Call BR-45789 but do NOT dial 0 first!

This is a messy post. The webpage I have posted is barely organized. Forgive me. I would need a government grant for $75,000.00 to document the crap correctly.

Back in September we sold a motorcycle on Ebay. My mate delivered it when we found out it would cost our buyer more than the bike to have it shipped. You can read about the trip and the refugee from Katrina he brought back to Michigan to join his family on my blog.

In October we got our (see it) Verizon phone bill but the amount was extreme. When he went over the bill the mate found the section below and brought it to show me.

It states that for an operator assisted call collect from Louisianna to MI for 12 minutes we owe them, at the NIGHT RATE, $51.98. As you can imagine, that set off my menopause hormones right NOW. We can get a tire for my truck, 15 gallons of gas, two bags of groceries or, for that much cash, a hooker for a whole hour - not just 12 minutes.

And the mate was never IN Monroe, Louisianna, he was IN Monticello, Arkansas at the Super 8 Motel our buyer arranged for him to stay at. The call was NOT operator assisted, if you count that as a LIVE operator, I pressed one in response to a recording to accept it. The whole thing was wrong and worked out to 4.34 a minute in charges.

You will note, when you go to the bill above, that it says IntegreTel at the top of the section with a phone number to the right labled "For billing questions", HA! It states "these charges appear as a service to Integretel, Inc." with directions to call the above number or write to California for billing questions. Below THAT is a box that says Billing on behalf of Opticom with another 800 number to call for billing questions.

I went into correct the problem mode at high gear. After 2 hours of being on hold at two phone numbers I gave up the first day. And the second day, the third the line was always busy. I finally got through last week.

The hand written number is the one I ended up calling finally, to find a human to help me with this problem. It took them 47 minutes to get me off hold and14 minutes to explain why these were legal charges and I would have to pay them. I refused. They offered a "one time discount" as we had been unaware of the costs involved in the call. $18.19. I still refused.

I stated that I felt, as there was no posting on the phone he used and no notice of charges before he called and no opportunity for me to ask what rates were from a recording that I was NOT paying those rates. They would not budge. I told the nice lady that I would be posting this on the net, complaining to the FCC, and calling my local news sources with this story. Which I have and am continuing to do.

So here we are, Val is hot and wants to know what is going on with rates like these being legal and hits the 'net. Hard. A week later I threw up my hands, gathered my materials and started to write this. I could not possibly track all the complaints, horror stories and legal actions I found on line. There are THOUSANDS of them!

I have started a web page, here, with all the information I have found on cramming, slamming and good, old fashioned rippping off. It is not totally organized but has all the info I could stand to re-post. If you want to play private eye this is the place to start. These companies are more inbred than rats in a well.

I want to make SURE others can correct these charges without putting their phone service at risk. That is why I am posting.

If you get hit with third party charges like this, or a billing for 900 numbers, a call you didn't make or billing for internet website services you did not order, you are being screwed by companies like these and they call it 'cramming'.

The very first thing you should do is call YOUR phone company. I found out that you can have the charges "RECOURSED" back to the billing company for direct billing from them.
Your phone company can not refuse to "recourse" the charges legally. This means you can then refuse to pay the third party without endangering your credit with the phone company and it removes the leverage the third party biller has over you of ruining your credit.

The second little trick I have run into is the phone company is billing me late fees on the unpaid amount to the third party because the computer has not yet removed the charges from my bill. Now I have to call them again to get thoses charges removed.

And the third cute little trick by Verizon is I that have been being billed for being unlisted ever since we moved in here. However, I am in every phone book since we moved. $4.50 a month. They can only remove the charge back to the last released phone book, last November. So they get to KEEP the other EIGHT YEARS of overcharges. $432.00 of our money. So read your bills.

The best - very best - part of this scam is that the phone companies contract with hotels, airports, prisons and hospitals - places where people have no choice what phone to use - to carry their long distance then PAY a per call fee BACK to these institutions. Everybody makes money!

How much is it costing our nation for emergency workers and victims of this year's natural disasters for phone calls at 4.34 per MINUTE to let their families know they are all right or needed help! What a low life, yellow bellied, hard hearted, greedy, pus filled, fart powered, hemorroid filled, money grubbing scam!

