Good grief.....I'm almost obsolete

Today at work one of our police officers (a baby) who has been with us for about four years came into my office to report that the cable back in the police department was no longer working.  I said maybe the company was having a problem as the fire department was out  as well.  I added that the cable in my office has never worked well. I said it was like viewing a TV that had reception from rabbit ears and all it's set on is the news..

Him:  I've never seen a TV with rabbit ears.
Me:   Well, the picture is all snowy and distorted.
Him:   oh....well, I guess I'm lucky then. LOL  I've only known cable.
Me:    Yep, once TV was free.....and really, the programs were pretty darn good.
Him:    Oh yeah.....I've heard about those old black and whites....like Mayberry.
Me:   Hmmmmm..... Ever played an 8 track tape?
Him;   nope
Me:   how about an LP record.
Him:   no
Me:   45?
Him:  gun?
Me:   No....a record.
Him:  ah, no  Well, I've got to get going, I've got warrants to swear to and get signed.
Me:   Ok, I'll make sure they hear about the cable.  In the meantime, Lord help me find some Geritol, I suddenly feel very old.
Him:   Geri.....what?
Me:    Oh nevermind.....go to court!

sigh

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One thing after another.....

Call me a pessimist but I'm the type of person who never rejoices when things are going right. To me, it's like thumbing your nose at the Fates.....daring them to screw you up. So my life seems to be always waiting for that "other shoe to fall"....even when things are going right.

And things were going along pretty good for a while. I dared not let myself think about it. Then one morning I went out to start my car and noticed a humming noise. I thought it might be the radio but it wasn't. So I backed out of my driveway, went one and a half miles to a busy intersection and when the light turned and I attempted to turn.....I could barely turn the wheel.  My power steering was gone!  Well, crap!

So I drove to work.....6 miles from that point and figured that I was low on fluid.....but then wondered why and so I figured I must have a leak. Well, one thing led to another and when it was checked, it was a leak all right but not as simple as a hose. It was leaking down by the rack and pinion.....I think those are the right words. But nevertheless, it means a major repair, taking some time to do it.  My car has been at a friend's house for over a week while he looked for parts and then found time to work on it. He says I may have it back by Tuesday.....I certainly hope so.

Then my computer started acting up on me. Shockwave keeps crashing and I have NO idea why. I just have to reboot, which is a pain in the patootie.

Then yesterday it finally did warm up into the high eighties. It felt good, but was also humid, so I flipped on the central air. It is not working.  I wasn't even surprised.

Sigh.

I guess I watch too many movies.....

I got up this morning and did this and that....let the dog out in the back yard and made note of what a beautiful day it was going to be. I had my coffee, watched a little TV and then happened to glance out my front window. There was a pickup truck backed into my driveway......and as far as I could tell, there was no one in it.

This is not a picture of the actual truck or of my driveway either....I'm just using it to help you visualize.

Now my first thought was that it was my yard guy, but his truck is white. I looked outside anyway but didn't see a soul.  I went to the back deck and the same was true back there.  Hmmmmm

Now my imagination started up. What if it was stolen? Worse yet, what if there was a body inside?  Hmmmmm.  Maybe it was a drunk that couldn't make it home so he parked it.  But it's backed in....pretty good driving for a drunk. I tried to call my son and have him come over and investigate, but couldn't reach him. Twenty years ago I would have grabbed my gun and gone out there to check it out myself. But now, I'm not so spry anymore. I paced my living room and thought. Then decided that I'd wait for a little bit and see what happens.  I made another cup of coffee.

Then got to thinking again. It could have been there all night for all I knew....this was the first I'd noticed it, but that didn't mean that it hadn't been parked there for a long time.  So I called my neighbor who is a retired cop.  He came over with his phone in hand and we talked while he checked. He said no signs of anything weird inside. He didn't think it had been stolen as there was a GPS in it. No keys though.  He told me to call the local cops and have them check it out.

