Wednesday, October 31, 2012

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Did you ever feel sorry for enjoying a holiday? Many tonight will be trying their darndest to make the most of this one in spite of no homes, electric and severe devastation surrounding them…And for that I think is incredible, since we all know that it is for the children that we try hard to make life not so really scary, just fun scary! With that said, we all know that many won’t be able to celebrate in the ways that they planned to perhaps and so for that reason alone we should all try to think of them as we give our neighborhood ghosties and goblins their treats to prevent a trick. And just maybe we could think of how we could change any of the misery up there with listening intently while watching the news unfurl of more tragedies with more deaths and so many more areas destroyed. We, as always see and hear this all with our hearts being torn out…wishing to know what to do…In the olden days we would have gone physically to help, but with too many health issues these days the only way that we personally can help is to give a little money to legitimate agencies that do what should be done to help. And if we all do without too much thought except thinking that if it was us they would do it too for us, as they have done before…then you will be able to know what is true and right and Nike it! (Just do it!) The old Nike motto not the new one, which I am not too sure of what that, is. Any-who, I would check with your local TV stations on finding tried and true legitimate agencies to donate to, since they seem to work hard on debunking the charlatans and would be a great asset for the practice of knowing what’s what and safest. We, have found over the last several years with having dogs, now down to a one and only that when anyone rings the doorbell and knocks on the door oddly enough our canine companions think it’s for them and bark and try to welcome each and every guest. And so we have devised a system that many may think that is coping out, but to us it keeps all parties happy and safe… and as we all know a picture is worth a thousand words and here it is:
I suppose you cannot read the sign so here is its close up:
On that handling of an usual problem for many, allow me to be the first to wish all of you a very happy good night and ask you kindly to count all of your blessings and share those overages with you know who and we will too! And next time please be here or be square, ya hear?

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

I've been called a 99% and a 47% and I wonder how we can be both?

You see, 99% and 47% add up to 146% and than I would be more than any things actually are, being more than 100%; now does that make sense to you? Many feel that a minority of any group is what holds the majority back, but how can this be true? If the majority is always changing demographically-wise; than what does that really mean? If you are less than the entire whole of the many; than does that mean that you are not enough? Can you see why I find this so unsettling and a wee bit confusing… to put it into a better perspective; who are ‘they’? Now if ‘they’ are truly the majority and than I suppose that ‘they’ have a right to tell us what the status quo for doing stuff should be; or would it be more correct to get a polling of many groups from all aspects of the many of ‘they’ to see who really has the best handle on who is all with the right? Or is that who’s left? Gosh and I am an adult trying hard to figure this all out and that is why children you must be eighteen to vote! The many may skip over many steps to get to the conclusion of whom is really in charge in the bigger picture of things…but the few have no right to complain since the many know what they are doing and what is best for the few? Geez, no wonder they waited so long to change the voting age from 21 to 18, this is hard, real hard; now get your minds out of the gutter folks, I meant hard thinking, like thinking too hard, got that? Decisions to help others are something you do without too much thought; none if done from the heart and what most of us used to do is JUST DO IT! Without any fanfare of needing to make a political statement of how much you care about your fellow man and woman. (Is it just me or does saying fellow man and woman sound odd to you too?) Any-who, one candidate chose to do the job he was voted in to do and in his heart of hearts and with calmness and caring has taken charge of the most difficult thing he has had to do in his life, I am more than sure… calm the fears of a nation. With his leadership we know that the job will be done, because he has never ever flipped flopped making us think anything other than what he does when he sets his mind to do something on a steady calming path of decision making that makes us all know that eventually all will be alright. What a guy! The other one, the one from central casting, good looking and making you feel like he is reading now from a script these last few days to try to acquire the role of President and assaying what he thinks we want to hear… that all is asides were just not true and that he really cares for everyone from every walk of life? OH PULEEZ, do we all look like we fell off a turnip truck? NEXT… no job of Commander and Chief for you sir, try going back to your agent I heard they may be making a remake of, Knute Rockney All American, circa 1940. That way you could try the same route for the job that Ronald Reagan took, after paying his dues as a fair actor for a few decades with next being President of the Screen Actors Guild than Governor of California and by than you might be ready or way too old to care…! I here say that in acting class they have methods to teach you to be more convincing in the caring department. On that much to think about and little to say… allow me to truly tell our friends to the north how we care about your well being in this aftermath and we have been watching and hearing what you have been going through, glued to our techno marvels and praying that all will be better as soon as it can be…our blessings are with all of you and saying that we are concerned sounds so small…LET’S ALL GIVE TO the redcross.org CASH! They and many others are all on their way… if not there already.

Monday, October 29, 2012

Public Service Announcements

Tonight’s offering is going to be a bunch of important info that has to do with dealing with disasters and their aftermath here in the United States of America: Knowing which agencies to contact is of the utmost importance: 1.FEMA: ready.gov 2.American Red Cross: redcross.org, for yourself for all they can do for you or to find missing people you care about 3.Your insurance companies phone numbers for wind and flood with your policy numbers to call immediately after. All vehicles insurances too including boats and RV’s or whatever, golf cart or whatcha-ma-call-its…While your at it serial numbers of electronic etc… all in water proof containers. While at it put your favorite family pictures in there too! 4.A live blog on Yahoo pertaining to the storm http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/live-blog-hurricane-sandy-bears-down-east-coast-140022782.html 5. Weather underground an additional site for watching your local and national weather http://www.wunderground.com/wundermap/?lat=32.8&lon=-71.9&zoom=6&type=hyb&rad=0&wxsn=0&svr=0&cams=0&sat=0&riv=0&mm=0&hur=1&hur.wr=0&hur.cod=1&hur.fx=1&hur.obs=1&fire=0&ft=0&sl=0 6. The weather channel: http://www.weather.com/ 7. By now you must have taken all your before pictures, well if not, too late, but DON’T forget after pictures of everything that is EVERYTHING! You know a picture is worth a thousand words, here more than ANYTHING! *Go to any of those important agencies to make sure that you have it right before they get too inundated with calls… And most of all know that we care and are praying for all of you and PLEASE DON’T BE STUPID; EVACUATE IF YOU ARE TOLD TO! You don’t want to make the officials jobs harder and more dangerous than they already have it working non-stop until this historic Frankenstorm is over! Sorry, if I sound like I am whining to all of you, HECK I don’t care if it bothers your insensibilities…I love you and want you all to fair perfectly well from this moronic aberration of nature’s wrath! See I told you that you all should have behaved, just kidding! But seriously folks take care be smart as we all know that you are and smart people know when to ask questions of others in the profession that they are not in, but pertains to what they want to know, you got that, hmm? Any-who, all the above is said with true concern for your wellbeing. On that note of true hope to make this not as devastating by your life being in harms way…allow me to be the first to wish the rest of you a very happy good night and ask you kindly to count your blessings and share the rest with our friends up to the northern part of these fine United States and we will too! And next time please be here or be square, ya hear!

Sunday, October 28, 2012

How low can you go without an oh no?

Most of today, again, I was feeling pitiful. Not in the emotional respect, in the bodily respect. Blah and lightheaded, yep, I know most feel that I must be lightheaded all of the time due to how I act…bud, dump bum, hmm? And so Hubby took my blood pressure and sure enough it was way too low, something like 87/44 and so he took it again and it was a bit lower than it had a few E’s which usually means it was not registering…GET THE CRASH CART, type bad, and so we all know that is way too low and it usually could mean it is when you would go! And so Hubby had an epiphany and decided to take his blood pressure and sure enough his was low too, but still not my bottom of the barrel low…but a little bitty lower than normal like 126/67 or something like that and for him quite low. He came to the conclusion that our six years plus Wally World home unit with recently replaced batteries could have lost its ability to continue in the in-home healthcare keep an eye on things, due to doctor recommendations field of practicality or what-have-you? I would lay down in bed and my legs would go numb and that also happens when I stand for more than ten minutes, thus the parathesia, but I hate that bed thingy since I try to get up and it is a challenge, ya know? So I fell back onto the bed and of course my canine companion always knows when things are amiss, since he cuddles right alongside each and every time this or anything happens negatively to either one of us! Skipper is amazing, but so were all his predecessors that sixth sense of knowing and loving you unconditionally wow what a feeling! And the instinct to also know when things are better for you too; and going about their business… don’t we all wish that some humans were built with those instincts too? You see, it all started again with my spasms in my neck, odd how it was few and far between there and now coming more often there, making it try hard to go to the left, but not politically, although some believe that is my standing being a liberal, (sadly someone is putting the opposing teams ads on my site, not me, by the way)…Any-who, and then with my MS hugs which are not hugs at all but painful squeezes and this time in their favorite place lately, under around my body under the breasts through to my back, causing my back to be in excruciating pain too, no fun at all! So you can well imagine, alright maybe not imagine, but try and understand? Sure, you all have compassion and that other thing that I mentioned; why else would I be wasting my time talking to you, huh? Even sitting here I had to regroup to come back and finish this tonight, my neck and back are causing me to have difficulty sitting upright and so bed seems to be my best location for now… I HATE THAT! So now I will wish all of you a very happy good night and ask you to kindly count all your blessings and share all your overages and we will too! And next time please be here or be square, ya hear?

