Ebook Packrat Woes

Oh the woes of an ebook packrat..... LOL

As I was looking through my folder full of new ebooks that I haven't sorted out yet, I realized I had more than a couple handfulls, so I checked. I got way more, like 60+ new ebooks to sort out LOL. Never mind I still haven't figured out how to have a database program on my PDA yet, except for going through the hassle of listing each individual file path, which would take way longer than even Mobipocket takes to load my ebooks up lol. So that really isn't feasable. I've also toyed with making shortcuts and renaming the shortcuts to the title and author, like mp3's, but that'd be a hassle too, as many have long names. So what am I going to do?

Perhaps I should break my mountain down into smaller hills. First of all, take care of the list of ebooks whose file names don't even resemble a title so I know which one it is by looking at it. Then, I can tackle the new ebook list and get them integrated into my catalog. After that, I can go back to figuring out what to do for a solution to my linking problem... ayeee... this has been puzzling my head for months now. I wish the guy that wrote BookLib would get back to working on his program. The only program that I've found that comes close is only for MS Reader ebooks which are a lot bigger and more prone to defects (esp in Reader itself) and/or bugs.

So for now I am stuck with my only viable solution: Just open MobiPocket first and wait for it to open before deciding which ebook I want to read. It's the best I can do for now.

Off I go to rest my bum for a few from sitting here, then come back, get my draft folder ready for more joke emails to my google group, and then off to the housework. No daily errand for me today, it was taken care of already ;-).

Miscellaneous

Hello from hot and humid Pennsylvania. It's well into the dinner hours
and it seems that it's still well into the 80s, but luckily I am smart
enough to sit in the shade! I could be inside... But that wouldn't be
as fun! (And it gives me the chance to blow all this cat hair off of
my PDA's IR keyboard without it just reattaching itself later.) I am
happy to announce one of our most prolific readers is back from
another vacation - Welcome back Walter!! Maybe now I'll have some
ideas to help me blog as no one else has been very helpful (hint
hint!! lol) on that front.
Let's see, what's new around here...
I tried to cut back on my (caffeine-free) Pepsi, to no luck. I went a
couple days without, but upon attaining more of this dark beverage, I
immediately indulged in more than my normal dosage of it. In layman's
terms, I went on a Pepsi Binge!
I discovered that V8 helps me get home from my daily walks in less
pain. I guess the Vitamin C in the drink goes straight to my muscles,
decreasing the pain I shall eventually feel. Plus like the taste,
ironic because growing up it was WAY too spicy for me, but now plain
old tomato juice won't cut it!
Now that I have my wifi card replacement, you'd think I'd be all
up-to-date on the news, but you'd be wrong. I haven't had one
sleepless night since before I got it. It's not that I'm finally
relaxed, it's that I've done way too much housework this week,
especially laundry!
I've done more laundry in this last week than I do in almost a month
normally. And I still have more to do. But we're up on the work
clothes, and all my shorts are clean. Even some of my sweaters are
clean! Sometimes the AC is just a little bit too much for me and I get
chilled.
I've managed to keep myself out of two arguments that people were
attempting to draw me into, and one kinda sorta involved me. But that
one I was able to resolve and fix, keeping it from growing into a
bigger argument and the other one I just blew off.
I'm still trying to find that dream work-from-home computer job
that'll pay me well, but with no luck. And with my thumb needing a
rest from my projects, even IF someone wanted one, I'd have to put the
deadline back a couple days. I still don't know what is causing me to
get this pain under that thumb nail like I've got a needle in there.
It seems to be triggered by me doing too much work on a project,
especially the canvas work.
The storm last night was a dousie, a very loud one at that. Not
exactly a good storm for a storm wuss like me to have to go through. I
tried to get Curzon to sit with me outside for the pre-storm winds and
sounds, but he was just freaking out way too much, more than normal.
So I let the boy go in and hide under the bed where he feels safe.
I'm half tempted to take the two blankets I got when I flew back to
Kansas the first time and put them under the desk for a Jadzia bed, as
she seems to be loving that spot lately. I'm not using them for
anything else, as they have gotten too much cat hair on them already
and probably could use some laundered care, but I'm not putting
ANYTHING in with them, and I'm not spending the $$ to wash them yet.
So why not let the cats get them a little more furry in the interim?
I am also very tempted to take a day or two off from the net to just
relax but I know how often I succeed at that - very rarely. And with
all the jokes I get in email daily nowadays, I'd have a lot to catch
up on! But I have to say my taking a long break from IRC (chat) has
done me well. I've dropped in on occasion but haven't stuck around for
more than a few minutes as I've found it to be quite immature in the
midst of so much stuff going on in the world that needs our attention
more. I guess it's partially the after-effects of the 2001 terrorist
attacks. I have progressively been more turned off by run-of-the-mill
chat and have begun trying to figure out what the best strategies
would be to get us through some of our current global issues.
I'll write more later.

It's over for Obama to me

I'm sure by now you all are aware of the Supreme Court's ruling against the city of Hazleton, PA. Mr. Obama had the audacity to call it a "victory for all Americans." This is BS. Mr. Obama, I was on the fence with you, it's over now. You are showing your colors, your lack of concern for the American people, especially the middle class. You need to get off your high horse and stop throwing nails in the local jurisdictions who are only trying to put up a small net to take care of the big hole left by lack of federal inforcement of the law. I hope and pray that the Appelate Court overturns this obviously biased decision. And I hope that no one like you is elected President. You make me fear having to vote Republican to keep a stupid, naive idiot like you out of office. As much as I liked President Clinton, NAFTA was a mistake, and I intend to vote for someone who will seal our borders back up and make everyone, regardless of nationality, go through the legal channels. Enough is enough. Stop treating us citizens like stupid people.

Border Patrol Injustice

I want some answers. Not rumors, ANSWERS.
1. Why was this drug dealer allowed back into the US after he was known to be smuggling drugs?
2. Why was he granted a visa?
and most importantly,
3. Why were the border patrol agents who stopped him prosecuted and thrown in prison for over a decade and the criminal allowed to go free?

Will SOMEONE please give me some answers? NO ONE on tv has been able to. This is a travesty, and these men should be granted new, FAIR trials, or at least be pardoned. But will this president do it? I doubt it. You only get pardoned if you're a Washington insider friend of his.

My new counter

WOW! Either my regular readers are in places I didn't know they were, or my base is wider than I thought! Cool either way!!!! Keep reading, and commenting! Thanks!!!!!

Bloody Streets in the City of Brotherly Love

The city of Philadelphia is truly a city in crisis mode. It's only 7 months into the year and there have already been 235 murders in the city limits. This is not only a sad fact, it is a travesty, because in so many cases, even victims' families will not help the police for fear of their own lives. This has to change, not just for the city, but for the over-burdened investigators in the police force. Philadelphians must get over this fear and their sometimes rightful distrust of the police and start working to make the nation's birthplace a safer city. I would like to hear what you, my faithful readers, think could and/or should be done to help the city stop this violent trend. Last year saw just over 400 murders, and by the end of this year, that number could easily be close to 500. What do you think?

