Getting stoned

One of the search queries on the list that I glance over asked:

"Do people still get stoned today?"

We laughed. Yes, and sadly....yes.

Or, maybe sadly for both ways of getting stoned.

My cohorts and I found the question funny because the obvious one is apparent. We are like, "where has this guy been?"  and "Doesn't he watch TV?"

You may have to dig a little deeper to find the other "stoned".

But, sadly - it is front page news.

 http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/oct/23/syrian-woman-accused-of-adultery-is-stoned-to-deat/

I just finished reading "One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest".

I am going to re-watch the movie, next.  I have not see it in years.

The author wanted Gene Hackman to play the lead part instead of Jack.  If I remember correctly, Jack did a fantastic job, and I imagine Gene would have, too.

The author was also dismayed that the movie did not narrate the story as the Indian in the book. That is how the book is written - all from the Indian's point of view.

Three geese in a flock.
One flew east, one flew west,
One flew over the cuckoo's nest.
O-U-T spells OUT,
Goose swoops down and plucks you out.

What's in your grocery cart?

The only experience I have with food stamps are listening to others.  I won't go into much detail about how they come about being eligible for food stamps.

I do, however, feel that the people I know who received them, misused them. I would hear things like, "I just buy what I want."  Most of the time they had high priced name brand products that I would not normally purchase. And it was one of those situations where they really missed them when they were gone. "I used to just throw things in the buggy and didn't care about how much it cost because I was using food stamps."

I can calculate to the dollar how much my groceries are going to come to at the check out counter and that is without a calculator or pen and paper. I want NO surprises.

In one circumstance one purchased a huge meat and cheese tray for a baby shower with food stamps. And I had NO idea you could purchase pop, candy, chips, donuts, cakes and pies with food stamps.

When visiting their house (no children, mind you) they had all kinds of snacks and goodies sitting around. Sitting in hog heaven, I'd say. At the time both adults were unemployed but staying with his in-laws who were very well to do. And getting $300 a month in food stamps.

I have never received one dollar in food stamps. I have at one point in my lifetime been able to put items in my grocery cart without thought of cost. Not these days; and I find myself resenting those remarks made by some folks who receive food stamps and their nonchalant attitude of just buying any old thing they want.

And (sigh) one more thing. I love this person but I cannot stand this act. Purchasing groceries with food stamps, using cash to buy beer, cigarettes, weed and lottery tickets. They are the ones who give all of this a really bad name. But alas, the situation has changed and this person receives nothing in aid from the government any longer. But that does not stop them from talking about how much they miss them while they scratch off yet another losing lottery ticket and smokes a cigarette.

On the other side of the coin, they did live a very fruitful life of working and paying taxes. Thirty years in a steel mill and never needing a hand out in all that time. I guess in some way they feel they deserve the handouts. They say they paid into it for years and years, now it is time to get some of it back. Is this the way it is supposed to work? I don't think so. They got their steel mill pension in one lump some and paid off their child's student loans. Now they only have social security to live on but for two years they did not have any income.

Sigh.  I went there.

A sunset

This one was taken in October. When we went to the winery for the pumpkin chunkin and the T-Rex that ate cars. People kind of look like zombies just walking around the big field carrying their small children.

On my way out to another busy day today.

Nice to have ice

This photo of an ice maker I found online is exactly like the one we have at the office building where I work. I say it this way because as most of you know, I am not employed by the office I work in. My paycheck comes from another organization in another county.

My office was moved months ago downstairs next to the kitchen area. I was (am) very happy with the move. To hear some tell it, I am lucky they give me an office to use.  Again - this arrangement was made by two guys in 1995 - one has passed and another retired to Arizona. The office move has many advantages to me. The only negative was I lost a window. I deal with it.

I venture into the kitchen to wash out my coffee cup. I notice the sink is full of ice. One of the managers at this building dumps the over-full ice into the sink when it gets too full and begins to freeze into a big block. I personally believe that this ice machine is too much for the few employees at this location. Especially during the summer months when more than half of the staff are gone.