Saturday, October 27, 2012

WARNINGS!

The media and I and many others that are more knowledgeable than any of us have told all of us to not ask on the social media; including such sites as Facebook and Twitter any questions that you really don’t want people from every walk of life coming out of the woodwork to answer…GOT THAT? Ask professionals in privacy in the field of expertise that you’re interested in knowing the IMPORTANT answers to, right? Again, someone on one of those sites asked a medical question and I Googled the topic of they’re interest and posted it for their pondering and got myself into trouble with trying to help them…as usual. That’s why I only post access to my blogs there. No controversial topics there, only here and who but a few actually read this not counting the ten countries that now have the ability to translate this into the language of their homeland. And I do read everyone else’s and politely respond, when asked to like whatever they might have to say/post… And most have been non-controversial or too personal and mostly just interesting or amusing in content…so why not? But once your ask specific personal questions online for all to see you should know that you are not always going to like what the people in the world might have to say or agree with their ability to access info on your behalf or tell you the worst scenario that could be your answer to your own personal health issue, not to scare you but to inform you of no longer needing medication for that problem… and before you even know for sure you have the medical condition and that you were just being tested for it and that you were worried about it! I guess I am one of those people who are not ready for any PRIME TIME PLAYERS; I’m more the late night type of help. The kind you hide from the rest of the family and friends, you know the type, a bit dotty? And for that I am MORE THAN PROUD! What did you think I would say? I know who I am and even though I am not always happy with me, I know who I am. Nightly I laugh at the repeat shows of The Big Bang Theory which we both love and every time Sheldon says that line “I know I’m not crazy my Mom had me tested”, I let out a big Guffaw! You see it is because that when I was a difficult teen of fifteen and thought my Mom knew nothing, I would nastily say I hate you to her and so I ended up going to a child/teen psychologist and the result was that I didn’t ever have to go back. I was a real brat then. When I inquired why, my parents told me that I was behaving completely normal for a fifteen year old. And that’s why whenever I hear that line; I think of that… who knew that they could be so wrong about him and me, hmm? HA! Another problem this early morning in spite of me being on this techno marvel I was quite ill with either, food poisoning, sinus headache out the wazoo or dare I dare a migraine, haven’t those in over thirty years, allergy related then. Any-who it got so bad my stomach was as bad as my head and it revolted into the toilet its meager contents of my morning coffee and the first of my daily meds my thyroid and Gabapentin too… never know if I should refill me with them of wait to the next day when this happens and so I have been waiting until the next day… hours later Hubby made me a light breakfast while I had returned to bed. Moist towels on my head and neck and a clear line to the bathroom if need be, but by then the feeling of that diminished nicely. And so I took my mid morning handful of pill goodies, too many to rattle off here, but they all stayed put. By the afternoon I took my much needed shower and my Copaxone shot right after, and I am back schedule with my after dinner pills…all I have left are my bedtime ones, whew! But such is my life with those eighteen pill poppings and one shot these days. I suspect I better than many but not as good as some. So that is why I will tie this up tonight in a neat little package for all of you and ask you to allow me to be the first to wish you all a very happy good night and ask you kindly to count all your blessings and share all you overages and we will too! And next time please be here or be square, ya hear?

Friday, October 26, 2012

Sandy is not dandy and is causing many to drink brandy!

All day long, up in my old stomping ground, of good ole NJ, New Jersey for you out-of- towners; that should be out of country-ers, people have been scuttling and chattering through the grapevine on just what they all should do to stay safe! Finally, the old taping the windows joke has not come into this savvy Irene veteran’s vocabulary this time; thankfully I should say. And that was ‘just’ a tropical storm, none were able to say a word to me, a veteran of helping after Andrew (circa 1992), a Category 5 Hurricane, still some say it could’ve been a six or maybe or is that call me? NOT FUNNY! Any-who, no joke and also with my credentials of living through a direct hit to our home while in it of Hurricane Charley (circa 2004), a Cat 4; all experiences that who knows what we have actually learned since, ya know? Even measly tropical storms have of recent years proven to be quite deadly, and that is with sustained winds of less than 75 MPH, but we had 145 MPH sustained winds and Andrew was much higher at as much as 180 MPH were clocked and suggested and the devastation looked much like a war bombing zone aftermath, not unlike tornadoes do. And so from all this we learned that as most have been told that with this upcoming, possible historic event is, “to prepare for the worst and hope for the best!”, and truer words were never ever said, take heed you Northeasterners and mid eastern-Atlantic states folks this could be a BIG ONE for all of you! Although, what they are saying is that it will be coming in by where we moved to Florida from, way back in 1986, the Jersey Shore, around Point Pleasant; where our youngest was born in that hospital, be careful peeps we care! And with much love and concern my heart goes out to all who are in harms way and again I repeat the most logical way to handle it all is ‘to prepare for the worst and hope for the best!’ Let’s all say it like a mantra, hmm? NYC mayor has already called for disaster help, not that bad an idea…for all in that part of the country to make sure their elected officials know their options and again another cliché ‘better to be safe than sorry!’ The things going through the grapevine, being said were like knowing escape routes, shelters, filling up propane tanks and car gas tanks etc getting cash since the electric could be out, more than likely it will… NO one seemed to be discussing how to prep their homes, more of how to leave if told to and from what I heard some are being told now to evacuate. It has to be due to the heavy population in those areas…which is fierce I can only imagine… since where we used to live was fairly lightly populated being in the country in the woods, the Pine Barrens, yep the same, where the mob buried their disappeared persons, and ten miles from town. Any-who, Hubby only had two nasty storms when we lived there that he, had to evacuate the outer islands while we lived there even then a BIG JOB since that was where most of the populace was. One last thing, not to mention this I would definitely be amiss… Sadly, today would have been my niece’s 57th birthday but she passed away six years ago 13 days before her 51st birthday from colon cancer… I was a little over 5 years old when she made me an aunt, since my brother was 19 years older than me at 24. My kindergarten teacher thought I was telling a lie, since I came in the next day after we found out about her arrival bragging about being an aunt to my playmates, and the teacher called my mom with my so-called tall tale! Perhaps, that is when I became me? I miss you Arlene; did I mention that she was also one of my bridesmaids? At that time she was more like my little sister. On those good wishes to our friends to our north, allow us to be the first to wish all of you a very happy good night and ask you to kindly count all your blessings and share all your overages and we will too! And next time please be here or be square, ya hear?

Thursday, October 25, 2012

"Gee, I wish I had one of those."

Curmudgeon here; yesterday while Hubby and I were on our whirlwind tour of upper Charlotte County business district stopping here and there acquiring our items on our errands list… One of our many stops was at Wally World for birdseed toiletries etc. and of course I use my scooter in there since without it, it would extremely difficult to get around the very large super-sized complex. Again while asking a store employee where such and such was in the medicine isle and in route to maneuver to where she had indicated my item was a woman around my age or perhaps even slightly older looked at her male companion and I sure wish I had one of those to get around…Mind you this was a woman who sprinted up to me nearly into my path…I yelled back over my shoulder “NO YOU don’t you have to Multiple Sclerosis to have one of these” I know that perhaps I was making an assumption that she did not have it, why Ann Romney has MS, but you would never know she has it either…but I was annoyed… and now that I am more than fat, obese in reality, I think everyone thinks that is how I got this way, but not true… no, not true at all...It is like that Lemony Snicket guy or with his Series of Unfortunate Events, and I thought that Jim Carey did a fine joy with that, any-who… my life is not at all like his except for the concept of his title; you see my unfortunate incidents, better title for me, is that I seem to know how to keep putting my foot in my mouth and most always have a multitude of regrets later… It seems to the untrained eye that by this mature age I should realize what twists others into knots with what I spew forth at them, but no, I have not seemed to be able to accost my own behavior, nor do I see in my near future that happening either…sadly. But I get out so infrequently compared to how things used to be with just hopping in the car and going whenever, ya know? Not in charge of my own journey/wanderlust gal fate, ya know? These last few years have been hard for me not being able to get up and go… it reminds me of that old joke,” I used to be able to get up and go, but now my get up and go, went!” Back to that woman who appeared fine and dandy and very nearly ran right into my scooter since she came up on my blind side and I didn’t see her until she almost became road kill, well I guess not truly road kill in a Wally world at speeds not exactly breaking any jogger’s records…but you get my drift, hmm? What would you do, all you polite peeps out there? I bet you would say nothing and disappear into the metaphoric woodwork, hmm? Not my style, as you all know, by now, though even though I have been this close to getting clobbered probably for my ill advised commentary… NEVER, since no one feels the need to hit a physically challenged, disabled, oh, I forget what the latest PC is for us gals who cannot get around any more without being aided and abetted by other means i.e. than their own footsies due to possibly falling! Now don’t all write back to me and tell me how you would have handled it differently, since we all know that you are all much more polite than I… or is that me? So that is my true confession of what transpired yesterday on our outing and whew, all I can say is that I feel much better now that I got that off of my chest; was it as good for you as it was for me? Now get those minds out of the gutter; I meant that seeing what I did in print as I do here nightly is more than steam cleansing from all my bad behavior... Now allow me on that refreshing breath of good air penetrating my being, allow me to be the first to wish all of you a very happy good night and ask you all kindly to count all your blessings and share all your overages and we will too! And next time please be here or be square, ya hear?

