Just enough to slide

My brother and his step-grandson sledding

There was just enough snow this past week to slide down a hill on those super slippery plastic sleds they make now days. It was late in coming but now the "kids" can get out and enjoy the fun. This photo was sent to me courtesy of my sister-in-law.

Calling my sisters last night I found out that my two eldest both were in bed with migraines. One on Wednesday/Thursday and the other is still sick with one. Not a one of us knew that the others were suffering. We had not been in communication for about a week. It has to be the stupid weather.

I watched Little Miss Sunshine. It wasn't the best movie, but it did have it's moments. I laughed out loud at the pageant dancing scene and I really liked the character of the suicidal uncle/brother (Frank), played by Steve Carell. He seemed to be very aware of his environment around him. Maybe too much so. I know it is "just a movie" but I find it difficult to imagine that: 1. The family did not have any idea how glamorous and serious some of the folks take these beauty pageants, 2. That neither parent ever watched the little girl's routine so that they were not completely taken by surprise and 3. They let the little girl spend so much time with the grandfather (unless they were completely unaware that he snorted drugs).

And, I would have liked to have kicked the father's rear end a couple of times. (Played superbly by Greg Kinnear).

We have for the week-end, Lady in the Water and World Trade Center. My daughter and her friend are watching WTC as I type and I am catching parts of it as I go through the living room to the kitchen to refresh coffee, fix food, etc...

We have a few cancellations for my nephew's birthday because of the cold weather and migraine sufferings, but that is okay. I have reservations at an Oriental restaurant and they are allowing us to bring in a birthday cake. It is only about two miles away, so I have a pretty good chance of getting the cake there in one piece. I found about half a dozen cards that I liked and I bought them all. I let my daughter pick one out and I'll show them to my niece and sister in case they have not picked up a card, yet. Hallmark has a promotion of sorts going on, where if you purchase three Ambassador cards you get a free "Sweet Hugs Bear" with a glowing heart when you hug him. He is cute!

I will watch the Super Bowl tomorrow night, mostly for the commercials. There was a special last night on CBS that showed some of the more popular Super Bowl commercials of all time. They were pretty good. I think my favorite was the one where the guy sets the mouse trap with Doritos or something similar and the mouse crashes through the wall and starts pounding him. I am not one for violence but this one tickled me. It is a man-sized rodent dressed up in a mouse costume. You cannot see the details of the violence. I know it sounds gruesome, but they did it in a way that it didn't seem that violent.

Okay, I just found it on line and yes, at the end it is kind of violent. But, it surprised me and I laughed out loud. Go, Mouse! You can find all the Doritos commercials here.

Checking out now. Chili has been in the crockpot for three hours. Must brave the frigid temperatures and get some last minute food and decoration items. Stay warm.

Strange

Photo Friday's Challenge for this week is "Strange". So, I am not sure which is more strange, the fast food worker who poses for a complete stranger taking his picture, or the nut taking the picture. So says said nut.

I caved

My good friends decided to wait until I could make it before they celebrated the birthday that we were supposed to have on Saturday. Well, there was a bit more to it. They all got trashed and decided to wait. See what happens when I am not there to keep them straight?

Anyway, I tried. Really I did. I went to bed early last night. I sat at work all day today eating Advil. I would give my headache until 5:15 p.m. when I headed to the get together before I would cave in and take yet another Relpax.

5:15 came. It hurt. It hurt like the dickens. Just one little tablet and by the time I arrived 45 minutes later I was pain free and quite good company. I felt they deserved more than a pathetic miserable headache sufferer. Sometimes I feel horrible complaining and when somebody asks about my migraines, I tend to change the subject.

Being the youngest of 8 children, I was always labeled a "BABY". So I am real careful not to complain or whine. Nobody wants to hear it.

Above are some facts on Relpax. It is not a narcotic pain killer.

Back in Blue

Yes, I still have Christmas decorations up on my patio

Did I ever mention the fact that I like blue? Of course I have. I do have some decorations left hanging on my patio. I'll probably get them down before Easter. Maybe.

I forced myself NOT to take any migraine medicine tonight. I did take Sinus medicine and went to bed at 7:00 p.m. So here I am wide awake at 11:00 p.m. I feel better and I did not resort to a migraine pill. This medication (as the others before it) end up giving me rebound headaches two days after taking the first tablet. Though I have to admit - this one took a lot longer. That is, if I take a tablet on Monday, on Wednesday the migraine has returned (or a form of it has in a rebound headache). It is a maddening cycle. One that I recognize and will probably go to the doctor to get a new prescription for.

You need only to Google the question "Is it migraine or sinus" to see how many times the two are confused, related or suffered by thousands of people.

I can already feel the computer work is straining my eyes, but I am sure I won't be able to sleep for another hour or two. I can't read, watch t.v. or work - so I'll probably just lay in the dark and think.

It is 18 degrees Fahrenheit outside, so I guess a walk is also out of the question. LOL!

Snow Day!

The neighbor's pine

I stumbled out of my bedroom this morning making a beeline for the coffee pot. I glanced out the front window and saw three inches of snow on the ground! I yelled to my daughter (who was already showered and getting herself a bowl of cereal) "I'm checking school closings!"

I logged on and saw six schools closed and about four on a two hour delay. A refresh brought up my daughter's school as closed. Every refresh would bring another one. By the time I was done checking 23 had closed and all who were on a 2-hour delay had caved in and closed. We have our first Snow Day of the school year!

We ate breakfast and relaxed a bit, then we bundled up and took the dog and camera outside. I figure my camera is pretty banged up anyway and getting a few snowflakes on it won't do it any more harm. The piece that slides over the lens to turn the camera on and off is making a grinding noise and I have to almost force it to work.

My daughter and I goofed off a good bit. I had already set up beef vegetable soup the night before for the crock pot and that simmered along nicely all day. I added corn bread. Perfect snowy day food. For dessert we had french vanilla cocoa. We watched the snowy blizzard in the late afternoon from our living room.

The only thing I had to do was take Sable to the vet's office for an allergy shot and to get her toe nails clipped. The poor thing. She is getting to where she knows the vet's office and she makes a beeline for the back door once we get into the examining room. She gives me the most sorrowful "you tricked me!" look. It breaks my heart.

