Fuel thoughts

Bill broke his record for how much he has had to pay for diesel for his semi. He paid $1100 to fill this week — and that was in a state that is cheaper than most.  He gets about 6 mpg.

There was a story on the news about how when the temperatures are cooler, the fuel sort of condenses. So when you fill you are getting more than you are paying for. Well, filling station owners are charged for fuel based on a 60F rating, but they sell it to us for at least a 70F rating or more. That makes them a nice profit. They have the ability to cool their tanks so we could actually fuel our vehicles with 60F fuel, but they do not do that.

Also, stations are now buying ethanol which is cheaper but they put it in the regular tanks. Makes them a huge profit. One owner got caught & had to pay some hefty fines. How many more are doing that?

I am trying very hard to drive the speed limit which is sooo difficult with my lead foot!! I am avoiding the interstate. I came home the other day & here was a big ole gas guzzling SUV behind me. Usually an SUV would fly past me at first opportunity. But I was so shocked when she stayed a safe distance behind me & never sped up. Nor did the pickup behind her. Maybe more are trying a bit.

I heard on the news that Norway now is paying over $9 a gallon for fuel. Of course they buy it by the litre. And do not  use US dollars. We may catch up.

Gått för dagen. Kanske.

 

 

Be well, do good work, and keep in touch!

 

I hate summer — Jag hata sommar!!!

Namndag: Vera, Veronika Thought for today: Brothers, we have far to go over salty waters, then we’ll find Sweden on the other shore. That is hardly possible? Oh, yes, it’s gladly possible! Pity that Sweden, pity that Sweden should lie so far away!   We had high winds early today, but by the time swedish group was over, they were calmer. Now it is dead still & so humid it is miserable. Take a few steps outside & sweat rolls off your brow, your shirt sticks to your back. Oh, I hate summers!!! And soon I will have the privilege of sitting in a hot, dusty wheat field in the heat & humidity. At least for now — FOR NOW — there are no storm warnings. There is a watch area to the far east. No threat to me here. We had Swedish group today. I had the program. We had a sing-along. I had copies of many songs made so everyone could have a copy. One of our members is a gifted organist/pianist so she played for us. We worked very very hard on Du Gamla Du Fria, the Swedish national anthem. Midsommars is soon here & our group is expected to lead in the singing of it. And it would look tacky to hold a paper with the words on it. And we want to pronounce it all correctly. We sounded best on ‘Hälsa dem därhemma’. Such a melancholy song & always brings a tear. I tried to nap today after getting little sleep last nite, but, oh, no!!! A fax that failed & then came. Pages to fill out. Then have to go to website to answer questions for them. Then to get all of Bill’s jobs from last week resized & emailed to Jenn so he can mail out his invoices. No nap. I have given up. The a/c must not be working right. The house is way too warm. Does not feel good. (sigh) I got news last nite that my aunt was transferred back to her nursing home. She is still very ill. I was surprised she was discharged.  I am still very worried & concerned for her. Gått för dagen. Kanske.     Be well, do good work, and keep in touch!

Jalisco’s & wind

Namndag: Jeanette, Yvonne Thought for today: Brothers, we have far to go over salty waters, then we’ll find Sweden on the other shore. That is hardly possible? Oh, yes, it’s gladly possible! Pity that Sweden, pity that Sweden should lie so far away!   We had high winds today. Made driving fun. After the clouds went away, it got pretty warm. Almost 90F. Now there are storms brewing in the west. Maybe come here, maybe not. I am getting tired of the severe weather. And all the mud on Jo. I ran errands in Salina. I had to make copies of songs for swedish group tomorrow. We are singing. Only in swedish though!! Tonite Jay & I ate with Mom at Jalisco’s. Jay & I had taquitos. Excellent. Loved it!! I took photos of everyone & some of Mom. When they were leaving & loading the surrey up, the bus driver was impatient. She backed out with someone giving her directions. BUT. She crashed in to the truck pulling the surrey. Then when she tried to pull forward there was more crunching. Duh. Mom had a great time. We are going to bring her there again. See all the photos here http://www.flickr.com/photos/g5inger/sets/72157605325624616/ Gått för dagen. Kanske.     Be well, do good work, and keep in touch!

