on a bicycle buit for two

Here ya go, cyclist friends, the newest company perq! With gas going up along with everything else that travels by truck and heating bills becoming a serious budget problem it's nice to see some companies are thinking ahead.

I am starting to think about an enclosed recumbent with a gas assist for hills. thinking ..think ... hahahahaha! How will I get in and out and what will power the heater? As I am just now getting to two miles without a break to breathe who am I kidding? ME? Every day on a 25 mile round trip with some real hills in the way? Not this year!

That's one of the problems with getting older, I know that I will have to wait for the next life to hike Europe, roller blade, ski or bungie jump. I have worn out too many parts to make them practical pursuits in this round. And some of the toys kids have nowadays just make me drool! But I am too old or to big or too crippled to play on them.

When you hear someone say, "Do it while you can!", they aren't kidding. Climb the mountain and slide down on a trash can lid if it sounds like fun to you. Take the rainy day fund and get the plane fare to see Paris if that's your dream. You can make more money, you can't make more youth or health. When they start to go you start hitting limits you never expected to deal with.

I hunt the house for my glasses. I have several pair of spare readers stashed around but my 'scription ones work best. I sit on them, I drop them in the garden, I lose them in the shrubs I plant, I knock them off end tables. And I HATE them! I can't wear contacts and I wouldn't stand a chance with them - they are tiny and clear. The fact is that I can't see to read, do my nails or shave my legs without them.

The eyes that could spot a frozen chipmunk at 30 yards, and still can, can't see for crap to read. And forget the instructions, directions and warnings on bottles, boxes or medicine. Those take a magnifying glass now. A really GOOD one. Luckily, the grama's both left a couple to pass on. I thought, "Cool! Examine bugs, sort beads, start campfires," when I scored them but NOoooo...I have to have them to read.

Imagine all the people hunting for glasses in the south just now. That was a bad thought. I'm wandering off again. Sorry!

I just mean that I have many happy, scary, fun, exciting, challanging, sad, wild, and wicked memories. I haven't skipped much of what was available to me in life. But new stuff keeps coming up and I can't play.

So do it now! Ride the biggest roller coaster or the wildest bull, tango with flair, jump a ditch on your skateboard or climb the big tree out back and swing down off a rope like Tarzan. And keep doing it! Get outside and play! Take a friend! Stay active!

My regrets will be for what I couldn't work in this time, not for what I didn't TRY to do!

All this from being useless unloading a motorcycle and having to pass on a pair of roller blades to the next victim......humbug.

Dreaming, I must be DREAMING

Back when I was wishing on a star I mentioned a story about a woman who lost her job for taking care of her grandchild because the parents were in New Orleans during Katrina. I posted the company link and email link and sent a (I hope) scathing letter myself.

Well people, you did it! She got her job back!

Now I can not claim that one little blog did it all by it's self, I'm not that vain, but I hope the letter I wrote helped build the pile that made the company reconsider it's "policy" ({unwritten }guiding principle, or procedure considered expedient, prudent, or advantageous). Policy is what had us rebelling against the king of England. He could change the rules to suit himself because nothing was written down.

Most companies have a company handbook for employees stating the expected behavior, rewards and punishments of working for them. Almost all companies also have "policies", the unwritten rules they will hang you with if given a chance.

I expect someone who is always late or absent to be fired someday. I do NOT expect someone who's home has had a tree fall on it in a rural area to be fired for not calling in because the phones were out in that area. Sure it annoys all of us to have to cover for a mystery absence but until we know the reasons why we should not be angry, only concerned.

Should my mate lose his job because he left early to meet the ambulance at the hospital when I had my heart attack? No. So why would this company think they should fire an employee who was covering family during an emergency? She had used all her vacation and personal days. It was "policy". Thank you all who wrote letters explaining in small words of one syllable "f--- policy".

Americans have less vacations and less sick days than any other work force. We show up sick in fear of losing our jobs if we call in. We miss family events because they are during work hours. With members on all three shifts someone always misses the reunion. And now it takes two checks to make ends met in most families so both parents are either gone at the same time or never home at the same time. This strains relationships and leaves our next gen with no parental supervision. Let's face it, a sitter is not the same as the mom or dad being there.

I don't have the fix for it. Money drives it. It's cheaper to have fewer people working longer hours than it is to have more people working fewer hours. Insurance costs for employees are astronomical. But I can say I don't like it! Maybe one of you can figure it out.

Until then, I have one friend who takes off the first day it is sunny and 70 degrees after winter, I have several friends who get each other out of work to go riding. Yup, they lie to the bosses. I mostly show up all the time right now but I used to have food poisoning a lot when the weather was right for fishing or riding myself.

So you do what you have to do but we, by heaven, got one poor lady her job back. Way to go, team!

I'd like to leave you with one of my favorite comedy songs as food for thought and just to do another thing I have never done.....an mp3 link!

"Twenty Yoopers in a pontoon boat,
Fishin' for Moby Dick.
The wife, she thinks I'm workin',
The boss, he thinks I'm sick!

It's a perfect day for fishin',Drinkin' beer and tellin' lies.
It's a little bit like heaven
When you're fishin' with the guys!"

Tomorrow never comes

It's not a very good photo, he looks like Popeye. The sun was in our eyes that day. It was, however, a good day. My three sisters and I were having breakfast with Dad. It was the first time in over 20 years we had all been together. He had bought us each a little tin of fancy hard candies and was treating to breakfast.

Like all families we have problems but we shoved them deep down and tried to reclaim our youth and the love we all shared once upon a time. Mostly, we did well at this as we are all able to return to being 12 at the drop of a hat.

It's surprising to find that even in our 40's the old rivalries are active. The youngest clamoring and the second wanting to be in charge while the eldest tries to maintain safety and order and still be the center of attention while the Dad laughs at all of us.

There is so much more I would like to add, I can never remember him enough anymore. Inspite of my best resolutions he is becoming a photo in a scrap book as the years pass. I hate it.

Let me just say to the Dads out there that they will never know how much their praise and approval mean to a child - or an adult, for that matter. The smallest kindness, the tackiest gift may be treasured forever in memory of the giver.

For those who feel they could never please their parents a word of love and statement of pride in them from their parents can heal a lot of hurts. My most treasured item is the hard drive that crashed and has been reformated now. I hope techs will someday be able to retrieve the files from in my email. In there dad sent me a note one day after I built him a web site. He wrote that I was smart and did it well and he was proud of me. I wish I had printed it out

Just take a minute to remember - you always say something when the kids screw up, take time to tell them when they do something well. You will see a world of difference in them, more confidence, more smiles and more love for you and they will try to do better yet, to please you.

Because I felt the hurt of always being put down for my errors but not praised for my successes I made it a habit with my children that at bedtime I would tell them thank you for one thing they helped me with that day. I would praise them for one thing they had done well or nicely. I tell them still that I love them and am proud to claim them as mine. I don't ever want them to doubt that I loved them, no matter how screwed up I was as a parent, they were good kids.

It's such a little thing, that shirt looks good on you, thanks for doing the dishes, you put your toys away all by yourself, nice map for geography, a kind word. Cheap, reuseable and always available - share a kind word with your child today.

You don't know what you've got till it's gone

In '88 we burned out. My kids have had the experience of going away for a weekend and coming home to almost nothing. I have stood in my socks next to the mate in his robe, jeans and boots, and watched the house go up in black, stinky smoke. We have had to wonder, "Now where will we sleep? Our food all burned up, what will we eat? What about the pets?", and it was after dark and cold out so throw in,"How will we get there?" No phone, it burned up and was before cells were common, so add."How do we call for help?"

If you really want to see what it is like then walk out to a grassy area, a park, the yard, where there is no one around and turn your back to the home. Now, pretend all you have is what your are wearing.

If you tried it you will find the first thing you do is start walking. It doesn't matter where, you just need to be moving. Your mind is going a mile a minute and you will head toward the nearest place you think someone can help you. A neighbors, the cop shop, the coffee shop where they might let you use the phone.

Now stop walking. Pretend, really hard, that these options are all gone, too. This will mess you up bad if you do it right. But you will still find yourself walking again soon. Why? Movement creates possibilities. Standing still does nothing.

Now picture all the people you thought would be able to help you walking all different directions than you are. They all have a different idea of which way to go to find the help they need. They are all in shock, not thinking well, some have lost loved ones forever, some have lost them till they find them again, some have pets, some don't but did, some are too young to know what to do and some are too old to do what they want to but they are all trying to move on, somehow.

