blue2going

Nice weather for a vacation

2005-08-01T06:16:00.000-07:00

Before going to work today I'm going to have to go out and water the gardens. We were supposed to get some long-awaited rain last night but nothing came but a bit of lightening. The crops are so dry that farmers will be taking a big loss on then. If my Dad was still around and farming it would be a bad year for him. It's very difficult to work so hard and see it all go to ruin. That happened one time when I was a child and although it was a long time ago, I remember it all too well.

The problem wasn't from drought but from a late freeze that killed all the blossoms, blossoms that would have turned into that year's crops. We had to cut back and curtail many activities, we drank powdered milk instead of regular milk. My parents talked gloom and doom.

The next year they bought an irrigation system to protect against freezing. Wish I had some photos of it, it was so cool! In the spring the temperature would drop and we would be rousted out of bed to check the lines. Half asleep with flashlights in hand, we would walk the acreage checking to make sure all the sprinklers were working properly. Sometimes one would get hung up and only cover a small area, it had to be fixed or the uncovered area would freeze. We could tell by the sound of each sprinkler whether it was working properly or not.

But the most exciting of all were the blowouts which happened on a fairly regular basis. The pipes were all cleverly hooked together but an animal could knock the pipe so the side so when the system started up it would blow the pipe out. Gophers especially would tunnel under the ground pushing up dirt that would move a pipe just enough to cause a blowout. Finding a blowout was like seeing Old Faithful in the dark! It was a huge, shining column of water forcefully spewing up in the air.

"Blowout! Blowout!" We'd start screaming and running as fast as our little legs would take us. Every once in a while we'd stop, catch our breath and try to signal Dad with our flashlight. Who ever had found the blowout would soon start running into the other kids checking the lines (we were three) and they would join in the running and screaming. Finally my Dad would get the word by flashlight signal usually because he couldn't hear our screaming over the pump noise. The pump would stop, the sprinklers diminish into a quiet "ssssss" and there would be an unearthly silence while we all accompanied my Dad to the scene to assess the damage, four flashlights bobbing over the fields.

A blowout causes a lot of damage to the garden area around it; it blows out a huge hole and all the plants with it. My Dad would direct the relaying of the pipe, we'd check it quickly, and he'd go all the way back to start up the pump again to protect the crop. On some nights we would have several blowouts, so it was always exciting and very busy. Being kids we weren't even that tired the next day after being up all night long.

The irrigation system would probably not help much for this drought though. My Dad needed a permit to take water from the creek "crick" and later we built a beautiful pond for irrigation. The pond wasn't within view of the house, it was in the back 40, the front 40 acres were where our house and most of the garden fields were. The back 40 had some gardens but was and still is hunting land for my brothers. The creek is really low this year and the DNR wouldn't let anyone take irrigation water from it! The pond is low too and wouldn't supply much. I feel bad for all the poor farmers and their families, so much work and a looming loss this year.

From my E-mail:
Clever Puns

Those who jump off a bridge in Paris are in Seine.
A backward poet writes inverse.
A man's home is his castle, in a manor of speaking.
A hangover is the wrath of grapes.
Reading while sunbathing makes you well red.
A bicycle can't stand on its own because it is two tired.
Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.
A chicken crossing the road is poultry in motion.
If you don't pay your exorcist, you get repossessed.
When a clock is hungry, it goes back four seconds.
The man who fell into an upholstery machine is fully recovered.
He often broke into song because he couldn't find the key.
A boiled egg in the morning is hard to beat.
He had a photographic memory that was never developed

Yesterday was a Fair day

2005-07-31T06:08:00.000-07:00

Well, I had a great day yesterday once I decided to not be (too much of) a party-pooper! Did chores and things around the house all morning, including blogging (but that’s certainly not a chore!). Then talked on the phone to a friend (not one from Friday night) who invited me to the Head of the Lakes Fair in Superior. I declined, had a few errands left to do, had gotten up far too early blah blah blah. An hour later I changed my mind and called them back but they were already gone. So I hurried over the bridge to the fair to try to find them.

The parking was just as I remembered (hadn’t been there for years) haphazardly in a rutted grassy field. But it was much easier to navigate with the jeep than with a car. Ever try to find friends at a fair? Well, I lucked out and went to the horse barns and there they were! I had hoped to find them looking at the horses because one is an avid horseback rider learning to jump her horse. Actually, this is quite a small fair and eventually I would have run into them anyway, but nicer to do it right away.

We toured the barns and saw horses, goats, chicken, sheep, pigs, cows, llamas, ponies and lots of rabbits. The poultry barn was particularly dangerous for me to go in to! They had the cutest chickens, all different breeds, bantams, fancy ones and some were for sale! But no, I didn’t buy any chickens or rabbits even though some only cost $5 and were quite tempting. I was disappointed to see very few ducks, but remember over-hearing one year that the fair was hard on them. Apparently ducks don’t do well confined to small cages and the barns were too hot even with fans set up.

Then we went into the 4-H building and looked at all the cute and funny exhibits that kids had entered. It brought back memories of 4-H competitions when I was a kid although I didn’t win much. Most of the fruits and vegetables we grew weren’t ready yet by fair time. There was some strange clothing in the sewing exhibits, including see-through shorts and weird boa things and also the requisite prom dresses. The woodworking was just as interesting except I couldn’t identify what many of the pieces were supposed to be. One prizewinning project looked like a cross between a mailbox and some shelving!

I quickly found out that it wasn’t a great idea to wear my favorite sandals to the fair! I will have to soak my feet and the sandals just to get all the dirt off, yuck! But when I had decided at the last moment to go to the fair, I was in too much of a hurry to change. The horsy friend bought a beautiful framed picture (of horses, of course!) for $5 just before we left. During the entire time we were tempted by the smells of all the many types of fair food but resisted and later stopped at the DQ for some Mocha Lattes. Yum yum it was worth the wait! Out of all the parking in that large field I had chosen a spot two cars down from where my friends had parked! They were driving a different car that I didn’t recognize.

They were headed to the Huskies baseball game after that but I declined and went home. I have seen the old Duluth Dukes play and also the Twins in the Cities and it was like watching paint dry, agonizing torture to sit for hours. I just don’t get into baseball even with the lure of having a couple of beers. Now if Duluth had a football team I’d go watch! We did have a polo team for one year or so a long time ago. I don’t really understand the game but it was a great spectator sport.

Maybe I can give up my job

2005-07-30T07:50:00.000-07:00

I actually got up quite early this morning, as early as I normally get up during the work week. I starting writing this post and then got sidetracked doing other stuff online.

Last night we went to the bar/restaurant/laundramat "complex" right after work. My friends were planning to go to a coffee shop with a well-known local reggae band later. I used to know the lead singer of the band. I had worked with him as a temp a few years ago. My friends were trying to urge me to come with them but after two beers and a fish basket I was getting sleepy. Yes, I'm a party pooper! Just get up too early to be able to stay up late, had been awake and up a good 7-8 hours before my friends had gotten up so it's difficult for me to keep up with them. I had a very busy, but good day at work on Friday. Came up with a brilliant (brag brag) idea for a mailing. Plus, I doubt that singer would remember me, although last time I went to hear the band he hugged me enthusiastically and my celebrity points from my friends rocketed for that night, at least! Now I kinda regret not going, as I bet they had a good time and I won't get to even hear about it until Monday or so. I really love reggae as everyone gets up and dances, it's so fun.

(Imagine a cute picture here)

I don’t need this for the Jeepers:
Sprayonmud is a specially formulated spray-on product for anyone that wants to give friends, neighbours, colleagues or just anyone at all, the impression that they have been off-road or, at the very least, out in the country for the weekend.

If you’ve got a 4X4 or off-roader, Sprayonmud will send a message to anyone who disapproves or is just plain envious – you use your off-roader, off the road as well as on it.

Sprayonmud is NOT to be used to obscure number-plates or the lights on your vehicle. This, of course, is illegal and while it is not an endorsable offence, if your number plates cannot be read at a reasonable distance – or photographed by a speed camera – you could face a hefty fine.

Sprayonmud comes in an easy-to-use plastic bottle which is just the right size for hiding in a green Wellington boot. Keep it in your garage, in the boot, or anywhere you like. Sprayonmud can be applied to your vehicle in seconds, but just be careful the neighbours don’t catch you using it! And remember, you’ve been visiting friends in the country.

O-K
This ad gives me a great business idea! Maybe I can give up my job. I could have a little tollbooth at the beginning of my road. Anyone who “wants to give friends, neighbours, colleagues or just anyone at all, the impression that they have been off-road or, at the very least, out in the country for the weekend.” could pay me a toll and I would let them drive down my hilly dirty road to the dead end, and back.

Saturday in the summertime would be especially lucrative with all the rummage sale hunters out and about. I could catch tourists and motorists and anyone who wants some mud and dirty decorations on their vehicle! They would be quite satisfied with the great results! Even their windows and windshield will be coated with dust with just one easy trip up and down my road!

If they wanted to obscure their license plates (or plate, for tourists from Michigan and Florida) so they cannot be read, my road is the ticket. If they prefer to dim the lights on their vehicle, well, I have that covered too.

Speaking of covered, I will have clients sign a waiver for any damages caused from flying rocks or gravel, like chipped windows and nicked paint. That will just add to the realism anyway. Don’t you think my new business has great potential?

Obviously, my hidden talent is thinking up great business ideas (ha ha) but here's a quiz for it:
What’s Your Hidden Talent?

Your Hidden Talent

You are both very knowledgeable and creative.
You tend to be full of new ideas and potential - big potential.
Ideas like yours could change the world, if you build them.
As long as you don't stop working on your dreams, you'll get there.

What's Your Hidden Talent?

Well, this has certainly turned out to be a disappointing post! First the photo(s) I was trying to load didn't work (and I tried four different ones) and then the colored font-thingy only worked the first time, just bolded the rest. No wonder I was in no great hurry to finish and post....

Alone together, at last!

2005-07-29T06:07:00.000-07:00

I’m so enjoying my new computer! I had a lot of chores to do first, after work last night, like break down all the boxes that the computer came in. Then there was all the Styrofoam-fitted stuff that I crumbled into bags and put into the garbage. I probably should have toted it all to work to use as box packing but I’m not quite that green. I’d have to carry the bags (although they were light-weight, of course!) for many blocks and then find somewhere to store them at work. It just seemed like far too much trouble.

I also had the ferrets outside while I cleaned their cage, did the garbage and recycling to be picked up tomorrow and cooked a dinner. Then, finally I sat down to play on my new computer and our phone line was dead! My son had left the phone off the hook and I had to scour the house looking for the phone. He seldom does anything like that. He must have been in a real hurry to get to work on time. Luckily the phone reconnected on its own (doesn’t always) and then I finally got to go online.

At first, of course, there were all sorts of intimidating set-up things to do with the computer. I hadn’t been feeling all that well yesterday and staring at the computer screen was making me feel even worse. I very seldom am sick, can usually manage to keep on doing all the things I need to do, take a few home-remedies, and start feeling better quickly. I’m just lucky that way. Although I’ve noticed that when I mention it, or brag about it—THAT’S when I really do get sick!

I did have an awesome day at work, though, meetings and phone calls and plenty of problem-solving—just what I like! At one point I laughed so hard at a client’s antics (after the phone conversation was done, of course) that I had tears streaming down my cheeks. Yep, people are pretty entertaining and interesting!

The one drawback to the new computer is that the screen can be read from across the room! (I have a very small house, remember?) That isn’t so good for blogging! Nobody in my real life reads my blog although a couple of them know about it. They don’t seem that interested in blogs after I didn’t give them an address to find “blue2going” Most people don’t really seem to know what blogs are and confuse them with chat rooms. Yuck, I’ve been in chat rooms a long time ago when we first got my old computer (back in 1995!). Even the better chat rooms on a particular topic drove me nuts with the {{{{{{huggies}}}}}} from everybody, to anyone they knew coming in—and people were coming and going constantly! Euwww, just euwwww, it was conversation-interrupting, sappy and just plain really annoying! I couldn’t stand it, came into the chat room for intelligent conversation not to see how “cute” I could be!

From my E-mail:
One-liners
1. The first Ten Commandments are the hardest.

2. People who are wrapped up in themselves are overdressed.

3. An expert is someone called in at the last minute to share the blame.

4. A word of advice...don't give it.

5. If we made it illegal, do you think more people would vote?

6. I am logged in...therefore, I am.

7. A journey of a hundred miles starts with an argument over how to load the car.

8. Justice is blind and in some cases...deaf and dumb.

9. To belittle is to be little.

10. When fear knocks at the door, and you answer, there will be no one there.

11. Poverty is a condition with but one advantage, it doesn't take much to improve your lot.

12. The first rule of tinkering is to save all the parts.

13. Retire in Mexico. Sunny, affordable and no predatory reverse mortgages.

14. A pessimist is a man who looks both ways before crossing a one-way street.

15. Management's job is to keep you too busy to look for other jobs.

16. Heredity is what sets the parents of a teenager wondering about each other.

17. Why are lawyers not sworn to tell the truth like all the witnesses in a jury trial?

I don’t really get #10 but the rest are pretty funny. Have you ever been in a chat room? Like them? (yes, I know--admitting to chat room usage is kinda like admitting you like soaps or reality TV! Maybe "worse" because at least those two things are more current.)

Oh what a wonderful day!

2005-07-28T05:34:00.000-07:00

Oh what an exciting day! I received my birthday present last night! No, it’s not my birthday yet (end of August) and the delivery wasn’t due until the second week of August. I was afraid I’d be in Cleveland on a trip for work when it arrived. So what’s all the excitement? My new computer came last night! It’s been a long time coming. I’ve wanted a new one for …..years. It has a larger screen and SPREADSHEETS so I’m a very happy camper today! It also has a financial program and we were joking that the first thing it will show is that I shouldn’t have purchased a new computer!

Every year I buy myself something for my birthday. Usually it’s just a small thing, something I really like that I normally wouldn’t get for myself. I also take the day off from work as a vacation day and only do things that I want to do. Yeah, I spoil myself! But just for that one day per year.

Do you make your birthday special?
How do you celebrate it?

Found this on a blog:

Harry Potter Personality Quiz by Pirate Monkeys Inc.

And the week goes on

2005-07-27T06:08:00.000-07:00

No epitaphs this Wednesday, as those tours are all done. I did find a cool website that offers a free bumper sticker:

Send Self-Addressed Stamped Envelope to:

Find A Grave Stickers
PO Box 522107
Salt Lake City, UT 84152-2107

There's a store at that same site:
"Let your friends and co-workers know about your enthusiasm for cemeteries!!! The Find a Grave Store" Includes a travel mug, baseball cap, T-shirts, lapel pin and Find a Grave greeting cards!

"See the graves of thousands of famous people from around the world.
Find the graves of ancestors, create virtual memorials, add 'virtual flowers' and a note to a loved one's grave, etc. " Find a Grave"

I did survive the staff retreat, but it was long and hard. At one point favorite co-worker and I, both fed up, were passing notes back and forth like "didn't I just SAY that?" and "How many times can she claim that she doesn't understand and ask for clarification?" It got us through the misery of long-winded people expounding for ten times on the same subject or deciding to start all over again at the beginning a few times. But when I asked for clarification on why my job was on the agenda there was an uneasy silence. No one would admit they had put it there, let alone the reason and the subject was dropped. So it was not resolved to my satisfaction yet nothing bad happened either (yet). Actually the less I say about the whole thing, probably the better.

OK, instead I'll say the good stuff about the retreat: I had an awesome steak salad with blue cheese dressing, warm wild rice and cranberry bread and all I could drink of a tea brand I've never tried before, Justin Lloyd. The meeting room was comfortable and had a lake view. I arrived early and opened the window for wonderful fresh lake air. Of course someone got cold and the window was soon shut but at least I could walk outside during the breaks and breathe.

My life has been rated:

See what your rating is!
Created by bart666

__________________

Retreat agressively

2005-07-26T06:28:00.000-07:00

Today is our staff retreat, oh joy, I can't wait! The good thing is that they feed us. The bad thing is...well, I could list them starting with the dumb little "icebreaker" games we play at the beginning. It's not like we are strangers, most of us know and dislike the others! We have our own sets of alliances and enemies, we need negociation more than ice-breaking.

This should be a good retreat too, with two difference factions, each trying to think of ways to eliminate the other. We have that restructuring thing looming and it's making people nervous. I noticed that my job is specifically mentioned in the agenda so I'd better put on some armor today and some quick wits.

First I need to stop by the office and pick up the wall charts, markers and all the necessary items. That means I will have to pay for parking close enough to carry all of that to the car.

I had a weird dream about trying to get to the retreat, first on a bicycle and then in an old car (that I used to own). I was already two hours late and still had to stop and pick up the supplies.

Even though I drank but one cup of coffee (early in the day) and no cola I woke up at 1:00 and stayed awake several hours. Finally got up and read my new "Fast Company" magazine. The article about "Why We Hate HR" was very good. It reminded me of when I worked for the school district's HR department. We weren't well liked but were the largest department. Just about everyone started off working in there, worked a few years and then bid on jobs in other departments. Before working in that department, I had a naive view of HR work. I thought it would be fun to work with people, to help hire and train workers for the company. Once employed there I thought it was interesting to work with people, but fun would not have been quite the right word! People coming to HR WANT something, a job, justice, a raise, they want something and it makes them really angry to be told (no matter how nicely) "no". And HR people are a lot like those Capital One folks on TV. You know, the ones who say "no" to everything!

After those couple of hours awake, I figured out that I was COLD! The window was open, fans were blowing but it wasn't 80 or 90 degrees outside. After putting a blanket back on my bed, I did manage to sleep a little before the alarm rant at 5:30.

Which Neopet are you?
Which Neopet are you?"

If I were a Neopet... I'd be a Chia!

The Chia is a lovable little character who is full of joy.

Chias love exploring the land and making new friends.

Which Neopet are you? Visit http://neopets.retrograde.org/quiz/ to find out!

Of course I have no cemetery tour tonight, sniff. They're all done. Have a great Tuesday!

Thinking Ahead to Christmas

2005-07-25T05:45:00.000-07:00

So where was our famous lake air conditioning yesterday? It was 90 degrees in the country and 87 by the lake, and very humid in both places. What a huge refreshing difference! Ha ha.

I tied white plastic bags on the garden fence to scare the deer by flapping and crinkling in the wind. So far it's only made my (usually very quiet) dog bark every time we let her out. Bet my neighbors love the appearance of the flapping plastic bags too. But then my place has always been somewhat of an eyesore, along with the guy next door's place. I don't know what his excuse is but mine has been that I have no garage, attic or basement for storage. Lucky for us all that we're pretty spread out on this road and that country people generally have a live-and-let-live attitude! We all get along fine, even the two richy-rich families with fancy houses on the end of the road. Their portion of the road is blacktopped (probably they had to pay for that) while the rest of the road is dirt and gravel.

I've thought of taking a photo of this place and putting it on my Christmas cards! I just could not do it, for one thing, I don't want any visitors. People think they are being helpful with great ideas for fix-up and remodeling. I wouldn't mind as much if they were also donating THEIR money for it! Brainstorming ideas comes easy and cheap if you don't have to do the work or pay for them. I can keep most visitors away simply by mentioning that I have "pet" spiders loose in the house--it does the trick. Despite my occasional whining, I kinda like it up here just the way it is. I just finished moving a bunch of water around in the storage bottles using a funnel. I felt just like a chemist!

I have put a photo of my dog on my Christmas cards one year. It's in retaliation for the sappy-sweet little posed professional portraits of kids and family on Christmas cards! I think my family was rather appalled, it wasn't even a great shot, she looked like a devil dog. She had glowing red eyes, an elf hat and some tree garland around her neck. Ferrets would be great on a Christmas card, especially if they were playing with their fangs hanging out. I could have them ~~playing with~~ destroying Christmas decorations, maybe I'll do that this year.

I've always been interested in business, companies and brands. The first time I went to college I was a Business Major. Here is an interesting lineup for you:

Business Week's 100 Top International Brands (in approximate order)

Brand/Company/Location
1. Coca-Cola Coca-Cola U.S.
2. Microsoft Microsoft U.S.
3. IBM International Business Machines Corporation U.S.
4. GE GE U.S.
5. Nokia Nokia Finland
6. Intel Intel U.S.
7. Disney Walt Disney Company U.S.
8. Ford Ford U.S.
9. McDonald's McDonald's Corporation U.S.
10. Marlboro Altria Group U.S.
11. Mercedes-Benz DaimlerChrysler AG Germany
12. Citi Citigroup U.S.
13. Toyota Toyota Motor Corporation Japan
14. Hewlett-Packard Hewlett-Packard U.S.
15. Cisco Cisco U.S.
16. American Express American Express U.S.
17. Gillette Gillette U.S.
18. Merrill Lynch Merrill Lynch U.S.
19. Sony Sony Japan
20. Honda Honda Japan
21. BMW Bayerische Motoren Werke AG Germany
22. Nescafé Nestlé Switzerland
23. Oracle Oracle U.S.
24. Budweiser Anheuser-Busch U.S.
25. Morgan Stanley Morgan Stanley U.S.
26. Kodak Eastman Kodak Company U.S.
27. Nintendo Nintendo Co., Ltd. Japan
28. Pfizer Pfizer U.S.
29. JPMorgan JP Morgan Chase U.S.
30. Gap Gap U.S.
31. Dell Dell U.S.
32. UPS UPS U.S.
33. Goldman Sachs Goldman Sachs U.S.
34. Nike Nike U.S.
35. Volkswagen Volkswagen Germany
36. HSBC HSBC Britain
37. Heinz H. J. Heinz Company U.S.
38. Louis Vuitton France
39. Google Google U.S.
40. Kellogg's Kellogg's U.S.
41. MTV Viacom U.S.
42. Canon Canon Japan
43. Samsung S. Korea
44. SAP SAP Aktiengesellschaft Germany
45. Novartis Novartis Switzerland
46. Pepsi Pepsi U.S.
47. Harley-Davidson Harley-Davidson U.S.
48. UBS UBS Switzerland
49. Xerox Xerox Corporation U.S.
50. Ikea Ikea Sweden
51. Pizza Hut YUM! Brands, Inc.
52. Apple Apple U.S.
53. Gucci Gucci Group N.V. Italy
54. KFC YUM! Brands, Inc. U.S.
55. Reuters Reuters Group PLC Britain
56. Accenture Accenture Ltd. U.S.
57. Kleenex Kimberly-Clark Corporation U.S.
58. L'Oreal L'Oréal SA France
59. Philips Philips Netherlands
60. Colgate Colgate-Palmolive Company U.S.
61. Wrigley's Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company U.S.
62. Yahoo! Yahoo! Inc. U.S.
63. eBay eBay Inc. U.S.
64. Avon Avon Products, Inc. U.S.
65. Chanel Chanel S.A. France
66. Nestlé Nestlé S.A. Switzerland
67. Kraft Kraft Foods Inc. U.S.
68. Duracell The Gillette Company U.S
69. Danone Groupe Danone France
70. Motorola Motorola, Inc. U.S.
71. Levi's Levi Srauss & Co. U.S.
72. Rolex Montres Rolex S.A. Switzerland
73. adidas adidas-Salomon AG Germany
74. Hertz Ford Motor Company U.S.
75. Panasonic Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd Japan
76. Hermes Hermes International France
77. BP BP p.l.c. Britain
78. Tiffany & Co. Tiffany & Co. U.S.
79. Amazon.com Amazon.com, Inc. U.S.
80. Porsche Dr. Ing. H.c. F. Porsche AG Germany
81. Zara Industria de Diseno Textil, S.A. Spain
82. Shell Royal Dutch Petroleum Company Brit./Neth.
83. Smirnoff Diageo plc Britain
84. Caterpillar Caterpillar Inc. U.S.
85. Moët & Chandon LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton France
86. Audi Volkswagen AG Germany
87. Hennessy LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton France
88. Hyundai Hyundai Corporation S. Korea
89. Johnson & Johnson Johnson & Johnson U.S.
90. Heineken Heineken N.V. Netherlands
91. Prada I Pellettieri d'Italia S.p.A. Italy
92. Nivea Beiersdorf AG Germany
93. ING ING Groep N.V. Netherlands
94. Starbucks Starbucks Corporation U.S.
95. Nissan Nissan Motor Co., Litd. Japan
96. Armani Giorgio Armani S.p.A. Italy
97. Cartier Compagnie Financiere Richemont SA France
98. Bulgari Bulgari S.p.A. Italy
99. LG LG Electronoics Inc. S. Korea
100. Siemens Siemens Germany

Sins, for Sunday

2005-07-24T07:13:00.000-07:00

I was walking in the downtown for postage stamps on Friday and saw a T-shirt "An Army of None" I really like reading T-shirts even though I don't wear them much anymore. The idea of walking around with graffiti is intriguing to me. In fact one of my deep dark secrets is that I used to write graffiti, and not on T-shirts either, if you know what I mean! I was college-aged and it was pretty fun to risk getting caught while doing the initial deed. And the going back later and reading revisions and comments about your graffiti--well, it was kind of like an early blog really but blogging is still legal! It was a great way to get one's opinions out there into the world. My favorite thing was to deface stupid signs. There are SO many signs just begging to be "revised" that I still twitch when I see them, but my graffiti days are done, sadly. I'm (sort of) an adult now, the signs and walls are private property and it's just not a nice thing to do, although it certainly was fun!

No, we didn't go to the "Rocky Horror Show" at the new playhouse last night. I was disappointed but not surprised, had the inkling that she wouldn't feel like going when the day rolled around. The good thing was that I found out by 8:00 p.m., just when I was going to nap for a couple of hours, so that part worked out well. I had gotten up the normal, work time on Saturday (5:30 a.m.) so was also tired the normal time, too. Watched SNL and then went to bed. That was my exciting Saturday night!

Some jokes (mostly oldies) for a Sunday

A Prayer for Dinner Parties
A woman invited some people to dinner. At the table, she turned to her six-year-old daughter and said, "Would you like to say the blessing?"

"I wouldn't know what to say," she replied.
"Just say what you hear Mommy say," the mother said.

The child bowed her head and said, "Dear Lord, why on earth did I invite all these people to dinner?"

A Bad Gift for a Buddhist

Q: Why is a vacuum cleaner a bad gift for a Buddhist?

A: Because it comes with attachments.

Ancient Ancestry
The following was overheard at a recent 'high society' party:
"My ancestry goes back all the way to Alexander the Great," said Christine.
She then turned to Miriam and asked, "How far back does your family go?"
"I don't know," replied Miriam, "All of our records were lost in the flood."

Moving Testimony
Three buddies die in a car crash, and they go to heaven.
There, they are all asked, "When you are in your casket and friends and family are mourning, what would you like to hear them say about you?" The first guy says, "I would like to hear them say that I was a great doctor of my time, and a great family man."

The second guy says, "I would like to hear that I was a wonderful husband and school teacher who made a huge difference in our children of tomorrow."

The last guy replies, "I would like to hear them say, 'Look! He's moving!'"

Dividing Pecans
On the outskirts of town, there was a big old pecan tree by the cemetery fence. One day two boys filled up a bucketful of nuts and sat down by the tree, out of sight, and began dividing the nuts. "One for you, one for me. One for you, one for me," said one boy. Several were dropped and rolled down toward the fence.

Another boy came riding along the road on his bicycle. As he passed, he thought he heard voices from inside the cemetery. He slowed down to investigate. Sure enough, he heard, "One for you, one for me. One for you, one for me." He just knew what it was. "Oh my," he shuddered, it's Satan and the Lord dividing the souls at the cemetery. He jumped back on his bike and rode off. Just around the bend he met an old man with a cane, hobbling along.

"Come here quick," said the boy, "you won't believe what I heard. Satan and the Lord are down at the cemetery dividing up the souls."The man said, "Beat it kid, can't you see it's hard for me to walk." When the boy insisted, though, the man hobbled to the cemetery. Standing by the fence they heard, "One for you, one for me. One for you, one for me." The old man whispered, "Boy, you've been tellin' the truth. Let's see if we can see the devil himself."

Shaking with fear, they peered through the fence, yet were still unable to see anything. The old man and the boy gripped the wrought iron bars of the fence tighter and tighter as they tried to get a glimpse of Satan.

At last they heard, "One for you, one for me. And one last one for you. That's all. Now let's go get those nuts by the fence, and we'll be done."

They say the old guy made it back to town five minutes before the boy.

Hymns for Her
One Sunday a pastor told the congregation that the church needed some extra money and asked the people to prayerfully consider giving a little extra in the offering plate. He said that whoever gave the most would be able to pick out three hymns.

After the offering plates were passed, the pastor glanced down and noticed that someone had placed a $1,000 bill in offering. He was so excited that he immediately shared his joy with his congregation and said he'd like to personally thank the person who placed the money in the plate. A very quiet, elderly and saintly lady all the way in the back shyly raised her hand. The pastor asked her to come to the front. Slowly she made her way to the pastor. He told her how wonderful it was that she gave so much and in thanksgiving asked her to pick out three hymns.

Her eyes brightened as she looked over the congregation, pointed to the three handsomest men in the building and said, "I'll take him and him and him."
_____________________________

Peas on Saturday

2005-07-23T06:19:00.000-07:00

Finally! After the third time of trying, here's another photo from my boat trip last Saturday. It's a view of Duluth from the Harbor, the DECC is on the right and the Aquarium (blue and green colored squarish building) is on the left.

I'm out of bed early, as early as on a weekday, want to get those peas at the Farmer's Market. I also would like some salad fixings. It's overcast and looks like rain right now, which we could really use. It's been so dry that I've had to water the flowers and the garden every day. Last night I chased a deer away from leaning over my fence and munching on my bean plants. I had THOUGHT that was how the deer were reaching them! Didn't think they'd jump into such a little enclosure. Anyway, it's supposed to be even higher temps today, hope they're wrong.

NOT MUCH LATER:
Went to the Farmer's Market and bought 3 pounds of peas! They were expensive, though, at $2/pound. Also got a bunch of lettuce, some wild blueberry jelly, bread and butter pickles, carrots (with the tops, Ricky the Chinchilla likes carrot tops) and two cucumbers. The sky still appears dark and I'm hoping for rain. However, I may sit outside (and snack on peas) in the lawn chair and read until it does rain. The house is still very warm, especially the bedroom and my son is sleeping in the living room. He has to work later today again. So I need to be very quiet, there's really no place else to go in this house as this computer and the kitchen are in the same room. I have the lights all off, and because it's dark outside, it's not condusive to reading!

I've got lots of things to do today. The garden needs weeding, and grocery shopping and pet food shopping, and then there's the lunch at the Red Mug in Superior and maybe the "Rocky Horror Show" at 11:00 PM. Think I'll need a nap before then!

STILL LATER: I really better quit eating these peas! Have a pile of pods to give to Ricky. Also tried to add a photo to today's posting, with no success. I tried twice, it takes 15-minutes per try. I give up. It was just another picture of last Saturday's boat trip. I have still have most of the photos left to post! At this rate, they'll last for the rest of the year!

OK, I read outside for awhile, weeded the garden in the rain and finally added a photo to this post. Now it's time to go to Superior!

Brain Cramps

Question: If you could live forever, would you and why?
Answer: "I would not live forever, because we should not live forever, because if we were supposed to live forever, then we would live forever, but we cannot live forever, which is why I would not live forever."
--Miss Alabama in the 1994 Miss USA contest.

