Friends, Krishna and a theme tree

I think this was a Children's themed tree

I believe that is a pink pacifier near the top of the photo. If I recall, this tree was decorated in a child's theme. I have to be careful that I don't get so involved in getting photos and actually stop, take a look around me and actually enjoy the trees (or the scenery) I am taking pictures of. Warther's museum in Dover, Ohio.

Watching a movie last night "Mind the Gap" I heard this haunting song that I fell in love with. I got busy afterwards and tracked it down. It was not easy. It appears that there may be a British band titled "Mind the Gap" and when you try to look up the soundtrack for the movie, it became tedious.

I did find a You Tube with the song. Just Google "You Tube Mere Gurudev" and you should get a couple videos. I actually like the song (chant). I believe the videos lean more to those who smoke some wacky tobaccy.

And, no. You are not about to see me at an airport near you, wearing a long robe and selling paper flowers. I have listened to other chants by Krishna Das and I don't care for them.

If you have seen both the movies "Crash" and "Mind the Gap" do you see a similarity? Although, I liked both movies "Mind the Gap" was a bit grittier. It used real-looking people instead of pretty actors. No offense to the cast of MTG. I just related better to MTG. I know parts were a bit odd and out there, but they had a much tighter budget.

I'm off today to visit a very dear friend. My sister will be joining us later, also. My friend's health is not very good. She cared for her Mother for six years. Her Mother was wheel-chair bound. My friend became very ill and was admitted to the hospital. While there her Mother died. My friend was not able to make it to the funeral. It has been hard on her. She is still very ill.

Tropical Christmas Tree

Palm Holidays

This one was my daughter's favorite tree display at the museum. They had real sand and I am not sure what is in the cooler shown there. It was a very festive contrast to the warm and cozy displays of the other trees.

I received my new hard drive today. It is a Western Digital and a 500 gig (instead of 400). I ran Intel's Application Accelerator and after about 2 hours, I had my system back. Hopefully, I won't get the "Ati2diag stuck in an infinite loop" error any more. I think they may be two separate problems, but who knows? I also ran a quick fix for the diag that I found online (go Google!).

2007 Trees

Splashy orange display

We went to visit the Warther's museum trees decorated this evening. Since it is only available for a small amount of time, I wanted to make sure we got there this year. I remembered to take my camera.

I got bored so I began moving the camera as it took the photo. I was able to record some colorful (albeit blurry) shots using this technique. If you can call it a technique. Most people try NOT to move the camera.

One of my hard drives has failed and since I have RAID 1 setup, my computer crashes every once in a while, so I am typing quickly. Heh, heh. I re-boot and it comes back, but I never know when it is just going to go completely dark on me, and give me the BSOD. (Blue Screen of Death). RAID 1 is where I have two 400 gig hard drives and one mirrors the other exactly, so when one drives fails, I can still have my system - just no safety net. The tech guy said this really does not work if it is Windows that fails.

I have had my Dell since May 2004 and this is the second time a hard drive has failed. Windows has not failed once - except that time I blew it out of the water. My own fault. Stupid hacker book!

I had not backed up anything since the end of September. I didn't have much. I quickly copied it to my external hard drive. I'll receive the new hard drive in the mail in a few days and pop it in.

Whoops. The system died on me before I could post. I let it rest, and rebooted. I hate this not knowing when it is going to crap out on me again.

Keep the obey in the vows

I love her, but I never wanted to marry her

So, did you hear about the guy in India who married a dog? Yeah. Seems he stoned a couple of dogs 15 years ago and has bad luck ever since. So, he heard that if he marries a dog his luck will change. Honor and obey, hey? Nothing like a good loyal dog.

Well, if that is the case, I can't wait to see what happens to M Vick.

Both my new kittens are home. All fixed and quiet. I was able to pick up Mr. Tibbs yesterday and he walked around the house with a mournful meow most all of the night. Could have been from missing Titten, could have been pain and/or trauma. I picked up Titten today. The ordeal has barely slowed her down. She is still pretty frisky. They are both sleeping peacefully, this evening.

Veterans Day

11:11:11 To those of you lost, to those of you here, to those of you there. We salute you.

No more toys from China

The above photo was sent to me in an e-mail, that said "Another recall for a toy sent from China". It was meant to be funny. However,it is getting close to being a little bit too real if you ask me. It was before I read this:

Aqua dot beads are being recalled because it has been discovered that they are coated with a poisonous chemical coating. I am stunned.

Things are getting messy

Raging rain storm in a small town

As the holidays approach I find myself upset. Not only am I facing a drought in the financial area, it is determined that my daughter is in need of having four more moles removed. In a delicate area of her body. She was upset to say the least.

The financial drought is temporary. I was (am) very good at saving money and had a very nice sum set aside for rainy days or (heaven forbid) a loss of work. That stash has been dented. One thing after another.

Of course insurance is going to pay for the surgeries, but it is the mental burden here. Does she really need them removed? She has had about 8 removed from her back and each one has come back with the results of benign and mild. Not malignant and not melanoma. The dermatologist says "Oh!" when she sees the moles in the private areas. She said they need to come off and the sooner the better. My daughter was in tears when we left the office. (She was laughing by the time we got home - forty-five minutes later).

I can tell she is upset. I am making an appointment with our family physician and asking her opinion as to if we should keep up this body mutilation or do we take the chance of taking a break for a year or so, or do we just chuck this mole removal altogether? My Mom had a mole in her private area (I never saw it of course) but she had no problems. Is it better safe than sorry? My daughter does NOT want to be cut down there.

What is a Mother to do? I understand her frustration because I am frustrated and exasperated that each time we think "This is the last one!" more need to be removed and each time the results of the lab work are "It was a mild and benign one." Don't other people just live with their moles?

