Saturday 9: Little Red Corvette

Saturday 9: Little Red Corvette

From the archives.
 
In memory of Prince (1958-2016)

The musician called Prince passed away this week at the age of 57. This year seems to be the year we lose a lot of artistic people.


1) The subject of this song is frankly sexual. Do you blush easily?

A. I'm a medium blusher. 

2) Prince was his real first name (Prince Rogers, to be exact). Growing up, his relatives called him "Skipper." Do you have any nicknames within your family?

A. Yes, but if I tell them I would have to go into deep hiding in outer space.

 

3) Prince said he was "obsessed" with Mozart and read whatever he can find about the composer. What's the last book you read?

A. I'm reading The Japanese Lover by Isabel Allende and listening to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in the car. I am not really obsessed with anything at the moment.

 

4) Between Prince and The Beach Boys, the Corvette is a much sung-about car. Tell us about your vehicle.

 

A. I drive a Toyota Camry. It is my second Camry, and it is white with a bunch of electronic stuff on it that I do not need and doubt I will ever use. I drove it for almost six months before I realized it had a built-in GPS. I liked the interior of the first Camry better, but then it had more room because it didn't have all the electronic junk.

 
5) In the 1980s, when Prince was popular, MTV could turn a song into a hit. In 2016, where do you hear new music?

 

A. Friends post things on Facebook, and I listen to the radio.

 

6) In 1982, when "Little Red Corvette" ruled the airwaves, Braniff Airways shocked the travel industry and threw passengers into chaos by declaring bankruptcy. When did you last fly? Did your trip go smoothly?

 

A. I have not flown since 1993. As best I recall, the trip was fine. (I don't get out much.)

 

7) 1982 is also the year Disney opened Epcot. Have you ever been to a Disney park?

A. Yes, in 1993, that was where we flew to. Disney.

8) 1982 is the year Cheers premiered. The sitcom was set in a bar where "everybody knows your name." Tell us about your favorite local bar or restaurant.

 

A. I don't have a favorite local bar. The restaurant we eat at the most is Shakers, a local chain that has good salads and a nice menu selection. They also play a lot of 1970s and 1980s music, which makes me happy to hear.

 

9) The 1980s were considered a highpoint in professional tennis, with Jimmy Connors and John McEnroe dominating the sport. Do you play tennis?

A. No. I play the guitar, though.

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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.

Thursday 13

What's the pollen count in your area? According to pollen.com, the air I'm breathing in is dusty with pollen, a big ol' 10, with oak, maple and birch trees being the main instigators.

I have asthma and I am allergic to all three of those trees. So here's a list of 13 tips to help you breathe better when the sneezes start.

1. Stay inside. I tend to stay inside all day, but pollen counts usually peak between 5:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m.. They are also higher on dry, hot, windy days. If your local weather forecaster says it's a bad day to be outside, heed his or her advice.

2. If you must go out, do it in late afternoon.

3. The best time to go out is after a rain.

4. Keep your windows closed both in your car and in your home. Try to purchase an automobile with a changeable cabin air filter - this helps keep the dust and pollen out of the car's interior. Also be sure your car air conditioning is on the "use the inside air" mode that most new vehicles have so that you are not pulling outside air into the car.

5. Use air conditioning instead of window and/or attic fans.

6. Take off your shoes before you go in the house. If you've been outside a while, you may want to take off your clothes, too. You can bring the pollen indoors with you.

7. Wash your pets frequently or keep them inside because they can also transport pollen indoors.

8. Dry your clothes in a clothes dryer and do not hang them outside. Pollen will collect on the clean clothing and negate the benefit of washing.

9. If you can, have someone else mow the yard. If you have to do it, wear a mask. If you are very sensitive, you may need to mow in long sleeves and long pants to keep from breaking out in a rash.

10. Choose ground covers that do not produce pollen, such as Irish moss. (I suppose if you could afford it, there is always artificial turf.)

11. Trees around your house should be the kind that do not aggravate allergies. These include crape myrtle, dogwood, palms (they don't grow well in my area), or willow trees.

12. Take a shower in the evening. Washing the pollen off before you go to bed is the best way to ensure that you're not breathing in something that will aggravate your health for the duration of the night. (During bad pollen days, I take fast 3-minute showers twice a day. Once in the morning to get rid of bed-head and to wake up, and another at night to get rid of pollen. I use a timer so I don't waste water.)