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"Whenever I watch TV and see those poor starving kids all over the world, I can't help but cry. I mean I'd love to be skinny like that, but not with all those flies and death and stuff." --Mariah Carey
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"Smoking kills. If you're killed, you've lost a very important part of your life." --Brooke Shields, during an interview to become Spokesperson for federal anti-smoking campaign.
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"I've never had major knee surgery on any other part of my body,"--Winston Bennett, University of Kentucky basketball forward.
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"Outside of the killings, Washington has one of the lowest crime rates in the country." --Mayor Marion Barry, Washington, DC.
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"I'm not going to have some reporters pawing through our papers. We are the president." --Hillary Clinton commenting on the release of subpoenaed documents.
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"That lowdown scoundrel deserves to be kicked to death by a jackass, and I'm just the one to do it." --A congressional candidate in Texas.
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"Half this game is ninety percent mental." --Philadelphia Phillies manager, Danny Ozark
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"It isn't pollution that's harming the environment. It's the impurities in our air and water that are doing it." --George W. Bush, President (DUH !)
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"I love California. I practically grew up in Phoenix." --Dan Quayle
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"We've got to pause and ask ourselves: How much clean air do we need?"--Lee Iacocca
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"The word 'genius" isn't applicable in football. A genius is a guy like Norman Einstein." --Joe Theisman, NFL football quarterback & sports analyst.
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"We don't necessarily discriminate. We simply exclude certain types of people."--Colonel Gerald Wellman, ROTC Instructor.
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"If we don't succeed, we run the risk of failure." --George W. Bush, President
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"We are ready for an unforeseen event that may or may not occur."
-- Geoge W. Bush, President (damn he's smart)
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"Traditionally, most of Australia's imports come from overseas."--Keppel Enderbery
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"Your food stamps will be stopped effective March 1992 because we received notice that you passed away. May God bless you. You may reapply if there is a change in your circumstances."
--Department of Social Services, Greenville, South Carolina
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"If somebody has a bad heart, they can plug this jack in at night as they go to bed and it will monitor their heart throughout the night. And the next morning, when they wake up dead, there'll be a record." --Mark S. Fowler, FCC Chairman
````````````````````````

....Feeling smarter yet?
Send it on to your brilliant friends. I just did!!

Obviously the above is from my E-mail, left the tagline on because it seems appropriate. Have a Super Saturday!

Friday!

2005-07-22T06:34:00.000-07:00

I'm so sorry to hear about the latest London bombings. The terrorists haven't succeeded in striking terror in the UK like they did over here. Some people were so panicked after 9-11 that we gave away some of our constitutional rights.

More on the "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" movie:

Golden ticket sales
On its first weekend, the movie "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" sold 3,496 tickets at the Omnimax Theatre from Friday through Monday, said Dennis Medjo, the attractions director at the Duluth Entertainment Complex Center.
He said the sales represented half of the film's business from surrounding theaters. Medjo advised people to arrive early to avoid sellouts of the film.
"It plays well to families," Medjo said. "Crowds were huge and very well-behaved."
Pat Albrecht, manager of Cinema Entertainment Corp. Superior 7 Theater, could not comment on the number of tickets sold last weekend, but said the crowds were pretty fair.

Resemblance to Jackson surprises Depp
Associated Press
NEW YORK - Johnny Depp, star of "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," says he didn't base his Willy Wonka character on Michael Jackson - and is surprised that some people see a resemblance.
Depp's demure voice, pasty complexion, perfectly bobbed locks, neo-Victorian garb and androgynous air seem to present a reflection of pop singer Jackson, recently acquitted on child-molestation charges.
"A few people have mentioned it, and it kind of took me by surprise. I really didn't expect that," Depp told reporters recently, according to AP Radio. "Michael Jackson was not a sort of ingredient or inspiration for the character at all."

Depp said he based the way Wonka speaks on children's show hosts he remembers from his childhood. "How odd it was the way that they spoke," the 42-year-old actor said. "That bizarre, musical cadence to their speech pattern."
As for the bob, Depp said he figured Wonka had been a recluse for so long, he wouldn't know what a modern haircut looks like.

"I just did this sort of strange, almost like a Brian Jones' kind of bob and supershort bangs. His line of reference would be very, very dated," Depp said.
"Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," Tim Burton's wildly imaginative take on Roald Dahl's beloved children's book, took in $56.2 million on its opening weekend.

I might actually get to see it again! The friend who was hosting Girl's Movie Night wants to go to the movie next Thursday! I'm looking forward to it.

I also might get to see the "Rocky Horror Show" as a play at the new Duluth Play Ground, located in our once-controversial Tech Center. I've never been to this new playhouse. SLA is scheduled to come with me for the 11:00 PM showing on Saturday night. Yes, that's starting just before midnight. She's a night owl so should have no problem with the time but I have a feeling she may cancel at the last moment.

I went to see her after work last night, calling first to make sure the invitation was still on. I brought an Erbert's and Gerbert's sub, the tuna one. That's not one of their better subs but I know she likes tuna and I wasn't sure what other subs might work. As it was, she ate only about half of her half and gave the rest to the dog. The cute little black and white kitties came out to play. The same kitten that fell asleep on my lap the last time did so again. She likes me! Unfortunately I can't have a cat, have been sneezing since then and break out into what I used to call "hives" until I saw the photo that Stacy, the Peanut Queen posted! What I get from cats is only a rash but itchy and uncomfortable. My nose runs and my throat stops up from being around cats, guess I've developed an allergy to them. It's just as well, because we already have more than enough animals in my tiny little house and my dog would be VERY jealous of a kitten!

A fun thing I found on a blog:

You Are 27 Years Old

27

Under 12: You are a kid at heart. You still have an optimistic life view - and you look at the world with awe.
13-19: You are a teenager at heart. You question authority and are still trying to find your place in this world.
20-29: You are a twentysomething at heart. You feel excited about what's to come... love, work, and new experiences.
30-39: You are a thirtysomething at heart. You've had a taste of success and true love, but you want more!
40+: You are a mature adult. You've been through most of the ups and downs of life already. Now you get to sit back and relax.

What Age Do You Act?

It's FRIDAY!!!!! Yay. I'm going to the Farmer's Market at 7:00 AM tomorrow. I heard a rumor that they have fresh garden peas! As you may remember, I had hopes of growing my own peas, but was too late in buying the seeds, they were sold out. Have a wonderful Friday!

And I Thought My Fun was Done Tuesday Night!

2005-07-21T06:14:00.000-07:00

Late in the day yesterday at work I received a call from a friend (HIR). She and a bunch of others were going to the early showing of "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" at the IMax down on the Bayfront. I had walked by it all winter when I parked down there for work but had never gone inside or seen a movie there. We had discussed it before and I was dying to go there, especially for that movie, which I'd never seen but had heard much about. A local review called Johnny Depp, playing Willy Wonka a mix between Michael Jackson and Marilyn Manson. I'd agree on that! He was delightfully creepy. HIR asked me who Johnny Depp or Marilyn Manson were! She doesn't have a TV.

Director Tim Burton brings his vividly imaginative style to the Roald Dahl classic about eccentric chocolatier Willy Wonka (Johnny Depp) and Charlie (Freddie Highmore), a good-hearted boy from a poor family who lives in the shadow of Wonka’s extraordinary factory. Long isolated from his own family, Wonka launches a worldwide contest to select an heir to his candy empire. Five lucky children, including Charlie, draw golden tickets from Wonka chocolate bars and win a guided tour of the legendary candy-making facility that no outsider has seen in 15 years. Dazzled by one amazing sight after another, Charlie is drawn into Wonka’s fantastic world.

Anyway, I agreed to meet them in the lobby at 4:45, I get off of work at 4:00. This would not give me enough time to go home but just grab a quick bite to eat first. The afternoon went by and another friend called. She sounded very down and wanted me to come over. I asked if tomorrow night would work, and with an almost imperceptible pause, she said "yes" Right then I decided I'd better go and see her. So I told her I would stop over for just a bit (still giving me time to hurry to the Imax, as I didn't want to miss my big chance to go there and see this movie).

I left work early, at 3:30 and had a long distance to walk to the car. The downtown temp was 90 degrees. I zipped through traffic and was soon surrounded by baby kitties and her dog when on her couch. SLA (She who Loves Animals) was depressed for a really good, or should I say BAD reason. She still hasn't found another job, her mortgage is overdue and they're foreclosing on her. She is the wonderful person who gave her estranged childhood friend a place to stay when she was leaving an abusive situation. Both of them live in the house now with their animals, one with a PT job and the other with no job at all. Things did not look good.

There wasn't much I could say, suggested a few things, like temp work that I've mentioned before. She has applied for 36 jobs and gone through 9 interviews so far with no hits. But depression can really get a person down just when they need to be energetic and positive. I do, and did understand. In fact I'm going there again after work today to hang out longer and will bring her something to eat. Or maybe I can coax her out if I pay.

Since it was showing so early, the movie was full of kids. They were all pretty subdued and quiet during the movie, though. That movie is pretty dark for little children. I absolutely loved it so much that I want to see it again or at least own the soundtrack. Wonder if SLA would go if I wanted to go again, can I lure her out of the house?

Have you seen that movie yet? What did you think of it?

From my E-mail
Necessary Information for the 40-and-older crowd
Age is a very high price to pay for maturity.

Going to church doesn't make you a Christian, any more than standing in a garage makes you a car.

If you must choose between two evils, pick the one you've never tried before.

Not one shred of evidence supports the notion that life is serious.

For every action, there is an equal and opposite government program.

If you look like your passport picture, you probably need the trip.

Bills travel through the mail at twice the speed of checks.

Men are from earth. Women are from earth. Deal with it.

Opportunities always look bigger going than coming.

Junk is something you've kept for years and throw away three weeks before you need it.

There is always one more imbecile than you counted on.

Thou shalt not weigh more than thy refrigerator.

Someone who thinks logically provides a nice contrast to the real world.

It ain't the jeans that make your butt look fat.

Digits...
One caller to our answering service gave me his name, number and message and then said, "You know my name. What's yours?"

"We're not allowed to give our names," I replied, "but my operator number is 4136"

Sounding disappointed, he said, "May I call you by your first digit, or would that be too personal?"

Cemetery Tour #6, Epitaphs #6

2005-07-20T06:20:00.000-07:00

Last night was the final cemetery tour, and it was a grand finale, we toured four different cemeteries! The first was Calvary Cemetery, the largest where we met up as a group. In the center was a ring of memorials to priests and bishops. It also had some cool crypts and statuary. My favorite was an angel clinging to a cross. I have to return and get a photo of that one and some of the others. We found Winston Churchill in this cemetery. He was a young soldier buried in the military section. Nobody fell for our instructor's joke about him being "the real Winston Churchill".

Then we drove to the next door Polish Catholic Cemetery, which also had nice statuary and plenty of interesting markers including a "baby" area. Many of the markers were written in Polish.

Then we drove to the Adas Israel Cemetery, a Jewish cemetery. It was VERY interesting. Many of the markers had little oval ceramic photos set in them. Some of the pictures were scratched, broken or missing but a large percentage of the grave markers had them. There was a line of boulders across the middle of the cemetery. Nearly all of the markers had Hebrew writing on them.

We hiked through the wood to another Jewish Cemetery, Tifereth Israel Cemetery. This one was very small and Bob Dylan's mother was supposed to be buried there. We looked at every marker and didn't find her (yes, we knew to look for "Zimmerman" not Dylan!). The far part of this cemetery also had a "baby" section but it was different than any other baby section we had seen so far. Each grave had a little marker and the gravesite area was outlined with a cement ridge, some were very small outlines! I've GOT to go back and try to get a photo of that section, too.

To return to our cars we had to hike back through the wood and through Adas Israel Cemetery again. Right in the corner, near the road and the fence was Beatrice and Abram Zimmerman--in plain sight! We just hadn't known to look in the first cemetery as our guide paper said they were in Tifereth Israel Cemetery. There were two large baskets of plants and fresh flowers in front of the stone. There were also a whole bunch of little rocks carefully laid on top. We had noticed many of the stones had little rocks or even seashells laid on top of them. Our instructor told us it was in remembrance, a mark of respect. So our class left a little rock on top of Beatrice and Abram's marker.

As we came back through, a caretaker was seasoning a brand new tombstone with water. She said that the boulders down the middle of the cemetery were to divide the old from the new sections.

Here are some photos from Cemetery Tour #4 to Forest Hill. The first is the Congdon family marker. There are a lot of graves around it, including murdered heiress Elizabeth Congdon. The marker was very tall but I had to face a fierce bright sun for the photo so it's hard to see the top.

The second photo is of a weird marker that had no other information but "Dowse" written on it. It looks fairly modern but still very interesting. The other couple of photos I snapped didn't even get developed, they must not have turned out.

Well, the class is done now. But my friends and I are going back to visit some of the cemeteries because they weren't in the class and want to see some of the stuff I've been talking about.

Epitaphs #6 (the final words….)

More advertisements

Here Lies Jane Smith
Wife of Thomas Smith
Marble Cutter:
This Monument Erected
By Her Husband
As A Tribute
To Her Memory.
Monuments of this style
are 250 Dollars.
Annapolis

Sacred To The Remains of
Jonathan Thompson
A Pious Christian and
Affectionate Husband.
His disconsolate widow
Continues to carry on
His grocery business
At the old stand on
Main Street: Cheapest
and best prices in town.
Harwichport

Effen Nyt
(translates into "Exactly Nothing." Put on stone by disappointed heirs) New Church, Amsterdam, Holland

Arthur C. Homan's epitaph:
Once I wasn't
Then I was
Now I ain't again.
Cleveland, Ohio

On babies graves:
Ope'd my eyes, took a peep;
Didn't like it, went to sleep.

It is so soon that I am done for
I wonder what I was begun for.
Lake Mills Cemetery, Wisconsin

Here lies Ned.
There is nothing more to be said--
Because we like to speak well of the dead.

I came into this world
Without my consent
And left in the same manner.
Chattanooga, Tennessee

In a cemetery in England:
Remember man, as you walk by,
As you are now, so once was I,
As I am now, so shall you be,
Remember this and follow me.

To which someone replied by writing on the tombstone:

To follow you I'll not consent,
Until I know which way you went.

Honey you don't know
What you did for me
Always playing the lottery.
The numbers you picked
Came in to play
Two days after you passed away.
For this a huge monument I do erect
For now a get a yearly check.
How I wish you were alive
For now we are worth 8.5.
Epitaph for Elizabeth Rich, Eufala, Alabama

In Durness Churchyard, Sutherlandshire.
Here doth lye the bodie
Of John Flye, who did die
By a stroke from a sky-rocket
Which hit him on the eye-socket.

Someone who found peas:
Here lies my wife
Here let her lie
Now she has peace
And so do I.
She caught a chill
While picking peas
In the rain
And died.

In Doncaster Churchyard.
Here lies 2 brothers by misfortune serounded,
One dy'd of his wounds, and the other was drownded.

Thomas Stagg's epitaph:
That is all
St. Giles Churchyard, London, England
_______________________________________

Another photo from the boat trip

2005-07-19T06:42:00.000-07:00

OK, after trying to put four photos on this post and ending up with only one, I give up! It's almost time to go to work and I'm running out of time. The boat trip was only three hours but it's going to take me far longer than that to post even a few of them. Oh well.

Tonight is the last cemetery tour. Actually we're going to tour one large cemetery and two nearby smaller ones. It's been fun and thought-provoking and I'll be sad to have it end. Wish I'd signed up for the canoeing class but two nights per week for the summer seemed a bit much. After work activities always sound good but after a day of work I sometimes have to drag myself to them. Once there, I do enjoy them but it makes for a long day.

This photo is when we were following the flotilla out out the canal. The picture doesn't really show the crowds of people lining the side of the canal. The kayaks are at the top right of the photo.

A (rather terrible) joke from my E-mail
Bubba and Billy Bob
While Bubba and Billy Bob were in the local Wal-Mart, they decided to get in on the weekly charity raffle.

They bought five tickets each at a dollar a pop. The following week, when the raffle was drawn, each had won a prize.

Billy Bob won 1st place; a years supply of gourmet spaghetti sauce and extra long spaghetti.

Bubba won 6th prize; a toilet brush.

About a week or so had passed when the men met back at Wal-Mart. Bubba asked Billy Bob how he liked his prize, to which Billy Bob replied, "Great!, I love spaghetti!"

Billy Bob asked Bubba, "How 'bout you, how's the toilet brush? "Not so good," replied Bubba, "I reckon I'm gonna go back to paper."

A Three Hour Tour

2005-07-18T06:34:00.000-07:00

Here's another photo of the boat. And yes, that's me in front of it in my favorite (but unflattering)shirt and jeans. I'm clutching two jackets and a bag. It was windy and chilly enough to put on the hoodie as soon as we got out onto the lakee, but not wet enough for the plastic jacket. My bag had a notebook, water bottle and two disposable cameras.

Lake Superior is no ocean, but it’s still impressive:
 Largest freshwater lake in the world.
 Is large enough to contain all the other Great Lakes, plus three additional lakes the size of Lake Erie.
 350 miles east to west, 160 miles north to south.
 31,280 square surface miles.
 Average depth: 483 feet.
 Deepest point: 1,279 feet.
 3 quadrillion gallons, or 2,900 cubic miles, of water.
 Elevation: 600 feet above sea level; not to exceed 602 feet, as ordered by the International Joint Commission.
 Large enough to dramatically affect weather patterns in surrounding areas; in Duluth, that means warmer winters and cooler summers (right next to the lake, not over the hill where I live).
 Final resting place for over 350 shipwrecks, including the famous Edmund Fitzgerald.
 Shoreline length, including islands: 2,726 miles.
 Empties into Lake Huron via the St. Mary’s River.
 Water flows into the lake from a drainage basin area of 49,300 square miles.
 It would take 191 years for the rivers in the drainage basin to refill the lake.
 Named by French explorers as “le lac superieur,” meaning “upper lake.”
 Known for its clear, cold water and agate beaches.
 Average water temp.: 40°F.
 Could cover all of North America in water three feet deep.
 Seasonal storms can lead to waves over 20 feet high.

As we were pulling away from shore with the boat on Saturday morning, there was a tiny little baby duck cheeping as it was being thrown up and down in the waves. (don't worry Fizzy this has a happy ending!). I was going to take a photo of the poor little thing but it didn't even show up in my viewfinder, too small.

The captain let us listen to him talking to the other boats on the radio. He asked the coast guard cutter captain, who was out in the water not far from us, what the commotion was in the bay. The coast guard told us that there was a man beginning a kayaking trip across Lake Superior and a flotilla of boats were going out with him, including several other kayaks, sailboats, motor boats and coast guard. We said that we would accompany them out for about five miles or so. The tooting of the various boats and the bridge began and the flotilla started going under the bridge. My photos don't show the other boats very clearly or the kayaks because I wasn't able to focus in on them.

It was very exciting to pass under the lift bridge. Cheering crowds waved to us (well, to the flotilla, actually) and we felt like celebrities! Media was there snapping photos and taking movie footage. The kayaks were really fast, I was surprised how swiftly they could move over the top of the water. But once we were away from the port entrance, the flotilla went towards the middle of the lake while we went up the shoreline to where the Lester River flows into the lake. There we stopped and took our measurements. Everything was in meters and centigrade because they were scientific measures. But we had a "translation" to temperature at least, but I don't know the footage amounts.

We took the lake's temperature at various depths. The top of the lake was far too warm at 70 F (Lake Superior is supposed to be cold) in fact this summer it's been the warmest those scientists have seen. Further down in the lake was appropriately cold, down to 40 F. We measured depth of clarity and oxygen levels. The oxygen levels went up as we tested further down. Apparently cold water can hold more oxygen so certain fishes, like trout can live there because they need more oxygen. We also learned that Lake Superior is not a productive lake, has little diversity and can't support many creatures. It's like a desert of a lake, the scientist from UWS told us. All of the other Great Lakes can support more life per sq. foot, mainly because they're smaller and warmer than our lake, which is very deep and cold. This also makes our lake far more fragile than the other Great Lakes even though right now it's in better shape than any of them.

I wish I had some photos of us taking the water quality tests, but we were too busy. Some others took samples which we all viewed under a microscope. It reminded me of the swamp water I used to look at under a microscope, full of interesting living little creatures.

There were just the normal touristy crowds lining the entry when we returned. A saltie was heading straight for us, low in the water, going out into the lake. We dodged around it and came back in to the docking area. The poor little duck was still there, three hours later with no mama duck or siblings in sight yet. It wasn't cheeping anymore, probably too tired from fighting the waves as duck families don't swim out in that part until the babies are much older and stronger. The biologists on the boat had been telling us about how the lake affects wildlife and they quickly discussed and then scooped the baby duck up in a soft sampling net. They told us that mallard ducks will accept foster babies so they were going to find another family for the baby duck among the many along the shore.

From my E-mail
McDonald's Job Application
This reportedly is an actual job application a 17-year-old boy submitted at a McDonald's fast-food establishment in Florida...and they hired him because he was so honest and funny!

NAME: Greg B. (Name withheld to protect the guilty)

SEX: Not yet.

DESIRED POSITION: Company's President or Vice President. But seriously, whatever's available. If I was in a position to be picky, I wouldn't be applying here in the first place.

DESIRED SALARY: $185,000 a year plus stock options and a Michael Ovitz style severance package. If that's not possible, make an offer and we can haggle.

EDUCATION: Yes.

LAST POSITION HELD: Target for middle management hostility.

SALARY: Less than I'm worth.

MOST NOTABLE ACHIEVEMENT: My incredible collection of stolen pens and post-it notes.

REASON FOR LEAVING: I hated it

HOURS AVAILABLE TO WORK: Any.

PREFERRED HOURS: 1:30-3:30 p.m., Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday.

MAY WE CONTACT YOUR CURRENT EMPLOYER?: If I had one, would I be here?

DO YOU HAVE ANY PHYSICAL CONDITIONS THAT WOULD PROHIBIT YOU FROM LIFTING UP TO 50 LBS?: Of what?

DO YOU HAVE A CAR?: I think the more appropriate question here would be "Do you have a car that runs?"

HAVE YOU RECEIVED ANY SPECIAL AWARDS OR RECOGNITION?: I may already be a winner of the Publishers Clearing house Sweepstakes.

DO YOU SMOKE?: On the job no, on my breaks yes.

WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE DOING IN FIVE YEARS?: Living in the Bahamas with a fabulously wealthy dumb sexy blonde super model who thinks I'm the greatest thing since sliced bread. Actually, I'd like to be doing that now.

DO YOU CERTIFY THAT THE ABOVE IS TRUE AND COMPLETE TO THE BEST OF YOUR KNOWLEDGE?: Yes. Absolutely.

SIGN HERE: Aries.

The Writer
Once upon a time there was a young man who wanted to become a great writer. "I want to write things the whole world will read," he declared.

"Stuff that will elicit strong emotions from people in every walk of life. I want my writing to make them scream, cry, howl in pain and anger."

He now lives happily ever after in Redmond, Wash., writing error messages for Microsoft.

I wonder if the "job application" is really true, doubt it. I have some more photos of the trip but it took so long to post them that now I have to leave to go to work! Have a great day!
_______________________________

Fresh off the boat

2005-07-17T07:34:00.000-07:00

Well, we went out on the boat and I took some photos. There were some really nice views of the shoreline but none look that great on film. It sure would be nice to have a decent camera (took these with a disposable) that could focus.

We met at the Aquarium for the trip and had to walk all the way through it twice because they had an orientation in the back. I looked at the exhibits briefly while passing through. The otters looked just like some large water ferrets! I have a photo of the ferrets that I'll post later. They are hard to snap because they go in two different directions and never stay still! I took the photo on my own with them, but next time I'll wait until my son can help. It will be much easier.

The boat trip was awesome and I'll tell more about it later. I have a lot of photos but most aren't that great, really too bad because the views from the boat were so good.

Here's two photos of the boat (these are the first photos on the blog that I've taken myself!).

Found this at Ms. Vile File)

You are dependable, popular, and observant.
Deep and thoughtful, you are prone to moodiness.
In fact, your emotions tend to influence everything you do.

You are unique, creative, and expressive.
You don't mind waving your freak flag every once and a while.
And lucky for you, most people find your weird ways charming!

The World's Shortest Personality Test

From my E-mail
Dough Robbery

Did you see the recent story in the Jewish Chronicle about the theft of egg-enriched dough from a north London warehouse?

Unfortunately, the theft happened just before Shabbos and it forced many local bakeries to bake their challas with plain, white flour. A leading rabbi was quoted as saying, "I’m appalled by the rise in white challa crimes."

Happy Sunday!

Lake Trip in Jeopardy?

2005-07-16T08:07:00.000-07:00

I found a piece online about that fog I complain about:

Strange "Lake Effect" Phenomena
Visiting Lake Superior, I experienced a dangerous lake effect phenomena that I had never heard of before. Has anyone ever heard of this? We spent Friday in Duluth, MN where it was only 60 to 70 degrees all day. Everywhere else it was 90+ and high humidity. When we left for home the temp had fallen further as a thunderstorm was moving in. We were on the interstate surrounded by Friday, 65 mph+ traffic when everyone in front of us started hitting their brakes for no apparent reason. In the next instant we found out why as ALL of our windows turned white and impossible to see out. The only thing I could see was VERY faint brake lights VERY close ! I instinctively fumbled for the wiper controls while trying to stay on the road and avoid a crash. In the span of 5 seconds it was over. My view improved and we were on our way with a group of very cautious drivers. When we opened the side windows to clear them I instantly realized what had happened as the outside air had gone from 60 to 90+ in the space of a few feet. The hot, humid air had condensed on the cold vehicles, leaving a very thick layer of moisture. We have driven this same road at least 30 times and nothing similiar to this has ever happened. Is this rare? Or do the residents have to put up with this all the time? "
From: Greg Meier,"The Original Blue Hills Beast" Jack of Many Trades, Master of None"

It's neither common here nor rare, happens once in awhile. Mostly it depends on where you're going. I experience it quite a lot because I'm going up and down the hill every day to and from work, on Saturday to Superior and on Sunday to my Mom's--guess that makes EVERY day that I go up and down the hill!

About Lake Superior, from the same source as above:
"Experience oceangoing vessels 2000+ miles from the ocean!
Check out 1000ft+ Lakers as they pass under the Canal Park Lift Bridge.
Walk the longest freshwater sand bar in the world, twelve miles of sand, the north half in Minnesota, the south half in Wisconsin.
The Lakewalk has turned the downtown Duluth shore into a people place for walking, biking, skating and skipping rocks!"

Lake Superior is the largest, deepest, and cleanest of the five Great Lakes. You can see up to fifty feet to the bottom, although there aren't very many places where she is only 50 feet deep, and her deepest depth is 1333 feet.
The lake covers 31,820 square miles, and is 383 miles east to west and 160 miles north to south.
The average water temperature is 40F and 4.4C.
She also is one of the most dangerous of the Great Lakes, laying claim to many shipwrecks and close calls over the years.
One of the most famous wrecks was the Edmund Fitzgerald, which went down in a November Gale in 1975, losing all 29 crew members aboard. A few years ago, you may remember a Gordon Lightfoot song called "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" about the wreck."

That song was written QUITE a few years ago, in 1976 but maybe time went by quickly for him!

The weather doesn't look good today. I don't mind going out on the lake in less than sunny weather but I hear thunder once in awhile. I'm afraid the lake trip might be cancelled! And it's not like I can just switch to another day, all the trips are filled, you have to sign up early for them. Is my fun trip in jeopardy? I can just hear the little Jeopardy song as I wait and wonder.

"Zen" Oldies from my E-mail:
1. Do not walk behind me, for I may not lead. Do not walk ahead of me, for I may not follow. Do not walk beside me, either; just Get Out Of The Way and leave me alone. 2. The journey of a thousand miles begins with a broken fan belt and a flat tire. 3. It's always darkest before dawn. So if you're going to steal your neighbor's newspaper, that's the time to do it.
4. Don't be irreplaceable; if you can't be replaced, you can't be promoted.
5. No one is listening until you make a mistake.
6. Always remember you're unique, just like everyone else.
7. Never test the depth of the water with both feet.
8. It may be that your sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others.
9. It is far more impressive when others discover your good qualities without your help.
10. If you think nobody cares if you're alive, try missing a couple of car payments.

I finally watched the movie "Troy" last night. I liked it OK but think it's really a guy's type of movie, war, battles, fighting, swords all of that. My son would love it. Once he sees it, he'll want to OWN it to review the swordfighting.
Have a great weekend

2005-07-15T15:08:00.000-07:00

Here's my Neopet, NattyLee507. Isn't she cute? She must be very bored, poor thing because I don't play with her :(
Katya told me about them and some day I'll get into the game.

Big Blue (Lake)

2005-07-15T07:57:00.000-07:00

More Lake Superior Photos! (not mine, from various websites)

Interview by Katya Coldheart

2005-07-15T06:20:00.000-07:00

Interview by Katya Coldheart one of my dearest blogging buddies who I read every morning before going to work. These are GREAT questions, I love them! And they were fun to answer.

THE INTERVIEW
1. If you could own any animal however exotic or unusual, what would it be and why?
A Tiger, but she/he would need lots of room to roam, I wouldn’t want him/her in a cage. I’d like a pet bat too, as a little animal.

2. What items would you save from your house if it were burning down (excluding people and pets)?
Old photos, the painting my Mom did and gave to me as a wedding gift.

3. What songs would you liked to be played at your funeral?
I like this question! Have thought of it off and on and my selections change but "Dust in the Wind" by Kansas would be one. Here are the lyrics:

"Dust in the Wind"

I close my eyes,Only for a moment and the moment's gone

All my dreams,Pass before my eyes, that curiosity

C: Dust in the wind, all they are is dust in the wind

Same old song,Just a drop of water in an endless sea

All we do,Crumbles to the ground, though we refuse to see

C: Dust in the wind, all they are is dust in the wind[2]

Don't hang on,Nothing last forever but the earth and sky

It slips away,And all your money won't another minute buy

C: Dust in the wind, all they are is dust in the wind

Dust in the wind, all they are is dust in the wind

4. What is your favourite night in/out?
Out with friends, joking, talking, laughing

5. What would be your dream job?
Temp work was great, but a facilitator for poor people looking to get their lives back together. I did that for three years and it was the best job ever! I researched and put together a curriculum, made handouts, did intake interviews, taught the class, helped clients with computer skills, resumes, computer research and such.

The Interview Rules
1. Leave me a comment saying 'interview me please'
2. I will respond by asking you five questions here on my blog (not the same questions you see here)
3. You will update your blog/site with the answers to the questions
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.

From my E-mail
Life's Crazy Rules
* Lerman's Law of Technology: Any technical problem can be overcome given enough time and money. Corollary: You are never given enough time or money.

* Murphy's First Law for Wives: If you ask your husband to pick up five items at the store and then you add one more as an afterthought, he will forget two of the first five.

* Law of the Search: The first place to look for anything is the last place you would expect to find it. Corollary: It will not be in the last place you expect to find it.

* Kauffman's Paradox of the Corporation: The less important you are to the corporation, the more your tardiness or absence is noticed.

* The Salary Axiom: The pay raise is just large enough to increase your taxes and just small enough to have no effect on your take-home pay.

* Miller's Law of Insurance: Insurance covers everything except what happens.

* First Law of Living: As soon as you start doing what you always wanted to be doing, you'll want to be doing something else.

* Weiner's Law of Libraries: There are no answers, only cross-references.

* Isaac's Strange Rule of Staleness: Any food that starts out hard will soften when stale. Any food that starts out soft will harden when stale.

* Kenny's Law of Auto Repair: The part requiring the most consistent repair or replacement will be housed in the most inaccessible location.

* Second Law of Business Meetings: If there are two possible ways to spell a person's name, you will pick the wrong one. Corollary - If there is only one way to spell a name, you will spell it wrong anyway.

* The Grocery Bag Law: The candy bar you planned to eat on the way home from the market is hidden at the bottom of the grocery bag.

* Yeager's Law: Washing machines break down only during the wash cycle. Corollary: All breakdowns occur on the plumber's day off.

* Lampner's Law of Employment: When leaving work late, you will go unnoticed. When you leave work early, you will meet the boss in the parking lot.

* Quile's Consultation Law: The job that pays the most will be offered when there is no time to deliver the services.

* Loftus' Law: Some people manage by the book, even though they don't know who wrote the book or even which book it is.

* Lovka's Dilemma: You never get away, you only get someplace else.
_________________

Lake Superior

2005-07-14T08:01:00.000-07:00

These photos are from touristy websites. Don't we have a nice view? It's nice and cool down here today, too, not like over the hill at home where we're still sweltering.

Anticipation

2005-07-14T06:04:00.000-07:00

I just re-realized (if you can do such a thing) that I'm going out on Lake Superior in two days! It will be 3 1/2 hours on the LL Smith, a research vessel. We will help with running tests on water quality, aquatic life and who knows what else. It's going to be fun and I'm looking forward to it!

Now to figure out what to wear. My first instinct is to wear jeans, of course, but some friends said they'd be "too heavy" and that a light cotton would be better. But I really don't want to be wearing my work pants when we're monkeying around with water, fish and all. So I think it's going to stay jeans. And then the top, something with a hood, or maybe just carry a hooded waterproof jacket. That the toughest part of the trip, getting ready for it.

To God -- From, The Dog
Dear God: Why do humans smell the flowers, but seldom, if ever, smell one another?

Dear God: When we get to heaven, can we sit on your couch? Or is it still the same old story?

Dear God: Why are there cars named after the jaguar, the cougar, the mustang, the colt, the stingray, and the rabbit, but not ONE named for a dog? How often do you see a cougar riding around? We do love a nice ride! Would it be so hard to rename the "Chrysler Eagle" the " Chrysler Beagle"?

Dear God: If a dog barks his head off in the forest and no human hears him, is he still a bad dog?

Dear God: We dogs can understand human verbal instructions, hand signals, whistles, horns, clickers, beepers, scent ID's, electromagnetic energy fields, and Frisbee flight paths. What do humans understand?

Dear God: More meatballs, less spaghetti, please.

Dear God: Are there mailmen in Heaven? If there are, will I have to apologize?

Dear God: Let me recite you a list of just some of the things I must remember - to be a good dog, some dog commandments:

1. I will not eat the cats' food before they eat it or after they throw it up.

2. I will not roll on dead seagulls, fish, crabs, etc., just because I like the way they smell.

3. The sofa is not a 'face towel'.. neither are laps.

4. The garbage collector is not stealing our stuff.

5. My head does not belong in the refrigerator.

6. I will not bite the officer's hand when he reaches in for Mom's driver's license and registration.

7. I will not play tug-of-war with Dad's underwear when he's on the toilet.

8. I don't need to suddenly stand straight up when I'm under the coffee table.

9. I must shake the rainwater out of my fur before entering the house - not after.

10. I will not throw up in the car.

11. I will not come in from outside and immediately drag my butt.

12. The cat is not a 'squeaky toy' so when I play with him and he makes that noise, it's usually not a good thing.

And, finally, My last question . .
Dear God: When I get to Heaven may I have my testicles back?

2005-07-13T12:16:00.000-07:00