If they get you , recourse the charges and refuse to pay more than your regular long distance would cost. For us it's .05 cents a minute. I owe them sixty cents.

Please, if you want to help others find the information they need to fight this out right theft, put a link to the web page on your sidebars. Call it "Fight Cramming" and link it to http://herway.com/4her/cram1.html . Don't let them suck us dry.

But we travel along, singin' our song, Side by Side

The first part of this post is really here. For those of you too lazy to go read it, it's some notes on family holiday dinners from when I was younger.

I have to say (even if I say it myself) that our Thanksgiving dinners this year were great! Breaking with tradition the mate and I did not join with the 15 or more people at my sister's house or the 20 or better at his mom's place. We had our dinner quietly at home.

I am truly thankful that we had a day to be together, just the two of us and count our blessings. I am also thankful that the "kitchen fairy" was watching over me. I created a from scratch dinner, with some help from the mate, that was perfect. It was so nice to know I can still bake and cook. I made the deviled eggs, pumpkin pies and dressing up after work on Wednesday night. Smart me!

The mate watched the parades while I put stuffing in the turkey and stuff in the oven and such. By then it was time for football. I opted to play on the computer and just listen to the game. Staying home for our holiday meal meant that the rest of the family didn't have to listen to the mate trying to tell the Lions how to move the ball or cursing them for the penalties they were getting, some of them unfair, so he was cussing the referees, too. He is a die hard Lion fan and I will blog them a little later.

We had our lovely dinner at a properly set table where we could keep one eye on the birds and one on the half time show. We blessed it and were thankful our love is so strong still that we treasure a day together. We were truly thankful for the food, our home, our loving animals, our supportive families and friends, the running vehicles and all our toys. We really have everything we need.

After dinner, because I had done fairly well at keeping up with the dishes as I cooked, there were almost no dishes. The mate helped me clear the table and put the food away. While he went back to witness the Lions losing again I rinsed and stacked what dishes there were and went happily back to my machine to chat and play cards with some new friends I made this weekend.

That's right, people! We didn't do the dishes and the MAN helped put things away. If you read the other post you will know that this was a sticky wicket for me as a child. I decided that when I have company I want to visit with them. I don't want them to do chores and I don't intend to do any more than I have to, either. There are things that HAVE to be done. Everyone in my house helps with unavoidable chores and, when the basics are taken care of, everyone plays poker, watches a movie or the football game or whatever - TOGETHER. In a pile of men and women, boys and girls and we ALL have a good time.

No chore in my home is ever designated by the sex of the worker. They are designated by ability or how tall you are. Back in my youth, when I used to dust, I dusted tops and the kids dusted the bottoms. I mopped floors, the kids wiped down cupboard doors. I mowed the lawn, they bagged leaves and such. There was never enough of a male in my home to help us with this. They were either worthless or gone because I found out they were worthless.

My boy does dishes as well as his sister and she will take the trash out as quickly as he can. All our girls and the boy can check their oil and change a tire, some of them have to think harder than others to remember how, but they were taught. The boy knows how to do laundry as well as the girls do. I did it on purpose and I'm still glad I did.

I was not a raging feminist - ever. I was an "Equal rights for Val" promoter. "Why doesn't theboy have to take a turn at dishes?" "Why do I have to help clean up and theboy doesn't?", and you can multiply that by 4 because the sisters felt the same way. And we raised our kids to be "ambisexrious".

As for holidays in our family, where the women took care of getting the kids dressed up, did all the food prep work, cleaned the house, did all the cooking, sat down exhausted to eat a few bites and then got up just to put it all away and clean some more, I was in rebellion from my early youth. First, because there were always plenty of other well trained women, working and they didn't really need me to be there and Second, because I was just as good as any male and I wanted to watch TV and visit, too!

So I am truly thankful for my wonderful mate and children and family. Friday was Thanksgiving Day II. My eldest son and family along with the eldest nephew and family were coming around noon to spend the afternoon and enjoy a meal. I have to say the son remembers well. He and the wife brought a frozen lasagna, garlic bread and cottage cheese. The nephew brought bagged salad and some real Parmesan with Cesar dressing and croutons. We tossed in a bag of chips and paper plates with plastic cups all around and 3 pots of coffee. They all bring their own beverages because we don't buy much soda.

