Another Halloween is approaching and once again, I need to figure out what to wear. Some adults I know are excited by this challenge. My lawn mower guy is dressing up as a Rubic's cube for his daughter's Halloween parade. He was describing the intricacies of his costume as my eyes glazed over. If it can't be done with the ubiquitous black dress then I don't want to hear it. For the past two years, I've gladly donned my favorite costume - Magenta from The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Sadly, I am under orders to leave Magenta in the costume box this year. After days of brainstorming whether to go as scary or funny, I have finally decided what to dress as this year. Let me describe the costume to you, and see if you can guess.
I have a very patriotic red, white, and blue dress. With it I will wear two campaign buttons. One will say, Impeach Obama. The other will say, 'Murica - Love it or Leave it. I'll wear a blond wig in a sort of beehive shape. No, I won't be dressing as a Baltimore Hon, but that was a good guess. If I'm lucky, I'll locate a colonial tri-corner hat before Saturday. In my hand I will carry a fancy tea cup with a couple of tea bags in it. Got it now? Yep, this year I am dressing as a member of the Tea Party.
I opted to go for scary.
Wednesday, October 23, 2013
Friday, October 18, 2013
Computer Craziness
Does your computer drive you crazy? Mine does. Since retiring, I spend a lot of time on line. Too much time. Ridiculously too much time. So much time that I am too embarrassed to reveal the many hours. And when it doesn't work, my life goes into a spin. We're not talking Verizon going down for the tenth million time this year, we're talking the dreaded mechanical failure.
The keyboard on my laptop has suddenly stopped working. Any time I attempt to type a message or an email, all that shows is gibberish. (If you're wondering how I am writing this blog, I'm using someone else's computer). What the heck happened to it? I ran Avast scans for a few hours, but they revealed nothing. If I had a virus, wouldn't Avast tell me and then quickly clean it up? If the computer has done the unbearable - suddenly crashed - wouldn't I be unable to surf the net? I spent all last night trying different fixes. Nothing worked. Imagine what someone as obnoxiously opinionated as I goes through when she can't type a snappy retort to someone else's obnoxious opinion? Not pretty!
When I had no success with my keyboard, I turned to the other electronic in my house, my Nook. Of course, it was battery dead so I had to wait a few hours to charge it back up. By the time I gave up trying to get to my email on the Nook, I was ready to throw it against the wall. Tapping my fat fingers on the keyboard yielded nothing but mis-taps and wrong letters. I couldn't get the type big enough to read. In fact, I couldn't even get all the messages to come up. I yelled at it for refusing to cooperate with me. I swear it smirked evilly at me as it turned itself off.
For normal people, step three would have been to go to the smart phone. I only have a flip up stupid phone, and it probably had a low to dead battery anyway.
I can't remember how old my laptop is. If I follow the advice of the geeks, anything over a year is too old and should be replaced. Since all I use it for is emailing, blog writing, web surfing, candy crushing, words with friending, weather reporting, TV guiding, recipe locating (to be honest, I do little of that), and picture holding, I have no desire to own a super duper deluxe machine. For goodness sakes, I just spent $3000 to save my damn dog's life, and I so don't want another big expense.
What's a girl to do? Right now I have turned it off and I am going back to it Sunday night. If I'm lucky, I'll turn it on and type away. We'll just pretend that little glitch never happened. If I'm not lucky, and lately I seem to be in a luck funk, the keyboard will still be tuned into hyerogliphyics. Call Geek Squad? Decide to get a new one since the CD player on it hasn't worked since the day I dropped it, and now this is just another thing wrong? Decisions. Decisions.
The keyboard on my laptop has suddenly stopped working. Any time I attempt to type a message or an email, all that shows is gibberish. (If you're wondering how I am writing this blog, I'm using someone else's computer). What the heck happened to it? I ran Avast scans for a few hours, but they revealed nothing. If I had a virus, wouldn't Avast tell me and then quickly clean it up? If the computer has done the unbearable - suddenly crashed - wouldn't I be unable to surf the net? I spent all last night trying different fixes. Nothing worked. Imagine what someone as obnoxiously opinionated as I goes through when she can't type a snappy retort to someone else's obnoxious opinion? Not pretty!