Tower Hall, at The College of Saint Scholastica. The rock for this building was quarried from the hill behind it.

Cemetery Tour #5, Epitaphs #5

2005-07-13T05:58:00.000-07:00

We toured two different cemeteries last night and our assignment was to compare and contrast them, an easy task as you will see.

The first cemetery we visited was hidden in the woods. In fact we were on a hill on "Cemetery Outlook" and could see no cemetery. We had to hike through the woods to get to it. I had gone home after work to cool off the poor animals and had changed into shorts, sandals and stripped down as much as possible, the temps were 95 F with a nice hot sun on top of that. After going down a hill, through the woods, we came to a field with waist-high grass. I was glad I'd carried my water bottle by that time, it was really hot in the woods! My feet and legs were burning. I think it was a combination of insect repellant, scratchy brush and grass and sweat. I am NOT an outdoors person at those temperatures and conditions! But Greenwood Cemetery was worth seeing, I just would have picked a more temperate day for it.

This cemetery was the Potter's Field for the Poor Farm, a TB Sanitarium and the county hospital from 1891 to 1947. In approximately the same acreage as Scania, which had 1,400 graves, Greenwood had 4,705 people buried there with tiny little flat cement markers about the size of a person's fist. They were difficult to find in that field with such tall grass but we found some of the rows, which made it easier. There weren't any names on most of them, just numbers. There was a monument overgrown in the middle of the field. When we had scouted around a bit, we had to walk uphill through the woods to get to the parking lot again.

It was great to catch a breeze while driving to The College of St. Scholastica, we weren't going to the college but to the monastery's cemetery, Gethsemane Cemetery. We went past the beautiful rock-built Tower Hall to the winding road up the back. This cemetery was in the woods too, but very different. You could drive or walk to it and it was very well kept, the best we've seen so far, although it's probably unfair to compare it to some of the huge cemeteries we'd seen. The markers were small, neat and except for the names and dates, all exactly the same. The cemetery had almost a military look to it because of the uniformity. But it had a feeling of serenity like none of the other cemeteries. Here is an article that two nuns wrote about it:

Another World
By Sister Linda Wiggins and Sister Margaret James Laughlin
"Located west of the Monastery, at the top of the hill, Gethsemane Cemetery reigns on high, providing a splendid view of Lake Superior. More than just a "place," Gethsemane is a world in itself. Slightly tilted on its axis, the "Sisters' cemetery" is circled by a roadway, marked at intervals with large wooden crosses representing the Stations of the Cross.

Rows of pristine gray stone markers identify the deceased Sisters. No extensive adornment will be found here—one lovely statue of the Pieta; an occasional modest bouquet will signify a friend or family member recently visited. Yet rarely will anyone come upon a more beautiful world than this one. Rows of fir trees whisper messages while wild flowers bask in pied sunlight along the road. Deer amble across the green in the early morning and evening. A mother fox might bring her young ones for a romp on a warm summer evening. In the fall the pungent scent of apples delights walkers, while the crackle of snow and tiny footprints indicate frequent visitors in winter.

Gethsemane is a world of paradox: perpetual activity amid quiet rest—the abundance of life blooming amid this simple pastoral setting. Nothing illustrates more the Benedictine ideal than this world where the assurances of Christ radiate in natural wonder: a crossroad of heaven and earth."

Guess I really can't add anything to that, about the cemetery anyway! After that we went to the Monastery. It was wonderfully cool and quiet and the place was subtly beautiful. A friendly, but crisp and correct nun gave us a little tour and told us about the history and answered our questions, like how she got her name (Mother Superior gave it to her) and if she really had to give up all her worldly possessions to be a nun (yes). I can't help but wonder what she thought of us, dirty, sweaty, ragtag people!

Then I came home, took care of the animals, took a shower to wash off whatever was stinging my feet and legs. Then I sat down to a dinner of a cold can of Coke and some ice-cold cherries. They helped cool me off but I ended up with a stomachache after that, guess all that cold stuff wasn't a good idea. I'm feeling OK now and really looking forward to going into work for that air conditioning!

More Epitaphs!

Some epitaphs were meant to warn the living from committing the same mistake as the deceased.

Beneath this stone a lump of clay
Lies Uncle Peter Dan'els
Who early in the month of May
Took off his winter flannels.
Edinburgh, Scotland

Here lies the body
of Jonathan Blake.
Stepped on the gas
Instead of the brake.
Uniontown, PA.

Reader, I've left this world, in which
I had a world to do;
Sweating and fretting to get rich:
Just such a fool as you.
Charleston, South Carolina

Ellen Shannon
age 26 years
Who was fatally burned
March 21, 1870
by the explosion of a lamp
filled with "R. E. Danforth's
Non-Explosive
Burning Fluid."
Girard, Pennsylvania

Harry Edsel Smith
Born 1903 - Died 1942
Looked up the elevator shaft
to see if the car
was on the way down.
It was.
near Albany, New York

Julia Newton
Died of thin shoes,
April 17th, 1839,
age 19 years.
In a New Jersey cemetery.

Here lies the body of Mary Ann Lowder
She burst while drinking a Seidlitz powder.
Called from this world to her heavenly rest,
She should have waited till it effervesced.
Burlington, Vermont

First a Cough
Carried Me Off
Then a Coffin
They Carried Me Off In
Boston, Massachusetts

Blown upward
out of sight:
He sought the leak
by candlelight
Wiltshire, England

(Spelling is exactly as written on the tombstone)
In memory of
Richard Fothergill
Who met vierlent death near this spot
18 hundred and 40 too.
He was shot by
his own pistill.
It was not one of the
new kind;
But an old fashioned brass barrell
Of such is the Kingdom of Heaven.
Near Sparta Diggings, California

On Joseph Crapp:
His foot is slipt
and he did fall.
"Help; Help" he cried
and that was all.
Mylor Churchyard, Cornwall, England

Dinah had a little can
'Twas filled with kerosine
And soon among the twinkling stars
Dynamite Benzine. *
(* Dinah might been seen)

Here lies old Aunt Hannah Proctor
Who purged but didn't call the Doctor:
She couldn't stay, She had to go
Praise God from whom all blessings flow.
Medway

Just one more cemetery tour left, and one more batch of epitaphs (I sort of divided them to stretch the six weeks!)

A couple of creepy things

2005-07-12T06:25:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was hot again, well over 90 degrees F at home, only 82-85 or so in downtown Duluth. My poor little animals were overheated by the time I got home from work. I had stopped to buy groceries, making my all-time record for food spending! But I had to get dog food, ferret food, laundry soap, spot cleaner, calcium vitamins plus all the food, so it added up.

Once I got home I took the ferrets outside in the shade and sprayed them with the garden hose. They really enjoyed that and came happily back to life. Poor Ricky (chinchilla) doesn't like to go outside so I moved his cage to right in front of a fan. It's SO warm in the house, unbearable. I also watered the garden and my flowers as soon as I got home and had put the groceries away. In fact I have the little ferrety guys outside right now to cool off before I go to work.

While I was carrying the groceries in from the car I saw a snake! It was the kind I had as pets when I was a child. It was almost as long as my arm and had a lump in the middle. It sure hope the lump wasn't that frog I had seen on the lawn a few weeks ago. I hadn't seen either frogs or snakes in my yard before. Both have become more rare since I was a kid.

Yesterday was the first day in quite a while that I could hardly wait to get in to work! And it was a Monday! Bet you can guess why--it's cooler downtown and there's a nice lake breeze, plus the office has AIR CONDITIONING!!!

Tonight is the cemetery tour of the "poor house" cemetery. It will be interesting. Speaking of interesting, yet ghoulish, follow this link to a really creepy sort of game/activity. It's called Never Ending Fall" You get to move a limp body that's falling by clicking and moving your mouse. Sound horrible? It is, but fascinating in a weird way, too. Give it a try when you're bored

There was yet another accident on the way to work yesterday. The freeway came to a standstill. I went out into the shoulder and to an exit, where I escaped. By the time I drove through a whole lot of nasty road construction and city buses stopping at every block, I think I would have been better off just staying in the car pack. At least I had good music! And I wasn't late to work.

Bird Calls
For forty years we have studied bird calls . There are so many different species , and to make it more difficult they have territorial accents just like people do.

The really amazing thing is, we have translated all of their calls. And the message is always they same . No matter the breed or the location, the message is always the same: "Yah yah yah! Cats can't fly!"

Marriage is Bliss...
At a cocktail party, one woman said to another, Aren't you wearing your wedding ring on the wrong finger?" Yes, I am. I married the wrong man."

A lady inserted an 'ad' in the classifieds: "Husband Wanted". Next day she received a hundred letters. They all said the same thing: You can have mine."

When a woman steals your husband, there is no better revenge than to let her keep him.

A woman is incomplete until she is married. Then she is finished.

A little boy asked his father, "Daddy, how much does it cost to get married?" Father replied, "I don't know son, I'm still paying."

Young son: "Is it true Dad, that in some parts of Africa a man doesn't know his wife until he marries her?" Dad: "That happens in every country, son."

Then there was a woman who said, "I never knew what real happiness was until I got married, and by then, it was too late."

Marriage is the triumph of imagination over intelligence. Just think, if it weren't for marriage, men would go through life thinking they had no faults at all.

First guy: "My wife's an angel!" Second guy: "You're lucky, mine's still alive."

Women will never be equal to men until they can walk down the street with a bald head and a beer gut, and still think they are attractive to the opposite sex.

If you want your spouse to listen and pay strict attention to every word you say, talk in your sleep.

Three Accidents and Some Music

2005-07-11T06:32:00.000-07:00

It was an interesting drive out to my Mom's yesterday. Of course, it often is a mini-adventure. It seems like whenever you drive, walk or bike a lot, you're going to see some happenings.

I was headed down the hill to get on to the freeway on ramp and I noticed that the cars in the Twin Cities bound lane were stopped. The other lane wasn't so I kept going. The traffic was heavy, I had to get onto the freeway carefully. In the other side there were flashing lights, three lanes of cars stopped and pulled over to allow several fire trucks and ambulances to get through. As I waited for the traffic to break enough to get onto the freeway, I saw a person lying on the grass along the side of the road. His/her legs were bent, small, frail and very white some people in uniforms were bending over him/her.

It was pretty awful and reminded me of one time when I was walking home from work. There was a dreadful "thump" and a boy of about 12 or 14 or so went flying across the road on the pavement. Several passerbys and I raced to his side to keep the traffic from running him over. Blood was coming from his ears and he was shivering, I took off my heavy sweater and covered him up. A nurse who had just gotten off duty from a 12-hour shift took control and told us not to move him (we weren't going to, actually, but he was still in the middle of the road). She used her pager to call an ambulance. A couple of men and I took flashlights and stood in the road steering the traffic around the boy until the ambulance came, loaded him up and took him away. The nurse found his wallet on the road with his ID in it and somehow got his parent's phone number and called them to tell them which hospital the boy was being taken.

I never did find out if he was OK and never got my sweater back either, of course. The nurse said he had a head injury and some broken ribs, I hope he recovered. But it was so wonderful how total strangers stepped in to help. I think of that boy when I see an accident like today with all the emergency personnel rushing to help someone. It's very comforting to know they are there.

Well, I had crossed the Bong Bridge over the Bay, driven the tediously long, slow (speed limit 35 mph, enforced) through Superior, exited the freeway and was well on my way to my Mom's when all the traffic had to stop again. It was another accident, several cars on the side of the road, police waving us on slowly.

The really weird thing was on my way BACK from my Mom's the traffic was all stopped again in that very same spot--this was hours later! A semi truck with a load of hay had dropped bales all over the road! A sweating, red-faced woman of about her mid-30's and several boys were throwing the bales into a pickup truck.

The temperatures up at my house and also at my Mom's were in the mid-90's yesterday and it's supposed to get that warm today again. It was so hot and humid that the roads were hazy. Duluth only got up to about 85 or so and Superior only to 74 degrees F. It's the lake-effect that acts like air conditioning.

While driving to and fro Wisconsin I listened to my "new" CD by Deep Purple, a band from the late 1970's with hits "Smoke on the Water" and "Woman from Tokyo" still great music! I love the long indulgent guitar pieces. I'm going to listen it (part) of it again on my way to work this morning.

from my E-mail
"Our Crazy Language An oldie, but favorite... "
Did you know that "verb" is a noun?
How can you look up words in a dictionary if you can't spell them?
If a word is misspelled in a dictionary, how would we ever know?
If two mouses are mice and two louses are lice, why aren't two houses hice?
If Webster wrote the first dictionary, where did he find the words?
If you wrote a letter, perhaps you bote your tongue?
If you've read a book, you can reread it. But wouldn't this also mean that you would have to "member" somebody in order to remember them?
In Chinese, why are the words for crisis and opportunity the same?
Is it a coincidence that the only 15 letter word that can be spelled without repeating a letter is uncopyrightable?
Is there another word for a synonym?
Shouldn't there be a shorter word for "monosyllabic"?
What is another word for "thesaurus"?
Where do swear words come from?
Why can't you make another word using all the letters in "anagram"? Why do fat chance and slim chance mean the same thing?
Why do overlook and oversee mean opposite things?
Why do people use the word "irregardless"?
Why do some people type "cool" as "kewl?"
Why do we say something is out of whack? What is a whack?
Why do we say something's out of order when its broken but we never say in of order when it works?
Why does "cleave" mean both split apart and stick together?
Why does "slow down" and "slow up" mean the same thing?
Why does flammable and inflammable mean the same thing?
Why does the Chinese ideogram for trouble symbolize two women living under one roof?
Why does X stand for a kiss and O stand for a hug?
Why doesn't "onomatopoeia" sound like what it is?
Why don't we say "why" instead of "how come"?
Why is "crazy man" an insult, while to insert a comma and say "Crazy, man!" is a compliment?
Why are a wise man and wise guy opposites? Why is abbreviation such a long word?
Why is dyslexic so hard to spell?
Why is it so hard to remember how to spell MNEMONIC?
Why is it that no word in the English language rhymes with month, orange, silver, or purple?
Why is it that the word "gullible" isn't in the dictionary?
Why is it that we recite at a play and play at a recital?
Why is it that writers write but fingers don't fing, grocers don't groce and hammers don't ham?
Why is the alphabet in that order? Is it because of that song?
Why is the plural of goose-geese, and not the plural of moose-meese? Why isn't "palindrome" spelled the same way backwards?
Why isn't phonetic spelled the way it sounds?

Some of these are funny or just plain silly, others I wonder about. Is "gullible" really not in the dictionary, how could that be? I'm going to check! And I've heard the one about "In Chinese the words for crisis and opportunity are the same" so many times in business settings, is it true? Have a great Monday!

The Deer's Breakfast

2005-07-10T08:59:00.000-07:00

It's Sunday already, and I'll be going to my Mom's soon. I didn't go there last Sunday because of the 4th of July roadtrip we took on Monday. It's not like we missed seeing each other, though, with the eight hours of driving!

The deer are eating my garden despite the fence. It's a portable fence, not a really tall one so I think the mean deer and cohorts (who are tall deer) are just leaning over the fence and snipping the tops off of the beans! They've also eaten up some of the viney things, I think the pumpkin hill is gone. but pumpkins don't grow well here anyway, the growing season isn't long enough.

Yesterday we went to the Red Mug much earlier than normal and the place was dead. I could've used their fast-connection computer but was too busy talking with friends. We all are applying for jobs, well at least talking about it. I haven't actually applied for anything because I have no printer at home. There are a couple of nice positions open but not the one I had hoped.

I "get" to travel for work in August. It's been a long time since I've had to do that, since last October, I think. We're flying out to where our convention will be held this fall. I have to meet with the reg people and set up all of that. We're also meeting with the hotel people and maybe even looking around the around a bit. All of my co-workers have been out there several times but me, I've never been there. That's both a good and bad thing!

Many of the jokes circulating in E-mail are old jokes, here's one I've heard before at least twice but it's still kinda funny:

Cowboy in Church
One Sunday a cowboy went to church. When he entered, he saw that he and the preacher were the only ones present. The preacher asked the cowboy if he wanted him to go ahead and preach.The cowboy said, "I'm not too smart, but if I went to feed my cattle and only one showed up, I'd still feed him."So the minister began his sermon.

One hour passed, then two hours, then two-and-a-half hours. The preacher finally finished and came down to ask the cowboy how he liked the sermon.The cowboy answered slowly, "Well, I'm not very smart, but if I went to feed my cattle and only one showed up, I sure wouldn't feed him all the hay."

Have a great Sunday and the rest of your weekend!

Ten Things You Should Do If You Encounter a UFO

2005-07-08T06:06:00.000-07:00

This subject has come up in blogs before. I'm not sure that I "believe" in UFOs (like they're a religion, or something!) but I've seen one as a child. It landed on a dark hill only feet away from where I'd had been standing with my telescope. I was no longer there when it came down. I had grabbed the 'scope and run down the hill for home.

Thinking back, I wish that I had stayed to watch it more closely. Had it really been a UFO or some sort of military steath aircraft? There were open fields all around and no place to hide to spy on it without being seen (it had a spotlight) so I probably did the best thing when I instinctively ran in terror. But back then we didn't have a handy guideline like the one below from one of my favorite Web sites, Impact Lab. A link for it is on the lower right-hand side of this page.

Ten Things You Should Do If You Encounter a UFO
Every year, more than 70,000 reports of UFO sightings come into UFO research organizations around the world. While it is true that nine out of 10 sightings are explainable, it is also true that only one in 10 is ever reported, and each year the number of reports increases.Is this because there are more sightings? Is it because more people are willing to come forward and report their sightings to researchers? Or could it simply be that, in the past, witnesses did not know where to report sightings? Whatever the case may be, and you could make a case for all three, the fact remains that the number of reports is going up at an incredible rate. There are far more reports than investigators, and that is where the witnesses must help the investigator. Think of the sighting like a crime. Though the only crime being committed is the one our government commits by its unwillingness to openly investigate such sightings, I say think of it as a crime because you never know what is going to happen, and you need to remember exact details of the event for recall at a later time. The information that follows is designed to help you help investigators.
1. The No. 1 thing to remember is REMAIN CALM! But protect yourself from any hazards real or perceived. Be prepared to take evasive (but not aggressive) action to get out of its way. Remember: You might be witnessing the event of a lifetime and will want to remember every detail. You can't do that if you are hysterical.

2. Be objective. Not every UFO is extraterrestrial. Eliminate every other possibility (within your means) first. Only after that should you consider the possibility that what you saw might be a true UFO.

3. Use a camcorder or camera to record the event. Try to keep reference points in the field of view, as this will aid researchers in analyzing the film. If you do not have a camera or camcorder, draw pictures of what you saw and the area around it.

4. If you have a tape recorder, record your description of the event as it happens. Include reference points on this tape also. For example, "I am about 10 yards from the big oak tree and the craft is 30 yards beyond that." If you don't have a tape recorder, write down your observations right after the event.

5. If other witnesses are present, ask them to write or record their observations. But do NOT discuss the event with them (at least until after your observations have been recorded) as investigators want to know what you saw, not what your neighbor saw.

6. If the UFO left some trace of its presence behind, do not disturb the area around it, and restrict access to the site (it's not a crime anymore; it's now a crime scene). Photograph the area around the site before you enter the area, and make note of the exact position of everything. Take close-up photos or videotape the evidence before touching it. Remember: You don't know what you're touching, where it came from or what type of hazards might be associated with it.

7. If the sighting is from a distance, at an arms length, what would it take to cover up the object? A quarter? A penny? A dime? An aspirin? Or would it take something bigger? A golf ball? A baseball? Or a tennis ball?

8. Try to judge the distance from you to the object, the object's altitude and its speed. Was it across the street or was it over the next field? Was it treetop level or was it a few hundred feet up? Did it cross the sky in five seconds or five minutes?

9. Should you encounter some type of extraterrestrial being associated with the craft, be prepared to take evasive action to protect yourself. From a safe distance, in a concealed position, photograph or videotape the being. If you are unable to safely get photos of the being, draw it and write down a description as soon as it is safe to do so.

10. Immediately report the event to a UFO research organization for investigation. There are several such organizations around the world. The Mutual UFO Network is the largest and most noted of these organizations, with investigators in all 50 states and around the world.

OK, so now we know what to do when we see a UFO (I wonder, should I carry the 10 with me to refer to like a crib sheet, just in case?). Somehow I can't see fumbling with the tattered and torn list, in the dark, while a spooky space vehicle lands nearby as a great option!

Have you ever see a UFO? Have any photos?

Blogger Image Meme

2005-07-07T05:13:00.000-07:00

I woke up too early this morning and starting watching the news about the horrible explosions in London. Not much is known about them yet, at least as reported on American TV.

I "borrowed" this from "Head Below Water" Katie from Missouri, US, I've been meaning to post it the past couple of days before it becomes ubiquitous, but too much else has been going on.

These questions would work better for people who actually know each other in real life, of course. But sometimes I wonder about my blogger image! I think it would be cool to see how other bloggers answer these questions, when you've never really met me. Please satisfy my curiosity and answer them the best you can, thanks!

1. Who are you?
2. Are we friends?
3. When and how did we meet?
4. Do you have a crush on me?
5. Would you kiss me?
6. Give me a nickname and explain why you picked it.
7. Describe me in one word.
8. What was your first impression?
9. Do you still think that way about me now?
10. What reminds you of me?
11. If you could give me anything what would it be?
12. How well do you know me?
13. When's the last time you saw me?
14. Ever wanted to tell me something but couldn't?
15. Are you going to put this on your blog and see what I say about you?

A funny from my E-mail
Hitch-hiking A guy was hitch-hiking on a very dark and stormy night. The night was getting on and no cars went by. Suddenly he saw a car roll slowly toward him and stop. Without thinking about it, the guy jumped into the back seat and closed the door when he suddenly realized there was nobody behind the wheel!

Just then the car started slowly rolling forward again. He was beginning to get really freaked out when he noticed a curve in the road ahead. He was just thinking about climbing into the front seat when a hand mysteriously appeared through the window and moved the wheel.

The guy, paralyzed in terror, watched how the hand appeared every time right before a curve. Gathering his courage, the guy finally jumped out of the car and ran to the nearest town.

Wet and in shock, he went to a restaurant and started telling everybody about the horrible experience he just went through. About half an hour later, two guys walked into the same restaurant. They were looking around for a table when one said to the other, "Hey, look, isn't that the jerk who got in the car when we were pushing it?"

Cemetery Tour #4, Epitaphs #4

2005-07-06T06:24:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I had a busy busy day at work. Last night we went to Forest Hill Cemetery. It's 220 acres and adjacent to Park Hill, where we visited last week. The original cemetery was in the eastern part of Duluth and was moved to the present location in the 1870's to 1890's.

First we stopped by the office where the caretaker showed us some large indoor vaults. Some were large with interred bodies and smaller ones with cremated remains. The caretaker called the area with the smaller ones the "crematery". He said that the funeral industry is changing, 50% of the funerals in his cemetery are cremations now.

There are four miles of road, narrow and winding, up and down steep hills. We drove around quite a lot but did get out to walk around a couple of times. We saw where Elizabeth Congdon, the Glensheen heiress and murder victim is buried. I took a photo of the large beautiful cross in front of her and many other ancestor graves in the Congdon family. The sun was at the wrong angle, so probably it won't turn out well.

We saw two family names, related to the Congdons that were familiar to me. My Dad used to work as a guide on the river and as sort of a caretaker for the wealthy people who lived there. Even though we eagerly asked him about it when we were kids, he never talked about it much. Only said that he didn't like working for rich people! He stopped working for them shortly after he and my mother married, so it was history by the time we came along.

There were some really beautiful markers and mausoleums in this cemetery. Our instructor told us it's the rich people's cemetery and next week we go to the Potter's Field for the Poor Farm, a sanitarium and an early hospital. She said we would see quite a difference from the ornate stones in the Forest Hill Cemetery.

When I was driving to the family reunion on Monday, we drove by several cemeteries which I mentioned, as in "Look! There's a cool looking cemetery!" and my Mom laughed and shook her head, saying "You really have quite the obsession with them now, don't you?" But now she wants to go and look at some interesting cemeteries too. She's been bitten by the bug!

Epitaphs #4

Personalities

EVERYBODY LOVES SOMEBODY SOMETIME
Dean Martin

Truth and History.
21 Men. The Boy Bandit King
He Died As He Lived
William H. Bonney "Billy the Kid"

Mary Lefavour
died 1797
aged 74 years
Reader pass on and ne'er waste your time
On bad biography and bitter rhyme.
For what I am this cumb'rous clay insures,
And what I was, is no affair of yours.
Topsfield, Massachusetts

I was somebody.
Who, is no business
of yours.
Stowe, Vermont

Here lies the body of
Jane Gordon
With mouth almighty
and teeth accordin!
Marblehead, Massachusetts

Cold is my bed, but oh, I love it,
For colder are my friends above it.
Calvary Cemetery, Chicago, Illinois

Here lies a man who while he lived
Was happy as a linnet.
He always lied while on the earth
And now he's lying in it.

On the four husbands of Ivy Saunders:
Here lies my husbands 1 - 2 - 3
As still as men could ever be.
As for the fourth: Praise be to God
He still abides above the sod:
Abel, Seth and Leidy were the first 3 names
and to make things tidy I'll add his - James.
Shutesbury

Here lies
Suzannah Ensign;
Lord she is thin *
(* Should read "thine") Cooperstown, New York

On a miser who wanted to save money:
Thorp's Corpse.
When his wife died, the wording was changed to:
Here lieth Thorpses Corpses.

The dust of
Melantha Gribbling
Swept up at last
by the Great Housekeeper
Woodville, England

On a hypochondriac's grave:
See. I told you
I was SICK!
Littleton, Colorado

On Margaret Daniels grave at Hollywood Cemetery Richmond, Virginia:
She always said her feet were killing her
but nobody believed her.

Surnames caused rhyming problems for the stonecutter.
Here beneath this pile of stones
Lies all thats left of Sally Jones.
Her name was Smith, not Jones,
But Jones was used to rhyme with stones.

Here lie the remains of
Thomas Woodhen.
The most amiable of husbands
And excellent of men.
His real name was Woodcock
But it wouldn't come in rhyme.
Dunoon, Scotland

There are several funny ones, my favorites are: Thorpses Corpses and Suzannah Ensign.

The Circle of Life

2005-07-05T06:12:00.000-07:00

Well, it's back to work today. After eight hours of driving, a lot of partying and some fun, the work week begins.

My son and I came home at the same time last night, from different directions! He from work and me from the family reunion. He quickly got ready, ate potato salad and a burger and went off to join his friends while I checked my E-mail. At about 10:00 PM I was getting tired and got ready for bed. Unfortunately I went to bed and fell asleep. My little dog started fussing and I told her to hush and "go to bed."

Well, it was too bad that I was too groggy to realize what was happening, I missed the fireworks! It was a such a shame for two reasons: I really love fireworks and you don't get to see them all that often; and from our yard (we're up on a hill) we can see three separate sets! Duluth fireworks, shot off from Bayfront Park, Superior's fireworks from Barker's Island and the little town nearby us, from the fairgrounds. I slept (and you can HEAR them booming) through all three displays. Sad. Then I woke up at 4:00 AM this morning and couldn't go back to sleep. Son came home at 5:00 and he, our little dog and I went for a walk to the cold mist.

As you may have figured out long before I did, family reunions can be a mix of happiness, sadness and fun! My Mom's only remaining brother was there, as she had hoped. But his wife was not, she is in the hospital not doing well at all. All of their kids came back home to Minnesota, some from the west coast. So it doesn't look good. My uncle was distracted and worried too, but as kind and gentle as always. I had never noticed before how much he looks like my Mom!

The party was held at a cousin's place, she inherited it when her mother (my favorite aunt, the one who took us camping once) died. It was neat to see the place again after all these years and see all that they have done with it. It brought back memories of visiting there as a child, my mother would return once a year to see everyone. I liked all the animals and the adults were kind, but I was a shy child and the other cousins all knew each other well. So I felt very out-of-place with them. And because I saw them only once a year or less I never did get to know them.

There were many cool things about it, Brighton is so correct about being good blogging material! Many things for me to think and write about. One of the neatest things was when the hostess' (my cousin's) pregnant daughter came with all of her little children. The littlest girl looks exactly like her grandma when I knew her when we were kids! It was so cool and reassuring, somehow, that no matter what, life goes on. And that our lives matter, we're connected.

An oldie from my E-mail:
There is a new virus. The code name is "WORK"
If you receive WORK from your colleagues, your boss, via e-mail, or from anyone else--do not touch WORK under any circumstances...

This virus wipes out your private life completely.

If you should happen to come in contact with this virus, take two friends and go straight to the nearest bar.

Order drinks and after three rounds, you will find that WORK has been completely deleted from your brain.

Forward this virus warning immediately to at least five friends.

Should you realize you do not have five friends, this means you are already infected by this virus and WORK already controls your whole life.

If this is the case, go to the bar and stay until you make at least five friends.

Then retry.
_______________________

A pessimist is a person who has had to listen to too many optimists. Don Marquis from The Famous Joke of the Day One Liner!

Tonight is another cemetery tour! Hope I'm up to it. I'm a bit tired from yesterday….
_______________________

Bad Daughter, Good Daughter

2005-07-04T06:53:00.000-07:00

Happy Fourth of July to all of us that celebrate it! Happy July 4th to the rest of the world!

I'm heading out today, no not for work. We have the day off as a holiday and I had been looking forward to doing odds and ends here at home and catching up with things. When I visited my Mom last Sunday, she showed me a flyer of her family reunion on the Fourth of July. Even though I could tell that she wanted to go, she took my lack of interest well and dropped the subject. By Monday, the next day, though, I was feeling guilty! She's getting up in age and out of all her siblings, she only has one brother left and he will be at the reunion. I started thinking that really, she ought to go to the party. But I didn't want to be the one to take her, I was hoping my older brother would do it. I waited all week until Saturday night, even called him but he and his family were gone for the holiday. They have two married sons and two grandchildren and like to see them often. I barely know the sons and their wives and have only seen the little granddaughter twice, the last time was several years ago.

So I bit the bullet and called Mom up 8:00 PM on Saturday night. She was surprised, then thrilled that she'd get to see her family! OK, I'm sure you're thinking, well it's MY family too--but I don't even know them! I once had a class with a first cousin and after other people pointed out how much we looked alike, we realized that we were closely related! We were too different to hang around much and I never did get to know her.

That's how it is with all of my family, on both sides. I don't even know them, wouldn't recognize most, haven't kept up with marriages, divorces, births and deaths so it's awkward, to say the least to go to this party. Because they all know each other quite well and they can recognize me easily, as the only outsider! They call me by name and ask about my son when I don't even know who they are! My mother is not helpful in this respect either, pushing me forward like a little kid and saying things like "Oh you must remember Shirley! She's Lulu's daughter!" No, sorry I don't. I've seen Shirley once or twice when I was a kid, I don't remember her at all! And even if I vaguely did recall her, is she the one who got divorced? Or the one who lost a child? I'd hate to say cheerily, "How are your kids?" if one had died! Or "How are your family?" if her husband had just left her. So although I like people and parties, it takes a bit to become comfortable at these gatherings, by that time it's time to go!

As long as I'm whining a little here, let's look at the logistics, another reason I wasn't keen on going. My Mom lives in Wisconsin, an hour's drive away from me, first I have to go and pick her up. Then I will be retracing my steps, passing within miles of my house to drive two hours to the party. When the party is done, which will be fairly late at night, I will need to drive past my house again to bring her back to Wisconsin! Then drive back home to Minnesota.

I wasn't initially pleased at the prospect of being on the road so much on a holiday. And Tuesday is a work day. I was hoping my son could come along too, to help drive, but being in retail, he has to work today. By the time he gets done, the party will be over and we'll be coming back. It's just as well as he wanted to do something with his friends after work. He has been very good about taking Mom to doctor's appointments and such, when he can.

That's one of the reasons I was really hoping my older brother could take her, he lives in Wisconsin only 15 miles away from her. But he's irritated with her for some reason (I don't want to get in the middle) and hasn't been coming to visit her much at all this year. My younger brother often exclaims how fun the family reunion would be, to win points with Mom, but he hasn't ever taken her there. He lives several states away. But she's sure that he would if he could. OK.

Well, you'll be happy to know that once I told her that I would come and pick her up for the party, she was so happy and excited about it that I knew I'd done the right thing. And you know what? The party will probably even be sort of fun, and I've said before that I like road trips!

From my E-mail, for a Monday:
Job Market

If you're in the job market right now you might want to familiarize yourself with the Human Resources Lingo...

"COMPETITIVE SALARY" We remain competitive by paying less than our competitors.

"JOIN OUR FAST-PACED COMPANY" We have no time to train you.

"CASUAL WORK ATMOSPHERE" We don't pay enough to expect that you'll dress up.

"MUST BE DEADLINE-ORIENTED" You'll be six months behind schedule on your first day.

"SOME OVERTIME REQUIRED" Some time each night and some time each weekend.

"DUTIES WILL VARY" Anyone in the office can boss you around.

"MUST HAVE AN EYE FOR DETAIL" We have no quality control.

"APPLY IN PERSON" If you're old, fat or ugly you'll be told the position has been filled.

"NO PHONE CALLS PLEASE" We've filled the job; our call for resumes is just a legal formality.

"SEEKING CANDIDATES WITH A WIDE VARIETY OF EXPERIENCE" You'll need it to replace three people who just left.

"PROBLEM-SOLVING SKILLS A MUST" You're walking into a company in perpetual chaos.

"REQUIRES TEAM LEADERSHIP SKILLS" You'll have the responsibilities of a manager, without the pay or respect.

"GOOD COMMUNICATION SKILLS" Management communicates, you listen, figure out what they want and do it.
____________________

Sunday Weather Report

2005-07-03T07:52:00.000-07:00

Dotty, from "Blue Days Diary" has done the coolest thing I've seen on a blog lately! It's an End of Year Report. It's clever and creative. I think it would be a wonderful idea to do one of these for your birthday (or on December 31st) every year! I'm going to do one soon, but may just keep it in my notebook journal and not post it online. It won't be as entertaining as Dotty's.

Thunder is crashing all around. I suppose I should not be on the computer. Usually I'm very careful of things like that after I had a brand new TV get zapped! It was still under warranty, which was lucky for me but the smell was hard to clean out of the house.

Earlier this morning I had the ferrets and my little dog outside to play. It already smelled like rain. I love listening to the wind in the trees and the birds in the morning. There was a train coming closer to the small town nearby. I could hear it faintly, blowing its whistle at every intersection. I love the sound of trains. We stayed out until the wind picked up and the trees were thrashing about. Dark clouds were moving quickly, the faint thunder we had been hearing was getting louder and more frequent. I love storms, especially to sit outside and watch them come in (bounce off the lake and return, usually too). But the animals were nervous about the thunder, so all of us came back inside the house.

Now, I hear rain. I have the window open to cool the house off from yesterday's heat. I have a mosquito bite on my left eyelid, near the lashes. It looks very odd and although I normally don't mess with mosquito bites, I'm putting a cold washcloth on my eye to get the swelling down. I suppose a mosquito or two got into the house yesterday when I was going in and out all day. We don't have a screen door. The door is so narrow that none of the regular sizes would fit, it would have to be custom built.