I tossed the lasagna in the oven and they all watched a Kung Foo B movie with 4 choices of languages or subtitles and laughed their heads off. I perused a book and played on the computer while watching the clock, the oven and babies playing together.

We had a lovely meal, threw everything but the silverware and the coffee cups away and sat down to a game of Texas hold em. The eldest boy was our big winner and the usual winner, the niece in law, was wiped out first.

I had to let the dogs in finally and the nephew's boy tried to ride my chow lab. She would lay down, he would climb on, give one bounce and she would sit up, sliding him to the floor. It cracked us up! She is such a good dog! The white boxer was too excited by the company to lie down so the boy was hanging on to his back and letting the dog drag him along when he walked. The boxer just wanted pets and so he would try to turn around and face the boy for pets and the kid would drop to the floor. We all laughed some more.

Then we had the baby races. The grand girl is just learning to crawl and is good at it. The grand nephew is a little better as he is older and was crawling along beside her just to keep her company. They laughed and so did we as she tried to go faster and lost it. They are a pair of little chuckles.

I got to have all that fun visiting and the dishes waited till the next day. The mate and I did them together and that was fun, too! The world did not either end because the men didn't get to sit on their butts, MOM. The women were more rested and relaxed from not having to do everything themselves. My city grama would faint at the thought of a dirty dish in her sink for more than a minute.

But what a nice holiday! By getting to visit I get to know all the kids better (and they get to know us) so I sent a book home with one and fresh garden herbs with another and we are just a little more than family. I feel like we are friends, too. I love it!

I wish all the families that have suffered this year were reunited and together for the holiday. God's blessings and comfort to all who are struggling, may the next year be better.

I just wanna be like You

Ok, Fred, Here you are.
1. Go into your archive.
2. Find your 23rd post.
3. Find the fifth sentence (or closest to).
4. Post the text of the sentence in your blog along with these instructions.

Here's the sentence: "She worked her way up the side streets to reach the tops of the steepest hills and race the wind down."

It's from Motorcycles and Spring which is a reprint of one of my few published pieces.

There I go, trying to fit in again! LOL!

Thank you for being a friend

This is the view out my window at the office. The tired, decrepit, rusty steel shed sags and leans like an old lady in mumu wearing baggy hose and listing toward her cane in a wind storm. The patched road and weed edged sidewalk fit right in. Thank goodness there is a little sky and my daily cat crossing the road to cheer me!

Today though, like many days to come this time of year in Michigan, it's a monochrome gray sky without even the relief of clouds looming over us and it's just not very exciting or inspiring. The window does, however, have one redeeming quality. It opens! I love the fresh air.

While I sit here combing the web for new customers, sending my faxes and emails and making calls to tell them of our wonderful products I get depressed by the repeditive dreariness of it all sometimes. While I enjoy my job some of it is just mindless drudgery. So I keep a window behind all the rest on my computer and steal a glimpse of entertaining, thought provoking, heart rending or side spliting life, one paragraph at a time. I keep one blog at a time open and throughout the day I get to peek in and see how my friends are doing.

I have never watch soaps and I hate romance novels. A movie has to have humor and pathos to make me happy or dancing and singing. I watch very little TV. Mostly a movie or some MASH reruns before bed. I like my tunes but prefer the quiet of my birds songs through the window. But now I HAVE to read my blogs every day!

I did keep a journal for years. It was just me, all by myself and nobody cared if I had a good day or a crappy one. There were a few days that a friendly word would have picked me up off the floor enough to carry on with a smile instead of club. When a friend showed me her blog and the helpful comments she got I jumped right on the band wagon and started this one.

The name I chose was supposed to recall pioneer days and wagon trains traveling on into the unknown, which is how I view tomorrow. I have had enough todays turn on me to know that tomorrow may not be what I thought it would. One, not so helpful, person metioned he thought I was a "forward 'ho"! I dealt with it, thought about it and kept the name anyway because it was mine and I decided he probably had a point.

I'm pretty out-spoken. That's why I have long comments on the sidebar. I really care about the problems my blog pals are having and if I think I can help, I have to try because I care how your lives are going. I laugh, cry, moan, and sigh and bang my head on the wall with each of the stories I read.

