I Don't Know [I asked Steve to think of a title for tonight,and that was his choice. Smarty Pants.]

Holy Cow! I got this list from a link off of the AOL welcome screen.
The Top 10 Deadliest states to drive in,based on deaths per 100,000. AOL's source for the list is the CDC.gov

1-Mississippi 31.9

2-Wyoming 27.7

3-Montana 25.6

4-Arkansas 25.6

5-Alabama 25.1

6-South Carolina 24.6

7-South Dakota 24.2

8-New Mexico-23.8

9-Tennessee 22.8

10- Louisianna 22.2/100,000

Just wow. First, NONE of my guesses, such as New York or California, appear on the list. Second, why is the Center for Disease Control compiling death stats for driving,.....driving is not a disease,unless you live in NYC or Cali, ya gotta be crazy like a fox to drive in those places. Mississippi ! Wyoming! Big surprizes to me.

Another surprize to me. For the past 3 months, even though I declined my monthly selection @ QPB, [Quality Paperback Bookclub, for those of you not addicted to books] they have auto shipped it to me. The first month, I had to remove my c.c info from the site, because they would charge the c.c as soon as they shipped. All 3 months, I had to try and find a post office to make my return from. My lovely post offices' window is only open from 10:30am to 11:30am, Monday thru Saturday...I kid you not. If I am not home on Saturday, and one of the guys gets the mail, well, I got a book no big deal....they don't know to just ask our mail lady to return it. So the book would either sit around til the following sat., and be forgotten,.....so I'd HAVE to keep the poor lonely thing......, or I'd have to run to neighboring towns to return it, a PITA. I finally had it this week, and today cancelled the account. I told them why.

[I know, heap'um big winds. I DO have a point, and I am getting around to it in my own good time. Go get a drink if you need one, I'll wait. You might as well go pee while you're at it, you're not getting any younger. *I* am 29 for the 19th time, but YOU aren't getting any younger.]

Usually,you wait 2, 3 up to 5 days for a reply, saying ok, you're cancelled, see you next time we offer free books to you. This time,on a SATURDAY....within an hour of my e-mail, I had a reply. Oh, NO you didn't...we will no longer auto ship to your account, no prob. !!!!! You ain't cancelled, we LOVE you, you are a- Stayin!! QPB never did that before, you replied or you got books, they never offered to NOT auto ship. Other book clubs did, after you had completed your enrollment requirements, but not the mighty QPB. That's a sign of the times there, and this is a good time to re-join book clubs,if you are so inclined.

I actually started this bloggie a lil after 4 today, but Steve offered a TGI dinner, and who am I to say no? A steak and a big ol' salad, LOVE steak from there, thank you my Dear :O) Eaten in my jammies while reading a book, those are a few of my favorite things [don't worry,I remember that blog entry too, no repeats :O)] Plus I practiced while the guys were out gettin' the eats, so a good time all around.

Also,I appear to be very lucky [knock on wood] no reaction to the cipro, or to the cipro/flagyl combo [yet, I'll say yet so I don't tempt de debbil] I was a-skeered to death to take that stuff, horror stories abound about it, but DAMN I want to be better.The only problem I have with it, is you're not supposed to have dairy in the few hours before or after taking cipro, dairy blocks the absorption of cipro ,or generally frigs with it's riggin', so it can't work right. Well....I drink coffee with HALF AND HALF right around morning cipro time.This is not a good thing. Also, I have been wanting strawberry icecream at night. And don't get me started on no cheese, cheese is a beloved food group for me. These Cipro people better get with the program, or I'll have to write them one hell of a letter.

I hope you have a lovely Saturday night. It's Date night here, and my turn to pick the movie. No wine cause of the Flagyl, no ice cream cause of the cipro,.......I'm gonna have to think up something else to do :o)

March 1st:
-National Pig Day
-Peanut Butter Lover's Day

~Another month ends. All targets met. All systems working. All customers satisfied. All staff eagerly enthusiastic. All pigs fed and ready to fly.~

Denial : it ain't just a river in Egypt

Facebook again! All my kids are on my friends list. I sign in one day, and see a great pic of Stevie, tagged and linked to one of his friends facebook accounts.The thing is, it's not quite a pic, it looks like it might have been sketched, but it's too perfect for that, so with Reginas permission [Thanks Regina!] I'll blog this pic.......Stevie and one of his friends, Regina :