A Few Thoughts

I wish I could thoroughly describe how liberated I feel to be mobile again. Having my wifi card no longer means having to crawl out of bed early in the morning to check my email (that doesn't mean I read it then). I can turn on the PDA and in a matter of a minute or two I can see if I have anything important or if it's all just my daily dose of jokes. If I can't sleep at 1am, I can surf blogs or catch up on the news from Ohio or Kansas. It isn't so much that I am hindered by my PC, I just like choices, and I got used to having this choice LOL.
Yesterday was a very good day for me, not just because I got the wifi card either. I have long been looking for a vintage 1980s Uno card deck, as the new style just is too complicated for me (or maybe it's so simple it's too simple for my complicated head perhaps). So while I was browsing the thrift store yesterday, I found a deluxe box of them, with the scorepad still there and the whole deck in good condition!! That made my day even more than the wifi card did, though honestly, it made me cry a little too as Uno was one of me and Mom's favorite card games to play. But I made it through without showing any visible signs of the painful memories - I was just too happy to see it there! It was as if Mom was saying "I'm still here, and I still love you" to me, in a weird way, if that makes any sense.
Don't let my glee of yesterday sound like my current battle with depression is over. It's not. Especially not today. It's days like today where both the happy me and the really depressed me are waging war, both trying to take me over, neither one succeeding. But it's ok, I always manage. As I type this up, I have a cat asleep on my lap... And we all know cats only do what they want to do, and him just coming up onto the bed and flopping, curling up and going to sleep shows how much he loves me. But Curzon is my alpha, he was the first of my rescues, I'm the first human he ever knew, so yes, he loves me! LOL I can hang him upside down and he won't curl up and bite me. I can do so much crap to this cat without so much as a scratch that anyone else would get mauled over it's hilarious - and obvious how much he trusts me to not hurt him.
The roommate's project is coming along much faster than normal, although I screwed up one of the patterns, dyslexic me switched up the colors!! HAHA leave it up to me to switch up two colors, luckily he doesn't mind, cause by the time I caught it I was too far done. I'm working on his facsimile USA flag pattern side now, after that just one more side and then I MUST deal with what I'm going to do for the box's bottom! But I'll be lucky if I get to that by the weekend, as I still have a bunch of work to do. The PDA's crochet pouch is finished, except for the hand-stitching of the lip so I can put in a draw string. I'm once again pondering whether or not I want to make a canvas case for my PDA, as I hate the aluminum case's right-side hinge!! I want the lid to either be above or on the left side!! But the aluminum case is very good for when I'm outside as it prevents the PDA from getting warm, and its belt clip keeps me from losing it. Oh and I forgot the card storage slots!!! (If I was using it the day I lost my wifi card I'd never lost the card! It'd been secured in the case! Oh well, water under the bridge!)
As aforementioned, the cats are doing well, especially Nimbus it seems. Yesterday afternoon he decided he was going to lay ON me like his uncle usually does, no persuasion at all from me, not even to get up onto the couch where I was laying!! He NEVER lays on me. I'm lucky if he lays close to me! Such an independent cat. And then he usually only follows HIS human to the bathroom, not me. That's Curzon's job (and occasionally Jadzia's) to follow me everywhere. And I do mean everywhere in this apartment. But I don't mind. Except the bathroom!! Curzon gets so offended sometimes if I shut him out... But somethings we humans want and/or need privacy! But this morning Nimbus decided he was changing plans, and I happily abliged him - this time.
For those of you wondering, yes I am finally starting to feel better. It's been a stubborn stomach bug, but I'm starting to feel human again! I still have the occasional queasiness, but not like I did a week ago! Now it's occasional headaches and jaw aches from the f***ing wisdom tooth! But both I'm much more used to and am much better at fighting. Stomach bugs knock me on my back every time.
I'm still not watching much of the news, I'm still trying to catch a break from all the dying that permeates the news lately - especially the local news coming out of Philadelphia (or as so many here refer to it as, Philthadelphia). I am still wondering when the people are going to get so sick and tired of the killing and cough up the details the police need to lock all the murderers up. Just getting the guns off the streets won't do it, the criminals will just get their guns from other markets or means. The answer lies with stiff penalties for violent crimes, and murder by gunfire should be an automatic life sentence. Sadly it's not, and that needs to change. But I'm sure I'm preaching to the choir, so to speak.
So I'm off for now, as without my dose of news, I don't have as much to rant about!! Peace to all!

Free Healthcare's True Costs

I'm not one for posting whole articles, but this is so important I'll give you both the source and the article!!! There is no such thing as free health care, and here's the proof.

Cheese Headcases Wisconsin reveals the cost of "universal" health care. Tuesday, July 24, 2007 12:01 a.m. EDT
When Louis Brandeis praised the 50 states as "laboratories of democracy," he didn't claim that every policy experiment would work. So we hope the eyes of America will turn to Wisconsin, and the effort by Madison Democrats to make that "progressive" state a Petri dish for government-run health care.
This exercise is especially instructive, because it reveals where the "single-payer," universal coverage folks end up. Democrats who run the Wisconsin Senate have dropped the Washington pretense of incremental health-care reform and moved directly to passing a plan to insure every resident under the age of 65 in the state. And, wow, is "free" health care expensive. The plan would cost an estimated $15.2 billion, or $3 billion more than the state currently collects in all income, sales and corporate income taxes. It represents an average of $510 a month in higher taxes for every Wisconsin worker.
Employees and businesses would pay for the plan by sharing the cost of a new 14.5% employment tax on wages. Wisconsin businesses would have to compete with out-of-state businesses and foreign rivals while shouldering a 29.8% combined federal-state payroll tax, nearly double the 15.3% payroll tax paid by non-Wisconsin firms for Social Security and Medicare combined.
This employment tax is on top of the $1 billion grab bag of other levies that Democratic Governor Jim Doyle proposed and the tax-happy Senate has also approved, including a $1.25 a pack increase in the cigarette tax, a 10% hike in the corporate tax, and new fees on cars, trucks, hospitals, real estate transactions, oil companies and dry cleaners. In all, the tax burden in the Badger State could rise to 20% of family income, which is slightly more than the average federal tax burden. "At least federal taxes pay for an Army and Navy," quips R.J. Pirlot of the Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce business lobby.
As if that's not enough, the health plan includes a tax escalator clause allowing an additional 1.5 percentage point payroll tax to finance higher outlays in the future. This could bring the payroll tax to 16%. One reason to expect costs to soar is that the state may become a mecca for the unemployed, uninsured and sick from all over North America. The legislation doesn't require that you have a job in Wisconsin to qualify, merely that you live in the state for at least 12 months. Cheesehead nation could expect to attract health-care free-riders while losing productive workers who leave for less-taxing climes.