Now I'll have to say here that this vehicle was totally blocking me in. If I would have had to leave, there would have been no way I could get past this truck. So I waited about 10 more minutes, then called. They were pretty prompt and just as he was going to run the plate, a guy came running from straight across the street, saying it was his truck. He got in it, started it up and left post haste.

God, I hate wasting a cop's time like that.

Seems as though my neighbor had some mowers for sale and this guy just pulls into my driveway so he can check them out. Why he didn't pull into the guy's driveway who is selling the mowers is beyond me. Now, I felt kinda bad calling the law on the guy and now I've probably got a reputation as the neighborhood bitch..Then I figured....screw him...he could have told me he going to park there and it would have been fine and it wouldn't have freaked me out. But I guess he didn't care that he blocked me in while he perused the guy's mowers way behind his house......not to mention having me thinking there were 19 dead bodies in there to boot.

This is an example of how people are now. They think only one step at a time and don't stop to consider the consequences of their actions. A-hole.

Z.....is for Zebra

Zebras are unique in more ways than one. Now I'll give you a short walk down zoology lane as I tell you some facts about Zebras you probably didn't know.....and I wouldn't have either except I helped my granddaughter with a report.

The stripes on a Zebra are unique, just like fingerprints are unique on each human. It is being studied, but at this time it's unknown if Zebras are able to recognize each other by their striping. When a foal is born, it is brown and white striped rather than black and white. And since we are on the subject of stripes.....rather than black stripes on a white background as previously thought, it is white stripes on a black background....underneath the white, the skin is black.

When a foal is born, the mother keeps all other Zebras away for 2 to 3 days so it will recognize her scent and her striping as well as her unique call. Their calls sound more like a puppy yelping than what you would figure they would sound like.....a horse. A foal can stand within a few minutes of being born and can run within an hour.

They have exceptional eyesight and hearing and even have night vision as well as an owl. Their sense of smell and taste are also extremely keen.  They sleep standing up and always alert. They tend to stay in small herds, one stallion to a harem of mares. The stallion, however, doesn't always stay with them. There will be a dominant mare who is always at the front of the line with her foal.....the pecking order aligns with their place in the line. Rather than being scattered about, they walk in a single file line, the dominant mare in the lead....each foal right behind its mother.  They form family groups and even if they later join a larger herd, each family group will stick together within. Each member of the family will look out for the other members of their family, even coming to their aid in the event of an attack.

Their diet is similar to that of a horse and since their teeth are always grinding up the grasses, some of them quite dry, they get worn down. Therefore, their teeth are always growing.

It is thought that the striping confuses predators when a lot of Zebras are bunched together, making it look like one huge animal rather than a lot of smaller ones. If Zebras are attacked, the mares will gather the foals and circle around them for protection while the stallion fights off the threat.

I've just covered the basics here as there are different sub-species and their striping is a bit different, some with wider stripes or narrower stripes. The more narrow the stripes, the better it acts as a repellent from horse flies and the dreaded tsetse fly , which is another strange fact.

Ok, we're through with zoology for today......and this is also the end of the Challenge.  Hope you all have enjoyed it.

In participation of the AtoZ Challenge

Y.....is for Youthfulness

Youth is something that us humans have coveted for centuries. We've searched for miracles, magic and medicine to trap youth and have it bend to our will. Plastic surgeons are made astronomically rich by people who continue to have procedures done so they can look decades younger than they really are.

The cosmetic industry makes billions upon billions of dollars by tempting us to use creams and lotions that guarantee radical changes without going under the knife.

When we were young, we dreamed of being older. We didn't realize that to age isn't always pretty in the eyes of society. The aging process includes wrinkles, thinning and gray hair, changing eyesight and a mind that isn't quite as sharp.  No wonder we've searched for the secret to being forever young.

