This bullsh!t going on has my blood pressure on the rise. I am so needing something to lower it. At the rate it's going, I may have to post this kind of stuff all week. LOL
Sunday, July 31, 2011
The Stroke This Prevents Might Be My Own.
This bullsh!t going on has my blood pressure on the rise. I am so needing something to lower it. At the rate it's going, I may have to post this kind of stuff all week. LOL
Friday, July 29, 2011
Pictures....Because Words Fail Me
President Obama's approval rating is now down to 40% according to the daily Gallup Poll. On the plus side, the approval rating of Congress has dropped by 2% to 6%. Maybe, just maybe some of us aren't as stupid as I thought.
Nah....We're STUPID!
Nah....We're STUPID!
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
In America The STUPID, We Can't Tell Astroturf From Grass
So, the governor of the state of Wisconsin and his Republitard cronies have shown their true colors and still the silent majority is silent. They passed a bill which requires that all voters have a drivers license and then they promptly close DMV offices in poor, rural areas in which the residents predominantly vote Democrat. Even though this particular law doesn't go into effect until January, polling places for their recall elections are asking for driver's licenses before they're allowing people to vote.
Further proof that America ain't beautiful, it's stupid, would be what's happening in Congress over the request to raise the debt ceiling. Throughout history, Congress has raised the debt ceiling with a clean bill 72 times. I've got a hot flash for you Ronnie Raygun Republitards who keep saying Reagan wouldn't do this. Hell YEAH he did. A total of 13 times. WTF planet are you people on that you don't believe a default will affect you? With 53% of the wealth of America owned by the top 10% of the population, just who the fuck do you think is going to pay the bills? Yeah! I said that word. Live with it.
In the news yesterday was the information that businesses hiring new employees won't hire the long term unemployed. They want people who have a job now or are recently unemployed. Why? Well, it's because they've bought into the Tea Party idea that the unemployed are lazy. See? America the STUPID believes that if you didn't find a job at a time when NO jobs were available, it was because you were lazy, and America The Stupid is bound and determined to punish your sloth by starving you and your babies into submission.
When it comes to the economy and finances, I'm not the brightest bulb in the lamp, but I know there is a difference between financial growth and economic growth. Congress, for quite some time, has been focusing on financial growth. That financial growth is what's wiping out the middle class because it's not true economic growth. The foundation for true economic growth is jobs. Jobs which went overseas so that big corporations could make billions of dollars in profit while using loopholes in the tax structure to keep most of it. It's why the ratio between the salaries of CEO's and those of the blue collar workers is so wide. Financial growth is why some people are becoming richer while our infrastructure is crumbling.
Financial growth is evident by the Wall Street bubbles, that crash and burn periodically. Economic growth would give steady long term results with minor adjustments to the market. Financial growth is big and fast and ends up costing people their retirement funds, where economic growth is small and slow, but something that one gets to keep. Financial growth profits only the few while economic growth will care for the many.
It happens because more people are working and adding to the coffers. Not through higher taxes, but through reasonable taxes. Taxes became a burden on the middle class when unemployment increased. For instance if a program needs a million dollars it can be raised by collecting $1 from a million people or $100 from 10,000 people. Financial growth creates the need to get that $100 from 10,000 people. Economic growth would give the program $1 from a million people. Since that would decrease the burden, painlessly I might add, then the welfare of the people and education programs wouldn't be such an issue.
Job growth would take away from Wall Street the need to grab onto these bubbles which crash and burn us costing millions of Americans half of their 401K's while creating millionaires out of the manufacturers of the bubbles. Had Congress, in it's wisdom (stupidity), actually passed the infrastructure stimulus it would have created jobs. Which would have given us some form of economic growth. Which if it had occured in a slow and measured pace would have resulted in...wait for it...MORE JOBS!
Unfortunately, we elected Dumbocrats and Republitards who believe that our problems are caused by big spending big governments. And they're bound and determined to do away with all that AT THE EXPENSE OF THE PEOPLE THEY REPRESENT.
We need a stable ECONOMY, we got a stable (for the moment) WALL STREET. We needed JOBS, we got HCR. We needed JOBS we voted for a Republitard Congress who has wasted half of it's first term doing nothing more than trying to force their will on the bodies and wombs of it's female citizens. We needed JOBS and we got Tea Party State governments trying to stop the citizens of their state from voting unless they want to vote TEA PARTY REPUBLITARDS. We needed JOBS and what we're going to end up with is the Imperialist Corporate Empire of America.
One of two things is going to happen. Either we're going to get really lucky and that silent group of people will actually get it and FINALLY step up to the microphone and be heard, or Lindsey Lohan will do something stupid and divert their attention from the problem we're experiencing. I'm inclined to trust in the latter rather than the former since I'm quite sure that's where the Tea Party, a solely owned subsidiary of Koch, wants the attention.
Just in case someone is actually paying attention to me, there is a discussion going on in Congress about looking for ways to make employers actually hire the long term unemployed. If you do call your representatives you might want to tell them to get their heads out of their asses, pass a clean bill on the debt ceiling as they've done for 72 times in history and get to work on something that might actually work. LIKE JOBS!
Further proof that America ain't beautiful, it's stupid, would be what's happening in Congress over the request to raise the debt ceiling. Throughout history, Congress has raised the debt ceiling with a clean bill 72 times. I've got a hot flash for you Ronnie Raygun Republitards who keep saying Reagan wouldn't do this. Hell YEAH he did. A total of 13 times. WTF planet are you people on that you don't believe a default will affect you? With 53% of the wealth of America owned by the top 10% of the population, just who the fuck do you think is going to pay the bills? Yeah! I said that word. Live with it.