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

TRUMP IS A LUMP AND BECOMING A FRUMP!

Gosh, man, what is it with you? I thought that I had too much time on my hands, but apparently not as much as you do. With only one child left in the nest and your show on hiatus I suppose there is some boredom that goes along resting from counting your commodities. Money, money, money…that’s all you REPUBLICANS think about! Now you are offering 5 million for Barack’s college transcripts? Although, it is rather nice that you are offering in the actual exchange to give those monies to any charity that he, the president of these United States would like that is if he reveals his records by October 31st. I would think that he might consider for his insult to our Commander and Chief that he should give an additional 5 million to support Barack’s presidential campaign for you, Trump, being such a horse’s petuty in the way you have been treating this particular president as if you were a bit racist in my opinion? (Not unlike what David Letterman had said months ago and took back due to media pressure or who knows what; I believe.) I can only go by the fact that up until this last presidency that you never ever before questioned our previous presidents credentials or if you had I do not recall. Mr. Trump, if that is not the motive; with your narrow-minded way of thinking, dare I say racist undertones, than why him and none of his predecessors, sir? Not even any other Democrat if I recall. Does that seem odd to you too? You know, your only daughter even married someone from my own hometown of Paramus New Jersey and that made me feel perhaps you were learning something about other people, different from you; he is also a kinsman to my race, a Jew. I thought that would teach you tolerance, how could I be, oh, so wrong? So every time you do things you shock America one more time with your acerbating persona…Please sir, I implore you, what is your motivation to cause so much grief to so many? To me it is just being mean spirited and I so wish you would stop. There are better ways to get attention and I am sure you know more than anyone could vaguely imagine. This is something I do not know why is so important to you when even the dumbest of presidents was not questioned about his educational background. And I have the decency not to mention any names… On that note of MUCH NOTE, allow me to be the first wish all of you a very happy good night and ask you kindly to count all your blessings and share all of your overages and we will too! And next time please be here or be square, ya hear?

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Whew! The last of the debates are over… Are we all relieved?

It's times like these that I wonder why they don't use the old concept of leaving the audience wanting more; I don't know about you, but that was enough for me and Hubby too. Perhaps it's because both of us have already voted or not... Sure it looks like the president won last night and there is no reason to believe otherwise except for the pundits trying to make you second-guess yourselves. Perspective, I think that Joy Behar from The View stated a very interesting and plausible idea that Gov. Romney was not much different than a child copying another student’s homework the one who has all the right answers, of course that was our president; that's not verbatim, but close enough. Some with intelligent minds seem to believe that the last three presidential debates that Gov. Romney handled himself as the prospective candidate, not just a pretty face with no substance. I, on the other hand was not persuaded to believe that the Gov. was any more than what he first represented to us. And in my belief he to me is beyond understanding the average American of the many trials and tribulations of not having such an easy life; I only base my prejudices on what his biography of his life was like. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitt_Romney I am more than sure that not all information is absolutely correct or all there with nothing left out, in my opinion. But this I am sure that his people are aware of his background and what they want America to know about him…And our President’s bio too is available and his life was much, much more difficult but he made it through with a good education and a terrific support system and his team to has the prerogative to adjust their info on him...Here is access to his, which I believe may be more relatable to many Americans: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barack_Obama And of course some things may not be exactly accurate here too, but we all know now how to fact check and so go to a reliable source when deciding on whom you want to hold our socio-economic and military, education, caring for the elderly, health issues and women’s lives in their hands; someone who lived with these as challenges and survived and saw first hand or someone who has no realistic clue who was protected and raised in a bubble…The information is as clear as it can be…to me. Moving on… My phone call yesterday was from a young woman who also has MS, a volunteer who runs a support group up in Ocala; she is forty-one and had been diagnosed back in 2005, the average age for it. She had been a physical therapist prior to her illness taking her away from it…She has been on disability since the above year, but like me took years to get the proper diagnosis. She takes Rebif, Zanaflex and Gabapentin, all usual medications for MS. Her spasms were severe enough for her to go on Zanaflex 4mg, a muscle relaxer three times a day and to be on 3600 MG. of Gabapentin the maximum recommended dose and she is doing very nicely she said, but not in those exact words. She was a lovely person who had been miss-informed when she contacted me, because I think that she felt that I was newly diagnosed and knew nothing about my rights to speak with my doctor on medications. Of course I did try delicately to let her know that it was not the case…well, maybe, not that delicately, but we hung up after with a shared idea in the works since she had my email address, but oddly enough I forgot to get hers…During our conversation I mentioned that my doctor seems to be rather conservative in adjusting my medications, especially my two anti-spasmodics, the Baclofen 70 mg. and the Gabapentin 900 mg. and she suggested asking my doctor about her Zanaflex and I said that I would. But with me on so many other medications for so many other illnesses I have gotten into the habit of looking them up online and to see if they are contraindicated with any of my other conditions… and sure enough Zanaflex is not recommended for people with high blood pressure, which I am on medication for but my blood pressure is normal or low with my medication and so I will have to ask my pharmacist or doctor; too confusing for a layman to figure out all by herself. I did write a note to the NMSS to mention what I found out and that she had told me to ask my doctor who I am not scheduled to see until April again; so that is why I looked it up. On that bit of information and some things for all of us to think about allow me to be the first to wish all of you a very happy good night and ask you kindly to count all your blessings and share those overages and we will too! And next time please be here or be square, ya hear!

Monday, October 22, 2012

Today it was official!

A small historic happening occurred in this household this afternoon… As of November 1st I will again be an insured person. I received my approval letter with the premium request of $376 and I promptly paid it online from my bank bill payer account. Whew; am I crazy? Don't answer that, but it is sort of a relief to know that if anything major comes up that I now have major medical to take care of it and fortunately so far all of my doctors are with this PPO, since I checked, and they are in Network. Hubby has an HMO with his Medicare, which he has to go to what we lovingly used to call; ‘a gatekeeper’ (A primary care doctor who decides if you need a specialist and only then you can go) and I don't have to do that. That's great by me, now I can just make doctor’s appointments when I need them and go to other doctors that my doctors have recommended such as an ENT, an urologist, orthopedic surgeon or a neurosurgeon etc. and that is peace of mind, hooray! All checking for network docs is online. Now this current program offered through the United States government will be ending in 2014 when if it is not shut down the whole concept then all insurance companies will not be allowed to deny people with pre-existing conditions to ascertain their insurance policies and programs. The current administration is all for taking the next step with the insurance companies as I just mentioned, as it stands right now it would be automatic to occur. My fear is what will happen in or if we have the changing of the guard with a different administration… And I believe my concerns are warranted. Everyone probably realizes it took me a while to get to this point, but financially it was not feasible until I received Social Security like I did this past August and that is why I am doing what I should've been able to do years ago. It has been six long years almost to the day. Yes, oddly enough our insurance ended October 31 of 2006. And it has been a fight for me as an individual to pay bills that I've accumulated ,which I did do, and to continue to have dignity while getting the medical help I needed and maintaining a very good credit rating. This is all due to people who were compassionate enough to understand that there were programs for people who did not have insurance and pointed me in that direction. Every single time there was paperwork to fill out which asked personal financial questions and of course without hesitation I complied. Many don't realize what's out there for you even if you're making $65,000 a year; you too are entitled to many programs, of course we were only making about half that and now we are making more than half of that, thankfully with my additional income. But I think necessity is the mother of invention or intention whichever you need at the time. Over these last six years I've learned a tremendous amount of things. In life, I have been more than comfortable financially and I've been close to financially challenged, but never homeless or destitute and for that I suppose I can admit that I've always been extremely lucky. No, I'm no Mrs. Romney financially ever, can’t even wrap my mind around billions of monies or even millions and wouldn’t know what to do with them if we had that, probably give away a lot to charity though… But as you heard me say before that having enough, to me that is more than a dollar than what you need to survive. In that respect I meant being able to pay all your bills and have food on the table and a roof over your head. To me, that's wealth and to many in this world today they too would consider that being wealthy. Perspective, from where we stand on the world stage or even smaller in our own microcosm of our personal lives… We are what we want to believe we are at any given moment in time. And so what all of this has given to me in a way is a lesson that the more things stay the same they have slowed perhaps, but not really have stopped and eventually things can change for the better. The word of the day is patience, a word that has previously been elusive to me, but somehow having no choices in the waiting period timeline makes all of us have to become more patient. Interesting words patient and patience to me the one who never ever could before call herself at all patient: so let's dissect them: “Patience (or forbearing) is the state of endurance under difficult circumstances, which can mean persevering in the face of delay or provocation without acting on annoyance/anger in a negative way; or exhibiting forbearance when under strain, especially when faced with longer-term difficulties. Patience is the level of endurance one can take before negativity. It is also used to refer to the character trait of being steadfast. Antonyms include hastiness and impetuousness.” Thanks to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patience “pa•tient (p sh nt) n. One who receives medical attention, care, or treatment.” Thanks to: http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/patient And as we all know that the past tense of patience is patient…hmm it all comes full circle, wow! I have been both, sort of, one more than the other as you all know… Aha, Oprah would be so proud I have learned a lesson in life and so now allow me to be the first to wish all of you a very happy good night and ask you kindly to count all your blessings and share all your overages and we will too! And next time please be here or be square, ya hear!

