From a simple mind

Political Money

2012-02-02T00:33:00.000-08:00

Why is it that every time I hear the complain about class warfares, it is the
rich who are doing the screaming? I haven’t heard a poor or medium wage
person use the word, or complain about it.

With this, in your face Super Pack, (it was hidden before) who are drumming up
and actually getting 10 million dollars and up… for the politicians.. who are the
same ones who don’t want to be taxed more, so to share the wealth. They feel
that everyone should get out and work and earn their own money.. yet they
give freely, to the biggest welfare bums there are…politicians.

I would say, that all this money raising is for the best President Candidate that money can buy…but I think it is better with the best Republican candidate that money can buy. I can remember being horrified 12 years ago when George jr
went into Iowa with 60 millions of daddy’s pals money… and thinking then, the President office is for sale.. And I have doubts it is the best, that they are buying,
as they don’t seem to be too choosy about who they are putting their money
behind..

And no, I am not giving the Democrat a pass… they just aren’t in the news right
now. Kind of sad that they don’t even have anyone interested in challenging
Obama… especially when some Democrats profess that they aren’t happy
With Obama. Me thinks, that the Democrats protest too much.

I would love to see after the conventions, that the Federal government take 80%
of the campaign funding away from the candidates and spend it on repairing
all of the roads in the US. Or use it for free college education, being high school
isn’t good enough anymore. Heck with the money these two parties are throwing
around, we might be able to afford both.

The Strings can be still pulled....

2012-02-01T08:39:00.000-08:00

I was watching Good Morning America this morning with the interview of
Lisa Marie Presley. And was surprised at how the emotional strings can
still be there after all these years… I guess we are heading in to the
25th Anniversary of his death..

I wasn’t a big fan of his music.. Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t hate it. I
danced as much as the next one to his songs.. but at the same time
as Elvis arrived on the Dorsey summer television show… I saw another artist who was feature a few weeks later… and that is where my fanship laid.
Johnny Cash…

The amazing thing about Elvis was, my parents hated his music. My mother watched Love Me Tender movie on television and made fun of his singing,
every time he open his mouth in the movie. She said she couldn’t understand
why girls went so wild and screaming over him and his hip wiggles… (I guess
she forgot her generation of Frank Sinatra) And I wasn’t living at home during the Beatles on Ed Sullivan show which was her favorite. Yet, several years later,
I witness her loving his singing when he did a kind of comeback show on television. The one with him in his black leather outfit. And she taped it. I
think my brother might still have the tape. My how times change.
It also was a bone of contention between us as I loved Country Western music.
Ernest Tubb, Ray Price and etc… Of which she described as howling, and
would not allow their records in our house. But years later in her 60’s she
LOVED Willie Nelson.. making remarks about him putting his shoes under
her bed any time.. My how times changed…

While I danced to Elvis rock songs, my favorites were his bass sounding."In the. Ghetto".
And I loved his Christian songs…like "I Believe".

But this morning, as Lisa Marie was showing her part of his history at his
house, (her rocking chair, her tricycle and etc.) and they played Fools fall in
Love… and there it was.. the tugging of the heart strings… and wondering
what if….

Hospitals...hospitals....

2012-01-31T13:20:00.001-08:00

Today .. what a way to end the month… I am waiting word from a hospital
In Washington, as my daughter went in for surgery on her shoulder… so
the good thing of Facebook is her partner can keep us all up to date at once, by posting on Facebook as she entered, as she came out.. waiting for the doctor and etc.. This one I knew about…

But this mornings at 8:00am, I didn’t see this one coming… it was a call from my husband saying he was coming home.. has stabbing pain in chest and headache. Wants me to take him to ER… Thankfully the place he works says no… you are not driving, (what part of insanity is that anyway, chest pains, drive self to hospital?) They were driving him in, and I was to meet him there.

Good old BGH.. and their great crew, poked, prodded, x-rayed, ekg’d, and blood test him… for 2 hours.. all came back clear… his blood pressure was excellent.
They don’t know what or why.. exhaust in the shop? Although they have a good
System there… What ever …not sure what. But lined him up with a stress test next Tuesday, as his family history in that department isn’t good. Better safe than sorry.

We complain from time to time about our local hospitals, as it seems like it takes
Forever…. but when they are needed they are there… and everyone doing what they can to reassure you, and take good care of you…

Well, heading back to Facebook to check how my daughter is doing.. Know enough not to call until tomorrow… same day surgery conversations can be weird and funny.

LIAR, LIAR, PANTS ON FIRE.

2012-01-30T00:59:00.000-08:00

January 30, 2012
LIAR, LIAR, PANTS ON FIRE

As we go thru each election, be it every 4 years or the 2..
It is all the same.. but the every 4 years of Presidential it
Is so true… Liar, Liar, pants on fire…

They say the definition of Insanity is : doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. But I think the same thing can be said of stupidity, after all, every 4 years we look at the candidates.. we read about the
candidates. And they send out a spin..(they and their committees to
elect). And as they throw out the good word… the catch phases… we the
public believe… we think they will tell us the truth.. How stupid are we?

That includes myself… I thought Obama would be different… yes, I knew he
didn’t have the know how to fight Washington and the Congress… but I had HOPE..
I had hope that he would pick a cabinet that would serve us all well…. I had
HOPE, that he wouldn’t pick cronies, people who gave campaign money…
I thought he would bring up the best of the best… the best financial person.
The best to deal with the rest of the nations..

I do have to give Mrs. Clinton her due in the work she has done. But I had to question… a woman.. even a strong woman such as she… how would any woman deal with the Mid Eastern leaders, who have no respect for women in their own land. And I have to admit she has held her own.. at least it appears so.

So here we are 4 years later… and so far.. it looks like another 4 years of Obama. For the good or the bad.. Because Republicans can’t get themselves
together to get someone … someone.. who is reasonable.. And if you think the
lies are flying now… what until after June. You know right now you can’t believe
any of the Republicans as they fight each other… so which ever one the
Convention decides to throw up again the wall to see if he will stick.. well.. it
Isn’t going to be pretty…

So it is LIAR, LIAR PANTS ON FIRE… but then there is the doing the same
thing over and over again and expecting different results attitude of the voters.

The Navigator

2012-01-26T11:32:00.000-08:00

As we trudge thru the winter slosh… or slush.. depending
on how you look at it… there can be some highlights.

This is one of our highlights… Every time Misty hears the
4-wheeler start up, she whines to go out… And occasionally
I let her out for a ride. All this summer she was with Ken, as
he rode around our area.. to friends, or the post office.
Which is kind of ironic… as the lawn mower terrified her
until we got the 4 wheeler.. now she wants out to ride while
Ken rides around on the lawn mower..

Today we get wind and sprinkles.. thought it was suppose to
rain, but guess that isn’t in the cards. Thought maybe by the
weekend we would be back to grass again, except for the piles
of snow.

I have got to wonder what has happen to my plants that I saw
around the yard with buds on them.. that are now under snow.

Act of Kindness...

2012-01-25T14:19:00.000-08:00

It is so nice when a person does an act of kindness…
That is a act of surprise, that is so nice…

Flowers is one kind of act. Especially when one
Is not expecting them..

Anyone who knows me well, knows I hate Valentine flowers.
They are the blackmail of the commerce, that makes mostly
men feel guilty if they don’t buy a dozen roses. Those same
roses cost about $10 to $20 several days before or a week later.
But now all a sudden cost $40 to $60.

I have said that I think, no reason Roses or flowers of any kind are
the very best of all. As you could see last week when the King came
home with a half of dozen pink roses. To me it was the highest of
gift.

Today, I got another one… I was given a dozen yellow/green roses..
Just because the person appreciated an act of kindness I had done.
Something I took in stride, that she thought was great. I am the back
up for my new granddaughter. She has 3 children and one goes to
school, 3 blocks from me. . So last year when she moved here, I told her
I would be her back up if something came up and she could not go to the
school to pick her son up. Well, the system works, as it was tested a couple of
days ago, unintentually . And she surprised me with roses today..
What a sweet girl.

Why do we fight so much over these two?

2012-01-24T10:13:00.000-08:00

It was said a long time ago, when I was young… that one
does not bring up the subject in polite conversations, of religion
or politics.

For some years I have heard and later years, had conversations
of such subjects. And it wasn’t a big deal.. I guess because the
group I ran with, wasn’t hardcore in either.

But when you consider it, religion and politics are kind of like
jackets we wear. I wear a blue and beige jacket.. the blue is denim
and beige cotton. My friend has a green one… my daughter wears
a black one from time to time, and my husband wears a black one.

We never would even consider arguing over what color jacket that
we wear. We have see other people in jackets of the same or at
least the same color… yet when we see others of different color jackets
we don’t try to change their minds to wear the same color we do…
Do you? Have you ever told someone they are wearing the wrong color
jacket?

Yet, politics and religion is like a jacket for us. It is something we prefer.
Some are Jewish, some are Catholics, some are Protestant and so many
other religions. Some are Republicans and some are Democrats, and
Independent and the other parties coming up…Whigs, Americas Elect
and so forth.

Yet you feel you have the right to argue with these people to change to
your beliefs. Going so far to say that yours is the only one and theirs is
Sooooooooooo wrong… Some religions even go so far to tell their
people that those of other religion, will rot in hell because they don’t believe
in theirs. And now it has even gotten so bad, that some are saying the
same about politics and the different parties.

Why is it we can respect the difference of one’s color jacket, yet we can’t
respect the difference of one’s politics or religion? I know the country
hangs in the balance on the politics, but do you really think screaming
at your friend, will want them to change to yours? Are you really ready
to throw your friendship over for the difference of either of these?

If the answer is yes, that is sad.. sad indeed..

I need a die-heart Democrat

2012-01-23T11:15:00.000-08:00

I have been going thru my back room… Shuffling and sorting and etc.
It is suprising what one hangs on to,.or keeps because you figure
SOME DAY.. but now I should get rid of some of it..

The reason why I I need a die-heart Democrat is because among my thing
Is Kennedy things.. I have magazine written when JFK died. Also when Jackie
died, and a newspaper and magazine of when JFKjr died. And then there is the George magazines.. I have the first and the last as well as quite a few inbetween.

I suppose I could E-bay them.. but one of the worse things right now is… as I was looking at the magazines, I saw there is a lot of reading to be done yet. Meaning these have good articles of our past, as well as about the people I saved the magazine for. Also I have others, one about Robert Kennedy… and then there is the Peublo skipper. And other things in our past as you can see by the pictures…
I even have the last Sears catalog, which I think is 1994.. so looking thru that at the prices… Some I can throw away… some I rather give away, to someone who would get as much out of them as I did. But I know my kids will throw them.
Remembering my friend Kayte saying, ones life is a yard sale the day after you died. Some where I even have a TV Gude magazine of Oprah, with the Ann Margaret body, supposedly. But who know where.. lol..

And way, I decided to pile the magazine, where I will go thru them one more time, before I let them go.. As looking thru them was slowing me down on getting rid of stuff… So my sign on the door still applies… “My someday room,…. Some day I am going thru this stuff and throw away the junk and take out the good stuff and organize it.”…I have come so far.. but still have a ways to go…

Recipes and Secrets...

2012-01-19T00:21:00.000-08:00

I came across a great recipe for a bean patties. Like a hamburger
patties. And it is so simple to make.

You take a can of refried beans, and a can of black beans, put in
your mixing bowl along with 2 eggs and a cup of oatmeal. Add 1 teaspoon
of salt and one teaspoon of garlic powder. And mix.
Starting out on low speed, to get it all to mix well..(other wise the
black beans spit out of the bowl like a gatling gun, not that I know that
from experience…oh, alright, I admit I got it going a little fast). After it
mixes really well, use a large spoon and spoon it into the fry pan in
the size of a regular hamburger patties. Fry it on each side well.

I put it on the plate with some horseradish cheddar cheese and guacamole,
on top with a sprinkle of parmesan cheese.
Really turn out well. The King had seconds and told me I out did myself.

The only down side of this recipe is the after effects. Because after eating
beans and you are retiring for the night, the body relaxes and has taken those lovely tasting beans and ran it thru its combustion chambers. Especially if it is
a male human body. How those great smelling and tasting beans can come out of the other side, in a sulfur smell of beyond rotten eggs, is beyond me.
Kind of reminds me of a saying a 95 year old woman friend of mine said to
me about 50 years ago…”She thinks her shit don’t smell, but her farts give
her away.”

Which has me wondering, do you smell odors after you go to sleep? Maybe
the secret is to be in bed and sound to sleep, before your spouse goes to
bed. As I don’t recall waking up gagging.

And that is why I love my husband...

2012-01-18T17:26:00.000-08:00

The weather was snowing, and it was blowing hard. So asked my husband to
pick up the mail and he had to stop at the store...

AND he brought these home... THAT LADIES...is the reason why I love this
man so much.... no reason roses... the best kind...

That sure isn't the way I learn it....

2012-01-18T00:01:00.000-08:00

When I was a kid, in the little state of Rhode Island.. we knew
about the sea… after all it was all around us.. 3 miles away, in just
about any direction..

We knew every year, there was a fishing boat that would go down.
Taking the crew with it most of the time… AND definitely a lot of times
the Captain of the ship/boat.

And that is what I was taught. That was the rules of the sea.
The Captain goes down with the ship. And if he did leave it..it
wasn’t until everyone was off of the ship. He would be the very
last one to leave.

Over the years there as been a few who jumped with the crew, or
even ahead of the crew… but they were considered cowards. It was
a disgrace to leave the ship before everyone was off of it. That is
why there are courts to fine, even jail these men.

I surely hope the so called captain, because he doesn’t deserve to be
called captain, and certainly doesn’t deserve a capital C on the word,
gets everything they can do to him.

His behavior is despicable as a captain, and more than that.. as a
human being… As you hear the tapes of the Italian Coast Guard arguing
with him, you want to vomit. I hope there isn’t a company or anyone who
lets this person near a ship, boat, or even a skiff. And I hope they hang
him high… for the people who died on that ship. Too bad we don’t still have
the walking of the plank.

Lazy thoughts...

2012-01-17T00:37:00.000-08:00

These are the before pictures... as you can see the first one is on the 4th... and the bottom on

yesterday afternoon... Here it is January...mid January.. and we are doing well for the lack of snow. BUT there is promise of snow this week... which makes me wonder will this be like the Thanksgiving snow and the Christmas snow... that disappeared with in 3 days? So will next week follow up with wind and rain? Only to remove all of our snow? Or will it be like 3 years ago, where it started to snow mid January and continued until May.

Also I was thinking yesterday.... that if my dad had lived... he would have been 100 years old.

He passed away at 82. He had heart problems, but he never let that get him down.. a month before he died, he had his sister and cousin in his truck, flying up the highway from Newport, to Providence at 80 mph. Just like he did with them, when they were all in their 20's.

Dad was never one to let grass grow under his feet... Sadly his grandson's all follow suit... My son's as well as my brother's.

He was still farming the summer before he died in Sept. 94. He mowed his own hay, that year.

God Bless... and happy birthday Dad, thanks for letting me be your buddy thru the years.

UPDATE....

this afternoon....

Stuff it and the Mother of invention...

2012-01-12T00:47:00.000-08:00

I love jalapeno poppers… And as much as it is against
my principles to pay 50 cent and up for each of them at the deli,
I do treat myself to them on occasion. .

But being I am back on my diet because I gained 6 pounds
over the holidays, poppers are soooooooooooo not right,
on my diet and besides, surely I can do it cheaper than 50 cents
each.

So I looked for a non fried (as the ones in the deli are fried
with coating) and the least amount of damage to me.
I looked online for baked stuffed jalapenos and found a few.
I read thru them and figured out what I wanted to do… (who
needs directions)

I bought 5 medium size jalapenos. I wanted to start small just
incase this fell on its face. I saw that there was a cream cheese
with Italian spices, so got that for a back up, and got the regular
type of cream cheese but the 70% less fat type. I had a package
of chourico (for the non Portuguese, this is a Portuguese sausage
that is to die for).

I cooked up the chourico, by slicing long ways… then I peeled./cut
off the skin. And mashed it with a fork. I added the cream cheese,
mixing until it blended really well…

Then I got out my gloves and started to work on the peppers. It
is suggested by any recipe you ever use with jalapeno peppers.
In case you are thinking of passing it by…DON’T… GET THE GLOVES.
And DON’T SCRATCH YOUR NOSE, OR ANY PART OF OUR YOUR
FACE. If you can’t stand it, take off gloves, scratch, and get new gloves.
I am telling you from experience… DON’T.. it is hard to do a recipe
thru burning body part and tears. I found out when making Jalapeno
Jelly.

I cut off the end, by the stem, as close as I could. Then ran the
knife around inside to remove the string stuff and seeds.. Ran it around
several times… thumped the pepper end on the plate (you don’t want
your cutting board with pepper juice). After I washed the insides of the
peppers to get rid of any hidden seeds. Unless you want them really
hot, get rid of all the seeds. I was starting out with mild to medium in
my mind.

Then take the pepper in one hand and pick up cream cheese mix and
stuff pepper… If you want to make it easier on yourself.. (I did by the second
pepper) get a sandwich bag…put cream cheese mix in there… squeeze
until you have it all down into one corner.. then snip a very small hole in the
corner.. Wa..La.. a stuffer bag… Have a small blade knife near by. Stuff
the pepper, use the knife to take the air out of pepper.

Laid them down one by one in your Pam sprayed pan. Cook for 25 minutes.
Or until the pepper is cooked.

Some good tips.. I looked at the recipes online again to find out the amount
of time… First off, I found they cheated.. they sliced the pepper and stuffed it.
And some of them used a tooth pick to put them back together.
And… they have some, where they cooked the pepper first.. then stuffed them.
I think that is a good idea… because I had to leave mine in 10 more minutes to
get the peppers cooked. They looked just fine after the 20 minutes.. but the
pepper weren’t cooked… So after 10 more minutes, I ended up with this…

I will update this, when I try again.. in a couple of weeks…
I say a couple of weeks…because I tasted one of these…when they cooled
down some.. AND HOLY MOTHER OF GAWD!!! THEY ARE HOT… day later and my mouth
hasn’t recovered..I feel like I have Angelina Jolie lips... so much for mild … maybe if you precook the peppers, it takes some of the spice heat out of it.

Or maybe I should let it go, like I did the latte machine.. I bought one, used
it for 3 months.. couldn’t get them to taste like the latte shops, gave away
the machine… and buy at the shop… so maybe I might… well, I will try
one more time anyway.. but might have to swallow my pride and buy at
the deli.. wish they had baked ones.

UPDATE... 1-28-2012

SECOND TIME IS THE CHARM........ I tried this again.... but this time I precooked the peppers in the microwave for 3 minutes.

And then I added the mix... of cream cheese and Chorizo meat... stuffed them, put them back in the micro and wa-la... stuffed jalapeno peppers... little crunchy, a little hot, but doesn't take your head off.

Feeding Frenzy

2012-01-11T00:08:00.000-08:00

With each debate, and now the primaries are starting,
the feeding frenzy has started to get serious.
The saying…”eating their own” comes to mind.

We have all heard of dirty politics, but I think this election
Is bring out an all new meaning to the words.