In the news yesterday was the information that businesses hiring new employees won't hire the long term unemployed. They want people who have a job now or are recently unemployed. Why? Well, it's because they've bought into the Tea Party idea that the unemployed are lazy. See? America the STUPID believes that if you didn't find a job at a time when NO jobs were available, it was because you were lazy, and America The Stupid is bound and determined to punish your sloth by starving you and your babies into submission.
When it comes to the economy and finances, I'm not the brightest bulb in the lamp, but I know there is a difference between financial growth and economic growth. Congress, for quite some time, has been focusing on financial growth. That financial growth is what's wiping out the middle class because it's not true economic growth. The foundation for true economic growth is jobs. Jobs which went overseas so that big corporations could make billions of dollars in profit while using loopholes in the tax structure to keep most of it. It's why the ratio between the salaries of CEO's and those of the blue collar workers is so wide. Financial growth is why some people are becoming richer while our infrastructure is crumbling.
Financial growth is evident by the Wall Street bubbles, that crash and burn periodically. Economic growth would give steady long term results with minor adjustments to the market. Financial growth is big and fast and ends up costing people their retirement funds, where economic growth is small and slow, but something that one gets to keep. Financial growth profits only the few while economic growth will care for the many.
It happens because more people are working and adding to the coffers. Not through higher taxes, but through reasonable taxes. Taxes became a burden on the middle class when unemployment increased. For instance if a program needs a million dollars it can be raised by collecting $1 from a million people or $100 from 10,000 people. Financial growth creates the need to get that $100 from 10,000 people. Economic growth would give the program $1 from a million people. Since that would decrease the burden, painlessly I might add, then the welfare of the people and education programs wouldn't be such an issue.
Job growth would take away from Wall Street the need to grab onto these bubbles which crash and burn us costing millions of Americans half of their 401K's while creating millionaires out of the manufacturers of the bubbles. Had Congress, in it's wisdom (stupidity), actually passed the infrastructure stimulus it would have created jobs. Which would have given us some form of economic growth. Which if it had occured in a slow and measured pace would have resulted in...wait for it...MORE JOBS!
Unfortunately, we elected Dumbocrats and Republitards who believe that our problems are caused by big spending big governments. And they're bound and determined to do away with all that AT THE EXPENSE OF THE PEOPLE THEY REPRESENT.
We need a stable ECONOMY, we got a stable (for the moment) WALL STREET. We needed JOBS, we got HCR. We needed JOBS we voted for a Republitard Congress who has wasted half of it's first term doing nothing more than trying to force their will on the bodies and wombs of it's female citizens. We needed JOBS and we got Tea Party State governments trying to stop the citizens of their state from voting unless they want to vote TEA PARTY REPUBLITARDS. We needed JOBS and what we're going to end up with is the Imperialist Corporate Empire of America.
One of two things is going to happen. Either we're going to get really lucky and that silent group of people will actually get it and FINALLY step up to the microphone and be heard, or Lindsey Lohan will do something stupid and divert their attention from the problem we're experiencing. I'm inclined to trust in the latter rather than the former since I'm quite sure that's where the Tea Party, a solely owned subsidiary of Koch, wants the attention.
Just in case someone is actually paying attention to me, there is a discussion going on in Congress about looking for ways to make employers actually hire the long term unemployed. If you do call your representatives you might want to tell them to get their heads out of their asses, pass a clean bill on the debt ceiling as they've done for 72 times in history and get to work on something that might actually work. LIKE JOBS!
Thursday, July 21, 2011
And Tomorrow Is Another Day
With today's official temp locally peaking at 101 degrees (heat index for that is 110 if you're interested), working was not the most fun I've had in awhile. Even at 9 this morning, my first clients home was hot. She is one of those with anemia who is always cold so she doesn't feel it. I, on the other hand, was melting. I stayed hydrated and didn't do any more than the minimum of work necessary. As long as she was clean and comfortable, I was content. The last 20 minutes of my shift there, clients family came over from their side of the house to see to it that I was not making myself sick.
I can't say enough good about these people. In a world full of the selfish and self involved, this family renews my faith in the human race. This man and his wife aren't nearly healthy enough to be taking on the burden of caregiving for another person, yet they are there for their Aunt no matter what she needs. I have clients whose daughters and sons won't pay attention and yet these people are caring for an Aunt. They are keeping this little lady out of a nursing home since she is not capable of doing much at all for herself. What they are doing isn't easy, and it's made doubly hard by their own serious health issues.
This morning the house was so hot that it was necessary to put my client back to bed after shower and breakfast since that's the only air conditioned room on her side of the house. She won't drink enough water so she needs to be in a cooler environment than the living room was. She'd prefer the living room which was all ready in the upper 80's by 10:30 this morning. With her health issues, she couldn't be allowed that choice.
I had just finished cleaning the bathroom and was in the process of grabbing trash bags for the bathroom waste basket when my client's niece came over and grabbed them out of my hands and ordered me to sit down and rest. I didn't argue and was going to sit at the kitchen table, but that wasn't good enough. I was coerced into entering their side of the house where there is air conditioning. Oh, and my favorite Minpins, Pudgy and Diva.
I was sitting in the recliner when Pudgy tried to get up into my lap. He slipped and scratched my leg on the side of the calf. I have a high tolerance for pain. Too high sometimes as it prevents me from attending to any injuries in a timely manner. After Pudgy (also known as Fat Boy) slipped, his second attempt landed him where he wanted to be so I sat there petting him and not paying attention to the scratch.
I didn't notice it really until I got up to go and look at the flower on the Hibiscus plant that is out on their deck. I've seen pictures, but never the real thing. We aren't exactly tropical in climate here, except this week. When I got up I saw the blood and somehow it smeared onto my other leg. In order to clean it up I drew it to the attention of my clients family thinking that I'd just use the bathroom to wash the blood off.
