Adventures with Grandad #4

This post is subtitled "No Butts About It!" My dad was lucky enough to be here when this TP saga unfolded.
I am serious about toilet paper. Not all TPs are alike, some are WAY better than others. As a matter of fact, one of Taylor's buddies spent the night and commented on how great our TP was. We take pride in our TP. Awhile back, I found a great TP called Tempo. My bohunkus greatly approved of this TP and its reasonable price. When I went back to purchase it again, it was nowhere to be found, and I was greatly distressed. Then, not long after that, Charmin came out with its newfangled Diamondweave TP, and lo and behold, my keen detective skills deduced that it was Tempo brand TP now packaged as Charmin Diamondweave and was being sold at a higher price. Even with the price hike, that glorious TP was too divine to pass up, so I began my deep devotion as a client of Charmin's Diamondweave, and there was happiness in all the land. I thought it odd that Tempo had suddenly shown up as Charmin Diamondweave, butt I was happy with the TP, so that's all that mattered. I shared my love of this great TP with my dad (whom I call Grandad), and he was actually looking forward to trying out this highly-touted TP that I'd raved so much about.
Here is a photo of what was originally Tempo, then became Charmin's Diamondweave brand:



So when Grandad came for a visit, he tried our bohunkus-friendly TP, and approved of it. You'd think that was the end of this story, butt NO!
Grandad and I were shopping in Walmart, and TP was on my list. I grabbed what I thought was my tried and true Charmin Diamondweave. It was in the same, exact packaging as my Diamondweave. Immediately upon opening the package of TP, I noticed that THIS diamondweave was NOT my beloved Diamondweave. See photo evidence pictured below and compare it to the original Tempo turned Charmin Diamondweave shown above:



You'll have to forgive these blurry photos, but I admit to being a newbie when it comes to the art of photographing TP. Clearly, you can see that although both TPs do indeed have diamond patterns, they are very different from one another. The only reason I was able to get a photo of the original Tempo turned Charmin Diamondweave is because I found a lone, single roll of it hiding away and fearing extinction. I now have that rare roll of TP hermetically sealed so that I may show it to my grandchildren someday and reminisce about the fabulous TP of the good, old days. I might be able to sell that roll on ebay for a fortune!
So you probably think THIS is the end of the story... Butt NO!
My dad and I went back to Walmart with TP on the shopping list, and what did my eyes behold?? Tempo brand TP was once again on the shelves, my original favorite TP that had mysteriously become Charmin Diamondweave which had just inexplicably changed without warning to a newer, lesser quality diamondweave. Butt sadly, Tempo had changed its diamond pattern too, also, as well. It was almost identical to Charmin's inferior diamondweave with which they'd just replaced their superior Diamondweave. Tempo brand just sported an extra diagonal line to their pattern. See for yourself:



So I bought some Tempo TP mostly out of spite against Charmin for changing the highly coveted Diamondweave my bohunkus had become addicted to. The original and highly desired pattern that my bohunkus longed for was no longer available in either Tempo or Charmin brands.
Needless to say, I was in a tizzy.
Next time, I rebelled and bought a cheaper and far inferior brand of TP. I was suffering for a cause.
I was lounging on the couch when Taylor came marching down the hall with a roll of the new, thin TP in hand. "What is this??!!" he yelled. I told him I was in rebellion due to the shenanigans being played in the TP industry at the expense of our emotional and bohunkusal well being. He was not at all happy and shouted as he left the room, "This is unacceptable!! I might as well use my hand rather than this stuff!!!"
Taylor decided to do some research, and he found out that Tempo is a testing brand for Charmin. They put out a trial TP in some markets under the Tempo name to see how well it does. If it does really well, then they package it using the Charmin name. If it does not sell well, then Charmin's name is not associated with it, and the product is discontinued.
What I want to know is WHY IN THE NAME OF ALL THAT IS HOLY AND GOOD did Charmin mess with the incomparable, original Diamondweave? They had a perfect product as far as I'm concerned, and now I cannot purchase the TP to which my bohunkus has become accustomed.
I implore Charmin to reinstate their original Diamondweave pattern, so not only my bohunkus butt the bohunkuses of all my family and any guests we may have will know the comfort and soft strength of a truly great TP.
And Grandad and Taylor said... Amen!!!
At least one more Adventure with Grandad to come...