And the Democrats? Well, they sure are awful quiet, as
they should be.. this is where they really don’t have to say
a thing… the Republican are doing it all for them. All they
need is to keep notes, so which ever one … if any of these,
comes out on top.. they will have a head start.

I was watching a program the other morning..
Herman Cain was on. They asked him if he missed the
fight of the game that is still going on.. And he said he
didn’t.. When they question that, he said, well, yes, he
kind of like to be there to take each one to task for what
they are saying.. but missing the circus of it.. no.
Then one commenter said something to the fact how
all the candidates hate each other.. And Cain said they
didn’t hate each other… their committees hate each other
but the candidates didn’t. One of them said, so if the media
wasn’t around, they all go have a beer with each other, right.

And we know this to be true.. Look at the remarks the Bushes
had to say about Clinton… and there they were, side by side
drumming up money for different charities.

One of my questions is… there are a lot of Democrats who are
not happy, or so they say, with Obama… yet no one at all has
throw their hat in the circle to go up against Obama. Surely if
you are not that happy with your guy in the office, don’t you find
someone to replace them?

One thing about politics, it is never boring…

Generations away

2012-01-10T00:48:00.000-08:00

In the past I am sure all those over 40 have thought that
they are becoming their own parents…

But I think maybe we are really 2 generations away from our
selves. Or maybe it is the older you get, the more distance
between our ideas, principles, and priorities.

As I deal with the other generations below me, I find my thoughts
more like my grandparents instead of my parents.. Maybe it is
because our children are becoming more like our parent/us..

But as I see the 20’s generation coming up, I see such a vast
gab between my style of ideas, principles, and priorities and theirs.

I have had over the years, priorities that were of safety and
concerns of my children…first, and myself second.. But I see
the generation of small children raisers have it so different
from my own. Not that they are bad parents.. just different.
priority wise.

In my 20’s to the 30’s, I worried about my children and household.
in that order… and myself last. Today’s seem to be a toss up. What
ever it is for the day. Kind of a by the seat of your pants lifestyle. They
seem to have more faith, that things will turn out just fine. And deal
with it when it comes.. And the surprising part is.. most of the time
it works out for them. So did I worry too much at that time?

Now days it seems like the 30’s to 40’s have the same kind of attitude,
priorities, and ideas of how things should line up, more like my
generation did at 20 to 30. Or maybe it was me. Wanting every
thing lined up, be ready for what ever comes. Like boy scouts, be
prepared. But that is the way the 30’s to 40’s do now.

Then there is us older ones… Now I understand my grandfather
thoughts when he thought the younger generation was never was going
to ever amount to anything.... with rock music, Elvis and the rest.
Especially when he watched the teens on American Bandstand.
While I might think the entitlement generation of 12 to 25, don’t
seem to be very stable, I do have the good sense to remember my
grandfather and know that the now generation will probably turn
out just fine, just like we did, and the next one after us.

Which is shocking as the generation after me, was into “turn on, tune out, and etc.

What kind of voice do you have?

2012-01-09T00:00:00.000-08:00

While at church this Sunday they had different people read different
verse in the bible...

As the first one started, the Preacher said something about getting a
microphone for her... and she said she didn't need one, as she had a
"teacher's voice"... Meaning she knew she could project her voice thru
out the room.

The next one started to read, and stopped.. after the first word.. and
said.. she didn't need the microphone either as she had a "Mom's voice"
her kids could hear her anywhere.

While I guess I would say that would be true of myself... except I thought
of my voice to be that of a fishman's wife in the market... lol...

Too nice to be inside...

2012-01-05T11:09:00.000-08:00

I spent yesterday afternoon outside…
Outside in a sweater, not a jacket…

I got a lot of flower garden work done.
Every year, I say I am going to go back
and cut off the leaves from the lily plants
before winter sets in.. and every year it is
spring time before I get to it...the leaves that
are all over the place.. was.

Yesterday, I got that done.. and the scary
part? Besides the fact it was 52 degrees and
I could work outside, and it was the first of
January, and I live in Northern Idaho… was
the fact, that there was green leaves from my
tulips peeking thru the ground..

Scary as, I know Idaho… we can have a day like
this and with in a day or two, have 10 inches of snow.
So are these tulips going to get froze out?

Oh, well, I will enjoy this weather while I can.
Sure has helped for the winter blues. Today it is
sunny again.. but really windy.. somehow I
don’t think the sweater is going to cut it, unless
I can stay out of the wind..

Is it just me?

2012-01-04T10:31:00.000-08:00

Is is just me? When the sun shines like today, I feel energized.
When it is day after day, of gloom… I feel doomed.
Can’t get it started, dish rag time?

Is it just me, but is everyone on a diet and the
stores are advertising all kinds of goodies besides
the diet bars? I mean… really… buy one dozen
of donuts, get the second one free ads? What the?

Is it me, or does it irratate the hell out of you,
when you are going down the regular lane of
traffic, and some idiot comes up along side of
you, in the short lane that is about to end, and
tries to play chicken with you. To squeeze between
you and the car in front of you… so you put on the
brakes, slowly, so you don’t get your car wrecked.
Because you know this guy doesn’t have insurance
on the wreck of a car that looks like only bondo
is keeping it together. And the guy behind you is
just as mad as you are, with the cutter, and isn’t
letting up on you either..

Is it me, but when I have a chore I don’t like, put it
off, even knowing once you jump in, it isn’t as bad
as you feel it is now… It is the starting that is the
hardest? Guess I better go start…

Checking my list, checking it twice....

2012-01-03T00:57:00.000-08:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR…..

Calculator, check
pen, check
paper, check
huge folder, check
… check…check…check…

I am not in a hurry, as I won’t have all my paper work until
mid March…but I want to get started on this…now..

I hate leaving taxes until the last minute.. drives me completely
nuts.. I use to do my taxes the next day after getting my
W-2 form from the company. But then things got complicated.
And one of the forms I need to do my taxes, doesn’t come until
mid to the end of March. That drives me nuts..

I have a folder that I save all my receipts for everything…
bought a nut and bolt? I have the receipt. Bought a piece
of furniture? I have a receipt.. food, I have the receipts, out
to dinner, I have the receipt… hair done, I have the ..well, you
get the picture…and I keep them in this folder
and in the slot that is for the month the receipt is for.

So each year that I go thru the folder… I staple all the store
receipts together.. Meaning all of Wal-mart, Home Depot and
etc. Keeping out anything that might help my taxes..but that
is not much. Once in a while I will total all the receipt just to
see how much money we spent… kind of scary… when you
find out that over 20 per cent goes for food.. well, food, paper
products, pet food and etc.

So I will be the one behind all the stacks of papers for the next
couple of days… Happy tax time to you too…

Ah, 2011, it was a very good year.....

2011-12-29T00:24:00.000-08:00

As I turned 71, it was a very good year…
While some think of it as the winter of their
lives, I found it to be a second breath of life.

This year of 2011, found a winter that was taking its
time leaving us… and as April came around to add that
extra year… it also brought some extra money.

So the year started, with demolition derby. As we tore
apart walls and took out drawers and cabinets and sink.
Out went the old door, hello French doors.

Then it was time to put it together.. May came and went,
and I finally had a sink again. No more washing dishes
on the back deck or in the shower… In went insulation, and
a new dish washer.. Up went beautiful wood cabinets and out
with the old orange metal ones.

July brought the rest of the kitchen in to form… and a start
Of taking out the old deck and in came the new one, just in
time, with a pergola joining it. Just in time as the family gathered
to send off the youngest into her new marriage life.

August brought in the marriage and lots of laughter with it.
But also took a grandson away, as he headed out to Hawaii.

September brought the first of friend funeral… and then another one
In November. Sadness.

But over all, it was a very good year… that old 2011….

So enjoy throwing out the old, and bringing in the new.
Does anyone walk out the old year and walk in the new, at
Midnight? Like we did as kids, when we were allowed to stay
Up?
Well,…………
HAPPY NEW YEAR’S to you all, talk at you next year….

Politics is a joke... but no one is laughing...

2011-12-28T00:56:00.000-08:00

What ever happen to politics? I know Will Rogers use to make fun
of the politicians… and politics as well. That is well known.. but
this year? This has to be a new low even for them.

First off, you have the reality show called Republican Debate.
Thru the run off’s each week…. each one has had their
week, or even two weeks before they crash and burn..
only to come back again the following week..

I don’t know if they are plain stupid, or is the bonus at the end enough to keep them climbing on to the sinking ship called Republican Party.
And the people who are still throwing good money after bad at them, well, they got what they paid for, I guess.

Then you have the government body itself, called Congress. Which has their own reality show. It is called, Boo.. “let’s scare the daylights out of the elderly, and the rest of the citizens.. with our indecisiveness’ of on anything that is brought in for us to vote on…and if we can scare them while telling them we will close down the government. Well, all the better. And of course it has to be done near the end of the month, so those government check might fail to come out. How many elderly ended up at their doctors office, with anxiety attacks, while wondering how they were going to buy groceries and pay their electric bill. SHAME ON CONGRESS…. As they always decide to do the decent thing… at the last minute. Why put the citizens thru all of that.

Sadly they are a joke, but we citizens aren’t laughing.

Failure to follow directions....

2011-12-27T00:47:00.000-08:00

Why is it those of who love more power…. Don’t seem to like to pay attention to directions much.. I am just as guilty as others.

For Christmas, the King got me the MORE POWER, BIGGER THAN A LOT,
KITCHEN AID PROFESSIONAL 500 MIXER…. I use capitals not to shout, but
so you understand… this is MORE POWER… I love machinery of MORE POWER, be it appliances or cars… MORE POWER, LOUDER MUFFLERS.
That is just the way I roll…

So here I was…. With my MORE POWER MIXER, in my kitchen. Standing there proudly… well, maybe it was me, standing there proudly. Anyway, I had the booklet in my hand. So I sat down with a cup of coffee and skimmed the booklet. Well, don’t start shaking your head… I skimmed it, which is better than a lot of times, when I figure I know how to operate things… until modern inventions started to get ahead of me… But what could go wrong, after all a mixer is a mixer. Put things in the bowl and hit the switch, and when you feel ok with it, hit the higher speeds… Love my Vita Mix.. MORE POWER…

So I made my two favorite recipes for Christmas time. Christmas Fruitcake cookies (no, they don’t taste like fruit cake, just has the same fruit) and my around the year recipe, of Chocolate Zucchini Bread. As that is what I give for presents.

The cookies went great… the difference between mixing with the old wooden spoon was priceless. They came out great… That left the bread… I put in the eggs, sugar, butter, shredded zucchini,chocolate and spices , then blueberries and nuts… starting out with slow and running at full power, at the end of that section… Only thing left is the flour.
So I put in the first cup, and that is where I got into trouble… as it was POOF… and it wasn’t the magic dragon. I reached to the switch, to turn it down to low.
As soon as I could see it… And there I was, white, the counter…white, and the mixer… white…. I guess they really meant it when they said, when adding flour, use low speed… Dang, got to get that all clean up before the King got home, didn’t want to have to explain that one…

He was not having the best of day, so figured I would give him a laugh.. told him, and his words were…..you got it… did you read the directions? I replied, “
kind of” He shook his head and said..."figures".

MERRY CHRISTMAS....to you ALL...

2011-12-20T00:29:00.000-08:00

Once again I am going to rely on the wise words of George A. Gladden Sr.

MY CHRISTMAS CARD LIST
I have a list of folks I know,all written in a book,
And every year when Christmas comes,
I go and take a look.
That is when I realize these names are all a part,
not of the book they're written in,
but of my very heart.
For each name stands for someone who has crossed my path sometime,
And in that meeting they've become the rhythm in each rhyme.
While it may sound fantastic for me to make this claim,
I really feel that I'm composed of each remembered name.
And while you may not be aware of any special link.
Just meeting you has changed my life much more than you think.
For once I've met somebody, the years cannot erase
The memory of a pleasant word or of a friendly face.
So, never think my Christmas cards are just a mere routine
of names upon a Christmas list, forgotten in between.
For when I send a Christmas card that is addressed to you,
It's because you're on the list of folks I'm endeared to.
For I am but a total of the many folks I've met,
And you happen to be one of those I prefer not to forget.
Whether I have known you for many years or few,
In some way you have had a part in shaping things I do.
And every year when Christmas comes I realize a new,
The best gift life can offer is meeting folks like you.
So may the spirit of Christmasthat forevermore endures,
Leave its richest blessing in the hearts of you and yours.

My Christmas Card List written by George A. Gladden, Sr

So once again...I wish you all.... my dear readers...A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS........and especially to George A. Gladden Sr. where ever you may be...
Yak at you next week some time...

Reality Shows

2011-12-19T00:38:00.000-08:00

I am not much for reality shows.. I, once in a while, check out
The Biggest Loser, usually the last show or two… just to see who is left. Reminds me too much of slavery. The Big Race, is that’s name? I sometimes check that out. Lost interest in Survivor way back… season two? Maybe?

And the Bachelor or Bachelorette to me is just short of a pimp show. Why 25 women would want to humiliate themselves like that, is beyond me. Makes me hang my head to be a woman. We came a long way, baby, for this?

But even lower on the scale, if possible is one that is not listed as a reality show. But has become one… they call it the Republican Debates. But I got to say, it does have its own comedy to it. It has become boring to most of us, I know I have passed the point of tune out and let the minute bits of the news tell us how bad it is.. even then I am not interested.

They seem to think that all of it will end next month at Iowa and New Hampshire, but I have a feeling it will be around for a long time coming. Getting to the point, only the die-hard Republicans are interested. Or those who are looking for stupid mis-remarks.

Nope, I am not much for reality shows, you just can’t fix stupid.

Failure to Commuicate...

2011-12-15T00:37:00.000-08:00

I am not talking about the normal every day type of communication. I am talking about what they commonly called the, what we have here, is the failure to communicate..

The times that some people can really get to you and certain words fly. Now Bill Cosby has it right… that those who cuss are people who ran out of intelligent things to say to get their point across.

But there are times… when my feelings get so hurt, I am being treated so disrespectful,(words to explain they teed me off) and the person has pushed my buttons so badly, that intelligence is not quite in play, and I realize, the words do fly. My own children, when they heard the beginning of such words, knew it was time to vacate the area, as they knew they had gone over the limit.
Those words are so bad, that I could not type them here. Oh, I could really, after all this is my blog. But no child be allowed to read my blog again, and my Christian friends would never talk to me again.

But darn it, somehow …. some how the release of those other words does let off the steam that was building up, and “Oh, shucky darn, you should not have said that or did that to me”, just doesn’t cover it…

Sometimes we forget....

2011-12-14T09:22:00.000-08:00

I don’t know what it is about the doom and gloom
of winter, but it sure drags me out… I have a hard
time getting up. I want to snuggle down in my covers.
No sun light, cold… well, I should be grateful for no snow.

It isn’t the cold so much as the lack of sun. The mountains
are locked into the fog line, everything is grey. Just makes
me feel blah.

And I have 3 and half more months of this. I have things
I could be doing.. but don’t feel like it. I end up with the
ambition of a dishrag. Not even the holidays are perking
me up. But then again, I am not a Christmas person. Hate
the crowds of shopping. Grouchy people, who are on a mission and rudeness seems to be high on their list.

I just wiped out the other half of my post… Instead of the ho hum.
Let’s turn this around. Yea, it is drab out there in the white and grey of the day. But I have a warm house to be in.. others sadly don’t.
As I figure out what to have on the table this late afternoon for dinner, I realize, I have food to fix. And a choice of what that is.
And while I am far from rich, we do have enough money to cover our bills, get food, and buy gas to go where we go. Others do not.

I felt bad, because I had no shoes…..
Until, I met a man who had no feet……

Have a great day, enjoy what you do have..

He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has.~Epictetus

Christmas Migration...

2011-12-13T00:13:00.000-08:00

In about a week, there will be the beginning of the Christmas migration.
The hard times of Christmas. Taking a lot of trust and flow of tears.
Then to be continuted thru the holiday… ending with hopefully a peaceful
migration back.

This is when the airlines get inundated with children. Children who will need
an airline personal to escort them to the proper place at the proper time.
And hopefully the airline will not foul up, like they have in the past. I think last year they lost two children, got sent to different parts of the country.

This is a hard time on the parents involved… and depending on how they handle it, is how well the kids will handle it. It takes a lot of trust on both sides.

I am talking about the traveling children of divorced parents. It is stressful.
As all divorced parents don’t play fair. Sometimes using their children as pawns.
Pawns for their own ego’s. Hopefully time will mellow these parents and they will figure it out, it isn’t about them, it is about the children.

HOW DARE THEY?

2011-12-12T00:07:00.000-08:00

For those who read my blog, you should have gathered by now,
that I am a strong supporter of our troops. The ones we have now,
and the ones before… I think the government is lackadaisical with their support,
for health and moral purpose especially.

The nation as a whole should be ashamed of the way they treated our men and women who fought in the Vietnam war. They are doing better this time around,
But still there is a lot more that the government could do. Especially those who come back with post trama problems. Yes, there are a great deal of troops who are taken care of in the hospitals and rehab. But there are a lot who are not.

You hear about the ones who get caught inbetween the cracks. The ones who lose limbs and get letters from the branch of service that they are in, and charged with breach of contract as they can’t fulfil their obilgations to the group. You go, what? The guy is in the hospital with one leg missing and they say what? Letter to their senators and etc. straighten it out, but to put any service family thru it, is disgusting.

But now we read about the many bodies that were cremated,and then were tossed in the landfill. It seems there were 274 bodies, and more body parts that were cremated and then taken to the landfill to be dumped. This was in Dover, Maryland.

HOW DARE THEY? These men were/are heroes. Many of them were burnt, blown up, (that’s why there are body parts) 1762 some odd body parts.
And when asked about this, and asked who and where? The New Jersey Representative was told it would be too hard to go thru the files. And no, they had not intentions of notifying the families involved. It was only when the Washington Post pushed it that they even came out with a number.

HOW DARE THEY? What shameful actions done by the United States Air Force.
Our men and women deserve the highest respect. And what the heck is this going to do for our men and women who are still fighting? Are they going to wonder if their families will get their remains… or will their body be sent to a landfill. How degrading.. And I surely hope heads will roll… pun intended.
Who ever … who ever is respondible for this behavior should be court-marshaled.

Even if there are body parts that can not be identified, still the throw them
in a landfill is disgusting… there has to be a better way.. even if it was the spreading of the ashes over the cemetery.

Snow on the roof, but racer in the heart...

2011-12-08T00:40:00.000-08:00

Down the road from where I live as you head to Sandpoint,
there is a 4 lane part of the highway at Kootenai Cut-a-cross Road
light.

Direct right is for turning right, down Kootenai Cutacross Road going to Wal-mart.
Direct left, for turning into Ponderay. In the middle is 2 lanes. One for going
to Sandpoint, and the other for the life of me, I don’t know why they put it there.
As the road narrows to one lane in about 30 feet. And it never fails that
someone will get in that short lane, in hopes of jumping the gun and
out running the straight road traffic.

Well, the other day, I had it. A youngster, for lack of better wording, I will
refer to him as a whippersnapper. He sits there ready to go, and the light
turns green… I push the petal to the metal and out ran him.