I heard drip, drip, drip. I checked on the table that this ice maker was on. Seeing that water had pooled around the bottom, I grabbed some paper towels and wiped it up. Soon realizing I was going to need more than paper towels, I began to look for the dish towels. There were none. I don't know where they go. I remember there were some (I even brought a couple in). Somebody takes them  home to wash them and never brings them back. Sigh.

I went to the utility room next to the kitchen. There were some old rags the cleaning ladies use. I used them to mop up the water.

I also wiped out the empty machine because there was a lot of water laying in the bottom of the unit. So I am thinking to myself "Okay. Somebody empties the ice in the sink, leaves the unit open (they did unplug it) and walks away and does not come back to check on it. Whatever!

Satisfied, I go back to my office. A couple of hours later I check and the rags are soaked and saturated and more water is leaking out. I tell the manager that empties the ice maker. She looks it over. Humph.

I lay the rags in the utility room sink to dry and look for something - anything to mop up water. There was a brand new dry mop (the kind schools and big buildings use to sweep floors) and laid that next the the leaking part of the ice maker.

I check it the next morning after I get to work two hours late due to a migraine. I missed talking to the custodian who works from 5 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.  The mop I used was saturated. I tell that manager again. She asks one of the "guys" to look at it. The "guys" are the manly men in the office. (Excuse me while I stereotype here, but education and tech usually do not produce big muscles and brawn). I know the "guys" resent being asked to do all the lifting, hauling and manual labor.

I buy this one a pop and hand him my screw drivers (because this office does not have any tools whatsoever).  I ask if we should unplug the unit while he does this. He says "na".  I say  should we unplug it anyway? He said that wouldn't stop the water. The water would just keep coming in and it would still leak. I said "Then let's turn off the water."  He said "Can't. The valve is broke." He shows me where the water tube feeds directly into the water pipe on the other side of the wall. He takes the back off the unit and we don't see anything that can be put back on or replaced. . I go back to my office. He leaves the back off the unit and never comes back.

I find a dry rag and shove it under the ice maker.

The next morning I see the custodian. He said he saw the back off the unit and thought somebody else was fixing it. I said "He didn't find anything." The custodian said "Well, I don't know what to do." And he walked away. Sigh.

I got mad. I looked at the unit. The rag was soaked and more water was spreading across the table. There is a microwave on the table.

Now, the kitchen is used quite often during the school months. During the summer it is mostly just people passing through. I think we have one ice user during the summer. Maybe two.  I know this from hours sitting at my desk and hearing that loud noise when somebody shoves a plastic cup into a huge container of ice. Maybe once a day during the summer - if that. The two ice users do not say anything or just ignore this issue.

I marched up to the front of the building. The superintendent is talking to a couple of employees. Not work related, so I did not feel bad interrupting. When they pause and look at me, I tell them the situation. I said "It has been days. Nobody is fixing it." I told them I put rags under it, blah, blah, blah.

The superintendent goes back to look at it. He comes back up and says he smells mold. I said I didn't smell anything. I go back to my office. I see the superintendent go back to the kitchen later that day. I am out of rags.

I notice that afternoon that the rag is still saturated. The water has now spread under the microwave. I sigh again.

That evening happens to be one of our "Gals night out".  The office ladies get together once a month and go out to a restaurant for a meal and some casual talk or gossip. The topic of the ice maker comes up. I said something. The superintendent's secretary says something. I said "Didn't Mr. Super arrange for somebody to come in and fix it?"  She slowly moved her head in a side to side motion - the universal signal for "no". I also read between the motions and saw "He's an idiot."

OMG! I told them there was water all over the table and under the microwave. I could not believe it. She just shrugged. The lady next to me said she would have her husband come in tomorrow (today - Friday) and look at it.

