Frogs' Legs Aren't Funny

Is This the New Reality?

2011-06-14T19:10:00.000-07:00

Overcast, grey, rainy, cloud cover day after day, rarely above 70 degrees, mold on all the roses...
We have had exactly one day above 80 since last October and that was a week ago. It has been overcast ever since.

It's just warm enough that the snow on the mountain is melting and now the rivers are approaching flood stage. I guess you could actually say it would be good if it didn't warm up in the foreseeable future until we get beyond that flooding danger zone.

Not much of a summer to look forward to from a weather perspective. It's a good thing I've got so many great family members and friends to replace my need for sunshine. And they can't give me melanoma!

Up Close and Personal

2011-01-14T18:49:00.000-08:00

Today I saw the origin of a huge rainbow. It rose far into the sky from the middle of a nut orchard. It was such a strange phenomenon, all misty and ethereal with those beautiful hues coloring the air with brilliant, multi-colored stripes. Rainbows are truly magical!

When you are dealing with life's challenges, stresses, ugliness and disappointments, being so close to the pure beauty of nature is humbling and renewing. It actually reenergizes you to face anything with a new and fresh perspective.

Thank goodness for these moments.

I'm Afraid to Blink

2010-10-25T19:36:00.000-07:00

You know how the older you get, the faster time seems to pass? Well, it's going so fast right now, I'm literally afraid to blink. There is so much to do between now and the first weekend in December, I need to do some time travel to borrow lots more hours from another dimension.

As usual I've got work to do right now so not much time to post but I just had to satisfy the urge to let off some steam, anxiety, you know, releasing the pressure from the pressure cooker.

This is Halloween week and I'm looking forward to opening the door to Mr. Red #8 (4 yrs.) and his sidekick, Elvis (1 1/2 yrs.). If prizes were to be given for brothers with the strangest costume combination, they would most certainly win.

I don't know if this was unusual but when I was in grade school (just a couple of years ago - make that a lot of decades ago) one of my favorite events was the school carnival, which usually occurred in March or April. There was the cake walk (musical chairs), the fishing pond, ring toss over glass pop bottles, throw the coins in the dishes, sandbag toss, shooting hoops, etc. I remember one of my prizes was a little blue and white striped felt beanie with the name of our grade school on it. I also remember winning three times the year my parents were in charge of the cake walk, as in three cakes (no, I was not cheating, how do you cheat at musical chairs?), after which I was permanently kicked out of the room.

Well, what goes around comes around and this-coming Saturday night, we are taking my grandsons to my oldest grandson's pre-school carnival. I think I'm as excited as he is. He was so fixated on the orange flyer, trying to figure out everything he was going to do, that he was driving his mom crazy so I am now in possession of the flyer. We'll see who is more tired at the end of the evening, them or us. It should make for some pretty cute video.

OK, I can't delay the working any longer. Until next time.

Tipping Point

2010-10-09T09:08:00.000-07:00

I'm quite certain I've used this title before but I couldn't think of a better term for the point at which someone is unwilling to not only change their opinion but even to listen. Last night we were watching Bill Maher, whom I very much appreciate for hosting both his opponents and his allies. The subject was atheism or I guess more accurately it was embracing a religion, or even a new religion as an adult. He was chastising Obama and others who said they were born again or who "found their faith" as adults.

His thinking was that by the time you're grown, you should know better than to believe the myth. He compared religious faith to believing in Santa Claus I think. I guess I take a slightly different view.

I guess I should clarify first I'm probably more Agnostic than Athiest. I don't necessarily believe but my mind is still open (that was specifically what he couldn't fathom). I certainly don't believe in all the religious representations of the holidays we celebrate but yes, I still celebrate the holidays. I guess it's more about tolerance. If someone wants to pray at dinner, I won't stand in their way or denigrate them for it, but I also don't really believe in the "religious" power of prayer.

Now that's not to say there isn't power in group support and positive thinking, I simply don't believe in the supreme being with long, flowing gray hair and long white robes sitting on his throne on high calling all the shots. There is no one making you rich or making you skinny or making you smart, it's called "do it yourself" with maybe a little luck thrown in regarding the money wish in particular.

Anyway, I've been gone all day visiting with my parents and then the grandkids so now I'm tired and disinterested in continuing. That's alright, I captured the gist of my thinking.

Election Results

2010-10-04T18:45:00.000-07:00

The right wing faction of this country excels at "the spin". If and when they get the opportunity, what I'm wondering is how they are going to manage to point the finger elsewhere when they come into power and aren't any more successful at righting this boat than the current party.

Sometimes I really hate what we have become. This political climate certainly encourages me to keep the television off. I have enough dissension at work, I don't need anymore at home.

The Innocence of Youth

2010-09-29T17:57:00.000-07:00

My grandson celebrated his 4th birthday last weekend and he had his heart set on a bowling party. So on Saturday, there he was at Hollywood Bowl with 6 of his little 4 year old friends pushing, dropping and shoving their respective bowling balls down the alley.

There were a few times it was painful to watch the ball slowly, slowly come to a stop immediately in front of the 10 standing pins. It was almost like you could hear the pins taunting the ball.

It was also quite clear (when you're watching the ball in slow motion you notice much more than you otherwise would) that there are small grooves at the end of the alley, at the end of the gutter guards and immediately in front of the pins that caused the balls when going excruciatingly slow to veer off to the left or the right gutters without making contact with the pins at all. This, unfortunately, was a frequent occurrence.

Regardless, those 7 little kids had so much fun and were incredibly happy if they even got one pin down (let's be honest, everyone in the entire group was happy if they knocked one pin down, not just the kids). It also could have been a study in psychology because clearly the little girls were much more aggressive at this sport than the boys. One little 4 year old got a score of 80!

This timidity was even true of my grandson who had actually practiced in Bend in August. However, that particular alley had the little slide where he could put his ball at the top and it gathered enough momentum to get all the way down the alley with some impact left to spare. In this instance, the hard push concept just wasn't clicking, or it was just too hard.

My point being, these kids were lucky if they got 10 pins for the entire game but they had an absolute blast. A little cheese pizza, a little bowling, some stickers, cupcakes & ice cream and they each had a day made in heaven (and probably the best night's sleep of their lives).

Maybe that's the key, as adults we need to seriously rethink what is required to make us happy. We should literally scale back our expectations and our greed and find satisfaction and joy in everyday stuff like time with our families, beautiful flowers, good music, staying in touch with friends, a tasty home-cooked meal or a good old-fashioned board game.

Life is meant to be enjoyed, period. Just because I'm significantly older than my grandson and his friends doesn't give me any right to forget that.

Webs of Steel

2010-09-19T15:03:00.000-07:00

I can't look out the dining room window without looking directly through a spider web with a good-sized spider in the middle that is incredibly strong. Think about the last time you tried to break through a spider web when you were watering the plants in your yard or just to walk outside. The bigger the spider, the stronger the web. In fact I've walked through them on the way to work and the silk was so clingy & strong I felt like it was on me all day.

I don't know that I've ever heard what the material is they are actually composed of but it's really quite amazing. If there were spiders the size of humans, I can't imagine how impossible their webs would be to break. Hm, that thought's kind of creeping me out. I guess this is a good pre-Halloween line of thinking.

I wonder if anyone has ever tried to duplicate the texture and strength of that natural substance. I would think it would have numerous uses. But it would take a better scientific mind then mine to try to figure out the chemical composition. Maybe "the Face" will figure it out someday, he seems to have unlimited brain power, he amazes me more everyday. It's very disturbing when your speech is corrected by a 3 year old, especially when he's right.

That's enough of this eight-legged post, I can't imagine how I went on so long about a bug I despise.

Sad Reversal of Values

2010-09-17T19:08:00.000-07:00

(I had a brainstorm when I was in the car a week or two ago so I wrote it all down in my little notebook but I can tell I was all wound up about it because I can hardly read my notes.)

I was commenting on the many aspects of society that have always been considered to be mainstays, crucial to our core beliefs. This thought process touched on all the public services that are adversely impacted when your economic and moral infrastructure breaks down.

We are without:
- Sufficient top quality teachers to provide our kids with a well-rounded, high caliber education all the way through affordable colleges that are more interested in educating all kids then in only focusing on minorities
- Sufficient police to stop gangs and truly discourage crime
- Sufficient DEA staff to stop drug trafficking
- Sufficient prisons & sentences to discourage or maybe even stop repeaters
- A sustainable way to eliminate the proliferation of guns - this is so bad even children are brandishing them around schools - today another headline that a physician in Johns Hopkins Hospital was shot

We have too much of:
- Reality tv (I'm gagging here - enough said)
- Is there a sports figure alive who makes less than $1MM a year? The same question of top actors/actresses. I don't think so. And how much does the president of the United States make? This isn't a political question, I'm talking about any president.

So how often are these sports figures and actors/actresses in the news for spouse abuse, drug abuse, alcohol abuse, cheating, or anything else that is indicative of a lack of moral fiber.

I'm not anywhere near the right side of the wing, I'm just disgusted at the Babylonian breakdown of our values. Because the behaviors these people and tv in general promote are lying, cheating, backstabbing, unhealthy conflict and just a general dearth of morals, period.

That's it, I'm done. I refuse to ruin my Friday night with any more of these painful reflections. Maybe tomorrow there will be some good news.

Fighting to Get Out

2010-08-07T06:46:00.001-07:00

I have even less time this morning than I had last time I sat down to do this but I just have to say something. You never stop worrying about your kids.

You worry if they aren't happy, you worry if they have a bad job. You worry if they are struggling to get by. You worry if the grandkids have challenges. You worry if they are sick frequently or if you know there are underlying health problems. You worry if they simply don't appear to be taking care of themselves for a whole host of reasons. You worry if they seem unsettled. You worry if the economy has them trapped. You worry if they don't seem to take the right things seriously...you get the picture.

You try not to worry just because they live their life differently than you did or would. You try not to worry if their approach to daily life seems fatalistic. You try not to worry if it just seems like they have too much bad luck. You try not to worry if it seems like they are ignoring important health signs. You try not to worry if they are too much like you. You try not to worry if they seem stressed out 100% of the time. You try not to worry if they get headaches frequently. You try not to be sad while their talents lay dormant.

You just tell yourself that your parents probably worried in the same way (well, probably not mine) and they will probably worry about their kids or other small relations in the same way. It's the nature of the caring human being. You want to protect those you love from pain and suffering. That will simply never stop no matter how young or how old, how close or how far, it's a lifetime commitment without a contract. It's innate.

Pent Up Demand

2010-07-28T21:05:00.000-07:00

I have a number of blog subjects rattling around in my head but no time to spend writing. Hopefully, sometime in the next week I can find a few minutes, my psyche needs the release.

Amazing Grace

2010-07-16T20:43:00.000-07:00

This song was written in 1779. I learned that by watching the movie of the same name about a true story that took place in 1797. It's a song that stops people in their tracks to listen and to understand. I don't know how many times this has been played or sung in the last 200+ years, irregardless, it is timeless, beautiful, moving and reverent.

In fact it's difficult to imagine many other songs, other than those that make you feel patriotic, have a similar impact. In this case, it's the title of a movie about the abolition of slavery as led by William Wilberforce in the late 18th century. He introduced himself to the "mob" by singing this song to them, the first anyone had heard it. And, he got their attention.

I had also forgotten the king was crazy at this point. There is so much more history than I can remember. I can't remember 10 years ago let alone 200. The time it took to abolish slavery was maddening, aggravating and frightening. In the meantime, hundreds of thousands of black men, women and children we killed and worse. This movie certainly brought the courage required to oppose the trade into stark reality. Much of the economics and wealth of the world was truly dependent on it. Such a sad and depressing state of human affairs, or perhaps I should say inhuman affairs.

Worthy of Celebration

2010-07-13T13:00:00.000-07:00

This is the way it works, I don't post for weeks, then I write 3-4 in a row. I guess they call it a brain dump. At least I've divided my thoughts across a few days.

This year there are a number of significant celebrations going on; my Portland Festival Symphony is celebrating their 30th year, Ringo Starr is celebrating turning 70, The United Nations is celebrating its 60th year, but the anniversary I think is most worthy of celebrating is the 50th anniversary of the writing of "To Kill A Mockingbird".

One of the best all time books (stories), Pulitzer Prize-Winning, and and an equally good movie. Could you imagine having the hutzpah to write such a thought-provoking and accurate portrait of the prejudice and racial injustice so prevalent in her part of the country. It was written by a woman lawyer, Harper Lee, from the small town of Monroeville, in Alabama literally based on her own experiences growing up which made it very accurate.

It has sold over 30 million copies and has been published in over 40 languages. It has been rated as second only to the Bible as a book that "is most often cited as making a difference" by the Library of Congress. It's quite interesting to read the many conflicting views on the value and appropriateness of the book. My favorites are those who decry it for it's shabby treatment of white Southerners...yea, right.

Anyway, I'm thinking I might find time some time before the year is over to celebrate the book's anniversary by rereading it, even though man's inhumanity to man is always difficult for me to take.

The Knees Have It

2010-07-12T12:00:00.000-07:00

We were watching a dog walk this last weekend and realized that two of it's knees bend backwards. That observation, of course, spurred the larger question, what other animals or birds have backwards knees.

Birds (all including seagulls, ostrich, flamingos, etc.)
Dogs (all including coyotes, foxes, wolves, etc.)

Cats (all including cheetahs, mountain lions, etc.)

Horses (all including zebras, etc.)

Lizards

Crocodiles

Deer (all including antelope, etc.)

Frogs

Hippopotamus

Giraffes

Sheep

Cows

Goats

Lots of bugs

And, if you count our arms, humans!

Yet another indicator of the evolution of the human race ... ooh, a four letter word (x2).

Advice

2010-07-11T19:57:00.000-07:00

I don't know what it is about the beach but it always puts us in a thoughtful, even philosophical mood. You know, what if this and what if that. So along those lines I was asked what advice I would give to our grandkids based on what I've learned in my life. Here are a few things that came to mind:

- Always believe in yourself; if you always try to do your best and stay true to your values, this should be easy

- Don't let others sway you into doing something that's out of your comfort zone; trust your gut, if it doesn't feel right, don't do it

-Never pass up a golden opportunity when it's true gold vs. fool's gold

- You can't be successful in any relationship until you are happy with yourself

- Tolerance is the best gift you can give to someone; accept what is different, don't fear it just because it is

- Different perspectives aren't always wrong, they're just different

- Care for your body; get exercise, eat responsibly and find peace - it is the only one you will have to serve you for many years

We were marveling at the fact that we are both on either side of 60 and after all these years, we still see so many young people (I'm talking teenagers) getting pregnant, we see so many people killing themselves or others driving drunk, we see so many people who eat or drink themselves into oblivion with no thought as to what it costs them or those around them, etc.

What will it take for the human race to wise up? Are we destined to make the same mistakes into perpetuity? It's feeling that way to me. All we can do is try our best to influence those closest to us to break these backwards and unhealthy molds. I'm hopeful we will be successful.