I know, I know… road rage. But sometimes, you just get sick of it. And besides
there is some of the old Cis still in here… So I as I passed him, I waved and smiled… Never underestimate an old broad, and her Mercury. Look on his face, priceless.

There might be snow on the roof, but there is a racer still in her heart.

I mention this story on my facebook.. And the comments that came in.. From my daughter-in-laws… ‘’ So that is where your son gets it.” Each one of them. Even
a grandson got in on it…saying it isn’t just the son’s it is all of (family name) men.
Yea, go Nana… Then some old friend reminded me of the time she was with me when I raced the Washington State Patrol car. But in all honesty, I didn’t race the WSP. I was driving down the highway, with such friend, when I noticed I was
doing 55. And it was a 60 mph road. So I stepped it up to 60. My girlfriend just about had a cow… and yelled out.. “Oh, my God, Cis, you are racing a trooper.”
As I looked over there were two troopers in the car, and the passenger one looked at me, like you got to be kidding… I stayed at 60 and THEY pulled away from me… now who was racing whom? But the look on the trooper was funny, and the reaction of my friend was priceless. And 30 years later, it was suprising she still remembered it.

Also when one of my sons came to visit with his girlfriend, we went to the King’s mom’s house. I had a nice 1972 Ford ¾ ton 4 wheel drive pickup… with straight pipes that I loved. When we were coming down a steep hill, I down shifted and the pipes sounded out… I heard his girlfriend say, “now I understand you”, as she looked at my son.

But in all fairness, I came by this honestly. You see, my father’s favorite trick was to sit at a stop light, when there was a younger guy next to him in a hot car.. and revving up the engine… my father .. in his 60’s …. would rev his motor up too…and they would look at each other, daring the other when the light would change.. EXCEPT… my father… while the light was red, would make his car jump forward, and the other guy would run the red light… and if there was a police car around, well, that was icing on the cake. Dad did make sure there wasn’t any cars coming thru the intersection at the time. But he sure had fun with his trick. So you see.. it runs in the family.

Yes, there is snow on the roof, but a true hotrodder always remains inside.

Day of Infamy

2011-12-07T00:36:00.000-08:00

The words of President Roosevelt was 'A Date Which Will Live in Infamy'.
And that it has. Even tho, some think that the World Trade Center over shadows
this day and the memory of those who lived during that time.

As a person who has visited Pearl Harbor, a little over 2 years ago, I can tell you that it is still a place of somber. As our little boat approached the memorial, there was great chatter… but as soon as each one went up the stairs and stepped inside, there was silence. Only whispers. And we were lucky to witness a group of chorus singers who were also visiting, started to sing our country’s song. Not a dry eye in the place. These college age singers, pulled on all of our hearts.

Some times during our daily lives, we forget some of the past. And even on this day, some forget. I am glad there are survivors who still travel to Pearl Harbor, to be honored. To remind some who forget.

THANK YOU, Pearl Harbor Veterans … those who are still among us…and those who have gone before us.. and mostly for those who died that day.. nurses, pilots, and so many others… Our hearts are with you specially today. God Bless

All the names of the men who died on the Arizona

the oil still leaks to this day...70 years later

WHAT THE H...

2011-12-06T00:13:00.000-08:00

Things that I read are driving me crazy… and I have to
say what Whoopi Goldberg says… WHAT THE HEY?

First off, Newt Gingrich, isn’t he the one who had the great plan for United States, years ago, and it ended up sinking the Republican Party? Around the days of Clinton. I can’t believe that Party. Here they have all the cards in their hands, so to speak, with Congress, and this is the best they can do for leadership…to run for President?
What a shame.

Next up is reading about United States exporting refined oil. They are on the verge of exporting more than we are importing. WHAT THE HELL?
Excuse me… aren’t we the ones paying high prices for oil, because we are importing from other countries? And now you are telling me, that we are on the verge of selling more than we buy?
How and why is that? I believe the words were, we shipped more auto and jet fuel overseas, than it imported in 6 of the 9 months of this year… And we are doing that, why? Are they telling us that overseas pays more for ours, so we don’t sell local? I am sorry, but that just baffles me. We are paying more for airlines because of the cost of fuel… we are paying more at the pump because of high cost of imported oil. Some one want to explain that to this old broad’s mind, because I can’t wrap my mind around that. Are we stupid?
And we can’t fix stupid.

I am not even go there, with the whack job’s who decided to pepper spray other shoppers. I am sitting here, shaking my head. I knew common sense died 50 years ago.. but still.. people get a grip.

One family member's bore, another's fantastic stories

2011-12-05T09:04:00.001-08:00

I am sure you all had a family member who use to tell stories of family history.. and some have told of local history. If this member was your father or even your mother, then they were BORING..and was met by the rolling of the eyes.

My father was not one of those… but his brother, my Uncle Richard was. When my husband and I had moved back East for about 4 years, our first rental was a waterfront property, which rented lower for the winter. But my uncle would come to visit us and thrill us of stories of planes landing across the street from our driveway. Some of them were the usual landings and some were a thrill a minute. We were living on a fairly large island for that area… and my father’s family was born, grew up and lived there as young adults. So there is a lot of family history that wove with the local history.

My grandfather, with two friends, started the first theater on the island. A theater that was being restored and opening up soon (at that time). So it was really neat to hear about the building of it and what shows he remembered being showed there as well as the live acts.

Also my grandfather had the first taxi service from one side of the island to the other side. As the mainland didn’t have a bridge to the island and another from the other side to the other mainland. Now there are two bridges and Jamestown is merely a stepping-stone for the traffic from Newport to Warwick/North Kingston area. But in my grandfather’s time, he had horse and buggies that transferred the people from the ferry on one side to the ferry to the other side. He had a grocery, and then gas station combo in the middle of the town where the main part was. Later on starting a Ford dealership there, and in Newport and Middletown on the mainland.

Uncle Richard also worked for Gorham Silver in Providence until the 1960’s. He was a machinist, I believe. Then went to work for a place that made material .. which was a box of wonder for me when he came to visit and brought me what they called ends. So I had all kinds of material to make shirts and shorts for the kids.

Yes, Uncle Richard was a fountain of history for us nieces and nephews.. but the roll of eyes for his son. And now that his son is over 70, it is kind of neat, as he has been come the story teller, which I never get tired of listening to his recount of things in Providence. As he started his own towing service at the age of 16. I sure hope his grandchildren ask the right questions.. as he can tell them so many things about the area they live in.

So while you might not think much of your parents or your aunt’s and uncles boring stories… maybe you should listen and hear what happen in your town, when they were young. Sure is different from the town you are living in now… and you get your own family that weaves with that town history.

Attention, holiday political correct police...

2011-12-01T00:42:00.000-08:00

What do you call the holiday when you talk about it in general?
As I have caught flak and see others catch flak for saying Happy Holidays.

This is a term or saying I have had for years.. before it fell from grace of the times of politicial correct police. I have said, I wish you happy holidays… I have written, Happy Holidays on cards… been doing for … what 20, 30 years? I start about this time of the year.

Why do I do this? Because I don’t feel like I have to list each one to say to enjoy these holidays… Do I really have to stand there, or write/say.. Happy Thanksgiving, and Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year… or can I say Happy Holidays?

I do say Merry Christmas, when it is very near that day… and on that day. I greet people the morning of…with MERRY CHRISTMAS…. But in general… I say Happy Holidays.. I also say it with inclusions of other religions too…

I was raised in the town of the oldest Synagogues in this nation.. The Touro Synagogue, 1600’s (before the USA.) so I was raised around a lot of Jewish kids… they would wish us Merry Christmas and we would wish them Happy Hanukkah. And we didn’t get mad when they had Yon Kipper off and we didn’t.
So chill out people…

So for now…HAPPY HOLIDAYS!! On December 24 I will tell you Merry Christmas….. and December 31st Eve. I will tell you Happy New Years!

Food terms that brings terror to the faces of your family..

2011-11-30T00:44:00.000-08:00

Smorgasboard is another word for leftovers… It is a way of creative
mixing all the boxes or bags of food you put in the refrigerator for your
husband to eat for lunch and he didn’t… so now he gets all of them in
one meal…

Chef's Surprise, brought terror to my children faces, and still does for my
husband. It was not having a clue of what to make, so you make up something that none of you have ever ate before..

Freezer Roulette means picking unknown items in the freezer. You know the stuff you put in the container or bag, but now you can’t figure out what it is, so you have to thaw it out so you can recognize it once again.. and then force to so
something with it… or throw it away… of course, your husband is opting for the throw it away.. But one time it was something he put in, that I could not figure out what it was.. so I made something with it.. turn out to be a grouse that he was saving. Saving for what.. the second coming?

Why is it we think we will eat some of this stuff that we put in the freezer? After all if we had it in the refrigerator for a couple days, and no one eats it… what makes us think we will eat it a month or so, when we look thru all the containers?
Of course, desserts don’t count.. they are good in any form, or later…

So what is your terms for your food that brings terror to your families faces?

Spam ...isn't just online

2011-11-29T09:54:00.001-08:00

Those of us over the age of 65 have been overwhelmed with
mail for the past 3 months… and thankfully it will end
next week on the 7th of December…

No, I am not talking about Christmas charities, which is
also heavy in the mail. What I am referring to is the Supplement
Insurance offers. Some of them are so deceptive. I have had
some that come looking like it is from Social Security itself.
A lot of them have AARP on them. But there are others.

My biggest worry is not if my shred machine is going to wear out
thru all of this.. because that is where mine go.. but of those who
are not up on what spam looks like. That don’t read all of what is
on them, to know it didn’t come from the Social Security Office.

And how many of them are frauds? So if you have elderly parents,
and see their mail, check it out… if you don’t see their mail or live
in another state, talk to them about it.

Most of us have agents who handle our supplement insurance. So
if in doubt, ask them. There was one a couple years ago that sounded
too good to be true… and it was.. When they offer it for $9.00 a month
and throws in a health club membership for little to nothing.. You know
there is a side effect to all of this. Limited coverage, and other hidden
policies limitations… so be careful out there.. Read everything well.
Ask around before you make a decision. The new limitations that Congress
wants to pass, could be effected by these policies as well.

Be informed… if you don’t understand… ask someone.. Remember the
only dumb question is the one you didn’t ask and cost you money.

BAH,Humbug, has already started.....

2011-11-28T10:48:00.000-08:00

I am watching the Thanksgiving Parade.. Two of my yearly loves is the Thanksgiving Macy Parade and the New Year’s Day, Rose Parade…

And each of the years coming it gets worse.. and this year is just another one of them. I was watching the CBS as my NBC was breaking up… but from what I could see, it wasn’t any better.
(I have antenna so limited channels, but worth every bit of no monthly bill)

What is it with these channels? What happen to my parades. A parade is not suppose to be in the background.. What part of Macy Thanksgiving Parade did they forget?

The host keep chattering… about everything and anything but not to do with the parade… If you can’t tell me some background information about what I am seeing in the background (because I DON’T WANT TO SEE YOU) then shut the heck up!! I want to know about the float, or the band.. I want to HEAR the marching band.. my favorite of parades. I don’t want to see a glimpses of the float coming up the street and then you two talking.. and then the end of the float as it goes around the corner…

And I DON’T want to see someone singing, or dancing.. I can watch a talk show for talking, or MTV or what ever video station, or bring out one of my cd’s, if I want musicals or dancing…

I want to SEE the parade… I want to HEAR the bands… I want to see them march… I want to see the floats that people have been working on for months…
I don’t want to see some small time or even big time star tell me what they are going to do for Thanksgiving… go to the talk show for that.

WAKE UP NATIONAL NETWORKS…
SHOW ME THE PARADE!!!!!
Bah Humbug turned off… for now..…

Happy Thanksgiving...

2011-11-24T11:14:00.000-08:00

This picture is about 30 years old... it is generation past.... It is one of my mother
taken by a friend, Jo, who came to dinner for over 30 years before Mom's health
got bad.. and the last Thanksgiving, then Jo brought the meal to Mom and Dad's..

This year, we.. the King and I, are passing the tradition on to the next generation...

Thanksgiving has been for the past 20 years or so, the King's delight... but this year

he is grateful that one of the daughter's has stepped up to the plate...

So we are joining about 14 others, and going to our local daughter's house.

SO HAPPY THANKSGIVING, may your day be full of good food, great visits,

lots of laughter.... and a safe trip home, for those who travel...

THE WORDTOSSER...

Who Blinks first???

2011-11-23T00:48:00.000-08:00

It is the time of the year.. and I have an early start.
As one who waits until the last minute… I have out done myself.
I am talking about Christmas cards… for the second year in a row, I have got my cards all done before Thanksgiving.. this year even sent them out Monday.

But it is also the time to see who blinks first. Meaning on the list, there are some who you have sent them out for years.. I mean lots of years.. 25, 35 years.. even 50 years.. for us older ones… and you wonder.. is the person getting tired of it. Would they love to have you skip a year so they won’t send you one and then you won’t send one back. Who do you scratch off the list? Do you wait on some, in hopes they won’t send you one and then you don’t have to?
Last year, one of those long time ones, passed away. I got a card and note from her daughter… so sad…See this was one of my teen years friend, who passed away.. So at my age, you start to have some of those friends pass away.

But do you have someone you would like to drop off of the list but don’t because you are afraid you might hurt their feelings? And at our age, do you fear dropping someone in fear they might think you died? Lol…
Good luck with your list..

Out of the woodwork, another political party...

2011-11-22T00:34:00.000-08:00

Seems there is another political party starting..
We have seen the start up of the No Party Group, meaning you
could not run under any party name..
And then there is a renewal of a very old party, Whip Party.
And of course we hear about the Tea Party.
Along with all the regulars we see on the ballot each year.

Now we have a new party, which is big on electronics.
Meaning you get to tell what you want in a President.
And after they find one who they think is what the American
people, who own computers wants… then they will ask that
person if they will want to run under their party.

Confusing, huh? Well, the way I understand it. You all or should I say,
we all, go on line and leave a message of the things we want in a President..
the qualities.. even the like Roosevelt, (naming which one) or Kennedy like..
again naming which one. Or even someone in your own state… When they
get enough ideas of what the people in U.S. A. want in a person, they find
that person..
And then they ask that person to come on board, and the (the party)
will back them. It can be anyone.. They can be in the parties of now.

When you go on their site, you give tell your views of what you want.
Then you give a questions for a questionnaire for the candidates. You have
to be a register voter to do this. This is done this winter..

In April, they hope to have it narrowed down to 6 finalist. In May the
candidates that are picked have to opt in. After all they could come up
with someone..but that person may not want anything to do with this new party.
Those 6 different persons, then have to chose their own running partner..
AND (this will be a kicker) that person has to be from another party other
than their own. Their thoughts on this is, so a fringe group won’t take
over the process.

Then in early June of 2012, the 6 top tickets face off in a on line voting.
If there is an overwhelming majority, then that is the candidate. If not,
then the top two have a run off.

In late June the committee of this party, which is independent will decide
and name their candidate. They will then be involved in the polls… and if
the numbers are good, then they will be on the ballot for all 50 states.
As this committee of this party, back them, and have already started their
drive to have a spot open for them on all the ballots in each state.

I keep calling this a party but I am not sure if that is correct wording..
Maybe group would be a better description. So who is this group?
They call themselves Americans Elect. You can look up their name and
find information..

They have their own site, for you to sign up.
www.americanselect.org
“Americans Elect gives you the power to directly nominate a
president in 2012. Who will you choose?”

Is this a good thing? I honestly don’t know. I know those dieheart
Republicans and Democrats are going to freak out. As they think the
country should run with only these 2 parties.. And in the past we have
had several parties that run, but don’t get much media. The Independent Party,
the Liberation Party to name a few.

But with everything going electronic, this doesn’t surprise me.
Scares me, but doesn’t surprise me. I find it interesting, but scary.
It kind of runs in the thing of being scared or hate what you fear or don’t
understand. And that would kind of include me. I am not going to even
try to say I understand all of this. I don’t hate it. So far don’t fear it..but
there is a lots more reading to do, before I do understand..

Sounds like just what the Occupy ____________ (fill in the blank)
ordered. The 99% ers.

Occupy what? and Why?

2011-11-20T00:28:00.000-08:00

We have been subjected to the media about the Occupy
______________, you fill in the blank.

It is still in disarray, no matter where it is at.
Even though the media has had reporters down in the middle asking people what is it that they want. No one seems to really know. And definitely no two people come up with the same answer of “hum haw, of let me see, I want jobs, I want us to have money.
Power to the People”… and etc. Which I have mention in previous posting, and it hasn’t gotten any better… also the fact that how many are really there for the original reasoning. How many are free loaders? There for a place to stay, a place for free food, even free health… and a place to spout off what ever comes to their mind, even if it has nothing to do with what the reason is. There is talk of a library being there… come on people, you are not a flaming city.

The other thing that makes me wonder, is why are the cities allowing it.. right from the get go, when the crowds were smaller.
After all if you are a group, and you want to have a public parade, you have to have a permit. A permit of what, where and how many. So they could have been told to leave or be arrested for having no permit. Even if they get a permit, there should be a time limit.. And no, gathering in the town square, at the beginning of a bridge, is not a right.

Now let’s put this into another context… what if this was the National Rifle Association, who decided, they don’t like the gun laws, and etc… and they gathered, like these Occupy people. How long would not only the cities tolerate it, but all the non gun people. And there are a lot of them.. And what about any other group. We have the Aryan Nation, and God forbid (no pun intended) what about the Muslims? What if they were to protest that they are profiled across the nation, and therefore deserve better respect? Would all of you people who are romanticizing this group, be so thrilled?

How can you stand behind at group of unruly people, who camp out, make a mess of your city, have people being hurt, raped and etc. And then when the police come and tell them they have to vacate, turn it into a riot. What right do they have to make a mess, have the strain on the cities for police protection.. of the cities as well, as their (for a nice word) rearends as well. What makes the media, show the people who are having the sit out…but not of the injuries, of some of the people. And when the police have to enforce their Mayor’s words of removal… after warning the people don’t leave, what do you think they should do? Say oh, sorry, you don’t want to obey the law, we will turn our backs. It is ok… now remember, the Muslims, the NRA… and etc. groups, would you say that is ok too? When they are asked to leave.. given a dead line of the next day to be removed their things… and no one does.. Just what do you think? You think 2 months is not enough to get their worries over to the public?

Sorry, I have lost my respect for these people. And I don’t care if you are 85 years old… the law is the law.. you have been asked to leave nicely… you were told what was going to happen…
Nope, you are responsible for what happens to you now.

By the way, so far, I have not heard of any foreign country trying to tell us how to take care of this mess… which is more than I can say for us, when the foreign countries have trouble with their citizens. No one is shooting anyone here, some say.. I thought there was one.. but even so… what if it starts, there is already talk of throwing a Molotov bomb in Macy’s.. how many others will take up the call of violence? It is only a matter of time.

Yes, Occupy what ever… you have had your 15 minutes of fame, over the past two months…now if you REALLY want change, then go about it the proper way. Start by running for council in your own town, then in the Senate or House of your state, and make changes… go to council meetings, go to Senate meetings, go see and talk calmly to your Senator or Representative.. have solutions to your problems.. because yelling in the streets is on our deaf ears now.. As the people who are barely hanging on, job and home wise, don’t need more taxes to pay for your antics.