But, it's not going to happen.  Oh some may get to look younger, but the rest of our body is aging.....some slower than others, but aging nonetheless. Personally, I think each wrinkle on a very elderly person is beautiful in its own way. Each one tells a story. Hiding or eliminating my own wrinkles with surgery doesn't interest me.....but being able to get around without aches and pains certainly does!

I will have to admit that I have wished for the same bounce in my step that I had in my 30's many times. I could get so much more accomplished!!!  But I'm also a realist. I can't afford plastic surgery or even Botox. I do good to use some stuff on my face that I think helps. Because....my skin is now a lot drier than it was way back so many years ago.....when I was wishing so hard to be older so I could do just what I wanted to do.

HA!

In Participation of the AtoZ Challenge

X.....is for a kiss

Well, we are all the way to "X" already.

So today I'm going to give you all a little history lesson.

A while ago I was thinking about this and that and then one thing led to another, which seems to be a way of life for me. But anyway.....I wondered how it came to be that an X meant a kiss when you were writing to someone. So I decided to research it and sure enough, the Internet came through again.

Back in medieval times not many people knew how to read or write so when their signature was required on a document (which makes one wonder what types of documents existed for a population of non-readers or writers....but continuing on now before I get too far off the path), they were permitted to place an "X" on the dotted line as a substitution of their written name. This was witnessed, of course, and then the signer of the X would kiss that X as a act of sincerity. Thus.....before you know it, an X started to signify a kiss.

There is also another version that states that the X is a symbol of two lips touching.....but I'm inclined to believe the first one as being more realistic.

So.....while we are on the subject and because, like I said, one thing leads to another with me......how did the O become symbolic of a hug. Well, again there are two versions. The first one is that Jewish immigrants did not want to deform the shape of the cross by using an X for their signatures, so they used an O and then kissed it like you would do an X.  The other version is that an O is symbolic of one's arms engulfing you.  I guess you can take your pick which one you'd like to believe evolved into meaning hugs.

Ok, class dismissed....that's your history lesson for today.  XO to you all.

In participation of the AtoZ Challenge

W.....is for walking

Every morning that I go to work I see this guy and his dog walking on the bicycle path....the dog looks like this one and is holding its own leash just like this one. It's about the cutest thing.  As the weather warms up there will be more and more people out walking and it's surprising the number of people who take their dogs with them. Some people have two dogs at a time. I've also seen people riding their bicycles holding onto a dog leash. That always makes me wince because I'm always afraid the dog will get distracted and dart off to chase a squirrel and then....splat....bicycle rider down. The only thing I can figure out is that those particular dogs must be very well trained.

I have a variety of people who walk their dogs in front of my house. I enjoy watching what sort of dogs people have. Some of them are extremely impressive like the two huge, beautiful blue-eyed huskies. We have everything from greyhounds to chihuahuas going past. However we do not have pitbulls as they are illegal in our town. Every once in a while you will see two or three....probably new residents that don't know about that law yet.  The strangest one I have seen to date was the woman who was walking her descented pet skunk.  He was the cutest thing ever and she said he was a wonderful pet.

Of course, even stranger is the dog walker who drives while the dog walks like in the picture. I've never seen that myself and am not sure if people really do it......probably.  You know, anything is possible.

I don't walk my dog because she absolutely hates other dogs. The walk would be miserable for both of us as she would be snarling at every dog she saw which would cause them to do the same in return.  Too bad because she's such a hyper dog it would help wear her out.

In participation of the AtoZ Challenge

V.....is for Varnish

Any time I hear the word, Varnish, I find myself slowly shaking my head with a small smile on my lips. It brings back a vivid memory for me.

I was a young wife and new mother living in a subdivision filled with others just like me. Our homes were close to being clones on the outside, but of course the interiors were a bit different. We would get together and have coffee most days and talk about many things but mostly about kids and about shortcuts we could take with home improvement or cleaning.