After an application of peroxide to clean the wound, the nephew sprayed that new spray bandage on me, and I was fine. Pudgy, however, had made himself scarce. He was hiding under the lap blanket draped on the arm of the chair. Pressed up against the side of the chair, peeking out from under the corner of the blanket with a very woebegon expression on his face. It was a moment that made me feel guilty for having a scratch on my leg that needed attention. As soon as I spoke to him he brightened up and his little tail nub started wiggling his back end. The crisis was over, Pudgy's world had returned to normal.
I was sitting there thinking about stress and wishing that my world would return to normal just that easily. I was stressing myself out over the heat. This isn't something that I'm used to dealing with and I was griping, in my head, about how uncomfortable I was. I was having this negative conversation with myself, creating emotional stress over something that is physically stressful to start out with. I'm sitting there with a very happy dog and suddenly it occurs to me that this heat is temporary. Temporary discomfort isn't something to get all stressed out over. In a few days, it will be over with and my world will return to what passes for normal. I can wait.
I can't say enough good about these people. In a world full of the selfish and self involved, this family renews my faith in the human race. This man and his wife aren't nearly healthy enough to be taking on the burden of caregiving for another person, yet they are there for their Aunt no matter what she needs. I have clients whose daughters and sons won't pay attention and yet these people are caring for an Aunt. They are keeping this little lady out of a nursing home since she is not capable of doing much at all for herself. What they are doing isn't easy, and it's made doubly hard by their own serious health issues.
This morning the house was so hot that it was necessary to put my client back to bed after shower and breakfast since that's the only air conditioned room on her side of the house. She won't drink enough water so she needs to be in a cooler environment than the living room was. She'd prefer the living room which was all ready in the upper 80's by 10:30 this morning. With her health issues, she couldn't be allowed that choice.
I had just finished cleaning the bathroom and was in the process of grabbing trash bags for the bathroom waste basket when my client's niece came over and grabbed them out of my hands and ordered me to sit down and rest. I didn't argue and was going to sit at the kitchen table, but that wasn't good enough. I was coerced into entering their side of the house where there is air conditioning. Oh, and my favorite Minpins, Pudgy and Diva.
I was sitting in the recliner when Pudgy tried to get up into my lap. He slipped and scratched my leg on the side of the calf. I have a high tolerance for pain. Too high sometimes as it prevents me from attending to any injuries in a timely manner. After Pudgy (also known as Fat Boy) slipped, his second attempt landed him where he wanted to be so I sat there petting him and not paying attention to the scratch.
I didn't notice it really until I got up to go and look at the flower on the Hibiscus plant that is out on their deck. I've seen pictures, but never the real thing. We aren't exactly tropical in climate here, except this week. When I got up I saw the blood and somehow it smeared onto my other leg. In order to clean it up I drew it to the attention of my clients family thinking that I'd just use the bathroom to wash the blood off.
After an application of peroxide to clean the wound, the nephew sprayed that new spray bandage on me, and I was fine. Pudgy, however, had made himself scarce. He was hiding under the lap blanket draped on the arm of the chair. Pressed up against the side of the chair, peeking out from under the corner of the blanket with a very woebegon expression on his face. It was a moment that made me feel guilty for having a scratch on my leg that needed attention. As soon as I spoke to him he brightened up and his little tail nub started wiggling his back end. The crisis was over, Pudgy's world had returned to normal.
I was sitting there thinking about stress and wishing that my world would return to normal just that easily. I was stressing myself out over the heat. This isn't something that I'm used to dealing with and I was griping, in my head, about how uncomfortable I was. I was having this negative conversation with myself, creating emotional stress over something that is physically stressful to start out with. I'm sitting there with a very happy dog and suddenly it occurs to me that this heat is temporary. Temporary discomfort isn't something to get all stressed out over. In a few days, it will be over with and my world will return to what passes for normal. I can wait.
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Mostly Acoustic Sunday
My favorite radio station is TK99, The number 1 station for classic rock. It's also the number 1 station for Syracuse Orange sports teams, but I can overlook that as long as it doesn't interfere with Mimi Griswold and The Blue Moon Cafe. She's on Sunday mornings from 9 to noon and she plays mostly acoustic versions of songs from some of my favorite artists.
On Sunday I get to listen to Bob Dylan, Warren Zevon, John Hiatt, Steely Dan, Keb Mo, Joni Mitchell and Warren Haynes from Govt. Mule who seems to have quite a love of acoustic guitar. I never was a big Govt. Mule fan (sorry Diesel) but I love listening to Warren do the acoustic versions of some of their songs.
I was sitting here having a brief chuckle while listening to various versions of "Idiot Wind" by Bob Dylan. My Mom couldn't stand his voice and she always used to gripe at me because I used to turn up the radio when he was on. Which I just did while searching for the version Mimi played just awhile ago.
Her version was acoustic, the following version isn't. There is an acoustic version at Youtube, but one of the reasons we so loved Dylan was because he would interpret his songs differently each time he sang them. He didn't have a good singing voice, what he had was the ability to add emotion to the words and it was that emotion that we grooved to. The acoustic version online is sung in a wistful style. The original version had a subtle bitter inflection which this version has.
Lets just add a little Keb Mo right here.
On Sunday I get to listen to Bob Dylan, Warren Zevon, John Hiatt, Steely Dan, Keb Mo, Joni Mitchell and Warren Haynes from Govt. Mule who seems to have quite a love of acoustic guitar. I never was a big Govt. Mule fan (sorry Diesel) but I love listening to Warren do the acoustic versions of some of their songs.
I was sitting here having a brief chuckle while listening to various versions of "Idiot Wind" by Bob Dylan. My Mom couldn't stand his voice and she always used to gripe at me because I used to turn up the radio when he was on. Which I just did while searching for the version Mimi played just awhile ago.
Her version was acoustic, the following version isn't. There is an acoustic version at Youtube, but one of the reasons we so loved Dylan was because he would interpret his songs differently each time he sang them. He didn't have a good singing voice, what he had was the ability to add emotion to the words and it was that emotion that we grooved to. The acoustic version online is sung in a wistful style. The original version had a subtle bitter inflection which this version has.
