Friday, July 31, 2009

Did you ever feel...

Now anyone of you may have had this experience where you felt that you may have stopped thinking about the ramifications of what you did or said? Not psychotic behavior by any means or without compassion, just silly stuff?

I’m talking short of something slanderous or libelous or lacking legal judgment, what I mean is the problem that I have had most of my life called foot and mouth disease. For those who, probably mostly men, still don’t know what I mean is because men never ever feel badly about whatever they might blurt out without thinking ahead! (And there I go again…ooops! So what, I say! That is so freeing!)

So now if you have been paying attention you have more than likely realized what I meant all you women did, right? Right, no guilt here anymore; I may say stupid things at times but I own them! We all should. So I am apologizing right now for any future bloopers, bleeper’s or what have you or not.


I am sorry to say that our paid for auto does fall into the clunker class since it only gets only 17 MPH city/ 22 MPH Hwy (Believe it or not I saved the original book with the original paperwork that was on the window! I kept it on the bookcase in our guestroom,), but we own it outright and don’t go that far or to too many places, doesn’t that help somewhat? We only fill it once a month. Plus I don’t really think taking on additional debt is what we want or need at this time.

The program has now been extended, oh yes it has!
Two more billion has been approved for the program although many dealerships have not received notification, and that is where there is some controversy and current rub. Many have shut down their sales of the new vehicles with not taking in the clunkers until verified the system is still in check (moola) for them, because they would be libel for the money; can’t really blame them, can we? But seriously the first 1B was supposed to support the first 250K cars and now this additional amount it would stand to reason cover 500K more.

News in this evening reports with live pictures that a 17 foot Python has been shot and killed in Okeechobee County!
It was two feet in circumference and weighed more than 200 pounds, yikes! In case you are wondering where this location in Florida is, it is near Lake Okeechobee that big lake in the southern middle of our state, but still quite a distance from the Everglades, uh oh they are spreading! But we Floridians knew that.

Most of the country appears to be topsy-turvy, weather wise that is; the northwest is seeing 100 + temperatures and the northeast is seeing rain cooling nearly daily for months, plus vicious tornadoes? And here, we are rain poor on this southwest coast of Florida; down…would you believe with needing still nearly a foot of rain for this which is our rainy season? Our temperatures have been fairly normal 70’s overnight with high 80’s to 90’s during the day. We do get drizzle but the rest of this state has had much, much more than us.

The shuttle landed safely on our space coast this morning and I was in our pool when I heard the sonic boom. Thankfully, it did, we saved a bundle again.

I made myself a promise to try and go into our backyard in-ground pool at least three times a week, and I have completed this first week successfully! As some may know I was a certified Aquacize instructor for many years and do know what to do for ROM, which is range of motion exercises. I guess the fact that rain has been scarce, especially in the mornings when I utilize my facility is a plus. Our usual rain pattern does come in the afternoon that was the way it has always been, but of recent years it has not adhered to that exactness. It was almost like clock-work you could set your watch by it, but I guess hurricanes and El Ninos and La Ninas have changed it somewhat.

On that additional info I will bid you all a good night and to all count those blessings and be safe, and I will too!

Thursday, July 30, 2009

The day has been a quiet one for me...

How has your day been? As I said above in the title; it has been a very quiet day for me.

Minor ills have slowed my day tremendously, but I will spare you the boring details this evening.

We did have one interesting thing happen this afternoon two Sears’s people rang our doorbell to let us know that Sears has many services available to people for different needs. They were referring to repairs and taking care of our appliances, and heating and air-conditioning systems if need be. Fortunately, my hubby is so handy we have never needed to hire anyone, and he let them know he takes care of it all. Actually, we are familiar with all that they offer since we have been customers for as long as we can remember, especially for their appliances. But this door to door sales pitch for a business like theirs was new and slightly off-putting?
The two representatives did have the proper badges ala ID to verify who they are, but still I cannot remember a time when this company ever did this sort of thing.

And we did hear back from my teaching cousins via email today; they are both doing well and my magician cousin is doing his magic act at an arcade that his friend owns near where they live, and his wife plays the slots while he entertains the guests! So they are enjoying themselves although not going hither and yon as usual for this time of year for them.

This evening is the meeting of the president, the professor, and the police officer for beer and a friendly chat. The media is calling it a beer summit but of course that is way too over the top, as their usual can be.

At the bottom of my Blog some of you may have noticed that you now have the option to comment immediately on what you read in my Blog by just checking one of the boxes with how it made you feel or think. Please take advantage of this new feature so I can get your feedback. I can tell that you all have been reading this by my hit numbers which will be nearly 5500 by this evening I do believe. You see somehow the number counter got put back to zero a few months ago by accident at that time it was over 4500, and tonight it shows about 950, so you do the math, and thanks.

Just a few safety reminders: Today a 44 year old died because his boat was not properly jacked up to transfer it to his trailer and so it fell on him! Please people always have someone with you and make sure you have reliable jacks big enough for the project you’re working on.
Secondly: Last night a 20 month old drowned in a canal behind his home because his parents took their eyes off of him for just moments; the baby had opened the door and went out all by himself! Toddlers and infants need to be watched constantly especially near water.

We have had 31 deaths from the Swine Flu, H1 N1 in this state, and so who hasn’t worried that every time they feel under the weather that it could be that? Unfortunately, I am one of the people that meet the illness's criteria, 40-64 with chronic illness; others are all children, young adults and healthcare givers and workers. And so everybody wash those hands, cover your mouth and get the inoculations when they become available!

And whatever you do; DO NOT TEXT AND DRIVE!!!

On that informative blurb I will bid you all a goodnight and to all count those blessings and I will too!

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Come on down!

Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York is handling his homeless problem by buying 550 families a one way ticket to…places: like Florida, North Carolina, Georgia, and Puerto Rico!
Well! That’s one way to handle it.
But did he even consider how un-neighborly that seems to us in the states that many New Yorkers travel to, to get away from their harsh winters; lets’ just call many of them dual citizenships?
I must add a caveat to this I have nothing against the homeless, since there for the grace of the almighty it could be me or mine, but some things like people…Mayor Bloomberg … it's best not to export for your inability to know how to handle their situations and cruel!

Florida personally has many of its own homeless and taking on more is not exactly the way we would like to share our scarce local governmental resources and state finances as well as not having very many facilities to deal with warehousing or housing the homeless that we already have; thank you very much!

Perhaps, he felt that we have the best weather year round…true but sometimes we do not… Summers of 2004-05 come to mind, remember sir? It’s never too hot or too cold, well not for too long anyway.

Jobs are another problem down here, our unemployment has reached double digits, but our foreclosures are slowing, and that’s only because the banks are giving homes away for a song and a dance!

Maybe we could find something in the rustling business of Iguanas and Pythons, but that would have to make them self employed. A man on the news tonight has written a cookbook; George Cera from Sarasota Florida and more than likely will need more Iguanas since this cook book is all recipes for that reptilian meat, yuck!
Both of the above species have overrun the state and have become nuisances and are non-indigenous species! Mr. Cera disposed of over 16K just on Boca Grande alone; they were eating native species such as the gopher turtle, and others of similar rarity.
The count on the Pythons that all originated from pets that got to be too big so they were given their freedom are 150K just in the Everglades, which to me is mind boggling!

And so licensing has been made available to euthanize or to dispose of them or capture them and freeze them into perpetuity!

So there you have it… the bad, the good, and the ugly in our state, so come on down!

On that reality check, good night to all and to all count those blessings and I will too!

PS The men’s beer night out has been scheduled for Thursday night, and preferences have already been delivered to the powers that be of what kind, which is all different and as different as each of the men, what a surprise!

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

So it happened again...

Ha, ha, ha, I did it again! I published with just the title.
Funny thing about concentration on what you are doing and eye hand co-ordination...you either got it or you don't!

But the actual thing that I was referring to in the title happening again was getting an annoyed person’s dirty look and feeling that I was in their way while shopping at the warehouse club with hubby this morning.
The man said under his breath you gotta take up the whole isle?
I was on my scooter and my hubby was in front with the shopping cart, mostly full of the paper goods that we stock up on every few months or so, and we both looked at each other and you could definitely see that there was more than enough room for the person to get through; he was just another uncompassionate idiot that saw a fat woman on a scooter and assumed that I was a lazy SOB, more than likely.
These people don’t even look you in the eye to speak; they are cowards who just assume, and would never give anyone a benefit of a doubt.

It’s not easy any time, anywhere in life for anyone these days.
Everyone should be more humane and understanding.
But apparently they are not… our local news just ran a horrendous story about horses being killed for their meat right across our state just outside of the Miami area, horrible! They are not just slaughtering them like a butcher would; they are slow killing them brutally with lack of knowledge that we in America do not eat horse meat or for who knows what reasons.
What is this world coming to?
Every week more injustices continue to occur; people are losing it.