But, on the other hand Mother does NOT want her daughter to get melanoma. Or anything else for that matter! I just want to scream! Stop, Stop, Stop! This madness! This has been going on for over 2 years, now. Another one, cut, cut, cut. Snip, snip, snip! More scars.

We try to look at things in a more positive light. We are not dealing with cancer, we are not dealing with the loss of a limb, we are not dealing with burns over half of her body, etc... we do try to be thankful that we don't have anything more serious to deal with. I don't say this in front of her, I keep those thoughts to myself. In her world this is disastrous enough. She did mention that she is thankful it isn't anything worse, but she is devastated by it all. Tired of it all.

And, then there is my nephew. Is he going to have his open-heart surgery? Is it going to be this year? I am going to corner him next week while he is off on vacation. When, when, when? So I can plan. His Mother is back in prison so that leaves me to be the Maternal one. I don't care to go into detail about her, believe me it does not deserve the blog space. She is a lost cause, we sort of wrote her off years ago. She can't handle pressure so she kind of drops out of society and this is her way of doing it. As close as I can guess.

Now, what will I take for Thanksgiving dinner? Where will the money come from for Christmas shopping? Back to the little things. The daily grind. Things are indeed messy. Gray sky and stormy weather. We'll ride out the storm. We have been here before.

Just to clarify, I do not qualify for Share-A-Christmas or anything like that. I have plenty of money to pay the bills and buy groceries and get Christmas gifts. I don't mean to sound pathetic. I am just saying the savings account ain't what it used to be. Financial woes are a big stress factor and that is one of two or three I am facing this holiday season. I like to have the money before I spend it, you know what I mean? I am able to pay my charge cards off each and every month, that is how careful I am. I know that some folks are in debt up to their eyeballs, and I am thankful that I am not. I'm just not used to having such a thin safety net.

The Galoot

Sable relaxing in the grass

This photo shows the side of my dog (the big galoot) that has hair loss. The veterinarians were never concerned with it. The first one said it was hard to say what may have happened to her. She has some allergies where her skin gets dry, but this isn't spreading. It is completely contained. We always tell people we cleaned our paintbrushes off on her after painting our white fence.

Sable has been playing with the kittens. Our Casper plays with the kittens, too. They get fixed next week. The male can come home the same day, but they will keep the female overnight. I hope it isn't too hard on them. I just can't imagine having a family pet for 20 years and having to let them go like my sister and her daughter went through yesterday. 20 years has to earn some sort of family member status. I think my bird has turned 10 years old. I can't remember exactly what year we got her. It was in November, though. She had been born in late August, I believe. I think it was 1997.

The sky has turned gray in Ohio, now. My daughter and I saw spitting snow today. We are not close enough to Lake Erie to get any lake effect snow. My daughter went to the doctor for her knee. She has been complaining about it for some time. She thought the doctor would prescribe her a brace of some sort. I knew better. I figured the doctor would tell her how to exercise the knee. That is exactly what she did. I'll nag my daughter about it, but chances are that she won't do not even one set of exercises. She wants an easy and instant fix. She gets her stitches out tomorrow from the mole removal. I have been using a tooth pick to scratch under the stitches every night. The doctor leaves some long stiff points sticking out from the stitches that poke my daughter's skin and it itches like crazy.

I just realized something. Our veterinarian is female. Our general family physician is female and my daughter's skin doctor is female. Interesting.

Long, dark road

The Hollies had a song out, about 1972 called "The Long Dark Road". It was somebodies 45 in my household. It was played a lot. It haunts me sometimes.

My sister's cat died today. They had the cat since February 1988. When she sent me the photo, which I put on my web page, I was thinking "Where was I in February of 1988? Another lifetime ago. Long, dark roads.

I finished the book "Don't Leave Me This Way". It appears that the cold medicine she took a few moments before her stroke, may have been the culprit. That was 1997. They FDA didn't pull the drug off the shelves until 2000. (I think). Phenylpropanolamine.

Last month

My nephew's computer room

A month ago I was staying at my nephew's house. This is one of his rooms where he keeps his computer, stereo. The room has french sliding glass doors that open outside onto a deck. Definitely a bachelor pad. The rich browns are very nice, I think.

No word on his heart operation. He did tell me that he is planning a vacation from work in a week. Last week-end he drove to Tennessee. Just got in his car and drove. That is what he used to do about a dozen years ago. He has been all over.

The time is flying by. Thanksgiving is planned and Christmas is lurking around the corner. Have I started my shopping, yet? Hell, no. Well, yes. I did purchase one gift so far. Ugh.

Some early thanks giving

Front yard clover from the summer

I sit here this morning looking at the day ahead. I have a list of things I would like to accomplish today. First on the list is paying bills and getting insurance papers turned in for reimbursement. I look at the bills and I look at my checkbook. Yes, I can swing the bills - but it gets harder each month in 2007. I read the word recession in the newspaper the other day.

Sigh. I sit and think. I signed out more books yesterday at the library. I like biographies. I began reading one called "Don't Leave Me This Way" by Julia Fox Garrison. And I begin to realize that I am rolling in clover compared to the struggles that some people may be facing today. I don't have to learn to walk all over again. I don't have to have somebody wipe my rear end when I use the toilet.

So, I will pay my bills, clean my house and mow my grass. Grateful in the fact that this is the most challenging my day will get today. With luck on my side, that is. Because we never know what lurks around the next turn or what tomorrow will bring. Do we?

New digs for Earl

Earl got a new house, not a friend

I've mentioned Earl before in my blog. He is a little beagle that lives with a family in a house on a back alley behind my office building. Sometimes I drive past or walk past to see how he is doing. He got some new digs. It looks like a new friend moved in, but no. I am not real sure the reason the owner kept Earl's old house there. Maybe so Earl could adjust, or maybe it is attached to the house and would leave an ugly spot if he removed it.