Lets just add a little Keb Mo right here.
Friday, July 15, 2011
Married To A Go To Guy
Somewhere around 2 am Thursday I got up to go get a glass of water so I could take another Excedrin Back and Body caplet. My mind registered a sleeping Hubby in the bed next to me so I didn't really expect to find anyone sleeping on our couch. Imagine my surprise to find a MAN snoring in my living room.
I grabbed a glass of water, and as I passed the desk I grabbed the Excedrin and beat feet to the bedroom. In the dark, I saw enough of the person to suspect I knew who it was, but as far as I knew, that person moved out of the immediate area. Apparently, his new home isn't far enough away to keep him off my couch.
After a week of pain, and no sleep on Tuesday night, I went to bed early on Wednesday. All day of ice, a liberal application of Capzacin and 2 of the Excedrin I purchased had the pain under control and I literally fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. I was vaguely aware of Hubby joining me, but oblivious to all else that happened in our home.
As per his usual habit, Hubby had fallen asleep while watching TV. He woke up to the belief that someone was out on our deck. Apparently a light knocking had disturbed him. He goes to open the door only to find Ron and his ex-girlfriend standing there. Apparently, Ron had hopped on his motorcycle to come down this way for a visit to friends. Said visit included the imbibing of more beer than was good for him.
The beer fueled a desire to see his ex-girlfriend to see if he could get back into her good graces. WRONG! Although she felt he was too drunk to make the 50 mile trip back home on his cycle, she wouldn't let him sleep on her couch. During the time they were together, whenever they had a problem that required the services of Hubby, they never hesitated to call us. How that translated in her mind to "take Ron to Tim's House" is beyond me. However, that is exactly what she did. Mind you, Ron's brother lives less than half a mile from here, but Ron spent the night here. I can't say enough about Ron and all of it would be negative.
He's one of life's losers. I've met a few losers that have a redeeming quality or two. Some are quite charming, funny or appealing in some manner. Ron, on the other hand is a loud, abrasive, arrogant, selfish, lazy good for nothing fool. He and his cousin Kenny go through life taking everything they can from other people and giving nothing but grief in return. Both of them seem to be of the opinion that they don't need to work, they can either "borrow" money or something they can sell from the people they know and go have a party.
At varying times in our life, one or both of them have attached themselves to Hubby until he finds a way to avoid them. Most of the time Hubby hasn't the time of day to give to either of them, however, when Ron's girlfriend turned to him for help, he took care of the problem she presented him with. Surprisingly enough, for the first time since I've known him, he did so grudgingly. Poor man didn't sleep very well. He had visions of Ron waking up and bothering Butterscotch or opening the door and letting or forcing Butterscotch out. He doesn't like cats. Fortunately, Butterscotch did not like Ron and stayed with us in the bedroom.
I got up shortly after 6 am on Thursday. Just in time to watch Hubby's truck pull out with the freeloader sitting in the passenger seat of the pick up. He dropped Ron off at his motorcycle and hopefully that will be the last time we see him. Despite the fact that I don't like Ron, Hubby did the right thing taking him in.
The ultimate responsibility for his condition was his. Ron may not have cared what kind of damage he could do in that condition to someone else or to himself, but Hubby did. He ignored his own discomfort to prevent the possibility of someone else suffering from Ron's stupidity. I think that trait is why most of the people we know turn to Hubby for help. I just wish that some of these people who think nothing of calling on Hubby for help would return the favor when he needs it. That isn't how life works I guess, but I wouldn't have Hubby any way but the way he is. Even if it does mean I have useless freeloaders sleeping on our couch.
I grabbed a glass of water, and as I passed the desk I grabbed the Excedrin and beat feet to the bedroom. In the dark, I saw enough of the person to suspect I knew who it was, but as far as I knew, that person moved out of the immediate area. Apparently, his new home isn't far enough away to keep him off my couch.
After a week of pain, and no sleep on Tuesday night, I went to bed early on Wednesday. All day of ice, a liberal application of Capzacin and 2 of the Excedrin I purchased had the pain under control and I literally fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. I was vaguely aware of Hubby joining me, but oblivious to all else that happened in our home.
As per his usual habit, Hubby had fallen asleep while watching TV. He woke up to the belief that someone was out on our deck. Apparently a light knocking had disturbed him. He goes to open the door only to find Ron and his ex-girlfriend standing there. Apparently, Ron had hopped on his motorcycle to come down this way for a visit to friends. Said visit included the imbibing of more beer than was good for him.
The beer fueled a desire to see his ex-girlfriend to see if he could get back into her good graces. WRONG! Although she felt he was too drunk to make the 50 mile trip back home on his cycle, she wouldn't let him sleep on her couch. During the time they were together, whenever they had a problem that required the services of Hubby, they never hesitated to call us. How that translated in her mind to "take Ron to Tim's House" is beyond me. However, that is exactly what she did. Mind you, Ron's brother lives less than half a mile from here, but Ron spent the night here. I can't say enough about Ron and all of it would be negative.
He's one of life's losers. I've met a few losers that have a redeeming quality or two. Some are quite charming, funny or appealing in some manner. Ron, on the other hand is a loud, abrasive, arrogant, selfish, lazy good for nothing fool. He and his cousin Kenny go through life taking everything they can from other people and giving nothing but grief in return. Both of them seem to be of the opinion that they don't need to work, they can either "borrow" money or something they can sell from the people they know and go have a party.
At varying times in our life, one or both of them have attached themselves to Hubby until he finds a way to avoid them. Most of the time Hubby hasn't the time of day to give to either of them, however, when Ron's girlfriend turned to him for help, he took care of the problem she presented him with. Surprisingly enough, for the first time since I've known him, he did so grudgingly. Poor man didn't sleep very well. He had visions of Ron waking up and bothering Butterscotch or opening the door and letting or forcing Butterscotch out. He doesn't like cats. Fortunately, Butterscotch did not like Ron and stayed with us in the bedroom.