Fun website

Tag Galaxy. Put in a word or two. Then a main ‘planet’ will show up with other smaller ones orbiting around it. Click on one of them or the main one. An orb will form covered with photos. Using your cursor you can rotate this orb or move it up & down. If you see a photo you like, click on it to view. A fun way to waste time!!! The photos are from Flickr.

Foggy day

Namndag: Borghild, Ingeborg Thought for today: Brothers, we have far to go over salty waters, then we’ll find Sweden on the other shore. That is hardly possible? Oh, yes, it’s gladly possible! Pity that Sweden, pity that Sweden should lie so far away!   It got cold — I mean COLD — last nite. Down in the 50’s. I had to put on a winter robe when I got up. And it was foggy until the afternoon. Today was sewing club. Only 2 besides my mom & I showed. No one can seem to plan to attend. Our June meeting we always eat out. So we decided where & when. I dare one of the others to complain. I double dare them!!! And if they don’t show, I really do not care. It is like pulling teeth this this to get anyone to show up. Mom has totally forgotten that her sister is dying. Jay saw her last nite & not a word. She never asked or said anything today. A local man died & his funeral was today. Mom knew him but he was not someone close or special. But in talking about him, she really cried. I am sure inside she is grieving but it does not get through. A good friend who knows lots & lots about dogs thinks that Jo might actually be part whippet instead of greyhound. Greyhounds are quite tall, but whippets are much shorter. Jo is not very tall. Gått för dagen. Kanske.     Be well, do good work, and keep in touch!

Soggy tuesday

Namndag: Beda, Blenda Thought for today: Brothers, we have far to go over salty waters, then we’ll find Sweden on the other shore. That is hardly possible? Oh, yes, it’s gladly possible! Pity that Sweden, pity that Sweden should lie so far away!   Well, the storms are over for a while, but left in their wake is flooding. Nothing here but in southern Kansas there are several rivers going out of their banks. And people are so dumb. How many times have we been told ‘do not drive through standing water’? There are signs in the usual flood areas not to drive through if there is water. So on the news are people who drove in to deep water & then their car died. I have no pity for stupidity. You have no idea what lies in that water. I cancelled everything today. I am just not up to facing people with a happy face. I was awake last nite until after 3am & then woke up at 8am & could not fall asleep again. Maybe a nap later. We are having a sing along of Swedish songs at my Swedish group. I have to scan copies of all the songs we are singing then go to town to have copies made for everyone. A big job. Today Oprah is a rerun of the man who has turned a dark, solid blue. He was handsome but now looks odd. He seems to be a nice man & even has a wife/girlfriend. He took silver colloidal. Scared me enough I threw mine out. I rarely used it anyway so no loss. I enjoyed the last 2 Larry King shows. He had the top ten from American Idol. It was fun to see them as just people. They all seem to be really nice & fun, even the one I truly disliked. Still not my fave, but seemed to be nice. I am happy with who won. He was not my first fave but after the other 3 I loved, he was my fave. Off to scan. Gått för dagen. Kanske.     Be well, do good work, and keep in touch!