It turns out this pic was taken to Photoshop, and had a pencil sketch process used on it [I have the baby of Photoshop.....Photoshop Elements,...and I'll go look and see if it has that option.] This pic just spoke to me, I Loved it [and not just because that's my baby there, I'm not prejudiced oh, no ]
Well, ain't THAT a kick in the head! I wanted to try the technique used on the above pic, and discovered a slew of editing options in photoshop elements.Unfortunately, I don't use P.E enough to be conversant with it:

2:00 pm: Get an idea to import a pic to P.E, and use the same technique on it...how hard can it be? [snort]
2:01 pm: Hi, Stevie,how are ya? Laundry time! Get my load out of the dryer quick.
2:10 pm: Let oil guy into the basement to bleed the system, so he can re-start it. Being on the Budget plan means NOT running out of heating oil. We've only been with this company for 19 years, it's probably our fault.The Bastids.
2:15 pm: Oh,yeah, P.E! Find a pic!
2:17 pm: AHA! Found it! [it gets worse from here, finding it was the easy part. I cheated. I posted the pic to an aol message board a few weeks ago, and apparently I haven't lost my mind yet.]
2:21 pm: Try to import image to P.E.
2:31 pm: Take cell phone pics of Tony and Stevie laughing at a stupid video, and get sidetracked, wondering how much I can get them to pay me NOT to blog those pics.
2:41 pm: Still trying to figure out how to import the damn pic to P.E. Where the hell is the EASY button?
2:55 pm: talk to loopies about stock pots.You know, my biggest pot is 16 qts, that is one Big pot. Oh,wait...import image to P.E. HOW ????
3:05 pm: Coffee! Yes!!!!
3:06 pm: How the hell did I do this last time?
3:13 pm: YEAH! Drag and drop baby, that's it!!!
3:14 pm: resize the photo
3:15 pm: ah, here we go.Wait, what? that looks NOTHING like Reginas' pic! And WHY, when I click on a technique, does the photo revert to original size? I saved the resized photo, what the Hell??? Realize nothing I am doing is saving the correct photo size. Damn.
3:31 pm: Go start a game of Mahjong at Pogo.
3:32 pm: Txt Steve with a stupid thing to make him laugh.Hope he has the sense not to let anyone see it :X
3:33 pm: 333, isn't that the sign of de debbil? No,wait,that's 666.Which it will be before I figure this damn thing out.
4:01 pm: I figured out the layer thingie, but not the actual technique that Regina used.
4:20 pm: Gimme a break, gim-me a break, break me off a piece of that KIT KAT bar!
5:01pm: Where's the damn remote?
5:21pm: Just for kicks, Google "Photoshop elements,how to import a pic"
5:22 pm: ::::Head smack::::
5:24 pm: Give up, and start a bloggie

It takes a LOT of hard work to be this clueless, I will have you know. I can deny it all I want....when it comes to computer operations, I'm your gal. Anything to do with pics, or the manipulation thereof? Not so much.


February 28th:
-Happy Birthday Mnon!!
-National Kazoo Day
- Clash Day
- Rattle Snake Round-Up Day

[IMPORTANT: This blog is intended for the use of DISH readers, real and imaginary. It may contain information that is confidential, privileged or unsuitable for overly sensitive persons with low self-esteem, no sense of humor, too-tight undies, or a sensitivity to swearing. Also may contain things that should not be blogged, especially on Wordless Wednesdays,where the author appears to be hell-bent on including as many words as possible. If you are not the intended recipient, any dissemination, distribution, copying, faxing, or smoke-signaling of this blog is not authorized (either explicitly or implicitly) and constitutes an irritating social faux pas. No animals were harmed in the transmission of this blog, although the mutt next door is living on borrowed time, let me tell you.]

[psssssssssssssssst,...........Stevie...............GOTCHA :O)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Q7FFjUpVLg

Round 2

Flagyl and Cipro. For a week. More tests if they don't work. I am sick and tired of being sick and tired. DO NOT FORGET.... if you HAVE to take an antibiotic, ask for the narrowest spectrum antibiotic you can get away with, or even if you have to take it at all. I am such a healthy person I would annoy you, and now I'm just sick and tired.