My cousin in Virginia sent me an email today that was quite hysterical by showing how stupid some are by just not getting it.
But the more I thought about it the more I realized that how sad that truly was, but this is something I have been thinking about since Jay Leno’s commercials took to the airways with his old Jay Walking segment where he asks people on the street questions like, who lives at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, and the young woman responds with I have no idea he follows up with the question about Sponge Bob’s residence, which she oddly enough did know! Scary!
The question that I have been pondering is… should we actually enjoy and laugh at this stupidity? Or should we be more aware of this major very massive problem with people and say to them wouldn’t you like to know the correct answer so that you could be better informed?

As human beings on this planet should we really make fun of the stupid?
Or would we, as the more knowledgeable be wiser and kinder to teach when we see this wrong occurring?
I say that we make a pact today to stop stupidity in its tracks and prevent the spread by laughing at this horrid virus!
When we encourage it by chuckling at this behavior, mark my words that you heard it here first that it will spread like a wildfire!
Unite America we must all do our part, and even me who at times have showed her dumber side I will respect all who intervene and stop me from being the fool.

On that note of silliness I will hope that you all do your part and hop on my latest bandwagon to cure the world, or perhaps just a small part of America of this erratic unpleasant and ignorant reality of our society.

Good night to all and to all count those blessings and I will too!

Monday, July 27, 2009

Oh no! Our Pres has gone folksy?

I love the guy but... why is he thinking that inviting a professor and a law enforcement officer to come on down to the Whitehouse for a beer is typical in today’s America? I do know it's for them all to make nice, nice, and just get the silly nastiness to stop.

I personally don’t like the taste of beer, and much rather prefer to imbibe a nice red wine, Pinot Noir, comes to mind.
OK, my hubby does enjoy the occasional beer, but he mostly prefers a tropical rum and coke, TUVM.

I am surprised that he assumed that a professor would like a beer; I would think a brandy might be more to the gentleman’s liking, but I suppose he did get the cop’s beverage correct, especially as a Bostonian peace officer. But there I go assuming too!

Just thought I would comment on the silliness that got out of hand as it so often does when the media gets their hands on anything with a hint of controversy and it’s a slow newsworthy day!
But when the persons involved are as exciting as our own President Obama and his longtime older friend who just so happens to be the professor involved, and an officer of the law... let’s just say, who is a different race, boy will they go like a dog with a bone every time and run with it!

In my opinion, now you can take it for what’s its worth, if the president just let it go after he realized he may have been a little too quick to expressed the stupidly reaction of the police officer comment, and that he felt it was a learning experience for us all. But…no he had to invite them both down to his home for a beer! Of course I do know it is really all of ours home, our Whitehouse, America’s home…mmm now if the Whitehouse really does belong to all of us, go with me here…logically…couldn’t all those homeless and about to become homeless foreclosure more than likely/possible people be able to just move in, since it does belong to all us Americans?

Any-who, with that invite of our dear sweet Mr. President now the media is all over that too…wanting to know when, where in the house (our house) and will other things be served with that beer? Yadda, Yadda, Yadda … and you see why now it should have been nipped in the bud before this latest media frenzy was allowed to begin!
Oh well… we can only hope that our other priorities will not be lying on the wayside due to …heaven knows what…how many beers they each had? Or perhaps who was served first? In my opinion when it's just men or just women age should take precedence over that decision, which means that an older person should be served first with respect.

And so now that you all know my political views on these volatile and important recent occurrences, as a fellow/ lady American I do feel that we must all express where we stand on issues that are brought to the forefront of our nation, ta da!

On that over the top ridiculous ranting I will bid you all a good night and to all count those blessings and I will too!

Sunday, July 26, 2009

Another quiet weekend...

And so since it was so quiet this weekend I decided it was a good time to think about some things that have been making me wonder…like how people whose salaries are in the millions and that are responsible for asking the questions that us lesser income souls have, us, average Joes and Janes with salaries and income let’s say under seven digits; how do they really have our best interests or concerns in their arsenal to act on our behalf?

Do you have any idea what I am referring to?
Simply put…news anchors.
They are the ones that interview all the politicos for our information to be discerned by our simple minds, we expect them to ask the hard questions of those people that we do not have access to, and come up with the answers from those untouchables that we need to know, and to really care for us and our needs.

But recently, I suppose it was just a lark, since whenever I am interested in different things these days I surf the net to come up with whatever I really would like to know, it used to be encyclopedias as a child, and so while looking up what everyone was stating about this, Seacrest fellow from American Idol receiving a raise up to 45M for three years of work and I started to think I would like to know what other TV personalities were making, and especially the ones that present us with our morning and nightly news. Now this is private industry and to my knowledge none of the afore mentioned asked for a bailout from us tax payers but I still wondered if their incomes would somehow make it more difficult for them to understand the need or sympathetic ear for, well, let’s just say something like health care reform, job creation, credit card bills, or for many the ways to save their foreclosed homes?

I just think that when you’re not really in the trenches it is difficult to relate. Many of these people have never seen hard financial times or had to decide whether to buy groceries or prescriptions.
In reality I think that interviews for the nitty gritty in life might serve the networks much better to invest in America, and ask the people to ask the hard questions in their Wal-Mart attire and Payless shoes who go there by driving their five year old compact car or maybe even a gas guzzler, that’s now worth 3500 or 4500 bucks but they have to pay down a 12K or more loan too now; when before they owned their clunker outright and now they’re in more debt?
Somethings gotta give, as the expression goes…

You see I did check on those cuties male and female that are on our networks doing the morning and evening news, and guess what?
The lowest salary I found was Barbara Walters at 4M but she gets additional monies when she does her specials, and she is let's say over 70 years young! Most of the ones that are listed that you all know get at least 10M a year, not exactly peanuts or can it be it is not enabling them to be relatable to us little guys and gals?
To access what I did just put in that person’s name and ask what their salary is; it worked for me.
It may get you wondering too.

Good night to all and to all count those blessings and I will too!

Saturday, July 25, 2009

I'm feeling better thank you very much!

I am much better than I was for the last few days. The problem I had was not a new one, since I was prepared to take care of it anyway that I could, and was taught what to do with previous occurrences of the same thing. At first it through me, I thought my shoulder and shoulder blade were in pain due to referral pain from my bad left shoulder, but this was emanating from the blade itself.
You see, that which previously has been caused by the bulging discs that are there between C4-5, C5-6, and lastly C6-7, and a slight narrowing in that area, and it has caused referral pain before. I have had this situation for many years and at times it does resolve itself, but I never wait. I immediately went into action with a warm shower then used the tens machine on where the pain was the worst. After a day of that not helping I decided I would try my soft collar and a sling for the left arm, but the sling was retro made, not a real one since my other real one is buried somewhere in one of the sheds since Hurricane Charley hit back in ’04! The problem was it was a scarf and it held my limb/arm too high up, and then I worried about the possibility of a frozen shoulder and I removed it, but left on the collar which will help to a point for realignment, but also can cause the muscles to weaken if worn too long.
I am gadget free this evening, although the pain still tweaks on occasion.

So much has happened since we last talked: President Obama has been squelched by the media for saying that a handling of a police situation was stupid, and so he says now that he is open minded from both points of view. Oh, OK, I see knee jerk reactions to what we think is not right when we hear the report with details missing is not OK to express? I think most Americans in their right minds agreed with you Mr. President; it did sound or appear all wrong how the professor was handled, and so thanks for being human!
Another reason to love the guy, a man in power who admits when he could have been wrong, wow what a concept!

The stock market is wowing us with going in the right direction, and increasing in positive increments; making us all feel that wee bit more hopeful!

Oddly enough with all the craziness with that Great White Heron making us wacko on Monday, after all was said and done…He has not been back since! LOL

Mom update: reports that have come back on my mother-in-law were all negative, thankfully! And she has been home from the hospital since Wednesday, but at my sister-in-laws, and called us from there.

On that pleasant note and I don’t want to overdue my first evening of compu-sitting (another Tobism), I will wish you a good night and to all of you count those blessings and I will too!

Friday, July 24, 2009

Hubby here, one more time

Tobi is still in a lot of pain, she feels very sad that she can’t sit at the computer and write. We all know that Tobi has a lot to say and its driving her crazy that she can’t put it into words.

We hope that she will back here tomorrow.

Hubby

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Hubby again

Hubby is posting this at my request:

I am unable to sit for any length of time at the computer due to my (3) neck disc bulges acting up and me needing to wear my soft collar which also causes exhaustion but relieves the pain in my neck and shoulders.

Maybe tomorrow night I will feel better – thanks, be patient please.

Tobi

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Hubby here.

Tobi is feeling under the weather tonight. Hopefully she will be back tomorrow night.

Hubby

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Being back on face book seems to have ...

Face book does seem to have a positive affect on this Blog since many friends and family parlay the use of both for my purposes, and thanks.

Did I mention that we finally received a decent dose of rain yesterday morning? I suppose with all the other excitement happening I neglected to keep you all informed. It was nearly an inch, wow!
Our rain barrel is happy, and so is my hubby since city water keeps going up in price with use here, but of course. We are not proud to say that the cost of residential water here in Florida is one of the highest in the country! I think only Hawaii beats us.