I am kind of excited about tomorrow. I have a free Saturday for the first time in six weeks. I plan to get some work done around the house. Maybe. I went to the library and got a fresh batch of books. Oh, boy. I must stay motivated. Heh.

Wee bit of color

County back road

I took a little drive after work today. Mostly because I have not had the chance to drive around this past month very much. I did most of my work from my desktop computer. Ugh.

I found a wee bit of color on the hills of a back road. The sun was shining and the sky was a glorious blue. There were a lot of yellow leaves and brown. Sing with me "All the leaves are brown..." But the sky was not gray. Not yet.

I watched Mr. Brooks last week-end. It was pretty good. I fell in love with Kevin Costner back in the day when he was in Fandango, Silverado and American Flyers. Until I saw him on a talk show and I about threw up. He was so full of himself and fake I could barely stand to watch. There were some movies I didn't care for that he was in, especially those made from 1993 to 2005. He seems to be getting his grove back, though.

Spooky

I have had my nose stuck in some library books and just have let time slip away from me.

New chains

A closeup of the swing set

The above photo was taken at one of the little schools near me during the summer. I was out there installing a new router and the tech had forgotten the keys to the building, so I meandered around snapping pictures until he returned.

All is well in the Peruby household again. My daughter and I had a spat and last night we smoothed things over so Mama Bear could take care of the stitches and put a new bandage on the incision. More of same today. She took a pillow with her to sit in the hard school chairs because this one was low on the back. It had changed drastically. Dysplastic nevus.

I met a sister for lunch today. Afterward we went walking back to her workplace and I felt a raindrop. Well, I thought it was a raindrop. I said "It's starting to rain" and I looked up. There was an ornery pigeon on the building roof looking down at me. I said "You little sh**!" I looked all over and my sister looked me over but we saw no "raindrops". She was laughing pretty hard. I have not checked inside my purse yet, as it was hanging open as I walked along. Nice.

Leftovers

This sits in my bedroom.

Well, I used to have my niece living here and my daughter is 16. I can't just leave this stuff out in the kitchen. I must keep it hidden, I guess. I can also safely say I am not an alcoholic. There but for the grace of God... and all that stuff.

Actually, I am seething with frustration. Years ago, booze is where I would turn. Now, I blog. I guess. Well, even before blogging, I stopped the boozing.

Even so, I want to kick, scream, bite, claw and tear somebody apart. I am not sure who. I would love to have access to a really, really bad person. Somebody who writes a virus, maybe.

My daughter had another mole cut out of her back this evening. I was a softie and bought her a new A&F hoodie, new tee and CD to the tune of $100. Anything to make my little girl feel better after an ordeal like that. Then, we got in a fight on the way home. We had been doing so well, too. Arrgghh. I want to cut myself, too. But of course, I won't! I feel like it. As her Mother, I want to take her pain away, but I can't.

So, no alcohol. No hurting myself. How else can I punish myself? Turning my anger inside. The new kittens are hiding under the basement steps. Yeah, they are safer there. Why do they curl around my feet when I am trying to walk? Why?! Do they have a death wish?

Big breath. Fresh air. All better, now.

Big bat

Flying bat seen from the festival

I have not taken any pictures since the WV trip. And, only about 5 were decent. The festival at the beginning of the month only brought a dozen or so pictures. That could have been because of the extreme heat. I did not take any this past week-end.

I am in a bit of a dry spell. Busy at work. At home - been reading a lot.

Running on empty

Time to refuel

Nothing much, tonight. I am tired from my late night last night. Moving slow and thinking even slower. Need sleep. Hopefully I won't sleep a few hours and then awaken at three or four in the morning and can't get back to sleep. I hate when that happens.

I am hoping to get out this week-end and get some good photos of the little bit of color out there on them Ohio hills. I do have a 75th surprise birthday party to go to. Other than that, maybe I can catch up on my yard work. It looks like we will have about five pumpkins from our surprise patch. I mowed around the vines this time. The pumpkin is more important that the grass underneath it. For now. I have not been in the mood to do any fall or Halloween decorating. Hell, my patio still has red, white and silver stars on it from the July 4th cook-out. Good grief!

A rowdy bunch

Fall crowd at the Fall Festival

We were a rowdy bunch at the bar in the motel room when we went to Wild and Wonderful WV, Friday night. Three sisters, one brother. Two in-laws. Three grandchildren. My daughter is a minor, they didn't say a word to us. The Long Islands kept coming and the laughter kept flowing. The place was hoppin'. Of course my daughter didn't drink alcohol. She had a coke along with my niece and sister-in-law.

We used to try to make it to WV every year. As time went on, the trips became less and less frequent. This year it has been seven years since we had been down. And, the first year without our Mother. Ugh. Out of five that we normally visit, one had passed on and the other has moved to Columbus for an operation. We plan to catch up with her there. It is one of those situations where they don't inform you of what is going on, you have to either call or write. They don't write anymore because their hands shake so much you couldn't read it. No computers, no e-mail.

My eldest brother has given me a new Family Tree file to update my records. I am going to do that as soon as I am finished here. I am anxious to see who he has added. In some circumstances he goes back to the 1600's in New York. I can't even imagine. But, the branches become so entwined and tangled, I can't even comprehend how they know this stuff. He has done an enormous amount of work on the project. In reality our relatives come from many different places. Austria, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain. Here in the states, New York and Virginia. Surnames include Potts, Williams, Haymond, Conrad, Currence, Friend, Skidmore, Caldwell, Train, Nichols, and Turner. That is just a smidgen of the names. I hope in some small way I am related to J.M.William Turner.

Exhausted

The Cemetery

More and more our visits to the cemetery get longer and longer when we make the trip to visit relatives. Less and less are the visits to real live people. Sigh.

