My husband just had to update this blog’s program, which I usually do NOT like. I’m like an old dog who can’t (Strike that! >>> DOESN’T WANT TO sounds more appropriate!) learn new tricks… I don’t like it when my husband changes anything that has to do with my computer. It seems like just as soon as I commit something to my memory… and no longer need notes all over the place with sequences of things to do, he tells me that something “has” to change… and that I will be happy with all of the new “extras” that those changes bring.

NOPE!!! I usually am not happy with the new “benefits” that come with the necessary updates, and I try to remind myself NOT to enjoy the new and improved side-effects.

But, this time I actually can’t complain! The new “Site Search” box that is found at the top of this blog’s page really is a new “extra” with new “benefits” and “improved side-effects”  which really are neat!

The new “Site Search” box actually brings up information from the Cozy Mystery Site, which is something it didn’t used to do. So, let’s say you are looking for China Bayles >>> You can type China Bayles in the “Site Search” box and the different times that China Bayles has been referenced will pop up.

So, this time I won’t complain to my husband about his updating… but, hopefully he won’t have to make any more changes to the site anytime soon!

Oh my goodness! We are experiencing a “cold front” here in San Antonio! This week we are sitting pretty in the 90ºs and I am beside myself! I have noticed that my husband and I are talking less and less about finding a cooler area of the country to move to when the time comes for him to retire (years down the road.) And, with our hottest day this week only reaching 97º, we are enjoying  a little respite from what we have thought of as the worse (as in heat) summer we have yet to experience since we moved down here fifteen years ago.

It is so “cool” that I have even noticed two different birds outside actually sunning themselves. All of this cooler weather has Sprite (our 14 1/2 year old dog) feeling quite frisky! She has actually taken a few (leisurely!) strolls around the perimeter of the yard, like she used to do daily. She likes to inspect and protect!

Poor Sprite… when she does finally see a bird, she must get frustrated when they don’t acknowledge her presence with fear. Usually Sprite is totally oblivious to the birds, but every once in a while she can actually spot one. Today she saw a bird in HER yard and got in her old I’m-going-to-run-after-you stance, but she doesn’t have a lot of get-up-and-go anymore. So, she just stood there and barked at the trespassing bird.

This bird not only didn’t fly away in fright, but it looked at Sprite, looked at the ground, and then continued searching around for little tidbits to eat. Poor Sprite! I wonder if she is aware that she is now the Beta dog to all of these little alpha birds and squirrels.

I guess she should be happy though… At least the birds aren’t swooping down at her, as if she is the interloper! At least they haven’t done that yet…

I know that this doesn’t qualify AT ALL as a Cozy mystery book entry, but we just found out about this information and I thought of all of the money I have wasted by not knowing about it… I am guessing that there are a lot of you out there who have been doing the same wa$teful thing, al$o. So, here goes:

For years, I have been shipping packages to my mother and brother (from San Antonio) to Colorado Springs. Each year, I always thought I was so clever to be able to cram as many of the Christmas and birthday packages into one large box as possible. Usually that meant that I sent about three large boxes for Christmas and another two large boxes for birthdays. Wasn’t I clever?!? I always RE-use the styrofoam popcorn I receive throughout the year by placing it gingerly between the breakable items and the non-breakable. Oh boy! Does this large box have room for yet another package?

Back to the reason for this post>>>

My daughter is leaving for the Boston area this week, and since it would have taken us three days to drive there with our car absolutely stuffed to the top (which meant two nights in a hotel each way of the trip) we decided to price what it would cost to ship all of her “necessities” for the three years she will be out there.

Boy!!! Was I ready for this challenge! I had been saving all of the largest of our boxes for quite some time, to use for my Colorado Springs Christmas and birthday shipping…

What a surprise to find out (my husband searched around on the internet to price different shipping costs) that UPS has a very $ub$tantial price hike after you hit a certain size of box. It appears that UPS calculates the square inches of each box, and after a certain amount of square inches you pay a huge (what I call) penalty. [In case you are interested in seeing the square inches, the place he found is Uline. It even tells you how to calculate UPS’ DIM (“dimensional weight”) guideline: 3 cubic feet (5,184 cubic inches)… And since I haven’t needed to calculate cubic inches since high school geometry, I appreciated the help!] Each of our boxes weighed under 50 pounds, which seemed to be the weight limit for the box size that we chose to use. I was actually surprised by how much stuff I could stuff into a box and still keep it under 50 pounds.

We ended up sending twelve of the correct square-inched boxes, which will be waiting in her dorm room when she arrives. She will be flying to Boston, which will actually end up saving us money on the four nights of hotels, restaurant/fast food stops, and a lot of driving time. Of the three, I will miss the driving time. My daughter and I have a lot of laughs when we drive for long (or short!) distances… But this way, we can use that time more wisely at home.