Saturday 9: Mr. Boombastic (1995)
Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.
1) This song is a rather shameless come-on by an accomplished ladies' man. Do you enjoy flirting?
A. No. I do not care to be either the flirter or the flirtee.
2) Shaggy sings that he's like a turtle coming out of his shell. Do you think turtles, snakes and lizards make good pets? Or would you prefer a companion animal that has fur or feathers?
A. I would prefer a dog, if I weren't allergic to dog hair.
3) He also sings that if you don't feel like driving, you should hand him the keys. Are you comfortable letting others drive your car?
A. Depends on the person.
4) He tries to woo the girl with the promise of a bubble bath. Do you enjoy relaxing in the tub? Or do you view baths and showers as simply part of your hygiene routine, like brushing your teeth?
A. I shower daily. It's part of my hygiene routine.
5) Born Orville Burrell, Shaggy took his stage name from his shaggy hair. Using your hair as inspiration, what would your stage name be?
A. Soft white and Brown. Sort of like Captain and Tennille.
6) Sam admits she hadn't thought about this 20+ year old song in years, until she heard it on a Chase Bank commercial. According to the Federal Reserve Bank, checkwriting dropped more than 50% between 2000 and 2010. Who received the last check you wrote?
A. My hairdresser.
7) Which would you prefer to receive in a birthday card: a $25 check or a $20 Target gift card?
A. The check.
8) Sam's mother refuses to pay bills online. All the news stories about data breaches scare her. Have you ever been hacked? If so, did it take long to get the situation resolved?
A. I have not been hacked, but I have had my credit card number stolen. It was scary, but the bank worked with me, as did the police.
9) In 1995, when this song was popular, Michael Jordan "unretired" and returned to the Chicago Bulls. Tell us about a decision you made that you wish you could undo.
A. I worked for an attorney from 1983-1985. If I had it to do over again, I would have stayed there a lot longer - like until he retired in 2002. It would have been better for us financially and probably less stressful for me. The only thing I don't know is if I would have gone on to college and obtained my degrees if I had kept the job, since I left to go back to college. And I wouldn't have wanted to have missed out on that. Maybe I could have found a way to do both at some point.
_____________
I encourage you to visit other participants in
Saturday 9 posts and leave a comment. Because there are no
rules, it is your choice. Saturday 9 players hate rules. We love memes,
however. And this my 145th time to play!
Saturday, September 10, 2016
Thursday, September 08, 2016
Thursday Thirteen
Since today is the anniversary of the air date of the original Star Trek, here are some Trek quotes:
1. “Space, the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its 5-year mission, to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before.” – Captain Kirk, Star Trek
2. “We have them just where they want us.” – Captain Kirk, Star Trek
3. “Change is the essential process of all existence.” – Spock, Star Trek
4. “In this galaxy there’s a mathematical probability of three million Earth-type planets. And in the universe, three million million galaxies like this. And in all that, and perhaps more, only one of each of us.” – Dr ‘Bones’ McCoy, Star Trek
5. “In the strict scientific sense we all feed on death…..even vegetarians.” – Spock, Star Trek
6. “Logic is the beginning of wisdom; not the end.” – Spock, Star Trek VI
7. “Having is not so pleasing a thing as wanting, it may not be logical but it is often true.” – Spock, Star Trek
8. “The bureaucratic mentality is the only constant in the universe.” – Dr ‘Bones’ McCoy, Star Trek: The Voyage Home
9. “Second star to the right…and straight on ’til morning.” – Captain Kirk, Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country
10. “Jim (Captain Kirk), you don’t go around asking the Almighty for his I.D.!” – Dr ‘Bones’ McCoy, Star Trek V
11. “No, I’m from Iowa. I only work in outer space.” – Captain Kirk, Star Trek IV
12. “Mr. Spock, the women on your planet are logical. That’s the only planet in the galaxy that can make that claim.” – Captain Kirk, Star Trek
13. "Live long and prosper." - Spock
And let's not forget: "He's dead, Jim." I think Bones said that every other episode.
_______________
Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here if you want to read other Thursday Thirteens and/or play along. I've been playing for a while and this is my 464th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday.
1. “Space, the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its 5-year mission, to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before.” – Captain Kirk, Star Trek
2. “We have them just where they want us.” – Captain Kirk, Star Trek
3. “Change is the essential process of all existence.” – Spock, Star Trek
4. “In this galaxy there’s a mathematical probability of three million Earth-type planets. And in the universe, three million million galaxies like this. And in all that, and perhaps more, only one of each of us.” – Dr ‘Bones’ McCoy, Star Trek
5. “In the strict scientific sense we all feed on death…..even vegetarians.” – Spock, Star Trek
6. “Logic is the beginning of wisdom; not the end.” – Spock, Star Trek VI
7. “Having is not so pleasing a thing as wanting, it may not be logical but it is often true.” – Spock, Star Trek
8. “The bureaucratic mentality is the only constant in the universe.” – Dr ‘Bones’ McCoy, Star Trek: The Voyage Home
9. “Second star to the right…and straight on ’til morning.” – Captain Kirk, Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country
10. “Jim (Captain Kirk), you don’t go around asking the Almighty for his I.D.!” – Dr ‘Bones’ McCoy, Star Trek V
11. “No, I’m from Iowa. I only work in outer space.” – Captain Kirk, Star Trek IV
12. “Mr. Spock, the women on your planet are logical. That’s the only planet in the galaxy that can make that claim.” – Captain Kirk, Star Trek
13. "Live long and prosper." - Spock
And let's not forget: "He's dead, Jim." I think Bones said that every other episode.