You are not going to change in 2 months.. what has gone down hill for 100 years… especially the last 50. Get off the entitlement train, and start looking for solutions, real ideas, real problem solving solutions.. not yelling in the town square.

Regis is gone....

2011-11-18T10:01:00.000-08:00

Why is it I hedge the fact that I watch Regis and Kelly Live?

After all it is just a show… with two people. Not rock star type of people…just slightly higher than the average people. But for some reason, I enjoy looking over the top of my paper, walking by with the laundry, and seeing what Regis has to say. I have to say, that the part I like the best is the first 15 minutes. The rest depends on the guest or skit they do.

I started out with Regis back 50 years ago when I lived in San Diego, California. He had a noon type show with, I believe Mary Hart. It was a fun show and a nice back ground as I fed the kids lunch. Then the Joey Bishop Show.. but Regis doesn’t wear well as a lower sidekick. It was like he worshipped Joey. And it wasn’t that great to watch. Then years went by, and I caught up with Regis on national TV in the morning with Kathy Lee. They worked well together. Then Kathy Lee left. And Kelly Ripa joined him.
I knew Kelly from All My Children. And I didn’t think this was going to work very well. To my surprise it worked out better than he did with Kathy Lee. And it is funny, as Kathy Lee caught heck a lot…because she talked about her kids on the show… and as Kelly’s children came, she talks about the kids just as much. I kind of liked it as it made both women more human.. and you can work and raises kids too.

I kind of took Regis for granted. But realize how important he was, when he wasn’t there and someone else was with Kelly. The only one who filled in, for him that worked well, was Kelly’s own husband. Same thing worked the other way. When Kelly is gone for her family vacation, the only fill in who worked well with Regis, is Joy, his wife. So it will be interesting to see who they chose to replace Regis. He is a little man, but he has big shoes to fill. As he is the sneaky kind.. someone who you think it is ok that he isn’t there… until…. He isn’t.

Maybe part of the attraction is that Regis remind of my father.
They both are/were (dad is gone) short, both have black hair in their youth, and freckles, both have a wide grin.. and dancing eyes when up to mischief. Both looked great in their 80’s.

Also I think the show works for me.. because it is like your favorite old loafers… no matter how old they get, they just feel good and make you feel good.

GOOD BYE, REGIS… GOD BLESS…

Saw it on Facebook....

2011-11-17T00:18:00.000-08:00

Saw this one Facebook... and I liked it...
besides, I have nothing in my head to say today of my own....
Some days are like that...

Sometimes when I reflect on my past
I'm reminded that every moment made me who I am
and brought me to the close family and friends I have today.
If you've ever made me laugh, thank you.
If you've ever made me cry, screw you.
And if you ever were mean to me..... IN YOUR FACE!!!!
Bahaha.... What?
Did you expect me to always be a Hallmark card?
Get real! Thanks

The Lairs of Politics...

2011-11-16T00:56:00.000-08:00

Once again we have a stand by your man woman.
Standing in front of the media, saying this is not,
this man’s nature to do… fill in the blank. This time
it is Mrs. Herman Cain… whose husband is running for president.

She is taking quite a slam thru the talk shows women, who think they know her.. or shake their heads as they speak of her.
In all honesty, I don’t know if what she speaks is the truth. And in this day and age of politics as normal we know the biggest liars of them all, are politicians. They are, with their “people”. Oh, I forgot it isn’t a lie when they say it, it is a spin. Spin is just another way of saying lies. Just they figure we are too stupid to realize the difference. And judging some of the words you hear, that might be right.

See I am a cynic as well, as one who doesn’t believe everything she hears. I remember the great Bush lie.. oops, spin… on McCain when they were running as Republican president candidate. Where Bushes group spread the word of how McCain’s adopted child was his illegitimate child, born out of wedlock. Rather than see his family destroyed… McCain folded. Which that in its self was not good. Too bad he didn’t show strength. Tell his child of people’s lies.. and have his wife and he, stand up and call Bush on his lies.
Same thing with Perot, another one who lies/spins were against his family. So when the stories start coming out.. It is hard to believe everything you read. And having the ambulance lawyer like Allred, is like having Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton show up.

Besides, didn’t our parents teach us to believe half of what you read/hear and ¼ of what you see?

Me, I will judge Mr. Cain by his issues.. not the personal ones. At least for now. So far he has show a couple of ideas, which sound good, until you read all of them and what they truly mean.
And so far… next November is going to be a bust… at least for me.
Once again it will be a vote of the less of the two evils.. and who knows, I might vote like I did in the Bush/Kerry one.. ‘NONE OF THE ABOVE. Sometime, you just got to do, what you got to do.

There she blows...

2011-11-15T00:48:00.000-08:00

Back home there is a saying..if you don't like the weather.. just wait a bit, as it will be to your liking before the day is over.
Well, yesterday, I was enjoying the sunshine. Then about 11 after I got the mail, I was opening and reading it. All sudden it got dark, dar enough I had to turn on the lights. I looked outside and this is what I saw..

Why I love living in Bonner County, Idaho

2011-11-14T00:46:00.000-08:00

When the King goes hunting, and I ride along.... he shoots with a gun, and I shoot with a camera.
As you will see, I got more shoots than he did... not a deer in sight.
This is just a 20 minute ride from our house... but a nice slow ride thru just one of our ridges.
Looking through our windshield...

As you can see winter has come to the high ridge... Everything looks so beautiful..

Trees with their snow coats on...

This is a branch that is hanging over the road...

we slowly go under, so we don't break our antenna, and scratch the truck.. or

break Mother Nature's branches... this is a view was the branch goes across the

windshield... a few leaves still on.. in the snow..

there are many of trees that lean with the heavy snow across the road.

As we got thru each one slowly, the snow flies, and the trees stand at attention once again.
As we came out of the woods, and back to civilization... here was a flock of wild

turkeys...

And around the corner we come to see across the valley, to the mountians.. and

sunshine..

2011-11-11T00:11:00.000-08:00

TO ALL THOSE WHO HAVE GONE BEFORE US.
TO ALL WHO SERVE AS WE SPEAK….
WE HUMBLY SAY….
THANK YOU….
Words so little, but so large in our hearts..
On this Veteran’s Day and every day…
THANK YOU….

And to number 4 child….
HAPPY 47th BIRTHDAY…

Sometimes you just wonder how things happen....

2011-11-10T00:50:00.000-08:00

In this Michael Jackson case, where the Dr. is up for
sentencing now that they found him guilt. One thing
I don’t understand.. how did he get possession of that
much drug?

I know he is a doctor.. but really, this is a drug that is
to be used in a hospital only.. so how does ANY doctor
order out that drug from the hospital? And that much.
Hell, he had enough to put an elephant herd to sleep. And
this is not the first time Jackson had it at his home. Even
had a nickname for it.. milk. He was trying to break himself
of the habit supposedly, but that night begged for it. So that shows he had it before.

I worked in a health care center for 17+ years. And those nurses
had to count each pill, before they turn over the cart to the next shift. Every nurse, every cart… and they had to count what was in
the med room. One time when there wasn’t a nurse around to count with the on coming nurse… I was asked to witness the counting for the on coming nurse. (Nurse had to leave because she was sick)

My understanding that hospitals have to do the same.. So where
didn’t it bring down the red flag? It is my understanding.. that he
didn’t buy it thru a black market type of deal… so how did he get
his hands on that much? I heard from one of the news it was 4 gallons? Surely that must be a mistake.. 4 bottles maybe, surely it
wasn’t 4 gallons worth. But I think the hospital or supplier should
have to be accountable to how it got in the good doctors hands. Who signed this stuff out?

Next, there should be blame spread around. Don’t get me wrong, I
think the doctor should have been found guilty. No doctor should have a patient overrule good judgment. If I don’t do what my doctor says, he would tell me to go else where. But of course there was a lot of money involved. But still. Blame should also go to
Mr. Jackson, himself… after all he is the one who asked, begged for it.. and he was far from a victim here. Same thing with his family… same thing with Elvis If you really think your family member could die from drugs.. you need to do a family meeting with that person.. intervention. If you can’t get to them.. call the police.. drugs are illegal.. The star could have his/her career effected? Well, that is better than being dead?

Morning of heartbreak or thrills

2011-11-09T00:27:00.000-08:00

As everyone wakes up this morning. It is a morning of
heartbreak or thrills… some found out last night.. those
who stayed up long enough to see the results…but then again
there is the write ins and mail ins, that need to be counted as well.

And in Washington state that came be most of them..
As most of them mail in.. not sure if all do.
Here in Idaho, it usually is only a small percentage that mail
in theirs. Personally, I like going down to the polls and make
my mark the old fashion way. And in my little town, that is
still true, as we don’t have the automatic machine that some do.

But there had to be a lot of celebration last night, and the close one
had to wait until this morning.. and some of them have to wait yet.
Some will be cussing.. some will think maybe they should have voted, as they figured their person was a shoo in.. But those who didn’t vote, have no say now.. Missed opportunity…

Over in Washington, the people will be heading to the grocery store to buy their liquor, as they voted out their state liquor stores.
So we will see if what they had to say, the pro’s and con’s, is true or not..

I had no horse in this race. As ours were all unopposed. We now
have a new Mayor. A really nice gentleman and he is a gentle man. And our to be ex Mayor, will be stepping down after many,many, many years of holding down the fort. She definitely will feel the lost of being in the know. But then again, maybe relieved too. So those of you who voted.. Hope your person got in, and your bill went the way you voted. The rest of you. who didn’t vote.. Sorry.. Your mistake.. Sad.

Having a hard time not being a bitch...

2011-11-08T00:25:00.000-08:00

Seems like more and more, the mail makes me a bitch.

I got today in the mail… an envelope saying Medicare
Changes, Then you open the dark inside of the envelope
and there is a postcard. Telling how there are Medicare changes
and how these changes could affect my current plan.
For me to fill in my name, birth date, and my spouses name
and birth date as well… and phone number… Nothing saying
where it is from. But in blurry, small letters it says Brad Mill,
license insurance agency could be contacting me.. And the front
of the post card says.. SD Reply Center in Rockwall Texas.
My worry is that there is a senior citizen out there who won’t recognize this
as an advertisement… and being a post card with their name and birth date on it..
along with their spouses… is an open candidate for fraud or identity theft.

Then there is the request for donation for Hospice Education.
Now I have the highest regard for Hospice… but I sure the heck not going
to send money to the state of Maine….
Idaho has Hospice too. Each county, just about, has their own..
we have ours here in Bonner county. I have taken classes there when I was an aide.
But Maine, I don’t think so… reminds me of a line from one of
the judge/court shows, where she says, stay in your own lane… So
Hospice of Maine, send your request for your Hospice to people
Of Maine. Idaho people will send theirs to their local unit, thank
you very much.

Then there is the Toys for Tots. I have gave to Toys for Tots for
years.. I once paid for a picture that the Sandpoint magazine used,
and had them donate the payment for that, to the Toys for Tots..
There is no way I am going to send donations to Des Moines, Iowa!
The Lions club here in our town does it quite well…
Iowa Toys for Tots… stay in your own lane/state..
Yes, I am afraid that makes me a bitch… but it isn’t my fault..
they just tick me off… and it come out

Have you ever wonder who came before you?

2011-11-07T00:46:00.000-08:00

I am sure there are a lot of you out there who have gone back
a branch or two on your family tree… So you get to know the names…
and if you are lucky you know what they did for work.

One of my family members asked about some of mine, so I got my folder
out of the old filing cabinet, and started to proceed looking over the pictures
and etc. I decided to scan pictures and papers, on one side for now.. I found a
booklet that one of my great aunts did in the 1960’s …long before computers…
(well, for her at least)
It is all on my grandmother’s side, which is also hers.

I sat and started to read it, as I was trying to find out connection.
And I tell you, after reading for half an hour, I feel my head start to spin.
Holy cow.. so many names, so many same names. There ware so many
William’s, John’s, Hannah’s, Daniel’s, Elizabeth's and Harriet’s. I finally
found the right Daniel who was married to the right Harriet, which is my
great, great, great grandfather from England. But I couldn’t find any more..
but luckily it did list his children.. which was my great great grandfather…
but I tell you, I felt like my brain was on a merry go round… and I was dizzy.

I think I need a rest from this.. before I start the other side.. at least
all their names are different.. well, there is quite a few Elizabeth’s there.
But when you get to the Swedish section, I can’t even spell them never
mind pronounce them.

Maybe I should have just copies the papers and sent them to her.
But I did get to go to a site and came out looking at the church cemetery
in England where quite a few of them are buried. That was cool

Some people's memory sure is different than mine..

2011-11-03T00:29:00.000-07:00

One hears about different Republicans..
There is the Tea Party Republicans,
Ultra right wing Republicans
Middle of the road Republicans
And the one that baffles me the most is the Reagan Republicans

They talk about him like he was some kind of a wonderful hero of the Republican
Party… and may he was…..to them… sure wasn’t to the rest of us.

Why the ultra right wing have grabbed him is beyond me. After all I thought the
ultra right wing was/is the highly religious Republicans. And Reagan did not
wear his religion on his sleeve.. does any one know what religion he followed?

So I am confused, and I sure don’t remember the President or even Governor
called Ronald Reagan in the same way as those who proclaim him the Republican
of all Republican… Heck, even the Democrats refer to him, as
a great man of ideals… Which is all ironic, as he raised taxes, and
increased the National Debt as much or more than others.

Some will say, well, you are just looking at the political side of it.. Could be
as I was a citizen of California when he was voted in as a Governor. And
we cussed about him and his policies.. but the one that stuck out in my mind,
to even today… was when he cut the food budget for the nursing homes.
My neighbor was an Administrator of a nursing home.. And she was really
fed up with the new policies of soup and sandwiches for dinner. And their
lunches were to be stews, or casseroles and etc. But the long and short of
it, the citizens of California were far from happy.

Now jump ahead almost 20 years later… Reagan ran and won the President
Election. To those of us who ever lived in California dismay. Now my family
Is living in R.I. My now, deceased husband, was on Social Security Disability.
After having 6 different operations for blocked arteries, 3 doctors had decided
there is no way he could go back to being a welder or a diesel mechanic, that
he had been for over 34 years. We were on about a year, when Reagan
became President.. and thru his policies… we, along with many families,
got dumped off of the SSD, with one week notice. With the message of
now prove again, why you should be on SSD and you will do that with our
doctors, not yours. Long and short, it took us 10 months to prove once and
for all, that he deserved to be on SSD. After being thrown on welfare, which
horrified both of us, as both of us were independent people. They took the kids
savings and told us to spend that before we got any money.. and gave us food
stamps. I started some classes as I hadn’t worked for 30 years other than help
my husband in a small scrap iron company we had years earlier. It was a long
10 months, of lost dignity, and explaining to my kids that all the money that
they had saved (I think maybe $110 among the 5 kids we still had at home)
and why the government would make them take it out of the bank and spend
it. Against everything we had taught them about saving.

Also there was a man in a wheel chair, who lived in New York or New Jersey,
Who was turn down by the SSD… who after fighting it out with different agents
of the SSD… went to the office one day, with one more try, and went to the lobby
and shot himself… with a note in his lap… NOW YOU HAVE TO PAY
MY FAMILY AND GIVE THEM BENEFITS.

And that is what I remember about Mr. Reagan, that is why I am confused about
why people would call themselves… Reagan Republicans. To me that is not a good thing..

CHRISTMAS???

2011-11-02T01:26:00.000-07:00

A lot of my friends are starting to get into the Christmas spirit.
BAH HUMBUG… I usually wait until at least a week or so before
Christmas. But last year about sent all my friends into a major
shock by mailing out my Christmas cards. Usually I pull the waiting
game. You know where you wait and see if so and so is sending
you a card this year.. hoping one of us is skipping a year, so the
other has permission to quit sending a card?

So to think of Christmas, now.. I am just getting thru the Halloween
Mode. Trying to get set up for Thanksgiving mode, and they are throwing
Christmas at me.

Ok, so now I have thought about Christmas… still Bah humbug… now leave me
a lone… now let me see, where was I… oh, yea, are we doing Thanksgiving here
or are we traveling this year. Wonder what the weather will be?
That will be the deal breaker of traveling for then.

Rich? poor?

2011-11-01T00:43:00.000-07:00

The old saying was the rich get richer and the poor get more children…
I don’t know.. I guess I am an old ball.. because I never minded the people
who were rich.. they had their lives and I had mine. Kind of it is what it is type of deal.
Now those of you who are screaming and starting to pull your hair out… I don’t consider the rich lumped in with bankers… and I don’t compare those with the CEO’s who get huge bonuses. Those huge bonuses never made sense to me.. why would anyone get a bonus of more that 8 times the working man’s wages? Never understood that. They already got a huge wage, so why the bonus? But that is for another day.

I was raised in Middletown, R.I. and we had quite an arc on incomes in our county. We had the farmers who if they had a good year, broke a little more than
even.. We had the people who lived in a place called Park Holm, and they were
low end wage earners or welfare for what ever reason.. We had Tomney Hill, which had the poorer Naval families.

And then we had just a mere 4 miles away.. Newport Ocean Drive and Belleville Avenue. . The home of the Vanderbilts, Belmonts, Wetmore, Berwind and Morris families… to name a few.. A lot of them, I never heard of while I was growing up.
Vanderbilts were probably the only one I was aware of at the time.. We kind of didn’t run in the same circle, you might say. While they flaunt some of their things…it was mostly their crowd was aware of it.. Once in a while stories would leak out… like in the 1920’s and Mrs. V wanted the U.S.Navy to paint their ships
white and moor them on the sea area view from her house.. for her WHITE PARTY.. that was where everyone dress in white with white wigs and etc. And
of course the USN decline her invitation… And then there is the one who built their own Japanese house for a Japanese party she had. But again these were before my time… I had a neighbor girl friend whose father was the gardener from one of the rich people, but not a big name one.. We got to go there while the family was gone and went swimming off of the pier… and I almost drown. She
grabbed my hair and saved me. We had a good laugh the following year when I graduated from the 8th grade and it was in my future to be a swimming guard.

But the rest of our county was middle of the road wage earners. My father worked civil service for over 35 years. So I guess we were in the middle.
He had good benefits and a slightly better wage than the farmers, gas station people and etc. But I can also remember my mother figuring out what groceries she was going to buy with her food budget of $10. And they never bought on time payments.. their only monthly payment was the house mortgage at the bank.

So you see, those of us in the middle wage families, didn’t see any big deal that some were richer than we were.. Like I said, most of them didn’t flaunt it. So it was never in our faces. So some in my class went to college, some join the service, some went to the work force.. And knew there was two ways to get
rich. One you were born into it and worked for your father, or you worked really hard to become an owner of your own business. Hard work was the name of the game. The rest of us.. well, we would work hard, but also had families, so that is where our money went. Still never feeling a big difference. Even if you had a wealthy friend, it wasn’t a big deal.

We knew if we worked hard, we could save for something.. as there wasn’t any credit cards then. There was lay-a-ways at the local clothing stores. That is where you put down some money on your purchases, and you were given a time limit of when you had it paid off. They kept the merchandise in the back room until you had it paid for. The only payment plan was your house.. and then cars
also came to play but that was thru a bank. And you had to have really good job to be even considered.

