Grace stone

What an appropriate way to remember this Hunt follower who died earlier this year! This plaque was installed by the Cheshire Hunt at the West Marlborough farm belonging to Patti's sister, Bobbi O'Donnell. Bobbi said she is thrilled by the plaque and knows that her sister is, too.

Sticking it

While watching the astonishing Olympic gymnasts, a friend of mine got the itch to revisit her youth, when she competed in gymnastics. She booked a session with a gymnastics coach and then posted a video of herself doing one of those rapid-fire tumbling runs with handsprings and all manner of twisting acrobatics. She looked fantastic, even though she'd been away from the sport for a few years. Of course, she wasn't satisfied: "Bucket list: to get my full back at least once without tearing my ACL again."

Key points

People always ask me to remind them each time that gas points expire at the Giant grocery store. This time it's Saturday, August 18, and so far I'm getting 60 cents off per gallon! YES! Last time I was totally running on fumes: as I was driving through the village of London Grove on my way to the Giant fuel pumps, my gas gauge said I had 1 mile left. Good planning, huh!
In other consumer news, I went to make a peanut-butter sandwich on Aug. 1 and was unhappy to see that the loaf of bread (expiration date: Aug. 2) was already moldy. I took it back to the Jennersville Giant and pointed to the mold -- and they gave me double my money back, no questions asked. Three dollars!

Drop that name!

A man introduced himself to me last night, giving his name and telling me he worked for a local person, "X."
All quite proper and correct -- except that X got caught committing a Really, Really Stupid and particularly mean-spirited crime a few years back, and X's name has been mud around here ever since.
I tried not to look too surprised. Why on earth would he have mentioned X's name? Is it possible he didn't know about X's criminal record, even though it pops up on even the quickest Internet check?
Or maybe he just gets paid really, really well.

Easy Installation

Over the years my jack-of-all-trades neighbor and I have taken on many home-repair challenges, the most recent being replacing my garbage disposal. As usual, I played a vital role: I held the flashlight and handed him implements, like a plumbing scrub nurse.
"Easy installation," declared the box, and indeed the diagrams made it look like child's play: "(1) Remove old disposer; (2) Make electrical connections; (3) Install new disposer; (4) Make plumbing connections."
What they didn't mention was that you had to accomplish all this while lying on your back in the dark, confined space underneath the sink. The cartoon hand in this installation nirvana just mounted the disposer and tightened a few wire nuts. The connections fitted together perfectly and easily. No need for electrical tape! No stubborn wires! No rebellious pipe joints or hide-and-seek bolts or cumbersome mountings!
Well, between the two of us we got it done, and it works great, and I suppose I got a useful lesson in how elastic the word "easy" can be.

New knee

After breakfast at Perkins in Avondale yesterday, my friend and I were waiting at the cash register and she was telling me about her quest for an orthopaedic surgeon (she has a bum knee). I mentioned that a family friend had his orthopaedic surgery in Wilmington and instead of eating hospital food, he had his meals brought over from the Hotel Dupont. The woman behind us overheard and laughed. It seems her mother had just had knee surgery at one of the Delaware hospitals, and she couldn't say enough nice things about the surgeon. Small world: My friend was delighted to find that he was one of the names who had been recommended to her.

Mystery gift

At the post office the other day I saw a notice on the door about a new e-mail scam.
Apparently the bad guys, capitalizing on our eager curiosity about unexpected packages, are sending out
bogus e-mails saying that the U.S. Postal Service tried to deliver a package but was unsuccessful. You are asked to click on a link to find out when your package will be delivered.
Unfortunately, "clicking on the link will activate a virus that can steal information—such as your user name, password, and financial account information," advises the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.
Don't open it! And delete the e-mail.
And just as I was writing this item, a friend sent me an e-mail he had received headed "Olympics trip (sad news)," supposedly from a Jennersville real-estate agent:

"Just hoping this email reaches you well, I'm sorry for this emergency and for not informing you about my urgent trip to London,United Kingdom but I just have to let you know my present predicament. Everything was fine until I was attacked on my way back to the hotel, I wasn't hurt but I lost my money, bank cards, mobile phone and my bag in the course of this attack. I immediately contacted my bank in order to block my cards and also made a report at the nearest police station. I've been to the embassy and they are helping me with my documentation so i can fly out but I'm urgently in need of some money to pay for my hotel bills and my flight ticket home, will definitely REFUND as soon as back home . Kindly let me know if you would be able to help me out so I can forward you the details required for a wire transfer. Waiting to hear back from you." Another scam! Don't fall for it.