I started with reading people linked to my friend's blog and then started searches for people over 50, from my state, who had my birthday, who liked boogie woogie piano and anything else that caught my fancy. I found lots of interesting people having just day to day lives and making them meaningful. That they are the microcosmic views of the universe only adds to the mystery that where ever we live and what ever we are doing we all want to be loved and admired for ourselves.

If I'm busy I may get to only a few of you. If it's slower (Yay!) I might get through all of you that day. I hate missing posts! I hate being the last one to comment! And I love the interaction here in Blogland. I love seeing people care about and support each other. I like the truth you can speak to a friend without offending because they know you are trying to help.

I get slammed and flammed sometimes but it is because people get intense about the topics. So be it. I am no oracle, I can be wrong and I can deal with it. And what I feel is right is really only "right" from where I am now. It may not e right for others or even for me when I was younger. Discussing the various points of view here is stimulating and blog entry provoking. The interaction is what makes blogs so different than music or movies or books even though there are elements of all of these in blogging.

When I was starting eighth grade my Dad had broken his leg and, as he had just that year started his own business, there was very little for the five of us kids as far as school stuff. A lady I didn't know and who was really in no way even accquainted with the family took me to a really good clothing store and helped me pick a skirt, jacket, slacks and vest in dark green cordory, a plain white blouse and a tan, gold and green paisley shirt with all the socks and undies I needed. Then she got me a pair of penny loafers in a dark brown. I wrote her a thank you but I never saw her again. It made starting high school so much easier to know I was dressed like the other girls!

A few years ago my best dog ever died. I was stricken low. I did the numbers and realized he had been with me longer than anyone except my cat, Josephine, my eldest and my mate. A lady I didn't even know heard about it and sent me a little poem about our loving animal friends and it cheered me up and touched my heart that she took the time to mail it to a stranger. So I got another pup.

When I was traveling one time I left my wallet in the seat of a truck. The driver came back twenty five miles to return it to me. You can see I have been taken care of and my needs met by strangers in my life and it meant a lot to me. I did not forget what they and others blessed me with. Now I look watch for people with a need. I owe some 'pay it forwards" and "pass it on's".

Some times it just HITS YOU, you have to send something you find because you know just who it should belong to. I mean really, how many of you that follow Crazy Moo Cow could have resisted this. You KNOW it had to go to the guy who like the birthday shirt so much!

I have sent mostly photos and links to help other bloggers find what they were looking for or to reference a point. Some times I send a card or letter. I sent some small donations to a few. Some of you reply, some don't. Doesn't matter. While I love knowing you found whatever I sent helpful, amusing or frame-worthy, I love more knowing that I did what I thought was right for you from me.

It warmed my heart that Moo posted my gift. When I was testing it I poured the milk from the gallon into a pitcher, just enough at a time to make it Moo! LOL! It made me laugh! I had to get another set of batteries before I mailed it! And that's what it's all about, taking care of and enjoying each other. I had fun, my co-conspiritors had fun and Moo had fun. That's a lot of fun for a dollar!

But Friday, Hoss lost his mate of many years, Anvil was speechless and pictureless, Dale was thoughtful, Saurkraut was contemplating the definition of Mr. Right, the Useless Men were cooking again, Dan was dealing with the death of his BF's grandmother, Amber was in another space, Fred was missing, Negotiating was dealing with word definitions for her short person, Julie was ranting, Loner got new goats, and today I see Rachael is leaving blogland for a break, darn it! These are just a few of my blog people. The range of intensity in their lives covers the whole scale of emotions.

And we just help each other keep on keeping on. When I'm feeling like a gloomy gus or a raging maniac you are all out there to remind me that Thanksgiving has a point to it. I have it pretty good! I care aout all of you. Enjoy the day!

Bad girl, Bad girl, talking 'bout some real bad girl

The topic of the week: Poor student forced to stand on corner

First, I thought it was a student with no money. Then I thought it was, "Oh, poor student". But nnnnoooooo! It's "Parent tries unusual discipline to straighten out flunking student".

I have read one other article about a judge requiring a young shop lifter to do something like this outside the store he was caught in and it seemed to work that time. The kid didn't ever end up back in court.

Instead of just peer pressure this brings down your whole social group's feelings on your head. Hard to avoid feeling shamed but shouldn't a teen who could be passing classes feel ashamed of flunking? Shouldn't a rude child feel ashamed of mouthing off to his parents?

