Friday, April 30, 2010

Today I went back to the eye doc and found out....

That I did have a detachment but not of the retina a much less serious one that has no negative affects on your eye sight to speak of unless… what it says below the good stuff actually happens, but not to worry I was told…
A vitreous detachment.
Copy and paste the below site:
http://www.nei.nih.gov/health/vitreous/vitreous.asp#1

And so you all knowing me you will also know that I NEVER EVER worry! LOL
I thought the information above was important enough to share with all of you so if any of that happens to you, you do know what to do, OK? Don’t thank me now but if later it helps you in anyway just let me know, OK?

Oh the day has been continuing in that exciting vein.
I again did wake up in time to enter the contest, but did not win since all five days worth of winners are announced on their site, and I did check.

After the eye doc we went to the warehouse club since we had been invited in there for a food tasting and so we went as members for us it was free.
We really thought it would be more in the sustenance department but alas it wasn’t any different than their usual samples of this and that.

And so we decided to grab a bite on the way home after we did buy our coffee, water and the like. But all the restaurants were full up? Odd since most all of our snowbirds have already left for the north and their other homes.
And so we went through the golden arches drive thru and I got a salad and Hubby got his burger and fries, and we ate peacefully at home.

This afternoon Hubby was kind enough to finish the shopping up at the grocery due to my exhaustion by the afternoon.
And when he got home he decided to go out to the lanai to read for a while’s break from his hectic day.
And he noticed our adjacent neighbor sitting under the Royal palm tree of our across the canal Canadian gone home to Montreal neighbors and she was taking pictures of something in the canal she told Hubby!
When asked what she said that she had been watching an alligator. Now we have been living on this saltwater canal for nearly twelve years and we have only seen maybe two or three gators actually come down it, and so this was an unusual and scary sight!
She was concerned for her dogs since she only has rip rap on her side of the canal, but we have a seawall and yet I still worry for little Skipper because he is fearless and nosey!
Hubby has taken a few picture of the vicious beast and I have sent its mug shot on to friends and family to see!
I do this quite often with other wildlife, which have been many living on the water as we do.
I used to think our otter who I called Otto was so cute and we had taken many pictures of him, until it made it on the news about a half an hour north of here in Venice that an elderly man was attacked viciously by being bitten several times by a rabid one!

It is a joy to watch the many different species of birds we see daily and so far they have been a joy; hopefully they will continue, but I don’t forget the herons that ate our pond fish, which was definitely NOT good!
Oh well, even in the animal kingdom there is good and bad too!

This morning while reading the paper, the editorial comments I got fired up again with the stupidity of someone thinking that people wanting health care reform are looking for freebies; well you can bet I wrote my own editorial submission countering his stupid comments and hopefully he will be set straight!

Now this disaster of the oil spill in the gulf is scaring the bejeebers out of us all here, and rightfully so, according to the professionals it could be much worse than the Exxon Valdez of yore up by Alaska, and we all can remember that horror!
Let us pray that is not the case since that will definitely be an environmental catastrophe unlike any we could ever imagine!

On that something to think about informative dissertation I will bid you all a very good night and to all count those blessings and we will too!

Thursday, April 29, 2010

Chilling and willing...

Yep that is what I said!
Why the kids use that expression, and do they have an exclusive on that?
No, I don’t think so.
For us oldies but goodies it means the same thing to relax and kick back.

The willing part is just me being a wee bit silly tonight since our local station is running one of those contests to win a battery digital seven inch color TV for emergencies and I finally got into the game today to enter it.
Waiting is like any waiting one might do, and so far no news is not such good news, since winners are contacted daily, and so far I haven’t heard a thing.
They notify you by email or by calling and nope not a thing….yet!
And this game is on for the next two months, but the difficult part is you must watch and listen from five A.M. to seven A.M every weekday morning until June fourth!
I do watch the news every morning and on that particular channel, NBC out of Ft. Myers, but my times of waking up fluctuate.
I have a wild wake up schedule from the wee hours like three A.M. to as late as eight A.M.!
So you can see my problem the word given is randomly said and shown during those two hours!
I just went to their site and sadly, no it wasn’t me today!
But I do have some time as long as I get those words daily!

Most people are probably wondering why I am so competitive for such a small item that probably isn’t all that expensive, but oh contraire they do go for more than a hundred bucks in some brands. The fun is in winning I suspect since I don’t really know though since I could probably count on one hand how many times that I have won something over the years. The other reason I would like to win is because the contest is going right into the beginning of our hurricane season being that it ends on June fourth, and the season begins on the first of June, and usually by then the stores have all sold out!
I know now that you are all saying; what’s the big deal?
Well, our little battery TV that I used during the Hurricane Charley hours was the reason I knew what to do and when to do it!
And it won’t work now due to it not being a digital TV its junk now thanks to that modern better gem of an idea called digital TV!
I know you are all saying battery radios work for us now still and are for that too!
But I am still a very visual, hands on type of learner, and it was good to see just where it was and when it was coming here, got it?
I do believe that that little TV may have saved our lives!

On that note of you all hopefully cheering me on in this venture I will wish you all a very good night and to all count those blessings and we will too!

PS So far no oil or smells here ….yet!
We are way far south of all that being here in south west Florida, but we are on the Gulf of Mexico quite south of where the spill actually is!
Let’s hope they fix the problem before it does its worse.

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Salvaged fish and colorful ideas...

When we bought this priceless diamond in the rough nearly eleven and half years ago it was quite something!
I am speaking of our current home and final stop in life.
First of all the entire block structure and surrounding foundation, carport even its rafters, its floor and our cement path from our front door and even the patio was painted a vivid sky blue.
Now ordinarily I am a big fan of blue, why it’s my favorite color even, but the expression too much of a good thing comes to mind…
And this particular home had been used as a rental for eight years so it was in a major need of mucho TLC!

The backyard was so overgrown you could not find the canal; it was a literal jungle back there. But we Hubby and I could see its potential.
In good old NJ we had owned brand new homes, one a condominium townhouse and then our five bedrooms bi-level that we had physically built ourselves.

On the other coast we had had two homes that we renovated one with an addition nearly as big as this whole house we are now in!

So we knew what we wanted and when we saw it in our vision we knew what could come of it.

Prior to Hurricane Charley we had stuccoed the exterior over the block and had it painted in Navajo tan, had the jalousie windows replaced with wind resistant to 140 MPH’s modern ones. The carpeting also blue was replaced with wood floors, enclosed the carport into a garage, broke through the interior wall in our foyer to make the laundry an indoor one, and we had replace the water heater, stove, and refrigerator all before we got hit.
Hubby built a matching to our home long narrow shed adjacent to the garage forming a courtyard on that side. And we had done extensive landscaping and Grandfathered in our new seawall, dock and boat lift that were only slight remnants showing. And Hubby made me that octagon white lattice gazebo I have mentioned before. We also added two additional metal twin sheds in the backyard for our overflow of stuff!
One blue tiny shed had been on the side and was falling apart and when the sturdier ones replaced that its contents were moved, and I found a small treasure, a leaded glass panel, which I have painted twice in different colors over the years and it hangs in our living room looking very antiquey. In the laundry, which had consisted of two over size not working well washer and dryer they were replaced with a stackable set allowing for many cabinets and more storage, but in that room we found a couple of more treasures that were used and we still have! The old shelves Hubby made into a book case and that sits in our guestroom, two wall hanging white plaster fish that have been painted bright colors and hang outside in our lanai!
They hadn’t been painted by me in the last maybe ten or more years until yesterday and they are bright and cheerful once again hanging out there!

I enjoy and love remembering simple things in life and seeing how much we accomplished twice mind you due to the hurricane! I tease people when we go to those home shows that we only redecorate due to natural disasters, not so funny you say, yes I more than agree.
I suppose it could be considered a distant memory of all that horror, since it is nearly six years now but in reality it is still so fresh in my mind as if it happened just yesterday.

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

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

My observations about organized religions and love as it pertains to the human populace...

Being of the straight hetero type species I feel my life is not too difficult far as the relationship understanding goes. I love Hubby and he loves me, and that is that our extreme differences are not blatant to the world but we have many or at least we did when we first met nearly forty-three years ago.
Oddly enough we are both Caucasian and Hubby is a male and I am a female, simplicity and quite evident at a glance that anyone can see.
But in reality he was raised a Catholic with a Lutheran father and I was raised a Jew with two parents of that faith.
His family seemed to favor the GOP, Republicans and mine the Democrats.
His Mom was a divorced and a single parent and mine were married.
He had two siblings a few years apart from him in either direction while I had only a half brother nineteen years older.
But none of those differences were for the world to see but as you can tell they were vast and extreme.
This coming February we will be married forty years and to me that seems to be something quite special and amazing in this day and age of the divorce rate being so very high, but you know something we love each other and no one can take that away from us and I bet none of you would even have the nerve to suggest such a thing.

