A blow upon a bruise

My very good friend.

I met this friend in 1978. She is dressed up in the old saloon style garments that you can get when you go to an amusement park and they take one of those old-time pictures.

I got word on my answering machine today (from my sister) that her Mother died. My friend took care of her Mother 24/7. I called her as soon as I heard. Her sister from Columbus answered. My good friend was in the hospital from pneumonia and congestive heart failure. The sister couldn't reach me because I am unpublished. Well, she has had a lot to deal with.

I can't reach my friend. There is no answer at the direct number. The 800 number for the hospital tried to ring her room and there is no answer. I can't believe this.

I've looked at my dog

...from both sides, now.

She has strange white hairs on her left side. People comment on it all the time. I used to think that perhaps she was traumatized. Hit by a car and drug along the road because underneath the wiry, white hairs, no fur grows. There are bare patches of skin.

Her right side however, is a beautiful lustrous black. The vet didn't know what may have caused this. She has been like this since we rescued her from the pound. There were no more incidents. She still has the same markings as when we first brought her home. That would be over three years, now.

They do turn red if we scratch her coat in that area, but I would imagine that is from normal blood coming to the surface of the skin. She is treated for allergies about twice a year. The rest of the year she seems to be fine. We take her in for her allergy shot when we notice her licking her paws excessively or shaking her head more than usual. She had ear mites once, we treated her and she has never had them again. I thought she did when she scratched a sore under her ear, but the vet said that was from the allergy. No mites. Good.

I worked for a veterinarian oh, I am counting....29 years ago. Ouch! That hurt! She was the meanest witchiest little woman that I have ever come across. She did love animals, though. Much more than people. I was a timid 17 year old and I have to tell you - she belittled me every chance she got. She was not a nice person. She looked just like Dr. Ruth without make up and dark hair with glasses. She was also German. My gosh, I can't recall her name. I think it was also Ruth W(something). The clinic was titled: Argos. I worked there for about six months. My most memorable experience there was looking up and seeing an Irish wolfhound resting it's head on the counter that came up to my chest. Wow.

Kool Kid

Just ten days away from 6 months old

Looking like he knows all the secrets to the world. Or, as if he is amused by the photo session. Kind of like a Mona Lisa smile. My sister says that he (her grandson) is a happy baby. Think about it. When she has him he is in a house with three retired people. What do they have to do but cater to his every need and dote all over him? I'd be a happy baby too!

He is their first baby in that house in 28 years. My goodness that is a long time between babies. Grandparents on the Mom's side live out of state, more than a five hour drive away. My sister, her husband and our brother get him any time they want. My sister worked for years as a teacher and a pre-school administrator. She is by far the best with small children that I have ever seen. She probably started helping out with little ones in 1950. She is the Jackie Kennedy look-alike.

I have been busy with this location. The lightning took out a slew of equipment in the Schools' administrative building. I have been working on getting things back on line. The place sits on top of a hill. It used to be a big farm and has plenty of land surrounding it. So, the school district built a football field on one side and a soccer field on the other. Which is fine, except when the storms come rolling in and the air fills with electricity. The man is recovering very well and may be home by now - from what I hear at the school. It's a miracle.

Black pine trees

On top of the Park hill.

If Elmer could see this

Ad in today's newspaper.

Back around 1980 I was working in an Automotive/Hardware store. Near Christmas we would get a huge amount of toys in stock and sell them like crazy. One customer called on the telephone and asked if we had "Baby Belch." Innocent as I was I got on the intercom and asked over the entire store "Do we sell 'Baby Belch'?" Well, the store manager "Elmer" came back to my office.

He gave me one of those incredulous looks. "Baby Belch?" he asked me. I realized it was kind of ridiculous. I told the customer "No. We don't have a Baby Belch." After the phone call the buzz around the store for a couple of days was how vulgar such a baby doll would be. Who in their right mind would even "want" such a thing?

Well, the above ad has pushed that request right off the charts. If my old store manager "Elmer" could see this ad! The picture looks like it is straight out of a 1950's comic book. Folks, if your party is reduced to using this bear as a means of entertainment - STOP GIVING PARTIES!