Now get them all to stop. Then, with a bull horn, tell them that they have to have proof of ID, address, marriage certificates, kids birth certificates and SS numbers, ownership of houses, cars, credit card numbers, social security numbers, birth certificates, bank account numbers and the amount in the account, proof of insurance, health care account number and telephone number they can be reached at AND an address to receive mail at so you can send them some forms to fill out.

They have to supply this all before they qualify to get help. They left home without it. The banks you would ask to help you are gone, the house is gone, the car is gone, the court house where you would get copies of some of this is gone, the post office that could prove your address is gone. The DOT office where you get your drivers liscense is gone. The unemployment office is gone.

And if you can't prove it all in (five days for MI emergency assistance - with less than 4000.00 in EQUITY in anything, like a car for a family of 4) 45 days for FEMA, they CAN"T help you.

I can tell you, from experience, I had to have help filling out the paper work. I couldn't comprehend what I was reading, I couldn't remember the answers to birthdates without counting on my fingers. I was still in shock baut I didn't know it. They helped me get the 23 page questionaire filled out and then it took them five hours, while I sat and stared at the walls, to run it through the system far enough to tell me that because we had jobs and a car that didn't burn up we made too much money to qualify for emergency funds.

Even though we had just paid all the bills, bought all the groceries and then lost everything we had but the garage and had under 100.00 left in the bank. Unless we could prove we owed money on the car they couldn't help, we should sell the car. How were supposed to get to work then? They had no answer. NONE.

In five days I had to have my act together enough to figure out how to contact the loan company and get proof sent to the welfare people that we didn't own the car. I couldn't even remember if it was through GMAC or somewhere else and all the paperwork burned up. You really get that disconnected from life before a diaster and trying to pick up life after. It lasts from two weeks to months for some people.

I broke into a rage and told them that if this was their idea of how to lend some help to someone in a catastrophic situation that they could shove it. I could pick up pop bottles and get more help than I would with them. I thought they were there to help us and they were just there to document the fact that we burned out. There was no help.

The locals sent us to the Red Cross. If you don't call them in 48 hours it's not an emergency anymore. But the nice people there called the fire department, verified we were toast and gave us a voucher to the local stores for clothes for all of us and food plus some cash for gas money and personal care bags. I send my money to them. Screw the government. They are just looking for ways to say NO and save a dime.

I think of myself as a pretty sturdy person and have come through some amazing adventures without even cracking a sweat but this one did me in. About 6 weeks into the recovery I had to seek help from a professional and some happy pills. Six months later I was ok again. But not 5 days later. It was two weeks before I figured out the insurance company would know who the lien was made out to on the car. They might have suggested that - morons.

This is not a time for counting your change, Uncle Sam! It's time to see how much you can do without so that you can help others. When I say "Cut the red tape!" I mean that if you show up shocky that is enough to prove you were in it. Find the rest of their family, if there is any, give them housing, give them clothes, new is better, at least one outfit to call their own, get them medical treatment, whatever they need.

Go ahead and document it as much as you can using fingerprints and DNA samples to ID them, not paper work. Run a cost per person or per family and submit it to the correct agency if you must. But don't worry about HOW we will pay for it now! Or how they will pay it back. Just get them the help they need!

Yes, there WILL be abusers shamming the government and other emergency agencies. It will be a small percentage. The government loses more to Medicare over billing every day than cheats here will rack up. If you find out they lied then add it to their tax bill LATER.

If an old white trash biker lady can figure out you can track them by finger prints for proof of who they are, why can't the stupid government? All you should need is a thumb print and a signature on the damn papers. Sort the rest out later.

We were lucky, I ran to one neighbor while the mate ran to the other. We called the fire department, got help, coffee, borrowed clothes, smokes, used phones and went to stay, with the pets, with family that night. We were down, but we were moving on. And the mate saved my purse with check book and keys for the car and his wallet, we could prove who we were and get where we needed to go. But I couldn't do the damn paperwork that soon after I had sifted through the ashes to see if anything made it. My head was too confused to compute and my heart was too broken care.

You have a state and a half worth of people out there. They are suffering. They are unsure where their families are. They had to leave everything they know and love and hate and see everyday. They are all in different stages of shock. But they are TRYING to MOVE ON!

Help them. Please.

It had to be you

Our 17th legal anniversary was Sunday. Monday my neice was married. I pray her partnership will be as satisfying and joyful as ours has been.

The budget is running pretty tight and with the heating bills for winter terrorizing us it won't change anytime soon. We have gone into emergency lock down on spending since the storms and that makes it tighter around here than it has been in awhile. But we didn't need money to be happy when we started out and we don't need it now. Just us and the menagerie.

Instead of giving Hallmark and the floral shop and the candy store our cash to show our love we decided to go out for breakfast (less expensive than dinner) and then took a drive along the back roads. This is called "taking the scenic route" or "two tracking" where we are. We even found a road or two we had never been on before. We listened to the radio and talked about our time together and our love still being strong for each other. Nothing too mushy, just the facts, ma'm. Then we went home and enjoyed each other the old fashioned way - I'll spare you the graphic details but - mmmmmmmm........what a MAN!

The mate let me watch some musicals, one really fun one that is sort of an Australian "Full Monty" or "Tap", both of which I heartily recommend for humor and dancing fun. Usually the mate does sports on the weekend (and monday night and thursday night) but I don't watch that much TV anyway. So it's always fun to luck into a few good old musicals.

And that was our big celebration. No real whoop. We even felt a little guilty about using the gas to go nowhere. Still, it was our party and we deserve a little splurge.

For those of you that don't think it sounded like much, you are right, it wasn't much in the way of parties. It was just another day with my favorite person on earth beside me where I could tell him how much I love him and hear how much he still loves me. Wouldn't trade it for anything.

Let's see - this week he has had dinner ready, home made sloppy joes last night, yum! Supervised the nephew in law who is working off his Silverwing saddle bags and trunks by painting the garage, found a parts bike for the other nephew, put a set of real saddle bags on my bike, mowed the lawn and taken out the trash as well as many more house help chores.

I have taped the Lions game for him, gone to work, come right home every night, done laundry and been building auctions and websites to make some on the side so we have enough to get by and still wanted the mate's bod.

Yup - we love each other. Seems like a pretty boring list doesn't it? I don't know how to explain to you that each tiny thing we do for each other not only shows love but we SEE the love in it.

When you are a kid, home with the sitter after school or alone, Dad and Mom are just gone. You have no concept of what they do every day or why. You know they are tired in the evening but still try to spend time with you for a few minutes, even if it's just chatting while you help with dishes or other chores and then the day starts all over again. What starts out as self preservation or self love when you are on your own is done for love when you have a family.

You want the kid to have nice clothes, you go to work everyday. You want the family to have a home, you go to work every day.

Now anyone in their right mind can tell you we would all rather be fishing, biking, traveling the world, hanging with super models or anything rather than doing the old work routine. But we put aside our dreams and wonders and maybes to buckle down and make the now good out of love. We do things we don't like, hate, never thought we could when we care about someone else's well being ahead of our own.

To put the team or the family first is not always easy. We all have times we just want to run screaming for the nearest party bar and order 17 tequilla's, no lime, no lemon, no salt! Or get that stupidly expensive doodad just because. The trick is to learn how to be happy stopping for just one drink or getting on line to find the gadget cheaper. You still have to indulge yourself sometimes - but not at the expense of the family.

So we had a quiet day. Wrapped up in our love for each other. I wish you all the joy of a comparable day at least once in your lives.

But I can tell you people, they were the devil's children

And after all that I forgot my "issue of the day".

We did go for a ride last night and I made a mile and a half with no breaks and did the hill in granny gear getting home ok. The five speed I have been using is almost right for me now that the mate has tweeked it. He put knobbies on it for me last week but I couldn't try them out, the horsie bashed up my knee and I was off the bike for almost a week. But my thighs didn't cramp and my knees only creeeeeked a little at the end of two miles. I am gettting stronger. Pitiful - but stronger than I was this spring.

We topped the little rise before the house and I see four bikes and four boys at the end of our driveway. The mate doesn't like people at his house when he isn't there and the one boy has a rep as a thief at the young age of 12 ish, I'm sorry to say. So he picked up the tempo and drove his bike right into the middle of them.

Now I am lagging behind. By the time I pull in, park and walk over to see what is going on the bad rep boy is behind the mate in our yard and the others just turned and left. He says he didn't even say anything, they just left.