It is true that over the years we have more than compromised on those above differences with both choosing not to be religious in any organized one, although I do believe in G-d, Hubby questions his/hers existence.
Politically we have also changed and are registered as non partisan for many reasons since we always vote for the right person not for any one party, and we get much less phone calls that way! LOL

His family is spread far and wide and most of mine has passed away, and sadly they are not in the picture, only fond memories.

There is a reason for all this explaining and now I will tell you why I gave you my background and where my heart is in all this angriness in the world unfairly over PEOPLE being in love with same sex or different races or religions… I say that LOVE is LOVE and all HUMAN BEINGS are entitled to have it!
I am wondering if the ones who think they shouldn’t are ones who don’t have it for themselves and are just JEALOUS! Who knows but having something as special as a loving relationship with anyone is miraculous today, right?
Go for it I say!
Adults who are in a loving relationship should be put up on pedestals for they are the truly lucky ones in the world.
And no one should stop that or prevent that from being a way for all of us to be happy.
More love creates peace!
Now really who could argue that point?
So here I go out on a limb, taking my life in my hands all in the name of ironically the COURAGE CAMPAIGN… below you will see what it is about.
Let’s face it folks if we believe that all men and women are truly created equal this is the epitome of that belief that will back it up! Proving once again that we should not be just all talk and no action…now you can put your mouth where it belongs in the right direction of doing something for your fellow and women peeps!
Get informed and do the right thing that’s in all of your hearts and souls and be heard!

Courage Campaign | President Obama: Sexual orientation should NOT be a factor in selecting a Supreme
www.couragecampaign.org

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

Monday, April 26, 2010

Snoot full?

Our darling little Skipper, our six year old Bichon Frise, just made me laugh!
We have what does look similar to half of a French glass door set for the exit out of our sunroom ( the other is in another location in the same room, but what can I tell you I preferred the wall space!), and he was sniffing in the bottom corner of the door for what reason I have no idea. But I thought that maybe he might have wanted to go out and so I opened the door to allow his exit and he jumped away and came over to this computer chair to take up his usual location lying behind me; its amazing, truly! You see, he has been doing this since he was a pup and at that time I weighed about a hundred pounds, he was just about two or three pounds, he had fit in Hubby’s hat, and since…well, let me put it to you this way I am nearly twice the woman I once was and he is about fifteen pounds and he still finds the room to lie in that restricted space! LOL

Today, I had some energy, which unfortunately did not last that long, but I did get outside under the lanai to help Hubby redo three planters that were out there and that were root bound.
They are the long window box type planters, in fact they used to be surrounding the octagon shaped lattice gazebo that Hubby had built prior to Hurricane Charley, but sadly Chuck blew it away!
Oddly enough the containers remained. And so they fit quite nicely on the shelf like ledge in our patio lanai area and had been there since.
Hubby rolled over the wheel barrow and the containers were all dumped, and the evidence of the root bounding up was extreme. Salvation of a few plants that seemed healthy was our objective and to shake the soil from them and break up the massive mess, which we did and amended it with potting soil and top soil as well as slow release fertilizer and mixed it all together in the wheel barrow. The best of the mothers- in –law tongue, wandering Jew plants and aloe were saved to transplant into the healthier environment. They were watered well and look great! The cost was zip, zero, zilch, nothing, since we had everything including the shards that were placed in the bottom of the long narrow planters for appropriate drainage.

We did have a heck of hefty nasty storm during last night and a bit of this morning too…Hubby slept through the whole thing while I was up and a nervous wreck around three in the morning. The nerves were due to the tornado watches that were coming over the airwaves. Plus I am not fond of thunder and lightening at all. Lightening is wild by itself but put it together with my concerns over having eye flashes and you got one confused worried woman with eye problems that she’s not sure are happening, got that? Well, today I can still see out of the eye that I really was getting those flashes in; did I mention that they actually started before the storm?

I’m no fool and the fact that I saw on the news that horror just a few days ago in Mississippi was all enough to keep me not in any sleeping mode!
Tornados are so ominous since you have little or no warning usually!
Here in Florida it is a rare home to have a basement unlike the mid-west or up north.
So escaping from one of those scary wind tunnels takes a bit of figuring out, look for a room without windows, or go under something strong with a mattress or some other such thing over you for protection, when outside they say to hide in a ditch, now where would one find a ditch when out and about? Do you understand why the fear of something like that is so deservingly frightening?

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

Sunday, April 25, 2010

Sleep is not always what it's cracked up to be...

How many of you have had a nap recently on a Sunday afternoon?
I hear you, and you are saying just a few of us can say we have, mostly because my readership is quite diverse in age ranges… Ha, I’m just guessing folks!

Anywho, back to the topic of napping, if you have had a recent one the question is: how long did you sleep for?
The recommended time is only a half an hour, did you know that?
Well, according to the medicos any longer is detrimental to your well being.
Supposedly it can cause strokes in the elderly or some such other nonsense.
All I know if I sleep too long I wake up with a heck of a headache like I did today!
For some reason I was blinking off while trying to read my new book by Dan Brown, ‘Deception Point’ , copyright 2001, new to me not to him. In case any of you don’t know this author, which I truly doubt he is the one who wrote a little novel called the ‘DaVinci Code’?

It wasn’t the story putting me to sleep just me being extremely exhausted from the late night of watching ‘Avatar’ on our movie night last night a two hour and forty minute marathon movie; I suspect and so by one P.M. I realized I no longer could keep my peepers open and succumbed to heading to the bedroom for a few winks of blessed rest.
The next thing I knew it was 2:24 P.M.!
And Hubby was in his usual reading location out on the lanai and oblivious to my length of time in oversleep! To his good he did say he checked on me only fifteen minutes before, but didn’t want to disturb me!

My head has been pounding ever since I awoke, and I must admit I tried an afternoon cup of java to help me out of this stupor I felt like I was in although the pounding is persisting, the dullness of lethargy has subsided fortunately.

Friday night we had another movie night too, and showing that evening was the flick, Crazy Heart.

Can we talk? You know I love Jeff Bridges to bits and he deserves to win anything that the academy feels he should but you know the hype on his film and Avatar sort of left me with strange feelings of emptiness. I guess it could be me, and probably is, with me just expecting more, but most of the world got what they expected, right? And I am NOT by any means or should be by any means a film critic although I am a critic of just about everything in every medium form…If you know what I mean? LOL Enough said, right?

Dear Mississippians please know that we send our love and concern and condolences to all of you, nature’s wrath seems to be unrelenting this year again!

On that note of fear of what the rest of this year has in store for us … I will wish you all a good night and to all count those blessings and we will too! Think positive happy thoughts.

Saturday, April 24, 2010

Home and Garden and Eco Shows today!

We had the fortitude to wander out into the world today, our own microcosm world that is.
Our event’s center, just over the bridge had its annual or bi-annual home and garden show, and our fishville, down the way from said center, had its ecological display show, combined they were both intoxicating enough to keep us entertained for over four whole hours!

Doesn’t take much I hear you all yelling!
I have one word to say to you, and it is …HA!
Hubby was primarily hoping to get a few more ideas on how to repair our leaky solar panels, since our usual method has stopped doing the trick, and a fine temporary trick it was, using E6000 adhesive.
But alas it no longer appears to work.
I have no idea if it’s just too many holes or the quality of them, but Hubby says we need to replace them, and boy that is not a cheap procedure!


But at the Eco Show over at Fishville today we may just have the right company for the job who just might be able to make our whole heating/air-conditioning, water heater and pool pay for themselves and pay us back too in the process with a federally funded solar system! To me, the skeptic it sounds too good to be true, but Hubby feels otherwise. And so he may have them come over to crunch the numbers on site, long as that’s a freebie its OK I suspect. The company is out of Sarasota and they are called Florida Solar Power: www.fspg.com, how original, now I ask you? If nothing else that makes them not difficult to remember. The absolute idea is to make enough power to sell back to the power company and receive a check back at the end of the year! The reality is though that we will not be taxed on the additional value this will increase our home to or even see higher utility bills. They could be as much as half of what we have now; see that’s why I said sounds too good to be true. They laughed when I mentioned when would we see it pay for itself…I kiddingly said that our sons will see it after we were long gone from this earth, and they did not disagree…well, we will see what we will see.
No harm to crunch the possibilities, since we have been told that there will be no out of pocket expenses either.

We did eat lunch at the fish market there at Fishville and again had a delicious meal with me having the crab salad and Hubby having a blackened Grouper sandwich with onion rings, iced tea with lemon for me and coffee for him.

So diner was simple back at home with just leftovers for sandwiches that hit the spot.

All in all the day was pleasant, who could complain, who would listen anyway! LOL

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

Friday, April 23, 2010

Fly me to the moon!

