The fruit of yesterday's talk hit me full force while I was still in bed this morning. Bad time for me.

Beef chunks, yellow squash, butter beans, corn on the cob and tomato for lunch.

Too hot for the park. I watched my Hawaii beaches Blu-ray. It still has the power to calm. The waves confound and momentarily rout the demons, breaking my train of thought. Runaway train, rushing towards a bridge not there. Yawning chasm.

Run to the recycle center and the Supermercado.

82.9 °F, clear.

Marion and Andrea arrived while Mary was fixing Mother's hair. He had me look up the county sheriff's telephone number. Sam was getting out-of-bounds again. A little time behind bars usually straightens him out.

Pork ribs for lunch, with seared sweet potato, fried okra, tomato and cornbread. Cantaloupe appetizers.

We were five at rummy. Six, if you count Harrison.

I'm not sure who had the better stimulation, Harrison or his great-grandmother.

Robin Williams was diagnosed with Parkinson's just before taking his own life. I didn't mention it to Marion, for obvious reasons.

Delores picked up Marion. Andrea took Mother home. When she returned, we had a very good talk.

119 lbs.

79.6 °F, clear.

Heading out, the Durango wouldn't start. I called brother George. He told me the neutral switch probably was not lined up exactly. Just jiggle the gear shift. He'd be right over. I jiggled the shift and had the car running by the time he arrived.

Let's see. I have a scooter that occasionally requires an unexplained wait time to run, a TV/satellite remote that often needs a serious whack on the table to function, and now I have a car that at times wants a jiggle before it will start up. Hmmm. Funny how life just trips and stumbles along.

Mary and I deposited a check for Mother at First Farmers, then lunched on Whoppers and fries before heading to Walmart. There, Mary ran into the Edith, the Puerto Rican lady, then Maria Felix. I spotted Danny Wilson on his way out.

Maria's family is very conservative Catholics. Won't attend the local church, but drives all the way to Shelbyville for mass. The women cover their heads and wear long skirts. Mass is in Latin, I think.

Mary and I returned home just in time to receive the Amayas who were paying us a visit. Mary took them to George's garden. I watched from above. Before they returned, George appeared in his pickup, drove around the garden without stopping, then passed me, only stopping to express his displeasure with those who would pick his tomatoes green. George loves tomatoes, but hasn't had a ripe one in two weeks. Ooops.

Mary and Miriam talked a long while in the kitchen, Victor and I on the porch, before we all had a little supper of empanadas.

Victor and I then continued our talk in the livingroom. I lead him down unfamiliar paths. Touched on Robin Williams. It got pretty deep.

Verizon convinced me yesterday to change my package. I'll save a few dollars. Fine. A few minutes ago Verizon called again, offering three new iPhones for $30 if I would just sign up for two more years. I didn't bite. A smart phone would present Mary with problems. She barely understands the phone she has. Antonio won't be up here for a while. He has another phone and, I hope, may drop mine at any time. I told Verizon to call again at a later date. Did I do the right thing?

Choices are by far the hardest thing we have to do. But, what would life be without them?

72.6 °F, clear.

Easy morning.

Beef smothered in tomato and onions for lunch, with yellow squash, butter beans, steamed carrots and tomato. Avocado on the side.

Watched Sweetgrass (2010) from Netflix. Documentary of one of the last big Montana sheep drives. Impressive.

Pleasant outside after the rains. On the garden side of the yard, I startled two large deer and two small. Later, I took in a peaceful scene. Four large turkey's with six little ones making their way across the field from right to left. In the background below, near the garden, a doe with two little ones grazed.

The little poplar has died. Couldn't take the hot dry spell, apparently.

80 °F, clear.

Feeling some better.

Anna dropped off Leah this morning.

Tilapia for lunch, with seared yellow squash, stewed acorn squash, tomato, nopal, avocado and corn on the cob. Peach and black grape appetizers.

Robert picked up Leah.

Putin, Ebola, ISIS. Where will it all end?

77.1 °F, rain.

My $74.95 update to The Master Genealogist arrived in the mail recently from Wholly Genes. Last night, I went to the Wholly genes site and read their announcement that the program would no longer be updated or supported. Bob Velke is calling it quits. I currently have 26,398 people in my database. How many times have I had this happen to me? (Wordperfect, Xanga, ...) Feel as though a dear old friend passed away, leaving me to pay off his debts.