I just can't believe it. I can't. Do they just stick their heads in the sand?

Is somebody trying to tell me something?

I received this in my work office mail the other day. The addressee was a co-worker at my home office. It was quite comical. She and I have spoken about office politics before. I need to ask her if she applied for some information as a joke.

I always try to keep an open mind when I read about dealing with co-workers and managers and such. I try to always see what I am contributing to the problem and attempt to change it. I still bristle at what happened to me in November and I am not about to forget that. 

One co-worker called almost daily to chat. He is in the other remote office. I nipped that. I do not answer his calls any longer unless he leaves a message. If it is actually work related he will leave a message. I notice that most of the time he wanted somebody to complain to. I am no longer that person.

In family news, one mama-to-be had a due date of  February 20th. That has passed and I am getting no news on Facebook. I asked my sister (the grandmother-to-be) what is going on?

Burgers and stories

Here is the burger menu from the diner. While I sat there waiting for my meal to arrive, two guys came in and sat in the booth behind me. They were continuing a conversation that must have been started in the truck. One guy was speaking of a girl he had met on facebook while he was in the service. He kind of went into detail and at one time mentioned that she was a sexual deviant. I was hoping that they would change the subject. At one point I started giggling (I could not help it) and I think he must have realized because they finally changed the subject.  Anyway, I got the idea that she left him high and dry.

By the way - he ordered the Italian Stallion. LOL! You should have seen me trying to get a peek of him as I checked out but did not want to make eye contact with him. Too funny! I should have said something clever like "What do you expect from somebody you meet on facebook?"  But that would not be fair to the ones who did meet on facebook and have a great relationship. I usually don't make waves unless I have sister back up or I am in my own territory.

The "in-between bands" band

This group of singers were friends of the groom. Most of the songs they sang were his songs. I had heard them because he has a web page where he has his songs and I had listened to them. They sang on the small stage between gigs while the bands on the big stage set up for their next set. My niece had arranged bands to play from 1:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m. on her wedding day. Minus the hour during the ceremony of course.

My niece is very happy. As long as she is happy. She is a bright,  young and very sweet girl. She just graduated with a degree in Psychology. I hate to see her take this hippie route; but again - what do I know? She wants to continue her education in holistic medicine or naturopathy.

All I can say is -what a great way to practice your psychological skills.

The children

Remember the saying "Not in front of the children?"  Many people brought their children to the festival. Beer drinking, whiskey drinking, pot-smoking, and hippies stumbling around. 

I saw many moms watching over their children. I saw no dads helping to take care that the children stayed out of harms way.  Except for my niece and her new husband. He watched her six year old like no other.

The children were having a wonderful time. From what I could see. There were no tears. There were not tantrums. The children danced, hula-hooped and laughed.

What do I know?

One family had all their blankets and sleeping bags stolen. They had to rent a motel room because they had small children and needed to provide them with warm shelter. 

I overheard others talking and one guy said "Possessions are not important." Kiss my ass, mister.

It may have been my headaches that soured my experience at the festival also.

I'm back in the saddle

This festival of hippies? You can have it. I was not impressed.  Quite the opposite, in fact.

The wedding was wonderful.

I am just posting a few sentences because I had a massive four day migraine hit and am just now able to function thanks to First Care and tramadol HCL.  No thanks to my doctor's office who would not see me until 10:30 tomorrow morning. Boo!

I have been a patient for over ten years. Maybe four or five times have I called in those ten years asking to be seen right away due to some pain or ailment. I think they could have done better.

My migraine was not responding to any Imitrex or Advil that I would throw at it. I had a thunderclap episode that I have had before but not as severe. It was followed by severe vomiting and a massive migraine. It scared the bejesus out of my daughter. I was beside myself with pain. It was 1:30 a.m.

I am stubborn about going to the ER.

I will post more about the event when I am feeling better. The highlights for me were the people who brought their dogs.