My kitchen floor was a thorn in my side. It was linoleum and well used. I would wax it and the wax would just soak in and give minimum shine. Back then we all took pride in the shine we could get on our kitchen floors.  One day my girlfriend and I were talking about this and she came up with the idea of putting varnish on the floor. She said it stood to reason that it would shine and if we used Marine varnish which was made for boats, it would be twice as good and able to withstand spills that happen in the kitchen. I didn't tell my neighbors about this but decided to do it. My girlfriend who had the idea lived about 3 miles away and she was going to do it as well. By the way, her results and mine were alike.

We went to the store and made our purchases. All I can say is that I'm so thankful that I had made up a new batch of baby formula that would last several days and also thankful that the refrigerator door could be opened and the contents accessed by leaning from the living room across the doorway without having to touch the floor.  I moved everything out of the kitchen that could be moved and painted away. Not one to cut corners, I figured I would do the countertops as well. I painted the varnish onto the surfaces and I will have to say that it did look absolutely beautiful. Now that was the shine I had been dreaming about!

However, I didn't anticipate it taking 3 days to dry!!  I think my husband was about ready to push me off a tall building by the time we were finally able to walk on that floor. But it did look great!!  My neighbors started commenting on my floor and asked me what kind of wax I was using. I hesitated telling them what I'd really done, but I finally broke down and did. Most of them were horrified. Eventually the varnish began to wear in the traffic paths and it looked dull in those areas, the rest of it looking nice and shiny. The countertops did the same thing with the varnish actually starting to peel in areas.  I didn't know how to safely remove it so it would look uniform and I didn't dare put another coat on it, so it had to stay the way it was. I imagine after the new owners took possession of our house several years later they called me a bunch of names.  The floor looked so bad after a while that I ended up putting a round rug under the table and chairs to help hide it.

So I learned a lesson.  After that they came out with flooring that had its own shine and then there was kitchen carpeting.....which I had at the new house and wouldn't recommend unless you live alone and never cook.  This is just one of several really dumb things I did when first married.....but hey.....this is how inventions are born, right?

In participation of the AtoZ Challenge

U.....is for Ugly

What a sad thing. When I went to school many moons ago there were the groups of girls who were more popular and acted stuck up but they mostly kept to their own group. I never remember any of them going out of their way to insult other girls who had less or who weren't as "pretty".

Sadly that has all changed. I'm not quite sure when it happened. There was a little of it happening when my daughter went to school but nothing like it is now that my granddaughters are in school. And it starts early.....as early as first grade here in my community.

My one granddaughter was one of many picked on by a group of three little brats who thought they were extra special and it was only first grade. They were horrible little things who flung insults like confetti at a parade. My granddaughter came home from school crying so many times because of them that I lost count. Her schoolwork started to suffer and she had such a low opinion of herself all due to these girls teasing her. Top that with her getting bullied by some other kids on the playground....it was more than we could deal with. The principal didn't help matters at all so we transferred her to a Christian school where that sort of behavior is simply not permitted. Her grades improved to the point that she is on the honor roll and her self-esteem is back where it should be.

The media has helped form these mean little kids. They've been taught that beauty is everything; it's number one and top priority. The magazines that these parents allow their children to read all promote being beautiful and skinny and that people who aren't are the lowest levels of society. I wish I knew how to turn this all around and how to instill the knowledge that ugliness dwells in the hearts of those who chose to hurt others intentionally. You can pretty yourself up all you want, but if you are ugly on the inside, it shows through your facade of powder and paint.  Not to say I'm against makeup....cause I'm not. I think that whatever a woman does to make herself feel better is fine, as long as she doesn't hurt anyone else in the process. I always put some makeup on when I leave the house.  Not that it's going to make me a beauty queen by any means....but it makes me feel better about myself.

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Now my youngest granddaughter is having the same problem in her second grade class. This is my son's little girl and he isn't able to pay the tuition to transfer her so she has to contend with the teasing. She's a different personality and usually insults the offenders right back, which is getting her into trouble. When she goes home and no one can see her, she cries and thinks everyone hates her.  It's a struggle to get her to school every day; she doesn't want to go.

