These look good

Cherries from July

I could go for a bowl of these babies right about now. I have bananas and golden delicious apples. No cherries. I closed my eyes and picked a photo from my archives. My night picture taking needs a lot of improvement. I am reading and studying up on it, though. Even with my tripod the lights are very blurry. If it warms up a little I can experiment more. As it is, the wind is biting cold and I don't have the ambition to play around with my camera outside. Brrrrr.

The incident I wrote about the other day (employees reading other's e-mails) is all over the newspapers here. Since I know the person involved and have worked with them, I am just sick to my stomach over it. Somebody with a family (two small children) has been suspended from their job. Before the holidays when life gets depressing enough. It is hard not to snoop for some people. Especially if they have a bone to pick with somebody and they want to catch them in a compromising situation. What is that old saying? "Cut off your nose to spite your face?" The meaning is, you do something rash or silly (usually in anger) that ends up backfiring and doing just as much harm to yourself (if not more). This appears to be the case.

I drove around a little bit this evening to look at Christmas lights outside people's homes. So pretty. This tradition goes way back to when we were little and used to open our gifts up on Christmas Eve. My Mom and older sister would convince us that Santa had so many gifts to deliver he needed to start early and he usually started at our house, so we got our gifts early. My oldest sister would pile us younger ones in the car and drive us around to look at Christmas light displays in the neighborhood. (Thus giving my Mom time to put the gifts out under the tree). I know that I fell for it. As I got older and began driving, I would take my Mom out for about an hour to look at lights on an evening close to Christmas. She never went out after dark when she got older, so this was a rare outing for her. We didn't go if the weather was bad.

Then I come home to my house - completely dark. I better get something done. I have a gazillion lights and stuff, but just don't have the knack for putting them up. Not very handy with the ladder and tools. I'll give it a good try tomorrow evening or this week-end. I still have time.

Big beautiful mess

A mess of purple

I have so many things I want to write about today. Part of me wants to continue with the comment that Tabor made after my post yesterday, and I became philosophical about my flashy silver foil representing the flashy young life I used to have. When you are young and vibrant, things seem much shinier and flashier, like the foil I had on the outside wall of the patio porch attached to my garage. Then with one big wind storm - POOF! It's gone. Like our youth.

The wind did leave somebody's green and crumbled up grill cover in my back alley. Like aging, we are more down to earth and a little less flashy. Sometimes we feel tired and weary, represented here by the crumpled up grill cover lying on the edge of the alley. Forgotten, people look the other way when they see it, or trying not to see it. Nobody goes over to pick it up, they just let it be. Kind of like neglected older folks in a nursing home.

Another part of my day consisted of two co-workers arguing about their religion Catholicism. Oh. my. God! You know the old adage. Never discuss politics, sex or religion. An hour. By the time their faces were turning red and they were nearly screaming, I wanted to quit the Catholic religion and I'm not Catholic! For the most part, I listened - bemused. Neither one would give in and though they were not angry at each other, it was interesting to hear how they justified what they thought was wrong with the religion or right with it. One co-worker stated that all religion stems from the Catholic religion. Huh?

It's just hair

New do

Okay, Peruby. Just keep repeating to yourself over and over. It's just hair. It's not like it's a tattoo or a piercing. It's just hair, it's just hair, it's just hair, it's just .... red and black striped hair???? Sweet Jesus in heaven, have mercy!

Actually this is from last week. I am over it already. She likes it. She is having fun with it. I liked the other style, but she was killing her hair with the straightener. She is with this one too, though.

I saw the Salvation Army collecting at the grocery store. Could be that most of them wait until December to begin.

I've been taking different streets around town so I can see more light displays. I received a tripod in the gift exchange on Saturday and if I get brave enough to venture the cold, I'll maybe take it out for a walk and set it up to get some photos. I may even find my lost sheet(s) of silver door covering. I have somebody's green grill cover in the alley behind my garage. Stupid wind!

December chill

Summer wild flowers

I am a bit weary of posting decorations and wanted something to remind me of warmer weather. I shuffled back through my photo archives and caught this one from the back alley behind where I work. This is close to Earl's dog house. Earl is still there. I wave to him when I pass.

Last year the girls that I get together with every month or so decided to purchase a bunch of toys for children that must spend the holidays in a hospital. We went through the routine, called two hospitals, got the information and then the day came to deliver them and the two hospitals in the area said "No, we try to send children home for the holidays."

We were left with a pile of gifts. One of the gal's knew a sheriff in town and he delivered them for us to families that were in need. This year he is helping us to get involved in a program where we can adopt a family. He gave us a family with two children. They do not give the parents any money or gifts. I prefer this method because if I know the family, then usually I know why they don't have money for the holidays. I'd rather not know.

I am not sure why, but I have not seen many collections for The Salvation Army outside of stores this year. I may be a dreamer, but I like to think that when the collector is done with their shift they take that bucket and run it over to a needy family. Like in A Christmas Carol, the needy family is sitting around the table with little food and heat and trying to keep their spirits up. There is a knock on the door. They open the door to the cold and dark. They can't see the face of the visitor, but a big wad of money (or a big box of food) is shoved into their hands and their problems are solved for at least a while. If it were only like that. It is still a nice dream.

Creche

Nativity at Tis the Season

I sounded so ungrateful in my post yesterday. Let me say that I am thankful my roof didn't blow away, or my garage, or my siding or my child. Well now, my child...hmmm. Oh, sorry. Okay, okay! I am grateful!

After reading the newspaper this morning, I see that I fared much better than others in the neighborhood.

I am off to a Christmas party tonight and have been running around today like a chicken with it's head cut off. I am taking meatball appetizers and a cheese ball/tray with trail bologna and pepperoni. Just not enough time to do everything. I am behind. I hate starting the season running behind. I have Bunco Dice and Catch Phrase to play at the party tonight if I can rouse up a group to do so. Tomorrow I can try to get the house into some kind of organized chaos. Maybe.

