vignette ~ The Trail Back

This is just so perfect Maggie thought as she stood on her tiny front stoop and looked out across the water. Mark, her husband of five months had gotten his dream job right after they returned from their honeymoon, and within three weeks they had packed up their apartment in Missoula, flown to Glasgow, and made their way to this tiny, little house on a loch in the wilds of Scotland.

She’d always been a mountain girl, hiking herself silly whenever she could talk someone into going with her, but she’d never seen anything like the mountains here. The mountains, the water, the solitude -- it was all so beautiful.

They found a storybook cottage, tucked away on a cliff above the loch on the edge of a forest which seemed to go on forever. It wasn’t that far to town, but they decided to keep their food supplies as well stocked as they could, and she had plans for putting in a garden next year in an overgrown area out back.

No one had lived in this place for a number of years but it was in good shape and perfect for the two of them. Last week she’d looked into the possibility of getting a horse to ride and wondered if it would be worth it to get a bunch of chickens. Even though she didn’t know anything about farming ways, it might be interesting to try and learn how to cultivate her own little piece of paradise.

Crocheting was a hobby she had a knack for and even though she had never tried to do any weaving, she had always wanted to and there was a shed out back which was pretty good size. It could accommodate a floor loom and with the large south-facing window and brick floor, the small stove would probably keep things warm enough in the winter. She would enjoy saving them money by making some of their clothes and bed furnishings.

She sighed, satisfied, and went back into the living room. There were wild flowers in vases atop the built-in bookshelves on both sides of the fireplace. When they were going through Ardentinny, they had passed a small sale and spied a beautiful old chair covered in brown corduroy which now rested comfortably by the door. There was a small couch, her grandmother’s rocker, and a round floral rug which filled the rest of the small room. The cut-glass windows above the bookshelves and the large triple-window in the front wall let in lots of morning light and made everything feel homey and cheerful.

The smell of the roast caught her attention and she wandered into the kitchen figuring everything would be ready by the time Mark got home. Two small salads were waiting in the frig and she was anxious to see what he thought of the salad dressing recipe she’d gotten from a book she found in the little attic.

Such a beautiful place she thought again as she set the table in the cozy nook just off the kitchen. She had positioned the rectangular table so they could both sit on the same side and watch the sun go down behind the trees. Occasionally deer would come out and that was fun to see but she knew it wouldn’t be fun if she got serious about putting in a garden. Deer would eat anything and everything down to the nubbins so she figured she was going to have to get a couple of books about building and maintaining a green house.

The sky was turning gorgeous shades of pink and fuchsia by the time she decided he had gotten held up somewhere, so she put her plate together, dipped some dressing onto her salad and sat down to enjoy the food and the sky. Two bunny rabbits hopped across the yard while a squirrel darted hither and yon, and a couple of small birds flitted around the bushes out by the shed. How did everything get so lovely?

The dressing was pretty tasty and the meat and vegetables were yummy, but night was closing in by the time she decided not to have any of the Dutch apple pie she’d made. That could wait until Mark got home. She cleaned up the dishes, put the food away, and sat down in the rocker with a warm throw and a good book.

After a little while she thought she heard a car coming up the gravel road, but when she put the book down to listen the sound was gone. She went right back to her mystery but a few minutes later another sound caught her attention. She couldn’t identify it and it didn’t continue, so she went back to her book.

Gradually she realized she was hearing bells ... occasional tinkles of bells, actually. She stopped her reading and listened, and it continued intermittently so she put the book down, draped the throw across her shoulders and stepped out onto the front stoop.

“Whoa,” she said in surprise, and then gently, “Well, hi there” as she went down the two steps and walked up to a huge white horse. Even though the sun had gone down hours ago, the stars were brilliant and it was easy to make out the ghostly white of the biggest horse she’d ever seen.

He stood still while she stretched out her hand, then moved his nose down into her palm. “Oh, you’re so soft,” she exclaimed as she reached up with her other hand and caressed his head. “Well, your nose is anyhow,” she chuckled softly. “Where did you come from, hmmm?” She looked all around the area, but didn’t see anything but shadows right about where they should be. “Are you lost, big guy?”

He snorted and shook his head back and forth, sending the two bells tinkling. “I’m not really sure what to do with you. I suppose I could get you a bucket of water but should you have that much? And I don’t have any horse food -- can you eat grass? Maybe I don’t want a horse after all,” she mused “‘cause I don’t know the first thing about them.” She frowned as she thought about it, but couldn’t help but smile when she looked at him again -- he was gorgeous.

“Well ... come on,” she said as she started around the side of the house. The horse followed right behind her which actually seemed a little spooky but she walked to the lean-to, which was destined to be turned into a garage, and spied the hay bale in the moonlight. “Oh, I forgot about that,” she said as she walked over to it and tried to figure out how to get some of the tightly packed hay loose.

“Maybe I better get your bridle off first. You can’t eat with that thing in your mouth can you? Actually, I may not be able to get this thing off,” she muttered as she tried to figure out what was what. But as she reached up, the horse put his head down and she took ahold of the bridle and the thing just seemed to slip right off. “Well, you’re going to have to be on your best behavior, because I don’t know how to tie you up or keep you in here. I guess you’ll be okay. You can’t very well come inside and sleep with me.”

He snorted and look around at the hay. “Okay, okay, I’m getting it.” She patted him on his rump as she snagged a bucket and filled it with water, then squinted at the four tools on the shelf before she picked up the wire cutters. “Lights in the lean-to moving to the top of the list,” she mumbled. After wrangling with the hay bale wire for a bit, she finally got it cut and pulled a big chunk of hay over beside the water.

“There!” she announced. “That’s the best I can do.” The horse looked at her and dipped his head in acknowledgment. “Gees,” she muttered softly, “if I didn’t know better I’d think you could understand me.” She sighed and shook her head and then explained, looking into his big beautiful brown eyes, “I have to go to bed. My husband must have gotten tied up somewhere and I’m pretty sleepy, so you keep an eye on things, okay?” She smiled up at him and reached up to touch his soft nose. “Goodnight, big guy,” she whispered. “Sleep tight.”

and the walls came a tumblin' down

we've been watching this tv series called Jericho.

i don't watch tv so i'm not familiar with what's playing these days, but this show is pretty good. well, let me qualify that -- the acting is decent and the premise is compelling, but some of the little stories are dumb and several of the characters are awful. e.g. the guy who was challenging the incumbent mayor should be SHOT. he's a terrible person. and the teen-agers need to grow up. and the idiot irs agent is a stupid bitch. but other than that, the main family is easy to watch (except for the jerk who's married to the doctor), the girlfriends are okay, and the black guy seems okay except that he may be one of the bad guys. eeuuuuuw.

at any rate, the library doesn't have it so we are having to watch it cd by cd through netflix. it's a curious thing to get caught up in, but then really -- what would you do if all the main cities were nuked and you had to try to survive?

shopp$ng

i just tripped across some web sites which can take some time to comb through ... www.surprise.com is interesting, and that lead to www.coolstuffcheap.com which was funkier. www.woot.com is always a good one and doesn't take long at all -- it only features one item each day!!

who can you trust?

that stress test -- the one where you're on a treadmill and it keeps going faster -- does it have a shut-off the user can push?

i remember my dad taking that test and suffering extreme pain. he said he told them but they wouldn't shut off the machine. i think he had a minor heart attack during the test and the people running it weren't paying attention. that's unconscionable.

i heard some guys talking about the test the other day, about how it's going very, very fast and then it goes faster.

screw it. some sadist thought up that test.

have they said i need to take the test? no, but it isn't ever going to happen. just like i refuse to do the coloscopy. people can die from that 'staying ahead of the game' procedure.

i've had cancer, chemo, a whole bunch of surgeries, and enough is enough. you don't have to take every single test they insist you do. educate yourself, then make your own decision.

last year, italy; this year, ireland

i can't say much because i don't want to steal his thunder, but My Younger Son's recent flight to ireland resulted in some unplanned-for activity. that's all i'll say until he's had a chance to fly home and write in his own blog (he has my blog threaded to his so it's possible his friends could read mine before he's had a chance to elaborate).

at any rate -- good grief! but excellent handling! more on this after he's done his own elucidating.

true crime -- small town beat

January 8: While on patrol an officer's attention was attracted to a column of smoke and the three kids running away from it. The trio was rounded up. In their haste to depart one of the boys had forgotten about the handful of fireworks sticking out of his pocket. He was taken into custody for possession of illegal fireworks and illegally discharging them within the city limits. The 14-year-old was released to his parent, sans explosives.