My daughter is at her boyfriend's house and I cracked open the "Object Oriented Programming with Java" book that I borrowed from work. So far, so good. It is going over basic HTML which I am familiar with. Whew. At least I am not starting off lost.

Another month or so

March sunset

Just another day or two of January, then a short month of February. The above photo was taken last March 11th. Although with the little snow we have had so far, we will probably have winter clear to Memorial Day.

I finally switched over to the new Blogger. Not sure what difference it will make if any. Just going through the motions. Yes, yes, whatever.

I borrowed a new book on web page building from work. I hope I get time to sink my teeth into it. It may be way over my head. I'll give it a try, though. It is titled Object Oriented Java or something to that effect. It will give me something new to learn during the long winter evenings.

Little Drummer Boy

My Grand Nephew

You know it is a rule somewhere. Grandparents, Aunts and Uncles can buy little boys and girls toys that make noise. It is a sort of payback to the parent. (grin). I am so glad that he was not in my house this week-end with that drum. My head would surely have exploded.

I missed two birthday parties for two very good friends. It ticks me off. If I get even one migraine this week I am calling the doctor. This was ridiculous. My daughter had a doctor appointment forty miles away Wednesday night. I had to go shopping Thursday night and Friday I logged about 200 miles on my car. By Saturday my head said "No more." I am "sensory sensitive" I think. I need to have down time to counteract the surplus of activity. I dreaded this week-end, I knew that I was going to be stressed with all the running. It built up and my system said "That's it. If you wont' stop, I'll stop you." And, it did just that.

Oh, well. Both friends were very understanding. I am finally getting some energy this afternoon to fix a nice dinner, clean up the house and play with my dog and daughter. Easy does it, though.

Ear hair

Moose

Usually ear hair grosses me out, but not so much on this precious face. Next month, she will celebrate one year with the Peruby household. We still have clumps of matted hair on her, she does not like me to mess with them. She is our twice-spayed cat. She is becoming friendlier with each passing month.

I had a family get together last night, and I won't be making to a friendship dinner tonight. I may go to the after dinner party, so that I can give my gifts. I am worn out. I had a full blown migraine this morning and I wasn't sure I could pull out of it with my medicine, but after six hours I am able to move around a little. It still beats the 24 hour downtime with vomiting.

The stress from the family episode last night left me reeling. It hit me like a two by four in the face. People I have known all my life falling apart at the seams. Life just has a way of smacking you in the face, doesn't it? There you are, the youngest of eight children. Ages range from 46 to 64. Life's road is twisty and a bit bumpy at times, but all of a sudden you turn a corner and BAM! The family runs into a brick wall and everyone is staggering backwards stunned and in shock.

My dream a few weeks ago about the swinging bridge? Did my sister fall off or is she still hanging on? Did somebody else come along in time to save her? Did she save herself? Knowing my sister, she probably built herself a whole new bridge.

Oh, Brother.

The topic for Photo Friday is "Brother" when my sister is causing most of my worries tonight.

Hurts

Yep. This is kind of how my head feels when I have a migraine. LOUD, disconnected, painful.

I had one today. I am averaging two a week. Stress at work? Crazy weather? Barometric pressure? My new barometer is nice. It shows a little separation between the needles today. Humidity in my room is really low. I can't abide a humidifier. Every time I am in a room where they have humidified the air, I get pleurisy.

The picture above? Not mine. Somebody sent it to me in an e-mail. It is an optical illusion. It is not really moving and looks really neat if you click it and see it in the larger size. People must be getting real bored these days. I am getting an abundance of jokes and neat e-mails in my mailbox these days. The winter blues.

I ran into an old school friend today at the mall. This is one I tracked down and called a few times, we would chat, but she never initiated the phone calls. I took the hint. I "think" she was trying to avoid me at the store, but we were best friends for 8 years, so I wasn't going to let this opportunity go. She and I were neighbors and we both ended up moving to this area. We reminisced for about an hour and she left me with a "Call me, we'll have dinner" remark again, but I wonder. I will give this one more try. I will call her when I have some extra time in late February or March. If she fails to respond then I will sadly close that book.

Call me Colonel Mustard

Another cold lake photo

This is another lake photo from my drive yesterday. I put it through the wringer with Paint Shop Pro.

About my post yesterday and the baloney I mentioned. I figure I am the mustard. Sometimes sweet, sometimes hot, always versatile, very vivid and I tend to go with baloney. So move over. The mustard is here to stay!

Baby, it's cold outside

View of a very cold lake

Driving back from our home office, I stopped by the lake thinking I could catch some of the beautiful sun rays streaming through a cloudy sky with the cold gray water. Not to be. I passed up the places that had a great view of the sky and ended up here where the sun barely shines. It was cold. The wind was wicked. I didn't stay long.

Here is my 2 cents worth of a subject titled "Management 101".

I have a co-worker who has been in neck/back/facial pain for 18 months. She has hopped from doctor to neurologist to chiropractor to dentist and back again. She asked my manager about new office chairs since he does most of the purchasing. He took us shopping last week and told us to try some chairs out at Office Max. We chose two - moderately priced. She lobbied for one for her shorter legs. I could have cared less. I picked out one in slate blue. I sat in it, felt good and I said "This one suits me."

My co-worker seemed excited about the chairs. I (having worked there for 11 years) told her not to hold her breath.

We received an e-mail from our new "director" and it was worded as such,

"Thing One and Thing Two, (not our real names)

We will order you a chair from this selection (she included a URL). If you want a more expensive chair, you will have to buy it yourself."

How I would have worded the e-mail had I been the manager,

"Thing One and Thing Two, (not our real names)

Unfortunately our budget will only allow us to order from this selection. I am hoping that one of the chairs listed here will suit your needs. Please choose a chair from the following link."

That is all she had to write. My co-worker was crushed. She cried and wanted to rant and write our "new" director a nasty e-mail about how much pain she is in and her chiropractor recommends that she get an ergonomic office chair. Boo Hoo. I just shrugged. Big deal.

I don't want anything above and beyond what my co-workers get. Not at all. I just want my fair share. As our "new" director was quoted as saying a month or so back, "It isn't about FAIR!" I guess not.