Gone with the wind

Unicorn ornament from Tis the Season

If I weren't so darn tired, I'd probably be crying right now. I spent the past couple of days in Columbus helping my nephew who had minor oral surgery. I am brain dead - fried. Out of my element, I don't sleep well and I was sick for most of the time. Yecch.

My niece called me at 3:30 p.m. today. I was stopped and getting gas in the car. She said all my decorations from the patio blew down 3rd street. We don't live on 3rd street. We live near 3rd street.

All that work. I didn't have any pictures yet, because I was waiting until I finished. I was too traumatized to cry. Not really. I said "Easy come, easy go." I had purchased silver heavy foil door cover and put it on the back wall of my patio. I had blue lights all around. I was creating a centerpiece on top of my glass round table - with silver glitter cones. It was a silver and blue theme.

When I came home, I saw that all was not lost. The foil backdrop is gone. Poop. The lights are still up and still on. The centerpiece is tangled up, but I actually think it looks better than what I did. The cones fell over or blew out into the yard. I may fix it, I may leave it.

Another tree fell in my neighbor's yard. When I first moved here four years ago he had a long row of hemlock bordering our back alley. One fell and I had the electric company come out and move it off the wires, etc... Then one by one, like dominoes they are all falling over. He just built a new garage and this tree just missed it. The wind is still howling. It was supposed to stop at 10:00 p.m.

I watched Over the Hedge and The Break-up while I was away. Lukewarm feelings on both shows. I doubt that I will watch either one again.

A dirty picture

I wasn't about to touch it

My second oldest sister purchased a house and we helped her clean on Saturday. This phone is in the garage. He worked on automobiles. His name is George. He is now in a nursing home.

As high as I was in the spirit of the holiday, I am sunk low today. I have been fighting an ear ache and sore throat. Nothing major, just something there. I have run very low on energy and am quite bitc... err.., irritable.

The second half of work was a major headache - couldn't get video to working and everybody was tense. This outside company sells this small educational building their video equipment. They take it away and "fix" it for 3 months after a lightning strike. They bring it back today. There are four guys. I come in to test the connection end and the tech support person at this building is a lady. I tried to smooth things over because there was so much tension in the air you could cut it with a knife. These guys were really on their high horse. When I first got there they were not speaking to her. Daggers were being cast with the eyes.

The first thing I did was get the air conditioner turned on and brought two fans into the room. It was a toasty 78 degrees F in the room they were working in. I joked with them and cajoled them. When they saw that I was not a Miss Frost they began to loosen up. They relaxed a little and sat down to eat their lunch while Miss Frost returned to her inservice in another room. I refused to let them be. I chatted and joked. We were all laughing and nodding our heads by the time their lunch was over.

Then things took a turn for the worse. Their equipment kept failing. (A Windows 98 machine running a V-Tel video unit). My home office wouldn't answer their phone. I kept getting voice mail. Things began to get messy. It was perhaps a year or longer that I have worked with this type of video equipment. I was rusty - and my memory was failing. I instantly became deflated - I wasn't in top form as it was. Tempers began to flare again. Somebody in the building had turned the air back off. When Miss Frost returned from her inservice the daggers began again. I left after three hours of this mess. My home office had left an hour before and I was not getting anywhere.

I come home and get into it with my daughter about teenager/parent things. She wants this, she wants that. I snap back that she hasn't helped out around the house and earned the other things she got, yet. She wants more, more, more. She is decorating the teen park place, but won't lift a finger to help me.... Yep. I'm going to bed and dream of a better day tomorrow.

Tis blue!

Blue display

My daughter and I went to 'Tis The Season in Berlin today. We had a day off. If you like lights and color - this is the place to go. A chalet in Amish country with three stories of every Christmas theme ornament you can imagine. I still like the nativity displays and have some photos of them. Very, very pricey. If ever I have money left over, I would like to go here in January or February when they have fantastic sales.

I am looking at another very busy week, so posts will be hit and miss.

Reflections

Wine-colored decoration

Another from the museum. Things are not slowing down, yet. Not sure if they will before Christmas. I am trying to carve out some "me" time. I did update a few belated photo projects on my family photo album page.

I anticipate a lot more decorations to see this year because of this beautiful weather we are having. I was able to start on my patio. I cannot lay my hands on some of my blue lights so the scene is a little bare right now. I plan to add to it as the weeks go by. Not sure if I can spend much in that area to help fill it out, but I will keep a close eye on store sales.

Thank-you, thank-you very much

Elvis atop a tree

I finally get some time to sit and reflect this morning. I am not rushing off somewhere.

I had an unusually raucous day with my family Thursday. On the big feast day usually we sit around stuffing ourselves and lay around afterward talking. Somebody brought the game "Catch Phrase".

We played in teams. When a team won, they remained seated and took on the next set of challengers. We roared. My head about blew off my shoulders from laughing so hard. I finally lost and was able to get some aspirin in me. The folks around us had just as much fun watching us as we did playing. The word that stumped me pretty good was permafrost.

I fixed a turkey and ham on Friday for the crew at my house. My sister and nephew went to one of the stores on Friday morning. I don't think anyone in my family indulges in that mad rush of shoppers on Black Friday. I prefer to celebrate the "Buy Nothing Day." They said it was exciting and fun but would probably not do it again. By the sound of it, I am thinking that people who want the sales also like the "party" atmosphere of the event. Don't knock it until you try it, right?

It has been rather busy at the Peruby household and I am off and running today. My sister is moving into a new house and a bunch of us are meeting there to help clean. I will take the camera today. I carried it to the big feast day, but didn't even get it out of the bag. I was trying to hog one of the two little ones all day.

It was also kind of sad because the younger generation are struggling. Two couples did not participate in the name exchange this year because of financial problems. One had their car engine blow up and it was costly to get repaired. They are also having pet problems that are costing a lot in medical bills. They seemed a little down in the dumps. I had my hard times in my mid to late twenties while living away from the family in another state. The ones that are having it rough right now, graduated from college a couple of years ago and are trying to start a life with their husband/wife, keeping up with expenses of a home, paying off college loans, and trying to make it in this cut-throat job market today.