I am exhausted. I did not get very many pictures at all. We completely bombed on the foliage. It was still pretty green down there. Poor timing this year.

Discombobulated

Halloween display at the festival

It was close to 90 degrees Fahrenheit when I took the above photo. Today reached a high of 51 degrees Fahrenheit, I think. That's all. The one thing I really dislike about being busy and stretched too thin is no "me" time. I don't get time to think and sort my thoughts out. That is something I need a lot of. Down time. I get irritated and cranky when I don't get my time. Grrr.

Roaming

Near Salineville, Ohio

My travels today took me to the Eastern side of the state. I was on a back road to Lisbon and needed to stop in at a school near Salineville. It was cool out and the sun was not shining very brightly, the photo is a little on the gray side. Later in the afternoon, the sun didn't shine at all so I didn't even bother with pictures.

This drive brought back some memories for me. I used to drive around in the evenings on back roads listening to music. Back when gasoline was not very expensive and I had plenty of time on my 19-year-old hands. When family got busy with their own lives and their small children and my high school friends had married or gone on to college. I liked to be alone. I still do.

Helga the witch

Helga was quiet this year

I carried on a conversation with her last year. There was somebody hidden in the camper and they corresponded with the people walking around. It was fun. We had a little crowd and we kept up the jabber and banter back and forth. I told her my name was Helga, too. This year, nothing. No words, no movement. Must be a bad spell cast upon her.

As I mentioned before, early October is too busy for me. I like things quiet, but I have to grab life where I can. We have been running every evening and in a couple of days we are off to Wild, Wonderful West Virginia. Camera is ready!

My nephew is not the best at communicating what is going on in his life medically. He would much rather talk about computers, gadgets, cars and movies. I grabbed papers and copied them when I was there this past week-end. Now, I can better understand what is going on. I am learning about zpulmonary zvalve zreplacement, zTOF (zTetralogy of zFallot), zstenosis, and zpulmonary zregurgitation. (Kindly remove the z in front of each word - I am attempting to foil family searches on this information, thus leading to this blog). I am in the dark no more. I can't ask the doctor. They are sworn to secrecy now-a-days. And with the Internet, I don't have to spend time in the library or try to find a medical dictionary.

A forbidden (purple) passion

Flower display at the festival

I knew I was going to get yelled at. I was told "Hey! No picture taking!" Oops. I managed one decent photo. I looked for the 'no pictures' sign and didn't see any. I slipped the camera slyly out of my tote and just when I was ready to snap it, the lady in front of me, who had been bending over, stood up. Darn it! With Canon's notorious pause between picture taking, the booth owner had time to spot my shiny black contraption. I just managed to squeeze another quickie when he saw me and barked at me. I said "Oops, sorry." And went on my way.

I made it to the Fall festival for their last day. It was so blessed hot. Very few folks were purchasing anything more than water and lemonade. Two hours and we were spent. I was very dizzy and nauseous. I was more than ready to retreat to the air conditioned car. I didn't get many photos of the campers decorated for Halloween either. Nor did I get any of the beautiful cars that covered the hillside in colorful, antique glory.

It was just too hot. And, now I am going to head to my favorite silk flower store and purchase just those colors and just that basket and make my own forbidden purple passions. Or, maybe not. I'm kind of just happy to look at it. I think it is beautiful. It does not match a thing in my house.

Sable, the meanderer

Our dog at her dog sitter's house

When one is away from home, under duress and worried about a loved one, it is very comforting to know that their children and pets are safe and being well taken care of. The fact that my daughter was with me and is very close to her cousin and not home alone was an immeasurable relief. The cats and bird are pretty independent. That left the dog.

Well, not to worry. My eldest sister, her husband and my eldest brother are three wonderful retired folks living in a big house. They are all pet lovers. They had a black dog for years who was very much a part of their family. When they dog sit Sable they say it is just like have Rex back in the house. It is a great load off my mind to have her so very well taken care of. Sable even gets company while there. My niece and her husband bring her dog treats from the pet store that rival anything I give her. A doggy pretzel and cupcake! (Both made especially for dogs, not people food). I hear that Sable gobbled them up and even rolled over for one. (Not such an easy feat for her barrel-shaped body).

Next week-end when we go to WV, my eldest sister and her husband are going along. My brother says that he is more than happy to watch our dog, Sable. My sister has told me that the two meander around the yard watching chipmunks and nudging toads near the pond. However, I think that Sable does more than watch sometimes. She has much more land to explore at their house. A wooded section and a pond. New sights, smells and sounds. A regular smorgasbord of sensory experiences.

This morning, I am slowly recovering from a migraine. I drove home last evening and picked Sable up. The closer I got to our house, the worse the headache got. I managed to get an Imitrex in me on the road, but by the time I arrived the headache was in full swing. It was expected. Two days in a strange bed, very little sleep, sitting in a hospital all day, driving hours on end, driving Columbus traffic, driving a strange car. It just adds up to one super migraine. Once the pressure is off and my body/brain saw home on the horizon it began to react to all of the stress.

Of course I am partial to my nephew because I love him, but he is quite extraordinary with his knowledge of gadgets and he is (and many non-family members will attest to this also) a computer genius. His car has a GPS, of course. A radar detector and satellite radio. He has also installed a DVD player that flips out of his CD player with a small 7" screen. They make this device so that it does not play when the car is running, but he has re-wired it so that it does. I really hope that he does this only for the passenger to watch movies, really I do!

I used "Jill" (the GPS) for the first time. In Columbus traffic on a Friday night while driving a strange car. Imagine if you will a SNL skit. If you are familiar with this device, you probably can relate better to what I am about to say. I really must mention that when you first purchase this device, you practice at home with streets that you know first. This will help you with some of the terminology that is being used, also. In fact, I would imagine that the manual recommends this. If it does not, it should.

