Monday, August 31, 2009

An upbeat attitude is in the offering

What we have here is an ability to improve on what we already have. That doesn’t mean materialistically, and in truth I don’t need anything in that regard, all is well there.
It does mean in the way I think about life and the people in it a reawaking into my values of the real quality of life and what that truly means.

We all go through ups and downs in our lives and most of us if we are lucky enough to grow older have some ills.
But how we use the pluses not our minuses is what we all should try to make the most of and take mental inventory of that and the best way to go about that utilization of our pluses, that is.

In theory, a zest for life is what we all strive for and desire.
Enjoying what we can daily, and I don’t mean exorbitant spending on those materialistic things again just joyousness about being alive and being able to wake up and get up and out; those small treasures.

Times get overwhelming, and can create havoc, and we all do know that, but as my Dad used to say, it is always darkest before the dawn.
And in my book, truer words were never said my reality check and metaphoric slap in the face!

Again, nothing significantly has changed in my own small world just the way that I perceive it, and guess what the best part of it all is?
I bet you can guess…it’s monetarily free! But work must be done to change this habitual negative way of thinking and that can be quite time consuming, but worth it!
They’re times in our lives when we know in our hearts that we have grown by leaps and bounds emotionally, I have been slightly retarded in this area since I was never ever taught coping skills since most are learned from their parents and mine had none; at least my Mom didn’t. That’s not to say that she was a bad person, she wasn’t at all, it’s just that she didn’t know either and then that created an extreme worrier in her, which we all know children pick up on and imitate, and so the problem goes generational.

Life does go on with or without us, and we as individuals are such a miniscule portion of the entire concept; just a spec on the total continuum. So why not have fun while we are here, and try hard to never complain, ugh, one of my biggest flaws, and laugh as easily as you can, it causes endorphins to kick in and will deal with any pain you may have or may cause, I made a funny…laugh…ha, ha, ha etc. into infinity, and I DON’T MEAN THE CAR!!!!!

Good night to all, take care, be safe, and to all count those blessings and I will narrow my search, OK?

Sunday, August 30, 2009

Organizing, and peace and quiet for most of the day

Did any of you ever buy any of those “As seen on TV” products?
Well, we haven’t before that I can remember anyway, but that doesn’t mean that we didn’t. The other day we went to that bath etc store, you all know the one, that sends out those coupons nearly monthly for everything being 20% off, and I noticed that they did carry quite a few of those as seen items.
What interested me the most though was the large plastic bags that you can take the air out of with the vacuum, and they shrink to a flattened neater organized manageable item that is easier to store, and the other item that interested me was those hangers that you hang straight across then you fill the holes in it with your hangers, enough for five pieces of clothing on each and then you release the one end which falls and opens up the space to give you additional room in the closet; we bought both with our 20% off coupons about a week ago.
Today, we attacked the guestroom closet that had extra linens, pillows and bedding taking up two very generous shelves above the clothing pole which is below with winter coats we rarely use.
We also had a small useless color TV that is not digital therefore will not work anymore, and our clothing steaming machine stored on the floor taking up space that could be put to better use.
The plastic bags which came as a set of six neatly tackled the bulging linens which included extra towels now all are on the top shelf with room for more if we so desire. The small TV is now on the second shelf alongside of our cat carrier, which also appears less cluttered. Below we used those space making hangers, we used two from the eight-pack in that closet and they did that job too! This was a great together project indoors, in the air, out of the heat.
Then hubby used his three, we split the other six in half, but I suppose you figured that out, and oddly enough his didn’t seem to have as big an impact as the others in the guest closet; and mine have yet to be used since the whole thing pretty much exhausted me.
Several years ago when hubby went away on a trip for business I had put closet organizers in both our adjoining closets, free standing shelves and shoe holders as well as meticulously weeding out our unnecessary clothing, and it all looked great and did last for years but now things have changed for some reason they have gotten messy in my opinion so we needed to do something, and this was the perfect low budget idea, I thought. But that was then and this is now, and my energy isn’t anything like it was when I was that gym rat in fairly good shape.
I do know that slow and steady wins the race.

Feeling accomplished even with silly unimportant but tangible things is just what the doctor ordered…it felt good to be productive, and to see the results.

Good night to all and to take care be safe and count your blessings while I try and find as many of mine as I can, OK?

Saturday, August 29, 2009

A new beginning...

A rebirth of freedom and a great weight has been taken off of my shoulders.
I am now no longer able to go through the governmental hoops; my missing credits and my Hubby’s income proves to be more than what is required for any programs available to an American who cannot get health insurance due to a pre-existing condition, or perhaps pay thousands in premiums putting us in debt up to the wazoo is what they truly expect for us to have occur. And today the attorney who told me otherwise wimped out and sent us a form letter stating that they cannot help me.

And so I will try my darndest to not need to go to a hospital or a doctor, and I will pray to whomever this country believes will heal me if I just have enough of the faith of whatever religious belief they feel that I as an American should believe, because this is America and I am a free woman! Huh?

To be honest that is what I believe that I will die way too young because the government is too damn stubborn to understand what I am going through, OK? And think that chronic ills can be wished or prayed away. It is documented that when people do not have access to proper healthcare their life expectancy is jeopardized enormously and shortened viciously to way too young a demise.

Ok enough said about things way out of any of my control.
Did you enjoy reading my last night’s Blog spot?
I hope not, but I received not one comment or any concern from any of you, and so now I am wondering why this is supposed to be therapeutic?

I thought that last night’s blurb blog was rather contentious but so far no one appears to have read it and if they had I received no help or understanding from whence those deep emotions came from.
And I thought we were doing so well, and I had somewhat of a following?
Sadly, I guess not.

After last nights brief rant of deep true feelings of the moment I think that my elaboration tonight is sufficient to pass for true commentary.

PS those free cataract docs are only free to people who are so poor they live in their cars or with someone else! We make too much for their criteria too, but they are willing to take care of my eyes for 2K each one, how about that? I can’t even afford to pay off a car for my clunker while paying off my hospital bills, that’s my reality!

Good night to you all but to me my blessings are slimming down to nil, I do wish for you to have plenty!

Friday, August 28, 2009

My reality is...

The truth ….
I have no life I am in pain constantly and I have no one who loves me!
The end!

Thursday, August 27, 2009

Stress and how we handle it...

Do relaxation exercises really work? Who knows, do you?
When any of us have a lot of stress like these last few years we all have had our own unique ways of handling it… from doing nothing, to taking medication, to a little drinky-pooh to complaining to whomever will listen! I have tried them all.

Let’s examine the word itself and its true meaning: constraining force or influence: as a. a force exerted when one body or body part presses on, pulls on, pushes against, or tends to compress or twist another body or body part especially the intensity of this mutual force commonly expressed in pounds per square inch b. the deformation caused in a body by such a force c. a physical, chemical, or emotional factor that causes bodily or mental tension and may be a factor in disease causation d. a state resulting from a stress especially one of bodily or mental tension resulting from factors that tend to alter an existent equilibrium - job-related stress e. strain pressure - the environment is under stress to the point of collapse - Joseph Shoben.

I think the above definition thanks to the Merriam Webster Dictionary says it as concisely as it can be.

Now today was quite a stressful day for me, personally, from a phone interview that quickly went south after facts that I was misinformed about were proven to be skewed. But a reliable source informed me otherwise. Well, facts are facts and what is one to do?
I do know that I am being vague but if what had happened had gone the way I thought it was going to go I definitely would have revealed what it was all about, OK, capish?

I bet you all know that stress causes more than emotional problems it does affect you physically as well, and can be responsible for triggering exacerbations of certain chronic disorders like Multiple Sclerosis, as well as other autoimmune diseases such as Rheumatoid Arthritis and Lupus etcetera. But anyone who suffers from these diseases knows from what I speak.

And since that is a known fact, not just a theory I not only was emotionally disappointed with the outcome that transpired; I have residual physical pain going on too.

The day was highly intense from the beginning of the day, my preparation was deliberate and quickly put together under a short period of time, but I did feel that I was still quite well prepared, since I had all the required elements requested at hand.
But I suppose not the most important apparently, the correct criteria information for being a candidate for this specific governmental program.

Oh well, I'll give in and spill the beans... it was an interview for social security again but for another program that an attorney told me that we met the criteria for, well unfortunately or fortunately, whichever way you want to look at it they say hubby’s pension and his SSA make us over their allowances for income per month by more than twice what is right for their program. Now why would an attorney think what I told her, which was the same amount I told them, why would she say we now met the requirements?
Nothing we can do, we are up a creek without a paddle…

Good night to all, be safe and to all count those blessings and I will try to, too!

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

A controversal man of American royalty has lost his final fight

The Liberal Lion has met his maker after a gallant fight for life, Senator Edward Kennedy at the age of 77 passed away last night from his battle of inoperable brain cancer.
Many people have had their feelings expressed and placed online to read the more notable ones that the Associated Press has compiled you can copy and paste this site:
http://news.aol.com/article/comments-on-the-death-of-sen-edward/639822?flv=1

Not knowing the man personally only knowing from the news of his ups and downs in life; he had experienced it all and appeared to use those personal experiences to fight for all people’s welfare in my book, which I am sad to say they may never be another senator quite like him. He was prolific in writing bills for the underdog, and was able to get many of them passed. To me that shows his choice to serve the people as a Senator was the right one for all of Americans, and I thank him for that.