13. Lastly, make sure you change the bed linens no less than weekly and wash the sheets in hot water. If you have had the windows open in your home, at the least you should run the bedspread and any blankets through the dryer weekly to lessen dust and pollen build-up. Washing them is better but that can be difficult to do at home every week, especially if you have a heavy coverlet or comforter.

Finally, if your allergies are severe and you find yourself wheezing, sneezing, or otherwise in need of medical care, see your doctor. Prevention helps but can only go so far if, like me, you are sensitive to everything that blooms. If you have asthma, you may need prescription inhalers and information on how to use a peak flow meter to ensure that you're getting enough air. Asthma is not something to ignore as it can be life-threatening.

For more information, check out these links, or do a search on the internet for your specific concern:

http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/asthma/basics/definition/CON-20026992

https://www.niehs.nih.gov/health/topics/agents/allergens/pollen/index.cfm?utm_campaign=%2B+Housing+and+Community&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=28677697&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-__csl3MaOrrxYQgmj1GU270-qr8gWTj9y5ZGazFlbKlza1oLqFNzhDp6jC1n7GENin3457sCoNkeOn47AhUuyGui8nuw&_hsmi=28677697

http://www.webmd.com/allergies/default.htm

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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 444th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday. 

Alice

Alice in Wonderland from a coloring book called "Mythic." Medium: colored pencil.

A Great Talent

I have a friend (who shall remain nameless because I suspect she'd prefer it that way) who drew a caricature for me of my physical therapist. I gave it to my PT yesterday, my next-the-last session before my insurance makes me go to a "home program" that neither of us thinks I am ready for.

 

She loved it, I think.

My PT and I have a lot in common - we are both big Lord of the Rings fans, and enjoy fantasy. We like to read and we have had lots of interesting conversation over the last 75 or so visits. She has been very good to me and incredibly helpful during this most trying time of pain and frustration. She has done her best to get me back on my feet and I think that, had she not helped me, I would probably be unable to make it through the grocery store. I could not do that when we started, but now I can and occasionally I can even walk for 20 minutes without doubling over in pain. So, progress.

Unfortunately, we hit a plateau this winter after I had a severe upper respiratory infection, and things slowed. I stopped improving fast enough for the insurance company.

Wish me luck as I begin my healing adventure on my own. My main goal is not to go backwards, and forward progress would be most welcome. We can only see what happens from here on out.

A Bad Purchase

Back in May 2010, we purchased new windows for our home. At that time, the windows were the original from 1987, and they leaked. During the winter the house was drafty and cold.

We did extensive research on window brands available, and ultimately settled on Gorell because at the time, they were listed as among the best and given high energy efficient ratings and blah blah blah.

Fast forward six years and we're ready to replace the damn things again. Most of them have already been replaced once under warranty because the glass did weird things and turned brown or the gas leaked out of the seal.

Unfortunately, Gorell went bankrupt in 2012. The company was bought out by Soft-Lite, which chose not to honor the lifetime Gorell warranty.

Instead they came up with some deal with the installer that if they sold so much of their product, they could then obtain warranty replacements. The installer refused to honor the window warranty as well, though they did (sort of) honor their free labor for 5 years portion of the agreement.

Toward the end of our five-year labor warranty with the installer, we parted with harsh words because the windows were (and are) crap and they wouldn't stand behind what they sold.

I have two windows now that look like this -

That is not screen. That is degeneration of the window glass. It has turned brown and you cannot see through it. We managed to get several replaced after Gorell went out of business but it was a trying task. It took well over a year to replace some of them, and during the time we waiting on those, others began to fail. 

 
Replacement windows are not cheap. We spent thousands of dollars on these. Some day soon we are going to have to do it again. These certainly aren't going to last as long as the windows we originally had on the house.

My guess is Gorell was beginning to have problems about the time we made our purchase, and we got the short end of things despite the raving reviews online in 2010. Probably about the time we received these windows, they were cutting quality because of financial issues which they obviously could not overcome.

The company that installed these windows, Southwest Sunroom and Windows, doesn't show up as a dealer for Soft-Lite anymore. The nearest dealer who comes up is in North Carolina, about 100 miles away.

The last time we tried to replace these, while still under the 5-year warranty, the installation company sent us a bill for both labor and the window. We didn't pay it and pointed out it was all still under warranty. They billed us several times and my husband had some angry phone conversations and we sent at least one letter before they stopped billing us.

