Dust Bunnies of the Mind

Defending Paula Deen

2012-01-18T08:27:00.000-08:00

Big news!!!! Earthshattering in fact....evidently, if you consider the amount coverage that this hasbeen getting. More important than thekudzu of deficits that are swallowing the earth's economies. More devastating than Obama's gun runningscheme. Fast and Furious. Biggerthan....well, you get the gist.

Paula Deen, the queen of butter and Southern Style comfortfood, has diabetes and the food police are doing a happy happy joy dance. AHA!!! That's what she gets for forcing allof her viewers to eat red velvet cake, fried chicken with gravy, macaroni andcheese and other such items that the food Nazi's despise.

Serves her right!! Right? Right?? No. Wrong.

People are attacking Deen because she has diabetes, hascontinued with her show and is now endorsing a diabetes drug. "Anthony Bourdain is .....mocking thebutter-loving chef for poisoning Americans with unhealthy food ... and nowtrying to profit off of their illness."

She is POISONING us!!! OMG!!!!. Run for the hills. Be sure to dodge all those buttermilkbiscuits, hams and sweet potato casseroles while you are making your dash tosafety.

In defense ofPaula Deen. Come on people! itis just a cooking show. Not a dietplan. She is showing you how to preparecertain dishes that are the hallmarks of a certain cooking style. Nowhere and at no time does she say that youshould eat all of these things every day, three times a day.

If you don't have the common sense or self control to eatsensibly...well, I don't know what to tell you. Maybe you shouldn't be allowed outside andyou should let other people make your decisions for you. Oh.....wait.....that is just what the FoodNazi's want to do.

They want to control every aspect of your culinary life byeliminating ingredients. Demonizing certain foods and certain companies thatprovide food. Can we all sayMcDonald's....hmmmm? The want to forcetheir ideas of diet and food upon you.

Now, I don't think you SHOULD eat a pound of butter or stuffyour pie hole with pie until you are fat and diabetic. But, it should be your choice. Go ahead. Eat your life away.

It should also be my choice, our choice to not have to pay for yourself inflicted health condidtion. Thisis why I strongly object to Obama Care and Socialized Medicine. But.....that is a rant for another day.

Let me make a disclaimer. The Dumbplumber (my hubby) has Type 2 diabetes. It runs in his family and he was diagnosedabout 10 years ago. We didn't know much about being diabetic. We had to research and learn how to live. So, I know what itis like to change your life, change your diet and be aware of what you are eating. at all times. It is hard. It isn't always fun.

The keys to controlling diabetes are diet and exercise. His condition is controlled by this and aminimal dose of oral medication. Doesthis mean that we will never be able to enjoy a piece of cake or a favoritecomfort food ever again? Do we have towear a dietary hair shirt and eat tofu daily?

Of course not.

I post many recipes on my cooking site [Recipe Junkie] that are certainlyhigh fat, high sugar and would throw The Dumbplumber into a diabetic spiral ifhe ate them all at one time or more than just occasionally. LeavePaula Deen alone. She not only shows ushow to make good food, she can now serve as an example on how to live a goodlife with diabetes.

We have learned that you CAN have your cake and eat ittoo. Just in moderation.

The Best Ever Christmas Display: Our International Holdiays

2011-12-24T09:54:00.000-08:00

In a previous post I mentioned my conflict about Christmas as an adult. This got me to remembering some of my childhood Christmas experiences and one of the best ever Christmas displays. This is going to be a long post, but ...hey....I'm blogging for me! Not you.

I'm indulging myself.

Let me preface by saying we spent many of our Christmas holidays in Mexico. My grandmother and my Dad's younger siblings lived there from the mid 1940's to the late 1960's. 30 years as legal residents of Mexico and they had two places to live. One was a very modern apartment in Mexico City and the other a wonderful rustic old villa in Tequisquiapan.

Aunt Rae in the courtyard Tequis....after college

One side of the courtyard

My aunts and uncles were going to the College of Americas or high school in Mexico and since it was Christmas break, our family usually spent several months traveling to Mexico and just visiting. From the late 50's until the family moved back to the States our Christmas was international.

1960 Family in Acapulco.

Acapulco was a favorite spot. At that time it was a resort town for the Mexican elite society and especially the favorite of the college students. As kids, my brother and I loved it. Warm sands, surf and we were able to be pretty much on our own, running up and down the beach and body surfing. There were no 'helicopter' parents in those days.

Some photos from that time. My brother being a butt and refusing to smile because he didn't want to have a photo taken. Ahhhhh. family memories...lol.

Aunt Rae being very "glam" on the beach in front of our hotel. That's my grandmother in the back. Uncle Owen, being a studly high school senior.

(AAARGH I give up...blogger will not let me position the photos on the page how I want or let me resize them!!. )

Rae.... College age

Uncle Owen...high school

But, all this digression leads me to to the most awesome Christmas display ever. Even though we were not immersed in Santa and Rudolph, I believe we got a better understanding of what Christmas is all about. The Christ Child. Baby Jesus. (description of the display after the jump)

In the lobby of the hotel we were staying, they had a large diorama (I think that is the term) or display. It was a low platform about 5 feet square, with dirt mounding to a hill in the middle of the space. On top of the hill was the stable. There were little trees and bushes. Rocks and paths wandering through the landsape. Tiny sheep, cattle, horses, chickens, pigs scattered about. Small people doing activities. In the stable were Mary and Joseph and way off in one corner on the path were the Three Wisemen. There was a beautiful crystal star hanging over the stable. It was very detailed and very cool. It was also fenced off to keep us kiddies from messing with the diorama or playing with the figurines.

Every day we would get up and look at the progress of the scene because at night, the staff would come and rearrange the scene. Each day, the Wisemen would be just a bit closer up the path. The animals and people would also be moving up the hill. Mary and Joseph would move around in the stable, too. It was fun to see it and notice the changes from yesterday.

On Christmas Eve....all the pieces were so very close to the top of the hill. The excitment would be building each day because we knew how this story would end. FINALLY, on Christmas morning.....there was Baby Jesus in the manger!!! TA DAH!! All the Wisemen were in the stable and their gifts were placed before the manger. The animals were peering into the stable windows and the figures of the people were doing the same and some kneeling reverent figurines had been place close on the path and around the building.

Christmas was here!. Then we opened our presents. Went to church and later a brunch back at the hotel, because we had fasted for communion. THEN......off to the beach to swim and surf.

The traditional Christmas swiming and surfing and Margaritias for the adults.

My Christmas memories.

Flip Side of the Power of Prayer

2011-12-22T10:34:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I think that the world is coming to a final judgement day when I read some of the articles on the net.

The other day there was an extremely disturbing story on the internet. Among the many disturbing articles out there, this one really got to me because in my mind pets like dogs, cats are innocent beings that should be protected and cherished and animals should never be abused or treated cruelly. Yes....yes. We eat animals and death is part of that process. But, there is no excuse for abuse in that process. People who abuse animals are the lowest form of life and deserve no sympathy.

A Brazilian woman who is a nurse beat a small puppy to death, in front of her child.    I couldn't bear to look at some of the still photos, much less dare to link to the video that was taken by an outraged neighbor. Too horrible and too inhuman to contemplate. The video was posted on the internet by the outraged neighbor when the police would do nothing. The ire and and well deserved venom that is being heaped upon the woman who beat the dog is incredible.

Millions of people around the world literally hate this woman.

This got me to thinking about the Power of Prayer and positive thinking.   The power of positive thinking in healing yourself and praying for the healing of another. There are many inspirational stories about prayer and groups of people praying that seem to have resulted in miraculous cures.

As a somewhat agnostic person, my personal take on prayer and positive thinking is....what can it hurt? Why not be positive? Why not if you believe in a higher power combine your thoughts with others to create a bigger channel to the higher power?   A larger and clearer signal uploaded to the higher power or to God.

If you don't believe in God, and want to go more scientific, there have been studies to try to quantify the results of a group prayer. Inconclusive so far. Maybe it could be that the energy from our brains, telepathy, psychokinesis.....who knows.

In regards to the Power of Prayer and Positive Thinking, what if there is a flip side. The power of group hate.   Millions of people thinking negative thoughts about YOU. Millions of people literally wishing you dead or wishing terrible things upon you.

Millions of waves of "negative vibes" wafting her way. Millions of minds engaged in group hate

I wonder if this woman from Brazil can feel the hate.

I hope so.

Reading My Husband's Mind

2011-12-19T15:43:00.000-08:00

Soooo. The other day the Dumbplumber pipes up and says something like. "He told me the other day that he would be able to have me over tomorrow to do that thing."

I'm thinking to myself, who is "he" and what "thing"? My husband is always thinking and then just jumps right into the middle of the conversation without any preamble or context. It comes from having a busy mind and being preoccupied, but damn! it is frustrating.

I said--(snarkily)------> "You know, we have been married now for 18 years and I still haven't quite gotten that mind reading thingy down pat yet."

He said: "Well, it is easy. Here let me give you some clues
.
...humina, humina, humina.....TITS

..humina, humina, humina.....BEER

..humina, humina, humina.....TITS

..humina, humina, humina.....HOT RODS

..humina, humina, humina.....SEX

..humina, humina, humina.....SCOTCH

..humina, humina, humina.....FOOD oh ..... and TITS

See...it IS easy to read my mind."

Oooookaaay. Thanks for the clues.

He also said: "If you don't post this you don't have a hair on your ass."

Well, I don't have a hairy butt, but here is the post.

Who makes me laugh and smile every day. Dumbplumber...that's who.

What I Love About Christmas.....What I Hate About Christmas

2011-12-17T15:22:00.000-08:00

Ah...the most wonderful time of the year. Ring ling a ling. Christmas is here. Fa la la la la. Bah humbug.

I'm always conflicted about the Christmas season. There is much to love and much to not love.

In the past, before marrying Mr. Dumbplumber and when I was working for minimum wages at a crappy job, standing on my feet for 8 hours a day and living in a crumbling shamble of a marriage, Christmas was a time of stress and hardship. With no money and no happiness in my life, I "put on a happy face" for my child. Keeping up the fantasy of Christmas was tiring, discouraging and depressing. We didn't have family close by so we rarely had any gatherings of relatives. No Norman Rockwell Christmases. Christmas was also a time to remind me how alone I was and isolated from family. We had presents, mostly hand made because I couldn't afford much else. I was the only parent who participated in the Christmas decorating or the Christmas spirit. We did have good food, cookies, candy, cakes and all the trimmings. THIS I can do on a shoestring.

Christmas to me, as an adult, always represented deprivation, hardship and inadequacy. My daughter didn't know this and her memories of the holidays are good. My job as a parent was successful: to protect your child and allow them the joys and fantasies of the holidays.

Things are different now and money isn't an issue, but the stress is still there. Like a cat that has been conditioned by evil scientists with shock treatments, I still am wary about the holidays. My wonderful husband says......GET OVER IT. So I try.

Today, there is much to like about Christmas and much not to like.

I love to give presents. To think about what the person needs and wants and to see their appreciation of the gift is priceless. To try to find just the right thing for each person. I still hand make many of my gifts because I like to do so. It isn't out of necessity now, it is out of love.

I hate wrapping presents. I don't do a very good job because I'm impatient. My packages look like a team of Chimpanzees did the wrapping. Frankly, I really don't see much point in spending lots of money on wrapping, bows, glitter and all that stuff. The package is going to be ripped open and the effort put into making it "pretty" is going to be burned in the trash barrel shortly after Christmas along with the other boxes and trash. Those gift bags that can be used over again are a brilliant invention.

I love decorating the tree. Each ornament.....mostly hand made from salt dough, knitted, quilted from fabric scraps or assembled from feathers from wild game we had killed and eaten, has a memory attached. Granted some of the memories are not so good, but others are. The fun that my daughter and I had making the hair of Santa's salt dough beard with a garlic press. The time we were able to buy a special ornament, that ceramic skating teddy bear or the glass prism stars.

I hate decorating the tree, because all the while I know that I will have to clean up all this stuff. The prickly tree will attack me and leave welts that itch and last for weeks. The lights become impossibly snarled. Each ornament will have to be put back into the boxes or wrapped up for protection. Knowing that as time goes on after Christmas, the tree will begin to look sadder and sadder and eventually be thrown out to be burned. What a waste of time. I'm always tempted to just throw the whole tree out with the lights still attached.

I love the cooking. What a great excuse to make mounds of goodies. To try out new recipes and give the results to friends. The holidays are a cooking fanatic and recipe junkie's best time of the year. Inviting family and friends over for a big feast is something I look forward to.

I love the fact that Christmas is when the days begin getting longer and that we are turning the corner of the short days, dark cold nights to the promise of spring and summer. To every season...turn turn turn.

I hate that my birthday is just after Christmas. January 6. Epiphany. A birthday party was always an afterthought. I think I had 3 birthday parties as a kid. Everyone else was burned out by the holidays from Halloween through New Years. Who wanted to have yet another party? Generally, it was just..."Oh...here is an extra gift for your birthday under the tree". I suppose it could be worse, my father's birthday is Christmas Eve.

In addition, many of our Christmases were spent in Mexico visiting with our relatives who lived in Mexico City or traveling to and fro to get there and back. Most of the childhood memories I have of Christmas are those with a Mexican tradition, not American.

I love some kinds of Christmas music. My favorites are the traditional tunes that are about the religious nature of Christmas. THIS is one of my favorites.

I hate the Christmas music that is everywhere beginning shortly after Halloween it seems. In the grocery store, on all radio stations. If I have to hear Santa Baby or Rocking Around the Christmas Tree one more time, I'm going to find a department store Santa and beat the crap out of him. Ho....freaking HO! I think Christy Lee must have finally biffed it since we aren't bombarded with her advertisements. Thank you God. Having Christmas shoved down our throats 24/7 really doesn't put me into the holiday spirit.

Which brings me to one of my biggest hates about Christmas. I HATE the merchandising The commercial buy buy BUY THIS STUFF attitude. The relentless shoving of products and brainwashing of the children to demand ever more gifts and ever more expensive gifts. I guess this goes back to my first issue of poverty and Christmas. As a parent, you often just can NOT get that Barbie Dream House, new bike, game system or whatever. The children, especially those who still believe in...you know who....don't understand this and when the gift they have their heart set upon getting isn't there, they think that maybe there is something wrong. Did Santa not like them this year? Were they bad? Terrible children? So in order to not disappoint your young child and to not appear to be an inadequate failure of a parent in the eyes of your children, you cave into the merchandising frenzy and go into debt for toys and items that often are just later discarded or wear out.

I try to think about the good things, remember WHY we have Christmas and to appreciate how much better my life is now. You do need to have experienced the downs in life to appreciate the good fortune you have..... and I am very blessed indeed.

Merry Christmas. Have some delicious cookies and don't let me wrap your presents for you.

Life Is A Series Of Re-Runs

2011-12-05T09:29:00.001-08:00

Watching the Occupy everywhere movement, their fervor and the breathless coverage by the media.....It occurs to me, looking back from my lofty years (61) that life is often a series of re-runs. Events and patterns happen over and over.

When you are young, it seems like everything that is happening to you and that you are experiencing is happening for the first time. And for you....it is. The first time. The first kiss, the first time you have sex, the first shooting star, your first foray into politics.   The experiences have power and are unique because they are happening to YOU. And as we all know, when you are young. you are the center of the universe.

The Occupy kids are full of sound and fury and mostly sincere in their efforts and feel like their actions are going to change the world. I well remember the feeling.   Kids 40 and 50 years ago felt the same way. Vietnam protests, marching on government buildings, civil rights....even the violence are all re-runs this time around. Same slogans, same energy.....same.

Recessions: the economy sucks today. Guess what kids....it sucked pretty bad 30 to 40 years ago during the Carter era.   We thought it was the end of the economic world then. To the adults of that time, it was just another milder re-run of the Great Depression.

Another way to put it is: as you get older suddenly your parents seem smarter.

Life is a series of re-runs. Nothing new under the sun. Even the Romans experienced the same social ills that we are experiencing now.

"Rome--SEPTEMBER 4, 476AD.

Rome falls. In the centuries preceding, Rome had beenoverrun with illegal immigrants: Visigoths, Franks, Anglos, Saxons, Ostrogoths,Burgundians, Lombards and Vandals. They first assimilated, many working as servants, butsoon came so fast they did not learn the Latin language.

Though militarily superior and marching on advanced road systems, the highlytrained Roman Legions were strained fighting conflicts worldwide, andeventually troops had to be brought home from the frontier outposts, such asBritain.

Visigoth King Alaric, Vandal King Geiseric, Attila the Hun,and finally the barbarian King Odoacer, committed terrorist attacks, wiping outwhole cities, until Rome itself was eventually sacked and looted.

Rome had been weakened by a large trade deficit, havingoutsourced its grain production to North Africa, and when the Vandals capturedNorth Africa, Rome did not have the resources to retaliate.

Citizens of Rome were kept distracted with violent entertainmentin the Coliseum and Circus Maximus. The Roman Emperor kept citizens appeasedwith welfare and free bread.

One Roman commented:"Those who live at theexpense of the public funds are more numerous than those who providethem." Tax collectors were "more terrible than theenemy."

Rome was crippled by huge government bureaucracies andenormous public debt."

It doesn't mean that just because these same things occur over and over that we shouldn't try to make a difference. The Civil Rights Movement certainly did make a difference. What these repeating patterns or re-runs mean, is that we need to pay attention and learn from our mistakes.

To the OWS kids.....you really aren't the center of the universe and you are not unique.

Been there, done that and still have the ragged tee shirt to prove it.

Red Lobster Biscuits: NAILED IT!

2011-11-29T09:32:00.001-08:00

Red Lobster Cheddar Bay biscuits are heavenly.   People have been looking for the recipe for a long time and as the Red Lobster web site says......the recipe is a secret.

Sure....they tantalize with some tips "we will share a couple of well-kept secrets for making our much-loved biscuit: do not over knead the dough and make sure you use baking soda as one of the ingredients."

There are a lot of recipes out there that try to emulate the product. Most use Bisquick or some version of that type of biscuit. But.....they are wrong.

Reverse engineering the product, I realized that one of the main ingredients was missing from all of these recipes and that Red Lobster has been lying to us for years. I don't blame them.....the biscuits are to die for.   What is the missing ingredient?   YEAST. The texture of the rolls shows that they are clearly yeast raised, yet they do have the properties of baking soda and baking powder raised rolls.

What type of rolls have these characteristics......Angel Biscuits....So I went back to one of my old cookbooks and brought out a recipe and tweaked. Messing around in the kitchen, doing what I like to do.....cook. I have nailed it.

Here is now revealed the super secret recipe for Cheddar Bay Biscuits from Dust Bunny Queen...posted on my Recipe Junkie website.

ENJOY

Cheddar Bay Biscuits ala Red Lobster

War Horse: A Movie I Wll NEVER See.

2011-11-27T10:14:00.001-08:00

Spielberg is out with this movie War Horse. I'm sure that as the trailer says, it will make us laugh and cry. Probably mostly cry. Geeze. I'm an easy mark for a tear jerker movie, especially one with animals.

The main reason I can't watch this movie is from my family history. My Grandfather was a veterinarian and in WWI for the US Calvary, he went to the Hell on Earth that was the European battle fields. His task was to try to take care of the horses. Horrible!! The horses suffered incredibly. The men who took care of the horses, like my Grandfather, who cared for the animals suffered, because they were overwhelmed, pained and changed by the slaughter house and meat grinder that the animals AND humans were thrust into.

Unlike men who can be deluded into participating in war; animals have no concepts of patriotism or really much interest in politics. The fear and terror that they must have experienced is unimaginable. The betrayal of the trust that they put into humans. The pain and suffering.

I understand that the use of horses at the time of WWI was necessary. The military was in a transition from human and horse power to the more mechanized and impersonal wars that we have now. Heroic horse calvary charges were standard. Here is good short film about the reality of WWI War Horses.

So, while Steven Spielberg will have made a movie that will move us to tears and laughter, the ending will probably be sweet. Boy and horse reunited. Stirring motivational music. Uplifting heroism.

I just can't bring myself to sit through a whitewashed version of the horrors of WWI to reach the happy ending. YES. YES. I know that no real animals were hurt in the movie and the technological effects of the film are likely to be fantastic.

When this is what Spielberg is showing us

When THIS is the reality

As much as I would love a happy ending. I'm afraid that I'm much too cynical and realistic to see this movie. Plus.....I think I would need a box of Kleenex to be able to get through the event.

If I'm wrong ....and you can assure me that I won't be sobbing by the end of the movie....give me a review.

Thanksgiving. What am I thankful for?

2011-11-24T16:41:00.001-08:00

So much.   So many things to be thankful for in my life.

Life has at times been good, been bad, been indifferent. Today I am thankful for all of it.

My husband. Our health. Our family. Our friends. Our house. Our hard won possessions. Our LIFE.

Thankful that we can wake up in the morning in a warm house under cozy blankets to a hot pot of coffee (made the night before). We can open a refrigerator full of food and choose what to eat. We have nice warm clean clothes. How many people in the world today don't have this comfort, this luxury of food and warmth?

Sitting in front of our separate computers....me in the office with the french doors open and cat on lap while the Dumbplumber sits on the couch with his feet on the coffee table and laptop on his knees, we have the information of the world at our fingertips. We share this information and listen to music. How magical is that?

Thankful for my wonderful husband who keeps me grounded. We will have been married 18 years in the coming spring and it seems like just yesterday that we met. Every day we enjoy each other's company and look forward to being together. Lovers and friends. Arguments are rare. Probably the advantage of age, where we both have learned where to take a stand and which stands are even worth taking. I'm so thankful for the lucky happenstance that brought us together.

I'm thankful for the beautiful and scenic nature setting that we live amongst. Today we took a drive in one of the five trucks(!) we own, while the steaks that we are cooking for Thanksgiving are marinating. (The traditional Thanksgiving BBQed steaks lol ...that's another story). This in itself is a luxury. To be able to drive someplace on a whim. Around the valley floor and up into the the piney woods. Back to feed the quail, the finches and set out more suet for the woodpeckers and flickers. The peace and beauty of being able to sit in a comfy chair by the window sipping a cocktail and watching their antics.

Thankful for our minds and senses of humor. Thankful that neither of us is (knock wood) is suffering from Alzheimer's. Thankful for our health. Do we have some health issues. Yep. Dumbplumber has diabetes, which is controlled and other than the normal aches an pains that come with 60 years of living, we are healthy and active.

Thankful for our families and their health, success, well being and happiness. We miss those who have gone ahead of us and treasure those who still remain.

We are aware that all of this could disappear in a heartbeat. A literal heartbeat. One major medical event or accident from disaster. This fortune that we have, can evaporate through no fault of our own. Through forces beyond our control. Wars. Famine. Political unrest.

But......

Today.....life is wonderful.   Thank you God.

Another Chemo Hat

2011-11-15T08:04:00.001-08:00

My friend, who has been diagnosed with breast cancer, had a mastectomy and is now in the middle of chemotherapy with radiation therapy yet to look forward to, has lost her hair and eyebrows.   Fortunately, she is a strong personality and has handled all of this with grace and humor. Her husband is a rock that she can lean on and is a pillar of strength.   As friends, there isn't much you can do to help and you don't want to intrude or tire her out with too many visits or be overly sentimental. She isn't that kind of person.....and frankly neither am I. That is probably why we get along and she is one of a very few women in my lifetime that I have counted as friends.

There are not many things you can do, but there is one thing that I CAN do. Knit hats.   You lose much of your body heat through your head.   When you have no hair.....the loss is really significant and noticeable. Not only is your head cold.....you are freaking bald.   Now, I know that many men are bald and not happy with that situation, but society readily accepts the sight of a bald man. A cue ball bald woman not so much.   So to be warm and to not appear freakish, women who are going through chemotherapy tend to wear hats during the day as well as night.   Fancy hats. Frilly cute hats. Warm snugly hats. Hats with a sense of humor.

Since she is not a frilly person or a person who wears dainty pastels [neither am I], the hats I have been making are bold, sensible, warm and comfortable. This is a cabled brim hat. The pattern is from Knitty.com.    Man, it is amazing what you can find on the Internet.   For those of you who may be interested in knitting or crochet, I really suggest you sign up for Ravelry.com It is a huge on line community of people who love to craft, creative and more than willing to share patterns and tips.

Cable Brimmed Hat

They say that after Chemo and Radiation, your hair grows back in differently. Sometimes it is curly where it was straight before, sometimes it's even darker or a different texture.