I can remember his time with that scandal of Chappaquiddick Island back in July 18, 1969, I was a nineteen year old when the story broke, and thought why hadn’t he saved the girl, Mary Jo Kopechne, 28, it wasn’t until later that we found out what actually transpired. Is available at this site: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Kennedy
He made a horrid mistake which no one knows for sure if that would have change the fate of Mary Jo. The only two who really know the truth are both now gone.

Any-who Senator Kennedy helped many people since that horrid day, and if nothing else that is a very good thing for anybody to do. Who among us can say that we were able to help as many people as the liberal lion? And his last wish was for a healthcare reform bill to pass, and my hopes that bipartisan sides will come to a good decision that helps all Americans have excellent health care, not lesser than a third world country who asks for our help that we always seem to find the money to help, but for our own…?

The New York Times obituary is quite extensive on the senator and here is the link: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/27/us/politics/27kennedy.html?_r=1

On the not too lighter side…east coast of our country is getting the double whammy it appears…since Danny, now just a storm may become a category 1 hurricane by the time it skirts the shores of my good old stomping grounds of NJ and NYC! Keep up with your local weather again I will warn, since this is the voice of experience.

Good night to all and to all take care and be safe, and don’t forget to count those blessings and I will too!

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Stormy weather...

La, la, la, la, la, la, la (hum to the Sesame Street song, Sing) stormy weather is pounding us as I write this. So much so that I may have to shut this down, since there is lightening involved in the rip roaring electrical storm, or perhaps it might shut this down on its own! Who knows what lurks in the mind, and I use the term loosely; of a storm?

Save, save, save is what I am doing to not lose these pearls of wisdom that I am configuring for your delight and entertainment.

Rain dancers have been doing a great practically unheard of job on bringing back our rainy season, and I think they all deserve a round of applause! Hip hooray!

The northern realm is receiving the warmth that they also missed for this season, and all is well with nature, or is it?
We are watching the nightly news that tells us that most of the major storms are missing the Gulf-coast and heading towards them as well, slightly unusual but not unknown in the history of such things, but it has been years.
Amnesia has hit the northeasterners since that time has passed long enough ago for most northerners to have forgotten entirely of this similarity to their meteorological past.
Ironically, all those times family and friends that live up there have questioned our sanity for staying here after those two horrendous hurricane years that we had, out of only twenty-three non hurricane years I might add; I feel somewhat vindicated.

School here in the south traditionally starts always in August, and our county's schools started the tenth of August while the surrounding counties started this past Monday. I suppose you are wondering how children could think or accomplish anything in our awful heat, simply put….AIR-CONDITIONING STUPID, even our school buses are air-conditioned and even have seat belts. The south has come a long way….our schools are even integrated…bet you northerners didn’t know that either!!! LOL
Most of our children enjoy getting out of school in May, and thumb up their noses at their northern chums who do go without air-conditioning into the hazy scorching June weather time, hah! But all by law get the same 180 days of classes no matter when it occurs.

Running the gambit from all places for education I do believe that when all is said and done Florida has proved teaching their young and young adults as well is of the utmost importance, as well as having a great football team!
We have the number one university for that claim to fame and our youngest is a grad from there too.
On that search for you to try, but most know of what I am speaking, good luck in finding out if you don’t.

Take care, be safe, good night and count those blessings and I will too!

PS Now I know how pirates managed with single eye vision can do!

PSS The storm did shut this down for nearly an hour with everything else, 2255 customers!

Monday, August 24, 2009

End of the road...

Tonight's the night, all deals end at 8P.M. sharp! Come and get ‘em while they are still hot! Cars silly, but hot may be the wrong word; they aren’t stolen, except if you consider them a steal in price! LOL Use them to get you where you gotta go, better gas mileage less pollution; you know the deal. Buy now pay later… isn’t that how it all started, our bad economy?

Dealers get a reprieve with the deadline to get their paperwork in, now they have till tomorrow at noon, complicated stuff; must have been drawn up by those tax people?

Breaking news: Michael Jackson’s death is being said to be a murder due to the tox screen bringing up the drug PROPHANOL, his doc is under investigation…BIG TIME!

A seven year old girl could not be saved after being pulled out of the Atlantic Ocean up in Maine. She had gone in due to a major rogue wave from Hurricane Bill’s wrath that also was responsible for pulling in six others, but they are all OK, including the child’s father.

That horrendous murder of the model in California by her ex-husband who was on the run back to his home in Canada, he saved the powers that be some big bucks for a trial and hung himself in his motel room!

I personally followed up on my eye problem with a trip via hubby cab to the eye doc, and guess what….I was wrong with my self diagnosis…what a surprise!
Actually, the reason that my left eye is very blurry was not Optic Neuritis or Diabetic Retinopathy, and at times those two could mean blindness which is good that I do not have either of them, thankfully but… what I do have is one of my cataracts has gotten much worse … I have and it needs to be removed surgically…oh lucky me, another surgery I am not covered for! My right eye actually is a little bit better. While I wait for some miraculous intervention financially; I decided to get the new specs that were prescribed, and they will be ready tomorrow, hopefully they will help with the additional time I need; to get my disability approved.

So now this problem is permanent until removed by a surgeon. Well, I don’t drive anymore so… no big deal and my right eye still works, so I’m good.
I suppose this is more similar to what I am seeing in my left eye, but the eye on the right on this site is what I see: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/medical/IM01229

Eyesight is a funny thing we sometimes take it for granted when we shouldn’t, you know?

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

Sunday, August 23, 2009

The eyes have it!

Tonight I decided that I would speak my mind about another problem that occurred a few days ago, but I suppose it may not be that serious since it does seem to not have gotten any worse.
I do wear my glasses since I was told to by the docs with my MS that I can’t wear the contacts anymore, after over forty years.
Mostly because of me not taking care of them after all these years and causing too many close calls of damaging my eyesight permanently with scratched and ulcerated corneas. So for over a year now I have been a good girl who has been back to wearing my glasses, ugh! Hated them when at sixteen I was told I needed to wear them all the time too, thus the year of the contacts.
My left eye has become very blurry, and I for a while I thought it was my dirty and scratched lenses on my glasses, hopefully anyway, but no I cleaned them then I asked hubby to clean them, and the problem is still there. The other thing is I took the glasses off, because for the last seven years I haven’t had to wear glasses to read with, I know crazy the doctor says it has something to do with my mild cataracts, on a scale from one to ten they are a three. Well, that proved the problem was still there since now my left eye is no good/blurry and that it was still no good for reading either! And yes, I wore mono lenses for fourteen years previously for the reading and distance problems.
If it wasn’t the weekend and me thinking last week that it was only a temporary problem I would have gone to the eye doc already, since they are one of the few that we can afford.
So tomorrow after my other appointment I will have to go.
This site shows exactly what I am seeing; the one on the left is what I see: http://www.mult-sclerosis.org/opticneuritis.html (I had an aha moment when I saw it and was finally able to show hubby too! It was wild to actually see what I was seeing!)
If it wasn’t for the MS I suppose I wouldn’t be too concerned.

But there is another eye disorder that has the same symptoms, which I am also border line for, which is Diabetic Retinopathy it can happen to both type two and type one, and so concern is looming large until I know what I am dealing with for sure. After all we all know that knowledge is power!

Another minor or little thing going on is my head had been hurting on that (left) side on the temple and also at the nape of my neck, aha stress, tension! At least the neck part I must get to the bottom of this with the facts of what actually is going on, nothing but the facts folks that’s all I want! What price peace of mind I like to say…

On that note, and the fact that this is not very easy to do tonight I must admit, I will wish you all a good night, be safe, and count those blessings and I will too!

Saturday, August 22, 2009

Things that are still taboo...

Years ago when I was just a little Lass there were things that we were told to never discuss in public, in other words, considered taboo.
Now let’s examine the meaning of the word, taboo: forbidden to profane use or contact because of what are held to be dangerous supernatural powers; banned on grounds of morality or taste - the subject is taboo, according to Merriam Webster.

Now I am an older person with admittedly a mouth that at times I believe has a mind of its own. Not good I am told quite often.

Today, it seems that the things that were once taboo are now just daily conversational allowances and presumed OK. Years ago we were all told not to discuss family personal business or sex or religion, finances, how much money you made or didn’t, or if their were a mentally ill person in the family; I could go on and on but you get the point. Most things were kept private, and considered nobody else’s business to know about.
Even common ailments of chronic disease were also not discussed, as well as even a miss-carriage of a loving hopeful pregnancy. These things are fortunately mostly all discussed today and with the intelligence and forethought that we are all in this world together and feel that no one should ever have to suffer alone, and through commonality we can support one another.

Thank goodness for that way of thinking, life is too short for us to think that our problems have never ever happened to anyone else!
And that’s another thing…many topics I have found are still under that umbrella of not to be discussed…hmm… death is the biggest one that I take issue with, but it drives me crazy that people think they are immortal and that the fact that all of our lives will eventually come to an end is not in their vocabulary, and therefore should never be discussed under any circumstances at all! The oddest ones who hate to discuss death are the ones who profess to be atheist, but I suppose that does make sense since they truly do not believe in a better place to go to or a possible after-life. I suppose that is why it scares them so much to even mention it! I guess that is a true atheist’s way of thinking.

I do think of death when I think of my parents, because guess what… they died! I was 31 for my Mom and 35 when my Dad went, and rather traumatic at those so-called mature ages. And I do think of them daily because I miss them both, some days more than others, so there you go people!

Nothing too sinister here, this past October I also found out that my niece passed away, she was way too young and my brother also passed away, and so to me, yeah I do think about it, but that is why.
Logically, death will happen to all of us; simplistically put: you live then you die.

