Enough!

Trouble Never Takes A Holiday

"Women's rule of thumb, if it has tires or testicles it's gonna cause you trouble". I am in agreement on both counts since my deluxe broomstick and the possessor of testicles that I'm married to have conspired to interrupt my vacation plans today.

For most of the day, Broomstick sat patiently outside the muffler shop waiting for an unplanned for installation of an exhaust system. Which was to take place "sometime this morning" via other two legged critters who also possess testicles. Around noon Hubby called them to find out if Broomstick had an exhaust system sans holes and they hadn't even pulled her into the bay for repairs yet. We got the call around 3 pm that we could pick her up, they were finally done.

I had nothing planned for Wednesday since Broomstick is scheduled for a visit to the regular mechanic for a headlight relay replacement and inspection. I had been told that would take all day since it's a tricky job. The relay, not the inspection. Come to think of it, he has testicles too. Since I knew I'd be without transportation, Wednesday was to be my day stuck at home. I had intentionally arranged it that way so that the testicular mechanic could have my vehicle for as long as he needed. I was not planning on being stuck at home for today.

We have 3 vehicles. Hubby's business van, his personal small pick up truck and my car. Hubby needs the van today, which should have left the pick up truck for me to use. I had envisioned dropping the car off and then dropping Hubby off at his garage where the business vehicles are parked. This plan would leave both of us with transportation today. So, what does Hubby bring home with him last night? The van. In which he followed me to the muffler shop and then brought me home. To an empty driveway. Which, of course, totally destroyed today's plans.

When he came home this afternoon, he had the pick up. I opened the passenger door and decided that I will not ask to use it Wednesday. The floor on the passengers side was totally covered with tools, empty car part boxes, tissues and empty chocolate milk bottles. It closely resembled a rolling trash dump. Smelled like one too.

There is no way I'm going to use that vehicle without cleaning it out first, and there is no way I'm going to clean up his mess in HIS vehicle. It's bad enough that I have to clean out his mess in my vehicle. Which when he uses it is usually littered with his tools, empty car part boxes and whatever of his clothing he picked up from where he left it last. He dresses in layers in cooler weather so his vehicles are storage places for the jackets or heavy shirts he leaves the house wearing.

He used my car a week ago and when I cleaned it out I found: 2 sets of box end wrenches, assorted used spark plug wires, loose plastic stay straps, empty thermostat box, 1 jigsaw, 1 winter jacket, 1 denim shirt, 1 sweatshirt, 1 plastic container of assorted washers and a short length of pvc pipe. I haven't looked in the trunk yet. I'm almost afraid to. Last time I did I found I was driving around with an empty 20 pound propane container rolling around in there. There are times when ignorance really is bliss.

One bright spot is that after nearly 24 years we finally got him housebroken. The reason I say we, is that Butterscotch had a great deal to do with his decision to take better care of his possessions when in the home. Having a cat that thinks papers are for shredding plus anything not nailed down is a play pretty, has been instrumental in helping Hubby understand the error of his ways. I must say that these days Butterscotch is a lot less trouble than he used to be. After all, he doesn't have testicles or tires.

Just Thinking

I have to say I'm a bit shocked that New York passed a same sex marriage bill. The shock exists due to the State Senate being controlled by Republicans. Apparently the protection from lawsuits against churches who choose not to perform the marriages made it palatable to the Republicans in our state government.  So far local churches are booking the marriages all ready. Of course, the law doesn't go into affect until July 24 of this year so there is time.

On the news tonight, Archbishop Cunningham of the Syracuse Catholic Diocese is on record calling this a "terrible thing". The Catholic Church is not on board this particular train, apparently. Given church doctrine, I can understand that. Don't have to approve of it, but I understand. What I don't understand is how this same church that declares the marriage bill a terrible thing failed it's duty to the children of many parishes by covering up for those priests who were molesting those children.

While traveling around today I saw a sign outside a Methodist Church that is just around the corner from where I live. It said: "There are but two truths in life. #1. God does exist. #2. You are not HIM." I shall apply truth #2 to the question in my mind regarding the cover up of pedophiles in the church.