Let me remind you that this "new" director and my co-worker were the two that teased an older gentleman about him liking me a couple years back. Inside a school building, he was a widower and very much a gentleman. They said (so that he could hear) "Peruby, I think he is sweet on you!" I cringed in empathy for the older gentleman. He was too mannerly to let on that he heard them. I gave the both of them a mean, stern look. Sigh. Neither one has matured much, it is just that my co-worker has found out what a real snake our "new" director really is. I laugh in her face. I warned her as much years ago. She cries because she thought that this female (I can't call her a woman or a lady) was her friend.

You know what. There just isn't enough antacid to put up with this baloney. I thought I could deal with her being the "new" director, but it is going to take some major re-adjusting of my attitude and I am not sure that is possible. Like the old radio dials, it is way over on one side of the band and it is stuck there. Stripped. The knob turns and turns, but it no longer comes back to pick up any signals. Okay, you have to really understand the old radios to get that. I took one apart and looked at it when I was little.

Big breath. Breathe deep. Relax. Go to your happy place.

I am sitting here

This evening I spoke with a co-worker on the telephone. He had a serious heart attack the day after Christmas. He has Type I Diabetes, he had pneumonia, and he is now on dialysis three times a week. He is trying to focus on things one day at a time. As the world continues to turn around him his days are filled with sending his vital signs to a hospital over the phone line, having a physical therapist come in to see him twice a week, going in for a dialysis treatment three times a week that takes four hours for each visit, trying to keep his new onslaught of medicine straight as to which one does what, and dealing with his regular dose of insulin shots.

My newspaper is full of the sad story of a grandmother and granddaughter who drove into the Tuscarawas River and drowned yesterday afternoon. Two men from the nearby skating rink attempted to jump into the river to assist, but the current was too strong and the water was too deep and cold. The authorities are saying road conditions contributed to the accident.

I just want to rock back and forth with a blanket over my head.

Nothing to show when you procrastinate

Purple Iris

The harder I try to catch up, I feel the more I get behind. Pack rat, junk, distractions...the list can go on and on. When I try to organize and clean I get caught up in finding something that I misplaced or looking at photographs, or going off on a tangent.

I wanted to plant more tulips this fall along with some Iris bulbs. Like the one above. This purple one is from an alley behind my work building.

I watched The Da Vinci Code. It was long and I did move around and try to do stuff while watching it. If I sat through the entire thing, I would fall asleep. A few little twists here and there and some ghastly scenes.

I thought that January would be long and dreary and here it is the 21st - 22nd and I can't get caught up. Next week-end looks like a very busy one. It is one of those times when everything got planned for that time frame. One thing right after another. I get nervous when things happen like that. I like my down time. I need time to sit and relax.

February is filling up fast also. It just happens that way sometimes.

I watched the news tonight and a couple miles away from me a car crashed through a guard rail and plowed into the Tuscarawas river. They have called off the search until morning. The news stated that they didn't know how many people were in the car, but my daughter heard two teenage girls. Her boyfriends father works for WJER radio station. That was where she was when she heard the news. She is upset because chances are she will know of the girls. She may not be good friends with them but they probably go to her school or to the teen Park place that she goes to.


We may be looking at an icy road condition tomorrow morning. I hope that they cancel schools because I can really use an extra day to get my house organized. I just don't know where I am going to store everything anymore. Sigh. Maybe I should just have the city put a big dumpster in front of my house for a week or so. That might do it.

A kiss is still a kiss...

Kissing the camel

Actually, my brother is holding a peanut in his mouth and he lets the camel take it out of his mouth. Do you claim all of your relatives? When they do something like this, I am tempted to just say "I've never seen that man before in my life."

Ear ache and sore throat today. Tired. I have The Da Vinci Code that I am going to try to watch this week-end. Well, I guess that leaves tomorrow. The kids got Snakes on a Plane. Ew.

I formatted my daughter's old PC today. During the format, I decided to clean up the dining room table. Papers fell into the floor. I reached down to pick them up and pulled the plug on the power strip. It was during the Windows installation, not the format, so I just had to start the install over again. Yep. That kind of day.

Fast

Photo Friday's Challenge: Fast. This is the carousel in my little town. For a big picture you can go here.

October sky

Photo from October 2006 - sunrise

Inside a hosta

Flowering seed of a hosta plant

Is Stephen King's The Langoliers a weird movie, or what? I watched it once a long time ago. I caught a couple of scenes this evening. I can't take the time to watch it all, nor would I want to. Just the small part I watched creeps me out. It is at the part where they have landed the plane and realized that the airport is empty. No smell, no noises.

My niece won a 42" Plasma TV. Aw, man.

Did you read about the woman who entered the contest "Hold your wee for a WII?" She died. Water intoxication. I have a difficult time with people who would allow their organization to host such a contest and people who would enter one.

When I was in the 7th grade my school held a cider drinking contest. The winner vomited all over the lunch table. I'll never forget it. I never drink cider. She could have died of the same thing. I don't suppose it has to be water.

The poor woman was crying of a bad headache after the contest. I think she came in second. She had three children and a husband.

I really need to stop reading the news. How about the imbecile (he does not deserve to be called a man) who shot his girlfriend's baby with a BB gun? I'd like to take him out for target practice. Yeah, buddy. The baby lived. It was not noticed until the baby went in for a check up. What ever happened to the guy who put the little kids in the dryer?

Our custodian made my co-worker and I (roasted) red pepper soup. I loved it. My co-worker didn't care for it. If I saw it on the menu, I would order it in a restaurant. I think it would be great with a turkey sandwich. It kind of looks like tomato bisque. I suppose he did it because we always get him a bag of peanut M&M's for Christmas. My co-worker and I use an office in the building but we are not part of the organization. In fact, every year they are becoming our competition. It is getting awkward. (He does not have to take our trash out since we are not part of the organization that pays him.)

My sister made some great creamy potato soup when she was down for the long week-end. It is great hot soup weather. This cold rain. Some areas near to me are flooding. It appears to have stopped for now and the cold wind has blown in drier air.

A co-worker just had to tell me about Kraft's chocolate orange. Now, I want to try one. I hope I can't find them in the stores. And, the other day - Mrs. Surly's Superintendent gave me a piece of Italian chocolate. She gets it shipped in from Italy. I found it on the Internet. Gastarea. Shhh. It was good, but I have tasted better.

Messin' with Paint Shop Pro

Springwood Lake. Two photos merged with added bubble effects.