Baby Doll

I think I found the model for the little baby dolls they sell in stores.

Survival

I laugh and joke when I have a bad day and tell people "Oh, just shoot me, now!" Then I watch a movie that just sobers you up. I watched "The Way Back".  The story is questionable, but there is no denying the harsh conditions that humans bestowed upon other human beings with the Gulag prions camps.

I also happened to catch "The Help" about how black maids were treated in the South during the sixties. It just boggles my mind in an attempt to understand why some people were born in this era and in that country and others were born elsewhere. 

I've had it pretty darn good all my life. It bothers me and makes me wonder how can people treat others like that? I know it goes on today. I know I need to be so grateful that I was born in America and in this time. But why? Why is there so much suffering?

Does it sharpen our will to survive like an exercise? If we all had it easy would we (as a human race) become lazy and lose our sense of survival? With certain people suffering in this way, do their offspring inherit that will and do we (the reader or the witness to such horror) become inspired to keep that will to live alive? Is there a "reason" for all the suffering? Is it to remind us and keep us aware of the need to survive when things get tough? As life inevitably does.

Maybe there is a reason for all this pain and suffering. Like the common cold exercises our immune system so that our bodies are prepared for much bigger illnesses, the suffering of humans keep us sharp for life's unpredictability and extreme conditions.

Swings

I love the story this swing set tells. Remember twirling the swing around and around like the girl on the left? I could not do this often because I get sick easily. Then there is the girl stepping up onto the wood. And the younger boy hanging onto the older boys back. You can almost see the older boys frustration. I'm not certain the fellow in the black shirt saw me or just happens to be looking this way. I don't think he knew I had a camera at that distance.

Here is how far away the swing set was from me when I snapped the photo.

Happy Friday everyone. At noon today I start my vacation. I think I have 260 hours before I return to work if I have figured my math correctly.

I almost forgot! I think I will receive my nook today. I've been tracking it. It cracks me up that the UPS had to hand the package off to the USPS to deliver. I had the e-reader delivered to work. We are only there until noon today. Ack! The secretary said not to worry; that the mail comes at 10:30. I tracked it yesterday and UPS said they handed it off to the post office at 10:30.

UPS was very accommodating but try to get any help from the USPS! No way! My oldest brother is retried from the post office and sister 1949 still works there. This is one of her pet peeves. She loves to go above and beyond helping people. She gets so angry with her co-workers. I do not deal with her post office but the lady behind the counter would give me nothing. Nothing! No help whatsoever. Eh!

Anyway, it figures. This is supposed to be another "working" vacation for me. LOL! Of course I'll have pics of the nook, too.

Customer Service

My Azaleas are popping this year.

This post brings me to Monday the 9th. My daughter wanted a new phone and her contract was not up so she and her boyfriend were going to pay full retail price for a smart phone. I won't go into this but we all remember when we first began making our own money and some of us (if not all) thought that money would stretch on forever.

Sigh. On Tuesday the 3rd, the sales lady talked us into purchasing the phone for half the retail price (retail was $500) and adding a plain line to our plan for $10 a month with a 2-year contract. (I was contacted over the telephone - I was  not at the store).  So either way my daughter was going to pay $500. Either all of it up front or half now and half over a 2 year plan. I could find somebody that could  use a cell phone number in my family. I have a brother who will be 70 and he has never felt the need for a cell phone. I would just find a cheap phone and set it up with the new number and give it to him to take with him when he was away from  home. Done deal. Sometimes people like the security of a cell phone after they begin to use it. I do not know of many people who stop using one after they started.

I decided to research the line to make sure that my brother had 500 minutes of call time and what do I find when I pull up my account? They are charging me $20 a month for the line instead of the promised $10. At $10 a month for 2 years it would have equaled $240, correct? At $20 a month for two years now we are looking at $480 total. That is double the amount quoted to us. With my daughter already paying $250 for the new phone, that would be a grand total of $730.