_______________
Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here if you want to read other Thursday Thirteens and/or play along. I've been playing for a while and this is my 464th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday.
Wednesday, September 07, 2016
Ten Years Ago
So what were you doing 10 years ago?
Curious, I wondered what I had been up to in September 2006.
Looking back at this blog and my journal, it appears I was a busy girl, working my way through my 40s (as I would have been 43 years old then).
My work at the newspaper was as close to full-time as a stringer's work could be - I was writing about 30 stories a month. I was covering all kinds of governmental meetings. I was frustrated because people weren't reading the paper and were uninformed about things going on.
"And then there are people who read NOTHING," I wrote. "This is a major dumbing-down of America, and we're all paying for it. We're paying for it with a "peak oil" crisis, with water issues, with overcrowding of neighborhoods, with sprawl, with loss of farmland, with pollution, with loss of timberland, with loss of life. Not knowing affects each and every one of us each and every day. We are all being killed by what we don't know."
Alas, none of this has changed. We are still struggling to find our footing with energy issues and water has become even more of a problem with the drought in California. This was before mass shootings became almost an everyday occurrence, so that is a change. Otherwise I would have listed them as something we needed to worry about and fret over, though perhaps I was referencing it in the "loss of life" line.
What else happened? I spent time in the emergency room being checked for chest pains and a possible heart attack. It wasn't a heart attack, and I determined myself that it was most likely an asthma attack, but it would be another five years before doctors would finally begin to treat me for asthma with anything other than a rescue inhaler. In the meantime, I tried to keep things under control myself by staying away from known allergens, just as I do today.
The years from 2004 to 2009 were probably among the best five years of my life, heart attack scares notwithstanding. I was writing for the local newspaper (The Fincastle Herald) and I absolutely loved the work. I did it well, and it was fun. I enjoyed the community, the people I was working for and with, and the individuals I had to deal with on a weekly if not daily basis. Even though I spent more than 10 years writing for a local paper in a neighboring county, I much preferred my work at The Herald because it was close to home and it involved me personally, because this is the county I live in. Plus I didn't have a 35 minute drive just to attend a 30 minute meeting.
By this time I had a better grip on things from my past, a good idea of what I wanted from my future (which included writing for the newspaper into my 70s, something that, I am afraid, derailed not long after I'd figured that out), and my health was, if not great, at least workable.
In 2009, though, the newspaper went bankrupt and I lost my work there (though the paper continued and continues to this day). I spent two years trying to freelance for various local publications and found that I didn't like writing for the medical magazine, nor did I like having to wait for months for my payment from other local publications.
I also went back to school and finished up my masters degree, which was the best thing I could have done. I graduated from Hollins once again in 2012, MA in hand, and decided to give teaching at the community college level a try.
That worked out ok until my gallbladder went kerplunk in June 2013, leaving me with chronic pain and exacerbating other health issues to the point where my doctor now writes me prescriptions that say, "Do not work. No stress."
Such an edict is stressful in and of itself. What are you supposed to do with your time when you can't lift or run the vacuum, and you're not a shopping queen? It has taken me some time to come up with a schedule I can deal with - and even now, all it takes is one change to throw me off and I am a long time figuring it out again.
No, I do better with the deadline of a newspaper, that weekly have-it-done-by-Monday order as opposed to this endless ocean of time that sweeps out wide and far, turning me into a dot in a vast sea of sharks.
My new goal is to work on my health - doctor's orders - and to try to make my house as wonderful as I can. I am not a decorator and I also lean toward piles of books and papers, which can make "wonderful" a little difficult, but I am giving it a go. Slowly, ever so slowly, a few things are going away from here, things I don't use, want or need.
Downsizing, as it were.
In another decade I will look back and see that this is where I was at the age of 53 - fighting a chronic health issue, seeing lots of doctors, and trying to make my house into a home because I have to spend a lot more time here now.
I hope when I am 63, I will have achieved something else wonderful, like my masters degree, too.
Who knows, maybe I will one day write that damn book.
Curious, I wondered what I had been up to in September 2006.
Looking back at this blog and my journal, it appears I was a busy girl, working my way through my 40s (as I would have been 43 years old then).
My work at the newspaper was as close to full-time as a stringer's work could be - I was writing about 30 stories a month. I was covering all kinds of governmental meetings. I was frustrated because people weren't reading the paper and were uninformed about things going on.
"And then there are people who read NOTHING," I wrote. "This is a major dumbing-down of America, and we're all paying for it. We're paying for it with a "peak oil" crisis, with water issues, with overcrowding of neighborhoods, with sprawl, with loss of farmland, with pollution, with loss of timberland, with loss of life. Not knowing affects each and every one of us each and every day. We are all being killed by what we don't know."
Alas, none of this has changed. We are still struggling to find our footing with energy issues and water has become even more of a problem with the drought in California. This was before mass shootings became almost an everyday occurrence, so that is a change. Otherwise I would have listed them as something we needed to worry about and fret over, though perhaps I was referencing it in the "loss of life" line.
What else happened? I spent time in the emergency room being checked for chest pains and a possible heart attack. It wasn't a heart attack, and I determined myself that it was most likely an asthma attack, but it would be another five years before doctors would finally begin to treat me for asthma with anything other than a rescue inhaler. In the meantime, I tried to keep things under control myself by staying away from known allergens, just as I do today.