January 6: A person visiting a business at Semiahmoo called police to report men wearing camouflaged clothing hiding in a boat offshore, luring passersby and then attacking them with rifles. Responding officers determined that no crime was being committed. The aghast visitor was advised that ducks are in season. No crime.

January 5: Police were dispatched to a business' report of a large scary man yelling at their customers. Officers arrived and contacted the transient standing across the street. He explained that he had just been trying to pick up an employment application. Officers explained to him that his recent experience qualified him for a position as a jail inmate and offered him a ride out of the area. He declined the ride but agreed to work on his interviewing skills elsewhere.

just wondering

wondering about the nightmares i have from this monthly project at work which is so tangled and convoluted ...

wondering about My Younger Son's trip to ireland and if he's enjoying himself ...

wondering about my new grandaughter ...

wondering about my prescriptions and if they need to be adjusted ...

wondering about those canadians and why they can't seem to read road signs ...

wondering about nations who do not believe people are equal to each other and how that is going to affect this country since they seem to be moving here in droves ...

wondering about an obama/clinton ticket ...

wondering if i can just skip thursday and friday and go straight to saturday ...

da-de-dee

i've just had my morning cup of tea and i'm heading to the shower when a song title catches my eye: Goodbye Goldfish, Hi Piranha by Aluminum Group.

catchy, huh?! if i didn't know better i'd think it was a country/western song. but i (computer) listen to Low Mercury and the song has to be slow jazz. too bad i don't have time to hear it.

can't keep up...

is anybody else as tired as i am? it seems like things have happened non-stop since just before thanksgiving.

we had enough money this year to buy some decent presents. that's good.

we got to see My Older Son & Family. that's good.

we got to see My Younger Son. that's good.

we loved having the time once again with MYS -- seeing him once a year really sucks. but seeing him is totally fabulous! and now he's off to ireland (he went to italy last year, remember). i'm really curious as to his impressions of ireland -- he'll have a good write-up on his blog when he gets back.

and seeing MOS's young daughter is fun. although she seems to cry when i show up. *take offense? ignore?* she's about 11 weeks old or so and is different everytime we see her. doesn't cry as much as before, doesn't sleep as much as before, smiles now -- it would be neat to see her more often.

but back to the point -- we've been constantly busy and i'm bushed. i still have a small celebration at work i have to prepare for next week, but after that ... back to boring ole' reading and sitting in my rocking chair in my library. ;)

he yelled

my boss yelled at me yesterday. well, one of them did -- i have at least five bosses. there are other people who'd like to think they're my boss, but i take them with a grain of salt.

anyhow, i was typing away when i heard a rather loud "KAREN!" so i said loudly back, "What?" as locked my computer and jumped up to go see what was the matter -- after all, i know which side the butter's on. "THIS THING'S SHUT OFF!" he continued shouting (i get a kick out of this guy). as i rushed into the copy room, ala the lone ranger, i hurried past said boss straight over to the new fax machine, wondering how in the world it had been shut off.

"No, this thing, the copier," he said as i turned back, astonished that the fax wasn't the problem. i walked over to the copier and pointed to the large label pasted on the machine and repeated what it said, "After 4 hours of inactivity, machine shuts down. Press button to restart." i grinned at him. "You mean no one's used this thing for four hours?" he said. "Well, you've been in a meeting all morning," i pointed out. "Oh yes, that meeting," he said as he momentarily laid his head on his arm. but that's another story.

i love my job. and the people.

my morning cup of ...

i really like tea. particularly bigelow's constant comment. at least i used to like constant comment. lately it seems a little ... tannic? unorangy? something, anyhow, and that's made me go look elsewhere.

voila! i found a website which has a really great selection of teas (i ended up ordering $40 worth of the stuff). seeing as how i've been busy wrapping christmas presents, i haven't had a lot of time to try out all those teas i ordered, except for P.G. Tips. it's a strange name and the bag is strange, too. sort of a triangular-shaped bag turned sideways. yeah, hard to describe, but it works really well for the water-accessing-the-tea-and-getting-it-wet process. and combined with the apple blossom honey i ordered from an excellent road-side fruit place just beyond leavenworth, my morning tea drinking has become a lovely experience once again.

on the first day ...

just in case i somehow left you off the e-mail, here is a link you will want to watch -- it's great christmas fun!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Fe11OlMiz8

true crime -- small town beat

December 3: A woman brought her young grandson into the police department to have a police officer speak with him regarding the stealing of public library books. The grandson was appropriately counseled. The young man was compelled by family to return the books and pay for his misdeed. Case closed.

December 1: A resident called police concerned about kids playing in the snow-slickened roadway. An officer spoke to the intrepid duo and suggested they play over in the snowy grass off the roadway, where only the inexperienced motorists were driving. The kids accepted the suggestion and moved to higher ground, where they had a better view of the approaching enemy.

November 22: Border Patrol agents alerted police of a vehicle, which bore two different license plates. Officers contacted the driver. His explanation, that he had absent-mindedly forgotten to take the California license plate off the front of his car when he placed a new Washington license on the back, seemed plausible given the reeking odor of burnt marijuana emanating from his car. The driver was given a break on the license plates, and arrested for possession of the marijuana which he had not inhaled before police descended. The 23-year-old Seattle man was processed at the scene.

November 22: Border Patrol agents came upon a man sitting in the roadway in the dark beside his vehicle very late at night. Police responded and found that appearances were deceiving - the gentleman only appeared to be non-reflective. Actually, he had parked himself in the road for just that purpose and was hoping to shed light upon some personal issues. He declined all offers of assistance, but decided that he wasn't going to be able to get any serious thinking done until the police left, so he appeased them by getting out of the street and back into his car.

November 22: A 17-year-old gent borrowed the family SUV for a late night drive to the public pier with a couple of young ladies. He did not realize that it takes a vehicle approximately twice as far to brake to a stop on ice-slackened wood as on pavement. In this case a park bench, a big thick light standard, and two 12-by-12 inch retaining posts occupied that extra distance on the pier. These fixtures were all worse for wear following the SUVs passing, as was the vehicle itself. Fortunately no one was injured, and everyone was able to vividly recount the incident to arriving police officers.

what about july 5th?

i've done a lot, well, most, of my christmas shopping online. and a really cool site to look at is http://www.thinkgeek.com/index.shtml.

while i was there looking around, i saw a calendar which i just could not resist. it's the 2008 demotivators calendar. it's funny, and tongue-in-cheek (at least, i think it is), and has some really interesting tidbits (mostly computer or sci-fi) written on some of the days.

for example: "september 6 -- a computer error causes over 40,000 parisians with minor traffic violations to receive letters charging them with murder, extortion and other serious offenses (1989)" i don't know for sure they aren't making that up, but it's pretty funny regardless.

and then: "november 9 -- patent issued for 'apparatus for facilitating the birth of a child by centrifugal force', which lets a pregnant woman be strapped to a circular table and spun to induce birth (1965)". hahahahahaha.......are they serious? hahahaha -- that's just hilarious!

for moments of brilliant levity, buy it.

don't be hasty

beware of e-mailed coupons. read this article -- http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22119051/ -- and it will make you very nervous.

you have to be so careful of your web site surfing, so careful of your e-mail, so careful careful careful. gees, i hate those bad guys.

my husband fred, android 67402

i just read an article on sex with robots. i found myself chuckling embarrassedly through the whole thing, and wondering what that told about me especially since the husband is outstanding in that area.

then there's the 'vote' part of the article -- i chuckled at it, too.

i've always found sci-fi to be utterly fascinating and love reading futuristic books, but this idea caught me off-guard. sex with robots, marriage with robots, ethical treatment of robots. wow -- what a bunch of concepts.