Living in America should not be this hard.

This year I am thankful for a wonderful family. I am so very blessed. Thank-you, thank-you very much.

Red, silver and green

Inside a decorated tree

One of my favorite things about the Christmas season is the glittery, sparkly decorations. I used to sit and stare at our tree and squint my eyes until all the pretty lights blurred before me. I get mesmerized. Things don't look so drab when it is all spruced up in silvery colors.

My daughter got a cortisone shot in her back this evening. A keloid formed on one of her scars. Afterwards, we went to a big mall. It was not nearly as bad as I thought it would be. For an early Christmas gift I purchased my daughter the white Rylie parka at Abercrombie. I went to the grocery store earlier in the afternoon. And I still have a happy spirit. My feet are killing me, but my mood is okay.

The ivory

Ivory train

Mr. Warther carved wood, ebony and ivory. They are well known for their knives. I have a couple. They are nice, but I prefer serrated knives, which they don't carry.

It is written that Mr. Warther only purchased ivory when the product was taken from elephants that had already died. Before the poaching began.

A hint of blue

Capri blue

At an antique store I found some Capri blue glasses that remind me of the hue that the glass in the photo above is reflecting. If you Google Capri glass, you get some photos with the same tint.

My IP has been purchased by another cable company and I was thinking that I had better download my entire Photo web page for backup purposes. 420MB I have out there. Ouch.

The Chef

A Christmas tree Chef

I thought this fellow was kind of cute. He mostly covered a tree that was decorated in tiny kitchen utensils. The huge baguette for his necktie just really evens him out. He was one of the trees at the museum.

Where did the week-end go? I have tried, but I cannot recall anything I did on Saturday morning. Before lunch and the museum. What? I can recall Friday night, Saturday afternoon and evening and today I was away visiting and setting up a computer for a friend. But Saturday morning is a big blank. I think I cleaned.

It (the week-end) is gone and it is back to work on Monday. Friday was so nice because we had a huge meal where everyone brought a covered dish. I did deviled eggs and cheese ball. This year there were more desserts than dinner food. And, my God what sweet dishes they were! There were pumpkin rolls, pumpkin/cool whip dip, pumpkin cheesecake, pumpkin cookies, pumpkin trifle, pecan pie, pumpkin coffee cake, pumpkin pie, apple pie, and more.

For Thursday I am making a vegetable/dip tray. I am not sure what else. I will make my big meal for here at the house on Friday or Saturday, depending on when the rest of the crew will be here to eat it. It is too sad to go to a family member's house for Thanksgiving dinner and return to your own home where there are no leftovers. Too sad!

Red, gold and green

A decorated tree from the museum

My daughter and I went to Warther's museum today to see the pre-decorated trees. They were stunning. I think every one of them were SOLD. Not that I intended to purchase any. Nope. Out of my price range. I just like to look.

Evil

Photo Friday Challenge: Evil

A morning in June

The sun peeking through the pine

This photo of the morning sun was taken last June. It is the east side neighbors' yard. One is a big pine tree. My dog always is interested in what is underneath that pine. It has low branches and hides little critters well, I suppose.

We are getting a cold, steely rain here today. It makes it so that you don't want to do much of anything but cozy up under a warm blanket and drink some nice hot cocoa/hot chocolate/tea. I usually don't watch television at night unless it is something really light such as Seinfeld. Which is what I caught this evening and then the channel went straight into a show called Bones. I have never even heard of it before. I watched the hour episode, caught up in it. I hear the folks at work talk about certain shows such as Grey's Anatomy. I am such a dolt, I thought that Grey was a man. As I look at IMDB, I can see that it is a female and her name is Dr. Grey. Okay.

Speaking of co-workers, I was subject to an hour (no less) of church conversation. Between two Catholics and how their religion is so much more beautiful than others. I did not say one word. I normally don't tread into such dangerous waters. One co-worker has been trying a (non-Catholic) church that her Aunt was preaching at recently. She called them "Holy Rollers". Jumping up and singing and speaking in tongues and such. I've been known to speak in tongues. Yeah. When I am so mad, the words don't come out right - it resembles something like gibberish. Nobody can understand what I say. I did overhear (from yesterday's religion topic) about having a translator for somebody speaking in tongues. They have a translator? What is the qualification for that?

One of the cast members in Bones was lightly teasing another about his religion in the hour long show. I gather that she was an atheist and he was Catholic. She wanted to attend his church so that she could have a better perspective for her writing, I am thinking. I guess it was just a religious topic kind of day for me.

I went to Sunday school when I was young. My sister's took me along. (CUMC). When I was a young teen I joined the church choir. When I was fifteen I began working in a restaurant/bar. My Saturday nights consisted of 4:30 - 1:30 a.m. And, my Sundays began at 10:00 a.m. at the same kitchen. That kind of knocked the church going out of me. What do I recall about Sunday school? Memorizing Bible books so that I could win a prize of some sort. It must have been in my short term memory, because I can't get past the second book now. I can remember the books, just not in order any more.

Personally - I found that the people in the bar were more "real" to me than those in the church.

Glory Lory

Lory State Park

This photo is from my nephew's collection when he went out to Colorado to visit my other nephew last month. The one in Colorado lives near Lory State Park. They just got dumped with a bunch of snow and experienced really strong winds.

My nephew and his girlfriend are both in the Park Conservation area of work. I hope the extreme weather does not deter them. She is from Texas. Does she even know how to drive in snow? In the pictures from October she looked as if she were freezing. Here in Ohio, my nephew has had his fair share, but I don't know about the mountains there. We have hills, not mountains. I hope all is well with them. I just spoke with my sister this morning. I don't think she was aware of the recent storm out there when I called her.

That sure is some pretty territory out there.

Midnight blue

Midnight blue sky

In a typical box of Crayola crayons was the midnight blue. My favorite. Or was it Pine green? The midnight blue used to be titled "Prussian" blue. Teachers asked that it be changed in 1958. Where do I learn this stuff? Wikipedia.com!

