Using small household items to fix things

My Keurig coffee maker was not functioning properly, so I looked at their website for a fix. The first step recommended on the website was "Find a paper clip and straighten it out." A paper clip! I seem to remember them from the 20th century, but haven't seen one in years.

The whole procedure outlined on their website reminded me of an incident on the Jackie Gleason show, where Trixie and Alice fixed a car with a bobby pin, to the consternation of their husbands.

I could not find a paper clip but a straight pin luckily did the trick. I poked holes in the thing until it came to its senses and started to dispense coffee.

Sorting silver

I spent part of today sorting and putting away the silver we used Thanksgiving. We were expecting 11 people, so we had to use silver from several different sets. In the event, we only had 8, so I could have made do with my grandmother's beautiful Tuileries sterling. It's 106 years old, the pattern having been brought out in 1904.

Yesterday everyone went home, and I felt rather blah. Decided to eat a cup of tomato soup and the rest of the pumpkin pie for supper. I knew it wasn't a good idea, but there was no stopping me. The ensuing tummy trouble was my reward.

Today I put together some leftover mushrooms, parsley, chicken broth and heavy cream which made a nice soup for Mr Charm and me. Stomach still grumbling.

The oh so politically correct carrying on about McDonald's reminded me of the days before Mickey D existed. People still had to eat; they just never knew where to eat in strange towns without encountering appallingly bad food. When we went on trips, especially driving to Florida, we were taking a risk with our lives and those of our children; the food was that awful. Breakfasts were the worst. Eggs cooked in rancid bacon grease, sausages made of God knows what and dishwater coffee. We were glad when McDonald's came along and we could buy a breakfast sandwich and a decent cup of coffee and know we were not risking food poisoning.

Coffee was usually bad everywhere in the old days. People have gotten used to getting decent coffee almost everywhere and don't remember the overcooked or weak brew we encountered in almost every restaurant except the really posh ones.