I got up shortly after 6 am on Thursday. Just in time to watch Hubby's truck pull out with the freeloader sitting in the passenger seat of the pick up. He dropped Ron off at his motorcycle and hopefully that will be the last time we see him. Despite the fact that I don't like Ron, Hubby did the right thing taking him in.
The ultimate responsibility for his condition was his. Ron may not have cared what kind of damage he could do in that condition to someone else or to himself, but Hubby did. He ignored his own discomfort to prevent the possibility of someone else suffering from Ron's stupidity. I think that trait is why most of the people we know turn to Hubby for help. I just wish that some of these people who think nothing of calling on Hubby for help would return the favor when he needs it. That isn't how life works I guess, but I wouldn't have Hubby any way but the way he is. Even if it does mean I have useless freeloaders sleeping on our couch.
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
It's Called Learning The Hard Way.
I will be 62 this coming September. Not by any means old, just not as young as I once was. Please note the absence of the word foolish there as in young and foolish. I may not be as young as I once was, but I still have my moments of foolish.
One such moment has been a full week in the making. On my first day back at work following my vacation, I pulled a muscle on the left side of my body. I felt the tug, but the pain didn't start until later in the day. Since I was at home, I decided to use the heating pad because it felt so good. Which, of course, meant that I totally ignored the instructions to ice recent injuries and heat older ones. Along with the advice to rest when one injures a muscle. I just kept heating the area and taking ibuprofen. It was working, or so I thought.
After 1 full week of heating the injury while continuing to work, and masking my body's requests for me to rest by taking the ibuprofen, I have now managed to strain just about all the muscles on the left side of my body. I am one solid mass of pain from armpit to groin and from the oblique muscle to the middle of my back near the spine. I discovered this when the ibuprofen quit on me last night. Sleep became impossible. The pain would not leave me alone.
At 6:30 this morning, with the phrase "Ice, ice, baby" running through my head, I called in sick and spent the day icing the muscles for 20 minutes every 2 hours. Plural. That, and a liberal application of Capzasin Gel seems to have calmed the muscles down. I believe that by this weekend, I'll be able to sit long enough to do a post and actually read some other ones.
One such moment has been a full week in the making. On my first day back at work following my vacation, I pulled a muscle on the left side of my body. I felt the tug, but the pain didn't start until later in the day. Since I was at home, I decided to use the heating pad because it felt so good. Which, of course, meant that I totally ignored the instructions to ice recent injuries and heat older ones. Along with the advice to rest when one injures a muscle. I just kept heating the area and taking ibuprofen. It was working, or so I thought.
After 1 full week of heating the injury while continuing to work, and masking my body's requests for me to rest by taking the ibuprofen, I have now managed to strain just about all the muscles on the left side of my body. I am one solid mass of pain from armpit to groin and from the oblique muscle to the middle of my back near the spine. I discovered this when the ibuprofen quit on me last night. Sleep became impossible. The pain would not leave me alone.
At 6:30 this morning, with the phrase "Ice, ice, baby" running through my head, I called in sick and spent the day icing the muscles for 20 minutes every 2 hours. Plural. That, and a liberal application of Capzasin Gel seems to have calmed the muscles down. I believe that by this weekend, I'll be able to sit long enough to do a post and actually read some other ones.
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Kitten Vs. Two Scary Things!
This has to be the funniest kitten video I've EVER seen in my life.
Shame on those apples. Just who do they think they are? BWAHAHAHAHAHA!
Shame on those apples. Just who do they think they are? BWAHAHAHAHAHA!
Monday, July 11, 2011
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Number 1 On My Wish List...New Wheels
Broomstick and I are entering the phase of auto life called...looking for a new one. I'm not telling her though. When we discussed getting a new car back in 2006, Beulah promptly died on us making it necessary to do the deal much faster than we'd hoped. Broomstick has issues which are going to be VERY expensive to repair. We can't see spending $3000 or possibly more on a car that is almost 11 years old with close to 200K miles on it. Especially one that is developing the rusty cancer.
There is an issue with the headlights. I need a new relay, the problem is, the location of the relay means removing air bags and then repacking them correctly. I remember what happens when they aren't repacked correctly and fully understood our mechanics refusal to do the job. Which means she'd have to go to a...gulp...Chevy dealer for the work. CHA CHING!
Since it never rains but it pours, the catalytic converter is going bad. Price for that job is $1200. Then the AC compressor started making noise and we found that it was drawing extra energy from the fan so my temp gauge was going up. We thought it was the gauge, but a replacement didn't change anything in that department. While it didn't get to the boil over stage, it could if I continue to run the AC and that would mean blown headgaskets. So, I am running the tires off her doing my home care clients without the comfort of cold air. SUCKS on those hot days when the humidity is over 86%.
When I say new, I mean new to me, not new to the road. I have placed my order with Hubby. I want something economical, with 4 doors, air conditioning, low mileage and any other color except for gray. So, first car he took me to look at was red. And it was a Chevy Cavalier, without air and only 2 doors. Price was good, but I want the air and the 4 doors more than I want the red. So we are still looking.
There seems to be a fairly wide selection of nicely priced small cars out there. Hopefully we'll find what we want before Broomstick up and coughs her last. We aren't discussing our hunt anywhere near her nor are we taking her hunting with us. We learned that from what happened with Beulah. Stopped to look at Broomstick sitting on the dealers lot and Beulah died the very next day. Back then I wasn't doing client care so it wasn't a catastrophe, just an annoyance. Now it would be costly although I would be able to borrow Hubby's pick up to get to where I need to go.