There is no rebate if you do not add this smartphone to a new plan.

So Mama bear decides to go into the cell phone store and question the bill. I give them my account number and I ask for the same clerk that my daughter had. That clerk is at lunch.  I told them I would wait for her. She came over to me about ten minutes later. She pulled up the account. She said that she had made a mistake. That since I was a previous Alltel customer that the fee IS indeed $20 a month. I gave her a stoic look. 

I can't recall exactly what it is I said at that particular moment. The moment is lost to me, now. I suppose I said something to the effect of "Fix it." To which I believe she replied "I can't. There is nothing I can do."  I do remember I raised my voice. I do remember I did NOT curse. I do remember the manager jumping up off her perch and running over to us. In other words in a fit of rage I lost it. As I am prone to do from time to time.

This is where it got ugly. For starters all I could see was the managers' eye make-up. I can't find an image on the web that even comes close. She wore coffee brown eye shadow straight to her brows. No shading, no lighter blending as you got closer to the brow - total black/brown all the way. She had the god-awful longest lashes I had ever seen any human wear outside of the theater. It was very hard to take her seriously. If I were not so angry I would have been amused.

She was not a kind manager. She treated me as if I were the problem. I repeated myself "She makes the mistake and I have to pay?"  She just kept saying "There is nothing we can do."  The manager took about 8 minutes of my time explaining to me all about how I was an Alltel customer and to move me over to their company I would probably lose money. Her sermon went on forever. I stared at my notebook. Yes, I take a notebook when I know I am going to get angry and cannot recall every word that is exchanged. I knew this was going to be one of those times. Names get written down.

I quipped "How about training your employees a little better?" Was it a cheap shot? I didn't think so. She icily told me "I don't need YOU  coming in here and telling me how to train my employees. She made a mistake. I bet you make mistakes. I have worked here for 5 1/2 years and I still make mistakes. There is a lot of details to learn. You don't need to come in here and berate her!"

Of course you think of a million things you could say back after the initial exchange. I should have said "Yes, you do need a customer coming in here to inform you that your training is sub par."  That is the first one. The second could have been "I  am not berating the employee who made the mistake,  I am pointing out the lack of training she received - so I guess I am berating the person who trained  her."

Ah, well. I know I said plenty. One was the option of returning the phone. She shot back "Yes, you have 14 days to return the phone, but we will have to charge you a $35 re-stocking fee!"  Again, I came back with "Excuse me? She makes the mistake and I have to pay?"  Incredulous. "I am sorry but we cannot waive the re-stocking fee."

At this time I was ready to end my entire relationship with this company. I have been an Alltel/this new company customer for over 12 years. "How much to get out completely?"  I knew there would be a fee to break the contracts.

She punched more buttons on the computer. I swear she laughed and sneered. "That would cost you $950. That is too much money. I know you won't do that!"  At that point I should have told her "I don't need YOU to tell me what I can and cannot do with my money" -  but of course I did not think of that until later.

I said "Money is not the issue."  She remarked "Well, it certainly was when you started."  I looked at her and narrowed my eyes. I said "Now it's about customer service."  She said that I was not going to get a better cell phone range with any other company.

I put my pen in my purse and snapped my notebook shut. "I am done here. Thank-you." I could see I was not going to get anywhere with this clown.   And I walked out the door. I waited 2 hours to calm down before I called the 800 number on my bill. Of course they would waive the $35 fee. This does not help me. My daughter wants the phone. The only thing to do is to return the phone (drop the extra line) and turn around and purchase the phone for $500.

My daughter was livid. Of course they spent the other $250. Actually the cash was all her boyfriends. He is the one that wanted a new phone. Since we added him to our plan he has changed his phone twice. He has apologized profusely to me for this mess. He wanted a new phone. It is his money. Nobody can predict how the company will treat the customer in this instance. I only know that we did nothing wrong but Verizon was saying that we had to pay and through the nose.

