Sunday Stealing

Sunday Stealing

1. What are your plans for March?

A. I have a haircut and a visit with the chiropractor on my calendar. I'll also listen to the Board of Supervisors meeting later in the month and write it up for the local online newspaper I do that for. I'm sure I'll go to the grocery store every week, too. Big happenings around here.

2. Did you ever have or go to sleepovers as a kid?

A. We spent the weekends at my grandmother's a lot because my father had a music band, and he played most weekends. I guess you could call those sleepovers. I only recall ever going to someone else's house a few times and having a slumber party at my house once.

3. Which books would you pick for a book binge?

A. Gosh, I don't know. Something by Louise Penny, some fantasy books, an autobiography. I read a lot of different things and like many different authors.

4. What features do you love most about your home?

A. It's small, so not so much to clean. I love our hardwood floors and the walk-in shower, which are both relatively new additions. We're located far from the road and back in the woods, so we enjoy our privacy.

5. What are your favorite songs from tv, movies, and video games?

A. My favorite songs from TV would be the theme from MASH and the theme to Milton the Monster. My favorite songs from movies would be pretty much anything from Forrest Gump. I don't have any favorite songs from video games as I always turn the music off. I find it makes it more addictive to have the music on when I play video games.

6. What group games do you like to play with others?

A. I don't have a group to play games with. If I had one, I guess Scrabble or card games would be fun.

7. How often do you try something new?

A. Not often enough.

8. What type of sushi is your favorite?

A. I have never had sushi and have no desire to eat it, mostly because I'm allergic to fish.

9. Do you prefer to relax or go on adventures during vacation?

A. We generally play tourist and visit museums and other places of note when we go on vacation.

10. How do you prevent burn out?

A. I don't.

11. Which colors look best on you?

A. Blue and purple.

12. Do you like brunch?

A. Sure, who doesn't?

13. What trends have you shown up late for?

A. All of them. But they generally come back around so it doesn't matter.

14. What’s your favorite drink order?

A. Water.

15. Which clothes or accessories make you feel most confident?

A. A pearl necklace with a nice blue blouse and nice blue slacks would work just fine for that.

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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 9: Wagon Wheel

Saturday 9: Wagon Wheel (2013)

Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.

1) This week, Darius Rucker sings about hitching a ride to reach his lady love. Have you ever thumbed a ride?

A. No. At least, not along the highway. I may have bummed a ride with a friend to a high school game or something when I was a teenager, but that's not sticking my thumb out and accepting a ride from a stranger.

 

2) Along the way, he loses his money in a poker game. Successful poker players are good at bluffing, or misleading others about their cards. Are you good at bluffing, whether at cards or in life?

A. No, I am not. My eyes and my voice both give me away.

 

3) Darius began has career as the lead singer of 90s soft-rock band Hootie and the Blowfish. Today he's a country singer. Let's say you're stuck in traffic and only one radio station comes in clearly. Would you prefer it play soft rock or country?

A. Soft rock.

 

4) Darius Rucker will be on tour throughout 2023, playing dates all over the country and making a couple stops in Cancun. Have you ever visited Mexico? If so, where did you go?

A. I have never been to Mexico.

5) Darius has lent his talents to fundraising for The First Tee, a non-profit that teaches children "life lessons, self-confidence, and resilience through golf." Did you participate in organized sports as a youngster? If yes, what did you play?

A. I never participated in organized sports, unless you want to count the marching band as an organized sport, which, frankly, one should. It was hard work.

6) A big sports fan, he has six TVs in his home so he can watch several games at once. His largest set is 70". When it comes to TV screens, do you believe bigger is better? Or are you just as comfortable watching from your laptop or phone?

A. The older I get, the better my eyes like a larger screen.

 

7) In 2013, when "Wagon Wheel" was popular, fans were flocking to the movie theater to see Catching Fire, the second in the Hunger Games series. Are you a Hunger Games fan?

A. I have read the books and I saw the movies. I don't know that this makes me a fan. They're not books I reread or movies I have watched more than once. I have seen the Lord of the Rings movies at least 20 times and I've read the books several times. I think that makes me a Lord of the Rings fan. Watching stuff once doesn't necessarily make you a fan, although I consider myself a Game of Thrones TV show fan, and I only watched it once (it was too gory for a second viewing).