And the part that really floors me? "Your friends will be so charmed they'll want to hug him again!" I seriously doubt that I would have many friends if I showed them that I was sorry enough to purchase this toy.

Which brings me to another story. Back when I was about 10 years old, my neighbors invited me over to play. They told me to look in their dad's lunch box. There was a fake pile of dog poop. I was disgusted. They howled. Never did care for those neighbors. Their daughter reminded me of "Nellie" from Little House on the Prairie. Playing mean tricks on the rest of the girls in the neighborhood.

Anger

Photo Friday Challenge: Anger

Don't stop. Don't think. Just get the HELL out of the way.

She squeaks

Little pumpkin

After a long day of work (I did have some successes today - but not in ATM) I finished the day with this bright little blue-eyed pumpkin girl. She is imitating us by talking in her little way - it just comes out as squeaks. A sing-songy chirp.

Late on a July Evening

One from my nephew's cache - July 2006 - near Irondale, Ohio.

Anybody ever listen to Uriah Heep? The actual song goes "Early on a July morning". I changed it a little. This photo is not mine. It belongs to my nephew. I downloaded it from his album.

I am still ear deep in ATM troubleshooting. I have fiddled with the fair queuing. It is now fifo (first in first out). We'll see what that does.

The schools are in a frenzy these days. Lots of stuff going on. My mind is reeling.

Up with the sun

Yawn. Yet another photo of Friday's sunrise.

I had a document due today, so I woke up early. I needed to add some finishing touches. It was good because I was fresh. I'm not now, but I was as brilliant as the sunrise this morning. It all came together for me. Sigh. It's in. It's done. No comment from anyone. Double sigh. Whatever.

What job is perfect, huh? I spent extra time on this project. I worked last week on another problem, one day putting in 12 hours. Nobody says a word. Nothing.

I knew that once my daughter was older, more time would open up for extras on the job. I must take care not to let it consume me. It won't do me any good to give more than my share when I get nothing in return. We are all guilty of that sometimes.

I remember when I first started working. I was so vibrant. So full of energy. Jumping out of bed in the morning. Late teens, early twenties. The work world was mine to conquer. I drank it in. I beamed. I laughed. I was good. I did it all. I did more. I burned out. Yep. Became angry and depressed. I moved on to the next job thinking things will be different here. I bounced again. I was vibrant again. Yes, I could still be good! Repeat. I moved on.

The more you do the more they ask you to do. When you don't do anything or volunteer to do anything, they don't ask you to do anything. I was never smart enough to not volunteer.

I finished the movie The Sentinel. It was okay. Now, I have Poseidon to watch.

Through the haze

Hazy sunrise - again east on 250 last Friday morning.

My head is hazy with the task of creating a Network diagram. It is a big school campus with lots of switches and fiber transceivers. My mind is boggled. Wires go every which way and to put it all on paper can end up looking like jumbled Christmas lights.

Over the week-end, I did catch a movie about Woody Guthrie. "Bound For Glory." I didn't know all that much about the folk singer before I saw the show. I followed up a little bit reading about him on Wikipedia. Arlo seems to have followed most in his footsteps.

I am trying to watch The Sentinel with Michael Douglas. I get about twenty minutes a day to watch it on my (home) computer. So far so good. I'm about halfway into it. Kim Basinger looks much better in this movie than she did in Cellular.

Rats are still doing very well. Cats are fine. I have moved the bird into the back bedroom again. Mouse is hanging in there. Dog is being very out of line. She ate all my roast beef on Sunday. I had it covered and on the kitchen counter. She popped the lid off and ate the roast without dropping the plate on the floor. The lid was on the floor but did not break. Counter is at least three feet high. She is barely touching her dog food. She must have heard me tell my daughter it was low calorie dog food. Ah.

She tried to get our tacos tonight but my daughter caught her as she was trying to get up on the table. I give the cats very little at a feeding because if they leave any at all, she will get it. Maybe I should go back to giving her anti-anxiety medicine. Maybe she is stocking up for winter. Maybe she is angry because I forgot her outside Friday evening for two hours. I fell asleep. Sleep. Speaking of sleep....yawn. Good-night.