Back to the skit. Imagine if you will, travelling 70 mph through four lanes of mad Columbus traffic. According to Allstate, Columbus is the worst city to drive in Ohio. This device on my dash board is telling me "Endpoint five miles." What the hell? My nephew's house is miles away, yet! I am nowhere near the end point of my trip! And, just what in the hell is Main Saint East? When did the word street become Saint? I think Jill was trying to insinuate something, here.

Jill is colorful if she is anything. Her display shows yellow lines and fuchsia lines and bright red lines. I guess I am the blue square on the fuchsia line. Jill is also nice enough to factor in the time it will take to reach our destination. Mine went from an arrival time of 8:45 p.m. to nowhere in the next 25 years.

Poor Jill. She had a time with me. I swear the girl sighs before she says "recalculating." And, she did say that quite a bit. I even heard "please stay on the intended route!" Though I can't be certain about that one. And, Jill may be able to read tiny little street names forty miles ahead of the fact, but my 47 year old eyes can only read them when I am five feet in front of them in the dark! "Turn left onto Hillsborough Street... turn left onto Hillsborough Street... turn left onto... SIGH.... "recalculating".

I admit it. I yelled back at Jill. "A little late on that one, eh Jill? When were you going to tell me about that off ramp? Sorry, Jill! There are 78 cars behind me and I can't just slip over into the left split for 270 North! Thanks a lot Jill!" Of course in the SNL skit, my language would be a bit more colorful.

She stayed silent when I needed her the most, just in an attempt to get back at me. I know it. She is a sensitive bit... contraption, that Jill. No begging, pleading or cajoling was going to get her to talk to me. I even offered her chocolate! No dice.

Now, this didn't happen to me, but I think it would be great in the skit. What would Jill say if I had driven the wrong way on a one-way street? "Please do a 180... turn around... you are going the wrong way....that does not compute....do you need me to call an ambulance?" Yeah, I can imagine what she would say.

In the skit, I can imagine Jill trying to calmly say turn left or right or this or that and recalculating, but after time she becomes more and more agitated and curses under her breath and goes into mini rampages. Stuff like that. I can even imagine the entire GPS just blowing up. I wondered if any of them have blown up from the chaos that some drivers put them through. And, just what does it way when you drive over a bank and into a ditch? Does it say recalculating? That would be a bit sarcastic, don't you think? Or what if you have an accident? The sound of metal and glass smashing and in the eerie silence afterwards...."sigh..recalculating.." How rude! What a great SNL skit.

Anyway, I made it to my nephew's house eventually. I did want to turn the GPS off a couple of times and just use my common sense. I suppose over time we may all lose that as we begin to rely more and more on this type of gadget. Oh, and Endpoint was not actually endpoint. It was a pause between the words In point.... five miles. As in "in half of a mile turn here" In .5 miles. Me sighing this time as I got out of the car. I do believe I saw Jill smoking a cigarette as I went into the house. Either that or the gadget's electronic circuitry was fried and that was the smoke I was seeing. And, I swear there were two less Advils in the bottle that I left in the car.

Note: This may be a great money-making scheme. Sell T-shirts that read "Recalculating" on the front of them. They are guaranteed to be a big seller.

Hologram

Or rather, a volumetric display?

I am sitting here this evening in my nephew's house. I spent all day at the hospital in Columbus. The procedure went well where they examined his heart with a catheter. He is staying overnight because of his reaction to anesthesia. He does not tolerate medicine very well. My sister (his Mom) is staying with him there.

I can't sleep. Mostly because I am in a strange atmosphere. A lot due to the fact that the next step is open heart surgery. The above photo is from my nephew's stash on his home computer. I believe the image is of himself taken with a timer and a tripod.

It fits my gloomy mood of how I don't want to lose one iota, not one pixel of my beloved nephew (who comes very close to being a son to me) and how very vulnerable we are in this life. Reality smacks you in the face with every corner in a children's hospital. Although my nephew is 30 years old, this is where the procedure is taking place. There were little tiny children there. One little girl had a banner on her door that read "Happy 1st Birthday, Hannah!"

For a hospital, it was strange not seeing aged people in the rooms. Just little tykes. It is a bit confusing for me that he be treated at this hospital. I didn't realize that there would be no adult patients. I would like to say that the hospital is fantastic. Top Notch.

Not here.

This is where we "won't" be staying when we go to WV.

We have reservations at the Days Inn near the towns we want to visit. We will have a nice restaurant, lounge, coffee in the rooms, pool, sauna - the works. I'm not sure what the one shown above has. Probably the 2 C's (a cot and a crapper). This is a line from one of my favorite movies. 8 Heads in a Duffel Bag. For some weird reason, I get a kick out of this movie. This one and Galaxy Quest. For zany humor.

I was awoken this morning to the beeping of our carbon monoxide detector. My daughter said it read 208, then 209 then back to zero and it finally quit beeping on it's own. I wasn't sure what to do. It isn't like a smoke or fire alarm. My window was open, there were fans blowing. Nobody had turned the furnace on or anything with a flame.

I was going to forget it but when I went to the basement to get my shower, I noticed that the cats and kittens had knocked the front plate to the hot water heater off and I guessed that they put the pilot light out. (I didn't look). I turned the knob off and heard a click or a popping sound. Scared me. I called my furnace company (they were scheduled to come Tuesday to check the furnace anyway). I took the day off and bumped my appointment up to today and waited for them.

I was nervous so I cleaned and baked. (I really wish I got nervous more often!) Anyway, the guy came at 3:00. Sheesh! He checked everything. Told me that the noise I heard when I turned the pilot light knob off, was the pilot light going out. That the cats had not put the pilot light out. Furnace is okay, hot water heater is okay, but he said my carbon monoxide detector may need replaced. He said sometimes they get old and start giving mis-readings. He said if it does it again, I may want to replace it.He brought his carbon monoxide tester in (to the tune of $35) and found nothing. All clean air. Whew!