Up In Smoke

2010-07-08T18:02:00.000-07:00

We were right there with the rest of the country on Sunday night watching the gorgeous and amazing fireworks displays in Washington, D.C., New York City & Boston. And of course there were the fireworks all around us in the neighborhood throughout the evening. And yes, I'll admit I love to watch fireworks as much as the next person. I don't think I would be exaggerating if I said we probably saw over $ 5- $6 MM in fireworks on the 4th, maybe that's even far too low compared to the real cost.

Not to sound like a Socialist or anything but how many homes could have been built in Haiti or even New Orleans for that amount of money? How far could that have gone in upgrading the dikes in New Orleans, how many homeless people could have been given 6 mos. to a year of shelter for that money, not to mention feeding them. How many kids who are terminally ill could have gone on a last family vacation with that money? How many transplant surgeries could have been covered with that cash? How many single parents with dead beat ex-spouses could have been given some of that money in lieu of the child support they are not receiving to enable them to buy decent child care so they could work? How many jobs could it have created?

The answer to all these questions is undoubtedly not much, but anything would have been more beneficial than the way the millions of dollars was spent. Could we all have lived without the fireworks one year knowing the money was being used instead in more worthy ways? Did anyone even ask?

It's as if the more extravagant the display, the more they are hoping we will forget about the economy, the scenes of so many natural disasters, the wreck of the Gulf, schools scaling back to the point of ridiculous, the cost of everything going up while the cost of our homes goes down. I guess my point is, it didn't fool me. I wonder how many others think that since the fireworks were better than ever, everything is hunky-dory?

Sunshine On My Shoulders

2010-06-26T15:04:00.000-07:00

Today is a natural high,

and this would be the reason why...

Instead of everything is better with Blue Bonnet on it, today everything is fine with divine sunshine!

We're heading to the park with the little ones who love it so much; in search of play structures with lots of parts to touch. It's up the ladder and down the slide countless times and this is the end because I'm fresh out of rhymes.

Friday Night

2010-06-25T20:39:00.000-07:00

This is the one night of the week I refuse to bring work home therefore I look forward to it more than any other. It's freeing to sit on the couch watching a British movie like "Goodnight, Mr. Tom" (I highly recommend it), running to the store, catching up on Facebook and posting a stress-relieving blog. I know this sounds like what normal people do any time they aren't working, well my life hasn't been normal lately and I don't know when it will be again so there you are.

Both Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett have been dead for a full year. That doesn't seem possible. Although as we were talking about it tonight I pointed out that they have never really stopped talking about Michael and airing specials about him, his music, the controversy surrounding him. I didn't realize until today they still haven't finished the trial of his doctor. How do these things get dragged out so long?

I also heard today there is the distinct possibility of a tropical storm (as in a hurricane) coming into the Gulf. I can't imagine what that's going to do to all that oil. I just keep waiting for some miracle to clean this mess up. The coast of Louisiana is truly turning into a perpetual disaster area. Oh what havoc man hath wrought...

Someone I knew from work was killed in a motorcycle accident on Wednesday night on his way home. He took the freeway exit but missed the turn, hit the guardrail and that was it. One day he was there and the next day he literally was not. It hit everyone who knew him pretty hard mainly because it reinforced how precious and tenouous our thread of life is. He had a wife who was on a business trip, a 20 year old son, he had work assignments, projects and staff, he was an integral part of a team...and now he's not.

My favorite sister of my dad's died this week, years of emphysema caused by even more years of smoking. Aunt Ruth had a great sense of humor and was simply fun to be around. I'm very happy I made the point of seeing her multiple times over the last few years. I'll miss her.

My stepdaughter's mother-in-law is back in the hospital still fighting for her life. She thought she came down with an infection a couple of months ago, she was having trouble sleeping, but come to find out it was her heart that was defective and was pumping blood into her lungs. I won't go into anymore details but she is down to 88 pounds now so I'm sure everyday is a struggle for her. She has lost her ability to swallow so has been fed through a tube since then and has come down with at least two more lung infections from that. They've done two surgeries in the last 24 hours just to clear out the last massive infection.

Not an uplifting blog, I know, but I think I just needed to write it all down, let it out. This is the main reason I do this, to let go, so I need to be okay with it. Everything about life isn't fun.

Spreading the Stealth

2010-06-15T19:39:00.000-07:00

I wonder if anyone has calculated how long it is going to take this fiasco oil spill to contaminate the entire world. All it will take is for the continually pumping oil to get through the Panama Canal and it will begin to creep up and down the Pacific Coast and to travel across the ocean. There is nothing but a few small land masses to prevent it from heading out to sea in the Atlantic, not to mention up that coast as it goes. And to project on that image, what happens to human life and to animal life if all the salt water becomes contaminated, killing all the sea life?

I'm quite certain I'm not the only human being who has had these thoughts and is taking the time to extrapolate out the impact of this colossal disaster should the sludge continue to spread.

It's not just seafood that will be adversely impacted, let's think about all that this touches...

sea birds
saltwater animals and mammals
oceanfront residential properties
tourism impacting beach visits, including beachfront hotels, spas and restaurants
ocean-based careers like fishermen
boating (including personal watercraft like Skidoo's)
recreational salt-water fishing
coastal waterparks like Sea World
cruises
camping on the coast
bicycling on the coast
snorkeling
deep sea diving
photography
surfing
parasailing
windsurfing

Oh, and then there is the question of whether the oil film on the ocean will prevent or at least impact evaporation which would inevitably cause climate change although again, no one knows exactly how.

So, are you freaking out yet? I'm also wondering if the rest of the oil rigs have been shut down and if not, why the hell not? If we can't prevent and/or fix the disasters once they've started, we have no business putting ourselves in the position to keep creating them.

Look Outside!

2010-06-13T08:16:00.000-07:00

The first truly beautiful, warm weekend of the year...so why am I sitting in here? I'm not :)

No Replacement

2010-06-11T09:25:00.000-07:00

There was an old standard b&w movie on recently called, "The Gunfighter". It starred one of the all-time greats, Gregory Peck. In my opinion, these classic actors just haven't been and can't be replaced by any of the newer talent we have had to choose from since.

I don't know exactly when the term gentleman slipped away from the Hollywood scene but there was a definite transition, possibly in the 60's. At whatever point the most distinguished actors left the picture, literally, the view changed.

Here are some prime examples of what I mean.

Debonair and downright Classy

None of them were brash, attention-seekers.

They kept their private lives as private as they could, they weren't constantly splashed across the media.

If they were, indeed, involved in unsavory affairs or addictive habits, it was kept out of the spotlight. You honestly believed they were simply decent people.

They didn't need any special effects or computer graphics to make their performances and movies special.

I'm just thankful I lived through the time when their type of talent was truly celebrated. I miss them one and all.

Found It!

2010-06-10T19:37:00.000-07:00

We not only found summer, we found it to the tune of 113 degrees! It was a record for Las Vegas and a record for us. But you know what, when you are as damp and moldy as we are at this point, it felt good to dry out.

It was a great long weekend watching our very amazing nephew graduate with high honors as the first student ever from his high school to be appointed to the Naval Academy. You know when they mentioned it along with the Ivy League and Pac 10 schools other students were attending they were impressed too. He had men in fancy (lots of colorful bars) Navy uniforms there afterwards to congratulate him and have their photos taken with him. I was and am so proud of him. Hopefully as he progresses in his Naval career, I'll learn what all those bars mean. I told him I'll be in Annapolis in four years to celebrate his next graduation too. He will make a handsome and very worthy officer in our military forces.

I just have my fingers crossed that he never sees action even though I know he is hoping for the opposite. I'm hopeful he'll go into some kind of computer technology role since that's his area of interest, like the CIA or something. The fact of the matter is, once he leaves to go back at the end of this month I'll probably see very little of him for the rest of his life. The evolution of life. It's time for him to become his own man. Aunt Deedee is sad but oh so proud.

Going South in Search of Summer

2010-05-31T13:35:00.000-07:00

I've heard tell it's summer somewhere, just not here, not now, not ever it seems. So, we'll show the weather, we're taking a quick trip south to the land of the slots where they seem to have enough money to even influence the weather. I can't wait for even three days of warmth and sunshine. My endorfins are clamoring. My sinuses are elated. My allergies are already breathing easier.

Just one more week and I'll have three whole days of sunny delight! And spend time with family to boot. I am so ready.

Faulty Memory

2010-05-27T20:29:00.000-07:00

What do you do when your mom insists her mom is still alive, after her death 24 years ago. She says she sees her periodically and that my dad has just hidden her somewhere? I've tried everything I can think of but she is adamant. They even put flowers on the graves today and she insisted Grammie wasn't in hers. I guess the good news is this is the only dead person she vows is still alive. The way she is talking about her all the time is creeping me out.

I tell myself maybe she just feels her spirit very strongly but her newest one was she said she saw her at a baby shower. I think Mother is living in a different world, even an alternative universe.

Vets

2010-05-22T11:10:00.000-07:00

We watched "Brothers" last night. Why is it that we do such a crappy job of supporting our veterans once they're back? In this case, the husband (Toby Maguire) went to Afghanistan, his helicopter crashed and he and one of his fellow Marines were taken as prisoners of war. They were tortured for months and ultimately only one of them came back. In the meantime, the authorities had told his wife and family that he was dead.

So he comes back eventually when he's rescued and he's simply cleaned up and sent home. Hm, what might be wrong with this picture. He becomes delusional, obsessive compulsive, violent, depressed, you name it. Big surprise! But it isn't until he tries to kill himself (and possibly others, I don't know because I was only half listening at that point, not watching) that the authorities take him away and put him in a hospital where he stayed for who knows how long getting psychological care I would presume.

So, his family and friends had been placed in jeopardy, he was a danger to himself, everyone is miserable and they all have the armed forces to thank for it. You and I both know how many times this is happening across the country. We see it in the headlines as these situations play out in a dreadful way again and again.

There is only one excuse I can think of for why something dreadful has to happen before help and support is provided. It would be an admission that war is wrong, that war is unsupportable, that the wars we have been waging are pointless and we aren't and can't win them. All we can do is to continue to throw our young people at them as live test cases or even ammo to see if they might help to advance our questionable objectives.

But is anyone thinking about the ripple effects of the fallout from this stupid process? How do the family members (the ones who survive anyway), especially the children, get beyond the violence they are subjected to upon their vet's return without it causing some harmful character, personality or behavioral defect as they face challenges later in their own lives?

I honestly don't know how anyone could watch this movie and not have the same, exact thoughts. It's going to stick in my mind for awhile.

So Who Do We Thank?

2010-05-16T10:25:00.000-07:00

I'm assuming we celebrate Columbus Day as a token of appreciation to Christopher for making that long and perilous journey across the sea from Spain to discover our fair land. However, I'm wondering why we continue to dedicate a day of praise to him when he clearly did not discover North America? In fact, I'm at a loss to tell you who did unless it was those who landed near Plymouth or thereabouts in the 17th century.

The closest Christopher Columbus ever got to what is now the United States during his four voyages was Cuba, then called Hispanola. From there, he proceeded southwards all around the Caribbean and explored both the northern South American coast, Panama and some of the rest of Central America.

Amerigo Vespucci went even further south to the point where he thought the Amazon River was the southern access to the Indian Ocean although he didn't try to get there as far as I know. From there, he mostly revisited the same Caribbean ports that had been visited by Columbus.

So this takes me back even earlier to the 11th century, when it's believed Leif Eriksson and his Vikings landed in Newfoundland in Canada. Although they didn't stay for an extended period of time, I believe it would be much more appropriate for us to celebrate Eriksson Day then what we do now. Granted, Cuba is closer to American soil then Newfoundland but the fact that Leif was actually on the same continent has to count for something.

Anyway, the obvious first settlers were the Plymouth Rock crowd in 1620 but that leaves about 100 or so years when nothing was happening, or at least nothing that has been passed on in our limited, skewed American History classes. I think this would be a great subject for a thesis, too bad that's not how I choose to spend my time and energy. I guess that means we'll never know and Mr. Columbus will continue to get the credit every October, at least by government employees.

Road Rage

2010-05-12T18:19:00.001-07:00

So, I have a chicken and egg question. Is it the driving itself that makes people so angry or are they angry in general and just take it out on other drivers?

I had to laugh tonight when I was driving home because I was in the far left lane when a car just started to drift over into my lane next to me, not in front of me, besie me. In other words, if I hadn't honked he would have hit me. So of course, I honked, immediately after which he flipped me off. So would he have been a much happier man if I had simply let him hit me?

It doesn't really matter since that would not have made me happier so hence the honk. And yes, I'd do it again.

So there.

Precious Moments

2010-05-07T18:30:00.000-07:00

No, I'm not talking about cutesy Hallmark figurines, I'm talking about what can daily be taken away without warning, without notice, without reason, without fairness, without justification; specifically I'm talking about your life. It can happen walking across the street, it can happen in a plane, it can happen on vacation, it can happen in a supermarket, it can happen at work, it can happen at school, it can happen in your home and it can happen in your sleep.

I don't know if studies have ever been done around the odds of knowing in advance you're dying vs. it just happening out of the blue. It isn't that I want to dwell on a sad subject, it's just that my stepdaughter's dad and her husband are going through a very tough time right now and their situation brought all this home to me...again. Her father-in-law's mom died about 7-9 months ago rather suddenly. His sister just died in her sleep a week ago, suddenly.

Last night he had to rush his wife to the hospital because she couldn't breathe. She is in ICU, she was diagnosed with ARDS and they are giving her a 50/50 chance of survival, especially because she has this condition in both lungs. She is in our thoughts as she struggles with the sudden onset of this disease.

None of us can see around the corner to know what will happen to us next week let alone tomorrow. This is not only a reminder to be kind to each other, it is also another reminder not to waste any time doing what you don't want to do and to spend it with whom you want, every minute of every day. Every moment is indeed precious, you'll never get it back.

Another Measurement of the Current Economy

2010-05-02T09:31:00.000-07:00

You have to admit, once Sunday Morning is over (8:30 AM) there's not much on television unless you like stinking sports (the word "stinking" is your clue here). Well, awhile back I ran across a show called "Chasing Classic Cars" that literally travels all over the world in pursuit of buying and selling truly classic cars. I'm no special exotic car afficianado but even I can be amazed at some of what I see.

I'm especially interested when they open up a decrepit barn or garage where the classic car has been sitting for the last 30-40 years and someone has just died so they decide they are going to do something about it. Kind of like the unsuspecting elderly person who brings in their great-aunt Mabel's antique dish to the "Antique Roadshow" and finds out it's Fabrege or Tiffany and worth tens of thousands of dollars.

Anyway, on this show they bring in a gentleman named Wayne Carini who is a decided expert on classic cars and actually owns an operation where they will give the cars an overhaul either for the client or for their own investment/subsequent sale. I can't imagine the crazy fool who would ever try to put anything over on Wayne. (In the photo here, Wayne is the one without the hat.)

Anyway, I just watched him trying to sell his client's Cobra Roadster 427SC, which he had valued at $1.5MM (they call this "the reserve")at a huge Mekum auction in Indiana. This is probably the 30th time we've watched one of these events in the last year and a half where they are adamant they need to make a certain amount of money on the car of the moment but they don't come close. In this case the bidding went over a million then dropped off. It was driven off the stage as a "no sale".