So while my friend is waiting for her NEW hair to grow in she has another hat to keep warm.

Jobs, Jobs, Where are the Jobs

2011-11-07T08:02:00.000-08:00

As we known unemployment is high. Very high. The reports say 9% or 14 million people are out of jobs. Actually, the reports are wrong. It is worse. The government statistics are manipulated to hide the pain.   In some counties in the North State, State of Jefferson, where I live the UI rate is pushing 20% or higher. Demographic groups such as young adults and blacks are over 30% unemployed.

Many who were collecting unemployment, or to be more precise being paid not to work, have run out of UI benefits.

Yet, we see productivity reports which show that in the United States productivity has been rising.

How can this be? We are more productive, yet there are more people not working.

Well, the answer is simple. Technology and efficiency. Manufacturing businesses can make the products with less people. Who needs a flotilla of secretaries or bookkeepers when you have computer programs to do the work. Printing shops that employed skilled technicians are replaced by laser printers and desk top publishing programs.

So where are the jobs? Just like in the past when the majority of people in the US were employed in agriculture and farming and those industries were made more productive by mechanization, the unemployed people had to migrate to other areas and find NEW kinds of jobs.

They didn't have unemployment insurance to give them months and years of leisure time. They didn't have the luxury of being able to sit around and whine that their old occupations were no more. They had to find new jobs in other industries. They had to create new jobs and create new industries. The industrial age was a time of unprecidented economic expansion and innovation. The innovations and inventions of those times are the foundation of our society today.

So.....where are the jobs. The NEW jobs?

First: You need to get the government out of the way so that people can be innovative and entrepreneurial. Rules, regulations, fees, licenses, fines all set in place to supposedly protect the public are in fact the main impediment to new job creation and are meant to reduce competition by new challengers to current industry and businesses.

Now, I'm not suggesting that we have a free for all in industry or production or businesses. Safety of food, safety on the job and product quality are important. You want to know if you buy something to eat.....it is safe. You want to know that if you hire a professional to do a job for you, like your Doctor.....they are competent.   If you want to have a builder repair something in your house....you would like to know that they will be able to do the job. However, we don't need the government in the middle of EVERY transaction.

The rules and regulations need to be sane and encouraging of new businesses.   Cottage food laws in California are (hopefully) in the process of being relaxed.   If we had the restrictive rules and regulations today during the industrial revolution, just think of the food products and giant industries that would not have been developed. General Mills, Coca Cola...the list is long.

Second: Instead of wailing that you can't get a job in your old occupation, look for new opportunities. What do people need? What would the people who have money and jobs want from you? What kinds of jobs or services cannot be outsourced to another country or be outsourced to a computer or robot?

Just a short list of services:

Babysitting/ Nanny service
Home maintenance and repairs
Cleaning services
Landscaping
Plumbing
Building and construction
Auto repair/maintenance/detailing
Computer repair
Assistance services for the elderly or disabled

Are these glamorous jobs. Probably not in everyone's eyes. Do people need these services. You bet. Can you make a decent living and even hire other people to work for you...Heck YEAH.

Third: What kinds of things or products are in need or would be innovative that you can make or produce. What resources do you have in your area? The Cottage Food industry is one possibility. Hand made goods. Artisanal goods. Can you manufacture something that would be distinctive, reasonably price and use local talent? Should you.... can you, team up with others in your area to create new industries and new products?

So instead of wailing that jobs are lost, outsourced or that you can't do what you used to do.....look upon these tough times as an opportunity. Opportunity to create something new, to learn something new. Sure, it might require you to sacrifice, to lower your standard of living for a while, to work long hard hours, to maybe move to another area, to get out of your comfort zone.

Society moves on and industry moves on. To stubbornly stand in one place will just leave you behind as others do take advantage of the new opportunities and move on to new prosperity.

Don't be a loser.

How Quickly It Turns: the weather I mean

2011-11-03T16:45:00.000-07:00

Just a couple of days ago I was able to sit on the deck in the afternoon and sip a glass of wine in the sun in these fabulous Indian Summer Autumn days. Waiting for the leaves to really begin falling so that we can rake and burn. Suddenly, the weather has turned into our normal October/November fare. Cold, windy, rainy and snowing this evening.

Sadly, I think I have missed the optimal rake and burn cycle, yet again on the leaves. Just like last year we will have mounds of soggy leaves that can't be burned or that will create smudgy pillars of smoke. Ah well, compost material.

When the weather turns, so do my thoughts of cooking turn to warming meals. Long cooking stews, soups and casseroles. So, while The Dumbplumber is napping after being out in the cold all day long; winterizing homes so they won't have broken pipes next spring, I'm making Clam Chowder. (check out the recipe on my Recipe Junkie blog) and will try to finish the next Chemo hat that I'm knitting for my friend.

I think that I'm really getting the hang of this retirement stuff.

A Beautiful Sunday

2011-10-30T09:56:00.000-07:00

It is a beautiful Sunday. The weather is clear, crisp and still warm enough to work outside in shirtsleeves. To get into the mood and ready for a leisurely Sunday drive this afternoon to view the magnificent colors....A little Nat King Cole.

Apples and Plums ...Oh My! Plus the spiritual side of life.

2011-10-29T16:05:00.000-07:00

While still in the throes of dealing with nature's bountiful gifts this year of apples and plums, I decided to finish off the last 3 1/2 pounds of Italian Prune Plums with a batch of Chinese Plum Sauce.

Apples? Oh YEAH we have apples this year. Previously I made and froze apple pie filling for 12 pies. Now neatly wrapped and stacked in the shop freezer. A friend, who is also up to her eyeballs in apples and pears, gave me a super recipe for crockpot apple butter. Fabulous!. Easy peasy!! No standing and stirring and stirring over a hot pot. Just put the peeled cored and chopped apples in the crockpot with the sugar and spices and go about your merry way.

Recipes for both are posted at my recipe blog RecipeJunkie in this post.

So....What did I do today?

Finished up canning the apple butter which had been cooking in the crock pot since yesterday. Canned the plum sauce. All the while, listening to Cole Train, Ella Fitzgerald and Delbert McClinton. While waiting for the product to cool enough to handle, decided all that was left for the early afternoon was to get some crackers, brie cheese, apple slices (did I mention we have a LOT of apples) and some wine so that I could sit on the deck in the magnificent Indian Summer sunshine and read a book for a while.

Apple Butter and Chinese Plum Sauce

On another blog a commenter made reference to how blessed and fortunate we, in the United States, actually are. His comment was in reference to the Occupy [insert your city] movement that seems to be stressing how disadvantage the 99% (whatever) is and how oppressed we must be by the 1% who control all the wealth. First of all.....none of that is true but I won't get into the political part of that.

It is the spiritual part that is of interest to me. We have freedoms that are unheard of in other countries. Freedom of movement. Freedom of thought. Freedom to chose all sorts of life paths that we might take. Do we always make the right choices? Probably not. But, we have the ability to chose.

With that freedom also comes responsibility. When you choose badly, as I have often done in my younger years, you either learn from those bad choices and make better choices in the future....or you just keep repeating the same mistakes.

We also live in a society that is caring. Some will say that isn't so because every problem, every person isn't taken care of from cradle to grave. Caring also means sometimes saying "NO". Charities and personal help for those in need are abundant. No matter how bad things get, there IS someone somewhere who is willing to give you a hand up. To help those willing to better themselves and who want to be helped, lift themselves out of the darkness. Hand up is not the same as a hand out. Entitlements and demands to take from others is a perversion of charity.

Looking at my life now, I am grateful for every moment. Even these moments of what others would think of as drudgery (canning, cleaning, harvesting) are to me a blessing and a joy. I have the ability, the skill and the drive to create. Apple butter from raw apples. Knitted hats for friends from balls of yarn. Clothing from cloth. Those moments of leisure following the drudgery: sitting on the deck with a glass of wine are also a blessing. The drudgery and the leisure....they go hand in hand. You can't appreciate one without the other.

Those in the Occupy everywhere contingent who are focusing on the negatives, on money, on possessions and ignoring the blessed life and the opportunties that they have been given, compared to much of the rest of the world, are ignoring the spiritual side of life. They are starving their souls and screaming into the void.

The Bigfoot of Cats

2011-10-26T15:06:00.000-07:00

(Post written by my husband the Dumbplumber)

The tenth anniversary of finishing our new home also marks the arrival of a tiny kitten. Wifey and I have made a profound discovery. Many have been to our home, but other than ourselves less than five other people have ever seen our cat, our neighbor excluded. (He caught her twice in a live trap)

We don’t have a lot of visitors, but those that do come by only hear stories about the schizophrenic cat because she never reveals herself to others. And of those that have seen her, none have ever touched her or been within reach to do so. We did have one visitor about five years ago, my former grade school teacher, that actually had dinner with us and watched the cat casually stroll across the living room. We would like to use his confirmation as evidence of her existence , however, he took his testimony to the grave two years after his visit. It has become such a joke over the last ten years: Fewer people have seen our cat than have seen Bigfoot.

When we say it’s our cat, we really don’t mean it. She trained us to feed her ten years ago, never left, and has taught us to do many more things for her since. We actually thought about posting a story about the cat on our blogs with photos of the cat’s favorite resting spots, one near the dining table window, another near the office window, another on the railing sheltered by a wild plum tree and of course the one on the bed. However, these photos would be much like those of the places Bigfoot was spotted, but instead of footprints, we only have cat hair to mark as evidence.

Office window spying on the quail.

We could also do a time lapse photo of her food bowl, slowly diminishing, but you would be confused that the water does not. That is because she prefers either the toilet bowl or her favorite larva infested stagnant pool outside in the garden bowls left for our local birds and other wildlife.


Sparky's afghan on the bed

And speaking of birds, we are left with much evidence of breakfast birds, lunch birds and the occasional afternoon ‘snack’ bird parts littering our yard and deck area. No, she is not a neat cat.

However an argument can be made that it is the local foxes leaving their calling cards. But I maintain that foxes do not do their bird hunting during the daylight hours and they certainly don’t drag their feasts near our house for devouring. No, it’s the cat.It is our policy (due to the many predators here ‘bouts) that we leave the cat indoors when we leave overnight. We joke that she is stationed as a ‘guard cat’, and I must report that, over the past decade, nothing has gone missing with her on duty.

About our only complaint is that we receive little in return for providing food, water, shelter and security from the cat. Her interaction with us is minimal at best. She sleeps on the wife’s side of the bed, she allows very little petting (preferring to present her tail for stroking), passes infrequently over the sofa for the cursory touch, only lounges outside on the deck when we are there, as guards, and spends the entire day lurking outside, scouting hidey holes and available critters.


Favorite railing sunning spot

She will not come when called and prefers showing up for her four o’clock treat, somewhere between 3 and 5, depending on the time of year and accuracy of her fur covered kitty clock. Timing has never been her strong suit. But she is given credit for never having clawed, chewed or shredded the furniture. That, she saves for her personal pedestal which has been fashioned into an homage to Edgar Winter.

Shredded cat perch.

Overall I should not complain. Having never been a cat-person, I do appreciate her low maintenance, but live in wonder at how many 50lb bags of cat food has been consumed by our 4lb cat over the years. About the only thing she demands of me (since I refuse to acknowledge that she is my cat) is to open the back door, then close it, then open it, then close it, then open it, then…well, you get the idea.

And on this tenth anniversary of her arrival, I would be less than honest if I didn’t confess that on more than one occasion I have dreamt of the day when we would be cat-free. No cleaning the litter box, no vacuuming the cat hair, no lugging 40 lb. bags of Cat Chow out of Costco, no listening to the wifey’s daily, screeching/calling of the cat, which no doubt is enjoyed by neighbors on both sides. But on the bright side, her going missing, or worse, could be assuaged by popping the cork on a new bottle of 25 year old Single Malt and hailing a toast to one of the least troublesome intrusions ever into our lives.

Kindle Conundrum

2011-10-21T10:27:00.001-07:00

A Kindle (or other E-book tablet) seems like a great idea. It can hold thousands of books, easily transportable, inexpensive downloading and instant gratification. No more piles of books cluttering up the area. What's not to love? I WANT one and will probably buy myself one for Christmas.

However, I think there is a dangerous dark side to the electronic book movement and the electronic photos that we rely on. Who takes a photograph from a negative and has prints made anymore? All of our current memories are digitized.

Our culture is being digitized.We live in an era where we are losing connection with our own history as a society and with the history of civilization. Schools no longer teach history. Facts, dates, relationships between events and how those long ago events have shaped our present. Not taught. Ask a child in elementary or even high school why we have Thanksgiving. Where did the holiday come from and why do we celebrate and I bet you will find that hardly any child can tell you about the history behind it. Sure they might be able to spout something about Pilgrims and Indians and how the eveeel white people destroyed the Indians yada yada yada , the politicized version, but the real history......not.

We live in a throw away society. We live in a society where technological advances are coming at us at a fast and furious pace. Things that just a few years ago seemed miraculous are now obsolete or quaint. Commodore Vic 20 anyone? Items that are broken are not repaired but are just thrown out, because after all, we can just buy the newest latest thing and it was old anyway.

History that our parents and grandparents have lived through is sometimes relayed in family stories. Personal stories of the Great Depression, World War I and World War II. If we don't have those family stories, we can go back to books and photos that were taken at the time. Photos and stories that show us the lives that people led. How they dressed, lived and what they thought about at the time. Without those books and photos and films we gradually lose contact with our own personal pasts and with what society was like.

We can go back even further and read literature and articles written during remote times and remote eras. The Crusades. Marco Polo explorations. The first people to meet with the Mayans. Even further back the Mayan's own writings. Our historical record consists of stone carvings, clay tablets, papyrus scrolls, velum books, handwritten and printed books. We have a tactile history. We can touch it and see it.

What would happen to our own current history when the digitized versions of our culture have been erased from the hard drives of the future, either on purpose or through some disaster. Our books, our photos, our writings all erased. Vanished in an electronic storm or at the push of a button.

Without 'real' books and hard copies, it may be in the future as if we never existed. Without historical records, history can be twisted to be anything that you want. History can be warped to benefit the latest government, the powers that be. We have always been at war with East Asia.

Pooof. Gone. Vanished.

Those who have not learned history are doomed to repeat it.

Keep your books.....they may come in handy even if the Kindle is convenient.....for now.

Naked Knitting

2011-10-17T10:39:00.000-07:00

So the other day, I'm finishing up this hat for the Dumbplumber and expounding to him on how to make decreases and why the colors seem to line up in these nifty stripes.

His response......"You know, husbands might be more interested in knitting if you did it naked ....Nekid Knitting.....Just saying."

All righty then. The Bare Nekid Ladies Knitting Club.!!! I think it could take off and become a national movement.

And while I'm at it.

The Dumbplumber's baby photo

Awwww. Wasn't he cute. Still has that same sunny disposition (mostly) and sense of humor.

Young and Stupid

2011-10-13T08:07:00.000-07:00

Young and Stupid. Is this any way to go through life?
Unfortunately.....it seems so.

Coddled children who have never been told NO. Everyone gets a trophy, just for breathing. We wouldn't want to hurt their little "feelers" now would we? Every widdle kiddie is equal and gets praised for doing basic acts of life like taking a poop.

Mommy and Daddy give them everything with no questions asked. No chores, no responsibilities, no pressure. Life is a bowl of cherries.

No ability to reason about anything. No critical thinking skills. Life is just a bowl of delicious cherries.

THEN.....wham. The real world strikes where we are not your Mommy and Daddy and really don't need your useless whiny ass dragging us down. You suddenly have responsibilities, have to pay back your loans, take the consequences for your stupid choices. Waaaaahhhh!!

Now....throw a giant tantrum in NYC and elsewhere. Kick your feet. Hold your breath. Demand that we all give you things. Give you money that we worked for so you don't have to.

This is what it is. A giant tantrum by spoiled children who have been raised by spoiled children.

What society needs is good enema.

Forest Gump of Plums

2011-10-03T10:03:00.000-07:00

I am the Forest Gump of plums. Last year it was cherries. This year plums.

This year all of our plum trees have gone into overdrive producing. So many plums. So many types. I feel like Forest Gump

Wild plums, Italian plums, Santa Rosa plums.

Plum jam, plum jelly, plum pulp frozen to make more plum jam and jelly, plum bread, plum cookies, plum crisp, plum tortes, plum pies, plum sauce, dried plums, frozen plums, canned plums, fresh plums.

FREE plums. Please take some of these plums. Begging people to come an pick them before our deck is totally spotted with rotten plums dropping off of the tree.

I can't stand to see the fruit go to waste so I spend my time preserving, cooking, freezing and drying.

Here is a recipe that freezes well. The bread is better after sitting and 'aging' for several days, otherwise, it is cakelike, crumbly and doesn't cut well. The Italian plums are a pleasing blend of sweet and tart that doesn't make the bread gooey.

Italian Prune Nut Bread

Yield: 2 loaves

1 cup butter at room temperature
2 cups sugar
1 tsp vanilla
4 large eggs
3 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cream of tartar
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 cup sour cream
2 tsp lemon peel, finely grated
3 to 4 cups Italian prune plums - diced 1" pieces
1 cup chopped pecans

1. Pre heat oven to 350. Grease and flour two loaf pans

2. Cream the butter sugar and vanilla until fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time and beat well after each addition

3. Sift together the flour, salt, cream of tartar and baking soda. If you don't have cream of tartar use baking powder ( 2 tsp)

4. Blend together the sour cream and lemon peel. Add the the creamed butter mixture alternately with the dry ingredients.

5. Stir until well blending then fold in the plums and nuts.

6. Pour into the two baking loaf pans and bake at 350 for 55 minutes or until a tester comes out clean.

Tax Time In October

2011-10-03T09:44:00.000-07:00

Yuck! It's tax time!!

I know it's only October, but since this is the first year filing as a corporation we have lots of things to clarify with our CPA before the end of the year. Better get a jump on it early.

Yes. We are eeeeevviiiil corporate owners. How soon will the hippies be descending upon our corporate headquarters (aka...the workshop) demanding that we provide jobs, benefits and ham sandwiches? The first one of these useless dregs that volunteers to jump into a knee deep septic tank or crawl under a flooded crawl space with partially decomposed cats to re-plumb a leaking pipe, might get a job. I feel pretty secure that we will continue to not have employees.

Here I thought I was done with financial planning. Guess not. Items to consider:

Are our lease agreements between us personally and the corporation legally constructed for

Equipment
Property
Vehicles

How much does the corporation owe us personally as a share of utilities,internet and phone since these items are not physically separated and are too expensive to separate.
Payroll from the corporation to us personally as W2 employees of the corporation.

Did we pay ourselves enough to satisfy the IRS that the wages are 'real'
Have we paid our payroll tax liability properly and on time. Previously as sole proprietors we never had to worry about that: just pay the quarterlies.

Tax treatment of the leases.
Do we have the expenses in the correct catagories. Cost of Sales, Capital Purchases, .
Are our depreciable items being correctly treated or should we just expense.
Have we adequately separated personal use items from business use items.
Have we structured everything to comply with the IRS rules, and California Corporate tax codes so as to minimize the taxes the corporation pays and minimize the income taxes we pay for W2 wages versus income that is treated differently (leases, reimbursement for expenses, investment income)
How soon will the Dumbplumber go nuts thinking about all this stuff. Actually, that is my job.... to keep him from going ballistic and not sputter like an angry Daffy Duck.
Do we have enough personal liability insurance, property, vehicle. Tax treatment of the premiums on the vehicles.
What about sales tax on items sold versus items used in contracting jobs.
Do I have any idea how to use my computerized accounting program or have I totally screwed it up. Probably. Maybe I should just go back to using a spreadsheet like in the dark ages of my bookkeeping experiences.
And on and on and on

Gah!! Thank goodness we have a good CPA.

The Dumbplumber is invited, by me to stay away from this meeting. It is WAY too early for our annual tax time arguments.

Combining The Blogs

2011-09-23T08:43:00.001-07:00

I have decided to combine my two blogs now that my focus in life has changed.

Dust Bunnies of the Mind and Recipe Junkie will be merged. Recipe Junkie will still be up, and I will crosspost those articles that have recipe blog relevance. I expect to be tweaking the format of this blog as well.

I'll still occasionally bloviate on line about random thoughts and my pet peeves and try to avoid political brain farts.

What Did I Do Today

2011-09-23T08:06:00.000-07:00

Now that I'm retired, what in the world do you do all day long. I've been busier than ever. What did I do today?

Dear Diary

Rise at 7:00 and have coffee with the hubby. Yes! I get to sleep in. Made the coffee last night to be ready by 6:15 am. Surf the net on my computer and hubby on his laptop: sharing stories and reading items to each other while Fox Business is on. Thank GOD I'm not in the business anymore. The market is tanking!!!
BREAKFAST. Quick one of fried egg and bacon sandwich, raisin bran for me and he's off. Let the cat out. Feed the quail and wild birds.
Turn on the music and listen to a random mix of the 100s of our music cds . Love this because it is always a surprise what is going to play next.
Put the last of the wild plums in a big stew pot to process and turn into pulp. Stew for 15 minutes and leave on the stove with a lid to cool to less than molten lava temperature.
Pick the Italian Plums that are on trees along our driveway. Yikes. Now what to do with them all. Here is just a small amount of the harvest.
I know, make Italian Prune Nut Bread. Two loaves. I can freeze one. Chopping and pitting the plums. Geeze that hardly made a dent in the buckets. I haul the rest of the plums out to the pump house to stay in a cool dark place for a while. What to do with them? Dunno. Need to look in my recipe collection or on line for some ideas.
But first, a load of laundry. The Dumbplumber does dirty up those blue jeans.
Now, the bread. It bakes for 55 minutes and while that is happening
Pulp up the wild plums. Yay!! Another 10 cups of pulp. I'm going to have sooo much jam to give away for Christmas this year.
Do the dishes that have to be done by hand and load the dishwasher for this evening's processing
LUNCH. Dumbplumber came home for lunch and we whip up some tomato sandwiches from the fresh tomatoes from the garden and micro zap some left over rib eye steak for a second sandwich for the hubby.
Ding: the bread is ready in the middle of lunch. NO. You can't have any yet. It has to cool.
Out to the business office for an hour or so to input checks, invoices, make up bills and file. Prepare a deposit from yesterday's mail.
Off the Post Office and Bank to process the checks received from the business and see what other mail we may have.
Crap!! The State of California still hasn't processed some papers from April regarding our Corporation and are threatening us with a $250 fine for late filing. So. Off across the property to the business office and find the copy of the paper that I sent to them. Sure enough it is STAMPED by the Sec of State and date. Make a copy. Fill out a new form to date for today. Cut a new check for the recording fee and write a letter. And off to the Post Office, again, to send the package with a proof of delivery receipt. Hope they don't lose this one too. Incompetent boobs.
BUT first....put the laundry in the dryer and start another load.
Might as well go to the grocery store while I'm out because I want to make Penne Pasta with a sauce using the fresh tomatoes and eggplant from the garden. Need some romaine for a salad and might as well pick up some other things...oh yeah....and some scotch so we can sit on the deck while the food is cooking.
But first: call the Dumbplumber on his cell phone to give him the important messages. During all this time, since I'm not in the office (which is in another building across the driveway parking area) I am fielding the business calls at home. Taking messages and contacting suppliers about a pump that was supposed to be delivered YESTERDAY.
Back from the store. Fold the laundry. Put another load in the dryer and put up the clean clothes.
You know, I've been wanting to organize this laundry room shelving for a while and mop the floor. Clear off the counter which seems to always be a magnet for clutter, loose change, drill bits etc. Put the silver coins in the ceramic cow and the pennies in a glass cookie jar. There! Now it looks pretty nice.
2:30 Probably should water the potted plants on the deck since I watered the fruit trees and vegetable garden yesterday. I want to mow the lawn......ah...maybe tomorrow. I'll water the lawn anyway.
I don't need to start dinner until about 4:30. However, I can get a jump on it by sautéing the onions, garlic and Italian sausage and set it aside.
Such a nice day. I think I'll sit on the deck in the sun and read my book. Wilbur Smith....some fast paced adventure story about crooks and treasure. A Blue Moon beer in a tall frosty glass will just hit the spot. Some corn chips and guacamole made from the dozens of avocados that a friend gave us. Who knew you could get sick of avocados. Turn off the music so I can hear the birds and bring the cordless phone and a note pad with me, just in case we get more calls. Pet the cat. Let her in for a 'treat' which is a tablespoon of canned food and let her out again so she can do whatever cats do during the day.
4:30 start the marinara sauce so it can simmer and thicken before adding the eggplant and chopped fresh tomatoes. Chill the salad bowl and wash and spin the lettuce. Oh. Maybe some French bread too. Slice half a loaf, butter, garlic and put in foil.
Yikes. I forgot the rest of the laundry. Fold and put away.
5:00 Home comes the Dumbplumber. Drops his clothes in the laundry room and takes a shower.
I make us a couple of drinks and we sit on the deck admiring the view. Enjoying the end of summer. Discussing the day. Going over the calls. Planning for the next day. Maybe we might get in to see the Republican Debate and decide to record it anyway just in case we want to continue to enjoy the deck.
DINNER: nom nom. Penne Pasta in Marinara Sauce, garlic French bread, Caesar salad. Put the dishes in the dishwasher and set for washing later this evening. Make coffee for tomorrow. Have a slice of Plum Bread. Success. It is a recipe keeper.
Let the cat in for the night with another bribe of 'treat food'.
Decide to look at the debate later and see what the blogs have to say tomorrow. We watch some television. Well, Dumbplumber watches and I listen, discuss and nod my head while I'm knitting. Thinking about the next project that I want to make. A cute Santa Hat for my grandson. Now, where did I put that pattern?
8:00 time for winding the day down. The Dumbplumber is beat. Hard day and he gets up early. Doesn't lounge around like I do. We go to bed and read our respective books, sharing passages without spoiling the plot. Who knows he might want to read my book and I might want to read his. Other times, I want to work on the computer or a project and I might stay up until 9 or 10 and tippetoe in as quietly as I can and slide into bed so I don't wake him, OR the cat.

