Sunday, September 14, 2025

That's the ticket!


 Here is my Kitten Caboodle. I have the first one leaving tomorrow. She will be a birthday gift for a little girl who has worked very hard to prove herself responsible enough for pet ownership. I have advertised the rest and am hopeful to find homes for them. 

I spent yesterday dehydrating vegetables and making spaghetti sauce. I did 10 lbs of potatoes, a sheet of cherry tomatoes, a sheet of squash, green beans, and tomato skins from my sauce tomatoes. I threw three sheets of potatoes in yesterday evening and let them go all night. It keeps the house toasty warm. 

My daughter in law introduced me to refrigerator oats. Boy, are they a great breakfast. To a couple handfuls of oats, I add one tbsp of wheat germ, flax and chia seed. Cover with milk, stir, store in the fridge overnight. I put the bowl in the microwave for a minute, give a good stir and toss in a handful of fruit. Just that quickly, a healthy breakfast is ready. 

We have just one side of the house left to side and should be done this week, which will be a very nice feeling.

I was talking to a friend last night and she mentioned that she and her husband were driving to Erie to listen to Barack Obama speak. Tim and I looked at each other. I think we both were filled with a longing for the days when being a Democrat did not make you 'evil', when we had a president who spoke sensibly and calmly. I called and we were able to get tickets. 

Isn't buying tickets a strange experience? The tickets are bought up by different ticket selling companies. I did not realize this. After looking online and seeing that I could get tickets starting at $49.50, I called. I was told that tickets began at $140! EACH! He told me that he had no control over what other ticket companies were charging. 

"Wait," I said. "Didn't I call the sports arena?" He was a bit cagey on it, but when pressed he did say that the arena did not sell tickets directly. He also offered to sell me seats at $109. each. 

"Will that work for you?" 

"Not really," I said. We had just forked out for the next round of cat neutering and as a treat for getting the siding done, we had also bought ourselves tickets to see Kansas again.

The man immediately said, "I can get you two at $80." I was getting a bit uneasy, but Tim nodded.

I told him to go ahead. He came back almost immediately and said the $80 were gone, but made the $109 offer again.

I did not like how the conversation was going.

He pressed. "Is that going to work for you?" 

"No thanks," I said, and hung up. 

I bought us tickets on line. They were advertised at $28 each, but with their service charges, it wound up being $99, $105 with tax. They were deceptive too, but it did not cost us nearly as much.


43 comments:

  1. It’s still expensive, but I come from another era. :)

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    1. It is, but we both need to hear a rational president.

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  2. I haven't bought tickets for ages, so these online dodges all sound -- dodgy! I do that overnight oatmeal thing, too, in the pot I'm putting on the stove. It's a good breakfast even without the add ins. I sometimes do raisins or dried cranberries.

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    1. What I love is that it is a good sustaining breakfast that holds me till supper.

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  3. Ticketing is a scam these days, with these third-party sellers peddling seats at a markup. It's a problem for theater and concert tickets too, as I understand it. (I haven't attended a concert in ages and probably won't anytime soon! I would love to see Obama, though!)

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    1. I've are both looking forward to this so very much. He always makes you feel that change is possible.

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  4. What a rip-off - and all legal???

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    1. Yep. Sure seems to be. It should not be, in my opinion.

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  5. I hate stuff like that too. I hate being lied too.
    The kittens are so sweet looking and I'm glad your siding is almost done, perfect timing, just before winter.

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    1. One more side. We are hoping to be done with that this weekend.

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  6. What is the occasion for Obama's speech? Look forward to you writing about it. I miss him too!

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    1. You know, I don't know that there is an occasion. I am not sure why it is happening, but I am glad it is.

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  7. Isn't ticket buying crazy? I always use my laptop so I can see all the fine print and email addresses and website info. And I use Paypal because I have had good results with refunds.
    Enjoy! I am sure it will be a wonderful and inspiring experience.

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    1. We haven't received our Kansas tickets yet. I am a bit worried about them.

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  8. I hate dealing with someone that starts with one price but when you say no, they find a better price for you. I tell people give me your best price first, if you start coming down then I will hang up. Glad you had a good time with the two little ones. They grow up so fast. My grandson and family are on the way home from South Korea right now and I will get to meet my 3 y/o great granddaughter for the first time.

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    1. Oh how wonderful for you Ellie! A little mind boggling to find yourself a GREAT-grandma. You are right. Time flies.

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  9. Oh wow! That’s spooky ticket buying. And really suspicious. I wonder what Barack would think about this. I would love to hear him speak reason again because it’s crazy in our country right now.