Sunday, October 21, 2012

A beautiful day in the neighborhood…

Now all of you say it with me, “Will you be mine, will you be mine, will you be my neighbor?” I suppose it's not verbatim, but I plead: too long ago to recall, when your youngest child is 36 years old. Giggle, insert here. Yes, all of us that brought up children in the 1970s and 80s and beyond know that Mr. Rogers was that sweet, kind, decent sort of guy that every child would listen to as soon as they heard his voice on the TV. But that's not what I'm here to talk about today, what I am talking about in our neighborhood had cooler temperatures and lower humidity; the kind of weather that screams for you to open your windows and we did! For about an hour we had a delightful breeze freshening our home and then it became a little warm and when it goes above 80 we close the windows and allow the air-conditioner to create the same effect as fresh air, if you can believe that one. This is the weather us Floridians wait for; the kind that gives us bragging rights. While the rest of the country goes magically through the seasons with snow in the North West cold rain in the Northeast; we here, in the southeastern United States, have the luxury of turning off any artificial heat or air conditioning to allow nature to maintain a pleasant temperature throughout our homes. I know that I said it was only for about an hour today, but as the weeks continue on that amount of time gets much, much longer… Sometimes we can go for several hours without using any artificial or electronic interjections of modern resources. It was a good time to do some fall cleaning, other than just sheets on the beds that we do weekly; today we did the pillow shams and the dust ruffles, the comforters the bedspreads and cleaned them in hot soapy water, dried them mostly in the electric dryer. Although, the very large king-sized comforter was dried instead on the clothesline; it dries much faster that way. Plus years ago we bought a compact stackable washer and dryer and the king-sized comforter is too heavy for it; many must wonder than how the heck do we clean it? Don't think that I am archaic I had two choices here make a pretty little laundry room with lots of built-in cabinetry or get two large machines and have very little space to maneuver without any storage. Now many people might think go to a Laundromat every once in a while to accomplish the job, but instead years ago when I was much healthier I came up with a very clever idea. At least I thought so, some may also feel it is quite archaic, since I put all the laundry detergent and booster soaps and baking soda and turn the faucet of my tub on hot full blast than I placed the comforter into the hot soapy water and squeeze or push or agitate the item within the tub and of course rinse thoroughly. Now these last few years my abilities have lessoned and although Hubby is home most all of the time, these days, we have become a team in this effort. In fact he pulled out the clothesline, which is a retractable line that goes from the shed to the overhang support on the patio which he attaches that cable by a chain and link system that makes it quite strong, although a king sized comforter when wet is much heavier than most items he puts an additional pole to handle the weight. The dry time for something in these weather conditions is less than you may think and that is why we do it this way, but not that often. No need to pack up the car to go over to the closest Laundromat, when we can do it in the privacy of our own home and at our own pace. Do you hate me for being old fashion? It is quite effective and the comforter is not only clean but smells so delightful from the fresh air. Here I go again, talking a lot about nothing, but I'm good at it, you have to admit, allow me now to wish all of you a very happy good night and ask you kindly to count all your blessings and share all your overages and we will too! And next time please be here or be square, ya hear!

Saturday, October 20, 2012

Let's make this perfectly clear…

While telling my little story about, “the incident”, yesterday, you know the one about the man knocking on the door. I left out some important information that more than likely that day I was already very sick and I was periodically coming over to here to check e-mails and messages etc. and so that is mostly why I was so disheveled not expecting anyone at the door. And to be fair, Hubby was gone for only about an hour and felt confident that I would be okay as long as I didn't do anything dangerous like getting into the tub and so I swore to him that I would wait until he came home and that is why I was still in my nighty. You know, that sometimes I don't have total recall; amazing and I thought I had such a good memory… Maybe just for things that happened long ago, not that recently. And I just wanted to clarify why I was not rip-roaring to go, although most days these days unless we have the destination for the day picked out I do have a bit of a more of a lazy bones attitude than I ever did before. When I first became a lady of leisure, a bum to some, it was my intention to get up at a normal hour and for me that's around 6 AM and begin my day… But as the years have marched on my realization of my illness and my days not needing me to be so rambunctious or robust every day and that is why my lazy days are splattering more frequently throughout the month. That's not to say if we have that scheduled event or occurrence that I will not be ready on time; for I like to pride myself on always being right on time, and I have always been when required to be. This may seem like filling this space with words that are unimportant to the masses. I beg to differ with all of you, since you see time wasting is as much of an art as time utilization. Some of us who while working, worked long, long hours; have taken years to learn the gentle art of relaxing. Now to many, like fine wine, doing things just right and timely is what we all strive for, but sometimes other things intervene without knowledge aforethought. And so we go with the flow and although many of us fight the inclination to slow down and realize that we have no choice, on occasion. This is not our fault. The reasoning of explaining myself is to most any trained ear or psychologist is the guilt that I have about not being ready to go anywhere if necessary at a drop of a hat, since not being attired appropriately; my bad, but not guilty enough to reconsider my bad habits that I have lately acquired. Most people when they get a day off from work they enjoy taking it easy, relaxing, and reading the paper being in their jammies; which is totally normal, when you've worked hard all week, and there is the rub... To be deserving of that choice to be a temporary bum with knowledge that once the weekend is over you will be back in the rat race paying your dues. It's difficult decompressing your life when it was always so busy at times you wish you could pull your hair out, but of course you never really want to. It's more than the empty-nest syndrome that all parents go through, because ours happened ages ago; I suppose it's the just two of us syndrome. Smaller spaces causing less work with fewer mouths to feed, time can stand still and clocks appear to be broken. But not days when plans are in action or some things are happening, or mundane things need attention, or concept DIY projects or crafts are in the works, or important things to do too or visitors have made arrangements to visit; never on those days. We awaken with the need to be needed and attend to the job at hand with much desire for completion as if we had a deadline. Oh joy, the need to be needed, is there anything better than that? Of course not. Any who, I thought I would just give you all a heads up about my newest venture into blog-dom I have as of this morning launched a raunchy silly additional weekly blog for anyone who has any questions about life and love and family and wants to know what not to do and I call it respectfully: “Dear Tovah!” Please feel free to read my weekly alter-ego of decidedly non-squeamish persona with absolutely no concerns of topics being chosen by anyone to ask questions. And I surely hope you will. The way you can do it is in the comments area or on my postings on Facebook. Hoping to hear from you and I do aim to please with humorous and inaccurate flamboyant corrosive industrious… Wait, what were we talking about? Oh that's right, Tovah, which as you all know means in Hebrew ‘good girl’, will be a bit naughty. So stay tuned and hold on to your undies! Well, she is still me… On that what-have-you of making life as easy as: one, two three just for you and me and the doorknob, whatever that means…allow me to be the first to wish all of you a very happy good night and ask you all kindly to count all your blessings and share all your overages and we will too! And next time please be here or be square, ya hear?