at any rate, the guy in the article recently got his ph.d. (in the netherlands, no surprise there) on human-robot relationships, and says the first state to legalize human-robot marriages will be ..... which one do you think? he says massachusetts. i would have guessed california.

star light, star bright

like to see shooting stars? the Geminids are supposed to be active right now, with peak activity on the night of december 13-14, and their displays are supposed to be especially good this year.

as it turns out, the husband saw a shooting star just yesterday. and since it was before i read the article, i couldn't offhandedly say, "oh yes, that's the geminids."

anyhow, i think i'll bundle up and go sit out in the dark this evening.

the sands of time

things change, people move on. i'd forgotten about a couple of blogs i used to read voraciously, but just now thought about them and decided to give them a quick look.

one -- http://slimbolala.blogspot.com/ -- is delightfully written by a young dad who, with his wife and two young daughters, lives in new orleans and has nothing but good to say about living there. i think he has a job with computers, but he also spends time drawing wonderful faces on his blog.

the other -- http://www.sundrymourning.com/ -- is written by a young mom (who's pregnant again) who lives with her husband and gorgeously cute little boy in seattle. she has a sharp wit which is unduplicatible -- she's says stuff i would never say because it seems to be negative, but it turns out to be just hilarious.

at any rate, if you're looking for something to do, cruise on over to either of those sites and peruse them to your heart's content. because it will be.

what kind of mind ...

okay, all you family members who would like to know what kt did for thanksgiving -- go to his november 24 post. read it and enjoy the pictures, then at the bottom of the post where he says 'wish you a happy thanksgiving in person', click on the link. you'll have to wait about 5 minutes or so (unless you have dial-up, then the wait is more like 92 hours) for it to download, but then -- whoa! very cool!! watch out, george lucas!

one ringy dingy ...

i had a bit of time yesterday and ended up reading (in wikipedia) about area codes. it actually was fascinating.

there are several ways to introduce new area codes and all ways leave the introducers hated by the masses.

i went to the link to the fcc and read more. did you know there are places in this country where you need to dial all 10 digits even if you're calling your neighbor next-door? 'tis true. we in western wa narrowly missed that scenario back in 2001. whew!

excitement where you least expect it ....

wee one

we drove down to see our sweet little grandaughter today. she has gained 5 pounds since birth (6 weeks old now) and is beautiful! she looks just like her mom did at that age (daughter-in-law had pictures).

she likes to be moving, however, and will cry if you don't walk around while you hold her. i'm not sure why that is, but hey, whatever works.

so i got to hold her today and she and i walked around the house and she looked around and later even gave me a smile. ahhhh, little cutie! when she started fussing i shifted her around mostly on her tummy and carried her that way. sometimes pressure on their tummies feels good.

we only stayed a couple of hours but mom, dad, and baby looked happy. and so are we!

watch out!

boogedy, boogedy -- if you aren't aware of how you can be scammed by people who give you a check for something, you need to pay attention.

Canada, as benevolent (?) as our neighbor is, has a huge ring operating and preying on U.S. citizens. Other scam artists are located in Nigeria, the Netherlands, and England.

want to know what a counterfeit check looks like? go here: http://www.ckfraud.org/counterfeitcks.html

the scams? one is that you are given a check which is more than the amount due you, you deposit the whole thing, take out your amount, then wire the remainder. the check bounces. even when the bank says it has cleared, it may come back later and insist the check didn't clear and you are liable for the whole amount. man, that's a nightmare! in fact, read the whole article -- it will make you not want to take any check.

so -- we can't take a check, we can't take money -- the counterfeiters are everywhere. supposedly you are supposed to be able to use an online payment system, like PayPal, but they had their own problems awhile back with people posing as them.

this last article has some really good advice, though, about only taking a check on a local bank. still, it makes me nervous. i guess the answer is, rather than trying to sell something just give it away!

be one with nature

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

lots of love going out to our friends, relatives, and neighbors. we have sooooo many things to be thankful for and really feel blessed. may the universe bless you as well.

the husband and i wish you sunny days, starry nights, pleasant breezes, and double-rainbows.

in with the old

the husband and i watched U.S. Marshals (1998) tonight. sure, we've seen it before but it's been awhile. i have to tell ya, if you haven't seen it or if it's been a lot of years, watch it (again). we'd forgotten a lot of it and tommy lee is good. so are the others. tension and good music, too.

do you speak '60s?

"I knew I'd been living in Berkeley too long when I saw a sign that said 'Free firewood' and my first thought was 'Who was Firewood and what did he do?'" -John Berger

ahahaha -- those were the days .....

vignette ~ Harry's Dead

Clang. Clang. Clangittyclangitty. Clang. The wind kept knocking something metal against the library’s flag pole. It’d gotten a lot colder this evening. More wind plus cold equals hell-of-a-lot colder, and I hunched up my shoulders and pulled my arms in close to my body as I hurried along.

One more block and then I was in my cold coffin of a car, starting it up and quickly shutting off the blower which I’d left on ‘cause it was blowin’ nice and warm when I’d gotten out. The trees waved their branches up and down in the streetlight, making animated pick-up sticks shadows on the pavement as the engine idled a bit. No one else was out and about as I pulled away from the curb and headed on home.

Dammit Harry, why’d you have to go and die just when things were looking up? Harry was the nice old man I’d been renting a room from, just until I could get on my feet. But I came home for lunch today and found Harry sitting awful still in his favorite chair in the living room. The police said he’d died peacefully and since they verified I’d been at my job when Harry’d been granted his wings, they didn’t accuse me of anything.

I had cried. Not that I’m a big baby or anything, but I was gonna miss ole’ Harry. He’d gotten to me and that was unusual. I mean, nothing touches a loner, right? The police said I might want to spend the night somewhere else, but hey. I got no place else to go, right? So I just said no, thanks, I wanted to watch over Harry’s stuff, and they left me alone.

Because I did want to watch over Harry’s stuff. What I hadn’t told the police was that when I came home today, I could tell that someone had been there. It had sprinkled and the driveway had a large spot which wasn’t the same wetness as the rest. And there was a wadded-up paper towel and a newspaper clipping on the front porch. I picked them up and put them in the trash ‘cause ole’ Harry likes to keep things neat, but I wondered how they’d gotten there in the first place. The wind was blowing at the back side of the house not the front and besides, the front had a lot of bushes and things.

So now that the excitement was over and I was in bed thinking back over the day, it occurred to me that maybe Harry hadn’t had such a peaceful exit after all. I thought about it for awhile as I listened to night-sounds through my open-an-inch-even-in-the-wintertime window. The wind had died down and I was finally heading off to dreamland when the nagging that had started in my head a little bit ago finally got my attention. Something or someone was carefully and quietly walking across the porch. Well, wait ... maybe the wind picked up again, blowing at the front of the house this time.

I focused, then listened a bit, then started smoothing back down the road to dreamland, when I heard some kind of clicking at the front door. Then the door opened. Ohmygod, can you die from adrenaline overload? Maybe not, but you can die from other things that I really didn’t want to find out about.

I threw back the covers, grabbed my jeans, boots, and wool sweater, and practically rammed myself through the screen-less window that Harry was never going to get fixed now.

I headed straight for the three pine trees in the corner of the yard and scrunched behind them, trying to get dressed and looking to see if anyone showed up. Slapped my jeans on, slipped the sweater over my head, and crammed my cold tootsies in my shearling-lined desert boots. This was going to work for a little while, as long as the wind didn’t pick up again, but really -- it was simply the wrong time of year to be starting an adventure.