A streetlight named desire

Rising sun

I traveled East on Friday morning to attend a much-needed meeting. Well, what I thought was going to be a meeting. We had huge changes a month or so ago at work and most of us were looking for somebody (anybody) to tell us where the organization was heading, what was expected of us, things like that.

Well, that all went up in smoke. We arrived and found ourselves thrust into learning a new help desk program. Great. No answers today. The manager that I asked is just as confused and frustrated as I am. Perhaps more so.

Situation normal. All fouled up.

Bows and earrings

Photo Friday's Challenge: Girl. All girl. And, every girl needs to have access to this!

Moonflower crystals

A wet moonflower

Ugh. It has been one of those weeks. No time for anything special that I like to do. The above photo is one of my moonflowers after a rain. I wanted to touch the photo up real bad, but I didn't. Only cropped it to center it a little better and put the little black and white frame around it.

Bravo's was exquisite. I was in a trance from all the great food and the beautiful atmosphere. Oh, maybe I was tired. That may have been it. So glad I didn't drink any wine. It is a 40 mile drive for me. Interstate and construction. Lovely.

My head is spinning right now and I have not imbibed one tiny sip. I may skip the fair this year and just sleep all week-end. Yeah, right.

I want a turn

I get no time with this one.

Too far away and first grandson on my sister's side. Hurruumph!

My dog found her way to eat an entire Entemann's cheese danish today. Somebody left it too close to the edge of the counter, I am guessing. It could have been me. Or, somebody left it on the dining room table. That seems more likely because the cardboard box was under the table and the aluminum tray was close to the table. When Sable pulls something off the kitchen counter (where I left the danish) she drags it into the living room and leaves it there. The dog just hasn't figured out how to pick the evidence up and place it in the trash.

I am tired and cranky. I worked about 12 hours today. That same ATM video problem. ATM - I'll be nice and rename the acronym to "A Terrible Monster". Hee, hee. I would really like to rename it to Asinine torturing method of video! Ha, ha. That is safe enough to say in the schools. I feel better, now. Little things mean a lot. I guess it is like name calling. But it is an inanimate object, so it doesn't have feelings, right? Okay, this is beginning to sound like a Stephen King novel.

Warped butterfly

Me? I think it looks more prickly than warped.

But, "warped paintbrush" was the feature I used in Photo Shop to make the jagged effects on a yard ornament I have in front of my patio. Yah. Fun stuff.

I do have a new photo of my "grand" nephew that I want to post. Tomorrow, then.

Having another teenager in the house is taking it's toll. A half gallon of milk was left out on the counter all afternoon. My daughter about had a fit. I went to the grocery store at 9 p.m. to buy more milk. To keep peace.

My bedroom door has been left open twice, now. I have my bird in there and I keep the door closed so that the cats don't bother him/her/it. I don't know why my niece is in my bedroom. I must put a stop to that. She used to use my computer, but she has her own laptop and it is wireless and can connect to the Internet fine. I don't have a printer in my room - it is out in the living room with my daughter's pc. Soo....

And, there are clothes left in the washing machine and the dryer when my daughter or I want to use them...little things that add up.

My therapist said that I need to make my niece pay something. I was thinking $20 a week. She is going to school full time, works at Red Lobster (pay is only 2.19 an hour plus tips) and sometimes she will sub for the Mental Retardation bus route helping load the riders and keep and eye on them while they ride the bus.

Red Lobster's 2.19 an hour is eaten up by taxes. It is a joke, really. She basically works for tip money and that is all.

She has little money and it isn't like she is drinking and laying around all day. She doesn't eat a lot and she does not have rowdy friends over. She used to have some seedy friends that made me nervous a couple of years ago when she was just 18. There will be the increase in water and electricity. She keeps the downstairs basement area clean, but does not do any kitchen work.

She does have car and car insurance to pay. She has no medical insurance.

I will remind her that there is no smoking in my house. What to do , what to do....