Prior to this car, the Auction tried to sell a Shelby Cobra Daytona coupe that was a world champion race car. It had been valued at a minimum of $8MM. The couldn't get the bidding any higher than $6.8MM. So it also was driven off as a "no sale".

I just have to wonder what planet they're on to think someone is going to pay full price for anything right now, including an exotic collector car. There are little segments of the population that just refuse to face the fact that we are in a depressed economy...HELLO! Earth to car collectors! My heart bleeds peanut butter.

Tipping Point

2010-04-28T20:07:00.000-07:00

Do you ever wonder where or what exactly is your tipping point? Just how much is too much? What will be the upward limit that will finally take you over the edge? What would finally be considered to be over the top, beyond the pale, outside boundaries? Just where will the boil begin? How far is too far?

Right now, "Run Lola Run" is playing and the female lead has definitely reached her tipping point. She just stole the gun from the security guard and you and I could easily write the story from here, none of the endings being happy.

I have so many issues going at work, I feel like I'm floating without a life preserver, far out of sight of land. And more and more shark fins just keep breaking the surface of the water using my flailing body as their focal point. Sort of like the theme of a Jimmy Buffet song ("Fins") only not nearly as much fun. I know, this sounds like the remnants of a nightmare but unfortunately I'm wide awake.

Thank goodness for blogs. Thank goodness for books. Thank goodness for families. All of these provide an outlet, an escape, an alternative universe and all of them are welcomed with open arms.

Until I'm back at it tomorrow that is.

Stabbed Good Samaritan Left To Die - kink.fm

2010-04-26T18:14:00.001-07:00

How is it we've come to this?

Stabbed Good Samaritan Left To Die - kink.fm

Posted using ShareThis

I used to think we were the superior race; now the question is, superior to what?

One Computer, Two Computer, Three Computer, Four...Household?

2010-04-11T14:00:00.000-07:00

So, remember the days when it was a big deal if a family owned a television and had two cars in their two-car garage? That was a real sign of affluence and was to be envied by those who did not have it; a sign you had acquired that sought after group moniker of "Middle Class America".

The Wikipedias of the world label this phenomenon by achievement factors of tertiary education and discretionary income (1/3 available for non-necessity spending). I agree with all that but I think it's more interesting to remember how the "ownership of stuff" has progressively impressed the next-door Joneses over the years, and more importantly what stuff.

I would say that was the standard from probably the '60's through the '70's. Of course at one point it had to be a color television, just a plain black & white television would no longer do but the two cars, or a car & a truck, remained a status goal. The 60's is also when we began to transition from phonograph albums to the 8-track tape. This then became the standard although in retrospect, it didn't last very long before it was replaced. The '70's then introduced the cassette tape version of audio.

So, I'm trying to remember how the whole "middle class" thought process evolved. I'm thinking in the '80's the expectation was that you had more than one color television, owned two cars (preferably foreign - I think Toyota was coming into its own - unless you lived in the Midwest), owned a house and a nice stereo with the introduction of a compact disc deck. (The stereo was probably only important to me but this is my story so tough.) Clearly the middle class America threshold is now becoming even more about volume and perhaps a little more exotic (foreign) in it's nature.

On top of everything listed above, I also think the '80's marked the growing popularity of video games (Pong was first released for retail purchase in 1975) as well as microwave ovens, video cameras and the rental of VHS tapes and machines from video stores to watch movies in the comfort of your own home while eating microwaved popcorn. I think this was the early stages of cell phones too, the big heavy ones you carried in cases. Even food processors were pretty common by now.

Then came the '90's where the evolutionary process accelerated considerably. Computers - the introduction of The Web and "You've Got Mail" became mandatory because everyone who was anyone was on e-mail. I think this was also the decade that introduced digital cameras, cell phones more closely resembled what we have come to know today, home surround sound systems, big screen tv's, even the electric toothbrush was much more common. One of the most exciting inventions from my perspective was the retail VHS video tape deck. And let us not forget the little MP3 players, the harbingers of massive amounts of data on units so small those of us in our advanced years couldn't even see the writing on the buttons to know how to work them.

Then we come to our most recent decade, the '00's, the decade of the "i's". Google became a verb and anything digital took on new and exciting dimensions and performance characteristics. The constant question being asked was, "Have you seen or do you have the newest ...?" Retail products were being upgraded or invented faster than you could purchase the last version. The iPod comes to mind. I do have to say the compact disc and some version of a microwave oven have remained two constants since the '70's anyway. Except that now movies are on DVD, which are similar in appearance to CD's truth be told. Laptops became the hot item, along with digital everything, plasma and/or LCD and/or DLP and/or LED big screen televisions, even handheld televisions.

Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and 24 hour streaming video news are just some examples of the constant information age we now live in. There is never an excuse for anyone to say they aren't aware of what is happening anywhere in the world at any time of day or night.

Already 2010 (the '10's) has introduced the iPad which I'm sure is just the beginning.

All this has led to the subject of this post. We are currently a home of four televisions and three computers. If you count the laptop I just bought my dad, you could say four computers. We both have touch screen cell phones and digital cameras. I have an electronic reader and he has a portable GPS. We also have the obligatory car and truck and he has a motorcycle.

Would we have even dreamed of all this being under our roof 10 years ago. It really makes you wonder what we still have to look forward to? How will middle class be defined 10 years from now?

What Does a Tree Mean to Me?

2010-04-09T09:51:00.000-07:00

Produces oxygen

Reduces carbon dioxide

A stairway to heaven

The origin of sap, to make maple syrup

A set of monkey bars

A landscaping feature

A source of shade

A source of many fruit like bananas, apples, pears, figs, etc.

A source of nuts such as pine nuts, hazlenuts, walnuts, etc.

The residence of many different & colorful flowers

A roost for owls

The nesting place for an osprey if the tree has been reduced to a snag

A canopy to protect those below from rain

The origin of quinine which is extracted from the bark

The origin of rubber

A home for numerous bugs like beetles, ants, butterflies, hives, etc.

A home for birds's nests like robins, eagles, etc.

A perch for birds in general like crows, blue jays, etc.

Lumber for building all sorts of buildings and accoutrements

Something live to bring inside and decorate at Christmas

The origin of pine oil used in all sorts of household products like disinfectants

A haven for snakes

A hiding place for cats of all sizes

A climbing apparatus for some bears

A scratching post for many large animals like bears and elk

A food source for many large animals like giraffes and elephants

The source of a canoe

The origin of paper

Burning of the tree/tree parts produces heat

Burning of the tree/tree parts produces steam

The structure from which to hang a swing

An outhouse for a dog

A surface upon which to carve messages and/or attach signs

The poles from which to hang a hammock

In Egyptian mythology, the sycamore is where
the soul of the deceased finds blissful repose

...just to name a few.

I guess what I'm trying to say is trees are important to everyone on the planet, me included.

Non-Traditional Traditions

2010-04-04T19:46:00.000-07:00

I'm getting to that age where I like the hint of maintaining traditions but not even close to full-alignment. Hence Easter dinner today. Yes, we had Easter dinner but it was not remotely traditional. Unless you consider grilled chicken and bratwurst, baked beans and french fries your standard holiday fare. It felt good to break the mold. Yes we had a couple of dishes that would have made any Easter table proud like green bean casserole and macaroni salad and rolls. The rest was pure uniqueness, just the way I like it. Ok we did have an apple pie but what about he Key Lime pie? See I think we successfully broke the mold. Now to see if we can keep it broken in future years, I think this may only be something that happens when Easter is at my house.

I don't think I ever realized Julie Andrews was only 29 when she played Mary Poppins and only 30 when she played Maria in "Sound of Music". Somehow she always seemed older, she didn't look older, she only seemed older. Hard to explain but either way she is now 75 years old no matter how you look at it and she has won award after award it you look at her bio on Wikipedia.

Well, this is the last few hours before it's back to the grind and I do mean grind. By the end of each week, I feel like I have been through that particular kind of grinder. This weekend I guess I rebeled a bit and simply didn't do any work but rather got through alot of work around home that has been ignored for weeks as I've been working all the time. It was glorious.

You know, when you think of all the big epic family movies over time, they all seem to have one common trait. They all have a female lead, I guess that's what makes them appeal to the family types. The "Wizard of Oz", "Mary Poppins", "Sound of Music", "My Fair Lady", "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang", "Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Family". OK, I just broke my own rule, those last two had a male lead so never mind about that. Regardless, these are all great movies that make you feel good and once in awhile you just need that.

We just finished "Sound of Music" and it makes me want to see Austria...someday.

Tree...Roots...Lineage

2010-03-29T20:46:00.000-07:00

A rose by any other name comes down to the relatives of your relatives, long passed. If you think about your daily life, then you begin to look back at it in year long chunks then by decade and finally across the entire span of your life, you pack alot into those years. So just imagine trying to fathom or get a real grasp on the life of your great-grandmother on your mother's father's side, or your great-great grandfather on your father's mother's side.

Watching these segments of the "Who Do You Think You Are" tv show has been fascinating. Of course, you tell yourself they only aired the individuals who had interesting background stories but my guess is we would all find something interesting in our heritage. If you think about how many opportunities you have to look, every single person branches off to two more people who branch off to four more people, etc. etc.

The show really makes you want to start digging into your own family's history but I also recognize that they have facilitated a great deal of research and investigation for these people which was necessary to not have the viewers falling asleep or flipping the channel. What an incredibly smart marketing ploy by Ancestry.com. Really, really smart. I've already had one cousin ask me if I had information on my grandmother's mother's family. I could tell the show got her started on the search.

Now it's back to the future.

Sarah Palin...really?

2010-03-26T19:25:00.000-07:00

I just refuse to believe this is for real. How can so many Americans, especially women, be so stupid?

Do they possibly think she has spent the last 5 months learning her US and world history and geography so she can answer at least some reporters' questions accurately?

An expensive suit does not an intelligent/professional woman make. And she's the perfect example, in fact she made that point time and time again within her public appearances over the latter part of the campaign after they dug her up.

If you saw John McCain wince repeatedly while she was talking, it's a pretty good indicator she's an idiot. This happened time and time again, not to mention the wincing going on in the audience. Does anyone recall her "performance" in the Vice Presidential debate perchance? It was all Joe Biden could do not to laugh out loud at some of her atrocious answers.

Just how many clues do you need?

Come on, you all are smarter than this. I would however support the nomination of Tina Fey!

Sunshine on my Shoulders

2010-03-24T17:25:00.000-07:00

I wrote that because that's what it's doing outside right now to the tune of about 70 degrees or so, phenomenal beginning to our Spring. But of course, what it makes me think of is John Denver (53) and the fact that he died in October of 1997 when his experiemental plane called a Long EZ crashed in the Pacific Ocean, almost 13 years ago. Holy Cow where does the time go?

And I come home today to Breaking News that Robert Culp of "I Spy" television fame died today from falling down on the sidewalk in front of his house. You have to watch those sidewalks, they can reach up and grab you when you aren't looking. Seriously he was 79 years old and probably not thinking this was going to be his last day on earth when he walked out the front door.

Kind of eerie when you think about it that way. Do you think people, famous or infamous, would act differently on their last day if they knew in advance it was going to be their last day. Kind of like "Meet Joe Black" where Anthony Hopkins is negotiating with Brad Pitt (Death) through the entire movie for more time before he is finally taken. Even though you have two hours to prepare you I still get teary at the end. Silly.

Just thinking though, at age 31 Rudolph Valentino came down with appendicitis and gastric ulcers, even though they operated on him he then developed peritonitis, they still thought they had him on the mend when he was so weakened he developed pleuritis in his left lung and subsequently died. Women were hysterical, clearly he went before his time. If he'd known this would be the result might he have lived his life differently in the months prior to his death?

Both Sonny Bono (62) and Natasha Richardson (45) went skiing one day, separate days, separate places and by the end of the day they were dead both from hitting trees. How bizarre is that? So, would they have taken different ski runs if they had known that was going to be the result?

Jim Henson (53) was a classic case I refer to frequently when people who are ill aren't taking care of themselves. He was sick, didn't do anything about it for way too long, went to the hospital, was diagnosed with pneumonia and died a few days later of a severe strep infection. I'll bet if he had it to do over again he'd be hotfooting it to the doctor insisting they figure out what was going on the first week he was sick.

Do you suppose it is statistically significant that 2 out of 5 of these men who died unexpectedly, did so at age 53?

March 19, 2010

2010-03-21T08:55:00.000-07:00

Do you know what event this date commemorates; 7 long years of war in Iraq. Now there's something to celebrate. The bizarre invasion, the widespread destruction, the tragic, countless deaths (on both sides), the appalling amount of profit experienced and enjoyed by the Halliburtons (the Dick Cheney's) of the world as they snicker at the rest of us apathetic idiots behind their hands.

Over $1.4 Billion of Halliburton billings classified by the Pentagon as unreasonable and unsupportable overcharges. There were more than 180,000 contractors in Iraq in August of 2007 alone.

Do you have any concept of the lives, the culture, the ancient art and artifacts that have been destroyed by this pointless action? The fact that our country's name was even remotely connected with it, let alone directly responsible, is not to be borne.

And what exactly have we gained?

Pros

- Saddam Hussein eventually died, I don't remember why.

Cons

- All of the above in my opening comments, plus,

- Over $713 BILLION of financial loss (I never got to vote to spend my taxes in this way, did you?)

- Over $900 BILLION in total has been approved for spending (they still haven't asked me)

- Over 111,000 (some estimate this may be as high as 600,000) Iraqi civilians killed (mothers, children, fathers, sisters, brothers, grandparents, etc.

- Over 4,300 US soldiers killed

- Over 31,000 seriously wounded; this excludes serious psychological injuries (we will continue to pay for all of their care and future mental/emotional trauma - over 30% develop this kind of trauma within 3 -4 months of coming home)

- Over 2,255,000 Iraqis have been displaced within Iraq

- Over 2.2 Million are refugees in Syria and Jordan

- Unemployment is over 27% - 60% where the curfew is not in effect

- Only 37% of Iraqi homes are connected to sewer systems

- 70% of Iraqis are without adequate water supplies

- Over 67% of Iraqis feel less secure as a result of occupation

The day we took this unprecedented, unwarranted and insupportable action, we forfeited any claim we had to being considered a positive and influential leader among civilized countries in the modern world.

Oh Yes!

2010-03-19T20:52:00.000-07:00

It was worth it but I'm too sleepy tonight to say more than that.

Marathon Night

2010-03-18T19:37:00.000-07:00

OK, it's here! I'm sure I'm going to question my sanity 5 - 6 times tonight as I'm sitting there watching the screen through my funky 3-dimensional glasses and the clock passes into the witching hour. And don't forget the free popcorn.

Is anyone else sick of hearing about all these men's affairs? Stop putting them in the headlines for pete's sakes! As long as the media is stupid enough to do that, they'll continue to make the effort to get the publicity. It's disgusting to me, all these "sincere" apologies for all the hurt they've done to their families; it's a bunch of crock. They could care less about their families, it's all about them and getting what they want when they want it. All they're sorry about is getting caught, except for the publicity that is.