I also have three blisters on my hand from mowing the lawn yesterday. Geez, you'd think I never did any yardwork, my hands are too soft. Mowing was brutal too, because it was so hot and humid. I actually had to stop when I was almost done just to come in and cool off before I fainted or something! I've never been a fan of working out in the hot sun, did it too much as a child. I would get so sick that I'd be vomiting and my head would feel ready to explode, I even fainted a couple of times. But my parents thought I was faking it to get out of work. I wish. I avoid strenuous effort in the hot sun when at all possible now. Can you blame me?

Joke for Sunday (I've heard this one several times before, but it's still good)
The Lord Will Save Me!
It rained for days and days and there was a terrific flood. The water rose so high that one man was forced to climb on top of his roof and sat in the rain. As the waters came up higher a man in a rowboat came up to the house and told him to get in. "No thank you, the Lord will save me!" he said, and the man in the rowboat rowed away.The waters rose to the edge of the roof and still the man sat on the roof until another rowboat came by and another man told him to get in. "No thank you, the Lord will save me!" he said again, and the man rowed away. The waters covered the house and the man was forced to sit on his chimney as the rain poured down and a helicopter came by and another man urged him to get in or he'll drown. "No thank you," the man said again, "The Lord will save me!" After much begging and pleading the man in the helicopter gave up and flew away. The waters rose above the chimney and the man drowned and went to heaven where he met God."Lord, I don't understand," he told Him, frustrated, "The waters rose higher and higher and I waited hours for you to save me but you didn't! Why?" The Lord just shook his head and said, "What are you talking about? I sent two boats and a helicopter?!"

OK, that thunder is VERY close now, I'd better sign off!

Meme and a Movie

2005-07-02T10:36:00.000-07:00

We saw the movie "The Aviator" last night. I really like biographies. This one has quite a few stars: Alec Baldwin, Alan Alda, John C. Reilly , Jude Law, Brent Spiner, Gwen Stefani, Cate Blanchett and Leonardo DiCaprio, of course as Howard Hughes. I didn't think this movie was very flattering to Katharine Hepburn, although Cate Blanchett got her voice and mannerisms quite well. Hepburn was depicted as a publicity hound and jealous of the media's attraction to Hughes.

Howard Hughes was portrayed as a demented genius, and from what I've read about him, that was true. In fact I'd heard about many of the happenings in this movie before as bits of aviation history. DiCaprio played Hughes excellently, I think, illustrating the gradual slide from somewhat of a germaphobe to the man we've read about who was a crazy fanatic about certain things. It's a long movie, drags a bit in spots but worth watching.

Last night I took the ferrets outside to play. The air was filled with a sweet, flowery fragrance. I think it was clover. Ahhhh summer!

Burning questions meme. Saturday is the perfect day to do a personal reveal thing. (There aren't many bloggers online!) These are difficult questions…

Who is your hero?
My mother, she worked 42 years for the railroad as a Telegrapher, was the breadwinner in our family and with my Dad, raised three children. She used to have a brutal tongue, you didn't mess with my Mom! She has since mellowed with age.

What's the best advice you've ever received?
"Don't worry, be happy!" I tend to be a worrier and therefore a planner. I worry about things that might, may or could happen and plan out contingencies for them all. If they gave out grades for worrying, I'd have an A+. But worrying distracts from my actual, real-time life. Plus most of the things I worry about never happen!

What is something that people would be surprised to know about you?
Depends on who would be surprised. My friends and family know everything about me and there isn't anything I could confess that would surprise them. Other people might be surprised to know that I've been married twice and have been published four times.

What is one thing you can't live without?
My friends. They truly are the mainstay of my life. Physical things: fresh air, walks, media, writing in my journal, books, nature, outdoors. Intangible things: adventure, discovery, knowledge, problem solving, change and variety.

What talent do you wish you'd been born with?
I wish that I had musical talent. As I've mentioned, I have absolutely no singing ability. I played the clarinet in my high school band but never became proficient at it. Music is enjoyable just for oneself, and it's great just to get together and make music. I did both as a child and teenager.

Is there any part of your life you would do over?
Lots of things, but that would change the results, too, wouldn't it? I would have finished college the first time, not gotten married and quit school. Would have (initially at least) chosen an environmental or nature career, bought up a huge parcel of land while it still was inexpensive, saved and invested more money, stayed in touch with more friends and family. Oh there are lots of things I would have done differently!

Lame stuff from my E-mail, as befitting a Saturday!
Classic Definitions and Cool Meanings

Cigarette: A pinch of tobacco rolled in paper with fire at one end and a fool at the other.
Love affairs: Something like cricket where one-day internationals are more popular than a five day test.
Lecture: An art of transferring information from the notes of the lecturer to the notes of the students without passing through "the minds of either".
Conference: The confusion of one man multiplied by the number present.
Compromise: The art of dividing a cake in such a way that everybody believes he got the biggest piece.
Tears: The hydraulic force by which masculine willpower is defeated by feminine water-power .
Conference Room: A place where everybody talks, nobody listens & everybody disagrees later on.
Classic: A book which people praise, but do not read.
Office: A place where you can relax after your strenuous home life.
Yawn: The only time some married men ever get to open their mouth. Etc.: A sign to make others believe that you know more than you actually do.
Committee: Individuals who can do nothing individually and sit to decide that nothing can be done together.
Experience: The name people give to their mistakes.
Philosopher: A fool who torments himself during life, to be spoken of when dead.
Opportunist: A person who starts taking a bath if he accidentally falls into a river.
Optimist: A person who while falling from Eiffel Tower says midway "See I am not injured yet."
Pessimist: A person who says that O is the last letter in ZERO, Instead of the first letter in word OPPORTUNITY.
Boss: Someone who is early when you are late and late when you are early.
Politician: One who shakes your hand before elections and your confidence after.
Doctor: A person who quells your ills by pills, and kills you with his bills. Computer Engineer: Someone who gets paid for reading these type of E-mails.

Some of these were rather good and others really stupid. Happy Saturday!
_________________________________

Get even smarter, free!

2005-07-01T06:47:00.000-07:00

I'm really tired, to the point of being groggy. I didn't wake up a lot or at all last night, just went to bed far too late for how early I need to get up! Last night was girl's movie night! We saw http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0369672/ ">A Love Song for Bobby Long" with John Travolta. It was an odd and excellent movie, one of the better ones I've seen lately. It really made me want to visit New Orleans. We had planned to go this fall but the two future trips for work would make it hard to squeeze in, maybe some other time. There are some questions I have about the characters so I would like to read the book. The movie is based on Ronald Everett Capps' soon-to-be-published novel, "Off Magazine Street".

The other movie we saw was "National Treasure" kind of fun, but definitely not a great movie. It had bad dialogue which was dumb sounding instead of funny, trite situations and stereotypes. I was rather surprised because Jon Voigt and Nicolas Cage were in the movie. I found out that I don't like Samuel Adams beer, too heavy and bitter. So all in all it was a fun night even though the hostess' husband came home early and we were still there in his parking place, taking up his spot on the leather couch and eating up the leftovers in the house.

Get even smarter, free!
You probably already know all about this Web site, but this spring I signed up for a free course at Barnes and Noble University. They have more online FREE classes coming up very soon, like:

Buddhism and Everyday LifeLearn Buddhist principles and spiritual techniques drawn from Tibetan tradition, particularly through the writings and experiences of Lama Surya Das.

Empire City: A History of New YorkIn this course, we'll examine how a tiny Dutch trading post established on Manhattan Island in 1624 grew to be the most powerful, and arguably most influential, metropolis of the 20th century. We'll also engage in some lively, New York-style debate on the decisions that were most influential in shaping the city, and what, exactly, makes New York different from every other city in the world.

Everyday EthicsThrough the insightful guidance of Arthur Dobrin, Professor of Humanities and author of your primary text, this course will broaden your understanding of the nature of ethics and provide you with direction in making better moral decisions. Through a brief introduction to ethical theory and case studies of moral problems, you will learn how to increase your ability to think more clearly about the ethical choices you face in your everyday life.

Forensics with Court TVIn this course, created by a forensic specialist from Court TV, you will exercise your own "inner sleuth" as you learn about the history and techniques of forensic science. You will discover forensic "technologies" from ancient China to 21st-century laboratories, and explore the many specialties within the field. Then, you will step into the shoes of a crime scene analyst as you learn how to secure and treat a crime scene, what types of evidence to look for, how to read a body for clues, and which forensic techniques can be used to ultimately solve the crime. Throughout, you'll get to test your skills as you tackle two unsolved forensic mysteries and race your fellow sleuths to the solution!

From Planets to Pulsars: Astronomy BasicsIf you don't know Orion from Neptune, this is the course for you. Learn about the fascinating universe all around us that becomes visible for us to explore each and every night.

Grammar FitnessDo you want to have a way with words? A grasp of standard grammar can help you in your professional life, but it can also be a benefit in expressing yourself to those you love. Get started with this fun course!

A Movie-Goer's Guide to FilmIn this course, you'll learn why the master filmmakers like Alfred Hitchcock are considered great directors; how movies -- the great 20th-century art form -- developed out of 19th-century technology; how the world of special effects has been revolutionized by digital technology; how film has become such an integral part of our lives; and, most importantly, how films work to make us feel and think.

Picasso, Braque and the Dawn of CubismLearn about the artistic movement that made Picasso famous and influenced a century of art.

The Poetry and Life of Emily DickinsonExplore the life and work of one of America's greatest and most distinctive poetic voices. Find out why Dickinson refused to have her work published during her lifetime, and why her reputation has since grown to rival any in the history of our literature.

The Words We Live ByIn this course you will participate in the ongoing, lively conversation that we know as the United States Constitution. What does this document mean? What does it say about Americans as a people? You will explore thought-provoking cases, key individuals and fundamental ideas as well as take a straightforward look at our most influential document.

Writing Poetry with Writer's Digest BooksWhether you aspire to publish your poems or just write privately for someone dear to you, this course, created specifically for BNU by WritersOnlineWorkshops.com (from the publishers of Writer's Digest magazine), will offer you the tools to capture your experiences and feelings and express them in unique, crafted poems. You will also learn to generate new ideas or mine old ones for inspiration. And, by exploring the basic elements of poetic craft, you will gain the confidence and inspiration you need to start writing poetry.

Writing Screenplays with Gotham Writers' WorkshopAll movies begin with a script -- a screenplay. A screenplay is a blueprint for almost every aspect of what appears on screen. This course, created by the acclaimed Gotham Writers’ Workshop, will show you what goes into creating that blueprint. Through a combination of film study, script analysis, lectures, readings, activities and writing exercises, you will learn the fundamentals of screenwriting and gain the confidence and inspiration needed to start writing a screenplay.

Astrology: Planets and PossibilitiesLet bestselling astrologer Susan Miller show you how your life's course relates to the motions of the heavens above.

Become Your Own Pilates TrainerSince the 1920s, millions of people have used the Pilates method to stay fit. This course will provide you with a strong introduction to what has recently become a full-blown fitness craze. Find out why Pilates works, learn the proper techniques for maximizing its effects, and how to avoid the most common mistakes.

Learn Wine Basics with Morrell & CompanyIf you don't know the difference between Merlot and Cabernet, you have come to the right place. Learn about the different red and white grape varieties, and get a grasp on the basics of wine tasting. The course also offers helpful tips on the basics of buying wine, how to order wine in a restaurant, and the proper methods of storage.

Unpuzzling Your Past: An Introduction to Genealogy and Family HistoryAre you interested in learning about your ancestors? In this fun course, you can explore the very popular field of genealogy, a fascinating endeavor that can reveal things you never suspected about yourself.

Yoga for NovicesAlthough it's more popular now than ever, the ancient art of yoga has been helping people look and feel better for centuries. This course will get you started on the road to a fitter and calmer you.

Discuss The Closers with Michael ConnellyAuthor-led Reading Group Begins July 5thDetective Harry Bosch rejoins the LAPD as a "closer" of cold cases. Michael Connelly, master of the modern noir, joins our online reading group again, to talk about his latest journey into Harry's poetically dark world.

Discuss Devil's Corner with Lisa ScottolineAuthor-led Reading Group Begins July 5thA meeting with an informant goes wildly wrong, and a young prosecutor puts it all on the line to pursue her partner's killer. Author Lisa Scottoline joins us once again to discuss her colorful characters and authentic Philadelphia settings.

Discuss The Shadow of the Wind with Carlos Ruiz ZafónAuthor-led Reading Group Begins July 5thPostwar Barcelona is clouded by suspicion and fear. When young Daniel acquires a mysterious rare book, he discovers a world of secrets -- and deadly violence. The internationally bestselling author joins us to discuss his engrossing tale.

Discuss Leeway Cottage with Beth GutcheonAuthor-led Reading Group Begins July 5thMaine, 1940: Danish pianist Laurus journeys back to Europe to fight the Nazis -- and puts a lasting strain on his marriage. Beth Gutcheon leads our discussion of her wonderful novel, and its stunning portrait of Denmark's resistance movement.

Discuss Charlotte Brontë's Haunting Jane EyreModerator-led Reading Group Begins July 5thIrresistable romance combined with a penetrating character study to make Charlotte Brontë's novel an immortal literary classic. Join our conversation with an expert scholar about this enduring masterwork.

Discuss Oscar Wilde's Timeless The Importance of Being EarnestModerator-led Reading Group Begins July 5thIn a comedy whose hilarious wordplay makes it the perfect monument of the author's wit, Wilde satirizes hypocrisy of all kinds. Join our expert-led discussion of Oscar Wilde's most beloved creation.

Well, this isn't the entire list of courses, but a good portion of it. There are also courses on German, grilling, and lawn care among a few others. Of course I have no idea which of these classes are filled and which are still available. There are so many for which I'd like to enroll, but will probably only pick one at a time. How about you, see anything you'd like?!
__________________________

A Sociological Meme

2005-06-30T06:01:00.000-07:00

A Sociological Meme
I must list five things that most of society does that I just don't get. Meme swiped from The Queen.

1. Pre-judge other people on looks or amount of money
Most people will swear that they are free of prejudice but the sad fact is that most of us really aren't. First impressions are considered very important because they can taint or enhance later feelings about that person. It just seems to me that so many people are in denial and will insist that looks or money played absolutely no role in their people picks--but coincidentally, their selections are both affluent and attractive!

2. Not care about old, sick, disabled or poor people
Again, most of us would swear that we DO care about those groups, yet there is a blaming mechanism that affects popular perception, like it's the person's own fault if they are sick, disabled or poor. That line of thought is that somewhere along the way, "those people" just didn't make the right, smart choices (unlike the perceiver!) and got what they deserved.

3. Be mean to other people, just for entertainment
I was initially astounded that the phrase "people watching" didn't mean the same thing to me as it does to many. I like to watch people, they are interesting! But the term "people watching" too often means critiquing, in a mean, negative, nasty way, the appearance, dress and general manner of the people observed. I can't figure out why that would be fun to do, what is the benefit or entertainment in it? Does it make the critiquers feel better about themselves because they feel superior to their victims?

4. Follow fads, religions, politics, whatever without thinking for themselves.
I could say a lot about this but won't, as I don't want to offend anyone, politics and religion are such touchy subjects. Needless to say, fervently believing in something just because someone else says so isn't using one's own thinking and analysis powers!

5. Slot people into particular roles, i.e. women do housework and tend children, men work outside on the lawn and on the car(s).
Yet another area where many people insist that THEY don't do this at all, they have an equal relationship! Yet, in my observation it's rampant. A co-worker visits a relative's house and wonders why the WIFE is such a slob because the house is dirty when both parties work full time. Or the husband/father comes and goes when he pleases while the wife/mother must find a babysitter if she needs to go out. I could give many more examples but will stop to avoid being redundant.

Oh, there are so many more things that most of society does that I just don't get, but we can only name five for this meme, lucky for you! If you'd like a turn at it you're welcome to give it a go.

George Carlin's "Some Favorite Oxymorons"

Assistant supervisor
New tradition
Original copy
Plastic glass
Uninvited guest
Highly depressed
Live recording
Authentic reproduction
Partial cease-fire
Limited lifetime guarantee
Elevated subway
Dry lake
True replica
Forward lateral
Standard options
Mandatory options
Mutual differences
Nondairy creamer
Open secret
Resident alien
Silent alarm
Sports sedan
Wireless cable
Mercy killing
Business ethics
Friendly fire
Genuine veneer
Full-time day care
Death benefits
Holy war
___________________________

2005-06-29T19:01:00.000-07:00

Plastered Peep

Cemetery Tour #3, Epitaphs #3

2005-06-29T06:04:00.000-07:00

Last night we toured two different cemeteries. The first was a small, old cemetery adjacent to Glensheen Mansion. Scandia Cemetery was uneven and rolling, overlooking Lake Superior. It also was one of the more creepy cemeteries that I've visited! Trees and bushes have grown near and pushed over headstones. In many spots the ground is sunken in the shape of a coffin, or in one case, pushed up and mounded in the shape of a coffin. These earthen disturbances are exactly behind the stones, right where the coffin would have been buried. Very creepy, I accidentally stepped into one depression and it was soggy--eek! The cemetery is built on a hill that ends in a bank that is sliding into the lake. I don't know when they started to use vaults for burial but will look it up.

The second cemetery is well named, Park Hill Cemetery. It's like a big, beautiful park, large oak and maple trees and flowering bushes everywhere. We looked at some interesting old headstones in many shapes and types. In the oldest part of the cemetery there were some old Chinese gravestones. Our instructor told us that they had come to the area when the railroads were being built. In another section of the cemetery we saw the graves of Clayton, Jackson McGhie," the three young black circus workers falsely accused of rape who were lynched in Duluth in the 1920's. The three graves each had fresh flowers on them. There was also the grave of Olli Kinkonnen," who was tarred and feathered and then lynched for refusing to enlist for WWI. That history is not well known and there were no flowers on his grave. We also saw the grave of Albert Woolson,," the last Civil War veteran of the Northern Army to die, he had lived to be 109 years old! There were doves, lambs, lily-of-the-valley, roses, crosses, hearts and other symbols on headstones. One large black headstone had the photos of the three family members buried there etched into it.

Here are some more epitaphs!
Unmarried women called "Old Maids" or "spinsters" were another group that could be a source of humor.

1787 - Jones - 1855
Here lie the bones of Sophie Jones;
For her death held no terrors.
She was born a maid and died a maid.
No hits, no runs, and no heirs.*
(* errors) Scranton, Pennsylvania

Ann Mann
Here lies Ann Mann,
Who lived an old maid
But died an old Mann.
December 8, 1767
London, England

Beneath his silent stone is laid
A noisy, antiquated maid,
Who from her cradle talked to death,
And never before was out of breath.
Here lies, returned to clay
Miss Arabella Young,
Who on the eleventh day of May
Began to hold her tongue.
1794-1863

On a spinster postmistress:
Returned--Unopened
In a North Carolina cemetery

There just wasn't enough time for these individuals.
Here lies the father of 29.
He would have had more
But he didn't have time.
Moultrie, Georgia

Here lies the body of Elred.
At least he will be when he is dead.
But now at this time he's still alive,
14th August '65.
Oxford, England. (Elred eventually made it.)

Owen Moore
Gone away
Owin' more
Than he could pay.
Battersea, London, England

This Empty Urn is
Sacred to the Memory
of John Revere
Who Died Abroad
in Finistere:
If He Had Lived
He Would Have Been
Buried Here.
Connemora

Death causing the end of a marriage apparently was a good time for the true feelings of the surviving spouse or family members to be etched on stone for all the world to see.

She lived with her husband for 50 years
And died in the confident hope of a better life.
Burlington, Vermont

Dear Sister
Here lies the body of Mary Ford.
We hope her soul is with the Lord.
But if for hell she's changed this life,
Better live there than as J. Ford's wife.
Sowersby

Grieve not for me my husband dear.
I am not dead but sleeping here.
With patience wait - perforce to die
And in a short time you'll come to I.
And the husband added:
I am not grieved, my dearest life.
Sleep on, I've got another wife.
Therefore, I cannot come to thee
For I must go and live with she.

I plant these shrubs upon your grave dear wife
That something on this spot may boast of life.
Shrubs must wither and all earth must rot.
Shrubs may revive, but you thank heaven will not.

1796 -- WISE -- 1878
Here lies the body of Ephraim Wise.
Safely tucked between his two wives.
One was Tillie and the other Sue.
Both were faithful, loyal, and true.
By his request in ground that's hilly
His coffin is set tilted toward Tillie.
Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada

Tears cannot restore her --
therefore I weep.
In a New Hampshire cemetery.

Sacred to the memory of
My husband
John Barnes
Who died January 3, 1803.
His comely young widow, aged 23,
has many qualifications of a good wife,
and yearns to be comforted.
In a Vermont cemetery

Anna Wallace
The children of Israel wanted bread
And the Lord sent them manna;
Old clerk Wallace wanted a wife,
And the devil sent him Anna.
Ribbesford, England

Here beneath this stone we lie
Back to back my wife and I
And when the angels trump shall trill
If she gets up then I'll lie still!
Barlinine Cemetery, Glasgow, Scotland

Here lies
Elizabeth,
my wife for 47 years,
and this is the first damn thing
she ever done to oblige me.
Streatham Churchyard, England

They abounded in riches
But she wore the britches ...
Essex, England

On an adulterous husband:
Gone, but not forgiven
Atlanta, Georgia

I put my wife beneath this stone
For her repose and for my own.
Middlebury, Vermont

These kind of epitaphs make one wonder--

This stone was raised by Sara's Lord
Not Sara's virtues to record
For they are known to all the town.
This stone was raised to keep her down.
Kilmurry Churchyard, Ireland

Here lies
Ezekiel Aikle
Age 102
The Good
Die Young.
East Dalhousie Cemetery, Nova Scotia

Here lies the body of poor Aunt Charlotte.
Born a virgin, died a harlot.
For 16 years she kept her virginity
A damn'd long time for this vicinity.
Death Valley, California

Here lies Pa.
Pa liked wimin.
Ma caught Pa in with two swimmin.
Here lies Pa.

A stone erected in memory of Brigham Young (Mormon who had multiple wives)

Brigham Young
Born on this spot 1801
A man of much courage and superb equipment.
Whitingham, Vermont

Some atheists claim to fame.
Here lies
an Atheist
All dressed up
And no place to go.
Thurmont, Maryland

Atheist Arthur Haine's epitaph:
Haine
haint
Vancouver, Washington
_____________________________

Book Look

2005-06-28T06:00:00.000-07:00

Book meme copied from The Anchored Nomad.

Name three books on your book shelf. One from each end and one from the middle.
"New York Public Library Desk Reference" on the left end, "Dude, Where's My Country" by Michael Moore on the right end, and "Braindroppings" by George Carlin in the middle. This is just the bookshelf right at my back while sitting at the computer. I have several bookshelves!

What reading material is in your bathroom?
New Yorker, Smithsonian, Fast Company and National Geographic magazines

Favorite authors and why.
Weird, but I'm drawing a blank on this. There are many authors that I like, don't know if I really have a "favorite".

Would you (have you) picked up a woman (or man) in a bookstore?
Have never picked up a woman in a bookstore haha, but met my husband while we were students both working in the college library!

Do you eat while you read? If so what’s your food of choice?
Craisens, I'm crazy about craisens! Also have eaten meals while reading (often). It's one of the pleasures of being an adult! I wasn't allowed to do it as a child.

Name one book you’d recommend for someone searching for meaning or insight or inspiration.
"Wishcraft" (no NOT witchcraft!!!!) By Barbara Sher. This is an old self-help book, very good, and helpful! But there are lots of inspirational books I could name.

Name one book you’d recommend for a day on the beach or a rainy day in the house.
"Angels and Demons" or "Digital Fortress" by Dan Brown, both are fascinating, hard to put down.

Do you judge a book by its cover?
Only if I'm browsing for books at Barnes and Noble. Normally I'm looking for a specific topic, author or title.

In the bookstore, what section do you head to first?
The new non-fiction table, then history, then social studies.

It wouldn't work for me, from my E-mail:

Running Errands
Freddie was eighteen years old, friendly, and eager to do things right. Unfortunately, he wasn't especially bright. He had just started his first job, as a delivery boy and general "go-fer" at a furniture warehouse. His first task was to go out for coffee.

He walked into a nearby coffee shop carrying a large thermos. When the counterman finally noticed him, he held up the thermos.

"Is this big enough to hold six cups of coffee?" he said. The counterman looked at the thermos, hesitated for a few seconds, then finally said, "Yeah. It looks like about six cups to me."

"Good," Freddie said. "Give me two regular, two black, and two decaf."

Also from my E-mail:
The things children say...
"Close the curtains," requested our 2-year old granddaughter, sitting in a pool of bright light. "The sun's looking at me too hard."

My friend asked our grandson when he would turn 6. He replied, "When I'm tired of being 5."

His mom informed her son, Brian, that she was going outside to get a little sun. "But Mommy, he gulped, "You already have a son -- me!"

Seeing her first hailstorm, Mary Sue, age 3, exclaimed, "Mommy, it's raining dumplings!"

When our son asked about two look-alike classmates at school, we told him they were probably twins. The next day, he came home from school all bubbly and said, "Guess what? They are not only twins, they're brothers!"

As I frantically waved away a pesky fly with a white dishtowel, my granddaughter observed, "Maybe he thinks you're surrendering."

Announcing to daughter Lori that her aunt just had a baby and it looked like her uncle, she said, "You mean he has a mustache?"

When I asked our grandson if he could name the capital of Florida, he fired right back, "capital F!"

While shampooing our son, 4, I noted his hair was growing so fast he'd soon need it cut. He replied, "Maybe we shouldn't water it so much."

My daughter told her 5-year-old that their van was going to be fixed. Instantly, the small fry assumed, "Oh, it's going to the tire-o-practor?"

Impressed by her 5-year-old's vocabulary, my friend complimented the young scholar, who nonchalantly responded, " I have words in my head I haven't even used yet."
____________________

Segue into Monday

2005-06-27T06:07:00.000-07:00

I forgot to mention an interesting thing that happened last week. I was waiting for the elevator (I have a sore toe so have curtailed my stair climbing to only once up and down per day) to get to the bottom floor and go home. The elevator door opened and there was a man with a
Segway" you know, one of those electric scooters that were touted as the "next great invention". He wore biking gear, including a helmet and told us (me and a guy who got on one floor lower) that he is starting a new business on Canal Park with the scooters. He will rent them out for tourists and others to use on Duluth's beautiful Lakewalk! I'd like to try that some time, wonder how expensive it is? He didn't give us a riding/rental price. But when the other elevator passenger asked about the price of the scooters the Segway guy just replied "Very expensive" so I suppose the rides will be too, with the insurance required and all. But it was cool to actually see one of the scooters, had only seen them on TV or in print media. Have you seen one yet, are they common anywhere yet?

Mensa Invitational Winners

The Washington Post's Mensa Invitational once again asked readers to take any word from the dictionary, alter it by adding, subtracting, or changing of one letter, and supply a new definition.

Here are this year's {2005} winners:

1. Cashtration (n.): The act of buying a house, which renders the subject
financially impotent for an indefinite period.

2. Ignoranus: A person who's both stupid and an asshole. In other words...BHS

3. Intaxication: Euphoria at getting a tax refund, which lasts until you realize it was your money to start with.

4. Reintarnation: Coming back to life as a hillbilly.

5. Bozone (n.): The substance surrounding stupid people that stops bright ideas from penetrating. The bozone layer, unfortunately, shows little sign of breaking down in the near future.

6. Foreploy: Any misrepresentation about yourself for the purpose of getting laid.

7. Giraffiti: Vandalism spray-painted very, very high.

8. Sarchasm: The gulf between the author of sarcastic wit and the person who
doesn't get it.

9. Inoculatte: To take coffee intravenously when you are running late.

10. Hipatitis: Terminal coolness.

11. Osteopornosis: A degenerate disease. (This one got extra credit.)

12. Karmageddon: It's like, when everybody is sending off all these really bad vibes, right? And then, like, the Earth explodes and it's like, a serious bummer.

13. Decafalon (n.): The grueling event of getting through the day consuming only things that are good for you.

14. Glibido: All talk and no action.

15. Dopeler effect: The tendency of stupid ideas to seem smarter when they come at you rapidly.

16. Arachnoleptic fit (n.): The frantic dance performed just after you've accidentally walked through a spider web.

17. Beelzebug (n.): Satan in the form of a mosquito,that gets into your bedroom at three in the morning and cannot be cast out.

18. Caterpallor (n): The color you turn after finding half a worm in the fruit you're eating.

_______________________

The Last Day of This Weekend

2005-06-26T08:00:00.000-07:00

Just put the ferrets outside--in their outside cage. No way could I just leave them to play on the dirt pile unattended and be inside blogging. It'd be like letting two-year olds play outside unsupervised, just can't do it. The two little animals started leaping for joy at the fresh air. I felt like doing that too! I always love fresh air and it's a treat to get some coolness again after wilting all day yesterday. Even the house is cooled off, finally by having an open window and many fans going all night long.

I'm drinking my one cup of coffee, it's been a couple of weeks since I cut down on coffee, and surprise, I'm sleeping much better! It really was a surprise to me as I honestly thought it wasn't effecting me, but it obviously was. There are days where I have more than a cup of coffee, but never again like I was drinking it, cups and cups all day long. I thought it wasn't effecting me because I could initially fall asleep quite easily, but would wake up over and over all night long. I don't wake up much anymore, which isn't so good for my dream diary (you don't remember dreams as well then) but I feel much more rested and healthier.

Later I'll drive out to my Mom's. Last week we flipped the days and I visited her on Saturday because she wanted to go to her church's rummage sale on Saturday. I scored some nice things there too, as mentioned in a previous post. Yesterday I went to one rummage sale, twice! The first time I got a couple of useful things, including a tall floor lamp so I can read while sitting on the couch. The house is dark and lit only by little table lamps here and there. My son was just getting up when I came home and was interested in the floor lamp for his dark room. So I went back and got another floor lamp, some beautiful poppy-decorated trays (I love trays, for some reason, even though I don't entertain up here at all!) a book about the Bible, maps, pictures of the money used and other interesting things. Went home and son was getting ready for work. We lugged (it was heavy) the lamp into his room, put in all new lightbulbs and---it didn't work! Such a bummer. Wonder if I can take it back and exchange? Probably not, as a rummage sale is NOT like buying from a store.

Yesterday I also went to the Red Mug and showed my friend all the cool stuff from my Cemetery Tour Class. She and I and another friend are planning to re-tour all the places I went to for class sessions. I'll tell them as much as I remember about what was said. Both of them are interested in history and can tell me a few things about the cemeteries, too. My Red Mug companion's family is buried in Oneota Cemetery so she knows quite a bit about it!

Here's a meme from Stacy, The Peanut Queen and I Love What I Hate (magicfingers).

2 Snacks I love - Doritos, craisens

0 Songs I Know All The Words To, Even Without the Music - none, "Happy Birthday" maybe? I'm not a good singer, partly because I can't remember lyrics or the tune.

3 Things I Would Do With $100,000,000: Bank it and live on the interest (maybe, depends on how much that would be) and since I wouldn't have to work for a living, do volunteer work instead.

2 Locations I`d Like to Run Away To: Temporarily to Chicago or Idaho.

2 Bad Habits I Have: Where do I start, hmmmm, buying out-of-print books online, doing just one more thing before leaving to go somewhere,

5 Things I like Doing: walking, blogging, reading, watching movies, writing

2 Things I Would Never Wear: suspenders

3 Movies I Like: The Kill Bills, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

2 Famous People I'd like to Meet: Peace Pilgrim and Quentin Crisp (neither are still living)

2 Biggest Frustrations at the moment: work, too warm temperatures

Jokes for Sunday:

An Audience With the Pope

A man who is an avid golfer finally gets a once-in-a-lifetime chance for an audience with the Pope. After standing in line for hours, he gets to the Pope and says, "Holiness, I have a question that only you can answer. You see, I love golf, and I feel a real need to know if there is a golf course in heaven. Can you tell me if there is?"

The Pope considers for a moment, and says, "I do not know the answer to your question, my son, but I will talk to God and get back to you."The next day the man is called for another audience with the Pope to receive the answer to his question. He stands before the Pope, who says, "My son, I have some good news and some bad news in relation to your question. The good news is that heaven has the most fabulous golf course that you could imagine and is in eternally perfect shape."

"And what's the bad news?" asks the man.

"You tee-off tomorrow morning," the Pope replies.

Cop With a Collar

A young clergyman, fresh out of seminary, thought it would help him better understand the fears and temptations his future congregations faced if he first took a job as a policeman for several months. He passed the physical examination; then came the oral exam to test his ability to act quickly and wisely in an emergency. Among other questions he was asked, “What would you do to disperse a frenzied crowd?”

He thought for a moment and then said, “I would take up a collection.”
______________________

Saturday is not a workday

2005-06-25T08:09:00.000-07:00

This morning I woke up realizing my alarm hadn't gone off, it had rung accidentally at 5:30 PM and I hadn't re-set it. I leaped (sort of) out of bed and looked at the time, 5:40 AM, not too late. I went into the bathroom and started getting ready for work. I got as far as starting to get dressed, looked at my jeans, and then stopped. If I wore jeans yesterday, today must be Saturday! Tired as I was it dawned on me that SATURDAY IS NOT A WORKDAY! So I took the dog for a walk, got eaten by mosquitoes and returned happy that it's a weekend. How did I forget that?

Yesterday was a strange day at work. My remaining favorite co-worker is applying for another position. It's a wonderful job for which she's totally suitable. I wrote a letter of recommendation and hope she gets hired. But then I'll truly be alone at work, and it sure won't be nice for me. Without her I will have absolutely nobody to talk to, no allies and with the restructuring, that's not a good thing.

My job has a lot of good things about it, but people contact is not one of them. When my last favorite co-worker is gone, like she was on Thursday, the entire day can go by without talking to anyone but delivery people and phone callers. While I'm not super-sociable, I do like a few mini-conversations with co-workers off and on throughout the day. A day without human contact is quite a long day at work. Oh there are other people at work, they just don't talk to me. We have sort of a caste system going on there. As the lowest ranking person in the office I'm sort of an untouchable to certain, more snobby people. My favorite co-workers (there were originally three of them) treated me like anybody else. The trouble is, they didn't get treated well and found other jobs elsewhere.

I did go and ask my boss if I was going to be downsized. She told me I had nothing to worry about but she didn't look at me while saying it (and she's one who stares you in the eyes while talking) and her body language was evasive. So no new news on that, I guess.

From my E-mail:
George Carlin's Views on Aging (and some inspiration)
Do you realize that the only time in our lives when we like to get old is when we're kids? If you're less than 10 years old, you're so excited about aging that you think in fractions.

"How old are you?" "I'm four and a half!" You're never thirty-six and a half. You're four and a half, going on five!

That's the key.

You get into your teens, now they can't hold you back. You jump to the next number, or even a few ahead.

"How old are you?" "I'm gonna be 16!" You could be 13, but hey, you're gonna be 16! And then the greatest day of your life...you become 21. Even the words sound like a ceremony...YOU BECOME 21. YESSSS!!!

But then you turn 30. Oooohh, what happened there? Makes you sound like bad milk. He TURNED 30! We had to throw him out. There's no fun now, you're Just a sour-dumpling. What's wrong? What's changed?