8) Also in 2013, the word "selfie" was added to the Oxford Dictionary. Do you take a lot of selfies?

A. No.

  

9) Random question: If we paid you $5,000, would you get Saturday 9 tattooed on your right forearm?

A. Yes, if it could be in tiny little print. And maybe in a circle so it would be aesthetically pleasing. And in blue and green ink.

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I encourage you to visit the posts of other participants in Saturday 9 and leave a comment. Because there are no rules, it is your choice. Saturday 9 players hate rules. We love memes, however.  

Register to Write?

From the land that is constantly giving us "Florida man" and the finger to Disney, comes a new proclamation: a proposed bill in the state legislature that, "would require bloggers who write about Gov. Ron DeSantis, his Cabinet or state legislators to register with the state."

The NBC story goes on to say it pertains to paid bloggers and not to websites of news organizations. 

No one pays me to write in my blog. I have Google Ads on the sidebar, but apparently not everyone sees them. They earn less than 1 cent a month, so I know few people ever hit them. I should take them off the blog, but I like to see the ads for the stuff I'm interested in, like guitars. I look at guitars a lot so I generally see ads for those. I can't click on the ad because that's against the rules, but I can drool over the expensive Gibsons that come up.

This proposed bill is so anti-First Amendment that I don't even know where to start. I thought it was anti-First Amendment when my locality made me get a business license to write, but it was easier to pay the small fee and get the license than to argue about it.

Forcing paid bloggers to register with some government agency is just one step away from forcing every blogger to register, paid or not. Do you want to register your blog with the government? 

I sure don't.

Thursday Thirteen

1. It's another one of those days where I haven't a clue what to write about. In fact, I haven't had anything much to write about for several days now.

2. Life is boring when you stay home, except for trips to the grocery store. 

3. Last night, we talked about taking a vacation. The best we could come up with where we'd feel safe was a cabin in the mountains. But I kind of live in a cabin in the mountains, so I may as well stay home and save the money.

4. I mean, what's the point of a vacation if you have to clean up after yourself, and cook? I can do that here just as well as in some condo, time share, or cabin. If I go on vacation, I want a hotel room with maid service.

5. Lately I have been enduring more pain in my abdomen again. I started a regimen of very modest exercises that my chiropractor gave me for low back pain. They have helped with that, but they have also made the surgical adhesions in my tummy angry.

6. This early, early spring is worrisome. I am concerned we may not have fruit this summer, if everything is blooming and March decides to bring us cold, foul weather.

7. Good thing the climate isn't changing, isn't that right, certain persons whom I will not name who insist there's no such thing as climate change?

8. I have heard there is a virus that people can get that is transmitted through computers and cellphones, via social media and texts and such. It's called Specialized Transmission Uninformed Pheromone Idiopathic Disease. I understand it's really terrible to have and it's highly contagious. Makes me glad I've stopped looking at Twitter. (Blogs tend to be immune, since bloggers generally use complete sentences and such. Though not always, of course.)

9. A book I recently finished, The Great Alone, by Kristin Hannah, left me feeling a little frustrated with the author. Mostly I like her work, but she is another one of those authors who give their characters head injuries, and they recover, at least to some degree. I know people with head injuries do recover, but honestly, can't the characters have something other than brain trauma? If I ever write something, I hope I remember this and don't use this trope, unless it is a parody. It's become rather tiresome to see in current writing.

10. Someone I love went out of town and came back with Covid. This is the main reason my husband and I can't decide on a vacation. We both had co-morbidities that mean we could get very, very sick if we get Covid. We're very careful. Maybe too careful. But it beats being worm food.

11. I have a friend who is not yet 30 and she considers that old. Since I am twice her age, I must be positively ancient. 

12. Speaking of brain trauma, last night on the first episode of the new season of Survivor (which we have watched every season of and I have no idea why, it's like a habit), some poor fellow named Bruce beaned his head in the initial challenge when they all arrived and ended up leaving the game later that night. His head bleed profusely, and while Jeff Probst later said he was fine and in good health, he acted like he had a concussion.