Living in the south has it's attributes, many which I have expressed with much enthusiasm and gusto utilizing this Blog for that praise but on some occasions, not too many, we do have annoying flying insects that were placed here by whomever that man/woman almighty for what reasons we have yet to determine. If you had been wondering of which tiny critter I was speaking of; why it is the fly, one of the ones that is universal, not unlike the cockroach.

Damp, moist or dusty weather seems to attract these species of non necessity to the world?
And most of you thought it was just garbage, horse barns, dead matter or feces, etc., eh?
Nah, cleanliness is next to godliness so it is said but flies don’t seem to care that your garbage is contained and covered tightly, and your yard is un-littered of doggy dos and as far as you know nothing has passed away recently in that yard; at least we can’t locate anybody!

Flies spread disease and to me they are just yucky, sorry to get so technical.
And unfortunately or perhaps fortunately they are actually prevalent here at this time, and are not a portion of my eye disorders symptoms, they are way too big to blame on a vitreous humor tear!

For those of you who believe in reincarnation I will now request you to not look at these next few sentences, since you will feel the need to accuse me of murder!

For that is just what I did today, my count for those little insect critters deaths is now up to seven, for just today! Horrifying, when you think that was just the ones inside of our home, since Hubby does go in and out constantly and Skipper does too!

My method for the kill is to wait until they are on a window or the floor and then wham bam thank you ma’am or sir, I really don’t know how to tell, but just to add to my murderous behavior I do hope it was the females, squash those breeders!
I am proud to say it worked today for me those seven times.
The weapon of choice has been the all utilitarian swatter of yore but if in a bind tissues suffice rather nicely without getting you full of the squishy guts.
Flushing the remains is my way of disposal.

I am not a hired gun and you may try my methods at home if you care or dare to…let’s face it whatever works!

Who would have thunk it that I would dedicate an entire Blog to those adult maggots!
Yep, that is what they are!

Sorry, don’t get nightmares from reading all this, but do try to have a very good night and count those blessings and we will too!

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Happy 40th Anniversary World!

Yes that is what I said; today is the fortieth anniversary of ‘Earth Day’!
You would most likely have to be living under a rock today for you not to know that, and that I am sure of!
And if you were living under that said rock ecologically that would be really great!
Waste not, want not, I always say…
Green is how we roll these days, right?
Of course we all do, and after forty years of learning how to be more aware and concerned with conservation, recycling, reducing and reusing we are all environmental marvels, correct?
I should think so…
A small footprint is what we all need to leave on this planet called earth, because it doesn’t look good for us to be moving off of it anytime in the near future.
Some might have thought that would happen with our space exploration…
Use this planet up and then we would just move on… to the next and then the next etcetera, etcetera, etcetera…nope doesn’t look that way, anyway, anyhow, anytime in our near futures, does it?

So now that we have that cleared up; that this is our one and only earth, the rest should be easy…
Just think about never moving anywhere after you were born, not into your own home/apartment when you reached adulthood, always staying with Mom and Dad and not maturing or becoming independent beings, because where you land when you were born is your only place you will ever be able to be at until the day you die!
Now, wouldn’t that make you want to take care of that place so much more so than you might be doing at this moment?
I should think so!
Cleaning it up from top to bottom afterall it is your home too, and it belongs to you and yours forever that is FOREVER got it?

Feeling earthy right now?
I know me too! LOL
Its sort of a warm and gushy sensation of love of the world and everything that’s in it, and having the power to make a BIG DIFFERENCE in it, WOW what a power, but we are all human beings and that is what we know is right to do!
And it is in our POWER to do it!
Boy are we great or what?
You are allowed to leave your environments to network with all of the other beings of like mindedness, and as a unit that makes you that much more powerful to make those changes for the betterment of all man and womankind!
It all stems from the simple concept united we stand divided we fall.
Geez I wish world conflicts were this simple.

On that provocative idea I will say good night to you all and ask you to count those blessings once again and we will too!
Oh, and by the way…. HAPPY ANNIVERSARY! Make it memorable for the kids…wink, wink!

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

You gotta wonder...

Logically we as a nation are sometimes not up to par; most would agree; I think really!
And I know I am a great American, but…
Go with me here… take the fact that today we were shown our new hundred dollar bill, which will be going into circulation by next February.
The reason this was done was to make it more difficult for counterfeiters to make them, sounds logical, right?

OK if you say so, but my question is: who is going to circulate these large denomination bills when most Americans are just living from paycheck to paycheck and many are still using their plastic if they can get away with it, and people like me who have heard that money, the cash kind truly is filthy, not to mention dirty dirt but with traces of cocaine and heroine on the bills which can transfer to you when touched.
Sounds farfetched you say? Perhaps, but… here’s a scenario for you…

Ask anyone who’s had to empty their pockets at the airport and was a teeny weenie bit suspicious looking because they might fit the profile that no one is supposed to be using, but we all know that they do, and they say its for our safety, imagining what those trace elements on their hands might be thought to speak volumes about them in a negative way, capish?

Why they might even go from looking like a possibility to becoming a more definite suspicious character that should be made to wait for the drug sniffing dogs to make sure they are truly not on that dangerous list or wanted poster!

I believe that cash is a good thing for many situations, baby-sitters, paper boys/girls, grass cutters, for a jar for that leftover change and the like, but when out in the world debit cards are still very safe to use and are accepted everywhere!
Most the time I can see using cash for ordering in too!
But let’s get real folks here, how many people do you know walk around with hundred dollar bills in their wallets that aren’t wealthy or looking to be hit over the head and robbed?

With our bureaucracies’ spending so much time on something so not a part of the American reality which does seem a wee bit too over the top to me.

Lets get back to basics and get on that infrastructure, which needs to be worked on; as it was suggested during the campaign, fixing our roads and bridges and the like will create jobs that many are waiting for plus the green initiative would be begun and there you go more necessary jobs for all those waiting for more jobs, a domino affect in a good way!

GM paid off its bailout loan today! Good for them, now if the rest will follow suit we will be back in the black. Their reputation from this has taught many Americans that they are trustworthy and worth dealing with, wow, what a concept!

On that who can argue with note I will wish you all a very good night and to all count those blessings and we will too!

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Warning! Warning! TOBI A DAY IN THE LIFE BLOGGER!

And you thought I had no last name, ha, fooled you!
Yes, that warning was for me, and do you want to know why?
I guess I will have to tell, and NOT kill you!
I thought I was being invaded by tiny little black gnats all around me!

Nah, this is not withdrawal from a powerful illegal drug, oh no this was a legitimate non hallucination…since I have been told I have a slight vitreous humor tear in my dependable lefty, eye that is!
Sounds scary, eh?
Yes, my lefty, my reading, cataract lens eye, what do you know not so perfect afterall?
And my righty is not too bad yet the other part of my matched set, which I seem to have a slight hemorrhage in, but just a slight.
Right DOC; in your eye it is a slight, but in mine its an uh oh not too good I would say!

Now according to the ophthalmologist who charged us a small arm and a leg to find out this powerful information, and took numerous photos to document the situation for only two eyes mind you. I did request four glossy, 8”x10”s, but they just laughed at me; little did they know I was serious! For the price we had to pay without insurance that’s the least they could do, don’t you think? LOL
I’m good unless I see a veil closing over my vision, specifically my lefty.
Righty should heal itself, ok…
Lefty is the one to watch, yeah right would you be able to watch your own eyes, think about that one a while?
You see M.D. doctor of the eye persuasion says it has a wee bit more of a chance of causing a detached retina, since it has that slight tear. Oh yeah, and I almost forgot that also what the tech called a freckle. (UPDATE: EUREKA I FOUND IT! http://vision.about.com/od/sportsvision/a/Eye_Freckle.htm

I tried looking that one up but for some reason there is no known medical jargon for an eye freckle, hmmm? Trying hard to throw me off track, eh?
Not to worry, so I’ve been told, only if that veil comes down on my sight, you betcha I will worry then folks!
I didn’t just get off a turnip truck folks no way, not me, no how!
What I understand from knowing about people who have had detached retinas that is a no fooling around emergency get me to the surgery type thing or you can lose your vision in no time at all!
A little knowledge is a terrible thing to waste on a person who specializes in a little knowledge and even utilizes that concept to write this drivel nightly.
Why without my mediocre abilities and vast untapped little bits of knowledge in trace amounts this Blog would not exist! And I am definitely being serious this time! LOL

Other than being slightly blurry now from being dilated again I appear to all in the house to be OK.
Since we left the office of the eye peeps, ha, I made another funny!
I was wearing my own sunglasses not those yucky roll em out cheapies they hand you on your way out of the door! For what we had to pay I should have gotten those hard core* new three-D ones, I meant two hundred* buckaroos worth! LOL But actually then I would have to give them back some change of course!

