Biden's here in Florida and he's not being fashionably late, Governor Palin was

What did you think of the debate between our presidential candidates last night?
Nasty comes to mind when I hear Senator McCain who in my opinion was so revolting in his way of not looking at Senator Obama again, and then topping it off by calling the Senator, that one!
Shame on you Senator John McCain! I'm sorry he maybe older, but he sure is proving to me he is definitely not any wiser or nicer either. Must be attributed to his time as a POW being treated that probably horrendous way you would think he would be much nicer to others. I suppose he learned to behave like his captures so it seems to me, could be Stockholm Syndrome, and I understand that he does suffer from PTSS, poor man. I guess I should be more understanding to this man's inappropriate behavior, he really can't help it.
But that only worries me more; he doesn't appear to have the temperament to handle really stressful situations; makes one wonder?
Now on to Senator Obama he appeared cool, calm and collected when under fire from questions asked impromptu, the man had controlled and intelligent carefully thought out answers.
Those are just my opinions whatever they are worth.

New Topic: Today we went out on a mission to finally get a natural way to water our garden, and after searching the net we found a more reasonable compromise to the cistern concept, a good old fashion rain barrel.
But we had to conquer one small problem…gutters.
When our home was rebuilt after Hurricane Charley I felt that the gutters helped with the wind taking off our roof, when they went they pulled it with them. And so until today over four years later we didn’t have any, but we had to have them for the downspout to come from them to fill our new rain barrel! All these attachments still make me slightly nervous, every-time we get a hefty wind I worry that our solar panels will go flying off taking our roof too! So far it hasn’t happened.
And so we went out to accomplish this mission.
Guess what, all great missions occasionally have glitches thrown into the process and so ours did too.
My husband started up our car with less than 31k miles on it, but a 2001 the year we bought it new, and the battery was dead; it was its second. The first one had a crack and was replaced by the dealership for free. This one was just too old to do the job anymore. Sticker shock and we went to a discount store, $70; oh I forgot to mention how we got there. No we didn’t call for a tow although we do have that coverage, we own a battery charger.
After that we did have second thoughts about spending the additional monies, but in the long run we will be saving on our city water bill so we felt assured that we were doing the right thing, spending money to save, and we pay cash no charging for us.
I guess that’s how we have been managing on half of the income as well as the fact that we scaled way down to a very small home 10 years ago; kids gone didn’t need the big ones anymore, which were as many as five and four bedroom, and the last one before this was nearly 4000 square feet. This one was aptly stated by a dear elderly friend that has since passed away, it is enough, and what more does anyone need?
And now we see on the news that we are the fashionable ones, smaller is less stressful!

Good night to all and to all try to think about what is good in your life, and count those blessings, in these times we must remember what we know to be good and right.

We're in the national news again, that is Lee County fifty miles south from here

Lee County Sheriff Mike Scott has been accused of this indiscretion:

The Hatch Act of 1939 (53 Stat. 1147) restricted the ability of federal, or civil service, employees to participate in partisan political life. The goal of the act was to ensure that the civil service would remain politically neutral and efficient. However, many believed that the restrictions infringed on the constitutional rights of federal employees. In 1993 Congress adopted amendments to the act: "It is the policy of Congress that employees should be encouraged to exercise fully, freely, and without fear of penalty or reprisal, and to the extent not expressly prohibited by law, their right to participate or to refrain from participating in the political processes of the Nation." Those amendments are the latest in a series of attempts to respect the constitutional rights of government employees; in particular the rights to speak, organize, and act peacefully to carry out their personal political views, while at the same time ensuring that the public administration of government is carried out in a neutral and efficient manner.