So where am I going with all of this? I guess it is that I don’t understand the 1% against the 99%. For one thing the numbers are all wrong. There are a lot more than 1%.. you take in sports stars, movie stars, music stars, the computer whiz kids like Gates, and etc.. and add them to the CEO’s with the big bonuses, and who ever else there are.. it has to be more than the 1%. After all the computers and video games, and etc. made millionaires out of thousands or millions in the 1980 to 90’s.

While there are some who have foreclosures because companies lay off the people… and I feel bad for that… but there are others, who were so far out of their range. So it is a toss up, the bank or the people who knew they were not able to pay… I had a measure when I bought.. could I afford this on unemployment… if not, then I didn’t buy. So shame on both sides… and the payments of $1,500 a month, some of them more, is insane…

Sorry, but that is just how I feel… I always figured out if I can pay what ever I was pay for… and thought of the worse scenario. So I guess I just don’t understand.
And yes, I have been poor… yes, I have been single mother, and poor… even been married and poor… where the kids had oatmeal to eat 3 times a day for 4 days.. and my husband and I ate popcorn… and only afford hamburg meat and pasta for weeks on end.

So if someone is rich because they worked hard, or had an idea and that made them lots of money…. Good for them… it just didn’t work out that way for me. And I don’t begrudge them, their money… from what I have read and heard..a lot of them are like the Gates and have helped others.

Happy Halloween...NIGHT

2011-10-31T00:58:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween...

2011-10-31T00:14:00.000-07:00

By my daughter... double pumpkins...

2011-10-31T00:11:00.000-07:00

BRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

2011-10-28T19:57:00.000-07:00

WHO IS GOING TO CLEAN UP THE MESS?

2011-10-27T00:24:00.000-07:00

All these protestors. All the different cities… Thousand of people
at some of them.. Heck, New York is almost like a little city in it’s
self… People sleeping on the streets, in tents, sitting in chairs.
milling around. Food being supplied… paper plates and cups.
Then the first aid tent, massages tents or chairs…

I got to ask.. who is going to clean up this mess when they all
leave? After all they have to leave sometime. The
weather should be turning cold soon in the Northern states.

If you have ever been around an area that many people have
gathered.. even for just a day, there is garbage all over the place.
Even with garbage cans all thru the area… They end up overflowing.
There is garbage left behind, clothing left behind.. lost items.. Dirt,
from everyone walking all over the place…

How much money is this going to cost the city to clean this stuff up.
Every city is complaining about their budgets stretched to the max as
it is… And those in the Northern states are looking at snow coming,
have a limit budget for that. How are they going to clean up and
remove snow?

I think the cities should give each one of the protestors a large bag, and
Half of them, brooms… and let them clean up their mess..

Salesmen can be fooled just as taxi drivers are...

2011-10-26T00:37:00.000-07:00

As I told you yesterday, working in the nursing home can be funny.
Today’s tale is about a gentleman and a truck…

One day a man decided he wanted a truck. He lived at the local
nursing home for about 8 years. So he called up the local taxi
and requested a cab.

The cab arrived and the gentleman walked out with his walker
and got into the cab. He requested the driver to take him to
the local Ford dealer.

The gentleman dealt with the salesman for about half hour and
went for a ride in the truck of choice. That the salesman allowed
him to drive… with the walker placed in the bed of the truck.

When he arrived back at the dealership, he gave all of the information
to the salesman. And the salesman gave him a ride back to the
nursing home , helped him out of the truck and gave him the walker.

The salesman went back and worked on the paper work so he could get
the deal thru asap. But he had to called the house number
to talk to the gentleman as most of the credit record was over 10 years old.
Only to find out he was talking to the gentleman’s adult daughter who informed him that….
Dad has been in a nursing home for 8 years.
Dad had his driver’s license revoked 9 years before.
And that the daughter is the one who controls Dad’s money
As dad is delusional and has been for 9 years…
And was just notified by the nursing home, her father had taken
a taxi ride..and just returned.. as they had been looking for him for more
than 30 minutes.

The poor salesman was the butt of many jokes around the dealership.
Don’t know if he still works there or not… as that was over 5 years ago.

These two stories are true, I swear with my hand on a bible…

Working in the nursing home...

2011-10-25T00:51:00.000-07:00

We had a gentleman name Francis...
One day Francis called for a taxi... Francis had dementia...
The taxi came and picked up Francis without question...
Francis told him he need to make an appointment in Spokane (75 miles away)
So off they went...

Only trouble was when they got to Spokane and Francis couldn't come up
with an address and thru the conversation, the taxi driver discovered
he probably shouldn't have picked up Francis in front of a nursing home..

He ended up having his dispatcher call the nursing home to see if they were
missing someone called Francis.. Sure enough they had discovery he was
gone and were totally surprised that he was in Spokane... long and short ..
he had to return Francis to the nursing home.

But it gets better....

The Taxi company decided to sue Francis for not paying for the ride.
(why they didn't sue the nursing home I don't know ... unless because
the nursing home did not know that Francis had called and didn't discover
he was gone until about 45 minutes later)....

The girls were told to have Francis's suit clean by the laundry gal..for him
to show up in court the next day. When it came down to time to take Francis
to court, they went to the laundry and got his suit. It was the only thing he
had to wear to court...

Well, thru the laundry the suit shrank.. it was 3 inches too short on the sleeves,
and about the same for the pants... but he went anyway with the Social Worker...
The Judge took one look at Francis as he was called and walked up to the bench,
looked at the Taxi Company man, and said... YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING..
The taxi driver shrugged his shoulders... and the Judge said this case is dismissed...

OK, NOW WHAT???

2011-10-24T00:02:00.000-07:00

Everyone seems to be thrilled at the death of Gaddafi. While I never
am thrilled about a death of anyone or thing.. if I was, he would be a
close first (all with Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden) …
Gaddafi had based his throne on the bodies of many…as did the others.

So there are the rebels, shooting off their rifles… which I do have to ask
two questions.. first where do those bullets come down.. and hit what or whom?
Second, they have that much ammo, that they can waste it shooting at least
10 and some 20 times… and you times that per rebel..

But as we have seen with Egypt, after the rebels take over, it isn’t a easy
fix.. Egypt is still up in the air with no real leader. And the military that is running
the show isn’t too much better than Mubarak. When the people go to the polls
to vote, they don’t necessarily get who they vote for… as that person has to be
approved of by the military… Which isn’t necessarily who the people want, as
you remember the military stood to the side while the rebels took over.

I don’t know how the other countries that the rebels are taking over are faring.
but so far, with the ones that the rebels have won… I have to say…
Now What?

I can't sing

2011-10-20T00:25:00.000-07:00

No, really, if you heard me, you would know I can’t sing..
In Church I am like Bill Cosby… remember he talked about
his brother Russell and he singing, but only mouthing the words.
And how he almost got caught as he had mouth the words AMEN,
only to be almost caught as he had to shift his mouth for the words
that turn out not to be AMEN, but FOREVER MORE…That is me.

I was told when I was in my 20’s and had a husband at that time who
played guitar and sang. One day I decided to sing with him as I knew the
words… only to be shut down by an instant stop of guitar playing to silence,
and a glare… and words of… what ever made you think you can sing? You
have a terrible voice. Needless to say my singing was done from then on
in….. in the shower when I was the only one home.

About 15 years ago, I was taking my grandson to a soccer practice and
a rock and roll song came on, and I started to sing along with it, forgetting
he was in the car…. To hear him say, “Nana, don’t give up your day job.”
Smart mouth kids.. lol… I had a night job anyway… but I knew what he meant.
So still, I don’t sing with others within hearing distance… only if I am home alone.

I got to admit.. I couldn’t hold a tune, if it came in a bucket… But it does
Remind me of a song about 40 years ago, I think it was sung by Red Sovine.
About Brother John, who was in the church choir and couldn’t hold a tune
either and the others had shamed him so bad.. he left the choir and the church.
And the Pastor came to his house to see why he wasn’t coming to church.
When he explained, the Pastor told him.. that to God, all of us sound good,
after all he was the one who gave us our voices.. Which I thought was a
nice thought, but I sure wish the good Lord had gave me one that was a
little more pleasing.. to others… I didn’t want to sound like Loretta Lynn,
but just good enough so people don’t get this painful look on their face if they happen to catch me singing..

Men need.....

2011-10-19T00:17:00.000-07:00

Men need hunting season… I know this does not mean all men.. as there are a lot of them who don’t hunt… Some view hunting as just a reason to get rid of the wife and kids and have a drunken party…

But a true hunter takes hunting very serious.. and if they are lucky to have several friends who hunt, then it is a great time together… to bond, to be just themselves.. very much like women do when they have a girls night out. Or a women’s retreat.. Sometimes, no matter how much you love your spouse, it feels good to take a few days or a week to unwind. Both come back stronger than before…

Now ladies, don’t get upset, I know there are those of you out there who also hunt.
And do it very well… but unless you are hunting with your husband or boyfriend, it is a day time hobby for you. Where the men have a community up there in the hills. Huge tents, campers, canopies, little tents, with coolers, campfires and tarps, and all the stuff that guys can think of to go camping..

All this starts at least a month before they actually pull out of the driveway. There is a driving force, and one mind set, almost a tunnel vision you might say…
This is the same guy who won’t touch a suitcase, or help you pack the car for a trip. But saying hunting season, and they get this glaze over there faces and the race is on… packing the camper, clothes, guns, food, and all the stuff that goes with it..

Now I think this is great.. because that is the time I get to do a project. A project that I can do in my own speed, which is usually faster, than if I have help. Also I don’t have to have dinner fixed by a certain time, I can start any time I want to,
I can have a cup of coffee, read the paper, and then start out there without anyone getting impatience with me. This weekend’s project was laying down weed block and about 10 bags of pea gravel between the raised garden.. I was tired of weed whacking it… and the King has talked two years about we should do that… Well, two runs to Home Depot. With my little car loaded down with bags of pea gravel.. in my back seats.. laying low to the ground, we made it home.

Kind of sad, in some ways.. see we have two.. yes, two pickups.. and the King has both of them. One with the camper, and one with the 4 wheeler loaded up in the back.. and they all have to go to camp.. That just isn’t fair… but ever underestimate the power of a woman and her little car.

Now… I wonder what I can think of for next weekend…

Life is not fair....

2011-10-18T00:01:00.000-07:00

That is what I use to tell my kids… That if they are waiting for life to
be fair, they will miss out… because life is never fair. This conversation
usually started because one of my son’s thought life should be fair.. as
He was always saying, “it’s not fair.”

He wanted every thing, right down the line to be fair… I use to have to divide up M&M to colors, exact amount of M&M AND the exact amount of colors per child.. ( had to eat the leftovers, and that is why I was fat.. that was my excuse and I am sticking to it)…. So when he grew up, I figured he was going to be a civil rights lawyer, as he always wanted things to be fair.

But I learn fast that life is not fair… I can remember an article in the Sunday paper the Parade in the 1980’s… about the CEO’s of companies bonuses. I don’t recall all the companies they talked about, but it cover quite a bit.. But I do remember the Sears guy got $700,00!!!! BONUSES.. A bonus of $700,000… do you understand this.. a bonus.. on top of the hundreds of thousands he already got for his job.

I am sorry, but I don’t believe people should get bonuses when they are already over paid for a job, like most CEO’s are. After all where can you work where you get fired and still get money. They fired the CEO for K-mart quite a few years ago, and he got a firing package… FIRING PACKAGE? The only firing package I got was a pink slip… This CEO, who got fired… got millions worth of stock in the company..plus a pay off… Have you ever been fired and they paid you on top of it? Unheard of, in 99% of the jobs. And a $700,000 BONUS.. which is more than 80% of the nation makes a year… And now, I understand it is millions they get instead of hundreds of thousands. And they wonder why the nation is fed up?
You wonder why there are OCCUPY (fill in the town) protest going on?

The people don’t want a hand out, they just want a fairness in it all. They understand they don’t have the education of a CEO of banks or any other company… but they just want fairness. The CEO’s get paid plenty.. but you got to understand without all the little people who are making the product, selling the product, they are just as important as the CEO. So outlaw bonuses… bring on an even tax… straight across the board, no deductions… for anyone.. I thought 30 years ago, if we had a straight across the board 7% income tax for everyone.. from the ditch digger to the CEO… with no tax breaks.. the country would have enough money.

So when people see that the CEO’s get a high wage in the first place, get tax breaks that the average joe doesn’t, and then stack on top of that HUGE BONUSES.. well, like they said on the movie Network… “I’M MAD AS HELL, AND I AM NOT GOING TO TAKE IT ANYMORE’…. War of the classes, yea, I guess you can call that, when the rules aren’t the same for everyone. One of the places they could start with is…. The Congress person’s. the biggest welfare system we have.. Different insurance than the country has, different wages and automatic raises, and the rest of the bennies… that the average guy or gal will never see… yep, mad as hell and not taking it anymore..
So if you are expecting a change.. don’t hold your breathe… there has always been the very rich and the poor… and some in the middle… back hundreds of years… so if you are hoping for a quick change.. not going to happen…
They don’t have the old saying… the rich get richer and the poor get (poorer or more children, depending on which one you have heard) …. So changing something that has been going on since the beginning of time, isn’t going to change…

Life just isn’t fair… never will be… get use to it…

Living in Bonner County, Idaho

2011-10-17T00:35:00.000-07:00

When my deceased husband and I moved here with 4 of our children, we
moved to Priest River first… then to Vay. The moving to Vay was frustrating, as we were moving a trailer we had bought in Priest River to land we bought in Vay.
My frustration was with the county. As they required, moving insurance, in case the truck driver broke down on the road.. but he had the insurance, so that was ok…then they required property taxes to be paid in advance. I don’t know what was with that… we had already paid for the trailer property tax for that year. But that wasn’t good enough. They wanted next years up front. Then there was a moving permit. And it seem like it went on and on. The electric was a headache, as we had to have it all installed and the first part was the permit and impact fee of $100. I didn’t see what the impact was besides my wallet..

I was sitting one day thru all of this with my friend Wayne, who had lived here about 10 years before us. After hearing me for a few minutes he told me…” Cis, you got to understand… you have moved to Idaho. And Idaho is like the two bulls on the hill top… One old and one young. When the young one sees a herd of cows below, he tells the older bull, let’s go run down there and get one of those cows… of which the older bull said, no… let’s walk down there, and get them all… That Idaho, especially Bonner County, is like that, they take their time and they get us all”. That story has stuck with me ever since.

So seeing the newest wrinkle in the county commissioners doesn’t surprise me. They haven’t had a good mix up for quite some time… I forgot about the meeting on Thursday.. but I am sure there were a lot of people there giving voice to their concerns… and election next time.. just might be interesting. The commissioners have woke up a sleeping giant, called the citizens.

The Disorganized Organization

2011-10-13T09:34:00.000-07:00

I am frankly confused when I read about the organization of the OWS group.
(that is Occupy Wall Street). First off, not all of them are in New York where
Wall Street actually is. Seems like a lot of towns have their own group. Even some of the small towns (compared to New York).

I haven’t really paid much attention to mass crowds who protest. It rarely gets anywhere, but I also wonder if all of the group is there for the right or same reason.

Many years ago, we all remember the groups of protestors of the 1960’s. Most of them were college age and a lot of them were on the college grounds.. But one of the things that came out, that there were people who showed up to these groups to make more trouble than the ones who really organized the protest. That they had no real interest of the protest, but they like to stir up the crowd and get them into a frizzy, and step back and watch. Getting glee from the riots they had cause. This came out in the famous Kent College riot that ended up with the National Guard shooting some students, some which died.

So I wonder about this new group, which seem more like a FLASH MOB, which has become the newest rage of the past couple years. That is where they email, text a large group to show up where ever. Most of them are harmless. You see them on the internet on U-tube… singing hymns, or other such things.

As I watch on the news, and some of the people they have interviewed, they don’t seem to be very organized except for the fact they are all there. They have almost a community among themselves. They have free food, free physical therapy, (they showed people receiving back rubs for stress) free medical help and other things that are free to those who show up. Which makes me wonder, how many showed up just for the freebies.

Also, when they interviewed several… none of them seem to know what they wanted. When the reporter asked, what bill do you want to have passed to fix what you are protesting for… the person had kind of a blank look on their face and then mumbled something about, they didn’t think there was a bill that would fix it. Some were asked what did they hope to have happen at the end of the protesting… and what did they really want? And again, the blank face, and said I don’t really know. There was at least 8 people, who were asked these questions, and none of them seem to know exactly what they wanted. Also they were upset with banks, but it was the stock market they were blocking..

Another thing that was kind of funny to me… was they were protesting big companies. And those with stock on the stock market. What made this funny to me, was the fact that one gal had a name brand jacket on, while carrying a lab top computer. I don’t know if it was an Apple or a Microsoft type, but that seems to be kind of counter productive.. It would be kind of like a PETA protesting while eating a hamburger. I was shown a site that is suppose to state what their leaders want, but that too was first off confusing.. and not practical.. more like the combo of Ron Paul and the Tea Party. http://www.infowars.com/dissecting-the-ows-list-of-demands/" Don’t know how accurate it is…

I don’t mind protestors, but I hate the ones who decided to block traffic, so no one can get thru. A few years ago, there was one in Seattle… caught up in it was a woman, whose small children get home about an hour after she gets off work.
She was stuck in the traffic blockage for 5 hours… this was before cell phone were really popular. Also was a woman who went to town to the doctor, and got stuck in the same traffic… her handicapped husband was home, and she was suppose to be there giving his meds… and couldn’t. When you block traffic for that long without thinking about those it will effect, that is criminal. Protest all you want.. just don’t put others in harms way.

Is It?

2011-10-12T08:49:00.000-07:00

Is it A.D.D. or is it the toilet paper roll syndrome?

The toilet paper roll syndrome, I have talked about before.. That is when you discover your life is like a roll of toilet paper, your life seems to be unraveling at a faster pace at 70 than it was at 30. Time just flies, and you get the feeling of so much to do, so little time.

A.D.D. of course, every one knows what that is… Attention Deficiency, where you can’t keep on subject. I thought in the years past, it wasn’t I wasn’t staying on subject, because I was..I thought of it as multi-tasking… Any woman who is a wife, mother and has a job… even those without outside of the home jobs, are asked to do many things. You are a taxi driver, merchandised inventoryor.. meaning you know where everything is in the house, that belongs to everyone in the house, even if you never saw it come into the house. Because your husband will ask where is his favorite shirt, even though he knows it is hung in the closet where you put it after you either washed it or picked it up from where he dropped it… Your child will want to know where their homework is, a special toy, and many other things they have dropped somewhere. All of this while running the household, paying bills, grocery shopping, cooking meals and etc.

But now I find myself having a hard time just sitting. Sitting watching a movie, sitting reading a book, or the newspaper and etc.. because while I am trying to sit there and enjoy those times, my mind is going 90 mph, thinking, well, I will go do this, or I should be doing that… And a lot of times bolting off of the couch, chair or what ever to do some of it. Some times it drives the King nuts.. after all he thinks I should be sitting there watching the movie.. But I am not gone long.. after all I am either throwing another load of wash in the washer, or starting the dish washer.. and etc And I can watch the movie while I am reading a magazine. I do slightly better on rainy days, rainy days seem to blog me down.