Would I do this to my kids? Probably not, but I didn't need to. They may have pulled some boners but we usually got them back on track with "carrot and stick" treatments. They wanted to avoid punishments because we were original thinkers. Grounding was always first and foremost but we did what we thought was necessary to make sure the kid would not repeat an offence. This could be a problem for them so they avoided getting in trouble.

One of them had a problem staying in school the required amount of hours per day. I think it was called skipping or something - I wouldn't know. [ :) ] We didn't want the school to kick our student out for three days for punishment. How lame is that? "You don't want to be here when you should, FINE! You have three days off!" Who thought that up?

I'm all for "You skipped 5th and 6th hour, FINE! You will stay two hours tonight and do the work for those classes. And it is two nights for every day you skip." There is always a teacher staying late to grade papers or write new assignments that can let them sit in their room to work. Or ask their PARENTS to come in to supervise them....LOL! Now That is Punishment!

What the mate and I agreed on was that I would take our student to each of the homes that let our student visit during school hours and explain to them that our student's education was important to us. If our student was in their home during school hours again we would be notifying the police and Social Services that they were contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

Most of these people had kids. SS was a heavy threat. Our student had to sit there quietly and listen to us explaining this to their friends and their parents. Then I would ask our student if they understood that by coming here when our student should be in school that our student would be getting these friends in trouble. They witnessed our student saying they understood and then we would leave.

We set it up with the teachers that if our student was not in class to call us at work and one of us would find our student and return our student to classes. We did this WITH our student so they KNEW the teacher or the school were going to call us.

This was not a good day for either of us. For all I'm so feisty, I hate conflicts and our student was shamed, frustrated and angry by turns. I sure didn't do it because I didn't care about our student. And it worked for a long time. Our student's grades came back up and our student got off grounding quicker for that gain.

Was it right? Fair? Wrong? I don't know. It was the best we could come up with to keep our student learning. I didn't care if they gave her credit for the work or not, I cared that our student learned what they needed to know for the future. Reading and Math. Our student is grown and good at both math and reading. So are our student's children.

I apologize for the flood of "our students". I wanted to be gender neutral for the student's privacy. Those boy and girls of ours are now men and women and great people. I never want them to think I am trying to embarass them on purpose. It's always an accident. They are all doing the best they can with their lives and their families and I am proud to claim everyone of them. It doesn't change the fact that we all screw up sometimes. If we help you deal with your kids then it's a story worth telling. And I guess I think the lady in the article did just fine.

Love the one you're with - Fight Cramming

This is a messy post. The webpage I have posted is barely organized. Forgive me. I would need a government grant for 75,000.00 to document the crap correctly.

Back in September we sold a motorcycle on Ebay. My mate delivered it when we found out it would cost our buyer more than the bike to have it shipped. You can read about the trip and the refugee he brought back to Michigan to join his family on my blog.

In October we got our usual Verizon phone bill but the amount was extreme. When he went over the bill the mate found the section below and brought it to show me.

It states that for an operator assisted Call collect from Louisianna to MI for 12 minutes we owe them, at the NIGHT RATE, $51.98. As you can imagine, that set off my menopause hormones right NOW. We can get a tire for my truck, 15 gallons of gas, two bags of groceries or, for that much cash, a hooker for a whole hour - not just 12 minutes.

And the mate was never IN Monroe, Louisianna, he was IN Monticello, Arkansas at the Super 8 Motel our buyer arranged for him to stay at. The call was NOT operator assisted, if you count that as a LIVE operator, I pressed one in response to a recording to accept it. The whole thing was wrong and worked out to 4.34 a minute in charges.

You will note, when you go to the bill above, that it says IntegreTel at the top of the section with a phone number to the right labled "For billing questions", HA!

It states "these charges appear as a service to Integretel, Inc." with directions to call the above number or write to California for billing questions. Below THAT is a box that says Billing on behalf of Opticom with another 800 number to call for billing questions.

I went into correct the problem mode at high gear. After 2 hours of being on hold at two phone numbers I gave up the first day. And the second day, the third the line was always busy. I finally got through last week.