That leaves just the bad rep boy. I see he has a gun across his handle bars. This is bad. I asked him what was going on and I get this long story about how he accidently pointed his gun, it was empty, see? and he cocks it and shoots it at the ground, bb gun at their dog, well it was his grama's dog, no, she's his great grama.....and it was her dog, not their dog but they chased him down to beat him up and would I give him a ride home? They would be after him and he was afraid.

Out of this garbled account I gather he has managed to tick of three boys bigger than him. And that made it three on one no matter what the real story was. And he happened to be riding the one speed the mate and I had given him.

I held out my hand and said, "Give me the gun," which he did. Just then a state trooper's car drove past the house. "You know he is looking for you, don't you?" I said has I gave him a stern look. All of a sudden he said he could ride home, could he have his gun back?

'No, I think I want to meet your Mom,' I told him. He booked off for home and I jumped in the truck with the gun. He only lives a block over and a block down but he went for a house across the street...I'm still confused about that. There was the trooper, in the driveway and just getting out of his car. Here came a couple from the house where I thought he lived and then an old guy from the next block over wandered in from across the yard behind the house we were headed for. I pulled up on the side of the road and got out. Then the second state cop car pulled up behind us.

"You ok, here?" I heard him call out through the window.

"Yup, it's just a BB Gun," he replied.

Now last week you will remember that there were six non residents trying to hold up the store with a gun. Everyone here is a little edgy. I know someone called it in because the kids had a gun and no adult with them.

I explained that I was just a neighbor and had taken the gun so he could get home safe from the kids chasing him. I handed the gun to the Mom. She said thank you. I explained they were upset because he pointed the gun at the dog. I also explained that we had had kids shoot bb's at our dogs and that a kid with a gun NOT in his own yard would be reported by me, too.

The kid was crying rivers before the cop even had his book flipped open. It was all and accident, he didn't mean to point it at the dog and the cop said, "Where did you get the gun?" The boy said a name and then the mom said, "You told me you got it from X!" and the kid back pedaled and stammered and cried harder and I knew the little brat was lying his butt off, it was none of my business now that his folks were there so I left.

I really want to talk to that kid. I want to know why he already lies when the truth would work better. I want to help him see that lying is just going to get him in deeper. But it's none of my business.

The weather turned nasty here today and I can't even feel afraid of it, it's "just" severe thunderstorms. Hail, Rain and Wind. But our roofs should stay on and our houses should stand. We needed the rain badly, anyway.

The mate calls and gives me 10 or 20 minutes of warning when it gets black over there so I can turn off the computer and unplug. We almost always get our power popped when it storms where I work. He keeps me from blowing up the hard drive and modem. He is so thoughtful!

I appreciated the info Dan left me in the comments and I always appreciate the input of Fred and Anvil. I have had some new commentors this week and that has been fun. I always check out their blogs and say thank you there or here. Thanks to all of you that have helped identify flowers and voice opinions.

I should be leaving here just as the weather goes all the way nasty by the looks of the local doppler - I wonder where I left the umbrella this time?

Take good care of yourself

..you belong to me.

There are a few things you learn about yourself that come as a surprise and I had one last night. There is a burn out level where listing to things going wrong that you can't fix becomes numbing. You can just barely care anymore. You want to go ride your bicycle and forget about it all.

Somehow we got tied up in Hurricane Rita on CNN last night. We have people in Texas, I knew a band from Corpus Christi and have contacts in Houston and we have friends near there, too. Then the wheels on that plane that took off from Burbank got stuck down and sideways. More than a hundred passengers wondering if this was their last ride. Their families wondering if they would ever see them alive again. And those stupid commentors stroking and squeezing every drop of drama from both incidents.

Then they break in to say there is a tornado touching down in St. Paul and headed for down town Minneapolis. Just a few miles from down town I have family. And several of my blog buddies are in that area.

I can't do anything about Rita and I can't help the people in the plane but I CAN help the family! I sent off two emails with the subject line DUCK! and then got off line to call and leave messages saying the same thing. That's right, messages. No answer. And I am thinking I hope they are in the basement and can't hear the phone......

I stayed off line waiting for a call and watched the idiots on CNN watching that plane going 'round and 'round to use up it's fuel for a fire free landing while I wanted to see the tornado news and realized I was figuring the budget for gas money, motels, bedding, clothes, water, pet carriers and what food I would pack in the two coolers I have available.

That's right. If the worst happened and a tornado dropped on the house of those I loved I would not be waiting for crews to tell me if they were digging them out, I would be there and digging myself. I would be going past yellow tape and I would be going over armed law enforcement to get there if I had to because I was going in!

At 50, with a stented heart, a steel hip and muscles of rubberbands, I would take my own shovels, rakes, ropes and beams and drive straight through to help my family. I would take anyone that wanted to join me or go alone if no one would go but I would not wait for the "government" to bail them out.

With insurance companies crying "It's flood damage" so they don't have to pay for the hurricane damage in three states

and leaders that have raised their own saleries every year crying because their pork projects will be cut to help rebuild destroyed towns

and people who have never gone without anything saying the people who now have nothing should only get so much help

and a president that has decreed that workers in the disaster areas can be paid less than the average prevailing wage while HE and the other living presidents, in spite of their personal wealth, receive hundreds of thousands of dollars for the remainder of their lives

I sure as hell won't be waiting for them to take care of mine! I will go get them myself.

Of course, after getting all worked up, I finally get a call that they are fine and it's just a thunderstorm now. But I like knowing that I would be ready to put everything I could into making sure they were all ok. I'd hate to think that I was just a whiner. I'm not.

So don't mess with my people, because I WILL come find you!

Hallelujah, I'm a Bum

Now that one is a little out there for you youngsters, so I linked it.

While I was busy playing house dominos (later, guys) the mate was trying to set the land speed record for motorcycle delivery service. He boogied down there in 14 hours. By the time he hit the motel bed he was probably counting exit signs behind his eyes.

On the way back the CB paged the little truck with michigan plates. He answered. This is pretty rare, he usually just listens for bear reports. There was a guy trying to get to a little town on his way home who had hitched a ride with the big truck behind him but the big truck was headed for the house before moving on, could he get a ride?

It was a day for rare occurences, the mate met them at a truck stop and said, yes, he'd take him. The guy said it took him 3 days to get from where his home used to be in MS to the top of AK. He said he did a lot of walking.

The hitchhiker had moved to MS and was a construction worker. All he had in the world was a ziplock bag with a pair of socks and a pack of smokes, the clothes on his back and a cantalope and bunch of very green bananas a lady gave him earlier.

So we got one refugee home to his family. The mate dropped him off right where he wanted to go. Bless the mate and prayers for the hitchhikers still out there.

What am I doing hangin' 'round?

Friday evening was a lovely good time with the mate and I reaffirming our bond of love and just in general having a nice dinner, a movie and a great time later. It's the proper way to prepare for just one of us leaving for a couple days.

We sold a motorcycle on Ebay and the shipping was going to be outrageous so the mate worked up a price and we loaded on the little truck. He left VERY early on Saturday. I kissed him bye and started tearing apart the back porch.

Enclosed porches are funny places. Now a porch with 3 sides open usually has a few kids toys and a couple chairs or a swing on them. The bikes might get locked to the posts. That's it. But the minute you put screens and storms on it and call it a three seasons room or an enclosed porch it starts to accumulate things. It's out of the house, technically, and it's closer than the garage in the winter. It usually has a table and a couple chairs or a swing on it to start off with.

But they are insidious! Magnetic! Complusive! Those porches will grow an accumulation of stuff faster than Jack can grow a magic bean stalk! You move the first little pile it gets on it's table out to the garage one nice day and the next day you find a bag with all the empty pop bottles lurking behind the chair in the corner. You toss those in the trunk of the car to cash in the next time you are in town. Day after that you find 3 flower pots, a bag of marbles, a large bag of potting soil and 6 seed packets are sitting behind the door to outside, on a chair seat and on the table.

Thinking to outwit the porch, you go get your hand trowel and rake as well as your gardening gloves. You put on the gloves, use the marbles for drainage in the pots, add the dirt, plant the 6 packs of seeds in the nice new dirt with the trowel and rake. There! All gone as the plants went on the patio!

But the porch has half a bag of dirt behind the door, your garden trowel laid on top under your gloves, half a bag of marbles leaned against the big bag, a paper bag in the corner with the empty seed packets in it and your hand rake hung on a nail on the wall. But now it's time for dinner and that's when you slip.