A hard day

Namndag: Vilhelmina, Vilma Thought for today: “Peace is a daily, a weekly, a monthly process, gradually changing opinions, slow eroding old barriers, quietly building new structures.” - John F. Kennedy   Today was a tough day for me. My brother & I met in Mom’s room this afternoon. We told her that her sister is dying. She took it as hard as I expected. She begged & pleaded with me to take her to Denver to be with her. Then she ordered me to take her there. She thinks she can travel, but she cannot get in & out of a car or a bathroom without tons of help. IF I was rich, I would hire some nurses to go with us & off we would go. It has got to be hell knowing your sister is dying & you cannot see her. And will never again in this life. I would certainly feel better if I had a soft place to land in all this, but that will not happen. I cried all last nite without a kind word or gesture to me. Nice. It is stormy again. There are severe storm warnings. A tornado watch for my county. It is very dark out now & rain is starting. Hope nothing bad comes this way. I have no cellar to go to. It scares me. We were SUPPOSED to have a tornado shelter built by now. I did not believe it when I heard it. If I had the money it would be, but I have no say. The really ugly coloured stuff on the radar is about 5 miles from my farm. I use a weather software called WeatherTap Studio. With it you put in the latitude & longitude of your home. It puts a dot on the map. Then it will draw circles out from your home. Mine are drawn at 5, 10, 25, 30 miles. One can sort of plan ahead then. Not much else to blog about. Need to eat supper but nothing sounds good. And since I have to take my insulin, I have to eat. Gått för dagen. Kanske.     Be well, do good work, and keep in touch!

A great post to read – in my humble opinion

From my friend Jim (xchips). It says it all.

http://xchips.multiply.com/journal/item/83?mark_read=xchips:journal:83

Family reunion & very sad news

Namndag: Ivan, Vanja Thought for today: “Peace is a daily, a weekly, a monthly process, gradually changing opinions, slow eroding old barriers, quietly building new structures.” - John F. Kennedy   Today was my family reunion. I am the president so I kinda had to appear. I had every intention to resign this year but I changed my mind. It had to do with karma. It takes so little of me to do this. I am a mere figurehead. So doing this small good may send other small good things my way, The reunion went pretty well. The same people. One cousin flies in from California almost every year. Another cousin flies or drives in from Georgia every year. And yet, my uncle from the next town cannot make an appearance, a cousin in town ignores us. But we had lots of good food. My cousin Charlotte is so clever & smart. She wrote up 30 questions about our ancestors. There were copies at each table. We had such fun while eating seeing if anyone knew any of the answers. At the end of the meeting we went through them & got the answers. This stimulated lots of fun stories & many laughs. And a few facts that not everyone knew. I stopped at Sally’s next. Had a short visit with her, Paul, Jordy, & her daughter. We had a nice visit. They were painting the house. I am glad I only visited. Our last stop we at our friends’ home for a bbq. Lots of great food. There were some people I did not know but most I at least knew of. It was fun. The weather was hot — almost 90F — & very humid. Perfect combination for severe weather. About 4pm the clouds rolled in. Rather ugly dangerous looking clouds. While at the bbq the winds came up pretty strong. And then the temp really dropped. It got almost cold out. Soon after the rain started. There were tornados all over the place  & hail was pretty near us. We had fairly heavy rain. It appears now that all is over for us here, but more could develop in the west. And tomorrow it will do it all over again. I got home to some horrible news. My cousin Nancy called about her mom, my Aunt Marth. She was in the hospital 3 weeks ago & never was really ok after that. Then she fell a week ago. Her lungs are shot after years of smoking. She has been on O2 for years. Now she also has a blood clot. She is back in the hospital & not expected to live. If they do everything possible she might live for 3 months, but she is in severe pain. That would be cruel. As a nurse, how well I know. With comfort measures only, she might live a week or a little longer. I have decided not to drive out now. She is in & out of consciousness & this is time for her & her kids & grandkids. I will go out for her funeral. Aunt Marth is my favourite aunt. I always stayed with her when I went to Denver. At nite we would get in our jammies & talk for hours like a couple of teenage girls! And we would eat lots of junk food. And shop. I would give most anything for one more nite. I find it hard now to quit crying. And how do I heal the pain in my heart of already missing her? And now we have to tell my mom. If we wait some idiot family member will not check if we have told her or not. Then they will tell her & be on their merry way, leaving Mom to cry alone. So tomorrow Jay & I will tell her together. It will not be easy. Gått för dagen. Kanske.     Be well, do good work, and keep in touch!

testing

Ignore this post. I am testing something.