I scoped out the alley, then headed down it, figuring it was only about four blocks to Macy’s farm on the edge of town. There was hay up in the barn and I could sorta keep warm in there. Come morning, though, I was going to have to figure out what to do.

go, team, go!

they caught a bad guy at work today. it's not that unusual, really -- they seem to find drugs or pests (agriculture) or something which isn't allowable on a regular basis. i just usually never hear about it.

but today i knew about it as it was unfolding. not that i was in the middle of it, but one of the top guys left the office for a bit and then there was a lot of activity outside and i could see it from my top-floor window.

sooooooo cool!! down with the bad guys and up with us!!!

oh, good grief

'politically correct' is one thing, but 'ridiculous' is another.

for quite a while now i've thought the p.c. idea has gotten totally out-of-hand, but yesterday a couple of co-workers told me that gossiping at work had gotten three people, from some company in this country, fired.

fired. for gossiping. i'm sorry, i just think that's stupid. sticks and stones and all that, so grow up.

the freedom of speech issue aside, unless someone can go back in time and take roseanne off the air, along with all the hateful, snide, snotty-commenting programs since, it's going to be hard to get workers to stop being so catty/snotty/hateful.

people have always been that way, but i think it's gotten worse since being negative was okayed by hollywood. good manners aren't nearly as valued as a quick, nasty wit.

i'd like to see political correctness die a quick death and i'd love a return to good old-fashioned manners. i don't mind all-inclusive terms like mailman, councilmen, brotherhood, etc. and i love someone opening the door for me, allowing me to exit first, helping me on with my coat. so there. pppffffththttttt.

vignette ~ What's Going On?

Everyday when Janet got off work, she drove out of the parking lot and past a little white house with a nicely-kept yard. It was always so neatly trimmed and pleasant-looking that it made her happy no matter how strained her day had been.

This evening she had worked late and, since it was Friday and she didn’t have to hurry home to do chores, she took her time walking to her car and getting it out of the lot. The little old lady who lived in the white house was outside sweeping her sidewalk and, on a spur-of-the-moment impulse, Janet pulled over to the curb and got out.

“Hi,” she said walking up to the wizened, grizzled woman, “I work across the street and I just have to tell you how much I love your home and yard.”

The old lady’s face split into a huge grin and she bobbed her head and said, “Thank you.”

Janet went on, “Everything is so nicely trimmed and cleaned up that it completely cheers me up, even after I have a really bad day. Like yesterday, for example, it was the worst day I’ve had in a couple of weeks, but when I got off work I made sure to look at your place. It was very soothing, but then when I saw the fire in your fireplace through the window, it made me smile and all the day’s irritations just went away.”

The old woman cackled an old-woman laugh and said, “Well, that’s a nice thought, dearie, but I don’t have no fireplace.” Janet looked at her with puzzled eyes and the old lady turned, pointed to her full-glass front door and said, “Look for yourself. I don’t know what you saw, but it weren’t no fireplace.”

Janet was seeing the cozy corner where the fire had been pleasantly flaring yesterday and where a rocking chair sat today. “Wha ... ?” She finally closed her mouth, shook her head, and mumbled, “I must be working too hard.” Remembering her manners she said, “Well, whatever it was I saw, I still love your home and yard and I just wanted to tell you.”

“You’re a nice girl to say those things, thank you kindly now.” The woman grinned and continued, “You just look at it all you want,” and she went back to her sweeping. Janet went back to her car, got in, and headed for home.

“What in the hell did I see yesterday I wonder. I know damn-good-and-well there was a fireplace in that corner,” she softly muttered. After driving another three blocks she muttered some more, “That just doesn’t make any sense.” By the time she got home she had decided to have left-overs for supper and then take a long bubble-bath. Maybe relaxing would help her figure out what she’d seen.

The phone chimed as she was sticking a plate of food in the microwave and she answered it on the second ring. “Janet,” said Polly, her best friend of 25 years, “you’ll never guess what. Joe got the supervisor job he bid on!” Polly was so happy, Janet could just see her doing her happy-dance steps.

“I know. You told me yesterday and you still sound excited about it. Are you guys going to celebrate?”

“What do you mean I told you yesterday?” Polly sounded puzzled. “I only found out ten minutes ago when Joe called me from work. His boss didn’t get back from the conference until after midnight last night.”

“No, you told me yesterday when you called to get my applesauce cookie recipe. You wanted to make them special for Joe.”

“Janet I didn’t call you yesterday. It was my sister’s last day in town and we had some shopping to do before she packed. Then I took her to the airport, came home, and ironed shirts until I went to bed. We didn’t talk. What’s going on?”

“Polly, we talked and I can prove it. Joe’s new job will give him $57,000 a year. That’s what you said. And I remember that figure because Joe turned 57 last month.”

“Look. This doesn’t make any sense. Joe only just now called me, right from his boss’ office, and he didn’t tell me how much he’d be making so I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Janet felt a cold chill go down her back and decided she needed some down-time. “Listen, Polly, I’ve got to go but I’ll get back to you tomorrow. Don’t mention our conversation to Joe; just have a good time tonight and celebrate. He’s worked hard a lot of years. And tell him I’m happy for him.”

They hung up and Janet got her warmed-up plate. “What-in-the-hell is going on,” she muttered. Armed with chicken and peas, she walked past her glass of water and grabbed a beer on her way out to the back porch. She knew it would be chilly outside before too long, but she loved sitting out back. When Charlie had died two years ago it was the only place she could go and feel safe and close to him. The bedroom made her cry. The kitchen made her cry. The living room made her cry. The back porch was the only place she had some peace, and she had spent a lot of time out there.

So she ate her supper and rocked in her chair, trying to relax. Charlie had taught her that if she had a big problem sometimes the best way to handle it was to turn to something else, let the problem sit, and go back to it later. Then, more often than not, the solution was there waiting.

She missed him. He had been the other part of her. Always helping her with things, giving her new ideas, solving problems. He’d be able to figure out what was going on right now. This was just so strange and she really didn’t want to think it might be her mind giving out. After all, she was only 54.

No, something was off and Charlie would have been able to figure it out. Her mind wandered through her thoughts as she absently looked around the back yard. It was nicely private with a one-car detached garage and a chain-link fence which ran around the perimeter. You couldn’t see the fence since the bushes had intractably interwoven through the links, but that was okay with her since she didn’t do more than say ‘Hi’ to her neighbors.

She jerked her head up as it suddenly occurred to her that there had been a number of unexplained episodes since Charlie’s death. Her favorite angora sweater had gone missing and never turned up. She found an unopened packet of her favorite incense under the bathroom sink when she knew she had used the last stick. She couldn’t find her favorite pair of earrings. Something weird was going on and it didn’t make a bit of sense.

She shivered, realized the sun was setting on a beautiful pink sky, and decided it was chilly enough she should be getting inside. She gave a big sigh and rose, plate in hand, turning to the back door.

“Janet,” said Charlie standing on the edge of the driveway with his hands in his coat pockets. She froze then screamed, dropped the plate, and reached for the back door. “Janet, wait,” he said but she screamed again -- a very panicked, frightened scream which stayed with her all the way to the floor and under the blanket in the back of the bedroom closet.

dream last night

i was in a shopping area alongside which ran a very busy street which was under construction. the shopping area had street vendors along with busy stores and i was walking past things for sale when i noticed a hot-air balloon coming down to land.

it was a beautiful day with no wind and the balloon was set to land across the street in a pasture. when the gondola touched down, all that forward motion translated into splintered motion and the gondola with its twelve passengers sort of bubbled and bounced around for a bit, like a drop of water on a hot skillet.

another one was coming in to land but i resumed my walking and found myself going by the american indians who had the hot-air balloon business. the balloons were laying right there by the roadway, unfilled, waiting for the next passengers so they could inflate. i remember thinking the balloons weren't big at all, only about 12-15 limp feet long, with a couple of eagle feathers on the top.

vignette ~ What To Do

After twenty-two years of an uneventful marriage, Bretta and Dave divorced four years ago. No acrimony, just ennui. The twins, Samantha and Tatiana -- Sam and Tits for short -- were in college when the decision was made. They accepted the news with only a few questions, and the divorce was amicably handled by an acquaintance of Dave’s. From different apartments in different parts of town, they sold the house and divided everything up neatly and politely, exactly as things had always been in their marriage.

Then, three months after the papers were signed and two days before the divorce was technically final, Dave was. Final, that is. He had a heart attack while he was working late, and was found by the janitor. Apparently it had happened very quickly, meaning Dave left this life as easily as he’d come in. Honestly, some people just had all the luck.

None of it had been an emotional watershed, thought Bretta, so why, after four years, was there still just a touch of emptiness which persisted in coming and going of its own accord? Irritating in its constant incongruity, but there you are. Where are rules when you need them?