You go to prepare a hot, healthy meal for your family and the porch goes to work. You did NOT remove every single item when you were done with it. It's power to collect items is multiplied and squared by every object you left behind.

The family comes in for dinner. The porch snags a jacket with the back of a chair and a cap on the same nail you hung the hand rake on, (which is why you can't find it tomorrow!). A pair of tennis shoes get tumbled by the door into the house. The skate board and roller blades cuddle up next to them. It wickedly grasps a stack of school books for the table and lets the wind in to blow the ONE page of homework that MUST be turned in tomorrow into the new trash bag in the corner with the seed packets. As your mate sets his wrench down on the window ledge when he walks in the porch closes the blind over it. Gone forever!

Wicked, evil porches! Give them three days and your home will all be in one room!

With the mate going to be gone for 3 or so days I decide I will TAKE BACK the back porch - AGAIN! I do this about twice a year. I didn't do so badly this time. After 10 hours of finding stuff and putting it where it belonged the porch was short three large bags, four boxes and a crate of books. It only got my vacuume cleaner and a broom back.

But I was about half dead. What I didn't have places for I put in the front yard for free. I hope some other poor fool with a porch comes along to pick it up. It's already porch sensitized so I feel sorry for them.

But the porch looks great!

Baby, Let it all hang out

The racing clouds that day were dark,
all yellow, purple, black.
The wind drove them across the sky -
rain screaming on it's back!
The waves climbed up the wind like smoke
then fell like an avalanche -
Smashing, churning, crushing
each thing in their path.

Driven by the wicked wind,
giving way to nothing,
the storm rolled on across the land
to sow death and destruction.
The dogs they howled and children cried
while grown men, no longer brave,
fell on their knees to pray and beg
for mercy on that day.

New Orleans died, New Orleans! we cried. New Orleans, good bye.

Women gathered families close
around them and then cried,
Dear Jesus, Can you hear us?
Please hide us by your side!
If it be thy will for us
to join you on this day,
please take us all together
was their prayer that day.

Like an evil cowboy with his whip,
the wind drove the storm higher.
The rain was pounding on it's back,
the lightening was like fire.
No rescue came,
the death bell rang
a hundred thousand times.
Shattered families, torn apart,
all cried to hear it chime.

New Orleans died, New Orleans! we cried. New Orleans, good bye

And then the raging of the storm
fell to the earth below
where humans found it in themselves
and fires began to glow.
Those left behind forgot their prayers
and anger rose inside
as they looked at the buses
and the taxis left behind.

Then the hunger, shock and thirst
became their driving force
they did what was needed
to survive, to go the course.
The pain, the loss and grief torn cries
filled heaven with their need.
Cries were heard 'round the world -
and all the world now grieved.

New Orleans died, New Orleans! we cried. New Orleans, good bye.

Like Babel, now confusion reigns
as people send their aid
to those with nothing left on earth.
When will they all be safe?
How quickly can we help them,
those with nothing, all alone,
wandering all around the earth
with no place to call home?

New Orleans died, New Orleans! we cried. New Orleans, good bye.

Don't ask me, this stuff just falls out of my pen sometimes.

When you wish upon a star

Feeling like a little fantasy is in order. Reality is really bogging me down. I always loved horses, their speed, grace and power fascinated me. The reality is that I wasn't raised with them, except in my books, and I am intimidated by their size. So now I love Pegasus and his ilk because I can pretend to ride away on them and, being pretend, they can never scare me. All that for those of you watching my avatars...LOL!

If wishing worked I guess the world would be a stranger place than it already is. I wish I had never seen the photos showing all the buses, taxi, cars and vans underwater. I wish no one had said, "Where would they go?" because to me the obvious answer is "NORTH" till the rain stops. I can't get to New Orleans, or any of the other places that people need help but if they were here I could help them. I wish I was sure this is the kind of world where if they were out of gas on the side of the road with 60 people and kids and pets on a bus SOMEONE would have helped them.

And I am glad I heard someone did "steal" a bus and picked up people all the way out of town. How you can be stealing when it's going to be trash anyway, I don't know, but you rock, dude!


I wish I hadn't heard this story. I wish that company site would be hacked. I wish that company would go out of business. I wish their email in box would be crammed with protests. I wish I was the kind of person who would post their email address so you could all send them enough crap to plug it up tight. (if i was that kind of person it's info@connectpositronic.com)

I just need a little magic today and it happens. I remember how much better life is now than it was when I was younger. I had money turn up so all the bills are paid. I had the Eldest Boy, Only Daughter in Law and Local Grandgirl show up with the Mom, the Cousin and the tag along to party for 11zs on a lovely day. The mate stopped by work and still loves me even though he had to solder my glasses for the third time.

And the mystery flowers were out when I got home. These tiny beauties are real red shaped like a chocolate star and about the size of a nickle on ferny feathery climbing vines. Come on team - name that posy!

And what are these little things I call mystery weeds? Did I plant them and forget they are a flower or did they just sneak in and pretend to be flowers? Who knows! Not me.


The tiny town had a close call the other day. Another gang of thugs thought they would help themselves to someone else's money.

Earlier this year 3 white guys in a black van thought they were tough and smacked a 50 yr. old lady in the head with a ball bat then took all the money from the local mom and pop store. They cut the wires on the ADT alert system and the electricity. She went to the hospital and they got away. We hate when that happens!

They made some improvements in their security and when there was a guy out front with a walkie talkie and a guy in the parking lot in a truck, she got nervous. We found out about it when the K9 unit went by and a tow truck went next with a pick up on the back. Six ill-eagles, four more up the road with the other walkie talkie to take out one old lady...

She called some locals and two customers complained about the guy in the entry way creeping them out. Bad vibes. She finally decided she wasn't being nervous and rang the magic button. They got all six of them this time. And then today her mate had a heart attack and is in the hospital. So what was my problem today?

I CAN'T FIX IT! I can't make her mate better. I can't give enough or share enough to help all those families that are separated. I can't go match every lonesome and terrified animal with it's stricken family and make sure they find housing that allows pets. I can't get those kids into a school where their friends are going and people all talk like they do. I can't find them cars or food or housing.

I can't get the soldier's that have been wounded to be taken care of in a proper manner, which to me means retraining where possible and supporting them and their families above poverty level.
I can't get the world to just calm down and stop killing each other. I can't stop the weather now whacking on the east coast or the plate slip under the west coast.

I can't save the whales, sea turtles, ivory billed wood peckers or dodos.

I can't make the hurt go away for my friends who are splitting up or their kids who are saddened by their dad's second divorce.

I can't help the cousin have more confidence and walk tall.

I can't stand to read about one more single thing that I can't fix and think shouldn't happen!!!

I'm glad I'm not God. People would give me such a headache I'd invent martians to blow the whole place up today and start over!

I really had a pretty good day. Busy at work, pay day, enough of everything we need and love in my life I often wonder why I got so lucky.

I wish you all joy and enough. And if you have it, share it!

I'm still here

Been busy catching up at work after a week off. Still reading your blogs, just not much to say this week, I guess.

Got back on the bicycle for the first time after the cart wreck last night. Didn't set any records but didn't want to blow out the knee either.

One of the neighbor girls I am friends with stopped by. She's about 15 and jumps from her mom's to her dad's place a lot. We (the mate) had another 10 speed he had fixed and we gave it to her. She was tickled. I was tickled. Yay, Mate! Thank you.

It's been so dry here the bird bath has to be filled every day. The mate and I watered the flowers last night, too. Even the trees look thirsty.

Thinking I need to rip out the kitchen and see how much stuff two people really need. I think I can just about furnish another kitchen for someone getting into a new place with nothing. The bottom cupboards are the big problem, I can't get back up from down very easily and I don't do down very well in the first place. Maybe I can borrow the scooter chair from the garage....hmm! Good idea!

Bible study tonight, gotta run.

Alone again, naturally - NOT

Just an aside to Fred, my most loyal poster and a teacher, too! I don't know how he finds the time!

I am always myself but I have many facets. I reflect the places and people I am interacting with at the time. I pick up dialect and body language quickly and believe it is a cameleon like protection.

I see no mystery to this or mental disorder. We all wear masks in any new situation and in any place we are used to we take along the mask that matches. Only I don't have masks, I have whole uniforms and 'tudes to take with me or will build one to fit the task.

As every post is from some different part of me I change the avatar to suit. It amuses me. And I always have someone else to talk to.

Don't be afraid....LOL!

