$500 worth of peace in the neighborhood 

Victims

Victims....far reaching....

When there is a crime there are victims.
But there are usually outlaying victims.
Ones that people don't know about.

Recently there was such a murder in the
Tri-cities area. There was the mother and
two children, that you read in the paper.
But also there was the grandfather who
found them. And then the knowledge of
the fact it was his child that allegedly who
did the crime. So he has become a victim.

The parents on the other side are the victims.
The friends and family that go to the wake
today are the victims.

And beyond that you have her fellow
workers, and her customers who talked
to her each time they went to the store
where she worked.

And even further, is the last day of this
lady's life. There was an incident, where
strangers were helping her. Who let her
go with her husband and children. They
are victims as well, as now they question
themselves, did they do enough. Did they
see something and didn't recognize it, and
if they had, would she still be alive?

New Blogger and My frustration with making link list.

I apologize for the scrabble eggs of my links... on the side.
after trying 3 times for about 30 minutes at a time. I give up for now... it is either that or I smash the dang computer.
I have gone to the template and put almost 2 inches of space between each of these links...I have tried putting the name of the blog between them with the space. And what you see is what it came out with. So until my nerves calm down, and I get back from working in the garden to calm my nerves....lol... what you see ... is what you will get.

They are good links... there is a new one there. One of my friends has started a blog. After being badgered for months, she gave into me, and has started one. She has a great subject. Grandparents raising grandchildren. Of which she is one of the ones I mention in my blog of last week. So go check it out. Start at the bottom and work your way up. And give her some slack as she is just starting out, as you can see it would take a few days to bring up something new. But now that she has started about her situation from the beginning she is talking off flying. She gives a real insight. It is called DOING IT AGAIN.

Guess I will watch Anything

Here I thought I was doing so well with
what I watch on television. I am not a
television snob. I do not watch only PBS.
But the shows have gotten so bad, or I am
getting so old. The shows seem to be geared
towards the 12 to 28 age group. And I left
that group so many years ago.

I like the magazine shows, 20/20, 60 Minutes,
Primetime, Dateline and such. And
that depends on the subject. And even
those I get turn off. I think it was Primetime
a couple weeks ago, we watched. It had the
Paula Abdul story on. I thought it would be
the usual 20 minutes and then have something else.
There was about 5 minutes of story there
that they stretched over an hour! Boring...
I walk thru from time to time to see if they
had changed the subject yet, as Sweetie was
watching. They didn't. I view these programs
as entertainment, as facts aren't always their friend.
I guess I am getting to be such a cynic, you
know believe a quarter of what you hear and
half of what you see.

But last week and I promised myself I wasn't
going to watch it this week, is a show called
Dancing with the Stars. My draw on to this
program was the Seinfeld actor. Well, watching
these Stars(?) dance with the pro's was like
watching a car wreck. You just can't turn your
head away. The stars dance with pros. And
some of these men pros ...wow, what premadona's...
wow...

Holyfield may be a great fighter, but on the
dance floor, well, it was almost like watching
Elaine dance on Seinfeld. And you know how
bad that was. So while watching the East Coast
programs, I stayed away. But then it came
time to switch to West Coast programs. And
there it was, 10 minutes into the program. I went
"oh, no. Oh, well, I will watch and see who
gets bounced off."

Like the Idol, they like to draw it to the end.
Poor losers had to dance again. If I was
one of them (and I do have two left feet or
I think 3 right) I would have wanted off at
the beginning. And once again, Holyfield
struggled thru it. And there were a couple
woman that were not light on their feet.
And judges, well, they make Simon sound
like a cheerleader. Then the vote off. Finally.


My jaw fell, when they kept Holyfield along with
a few others. I mean after all, as a dancer
Holyfield is a great boxer. Oh, well. Am I going
to watch next week. I hope not. I will make
sure my sweetie is still up and has the control.
But then that isn't any good either as he loves
American Idol, and I am sure he will love
this one. I will try to find something to do, like
clean out the lint in the washer. But it is like
the car wreck, you say you won't look, but you do..

Changes of scenes and Ideas

Today on my walking round, there is a change.
I had two senior citizens that would wave to
me every morning when I went by. You
would be surprised at how much that
makes your day.