If we want to replace the browned-out windows, I guess our only option would be to contact Soft-Lite and pay for them. But that is not happening. We will replace all of these windows with some other brand, at some point, and not spend any more money with a company that refused to stand behind the warranties it obtained during the bankruptcy sale.

And of course, we will use a different installer, having burnt that bridge over these horrible Gorell/Soft-Lite windows.

The drafty, cold air still comes in. It is especially apparent in the second-replaced windows, the ones made by Soft-Lite and not Gorell. They do not fit as well as the original Gorells. Of the original Gorells that did not fail (or have not so far), they seem to be okay. But I think of the 12 windows we originally replaced, about 7 of them failed, either with the gas leaking out or the window panes turning brown.

Buyer beware, is all I can say. Businesses all want one thing - your money - and they don't give a rat's ass if you are happy with the product or not. I think the installer should have stood behind the product; after all, they sold it to us. They should have offered to give us a complete set of windows of a different brand, but of course they weren't going to do that. I also think the company that bought out Gorell should have stood behind the warranty.

But we live in a world where it's all hooray for me and f&ck you, don't we? And guess where we ended up with these windows. It certainly wasn't on the "hooray for me" end.

Sunday Stealing: 25 Large

From Sunday Stealing

25 Large Meme

1.Travel anywhere, where would it be?

A. To some other M Class planet. (That's a planet that humans can live on, for the non-Star Trek folks.)

2. Meet anyone, who would it be?

A. The beings on the M Class planet. Hopefully, they are not hostile to aliens.

3. Bring anyone dead back to life, who would it be?

A. Nobody.

4. Be anyone for a day, who would it be?

A. One of the beings on the far-away M Class planet.

5. Get anything for free for the rest of your life what would it be?

A. Health care.

6. Change one thing about your life what would it be?

A. My health.

7. Have any superpower what would it be?

A. I would like to be able to heal people.

8. Be any animal for a day which would you be?

A. An eagle, so I could soar through the sky and see what the world looks like from that angle.

9. Date anyone who would it be?

A. I am happily married, but my husband thinks I have a crush on Orlando Bloom, so I will say him.

10. Change one thing about the world what would it be?

A. We would have no inequality.

11. Live in any fictional universe which would you choose?

A. Apparently a Star Trek one today, though one would think I would want to live in a Tolkien world given my love of Lord of the Rings.

12. Eliminate one of your human needs which would you get rid of?

A. Eating.

13. Change one thing about your physical appearance what would it be?

A. Less fat, more muscle.

14. Change one of your personality traits which would you choose?

A. I would not be judgmental.

15. Be talented at anything instantly what would you choose?

A. I'd like to play the guitar better.

16. If you could meet anyone on this earth, who would it be?

A. The person who is the wisest.

17. Erase an event from history (make it so it never happened) which would you choose?

A. The bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

18. Have any hair/eye/skin color, which would you choose?

A. I'm fine as I am, thank you.

19. Be any weight/body type, which would you choose?

A. I'd be slimmer and fitter.

20. Live in any country/city, where would you choose?

A. Some place in Sweden or Norway.

21. Change one law in your country, which would you change?

A. The Electoral College.

22. Be any height, which would you choose?

A. 5' 5". I'm 5' 2" and it is hard to reach the top shelf at the grocery store.

23. Have any job in the world, which would you choose?

A. A multiple-published book author. Meaning, I think, I am one of those people who want to have written as opposed to one who wants to write, even though I've published (and been paid for) thousands upon thousands of words. Just not a book.

24. Have anything appear in your pocket right now, what would it be? 

A. One of those medical tricorders from Star Trek that Dr. McCoy used to fix people.

25. Have anyone beside you right now, who would it be?

A. My husband.

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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: You're Beautiful

Saturday 9: You're Beautiful (2005)

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

1) The first line is of this song is, "My life is brilliant." Using one word, describe your life.

A. Confused.

2)  This is about a chance encounter between strangers in a crowd, specifically the subway. What "crowded place" were you most recently in?

A. The supermarket.

3) Near the very end of this song, James Blunt sings, "It's time to face the truth." Do you believe you face things head on? Or do you tend to deny or put off the unpleasant?

A. It depends on the situation. Some things you have to face immediately, the moment they're happening. Other things you put off and hope something decides to heal on its own.

4) James Blunt went to an all-boys school. Some educators recommend single-sex classrooms because they maintain girls just naturally approach subjects like math and science differently than boys do. Do you agree?