13. Time to go. Got places to go and people to see. Be safe, y'all!

__________________

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 797th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday. Or so sayth the Blogger counter, anyway.

Mellow Yellow

Spring came a month early, but March is looking like a cold demon child from the long-range forecasts. I don't know how this will play out with the fruits, flowers, trees, and veggies. But everything is almost a month early.

But isn't the yellow pretty?

Sunday Stealing

Sunday Stealing

1. Do you ever have funny dreams at night?

A. I'm sure I have, but generally my dreams are nightmares, sometimes even night terrors. Sometimes they're just weird.

2. If you could make a law for your country, what would it be?

A. If you want to own a gun that can kill people, you can't call yourself pro-life.

3. What would you do if you were invisible for a day?

A. I don't know. Would I have forewarning, like, it will happen in two months so I could be a certain place? 

4. If you could be someone else for a day, who would you be?

A. Everybody's got their own set of problems. I'll just hang on to my own, I think.

5. What would you like to change about yourself?

A. My health.

6. What is your daily routine?

A. I get up between 6 and 6:30 a.m. I drink a cup of hot water and a glass of cold water. I read the news on the computer, reset my video game. I take my medicine. I eat a bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios. I shower, dress, make the bed, empty the dishwasher, put the breakfast dishes in the dishwasher, start a load of laundry. That's how it starts. After that, it's just take it as it comes.

7. What would your perfect day be like? What would you be doing?

A. I'd have food cooked for me, I would have music playing, a good book to read, and occasional interesting conversation.

8. How old were you when you learned to read?

A. I was quite young, about 3, when I learned to read. I was reading well before school.

9. What is the most interesting thing you know?

A. I have no idea. What's interesting to me is not always interesting to other people. 

10. What makes you nervous?

A. Loud noises, strong wind, crowds.

11. What is your favorite flower?

A. Purple iris.

12. Have you ever ridden on a horse or any other animal?

A. Yes, but it was a long time ago. My father brought home a pony and he put me on it with a piece of twine for a bridle. The "bridle" broke and the pony spooked and ran, with me on its back. I fell off and bruised my ribs. I refused to get back on a horse after that. I think I was 10.

13. What time do you go to bed?

A. Around 10 p.m.

14. What time do you get up?

A. Around 6 a.m. That's not counting the many times I get up in the night. I'm a light sleeper.

15. What is something that is always in your refrigerator?

A. Eggs, butter, mayonnaise, bread and butter pickles.

__________

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 9: Mahler

Saturday 9: Mahler: Symphony No. 8 (1968)

Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.

1) Mahler's No. 8 is sometimes referred to as "Symphony of a Thousand" because it was scored for a large orchestra and choral force. Do you often listen to classical music?

A. I listen to it occasionally. Sometimes I am in the mood for it, but I listen more often to Adult Pop.

2) This piece has solos for each of the main vocal ranges: soprano, alto, tenor, bass. Do you know which range your voice is in?

A. Not exactly, no. I never had voice lessons. I know I'm not a tenor or bass, so that leaves somewhere in between soprano and alto.

3) Historians tell us Mahler kept fit by swimming and riding his bike along the Alpine trails. What's your favorite form of exercise?

A. Walking, although if truth be told, apparently, it's sitting in front of my computer playing video games.

4) Mahler could be difficult to work with because when it came to his music, he was a stickler over even the most minor details and wouldn't give an inch. Would you rather work as part of a team or on your own?

A. I would rather work on my own.

5) This week's featured artist, Leonard Bernstein, said his father didn't want him to pursue music. Instead the elder Bernstein wanted his son to either join the family business (a beauty supply company) or become a rabbi. Did your family try to influence your choice of career?

A. Yes. I always knew I wanted to be a writer, but my mother in particular insisted I would be a secretary. In the late 1970s/1980s, that was still a job, and a fairly decent paying one at that. I was a secretary for a while - I worked for lawyers for 10 years. But I started freelancing in 1984 and never stopped. Well, I don't do it as much now, the world has changed.

