’t have to choose between cool or clean indoor air? It’s actually often more effective to run an air purifier and a fan at the same time. Air purifiers, such as Alen air purifiers equipped with powerful filtration, are designed to clean your indoor air by capturing pollutants while your fans circulate more air for the air purifier to filter. By pairing a fan with your air purifier, you can create indoor air that’s comfortable and supports your health. Hang tight, we’ve got a few tips on using air purifiers and fans at the same time for optimal indoor air." MORE

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I had 4 ceiling fans in this house at one time and got rid of all but one, when I was more ambitious. One more to go. I don't like them. They cause dust to cling to the stippled plaster in the ceiling.

There was a lot more dust in the single filter fan contraption than I thought. I put some dust from it on a slide and looked through the microscope. It appears to be overwhelmingly short synthetic micro fibers---broken off fragments due to friction. I suspect the braid rugs upstairs are the culprits.

I changed the filter in the return vent from the ceiling again too. A puff of dust came down from the ceiling. I think the fan running toward the return vent sent dust up there. All this dusty air moving around is making me feel dizzy. Maybe it's my imagination.

While the ladder is out, I should take a sample of the old insulation up in the attic crawlspace. See if it compares. Hope not. I think it's rock wool or cellulose. Should get it tested for asbestos anyway while I'm at it, but I probably won't. It's a little too late for that.

Nancy Hart said:

I had 4 ceiling fans in this house at one time and got rid of all but one, when I was more ambitious. One more to go. I don't like them. They cause dust to cling to the stippled plaster in the ceiling.

There was a lot more dust in the single filter fan contraption than I thought. I put some dust from it on a slide and looked through the microscope. It appears to be overwhelmingly short synthetic micro fibers---broken off fragments due to friction. I suspect the braid rugs upstairs are the culprits.

I changed the filter in the return vent from the ceiling again too. A puff of dust came down from the ceiling. I think the fan running toward the return vent sent dust up there. All this dusty air moving around is making me feel dizzy. Maybe it's my imagination.

While the ladder is out, I should take a sample of the old insulation up in the attic crawlspace. See if it compares. Hope not. I think it's rock wool or cellulose. Should get it tested for asbestos anyway while I'm at it, but I probably won't. It's a little too late for that.

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I can't stand stippled plaster on the ceiling.

Joe Riley said:

I can't stand stippled plaster on the ceiling.

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I don't care for it either, unless there is a pretty pattern, like in my living room. The ones upstairs just hide some cracks or seams, but not very well.

Both braid rugs are now gone from upstairs. I thought this would be a much bigger job. They are 8' x 11' and fill the rooms in one direction. Then it dawned on me to just peel off the braids in sections. They cut apart like butter. Everything is out on the porch. These can be divided again and sent off in the weekly trash. So easy.



Next to go are the curtains and miniblinds.

I want to replace the curtains on the two windows in the bedroom upstairs with plantation shutters. I like the neat square lines of shutters. They are relatively easy to dust compared to mini-blinds, and can almost completely black out early morning sunlight at a flick of a rod. I spent the whole day studying how to proceed.

These windows are rather large (34" x 70") so they should not be made with flimsy plastic frames, in my opinion. There is a factory in Buford, Georgia, just 35 miles away, that assembles good quality reinforced resin shutters. You have to order through a dealer. All the dealers in town require "Consultation" and "Installation" (C&I). I've never had a good experience with C&I outfits yet.

There are several "Digital Dealers" that handle these shutters. One is Blinds Chalet, whose headquarters is in Arizona, but according to A.I., they are just a broker that sends your order to the assembly plant. The shutters are then shipped directly from the plant to your house. No C&I and only 35 miles on a truck. So that's who I'm going with.

In addition to being large, these 2 bedroom windows are separated by a common casing, so installation could be tricky. I think I should practice on a smaller window first. The best window is at the stair landing (36" x 36"). Although shutters may make it even harder to crawl out that window onto the roof, it is by far the ugliest window in the house. I will probably learn a lot by practicing.

Nancy Hart said:

I want to replace the curtains on the two windows in the bedroom upstairs with plantation shutters. I like the neat square lines of shutters. They are relatively easy to dust compared to mini-blinds, and can almost completely black out early morning sunlight at a flick of a rod. I spent the whole day studying how to proceed.

These windows are rather large (34" x 70") so they should not be made with flimsy plastic frames, in my opinion. There is a factory in Buford, Georgia, just 35 miles away, that assembles good quality reinforced resin shutters. You have to order through a dealer. All the dealers in town require "Consultation" and "Installation" (C&I). I've never had a good experience with C&I outfits yet.

There are several "Digital Dealers" that handle these shutters. One is Blinds Chalet, whose headquarters is in Arizona, but according to A.I., they are just a broker that sends your order to the assembly plant. The shutters are then shipped directly from the plant to your house. No C&I and only 35 miles on a truck. So that's who I'm going with.

In addition to being large, these 2 bedroom windows are separated by a common casing, so installation could be tricky. I think I should practice on a smaller window first. The best window is at the stair landing (36" x 36"). Although shutters may make it even harder to crawl out that window onto the roof, it is by far the ugliest window in the house. I will probably learn a lot by practicing.

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Maybe you could do the blue bird house first....?

Joe Riley said:

Maybe you could do the blue bird house first....?

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You mean put plantation shutters on the bird house? .Hey, that's not a bad idea. . I'll go make a flowchart.