NOT so tired that I don't have something very funny to share :o) Remember how I "Elfed" my son Tony at Christmas time? That campaign is now over...but you can still embarrass yourself and others ! If you have kids, or a spouse or SO you'd like to needle, and have pics of them on your puter, you NEED to copy this url down. And,if you DO do this to someone, you'd better share it with me, I can use the laugh !

http://sendables.jibjab.com/category/dances?cmpid=636

Braying mules

Monday. oh yeah. Go in this morning, and I am being trained on a new station. Requiring the use of a machine I have never used before, but I think it is pretty straight-forward. Get training, show the supervisor that I can safely operate it without crushing or cutting off any fingers, and away he goes. I do very well, picking up speed as I go along, haha, look at Gail, this is a piece of CAKE!! Supervisor returns. Gail is done, Very good! Before you start your next job, Gail,would you mind knocking out these bins of wires for another employee, she needs them? Sure, no Prob ! Wire one...doesn't look right. Set aside.Wire two.....no, not right, something is up. Call on the floor to another supervisor, hey this does not look right to me. Well, that's because it AIN'T right. There is no room for error on these parts. In the job I was given first, a part slides down over your crimp, and then you test, so you do not see that it is loose. On the "please and thank you job" I was just gonna "knock out", the wires are bare, and you can see exactly what you are doing. And it ain't pretty. Now, when I called to the other supervisor, asking for a check,

[remember......this is ME, it is Monday, and this is my first time at this machine]

ONE GUESS who was right behind me? Yup.The owner. Who likes to yell. He came at me like a land shark. I quickly and succinctly told him, first time at this machine, first job was covered at the end [I went back and checked,...it has to be redone] so I couldn't feel the looseness, second job, caught it on the first wire. Evidently,THAT was the wrong answer, but He didn't let loose at me,-

[Steve and I talked about this...if ANYONE ever yells at me,....and by yell, I mean casting aspersions on your lineage, and a few choice swears about bulls defecating, at a high decibel level..... I will pick up my toys and go home for the day. If I am fired, they can call me and tell me to come get my stuff, if not I'll see 'em the next day. I'm not taking any shit. If you are in a position of power, then you TELL me what the deal is, you don't bray at me like a donkey.]

He did one of those "Slowly I turn" moves on my supervisor....and I knew he was gonna blow ...so I said real quick, "I was taught to make sure they were tight, the first few were, I was concentrating on seating the secondary, the-machine-must-have-broken-mid-job." And just like that, the great winds didn't blow. And it turns out the machine did break,- it was not operator error, or training error. Lucky Lucky Gail, with a lucky lucky guess.
I don't like this. I don't like waiting for some buffoon to start yelling because of human error, or machine breakage, it's like constantly waiting for the other shoe to drop. This is the third man I have worked with over the years, who has this Napoleon complex, or an overblown feeling of superiority. I can't IMAGINE yelling at a subordinate for an honest mistake, or a machine going down. And the kick is, most of the time he's an ok guy. I really feel for my supervisor, cause you never know when owner is gonna blow...if I feel like I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop, my supervisor must feel like the moving strap holding the grand piano over his head is about to rupture.

My favorite station is at a 90 degree angle to the station I started on, so I got to see and hear all the diagnosing, very interesting stuff. I was never so happy to be back at "my place"....until I heard the music........ [I had been concentrating hard enough on job one not to have heard it] it was the dreaded country western again. And, if you are a fan I mean you no disrespect. But Good Lord above me, WHY? WHY is everyone always getting' drunk, trying unsuccessfully to get laid, laying the neighbors wife, laying someone who didn't look so good before 12 beers and last call, laying his horse, wishing he could lay his horse 'cause his woman is meaner than a braying mule, getting d-i-v-o-r-c-e-d, or forgetting their anniversary? Listening to that all day is enough to drive me around the BEND !!!!! I am going to have to go on a burning spree today, and go in tomorrow armed to the teeth with music. I guess this means I won't have time to iron today, Whoopsie!

February 24th:

-International Pancake Day
-Mardi Gras!

~I try to go the extra mile at work, but my boss always finds me and brings me back~

Be Careful!!

A loverly weekend. I guess we needed a break from househunting. Our r.e agent is at a seminar in Florida, so we took the weekend off. We only got dressed long enough to go to Kohls and find out they didn't have my sneakers or my jeans in stock. I had to find someone to complain to to get a raincheck, woo-hoo! I just LOVE shopping :X So I ordered online! I'll save the rainchecks for a good honkin sale.

We're watching a George Carlin special, on HBO,from 1977. They even played the disclaimer HBO showed at the time, warning us against the language we were about to hear, but how Good ol George was socially relevant,so Be Careful!!! I am roflm A off,George would be proud of me :o) It's George Carlin @ USC,if you want to look it up.