Friday, October 19, 2012

All done…

The process was painless and it felt good to have been completed. Timing is everything; especially when it is of the essence. Many of our persuasion and of a certain age know the importance of the involvement in the process. Some take the responsibility for granted, but not us. You see, we feel that we count and know that our decisions are relevant. Not many can say that in other areas of the world, but we know this to be a fact here. Now if you've been wondering what the heck I am speaking of, allow me to educate you in the power of diversion and doubletalk and the joy of beating around the bush. Why I have been speaking of the process of voting in the United States being a citizen, thus persuasion, and by people over 18 years old, thus the certain age, and in our case by absentee ballot and I am proud to say that Hubby and I have completed the process since ours was mailed in yesterday afternoon. Were you confused? Were you thinking that I was talking about something completely different? Or perhaps, you know me well enough to have figured it out and that on occasion I like to play games with you and have you wonder what she might have up her sleeve. Sometimes it's so much fun to play with words and ideas, don't you think so too? Moving on…(Thankfully, I hear you saying) I am going to call this section of my tonight’s offering," the incident". A few days ago when Hubby went to the store without me; early, about a half an hour later while I was sitting at this computer there was a banging noise, harsh and loud on our front door, as if the party was having an emergency. But since it was still late morning I was still in my nighty. I didn't want to answer the door in my nighty and so I snuck into the bedroom to put on my bathrobe and came back to the big picture window to look out to see who was there and I didn't recognize the person. It was a man with glasses and a hat on and he looked agitated and I must've been a sight since I had my cervical collar on and stood with my walker with my tousled hair, since I don't unzip it, that is my bathrobe to put it on up over my head as quickly as I did, thus as the results of my glance in the mirror after frightened me. He asked me one question and one question only, “is your husband home,” I shook my head, no. He went away and I thought hard afterwards perhaps he was our neighbor, the new one across the canal that I met only once last spring. I did mention it to Hubby when he returned home that day and he felt it was unnecessary to be concerned with it, since the man never came back we weren't really sure who it was… But me being me I still wonder to this day, why didn't he ring the doorbell that we have and why did he smash the door as if it was such a big emergency and why not just call 911, if it was? Did he think that my Hubby could resolve his issues and why couldn't he report to me what was so important? Maybe it was the crazy woman look I had, a bit mysterious about him, although, Hubby has seen the man from across the canal since and he has never said anything to Hubby about anything. It's one of those things that men do in trying never to rock the boat while being in the neighborhood I suspect, don't make waves and all that rubbish. But we all know me and if I ever do venture out with the cooler temperatures coming this weekend I may find the time and inclination to question the gentleman if he meets the description of the man at the door, “the incident” still unresolved, curious-er… What would you have done? Well, I hate to end this great time we had together tonight, but as we all know it’s the time for me to wish all of you a very happy good night and ask you all kindly to count all of your blessing and share all of your overages and we will too! And next time please be here or be square, ya hear!

Thursday, October 18, 2012

Knowing with whom you are dealing with could be...

Resumes are supposed to be given when a person applies for a job/position in the world of the work arena. In the old days we had pages and pages of all of our abilities, education and areas of expertise written. The theory being not leaving any stones unturned for being able to attack a new job from any angle; much too long this way and most prospective employers would toss them into that circular file on the floor of their office. Then the “people” who know such things told us, the ones endeavoring on to find new careers to chose only items that were position appropriate meaning that which had to do with the job’s description that would be attributes in acquiring said position and elaborating only on our positive personality’s qualities to fill the job. This too was way too long and many possible bosses would also shred these and say next! I do believe though over the last several years the proper way to ascertain a place to hang our metaphoric hat for a daily location to work hard to pay our bills…that ONE page is what many have been told to supply and this time the reasoning is that there are so many out there trying for the same jobs that importance of your accomplishments that make you the one and only one they would be considered to be an asset to them and to help you get back into the workforce can be accomplished in a thousand words or much less, perhaps only five hundred! Boy, I am sure glad that I am retired… since that would definitely be difficult for me! The logic in stating all this blah, blah, blah, etc… is my reconsideration of the way we choose the person for the highest position in the land, some say the world… and by now you all must know…OUR PRESIDENCY, in the GREAT U S of A! My question to all of you is why can’t we just have them post their resumes on Facebook or some other social media where we are anyway, with appropriate abilities in areas that need to be utilized for the job and if they have a short fuse in dealing with people or stressful situations, and of course their closest to them people would also have to provide us with that info as well, spouses, kids, possible VP candidates? (PS today Ann Romney confided to the women of 'The View' that her sons call her in to calm her husband's stress issues, he vents at her? I don’t know not verbatim, but something like that… CYA here!) Then we could have them all fingerprinted to make sure that they don’t have any outstanding warrants or such… overdue bills, or things like, I don’t know… let’s say… causing others in their previous businesses of becoming despondent due to losing their jobs because of them…stuff like that, you know the usual? Why not, I ask all of you? Of course the usual medical tests for everyone too, as we all know that we don’t want to pay for any freeloaders thinking the job will take care of all that… And if they still have living parents, check to see if they are gouging the government taking their Social Security payments or if they are on Medicare, we, as taxpayers, don’t need any of those additional expenses with the way our national debt keeps climbing, ya know? On that concept, of my personal suggestion to ponder and I do suppose that it is too late for this election, but it could be initiated by 2016 or 2020, there you go; 20/20, perceptually a realistically better idea, hmm? I like it! Allow me now to be the first to wish all of you a very happy good night and ask you kindly to count all your blessings and to share all your overages and we will too! And next time please be here or be square, ya hear? I SURE HOPE SO!

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Thank you for listening...

Do any of you get mail, phone calls, emails sent to you from the political parties? I know that should have been a rhetorical question with a period at the end… Well, I have personally taken the idea a step further and have given them all a piece of my mind, by responding to at the minimum their continuous emails oh and I suppose also to those endless phone calls! I let them know how I feel and where I will be placing my voting responsibly, and no, it is not where you might think because I am respectful of whom they are in their other lives…yep, the ones they have while not candidates competing… Although one already has it, our guy; that is while on the world stage for the highest position to maintain it for four more years or to transfer that power to another guy, in charge of our homeland… The title thank you is for the Pres. Since we appear to be on a first name basis me, Michelle and Joe too, oh why you ask? I know you really didn’t but I will tell you anyway and that is because they call me by my first name every-time they email me, several times daily! And so I do on occasions write back to them with words of encouragement or explanations why I cannot or will not give them monetary support but I do give them plenty of moral support with my comments of love and cheering from the sidelines! And that is why I was happy to see that Barack listened to me on how he handled himself last night with his super powers back intact. You see that every few emails I receive from them I write back to them with my little messages of positivity, and I receive a thank you note/email saying that they received it and were very pleased by that…how else would I be so sure that Barack knew that what I told him to do would help him last night in the second debate or town hall meeting…did you feel what I felt? I sort of felt that the 82 questioners were short changed with not all or very many questions fitting in to be asked? And how the two men went off on tangents in different directions far a field from the original questions? It could be just me. Really, did any of you think that we would be riveted to that for ninety minutes like we were? The CNN moderator, Candy Crowley, was just right, besides being a seasoned journalist, being a mother can’t hurt and she was both. Again the results are showing different winners, Barack won in quite a few and Mitt in a couple, but many had it a draw. The main thing is that Barack is BACK! And on that note of not so impartiality… allow me to be the first to wish you all a very happy good night and ask you all kindly to count all your blessings and we will too! And next time please be here or be square, ya hear! PS I forgot to tell you what I do about all those phone calls that have stopped, well, I tell them that I am voting for their candidate and to take me off their phone call list. And they did stop, but oddly enough the opposing candidate’s callers called once and Hubby happened to answer and all he said was, “not interested” and you know what? No more calls from them either.

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Still not good yet...

My dizziness is back; it had left for a bit, but my numbness is more severe with causing the sock feeling on my feet, legs and hips and my hips are also bad with pain when I try to stand and my head gets weird worse with pain/pressure on top without my soft cervical collar. I believe it all started the night before I had a severe neck spasm that went into my ear; I have had this once before the neck thingy that is. I think that spasm is why my neck from the cervical stenosis is now worse, quite a jolt... Any ideas would be most helpful, standing is not working out too well with my pain and numbness and I have my cervical collar on now... Was about to go to spinlife to check on pricing wheel chairs and found one at a good price, but it turns out that National MS Society has loaners and even with the additional income we come in meeting their criteria and since my left eye is also seeing more floaters and vision is going double periodically and blurry too and as you know righty is already legally blind... my own steering of land vehicles is iffy… Not a happy camper...if you can think of anything I would love to hear back, neuro says all due to MS. TTYL Pals!

Monday, October 15, 2012

Hubby tonight

Hello people Tonight I am writing to you on paper from my easy chair in our living-room and hubby has said he will transfer this to all of you. My night and day have not been good, from to many spasms, numbness and also being very dizzy. All those things have kept me from the computer most of the day and I have been in bed with hubby taking care of me. Sorry peeps, I miss reading all your posts, truly… Hope to feel better tomorrow… Till then… Nasty M.S.!

Sunday, October 14, 2012

Back to basics...