And besides the occasional bouts of loneliness, there was that whole aging thing. I mean, getting older was just such a let-down. New wrinkles, no matter how cute, and sparse hair, even if one didn’t really need all those pubes, just didn’t do all that much for the self-esteem department, not to mention the tiny little bits of weight gain here and those little pooches of sagging flesh there. Even wisdom wasn’t all it was cracked up to be.

So here she was, just four months past her sixtieth birthday, wondering what she should do with her three weeks of vacation this year. Her girlfriend was tied up with a sick parent and a wandering husband so making plans with her wouldn’t happen. The twins were both starting new jobs, Sam in Pittsburgh and Tits in Fort Wayne, and going anywhere with either of them was out of the question.

What to do, what to do. She could take a cruise, fly to Italy or New Zealand, do the Elderhostel thing somewhere, drive across the country. But there was nothing which cried out and said, “Do Me.” Not even a man. And it had been so long since she’d had a good roll in the hay, she wasn’t even sure she remembered how. Haha, as if. Baby boomers could do anything. Show her a willing man and she’d show him a thing or two. Maybe even with the lights on.

But boyfriends from high school and college were gone and long forgotten and, Demi not withstanding, most younger guys weren’t looking for an older partner. Oh well, maybe she’d meet up with someone when she lived in an old folks’ home, and they could watch Frisky Business together as their dry, arthritic hands curled around each other’s fingers.

Well, that thought was simply depressing and right now she had places to go and people to see, so she grabbed her coat and went out to enjoy a walk on this beautiful Autumn day.

Still air, smelling of burning leaves, made her think back fifty years. And the sound of crunching leaves under her feet made her feel like scooping a bunch together and jumping into them for fun. “On second thought, breaking bones would be painful. Good grief, can't we have any fun anymore?” she muttered as she walked along.

flash gordon

oh man, i was born 50 years too early. for those of us who like cars of the future, check this out: http://autoshow.autos.msn.com/autoshow/Tokyo2007/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=5630722 -- i like the Honda Puyo with its soft surface and bumper-car look, and i can see that the Nissan NV200 would be really cool to use if it fit your needs (the Pixy, too, for that matter), but i totally love the Nissan Pivo2!! i want one NOW!!!!!

your health

time to get a flu shot. the husband and i got ours last month and there's still time to get one at a flu clinic in your area.

be smart and be safe.

the way-back machine

spanky
ah-oooooooga
duck and cover
esther williams
mr. green jeans
the wayward wind
buck rogers
the tramp
helps build strong bodies twelve ways
cherry mash
green river
saddle shoes and bobby socks
pinafore
iron lung
vacuum tubes
test pattern
his master's voice
sputnik 2 and laika

tocsin

Cargill is recalling a million pounds of beef. if you bought any meat recently, check to see if it has any of these words on the label:

Century Farm, Giant, Giant Eagle, Shop Rite, Stop & Shop, Wegmans, Weis Premium Meats, Meatload Mix, and ...for Chili.

Full details are here -- http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15587340/ -- and kudos to Cargill for getting on top of the situation quickly. well, i guess it's been almost a month, but still ... at least they aren't denying the situation.

spooky

it seems like there's never enough time to relax anymore. but yesterday was halloween and some of us at work decided to go crazy and dress up a little bit. we wore black pants and orange shirts. i wore black pants, a black shirt, and an orange vest, one of those puffy, down things which made me look like a pumpkin. then we put tattoos on our arms and D put one on her cheek and then we were rough tough killing machines!

my boss walked by once, turned, and said, "Nice mask. Oops..." cracked me up -- i wasn't wearing a mask.

Tenacious J

we got another happy surprise yesterday, in addition to lovely little Ava joining our world a week and a half ago. the husband's oldest son called to say he had just been hired as an airline pilot for SkyWest Airlines.

J has had two overriding interests in his life -- making movies and flying. he has spend most of the last 20+ years being involved behind the camera and has had his name in the credits of several recognized movies, e.g. The Green Mile.

but while he was doing camera things, he was taking flying lessons, practicing practicing, buying an airplane of his own, flying flying everywhere every chance he got. somewhere along the way decided he wanted to be an airline pilot.

J starts his training next monday -- 6 weeks in salt lake city. his wife is happy for him since it's something he really wants, but hates the idea of him being gone so long. but at least he isn't headed to the middle east for a year!

congratulations! and we hope it's everything you expect it to be!

true crime -- small town beat

October 17: Police officers responded to assist a resident who was locked out of her home. The problem was of some importance, as her lunch was in flames on her stove inside. Officers and responding fire apparatus made entry. The caged Cajun chicken was pronounced dead at the scene.

October 17: Police observed a teenage boy on the school campus after having been expelled and trespassed from the property. Officers contacted the teen, who thought his transgression was pretty funny. Officers forwarded a trespassing complaint to the prosecutor to get a judge's opinion on the hilarity of the situation.

October 16: A woman called to report that her husband had been missing from their home for over four days. A report was taken and investigation initiated. Officers located the man safe at a friend's place where he had been staying. He did not want to return home. His wife was advised by police that he was safe -- at least for the time being.

October 15: A resident called 911 to report there four people in her back yard with weapons, trying to break into her house to kill her. She also thought they had broken into her car and put an animal inside. Responding police found that there were no criminals in the area and no critters in her car.

October 15: A resident reported two men and a woman were trying to break into vehicles and her house. An officer and four Border Patrol agents responded within 60 seconds and no suspects were located. The officer investigated the incident and discovered no evidence of prowling. The suspects left no footprints in the wet grass or on her dry wooden porch. The resident called in a second report a few minutes later that six suspects had just broken into her neighbors residence and fled in a flatbed truck. Officers helped the resident realize that she had been hallucinating.

what to do, what to do

i have a dilemma -- i am going to drop verizon as my cell provider because they pissed me off. twice. that's too many times.

so i'm looking at at&t, even though we had them back in the mid-90's and they pissed me off. but not as much as verizon.

at any rate, i am trying to decide if i should get the i-phone, which has features which i might never use, or if i should just get a regular phone and then get an i-pod for music.

to get the i-phone, it would cost $399 plus $59.99 a month for service which includes 450 minutes talk-time, 200 minutes of texting, unlimited e-mail, and web surfing. a regular phone would be whatever it would be for the phone, then $39.99 a month for 450 minutes plus between $5-$20 more a month for texting. which i have actually done a little bit of.

to buy an i-pod nano with 8 gb of memory, it would be $200. 8 gb = 2,000 songs. don't laugh. i could easily get there. the i-pod classic (80 gb) is $50 more.

would i use the i-phone if i had it??? well, it'd use it for the music. and when i was in the car and needed a phone, i'd use it for that. if i got lost, i could go online and call up google maps. i could check my voice mail, decide if i wanted to listen to one before another. stuff like that.

am i technologically interested enough? the older i get, the less i'm interested. i don't like that, but there it is. if you have any thoughts, feel free to leave them.

not my problem anymore

well, that was interesting.

shopping online is usually not a hassle for us. until this one.

i ordered 6 items from Serengeti catalog, associated with NorthStyle catalog, on the 8th. when i checked the order just now, thinking it surely should have arrived by now, it was still in the warehouse.

hmmmm, still in the warehouse. WTF??!

so i called and the gal put me on hold. then she switched me to customer service. then he couldn't figure out why the order hadn't gone out. so i asked for the supervisor. she was one of those types who kept interrupting me. she finally said she would send it out overnight. fine, i said, but what about the trouble i had trying to place this order online (it wouldn't take the credit card -- which has NEVER happened with any other company before -- i'd had to call in the order). i must have been typing something in wrong, she said. WTF??! this has been my problem?

fine, go ahead and send the order, i said, then take me off your mailing lists. fine, she said.

fine.

cool trip

our friends who the girlfriend and i stayed with last year, up and decided to take a cruise to alaska. not being able to do that from south dakota, they flew to vancouver and commenced. a cruise wasn't enough, so they when they were finished with the cruise, they headed to hawaii.

they will have been gone a month -- i can't wait to hear about their trip! hope the northern lights put on a display for them!!

ain't it the truth!

i don't remember jokes well at all, but i have an stupendous ability to mangle one in the telling. however, yesterday one of my male cohorts and i were discussing the downside of getting older, and he made a one-sentence comment which i can maybe remember.