When I had no success with my keyboard, I turned to the other electronic in my house, my Nook. Of course, it was battery dead so I had to wait a few hours to charge it back up. By the time I gave up trying to get to my email on the Nook, I was ready to throw it against the wall. Tapping my fat fingers on the keyboard yielded nothing but mis-taps and wrong letters. I couldn't get the type big enough to read. In fact, I couldn't even get all the messages to come up. I yelled at it for refusing to cooperate with me. I swear it smirked evilly at me as it turned itself off.
For normal people, step three would have been to go to the smart phone. I only have a flip up stupid phone, and it probably had a low to dead battery anyway.
I can't remember how old my laptop is. If I follow the advice of the geeks, anything over a year is too old and should be replaced. Since all I use it for is emailing, blog writing, web surfing, candy crushing, words with friending, weather reporting, TV guiding, recipe locating (to be honest, I do little of that), and picture holding, I have no desire to own a super duper deluxe machine. For goodness sakes, I just spent $3000 to save my damn dog's life, and I so don't want another big expense.
What's a girl to do? Right now I have turned it off and I am going back to it Sunday night. If I'm lucky, I'll turn it on and type away. We'll just pretend that little glitch never happened. If I'm not lucky, and lately I seem to be in a luck funk, the keyboard will still be tuned into hyerogliphyics. Call Geek Squad? Decide to get a new one since the CD player on it hasn't worked since the day I dropped it, and now this is just another thing wrong? Decisions. Decisions.
Wednesday, October 16, 2013
Things I Don't Understand
'Merica is pretty ugly lately. I've gotten into numerous conflicts on FB as I've argued over the cause/solutions to our country's problems. I will admit it, sometimes I just don't "get" how some people think. There are many things happening in our country that confound me and confuse me. The first is the uproar over the new requirement to purchase health insurance.
The argument is that the government shouldn't require people to buy insurance, especially if they can't afford it. Lots of people are enraged over that requirement. Ok, well then, where's the outrage over required car insurance? Isn't it the same principle? The government, in this case the state government, requires everybody to have insurance or you can't drive a car. In Maryland, you will not get tags for your car if you do not provide proof of insurance on your application. Sure, people drive without it, but it is against the law and you'll face consequences if caught. Right now, the only option for people without health insurance is to get really sick and then go to the emergency room. No preventative care for them, only emergency treatment. We, those of us paying for insurance, ultimately pay for the hospital visits of those without it. So is it with car insurance. Ever have an accident with someone who is not insured? Your insurance company will be stuck with all costs, and trust me, your future rates will pay them back. So, if someone could explain to me how requiring car insurance is different from requiring health insurance, I'd appreciate it. 'Cause frankly, I just don't understand.
The second thing that absolutely confounds me is kids involved in cyber bullying that leads to suicide. So much I don't understand about that. Why are kids so damn mean? Why do they take pleasure in driving someone into such a deep depression they choose to end their life? I taught middle school, and I dealt with bullying as best as I could. But, thanks to our social media, the stakes have risen to a new level. My sister works at a private school. She's told me about the cyber bullying going on at her school and the way families often "deal" with it. The parents come into school and demand the school do something about it. Huh? This is going on in their homes on their computers. Why is the school responsible? Is it because parents refuse to take some necessary steps themselves? Step one, parents, take the electronics away from your kids. No more Facebook accounts, no more texting, sexting whatever. Step two, get your bullied kid into counseling immediately. Ultimately, we can't control the behavior of others. So, get your kid and family the counseling they need. You may be very uncomfortable with what comes out during the sessions, but the help is imperative. How did society go from 'Sticks and stones will break my bones, but names will never hurt me' to name calling leading to suicide? I just don't understand.
I don't understand our current Congress. These "public servants" are proving themselves to be anything but. It is the people, their constituents, who are being hurt by the current shutdown of America. Why are those in Congress so damn stubborn? Is it because they can no longer relate to the people who elected them since their pay checks haven't stopped? their health care is not in jeopardy? their immediate needs are being satisfied? Don't autocall me, Andy Harris, to tell me how proud you are to be stalling the government. Start doing your damn job! All of this turmoil is weakening the United States in the eyes of the world. I don't understand how anyone calling themselves a "patriot" doesn't get that. Will people remember these days and vote accordingly during the next election? I doubt it. It seems that electing politicians anymore is like the elections held in high schools, popularity contests. Elect me! Elect me! I'm good looking, I'm saying what you want to hear, and I have a lot of money to provide you with campaign buttons. Elect me! I'll pretend to listen to your concerns. Then, once in office I'll do whatever I want. I don't understand what has happened to America's elected officials. When did they give up representing and caring about their people?