The hand written number is the one I ended up calling finally, to find a human to help me with this problem. It took them 47 minutes to get me off hold and14 minutes to explain why these were legal charges and I would have to pay them. I refused. They offered a "one time discount" as we had been unaware of the costs involved in the call. $18.19. I still refused.

I stated that I felt, as there was no posting on the phone he used and no notice of charges before he called that I was NOT paying those rates. They would not budge. I told the nice lady that I would be posting this on the net, complaining to the FCC, and calling my local news sources with this story.

So here we are, Val is hot and wants to know what is going on with rates like these being legal and hits the 'net. Hard. A week later I threw up my hands, gathered my materials and started to write this. I could not possibly track all the complaints, horror stories and legal actions I found on line. There are THOUSANDS of them!

I have started a web page, here, with all the information I have found on cramming, slamming and good, old fashioned rippping off. It is not totally organized but has all the info I could stand to re-post. If you want to play private eye this is the place to start. These companies are more inbred than rats in a well.

I want to make SURE others can correct these charges without putting their phone service at risk. That is why I am posting.

If you get hit with charges like this, or a billing for 900 numbers, a call you didn't make or billing for internet website services you did not order, you are being screwed by companies like these and they call it 'cramming'.

The very first thing you should do is call YOUR phone company. I found out that you can have the charges "RECOURSED" back to the billing company for direct billing from them.

Your phone company can not refuse to "recourse" the charges legally. This means you can then refuse to pay the third party without endangering your credit with the phone company and it removes the leverage the third party biller has over you of ruining your credit.

The second little trick I have run into is the phone company is billing me late fees on the unpaid amount to the third party because the computer has not yet removed the charges from my bill. Now I have to call them again to get thoses charges removed.

And the third cute little trick is I have been being billed for being unlisted but I am in every phone book since we moved. $4.50 a month. They can only remove the charge back to the last released phone book, last November. So they get to KEEP the other EIGHT YEARS of overcharges. $432.00 of our money. So read your bills.

The best very best part of this scam is that the phone companies contract with hotels, airports, prisons and hospitals - places where people have no choice what phone to use - to carry their long distance then PAY a per call fee BACK to these institutions.

How much is it costing our nation for emergency workers and victims of this year's natural disasters for phone calls at 4.34 per MINUTE to let their families know they are all right or needed help! What a low life, yellow bellied, hard hearted, greedy, pus filled, fart powered, hemroid filled, money grubbing scam!

If they get you , recourse the charges and refuse to pay more than your regular long distance would cost. For us it's .05 cents a minute. I owe them sixty cents.

Please, if you want to help others find the information they need to fight this out right theft, put a link to the web page on your sidebars. Call it "Fight Cramming" and link it to http://herway.com/4her/cram1.html . Don't let them suck us dry.

Where oh where can my Baby be?

I am just fine here, thank you all that emailed! This week Tuesday was opening day of deer season. While we are not hunting this year the boss is and I have been really busy at work. When I get home I am beat and there just haven't been enough hours in the day.

My spare time has been eaten up with this little gem. Click for the full version.




That's right, a 12 minute collect call from Arkanas from the mate was billed at 4.34 per minute. I am in a serious rage and have been on the phone or on hold on the phone with this problem when I could have been writing. Researching this problem ate up more hours. Wait for the documentation and the rant!

It must be a planet alignment or the moon phase because a lot of the blogs are rant filled this week. You can check their various 'tudes here, here, here, and here.

So I am not dead and will be posting this week's adventures in cramming as soon as I have the material organized.

I have been working on another post about ownership, government, inheritance and stewardship. It's really on my mind but the words are not coming out properly arranged yet.

We had our first snow yesterday and it stayed about a minute. It should all be gone by the time I come home tonight. It's getting colder and feeling more like winter all the time. I am looking forward to getting through the cold months with all of you to distract and entertain me.

Back soon!