Our county fair is going on this week. I am going to try to get there at least once. I will remember to take my camera. My daughter wants to go with her beau, I am not sure what night. They are torn between dog show or llama show. Yeah, really. Me, I wouldn't mind seeing the harness racing on Saturday. But it is at 1:00 p.m. and I have a baby shower to attend at 2:00 p.m. So, I guess I'll miss it. My daughter and I got to go shopping for little girl stuff today! Oh, the memories. Pink, soft blankets. Little chick bath robe. Wild and colorful bibs. Wee, tiny pink booties. Sigh.

I am meeting a friend at Bravo's Thursday evening for dinner. Italian. Mmmmm.

My colorful twirlers on the patio

A closeup shot of the green part of a colorful twirler.

On my patio outside I have hanging five colorful twirlers. After the 4th of July get together, I wanted something with pretty colors. I "love" red, white and blue in the patriotic sense, but I hate it for decorating. Blah!

In 1976 my sisters painted a bunch of bedroom furniture red white and blue. I hated it. But, I never painted over it. So, what am I complaining about? I just realized that. I could have painted over it when they all moved out. I took over one of the other bedrooms. It wasn't like I didn't have my pick. I don't know whatever happened to that bedroom furniture. Hard to say.

So anyway, I was feeling kind of restless tonight. I went out in the rain and snapped some pictures from the patio. Mostly I experimented with the twirlers and the dreary wet gray background of the sky. I like the ones that came out like the above. Where the flash from the camera exploded into a thousand light rays.

Turner classic movies is playing Out of Africa. The movie is kind of long, and I've seen it at least a dozen times, but it is still one of my favorites. I have read the book and it is different than the movie. I can relate to the way the female lead falls in love with a man, and she believes he thinks the same way that she does. And she is so confused when he doesn't think the same way. In her opinion, when you love somebody and you think that they love you, they only want to be with you. She can't figure out why the men she falls in love with keep seeing other women besides her. Some women can tolerate that kind of behavior, and some don't.

I read somewhere that 9 out of 10 wives will stay with an alcoholic husband, but only 1 out of 10 husbands stay with an alcoholic wife.

Another favorite part of the movie is when she first comes to Africa and walks right into the Men's club where women are NOT allowed. I guess that didn't happen in Denmark. She is surprised by this backward behavior. I feel like I have lived my entire life surprised like that. I can still recall when one of my sister's boyfriends complimented me on my driving. Way back in my Texas days I drove him back to a military base in New Mexico. He was just amazed that I could drive the Interstate and traffic, etc. At the time I was 22 and I didn't think much of it. Why in the hell wouldn't I be able to? A few years later I thought back on that. I had many rude awakenings with how some men are conditioned to think. And, some women.

My Mom never drove. I do have to confess that I never drove a stick. A lot of people chided me about that. My thinking was, why drive a shift when they make automatics? Kind of like using a scrub board and bucket of water when there is a perfectly good washing machine in the laundry room. Now, I didn't say I couldn't drive a stick. I just never felt the need to. When I was learning to drive, we didn't have any manual transmission vehicles around. So I never practiced with one.

If it counts for anything, I like to downshift my automatic once in a while before a red light or stop sign. Hah! Hah! I like the feel of it. Is that why people drive a stick? To feel the engine shift when you tell it to? Maybe it is a power thing.

I have been working in ATM video all day. Can you tell that my brain is fried? I am so mad that I can't get this blasted problem figured out. Just when I think I have it, the unit fails to make the video call. Stupid, outdated technology. It is like the old video Beta and VHS. Some video sites are still trying to hang on to the Beta technology (in the case, ATM). Shoot! Cut your losses, already. The money is spent. Quit beating a dead horse. I know, I know. There is no money to convert to the newer IP video calling equipment. No crystal ball was around 8 years ago when you bought this ATM equipment. Some bought the IP version, some the ATM. It was all a crap shoot for the schools. Now, there is no money.

What do you think about home schooling? There are so many opportunities now. There are also people who just cop out. They can't discipline their child to get to school or to behave, so the alternative solution is to stick a computer in their home and have the child learn on their own through a virtual environment. Some families need this for ill children or severely behavior problem children. Some abuse the system. As for me, my daughter will go to a school building with school teachers and fellow students. She needs the interaction with other people. She must learn how to get along with people.