I must not strangle the kittens, I must not strangle the kittens. My poor dog has a severe rash on her underbelly and inside of her thighs. I will call the vet tomorrow to schedule an allergy shot for her before I head out of town this week-end. I am nervous about the procedure my nephew is having. I've read up on his team of doctors and the hospital and the procedure. I was not involved much when he had his open heart surgery when he was two.

Oh, as for the baking? I made apple crisp and banana nut bread today. Both turned out very well. For some reason I just seem to turn catatonic on Saturdays and Sundays anymore. But give me a day off from work when I am not sick and that's when things happen.

Yonder

Over yonder.

Bit of a headache tonight. It started to rain here. After a super glorious day. I was inside all day so I didn't get to go out and about to see anything. The sun just heated up my little office so that I had to turn the fan on.

Been gabbing with sisters trying to iron out the details of the fall festival and our WV trip. Above photo is where the streets have no names. Like the song. I believe it is called Township Rd 45. Along the area where I found the Redneck bus stop. A dirt road between Keene and Warsaw Ohio. Where the country is still beautiful. I would like to get back out there when the leaves turn, but I can probably count that out. I am going to be looking at the Lisbon run this week. Heading east.

You think?

You should defragment this volume. You really should!

The cobbler's children have no shoes. The computer worker never cleans her hard drive. Goodness. I did a lot of cleaning this week-end but the house is still a mess. Except for the kitty litter area. That is clean. We are making progress there and Titten is behaving herself. That is, until I get the both of them (Titten and Mr. Tibbs) fixed in November. Let's see how they react to that procedure.

November will be here before I know it. I have the first week-end of October in Columbus to help my nephew with a cardiac catheterisation and the Fall Festival I go to every year and a Home Interior Party. The second week-end we will be visiting relatives in WV and touring New River Gorge (before their BIG week-end) - I am really hoping to get some great pictures of the fall foliage down there, the third is a 75th birthday party out of town and the 4th week-end is... Oh, nothing yet! Well, October looks to be one crazy, busy month!

Ugh. Deep breath. Ready, set, GO!

Saving

Time to save some folders

It has been about a month since I saved my recent photos and files to my external hard drive. I think I almost locked my system up by saving too many folders at one time. I separated them over my desktop and snagged a photo of them using the wonderful free program snagit. Well, it used to be free. When I first found it about ten years ago, it was free. I have an old copy that is limited in what it does, but it does exactly what I want it to.

The kittens received their booster shots today. I also got them their rabies shots. Since the little one (Titten) has been having some bowel problems the vet treated both of them for coccidia and we have another dose of meds to give them tomorrow. Better safe than sorry and it only cost $8 per kitten.

We do not feed the cats any milk or people food. I think they ate some crumbs from some homemade chocolate chip cookies two weeks ago and that is about the extent of it. Not that they don't want human food. They try their best. They are learning the house rules. Mr. Tibbs will eat Sable's dog food if I leave it out. Sable is learning to eat quicker these days because all food gets put away, now.

This is a rare free week-end. I was supposed to go with my sisters to an alley rally, but I said no. I have something for the next four week-ends in a row and I need this one to catch up on housework and "me" time. Once October hits it is run, run, run. I hope to get the grass mowed also. It is getting pretty thick.

We have the one little pumpkin that stopped growing and turned orange when the connecting vine was killed by me. I have to push it up and out of my yard so I can mow. We have another pumpkin growing and the vine has survived longer. It is a bit bigger than the first one. I keep looking out for others, but so far that is it. I guess I'll have to purchase the rest.

Photo Friday's challenge this week is: Comfort.

Torrent

Rustic red barn

If that is indeed a hex sign, it is a simple design. I liked the contrast of the rustic red barn against the bright green grass. This was taken today on my drive.

I went to 8 schools today. Most of them I have never been to. I believe I have been to about two of them - many years ago. I know my older sister taught at one and took me with her on the last day of school. I think it was in the early 70's.

I most certainly picked the wrong day to go. I read the paper this morning. They are on the verge of a teacher strike. I met up with some very unhappy people today. And, they didn't take to me very well. After 12 years of providing service to my area schools, I am certainly not used to people looking at me with suspect in their eyes. I called each and every school and informed them this morning that I would be stopping in today to get the serial number from our equipment. And, still I was treated like the enemy. Except for the last two. The second to the last was a Career Center and is not involved in the teacher strike. The very last one I timed my visit with a torrent of rain so forceful there was nothing but pity in their eyes for me.

It was raining so hard when I was in this tiny town I actually thought that perhaps they were getting a mini tornado. I almost skipped it. But, I had 8 schools on my notebook paper and I couldn't stand to be this close and not get the serial number of the last one on my list. I could have driven back to the school on a sunnier and much prettier day, but since Mr. Joe Taxpayer pays for my mileage and my time, I don't care to waste it. So, I got soaked to the skin.

And, I got a migraine. My daughter and I noticed a few days ago that my windshield appears to be covered with some filmy oily substance. The wipers would only smear it. I felt like I was looking through blurry glasses the entire time I drove today. Certainly a headache in the making. All is well, now. I took Imitrex around 4 p.m. and it kicked in by 5.

Moody Lake

The gray sky is reflected in the water

The lake was a bit moody today when I stopped at lunch for this photo opportunity. It was a nice day, a bit warm. The sun did come out towards the end of my shoot, but I kind of like the moody ones better.

I realized that yesterday's photo post of the trotter looks like he is wearing a witch's hat on his head. Ack. I think I have been looking at too many Halloween decorations.

Well, it's back to kitty training and my book. All very time consuming. Humph.