The years from 2004 to 2009 were probably among the best five years of my life, heart attack scares notwithstanding. I was writing for the local newspaper (The Fincastle Herald) and I absolutely loved the work. I did it well, and it was fun. I enjoyed the community, the people I was working for and with, and the individuals I had to deal with on a weekly if not daily basis. Even though I spent more than 10 years writing for a local paper in a neighboring county, I much preferred my work at The Herald because it was close to home and it involved me personally, because this is the county I live in. Plus I didn't have a 35 minute drive just to attend a 30 minute meeting.
By this time I had a better grip on things from my past, a good idea of what I wanted from my future (which included writing for the newspaper into my 70s, something that, I am afraid, derailed not long after I'd figured that out), and my health was, if not great, at least workable.
In 2009, though, the newspaper went bankrupt and I lost my work there (though the paper continued and continues to this day). I spent two years trying to freelance for various local publications and found that I didn't like writing for the medical magazine, nor did I like having to wait for months for my payment from other local publications.
I also went back to school and finished up my masters degree, which was the best thing I could have done. I graduated from Hollins once again in 2012, MA in hand, and decided to give teaching at the community college level a try.
That worked out ok until my gallbladder went kerplunk in June 2013, leaving me with chronic pain and exacerbating other health issues to the point where my doctor now writes me prescriptions that say, "Do not work. No stress."
Such an edict is stressful in and of itself. What are you supposed to do with your time when you can't lift or run the vacuum, and you're not a shopping queen? It has taken me some time to come up with a schedule I can deal with - and even now, all it takes is one change to throw me off and I am a long time figuring it out again.
No, I do better with the deadline of a newspaper, that weekly have-it-done-by-Monday order as opposed to this endless ocean of time that sweeps out wide and far, turning me into a dot in a vast sea of sharks.
My new goal is to work on my health - doctor's orders - and to try to make my house as wonderful as I can. I am not a decorator and I also lean toward piles of books and papers, which can make "wonderful" a little difficult, but I am giving it a go. Slowly, ever so slowly, a few things are going away from here, things I don't use, want or need.
Downsizing, as it were.
In another decade I will look back and see that this is where I was at the age of 53 - fighting a chronic health issue, seeing lots of doctors, and trying to make my house into a home because I have to spend a lot more time here now.
I hope when I am 63, I will have achieved something else wonderful, like my masters degree, too.
Who knows, maybe I will one day write that damn book.
Tuesday, September 06, 2016
Bear Video
This is a video of a couple of bears in a local cornfield. Watch one bear run off with an ear of corn while a smaller bear knocks over corn stalks to reach the goodies.
Monday, September 05, 2016
Sunday, September 04, 2016
Sunday Stealing: Mad Hatter
Sunday Stealing: The Mad Hatter's Meme
1. What’s the meaning or inspiration of your blog’s title?
A. I live in the Blue Ridge Mountains in the Country and life is Magical.
2. What do you consider your biggest strength?
A. I am logical. Usually.
3. What do you consider your biggest weakness?
A. My physical body.
4. Tell us why we should like your favorite band.
A. I don't really have an absolute favorite, but I will pick Heart today because they are really rather underrated as rock musicians and artists. Nancy Wilson is one heck of a guitar player and should rank among the top guitar players in the US - and probably first or close thereto among women. Watch her play the intro to Crazy on You and tell me otherwise. Ann Wilson has a set of pipes on her that should be the envy of every singer. And their songs have tempo, rhythm, and good verses. It is hard to top Magic Man, Barracuda, or Dog & the Butterfly, among their many other hits. They are in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for a reason.
5. Who is your favorite model of all-time? Why?
A. I don't have one. I am not into looks. I like people for their insides.
6. Does it bother you when people talk about their pets? Why or why not?
A. Generally, no. I understand that for most people their pets are part of their family. I cannot say the same for my cattle.
7. Tell us about your favorite holiday.
A. I like Halloween. I like the idea of a veil between the living and dead, the idea of wearing a mask, the thought of being someone else for a little while. Also, you don't have to celebrate it with family and have those crazy get-togethers, so Halloween is not wrought with emotion.
8. What was the last fabulous meal that you ate? Where were you?
A. I can't remember the last meal that I would call "fabulous." Sorry.
9. What’s your lucky number and why?
A. Eight. Just because.
10. What are five things you hate?
A. Lies, entertainment that tries to pass itself off as news, coconut, poverty, and poor health care.
11. What are five things you love?
A. My husband, my home, my friends, my family, and words.
12. Tell us a secret. You can because other than us, who’ll read this anyway?
A. I like to pop bubble wrap.
13. What is the favorite body feature of yourself?
A. My brain.
14. Is there a tattoo that you want? If you don’t have one, gun-to-your-head so you have to get one, what would it be?
A. A deer. A little tiny deer on my ankle.
15. What do you love about yourself?
A. Isn't this like question 13? But I will give a different answer. I love that I take time to listen to the people I love.
16. What do you hate about yourself?
A. I hate that I am not athletic.
17. Who is someone you miss?
A. I have a few friends who are not as close to me as we once were. I miss them. But people grow apart with time, and I realize that.
__________
I encourage you to visit other participants in Sunday Stealing posts and leave a comment. Cheers to all us thieves who love memes, however we come by them.