Proponents use the familiar argument for national health care that this will save money (about $1.8 billion a year) through efficiency gains by eliminating the administrative costs of private insurance. And unions and some big businesses with rich union health plans are only too happy to dump these liabilities onto the government.
But those costs won't vanish; they'll merely shift to all taxpayers and businesses. Small employers that can't afford to provide insurance would see their employment costs rise by thousands of dollars per worker, while those that now provide a basic health insurance plan would have to pay $400 to $500 a year more per employee.
The plan is also openly hostile to market incentives that contain costs. Private companies are making modest progress in sweating out health-care inflation by making patients more cost-conscious through increased copayments, health savings accounts, and incentives for wellness. The Wisconsin program moves in the opposite direction: It reduces out-of-pocket copayments, bars money-saving HSA plans, and increases the number of mandated medical services covered under the plan.
So where will savings come from? Where they always do in any government plan: Rationing via price controls and, as costs rise, waiting periods and coverage restrictions. This is Michael Moore's medical dream state.
The last line of defense against this plan are the Republicans who run the Wisconsin House. So far they've been unified and they recently voted the Senate plan down. Democrats are now planning to take their ideas to the voters in legislative races next year, and that's a debate Wisconsinites should look forward to. At least Wisconsin Democrats are admitting how much it will cost Americans to pay for government-run health care. Would that Washington Democrats were as forthright.

WiFi Card

I GOT THE CARD!!! WAY EARLY!!!!!!! And yes it's already installed and working! LOL. It came about half an hour ago. So off I go, a wee late, to the store. Laters folks!

Disgust turns to OUTRAGE

Ok, now I am FURIOUS. Not only are online sex predators out there now more than ever, in Texas, there is a DA (district or county attorney for my non-American readers) who REFUSES to prosecute nearly two dozen predators CAUGHT soliciting from people who they thought were young teenagers!!Here's the scoop, in two parts.First, NBC, one of our main free TV networks, runs a show called "To Catch a Predator" that lures these creeps in and then confronts them, and as the creep goes to leave, the cops arrest them. But apparently one DA won't prosecute, though I didn't hear why. I don't care. THERE IS NO EXCUSE. A law was broken, what if the "victim" was REALLY a child?Now to add insult to injury, a DA got caught in one of these stings!! But when the cops went to arrest their own DA, he committed suicide! Oh and get THIS. Now his wife is suing NBC for $100million because of it! What the f***?!? Lady, your husband was a creep, and God only knows what he was doing to others' kids, if not your own. He's better off this way, let God deal with him.

ANOTHER f***ing recall involving people AND dog food!

http://www.castleberrys.com/news_productrecall.asp

 

The saddest thing is, this is my absolute favorite beef stew! :(   We're talking Botchullism (I know I didn't spell it right, but you know what I'm talking about), which is a lot meaner to the body than normal food poisoning. There's a family of 4 in the hospital right now because of this. Where'd the contamination come from this time? I think we pretty much shut the door on China, so who did it this time?

Another blog entry coming soon, I was writing again last night lol. And the wifi card is on the way!!! Woohoo!!

I have the BEST neighbor!

My neighbor got home from the beach late last night (while I was up all night from a combo of things that just have to happen and things I just shouldn't have done), and since all our lights were out, she came down this afternoon with this little surprise for me!! Ain't it the cutest little thing? Ya'll should see what she got my bf and our roommate, but while my international friends would probably laugh, my fellow Americans probably would not LOL. And even IF they did laugh, I couldn't risk putting em online anyways - I'm sure SOMEONE would be offended and probably get my lil hole in the 'net shut down!

For those who know I've been under the weather lately, I'm slowly showing signs of possibly getting better - except dumb*** lactose intolerant me ate 3x as much cheesecake as I should've last night! So, so much for feeling better! But dangit, it was good!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh well, hopefully this will soon pass, especially considering how happy I was when the pain killers kicked in yesterday - BEFORE the cheesecake binge! I'm going to wait a couple days before I finish that piece off!

Anyways, folks, I'm off for now, hope everyone is well...

Alternatives to Oil - AND Ethanol

Something has to change in the American psychee soon. When looking for alternatives, we must not just settle for the first economical one we find, we must not settle until the impact on other sectors of the economy are as minimal as possible. Notice the prices at the store and your favorite restaurant are going up? Here's why: Ethanol. Cows eat it, which drives up dairy and beef, and the same goes for poultry. What the ethanol advocates don't tell you is that it takes over 25lb of corn to make ONE GALLON of ethanol. Do the math. Every large city in this country would have to become farmland. Or we take over Canada and make that our farmland - just kidding!! But do you see what I'm saying? Ethanol is NOT the answer. It's only driving up meat, dairy, and cereal prices. There are already forecasts of $4 gallons of milk or more by year's end. Egg prices are on the way up. Cereal boxes are approaching $4 if you buy name brand (thus my purchase of generics). I know things are generally more expensive out here on the coast, but still. It makes me want to move out to amish country, get a couple cows, a shotgun to go deer hunting, grow a garden, and go back to the way people lived a couple hundred years ago. So what is the solution, you ask (since I'm so anti-ethanol)? How about a FEW solutions?1. Solar panels. Solar energy is infinite, and technology is starting to make them more efficient.2. Hydrogen fuel. We're starting to come up with ways to harness it better and more economically. And we all know there are times we need the byproduct - water! Imagine stopping for a fuel-up and not having to go inside for a bottle of water!! 3. Wind power. You can still have your farm or garden around turbines, you just have to plant around them. Maybe you'll have to do a LITTLE hand-harvesting right around them. Sounds like a part-time job for a few driven kids during harvest season. 4. Water. China is building the largest dam in the world, large and powerful enough to provide electricity to the entire city of Beijing! Imagine if we figured out how to do it here with minimal environmental impact!! I'm just running out of patience with the ethanol advocates. I understand farmers are loving it as they now have a cash crop, but I'm sure they also see the effects on higher feed prices. We really need to focus on hydrogen especially as it would not only cut oil dependence, it would cut pollution too and lessen our water consumption from nature! And while I'm all for recycling, I'm not about to go for recycling urine. Sorry, can't do it. Just can't get myself to think about it even!So what are we to do? Where will we go from here? And how will we convince our politicians to cut their big oil influences and wake up to reality? Or at least get big oil to start looking at alternatives so they will not be out of business when we cut out oil dramatically? And I truly believe SOMEDAY we will be oil independent. That's IF humanity still exists... What's your opinion?