I think there is a mistake on the page. I could have sworn "cornflower" was a pretty pale blue. When I Google the image "cornflower" I get blue photos. Some purple and one goofy looking guy, but not the dull brown they are showing on the Wikipedia page. I think they just made a mistake and copied the "Copper" color above it.

(Update: Reading on down the page, I see where the correct cornflower is displayed # 31)

Aw, I loved Mulberry. They retired it and renamed it to Mango Tango. Blech.

I love color(s). Which color listed below was not included in the original 8?

black
blue
white
yellow
red
green
orange
violet
brown

Strange beaks

LOL! Beak abuse

I "fisheyed" their beaks to give them this daffy duck look. My bad.

I officially began my Christmas shopping outside of the home yesterday. (I've done some on-line shopping from home). Oh.my.God! Maybe it was the Veterans day sales. Maybe it was the wet, rainy weather. We started early so it wasn't all that crowded to begin with. We went to an Outlet store. I have not been to this Outlet store. I am not a willing shopper so the only Outlet stores I ever go to are when I am on vacation.

I didn't know what to expect. The next time I go I am loading a plastic bag with every sharp object I can find in my house and this can be a warning for all the pushy, rude shoppers out there who bump in to me, drag my purse halfway through the aisle with them and lean up on me to get through a crowded area. I WILL draw first blood.

I have a severe case of aversion to strangers touching me. Regardless, I did a fair amount of shopping. Repeat to yourself. "It is okay to purchase items for yourself even though you are supposed to be shopping for others. It is okay to purchase items for yourself even though you are supposed to be shopping for others. It is okay....it is okay....it is okay... YAY! It IS okay."

Gross!

Found in my bathroom

When my daughter had one of her very good friends over, I found this in my bathroom. It wasn't her friends' mold. It was the Uncle of her friend. Why would anybody...? Oh never mind.

It is my Photo Friday Challenge for: Gross.

Light

Photo Friday Challenge: Light (late. this is from the 3rd!)

Access

My glasses and pen on my notes

So while my daughter takes her driver's ed in the building that I work in, I just stay upstairs in my office for an extra three hours until she is done. I may run out to get a bite to eat or let the dog out, but I am pretty content to sit quietly in my office and document, document, document.

There are some individuals in this world who have nothing better to do but to think of ways to muck things up. They devise these little programs (worms) that will bring an entire network to it's knees. It isn't a virus. A lot of end users just clump anything that corrupts a computer or a network as a virus.

One version is a DoS. Denial of Service attack. If this little program gets the IP address of a server in a network, it can really cause some havoc. When a machine sends a request to a server, the server MUST answer. That is it's job. Like a doorman. Somebody knocks on the door and the doorman answers. The little devil knocker has run and is hiding behind a bush. The doorman stands with the door open for a few seconds, looking from left to right, then shrugs and closes the door. Before the doorman can turn around to go back to his "other" work, there is another knock on the door. The doorman answers the door. Again, nobody is there. The doorman looks around again and then closes the door.

Now, multiply that to a billion or so and you get the idea that the server is now "unable to serve". A Denial of Service attack has been performed on the network and legitimate end users do not get their door knock answered because the doorman is too busy attempting to serve the knocker who keeps running away and hiding behind the bush. Unlike a human brain, the server cannot "learn" to ignore the knock, but must try to respond each and every time. Sick, I tell you. Just sick.

In business, this can be nipped in the bud pretty quickly. When business is not getting done, you can bet that some money is going to be spent to resolve this problem as quickly as possible. But, in a school, the problem may go on for weeks.

A teacher instructs the lab to go to a science page. They type in the url and click. The browser just sits and spins. Going nowhere. The resources of the network are depleted because deep inside the network the attack is at full throttle. The kids begin to snicker. One throws a balled up piece of paper at their friend. The teacher is side tracked by another student. Meanwhile, the browsers for this class go nowhere. The teacher sighs and tells the class that she (or he) must go and find the technology person to see what is going on and they leave the classroom.

A bored students recalls the funny video he saw on youtube the night before. He tells a friend and they decide to see if the browser will get them out to youtube. If not, Google will show them a hundred other sites that may have that very funny video. It could be on somebody's blog. The filter has a tough time stopping this type of errant behavior. A pause in the network attack allows the student to begin the video. They laugh and a couple of other students try and see if their machine will pull up the video. Pretty soon the school has a dozen or so machines attempting to play the very funny dirtbike video. Meanwhile the attack begins again, this time from another machine.

I had a strange thought pop into my head today. I do get a lot of "sappy" e-mails. You know they type. "You are such a true friend, here is a bouquet of flowers just for you..." on and on. I rarely (if ever) forward these. I do a lot of reading about how the Internet works behind the scenes and I understand how bogged down a network can get. As I painfully wrote above. It occurred to me that someday the Internet could get so bogged down with useless junk (it may already be there) that nobody is going to move. It will be like this precious commodity. I can hear end users crying "If only we knew we were wasting the precious databases of the world by plugging up the networks with all that garbage!"

Yeah, I need to get outside and walk more.

Little white duck

Sitting in the water

This sitting duck is from my photo shoot yesterday at the lake in our town park. I wanted to add the blue tint to this photo so much, but I didn't. It was a murky, gray day and the water was murky. Except for the sky, which was a strange bit of gray, blue and white.

I didn't have much time to take photos today. I was stuck behind my laptop most of the day chasing an IP storm on a school's network. They have an anti-virus program, but some end users were not updating their Windows with the latest updates. I think I may have stopped it at the router anyway. I hope so. I will be able to tell tomorrow when everybody turns their machines back on.

My daughter began her two week driver's training class this evening. Next she will get her driving permit. For six months I will have a personal chauffeur. As I did when my niece was learning to drive. You can get quite spoiled by it.

I was also able to inform a school network technician about a registered sex offender that he was letting have access to his school's network. He had no idea. The guy is a salesman for a local computer company and this school had his establishment do some work for them. No more. I pulled up the information on the offender off of the sheriff's page and printed it out.

