When Life Gives You Apples

.....don't make apple juice.

First a personnel note to Tony.

I read you're watching "Ray Donovan". I love it.

Ray Donovan (Liev Schreiber) is a new Showtime series about a Hollywood fixer. Jon Voight is masterful as Ray's father Mickey. I've been both embarrassed and disgusted by his actions. He has made me cringe several times. That's great acting. I don't know if Ray is based on truth. Given what we read about celebrities and their sense of entitlement, I wouldn't be surprised.

Speaking of Showtime. Every July our Comcast/Xfinity special de jour expires. So I call and play the discount dance for another year. Our phone, Internet and television service is provided by Xfinity. The monthly bill is substantial. This year I tried my new direct approach (see blog entry of July 30, 2013).

I swiftly navigated the phone menu so was put on hold quicker. Speaking with someone in retention is a must. They are the people with the power.

Rather than threatening to cancel service as I've done in the past, I spoke of our satisfaction with Comcast/Xfinity. "In the last few weeks two salesmen from your competition have called with guarantees of lower costs. We don't want to switch, we like your service and want to keep it. But, I'm retired and my wife works part time. Is there anything you can do to help?"

Our bill decreased $40 a month. I won't need to dance for two years, I hope I remember how.

Wanda and I are drinking more water.

I know plastic water bottles are bad for the environment. Over the years we've tried alternatives. Water home delivery service was too expensive. Schlepping five gallon jugs to the water store saved some but it was hard on the back. We've used faucet filters, large pitcher filters and individual bottle filters. We always revert to the 16 ounce water bottles. We recycle. I hope that helps.

At the Nevada City gathering in June our friends Catherine and Ted told us about MIO. Now plain water isn't good enough. While I realize no one is forcing me to use MIO, I like it. I don't drink soda, beer or wine. I'm not sure what concerns me more? The environmental issue or buying something I can get free. (Not really free, we get a water bill every month).

Now I should worry about my produce? From an environmental report: celery, peaches, strawberries, apples, blueberries and grapes are loaded with pesticides. We currently have celery, peaches, strawberries, apples, blueberries and grapes in the fridge. Guess the free tap water is good for something. 

We buy lots of organic and local. Recently I started washing produce with a water/vinegar spray. Yesterday I bought a four pound container of blueberries. If I eat too many I'll turn blue, and glow.

The report also lists clean produce. Onions, eggplant, asparagus, avocado and pineapple. We currently have one good avocado on the shelf and a brown and green onion in the bottom of the crisper. 

Yesterday I glanced at an article about Splenda. I use lots of Splenda. I like to sweeten my lattes with Splenda. I thought I was doing a good thing avoiding sugar. Now I can look forward to (among other things) lesions on my liver. 

I may as well go back to eating doughnuts and pie.

The Food Saver. You may have one sitting on a shelf collecting dust? We have a manual food saver, a straw. Insert one end in the bag, the other in your mouth, and suck. The infomercial claims using a Food Saver can save up to $2700.00 a year. So can BUYING LESS FOOD.

In spite of the NO SOLICITORS OR SALESPEOPLE, BEWARE WATCH CAT and IF THIS HOUSE IS ROCKIN' DON'T BOTHER KNOCKIN' signs, the witnesses of Jehovah stop here. They don't really bother me. Their commitment is admirable. Our neighborhood is mostly Hispanic, a tough crowd for Awake and The Watchtower. My usual answer has always turned them away. "No thanks, I'm Jewish." (It ought to be worth more then the seven days of Hanukkah).

My visitor Sunday was inquisitive. "May I ask you (you just did) when you pray, do you pray to God or someone else?" 

Do I pray to God or someone else? I guess it depends on what I pray for.

Does the same department handle health and a pair of aces?