HOW BOY MEETS GIRL
For the past few years I have been writing about the many changes that I have experienced and observed. Nothing stays the same, not even how boy meets girl!

MATCHMAKER


I'm no Spring chicken, but I can tell you that before my time when the parents felt that their children were of a certain age they would meet with a matchmaker and leave it up to that person to pair up a couple. The children had no say in the matter! Today, somewhere in this world, that's still the way it works.

HOUSE PARTIES


When I was a teenager my friends and I would go to house parties that were hostessed by our classmates. We danced to music on a record player, had cold drinks (no liquor) and chips. It was always a fun time!

DOUBLE DATES


In high school, we double dated, that's how we got to meet other people. I don't know if the kids today do that or even know what that means.

COLLEGE - WORK PLACE


If you attended college you had many opportunities to widen your circle.

If you went out into the working world, there was another opportunity to meet people.

DANCES


In the 40's my single friends and I would attend local temples that held dances where we had the opportunity to meet other singles. Sometimes we were successful, sometimes not. That's a whole other post!

CATSKILLS


In the summer when we had time off from work we would go off to places like Grossingers, Green Mansions or Banner Lodge. Sometimes we were successful, sometimes not. That's a whole other post too!

I digress, but when I think of those times, I always think of the night I first heard Sam Levenson. It was a Wednesday night, he was the main performer, not yet a big star but certainly on his way up, so I can say, I knew him when!!

BARS


Singles today still go to bars to meet but if I had a single son or a daughter I wouldn't be happy about it.

ONLINE DATING SITES

Darwin Dating web site by Colin Purrington CC BY-NC-SA

How times have changed - now you don't have to leave home, just go on the computer, find the site that fits your requirements, register and start your search.

I know a few couples who have found their mates online, are dating or have married.

One of the couples were living in the same city, same development, and lived across the street from each other! Now they are happily married!!

If anyone out there is looking to make a connection, an online site sounds like the way to go.

It's worth a try!

If you have had an experience using this "method", I'd love to hear about it.

posted by millie garfield @ 8:50 PM | Permalink | I LOVE COMMENTS >> 9 comments

 
IT'S APPLE CRISP TIME
The supermarkets have lots of apples available at this time of year, the weather is turning chilly, so it's time to turn the oven on and make a good old fashioned recipe for "Apple Crisp."

When I say "old" - what I mean is, over the years when I had company or was invited to someone's home, apple crisp was what I made.

It's a never fail recipe, looks good. and people just love it.

I've posted this recipe before but for those of you who might have missed it, here it is again!

NICE and EASY APPLE CRISP



Apples
2 Tbsp. sugar
1 stick butter (or margarine)
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 c sugar
1 c. flour
1 egg
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 c chopped nuts

In a 9 x 13 inch pan (buttered), fill with peeled and cored apples until 3/4 full. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons sugar over apples. Melt the 1 stick of butter or margarine and add rest of ingredients. Spoon over apple mixture.

Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Good warm with ice cream. If there is any leftover, it even tastes good cold.

Enjoy!! :-)

posted by millie garfield @ 7:58 PM | Permalink | I LOVE COMMENTS >> 12 comments

 
MOSTLY ABOUT MAD MEN
UPDATE

Last week I wrote about my various household items breaking down. I was expecting a visit from Comcast to see if they could find out why my TV's were acting up. My wooden window shades needed to be repaired or replaced - well this is what happened:

I took a close look at my shades (twelve years old) and realized that they are in really bad shape and should be replaced. I'll just have to "go for it" and buy new ones.

I lucked out when it came to the TV's.

The day that Comcast was scheduled to come I had my maintenance man come over to see if he could figure out what the problem was.

It so happens that the day before the TV's broke down I had a new housecleaning person do some vacuuming for me.

He looked, looked and looked some more - found that the cleaning person had UNPLUGGED an outlet so he could connect the vacuum cleaner and never reconnected it!! That solved that problem, so quick like a bunny I called Comcast and cancelled the visit!!

Now for what is really on my mind.

I could blog about three good movies I've seen recently.

"The Town", "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps" and "Secretariat." They were all worth seeing but I have other things on my mind!

I could blog about attending classes at a local Temple: Imagination: Inside The World Of Marc Chagall. Learning a lot about the artist I never knew but I have other things on my mind!

IT"S ALL ABOUT MAD MEN

I'm a creature of habit - My typical Sunday goes something like this:

Get up.

Go to the computer, check my messages and see what's new.

Go to the front door and take in the newspaper - separate the various sections, toss the ads I'm not interested in.

Have breakfast.

Read the Globe North, Arts, Movies, Metro, Business and World news sections.

This morning was different: when I saw the Arts section there was a huge write-up and picture of Don Draper (played by John Hamm on Mad Men).


Don Draper (played by Jon Hamm on "Mad Men") joins a select list of TV antiheroes.

Going deep. We know these TV men (and yes, it's always men) inside and out:

The fourth season of “Mad Men’’ ends tonight, and I feel as though I’m a therapist bidding farewell to client Don Draper.

The 2010 run of episodes has been a twisty journey into the psyche of a complex man, a long and detailed answer to the big question that opened the season: “Who is Don Draper?’’ With each new gorgeously written and acted hour of the AMC series, we’ve learned more and more about this dark survivor, a guy who always gets pushed up against the wall and always climbs out.

I said, the heck with breakfast, I have to read what Matthew Gilbert has to say.