Apparently, as he introduced Governor Sarah Palin yesterday while in uniform at the hockey arena she so aptly spoke at he did create quite a stir.
Not only being there, which has caused a federal investigation, but what he said using Senator Barack Obama’s middle name, which is unfortunately, for the times we live in, it is really, Hussein. And that alone causes anger in many, and stupidity in just as many thinking of the horrible cold blooded killers of 9/11. But that is quite a common name in many cultures, and it is just a name.
But the image he innocently or I truly believe not so innocently bestowed on the GOP crowd at the arena promoted the hatred that I cannot believe a man of his knowledge and education could not realize would occur. It was downright with mean and nasty intent in my book, and many now feel racist intent, myself included. And a truly disturbing reality to believe a man of such stature in a uniformly racially mixed community that he would stoop to such a low horrendous blow to his opposing party.
Not nice at all or fair.
No one is that stupid!
Think before you speak more carefully Sheriff Scott!

Tonight is the Nashville Presidential debate, and I do believe it will be a fairly free form.
That is like a town hall meeting with real people asking real impromptu questions as well as people online doing the same. Tom Brokaw will be the moderator this time.
It should be very interesting.

The Market took another nose dive today losing another 508 points.

Life is hard and we need each other more than ever; so help your neighbor, love your family, moral support is free, and call your friends for the same moral support that we all need now more than ever before.
Listening is not an expensive commodity and we don’t need to say a thing, so its cost effective energy wise since no energy is expended.

Good night to all and know we are not alone the whole world is in our same boat.

More relaxtion than fun today!

Yeah! I did go for my walk this morning.
It was pretty much uneventful although I really wish that something could be done about our over abundance of Moscovie ducks; I lost count at fifty.

Rather ironic for me to say that; just a few years back I was notorious and known as the Duck Lady. We fed them, protected them from predators and even adopted one duckling that had lost his Mom. This went on for about a year, and was annoying to most of my neighbors to the point that they called the authorities on me and my husband.

The health department told me that they were not an indigenous species to our state, and they told us to stop feeding them; we had been buying duck feed at the farm supply store, and even had a water tray out.
They also said at that time that they ate all the natural seeds that our indigenous birds needed to survive; we became lepers to our neighbors.
The only way to stop their visits were to stop providing food for them, and we did, but a little too late, our neighbor on one side of our lot put a six foot spite fence up blocking our view down the canal.

That was way back in 2000 or 2001, and since then I have seen the light of their feces remnants and intrusions on our small feeders for the mocking birds, cardinals, sparrows etc. that we still do feed today. Fortunately, our little Skipper, our Bichon does not seem to care for them either and chases them while barking.
He is our only deterrent. Oddly enough I have found others today that do feed them and told them my story, and said that they shouldn't if they didn't want the law and authorities to come down on them.
One woman was so nasty when I told her what I had gone through and so insistent that they were a part of a long history to our state and that she has lived here all her life, and that is why she knows this, etc. etc. I just had to call, the devil made me do it; to see.
And sure enough she was right, and I was wrong, since my dreadful experience apparently research had been done and they are a part of our Florida's fauna; shocker who would have thunk it.

My hubby mowed the lawn today that looks great. I basically chilled, and called my cousin Y., just before dinner. Her husband, W., my biological cousin, said she was resting and had a very good day with her physical therapist, and walking around the house etc. so good news was in the air.

I mentioned my good news since the national news was not so good.
The Market dropped below 10K for the first time since 2004, guess the rescue-bailout has not helped yet.
More injustices are being exposed on how we got here. A lot of good that does now that the die is cast.
Jim Cramer from the CNN show Mad Money said on the Today show that we should get out of the market and that it has the potential to still fall another 20% before all is said and done.
No one really knows does one, but he is much more knowledgeable than me for sure.
If I was going to listen to anyone about finances he would be on the top of my short list; he’s extremely on target more than most.

That’s it for now, good night to all and to all be cautious don’t get frightened but be careful.

Uh oh some promises...even to yourself can be broken

Yes! It is true I did not go for a walk today outside, but I did stay vertical for a few hours while wandering the isles of the Home and Garden Show and the grocery.
And I do believe that counts for exercise?

After our major grocery shopping spree on Friday we realized even with our list that we had forgotten a few items.
Today after the two hours spent perusing the show on the way home we stopped again to remedy our mistake, and decided to pick up dinner supplies.