A little off topic (or maybe not since America is getting fatter and fatter) the last thing I just don't get is how come I have been following my Weight Watchers diet faithfully for two weeks and I've only lost three pounds? Surely, I deserve to have lost at least ten, right?? I just don't understand it.
The argument is that the government shouldn't require people to buy insurance, especially if they can't afford it. Lots of people are enraged over that requirement. Ok, well then, where's the outrage over required car insurance? Isn't it the same principle? The government, in this case the state government, requires everybody to have insurance or you can't drive a car. In Maryland, you will not get tags for your car if you do not provide proof of insurance on your application. Sure, people drive without it, but it is against the law and you'll face consequences if caught. Right now, the only option for people without health insurance is to get really sick and then go to the emergency room. No preventative care for them, only emergency treatment. We, those of us paying for insurance, ultimately pay for the hospital visits of those without it. So is it with car insurance. Ever have an accident with someone who is not insured? Your insurance company will be stuck with all costs, and trust me, your future rates will pay them back. So, if someone could explain to me how requiring car insurance is different from requiring health insurance, I'd appreciate it. 'Cause frankly, I just don't understand.
The second thing that absolutely confounds me is kids involved in cyber bullying that leads to suicide. So much I don't understand about that. Why are kids so damn mean? Why do they take pleasure in driving someone into such a deep depression they choose to end their life? I taught middle school, and I dealt with bullying as best as I could. But, thanks to our social media, the stakes have risen to a new level. My sister works at a private school. She's told me about the cyber bullying going on at her school and the way families often "deal" with it. The parents come into school and demand the school do something about it. Huh? This is going on in their homes on their computers. Why is the school responsible? Is it because parents refuse to take some necessary steps themselves? Step one, parents, take the electronics away from your kids. No more Facebook accounts, no more texting, sexting whatever. Step two, get your bullied kid into counseling immediately. Ultimately, we can't control the behavior of others. So, get your kid and family the counseling they need. You may be very uncomfortable with what comes out during the sessions, but the help is imperative. How did society go from 'Sticks and stones will break my bones, but names will never hurt me' to name calling leading to suicide? I just don't understand.
I don't understand our current Congress. These "public servants" are proving themselves to be anything but. It is the people, their constituents, who are being hurt by the current shutdown of America. Why are those in Congress so damn stubborn? Is it because they can no longer relate to the people who elected them since their pay checks haven't stopped? their health care is not in jeopardy? their immediate needs are being satisfied? Don't autocall me, Andy Harris, to tell me how proud you are to be stalling the government. Start doing your damn job! All of this turmoil is weakening the United States in the eyes of the world. I don't understand how anyone calling themselves a "patriot" doesn't get that. Will people remember these days and vote accordingly during the next election? I doubt it. It seems that electing politicians anymore is like the elections held in high schools, popularity contests. Elect me! Elect me! I'm good looking, I'm saying what you want to hear, and I have a lot of money to provide you with campaign buttons. Elect me! I'll pretend to listen to your concerns. Then, once in office I'll do whatever I want. I don't understand what has happened to America's elected officials. When did they give up representing and caring about their people?
A little off topic (or maybe not since America is getting fatter and fatter) the last thing I just don't get is how come I have been following my Weight Watchers diet faithfully for two weeks and I've only lost three pounds? Surely, I deserve to have lost at least ten, right?? I just don't understand it.
Tuesday, October 8, 2013
Dreams
Do you ever have bizarre dreams? I've been having them all of my life.
The one I awoke to this morning was excruciatingly embarrassing. I dreamed I was on a Murder Mystery cruise. Nothing wrong with that huh? Well, my roommate/partner/whatever you want to call him was a former student of mine who shall remain nameless. He got into an altercation at the bar because he didn't like the piece of cake he ordered, and he demanded his money be returned. His disapproving aunt was a friend of a friend of a friend who doesn't even know this guy. Why in the world did I dream of those two people? These are people with whom I have little to no personal contact. And why did I dream of them in a way that would make me blush if I were to tell the whole story? (I will not be telling the story. Once I told Ron Luloff about a dream I had of monkeys in different colors. He never looked at me the same way again.)