Sorry, but I am cracking myself up, and no it is not withdrawal from any drugs either again! Just me sort of giddy with this newest turn of events in my laundry list of maladies! Gotta laugh or you might cry and right now that would sting, literally, really that is my reaction from that stuff that dilates my eyes!

On that sillier note than I have given any of you in a very long time good night to all and to all count those blessings and we will too!

Monday, April 19, 2010

Amazing!

$45.48; that was our savings this month off of our electric bill!
I want to know how we did it…
But bills tell no lies or truths.
What it does tell is this last year for this time we used 1005 Kilowatts, and this year we only used 984 Kilowatts in the same time period of 29 service days, got that?

Now you must know by now that we have a very tiny home, since I know I have told you all many times before and last month our bill was $144.47 and this month it is only $98.89, but not really since our electric service amount was only $90.09, including a $5.90 customer charge, duh, yep I am a customer and the fuel was actually only $37.95, that’s OK I am one with that, but this one I don’t get at all the non-fuel charge of $46.24, huh? OK FPL, and not to mention, but I will be paying my Storm charge of 61 cents that I think should be switched with my non-fuel charge really, Gross receipts tax of $2.33 and let us not forget our franchise charge of $5.86, didn’t know I was a franchise holder hmmm, bringing us to the original total I mentioned of $98.89! TA DA!

Since we all know now what we are actually paying for, not really but I take it if I don’t pay this bill like all the others that I have been paying earlier than usual than when due; that we will have no TV, no lights, no washing machine or dryer, no microwave, stove etc…
And we must pay this along with my monthly drawer full on the first of each and every month, although this one is never due until the middle or beyond like this one is really due on the 17th of next month so there you go folks, aren’t I oh so good?

I know that is one commonality amongst us all if we reside under any roof we must all have bills to pay for said roofs, right?
Yesiree-bob, I suspect, another Tobism and you can bet we do.

When we discuss things that make us relatable to one another in this world it appears that we have people out there who will subscribe to that way of thinking or not…
Occasionally we hit a homerun in that arena and have people who come out of the walls; figuratively that is, with yeah you’re right or boy that is so true!

Unfortunately, we long winded writers and speakers don’t always find the right knee jerk reactions that we are looking for using that method.

Talking to people is a crap shoot not unlike raising children.
Listening is also hard to do when you have so much bursting within you to say when you may have been stifled for way too long.
That’s my problem mostly these days, listening.
Never was very good at it but now I am so much worse.
Try as I might it is like I am afraid that there might not be another living human being to speak to and so I must get all my information out in one sitting!

Today my neighbor stopped by from across the canal, and like usual I talked her head off. This time at least I did serve homemade peanut butter cookies and tea.
Talk about long winded that was an understatement but that’s my MO I’m afraid since I was this big (my hand is about two and half feet from the floor, if you were wondering).
That would make me I suppose around the age of two when I gave the expression ‘motor mouth’ its true meaning so I was told.

On that joyful TMI I will wish you all a very good night and to all count those blessings and we will too!

Sunday, April 18, 2010

742, what does that mean to anyone?

Well, to me that means that this is my 742nd posting of this Blog, really amazing, huh?
Mind you its not pages its how many Blogs completely have been written here and put out there for publication.
In actuality, some were a few pages long and others, not too many though, might have been only half a page due to ill health, but tonight I will not bore you with that topic again, OK?

Rain, rain, go away, nah, we need it.
Last year at this time of the year our lack of rain readings were over 600 on the meteorologist meter for such things, but this year we are around only 40, whatever that means?
In truth it means that we are that much less likely to have a forest fire in this our dry season! And that is a very good thing.

Due to the rainfall Hubby was unable to complete the shingling on the shed roof, which by the way is a stucco duplicate of our main house; as is the long one (shed) parallel to our garage in the courtyard style cemented western side yard there.

The due opposite side of our home, on the eastern side is where our raised bed veggie garden resides in all it’s splendor with its arbor entry and classic designs encompassed by a cottage style white fencing.
At this time of year our tomato plants have taken center stage and are in the process of becoming major producers, in other words many flowers are hanging from many limbs of grassy colored stems, and some are already with the fruit appearing, although not yet ripe and currently green.
Carrots are still very much there, as well as the peppers plants starting to bear their vegetables in a small but growing larger consistency. Cucumbers are climbing into bloom and the last of the lettuce is fussing on; with the Romaine still showing a gallant effort to produce.

Last night Hubby watched the ‘Hurt Locker’, but I could not, for some reason I have gotten touchy in my old age about violent movies and any movie that is not wholesome, PG and PG-13 are mostly my speed these days. I wonder if any of you feel the same, and could it be an age thing?

Although, the movie ‘Precious’ was also violent in the respect that it dealt with abuse, but I felt the need to watch it, it being such an important film, and I found myself crying.
‘Blindsided’, was heartwarming and very enjoyable, Hubby wanted to watch twice.

Being inside all day long I finally got exonerated and so did Skipper! Hubby heard the noise too, and oddly enough it is emanating once again from under my bathtub … OH NO! It may very well mean we have another critter stuck there.
But Hubby checked his plugged holes and none are disturbed what-so-ever, so we have no idea how this one got in!
Meanwhile he left, leftover ‘Pounce’ from Casey our dearly departed cat’s snack food on the water heater to set a trap, and so we will see…

Updates: Our sink will be replaced within two weeks from when they called back, which was last Monday; sorry I forgot to tell you all. Also the shed interloper must have escaped when no one was looking because Hubby has maintained the doors’ closures without anything moving within.

And now I am ready to wish you all a very good night and also to mention to you to count those blessings and we will too!

Saturday, April 17, 2010

Better now... but on occasion... or I should say periodically…

I fall off the wagon of better health through pain, discomfort and downright misery, but why should I complain… I’m not dying…yet!

As a past fund raiser for different non-profit organizations I always found it interesting how people just love to give if the disease was fatal, but if just annoyingly chronic forget about it.

Unfortunately, sympathy for ailments of the non lethal right away kind is few and far between on the, ‘you poor dear meters’.

People just don’t get it.
If you weren’t given a prognosis to be dead, yes I did use the ‘D’ word, within a certain amount of time, forget about it, who cares, no its much worse than that; why should your organization get any money for research when you can live with all that pain and suffering until you are an old person.

Sadly people tried not to admit that was the way they actually felt when I was out there trying so hard to get these funds, but nobody got it, even if most all peoples will get some form of arthritis if they live long enough. PS Rheumatoid, and Lupus you can die from complications that is, which are just two of the more than one hundred kinds of arthritis that harms, maims, and disfigures many people.

Multiple Sclerosis is way more ominous though since in reality people do not always live a full life span. Many with the progressive form die way too young, in their forties or fifties. But that is the only one people seem to know about, when there are three types. Mine being the Relapsing Remitting kind which is the most common for women, and you can go into complete remission, which I had several times over my thirty odd years dealing with it and that is why I say it is ominous, people just don’t get that because they think you are cured, and some are; not going out of remission ever again.
But then it can comeback, and each time take a little bit more of your abilities away with each one of its new visits, some even may go into the progressive type. Fortunately, I did not but my last year’s hospitalization made me think it was that, and I would not get any of me totally back again. I have not gotten worse thankfully but not that much better either. Every time, I have my daily episodes of weakness in my legs that make me nearly fall off of them and I must sit before I do, or the muscles spasms, which by the way for all you Mothers out there who may be able to relate this way to them, think of labor pains because that is how it feels, those spasms, got it? No fun at all.

What a joy I am tonight, eh?
Sorry, but being curably ill for a few days gave me time to think about how awful my chronic ailments are. But to be honest those sinus/migraine like headaches which cause vomiting and the inability to sleep or sit upright are no fun and seemed to have become chronic too, since I get them several times a year, and with high blood pressure I cannot take any over the counter medicines for sinus.

On a different note…Hubby has been in a repair mode, our solar panels have been leaking again and his usual method of fixing them has not been working, but he will try again after… He finishes fixing the shed roof that a windstorm ripped to shreds, oh what fun he is having too!
Because of him trying to take care of me and fix all those things and that is why we had the pizza and salad of last night fame.
Tonight I was a wee bit better and so I prepped dinner and he barbequed our burgers and rosemary/garlic potatoes. The very lean chopped meat 97% was embellished with mushrooms, scallions, onions, garlic and secret ingredients, all healthy.
It’s the least I could do, yep the very least.
But I did accomplish to do three loads of wash, all dried and put away! TA DA!

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

Friday, April 16, 2010

Endurance...

Tonight will be a trial by fire since I am not completely all better, and sitting straight up in this chair makes my head ach.
And so I will try to be forthcoming in speaking to my readers candidly for as long as is tolerable.

The day was mostly a yawn due to my lack of wellness. I took it easy and that was the mode of my entire day.