Since my daughter is taking her driver's training in the building where my office is, I am staying over in the evening until she is finished. Once I pulled up that offender, I went on and began looking at all the ones that live in my town. It is remarkable how many are there living amongst us. There are women, too. I knew nothing of this type of behavior when I was growing up. It just boggles the mind.

The sky tonight

Our Park lake

The sky was rather interesting this evening from the park. I went there to photograph the ducks and wild geese. Even though we have a lot of mallards, the color just wasn't there. It was late in the day and I didn't have enough sunlight to bring out the emerald green of their heads. So, I aimed for the sky.

The tennis and basketball courts were empty. There were a group of men who came to play Bocce right before I left. I watched a couple of small family groups feeding the ducks and that was about all for this November Sunday.

It was a weekend for everybody to get out their rakes and leaf blowers. Most of the time I rake, but this year I plugged in the noisy, heavy leaf blower. I am getting the hang of it. At least I didn't blow them all in the neighbor's yard. They are at the edge of the street waiting for the city to vacuum them up in their big, dirty, white street machine.

I've been busy reading and researching the levies, issues and candidates for Tuesday. I think I can see why my Mom never voted. If you are going to vote, you have to be serious. Very serious. It isn't something to be taken lightly. You have to work at it.

Going back a bit

Halloween 2004

My daughter (in the middle) with two of her friends around Halloween 2004. They were dressing up to go to a dance. Uh...the one on the far left is indeed a boy. My daughter was dating him at the time. Yikes.

I am not sure I recall what she dressed as last year (if anything), but this year was the vampire chick or something similar. Mostly I think they see how much black make-up they can put on and still look halfway human.

Things were messy back then, but mostly I could handle it. As it stands now, they are out there loose and I don't get to hear or know half of what goes on. Probably for the best.

The boy is in another school district altogether and the girl on the far right is still in the picture, just not running in the same circles any more.

Rose hitch hiker

A little hitch hiker on the rose

I didn't see the fly until after I downloaded the pictures onto my P.C. and began cropping them. He is hanging there upside down. Probably enjoying his last hours with the sweet scent and refreshing water droplets.

I returned to my place of work today to find the offices closed because the electricity was off. I had been out of town attending a regional meeting. Yesterday the gas, today the electricity. What next, the water? Perish the thought! I went to the bathroom in the pitch black when I returned to the office. Hey, what else can you do at a meeting besides drink coffee?

I went home and worked from there. I can do about 90% of my office work at home anyway. Maybe even 100% if they let me use my work cell phone all of the time instead of my desk phone.

Didn't hear anything negative at the meeting. That is good. The tech guy hosting the meeting had to show us a slide presentation of his server farm that his career center purchased for $62k. In the business world, that wouldn't seem like a lot, but to the schools it was like dangling a piece of hot fudge cake in front of their noses. The public school systems can't afford that kind of expense. What was the guy doing? Bragging? Showing off? What a prince. (you know I wanted to type the other word here!)

Late bloomer

A November rose

About an hour after we started work, the superintendent came on the intercom and told us they could smell gas in the building and for us to go outside. I was just removing my battery from the wall socket and putting it into my camera bag. I grabbed my purse and the camera and out to the back alley I went. He didn't have to tell me twice.

I walked a ways before I found some life left in the season. I found a rose bush with about five blooms on it and they had dew on them and the sun was kissing them. I snapped away. I kept walking around the house to see if there was anyone at the door so I could ask permission. The bush was about two feet off of the alley, but I still didn't want to be rude. Nobody came to the door, so I left.

The smell was sewage backed up. This has been a recent problem in this section of town. I lived directly across the street from 1996 to 2001 and I never smelled any sewage. Of course once I moved to the other side of town, work decides to buy the building that is located about 400 feet from where I used to live. Of course!

Black Cat

Sitting here in full costume waiting on the little kiddies. The rain has put a damper on the evening. So, for the occasion, here is a photo of Casper just taken this morning. My niece picked up the candy. I told her to get candy I don't like. She did a good job, but darn it. It haunts me.

Upclose and Personal

upclose

Precious, a macro profile

It has been a while since I had to use "Hello" to publish a photo on this blog. Usually, I am able to fiddle around until Blogger takes the photo. I've read of others having problems from time to time. Hello works for me when Blogger is having issues.

I work with computers, networks, mainframes, servers, ... the like - so when there is a problem it doesn't bother me (much). I've had my share of problems with my server and I got to tell you. It happens. Like traffic and congestion. You just have to deal with it. Walk away. Go do something else. It will come back in all it's free publishing glory.

I have a personal web page on a paid account and it really bugs me when that one is down. My family uses that one to see my pictures. E-mail has been acting up on it also. I think it has to do with them changing hands. I hope they get all the kinks worked out soon.

I am home today, sick. I am cleaning out high closets. I found my camera manual and found the "macro" feature. The photo above is a macro of my cat "Precious." This is the least liked cat of the four. Nobody likes this cat. She was dropped off on us by my sister who was not allowed pets, but kept her shaggy cat. This one meows, jumps on top of you as if she were a horse, fights with all of the other cats and shoots outside the second you hesitate in the doorway.

It is true. If you are napping, just when you are ready to nod off she bounds across you like some horse. My other cats will very carefully tiptoe around me or delicately step on me to get to the edge of the chair or couch.

She is also the one that nurses on a blanket. I have heard (not sure how true it is) that a cat taken way from it's mother too soon will knead blankets and such as if it were nursing from it's mother. My sister told me that they fed Precious with an eye dropper when she was little. I am not sure why she was separated from her mother so early. I try to give her a little extra attention now and again. She doesn't cuddle up to me like Casper and Jasper. And, Moose. Moose is still adjusting. She came to us in February and still she is skittish around us. Once in a while she gets playful and fun. But, if we reach down to pet her - she acts like we are going to shock her. We probably do, because she is long haired.