I may even go into my meteorology mode too soon since we have three suspicious tropical waves in the Atlantic Ocean, who knows?
But be sure you will hear it here first if development occurs! ((That’s for you out of state-ers)
We watch those puppies like they’re on our most wanted list when things start churning up!
Once bitten, ala not so ha, Hurricane Charley we are logically very cautious!

Not anything major…but it’s back…the rain that is! Yeah!
After all for all you northerners this is our rainy season, and we were getting gyped!

Well, right now we are getting more than our fair share, a deluge.
The expression be careful what you wish for comes to mind right at this minute. The cacophony of melodious sounds of moisture is drowning out the audio on the TV news, wow!

What do you all think about the new deals about getting cash for your clunker?
It’s for all vehicles less than 25 years old, and ones that get less than 18 MPG; if you meet the criteria you will get anywhere from 3500 to 4500 bucks for that car, and the offer runs till October. Another good offer for Americans that we cannot take advantage of, darn.
Same with the 8K tax write off for first time home buyers this year, but a good idea just the same for all you newbie’s.


I watched our commander and chief being interviewed by Meredith Vieira today on the Today Show this morning, and boy was she tough on the guy, but he held his own like always. I liked the fact that he has been listening, really still listening to all of us people who put him in office. It was evident by his responses on all the same issues that he’s been trying to settle since they were part of his promises during the election campaign.
And he is so right about his having a handle on how D.C. runs, and he seems to have an undeniable plan to not let them get the best of him, especially when they keep trying to make what he’s doing about him not America! He’s got it right people… but they keep trying to turn it all around, again and again. Gotta love the guy he’s staying on track.
So please politicos leave the guy alone; he knows what he’s doing for us, and most of us agree!

On that controversial comment; which is putting my political thinking on the line and out there to hear all the feedback?

I’m not that tough, so go easy on me, please!

And on that note I will bid you all a good night and to all count those blessings and I will too!

Monday, July 20, 2009

40th Anniversary, instincts and a very persistent Great White Heron

Today marks the 40th anniversary of the Apollo landing on the moon. I bet everyone who was around at that time remembers where they were when that momentous occasion occurred.
I was nineteen and at work at Lord & Taylor’s at that time, it was my summer job, as a floor manager since it was my summer off from LIM. And most likely saw it on the evening news.
For the children to get more information on this historic event may I suggest they go to: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/apollo/40th/index.html

Instincts are a very good thing and when you think something is wrong you know darn well that it is more than likely the case, and so when that gut feeling takes over it tells you should act. And so I did I continued to try and call my mother-in-law and my hubby alternated calling as well, we also tried to contact his sister (who lives five miles from his mom) who at one point answered her phone with an uh, and then hung-up! And so we promptly called back and this time got her machine.
She is not in a good marriage and has said at times it is an abusive relationship so what would anyone think in this situation, I ask you?
And so hubby called the local police to first check on the well being of his mother and then when they called back they asked for his sister’s info, and he explained what had happened when we tried calling sis, and so they checked on her too! And found out from our 20 year old niece that her Grandmother, my husband’s mother had indeed been admitted to the hospital yesterday!
And so once the officer received the information of which hospital my hubby called and fortunately found out that even though his 88 year old Mom had been admitted for severe back pain she would be going home tomorrow, and he got to speak directly with her.

But get this a few moments’ ago the sister calls me on my phone yelling that she doesn’t like the police coming to her home asking her questions and that if something was wrong with mom she would have called us! Well, why didn’t she just say that all those times we left messages that she couldn’t find the time to return them!
Talk about dysfunctional, besides my husband is retired law-enforcement and we live in Florida while they both live in Pennsylvania! And protocol is the procedure that he followed due to no other way of finding out! We both agree at 56 sis needs to grow up, big time!

All afternoon long since we returned from the grocery store our fiendish Great White Heron has returned to try to eat our pond fish! We have been sending Skipper out to chase him/her away, but he continues to return moments later. (PS All this has been going on while in the midst of the Mom situation, and dinner too!)
We have added additional Flamingoes to the entrance, our largest metal sculpted one not so tacky one that we affectionately call Pinky is on the bench seat overlooking the pond, and hubby even strung with fishing line another plastic tacky species to a PVC pole, and it moves in the breeze but nothing seems to be working this time! As I write tonight’s entries hubby is installing metal poles with a spider web of fishing line across where the bird tries to eat from as a deterrent.
I believe the problem is that unless a water fowl goes out to sea… shore wise we are not that rich with fish or in our harbor any longer. Some believe it is because of the deuce years of canes back in 2004 and 2005, and others believe our waters are just too warm this time of year so fish swim out to find some relief too!

Good night to you all and count those blessings and I will too!

Sunday, July 19, 2009

Peace was something I suppose I forgot how quiet it could be

Peaceful, relaxing and just being, not too bad but as a newly found out jet setter frequently running from here to there it was a wee bit boring today. Although, I must admit recuperative as well, you see
I guess I forgot to mention that after we ate out yesterday it had a just awful affect on my stomach and I became physically ill.

So I quickly, yesterday took advantage of the leftover chicken carcass, and made my excellent homemade chicken soup in my pressure cooker, the cure for whatever ails ya.
With my arsenal of soup and club soda for the cure by this afternoon I was my old self again, bellyache gone.

Oddly enough with all those yucks going on it apparently brought out my creative being for haute cuisine and so I did myself proud by presenting a dinner with angel hair pasta and pesto sauce (homemade), and from scratch my own rendition of *Caesar dressing and *croutons both made from scratch and lite for a Caesar salad; but of course!
Cling peaches a la naturale for dessert, a lovely healthy meal.

Pleasantly our eldest son called to today, and it is always a joy to hear from him, and to know he is happy and healthy!
And working hard and playing hard too.

* Caesar Dressing:
• Recipe for no oil no egg no anchovy dressing! Wisk all the below ingredients together in any order
• Three tablespoons of lite mayo
• One and a half tablespoons of lemon juice
• One and a half tablespoons of apple cider vinegar
• Kraft lite parmesan/ Romano two tablespoons
• Black pepper to taste ( I always add more than most do)
• Garlic powder, no salt (hefty) dose ( which I prefer) or to taste

*Homemade croutons:
• Preheat oven to 250
• Old dry bakery bread any type would do and then cut into cubes
• Toss with extra virgin olive oil, parmesan, dried rosemary, and dried basil
• Spread out flat on an oil sprayed cookie sheet
• Place in 250 degree oven for ten minutes

I decided to share these healthful ideas with my readership.
Both items above go over Romaine lettuce and red sliced onions toss and you are done! Or add in grilled chicken or shrimp for a complete meal, enjoy!

PS that Caesar dressing is totally my creation not from anyone else so it is my gift to you!
I bet that simple crouton one is a conglomeration of many that I have used over the years from many others' recipes and creators.

On that happy pleasant note I will bid you all a good night and to all count those blessings and I will too!

Saturday, July 18, 2009

And that's the way it is!

Truer words were never said, and the man that we all remember for his honesty, rationale and integrity was the one who stated so completely and concisely in that short sentence how he works, worked. “And that's the way it is,” I bet almost anyone could tell you who that quote belonged to; of course, Walter Cronkite, that is anyone who grew up watching him, which I did. He was there to comfort the nation in the best of times and the worst of times, and he has moved on now at age 92, his light has been extinguished just yesterday. But this is someone no one will ever forget, and any journalist worth his or her grain of salt will continue to strive to attain his quality in reporting what we all know should be the truisms of facts with warmth, and compassion. We have seen in many recent obituary type reports what a wonderful person he was in his personal life as well and that he had it all, a long time happy marriage and three wonderful children. He also knew how to relax while sailing, and partying. He was a man that had balance in his life. Today we say that you should work hard and play hard; well he actually did it before it was fashionable, and he did it with grace and poise. Goodnight forever to the most trusted man in the world.

Onward… today we went to two of those freebie events that I mentioned yesterday, one at our new event and conference center, the first time we had been there, I believe that it may be large enough to support a three ring circus, but the garden show that they displayed took up only a mere corner of the entire building, in a small room. And so my complete critique of this newest venue would be unfair to say without all the information. I must say though I was impressed with the fact that now they do have a site that shows the calendar of events that they are offering, month by month, and that is new, and very useful. We moved on to an outdoor café that we had wanted to try right in the heart of River City, AKA Punta Gorda, but alas their tables were full by hubby’s report from when he got out to check. I suppose Saturdays are not such a good day to try a very small café with only six to eight tables.

All was not lost our second venture for the day was good old faithful, Fisherman’s Village today they were having both a home and art show.
And they also have many restaurants to choose from for lunch, and so after we walked, actually I rode hubby walked the length of their mall looking at all the venders we decided to eat at the restaurant at the end on the water view side, which we had eaten at before. But once we found a table and ordered our drinks we noticed that all their prices went up, uh oh! It had been two years apparently since we had been there; at least that is when they changed these new to us menus the server said. I suggested that we pay for our iced tea and coffee and leave, but hubby said no. I had just enough cash for a less expensive place, but hubby said I guess we will have to use the debit card, which these days I really prefer not to, oh well.