Updates

Well, my wifi card ended up not costing me a penny, thanks to MyPoints, and my cuz. She has much more use of those points then I do, so I ordered her another WalMart gift card with the points I had left! It'll only take me another 5 years to build back up the points, but it's ok! It's not like I'm losing it again!!!!! LOL The card is in process of being ready to be shipped apparently (I guess it takes more than 5 min to find the card, throw it in an envelope, stamp it, and mail it), so I'm still hopeful I'll have it by month's end.
I started working on the roommate's canvas box yesterday, though I found the sides of the lid that I thought I was missing that I'd bought a whole new sheet of canvas for yesterday. Oh well, no such thing as too much canvas for me, esp at $0.41/sheet. I have designs for the sides already stenciled out on each piece, in perma marker of course (though it's not-so-permanent on plastic, as some was coming off on the yarn, but not where it was going to be seen), but I only got the white outline of one of his emblems done. I tried to do a little more on it last night by flashlight, but only got 1 row of the background done.
I sorted out the pda's copy of all my cat pics last nite and today, by cat(s). But I had to section them off into two different sections as I had a bad habit of renaming the pics for a good couple years, so I lost the ability to see what order they were taken in. That and the fact that I've used a couple different memory sticks didn't help either.
Today has been a quiet day, my better half ended up not having to work OT today as the crane operator was in too much of a hurry and it turned out it was only going to be a half-day anyways even IF he'd gone in when he was supposed to have. In other words, not worth the gas money.
So we slept the morning away (which I needed since I'm STILL not feeling good), and then I weaseled what little energy I had in me to do some minor cleaning in the kitchen and the dishes.
My neighbor's spending her last day of vacation at the beach, which just totally has me jealous! LOL Love ya E, but I'd love ya more if I'd fit into J's truck! LOL j/k. I can't wait to see how sunburned she got while down there! Too bad it's back to work on Monday for her, it's been a good week this week having someone to hang out with off and on. O, ok, OTHER than my cats.
Speaking of cats, obviously, all is well with the furballs. Right to the point Jadzia is on my lap purring her lil motor away right now even though I haven't even so much as touched her! She sure does purr a lot, she must be a happy cat! (Ya think? LOL) I was sitting on the arm of the loveseat a couple hours ago and had the twins on the floor at my feet, both were purring, especially Curzon, but I think that was because my foot was so close (he has a foot thing) - what a cat! LOL Nimbus, for the second day in a row, has fumbled his pill, and made it extremely difficult to get it down his throat. Heck yesterday I was just hoping it'd dissolve in his mouth as I couldn't take his biting my finger and clawing my hand anymore from trying to get it from between his back teeth! Stubborn cat! I really do need to get them some more treats, but I'm still wary after the cat food recalls of earlier this year. They've had two cans since I quit giving them the cans, and even then I made sure there was NOTHING gluten in them - and they were Purina-brand. Perhaps I should add "Buy Purina" to my to-do when I hit the lotto list. Just to ensure they NEVER use foreign-stuff in their food. But I don't think I have too much to worry about. I'm just wary.
My next blog will be the one I wrote last night on my pda, saved to my CF Card, and pasted here since I have no wifi card. :( You can tell I was watching the news last night LOL. So here goes... adios and enjoy my friends!

Time to Vent

I want to know why Michael Vick is only facing two charges. If you're sponsoring a dog fighting ring, you should be held responsible for everything that went on, like a murder conspirator is charged with murder even if he/she isn't the one that actually committed the murder. Where's the animal cruelty charges?
What is up with these kids nowadays? Two young kids beating a grandma up just to steal her scooter! Oh I so want to strangle those kids! But that's the sad thing nowadays, there's no respect for elders anymore. :/
Anyways, more later, got too much going through my head right now!!

There's hope still...

I went back to the thrift store today and one of the ladies that was working last thursday was there today. Of course she didn't find it, but she did a more thorough search and genuinely cared. That was very comforting! At least I know SOMEONE looked :)
The local pharmacy here is Eckerd's, which apparently just got bought out by Rite Aid. What a good deal for me! We needed some more Aleve, the way we all ache here it seems, and I always get store brand as it's sooo much cheaper! Well, they are selling off anything with the Eckerd's name on it for STEEP clearance prices, and it turns out the 120ct bottle of their "Aleve" was marked down 75%, making it less than $2 a bottle!!!!!!! Holy s***!!!! I told the lady to ring me up for a second bottle while she was at it and while it was clearing my bankcard, I swooped it up! Of course I'd love to be able to sell the one bottle for $5, but I'm too honest, I told everyone I see (including the lady at the thrift store) on a regular basis about it, as I know many who ache as much if not more than I do. So, needless to say, I won't be needing more for a while. But there's no such thing as too much pain killers in a house of 3 LOL.
As for the cats, they are doing great. Nimbus and Jadzia (oddly enough for my scaredycat) have taken big time to my neighbor upstairs, Nimbus even sat with her a couple times for a few minutes earlier today.
I also got the sides and bottom cut out for the roommate's canvas box that I've kept promising him last night, and I think I've got the patterns I want, though I screwed up on one of the walls, so now I don't have enough canvas on that sheet for the lid. So I'm going to TRY to use the other sheet (which is slightly different) for the lid, but that's a way's off, as I've not even put the patterns onto the walls with the marker yet. Bein' the boy from KY that he is, gotta have his UK side, and since the Bengals' head won't fit, I'm throwing on a Reds "C" for him on another side. Another wall will be a miniature flag-like emblem, and another will be the Liberty Bell. If I get the balls up I MIGHT try to do an EGA (eagle globe n anchor - Marine thing) for one of the walls or the bottom. I don't have a set bottom pattern yet. But I could still try a Bengals "B" too. We'll see.
I've discovered a couple new blogs lately that I've yet to add to my list but I will here soon. One just commented on one of my earlier posts a few minutes ago, so I shall get busy soon. But without my wifi card, it's not as easy to surf at 2am! (Well, try impossible.) But, once I get that card and get back mobile I'll go thru the ones I haven't posted yet that are on the PDA and on here and add the missing ones from both to my list.
So, in closing, here's the thought of the day. What was going through Michael Vick's head when he thought he could even host a dogfighting ring?!? I KNOW he's extremely well-paid by the Atlanta Falcons and the NFL. And what's up with electrocuting, hanging, and/or drowning dogs that lose a match? What should be done? Should he sit in prison for a few years, the rest of his life, or as my Mom would surely suggest, an eye for an eye - put him in the ring! Time will tell, and as much as is the American way, "innocent until proven guilty" - to NOT know this is going on at one of your homes is hard to fathom and to not stop it instantly is unbelievable and sickening. But as my pal Walter says, "What say you?"

Re: Whoopsie Update

Well I was able to find a card that wasn't TOO expensive, and thanks to Cuz, I'll have it in a couple weeks, so I should be back up and running by the end of the first week in August. So please be patient!!!! I'll catch up with yall eventually, I'm still online, just not at all hours like I once was. Though you'd not know it looking at my pc uptime! I just haven't been shutting her down, running scans n defrag n stuff while I'm sleeping!

On 7/16/07, Sharon G <lynx217@gmail.com> wrote:

Well, I lost it. And the lady that was working today didn't seem to care. Found one on amazon.com for less than $30 with shipping, so that's my target. Now to come up with it...

PPPP UUUU

Gawd do some people not know what deodorant is? GAG!
Some dude (I caught only a glimpse of him as he left the complex) was putting menus for some chinese restaurant on the doors here, and I had to go get the laundry so I stepped out a minute or so after he'd passed by my door. I stepped out the door and I swear I've never smelt worse BO in my life! I'm glad I didn't walk up to him! Now I understand it's 92 outside right now, if not hotter now. But deodorant goes a long way! Geez!!!!! If both the man and our roommate can come home sweaty but not stinky (and they in the construction trade) after a 10 hour day, then surely this guy can use some deodorant! Aye carumba! Needless to say I think I lost my sense of smell for the day LOL. That's ok, I ate a little to try to calm my stomach, all I gotta do is git this laundry up and git that bed made and I am done for today. Good thing too cause all I wanna do is puke :( I'm only getting sicker as the minutes tick by. Oh well.

Getting closer...