A. I went to a same-sex college (go Hollins!) and loved it. The masters level courses were co-ed, and in my creative writing seminars, men were frequently in the room. They tended to dominate the conversation, take over, be snide and condescending. And the teacher nearly always called on them first. But in the undergraduate classes, all female, there was none of that, we were all equal. I learned so much about being strong, inwardly and outwardly, from those classes, things I would never have learned had I always been second place everywhere to a male. So I agree with single-sex education but not because the sexes learn differently (though they may) but because the patriarchal society we live in simply demands that women fall in line and come second, an attitude that even an all-female undergraduate school cannot vanquish when men are added to a class for whatever reason.

5) Blunt put his father in charge of his finances. Income taxes are top of mind for many of us this time of year. Do you do your own taxes? Or do you go to an accountant or tax preparation service?

A. I have an accountant. We had been going to the same accountant for over 10 years, but we did not agree with some of his advice, so last year we went elsewhere. That turned into a nightmare, as this year we had to pay someone else to redo the 2014 taxes and the 2015 taxes. The person who did the 2014 taxes was either clueless or not who he said he was. At any rate, we think we have it sorted out now with someone who at least understands what a farm is.

6)  In 2005, the year this song was a hit, the sitcom How I Met Your Mother was also popular.  Do you know how your parents met?

A. My father had come home from the Army and wanted to go fishing. His parents lived in the house behind my grandparents'. He asked if he could look for worms underneath an old mulberry tree my grandparents had in the back yard. My mother went to help him look for worms. I guess she caught the worm she was looking for.

7) 2005 is also the year Tom Cruise famously jumped on a sofa. Do you remember where he did this?

A. He was on some talk show, but I can't remember if it was a late night show or Oprah or whatever. Gee, let's google: Oh. Apparently it was Oprah so I was sort of recalling it right.

8) 2005 was also the year YouTube really took off. What's the last video you watched?

A. You're Beautiful, the video for the Saturday 9 song, of course.

9) Random question ... Which of these high profile jobs would you enjoy more: head of General Motors, CEO of Apple or president of the New York Yankees?

A. CEO of Apple. It sounds like it might have some potential for creativity in it, and I don't know a thing about cars except how to put them in gear and drive them. I don't like baseball, so that's out, too.

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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.

A Mystery Gift

The mailman brought me an Amazon box with a present inside today:

A box of Cella's Dark Chocolate covered cherries. No note, no nothing to identify who sent them.

I have my suspicions as to who the sender might be, but they are thus far unverified.

But it is always a good day when someone unexpectedly sends chocolate.

Thank you!

Thursday 13

Yellow Forsythia

1. Zero hour - nothing left. Time to blast off into outer space, or take a last breathe. What if we all lived as if our Zero Hour was tomorrow - would the world be chaos, or a better place?

2. Yellow is a wonderfully springy color. First it comes with the daffodils and the forsythia, and then it is followed by iris, yellow mustard in the fields (the bane of many farmers), and yellow pollen all over the cars and the patio.



3. eXcalibur is the name of King Arthur's sword in the Arthurian legends. The word has been around since about 1100 A.D., though it was originally called Caledfwlch, which is Welsh. Similar swords show up in old Irish mythology. Swords symbolize more than just maleness; this website on sword symbolism points out that it is an alchemical symbol of purification, a symbol that cuts away ignorance (boy do we need that in the U.S.A. these days), and in the Tarot, the sword represents the realm of the mind.

4. Why do people believe that they must force their beliefs upon others? And at what point does the request for lack of bigotry and more acceptance become a return force? Recent events have made me ponder this query. I've been reading both sides and haven't come up with an answer.

5. Vampires do not attract me, so I never watched True Blood. I did, however, like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but that was because of Buffy, not the vampires. I love watching shows where strong women get to be strong. Right now I am really into Supergirl. I hope CBS renews this show.

6. Unearned respect seems to be the mantra of the day - especially among political candidates. I do not respect people who have lived their lives simply to make themselves rich. I respect people who have worked to make things better not only for themselves but for others, and not just family members. People who earn my respect tend to be nurses, emergency service workers, non-profit leaders who help abused people, teachers, and those in similar vocations. I do not respect ball players, sports people, or most politicians because unfortunately the latter in particular has eroded the state of office to the point where it not a place of helping, but of hurting. I have ambivalence about musicians, mostly because I play music myself.