1. What’s the meaning or inspiration of your blog’s title?
A. I live in the Blue Ridge Mountains in the Country and life is Magical.
2. What do you consider your biggest strength?
A. I am logical. Usually.
3. What do you consider your biggest weakness?
A. My physical body.
4. Tell us why we should like your favorite band.
A. I don't really have an absolute favorite, but I will pick Heart today because they are really rather underrated as rock musicians and artists. Nancy Wilson is one heck of a guitar player and should rank among the top guitar players in the US - and probably first or close thereto among women. Watch her play the intro to Crazy on You and tell me otherwise. Ann Wilson has a set of pipes on her that should be the envy of every singer. And their songs have tempo, rhythm, and good verses. It is hard to top Magic Man, Barracuda, or Dog & the Butterfly, among their many other hits. They are in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for a reason.
5. Who is your favorite model of all-time? Why?
A. I don't have one. I am not into looks. I like people for their insides.
6. Does it bother you when people talk about their pets? Why or why not?
A. Generally, no. I understand that for most people their pets are part of their family. I cannot say the same for my cattle.
7. Tell us about your favorite holiday.
A. I like Halloween. I like the idea of a veil between the living and dead, the idea of wearing a mask, the thought of being someone else for a little while. Also, you don't have to celebrate it with family and have those crazy get-togethers, so Halloween is not wrought with emotion.
8. What was the last fabulous meal that you ate? Where were you?
A. I can't remember the last meal that I would call "fabulous." Sorry.
9. What’s your lucky number and why?
A. Eight. Just because.
10. What are five things you hate?
A. Lies, entertainment that tries to pass itself off as news, coconut, poverty, and poor health care.
11. What are five things you love?
A. My husband, my home, my friends, my family, and words.
12. Tell us a secret. You can because other than us, who’ll read this anyway?
A. I like to pop bubble wrap.
13. What is the favorite body feature of yourself?
A. My brain.
14. Is there a tattoo that you want? If you don’t have one, gun-to-your-head so you have to get one, what would it be?
A. A deer. A little tiny deer on my ankle.
15. What do you love about yourself?
A. Isn't this like question 13? But I will give a different answer. I love that I take time to listen to the people I love.
16. What do you hate about yourself?
A. I hate that I am not athletic.
17. Who is someone you miss?
A. I have a few friends who are not as close to me as we once were. I miss them. But people grow apart with time, and I realize that.
__________
I encourage you to visit other participants in Sunday Stealing posts and leave a comment. Cheers to all us thieves who love memes, however we come by them.
Saturday, September 03, 2016
Saturday 9: Man's World
Saturday 9: It's a Man's Man's Man's World (1966)
Since Labor Day was introduced to celebrate the American worker, we are highlighting the hardest working man in show business: James Brown. Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.
1) Before he was able to support himself as a musician, James Brown shined shoes, boxed, picked peanuts and delivered groceries. He admitted he didn't enjoy any of those jobs. What was your least favorite job?
A. Chief toilet bowl cleaner of the household.
2) What job have you enjoyed the most?
A. Working as a news stringer for the local newspaper and writing freelance articles. I was able to meet many people, including folks like the current Democratic candidate for Vice President (once a former governor of Virginia), and regular ol' joes who also had stories to tell. I loved the excitement of it, the glory of finding out a truth, and being the first one to break a story. I did it well, too.
3) James loved performing and in the mid-60s, played 335-350 dates/year. Do you have time off this weekend? Or will you be working?
A. I will be off, since I am no longer working.
4) With that grueling schedule, James spent a lot of time on the road. Do you enjoy traveling and staying in hotels? Or are you a homebody who prefers to sleep in your own bed?
A. I am now a homebody who prefers to sleep in her own bed.
5) While Millennials are the largest generation in the workforce, millions of Baby Boomers are still part of American labor. Do you think it's easy or hard for people of different generations to work together? Or don't you think age matters?
A. I think it is probably hard for older folks to work for younger folks, especially if the age difference is vast. For me, it would depend upon whether or not the young person still respected me for my age and experience, regardless of title.
6) 72% of employers report that they give their employees sick days. Tell us about a time when you called in sick, but weren't.
A. I have worked from my home office since 1993. I don't think this really applies.
7) According to the 2010 Census, 5.9 million Americans regularly work from home. Is working from home something you have/you would enjoy? Or do you benefit from interaction with coworkers?
A. I like working from home but the beauty of writing for the paper was it also made me leave my little nest and forced me to have interaction with other people. Being home alone working is fun but you do have to have contact with others. Plus, if you're self-employed, you have the burden of all of it - bookkeeping, sales, marketing, everything. It's not all it's cracked up to be.
8) 12% of workers report they prefer to report for work early -- before 7:00 AM -- so they can get more done. Are you a morning person?
A. Not any more.
9) The NFL season starts on September 8. How do you think your team will do this year?
A. I don't have a team. My husband roots for the Dallas Cowboys, so go Dallas.
I encourage you to visit other participants in Saturday 9 posts and leave a comment. Because there are no rules, it is your choice. Saturday 9 players hate rules. We love memes, however.
Since Labor Day was introduced to celebrate the American worker, we are highlighting the hardest working man in show business: James Brown. Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.
1) Before he was able to support himself as a musician, James Brown shined shoes, boxed, picked peanuts and delivered groceries. He admitted he didn't enjoy any of those jobs. What was your least favorite job?
A. Chief toilet bowl cleaner of the household.
2) What job have you enjoyed the most?
A. Working as a news stringer for the local newspaper and writing freelance articles. I was able to meet many people, including folks like the current Democratic candidate for Vice President (once a former governor of Virginia), and regular ol' joes who also had stories to tell. I loved the excitement of it, the glory of finding out a truth, and being the first one to break a story. I did it well, too.
3) James loved performing and in the mid-60s, played 335-350 dates/year. Do you have time off this weekend? Or will you be working?