We have a possum! We are not supposed to see it, they are nocturnal, so we were concerned about rabies. A quick google search tells us:
- yes,indeedy, possums are nocturnal.
- However, sometimes they come out during the day.
- If they feel threatened, they will foam at the mouth, sway, and fall over, apparently sick or dead...in other words,they will behave as though they have rabies!
- So,in conclusion, ya' never know.Be CAREFUL! [How helpful @@]

We had the kids here fri. night, for a celebration dinner for our daughter Boo. She graduated college in Dec.,[CONGRATULATIONS SWEETHEART,YOU DONE GREAT !!!] but chose this weekend for her special family dinner. She spent the night, so I got to see what she ate for breakfast. You'd better hold onto your couch or chair, or wherever you read from. She had homemade potato salad [a special request] and diet coke for breakfast!! I don't think I could eat anything like that for breakfast when I was HER age, let alone now [I can't look at food that early in the morning]...for me, breakfast is coffee. Regular, Strong coffee. My home brew falls somewhere between coffee and espresso. We tone it down when we have company, not everyone is used to the high test stuff.


An interesting link, if you Facebook. this came to me from our friend/real estate attorney, Laura:

http://www.allfacebook.com/2009/02/facebook-privacy/

Hope this helps someone. I am overwhelmed by facebook...I go in, see 32 requests, remember I have laundry to fold, and leave. And, I CARE about a lot of these people. It's just bigger than I thought it would be.

Weekends are the time for pictures! I have 2. The first one, new to me,- TYVM Marie ,we all could use a key like that :o)

the second, a shopping joke...... I've had this pic for years, and don't know who to attribute it to. I think I got the man gene :X





February23rd:
-Curling is Cool Day
-International Dog Biscuit Appreciation Day



~The person who knows how to laugh at himself will never cease to be amused.~

[psssst.......LOOK at that ticker,DST is coming! :O) ]

--------->Koan<-------------

I wanted to thank those of you who e-mailed, asking what the hell I was up to...not too much. Work and the house just took all I had there for a while.We are all doing so much better, it is an amazing pleasure to feel "normal" again. I missed you too :o)

I learned a great word/concept today:

Koan –
noun, plural -ans
- a nonsensical or paradoxical question to a student for which an answer is demanded, the stress of meditation on the question often being illuminating.

An example of a koan:
"Two hands clap and there is a sound; what is the sound of one hand?"

And another:
A Parable
Buddha told a parable in a sutra:

A man traveling across a field encountered a tiger. He fled, the tiger after him. Coming at a precipice, he caught hold of the root of a wild vine and swung himself down over the edge. The tiger sniffed after him from above. Trembling, the man looked down to where, far below, another tiger was waiting to eat him. Only the vine sustained him.

Two mice, one white and one black, little by little started to gnaw on the vine. The man saw a luscious strawberry near him. Grasping the vine with one hand, he plucked the strawberry with the other. How sweet it tasted!

Wow! That one exploded in my brain. I can't get it out of my mind.

Evenings, Steve and I are both online, in the living room, and the TV is on. I've been paying more attention to the commercials than anything else. I'm seeing a really nasty, insidious trend. It started with a commercial for a local bank.The spokeswoman has a very high-pitched, squeaky voice that irritates me no end. In some commercials she appears with her "son" and a chimp,because the son is a vet and wants to expand his office. In others, she claims to need to buy a car,and winds up with a Nascar :X. Lately though, the commercials have taken a very serious turn. No happy-happy hyperness, no high pitched voice, all business. As I looked at the other banking commercials, I saw the same thing. One goes so far as to say they were in business thru the Depression,and will help everyone thru this too, implying that we are in a depression and they have experience with what is going on now.If the banks HAD that experience and USED it,maybe the banking sector wouldn't be in the trouble it is now.

The banks aren't the only one advertizing to the Recession/Depression/pick your buzz word. Car dealerships are worse. From the local dealership, where the owner appeared,-
high-pitched-hyper voice and all, in a variety of improbable situations, from a moon shot to a safari, exhorting us to buy a Toyota [NOT Steves dealership,there is not enough xanax in the World for me to go to a company Christmas party hosted by this guy ]....then, one serious commercial featuring the owner, I almost missed it because he was speaking in a semi normal tone of voice...and now he doesn't appear in the commercials at all, like he's trying to disassociate himself from begging you to buy, and the economy.