The Good Things in Life are Free

I really am easily entertained. The Tuesday before we left for our trip north the mate and I were enjoying the birds at the feeders when I jumped up to get the binoculars. What I saw was this little guy! I can't get good photos because they always hear the doors close and fly away.

I borrowed this one. I really wanted my pal Anvil to see them. My Mom and Sis got here in time to see him, too. We were are tickled.

The bad news is we never saw him again. There were parents feeding him so we know he was this year's baby and there were sibs with more white on them than most sparrows so we thought they were from near by but either they were just passing through or the poor little guy didn't make it. I just thought it was so unique and rare for us to see one I wanted to share it, especially with A. Cloud.

The week we got back from up north I found a new bird feeder I wanted to put up and it was only two bucks at a yard sale so it went home with me. The mate got a wild hair from it and he dragged out the tools, a post and the post hole diggers and built me a nice new set up for the feeders. While I helped he did all the hard parts. It took about an hour plus set up and clean up.

I have to have about 30 pounds of seed to fill them all but it's really great because we can see both sides of each feeder now. The birds seem to love it and the newly found flat rock in the bird bath has even the little finches getting their daily bath there.

And just look at the beautiful glads! Our yard was so lovely this year!

Just click on any photo to see it larger. The posies are just lovely and worth a closer look.

Off to do chores now, see ya!

I carry my home in my hand

I spent Tuesday ripping up the closets and storage areas. I actually started on Monday night washing blankets and bed spreads. The mate helped with most everything. I hung it all on hangers and packed it in the large rubber maid containers, labeled it by sex and size with a list of what was in each, made up another bag and labeled it "From one 50 year old lady to another" and filled it with a day dress, a pj, some personal care products, a book, pen and pencil with a spiral notebook, some ear rings, barretts and such and zipped it up with a prayer.

Then I went through the house and dug up a portable radio, put batteries in it, got the Yatzee, Po ke no, dominos, decks of cards, greeting cards, blank paper, pens, pencils, and my treasured portable backgammon board, the double dragon dominos, some kids books and added three happy ending books for adults. I blew the dust off everything, no one ever plays games with us anymore, packed it all in a suitcase and labeled it entertainment.

We took a high chair, a walker, a cooler, two sleeping bags, a small tent and piled it all in my little white truck. I drove it down to a place in the town the refugees are in and dropped it off.

I think, after the fire, I know that some things that do not seem like nessesities are truely needed because they were part of your "real" life. I hope the things I sent take my prayers and good wishes to those who need them so badly.

I am already doing the list of the next things that will be needed as these people find housing. I should have at least half a kitchen and part of a living room to send.

It seems like such a small pile for such a lot of people. It's all we can do right now and I feel better for having done it.

Today's picture is a real baby cow puppet and a gift for a friend to steal if he wants to upgrade from a sock puppet. :)

I'm an old cow hand from the Rio Grande

This is the best weather we have had for this party in several years and I was pleased to see they had a hugh turn out. It was Monday morning and time for the parade. I was going to drive one of my sister's miniature horses and carts with her, her mate and several other mini owners.

The photo is from a couple years ago when we were just getting comfortable with the great mini gelding. Don't Cee and I look a lot alike? LLLLL!

We met on time, for a change, unloaded the carts and horses and started decorating. My mate showed up and said he was going to watch the parade then left. We found out that the staging area was too far to cart over in time so we loaded it all back up and we went to another place in a long caravan.

We had spot 103 and there were more behind us. That's a lot of entries for a small town parade! We were doing red, white and blue ribbons and bandanas and I had Bunky strapped to the cart to ride with me.

Ten minutes before start time we drove our decorated horses and carts over to our staging area. We should have waited. The thing started late (of course) and then the ambulance got a call so they had to stop us and get them out to help someone. It was sunny and hot where we were. The horses were getting antsy so we drove them around a handy parking lot to keep them occupied. Sis went over things to avoid - getting too close to the crowd, manhole covers, camels and such and said if there was trouble just get out and walk the horses. We were way more than ready to get moving and, finally, we started again- about 40 minutes late.

Two areas up were some hot rod cars and a mini bike that ran around them. When they started up the horses jumped but we settled them down ok and went on. Sis's mare was being a little fussy and she decided to trot some of the ginger out of her, right in front of a manhole cover.....hmmmmm. She was right, the horses don't like them.

Her mare spooked at the cover and dodged full speed to the right, only I was to her right! She rammed right into me and the cart bar rammed right into my good horse's butt. Hard! So he jumped and tried to go left, against her. She freaked when he dragged her back where the scary thing was and put her head down - slamming my right knee into the steel cart with her forhead -and panicked again. The mare reared, coming down with her leg between the bar on my cart and my horse's leg. I had pulled hard to the left to get us off the road and into the grass, tried to watch her leg, made my best guess and yanked up on the reins to tighten them hollering "Whoa" a lot and then I jumped out!

I hit my left knee on the edge of the cart, as soon as we hit the grass where I was willing to risk an uncontrolled landing. The steel hip makes me leary of landing on hard surfaces. I made it on my feet, blessing my heavy boots, then ran up to grab my horse by the reins under his chin. I pulled his head against my chest and, with the blinders on, he couldn't see where to go so he stood all tensed up and ready to bolt - as soon as he could see. I could feel him trembling and I leaned into him, mashing my shirt into his face firmly while I caressed his neck and mumbled calming words to him. He was shaking hard and the #@$ pole was still jammed in his rump but he stood for me. Sis got out and snatched up her horse's head so she couldn't buck again. We assessed the situation. People that were with us came up to help.

We unhooked my cart and someone walked my horse out of the way. Sis stood and calmed her horse down for a minute then backed her up, getting her hoof over the bar and away from all the straps laying there. I had stayed where I was after I undid the last strap because I didn't want to freak the mare out by moving past her. We all breathed easier when we saw she was ok. Sis's mate took her mare to walk off the freak out while she rehooked my horse. Poor guy, he was so good, and he let her put him right back in the harness. Then she went and check her hookings on the mare and we were back up.

Our people had gone on that were in front of us because they didn't want to take the horses past the camel and the llahma for fear of spooking.them. For some reason camels really freak the horses. We were not going to try to catch up with them because of the hot rods and the camel so we fell in at the very rear of the parade with three carts and three minis walking with their people. One had big Elton John sunglasses on with a baby blue bandana around it's neck and matching bows in it's tail and one was a baby about 18 inches tall too cute for words. All the kids wanted to pet them!

I was pretty well settled down by the time we got back on the road and I had a better feel for the way my horse liked his reins held. He has such an easy mouth that if you just move your hand he starts to change direction. I found him easy to over steer and over correct but we worked it out by the third block. I was very alert for manhole covers and turned him so he would not see or step on any of them.

I got thinking about it and decided that if I can tell when I walk over something that there is a hole under there, like bridges and grates in the sidewalk, there then so can a horse. Asking a horse to walk over a hole is not going to be a good idea because for them holes mean a broken leg or a fall so they avoid them naturally. I figure the camel just smells wrong, not a horse and not a cow so something to be afraid of for the horses.

Things were going pretty good but I was out of water. This is bad. I carry a jug with me everywhere, 32 oz. and it was bone dry. As we came up on the library I spotted the mate up on the steps. I smiled and waved at him. He held up a bottle of water, pointed at it and then at me. I nodded vigorusly and he trotted out, switched the nice, full, cold one for my hot, empty jug and I told him I loved him as he smiled and went back to the steps. What a MAN! He hates crowds and doing anything to call attention to himself. I didn't even plan on him being there and he was not just there but thinking of me still and again and always. I am so blessed!

Refreshed by the cold drink and the horse moving along pretty good now I could search the crowd for friends. It made me sad to see that so few of them were there, like none. Then we spotted Uncle J and Aunt C in the crowd. He ran out and gave Sis a hug. She was leading her mare to avoid more accidents. I was driving so settled for a smile and a wave. A little further on we saw the Mom and cousin then the Aunt C. H. and her family. Way near the end of the parade I saw a couple and their foster girl that are long time pals and got to say hello to them and then the parade was ending.

Oh, crap! The guy with the camel was headed back toward us! Sis begged the use of a yard from a couple ladies watching from their front porch and we cut through to their driveway to wait till the nasty animals were gone. Then we decided to send for the truck rather than drive back across town with the worn and over heating horses.

I had to get to someplace quick so I handed off my horse and went up to beg the use of the john from our hostess. When the sunglasses came off I realized one of them was a buddy from when I worked at the bakery. She had run the local office for the paper in the next town and we used to visit back and forth. So they were ok with letting me in and I was able to maintain my impersonation of a functioning adult.