My grand niece merged into a colorful DVD disc.

I am going to try to learn more about the Paint Shop Pro program that came with my PC. (Jasc software). My daughter uses Adobe Photo Shop. I am trying to steer her in that direction. Mixing art with computers. Two of her strongest areas.

Well, I got a work over from Mrs. Surly. It really could have been worse. Much worse. I went to the school and put the W2 forms into the printer and she printed them. All worked perfectly. You know. Like when your car is giving you fits and when you take it to the mechanic and it purrs like a kitten or when you take your near death baby to the doctor and they act like a little hooligan when in his (or her) office. I like that word hooligan.

I tried to analyze what I did differently than her secretary did. She barked at me "I don't care what we did, what we could have done, or how we fixed it! Just as long as it works!" I said "Well, I just wanted to determine what fixed the problem so we don't repeat it." She ignored me. I left. The Mr. and Mrs. Surly's of the world never retire. They aren't happy at home so why should they retire? They are miserable and can't stand it when anyone is happy or cheery. They never are. I'll dance at her retirement party. The Happy dance.

Prior to that I had a morning meeting where I was in the hot seat. It seems that the distance learning IP video is giving all the schools fits and they are not getting answers from the home office so I am to take their gripes and see if I can get any results. Not likely.

My daughter stayed home this morning and slept. When she woke up she felt much better. I took her to school at noon so she can get caught up. Her exams are this week. She still had ear problems this evening, but the neck was better and the fever was gone. Just taking it easy and I will keep close tabs on her for the next few days. With a cell phone I can know in a minute where she is, how she is feeling, what she is doing and where she is going or staying. When I am worried that can be such a stress buster. But, while she is sick - she is home with me.

Life is a merry-go-round

Our Park's Carousel

I find that I must hit the ground running this morning. My daughter woke me at 3:00 a.m. She is sick. Sore throat, headache that won't respond to medicine, hot and a dry fever. Her neck hurt her all day yesterday but was that because of leaning back into the sink at the hair salon, or is it connected with her illness? (See meningitis)

Things a Mom must decide. She visited the doctor last week for what we thought may be pink eye. There is a heavy case of that going around. The Dr. said "No, but it is an eye infection." I again, (for the umpteenth time) told my daughter to remove all eye make-up before going to bed. You know. Teenagers and deaf ears. Oh, they have a new term. Selective hearing. Must remain politically correct.

I have a meeting in the morning and this afternoon I was going to drive to a vocation school to assist them with printing W2 forms. I can understand that they want to get these out as soon as possible. It is a forty mile drive one way. I put them off for two days last week because of network emergencies.

The user at this vocational school is what I call "high maintenance". She is surly. That word fits her perfectly. When attempting to assist her over the telephone last week she barked at me, "You can't walk me through this over the telephone! I am too stupid!"

Well, then. In other words "Come and fix it for me." It is a repeat at the end of every year for them. I go there. I adjust and re-adjust the printer. Personally, I believe that they purchased the wrong printer for the job. My manager recommended the printer years ago. Mrs. Surly keeps throwing that up in my face. "This is the printer you people told me to purchase! Make it work!"

On a side note, most users in her position need a 2 year Associate degree at least. Years ago, I don't think this was required. I completely understand that just because somebody has a degree it doesn't necessarily make them smarter. Or, it could be that she just knows her limitations.

And, just for the record - I have had this manager who recommended the printer come out to the school to assist me. (years ago) After hours of struggling with the printer himself, the school is relieved when he gives up. His solution? Call printer maintenance. Which is a cop out. Our maintenance is farmed out to an outside company and this delays him having to deal with the problem for at least two days and when the maintenance people say there is nothing wrong with the printer, it falls back into my hands. My manager makes sure that he is unavailable until this incident has passed. It is a nightmare of a merry-go-round.

This printer causes the job to "creep". Which means once you get the forms lined up just right, the print out begins creeping down the page as each form is fed through the printer. With over 200 forms to print, this can become quite a problem.

I believe each year, I struggle to get it "perfect" for Mrs. Surly and eventually she tells me that she will just have to live with the form being one line off here or there. It is the same thing every year. A regular merry-go-round.

I received my W2's in the mail a week or so ago. My home office uses a very old printer and it shows. It appears as if the print head is not hitting on all the dots. As an impact printer when it strikes the page with 120 dpi (dots per inch), you can see that the print head needs replaced.

My first instinct was to see if the Dr. can see my child today, and have my manager deal with Mrs. Surly. That is not an option. I can see that he is scheduled out of the office today with the telephone company. We are down about four people because of illness and health issues.

My daughter will sleep this morning. I will come home at noon between the meeting and traveling to visit Mrs. Surly and see how my daughter feels. Mrs. Surly may just have to wait one more day. With my apologies to that school district personnel for getting their W2's later than most.

How green was my hollow

Wolf run, OH

My family lived in this hollow's area before I was born. I don't know for how long. A year maybe? We moved around a lot back then. This photo is from last summer. Still quiet. Still picturesque. Still depressed. Not much changes back in Wolf Run. I think there are a couple of areas in my state with the name wolf run. This one is in the mid-eastern part of the state. Near the WV panhandle.

I wanted some changes with my web page. I am not completely happy with the results. I may tweak it some more. I may get bored with it and move on to something else. Like cleaning my file drawers. New Year and all. I am slowly taking down the decorations from the holidays. New totes and all.

Not sure if I will do the artificial tree again next year. Are you using all your gifts? Or, are most of them still sitting in a corner of your room? I put the last one of mine up into use yesterday and it promptly fell off the wall. It is a heavy clock. I'll have to secure a better anchor for it. LOL! It survived.

I had company over the 3-day week-end. What did we watch? Oh, yes. The Illusionist. It was a nice little romance story. A mystery, too. Edward Norton is okay. Rufus Sewell makes a great bad guy and most people do like the actor Paul Giamatti. I do. Although I have not seen Lady in the Water, yet.

Friday night was a bit different. I traveled north about an hour to have dinner with friends and then we were going to do a game night. I brought my board game Tripoly along because I didn't recall exactly how to play it and I needed a refresher. Plans changed and we went to a friend's brother's house. That is where things went downhill for me.