The other issue that I am applying truth #2 to is this. While there are cautions against the commission of homosexual acts in the Bible, there is no commandment against it as there is against adultery. Since I am applying truth #2 here, I can't say that God seems to have considered adultery the much more egregious sin, now can I? I can, however, say that given that adultery is covered by a commandment while homosexuality is not, there is ample room for thought there.

I am human and as such I am imperfect which means there is a part of me that enjoys forming opinions and that part of me tends to resist truth #2. That part of me would enjoy no end of satisfaction if it turns out that same sex marriages turn out not to have the same divorce statistics as heterosexual marriages do. A full 50% of marriages end in divorce these days. I'm thinking maybe we'd be farther ahead if people tended to their own marriages with the same fervor they showed while protesting against the same sex marriage act.

Led Zeppelin - The Ocean

I Haz A Vacation

I'm not exactly sure, but I believe I started work for my present place of employment in March or April of 1999. Except for the occassional day off here and there and 2 or 3 days off for the death of each of my parents, I have not had a vacation in all these years. Until now.

As of 4 PM today, June 24, I am on vacation.

I'm writing this offline since it's pouring out which has effectively interfered with my satellite connection to both the TV and the internet. I'm listening to the rain, the very distant rumbles of thunder and am considering what I plan on doing during my vacation.

When I went by the town park today, they were setting the bleachers up for the graduation ceremony, just in case. I will be there IF it doesn't rain and they hold the ceremony in the park. Won't need a ticket for that. Her party isn't for another 3 weeks so after the ceremony I plan on heading for Super Shoes to see if I can find a pair of new ones for work. My Reeboks have lost the cushion under the balls of my feet and it's starting to hurt. My right foot has developed a stone bruise which will be removed on Thursday, and I need to have the right kind of cushioning there to stop it from redeveloping right away.

I have a short list of things I need to do around the house which will include trying on clothing to see what fits now, or may fit soon. The larger items in good condition will be going to one of the many charity drop boxes that are being installed all over the area. I've laid in some fresh fruits for snacking along with a few good books to read in the afternoons. I have a massage booked at a local spa and a date for lunch with the girls.

With the exception of the things I've mentioned here, my plans aren't set in stone. I'm off until July 5th so I have plenty of time to enjoy myself. I'm just going to do a few different things so you might not find me online much this week. I plan on using my vacation time as a break from the usual things I do. I think I'll just shut off the rest of the world and spend time with myself and my cat. Don't break anything while I'm gone. Not having anything to come back to would just ruin my vacation.

Sometimes You Just Have To

I've been trying to work on a new playlist for the blog. Unfortunately the weather is interfering. Wind, thunder, lightening, heavy cloud cover and conditions are ripe for internet connection interruptions. Frequent interruptions. Which is perfectly fine by me since there are far too many lightening strikes happening to be having the computer on at all.

My only complaint regarding the weather is that it will be doing this thunderboomer stuff until sometime on Sunday. My granddaughter graduates from high school this year. Graduation ceremonies are Saturday morning. Normally held in the town park. This year it might be held in the school auditorium which isn't large enough to hold everyone who wants to come. Each graduate is issued only a few tickets to the indoor ceremony. Which will leave me out.

She has 6 tickets for 8 people. Youngest, his wife, the graduate's brother, maternal grandfather, paternal grandmother and paternal grandfather. Which would leave out paternal grandmother's husband and me. I don't have a problem with this, however, Hubby's ex wants his ticket for her husband and she's pitching a bitch over the decision to give it to Hubby.

To keep the peace, Hubby said to give his ticket to the ex for her husband. We will be hoping for a long enough break in the weather that would allow for an outdoor ceremony and we have told our granddaughter that we are very proud of her accomplishments and we will be there if it's outdoors. Hubby feels that he doesn't want to leave me out any more than his ex wants to leave out her husband. He just isn't spiteful enough to take his disappointment out on our granddaughter during her special event.

I've never tried to be anything more than a wife to the father of her kids. I've always felt that they have a mother, they didn't need two. Probably because I had a step-mother who tried to interfere with my life when I already had a mother. I know what that felt like and refused to do it to anyone else. These are people we're talking about, not prizes awarded for the games we play.