I'm not sure what I expect from commercials. But this type of advertizing almost seems ghoulish to me,to prey on peoples worries and insecurities [like wrinkle cream and hair dye commercials don't? ] Even if people aren't paying attention to the commercials, they are subconsciously being fed a constant stream of doom and gloom, and that HAS to effect them.So,you be aware of that,and don't let the bastids get you down. I think I'll just stay on hgtv and pbs. Except for Hells Kitchen, gotta get me some Gordon Ramsey ;o)

I hadn't planned on putting this here, but..... The person this is for knows EXACTLY who they are.

EVERYONE has problems in their life, and there are any number of ways to deal with them.Your attitude,what YOU bring to the problem solving table, will greatly influence the outcome. You honestly do NOT NOT appreciate all that you have.You are healthy as a horse, and in light of my recent illness, I know THAT is one of the greatest gifts, feeling normal is amazing. You have family who loves you to pieces, and a great job.You have ALL of what you NEED, and quite a bit of what you WANT.

So,.....Concentrate on that. EVERY day, remember to take a few minutes, think about those gifts, and be GRATEFUL. Simply be GRATEFUL.
I Love You. And I mean it, EVERY day, take the time to think of all the good things in your life.

And last but not least, this from Brenda. How appropo, in light of my recent "Facebook is from de debbil bloggie" ! Thank you :O)

February 20th:
-Hoodie Hoo Day (At high noon everyone yells "Hoodie-Hoo" to chase away winter and make way for spring.) (hehehe,let's see how THAT goes over at work)

~Never say 'OOPS!' Always say 'Ah, Interesting!'~

Crap.

Chocolate. Ibuprofen.I'll try not to be bitchy, no promises.

Nope,can't not be bitchy.

See ya tomorrow.

Dear Diary

Today is Sunday,....DAYTONA DAY to the gearheads around here. I am upstairs, with laptop, and books, and a kitkat bar the guys dont know about..............and thought you might like to hear how it went yesterday. I'm fast deciding that I'd rather go visit my dentist...who,once shot me in my upper jaw and proceeded to work on my lower molar......than to go house hunting. I honestly did not know what to expect. Well, wait, that's a lie,-I expected to have a basic grasp of what I was wasting our weekends looking at. Steve and I had two houses lines up to see yesterday. Both by appointment, the sellers knew since Tuesday we'd be coming.We got to the first house, and I just loved the location and the looks of it. Approached the front door, and all I heard was the tinkle of wind chimes, not a jake brake in sight. The r.e agent inserted her key into the lockbox on the door.....And then the door was opened....by an 8 year old [BTW,it is common courtesy not to be at home when you are having potential buyers view your home, at least in this area] We go in, and there are 2 more older kids,who warn us we can't go into the third bedroom, because the baby is asleep.....and not ONE adult in sight.
The house was NOT "In perfect move-in condition"....Steve and I work as a team, I know what he looks for, he knows what I look for, and we compare notes. That house needed so much work...I do not mean cosmetics, like paint [and it did] I mean, reconstructive work, and a new furnace. Really pissed us off. We print out the listings and take them with us, and I swear,EVERYthing the listing sheet said for that house, well, Nixon woulda been proud.
On to house 2. Which was very difficult.The house itself, beautiful. Beautiful hardwood floors, structurally sound, a nice tight.....LITTLE house. You had to walk thru one of the bedrooms to get to the master, and the master is the same size we have now. [read:SMALL] It was difficult because, I could see how I could make a home for us there if it weren't for the fact that it's in a development. When Steve and I made our lists of MUST have, want, and would like, The top thing on my list was,....I just want to be off on my own. For so many years, I have been the good neighbor and the good family member, I gave a lot of myself all the years the kids were growing up. At this point in my life, I'd like to be off in the woods. I'd like to entertain family and friends more, but have less day-to-day contact with the world at large, does that make any sense? I sat on the front porch of this house,-it is situated pretty close to the center of the small lot.....and could hear the conversation of the neighbors,who were in their driveway.
Steve really liked the house,we spent 2 hours there. He told our r.e agent we might have an offer available for her soon! He asked me what I thought, as we stood in the livingroom of the empty house, and all I could think to say was, [the owners moved and left some plants "for show"] I felt bad for the dracena in the corner of the living room and watered it using a toothbrush holder from the bathroom. Steve about died :X I had to ask him,later, if he was laughing or pissed. He was laughing, he knows who I am :O)
We got home, and I asked him, didn't he think the lot was small? And the master? tiny??? And I let it go at that.
Four O'clock this morning,he holds my hand, and tells me he doesn't want the house, it's too small. He thought *I* would love the kitchen and the floors. Nope.