Any-who we had lunch, paid the bill, and went on our merry ways.
Hubby suggested taking a ride over to the park nearby but just to drive past not get out it was over 90 degrees, and neither of us were interested in that!
But it was nice at the park this one also has a wildlife center that we had been to many a time, it is free, but asks for donations. We just drove by.
Next I asked hubby to stop by the historic village where my writer’s group has a building, an old house once used by an attorney that actually was on the corner in my neck of the woods not far from my home.
That is what the village is comprised of hundred year old homes that had been moved there, and revamped to their initial vitality. It to date only comprises of three such homes the last being still renovated at this time, but looking very fine with new landscaping.
And at last we went to our home.
Our safety our comfort our place to relax, and not feel put upon or rushed by the world, our sanctuary.
Isn’t that what we all think of when we think of home?

And that’s the way it is!
On that note of realization I will bid you all a good night and to all count those blessings and I will too!

Friday, July 17, 2009

Depressed?

Well, that was a refreshing mistake that I hadn't done in quite some time. I hit the enter key and published my title and nothing else, which tonight is somewhat of a downer since I entitled tonight’s Blog: “Depressed?”

But doing what I did made me giggle and that is good!
As long as we can all find our funny bone, even if it is buried deep within then we still have a glimmer of hope.

Today was depressing due to the reality of more bills, and more negotiating to keep our lives in an ability to create balance and not to become hermits with the fear of living a life in a positive way without guilt or shame.
What a mouthful, but seriously on one hand we have all these bills that must be paid, but not to the detriment of living life in a positive way, which means going out amongst the world to enjoy what it has to offer.

Other things that threw me off was the fact that I had called my sister-in-law yesterday to check on my mother-in-law (who is 88 years old), to see how her, Mom’s doctor visits went. The only reason I called her was because Mom wasn’t home. And my nephew of 27 answered and told her that I was on the phone and for some reason asked me my phone number (she has it) so she could call back in a few minutes and that was yesterday! So today I tried calling both of them back and got Mom’s machine and left a message since she was not there, and tried sis and there was no answer there either; hope they are all right. I did try a few times, but the news tonight said the weather there in PA is really bad with hail and everything, so it could be a weather problem with the phones? Odd, I think.
Who knows…?

Then my cousins that I called the last minute, earlier today really, to ask if they would be interested in going to the home and art shows here tomorrow, which are free but usually entertaining and one is indoors in our new event center that I have not been in yet and the other is in the well protected, Fisherman’s Village. We usually do lunch, but they were already spoken for, my bad, too short notice.
But hubby and I will venture out for this form of low cost depression busting…that’s what I am talking about!
Depression can kill you, and we are all at risk in these nasty times.
So if you don’t mind me saying you should do your part to foil this sneaky visitor.

On that upbeat note I did utilize our swimming pool for the last two days and it was glorious! I had forgotten how good it feels to be weightless and the water temp was just right too about the same as the morning air, so no shock to my system. I must use and repeat as often as possible.

My hubby is on a garden weeding jag and all I must say is that is showing how lovely they really can be with just a little TLC.

See harmless and free to make one happy, sometimes it is just the little things that can do the trick!

On that well placed ending to my tonight rant I will wish you all a good night and to all count those blessings and I will too!

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Email type of day...

Back and forth with emails to different people most of the day, and I found out that I have a serious problem ... when someone asks me a question I have this annoying habit of thinking they want to know every single detail, and so I have a nasty habit of answering in essay form! Seriously, this is my downfall in life, and not only do I do it in print but I also do it in most all of my conversations!

My other flaw, which I have so many, but this one is that I appear to be what psychologists and others in the mental health field might consider me to be a passive/ aggressive, huh? Yep, you try to act meek and calm when in an unfriendly situation, but then you get in a person’s face with a definite opinion to the contrary! And can literarily take your own life in your hands with the lack of self control.
Nah… I was kidding!
But going through the change of life was almost that way.
Some very nice women that I have met over the years went to hell and back during that time in their lives. Emotions were rampant, but with me it was like this PMS, Peri-Menopause, and then the grand finale…Menopause! And I was thrilled it was over. Some have been known to want to commit murder during this time in their lives, and others had a feeling of hopelessness and desperation to end it all, scary!

Fortunately, when I was in that period, excuse the pun, in my life I would yell or cry easily, and quit a whole lot of stuff that would make me unhappy, crazy! Yep, but beneficial too, deciding on streamlining your life whether all there or not; it worked at the time.
And now that I am somewhat sane, and I use the term loosely, once again I have adjusted my life in recent years also to what works for me and what doesn’t.
Not so crazy after all, huh? Besides with severe dry eyes I can no longer shed any tears!
Yes, we must all know that when we make adult decisions responsibility goes along with those decisions, and so caution in making them is mandatory.

And I do believe that is called judgment.
Today, I suppose I may have gotten slightly off track with those emails that I returned with rehashing old business with my women cousins.

And yet when I received an email from our female Canadian neighbor I was short to the point and exacting, concise if you will, with my return email and non expansive since I felt no necessity to elaborate, odd for me. I suppose that is called: self control! Wow what a concept?

Being of that certain age and finding me with less emotional ways of handling things is almost a sad end to an era. And that is not to say that I don’t have my moments, of course not I have written about many of those embarrassing times right here in print on this Blog, and I have only been doing this a little over a year, spilling my heart, opinions and words of wisdom out. It is a wonderful outlet for anyone who needs to express themselves in this medium, and I feel so good about my loyalty to this project that is similar to a diary or journal. We all should look inside ourselves at times and try to objectively decide where our weaknesses and strengths lie.
I believe that writing down anything in your life that you feel you need enlightenment on may help put it into better perspective. And if you have a trusted ally to confer with that might be able to give you an objective opinion then you got your problem solving down to a science. And in these hard times it also helps in taking out the emotional factors in looking at whatever the trouble/problem is with just the facts, only the facts please, and I betcha that it will work for you too! Nothing to lose and it is a free trial offer.

Now on that proposal of consideration in deciding how to handle these trials of life I will bid you all a good night and to all count those blessings and I will too!

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Boy what a life... out in the world again!

Knowing that what you do daily has either a positive or negative affect on your psyche I have been making a concerted effort to create encouraging upbeat day by day ideas to promote that.
Today, when the newspaper arrived it was loaded with coupons as well as its usual concise consistent informative prose.

We have been receiving a FREE paper live and in person for the last few days due to me filling out one of those surveys online, that I know you know that I said that I hate, oh well…it’s for two whole FREE weeks!

Any-who, it was those coupons that promoted our venturing out today. One was for my haircut place, three dollars off, and the other one that we used was for a restaurant at the mall that was a, buy one get one free, meal deal! And so our itinerary was set for the day. And I figured while there why not see if any of the stores are hiring, and I did receive two leads, but not that solid, who knows what may come of them.

I also asked my hubby to go to the Sears store too, and see if we could find out why our Kenmore dryer timer dial has been on occasion running backwards, but they no longer have an in store service center, bummer! But they still are online, and so we will use that.

You noticed I said the dial was running backwards, hmm now who besides me thinks that is a little bit weird? But that’s not all of it there has been another strange occurrence or darn peculiar incident that happened around nine A.M. this morning, my husband was still sleeping in, and I told myself that I should leave him alone he must need the rest; oddly enough within seconds he asks me if I had turned the ceiling fan on the fast speed and put on the light? No, I really hadn’t and he knew it too! It did it all by itself, wild!
They’re back…
Yep, we were told that we might have ghosts that were awoken when the hurricane hit back in 2004, our home is now over fifty years old, built in 1958, and the house was gutted to be put back together.
Things do seem to affect the cat and the dog, Casey the cat has been known to jump for no reason like a Halloween cat without Skipper nearby for play or anything else, woo, woo, ooo. And Skipper has been known to hide in the bathroom behind the toilet, well not behind but near, and he barks during the night at nothing that we can see... scary, huh?
We were told that pets are extremely sensitive to such things.
Who knows…?

On that silly note or perhaps not so…I will bid you all a good night if you can… and count those blessings and I will too!

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Gone out again...

Today we left the compound to venture into the real world to display our most personal financial information to the government agency that requests this accounting every six months, the Health Department.

Apparently, we have graduated to paying all that is requested by them when utilizing their services; we are no longer discounted on a sliding scale due to the previous person goofing in her calculations by disallowing my hubby’s disability monies. Talk about bad timing! But I suppose somehow we will manage and get through it all, life goes on and all that. I sure hope it doesn’t have a domino affect on the hospital bills that are now under advisement for discounting. Just that thought gives me shivers.

Did you all know, and I am sure you all did that money difficulties are the number one cause of stress? I guess in these hard times that is redundancy of that expression, or just so ridiculous to even mention. Most people have been experiencing this for years not unlike us, but I had put too many possibilities on the back burner since we had been basically managing.