And right now I see the sun coming out, and I feed off of the sun.. makes me feel so good, and here I am typing a blog… soooooooooooooooooooo got to go…Outside is calling me…
Hope you enjoy the sunny day too……

I. AM. BORED...!!

2011-10-11T00:13:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was boring… today doesn’t look much better.
I did the wash, mopped the floors, straighten up the living room.
Decluttered the table… and then it was 10 am…

I read some magazines, I do have some books… but I am bored.
I have things I could do.. like clean out my file cabinet, declutter
my big desk in the back room.. but I don’t feel like it… I am bored…

After a fun and busy summer, between the remodel and doing the
yard, this is a let down.. It is going to be a long winter at this rate.

Even the dog and cats are bored… they slept most of yesterday away.

…

The Last Rose of Summer......

2011-10-10T00:52:00.000-07:00

These are some of the last roses from my flower garden. They please me.

I love flowers… and firm believer in giving while people are alive.
And I want mine while I am alive.. forget it when I am gone… give them
to some one who is alive. My Aunt was like that as well… she would send
flowers to a family member, in memory of the person who had died.

So thru the summer, I pick flowers and put them in my sink window.. it just
makes me feel good. Also I will put some in the middle of the dining room
table, or the coffee table. (I wonder why they call it coffee table)

And sometimes I will buy some for me. Especially the daffodils in the early spring. It is like bring in some sunshine. And if I see some roses or carnations,
that smell good, or unusual color, I will buy them for the house. And sometimes, I just deserve some flowers…

I have a daughter in law who is wonderful about sending flowers for Mother’s Day, and some times for my birthday…

But the best flowers are the ones I get as a surprise… for no reason. Just because, no reason… My husband is a great one for doing that. So is my two of my daughters. If they think I might be having a bad day… or couple of days, I will
get some flowers… a surprise and some times they say, well, I saw them, and thought of you… thought you might like to have some. How wonderful, to be thought of, when you least expect it.

Disappearing Sandpoint landmarks....

2011-10-06T00:28:00.000-07:00

So many people walked thru these doors... So many people window shopped here... Do you know what they were seeing thru those windows? Well, if you are from Bonner County, you know you were looking at the newest model of cars sold at Taylor-Parker ...

I am sure one of the most popular salesmen was and is Pat Garvey, as he is at their new digs out in Ponderay.. So looking for a Chevie, Buick...and etc... well, not here anymore..... it belongs to the hospital now..

So many people walked this lot, looking at the newer models...but the walk my husband and I did, was at the rear of this lot.. that is where the used cars and trucks were. I did buy a Bronco from the used car lot section about 15 years ago.

You can see the wrecking pole that will start today to dismantel this building down to the ground over the next 3 weeks... So next year I guess we will see that the hospital puts here.

And how many of us in Bonner County walked the floors in this building. Looking and choosing what we wanted... a freezer and couch 15 years ago for me.

While down taking pictures I came across this pole across the street from the car dealership...

and this is the English side of it ...

Around the Water Cooler

2011-10-05T09:40:00.000-07:00

I heard the words “ around the water cooler” the other day.
Don’t know if anyone uses that phase much anymore.
Do those under 30 remember it and what it meant.

After all they don’t have water coolers in offices anymore, do they?
Everyone carries water bottles, now it seems. If they even drink water
anymore. Before it was a matter of a drink of water because your
mouth was getting dry…but more than anything it was an excuse to
get up and walk around. To get away from your desk for a few minutes.
Or off the floor of the factory.

Then the words ….”standing around the water cooler”, was usually an
excuse for gossip, or talk about something now called HOT TOPICS.
Be it sports, television show, or what is going on in the world, and
of course the office gossip.

Now we know office people and factories as well, still gossip and hot topics,
but is it left to the lunch room or do they still have the water cooler there?
Or those with computers participate in local newspaper blogs?

Media maniacs

2011-10-04T00:22:00.000-07:00

Amanda Knox, is a free woman… well sort of…
If you thought the media was bad when she was in jail, what until she hits U.S. soil. The media will be all over her like flies in July on dead fish.

There will be the war of wills as Diane Sawyer and Barbara Walters fight over who will get to interview Amanda first.

Then you will have the Today show trying to out bid Good Morning American…
And of course there will be the photographers outside of her house trying to get
a pictures as soon as they can.. probably starting as she gets off of the plane in Seattle..

Let’s hope the family can protect her and let her live her life. Especially after
being in jail for 4 years, the last thing she needs is to be in a jail of media spot light.

And hopefully she will be come just a trivia question and answer in a short time,
and let her be… she already lost 4 years of her young life.

Slippery Slope they slide down....

2011-10-03T00:11:00.000-07:00

I live in Bonner County in Idaho… and recently one of the Commissioners has come up with the idea that the rules should have anyone who applies for a county job, will not be hired if they smoke.

This isn’t so much against smokers up front, so he says, it is about health and saving on health insurance.

What a can of worms that will open. You see they aren’t saying you can’t smoke
at work. They are telling you, if you want a job for the county, you can not smoke at all. Never… ever.. While some people probably think that is a good think. It would be a healthy thing, for sure. BUT…BUT.. what will be the next thing that this commissioner want to for the change of rules for the sake of cheaper health insurance?

The one that comes to mind for most people will be weight. Will you have to weigh with in 5 pounds of the national average for your height? And if you are over those 5 pounds, you will not be hired? What about 5 pounds under. As the national health reports have reported both sides of the coin that had their share of health problems. Which is costly for health insurance.

Will it be you will have to prove that no one in your family has ever had a heart attack? No one in your family has ever had cancer? Will you have to take a test to see if in fact you might have the genes that could be Alzheimer’s later in your life? Will you be turn down for a job in the county for any of these test?
Who will be left to hire?

I wonder what health issues are hidden in this commissioners genes. I don’t know if he is retired or owns his own business or works for another… but I wonder how he would like it if he was to be subject to each any every one of these health issues which could become a health liability for the health insurance that the county carries.

What a slippery slope this will be come, if it does become an issue. So far there are two of the other commissioners who aren’t supporting this issue.. hopefully they will understand the can of worms they will open, say nothing of the lawsuits.

By the way, how do they hire someone who does not smoke, who gave up smoking because he wanted the job that bad, and his supervisor is a smoker? And gets to keep his job as he is grandfathered in. Will there be drug test and nicotine test?
Yep, a slippery slope indeed.

We are the fools....we believe...

2011-09-29T00:23:00.000-07:00

Voting is frustrating.. Even more so now, and especially this
coming year. The choices would be a joke if it weren’t so serious. And everyone is saying what ever they think you want to hear. And we have known that for years. But now, you know it is out and out lies and no one seems to care. With Internet, blogs, and etc. always checking everything that is said and done, you know immediately when a lie is spread. Before it was said just before the elections and then it was too late to get the information out to everyone, and the person was in.

Now we have instant news. You don’t need to wait until the next night or the morning paper. It is on the news channels, it is on the internet in so many different forms. Facebook, blogs, and now we have Twitter.

But even with this instant news.. it seems like it is said, and no sooner the typing stops, it is forgotten. Don’t know if people don’t care or what. And then there are the spin folks. They spin a weave that fools so many. Seems like people are sheep, following the lead sheep right off the ledge.

I take great pride in voting. Always have. Considered it a privilege as well as a right. My one right of my own thought. When I go into that room, it is between me and my God who I vote for. I try my best to read everything on the person. Watch their body language, eye contact, to see who this person is. But that is getting harder to do. Because we expect them to tell the truth. And we know they will just say anything you want to hear, so you will vote for them.

Yes, it is harder than before. And personally, I don’t know what I am going to do next November.. of 2012. But I guess at my age, I shouldn’t worry too much, why suffer the heart ache of it? Who knows if I will be here next November. The whole think is a crap shoot.

Was learning cursive writing really necessary?

2011-09-28T00:08:00.000-07:00

We all learn things in high school so long ago.. and even then, we wondered if this information we were trying to cramp in our brains were going to be useful later in life.
Never mind if we would use it to make a living…

Now 50 years later, I find out all that trouble of learning how to
write, not type, was for not. As everyone seems to do computers and typing seems to be the thing. Even the schools are second guessing the use of cursive writing. Personally mine was like chicken scratch. The more the hurry I was, the worse it was… But I have seen some beautiful cursive writing over the years and thought it was more like an art. An art I wish I had. But even though all those teachers tried and tried to get me on track, I was a total lost.

What else? Math? Will everyone have a calculator, or the computer that will do it for them? There will be children who will not be able to do simple math if this continue. My kids were furious with me, as I would not let them do their homework with the required calculator for classes. Told them, their brain did not require batteries and would not go dead. And then there is telling time. Now everyone has a digital watch/clock. Some kids look at a regular watch or clock and don’t get it.

What else will go to the wayside?

The Love Affair...

2011-09-27T00:46:00.000-07:00

What would you do, if you loved someone and wanted to impress
them, if you are a guy and the one you love lives on an island?
Would you be willing to row a boat in rough waters to the island,
from the island you live on?

I was reading another blog that told of the blogger finding the school that his mother taught at. Which reminded me of this man and the woman, who was a school teacher.

Before the turn of the 1900’th century, there was a young lady who left the island she was raised on called Prudence Island. She moved to a boarding house after high school so she could attend the college. Her dream was to become a teacher. She met a young man who took her fancy… and she his…

She went back to the island to teach in a one room school house. The island had maybe 50 residents, and I am not sure if that was summer time count or winter. As there were summer homes there. The only way to get to the island was by boat/ferry. Even to this day, that is still the only way to get to the island.

Prudence Island is a small island in Narraganset Bay. Kind of in a triangle between Jamestown, and Bristol and Newport. South of Providence. The bay can get awful rough at times.. and it isn’t easy going the rest of the time. So leaving the North end of Jamestown, where Aaron lived, to row a skiff across the bay to Prudence Island, was not an easy task. Yet he did it several times that summer. He courted Harriet for quite a while. Finally winning her hand in marriage. Traveling to New York City to a church called Church on the Corner.
Why they chose there, why they went to New York, as there were many of churches in R.I. ……. I don’t know.

Aaron ran a stable, and a delivery wagon and buggy. He took people from one side of the island of Jamestown, to the other, so the clients could catch the ferry to the mainland of Warwick and Newport on the other side. Later he would have a grocery store, and then in the 1930’s he had a Ford dealership, gas station and grocery store combo, in Jamestown. Going on to a Dodge dealership in Newport and Ford dealer ship in Middletown. (now you know why I am a Ford fan)

This union brought on 3 sons and one daughter…of which one of those son’s was my father.

Last I knew the little one room school house still is standing on Prudence Island and the last teacher taught in the 1981. That teacher was the nephew of Harriet, and my cousin, Bill Bacon.

You know you are growing old when....

2011-09-26T00:03:00.000-07:00

Do you read the birthdays of the famous in the daily paper?
And when you see that some of your old movie stars or singers of
your day, and see they are in their 70’s or even 80’s (Tony Bennett is 85!!)
OR you read about one of the movie stars of your 20’s and think to yourself
“wow, I didn’t know he/she is still alive… I thought he/she died.”

And then there are the commercials… Robert Wagner, Pat Boone, selling
walk in tubs, health insurance, diabetic supplies, pain creams… and etc.
So much for our childhood heart throbs.

How did they get so old? But like my friend who is 5 years older than I,
when I suggested he go the senior citizen center and meet some people.
He was complaining about not having anyone in his life. I told him that
they have dances, play cards, special meals besides the lunches every day.
How at 76, he could find someone who would like the same things he did.
He could play piano for them. Have sing alongs, which he enjoyed.
So he replied with the remark of
“I don’t want to go down there, there isn’t any one there but old people”.
I was quiet for a minute and then said to him….
”Gord, WE ARE THE OLD PEOPLE. “

Of course age is a mind over matter. And I am still 48…
lol.. don’t get me wrong,
I will be the first person to tell you I am 71. But I feel 48.

Warning

2011-09-24T00:48:00.000-07:00

The post below is a VERY LONG LONG POST..

Coming out of the closet....

2011-09-24T00:40:00.000-07:00

No, not that kind of closet… not that there is anything wrong with that.
(as was said on Senfield)

But for those who don’t know us personally, the King and I decided to make some changes in our life style. We made this decision in April. We, thru
the years have tried just about every diet. I know I have. Some worked and most did not. So when we made a decision to do it this time, we didn’t want to say anything to anyone, in case it failed once again. Those who have dieted over the years, know what I am talking about. So many diets, so many exercise machines and etc.

We are on a diet that has several rounds. You decide how many rounds you do. There things you give up… so if you can’t give up these foods and liquids, then stop and read no further. Because without doing this.. it isn’t going to work for you.

NO SUGAR, NO STARCH, AND NO OILS… NO CARROTS, or CORN, as they have sugar in them. (I didn’t know about carrots) NO BEER, NO WINE…
Are you still with me?
Ok. LOTS OF WATER, I SAID LOTS OF WATER. ( I wasn’t a very good water drinker before this) You eat vegetables, and fruit, and some meats, fish, chicken. You broil, bake, or grill your meats. AND portions are very, very important. NO BREAD, NO CHEESE, NO MILK. But you can have coffee and tea, but only a tablespoon of non-fat creamer Still here?

If you are over the age of 40, then you remember the fact that your mother did not fill up half of the plate with meat. It was one ¼ of the plate at best. You had a baked potato, another vegetable and salad. This is very similar. You have a small piece of meat. Chicken or fish preferred, but an occasional beef. (no pork) and that beef is to be very lean. And lots of green salad… 2 cups worth. Salad dressing is vinegar and a herb season. You can have salt, pepper and other seasonings. You can have mustard, but NO KETCHUP, NO MAYONAISE .

We have what we call naked hamburgers. It is where you lay a leaf of lettuce on the plate. Put a slice of onion on that, then your hamburger(100gm), a slice of tomato, and another leaf of lettuce. Pick it up like you would any hamburger. Believe it or not, it taste great. Remember the meat has to be lean, and grilled, not fried. NO FRIED FOOD. Sorry no cheese either.

We started in April and went to mid May for the first round. The King lost 28 pounds. I lost 19. Then we went into what they call maintenance. That is where you can add a tiny bit of one of the forbidden… oils… for 3 weeks you can have polish sausage, one piece of bacon once a week… and etc. VERY LITTLE.. during that time you keep weighing yourself and make sure you DO NOT GAIN weight. You are allowed up to 2 pounds gain, but if more, then you do an apple day. Which is eating only apples for the day (all you want), and a steak and apple for dinner.
If you do it right… you will stay the same or you will lose a pound a week. If not, then you are not downsizing your food. After those 3 weeks, you can chose to do another 3 weeks, of having some tiny bit of starch. Or you can chose to go to Round 2. Everyone I know, chose to go back and do round 2.

During this first round you will be surprised. As you will start to lose weight. But it isn’t just loosing weight, it is that you start to get energy. You want to do more things. AND…AND… you will lose weight in the hardest place of all. Especially for women… you lose first in your hips and stomach. I kid you not. You will be shocked to put on tight pants and find out they not only fit better but are a little looser in the hips. You won’t notice it as much as your friends will. Everyone I know has lost 20 or more pounds in that first 40 days. It is 40 days on, 30 days off and maintain, and then go back to round 2 or start 30 days of little starch.

The King and I are on round 3 heading for maintenance 3 in a few days. In this time he has lost about 59 pounds. Going from 317 pounds to 258 today. As you can see in the picture… he looks great. He has done the best over all of the two of us. What this has meant to him, is more energy. He has a bum knee and had trouble going up and down ladders. He could go up and down about twice and pay the price for it for a day or two… before… Now he is up and down so many times we haven’t counted. And no problems. We remodeled our kitchen and deck. He was very active in helping out on this..working until about 8 at night. Instead of falling asleep in the chair as before… His visit to the Dr. in July gave him great news. The King is a diabetic, controlled by pills but on the verge of going to have to go to needle/shots. When he saw his doctor in July and had lost almost 50 pounds, the doctor was amazed. And really amazed when his nurse brought in the Kings numbers for the 3 month diabetic reading. He cut the Kings pills in half. Instead of taking 2000 (a full pill in am and a full pill at dinner time) to 1000 per day. With the talk of if he keeps it up, that by winter he could be off of the pills. The King is ecstatic to say the least. He is looking forward to hunting. Before he ended up being the transportation for others and sit on the stump hunter. Now he can once again walk thru the woods and hunt. He wants to lose 30 to 40 more pounds. So he will continue on the diet until next April. Rotating between the diet and the maintenance part.

Myself, I have lost a total of 56. From a size 20 to a size 10/12 (depending on pants). And I lost 13 inches off of my hips. I have tried every diet since the 1960’s. I have owned one type or another of almost every exercise equipment that is sold. The time I did as well, was when I starved myself by eating only toast for breakfast, and salad for lunch and dinner for 2 months… with an exercise tape I hated with a passion, and walked 3 miles each day. I went from 155 to 121. I looked like death warmed over, they say. So to come out of this one, eating properly, and looking good… well, all I can say it works. And I never feel hungry. I haven’t had pizza, bread, Italian food for 7 months and don’t miss it at all. Neither does the King.

So if it is that simple about being discipline, then why did I call this the out of closet? The answer is we did use a product to help with the cravings. A product when I mention it to you, you might say “oh, yea, heard about that…not good for you I heard” or, you might stand there, wondering if you might want to try it. As you have seen the King and I have done well. You might know someone near yos with cravings. We found within a week we were not wanting to have more to eat. We were full. We have plenty to eat… so you really aren’t hungry, but it helps for the sugar craving we all go thru when giving it up. We saw Dr. Oz’s show about it. There were over 200 there who did very well. And they only interview 2 who had problems. One had her hair fall out. She was not eating her proteins. The other had fainted… she was not drinking enough water. YOU HAVE TO DRINK FLUIDS…lots of fluids. And yes, coffee does count. Just no sugar in your coffee. Stevia is ok. You can drink tea, no sugar. Some of them say 500 calories a day, yes, I did say a day. But because the King is a diabetic I had to make sure he stayed healthy. So he was on a 800 calorie a day. He had plenty to eat, just a lot better choices. Fruits for lunch with some meat rolled in a lettuce leaf, with mustard and occasional onion.
I did a 600 calorie a day. I am telling you, if you eat like they tell you.. you will feel full. I never ever felt like I was being deprived. So what is the name of the product? HCG. It is sold in most health stores. Like I said, I got mine in GNC store. I joined their membership which saved me almost $20 on each bottle. The bottle will last you a month. Unless you decide to do the 10 drops instead of the 7, which we did. Then it last about 26 days.

You have to be careful where you get the product. Don’t count on a online company. Only if you know someone who is on HCG and they get the product from that company and they have had good results. Use the brand that your friends have used. Where you can see the results. You will find there are some naysayers on line about it. Even the BBB down graded it. But they downgraded it in general not in product brand name. Which is a shame. As the complains they got I am sure were the phony ones. The reports say that HCG does not make you lose weight. And that part is true. They say the less calories are what makes you lost weight. And that is true too. But the HCG, and it has to be a good product brand name, does help you get thru the sugar cravings and helps clean out your systems. No, not the kind that has you sitting on the toilet for hours. It is a gentle not noticeable cleaning out. You will feel so much better. Not sluggish like you were before. And when you eat some of that forbidden food (sugar and starch) you will notice how it effects you when you have eaten too much of it. As you will get back that sluggish feeling again. We were raised with little meat and lots of veggies, and fruits… so it is kind of like returning to your childhood meals.
And you will be shocked to see how your hips and belly go down.