Dear Diary. Yes. Retirement is good so far.

Chemo Hat

2011-09-20T07:58:00.000-07:00

I have a dear friend who has been diagnosed with breast cancer.

Breast cancer is a terrible thing. OK...all cancer is a terrible thing. Breast cancer is especially terrible. First, you have your breasts amputated. For many women (and their husbands) breasts are a part of your sexuality and a source of sexual pleasure. Part of the image of who you are as a woman.

Next. A year of chemotherapy and radiation treatments to try to kill the rest of the cancer. As a result my friend will lose her hair. Fortunately, she is a strong willed person with a positive attitude and has a supportive and loving husband. I feel confident that she will make it through this and pray for her recovery.

To help in a tangible way (as prayers are intangible), I have made a hat for her. Chemo hats need to be soft and without seams.

I used the pattern from this web site: Confessions of a Maniacal Thrower

Made with a soft merino, cashmere blend from Cascade Yarns. Cash Vero. It was a pleasure to knit with. Soft and buttery. And ended up with a lovely hat.

Everything Old is New Again

2011-09-20T07:12:00.000-07:00

Knitting has suddenly become a revived craft. Everywhere you go, you see women and young girls knitting. Scarves, fingerless gloves, hats, sweaters. Knitting has become a cool and hip thing to do.

Well, it seems that everything old is new again. We are going through a resurgence of crafting. Knitting, sewing, quilting. Just look at the magazines and see the numbers of specialty publications

I credit the economy. When times are hard, people become thrifty and resourceful. Reviewing my collection of craft magazines from the 60's through the 90's, I can see that everything old IS new again.

I learned to knit from my Grandmother back in the early 60's as a pre-teen. The Hippie culture (n which I was briefly immersed) prized homemade and handicrafts. The Carter years brought austerity, stagflation, unemployment, high costs and crafting became even more mainstream. Of course all the Grannies who learned to be thrifty during the Great Depression already had the skills. Nothing new for them however, the young generation during the Carter Recession relearned the crafts. Now.....during this current Great Recession, yet another generation is taking up the sword...I mean the knitting needles. Everything old is new yet again.

I've started scanning the clippings,craft books rom my collection. Scanning some of the sketches from my own designs that I've kept forever. First of all to have better organization and access to the patterns and ideas. However, the main reason is that some of those older magazines have become fragile and are literally falling apart.

Really dated ideas that just SCREAM 60's hippie stuff.

Others are just interesting (to me anyway) because they are ideas, colors, techniques potential for other projects.

And some things are just timeless.

I'm making this one for myself now.

House Cleaning Music

2011-09-05T13:38:00.000-07:00

Today when I was rocking around the house, dancing......cleaning, dusting and messing around in the kitchen, it struck me that there are just some songs and music that make the work go faster and make it FUN.

Tell me you can't work faster when you listen to this.

Rock on!!

I think I'll make a clean the house CD....turn up the bass and crank up the volume.

Anything Robert Palmer.

Ace of Base.

Nothing like that pulsing beat to keep you motivated.

Hot CHA!!

What's on your "working it out" CD?

Catching Up

2011-09-05T12:11:00.000-07:00

Wow. Long time no post.

Has it really been 8 months since I retired? Time has just zipped by. People keep asking me if I'm bored or miss my work. Like I said in my Every Day is Saturday post.....are they NUTS? No way. I have more to do than ever and the bonus is that it is things that I want to do.

Having worked since the age of 15 and with the exception of a few months of maternity leave 33 years ago and a 5 month stretch of unemployment, when the government regulated my job out of existence, I have worked straight through for 47 years. 47 years of working for other people and for myself. 47 years of structuring my life around other people's work schedule, other people's demands and trying to squeeze in the fun things, recreation and the necessary household chores that keep the house from crumbling around you into big dust bunny piles.

So to recap....what have I been doing and what has been happening in the last 8 months in no particular order

1.This one IS the most important however. I became a grandmother to the most adorable, gorgeous, smart,talented etc etc grandson. I've been able to see him once. But now that my daughter and family are moving back to the Bay Area....I will be able to visit more often.

2. Yes. We did get a refrigerator. And we are keeping the little fridge on the deck for beer and wine.

3. Started knitting again and made a pair of nice wool socks to wear around the house. I plan to make many more pairs for myself and for the Dumbplumber so that when winter comes our feet won't have popcicle toes. Also some hats for a dear friend who is going to have chemo treatments soon and will be hairless.

4. BIG PROJECT!! Went through my craft magazines and clippings that I have been collecting since the early 1960's. Organized them by publisher and by date and put them into containers that can be stood upright on the shelving in my personal (not work) office. Now in the process of scanning the projects that I want to start on and categorizing by type. Knitting: hats, scarves, sweaters. Sewing: toys, aprons, decorative. Weaving. etc etc etc. This is a project for the winter months.

5. Gardening. This is something I rarely had time for and this year I was able to really utilize the raised beds and realized that the deer are eating up all of my hard work. It is WAR!! Oh YEAH its on. Next year......a fence around the garden. Maybe something like THIS.....
Ok....dream on.

6. Speaking of office. When I closed my financial planning practice, we transfered all of the furniture upstairs into my husband's, and now my office, for his business. In addition to all of the fun stuff, I am also the bookkeeper, record clerk, ordering clerk, banker and bill collector.

Part of office set up before decorating.

Our next goal for the office is to find a neat art deco style buffet to turn into a wet bar where we can display our collection of crystal decanters and have a cocktail at the end of the day.

Cooking, organizing recipes (another collection years in the making), canning fruit, sewing aprons, making stuffed toys, cleaning. I know, most of those things sound like work and not all that much fun, especially the cleaning, but when you have never been able to really get to it.....it is satisfying to accomplish that closet cleaning and pruning that hasn't been done for years.

SO much to to. SO much fun. Everyday seems like Saturday.

Retirement IS everything it was cracked up to be.

Camping out at home

2011-05-15T18:17:00.001-07:00

Yesterday, the refrigerator died. It wasn't a sudden death. It had been ailing and giving us warnings for about a month, which we hopefully and delusionally ignored. "Maybe it is just a glitch?....Maybe it will get better if we just crank the dial to the coldest setting."

The first warning signs were the juice bars becoming a bit slushy. Or maybe the ice in the icemaker periodically slightly melting and reforming into a block of ice. The ice cream was soft....but .....hey.... I kind of like my ice cream soft.

Well, all the ignoring and pretending has brought us to this. We are camping out in our house for the next couple of weeks, until we can get to an appliance store or get the repairman to come up from the 'big city'.

After The Dumbplumber determined that the compressor was dead, dead, double dead, we had to move all items from the freezer to the big freezer in the shop and from the refrigerator side to the small refrigerator in the shop. Thank God we have backups. Once of which is an almost 40 year old Montgomery Wards upright freezer that hasn't missed a beat since it was plugged in. So much for our new and improved Energy Star pieces of crap that the government insists we have to purchase. Progress......my......ass.

In a way it was like an embarrassing archeological dig. "Wow....I didn't know we had THREE half filled jars of grated horseradish and two opened bottles of sweet pickle relish. And how old IS this cheese.???"

I guess this is one way to completely clean the refrigerator, however.....I can think of more preferred (and less expensive) ways than having my refrigerator die.

Because these next 12 days are completely booked with business trips and my mother-in-law's 80th birthday party in Oregon and the closest appliance store is about 90 miles away, we are just going to have to make do with ice chests on the back deck for items we need immediately and the back up appliances in the shop.

No more automatic ice maker for now, so we break out the trusty vintage West Bend Penguin Hot Cold ice bucket (also good for keeping biscuits hot.......how do it know!?!?) and fill it full of ice from the chest so we can still be civilized and have our cocktails.

Just like the good old days when all people had was an ice box.....with nothing but ice to keep things cool. When you lose an amenity like refrigeration, electricity or hot water on demand for a while, you do appreciate just how much we have in our lives. The luxuries that were unthinkable just a generation ago that we take so much for granted. Luxuries that are really quite fragile. We should be more grateful for our lives.

Shutting Down the Government.....Meh

2011-04-05T07:40:00.000-07:00

Since our brilliant efficient (sarcasm) elected leaders in Washington haven't seen fit to make a budget, something that every business and private household has to struggle with, they are threatening to ......ominous music inserted here......SHUT DOWN THE GOVERNMENT!!!!.

In addition to neglecting to create a budget for the Federal Government, they are also putting their heads "where the sun don't shine" and refusing to deal with the excessive spending on entitlements that is guaranteed to doom us into bankruptcy and permanent serfdom.

Their way of dealing with the ginormous deficits that are extending into Infinity and Beyond!!! is to borrow more money from China and other countries that really don't like us much.

Instead of dealing with unpleasant reality, they want to threaten us with a Government shut down.

Oooooh.....really? Is this a threat? Really?

Remember when you were a teenager or if/when you were a parent of an unruly defiant teenager? Making threats to get discipline sometimes just backfired. You have to make a threat that means something and that you are going really carry through. "If you don't clean your room, I'm going to shut down the television for a week!!". All the time you and your teen know this is an empty threat. You aren't going to deprive yourself of your favorite shows. Result. The room doesn't get clean and you are shown to your teen to be a weak sister.

The other thing that can backfire in making a threat to withhold something, take something away, is that suddenly....you realize that you didn't need that something so much anyway or you can make alternative plans. Like the wife who is spitefully withholding sex....guess what, the husband will find another way. Maybe even a BETTER way.

So, let's shut down the government. I think we will find that, other than some essential services, we won't miss it so much. I've thought about it in regards to the State of California going bankrupt.

There are many things that the Government does that we won't miss or that are so intrusive in our lives it would be a relief if it were to go away.

SHUT 'ER DOWN.

The Demented Robin of Spring

2011-03-26T09:23:00.000-07:00

Aaah.... Spring. After a long cold winter, and this one has been particularly long, wet, snowy and cold, who doesn't look forward to those first harbringers of Spring?

The daffodills and crocus bravely poking their heads above the melting snow. Those rare days of warm breezes and dappled sunshine that tease us with the promise of more to come. The feeling of renewal as we watch the trees bud out and bring the hope of a crop of apples, prunes, quinces, cherries.

And who can forget The Demented Robin of Spring.
(cue scary Chuckie movie music)

For the past few years The Demented Robin has plagued us. He sits on the tree that is just a few feet from my office window. Peers into the house, looking for the cat, and flings himself over and over and over at the window. He goes from window to window around the house in his never ending search to seek and destroy the cat.

Hmmm.....He seems to be holding quite a grudge against the cat. Perhaps this has something to do with her goal of eating his babies?

Later in the Spring and Summer, while we are lazing on the deck on a sunny afternoon, cocktails in hand, The Demented Robin will search for the cat while threateningly brandishing a wad of worms or bugs in his beak, all puffed up and chirping at her.

Hopping after her while she is trying to nap (between searching for her latest outdoor snack). We imagine him saying: "LOOK AT ME!!!.. I have worms. And you don't. Big juicy worms. Bwhahahahah!!"

Meanwhile: The cat heaves a big sigh and goes to her favorite hidey hole under the deck.

We are easily amused.

Every Day is Saturday

2011-03-05T14:07:00.000-08:00

I've just figured out what is so great about being retired.

Every day feels like it is Saturday.

Work is behind me because it isn't Friday....it feels like a perpetual Saturday.

No stress about having to rush get things done on one of only two days off like before. It used to be that because tomorrow will be Sunday: and we all know that Sunday is the day before Monday and THEN ......back to work......the weekends were full of work. Different work than the weekdays at the office, but still work.

NOW.....every day is Saturday with a long endless string of Sundays to follow.

An afternoon nap is perfectly fine: in fact almost mandatory. Lazing and finishing that book that I never had time to finish before. A little afternoon 'delight' whenever possible. Perhaps bake a cake or try out a new recipe. Maybe start that quilt project which I have been putting off for years..... Ho hum. When the spring and summer comes, an afternoon glass of wine on the deck curled up in the dappled sunlight with a good book on the chaise listening to my collection of jazz recordings on the wireless speakers.

People ask if I'm bored. Are they nuts?

Every day is Saturday!

How Quickly It Turns

2011-02-22T09:28:00.000-08:00

Just a few weeks ago, I was reveling in the beautiful warm weather. Ah...how quickly things can turn around.

Snow...snow..and more snow.

The "yard art" garden chairs look like they have snow people sitting casually in the corner. Yard art is the term that we use for the old stuff that we leave outside to weather and serve as background for plants and flowers.

After the snow, cold and clear with not a stirring of wind. The breathtakingly blue skies show off the snow that covers the trees.

And from my office desk, I have a lovely view of a wooded area just outside the window. We feed the quail and other birds daily in the winter. They are just feet away from my chair and provide endless hours of amusement. Little bird dramas every day when the several separate quail coveys descend on the grain. A wonderful window into nature.

With the snowy weather, we have been visited more frequently over this last year by a small deer family who must feel safe on our property. A doe and her two children, one of whom is a runt. Unlike the quail, we do not feed the deer. Not only because it is illegal to do so, but because I don't want to encourage them to be near the highway. However, they seem to have decided that our yard is a smorgasboard and are awaiting, eagerly, the garden that I plant in the spring.

Here they are checking out the Dumbplumber's truck coming down the driveway, deciding whether to run away or continue pruning the bushes. Deer butts right out my window.

Even though we have gone from a false Spring to real Winter in just a few weeks, it is all worth it. When Spring comes to stay and the trees bud out and the busy bees buzz over the blossoms creating fruit that we will harvest in the summer, it is always a miracle. I love the seasons and changing from Winter to Spring to Summer to Fall. It always makes me think about the fragility of life, the incredible variety of life on Earth and how amazing it is that we exist at all.

How boring it must be to live in a place that doesn't have the Seasons that go round and round.

California Dreaming

2011-02-10T07:50:00.000-08:00

While the rest of the country is snowed in and paving the way for the latest Ice Age, in California, we have been having phenomenal weather.

Looking at the weather forcast I decided it was a good time to visit with family in Pacific Grove.Warmer than usual, clear skies, balmy breezes. If you have never been to Pacific Grove, Carmel, Big Sur.....don't miss it. One of the most beautiful places in the world.

We stood on the beach and watched the waves eroding the coastline. The winds felt like being in Hawaii.

Marveled at a bridge that was built in 1932.

With all of the EPA rules, prevailing wage requirements, engineering studies needed, governmental hoops to jump through, red tape we could never accomplish this today. This project put people to work in the Depression and created a bridge of lasting beauty and usefulness. Unfortunately, the ability to create and build has been smothered.

We laughed at a cheeky bird standing on one leg.

Admired the strength and beauty of the trees that withstand the punishing waves at high tide and the salty winds that bend and twist.

Benefits of Retirement

2011-01-30T10:14:00.000-08:00

I decided to pull the plug on my business as a stock broker in December of 2010. Since then, there have been a lot of changes and unexpected side benefits to being retired.

Surprisingly, being retired hasn't translated into a leisurely lifestyle. No bon bons or lounging around in silk pajamas for me. Have been able to squeeze in the few occasional naps once in a while and a nice afternoon glass of wine in the sunshine on the deck on the rare moment when the sun has actually out been out this winter and when I'm caught up on chores and errands :-)

I have been more busy now than I ever was in my office environment. The Dumbplumber (my ever lovin' husband) has expanded his business and I have picked up all of his bookwork, banking, post office and errand running, telephone calling and in general freeing him up from these hated and mundane tasks.

It is a very strange feeling to not have an office to go to every day. Not have a time schedule for meeting with clients, making phone calls. My time is my own. No demands from others......well.....except for The Dumbplumber. In the beginning it felt like I was playing hookie or shirking something.

Because I'm home now, I can do more than just pay surface attention to the house and the yard. Busy busy there too and I love it. All the things that I want to do at home that were neglected or just half assed taken care of.

Benefit #1: HEALTH I'm losing weight from all the activity. Seriously!! 8 pounds so far without even trying. No more sitting at a desk all day. No more lunches out. No more frustration eating. Now I'm up and down the stairs, walking from one end of the property to the other. Lifting.... bending.......moving around. My energy level is higher and my motivation to just DO is higher.

Benefit #2: ORGANIZATION: The ability to have the time to focus on a task and get it done. The low priority things like organizing my home office that I put off and put off until it becomes a monumental intimidating task. Catagorizing my enormous collection of cook books, recipies, craft books and patterns. Previously, who had the time? Not me. Side benefit is that I've been able to purge, throw away, lots of items that I had just stored away. Purging and lightning the load feels great.

Benefit#3: COOKING: Sort of a side benefit of #2. I love to cook and since organizing and purging; I have been able to plan new and exciting (and sometimes not so exciting) meals. Instead of sticking to the tried and true, old faithful recipies for expediency, I can experiment. Cooking is a creative and to me Zen like activity which leads me to the next benefit.

Benefit #4: CREATIVITY: I've alway been interested in arts and crafts. In fact......and I know it seems strange with my occupation as a stock broker, I was an art major in college. Over the years and as my business became more and more demanding, I stifled my creativity. NOW....with time being my friend instead of my nemisis, I can bring out the crafting supplies. The oil paints, the clay, stained glass, yarn and fabric and pick up again the creative outlets that I let languish and wither.

Benefit #5: CLEAN HOUSE: Feminists are probably having their heads explode right about now as I am reveling in my ability to do housework. The laundry is folded, closets are clean and organized, kitchen is sparkling, counters are cleared of clutter, floors are kept as clean as can be until it isn't muddy outside anymore, bathrooms are gleaming, dusting, polishing.........

I'm not a 'feminist' in the Gloria Steinham,(hate men, men are the enemy) mold. I am a feminist in that I held a sucessful job in a profession designated to and dominated by men. I am a feminist in that I feel that women can and should do whatever they are qualified to do. I am also a feminist in that I love my own femininity and enjoy being around men without feeling that there must be a competition. I see no contradiction in feminism and being happy to be at home with my family. I see no betrayal of feminism to be 'house proud'.

Instead of just skimming the surface, now I can take the TIME (see a common thread here?). Surprisingly, it seems to take less time to do the job throughly than it did to just haphazardly, slapdash through the chores.

TOP BENEFIT: TIME WITH MY HUSBAND: The number one top benefit of retirement, is that I have more time to spend with my husband. Quality time we have both been missing.

Previously, we would have some time in the morning over coffee before both going out to our respective businesses. Me to my office, he to his truck(s) and the various job sites for his plumbing and well jobs. In the evening, we would meet again at home for some de-briefing of the day's activities. Perhaps a cocktail or two before dinner. Maybe some television and then early to bed so we can go out and work again the next day. Wash, rinse and repeat.

Now, we often go together on the preliminary inspections for his work. Driving through countryside that is beautiful and pastoral.

Going from one job to another, we can revel yet again in the beauty of our adopted home, reminding us just why we are working so hard. We can spend time talking and laughing with each other; stopping at the local "Frosty" for an ice cream cone or a quick snack and then on to visit the next job. We never get tired of each other's company. It is almost like dating again.

Instead of being trapped in an office, looking at the four walls, I get to see THIS:

And at the end of the day we can sit on our deck, cocktails in hand, satisfied with our life and view THIS.

Compare and Contrast

2011-01-07T07:24:00.001-08:00

This has nothing to do with policy. It is all about class and being appropriate for the situation.

Have you ever had a job interview for a very important job? If you have, you know that appearance and first impressions are going to make or break you. You wouldn't show up in jeans and a sweatshirt. You would make sure that you are 'dressed for success' and dressed to the level of the job.

Once you have the job, say as a stockbroker, which is what I used to do before retirement, you continue to dress to impress, not only your boss but also your clients. How you look is a reflection of your job competence, your pride in the important job that you have worked hard to obtain. It gives your clients confidence that you are going to be paying attention to them, to their needs. It assures your boss and co-workers that you have the 'right stuff' and will bring pride and not shame to the firm that they also work for.

Isn't the President of the United States (and by default the First Lady) one of the most important jobs that we, as the voters, hire a person to fill. The President and First Lady represent the Country and represent us as a people. We want our President and all associated with him to bring pride and respect to the Office and to the Country.

COMPARE AND CONTRAST: which of these look Presidential and bring pride in your Country and who ARE you are proud to have representing you?

THIS

OR THIS

'

The couple in the tailored clothing that is appropriate for the weather. The couple who have taken pride in their appearance, care in what they have chosen to wear and who look happy to be returning to work.

OR...The couple in the sloppy wierdly fitting sweatpants and who can't take the time to check and see if the buttons on his clothing are actually buttoned correctly. The couple who look pissed off and miserable to be returning to work. This couple looks like they got dressed in the dark.

These are both returning from a winter vacation to their very important jobs that YOU have hired them to do.

Which one gives you PRIDE to be an American. Which ones do you want to represent YOU as an American.

If you said Obama....you are either lying or are you are blind.

*******************

One More!!

Here is our classless and clueless President and First Lady. Check out the respect and admiration that they are getting from the crowd who are honored to have their picture taken with the Leader of the Free World.

Is it any wonder that other World Leaders look upon this administration and are laughing up their sleeves at us. Would you take these people seriously for any reason?

Also, in the dictionary under "Thunder Thighs" we have Michelle in these horrific pants. Do they ever look at themselves in the mirror? EVER?

The Obamas and the Gansta Wannabes

Weep for our Country.

Retirement----Sort Of

2010-12-26T14:01:00.001-08:00

To retire or not to retire. That is the question.

A few months ago, I made the big decision. After 20 plus years as a financial advisor and insurance agent, it was time to slow down and semi-retire. Semi- because I will still be keeping for a while my insurance business.

Semi retire because my husband is purchasing another business and I will be keeping books for his two businesses as well as our personal finances.

DECIDING:

How did I make the decision? Time and Money.

1. We only have so much sand in our personal hourglass. At 60 I can see that there is more sand in the bottom than the top. It is time to enjoy the sand that I have left.

2. I'm going to be a Grandmother, for the first time. And again....time....it goes by so fast. Do I want to spend my "sand" on shepherding my recalcitrant, balky and frankly ungrateful clients....OR do I want to spend time with my husband, grandchild, my daughter and her husband and my Father who just turned 82 (who also has a limited amount of sand left)

No contest. Family wins out.

3. Time. I haven't had time to do the things that I enjoy. Hobbies that I have let languish over the past 10 years of self employment. Cooking, Quilting, Painting, Gardening, Sewing, Knitting, playing my guitar. I am sooooo...looking forward to being able to exercise my artistic and creative side, instead of my analytical and managerial side.

4. Money. While most of my clients have done very well, even through this latest downturn and many have actually made money, I am just sick of dealing with everyone's problems. Holding hands. Trying to keep people from running off of the rails. Frankly.....I'm sick of most of my clients. One positive sign that it is time to quit.

5. Money. The fees and charges to doing business have gone up and up and up. A 25% increase next year for basic services from my Broker Dealer. Fees added to fees. Not to mention paperwork and compliance up the boo yang. Add in the office overhead, insurance etc. It was a no brainer.