7. Taxes have been on my mind this week because we finally finished our up for 2015. What a debacle. We have switched accountants because the accountant we used last year (new to us) fouled our 2014 taxes so badly we had to pay for a do-over. It is hard to find people who will do their job well.

8. Salaries for women remain unequal to their male counterparts. In 2014, women working full time in the United States typically were paid just 79 percent of what men were paid, a gap of 21 percent. At this rate, it will take 100 years before equality of pay is achieved. April 12 was Equal Pay Day (I didn't even know that existed.) Here is an interesting article about this concern by the AAUW. Unfortunately, education is not the answer to the problem under our current system.



Robin, not a Redbird

9. Redbirds, or cardinals, are one of my favorite birds. I don't seem them often here though I hear their cries. The female bird is more dowdy than the showy male.

10. Queens do not fair well in Westeros, the land in Game of Thrones. This fantasy series is scheduled to begin its 6th season on April 24. The author of the series, George R.R. Martin, seems to have a bit of a misogynist streak in him as women in that land generally are treated as chattel instead of people, unless by birthright or marriage one happens to achieve power. Even then, heads roll.

11. Pyrethrum is an insecticide made from daisies and/or chrysanthemums that is supposed to work on stink bugs. We have a stink bug problem in the house and are considering using this, but WebMD cautions that using this as an herbal or vitamin supplement can be disastrous for those who have ragweed allergies, so we are hesitant. I have so many environmental sensitivities that we have to take our time deciding if we want to use this or not, but it would probably be better than some commercial synthetic pesticide.

12. Oatmeal cookies, made by Little Debbie, have been one of my favorite comfort foods since I was a little girl. I call them "granddaddy cookies" because my grandfather always carried one in his lunch pail each day when he went off to work. The grandchildren were not allowed to eat these special cookies unless we had a very bad boo-boo.

13. "Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep." How is that prayer comforting? I always found it rather scary. Especially, "If I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take." This is a kid's prayer, right? I learned it as a child. It's rather scary, sort of like a Grimm's fairy tale version of what a nice prayer would be. Wouldn't a better prayer be something like, "Dear Lord in Heaven up above, thank you for this day of love. Tomorrow when I see the sun, I will remember you are the One." Or something.

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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 443rd time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday. 

Psychedelic Butterflies

Medium: Colored Markers

Spring Valley (with cows)

Can you see the rainbow?

Sunday Stealing: Ask

From Sunday Stealing

Ask Ask Ask Meme

(For some reason, that meme title has that song that goes "say say say what you want" - a McCartney song, I think? - running through my head now)

1 - If you were stranded on an island, who do you wish to be with? A. My husband. He can chop wood, snuggle, and stuff.

2 - What do you feel right now? A. Tired, lonely, and frustrated.

3 - What chocolate is your favorite? A. Milk chocolate, I suppose. I like dark chocolate up to about 70% then it tastes bitter to me. My favorite chocolate treat are Cella's dark chocolate covered cherries.

4 - Why did you create a blog account? A. To blog, of course. I was looking for a different sort of creative outlet, at the time. Then I made friends online and offline because of the blog, and now that I am unable to work it is a good way to keep my writing skills up and my mind occupied.

5 - Who is your favorite blogger? A. I don't have one, but all Saturday 9 and Sunday Stealing bloggers, along with local bloggers, are my favorites.

6 - When was the last time you cried? Why? A. About two weeks ago when my physical therapist told me my insurance company had decided I wasn't going to get any better.

7 - Who is your best friend? A. My husband is my best friend, but I have several women in my life whom I love dearly and consider close friends.

8 - What kind of music do you listen to? A. I like 1970s music along with music that is similar to Melissa Etheridge's and Sheryl Crow's (her earlier stuff, not her country stuff). I also like movie theme music (depending on the movie).

9 - Do you have trouble sleeping at night? A. I usually wake at least twice during the night because of pain.

10 - What do you prefer, jeans or shorts? A. Jeans. I seldom wear shorts.

11 - Did you try to change for a person? A. I am a constantly evolving work of art.

12 - Are you in a good or bad mood? A. I'm in a mediocre mood.

13 - Name someone you can’t live without. A. My husband.

14 - Do you have a grudge against anyone? A. Many people disappoint me. I try to forgive them and remember that we are all crawling through the darkness on a long journey, one filled with potholes, glaring lights, and car crashes. I do think, though, that hard as I try, there are a few people whom I will never fully forgive. I don't wish them ill, but I don't particularly want them in my life.
 