So if you decide to try it… find someone who has done it. Find out which product name did they use. It is spendy.. I pay $71 a bottle. I have heard there is another one out there that is cheaper, but don’t know what the name is, and don’t know anyone who has tried it. I use RestorHCG. From GNC. I know two people who have kept the weigh off for a year so far. 5 that have kept it off for 8 months so far. You do not have to exercise… in fact during the diet itself, they suggest you don’t. You can do walks but not work out at the gym. You need the little protein you get… but you can exercise during the maintenance time. And as said before you will find lots of energy, so you will be busy doing things. So if you decide… good luck.

If you have questions look at my profile and use my email address, I will answer honestly. You can google HCG and there is at least 2 blogs out there of women who used it and did great. GOOD LUCK…
I

CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW?

2011-09-22T00:26:00.000-07:00

Good grief, I can hear you now.. and everything else as well.
I had gotten hearing aids about 5 years ago. After a short while, they were on the dresser more than in… and when the King needed hearing aides at work, I had him go in and get tested. And had them adjusted for him. They just didn’t work well for me. I still couldn’t hear the minister in front but I could hear the gossip two pews back. And being I was there to save my soul, listening on gossip didn’t seem like the way to go.

So when I came in to a little bit of money, one of my goals was to get good hearing aides for us both. We went and got tested last week. Last night, at 5pm, we got our new hearing aides… and Yes, I can hear you now. Boy is Costco noisy.

On the way out of the parking lot, I heard this kind of squishing sound. Then it dawn on me, it was the tires rolling on the pavement. And I have since learn that my dryer makes a scrapping sound as well as the hum of the motor. And when I turn on the television, I had to run to the remote and turn it down, as it was so loud from when I had been watching it earlier in the day. These keys are noisy as well. And I laughed as the King turn on the turn signal and I thought about how noisy it is, and it sounded weird, as I realize I could hear it well now. Oh, yea, I ran into the kitchen to find out where the water leak was, as I could hear water running... only to find out it was the dishwasher... funny I never heard that before.

It is going to take a little getting use to. One thing is the hearing aides have gotten a little more refine in the past 5 years. As I have over the ear as before, but the part that goes into the ear is so much nicer and smaller. The real test will be my daughter and my son in law… both talk so quietly…and it will be nice not to say, “what? I didn’t catch that” or if I was too embarrassed to ask, I would just let it go and hope I didn’t say yes or no at the wrong time.
So do I hear you now… oh, yes… but the guy said he could give us better hearing but he could not guarantee that we would listen better.. ha ha

Alzheimer's and Diabetics

2011-09-21T00:57:00.000-07:00

There has been recently reports of a diabetic spray for Alzheimer patients and some pretty good results…

This doesn’t really surprise me. There was a conversation between a nurse and myself one morning, ten years ago, as we were heading to the end of our shift. She was getting the needles ready with the insulin for the diabetic of our area. And I said something to the tune of, good thing there isn’t any Alzheimer residents who have diabetes, as you can imagine what it would be like trying to give them a shot. Especially the violent ones. Then I followed up, you know, come to think of it.. I don’t ever remember not even one Alzheimer resident having diabetes. I wonder, do you think there is a connection? After all, I had been there for 17 years. And she replied… you know, now that you mention it, I don’t ever remember giving an Alzheimer patient a shot either.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if it was that simple. The articles I have read, has even talked of reversing Alzheimer’s somewhat, with the spray. And its staying power even after it stopped. What a glorious day that would be, if it proves to be true.
As that is the one disease that scares me the most, more than heart attack or cancer. It wouldn’t be so bad for me, as every day would be a new day… but it would be a living hell for my family. I have seen it so often, in my line of work and even in my personal life with friend’s families.

New Jobs...

2011-09-20T00:19:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine came up with a way to employee millions of
people, nation wide. Well, all but one state, as it already has
this job and it has been working out well, there. Some have complained
about it, when they travel to that state. I guess mainly because we are
so use to doing it ourselves, we are set back when we travel to this
State and have it done by the employee ONLY… This state’s rule goes back 20 years? Or even more maybe..

But think about it.. millions of jobs across the nation. And it shouldn’t cost too much more. As in this state that already has it, the price of the product isn’t much more if at all, than that product in our own states.

I think she is on to something. This job would help the elderly, the disable, a great deal. And it sure was nice in the past, when this job was done then by an employee. Now we not only do it ourselves, but we don’t even have some one to take the money for it, as it is by credit or debit card now. Which there is nothing wrong with that if you are in a big hurry… but either way you still have to be in line to get it done. So why not, no more getting out of your car in the snow, rain, wind. No more colder than cold nozzles, as you stand there freezing to death or hotter than Hades.

Yes, I am talking about the gas station attendant. For those younger than 30, or have never been to Oregon… there use to be a person who came out and asked you, how much gas you wanted, and while it was filling, cleaned your windshields. Even asked if you wanted your oil checked, and if it was low, would put in a quart. How cool was that. A human being, who asked what you wanted, and took your money… and off you went, in your vehicle, still warm or not too hot, and everything was done.

So how much difference is the price of gas in Oregon compared to the rest of the nation? You have two day time workers (for each aisle) , two afternoon workers, and two late evening workers who rotate around each other.. There is 6 jobs at one gas station. Times that to all the gas stations there are in this nation… and you got millions of workers.

Yep, my galpal has a good idea. May not be the highest paying job in the nation, but it is work. It will buy groceries for their families, pay the bills, and it is a start.
Any one know the price of gas in Oregon, oppose to the other states?

Snow and Tomatoes... alike?

2011-09-19T00:59:00.000-07:00

It is all or nothing. Kind of like snow…

You know, the first couple of days of snow you marv at the beauty of the
fields and yard. And don’t mind, maybe, shoveling a little? But when the
snow comes fast and furious, it gets old real fast…
Same with tomatoes. The first one comes and you savor the flavor of it.
You might pick the second one, that is a little orangey, a little early and put
it in the window with anticipation of the taste soon. Then there are a couple
more, but lots of green ones. The weather is getting colder and you are
wondering are they going to be ripe in time, as there are almost 100 or
more green ones.
Now 6 at a time are ripening.. you give some away as your refrigerator
drawer is starting to fill up. You make stewed tomatoes as you can’t freeze them.
(I refuse to can them, that is another day of posting on that one)
Now you have them all over, what do you do? I found the solution…
FOOD BANK.. …. And they love it..

What is in a name?

2011-09-14T00:39:00.000-07:00

We all know that our name and address is sold daily, over and over.
You don’t even have to be alive. Case in point we got all kinds of ads in the King’s mother’s name. Then they finally stopped 4 years later. (one was from a funeral home insurance, I let them have it, as it was 9 months after she passed)
And about 4 years later, it started up again. So some companies paid for a dead person’s name.. sad.. to say the least.

I tried to do a no mail, like the no call for phones. But it was an auto machine that took your information when I refused to give out my SS number the machine went crazy. It kept repeating over and over. "That is not a proper number." All because I kept telling it no, when it asked for it. One of the times I tried by saying 000 00 0000, that about sent it over the edge… so I hung up.

But I digress, some where, some one in the world of name list, decided that my first name meant I was Spanish. So I have been overwhelmed with totally Spanish ads. I suspect Frontier who took over the Verizon home phone service. As they were the first to send me one of their ads with the only English on the whole page was my name. Of which I sent back and said WHAT THE HECK IS THIS? I AM AN AMERICAN, WHO DOES NOT SPEAK NOR READS SPANISH!!. I got a letter of apology and a $25 cash card to use at any store of my choice. Then a month later… I started getting all kinds of Spanish mail. With no English at all. Except my name, of course. Being I don’t have a clue what they say, I shred them. I have St. someone medals sent to me (guess I look like I need to be saved.) The rest I don’t know what they are. Heck they could be telling me I have won millions… nah, no 1,000,000,000… in the ads. Lol

So does your name draw unwanted mail? Do they assume something about you, because of your name?

Movies that make you think...

2011-09-13T00:31:00.000-07:00

I went to see the movie called THE HELP, with my gal pal. It was a pretty good movie.

I tend to judge movies in 3 catagories…
First one is to see it on the big screen. Like Aviatar, Dancing with Wolves, and Titanic. Where you really need to see it on a big screen. I have seen all 3 in the theater and on television. It just isn’t the same.
The next one is watch it on video, like Netflix. And finally there is the television.
I rarely go to the theater, so most of the movies I see are on Netflix. THE HELP would have been a Netflix one. It isn’t that it wasn’t that good, as it was..but it wasn’t $10.00 worthy. The going price for movies these days. I did get the senior discount so it cost me $8.00.

Being raised in R.I. I went to school with blacks.. My mother had a black friend who babysat my brother and I as children. She was the wife of a man called Jess, that drove my great grandfather’s car. Her name was Mable. Mable could sew anything, and she had a section of her living room with a sewing machine and table near a window. And her house always had wonderful smells of baking and cooking. So I was aware as a child, of nannies, and maids and etc. But in our town there were blacks and also there were Irish ones of each. I was so use to blacks, that when I went to Miami Beach, Florida to help my grandfather, I was flabbergassed that I could not sit next to the lady who came to clean my grandfather’s house each week. I was blown out that Louie Armstrong could not stay at the same hotel that he was performing at. He had to stay in Miami, where the black could live. In Miami Beach, no blacks were allowed after 7pm unless they had special permission to do so. Like working a rich families parties. This was all beyond my comprehension. It was 1958.

So it was a surprised as we left the theater to hear my gal pal to say, wow, I never knew it was that bad for them. I didn’t know they were treated that way. Now granted 90% of her living was or is, here in Bonner County. But she did live in a town in Montana and a coastal city in Oregon. So we had quite a discussion about the movie and about what I saw in my life time. Guess that is a sign of a good movie, when it prompts discussions.

Are you a newly widow, or about to become one?

2011-09-12T00:23:00.000-07:00

Widowhood
Been going thru my files and came across this.
Maybe it will help someone else. You see I became a widow, April 17, 1986.
A year later a friend lost her husband and I wrote this and then I refined it
about 8 years later for another friend. And that was 10 years ago.(now 25)

I have a friend who became a widow 2 weeks ago… and thought this was
worth repeating. .....(had a post on it in 2006)

What I learn by being a Widow.

Do not give away his personal things for a minimum of 6 months, and year
if possible. If it hurts to see them, then pack them in boxes until a year
later. There is need to give things away maybe share in helping the grieving.
I don't know. But if you wait a year, you give or sell things that are done with
your head and heart. Not just your heart if you do it right away. I did not follow
this rule to the fullest and learn to regret it. IF you are to give anything.
ONLY what your husband told YOU he wanted given away, if anything ever happen.
You will be amazed at the people who will come up to you and tell you or your
children that your husband said they could have an item if anything happens to him.
Then there are the "helpful friends" who will buy his things at a small price.
My husband had guns and he was a mechanic-welder. I had offers of $25 for
a $300 rifle and $10 for a pistol. "To help me out.”
If you really need to sell, get help from someone who is NOT going to benefit
from it. I went to parts stores that sold tools and asked them. Told them of
my lost and that I didn't plan on getting rich from these sales, but I didn't want
to be taken either. The owners were very helpful. One large piece I wrote
to a dealer in Spokane, explaining and they, too, were helpful.

Anger.
About 3 weeks after my husband died, I came home and just the look of the
yard, set me off. I was mad. I was mad he left me. (as if he wanted to die) I
was mad he left me with the whole mess. The yard wasa mess. Over grown.
I worked in Sandpoint, 25 miles away. Leaving at 4 am and coming home
almost 3 pm was too much. I couldn't keep up with the housework and the
yard work. We had been on disability with Social Security. We had just
three children left. Two were to graduate in 3 weeks.Our SS was to be cut
that same month he died because our youngest was 16 the day after we
buried him. And SS had decided to mess around with the check. They would
put in $3000 and then take it out. I was going crazy. If he were here I wouldn't
be in this mess. Damn him!! Why didn't he watch his health all these years?
For 3 hours I swore, cried, and even wish it was me instead. So there will be anger.
Anger at him, God, yourself. The “ if onlys”that will drive you crazy.”
"If only” if I had said. If only I had done whatever. But this too will pass.

The nights. Days are usually fairly full. I had started a job 11 days after
his death. It was good. I was kept busy - too busy to think. The nights
were hard. Then I remembered watching a late night show and they
had George Burns on. It was after Gracie had died. He was talking about
how hard the nights were for him. Then he slept in Gracie's spot. He said
it was a calming effect. First, there was the smell. Then the fact when he slept
in his own place, he would look for her, in her spot.But he didn't feel for or look
for Gracie, when he was in that spot. And it wasn't natural for him to look at
his own spot. It worked for me also. Maybe it will for you.

Every wedding, birth of a grandchild. You will be there thinking if only he
could see this. Then you got to remember he is - just up above. While there is
comfort in that - it isn't the same. There will be a time when something real
important will happen and you will think, oh gosh, wait until I tell him.
Then you remember you can't. With me it was downtown and a friend had
told me of a mutual friend who had a heart attack and died the night before.
And my first thought was how upset Marv will be to lose this friend.
Then to realize they are together now.
It has been 10 years now for me.(now 25) And I have gone on. I have a very
special friend in my life(I married him 12 years ago). When Marv's face faded
unless I had a picture, I felt I had betrayed him. But I still have him in my heart
and always will. He was my husband, my lover, the father of my children, and
most of all - he was my best friend. I miss him. Always will. But I would want
him to go on. I would not want him to mourn me forever. To be alone.
And he did not want me to either. We talked about it. We said it would be our jobs,
our children and then whatever happens - happens. One day at a time. Good Luck

Friends
After 6 to 9 months, some of your friends will change. The women seem to feel
threaten when you are around, when their husband is around. The same
women who had their husbands helping you at first. They seem to be
uncomfortable. Like you would be interested in their husbands. Fat chance.
Your husband is still very much on your mind. Maybe they are thinking
of the old "gay widow" from the 1920's. And some of the men. It is weird. I have
talked to some of my friends who have been widowed. After a while some of
your husband’s friends may make a pass at you. Myself, I was so out to lunch,
I didn't catch it. Then when I caught on, I was embarrassed. Did I say something?
Did I do something to get this reaction? Even had one say -"well, you were use to
getting it and now you can't - so I, uh - uh, thought I could help you out."
When he said "it", I was so dumb I didn't know what"it" was. By the time he got to
the "help you out", I was sick to my stomach and wanted to up chuck. I think I mumbled something about I DON'T THINK SO. And left.

Children
My children were and are good to me. Except at first I felt like they thought I
died too. They started talking about getting rid of this and that. And finally
I had to put my foot down and say. I will take care of things. I will decide
what goes and when. And when they asked “well what are you going to do
with the tools. You can't weld. You can only do limited mechanizing.” I told
them I knew people who did know how to operate the tools and whenmy car breaks down then I can have them fix it with the tools. And I will let them borrow the tools if they
need them in exchange, for the work. Which brings up another. Borrowing of
your husband things. ALWAYS KEEP TRACK OF WHO BORROWS, WHAT
AND WHEN. AND IF THEY BRING THEM BACK. I lost a few tools as I
forgot who borrow and if they brought them back. I made a list. One of them
was a $300 piece. Believe me when you start asking if you loan someone something, it
can get sticky.

Your sanity
A year later you will find out you did do something unbelievable. And when it
dawns on you – you will doubt your sanity. It is ok. It was the stress of the time.
I hid 3 expensive tools in an old shirt under my bed behind some boxes
that I stored there. Found them there. Could not remember putting them there.
A friend , who lost her husband had hid a gun in the basement behind a large box.
It was rusted when she found it two years later. She thought she had sold it.

The first Birthday, Father’s day, Thanksgiving and Christmas are rough.
After the second one it gets easier to deal with. Then as the years pass you
really won’t think about the day itself. But you will find yourself bitchy, out of sorts.
And wonder why? Then you think about what day it is and it will dawn on you
this is the day he died. But life will go on. Keep yourself busy doing things you like.
There is always the nay sayers who talk behind your back.
“Well, if I was in her shoes, I wouldn’t be doing that and the answer to that is
LADY,YOU AREN’T IN MY SHOES, and Thank God you aren’t. There are
those who will stare at you because you are laughing. Some times things are
funny in sad situations. It does the soul good to laugh . The main thing after all
that is said and done. Is to take it one day at a time. EVERYDAY.
You can not live next week or tomorrow TODAY.

If you can—sleep on any major decisions. Life will go on and so will you. Just don’t
live in the past, just visit it from time to time......Good Luck. If I can help,
by listening or answering any questions....just ask. Now 25 years later I
can tell you life will go on. Life will be good. And some times God will bless
you twice. He did with me... he gave me the King, with whom I love very much,
and is good to me. But be careful, who you date, and get involved with…
and if he is pushy, run…run..as fast as you can away from the situation..
Wait a couple of years to get married. Get to really know the guy, and
like the first time around… he isn’t going to change with a wedding band on
your finger.. so what you see before is what you get. Make sure he is what you
can live with… I waited 13 years.. you don’t have to wait that long, but 4 years
is a good measure. You be careful, as there are some pretty bad ones out there.
NEVER EVER, EVER…give him money. If he asks, run, run as fast as you can.
Most good guys come along when you aren’t looking for one.

Live your own life, go to dinner with friends, be the male or female, enjoy what
interest you. No woman NEEDS a man, but they can enjoy their company with
no strings attached. A good relationship is when you compliment each other’s life.
Good luck…

If I disappear....

2011-09-12T00:05:00.000-07:00

My computer is acting up.... so sending it in to see what is up...
So if I disappear this week..., it is because my computer is in the shop...

"Where were you when?"

2011-09-08T12:08:00.000-07:00

This will be the question this weekend, actually all this past week as well… as the memorial for the 10th anniversary of the World Trade Center being hit for the second time.
(remember it was hit by bombs about 5 years earlier)

I am from the generation of “where were you at when?”
Pearl Harbor … I was probably in my crib for a nap (as I think it was about
1pm est.) as I was 1 year and 8 months old.
JFK killing… I was in San Diego, California feeding my kids.
RFK killing… I was asleep when my sister in law woke me to
tell me.. I had just got out of the hospital from having twins.
Smaller on the scale was Ok. Bombing .. don’t remember where I was
on that one. MLK killing.. don’t remember but it was the day before my
birthday I believe.

But 10 years ago, this Sunday, I was working. I had just left the building at 6:05am. I turn on the usual station that I listen to, with the married couple that had music and chit chat, that I listen to on the radio each morning as I head home… when one of them said they just got word that a plane had hit the World Trade Center in New York at 9:00am est. It was of general thought that it was a small plane, Cessena like type… wondering what happen to the pilot that he hit the building.. By the time I got home 15 minutes later, driving into the driveway, they said it was a large jet like plane.