6) Bernstein's best-known work is West Side Story. Without looking it up, can you name a song from this beloved Broadway classic?

A. How Do You Solve a Problem Like Anita?

7) Born in Lawrence, MA, Bernstein "went home" when he performed with the Boston Symphony Orchestra at Tanglewood in Lenox, MA. Tanglewood has played host to a variety of musical artists. In 2022, Ringo Starr, Bonnie Raitt, and James Taylor all performed there (with James Taylor scheduled to return this summer, as well). What's the first concert you ever attended?

A. I think it was probably a Loretta Lynn concert at the rodeo, but I'm not 100% sure of that. The first one I remember attending without my parents was the Commodores.

8) In 1968, when Bernstein released this album, a sitcom called Mayberry R.F.D. premiered. It was a spin off of the highly successful Andy Griffith Show, which ran from 1960 to 1968 and is still broadcast and streamed today. Were you an Andy Griffith Show fan?

A. We watched Andy Griffith at 5:30 p.m. every day on Channel 7 for about 35 years, when they moved it over to their secondary channel. For all of those years, it was the most popular show in that time slot in our area. Everybody watched it while they were fixing dinner or whatever. I don't watch it anymore because I don't turn the TV on that much, but I occasionally stop and watch an episode if I'm just looking around the channels and it's on.

9) Random question: When people ask for your advice, what do they usually ask you about?

A. I don't get asked for advice much anymore, but when I do, it is frequently about how to deal with the local government. Since I covered the local government for the weekly paper for 30 years, people assume I know how to help them maneuver through it. Most of the time, I can help them. I also sometimes am asked about medical issues or legal issues. Occasionally, I am asked about writing.

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I encourage you to visit the posts of other participants in Saturday 9 and leave a comment. Because there are no rules, it is your choice. Saturday 9 players hate rules. We love memes, however.  

Jupiter/Moon Conjunction

We had clouds passing overhead as Jupiter and the Moon made its "conjunction" in what looks like Jupiter colliding with the moon, at least to the naked eye.

Of course, they did not collide. But they were quite close together when I managed to get an opening in the clouds for a few photos.

I took these shots Wednesday night. That's Venus down toward the bottom of the photo.

Thursday Thirteen

Today, we're going to tackle book banning.

During the 2021-2022 school session, bans occurred in 138 school districts in 32 states. These districts represent 5,049 schools with a combined enrollment of nearly 4 million students.

The vast majority of the books targeted by various groups for removal feature LGBTQ+ characters or characters of color, and/or cover race and racism in American history, LGBTQ+ identities, or sex education.

The list of banned books is long and growing longer. Just google "banned books" and you'll see. Florida in particular right now is banning books of all kinds, mostly the ones that feature a Black person on the cover or address LGBTQ issues.

These are 13 that I have read that have been banned at some point.

1. To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee

2. 1984, by George Orwell

3. The Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Atwood

4. Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury

5. The Outsiders, by S.E. Hinton

6. Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck

7. The Da Vinci Code, by Robert Langdon

8. As I Lay Dying, by William Faulkner

9. Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins

10. The Glass Castle, by Jeanette Walls

11. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain

12. The Giver, by Lois Lowry

13. Anne Frank, Diary of a Young Girl, by Anne Frank

Please read a banned book today. You'll be glad you did.

__________________

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 796th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday. Or so sayth the Blogger counter, anyway.

When Fairy Lands Become Dumps

When I was young and had an hour's bus ride each way to school, there were certain places that I used as markers to let me know where we were on the route. Mostly, I did my homework on the bus, occasionally looking up to see how much longer we would be riding around.

Along the route was a lovely little cottage home; it was one of my markers. I called it a fairy cottage. It was well-kept, with lilac bushes and flowers everywhere. It was always a beauty of a place and I liked to imagine living there with such a well-tended yard. A small girl could be a princess wandering around that yard. 

Fast forward and I don't know what happened, but one day I drove by the fairy cottage, and it was a dump. The house was unkept, the yard unmowed, piles of metal stuff sat everywhere, the garage door constantly stood open. The flowers were dead, the lovely trees were either cut down or dying. I don't know what happened to the people who lived there, but they obviously are not there now.