We got the carts off the horses and let them trim the grass. The nice ladies offered a big stainless bowl to offer them water in but they didn't seem to want any. The nephew, Bee, had been close to the end and took his car to take his Dad to the truck. They seemed to be gone quite a while but when he came back to collect his wife and child he had 3 cold bottles of water to hand us. I said, "You may turn out to be as good a man as your Uncle!" and he said, "I'm taking notes, he sent the water." I smiled. Bless that mate. He knew I would be sucking it down in the heat! He's so good he makes other men look bad even when he's NOT there, LOL!!

Bee had orders to fetch me back in the car, NOT to let me walk across town so we loaded up and rolled. As we came around the corner I saw the mate's bike parked near mine and the mate lazing in the shade, sitting on the top of a picnic table. My heart hurt and pounded. How did I ever get to have such a good friend as the Mate? I sure didn't earn it in my youth! He makes me smile every time I see him coming! The 25th will be 17 years married, 19 and a half years together for us and we still beat feet for home everyday. It's our place to be ourselves and we like each other and doing things our way.

We decided to get breakfast and went to the place I first had a real job, the old drive in. It used to be and A & W with real carhops when I was there. It's on about the 6th owner since my old boss retired and I was glad to see the current one was a fair cook.

We ate and he was going to head home while I was going to stay to see the talent show finals. He scooted and I lagged in the air conditioning till they chased me out. I went to get out of the booth and my knee screeched - so I made a detour to the ladies room and had a look. It was scraped raw and tender with a nice bruise coming along on the outside. The left knee just got banged, sore but no bruises. I decided, since I was on the bike and holding them up takes leg power, that I was going to have to head for the house and ice it up good. It's my "real" leg and I don't want it screwed up. I was a little bummed but it was ok, I was going where life is good.

I must have been about 20 minutes behind the mate. I came in and changed into shorts before I showed him my boo-boo. He got the bandages and goop and doctored me up. I got a few entertainment supplies together and piled them in the living room next to my seat on the couch. I got the legs up and he brought the ice. Then we sat and watched stupid movies, ate popcorn and talked the rest of the day. I melted the whole bag and got up to see how it was doing. It was going to be ok.

See, kids? Even old people have fun and adventures and get their feelings hurt and don't understand people and feel the pounding heart of love and the fires of desire. Just because we look funny doesn't mean we can't party! AGE ON!

That's Entertainment!

Sunday I contemplated how much we had to be thankful for and decided it was time to cut down again. I started making lists in my head and then remembered it was a holiday and the home town had a party going on.

I jumped on the bike and headed out. I got lucky and found a good parking place then wandered over to watch the Talent Show.

It was great! I saw a couple pals and I took photos of the kids. I enjoyed the music and dancing enough to make me feel really happy and balanced. I forget how much I enjoy live entertainment. When I got home I cut my fingernails so I can try the gutiar later.



The two girls, above, were perky, practiced and cute. All great things for little entertainers to be. They did a fine job with only one glitch and got a good round of applause.

The cowgirls made the finals but had performed before I got there, they were just cute. I had to have a picture.

We did this on a float for the GM dealer my Dad worked for when we were little. There motto at the time was, "GM, the men in the white hats" so we were white hatted little cowgirls.


In my opinion this boy was the bravest of them all. First, his music wouldn't work with the PA equipment. Then they made a point of saying, over the microphone, that you should check that out before the show. Then he had to wait till almost last while someone ran and redid his tune. After all that he still got up there, smiled and then did a tap routine to "Thank God I'm a County Boy!" and did it well! It's hard enough to be a boy who dances without all the rest of it. I was glad to see he made it to the finals. I took 3 shots of him trying to get a good one. I burned a whole load of batteries and a full card of photos and did get a few nice shots.

It was several hours till dark and I took off to visit a friend. I don't see Jay very often but she is one of my favorite people. Her boy is doing well in college and her nephew was out working in the garage changing out a transmission. She made him a burger while we caught up with each other. It was a nice visit.

I left just as it started to get dark to get a parking spot for the fireworks. It was the 100th Labor Day celebration and the fireworks were supposed to be tremendous this year. I ended up clear in the back, trapped by cars and the yellow tape that marked off the launch area.

I shrugged and was going to shut down, even though I was right behind a car and right in front of a set of bleachers. Then I decided to slightly relocate the bike and accidentally rolled the front wheel off the pavement...shoot. My reverse isn't so good.

This skinny kid comes walking up saying loudly, "Hey! You can't park there! You're blocking my car! You have to move!" I looked at him and hollered, "Get over here and give me some reverse before I slap you silly!" You should have seen the faces on the people in the stand! LOL! I love doing that to people!

In a regular voice my nephew, J, said, "You need help backing up really?" I told him yes and he gave her a shove and got me back on the pavement. I squared her up behind his car and got off. I followed him back to where he and his wife, K, were sitting with the grand nephew, Ace. We visited and killed time while the dark rose up and the dipper came out. The first firework went off right on time.

I decided by about the 3rd one that I was too close and not having any fun because the mate had decided to stay home. So I ticked off half the town and most of my relatives by cranking up the bike and driving out, headed for the house hollering, "Sorry, excuse me, sorry!" all the way out of the parking lot. Come to find out I had gone right by the Mom and several others. *shrug* Headed home again!

You can't always get what you want

This was supposed to be my big thrill time- a full 10 days off work, all paid. I have never worked where you had enough vacation and my current employer starts you with one week paid and one day off per year additional vacation time. It took me a while to earn enough days to cover all the regular times I take four or 5 day weekends and still have a week off. I was really looking forward to it.

Things started out ok with a hot time in the old house on Friday celebrating my freedom. Saturday we were going to join some friends that were camping out behind a buddy's house and party with them. When we got there with our breakfast donation the feed was pretty much over but there was plenty left so we fired up the frying pan and made our own, which is pretty much SOP for those who sleep in with our group, so that was ok.

People were chatting and planning the next meals, making the super secret bbq sauce for the venison and the next days pig, running to the store, riding the two mechanical mules on the back property and just toddling on through the day.

We sat a little back from the main group as we smoke. We ate our breakfast, cleaned up our mess and watched. We didn't know what the plan was so we didn't have anything to add. No one asked us if we wanted to ride on the mules, would run to the store, help with the fire or anything and it seemed like when we did try to talk to people they wouldn't look us in the eye and wandered off after short answers.

We tried to confirm our trip up north with our friend, Ma. M had to work and couldn't be there. She said M forgot about it and when she reminded him about it didn't want to ride up for just one night. Plus the bridge is under construction and no one wants to ride the grate if it can be avoided. That was a big bummer for me. We haven't seen much of M and Ma this year and we both had looked forward to some one on one with them along with fire building and card games. I think she felt badly because she had really wanted to go and made a big deal out of it but her mate said no. She wandered off to the store again.

One of the girls went to get her bike and it had a tail light out. The mate was asked to help with locating the fuses and fixing it but when he was done we were back in our seats with no one to talk to. I tried to get a card game going but only one person wanted to play so that got blown off.

After that we just sat and listened to them gossip about the the guy who was there without his wife giving a lady a ride on the mule and what the wife would do if she showed up. It was pretty high school and we were finally bored and ignored enough. It was getting hot or I was getting a flash and I used it as an excuse to head for the air conditioner and list some ebay auctions.

We said that if we came back we would bring corn on the cob for dinner, said our polites and left. We didn't go back that night. I called the next morning to see if they still wanted to go ride the ponies at the sisters with the kids but they were going to hunt geodes. The point was made that it would involve walking up hills and being out in the heat so, of course, I said I guessed I would'nt be going along and I hoped they had a great time.

But the person I was talking to I trusted to be straight with me and I asked her if she would answer a couple questions. When she said yes I asked if I had bad breath or smelled bad and she laughed and said no. I asked if we had offended someone and she said she didn't think so. I told her we felt out in left field and were not sure why did she know anything and she had no answer.
It was just so weird. These people are our friends and we both felt like we were being tolerated instead of welcomed. If it was just me I would write it off to hormones but the mate felt it, too. So now I have to find out what the deal is and I don't even know who to ask! ARRRGGHH!

But that is ok, life goes on. We went home, cooled off, watched the news and I re oriented on the refugees coming to Michigan.

Bad Boys, what'cha gonna do?

Ok, another long comment in reply to this post.