My husband suggested sausage subs homemade, but I said thanks since that is something that I shouldn't have. And so we compromised with healthy choices of a Butterball brand that makes a turkey sausage with only 10 grams of fat, still not great but better than 30 or 40 grams, which most sausage is. Now far as the sub bread goes he agreed to multigrain sub style (which I have been slowly introducing into our diet in sliced bread from our bakery at the grocery) and we added yellow, orange, and red peppers with some hot green jalapeños for me plus a sweet onion and baby bella mushrooms for toppings all sautéed in extra virgin olive oil. I made sweet potato fries baked in the oven with sprayed Pam canola oil, sea salt and cracked black pepper to taste. We both ate it all and agreed it was quite scrumptious.

The show was basically the same as the spring one not much new, but did give us something to do for the afternoon, and it was air-conditioned.
I know, you northerners are wondering why we needed air-conditioning, well it’s still near ninety in our afternoons here in good old Florida. Even now we are just a rain cooled 80 degrees, and it’s nearly 6:30 P.M. The mornings have been in the 60’s and 70’s that is why I usually walk then, but today I woke up too late for my usual 7:30 A.M., and yes I guess I slept slightly better without the Tramadol. I still woke up several times but did sleep in between.
From what I read it appears that if you take something for your stomach say Pepcid you will get the effect that happened to me. I told the doctor about the Pepcid, but I guess she didn’t realize I meant nightly or know about the problem which I read about online the next day after my situation occurred from the Tramadol. It was a Saturday so I couldn’t call the doctor.
Sometimes when these problems have happened in the past I called the pharmacy, but this time I figured it out for myself online.
So now for me it will be a toss up since nightly I need the Pepcid.

Spoke to my cousin, Y. after dinner tonight, and she is happy to be home in her own bed, and has a great attitude and prognosis so I feel confident that she will make a full recovery!

Good night to all, and only 30 more days to make that big decision…I already have but I’m not telling anyone on here… although, most who have been reading this Blog probably have figured it out.

Oh what a night! But the day was OK.

Tramadol, as a pain reliever is not cracked up to what it is supposed to be; at least not from my perspective.
Not only did I not sleep better; I didn't sleep at all!
And by the morning I was so nauseous I ended up vomiting a couple of times.
I know TMI, sorry.
And in my condition I couldn't go for my walk, but I did go for my half hour walk on both days on Thursday and Friday. And so if I must I must I'll change my rule of never walking on Sunday and go if I am able to tomorrow.
Needing to do the right thing health-wise is now in my hands, and I am obligated to fulfill that promise to myself.
I did do our laundry today and got that mundane task caught up by emptying the hamper.

Mid-morning I called my cousin Y. in the hospital to make sure things were getting better after her having to have that transfusion yesterday; I was still rightfully concerned.
She is doing well except for the ambiance in the hospital… what I gathered from her telling me is that dirty is too minutia a statement for describing her room, since she has reported that the bathroom was stained with bodily fluids, dirt on the floors and other horrors too many for me to remember, and absolutely ridiculous for any health facility to have! (And this is a woman who never ever complains.) The staff too was not at all pleasant or co-operative, and for her sake I’m so glad that she will be going home tomorrow.

Continuing in this vein of checking up on loved ones… my husband felt the need to call his Mom, which was great.
She is still not speaking with his kid sister, and she has not heard anything from the West coast of the country where his older brother and his family are.
I asked Mom to call them and relay all updates; she agreed.
Our sister-in-law in Washington State is a survivor of ovarian cancer, and she was going through chemo just about this time last year.
And Mom was our contact to let us know how she was doing, since his brother did not seem to tell us anything when we emailed him to find out.
To his good we did receive beautiful photos of his adult children and the grandkids, he’s up to five now, 3 girls and 2 boys, even him and our sister-in-law.

Tomorrow I have pretty big plans…I really would like to go to the Home and Garden Show in town, of course after my walk, and I promised to call Y. that evening after she settles in at home.

Good night to all and sleep, and I hope I do too!

Well, it's done for now...