Mary wasn't in the cooking mood today. Sigh. We had empanadas with frozen dinners. Marie Callender's shrimp Alfredo for her, Healthy Choice chicken for me. Peach and cherry appetizers.

We watched The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) from Netflix. Spanish Language option. Wry humor. All-star cast. Adrien Brody should always play the villain. An alright flick.

Felt cooped up, but wasn't able to stand for long the thick, humid, moldy air outside. So...

Pleasure outing to town. To Walmart for playing cards and papayas. To the post office to return the movie. To Kroger to check on my medications. At the last-named, Mary ran into Elsa's, the Salvadoran lady's, ex husband. (See post 05-20-2014)

We also ran into Linda Cox, one of the nicest ladies you'll ever meet. She looks much calmer in retirement. Her years at the tax assessor's office were very stressful.

Feeling rather well after the outing. Cantaloupe for my supper.

79.8 °F, partly cloudy.

Deborah dropped off Mother a little late this morning. Andrea came soon after with Harrison. Anna then drove up in the golf cart with Leah. Mary served us all spaghetti for lunch.

Leah was a little too lively, so Anna left with her. Marion was having electricity run to his shop. He had to leave before cards. That left a comfy four players, plus Harrison. Mother especially enjoys Andrea's company. Played much longer than usual before calling it quits. Andrea took her home.

Mary was very tired from tending everyone, but was happy to spend time with Harrison.

117 lbs.

75.1 °F, clear.

Up at 5:30 am. Mary had a 7:30 appointment at the medical center for an ultrasound that Dr. Tidmore ordered. That done, we breakfasted at Krystals, ordering Express Plates with coupons. Sister-in-law Delores happened to be there. We three shared a table.

Though I thought the eggs "over medium" excellent and the coffee passable, we are not likely to eat breakfast at Krystals again any time soon. Mary likes grits, but was disgusted by what she got swimming in butter. I don't like my toast buttered. Granted, the toast and grits could have been easily remedied by us while ordering. However, the tasteless country sausage was not country and barely sausage. The killer for me though was the discomfort I felt eating an American breakfast with plastic and paper.

The new modem-router from at&t arrived. With a little help from Mary, I had it connected and set up in no time.

Salad with turkey for lunch.

Spent a great deal of time during the afternoon tying up loose ends with the internet and printer.

Ana, the Guatemalan, came, at Mary's invitation, bringing along her Sebastian, Julie and Ana. Mary enjoyed spoiling the kids with sweets and eats.

Delores came briefly with gifts of grapes and strawberries. She had been shopping at Cool Springs.

Mary took Ana and kids out in the heat to raid George's garden. I'm sure he won't mind. Ana took squash, peas, tomatoes and a watermelon. Mary was content with butter beans and four mostly green tomatoes.

Being days without the internet was frustrating, but, at the same time, liberating.

AT&T checking lines this morning.

Salad for lunch.

Sister (2012) from Netflix. French with English subtitles. Adolescent steals skis to support his vagabond older sister. Alright.

George came by and told me he and Bill Spence are leaving in the morning for a two week motor tour of the Midwest.

No DSL again. Tough posting with my iPhone. Flesh this out when I'm online again.

86 °F, mostly sunny.

Marion came, then Andrea and her Harrison.

For lunch, I ordered two medium pizzas delivered from Pizza Hut. One was to my taste, thin and crispy with onions, bell peppers and mushrooms. One was to Mary's taste, regular with pineapple, ham and mushrooms. Mine turned out most popular.

Five is too many for rummy, so I chose dominoes.

Turned out to be a mistake. Andrea had to play for Marion as he maintained a ceaseless rambling monologue. Mother was alert by comparison.

We had a good time, but it tired me and Mother. Two rounds were enough.

Deborah picked up Mother. Andrea left with Harrison. Company gone, I called AT&T and was convinced that my modem was dead. So, off to Walmart for a new one. We parked in front of Fusion Cuisine and discovered Rafa in the next car. He was headed for supper alone. Invited us to join him. We declined. No need to break our diet on Chinese.

I bought a pricy modem. Supposed to be twice as fast. But, back at the car, Andrea called to say she had contacted AT&T and got them to admit their line was the problem. After all, Deborah and others were having my problem as well. When I returned home, I had internet! So, I reckon the pricy modem will go back, box unopened.

We ran into Martha from Mary's church. She was in a hurry.

117 lbs.

80.9 °F, mostly cloudy.