And now, we're back to square one. Everyone reassures me that, when the right house comes along, we'll know it right then and there. I sure as hell hope so. I am by nature an introspective person, but there is a limit for everything,and I am so damn tired of second guessing myself.

On a GREAT side note...Steve and Boo are both allergic to animals. Everyone says, oh, get a poodle, they have hair not fur. Well, when we were first married we HAD a poodle, and had to give it away, Steve reacted so badly he looked like a puffer fish. In the first house, they had a bichon....the other breed of dog with hair, not fur...and it loved the hell out of us. It was ALL over Steve,...pretty funny, pick the person most likely to break out in a rash and 'GO for em, little doggie.... but Steve did NOT break out!! At ALL ! There may be a dog my poor guy can have, as soon as we buy our Love Shack, I'll look up a bichon just for him [not that "*I* would love a dog or anything ] Here's a pic of a bichon I got from google, they are adorable:

Also,we came to a decision about my job. I'll continue the hours I have now until we move, and then I will put in apps up there. I will give them permission to contact my current employer, and then I'll let my boss take it from there. Either they'll offer me the hours I need, or give me a good reference, and that will tell the tale. That's one thing off my worry list.

Oh! Also note the new ticker...Daylight Savings Time comes to us on March 8th this year, not long now :o) YAY !!!!!!


February 15th :
-National Gumdrop Day

~That which does not kill me... will be the basis for my revenge~

No Good Deed goes unpunished

Gails Helpful kitchen tip # 465:

The back of a butchers knife can be mighty sharp,so don't use it to scrape onions celery and garlic off of your hands. And of you are stupid enough to do THAT, don't grind dried sage leaves in your hands, grinding sage into the paper-cut type cut on your finger. It is slightly ascerbic [read: it stings like hell, and THIS is what you get for making a big dinner.]

This. I don't know What to say about this, it is one of the funniest things I've seen in a long time, and OH, so true. Please be aware, TONS of swears, definitely adult, but a "news segment" you must see. My Thanks to my friend Julie, who found the original link, but that didn't work for me, and to Elyse, who thought to go to You Tube and look this sucker up.You might as well cut and paste the url now, you'll be passing it on:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8AyVh1_vWYQ

And,if you're not in too much pain,we're going to see 2 more houses tomorrow,so keep em crossed.


February 13th:
-Blame Someone Else Day


~Education is an admirable thing, but it is well to remember from time to time that nothing that is worth knowing can be taught. -Oscar Wilde, 1856-1900~

----->Happy Anniversary <---------

How was THAT for a wordless Wednesday?

Three tries to blog today. Today is our 27th anniversary, and although I have teased Steve here, I haven't said too much about how I feel about him. Because I don't have the words to tell you what's in my heart.

I grew up tough. And it was not pretty a lot of the time. I believe God decided that I had had enough shit in my life, and at the ripe old age of 15, sent Steve to me. How can I tell you what this man means to me? How much he has brought to my life? And TRUST me on this,we have seen richer and poorer,sickness and health. And everything that was supposed to beat our relationship down, just made it stronger. I would not be me without him. Every year, our relationship just gets richer and deeper. Not only is he a great man, he makes me a better me. Look at the beautiful babies we made [ok they're adults now, but they are absolutely the best of us]I know as sure as the sun will rise that he loves me with his whole heart, and always has my back.....and that's not taking him for granted, that's just a fact. And the sentiments are returned :O) How lucky am I, to have spent so many years with the love of my life, and to be able to look forward to so many more? He is the best thing that ever happened to me.

Happy Anniversary Sweetheart :o)

~There have been times,when times were hard,

but always somehow I made it, I made it through.

But for every moment that I've been hurtin',

there's been a moment, that I've spent,

Oh just loving you.

If anyone should ever write my life story,

for whatever reason there might be.

You'd be there,

between each line of pain and glory,

'Cause your the best thing that ever happened to me,

Oh your the best thing that ever happened to me,

don't you know, your the best thing....

Oh that ever happened,

to me.

Gladys and her Pips [you tubed in the blog title too,enjoy :o) ]

Herring farts,and other things.

What I'm listening to right now, it's hard to sit still:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VxPAi2eBWlQ
The Scrubs version,in case Boo has nothing better to do and pops in:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_66FSnIUc3Q

I can't STAND listening to country western music ALL day at work. I thought, there HAS to be something, ANYthing that will back me up. So I went a -huntin, and found an absolutely hysterical award.The IG Nobel Prize.
[get it? ignoble? hehehe, I didn't the first few times, I was too busy laughing]
This definition from Wikipedia:

"The Ig Nobel Prizes are a parody of the Nobel Prizes and are given each year in early October for ten achievements that "first make people laugh, and then make them think." Organized by the scientific humor magazine Annals of Improbable Research (AIR), they are presented by a group that includes genuine Nobel Laureates at a ceremony at Harvard University's Sanders Theater."