I may as well explain that my child hated me when I told him he was being a bad puppy. I have tried to use the good puppy/bad puppy stories to explain why I may seem to be acting in a cruel way to my child but that it is for their future happiness and survival. I wanted to raise good dogs, uh......children. For the most part I feel I have. But when I would punish the boy and he thought I was being too hard on him I'd say, "Nobody likes a bad dog!' and he would say, "I am NOT a DOG! Stop SAYING that!"

But it's true. Nobody likes a bad puppy. Puppies and dogs that jump all over you, lick your face, climb on your lap, yank at your pant leg, nip at your shoes, pull your shoestrings, get in the garbage, crap on the floors and bark all night do NOT have many friends.

Puppies can't talk so you can't explain things to them with words. You have to teach your puppy not to do these things so people will like it and it can have a happy social life with it's family. To teach it you use rewards and rolled newspapers across it's butt along with ignoring it when it is bad and petting it when it is good.

I think little children are the same way. I don't see how you expect children to respect their elders when we can't discipline them properly and consistently, in public as well as at home. While time outs and depriving a child of desert will work with older children I have yet to find a way to explain E=MC2, with E being the force that the car will smack you with if you are hit while playing in the street, to a 3 year old. Removing them from danger and applying warmth to the seat of learning is an action that even a child that young will understand; road=pain. I do not condone bruising or welts, canes and belts but there are times that words don't work and a little pain will keep the child from worse injury later.

Even animals discipline their young. Watch puppies and kittens play around their mom. She tolerates a lot of tail nipping and ear tugging but when someone bites too hard they get the "GGGRRRRRR" and if they don't stop they get nipped back or they will be bapped and rolled and the parent will put a foot on their chest and give them a major mean face look. One little pup would NOT stop biting on and then hanging from her mom's tail. The mom couldn't reach her well so she sat on her. The little one scrambled out from under and begged to be forgiven. The mom ignored her for at least two minutes while the puppy licked her chin more frantically each moment. When the mom thought the pup was sorry enough she looked at her and gave her a lick back. The pup never swung from her mom's tail again.

You have to teach children respect for you and obedience while they are young, before they can speak well. You have to communicate the difference and the consequences of good and bad actions and you can't use words. You use facial expression, body language and removal of child from danger. Only when necessary should you use force to teach them. It should be appropriate to the size of the child, done at the time of the bad action and forgotten by you as soon as the child is behaving properly.

Why is a child a pistol at home and sweet as an angel at Grama's house? Because Grama won't accept that kind of behavior and has showed the kid her word is good. If she says, settle down or no desert, there will be no desert. If the kid hits a sib in the head with a toy, a Grama is likely to snatch it from him and hit HIM in the head and say "Did that hurt? Don't hit people!"

As soon as a pup is old enough to CHOOSE an action, the parent provides feedback on whether it is an ok or a NOT OK action to the pups. Dogs ignore bad pups and play with, smooch and groom good ones. The pups soon stop the NOT OK behavior to get the approval and attention from their parent.

You might spank a kid at home but you can't spank a child in public - and they KNOW that! Some idiot made a law that you can't hit kids. They might be good at home but the minute you are at the store they are running around ramming carts into people, hollering for treats and toys and saying "you can't make me!" when you tell them to stop. The parent stands there, beaten, onlookers pretend to ignore the confrontation and the child romps on through the store.

When the pups are old enough to meet the pack the mom is on full alert. When the older dogs come over to sniff the young ones if a pup tries to nip, growl or jump at them the mom comes down on them HARD! She will snap them up and shake them then put them down between her front feet. This is to PROTECT the pup even though it appears to be disciplining the pup.

If a puppy, through ignorance, is too aggressive or rude, the other members of the pack may kill it. The mom knows this and treats her children in a manner that will show them how to behave with other dogs without getting killed. If a pup continues to annoy the elders you can bet it won't live to grow up.

There were kids sleding outside my house. When a big boy tossed a little one down in the snow one day and the dogs, over enthusiastic in checking to see if he was ok, walked on his face I was out the door before the kid could get to his feet. I stomped right out, grabbed the big one, tossed him down and held him there with my foot till the dogs walked on HIS face. "WAS THAT FUN! Don't EVER let me see you hurting littler kids again!" I shouted. Then I went back inside. Once they were over there shock the kids went back to sliding and there were NEVER any incidents in the years I lived there. At least, not where I would see them....LOL.

In that case, the big boy was mine. We have to be a little more careful with other's children. You can't just break the neck of a bad kid and toss him to the side to rot like an unacceptable puppy. If strangers in a store were to tell a child to stop ramming the cart into them in a properly cranky manner the child would run back for protection to it's parent and not risk ramming in the future. But, NOOOoooooo, disciplining another persons child might get you in trouble.

At a football game, where hundreds of parents were watching, I saw a big boy teasing a younger one by holding his shoe over his head. It had been raining and the ground was waterlogged and muddy. The little guy was hopping on one foot and crying. No sign of the parent or older siblings. When the little guy fell on one knee in the mud I had had enough.

I got up, took hold of the large boy's collar from the back, removed the shoe from his hand, gave it to the smaller boy and told him to sit down on the stands and put it on. When he had his shoe tied I released the big one and told them both, "Now GO and SIT with your parents!" with my best grumpy face on and in my best cranky voice. They both ran off and we didn't see them again that night.

I turned to go back to my seat and and a whole sea of faces was just staring at me. You could have heard a pin drop. I just shrugged at them and said "Somebody had to do it!" and went back to watching the game. On the way out someone I didn't know said, "Hey! Nice job with those boys!" Everyone was waiting for "someone" to "do something" and it wasn't happening.

You ARE someone and YOU CAN do something. A child knows when it is behaving in a socially unacceptable manner. They expect to be corrected. When they are not corrected they feel guilty but can't stop now - so they continue the behavior. I don't want to live with a bunch of free range hodlums! I still correct others kids if I have to because they NEED it.

I really belive that as they get older all these undisciplined offenses build up inside. They FEEL like they are bad kids. They think no one loves them enough even to correct them and help them be good kids. No one; Not a parent; not a stranger - cares.

Then they act even more badly but they start punishing themselves. You have cutters out there bleeding for attention and love. There are kids that make trouble just to see if someone cares enough for them to correct them. They make their appearance strange, ugly or bizzare to prove to themselves that people don't like them the way they are. They are rude and even threatening. There has never been a big dog that growled them down and rolled them over.

These kids are trying, out of hundreds of kids in schools, to be noticed. Attention = you are worth my time. They don't get it being good. Good kids are ignored. so they have to be bad. Sure, they hate detention, but they love the attention they got by being bad. All their peers notice them while they were acting up and then an adult NOTICED them! Some one CARED!

Showing an older child that they can get attention for being good takes time. Especially since none of us has enough time to just be there with our kids any more. It takes both parents working to pay for a household now. And you have to train yourself to notice them when they are being good. You have to be right on top of things, like a mama dog, paying attention to the good pups. "Thank you for hanging up your coat" may seem pretty lame but they will feel good that you noticed. And how does "Pick up your d@#$@ coat and put it on the hook, stupid!" sound?

Showing a child you like them as a person, even when they do bad things, is hard. Discipline IS is hard but disipline is love! You care about a child enough to correct it so it does well in society as an adult. Some times the "seat of learning" needs to be warmed to make a point. Maybe cleaning the crayons off the wall or washing the whole wall will do it. Or a time out. Or no TV for a week. What ever you use you are showing you care enough to let them "hate" you now so they have good lives later. They will love you for it in the long run.

YES, there are BAD kids - just born that way. I know 3 or 4 of them, one is a cousin. Same family, with 3 other kids, same life and just bad! Not everyone is born a ray of sunshine.

It is not always the parents fault when a child is mean or a bully. It is, however, always the parents responsibility. You have to make sure your child is not a threat to others. The cousin was beating up the other kids, skipping school, stealing and nothing they tried helped him. He was taken to juvenile court and turned over to the state. They sent him to a home for hard cases.

His parents loved him enough to admit that they could not teach him to behave in a socially acceptable manner and put him where they hoped he could be taught. No one was happy with the solution but it worked. He joined the Army at 18. He is a functioning member of society and comes to see the family but is still no ray of sunshine. He's a scary dog but there is a place for scary dogs to live a good life, too.