And does the Catholic Church abuse of children ever end? It makes you ask a chicken and egg question. Do only sick men go into the priesthood or does the priesthood eventually make them all perverted? Nothing to do with celibacy is natural for mankind, it just makes sense that it would spur unnatural and unacceptable behavior. It's like trying to build a dyke to hold back a river (New Orleans comes to mind), all you need is severe weather and it will overflow and reclaim the land that "rightfully" belonged to it.

Get a load of this...last night I was watching the most recent Bruce Willis movie, Live Free or Die Hard, where his sidekick (Jason Long) is a young hacker, the polar opposite of the Willis character of course. And who of course saves the day. So tonight I run across this headline out of the UK...

"QUARTER OF UK KIDS HAVE TRIED HACKING, SURVEY SAYS." Most of them have tried to hack into accounts they identified through Facebook, some into their friends accounts. There is no way kids have enough to do. What ever happened to schoolwork? Chores? Jobs? Time with their families? They clearly have way too much time on their hands. This does not bode well for future generations who are already getting into computers by age 2 or even earlier. We go retro with most fads, I wonder if we'll ever go retro to kids playing out in the backyard, riding their bikes or their roller skates or their pogo sticks, or even playing board games. It's just plain scary the direction we're going.

Alice

2010-03-16T21:04:00.000-07:00

In just two days it will be my turn. I can't wait. Sitting in our wonderful, little neighborhood theater in my 3-D glasses, watching a Tim Burton masterpiece (not to be confused with some of his more inferior stuff) and to top it all off, free popcorn! I'll be pouring the Diet Coke down to keep myself awake but this once, it will be worth it. The next morning, 6:00 AM will be coming even earlier than usual.

Last time I did this was the first night of the first ever Pirates of the Caribbean. We all went to the midnight showing on a Friday night and had a blast. The entire theater audience is always so into the first showing ever in the city. It's like group experience vs. an individual watching.

I fully expect this to be the same. We will have the freedom to talk to make comments to enjoy together, should be a night to remember.

Life Through the Eyes of a Three-Year-Old

2010-03-14T13:02:00.000-07:00

You see hope. You see delight in little things. You see unlimited possibilities. You see happiness. You see black and white. You see that the people you love are important to you. You see each new thing as an adventure. You see each new experience as a learning opportunity. You see colors, shapes, letters and numbers in absolutely everything. You see beauty.

You don't see bad. You don't see evil. You don't see mean. You don't see ugliness (except maybe some fish). You don't see pain. You don't see failure (unless your marble run falls apart). You don't see disaster. You don't see bleak. You don't see pettiness. You don't see depression.

You simply see that life is good.

It's too bad he'll have to eventually deal with all of the bad with the good, especially once he starts a job.

A Weekend with Wonder Boy

2010-03-13T07:58:00.001-08:00

I say this because he fills me with wonder whenever I'm around him.

I've never known a 2-3 year old who could recite all the planets, including the moons of Jupiter. I've never known a 2-3 year old who knew his alphabet so well he could actually read books and the signs when you're walking or driving down the street. I've never known a 2-3 year old who could count to 100 and beyond. I've never known a 2-3 year old who could print my name and really wants to write it in cursive. I've never known a 2-3 year old who wants to understand the meaning of words like "similar" as used in comparing two Halloween pumpkin decorations to each other. I've never known a 2-3 year who could name the majority of the color crayons in the Crayola box of 64. I've never known a 2-3 year old who can do algebra, basic but still...!

Until now that is. And I'm going to enjoy my Baby Boy all weekend! I'm sure I'll learn plenty from him!

Life is Just a Chair...

2010-03-12T19:07:00.000-08:00

You know that cutsie, optimistic stuff by Mary Englebright, products with those little sayings on them like, "Life is Just a Chair of Bowlies", "Begin Again, It's A Brand New Day", "The Best Antiques are Old Friends", etc.

I'm not sure why I'm even bringing this up except that my mom told me tonight she was depressed about all the things happening on the news. I told her well your first mistake is to watch the news. I make a habit of not watching the news, the newspaper, the CNN breaking news on-line, etc. for exactly that reason. I can't help though listening to the repeated reports of large-scale earthquakes off the coast of or even in Chile, how can that country possibly recover? See, my point exactly.

You could say I should be doing my part and I do contribute to Mercy Corp, I'm sure I could always do more though. It's almost like you don't want to think about all the problems too much because you can't control any of it and all the stuff going on just doesn't bode well for our future or the future of our extended families. I worry about that but then I try to think about something else because I seriously doubt that I'll be able to influence the future one way or the other. I'm going to stop now, I don't like anything about this post and if I weren't so lazy and worn out after the last week, I'd simply delete it. Oh well, it's probably an appropriate post considering where my head is at tonight.

I'm going to watch "Passage To India". David Lean was a marvelous director. Baby boy tomorrow and through the weekend, yay!

2010 Reel Awards

2010-03-07T12:44:00.000-08:00

And the winner is...Marilyn Monroe! Yes, I did say 2010, and yes, she looks as good or better than she ever did. I am the last person to voluntarily watch impersonators but even I have to admit the likeness of some of these people to the real (sometimes dead) stars was amazing. And it wasn't just about appearance, many of their voices, even singing voices, were dead ringers (no pun intended).

These people don't just do this for fun and prizes either. Their agent said they can make anywhere from $450 to $10,000 per engagement.

My guess is that Marilyn Monroe commands

the upper end of that scale. Here's why>

Dean Martin he's not but she is 110% there.

Too bad they didn't pair her with a

Tony Curtis or Jack Lemmon look-alike,

straight out of "Some Like It Hot".

And here is the link to connect you to

all the other close but no cigars.

http://www.thereelawards.com/home

If only I could make that kind of money impersonating people's grandmothers. At least that's the only "person" I've been told I look like by anyone, their grandmother, including a UPS guy when I had just turned 21. Yea, I still remember that slam.

Around The World In 24 Days

2010-03-06T10:24:00.000-08:00

Eat your heart out, Phineas Fogg. Luxurious private jet vs. hot air balloon, train, ship, horse, elephant, and every other mode of transportation he and Passpartout used to get around the world in 80 days all those years ago.

This expedition is exactly what and where I want to be when I grow up...it includes highlights like the Serengeti,

the Amazon Rain Forest, the Lost City of Petra,

China's Great Wall, the Cook Islands, the coral reefs of Papua New Guinea,

the Forbidden City of Beijing, etc.

And, you are accompanied by world-reknowned anthropologists, ethnobotanists, award-winning photograpers, and all-around explorers. A learning experience from start to finish with no time wasted trying to find a decent place to stay or planning/catching your connections, getting sick because the food or water isn't safe, etc.

This would be my kind of exploring aka roughing it.

I call it pioneering after the trail has already been well-blazed. Comfortable & clean bed, lacking in at least the big bugs/snakes and opportunity for staying somewhat clean style.

Well, I can dream can't I?

Financial Future

2010-03-03T17:37:00.000-08:00

Just exactly how much debt is the country in at this moment? Can anyone even spell the number let alone say it? Can anyone even fathom just how much that really is?

My question is, what does all this debt mean to those who are going to be depending on the government, the financial institutions, the economy to be able to retire in the next five years? And if they go ahead and retire, what's to say the money they begin with won't all of a sudden just be gone at some point after that? And if it is, who do you complain to? And I'm only thinking about those who are close to retirement (ME), I'm not even accounting for all those poor seniors who couldn't get back into the job market on a bet, Walmart and McDonalds aside.

Perhaps we could complain to the Chinese government who has invested so heavily in this country's business at this point as we seek anyone and everyone's assistance to bail us out. Perhaps we could complain to South Korea who has also invested because we bailed them out 60 years ago, right? In fact, how many of the potential countries who could financially take us over have at some point been beholden to us? Probably some if not all. I hate it when the shoe is on the other foot, especially when I'm the left foot.

It's a very unsettling feeling when you know you have no control over your future but lots of other people do. The fact that I'm going to be in this bad place with millions of other people only makes it worse. I need to come up with a back-up plan and fast. That would be a back-up plan everyone else hasn't already thought of. The problem is I'm tired of racking my brain, I've done that for the last 45 years of my career.

Retirement should not mean having to rack your brain, Dennis Hopper told me so, sitting on that chair in the middle of the desert surrounded by blue sky. I want what he has, is that too much too ask?

The End of Another Olympic Era

2010-02-27T19:21:00.000-08:00

OK, not an era really but my guess is there are a number of gold/silver/bronze medal winners this year who will not be back. Still...good luck to anyone trying to beat Apolo Ohno's total medal record of 8! Good luck to anyone who thinks they are ever going to think up a new stunt before Shaun White does. Good luck to anyone trying to beat Norway in the Nordic events. Good luck to anyone who thinks they can out ski jump the Austrians.

Then, of course, there's the huge Curling event. Who would have ever thought there would be cheering for a bunch of people huddled around big round stones sliding down the ice slowly toward a stationary target? Sorry, I still can't bring myself to cheer for that one. Probably because the participants don't look like they are any more excited than someone who has to drink that foul-tasting crap prior to a colonoscopy.

Still, you get sort of addicted to watching people who are the best at something, with some obvious exceptions like tennis, golf and bowling. Then, when after a few weeks all of a sudden it's over, you feel lost. It seems like you've been cut loose, sort of like your toys have been taken away. You turn on the tv and there's nothing on, or at least nothing that compares to all that happens in an Olympic season. The miracles are always amazing.

So, enjoy the last 24 hours. Next stop, London, England from July 27th to August 12th, 2012.

Milestones - Landmarks - Celebrations

2010-02-24T22:06:00.000-08:00

Tonight we watched Kara turn 30, technically at 4:36 PM. She was surrounded by family and friends, and after she got over the shock...it was all good. What does that make me, you ask? Older but who cares, every year I get older I get closer to retirement and that makes me happy. Could someone please speed up the clock? Please?

Sunny Disposition

2010-02-20T16:43:00.000-08:00

Every day when we wake up, we have the opportunity to make a choice to be pleasant/happy or to be difficult/depressed. This is based on the fact that "Man" is considered superior to animals due to our ability to reason.

In other words, YOU DECIDE PEOPLE, EVERYDAY!

When our cat gets up in the morning you can count on consistency in her behavior; she is simply happy to have you pet her, talk to her and feed her. This behavior never varies unless she is ill or in pain, which is completely understandable.

Yet when certain people get up in the morning, they are either always negative including every mannerism, comment, attitude or behavior that accompanies that, or they are of the Jekyll/Hyde mentality where you never know what you're going to get until you get blasted. It's enough to make you want to work in a glass bubble with no one else ever allowed in.

And these comments don't even venture into the world of human murderers, rapists, etc. because it's my post and I don't want to. But I will say, how common is it in the animal kingdom for one animal to simply hunt other animals for no other reason then just to kill them? I know I'm going down a slippery slope here because the males of some species will fight each other, sometimes to the death over the rights to a certain female (bad way to start a relationship to my way of thinking) or "ownership" of a specific geographic area. For the most part though, they are killing for survival, or at least due to their definition of survival.

There are no animal suicide bombers killing hundreds or thousands of others and there are no animals who get some kind of compensation for cold-blooded killing of other animals, except maybe for T-Rex who seemed to simply be angry all the time and intent upon killing (and eating for the most part) any animal form in his vicinity.

So, explain to me again how we are superior to anyone or anything? I'm just not getting it.

A Weekend Full of Greats

2010-02-14T17:38:00.001-08:00

What a fabulous weekend! We had a great time at the Tacoma Museum of Glass and saw some great glass blowing - they made it look ridiculously easy. We saw some amazingly great glass sculptures, including an entire gallery full of glass sculpture fashioned after the drawings of children. They select a new one each month and the child and their family is invited to come watch them create the the real thing from the child's drawing. In fact, the child has to approve what they do.

The main exhibit was glass based on the Native American heritage of the featured artist, Preston Singletary. I can't imagine how he made some of the pieces, they were like totems of glass, with the tallest probably about 7 feet tall. And for such a young man, he had at least a hundred pieces displayed. He must never sleep.

The hotel we stayed at, Hotel Murano, was really great. Every floor features a display of the glass art of a different artist along with photographs of their work in progress. There are 25 floors in the hotel. And of course, there is glass everywhere in the lobby and lounge, even at the front of the registration desk. Our room on the 16th floor (displaying a melted-looking glass bowling pin arched over a glass bowling ball) overlooked Puget Sound. Fabulous room, fabulous hotel.

Last night we went to dinner at a funky little place right on the Sound called Harbor Lights. We got there around 5:15 and there was already a 15 minute wait. When we ate, we could see why. When we left, there were no parking spaces to be had and it was like an obstacle course just getting around people to leave. Yet another great experience.

We not only had tickets to the museum, we also bought tickets to blow our own glass at a nearby privately-owned studio called Tacoma Glass Blowing Studio. That experience was beyond great. We each made our own pieces this morning, both of which will be shipped to us thiscoming Thursday. It was so much fun we're trying to figure out when we could do it again and who we might invite to go along. I made a feather design while Mike made a twist design. In both cases you grab the hot glass with large tweezers and manipulate it to leave awesome designs inside the glass. We can't wait to get them.

Then we drove to Alderbrook Resort and Spa for a late breakfast. We were seated in a table looking out at Hood Canal and the sun came out while we were there. After breakfast/lunch, we walked out the pier to get closer to the water and look up and down the canal. We're hoping to be able to stay there over a weekend sometime in the not too distant future.

This entire Valentine's weekend was not just great...it was magic.

Visiting a Glass House

2010-02-12T19:59:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow we'll be here...>

Watching artists do this...

To make these...>

Similar to the work of someone who became world famous at this very oven...

And if we're very lucky something lovely will follow us back home:)

Giving vs. Keeping

2010-02-08T19:59:00.000-08:00

On my favorite CBS "Sunday Morning" show this week they included a segment about a family who sold their large, expensive home, moved into a more modest home, and donated their entire proceeds ($800,000) to a world hunger organization.

They had determined that if everyone in the world gave as much as they possibly could to this cause, it would literally solve the global dilemma of starvation.

This was a family with 2-3 kids who were teenager to middle school age and all of them felt very strongly about this. I consider this an example of putting your money where your mouth is, of the actions of one influencing many, as an act of supreme unselfishness.

It was very motivational and inspiring. I'm also curious to know how many it "influenced" to do something similar. I'm tempted to send CBS an e-mail asking for a follow-up on that in a few months. In the meantime, there are more than enough "causes" to go around, world hunger being just one of them.

This post could quickly become overwhelming just due to the scope of the subject matter so I'll end with this. I'm hopeful this will be the beginning of a very positive, widespread and beneficial movement for the betterment of our fellow human beings around the planet.

Hallmark Holidays

2010-02-06T17:09:00.000-08:00

I'm trying to think back to the holidays that actually existed, and were celebrated, before Hallmark was invented. Let's see. That would be New Year's, Christmas, Thanksgiving, 4th of July, Memorial Day, Labor Day and Veteran's Day I believe. All of which are centered around either war, religion or turning over a new leaf. I'm not counting the pseudo holidays only celebrated by the government and heavily regulated businesses like President's Day (the consolidation of two president's birthdays), Veteran's Day or MLK Day. Then there are the really lame holidays like Good Friday because that is strictly religious and mixing that with the "state" (government) is a big "no-no" you know.