Basically,these awards are given for research, um, out side the lines of the regular scientific community,and it must have a humorous bent. How did I stumble on these? I'm sure I see them on the news every year, but they fly beneath my radar. Until this:

The Award-wining topic, in medicine,in 2004? "The effect of Country-Western Music on Suicide", by Steven Stack.

-"The results of a multiple regression analysis of 49 metropolitan areas show that the greater the airtime devoted to country music, the greater the whole suicide rate.The effect is independent of divorce, southernness, poverty, and hand guns."

HOW in the hell did they think that one up, and where do I send my resume?

Other notable winners?
-Biology(2004) "Herring apparently communicate by farting."

-Interdisciplinary Research(2003) "Chickens Prefer beautiful humans"

-Agricultural History(2005)The significance of Mr Richard Buckleys Exploding Trousers"

-Physics(2003)"An Analysis of the Forces required to Drag sheep over Various Surfaces"

February:
9-Read in the Bathtub Day

~Why do you press harder on a remote-control when you know the battery is dead?~

A Caveat.

Not really an entry tonight,but a caveat.

Lets say, you or your child are sick. You go to the Dr, who prescribes an antibiotic. QUICK!!! Was that a narrow spectrum one, a medium spectrum, or a broad-spectrum one? Were you aware there are all 3 out there? Not moi, I thought that's what Drs were for. I was WRONG. Please, please listen to me. Do NOT EVER NEVER take a broad spectrum antibiotic unless your Dr says it is the only thing that will work. Ask for a medium spectrum, BEG for a narrow spectrum if it will kill what ails ye. But for GODS SAKE,do not blithly bounce into the Dr's office, and get and fill a scrip,without knowing. Like I did. *I* did not know I needed a ph-friggin-d to GO to the dr. I had NO idea what I was doing, I never had a problem, the few times in my life, that I needed an antibiotic. I am educated now, but my education came from the School of Hard Knocks.

If Dr says,the broad spectrum is the only thing, then take the time to google [or call me or e-mail me] and find out what you should be doing when you take a broad-spectrum.No guarantee of a better outcome,but much better odds. I saw a p.a, when I got the broad spec., not even my doctor, and I am so pissed, I just can't tell you. I see my dr tomorrow,and I will FIND the words to tell her.

Mac and Cheese,THAT'S what I am

What a great day! It started out REALLY rocky, I was pleasantly surprized. My kick ass me is coming back, I missed her a lot. I think that's another thing I don't like about getting older, if you get sick, you stay sick longer than when you were a kid, and it takes longer for your "get up and go" to come back.
It was a really nice day at work. The owner who's applying all the pressure for me to do what he wants [he don't know me very well,do he?] wasn't around, so everyone was happy. BUT...I canNOT tell you how depressing it is to listen to country western music all day. I'm not kidding, they're breaking up, or dyin young, doin a two-step with a four-flusher, or talking about the-rockin-chair-Daddy-made-with-his-own-hands-got-broken-in-the-hurricane-just-like-Daddy-did-when-mama-died. OMG. Now,*I* am one to talk, there have been fridays where I supplied the music for the whole day, and I'm sure the country fans didn't like outkast, kings of leon, or Rostropovich. Speaking of which...whenever I burn a cd for work, I always try to have a little bit of everything in there, from opera to classical to hard rock, heavy metal, I figure you can stand ANY music if you're not listening to the same genre that you hate all day, right? So, on this last cd, I included what I think is a drop dead lovely [and very well-known]operatic duet, from Lakme. The Flower Song:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpT7pK9A61A&feature=related
[you can slide the bar over to 1:22,to get to the most famous part, you all know this one]

One of the older guys I work with walks over to me, and asks "Who the fuck put that fuckin' piece of shit on there this morning " in the gruff insulting way you can imagine those words were spoken in. I stood up slowly and told him *I* burned the fuckin cd, and *I* chose that fuckin number, who the fuck wants to know? Hehehe, and then he says, I just wanted to know what opera that came from. Don't curse at ME like a sailor and expect the delicate flower of womanhood to respond. You shoulda seen his face. It's amazing, when people swear like that, they NEVER realize it until someone swears back at them.And I'm just the delicate flower of womanhood to do it. Right after the Flower song came "The Logical Song" by Supertramp:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBAasek8NR4

[Steves idea] so I was suddenly on the right side of the musical blanket again.