Hubby gets angry and upset when I tell him to call his Mom, because you never know, after all the woman is 88 and a half! If lucky she will be 89 in January. He thinks I am being too morbid, and I tell him he’s lucky he still has his Mom, so call her!

Somethings are still uncomfortable to discuss; like people’s sexual orientation and I respect that not to bring up unless they do first, after all it’s none of my business, but I am not shocked by any of it, by now I have heard it all.

Religion is still a touchy subject and that’s why I do not try to discuss it with too many people, but it at times makes me sad that I can’t say how I do feel, because so many feel so strongly about their own religious beliefs I profess to not want to discuss my own. Admitting who I truly am has backfired many a time, and consequently resulted in my own very hurt feelings.

So much is good about the times we now live in, not the foreclosures, joblessness or the economy, but the fact that we can discuss most of it all openly with friends, family and neighbors and not be told it’s TABOO!

I bid you all a good night and to all take care, be safe, and count those blessings and I will too!

Friday, August 21, 2009

Watch the surf and BE CAREFUL

Rip tides and mean high surf waves, some over twenty feet tall, all up and down the east-coast this weekend, even without Hurricane Bill making landfall the waterfronts will be wild!
So be safe and listen to your local weather.
New Jersey through to New England you will need to be glued to that weather channel!

The president and family is leaving on a week long vacation to Camp David and then on to Martha’s Vineyard. He insists he is not giving up his fight for healthcare reform.

Today, hubby and I went out into the world for lunch and supplies; in that order.
I happened to notice that the local Italian restaurant that we used to religiously get our pizzas from every Friday night, but unfortunately stopped when their prices became too steep for us. Well, now, they were offering a seven dollar buffet, Tuesday through Friday, a little different each day. And for today they offered a baked or fried fish and chips, salad, etc, and a choice of six types of pizza slices. Both of us, hubby liking pizza and me enjoying the fish could be satisfied with that menu so we thought we would try it and so we did. Not too exciting but mildly tasty, dessert was included but not beverages. We may even try other days’ offerings.

After that filling lunch we moved on to our destination, the grocery, you know the adage always eat before going. Supposedly, the theory is that you stick to your list, and don’t over buy unnecessary things. We had to pick up my cholesterol medicine and fortunately our grocery has a pharmacy inside that we use. Our county had initiated a program for everyone utilizing our monthly utility bills to distribute cards, which entitles all residents to receive a 65% discount on all prescriptions.
And so today was my first day of renewing one of my prescriptions to use it. It was the most expensive of my arsenal of drugs even though it is generic, but I saved over seven bucks more than with my previous discounted amounts, pretty nifty I say! Seven dollars… hey that paid for my lunch!

We have been having a weird happening lately in our neighborhood, a young Haitian boy, about nine years old has been dumping his bicycle on our property to search out a brace of Muscovy ducklings that ended up in our front garden somehow, with their Mom not far away. He seems like a nice enough kid, and we do know where he lives, around the other side of our circle, but he is relentless so much so that he was driving Skipper crazy, and our dear Bichon would not stop barking from the back of our sofa against our enormous picture window he nearly fell off; while with continuous doggy yelling at the child making us all want to pull out our hair…and so hubby asked him nicely to leave our property and the ducks alone. He was trying unsuccessfully to stuff the baby ducks in his tight shorts’ pockets! Hmmm, it took nearly two days for the child to get the idea that it was not a good idea, and since has taken to riding around the block on his bike today with his colorful geometric patterned kite flying above him. He made me become motherly concerned since he was doing this with the threats of thunder and lightening looming skyward; my mind played images of those historical programs with Benjamin Franklin discovering electricity so similarly, all the child needed was a metal key on the tail of his kite; perhaps that is why he was doing it, a nine year old would be in 4th grade and that would be about right for learning such things I would think?

Well, please take care this weekend with your local weather and I would like to mention for you all to have a good night, it’s movie night here, and count those blessings and we will too!

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Pulling the plug...

“Pulling the plug”, is an old expression with a very negative connotation, right?
Well, you are all correct.
This time we are hearing it being used with the Cash for Clunkers program, which will be coming to a complete halt about a week earlier than originally thought to be, this coming Monday.
That’s the way the 3 billion dollars crumble I suppose. Easy come easy go…bottomless pockets…us taxpayers…

Who didn’t hear Massachusetts’s District 4 Congressman Barney Frank’s response to the meek and rather mild looking woman who asked him the question about referring to the Healthcare Reform Bill, “Why are you supporting this Nazi Policy?” His response was, “On what planet do you spend most of your time?” Ya gotta love the guy! He calls ‘em how he sees them! Boy, that un-malicious looking person sure fooled me. I guess that’s where the expression, “looks can be deceiving”; came from.

Just thought I would give you some updates: My tooth problem appears much better, although I had soup for supper,
it couldn’t hurt and it didn’t, that was the idea, LOL!
The young/older, in her 30’s, Olympian hopeful from Naples Florida has made the team!

We were still getting a free paper. If you recall that I had filled out a survey online and the deal was they would give you two weeks of the newspaper for free. I had called them the day that it started and told them after the two weeks we didn’t want it, since it would be an additional expense, but it kept coming and so I called again today and they assured us it would be stopped. We read the paper online every morning, less trees harmed, and it’s free. Fortunately, we do have paper recycling so that’s where it has been going, but it accumulates so fast, and seems like so much too.
When our sons were growing up at home we always got the paper delivered and used to subscribe to National Geographic for years as well. But with the advent of the internet that is more cost effective to just using it as an incredible resource for most all information, and no papers to clean up.

As I write tonight the sky is a hypocritical robin’s egg blue, sunny, and speckled with just a few of a smattering of fluffiness clouds, booming foreboding harangues threaten in the nether land, ah Florida an A-typical evening in August here.
The lawn was mowed and looks truly plush with all of nature’s spillage returning it to the emerald of it normally acceptable luscious tones. This is rainy season in the south and symbolic of what it can produce.

On those fussy and robust words of picturesque speech I will bid you all a pleasant evening, and safe journeys, careful existence, and a blessed nigh, and I will in turn create my own of thy same.

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Here I sit in agony.

Today was a somewhat productive day we took care of business.
Supper was leftovers and the reason that I think I am in agony right now.
You see, it is the leftover meat that is caught between two teeth and I tried till exhaustion to floss, rinse and brush it out and it just won’t budge. Arms and legs are in pain and are numb too.

But fortunately we had Oragel medicated toothache swabs in the house, although even that has worn off already!
And it’s after six P.M., no doctors or dentists available and no dental insurance anyway!
Second swab is being applied; hope this is not habit forming!

The remnants of Ana have been causing us to have rain on and off all day!

News in today: Cash for Clunkers will be done by Labor Day, money all gone!

America has weighed in on our First Lady Michele Obama’s short wearing on her vacation, and most, 85% say the others should all get a life! People this is the 21st Century, and she is part of a young, younger than me anyway, young American family on vacation in the heat of summer, and that is why I am telling those fifteen per centers also… to get a life! She is not in appropriate; she is a mother of two young girls she has to keep an eye on, on a holiday in the unrelenting Arizona heat!

Brain freeze seems to happen more often than not these days…luckily hubby is never too far away, and as long as I play word charades or hand charades he usually figures out what I mean.
Ah… will these things ever end?
They say the mind is the last to go, uh oh, am I in trouble?
The more I think I know the less I find out that I do.
And my mouth, at times, seems to have a mind of its own.

Swine Flu, schools will not close, all sicky’s (Tobism) will be put in the same room together.
Best to not go to work or school if feeling sick, wash those hands, plan for the worst, and when vaccinations are available …get them!

I’m in pain and pooped and so…
I will wish you all a good night, and to be safe, and count those blessings and I will too!

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Soylent Green, Flip Flops, and liquor stores... in the news

Dirty flip flops can kill you, news blurb today!
They, flip flops that is, apparently are hiding E-coli and many staph infections as well amongst those cute little piggy’s, oh my! PS: the death threat is only for those with compromised immune systems or open cuts on the feet wearing them.

CNN breaking news: MJ, Michael Jackson will finally be buried on August 29.2009 at Forest Lawn.

Swine flu is now getting its own video game.

The actual flu should be getting shot by October 15th that is a flu shot for the H1 N1 will be available by then.

Jet skis are being stolen locally, so far eight on trailers have been stolen from people’s yards, law enforcement believe that human trafficking smugglers’ may be behind it.
But guys…we, hubby and I, want to know how that would work…since the ones stolen only have room for one person on them? Oh just explained for traveling in front of the larger boats as look outs, thank you very much, my bad.

The rain came early today, right after lunch, a big storm with heavy winds, thunder and lightening, and only about a half inch of moisture, temperature dropped 12 degrees for that, but enough rain to not have to water!

Ana can stir up some weather in the next few days, we have to watch her, she is back to only a depression, but could cause trouble, mostly rain.

Erika Erndl a thirty-one year old Olympic hopeful from Naples Florida is hoping to compete in three years, but hopes her age won’t be a deterrent to her competing. I think not what about that amazing 41 year old mom that won Gold in the Olympics in China last summer, Dara Torres.

Could the healthcare reform be going down the tubes?
What about the co-op ideas of healthcare?
The barterers are also getting into the act.
The country is split on the plan going forward, and the town halls are causing America to talk, have it on occasion a little too loudly but they are talking.
PS: the elderly are NOT going to be euthanized people when ill!
What do you think we are living in Soylent Green (my reference is to the 1973, Charlton Heston Movie: go to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soylent_Green) era here?
Wake up America, if it sounds a wee bit too far fetched, IT IS!