I was NOT going to let Verizon get away with charging me double what they quoted me, though. Would you? I have a letter to send to headquarters. My daughter has until the 17th to return the phone. When she does this I will send the letter. I called the corporate 800 number twice. I wrote a scathing e-mail on-line. Again, all reps will waive the $35 re-stocking fee. Still this does not do me a hell of a lot of good. What about the $35 activation fee to start up that fourth line? Do I get credit for that?

I just remembered that little bit. Her boyfriend paid that in cash on the spot. Christ. 12 years! 12 years and no major issues. Alltel's customer service was a dream come true. Now as each contract expires I may just move onto another provider. My daughter and her boyfriend can do what they want with their phones. I am pulling out. 

Unless miracles of miracles the corporate decides to make amends. I won't hold my breath.

My little corner

I am not a neat person. I am messy. My office is messy. My house is messy. I do tell myself a lot "Less mess, less stress."  If I clean it up, it just gets messy again. Oh, well.

Yesterday, I had a lot less problems than I thought I would. One major one I tackled in the morning. This tech is very savvy and he knew his stuff. We worked until we found a solution for his network (broken because of the change I had made). We got it working and my filter is still at the higher security level.

The funny one was the complainer, though. She is the one who was the naysayer. She called me to give me blow by blow details of how their tech support for her machine was sub-par to say the least. Eight minutes I listened to her woes. In the end what she really wanted to say was that it was not my fault and she had it all working, now. 

It was one of those phone calls where you hang up and you look in the mirror and just say "Good God!"

There is a reason people don't call you back, honey. You have no idea why, and you probably never will know why.

Peace tonight

Here is our moon a few days back (photo touched up).

Headache tonight. Tired. Not much to write about. Fixed a big dinner Sunday and am still tired from cleaning up afterwards. Work was long after five days away.  After a few days with a house full of fun, I am alone (with the critters of course) and having a very peaceful, quiet evening. Pewuby vewy sweepy.

At the office and away

The ladies in the building where I work at started a monthly night out for the gals. I hosted last night's get together and I could not think of anything to do with them or have for them.

The host is not at all obligated to do anything but pick the restaurant and get the tally of gals coming and show up. An hour before the event it hit me.

A "get to know you" questionnaire. Who is your favorite actor and why? Who is your favorite actress and why? Who is your favorite male/female singer. What song did you like?

Oh, it was hilarious. We had 8 gals show up. Our list includes over 20, but life does get busy.

I had no idea we would have this great of a time talking about movies, music and books.

The funniest was of the group of the ladies that liked Elvis - that age group, one of them was into heavy metal. We were shocked! She liked Ozzie Osbourne. She named a few others I don't recall, but it was quite the surprise.

I had 3 pages of questions (about 20) and we barely got through the first page. I know a little bit more about the women I see every day and what they like. It was great!

Oh, the food sucked. They burned my seafood and I had to get a re-do on some of my dish. The hot sauce made me sweat and started a hot flash and that (with the excitement and laughing) brought on a royal headache. I used to work in a grill restaurant and I could tell they had the grease too hot - or they forgot about it - or both.

I came  home to a basement full of kids playing video games. (Why do I still say kids? They are in their early 20's except for my daughter who is still 19).  They were hungry. I ordered the pizza and wings and gave them the coupon and money and told them when to go pick it up. We have 3 pizza joints within walking distance of my back door. Easy peasy.

The dogs were in heaven with all the company. And I am certain they were drooling in hopes that somebody would let a chunk of sausage or pepperoni fall off of their piece of pizza. Me? I read my e-mails and went to bed. Didn't hear a thing until I woke up at five.

Sister 1944 posted a remark on Facebook about brother 1957. She told his lady friend/wife/ex-wife to post a picture of our brother, she forgot what he looked like. Coming across as "he never comes to any get togethers."  Sister 1956 mentioned to me that brother 1957 was a little bit upset by it. I said "Oh, he needs to lighten up."