A. I will be off, since I am no longer working.
4) With that grueling schedule, James spent a lot of time on the road. Do you enjoy traveling and staying in hotels? Or are you a homebody who prefers to sleep in your own bed?
A. I am now a homebody who prefers to sleep in her own bed.
5) While Millennials are the largest generation in the workforce, millions of Baby Boomers are still part of American labor. Do you think it's easy or hard for people of different generations to work together? Or don't you think age matters?
A. I think it is probably hard for older folks to work for younger folks, especially if the age difference is vast. For me, it would depend upon whether or not the young person still respected me for my age and experience, regardless of title.
6) 72% of employers report that they give their employees sick days. Tell us about a time when you called in sick, but weren't.
A. I have worked from my home office since 1993. I don't think this really applies.
7) According to the 2010 Census, 5.9 million Americans regularly work from home. Is working from home something you have/you would enjoy? Or do you benefit from interaction with coworkers?
A. I like working from home but the beauty of writing for the paper was it also made me leave my little nest and forced me to have interaction with other people. Being home alone working is fun but you do have to have contact with others. Plus, if you're self-employed, you have the burden of all of it - bookkeeping, sales, marketing, everything. It's not all it's cracked up to be.
8) 12% of workers report they prefer to report for work early -- before 7:00 AM -- so they can get more done. Are you a morning person?
A. Not any more.
9) The NFL season starts on September 8. How do you think your team will do this year?
A. I don't have a team. My husband roots for the Dallas Cowboys, so go Dallas.
_____________
I encourage you to visit other participants in Saturday 9 posts and leave a comment. Because there are no rules, it is your choice. Saturday 9 players hate rules. We love memes, however.
Friday, September 02, 2016
The New Fear in Town
Today I did something in my supermarket parking lot that I've never done before.
I locked the car doors as soon as I could get myself into my seat.
My county is, by and large, a small community. The county as a whole has about 33,000 people. I don't know them all, of course, but there is seldom a time when I go to the local market and do not see someone I know.
After a while, especially if you go around the same time and day, you tend to see the same people over and over. You may not be friends, but there is a sense of security in the sameness.
That's why today, when I left the store and noticed people I did not recognize accosting folks in the parking lot, showing them a flyer and pointing, and watching as the people tried vainly to be polite and get away, and then noticed other people who did not seem to be long wandering around trying indiscreetly to check door handles on vehicles, I hurriedly unloaded my groceries in the trunk, praying that I would draw no attention to myself. I was parked in a handicapped spot and had my cane in my hand, but still. I was feeling terrible and not having a good day.
So as soon as I could, I fled to my car (which means I limped to the car), and I locked the doors.
In my little county. Where I know probably 10 percent of the 33,000 people who live here by virtue of my former work as a news reporter. And if I don't know you, I probably know your friend.
City folk are probably thinking, so what? I imagine they always lock their car doors. Maybe they always walk to their vehicle with their pepper spray at the ready. I don't know. I grew up in a rural area and I've never been overly concerned about my safety, even though I was attacked at Winn Dixie a very long time ago. The person who did that was not from these parts.
And neither, I suspect, were the people patrolling the supermarket parking lot today. They did not look they belonged here. Their dress was off. Their movements were wrong. They were prowling, and we don't prowl.
I started to call the sheriff's office, but wondered what I would report. Strange looking folks in the parking lot? We have a lot of strange-looking people wander through the area anyway as we're on the Appalachian Trail. But these people weren't hikers. I know what the hikers look like. These people were scammers or something.
Rumors of folks accosting others at local parking lots have been flying around for a while now. Sometimes someone asks for money for a cab. Sometimes they ask for a ride. Some time ago, I was asked if I wanted to buy "really good steaks, cheap" out of the back of a freezer truck. I politely declined and hurried away.
One asked my mother-in-law to help her, and my mother-in-law told her to go in and talk to the store management. That was smart thinking for a woman over 80.
Scams obviously work - someone sometimes gives these people money or rides or whatever it is they are after, or they wouldn't continue to haunt parking lots and other places where they shouldn't be.
Generally I am not afraid of much. I don't worry about who I see in parking lots. Today, maybe simply because I wasn't feeling well, I noticed more than I normally do. I felt the fear that I know is running rampant around the nation, the fear that is bringing out the worst in my fellow human beings.
All it brought out in me was a desire to lock my doors and go home.
I locked the car doors as soon as I could get myself into my seat.
My county is, by and large, a small community. The county as a whole has about 33,000 people. I don't know them all, of course, but there is seldom a time when I go to the local market and do not see someone I know.
After a while, especially if you go around the same time and day, you tend to see the same people over and over. You may not be friends, but there is a sense of security in the sameness.
That's why today, when I left the store and noticed people I did not recognize accosting folks in the parking lot, showing them a flyer and pointing, and watching as the people tried vainly to be polite and get away, and then noticed other people who did not seem to be long wandering around trying indiscreetly to check door handles on vehicles, I hurriedly unloaded my groceries in the trunk, praying that I would draw no attention to myself. I was parked in a handicapped spot and had my cane in my hand, but still. I was feeling terrible and not having a good day.
So as soon as I could, I fled to my car (which means I limped to the car), and I locked the doors.
In my little county. Where I know probably 10 percent of the 33,000 people who live here by virtue of my former work as a news reporter. And if I don't know you, I probably know your friend.