Trotting Number Seven

Warming up before the race

Here is a photo of one of the trotters we saw at the fair on Sunday. I admire the discipline the horses have as they trot around the field and do not break into a canter or a gallop. There were plenty that broke this year. At least one in each race.

I have had my nose stuck in a book for days. I finished "The End of The World As We Know It" and am currently absorbing "Final Analysis". Dishes, kitty litter and trash got done but that was all. Heh heh. It is a great way to pass the time while re-introducing our littlest feline to the litter box. Gently and slowly so she doesn't fear me or the box. No trauma during this important time. I shut us both in the downstairs laundry room with a fresh clean litter box after she eats until she realizes what it is she is supposed to do and where she is supposed to be doing it. She is becoming quite affectionate with me because of our bonding time together.

Miserable

Doesn't he look just miserable?

This photo was not taken at the fair. Believe it or not, I didn't get any animal photos there. Just derby shots and harness racing. My daughter is miserable with a bad cold/flu bug. Could be the one I had a month or so ago.

I sat on an aluminum stadium bleacher seat with no back from 2 p.m. to 11 p.m. yesterday with about 2 ten minute bathroom breaks. I actually thought I would be more miserable than I am. I don't feel too bad other than tired. And my arm hurts from holding my camera up while I took videos of the derby heats. The vans were funny. I'll shorten the videos to just the good parts and try to post them here. They are grainy, but I think you can make out what is happening. I was a good distance away.

I can't understand why folks take small children and infants to these events. It has always bothered me that my county fair holds the demolition derby the last day of the fair (which is always a Sunday) and they start it at 7:30 p.m. The kids have school on Monday. Someone told me they do it to keep the kids away. Oh, hell. That bothers me even more.

I never took my daughter because it was a school night. This was our first year. She is sixteen years old. We left before the last "free-for-all" heat. We got home after 11 p.m. There were three tiny babies around us. For the most part they slept. There were about 8 small children (between 3 and 7). Now, how fun was it for these kids? Not very. They were cranky and tired because if you want a seat you have to get there hours before the event. They were bored. They picked on one another and got smacked many times by their parent. They annoyed everyone around them by kicking their feet on the aluminum bleachers. They stomped up and down the stairs almost falling. They kept pulling other folks' blankets off the bleachers and knocking drinks over because they were tired of sitting still.

The funny thing is if the fair was trying to deter the parents from bringing restless kids, it has kind of backfired on them. Because what kids come to the event? The ones who have parents who don't give a damn that they get enough sleep the night before school and are a tad bit on the negligent side anyway. They don't care if their kids are a nuisance to other folks around them. These are the kids who are starving for attention and if they can't get the good kind, they will act up and get negative attention. And, they do.

Last day of the fair

This ride turns them upside down

We are off today to enjoy the last day of our county fair. We are looking forward to watching harness racing and the so very popular demolition derby tonight.

I never was a fan of riding the more dangerous rides at a county fair. Do you ever "look" at the people who man those rides? Smiling parents shuffle their children onto those kidde rides and the person taking the tickets looks like a prison inmate from San Quentin. I am stereo-typing here, but I have yet to see a decent looking person controlling a small town carnival ride.

I can still remember putting my daughter on a ride and the guy taking the tickets had eight sucker bites (a.k.a. hickies or hickeys) on his neck. Well, maybe seven. I lost count because I was counting fast and trying hard to wipe the look of disgust off of my face. Ew. I think that was her last little kidde ride. She cannot stand rides, so I don't worry about their safety any longer.

I cringe when I see mobs of teens standing in line to get their thrill rides in for the evening. I just wonder who inspects the rides, if they have a hangover when they are inspecting them, how much they get paid, how much they may get paid under the table, and how often do they make an appearance.

Please accept my apologies to any carnival employees, state inspection personnel or any relative and/or friend of said so people who may be reading. The post is purely my personal opinion and is not intended for statistical value or manifestation in any way shape or form.

Shady Dirt Road and an Amish "cult"

Why did I drive around the county on back dirt roads?

I gravitate to that lush drive between school buildings. Something to take me away from technology, wires and electronics. I can see me retiring among the Amish. Until I was made aware of this story.

This is the same group that is connected to the Amish guy in the garage at my sister's place. So, maybe retiring to that community is not in my best interest. Things certainly can escalate to a tragedy here. This sheriff is well-known for his unique ways of handling the community. You could say he has made a lot of enemies. However, I do agree with some of what he is saying in this video.

Quite an interesting development. Especially the way he keeps referring to this group as a "cult".

Redneck Bus Stop

On a back road in Ohio

I took over 400 photos today and I debated and sorted and finally realized that I just had to post this one first. The others are nice. There is some beautiful scenery on the back roads in that neck of the woods, but this one is just worth a thousand words.

Below is a map of the route (in red) that I drove today. That bus stop is on a back road somewhere close to where I pasted the smiley face on the map. Starting out I travelled west on Rt. 36 past West Lafayette. Turned North to Keene, took a shortcut (?) over to Warsaw. It was along one of the Township roads that I saw the setup. I had to laugh and take a picture.

Again, it was just a gorgeous day. The sun was streaming through the trees and the air was just crisp and fresh. I did get a monster of a headache from the sun shining through the trees. Small price to pay for the beauty of it all.

The Dover Dam

Morning sun over the Dover Dam

Hey, as long as it's sunshine streaming over the dam and not water, eh? I was on my way to a school the other day and stopped to snap a photo. The water was way down and was quite ugly, so I turned the camera up instead.

My daughter went to the county fair with friends this evening and I made a much needed trip to the store that is taking over the world "Wally World". Nastradamus or some seer predicted that the anti-Christ would be born in 1962. Well guess when Wally World was founded? Hey, I'm just sayin'.