Just yesterday in the Critic's Corner he wrote," I really, really, really don't want it to end."

That's exactly how I feel!

On the East Coast Mad Men is on at 10:00 pm.

Ordinarily I would put the lights out by ten o'clock, but I HAVE to stay up to see the show.

Then what happens is I go to amctv.com and read the comments about the show I just watched. I give myself a time limit and call it a night at midnight.

The next morning I get on the phone with a friend of mine who is equally hooked. We talk about the cast as though they are real people.

Now, you would think that should be the end of it BUT some night during the week I go to ON DEMAND and see the show again. There is so much to observe on this show that when I see it the second time I catch something I missed the first time.



I'm thinking ahead now, what am I going to do next Sunday night at ten o'clock - how can I survive without "Mad Men?" I know, I know - I know - I'll go ON DEMAND and watch the old shows!!!

Are you hooked like I am?

More:

AMC.TV: Season 4 Episode 13 - Open Thread

posted by millie garfield @ 8:51 PM | Permalink | I LOVE COMMENTS >> 9 comments

 
TESTING - ONE, TWO, THREE - TESTING
For those of you who read last week's post about all the things that are breaking down at my place, take another look, see if you notice anything unusual about it.

UPDATE:


Kenju - Using the safety pins to repair the blinds did not work. Oh well, looks like I'll have to find a more permanent solution. (like spending money)

Mamma/Mary - The blinds are very heavy so shipping them back to the manufacturer that made them would be too costly. I'll give your suggestion a try and get in touch with the company I bought them from and see what they can do for me.

MORE TROUBLE IN PARADISE


Okay, I replaced the kitchen faucets, dishwasher and microwave. Hopefully the blinds can be repaired, otherwise a new window treatment will be on the horizon. I'm not looking forward to that! :-)

I'd say that should be enough of things to be repaired or replaced. That's what I say
but who listens.

NO RADIO


Instead of having the radio on for background music, I have several channels on one of my TV's that has a selection of music - swing, jazz, country and whatever I'm in the mood for.

Well, today I got a message on those channels, "One Moment please" I waited and waited, nothing happened.

I have another set in the living room that started being temperamental today too, no picutre or sound on ANY channel!!!

I called Comcast and finally got the right person to talk to - told me to do this, do that, nothing helped. The technician set up an appointment for someone to come to my house tomorrow between 5:00 pm and 7:00pm.

Depending on what the source of the problem is, it's a no charge call or I pay!

Wow!

There is a fellow in my building that might be able to help me so I'll keep my figures crossed and hopefully will cancel the visit from Comcast.

Now that I have updated you on the trials and tribulations of Thoroughly Modern Millie
it's up to you to see what was so unusual about last weeks post.

Testing - One, Two, Three - Testing

posted by millie garfield @ 8:36 PM | Permalink | I LOVE COMMENTS >> 8 comments

 
I'VE BEEN IN THE BREAKDOWN LANE
Fortunately when I say that I have been in the breakdown line I don't mean, on the highway.

MICROWAVE


It all started happening in April when I returned from Florida. My microwave was not behaving, it wasn't doing what it was supposed to! For many years I lived without a micro and managed very nicely but once you have an appliance that performs magic, you don't want to live without it.

It so happens I was going in for surgery in May and realized I would miss it dearly if I didn't have one when I came home after surgery. I had to move fast. (me move fast, that's a feat) I had to replace it with a unit that would fit under my cabinet.

I was able to accomplish this over the phone with a local appliance store, gave them the dimensions, had it delivered and installed in no time! Done!!

KITCHEN FAUCETS

Photo by Nico Cavallotto CC BY-NC-ND

One day I noticed some discoloration of the wood under my kitchen sink. My maintenance man took a look and noticed that my faucets were leaking and found some water inside the cabinet, recommended new faucets. Okay, I had to replace what was causing the problems! Got new faucets!!

DISHWASHER

Photo by Suzi Duke CC BY-SA

Time went by and I noticed the stain under the sink was getting worse, had my maintenance man take a look and what do you know - he found my dishwasher had a broken part and was causing the water stain on the wood!!! If it got any worse it would have caused damage to my down-stairs neighbor's apartment!!

That left me wondering if my maintenance man was correct when he recommended I replace my faucets. Oh well, I now have a handsome set of faucets.

At this point in time I really didn't want to invest in a new dishwasher but how can you live without one so I searched the internet and narrowed my choice to the most reasonably priced one, without all the bells and whistles.

I found a General Electric dishwasher on sale at a Home Depot and since my husband was a GE employee I will be getting a rebate from the company. That made the purchase less painful.

The first time I used the dishwasher I thought something was wrong with it - I couldn't hear a thing!! My old one was so noisy, I was pleasantly surprised at how quiet this one is.

All's well that ends well!

WINDOW SHADES


I have had horizontal wooden shades on my large windows in the bedroom for the past thirteen years. The other day I noticed one section of the shades was not hanging properly - the ribbon that keeps the slats together had torn apart!!

Well, no way am I going to replace that window treatment - what to do - I gave it some thought and came up with a temporary solution which I hope stands the test of time.

I went to my sewing box and found two large safety pins, pinned the worn ribbon piece together and am hoping for the best.

Years ago things seemed to last forever, now it seems manufacturers "plan for obsolescence."

Guess, we have to face the facts, nothing lasts forever, we just have to roll with the punches.

posted by millie garfield @ 8:02 PM | Permalink | I LOVE COMMENTS >> 13 comments