They lived on the corner by the newly
built Home Depot. While this did not
please them, (they have lived there for
many years) it was doable. Then an
enterprising young man asked them if
they would be interesting in selling their
home, as he would like it for an office. So
this past weekend they moved in to Sandpoint.

I looked at the well taken care of lawn and
the buckets of flowers, and felt sad. I always
like this house, way back before Wal-mart,
K-mart and Home Depot come to surface.
It has big windows on the East side. Giving
almost a greenhouse effect. It is partly made
of brick. It was a nice combination. And I
am sure the young man who bought it will
think so. But I will miss the couple.

On the other side of things, I was walking
with my cd/radio combo and listening to
one of the morning shows, Daybreak or something
like that. They had an author who wrote a
book named, I think, Religion and the Soldier,
or something like that. One of many subjects
the author talked about was the ACLU is trying
to get the military to keep God at bay. Something
about a lawsuit at Virginia's Military Institute among
others. I sure hope he is wrong. Among the many
things we should be sending with our troops is
the love of God. How else can you go to war and I
realize this is a yeng and yang of live, but what
soldier isn't praying as he goes about his duties?
Even in the bible, God has his army.

And if this is true, then this is another one of
ACLU outrageous courts deals. You know I think
it is time that the majority got a lawyer, and
sued the ACLU for being offensive to our rights.
For infringing on our rights. The ACLU may have
been a good idea when it first started, I don't
remember when it started, but it sure has gone
way past where they should be. I wonder, has
anyone ever sued them, for infringing on our rights?
Make a heck of a Class act suit.

Council Meetings and Discisions

Higher and higher... taxes, permits, insurance,
more needed for the fire dept. more needed for
the inspectors, and more needed for the sheriff as
we become bigger. . More inspectors needed....
higher and higher we go.

Decisions, and more decisions. Do we want
duplexes, do we want more commercial properties.
What do we want for our small little town.
Those of us who are old timers want it to
stay the same. But the new comers are coming
and progress (?) is coming.

Rules and regulations, where do we stop,
or should we do more. How do we make it
safe for all, without over taxation. With services,
comes more taxes. Running and hiding won't
do any good. Burying our head into the ground
is not logical. Selling out to go where? Do you
really think it is better on the other side of the
state, or state line?

For so long we have had our paradise. We have
had it quiet, but the traffic is getting to be more
and more. Where do all these people come from?
What once was just a little quiet town, now has
traffic jams from 7:15 to 8:30 am. going by our
streets, on the highway. Do we put up more business
to help get some of that money going by, or do
we want to put up a fence of sorts and hope they
don't see us and travel right by us?

All these are questions that a council have to
answer. And to be honest it is a tough decision.
A tight rope to have to walk. The innocents of a
small town is slowly drifting away. The rope has to
be walked, so that the town can keep a handle on
the smallness that we all love. And hope and pray
that we don't step off or misstep, and the new rules
don't runaway with our little town. And we just become
a strip mall that is a mile long, along the highway.

I am glad I am not a council person. But I am a
concern taxpayer, as I watch the changes, the decisions
to be made. I am just one small voice and even I don't
know where to draw the line.

19...6 in Marriage

19 years together, 6 of them married.

As my sweetheart in life and I were out
celebrating Saturday night, day before our
anniversary, we stopped by Ivano's to see
his sister and have a glass of wine.

One of the waitress that looks like she is
about 22 said she had to ask us a question
that she likes to ask older couples. What
makes the marriage work?

My quick answer and my sweetie agreed.
A good sense of humor. We have to be able
to laugh at ourselves before we can laugh at
others. And we can usually find humor even
in our darkest of times.

See our first 6 years in to our relationship
was the hardest. But we made it in style
because we always stuck together. It was ALWAYS
us against the situation. No matter who or what.

My sweetie had some real turbo times after his
business fell apart. So going back to the work
force and having a boss, was not easy. Not so
much as he didn't fit in. It was more to the fact
of him finding out where. The job he had before
he started his own business, had major lay-offs.
So it was like starting over. He worked as a truck
driver for a logging company. Meaning starting
at 2am and heading up to the woods landing area,
to be first in line. Hauling all day long getting in
at least 3 loads and then heading home, coming in
at 11 pm. He took that for 5 months and knew he
couldn't keep it up anymore. His immune system
was telling him, he needed more sleep. He did a part
time job, and then got on with a truck repair company.
That lasted 5 years and then found a job with the
school system. In those years of ups and downs, we
made it. Family illness ran thru those years on both
sides. But we stuck together. On the lowest of low
nights, we hugged each other. We cried together and
we laughed together. We saw marriages, of friends,
sister,and children. We saw death of family and friends.
Always side by side.