"Ah, well" he said, "we've got one foot in the grave and the other on a banana peel."

the visual totally cracked me up.

grins

there are a couple of gals at work who are such a delight to watch. they work together and talk to each other constantly. they tease, fuss (not really), joke, and banter. constantly. i'm not sure how they can always find so much to say. but it's great fun to watch.

not that they aren't serious -- they are excellent at what they do. it's just that it would be so much fun to invisibly follow them around and listen to all that amazing light-hearted playful talk.

oops ... hahaha

on my lunch break yesterday, i decided to stay at work since it was raining and i just didn't want to bother with it.

i remembered i wanted to look for a raincoat, but i couldn't remember the web site of the one i'd liked, so i was forced to surf a bit. the picture below is what came up at one of the pulled-from-memory web addresses:

welcome!!!

i am a proud mama of a wonderful Older Son who is now a proud papa of a brand-new baby!

little Ava was born today at 1:30 pm -- 7 lbs, 6 oz. She has brown hair and feisty lungs which got quite a work-out. she must have not liked being taken from a dark, warm place and thrust into a lighted, warm place filled with strangers. well, who would?

i got to hold her and it was so sweet. she's a little precious bit of softness and while her daddy was tenderly holding her, he kept kissing her forehead. she's a very lucky little girl -- he's going to be such a good daddy!

Confucius say ....

certainly it's always wise to be nice to people who control your destiny. and just as wise to be nice to people, period.

but to get screwed around just because you're unfortunately dealing with a class-a jerk is just irritating. this article is appalling and disgusting. and really makes me wish there were more train-travel options.

after dealing with people, impersonally, monday through friday, on the phone, i can attest that some people are the types you really just want to hang up on. some people are pleasant, but a lot of them just don't know when to shut up; some simply want to lazily go to the head of the line; and some have a screaming marquee on their forehead which says ME FIRST.

those experiences have led me to try to remember to be polite, but brief when dealing with beleaguered people. and to avoid crowds and crowded places as much as possible.

true crime -- small town beat

September 25: A sojourner requested a place to stay because he came to visit someone in Canada on the bus but was not allowed to cross the border. The person did not have any money for lodging or food, so an officer transported him to the Mission.

September 22: An officer assisted Border Patrol agents by providing perimeter security while they took a foreign national into custody after he entered the U.S. illegally in a forested area.

September 15: Officers received a second noise disturbance call regarding a man parked at the curb loudly playing music in his car. Officers recontacted the car’s conductor and warned him additional calls might result in a quiet jail cell. He decided to go back inside the house and listen to his music tomorrow.

September 14: A social service representative went to an elderly resident’s home to talk with her about her well-being. The social worker called for police assistance when the resident hopped on her electric scooter and skedaddled down the street rather than chatting. An officer was able to broker a conversation between the two. From all appearances, the 94-year-old citizen’s batteries were well charged.

September 11: A teenager racing home on his mountain bike artfully jumped the curb from the sidewalk into the roadway of the H Street overpass. The landing was even more exciting than the jump as the bike’s front fork assembly and handlebars separated from the frame. The rider and his amazed expression were then ejected off the frame out onto the pavement in the westbound lane. The disintegration was witnessed by a passing police officer, who closed the roadway to check the victim for injuries and commiserate with his pain. He and his former bicycle were given a ride home.

safety is relative

i have a vivid imagination, so it's pretty easy for me to half-way believe in sci-fi/fantasy stuff.

imagine my horror when i read about people who swim in lakes and mysteriously pick up an invisible ameoba which methodically begins eating their brain tissue until they die.

only this is not science fiction. this is reality on earth today. go to http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21034344/ to read the story.

i'm appalled and saddened that something so undetectable could creep up and latch onto someone you love, very quickly rendering them almost immediately terminal. and for some reason, males are infected more than females.

the article mentions one such incident at lake havasu in arizona last month. i think that's where My Younger Son went to vacation with a friend of his back in the 90's. eeeekk!! even 8 years later, it's still eeeekk!!

whatever the tiny creature is, the medical community has no way to fight it. apparently the first cases started showing up in the 1960's and since the bug is a heat-loving bug, its presence is probably going to start being apparent more and more. you know, with global warming and all.

goodness. we start thinking we are pretty safe, and something new comes along. be careful, you guys.

bent spear --- broken arrow

bent spear and broken arrow. you don't know those terms? that's because you are young!

and if you haven't lived during prickly times like the cold war era, the cuban missile crisis, or the gary powers incident, you probably aren't too concerned about being careful around missiles.

still, it's pretty intriguing to think that nuclear missiles could be transported, undetected, and casually held for 36 hours with no one the wiser.

like, whoa, dude. no problem. this hang-over is killing me. whaddaya mean 'be careful'? you read too many comic books, dude ..... get real.

the unbelievable story here -- http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20926465/

take a piece of meat with you....

i just had a few 'good morning' chuckles -- go to http://testpattern.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/09/19/368492.aspx and read about song lyrics that have been mis-heard. even if you don't know the songs, the results are entertaining.

change

our sleepy little neighborhood is waking up. it's been very quiet for so long what with, at one time or another, ten houses being on the market in the last year. and there's only twenty in the neighborhood. but even with several of the houses being purchased, the area has still been very sober.

until now.

the house across the street (lovely 4 bedroom, 2 1/2 bath) was rented to a group of kids a couple of months ago. we wondered how that was going to turn out, but (except for one of them relieving himself off the balcony) generally they've been low-key. there are always five cars in front of the place, but they've been quiet.

two weeks ago, the notorious house next door got moved into. that was where the kid had played his drums at all hours and their dogs had used our yard as a bathroom. it's been nice to have them gone and i'm not sure what to think of the new neighbors. apparently it's two couples (one couple is older) plus a son. there are routinely four cars in front of the house and the weekends are filled with additional people playing outside. i think they must have an extensive family because there are always new faces.

the other house across the street (small 3 bedroom, 2 story) was just rented a couple of days ago -- they brought in a moving van load of stuff so they may be around awhile. which might not be bad -- i think that sweet dog lives there. i've only seen two cars parked at their place and their plates are from arizona.

so -- things are happening. hopefully the happenings will be happy.

read the label

all that information about toys from china having lead paint or something else wrong prompted me to be really careful in trying to pick out little toys to put on the diaper wreath i made for my dau-in-law at her baby shower last week.

i enjoyed making the diaper wreath and it was cute, but i couldn't find a single toy thing that i thought was safe enough to add to it. of course, this is a very small town and the toy offerings from rite aid are pretty dismal, but every single toy for newborns was made in china.

sorry. not going to buy it. i am going to restrict my toy purchases to a company which is based in germany or somewhere in the european countries. there's just no sense in giving your child a toy from china. too many far-reaching effects if the toy is tainted.

and on that note, i overheard more stay-away-from-made-in-china-products news. it seems there is at least one brand of tooth paste which has been found to be laced with anti-freeze. i don't know any specifics, but i don't need any more reasons to look for the fine print on labels. no chinese products for me or purchases for anyone i love.

dreadnaughts = draughts = chinook

much to my surprise, or i probably would have been surprised if i'd thought about it, a computer program has managed to come up with every single possible play in a game of checkers.

it took 18 years, and includes more than 500 billion billion moves, but this program will never be beaten because it has seen it all. if an equal opponent ever played the program, the result would be a draw.

the program, called Chinook and dreamed up by computer scientists in canada, will make great inroads in the artificial intelligence field. for more information see this article -- http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19839044/

joie de vivre

i chanced across the sweetest dog this evening. i'd run over to a neighbor's to water her plants while she was out of town for a few days. as i was walking across her driveway toward home, i saw a brown sandy-dog peeking around the fence looking at me.

i said, "well, hi puppy. where did you come from?" his tongue hung out and he wagged his tail, making little happy-jumps, one time lunging at my hand with his nose and quickly retreating. he wanted to play!

but i had no idea who he was or where he'd come from so i decided i needed to ignore him and go on home. there were two cars in front of the nice heretofore unrented rental house across the street, so maybe he was theirs. in which case i'll get to see him again. maybe.

anyhow, it was fun to see his joy and for awhile i wished i was part of it.

true crime -- small town beat

September 3: A 16-year-old area youth who had warrants for his arrest turned himself in at the police department. The warrants were confirmed and the juvenile arrestee was placed into detention.