I gave poor Jasper a good shock the other day. Right on one of his big, long, white whiskers. He looked at me as if to say "What did you do that for?" I told him I was sorry, but I could tell he was hurt. He has been quite the cuddler lately. When he wants attention, there is no question. He wraps himself up in your lap and if you don't begin petting him right away, his nose is in your face sniffing your eyeballs. I don't breathe when he does this. Just one whiff of cat-food breath and I will gag. But, this is what he does. He sniffs our eyeballs.

The mouse is still hanging in there. My daughter said that he is getting better. His fur is growing back onto the side of his face and he is moving around better. He was stumbling around. I can't look.

Weird, but fun!

Fall leaves with bubbles and a star spotlight

I was playing around. Just a photo of my yellow leaves that had fallen from my tree. Boring, I thought. So, I opened up Photo Shop, started clicking and playing - and this was the result. I may leave out the star pattern next time and just go with the different colored bubbles. I do like bubbles.

It has been a weird day. Nothing I can place my finger on, but just weird. The little goblins do not arrive until tomorrow evening so I have time to get some candy. I can't buy it ahead of time because it gets well, you know.... eaten. I may dress up this year when I answer the door. I'll have to do something with my cat Precious as she tries to run outside each time we open the door. Any little hesitation and she is out the door like a shot. And, the dog is going to bark up a storm when they ring the bell or knock on the door. And she will want to smell each and every one of them. That is, if she doesn't get spooked by them. If it is nice like it is this evening, maybe I will dress up and sit outside and wait for them.

My daughter is still not having a very good time at school. It seems that there are a group of girls that are having a blast starting rumors about my daughter's boyfriend. He has started classes at home on the computer through digital learning, so my daughter is left to stew until she can talk to him about the rumors. It seems as if they get one rumor hashed out and the girls start another. The rumors are about him and another girl.

I thought by today it would all have blown over, but the rumor mill is still finding fuel to keep burning. Some are not rumors and my daughter is having to deal with that. She is an emotional wreck with not eating or sleeping very well. I try to coach her, but I think that the girls are having fun watching to see how she reacts.

I cannot even begin to type out as to how I would like to deal with him. It would not be wise.

October Orange

The Pumpkin Patch

When I think of the month of October, I think of orange. Usually, I think of pumpkins, too. This was the farm where we purchased our cornstalks, tiny bales of straw and pumpkins.

Both my daughter and I suffered from sinus pain today. Eyes and headache. Not too bad, though. I was able to get some things accomplished that had been on my "to do" list for a long time. Hard to reach light bulbs that needed replaced. Caught up on my laundry pile. Things like that. Now, I am ready to take a look at the bills and paperwork to make sure I am on track in that area.

The going price for euthanizing a mouse is $27. Just in case you needed to know. I have not parted with the money, yet. I am hoping that nature chips in.

I did get a start on Christmas shopping yesterday. I usually never start before November, but each year I seem to be a wee bit more aware of how quickly that holiday comes around. When I was young it seemed to take forever to get here. Now, there just aren't enough week-ends to do everything. My daughter does not have a clue this year as to what she wants. Well, she did say she wanted the PS2 game Scarface. I promptly told her "No." Too violent. She watches her boyfriend play it and she plays it at his house. I told her if she didn't give me some ideas that I was going to get her Barbie dolls. Of course she wants clothes, but that is an issue of where Mom has learned to just hand over money and let them shop. I got tired of returning everything. It's like shopping twice in the Christmas mad rush. Yuck.

It was almost painful to watch the 1933 version of King Kong last night. When the big ape would move his head, it reminded me of the abominable snowman on Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer. There is something I told my daughter when she was little. When I was eight years old, I had to miss the television showing of Rudolph. It was traumatic! She laughed. I told her that we didn't have video tapes, or cable television back then. They showed Rudolph once a year and if you missed it you were out of luck. My oldest sister had her wedding shower that evening and I spent the evening looking at a dark and silent television in some neighbor's house.

When Rudolph rolls around now, nobody even cares. It will be showing again. If you didn't catch it on Friday, it will play on Tuesday evening. Or, just pop the video (dvd, now) into the player and watch it over and over again. But, not in 1968. A year is a long time to wait.

Strange sky

A strange sky to end a strange day

We had it all today. It started out sunny and bright. Turned cloudy and windy. Then it began to sprinkle. While driving to the store this morning, my daughter noticed hail. It turned into a drizzle, which in turn became spitting snow. I came home to more hail.

Later, the sun was out again and the wind picked up. Again. I heard a noise and looking outside I saw some of the fastest, hardest sleet I had seen in quite a while. The wind rolled in some more. I heard a loud bang and looked outside. My neighbor's grill had taken a tumble off their back porch. She was an elderly lady, so I went out to pick it up. The propane tank was twisted and when I went to assemble it back together I heard a hissing noise. I didn't want to mess with it any more. I set the grill upright and went over to my patio, trying to salvage my cornstalk displays. Whew, that wind was wicked. I was also walking through hail on the ground.

I fixed myself some hot chocolate and kept myself busy with chores. Later, when I went to let Sable out, I saw the sky. Above is the view over my western neighbor's back yard. Cluttered with electrical wires, I know, but I wasn't about to go anywhere to get a better view. That wind is still howling. The photo has not been altered in any way. A little more to the right the sky was a bright pink. I did get a shot of the full view, but it didn't look very dramatic.

I have company coming over this evening. We are going to watch the original version of King Kong. The house is cozy and warm. I have plenty of hot chocolate and coffee. I made meatballs and I have popcorn. What a night to stay inside!

I have no idea what day the little munchkins are coming around to trick-or-treat. I certainly hope it isn't tonight. Last night was uber-wicked. The rain was so hard and cold. Two missionaries for the Church of Latter Day Saints came to my door. I felt so awful for them. They were very kind. They looked drenched, cold and almost miserable. But, their spirits were up and we chatted a few seconds before they went on their way. They invited me to their church, but I told them "No Thanks." I have no problem with them or anyone else going door to door. It is easy. You just give them a firm no. If they persist, you say "No" again. If they become a problem, you shut the door. They will leave. I have had very few problems with this. I feel bad for people who do. I never, ever let them in the house. My cat, Precious ran outside while I was holding the door open to speak with them. After they left, I waited about one minute and then opened the door to call her. She shot into the house like she had been shot out of a cannon. I laughed at her. "Yeah, it is pretty nasty out there, isn't it?" I chided her.