So you see, now is the icing on the cake. Not to say
lows can't come back, but we know that as long as
we have each other .... we can do it. Kind of a corny
saying but true. Is our relationship perfect? Heck, no.
He drives me crazy with his practical jokes, which took
me a few years to ignore and not get caught in them.
And I drive him nuts with my laid back, logical attitude.
And of course there are some times I am a witch, but
he loves me anyway.
He brings me flowers for no reason at all. He hugs
me a lot.
He is a great cook. He does the holiday cooking, and
is known for his Red Rice dish. When I worked, he
would cook dinner on his days off.

We have pet names, but not the usual. He has
Margaret for me, (in fact 3 years ago, the newly
moved in neighbor thought my name was Margaret
and put it on our Christmas card.) Which is after
the commercial about the old ladies entering the
highway, when one of the ladies says to the lady
driver.... "Hit it Margaret". Which my sweetie
yelled at me one time when I was at a stop sign
and it has stuck.
I have for him, Jose... When he was going
in to put in for unemployment about 15
years ago, he didn't have his Social Security
card with him. So they wouldn't let him start
the claim until he brought it in, even though
he knew his number by heart. So as we are in
the parking lot getting into the car, I said loudly,
"Well, Jose if you brought your green card, we
wouldn't have this problem." You don't want to
know the look I got from him, just before we both
started to laugh.

See, sense of humor is the answer.
Besides that... he is a great guy. And God has blessed me well.

SLUGBUG ORANGE with Yellow stripe

I suppose every town has a car that is more noticeable than others. But it seems like they are really unusual.

Ours, the orange with a yellow stripe V.W. bug is just your usual beat up V.W. Nothing unusual about it. But it is every where. And because it does have the yellow stripe going from front to back, you know it is that V.W. As there are other orange bugs in our town.

The bug reminds me of the Timex ad, you know the part about no matter what it keeps on ticking.
I encountered it about 8 years ago. At that time I had taken or retrieved my grandson from Farmin School, I would see it zip thru the family parking line. Always full of kids.

Over the years I have seen it around town. I think they must live up Hwy. 200 past Kootenai as I see it heading to town in the morning as I walk and heading home in the evening.

Some one who drives it has worked at Safeway, at the movie theater, and several other places. I have seen it parked in the employee part of Safeway during the day. And across the street from the theater in the evenings.

I have seen a teen boy driving it with younger children, in the past year, so it looks like Orange is doing well with the next generation, as well. All though I have see Mom and Dad driving it and once saw it at the grocery store.

And of course it is the highlight of my grandson's (who is now 14) and mine game of SLUGBUG as we get double points for Orange with the yellow stripe.

Cell Phones

Cell phones drive me nuts. Yes, I have one.
So does my husband.

We got our first one years ago.. 1992 or
1993. It was one of those, that look like
a book and the cord was attached to the
case that had the battery. I still have it
around here somewhere.

We had a medium size motorhome at
the time. And no car with it. So we figured
we should have a cell phone incase we broke
down in the middle of nowhere. Let me rephrase
that. My husband said we should have one
in case we broke down somewhere. We had
that for about 5 years. I was happy with that.
It stayed in the car or the motorhome. Then we
got a towbar and towed our little pickup but
he kept the cell phone incase both of them died.

See how easy it is to talk wives into something
when you use the safety card. Then all his friends
got the cordless, cell. Well, he looked and looked
and he found one he really liked. And of course,
Air Touch (before Verizon) wanted to up date
us with what ever he would like to have, and it
would be FREE... free for the phone, but 2 years
rope on us. Oops that is called a contract.

Then we made it for 3 more years, then he
said there were nicer ones and really honey, I
want you to have one because.... here goes the
safety card again....... I worry about you driving
to work at night. You should have one so you
don't have to leave the car. And of course, it
all made sense, so the hook was planted once
again, for 2 more years... because the phones
were updated for FREE...