So....I have moved my office to my husband's business. Upstairs above the workshop. Despite his whining that he is going to lose his 'man cave', he admits that it does look pretty nice, manly and .....bonus!!!.. I will be cleaning the office so that there aren't as many manly dead spiders, flies and cobwebs. Another bonus. I plan to set up a wet bar and get some nice recliners and a flat screen television so we can watch movies and just relax.

MOVING:

OMG. The pain of moving almost 10 years of office accumulation, files, supplies, decorations. And moving all of it UP a flight of stairs. I'll tell you one thing. After all these trips up and down the stairs carrying my end of the furniture and boxes of stuff......I will have buns of steel. Right now I feel like someone has kicked me in the rear.

Throwing away items. It is liberating!!. Anything to do with securites. Trash it. Have I looked at it in the last 2 years? Nope....trash it. How many of these pens, folders, whatevers do I really need? Trash half of them. Dumpsters full of trash.

ADJUSTING:

So far, the adjustments to retirement has been a bit strange because we have been so busy with moving and repositioning.

First thing to deal with is the idea that "I don't have to be anyplace at any particular time". I don't have to get up and be in my office at 8:00 am. My time is going to be my own!. At first I felt like I was shirking something.

I don't have to get dressed up into work clothing, which is for me heels, suits or nice pants outfits. Looking forward to the transition into more casual, less make up, less jewelry styling......while being careful not to transition into slob.

Because my time is NOT structured and I don't have multitudes of client obligations, right now, I feel like I should be doing something else. Something constructive.

I know.......I'll bake some bread and settle on a new knitting project, open a bottle of wine and sit in the easy chair and listen to some Coletrane, while the Dumbplumber is busy with his latest book and nap.

Ahhhh.... retirement. I think I can learn to like you.

I'm Jammin' ..Hope You Like Jammin' Too

2010-09-12T13:01:00.001-07:00

You can feel Fall in the air. The mornings are crisp, cool and clear. Some of the trees have even begun to turn color. The fruit trees are loaded and people who have gardens are desperate to unload their excess onto anyone who will take squash, zucchini or anything else.

After our war with the robins and race to see who would get the cherries from the sour cherry tree....we won by the way.... we have been inundated with wild plums and peaches. Hating to see this bounty go to waste, I've been canning and jammin' (Bob Marley reference here)

Wild plums are something that you have to experience and are hard to explain just how fablulous they are.

Slightly smaller than ping pong balls, they are sour. Pucker your face sour. However, once made into a jam or jelly. They turn from reddish yellow sour balls into the best sweet and tart reddish orange jam. Some years we have a lot. Some years, not so much. It even varies from tree to tree. One tree will bloom and bear fruit, while the tree right next to it will be just a week behind or ahead on the blossom schedule and be barren. Timing is everything.

This year I made two batches of wild plum jam. We gave most of it away as gifts and ate it all up.

Peaches Galore

My husband oversees some properties that are owned by absentee landlords. This year one of the peach trees was loaded, almost to the breaking point, with small peaches. Since no one is going to be coming up to use the fruit, we get to harvest it when we can. From the peaches I made Peach Jam, Sour Cherry Peach Jam and Peach Barbeque Sauce. There were so many peaches we gave over half of them away to other ladies (gluttons for punishment) who also like to cook and can.

These are just a few of the jars of the different jams. All in all about 4 dozen jars.

I love the jewel tones they have when the light shines through. Almost like a stained glass window in a church. The miracle of being able to preserve the bounty of summer and fall and enjoy throughout the cold winters.

In the freezer are still more peaches and sour cherries.

As if this all wasn't enough. I have a friend who's husband made a huge and I mean huge over an acre garden. She has loaded me up with green beans. So.....spicy garlic dilled beans.

Shameless Plug: My Daughter's Website

2010-09-05T09:09:00.001-07:00

Here is a shameless plug for my daughter's website.

Expecting Chic It is all about being pregnant and still retaining the ability to dress well, stylishly and inexpensively.

The internet is wonderful. Not only do we get to communicate by the magic of the Net, I can view her blog daily.

Am I a proud Mother and future Grandmother? ....you betcha.

Yikes!! A Virus Has Attacked the DumbPlumber

2010-09-05T08:33:00.000-07:00

Be careful out there boys and girls. It is an ugly ugly world.

As I type, my poor husband is sitting,on the couch,in deep dark dungeon, pouting and angry because his laptop has been attacked by a particularly nasty virus. One of those fake alerts that hijack the computer and pretend that you are infected so that you will accidentally download their software which further infects the computer. The computer is literally unusable now. No programs will work. If connected to the Internet, it hijacks the browser and sends us to the website were we are enticed (yeah right real enticing) to buy their fucking software. I can't use the existing virus software because the virus has disabled that too.

These things are nasty nasty nasty. They originate in overseas locations. Dumbplumber says if he could find these %$#&*^*!! guys he'd string them up by the balls and slowly carve out their eyes.

I blame myself partly because I didn't upgrade his virus software to Kaspersky, which I use and really like. (Recommend to everyone.)

His main computer use consists of things like typing word documents and posting to his blog; suring news sites like Drudge, Instapundit, Lucianne and looking for car parts. No porno.....he swears, and I believe him. I keep warning him NOT to open jokes and attachments from his friends (which probably do count as porno). However, the broke dick lame virus software that he was using was supposed to pre scan for this....evidently not.

Sooooo.....now we get to take the computer to the repair/technician. No problem, right? NO! A big problem because in our rural area, we don't have computer techs. The one guy that we were using is in the middle of a personal meltdown and ugly divorce, child custody battle and is becoming rather unhinged. The closest place for computer repair is about 80 miles away.

Sooooo....now I get the privilege of driving about 160 miles to take the laptop to either "The Geek Squad" or some other technician. Now "I" want to hang someone up by the balls.

The alternative is to have the Dumbplumber stewing and pouting for a week or go now!! He says: that without his computer, he feels like Hannibal Lector in a straight jacket and with a grill on his teeth.

On my way!!

UPDATE:

I remembered that one of my friends has a teenaged son who is a total computer geek. With a phone call and some instructions, we were able to fix the problem without having to drive OR spend a lot of money. A $50 referral fee is in order. Woo Hoo. Dumbplumber is doing a happy dance

Buzzard Update

2010-09-02T13:19:00.000-07:00

Well, the buzzards have taken off for other trees. We succeeded in discouraging them by sitting on the deck, drinking scotch, talking and listening to loud old rock and roll music. They evidently don't like Led Zepplin or Chicago. Also a few wacks from a pellet gun sort of helped them to get the hint.

I'm feeling better now that I have learned that the plague of frogs wasn't just in my office. On the other hand.....maybe I should be worried about the entire town?

Ominous Portents

2010-08-31T12:56:00.000-07:00

I'm not a superstitious person. Black cats crossing my path...."Here kitty kitty". Breaking a mirror...."Damn, now I have to buy another one". Friday the 13th...."Whatever"

However, in the last 3 days some very weird things have happened.

First. The huge juniper tree that is next to our house has been full of turkey buzzards. I don't mean one or two, but more like 10 to 20. They have never roosted in this tree. They just sit there staring, and when they see us, lazilly fly off and circle around and around over the river below. Creepy.

Next. Yesterday when I came into my office, the floor was full of tiny frogs, some in a state of dessication and others hoping around. Ewwww. I swept up the dead guys and took the live ones outside into the bushes. Today. The same thing. FROGS!

Should I be worried? Anyone have a Gideon's Bible handy?

Wait..... They told me there was to be no math!!

2010-08-31T08:12:00.000-07:00

Remember when you were in school and you were forced to take math... Algebra, Geometry... and you said to your snotty teenage self...."When am I ever going to need THIS stuff?" and dug in your heels and you did just the minimal amount of work to get by.

Well, if you ever plan to be a quilter: or actually to be a carpenter or any other building type of trade, you are going to need those skills. Quilting and especially piece work is all about math and geometry.

Since I have all these scraps of fabric to use, I want to make a small baby quilt for the pending GRANDSON. Something that he can lay on and that they can use as a wall hanging later. I've been informed that the baby's room will be in bright primary colors so I've settled on this pattern?

Cool. So I download the pattern and instructions from www.allpeoplequilt.com. Easy peasy pattern. Just make strips of fabric from the scraps using the rotary cutter and sew together.

Unfortunately, there is a snag. The quilt is too small given the size of strips in the pattern. Each block is 7 inches. All I have to do is figure what size I want the finished quilt to be and enlarge the block and enlarge the strips. No problemo. Right?

Each block is 7 strips wide

Each strip is cut with a 1/4 inch seam allowance. SO then, if I want a 12 inch block then I divide by 7 and add 1/2 inch to each piece. 2.2142857 inches. Hmmmm that isn't going to work.

Ok. 10 inch blocks. 10/7 +.5 = 1.9285714 yikes. Too much math.

Ah... Screw it. I'll just have to wing it!! Cut the strips 2.25 inches and end up with a finished strip 1.75 inches.

Sorting the Colors

2010-08-28T09:21:00.000-07:00

FINALLY.

All the fabric has been ironed.

This is just some of the different colors in prints. (See The DumbPlumber in the background? Getting ready for work.) There are many more bins. Quilters are NOT hoarders.....really we aren't.....I keep repeating to myself.

Next step is to sort all of it down by color and hue.

I was really surprised at the amount of fabric. Some very large pieces of yardage and some teeny tiny scraps that I had saved. Ironing piece by piece it was like a time capsule of my life. A piece left over from a dress I made for my daugher when she was 5 years old. A scrap from a tropical print dress I had made for myself 8 years ago. Pieces where I could see the shapes that were cut out when I was making baby grab balls to sell. Odds and ends of fabric from wall hangings that I had made years and years ago.

I also discovered some fabulous fabric that I had completely forgotten about. Oooooh. Nice.

Now to get to work and actually make something!!!

Back in the Quilting Saddle Again

2010-08-22T12:03:00.000-07:00

Quilting used to be a passion of mine and for some reason about 8 years ago, I just set it all aside. Now, with impending arrival of a grandchild it seemed to be time to break out the fabric, sewing machine, quilt magazines, books and all the other stuff.

I've hung onto all of these craft magazines and stuff for years and years. Everytime, my husband has to lend his strong back to moving them, he suggests that perhaps now might be a good time to get rid of these things. "ARE YOU INSANE!!" I respond and make some suggestions about lightening up his stash of tools in the shop. "ARE YOU INSANE" he responds. It's a Mexican stand off.

One small problem. The fabric had been stored in our pumphouse and last year we had a flood that soaked all the boxes and boxes of fabric. I had to throw it all into the washer to clean and dry. The result......a big jumble of all sizes, shapes and colors of fabrics.

Just like any other craft or job, you need to have all of your materials and tools in order before you can even begin. This means, hour and hours of ironing and sorting fabrics. Tedious, boring but necessary.

Under the everything old is new again label is the discovery that while my quiliting was in cold storage, technology has been marching on. New techniques, new tools, new ways of assembling. I feel like the Rip VanWinkle auto mechanic who fell asleep in the 1960's and woke up to cars that are computerized electronic marvels that take a whole new set of skills to work upon.

War With The Robins

2010-07-15T17:02:00.000-07:00

Our war with the robins, who are aptly named Turdus Migratorius begins this time of year each year. The little turds are greedy gluttons.

spot the yard art?

Some years we have cherries. Some years we don't. This year we had a LOT of cherries and it was a race between us and the robins on who was going to get them first.

We have several cherry trees on the property. Some sweet and this tree which produces fabulous sour cherries in enormous quantities. The issue is that until they are fairly ripe, they are really really sour. Once they are ripe we have a window of about 5 days to get them before the little Turdus do.

So.....I've been picking and picking and picking cherries. Then pitting and pitting and pitting.

I feel like Forest Gump. Cherry jam, cherry jelly, cherry syrup, cherry cobbler, cherry ice-cream, cherry pies and bags and bags of frozen pitted cherries.

At least the rotten robins didn't get the lion's share this year.

Next......blackberries. I really am a glutton for punishment.

So....What Happens If California Goes Bankrupt?

2010-07-09T07:37:00.000-07:00

California, like many many States, like the Federal Government and like many Citizens, is teettering on the edge of bankruptcy. Unlike the citizens who have to make some hard decisions about what to buy, what to eat, if they can keep their house, if they can keep their car..... the California Legislature refuses to cut back or scale down any of the ridiculous pipe dream projects that the brain dead liberal voters shoved through the referendem process and through the legislature.

They refuse to cut back on entitlement programs, on top heavy beaurocries, on expensive state vehicles for everyone, parties, junkets, useless building projects, redundant departments....>HUGE pension and benefit packages. Nothing. They just refuse. Head in the sand. La lalalalala.

So, my hubby (The Dumbplumber) and I were saying. So what? What if California goes bankrupt and can't pay its bills. How will this affect us. We decided...not that much.

What could happen

Cal Trans will have to lay off workers

Instead of 6 guys leaning on shovels, there will be 3.

They don't fix the roads here in our rural area anyway so for several years we shouldn't see many problems. Too bad for the cities.

When it snows, we have to plow our own roads anyway and all of us have 4x4 capability.

We might be in trouble in the winter for food delivery to the grocery stores. But, not to worry. I have the Armageddon Pantry and there are plenty of people with chickens, rabbits, cattle, sheep, goats and large gardens for seasonal vegetables and fruits.

The Highway Patrol won't have time to try to hassle people for not wearing seat belts, cracked windshields and trailer ball infractions. The donut and coffee shops might suffer...but sooooo?

The local Countie Mounties won't be able to patrol our area. Oh...wait....they don't anyway. We have one guy on duty at night for a several hundred square miles area. We are on our own now. How much worse can it get?

Maybe the welfare queens and druggies getting welfare and rent subsidies will either have to get freaking jobs or better yet....move back to East LA where they came from. The truly needy will be helped by our existing support groups of the Food Pantry, Churches and Fraternal Organizations like the Lions and Masons.
The schools may have to lay off some personnel. They will threaten us with the teachers being laid off. Notice that they never get rid of administrative people. However, since they don't teach much now anyway and most teachers are not all that educated in the first place, I think the gap can be filled in with qualified volunteers. We have a plethora of retirees who obtained their educations before the liberals dumbed down the education system.
The local DMV and County regulatory offices may have to close or be pared down. Big deal. They aren't open all the time anyway and mostly exist to make our lives a pain. Maybe now we can build that storage shed without having to pay through the nose for inspections and permits and be annoyed with stupid regulations. Like...... are there any butterflies that breed in the area that you want to build. Seriously. That is one of the studies you have to do before building.
Garbage service. Don't have any available here.
Recycling centers. You must be joking
Water. I'll use my well like everyone else does....thanks.
Fire Department: all volunteers not supported by the county, although they do get some small portion of the property tax rolls.
Cal Fire: Well, now this IS one that I would miss. If we have a forest fire we do use the California Dept of Forestry fire crews. On the other hand, since the Federal Government has seen fit to lock away much of our lands from us and instituted the 'roadless' rule, maybe we should just let the Feds take over this also. Most of our fires are lightening caused. What did the Indians do about fires before the 'white man stole his land'. Nothing. Let'em burn. Guess this is what we will have to do also.
Power. Well, one of the largest hydro facilities is right next door, so to speak, and we have people who have already volunteered to "divert the grid" if push comes to shove. Plus there are several private bio mass power plants that can be "localized" and solar arrays and some wind power farms.
Of course, California, instead of reducing costs, lowering payroll by paring back on useless and redundant positions, policing the welfare rolls and getting illegals off the system and off of our backs.....the Legislature will try to raise taxes even more driving more businesses out of the State or underground. That will be bad because some people may have to move out of State and towns will suffer through a declining population and declining amount of money circulating in the economy. Cash will be king and barter transactions will increase.
So. Go bankrupt California. Not much will change for me. Since the State of California doesn't do much for me now other than take my money .....I'm not going to miss it.

Just When You Think All Is Lost

2010-07-08T07:30:00.000-07:00

Just when you think all is lost. That people are so jaded with life. That people have turned inward to avoid interacting with others. Something beautiful breaks out and brings wonderment and joy to the faces of the unsuspecting bystanders.

On Saturday, April 24th, the Opera Company of Philadelphia teamed up with the Reading Terminal Market Italian Festival for a large-scale "Flash Opera" event! Over 30 members of the Opera Company of Philadelphia Chorus and principal cast members of LA TRAVIATA performed the famed "Brindisi" in the aisles of Reading Terminal Market, entertaining hundreds of Philadelphians, and proving that the perfect accompaniment for all things Italian is a little Verdi!

Swimming in the Past

2010-06-26T08:14:00.000-07:00

Lately I've been reminiscing about things in the past. Maybe it is my age...."young, young" my hubby and I always chant when we think about it. But face it. No spring chickens we.

Maybe it is the times we are living in, where we see the America of our youth changing, not to the good, and we see it slipping away. I imagine my parents thought the same thing in the 60's and my grandparents in the 30's. Its a generational thing.

Maybe it is that I'm going to be a Grandmother for the first time and now I'm thinking even more seriously about the next generation and wonder what his/her childhood memories will be like. The idea that Hip Hop music may be the "Oldies" of the future for my grandchild is unsettling.

About the Grandmother thing. YAY!!!! Awesome. I can hardly wait. And I plan to post more about that later.

This post is about reminiscing about the past, so back to my meandering thoughts. On another blog the conversation turned to swimming and which is better. The Ocean or Lakes. I say Ocean is better.

I grew up mostly in California and swimming as children in the summertime was where ever our parents took us.

We learned to swim in summer programs at the local high school. Every day of the week over many summers we would be dropped off for an hour of swimming lessons. Starting with madly kicking our way from one end of the pool to the other behind floaty boards to eventually being able to master the butterfly stroke. Then we would have a lunch break where the pool closed for an hour. My brother and I would walk across the street to the small Mom and Pop grocery store on the corner. We would suppliment our bag lunch with sodas, pretzles, ice cream bars and for my brother the latest edition of The Green Lantern or other comic to add to his collection.

After lunch we would go back and swim for another couple of hours for open swimming. This is when all the kids in the area would ride their bikes in from all over the neighborhoods or their parents would drop them off, pay 50 cents or so to swim. Then we would play and frolic in the water and the sun for hours.

Imagine it compared to today. NO sunscreen, resulting in massive sunburns. No adult supervision other than a few lifeguards. Kids playing and yes bullying, pushing, shoving, dunking without hovering parents or other adults to interfere in the fun. Freely able to wander around the neighborhood. Buy junk food if we wanted. Today parents who allowed these sort of things would be arrested for child abuse. However, we as children LOVED it.

I became quite a good swimmer and was on swim team in high school.

Occasionally, on a weekend, my parents would take us to a company picnic at a local reservoir. Those were fun times but the swimming was terrible. This is where I got my distaste of lake swimming. The only way to swim was to wade out through the weeds, muck and who knows what that your feet could feel on the bottom of the lake until you got out to where you could actually swim for any distance.... if you watched out for boats.

The Ocean is where the real swimming and best summer swimming memories lie for me. As a teen growing up in California if you didn't surf, body surf or at least go to the beach and hang with your friends who surfed, you were a nerd. That word didn't exist then, but the concept sure did.

Beach Boys, Jan and Dean. Hot summer sun at the beach. Cool cars cruising the main in the balmy California summer nights. Clean hot beach sand. The boardwalk with the carnival atmosphere, rides, more junk food.

And of course, warm beer bought by that cool older guy or gal that you happened to know, liquor pilfered from the parent's stash. My parent's later told us, they knew all about it, but figured it was a part of growing up just as they did in the 40's. Rites of passage so to speak. As the 60's morphed into the 70's, beer morphed into other illegal recreational substances and the music morphed into Jefferson Airplane and The White Rabbit, Tower of Power and Bump City.......but enough about that. I'm about to be a Grandmother for God's sake. (smile)

Moving away from the coast to the Sierra Nevada mountians:
I loved to swim in the mountain rivers and streams. The Feather River, before they drowned it under a huge resevoir was wonderful. No crud on the bottom of the river. We would take an ice chest full of food, drinks and walk down steep trails and over flumes to get to the swimming holes and spend all day. You couldn't swim for any distance like I was used to doing, but the water was wonderful to float upon and dive into. Getting down to the river was a challenge. Getting back after a day of 'recreation' was even more so.

Crystal clear and very cold rushing water while the granite boulders were hot from the baking sun and would immediately soak up the wetness from your skin. There were deep pools between the rapids, where the water would be calm and clear. I would dive to the bottom and fluff up the sand and pick up gold nuggets and interesting rocks that had been hidden for years and years. I have a worn down ring that I wear every day that was made from those nuggets and a beautiful rock that I rescued from a deep pool. I've carried both of these with me for the last 30 years.

I look at the rock and imagine the millions of years it took to create it, polish it and wear it down. I imagine the trillions of gallons of water that carved it from a larger shape to what it is now. To me the rock represents time and endurance. Ah....time.

After they drowned the river, we would go swimming in the middle of the reservoir from houseboats or floating platforms anchored off shore. It was strange and slightly erie to think that our previous summer swimming holes were lurking 50 to 80 feet or more below our feet. Never to be seen again. Dark and now covered with silt. Existing only in our memories which will vanish when we do. No bottom anywhere. Just steep mountain sides on most of the rim of the lake.

The memories of swimming. I hardly swim anymore unless we are someplace where there is a pool or we are at the ocean where it is warm. Now when I go out in the sun to swim or to lounge around, sunscreen and hat are the norm. Probably too late to protect my skin from the hours and hours in the sun as a child and youth and young adult, but I wouldn't trade the memories for anything.

I Think I Love This Man

2010-06-16T08:22:00.000-07:00

Shhhh. Don't tell my husband.

Seriously. We need Christie to run for President in 2012. He is exactly what the country needs. Conservative, articulate, common sense, take charge, unafraid.

I'm in awe of his extemporaneous speaking abilities. Notice, no teleprompter, unlike Obama who seems to be a robot reading from speeches prepared by someone else.

Christy puts together a coherent speech that has a beginning, crescendos to a high point and a powerful conclusion. He doesn't use a string of talking points put together like a string of beads. Sometimes I get the feeling that the politicians, Dems and Repubs, have a bowl with little balls in it, like you see at a bingo game, with talking points on each one. Pulling the balls out in random order and string them together to robotically spew the speech dujour.

When Christie speaks you get the feeling that these are things he knows, feels strongly about and understands. He tells a story and, as in this clip, has the audience hanging on his every word.

Hopefully, the American people are tired of pre-packaged political clone candidates that are groomed and controlled by slick handlers. The Hillbuzz guys call them whitebread mayonnaise and cucumber sandwich candidates.

Hopefully we will look beyond Christy's portly frame, his cow licked hair, his New Jersey accent, lack of expertly tailored clothing and see the character of a REAL leader who can pull us from the abyss.

So......shhhhhh. Don't tell my husband that I am in love with this man.....Oh. wait.....I just discovered that my husband is also in love too. Well, maybe not real love, but also wants him to run for President.

Teaching My Husband to Play the Guitar: What could go wrong?

2010-05-29T07:28:00.000-07:00

I learned to play the guitar at a very young age and performed professionally for quite a few years. Here is a picture of me at 14 years old ------->

I kept on playing for fun and occasionally at fund raisers for my daughter's school, but gradually I let it get away from me and a few years ago sold my guitar because it was just sitting the case forlorn and neglected.

You know how that song goes....you don't know what you've got 'till it's gone. ? I started to miss my guitar. Finally my long suffering husband got tired of my whining and said "buy a new guitar and shut up". Well, not exactly like that but that was the gist of it.

It turns out that he has always wanted to play the guitar and his father's guitar has been sitting up in the office collecting dust for years. I AM the Dust Bunny Queen after all...dust...get it?

Nevermind

It also turns out that in my youth I taught guitar to children. So.....we get the bright idea! I'll take my new guitar, get some new strings for my hubby's inherited guitar and I'll teach him how to play.

What could go wrong?

The Landscape Game

2010-05-27T08:13:00.000-07:00

I stumbled upon this web site American Digest and an interesting article about something called
The Landscape game. It consists of a series of questions that you are supposed to answer and will, according to the author, be revealing.

Here are my answers and I'm curious as to what they mean. I dream a lot and my dreams are very vivid and detailed. It will be interesting to see what others have posted or answered.

1) You are sleeping and you dream. Describe your dream.
My dream last night. I was part of a team of people competing against another team to decorate a room. The room was not described and there were no real rules so we had no idea what it was supposed to be. However, we did get a hint that it was supposed to be a bedroom.