Daily we adjust to life’s trials and tribulations. In reality, if we do not; what choice do we actually have? Living here in paradise is quite lovely and this time of year it is mostly predictable, temperature wise that is, although, next month is the truly lovelier time here in Southwest Florida, with low humidity and temperatures in the seventy-five to eighty-five degree Fahrenheit range; who could ever complain. Not me ever, about that type of weather; oh and yes, March is nearly a carbon copy of November. With that said one might wonder why anyone would hold up in their abode for any length of time and not venture out into this perfection of G-d’s idea of weather? It is not as if I am gainfully employed in any number of professions that I have delved into in my far-a-way past, oh no! (But I do enjoy reading online and of course some research too, online... And no, this PC does not go outside; very well, too cumbersome to carry.) My only one, the only one I currently enjoy is this one of writing and picture taking that neither have ever paid my way in life… Joy is in doing what you love, is so what we have all been told and that is my only reasoning for doing such frivolous undertakings…And as you all know I and my Hubby are not independently wealthy, so rightly so I must be possessed by some unrealistic demons in my soul to be doing this for no monetary benefits what-so-ever, ha, I say to all of you! Now the rest of that above statement about joy is doing what you love and getting paid for it… One out of two ain't bad I say; and so that is how I make my day a happy one! Knowing one's self at any given time in life that alone is something to feel good about; my question to you is if you found something that you truly loved doing: would you do it? Now here’s the clincher: even if you weren’t able to make a living off of it to pay for what you have come to think of wants, instead of needs? Just an idea to look within yourself; not everyone is forced to change lifestyles due to illness or economics, ya know. If, now here's the big if you knew that doing what you loved would bring you the happiness that you've been searching for most all of your life? Geez, I must have discussed here too many times to remember what our enough is, perhaps if I define it once again this will refresh all of our memories: 1. To a satisfactory amount or degree; sufficiently 2. Very; fully; quite 3. Tolerably; rather Thanks to: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/enough Basically the meaning is a measurement of what you personally believe to be a satisfactory amount tolerably and quite fully. At least that is what I've taken away from the definition. But as we all know everyone perceives what they see and what they hear differently and this is the topic we discussed before… In closing what I tried to say tonight is that we as planetary members of society, I am speaking of us as human beings of this world and that we should enjoy it while we're here. As we all know it is just a blip in the space-time continuum. So why not think out-of-the-box, excuse the cliché, and really do what makes you happy. Another side affect of being happy is like smiles, it tends to spill over to everyone around you; now that’s the way to make your day! And again, who could complain about that. With that somewhat pleasant idea in your brain to give a whirl, allow me to be the first to wish you all a very happy good night and ask you kindly to count all your blessings and share all your overages and we will too! And next time please be here or be square, ya hear!

Saturday, October 13, 2012

Home and Garden Show and Oktoberfest! A twofer...

Tonight’s Blog will be a pictorial of our day’s adventures and I will be posting the pictures in the order that they were taken; starting first with vendors/ businesses at the Home and Garden Show at The Charlotte Harbor Event Center, which continues on tomorrow:
Scentsy is a wickless and lead free ceramic artfully designed and pleasant aroma addition to any home décor. The soft Scentsy Buddy also is a fragrant fun way to add joy to any child’s room or adult’s with a heart full of whimsy. Call (239)273-1141 or go to their site: http://Kim Mastrole.Scentsy.us
From the light and airy to the sublime and necessary need of shutters for the Florida home from Alufab USA, when a storm approaches they are there, that is their product, which not only protects but looks great too; in many styles for the particular minded. In Charlotte County just call (941) 275-9493 consult local listings for other areas. www.Alufabusa.com
Even if you already have your cooling and heating needs handled AirGenie can clean and inspect what you already have. Just call (239) 390-0069. www.theairgenie.com Utilacart is a lightweight @ 12 lbs. answer to transporting those heavier bulkier items from the house to the dock or to the car or RV, beach, what-have-you and it folds fairly flat to use on the other end of that journey! Just call 239.540.2273 or go to their site: www.utilacart.com or info@utilacart.com
The last stop for us was at a unique smart item for every persons garage to get the clutter up and out of the way…this innovative new product is called simply, Monkey Bars, but unlike the ones we all enjoyed as small children these are for our necessary things that we just can’t part with to float above our vehicles and other much needed items that we all have…go to: www.MonkeyBarsSWFL.com to see that you too will feel like a kid again when you find that extra room in your garage for more of your sports equipment due to the space freed up by these Monkey Bars and all the other products to un-clutter your magnetic free for all space…here’s just a peek of this simply smart product:
Oddly enough we did not realize that Fishville A.K.A. Fisherman’s Village in Punta Gorda A.K.A. River City was having their version of Oktoberfest today! And so we found ourselves perusing the place like kids in a candy store, we had missed the hotdog race, actually dachshunds…but we did have some lunch and dare I say my bi-yearly dose of ice-cream, yes I am keeping track sillies! Any-who when we arrived we saw a tasty display of fruits and veggies etc. being sold to help out our local elementary school, unfortunately this is only a one day a year event, but perhaps next year you and we will plan ahead…
East elementary school fund raiser. And last but not least our own Charlotte Symphony was represent by a lovely person named Margi Kanga to contact them use www.charlottesymphony.com or call (941) 205-9743; for up coming events. The Jazz on the Green will be coming up next on Saturday October 27. 2012 at Riverwood Golf Club and here’s a heads up; space is limited so it is advisable to call as soon as possible for tickets.
I am way later than usual getting this out to all of you and so, allow me to be the first to wish all of you a very happy good night and ask you all kindly to count all your blessings and share all your overages and we will too! And next time please be here or be square, ya hear! PS if you double click on the pictures you will see them much larger and clearer.

Friday, October 12, 2012

Last night was the only vice presidential contenders debate

Now to have an educated opinion about anything you must be fully engaged in the experience of what you're watching, and I must admit at times, more times than not I was less than engaged in any of it... I love Joe Biden and he's a sweetie, but he pulled a Mitt Romney in my opinion with how he acted during the debate last night, ie. laughing an interrupting, which I had forgotten is an appropriate debating method, I only had one in my life and I/we won. Although, in my opinion also I felt that he had more accurate information to expound into the debate on international levels than his opponent Paul Ryan and on major topics that concern all of us he was more in keeping with many of us, as if he really listens and knows what we really want. The winner of the contest last night in some polls has it being a draw and in others VP Biden won and in others Congressman Ryan was the winner and that is why I am more than confused. It is the only one we are going to see these two men in action and for that I'm sure they're more than happy. Everyone makes jokes about VPs anyway how they really don't do that much, but as we all know that if heaven forbid the president cannot carry on they will become the man in charge, in this case, man instead of woman, oh darn. So it's our responsibility to know as much as we can about the person in the second seat. Next week the president and governor Romney will be having a town hall meeting and hopefully our dear Barack will be back in his usual explicable dynamic Superman attire inside and out. We need him there as the man that we chose back in 2008 needing and wanting him to lead us out of the doldrums into a happiness of peace of mind and ability to regain the basics that all Americans require to succeed; a place to live, food in their bellies, a good education and a job or career and the knowledge to know when they get older and have paid into their government fund that it will still be there to take care of them for it is theirs/our money or when that time comes that we no longer have the ability to work. Slowly the process is appearing to be showing that it is in flux, which we all know means that time is a factor for the change for the better. Patience is a hard thing to have, but we can all do it we do know to keep our eye on the prize with determination and so we will do it! Moving on… Today we had an inspection to see if we were prepared enough for any possible disaster and this was through our homeowner’s insurance company, Citizens. It was our second one this year, the first one was ridiculous and done by, in our opinion, an unprofessional inspector. This one today, who also lives locally, at least tried listening to what we told him and when Hubby showed him what the other fellow missed, he actually did his darndest to look and realized where the other had made mistakes; the report will take about three weeks and we should find out if we are going to be asked to pay an exorbitant amount on what we already pay yearly. This is one of those things that can throw off keel the delicate balance of finances that we like to try and keep manageable monthly; like everyone else. Stay tuned for when we know what's going on so will you. It's frustrating these little dings in your day for we had more today… It was today the day Hubby was to pick up his new glasses that he had ordered last week he was told that they would be in, in a week or sooner. Today was the latest that they were supposed to be in and so to be sure Hubby called and sure enough the gentleman on the other end of the line said that they came in a few days ago, three or four and that he tried calling but that number was disconnected. And so Hubby asked the man what number he was calling and he was calling a number that Hubby nearly forgotten about, since it was our phone number 14 years ago in Punta Gorda where we lived for less than four years. Oh and yes, the address he had was that address too. I was with Hubby when he went to get his new glasses and the old address was in the computer and the person who helped us put the correct one in, our current 14 years old address and our phone number for the same amount of the time period. The best we can figure out is that the woman who took the information forgot to save it into the computer. And that is what the woman who helped us in the store today said. Me being previously in the business world I felt compelled to ask a simple question, I suppose simpler to me than those who work there, but why hadn't they looked our number up in the phone book we are in it, since we are listed. The woman said oh no, that they can't do that; it has to do with the problems of privacy due to the laws of HIPAA, “The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) Privacy and Security Rules” “The Office for Civil Rights enforces the HIPAA Privacy Rule, which protects the privacy of individually identifiable health information; the HIPAA Security Rule, which sets national standards for the security of electronic protected health information; and the confidentiality provisions of the Patient Safety Rule, which protect identifiable information being used to analyze patient safety events and improve patient safety.” Thanks to: http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/ With that said I still was at my wits end why they couldn't just look up the right phone number or ask the other woman if what they had was correct? As much as I appreciate my civil rights being protected, to me, HIPAA has been a joke; anecdote here: while a patient in 2009 in a local hospital the nurse with a computer on the wall and a patient in the next bed from me in the same room, asked me personal questions in order to put them into the computer. Does that sound like privacy you? In my opinion, HIPAA should be amended I don't know exactly where to begin, but like other things in the laws of the land some things just don't work right and need a lot of tweaking; I'm just saying… And I don't think it is wrong that most of us realize what goes into computers can be hacked or read by people who aren't necessarily the ones we care for to see our personal information; unless you're like me and don't really care. With that to ponder and so much more, you can see that my mind is never idle, because we all know what an idle mind will do; or do we?(Insert big smile here) Allow me to be the first to wish all of you a very happy good night and ask you kindly to count all your blessings and share all your overages and we will too! And next time please be here or be square, ya hear?