I had certain dreams as a kid that occurred so often, I remember them to this day. One of them was a pretty typical dream. I was able to fly, and I used to fly over the blacktopped playground of my elementary school. That's an easy one to understand; I longed to be free during the school day.
Another one I had all the time involved World War II. I lived in a hut on a tropical island. One day, soldiers invaded my hut. They didn't find me though because I had turned into an oval-shaped braided rug. They walked all over me, but I was safe from them and I could return to my natural state once they were gone. I had this dream a lot. Amateur psychologists? Have at it.
One dream I had during college involved my father. We were dressed as farmers with straw hats, overalls, and sh*t stoppin' boots. Our chickens were ready to hatch so we were taking them to the farmers' market to sell. Well, the truck broke down and the chickens hatched. Only they weren't chickens, they were baby ducks. As they ran all over the place, my dad was yelling at me. He blamed me for the mix-up with the eggs, and he was furious that I couldn't round up those bright yellow balls of fluff (yes, I dream in color). Are you amateur psychologists still on the job?
Far too many of my dreams leave me feeling anxious. While they aren't about something currently worrying me, I suspect the anxiety is from the worry I try to suppress. Do all adults have this kind of dream? Or are some of you having the sweet dreams we always wish for each other?
Please, if you dare, share your dreams. I'm curious. And I promise, I will not psychoanalyze you!
The one I awoke to this morning was excruciatingly embarrassing. I dreamed I was on a Murder Mystery cruise. Nothing wrong with that huh? Well, my roommate/partner/whatever you want to call him was a former student of mine who shall remain nameless. He got into an altercation at the bar because he didn't like the piece of cake he ordered, and he demanded his money be returned. His disapproving aunt was a friend of a friend of a friend who doesn't even know this guy. Why in the world did I dream of those two people? These are people with whom I have little to no personal contact. And why did I dream of them in a way that would make me blush if I were to tell the whole story? (I will not be telling the story. Once I told Ron Luloff about a dream I had of monkeys in different colors. He never looked at me the same way again.)
I had certain dreams as a kid that occurred so often, I remember them to this day. One of them was a pretty typical dream. I was able to fly, and I used to fly over the blacktopped playground of my elementary school. That's an easy one to understand; I longed to be free during the school day.
Another one I had all the time involved World War II. I lived in a hut on a tropical island. One day, soldiers invaded my hut. They didn't find me though because I had turned into an oval-shaped braided rug. They walked all over me, but I was safe from them and I could return to my natural state once they were gone. I had this dream a lot. Amateur psychologists? Have at it.
One dream I had during college involved my father. We were dressed as farmers with straw hats, overalls, and sh*t stoppin' boots. Our chickens were ready to hatch so we were taking them to the farmers' market to sell. Well, the truck broke down and the chickens hatched. Only they weren't chickens, they were baby ducks. As they ran all over the place, my dad was yelling at me. He blamed me for the mix-up with the eggs, and he was furious that I couldn't round up those bright yellow balls of fluff (yes, I dream in color). Are you amateur psychologists still on the job?
Far too many of my dreams leave me feeling anxious. While they aren't about something currently worrying me, I suspect the anxiety is from the worry I try to suppress. Do all adults have this kind of dream? Or are some of you having the sweet dreams we always wish for each other?
Please, if you dare, share your dreams. I'm curious. And I promise, I will not psychoanalyze you!
Saturday, October 5, 2013
Thoughts for a Quiet Saturday Evening
Sometimes when it's quiet and nothing much is on the TV, I fantasize about all kinds of things: what I'd do if I won a big lottery, things I'd change about my life if I got a Do-Over, places I want to visit, other jobs I might have done had I not taught. You get the picture, things you think about before drifting off to sleep.
Today I was thinking about things I wish would be invented.
Besides the obvious, such as a car that gets 75 mpg or a safer source of energy than nuclear power, I was thinking of little things that would be so enjoyable.
I wish there was a patch like the smoker's patch that one could wear to control appetite and/or the desire to eat for the sake of eating. I'd wear one even if the only effective place to put it was on my forehead.
I'd like to see shoes sold as singles. Lots of people have one foot bigger than the other. I have a terrible time finding comfortable shoes. My left foot is about a half size bigger than my right foot. If one foot is comfy, the other is sliding in the shoe. If my right foot fits well, my left shoe may pinch. I have lots of shoes, but only a few I like to wear.