My kids are good dogs. One is a friendly, tail wagging "pet me!" dog that will come right up to you and follow you anywhere for some pets and a cookie. One is a quiet appearing layabout that is always alert for bad guys and waits to be asked before approaching new people. One is assertive, protective and barky but loyal to the bone and ready for petting as soon as you are properly introduced. The other is a show dog, with shining manners but that takes time to get to know you before allowing you to approach to give pets. None of them will jump on you unless invited, nip, or bite without cause, bark all night, get in the trash or be rude to older dogs. Every one of them comes when I call them and I love them to death! Good puppies!

Dizzy, I'm so Dizzy...

Now that I have that out of my system I want to go back and cover some bald spots. Like - "If you had so much fun up north, where are the photos?"

If you missed it, my server shut down, as of today and I have been moving 281+mg of files up and down over dial up. Now there's fun for ya! Then I changed the DNS info before I was done pulling files. ARRRGGG! and couldn't get back into the old server. Luckily, my wonder pal there, the admin guy sent me the direct link and I got the rest moved out. But now my forums don't work. *Sigh* Oh, well, I'll get them fixed soon, I hope.

In the mean time I had to find somewhere else to hang pictures. I used Image Shack and it works ok but it's for those one file at a time uploaders. Now my site is functioning I have some photos to share.

This was our camp and the ten dollar tent we love. Mate got it at a yard sale the day before we left. It worked really well and I guess we will keep it.
Excuse the wild colors, had too much fun with the gamma correction.


Then I would like you to meet my new pal, Bunky. He rode quietly the whole way and never wiggled. I won him in "The Claw" .





I think my favorite time was spent just watching the water and the birds. I didn't get any wonderful photos but here is my gull that I was watching bob along the waves.

Hurricane Katrina - Blog for Relief Day

Bloggers are organizing a Blog for Relief Day, where participating blogs join by indicating the charities they recommend readers make donations to help survivors of Hurricane Katrina through. It started today. See Glenn's roundup post, and check out the Technorati flood aid and hurricane katrina tags.

My preferred charity is the Red Cross. Donate Here.


My suggestion for the future is to Vote out the president who used our National Guard and their equipment overseas. I have had fits about this. The National Guard is to guard the NATION! Diasters like Hurrican Katrina are where they shine! Michigan is deploying guardsmen to help because the states being wiped out have the majority of their guardsmen in Iraq.

I told the mate last night that someone would say it on TV before the night was over and was lucky enough to be sitting there when it happened on CNN! A reporter stated that the police were unable to meet the demands being forced on them by the circumstances and stating that over 4000 of the three states guardsmen were overseas which is why the governors were unable to muster enough help by calling on their National Guard. And our federal government has only 150 generators to send. For crying out loud people, only 150? Sears had more than that!

I am not against helping the Iraq people form a democratic government. I am against not having a large enough standing army to do it without taking resources and people needed here.

So there ya go. I'm ranting again.

Hurricane Katrina - Pack a Bag

Links to help victims of Hurricane Katrina are posted below.

I had a hard time on the ride home last night. I had the truck because it was chilly yesterday when I went to leave. NPR is talking by phone to a lady in IOWA who is arranging to pick up a family in the Katrina disaster area and bring them home to help get them on their feet. I was in tears and almost sobbing. I didn't learn till I was home that the levees broke.

We burned out in 1988. I won't get into the total recount of the event but it was a mess. I mean we were lucky, the garage was saved and we had our i.d. and checkbook, keys to the car and the hunting stuff from the camper topper plus the armload of coats I had grabbed on the way out. From the house we salvaged some photos, the mates army records, a cast iron frying pan and 1 ceramic thing. All the rest was gone. We had two 16 yr. old girls in high school, the two dogs and three cats that survived and had just gotten groceries that day. It all burned up.

But the rest of our neighbors were there and our families and churches and our friends. They gave us clothes, let us use their phones, sent money and furniture, held fund raisers and bailed us out as much as they could. We had places to stay with family and the local emergency agencies did what they could. In 6 months we had a trailer put in and were trying to start over with one less pay check as I was injured at my job and my wrists were spagetti.

I learned what could and could not be done to help people in our situation and what the rules were that we did or didn't meet to get that help. When we were up again I built a pamphlet for the fire department to give to people with house fires so they could skip some of the hard spots we had to deal with. I printed them on the computer and handed them out to 3 of the local fire departments. It wasn't much and it was only local but I felt better.

I had made the connection to "what if we all burned out?" early in the adventure. It was not a good thought. All the wildfires, tsunamis, tornados and other diasters seriously affect me. I gave blood and sent money but really people, now what do we do? There are hundreds of thousands with NOTHING!

Katrina is giving this nation a chance to show that it is NOT the president and it is NOT the people in our government that sets our standards and demonstrates our beliefs - it is "WE, the people!"

We, the people - that open our homes, offer to take someone in , offer bed and board, and help them get by till things are more under control. The mate and I are offering our spare bed to one couple or a single adult. Even on one income we can feed a third or fourth person. ( I hope)

We, the people - that set up free message boards for survivors
FQ/Marigny/Bywater Message Board
Uptown/Garden District/CBD Message Board
New Orleans East Message Board
MidCity/Broadmoor/City Park Message Board
West Bank/Algiers Point/Gretna Message Board
Holy Cross/Lower Ninth Ward Message Board
Anywhere Else Message Board

We, the people - That attempt the impossible, coordinating blogs linking to help for the victims.

So, NOW, You the people, want to help but you don't know what you can do. You don't have a lot of time or money but you still want to help.

I think this would be a great time to simplify your life. Get rid of the stuff you horde for no apparent reason. I want to see We, the people - Pack a Bag.

Pack a bag - and mail it to the Astro Dome, Houston TX, 77092 or to General Delivery, any post office and zip just north of the mess or to hotels in the area. The people there will get it to where it's needed. Most

Pack a Bag - Over nighter. Label it "Adult female, size XX" or "Boy size XX" Use a duffle, backpack or an overnight bag and fill it with what you would need for a trip, PJ's, slippers, flip flops, jeans, shorts, shirts, think hot and muggy with little privacy. Towel, washcloth, Barettes, hair brush, aspirin, tylenol for kids, bandaids, toothbrush, perfume, a pair of earrings. Keep it basic. You can bet that there is someone your size and sex that could use this and the bag to carry it in.

Pack a Bag - Baby - Canned milk, baby food, formula, diapers, one-sies, pjs, rattle, pacifier, orajel, liquid baby aspirin, bibs, socks, t shirts, blanket, baby wipes, musical toy, teddy bear. Use your imagination or, if you have a baby, pack a bag for staying gone 3 days and mail it labeled "Baby, X - XX months.

Pack a Bag - Emergency Food - Think snacks, think light weight camping out. Canned milk, beef jerky, spam, fruit, formula, that can of Pringles. think travel, no refridgeration, no storage area, dry milk, koolaid, trail mix, granola, instant oatmeal, tuna in a bag, instant soup. Add a small camp pan kit, can opener, and plastic utensils.

Pack a Bag - Entertainment - stick in some puzzles, puzzle books, stuffed toys keep minimal, nerf balls, dolls, trucks, books, comic books, decks of cards, a cribbage board, pencil, paper, crayons, coloring books, a harmonica, knitting needles, crochet hooks and yarn, and travel games. Add a yarn craft book, small sissors, glue, color paper. No battery powered toys.

Think, these people have to wait in line, wait for help, wait to find somewhere to go and something to entertain kids with or pass the time is treasured.

Pack a Bag - Carry my home in my hand- air mattress, camping chairs, tents, bedding, blankets, sleeping bags, pillows, inflatable pillows.

Pack a Bag - Get organized - a sewing kit and sissors, measuring tape, several colors of thread, coat hangers, a free standing coat rack, cardboard dressers, large, medium and small plastic tubs. People always send clothes and bedding but there is no where to store it, no way to re size it or hem it up.

Pack a Bag - Handy man - You know the list - Hammer, phillips and flat tip screwdriver, pliers, black tape, duct tape, wire, nails, screws, adjustable wrench, vise grips, needle nosed pliers and a box to keep it in.

Pack a Bag - Contact - Cards, envelopes, stationairy, stamps, a phone card, pen, pencil and all tucked into a zip lock bag.

You don't have to get carried away. Having been there I can tell you that the smallest thing is appreciated and treasured. I cried over a little piece of rose scented soap because everything else smelled like a tire fire and now I could smell like a woman again. Just think what each memeber of your family would need and pack a small bag, label it and send it. My old lady bag goes out tomorrow!

For my few readers: Please pass on this post. I know how much being able to tidy up and get human feeling means to these people in shock and dispair. I just want to help.