I received a magazine in the mail today that was a freebie from the MS organization, and thank you. I looked through it and found towards the back where they had a site for jobs for the disabled and so I went to it and I am waiting to find out if it is a regional service or national. It’s called Mosaic out of Bergen County NJ, our roots started there!
The expert of the month also interested me; he was a familiar face that I had read about before, and is the brother-in–law of my toddler friends from up there. This man who is the epitome of the word courageous is a quadruple amputee due to a horrendous infection a few years ago. But he was also quite a brilliant man and professor prior to his devastating fate, and even today continues as a consultant. He makes us amateurs look even more pathetic not carrying the weight of the world as he does so elegantly. Did I mention that he is also the father of a dozen children? The site I am including is about this phenomenal person, and he is there to work and help you, what an amazing human being, he makes me speechless: http://www.mosaicjobcenter.org/expert/

I really would like to know if this job finding organization is available on a national level or perhaps they will put me in contact with someone who is in my neck of the woods so to speak. Honestly, I need to get a job to pay these bills with as little stress/pain as possible.

Please someone out there I need a legitimate job that I can do from this computer since I cannot drive anymore and one that will allow me to pay my bills off in a timely fashion.

Thanks world, I’m counting on you!

On that blatant non ashamed request I will wish you all a good night and to all count those blessings and I will too!

Monday, July 13, 2009

Catching up on grunt work and responsibility

We stayed home today! Which is a rarity these days, if you have been keeping up with us lately? We jet setters needed to touch base and accomplish many very important necessaries such as: attaining clean clothes; translation: doing laundry, and organizing our financial information for our six month check in with the governmental officials: translation: the Health Department.

Fear was rampant today when we received a final notice on one of my hubby’s bills today and we both went slightly berserk since it was the hefty hospital one that demanded full payment of thousands within ten days! Wow and whoa… we checked and called the powers that be and found out that it is still pending and under advisement for another possible discounted amount and therefore there was a miss in the mails crossing and it was sent in error, since there is a hold on that account, whew!

Talk about stressful situations friends this is why escapism is not an unrealistic way of coping with this mechanism, or coping mechanism, either is correct, you know?
We have not been trying to flee the country, besides I never renewed my passport from way back when I was just a single pup, I suppose that should be kitten.
But hubby did… nah, he wouldn’t go without me.

I know we are all supposed to have them these days and I really should have gone eons ago, but most recently I guess it has been a vanity issue, I don’t look that great, in my mirror I look like C--P…at the very least not as good as I used to, and so I hate being photographed, and aren’t they expensive?
A quick surf of the net came up with prices from anywhere from around $50 to $65, is that correct? I was right, right now that isn’t in our budget and if it was I rather spend it on that escapism project anyway! Don’t you agree that would be putting those bucks to better use? Don’t driver’s licenses work for picture ID anymore, anyway?

Sunday, I read for the umpteenth time in the editorial section of the paper someone taking issue with fatty’s utilizing motorized scooters for transporting themselves as well as the handicap placards. And so I gave in my two cents with my own personal story, which proves you should not assume! It’s the old story of which came first the chicken or the egg? Some assume that obesity created the medical issues not that it possibly was the medical issues that could have anything to do with why the person got fat? Now with me it was a matter of medications and stopping smoking and then being told that those nasty pounds I put on weren’t going anywhere since my walking an hour a day was making my hips and shoulders worse. (The shoulders were due to the balance issue and switching off back and forth with the cane to maintain balance.) And since I had no monies to repair the problem I would have to stop, which in layman’s terms means if it hurts when you do this, don’t do this! Simple and concise, and I really do hope people will stop being so judgmental when they see people and not knowing the whole story. I foolishly have a tendency to explain to people who give me dirty looks or looked puzzled, since I am not paralyzed. And by the way these people who I mentioned feel those are the only ones who deserve those helpful items.
Walking is a great inexpensive exercise form, and I was a big promoter of that, since for many years I was a race walker and it was just marvelous, but stuff happens and things that you never expect happen and now all of us assumptioners ( another Tobism) get straightened out, I too assumed that exercise was the answer for everyone! Well, in recent years I have been born again with the reality of just what I can do for my medical issues, and oops, exercise is not on my dance card anywhere. Believe it; I keep looking, but nope …not there!

And so all I ask any of you is not to assume that, and that that person in the motorized chair is getting away with something, or too lazy, or just too fat to move, and that handicap placard was given to them because they weaseled it out of some doctor who did not know better and they begged to never have to walk too far ever again, because we just don’t know their personal story and I will be sure not to assume either anymore and I beg of you all not to either.

On that fateful request I will bid you all a good night and to all count those blessings and I will too!

Sunday, July 12, 2009

Three for three!

I am amazing myself; today we left our lovingly homey compound once again, our three building outpost comprised of the main house and attached garage and two other structures, sheds of varying sizes and uses, all existing on our palatial water-front quarter acre that also has outdoor rooms, a pool and a fish pond and cottage-style veggie garden!

We are establishing a form of an existence, which will be, by others ideas, possibly might very well be classified as other than BORING!
Now don’t tell me that you who go to work daily or rush here or there feel your life is just so ho hum?

When we were rearing our children and both gainfully employed we seemed to be on some type of self imposed race to establish a completion of each and every daily task at lightening speed, or at least a united finish that we would meet by nightfall at the home-base with the four head, head count was accurate.

Time marches on as we all know, and when your relatives are spread hither and yon as well as those offspring a quiet falls upon the home dwellers who must live on their own and basically all alone. We must rejoice that they are all well and have taken up the gauntlet to acquire their own homesteads and gainful employment so as not to need an assist from the parental bodies from whence they came, whew, what a relief!

Now I will fill you in on how we came to this sorrowful conclusion of needing a life and resolving the issue to our own satisfaction.
The supposition is due to the ills that befell both of us this past April we were fearful to do things due to our limitations, mine mostly, and additional expense that leaving the home might create. But I ask any thinking person is it emotionally healthy to never leave ones’ home? No, of course not, and so to fix this issue before it creates tons of other medical issues that nobody needs, leaving the home to go into the world is a part of life’s necessity to belong to the human race, correct?

And so today we did it again, we returned that film, “Knowing”, mix reviews in this household, so I would suggest you see for yourself and decide. Then on to pick up an adhesive compound my cousin recommended to repair our leaky solar panel. Next we went on to our Cultural Center, which also has a farmer’s market on Sundays in their parking lot, and shops open inside, and a restaurant, which has a buffet meal complete with a choice of three main entrees, salads, veggies, beverages and desert for a bargain price, and so we did indulge. The next to last trip was to our water-front park for just a look see, we never did get out of the car, but it was nice to see that although it borders our harbor the swimming pool within the park was being used, as well as the tennis courts, and boat launch and docks.
Our last passing by was another park across from our canal where in season the echo from their shuffleboard games can be heard all the way at our home, there is also a basketball court there too. These two parks are within a few miles from our home, actually there is another not that far either, our county has so many I really don’t know the count! I guess we are very fortunate.

On that note I will wish you all a good night and to all count those blessings and I will too!

Saturday, July 11, 2009

Congratulations to me!

I know that congratulating my self is absolutely self serving, but I deserve it!
It was three years ago today, July 11.2006, that I gave up cigarettes and have never ever looked back!
After over forty years of that nasty habit I do think it is something to be proud of.
It had been about my seventh try; other times the longest had been just a wee bit over six months.

The thing that worked this time wasn’t any proven ill affects yet from that bad cancer stick it was the TIA’s on my MRI’s and since most of my family died from strokes that did it for me. And the mode of cessation was the Nicatrol Inhaler, which worked immediately for me. It was expensive and at that time we had insurance, but they would not cover it, and so the out of pocket of $300 was an incentive too.
Kids, listen to me; it’s best to never start.

Unfortunately, I have not received any of those so-called better feelings that X-smokers are suppose to have, because since I stopped I now have high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and a body that looks like a small whale is having a party in my pants, if I wore pants but with this body I wear long dresses to hide it all, and other than arthritis, Ataxia and MS I’m good.

No, really, I am now socially acceptable, people allow me into their homes and I don’t need to leave to sneak a smoke, my hair and clothes are smoke free too and smell of laundry detergent which is odor free too, and shampoo that is all natural, so I guess I have no scent at all, hmmm, no scent of a woman due to me being well past menopause, darn… I got nothing!

Oh, that’s right I got perfume, not the good kind, can’t afford that these days I got that stuff that smells like my Gardenia Bush in cologne, which is kinda great because my husband thinks they smell like bacon, and that’s what he calls the two of them, bacon bushes! Good thing he loves bacon, huh?

Today, we ventured out again, must be some kind of record we are two for two.
Any-who, our reasoning was curiosity and frugality that we went to the only open air- farmers’ market we had some how missed until today, since they started this particular one last October. It was right in town in River City, AKA Punta Gorda, by the old court house, and I must admit it was the best of the three that we have weekly. They had music and art as well as a few bargain veggies, which we spent a whole three bucks on, and for that princely sum we received a beautiful head of Romaine lettuce, three cucumbers, and one enormous eggplant, the last two were part of our dinner.
I will definitely go to this one again.