I wish there was a formula or a polish that I could put on my nails that would really do what Sally Hansen falsely claims her products do. I wish I could paint on something to actually make my nails strong enough to grow past the fingertips. I can get my nails to do that, but they will soon catch or split or break. I won't use acrylics since the time I got a terrible infection. I want a product that does the job without poisoning the body. Surely a scientist could brew such a formula!
I wish there was an alarm clock that could hit its own snooze alarm. And then after a certain number of snoozes, could reach over and gently shake you awake. Oh, and yes, I'd want the ability to program my name and the voice waking me up. I'd be happier to get out of bed if Dennis Quaid was saying, "Get up Barbara darlin'."
That's all. Simple things to make life a bit better.
Because seriously, if someone could find solutions to the big problems in life, well, what would we complain about on Facebook?
Today I was thinking about things I wish would be invented.
Besides the obvious, such as a car that gets 75 mpg or a safer source of energy than nuclear power, I was thinking of little things that would be so enjoyable.
I wish there was a patch like the smoker's patch that one could wear to control appetite and/or the desire to eat for the sake of eating. I'd wear one even if the only effective place to put it was on my forehead.
I'd like to see shoes sold as singles. Lots of people have one foot bigger than the other. I have a terrible time finding comfortable shoes. My left foot is about a half size bigger than my right foot. If one foot is comfy, the other is sliding in the shoe. If my right foot fits well, my left shoe may pinch. I have lots of shoes, but only a few I like to wear.
I wish there was a formula or a polish that I could put on my nails that would really do what Sally Hansen falsely claims her products do. I wish I could paint on something to actually make my nails strong enough to grow past the fingertips. I can get my nails to do that, but they will soon catch or split or break. I won't use acrylics since the time I got a terrible infection. I want a product that does the job without poisoning the body. Surely a scientist could brew such a formula!
I wish there was an alarm clock that could hit its own snooze alarm. And then after a certain number of snoozes, could reach over and gently shake you awake. Oh, and yes, I'd want the ability to program my name and the voice waking me up. I'd be happier to get out of bed if Dennis Quaid was saying, "Get up Barbara darlin'."
That's all. Simple things to make life a bit better.
Because seriously, if someone could find solutions to the big problems in life, well, what would we complain about on Facebook?
Monday, September 30, 2013
Updating
Today's blog will contain updates related to some of my older blogs. Not that you've actually clamored for updates, but maybe you've been somewhat curious.
October is my "back to school" month; that's when classes start up again at the Senior Center. (See "Shake Your Booty" written 11/19/12.) Zumba whipped my butt today. That's probably because it got so hot this summer that I stopped leaving the air conditioned house for classes. About the most energetic I got was to drive in the air conditioned car to float blissfully at the pool. Class is back in session, and some of my favorite characters are back. There's the athlete. This squat older lady is always in the front row flinging her arms and her weights. She wears a towel twisted around her bra strap and draping down the front of her shirt. It always makes me laugh since the rest of us just wipe off on our t-shirts. But, she got through class a lot easier than I did today. My knees were in agony after a summer of no stretching them. (Remember "The Bees Knees" from 5/21/13?) The dancer is back, only now I think she fantasizes she's on Dancing With the Stars. She raises her arms to dance with her imaginary partner and smiles over her shoulder at the judges (aka the back row). The newest class member is the prancer. Have you seen the You Tube video of the woman who loves horses and has developed an exercise program called Prancercise? Well, prancing woman has turned up in our class! She's fun to watch. I'm just waiting for her to rear up and whinny. Gotta love her. She also did much better than I at class. This session I'm taking an intriguing class - cane fu. Yep, you read that right - kung fu for the cane wielding set. Can't wait to learn to flip a cane like Bruce Lee would have had he lived long enough.
Remember "Psychics" from 8/13/13? I had my session with her, and it was pretty much what I expected...nothing special. She told me I have arthritis. Well, the doctor told me that news a while ago and at least his consultation was covered by insurance. She kept harping about a man who had betrayed me, and how he had caused me a lot of harm that has lingered with me for far too long. I didn't know what she was talking about, and then long after she could answer any questions for me, I realized to what she had been referring. In my blog called "Faith/Religion: Something I've Been Told Never to Discuss" from 11/4/12, I touched briefly on the lunatic rector that resulted in my leaving my church home of thirty years. Now that was a betrayal!!! That was a terrible life experience caused by a crazy man. But, since I couldn't recall it at the time of the reading, I never did get any advice from her concerning the matter. She told me that my mother is always with me. Well, that's nice, but I know that both of my parents send signs all the time that they're with me. See "Dimes" from 1/19/13. Am I going to meet a wonderful man? No. Gee, I didn't see that coming, insert sarcasm. (Refer to "matchsingleseniorsfishinthesea.com" from 3/18/13. ) But her biggest "prediction" was that I'd have a huge and unexpected expense in the near future. I own a home; how hard is it to make such a prediction? The expense, though, did occur. And it wasn't what I was watching out for.