I was driving so I wasn't drinking. The pool table and foosball were in the basement. This is the first time I had been to his house. One side of the basement he had a roaring fire. It was already hot. The other side was the pool table. Out of six of us, four smoked. And smoked. The room filled up with cigarette smoke in less than an hour and we stayed for three. My eyes were stinging and I was choking. I'll not do that again.

This brother was recently divorced (2nd marriage) and his basement looked a good bit like a bachelor pad. He had NASCAR posters all over the walls. Cheyenne would appreciate the fact that he had many posters of Junior and his Father. Big fan. I don't mind somebody expressing their interest in a sport or a rock band with photos and posters on the wall. Far from it. It gives us something to look at while we are waiting our turn to play pool. He did not have an inch of basement wall to spare.

However, underneath the pool table, leaning up against the feet were two photos of his children. On the floor, out of sight. Hmmm. The children were from his first marriage. This was his second divorce. Race car drivers on the wall, children on the floor underneath the pool table. I guess it could be that his second wife didn't allow him to hang the pictures so he stuck them under there. Maybe?

Do you believe what goes around comes around? Many years ago he stepped out on his wife with another woman and married her. Ten years or so later, that woman stepped out on him.

Things picked up on Saturday and Sunday. My company came and we had some laughs and played games and watched a movie. During some of the quieter times I began removing the decorations, so it was slow going.

Everybody leaves today so maybe I can get some more put away. Oh, wait. I was real smart and scheduled two appointments today. Because I am off work and my daughter is out of school. Smart! It seemed like a good idea a month or so ago. (grin). I almost scheduled three appointments but thank goodness common sense kicked in. We have until 1:30 so I better get started.

It is still raining in the eastern Ohio Valley. Another very wet winter, so far.

My red-winged blackbird

My daughter's hair - the next level

I just about passed out when I saw the red being applied. I had to start deep breathing, I honestly did. I tried not to look again until it was done. Of course, I LOVE it! Everybody loves it! The school's colors are red and black.

Peaceful

It has been a while since I posted a Photo Friday Challenge. I'll start with this one: Peaceful

Spiking, max'd out, flatlined, dropped...

Bandwidth is max'd out

The school I worked at today had some serious networking issues. I spoke with them at 9:45 a.m. and asked them to swap out a fiber cable. You can see the dip in the traffic at that time. With the new fiber cable in place, it wasn't long before it shot back up there. This school has three T1 lines coming back to our home office.

I know the graph makes it appear as if they have 4 T1 lines, but figure each T1 is actually 1.544 Mbps (so 3 times 1.544 = 4.632 Mbps). The very top of the traffic (green) is peaking above the 4 on the graph. We bond the 3 T1 lines together (through the telco) to give the school on big Internet pipe. To read more about "The speed of..." you can go here.

We are changing our schools from T1 line(s) to a fiber connection. Since my area (lucky me) has recently switched cable companies, we are still discussing this option over with the new company. Our telco was way too pricey, so we won't even consider them. Until then (maybe another year) most of the school's in my area have to limp along on the T1 connections.

I went to the school at 12:30 p.m. You can see my troubleshooting results as I would dis-connect one section of the LAN and the traffic would drop, just to have it crop up in another area. We had tried to setup VLAN's at this district over the holidays, but the home office had not properly prepared for it and they ordered the wrong type of fiber cables. Blah.

So the term "spiking" is when you see a sudden rise in the traffic bandwidth and it shoots straight back down. The "max'd out" (maximum bandwidth) is when it uses all of the bandwidth that it can and stays up there full throttle. The bandwidth is "max'd out". When it finally stops - it "drops". The bandwidth goes down to a more normal reading. The "flatline" part is when the network is dead, with no traffic and the indicator line sits at the bottom of the graph not showing any movement on the network.

It gets pretty interesting using this terminology. I guess it all carries over from another occupation's terminology.

Anyways, I was working on the problem tonight and I "hope" I found the problem. This district has 8 LAN switches with old code on them. In each and every one, I re-configured 50 ports (48 ethernet and 2 gigabit) to "port block multicast". Hopefully, they can play defense against any ip multicast storms that happen their way. As I was in the middle of my fifth switch, it dawned on me that perhaps I only needed to block multicast on the gigabit ports. I am really hoping I don't have to go back in and block all ports for unicast flooding as well. Sigh.

Alas, this was my world today. I am so ready for bed.

Shadows

Office lights

Turning off the overhead lights and turning on the tree lights at night give the office a whole different feeling. This was taken a few months ago when my daughter took driver's training at the office building I work in. I just worked in the office until she was done. One evening I was bored, so I turned the tree lights on and turned off the overhead lights and snapped a few photos.

It has been ages since I worked at night. I used to work an afternoon shift. For three months a midnight shift. A lot of times I was a sucker and took a 10:00 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. shift. What kind of life is that, I ask you? It was a party girl's dream. Except I didn't party any more.

Now I am in the school building. If I work after hours I have to make sure somebody (like a custodian) is going to be in the building. Today was a freaking nightmare. I knew that I was going to be doing a huge job and I started as early as the school would allow. 9 a.m. The secretary's had to get attendance in. It went downhill fast. Anything that could go wrong did go wrong. You know the drill.

Driving home I wanted to cry, but tears never come. I felt like I had been worked over with a 2x4. Every muscle hurt, my mind hurt. I didn't get a migraine, but I took an Advil to ease all the aches and pains. I am not sure if it was the stress of the day (along with carrying my laptop into buildings and work tools) or if I may be coming down with something.

All ended well. I got it all to work. The schools weren't too happy because it took longer than it was supposed to, but you will have that with technology. The machines. Like a gremlin inside them causing havoc.

Which reminds me. My brother owned an AMC Hornet/Gremlin. It was one of the ugliest cars that I have ever seen or driven. I drove it in the summer of '76 back and forth to work. It was his second car. My fondest memory was the 8-track tape player. Bee Gees. I think it was the 1969 "Best of the Bee Gees". Before the Disco craze. Back when we played the same tape over and over and over again.

The music was great. 8-tracks are obsolete, and that car was a real piece of junk. It crumpled up like a tin can. The body was made of soft tin, I swear. I didn't wreck it. You only had to lean on it to crumple it. We shut the hood one time and it bent right in half. Buckled in two. It was a shame to put the word "American" on a brand of vehicle (AMC) that was so inferior. Just a shame. How about that Pacer?