Thursday, October 11, 2012

Being classy...

Is it truly more refined seemingly not to respond to a scathing commentary in the form of letters or e-mails? I just read something that made me wonder about that. One of our local newscasters/anchor had received, a few years ago, a letter telling her that she was so fat that they couldn't understand how her husband could stay with her; and I am paraphrasing her naysayers comment… Someone told her she had more class for not responding to the perpetrator. And she said to everyone, little did they know that I was nine months pregnant. Now, in retrospect I would've thought it would have been nice for her to let that person know that she was expecting and perhaps that person would have thought again before they wrote or said anything of that nature to anyone ever again. And that person would probably be more cautious in the future. Knowing not to say that I learned the hard way, when I asked a woman with a protruding belly one time, when is the baby due; and she said to me I'm not pregnant I'm just fat. I realized that I probably hurt her feelings, even though mine was said without malice or forethought. The woman was very nice about it and I learned a very good lesson that day. Sadly, I now have a protruding belly and I'm way too old to be accused of being expecting at the age of 62. Oddly enough when the topic was brought up on her site people thought her not saying anything was the appropriate way to handle the situation. I suppose that the fact that she was an older expectant mother never occurred to her causing confusion. The only reason I brought that fact up is because my own mother also was an older mother and I'm sure many people wondered if she was fat too, at 39. But in late 1949/50 when I was born most mothers were in their 20s. I do know that there have been miracles where women in their 50s or 60s have given birth; I guess not miracles but doctor aided pregnancies. And even with all that information many are surprised to see women older expecting; especially with the obesity rate so high, it's an easy mistake. Now this woman, also an anchor, but in the Midwest was not expecting and she knew she was overweight, even obese according to a doctor’s BMI chart and so she responded to her negative e-mail. And I do believe the way she handle it also was with class! Mean people, bullies, have to be told that when they go over the limit of appropriate behavior they have to be reeled in or they will continue to misbehave without any qualms of how they think they should handle people. This was a personal affront to this woman and she used the airwaves to call him out on it; mind you she never mentioned his name, just what he wrote. It was his decision to out himself. And as I said before he did apologize after the fact. When did no action become the proper reaction? I know in ancient times or long ago times we’re told to turn the other cheek. I can remember being told sticks and stones may break my bones and names will never hurt me. But over the years, bullying has become out of hand and so I still believe the Midwesterner, the anchor, took the right road with her decision to face the person responsible. It is a form of persecution and like any other persecution, be it racial, religious or how we look people have no right to judge you and that is what I truly believe this was about; as simple as that. PS on this topic at the time the woman with a protruding belly that was fat not pregnant she told me; I myself was a skinny belink, with a 20 inch waist, again all perspective. If it wasn't for the people who said something we might still have colored and white bathrooms. We may have lost more than 6 million Jews in World War II, and Ellen DeGeneres might not have a TV show today, just thinking and realizing that many things that people don't like because they're different from what they're personal experience is would've never changed. So if your decision is to shut up when somebody hurts your feelings so hard so deep that you are crying inside, but you're too classy to say anything than try to remember what I wrote here today… And next time just an idea try 'speaking your mind' and see if you can make this world a little bit better place for everyone not just the bullies getting away with something. On that note-worthy realization, allow me to be the first to wish you all a very happy good night and ask you kindly to count all your blessings and share all your overages and we will too! And next time please be here or be square, ya hear!

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Posting and our responsibility to project…

Tonight, I thought I would talk to my Facebook friends to tell them that I think it is wonderful that so many of us, a world wide group, so course we have differing ideas and concepts and we state them boldly and proudly all over our Facebook pages. Personally, I think it's absolutely marvelous to have opinions; if I didn't think that I'd be a hypocrite. The only thing that has been stated nationally with social media is the ramifications of posting extremely negative opinions. And so as I and you should think about is to perhaps count to 10 and to be cautious when posting something on someone else's site that might be something that will come back and bite us in the butt in our futures. Now, there is a way to delete it after you’re sorry you said it and personally I've done that several times. All of know that we can try different ways to express our feelings without personalizing our interest in someone else's site for commentary or links to other sites. Being helpful is wonderful and I highly recommend it, but perhaps it should be tempered with staying on-topic, theirs. Mean spirited talk/writing conversations never turn out well. As I'm growing older, I'm finding out that not unlike tangible items in life words have to be doled out cautiously with prioritizing intact as well. I slip, more often than not, but as I said: no one is perfect, especially me; all right that sounds like I'm more human than others and we all know that certainly is not true! So I've been told that in this world of 7 billion strong we are all humans, nothing new there. I just had a very weird thought, now if each one of us humans, 7 billion of us, made, let's just say 3 mistakes a day that would be 21 billion mistakes a day, 7665 billion a year, not counting leap year! That's crazy! You see my point and not even a ripple in the space-time continuum; it is somewhat miraculous, don't you all think? Of course you all do… Perspective that's what I talk about putting things in perspective; let's examine that word ‘perspective’ its meanings: viewpoint, standpoint, outlook, point of view, perception, side, angle…lookout, prospect, view, scene, picture…Whew! I'm pooped, how are you? Now, all of that above info doesn't tell you that it is your opinion, which I believe is the true meaning of what a perspective is. I don't believe even with education that we can give someone else's perspective on anything; oh wait unless we plagiarize their thoughts and ideas, nah and not a very good idea at all! This is why the arts are so wonderful, music, painting, dancing, writing, you get the idea… They all allow for self expression, therefore opinions! Hip, hip hooray! Individual as we all believe ourselves to be we are affected by others, by teachings, by friends and family and just by social mores of what others may think we should think. That's not to say that we are so malleable that we are that easily influenced, but through osmosis or what-have-you it is inevitable that some opinions strong or weak have been ingrained within us by sneaking through into our sub-conscientiousness’. And etchings of that sort are extremely difficult to shake. As we all think as young parents that our children at times don't listen to us; I beg to differ with you, they sure do! And so in closing what we say online has an enormous effect on how we present ourselves on the world stage. That's all folks! This was a mother speaking and that is my only excuse. Love to all... On that who knows what, allow me to be the first to wish all of you a very happy good night and ask you kindly to count all your blessings and share all your overages and we will too! And next time please be here or be square, ya hear?

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

The eyes don't have it…

All day long I've been having weird occurrences and I don't mean phenomena wise; that should be last night and today that my eyes have been doing their trickery on me. Whatever does she mean? Well, last night I saw four glasses when there should've been two and then lefty has been playing clear unclear with its window on the world all day long. I awoke with left hip down to my heel of my foot same side numb and not sure that it would hold me up, but it did and so I did my Chester routine (for you youngins I was referring to the Gunsmoke character of Chester, the man with the lame leg that he dragged behind him, as he called to Marshall Dillon: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gunsmoke) into the kitchen for a cup of Java and then into the Sun room here to turn on this techno marvel its daily journey into the world and beyond… My day went up and down most all of it and I did hear back from the doctor’s office about my two questions that Hubby reminded me last night were premature. The reasons were logical and so when the nurse called back this morning I started to laugh and she said what he said that my medications were good till January and that's when I should call back, two or three days before I need them and as far as the insurance goes I don't even know the name of the company yet that I'll be having and so that too was premature. As human beings we are all imperfect and I myself prove that to me daily, hourly, minute to minute and even by the second some days. With that said I allow myself to know that mistakes can be made, but here's the hard part not without guilt in my case. It amazes me how some can consistently make mistakes and never be concerned or apologize if their mistake has a negative result affecting other people. Fortunately, or unfortunately, most of mine only affect me. Self deprecating is what I seem to do lately. Although, I am one of the first to speak up when bullies bully me or another. A newswoman in the Midwest faced her criticizing bully on air by reading his e-mail to her viewers and responded accordingly, all I have to say to this woman is, “BRAVA!” Well done. She responded by calling the man out on his impolite behavior by not being someone who knew her personally or a family member and she felt that he should own up to his mistake. And he did, after the fact; of course that's what they all do; retraction not all do. We live in a world where on-air personalities come into our homes and for some reason many of us forget that they are not part of our families, as much as many of us would like them to be or in some cases not be. Oprah Winfrey made it easy to feel that way, although many of us did not understand that line to not cross. We would e-mail and talk to her as if she was our best friend and ask her for favors that of course were ridiculous, but Oprah sometimes would make dreams come true for a few. That's why I believe she sent mixed signals to her adoring audience. No wonder so many thought she was their personal fairy godmother for 25 years. We all love Oprah, and were saddened by her decision to leave network television behind to start her own, OWN, network on cable. Unfortunately, as most of you know, we don't get cable since we use an antenna and lately we go to our Blockbuster site and order shows that we see advertised on network commercials or on TV shows or ones that win awards. Most recently, we've been watching Homeland, but we watch shows from the sci-fi channel and others just by ordering them online to be sent to our house. This way is much more reasonable than monthly cable bills. That's how we keep up in life with bargain basement prices, ta-da! It's going on 17 years now that we haven't had cable and every time we get the urge we remember that we can write down the names or search online for anything that we like and request it to be sent to us, I must admit it has been working out fine for us. But all of you have to do what's best for you and of course we all prefer creature comforts. It's just a matter of how much you're willing to pay for them… Leaving you with the realization that I am still thrifty, allow me to be the first to wish all of you a very happy good night and ask you kindly to count all your blessings and share all your overages and we will too! And next time please be here or be square, ya hear! PS I did match up those like minded people and even added another into the mix an author of impeccable although none of us are truly perfect he comes fairly close in his profession… in his abilities and reputation.