Do you recall "So if cats have 9 lives, how many do dogs get?" from 3/21/13? Trixie struck again. This past week I nearly lost her. She ate a glob of dental floss. I figured she'd pass it. Thank goodness she ate a half cup of chocolate frosting the next day. At least that worried me because chocolate is so bad for dogs. The morning after, when I awoke to Trixie vomit all over the house, I thought the chocolate had poisoned her. The next few days were a nightmare as she got worse and nobody knew what was wrong. When the emergency vet alerted me at 1:00 am that she was going to do exploratory surgery because she suspected the dental floss was twisted inside of her, I thought I'd be sick. Sure enough, the surgery revealed floss stuck in her stomach and twisted around her intestines. Had we waited much longer, the intestines could have ruptured and filled her body with fatal toxins. She's alive, almost $3000 later. Seriously, couldn't the psychic have told me to watch out for dental floss instead of telling me to expect a big expense in the near future??
My Godgirl's wedding went off without a hitch. And without cicadas! (See "My Godgirl's Getting Married" from 5/8/13.) She was breathtakingly beautiful. John was Prince Charmingly handsome. They exchanged vows that made us laugh and cry. Being that they are animal lovers, a few special touches made the wedding extra special. When John extended a leather-gloved hand, a hawk holding a little bag with their rings in it landed on his arm. The couple set off two doves at the end of the ceremony, doves that joined a flock of white birds circling overhead. The wine flowed, the music played, and we all danced in the moonlight.
I'm still working on my "Random Acts of Kindness" from 3/29/13. When I won $500 at the casino, it gave me the chance to donate a little more than 10% for the classroom of a friend who teaches in a troubled Philadelphia school. When I learned a former student was suffering cancer and in danger of losing the home she was working to provide for her three children, I was able to donate to her and share the information for her fundraising page. Sharing that information led others to donate, too. She needed $700, but over $3000 was raised! Those two I can tell you about, as those donations were publicly made. My other RAKs are my secret. I still have more to complete, though, before this year is over.
So there you go, updates on some of my blogs. Is there anything else you might like to know? Send me your questions!
October is my "back to school" month; that's when classes start up again at the Senior Center. (See "Shake Your Booty" written 11/19/12.) Zumba whipped my butt today. That's probably because it got so hot this summer that I stopped leaving the air conditioned house for classes. About the most energetic I got was to drive in the air conditioned car to float blissfully at the pool. Class is back in session, and some of my favorite characters are back. There's the athlete. This squat older lady is always in the front row flinging her arms and her weights. She wears a towel twisted around her bra strap and draping down the front of her shirt. It always makes me laugh since the rest of us just wipe off on our t-shirts. But, she got through class a lot easier than I did today. My knees were in agony after a summer of no stretching them. (Remember "The Bees Knees" from 5/21/13?) The dancer is back, only now I think she fantasizes she's on Dancing With the Stars. She raises her arms to dance with her imaginary partner and smiles over her shoulder at the judges (aka the back row). The newest class member is the prancer. Have you seen the You Tube video of the woman who loves horses and has developed an exercise program called Prancercise? Well, prancing woman has turned up in our class! She's fun to watch. I'm just waiting for her to rear up and whinny. Gotta love her. She also did much better than I at class. This session I'm taking an intriguing class - cane fu. Yep, you read that right - kung fu for the cane wielding set. Can't wait to learn to flip a cane like Bruce Lee would have had he lived long enough.