... to getting back wireless!
Thanks to an arrangement made so willingly by cuz, hopefully before too much longer I'll be back mobile and moving freely again. Hopefully this card will have the same range. Would be nice if it was stronger, but I'd happily take even close to it lol. Of course I'd REALLY like to have my other one back but oh well.
Not feeling so hot today, think I got a case of icky tummy to say the least LOL. Was planning on a 2nd try at the thrift store... another day though. Today's out. Have to do laundry... yuk even worse. Luckily I got the worst of the housework done yesterday so it's just tidy up day today.
Finally got caught up on the blogs I been reading except the new one or two that's still just on my pda. One day I'll migrate them to the pc too. LOL. Been brainlocked as to stuff to write tho as I've been taking a break from the news. I was getting too p*d at people on tv I could never vent to and getting so sick of the same old sht and no one to listen.
Like the 26 yr old Marine fighting the country's call for a FIFTH deployment to Iraq. Let that guy rest. Matter of fact, he's done so much, they oughta let him RETIRE, benefits and all. How many soldiers do FOUR tours? And Bush wants a fifth out of him? FU Mr. President.
Oh so classic. Just as I start to get upset, I get a big ol cat on my lap, this time my 20lb alpha. LOL and he's such a good boy, just jumped up and laid down on my lap. ..... And purrrrrrrrrrr LOL, can ya tell he's my baby? LOL rotten spoiled brat, then again so's his sister, and his nephew!
Switched back to the Indoor Formula Purina, as the Urinary Tract formula doesn't sit so well with Curzon on its own, so I'm mixing it in, and seeing as how the IF is only 9.50 and the UT is like 15.99 for an 18lb bag each... well, it's much cheaper too!! And all 3 babies are happy, rotten spoiled cats! Course Curzon's gotta watch me eat too... lol...
So on that note I'll sign off for now. Talk laters folks. And I still want ideas!

Whoopsie Update

Well, I lost it. And the lady that was working today didn't seem to care. Found one on amazon.com for less than $30 with shipping, so that's my target. Now to come up with it...

A Disgrace to His Predecessor

This new pope has found a way to p*ss everyone off. I have yet to meet even a Catholic that can agree with his words. "Pope Benedict XVI reasserted the primacy of the Roman Catholic Church, approving a document released Tuesday that says other Christian communities are either defective or not true churches and Catholicism provides the only true path to salvation." Please read the entire article here. To even assert that if you're NOT Catholic you're doomed is the most selfish, self-centered, egotistical, outright heretical thing I've ever heard. God does NOT care about which denomination of Christianity you come from. God cares about what is inside. So maybe we all need to start writing the Pope and demand he gets right with God. Because obviously right now he's not listening to Him one bit. And it's so sad because his predecessor, John Paul II, did so much to heal relations within the Christian faith and between religions. I think if any one person of faith could have started to turn the trend towards war in the Middle East, it would've been John Paul. But his time here was done, and that's one soul that deserves more than most of us to have a long slumbering rest from his work! Rest in Peace, John Paul, we'll figure out how to move forward somehow. :)

Regression

Some days are definitely harder than others, and this is definitely true today. Between my normal aches, the wisdom tooth ache, headache from too much loud music last night, and this backache I woke up with, I'm already grouchy. Then add on the slightest of friction and I turned into a little baby all by myself just wishing Mom was still alive. Luckily no one was here to see that regression, it's not pretty. Any other day and I'd be fine. But for some reason, today isn't one of those normal days. Everything I see, everything I taste, it all reminds me of her. And then I start to bawl like I did the day I found out she'd passed away. But therein lies the point. Grief doesn't have a schedule, and even when you find some semblance of normalcy, there will still be bad days. So today I think I'll just take my pain killers (gotta love aleve), run my errand, and then kick back and enjoy the silence. Maybe I'll play a game, I doubt it. Maybe I'll surf the 'net and chat a little, I don't know. I think right now I just want to listen to some soothing music and relax as the pain killer works. My neighbor introduced us all to this guy a couple days ago and we all just dropped our jaws at this guy play, just him and his guitar harp. His name is Andy McKee. Enjoy with me!

whoopsie!

I won't be mobile for a while. I lost my wireless card for my pda!! So jokes will be later, blogs won't be as frequent, and emails will be more sporadic. And I won't be available for chat as much. Sorry!!

Suggestions

I want to thank you for the suggestions that came in when I asked for some blog ideas in an earlier post. Some, like Walter's suggestion that I detail how we can help the cats, will be explored in a later post. But in the meantime, if you or someone you know would like to adopt a cat, please visit http://www.mainecoonrescue.com for information on how to help a cat that needs a home - many of which will be soon euthanized if not adopted or at least fostered out of kill shelters. Transportation can be arranged. And please, if you can afford it and don't have any other pets, please consider adopting a cat with feline lukemia or feline aids. Neither disease is transmitted between cats and humans, but is extremely contagious between animals. Thank you, and remember, do your part, even if it's only so small as giving a stray some water. More suggestions will be forthcoming.

Michael Moore

While I commend Michael Moore for bringing the failings of our health care system to light, I have to protest on a couple major points. He makes our system look like the worst, it's not. He fails to tell you that Cuban citizens, along with Canadians, have to wait for months to see a doctor. If you have a wisdom tooth killing your mouth and can afford to pay to have it removed, would you be willing to wait 6 months or more just to see a doctor? I wouldn't! I know if I had the $$ I'd be in that dentist's chair NOW! And let's not forget how high a lot of other nations' income and other taxes are to cover their "free" insurance for everyone. We complain about paying upwards of 20-30%. I have many European friends who would LOVE to pay that instead of their current 50% or more. And did Mr. Moore not realize the firestorm he would bring upon himself by taking American citizens to Cuba?? That in itself discredited him even more amongst closed-minded people. And if you think we have it bad here in the US, a friend of mine's relative got sick while vacationing in Mexico and he would've been better of NOT going to the hospital in Mexico because their sterilization is archaic at best, nonexistent at worst! I have two very close friends in the medical field, and both will tell you in a heartbeat that our system isn't perfect. Doctors and nurses are overbooked, rushed, and overworked. Nurses frequently put in shifts that the rest of us would SUE our bosses over. But they can't, it's a normal workday for them. So instead of pointing out why someone else is so much better, let's take the system we have and make it better. Let's support organizations that provide free or low-cost medical care for our children. Support organizations that help provide needy families with HEALTHY food - which will in turn help improve their health and thereby requiring less medical attention. It's time to take the junk food out of the schools. Chocolate shouldn't be in any vending machine at school. That in itself doesn't help obesity. We have a lot of work to do, both inside and outside our medical system. Let's just not focus on one bad blemish. Let's focus on the system as a whole. But, thank you Mr. Moore, for starting the dialogue.