Why not me

Easy as ABC...
A is for Age: 50-something
B is for Booze: Black Russians,Pina Colada, sweet wines, schanappes, C is for Career: Computer based sales
D is for Dad’s name: Dad
E is for Essential items to bring to a party: Fruit salads
F is for Favorite songs at the moment: I will survive
G is for Goof off thing to do: Read
H is for Hometown: Dinky Town Central Michigan
I is for Instrument you play: Gutiar (sort of)
J is for Jam or Jelly you like: Strawberry
K is for Kids: All grown moved from home gone to roam
L is for Living arrangement: Old Farm House in Tiny Town
M is for Mum’s name: Mom
N is for Names of best friends: Mate, Shadow
O is for overnight hospital stays: Too many
P is for Phobias: claustro - DON'T lock that door!
Q is for Quote you like: "Some problems are like a foot with gangrene; Ignore them and they go away." (self)
R is for Relationship that lasted longest: Mate and Warf
S is for Siblings: Yes
T is for Texas, Ever been? No, but have met lots of nice Texans
U is for Unique trait: I name things
V if for Vegetable you love: asparagus
W is for Worst traits: slob
X is for XRays you’ve had: You can see through me
Y is for Yummy food you make: Orange Rasin Cake
Z is for Zodiac sign: Capricorn

There, one silly meme for you all to steal, like I did!

The road home last night

Well worth a click to view!
See you all Monday!

He's large.......he's myyyinnee.....he's large

Popeye is one of the mate's favorite movies and Olive Oyl's song, while she really doesn't love Bluto, finds two good things about him to celebrate. Neither she, Bluto or Popeye are socially beautiful people. Popeye loves Olive and she (usually) returns the feeling.

When the mate and I met up after 14 years of not seeing each other since high school we were not wearing the same bodies we had back then. I had been depressed and lost many pounds, I was the most slender I will ever be and about 30 pounds lighter than high school. He had worked out in the Army, built himself up a weight lifter's bod and then let it slide during the last ten years.

It didn't matter to me. I looked into his hazel eyes and saw the boy I loved inside the man facing me. I didn't need to know anything else about his life to love him. He lost an amazing amount of weight as we courted. It was nice, but it didn't matter.

I had been with enough "good bods"to know what they could do for me. Temporary thrills and see ya later! I had never been loved in return. There were a few who thought they loved me but they rarely treated me like they loved me.

It took me way too many frogs to find my prince but when I found him I was smart enough to KNOW it was my prince and to work to keep it precious. Same for the mate. He treats me like a queen often enough that I feel treasured by him. I hope he feels the same from the way I treat him.

We have both put on weight over the years, especially the last four while I have been laid up and he has been staying with me to take care of me instead of outside playing. While we might like to be more svelt it just doesn't matter. That's my man and I am his woman. We see the person we love and who loves us, not the bodies containing them.

We have a solid, true love.

That is where I am trying to go with this post. Judging by appearances. The niece was injured in the face in Iraq. Her fiance' at the time didn't care. They married happily ever after. One of the nicest girls in my school had a large birthmark on half her face. Those of us that knew her never saw it. She married happily ever after. One of the prettiest girls had a withered hand. She some times ran others down to feel better about herself when she was younger. She was single last I knew.

Choosing mates based on what your peer group sees as beauty is dangerous. "I wouldn't be seen with that DOG!" thinking makes you miss out on some of the finest friends you may ever have. Hormone driven mentalities looking for dates with beauty as their first criteria will find high levels of disappointment.

When you first start out falling in love it's all hot and sweaty and now. When you have been in love for five or twenty five years it's all in your heart and soul. The sweaty stuff is better than ever but isn't as important as loving each other every day is. When you truly love looks are no longer your primary measure of a person. Because looks don't last. Your soul, aura, personality, is what you take to infinity and beyond with you and what your mate has to live with forever.

<-you see you get ->

<- you see you get ->

It's hard to remember this so I found another little graphic for you to remind us that we are ALL alike under our skins. We hate, we love, we play, we sing, we laugh, we care, we get angry, we are happy, we help others and skin is not only just skin deep but it really doesn't count.

You really have to make an effort to get to know someone when it's not their booty but their heart you are after. Hormones and electrickity (on purpose) drive our search but it's not a WYSIWYG world.

I think it's why we close our eyes when we kiss, so we feel the love or lust and know it for what it is.

So next time you are picking a date online, look for the one with the friendly, happy eyes and maybe a little less at their overall appearance and see if you have a nice time with them.

A dream is a wish your heart makes

Some days dreams do come true. I had a nice chat with the young man of the couple that has been having relationship problems and am SO pleased to report that they have offically decided to make a go of it.