Cat and dog food and kitty litter. We are having potty-training problems with the wee one. I bought her some kitten food. I am thinking the adult cat food was a bit too strong for her. She does not seem to be growing and she has constant bathroom problems. Not the best thing to be dealing with. She started out fine for the first couple of weeks. I moved the litter box downstairs and I guess I'll have to move it back into the back bedroom and try a gentler approach with her. The little sh.. uh, varmint.

Standing out

Blue building

Today I didn't get to drive anywhere but to the office and back. This photo is from yesterday's excursion. I like the folks who dare to paint their home or garage a vivid color. One that will stand out. You could tell folks, "I live in the blue house. You can't miss it. It is blue. It is beyond blue." At the time I took the photo (a drive-by shoulder shot), I didn't realize that there was actually what appears to be a house on the one side. I thought it was an abandoned business of some sort. No vehicles were around the building. We have quite a few purple houses in our town along with a few green and yellow ones that stand out from the rest. I like that.

I went to the library at lunch today. I picked up a book that I nearly finished this evening. I forced myself to put it down and focus on other things that needed my attention. The book is "The End of the World As We Know It: Scenes of A Life: by Robert Goolrick. It is pretty good in the fact that I like to read about others' lives and how turbulent it was while they were growing up. It sounds a lot like "The Prince of Tides" by Pat Conroy. I read the book after I watched the movie. I was dismayed at the many changes the movie made. Anyway, back to "The End..." I like books like this. Why some of the children in a family remain functional in life and why some stumble along. There is a lot to birth order and how children turn out in life. As always, there are exceptions to every rule. It makes for great reading, though.

Fresh

Country

I wish you were with me today. I can show you photos and I could take a short video I suppose so you can hear the sounds. I'd have to turn the car motor off and travel into the field or woods some so that I wouldn't pick up the sound of any other automobiles. But what I can't give you is the smell or the feeling of the sunshine country fresh air. And no, I don't mean that country smell. This is the real fresh smell of September in Ohio when it cools the heat of summer off the land and the air is fresh and the sky is blue and there is pure delight when you breathe. That is what I want to share. If we can only bottle it.

There is a candle scent you can purchase called fresh cut grass. Have you taken a whiff of that one? If they can nail that scent down, I wish they could get this fresh country air that I experienced today. Pure heaven. It just took me to another place. A happy place.

I don't know if anyone has noticed but I seem to be missing a once popular topic in my blog these days. It's the "m" word. Shhh. I am not real sure why the decrease. If I happen upon a reason, I'll let you know what it is.

The county Fair - Day 1

Two girls riding the Umbrella ride (Paratrooper)

I did the right thing and disguised the two little girls. They are strangers to me. I am not sure what or who they were looking at. I used my zoom to get in closer to get the picture.

We went today (the first day of the fair) to see the Motocross racing. Some of those kids are so small it is amazing. I hate it when they get hurt. There were many wipe outs, but few injuries. My nephew raced for years. He was very good. He had the perfect build for dirt bike racing. He is somewhere in North Carolina working. He has broken so many bones he sets off metal detectors in the air ports. Just kidding. Maybe.

I was feeling good, so I ate deep fried vegetables with fair lemonade. Then, I wasn't feeling so good. Very filling. It did keep me from eating anything else, though. The kids continued with root beer floats and elephant ears while I just turned my head away from the sweet foods.

I purchased passes for four days, so we are going back on Thursday evening and over the week-end. I have to get some photos of the animals. I like watching the trotters, but I don't know if that is a good thing. Is it inhumane? I know that I don't like to watch them when it is 90 degrees out and they are running. But, it is beautiful weather this week. I am beginning to wonder about any sport that uses whips to make the horse go faster. I am torn about this.

This week-end was strange. I turn around and I feel that I missed it altogether. I didn't seem unusually busy, but I notice that I didn't post. I didn't do a lot, but I must have been preoccupied with something. I did watch Fracture. I liked it.

You can't see me!

Sable smiles.

This photo looks to me like my dog is thinking "I have my eyes closed, so you can't see me!" Or, it just may be that she is conditioned to close her eyes each time I point that little black box at her because the flash hurts her eyes. Poor overexposed puppy.

My co-worker in her infinite wisdom read an e-mail to me yesterday that she received. You may have received it, too. It is spam. I sighed to myself as she read it. You also can read it here here and here. She really believes this stuff. She was amazed by it. I quit wasting my time trying to reason with her long ago. No, in fact - I never did try to reason with her. I know an airhead when I see one.

September Sunset

Neil Diamond had his "September Morn" I figure I can have my September sunset. I stayed late after work and decided to drive to the top of the hill at our town park and get more photos of the sunset through the pine trees found there. Even though the weather was stunning and beautiful, there were very few folks out and about. I did run into someone I knew and chatted for a few minutes. By then, the moment to capture the sunset was gone. Ah, well. I have lots of this particular view, anyway.

My vacation time for October has been approved. Some family members and I are going to visit relatives in WV. We have an on-line calendar at work where we are to post our vacation and meetings. I have mine posted for vacation time. I just know my manager is going to schedule a meeting on one of the days that I am gone. I can feel it. He never checks the calendar to see who is going to be out that day. Hey, I just thought of something. Maybe he does check. And, when he sees that I am not going to be there, he schedules a meeting. I never thought of that! LOL! Well, bust my buttons. Now, I have a complex!

Morale

He was very proud of his sand castles.

He was a stranger to me. I was walking past him on a beach of Lake Erie and I asked him if I could take his picture. The girl in the background is laughing. I don't know if she is related to him or not. He was so proud of his work as he had every right to be. I hope that I boosted his morale.

We've all been there. Somebody says something that sends our morale plummeting. Down to the depths of hell. Not much can help after we have been stung like that. It happened today. Not to me. To a co-worker (friend). He had a serious heart attack around the New Year. He returned to work in April.