Railing the Left

Why am I so against the "fairness doctrine"? It's not that I'm against free speech, just the opposite. This is a free-market economy. What we get is what we demand. When we stifle it by taking time from one side to speak to another, we are taking away the people's choice. I'm not talking about news coverage - that should be unbiased. I'm talking about talk radio and tv. As much as I HATE Rush Limbaugh and Hannity & Colmes both, they each have their own perspectives, and their own listeners. The government should NEVER tell us citizens what we can talk about and how often. If you want to hear the extreme left, you got Sean Hannity. If you want the extreme right, you've got Rush Limbaugh. If you want something in the middle, you've got that too. It's not the government's responsibility that we are informed citizens, it is YOUR individual responsibility.
Here's the real story behind it. The democrats responsible for the immigration bill are furious that talk radio helped motivate the citizens to evaluate the legislation and swamp our congresspeople to vote against it. So they want to silence the media, which is exactly what will happen as the media cannot and will not put people on the air who are not economically feasable. If this was an unbiased move, the Republicans would be doing the same thing with as much railing as has been done on President Bush. But this one time, the Republicans seem to understand that this is one thing the government needs to stay OUT of (very surprisingly).
I know I'm bound to take a LOT of heat for this. Bring it on. I don't want the government telling me what I can and cannot talk about, because if they start with talk radio and tv, the internet community will be next, because everyone knows how influential it is. Heck, they're already trying to tax the 'net! I will talk about what I want to, WHEN I want to. The more the government gets involved, the less American we become, and the more socialist we become.
So where do you stand?

A Few Thoughts on Iraq and US Politics

Been reading up on my blogs - got a couple new ones on my pda that I haven't brought over from my 2am blog surfing. If the results of my surfing are any indication, anyone still happy with President Bush is cowering in a corner hiding from the world. Even the conservative pages are grumbling about the situation in Iraq and the situation we are now in on immigration because neither side could get over their political alliances and start thinking of REAL solutions. Let the latinos build up the fence from their side... and don't build a gate! Or put up an electrical fence reinforced with barbed wire. Something. And while we're all focused on Mexico, what do we do about Canada's border? That's where trouble's going to come in, because the blatant lack of any security is so well-known, to us AND the terrorists. Maybe quicksand would be sufficient for a border? ;-) Just kidding.
We HAVE to do something. And right now we're not doing anything. And now Cindy Sheehan wants Rep. Pelosi to start impeachment proceedings on Bush and VP Cheney. Well, I can understand why. But it is way too painful a proceeding on the country and too late into a presidency. It would never make it through in the next year and a half. Let history write Bush's demise. Bush 43 will go down in history as one of the worst presidents in history and a disgrace to his father's presidency. I'd take 4 more years of his father over one more term of ANY of Bush 41's sons. I think he's smarter, and would strategically either fix this situation in Iraq or get us out. He was smart enough to let our soldiers fight the way that they knew best and give them what they need. When politics dictate war strategy, war is disaster.
When the military dictates war strategy, it's OVER!! But in all fairness, this is one war where it's extremely difficult to know who's enemy and who's not. They don't wear uniforms, they don't carry a flag, they blend in quite well. They're also much too cowardly to take us on head-on cause they know that we'll kill every last one of them! But we have to find a solution. We MUST redeploy our soldiers in the Iraq theater into Afghanistan. We have to fix what we let deteriorate. We need at least ONE stable government out there. President Bush also needs to come clean and admit his mistakes in guiding the war in Iraq. Saying he was wrong to go in isn't necessary, it's a mute point. His handling of it was near criminal. He obviously forgot Vietnam. He obviously didn't listen to his father. His father for sure would've told him to let his generals make the calls on how to fight the war and make sure they didn't come back later.
One of the worst things about the war in Iraq is we kept the world out of the reconstruction and stabilization. If we TRULY had a multinational force in there, it wouldn't be so bad. But right now, the majority of soldiers still there all speak one dialect or another of English (whether Australian, British, or American). If our forces were more ethnically similar to the area it wouldn't be so bad. Oh we'd still be fighting Al-Qaida, don't get me wrong. But we'd have more support of the Iraqi people.
The other thing that makes Iraq so disasterous is our lack of basic service reconstruction. A people who's lives under a dictator were better than under freedom will quickly yearn for the old days. Imagine if you only had power for a couple hours a day, if you're lucky. You'd become disgruntled quite quickly! I'm not saying ANYTHING good about Saddam, please don't think I am. All I'm saying is we need to secure the oil fields, electrical sub-stations, and water supply. People need their food, water, and electricity or otherwise the lure of the terrorists and insurgents will be hard to pass on.
Ok now that I've thoroughly p****d off the conservatives, I think I'll take a break and start forming my railing of the liberals.

Hmph!

Updates etc.

Clearly once I step outside, it automatically decides to get 5 degrees hotter. Or so it feels at least. I can never get across town (half-hour walk or so) and it still be nice outside. This time I got semi-smart tho. I put an ice thingie in my backpack purse to help keep my (bad for summer drinking) soda from getting hot and nasty. Kinda felt good on the back too!! Luckily it's not getting as hot as they were forecasting it would, but that only tells me it WILL tomorrow. I await rain with joyful anticipation as it will bring cooler weather, and hopefully eventually, lower humidity. The bugs are atrocious this year though as its been a wet year (compared to last), I've been bombarded by what seems to be mating-courtship flights at least 3 times by mosquitos. Evening is even nasty lately, humid, hazy, and just warm. If I wanted this kind of nasty weather, I'd haul the family to AZ during monsoon season. But I wouldn't wish this weather on anyone. Plus it's even hotter out there this year. So I think I'll just shut up. LOL
Got a beautiful postcard from my (sorta-adopted) Mum today, she mailed it last Thursday, from Rocky Mountain National Park. Makes me wish I was in CO too right now!! O sweet vacation, how I miss your sweet tasate in my mouth... Wait, IF I were to go on vacation, I'd either be in KS or OH, and both are hot and KS is surely swarming with mosquitos worse than here with the flooding as of late. So I guess I'm stuck in PA!
We are desparately trying to keep this summer cold from running around the house, tho I got the feeling I won't succeed in not getting it. Though, oddly enough, I have much closer contact (obviously!) with the bf than I do our roommate but I rarely catch anything the bf has, but I get sick every time the roommate does it seems!! Hm... maybe the bf keeps a better lid on his germies? I'll just be glad when it's gone from here, he sounded AWFUL this morning, under better circumstances, I'd ordered him home today, but no can do atm :( - so off to work.
I've been a bad girl in letting my projects pile up on me. I still haven't gotten to making that 2nd canvas lid. AND I haven't spent much more time on trying to fix BookLib on the PDA. Nor have I crochet'd that project for the T-bird of ours. I've been busy crocheting! First the frisbees (crochet'd yarn over coasters), then a mini-pillow (I won't say what I stuffed it with so allergy-prone peeps won't sneeze) and now a cover for my PDA. No it doesn't have a hole for the screen or anything, I just wanted something thick yet tight to go over it while I'm outside and not using it. However, it'll only be tight when I'm using the big lug of a battery, but I use it most anyways, so it made more sense. I still haven't gotten to those umpteen little bears either. I have yet to start on the roommate's canvas box either! Oh dear, so much to do, so little time, and I still have housework to do! lol
Thinking of the PDA, I'm STILL trying to determine how I'm going to go about having an easily accesible list of ebooks that I can just click on a title and have it load it in my ebook reader. Someday... Best I can come up with is shortcuts that I rename. But there's a LOT of them whose file name and ebook title don't exactly match. UGH.
The cats are doing great, keeping them indoors even at night. I don't need them overheating, not like any want to go out during the day anyways. But Curzon would probably royally enjoy a nighttime walk as he hasn't gotten his normal dose of attention the last few days. He's still kinda miffed at me for spending so much time upstairs with the neighbor's cats. Oh well. It's been a blast up there, even for sober me. Best party is the one where you're the sober one watching everyone else having fun and laughing along and knowing you'll remember every moment tomorrow! ;-)
And a wee note for my wonderful neighbor if/when she ever reads this... E, you're the best, luv ya, and you are the coolest neighbor! If I hit the lotto, you, J, and all your kids come with me! I think if I hit the lotto I can afford a few hundred acres in Montana :P I'll share! And ty for getting the door for me when I had that double-armful of laundry, greatly appreciated. Now just tell me how to tell Nimbus that the couch cover isn't part of him and therefore doesn't need a bath!!!! LOL
On that note I shall shut the **** up right now as I'm a hair close on going on a political rant about Libby and the recent BS going on. So off I go!!

