1. Back in the Day - The Land Line

   June 6, 2026

   While waiting for the bus to arrive, we were standing in the front hallway where we have an antique phone on table as a decoration/dust collector.

   

   Photo by Mike Meyers on Unsplash

   She started to “dial” and play with it - which is fine, but then she asked me about the letters mean on the display. I had to explain that some companies might have phone numbers with letters so this way you knew what letters to dial. Or better yet even: way way way back in the day before Dad was born they had numbers that also had letters too so there’s that.

   I told her that some companies would have phone numbers like 12-MONEY or 52-FLUSH and she loved that and asked why we don’t have a number like that I told her it’s because we’re not a business.1

   But then she realized that she could spell her name with the dial and I swear if we hadn’t heard the bus rumbling down the road to stop at the door we could have stayed there with Dad’s telephone history as today’s class.

   I told her that back in the day we had only one phone. Usually in a common part of the home. Sometimes a front hall, or the kitchen. Mostly the kitchen, if I remember correctly with that long cord that would get twisted in knots somehow no matter how hard you tried not to.

   I then told her that later on we had two phones in the house: one downstairs and one upstairs - usually in the bedroom for those dreaded 2 am calls that were never good. ever.

   When I was a teen the rich kids had their own line and I thought that was just ridiculous. Who would need their own phone line? That would take the fun out of it when you answered and you had no idea who was calling. Not a clue. It could be somebody trying to sell you something, your best friend or worst of all: your school. Those calls were the worst.

   If the call was not for you, you would do what we all do: hold the receiver to your chest and then yell at the top of your lungs the name of whomever the call was for. God forbid you put the phone down and go find the person via a quieter method. Nope. It was always with the yelling.

   Then came the question: If it wasn’t for you - did you put the receiver down on desk and leave or did you talk to the caller until the person arrived that they wanted to talk to? Sometimes you would end up talking to the caller more than the person they intended to call.

   I miss the land line. There was something more physical and “real” about it. There actually was another person at the end of the line. If you were home you answered, and if you weren’t home, you were not home. Period. The phone just rang and rang and told your friends that you were not home. It was a very simple system that worked just fine.

   If the phone rang late at night? Nobody called late night past about 10. At the very latest and if they did it better be an emergency.

   And if your teacher called? “Sorry, wrong number”

   Let your fingers do the walking,

   TH and Co.

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2. Thankfully, Home

   June 5, 2026

   I’ll cut to the chase: BW has the flu. We realized it while sitting in a Denny’s.

   

   Photo by Karina G on Unsplash

   We were doing great on the way home. We were out the door before 9am and about 10:30 am stopped to charge the EV. We figured that it will take a good half an hour to charge for this part of the trip so we may as well go and have a brunch/early lunch.

   BW ordered the french toast and then started to complain about feeling a bit ill. At first we thought she was just cold because the Denny’s had no heat due to a renovation, but putting a jacket didn’t make a bit of difference.

   BW poked at her french toast, and the child ate very little at breakfast either. She usually loves diners so this was odd. We paid our bill, and left for the next leg of the trip.

   “I think I have the flu”, BW told me.

   “Nyeah, you can’t,” I replied.

   It turns out,oh yes she can and we have the positive test to prove it. When we were about 2 hours away from home the child started to complain about a headache and then the next thing you know she’s zonked out in the back seat.

   I’ve got 2 down at this point, and I’m the last man standing.

   When we get home, BW goes into the house and goes to bed. The child has seemed to perk up and so I plug her in to her tablet at home and then drive across town to pick up the dog.

   When I arrive, the dog looks healthy so I pack her into the car, thank the sitter and then go back to the house to unload the car of a week’s worth of food and gifts and somewhere in trunk were the spoils of our Costco run and that had to be put away as well.

   Thankfully, my mother-in-law (bless her heart), sent us on our way with some empanadas so I warmed them up, and tossed some veggie sticks at the child for dinner and called it close enough. Later she had a few grapes that helped me get through the night.

   The child perked up and except for being tired at bedtime, looks to be in good shape for school tomorrow and she wants to go because there’s a book sale tomorrow so it’s an extra special day.

   As I write this, I have a load of laundry going and the cars emptied with stuff put away for the most part so all in all not a bad night for us.

   It could have better, but we’ll take what we can get. We’re home safe and now we don’t have to do this again until next year.

   Today’s PSA: Get your flu shot.

   TH and Co.

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3. Meet the Dog

   June 4, 2026

   As I write this, the dog is in her crate with the door to her crate wide open whining. It’s times like this I worry about her health, mental or otherwise.

   

   this is why we can’t have visitors.

   This could mean a few things:

   1. She ate something she shouldn’t. This is the most probable because I swear you turn around for a second and something is in or has gone through her that should not have.
   2. She’s bored. This is also a possibility as it’s Buffalo in December and the back yard does not have the same appeal as the summertime sunbathing on the back deck does
   3. She’s attention seeking. I’m calling this as the reason if number 1 doesn’t pass.(literally)

   This dog is sweet, and we got the dog because I had a momentary lapse of reason and I asked BW if she wanted to get a dog. Also, for the child - I wanted her to not be afraid around dogs.

   I’m not a dog lover. Of course, the dog has become “my dog” somehow and as she’s been hanging out here for almost four years now we’ve got her figured out more or less and how things work with her.

   Here’s a few things I have learned.