Monday, October 8, 2012

Amazing, the word of the day…

Today, I was told is Columbus Day, October 8th, when we were kids it was always on October 12th. The other thing that amazed me is that some historical facts that I apparently missed have been left out of my world history class. I briefly remember being taught about the Spanish Inquisition and how horrible it all was, but for some reason I can't remember exactly what happened; considering that was nearly 50 years ago that I was in high school, I don't think that's so terrible. One of my Facebook friends posted something that apparently everyone knew but me that was on CNN opinion and here is the site if you so desire to read what I read: http://www.cnn.com/2012/05/20/opinion/garcia-columbus-jewish/index.html What, you think that I am going to tell you every thing? Actually, it is a fascinating read. Being one of that faith and reading what I did for a short time while reading it there was a swell of pride that started to come over me; but than I was besotted by one concept that disturbed me the most, it was the fact that what we did to the Native Americans at that time and the second thing that bothered me was that if the article is correct and we all know CNN doesn't usually make mistakes, although, it was an opinion piece. Now if Columbus’s ships were taking people to escape religious persecution than why would they do what was done to the Native Americans, basically what had been done to them? I know it's a conundrum of the centuries. I think most all of us realize our feelings have changed over the years about this holiday and are torn on whether or not we should just toss away all the reality of what we know historically happened or do as ‘they’ say think only of the positive parts we have been told about and what we had learned from the first people who lived here before us in our school history books? I'll let you all absorbed that… For I have other more interesting pending ideas to discuss. Earlier today I received an acceptance to become my Facebook friend from of another Australian person and they happen to be in the TV and film industry; I believe now that I have two or three friends in that field. Could it be that I am supposed to introduce them all to one another, I wonder? I did introduce one newbie in the film industry to a seasoned professional and oddly enough I'm still friends on Facebook that is with the seasoned professional, but the newbie unfriended me. I always wonder if it is better to get involved or just let things be as they are. Although, the new gentleman today is also a seasoned professional and perhaps he wouldn't mind meeting another one here in the states, what do you think? Perhaps I'll sleep on it, wouldn't want to rush into anything; not with my record. Moving on… This afternoon I had my neuro appointment and she answered all my questions with the same over the phone results that I got from her nurse before I went in and printed them out for her. And yes, she said again perhaps pain intervention would be good for me, but with corticosteroid medication being injected into my body right now with my known side affect of that of me having a diabetic reaction from it and all the people getting a bad batch and having meningitis and some even dying… I'm not doing that! She did say that even diabetics get steroid shots and I said yeah I know, but not me. Next one is that she did agree that I should wear my soft cervical collar in bed when I get those terrible top of the head headaches that is a good idea and all my other symptoms she still feel are related to the MS more so than the cervical stenosis. But she did not feel that seeing a neurosurgeon for a second opinion on how to proceed or if intervention is needed, or even an orthopedic surgeon that I used to go to that either would be a bad idea. Now that I saw her today my next appointment isn't until April, but I forgot that she gives me a year’s of refills on all my prescriptions and they are up in January and so when I got home I had to leave a message with the office manager to send me additional prescriptions until I see her again and also the insurance company that I will hopefully be attaining on the first of next month if they accept that insurance. I guess nobody likes to be in doctor’s office and so we were anxious to leave after we paid. And darn it I forgot to ask those two questions. On that little bit of this, little bit of that, allow me to be the first to wish you a very happy good night and ask you kindly to count all your blessings and share all your overages and we will too! And next time please be here or be square, ya hear? Author's note: Must recheck on editing more carefully with this Dragon program causing too many BAD mistakes!

Sunday, October 7, 2012

Shopping and getting sticker shock…

Recently on the news California had their own sticker shock at the gas pumps with prices heading towards the six dollar a gallon mark. Unfortunately, their prices seem to be much higher than the rest of the other states. So it is logical with all the gas prices fluctuating that getting food to the grocery stores would cause the prices of the food to accelerate in price too. This afternoon we decided to take our grocery shopping trip and pick up items that we needed. Mostly vegetables and fruit and some staples like milk, eggs and bread, but some cleaning items for the laundry. They did have a sale on one of the wines we enjoy and so we bought four at less than seven dollars a bottle we felt that was a good deal. Wine is good for the aging heart, even the doctors say… We do seem to buy less red meat, more chicken and fish at the counter when it's on sale and more healthful foods and so that's what people say costs more and I suppose that's why it did; BIG time! For instance more healthful foods are multigrain breads from their bakery, EB eggs and fat free dairy products such as milk and sour cream. It is apple season and we bought a 3 pound bag, four bananas, four plums, strawberries and seedless white grapes. Oh and we bought things like vine ripened tomatoes, romaine lettuce, celery, one sweet onion, one red onion, cloves of garlic, and two avocados. We had radishes and carrots still at home. The only cheese we bought was some part skim milk shredded mozzarella for our homemade pizzas, since last time we picked up yeast for our flour and we already had heart smart tomato sauce. Making pizza at home we used to do quite often and enjoy. Especially, when we used to grow our own tomatoes and I would make the sauce from scratch, making your own pizza dough isn't so difficult, really. At one point I was considering reading up on how to make cheese from milk. But that was a short lived idea; for what we needed it would be overkill, it's easier to pick it up from the store. We did buy some shrimp on sale and some 93% ground beef, but we had things like chicken and steak in the freezer at home even some tilapia and so our diet is quite healthy as you can see, but every time we go to the store the prices keep going up and we still have to eat so that's a bit of a dilemma. Making healthy choices that we will always be able to afford has become more challenging. I am sure that all of you have come across this situation as well that is trying hard to eat healthy and stay within a budget. We’re not quite spending as much as when we had two teenagers at home, and those teenagers have been long grown up so we are talking like 20 years to get to this point of groceries costing almost as much for our family of four, for just two? As I said though we still aren't there yet, thankfully; you know I'm beginning to sound like my dad who was in the food business and always with talk about way back when things cost $.30 for this or $.20 for that, but I can remember also when $25 would buy a week’s worth of groceries for a family of four, Yep way back in 1970s. And gas was well under a dollar a gallon. Oh those were the days, but you must also know that having a $25,000 year income you were riding high, and so let's admit times are changing and everything has gone up according to what people are receiving an income percentage-wise, although, some of us still realize that the balance of what goes in and what goes out is a teetering on the edge of not being able to pay our own way. And so many of us even though we are making more than we had in the past still have to adjust to the best way to stay out of the poor house. Caution and care is what this last downturn in the economy has taught us all and I'm sure more of us are more careful than ever before how we spend our money and how we prioritize our expenditures. I know we are more careful than ever before, we have no need to go long distances and so our gas expenses are minimal, and we only buy things we can save up for, for cash or that we can afford to pay for in small increments. Being a retired credit manager, we have not charged more than we can afford and at the end of the month, remaining to have a zero balance then on any of our credit cards; which counting our debit one we have three altogether, which is more than enough in my opinion and we all know how much that is worth. I seem to be going off on another tangent and I am getting very wordy again thinking about all that I want to say… But as a very smart woman once said, “leave them wanting more”, and so I will, with that hope in my heart that you will too, huh? Now allow me to be the very first to wish you all a very happy good night and ask you kindly to count all your blessings and share all your overages and we will too! And next time please be here or be square, ya hear!

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...