We all believe that cars don't up and quit on us to be vindictive, but just in case we're wrong, please don't tell Broomstick, I hate driving Hubby's pick up. Although, come to think of it, he's got AIR!
There is an issue with the headlights. I need a new relay, the problem is, the location of the relay means removing air bags and then repacking them correctly. I remember what happens when they aren't repacked correctly and fully understood our mechanics refusal to do the job. Which means she'd have to go to a...gulp...Chevy dealer for the work. CHA CHING!
Since it never rains but it pours, the catalytic converter is going bad. Price for that job is $1200. Then the AC compressor started making noise and we found that it was drawing extra energy from the fan so my temp gauge was going up. We thought it was the gauge, but a replacement didn't change anything in that department. While it didn't get to the boil over stage, it could if I continue to run the AC and that would mean blown headgaskets. So, I am running the tires off her doing my home care clients without the comfort of cold air. SUCKS on those hot days when the humidity is over 86%.
When I say new, I mean new to me, not new to the road. I have placed my order with Hubby. I want something economical, with 4 doors, air conditioning, low mileage and any other color except for gray. So, first car he took me to look at was red. And it was a Chevy Cavalier, without air and only 2 doors. Price was good, but I want the air and the 4 doors more than I want the red. So we are still looking.
There seems to be a fairly wide selection of nicely priced small cars out there. Hopefully we'll find what we want before Broomstick up and coughs her last. We aren't discussing our hunt anywhere near her nor are we taking her hunting with us. We learned that from what happened with Beulah. Stopped to look at Broomstick sitting on the dealers lot and Beulah died the very next day. Back then I wasn't doing client care so it wasn't a catastrophe, just an annoyance. Now it would be costly although I would be able to borrow Hubby's pick up to get to where I need to go.
We all believe that cars don't up and quit on us to be vindictive, but just in case we're wrong, please don't tell Broomstick, I hate driving Hubby's pick up. Although, come to think of it, he's got AIR!
Monday, July 4, 2011
It's The Fourth of July.....Amen!
Lyrics | Kid Rock lyrics - Amen lyrics
When I say I'm a fan of Kid Rock, people look at me as if something ugly just grew out of my head. One of the joys of my life is music, and while I prefer classic rock, I listen to just about everything. Sometimes, when I least expect it a song will resonate inside me somewhere and I will explore other songs by that same person.
Back in the day, when I was a wrestling fan, Vince McMahon was forced to change the promotion name from WWF to WWE. He did it on a Monday Night Raw broadcast with a retrospective of past wrestlers, his father and a Kid Rock song "Lonely Road of Faith". I remember thinking that Kid Rock had possibilities so I started to listen to some of his other songs.
Then my grandkids gave me his CD, "Rock and Roll Jesus" the year it came out. This song is one of my favorites from that CD. There is a raw truth in what he sings about. Sort of a litany of what's wrong with America and it's people and at the same time there is the hope in all that is right. He expresses the contradictory nature of what goes on sometimes in my head. He does one other thing when I listen to his songs, he gives me hope that we'll get it right eventually. I say that because there's a world of young people out there who are bigger fans of his music than I am.
Independence Day
"You have to love a nation that celebrates it's independence every July 4, not with a parade of guns, tanks, and soldiers who file by the White House in a show of strength and muscle, but with family picnics where kids throw Frisbees, the potato salad gets iffy, and the flies die from happiness. You may think you have overeaten, but it is patriotism." Erma Bombeck
Sunday, July 3, 2011
I See Dumb People
Governor Cuomo has announced the complete closing of 6 or 7 prison facilities in New York State. It seems that the prison population has declined from 71,600 in 1999 to 56,000 in 2010. According to the Staten Island Advance this drop in the population has occurred due to changes in how NYS handles non-violent drug crimes. We don't lock em up and throw away the key any more. Now they have access to early release programs or alternate programs which I assume include treatment.
One of those prisons slated for closing was, until last month, the home of Plaxico Burress. He served close to a two year sentence for shooting himself in the foot in a NYC nightclub. Apparently one doesn't need brains to play football since the incident happened because he tucked a heavy Glock pistol into the waistband of his sweatpants and set out to party in da club. When the gun began to slide down, he tried to grab it and accidentally pulled the trigger. At the time, I remember asking myself what kind of doofus puts a loaded Glock in the waistband of sweatpants WITH THE SAFETY OFF? Methinks he's lucky he only shot his foot.
Now that Oneida Correctional Facility has lost it's resident celebrity, it too is slated for closing. Of course, they could have moved him to Mohawk Correctional, which is directly next door to Oneida Correctional. Or, they could have moved him to Midstate Correctional or Marcy Correctional which are both located next to each other about 3 miles past my house. Oneida and Mohawk are about 6 miles in the other direction from my house.
There are 4 medium security facilities in my backyard, so to speak. We fought long and hard to get them, back in the day. Now, one of them is slated for closure within 60 days. With the announcement happening on the start of the long holiday weekend, not much has been said locally. By Tuesday night I'm going to hear how this will break our local economy. It will probably be in the rag we call a daily newspaper. There will be letters to the editor claiming that we will be bankrupt within X amount of weeks after the closing and people who don't know any better will believe it and add their shouts of dismay to the whole mess.
All these people who will be screaming for the head of Andrew Cuomo, will be the same ones who scream every time the state tries to tax the Oneida Indian Nation on all of it's money making holdings. There's all of those cigarettes being sold for which the state collects only it's share of sales tax. There are all those beds at the Turning Stone hotel for which the state collects no bed tax. Then there's the gasoline they sell at a mere 10 cents a gallon cheaper than any other place which pays 31 to 39 cents a gallon to the state of NY in gas, excise and sales tax. Of course, since the Oneidas are a "sovereign" nation, they pay no land taxes or school taxes.