You BECOME 21, you TURN 30, then you're PUSHING 40.

Whoa! Put on the brakes, it's all slipping away. Before you know it, you REACH 50...and your dreams are gone.

But wait!!! You MAKE it to 60. You didn't think you would!

So you BECOME 21, TURN 30, PUSH 40, REACH 50 and MAKE it to 60.

You've built up so much speed that you HIT 70! After that it's a day-by-day thing; you HIT Wednesday!

You get into your 80s and every day is a complete cycle; you HIT lunch; you TURN 4:30; you REACH bedtime.

And it doesn't end there. Into the 90s, you start going backwards; "I was JUST 92."

Then a strange thing happens. If you make it over 100, you become a little kid again. "I'm 100 and a half!"

May you all make it to a healthy 100 and a half!!

HOW TO STAY YOUNG

1. Throw out nonessential numbers. This includes age, weight and height. Let the doctors worry about them. That is why you pay them.

2. Keep only cheerful friends. The grouches pull you down.

3. Keep learning. Learn more about the computer, crafts, gardening, whatever. Never let the brain idle.

4. Enjoy the simple things.

5. Laugh often, long and loud. Laugh until you gasp for breath.

6. The tears happen. Endure, grieve, and move on. The only person who is with us our entire life, is ourselves. Be ALIVE while you are alive.

7. Surround yourself with what you love, whether it's family, pets, keepsakes, music, plants, hobbies, whatever. Your home is your refuge.

8. Cherish your health: If it is good, preserve it. If it is unstable, improve it. If it is beyond what you can improve, get help.

9. Don't take guilt trips. Take a trip to the mall, even to the next county; to a foreign country but NOT to where the guilt is.

10. Tell the people you love that you love them, at every opportunity.

AND ALWAYS REMEMBER: Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.
_________________

Slush

2005-06-24T05:59:00.000-07:00

Girl's Movie night was sure a good time! I'm glad it's Friday today. I discovered that Grand Mariner and fruit go together well, especially fresh blueberries, strawberries, cherries and pineapple. Smoked peanuts and GM are all right too! We watched a few episodes of "Ballykissangel" " a Northern Ireland BBC series. We got a late start trying to locate a lost member of Girl's Movie Night. Turns out she thought it was too hot and drove home from work without calling. We were worried about her and waited an hour and a half before she finally called back, then we started up the movie. She missed out, as our hostess has central air conditioning--a rare treat in Duluth! It made coming home harder, though, I wanted to stay and live in her beautiful house. It's in a hidden oasis on the hill in downtown Duluth. She has more large trees and yard than I do, and I live in the country! I've loved that house since she and her husband first bought it, years ago. They've done a lot of work fixing it up and it reflects their personalities and taste.

Even though all the fans were going, my little house was quite a bit warmer. The frogs were singing and fireflies making streaks in the night sky as a welcome home when I pulled into the driveway, though. We had in the 90's on Thursday, far too hot for northern Minnesotans. We're quite stalwart about bitter cold, but muggy heat wilts us into slush. There was a strong, hot wind that was supposed to blow up a storm. There was a tornado warning north of us and I guess they actually saw two of them.

So last night made another great memory! The last time I had Grand Mariner was with my friend S___, we sipped, listened to Bob Dylan and talked politics, as she is a county commissioner. We were serving together on a Board of Directors at the time and although everyone thought she was rather eccentric, she was my kind of people. She also found a nice apartment for my son and his friend, as she owned many buildings. Sadly the kids ended up not taking that apartment as they had already found one, which was probably better in that they had found it themselves. Isn't it weird how certain things wrap up memories?

Oldies from my E-mail:
Four All Who Reed and Right
===========================

We'll begin with a box, and the plural is boxes;
but the plural of ox became oxen not oxes.

One fowl is a goose, but two are called geese,
yet the plural of moose should never be meese.

You may find a lone mouse or a nest full of mice;
yet the plural of house is houses, not hice.

If the plural of man is always called men,
why shouldn't the plural of pan be called pen?

If I spoke of my foot and show you my feet,
and I give you a boot, would a pair be called beet?

If one is a tooth and a whole set are teeth,
why shouldn't the plural of booth be called beeth?

Then one may be that, and three would be those,
yet hat in the plural would never be hose, and the plural of cat
is cats, not cose.

We speak of a brother and also of brethren,
but though we say mother, we never say methren.

Then the masculine pronouns are he, his and him,
but imagine the feminine, she, shis and shim.

Let's face it,
English is a crazy language.

There is no egg in eggplant,
nor ham in hamburger;
neither apple nor pine in pineapple.
English muffins weren't invented in England.

We take English for granted.
But if we explore its paradoxes,
we find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square
and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea, nor is it a pig.

And why is it that writers write but fingers don't fing,
grocers don't groce and hammers don't ham?

Doesn't it seem crazy that you can make amends,
but not one amend?

If you have a bunch of odds and ends
and get rid of all but one of them,
what do you call it?

If teachers taught,
why didn't preachers praught?

If a vegetarian eats vegetables,
what does a humanitarian eat?

Sometimes, I think all the folks who grew up speaking English
should be committed to an asylum for the verbally insane.

In what other language do people recite at a play
and play at a recital?

Ship by truck and send cargo by ship?

Have noses that run and feet that smell?

How can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same,
while a wise man and a wise guy are opposites?

You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language in which
your house can burn up as it burns down;
in which you fill in a form by filling it out
and in which an alarm goes off by going on.

~Author Unknown~
_______________________

Girl's Movie Night

2005-06-23T06:16:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Denny on "My Anything But Normal Life" for posting my Duluth postcard yesterday! It makes me happy to see Duluth (or any of my pictures) posted because I can't post photos myself and sometimes get frustrated and envious about it. Thanks, too for the nice comments about it!

On June 21st, right before noon, one of my best friends became a grandmother! Last night I went out with her and some other friends to celebrate. We went to one of our favorite places, the bar/restaurant/Laundromat for dinner and some beers. We talked about our childhoods, our kids and this new addition to the world, Alexander Allen. He's a little guy, only 5 lbs. but his dad was born small too, but healthy. Very few people in our little group are married. Most of us are single, most unattached right now, although most of us have been married at some point, for varying lengths of time.

Tonight will be a fun outing too, with a different group of friends. We're having a girl's movie night and will all go over to watch movies and talk at a married friend's house after work. Her husband works late on Thursday so she wanted to start a regular get-together on that night. My contributions to the movie pool are "Troy" and "Aviator". I'm not that interested in viewing Troy but "Aviator" looked good on the previews. Have you seen it? Was it good? Of course other women will have different movies so there will be many choices. I don't know how we will pick. I'm also bringing popcorn and some craisens to munch on during whichever movie or movies we watch.

Some oldies from my E-mail

Don't mess with these ladies
A flight attendant was stationed at the departure gate to check tickets. As a man approached, she extended her hand for the ticket, and he opened his trench coat and flashed her. Without missing a beat she said, "Sir, I need to see your ticket, not your stub."

Let's go for stupid
A lady was picking through the frozen turkeys at the grocery store, but couldn't find one big enough for her family. She asked a stockboy, "Do these turkeys get any bigger?" The stock boy replied, "No ma'am, they're dead."

Caught for speeding
The cop got out of his car and the kid, that was stopped for speeding, rolled down his window. "I've been waiting for you all day," the cop said. The kid replied, "Yeah, well I got here as fast as I could."
When the cop finally stopped laughing, he sent the kid on his way without a ticket.

Stuck under a bridge
A truck driver was driving along on the freeway. A sign comes up that reads "low bridge ahead." Before he knows it the bridge is right ahead of him and he gets stuck under the bridge. Cars are backed up for miles.

Finally, a police car comes up. The cop gets out of his car and walks around to the truck driver, puts his hands on his hips and says, "Got stuck, huh?" The truck driver says, "No, I was delivering this bridge and ran out of gas."

Drunk?
The drunken wino was stumbling down the street with one foot on the curb and one foot in the gutter. A cop pulled up and said, "I've got to take you in, sir. You're obviously drunk".

The wasted wino asked, "Ociffer, are ya absolutely sure I'm drunk?"

"Yeah, buddy, I'm sure," said the copper. "Let's go."

Obviously relieved, the wino said "That's a relief - I thought I was a cripple."

Dealing with trouble
A deputy police officer responded to a report of a barroom disturbance. The "disturbance" turned out to be well over six feet tall and weighed almost 300 pounds. What's more, he boasted that he could whip the deputy and Muhammad Ali too.
Said the policeman, "I'll bet that you're also an escape artist-probably better than Houdini."

The giant nodded.

"If I had some chains," the deputy continued, "you could show us how strong you really are. But all I've got is a set of handcuffs. Why don't you see just how quickly you can break out of them?"

Once in the cuffs, the man puffed, pulled and jerked for four minutes. "I can't get out of these," the giant growled.

"Are you sure?" the deputy asked. The fellow tried again. "Nope," he
replied. "I can't do it."

"In that case," said the deputy, "you're under arrest."

Too Late
The man was in no shape to drive, so he wisely left his car parked and walked home. As he was walking unsteadily along, he was stopped by a policeman.
"What are you doing out here at 2 A.M.?" asked the officer.

"I'm going to a lecture." The man said.

"And who is going to give a lecture at this hour?" the cop asked.

"My wife," said the man.
___________________________________

Cemetery Tour #2, Epitaphs #2

2005-06-22T06:14:00.000-07:00

Cemetery tour #2 was to the Oneota Cemetery in West Duluth. Tom Wheeler came to speak to us, his great-grandfather had donated the huge and beautiful piece of land for the cemetery. It is built on the side of the hill and has a lake view! History seems so recent (and IS compared to other countries) when Mr. Wheeler mentioned that the father of his great-grandfather had fought in the Revolutionary War. We saw many interesting markers in this cemetery, including tree stumps as headstones and a large wheel with broken spokes for the Wheelers buried there. One of my classmates found the grave of someone she had gone to school with, she didn't know he had died.

Besides the cemetery tour (a tour of just a small part of it, it's huge I need to go back to explore further)Tom Wheeler told us about his recent historical reinactment. In April Mr. Wheeler walked from Stillwater, Minnesota to Superior, Wisconsin on the Old Military Road. It took him ten days. He wore historically accurate wool and muslin clothing and carried a bedroll, canteen and two haversacks. He spoke to us while wearing the clothing and showed us his equipment. He wanted to reinact his great-grandfather Henry Wheeler's 1855 walk to built Duluth's first sawmill.

A Walk on the Historic Side "
Duluth, Minnesota, financial adviser Tom Wheeler traces his roots on Lake Superior to 1855, when his great-grandfather, Henry, left the relative security of southern Minnesota to establish a sawmill at the Head of the Lakes in Superior, Wisconsin. Henry walked the 150 miles through forests, swamplands and downed timber in April 1855. In seeking to replicate Henry’s trek, Tom left Stillwater, a suburb of St. Paul, on April 9 and spent the next 10 days on country roads and rural trails. He arrived in Superior on April 19 and trudged through the city to the harbor, where his journey ended at 1:20 p.m. Unshaven, barely bathed and sporting whiskers and blisters protected by duct tape, Tom paused overlooking the harbor from Highway 2 and wept.
“I’m not going to build a sawmill, but I do hope to build a fund so people can undertake projects to promote historical awareness,” Tom told the press.

And as promised for cemetery tour report day--More Epitaphs!:
On a grave digger:
Hooray my brave boys
Lets rejoice at his fall.
For if he had lived
He would have buried us all.

On a grave digger:
Robert Phillip, gravedigger:
Here I lie at the Chancel door;
Here lie I because I am poor;
The farther in the more you pay;
Here I lie as warm as they.
Kingsbridge, England

On a coroner who hung himself:
He lived
And died
By suicide
West Grimstead, Sussex, England

On a Coal-miner
Gone Underground For Good

On an Architect:
Here lies Robert Trollope
Who made yon stones roll up.
When death took his soul up
His body filled this hole up.

On a lawyer in England:
Sir John Strange.
Here lies an honest lawyer.
And that is Strange.

On an attorney:
Goembel
John E.
1867-1946
"The defense rests"

On a dentist:
Stranger tread
This ground with gravity.
Dentist Brown
Is filling his last cavity.

Edinburgh, Scotland
On a brewer:
G. Winch, the brewer, lies buried here.
In life he was both hale and stout.
Death brought him to his bitter bier.
Now in heaven he hops about.

On a Painter:
A Finished Artist

On an Auctioneer:
Jedediah Goodwin
Auctioneer
Born 1828
Going!
Going!!
Gone!!!
1876

On the 22nd of June
- Jonathan Fiddle -
Went out of tune.

On a fisherman:
Captain Thomas Coffin
Died 1842, age 50 years.
He's done a-catching cod
And gone to meet his God.

New Shoreham, Rhode Island
On a waiter:Here lies the body of
Detlof Swenson.
Waiter.
God finally caught his eye.
April 10, 1902

On an Author:
He Has Written Finis

On a teacher:
Professor S. B. McCracken
School is out
Teacher
Has gone home.
Elkhart, Indiana

On John Yeast:
Here lies
Johnny Yeast.
Pardon me
For not rising.

Ruidoso, New Mexico
On John Penny:Reader if cash thou are
In want of any
Dig 4 feet deep
And thou wilt find a Penny.

Wimborne, England
Epitaph on a huge boulder on the grave of a doctor:William P. Rothwell, M.D.
1866-1939
This is on me. L
Oak Grove Cemetery, Pawtucket, Rhode Island

On a watchmaker:
Here lies in horizontal position the outside case of Dear George Routleight, watchmaker, whose abilities in that line were an honor to his profession -- integrity was the mainspring, and prudence the regulator of all the actions of his life. Humane, generous, and liberal, his hand never stopped until he had relieved distress. So nicely regulated were all his movements that he never went wrong, except when set agoing by people who did not know his key; even then he was easily set right again. He had the art of disposing his time so well that the hours glided away in one continued round of pleasure and delight, till an unlucky moment put a period to his existence. He departed this life November 14, 1802, aged fifty-seven. Wound up in hopes of being taken in hand by his Maker and being thoroughly cleansed, repaired, and set agoing in the world to come. St Petrock's Church, Lyford, Devon, England

On a gardener:
To the Green Memory of
William Hawkings
Gardener:
Planted Here
With Love and Care
By His
Grieving Colleagues
Davenport

On a traveling salesman:
My Trip is Ended:
Send My Samples Home
Hoboken

On a housewife:
Mary Weary, Housewife
Dere Friends I am going
Where washing ain't done
Or cooking or sewing:
Don't mourn for me now
Or weep for me never:
For I go to do nothing
Forever and ever!
Belchertown

A few epitaphs are subtle and do not appear humorous until one thinks about them.
Here lies the body
of John Round.
Lost at sea
and never found.
Belturbet, Ireland

Here lies Barnard Lightfoot
Who was accidentally killed
in the 45th year of his age.
This monument was erected
by his grateful family.

Here lies the body of
Thomas Vernon
The only surviving son of
Admiral Vernon
Plymouth, Mass.

Sacred to the memory of
Major James Brush
Royal Artillery, who was killed
by the accidental discharge of
a pistol by his orderly,
14th April 1831.
Well done, good and faithful servant.

___________________________

Imminent change?

2005-06-21T06:09:00.000-07:00

I just came back from a walk, and no bears! We're talking about a "restructuring" at work in some meetings this week with Headquarters. Probably it won't be good news. Being busted couldn't have come at a worse time, so we'll see what happens. And tonight is the second cemetery tour, I'll tell you about it tomorrow, have a great day!

From my e-mail:

Rules for Good Housekeeping

1. It is time to clean out the refrigerator when something closes the door from the inside.

2. Keep it clean enough for healthy, dirty enough for happy.

3. Never make fried chicken in the nude.

4. Do not engage in unarmed combat with a dust bunny big enough to choke the vacuum cleaner.

5. You make the beds, you do the dishes and six months later you have to start all over again.

6. If guys were suppose to hang clothes up, door knobs would be bigger.

7. My idea of housework is to sweep the room with a glance.

8. Thou shalt not weigh more than thy refrigerator.

9. Cobwebs artfully draped over lampshades reduce the glare from the bulb, thereby creating a romantic atmosphere.

10. When writing your name in the dust on the table, omit the date.

Bye Bye Baby Mouse

2005-06-20T05:50:00.000-07:00

We're having a doozy of a thunderstorm right now. I probably shouldn't even be online but want to post before I leave for work. We could lose our electric and /or phone, the lightning strikes are very close.

We had a sad event at 6:00 last night. Four days ago we had found a little baby field mouse. Yes, I know they are vermin but he was so cute and adorable! We went for our morning walk and he was still there, all alone, his mother didn't come and get him so he was cold and squeaking. He was staggering around blind; eyes not open yet, looking for his nonexistent family. We couldn't just leave him there to die alone he was so tiny, half as big as my thumb. He had healthy fur, little teeny whiskers and a tiny little black tail. I was going to mention him when I wrote about the bear, as in big and little creatures, but it just didn't fit in well.

We brought him inside, warmed him up, fixed up a special place for him; hand fed him warm milk every three hours for the past four days. We got very attached to him, he was so darling and his eyes were starting to open up. He responded to the sound of our voices and crawled towards us. He loved to be held and fell asleep in our hand. We thought he had made it.

Last night I was just going out the door to shop for jeans because my Mom had noticed a hole in the pocket area of my one and only pair of jeans on Saturday. I had inspected the area and while it could be patched, it would be noticeable and then the jeans wouldn't be suitable for casual Fridays. Patched jeans aren't acceptable. So I needed new ones. My son called me to the little hamster pen we had specially fixed up for Baby Mouse. It even had a space heater nearby (in 80 degree weather!) to keep him warm. Baby was still and cold, he was dead. He hadn't seemed as lively today. Our last memory of him alive was an hour or so earlier when we had him outside in the warm sun, which he seemed to like, and he was trying to look around with his just opening eyes.

Since I was halfway out the door, I kept going and went to one of my favorite department stores. There I tried on two pair of jeans in my normal size and both fit! I picked the pair that was 30% off--that was the easiest time I've ever had to buy jeans I briefly looked at shoes but didn't find any. I was standing in a long checkout line when they opened another checkout station. I zapped over quickly, ducking in front of two younger women with a cart. The clerk rang me up and then she asked, "Do you want the shoebox?" And I remembered the stamping stuff I had ordered and how nice a shoebox would be to put it all in. "Sure!" I said enthusiastically--before I remembered that I hadn't purchased any shoes and the clerk was talking to the two women behind me! Talk about feeling like an idiot! I pretty much shrunk out of the store, got into the car and cried about Baby Mouse all the way home. It was so sad that he hadn't even gotten to really see the world before he died. We buried him in one of the flower gardens.

Yeah, I know my grief was all out of portion to the death of a little mouse. People and other animals kill mice all the time. But an anonymous mouse is far different than one I knew, cared for and had hopes for. It's probably a bad analogy, but it's kind of like that for us humans, too. People are born and people die all the time but it's very different when it's someone that you know (or know of, if it happens to an acquaintance or a friend).

Of course I will quickly get over the death of my little rodent pet. So it's really not the same at all, I guess, just a reminder that life is fleeting for every creature. That's a sobering thought for a Monday.

Here's a (sort of) joke from my e-mail that seems to fit:

The Parable of the Seagull

A woman went to the beach with her children. Her 4-year-old son ran up to her, grabbed her hand, and led her to the shore where a dead seagull lay in the sand.

"Mommy, what happened to him?" the little boy asked.

"He died and went to heaven," she replied.

The child thought for a moment and said, "And he got away? Is God looking for him now?"
_______________________

PS. I think my Dad did visit me in that dream. I've dreamt of him only twice before. The first time was right around the time he died. He was shadowy and seemed sad, he was sitting in a chair and turned his face away. The second time I had heard he was at a certain place (in the dream) and hurried to see him only to catch a glimpse as he faded away without a word. Neither time did he ever say anything to me, let alone have a conversation and hang out with me like he did in this most recent dream!

Happy Father's Day!

2005-06-19T08:15:00.000-07:00

Happy Father's Day to all fathers! I had a dream about my Dad. He's been gone for almost five years and although I think of him often, I've only dreamed of him a few times. It was cool to see and talk with him again last night! I like to think he came and visited me, but probably I was subconsciously thinking of him because of Father's Day. But I've consciously thought of him many times and not dreamt of him--so who knows?

I had a nice Saturday with my Mom. I went out (fairly) early and we went to her church rummage sale. Apparently we weren't all that early because things were already marked down to $1 a bag. I scored some beautiful shirts and a pair of dress slacks for my son and some fashion jewelry for me! My Mom bought a bag of books. I hadn't even looked through the books, which is a good thing because I own too many already. Plus Mom will let me borrow hers after she's read them!

If you're a stargazer next weekend is a great time for star watching! On Friday, Saturday and Sunday the planets Mercury, Venus and Saturn will be together in the night sky. The planets Mercury and Venus will appear the closest together until 2070! This would be an excellent time to view these planets whether or not you're a regular stargazer or someone who interested but just hasn't done it yet. Here's what the Web site "Jack Horkheimer : Star Gazer"" from PBS says about it:

This is the month for planet watching with a special treat at the end of the month for Venus, Saturn and Mercury. Now is the time to start your evening viewings of Venus and Saturn. As Venus rises higher with each evening Saturn moves closer to the horizon with each evening. Watch them as they move closer to each other during the month. Mercury starts coming into view in the western sky around the middle of the month. You will be able to watch all three move closer together for the rest of the month. The big show will begin on June 24 and for the next three nights. The three planets will be within 2 degrees (four full moon widths) of each other. The best is the show of Venus and Mercury. On Monday, June 27, Mercury and Venus will be only 0.1 degree apart-the closest they will be until 2070. This will not be an easy event to watch. You will need a good clear view of the horizon in the WNW. You will also have to start looking just after sunset as the sky starts to darken with about 45-60 minutes after sunset the best time. Don’t forget a pair of binoculars. Good Luck. This is a site not to be missed! Mercury and Venus will continue to be close through the first week of July. On July 7and 8 they will be joined by the crescent moon. Don’t forget that Jupiter will also be higher in the west in Virgo in the evening and Mars rising in the early morning hours is on the Pisces/Cetus border and brightens to magnitude 0.0 by the end of the month. This is truly a month for planet watching.

The Sunday Joke, from my e-mail
Finding Jesus

An old drunk stumbles across a baptismal service on Sunday afternoon down by the river.

He proceeds to walk into the water and stand next to the preacher. The minister notices the old drunk and says, "Mister, are you ready to find Jesus?"

The drunk looks back and says, "Yes, preacher, I sure am."

The minister dunks the fellow under the water and pulls him right back up.

"Have you found Jesus?" the preacher asks."Nooo, I didn't!" said the drunk.

The preacher then dunks him under for quite a bit longer, brings him up, and says, "Now, brother, have you found Jesus?"

"Noooo, I have not, Reverend."

The preacher, in disgust, holds the man under for at least 30 seconds this time, brings him out of the water, and says in a rather impatient tone, "My God, man, have you found Jesus yet?"

The old drunk wipes his eyes and says to the preacher, "Are you sure this is where he fell in?"

Busted?

2005-06-18T09:32:00.000-07:00

First thing Friday at work we had a memo from HR about how we are not supposed to be using the company equipment, and they spelled it out: copier, fax, internet, and telephone for excessive personal purposes that take away from our work! And the memo reminded us that all such activities, even on our own time such as before and after work or while at lunch, are being tracked. Naturally I got horribly paranoid about it all and took it as a personal message to stop blogging at work! I wish I could explain myself to them without sounding all guilty and defensive (like I do here, writing this!) that it really doesn't take away from work because I'm busy on the phone working while reading and commenting on blogs. Hmmmm.

Today I'm driving to my Mom's, I think. She wanted me to swap the days and go with her to her church rummage sale on Saturday. This sounded very fun, and even though I knew she might try to get me to come out both days, I said yes and then asked when she'd like me to show up. 9:00 AM was the answer, and it takes an hour to drive there and some time to get ready to go. I did get up at 8:00 but haven't been able to get myself going yet because I went to bed at 2:30 AM. I called her and she was gone. When my Mom says 9:00, she means at least 15 minutes before 9:00. I'll just have to keep calling her to catch her when she comes back. Not condusive to blogging, as I'm on a dial-up and will need to sign off each time. Oh well, that's what I get for getting up too late! My life and work are interfering with my fun hobby of blogging!

We omitted the walk this morning. Yesterday morning we had barely gotten inside when I looked out the window. It was a b-b-b-bear! A great big one walking right where we had been (with my little dog) only about three minutes earlier! It stopped and sniffed the air near our garbage can with the chicken bones in a hefty-hefty cinch sack but kept slowly walking, looking around. I poked my head out the door, it saw me and didn't show any alarm. I yelled and clapped my hands, still the bear showed no fear or hurry. It's just not true that they are more afraid of you than you are of them! I shudder to think what would have happened if we been had three minutes later in our walk, just coming up over the hill to find this big, black bear between us and the house! And we had my brave little dog who would have tried to protect me, which could have aggravated the bear.

I swear that I'm going to be the worst sissy ever (even though I'm not afraid of snakes, spiders or bugs) if I keep living up here! Last summer it was a mean deer who charged at me (because she had twin fawns) and she considered our back woods and the adjacent lawn her personal territory. I didn't venture into that part of my land unless I had the garden hose to ward her off with an icy cold stream of water. A couple of nights ago when I had the ferrets outside to play in the big dirt pile, I saw a man peeking at me from the woods. I had kept hearing faint crackling noises periodically and was worried that it was the mean deer, but it was a stranger sneaking through the wood spying on me! As soon as he realized I had finally seen him, he disappeared. Yikes! I was alone, away from the house and the door was unlocked. Pretty scary. I was alone up here last night until my son came home from work, early in the morning. But we do have neighbors who aren't too far away.

I grew up in the country but always felt safe there as a child because my Dad was there to protect us. I worry about my Mom, who is all alone in the country, too. She has a shotgun to protect herself and has used it too (but just on wild animals!) She had a bear almost come through her picture window! It was after the suet in the bird feeder. She doesn't put out suet for the birds anymore except in the dead of winter when the bears are hibernating. But it's easy to feel quite vulnerable out here. The same conditions that make country living attractive--quiet and not many people around--can backfire and be detrimental in a situation where you might need some help.

On a lighter note, finally after all of that! Here's a funny from my e-mail (more epitaphs will be coming when I write about the graveyard tours. I haven't forgotten! The first posting was 7 pages from the 18 pages of epitaphs, so there are plenty more.)

Scrabble It

DORMITORY:
When you rearrange the letters:
DIRTY ROOM

THE MORSE CODE:
When you rearrange the letters:
HERE COME DOTS

SLOT MACHINES:
When you rearrange the letters:
CASH LOST IN ME

ANIMOSITY:
When you rearrange the letters:
IS NO AMITY

SNOOZE ALARMS:
When you rearrange the letters:
ALAS! NO MORE ZS

A DECIMAL POINT:
When you rearrange the letters:
I'M A DOT IN PLACE

ELEVEN PLUS TWO:
When you rearrange the letters:
TWELVE PLUS ONE

Can you think of any good scrambles?
_______________________________

Historic Epitaphs

2005-06-17T06:22:00.000-07:00

I'm still on the tombstone theme just because there is so much information about it and I find it quite interesting. Again, this post is being written the previous evening. I was going to post ALL of these cool epitaphs that I found, but they're 18-pages worth! Far too many, so here are the first batch.
_______________________________________

The following is in the Necropolis, Glasgow;-
Here lyes Bessy Bell
But whereabouts, I cannot tell.
In Bedlington Churchyard, Durham:-

Poems and epitaphs are but stuff:
Here lies Robert Burrows, that's enough.

On Roger Norton:-
Here lies, alas! poor Roger Norton.
Whose sudden death was oddly brought on!
Trying one day his corns to mow off,
The razor slipped and cut his toe off!
The toe, or rather what it grew to,
An inflammation quickly flew to;
The part then took to mortifying,
Which was the cause of Roger's dying.

Boot Hill Cemetery, Tombstone, Arizona
He was young
He was fair
But the Injuns
Raised his hair

Colorado
Bill Blake
Was hanged by mistake.

Boot Hill Cemetery, Tombstone, Arizona
Here lays Butch.
We planted him raw.
He was quick on the trigger
But slow on the draw.

Silver City, Nevada
Here lies a man named Zeke.
Second fastest draw in Cripple Creek.

Boot Hill Museum, Dodge City, Kansas
Here lies the body of Arkansas Jim.
We made the mistake, But the joke's on him.

He called
Bill Smith
A Liar
Cripple Creek, CO

On the grave of a woman who died in 1984. Colorado Springs, Colorado. Her son, owner of Zeezo's Magic Castle in Colorado Springs, stated that his mother had been married to a Texan who is buried in Texas.

I would
rather be here
than in Texas.

James B. McCoy left a message on his 1899 tombstone proclaiming his independence from the United States Government.

Member Co. D 17th Iowa Inf. which mustered in 1165 men and mustered out 42. Participated in 19 battles and 3 sieges.
Never Applied For A Pension.
Salida, Colorado

On a hanged man
Rab McBeth
Who died for the want
of another breath.
1791-1823

Larne, Ireland - On a hanged sheep stealer
Here lies the body of
Thomas Kemp.
Who lived by wool
and died by hemp.

Winterborn Steepleton Cemetery, Dorsetshire, England
Here lies the body
Of Margaret Bent
She kicked up her heels
And away she went.

Food was the topic of many epitaphs.

Here lies old Rastus Sominy
Died a-eating hominy
In 1859 anno domini

Savannah, Georgia
He got a fish-bone in his throat
and then he sang an angel note.

Schenectady, New York
She was not smart, she was not fair,
But hearts with grief for her are swellin';
All empty stands her little chair:
She died of eatin' water-mellon.

In a New Jersey cemetery
Rebecca Freeland
1741
She drank good ale,
good punch and wine
And lived to the age of 99.

Beneath this stone, a lump of clay,
Lies stingy Jimmy Wyatt.
Who died one morning just at ten
And saved a dinner by it.

Falkirk, England
1690
Here lie the bones of Joseph Jones
Who ate while he was able.
But once overfed, he dropt down dead
And fell beneath the table.
When from the tomb, to meet his doom,
He arises amidst sinners.
Since he must dwell in heaven or hell,
Take him - whichever gives the best dinners.

Here lies Johnny Cole.
Who died upon my soul
After eating a plentiful dinner.
While chewing his crust
He was turned into dust
With his crimes undigested - poor sinner.

In memory of Anna Hopewell
Here lies the body of our Anna
Done to death by a banana
It wasn't the fruit that laid her low
But the skin of the thing that made her go.

Enosburg Falls, Vermont
Here lies cut down like unripe fruit,
The wife of Deacon Amos Shute:
She died of drinking too much coffee,
Anny Dominy -- eighteen-forty.

Roxbury, Connecticut
Eliza, Sorrowing
Rears This Marble Slab
To Her Dear John
Who Died of Eating Crab.

On a Farmer's Daughter, Letitia:
Grim Death
To Please His Palate
Has Taken My Lettice
To Put in His Sallat.
Ipswich

On Ezekiel Pease:
Pease is not here,
Only his pod
He shelled out his Peas
And went to his God
Nantucket, Massachusetts
_____________________________________________

As I mentioned, if you're interested in these, there are a whole lot more!

Magic Markers

2005-06-16T06:15:00.000-07:00

I'm trying something new, writing this post for Thursday on Wednesday night. I've been walking with the dog every morning before leaving for work, which leaves me little time to write and post for the day. It's kinda cheating, I guess, so let's see how it works out.

As promised, here is a list of graveyard marker symbols. They seem to be rather universal, not necessarily related to a certain time in history or location.

The Symbols

Religious:
Angels - Angels mean spirituality and they guard the tomb.
Bible - A single Holy Bible is often found on Christian stones.
Holy Books (2) - on Mormon headstones indicates the Bible and the Book of Mormon.
Holy Books (3) - on Mormon Headstones, these indicate The Scripture of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints - the Bible, Book of Mormon, and Doctrine & Covenants.
Chalice - Usually used to represent the Sacraments.
Crescent - the deceased was probably a Muslim.
Crown - The soul's achievement and the Glory of life after death.
Cross - the Cross is an emblem of faith. There are many different types of crosses and each may mean something different. For a good explanation of the various types of crosses, see http://www.alsirat.com/symbols/cross.html, a part of The City of the Silent.
Heart (Sacred) - Usually found in Catholic cemeteries, this heart refers to the suffering of Christ for our sins.
Menorah - An emblem of Judaism
Star of David or Mogen David - Recognized as the international symbol of Judaism.

Mortality:
Arrow - Mortality
Broken Column - This image represents the decay. It usually represents the loss of the Family head.
Candle being Snuffed - Loss of life.
Coffin - mortality.
Figure with Dart - Mortality
Grim Reaper - Death personified.
Hourglass - Time has run out.
Scythe - An instrument of the harvest, death cuts us down.
Skull and or Skull/ Crossed Bones - Death.
Spade or Crossed Spade and Shovel - Death

Trade and Occupation: (emblems that MIGHT indicate a person's occupation in life)
Barber Bowl (for bleeding) & Razor.
Butcher - an axe, steel knife and cleaver.
Farmer: - Coulter (type of hoe), flail (threshing implement), swingletree (rod for beating flax), stalk of corn.
Gardener - Rake & Spade.
Mason - Wedge & Level
Mariner: - Anchor, Sextant & Cross Staff.
Merchant - Scales, some type of sign.
Minister - Bible
Shoemaker - Leather cutter's Knife, Nippers, Sole cutter & Awl
Smith - Crown, Hammer & Anvil
Teacher - Open Book.
Weaver - Loom, Shuttle & Stretchers.
Wright - (a worker skilled in the manufacture especially of wooden objects --usually used in combination - Compasses

Resurrection, Eternal Life, Immortality:
Angel, Flying or Trumpeting - Rebirth; Resurrection.
Bird or Bird Flying - Eternal life, Resurrection.
Cross: - The Cross means resurrection to many Christians.
Dove, Flying - Resurrection.
Flame, Light, Lamp or Torch: - Immortality of the Spirit, Resurrection.
Garland or Wreath - Symbol of saintliness and glory, Victory in death.
Horns -- The Resurrection
Ivy - Immortality
Rooster- Awakening; Resurrection.
Star - Death could not overpower the Light of the Spirit which still shines in the darkness.
Sun - A symbol of light and warmth, renewed life and life everlasting.
Trumpeters -- Harbingers of the Resurrection
Urn - Immortality (The storing of the vital organs was of extreme importance to the ancient Egyptians who believed that life would be restored through the vital organs placed in the urn).

Animals:
Birds - Eternal life or resurrection.
Butterfly - Short-life.
Dog - Implies a good master worthy of love.
Dove - Seen in both Christian and Jewish cemeteries, the dove means innocence and/ or peace.
Lamb - Usually marks the grave of a child and means Innocence.
Lion - The Lion's eternal watch guards the tomb and stands for Courage.
Rooster - Awakening; Resurrection.

Plants:
Fruits -- Eternal plenty as in the fruit of life.
Full-Blown Rose - The deceased died in the prime of life
Ivy -- Ivy stands for friendship and also immortality.
Laurel -- A symbol of worldly accomplishment and heroism.
Lily - The virgins' flower and also the symbol of innocence and purity.
Morning Glory - Signifies the beginning of Life
Oak., Oak Leaves and Acorn - Oak leaves on tombs can stand for power, authority or victory. Often seen on Military tombs.
Palm Branch - Signifies Victory and Rejoicing
Poppy - Eternal Sleep.
Roses - Roses signify completion and the brevity of earthly existence.
Rosemary - Rosemary is for remembrance. Thistles can also stand for remembrance.
Thistle - Deceased was of Scottish descent.
Tree or Trees
 A Tree stands for life.
 A Tree Sprouting stands for life everlasting.
 Tree Trunk stands for the brevity of life.
 Stones shaped liked Tree Stumps usually signify that the deceased was a member of The Woodmen of the World
Weeping Willow Tree - Perpetual Mourning; Grief.
Wheat Strands or Sheaves - The divine harvest.

Miscellaneous:
Broken Ring -- The family circle has been severed.
Cherub - Cherubs are angelic and signify innocence.
Crossed Swords - Military person of high rank.
Hands:
 Hands in cemeteries are usually in one of the following four positions; clasping, praying, pointing, and blessing.
 Hand, Pointing Up - Pathway to heaven.
 Hands, Clasped - Farewells or the bond of marriage
 Hands, Praying - Asking God for Eternal life.
 Hands, Blessing - Blessing of those left behind.
Harp - Praise to the God.
Heart - Love. Stylized hearts stand for the affection of the living for the dead. Two joined hearts on a stone mark a marriage,
Rod or Staff - Comfort for the bereaved.
Stars and Stripes Around Eagle -- Eternal vigilance and liberty. Often seen on military markers.
Urn with Flame -- Undying remembrance

Above all taken from:Cemetery Symbols"

I'd like some sort of flowers on my tombstone, maybe a poppy and a rose.
What do you want on your tombstone?

Historic Cemetery Tours: Tour 1

2005-06-15T06:25:00.000-07:00

