Previews of Coming Attractions

Ok, so maybe I'm the only one who may be excited by all of this, but today Louie and I went to Cedar Rapids, Iowa to pick up our windows we ordered three weeks ago for our living room. They had to be custom made by Pella

A few miles out of town, we stopped at a convenience store for something to drink. I just had to take this picture. A puppy and his owner needed something from the convenience store too, arriving on their 4 wheeler. The puppy waited patiently until his owner returned, then away they went. The puppy was a very good passenger.

On the way to Lowe's, we stopped by a couple Goodwills, then ran into Best Buy to check on a fix for one of our Ipods, and was pleasantly pleased at how Best Buy was handling the tragic flood situation, and water shortage. There are 4 water treatments plants, and only one was working. More water was being used than being produced, and the water situation was/IS critical. All residents and businesses have been ordered to not use any water other than for drinking. No showers, no unnecessary flushing the toilets, you get the drift. Some business have not heeded the rules though. I was pleased to see the porta-potties. Semi loads of water have been trucked in for people to pick up to help with the situation. Restaurants were asked to use paper plates, etc to hold water usage to a minimum. Taco Bell today, did not have the dining room open. If you wanted something, it was strictly drive through. That was ok with me, as we usually drive through anyway.

Next, we went to Lowe's. Need I say I was pleased to see they were heeding to the rules as well?While we were inside the store, a young couple walked by me, and the woman said to her husband, 'I won't have to use the porta-potty will I?' I had to smile to myself, because until I was 7 years old, an outhouse was all we had. We used a porcelain coated metal 'pot' with a lid during the night, and winter, and carried them to the outhouse to empty them later.... (ok, more information than you needed, but I DO understand how these people are, and will be living for a short time here! In fact, reporters told of how when Cedar Rapids had a rainstorm yesterday afternoon, how people were seen wearing swim suits, sudsing up their hair and taking a shower in the rain!) We didn't have any plumbing whatsoever. We ALL drank out of the same dipper from a pail of water we filled from the outdoor faucet from the neighbor's house. We heated our water for baths and dishes in a large copper oval shaped tub in the basement on a stove. We had a galvanized bathtub we filled with bath water, and we all took our turns bathing, the least dirty first, to the dirtiest, last. We got our bathwater, laundry water, and dishwater from a cistern in our back yard that was filled with rain water, so porta-potties don't intimidate me in the least, but I can see how some people could have a problem with them. Strange thing was, I never saw one person using any porta-potties today.

Our windows were finally loaded, tied down and ready for the trip home. We borrowed this truck from our friends, Pat and Christie.Plans for the July 4th weekend are to install my two new windows. They are big windows. They look like three separate windows, but are only one. These will be a bigger job to do than the ones we replaced last summer, as the siding will have to be pulled back to install these, but oh, they will be SO nice! We opted for stationary windows that did not open, for better weather proofing. We rarely opened the windows on the old ones anyway. They cranked open, don't close easily without a 'push' from outside, and water has damaged them. Last fall, we caulked the heck out of them and sealed them shut. Humidity in Iowa is usually bad, so if the windows are opened a few times in the spring, and a few times in the fall, that is about normal. The windows we will be replacing are the three windows on the right front of the house above, and a little to the left of the bush. The windows on the far left are the permanent glass ones we replaced last year in the front bedroom. The second window is directly around the corner. You can see the two sets of windows behind the branches of the tree on the top left hand corner of the picture below.