She is so tiny

My brother's dog "Brandy"

They have had her since March, I think. They plan to breed her with one of their tiny Yorkshire terriers. This should be interesting. They breed their Yorkies but rarely do they get a pup. They have offers to sell them for $500 each, but usually they want to keep them for themselves.

I still have my pound rescue. Hound that she is, we love her.

The mouse has passed on. Yesterday, we think. It wasn't doing that well. Kind of walking sideways like it needed a V8 or something. We will wash and sanitize the Taj Mahal and store it in the garage. My daughter and her boyfriend disposed of the body. I didn't ask how or where.

We broke the wishbone on the Christmas turkey this past week-end and I won. I wished for snow this week. (I know, be careful what you wish for). We have a dusting out there. Not much more. It is supposed to warm back up by the end of the week, so maybe this is all we are getting for this week.

We have been playing board games this month. Sorry, Bunco and Tripoly. I can't recall how my friends and I played Tripoly. I was confused and we didn't last long with that game. Sorry is our favorite. We haven't had the time to get Monopoly out and my daughter played Operation once. I refused to join her. My nerves cannot handle that game. They couldn't when I was ten and they sure can't cope with that alarming buzz now. No way no how.

The folks at the office were bummed about the football game last night. Some were very tired. One guy said he just shut the television off. He couldn't stand to watch any more. They said that the team had too much time off for the holidays.

I won't say too much about work except I believe that they should come up with some kind of course for mind readers. You surely need it working with the crew I have in my home office. Yuk, yuk, yuk.

I was born with a sense of humor. I will survive.

Scanned disk

One of my scanner images

I liked the colors of the disk after I was finished scanning it. I had to rub out the scratches and lint around the black background. I didn't do the disk itself, I let the lint and scratches remain.

Currently it is half time during the "big" game. Florida Gators vs. Ohio State Buckeyes. Recently our cable company was purchased by Time Warner's Road runner and there was a scare that the Fox channel would not be available after midnight on December 31st. So many fans would not be able to watch this "big" game. There was a literal uproar. Well, needless to say the cable company got their act in gear and obtained an extension. So many times I mix my phrases. I combined "a$$ in gear" with "act together" and it comes out "act in gear". Oh, well.

The Buckeyes are down 34-14. Yikes. If things don't turn around it will be a quiet day at work tomorrow. Most of the teachers are alumni of Ohio State or they had a child go there. Or a child is currently going there. C'mon Bucks!

Across the ridge

Western sunset looking out across Bacon Ridge

I spent Saturday visiting my sister who lives out on Bacon Ridge. I was kind of wondering, how does the ridge get the name of bacon? I am thinking that there was a pig farmer who owned most of the ridge and pigs = bacon? The next ridge over is Timothy. Is this named after timothy weeds? Who knows.

I want to thank all the bloggers who gave me support over my grief of how my home office handled the hospitilization of a co-worker. I just want so much to believe that I am going to go into work tomorrow and they are going to contact us and say "Hey, we are sending W** a basket, or a card with money," or something along those lines.

I want to believe that there is good in all people. That the week-end brought them to their senses. Hey, it could happen.

One long week down out of the long month of January.

Lemon-lime twist

Using Photo Shop I twisted my fruits

I had one hellacious day at work. Many things went askew and I anticipated as much. The wiring closet that I worked in felt like the heat coming from a 350 degree Fahrenheit oven. Nothing worked. Nothing was ready. I was on the front line. I had to give the school the bad news. I said "Don't shoot the messenger."

I called my home office to see if they were taking a collection for my co-worker who had the heart attack and was in a Columbus hospital. My manager said "We have a meeting on the 19th, we can collect and do something then." WTF?!

I was angry. I called the hospital and they not only gave me his room number, but his phone number to the room, too. So much for HIPAA. I called the room and his wife answered. She said that he was on dialysis and could I call back this evening. I said "Of course." I hung up in shock. Dialysis? My office co-worker and I gave each other a worried look.

My office co-worker was angry with our home office personnel also. She said "It isn't like it is his father, it is him lying in the hospital!" I said, "I know. It's as if they don't recognize us as real co-workers since we don't work in the home office." After being there 11 years, it finally starts to sink in. It isn't going to change. It isn't going to get better. We will always be on the outside.

That evening I called back to Columbus. His wife gave me the details. No, his kidneys did not fail. They thought they did at first, but the dialysis was to filter the blood to make sure his kidneys were working properly. He has had Type I diabetes for years. He is just today becoming coherent since he was admitted to the hospital. He had a lot of sugar problems during the holiday and back pain. This is where his heart attack settled, in his back. Not his chest. He had been having a heart attack for about four to six days. He has a stent in place.

Over the past month, he had just moved his office from one location to another. He had to carry things down three flights of steps because the elevator was not working in the original building. He really overdid it.

The horrible part? I called another co-worker who worked in the office with him. This guy had been on vacation and I wasn't sure if he had heard the news or not. He also has had a heart attack. He said he was aware of what happened. Then the kicker. He said that one guy from the home office had come out to work with them and laughingly said "At the office we have bets on which one of you is going to end up in the hospital first!" I was horrified. What an ignorant thing to say. I wonder if he feels any remorse for what he said and now knowing what has happened.

I have to take a step back and not let that home office get under my skin again. When I was the only satellite office they would neglect to tell me when there was a Christmas party. They would take turns taking days off during the slow season (years ago) and never tell me. The first year I worked there, I was not included in the bonus handouts. (I did not find out about this until the following year). When I was by myself, I used to think that it was me. That I was too sensitive, that I was imagining things. When others came on board at satellite offices, I heard the same remarks from them. The frustration of being neglected and left out. The strange feeling of being left out of the loop. For about five years, I had one secretary clue me in on all the little extras that happened in the home office that my manager would neglect to tell me. I was astounded.

But, this has gone too far. When a co-worker is lying in a hospital bed, on a respirator, having dialysis and they "may" do something like send a card in two weeks? I am beginning a slow boil. I am going to let somebody have it. My office co-worker and I got a card and sent some money to the family. His wife is sleeping on the sofa in his hospital room and we felt that would be the best thing to do. Flowers are nice, but money can get you a tank of gas, a meal or some much needed rest.

I just can't believe my manager and home office. What is wrong with these people?