The teams were given access to a warehouse of furniture and other accessories. (I've dreamed of this place many times and it is really cool because there are so many things to discover and find.) We choose several items. A bed, which is a hospital bed. We aren't really happy with this but it is the only bed in the place. Some chairs, very neat art deco light wood and a geometric blue print. Side tables, lamps and so on.

The moderator? or person in charge now gives us the particulars of the room and it is very weird. It is a narrow and long room. About 8 feet wide and 20 feet long. We are quite upset and irritated because now the stuff we selected might not work.

Suddenly I realize that we might be able to make use of the spaces within the walls of the room. and I ask the moderator if that is approved. Yes. So we make the beds (somehow we have a lot more material and the hospital bed is immaterial) inset into the wall on both sides of the end of the room. Twin beds that can fold up into the wall and when folded down meet together in the middle of the room with some fold out feet for stability. When the beds are folded up, the underside is decorative with pictures and paintings.

We realize that the end of the room has a dormer window and that there is a lot of room inside the walls on either side and we build in some dresser drawers and cupboards. So when the beds are folded up there is a clear path to the window seat in the dormer window.

The rest of the room is furnished with a seating arrangement with the art deco chairs a book case and the lamps.

I'm very satisfied with the result while still being ticked off about not knowing what the rules were in the first place.

2) You wake up in a house. The house can be anywhere within the world. Describe the house and where it is located in the world.

I wake up in a "dream house" meaning that I dream this place often. It has been part of agroup of recurring dreams for years. Somehow, and weirdly, it is very much like the house I live in now.

I don’t know where the house is. The house is located on a bluff, a rather steep bluff, overlooking a lake. It is difficult to get down to the lake but it is a great place to swim. The house is like a long low ranch house with many large windows facing the bluff and the view. Facing the view, the right hand side is the living quarters. The left hand side is the sleeping area. The interest of the house is the screened in porches/decks and area that goes down to the lake. There are neighbors but they don’t really matter much. The front out to the street is a long ways and fairly rural

3) When you wake up, what time is it?
8:00 am

4) You get up and go into the kitchen. What kind of kitchen is in this house?
A really great kitchen with a center island and seating on one side All the appliances and utensils. Ceramic counter top with a good dining area right off to the right. It feels like a slightly 70’s vibe, which is not what my real kitchen has. Attached to the kitchen is a dining area for casual dining. Off to the side is a more formal dining area attached to a large living room

5) You are going out for a walk. As you go to the door, you notice the trees around the house. How many are there and how are they placed in relation to the house?
More than five but not much more. They are Aspens and Maples. The trees are to the right shading the house as I leave because the driveway is to the left.

6) You are following a winding path of stones and sand, past rocks and dry reeds that rattle and hum in the breeze. You crest a rise and start down. Looking around you see, beside the path, a bowl which you pick up and carry with you. Describe the bowl.

A wooden bowl carved from a burl of wood. Maybe manzanita.

7) The path moves on past ruins, there are false turnings everywhere, but you move straight on. Beside the path you see a key which you pick up and carry with you. What is the key like?

Iron and really big like those from the 1800’s ornate and heavy.

8) The path moves out of a forest into the open. It grows hot. You find yourself at a body of water. What kind of body of water is it and what do you do when you come up to it?

A meandering stream that has created a deep pool shaded by more trees. The stream/river runs over many large rocks and the pool is deep and clear. I take off my clothes and swim.

9) You move on along the path and, after some time you come to a wall. What is the wall made of? What you do when you come to it?

Stones. Like an Irish fieldstone hand stacked fence covered with moss on the shady side. It is about 4 feet high. I lean on the top of the wall and look over the top.

10) What lies beyond the wall?

A pasture green and beautiful with cattle and sheep and with more stone fences in the distance

Mind Games: The Good Kind

2009-12-17T07:56:00.000-08:00

After watching this clip of the products of our Unionized American Education system. It reminded me of "The Night of the Living Dead". Brain dead zombies who only want to destroy the living. The scary thing is that these brain dead zombies actually VOTE and make decisions that affect the rest of us. Be afraid.....be very afraid.

I appreciate my parents more and more every day. They taught us to think, reason and to learn.

A quick background:

When I was a child, we traveled the US. Traveled, A LOT. My parents, myself and my younger brother. We were basically gypsies and lived in a trailer that we hauled behind a string of station wagons.

Here is a photo of the trailer in the background.

I think we were in San Antonio at the time. My brother was very much into Davy Crockett (can you tell?) and we were going to the Alamo. Nice bangs, huh? Hair cutting might not have been my mother's forte.

The traveling was for my parents' jobs. They were both Union Printers back when printing was a highly skilled occupation. Today, anyone who can use a word processor and a keyboard can work in the industry. Back then, it was hot lead type and required math skills.

As Union card holders, they could "pull a traveling card". This meant that you could go into any newspaper and see if anyone was looking for a "sub". This means that the permanent employee would like to take his vacation or some extra time off, and then my parents could step in and work in their place. As a result of this lifestyle we moved from town to town and my brother and I went to many different schools in a year. I remember, and have been told, at least 8 in my second grade year.

In the 50's traveling in the car wasn't entertaining or really much fun. No air-conditioning. AM Radio with spotty reception. No seat belts. Traveling through Arizona on Route 66 for the fourth or fifth time, with two irritable fighting children in the back seat, my parents must have been out of their minds. To beat the heat, we used a window hung evaporative cooler (like the one in the photo) and hung canvas bags of water in front of the radiator to keep the car from boiling over. My parents would take turns driving and would place wet towels on the arm that was exposed to the blistering sun to keep from blistering themselves.

So...to entertain us and try to keep our collective sanity, we played "Mind Games", sang songs in rounds and in harmony and we practiced our reading skills on road signs and of course Burma Shave signs.

One of the favorite Mind Games was: "I'm Thinking of a Thing".

You had to specify it was Animal, Mineral, or Vegetable or a blend of the three Then the game was to ask questions that could only be answered by Yes or No. It really made us think and think logically. We could while away hours playing this game.

If the thing was "A Mink Coat", it was Animal.
"is it a living animal" No
"is it a part of an animal" Yes
"do we have one of these" No
"does anyone we know have one" Yes

And so on, until we guessed it or gave up and the person won that round. My brother was really good at picking things that we could never ever guess. A feather.

My mother or father would read stories to us during these long long drives and read from historical novels and text books and we would discuss, ask questions and absorb the information like the little mind sponges that children are. We played a game where we would add up the numbers on the license plates ahead of us and see who got the right answer first. My mother usually won because the rest of us are math challenged. We would name the animals that we have seen and see who got the most between towns. Who could spot the most cars from different States. My brother and I, take turns reading the road signs. And when we were all tired out, climb over the back seat and go to sleep on the pillows and blankets in the back of the wagon. I imagine that was a huge relief for my parents. Blessed silence.

Every day, I thank my parents for giving me a really unique and wonderful childhood and encouraging us to learn and to think.

Martin Guitars: A GREAT Company

2009-12-16T19:41:00.000-08:00

I just discovered that the guitar that I bought, well actually my father bought, for me in 1967 is still under warranty 43 years later. Now this is a true and lasting value from a great American company.

And.....no need to do the math...OK.

My father bought a guitar for me to replace the Gibson that I had been playing for several years. The Gibson was stolen in 1966 and I was very bummed out. You could say those words with a straight face in 1966. Bummed out. I had been playing for some time and had taken lessons in a store in the San Jose general area from a guy who was about 8 years or so older than me at the time, he also gave my Dad some lessons too. He turned out to be someone famous. One day in San Francisco, I was at a concert and saw him playing with a group. Jefferson Airplane. You might have heard of him Jorma Kaukonen. So cool. I hadn't had lessons in quite a few years by then but I still remembered him as Jerry that kind of cute but much much older than me guy who could play the guitar pretty good and tried to teach me a few chords. Jorma.....lol who made that name up?

Sooooo anyway. Back to the guitar. I had just turned 17. (I told you DON'T do the math.) Since I was playing in front of larger crowds by this time, doing USO shows as well as gigs in auditoriums and other large venues we decided to step up to a bigger box guitar. A Martin D-18. Dreadnought. I loved that guitar. What a sound! I continued to play and sing for some years and performed in coffee houses and cocktail lounges in the Bay Area and other places, sometimes in a group or as a solo act doing blues, soft rock and folk gigs. I even took my guitar to Ireland and England for a summer with a girl friend who had a boyfriend there and we sang and played our way around the country. I was into Irish music at that particular time.

After a few more years and having moved around a lot, college, working, marriage, a family. I gradually gave up playing so much and eventually I put the Martin in the case and just brought it out occaisonally and then rarely.

Over time the tension on the strings of any guitar will cause the neck to bend a bit and lift the strings from the frets so that the action is not as low as it should be. It makes it hard to play on the upper frets and bar cords become troublesome. Especially for hands that are .....well....seasoned. My Martin was no different.

The neck has to be reset completely. Possibly the bridge lowered. In addition over time the pick guard lifted a bit and created a crack. Plus the neck arch makes it very difficult to tune. The cost to repair would be huge. I was very "bummed out".

Through some conversations on the net....I discovered that the Martin Company has a lifetime warranty if you are the original owner. GET OUT!! Really??? Yes, really.

How fantastic is that? How cool is this? All I had to do was prove that I was the original owner. Each Martin has its own serial number. However, it wasn't registered when bought and has never been registered.

"Do I have the original receipts?" they asked.
"You have to be joking!" I said.

"Do you have any photos of you playing it when new?"
"Why.... yes I do!"

Age 17 at Fort Ord...I think.

The upshot is: I now have a warranty and on my way to visit family for Christmas, I'm taking the Martin to a repair shop in Palo Alto to be fixed. FREE!!!

So exciting to be able to play again. I can't wait.

Is Martin a great company or what?

Me at age 14 playing the Gibson

Obama Wants Moms To Go To School

2009-12-12T17:40:00.001-08:00

Every morning my home page comes up with various panes that contain news, weather and of course.....advertising. For the last several months it is all about Obama.
Obama wants us to get new house loans. Obama want us to go back to school.

So this morning I see THIS.

WOAH!!! They must have some butt ugly Moms in Alabama.

Uh Oh. The Secret Is Out.

2009-12-08T10:33:00.001-08:00

Now I've done it. Exposed myself.

I gave directions, from my perch on the couch, to hubby on how to cook the chicken. He went to the store and bought one of those bags of Cesar Salad mix and decided to make some instant mashed potatoes to go with the chicken thighs.

We have a friend who is just now single again. (Divorce) He is hopeless in the kitchen but he told my hubby that instant mashed potatoes were easy to make. Dumbplumber said: "If Don can do it, so can I."

So....he lined the roasting pan with foil, rubbed the thighs with Dijon Mustard, sprinkled each one with some brown sugar, salt and pepper and put them in the oven at 350 for 35 minutes, then sprinkled the thighs with bread crumb, turned up the heat to 450 for 15 minutes. Made the salad. Read the instructions on the mashed potato packet.

He had some questions like:

He: "How the hell do I know what 2 tablespoons of butter are?"
Me: "It says it on the butter wrapper"
He: "There isn't a wrapper!! Now what?"
Me: "About an inch and half of the stick" (He's very good with measurements)

"Where is the sauce pan?"
"Under the left side of the stove on the lower shelf"
"There are three!! Which one do I use."
"Hold them up so I can see>--->> that one....Oh and be sure to use the lid."
"Grumble grumble"

"Where did you hide the bread crumbs?"
"On the lazy suzan in the lower cabinet next to the right side of the stove. Its in a blue kind of can."
"Where?"

It was actually kind of funny. All strange territory for him, trying to find things. Just about as lost as I feel in his workshop if I have to find a tool.

When dinner came out....it was GREAT. He said. "Wow. This isn't hard. Its a snap." Very proud of himself. Rightly.

Now I'm exposed. The secret is out. Cooking really isn't that hard.

However, his next statement was.

"Hurry and get well, I'm tired of being the woman in the house."

Help I've Fallen and I'm Trapped in the Living Room

2009-12-07T09:01:00.000-08:00

Well, I really did it, this time. I fell on the steps in our sunken living room and cracked one ankle and severely sprained the other.

I tripped on my pajama bottoms while turning on the stairs to grab the television remote. I was just about to sit down an enjoy a really bad B- movie, when......wham.....missed that bottom step.

You know how you take some things for granted. Mobility is one of those. We have a sunken living room attached to the home office/guest room which has (Thank GOD) a full bathroom. Now I'm trapped in that area because I can't climb the stairs to the rest of the house while using crutches yet. My world has now shrunk for the next few days, maybe a week. They don't think I need a walking cast, just stay off of the feet for a while....oh and stay off of the stairs.

I guess it could be worse. I could have broken an arm, hip or something really serious.

So in the meantime, I get to work from home. Sitting in front of the computer with my feet on a pillow, popping a pain pill or two. I'm also getting a lot done on my knitting projects and reading that has stacked up not to mention a probably marathon session of World of Warcraft later today.

My hubby, "The Dumbplumber", has really stepped up to the plate. He has learned how to make coffee (we make it from fresh ground whole beans) and swears that he will promptly forget this skill as soon as I am better. Until we got the crutches from a friend, he was my crutch helping to the bathroom and back to the couch. Since the kitchen is in the upper level, he also gets to play Stepinfetchit, bringing me dinner, coffee, clothes, pillows, books and of course water for the pain pills.

We were planning, before my gymnastics on the stair, to have fried chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy and salad, followed by his favorite, carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. Ah well. I informed him that I would now teach him how to roast a chicken and make roasted yams. The salad he can already do. He swears to forget these skills too. Actually if it weren't snowing, Mr. Plumber can barbeque a mean steak and he isn't half bad on breakfast either. He made us scrambled eggs with mushrooms, bacon, english muffins and quartered oranges. And later today said he would clean the kitchen and so some laundry.

Hmmmm.... I wonder how far I can push this being waited upon thing? Not too far I think.

Seriously. I miss walking.

Doctor Utopia and Our Grim Future

2009-11-17T07:41:00.001-08:00

Over 50 years ago, the people of the United States were just recovering from a World War that almost destroyed us. The people who fought in that war also were those who lived through the hardships of the Great Depression. They saw and experienced unimaginable horrors in Europe. The Death Camps of the Nazis. Death of comrades in arms. They worked and created wonderful things, industry, the infrastructure of our cities and transportation systems. They were indeed the Greatest Generation and we should be forever greatful for their sacrifices and for the life that we live now. Their gift to us.

Unfortunately, over the last 50 years, we have been squandering that gift and throwing away the greatest government on Earth, piece by piece on restrictive legistative bill at a time. Our country and way of life was created over 250 years ago by another generation of brave people who also sacrificed and gave birth to the United States of America and the U.S. Constitution.

Since then, we have allowed teachers to no longer teach our children the greatness of America or of our founders, but rather denigrate our country and ourselves. Our children have been taught for several generations that we are bad, evil and that we need to be brought down and punished in some way. Media constantly hammers us through movies, television shows, magazines, newspapers with the message, we are bad, we must change our ways, we are not worthy. They are relentless and many now accept this lie without any critical thinking. In fact schools have eliminated critical thinking skills as part of the long term plan to subjugate the people.

Instead of teaching children to hate their own country and to hate themselves, we need to relearn some lessons that our Grandparents and even Great Granparents learned and paid for with their own blood sweat and tears.

Watch this video from 1948 and see if you don't recognize our danger, our current situation and pray that we don't need to learn these lessons all over again with our own young people's blood sweat and tears.

Springtime Gardening and Fava Beans

2009-07-14T13:03:00.000-07:00

This year we really got cracking on our vegetable garden. The Dumbplumber, at my constant urging or nagging as he would say, put in some great raised beds. 6 beds that are 4 feet by 8 feet by 24 inches high and spaced just wide enough to run the wheel barrow through. We lined them with chicken wire on the bottoms and up the sides and then installed 1 inch PVC pipe at intervals along the sides before filling with dirt. This was so that I could use smaller size PVC and make hoops over the beds.

Because it is cold here in the spring time due to the elevation, it is very hard to plant early. With the hoops running the length of the bed and covered with plastic it creates a tunnel/greenhouse to get an early start on planting. The other advantage is that to discourage the birds and deer, we covered the hoops with deer netting to keep the critters from gobbling up all of the young shoots.

There is no point in planting things that you can easily and cheaply get at the local grocery store. So, I try to plant things that are unusual or that are good trading stock with other local gardeners. This year I had a great crop of French Shallots (which are very expensive) and Elephant garlic. I'm trading with a friend who has a lot of Torpedo and Sweet Walla Walla onions. Yum Yum.

This was the first year that I had grown Fava Beans, so I didn't plant to many, as I wasn't sure if we were even going to like them. Picking the last of the crop today at lunch, we are planning to have them with dinner tonight.

Probably something with Garlic, Shallots, Lemon, Thyme (which I also grew) and shaved Assiago Cheese. If they are a success, next year I'll plant a LOT more as they were probably the easiest thing I have ever grown in the garden.

Next year I will be urging (nagging) my husband to put ground cloth and gravel between the planting beds to keep the mud and weeds down. I'm sure he is really looking forward to it. :-D

More Odd Books

2009-02-01T13:17:00.001-08:00

More odd and interesting books that I've collected over the years.

The Owen book was one of many that I bought in a box for $2.00 in a yard sale in the early 70's when I lived in Paradise. I have a lot of other interesting books of a similar time period from this great find. Ah yard sales!! The junk, the treasures.

Footfalls on the Boundary of Another World. 1860 R D Owen

Spiritualism.

From Wikkipedia: "Robert Dale Owen (November 7, 1801–June 24, 1877) was a longtime exponent in his adopted United States of the socialist doctrines of his father, the Welshman Robert Owen, as well as a politician in the Democratic Party.
Born in Glasgow, Scotland, Owen emigrated to the United States in 1825, and helped his father create the Utopian community of New Harmony, Indiana. After the community failed........"

As socialism always will fail.

Owen became a politician and was actually quite progressive for the time "was instrumental in securing to widows and married women control of their property, and the adoption of a common free school system. He later succeeded in passing a state law giving greater freedom in divorce"

I've tried to read the book, but just can't get past the flowery language that was used at the time.

************************************************

Eve's Daughters 1882 Marion Harland

Probably one of the first seimi-feminist books. She had the unorthodox ideas that exercise and the outdoors were not completely unsuitable for the young woman. Although she didn't consider herself a "feminist" (who did? ...the word hadn't been invented then) I believe she was a pioneer for women.

She wrote a slew of other books on domesticity, cooking and household management.

Odd Books: Kitchen Garden

2009-02-01T12:31:00.000-08:00

In response to Ann Althouse's request for interesting and strange books:

I have been collecting cookbooks for years and came upon this very strange book that was wrongly filed in the cookbook section.

It isn't a cook book AT ALL. Copyright 1878 by Emily Huntington. New York City. The book is actually a 'primer' to teach little children how to be maids, servants and to work in the houses of the rich.

QUOTED "To My Friends and the Young Ladies of New York City. Whose noble and persevering efforts have enabled me to deveop this scheme.

And to the MUSICIAN (she capitalizes it this way) Whose inspiring accompaniments have ever fanned our enthusiasm" Um....yeah. I bet the MUSICAN was fanning more than just Ms. Huntington's enthusiasm.

It contains music scores and rhymes and games to teach the children how to lay a fire, set the table, clean the dishes and answer the door!!

Evidently this was shortly after the Civil War and with all the orphans and immigrants from Europe pouring into the City there was a lot of poverty. Poor sweet wealthy Ms. Huntington pondered and pondered on how to fix this.......

I know!! she said.....let's make all these children into servants. "In schools they are taught to read in class; why not to cook, sweep, make beds, and wash dishes?" Don't bother to teach them skills that might help them rise above poverty. Nah..... we need servants and LOOK a whole crop that we can train properly.

Hilarious... even then the elites in New York City were completely out of touch with the "common" people. Some things never change.

They have songs, piano scores and learning exercises. Here is part of one song for Washing the Dishes.

Washing dishes, washing dishes
Suds are hot, suds are hot,
Work away briskly, work away briskly;
Do not stop, do not stop.

First the glasses, first the glasses;
Wash them well, wash them well
If you do them nicely, if you do them nicely
All can tell, all can tell

Then the silver, then the silver
Must be bright, must be bright
Work away swiftly, work away swiftly
With your might, with your might

And so on until the dishes were done. Next......how to sweep the floor.

The Shoemaker's Children Have No Shoes

2008-12-23T05:40:00.000-08:00

And the Dumbplumber's wife has a leak in the pump house. Poetic justice I guess.

It has been cold, cold, cold here and as I said in my last post my hubby has gotten sick from being out in it fixing broken pipes and thawing out pump houses. He has been bitching and complaining about how people can't figure out how water freezes at 32 degrees and when it is -12 degrees it really really is going to freeze. Stupid people!!.

Well........despite keeping a nasty (and about to be banned in California) incandescent bulb on for heat inside our insulated and air tight (more about that in a minute) pump house, we sprung a leak. No. Not just a leak ......a flood. On Sunday, we went into the pump house for a few supplies and a necessary bottle of wine and everything was just fine. Yesterday (Monday) the hubby goes to feed the quail who have been nagging vociferously for their hand out and tries to open the door. We have two doors on the building. One that opens outward and another that opens inward. Hmmmmm? What's the deal? Why won't the inward door open? Because there is a foot of water flooding the building, due to the airtight condition!!!! That's why.

Opening the door, by forcing back the floating bags of now totally soaked bird seed, the water comes flooding out. Why is the pump still on? Um.... we forgot? Ok. We're stupid just like all of the people he has been complaining about.

So, Mr. Dumbplumber gives his wife a call at work to spread the bad news. Oh SHIT!!!!. I had a couple of boxes of books on the floor that I was planning to bring inside. They are history. Really sad, because some of them were hard back books from college that I liked that are now out of print and a couple of collect able Rex Stouts. Sigh. I guess, I'll start perusing EBay and ELibris to see if I can find replacements.

Also on the bottom shelves were several boxes of craft books/clippings, some old clothing patterns and boxes of fabric that I had collected over the years for quilting and was saving until I got my craft room up and running. CRAP! CRAP! CRAP! To put it mildly.

So, I drag in as many of the clippings and books that aren't completely soaked and strew them all over the floor in front of the heater. Put the totally soaked fabric in plastic bags and lug them into the laundry room. Well, I guess I would have had to wash the fabric anyway to make more quilt projects....how's that for trying to look on the bright side? Spin dry and tumble dry 8 loads of fabric. Wooooo fun.

Actually, it was fun. I sat on the floor with a glass of scotch and sorted the fabrics into color coordinated piles as they came out of the dryer. "Ooooh. Look there is the fabric that I made a dress out of for my Daughter when she was in 3rd grade and a piece of a really cool tropical fabric that I had made into a sun dress for myself when I went to college" (30 yrs ago). Memories like the corners of my mind.....

"What! Don't look at me that way, this fabric is valuable and irreplaceable and who left the water on in the pump house anyway!?! Would you pour me another scotch please?"

I found a couple of unfinished quilt projects that I had forgotten about.

And I started a project I've been wanting to do for quite some time. I'm scanning the clippings and idea files to disk and getting rid of the paper. Some of these things I've had since the 70's.

What!! Don't look at me like that.

As I go through these, I think.....What were we thinking, that this was a cool outfit to wear? Much less to spend hours upon hours crocheting?

Another thing that is now interesting to me about these old clipping is the advertisements. Cigarette and booze ads are all over Family Circle, Sunset Magazine, Better Homes and Gardens. Some products have survived the times and others have not. Some clothing and decorating styles have survived and thankfully, some have not. I'll scan some advertisements and post them later.

So, while this has been a disaster and I mourn for my lost books and craft supplies, there is a silver lining. I got my fabric cleaned!

Ho Ho NO!!

2008-12-22T07:52:00.000-08:00

Christmas comes each time this year......at least that's what the Beach Boys tell us. AND the stores, radio stations and television stations are determined to pound the Season as soon after Thanksgiving is over. The turkey isn't even digested yet and you can't go for more than 15 minutes without a Christmas song on the radio, even on satellite jazz radio stations that you pay for. If I have to hear Ertha Kitt or Madonna sing Santa Baby one more time, I'm gonna explode.

"Grandma got run over by a rain deer" "Rocking around the Christmas Tree" "Jingle Bell Rock" ....worthless and annoying Christmas songs that you just can't escape from this time of year.