Griping...

I work in a satellite office for my job. Sixty miles away from the home office. I am often the last to know about parties or get togethers of any kind. This includes the office providing a flu shot.

My home office e-mailed me late Thursday afternoon to inform me that flu shots were available for us for free. They are giving them on Monday and had forgotten to notify me. Now, I get a little under the national average for mileage I can claim in gas mileage in my car for work. I had a co-worker that has no beef with putting this expense on his monthly gas report. I have a problem with it. I just don't feel right. I could take an old piece of equipment and store it into the garage there, and then officially claim the trip was "work-related." But, you know what? I am not going to do it. I think the tax payers are ripped off enough. I don't have to charge them thirty-some dollars so I can go and get a flu shot.

The home office could be gracious and schedule a meeting for that day. But, they didn't do it. Nope. As a side note, years ago, my manager used to schedule myself and a co-worker south of my office to drive in every Wednesday just to clean up the storage room. We both would drive one hour and a half one way to clean this room. And, get gas mileage for it. Is that strange? Maybe I am nit picking.

I am housed for free in an educational building that belongs to my home county. They also recently offered the flu shot to their employees for free and to employee family members for $15. This procedure was to run from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. Friday morning. I found about it Friday as workers there spoke of it. At 9:50 a.m. I was called by the building secretary stating that they had forgotten to tell me, but that I could come and get the flu shot for $15. In other words, they waited until they saw there was enough provided for employees and their families before they invited me.

I am feeling like my health is subject to class. I was only contacted as an after-thought.

I got my own flu shot at the health clinic for $20 the day before any were offered to me. As far as I am concerned my co-workers and my employers can go straight to... uh-oh. Perhaps I should curb my typing, here.

To some, the gripe may sound petty. But, I have been working here for eleven years and it just isn't the flu shot. There are many "little things" that add up. I am jerked into reality when a new satellite employee begins working and they make a remark about how we are left out of things because of poor communication or the fact that nobody cares to think of us. Then I remember when I first started. I was stunned at the rudeness of "educated" people. I have worked on and off since 1975 and I have never, ever been treated worse than I have from the educated field of employees. I chalk it up to the fact that perhaps it is because I did not obtain a secondary education. I didn't "pay my dues" so to speak. Yes, I know where the door is. I am not saying it is enough to make me quit my job. It is just strange in the fact that you think they would have more of a sophistication to them. What a laugh. Note that mostly the rude people are the ones who have never worked anywhere else except this one job. Employees who have been around a few places, seem to meld into the office better.

Stay cozy and enjoy your extra hour - if you get one.

Positively accidental

Yes, this was accidental. I did not mean to photograph any pony porn here.

Larger version, click here.

Photo Friday Challenge for October 27th: Accidental.

Attack dog!

Sable runs

At lunch today, I ducked outside to get a picture of the pretty leaves that fell on my front lawn. They don't last very long before the wind sweeps them away. And, it's raining as I type this.

Sable thought "Wow! We get to play in the road? Count me in!"

You think when I took her in for her allergy shot a week ago that I could have sprung the $6 for a nail clipping, huh? Fact is, I completely forgot about them.

I look forward to the extra hour we get this week-end. I used to really enjoy it about 25 years ago when the bars had to stay open an hour longer. The workers didn't! Yuk, yuk, yuk!

I managed to watch the movie Click with Adam Sandler. Eh. I can take it or leave it. The dog humping humor can be left out. I did enjoy seeing Henry Winkler and Rhoda's younger sister. Do you remember Rhoda? Just had to make me feel old. They were playing the grandparents in the movie. Sheesh!

Oh ... io Sky

One of my drive-bys

I can be a little slow at times. A couple of months back I was shooting out the car window and I noticed that sometimes the camera would not take a picture. I would push and push and I would get so angry. Missed another nice shot! Then to make things even worse, the camera would shoot just when I passed a telephone pole or a billboard sign.

What a dork! It found something close to focus on and "click" it goes. It was just trying to be a good camera. Like I said. I can be a little slow at times. :)

Feelin' the Blues

The lake was not this blue, but the hue calls out to me

I was not up to snuff yesterday. Today I am better, but just on autopilot. I have some turbulence on the homefront that is keeping me awake at night and preoccupied during the day. I suppose in life we could make things easier, but we don't know that until long after the fact.

It is hard to watch a loved one stumble. Hard to watch them make mistakes. Hard to see them uncertain and afraid. I scream out what I believe is advice, but it comes out as the wicked witch who nags and nags. I am jaded. I am a cynic. I don't believe. Because of all of this, I know nothing in the eyes of a fifteen year old. I hope beyond hope that she proves me wrong. I can live with being wrong if it will bring her happiness.

A spray of orange

Setting sun on the camp lake

I arrived late to the campfire on Saturday night, so the only pictures taken were of the last few rays of an orange sun dipping below the horizon. We ended up waiting for about an hour for my daughter's friend to join us. I was growing impatient. I was ready to leave, but because of what happened before, I hesitated. This is the friend whose mother dropped her off at our house without knowing if we were home or not. I thought that they might do that again. The girl does not have a cell phone that I know of.

It turned chilly Saturday night. We burned pallet after pallet, but still we got cold. Most of us left early. We chatted a while. There was a new couple among the group. They were just in from Las Vegas. They were trying to adjust to the cold weather. They brought their five year old daughter. It was pretty chaotic. It was apparent that the parents had no control over this girl. She bounced from one of us gals to the other starved for attention. Many times we kept telling her not to run around the fire. Every so often one of us would try to distract her, but she became clingy when we showed her any attention. I tend to pull children in and play with them, but after an hour she was giving me a headache. A couple of the gals took her for a walk, but found it was too cold away from the fire. Finally the parents took her home, but it had put a dismal atmosphere on the party.

