Thought Wheel

Ann Chiappetta

Vintage Furniture 🪑

| Filed under blogging

 

One night a few weeks ago, our local news station, KDKA Pittsburgh announced the Carnegie Music Hall of Homestead was selling the old theater seats prior to renovations. The seats, originally crafted in 1898 were being sold on a first come first served basis on a Saturday morning. The price? $50 for two ranging from good to fair condition. Jerry and I thought about it.  He suggested putting the pair in the man cave, the garage.

The advertisement was just too cool to ignore — “These seats have been a front-row to decades of incredible performances (by) many artists like Three Dog Night, Kenny G., Toto, Gino Vanelli, Dave Chappelle, American Idol, Nikki Glaser and our very own Jeff Goldblum,” a Facebook post about the sale reads. “They are conversation starters that will leave your friends in awe, and make an incredible addition to your office, home theater, game room or even your back porch!”

Below is the full but brief article

Carnegie of Homestead Music Hall selling vintage theater seats (msn.com)

 

When he got there, the woman sold him a pair for $25 and threw in an extra back and seat for parts. The seats are beautifully crafted and wider than I thought. Jerry had to fix one a bit and then he mounted the pair on wood slats to protect the wrought iron feet from the concrete floor of the garage. A little retro chic for our new home.

pictured are two attached vintage theater seats. The dark wood and black iron accents are offset by the tan floral seat cushions.

 

 

Missing Mouse 🖱️

| Filed under assistive technology blindness

Living the life and being a blind assistive technology user means  interacting with my pc from a `keyboard. I ditched the mouse when I began navigating a computer with JAWS software. We refer to the various text-to-speech software programs for blind and low vision as screen readers, not to be confused with a live person reading aloud.  These programs accomplish much more  like assisting me in writing, formatting and interacting with the internet when posting blog content, holding interviews and attending virtual meetings, or checking my Facebook account.

 

The mouse, and to an extent, a touch screen for a laptop or desktop computer isn’t useful because I can’t see . For example, the mouse for my system is tucked on the little shelf beside my laptop.  Unless Jerry needs to assist me with something on my pc, it stays there gathering proverbial dust. One day I was cleaning the real dust and cat hair from the desk and the mouse tipped over and slid down the back of the desk, wedging itself under the floor mat behind the desk. I didn’t notice. The following week I noticed odd things happening on my pc like the windows jumping around and arbitrarily closing.  Then our pet dog, May  started sleeping under the desk where it’s cooler and I finally realized her napping was somehow responsible for my pc acting weird.   I confirmed the mouse wasn’t in the usual place next to my laptop. I slipped off my shoe and located the  mouse, easing it out with a toe.

 

Now I have the mouse back and in a safe place. May can go back to laying on the remote on the bed and changing the channels instead of  laying on the missing mouse and messing up my documents.

 

 

 

Our Roots 🥕

| Filed under Relationships

The first root veggie Jerry pulled  from our Monroeville garden is a carrot. It tasted sweet and fresh. It’s been years since I’ve been able to garden. Jerry is the muscle and eyes. I limp along giving advice. Somehow it is working out for us, as proven by the beginning of our bounty.

 

I think of the carrot as another root to tether us here, a good omen we will be happy here, enjoying each other and caring about not only what we choose to do but how we do things together.

 

Learning and growing individually and within our couple-hood didn’t stop once retirement began. I say let the bounty continue!

 

Annie holds out the first carrot pulled from garden

Braided Love 5 Star Book Review

| Filed under Fiction novel writing Relationships reviews

Book Review

Braided Love

Author Jo Elizabeth Pinto © 2023

Genre: Contemporary/YA fiction

Available in print and eBook formats from Amazon/Kindel/D2D and other eBook sellers

 

By Ann Chiappetta

 

From the book jacket

 

Summer on the ranch seems safe and predictable for Brenda. All she has on her mind are trips into town with Nick Haynes and the horsehair rope she’s braiding so she can start training her Morgan colt, Tenacity. Then Cathy arrives from the city with a troubled past and an uncertain future. As Cathy adjusts to life in the country, both girls begin to figure out what family bonds really mean to them in a world that isn’t as simple as it appears.

 

Jo Elizabeth Pinto is the kind of writer who knows her craft. Her stories and characters grab you and don’t let go. You will be thinking about this story months after reading it.

 

I am fortunate to have interviewed Jo; her soft-spoken voice and humble attitude are charming qualities but it is her passion about telling a good story and showing readers what it means to be human I find most intriguing.

 

Jo writes characters who aren’t perfect. Most are broken and scarred yet jo E. Pinto weaves in hope and healing.

 

Let’s not forget about the conflicts presented in this family story.

 

Brenda and Cathy’s instant dislike of one another might seem typical girl drama but when one goes deeper into the story, the onion is peeled and the reader is drawn into situations and emotions much deeper than superficial girl stuff. The adults presented in this book are also facing conflict and I found the author’s skills in introducing them into the story masterful. The family’s constellation of surviving pain is balanced by love. Romantic love, filial love. Binding friendships are woven into this wonderful, memorable story of keeping what is important and cherished within a family and among friends.

 

I would recommend this book to young adults and general readers and anyone interested in family-related subjects involving adoption and foster care and children with disabilities.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5 Stars

 

 

 

The Way of the Cat 😼

| Filed under nonfiction pets and people

The Way of the Cat

How to assemble an end table.

Person one places box on bed.

Person one must push cat off box to open it.

Person one calls person two, the husband, to begin assembling table consisting of a few wood pieces and a few metal upright pieces.

Cat begins chewing plastic bag, person one gathers bags and shoves them inside the shipping box.

Cat begins rubbing, purring and stepping on instructions.

Person two, the husband, tells cat to “Go away,”.

Cat ignores person two and rubs on person one, who is watching person two try to figure out the instructions seemingly written by an alien humanoid species not from this planet.

Cat continues rubbing and being adorable.

Person two, the husband, is becoming frustrated, time for person one to exit the room

Person one entices the cat into office whereupon person one fills kitty crunchies and calls for cat.

Cat appears and begins eating.

Person two, the husband is now fully committed to the table assembly.

Person one is shaking her head, petting the cat who is eating from the dish on the desk, mumbling to herself, saying “I am such a slave,”.

black long haaired kitten, Luna, relaxing on my laptop.