I don't hate all Christmas songs. This is one of my very favorites.

Now, don't get me wrong. I actually like Thanksgiving through Christmas. Its a great time for cooking up all the goodies like candy, cookies, cakes, pies, breads that you really have no excuse for making during the rest of the year, with the added bonus that you can give most of it away as gifts. Getting together with friends for a cocktail, glass of wine, some hors d'ourves and being thankful for just being alive.

What I don't like is the pressure. The commercial pressure: to buy things, to decorate, the decorating wars going on in the neighborhoods, the Christmas Tree versus Holiday Tree vs Festivus Pole controversy. The religious pressure: If you don't decorate your office, send out hundreds of dollars worth of cards, being careful to sort out the religious cards from the secular cards.....after all we don't want to offend anyone by actually reminding them that Christmas is a religious holiday. ....then people think you are a Grinch, Atheist or sick. How about I don't decorate because I'm lazy and it is a pain to drag all the decorations down from the attic only to have to undo the decorations in a few weeks, clean up and put them back in the attic? Sigh.....the pressure.

This year all my best laid plans were set astray by Global Warming in the form of the current Ice Age we seem to be experiencing. I was planning to go to a surprise party for my Father's 80th birthday, which is Christmas Eve. However, the constant snow we have been getting made me think that, while I might be able to take my gas guzzling earth destroying evil SUV over themountain pass......I might not be able to get home.

It has been snowing 1 to 3 inches every day since these photos

In the meantime, my husband The Dumbplumber (he's really a plumber, but not dumb at all), having spent the last week in sub zero temperatures (-12 to 8 as the high temperature for several days) trying to unfreeze people's pipes and well pumps so they could have water and then when it warmed up to 32 degrees standing and laying in icy water fixing gushing pipes under homes, has come down with a nasty cold and fever. So......his trip to see his Mother and my trip to see my Father......cancelled.

So....Ho Ho NO!

Infected Video Imbeds

2008-12-02T07:57:00.000-08:00

I have deleted the recent video embeds from the posts 3rd rock and Playing for Change. It appears that there is a new virus actns/swif.t that opens in IE or Firefox when the web page displays the embedded video.

Sorry for any inconvenience. I strongly suggest you update your virus software, run a full system scan and do NOT open any pop up windows that might appear. Check with Bleepingcomputer for more information.

UPDATE: Crunch Gear has a bit more information on this virus

http://www.crunchgear.com/2008/12/02/actnsswift-virus-affecting-embedded-youtube-vids/

It seems to be a trojan that will redirect you to a phishing site to install AntiVirus 2009 which is a malware program and is very difficult to get rid of.

If you get redirected to any strange websites, just don't click on anything.

Black Friday For The Retail Industry

2008-11-29T08:29:00.000-08:00

Black Friday, for some reason, is the name for the Friday after Thanksgiving. Stores open early, prices are down and the sheeple are whipped into a frenzy of buying. In order to get the good sale prices on big and small ticket items for Christmas, people line up and mob the store entrances as if they were rabid drug addled fans at a rock concert. It's a mob scene in the classic sense and I've never understood why anyone would do such a thing. Of course, I also never understood the hysterical screaming and crying girls throwing themselves at the fences separating them from the Beatles.

This year, yet another person was trampled, suffocated, pressed to death in the stampede of bovine shoppers at a retail store. Unfortunately, this year it was Wal Mart, the favorite target of the unions, who are salivating at the idea of unionizing and collecting dues from the approximately 2 million employees. Woooeeee!!!. The union dues would be enormous and the union bosses would be able to really give themselves a well earned raise.

Already the Unions are jumping all over this tragic event to stick the shiv into the Wal Mart ribs according to the New York Times. They can't wait to use the death of Mr. Damour as leverage to get their foot in the door or more aptly the camel's nose under the tent. As if the mere presence of the Union would have deterred the mindless stampede.

"Wal-Mart has successfully resisted unionization of its employees. New York State’s largest grocery union, Local 1500 of the United Food and Commercial Workers, called the death of Mr. Damour “avoidable” and demanded investigations."

So far Wal Mart has resisted unionization because the employees have voted down becoming unionized. They are no dummies. Wal Mart, contrary to the propaganda put out by the NYT, the Unions and left leaning liberal media, treats it's employees well. They have a good safety record according to OSHA: better than GM the poster child for the Union's successes in helping business (sarcasm in case you didn't get it). WalMart does provide health insurance for its employees and they get to participate in the $4.00 prescription plan.

Speaking as self employed people who have zero health insurance, the plan linked above sounds pretty good to me. It may not be the 'Cadillac' plan (pun intended) that the unions have forced up GM's butt but still a decent plan. We take advantage of the $4.00 prescription offer as well, saving $76 a month on one of my husband's prescriptions.

Obama, our President Elect (who takes every opportunity to remind us of this fact with his never ending radio addresses and press conferences) is in favor of "Card Check" voting for union organizing. In case you didn't know, this is a way for Union organizers to strong arm people into voting for unionization. It removes the ability of the employees to cast a secret ballot. If you have people hanging over you and haranguing you while you vote and harassing you at home and at work to cast a "Union Ballot", people will be intimidated into voting for the unionization whether they want to or not.

Read the whole thing: Two examples illustrate this problem. During a card-check campaign at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, union organizers threatened that workers who did not sign union cards would lose their jobs when the union was recognized. In 2002, a long-time organizer for the United Steelworkers felt compelled to quit his job after "a senior Steelworkers union official asked me to threaten migrant workers by telling them they would be reported to federal immigration officials if they refused to sign check-off cards." Forcing workers to express their beliefs in public leaves them vulnerable to threats and can discourage them from exercising free choice.

It will get nothing but worse when card check is the law of the land.

How would you like to have your neighbors standing at your elbow when you voted for the President or for any of the Propositions that were just on the ballots in California? How about a crowd of gay rights agitators looming over you if you decided to vote Yes on 8? A secret ballot process is integral to Democracy. When others can coerce your vote or your vote is determined by peer pressure, we will have lost a central freedom in our lives.

If the workers at WalMart or any other industry DO want to unionize, then they should be allowed to hear both sides of the proposition from management and from the unions. They should be allowed to weigh the benefits or pitfalls and then vote in a SECRET BALLOT process.

I'm not completely negative on the place of Unions in the work place. They have a long and distinguished history of protecting people from unfair or unhealthy work conditions. However.....the conditions that brought the Unions to power, no longer exist. We have labor laws up the booyang to keep people safe. Smart businesses today (like Wal Mart) treat their labor force well. The power struggle now between the Union and retail is not so much about the employees as it is a money grab by the Union organizers.

You think our economy is in trouble now? Let the Unions get a strangle hold on retail like they have had on the auto industry, the steel industry, the airline industry and watch retail jobs evaporate. Retail is one of the last places that unskilled workers can have decent jobs in decent environments (instead of working outdoors digging ditches).

Unionize retail? Jobs will be lost, stores will close, prices will go up, no more $4.00 prescriptions, suppliers for the retail giants like Wal Mart will have to shrink their production to accommodate the shrinking demand. Poor people who rely on the bargains now offered will have to cut even further back on their budgets.

Good job Unions. Hey, but at least you get to collect those dues from the workers that are remaining.

What's For Dinner Thanksgiving

2008-11-26T15:55:00.000-08:00

Whew!! Cooking for Thanksgiving. Good thing it's something I like to do othewise we might have tacos instead :-)

Menu

Brined Turkey (normally would be smoked but we are just baking it this time)

Pear compote (we are still trying to use the last of those wonderful but numerous Asian Apple Pears. I'll be so glad when they are finally gone)

Stuffing Casserole (sour dough, with dried apricots, pecans, celery, onions, butter, spices and chicken broth)

Green Bean Casserole (a request by my hubby, the old traditional Grandma type recipe from a can)

Juliened Carrots in orange sauce

Turkey Gravy (not as good as my future son in law's gravy, but it will be adequate)

Home made No Knead Yeast rolls (a super easy roll recipe that I've made for the last 30 years at least) slathered in butter, of course.

Dessert: Gingered Pear Pie with Ice Cream

I decided since it wasn't going to be a lot of people that we wouldn't have....... a green salad, mashed potatoes or cranberry sauce. I think we'll have enough food.....for a small army, even though my husband is whimpering about not having mashed potatoes. When he decides to cook, he can make all the potatoes he wants.

Playing for Change

2008-11-24T14:12:00.000-08:00

This is an awesome video and an incredibly wonderful concept. Playing for Change is a foundation dedicated to connecting the world through music. I love this video. I shows the commonality that we all have to each other throughout the world. In a time when it is easier to stress the differences, music brings us together.

Enjoy.

3rd Rock From The Sun

2008-11-24T07:42:00.000-08:00

With the never ever ending election season that we just went through and the beginning of electioneering for 2012, the political overload just got to be too much for me. Talking heads all parroting the same thing. People on talk shows yelling and screaming over each other so that you can't even hear what they are saying. STOP.....just STOP!!!

Surely there must be something entertaining on at least one of the 150 channels we have on Dish Network? Scrolling through the channels that I haven't blocked (all ESPN and shopping channels) I landed on the "old television show channel" and lo and behold. 3rd Rock From The Sun!! I forgot how funny that show was. Pure laugh out loud, belly laugh entertainment. Quick.....program the DVR to record and watch when I need a laugh a break and want to retreat from the insanity of real life into the insanity of the 3rd Rock world.

One of my most favorite episodes. Dick is from Mars, Sally is from Venus. Sally has a date that didn't go very well and the guy gives her the "I'll call you" line. Being aliens in human form, Sally just doesn't get it.

Watch out....you might find yourself on YouTube for hours watching old episodes. Better yet just buy the DVDs and be prepared to laugh your ass off.

Gender Analyser....I'm So Conflicted

2008-11-23T08:38:00.001-08:00

This is pretty funny. I ran across this post from Gateway Pundit about a program that can analyze your writing style and determin if you are a man or a woman. http://www.genderanalyzer.com/

So, I thought, let's see...... Entering in the URL for Dust Bunnies of the Mind

We think http://dustbun.blogspot.com is written by a man (65%).

OK....how about my other blog Recipe Junkie??

We think http://recipejunkie.blogspot.com is written by a woman (89%).

I guess it matters what you are writing about. Either that or I have a split personality and need some serious help. When I'm Dust Bunny Queen. I'm 65% man, but when I'm talking recipes and food 89% woman.

More test result from the genderanalyzer site. Here is a personality profile. Evidently my writing style on Dust Bunnies is

ISTP - The Mechanics

The independent and problem-solving type. They are especially attuned to the demands of the moment are masters of responding to challenges that arise spontaneously. They generally prefer to think things out for themselves and often avoid inter-personal conflicts. The Mechanics enjoy working together with other independent and highly skilled people and often like seek fun and action both in their work and personal life. They enjoy adventure and risk such as in driving race cars or working as policemen and firefighters

This is interesting because my formal personality profiles taken for work purposes have usually turned out to be INTJ or ISTJ. My husband is an ISTJ.

HOWEVER....analyizing Recipe Junke, it seems that I'm

ESFP - The Performers

The entertaining and friendly type. They are especially attuned to pleasure and beauty and like to fill their surroundings with soft fabrics, bright colors and sweet smells. They live in the present moment and don´t like to plan ahead - they are always in risk of exhausting themselves. The enjoy work that makes them able to help other people in a concrete and visible way. They tend to avoid conflicts and rarely initiate confrontation - qualities that can make it hard for them in management positions

It's official. I'm schizo!!

Dust Bunnies is 32% Mark Twain. Recipe Junkie is 46% Frank Baum. The Wizard of Oz.

I am a bit worried however, since my husband's blog is 45% Edgar Alan Poe

World Toilet Day

2008-11-21T11:22:00.000-08:00

Holy Cow. The 19th was World Toilet Day.....how could I have missed this significant event!!

The big news that may affect us all is the proposal to have flush less or waterless toilets. I know, we need to cut down on excessive water usage, especially in the more arid places of the world like Australia where they are proposing a toilet tax. Earth groovy and all that stuff and I'm not opposed to saving water, energy, whales or anything else.

We already have the government intruding into our lives telling us what to eat and what not to eat. What kind of light bulbs we must use and even proposing to regulate the temperature in our homes with remotely controlled thermostats. We already have low flow shower heads that can barely get the soap out of our hair. Low flushing toilets that you have to flush several times to .....well you know.

I don't know how a dry toilet would actually work and remain sceptical.

But I have to admit my first thought on this subject was.....how are you going to clean it!!! Eeeeeewwww.

The Man Behind the Curtain

2008-11-11T07:52:00.000-08:00

What is going to happen when the bloom is off the rose, the halo slips and the man behind the curtain is finally revealed? I'm afraid it isn't going to be pretty.

Obama has promised the world and the kitchen sink to his supporters. He is going to make the oceans recede, lower taxes for everyone (except those nasty rich people), new stimulus packages to jump start our staggering economy, redistribute wealth from those who work to those who don't, hire armies of teachers, create a new corps of civilian community organizers, credits for college, create renewable energy, stop the Iraq war, create peace in our time, reverse global warming. It goes on and on and the price tag is in the trillions.

Others of his supporters have been led to believe that the world will change, butterflies will flutter, and that with Obama ascendant they won't have to pay for their own gasoline or mortgages. Yeah, and monkeys are going to fly out of my butt.

The sad truth is that Obama made empty promises to starry eyed believers. Promises he knows, or will soon know once in office, that he cannot keep. Promises he never intended to keep. In the process, Obama's policies, that he is able to enact, will depress our economy and that of the entire world even more. We will be further attacked by terrorists and bogged down in Afghanistan.

Once the disappointment sets and and he is revealed as the empty shell that he is, as the political tool of a political machine, will the people who bought this line of bullshit wake up and blame themselves for irrationally putting all their hopes and dreams in a flawed man. Not likely. The scary reality is that they will look for a scapegoat upon which to lay the blame for their own failures and upon whom to take vengeance.

This is already happening in the gay community in California who are targeting the Mormons for the passage of Prop 8. Not the black community or the Hispanic community that overwhelmingly voted for Prop 8, but the Mormons because it is politically correct to show prejudice against Mormons. We've seen it over the last 8 years in the pillorying of George Bush, who it seems is to blame for everything that has occurred and who will be the cause of everything that will occur in the future.

No. The blame will not be assumed by those who created the disaster by falling for the empty promises and being distracted by the shiny penny. In depression era Germany, we know who the scapegoats were, the Jews. Who our chosen victims will be and what form the retaliation takes remains to be seen. The always poplar choice of the Jews again? Pandering to the Muslim terrorists might make this a reality. The wealthy capitalist pigs who evilly have created jobs and industry? Mormons? Republicans?

Who knows for now. But it is going to get ugly.

The Sunday Drive from Hell

2008-10-29T15:26:00.000-07:00

It has been a beautiful autumn season. Exceptionally so with the gorgeous colors and warm afternoons. After a week of working inside an office, I look forward to being outdoors on the week ends and working on some projects in the yard. One, that I'd been putting off, is to dig in the compost in the planting beds and plant french shallots and elephant garlic for spring. The cold winters here require that you get them planted before the first frost, which could be at any time. I was also looking forward to making another pie with the Asian Apple Pears that we have an abundance of. Maybe some jam.

However, best laid plans and all that stuff. Hubby, who has been working 7 days a week, 10 hour days for the last month had the bright idea that we take a Sunday drive in our classic 72 K5 Blazer to get away and relax.

The idea was to take a back road called Fender's Ferry, an historic stage coach road that would take us ultimately to I-5 and we would have lunch at a cutesy restaurant in Mt Shasta.

So, I'm like....."Ok....how long do you think it will take because I have some things I want to do. OK?"

He says: "It should be just about 3 hours. I took this road from Redding in the 70s"

Looking at the map it didn't seem to be all that many miles. I now realize that those roads in blue lines represent unimproved road. Really really unimproved. Tip number one. Avoid the blue roads.

The road at first wasn't too bad. Graded and obviously well traveled..... and look, there are even some people living in cute cabins up the hill and down by the creek. Soon the road became narrower and narrower. We were already too far to go back....we thought. Three hours of bumping along on a one lane crumbling dirt road clinging to the side of a mountain averaging at best 8 miles an hour. Don't look down!! OMG it's straight down.!!! The only thing between us and certain death are those humongous pine trees that are at least 4 feet on the stump. No one had ever logged this area.......because it is freaking impossible to get to it unless you are .....insane!!!! I'm gripping the side of the seat and bracing myself with a hand on the dash. No seat belts aaaaaagh! Is this ever going to end. My hand is still cramped.

We did see some pretty country side, discovered a water fall that was at least 100 feet high. Met up with some people on quad runners. I forgot it was deer season, so at least if we broke down someone would be by sometime. I just hope that they haven't seen Deliverance.

At several points we came across pretty open meadows planted with fruit trees. Really old fruit trees. Also the foundations of barns or houses made out of rocks. These must have been old homesteads or stage stops. Probably made by people who gave up traveling on this God forsaken road and decided to just stay where they were out of desperation. Seriously, people were tough in those days. No wonder they all married their cousins. It was too much work to find anyone else.

About 3/4 of the way in, according to the squiggly blue line that represented the road the car started acting up. Clue two....there was no way the map maker could possibly make the line squiggly enough to represent all the hairpin turns in such a small line.

Me: "Um... the car is missing and sounding funny. Are we ok? " "And, just how drunk were you in 1970 when you went on this road?????"

"No problem " he says, "We are just loading up with carbon and the spark plugs need to be cleaned." The hubby, I find out later is glossing over the problem, thinks we have sucked two of the 8 cylinders and is freaked out. We have no cell phone reception and there is no way in hell that we are going to get AAA to come out here and tow us.

So, we plow on and eventually make it to I-5. We wanted to get out and kiss the asphalt.

Not lunch but now early dinner in Mt Shasta and back to home. Seven hours and it felt like we had been gone for a month and like we'd been beaten with a rubber hose.

Needless to say. No pie.

Serenity Prayer and Apple Pears

2008-10-22T16:16:00.000-07:00

This election cycle is getting the better of me. With all of the voter fraud and the mysterious (most likely illegal) donations to Obama's campaign and that no one in authority seems to be concerned, I've come to the conclusion that the election is being stolen out from under us. We are turning into a third world banana republic and our votes count for nothing. I waffle between angry and depressed.

Sooooo. It's time to take a deep breath and step back and recite the Serenity Prayer

God, give us grace to accept with serenity the things that cannot be changed, courage to change the things that should be changed, and the wisdom to distinguish the one from the other.

There is nothing I can do about ACORN filing fraudulent voters. Nothing I can do to stop them from busing in illegal immigrants who can't read English and casting their votes FOR them....for you know who...of course. Nothing I can do to stop people like Jive Turkey and Jjlthi htios from fraudulently channeling untraceable contributions to the Obama campaign, while McCain, the stupid shlub, is being over run and out maneuvered. I cannot change these things.

However, I have found something that I can change.

For years we have had a tree in our yard that produced mystery fruit.

Gigantic pear looking things, as big as softballs, that turned yellow on the tree and inevitably fell onto the ground. The deer enjoyed them. Turns out these apple pear looking things are just that. Asian Apple Pear. Go figure. They are quite delicious and a delicacy

They need to be removed from the tree while green and ripened on the counter or in the pump house. Crisp, sweet and slightly tart they were a wonderful addition to a salad last night.

So in my quest to change the things that can be changed and ignore the things that I can change.

I'm going to change these, and the other 30 pounds of Apple Pears, into pear pies, pear tarts and pear jam.

Making Patterns and Sewing Clothes

2008-10-15T16:54:00.000-07:00

I just recently was going through boxes of photos ranging from 30 years ago to pick out some pictures for my daughter's up coming wedding. Yes.....photos. On real paper in envelopes with celluloid negatives. Remember? Before digital cameras. Before photoshop.

It was like digging into a box of memories. Remembering when and where I took these photos. Pictures of my daughter as a baby, a toddler, a gangly pre teen and finally a beautiful young woman. Pictures of people I haven't seen in 30 years. Pictures of people I don't even remember who they even are.

While scanning many of the early photos to put onto a disk, I realized just how much sewing I used to do. Almost all my daughter's best dresses and outfits were those that I made for her. Most of my clothes were made by myself for myself. We were poor, collected food stamps for a while, and had to make do with what we had. Even so, we got by pretty good and we look spiffy in our home made clothing.

This got me to thinking about our current economic situation and reflecting on my previous post about "Going Galt". Why pay top dollar for clothing that is poorly made, doesn't fit, probably made in Guatemala or China and continue to contribute to the "machine".

So, my creative juices started to flow and I pulled out a book that I've had for some time on making custom clothing patterns. I'd forgotten how easy and fun it was. When I was younger, ahem...thinner and gravity wasn't such a big drag on certain parts of my body, the patterns from McCalls or Vogue worked just fine. However, it seems a little alterations are in order.

If they can do it on Project Runway, heck yeah........ so can I. One more thing to liberate myself from the yoke of government control.

Going Galt

2008-10-15T07:55:00.000-07:00

PJM (pajamas media) and Dr. Helen have put up a post about the idea of 'going Galt' If you haven't read Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand, you should. I admit that she isn't the best or most entertaining writer in the world. I read this book in high school and it made a profound impression on me that shapes my world view today.

For those who haven't the time to plow through her massive book, the main theme is that there are those who are productive in society, the John Galts and then there are the takers and the users. Stealing shamelessly from Dr. Helen.

"the basic theme is that John Galt and his allies take actions that include withdrawing their talents, “stopping the motor of the world,” and leading the “strikers” (those who refuse to be exploited) against the “looters” (the exploiters, backed by the government)."

My husband, who has a plumbing business (just like this guy) and also has his own blog http://dumbplumber.blogspot.com/ and I are both self employed. We have seriously discussed this concept and are already "going Galt". Cutting back on production, cutting back on business and contributing the least we possibly can to the government. We aren't the only ones. Some cattle ranchers and farmers in our area are cutting back. Less food production and laying off workers. Contractors are not going to be building. Less lumber needed. Less logging and mill production and it goes on. The economy grinds to a halt and there is no one productive to rob from to give to the leeches and looters.

Actually, by cutting back, we will ultimately have more retained income (less taxes) and more quality time to do things that we enjoy. We have already seen this.

I suggest that we ALL do the most we can to stop the engine of the world and let the looters starve.

A Little ACORN Topples the Mighty Oak

2008-10-15T06:57:00.000-07:00

ACORN the community activist organization that is supporting Obama and who has been supported by his campaign to the tune of $800,000 dollars is under investigation FINALLY for fraudulently submitting fake voter registration forms.

They have been, for years, stuffing the ballot box and overwhelming the county voter registars offices with a flood of late arriving fake registrations. This isn't an accident or sloppy work. They are doing it on purpose. The technique is part of a plan to bring down captialism and change the 'regime' in our country to socialsim. Saul Alinsky laid out the rules and literally wrote the book on how to bring down our country. The Cloward-Piven Strategy provided the blueprint for the plan that is in effect now. I'm not going to go into depth on this as there are many more sites that have done the heavy lifting. Here Here Oh , Hell....just google it.

While I agree that everyone who is legally eligible should be able to vote. Voting for our Representatives, Senators and the Executive office by the people of this country, instead of having our leaders imposed on us by fiat, is what has made America a great and free country. Up until now......the system has been working. Now with the subversive actions of a socialist/communist group we are in danger of being toppled and hamstrung by our own goodwill and our own rules.

Most of us, who read blogs and write blogs are fairly well aquainted with the issues and the candidates. However, the same cannot be said of the people that ACORN is registering, often multiple times.

Just listen and weep. This is the future of our country. Ignoramuses who vote based merely on the color of skin or merely on Party affiliation without any critical thinking or any idea of who or what they are voting for.

If it weren't so sad, it would be funny.

Predictions for the next 4 years

2008-10-12T16:22:00.000-07:00

1. Obama will be elected President through fraud and the media will refuse to do any investigative journalism. Mainly because they are implicit in facilitating the fraud and want to have Obama elected no matter what.

2. The "fairness doctrine" will be rammed through Congress and talk radio will be diminished if not completely taken down. The only "news" and opinions we will be allowed to hear are those that are filtered through the media.

3. The internet will be next. Websites that are right leaning will be forced off of the web or mandated to express views that don't contradict the 'regime' of Obama

4. This suppression of the First Amendment will extend to individuals and our personal webpages, facebook sites and possibly even our emails will be scrutinized

5. Anyone who deviates from the 'right thinking' will be accused of racism, sued to be taken off of the television or movie screens. Only the proper expressions will be tolerated and all others will be shouted down and silenced.