City folk are probably thinking, so what? I imagine they always lock their car doors. Maybe they always walk to their vehicle with their pepper spray at the ready. I don't know. I grew up in a rural area and I've never been overly concerned about my safety, even though I was attacked at Winn Dixie a very long time ago. The person who did that was not from these parts.
And neither, I suspect, were the people patrolling the supermarket parking lot today. They did not look they belonged here. Their dress was off. Their movements were wrong. They were prowling, and we don't prowl.
I started to call the sheriff's office, but wondered what I would report. Strange looking folks in the parking lot? We have a lot of strange-looking people wander through the area anyway as we're on the Appalachian Trail. But these people weren't hikers. I know what the hikers look like. These people were scammers or something.
Rumors of folks accosting others at local parking lots have been flying around for a while now. Sometimes someone asks for money for a cab. Sometimes they ask for a ride. Some time ago, I was asked if I wanted to buy "really good steaks, cheap" out of the back of a freezer truck. I politely declined and hurried away.
One asked my mother-in-law to help her, and my mother-in-law told her to go in and talk to the store management. That was smart thinking for a woman over 80.
Scams obviously work - someone sometimes gives these people money or rides or whatever it is they are after, or they wouldn't continue to haunt parking lots and other places where they shouldn't be.
Generally I am not afraid of much. I don't worry about who I see in parking lots. Today, maybe simply because I wasn't feeling well, I noticed more than I normally do. I felt the fear that I know is running rampant around the nation, the fear that is bringing out the worst in my fellow human beings.
All it brought out in me was a desire to lock my doors and go home.
Thursday, September 01, 2016
Thursday Thirteen
It's hurricane season here on the east coast. Are you ready for an emergency? Do you have an emergency kit ready? (I call it my apocolypse kit.)
Here are some things to consider:
1. Water, one gallon of water per person per day for at least three days, for drinking and sanitation
2. Food, at least a three-day supply of non-perishable food
3. Battery-powered or hand crank radio and a NOAA Weather Radio with tone alert and extra batteries for both
4. Flashlight and extra batteries
5. First aid kit (bandages, aspirin, Pepto-Bismal, hydrocortisone, Benedryl)
6. Whistle to signal for help
7. Dust mask, to help filter contaminated air and plastic sheeting and duct tape to shelter-in-place
8. Moist towelettes, garbage bags and plastic ties for personal sanitation
9. Wrench or pliers to turn off utilities/ hatchet or axe for getting wood to start a fire if necessary
10. Can opener for food (if kit contains canned food)
11. Local maps
12. Prescription medications
13. Eyeglasses, sunglasses
It never hurts to be prepared. What might you need to get through three days without electricity or assistance from others?
_____________
Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here if you want to read other Thursday Thirteens and/or play along. I've been playing for a while and this is my 463rd time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday.
Here are some things to consider:
1. Water, one gallon of water per person per day for at least three days, for drinking and sanitation
2. Food, at least a three-day supply of non-perishable food
3. Battery-powered or hand crank radio and a NOAA Weather Radio with tone alert and extra batteries for both
4. Flashlight and extra batteries
5. First aid kit (bandages, aspirin, Pepto-Bismal, hydrocortisone, Benedryl)
6. Whistle to signal for help
7. Dust mask, to help filter contaminated air and plastic sheeting and duct tape to shelter-in-place
8. Moist towelettes, garbage bags and plastic ties for personal sanitation
9. Wrench or pliers to turn off utilities/ hatchet or axe for getting wood to start a fire if necessary
10. Can opener for food (if kit contains canned food)
11. Local maps
12. Prescription medications
13. Eyeglasses, sunglasses
It never hurts to be prepared. What might you need to get through three days without electricity or assistance from others?
_____________
Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here if you want to read other Thursday Thirteens and/or play along. I've been playing for a while and this is my 463rd time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday.
Tuesday, August 30, 2016
Books: Island of the Blue Dolphins
Island of the Blue Dolphins
By Scott O'Dell
Copyright 1960, 1988
177 pages
Recently I decided to revisit childhood classics - those Newberry Medal winners that made such an impression on me when I was younger.
Island of the Blue Dolphins was my first choice. The title has always stuck with me, and the idea of a young girl, alone on an island, a cast away with no recourse but to survive via her wits, has always appealed to me.
If I were still in college, I would choose this book to write a paper on. I could easily write a treatise on societies for one of my social science courses, or a study of femininity and females for a feminism class, or a study of writing for a writing course, from this small yet noble classic.
The story is based upon a truth - sometime in 1853, white men found a lone woman on a island off of the California coast. She is known to history as the Lost Woman of San Nicolas. Her rescuers, such as they were, named her Juana Maria. Wikipedia at the link has an extensive entry about the real person. She died within 7 weeks of her "saving" from her lonely vigil on her island.
O'Dell's book also was made into a movie, which would add further fodder to a college paper. If I have seen the movie, I do not remember it.
The author named his heroine Karana. She was a young girl of 12 who lived with her tribe on a large island off the coast. The tribe was annoyed by a pack of wild dogs but otherwise lived in harmony with animal inhabitants that included fox, otters, pelicans, and other birds.
Man, it seemed, would be their undoing. The Aleuts, another tribe from the north, led by a white man (O'Dell calls him Russian, I think, which would make sense given the time he wrote the book), visits the island. They come for otter and agree to a trade, but the chief, who is also Karana's father, does not like the trade. Suddenly fighting breaks out and after all is said and done, the men of Karana's tribe are mostly dead, save the old and very young.