I don't like to judge; I don't like it when people judge me. Today, though, I'm feeling judge-like. What has happened to having pride in the places we live, in our jobs, in our personal grooming? Many homes that were once pristine fairy cottages now look like dumps, with yards piled with junk, shingles off of the roof, the siding falling off or the paint peeling.

Is this what we aspire to now? Living in dumps full of junk? Half-ass doing our jobs, just to get a paycheck? Dressing for less than success? (I am guilty of that last one, I'm a jeans and t-shirt gal. But at least they're clean clothes.)

A drive around the area shows that the moniker of "white trash" is alive and well - and deserved. I don't know when having crap piled around your house became the "in" thing, but it's a horrible look. I know that in some instances folks don't have funds to fix up a place, or they're elderly and can't do it. I get that, I do. But so many? So many places around here look like something out of "Deliverance" that it's a wonder I don't hear Dueling Banjos ring out every time I get out of my car. 

As for jobs - everywhere I go, I see people half-assing it. They're just there, and if you bother them, because you know, it's their job to deal with you, they let you know you've bothered them. How about a little professionalism? A little pride in what you're doing? So what if it's a minimum wage job? The person who gets ahead is the person who treats it like it's more than that. And they treat the customers like they matter.

Heck, even I still dress up a little to go to the dentist.

Even the state does things half-way now. They used to mow frequently when I was young. Now they mow maybe twice a growing season, if that. The weeds stay in the way, you can't see to pull out, the road out near the interstate (where what used to be a truck stop is now a "bee pollinator" area that the state seldom touches) looks like a wasteland.

This is what 40 years of "trickle down" economics has wrought, I think. It trickled, all right. Only it wasn't money or economic certainty that trickled down. What trickled down was disrespect, laziness, and attitude. 

Society without manners, without politeness, without a bit of nice, without pride in itself, is not society at all. It's not a community, either. It just is.

Maybe that's what's wrong with us now. We just are. And that ain't no way to be.

Sunday Stealing

Sunday Stealing

1. What is the best thing about your birthday?

A. That I'm still alive? Generally, it's just another day, although a few people may remember and give me good wishes or even a present.

2. What is your favorite thing to do for your birthday?

A. Eat white cake with white icing, along with a few strawberries.

3. What’s one thing you learned in the past year?

A. Reaching out to others is not a bad thing.

4. What do you wish for in the next year?

A. Good health.

5. What’s the best thing about turning a year older?

A. I'm not sure there is a best thing. It puts me a year closer to Medicare. Maybe that.

6. What was the most fun thing you did in the last year?

A. We're still in pandemic mode. We don't do "fun."

7. If you could understand any animal, which would it be?

A. Dogs.

8. What is something that used to be hard, but is now easy?

A. Everything is hard. Well, getting dressed is easier since I stopped wearing makeup. I still can't find anything I'm not allergic to.

9. If you could only keep one thing in your room, what would it be?

A. My computer.

10. Which person makes you laugh the most? Why?

A. My friend T. makes me laugh a lot.

11. If you could go back in time, when and where would you go?

A. I would go back to pre-human times and step on a butterfly. Read this if you don't get the reference.

12. If you were to bury a secret treasure, where would you bury it?

A. If I told you that, it wouldn't be a secret!

13. What is your favorite memory?

A. The day the first article I wrote came out in the newspaper. That's a good memory. I was so excited to see my first byline.

14. How have you helped others lately?

A. I suppose so.

15. If you had to repeat a day over & over, how you'd want it to go?

A. I kind of do that now. They're just one long, drawn-out chore with a little down time in places.

__________

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 9: Saturday Night's Alright

Saturday 9: Saturday Night's Alright (1973)

Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.

 

1) In this song, Elton John tells us it's 7:00 PM on Saturday evening and he's ready to rock with his friends. What will you be doing at 7:00 this evening?

A. Settling in to read a good book, I hope.

 

2) His sister is ready to party, too. The lyrics tell us she looks cute with "a handful of grease in her hair." What haircare products would we find in your bathroom right now?