15 - Are you a crybaby? A. Wahhhh! I hope not. My husband says I am not high maintenance, which I take as a compliment.

16 - When people praise you for your looks, what feature do they praise? A. Usually my skin.

17 - What hair color do you prefer? A. Natural. I think the majority of people look better with whatever color their hair is supposed to be. I understand the desire for hiding the gray, but I wear mine as a badge of honor. Look how long I have lived!

18 - If you can change anything about yourself, what is it? A. I'd take things less personally.

19 - Can you live without internet? A. I did before it came along, so yes. Would I prefer to do without it? No.

20 - Have you ever experienced being hysterical? A. Yes.

21 - Did you have an accident last year? A. No.

22 - What are you thinking right now? A. That I should be walking on the treadmill instead of doing this meme.

23 - Have you been hurt so bad that you can’t find words to explain how you feel? A. Every day.

24 - Do you have trust issues? A. Yes.

25 - Who’s the person who first comes to your mind when someone mentions love? A. My husband.

26 - Do you believe in the phrase “If it’s meant to be, it will be,”? A. No.

27 - Do you believe in destiny? A. No.

28 - How do you look right now? A. Tired and worn.

29 - Did you ever feel like you’re not good enough? A. Every day of my life.

__________

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: Friends

Saturday 9: That's What Friends Are For (1985)

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

1) This week's song is performed by an all-star quartet: Dionne Warwick, Elton John, Gladys Knight and Stevie Wonder. You have your choice: which of these four would you most like to see in concert?

A. I've seen Elton John; he was fabulous. I think I'd have to go with Stevie Wonder as my next choice.

2) Dionne Warwick was Whitney Houston's cousin. Name a Whitney Houston song.

A. I Will Always Love You (originally written in 1973 and recorded in 1974 by Dolly Parton)

3) Gladys Knight owns a chain of chicken and waffle restaurants around Atlanta. When you have waffles, what do you top them with? (Powdered sugar? Butter? Syrup? Fruit?)

A. Syrup and butter, and preferably the waffle is the kind with the blueberries inside of it. I eat them like I do pancakes, though I prefer pancakes to waffles.

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

A. I have five pairs of prescription glasses here, none of which I can see well out of at the moment. I have a prescription for a new pair but have not been out to price shop. The last ones, which I am wearing now, cost me $600+ so I am in no hurry.

5) Stevie Wonder has a scar on his nose from a 1973 car crash. Have you ever been in a car accident?

A. Yes. I was in a couple of accidents as a child, nothing major, and I rear-ended a vehicle around 1992, resulting in a massive contusion of my knee and the need to take a driver's education course to keep from getting a ticket. And then there was the time I backed over my husband's motorcycle . . . fortunately he wasn't sitting on it at the time. He'd parked it in my blind spot and I just didn't see it.

6) Burt Bacharach and Carole Bayer Sager were married when they wrote this. Do you know a husband and wife who work together?

A. My husband and I sort of work together on the farm; he does the sweaty work and I keep the books. I am sure there are other couples I know who work together but at the moment my thinker isn't thinking.

7) This song celebrates friendship through good times and bad. Tell us about a happy time you recently shared with someone close to you.

A. My husband and I had a really nice trip to Charleston, SC back in the fall.

8) Now share a time when you were there for a friend through a tough time.

A. I have a friend who has a serious illness; I try to boost her spirits, keep in touch, go to lunch when we can, make her laugh. And recently another friend's brother passed away and I called and checked on her frequently for several weeks afterwards. I guess that is "being there."

9) Random question: When is the last time you were out of breath?

A. When my husband came in with his smelly hay clothes on and my asthma kicked in almost immediately. If you mean like from exercising, it is has been a while because of my health issues.

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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.

Thursday Thirteen

Things I miss because I no longer write for the local newspaper:

1. The actual writing of the story. Putting together a news story is like mapping out a great quest (even a boring supervisors' meeting). The writer has to figure out the who, what, when, where, and why and the most important items.

2. The people involved with the newspaper (that would be Ed and B.J.). I had contact with them several times a week when I wrote regularly, and I miss those conversations.

3. Getting out of the house to do a story. Most of the events I covered were government meetings - boring in most folk's eyes - but I enjoyed them and found the workings of local government fascinating.