100!!!!

Sometimes life is better enjoyed from the outside looking in. Especially when we're dealing with people being silly. It's easier to watch the silliness from afar. Thus is my night tonight. I just hope the silliness doesn't cause falls. Especially not on me!!! Hehehe. Good party for a sober kid though.
Guess what folks?? I MADE IT TO POST #100!!!!!!! Ya'll kept reading, so I kept yapping. So for post #101 (or shortly thereafter), I want your suggestions! I want to know what you all think I should write about! Be specific!! Don't just suggest something broad like politics, get specific like the plan by some to start withdrawing troops immediately. Get my point? Give me some help folks!! I want to do a tribute to all of you faithful readers! And even if it's something personal, I might just do it!
Anyways, I'll write more later, when I'm not half asleep and it's quieter. Goodnight folks.

Miscellaneous

Oh the woes of allergy season. I take the cats outside one at a time (well the boys at least, Jadzia is the ONE that rarely scratches me) and no sooner than I get them in and get settled into my chair outside, aaaaacccchhoo!! And not once, not twice, I think closer to a dozen, I lost count halfway there LOL. So once again, back to the sneezing, itchy watery eyes, and congestion. I wish I could say it was normal, but normalcy has a pattern to it!! The only pattern to my allergies is they come and go as they please!! So here we go again.
It's supposed to rain and storm here, though luckily we haven't had too much sun so I don't think the severe weather will be as much a threat as the meterologists said it would be. They all were expecting more sun than I was, all you had to do is look outside at any given time today, and you had a 90% chance of not seeing one ray of sun. Of course, after today, the heat is on!! Not as bad as out west, where Vegas is supposed to get to 117 today, but hot enough. I wish it'd stay 80 all summer long, 65 at night... Perfect. But we all know that's not going to happen. Wish as I might, not going to happen.
The last 24 hours have been rough, I've spent it evaluating the current situation, what's going on, and what can be done about it. I find myself giving out advice easily, but in my situation, not so easy. I wish there was an easy answer but there's not. I'm not going into details here, I don't want to. Suffice to say emotional and mental issues coming back into play ain't helping one bit. And the holiday didn't help either, holidays only make me more miserable as I miss what I once had: my family - especially my Mother - around me, a couple good friends I could always count on - one of which I've not been able to contact in a few years now and greatly miss and worry about, and a grasp on what is going on in my life. Right now I'm kinda lost in the wind trying to figure out where I'm at and where I need to be, especially employment-wise. I really don't want to be in retail... God knows I'm tired of that!!!! I want to find something computer oriented, preferrably at home online, that'll pay me decent. But I don't see that happening anytime soon and the more I look, the more it all looks like scams to me and the rare ones that don't aren't talking either. So I guess I'm stuck in retail, at least for now. We'll see, and I hope something gives soon. I'm starting to feel useless.
I have come to the conclusion I have the best neighbor in the world. I asked her earlier for something to drink as I was out of both soda and chocolate milk, she not only lent me her pepsi (which I shouldn't have accepted as it's caffeinated but oh well, one glass ain't going to kill me), she brought home a quart of chocolate milk for me!! What a neighbor!! I'll git that woman back... Just wait... Hehehe
Well, in the process of me writing this blog (which has suddenly, thanks to distractions, has taken hours instead of minutes), some things have improved around here, though now it's starting to sprinkle!!! I guess if it starts any harder, I'll move closer to the door where the rain can't reach me. No I'm not afraid I'm going to melt, I don't want my pda melting!! Lol
Ayeee, off I go again... 5th distraction!!
You know I started this blog so long ago I lost track of what I really, REALLY wanted to talk about, so I guess I best shut up!! Well, hope ya'll laugh at me at least!!

OK I've heard it All

I've got the tv on in the background while I'm chatting, and I just heard something outrageous. Rosie O'Donnell, the queen b****, one of the nation's "most influential" celebrities. If making people hate you makes you influential, fine. But I don't think that counts. And along with her, is the late Anna Nicole Smith's baby is on the list too!! Ok, let's get a life, America!!!

I found the perfect pic...

This picture's been circulating around the net for YEARS, I first saw it years ago myself, so I don't think there's any issues. But I think this shows my attitude a lot of times quite well... MUWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

ANOTHER tainted food case

Why wasn't THIS on the news? I haven't seen it? I'm not just giving you the link this time, I'm giving you the article, it's THAT important! FKN CHINA!!!!


Salmonella Found in Snacks' Seasoning

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A seasoning made with imported Chinese ingredients used on recalled snack foods was contaminated with salmonella, a company official said Tuesday. The snack foods sickened dozens of people.
The seasoning, used on both Super Veggie Tings Crunchy Corn Sticks and Veggie Booty snack foods, tested positive for the bacteria, said Robert Ehrlich, president and chief executive of Robert's American Gourmet Inc. The "veggie" seasoning's ingredients came primarily from China, the company said.
Also Tuesday, the Minnesota Department of Agriculture said it found a strain of the bacteria called salmonella Wandsworth in a Veggie Booty sample. The rare strain matched the genetic fingerprint of the type that made consumers ill in multiple states, Minnesota officials said in a release.
The Sea Cliff, N.Y., company recalled its Veggie Booty Snack Food last week after it was associated with 54 cases of salmonella poisoning in 17 states. Many of those infected reported eating Veggie Booty.
The company expanded the recall on Monday to include Super Veggie Tings Crunchy Corn Sticks Snack Food, since it uses the same seasoning. Both baked products were sold across United States and Canada.
No other company product uses the spray-on seasoning.
The recall is only the latest in a growing series to involve Chinese-made products found to be tainted, defective or otherwise dangerous. In recent weeks, there have been recalls of Chinese tires, toy trains and toothpaste. The government also is blocking some Chinese farmed seafood imports because of widespread contamination by antibiotics and other drugs.
Ehrlich said he had been unaware of where the ingredients used in the seasoning originated. The products are made under contract; Ehrlich would not identify the manufacturer.
Salmonella can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections, especially in young children, frail or elderly people and others with weakened immune systems. Symptoms include fever, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain.