A. Just shampoo, conditioner, a blow dryer, a comb, and a brush.

3) He sings that by Saturday, he's had it with the aggravation and discipline of the past week and now he's ready to cut loose. How did last week treat you?

A. Well, Friday was an eye-opener, but I finished up what I needed to do to get the taxes off to the accountant, which is always a relief.

4) This Saturday night finds Elton and his friends "packed pretty tight" in their bar of choice. Agoraphobics have a hard time feeling safe in busy, crowded places. How about you? Are you comfortable in a crowd?

A. I am not.

5) The lyrics were written by Bernie Taupin, Elton's frequent collaborator. Bernie ranks this near the top of his favorite Elton John records. What's your favorite?

A. Hmm. Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me, I think, although that's a tough call.

6) Elton has turned his bad eyesight into a hobby, claiming that over the years he has purchased well over 200,000 pairs of glasses. Do you wear glasses? If so, how many prescription pairs do you own?

A. I have one pair that I wear, but I think there are two pairs of older prescriptions in the drawer. I meant to drop them in the Lion's Club bin at the eye doctor's office but I forgot them.

 

7) Elton once had to cancel an international tour because of an emergency appendectomy. Do you still have your appendix?

A. Yes. I thought for the longest time that I did not, as the doctor had said they would take my appendix when they performed my hysterectomy when I was 29 years old. But when I had my gallbladder removed when I turned 50, they told me my appendix was still in there.

 

8) In 1973, when this song was popular, M*A*S*H was at the top of the ratings. Who is your favorite M*A*S*H character?

A. Hawkeye.

9) Random question: Who is the wisest person you know?

A. It depends on the subject matter. If I wanted business advice, I'd ask my father. For cooking, I'd ask my brother. For crafts, I'd ask one of my friends who is into that. And so on and so forth. To be honest, I'm not exactly unwise. I've been told I give good advice on several occasions. Plus, I'm old and I've been around the block a time or two. Although being old alone does not make you wise. I know some ignorant old people. But most everyone is wise about something or another after they've lived long enough.

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I encourage you to visit the posts of other participants in Saturday 9 and leave a comment. Because there are no rules, it is your choice. Saturday 9 players hate rules. We love memes, however.  

An Early Spring

I looked outside yesterday and noticed a little color had crept into the world of the winter:

My daffodils are up and blooming. Those green shoots around them are my irises. Just look at all of those blooms coming on the daffodils! It should be a sea of yellow if the warm weather continues.

It is looking like Spring will be here before we know it.

Thursday Thirteen #795

Today, some helpful home remedies/fixes for various and sundry things. I have tried all of these, with varying degrees of success.

1. If you need a fast way to make your teeth shiny, rub them with olive oil.

2. Castor oil applied daily to spots on your skin can make them go away. However, it must be done daily, and the spots may reappear when you stop using the castor oil.

3. If you have small, raised moles and you've had your doctor check them out and you know they're just nuisance growths, you can tie a piece of dental floss around them and remove them. Just be sure you've checked them out first.

4. Mayonnaise or shaving cream can help lessen a white spot on furniture (the kind caused by somebody leaving a glass on the furniture).

5. Vitamin E rubbed on scar tissue can make it look less, well, scarry.

6. Aloe helps with burns. It can also help with stomach acid issues, but always check with your doctor first.

7. For sore throats, add Milk of Magnesia to your salt-water gargle (I also add children's liquid Benedryl which has a numbing effect). The Milk of Magnesia adds a coating that will ease the pain. This also helps with canker sores.

8. For laryngitis, boil together a cup of apple cider vinegar, a tablespoon of honey, and a teaspoon of tabasco sauce. Use it as a gargle. Save the mixture in the refrigerator and reheat it in the microwave. (Yes, it tastes as bad as it sounds but it helps.)

9. Cherries, especially tart cherries, help with gout and some types of arthritis. Like everything else, one has to eat them daily and it may take weeks to see results.