Society and what the majority expect now has changed drastically. Just take a look sometime at the movie stars of the past and what was thought to be the "best" back in the 30's and 40's and then compare it to now. The breast sizes alone is enough to shock. The competition between all those stars is astronomical and it overflows onto our young girls.....these celebrities are their role models.....and for the most part, they are not good ones.

So Kudos to the designers who are now using models that are more realistic and not skin and bones and if the magazines would stop photoshopping all these celebrities to make them absolutely perfect, which no one is......then maybe our young girls will look in their mirrors and realize that they are not ugly.  Our daughters and granddaughters are all beautiful in their own unique ways.

In participation of the AtoZ Challenge

T.....is for Tina

Tina owned us for a little over 17 years. She was the best cat ever. Even people who hated cats loved her. This is an actual picture of her atop one of her favorite perches; the cable box because it was warm.

One day when my daughter was nearing four years old I was driving home and passed by a yard sale. I pulled in to see if they had some extra toys that my daughter might like. In a box, off to the side, were three snow white kittens with the bluest eyes. The woman said they were a mixture of Siamese and Angora and she was giving them away. I couldn't resist.

My daughter named her after a girl that babysat for us once in a while and Tina settled in to run things. My dog wasn't too happy about the arrangement but Tina soon won her over.  When we moved to a bigger house I had to keep her inside for a week or so until she got the idea that this was where we now lived. My main concern was that we now lived on a paved road as apposed to a gravel road in a subdivision that didn't see much traffic. She was an inside/outside cat; she would rattle the doorknob with her paw when she needed to go outside. She never had a litter box other than when we kept her inside for that week after we moved....she preferred to go outside. She was a great watch-cat. I watched her chase two dobermans out of our yard one day, she managed to get a few digs with her claws into their rear ends as they ran away. Tina soon learned to sit by the roadside and wait until it was clear and then she would cross the street. I hated it that she did that but she was headed for the swamp behind the house across the street and the thrill of the hunt was just too much for her to ignore.

The biggest scare we had was one time when she disappeared for a week. The kids were beside themselves and I did everything I could to hide my fears that she had gotten run over. My husband went out and searched the sides of the roads, including the ditches, looking for her. He was unable to locate her....we were relieved at that but still worried.

I was fixing Saturday morning breakfast and it had been almost a full week since we'd seen our beloved Tina. I heard her meowing before I saw her. She jumped on the deck and leaped on the screen for the sliding glass door. I wasn't sure it was her.....she was a dark dirty gray in color. I opened the door and let her in and she was all over us....meowing loudly and then checking out her food bowl. I fed her....even gave her a treat of some milk.  It took her all day long to clean herself up....by the next day, she looked like herself again.  We figure this is what happened......

We missed her on a Sunday night. I think she got locked in one of our neighbor's sheds.  I think that when he opened the shed again the following Saturday to do yard work, she dashed out and ran home.  Of course we will never know for sure but I think it's a fairly safe bet that is what happened. We were delighted to see her and she was overjoyed to find her family again.  We loved this cat with all our hearts....she was one in a million.  I felt she deserved a spot on my blog for being a special member of our family for all those years.

In participation of the AtoZ Challenge

S.....is for Sunday morning donut

I was going to write about something else but then last night I started thinking about my old dog and this came to mind.....so I thought I would share it.

I had a German shepherd mix named Babe. I also have a fenced in back yard, which was Babe's area during the day. She came inside at night as she was spoiled as can be.

We had Babe for a long time and when you have a pet for so many years, you think you know them. But after her death at 15 years of age, I found out some stuff about her that I did not know.

My neighbor and I were talking one day while weeding the flower beds and she started telling me about my old dog, Babe. I looked at her with disbelief but she assured me that it was a true story. What gets me is that she never thought to tell me while it was happening. I guess God just made sure he watched over Babe every Sunday.