Another interesting tidbit in the news, the newest binge drinkers are…. 50-64 year olds, would you believe? And you thought I was going to say pre-teens or post grad students I betcha?

It boils down to men 23% and women 9% that are drinking more these days.
The oddest thing I saw when out last week was in a Super Wal-Mart we had a few items to pick up at, the old bank that used to be in there towards the front of the store; is now a discount liquor store…ah the times we live in, banks are out (literally) and liquor stores are in; sad but true.

On that thought provoking example of how it is…I will bid you all a good night and to all of you be safe, and count those blessings and I will too!

Monday, August 17, 2009

What's in a title?

I will not bore you but I did do it again, published only the title. Getting annoying that I have so ridiculous reflexes I suppose that I forget and just pinkie push enter.

Moving on… today I felt as if the telephones, yes phones were connected to me. You see we removed our long distance years ago from the house phone and only have it on our cells, yes we both have them. Sounds foolishly expensive with our low income?
Actually, we got quite a deal a few years ago and we have them for $59.99 plus tax for the two of them, with roll over minutes, which we never use up, and at the time the two phones were free too.
The house phone we use for local calls and 800 numbers, otherwise it is connected to the computer since we are still on dial up, best 24/7 deal we could get.

The reason I was on the phone all day long or at least it seemed that way to me was that on Saturday I finally received a letter about a hearing for my disability case. I say finally because I initially requested it back in April of 2007, and I was told that it should have taken less than two years.
The letter head said it came from Fort Lauderdale, and I thought that is where I would be having the hearing, and so I was told by a person in the Illinois office for assistance that I should contact them because I now meet a different criteria and my information should be updated, and so I tried to call where I thought I would have to go, which is nearly a six hour ride from here.
I called, 3X and got the same recording the number is no longer in service, and so it was not even an 800, but I did feel the necessity to contact them for all I wanted to discuss, and so I tried information for perhaps another phone number for the office, and the information person said there wasn’t any listing…mind you this is the Social Security Administration. I was determined so I asked for any number in Florida for Adjudication, and she said there was one in Tampa. I said aha, Tampa is only an hour and a half from here, better, but still not an 800 number either.
Tampa lady said no, according to her computer info on me no I must call Fort Lauderdale they are taking care of my case.
OK, I said but their phone is not working and I told her about the recording no phone there. All right she said I guess I can give you the 800 number …mmm, the 800 number of course there should be one of those, great give it to me I said! So I shut down the computer and used the house phone for the freebie!
I got the number and called and waited for about 20 minutes on hold, I was told that it would be only ten by the recording, and finally a man got on the line, he said he was in the Pennsylvania office, when asked, and I repeated my story to him, and he said mmm
Let me try and find you a number for them, and he came back after several moments of silence with the same DAMN number that had the recording saying it was disconnected! By now I was really frustrated to say the least. I tried calmly to explain that number didn’t work. Meantime hubby tried it again, the bad number that is… and miraculously it worked! I said thank you very quickly to the probably confused and now probably very annoyed man, and hung up and got back on my cell for another long distance call.

Well a woman there answered, a receptionist she said, and apparently she was the only person there, because as soon as she picked up she put me on hold. Then would come back on the line and ask me a question and no sooner say hold please. I said no, but she was gone! This went on for several staccato tries by me to talk to her holds, and finally I said call me, and she took my number but in my rush to comply I stupidly gave her the cell number which would make my minutes go down, and so when she did call back I gave her the house phone number, finally!
When I thought I had her full attention I told her that was way too far for us to come for our hearing and that my criteria had changed to another type anyway. She said oh don’t worry that it doesn’t mean I would have to go there they could do it by teleconferencing, I said oh OK, but I still have found out that I recently meet an all together different criteria. Well, this non professional receptionist who has a 10 line phone system all to herself said then you should call your local office, why I asked.

They would have to do the updates, she said.
And so now I could stay on our house phone since that office was local, but impossible to get through to, busy, busy, and busy.
A light went off in my brain to contact the attorneys, who said if I needed them to contact them, and they only make money if I get any, money that is; whatever did you think? LOL
And their number was also an 800!
So I called them and now we have an appointment for Wednesday!
Hopefully, they will take this horror of dealing with the United States government over and do it without anymore help than I am willing to give.

Long winded, so sorry, but that’s the way it was today!

Good night to all and to all be safe, take care, count those blessings and I will too!

Sunday, August 16, 2009

That'll teach me...

Now please stand by and don’t surf… no, surf, surf all over the airways!

If I was not tuning in the boob tube when I did little would we know that there was a tornado that touched down in Cape Coral? It ripped one home to shreds and put a car with its rear turned up and over onto a roof of another, pictures were coming in while they gave their reports, those weekend kids, hubby calls them. The under thirty crew is what we have on local news here on our weekends. Cape Coral is the little big city (at least they are trying to be) to our south, which is about twenty some odd miles from here, part of the greater Fort Myers area.

Tis the season, you know, at least you should with my teaching you all; and that it is the time when we have to turn some things on when most say we shouldn’t…radio or TV to name two that will keep us abreast of what is happening in our weather world. We have the TV on one of those surge protectors anyway. Since the advent of digital our little battery TV no longer will work, but we have been looking for another digital battery one, but they have been sold out almost as long as they have been. Our radio does work but you know it’s not quite the same as seeing with your own eyes.

While watching the reports for Ft. Myers and Cape Coral we got another report of a tornado in our neck of the woods but towards our east, heading northwest, away from us, since we were south west of its location. But that warning was up at 5:30 P.M., and so that is why I felt it was safe enough to start to write tonight.
All that bad weather was happening during our early dinner, and created a tense meal for me, but hubby seemed fine.

But it is true that we must keep in contact with the weather powers that be to make sure all is well, and at times they could be our lifesavers, literally! And they have been in the past.
Up until then it has been a rather nice quiet Sunday, watching many of my favorite PBS shows and Tiger’s golf game in between, it is still on.
I did happen upon a new station to me ION life, which has how to and other similar shows to PBS, very interesting, and at times has an international flair.

That’s it for tonight; this weather makes me sleepy… so I will bid you all a good night, and keep an eye on the tropics we have a lot going on down here!
Be happy, and safe and count those blessings and I will too!

Saturday, August 15, 2009

Here's what I think...

I’m weighing in on my opinion on the Michael Dwayne Vick situation, born June 26, 1980 in Newport News Virginia.

This Virginia Tech alumnus who turned pro football player, turned dog fighting ring arranger/ owner, turned prisoner, turned into bench warmer for the Philadelphia Eagles, a team that I used to follow living down in south jersey for so many years prior to here in Florida.
This young man of 29, who is six foot tall and a 215 pound person has spent his time in prison, and says he has learned his lesson after all those months of detention, but has he really?
He will be paid nearly 1.7M for the 2009 Eagle’s season; does he really need all that; after all he has just come out of a prison cell?
He must have learned to manage with so much less?
But do any of us really feel that he has truly learned anything from his several months of incarceration?

As a mother of sons who have always had pets in their lives and cared for and loved them, I find it appalling that anyone could run a dog fighting ring!
It’s as distasteful to me as cock fighting!
But to me a dog is a loving pet, a man’s and a woman’s best friend, a family member, how dare he treat any living thing that way!

My suggestion to him is to donate his salary to the Humane Society or any of the other non-profit agencies that help animals and then read some of their literature about how awfully animals have been treated and then turned around and cared for to be healthy again and put into loving homes. I think the news said his creatures were too far gone to be treated and had to be put down, but I may be wrong.

He was given a second chance, where was theirs?
And on that reasoning alone I feel his debt to the animal world has not been fully paid.
Perhaps he should be counseled by cruelty experts on how to treat animals also?
Did you know that children who harm animals are watched very closely, due to the fact that behavior usually means that they will grow up to harm people similarly?

With all the grassroots rising up on all the issues out there today, I absolutely think that the punishment should fit the crime; where’s his repayment to the creatures that are still being mistreated and misused?
He should be involved in a task force to help stop these dog fighting rings and that would be a good way for him to do a community service, until this practice of dog fighting no longer exists!


On that note of my firing up of my feelings I will bid you all a good night and wish ….in honor of the 40th anniversary of WOODSTOCK… I wish you all… Peace, Love, and Rock and Roll!

Friday, August 14, 2009

Did you notice?

LOL, I did it again published just my title, but it is provocative; don't you think?

To notice anything in this crazy world is like asking someone to find a particular type of needle in the metaphorical haystack.

So much has been going on these days, on the news with those controversial town hall meetings, and wild accusations.

Too much for any sane person to get involved in, who doesn’t want the world to choose sides? Our small world has.

You all do know that, that is exactly what is going on here…who’s right and who’s wrong with what they BELIEVE is the interpretation of the Health Care Reform Bill.

So you will have to not depend on me for giving my opinion one way or the other, since I have not read the entire bill, and I will only mention some generalities…the stupidest people are out in full force trying their hardest to cause trouble, in my opinion; for whatever that is worth, and we all know that it’s not worth that much, but I’m entitled, as they all are too. After all this is America!