10. Peppermint oil rubbed on the forehead can ease a headache.

11. Ginger can help with an upset tummy.

12. Apple cider vinegar helps with stomach acid problems. (I don't know why; it seems counterintuitive.)

13. Lastly, I am going to address tinnitus. I have had it as long as I can remember. Back in the fall, I had a case of swimmer's ear. The antibiotic drops the doctor gave me helped the infection, and as a bonus, my tinnitus went away. Then it came back. On my next trip to my doctor, she told me my ear canals were too dry. She suggested sweet oil. The sweet oil I remember from childhood seems to not be available; everything is simply olive oil. I had homeopathic ear drops in my cabinet that I had used a few times for ear pain, and I asked if I could use those to relieve my dry ear canals. The doctor said sure, so my husband began putting them in my ear twice a day. And my tinnitus went away. If we miss a day, it comes back, and some days it is there anyway, but it's not as bad. The drops I am using are Hyland's Natural Earache Drops. You can find them at CVS and probably other stores. However, I have also tried the olive oil, and it helps the tinnitus as well (it's just messier than the premade ear drops). This may just be me, but it might be worth a try. Maybe everyone with tinnitus has dry ear canals? You'd think the medical community would have figured out that this could be a problem by now, wouldn't you?

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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 795th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday. Or so sayth the Blogger counter, anyway.

Books: In Such Good Company

In Such Good Company
By Carol Burnett

Copyright 2017

Winner of the 2017 Grammy for Best Spoken Word Album

This was not what I expected.

A book written and read by Carol Burnett should have been a laugh a minute, right? I grew up watching her show. She was hilarious. So, I checked this out of the library because I thought I could use a good laugh.

I laughed once, and that was at some point in the last 2 hours of the audio when she did the Tarzan yell.

This is a behind-the-scenes story of her show. She goes through skits, talks about guest stars, and mentioned cameramen, producers, and loads of other people.

She talks about how Vickie Lawrence, Tim Conway, Harvey Korman and Lyle Waggoner joined the show. 

What she doesn't do is talk much about Carol Burnett. Oh, there are a few stories here and there - the pulling on her ear was a signal to her grandmother, who raised her, telling her she loved her, for example. There are hints that she went to college, that she went to New York to be in the theater, that she and her husband Joe worked well together; she mentions having children.

But there is little of Carol Burnett in this reading. I guess if you're a connoisseur of old TV and want to know how things worked back in the day, this might be a great read. I did not mind listening to it, not at all, and I learned a great deal. 

However, I wanted to know about Carol Burnett.

I wanted to know her favorite color. How she raised her children while she worked. If she ever finished college. There are hints of her life throughout, but only hints. There is no deep outing of Carol Burnett in these lines.

One of the things that struck me was the difference in hours between Carol's work on this weekly show - from the sounds of it she put in 6-hour days, mostly - and Kate Mulgrew's 12-18 hour days for Star Trek: Voyager. (I recently read Mulgrew's autobiography.) Carol mentioned that she could take the kids to school and pick them up most days, except for the day they did the show. Kate Mulgrew's kids grew up barely seeing their mother for 7 years while she worked on Voyager.

At any rate, if you want to know a little about Carol Burnett but a lot about the Carol Burnett show, then this is a great book. If you want to know a lot about Carol Burnett, then it's not so great.

Like anything, it depends on your perspective.

Drop-Off Day

Today was the day I dropped off my taxes at the accountant's office. Whew.

That's a load off of my mind, until she calls with questions. Or tell me how much to pay up.

Our taxes are not simple. We own a farm. We own rental property. My husband has a construction business. I make a little money freelancing. All of that stuff requires bookkeeping.

Last year I did a much better job of keeping up with the paperwork, so January wasn't the "tie butt to chair until you have everything put into Quicken and ready for the accountant" that it has sometimes been in the past.

Hopefully I can keep this momentum going and keep up with things better in 2023, since I have learned my lesson about how much easier it is.

It would help if I liked doing the bookkeeping, but I don't, so I tend to put it off as long as I can. It's just tedious and time-consuming. And who wants to play with numbers when there are other things to do, like read a good book?

At any rate, they're out of my hands, at least for now.