We stuck it out for the 2 years but I am here to
tell you those two phone (we tried a different
brand) were pieces of crap. His was in the shop
6 times in the 2 years. Mine spent more time
on the charger than it did anywhere else. They
were so bad, that when we updated again this
past year, I threw them away instead of turning
them in for abused women. I didn't want any
poor soul have to depend on them. This time
we got a brand name. And you guess it... it has
a camera... men and their gadgets.

Oh, yea, I almost got sucker in on a phone
conversation. You know those ones where someone
near you is talking on the phone and you think
they are talking to you. I was at the store and
this women behind me, says... "Friday, shopping,
I hate shopping don't you." I almost said something,
but as I turned around to look her in the face,
I saw the tell tale cord to her ear. Whew... almost.
Don't you just hate that. I sure do. I am afraid
to talk to a stranger anymore.

I get into hot water with my cell phone. See I
forget it at home. Sometimes I remember to
bring it with me. But if I am in a restaurant or
any place like that, I turn mine off. And being I
am not real good at electronics' I can't retrieve
my messages. But I have learn to look under
recent calls. That is if I remember to see if anyone
called. I like it in the old days where people
didn't know where I was. But I have found one thing
they are good for. I stepped mine up for a couple
bucks more and now I can call anyone in the USA
for free on weekends. Now that is worth having it for.
But have to laugh when I get the bill, mine number
has anywhere from 10 to 15 calls on it. My husband?
130 to 150 calls. And they call women gabbers. Hah!

Seatbelts...and do Husbands Listen?

Seatbelts....and do Husbands listen to public
announcement commercials?

First let me say, I hate seatbelts. For the
longest time it was hard because I felt trapped.
But I got use to using the lap strap ones.
Then they came out with the harness one
called shoulder strap. I am short. I can't help
this, it is an ancestor thing. It is in the genes.
So the shoulder strap goes across my neck,
like a slow slicing dull knife. I have fought
this for years. I thought I had solved the
problem by putting the shoulder strap under
my arm. Did this for quite a few years.

Until to my horror, I read Dave Olivera's
Huckleberry column and saw that someone's
daughter, I believe it was, was ticketed for
just such a thing. She was ticketed as if she
had no seat belt on. Which I don't know how
the officer came up with that, being she had
it on. Is there a part of that law, that says you
can be ticketed for improper use of a seatbelt?

About that time I saw in Harriet Carter
catalog, a seat belt clip. It clips on your
seatbelt and pulls the shoulder part over
just enough to keep it from slicing your neck.
I order 6! Why 6? Because I am a passenger
as well as a driver. So two of my Bronco, one
for his truck (I don't drive that) and one for
my daughter and one for just in case. Gave
one to a friend also. While it isn't the easiest
to keep in place, it does work.

Now, let's skip to the commercial. Have you
see the public announcement commercial for
Click it or Ticket, with the young man in the
convertible? You know he is driving along
happy as can be, when up pops his mother in
the back seat, observing he isn't wearing his
seat belt, and says "Well, you might just as
well run with scissors" which another woman
pops up and says, "Have you ever seen what a
windshield does to your head?" Which brings
another pop up of Death taking his long fingernail
across his own throat, which bring a police officer
along side, writing out a ticket for $110. The
guy says, "A HUNDRED AND TEN DOLLARS",
which pops up a judge along side of him,
slamming down the gravel, saying "GUILTY!"
Which brings another man next to the judge
who says "AND YOUR INSURANCE POLICY
JUST WENT UP"....all of this in a matter of a minute.

Now you would think the average man would
catch on to that. And my guy, is the average
guy, has seen this, I know for a fact as I was
sitting in my chair next to him. But then again
he does fall asleep easy. lol... He has the theory
of you don't have to use your seatbelt unless
you leave town. And has made the remark a
couple of times as I am buckling up as we are
leaving the driveway. So what is the point of all this?

Guess who went to Wally World (wal-mart to rest of you)
on Memorial Day and came back with a ticket for .........
you guessed it... not wearing a seat belt.

Which by the way, thank the lucky stars as Idaho is cheaper than Washington State. So far