At least we are all getting fired up about something that matters again…reminds me a bit like the 1960’s. In those days conflict was everywhere, but it wasn’t only two political denominations in those days it was in factions of many, somewhat organized groups, who would loudly and sometimes violently voice their opinions.
At that time I was of a different ilk more in the frame of mind of making peace not war mindset. But by no means a hippy just hopeful it would all turn out without too much blood shed it was my teen era of angst, but to be honest much of it was great, the music that is.
Beach Boys, Beetles, Elvis, Motown, etc., you name it we had it and it was what defined us, and many of them spoke in their lyrics what was on our minds. It was true we had a nasty war that most today realize was a big mistake, but we knew then that it was and we lost many friends in that so-called police action.

Racial tensions were as thick as they come; the summer of ’65 was the worst I was on that great vacation with my folks driving across the country, one of my lasts since I was fifteen that summer, but every place we went riots broke out, yes it was memorable but a scary time too.

Those were the non apathetic times of our lives, and so even with the advent of fiery town halls now in some ways it makes me feel better about our nation that we do care what goes on in our government and will express our opinions no matter how far fetched they may seem to some, like me.

I miss a good old fashioned sit-in, remember those? That I did get involve in, and in the seventies I marched against higher prices on meat, and gas, with my young son in his stroller. We would hold up signs and hope that we could be a small part of any changes that we might have an affect on, wow! Hubby, back in the sixties drove his motorcycle with a candle on his helmet protesting the Viet Nam War those were candlelight vigils, sixties style. Not being too politically savvy in my teens I really goofed big time when I signed a petition that I thought was just a bunch of democrats voicing their opinion against the Viet Nam War.
It truly was an enormous mistake because the FBI, yep the FBI, came to our home and wanted to know, now get this: was I a member of the SDS? I truly thought that the SDS meant students for a democratic society, literally. I was a 17 year old student, and I thought Democracy is what most of us wanted, and an end to the war. I had no idea what they really were, but I foolishly signed their petition, I just was against the war …so you see how confusing it can be… you can go to the site; I do believe they’re now defunct: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Students_for_a_Democratic_Society_(1960_organization)
To this day I am always leery when asked to sign anything I’m not that informed about; a good policy in my book, but many people are insulted by that.

I think these memories have been brought on by it being this weekend the 40th Anniversary of Woodstock, but I was not there.
That was the summer that I went for college credit to Europe, oh well! I missed really something and that I am well aware of.

I have capsulated some more of my memories and you know something… life is one big déjà vu, don’t you think?
It appears that some days more so than others.

Take care, be safe, count those blessings and I will too, and good night to all of you!

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Friday August 13. 2004

Today is an infamous anniversary; the fifth one of Hurricane Charley, and yes it was a Friday the 13th.
I was trying hard to write for you a time line of what actually occurred here that day, but I must have put quite a bit of it out of my mind since it did create most of us to go into mild shock due to what we experienced that particular day.
Not at all that different from post traumatic stress syndrome I suspect.

What I do remember is watching closely the news and weather reports out of Fort Myers where all of our local information comes from; my hubby was at work as a deputy, a fairly normal day. We had made somewhat preliminary strapping’s down of things that could fly away, little did we know how stupid that would be, but it was supposed to not come here!

We were told initially that this milder storm not that much over hurricane strength was heading towards Tampa, about one hundred miles north of us, and I suppose this was on the news and weather at noon. I did worry anyway since our eldest son works in Tampa and lives not far from there, to the north about 20 miles.
The storm at this point I do believe was staying the course.
Coming from the Caribbean south of Cuba and was expected to veer towards the Gulf of Mexico where it might pick up speed, and develop into a stronger hurricane in the warmer waters there.

I think it might have been around 2 or 3 O’clock in the afternoon that things began changing for the worse for us. The weather reporters noticed that the storm was shifting direction, and it was heading towards Captiva and Pine Islands, and Fort Myers Beach, which are due west of Fort Myers, but south of us by about forty plus miles. Still in my mind too close for comfort that was enough for me to start to think ahead, and I began listening intensively to the safety procedures that were coming over the TV to get into a space without windows if you had no room that met that criteria get into your hallway and close all the doors, contain pets so they won’t scare and take off. And so I started making our small hallway into a sanctuary for me and the pets. I moved our 25 year old Cockatiel, oddly enough also named Charlie, but a different spelling in his cage in the back of the space, then I took a kitchen chair and got out the cat crate for our seven years old long haired orange Tabby Casey, the hardest part was putting him in it, and then listening to him complain about it, our Skipper was only a five month old puppy at the time and so he was at my mercy and I was able to corral him and attach his lead so I could maintain him in our safety room.
Hubby was a whole other worry, but by now we had been in phone communication and he was busy making sure the county was hunkered down for the possible arrival of the storm by securing the Marine Patrol boats and equipment as well as notifying the public in what to do, and chasing them from harms way.
By the time the storm decided to take a sharp turn towards us, via the harbor, which we are 5 minutes from by boat, I had shut our main power source off and had the battery TV hunkered down with us in our control room, the hallway. I kept hearing from our wonderful son north of Tampa; he was also monitoring the storm and wanted to know how we were doing.
You see we were not that new to hurricanes we had all helped in the aftermath of Hurricane Andrew, a Category 5, back on August the 17.1992, and we were well aware of the devastation a hurricane could commit on a community, we had seen it first hand as well as both of our sons seeing it too.
But this was going to be different since we only went to assist after Andrew, and we actually lived over five and half hours away at that time in Ormond Beach. This time we lived here and it was coming right at us!
And we would be getting an up close and personal first hand knowledge of the horrible devastation it was beginning to seem, but little did we know for sure that this now category 4 hurricane was going for a direct hit on us, we were still hopeful it would miss us, or in denial.

I put up the puppy gate at the opening of the hallway, which allowed me not to have to hold Skipper on his lead the whole time, and it was just in time since something or someone was at the front door…I thought it might be the storm, but I looked out our very large picture window, and it was my hubby coming in! He had to grab tight the door the wind was trying to take it!
He had parked the old army truck they were using to move around the marine boats on our side pad from the driveway, the garage had been secured since the news people told that it should be, and our personal car was in there anyway.

And he did arrive just in time, because within seconds we heard a very loud noise that scared us both I had to grab hubby for him not to go and check it out; it was instinctive, but I feared for his life.
The wind was rip roaring all around us, and crashes could be heard too, but I was too scared to look and I focused on keeping the animals put. Hubby noticed the guestroom door making vibrations like in the Poltergeist Movie, and he took Skipper's lead and tied it from that doorknob on the guestroom to the bathroom one. At around five thirty, yes it was already that time, everything got deathly quiet. And hubby wanted to go look, but I begged him not to, it must be the eye of the hurricane, we both agreed, and he did take my concerns to heart and waited; all this time we were getting information from the local news, by seven P.M. they were saying we should be in the clear.

Nearly seven P.M. on the dot I stopped hearing most noises, and Hubby and I both agreed that we could venture from the hallway.
What we were about to see was going to change our world in ways that we could not ever believe.

The first thing was since we had drapes on the big picture window I thought that loud noise was something coming through it but thankfully it was not, since our thirty foot oak tree that stood majestically on our front lawn was lying on the ground blocking our way from getting out our front door.
Apparently, the metal stucco encased columns that made up our Spanish style veneer prevented the tree from crashing through that nine foot window!
But did block our exit from that entry way.
The other crash I inspected or maybe hubby was the guestroom; the side window had been smashed to smithereens and glass was all over the bed and the carpet, so I closed the door again so the animals could not go in. The hardest part was to go outside, our screen porch had rain coming in where it met the dinette ceiling, there was water coming from everywhere. Our fairly new wooden floors and carpeting were saturated! But searching around the rest of the house we only had the one broken window, it was a good thing we had installed new windows the year before, but why did that one break? Hubby went outside, and found out the answers to most of our concerns, our octagon Gazebo was gone, our two sheds too, and our next-door neighbors roof was in our backyard, and had hit the guestroom window and was only stopped by knocking our air-conditioner off its pedestal. It was lucky that our neighbors were not home. Our roof was still there but ripped to shreds in many places thus causing the rain indoors.
People from all over the neighborhood started to venture out, and hubby was helped by our other next-door neighbors on the other side tarp our roof. I questioned if I could used the toilet and did not get an answer so I did, and that was a mistake since that giant oak tree pulled the sewer pipe from the ground and all was shooting out into the air! Yuck is an understatement but again neighbors helped to pushed it down and hubby reconnected it. The power was off, our boat on the lift could not be seen or gotten too with all the debris, and it was everywhere, we had, had a sixteen foot arbor down to the water that was no where to be found it did have vegetation on it too. Our backyard oak also keeled over onto the fish pond and surprisingly the fish were fine, as well as the grapefruit tree, and the lemon and orange trees were both sheared. I could go on and on as you can see I have remembered so much of it all after all.
We still were alive, and when all was said and done we had, had over 80K dollars worth of damage on our tiny little home!
Thankfully, we have been rebuilt since December of that year, 2004, our insurance took care of our doing the work ourselves, fortunately I was well enough then to help a little, but our son, his girlfriend, my cousins, and another friend from the Arthritis Foundation are hugely responsible for being there when we needed them! We were one of the lucky ones; some still have not rebuilt.

On this long dissertation I will bid you all a good night, and I hope, I really hope that I have given you somewhat of a glimpse into what did transpire on that horrid day here in Charlotte County and in the surrounding communities.

That’s why when I say be safe, I mean it and when I say count those blessing I mean that too! And I do count them all, all of them our blessings that is!

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

I have been thinking again...