I turn on the television with New York station (I had a satellite at the time) and saw the smoke pouring out of the building.. and in a matter of minutes or seconds, a second plane hit. It is at this time the reporter tells us that these are airline planes. I called my daughter… who was getting ready for work. She had the television on, a different channel. As they are showing, for the time, the second plane hitting. It is then we hear that it is not only an airline planes that have hit the building but they were full, as they were heading to California that morning when they were taken over and taken into the buildings.. Both of us in horror as we start to realize, not only is this a terrorist whackos, but they have taken thousand of people (with both planes) with them. As we are digesting the horror of this.. my daughter says, I have to go to work now, Mom… but I just heard on this channel that there is a rumor of a plane hitting the Pentagon as well. Call me at work, it if is true…

I called her at work to tell her it not only is true, but there is another plane that crashed in the state of Pennsylvania, but it didn’t hit any buildings and they don’t know if it is connected or not. She said that all the computers at work were on national news.

The rest, as we know, is history… but one of the thoughts as I watched the planes hitting the buildings… was what I left at work.

See each morning as the last part of my job, I get a few people dressed and up for the day. So they sit there in their wheelchairs, for 2 hours in their room, waiting for breakfast. My last act of the shift is to turn on the television so they can watch the local news and see what the weather is going to be, and what day it is… it is a part of orientation, to keep them in the know of what day it is and etc.
As I sat in my living room, watching the news unfold, my thoughts went back to those 3 ladies, I left to watch the news. And my heart sank. I called back to work and told them, and the aide said they were heading to breakfast so they are ok.
I wonder what they thought as they watched it.

I am sure, this weekend, you will be telling… where were you when, at least once if not more… a mere day, that changed our lives forever. Not only the lost of innocent we lost during the others mention above, but our security and our lack of control over our own lives.

As the summer fades,

2011-09-07T08:15:00.000-07:00

The headlines are once again screaming about the killing
of our troops… but this time it is here on our own soil.
For now, an unknown reason of why, this man walked into
an I-Hop’s restaurant and open fire, on some of our National
Guard who were sharing coffee and talking. As always our
main question is WHY?

But once again to me.. the question is about his friends and family.
I say that because, once again the family shares with the news media…
that this person was disturbed, had mental problems. Why is it we
always learn this AFTER the fact? Does the family not want to get
involved? Is the system so slow in reacting, that family members are
afraid they will be harmed/shot?

It even locally, in Spokane, have a young man who walked across the
hall, and shot a young woman who he had feelings for, because I guess,
she didn’t return the feelings, he shot her and then himself. Again, friends said,
the young man had problems, black out drunkenness and etc.
Yes, he was a nice guy. But he had problems…

I know I will get the wrath of God down on me for the following, but
how do these people fall thru the system?
Why isn’t there some way to keep guns out of these people’s hands?
Now every pro gun person will scream at me. But I would think they too,
would want the guns out of these hands as well. As it makes it bad for those
who are sane and responsible gun owners. I am not saying no guns at all.
There are many, many, many responsible gun owners. But why do
people have to suffer from the mentally ill who have guns in their hands.
When it seems like it is preventable.
I know they can use a knife, baseball bat, and etc.
That is why I don’t blame the gun, I blame the system.

How do you end up with your pets?

2011-09-06T00:41:00.000-07:00

MR. MEOW

One of the ways I have.. is my kids…
As each child left the nest… I was left
a cat or a dog… guess it was not too bad,
when you consider it could have been a lizard
mice or snakes. (which I did not allow in my house).

Velvet was the kid’s dog, and we kept her for
a year or so, then we were moving into to town,
and couldn’t have dogs.. So we gave her to a family
of 6 children.. for some reason that didn’t turn out
well. I don’t know why, as Velvet was a love. She
was a black lab that was left in a dumpster as a pup.
We had her for 8 years.

Then there were the cats… Patches, and Tig, and Ebony.
Eventually, Patches owner moved back to the area and she
was taken home with her owner and lived a long life.
Tig ended up at a farm… which he loved, but for some
reason he decided to run across the highway and that
didn’t end well. Ebony, stayed with us until the end.
He was my son’s black cat.

So with the kids being adults with kids of their own,
We have been doing pretty well, animal wise. We do
have the brat cat and dog.. who run this household.

Then along came Meow. Rokon has turn into a black
panther, with the teeth and screech and all. Misty, thought
Meow was like Rokon (her playmate) and chased him
under the bed… being cornered and not knowing who or
what the brown thing was and no where to go, Meow,

slapped Misty’s face. Which sent Misty running and yelping.
One cat and one dog, who are both low keyed is what
our household has been… so why did we sign on with
a youngster, who isn’t lowkeyed? One word. Grandson.

Mom already has a cat who did not do well with Meow
when he first appeared in all our lives. So with no where
else to go, we were chosen. Grandson didn’t want to
take Meow to the shelter, as that is where he got him 2
years ago, and he didn’t think that was fair. So, I have
been chosen to find Meow a good home. You know, (and
the King knows) the likely hood of that is nil next to none.
After all, the shelter has so many they are trying to find

homes for, as it is. And I gave my word I would try to find

that special home for Meow. He is a tall black, long hair, lovable guy.

He does love the outdoors, but checks in regularly thru the day.

So he is low maintenance. Luckily Grandson informed me not

to worry if he stays out over night, so when he didn’t check in

one night, I didn’t freak that I lost the Grandson’s cat.

I guess in the summer we are the motel. Kind of like Rokon

treats us. Hopefully by late fall, these 3 will tolerate each other

better. Meow doesn’t seem to have much of a problem,
It is the brat kids, that are having problems sharing. Well,
not so much Rokon, she gives wide berth to Meow since
getting her face slapped.

SUMMER IS NOT GONE!!!!!! I refuse

2011-09-05T00:03:00.000-07:00

I refused to give up and say summer is over.
Over the years, summer started for us on May 30th
and Labor Day signaled it was over. But I refuse…refuse
You hear, refuse to say that summer is over. It was late
getting here, by not showing up until first week of July.
That gives us July, and August… we were robbed a month,
so I demand to get one more month before I will think of
letting go.

We still have the lake to enjoy. We only had the boat out
one day this year. Ok, Ok, so that is our fault with our project taking up weekends. But even the King didn’t
get to start work until mid June.. where it is usually the
end of April. So it has been work, projects, and then finally
August.. we are done, but he is still working… and some how
August flew by. Seems like it just started. I demand a recount. Surely there is more days left.

I know, Indian Summer will come, but that isn’t the same.
Indian Summer has cold mornings and foggy mornings.. and
the sun burns it off by 11am. I want 5am sun.. (that already is gone) I want coffee on the deck still at 6am.. and not wrapped up in a blanket to enjoy it.

I WANT SUMMER BACK… well, at least this week will
be 90’s… but these 40’s early mornings make my lips turn blue.

Players Show of Emotions....

2011-09-01T00:31:00.000-07:00

Recently a football player and his team were penalized for him showing emotion of pointing to the sky…after a goal was completed. What kind of a society are we promoting when a young man can’t show some kind of emotion.. (see a friend of his had died in a car accident…) and it was his way of saying this one if for you. What is wrong with that?

What does that have to do with the rules of football? Actually it has been a long standing rule (well, recently standing one). I think the reason they used was, that it wasn’t fair to the other team to show excitement for making a goal. EXCUSE ME??? I am sorry but for years, heck for centuries people have been emotional about being able to do something… like winning. Be it a foot race, motorcycle race, horse race, car race, baseball run, well, you get the picture… so when and what cynic made up the rule for football players couldn’t.

This particular one was just pointing up to the sky. What the heck is wrong with that. Is the other team going to be offended? I say NOT… even the other team probably would have said the same.. especially if they knew why the young man did it… besides why punish the whole team for one person.. wouldn’t it be more in line to put the player in the sidelines for x amount of time? But still punishing one for a sign of emotion, is well not only depressing, but..assine.

But take it farther… the professionals dance, chest slam each other, and etc.. SO WHAT??… first of all, it is over in seconds. Second, the excuse that it isn’t fair to the other team, they get offended.. oh, for Christ sake (oops that is probably not political correct either). What kind of a mammy pammy group are we raising here? These are rough tough fighting football players… they are out there to slam down, push down, in your face players. AND THEY GET OFFENDED BY A VICTORY DANCE OR SHOW OF EMOTION? OH…GIVE…ME.. A …BREAK!!!!!!

These Boots are made for Walking...

2011-08-31T03:29:00.000-07:00

These boots are made for walking…
Actually for walking, climbing ladders, standing
on platforms holding boards up… and many other
things.
I love these boots. They not only fit comfortable, but they
give me stability, especially when I am working.. Make me
sure footed.
They are my work boots mostly, but I could walk quite a
ways in them as well… some might even call them hiking boots, but I am not much of a hiker anymore.. Maybe I
should be.
And if I am posting about my comfortable work boots, you
know I don’t have much to blog on. So go out and enjoy the
day, I am.. And this is the last day of August… so little time
left of su

Let me know who the survivors are....

2011-08-30T03:34:00.000-07:00

When my kids were young and they use to fight with each
other all the time, as kids will do… one time my girlfriend
asked me…don’t you worry about them fighting.. I said no,
it the fights don’t last long each of them.. and besides I just
wait until the survivor comes out and tells me what is going on…

Well, politics is somewhat like that this years… I have decided to
do other things than listen to the rants of the different politicians.
I will just wait until next June and check out the survivors.

Here in our own little state and even locally there isn’t anything
going on, no heated debates or allegation. Maybe they are waiting
as well… Our state, be it state or local, is pretty flaming red, so
the other side rarely ever gets to get into heated debates..
In fact most of the fighting lately seems to be within the Republican Party itself.

The Wind and Fools....

2011-08-29T03:55:00.000-07:00

Coming from hurricane country myself, I know
you have to have a lot of respect for it..
You don’t try to beat the hurricane.. it just isn’t
wise. The worse part is that these fools endanger
other people …good hearted people, because they
have to go out and try to rescue these fools.

It is one thing to go and watch a storm.. but you
do it from a safe distance. Being on the shore,
on the rocks near by, is just down right stupid..
Not dumb.. but stupid. And that is why we ended
up with dead people. 90 percent of the people who
die in a hurricane could have been prevented.

But no, the fools think they can drive thru it.
Don’t heed the weather report. Think the warnings
are for other people.

Trees can be replanted, houses can be rebuilt.
It is material things.. give it up.. if you can’t take
it with you while you run for higher ground.. leave
it behind..You have plenty of warning.. the Weather
Service is quite good at predicting these things.
And usually with 4 days to a week warning.

Yes, sometimes the hurricane does go out to
sea, but it is better to go, and be safe than sorry.

So when I see television reports being blown side
ways or what ever.. (think Dan Rather about 10 years
ago) I think what stupid person would risk their lives
just to show the wind and rain?
Surely they must think more about their children and
family, because that station could care less if you end up
in the hospital or worse, because you decided to hang on
to a lamp post to show how much wind is blowing..

Or your family could care less if you have a great picture
of the wind and rain, that is in your camera.. when they
claim your belongings.. Get real people.. life is too fragile to waste it

I am truly baffled...

2011-08-25T00:08:00.000-07:00

As I have written before… we, meaning the King and I, are the best
garbage compactor, you can’t buy. Those who read my post often, know that means we have an on going competition of who is going to take out the kitchen garbage to the cans in the bin outside. And in order not to be the one, you just push the garbage down in the can, just enough so the next person has to take the garbage out. Which could be up to at least 2 days, if you are good at it.. and we are. I know, I know, it is petty. But it is the principal of it.. And I will own up to it, I am the most petty of the two of us. How do I rate myself that? Well, the King has a saying, “inside work women’s work, and outside work is men’s work”. So one day when I insisted that he take out the garbage, as he was pushing it down… he repeated his words. To which I took the garbage bag out of the inside can, and tied it off… and put it outside on the back porch… looked at him.. said “well, it is outside now… men’s work”. I know, I know.. petty. This is all in good fun.. no one is mad at anyone.

But I have to say I am baffled about dishwashers. I looked in my instruction books from front to back and I did not see one place where a man’s hand can not work the door on such dishwasher. I get up in the morning (the King is up and gone by 4:30am and it is against my body functions to be up at that hour) and on the counter above the washer, is his dishes. This is just 4 inches away from the handle that opens the door to the washer. Same thing happens at night. UNLESS, I leave the door open after I put my dishes into it. Then he will put them in the washer. And
some times closes it. Sometimes not, as he says, “well, I didn’t know if you were done yet or not”.

And open, to take out the clean dishes…FORGETABOUTIT… not even going to there, girlfriend… but it sure would be nice if he put the dishes in.
Although one time… one time, he started it up… I about fainted.

Waste of my time....

2011-08-24T00:44:00.000-07:00

I am finding there is a lot of things that are wasting my time…
Politics, computers.. (ok, so maybe I should say servers)
But I am tired of reading about politics… what is becoming the
looney farm… and tired of waiting for my dial up so I can get
done with my emails and etc.

Some one told me many, many years ago, that life after 65 is
like a roll of toilet paper… (got that vision? It has stayed with
me forever) Why toilet paper? Because as it gets to the end,
it goes away faster…

So wasting my time with politics, when it won’t even really matter until
next fall.. or even June or when ever they have their party show called
Conventions. So why should I watch this reality show called the crazys of politics?

So I am getting more impatient with what I want to do with my
time. I can handle winters being times of watching the snow fall
and reading a good book or magazine, with a cup of tea.

But I got to say, that beautiful weather like we are having this year.
With the average being 80’s and mornings of high 40’s and low 50’s.
Not too hot, not too cold.. Well, I just can find better things to do with
my toilet paper roll life.

So when you are this far into the post… I got to say, get outside..
Enjoy the day.. make the most of it.. as it is fleeting…

I don't know which one is worse...

2011-08-23T00:42:00.000-07:00

You all are idiots… you pound your chest as you run up and down the aisle in Congress touting how great your party is… and ha ha we won… you lost… You seem to think it is all about your party. That is all 3 of your parties… because Democrats did it when they won, the Republicans did it when they won, and now we have the Tea Party blowing like a whale hole.

It isn’t, so called ladies and gentlemen..( because you aren’t acting like ladies and gentlemen). You are acting like pompous asses. Get your head out of your backsides..
IT IS A ABOUT AMERICA… IT IS ABOUT AMERICANS… THE COUNTRY.. NOT political parties… so get over yourselves.

Get back to work for what you are suppose to be doing there. Protecting the AMERICAN PUBLIC. Not by throwing money.. pull in your spending, get jobs going.

Start off with downsizing yourselves…you have asked us to do it for years.
You set off the rolling ball of cutting back wages.. Let’s start with yours. Give up 10% of your wages…give up 10% of your benefits (still not as much as the country is giving up). Get rid of the lobbyist. Ring in the companies who ran to other countries to make products… and run under our flag for tax breaks.. Any American company who makes a product out of the country, should have to abide by the same rules as the companies at home. For wages, rules and regs. And if it isn’t made here, they you pay the tariffs and taxes like any foreign country does…Because it IS made outside of our nation. You don’t make it here.. you don’t provide jobs, HERE .. you don’t deserve an breaks…

Let’s make it once again about us… Companies that don’t want to go by
the rules our companies do here.. can buy back the buildings they dumped and make it here. And countrymen, buy American.. as you have seen on television news all you have to do is buy a couple of things American made. IN THE USA.. it makes a big difference… and will boost the economy more than anything else. So start thinking about AMERICANS, Congress. Forget your petty stuff…

Angels in one's life

2011-08-22T00:56:00.000-07:00

Every once in a while an angel appears in the form of a person.
I was lucky enough to have two.. My Aunt Harriet… and one who
I chose to call, my Aunt Jo…

In this picture you see her with her sweetheart, that she married.
He got the best of the deal… Herbie, was in our family for years.
Neighbor, starting with his dad and him. Then after he was in the
service he got the thankless job of babysitting two brats of my
mother’s. My brother and I.

In 1954 or so… he brought an angel to a Thanksgiving dinner that
he always attended single… So we were excited to see this new
person in his life. And we approved wholeheartedly. And my mother
Is far from a push over.

After any big dinner… actually big or small… I was the lone dish
washer. Being 4 years older, and the only girl.. (Dad wasn’t keen on
boys doing dishes, so my brother didn’t do them until I left home).
So this dinner wouldn’t be any different than any of the past. But then again it was… Usually the adults head to the living room and my brother and I would clean off the table and I did the dishes… But this time was to be different… and I fell in love with Aunt Jo… See when I started with the task of washing the glasses and heading to the dishes, Jo stepped into the kitchen and said… “I will wash if you will dry. Because you know where all the things go… And that was the beginning for a great friendship and earned her the name of Aunt Jo. Which sad to say, I didn’t give to her until about 20 years ago. Herbie was never given the name of Uncle… don’t know why. He surely earned it..As he was the closes to a sibling for my mother, the only child.

Over the years, Herbie and Jo had a special place in my heart. You
would be hard pushed to find a more gentle man than Herbie. He
was very instrumental in my growing up… Sticking up for me, when
Mom would go thru one of her rants. Hired me to sell balloons at
parades that he use to do as a hobby… even selling things at charity carnivals, that he use to do the hit the bell for those who thought
they were the strongest.

As life went by and I left R.I…. Herbie and Jo were always on my mind.
Even though I was a lousy letter writer. They were the closest friends of
my parents… and were there, when Mom passed away, for my Dad. When
ever I returned to R.I. a visit with them was a must, if I did nothing else.
The King got to meet them both, and love them as much as I do. And
he earned a nickname from Jo… the Teddy Bear…

So here we are years later… and I print out every blog post with pictures
for my Aunt Jo, as she doesn’t do computers… Every month or two, I will
send it off for her to read with her friend Lucy. They are my biggest fans. Now, Lucy is in poor health, and Aunt Jo still reads the blog pages.

And this year… on this date.. we celebrate a great day… see 80 years
ago, an angel was born… HAPPY BIRTHDAY, AUNT JO… love you.. and
thanks for helping out that 15 year kid so many years ago..

So just who do you want?

2011-08-18T00:12:00.000-07:00

Friends, this country is going to be in a world of hurt come next
Summer…leading into fall to November.

I sit here and watch the news, and read the paper, and I have to tell you,
that as one of the main person’s in the Cafeteria Party, we are in trouble.
(for those who don’t read my blog enough to know who the Cafeteria Party is, those are the people who won’t have anything to do with the Democrat Party or the Republican Party and don’t want to be thrown in with the other, for lack of a better word.. kinder word, the off center other parties either) We, of the Cafeteria Party, are on a diet. As the pickings on either side as we walk down the middle are thin and without substance.

So you all out there, don’t want Obama at all. Ok, then whom do you really want? You surely can’t be serious about 98 per cent of Republicans. The only two that are of serious contention is Romney and Cain. And they probably don’t have a chance in hell, with the Tea Party taking over the Republican party… which makes me wonder.. why don’t they just run on their own party?. like the Democrats, Republicans, Independents, and Libertarians, do.. why do they feel they have to commandeer the Republicans Party? They hang in there like an abscess

But so far, I don’t see anyone I am voting for. NOT ONE… and 98% of them are down right scary… and can’t believe that people with common sense are following these people.