Now to list all the holidays created solely for the purpose of spending money on cards, and maybe candy. Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, Easter (ok, I admit I almost forgot there is a religious aspect to that one as long as you forego the baskets, chicks, rabbits and candy), Mother's Day, Father's Day and Halloween (is this considered religious?). I haven't even mentioned Boss's Day, Administrative Assistant Day, etc. I know I'm forgetting some but they must be even more far-fetched than those I do remember.

I wonder what it would take to create new holidays that would actually catch on? If you think about it, we don't really have any good holidays in either June or August, the rest of the months are pretty much covered. Why not have a Rose Holiday, that would fall sometime in June to celebrate thorny fragrance? Then for August it would have to be a Sun Holiday because that is the one month when you can pretty much count on having some regardless of where you are in the country.

I'm up for a better idea but if the goal is to have at least one holiday per month, we have fallen short by two months and someone had better get on it. No time like the present (no pun intended) to start a new trend. After all, I'm sure the Hallmark and Sees Candies people are hurting what with fewer holidays than there are months in the year. At least that is as good a reason as any to have to start inventing new card slogans. I'd rather name new nail polish any day. Who says I don't have lofty goals?

The View From The Inside

2010-01-31T15:39:00.000-08:00

Inside where, you ask? The Emergency Room, I say. I'm becoming quite uncomfortably familiar with Emergency Rooms these days. If it's not one parent, it's another or if it's not one child, it's another. We'll have to head back to the hospital once the surgeon finishes with the surgery he is currently performing so we can talk to him to find out exactly what he will be doing for and to M's mom and when. Now that she has been admitted, we decided to take a couple of hours to gather her stuff from her apartment that she'll need and get a few things done here.

The more time I spend in a hospital environment, the more I have to be impressed with the fact there are people (strangers) who are willing to deal with all the ugliness of the health issues for me and for those I love.

Just think about the fact that on any given shift a CNA or a Nurse Practioner or an RN or an MD hear a litany of complaints, many of which come from people who I'm sure think they are in more pain than anyone else. Or how many bedpans they have to deal with or how many IV's they have to start or how many times they have to try to bring someone back from the dead? Through it all they have to remain composed, empathetic but not get emotionally involved, professional but caring; it's quite the balance. You don't see me raising my hand, that's for sure.

I guess what I'm trying to say is we're fortunate we have people in this world who are willing to give of themselves to care for others, not just here in nice clean and efficient hospitals but abroad in places like Haiti and Southeast Asia where there is nothing clean or efficient about the environment and they actually put themselves in jeopardy.

When I step back to think about it, I feel small, inconsequential and very selfish. Regardless, I still don't think I could do it. I can't even watch the Special Olympics without crying.

What Will They Come Up With Next?

2010-01-27T21:13:00.000-08:00

OK, whew, we can all breathe a sigh of relief and keep the schools open for just one more year because we passed another tax increase this year. Don't get me wrong, I voted for it too. But here's my beef. Every year there's something that requires us to raise taxes and generally schools fall into the mix. I can't remember a year when the schools weren't having to cut back, lay off staff, close down, etc. Where the hell is all the money going? I want someone to tell me? But no one does, they just keep asking for more.

Mike says the news is saying the last tax increase we voted on was in 2002 and before that it was 1930, that's a bunch of hooey. This has happened again and again. They must only be referring to one particular tax vote like the one for business. This has been a repeat performance, I don't care what they say.

If I were a mathematician, I'm sure I could determine how many more years of tax increases it would take before none of us could afford to live in Oregon. You can't keep raising taxes every year, is there no where else to get money for schools? Where is the lottery money going besides to everyone else but me? We have property taxes and we have income taxes, neither of which are low percentages by any means. And we have taxes on just about every service and "luxury" product that exists. The ONLY tax we don't have is a sales tax and the only reason we don't have that one is that would be just one tax too many and they can't get it through a vote.

At some point, I feel like we are going to be paying someone just to work. Bizarre. It's like everything is slowly turning on its head or maybe it's just on my head. Where does it all end?

Organized in Containers

2010-01-24T21:43:00.000-08:00

Today I went into The Container Store for the first time. I got so excited I wanted to climb into one of those compartmentalized contraptions. You could literally organize your thoughts in that place, it was amazing. But I held firm, I went in there for two things and I only got three (ok, I barely overdid it).

Now my tea is completely organized and one of my kitchen cupboards actually has empty space in it (unheard of). The playroom is now minus a basket and a box and with just one more trip to The Container Store, I think another box and toys on the floor will be gone.

I'm loving this so I need to closely monitor my growing obsession. I guess there are worse ones.

And The Winner Is...

2010-01-21T16:13:00.000-08:00

I think I'm competing for the Guiness World Book of Records for an ongoing sinus infection. I first noticed it on Christmas night so that was December 25th. That means it lasted for 7 days in 2009. It has yet to clear up in 2010 and just last Sunday kicked back in with a vengance. That means it has been running for 21 days in 2010.

So in total, I've been dealing with this crap for the last 28 days and yes, I have used at least this much kleenex. So much for seeing if I could get over it myself, at least I've been on antibiotics since Tuesday. I'm banking on those killing off all those filthy, little, buggy germs running around in my injured/swollen nasal cavity.

It's either that or just surgically remove my nose from my face and believe me I'm very close to that. I could at least eliminate kleenex expense from then on. The visual just isn't pretty though, I know.

Now, of course, the crud is starting to creep back into my lungs, the inevitable path of disease in my experience. My voice sounds like it's being pulled out of me by force, against my will with a sharp object. Not only that, it makes me very tired just trying to get some sound out. The answer - lots and lots of tea. I love tea. Nevertheless, tea every hour on the hour has not provided the cure so I'll keep hacking away at it.

This lady looks like she enjoys tea and like her nose has seen better days too. I can relate.

Life In The Not-So-Fast Lane

2010-01-17T10:05:00.000-08:00

I know January is typically the month of New Year's resolutions so in keeping with the fashionable trends, I've decided I'm going to make every effort to slow down my life in terms of overcommitments.

So, you ask, how am I doing so far? Let's just say I have yet to actually begin this effort. Considering everything involved with work this year, not to mention all the stuff I hope to have happen outside of work, this will be the supreme challenge for me. If I'm successful, it will be magic. Today I have great hopes I can do this, the question is, how long can I keep those hopes up.

Basically it means I can't waste any time for the entire year. Every hour will need to have a purpose. I think that's okay if it means I can keep a little more sanity than I was able to last year. The ultimate test will be whether I can get through the entire year without getting sick. Inevitably, sometime around Christmas or year-end, I contract whatever is going around because I've been burning the candle at all four ends (I love that visual) and it finally gets the better of me. I'm confident I can improve my time efficiency.

The other challenge will be for me to succeed at this without pissing off everyone around me. The more I think about it, the more excited I am to give this a try.

Essentially, I feel this is necessary to prepare me for retirement so I will be able to move forward without looking back with any regrets whatsoever. The only danger in all this is that whenever I've felt I was on track with my life over the years, something has inevitably occurred that threw me for a loop. I'll need to be as flexible and agile as an Avatar to avoid that kind of derailing over the next 3 1/2 years.

I love that I have this kind of positive energy on a very, rainy, dreary day in January, it's very encouraging. I just have to maintain this regardless of what occurs to the contrary.

LOVE in LV

2010-01-07T19:15:00.000-08:00

It's official, we are going to see the Cirque du Soleil show, The Beatles "Love" on Monday night while we're in Las Vegas. I'm really looking forward to it. My favorite music as portrayed by my favorite human circus, I'm sure you can't think of a better way to spend a few hours.

Maybe watching the incredibly flexible and fit but oddly-costumed talent performing in this show will provide me with the inspiration I need to get myself back in shape. Something has to inspire me.

I'm fully prepared to fall in love with "Love".

Gunfight at the Not O.K. Corral

2010-01-06T19:24:00.001-08:00

I REALLY have no time for this so it will be very quick. I just have one word to say... anger ball. Okay, two words but my question is why is there so much anger in the world right now that repeatedly takes the form of gunfire. People getting shot/killed in health clinics, people getting shot/killed in museums, people getting shot/killed in shopping malls, people getting shot/killed at school, people getting killed in their own homes, people even getting shot/killed in NBA locker rooms.

People may be out of jobs, they may be in significant debt, they may not be able to pay their bills, they may be going hungry, but they always seem to be able to afford guns. Yep, guns and cigarettes seem to always be around regardless of circumstances, no matter how low they go. What does this say about our so-called civilized society that these two repulsive items have become the mainstay of existence for so many people? Nothing good, that's for sure.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, I'm so glad those who went before, the Benjamin Franklins, the Thomas Jeffersons, the Abraham Lincolns, the FDR's, can't see us now. I wish I didn't have to but the only way to avoid hearing about this crap is to crawl into a hole. I'm still not quite there but I'm getting awfully close.

Winding Down The Year

2009-12-28T17:50:00.001-08:00

The last few days I haven't felt that great so I've watched almost every old movie ever made, some of which I've never seen or heard of, which is amazing. It's been nice to stay out of the hectic rigamarole of life for a few days, tucked cozily into the house with a soothing old, b&w movie running in the background maybe with a little Perry Mason sandwiched in the middle.

Tomorrow though I'm jumping back into it. At least the traffic is ultra-light this week, which makes work less stressful from the get go. Still with health care legislation having been announced, I know my work life is going to become frenzied. I received notice of another one of our high performers giving their notice today. I guess the fact that I lived through 2009 and if I can survive 2010, I can make it through anything.

I just overheard a commercial that talked about, "hotel sheets giving you the creeps". Where do they come up with this stuff? This is decidedly one of the pitfalls of watching the old movie channels, the commercials are full of $19.99 infomercials that will throw in their firstborn "absolutely free"!

"Napoleon and Samantha" is on the Hallmark Channel right now. It's the only movie plot I know of about an old, throw away lion. I don't typically watch this channel, it's a little too family friendly for me but this movie stars Jodie Foster when she was about 5 or 6 (maybe older, she was so tiny it was hard to tell) and she was just too cute. However, I'm quite certain this was the last time she was amenable to wearing ruffles. Just watching her run down the road was a riot.

I guess I'll go watch it for awhile rather than just listen to it from afar.

A Month's Hiatus

2009-12-27T14:31:00.001-08:00

What is it about December that causes your normal and orderly life to fall by the wayside? Is it the decorating? Is it the Christmas letter/card preparation and mailing? Is it the gift shopping and buying? Is it the gift wrapping? Is it the watching of every Christmas movie I own? Is it the food shopping and prep? Is it the holiday events like plays or concerts? Is it the parties both at my house and theirs? Or is it the jammed noses (direct contact with my 3-year old grandson's head) combined with the sinus infection? Somehow I think it's all of the above.

What I'm saying is that the last month has excluded; exercising other than a few haphazard attempts, the appropriate diet which was replaced with a completely inappropriate diet, zero trips to my parents's house, reading, keeping adequate track of calendar events and obviously posting any blogs.

So, rather than waiting for the new year to restart my normal activities, I'm using this lazy day to get my writing urge rebooted.

I think I'll talk about what's happening now, as we come to the end of 2009.

Supposedly we have some kind of health care legislation that has been passed. You'll notice I left out the word "reform". As far as I can tell, Congress managed to avoid reforming health care by simply spending a buttload of money to simply expand the overly expensive, lower quality version we have across more people. The fact that I work in the field of health care means this bill will undoubtedly have some kind of an effect on our business, I just don't know what that will be just yet.

So many beloved, or at least famous people, passed away this year:

Jennifer Jones, Andrew Wyeth, Walter Cronkite, Michael Jackson, Farah Fawcett, Ricardo Montalban, Natasha Richardson, Gene Barry, Patrick Swayze, Frank McCourt and Andrew Wyeth...

We also lost Jack Kemp, Al Martino, Enunice Shriver, Edward Kennedy, Soupy Sales and Mary Travers, to name just a few.

While we have avoided the excessive snow of a year ago, it is a bitterly cold wind that has been blowing through and encourages us to stay indoors by a cozy fire. I'm just hopeful our trees all stay standing here unlike those in the immediate vicinity of the beach house. One daughter will welcome the New Year in Kentucky. Another will be with her husband and their two babies, one of whom will be celebrating his first, New Year's that is. Our oldest daughter will be celebrating her first New Year's as a married woman and our son will probably be fighting fires on his.

The new year promises to be challenging and exciting with new experiences to enjoy. Work will be work but I need to be sure I focus on outside interests as much as possible just to stay sane.

I guess you could call that my New Year's resolution. Happy 2010!

Omigod

2009-11-28T09:18:00.000-08:00

I'm probably the last to hear there is a swell of support building for Dick Cheney as a presidential candidate in the next election. If this isn't the strongest possible indicator of the lack of intelligence AND common sense of our vast right wing population, I don't know what is. If this is even a vague possibility, I am ashamed to claim my nationality as an American.

This is a man who has no interest in the plight or interests of Americans, and admits it. This is a man who was busy building up pointless and futile war activity for the last eight years and literally breaking the bank which magically caught up with us immediately upon his leaving office. Meanwhile, he made millions (if not more) off the government contracts with Halliburton, in which he has a major financial interest. But of course, THAT wasn't a conflict of interest. The guy lives in a flack vest where literally everything bounces off, including accountability, guilt and conscience.

If the educated, sane segment of the American population doesn't have the balls to stave off this kind of activity, or equally bad some aspect of a Palin/Cheney ticket, this country will deserve what it gets and I will truly HATE living here.

Don't Rain On My Parade

2009-11-26T08:18:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving means different things to different people. I look around my neighborhood and know for some it is just another day like any other. I drive by the mission on Grand Avenue and know there is line of hopefuls believing they will get something better than soup handed to them today. Then I see houses down the street where there are 10-12 cars bringing extended family together. The latter will be similar to my version of this holiday.

People frequently talk about the excess of food and drink that occurs on this particular holiday. They also talk about the eternal football games that are the perfect backdrop for naps after the gluttony of dinner. However, slowly but surely parades are beginning to grow in popularity. I don't know, they represent times of innocence to me, like "Miracle on 34th Street" when the right to believe in Santa Claus was the hot topic. They aren't video games, they aren't computer applications, they aren't boob tube programs, they are old-fashioned events where people walk for miles to entertain the crowds. Yes, most of us only see them on tv, but you catch my drift.

I've decided not to indulge myself in the Black Friday mahem that tomorrow will bring. If I don't have to work, why in the world would I want to get up at the crack of dawn? Maybe when I'm retired (I'm saying that alot these days) but not when sleep is so precious. It's almost like that's when my real life will begin...I hope.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Whose Fault Is It Anyway?

2009-11-23T19:43:00.000-08:00

I could just as easily have called this post, "Accountability" but I think the word is over-used, not the concept mind you, only that particular word. It seems like as tension increases, stress increases, money gets tight, people lose their jobs and bank balances decline, most if not all people are busy trying to figure out who to blame. Because it sure as heck can't be their fault, right? They didn't vote for the last president (twice), and they didn't invest their 401(k) balances in the most risky funds, and they never overspent their budget or overcommitted their income so one of their predicaments could be their fault.