I did manage to get a load of wash into the machine and then later on into the dryer.
But that is not that big a deal to most everyone else.

My head is telling me at this moment that it can not sustain this position much longer so I suppose I will be leaving you all again for tonight early.

The odd thing is leaning back or lying down now is not as bad.
Upright is the worse.

Dinner was a call up pizza and salad for tonight.

I do hope I will be able to watch movie night tonight; it’s not ours its NBC’s family movie night with the first one, ‘Secrets of the Mountain’ at 8 P.M. here in south west Florida. I imagine you should check your local listings for times in your area.

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

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Please forgive...

Last night I didn’t get any sleep to speak of since I was very ill with a sinus headache that felt like a migraine. It was so severe that it had caused extreme stomach distress, vomiting, and every time I tried lying down my head felt as if it would crack open.
I remember getting up a little while after eleven P.M., and being up until five with trying to go back to sleep when I finally gave up, and went into the living room.
By six thirty A.M. I went back to bed, and slept for a while till after nine.

I have been woozy all day and I still cannot sit here that long…so please forgive this is it for tonight, talk to you tomorrow, OK?

Good night folks!
Count those blessings and we will too!

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

WEATHER AT WAR!

Another earthquake, this time in China, India with a Cyclone, Volcanoes, oh my!
What’s going on?
It seems as if the horrors of 2012 are coming early!
These other weather events cannot even be blamed on ‘El Nino’, so the meteorologists say.
No rhyme or reason to these disastrous happenings, but just terrible luck for us all?

Today I received in the snail mail my 125th Anniversary issue of Good Housekeeping, the one with Michelle Obama on the cover. I wonder how they have been able to keep going all these years. Perhaps they should tell us all that, and teach a class; they are still one of the best deals out there, just ten bucks for a years’ subscription.

They never asked for a hand out of funds yet they managed not to go under during the BIG DEPRESSION of 1929 infamy; so many of their contemporaries had gone under then and since during this electronic information era.
I scanned it briefly, I do so enjoy looking at the home decorating ideas, but even they have gotten less over the years, much more advertising than content I feel.
I suspect that’s what pays the bills, eh?

I could do without all those recipes; I am sure many enjoy them but to me they just make me hungry when I read and I really could do without that!

Have you read any good books lately?
The Sue Grafton alphabet murder mystery series is wonderful for any who enjoy that genre, and I do I have read all of hers to date; can’t wait for her next one to come out.
Its funny but I have gotten Hubby also on that road to her wonderful characters to enjoying them too.
Men, just because a woman wrote it doesn’t mean you can’t read it.
Why I read so many male authors; who are terrific in my book, sorry for the pun, not really! LOL

I made healthy beef stroganoff tonight for dinner with no egg wide noodles, lean beef pounded and cut tiny, fat free sour cream, sodium free beef bullion, sliced mushrooms, garlic, and onions, extra virgin olive oil with I can’t believe it’s not butter instead of butter. Anything can be made to be healthy if you just think on it for a few minutes. Watch those noodles though, although they are yolk free, the carbs are still rather high 14%, and so go easy on them. Recently the news reported women especially have to watch those carbs due to the heart unhealthy risk.

Good night to all and to all count those blessings and women those carbs and we will too, me that is, for carbs but blessings we both will since high carbs don’t seem to hurt men so much; who knows why that is...

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

How are you?

It’s about time I asked, eh?
Yes, many of these things called Blogs have been about me.
Well, folks this is MY BLOG!
Get your own if you want it to be about you, just kidding!
Write back and fill me in on you, OK?

How do we know that people approve of us?
A provocative question, huh?

I put the ‘huh’, since I doubt anyone but an American would ask that.
We have been called ‘ugly’, while in our travels, mostly I suspect since we appear not to accept the conventional mores of any other different society, and try for others to be able to understand our ways more often than not even when on their turf, as guests in their country. How disrespectful of us, and quite ugly, although, today, I think that has changed, at least I do hope so. To be honest it has been decades since I traveled abroad.

Politeness is something that has unfortunately gone by the wayside. We see this not only in children forgetting to say please and thank you, but many adults not acknowledging positive behavior or interest in helping others.

Neighbors were once the mainstay of every community, but with the advent of our most recent economic declines, many neighborhoods are splattered with empty homes due to foreclosures or whatnot and consequently there are acres of no others to commune with sadly.

As annoying as it used to be the only home owner with people moving out of homes that they too owned and now turning around and making them into rentals. But today, I do so relish any neighbors in any socioeconomic situation.

Earlier today, this morning actually, I spoke with a gentleman in our county code enforcement department about a derelict home only three lots from ours that had a broken window. Hubby went to check it out since he is retired law enforcement. He wanted to make sure nothing nefarious was going on in there.

So many stories have been on the news of late about Meth, Crack and Weed homes coming out of such neglected homes.
I was also told that we have over six thousand such empty homes in our county, just dreadful, and oh so sad too!
This one has had the lawn mowed regularly and other than the broken front side window and a front picture window with what looks like a bullet hole in it, it wouldn’t have been so obvious to me, who knows if anyone else cares.
Since the code enforcer said no one else had complained.
Hubby did report that the entire home had been gutted of everything including all the electric and plumbing.

Fortunately, at this time it is the minority of emptiness on our circular block, which is good in my book. Since people are taking up residence in a domicile here or there which makes it harder for the criminal element to do whatever they want without somebody noticing!

I am so sure that we around the country or even the world are suffering similar problems in areas too, and so I think we should all make a concerted effort to find out how to solve this problem.

On that glimmer of an idea I shall bid you all a very good night and to all count those blessings and we will too!

Monday, April 12, 2010

Brain freeze to all who...

Have you ever thought you were getting some form of memory loss and then you realized that it only happens every once and while, not daily, or frequently enough to count…yet.

Most of us have forgotten where we put this or that, or who that was that did such and such whenever that was, got that?

It’s normal to some degree that we of the maturity generation hearing through the grapevine, when we think we actually did HEAR, but when does it become a problem that we should really genuinely be worrying about?

Oh don’t do that, worry that is, it only makes your memory burp into disastrous forgetfulness! Stress has proven to create fear and fear can make you forget everything…even your own name!

But when should one be a wee bit concerned?
I don’t know I am not the right person to ask.
I do believe it takes a neurologist to diagnosis clinical forgetfulness or dementia.

And so all I can do is wonder if forgetting common words while engaged in a general conversation should be of troubling concern for me or my peers around me?
It’s a wee bit of food for thought or try hard to remember, eh?

I just got distracted, so sorry, but two Grackles were doing a noisy mating dance, rather gracefully, in the backyard under our bird feeder, and it was really very cute.
Oh for those of you who don’t know the species, ‘Grackles’, are medium sized black birds that could be mistaken for crows the only difference is they have yellow eyes.
We do have a perfect habitat for birds with our feeder with the baffle to prevent the squirrel, our one and only one, I think, from getting the seed, a birdbath, and our fish pond with fountain and waterfall.
Many an afternoon Hubby is out there under our lanai on the patio reading and bird watching.
I, on the other hand would love to be out more but darn with my MS the temperature fluctuations make my spasms go kefluey, Tobism sorry! Plus one of my medications has restrictions about sun exposure; oh that’s me…so much fun!

Any-who today we went back to the grocery; I know we were just there, weren’t we?
Gosh we eat often and a lot. LOL
Anyway, our fish monger in the store has a child who has Autism, and so I suggested he contact Autism Speaks, autismspeaks.org, for helpful information since he said that his daughter lost so many of her services. We all should become advocates for anything we believe in. When it hits home that’s when we automatically get fired up rightfully so, now all my fire has turned into helping the others network for themselves.

Just had a slight writing break due to chest pains, most likely caused by gas, since I am back here now. If it was something serious I wouldn’t be here, now would I? LOL

On that fascinating pronouncement I will bid you all a good night and to all count your blessings and we will too!


PS another interesting happening just occurred with our Skipper, our Bichon Frise, he has lately been barking at nothing that we can see; he did just now, and me, I also in that same vein have thought I heard things too….ooh, ooh … that proved to be nothing. I told Hubby that perhaps Skipper has medium/psychic abilities, and mine must be extra larges LOL!

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Two thumbs up!

The Robin Cook book, ‘Intervention’, proved to be a very good read folks! It was finished with relish earlier today.
Side note: Robin Cook lives in Florida now; he’s one of our own.

Yesterday, we had something enter our backyard shed and the only reason we think that we know that is because things were knocked over in it, so Hubby did report to me. And so Hubby went out during our rain storm and reopened the door to allow whatever critter was in it was able to leave, but silly us, would you go out in a rain storm if you had a dry shed to stay in? The shed does have quite a few hiding spaces in there with all its stuff, and so whatever is in there is probably hiding quite well.
So the door was soon closed once more by none other than Hubby.