Remember "Psychics" from 8/13/13? I had my session with her, and it was pretty much what I expected...nothing special. She told me I have arthritis. Well, the doctor told me that news a while ago and at least his consultation was covered by insurance. She kept harping about a man who had betrayed me, and how he had caused me a lot of harm that has lingered with me for far too long. I didn't know what she was talking about, and then long after she could answer any questions for me, I realized to what she had been referring. In my blog called "Faith/Religion: Something I've Been Told Never to Discuss" from 11/4/12, I touched briefly on the lunatic rector that resulted in my leaving my church home of thirty years. Now that was a betrayal!!! That was a terrible life experience caused by a crazy man. But, since I couldn't recall it at the time of the reading, I never did get any advice from her concerning the matter. She told me that my mother is always with me. Well, that's nice, but I know that both of my parents send signs all the time that they're with me. See "Dimes" from 1/19/13. Am I going to meet a wonderful man? No. Gee, I didn't see that coming, insert sarcasm. (Refer to "matchsingleseniorsfishinthesea.com" from 3/18/13. ) But her biggest "prediction" was that I'd have a huge and unexpected expense in the near future. I own a home; how hard is it to make such a prediction? The expense, though, did occur. And it wasn't what I was watching out for.
Do you recall "So if cats have 9 lives, how many do dogs get?" from 3/21/13? Trixie struck again. This past week I nearly lost her. She ate a glob of dental floss. I figured she'd pass it. Thank goodness she ate a half cup of chocolate frosting the next day. At least that worried me because chocolate is so bad for dogs. The morning after, when I awoke to Trixie vomit all over the house, I thought the chocolate had poisoned her. The next few days were a nightmare as she got worse and nobody knew what was wrong. When the emergency vet alerted me at 1:00 am that she was going to do exploratory surgery because she suspected the dental floss was twisted inside of her, I thought I'd be sick. Sure enough, the surgery revealed floss stuck in her stomach and twisted around her intestines. Had we waited much longer, the intestines could have ruptured and filled her body with fatal toxins. She's alive, almost $3000 later. Seriously, couldn't the psychic have told me to watch out for dental floss instead of telling me to expect a big expense in the near future??
My Godgirl's wedding went off without a hitch. And without cicadas! (See "My Godgirl's Getting Married" from 5/8/13.) She was breathtakingly beautiful. John was Prince Charmingly handsome. They exchanged vows that made us laugh and cry. Being that they are animal lovers, a few special touches made the wedding extra special. When John extended a leather-gloved hand, a hawk holding a little bag with their rings in it landed on his arm. The couple set off two doves at the end of the ceremony, doves that joined a flock of white birds circling overhead. The wine flowed, the music played, and we all danced in the moonlight.
I'm still working on my "Random Acts of Kindness" from 3/29/13. When I won $500 at the casino, it gave me the chance to donate a little more than 10% for the classroom of a friend who teaches in a troubled Philadelphia school. When I learned a former student was suffering cancer and in danger of losing the home she was working to provide for her three children, I was able to donate to her and share the information for her fundraising page. Sharing that information led others to donate, too. She needed $700, but over $3000 was raised! Those two I can tell you about, as those donations were publicly made. My other RAKs are my secret. I still have more to complete, though, before this year is over.
So there you go, updates on some of my blogs. Is there anything else you might like to know? Send me your questions!
Saturday, September 21, 2013
Litter
What is happening in America? Specifically, I am referring to trash. Litter. Everywhere.
The hill leading up to my street is a prime target for litterers. I have been appalled by the things discarded on this road. Why dump your tinsel covered Christmas tree when the town gladly picks them up outside of your house? You really can't hold on to your fast food bags until you get home? The worst was the mattress that sat there for months. Why? There are ways to get rid of trash that don't involve polluting the neighboring streets.
I'd like to blame young people, simply because I'm old and I want to blame young people for everything. (I have my prejudices, I must admit.) Having been a middle school teacher I was witness to countless acts of mindless littering. Kids constantly threw their trash on the floor or in the halls, and if you tried to get them to pick it up, they always said it wasn't theirs. Argghh!! So, I picked it up. Constantly. I thought I was being a good role model when in reality I was probably teaching them it was ok to trash the floors because the teachers or custodians would pick it up. We teachers tried to rectify the situation by taking the kids out on beautiful days to pick up the trash on the school grounds to keep it from polluting the Chesapeake Bay. They really got into it and felt satisfied about doing something to help the Bay. This was one part of their Service Learning Project. I like to think it made a direct impact on those kids.