Brother 1957's lady friend stated that she didn't know how to post photos, yet.

So, my daughter and I found the funniest looking monkey photo on the web and I posted on Facebook : I said "here. I found a picture of brother 1957. I'll post it."  And I slapped that monkey up there. Hee, hee. Take that brother. I don't let my brothers and sisters get miffed at me. I'll be right in their face saying "lighten up! I love you!"  Then I give them a big hug. It is completely futile to get upset with me.

A seed company

First and foremost. My wonderful cousins in WV were the best hosts anybody could ever ask for. I love them, I appreciate them letting us stay there and I really cannot express enough how great they are. They are funny, kind, generous, and more.

I would never do anything or say anything in their home that was inappropriate or anything to hurt their feelings.

That being said - I like to keep politics and religion out of family get-togethers. And, perhaps sports.

My cousins are very religious. They are beautiful people. They shine a light on themselves and everybody around them. I cannot say enough good things about them.

While staying with them this past week-end, my sisters and I made a trip to Wallet Mart for an item I neglected to pack. I got in the check out line. There was a gentleman before me with about five small items. Before him was a very nice dressed lady in heels. It appears as if she just came from church, since it was Sunday early afternoon.

She was really having a hard time with the cashier. I overheard a gift card, a bank card, a credit card and there were many "start overs" and "re-dos".  I sighed and after exchanging "knowing" glances with the gentleman ahead of me, I pulled a magazine off the rack and began leafing through it. May as well make the best of an inconvenient situation.

I saw pumpkin pie and before I even thought that I might be slowing the cashier down, I piped up "Have you guys had a shortage of canned pumpkin around here?"

Here are two articles about the pumpkin shortage:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39379122/ns/business-consumer_news/

http://www.cantonrep.com/carousel/x2084589094/Shortage-of-canned-pumpkin-said-to-be-over-but-grocers-arent-sure

The cashier said "We used to, but it seems to be okay, now."

The nicely-dressed church lady piped up "You can expect a LOT more shortages now that Obama has bought up the seed companies."

I paused. I pretty much say nothing to this. I spoke directly and mater-of-factly, "I voted for Obama."

She paused and smirked. "Sorry about your luck."

I let it go with nothing more being said. I observed the lady struggle to get her gray gourds into her cart and march off. It appeared to me that this was not a happy woman. I said "I hope I don't ever become like her" or something to that effect.

The gentleman in front of me said "What, stupid?"

I let that go, too.

When I got back to where I could research things, I wanted to know why she was blaming Obama for a shortage of seeds or was it produce?

Mostly, I could only find that Obama invested in "seed companies" as in "start-up" companies to boost the economy. Please tell me she did not mean that type of "seed".

I researched further.  Perhaps she was speaking of Monsanto. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monsanto

Where Obama has re-appointed Michael R. Taylor to the FDA. Taylor seems to be a proponent of Monsanto, but this would have been back in 2009. Not very recent news.

Then I stumbled across the Seed Bill 2010. Ahh. I reckon this is what she was speaking of.

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/79995/seed-bill-render-farmer-helpless.html

http://devinder-sharma.blogspot.com/2010/06/seed-bill-2010-brace-up-to-make-seed.html

Well, honey. Maybe my LUCK will hold out.

Whoa! I completely forgot the "cousin" aspect to this story. When we returned to my cousins' house and we were eating one of  the many wonderful meals offered to us, one sister blurted out that I had gotten into it with a lady at Wallet Mart about Obama. My cousins' sweet wife (who is absolutely the dearest, most generous person I have ever met) said "I hope you are not a fan."

Again, I said just matter-of-factly (without embellishment) "I voted for him."  And, we left it at that. It was a bit awkward for a few minutes. I felt that I had insulted them in their home and I most certainly did not ever intend to do that. She did not bat an eye. She was still as sweet as ever. Whew. Politics really stink.