And Hubby felt the need to devise a Rube Goldberg-ish trap for our little trespasser to knock over on he/she’s exit in case we weren’t watching on that occasion. The door is set three quarters of the way closed with this block in the doorway that once triggered just a light piece of plastic about the size of a shirt cardboard will fall over, simplicity at its finest. But so far nothing has happened.
Hubby figures that the culprit got in when he was mowing the lawn yesterday.
He does have a tendency to leave doors open; that is the shed’s and garage’s side door, and I always worry about critters trying to make their homes inside.

I do harbor a bad memory of that rodent getting in there, the garage, and then the rest is history as they say!

Memories can be wonderful too though especially when you see a photo of someone you recall from your past in a good way. I had the joy of seeing an entire family I basically grew up with their picture was posted on my Facebook site oh what fond memories that brought back!

Sadly, in devastation of national natural disasters many of us forget that those photos cannot be replaced, and so I recommend making copies and putting them in very safe place or mailing them far away to someone you trust.

I guess since we are getting closer to our hurricane season this June first marking the beginning, a little over six weeks away, it is making me go into psychological preparation mode, since this year the country and pretty much all over the world has had with all those unfortunate natural disasters. They are saying this year may be bad for us in the gulf coast area too with our hurricane threats once again, if interested to see you can: go to copy and paste this site: http://www.mahalo.com/2010-hurricane-season-forecast

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


PS Last night was movie night here, and we saw Sherlock Holmes, it was very good!

Saturday, April 10, 2010

Who are you?

Did you ever wonder to whom you were speaking when you chose to speak to a representative of a building or conglomerate?
Now they are both quite different things entirely.
A building is an architectural structure without a mouth, limbs or a soul, and conglomerate is a business…I guess could also be a mouth-less, limbless, and soulless entity if run improperly. LOL

Buildings on the one hand contain people within them and I suspect most conglomerates do too, sure they do, wink, wink. In this day and age who really knows the answer to that one.

Oddly enough I have found myself speaking to a building over the last two days, well, I suppose most of you are wondering how that could be, because buildings don’t talk, or do they?

This one was unidentifiable since no human name was given to me but yet I carried on a Facebook conversation back and forth for the last two days with this disembodied voice/building.
How odd you say!
Yep, I agree.
And so a few minutes ago I laid the law down to that building, which, by the way is our Cultural Center by non human name, and questioned that nobody on whom they might perhaps be, human wise that is, and so far no info has changed hands.
Maybe it would be a security breech?
I have all the time in the world to wait them out, after all I am retired.

Moving on … A few days ago I promised I had another project in the works and I do.
You see, as a consumer like all of us I feel the need to comment on products when they are good or not so good, and I have always enjoyed writing a good letter to the powers that be letting them know those feelings, we all should do that you know.

Feedback is the technical term that they enjoy calling it.
I have been known to help large companies/conglomerates know when the product on the market is doing what they claim or falling short of those expectations.
Freedom of speech and all that and the need to be a responsible consumer, after all money aint what it used to be, and everything we consume these days is not by any means cheap!
Consequently, I have received refunds, rebates and freebies by expressing these assertive opinions, and I can’t say that I am not happy to be doing what I consider a watchdog type service for those too timid perhaps to speak up for themselves.

Most recently my synthetic marble sink and counter top company, which has been keeping in touch with me on my most recent problem, a stained, scratched and hairline cracked sink that has a ten year warranty, and was installed professionally after Hurricane Charley in December of 2004. I started the contact of this company on this past Thursday through emails and calling their 800 number as I was told to. In the email I explained the situation about the kitchen sink’s condition and they gave me the phone number of a call center that was oddly enough located in California, the first hint was when I left my call back info at nine in the morning since they were not open yet, and they said they didn’t open till nine PST. I say oddly enough because they needed my zip code to be able to set me up with someone in my area; we live on the south west coast of Florida not the west coast of the country?

But their system was telling them I lived in Seattle Washington, and I had to argue with them that it was wrong! Then they told me I needed a claim number, and I said I didn’t have one, no one gave me one. And so they gave me the toll free number for the warranty department in Delaware, and to be honest the man there was very nice and said that all I needed was my invoice from the sale four years ago, which I did find after a half hour of looking with Hubby’s help and emailed it to him after I scanned it, this was on Friday evening. I suspect they are closed for the weekend. He did say I needed that to get a new sink. To be honest I just want mine fixed, I don’t want to be without a sink for who knows how long! You see, my sink is molded into one piece with my counter top and that would be a disaster if they had to remove the whole thing! He did say that maybe it could be fixed.

Anywho that’s what I do with my simple life, when I am not going out or reading like today. I will be recommending that Robin Cook book, Intervention, to all of you it has everything in it you can imagine, similarities to an Indiana Jones movie, DaVinci Code one, and anyone of Cook's previous medical mysteries all incorporated into one hard to put down novel! Let’s put it this way I am currently on page 395 since starting it yesterday and I can’t wait to finish to know the ending! That means only a little less than two hundred pages left.

On that good note of intrigue I will wish you all a good night and to all count those blessing and we will too!

Friday, April 9, 2010

Mildness of the climate in the home was the sensation of the feeling of the day!

Huh? In other words, calmness was here today!
BORING! You all say well maybe not; but to have peace in any form is a plus in these anxious times, right?

I started reading my book today that is one of Robin Cook’s his newest called, Intervention; I believe it is his newest, at least it was in the new book section of the library, and they don’t lie, do they?

My relaxation techniques are basically vegging-out by watching the idiot box also, going back and forth from the TV to the book is how I roll; these days there isn’t much else in my repertoire.

That is unless Hubby or I decide we are going out to some absolute destination for necessities, fun or education purposes.

We are still conserving gas although the newest low/high is really confusing since it actually fluctuates almost daily, got that?

This weekend at our little municipal airport we have our annual air show going on, but we aren’t going. You see it is twenty bucks a head, and when Hubby used to be a deputy and he would be usually working the air show I was allowed in for free. And when we lived in south Jersey, in Lacey Township, we lived about twenty minutes south of Lakehurst and that too was free and we would take our sons to that one.
So I guess we are spoiled due to all those freebies.

The military can’t charge since they are supported by us, the taxpayers; sort of like the Smithsonian’s, which are also still free, I think! We used to go there a few times a year when we lived in NJ, only five and half hours from there by car.

Actually it doesn’t really matter anyway since we seem to live right below their flight pattern and all we have to do is go outside and look up! LOL

Have you ever wanted something different for diner or lunch or even breakfast and couldn’t come up with something new or unique? I used to find thinking about important things was at times a very interesting challenge in problem solving, but this is just lame and ridiculous, this is what I have been lowered to in my excitement scale in life? OH NO!
Sometimes I feel that I should be doing something rewarding and important like I used to do, but then my body says forget it! DAMN!

Not so funny when its your count on one and only body that you thought you had been taking care of, eating lots of fruits and veggies, used to go to the gym one and half hours a day, or race walk three miles in forty minutes, quit smoking nearly four years ago, and this is how I am being repaid with this shell of yuck! Darn, there should have been a healthy reward for me not this.

If only I could figure out how to change what has happened, since theoretically I do know what to do, besides all that working out I was a dancer too, took it for about twelve years. Knowing what has to be done is frustrating, since in my home I basically even have a home gym too, with a stationary bike, treadmill, and free weights, not to mention a backyard pool. But I was told more exercise will make my already destroyed bones and muscles only get worse, being pre-existing with no insurance to repair the damage that is my biggest fear to try any of it, since a doctor told me that.

I had been walking up until about two years ago when the pain from my hips became so severe I couldn’t sleep at night and that is when the doctor told me it’s a no go. The old story if it hurts when you do that then don’t do that! And pain meds for me either don’t work or cause bleeding ulcers, so that is where the problem lies or as I like to say up a creek without a paddle, not really I don't like to say that but it is accurate.

If any of you out there have any ideas please tell me what I should do?
I have run out of ideas.

On that pathetic plea; I will wish you all a good night and to all count those blessings and we will too!

Thursday, April 8, 2010

Library day and can we talk?

The reason I am asking if it’s OK if we talk, just you and me, is because it is about my physical health issues and I didn’t want to lay the information on someone who wasn’t really interested. So I take it from your silence that it is all right with you for me to continue in this vein of conversation? Good.

I have been trying half heartedly to not mention what has been going on with me because I do know that to some people it could be considered a very boring topic, my ills.
But I think it is only fair to explain why a few days ago I mentioned the need to go back to see my neurologist, right? PS: I have an appointment for next month.
Only fair correct?
Well, here goes, I have been having more muscle spasms than I have had in a very long time, and find myself taking the Baclofen, anti-spasmodic medication, more often than not, and I was doing so well without it.
The other problem is a wee bit more disturbing to me and it has to do with endurance, being able to stand for any length of time, well sadly that has diminished to minutes too, with numbness in my legs causing me the need to sit before I fall.
But yet if I am sitting I also get the numbness too, as well as if my legs are straight down in a seating position, in other words I am damned if I do and damned if I don’t.
Anyone have any suggestions?
I suppose making the doctor’s appointment was the best idea, eh?