Uh oh, for me thinking again can be very dangerous, but I would much prefer for you to think that it also might be somewhat thought provoking?

What if we all were veterans of let’s say all our previous wars and also served our country either as fire people or law enforcement persons and received all the benefits that the VA Hospitals provide as well as the education that the GI Bill provides. And that all of our fellow Americans still were unhappy and complained that the government was taking over our rights for personal choice of health care and or college or universities to further our education? Then what? Interesting concept, huh?

But one I wish I could propose to the higher ups in D.C., but of course this is way too controversial for any of us, isn’t it? And we as a total nation of veterans would be way too much of an overwhelming burden to the system.

Imagine the government interfering in your choices like that?
It would be like being a prisoner here in the good ole US of A, right?

How many Americans have traveled abroad I wonder and saw how the other countries handle such things. We all have heard of the good and bad of socialized medicine, but what about countries that mandated higher education under their laws? Are we sure that we are all so well informed with all aspects of how the other halves live?

Our educational system has taken an enormous hit over the last several years compared to other civilized nations in the world I think; now I could be wrong and I have been before, but I believe that we are like sixth on the list of educating our children with respect to concerns in Science and Math testing and that we have proven to have some of the lowest test scores in the world, just shocking!
We also have more than we should in deaths in pregnancy of infants, and I am not talking abortion. I’m talking mothers with prenatal care, and some deaths of mothers at those births too!
Just horrible in this day and age that this could happen, but it still does. This is America; how could this happen you say?
And I bet you don’t believe it, but just put in your search wagon, Infant Mortality in the US? Our rank is 29th, and that is obscene if you ask me.

So for all of you out there happy with your medical system as it stands and our children and grandchildren’s education then I implore you to think again.

We may be what I truly believe to be the greatest nation in the world, and I have travelled a bit, not that extensively only to eight other countries but to me it was great to come home to this warts and all place we all call home.
Let’s just say that even the best of us could use some tweaking and I don’t mean on Twitter, oh that’s right that’s tweeting, what I mean is a fine tuning of what we have and improve on it. No one and nothing is perfect we all can agree on that!

On that note of thought provocation (but that’s just me) I will bid you all a good night and to all be safe and count those blessings and I will too!

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

A wonderful woman has gone to wherever they do go after all is said and done

Eunice Kennedy Shriver at age 88 has passed away, a wonderful woman. This is the woman who took the embarrassment out of having a Downs or retarded child. And helped the children meet their potential by enjoying the competitive physicality of the Olympics with the format for the games to compete with people of your own abilities and this became the Special Olympics (July 20.1968, just seven weeks after her brother Bobby had been slain.) where all could show their stuff and feel successful!
And why did she do this simply because of her sister who was a retarded child and not out that much in the world due to fear of the stupidity of others, which had been rampant in that era and before. Below is the oath of Special Olympics:

“Let me win,
but if I cannot win
let me be brave
in the attempt.”

What a legacy and spirit she has left behind. She passed away early this morning with her husband, five children and nineteen grandchildren all around her sending her off to a better painless place.

We should all be as lucky to have lived as well without regret and much respect as she has had for what she had accomplished. All the men and women of the world when choosing a person to emulate consider this amazing woman, and you will have done well!

I heard back again from old chum’s younger brother who has written a very kind and lovely letter with suggesting that I should get the Bariatric procedure that he has had for my weight problem, but I haven’t the heart to tell him my financial non insured problems.
Sadly, at first I was going to tell him that I did not meet the criteria for such a surgery. I thought you had to be more than a hundred pounds overweight, which I am not, but unfortunately it goes by BMI, and I do meet that…horror! But still financially it is not in the stars for me.
And so he may never hear from me again except with a thank you for the offer to tell me all about his. And unless he reads this which I truly doubt he will I will leave it alone from there.

I also heard from a dear friend, she is an editor these days, from my old writer’s group but I had been the one to initiate it, since her ex-fiancée had wanted to be my friend on Facebook. I wanted to know why he would do that and if she knew, or if I should just say OK, since this has been going on for some months. I finally decided against the whole concept since I don’t know him and never ever have. She actually didn’t care but said that was part of their problem he automatically thought all her friends were his.

I saw that one of my nieces has adopted many of her friends as family on Facebook. I suppose that is fine, but it threw me when I brought up the picture of her family and none of her biological family were in it; just plain odd in my book.

I guess I can say it has been a pretty interesting/odd day all in all.

Please all take care, be safe, good night to all and count those blessings and I will too!

Monday, August 10, 2009

Last night after I left you all...

Last night I decided to take a leap of faith and do something that I had mixed emotions about. Yes, I took the plunge and posted a photo of myself and my spouse (hubby) on my Facebook page. And not without some difficulty so I pleaded for help on my page and my eldest son’s ex-girlfriend, a doll of a person, actually called me and walked me through it, apparently I had been doing it right but I was just being a little too impatient on how long the upload actually took, it seemed like forever to me, ah old age how we change! Amazingly, after her call instantaneously it was there on the screen!

Now I do know what all of you are saying…big deal isn’t that what everyone does?

I suspect, yes, most do, do that, but my PIC was an older one of when I was looking the picture of health and it was only a little over four years ago; in my heart a lie. Hubby does still look the same though.

Unfortunately, if you looked at that picture and tried to find that woman in a crowd and I was in that crowd, you would walk right past me, and think that woman wasn’t there.

Sadly, I have gone down the tubes in my appearance so much so that I am so ashamed of that fact that I refuse to allow anyone to take a picture of me. I know that is silly and vain, but I am a woman who used to pride herself on keeping a healthy well groomed appearance. (PS I am still well groomed when I go out, but in a much larger way. LOL) I also have this horrified feeling that all those people who befriended me due to that appearance were so shallow that I no longer hear from them. (In reality it is me who no longer believes she belongs.) I do know that it is what is inside of you that counts and those people weren’t true friends anyway if they really thought that way. This sounds like high school, but unfortunately the reality is there are more people like who I mentioned than others who really want to know you for your heartfelt interests in others the world or whatever unselfishness you truly have in you. Self absorption seems to be rearing its ugly head tonight and for that I am sorry!

I did receive a reaction to the photo from one old chum the younger brother to my one person who admits she reads this Blog.
I felt I had to explain the photo when he rightfully mistaken that I had held up well over the years…horrors! I felt like the fraud I portrayed in that falsified outdated remnant of my better past. So I explained with TMI (too much information) as the usual me has a habit of doing way too often, and now I have mixed emotions about apologizing for that too, I better let that go…

We are receiving a deluge again tonight; hubby enjoys the no need for watering manually affects the rain has.

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

Sunday, August 9, 2009

Making contact and other such interesting things

I feel as if I have not left this computer most of today!
Is writing throughout the day, is it considered a form of communication without human contact, because that is what I did all day long, and it was exhausting.

The feeling of the need to transmit my opinion came just after reading our morning paper online, the editorial comments section, which I have lent my own exasperations to previously on many occasions.

What set me off today was how everyone has been trying to figure out how our county could get a better bang for the buck when it comes to many services such as fire and EMS with the cinch belt on spending-wise in our budgets for these things and layoffs have been suggested. While many maintain that these are vital services and should not be cut, of course they are and should not. But paid services of this nature are not altogether the answer for all municipalities. Many including the ones we left behind in good old NJ had volunteers’ handling these particular services at a minimum of cost to the taxpayers for new equipment and such. Although, many fund raisers also paid for these things. You may ask why I know about this, well, it is quite obvious since my hubby was a fireman and eventually a fire chief while we resided up there and did I mention he was also a volunteer? He did it for twelve years both in northern Jersey and at the seashore in NJ, and was trained in emergency management way back in 1984. He also taught others how to be firemen and women, and emergency procedures, and risked his life in saving homes, public buildings, handling forest fires, plane and car crashes, and was never paid a dime for any of that. To us he was a hero. But he also was a paid deputy for nearly a dozen years here, in Florida. So I wrote to the paper, the editorial department and my item will probably be published shortly. Their only requirement is that it is 250 words or less. And mine was exactly that. Oh, yeah, and they won’t publish two from the same person in the same month, no big deal. Journalistic ability or not everyone seems to get published here.

Another couple of notes of substance that I produced today were an email to each of our sons through my Facebook site. Teasing them about not accepting me as their friend, both hardly ever go on there, so I do know it was not for any ominous reasoning.

While there I thought I would have a look see to check if any of my old friends from the neighborhood that I grew up in were on Facebook, and I found one that is famous.
A little brother to my actual friend, his parents was both in show business and they with a total of four children lived two houses from me.
His mom was my voice teacher, and we did sing a few duets together for my lessons.
He has had a bit of success with a few famous songs, and he does go on tour and does do gigs regularly; in fact right now he is in the UK performing at quite a few venues there!

Lastly, I wrote a utilitarian letter in an email to the manufacturer of our kitchen faucet to let them know that we are on our second one since after Charley hit since the coating has been flaking off, and that we are not happy with it although we have been customers of theirs for years. I did let them know that is why we initially bought their product this time, because of previous good experiences with all the other products they produce. Some longtime companies like this one are gracious about being told about defective products, and so I do hope that they will take my information in the spirit that it was given… not happy and truthfully surprised!

Boy, what a difference a day makes… as I write this it is sunny and clear here and unfortunately 93 degrees at 6:00 P.M. EST!
Last night at this time it was stormy and cooling off considerably.

So I have completed my rants for today and here’s wishing you all a good night, and to be safe, and count those blessings and I will too!