6. Taxes will be levied against the so called rich to the ends of redistributing wealth. In that case, the truly wealthy will be able to save themselves by moving out of the country or moving their assets out of the country. The small business owner and entrepreneurs will be driven out of business, will lay off workers or will just go underground. The middle working class and small business owners will cease to exist. Power and wealth will be concentrated in the hands of government functionaries and there will be an even wider gap between the rich/governmental mandarin types and the rest of the population.

7. The economy will go underground. It is already happening as I type. People will be trading for services and goods. Cash economy will rule instead of a paper trail. Tax revenues will go down, and the 'regime' will demand that more taxes, fees and excises be imposed. Downward spiral.

8. The 'regime' now having controlled the sources of information will concentrate on the children. By taking children away from families at an ever younger age, they will be more able to indoctrinate the children. Teaching the children to spy and report on their parents when the adults deviate from the pre-approved programing.

9. There will be a very bad terrorist attack that will polarize people even more, with the 'regime' seeing this attack as a Godsend to allow them to maintain more power. Perhaps even repealing the 2 term Presidential rule and attempting to sieze permant status. Elections as we know them will be a thing of the past.

Within 25 years the United States will cease to exist as a free country. We will either be a socialist nation like Russia or the country will splinter into geographically drawn political fragments. Urban vs Rural. The US will no longer exist as a country at all.

Ah...The Law Of Unintended Consquences

2008-10-05T09:20:00.000-07:00

Don't you just love the way the law of uninteded consquences continually comes around to bite us all in the ass. Thanks to mostly, not always, but mostly liberal nanny state laws we have all kinds of messes to clean up.

The mother of all messes of course has to do with the melt down in the financial markets caused by socialist goals embodied in the CRA act and the relaxing of loan standards by Bill Clinton and the erosion of the "Chinese Wall" also by Clinton that removed the barriers between banking and investment companies.

But....enough of that. I'm talking laws meant to protect us from a slight chance of harm that ultimately put us ALL in real danger. Laws like this one in California. To protect us from the slight chance that our house might catch fire, we are now polluted in our bodies by 100% more levels of flame retardent in and 1000% times more in our environment.

As I sit on my couch typing on my laptop and absorbing even more PBDEs, I ponder what other great surprises the meddling government will be bringing to us in the future in the name of saving us from ourselves.

New Game Show: Congressional Sweep

2008-10-02T07:34:00.000-07:00

Anyone remember the gameshow Supermarket Sweep? This is what Congress is reminding me of lately and especially with this latest rush to shove a lard laden bill through which supposedly is going to rescue us from ourselves.

In the game show, contestants would frantically race through the store throwing the most expensive items in the cart they could at the fastest pace they could, and the one with the most at the end would win.

Toss in the caviar, hams, cheese, canned luxury goods......whatever cost the most. Didn't matter if the combination of food and goods in the basket made any sense or were of any actual use. Just throw it in there.

Congress is doing the exact same thing, with our money. Rushing around and throwing in the pork and the caviar. Never mind that we can't use this crap. Don't need this crap. Don't want his crap. Whoever has the biggest most expensive basket WINS!!!..

Well... except for us of course, since we don't get to actually eat any of the groceries, but have to pay for them.

Barstool Economics

2008-09-19T08:22:00.000-07:00

Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to $100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:

The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.
The fifth would pay $1.
The sixth would pay $3.
The seventh would pay $7
The eighth would pay $12.
The ninth would pay $18.
The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.

So, that's what they decided to do. The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve. 'Since you are all such good customers, he said, 'I'm going to reduce the cost of your daily beer by $20. Drinks for the ten now cost just $80.

The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes so the first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free. But what about the other six men - the paying customers? How could they divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his 'fair share?' They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from everybody's share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being paid to drink his beer. So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man's bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay.

And so:

The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings).
The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33%savings).
The seventh now pay $5 instead of $7 (28%savings).
The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings).
The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% savings).
The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).

Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to drink for free. But once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings.

'I only got a dollar out of the $20,'declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man,' but he got $10!

''Yeah, that's right,' exclaimed the fifth man. 'I only saved a dollar, too. It's unfair that he got ten times more than I!'

'That's true!!' shouted the seventh man. 'Why should he get $10 back when I got only two? The wealthy get all the breaks!

''Wait a minute,' yelled the first four men in unison. 'We didn't get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!'

The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.

The next night the tenth man didn't show up for drinks, so the nine sat down and had beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn't have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill!

And that, boys and girls, journalists and college professors, is how our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they might start drinking overseas where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.

For those who understand, no explanation is needed.For those who do not understand, no explanation is possible.

Note: I did not write this. Barstool Economics is a hairy old chestnut that has been floating around the net for years. I swiped it from a posting on a forum for financial professionals. Too good not to pass around.

Test post

2008-08-01T18:55:00.000-07:00

Republicans protest Nancy Pelosi shutting down voting energy bill. Congress closed. House Revolt. Energy bill. Oil drilling.

My Backyard

2008-05-26T10:56:00.000-07:00

Since I obviously have lost interest in posting here and am spending more time on my other blog posting recipies and discussing food, I thought I would just post some photos taken from my deck last winter and fall.

Sunrise

Fall Panorama

Cthulhu for President. Why vote for a lesser evil?

2008-02-27T09:54:00.000-08:00

With this latest crop of incompentent, creepy, geriatric, evasive candidates for President, I have come to the conclusion that I will no longer settle for just voting for the lesser evil. If I were a Democrat I would have the choice between:

1. The Clintons, a pair of sociopathic grifters who want to bring European style socialism into our lives. Who want to "take things away from us for the common good" and control every last aspect of our personal and economic lives.

2. OR. Obama who may or may not be a Muslim raised by communistic anit-American parents and who is associated with an anti- Semetic and Black Separatist church. Obama who is cypher that we are not allowed to question lest we be tarred as racists.

As a Republican I am left with a candidate who is older than dirt, shows the beginning symptoms of senility. McCain who is for a free pass for illegal immigrants, open borders and calls anyone who disagrees with him racist. McCain who is just two degrees from being a left leaning Democrat.

Well, damned if I do and damned if I don't. I guess I'm doomed to be called a racist for the temerity of asking question and not falling into lockstep behind the chosen leader of either party.

So.... therefore..... I am choosing to vote for the GREATER EVIL instead of just settling for the lesser evil. Come on people. We are going to go to Hell in a handbasket anyway with any of the choices we have before us now. Let's just get the ride over with.

This site is dedicated to the great old one, who should return from his slumber to take over the U.S. government and make this country a whole hell of a lot better as the leader of our executive branch. Or destroy it and drive everyone insane, kill us all, or something really nasty! Remember, Cthulhu for President, why vote for the lesser of two evils?

Food Stamp Grocery List

2008-01-28T07:12:00.000-08:00

Having decided to take the food stamp challenge in my own way, I went to the store and purchased these items posted on my food blog Recipe Junkie for brevitys sake.

I spent 133.86 and still have left $66.14 for the rest of the month. The expensive purchases were meat, cheese and milk. A couple of chickens, some pork steaks, hamburger, london broil. The idea is to buy things that are on sale, in bulk quanties that you will be able to use for more than just one meal, use leftovers and use the freezer for something other than prepackaged pizza and junk food.

What do you notice about my shopping list? NO junk food. NO fast food. NO pre prepared meals.

Preparation and storage of the food

I bought a lot of meat at one time so to keep it from spoiling you need to separate the portions into meal sizes and freeze for use during the month.

1. De Bone the chicken breasts from the two birds. Freeze two halves of the breasts separately. Cut off the legs and thighs and freeze. Keep the backs and wings for later this week.

2. Separate the hamburger into 2 portions of about 1 pound each and one portion 2 pounds. Freeze the one pound portions.

3. Cut off about 1 pound of the London Broil and freeze the rest.

4. Freeze the pork steaks for later in the month.

Dinner Day One

Stir fried chicken with vegetables over rice.

One whole chicken breast.
Two spears of celery
Half of one onion
One and a half carrot
Half of one head of broccoli
Half of the red pepper.
One and half cups of rice.

This made enough for a large portion for each of us and we have left over stir fry and rice. Way less than $3.00 per person for this meal!!

The stir fry will be a lunch in a couple of days served over cooked ramen noodles. The rice could be used as rice pudding for dessert or as a breakfast dish.

Breakfast Rice

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1 tablespoon brown sugar
2/3 cup milk
1 cup cooked rice
Fresh fruit
Combine rice, milk, brown sugar and cinnamon in small saucepan. Cook over medium heat until thick and creamy, about 10 minutes. Spoon into serving bowl, let cool 3 minutes. Top with fresh fruit

Makes 1 large serving.

Use berries, sliced banana, peaches, chopped apples, raisins ...... Whatever you have handy

Food Stamp Challenge /= Fat Poor People

2008-01-27T08:06:00.000-08:00

Meagan McArdle is being roasted over her article that the poor and food stamps and she has been told by Unfogged to take the Food Stamp Challenge to live on 3$ a day in food.

"What about the argument that the poor are forced into eating high-calorie diets by the expense of produce and whole grains? This is silly on many counts" Says Meagan.

I agree. There is nothing about being poor or being on food stamps that is contributing to obesity. Poor people during the Great Depression, were not obese and they had no free food available to them. They didn't starve either. Most of our parents or grandparents survived the Depression and the food shortages of WWII quite nicely, thank you.

Here is why "poor" people on food stamps are obese.

1. They don't know how to cook and make efficient use of food or leftovers. The schools no longer teach home economics and if you come from a family that has been on the dole for generations you have no one to teach you those skills.

2. They don't know how to budget or plan. Again. If you haven't gained those skills through education or by example you don't know where to begin

3. It is just easier to buy pre prepared foods and high calorie junk food than it is to make meals.

The way that the Food Stamp Challenge is constructed is ridiculous and deceptive. Going out on a daily basis and buying only $3 of food a day? No one does this......not even obese people on food stamps. You get your food stamps once a month and then go to the store to buy food. If you have spent the entire food stamp allotment at one time (poor budgeting skills) then you will need to have some cash to buy items like milk that later in the month. If you cook, you also buy staples that can be used for multiple meals and ingredients that will last for months. This means that in the next month, you will have more available to buy other things.

The $3 a day per person is also deceptive. In California the maximum per person is $152. The average is $89.

Your food stamp allotment depends on the size of your household. The maximum allotment for one person is $152 per month. The maximum allotment for a four-person family is $506. In California, the average amount of benefits per person is approximately $86 per month, and the average amount of benefits per household is $200.

Are you going to eat luxurious meals on a food stamp budget? Not hardly. Can you prepare good, healthy, tasty, nutritious meals on a food stamp budget? You bet.

So then, lets assume that I am a household of 2 people and that I am getting a $200 allotment a month. How will I spend that allotment on food? What meals can I make? I'm up for the challenge.

I will post some of the meals and costs of a $200 budget. Using the rule #3. Eat only food that you have purchased for the project. Does not include spices and condiments. I'm going to assume in my budget that I already own some basic things like salt, pepper, some spices and condiments like catsup, mustard and so on.

One of the problems with food stamps and you assume that they spend no other money on food is: that if you do have to spend every last amount of allotment on food for that one month it doesn't enable the person to accumulate pantry staples like cooking oil, flour, sugar, cornmeal etc. Assuming the person has ZERO food in the house, starting a budget on food stamps is going to be tough.

Next post...... My shopping list and a rough outline of meals for 3 weeks.

Glittering Generalities

2008-01-10T07:46:00.000-08:00

Yes We Can. Says Barack Obama. I'm fighting for you. Says Hillary. Two Americas. Says Edwards.

Video of Barack Obama's speech in New Hampshire. It is so full of Glittering Generalities that I think I'm going to go blind. Of course, that is the point: to blind us, make us think with our emotions and not with our brains. This is how politicians get votes and how they keep the rank and file under control

Text: Part of the speech. The most obvious Glittering Generalities bolded.

We've been asked to pause for a reality check. We've been warned against offering the people of this nation false hope.But in the unlikely story that is America, there has never been anything false about hope. For when we have faced down impossible odds; when we've been told that we're not ready, or that we shouldn't try, or that we can't, generations of Americans have responded with a simple creed that sums up the spirit of a people.

Yes we can.

It was a creed written into the founding documents that declared the destiny of a nation.

Yes we can.

It was whispered by slaves and abolitionists as they blazed a trail toward freedom through the darkest of nights. implied: if you don't vote for me you are against freedom and freeing the slaves you racists.

Yes we can.

It was sung by immigrants as they struck out from distant shores and pioneers who pushed westward against an unforgiving wilderness. implied: if you vote for me you are a pioneer

Yes we can.

It was the call of workers who organized; women who reached for the ballot; a President who chose the moon as our new frontier; and a King who took us to the mountaintop and pointed the way to the Promised Land. implied: if you don't vote for me you are against progress, against the Sainted John F Kennedy and are against Martin Luther King Jr and therefore racists

Yes we can to justice and equality.

Yes we can to opportunity and prosperity.

Yes we can heal this nation.

Yes we can repair this world.

Yes we can.

Aheeee. My eyes. I'm going blind!!

What? We can what? Nothing but Glittering Generalities and vague promises of WHAT? Give us some ideas... concrete ones of what changes you are proposing. Give us some ideas of what your goals are... real ones.... not glittering vague ones.

I'll be ever grateful to a high school Social Studies teacher, back when they actually taught us things and held us accountable for learning, for being introduced to the concept of "Glittering Generalities" and the idea that we should examine speeches for these so we can really understand what is happening to us when people we listen to politicians and others who would persuade us.

Glittering generalities are emotionally appealing words so closely associated with highly valued concepts and beliefs that they carry conviction without supporting information or reason. Such highly valued concepts attract general approval and acclaim. The appeal is to emotions such as love of country, home; desire for peace, freedom, glory, honor, etc. They ask for approval without examination of the reason. They are typically used by politicians and propagandists. The term may have originated with the Institute for Propaganda Analysis.

A glittering generality has two qualities:

It is vague
It has positive connotations

I'm not just picking on Barack. Just listen with a critical ear to Hillary, Romney, Huckabee, Guiliani, Edwards etc. The totality of what I have heard from all of these politicians, with the possible exception of Fred Thompson, consists of these Glittering Generalities. Possibly this is why people find Fred, boring. He is telling us the plain unvarnished truth without the glitz or bling bling.

Grifters Back in the White House

2008-01-06T11:35:00.000-08:00

Over the years of watching Bill and Hillary Clinton ,with the same unsettling fascination as watching a snake eat a live gopher, I have finally put my finger on what it is that makes them so repulsive. They are both Sociopaths. The masks that they have worn for years have developed more and more cracks and the rest of the world is slowly waking up to the dysfunctional nature of the Clintons.

Sociopaths are not always the serial killer or the rapist. Quite often they are just the guy or gal next door. They blend well into society because they appear to be normal, intelligent and charming. But that is just an appearance an illusion carefully crafted to be able to get what they want. The typical sociopath is also your typical grifter or con man. They aren’t crazy people. They know exactly what they are doing and do it with ruthlessness.

From “Without Conscience” by Robert D Hare PHD

"Psychopaths are social predators who charm, manipulate and ruthlessly plow their way through life, leaving a broad trail of broken hearts, shattered expectations and empty wallets. Completely lacking in conscience and feelings for others, they selfishly take what they want and do as they please, violating social norms and expectations without the slightest sense of guilt or regret."

Here are a few of the traits of the Sociopath from the Humanities and Social Sciences Dept at the California Institute of Technology. CIT http://www.hss.caltech.edu/~mcafee/Bin/sb.html

1.Glibness and Superficial Charm
2. Manipulative and Conning
They never recognize the rights of others and see their self-serving behaviors as permissible. They appear to be charming, yet are covertly hostile and domineering, seeing their victim as merely an instrument to be used. They may dominate and humiliate their victims.
3. Grandiose Sense of Self
Feels entitled to certain things as "their right."
4. Pathological Lying
Has no problem lying coolly and easily and it is almost impossible for them to be truthful on a consistent basis. Can create, and get caught up in, a complex belief about their own powers and abilities. Extremely convincing and even able to pass lie detector tests.
5. Lack of Remorse, Shame or Guilt
A deep seated rage, which is split off and repressed, is at their core. Does not see others around them as people, but only as targets and opportunities. Instead of friends, they have victims and accomplices who end up as victims. The end always justifies the means and they let nothing stand in their way.
6. Shallow Emotions
When they show what seems to be warmth, joy, love and compassion it is more feigned than experienced and serves an ulterior motive. Outraged by insignificant matters, yet remaining unmoved and cold by what would upset a normal person. Since they are not genuine, neither are their promises.
7. Incapacity for Love
8. Need for Stimulation
Living on the edge. Verbal outbursts and physical punishments are normal. Promiscuity and gambling are common.
9. Callousness/Lack of Empathy
Unable to empathize with the pain of their victims, having only contempt for others' feelings of distress and readily taking advantage of them.
10. Poor Behavioral Controls
Impulsive Nature Rage and abuse, alternating with small expressions of love and approval produce an addictive cycle for abuser and abused, as well as creating hopelessness in the victim. Believe they are all-powerful, all-knowing, entitled to every wish, no sense of personal boundaries, no concern for their impact on others.

The Clintons exhibit almost all of the 10 classic symptoms of Sociopathy. Bill’s habitual lying, promiscuity, lack of remorse over abusing women and his out of proportion anger when questioned by others. Hillary’s sense of entitlement, cold reptilian personality, lust for power and lack of concern for anyone but herself. Witness her throwing her staff under the bus, ruining their lives and careers when it suits her purposes and her manipulative ways with not only colleagues but with her own mother and child.

Just imagine the hell on earth that these two sociopaths have created by being wed to each other. They need each other in the way vampires need warm blood and they are shackled to each other by their congruent forms of Sociopathy. Hillary is the more ruthless and power hungry of the two pushing for her ambitions with every calculated move she makes. Imagine the abuses of power that she will feel to be her right if she should ever (God forbid) be given control of our lives and of our nation. At least the abuses of power Bill exercised were merely over the small lives of individuals like Monica and Jessica and other women. With Hillary’s grandiose plans to remake society into her ideal of socialism and her sociopath’s lack of concern for people, do you think that we will have any hope of free will?

The mask is falling off of the Clintons and what is underneath is truly hideous. The “Long Con” is falling apart. It has taken years, even decades, but the citizens--the Marks-- are finally beginning to realize that they have been manipulated. It has taken decades because the Clintons have had enablers and assistants in deceiving the public and keeping the illusion….the media and those who have profited by riding on the political coattails of the Clintons. Do we really want to bring these dysfunctional grifters back to the Whitehouse?

I Forget How Beautiful

2007-11-25T12:04:00.000-08:00

I forget how beautiful San Francisco can be.

Yes, the buildings are the same ticky tacky houses, little boxes all in a row that I remember. We were awash in a sea of beige, tan, cream and brown buildings. With the exception of a few mavericks in the Haight all homes seemed to be from the same palette.

But, the parks, the ocean and sky with its ranges of blues and whites spanned by, what I think is the most beautiful bridge in the world...The Golden Gate.

Whenever the City gets too claustrophobic, there is always Golden Gate Park or the endless vistas of the Pacific Ocean to stare at and get grounded again. I would never be able to live there again. Visit yes..... live there no. I'm now accustomed to the peace and quiet of the countryside. The loudest thing at night is the hoo hoo hooing of Great Horned Owls and the howls of distant Coyotes, instead of the steady stream of traffic and sirens.

We saw the beauty of the City and some of the ugliness too. Homeless and obviously mentally ill people. We also saw the generosity of the City with the Thanksgiving food events for those less fortunate.

The City is a young person's playground and I enjoyed my times there. Now it is my daughter's turn.

Into the Belly of the Beast

2007-11-15T10:47:00.000-08:00

Come this Thanksgiving, my hubby and I are going to venture into the Belly of the Beast. Yes....we are going into the bluest of blue cities, the looniest of loonieville towns, the city that can boast the biggest swinginest BDS, the city with the best restaurants in the world and some of the most beautiful buildings. Yep... San Francisco. Yummmmmm ...Dim Sum.

Fortunately, we don't have any political stickers on our car so other than being a SUV (yes, I really do need a 4x4 vehicle to get out of my driveway in the winter) we should be pretty incognito as dreaded conservate, rural, knuckle dragging, slobbering rednecks.

Don't get me wrong. I like San Francisco. I lived there for quite a few years, with flowers in my hair..la la la. Those were the days my friend...we thought they'd never end. It was a great city to live in. You didn't need to drive a car, everything you needed was within walking distance in neighborhood shops. The mom and pop grocery, variety store, hardware store, cute craft shops, the local pub, the head shoppe...oops I digress.

If you wanted to get anywhere in The City, public transportation was a great way to get to work......well, except for the winos in the early morning trying to hit up us commuters for some money. I could never figure out if they were just getting up early or if they were just finishing up their night or if they were like the living dead who never went to bed. It was for sure, they never washed or changed their underwear. At 5am, we commuters would huddle close together in a tight little band of brothers and try to not observe the guy barfing in the doorway.

Want to see a show? No problem. There was always something going on somewhere. Want to eat Chinese, Russian, French, Japanese, Mexican food? You betcha.. any time of the day or night a fine restaurant was open for my dining pleasure. When I had limited money, a not so fine restaurant was available. Have no money at all? Spend the day at the beach flying kites, lounge in Golden Gate Park.

Now, however, the City has changed. Oh I know, I've changed too. I'm no longer a young long haired idealistic hippie chick. I'm now a middle aged Republican stock broker. Seriously if someone told me then what I would be doing now, I would have laughed my ass off at them.

BUT the City has changed. It isn't as friendly. The pan handlers are aggressive professionals who set up work schedules and partition off territories. The gay community, which was full of interesting characters exploring the new freedom to be publicly gay when I lived in the embryonic Castro district, is strident and humorless. The gay community in the City is sick and angry with most of the moderate and productive Gays moving out of the city into suburbs to have families and a more normal life. This is a good thing for them... acceptance.. but has left the community in the city a hollow shell.

The protesters aren't idealistic and bright eyed as I remember. We were going to persuade people to see the light, change the world, and make it a better place. Now, they are mean, bigoted, violent and intolerant. They will make you see their light by force. There is no grey area or room for disagreement now. You are with them or against them and never mind trying to reason. They will destroy you, your career and your property if you dare express another viewpoint, be it a disagreement on the commandments of the God Gore on Global Warming, or that we might actually be doing something positive in Iraq, or that Bush isn't really Hilter/Satan reincarnated or that sustainable forestry with select logging isn't going to make all life on earth become extinct.

Maybe the City was always as dirty with garbage and papers blowing in the streets outside of the tourist areas. Maybe there were just as many obviously mentally ill people talking to themselves on street corners. Maybe I just don't remember or more likely I have a rosy memory of the City.

Why are we going to the Belly of the Beast. My daughter lives there and we are meeting her significant other (in the olden days I would've said boyfriend but that seems silly today). We are also going to meet his family, so I suppose this is a serious meeting. I have the sinking feeling that everyone besides us will be left, lefter and leftist liberals.

Here's to talking about food, wine, art and no politics and no religion. Ah well, for love of my child, I can put up with it for an afternoon. I plan to take some bandages to apply to my husband's tongue from biting it all afternoon and duct tape to wrap his head in so it doesn't explode.

Wish us luck.

The Missing 5 Minutes.

2007-11-07T20:47:00.000-08:00

The missing 5 minutes... and no I don't mean the Nixon tapes. I mean the last 5 minutes of a show that I've recorded on the Dish DVR. You get to the end of the show, the climax, the revelation of all that has come before, the reason for being.... and .......brrrzzztttt .... the end. Five minutes short. Program interuputs. Even less satisfactory than sex interuptus, because at least with sex you were having some interaction and fun until ...brrrrrpppp .... the end.

What are the networks thinking when they start a show at 9:05 and end it at 10:05 and my DVR ends the show at 10:00 ...effectively cutting off the last 5 mintues of the program?

Well, I know that the big issue with TiVo and other types of recording devices is that it allows us skip the commercials. Oh Yeah!!! I can understand that the companies who support the shows want to have their ads viewed. But, as a consumer I LOVE the ability to skip over the anoying advertising. The reality is that a one hour show actually consists of less than 40 minutes of actual entertainment (and that is stretching the definition a bit) and 20 minutes of mindless repetetive drivel. I've timed it.