If it does fail at least they tried and if they succeed (which I believe they will) they will know how love grows and goes and know how precious it is. I am so happy for them!

So here is a happy thought for an unnamed friend of mine. Sweet Dreams!

Dream a little dream of me

I don't wake up quickly or well. I mostly don't want to wake up at all. I have to have at least one cup of coffee quietly to myself before I am ready to be any kind of social. Then I like to get dressed and brush my hair before I sit to watch the birds come feed and chat with the mate.

I think it's because I find it hard to get to sleep in bed that I hate to be woken up. I have to really work at relaxing and shutting down the mind. I usually read for a while, too, to get my mind out of reality and into fantasy so it stops repeating things to itself. Once I have reached sleep I just want to stay there until I feel like getting up.

Then there is work...LLLL. I have to get there for several reasons. Right now we are busy enough that I expect to be shipping and arranging orders for many days in a row. Sales are going to be taking a back seat to customer service. That's why there were no posts then 3 of them, I haven't had the time or energy to get them up this week.

But the point of mentioning work is that it requires me to be up everyday. So I get up. Once I am up and get going the planet and the mate make my days interesting. The birds squawk and squabble over the feeders and the bird bath, the trees are still a glowing yellow at the neighbors house, the lawn needs mowing this weekend. The mate gives me a hug and some kisses to carry me until I get home and I watch for the deer, coons, dogs, cats and other critters that jump in and out of my road and make the trip to work different everyday.

Then I am where I am needed. It's a phone call, paperer shuffle world but it's mine and I do it well. I like most of my customers and we enjoy some strange calls that start out with product delivery and end up on UBC Beach in Vancover BC.

So I'm up. And I thought I would mention that your blogs give me little glimpses of other lives and times that perk up my humdrum day when I get a minute to catch up with you all. I really appreciate all of my blogger buddies! Thanks for the smiles!

Fly me to the moon...

From fiction to functioning future apparatus!

I love this new site I found today! They are tracking SciFi writers fantasy inventions with new technological developments. Our friend, Scotty, or Chief Engineer Scott, presented us with transparent aluminum not all that long ago and guess what the military is testing? YES! This one goes on my list of great things I saw happen with a bullet ^!

I am a fan of Robert Heinlein and loved this page on items from his books.

Now they have a hormone spray you can use to get people to find you more trustworthy - that sounds like science fiction to me. But it may help those of us feeling older to talk a younger person into a blood transfusion. That might help stop or slow our aging. Now that is a scary thought! Is younger blood better for you? Run, children! You better make a law that all transfusions must be between people of like ages or we may all turn into modern day vampires!

I am looking into a diesel for my next vehicle because they were originally designed to run on corn oil or peanut oil.

"Biodiesel alternative fuel technology has been around for a while; it's actually the fuel of choice for Rudolph Diesel himself, who demonstrated the diesel engine at the 1900 World's Fair using peanut oil. It's biodegradable, nontoxic and free of sulfur, a renewable resource and delivers similar torque, horsepower and miles per gallon. Some biodiesel owners make a deal with local restaurant owners for free fuel, since normally they must pay to have the cooking oil removed."

And look who is helping farmers get organized and to market with this! For us country music fans it's no surprise. He must use a ton of fuel a month just getting around!

I am still waiting for flying cars!

Shine little glow worm

I went out to pick up some supplies yesterday at the local .88 store. I have been wanting to try instant oatmeal out as an office snack. I'm not fond of instant anything, really but will deal with it when I must. I thought the oatmeal might be good for me. I even remembered to buy it two weeks ago. I remembered to bring it to work Monday this week. Then I realized when I got to the office I didn't have a bowl to nuke it in.

So, I went out to pick up some supplies yesterday....LLLL! (Laughing loudly, laughing long! It does so mean something!) I had managed to find the microwavable bowl I wanted and I was just ready to check out and a bunch of little munchkins all dressed in their halloween best filed in through the door. The Head Start ladies had brought their charges out (I wish I had thought of this!) Halloween caroling!

About 15 of them were all clumped up in front of the door and the check out so of course I had to stay and listen. They were charming. Whenever they got to a "boo!' they put real energy into it!

No camera, darn it!

It was almost dark when I got home tonight but I still got to see a few goblins and monsters. Now it's on to Thanksgiving! One of my favorite celebrations.