Moving on… today we also returned some and got out a few more books from our library branch, and then went over to see what was up at the adjoining building, our Cultural Center.
They have an easel in their lobby telling you what is going on today, and so I noticed there was one organization or group that I was unfamiliar with and I decided to ask the ‘Golden Girls’, senior white haired volunteers behind the counter, and they did not know.
That only made me more curious to find out who The Charlotte Community Foundation was, that’s me the nosey one!
They were meeting in room E, and so I scootered down there to find out, but no one was there yet, the meeting was scheduled for 11 A.M., and when the people did finally start to stroll in, I asked, and received an answer from the Manager of Marketing & Nonprofit Resources: edavis@CharlotteCommunityFoundation.org, Ed Davis, he was able to tell me that they help nonprofit organizations in finding and keeping volunteers, attain networking resources and the like. And so my curiosity was satisfied and I felt the need to acquire a few business cards to pass along, and I did. I also let those Golden Gals know about the mysterious group too, although they did not seem as interested in that information as I was.
Just call me the town crier.

Oh I almost forgot to tell you all about my big shopping spree!
At the Cultural Center they also have a few different types of shops besides so many other things, classes theater, restaurant, etc. but today I went into their little handmade items gift shop, and purchased an adorable tiny 4”X6” picture of a Teddy bear playing a violin, it made me think of my niece who passed away back in 2006, she played the violin as a child. And so I asked how much it was, since I couldn’t find any price on it and the additional Golden Gal who appeared to be in charge of the shop went in the back and asked a few other elderly cuties, and came back with the very appropriate price that was to my liking of two bucks, you made a sale, I said!

I have another project in the works; so be here next time for that update!

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

PS the people from our refuse company came early this morning, at six fifteen A.M. and did pick up our yard waste

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Have any of you watched the show about...

Those CEO’s who go undercover to see the reality of their companies by working alongside their employees?
I found it very enlightening.


Any-who, back to the point I was trying to make, the one company that was on that show that does national waste removal for cities all over the place has, in my opinion been slacking off here.

Our county reduced our garbage refuse pick up to once a week including recycling and yard waste too. Our day is Wednesday, and for some reason, well they forgot to pick up our yard waste AGAIN! It seems that this has been happening at least twice a month for the last few months, why is that?
And we again went to the wire, and tried calling at five P.M., but they were already all gone!

To the good of that water utilities department they did do what they promised for flushing out our block’s water system and then retested us, and it was now good!

Confusing, I do know that people all over the country are trying harder than ever to do a good job since the prospect of another one could be zero to none these days.
Then why do some not appear to be doing the most simplistic task at one of the highest pays for a civil servant position?
It is in my understanding that many sanitation engineers make more than police, fire, or teachers. I do realize how filthy a job it is, but is it dangerous or are they in charge of molding little children’s brains? No, of course not!

All people should be respected in life for what their vocation is, and how they do it, but they should take pride in it no matter what, in other words be the best you can be at what you chose to do!
No job is insignificant if you do it correctly, everything matters folks.

Many positions in life that others may not want to do are done, because somebody else had the knowledge and expertise to do it, let us not forget that.

An analogy might be the one you hear in the arts, ‘those who can do (sing, dance, act etc.) those who can’t teach.’

But we all do know our limitations in life once we reach maturity, right?
Some will try things out of their reach but what the heck trying can be fun too!
Failing is all part of life.
Experimenting is an enjoyable way to learn more about yourself, and why not folks?
Many, who have been out of the work force for a while or just looking for any job, should try those temp agencies to see if they might have hidden talents, you never know.

If I was in better health I would do that, although my work history is quite diverse.

On that bizarre note of mystery I will bid you all a good night, count those blessings and we will too!

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

How about going out...we did!

What would be the occasion to leave the compound and venture into the world, you ask?
This and that …but of course!

Do you all recall that I felt the need to propagate?
The pineapple, silly!
I’m way too old for the other kind.

Any-who, we went to the giant discount store up the road a piece to acquire those few items which we just had to have, potting soil, hair care products and …gosh I forgot!
But we really hadda have it; if you know what I mean?

Once back at the ranch, so to speak, we chilled for a bit and sat outback.
Then Hubby got out the empty large flower pot with matching saucer, and filled it with the potting soil, he did the honors too with the planting of the pineapple according to the instructions off the net, push in till it stands by itself.

Hubby did some other things while I bathed in the dapple sunshine under the shade of our lanai. Soon I noticed through the houses that the next street over mail had been delivered and so I told Hubby, and he went and got ours. It was mostly junk mail and our water and sewer bill with an addition inside, a water quality test result for the county.

To the good it did show that we were all within the required limitations for any impurities. But I called anyway, since it was really written for a micro-biologist to understand. Hubby and I both knew we had very hard water and this was a definite from the exterior faucets deteriorating and the same issue occurring with our kitchen faucet as well. But when I questioned it the times before I was told that our water couldn’t do that and so I told the faucet manufacturer and they replaced it for the third time for free, the first and second times we paid for it.

Also the last time I called the utility department I was told a water test cost one hundred bucks but this time I was told it was free, huh?
And so I requested one, and sure enough the person was here this afternoon, service with a smile, how about that?

The gentleman was greeted by Hubby who went out specifically to speak with him and show him our faucet proof. The man agreed the water should not do that, and proceeded to test the water, it turned pink very quickly indicating that something was definitely askew it was showing the disinfectant was too high, and he told Hubby that the system should be flushed out by them within the next few days. Thank you very much!

I had concerns previously and even switched our animals to bottle water like me, since I could never drink ours; it gave me a stomach issue, that’s as close as I am going to say, you get the gist.
My other problems were pink rings in the toilets, and if I soaked towels or white clothing for more than a few minutes in the washer they would actually rip!

Now I feel like I am being exonerated, well at least I will when they fix the problem.
After all our water and sewer bills run around eighty bucks a month, only once it was in the sixties, and a few times like this current one which I already paid online was in the low nineties, which seems high to me, but this was a thirty-one day month, and even though Hubby waters with the rain barrel water he can’t add back water to the swimming pool or the fish pond which evaporate with our dryness, because there is too much sediment from our roof in the rain barrel water, even with the screen in place. So he does on occasion use city water.

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

Monday, April 5, 2010

Downer Dolly is hopefully gone for the night!

Howdy folks…I’m back!
Who was that likely unmasked and disembodied person who wrote on my Blog last night?
Good grief, so sorry to my reading public; I will have to research who that severely saddened creature was.

Tonight I have returned to take back my counting of my joys on this planet and find the happiness in it all!
Have you never felt that you were having an out of body experience?
Nah, neither have I; that would be CRAAAZZZEEE!
Wouldn’t it be?

Pleasantries are supposed to be exchanged daily and a way of life in this life. We all should thank our lucky stars, and all those other redundant clichés, each and everyday that we wake up that we wake up, right? And so why would anyone have the indecency to complain about being lonely on a holiday? Geez it’s not like they were dying. What nerve to be so sad that you think that the rest of the world needed to hold your hand or at the very least pay you some mind, how selfish and self serving, I declare… just beastly, shame on you!

Well, to be honest who knows why people do what they do or what motivates anyone to reach out to a nobody in cyberspace for answers that more often than not go unanswered.

Most of these poor souls are just so self-involved they have no rhyme or reason for why they need reassurance. Perhaps it’s a form of lack of self confidence? Who are we to judge?

Judging is for Judy, and Joe and the like.
What a roar those shows are, aren’t they?
Makes you realize that your life aint so bad afterall; you know what I mean?

While this Downer Dolly was busy feeling sorry for herself on my Blog our Florida was having the best weather ever, did she mention whether or not she went outside to enjoy it?
Hmmm I do wonder if the lack of fresh air could be the interloper’s problem, oxygen and all that…who knows…but could it be a reality check for the deary, sunshine has been known to cause unexpected smiles and laughter, you know.

We are now in the CORRECT weather pattern for us Floridians once again, low humidity and mid-eighties, how wonderful that we can flaunt our good fortune to the rest of the world, LOL?

Specifically, I must apologize for the behavior of anyone who seems to have access to this Blog; some just take over without thought or concern of those ramifications.

Plans for going here and there are in the works after all we have things to do place to go to and lives to lead!
And so I will be busy most of the week with Hubby.

On that positive note I will wish you all a good night and ask you politely to count your blessings and we will too!