Last night was the first cemetery tour. It was raining the entire time. We drove to Superior, Wisconsin and down a narrow dirt road. There were mudholes and ruts but Jeepers didn't have any trouble, of course. We all got out of our vehicles with umbrellas and parkas, then walked through the tall, wet grass to look at tombstones. The ground was spongy and many of the ground markers were under water. We walked through an old part of the cemetery to the edge of the woods. Then we walked in the woods. Despite my raincoat, I got totally soaked and the mosquitoes were swarming. They barely bothered me, though, as I hadn't eaten anything with sugar. The woods were full of fragrant lily of the valley, the same as in front of my door at home. These were not as far along as mine because of being in the woods under the trees. In the wood there were really old grave markers, some with old iron fences around them, some toppled over, some totally grown over with moss. My shoes were still squishy with water when I got home around 9:00 PM and my pants were actually heavy, they were so wet. My shoes are still totally wet this morning.

Nemadji Cemetery, 1853 oldest cemetery in the Twin Ports (Duluth/Superior) area.
The oldest part of the cemetery is on the banks of the Nemadji River. The first settlement in Superior was built there. The Sioux uprising was happening in southern Minnesota around that time, so the Superiorites built a stockade to protect themselves in case the neighboring Chippewa attacked the settlers. It never happened so eventually the stockade was torn down and houses were built from the lumber. We drove by a house built in the 1870's from some of that lumber. It's an interesting house with cool old shingles but one part of the house had been re-sided in beige vinyl siding! On my way back home I drove by the Historic Marker for where the stockade had stood.

While walking through the various parts of the cemetery, we talked about and observed the symbolic meanings of some of the headstones. There were lots of little stones with lambs on them. A lamb meant a child was buried there. Some markers had crosses that were tilted, a tilted cross meant that the person had been ill and had suffered before they died. Some stones had trees carved into them, which meant the person had died in the prime of their life. It was really interesting and I'm going to research it further online. The other five tours will be interesting, too!
_________________

Self Worth

2005-06-14T05:56:00.000-07:00

I had fun stamping last night. Had never gone to a stamping party before, but made quite a nice greeting card. It reminded me of a grade school art project, you know, the kind where you copy the teacher's work exactly. The party was at an old friend's house, whom I hadn't seen for months, and all of her other friends. So I knew everyone there and it was fun and relaxing.

The stamping instructor had her stamp party booking notebook filled for every weekend that I saw and quite a few evenings. I was privately wondering about this, as I knew she worked and was married. Turns out her husband is in Iraq and they have no children yet, so no wonder she wants to keep busy. My friend's (the hostess) son spend two stints in what he calls "Old Russia" and has come home and bought a house with a VA (veteran's) mortgage, and he's only my son's age! Surprise, surprise, but I didn't book a stamping party despite the tempting perks. There's no room up on my tiny kitchen table, in my little house.

I had a large shoebox, perfect for my new stamping gear, but threw it (uncharacteristically) away a few weeks ago in a cleaning fit. I also spent way too much money to get equipped to do some stamping of my own! I thought I might be one of the more extravagant people, but many spent as much or more than I did. It blew a hole in my budget, but I can save all kinds of money making my own cards now, right? (And tonight is the first cemetery tour.)

What mothers are really worth
Stay-at-home mothers wear many hats. They're the family CEO, the day care provider, accountant, chauffeur, counselor, chef, nurse, laundress, entertainer, personal stylist, and educator. Based on a 100-hour work week, Salary.com has estimated that a fair wage for the typical stay-at-home mom would be $131,471 for executing all of her daily tasks.

"Mothers are responsible for the mental and physical well being of the family - putting a price on that isn't easy," said Lena Bottos, compensation market analyst for Salary.com. "But we looked at it as what you would have to pay other people to do the same work if the mom weren't there."

Even if these mothers were getting paid what they'd be worth on the market, Bottos added that they still wouldn't be adequately compensated. "When you take into account that it represents a 100-hour work-week, and doesn't even begin to factor in that they are on call 24 hours a day, it's not so large. Plus, stay-at-home moms get no benefits in terms of pension or 401(k)."

Salary.com" also figured that a 40-hour per week working mom who comes home to take care of her kids should earn the 60 hours of mom overtime in addition to her work paycheck.

Gee, maybe I should have stayed home! But who pays a single parent? Indeed, who pays any stay-at-home parent? I wonder if the monetary worth of a single parent is more or less than a married parent. There would be reasons for either. A single parent is sort of doing the job of both parents, but has fewer duties and people for which to care.
_______________________________________

For Monday, chocolate, chocolate, chocolate.

2005-06-13T06:03:00.000-07:00

I obviously never did finish my post yesterday about blogs, oh well. My son went to work and I started cleaning, doing dishes and getting ready to go out to my Mom's. I brought Natty to see "Grandma Chihuahua" and a bouquet of sweet-smelling lilies-of-the-valley from the front of my house. When there I dug up three more trees, but haven't planted them yet. It was hot and muggy and buggy. It looked it might rain all day yesterday, yet the temps were 84 degrees F at my Mom's and 75 by the lake. Too hot for us northerners! When I drove through Superior, Wisconsin, red-faced people were walking and biking.

After I came back into town and dropped Natty off at home, I went looking for the one garden seed that I want, but haven't planted yet. I have looked everything for it and had not found it yet. My son said that his place had some, but he didn't know if they were sold out. So I drove to where he works (didn't see him anywhere, but it's a big place) and looked through the seed racks in several separated spots, with no luck. A worker from the garden department came up to me, probazbly because I looked so frustrated, and asked if he could help me. I was so disappointed and said "There's no peas! I just can't find any peas anywhere!" Despite my distress I could see the corners of his mouth turn up, he was trying not to smile, and replied "No, we're all out of peas, sorry."

The Spa at The Hotel Hershey:" "This is a multi-level, 30,000 square foot spa with three waiting areas, 50 treatment rooms, a lounge where you can eat lunch in your robe. After you change, a “spa host” answers any questions and gives you a tour of the facilities, including the whirlpool soaking tubs where they offer the “Whipped Cocoa Bath” ($45 and the “Inhalation Room”, a small waiting room that smells like flowers. Up a grand staircase are two more waiting areas called “Quiet Rooms,” complete with cakes and coffee. I’ve never seen so many people in robes! After your treatment, you can take the elevator straight down to the Oasis Lounge and eat from a buffet.

Signature Treatments at The Spa at The Hotel Hershey: The most popular treatments here have chocolate connection – but no, you can’t eat them. I tried the body treatment called “Chocolate Fondue Wrap.” ($105) that starts with a light brushing of your skin to remove dead skin cells. Then a mineral-rich “moor mud” scented with oil of cocoa is applied to your body. You’re wrapped up in plastic, covered with a blanket, and left to rest for 20 minutes. When the therapist returns it is all washed off with a delicious seven-headed Vichy shower. Other food-friendly treatments include scrubs scented with strawberry, peppermint, lime, even coffee. If you don’t care for a chocolate scented massage ($95 for 50 minutes), try the new Noche Azul massage which uses a beautiful Jasmine-scented oil.

Bottom Line: This spa is for you if you want a family-friendly spa and love sweets.
This spa is not for you if you want to lose weight. Temptation is everywhere"

Above hotel review was taken from the link, I've not visited the spa. Have you ever been to the Hotel Hershey?

The password is...

2005-06-12T08:58:00.000-07:00

I was thinking about blogs lately, and how diiferent they all are from each other. Every one has the stamp of its owner's personality on it. Some are sad, some make me laugh (sometimes in the same blog posting) and some I don't quite get--but that's OK. It's the variety that so interesting, the honesty and simply humanity.

Well, I was going to write more about blogs, but my son wants the computer before he has to go to work. Since it's dial-up, we have to be nice about sharing!

Getting Into Heaven

After a long illness, a woman died and arrived at the Gates of Heaven.

While she was waiting for Saint Peter to greet her, she peeked through the gates. She saw a beautiful banquet table. Sitting all around were her parents and all the other people she had loved and who had died before her.

They saw her and began calling greetings to her. "Hello!" "How are you? We've been waiting for you!" "Good to see you!"

When Saint Peter came by, the woman said to him, "This is such a wonderful place! How do I get in?"

"You have to spell a word," Saint Peter told her.

"Which word?" the woman asked."Love."

The woman correctly spelled love, and Saint Peter welcomed her into heaven.

About six months later, Saint Peter came to the woman and asked her to watch the Gates of Heaven for him that day.

While the woman was guarding the Gates of Heaven, her husband arrived.

"I'm surprised to see you," the woman said. "How have you been?"

"Oh, I've been doing pretty well since you died," her husband told her. "I married the beautiful young nurse who took care of you while you were ill. And then I won the lottery. I sold the little house you and I lived in and bought a big mansion. And my wife and I traveled all around the world. We were on vacation and I went water skiing today. I fell, the ski hit my head, and here I am. How do I get in?"

"You have to spell a word," the woman told him.

"Which word?" her husband asked.

"Czechoslovakia."

Inappropriate responses

2005-06-11T07:25:00.000-07:00

I can tell that it's summer when I see snow on TV and think it looks beautiful! Actually snow IS beautiful but just for looking out the window or nice slow walks. Not for driving! But to be honest, the past two winters have not been that bad with the Jeep, a world of difference from trying to get to work on time by driving down a snowy country backroad with a little, low-slung car. I was looking out the window and thinking about how much difference a month or two makes. There's so much green, the leaves and the grass, and there are buttercups and clover outside the window. I suffer from color deprivation in the winter, so starkly black and white (well, there's some brown and gray too but they aren't bright colors either!)

This is from my E-mail. I guess it's sort of a joke. The answers seem very common sense to me, don't know why they would be considered difficult. So I asked a guy-friend and he got a weird look on his face and said something like "Whoa, those are some TRICKY questions!" Hmmm, was all I could reply, thinking that perhaps we women shouldn't be asking our men these questions unless we were steeled to hear one of the Inappropriate Responses!

The 5 toughest questions for men are:

1. What are you thinking about?
2. Do you love me?
3. Do I look fat?
4. Do you think she is prettier than me?
5. What would you do if I died?

What makes these questions so difficult is that each one is guaranteed to explode into a major argument if the man answers incorrectly. Therefore, as a public service, each question is analyzed below, along with possible responses.

Question # 1: What are you thinking about?

The proper answer to this, of course, is: "Oh, I was just thinking about how lucky I am to have met you."

This response obviously bears no resemblance to the true answer, which most likely is one of the following:

a. Baseball.
b. Football.
c. How fat you are.
d. How much prettier she is than you.
e. How I would spend the insurance money if you died.

(Perhaps the best response to this question was offered by Al Bundy, who once told Peg, "If I wanted you to know what I was thinking, I would be talking to you!")

Question # 2: Do you love me?

The proper response is: "YES!" or, if you feel a more detailed answer is in order, "Yes, dear."

Inappropriate responses include:

a. Oh Yeah, loads.
b. Would it make you feel better if I said yes?
c. How many times do I have to tell you?
d. What do you think?
e. I'm still here, aren't I?

Question # 3: Do I look fat?

The correct answer is an emphatic: "Of course not!"

Among the incorrect answers are:

a. Compared to what?
b. I wouldn't call you fat, but you're not exactly thin.
c. A little extra weight looks good on you.
d. I've seen fatter.
e. Could you repeat the question? I was just thinking about how I would spend the insurance money if you died.

Question # 4: Do you think she's prettier than me?

Once again, the proper response is always: "Of course not!"

Incorrect responses include:

a. Yes, but you have a better personality.
b. Not prettier, but definitely thinner.
c. Not as pretty as you when you were her age.
d. Define pretty..
e. Could you repeat the question? I was just thinking about how I would spend the insurance money if you died.

Question# 5: What would you do if I died?

A definite no-win question.

(The real answer, of course, is "Buy a Corvette!")

Finally Friday

2005-06-10T05:47:00.000-07:00

Finally Friday! For a four-day week, this has been a long one. We went for another walk early this morning. It looks like it's going to be a beautiful day. It turned out to be a beautiful day yesterday after the fog burned off. I was working during the day and was too tired and hungry by the time I got home to do any gardening. Too bad because the weather is predicted to change back to rain and cold by tomorrow. I had to clean the ferret cage, do recycling and cook dinner. I made a simple dinner of baked potato with cheese and broccoli with shrimp and fish. It was simple, basic and good. I was more hungry for a salad but it would have taken a good 45-minutes to wash and fix salad.

Saw a deer right outside the window while on the computer and earlier while outside I almost stepped on a baby rabbit. The little rabbits crouch in the grass and wait until you are just about on top of them before they move. I saw a frog on Monday. I hear them every night but haven't actually seen one hopping in the grass for years. I stirred it up while moving the fence to put it around the garden. I brought some lilacs to my office at work so the whole place smelled good like lilac. I'll have to bring my Mom some of the Lilies-of-the-Valley this coming Sunday. Every time I go in or out of the house I can smell them. They're heavenly!

Watched "The Cut" last night, which may prove to be as good as "The Apprentice". At least the episode was quite interesting. The teams each had a billboard to design and put together in NYC for Tommy Hilfiger. Also saw part of "Hit Me Baby One More Time" and Vanilla Ice won. It's kind of fun to see those old singers and bands again.

From my E-mail:
The Wit and Wisdom of Homer J. Simpson

Now son, you don't want to drink beer. That's for Daddys, and kids with fake IDs."

"Marge, it takes two to lie. One to lie and one to listen."

"You couldn't fool your mother on the foolingest day of your life if you had an electrified fooling machine."

"Marge, don't discourage the boy! Weaseling out of things is important to learn. It's what separates us from the animals! Except the weasel."

"If you really want something in life you have to work for it. Now quiet, they're about to announce the lottery numbers."

"To alcohol! The cause of - and solution to - all of life's problems!"

"I saw this in a movie about a bus that had to speed around a city, keeping its speed over 50, and if its speed changed, it would explode! I think it was called, 'The Bus That Couldn't Slow Down."

"I want to share something with you - three sentences that will get you through life:
Number one, 'Cover for me.'
Number two, 'Oh, good idea, boss.'
Number three, 'It was like that when I got here.'

"Marge, you're as pretty as Princess Leia and as smart as Yoda."

"Step aside everyone! Sensitive love letters are my specialty.
'Dear Baby, Welcome to Dumpsville. Population: you.'"

"Don't let Krusty's death get you down, boy. People die all the time. Just like that. Why, you could wake up dead tomorrow. Well, goodnight."

"Lisa, if the Bible has taught us nothing else and it hasn't, it's that girls should stick to girls sports, such as hot oil wrestling and foxy boxing and such and such."

"Stealing! How could you? Haven't you learned anything from that guy who gives those sermons at church? Captain what's-his-name?

We live in a society of laws. Why do you think I took you to all those Police academy movies? For fun? Well I didn't hear anybody laughin', did you?"

"Maybe, just once, someone will call me 'sir' without adding, you're making a scene.'"
________________

Working as an Ooze

2005-06-09T06:12:00.000-07:00

We took a walk early this morning. There was heavy fog like yesterday. Flights were held up yesterday because of the fog. Downtown it was not as thick.

Yesterday was another very busy day at work and after work I got together with a former co-worker. We first met working for the Senseless, otherwise known as the 2000 Census. We were in the Field Department and, no our department did not go out from house to house. We worked totally from the Census office, plotting maps, doing reports, verifying completed books that came in from those who did the door to door thing. It was great, one of the best jobs I ever had. The bosses were fun, co-workers were awesome and we worked really hard. After a couple of months I was promoted (probably only because of my database report skills) to a sort of boss, called an OOS (Office Operations Supervisor) in Special Services, away from my beloved Field Dept. It was never as fun anymore, but I still worked really hard and stayed in touch with my old buddies. They laughed at my new title, pronounced "ooze". My bosses were SOS "Suze" and FOS "Fooze".

I was in charge of a roomful of people doing quality control. My hardest problem was in keeping up morale, for unlike the Field Dept this job was not fun at all. We had to call those people who had refused to complete the survey. We also had to call a random one-third of everyone who HAD completed the survey and ask them the same questions all over again (for quality control). Needless to say, most of the hundreds of people we called per hour were not happy to hear from us again--and we were required to contact them three times to try to get the information. Dealing with crying workers (over phone abuse) and swearing people on the phone who wanted to speak to the manager were some of the major parts of the day as was keeping up the current reports and stats on our progress. I had a quota and deadlines and the job was very stressful, workers would walk out after a nasty phone conversation with a customer, or just not show up the next day.

The Census had some really cool little perks and giveaways for managers that I would give out as prizes, it helped. We had regular pep talks and contests to bring up morale. I had a great core group of people who worked very hard and developed thick skins. We got through it with a good statistics record and ahead of the final deadline. Then, when Quality Control was no longer needed, I was transferred, thank God, and the faithful workers put into other departments (which I'm sure they enjoyed much better than QC). Last night my friend asked me if I was planning to work for the Census in 2010. I would absolutely love to work for the Census again, but not in Quality Control and not while also holding down a full time night job!

From my E-mail
Baby Power Rules (This is what we're up against as parents. Be strong!)

Hello, my name is Captain Baby, and I'm nine months old. This is powerful advice for all you babies out there. Parents, please go to your rooms now, or you will be punished. Okay, now that the minions are gone, let's get down to business.

Do you feel like you have no control over your life? Do your mommy and daddy make you do and wear things you absolutely hate? Are you at the bottom of your family's power structure? I'm here to tell you that all this can be a thing of the past. By following my ten simple rules, you'll be wearing the diaper and the pants in the family in no time!

Rule #1 You have absolute power; you are little but you are mighty. You change lives.

Repeat this to yourself on a daily basis. You are the ruler of your universe. Your parents are there to serve you, not the other way around. You have unlimited power over them.

Rule #2 Cry, it works wonders to make big people nervous and off-balance.

Tears are one of your biggest assets in your arsenal against your parents. If you don't like something, cry! Parents have absolutely no defense against this wet onslaught. They will do anything to get you to stop. This is especially useful in public places. For maximum effectiveness, increase volume every fifteen seconds.

Rule #3 Be cute, the most powerful weapon of all.

This is your number one defense mechanism. You're going to pull a lot of crap most people would never get away with, and your cute factor is the only thing allowing this. Flash a smile, and your parents will go weak in the knees with gushing admiration of your blessed existence, even after you've just broken stuff in the house.

Rule #4 Keep them weak and vulnerable.

I don't care if you have to set an alarm clock for yourself, but you need to wake your parents up at least three times a night. A rested parent is a strong parent, and that means bad news for you. The more weary they are, the more malleable to your intricate plans of global domination.

Rule #5 Pee on them, or spit up.

Once out of every ten diaper changes, you should let loose your golden stream of glory. This shows them who's boss, and keeps them on their toes. If you can, aim for the face for maximum effectiveness. At the very least, you should be able to cover yourself as well as a portion of your parent's clothes. This works well for those situations where they've put you in an embarrassing outfit, or they're in a hurry to get somewhere. Spitting up on good clothing (theirs or yours) works well, too.

Rule #6 Make them carry you.

Do not let them put you down! This is very important. The moment they realize you can get around by yourself, they will no longer want to carry you. If you are put on the ground, see rule #2. Your parents are strong, and there's two of them. They can carry you forever. It will wear them out faster, too.

Rule #7 Smack them around a little.

Parents are under the false impression that we have very little control over our arms and legs. Use this to your advantage! Every now and then, just randomly slap them in the face, and then smile and laugh. They may curse a little, but I guarantee no harm will come to you. They are powerless against the smile and laugh combination.

Rule #8 Grandparents and even strangers love babies.

Capturing the key Grandparent demographic can bring you joys beyond your wildest expectations. Toys, food, and attention can all be yours when you manipulate this segment of the population. Gramps will even let you watch the Spice channel if nobody else is around! Bask in the safe arms of your parents while you charm nearby strangers.

Rule #9 Siblings exist for your amusement.

Your brothers and sisters are the court jesters in your vast kingdom. They are there for your personal entertainment, and nothing more. Laugh at their crazy antics, but the moment they get out of line with that "the baby gets all the attention" crap, pull their hair. One word of warning though. Make sure a parent is nearby when you do this, as siblings are immune to your cute defense mechanisms. Be sure to cry and scream loudly, so your parent is alerted to your mortal danger.

Rule #10 No private time for your parents.

This is perhaps the most important rule of them all. Do not let your parents have private time! If you hear these evil words uttered, alarms should go off in your head. Nothing good can come from private time. At the very least, private time rejuvenates them, making them more resistant to your powers. And in the worst possible scenario, private time could lead to a new baby replacing you as the ruler of the house! This event needs to be stopped at all costs!

That's it, troops. Follow these simple rules and you should have a long and fruitful reign as ruler of your household.

You have the power!
__________

Big Showy Plant Pots

2005-06-08T05:47:00.000-07:00

I had a busy day at work catching up from my vacation day yesterday. Last night was a busy night too! First right after work we went to a nearby downtown sports bar to wish a departing co-worker well. She scored a new job at a great place where I used to work! (In fact the last co-worker who left also got hired at a place I used to work--different place). So I was envious and telling her how great they are there. They had eliminated our division so that was why I had left, but actually I probably wouldn't have still been there. I'm sort of a gypsy when it comes to both homes and work, like variety and change every so often. But I don't change quite as much as I used to, guess I'm slowing down. I may even beat my longevity record of five years at one job.

I couldn't stay long at the sports bar though, because our history tour class was going back to Glensheen to look around again! The instructor had to change that tour to another night and many people couldn't go the first time. So she opened up the second tour not only to the first people who had missed it, but any others who wanted to tour again.

It had been windy and rainy all day but at least the rain stopped before we started the tour. We also got to see the beautiful grounds and gardens. The gardener proudly showed off some absolutely spectacular pots! And best of all, she gave away her secret:

You will need a large pot, with drain holes in the bottom, of course
Fill half full of potting soil
Place bulbs so close together that they are all touching (tulip or daffodil) on top of soil
Put another couple of inches of potting soil on top of the bulbs
Place more bulbs, again so close they are touching (these pots would be expensive to make with all these bulbs!)
Cover with potting soil
Let rest at least three months in a cold but not freezing place (porch, basement, etc.)
Take out in the spring to let them grow for some gorgeous, showy pots!

These wonderful planted pots were perfectly suited for the mansion but would look impressive anywhere. The gardener gave us each a plant, too. I choose a rhubarb because I love it and used to grow it as a kid. In fact my college money was earned selling rhubarb, nightcrawlers and worms. I started saving for college when I was about eight years old. My son had a paper route from the time he was nine years old. Some people in more urban areas had a lemonade stand, other kids did snow shoveling or lawn mowing, house cleaning or babysitting.

Did you have a business when you were a kid?
__________________

It's a Virtual Monday

2005-06-07T05:42:00.000-07:00

Yes, it's a work day for me today. The less said about that the better, judging from the results of the quiz yesterday! But it IS a Tuesday already, and better still, a payday!

Yesterday I dug in the garden, planted a few things in it and planted the three white pine trees. The ferrets spent most of the afternoon outside. It was good for them to be able to get out. They were quite restless cooped up for the last couple of days. I also weeded some of the flower beds.

Later we watched some more of the movie(s) "Lord of the Ring" which is so excellent, and I love it. I wonder, though, why do these epic movies (like "Star Wars" too) always have fighting and great battles in them? Is it just for the effective story line of good vs. evil or are we doomed to be fighting ourselves and other species forever?

From my E-mail:
"You Know You're Too Stressed If..."
...relatives that have been dead for years come visit you and suggest that you should get some rest.

...you can achieve a "Runners High" by sitting up.

...you say the same sentence over and over again, not realizing that you have said it before.

...the Sun is too loud.

...trees begin chasing you.

...you can see individual air molecules vibrating.

...you begin to explore the possibility of setting up an I.V. drip solution of espresso.

...you wonder if brewing is really a necessary step in the consumption of coffee.

...you can hear mimes.

...you believe that if you think hard enough, you can fly.

...things become "Very Clear."

...you ask the drive-thru attendant if you can get your order to go.

...you begin speaking in a language that only you and Channelers can understand.

...you say the same sentence over and over again, not realizing that you have said it before.

...you keep yelling "STOP TOUCHING ME!" even though you are the only one in the room.

...your heart beats in 7/8 time.

...you and Reality file for divorce.

...you say the same sentence over and over again, not realizing that you have said it before

...you can skip without a rope.

...it appears that people are speaking to you in binary code.

...you have great revelations concerning: Life, the Universe, and Everything else, but can't quite find the words for them before the white glow disappears, leaving you more confused than before.

...you can travel without moving.

...antacid tablets become your sole source of nutrition.

...you discover the aesthetic beauty of office supplies.

...you begin to talk to yourself, then disagree about the subject, get into a nasty row over it, lose, and refuse to speak to yourself for the rest of the night.

...teddy bears begin to bully you for milk and cookies.

...you have an irresistible urge to bite the noses of the people you are talking to.

...you say the same sentence over and over again, not realizing that you have said it before.

I've actually done a couple of the above things, even though it's meant to be funny! Have you?
_________________________

Vacation Day!

2005-06-06T08:11:00.000-07:00

The house smells like lilacs--from my Mom's! I just spent some time in my E-mail and following links, almost had a fun new game, Sheep Dash. But it didn't work, so no link. Yesterday I dug three more white pine at my Mom's but haven't planted them yet. My Lily of the Valley flowers are going nuts by my door! There are so many that I have to step over them to get in the door because they're lining a swath in the front of the house under the door step. They smell so good! That's why I planted them right by the door, so I'd smell them coming and going from the house. Received two compliments on my hair last weekend. I had posted about that subject quite a while back and it's still just as puzzling to me now as it was back then. Here's a good quiz for a Monday and I'm not going to reveal what I scored!

Quiz: Are You Ready to Jump Ship?
By Tag and Catherine Goulet, co-CEOs, FabJob.com

Think back to last Monday morning. Did you bounce out of bed excited to face the day ahead? Or did the thought of getting up and going to work make you wish you could stay snug in your bed?

If Monday mornings are a low point in your week, it may be a sign that it's time for a new job.

It's common to get a gut feeling about something before it becomes obvious. While you may still be debating whether or not to stay at your job, your subconscious mind may have already decided it's time for you to move on.

Most people who are miserable at work behave in ways that are noticeably different from employees who are satisfied with their jobs.

Try the following quiz to see how many of these "quitting signs" are true for you. For each statement, note whether it is something you "Often," "Sometimes" or "Never" experience. (If a statement doesn't fit, feel free to adapt it to your situation or skip it.)

1. I find it hard to get out of bed in the morning.

2. I'm often late for work.

3. Once I arrive at work, it takes me a while to actually get started working.

4. I sit at my desk and daydream.

5. I have less patience with customers or co-workers than I used to.

6. I spend time at work doing personal tasks.

7. I look at job Web sites when I'm at work.

8. I get impatient with rules and red tape at work.

9. I take more breaks than I should.

10. When I have to phone people as part of my job, I spend more time chatting than I need to.

11. I feel tired during the work day.

12. I don't bother mentioning concerns to the boss because it's usually a waste of time.

13. If I leave the office during the day, I take my time getting back to work.

14. I do the minimum amount of work required.

15. I check the time throughout the day to see how close to quitting time it is.

16. I feel bored at work.

17. I kill time during the day by chatting with co-workers or doing other nonessential tasks.

18. I schedule medical and other personal appointments during working hours.

19. I start getting ready to leave work before quitting time.

20. I am out the door as soon as it is quitting time.

21. On the weekends, I look at the job classifieds or surf job sites on the Internet.

22. I have called in sick when I wasn't sick.

23. I complain to my friends and family about my job.

24. I have trouble sleeping on Sunday nights because I'm thinking about having to go back to work.

25. When I'm on vacation, I dread going back to work.

Give yourself zero points for each "Never" answer, one point for each "Sometimes" answer and two points for each "Often" answer. Add up your points and measure your level of job satisfaction.

Zero to 10 points: Very satisfied 11-20 points: Somewhat satisfied 21-30 points: Somewhat dissatisfied 31-40 points: Very dissatisfied 41-50 points: Why are you still working there?

While a score over 40 is a clear sign of dissatisfaction, even the most satisfied worker is likely to score some points on this quiz. For example, night owls who prefer to sleep late might score a two on "I find it hard to get out of bed in the morning" even if they like their job.

Only you can decide whether you are satisfied with your current job -- or whether you'd rather find a new job that makes you look forward to Mondays almost as much as you look forward to the weekend.

Tag and Catherine Goulet, 'The Breaking In Experts,' are co-CEOs of FabJob.com, a leading publisher of career guides offering step-by-step advice for breaking into a variety of dream careers. Visit www.FabJob.com.

I have this wonderful shallow, round box. It's from the wreath we brought to my Dad's grave last week. I was thinking of covering it with cloth and putting little shelves in it. Or placing a piece of art or a painting in it (it would be the frame). It's just such a cool box that I don't want to just break it up and recycle with the garbage!

What are your ideas, what would you do with the box?
____________________________________

Temptations: the things I didn't buy, and a place I didn't go

2005-06-05T08:24:00.000-07:00

It's raining again today. So far I have not done a bit of garden work this weekend. This rain would be great if my garden was already planted! Maybe my day off tomorrow won't be productive either but I'm sure I will find something fun to do! Or just do the chores, but what a dismal way to spend a vacation day.

It was rainy and foggy all day yesterday. I blogged for a while, then went to Superior to meet a friend at Big Apple Bagel. I had a vegetable sandwich with hummus, very good, if a bit too crunchy for a sandwich. Then I stopped at the Feed Store to get food for the ferrets. They had baby chicks there! And baby ducks, little fuzzy yellow ones and those brown-black ones with a stripe on their head. Farmer-looking people were buying them, too, and carefully carrying out the noisy boxes. The babies were adorable and their cheeping sounds so cute that I had to grab the ferret food, buy it and run out to not be tempted!

Then I went back over the other bridge to Duluth and to the library. I parked, fed the meter and went into where the skywalk connects to the library. The place was dark; the library is closed on weekends, the summer schedule started the end of May. I hate that! How can a library not be open on a Saturday? Don't they think people read in the summertime, too, especially on a cold, foggy, rainy day? It made me crabby, and getting back to the car I became more crabby over the wasted money in the parking meter (had planned to be there several hours). On the spur of the moment, which can be fun, I decided to drive to Canal Park and to Park Point, that almost mythical place I keep writing about!

The traffic was heavier than usual, reflecting the start of the tourist season. I felt sorry for the poor tourists at first, but the drifting fog and the lake were actually quite poetic, like something from a movie. So then I just hoped the tourists were astute enough to appreciate the beauty and weren't all just whining for sunshine.

I got held up by the aerial lift bridge. A large boat was coming in and there was quite a line up of cars. There was no sense in getting antsy about it, I cut the engine and sat there watching and listening. The boat was like a ghost ship coming into the harbor through the fog. A young guy in a Ford F250 truck was trying to squeeze into the parking space right next to me. He had driven on the raised sidewalk to bypass the line of cars and spent a good ten minutes backing and forthing to fit into the parking space, nearly hitting me and the cars parked in front and behind him. I would have given him more space, but there was none to give, we were tightly packed. The bridge came back down and we were moving before he finally got into that spot.

I drove past our old apartment, all fixed up and expensive now to the Bay Side Store. I wanted to check it out, so just bought a pack of gum to counteract that garlicy hummus I'd had for lunch. I went past the little shanty-like houses, some nearly as small as mine, and the great big towering expensive new houses with huge plates of windows. Most were right on the lake. I wondered how they were in the winter. The wind off the lake is wicked then.

There were lots of houses for sale but even the oldest and smallest house down there would be about twice what I could afford. There were boats all over the place, on the lake, in the bay, in trailers on the road and by houses, parked like cars in driveways. I drove past the Duluth Rowing Club that had the skinny, long, brightly colored rowing boats on trailers and on the beach. I drove all the way to the park and public beach on the end, the road was lined on both sides with blooming crab apple trees. It felt like a parade!

I had to turn around, of course and drove back to downtown Duluth and up the hill. Next I went into the big pawn shop and looked at videos and CDs which were too expensive. I found a computer set-up for only $469 for everything, including a really nice printer (I don't have a printer at all) and was sorely tempted because it was far better than what I have, but I just can't afford it right now. Then I went to Barnes and Noble and spent a few hours reading a book! Didn't buy coffee or anything, which is kind of bad but what I normally do when I go there.

The book I skimmed was: "Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs : A Low Culture Manifesto" by Chuck Klosterman. The author talks about "fake love" and he means love standards induced by popular culture. He thinks we can never be satisfied because what we're looking for is a fantasy, it doesn't exist. A thought-provoking book that I may have to buy just so I can read it more thoroughly, it discusses reality TV, porn, breakfast cereal, the Sims games, Star Wars, 'Saved by the Bell", Billy Joel, the "Left Behind" series and lots more. A nice segue from thinking about memes yesterday!

For Sunday, a joke from my E-mail:
And God Created Dog and Cat

A newly discovered chapter in the Book of Genesis has provided the answer to 'Where do pets come from?'

Adam said, 'Lord, when I was in the garden, you walked with me every day. Now I do not see you any more. I am lonesome here and it is difficult for me to remember how much you love me.'And God said 'No problem. I will create a companion for you that will be with you forever and who will be a reflection of my love for you so that you will love me even when you cannot see me. Regardless of how selfish or childish or unlovable you may be, this new companion will accept you as you are and will love you as I do, in spite of yourself.'

And God created a new animal to be a companion for Adam. And it was a good animal. And God was pleased. And the new animal was pleased to be with Adam and it wagged its tail.

And Adam said, 'Lord, I have already named all the animals in the Kingdom and I cannot think of a name for this new animal.'

And God said, 'No problem. Because I have created this new animal to be a reflection of my love for you his name will be a reflection of my own name, and you will call him Dog.'

And Dog lived with Adam and was a companion to him and loved him. And Adam was comforted. And God was pleased. And Dog was content and wagged his tail.

After a while, it came to pass that Adam's guardian angel came to the Lord and said, 'Lord, Adam has become filled with pride. He struts and preens like a peacock and he believes he is worthy of adoration. Dog has indeed taught him that he is loved, but perhaps too well.'

And the Lord said, 'No problem. I will create for him a companion who will be with him forever and who will see him as he is. The companion will remind him of his limitations, so he will know that he is not always worthy of adoration.'

And God created Cat to be a companion to Adam. And Cat would not obey Adam. And when Adam gazed into Cat's eyes, he was reminded that he was not the Supreme Being. And Adam learned humility.