Whew.

Can't Do This Anymore

A notice from the Division of Motor Vehicles telling me my license must be renewed before my birthday reminded me of how I actually received my license in the first place.

Today, if you go in for your license, you have to take your papers. And maybe your momma's papers. When we went for our Real IDs just prior to the pandemic, we took along everything but the kitchen sink. I think we even took the deed to the house.

We didn't need most of it, but better safe than sorry, especially when the DMV is an hour's drive away.

But in 1978, all I needed was my daddy.

When I went to the DMV to get my learners permit, I guess it was, my father took me. I did not have my birth certificate with me. I seem to recall this was a spur of the moment initiative on my dad's part, and I hadn't really prepared to do this that particular day.

Hence the lapse.

At any rate, because I didn't have my birth certificate, the nice lady behind the counter was going to send me home. I was upset about this, and tears sprang into my eyes, not only because I wasn't getting my permit, but because I'd get an ass-chewing for not having the paperwork and wasting my father's time when we got into the car.

The nice lady saw my distress and asked to see my father's driver's license. He presented it. She said, "I'll tell you what, if he can tell me your birthday and it matches with what I have here, I will give you your license."

I looked hopefully at my father, who preceded to give her a date. 

"Daddy!" I wailed. "That's my brother's birthday!"

The woman chuckled. Dad looked embarrassed.

"Don't help him," the woman cautioned. I wiped at a tear.

Dad came through with the right birthday on his second guess. I received my learner's permit without any documentation whatsoever. I don't remember if I presented my birth certificate for my final license, but I suppose I did, having learned that lesson.

I guarantee that story could not be told by anyone trying to get something from the DMV today.

Sunday Stealing

Sunday Stealing

LAYER 1: Tell us your . . .

* Eye color: Hazel
* Hair color: Salty brown
* Height: Short
* Righty or lefty: Right


LAYER 2: What's . . .

* Your heritage: Scottish, Irish, German, English
* The shoes you wore today: Sneakers
* Your weakness: Food
* Your fears: Spiders and snakes
* Your perfect pizza: veggie pizza sans black olives
* Goals you’d like to achieve: write a book
* Your first waking thoughts: "I have to pee."
* Your best physical feature: My skin.
* Your most missed memory: Um. If I remember it, how can I miss it?


LAYER 3: Do you . . .

* Smoke: No.
* Cuss: Hell yes.
* Sing: Do Re Me Fa So La Te Do - Yes
* Do you think you’ve been in love: Yes
* Did you go to college: Yes
* Liked high school:  Yes
* Believe in yourself: Nope
* Think you’re attractive: Nope
* Think you’re a health freak: Nope
* Like thunderstorms: Yes
* Play an instrument: Yes


LAYER 4: In the past month have you…

* Drunk alcohol: No
* Smoked: No
* Done a drug: Just the prescribed ones.
* Made out: Yes
* Gone on a date: No. I'm married I don't do dates.
* Gone to the mall: No
* Eaten an entire box of Oreos: No
* Eaten sushi: No
* Been on stage: Does making a youtube video count? Oh, I played in a band. I was on stage a lot in high school. Duh.
* Been dumped: No
* Gone skating: No
* Gone skinny dipping: No. It's freezing outside!


LAYER 5: Have you ever…

* Played a game that required removal of clothing: about 50 years ago.
* Been trashed or extremely intoxicated: Yes
* Been caught “doing something”: Yes
* Been called a tease: Not in my presence.
* Gotten beaten up: No, I hit back.

LAYER 6:

* Age you did get/hope to be married: 20
* How do you want to die: Hopefully in my sleep.
* What did you want to be when you grew up: a writer
* What country would you most like to visit: New Zealand


LAYER 7: Now tell . . .

* Name a person you could trust with your life: my husband
* Name a favorite CD that you own: Yes I Am, by Melissa Etheridge
* Number of piercings: 2
* Number of tattoos: 0
* Number of times my name has appeared in the newspaper: Thousands. I wrote for the paper and my byline was there in multitudes every week.
* Name a past experience that you regret: too many to list.

__________

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.