The elder tribesman who takes over as leader decides to take a canoe and go for help from the mainland. A year (or two) passes and finally another ship shows up to take the entire remnants of the tribe away from their ancestral home. As the ship leaves, a gale blows up, and Karana realizes her brother has been left behind. She jumps from the ship and swims ashore, thinking the boat will turn around.
But the white men move on, afraid of the dark seas and the strong winds.
Shortly thereafter, Karana's brother is killed by the wild dogs, and the young woman is left alone.
The real Juana Maria apparently was left on the island alone for nearly 20 years. The young woman in O'Dell's book is there a long time - countless summers pass and she is no longer a girl when finally a ship comes for her. But the reader is unsure how long she exists alone.
The scene that makes me shudder in indignation is near the end, when the men sew together trousers to more sufficiently cover the girl, who is brilliant in her skirt of feathers and a special necklace. Of course she must be covered. Of course.
It is difficult to write a book about a single character. Characters must interact with one another. Dialogue? Not happening unless a character talks to herself. O'Dell manages to bypass this burden with animals - a dog here, birds there, and the land itself, which Karana talks to almost like a lover. She makes discoveries and learns how to do things she had seen men do, daring to use tools that only men were supposed to use. She is the epitome of a human, surviving, thinking, and being. Forced to live in the day because she had long given up hope of rescue, her needs were few. In O'Dell's book, anyway, she is not unhappy.
In rereading this book, only one thing struck me as out of place. Why did the young woman tame an older wild dog and not take one of the pups when she had the chance? Surely a pup would have been easier to tame. While I found this part off the mark, the story still holds together as well today as it did when I first read it 45 years ago.
It is an interesting exercise, going back to worlds I once I knew but which are now murky in my memory. I am not sure what my next book will be, but I look forward to the visit.
By Scott O'Dell
Copyright 1960, 1988
177 pages
Recently I decided to revisit childhood classics - those Newberry Medal winners that made such an impression on me when I was younger.
Island of the Blue Dolphins was my first choice. The title has always stuck with me, and the idea of a young girl, alone on an island, a cast away with no recourse but to survive via her wits, has always appealed to me.
If I were still in college, I would choose this book to write a paper on. I could easily write a treatise on societies for one of my social science courses, or a study of femininity and females for a feminism class, or a study of writing for a writing course, from this small yet noble classic.
The story is based upon a truth - sometime in 1853, white men found a lone woman on a island off of the California coast. She is known to history as the Lost Woman of San Nicolas. Her rescuers, such as they were, named her Juana Maria. Wikipedia at the link has an extensive entry about the real person. She died within 7 weeks of her "saving" from her lonely vigil on her island.
O'Dell's book also was made into a movie, which would add further fodder to a college paper. If I have seen the movie, I do not remember it.
The author named his heroine Karana. She was a young girl of 12 who lived with her tribe on a large island off the coast. The tribe was annoyed by a pack of wild dogs but otherwise lived in harmony with animal inhabitants that included fox, otters, pelicans, and other birds.
Man, it seemed, would be their undoing. The Aleuts, another tribe from the north, led by a white man (O'Dell calls him Russian, I think, which would make sense given the time he wrote the book), visits the island. They come for otter and agree to a trade, but the chief, who is also Karana's father, does not like the trade. Suddenly fighting breaks out and after all is said and done, the men of Karana's tribe are mostly dead, save the old and very young.
The elder tribesman who takes over as leader decides to take a canoe and go for help from the mainland. A year (or two) passes and finally another ship shows up to take the entire remnants of the tribe away from their ancestral home. As the ship leaves, a gale blows up, and Karana realizes her brother has been left behind. She jumps from the ship and swims ashore, thinking the boat will turn around.
But the white men move on, afraid of the dark seas and the strong winds.
Shortly thereafter, Karana's brother is killed by the wild dogs, and the young woman is left alone.
The real Juana Maria apparently was left on the island alone for nearly 20 years. The young woman in O'Dell's book is there a long time - countless summers pass and she is no longer a girl when finally a ship comes for her. But the reader is unsure how long she exists alone.
The scene that makes me shudder in indignation is near the end, when the men sew together trousers to more sufficiently cover the girl, who is brilliant in her skirt of feathers and a special necklace. Of course she must be covered. Of course.
It is difficult to write a book about a single character. Characters must interact with one another. Dialogue? Not happening unless a character talks to herself. O'Dell manages to bypass this burden with animals - a dog here, birds there, and the land itself, which Karana talks to almost like a lover. She makes discoveries and learns how to do things she had seen men do, daring to use tools that only men were supposed to use. She is the epitome of a human, surviving, thinking, and being. Forced to live in the day because she had long given up hope of rescue, her needs were few. In O'Dell's book, anyway, she is not unhappy.
In rereading this book, only one thing struck me as out of place. Why did the young woman tame an older wild dog and not take one of the pups when she had the chance? Surely a pup would have been easier to tame. While I found this part off the mark, the story still holds together as well today as it did when I first read it 45 years ago.
It is an interesting exercise, going back to worlds I once I knew but which are now murky in my memory. I am not sure what my next book will be, but I look forward to the visit.
Monday, August 29, 2016
Twin Calves
We haven't had twin calves born on the farm in a long time - so imagine our surprise when a cow we knew was close to calving had twins last night!
They are so cute!
They are so cute!
Sunday, August 28, 2016
Sunday Stealing: Shannon's Moment's, Part Deux
Sunday Stealing: Shannon's Moments Meme, Part Two
23. Have you ever gone to the “dark side”?
A. My husband would probably say he has been the recipient of my dark side. But I've never killed anyone or been arrested, or tried to build a Death Star.
