Responsibility

I was asked yesterday about my opinion on gun control laws, especially as they pertain to assault rifles. I had not considered assault rifles in my opinion about gun control, as I never had any intention of owning one. I hope assault rifles, of the semi and fully automatic variety, are banned from public use. That they are reserved for military and law enforcement officials, and that there is a HEFTY MANDATORY jail sentence for possession. As for handguns and rifles [of the NON semi auto or auto variety] I hope the current laws allowing sane responsible citizens will be upheld. Go ahead and test me, and do a backround check, but do not make a permit for a gun so hard for a law abiding sane citizen to get that they give up. Everyone has the right to protect themselves, as they see fit, within the confines of the law. I do NOT want my second amendment rights trampled on by the actions of mentally ill thieves. I do NOT want

[excuse me, for I do not know what the correct term is...the right? The left? the liberals? The conservatives? I  am tired of of those labels and refuse to use them. I also stop reading and ignore any article in which the author feels the need to fall back on them.]

ANY POLITICAL group to start blabbering about how the NRA is at fault. The woman who allowed her mentally ill son access to her weapons was at fault. And I will not defend the NRA. They rightly see that events are being used to try to curtail the second amendment, but they are going about protecting that amendment in what I believe is the wrong way. If it was not for the NRA, I don't know WHAT kind of second amendment rights I would have left now.

Let's remember that mental healthcare can have all the friggin mandates  obama can throw at it...but they are largely unfunded. So any discussion about gun laws needs to include the unlegislatable.....the mentally ill. If they can't get or steal guns, they will use other things as weapons.

Let's discuss the media. The ceaseless coverage of tragedies.  Interviewing LITTLE KIDS as they exit the building that their teachers and friends were murdered in. Keeping a "headcount", and comparing that "headcount" to past tragedies. I'd like to muzzle the media. Only media local to the tragedy should be allowed unfettered constant coverage, for the locals. The major media outlets should really examine their culpability in any future tragedies. They created the bar, and THEY continue to raise it with their coverage.

Lastly, there should be a discussion about classroom safety. Starting at the building entrances, moving to the main office, and ending at the doors of the classroom. Those discussions will be held by the schools and districts themselves. Building security. We now see that the mentally ill, having been given a platform by the media who keep a headcount and compare current tragedies to past ones as if they were different periods of a hockey game, will continue to aim for public places that are not defended, "undefended", or "Soft defended". Lets keep our word, to ourselves and our kids, and Protect The Children. Don't let this tragedy pass without thoughtful considered NONpolitical debate. You don't have to have a religion to keep those families in your thoughts. Work, as you can, to find a way to stop this from ever happening again. No politics, no religion. Help the mentally ill or remove them from the general population, and keep the kids safe.

I see, as I write this, that there are 9 days left until Christmas. My prayers will continue to be with the families who lost loved ones. I cannot imagine the horror.

                                                             

Sheer Horror.

 

Please keep these families in your thoughts, and close to your heart. This is sheer horror. If the principals and teachers were allowed to decide whether to arm themselves or not, someone could have killed this rabid animal before he took as many innocent lives as he did. The news calls the school an undefended target, law enforcement calls school  a "soft" target. This horror is not a case in point for more gun control. It is an argument to FINALLY allow sane, decent, hard working people to protect themselves as they see fit. Oh, those poor people.
Sheer Horror.

                                                                                

Thrifty Tuesday/ Mama always said to wash your hands

You may not know this about me, but I am very much into making my own health and beauty items.That is, things that *I* have produced that take the place of a store bought item. That do as good or better a job than their manufactured counterparts. I'm most successful with body oils, having finally figured out what blend of oils and scents works best for my skin. The internet certainly makes my search for inspiration, as well as information, one hell of a lot easier than it used to be.

I have eczema. A patch on each of my hands. Nothing huge, actually. But it itches like holy hell, and, as it is a rash, can become a vector for germs to get into my skin. GERMS IN THE WRONG PLACE=BAD. Mama was right, so I always wash my hands as a first line of defense. Sometimes that is just not possible. Which is why I began my search for a hand sanitizer that I can make, that does not smell like an evil laboratory or contain ingredients that have the potential to harm me.

A stroll down the sanitizer aisle at the store gives me 2 choices in the antibacterial department.......triclosan or alcohol. I refuse to use hand sanitizers with triclosan in them. They contribute to the rise of resistant germs, and are even now being linked to health problems.

http://www.mnn.com/health/healthy-spaces/blogs/more-bad-news-about-triclosan

That leaves alcohol. This is good, alcohol is cheap! It also smells like the alley behind a pool hall and stings my eczema like a summabeetch. So I need to use enough alcohol to be effective at killing the germs. Mixed with something to dilute it a bit and give it a soothing quality, and perhaps an ingredient to make it smell better. Look at what I found today! The basis for a home made hand sanitizer. I can pronounce all the ingredients, I can buy them locally, and I can make batches upon demand, so they are not sitting on a store shelf for God knows how long losing their effectiveness.

http://www.utahpreppers.com/2009/04/pandemic-preparedness-diy-sanitization/

[please scroll down to the recipe for hand sanitizer. Thank you very much Utah Preppers, you have a lovely site, and I appreciate it.]

I have those ingredients in my home already. You'll need them, along with:

-some type of small unbreakable bottle, preferably with a flip-top, to decant the sanitizer into.

-an array of essential oils....a small bottle of sanitizer should only need a few drops of oil to scent it nicely.