September 1: An officer investigated several 911 hang-ups coming from an apartment complex. Contact was made with two residents. The caller was surprised to learn that punching the numbers on 911 on your phone works even when you think your telephone service is disconnected.

August 31: A citizen reported a possibly intoxicated man with facial injuries was waiting for a bus in front of city hall. Officers and fire personnel contacted the victim. He described himself as a clumsy alcoholic who falls all the time. The man had a fresh bandage on his cut and refused treatment.

August 31: Customs and Border Protection called to report a motorist backing south on I-5 in the northbound lanes. An officer contacted the driver who admitted to the offense because he had forgotten his passport at home. The driver was trying to find a place to turn around, as he was afraid to approach Canada Customs without proper documentation.

hot!!

and this is what that very same sweetie looks like now ....

well, actually, that was about three years ago.

now he looks like this:

business (continued)

what a 5th grade plasma-astro-physicist looks like:

and these are his chosen school clothes!

the business of play

when he was little, My Younger Son was very serious about his work.



and when he took a notion to get serious, he was serious. for example, during the whole year of his 5th grade, he decided to wear a button-down shirt and tie to school. it was just a regular school with no dress code. i had to wash and iron shirts, and buy ties for my 5th grader. impressive.

not again

... uhhnnnn .... wanna go back to bed ... can't wait until tomorrow morning -- think i'll set my alarm so i can turn it off and ignore it ... HA, ha, h... zzzzz

shoot 'em up, blow 'em up

remember The Rock? we watched it again the other night. it was great. lots of suspense, good music, and not bad acting.

sometimes when you watch a movie years after it was made, it really stinks. even if you loved it before. i remember thinking It's A Mad Mad Mad Mad World was terrific. then we watched it about thirty years later. double raspberries.

but a number of movies hold up pretty well -- Jesus Christ Superstar (1973), Star Wars (1977), Arsenic and Old Lace (1944), Grease (1978), Man From Snowy River (1982), Princess Bride (1987), Roxanne (1987) and of course many more.

take a minute and tell me the ones you still like ...

my nose is bigger than your nose

we went down to My Older Son's for a barbeque with him, his wife, and his inlaws. plus their little dog, charlie. we had a lovely time -- good food, great company, and light-hearted enjoyment.


i got a few pictures, but it's time to head for bed, so i'll just put on one of charlie.


voila!




it's not photoshopped, i swear!

art

spencer tunick cracks me up ....

quotes

"I wonder if other dogs think poodles are members of a weird religious cult." -Rita Rudner

"People in motion tend to stay in motion. People at rest tend to rust." - Tim Lane

"To invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk." -Thomas Edison

"I'll tell ya how to stay young: Hang around with older people." -Bob Hope

"I took a course in speed waiting. Now I can wait an hour in only ten minutes." -Steven Wright

"I hate housework! You make the beds, you do the dishes --and six months later you have to start all over again." -Joan Rivers

maybe i should retire. oh, wait ...

today was a stressful day. one of the new tasks they've given me has taken up a LOT of my time lately. i simply HAVE to get this one particular job done for another boss, but something always comes along which has temporary precedence. so, tomorrow i am going to get a few little things out of the way then finish up 'this particular job' and have it completed before i go home at 4:30. i will try to stay cool and calm and take lots of deep, relaxing breaths.

opposing that thought however is this: my boss sent me an e-mail wondering if i'd be interested in heading up the united way fund this year. me interested?? hell nooooooooooooooooo!!!!! i would totally hate doing that and if i am 'encouraged' to do it anyway, it will totally stress me out. she wanted to talk to me about it tomorrow so we'll see what she says.

i plan to start a new habit of recalling the wonderful advice My Older Son gave me recently -- "Remember to slow down and take care of yourself."

like taking deep breaths ... relaxing breaths ... (and maybe turning off the phones)

just trying to do their job

there was a letter to the editor of our little newspaper last week. it seems a canadian woman has made a point over the years of coming down and spending time (days? weeks?) at one of our shoreline places. she has always enjoyed doing that however her last trip across the border left her with ill-will. apparently one of the officers, as he was conversing about her reasons for coming to the states, said "don't they have beaches in canada?"

she was miffed about his question and the way he said it. my thought is: these guys have been working overtime (double-shifts) and are tired and probably sick of everyone's shit -- be glad their weapons are holstered. there are a LOT of people who try to bring drugs across the border -- do you have something illegal in your trunk? there are a LOT of people who think they have a right to come into the states and feel they shouldn't have to put up with a lot of questions -- a lot of people are jerks. there are a LOT of people who get tired of the long waiting lines at the border -- hmmm ... who's causing these long lines? those aren't american plates on those cars. and frankly, i think they teach them to ask questions like that -- at one of my crossings they asked me, "why don't you just go to the costco in bellingham?"

my experience with canadians (with one exception) is as follows: they are cranky and rude; they never smile; courtesy, manners, and pleasantness are lacking; they carry around an air of entitlement; seven out of every ten canadian cars i've seen in my last three trips on the interstate have been exceeding the speed limit, and not by just 5 mph; the long lines at the border are canadians coming to the states to speed.

i used to be all for multi-culturalism, sharing, universal love, etc. but anymore my thought is .... don't they have beaches in canada?

danger, will robinson...

obviously i do not have a criminal mentality because this particular ploy has never occurred to me: you get a virus, it locks up your computer, you send the masterminds money for the unlock code. insidious, eh? yes, it is.

so ... what can you do? the article says to be sure to back up your data. but what if the back-up file also contains the virus?

for myself i prefer to depend on Symantec's Norton Antivirus. we've used that program for years and haven't had any reason to switch. it's our tarzan in that jungle out there.

do you have your own tarzan?

true crime -- small town beat

July 31: Police were dispatched to a possible fight in progress in the parking lot of a business. Officers arrived and contacted the one person who had not fled the area when it became apparent the police were enroute. The remaining person was blissfully unaware of what had started the commotion, and there were no suspects or victims left to interview. Extra patrol was provided.

July 31: A woman provided an informational statement to police regarding issues she felt were of importance, including little people, satellite mind control, other populated planets, and other pressing matters of global security. No crimes were identified in the information supplied. Case closed with a report.

July 30: A person reported that someone had left an empty pack of cigarettes in her mailbox. The box was dusted for fingerprints at the complainant's request. There are no known suspects or witnesses to the littering crime. Case closed pending further information.

July 29: A citizen brought a wallet into the office that they found. The wallet and its contents were booked into evidence for safekeeping until the owner can be reached to retrieve it.

i wanna play

Be A Kid Again -- that's what it says. if you live in the portland area, you (an adult) are invited to partake in kid-like activities for adults only.

the Portland Children's Museum is hosting this first annual activity which includes carnival games, face painting, a fortune-teller, a balloon artist, bouncing around in an inflatable castle, you-can-win-a-prize contests, and more.

it takes place august 16 from 6 'til 10 pm. $25 a person unless you're a member then it's $20 each. sounds like fun!!!

statistics

i just read the article which states the u.s. ranks 42nd in life expectancy. oh noes! the injustice!

apparently part of the problem is that a lot of americans don't have health insurance. woe is us!

in addition, 2/3 of our adults are overweight while 1/3 are obese. well, duh -- we have eyes!

but the really harrowing statistic is that the longest life expectancy in the world is 83.5 years and here it's only 77.9 years. that's horrible! horrible! just horr- ... wait a minute. that's only a difference of 5.6 years.

laying at the mediocre position of 42nd, i was thinking more along the lines of 11 years or maybe 15. but 5.6? ho-hum.

but still, if it bothers you, move to #1 placed Andorra or at least to Maucau (sic) or San Marino, a tiny country completely surrounded by italy.

vignette ~ Scotland

She had been planning this trip for months. She’d always wanted to see Scotland and Wales, but her husband didn’t care to travel and their jobs had keep them both too busy to spend any time thinking or arguing about it.