Parts of their bodies may atrophy over time, as they spend more and more time sitting at a computer or in front of the "boob" tube or video games, but it will never be the case with their index fingers because they are way too busy pointing them at others.

And not only are they busy pointing their fingers away from themselves, but people become defensive if you even begin to mention the fact that some of their issues were self-actualized. I call it defensive to the death. They will go to great lengths to prove they weren't wrong, but that everyone else was.

These same people are so closed-minded that there is no viable way you can explain reality to them, their reality truly is that they are always right and the rest of the world is simply out to get them. They have a true victim-mentality with a capital "V".

Personally, I can't imagine being perfect. In fact if I think back, I can't think of a single day when I haven't made a mistake, in fact usually more than one. It may have been in the form of turning the wrong way on a street, getting in the wrong line at the grocery store, paying too much for something, giving the wrong answer to someone, missing a deadline, being late for a meeting, you name it, I've done it and will undoubtedly continue to do so.

The thing that really amazes me about all this is that it's quite liberating to admit you're wrong. It's almost like you can't move on until you do. Just imagine having all those unaddressed mistakes piling up in your subconscious until you eventually lose your mind (or your cool at a minimum), with the pure weight of them. Fortunately I'll never lose my mind for that reason, although I'm certain I can find others.

Life is a Drag

2009-11-19T20:40:00.000-08:00

I remember when this comment was the "in" thing to say but I was never really sure what it meant. Right now though with everything going on, I think I finally get it. Between work and work and oh yea, work, it's a real drag. The closer I get to seeing hundreds of people retire, the draggier it gets.

I was just counting how many weekends there are until Christmas, yikes! Not nearly enough would be the answer. It's like time has become quicksand and I'm having trouble staying on my feet. I'm starting to sound like a hopeless case, I'm not, I just need to get one of my numerous projects "across the goal line", to reuse an overused metaphor. Too many things started but not finished drives me bananas.

So, of course, I need to get to one of the many.

On My Own & Loving It

2009-11-15T20:44:00.000-08:00

The house is quiet, I can play whatever tv show or movie I want, I can eat or not when I want, I can not get dressed all day, I can do the laundry when I want, I can workout when I want. Hm, there seem to be alot of "I wants" here.

I guess that wraps it up! At least for the next two days.

Getting To Know You

2009-11-10T21:22:00.001-08:00

Have you ever simply sat with a friend and gone through pictures representing the last 30 years of their lives? I just did that with a friend I only get to see about once a year and I feel like I know her so much better as a result. See, it is worthwhile to take all those photos and organize them in such a way that you can still remember 30 years later where you were and why. In the space of two hours we traveled to Italy/Tuscany, Greece, Spain, The Baltic Countries and in various Oregon places. It was a great evening.

Just ask Deborah Kerr, she recommended this kind of evening musically about 50 years ago.

Berlin Wall = Epiphany

2009-11-09T19:07:00.000-08:00

One evening in 1967 when I was 16, I remember watching Walter Cronkite CBS news when he shared a story of a 16 year old boy who had tried that day to escape from East Germany (Communist) to West Germany (Democracy) by crawling under the barbed wire fence. You see, in some places along the border between the two countries, the wall was composed of barbed wire. That was how the Germans lived, with that obvious division of their country.

Unfortunately, he was spotted by one or more of the East German guards who promptly shot him when he was halfway across. But of course, they didn't kill him. So he laid there crying out for help while bystanders (whoever they were) stood by and watched him slowly bleed to death, knowing they would end up in the same condition if they tried to help him.

As I listened to Cronkite relay this story, I was immediately transported to that field where I could feel the grass under my body and the barbed wire above me, grabbing at my clothes, slowing me up. He was my age and now he was dead. This story hit me really hard, I was crying and I was very vocal about how I felt saying to the room at large, "The world is going to hell (you need to understand my parent's had a no-swearing-allowed home)."

My dad immediately proceeded to yell at me, saying I didn't know what I was talking about and I had no business talking like that. He tried to shut me up while insisting I believe his particular version of the establishment's dogma (that's how we thought back then). Well, I was having none of it then and am having none of it now. We fought pretty much every night about whatever I said, if he said, "Black", I said "White", that's just the kind of dysfunctional relationship we had.

This morning when I heard my husband say it was the 20th anniversary of Berlin Wall being destroyed, today (this is where the epiphany comes in) I realized that single event had been the turning point for me in becoming my own person. From that point on I believed what I believed and followed my own heart. In fact, I would go so far as to say if my parents supported something (like Nixon for President) my views would be at the opposite end of the spectrum and still are. I realized that as an American I was getting fed just as much propaganda as any communist country and wasn't going to sit back and accept that.

So why didn't our history books cover our disgusting and unforgiveable treatment of non-Caucasian races like the Japanese internment camps for instance, why didn't our history lessons cover our complete and total annihilation of Native Americans, why didn't our history professors admit that our form of democracy wasn't "invented" by our forefathers but instead they pirated the same approach to government that was used by those same Native Americans who had been living here for countless years before we intruded upon their territory. The list goes on and on. Are kids today being told the whole truth, in all it's garish ugliness?

I watch so many of the young people of today sit back and accept whatever pablum they're given by the press and/or their religious leaders. Bad things come to those who meekly accept and don't question. Bad things that can take all sorts of forms. I hope I'm wrong and there's more backbone out there than is obvious.

Scrapped Memories

2009-11-08T19:35:00.000-08:00

I'm in the midst of capturing 4"x 6" snaps of all the countries crowded around the Baltic Sea as viewed last August. I keep telling myself I shouldn't make up these books full of photos and associated memorabilia, instead I should keep it all on a disc. However, the fact of the matter is, it's no fun to sit at the laptop and look at photographs with no accompanying captions or touristy books or postcards purchased at that site. I seem to need to be able to have this pictorial representation or all is not right with the world.

There are really only two problems with this approach. One is that I'm completely out of room to store them. The second is that it takes me a month of Sundays to get them done. I suppose the cost of all the stuff should be thrown in there somewhere but that's a distant third. The really irritating part of this is everytime I buy a scrapbook and then try to purchase additional pages for it, the scrapbook companies pull this crap on you and flip back and forth between two and three-hole punched versions. This of course means that I'm sitting here with a book now and no refill pages to complete it. As Lucy would say, "Agh!"

It won't be that many years before I'll be unable to take these great vacations. I figure at that point I'll have these beautiful books to pull into my lap and let them take me back to the high points of these special trips of a lifetime.

So, it's back to the scrapbook grind, to try to make a little more progress.

Is It Fraud or Just F**k the Consumer

2009-11-02T20:34:00.000-08:00

So, I get a voice mail from my mail order pharmacy telling me there's a problem with my credit card (Chase). This has happened a number of times before when their fraud unit decided the amount or nature of the purchase being requested was "out of the ordinary" and they insisted they had to talk to me before they would let it process. This has been a pain in the you-know- where each time and I've done everything I could do to give them comfort that these purchases are all mine.

In this case, I gave this credit card information to my mail order pharmacy at the beginning of the year (when I was stupid enough to enroll in the HSA Plan). They send my prescriptions every 90 days or so, which means they have used this same card each time. Well, sure enough last Friday I got another one of these calls on a prescription that I'm now out of (requested it a week ago) and this delayed it even more.

So this morning I got up an hour early to try to go into work early but ended up on the phone between the pharmacy and the credit card company during the entire stinking "extra" hour.

I ended up just giving the pharmacy another credit card number. When I called the customer service number on the back of the credit card it immediately routed to their Fraud unit and I was immediately suspicious. The lady who finally answered informed me that someone had told them that my card had been compromised so the account had to immediately be closed and any charges that came in on it were denied. Hence the pharmacy's experience and apparently there was another charge where the same thing happened but I haven't figured out yet what charge that was.

My boiling point had now been reached when I said, "So when were you going to tell me about this?" She fumbled around for a minute then said, "Oh there is a letter in the mail." I said, "And in the meantime, I look like I don't pay my bills as I blissfully use a card that YOU have closed without notifying me." I said, "So who reported this fraud because it wasn't me?" Of course, she couldn't tell me that, only that it might have been any one of a number of people or groups.

Then she says, "New cards for a new account will be issued to you." I said, "No, they won't." "I now have to figure out all the vendors I need to notify that this account number is closed and I guarantee once I've done that, I will not be using it again." Then she says, "Oh, we don't want you to close your account over this." I said, "Too bad, I just went through a similar nightmare with this a year ago when my bank closed my checking account (one of 500,000 accounts who experienced the same thing) without any notice to me and I had charges bouncing all over the place." (In that case it was 2 1/2 weeks before I even got "the letter".) "I WILL NOT GO THROUGH THAT AGAIN!"

Can I just say, "I HATE BANKS!"

Short But Sweet

2009-11-01T15:08:00.000-08:00

Maybe I should have called this "Misconceptions" instead but I only have two things to say. First, who would have ever thought just listening to two pro basketball players could make me cry? Well, when Larry Bird and Magic Johnson talked about their close friendship that's exactly what happened. Apparently they have co-written a book to tell those who are interested about their shared basketball experience.

I don't know that I'll read the book but their story on Sunday Morning moved me to the point of tears, especially when Magic himself cried.

I'm reading a different book now about why the pyramids were built. It doesn't matter where the ancient edifices are located, it appears in this book like they were all built for the same reason: to produce energy. I'm just barely into the first 20 pages of the book but if this is indeed the case, your next question should be , how did all these different people on continents thousands of miles away from each other in different centuries know to do this?

It's an intriguing thought that I seriously doubt we'll ever be able to answer. Although, we are able to determine many more ancient facts now than we could 20 years ago. I would imagine in another 10 or 20 years there will be new discoveries that would boggle my mind if I knew of them today.

Off The Road Again

2009-10-26T19:43:00.001-07:00

Last night was the first Sunday in three weeks I didn't have to pack a bag for the purpose of leaving town. Yay! I can tell you I won't be signing up for a traveling salesperson's job any time soon.

I have a hodge podge brain tonight so that's what's flowing from my fingers. I formally quit my piano lessons tonight. That makes me sad but I finally realized I just don't have time to practice and study music like I need to in order to truly progress. I feel a little like a failure, which bothers me a great deal but I was already feeling that way each week when I was making so little, if any, progress on my assignments. I think my teacher and I were equally frustrated so this is better for everyone. OK, no more dwelling.

Since I got back last Thursday night, I've watched a couple of exotic car auctions on tv. It blows my mind that in October 2009 there are people who have the money to pay more than $1MM for a Shelby GT racing car considering this economy. So where did they have their money for the last year, under their mattress? A '69 Camaro just sold for $290,000. And there are hundreds more cars like this, the cheapest I've seen go so far is $80,000 for a '60 something Jaguar. One of the limos that drove JFK sold for $500,000. Who are these people? At least it was a fundraiser for cancer research. It made it feel somewhat less hedonistic.

I guess it's truly an economy that reflects the have's and the have not's. Those that have, just keep on having more and more. It is good to see them sharing with those less fortunate under the circumstances though.

There are some crazy Halloween parties going on. I don't have math or science brain cells and I also don't have creative brain cells that can come up with a Halloween costume idea or how to construct the reality. So what does that leave me, some literature, history and trivia cells that run right down the middle of my brain I guess and never go to Halloween parties.

Well, I have some weights downstairs calling my name so I'm going to exit stage left.

On The Road Again

2009-10-11T18:26:00.000-07:00

I leave tomorrow again and will be gone until Thursday night. I'm already tired just thinking about it.

On another note, do you ever wonder what you'll be like when you're older. I know, I'm already old but I'm talking about being even older like 70 or 80. I'm hoping I'll be able to keep things in perspective and not get carried away by the fact that I'm old. The more I see of the elderly who are able to do this, the more impressed I am with their broad view of things.

You know how easy it is to get caught up in your own life, just imagine how much easier it will be when your "life" or your "world" shrinks down to whatever is within walking distance. Like that time of life when you rely far too heavily on what your friend or neighbor says or what the tv (heaven forbid) reports because they are the only ones you hear. Scary. I have to think about this and how I can prevent it from happening to me.

Let's face it, none of us will be happily or even blissfully taking care of ourselves in our own homes right up until the end unless we die young so this is something I need to ponder and plan for.

But I do love a challenge (as long as it isn't work-related). I just hope I'm not still working at that age. That thought is REALLY depressing.

Take A Load Off

2009-10-09T19:58:00.000-07:00

I'm in the mode right now where work is sucking all the content out of my brain so there's nothing left to inspire a clever and elucidating blog. So I guess I'll just have to unload whatever is on top.

I got two hugs from employees over the last couple of days. One was from someone who will be retiring in the next month and a half or so. I'm envious to put it mildly, not just of her taking that first step but also of her courage to step far outside her comfort zone and truly begin a brand new phase of her life.

The second hug was from someone who was so happy with a change we made to our program she just had to hug me. The change was going to mean she and her husband could both afford to get what they needed now, so she was supremely happy.

Right now I'm reading a book called, "Outliers", three guesses what it's about and the first two don't count. It is interesting and I guess they've truly completed sufficient research to make the claims they do but it's still wierd and I need to think about it more before I can totally buy in.

My grandson, who is 3, was in the mood for comparisons tonight (he's staying overnight with Grammie & Papa Mike). He was looking at the fiber optic pumpkins and haunted house and wanted to know if they were all the same. I kept trying to tell him he house was really different but the other two were similar to each other. But he kept asking the same questions over and over again, is that one like that one and that one like that one. Finally I said yes, they are the same. Then he said, no they are similar. They learn in the strangest ways.

He has developed a very strong affection for Mozart, to the extent I think I'm going to have to get him some of his music and probably practice some so I can play it for him too. I don't know any other 3 year olds who hum Mozart. I take that as a sign of appreciation and enjoyment that needs to be rewarded.

Was Summer REALLY Here?

2009-10-03T08:10:00.000-07:00

At this point, it seems like Summer never really happened. It's not that I'm tired of the rain or gray days yet, although that will come almost immediately. It's more that I have absolutely no memory of it being Summer this year. The weather wasn't that bad and it's not about that. It's more of a feeling or a euphoria that comes with Summer each year. That's when it's warm, blue skies, long days, lazy hours, outdoor events like sports to watch or participate in, it's the time you generally take a deep breath and say life is good. Maybe I did that but not that I recall.

It's been more about rush here, rush there, work long hours, worry about work, worry about the future, even though we took a nice trip the weather was not typical of summer because we were so far north. I think all of this bundled together pretty much eliminated or overrode the 2009 Summer season for me. We are finally going to a Timbers playoff soccer game tomorrow afternoon, our first one this year and it's October for heaven's sakes.

What that means is all of a sudden in September you're faced with the fact there are only three more months to Christmas. I travel the next three weeks so that means October is shot which really means there is only a month and a half until Christmas. Holy cow! The nice thing for me is I will get to see Kenny Loggins & Jim Messina in concert on the last night of the trip in Salt Lake City. For an old codger like me, that's cool!

Speaking of Christmas, how tacky is it to recycle Christmas cards from the last six or seven years? I guess I'll find out because I have saved the extras each year and I've decided this is the year to deplete that large Nordstrom box. I guess as long as the letter changes, the cards don't really matter. They are merely a receptacle for the letters.