Saturday, August 8, 2009

Our day was a whirlwind type of day

We, hubby and I went out with hopes of...seeing something of interest, but unfortunately it did not turn out quite that way…
What we did see was about a dozen tables set up under tent like structures in 90’s degree temperatures displaying information that we have ascertained over the many years of being water rats, and so it was somewhat of a redundancy of knowledge for us in particular. Although, to numerous peeps new to waterfront activities and boating, fishing etcetera the deluge of data was more than likely revolutionary and enlightening! And so to each his own as the saying goes and we all know that what is one’s trash is another’s treasure or some such thing.
This paragraph above is my high-faluting way of saying we came we saw and we left the Marina Day at the Fisherman’s Village.

When we arrived home we had an email from my hubby’s brother questioning back on what we had sent him about my mother-in-law. And a few hours later he called back, after my hubby clarified the initial one.
Their sister had apparently acquired power of attorney over their mom and was not allowing anyone but her and her eldest son to be informed on mom’s condition in the nursing home and why she was actually there; considering we all were told that mom was just fine weeks ago and never informed about this latest situation.
She committed this secretive act and then went on her merry way to the Poconos on a vacation not informing either of her elder siblings. Well, it’s between the three of them, isn’t it?
But poor mom doesn’t want to be there and told my hubby so on the phone. It is only temporary the nice head nurse told hubby until next week, but the poor 88 year old still is not happy at all that she is there!
Mom is very forgetful, but has not been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s or any type of dementia, although, we all know she has the symptoms of one of the many types, but we also have no idea what medication she is on, which also can make her be forgetful?

I guess being somewhat of an only child (my half brother was 19 years older than me) has it rewards of non interference. But that also means all major decisions are yours too.

Right now we have a very nasty electrical storm so I am going to close for tonight.

So goodnight to all, be safe and count those blessings and I will too!

Friday, August 7, 2009

Palin Factor?

Today another Republican is giving up his political term early, fifteen months early it is, Senator Mel Martinez, from our district.
A fine gentleman who helped my husband acquire his rightful disability insurance, and had also been working on my behalf.
He said he wants; now déjà vu is kicking in again (Could it be the Palin factor?), to spend more time with his family and to work in the private sector!

The dilemma here is an oddity since our Governor Crist will be running for this vacated senatorial seat at the end of what would have been Senator Mel Martinez’s term. The problem is that now our Governor Crist must appoint a temporary senator to continue until the term ends, but he cannot appoint himself. I do believe that he might call in Bob Martinez (no relation) our former governor in 1987-1991 to replace and hold the seat hopefully for himself when he can legitimately run and possibly win that seat. Well, stay tuned folks it may become interesting enough to become a national news byte. (And it did)
We seem to monopolize much of the national blurbs these days anyway.

I told you so! They passed the 2B for the Cash for Clunkers, and you were worried!

The rain finally came and it is still here as I write tonight.
It’s been scary and violent with much thunder and lightening and even a power surge that shut down the TV and this computer as well as the microwave clock. Be careful what you wish for comes to mind.

We tracked down my mother-in–law again, she has now been put into a rehab facility for two weeks to help her with her balance and who knows what else since we initially were told that she has nothing wrong with her? So let me get this right…she has great insurance?

Hers is so good that the facility wants to relieve her insurance company of some of their premiums?

Again it was me that found her for my husband. We had been calling her home and not hearing back. Finally, I tried my sister-in-law… dares I say and got our youngest nephew, a 23 year old, after his mom hung up the first time (supposedly she is away on vacation, then who hung up?). He was quite forthcoming with all the information, and again insisted that his grandmother was just fine.
Apparently the hospital requested her presence for a few days again and then recommended the rehab facility.
I’m confused if she is fine why all this fuss?

Oh well, we now know how she is… yep you got it, just fine and will be going home the end of next week.

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

Thursday, August 6, 2009

Congratulations to the justice

The senate has confirmed Judge Sonia Sotomayor's Supreme Court nomination, 68-31, making her the first Hispanic on the high court; congratulations to her and her family.

Also to be approved, more than likely, is that additional 2B for the cash for clunkers objective that will allow you to trade your oldie in for a newbie until Labor Day.

Here everyone has been getting rained on, but us!

El Niño has been largely involved in scaling down their predictions for our 2009 Hurricane Season to just 3-6 named ones with only one to two severe.
Wow, I sure feel safer…not!
Hurricane Andrew arrived on August 17.1992, just one, the first of the hurricane season and a CAT5 the highest on the scale.
Hurricane Charley came on August 13.2004 just one, but the third named storm and a CAT4, still questionable some say a 5, but it took years for them to declare Andrew a 5 possible 6,which is still unheard of really! Both hurricanes in case you all have forgotten created an enormous amount of devastation!

Lest I remind the people who now might fall into complacency …it only takes one. I am not trying to scare us Gulf Coasters but I would suggest keeping up with the weather and when we have a nasty system in our hemisphere to pay attention!

The news just had a nifty roofing idea that makes our southern roofs white with a roll on material to give you a forty per cent savings on cooling…sounds too good to be true but Florida Power and Light (our own personal power company) is giving out 50 to 60 cents on the dollar rebate up to 15K if you install the system! Guess it is for real!

Today, I got a few more laundry loads done, and did a bit of this and that, and then watched my usual fair of TV programming.

Sherry, on the View was on a diet and exercise program for quite some time, to fit into a bathing suit by today, and she did come out in one at the end of the show. She did look good, but admitted she had not lost any weight only reconfigured what was there, but did get off her diabetes medication which is huge by any health standards; good for you lady! And she also had to admit that she did learn quite a few life changing foods and habits. The only thing is that she had like five pros helping her, and they did not go into exactly what was going on during this process in detail; perhaps I missed it or maybe we will be told all at a later date? Ideas for healthy living should be spread around not kept secret!

Visitors to our state may take a double take on our highway I75, we have doubled exit signs being installed until next April when the IROC road project should be completed the new signs are more reflective, but will be staying until all is done. And they are at no additional charge to the state or us taxpayers it is all in the initial cost of the project!

You heard it here first, the updates…on…TOBI NEWS!

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

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

You got to hand it to the old guard...

Thanks to ex-president Bill Clinton and ex-vice president Al Gore we have gotten back two incredible young women journalists, Laura Ling and Euna Lee, who were sentenced to 12 years of hard labor in North Korea. Thanks gentlemen we are all in this together, the world that is; great job!

Now if Hilary Clinton, our current Secretary of State, can get them to stop practice shooting those nukes; all will be in the family and well again. I think it can be done! Diplomacy is rampant from that old guard group (as in a group of established prestige and influence). And in my opinion it, diplomacy, should be the only way to get it done in a civilized world in 2009.

Paula Abdul has quit after eight years of being a judge on American Idol due to contract negotiations failing. She was offered much less than her male counterparts…in 2009, what’s up with that? I don’t blame her for quitting; what an insult!

Tuesday, Louisville Kentucky was floating away by an unexpected deluge of rain in one hour of six inches, but today the water has thankfully receded.

Today, I kept my promise to me, and again ventured into our pool and did my ROM exercises, range of motion, for over an hour with a shrivel break in between. You know what that is, a shrivel break?
When your fingers or toes get all wrinkly?
You come out of the water to let them re-hydrate. LOL
Wouldn’t that be great if worked on old age wrinkles too?

Besides being a lady of leisure again I did get some laundry and light housework done.
Boy…where are the professionals who do all that light housework I would love one of them, huh; wouldn’t that be great?
I was pooped but for me most things poop me out these days.
We ate all meals at home today.
This morning I had something new for me Carnation Instant Breakfast, which recommends making it with a banana like a smoothie mmm it was so very good. Actually, as a teen I drank this old fashioned drink it was on the forefront way before all the other liquid quickie low cal drinks; I think it’s been around for more than fifty years! It’s great for people who really are not breakfast people. All the health and diet gurus say you must eat breakfast the most important meal of the day!

That’s all I got for tonight so I will bid you all a good night, and please be safe, and count those blessings and I will too!

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

On the road again!

Today we went on a major trip...for us that is...over 90 miles round trip to our neighbor city to the south Ft. Myers Beach. We decided to try for an entire day out and we left home by ten-ish and returned before three-ish? Not quite a day’s journey but good enough for us.

As adventurous as that may seem to some for us it was a much necessary change to an average boring lifestyle rut that we had attained. We have been rather home bodies, as you all must know by now if you read any of this drivel regularly, for the last several months staying within a ten/twenty mile radius not counting when we have gallivanted off to Venice, Florida that is; where my cousins live?

The best part about going there was that we had not been there in quite some time so it was like all new to us…sort of.
We found ourselves remembering most all of the area except how long it seemed to take to get there.
And we did take the scenic route not the quick to get there route, route 41, the Tamiami Trail with a right onto McGregor/San Carlos all the rest of the way, not I75 exchange.

We finally arrived around eleven-ish or so, but it was difficult to find a parking spot the beachfront lot was completely full, even after we cruised it twice; we still found nothing! And so we went down an intersecting side street and found the metered parking, which was very expensive at a quarter for eight minutes! Hubby installed enough quarters so we were good for about an hour.
He unloaded my scooter and we went over to what is called Times Square, a non vehicle cobblestoned area with restaurants and shops and so we perused the area and felt it was really more for the tourists than not too far away locals, and it was too darn hot, 95 by the time we arrived, but felt like 101.
The heat got us back to our car with 12 minutes to spare, hubby made a joke we should sit here until the time was up; I gave him a dirty look and smiled. We had made additional plans for lunch.
On the way over the bridge my hubby noticed that there was a restaurant called Doc Fords Rum Bar under it at what is called Fisherman’s Warf. Sounds typical for such an area you say, but this one was different since it is directly connected to both of our favorite author, Randy Wayne White!