   1. The dog will try and eat anything that is made of wood, crayon or fluffy like stuffed animals. We never have to really edit or donate old stuffed animals because they just die an untimely death and gets chewed to bits. I have caught her trying to not-very-stealthily sneak a white stuffed bear past me as if I wasn’t looking.
   2. This is one needy dog. She’s okay in the crate and as we’ve learned recently pretty adaptable to new surrounding and people even though her world is really small with just the 3 of us for the most part. But, if you try to sit down in the living room you will soon have a dog in your lap as in the photo above. This dog wants to be loved all the time
   3. This is also one poorly trained dog. This is fully, completely my fault as we got the dog about 3 weeks before BW was in a pretty serious traffic accident so the dog training went out the door as we concentrated on BW’s recovery.
   4. Age has made some problems go away. For a while there, the dog would escape and run away and I would be outside in the middle of a snowstorm running around the neighbors back yard trying to herd the dog back. Age helped, but also one time I had a broom in the front yard and realized the dog was scared shitless of it and since then the dog will not venture out of doors past the front stoop to greet the child off the school bus. Thank God for brooms.
   5. The dog had a door issue for a bit. It would go out the sliding door but would not come inside for the life of us. We tried treats, coaching, and nothing worked except time as now she’s finally figured out doors. There’s video of us somewhere all trying to get the dog to come back in the house. It’s embarrassing, really.
   6. She’s good with the child. The dog can be a little jumpy and there’s been a spill or two but as the child gets bigger and the dog gets older this hasn’t been a issue. The child loves the dog and will talk to her and pet her and the dog is as gentle as can be with her- there’s no fear with the dog which was the whole point of getting her. The child came home with a drawing of the family and the dog was present and the biggest character so that decides it- the dog stays.

   So.If you like dogs and especially like not-so-smart dogs that have attention issues and want to just be in your lap all the time, then come over and visit. She will love you.

   If you don’t like dogs, you can still come over but by the time you leave you may find out that you do like dogs after all.

   Hey, it happened to me.

   Constantly petting the dog,

   TH and Co.

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4. Flip a Coin

   June 3, 2026

   Every morning the routine goes as such:

   1. coffee. need coffee.
   2. child comes downstairs and flops on couch
   3. Coffee is in hand, and dog is fed.
   4. I ask her what she wants for breakfast.

   This is where it all goes sideways - with the breakfast choices. I don’t remember having breakfast choices when I was growing up. I probably did because I know what Captain Crunch is, so perhaps it’s just selective amnesia on my part.

   I tell her she can’t have french toast because she can’t start every day with syrup and still have teeth. I offer her one of two choices today:

   “Cereal or Oatmeal?”, I ask.

   She harumphs and pushes past me and investigates both the pantry and the fridge to make sure I’m not holding out on her and there’s a freshly made cheese danish that I’m hiding.

   I ask again: “Oatmeal or Cereal?”. Maybe if I reverse the order of the choices I will have better luck…

   NO luck.

   She tells me she is going to make her own breakfast.

   “GREAT!”, I reply and continue to enjoy my still-hot cup of coffee.

   She goes to the fridge and finds a handful of grapes that I had in a plastic bag for her snack at school and then pours them into a bowl. She then asks me to cut some apple slices and put them in the bowl. Then, I am to pour some orange juice over them…

   Folks, this was breakfast:

   

   I am undecided on whether this was a win for this morning or not. On one hand - fruit - so yay!, right? On the other hand - fruit - but sugar?. I’m conflicted.

   While she was eating breakfast she found a Canadian quarter in her pencicl case which was on the table and then this led to a discussion about the Canadian mint and where and how quarters are used..etc.

   Then I showed her the ultimate trick: As a decision maker by flipping a coin. I showed her how to flip the quarter in the air to make a decision and she loved, loved, loved learning how to do it.

   We had to stop flipping and tossing because we were going to be late for the bus but she could have played with that lousy quarter all morning if i had let her.

   This coin flipping lesson actually worked out well because tomorrow when I offer the breakfast options she can use a coin toss to decided and then she can’t change her mind - especially if she’s using a Canadian quarter.

   I’m pretty sure there’s an international law against changing your breakfast choice post-flip once the coin lands.

   And if not, I’m telling her there is one - regardless

   Oatmeal: It’s the right thing to do.

   TH and Co.

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5. The Swimming Lesson

   June 2, 2026

   Today, like every Sunday at 11:45am, we have swimming lessons.

   

   Photo by Raphaël Biscaldi on Unsplash

   Easy, right? No rush, we get up when we want and have a nice family morning with bacon and eggs and a slow start on a gray Sunday.

   Yeah…not so fast.

   The problem with lazy mornings, is it’s hard to get the child un-lazied and ready to go swimming. I hopped in the shower and asked BW if she could coax a bathing suit and some clothes on our offspring so we could go and get there

   I just stepped into the shower when the screaming started:

   BW: Put your swimsuit on!

   Child: “You’re ruining my life!”

   I’m not sure about the particulars of how things went down, but down then went.

   Meanwhile, I am in the shower and I have two thoughts.

   1. I should go help BW
   2. Hell, NO.

   I chose option number two obviously and pretended I couldn’t hear anything…lalallallalala - I can’t hear you……

   When I came out of the shower things were down to a dull roar and BW was in a corner whimpering and the child was bright red from crying her heart out.

   I managed to get the child to get some socks on and somehow we managed to remember to bring some underpants for her to change into and we get out the door with just enough time, and with all the supplies we need.

   We get to the Swimming lessons and there’s not a soul there.

   OMG. You have to be kidding me. All the tears and screaming and rushing - for nothing?

   Turns out, some kid barfed in the pool in an earlier time slot so by the time we got there there was not a soul around anywhere because they closed the pool.

   All that screaming and crying and coaxing and warming up the car and scraping the ice off, and buckling in - for naught.

   We went home.

   Turns out there was a message sent about the pool closure - but I missed it on my phone because I wasn’t glued to my phone because it was a lazy Sunday morning with the family.

   There’s always next Sunday for the lessons to happen again.

   Assuming no barfing, of course.

   Keep Swimming,

   TH and Co.

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