Do I have too much time on my hands today???

Just an update re the refrigerator. I eventually reached the place where our broken fridge came from. There is a one year warranty and we have had the fridge for one year and three months.
After a few negotiations, it turns out that this particular fridge has had issues and we should have been told. The fridge is being replaced at no charge. Pays to be nice and sound concerned...The real issue is that we now have excess furniture pieces and we are having trouble putting it all back. So, no sewing is going on.

Now to traveling. My friend Kim is on a small getaway in Pismo Beach. You might have been following her adventures there (www.kimsbigquiltingadventure.com). She had some quite rude neighbors and it reminded me of a trip we took to Alaska.

My brother got his degree in geophysics from UC Santa Barbara and ran as fast as he could out of California to the University of Alaska at Fairbanks. He LOVED Alaska. After a lengthy time getting his masters degree there, he finally got it together and agreed to change one tiny thing in his maters thesis and graduated. He gets a job in Virginia and off he goes. The problem (or really good thing for me) is that he has a ton of miles on Alaska Airlines. Somehow he gets these miles transferred into my name and my husband and I are off for free to Alaska!

We landed in Anchorage and had a lovely time. We ate dinner one night at a "Mexican" restaurant that served everything swimming in gravy. I don't know where this place learned to cook Mexican food, but that wasn't it. We were both sick the next two days. Unfortunately, we (and I mean me) drove to Fairbanks where we were supposed to be staying at B&B run by my brother's friend. I drove while my husband slept in the back seat occasionally waking up to moan and complain. I have to admit I felt okay i the car, but wasn't so keen on standing up and walking. We didn't see a single place to eat the whole way up, mistakenly taking the scenic route. It was very beautiful.

We find the B&B and the first thing I did was throw up in the bathroom. I was mortified and tried to clean up as best I could, but the woman never did warm up to us. We spent as little time as possible there and then drove back to Anchorage to fly home. I discovered at one point that I left my favorite pair of shoes under the bed and I just couldn't bring myself to ask that most unfriendly woman to send them to me. Remember me, I am the one who really messed up your bathroom and you couldn't even be sympathetic.....

Now we are really, really tired. It is June in Alaska--the time of year when it is day time 24 hours a day. The sun never sets. Our last night there we were in the same hotel we stayed in the very night of our Alaska stay. That night was fine. This last night we a nightmare. All night long, and I am not making this up, a bunch of kids sang the "song" From Shari Lewis and her puppet, Lambchop.

This is the song that never ends. Yes, it goes on and on my friend. Somebody started singing it not knowing what it was and they'll continue singing it forever just because this is the song that never ends. Yes, it goes on and on my friend...........

The kids sang it all night long. Combine this with total sunlight and just try and sleep! Impossible! We did call the front desk, but the kids belonged to them and they didn't seem to see a problem with this. It was June 16, 1994--17 years later and I still can sing the song. Up to that point, I had never even heard of Shari Lewis and this "song".

On a last note, I am on the 4th book of the Spellman series. The first book is The Spellman Files by Lisa Lutz. It took a bit to really get into it, but I gave it more of a chance than I moght because it was recommended by my mother-in-law and her book choices are often in line with mine. I ended up liking it enough to start the second book, Curse of the Spellmans. At this point the author goes back and forth between the present and the past. She presents a problem and then goes back and forth to clue the reader in to what is what. Then I found out that my mother-in-law, who loaned me the 4 books in the series, wanted them all back by the time she and most of the family make the trip to the family place in Emigrant, Montana. She is giving them to her friend, Jan, who lives in Sparks, Nevada. I figure I will have them done by Tuesday.

Maybe one more thought.....A while back I had a book my mother-in-law loaned to me in my work bag. I thoughtlessly tossed my coffee thermos in and there was a bit of coffee that leaked out and put an ugly brown coffee stain on the book, but it didn't really ruin the book. It was mostly unsightly. I showed her the book when I returned it and did offer to replace the book. She didn't think it was worth replacing so no harm done. Tuesday I was given a cherry flavored Dr. Pepper soda from my friend, Simona. I don't really drink soda very often, so I thought I would save it for later (it wasn't cold and I am notorious for needing my soda to be ice cold). It was so hot that on the way home it sprang a leak in my bag and, surprise! There is a very unsightly red stain on the book I was reading at the time (book two of the Spellman series). This time I just couldn't confess that I did this twice in less than a few weeks. I immediately reordered a new copy. It will come before the big trip as that isn't until July 20th, so all will end well. I really felt bad as it was going to another person beyond me. I will have to confess because we have this little code to show who has read the book. I will never be able to duplicate the handwriting. I am thinking I get stars for replacing what I destroyed. Does this mean there will be a number three as everything comes in threes?