LOST BUT NOW FOUND

About a year ago Cindy's wedding ring disappeared inside my VW Beetle. At first we weren't concerned since it must be under the seat. After we get back from our walk we will move the seat back and get it.

So Cindy moved the seat and it wasn't there. So if it wasn't under the passenger seat it must have fallen under the driver's seat. I moved that seat back AND IT WASN'T THERE. Now what? Where could it be? I guess I would have to look a bit more thoroughly.

Thank you YouTube. I watched a video about removing the seats. It didn't look hard. So I removed the passenger seats so I could get a better look. Still nothing.

It must have bounced out of the car and was forever lost. We both felt bad about that.

Fast forward a year. Cindy had made peace with the fact that the ring was gone. I thought about it every once in a while but like Cindy I was resigned to the fact it was lost.

The Bug is having various issues so we now drive it very little. We donated our Pontiac Vibe to Colorado Public Radio so we have thought about donating the Bug sometime in the future.

Since Cindy's birthday is next week I decided to give it one more look. Under each seat there is an air vent that pushes A/C and heat into the back. Could it have gone into that and if it did could I fish it out?

So back to the Bug to look one last time. I took out seats all the way this time. That meant disconnecting the wiring for the heated seat. What a pain to do. The passenger seat wasn't too bad but a bit of work. To disconnect the wiring I had to recline the driver's seat, open the trunk for ventilation, then lay in the driver's seat with my head under the steering wheel and my feet in the trunk so I could sort of reach the wiring. Of course once I was in position I didn't have the right tools with me. So out of that awkward position to head downstairs to my shop to find what I needed. When that was done and each seat was out of the car I looked again. Nothing was there. Since we were not driving it much and the seats were out and I had begun to wonder if that ring could have somehow gotten the air vent I decided to cut the carpeting. 

I probed under the carpeting and into the vent but nothing but some loose change and a guitar pick (I do not have a guitar).

Soooo I guess I needed to look under the driver's seat carpeting and in and under the vent. After cutting that carpeting Cindy came out into the garage to see how things were going. She was going to tell me to forget it. Here is what she texted to Laura and Matt "I was talking to Dad, just planning to wear my sapphire anniversary ring, maybe buy a plain gold band.  He said "Or you could just wear this!"

I had found the ring under the carpeting under the air vent. I thought it was another coin at first. After pulling it out both of us were just stunned. There it was.

I put it back on her hand, gave her a hug and then we went to Olive Garden to celebrate.

COVIS 19 VACCINATION

 My health care provider, UCHEALTH, informed all its patients that we would be notified when we were eligible to receive Covid 19 shots here in Colorado. News programs were constantly reporting how the process of vaccinating millions of people in different states was going. 

First states had to get the vaccine. Then decisions as to who would receive and when had to be made. Healthcare providers (nurses and doctors and first-responders) would be first but who next? Our governor at one point thought that prisons should be at the top of list. I do not know what became of that idea.

Then we heard people 70 and over here in Colorado would be receiving soon. Just how soon I didn't know. I was informed I should watch my email and check in my with my healthcare provider for updates. If I somehow missed the announcement about accepting an appointment for the shots my name would go to the bottom of the list. I looked regularly. Finally I was contacted and I signed up.

Today Cindy and I drove down to the Coors Field parking lot C to get my shot. We were really impressed about how efficient the process went.

After receiving my shot we moved to a holding area where we sat for 15 minutes to see if we were going to have any problems. I had a sore arm and I was a little light headed with a slight headache. That was it.

In 3 weeks I repeat this process. As soon as Cindy gets her two shots we will wait two weeks then head to Olive Garden to eat indoors.

STORYTIME WITH GRANDPA

This Covid 19 pandemic has meant fewer opportunities to be with others especially our family both near and far. 

I wanted to be able to stay connected with our grandkids but how? While looking through Facebook and YouTube I saw how people like Dolly Parton were reading stories online for children. That was it but then again the question of how?

I didn't want to simply video me reading since these were picture books. I thought about taping me reading with the camera looking over my shoulder but dropped that idea. Besides the technical issues there was the issue of getting books. Covid means that our local library was closed for a time. I could get books online but then what? After doing some research about resources I came up with a process that works pretty well.

I download 1st Reader ebooks from the library. Then I use a program on my laptop to clip an image of each page. Once I have the images copied (I hope I don't get into trouble for this) I copy them into another program called PhotoStage. PhotoStage is a program for making slideshows with sound. I insert each page into the slideshow. Then I record audio for each page one at a time. Each slide changes the length it is on screen depending on the length of the voice recording. Then I use my webcam to record individual openings and closings. The final step involves changing the file to an avi video file format and then uploading it to YouTube.  

The more I use this process the easier it becomes but it still is a bit labor intensive.

I enjoy doing it especially when I get feedback saying that they were enjoyed.