There is a small group of citizens who live in the areas where the Oneidas have their holdings. They pay some pretty high taxes so that the Oneidas and their Turning Stone Casino and Resort patrons get to arrive safely on roads kept in good condition by NYS taxes. That small group of people are rather vocal about exactly how unfair this is. They've fought state government to change things and, of course, they lost. The Oneidas are the biggest employers in a two county area, we can't have them closing up shop and putting all those people out of work. Which is the threat that we hear every time someone mentions making them pay their fair share. Something in me just doesn't believe that threat. Probably since pretty close to one third of those employees are actually members of the Oneida Nation.
The ignorant screamers who will be demanding that these prisons remain open so that people can be employed don't bother about the reduced population in those prisons. They don't look at the fact that with a diminished population there are a lot of correction officers making big paychecks for doing a whole lot less than they used to. They also don't look at the fact that they demanded and won a property tax cap. Which means that NYS MUST reduce their expenditures in order to stay within the budget. Of course, the screamers seem to think that this can all be accomplished by reducing the number of $300 hair cuts that they believe our legislators have every month. Hey! Our legislators have every right to look as good for the cameras as any other legislator does. After all, to hear the screamers talk, that's all they're good for.
One of those prisons slated for closing was, until last month, the home of Plaxico Burress. He served close to a two year sentence for shooting himself in the foot in a NYC nightclub. Apparently one doesn't need brains to play football since the incident happened because he tucked a heavy Glock pistol into the waistband of his sweatpants and set out to party in da club. When the gun began to slide down, he tried to grab it and accidentally pulled the trigger. At the time, I remember asking myself what kind of doofus puts a loaded Glock in the waistband of sweatpants WITH THE SAFETY OFF? Methinks he's lucky he only shot his foot.
Now that Oneida Correctional Facility has lost it's resident celebrity, it too is slated for closing. Of course, they could have moved him to Mohawk Correctional, which is directly next door to Oneida Correctional. Or, they could have moved him to Midstate Correctional or Marcy Correctional which are both located next to each other about 3 miles past my house. Oneida and Mohawk are about 6 miles in the other direction from my house.
There are 4 medium security facilities in my backyard, so to speak. We fought long and hard to get them, back in the day. Now, one of them is slated for closure within 60 days. With the announcement happening on the start of the long holiday weekend, not much has been said locally. By Tuesday night I'm going to hear how this will break our local economy. It will probably be in the rag we call a daily newspaper. There will be letters to the editor claiming that we will be bankrupt within X amount of weeks after the closing and people who don't know any better will believe it and add their shouts of dismay to the whole mess.
All these people who will be screaming for the head of Andrew Cuomo, will be the same ones who scream every time the state tries to tax the Oneida Indian Nation on all of it's money making holdings. There's all of those cigarettes being sold for which the state collects only it's share of sales tax. There are all those beds at the Turning Stone hotel for which the state collects no bed tax. Then there's the gasoline they sell at a mere 10 cents a gallon cheaper than any other place which pays 31 to 39 cents a gallon to the state of NY in gas, excise and sales tax. Of course, since the Oneidas are a "sovereign" nation, they pay no land taxes or school taxes.
There is a small group of citizens who live in the areas where the Oneidas have their holdings. They pay some pretty high taxes so that the Oneidas and their Turning Stone Casino and Resort patrons get to arrive safely on roads kept in good condition by NYS taxes. That small group of people are rather vocal about exactly how unfair this is. They've fought state government to change things and, of course, they lost. The Oneidas are the biggest employers in a two county area, we can't have them closing up shop and putting all those people out of work. Which is the threat that we hear every time someone mentions making them pay their fair share. Something in me just doesn't believe that threat. Probably since pretty close to one third of those employees are actually members of the Oneida Nation.
The ignorant screamers who will be demanding that these prisons remain open so that people can be employed don't bother about the reduced population in those prisons. They don't look at the fact that with a diminished population there are a lot of correction officers making big paychecks for doing a whole lot less than they used to. They also don't look at the fact that they demanded and won a property tax cap. Which means that NYS MUST reduce their expenditures in order to stay within the budget. Of course, the screamers seem to think that this can all be accomplished by reducing the number of $300 hair cuts that they believe our legislators have every month. Hey! Our legislators have every right to look as good for the cameras as any other legislator does. After all, to hear the screamers talk, that's all they're good for.
Friday, July 1, 2011
It Was The Shoes, Honest!
Somewhere around 1990, Hubby's favorite uncle died and my brother-in-law deemed me unfit to be taken anywhere. It was my new shoes that caused the problem, but I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's start in the beginning, shall we?
I'm a bit of a plain jane when it comes to clothing and such. Most of the time I gravitate towards comfort and durability when buying new clothing. Daily attire is most likely going to be jeans, T-shirts or sweatshirts depending on the season and sneakers or loafers on my feet. Since there are times when a gal wants to look her best, my closet also included dressier clothing of the kind one might wear to weddings, funerals, and the occassional night out on the town. We dressed for those things back in the day.
While I "cleaned up good" as it says in the song, I had a problem wearing heels for a number of reasons. One being that I have flat feet, and the other being that I seldom wore high heeled shoes. It wasn't that my closet wasn't full of them, it was that they hurt my feet so badly that I simply chose not to wear them. I spent a lot of time and money hunting for just the right dressy shoe. One that had a bit of a heel and didn't cramp my toes to the point of agony.
On one of my many trips to the shoe store I found, to my delight, a demi boot as it was called back then, that was just perfect. Unlike the boot in the image, it had a leather sole and wooden heel. Which I found, to my dismay could cause all kinds of other difficulties. Being totally unaware of those difficulties, I spent a good portion of my paycheck on these babies and took them home to store in my closet until just the right occassion. Which, of course, occurred when Hubby's favorite uncle died.