Don't look now, but...

Big bite!

Does it look like Sable is about ready to take a big bite out of my grand niece? She was (almost) feeding Sable some snowman poop earlier. She would hold the miniature marshmallow (well, what did you think snowman poop was?) out to the dog, the dog would try to eat it by licking it a couple of times, and then my grand niece would change her mind and pop it into her mouth. Disgusting? I thought so, too. But, my sister (the grandmother) was there and thought it was funny.

Her cheeks look a bit wind chapped. She didn't seem to mind, though. She positively loved our bird, Peru. They jabbered back and forth for a while. The cats all ran. They wanted no part of her or her snowman poop.

At Christmastime for a joke we would pick an unsuspecting child (about 8 or 9) and put miniature marshmallows in a zip-lock baggy with this little poem:

Heard you've been naughty
So here's the scoop,
All you get is...
Snowman Poop!

It was kind of cute to see them roll their eyes at such silliness. Another favorite was wrapping something small (like a ring, wink, wink) in a big box. The girl is thinking she is getting something (bigger than a breadbox) and inside is a ring. Always, a Hallmark moment. (sniff). I received one of my engagement rings in the middle of a heart-shaped box of candy on Valentine's day. There are always little ways to surprise someone. That is where America's Funniest Home Videos come in.

Ugh. My eyes are hurting. They are really working me this past month. And, it looks as if there is no end in sight. One of my dear co-workers in an office south of me had a serious heart attack the day after Christmas. I knew he had not been feeling well. He is diabetic and had a few sugar episodes. I implored him to see his doctor, I can't recall if he did or not. He was supposed to be taken off the respirator today to see if he could breathe on his own. We only found out today. With the holidays behind us, we didn't know why he did not report to work. Calls to his house went unanswered. They transported him to the medical clinic in Columbus. Nobody called to let us know. It was just terrifying to hear about this today. I am hoping for the best.

Well, back to reading about java. Fun stuff. I did learn the meaning of a new word, so all is not lost. "draconian". Yep. That sums it up pretty good! This assignment is draconian.

OH! I fixed my garbage disposal today. I read the manual. I had no idea that there was a little tiny red "reset" button on the bottom of the unit. I never look underneath the sink that often. I pushed the button, turned the disposal on and away it went. All is back to normal. That is about as mechanical as I get. LOL!

Bee massager

Bumble bee massage

My daughter got this cute little gizmo for Christmas. It is a vibrating massager. The "massage" part leaves a lot to be desired, but it gets top points for cuteness. I tried to get a nose view on my scanner, but the on/off button is on the nose and my scanner glass did not care for the vibration motion at all. LOL!

Well, it was back to work today. The office was freezing so I turned a little electric heater on and shut the door. Big mistake. I had it so toasty and warm in there I about fell asleep. Good thing I had a job to go to after lunch so I could get outside and move around. The job was in a bus garage and I went back to freezing.

From the holidays I had an entire tray of huge shrimp cocktail, a huge crockpot full of meatballs, a big bowl of vegetable soup and an entire 12" apple pie. My daughter told me that her boyfriend's Mom went to the hospital yesterday. Boys being boys he had no idea what was wrong with her. I called her this evening and told her I was going to bring all that food over. She had diverticulitis. Although I felt bad that she probably wouldn't be able to eat it, this way her family can have it. I snuck in a huge can of chocolate pirouette sticks. Whew. Now, that food is out of my house. I only have a huge pot of kraut and pork to dispose of. Can you freeze kraut? I guess you can. Hmmm. Checked Google. Of course you can freeze sauerkraut.

I have some other odds and ends that need to be disposed of and my garbage disposal won't do a thing when I flip the switch. Total silence. Hmmm. I really need to run it and the dishwasher uses it too. I'll check the breaker first. I still catch myself saying "blew a fuse" and have to correct myself to "trip the breaker." Old dogs, new terminology. I hate mechanical gadgets like cars, tools, furnaces, water heaters, washing machines, dryers and other big appliances. I am scared of electricity. I give it plenty of respect.

I had an odd dream last night. I dreamt that my oldest sister and I were going to cross a swinging bridge. She went ahead of me and when I stepped onto it I could feel the bridge begin to sway. It unnerved me. Have you ever been on a swinging bridge? I have. Not up very high, though. This was up really high. She was halfway across and I felt the bridge start to sway a lot. I dropped down and began scooting on my rump. The bridge was really teetering. She lost her footing and was hanging on over the side of the bridge. I can remember trying to scoot quickly to her so that she could grab my leg. Of course the dream ended and I have no idea if I saved her or if she got back up or fell.

Odd thing was today I caught parts of Cliffhanger and that show had a swinging bridge in it and people fell over the side. Weird.

Introducing...

The new 2007 model of the stretch kitty!

Moose says that today is the day to take it nice and easy. Stretch out, relax. Don't move too quickly, don't over do it.

Sounds good to me.

Moose still has massive amounts of matted fur. They are so very close to her skin, I don't try very hard to trim them off. She is still much too skiddish to let us hold her. We let her in last February. She sneaks in and sleeps on my bed from time to time and she seems to want to play. When I do play she will try a little and then she seems to remember that she is frightened and runs away.

I have a slight headache because my daughter's favorite gift is PS2's Guitar Hero. She and a couple of friends have been playing it all afternoon. It is a challenge game of how well you can play the game's guitar and follow the on-line colors to play the songs. She also received another mat for Dance, Dance revolution. Video games are beginning to expand into the physical aspect of their viewing audience. No more sitting in front of a screen moving the opposable thumbs with their tongues hanging out. With the new Wii and newer Play Station games, they are getting physical again! I support that.

I used to ride my bike (A LOT) when I was younger. Maybe not so much at 15, I was working every week-end back then. I can't recall what I did in the evenings after school. 31 years ago. Memory hazy. Oh, I was in basketball my sophomore year. And band. My daughter does not want anything to do with school's extracurricular activities. (grimace).

However, she is very sociable. She likes to spend time with her friends. And then some.

I may look into getting a new camera this summer. Mine has served me well for four years. The white letters on the top of the selection knob have worn off so that I have to use the display window to let me know what mode I have it in. I will research which one I plan to get. My nephew and niece both purchased Canon's. Not the same model as mine, a bit nicer. I may go with Nikon or Olympus just to taste the competition.