Then the accident had happened. They had been out for an evening walk in their lovely neighborhood in Montrose when a local teenager had taken a corner too quickly, losing control of his new Mustang. The car had careened off a tree and struck her husband before either of them could get out of the way. He died instantly. She had cuts and bruises -- the ones on her body had healed pretty well, but the ones on her heart were permanent. The teen lost his legs and the use of his left hand. Part of her felt bad about that, but a bigger part just didn’t.

The first year alone was tough, the second was a little easier, and the third was spent healing. She came to terms with her situation, and part of her new outlook was to be adventurous. So, she was off to Scotland.

She had thought about joining a tour versus just diving in with no plan. After reading travel literature and studying maps, she decided to follow her own sketchy plan which allowed a lot of freedom to change destinations. And, she was gifting herself a whole month to explore.

The flight over had been godawful, what with TSA restrictions, cramped seating, and a gruesome amount of time in the air, but she was in Edinburgh at last. Listening to everyone speak with that wonderful Scottish burr made her blood thrum with excitement. She wandered around the terminal listening with a silly grin on her face, and finally thought I better get a car and be on my way before someone reports me as an escaped asylum patient.

Inverness was her first destination, but she was torn whether to go north through Aberdeen, or head west through Glasgow and Dumbarton. The maps indicated there were several castles between Glasgow and Loch Lomond so, finally making the decision, she turned toward the west.

Speeding along on Scotland’s version of an interstate, all of a sudden she startled herself, thinking I’m whizzing by stuff I wanted to meander through. Exiting at Boghall was easy, although the roundabouts were going to take some getting used to, to say nothing of driving on the wrong side of the road, but she was westbound again in no time and up-close-and-personal with things that touched her right down to her toes.

Everything was lush and quaint. Stone buildings with slate roofs, all shapes and sizes of chimneys, colorful doors and walls on so many of the buildings, and hanging flowers or window boxes full of greenery. It was more romantic than she ever imagined.

Rolling hills led through little hamlets, past stands of trees, up and down alongside pastures full of contentedly grazing brown cows, some with long horns and longer hair -- permanent bad hair day she chuckled. Fluffy sheep, or some quite shaggy, some with black faces and some with white, loitered right next to the cattle. The first time she saw the strange cow, a so-called Oreo cow as she later found out, she laughed right out loud. Black front end and black hind quarters with a wide white stripe around the middle -- just like the cookie turned sideways. Someone has a real sense of humor!

She definitely believed it was as she’d always heard: Scotland was a magical place! Suddenly struck by the notion to chuck everything and fly with the breeze, she tossed her maps in the backseat and turned at the very next road. Who knows where this goes, but I guess we’ll find out. Then she turned again when something caught her eye, then turned yet again when another direction felt right.

She laughed! This is great! Just going wherever she wanted without worry or concern. When she got hungry, she didn’t even look at her watch but stopped and ate at a tiny tavern with the name of Darken Dooren.

She headed down a country road when she left the pub, and was content bumping over ruts as the old road was, by turns, pavement, dirt, grass, and weedy gravel. The pastures were overtaken by occasional trees and boulders, then thick woods took firm hold. As she rounded a sharp bend in the deteriorated road, she slammed on her brakes and gaped. A beautiful scene stretched before her -- a broad lake with shallows on the left, cattails on the right, and steep mountains on the far side. It was the stuff dreams are made of.

Seeing as how she didn’t expect much traffic, she shut off the car right where it was and, grabbing a blanket from her bag, got out. There was a bare line in the grass which she felt must be a trail, so she twirled the blanket to settle around her shoulders and started out.

She could see tiny fish in the edge of the water, and the gravel on the bottom looked untouched. Wow! Such a private place! Grinning she continued on, around bothersome boulders, hopping across little streamlets, picking her way past marshy cattails, across the grass again, up a little hillock and then another until she came to a wide, shallow pool. The pool sparkled when the sun hit it and as the birch trees swayed with the breeze, shiny glints jumped here and there across the water. Since the water wasn’t very deep, it obviously fed into the lake at a lovely slow pace.

She could no longer resist. She took off her felt traveling clogs, stuffed them into her skirt pockets, and stepped into the water. It was warm and gently kissed her ankles as she walked along the edge, skirting around several large boulders lazing in the water, letting the water lap up her shins, then back to her ankles, the gravel and sand providing the perfect softness to walk upon.

The waterfalls were a surprise. She rounded the last boulder, quite a large one and taller than the others, when she saw the three small waterfalls and a fourth, large enough for her to touch the top of, if she stood on her tip-toes. It was an enchanting sight.

Such wonder, such astonishing nature -- she didn’t want to ever leave. She moved toward the waterfalls and noticed the bottom dipped a little deeper beneath the largest one. She was careful to avoid that area -- no sense in getting her skirt wet. Tiny little flowers hung among the greenery around the tops of the waterfalls. And different shades of moss cradled the surrounding rocks and bushes that enclosed the waterfall area.

Heaven. This is surely Heaven. There was a little ledge between the third and fourth waterfalls and she made her way over to it, being sure to stay in the shallows. The ledge was perfect. Wide enough to sit on comfortably, it ran behind the largest waterfall and even widened a bit, creating a tiny room back behind the water. Gees, could this get any more splendiferous?!

She sat back against the rock wall of the ledge, trailing her toes in and out of the water, spooking the tiny fish, watching the sun and shadows play hide-and-seek, studying all the various shades of color on the rocks, some of them wet and some dry.

It was at least an hour before she heard voices. Oh, dangit. I knew this peace couldn’t last forever. She sighed, resigned to sharing her heaven with other travelers.

Then she listened more closely. Those voices weren’t happy. In fact, there were at least three of them and they were heatedly arguing about something. She sat still and listened intently, trying to figure out if she needed to worry. They were coming closer and were definitely male.

She couldn’t understand what they were saying. It wasn’t that they were speaking Scottish English which was difficult to understand at best, they were speaking some entirely different language and she didn’t have a prayer of understanding what they were talking about.

But they were coming closer and they definitely were not happy. Two of them were yelling and she assumed they were yelling at each other. In the interest of prudency, she pulled her feet out of the water, dried them on the blanket a bit, then scooted over into the little area behind the waterfall. She hadn’t left any wet footprints on the ledge, and since her blanket was charcoal grey, she could wrap herself up in it and practically disappear if she felt it was necessary.

She shivered, went ahead and wrapped the blanket around herself, then put her shoes back on. She could see out through the water but as of yet the people hadn’t appeared. Just as well, she thought. Just keep going.

The three men must have settled down next to the pond though, because the voices kept talking, arguing, yelling, and being at odds with each other. Good grief! It was definitely getting late because the sunlight wasn’t glinting on the water anymore and the peace she had been feeling was turning to pique.

How the hell am I going to get past those guys? I’m going to start getting hungry pretty soon. But she sat still and listened and gradually realized her options were few -- to stay here ... or to wait until dark and try to sneak away.

Dammit! Is there a moon tonight? How was she going to be able to get back to her car in the dark? Or turn the car around without the lights on? Or was she going to have to back that damned car out until she found a place large enough to turn around in? Good grief! I need a horse! She almost laughed out loud. She had never ridden a horse and wasn’t sure how you were supposed to guide them. But, by god, she was brave and if worse came to worse, she would ride a horse rather than being stuck someplace with weirdo people.

But the men kept talking, occasionally coming closer to her hiding spot, and finally the sunlight completely disappeared, darkness settled in, and a full moon came up. She could almost enjoy it, if she could find the switch to turn off this damned waterfall. Everything looked black, grey, or fuzzy from back here, and she was done playing this fairy-world game. I just want something to eat and someplace soft to sleep ... damned beauty! She mentally grumbled. It had gotten a little chilly, so she re-wrapped herself up good and snug, and scrunched into a ball to keep warm. And, in spite of everything, fell asleep.