Wait a minute, that means I need to get going on my letter. Maybe I'll work on it while "on the road". Some of my best and most accelerated work takes place in the seat of an airplane where I'm held captive for however long. Yup, that's what I'll do. OK, I have a plan, life is good.

Now I'm going to get ready to celebrate my baby's 32nd birthday by eating and shopping. Everyone's birthday ideal I'm sure.

The Face of This Presidency

2009-10-01T19:54:00.000-07:00

I'm afraid enough time has gone by and we've seen enough consistent activity to say that this president is never going to be allowed to be effective because he was born with the wrong skin color. Am I the only one who sees an eerie and disgusting similarity to the Hitler era?

Maybe it's because I'm almost finished reading "The Book Thief", a story about a young girl in Nazi Germany through the war years. To make it really interesting, the story is artistically narrated by "Death". He/It (I refuse to call it She) becomes fixated on this girl so keeps checking in throughout those years to witness her life experience.

It may sound bizarre but I have to say it's excellent. It's actually written for the teen audience but I'm curious how or if they would really "get it" or care about its message. I could see it being made into a movie except that so much of the story is their thoughts and feelings, not so much dialogue.

On another note, I finished the movie, "The Kite Runner" last night. I guess I'm into foreign lately. Another excellent story of putting others first, living the courage of your convictions, etcetera etcetera etcetera.

This was on the heels of the movie "A Mighty Heart", the story by Daniel Pearl's wife (he was the WSJ reporter taken hostage in Iran and she and an army of others worked (unsuccessfully) to get him released.

It's a story of devotion, courage and tenacity in the face of serious adversity (while pregnant).

All of these have been serious award winners and each story has given me so much to think about. That's the best king of entertainment in my humble opinion. I would highly recommend one and all.

The Mortality of Flowers

2009-09-28T18:13:00.001-07:00

No one loves flowers more than I do. I love them so much that I get them for myself and frequently for others (I even had my 3-year-old grandson pick out a bouquet at Farmer's Market on Saturday...it was red of course). The entire time they are plucky and cheerful I feel good about them and they keep my spirits up but the minute the droops begin, I have to battle the down mood I begin to experience. If I were smart, I'd plant more cutting-type flowers in my garden but those are the types of plants I typically kill so that hasn't seemed to work out.

As it is, the minute I've had to toss one, I want to be able to replace it. However, I've also learned there are good places to shop for flowers and very bad places to shop for flowers. Safeway being my most recent disaster where the bouquet stunk to high heaven when I got it unwrapped and all the mums started to fall apart at a mere touch. Rotten! Fred Meyer isn't much better and Albertson's is a joke. However, Trader Joes has yielded mixed results. The best by far is New Seasons, actually that's only second best to a florist's shop and actually the Farmer's Market is very good as well. Just in case anyone wants to know.

When I see flowers start to droop like the Gerbera daisies in front of me as we "speak", it makes me feel sad similar to how I feel about the stuffed animals left on the aisle floors of department stores after Christmas. Clearly the rejects of the bunch.

I don't know why those abandoned stuffed animals make me sad but they do, I think maybe I'm subconsciously attributing actual personalities to them, like they care. Who knows, maybe flowers and stuffed animals are all valid signs of depression...nah! I just need to establish boundaries around what I should care about and what I shouldn't. These things definitely fall outside those boundaries but how do you change a lifetime of behavior? When the sensitivity gene was handed out, I was given seconds, possibly even a third helping. Pitiful.

Out of Gas

2009-09-25T20:44:00.000-07:00

It's Friday night and just thinking about all the things I have left to do (and it's 8:45) is wearing me out. Of course, am I doing any of them? Well, not at the moment I'm obviously writing important stuff here. This is the time of celebrations, anniversaries, birthdays, weddings, baby accomplishments, replacement of ancient hampers, replacement of gross and ancient bathroom waste baskets, replacement of very tired front door mats, egging on the bouquets for just a few more days, wrapping, wrapping and more wrapping...See, even listing it all out is making me tired.

I need to get up, get the circulation going. Who knows, maybe I can actually still accomplish something tonight.

If Only...

2009-09-23T19:04:00.000-07:00

If only everyone could be just like me. I wouldn't have to worry about people getting their work done, I wouldn't have to worry about people getting along with other people, I wouldn't have to worry about people handling their customers in just the right way, I wouldn't have to listen to arrogant b.....ds who love the sounds of their own voice, I wouldn't have to worry about dealing with control freaks who piss everyone off, I wouldn't have to worry about dealing with hypocrites, I wouldn't have to worry about people taking the feelings of appropriate other people into consideration for whatever the reason, I wouldn't have to remind people to do basic stuff that should have already occurred to them, I would never have to deal with stupidity, meaness, sloppiness, apathy, murderers, rapists, thieves, etc.

OK, now that I've climbed back out of my rat hole, I'll be the first to admit I'm not remotely perfect but I do hold some basic tenants to be true and try my best to live by them. The good old Golden Rule, how many people these days even know what that is? The answer is either not enough or they know it and ignore it. As Charlie Brown would say, "Argh!"

Yea, it was just that kind of day.

Addiction to Sugar vs. Salt

2009-09-22T17:55:00.000-07:00

I have to wonder if salt causes the same addiction as sugar. I know the fact is once you are introoduced to sugar you crave it due to its addictive nature. Just try to stand in the See's candy store and say "no"! That smell of chocolate (and sugar) is heady.

However, in regards to salt, if I eat one potato chip I can't stop. The same thing is true for salted almonds or other nuts. I would even say my inclination to eat and eat he salty things is every bit as strong as it is to sugar. Yet I never hear the same cautionary tales about salt that I do about sugar. Perhaps it's due to the lack of direct caloric impact of salt vs. blood pressure or something similar less sexy. Who knows? All I know is that without sugar and without salt, life would constitute one drab existence. And that's the truth.

Weddings and Wheelchairs

2009-09-21T21:12:00.001-07:00

These actually go well together, especially if you need to fly and stay in a hotel with someone who can't get here under their own steam. Can you say, "express lines", "delivery to the door", "special treatment"...it's all pretty wonderful. And, I didn't have to push it most of the time, at least not in the airport. I'm going to see if I can come up with another wheelchair-eligible trip next Spring. I could quickly get used to "moving to the front of the line".

Just saying...

2009-09-13T19:28:00.000-07:00

if a bunch of backward, narrow-minded states had boycotted a white president's request to speak to school children across America, there would have been an uproar and heads would have rolled, I'm confident of that.

If a legislator of color had called a white president a liar in the middle of a prime time speech to the House, even more heads would have rolled. Truly, the nation would have been outraged.

All I want to know is who the hell do these people think they are. Let our kids make up their own minds. It's not like we were televising a speech by Larry Flynt (although they probably would have let that go) or Charles Manson. For God's sakes, he's the president of this country urging the kids to apply themselves and stay in school. Just how subversive is that on a scale of 1 - 10 you idiots? The Nazi's also restricted access to the truth and any other perspectives for their school children you know...just saying.

I'm already embarrassed at how this asinine country is acting in regards to anything and everything this president does, simply because he's black. Let us recall how we all got into this stinking mess, Obama didn't bring us here, he has spent his entire first months doing nothing but cleaning up the ca ca from the prior 8 years. Is he perfect, I don't know was Bush?

If every single constituent of that jerk Republican who shouted out in the House of Representatives doesn't demand he be recalled then I'm ashamed to call them fellow Americans. He deserves nothing but to be terminated in disgrace.

Period.

Seasonal Observations

2009-09-07T08:00:00.000-07:00

How old are we when we truly learn what the seasons mean? Maybe early grade school I guess. Even then, you have a child's view and don't notice or don't remember the nuances of those parts of the year.

When I think of holly trees filled with holly berries, for instance, I think of December and Christmas. In reality, the birds will have completely emptied the tree of its berries by that time, especially if the ground is covered in snow again this winter. Here it is, early September and I'm looking out the window at a holly tree absolutely filled with red, plump berries. I'm certain I never noticed the timing of this event previously.

It used to be that winter was cold and wet, spring was warmer and wet, summer was sunny and hot and fall was warmish and mostly dry. Now, the weather that used to be "seasonal" spills across all boundaries and seems to go to extremes I simply don't remember from my youth. I don't know how many days we had over 100 degrees this summer but I know one day our backyard thermometer hit 108. I know we had over 2 feet of snow last December, at one time, which is practically unheard of in this part of the country.

There are so many squirrels on our property gathering whatever they are literally all over the place. There obviously aren't enough knotholes for them to hide their stashes so they dig up my plants to bury their treasures instead. They are such irritating rodents.

Spring is still my favorite because that's when life is reborn on the planet (at least in our neck of it). There is nothing more precious than seeing those first green shoots coming out of the limbs of the trees. Even though I love the vibrant colors of summer, it's that awakening from the dreary greyness of winter I most appreciate. Thankfully, this hasn't changed.

Imagine being in a submarine or in the International Space Station, you not only wouldn't have any seasons, you'd have no weather, no temperature fluctuations. Even in the Arctic or the Antarctic I think there are minimal seasonal changes, at least a couple anyway.

Has Everyone Become a Conservative?

2009-09-06T13:00:00.000-07:00

It seems like when Obama was running and even after he won, there was tremendous support for him and for change. I also think he faced more of a mess than any president has seen in recent history (thank you Mr.'s Bush and Cheney). Even though I can't remember Bush actually accomplishing anything intelligent or helpful in his 8 years, I don't remember there being so many critics criticizing absolutely everything he did. The "honeymoon" is definitely over.

Has this country gotten to the point that you can't even come close to pleasing anyone? People I had considered to be liberal Democrats are complaining, people who were on the line are complaining, people who were on the near right and the far right are complaining. I don't know that I've seen any positive comments from anyone. While it seems like Bush was hated but tolerated for being a non-entity, a shallow idiot, a blustering fool; now, it seems like Obama is hated and not tolerated for trying to take some kind of action to address the thousands of issues that are being thrown at him.

I'm honestly not sure he could do anything right if he tried short of magically fixing the economy without spending any money, getting everyone jobs without spending any money, ending terrorism without using the military, providing health care to each citizen without changing anything (not that I totally agree with his ideas on this one), saving our industries regardless of the fact that it's too expensive to produce products here (how many companies have to move offshore for that to become clear). Some say he is trying to do too much but when he turns his back on any one of the country's urgent needs, that faction takes the stage to criticize.

I feel like we're riding in one of those carnival rides that swings all the way to the left then back all the way to the right. We have turned into one schizophrenic country.

Is he perfect and making all the right decisions? No and probably not. Is he moving us forward? Yes. Is he pissing people off in the process? Yes. Do I care? No. Do I want to pay more taxes? No. Do I want to continue to work until I'm 80 because the economy can't get itself out of the tank? Hell, no. Do I have a better idea for how he can turn things around? No. Does anyone? If not, how about showing some support for a change. So much for reaching across the aisle and working together to improve our lot. What a joke.

Always a Retiree's Friend or Relative/Never a Retiree

2009-09-05T16:51:00.000-07:00

Lately I'm feeling very left behind. So many people I know have retired or will be in the next few months. This must be what it's like when you get to an advanced age and your friends all start to die, you look around and think, am I the only one over a certain age still around?

I know that retirement from a commercial sense has been overly glamorized, I know that Dennis Hopper isn't being totally honest when he invites me to visit or even live on the white, sandy beaches where he lives. I know I'll never have my picture on the front of AARP magazine. But I also know those who are retired frequently travel and seem to be doing just fine, to a person.

I think my problem is I started working by babysitting when I was 11 or 12 and beyond, then to picking berries then to working at a movie theater, then bookkeeping (not a fond memory except for Ellie), then B of A and then the rest is history, sort of. If my lousy math is remotely accurate, that means I've been working for the last 47 years and I'm just tired of it, pure and simple. It doesn't help anything that work, budgets, people and the environment in general keeps getting more challenging and just generally obnoxious. I feel like I'd be better able to cope if I were living backwards like Merlin or Benjamin Button so I'd have more energy now than I did when I was younger.

I guess that's why my time off is so very precious. Having a job that eats into my personal time has gone beyond old, especially since it's been that way for so many years. It didn't take much for my husband and friends to talk me out of looking at e-mail while we were on our recent cruise. I was interested in seeing what was going on with the kids but knew if I looked I might also see e-mails from work. I stretched my time off to the very last minute, I even got my first and second ever massages.

But for the time being, I have no options so I just need to keep plugging along. I'm definitely not one of those people who gets "joy" out of their work. But I need to dig deep again this weekend because guess what, I have work that has to get done. Ugh!

What Comes After The "Iron" Curtain?

2009-08-30T05:14:00.000-07:00

After visiting a number of previously termed "iron curtain" countries, my question is what do we call them now? Comparing Russia, Estonia, Poland and Germany (aka East Germany) to each other, I would say that each is at a different stage of progress moving beyond their formerly repressed, communistic societies.

Estonia, for instance, which had been occupied by one or another of their neighbors for more than 8,500 years, has probably changed the least over time. When I say over time, I mean they still look pretty much like the medieval town they were in 13th century, wall and all.

Poland holds the next notch on the progress spectrum. What was obviously a very poor country is slowly accumulating some wealth and the ability to compete in the modern economic world. For example, all or most of IKEA's manufacturing production occurs in Poland. And regardless of their past struggles, there is clearly a pride of country amongst its population.

Germany or East Germany reinforced the sameness and dreariness of the communist society, at least as it existed behind the curtain. From what we could see while behind the Berlin Wall, it had all been about the "haves" and the "have nots" because regardless of what anyone says, there were those few in positions of power who had plenty of money and options while the rest of the population lived in houses that looked exactly like their neighbors throughout their countryside. Some of these little houses still exist; they're gray, square, cement cubes but most of the now "free" population has painted them at a minimum and many have added more space.

I do think West Germany's influence on their counterpart has enabled them to move forward into a healthier economic state much more quickly.

Russia is another story in regards to what exactly is going on there right now. They may be out from under Communism per se but what do you call a society governed by "the mob"? Isn't that just another form of anarchy? This was the only place that still felt scary and in fact, one of the crew members had an experience that bore this out. I will say there is more new construction here than anywhere else, I will also say they have more slums, fewer private homes of any type, older mass transit (the trains must have been at least 50-60 years old), fewer recreational toys like sail boats that were prolific in all other countries, more junk like old cars, appliances, etc. sitting along the road and last but not least, more soldiers with guns and gates that required "showing your papers" just to get around. Even the tour guides were disdainful of their police saying they care about nothing but taking bribes and I know this for a fact based on the personal story told to us by one of the assistant Cruise Directors. No American should even consider setting foot on Russian soil without being in a group, that would be a group of more than two or three. I honestly don't know what the future holds for this country but I do know that more and more from that country still seem to be relocating here, probably for good reason.

Don't get me wrong, there is incredible wealth in St. Petersburg including many gorgeous and extravagant, historical palaces, museums and gardens. And there are a number of new skyscraper office buildings, hotels, etc. I guess it was the stark contrast with how "the majority of the population lives" that was unnerving.