I pick up a lot of trash in front of my house, snack food paper dumped by the kids walking home from the bus. It annoys the hell out of me, but I don't say anything just to keep the peace. The other day, my lawn mower guy and I were chatting on my front steps when a van with two young women drove by and tossed their trash out of the window and on to my driveway. I jumped up yelling, "Yo bitch" while simultaneously shocking the heck out of the lawn guy who always thought I was a mild-mannered retired schoolmarm. What did she rip up and throw out of the window? A picture lovingly drawn by a child as a gift for one of them. That made both of us even angrier. I remember when my friend Dottie got married. One of her chores the morning of the wedding was to go to the church and scoop up the litter on the church grounds. Once I asked a young man why he threw his fast food bags out of the cab of his truck. He replied that he took great pride in his truck and didn't want to mess it up.
Oy vay.
I know there are other people as disturbed as I am by this trash trend. When he was in better health, my neighbor Herb would walk the streets and pick up trash along the way. Some group actually bagged the trash on the hill leading to my street. I don't know when the bags will ever get collected, and now people driving up the hill are throwing their trash on top of the bags, but they tried. There is a group of volunteers who meet regularly in Havre de Grace to collect and properly dispose of litter. And the more prisoners on work detail detrashing our streets the better! (Well, I don't know if the prisoner example actually counts as people caring about our environment, but they work really hard and do a good job.)
The big question is how to get people to care. I grew up with the single tear sliding down the weathered old face of an Indian mourning the pollution of his land. (Yeah, yeah. I know he wasn't a real Native American, but he was a good actor). No way could I throw a piece of paper on the ground without being haunted by his tear-stained countenance. What has changed? Why do people trash their environments so easily? Where's the remorse? Where's the responsibility? Where's the common sense?
The hill leading up to my street is a prime target for litterers. I have been appalled by the things discarded on this road. Why dump your tinsel covered Christmas tree when the town gladly picks them up outside of your house? You really can't hold on to your fast food bags until you get home? The worst was the mattress that sat there for months. Why? There are ways to get rid of trash that don't involve polluting the neighboring streets.
I'd like to blame young people, simply because I'm old and I want to blame young people for everything. (I have my prejudices, I must admit.) Having been a middle school teacher I was witness to countless acts of mindless littering. Kids constantly threw their trash on the floor or in the halls, and if you tried to get them to pick it up, they always said it wasn't theirs. Argghh!! So, I picked it up. Constantly. I thought I was being a good role model when in reality I was probably teaching them it was ok to trash the floors because the teachers or custodians would pick it up. We teachers tried to rectify the situation by taking the kids out on beautiful days to pick up the trash on the school grounds to keep it from polluting the Chesapeake Bay. They really got into it and felt satisfied about doing something to help the Bay. This was one part of their Service Learning Project. I like to think it made a direct impact on those kids.
I pick up a lot of trash in front of my house, snack food paper dumped by the kids walking home from the bus. It annoys the hell out of me, but I don't say anything just to keep the peace. The other day, my lawn mower guy and I were chatting on my front steps when a van with two young women drove by and tossed their trash out of the window and on to my driveway. I jumped up yelling, "Yo bitch" while simultaneously shocking the heck out of the lawn guy who always thought I was a mild-mannered retired schoolmarm. What did she rip up and throw out of the window? A picture lovingly drawn by a child as a gift for one of them. That made both of us even angrier. I remember when my friend Dottie got married. One of her chores the morning of the wedding was to go to the church and scoop up the litter on the church grounds. Once I asked a young man why he threw his fast food bags out of the cab of his truck. He replied that he took great pride in his truck and didn't want to mess it up.
Oy vay.
I know there are other people as disturbed as I am by this trash trend. When he was in better health, my neighbor Herb would walk the streets and pick up trash along the way. Some group actually bagged the trash on the hill leading to my street. I don't know when the bags will ever get collected, and now people driving up the hill are throwing their trash on top of the bags, but they tried. There is a group of volunteers who meet regularly in Havre de Grace to collect and properly dispose of litter. And the more prisoners on work detail detrashing our streets the better! (Well, I don't know if the prisoner example actually counts as people caring about our environment, but they work really hard and do a good job.)
The big question is how to get people to care. I grew up with the single tear sliding down the weathered old face of an Indian mourning the pollution of his land. (Yeah, yeah. I know he wasn't a real Native American, but he was a good actor). No way could I throw a piece of paper on the ground without being haunted by his tear-stained countenance. What has changed? Why do people trash their environments so easily? Where's the remorse? Where's the responsibility? Where's the common sense?
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