24. What shirt are you wearing right now?
A. I'm in my sleeping gown.
25. What’s important about a bed to you? Like type of sheets, size or whatever.
A. That it is comfortable and doesn't make my back hurt. I also like a bedspread instead of a comforter, and I like the room cold enough to need to be covered with a blanket and the bedspread.
26. Can you sing?
A. Yes. Not as well as I once could, but I can sing.
27. What is something about you that would surprise us?
A. I once put my fist through a door.
28. Have you been to a pirate, Renaissance Fair, or other costumed event? If not, would you for the right event or say cause?
A. I would love to go to a Renaissance Fair, but every time they have one within driving distance, I seem to be sick, or it rains.
29. What songs do you sing in the shower?
A. Anything that comes to mind.
30. Favorite girl's name?
A. Susan.
31. Favorite boy's name?
A. James.
32. What’s in your pocket or purse right now?
A. Nothing in my pocket. My purse has the usual: change, ink pens, my asthma inhaler.
33. Last thing that made you laugh?
A. I told my husband that I didn't pour the oil from the oil lamp down the drain into the septic tank because I was afraid if one of us farted, it would blow the house up.
34. Best toy as a child?
A. Books.
35. Worst injury you have ever had?
A. I will have to go for bad recoveries from surgeries, given that it has left me disabled.
36. Where would you love to live?
A. I am happy where I am. I have lovely mountains and it's quiet. Aside from having to cut the frickin grass, what's not to love?
37. What type of TV do you have? Would you’d like an upgrade?
A. We have a flat screen that is about 12 years old and yes, I would like a new one.
38. There is no Number 38.
39. How many dogs do you have?
A. None. I used to have one but she died after 17 years, and I never had the heart to get another.
40. Do most folks trust you?
A. I used to be a reporter. Some people told me everything. Some people told me nothing. I have kept - and keep - many secrets. While some reporters never kept things "off the record," I did, if asked and I couldn't see the harm in it. The public doesn't need to know everything about a person.
41. What book are you reading?
A. Island of the Blue Dolphins, by Scott O'Dell. I am on a "revisit my childhood favorites" kick at the moment. I want to study the stories and see how they hold up.
42. What’s your favorite classic TV show?
A. Cagney & Lacey. Is that a classic now? Or do you mean further back, like Bewitched?
43. What’s your favorite sports team?
A. I don't follow sports, but I root for the University of Virginia when someone asks.
44. Favorite month and why?
A. June. It's my birthday, and my husband's birthday, and it's not usually too hot.
__________
I encourage you to visit other participants in Sunday Stealing posts and leave a comment. Cheers to all us thieves who love memes, however we come by them.
23. Have you ever gone to the “dark side”?
A. My husband would probably say he has been the recipient of my dark side. But I've never killed anyone or been arrested, or tried to build a Death Star.
24. What shirt are you wearing right now?
A. I'm in my sleeping gown.
25. What’s important about a bed to you? Like type of sheets, size or whatever.
A. That it is comfortable and doesn't make my back hurt. I also like a bedspread instead of a comforter, and I like the room cold enough to need to be covered with a blanket and the bedspread.
26. Can you sing?
A. Yes. Not as well as I once could, but I can sing.
27. What is something about you that would surprise us?
A. I once put my fist through a door.
28. Have you been to a pirate, Renaissance Fair, or other costumed event? If not, would you for the right event or say cause?
A. I would love to go to a Renaissance Fair, but every time they have one within driving distance, I seem to be sick, or it rains.
29. What songs do you sing in the shower?
A. Anything that comes to mind.
30. Favorite girl's name?
A. Susan.
31. Favorite boy's name?
A. James.
32. What’s in your pocket or purse right now?
A. Nothing in my pocket. My purse has the usual: change, ink pens, my asthma inhaler.
33. Last thing that made you laugh?
A. I told my husband that I didn't pour the oil from the oil lamp down the drain into the septic tank because I was afraid if one of us farted, it would blow the house up.
34. Best toy as a child?
A. Books.
35. Worst injury you have ever had?
A. I will have to go for bad recoveries from surgeries, given that it has left me disabled.
36. Where would you love to live?
A. I am happy where I am. I have lovely mountains and it's quiet. Aside from having to cut the frickin grass, what's not to love?
37. What type of TV do you have? Would you’d like an upgrade?
A. We have a flat screen that is about 12 years old and yes, I would like a new one.
38. There is no Number 38.
39. How many dogs do you have?
A. None. I used to have one but she died after 17 years, and I never had the heart to get another.
40. Do most folks trust you?
A. I used to be a reporter. Some people told me everything. Some people told me nothing. I have kept - and keep - many secrets. While some reporters never kept things "off the record," I did, if asked and I couldn't see the harm in it. The public doesn't need to know everything about a person.
41. What book are you reading?
A. Island of the Blue Dolphins, by Scott O'Dell. I am on a "revisit my childhood favorites" kick at the moment. I want to study the stories and see how they hold up.
42. What’s your favorite classic TV show?
A. Cagney & Lacey. Is that a classic now? Or do you mean further back, like Bewitched?
43. What’s your favorite sports team?
A. I don't follow sports, but I root for the University of Virginia when someone asks.
44. Favorite month and why?
A. June. It's my birthday, and my husband's birthday, and it's not usually too hot.
__________
I encourage you to visit other participants in Sunday Stealing posts and leave a comment. Cheers to all us thieves who love memes, however we come by them.
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