Why do I record shows to watch later? The main reason is the sad fact that I'm old and too tired to stay up at night past dark thirty. I might want to read in bed or do something else in bed, if you get my drift. So if I want to watch Shark or Greys Anatomy, and it comes on too late, I would like to see the show at my convenience. It IS all about me, you know.

The other reason, was to watch one show on the East Coast feed in real time at 6 or 7 pm.... and then record the competing show ..after bed time of course at 9 or 10 pm. Two for one. It was perfect until the satellite and cable companies took away that ability because they wanted to force us to look at local advertising on our local stations. As if I'm interested in Joe Bob's hog feed chow or the Cowboy's Mattress Outlet. An actual store ... imagine the commercials for that one!

So, what are they thinking? They are thinking that if they make it impossible to record the shows we will be forced to watch them in real time and forced to view the ads.

I'm thinking the shows aren't all that great anyway. I'll read a book.

It's Hit and Miss

2007-10-07T09:23:00.000-07:00

Nothing like taking a veeery long hiatius from my blog (as if anyone is listening anyway) , but what's the point of blogging if you don't do it. Oh sure, I can make excuses. Lots of them.

I've been busy with my career.

I've been playing way too much World of Warcraft.

It's been a beautiful summer and fall and I have been outside.

The political scene is just to depressing to think about.

The never ending campaigning for President is like a slow drip Chinese water torture and I just don't want to think about it for now.

The never ending arguing between the right and left ends of the political spectrum just goes on and on with no resolution.

The trains are in the tunnel and I feel helpless about being able to do anything positive to prevent it.

I've been working on my personal cookbook and organizing my recipes on a new computer program. (True!!)

I'm lazy (actually the most accurate excuse)

So for those one or two people who may actually be looking at my blog, I'll try to come up something more frequent than once a quarter.

My Greek Mythology Personality

2007-06-24T15:09:00.000-07:00

Yet another personality test. Some how I alway end up basically the same no matter what test. Shrug

Your Score: Hermes

0% Extroversion, 33% Intuition, 0% Emotiveness, 23% Perceptiveness

You have a very keen intellect, are interested in the facts and the truth, but you don't have the antiauthoritarian streak of The Oracle or Prometheus. You are most like Hermes. You are dependable to a fault, and you can develop feirce institutional loyalties. You can seem outwardly cold, and very calculating, and any display of emotion is extremely taxing for you. You are, above all else, dutiful, punctual, and reliable.

More rebellious types will see you as a toadie and a stiff, but they're unreliable iconoclasts anyway. You are very pragmatic, and you aren't easily distracted from the task at hand. You can be counted on to do your job without being hampered by personal interests. You are extremely traditional, and are most likely to use "We've always done it this way" and "Those are the rules" as justifications for hanging on to the status quo. Most of the other personality types will have a difficult time relating to you, but will work something out. Prometheus and The Oracle freaking hate your uncritical position regarding established rules and procedures, and they'll let you know it. You'll get along well with Atlas and Apollo if they're your boss. You'll probably get along with Icarus, too.

Famous people like you: Judge Judy, Andrew Johnson, Herbert Hoover, Harry Truman, George H.W. Bush, Ronald Reagan
Stay clear of: The Oracle, Prometheus, Dionysus, Pan, Orpheus, Aphrodite
Similar Personality Types: Atlas, Icarus, Apollo, Nemesis

Link: The Greek Mythology Personality Test written by Aleph_Nine on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the The Dating Persona Test

Am I Speaking in Tongues???

2007-06-13T10:04:00.000-07:00

Do I speaking a foreign language, speak in tongues or was I born on another planet. Sometimes it is so freaking frustrating to try to talk to people at corporate "help" desks. I think I'm being pretty clear but I get the feeling that I must be from another planet.

Trying to set up bill pay through my bank so I can pay on line. My concern is: when will the company I'm paying get my payment. Are they going to send a check through snail mail? Sheesh...I can do that! or is it going to be an electronic transfer from my bank account to the company I am paying the bill to.

At least if I send the snail mail check myself I will have a copy for my business records and KNOW that it was sent off. Electronic would be great, since I am currently going into each site and making a payment. This means I have a zillion passwords and user names for multiple websites. In fact I have an entire Rolodex of passwords for personal and business purposes.

So I call and ask........ How can I tell on these accounts that I'm setting up if they are going to be paid electronically or if you are going to be sending a check?

Sounds like a simple question....right? Evidently not.

So I ask the help desk:

Help Desk (HD): you should allow 4 business days for your payment.

ME: Ok... but how do I know which are being sent electronically and which are being sent by mail.

HD: When you click on the payment, the little calender will have a blue date which is the first date the payment will be sent out.

ME: OK. But how can I tell if you are sending it by mail or by electronic transfer?

HD: you should allow 4 business days.

ME: RIGHT....but is there any way to know which way you are sending the payment? For example if I have a bill due on the 20th and today is the 13th and the calender says it will take the money from my account on the 14th. How do I know if the payment is going to be received by the 20th or of it is going to go by mail which can take up to 7 business days??

HD: You need to allow 4 business days.

ME: So you are telling me there is no way to know how the payment is being sent out?

HD: You can ask the company recieving the payment after the payment has been sent.

ME: So in other words if my payment is sent electronically I will be on time but if it is sent by mail I should send it earlier, but I have to take a chance because until I make a payment and it is past due there is no way to know HOW YOU ARE GOING TO SEND IT OUT??

HD: You should allow 4 business days.

ME: AAAAAAAGGGGGHHHHH. Forget it. I'll just send a check

HD: Thank you for calling have a nice day.

Misheard Lyrics........wut?

2007-06-08T07:48:00.000-07:00

On a lighter note from the doom and gloom of my last few posts.

I've been afflicted with blocked eustachian tubes due to seasonal allergies for the past few days and my hearing is muffled. As Joni Mitchell says "You don't know what you've got till its gone" Or in my case just impaired for a while

This video of misheard lyrics fits in perfectly with my current and thankfully temporary condition. Muffled and mumbled lyrics.

Potato Wave... LOL

Paris Hilton and Illegal Immigrants: two sides to a coin

2007-06-08T06:59:00.000-07:00

What do Paris Hilton and an illegal immigrant have in common? .............Neither one of them has to obey the law. da dump rim shot.

Too bad this isn't really a bad joke. The reality is that the rich are privileged. They are different from you and me. They don't have to play by the same rules and get special treatment. Apparently that privilege now extends to the people who are here illegally in the United States. They are two sides of the same coin.

You don't think that people (the ordinary tax paying, hard working middle class people) are not paying attention to this? Think again. Everyday we see the inequities and start steaming a little bit more. Like a pressure cooker with a worn out seal, don't be surprised when the top comes off.

WSJ Sees the Light on Immigration....Sort of.

2007-06-07T09:52:00.000-07:00

After their editorial about immigration that drew my ire and evidently the ire of many more who wrote in to them, the WSJ Opinion page re-opines with this editorial.

"The word "citizen" is everywhere in the immigrant discussion, but it blows by as if its full meaning were obvious. But it is not obvious because it's a lot more than just an idea. For many people, being born in the United States is just the beginning of citizenship. Genuine American citizenship is about a lot more than that. It's doing what's required to maintain all the communities, large and small, that constitute the 50 states.
This is what former House Speaker Tip O'Neill really meant when he said "all politics is local." It's about being willing to put in the time to deal with local tax issues, zoning fights, school-board controversies, battles over utility rights of way, traffic lights--all the stuff that runs beneath the Big Media radar but is what really constitutes the bedrock of American politics for most people. This is what citizens do. The problem for many people with the illegal workers, no matter how hard they work, is that they exist entirely outside the complications of civic life for an American citizen. And they appear to do so more or less permanently. For many, this makes the illegal-worker status quo a rebuke to the idea of dutiful citizenship."

It is also about fairness in enforcing the laws. If we can pick and choose which laws we feel like enforcing. And if we can select a group of people who are exempt from enforcement, the public (rightly so) sees the inherint unfairness.

There are many laws that I would rather not obey. From the small to the large. Seat belts, helmets on bikes, transfat ban, mandatory car insurance, registering my vehicle, drinking and driving (kidding on that one).....PAYING TAXES.

If it is OK for immigration laws to be flouted because the numbers of illegals makes it hard to enforce, then I suggest we all cease obeying the laws that we don't like. Our numbers are more than the illegals and if sheer numbers makes flouting the law acceptable........let's go for it.

The laws are for everyone or the laws are for no one. The Government needs to make up its mind or we will make the decision for them. Anarchy is become a more interesting proposition all the time.

The Bitter Immigration Pill and a Spoonful of Sugar

2007-06-07T08:18:00.000-07:00

I have been participating and reading the discussion at The Anchoress on the topic of immigration. It is good to see that there remains a section of the blogosphere that can rationally discuss issues without devolving into name calling and hysteria.

As I have posted before; I'm not so much concerned with the actual people who are illegally immigrating as I am with the effect on Society as a whole. Having a background in College, studying Anthropology and Sociology, I see no good in the future for our Country unless we soon get a handle on this problem.

One of my biggest reservations with this humongous everything and the kitchen sink bill is that it is trying to be all things to all people all at once. Any sane person knows it will be impossible to implement because of the current Government inadequacies. Background checks in 24 hours??? Please. Everyone knows that is not going to happen and all who apply will be rubber stamped. The criminals along with the regular folks. What’s the rush?

I believe that if we had TWO separate bills the immigration pill would go down easier with the public.

1. FIRST a bill to address the border security and to fix the INS immigration system. Set up an integrated data base system interfacing INS, FBI, Police records etc in a system that will be able to efficiently track, locate and identify who is entering the country, for what purpose and how long. Create a system that will deport the proven criminal element. Eliminate the illegal practice of "Sanctuary Cities".

If Wal Mart can keep track of its inventory world wide and know to a penny what their profit is, why can't we take a page from their technology book. I know....inventory doesn't have legs. BUT, maybe we should outsource this project to Wal Mart.

2. Once the first bill has been implemented and is showing signs of real progress, THEN a second bill to address the "path to citizenship". Included in this path must be measures to encourage assimilation of the immigrant population into society as a whole. Having isolated ghettoized populations of foreigners who can't speak the language, can't function fully in society and who live by separate cultural rules is a recipe for a fragmented and disintegrating society. Burkean Reflections has a good post on this with many links to ponder.

Those details should include provisions for English proficiency and education. Paying back taxes would be nice, but probably an unrealistic goal. We want to bring the illegals out of the underground economy (that is eroding the economic chances of our own Middle Class) into the mainstream. Punitive measures will only drive people further underground.

The goal is to have productive, legal, participating citizens and not a permanent underclass of un-educated workers who can watch our children, mow our lawns, lay the patio bricks for less money than legal citizens are willing to accept.

If we don't take this problem head on, without the weakness of political correctness we are doomed as a Country and as a society. I have a friend who says: "The trains are in the tunnel. The question is how fast and how soon the train wreck is going to be."

I am afraid that there is no way to stop the trains.

Weapons of Mass Destruction and Porous Borders

2007-05-31T09:22:00.000-07:00

This recent hysterical and breathless 24/7 reporting by the media of a man being quarantined for having a rare but drug resistant form of Tuberculosis, makes me wonder why the media can't connect the dots or add two and two to equal four. While they are hyperventilating about the risks to the population of an infectious and incurable disease, and while the ACLU is attempting to get another man with this disease released from quarantine before he is no longer contagious, I consider the real risk of a terrorist organization using diseases as weapons of mass destruction.

Am I the only one?

Consider that 10 dedicated jihadists, who are more than willing to become martyrs to Allah, infect themselves with Smallpox or Bubonic Plague We know that reservoirs of these germs along with Bubonic Plague, Anthrax, and the 1918 Flu which for some reason we have kept in research facilities world wide, have disappeared. Is no one worried about this in the media?

How to wipe out 80% of the world's population in 5 easy steps
1. Become infected with Smallpox......praise Allah
2. Send your infected smurfs out on 10 different international flights with many connecting flights in large well populated airports. No one is checking this very well, as we know our borders internationally and in the US are meaningless.
3. Be sure to cough on people and touch as many things as you can so the laws of geometric progression in infection can take place. Use an aerosol spritzer if at all possible for mass effect.
4. Rent a hotel room at your final destination. New York, London, Singapore, Tokyo ...you get it.
Touch and meet as many people as you can who will then pass the infection on to multiple other people and so on.
5. Die in obscurity or commit suicide before your symptons become obvious. That way no one can track the contagion back to you or your group.

Before long the the doctors and hospitals are swarming with sick people with a disease that many have never seen and to which we have no defenses. Millions upon millions of people will be infected and die. If you don't die in incredible pain, you will be horribly disfigured for the rest of your life.

Given the anemic and ineffectual response of the government to just one person with TB, can you imagine the incompetence when dealing with millions of people. We must dither and waste time deciding if we are violating civil rights by imposing quarantine or forcing medical treatment on those who have religious objections. Never mind that while the Governments, the ACLU, religious fanatics are fiddling, the world is dying. Link to a CDC scenario detailing the chaos and ineptitude it expects, just so you don't think I'm over reacting.

Global warming is a danger? Piffle!!! A tiny vial of smallpox or other disease germs cleverly hidden in a country the size of California......There is danger.

Just because we haven't found this tiny vial doesn't mean it doesn't exist. We know that they existed in laboratories and are now missing. I assure you that if I wanted to hide a weapon of mass destruction the size of a tube of lipstick in the Trinity Alps of California, no one would ever find it.

The liberal media is all athither about the mean evil bigots who want to have border security. They are also hyping the TB scare. They deny that there could be any danger from chemical and biological weapons known to exist and which may have fallen into the hands of jihadists. They just can't put the dots together, because the left leaning media is blinded by Bush hatred and blinded to anything else.

Contents of the Armegddon Pantry

2007-05-21T19:30:00.001-07:00

As long as I'm on a doom and gloom kick, here are the contents of my Armageddon Pantry. When all hell breaks loose, at least I will have enough supplies to enjoy the ride to oblivion. This assumes that if all hell does break loose, it will do so fairly far from our rural location, leaving us stranded from supply lines for a while, or possibly a pandemic where we must stay isolated.

If all hell doesn't break loose, I don't have to go to the store for items that I need. Just trundle on out to the pump house and grab the ingredient I need. When I take something out of the pump house to use, I replace it with new. It is a good idea to keep rotating this stuff as food doesn't keep forever.

FOOD

Can Goods:

The quantities are in case lots of most canned goods= 12 large cans or 24 small cans
2 canned tomatoes = 24 cans
2 tomato sauce
1 tomato paste
2 black olives
3 corn
1 creamed corn
2 green beans
1 kidney beans
1 garbanzo beans
1 pinto beans
1 peaches
1 pears
1 grapefruit sections
1 home canned pie cherries

In individual can amounts from at least 8 to 20 (I'm too busy to go take accurate inventory)

Albacore tuna
Chicken meat
Beef in cans
Beef stew
Chili with beans and meat
Vienna Sausages
Spam (lol)

MSC Food

Dried fruit (about 4 pounds of dried apricots, apples, pears, prunes.)
Craisins (2 large packages)
Wild Rice in retort cooked packages
Rice, brown, wild and white
Pinto Beans
Navy Beans
Split Peas
Soy Sauce
Peanut Butter (3 large)
Apricot Jam (2 large)
Honey
Brown Sugar
White Sugar
Vinegar (cider and balsamic)
Olive oil
Peanut oil
Crisco
Mayonnaise
Hot chocolate mix
Chocolate chips
Coffee!!!! very important ....ground coffee 3 large cans
Tea
Dehydrated Buttermilk mix
Marie Callander Cornbread mix
Dried milk
Dehydrated onions
Case of Top Ramen
Lots of pasta
3 really large containers of Parmesan Cheese
4 pounds of kosher salt
Iodized salt
Barbeque sauces
Marinara and Alfredo Sauces in bottles
Sardines
Anchovies
Pickles
Sauerkraut
Lop Cheong sausages (Chinese dried sausages)
Dried Mushrooms
Nori (seaweed sheets)

Case of wine, several bottles of champagne, Scotch, Rum, Vodka and other spirits
Several cases of Snapple drinks
V-8
Grapefruit Juice
Orange Juice
Cranberry Juice
Bottled Green Tea
Lots of bottled water

Cat Food

More misc food things I can't recall right now.

Flour, Polenta, Cornmeal, Bisquick, Walnuts, Pecans and other nuts...I keep in my freezer to avoid weevils. The freezer contents are another story. Plus I have a kitchen full of spices, salt, pepper and other food stuffs. My husband says we can eat for a month out of the crap (his term) I have in the kitchen.

NON FOOD

Bleach
Rubbing Alcohol
Lots of Lamp Oil and extra wicks
Candles
Matches and Butane Lighters
Clothes Pins
Laundry Soap
Liquid hand soap and baby wipes
Twine and light rope
Paraffin blocks
Canning Jars with Lids
Paper plates, plastic utensils, paper napkins and plastic drinking glasses
Toilet paper and paper towels
Plastic drop cloths and table covers
Garbage bags
Plastic wrap and waxed paper
Amunition.... yes for the guns. If push came to shove, I would not be adverse to knocking off a deer, pheasant, goose or even one of the local cows of which there are hundreds.

Medical kit for grab and go. In addition to the extensive medical kit I have in my bathroom.
Batteries, Flashlight, Blanket, Plastic Tarp also for the grab and go. Hopefully we get to sit and stay put.

Decks of cards and poker chips (to go with the alcohol)
Scrabble and other games. Hey... If we are going to be stranded in our home, might as well have some fun.

Plus my husband has an entire shop filled with tools of all kinds, generator, gas cans, nails.... you name it..... he's got it.

It may sound like an excessive amount of pantry preparedness (probably it is), but it isn't at all unusual for my area which is quite rural and has bad winters. People tend to be more self sufficient and stock up than the people in cities. So when the crap hits the oscillating mechanism, if I don't have something, my neighbors down the road will. People also tend to share and help each other in rural areas. We hear the horrible stories of the Great Depression. What we don't hear is that the people who lived in the sticks, didn't have nearly the hardships that those in urban areas did. I pity the people in the cities who live from week to week, have nothing stored up and have no close friends or neighbors to lean on.

Anal? Yes. Being prepared? Priceless.

Serf City, Here We Come (Apologies to the Beach Boys)

2007-05-20T09:08:00.001-07:00

With the stunningly bad immigration bill before us and the past decades of uninforced illegal immigration, it occurs to me that the American Dream if not dead is certainly in its death throes. The dream that a middle class citizen can improve their economic lot in life, advance, create a legacy to leave to their children and that their children will have a better life. Well..... unchecked illegal immigration has put the final nail into that coffin. As time goes by the middle class will slip further into poverty and marginal living circumstances. We are encouraging and creating a permanent class of have-not's. Serfs, if you will, who will provide the menial, low cost jobs for a small class of lucky "haves." A fuedal system of wealthy and a support group of undereducated peons who have little to no chance to rise above their circumstances.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure this out, but let me bring the macrocosmic train wreck that is occuring in our society and economy down to a one person example.

We have Joe Carpenter. He has built himself a nice middle class American Dream life in a mid sized city. Let's suppose Joe lives in Albequerque. Joe owns his own handyman business, maybe a small commercial shop from which to operate, has a ranch house in a modest subdivision, wife, couple of kids whom he hopes to send to college, several vehicles: one for work, one for his wife to ferry the kids to their after school activities. They like to take a vacation once a year for the family, Disneyland or camping in Yosimite. Something affordable that will create memories for his children.

Joe doesn't have any permanent employees but occasionally will contract a helper when his job is too big for one person to handle. Joe pays his quarterly IRS taxes, property taxes and sales taxes on his supplies. Makes sure his vehicles and home are insured and properly registered. As a self employed person, Joe buys a catastrophic health insurance policy to cover himself and family. He also carries liability and property insurance on his workshop and business. To protect his family, he also has a substantial life insurance policy. In addition to saving for college for his children, Joe tries to put some extra money aside for his well deserved retirement and hopes some day to have his son take over the business.

Joe is an upstanding citizen. Belongs to the Rotary, Chamber of Commerce, coaches Little League and does charity work to improve the local park where his children like to play. Joe's wife is an active member of the PTA and the Library Guild in addition to helping with school fund raising activites.

He charges a fair hourly rate in his geographic area of $35.00. Joe is making progress with a small overhead and also hopes to expand his business in the near future; get his license and employ a few full time construction workers.

We have Jose the illegal allien. Here is where we begin to destroy Joe's life and dreams. Joe is forced to compete for jobs with Jose, the illegal alien. (Before I am accused of racism, it could just as well be Pierre the illegal Canadian or Stefan the illegal Romanian or Muhammad the illegal Somalian. But let's use Jose because it equals Joe.)

Jose doesn't have to pay taxes, he works for cash. He doesn't buy insurance......for anything. Jose can apply for Medi-caid and other social welfare benefits. If Jose is injured on his job, he goes to the emergency room and recieves free medical care and prescriptions. Since his cars are not registered, they are also not insured. If Jose has a driver's license, he most likely bought it on the black market. Jose lives in a place where there are many other men like him who are sharing the costs. His family might still be back in the "home country" or (less frequently) if his family is here it consists of a larger extended family where everyone is working. Now there is nothing at all wrong with this. In fact this is how the Irish, the Italians and other immigrants of the past were able to work and integrate themselves into the society. While Jose might be active in his church, he isn't a contributing member to the local community as Joe and his wife are with their Rotary and civic commitments.

Because Jose, has none of the taxes, insurance or expenses that his competitor has, he can charge much less for the same jobs that Joe would charge. Instead of $35.00 per hour, Jose asks for $20....CASH. Joe loses out on many jobs because people are just cheap. Eventually, Joe cannot afford his shop and has to let that go and tells his part time people he can't hire them any more. He hopes they can find jobs, but knows it won't be at the pay scale that he has been able to give to them. Joe's family won't be able to afford a new car for several more years and he ceases contributions to his retirement and college funds.

You see where I'm going here, I hope.

Joe has to reduce his hourly rate in order to get jobs. He decided to charge $28.00 and work harder to make up the lost revenue. Futher paring down his lifestyle, Joe has to eliminate his health insurance and hope that nothing happens. Of course, when he does this, his insurance agent who also has a small business, loses the income from the premiums that Joe isn't paying any more. The two employees he was hoping to bring on permanently have vanished, up in smoke, just like the American Dream.

Skipping ahead, Joe is now working for cash "under the table", has cashed in his retirement plan, cashed in his life insurance, lost his home....oh and you can forget the kids' going to college. Mrs. Joe can no longer stay at home with the children and works for minimum wage at McDonalds. Soon Joe Jr. will be sixteen and will get a job after school to help out. Of course, he will have go give up his sports program. The youngest daughter at 12 is too young to work, so she just goes home after school and hangs out.

I suppose the good news is that Joe and his family now qualifies for food stamps and welfare.

As more and more 'Joe's' are sucked down, they give up. Why work and beat your head against the wall, when all you have to do is some menial jobs for cash and take the freebies that are paid for by.......who? If the middle class has disappeared into the permanent SERF class, where is the money going to come from. Where are the future builders, inventors, entrepeneurs, skilled labor classes going to come from? Since Jose and his family don't really plan to become part of the American culture because they are illegal aliens, they don't learn the language and who needs anything more than an elementary school education anyway.

The other sufferers here, besides Joe and his family, are the community. No more Rotary or Library Guild participation. The schools, Jose and his wife don't speak as much English so don't participate in the PTA. The insurance agent with the cancelled policies, the investment advisor who has no more business, the hardware store where Joe can't shop anymore, the auto dealer and manufacturer where Joe will not be buying new cars, the vaction spot where Joe used to go, the taxes that Joe used to pay....... so on and so on...... like a giant snowball going down hill, destroying the economy faster and faster, the American Dream is dead for the middle class.

Of course, there will still be people of means. The wealthy will still be with us, as will the poor. There will be fewer wealthy with much more concentrated wealth per capita, employing the Serf class at very affordable wages. The nanny, the gardener, the brick layer, Joe (our carpenter) all vying to see who can get the job at the lowest cash bid.

What will be missing is the vibrant middle class represented by Joe's extinct and enviable lifestyle. What will also be missing are all of the people Joe could have employed, the industries and businesses he contributed to which also employed others. What will be missing is the hope of a better today for ourselves and a brighter future for our children.

Serf city, here we come........