Adventures with Grandad #3

My dad came to visit for over a month, and boy did we have a good time! I call him Grandad, so if I refer to Grandad then you'll know I'm talking about my dad.
We did a lot of porch sitting and bird watching. The lightning bugs/fireflies were out in droves, and it was enjoyable to relax and watch them light up all around us. Do you call them lightning bugs or fireflies? Grandad says that only Yankees call them fireflies, and sure enough when our neighbors were over, they called them lightning bugs because they are born and bred southerners.
We laid out our bodies as a scrumptious buffet for some greedy-gutted chiggers. That was because we sat on the lawn in our lawn chairs in complete ignorance of the tasty gift we were giving to those little buggers. We paid an itchy price which lasted for about a week.
Grandad and I talked about many family stories from years past. I'll share a few now and save some for future posts. My dad's dad (my Grandpa) had a heart attack when I was a little girl. I remember when it happened and how worried we all were. What I didn't know was WHERE he had the heart attack. Grandpa was a fire sprinkler fitter just like my dad has been all my life. Grandpa had his heart attack while working in the parking garage of Stanford Hospital. I guess if you're gonna have a heart attack then THAT'S the best place to have it. Thankfully, he got emergency care immediately and lived many years after that and did not die from heart disease. He DID, however, put little pills under his tongue whenever he was feeling really stressed. Grandpa used to sit on a bar stool and watch TV preachers on this little TV on the counter, and he'd get so mad at them that he'd spit on the screen and rant and rave, then pop one of those little pills under his tongue. My brother and I saw this happen over the years, and it was really funny to see. We never could understand why he kept watching those preachers if he disliked them so much, but we sure loved watching him get so worked up!
My dad told me stories about a couple of my uncles. Both of these uncles are my mom's brothers. My Uncle Frank told my dad once that he often gets his name mixed up when he writes it down. For instance, if Uncle Frank was writing his name at the top of a school assignment, or writing his name to check in for an appointment, etc... His name is Frank Farmer, and he'd often write his name as Farnk Framer. That just tickles me to death for some reason!! (Cousin Sarah, I hope you are reading this!!)
The other uncle my dad told stories about was my Uncle Paul. Uncle Paul and my dad were on the job once and both were in Paul's work truck. Paul was driving and needed to get by another worker who'd parked his truck in the middle of the driveway with hardly enough room for anyone to squeeze past. Paul said, "Hey! Would you move your truck, please?" The guy barked back, "You could drive a tank through there!" My Uncle Paul quipped, "But I'm not driving a tank!"
The guy moved his truck. (Cousin Becky, I hope you are reading this!!)
Grandad and I visited my dear, Great-Aunt Mabel and her daughter and husband. It was about a four-hour drive to her place. She will be 95 years old in August, and she is quite a hearty lady. She calls my dad Jimmie Don.
In this video which is just over one minute long, my dad had just asked Aunt Mabel to tell about when she first met her husband, Uncle Floyd. This video is a treasure!



If you have trouble viewing the video, CLICK HERE .
Enjoy your Independence Day weekend!! God bless America!!
More Adventures with Grandad to come...

Adventures with Grandad #2

This is my dad, the man we all call Grandad. He's the guy who says random stuff out of the blue such as, "Hey look! There's a Scissor-Tailed Fly Catcher!" And sure enough, there was. It's a kind of bird. Plus he calls some turtles terrapins, because that's what some of them are. Who knew?
I'll tell you who. Grandad.



Since the kids call him Grandad, we all all him Grandad... even Granny calls him Grandad. Granny is my mom, of course, The Nut Handler you've heard about before. Grandad has been here for a nice, long visit.
This is my dad BEFORE the Just For Men transformation.



Here he is AFTER I colored his hair, and he colored his beard to match. He looked young before, and now he looks like a spring chicken!





I thank God for my family and that I grew up with such loving parents and grandparents. I really enjoyed celebrating Father's Day with my dad. Grandad comes from good stock. I called his parents (my grandparents), Gramillo and Grandpa. I miss my Gramillo and Grandpa a lot. Below are a couple of my favorite photos. The first one is of Gramillo (Violet Marie) holding her first great-grandchild, my Courtney Marie. Gramillo was super nice and pretty and had a terrific smile and laugh. The second photo shows her in full laughter mode. I'd love to go back in time to that day right now!





My dad and I have been doing some work around the homestead. We bought frames, and my dad painted them. He's a talented fellow. He did wonders with some cheap frames and made them look really nice. We hung up several of Courtney's paintings and photographs all around the house. Here's some of them. They look marvelous, don't you think?













Courtney opened an online store to show and sell her photographs. If you'd like to take a gander, just CLICK HERE for her store or CLICK HERE to visit her Flickr photos.
Both my kids are home for the summer, so this momma is a happy camper! JD's empty nest is temporarily full again. Woo Hoo!!!
I've got more to share about my dad's visit (some funny stuff too!), and I'll get to it in future posts. Grandad is here for just one more week, so we've got a lot more we want to pack into our days before he heads home to CA.
More Adventures with Grandad to come...