According to my neighbor.....seems as though Babe could get out of the back yard whenever she wanted to. How she did this is unknown as she would go back in when she was finished with whatever she wanted to do. But on Sunday mornings, seems that Babe had a ritual.  I would let her outside and before long my neighbor would see her cut across her lawn, cross a small street, go through the school parking lot, then the playground and around the fence and cross a pretty busy road to get to the donut shop on the corner. She would soon return with a donut in her mouth. She would then lay in the neighbor's front yard and casually eat her Sunday morning donut before returning to our fenced in back yard.  She did this for years and I never knew it. I don't know if a worker at the donut shop was giving her the donuts or what....but I'm grateful that she never got hit by a car while on her jaunt.

In participation of the AtoZ Challenge

R.....is for Rocks

As I've mentioned before, I grew up on a farm. I was an only child, so I had to find creative ways to amuse myself.  Most kids enjoy playing with mud and I was no exception. One of those times, however, I noticed some rocks. Each one was a little different from the others and pretty soon I found a hobby in looking for the most unusual rocks.

Every so often my dad would have a load of gravel delivered and he would spread it on our driveway, otherwise it would have been a muddy mess in the spring. I loved those deliveries because I had thousands upon thousands of rocks to go through.

Some had lines of gold going through them. I don't imagine it was real gold but it was pretty and, to me, it was special. The best rocks I found were the ones with fossils in them. I later learned all about fossils in school but before that knowledge I felt like I'd made a marvelous discovery. I found parts of fern-like leaves and things that looked like bug legs. One time I found something that looked just like a sea shell which caused me to sit and ponder where the rocks had originated from.

I know that there are people who make expensive hobbies out of rock polishing and then sometimes taking the finished product and making impressive jewelry or home decorations. My daughter knows about my interest in rocks and stones so once in a while she'll hand me an unusual one that she's come across as a gift.

In participation of the AtoZ Challenge

Q.....is for Quote

I love to peruse quotes from famous people as well as the not so famous. You can sometimes feel a whole

lot better about yourself or a situation after reading them because it makes you realize that you're not the only one who has problems.

Sometimes the quotes give you ideas on how to solve certain problems or else they simply give you the courage to just walk away and forget about it.

My mom had a quote that she said often to me from Shakespeare's Hamlet, . "This above all, to thine own self be true".  She wrote that in my yearbook and I've tried to live my life with that thought in mind.

The quote I most often gave my children is "never believe in never" but I don't know who said it originally. Personally, I think it's quite deep.  I wanted my kids to know that they could be anything they wanted to be with hard work and dedication and I would be there for them no matter what.  As parents, we only want our children to be happy first and foremost.

My personal favorite quotes are the ones that tug at your heartstrings and give you warm fuzzy feelings. I've often wished I could be creative enough to come up with some of those endearing type quotes that people would love and cherish for generations.





I especially love what Pooh says.:

In participation of the AtoZ Challenge

P.....is for Pothole

I once lived 2 miles down a gravel country road and the road was in better shape than the one pictured. When we moved to a house that was situated on a paved road I was happy. I figured no more mud, no more dust which meant for cleaner cars and cleaner houses.

I didn't plan on potholes but potholes we have and we have them every year. It wasn't that long ago that a pothole bent the rim on my car and caused me to buy new ones and new tires along with it.

We were told that lottery money was supposed to go toward fixing roads but I wonder just where the roads are that are being fixed......evidently somewhere obscure. Yes, I know.....winter has just barely shut the exit door around here.....but I've seen them fill in potholes in the winter, so I know it can be done.

Right now my main beef is that the road in front of my house looks a lot like the one in the picture. When cars run over those holes it sounds like thunder and sometimes it actually makes my house vibrate. I usually grimace when one of those happens, just knowing that the driver and passengers are doing the same.

Although a lot of people like to look at the silver lining in all this. Potholes are a sure sign that spring is finally here.  Yay!

In participation of the AtoZ Challenge