Unlike their mother, I won't do for one what I wouldn't be willing to do for all. I have watched the times she gave expensive leather jackets to the kids and then gave the oldest one a cheap flannel shirt because he disappointed her or she was angry at him. Two of her children have been the recipient of expensive tech toys and then again the oldest would get some inexpensive item. She would do this regularly, until recently. Then she wonders why the oldest is so jealous of the other two.

I've kept my mouth shut and ignored everything she's done because there's nothing to be gained by creating drama. I've always been pleasant to her, because I've known right from the beginning that Hubby's brothers and sisters like me better than they ever did her. I know that's a petty satisfaction, but it has helped me overlook all of the nonsense she's tried over the 24 years we've been together.

Sometimes I do wish I could fight back. My Dad could be one mean sonuvabitch, and none of his children missed inheriting that particular gene. She's going to push my buttons one too many times and she isn't going to like the results. Until then, I'm just ignoring her and trying to heal the wounds she causes. Her turn will come.

Relaxing The Mind.

I joined Twitter to have the pleasure of engaging with different people on a level that blogging doesn't allow. In the beginning there was the sharing of news, laughter, music, and realtime conversations with people from all over the world about everything under the sun. Then, somehow it started to change.

Long time users started publishing blogs with rules for the rest of us to follow. Businesses started advertising their wares. Some bloggers began to use it as a self promotion tool and slowly Twitter became something else. It became all about broadcasting, popularity and the engaging aspect of it started to die. People who were there for the fun went to Facebook and set up their FB accounts to post to Twitter when they posted to their walls in FB. Then apps began to develop which were designed to automate ones Twitter account. Write your tweets, pick your times and tell the application you chose to post them at prescheduled intervals. Look Ma, no hands. If you can't be there to speak with people, you can't see the ugly.

I have many different interests, including politics, so I follow many different people. I'm not interested in popularity so my account is small compared to some others. This usually protects me from being a target of scammers and spammers, and since I'm not in Twitter for hours on end it usually allows me to ignore the trolls. If someone bothers me, I just block them and since I'm not a big enough account, they don't come back as someone else to attack again.

My problem is, I follow some very lovely liberal ladies who are being targeted by some very nasty trolls. These trolls are using pornography to attack these women.

The accounts are being set up via mobile phone applications. The background page is usually graphic pictures of anal sex acts. All tweets consist of a list of these ladies names with an added sentence promising them sexual activity of a type that I'm thinking they don't wish to engage in. When blocked, the troll just creates another page and comes back at them. Twitter can't really help because these are being created from mobile phone applications so there is no ISP to block. In a way, this is a rape of their dignity and peace of mind.

The stress is beginning to show in all of the women who are under this form of attack. Those of us who enjoy the tweets and conversations these women provide are frustrated as well. There's not anything much more maddening than wishing one could solve the problem and totally being unable to. It's making all of us too quick to see insults where none are intended.

It isn't just the women who are having problems. There was an email attack on one of the more politically active males on Twitter. He expressed an opinion about the people who are involved in supporting Bradley Manning and Wikileaks. The emails suggest that the sender hasn't graduated from the school yard yet. All were threats to expose his secret life as a lover of cybersex. All done on camera, mind you. The evidence seems to have gotten lost in the intertubes since none of it materialized. Threats are easy, proof on the other hand, not so much.

Since the attacks began, some of my more fun and engaging Tweet friends have been taking vacations from Twitter. I am as well. I will post to my account using the lovely twitter tweet button I have on my browser. Which will remind people that I'm still alive. I found, the last time I took a quick vacation from Twitter, my inbox got filled up with messages asking if I was all right.

I spent 10 minutes there last night and lost my sense of humor 2 minutes into the experience. I restored it with the help of the video I embedded at the beginning of this post. Bird songs, relaxing music and some awesome landscape pictures helped to right my equilibrium.

It's sad that people have to do that to each other, but they do it. I used to fight against that kind of behavior, but have learned to take steps to ignore it. When it's so prevalent that I can't ignore it, I just silently steal away to another part of the web where the air is clean, the waters calm and I can breathe.