From there we went onto our usual grocery for a few this and that’s, that we needed.

Right now hubby has made a run to the movie rental store, yes he did go, but we had a free coupon from our online service. He went to get the movie Blindness we had been trying to see for weeks and so every single time it was sent by mail it had an error and would not play, and this happened six times! All other movies were just fine in between this annoying problem; it had happened once before with another movie, Hairspray, which we finally had gotten, straightened out. The only problem here is that if it doesn’t work again he will have to make the trip back there with the movie again, and then I guess we will finally give up. Hope it’s worth it. You see, it’s my fault I hear these reviews on the TV and get a bug in my head that we should rent this or that and here we are again… we will see…I hope.

I suppose I better wish you all a good night and wish us one too, and whatever you do, don’t forget to count those blessings and I will too!

PS Hubby had returned and gone out again, Blindness was in error again, he is bringing back the flick, Knowing; better work!

Friday, July 10, 2009

The rain never came and yet...

That is actually quite sad but true the rain never did come down at our house yesterday. Tonight we are getting all that noise again and gray skies that look promising for some moisture, but who knows…

Get this… I received a letter from that neuro doc that I mentioned I hadn’t been hearing from on any return calls about trying to resolve my hospital bill. She was very polite and said she was no longer able to care for me and suggested that I get another physician without delay, but if I needed her for emergency services she can offer those for up to fifteen days, huh?

Very odd, I have never gotten a letter like that ever before. I suppose her personal problems have gone over into her professional practice at least that is what her office staff had been telling me is why she could not get back to me.
I suppose I will do what she has suggested; end of story.

Earlier on our local news they mentioned that our sheriff was asked to carve 15% off his year’s budget, but apparently he could only find 2 % and the powers that be told him to go back to the drawing board. I have a suggestion with much respect and logic; lower the salaries of the guys/officers at the top of your pay ladder so you can hire more people to do the work on the road and elsewhere? A few of them are making well over six digits and if they cut those salaries by 25%, boy I bet that you might have enough to hire those people that you’re afraid of losing if you cut the BIG BUDGET, 58M was close to 60M, until he stripped that nasty 2% off, but 15% is what is necessary! And still find that 15% is no longer a problem to find.
Try it, who knows it could work. Those padded salary people do they actually get out in the trenches, now ask yourself and be honest, do they?
Downsizing is more than laying off people a truly good manager at times has to look at the full picture and see where the dead weight is, and you either lose it or redirect it to were it will do the most good, simple logic. I am saying this with a background in business management and also being one of your tax payers! We all need a break, and who knows you may very likely be responsible for creating more jobs, wow, what a concept!

Another direction…
I closed my Facebook account the other day and to date I have not seen any difference in my life…wow, who would of thunk it?
My reasoning was simple I didn’t use it; see I even can scale my technology down?

We did have an outing today we took our Skipper in for his yearly shots and license then we stopped over at our Fisherman’s Village for a look see at the shops and a light lunch el fresco. Lastly we drove over to the library, which had notified us by email that the book we wanted was available and so we picked it up. It’s a Florida author that we both enjoy and I gave first dibs on the read to my hubby, since I don’t know if I will regain my concentration that had been stolen from me. I felt with an author that I loved it would definitely be an incentive to try as hard as I can to concentrate; wish me luck!

On that somewhat positive note I will wish you all a good night and to all count those blessings and I will too!

PS for those of you who may be trying to read my Blog, I thank you profusely, but please bear with me I pull it in and out while editing even after it is out there!
I with this MS seem to forget prepositions and I'm now a little dyslexic which I never was before and homonyms are rampant so sorry folks but I am trying, and some would say very trying...LOL!

Thursday, July 9, 2009

Looks are deceiving...

Even if looks are deceiving I want to go with the possibility that our darkened sky is telling me that we should have a magnificent quality of rain heading down upon us very shortly!

Maybe I should have gone out and washed the car? As we all know that usually works.
We are not exactly in the earlier situation of this past spring where our grass was crunchy under foot where there was grass; mostly it looked like we were cultivating dirt and sand.
But no, we are not that dry here, yet. Our lawn is still looking like a lawn since it is still green.
Time to get the woolies on; the temperature has dropped to the mid 80’s and it is nearly 6 P.M.! Could be a cold one tonight…

My hubby just stuck his head inside the door and announced it is pleasant enough out there to weed our veggie garden and so he is.
But if my calculations are correct with the rain coming down any minute he better hurry!

The news is saying that more and more criminals are getting too desperate, and some are even tag teaming to snatch purses at gas pumps. These two particular culprits being not noticed by their victim due to their mode of transportation, a Lexus, would you believe? Or so they thought, but the security cameras did manage to snap them.

Thieves are robbing people’s lockers in the LA Fitness gyms scattered throughout the tri-county areas. One ran up a bill on a credit card within a few hours of eighteen hundred dollars! People are reminded time and time again to not take valuables into the facilities.

When I was fit and used to go, I only took my car keys in and they had a wall for hanging them on up front by the desk, which allowed for somewhat of a little protection since it was also there that you had to sign in.

You’re laughing, oh yeah!
About five years ago I was a gym rat, so much so I would work out an hour and a half each day and felt great, and I did that for about four years. My body gave up on me though and here I am about four and half years later a physical mess.

PS no rain yet, darn!

Encouraging though, is the fact that the wind is picking up here, which is usually an indication, that rain may be on its way, hooray!

Did I mention to any of you what I did to two of my friends recently?
Oh, I didn’t?
Well, both friends happen to be bi-lingual, one in French being French Canadian, and the other is fluent in Spanish since her family heritage is Spanish and she is also a translator at times for the police department she works for. They both know that I took those two languages as a child in high school and also had the privilege of visiting Paris France and Spain's Barcelona while a college student forty years ago! The thing is if you don’t use it you lose it, and so in recent years without much call for me to speak those languages I doubt if I remember very much. I did use a wee bit when I was a district manager back in the mid 1990’s when hiring people from Puerto Rico and Haiti who spoke both of those languages.
I recently, for free, installed a five language translator on my word program, and so I sent them both emails in their first languages, and I think I shocked them with my fluency! What fun!
It was definitely harmless but interesting to read their reactions, which one of theirs I did have to translate back again into English.

Boredom creates the devil in me!
You should all think of some harmless fun to do too.
We all could use a good laugh these days so come up with one!
On that playful note I will wish you all a good night and to all count those blessings and I will too!

PSS thunder has roared but still no wet stuff! Oh well…

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Nice surprises...

Our day was very ordinary except for our organizing of our expenses to get a handle on how we are managing them, especially now with all our additional ones on the medical end.

We were somewhat pleased to see that we have it all under control our metaphorical tight rope that we have been walking on while doing our careful balancing act; as long as no other emergencies come up, vehicle breaks down or appliances or any other major ills cause us to need hospitalization, again. We will be just fine, and for now that is somewhat of a relief.

The nice surprise was refreshing and reassuring; we got a visit from a captain from the sheriff’s office, a co- worker of my hubby’s that we had been friendly with and hadn’t seen in a dog’s age. She mentioned that she and her hubby had tried to stop by many times before, but when they saw no truck in the driveway they thought we weren’t home. Apparently, I guess, she forgot the memo that we sent out back in 2001 (not really) when we purchased our Blazer that fits quite nicely in our garage where it resides whenever we are home, aha, which is most of the time.
Now that we got that all straightened out we may be seeing both of them more often, and that would be very nice in my book, lovely people, really.

Any-who, the day was another one with much heat and humidity but one also of no rain promised as of the last few days it has been water poor, and sadly this months water bill did show a slight increase. It must be the fact that when there is no rain at all the water evaporation rate goes up in both the swimming pool and the pond, causing us to supplement them with city water, ouch! The veggies need some moisture too of course so there goes the bill, although the rain barrel is still being used for them, but with all the sediment that also goes into it; it is only good for the veggies not the other two water hungry areas.

Tonight, I am having a small glass of red wine while writing this Blog; I haven’t had any in ages, and I am finding it refreshing and nice. Again the docs have given it the thumbs up on the health-o-meter, as being a great way to get those antioxidants into you in very pleasant way. So me being me of course I listened to them!

On that note of silly I will wish you all a good night and to all count those blessings and I will too!

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Unity of the world...

His desire was to unify the entire world, all races and religions, he loved them all, and that is what Michael Jackson stood for according to all who loved and admired him and paid homage to the man today at his memorial at the Staples Center in LA. It was something he would have been extremely proud of, and it was such a production that I bet it will win some type of an award. I was extremely impressed by the coming together of all the people, celebrities in such a short period of time and the quality of all that was seen.

Chills and déjà vu occurred when very young Paris Jackson tearfully spoke, on center stage, at the mike of her love for her father and expressed what a great dad he was. The man has left an amazing legacy for his children, and fine young people they are, and I am sure with family support they will endure all that it means. They used to say the measure of a man was the example of his offspring’s goodness and decency. Let us just hope that no one will take advantage of any of the family in their grief.