And God was pleased. And Adam was greatly improved. And Dog was happy.

And Cat didn't care one way or the other.
_________________________________

What do you meme?

2005-06-04T09:20:00.000-07:00

Just read a post complaining about all of the memes we've have going around lately. The blogger has a point, there have been a lot of them. I like blogger's memes! They reveal little bits of odd information about someone that are intriquing and help put together the puzzle of a stranger/not stranger fellow blogger. But doing them does take time and thought. And it takes the time and thought away from other activities and other(better!) blog content.

I know what the word "meme" means, studied it extensively in school, but felt compelled to do some mimimal research on it. After all, that's what I do for a large part of my job at work, research things! So here goes: I will very unprofessionally (not at work today!) not credit or link (too lazy) and intermix with my own thoughts. The book "The Lucifer Principle" by Harold Bloom talks about memes. Even if you don't agree with everything he says, it's an interesting and rather scary book. My copy got accidently destroyed by a friend who was borrowing it. I keep meaning to get another copy.

The Memes Among Us
"Meme is pronounced "Meem" (rhymes with "dream"). Memes are the basic building blocks of our minds and culture, in the same way that genes are the basic building blocks of biological life." We studied memes in Sociology and indirectly in advertising classes. Memes have been compared to mind viruses which spread from person to person, group to group. The theory goes that "ideas will spread not because they are 'good ideas', but because they contain 'good memes' such as danger, food and sex that push our evolutionary buttons and force us to pay attention to them." Fads amd fashion are memes, as is all popular culture--it's popular because it spreads and it spreads because it's popular! Hit songs are memes, chain E-mails are memes. In fact, not just popular culture, but culture itself is a collection of memes! And obviously, different cultures have different memes.

"All of these are viruses. Not computer viruses, but MIND viruses. These messages all have one thing in common: they contain compelling messages, or memes, that grab our attention and persuade us to pass them on."

"A powerful Internet Mind Virus compels us to re-send it to others. The message spreads explosively as we and many others help it reproduce. The information in the message -- whether true or false, useful or not -- becomes widespread, infecting many people."

"Most of these viruses of the mind are spread because they are intriguing or frightening or inspiring, and not necessarily because they're true. That's the problem."

This site is talking about chain E-mails, you know, the extortion kind that tell you to send it to five people within five minutes for a wish to come true or to avoid some misfortune. But I find it's amusing to think that PARENTS pass their memes to their children too, just like one of those chain E-mails! Whether the meme is good or bad, true or false, parents pass along the memes they've been given to their children. And certain memes are really infectious, for instance: my son has many traits like his father, even though he's hardly been around him since the age of five. Remember that old song "Teach Your Children Well" by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young? I think it was about trying to overcome memes and set up your own code and way of living. It also could be interpreted the opposite from the line "Feed them on your dreams" as giving your memes to your children (feed them on your memes). Which do you think?

"A mind virus that instructs you to forward it right away is a mind virus trying to reproduce. Jokes are the most innocuous of Internet Viruses, because they at least do not pretend to be true. But sometimes they do pretend to be funny. Ask yourself more than once if your joke is really worth the time of all the friends you are forwarding it to."

Well, gee, hope my jokes are funny. At least I think they are! Like anything I write, readers are welcome to take or leave it...

"Not all Internet Mind Viruses are consumers of faith, trust, and time. Some give back more than they take. A good joke or a pointer to a worthwhile web site can make someone's day."

OK, volumes could and have been written about memes, but I'm done with it now. Just wanted a short (nearly impossible for me) piece about memes, since talking about memes has become a meme itself here in Bloggerland!
___________________________

O.K.

2005-06-04T07:40:00.000-07:00

I got up shortly after 4:00 this morning and went for a long walk with my son and our dog. It wasn't quite light out and the woods were full of cracking and rustling, birds singing their little heads off and the damp coolness of impending rain. By the time we came back home, my son was carrying our little dog and my legs were like rubber. I do daily exercise but just do not seem to be in very good shape anymore! I compare today to a few years back when I could walk all day and not suffer ill effects. Climbing stairs and walking uphill, which I do daily, both make me huff and puff. Guess my body is getting older. I don't feel older inside, though. Most times I feel younger than when I was in my 20's and 30's, a single parent and so worried about everything.

It just started to rain. I love the sound of rain! Although this will postpone my digging in the garden, we need more moisure. It's been rather a dry year so far. The mallard ducks didn't nest in my swamp, like usual. In fact there's barely a swamp, it's been so dry. The columbines are blooming and my later, pale yellow tulips.

I'd like to go and get plants for my garden but have no room for them in the house, and the garden is not ready yet. First I need to shovel and turn over the entire area, then rake through and take out all the weeds and roots. I've progressed but still have some sod to turn over. It's fun and I enjoy it, but it's hard, physical labor. A rototiller would make it so much easier but it's so rocky up here that I'd probably bend the tines. I don't like loud gasoline-driven engines (except a car, of course!) so would rather do it by hand. I used to mow the lawn with a hand mower too, but my son refused to use it even though I told him it would build up his biceps! So I bought an electric lawn mower. It's quiet and doesn't smell or smoke like a regular mower. The dance with the electric cord can be funny, though!

Last night I went out with a couple of friends to celebrate one of my best friend's birthday. We had a good time and an interesting conversation about our talked about road trip. They wanted to go to the O.K. Corral in Tombstone, Arizona and videotape us play acting a gunfight. Birthday girl wanted to be Doc Holliday the alcoholic doctor, The other friend wanted to be Billy Clanton, who was one of the cowboys gunned down because she wanted to play a death scene. I wanted to be one of the Earp brothers, the best known one, Wyatt Earp! Who wouldn't want to be an Earp? We planned out our costumes and the screenplay. Probably it might be good to double-check some history on it to get it right. Birthday girl went to high school in Tucson, not too far far from the site of the O.K. Corral and she's always wanted to go back and revist that area. We gave her a bag of funny items as a gift. And I obviously got home at a reasonable hour to be able to get out of bed at 4:00 on a Saturday morning!

And a joke from my E-mail:

The Ultimate response to a "Dear John" (or Jane) letter.

A Marine was deployed to Afghanistan. While he was there, he received a letter from his girlfriend. In the letter she explained that she had slept with two guys while he had been gone, that she wanted to break up with him, and that she wanted the pictures of herself back.

You gotta love a man like this! Humor in the face of defeat!

The Marine did what any squared-away Marine would do. He went around to his buddies and collected all the unwanted photos of women he could find. He then mailed about 25 pictures of women (with clothes and without) to his girlfriend with the following note:

"I don't remember which one you are. Please remove your picture, and send the rest back."
_______________________________

Pet Review

2005-06-03T05:54:00.000-07:00

For the past few days I've been thinking of writing a brief pet review. The brief part may pose a problem!

Dogs: I've had several in my lifetime, of course, starting with the Golden Retrievers we raised for hunting dogs when I was a kid. I thought I could never have another type of dog but I've not owned a Golden Retriever as an adult. I always wanted to raise dogs and even though I thought I only liked big dogs, We had a Springer Spaniel and a Doberman when I was married. Later, I did not have enough room in the city for a kennel of large dogs. So I raised Pomeranians for a few years. They are adorable little huskies, but are stereotypically yippy little dogs. My present dog, a Chihuahua is the very best dog I've seen, did a lot of reading about them, took plenty of jokes from friends, but it's a great little breed. They are quiet, loyal, healthy little dogs. The only drawback being they don't like other dogs, even other Chihuahuas. My little Natty is very jealous of our other pets; I cannot leave her with them unsupervised.

Cats: We had a cat named Debbie when my son was little. She was a sweet, mellow cat that his daycare provider gave to us. We had an apartment with a balcony to which I gave Debbie access so she could get fresh air. She climbed down the side of the two-story building and got pregnant. It was educational for my son and we found good homes for the little kitties. But we suffered from hives, breathing trouble, watery eyes and noses. It turned out we were allergic to cats and have not had another one since we had to give Debbie to a neighbor, which is just as well with me. They are beautiful animals but have a terrible stench, I hate cat smell. And yes, I changed the catbox very often and scooped many times a day. I hate cat smell; the only worse smell is from a ferret.

Ferrets: My son fell in love with three ferrets that belonged to a friend of his. He then wanted one for his birthday. Ferrets are so charming and enticing that it's not hard to want to take them home with you. They are like indoor otters and want to play with everything. We read up on them before getting two (the book said two is better because they like company and a playmate) and the book listed the ailments and diseases they can contract. What the book didn't tell us was that those diseases are very common in ferrets. They're an expensive animal to maintain because of all the vet bills. They are supposed to live fairly long but almost none of them do. They succumb to chronic ailments, die in necessary surgery and are very trouble-prone in general. The three ferrets owned by my son's friend have all since died, one in expensive surgery. We can never give our ferrets any treats except those specially targeted for ferrets. They need a special additive to their water and special (expensive) food. Our ferrets have both an indoor and an outdoor cage. Just try pricing a ferret cage in the pet store, it's like buying a large bird cage, not cheap! Cleaning those cages will become a very familiar and dreaded chore, ferrets stink no matter how often you clean the cage.

Rats: Are a wonderful pet for someone who wants a dog but can't have one. Rats are a lot like little doggies, smart, loyal, playful and good company. My son used to sleep with his two rats. They are easily trained and learn a lot of words; they come when called, just like a dog. The only downside is that they don't have a very long life span and they need a lot of love and attention, like a dog. They aren't very happy just confined to a cage.

Chinchilla: Ricky is our first Chinchilla, but the niece of a friend of mine has two of them, too. They are beautiful, soft, cuddly and quirky. They're more like a cat in that they can love company and also like being left alone in their cage. They clean their beautiful fur by rolling in very fine volcanic dust! Ricky loves his dust and knows that word, he gets all happy when you say "dust". He also likes riding on your shoulder and investigating things. He chews, so needs to be watched when loose in the house. He loves raisins, green strawberry tops, apple cores and fresh grass, the last I pick for him every morning in the spring, summer and fall. And I bring him home the apple core from the apple I eat every day for lunch. They are very clean and their cage has almost no odor, a refreshing contrast to the ferrets.

Guinea pigs: Cute, not too bright and some of them bite. They don't seem to be able to be housebroken. Two of them together are very noisy!

Rabbits: Can be housebroken, are adorable when young but grow up to be timid and rather dangerous especially for little kids because of their powerful hind legs. They chew anything and everything in the house if not supervised.

Goats: not exactly a pet but very charming and hard to keep confined. The nannies also need milking twice a day, so no overnights or vacations unless you have a capable and responsible substitute.

Chickens: Also not really pets, but I think they would make great pets. We had them when I was a kid and once later. They aren't as dumb as people say and have distinct personalities (or would that be "chickenalities"?) and are friendly and curious.

Ducks: Adorable, loyal I really like ducks. We had some when I was a kid. My Mom thought duck eggs were the absolute best for baking.

Mice: We started out with five mice that a co-worker from the Post Office gave to me. We soon needed to buy three more cages for them. Mice are cute and easily tamed. The males fight viciously and need to be separated. Males and female babies need to be separated very early or you will have more mice very soon! We went up to five mouse cages for awhile before we got expert at determining males from females.

Moles: We've live-trapped them in the house a couple of times. They are a very interesting temporary pet but not easily tamed. They're loners and don't like other rodents, even other moles. They are blamed for eating gardens and lawns but really only eat worms and insects. The culprits probably were:

Voles: We've live-trapped a couple of these in the house and they had babies before the weather got warm enough to release them. They are the most delightful little rodents, far better than mice. They're monogamous and both parents raise the babies. They're easily tamed, gentle and curious. They're easy to feed, eat kitchen scraps and hay and they just love cranberries for some reason, so we gave them craisins for a treat. They will never be popular pets, however because of their dirty habit of making one end of the cage into a nasty mud hole. I had to scoop it out every day and it still was a stinky mess. The rodents themselves were clean and non-smelly even though they loved to wallow in their horrible mud hole.

Well, maybe I've forgotten a couple of pets we've owned but I've run out of steam now. And you probably are tired of reading. All of the above are only my opinions and experiences with the animals or birds, of course.

A friend sent me this link with the message:
Subject: check this out
"This is pretty cool. I had no idea my high school had our yearbooks on-line. I just viewed my pictures. Thought you'd like to do the same. "Check out this link, type in your name the state and city and name of your school and year you were there and you can find pictures from your yearbook! High School Yearbook Photo Search website"

Cute little trees!

2005-06-02T05:51:00.000-07:00

I love Bonsai. My parents had one once as a gift from my younger brother. I don't know what happened to it, one day it simply wasn't in their house anymore. I didn't visit my Mom every week like I do now, so I didn't even notice that it was gone. I suppose it died and my parents threw it out. It sure was a cute little tree.

I would have loved to play with a mini forest of Bonsai as a kid. As it was, I did play with weeds and leaves and catkins from birch trees. Little figures of people and animals could have climbed the little trees, lived underneath and traveled to visit other trees. My childhood games were long-running stories and a game with the Bonsai could have lasted for weeks. I was a careful child and would have been mindful to not hurt the little trees.

A few years ago when we went to Washington DC for work I stayed three extra days on my own dime just to look around. One of the major attractions I wanted to see (besides the Smithsonians) was The National Arboretum. A DC native took us to the Arboretum where we hiked trails, saw lots of beautiful trees and plants, but my favorite were the little Bonsai trees. There were so many types of Bonsai, I hadn't known you could make a Bonsai maple tree, for instance, or a blue spruce like the trees I planted a couple of days ago. One of the Bonsai trees was from 1626 and had survived the bombing of Japan in WW2. There was even a Bonsai Mangrove tree from Southern Florida in the exhibit.

I've always wanted a Bonsai, but haven't taken on the responsibility yet. With every tree I plant or plant I grow, I take on the responsibility to take care of it, to do my best for it. I'd want to study up on Bonsai and knew a lot more about them before every taking one on as a responsibility.

There's a National Arboretum Web site with a virtual tour of some Bonsai at:
Bonsai Virtual Tour"

and then there's Advice from my E-mail:
Money doesn't bring you happiness, but it enables you to look for it in more places.

* Your conscience may not keep you from doing wrong, but it sure keeps you from enjoying it.

* Middle age is when broadness of the mind and narrowness of the waist change places.

* Misers aren't much fun to live with, but they make great ancestors.

* Be careful what rut you choose. You may be in it the rest of your life.

* The trouble with bucket seats is that not everybody has the same size bucket.

* When you see the handwriting on the wall, you can bet you're in a public restroom.

* Opportunities always look bigger going than coming.

* The real reason you can't take it with you is that it goes before you do.

* Junk is something you throw away three weeks before you need it.

* Hospitality is making your guests feel at home, even if you wish they were.

* A closed mouth gathers no feet.

* A man (or woman) who can smile when things go wrong has found someone to blame it on.

* A modern pioneer is a person who can get through a rainy Saturday with the television on the blink.

* The world is full of willing people: some willing to work and some willing to let them.

* Money isn't everything....there's credit cards, money orders, and travelers checks.

And a Joke:
Melissa pulled into the crowded parking lot at the Super Wal-Mart Shopping Center and rolled down the car windows to make sure her Labrador Retriever pup had fresh air.

The dog was stretched full-out on the back seat and Melissa wanted to impress upon her that she must remain there. Melissa walked backward, pointing her finger at the car and said emphatically, "Now you stay. Do you hear me?" "Stay! Stay!"

The driver of a nearby car, an older man, gave Melissa a curious look and said,

"Why don't you just put it in park, Missy?"
____________

Have a great day--it's Thursday!!!

Digging deeper

2005-06-01T05:15:00.000-07:00

I did some more digging last night, also applied for a day off next Monday to finish the digging, raking and planting of the garden. Had the little ferrets outside for a couple of hours. I let them dig in a huge pile of topsoil, but when they start to wander too much, I need to put them into their outdoor cage. We do have a harness for them, too, but I was digging and couldn't manage to control them at the same time. Ricky, the chinchilla doesn't enjoy being outside much unless he's being held (Ricky is a he!) or sitting on someone's shoulder. I was thinking that maybe the deer already had their fawns, maybe that was why they were rather aggressive. It is strange that they are still traveling in a herd, then, because normally the does will separate and raise the fawns alone all summer before rejoining the herd.

While I was digging outside, I had chicken baking in the oven with sage and thyme. So when I came in and cooled off (the house sure smelled good!), I had a variation of the salad we ate on Memorial Day, except with chicken instead of tuna and with honey mustard dressing. It was not quite as good as the first salad, but still delicious and quite respectable. I had stopped for groceries on the way home so had new, fresh salad fixings.

Photos of the curve of Park Point!
Park Point is so beautiful, I've mentioned that I lived down there once and that it was the best place I've ever lived. From up on the hill, it looks like Park Point is holding back Lake Superior. Pete has some photos to show you. I don't know him in real life but he's a great photographer!

Although I've been very busy, it's sad to not spend as much time online! Maybe once I get the garden dug and planted I can cruise blogs more again. The last straw for me was when I tried to reply to every comment! It was so fun and felt so right, but took so much time, and took time away from going to other blogs and reading and commenting. I won't be replying as much to comments anymore, even though I really liked doing that, it felt even more like a two-way conversation!

This joke is not as funny as Weary Hag's post "A Chat with a Cat" but it's sort of cute:

Signs that your cat is hanging around with the wrong crowd:

One day, without your permission, he gets his ears pierced.

Your credit card is overcharged, mainly for "9-Lives."

You find attached to the refrigerator a note that reads: "Leave a steak on the front porch at midnight, or you'll never see Spot again."

Too many times a week your cat comes home after one in the morning, totally plastered and with a strong odor of catnip about him.

You come home to catch him in the act of raiding your liquor cabinet.

Several hundred dollars' worth of phone calls appear on your phone bill to "1-900-PUSSYCAT-MEOW."

You find out that the lifetime's supply of cat food wasn't a prize from "Kitten's Life" magazine, but that your cat has been selling drugs in the neighborhood.

After failing to get your attention with constant meows and by rubbing up against your leg, your cat pulls out his Magnum-44 and aims it at you, demanding "Friskies" and catnip.

Jokes from TV
"I was trying to find stuff to talk about today, it was a slow news day, so I found this. On this day in 1492, Columbus set sail from Europe, looking for a sea route to India - and ended up in America. And ironically, if you make a call from Europe to a company in America today - it's re-routed to India." --Jay Leno

"To show that his energy bill is about more than drilling for oil in Alaska, this week President Bush visited a plant in Virginia that turned soy beans into a clean burning diesel fuel. Which the president hopes one day will be used to fuel oil drilling machines in Alaska " --Tina Fey

"I was driving on a freeway in L.A. when I heard a loud popping sound. I was afraid I had a flat tire, but it was just someone shooting at me!" --Jay Leno

"Maybe every other American movie shouldn't be based on a comic book. Other countries will think Americans live in an infantile fantasy land where every problem can be solved with violence." --Bill Maher

A Test for True Friendship
A young couple were touring southern Florida and happened to stop at a rattlesnake farm they discovered along the road. After seeing the sights, they engaged in small talk with the man that handled the snakes.

"Gosh!" exclaimed the young woman. "You certainly have a dangerous job. Don't you ever get bitten by the snakes?"

"Yes, on rare occasions," answered the handler.

"Well," she continued, "what do you do when you're bitten by a snake?"

"I always carry a razor-sharp knife in my pocket, and as soon as I am bitten, I make cut across the fang entry and then suck the poison from the wound."

"What, uh...what would happen if you were to accidentally sit on a rattler?" persisted the woman.

"Ma'am," answered the snake handler, "that will be the day I learn who my real friends are."
________________________

Speaking of real friends, yet another person will be leaving our company. She wasn't a friend, and was from another department. I didn't see her all that much but I really liked her a lot. She nabbed a great job at another place and we will be celebrating that after work on her last day of work next week.

A good, but not memorial day

2005-05-31T05:54:00.000-07:00

I had a great Memorial Day, hope you did too. Spent too much time blogging however. I was shocked to find that I'd spent from 8:00 AM to noon reading blogs and making comments, including my own daily posting, of course! It took that long to catch up with my links. Hmmm, this isn't good, because as much as I love reading all the cool blogs, that's just too much time out of my real life. I have chores to do and other necessary activities. I'm not going to use the word "addiction" because I think it's vastly overused, EVERYTHING is called an addiction nowadays if a person spends a lot of time, money or other resources on it. Work, sleeping, talking, blinking could all be called addictions under those criteria! I may try to divide my links and only go to a few per day to make this hobby more manageable. It doesn't mean I love you any less, though!

Monday was a beautiful, sunny day. In the afternoon I dug quite a bit in the garden, and planted 14 trees (not in the garden, of course). My son mowed the lawn. I cleaned the chinchilla cage while he was outside, and the ferrets were out several hours, two hours twice for a total of four hours outside. It's healthy for all my little animals to have some time out in the fresh air! I thought I'd be stiff from all the digging, but I'm really not. Just a good kind of soreness. And I sunburned just a little.

Last night four deer came through, looking at the freshly planted trees and the garden. They usually will do that because they're attracted to the dug up earth, can smell it, I guess. We walked towards them---and they walked towards us! Pretty bold deer! I'm just a little afraid of them, especially the mean deer. She hasn't had her fawns yet (usaully has two) and then she gets even more agressive. We had to restrain my little dog, as she would have gone after the deer and I'm not 100% sure they would just turn and run. They might come after her instead, especially once they have fawns.

We ate salad twice yesterday, it had four types of lettuce, cucumber, tomato, green onion, broccoli and strawberries and was topped with little bits of tuna, cheddar, Swiss, and Paul Newman's raspberry and walnut dressing. Yum, it was so good after working out in the sun!

Thanks to Dragonfly for this quizzy thing.

Your Love Style is Eros

For you, love is all about the passion!

And chances are, you're currently in love.

You have a strong physical response to love...

And you are great at committing

(As long as the person makes your toes curl!)

What's Your Love Style?

No tomorrows, only a string of todays

2005-05-30T08:32:00.000-07:00

Last night I went to see the new Star Wars movie. It's been quite a while since I've seen one on the big screen, saw the last two as video. I'd really recommend not waiting for the video! There's just something majestic, cosmic(!) about seeing Star Wars on a large movie screen. Like a lot of good movies I've seen, it's given me a lot to think about. One of the Sith Lords accused the Jedi of being narrow, while the dark side is broad and encompassing. I've been thinking about that today and it seems quite true even in real life; good is a narrow little strip in a roadway of darkness. Of course I brought it further into personal terms, as I'm very much one who wants to see all, do all, a sort of greed to experience life, is that a good thing or a bad thing? I also had the depressing notion that in the future we probably WILL still be fighting wars. A deep and disturbing thought for Memorial Day...

If they gave out Blogging Citations, I would have gotten a couple this last week. I omitted the credit to Her Majesty, The Peanut Queen for the music tag, as I didn't realize she'd also tagged me until later. And there would be a citation for the insane comment I made on a blog! Somehow I'd copied the post and put it, plus a comment into my comment. It was a mess, my apologies to the victim of my carelessness. My only excuse is Mel Gibson was on TV at the time!

Today will be a relaxing day of digging the garden and planting trees. I've already done my duty to my parents, both living and dead. First, I'll going to watch some daytime TV! Yes, so sad--I know. But I can't remember the last time I got to see "Today" and some of the later afternoon talk shows (after the gardening). I need to get a birthday card for one of my best friends too, whose birthday is coming up this week, and wrap the presents. I hit a couple of rummage sales on Saturday and got my son five pairs of pants and two belts. He'd been lamenting his lack of pants, had only three pair good enough for work. These are quite nice and fit, too. For me, I found a beautiful blue teapot in perfect condition!

I also haven't mentioned that my Goth Rosary order arrived earlier this week! I just had time to unpack it and play with it on Saturday. There are extras included and everything is carefully and delightfully packed, the packing material around each bottle held by a sticker. AntiSally doesn't charge extra for the shipping but certainly does extra. She sent me a snack food item called "Dem Bones" which I opened and ate both packs while blogging! They were cute and tasted like Sweet Tarts. Also received a cool goth bumpersticker. But I don't think the happy vehicle Jeepers, who likes to bound through mud and puddles like a Golden Retriever would be an appropriate spot for a black bumper stick with a skull on it! So I may have to give it away or put it on my notebook, quite junior high. And the fragrance samples are so tempting that I may soon have a new favorite scent!

Well, probably not too many people will be blogging today, but I wish you all (here and not here) a very peaceful and safe Memorial Day!

The Book Tag

2005-05-29T07:17:00.000-07:00

Forgot to mention two things in previous posts:

The train was named the Lakefront Zephyr

I forgot to list Sisters of Mercy in the Music Tag. I'd be hard-pressed to pick a favorite song as I like them all, maybe "Temple of Love" or "Vision Thing" or "This Corrosion"--no, I could just keep listing them, love them all and am going to listen to them all the way out and back from driving to my Mom's today.

The Covey system is something I've used for ten years now and it works well. It involves organizing your life around your personal values and is taken from several books, "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People", and "First Things First, Principle-Centered Leadership", and other books. Dr. Covey is cofounder of FranklinCovey and the Covey Leadership Center. The Web site for it is at: Franklin Covey and yes, this is a commercial site so they're trying to sell you things, but there are cool freebies here, too, like the "Mission Statement Builder"

Thanks to Katya for this book meme. I have always loved books. My parents read to me when I was very young and I started reading to my son when he was a brand-new baby. My Dad taught me to read when I was only four years old from Dr. Suess' "One Fish Two Fish". And I still love most of the Dr. Suess books, especially "Horton Hears a Who!" and "Horton Hatches an Egg" I loved that elephant and Yertle the Turtle, the Sneeches, the Grinch and of course, "The Cat in the Hat". I have a co-worker who was really turned off from Dr. Seuss from watching "The Cat in the Hat" movie. I've not seen it, but the previews didn't look good at all, the cat seemed scary and mean, not like the book. There's a cool Web site:
Welcome to Suessville!

I was into biographies and autobiographies as a grade-school child. My Mom brought me to the library and I read every young adult book there about famous people. Then, in junior high I became interested in Jack London, The Black Stallion and other animal tales. When I went away to school I worked, where else--in the college library! My present job started out as an archivist librarian, although (as I've noted elsewhere) it's been turned into more of a receptionist job in the past couple of years because the receptionist left and I was given her job plus my own.

Total Number Of Books Owned
I have enough books to have my own bookstore! Except I wouldn't want to part with most of them. I've given away boxes of books but still have them in the closets, under the beds and at my Mom's house. Every shelf in this house is full of books, sometimes stacked and double-filed. I have no idea how many books I have but have always wanted to categorize them on an Excel spreadsheet so I could order them by title by author or other category. Since I have no Excel program on my computer at home and little time, I've not done that yet.

The last book I Bought
"His Excellency, George Washington" by Joseph J. Ellis and "John James Audubon, The Making of an American" by Richard Rhodes. I've not started to read either of them yet.

The Last Book I Read
I am currently reading "Seizure" a medical thriller by Robin Cook. He's a medical doctor as well as an author and it's a good book!

Five Books That Mean a Lot to Me
"The Hobbit" by Tolkein is a book I really like and re-read periodically (like I do for all my favorite books!)
"The Razor's Edge" by W. Somerset Maugham.
I own the first three books of "Harry Potter" by J.K.Rowling.
"Love is Just Around the Corner" by Lester Atwell. It's an old book about a young woman in New York City during the 1930's that I got from a rummage sale a few years ago, and one of my favorites. I'd like to be one of Flora's friends, or better still, to be her, a display artist, subletting an artist studio and giving classes. They even made a musical out of this book called "Flora, the Red Menace"! I got the CD and the songs are kind of dumb, though. Not sure I would like it as a musical, they play up the fact that her boyfriend is a member of the communist party.
"Bambi" by Felix Salten. This is NOT the Disney version. I love it so much that I re-read it every other year or so and need to get it re-bound soon.
"Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture" by Douglas Coupland. I love love love this book and would live inside of it if I could.
There are several self-help books I like, too. "Wishcraft" by Barbara Sher is my favorite. it's an old book, but can be used again and again to help make life decisions.

Two Major Books When I Was a Kid That I Kept On Me All The Time
Probably one of the many "Black Stallion" books or one by Jack London were in my backpack as a pre-teen. Thomas Hardy books or biographies in my backpack as a teen.

5 People I Want To Tag
If you've already done the book tag, or just don't care to do it, please ignore this summons!

Fizzy
Sumo Merriment
SquirrleyMojo
Circles and Squares (Iona)
Rafe

About the train...

2005-05-28T10:26:00.000-07:00

Yay Yay and Yay not only the weekend is here, but it's a holiday weekend! I slept in late today, unusual for me, but sweet. Oh I woke up at around 4:00, 7:00 and 8:00 but just rolled over and went back to sleep.

The first thing I noticed today is that the lawn needs mowing. That's such a weird concept, who in the world invented chopping off the tops of grass around a house? Probably it was taken from haying the fields and some early farmer decided it would make the family's house look better? Or more likely, as a fire deterrent back in the days of no insurance or fire departments. Anyway, I think it's a strange idea, even though it cuts down the mosquitoes and woodticks in the yard area. I've been eaten alive by mosquitoes, as that descriptive saying goes, already this year and have one woodtick bite.

Oh, the story about the train ride:
We were set to meet to catch the train on its second and final run of Thursday. I came early, parked down by the temporary station and was walking around outside with my raincoat, because it was raining. I remembered that my friend mentioned something about a grocery store parking lot nearby, so after waiting a bit, I thought maybe I should go check out the grocery store parking lot to see if friend parked there. I walked through the lot, looking, looking, and people looked back at me curiously but no friend. Went back down to the train station and waited, after a time I walked up to the grocery store again, it was going late, in fact I could hear the train whistle approaching, still no friend, and people looked at my more curiously this time, as I walked through the parking lot. I walked back down to the train station, the rain had stopped, sun was out and it was kind of hot in my raincoat. So I took it off and locked it in my car. The train was on the platform, loading passengers. It was long after the time we had planned to meet, still no friend. I was very tempted to just get on the train, but figured that would be kind of mean. This friend was almost never late, must have been held up by work.

With a whistle, the train pulled away from the station, the passengers gaily waving from the windows. I got into my car and moved it up to the grocery store parking lot. I sat in the car a good half hour before friend showed up, and yes work had been the hold up. Friend was apologetic and offered to take me to dinner, we agreed on the Scenic Cafe on the North Shore Scenic Drive, so drove up there and it was still early enough to get a window table, overlooking the garden and the lake view.
We had the happy idea of calling other friends, but all we had was my brand new company cell phone. I don't use the company cell phone much except on trips, and I haven't had any work trips yet this year, so didn't know the operation of this particular one and the manual was at work, of course. Neither of us thought it would be all that difficult, but we had quite a time trying to make those calls! I'm sure it was good entertainment for the tables nearby and not the usual cell phone annoyance!

Anyway, we had a fun time. Ate some awesome blackberry cream-cheese tart which two friends thought was just like something from Europe. I've not been to Europe, so had no comparison but it was one of the best desserts I've had. We each paid for our own food and drink, and it was quite a bit more expensive than our normal get-togethers. Original friend and I decided to meet the same time the following night to catch the very last running of the train, since it would be Friday and the train was only running this week. I agreed, but the thought went through my head, "If friend is late again, I'm just getting on the train this time!"

On Friday many co-workers had taken the day off, one was home sick. I had a few things to do but it was quite a long day. I came back to my desk and had a phone message that friend was sick, had stayed home from work and couldn't make our meeting.

I got off from work, hurried uphill to my car and moved it to the train depot. Made the train easily. I loved the smell of the train, it reminded me of the depot my Mom worked in when I was a kid. The car was built sort of like a plane, but much more roomy and luxurious. Wide comfortable seats facing both directions, a big overhead luggage rack. A train stewardess came around offering free beverages, there were lots of couples, families, kids, and everyone was in a jovial mood. I sat at a huge window facing the lake, facing forward. We had to back up for 1/2 mile because the freeway had been built between the depot and the rest of the rail line. It was so interesting to get to see under the freeway, with all the art graffiti I'd heard about. I'd always wanted to see it but my kids had told me "Don't ever go down there alone. It's dangerous."

We came out from under the freeway and had a great view of the bay, the bridge and Canal Park. Then on along the Lakewalk and the lake. The people on the Lakewalk smiled and waved at the train. The lake was smooth and shining. It had been raining again off and on all day and the mix of clouds and light seemed unearthly on the lake.

It was quite a distance until we crossed the freeway again and went into the wooded area. It was like getting to see a secret place, the trees practically brushed the train. I saw little flowers, plants and flowering trees from the higher vantage point of the train window. Then we saw people's backyards, treehouses, gardens and dog kennels. It was like a tour of secret, hidden places. We went over a lot of bridges too, with streams under them. I counted seven large streams and three small ones all connecting up with the lake.

I rode backwards coming back into downtown. I thought it would be fun, and it was, initially until the blurred view of trees whizzing past began to make me queasy. Lucky for me, I could switch to another seat and get a view of the lake again. The rocking motion of the train was unique, not like a car or a plain, but very soothing. The train didn't go all the way back to the depot, so I had to get off and walk about six blocks or so. I was wishing I'd gone for a couple of train rides during the week, because I had been on the last train ride.
_________________

Movies movies movies

2005-05-27T06:11:00.000-07:00

A friend and I were talking about movies last night (Yes, I went out AGAIN last night, trying to recapture my fun quota). We decided to have a movie night and each bring what we thought was a good movie, and watch them all night. Sounds like fun to me!

Time released a list of what they consider to be the top 100 movies ever made:

 A - C
 Aguirre: the Wrath of God (1972)
 The Apu Trilogy (1955, 1956, 1959)
 The Awful Truth (1937)
 Baby Face (1933)
 Bande à part (1964)
 Barry Lyndon (1975)
 Berlin Alexanderplatz (1980)
 Blade Runner (1982)
 Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
 Brazil (1985)
 Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
 Camille (1936)
 Casablanca (1942)
 Charade (1963)
 Children of Paradise (1945)
 Chinatown (1974)
 Chungking Express (1994)
 Citizen Kane (1941)
 City Lights (1931)
 City of God (2002)
 Closely Watched Trains (1966)
 The Crime of Monsieur Lange (1936)
 The Crowd (1928)
 D - F
 Day for Night (1973)
 The Decalogue (1989)
 Detour (1945)
 The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972)
 Dodsworth (1936)
 Double Indemnity (1944)
 Dr. Strangelove: or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)
 Drunken Master II (1994)
 E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
 8 1/2 (1963)
 The 400 Blows (1959)
 Farewell My Concubine (1993)
 Finding Nemo (2003)
 The Fly (1986)
 G - J
 The Godfather, Parts I and II (1972, 1974)
 The Good, The Bad and The Ugly (1966)
 Goodfellas (1990)
 A Hard Day's Night (1964)
 His Girl Friday (1940)
 Ikiru (1952)
 In A Lonely Place (1950)
 Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
 It's A Gift (1934)
 It's A Wonderful Life (1946)
 K - M
 Kandahar (2001)
 Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949)
 King Kong (1933)
 The Lady Eve (1941)
 The Last Command (1928)
 Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
 Léolo (1992)
 The Lord of the Rings (2001-03)
 The Man With a Camera (1929)
 The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
 Meet Me in St. Louis (1944)
 Metropolis (1927)
 Miller's Crossing (1990)
 Mon oncle d'Amérique (1980)
 Mouchette (1967)
 N - P
 Nayakan (1987)
 Ninotchka (1939)
 Notorious (1946)
 Olympia, Parts 1 and 2 (1938)
 On the Waterfront (1954)
 Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)
 Out of the Past (1947)
 Persona (1966)
 Pinocchio (1940)
 Psycho (1960)
 Pulp Fiction (1994)
 The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985)
 Pyaasa (1957)
 Q - S
 Raging Bull (1980)
 Schindler's List (1993)
 The Searchers (1956)
 Sherlock, Jr. (1924)
 The Shop Around the Corner (1940)
 Singin' in the Rain (1952)
 The Singing Detective (1986)
 Smiles of a Summer Night (1955)
 Some Like It Hot (1959)
 Star Wars (1977)
 A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
 Sunrise (1927)
 Sweet Smell of Success (1957)
 Swing Time (1936)
 T - Z
 Talk to Her (2002)
 Taxi Driver (1976)
 Tokyo Story (1953)
 A Touch of Zen (1971)
 Ugetsu (1953)
 Ulysses' Gaze (1995)
 Umberto D (1952)
 Unforgiven (1992)
 White Heat (1949)
 Wings of Desire (1987)
 Yojimbo (1961)

I've not seen all of these, but it would be a worthy fun-quota goal for this summer. Or maybe not. Probably it would be a better winter project.

How many movies on the list have you seen?
What movies would be on your favorites list?
______________

Hang on, Friday's Coming

2005-05-26T06:19:00.000-07:00

I've not been blogging as much lately, just don't seem to have enough time. Even at work, ha ha! Tonight I get to ride the little communter train, the 1950's Budd car with refreshments and all. It sounds like kind of a party and should be really fun. I don't like the new Audioslave CD as well as the other one. But maybe I just haven't heard it enough, usually need to hear music a few times before I start liking it. I was out last night with friends and rather than whine again how very tired I am, and how I feel like that old poster of a cat dangling from a tree and the caption says "Hang on Friday's Coming" here are more jokes from my E-mail:

Disaster

One afternoon a man came home from work to find total mayhem in his house.

His three children were outside, still in their pajamas, playing in the mud, with empty food boxes and wrappers strewn all around the front yard.

The door of his wife's car was open, as was the front door to the house.

Proceeding into the entry, he found an even bigger mess.

A lamp had been knocked over, and the throw rug was wadded against one wall.

In the front room the TV was loudly blaring a cartoon channel, and the family room was strewn with toys and various items of clothing.

In the kitchen, dishes filled the sink, breakfast food was spilled on the counter, dog food was spilled on the floor, a broken glass lay under the table, and a small pile of sand was spread by the back door. He quickly headed up the stairs, stepping over toys and more piles of clothes, looking for his wife.

He was worried she may be ill, or that something serious had happened. He found her lounging in the bedroom, still curled in the bed in her pajamas, reading a novel. She looked up at him, smiled, and asked how his day went. He looked at her bewildered and asked, "What happened here today?"

She again smiled and answered, "You know everyday when you come home from work and ask me what in the world did I do today?"

"Yes," was his incredulous reply.

She answered, "Well, today I didn't do it."

Quick Quip
"My mom is very possessive. She calls me up and says things like, 'You weren't home last night. Is something gong on?' I say, 'Yeah Mom, I'm cheating on you with another mother.'" --Heidi Joyce

Hairdresser
I accompanied my husband to get a haircut. While flipping through a magazine I found a hairstyle that would look good on me. I asked the receptionist if I could take the magazine next door to make a copy of the hairstyle photo.

"Well, okay," she replied, "but leave some ID--a driver's license or credit card."

"But my husband is here getting his hair cut," I explained.

"Yeah... but we need something you'll come back for."

New Deck
I was working in the sun all day, putting finishing touches on the new deck outside my house. My sister pulled into the driveway, greeted me, and looked over my work.

"Wow," she gushed, "you're an expert."

Feeling complimented and satisfied, but...trying not to seem egotistical, I responded... "Once you get going, it's pretty easy!"

She looked puzzled and wondering if I'd misunderstood her I asked, "What did you just say?"

She replied, "I said, your neck's burnt!"

And how has YOUR week been, so far?
_________________________

Can you spell "tired"?

2005-05-25T06:11:00.000-07:00

I'm so tired this morning that I can barely spell "tired" stayed up too late. But I did get the new Audioslave CD and am listening to it right now (loudly, to help wake up while I wait for coffee!). I finally found someone to ride the train with me. I would have just gone alone, but that's not as much fun. It's funny how most people really do not want to try new things or go to events. They SAY that they do, but never seen to be able to squeeze it in. It's my rather cyncial thought that people pretty much squeeze in the things they really want to do! And the evidence I've seen bears that out. Guess they just don't want to bother, or just aren't that curious. Anyway, the train ride is Thursday night and since we're taking the last scheduled trip for the day, we need to do a car shuffle to get back downtown.

Well, I've run out of things to say, unusual for me, so here are some jokes.

From my E-mail:

"This new "Star Wars" is supposed to be quite good. It finally explains the transformation of how Anakin Skywalker went from being a young white boy to James Earl Jones." --Jay Leno

---

"It was a beautiful day here in New York. It was so nice out that the writer of this joke left for the day to go to the park and didn't finish it." --Dave Letterman

---

"Looking through the want ads last week, I came across a job that required a college degree or the equivalent. Finally, I thought, my eight years of high school are paying off." --Buzz Nutley

Some "Senior" personal ads seen in Florida and Arizona newspapers:

FOXY LADY: Sexy, fashion-conscious blue-haired beauty, 80's, slim,5'-4" (used to be 5-6), searching for sharp-looking, sharp-dressing companion. Matching white shoes and belt a plus.

MINT CONDITION: Male, 1932, high mileage, good condition, some hair, many new parts including hip, knee, cornea, valves. Isn't in running condition, but walks well.

LONG-TERM COMMITMENT: Recent widow who has just buried fourth husband looking for someone to round out a six- unit plot. Dizziness, fainting, shortness of breath not a problem.

SERENITY NOW: I am into solitude, long walks, sunrises, the ocean, yoga and meditation. If you are the silent type, let's get together, take our hearing aids out and enjoy quiet times.

WINNING SMILE: Active grandmother with original teeth seeking a dedicated flossier to share rare steaks, corn on the cob and caramel candy.

BEATLES OR STONES? I still like to rock, still like to cruise in my Camaro on Saturday nights and still like to play the air guitar. If you were a groovy chick, or are now a groovy hen, let's get together and listen to my boss collection of eight-track tapes.

MEMORIES: I can usually remember Monday through Thursday. If you can remember Friday, Saturday and Sunday, let's put our two heads together.

_______________

Have you ever placed a personal ad? (most people won't admit if they have!)
Would you tell the truth in it?

The Music Tag

2005-05-24T06:08:00.000-07:00

The Music Tag Thing
Tagged by

Rafe

This was actually kind of a hard one for me to do, my music tastes change according to mood. I like everything from Debussy to country music, blues, zydeco, rock, pop, even some rap music.

Total volume of music files on my computer? None on my home computer, have about 20 CDs loaded on my computer at work.
The last CD I bought was? Didn't get the Audioslave CD yet, so it's been a couple months since I've bought music, which was two country CDs: Big and Rich and Gretchen Wilson.

Song playing right now? Nothing, coffee perking and birds singing

Five songs I listen to a lot or that mean a lot to me.
1. Call Me, Blondie.
2. Tell it to My Heart,Taylor Dayne.
3. I'm Here for the Party, Gretchen Wilson.
4. Bananafishbones, The Cure
5. Pretty much anything by Shemekia Copeland (blues)

Guess I need to tag three people. Sorry, but you don't feel like doing it, don't.

Sumo Merriment

Michigan Blog(John)

Dragonfly

Train of thought

2005-05-23T05:50:00.000-07:00

Sunday turned out quite well. My Mom and I went to my Dad's grave and cleaned it up a bit. We redid the flowers and the wreath. Mom wanted it spiffy for Memorial Day because they will put flags on the veteran's graves and have a ceremony. It's kinda creepy to see Mom's birth date with a dash after it on the headstone, though. I wonder if it bothers her.

After that I dug three trees from alongside Mom's driveway. Those trees were slated to be hacked down, so it was sort of a tree rescue! They were pretty good sized, almost waist-high, two white pine and a blue spruce. It was raining and overcast so was ideal tree digging. I planted them as soon as I got home. It was still raining, so it was great planting conditions. As always, digging through the clay and rocks took me awhile. I found pretty good locations for all three, and filled the holes with good dirt. I carried a bucket of rainwater to water them when I was done, as the rain had stopped. It wasn't long before the sun came out, and since it was windy, I hope the trees didn't get dried out too much.

Listened to Creed on the way out and Audioslave on the way back into town. People make fun of Creed, maybe because the voice is so distinctive. Also, in one of my favorite songs by Creed "One" I swear he says "furball"! I want Audioslave's new CD "Out of Exile" Other media yesterday: Star Wars Episode Two was on TV last night and I saw most of it. Now I really want to see the latest one at the theater! The kids have already seen it, of course.

This week Duluth is running a train from the waterfront to a suburb. It's sort of a sample to see rail ridership. I really really want to ride the train, but it will take an hour to go out and come back. Guess I could do it after work one of the nights, since the house tours are done. I've never ridden on a train even though my Mom worked for the railroad for 42 years!

Have you ever ridden on a train? Did you enjoy it?

Spring n the yard

2005-05-22T07:00:00.000-07:00

I didn't get my lawn mowing done yesterday, as it stayed cool and wet all day. I don't really mind rain, even kind of like it. I do have some gorgeous tulips at the front door! They're the yellow ones with the "flame" edges and middles. They would be more striking if not covered by netting--but then there would be no tulips. The deer and rabbits would get them, right down to the soil-line, even they're though right by the door. I have the remaining rose that the deer didn't eat. I carefully cleaned out the old cane of my large rose last year. A rather nasty job that took gloves and still was painful. Once the spiny old canes were gone, the deer ate the rose the very next night! I had taken down the rose's protection. I'm not going to make that mistake again.

There are also Lily-of-the-Valley by the door and the front of the house. I love them and had started five pips, or whatever their roots are called. The little plants didn't do so well the first couple of years but the last two years they have grown like weeds! We had them around the north side of our house when I was a kid. I love their scent, especially right when I come into the door, what a welcome! One hyacinth has come up, out of ten plants. Some sort of beetle ate the rest of the bulbs. Same with daffodils. I love them and have planted them several times, but not a single flower, not even a plant has survived. I really must look up the natural remedy was that, as I don't use any sort of insecticide.

And the lawn has dandelions! I don't know why some people hate them so. They're the first flowers in the spring here, except maybe the crocus, which seem to die out after a year or two. I like dandelions and have even eaten them in salads. My parents used to make dandelion wine. I start off by mowing the entire yard for the first few weeks and then just the portion near the house. The "further" yard I let grow up into daisies, hawkweed and buttercups! Gotta have some wildflowers visible from the house, too. Otherwise, I'm pretty well surrounded by woods and don't have any fields for those types of wildflowers to grow.

Today is a perfect day (overcast, rainy) to bring my tree-digging equipment out to my Mom's when I visit. She has a lot of cool pine seedlings near her driveway that she wants hacked down. Digging trees at her place is so easy, nice sandy soil. But planting them up here is quite a chore because of the heavy clay soil filled with rocks. I fill the holes dug for the transplant trees with good (non-clay, no rocks) soil so they can get a good start. But usually the deer eat them right off. So the trees aren't really free; I'm going to have to buy a lot of stuff to protect them or all the work will be for nothing.

I'll have to drive by my old house to see the hedges of lilac, crab tree, mountain ash and (my favorite, wish I could have taken it with me, but it was too large) the cherry tree. I planted all those trees and helped them survive that horrible neighborhood of unsupervised children, who would pull up my newly planted trees to use as swords! The lilacs were dug up from my Mom's and are large and beautiful now. Wish I could grow lilacs up here, but it hasn't worked so far. And the cherry tree is the most beautiful thing in the spring. It has edible cherries on it too, isn't just ornamental. The squirrels used to get the cherries if I didn't keep picking the ripe ones. It was kind of funny to see them stuff their little cheeks full of cherries.

A few years ago a friend and I rescued some marsh marigolds from a dug-up construction site. They lived a couple of years in the swamp right off of my driveway, but have since disappeared. Guess my swamp wasn't wet enough (throughout the year) for them. I've had ducks nest around the swamp because when the water level is high, it's like a pond for them! This year has been quite dry. I've heard the frogs at night but only one pair of mallards has hung around.

I haven't planted the garden yet up here yet. It's too early; I never, ever plant before Memorial Day. The nights can still get too cold, down to freezing, often. Hey! That's right, we get a day off coming up very soon, Memorial Day! I'd forgotten about that and was thinking I'd have to work until the Fourth of July without a holiday. My Mom and I go to my Dad's grave with plants for the cemetery planter there. We (or rather, I) plant the plants and talk about my Dad and how much he loved trees and plants. It's very therapeutic.

The Farmer's Market has opened. In fact my friend that I go to the Red Mug with on Saturdays went there yesterday to buy plants. I'm holding off on that yet, as I don't have indoor room to put them. She bought a cool plant, wild ginger that's supposed to grow like a ground cover. I want some too! But I wonder if the deer like to eat it?
____________

Difficult Choices

2005-05-21T07:54:00.000-07:00

Weird, but sort of funny, from my E-mail
Prison vs. Housework

In prison, you get three square meals a day.
At home, you cook three square meals a day and try to get your kids to eat it.

In prison, you get an hour each day in the yard to exercise and mingle.
At home you get to clean the yard up so you can mow it so your kids can spread more toys all over it so that you can go out and clean it again because little Jr. can't sleep without his latest lego creation.

In prison, you get to watch TV, cable even.
At home, you get to listen to your children fight over the remote control and get treated to hours and hours of mindless cartoons thanks to cable.

In prison, you can read whatever you want and attend college for free.
At home, you get to read weekly readers starring Dick, Jane, and Spot and worry about how to send Jr. to college and still be able to eat for the next twenty years.

In prison, all your medical care is free.
At home, you have to pawn your mother's silver and fill out trillions of papers for insurance and hope the doctor will see you before you die.

In prison, if you have visitors, all you do is go to a room, sit, talk and then say good-bye when you are ready or your time is up.
At home, you get to clean for days in advance and then cook and clean up after your guests and hope that they will one day leave.

In prison, you can spend your free time writing letters or just hang out in your own space all day.
At home, you get to clean your space and everyone else's space, too, and what the heck is free time again?

In prison, you get your own personal toilet. (is that true?)
At home, you have to physically hold the bathroom door shut in order to keep from having someone standing over you demanding to know how long till you're done so you can do something for them.

In prison, the prison laundry takes care of all your dirty clothes.
At home, you get to take care of them yourself, plus everybody else's, and get yelled at because somebody's favorite shirt isn't clean.

In prison, they take you everywhere you need to go.
At home, you take everybody else where they need to go.

In prison, the guards transport all your personal effects for you and make sure nothing is missing.
At home, you have to lug around everybody else's stuff in your purse and then wonder who went in it and took your last dollar.

In prison, there are no screaming or whining children or spouses asking you to do something else for them, or screaming at you because you didn't.
At home....stop me when I get to the downside of jail, will ya?

Ha ha, good joke, huh? Someone apparently took it seriously:

Stressed mum chooses jail for a break
A mother-of-three is to spend three months in jail instead of paying a parking fine to get a rest from her 'demanding' children and 'lazy' husband. Maria Brunner waved to neighbours as police drove her away for not paying a £50 fine that had risen to £2,500 because it had been left unpaid. "She opened the door and seemed really happy, if not relieved, to see us before asking us to take her away and lock her up," said one of the arresting officers from Poing in Germany. The 38-year-old said she had had enough of scraping a living for her family as a cleaner every day while "my lazy husband sits on his backside doing nothing". She added: "As long as I get food and a hot shower everyday, I don't mind being sent to jail. It means I can finally get some rest and relaxation without having to cook, wash and clean for everyone."

Brunner said she only found out she owed so much money when she got a letter from public prosecutors saying she would be jailed if she did not repay it immediately.
She says her unemployed husband, 35, hid the original fine from her that had been sent after he parked badly while driving her car.

"At first I was really worried about it, because I knew we did not have so much money, but then I looked at it as a chance to get away for a while," she said.
A police officer added: "She repeatedly thanked us for arresting her and smiled and waved as she was driven off to jail."

But her stay in prison may be cut short as her husband is desperately trying to raise the money to pay off her fine.

Prison, or housework.. which would YOU choose?

On the sappy side on the street

2005-05-20T05:48:00.000-07:00

Kendra was hired as the new apprentice. I was hoping (and figuring) that she would win. Both she and Tana were enthusiastic, creative and talented, but I really did not like how Tana talked about her team. I had liked her pretty well before the last task, even though I still thought that Kendra had the winning edge. Since she was hired, Kendra will work on the renovation of Trump's mansion on the ocean. The first apprentice hired, Bill, was extended for another year. He's working on that 90-story building in Chicago, his home town.

As I've mentioned previously, I hated country music as a kid. I thought it was overemotional, simple and sappy. I still think that about some of the songs. But the lyrics have a beautiful poetry of their own, a simple basic humanity that I've really grown to like as I grew up. For example:

"I Think About You" by Collin Raye

Every time I see a woman on a billboard sign,
I think about you.
Saying "Drink this beer and you'll be mine"
I think about you.
When an actress on a movie screen, plays Lolita in some old man's dreams.
It doesn't matter who she is,
I think about you.

When I see a pretty woman walking down the street,
I think about you.
Men look her up and down like she's some kind of treat,
I think about you.
She wouldn't dare talk to a stranger,
always has to be aware of the danger.
It doesn't matter who she is, I think about you.
Eight years old, big blue eyes and a heart of gold.
When I look at this world, I think about you.
And I can't help but see that every woman used to be,
somebody's little girl. I think about you.

Every time I hear people say it's never gonna change,
I think about you.
Like it's some kind of joke, some kind of game,
I think about you
When I see a woman on the news,
who didn't ask to be abandoned or abused.
It doesn't matter who she is, I think about you
Eight years old, big blue eyes and a heart of gold.
When I look at this world, I think about you.
And I can't help but see, that every woman used to be
somebody's little girl. I think about you.
When I look at this world I think about you.

Sappy, yes it is. But didn't it really grab your heartstrings? Didn't it really make you stop and think, especially if you have a daughter, a little sister or a granddaughter. Even though I'm not religious, I also love the one about "The Keeper of the Stars" I have loved that phrase since I was a kid out on a hill in a starry night, with my telescope. It's just so cosmic and all encompassing! And strangely comforting, too. I think it would make a great name for a book, if it hasn't been used for that purpose already!

You are Napoleon Dyanamite and a buttload of gangs
are trying to recruit you.

Which Napoleon Dynamite character are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

Ha ha, maybe this explains why I like that movie so much! Sappy Friday to you!

Time warp

2005-05-19T06:13:00.000-07:00

The sixth and last historic home tour was last night. I can't tell you much about it nor offer any links or photos. It's a private home, owned by a doctor and his wife. It was my favorite house of the six we toured. So gracious, warm and welcoming, full of beautiful architecture and art. It's sad that the house tours are now completed. But starting on June 14th I'll get to experience a new set of historic tours--to area cemeteries!

For the house tour last night I caught a ride with a friend to the place, because we weren't allowed to bring many cars (45 people were in our class!) because of parking problems. Well, as dear of a friend as she is, I had forgotten an important truth about riding anywhere with her. Our pacing is very different! The last time I rode with her we ended up in a hot, dusty antique store for three hours instead of getting a sandwich and coffee. While the first hour or so of looking at antiques was pretty fun, I was quite tired of the whole deal long before she was done and badly in need of something to eat and drink. And I've offered to give her a ride, but she is never, ever ready when I come by. So I need to park the car, lock it up, come in, and wait for her, usually getting quite hot and crabby in my coat while standing around trying to make lame conversation with the other people there. So riding together just has not worked out well. When we meet for coffee, we each drive ourselves to the appointed spot and are cheerful and happy in each other's company.

Anyway, last night we arrived at the house late and last, everyone was waiting for us, including the host and hostess, of course. At the end of the tour I had long said goodbye to everyone else at the door and still had to wait quite a while for her to get ready to leave. I arrived back home an hour and a half later than normal for the house tours, tired, hungry and thirsty. Yeah, I really tried to go with the flow, to relax and all of that, but I'm so time-oriented that it really did bug me despite my best efforts to chill out. And we had once discussed taking a road trip together. No, that would not be a good idea, now that I think about it. Do you have any friends like that, who seem to live in their own personal time-warp?

(Guess I wouldn't be a good candidate for Survivor--the ultimate time-warp, after all!)

From my E-mail:
An Old Farmer's Advice:

* Your fences need to be horse-high, pig-tight and bull-strong.
* Keep skunks and bankers and lawyers at a distance.
* Life is simpler when you plow around the stump.
* A bumble bee is considerably faster than a John Deere tractor.
* Words that soak into your ears are whispered...not yelled.
* Meanness don't jes' happen overnight.
* Forgive your enemies. It messes up their heads.
* Do not corner something that you know is meaner than you.
* It don't take a very big person to carry a grudge.
* You cannot unsay a cruel word.
* Every path has a few puddles.
* When you wallow with pigs, expect to get dirty.
* The best sermons are lived, not preached.
* Most of the stuff people worry about ain't never gonna happen anyway.
* Don't judge folks by their relatives.
* Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.
* Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and think back, you'll enjoy it a second time.
* Don't interfere with somethin' that ain't botherin' you none.
* Timing has a lot to do with the outcome of a rain dance.
* If you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop diggin'.
* Sometimes you get, and sometimes you get got.
* The biggest troublemaker you'll probably ever have to deal with, watches you from the mirror every mornin'.
* Always drink upstream from the herd.
* Good judgment comes from experience, and a lotta that comes from bad judgment.
* Lettin' the cat outta the bag is a whole lot easier than puttin' it back in.
* If you get to thinkin' you're a person of some influence, try orderin' somebody else's dog around.
* Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly. Leave the rest be.

Everything smells wicked

2005-05-18T06:47:00.000-07:00

Monday night I noticed that the card I gave to my former co-worker smelled like my favorite scent, Gothic Rose's "Wicked." The top of the bottle had loosened and all the scent was gone from the bottle. On Tuesday my handbag and contents had the scent, including my journal, and my bills. Everything smelled wicked yesterday. It was a great day!

From my E-mail:
"According to a study, they found common words used by happy people are, joy, love and hopeful. And they also found common words used by other people to describe happy people. Annoying, irritating, obnoxious..." --Jay Leno

"Students were invited to city hall to pitch ways to make dangerous intersections safer for pedestrians. Meanwhile, city government continues to ignore my most-effective idea to safeguard pedestrians--Nerf cars." --Jimmy Fallon

Two guys on a camping trip sitting in a kayak were chilly; but when they lit a fire in the craft, it sank, proving that you can't have your kayak and heat it too.

Eight-year-old Chase's reasoning: Apparently, one in five people in the world are Chinese. And there are five people in my family, so it must be one of them. It's either my mom or my dad or maybe my older brother Calvin or my younger brother Ho-Chin. But I'm pretty sure it's Calvin.

Steve went to buy some camouflage trousers for hunting the other day but he couldn't find any.

Sue loved to go to the casino. She went to the butcher's the other day to bet him 50 bucks that he couldn't reach the meat off the top shelf. He said, "No, the steaks are too high."

Bill takes his Rottweiler to the vet and says, "My dog's cross-eyed, is there any thing you can do for him?" "Well," says the vet, "let's have a look at him." So he picks the dog up and examines his eyes. Finally, he says, "I'm going to have to put him down." "What? Because he's cross-eyed?" "No, because he's really heavy."

And from Dragonfly:

What Your Dreams Mean...

Your dreams seem to show that you're a very well adjusted and happy person.
Overall, you are very content in your life.
You tend to be a very productive thinker.
You have a very vivid imagination and a rich creative mind.
You secretly want to hide your dreams from your waking mind.

What Do Your Dreams Mean?

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The reoccuring bug strikes again

2005-05-17T06:13:00.000-07:00

I had a great time at the going away celebration last night. We told stories and laughed until our stomachs hurt. I'm dehydrated today and have a headache. But what's bothering me more, is that I'll go to that department at work, and she won't be there anymore. I hope the company realizes what they're losing! But probably not, as another great co-worker left last fall from there. She was at the celebration, too. Fun, decent people at work can make it so much better and tolerable!

I've also got the recurring bug to move into town. The celebration increased that. Parking in the residential area had me walking past all the "For Rent" signs yesterday morning. That's dangerous for me! Then the fun get-together last night made me really really wish I had a decent place to invite people to visit. I used to love to entertain. I'm not big on cooking but would have something simple, or even order in food, like in my dream.

But then, this morning I opened the door and a robin was singing with all its might. The woods were starting to wake up and the air was fresh. I just want them both, I guess and actually did that one winter. But now a have a vehicle loan on top of the usual bills so can't afford to pay for two different places to live.

The grass is often greener for me. I wish I could just be happy at one particular job, one particular house or apartment, but I've got restless feet and want to experience new jobs and live in different places! It's both a blessing and a curse.
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Parking and goodbye

2005-05-16T06:06:00.000-07:00

Well, got the address numbers on my mailbox. Rafe had a great link to locked mailboxes, which would be a good idea. I've not lost anything of real value, but a couple magazines, etc. It's generally pretty quiet up here.

It's already later than normal for my weekday posting and I need to leave home early today. The parking changes on May 15th, so instead of pulling into a nice empty (because I go so early) parking lot, I'll need to park in the residential district. That means tight, parallel parking! A cinch once I've done it a couple of times, but daunting the first few days! Residential parking is tricky, too, in that I need to be early enough to snag the empty spaces, but not too early so there aren't any spaces yet! People are parked next to their homes, or mostly, apartment buildings and as they leave for work or school, the parking spaces free up.

Duluth has tourist parking from May 15 to Oct 15, which means only three hour parking down by the waterfront during the tourist season. I need about ten or more hours of parking and don't have time to run back down there to move the car a couple times per day.

We have a goodbye celebration for a co-worker from another department. She's one of my favorite people at work. The good ones always go elsewhere! I'm going to miss her a lot as she's one of the people that I talk to the most at work. But it's a great opportunity, and she's going to a "better place" ha ha. The place where the celebration is being held is right down where I can't park from May 15-Oct 15, but not today! So I'll need to get my car and move it down there after work.

Well, don't know how far I'll get on "blog rounds" this morning before work, but may be able to hit a few at work, despite the huge mailing to get out today.

Guatemala!

2005-05-15T22:06:00.000-07:00

The next Survivor will be in Guatemala! It's been a long time since I've been there, but that was my absolute favorite place that I've visited! The next show will start in September. I can't wait!

Tom won this one, which was appropriate. He played a good game.

Home improvement

2005-05-15T09:59:00.000-07:00

My arms are a bit sore today, and I'll get to the why of that later. But, first the dreams!

The first dream I was in a crowded street setting with elevated trains above (Chicago?) We were lined up in hoards to try to get on a reality show on TV. The dream skipped to inside a hospital-like place and I was in a room with a team of doctors. I had been selected for the show and they were going to do an operation on my arm--that was the reality show! They mentioned a large sum of money, and apparently I was so poor that I was homeless, so I agreed to do it. I asked if I had to sign anything, and they waved me away saying that would be done the night before the operation and the filming.

One of the doctors, an older woman, motioned me to her side and invited me to lunch. I was so hungry that I was weak, so I agreed. She was very friendly and not only took me to lunch but shopping and bought some nice clothes, purses, shoes and accessories. I had a really fun time with her, and just figured it was part of the TV show package. She told me her name was Dr Nan E. Nunn (dream people have the weirdest names!) but just to call her "Nunn" Then we went apartment shopping, and she signed a lease and paid for a year up front on a pretty, nice apartment! I showered and changed into some of my pretty, new clothes and we went to a theme park-type thing with lots of rides. I called up three of my friends on my nice, new cell phone and they joined us for an afternoon of wild rides and fun at the theme park.

Everybody came back to my new apartment (which was totally furnished, too) and had a slumber party. We ordered in Chinese and watched movies all night. We had loud music playing all night, but no neighbors came over to tell us to be quiet, or banged on the walls.

Woke up rather groggy, late in the afternoon of the next day, and Dr. Nunn was gone but had left a pile of money for me. My friends helped me get ready, as I had to go into the studio to sign the papers. We took a cab to the studio and I had to leave my three friends in the lobby, they weren't allowed to come back with me. A stern-looking person handed me a thick script and told me to memorize my lines. I protested, "It's a reality show! It shouldn't have lines or a script!" But he and several others hustled me out to the filming area. There were cords and ropes all over the floor, connected to TV cameras. It was pretty dark in the area they had left me to stand and wait.

In a nearby room I heard the team of doctors talking. Dr. Nunn was laughing and waving a thick manual. "I suppose I'd better read this before the operation tomorrow, since I've never done this type of operation before!" I could feel the emotion welling up in me and I burst into the room with the doctors. I threw down my script and yelled at them "If I'm having an operation, I want a doctor who's done it a thousand times! Not be the first guinea pig!" They all stared at me in silence for a moment and Dr. Nunn said, "But what about everything?" meaning all of the nice things she'd done and bought for me yesterday, and I yelled back at her "I haven't signed anything, but you can have all of it back. And I'll repay you (for the money she'd spent at the park) as soon as I can." "You'd need to take out a mortgage!" she laughed at me, but then said "Keep it all, get out of here and don't let me ever see you again!" So I went back to the lobby, told my friends I'd been fired, and we all took a cab back to my new apartment! Most of my dreams don't wrap up so nicely, I think I might have been waking up during the last part of that one!

This dream reminded me of the hilarious dreams I used to have, wish I'd written them down. They were so funny that I'd laugh aloud, which creeped out my husband when we were married. It would be kind of spooky to have someone laughing in the night! The first dream ended up so long (was pages in my notebook) that I think we'll just forget about the second major dream. It was one of "those" kind of dreams, too.

Yesterday I spent part of the afternoon putting up our new mailbox. This was after coming back from the lunch at the Red Mug, where I couldn't get on the computer there. They were having an art sale and show and it was really busy. So I came home and started in on the hole we had started to dig for the mailbox. Our soil is clay and full of rocks, so it's hard going. I dug a narrow hole down to hip level, when I put my leg in on the shovel. Tried the mailbox, which is attached to a massive, square, ten-foot long post. The mailbox stuck up too far, the hole needed to be deeper, but I couldn't get any further, except maybe with a posthole digger. But I didn't have one of those and the neighbor who had given me the mailbox (because they'd killed my old one with their snowplow) had tried a posthole digger and hadn't gotten too much further than I'd gone with a shovel.

I decided to take off the bottom three-feet of the massive post. I have no power tools so first tried my old rummage-sale handsaw. Nuh uh, that was not going to work. Then took out my little dull hand hatchet and whacked away at the corners of the pole. The chips were flying! I had to hold the pole with my foot and chop with all of my might. I rotated the post until I'd hacked at all four corners. Then I went to get my ten-pound mallet. I dragged the heavy post and mailbox into the woods enough to find a big rock (wasn't too far, my place is full of them!) and laid the post on the rock and pounded the axed-part with the mallet until it gave way and broke. Then I dragged the now-shorter post back and tried it in the hole, perfect! Then I got buckets of dirt, since most of what was dug out of the hole were rocks, and filled in the hole. I now had a decent, standing mailbox! I was proud.

Next, I needed to put our address numbers on the box before taking down the old, broken mailbox on the opposite side of my driveway. I went to the storage shed and found our old house paint. It would be cool to have the mailbox numbers in the same color as the house! But the paint had been frozen from being outside all winter (I have no basement for those type of things, remember) so it was separated into water and a large glob. I worked at mixing up the paint for quite a while and tested it on the sidewalk slab by the house. It seemed OK, if a little thin. I brought it out to the black mailbox and tried it and it just wasn't going to work. So, I was hot and sweaty from all the digging, sawing, chopping and carrying dirt and went inside the house to cool off and think of how I could get some numbers for the mailbox. I decided to use an old political bumper sticker and cut out the numbers. I'd need two sets, one for each side of the mailbox. Bumper stickers are made to be outside, and are very sticky so should adhere to the mailbox quite well. It was a great idea, but I'd given away all my old bumper stickers, so much for that.

My son came home from work for dinner. I made a quick batch of French toast with OJ instead of milk. He mentioned that the store where he works has house numbers and I could just buy them there. That seemed like cheating, but later last night, I went to his store, saw him hard at work, he didn't see me, and bought the house numbers and a couple other needed items.

When I was in the parking lot unloading the cart (OK, quite a few items!) a good-looking older guy came up to me and volunteered to take my cart back. We ended up in an hour-long conversation (I lost track of the time, even though we were talking in the dark, wind and rain!) He lived in a nice area of Duluth and had land in the country. We were going to meet for a beer or two at the nearby bar/restaurant/ laundromat place that I've mentioned previously. I was pleased and excited, I met someone nice in the parking lot! Until he suddenly mentioned how horrible it was that God had been taken out of the schools. Uh oh, a bad sign. I realized that not everyone I hang out with is going to have the exact thinking and beliefs as I do, but that was a huge divergence! I quickly backed up to my car, told him how nice it was to talk with him, and took off for home!
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