So what metals represent the economic progression of these countries? If you agree that after iron you encounter copper, then bronze, then lead, then silver, then gold, then perhaps platinum, then I would rate the economic progress of these formerly Communist countries in this way:

Estonia = bronze
Poland = lead
(East) Germany = silver
Russia = iron oxidizing with some copper here and there

Anyway, that's my assessment. It was a very enlightening trip.

Off to Scandinavia

2009-08-05T17:54:00.000-07:00

More upon my return the last week of the month. I am taking my idea notebook with me though. Hasta la vista.

Batteries Not Included

2009-08-04T08:43:00.000-07:00

I have to ask with all the amazing advances we've seen in the microchip or whatever that little device is called these days, why can't they come up with a substantial battery to power all these wonderful inventions that lasts more than a few hours. I think that is one of the single things that stands between widespread hybrid purchasing and the more limited variety we have now. People don't want to stop constantly to recharge their battery and they don't want to have to only stick to a certain route that has battery recharger options on it.

If you can pack all this punch into these tiny computer and other electronic pieces, why can't someone invent the battery that truly is "EverReady" or "Energized"? I know, I know the fact that they can't be recycled should be my greater concern but if I buy this great phone and it can't even make it through the day doing all the things it was touted to do, than I've bought a pig in a poke (what exactly does that mean anyway?).

This is one of my ongoing pet peeves similar to that of manufactured obsolescence but I don't have time to get wound up about that right now. Just saying...whose out there working on this anyway?

Don't Touch Me, I'm Still Tacky

2009-08-03T08:44:00.000-07:00

There are certain things you simply should not do, these are things no one should do because they are just plain wrong. One of these being the purchase of a former police car or cab and, worse yet, doing a schlocky job of painting over the original paint job. You might as well park a broken down clunker in your front yard, which is the second on my "never to do" list. The only thing worse than this would be to park multiple clunkers in our front yard, perhaps joined by worthless refrigerators, bathtubs and/or washing machines. I know in "Under the Tuscan Sun" this was considered quaint but not so in the US. We lack the picturesqueness to offset the impact of the eyesore.

There's always the good, old spandex on those who fall into the obese category, overweight stuffed into this attire is bad enough. I have to assume they don't own mirrors. Possibly they think this will help them to sweat it off?

Pink and purple are not colors that belong on a house. Any self-respecting house would tell you so if only they could talk. In fact, I think it would make these abodes react allergically if that were possible.

Piercings; if it hurts me to look at you because there isn't a square inch of your face and/or head that hasn't been pierced than possibly you've gone too far. I definitely think I make my point if the earrings click as you talk. To be fair, it's also possible you're a masochist and have nothing else to spend your money on.

Then there's always the standard Christmas decorations left up all year. I've never been able to determine if this is due to laziness, a deep love of the Christmas spirit or the belief that this replaces the need to paint your house (something besides pink or purple).

This could be a very long list but I suppose these are at the top of mine, at least as of this morning. I'm sure everyone has their own pet peeves they can add to it.

Swimming Against the Tide

2009-08-01T21:30:00.000-07:00

Today I heard someone say the recession is beginning to wane. They said housing prices won't get any worse and that the economy won't get any worse. Are they really paying attention? What about all the people who will still be laid off this year, because they will. What about all those who recently graduated from school and still can't find jobs, because they won't. What about all the cuts to various government budgets and all the dominoes that will fall from that, because they will. What about all these people who won't be spending any money, because they won't have it to spend. What about all the little businesses we are watching close week after week, for that matter some are large businesses.

Everyone I know is looking around, wondering if they are going to weather the storm, myself included. Life is going to get very interesting and begin to move at light speed with no breaks. The question is will any of us be able to keep up?

I guess these experts are reading different tea leaves from the rest of us, maybe they're even of the Mary Jane variety. I just hope people are cautious, regardless of what "they" are saying, the worst is NOT over.

War Within and War Without

2009-07-31T21:10:00.000-07:00

Last night we watched two very different movies, though both were of the true story variety, from our most current NetFlix collection. "Saints and Soldiers" was about a very small group of WWII soldiers (there were four out of a total group of around 70) who escaped from the Malmedy crossroads massacre by the Nazi's in or near Belgium. It was the story of how these four, plus the Brit RAF pilot they picked up on the way, made the 20 mile journey through the dead of winter cross country behind enemy lines toward their nearest American unit. Any war movie you watch, if it's remotely well done, just reinforces the pointless, human waste of war in general. This was no exception. Nevertheless, it was a story that needed to be told.

We were talking when it was over about how we are all so focused on what is happening within our own provincial "worlds", it's way too easy to forget not just what went on before but what is going on just a few thousand miles away today.

Then we watched "To End All Wars", which just happened to also be about WWII but took place in the Pacific theater in a Japanese prisoner camp where the prisoners were forced to build "the railroad of death". Again, you have to wonder how people live the rest of their lives with those kinds of memories. How do you lead any semblance of a normal life? Very interesting to see what a human will resort to when pushed up to and over the edge. I'm quite confident I would not have survived that particular scenario.

I don't know how I ended up with both of those at the same time and now I have something called, "The More The Merrier", poor planning I guess. I'm just glad Netflix has so much variety and choice. We don't have time to watch movies right now considering we're leaving in less than a week for vacation anyway. Regardless, I always know when a movie was worth the time when I can't get it out of my mind. That's been the case with both of these. Knowing they were portrayals of actual events makes them very hard to take.

Man's inhumanity to man, we never seem to graduate to the next level above that; the cruelty seems barely hidden beneath the surface.

Discrimination

2009-07-28T19:33:00.000-07:00

Has there ever been a time when there was no discrimination? I don't know that there has. What is it about human beings that makes us suspicious of anyone who doesn't look just like us. Wasn't this a song from South Pacific? Yes, "You've Got To Be Carefully Taught". So, do we learn this from our families/friends or are we born with prejudiced bones throughout our bodies?

I just read a book called The Stubborn Twig that recalled the lives of Japanese immigrants at the turn of the 20th century into the Hood River valley. It was clearly a doomed relationship with their neighbors from the start. Suspicions of the Japanese population grew into fears which grew into intolerance which grew into hatred, all for absolutely no reason other than they looked different. This stuff really gets my ire up.

There was a resident of Hood River who was even quoted that they had no issues with Italian, Scandinavian or even German immigrants because they looked like him. And the result was internment camps where these citizens were treated like animals. We have always been so busy pointing our fingers at what happened in Germany and in the south Pacific, I think it was all a cover-up to prevent anyone turning the spotlight back on us. I don't remember hearing a single thing about all these camps stationed around the country. Not only was the fact that it happened unexcusable, the number of decades it took for us to apologize were unbelievable.

Along those lines, have we ever apologized to our Native American citizens?

I'm appalled, disgusted and embarrassed at how we as a people just don't get it. Kara, I said I wanted you to write about the proliferation of stupid people in this country, that includes the bigots. And maybe we need a second write-up on all the just, plain, mean ones.

What About Everyone But You?

2009-07-27T21:48:00.000-07:00

Do people who smoke ever think of anyone but themselves? Are they so desperate to get that cigie tar smoke down into their lungs that any consideration for others is driven from their tobacco-shriveled minds? If I'm walking down the street with no cigarette, don't assume by pushing past me and puffing away that I want to follow you and your foul smell, asshole!

I feel like all the smokers are part of the "ME" generation, whether they are or not. It's such a challenge anymore to avoid all the things that are harmful in our environment, thoughtless jerks who act this way need a good swift kick to jar their heads out of their self-centered asses.

After being subjected to second-hand smoke my entire childhood and developing chronic asthma as a result, I'm just a little sensitive on the subject. Nevertheless, it is not the responsibility of the otherwise healthy public to make allowances for the addicts among us.

They need to each find out-of-the-way caves somewhere to smoke to their little heart's content where they will die twice as fast from absorbing multitudes of smoke and let the rest of us die normal deaths from stuff like automobile smog, preservatives and rattlesnake bites. I don't ask for much.

A Matter of Routine

2009-07-23T21:09:00.000-07:00

Every Thursday night, we troop through the house and gather up all the trash and the many versions of recyclable materials to go outside into assorted "cans" although everything is plastic now, not metal. Regardless, when all the junk has been loaded into the appropriate receptacle, it is placed by the curb for the assigned truck's pick up the following (Friday) morning.

That's when the seemingly choreographed "dumpster diving" begins. You always see the same characters each week, some walking, some on bikes, some even in cars, trolling through the neighborhood trash. Maybe it's just me but in the last few months, it has seemed to take on a more cutthroat nature. Perhaps it's the desperation I see in the movements of those participating in it and the way they rush from can to can. It's beginning to feel like a real life version of musical chairs although the loser doesn't get any money for food in this version.

OK, let's be honest. Are they really using the money for food or is it for alcohol or for drugs? Many of them, although not all, appear to be street people. This makes me wonder how many miles of blocks they cover to get what they get and for the one who follows all the others, does he or she end up with nothing? It almost makes you want to stage stashing your trash so you have enough for everyone. I've never really thought about some of these folks planting themselves down the block just watching and waiting for the cans to come out but I'm sure some of them probably do.

You have to wonder just how many will be joining them before this economy finds its feet again. I know there's at least one additional wave of dislodging coming. It will mean more people to pound the weary pavement with no results. It's hard to find encouraging things to say anymore. I guess creative, resourceful independence is the key hence making something out of nothing. I just know I'm no good at that.

If I joined "the line" the good news would be I could blog as much as I wanted. Hm, not worth it, no matter how much I dislike my job. The thought of rooting around in a hot, stinky can for my next meal isn't something I'm going to rush to try. I'll take the easy way out and watch from afar and perhaps provide a little more than I would have for those who have no choices left.

The Next Billy Mays

2009-07-13T21:20:00.000-07:00

Do you know that my grandparents sat and watched tv all day everyday and everytime someone told them to buy something, they did it? My dad freaked out when he discovered all the junk sitting around and when he asked my grandmother about it all, she said the people on the tv told her to buy (the junk).

These tv hawkers should be against the law or there should be a way to prohibit them from displaying on certain tv sets like those of very old grandparents who simply do what they're told. It's very scary how so many vulturistic crooks prey on the elderly and have no qualms about taking what little they have. My grandmother had less than nothing, she and grandpa only had the barest of Social Security, neither of them ever worked outside the house. He was a farmer of sorts but was never really successful. Nevertheless, they still had 8 kids (2 of whom died young) who all had nothing either.

Then I see idiots like OctoMom and think, we haven't learned a damn thing in the last 80 years.

I can feel the theme of this post spiraling downward so I'll stop before it gets away from me. It's just that when I think about elderly people sitting in front of the tv for company, completely trusting what people on tv tell them, it makes me want to protect them all somehow.

Please don't let me become one of those little clueless, gullible old people.

Paint(ear) Wars

2009-07-11T07:26:00.000-07:00

What if we replaced all nuclear weapon stockpiles with Airsoft or Spyder Classic guns? What if we replaced all nuclear ammunition with paintballs? Imagine having prison hospitals full of people suffering from nothing worse than deep tissue bruises rather than missing limbs. Imagine an international web-based scorekeeping system so at any point in time anyone from any country could check on "who was in the lead" (since that seems to be so important to all of us). Imagine giant versions of these guns from fighter jets where hitting a target would simply mean you might wake up with a red house or a green Safeway store or a blue Pentagon.

Or, does war as we know it today have a higher purpose? Is it intended to be part of man's means of shrinking the population? It certainly is effective in reducing the male:female ratios in the world. If we didn't have war, would the human inhabitation of our limited resource, "earth" already be over capacity

(for that matter it already is in some parts of India, Hong Kong, areas of Africa, etc.)?

Or, has war caused us to keep our existence off balance? In other words, what if all the men (it has been mostly men after all) who were killed in the countless, senseless wars caused by greediness, religious intolerance or pure, unadulterated hatred over the last 5 or 6 milleniums had instead survived to their natural deaths? Wouldn't that truly have changed the world? Would we have had a depressed international economy much sooner because there would have been a true glut of people competing for the same jobs or would there have been so many more companies and more jobs because there were so many more people? Would we have been even further advanced technologically?

Hasn't it also wreaked havoc with the environment, I can't think of anything much more destructive in a sudden and complete way than an atomic bomb? And how many unexploded bombs are still all over the world, both on land and underwater? Or, how about a little napalm hit for destroying the surrounding environment (although there are some weeds around here I'd like to hit with that)?

Just saying, having to do a little more laundry because of paintball hits sounds much more palatable than worrying about surviving into the next week. Instead of losing your head you would possibly lose your favorite white shirt. I could live with that.

Sun Damaged

2009-07-06T21:00:00.000-07:00

All I can say is, all those tans and sunburns have paid me back tenfold. I now have the ugliest, scariest skin in the world. How do these chicks and studleys have constant tans? I would love to see an "after" picture of them because it would have to be as ugly as what I'm facing. Now I have first hand knowledge of why elephants look the way they do, their skin that is. If you think about it, they're out in the sun day after day except when they partake in a brief mudbath.

Anyway, this is not fun and if I can ever get through to Kara, she'll stop her excessive "oh well" sunburning and start protecting herself.

IT'S NOT WORTH IT! And these pictures are the tamest of what I could have posted.

That's my sermon for the day.

Dropping Like Flies

2009-07-02T18:23:00.000-07:00

Now we can add Karl Malden to the list. I wonder if he was born with that nose? Anyway, it's gotten to the point when I open Comcast I expect to see another obit headline. It's pretty wierd.

I am so ready for a three-day, hot, summer weekend. And on the 4th of July yet. Hopefully the air conditioning will remain in good repair for the older ones in the group. Otherwise we'll be the family of slug relatives. There will be four kids under 3 and two more under 10 and oodles more over 70, even 80. What is it they say about the sandwich generation - the rest of us will be trapped between diapers and Depends. They even have a t-shirt for this condition.

Except for Kara who will be jetting her way to New Orleans to meet the significant other's fam. She's a good sport though considering he close quarters being required. I would probably not do well in that situation. I don't even like to stay that close to the relatives I've know for more than 20 years. I hope we get back there someday. I'm anxious to get Kara's assessment upon her return.

Tomorrow afternoon I'm going to see "Up" with a friend. Critique to follow.

Transition Time

2009-06-30T21:01:00.000-07:00

I can't remember how many years it took for us to transition from 8-track tapes and tape players to cassette tapes and tape players then again how long it took us to transition from cassette tapes to CD's and CD players. It seems like that last one wasn't that long ago.

But my real question is how long have I got before VHS tapes will go the way of the Dodo? I'm hopeful I've got at least another 5 years so I can still get maximum enjoyment out of the 150 or so tapes I still have (that's only after giving away twice that many). I really don't want to replace all of them with DVD's and certainly not right away. Let me reword that, I can't replace all of them in the foreseeable future.

I do think I should buy up a couple of combo DVD/VHS players to have on hand as the ones I have bite the dust though or I may end up stranded at some point. I think I'll take a risk for awhile yet though to wait and see if there's any warning before it happens.

I also wonder what he next iteration will be...tiny little disks or perhaps something that looks like those skinny little thumb drives. Who knows, whatever it is it will start out outrageously expensive but within 5 years everyone will have one. Sad to say, this has become the way of things.