One of those blog quiz thingies...

What Comfort Food Are You?

And I am:

-You Are Mac and Cheese
This is SO true, I believe mac and cheese ought to be in it's own food group :O)

February 7th:

-Mobius Award Day
-Wave ALL your Fingers at Your Neighbor Day [they never met my dumbass neighbor now,did they?]

~Money may not buy happiness, but it sure makes misery much easier to live with.~

----->NOT yo' Mamas' Heloise<------

Gails' Helpful tip # 1247: How NOT to save time.

Do not get into having hi-test [caffeinated cocoa] in your travel mug every morning,THAT is mistake one.Two...Don't do the breakfast dishes and make the kitchen tidy BEFORE you make the cocoa. Three...don't pour the boiling water into the powder into the mug, and decide HEY! I don't want to dirty a spoon, so I will close the lid to my travel mug and shake it a bit, to mix the water and cocoa together.Do you know what happens,when you shake your travel mug, with boiling water in it? An explosion, with cocoa coming out of NO where. PPFFFFFFFFFT! So quick at first you're not sure what happened. Splattering All over the sink. The magnetic knife holders. The kitchen cabinets. The floor. AND yourself. QUICK ! Wipe it up, and get your ass out the door, STILL wondering what in the hell just happened. When you come home, you will go to play with the plants on the kitchen window sill, and discover they too took a cocoa bath. Along with the basement door, now that the cocoa has dried, it looks like an abattoir in there. Somehow I don't think Heloise ever covered this stuff in her column, "Nuclear Explosions and You", "Kitchen Bombs for Fun". Hey, at least this should get me out of the laundry today.

I have been having quite a time on the job this week,and I really don't know what to do. I am a part timer,and I WANT to keep it that way. I told you how, when we move, [which is "somewhere" in the future, we are actively looking at homes,but nada yet.] I was already approved for a 3 day, full day week? WEll. Now the owner says he is cutting hours....but he wants ME in m-t-w-f FULL days, and a half day on friday? HELLO!!! Anyone home? So I talked to a supervisor today, and wondered if the owner forgot I was a part timer, and THAT'S why the burr in his saddle about my hours. It turns out that anything under 40 hours is part time there. I always thought part time was above 16 to under 30 hours/week, and we'd pretty much decided, at the git-go, how many hours I'd work. I have really been upset about this. I like everyone I work with, and it turns out I'm pretty damn good at the job, but I am old enough to know my own mind, and what my priorities are. And they are my Family and my Home. Nothing comes before them. So, Steve and I agree,....I'll keep working my regular hours for now, and revisit this when we actually move, maybe something will have changed by then. If the owner is dead set for me working those hours, I'll have to find another job. I have to say, I DREAD that. It's taking a little of the shine off of house hunting for me.

February 4th:
-Liberace Day

February 5th:
-Disaster Day

~Lord, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to hide the bodies of the people I had to kill because they pissed me off.~

------>Cordova Worm Day!<-------

Oh,THIS is rich.One of my favorite words......defenestrate, remember?
Steve and I were home yesterday, downstairs,when we heard a Huge crash. I thought it was the pot cabinet, after a weekend of the guys being here and physically incapable of remembering where the pots go, it's an accident waiting to happen. No, Steve sez,THAT was upstairs. It turns out that a bathroom window decided to defenestrate itself!! That's right,instead of throwing something out a window, the window thru itself out itself !!! I had a good laugh at that, til I realized where it landed. 10 minutes later, I would have been practicing in the chair it fell on. And this is an OLD house, that window is thick heavy wood. Or what if the window pane broke on my head? Or injured my Ruby, oh, all hell would break loose if something happened to Ruby. I told Steve, in a metaphysical sense, my musical soul was already in the chair, and that window injured my spirit. I needed strawberry ice cream to heal my spiritual wounds. And he delivered.

The superbowl!!! Who played? I don't know! Who won? I don't CARE! I had a great time being online past my bedtime, the night went so fast, hehehe, that's what happens when you get jawing with a couple different people in a couple different venues [aim, facebook of de debbil, and e-mail] Good times :O)


February:

- National Weddings Month

-February 3rd: Cordova Ice Worm Day

~The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not "Eureka!" but "That's funny..."' - Isaac Asimov ~