News and other happenings

The news has been saturated with tragedies lately. So many children and pets being left in sweltering hot, locked vehicles, accidental and intentional shootings, attacks by alligators and sharks, drowning, drug overdoses, auto rage. It is enough to depress even the hardest heart.

We have been preparing for a visit by my wife's brother from Maryland. There have been tree cutters, lawn mowers, carpenters, gravel haulers, carpet steamers, concrete workers, air conditioner servicemen, etc., all over the place.

The carpet looked great after being steam cleaned, then the air conditioning unit condensation hose in the attic got clogged, and leaked water all over the carpet in one bedroom. It stained the white carpet badly and nothing has worked to remove the stain, in spite of all the advertising of such products.

I had to get a new phone set after the vicious lightning storm we had several weeks ago. Two problems: reading the miniscule printed instructions in the "Quick start guide," and understanding them. The writers of guides do not realize that older men are not very adept at comprehending icons and seeing small print.

Hey, I tell myself, quit your complaining! (Or something like that.)

Actually, I prided myself on being able to reassemble a dresser drawer that had come apart, and, I did get a file cabinet drawer to close all the way, after some tricky hand and knee exertion.

Practically everything anyone buys admonishes one to save the receipt in case a return, repair, or adjustment is necessary. I am no longer going to do that. Everything is filled with receipts. I must have thrown away a ton of them last week.

Henceforth, if something breaks, I will just buy a new one and throw the old one away.

I have decided that is how things are handled these days.

-- Louis Houston is a resident of Siloam Springs. His book "The Grape-Toned Studebaker" is available locally and from Amazon.com. Send any questions or comments to [email protected] or call 524-6926. The opinions expressed are those of the author.

Community on 06/22/2016