That and one of the boyfriends of us gals kept complaining about women's lib. He was drinking pretty heavy and he just didn't have anything nice to say. He is very pessimistic. He is pro-Bush, anti-gay, anti-foreigners and anti-country. It just wasn't a good night.

That is some tradition

Happiness is having a cake all to yourself

Somewhere the tradition started that when a baby has it's first birthday, they get an entire (small) cake to destroy for themselves. I don't know about this. I love cake (rather, I love the icing) as well as the next person, but this is a little much to digest. Of course she didn't eat the entire thing. She just stabbed at it and shoved a few fistfuls in her mouth, while we snapped some photos and everybody got a good laugh and then she was hauled away to be washed off.

My gracious, that's a lot of sugar.

Silver Lake

One of the beautiful lakes close to me in Eastern Ohio

Caught in the afternoon sun it looks quite silver. I was on my way to the casino last week-end and I just had to stop at a roadside rest and snap a couple of pictures. I didn't dally around, though. I moved on to the fun.

I have a campfire to go to this evening. The day is beautiful and I am hoping to get some great sunset photos. My battery charger has been acting strange, though. I am not sure it is charging the batteries properly. That could be bothersome.

Tomorrow I am on my way to a little girl's first birthday party. (see yesterday's post with "jeepers creepers"). This reminds me of my daughter's first birthday party. I remember the cake, where we were, who was there. Fifteen years ago. Where were you?

Cheeseballs and trays are made. I have to pick up some crackers, yet. Good food, good friends, good times. Instead of my top hat and cane, I'll have my camera and sunglasses. And, awaaay we go!

Jeepers Creepers!

Where'd you get those peepers? Jeepers, creepers! Where'd you get those eyes!

Photo Friday Challenge: Innocence.

It's a new dawn

Catching the sun between the showers

So today I am sitting in a vocational school. I was downloading a program for an end user that just seemed to be taking forever. I was sitting in a chair in the lobby when the guidance counselor brought a white haired lady into the office. He excused himself saying he would be back. The secretary asked the lady if she could help her.

The little lady said "I need to get my G.E.D." The secretary said that the guidance counselor would be back to help her and the secretary excused herself.

I was curious. I wanted to know why this lady needed her G.E.D. at this stage in her life. But of course it is rude to just blurt it out. Nobody else was in the lobby so I asked her "Are you getting a job? Is that why you need your G.E.D.?" That question itself was a stretch. I probably should have known better but I felt like I should say something. She seemed lost.

Her face twisted into an emotional jigsaw puzzle. She managed to say "I have to get a job."

"Oh" I said, thinking to myself that perhaps her husband had just died. She reached for a tissue from the box on the table.

"After 44 years of marriage, my husband has asked me for a divorce," she wiped her eyes.

Yikes. Talk about opening up a Pandora's box. I said the first thing that came to my mind and please pardon my expression. "That S.O.B.!"

She was distraught. I think she needed more of a therapist than a G.E.D. "I'm 62 years old and nobody will hire me!" She tried so hard to regain her composure it broke my heart.

Before I could tell her there were programs out there for people in her position, the guidance counselor returned and whisked her into his office. She remained in there for the rest of my time in that office. I was upset by my ordeal.

A couple of years ago I volunteered at a nearby University doing what I thought was this type of help for senior citizens. I wanted so much to help the elderly get back on their feet in this technology age. The ones who were afraid of computers and needed the skills to re-enter the job market. It didn't turn out that way. I am not exactly sure why.

I also tried to volunteer with the Salvation Army. They never returned my call.

I will think of something. If it had been in my home town I would have waited around and asked that lady's name and given her free computer lessons.

Am I being naive? To think that I can help somebody in that position? Am I overstepping my boundaries with grandiose thoughts of saving somebody? Hmmm. Sounds like fodder for my next therapy session.

October Sky

Death does not lie still

Can you hear the wind
as it whispers and beckons
a hint of a memory
I hear your voice

Caressing my face
with strands of my hair
calling out to me
making me shiver

My mind races
my heart lurches
dropping like a roller coaster
taking me back in time

Come find me
circle your arms around me
I am reluctant
to let you go.

Life in the closet

A little mini - scarecrow

Yeah. I just may re-name my blog to "Life in the Closet". The technical 'wiring closet' that is. Sigh. I'm not gay. I guess at 46 I would know by now. I just googled that and I can't believe that "www.lifeintheclosetdotcom" isn't taken by now.

So I go to this little elementary school today.

It is raining buckets outside, yards are flooded as are the ditches around the roads.

Inside the school the gymnasium is a buzz of noise and activity. The small children are dancing. I listened to the music. It is "Honky Tonk Woman" by the Rolling Stones. This has the words "I laid a divorcee in New York City..."

I thought to myself, "Wow. Pretty wild music there for that age group."

I went on to my little dusty and dark wiring closet. I was flushing out a Nachia worm on this school's network. I didn't know it was Nachia yet. I only knew that the router was "thrashing". I love that word. Anyway, I narrowed it down to two machines, and the technology guy cleaned them up - he told me which worm it was.

As I have stated before schools are cramped for space. They put the speech teacher in the closet with the network equipment in this school district. I was listening as I studied their network.

A little boy came in and was quite chatty with the teacher. He said "Tristan is a girl." The teacher said "No, Tristan is a boy." The boy was probably 8 or 10 years old. He said "Tristan is a girl because he has boyfriends like we have girlfriends!"

The teacher promptly went on with her lesson.

As I was leaving the school building I exited near the gymnasium. The song playing this time? "You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet" by Bachman-Turner Overdrive. And the lyrics in this song include "Any love is good love. So I took what I could get!"

Cripes. I remember elementary school and gym class inside on gray rainy days. We danced to "The Farmer in the Dell!"

Oh, come on! "cripes" isn't in this blog's spell check dictionary?

Who knew?

The best pizza in the world = the most painful heartburn in the world.

Who knew?