Mixed emotions over the airwaves about the dominance of the entire way these last few weeks have been handled with all media covering, all Michael, all of the time. Let’s hope that today has put most of the controversy to rest. I too have been guilty of complaining of the over exposure of it all, and pre-empting of the usual programming.

But one thing there is no arguing on and that one thing is… Michael Jackson’s talent was truly undeniably something so sensational that we may never see another like him ever again, he was one of a kind and everyone can definitely agree on that! Many may imitate and have even when he was still with us, but no one will ever be him.

If one good thing could be said about his too early demise I would think it would be bringing again to the forefront the distribution of medications by medicos who will do anything for a price. Too many garbage bags full of pharmaceuticals, prescription, and non prescription, hospital distributing type only for injections and surgery quality were removed from his rental property; no one was watching these doctors remove them from those hospitals or prescribing these items not usually allowed for public consumption?

Doesn’t the DEA check into the domestic distribution by so-called medical professionals when meds get to be too many or too frequently utilized? I thought we had some control on our own shores, with our own legal peeps that get those prescription pads and go haywire, writing out meds like candy? It’s all too much like closing the barn door after the horse broke out of the paddock, or some such saying. Too many celebs over the years have, for a price been able to do themselves in, when many of them weren’t having those intentions at all, just wanting to stop whatever pain they were in at that particular time, physically or perhaps just as blatantly emotionally.

Hopefully, because of MJ’s notoriety this will be the boost to do something finally before it happens again, he went way too soon and way too young and very likely unnecessarily if he had, had better people caring, really caring for his needs, and knew when to say no to him. That’s the saddest part of it all; it may very well be able to have been all avoided and possibly prevented.

On that thoughtful commentary, I will bid you all a good night and to all count those blessings and hold those dear to you a little bit more tightly…for the main reason of logic that none of us know how long we really have, since living our lives is regrettably … terminal….whoa, don’t jump down my throat, no negativity here just stating the obvious friends, we are NOT immortal, are we? Well, maybe me, but definitely not you!

Monday, July 6, 2009

Having an axe to grind and how we handle it...

Economically, I wonder if it would not be advisable to check into the solvency of a company before applying to that company for a job.

Just recently my sister-in-law, a few years younger than myself and fairly healthy, decided to go back to work and was lucky enough to find a job on her first try! She had been an executive assistant in a major communications company prior to her children’s births. Unfortunately, that part-time job, as a receptionist, was with a business that was not fiscally solid, shall we say.

Red light indicators: the first week she was asked to work nearly thirty-eight hours, but had been hired for part-time, which meant to her twenty to twenty-five hours, oh ok I make a little more my first week; she thought to herself. The next week her hours were cut back, but to only eleven hours, huh? Her paychecks were few and far between too. The first took five weeks to be received and the last was only 70% of her earned income, what?

And so being only human and not at all stupid she voiced her opinion about this unfortunate situation. But on deaf ears since her employer was not sympathetic at all and tried to explain it all away with many excuses of her own personal situation of business problems. And so my sister-in-law felt that was her employer’s problem, rightfully so and not hers.

Apparently, it upset her so much she complained and commiserated with her co-workers who too had similar issues. The employer heard about this and fired my sister-in-law for complaining to the others.
You see, the real problem is the business; a spa is going under financially, as many small businesses are in this day and age. I bet you only thought Wall Street, banks and big business had this problem, in this economy?

Solvency is necessary for everyone to have in order to do business. Most are just barely hanging in there by the skin of their teeth, so the expression goes.

The national unemployment rate is over 9%; now higher than it’s been in decades, and it’s not because hiring is going on and we just have too many people looking for work…

Although, with the way the economy is that could be part of it, so many who thought retirement was just around the corner lost hundreds of thousands in Ponzi Schemes, banks failing with their 401K’s, the bond market, and some corporations just not able to honor their pension plans and medical insurance programs that had been promised.

That is why so many seniors are back at work for insurances and loss of savings. (We weren’t promised any free insurance, and we had no savings, so you don’t miss what you don’t have. I hold my breath monthly on my hubby’s pension, but being retired law enforcement, a deputy, it is a state one, and so far so good, and with SSI we manage. It’s good that we scaled down nearly eleven years ago or it would be a much different story. Thank heaven for small things.)

Teens and younger people cannot find the jobs due to the market accepting not to have to pay older people as much as what younger people expect to be receiving for the same jobs, and so the domino theory of mine may not be that far fetched. Even economists saw this writing on the wall. We all know that most things have a cause and affect that happens on the simplest level, example: you wash the car and it rains…I know not that good an example, but you get the idea.

Today I joined the human race and did a little to help the economy in my tiny way. We did some errands, picked up my prescription then went to the warehouse club since their gas is five cents a gallon cheaper than everyone else and we filled up, lastly we went on to the mall where I went scootering (another tobism) all around and found a bargain, my salad spinner at five dollars less than anywhere else and on sale for thirty percent off too! Oh joy! My hubby got new jean shorts also at a bargain price of twelve dollars off of each pair! Terrific, all in all we saved $32 on things we both needed. No more wasting paper towels to dry my lettuce anymore, and now I am a wee bit greener, and no more holey shorts for hubby gardening either and we both became a smidge more economically cost effective.

On than positive calculation I will bid you all a good night and to all count those blessings and I will too!

Sunday, July 5, 2009

Have you ever...

I take it you all arrived safe and sound from your joyous weekend so now I will vent my concerns to you…

Have you ever thought that whatever you do in life it just isn't enough? Or maybe a better question would be why you are not in sync with your contemporaries? Well I do, and unfortunately it has been happening way too often lately.

Due to all these ills I have become old before my time, and when I hear of my cohorts or others in my age range still doing what I had the joy of doing as a younger healthier woman, just a few short years ago, I get slightly saddened and somewhat dare I say it, a bit jealous.
We used to have lots of good times with travel, dinner and a movie going to antique shops, and art galleries and the like but lately none of that has been happening.

I suspect it is my hubby’s concern of not knowing how to attack the way to accomplish what we used to do with my new challenges. And the fact that he is getting way too content with being a home body since his retirement. Oh don’t get me wrong, he builds things, fixes things, takes care of the yard, lawn and gardens and reads voraciously in between it all!

But that’s just it; my concentration has diminished so much so that my daily old consumption of a book a day read is non-existent. I can sort of concentrate on magazine articles and some TV shows but that’s about it. I need stimulus of the mind kind!
I need to become part of the human race before it’s too late and they kick me out!
I can no longer drive due to my Ataxia and medications causing me not to be able to operate heavy machinery, besides we only have one car now and I would hate to ruin that!

There has to be a way to change things and I will try very hard to figure it out…my destinations must be indoors for climate control, since most of my ills do not do well in this heat, and it must be a large enough venue to be able to use my scooter. It must be interesting and educational enough to tantalize my desire to learn more and possibly return. And lastly it cannot be too far from our home due to our darling pets and finances, so it must be a day trip…

If we were still up north or in a big city I can think of one thing that meets most of my previously mentioned criteria… a museum!

Unfortunately, we have very few here if any, three is the count and two out of the three we have been to, I suppose we should investigate further the third?

The mall has special events throughout the year, but with all the budget crunches and closing of major stores I doubt that can be relied upon, even our event center seems to have slowed its pace of scheduling exciting happenings.

Another interesting idea to ponder and so I will, but you may chime in at anytime, and I would love that!

Now I will bid you all a good night and don’t forget to count those blessings and I will too!

Saturday, July 4, 2009

Happy Fourth of July!

Did you all know that it was John Adams idea to shoot off fireworks on the Fourth of July?
For more details on this go to: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_history_behind_fireworks_on_the_4th_of_July

I thought that was interesting, any-who I really do know that you all know why we celebrate this date so I didn’t want to be accused of talking down to my readership…but for the children still learning about American history I will be brief….It’s three days after my birthday! No, that’s too silly! Simply it is the day that we, the colonists declared our independence from our motherland, England after the Revolutionary War; 233 years ago, for more information go to: http://www.referencecenter.com/ref/reference/DeclarInd/Declaration_of_Independence?invocationType=encyclopedia.main

When stated like that it just sounds like we grew up, and declared we were now independent; the adults. But as we adults all know there was so much more to that process, and so I recommend all the youngsters read about how it came into being, and the above link will help with that.

Our day has been quiet since we stayed home, but if we so desire we can see the fireworks from our dock right here in our own backyard. We did barbeque, but not the expected fair; no hotdogs or hamburgers here, ours was more grown up with a small steak shared, a few shrimp, about a dozen also shared, gourmet spiced corn on the cob, and steamed asparagus as well on the barbecue, mmm… so good!
Our flags in our front and backyards have been waving all day long, which to me gives it a festive feel. Driving anywhere, as I stated yesterday is best not done. So safe and quiet we will probably watch the TV fireworks since I am limited to my ability to get down to our dock, and Skipper is not great with all that noise.