On the rescue-bailout the vote was 263 to 171 in favor of the bill; the majority being Democrats voting for, interesting. President Bush signed it into law, uh oh now that scares me!
And it gives the treasury department the ability to give 700 billion to help out the financial markets with overseers to keep an eye on the process.
What did you think of the vice-presidential debate?
I found that Senator Biden smiled quite a bit, and that Governor Palin appeared to be somewhat evasive with straight answers not being forthcoming.
Some are saying she won, but I really thought that it was just a debate; not the election?
That’s on November 4th, isn’t it?
And aren’t the only candidates we have the ability to choose from: Senator Barack Obama or Senator John McCain?
Vice presidents just come along with OUR choices, I thought, but I’m not that smart…I could be wrong, nah…I’m not.


New topic: My cousin, Y., had a rough day. It seems that she lost too much blood during surgery, which today called for her to need a transfusion. She is fine at this writing but that was very scary as told to me by my cousin W.!

I had my doctor’s appointment today and my blood work test for toxicity of my higher cholesterol medicine was negative, and that’s with me drinking my wine again and everything. My liver was checked for that, and all was well.
I was slightly concerned due to that wine consumption with the medication, but all is well, deep relief on that front.
I also was given medicine for my pain, which I thought that they weren’t allowed to do, but I was prescribed and picked up my Tramadol at the pharmacy. This was filled with my high blood pressure meds, and yes last visit it was up again. Now I’m back on three prescriptions that include the cholesterol medicine, and aspirin as a safety measure to prevent stroke and heart attack. One doctor actually wanted me to go on Plavix, which is $400 a month without any prescription coverage, considering the aspirin was prescribed by my old Neurologist who saw my MRI with the TIA’s, and this doctor was just an Internist that prescribed the Plavix that I did not qualify for aid to purchase monthly anyway. I’m sticking with the lower medication price but apparently not lower value. So far it appears to be working, I’m still here, aren’t I?

Errands were done all morning long, actually into the early afternoon, but we were very logical and ate our lunch before our grocery shopping.


Good night to all, and now I should be able to sleep much better...Oh you thought I said that because the bill was approved... no, of course not...I got Tramadol!

Best laid plans and all that...

And so half of the planned rescue-bailout was passed, but earmarks are in the small print and are not altogether kosher, mostly silly junky stuff, but the House has the final word tomorrow. Rumor has it was just the metaphoric carrot on the end of the stick so the Republicans would pass it? But I’m not that smart, and that could just be innuendo, but who really knows.
We can only hope that all gets straightened out tomorrow.
I feel the need to say: and the sad saga of life in America continues…but we are not a third world country; then why are there so many trials and tribulations for the people of one of the riches countries in the world?
The vice presidential debate should be very interesting tonight, huh?
Historical and possibly hysterical with both candidates known for their gaffes.

New Topic: My cousin Y. is doing pretty darn good considering what she has been through in the last twenty-four hours.
Y. does things BIG TIME, no small stuff for this one, breaking a hip and her leg at the same time, compound fracture in two places, and having emergency surgery to repair the damage.
I suppose it was fortunate I called her this morning before we were going out to leave to see her; she was not ready for company.
Here’s where I smacked myself in the head, like in the V8 commercial with recognition of the realization she was in extreme ouch and that’s an understatement, so the last thing anybody in that condition needs is two people ogling her in her pain.
She asked us to wait a few weeks when she was at home, we agreed for now, she could change her mind.
Y. informed me on our evening call that physical therapy in the hospital had begun, and will continue when she gets home, at home. She called to thank us for sending the Bee Well flowers from Teleflora.com, cute with a bumble in the center, stating the prior mentioned play on words on the Bee's belly, she loved it.
Y. does have a long haul to recovery, but I let her know that we would be cheering her on, and I already started by reminding her of her great ability to accomplish anything she wants. This woman finished undergrad school at night, in 8 years while working fulltime, and then completed two master’s programs in education while working in her chosen profession, the teaching field, I’m sure that she can do anything! This will be a piece of cake. She has always had the capability to persevere.
Right now, I’m thinking; can I pick strong never-give-up types to be friends and relatives with? LOL makes one proud with her own decision makings.

So everyone sleep well and good night to all and to all think happy thoughts.