On a side note - I better get my butt out there and vote today! This is my last day of vacation. :(

The Waiting Game

I went hog wild with the photo above. Just one of those mornings where I wanted to dabble and splash around like a child in a mud puddle and make the biggest splash marks I could.

I watched a movie a week or so ago called "The Crying Game".  I had heard of it before. I guess it won an Oscar. Whatever. It held my interest.

I play a game at work called "The Waiting Game".  This will sound jaded, but it gets me through the job cycle. A couple of years ago I wrote a post about "The Alarmist", but I am thinking "instigator" may be the more appropriate term for this individual character.

Some people just like to stir up trouble.

It goes on and on. And, I play "the waiting game".  I poke here and I prod there. I call this person and I research this issue. It is the same old, same old.

It is indeed a true "waiting game".

The "out of gas" story

My brother (1942) and I went to shop yesterday for an extra internal hard drive for his computer. He has  a 160 GB and it was getting full. He deleted stuff and cleaned it up, but thought he should still add one. That's where I come in. I went to his house, we opened up the PC, gave it a good cleaning. I made sure there was a cable for the extra drive - power, yes. Cable for data - no. His was SATA (like mine) and I just did mine (wait, how many times? LOL!).

Leaving the store and in the parking lot a nice young lady asked me "Can I ask you a question?"  Besides the fact that she just did, I said "Yes."  She began, "I ran out of gas...." and pointed across the parking lot. I snorted (or something to that effect) and shook my head. "No way!" I said.

She said "Oh, okay."  As I walked away I told my brother   "I'm not falling for THAT one!"

In the car I explained to him that just this past month both our brother 1953 and his wife's niece were ripped off by somebody claiming to have run out of gas. They both gave the guy money (his wife and kids were still in the car out on the freeway, for goodness sake!) and never saw it again. The stories are much more complex, but you get the idea.

Then they told me there were crack addicts walking around (the city my brother lives in) the parking lots telling the woeful store of running out of gas, so they could score some drug money. When we got home and told our sister 1944, she said "That's a shame. Those people are ruining it for people who actually do need help."

Well, I told my story on facebook and wouldn't you know... a friend of mine said "That was my cousin, and she really DID run out of gas!"  I apologized and told her why I did what I did. I also told her (and my sister) it was strange because this girl did not look like a drug addict (but who am I to  know what one looks like?). She had nice hair and clothes and she looked healthy.

So I have learned a lesson. I should at least listen to the person before I make such a harsh judgement again. I should have said "I have my cell phone, can I call somebody for you?"  I know better than to hand my phone over to them. 

I also was a bit perplexed by the way she started her story. My reasoning was (before I discovered that she was my friend's cousin) was that 1. - who does not have a cell phone with them? (I know some folks don't but it is rare).  2. If I ran out of gas, I would not ask people if I could ask them a question, I would just blurt out - "Can you help me?" or "Do you have a cell phone, can you call somebody for me?"  - my first words out of my mouth would be "I ran out of gas".  Of course I probably would have stopped her right there, but if you need assistance, I don't know - I don't think  you start out with "Can I ask you a question?"  That is more like starting a conversation about "Is this restaurant any good, or do you know the directions to somewhere?" Or even worse - 'Who are you voting for and can I give you my opinion on the candidates?' Yikes.

So, next time (if there is a next time) I will listen first and let my instincts tell me if that person in need  IS on the up and up. I still remember Tabor's story about the nice looking lady in the drug store.

And a quick recap on yesterday's post about facebook in the classroom, here is a page that I thought has some pretty good pointers.  http://www.heppell.net/facebook_in_school/.

Wee little thing

See? The fan I replaced yesterday was just a wee little thing. The non-working one sure made a lot of noise though. The room (which actually WAS air conditioned) was vibrating with the racket.

I did forget to take my camera. Ah, well.