I know you are saying… whoa boring person here! Sorry, I am truthful, and the fireworks start at 9:15 P.M. and I get up around six A.M., so I suspect I may wind down into bed around about then…whoa! So extremely boring and dull too!
Well, yep I guess so…being married since the age of 20, + seven months years old; I was never much of a party girl anyway, so I guess you don’t miss what you never really had.

Do you ever think that you see yourself differently than others see you? Something to ponder…the only interesting thing that happened today was me honing my deductive reasoning skills…I asked a question after I found the answer to it, but then had it verified by the relative of the person it was about…now that I bet is as clear as mud, huh?
It was meant to be, ha!

Not so boring after all, fooled you!

Changing up how we attack things, whether tangible figurative or literal makes life unpredictable and at times just the little bit of excitement we all need to keep things interesting.

And on that note, I will wish you all a happy, safe Fourth of July, and a pleasant rest of the evening, and remind you all to count those blessing and I will too!

Friday, July 3, 2009

Emails with reminders that was a good thing

As you all may or may not know it is my practice in the morning to get a cup of coffee and bring it over here to turn this technological monster on where I read any incoming emails and the head lines on my welcome screen and then on to our local paper, which is also online. (I used to also go out and feed the birds and our pond fish, but my balance issues have prevented that for the last several months.) I suppose you could call me a creature of habit. So many of us are; I’m sure you know that. Today we received in those emails a reminder that we had to renew our fishing license and Snook stamp. Fortunately, although they were up today we could renew on line and we do, yearly, and so now we are legal again and were able to print out our temporary licenses to use immediately if we cared to.

You see, they changed the law again so now you must have a fishing license even if you just fish off your own dock or off a pier or the shoreline not just off your boat! When we first moved here in August of 1986 you didn’t need a license for any of that! Boy, talk about more monies for the government to claim for what? We all know they use those monies wisely!

But since the hurricanes hit back in 2004 and 2005 the fishing has not yet recovered, and so even though we obediently renew every year we rarely catch anything when we go, which is also rare, going that is. I know… then… why renew, hopeful I suppose and that it is a cheap way to be entertained if we are well enough to do it and when fishing was great we ate so well from those catches! That would be so nice again. Hubby’s back causes us to have to wait for smooth waters and I have difficulty getting on and off board.

Another law that changed just this week here in Florida is that law enforcement doesn’t need a probable cause to pull you over for not wearing a seatbelt, they can do it any time they like. We have had a seatbelt law forever, but they needed another reason (probable cause) to stop and ticket you for not wearing your seat belt. I am one of those Moms’s that said when our boys were small that the car won’t start unless everyone is seat belted!

It seems that every six months we have to deal with changes in the state laws. I suppose it is the same in most states but I don’t remember if that was the case when we lived in New Jersey; I guess I now have too much time on my hands and I am more aware of what affects my own little world.

Another topic that I thought anyone out of state reading this might find fascinating is the use of Fireworks, you see it is legal to sell them but it is NOT legal to set them off in the state of Florida, huh? That is anything that explodes or flies is illegal.
Unless…Yes, you must sign a waiver stating that you are using them for agricultural purposes, such as noise to scare away crows from your crops! Ridiculous you all say; me too. They even guide you on the local news with the safe practices of shooting them off, but then go on to state the disclaimer, what’s wrong with this picture? Why bother. Life’s little hypocrisies’ I suppose.

Although, Fireworks were illegal in New Jersey it seemed everyone would get them, and as here hundreds would be maimed and some were even killed each year, do I know the answer to this problem …no, but when I see an adult missing fingers if he or she was not a clumsy carpenter they will usually confess to young carelessness with Firecrackers as a small child or teen. Sadly, I have met a few over these years. Burns from sparklers, which we all thought was nearly harmless, are on the rise too. So please people be cautious and make sure you use common sense if you must feel the need to utilize them with sand or water nearby for emergencies, or better yet go to a professional display by your town or city, or watch them safely on the TV. Happy Fourth to all and please be safe, driving too, another bad weekend for that also so be extraordinarily careful driving, since many drink and drive, but should not.

Love you all! And I worry, sorry! It’s just my way…

So good night to all and to all count those blessings and I will too!
I better see you back here, fine and with all those fingers; next time, you hear?

Thursday, July 2, 2009

Some more nice news for me

When I awoke this morning, yep I keep doing that, thank goodness; any-who I discovered that I received a lovely additional Happy Birthday greeting in my email on my computer when I turned it back on, actually it came in last night from my old chum from toddlerhood that I reunited with in Facebook and my one and only follower that admits that she reads this Blog, Brava dear old friend.

And when the mail came this afternoon I received a birthday card from those west coast relatives that I was so concerned about with a lovely note included within, updating us on what has been going on in their lives, and that was refreshing and allowed my worries to be put to rest.

I have a habit of saying at what price peace of mind? (I have a tendency to ask that when in some situations that I wrestle with an expense.) And then I usually answer myself and say priceless! And so I was given a priceless gift of peace of mind by that card from my in-laws.

Rain has been slow and at times a rapid steady visitor these last few days here in the sunshine state, but this is the rainy season, so what do any of us expect?
I can tell you what I remembered from years gone by were those days when it rained here it was only maybe an hour or even just a half hour event, but these last two days it has been unrelenting. Just when you think it is all done we get some more, at times a mere drizzle and other times a major downpour! The meteorologists call this training, yes comparing to the cars of a train coming continuously, and yes we have on other occasions had this happen before, or how else would I know that?

While reading the editorial comments in the paper this morning I became extremely impressed with a particular one from a young man ( at the end of the article he stated that he was still just in high school, what you thought I was psychic?) who put an elder who had previously made a biased comment in his place with eloquence and verbiage that was so incredible and appropriate that I am almost embarrassed to admit that he utilized two words that I really were not sure of what they meant, and so me being me I looked them up and now I am proud to say that I am better informed. Not only that I sent an email to the editorial department stating how impressed I was with the brilliance of this young man, and I can only hope they forward it onto him.
Any-who do you, want to know the two words he used that I was not familiar with?
No response, huh? I’ll take that as a yes, and so here they are:

Ad hominem
Function: adjective
Etymology: New Latin, literally, to the person
Date: 1598
1.appealing to feelings or prejudices rather than intellect
2. marked by or being an attack on an opponent's character rather than by an answer to the contentions made

Deify
Function: transitive verb
Date: 14th century
Results

1 a.to make a god of b.to take as an object of worship

2.to glorify as of supreme worth

I bet you all knew those, huh?
Well, now I do too!

On that informative note I will wish you all a good night and to all count those blessings and I will too!

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Welcome to my new year's start!

Yes, I awoke this morning, alive and well, OK not really well, but alive and it was bright and early, the time was six A.M.
On first appearance it could have become a day with much promise, this first day of my new year, but unfortunately that was not to be.
We had been dealing with our five year old Bichon Frise, Skipper’s skin irritation of one week’s times annoyance to him, which we had been treating with his medicated shampoo and a half of a Benedryl morning and night that the vet doc had recommended when it occurred previously. He now was showing that his tummy was producing his frequently chronic colicky pain as well. When this occurs he squirms in circles on the ground and often lets out nasty little squeals of pain.
It is unnerving to anyone who might hear it, and the recommendation for this problem is a half of Pepcid twice a day, and so we tried that and it did not work. The last resort after all was said and done is to contact the veterinarian who we also do not have insurance for to cover this, but we felt we had no other choice. And sure enough, bring him in was the only resolution answer, and so we did.
We are going the food allergy route said the doc, but she is also feeling that he might have pancreatitis, but I looked that up, yes, the dog version, and that says he doesn’t meet that criteria at all, what was she thinking, perhaps she thought he was me, (but I don’t eat greasy foods either!) he does not eat greasy people food and he is not obese at 16 pounds for his breed! When he eats people food it is usually frozen veggies, and did I mention that he loves raw carrots? And so he is now on non allergenic food very expensive, and he got a steroid shot, but his neck has not grown yet, and did I mention he is also on an anti-spasmodic, sound familiar…those last two do, don’t they?
When I first awoke I found a lovely right on target worded hallmark card from my hubby. Then I went on the computer and two of my cousins had sent happy birthday greetings, and later on before we were to leave for the vet appointment our canal neighbors’ home in Canada emailed their well wishes for my birthday too on their own holiday of Canada Day. On the way home from the vet’s office our eldest called with his birthday greeting and said that ATT was having difficulties all day, and he couldn’t get through earlier when he had tried several times. We never did get to go out for lunch or dinner, but hubby picked up take out from one of our around the corner restaurants that we both like; so all was not lost.
And one of our favorite reality shows began again last week, America’s Got Talent, and is on twice a week, again tonight so it will wind down to a pleasant one after all.
Good night to all and to all count those blessings and I will too!

Speaking My Mind: Which way will the war go?

Speaking My Mind: Which way will the war go? :   My eyesight is going again... in case you missed it... Netanyahu snaps back against growing...