This is his second restaurant that he has opened in the area the first one was in Sanibel, but this one was on our way home now and we stopped there for lunch.
The menu was named with his characters in his books in mind, clever, and a wee bit unusual.
Hubby had an ordinary choice ordered, cheesesteak and fries, but with an extraordinarily difference in consistency, which he appeared to enjoy tremendously. I was more adventurous and ordered Ceviche Cocktail marinated Grouper Snapper, Bay Scallops and shrimp tossed in lime juice, cilantro, jalapeños and tomatoes, very tasty with a side bowl of conch chowder yum, that we did share!
We also shared a slice of key lime pie for our desert!
Now this should hold us until next year!
It was a getaway from the usual, and it went well.

Tomorrow back in the pool for me, and then…who knows what lies ahead these days…

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

Monday, August 3, 2009

Today was little more busier than yesterday...

I started the morning by keeping my self induced promise to me of going for an exercise session in our own pool, and that was for over an hour and a half I am proud to say accomplished today! My schedule that I chose is Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays; so far so good, I have finished four in a row.

We, hubby and I went out for a ride then to eat before completing the morning with a grocery run.

The ride consisted of trying to find the whirring and clanging noises that we have been hearing from our backyard for more than a week. We were able to find the equipment responsible at a new home building site not far from our home a few blocks away, good sign I would say! Another empty lot from Hurricane Charley’s wrath becoming a home to a family, hurray!
My husband also remembered that a new park was in the works nearby and so we checked that out too. It was sparse with only a canoe staging area by the water, a walking or bicycle path and two nice tennis courts near the solidly made bathroom building, to the plus it did have a fair amount of parking spots, but only two cars other than ours was there.

Our restaurant of choice was one that we had not been to in quite some time it was the fish fast food one that’s named after the pirate. They had a new choice, lobster bites on the menu, which I thought I would try and they were mighty tasty, but I paid tummy wise later since it was fried.
Their Cole slaw was very good as well as their fries, not that dissimilar to another chain’s, the one with golden arches. Pepcid is an amazing product thankfully!

I would like to let my teacher cousin know that we know that today is his seven years older than me birthday and we hope he had a happy one. He was sent an e-card from us, and I hope he didn’t delete it by mistake! But with him I don’t think he checks his email very often and perhaps he will receive it way late… who knows. Happy Birthday to you!

Now down to a discussion that I had mixed emotions about…gouging of bills, the one in particular that I am referring to is our ambulance bills. We may have never noticed except for the fact we each had one from our hospital trips a few week apart.
The red light was the charge for the distance and gas to take us to the hospital. Oddly enough my husband’s trip was 4 miles, while mine was only three, mmm strange since we both came from the same home and went to the same hospital? So we clocked it ourselves and the actual one-way distance was 1.8 miles to be exact! MMM my hubby being a retired fire chief and deputy thought that he would just call up the fire chief here and so he did.
Well, the reaction was of course to verify, and so he did, the chief that is. And he basically agreed with our findings and thirty bucks were taken off of our bills. But hubby told him to imagine if this had been going on for some time and people in this horrendous time of our history have been paying more than they should be, and you multiply that by one mile a day a year only that would be over $3650 bucks just for that one year, but take that a step further over a ten year period and that goes up to $36500 that tax payers and others have been gouged out of… just think about it. Not nice.
Oh and another thing they charged a hundred more for my hubby’s trip because he could have been having a heart attack? He was released, and I was admitted, what’s wrong with this picture?
I also rode with him in the ambulance, but I must admit I was up front, and could not see what they were doing to him, but he insists nothing that they didn’t do to me.

To be honest this is not the first time this over-charge has happened, and believe me I have always had the savvy desire to have itemized bills even when we had insurance. I had questioned many a previous bill before; you see not all billing systems are always correct, and as consumers it is our responsibility to watch out for not only, like now my own pocket book, but previously for the insurance companies too! Over payouts are like pilferers in department stores where that expense ends up going back to us the consumers, so it is our job to police our own payouts with the knowledge of where exactly our monies are going to and what they are for!
And I truly believe that what is going on now in the health insurance industry has a lot to do with them paying more than they should have. So as a responsible American/ adult I truly believe it is all of ours duty!

On that note of controversy and probable cranking open a can of worms… I will bid you all a good night, be safe and count those blessings and I will too!

Sunday, August 2, 2009

Words can be fascinating, don't you think?

When I was young, extremely young I was told that I spoke in complete sentences before even a year of age. I suppose that is why I find the written word so fascinating and I would say that I nearly revere it; but at times it is definitely confounding for me and my own interpretations while using it as I have displayed many a time here in this venue. Perhaps, I could use my MS, Fibro fog, menopause, old age as an excuse in this last decade?

One word that I thought that I would like to explore tonight is one that all of us have used many, many times and for this I am sure.
It is the word, enough.
“I have had enough!”
“My cup is full enough!”
“Enough already!”
The above are some of the examples of how we have used this very common utilitarian word, don’t you think?

About a dozen years ago or so I met an octogenarian who to me appeared exceptionally wise, not because of her age alone but because of how she knew to express her words. And yes, she used the word enough let us just say in a way that this commonality of reality of a recession has made many of us have to readjust our lifestyles in the reference to learning to live with enough of what we actually need; not what we want. I give this woman kudos for being largely responsible for our lives not being even more difficult than they could have been. You see, when we scaled down eleven years ago to this lovely little cottage home her enough went through my brain, and so you see we have been able to manage much more successfully than perhaps we might have been. That lovely person has since died; it was only a few months after we moved here, but I think of her often, and her words of wisdom.

And now the rest of the world is conforming to the necessity of enough. Many of these older people have been through so much in their own lives that listening to them is where we should all regain some wisdom: wouldn’t that be nice?

It’s true all of us have been there…keeping up with the Joneses.
When we were young married people our children wanted for nothing we had the big home; two of ours were five and four bedrooms, three had swimming pools. They had surfboards, SCUBA gear, fishing, water skied and we had boats always, we lived near or by the water. Don’t get me wrong we worked our buts off to get all that, and as teens and college students so did our sons. But to what resolve?
Our sons grew up, went to college and moved away.
Both of them being single these days they pretty much have lives that are not family oriented yet, we can only hope that will change someday.

And so when we became empty nesters more than a decade ago we could now readjust our wants and needs and so we did and it was to have …enough!
I wish the world would be as lucky to find their enough.

On that pleasant thought I will bid you all good night and to be safe and count those blessings and I will too!

Saturday, August 1, 2009

Welcome to August!

How about that...half the summer is gone, and so I welcome you all to August the first…you see here in Florida we hardly notice when the seasons change, since as I have said before we only have two, really…rainy and dry.

Being a north easterner for more than half of my previous life and this alter ego one; 36 years …oh yes, this is another incarnation of me… and so living here in this sub-tropical climate for 23 years this month, to be honest I have not once looked back at missing the seasons change.
Since along with those colorful leaves and white fluffy stuff came the cold and windy chill that one cannot ever forget, and those beautiful leaves fell and caused the trees to go bare, naked have you, ugly, and for me and family et all we would have to rake them all up. And besides that white fluffy stuff looking like a Currier and Ives card even that would eventually get yellow with, let us just say visits from your own or local pets relieving themselves on the fluff…and let us not forget as well all the professional snow removal people pushing the fluff in front of your driveway, which by now had turned harder than a glacier and then you would have to, ugh, remove it with the giant shovel or a pick axe to get it out of your way so you could go to work, school or the grocery store! Or use salt on it to melt it all and wait for days, and then drag that in on the bottom of your boots causing it to ruin the carpeting! Oh no! I don’t miss any of it; thank you very much!

Wow that is so freeing sorry northerners who insist that I miss the change of seasons, well, so sorry, oh no I don’t!

Yes, we do have a few deciduous trees that have been planted here, but why I do not know, and they grow back their leaves whenever they feel like it; not when a season would blackmail them into it!
Oh no, here vegetation is free to express its growth whenever they so desire or not!

My hubby mowed our yard today, and yes he sits down on the job we have a small or average size one a quarter acre total with besides the house, the pond the pool and the sheds I suppose a ride on lawn mower is over kill, but its retirement and Florida!
Lazy days are part of our endless summers …Mañana is soon enough is the mantra that small businesses cry of these tropics, and perhaps that is not too terrible an attitude to have?

It took all these years for us northerners not to be in such a hurry…whenever in a line such as the grocery or waiting for entering a restaurant, doctor’s office etc. I keep reminding the grumblers that is why they moved here and so just relax. Sometimes I get nasty looks or even comments but many do thank me, and I feel like I am giving a service to teach others that is what vacationland is all about. And fortunately we live here all year round, how lucky is that?
That new recession word called stay-cation here it is action packed if you are willing to drive in state in any direction, we truly got it all!

On that unabashed commercial endorsement for our state that is only missing one important factor these days…dare I say…you the tourists! Not the ones buying us up at ten cents on the dollar, but you the ones that come and leave frequently while leaving big bucks behind in that process… so for you I do say….COME ON DOWN!

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

Which way will the war go?

  My eyesight is going again... in case you missed it... Netanyahu snaps back against growing US criticism after being accused of losing his...