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    1. I just need to be reminded that once upon a time, we had a president who gave his best, who spoke calmly in full sentences, and did not demonize those who saw it differently.

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    2. UH oh... I think this was me. I forgot I was using my iPad which doesn't identify who I am.

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    3. It's fine. I loved reading about your month on the big island with your grands!

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  10. Aw, those babies! Is anything sweeter? I hope they all find perfect homes.
    Those ticket scams, wow! I ran into something similar when buying tickets to the ballet a couple years ago. I finally managed to get the advertised price but it took a bit to figure out how to do that.
    I am so jealous of you, though, getting to see and hear Obama! I know you will share with us afterwards, right?

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    1. You betcha! Surprisingly, I might have homes for 2 more of them.

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  11. Since ticketing went like this I haven't been to any concerts, talks or events...the one exception was where I could buy direct and no hassle

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    1. I find it very interesting. We are going to see Kansas on October 1st. Our digital tickets have not been delivered. When I called about that, I was told that they would be delivered to my phone on Sept. 30th. Why the delay? It doesn't give you a lot of time to sort thing out if there is a problem.

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  12. Yes the ticket business has really gotten crazy. I just got caught up in one of those too. Not even sure it the tickets that we bought will be good but we will see in February. This second party stuff is scalping and didn't that used to be illegal?
    The kittens are hard to resist.

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  13. That ticketing scam is a bait & switch, or the internet version of the guy selling them on the street outside the entrance to the venue. Wise to check out of that nonsense.

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    1. The thing that irritated me is that I was calling the number for the Arena ticket office. As soon as I brought up the $49. Tickets he said, "we can't control what other companies charge". I immediately thought, 'hold the phone...why would a reseller be selling the tickets at a lower price than the Arena ticket office. I asked him quite pointedly if I was talking to the arena box office. He initially said that I was speaking to the ticketsellers for the box office. I said, "Are you employed by the Erie Insurance arena or an outside agency ?" He was just very cagey, and I did not like that at all.

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  14. I doubt our ticketing systems are any better, but $28 x 2 = $56, not $105. That's close to double.

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    1. Yep. The test of it was service charge. Horrifying, but bot far off the ticket price I originally saw of $49. So I let it go.

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  15. Looking forward to reading about your experience of seeing Barack Obama speak!

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  16. You should have offered the bait and switcher a kitty to see what his price would be. That's a pretty bad middle man. I'd like to see Obama too. Linda in Kansas

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  17. Good luck with finding homes for the rest of the kittens.
    It will be satisfying to finish the siding. I doubt you will ever be short of tasks to complete!

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    1. I am hoping that we do run out of things to do. That would be quite nice!

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  18. LOVE the kittens!
    Tickets--that sounded very dodgy!! Glad you didn't buy from him. I haven't had a need to buy tickets of any kind, but I have heard it has gotten really awful and expensive. :(

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    1. My friend paid $200 for her ticket. Eek. It just does not seem right that this sort of thing is even legal.

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  19. I ‘m so happy you get to see Obama speak!! I admire him
    so much! Good job with the kittens too- I love cats but after
    our (actually our son’s!) cat died at a ripe old age, we’re not
    ready for more pets.. both kids have moved out, though they
    stille keep petitioning for us to get a new cat!😅And re. gardening produce.. I’ve blanched lots of carrots, and celery is next. I use
    It all winter for lentil soup, which is a must to have in our freezer at all times (Recipe from Marcella Hazan, the best) Wishing you the best
    with everything! Xo, Rigmor😊

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    1. How good to hear from you again, Rigmor. I have downloaded 3 different recipes for lentil soup. Let me look for the one you use.

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    2. I’ll send it to you if you can’t find it!

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    3. I think I have it: 3 tablespoons butter
      3 tablespoons vegetable oil
      2 tablespoons onion, chopped very fine
      1/3 cup shredded prosciutto or unsmoked ham
      2 tablespoons carrot, chopped fine
      2 tablespoons celery, chopped fine
      1 cup canned Italian plum tomatoes, cut up, with their juice
      1/2 pound dried lentils
      1 cup beef broth
      3 cups water

      Salt
      Pepper

      3 tablespoons freshly grated parmesan cheese.

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  20. That’s the one! I skipped the ham many times and it was still delicious. Now I can’t use ham because my husband’s become allergic to meat.. due to a tick bite🙄 (alpha-gal syndrome). Hope you like the soup! I’m making some more today, actually😊

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I'm glad you're here!

Joker

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