-food grade dye [think of the Easter egg dyes you use, or icing dyes]

There is nothing wrong with a clear sanitizer. The problem I see is that, once it is on the skin, you might leave a bit un-rubbed in. Which would then transfer to your clothes. Or coat, or gloves, ect. The alcohol could bleed the fabric. So I want just a touch of color in my sanitizer, to prevent the destruction of my clothing. I am very good at that already, I don't need any more help.

I would add 3-5 drops of essential oil, and 1/2 drop of food coloring [or less, we want a little tinge, not a day-glo effect] per cup of alcohol and adjust up or down in later batches to suit myself.

The cost of the aloe, alcohol, essential oil[s], and dyes will definitely be recouped by the sheer amount of sanitizer you can make. All the ingredients are also shelf stable, no waste from products turning rancid.

I also thought to look for an alcohol free version of hand sanitizer. Lo and behold, the interwebz answered my call!

http://www.noordinaryhomestead.com/making-homemade-hand-sanitizer

[A very informative blog, you will enjoy it as well]

This version will be a bit more pricy, as the essential oils themselves are the antibacterial ingredients. This is the first kind I will make at home however, for cold weather use. Winter air and heat is drying enough without alcohol helping it along.

I am finishing up the hand sanitizers I have now, and I will keep the bottles to refill with my own creations. A great way to start the New Year, weaned off of the scary stuff in the bottles from the store.

Changes

I am sitting here watching the Christmas candles flicker. I can smell the pine candles [no real trees here, I don't want to kill them, and the mold is too much for our allergy-suffering family members] and I can see the decorations spread all around the house. Anticipating baking, and the annual "Hiding of the Fudge" , always good for some laughs and creative threats. Happy Holiday season, and Merry Christmas :o)

Still out of work. This is frustrating, to say the least. I took a test today, to determine what, if any, new field I should train for/move into. And the results were that I need to go into the sciences, industrial art [I had to go look that up, wasn't sure what it was] and health services/science. That resonated with me. I had considered going to class to become a doctors assistant [not a pa] with an end goal to being a phlebotomist. Then a really exciting thing happened. After all these years. Tone has decided he wants to go to college after all. I could not be happier for him ! So I won't be training for anything [yet] I'm going to get a job to make sure Tone can finish what he starts. So lots of stuff going on here, and the holidays right around the corner. That's my excuse for the lack of blog, and I'm stickin' to it !

We finally met with Steves surgeon, the doctor he chose to determine if surgery was indicated for his thyroid. It appears that the little small nodule.....the one closest to the carotid, that the biopsy tech could not get a sample of...indeed, needs to be biopsied. Just to be on the safe side, but the needle biopsies are far from pleasant. Here's to hoping the tech can get to it this time, and end Steves waiting and worrying. *If* it is indicated, the thyroidectomy itself supposedly isn't "that" bad [a nasty quantative word if I ever saw one, no surgery isn't "that bad" unless it's not your body being cut into] but the thought of having to take a pill for the rest of his life gives him major pause about allowing any type of surgery unless it cannot be avoided. I agree with him.

As for me, I am doing really well. I am not due to go back to the cardiologist til May, but I think I'll need to go before then. The med he has me on, I lost enough weight so that I think it's too powerful! My hands and fingers are bluish and ice cold within an hour of taking that med. That is a GOOD thing ! This is my goal going into the new year. To make more progress towards getting off the meds.....the PSVT one, well, I need to wait til after menopause, with my luck I'll be the only fertile 60 year old on the planet. The blood pressure one, I think I'm closing in on it. To remain off both, I need to practice stress control. Some people in my life have difficulty listening to and comprehending the truth. It is not worth my health to deal with it anymore. It will mean changing relationships or cutting off relationships with a few people, they don't realize they are physically hurting me with their bullshit. If they care, great, we can work it out. If they don't, well, I'm not anyones doormat. Or target.

Here in NY, even as winter approaches, the indoor plants continue to flourish, making my heart happy and helping me over the SAD [seasonal affective disorder] effect. I don't suffer from it as much as others do, but bothers me nonetheless. My "White" Thanksgiving cactus is blooming, with blush pink flowers....I think it got up to the dickens with the fuschia christmas cactus when my back was turned. Plants going to sleep, plants waking up and throwing flowers and seed bracts. A lot of action if you know where to look.

There's something else I wanted to say. I have been asked, by some family as well as friends, why I haven't blogged. The biggest part of it was deciding what to blog. There have been times where I wanted to post an adult pic or joke, but did not out of fear of offending someone, and I got friggin tired of trying to second guess myself. I'm done worrying about "everyone". I'll be blogging about what makes me laugh, shocks me, pisses me off, or catches my attention. I do not do politics or religion, so if you see a pic of that nature here, it was because it was funny or uplifting. I hope you enjoy the ride.

 

:::::insert my siggie here, this damned format is not as user friendly as the old one:::::::::

Holidays for December 10th:

10 Human Rights Day  11 National Noodle Ring Day  12 National Ding-a-Ling Day

~Always be yourself. Never try to hide who you are. Always stand up for what you believe in. Always question what other people tell you. Never regret the past. It's a waste of time. There's a reason for everything. For every mistake. Every moment of weakness. Every terrible thing that has happened to you. Grow from it. The only way others will respect you is if you show them you respect yourself. And most importantly, do your thing, and NEVER apologize for being You.~
-Marley Enriquez