4. Knowing the players. The cast of officials has changed since I stopped writing for the local paper in July due to health issues. We have a new county administrator and probably new support staff. The supervisors are the same people but I missed reporting on a big snuff-up over historic structures and economic development.

5. Keeping up with what is going on. Unfortunately, a newspaper story does not tell or explain all that goes on in a local government meeting. There is no way for a writer to convey everything that goes on there, because the nuances are great and multiple. From snide remarks to lip curling, things like that go unwritten because they are more observations and opinion than fact. I stuck to facts, generally speaking, though occasionally an observation crept into a story if it made it more interesting and was relatively harmless.

6. Late evening phone calls. When I worked from home and was essentially doing a full beat (though freelance), I sort of operated as a second base for the paper at times. People called me at all hours of the day to tell me things or ask questions or respond to my inquiries.

7. The thrill of the chase. There is nothing more exciting to me than chasing down the leads for a good story. Trying to find the truth of something, trying to understand who is lying and why, or figuring out what someone is hiding when they shouldn't be, tracking down the rumor of a big company moving into the area - that's the stuff that used to make my blood feel happy. It was like playing detective except not.

8. Seeing my byline. Yes, I confess, I am egotistical enough to miss seeing my byline in the newspaper. Some weeks it covered the whole front page, top and bottom, photos included.

9. Taking photos. I still carry a camera around with me wherever I go, but my reasons for taking pictures have changed. Now I take them for me, for some kind of artistic purpose that even I don't quite understand, not with an eye towards the news-reading public.

10. Doing exciting things to "get the story." Over the course of the 30 years I wrote for the paper, I spent times at ball games, went up in a hot air balloon, took an airplane ride over the county with drunkard, and rode through the National Forest with the chief ranger to places most folks were clueless about.

11. Educating the public. I considered this the main reason I wrote for the paper - to help folks understand what was going on around them, and why they should care.

12. Writing about interesting things. Feature stories ranged from endangered bats to construction workers - I don't believe I ever found someone I couldn't write something about (though I did find a few I wouldn't write about, a different matter entirely).

13. Being read by over 20,000 people, and having the check-out clerk at the grocery store say, "Aren't you ..." Yes, egotistical again. But for a while I was a minor celebrity in my little area. People still know my name, but it doesn't take long for it to fade from mind. And new residents, of course, will have no idea. I suppose I shall fade in obscurity.

Times change. I changed - my health changed. But I sure do miss that thrill of chasing a story.

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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 442nd time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday. 

Movie Talk

Do you like movies about:

time travel? I enjoyed Planet of the Apes movies when I was young (time travel in those - the Earth in future times, governed by apes with man as captive and slave). I also liked all of the Back to the Future movies, so I suppose I do like them, if they are well done and not overly graphic.

the 80's? Not about the '80s, really, but made then: Raiders of the Lost Ark and Ghostbusters, for example. Not really a fan of the brat pack movies.

drugs? Not particularly.

crazy people? Not particularly.

hallucinations? Not particularly.

airplanes? Not particularly.

death? Not particularly.

life? Aren't most of them about life, in some fashion or another?

the meaning of life? That can be derived from many movies and genres. Too vague a question.

fate? Also vague.

I like fantasy movies that end well, or at least, satisfactorily. I like movies with magic in them, movies that are well acted, and movies that make me feel something. Some of my favorites are The Lord of the Rings (all three of them, and no surprise to anyone who has read this blog much), The Harry Potter movies (a few more than others, but they need to be taken as a whole), an older movie called LadyHawke (features Michelle Pfiefer and Matthew Broderick); and of course, The Wizard of Oz.

And Star Wars. We cannot forget Star Wars. Or E.T.

Other movies that may not be considered fantasy but actually are include Monty Python and the Holy Grail, The Little Mermaid, Shrek, and Beauty and the Beast. Many Disney movies are fantasies - Sleeping Beauty, anyone?

Chick flicks (I think that's what they call them) also appeal to me. I like Dirty Dancing, Under the Tuscan Sun, Romancing the Stone, The Rose, etc. I also enjoyed Secretariat and the Sherlock Holmes movies with Rob Lowe in them.

My movie education is pretty bereft, actually. I need to watch old movies and catch up, but I have never been one to watch movies. For one thing, my husband is a terrible "flipper" with the remote and if I don't catch something from its very beginning, I refuse to start in the middle and try to catch up.
This would be a better question for my husband, I expect, who does watch more TV than I and enjoys watching movies (regardless of whether he sees the beginning or the end).