Cocktails

My New Year's Eve

Yep. That pretty much sums it up. Lemon, lime, maraschino cherries and shrimp cocktail. The garnishes and appetizers. Kraut and pork after midnight. A wee bit. This would be something you do not want to come back up in any shape or form.

The house is empty except for my daughter and I. Back to quiet and peaceful. Well, my pets of course. My tiny grand niece really enjoyed my bird. She kept wanting to stick her finger into the cage, though. My bird also enjoyed her. They chatted back and forth a good bit.

Four rats are gone from my basement. My sister brought her rat down while she stayed for the holidays and when she went back home today, not only did she take hers, but her daughter's three rats as well. That is fine by me.

My daughter's mouse is STILL hanging in there. He does not look well, but he is eating and drinking water. He just loves it when I drop rice chex into his house. That is my bird's favorite treat, and I share it with him. They love it.

The New Year started off well in my household. Good vibrations, good morale. The weather did turn a wee bit chillier today. Spitting snow. We did a bit of shopping. Necessities. Dog food, cat food, bird food, kitty litter. New smoke alarm. My hallway alarm never did work after the fume fiasco in July. Heh, heh. Ahem. We won't go there.

I purchased a new one today. One for the kitchen. The one currently near the kitchen I will move to the hallway. This new kitchen one has a silencer button. This is for when Peruby decides to put a pan on the stove burner with a butter wrapper stuck to the bottom and fills the kitchen up with smoke again. I can silence this alarm when I do this. And, trust me. I am sure I will do this again. I spill stuff on my oven burner all the time. I am not real neat in the kitchen area.

My niece's laptop died. Unmountable drive, and the blue screen of death. Not good. Her brother will take a look at it. I can open up a PC and move things around, but I leave laptops alone. I am a bit rusty in this area anyways.

So, the long month of January stretches out before us. Cold, dark, dreary. Ugh. Not my favorite month. In fact, I think it may be my least favorite. I'll have to focus on cheery stuff to keep me occupied. Maybe floral crafts. Maybe scanner photos like the one above. I am not sure if my scanner is ruined. The shrimp was pretty cold and left a cold spot on the scanner for quite a while. LOL! Or, maybe the lemon and lime cleaned the glass for me. There was a lot of lint and scratches to "blacken" out, I know that.

When to take down the decorations? When the mood strikes me, I guess. Maybe tomorrow.

Fiber optics

And may your New Year's be bright!

Christmas Past

1966

Christmas for the young is a magical time. You have no idea where the presents come from. Whether the North Pole or from Treasure Island, you just relish in the moment of opening them and the glory of getting stuff.

Where does it turn ugly? For some, it never does. For others, depression sets in and suicide incidents skyrocket. The Christmas years that I felt depressed I can probably count on one hand and have fingers left over. Nothing major. I just feel for those that cannot pull themselves out of the overall monstrosity of the holiday. The never ending expectations.

Christmas is a time for giving. Have they nothing to give? Do they think that everyone wants a material gift from them? I am trying to recall the holiday that I was depressed the most. I am thinking it was a time in my life where my life was in a stalled situation. I wasn't sure of where I was going and I was trying to leave the past behind.

When you feel like a nothing inside, I guess you feel like you have nothing to give others. I was at a point where I had no partner in life, my working life was in limbo and friends were scarce. You are too old to receive gifts from family and you have no money with which to purchase gifts or even contribute to the holiday meal. You feel empty inside. You look around and you see all these happy faces and you wonder why you don't feel the same way. It also could be that I was still immature and selfish inside.

When I had a child of my own and I became responsible for the joy on another's face, the event held so much more for me. To be able to create an atmosphere in my own home that would hold joy for others became so much more important to me. During the year, I put my nose to the grindstone and whether I liked my work or not, it paid the bills and gave me something to look forward to in the way of family vacations and holiday cheer. I grew up.

I don't think that anyone in this world can escape a blue Christmas from time to time. It is realizing the fact that they are not all that way and time marches on that we need to focus on and remedy the situation that made us depressed in the first place. I truly wish that those in the throes of their depression could be given a crystal ball and they could see themselves in some future holiday where things are much brighter and cheerier. A time to look forward to. For those in need, this is my Christmas wish. That they are filled with hope and can lift their heads up and march into the new year with renewed spirit and confidence.

Out of the misty fog an arm stretches out. You don't see a face, just an arm and a strong hand to grab yours and pull you out of your dense misery and give you a step up. Look up, take a deep breath and push forward.

Oh, upon re-reading this it sounds so sappy! Can you tell that I am going to go and visit friends today? Some happy, some sad. I want to help the sad one. The one who is dealing with loss and sickness this year. Although knowing her, she will probably be so darn cheery, I will feel like the depressed one. She is a survivor, but I want her to know that I am there for her. Sometimes, the cheer can be a facade.

Oh, that's me on the far left squeezing the life out of that baby doll.

Glares, pricks and burns

Floral craft

My eyes are still store from all the camera flashes over the holiday. I have pricks and small cuts on my fingers from wrapping presents, cutting silk flower wire and burns from the glue gun and baking.

I worked Wednesday, off Thursday and I work today. Crappy, I know. The job on Wednesday was such a disaster (not on my part), that the school co-ordinator cancelled the entire show. Except for my part. He still wants me to come out today and upgrade his switches. Fun stuff. I get to follow a custodian around to all the schools because they are locked up for the holidays.

The nice part about this is, nobody is around. I just go in, do my stuff and walk out when I am done. That is, if all goes well. You never know when you blow the config away if you can put it all back together. There is always one little piece of equipment that has to trip everything up. Snarly little buggers, I want to tell you.

Then I am off work again until next Wednesday. This week-end I get to fix food. Thank heavens for slow cookers/crock pots. What a blessing. You just mix the food in and forget about it for hours. You can go shopping, watch a movie (I am hoping to watch Devil Wears Prada), clean house - when you are ready to eat, there it is! Gotta love it. I have purchased shrimp for New Years eve. I have pork and sauerkraut for the New Year day, but very little. (Not our favorite stuff).

Sigh. I guess you know that you are getting old when the food is more important than the alcohol. Did I get any alcohol at all? No. I still have bottles of stuff from three to four years ago. What a lush!