Bad Influences

We all have bad influences in our lives, ones we really don't need there, especially people. We need to learn how to let them go, so we can be the best we can be. I've briefly explored it, but Walter has explored it much deeper and now one of my new favorite blog writers Andrew has too. I'm so glad we as a community are starting to explore this, as its something so many people go through. I hate to say it, but some people need to be dropped out of our lives like a bad habit. I realized this very early on in school, as true friends then were so rare. Perhaps I just expected too much, who knows. That's not the point. The point IS that anyone, and I do mean ANYONE, who would rather you stay in a pool of negativity than get up and focus on being the best YOU can be needs to be "disposed of" so to speak. They need to be told to leave you alone, that you have no room for negative friends in your life. This is easier said than done, I know this. I've even done it with former BEST friends, and an ex-boyfriend or two. There's not a lot I won't tolerate from anyone in my life, and they're constant negativity (bad day don't count, we all have them), lying, backstabbing/snitching/not keeping secrets, and in a man, cheating. Nope, won't hear of it. Did it too long the last time, one because I was too weak as a person to admit it much less financially too weak to leave, and also because I cared - and still do - too much for his Mother. But I had to go. I would rather have hurt her a little then and let her heal than cause a lot more pain down the road when the inevitable became reality and it got ugly. She's much too good a woman for that. So, enough being said, pitch the bad, keep the good, and hug them often, even if its just an email hug!

Relaxation

You know as I'm sitting here outside on the PDA as if it's a laptop I quickly realize how lucky I am to live in a neighborhood where I can sit outside and enjoy my neighbors instead of worrying about who many druggies are going to try to hit me up for a cigarette or cash (and saying "I don't smoke" or "I'm broke" would be cause to get your @ss beat). It is so beautiful here, and I hear its even better just west of here (Jeaninne would probably verify that in a Philadelphia minute). (Oh and Philadelphia minute = 1.01 NYC minute LOL.) It's a beautiful day outside, I only have a blanket over me because I'm wearing shorts instead of jeans and am too lazy to either change or go sit in the sun. The chairs I splurged on a couple weeks ago are great too, two fit perfectly on the landing with still enough room for people to get in and out (unless they're... Oh I can't comment...). My neighbors are GREAT. For once, I can hang out with my upstairs neighbor and just relax... We lack a real drama queen, though we have our know-it-all. Today's actually quite a noisy day for this neighborhood and it's only because something construction-wise is happening a couple blocks away. I'm not quite sure what, and I have no desire to find out. Yes, I'm lazy. The weatherman said it was going to be warm and a bit more muggy today, but I'm not going to complain about it as it could - and is supposed to - be worse in the next few days. So I will sit outside in my chair and enjoy this while it lasts. The cats are enjoying the air conditioned apartment, as I'm also too lazy to turn it up and open up the windows. With the noise levels, though, I'm not sure the cats would appreciate it anyways. Of course, this is quiet for me as I'm used to living in big cities with more traffic, and there's not much here, and even then, nothing that would cause a lot of noise.
Things are starting to show signs of maybe - just maybe - easing up around here. The last month has been very stressful to say the least and I can only hope that soon it fixes itself completely. I'll spare everyone details as it's not anything that should be in public much less anything that I'd want out anyways. But most of my regular readers know as we've bloomed a lot of friendships through this little hole in the wall I call a blog.
I can't believe I'm already nearing my 100th post, if I haven't gotten there already. I lost count in the early 90s a couple days ago and though I don't think I've posted that much since, I can't be sure. I'm so absent-minded!!!!
I must say reading Frumpy Professor's blog has been most comforting and yet most saddening lately. It's so comforting to know I'm not the only one still grieving, yet it hurts so bad seeing someone else hurting that bad. Loosing those closest to you rips you right apart and you spend the rest of your life trying to piece your heart back together and find out how to live without them somehow. I can only hope that FP's friends keep him close and help him through this difficult time.
Anyways, I'll write more later.

A New (IM) Toy

Well I finally have a good reason to have AIM, other than it's the most stable IM client on my PDA. Its "Prof Gilzot" bot is a great brain workout, great for a geek like me always looking for a brain workout. It has 3 modes, Math, Complete the Sentence, and Vocabulary. The one math question got me though, there's no way (-3 + -4) = -8. Sorry, not happening! So off I go to play again! LOL

Stupid Spammers

Alright the spammers are so lazy they can't even do their homework.
1. They tried to say I was suspended from ebay for extremely poor seller reviews - when I only buy!
2. They emailed to the wrong email addy.
3. They sure didn't try to mask the link they provided DOESN'T go to ebay.com!

Hahahaha! Nice try, fools! Stupid is as stupid does, and I ain't stupid! But thank you for the laugh!

My Babble

You know, I seem to remember a time when technology liked me. When I turned the dial, the stove started warming up. When I turned on our stereo, put a record in (yes, an LP), and brought that needle down, music played. When I gave the TV power, she worked (until she started blowing out tubes). There was never a chance it might NOT work. It just did. My mom always said things were made better in the old days. Well my "old days" ain't that far back, but I can already see she was right. The TV takes ages to turn on, one burner takes forever to get hot, the xbox don't always want to read the game, and the PDA email program don't know how to keep an email sometimes. WTH? I thought technology was supposed to make our lives easier!! Now microwaves are dangerous to our health, and you can't just throw food in there and heat it up. Ever try microwaving aluminum? AHAHAHA that doesn't work!!! You can't throw a piece of foil over a dish and slide it in the microwave, you'll at LEAST lose your microwave. There's very few things that can't go into an old fashioned oven. Paper, plastic... that's just about it. You don't bake soup, so no reason to even put a can in there. It was so much easier! But in the drive for speed we lost convenience somewhere along the line. Oh well, thus is the life of a modern woman. Our men aren't able to make the $$ they used to because more of it than ever is paying the rent and grocery bills, so we have to work just to cover expenses. So our kids sit in front of the tv or play with children that we wouldn't be caught dead around normally because we're too busy. Dinner's got to be done in 10 minutes or the kids will fall asleep at the table. It's almost as if the whole country has ADHD. Let's slow down folks. Instead of sending that buddy of yours an email, how bout SNAIL mailing her a letter or even a postcard!! How bout calling your best friend and actually talking for hours instead of typing and developing carpultunnel syndrome from hours of emailing and instant messaging! Neither of those require you to stand face-to-face with someone (thankfully for me).
On another note, it seems as if Walter and I keep feeding off of each other's comments and blogs for our own, which is so great. It's so great to be able to bounce off of someone, come up with a great topic to yap about (er type). So here's my contribution.
We've been discussing the last few days the influences we have on others and why some of us tend to avoid social contact. Here's why for me. Too many people lying, backstabbing, cheating, spreading diseases, or even worse, trying to blow each other up. I want to tell too many people to shut the f*** up so much when I catch them lying. And I'm tired of the rich and famous crying about how hard THEY have it. These guys make more in one week what most of us make in a month or a year!!! Here's a thought for you famous people. Rent a bachelor pad instead of buying that mansion. Save that $$ or actually do GOOD with that money. Buy some insurance of your own. Get yourself a backup career. And then when you're out of a job or unable to work from injury, no crying! Now granted, some insurance plans suck, especially employer insurance companies. And if the injury happens on the job, the company's insurance should remedy the situation. But for someone to whine about not having $$ to spend on partying when they made tens of millions in their career has no excuse.
Alright, I'm probably going to edit this blog or at least amend it later. But it's 2am, so I think I'm allowed to babble. Goodnight folks.