He lived in a small town about an hours drive south of where we lived. Rather than drive down in Hubby's pick up we decided to ride with Hubby's oldest brother and his wife. My husband is the kind of man who feels things rather deeply and wastes too much effort trying to hide that. Riding with someone else would give me the opportunity of having someone to talk with during the ride. Also, the oldest of the family has a knack of being able to make us all laugh no matter the circumstances, so it was a win all the way around.
I had chosen to wear a black pantsuit and my new, never worn boots went perfectly with my outfit. It was late March, and while there still were patches of ice here and there that I had to walk on, they'd been sanded well so I had no problem.
The funeral and the gathering afterward were held in the church. I was safe from experiencing any slippery mishaps, or so I thought. Shortly before I had to leave, I decided to use the church ladies room. Which had a ceramic tile floor that I stepped onto and promptly lost my footing. It all happened so fast that I was unaware that I was falling untl my derriere actually hit the floor. Hard. Which caused certain choice words to exit my mouth. Not the sort of words that one expects to hear from a lady in a church.
The ladies room was in the basement and since I neither heard nor saw anyone else, I imagined those words went unheard by anyone but the deity the church was dedicated to. Which in my mind was bad enough. I picked myself up, found that nothing was broken, went about my business and returned to the room being used for the gathering.
It appeared to me that all eyes were on me when I entered the room. I thought it an abberration of a guilty mind until I rejoined the family group who were having a laugh at something. It seems that brother-in-law was in the adjoining men's room when I had my mishap. The wall between us was not soundproof so he heard everything I said. As I walked up to him he shook his head and said " We just can't take you anywhere can we?"
I remember very little of what happened after that. It seems to me that Hubby made some sort of strangled noise and needed to help himself to some of the tissues in the boxes placed strategically throughout the room. I remember that it suddenly got very warm in there and I seemed to develop a stuttering problem. I do remember that no one asked me if I was hurt until I mentioned it. A question which did finally get asked in between peals of laughter by Hubby.
Twenty-one years later I have not ever been allowed to forget it. Ever since then any invitation forthcoming from that particular brother-in-law is always, without fail, accompanied by a request to make sure I behave myself. Which I have never failed to do since the funeral 21 years ago. Fortunately Hubby has forgotten the reason behind his brother's cautioning statement, or I'd be seriously tempted to do something else stupid. Like file for a divorce. I can limit the brother-in-law, the husband on the other hand...
I'm a bit of a plain jane when it comes to clothing and such. Most of the time I gravitate towards comfort and durability when buying new clothing. Daily attire is most likely going to be jeans, T-shirts or sweatshirts depending on the season and sneakers or loafers on my feet. Since there are times when a gal wants to look her best, my closet also included dressier clothing of the kind one might wear to weddings, funerals, and the occassional night out on the town. We dressed for those things back in the day.
While I "cleaned up good" as it says in the song, I had a problem wearing heels for a number of reasons. One being that I have flat feet, and the other being that I seldom wore high heeled shoes. It wasn't that my closet wasn't full of them, it was that they hurt my feet so badly that I simply chose not to wear them. I spent a lot of time and money hunting for just the right dressy shoe. One that had a bit of a heel and didn't cramp my toes to the point of agony.
On one of my many trips to the shoe store I found, to my delight, a demi boot as it was called back then, that was just perfect. Unlike the boot in the image, it had a leather sole and wooden heel. Which I found, to my dismay could cause all kinds of other difficulties. Being totally unaware of those difficulties, I spent a good portion of my paycheck on these babies and took them home to store in my closet until just the right occassion. Which, of course, occurred when Hubby's favorite uncle died.
He lived in a small town about an hours drive south of where we lived. Rather than drive down in Hubby's pick up we decided to ride with Hubby's oldest brother and his wife. My husband is the kind of man who feels things rather deeply and wastes too much effort trying to hide that. Riding with someone else would give me the opportunity of having someone to talk with during the ride. Also, the oldest of the family has a knack of being able to make us all laugh no matter the circumstances, so it was a win all the way around.
I had chosen to wear a black pantsuit and my new, never worn boots went perfectly with my outfit. It was late March, and while there still were patches of ice here and there that I had to walk on, they'd been sanded well so I had no problem.
The funeral and the gathering afterward were held in the church. I was safe from experiencing any slippery mishaps, or so I thought. Shortly before I had to leave, I decided to use the church ladies room. Which had a ceramic tile floor that I stepped onto and promptly lost my footing. It all happened so fast that I was unaware that I was falling untl my derriere actually hit the floor. Hard. Which caused certain choice words to exit my mouth. Not the sort of words that one expects to hear from a lady in a church.
The ladies room was in the basement and since I neither heard nor saw anyone else, I imagined those words went unheard by anyone but the deity the church was dedicated to. Which in my mind was bad enough. I picked myself up, found that nothing was broken, went about my business and returned to the room being used for the gathering.
It appeared to me that all eyes were on me when I entered the room. I thought it an abberration of a guilty mind until I rejoined the family group who were having a laugh at something. It seems that brother-in-law was in the adjoining men's room when I had my mishap. The wall between us was not soundproof so he heard everything I said. As I walked up to him he shook his head and said " We just can't take you anywhere can we?"
I remember very little of what happened after that. It seems to me that Hubby made some sort of strangled noise and needed to help himself to some of the tissues in the boxes placed strategically throughout the room. I remember that it suddenly got very warm in there and I seemed to develop a stuttering problem. I do remember that no one asked me if I was hurt until I mentioned it. A question which did finally get asked in between peals of laughter by Hubby.
Twenty-one years later I have not ever been allowed to forget it. Ever since then any invitation forthcoming from that particular brother-in-law is always, without fail, accompanied by a request to make sure I behave myself. Which I have never failed to do since the funeral 21 years ago. Fortunately Hubby has forgotten the reason behind his brother's cautioning statement, or I'd be seriously tempted to do something else stupid. Like file for a divorce. I can limit the brother-in-law, the husband on the other hand...
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