PS: Pray for the rest of the West Virginia miners in the explosion area!
Thankfully that 7.2 earthquake yesterday in Mexicali Mexico felt into California and Arizona was not as disastrous as it could have been!

Sunday, April 4, 2010

Easter time and nowhere to go...

And so we stayed home again, as usual, these holidays of lately, which seems to be our practice.
Just the two of us again, sadly erroneously at the winter time of our lives, because I truly thought at this point we would have made up for all of our losses of deaths with a renewing with in-laws and grandchildren and extended family members that would be more than we could count, but no it has not happened and I don’t see it occurring in the near future either.

Hubby and I did manage a delicious meal with all the trimmings, and even cut up that pineapple too (and set the top aside for planting within the next two days) and we added that to a fresh fruit salad including apples and bananas.

Loneliness is already rampant and clutches at my heart.
How did this turn into this?

When we were young and callow fellows we knew not what to expect and had armies of loved ones all around us, but alas they have all moved either far away or perished by death, and that is why I am glad that holidays come in at only one day at a time.
More than a day of this and I fear it would consume me with tragic depression.

I do truly hope that you all have enjoyed this joyful week of Passover and or Easter; religiously they are so closely involved with one another that they are nearly one; you do know that one could not exist without the other?

Anywho, I am the last one to be telling you about any religious beliefs, since I am not at all that well versed in them, my Sunday School days are way behind me as well as any other education in that arena.

All I do know is that is many have been celebrating and I say more power to you for believing in anything in these hard times. I personally am always questioning.

Please dear readers let joy into your lives, and never ever take anyone for granted that you care about; life is way too short.

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

Saturday, April 3, 2010

Throwing something?

Why are ‘throw rugs’, called that?
Don’t we actually place them in the locations that we want them to be?
Laying them gently in the most beneficial part of the home to attract people’s feet to be wiped off or better yet to leave those bacteria infested shoes?

I suppose if I were to be informal with my art deco designed small ‘artsy’ pieces I might find the urge or the need to surge and actually heave them into the air, but not in the near future, just that thought makes my arms ache.

If you haven’t guessed already… today I took it upon myself to enhance the cleanliness of our enchanting home, once again.
And I placed, with care, our darling colorful artful designed carpet sections into the washing machine to renew their sharp colorations.
Hubby was kind enough to take them outside for me and place them all on our clothesline. But of course, they could go into the dryer, but today with such low humidity and temperatures soaring into the mid eighties, and so why not take advantage of the glorious aromas that fresh air has to offer!

Even our large area wool rug, see now that is a logical name, it is a rug and it does take up an area, moving on… it was also washed but this time by dear sweet Hubby way down on the dock where it also would be drying due to its large size and heftiness when wet. Ah wool, you are all yelling! Yes, it is one hundred percent wool but I used to wash it myself in my healthier days for we do have it for quite a few years, but so long as the water is cold and the detergent ugh, there you go again, gentle detergent is appropriate and all that we have managed to do is make the aquatic pastel print that much more vibrant, truly! Consequently the big thing is still drying at this hour and may not be completely dry until sometime tomorrow.

Another thing we did tonight that we haven’t done in years, literally which does mean actually, we used our dishwasher to pre-rinse our dinner dishes, and we’ll fill it to full by tomorrow too, I hope!
Green clue: As we all know, a dishwasher uses less water than actually washing them individually in the sink.
But with just the two of us without our sons being home all these years I have been and so has Hubby been washing everything by hand in the sink, whoa, you all say! Yes, you are completely correct that was wasting water BIG TIME, shame on us.
Us with a rain barrel and composter and veggie garden and recycling peeps, etc, etc, etc… us hypocrites!
On our side of the story, yes we have now seen the light, but honestly we felt that we would run out of dishes before we could fill the darn thing up! So buy more dishes I hear you all saying, OK, I will send you all the bill, divvy it up! LOL We will be as careful as we can with our water since it is city water and quite dear in price, you betcha!

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

PS I was amiss in not mentioning the death of a handsome actor that we all knew and enjoyed watching for years, Mr. John Forsythe of Dynasty and Charlie’s Angel’s fame, not to mention all those major motion pictures. He passed away on April first at the age of ninety two; we should all live at least that long, you will be sorely missed; what a gentleman.

Friday, April 2, 2010

Come one come all, spend that money to make sure you got it all...

Yep, that’s just about what you could say we did today.
We stocked up on stuff that will last probably until the fall or at least till we run out, this summer maybe?

We went over to the warehouse club store and got those non-perishable items that last for a decade or so without causing foul odors or bacterial stomach disorders or anything negative and are very necessary the list included: toilet paper, facial tissue and paper towels plus an assortment of other items that are cost effective and could be stored. The social security check came this morning and once I paid the last of the bills in the bill drawer… off we went!

Even on our roomy compound grounds displacement and appropriately locating these items to their designated waiting areas is not as easy as one might think. Once the bathrooms depositories were filled as well as under the sink in the kitchen and the linen closet floor and top shelf, the garage closet and shelves were specified and utilized for the remainder.

Other items, that were of the perishable variety were divided accordingly put into marked freezer bags and frozen, since most were of the aquatic food species, although one clucker was also included in the catch, assorted cheese foods, forty pounds of chlorine for the swimming pool (best deal), and a couple containers of coffee, a beautiful fresh pineapple and lastly three pounds of tomatoes for $5.98, about the same as the grocery, but we do go through a lot and hopefully that will be the last purchase since our tomatoes are almost ready, not! But they are getting there.

The pineapple I must admit was a slight splurge, only in the context of not absolutely necessary since it is something we haven’t bought in years, but at $1.98 it really wasn’t too dear at all, and my plans are to try and grow the top and make some more! It’s supposed to be easy, we shall see.

Prior to leaving we did manage to get some spring cleaning done, our comforter, dust ruffle etc were all washed, even the pillows that hold our decorative pillow shams. Didn’t realize they could be but once stripped of the two cases encompassing each one their tags said they were machine washable and dryable, how about that? And so we did.

The house is getting a little more spring like looking.
And in the dinette, the seat cushion pillows were switched yesterday from the darker print Wedgwood blue ones with the matching tablecloth on that table to the paler blue and white striped pillows with the matching placemats, and a bowl of fruit was placed on the table too. All things I had but make a lighter springier look to the room.

Our home is never dark anyway, as much as I kid about having a family compound in reality our home is quite small square footage wise, so light and bright is the best way to decorate or otherwise dark, so-called warmer darker colors would create gloom and doom in my opinion in our home and who wants that? Bright and cheerful is how I see our place, and to be honest it makes it more joyful to stay home, especially since at times due to my ills I have no choice. But going out is a nice respite to my occasional boredom.

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

Thursday, April 1, 2010

Come and get um before they are all gone!

H 1 N 1 Flu virus shots, but of course!
Whatever did you think I meant? Free Money, I bet.
Wouldn’t that be some great April Fools joke, eh? Not so funny you say, yeah you are too right this time folks! Only the rich get that surplus.
Actually, there is a surplus of shots not money, but according to the recent news, just tonight there has been a reinfection of the virus locally, and so you better get yourself protected as soon as possible.
Well, Hubby and I are still protected, I think?
We got both the seasonal flu shot and the H1N1shot last November, but no one told us when the expiration date was, does anyone know how long they are good for?

What concerns me is the fact that most of these viruses have the power to change into some type of super virus that is not easily killed by whatever arsenal of shots or medications that would be available to all who fit the high risk profile/criteria. Whew, I am sure glad that’s me! What?
It would be nice not to be in that group that’s one clique I rather not be a member of.

Have you had your fill of April Fools Day jokes yet? No more here, fresh out, sorry!

Our local NBC station is questioning what people think of the new IPAD coming out this Saturday, you also have the power to tell me too, so do if you wish to at the end of this Blog in the comments section. Who knows we could all learn something!

Today also was the last day to get those census forms in the mail or they will be coming to your house to find out what happened.
I do know that the race question was considered insensitive and difficult to answer in this day and age with so many multi-cultural and multi-race people here in our melting pot called America, well I agree that question has to be changed.
Too bad that the form didn’t have a space to give our opinions or suggestions on that topic and others, but I do believe that they are made simplistic so the computer can read them more easily. If humans were doing them who knows what would happen ...sensitivity could be what might happen folks, but that would be too much to expect!
More jobs would happen too, not just for those follow-up enumerators of yore, which I was back in 1990, great short term pay, by the way!

From the I gotta have one file, there’s “an app for that”, man got tired of his electronics getting stolen out of his car all the time so he put them all on the GPS application, and now he has helped the cops locate his stuff and of course the guy had stolen other peoples things too so he may have helped you too! If you got the power to apply that system do it sounds great to me.

On that positive helpful hint I will bid you all a very good night and to all count those blessings and we will too!

Speaking My Mind: Which way will the war go?

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