I'm going back out and finish watching the movie. They just saw an airplane flying over the plains of Africa.

Too close for comfort!

Is that a for real spider in that web?

Today was beautiful! I finished up some yard work that I started yesterday and thought I would walk around the block and take some pictures. Most were of the take-over plant Rose of Sharon. I walked by a hedge and saw this spider web shining in the sun. I couldn't get a great angle, so I held the camera up above my head in an attempt to get a better view.

Of course, I didn't know what the view was of until I downloaded the photos to my computer. Yikes! Is that a spider? My daughter said YES! That is a bit too close for me. Look at the size of that monster! It blends in with some of the dried brown leaves from a nearby oak tree.

I fixed the link from my "The Reception" post that points to my new album page. I hyper-linked the web page incorrectly and it took you the blogspot's nether land. I posted more pics of the spider web here.

Just a side note here: The rats are doing fine. The cats could care less about them. Sheesh! Our poor mouse is having some bad days, though. He is bleeding from the ear. I hear that they only live 18 months to 2 years. It has been about that long.

Bright

Photo Friday Challenge: Bright

I guess it isn't too bright to look at the sun. Even through a camera lens. No wonder I was seeing haze after shooting this set.

Practice what you preach

Smiling at the wedding reception

I have lots of pics from the wedding and the reception that will probably continue to sprout up in here for a few days. This little girl was all smiles until she got tired and crashed. For the wedding she had a very feminine and very pink full skirted dress on. For the reception she kicked back and donned a onesie. You go girl!

Driving home from work today, I pass at least one school zone. In Ohio that means 20 mph. I work in the schools and I have a child in school. I can't remember what I used to do before my child, maybe sneak through, maybe I obeyed the speed limit. I pulled out of our work parking lot behind another co-worker. She works with pre-school children. I followed her up the road to where she charged through the school zone almost hitting a child on a bicycle. I noticed because she went way left of center to go around him. He was in the cross walk. There was also a crossing guard on his way to the middle of the cross walk holding up his STOP sign. Okay.

This reminded me of another incident. My brother is a volunteer fireman in a small town. He told me a story about another fireman. I suppose when a fireman gets a call or hears that siren a rush of adrenalin so strong courses through their veins that it catapults them into emergency mode. This enables the average human to take certain risks that helps mankind. I am thankful for this calling that they have. (Such as the ones who came to the aid of their fellow man in the 9-11 disaster).

However, this particular fireman found the desire to "rush" to the fire department so great that he sped through a school crossing cross walk. The crossing guard reported him and he was suspended for two days from the department. He became angry and quit. Nobody took his side. Most of the department members have small children that could have been crossing the street during that time.

I can imagine that once in a while your mind can be distracted and you make a mistake. I believe this to have happened to my co-worker today. At least I hope so. The second incident, I knew the guy and he really thought himself above the law. Hence his reaction to being punished. A little common sense goes a long way.

Speaking of thinking yourself as being "above the law":

Here in Ohio, it is illegal to make a U-Turn on the Interstate. The areas are for emergency vehicles only and are marked as such. There is a confusing off ramp near my town that if you miss it or get confused, you must travel 10 miles to the next off ramp. There is, however, a U-Turn area right past the confusing off ramp. A co-worker and I were in the company van and passed this area. I told her when I first started, I missed the exit and had to go all the way to the next exit to get back around. I told her that another co-worker had told me that they did the same, but turned around illegally. I said "They must think that they are ABOVE the law."

She was quiet for a second and said that she had done the same thing.

Whoops.

Alarmists

I usually recognize an alarm situation as just that. People running around in a panic because something is not working and others are affected. For an example. A class room of students get 45 minutes to listen to a historical program. The video connection is good when the teacher tests the connection fifteen minutes before the demonstration. Five minutes into the demonstration the connection dies. Panic time.

Before calmly trying to troubleshoot the problem somebody jumps on the horn and in a hysterical voice alarms the other party. The other party catches the panic in the caller's voice and they begin to panic. 26 students are sitting there looking at a dead screen. The school district has paid for a bus to take them to another location to view this video and time's a-wastin'! The other party puts the phone down and while running to the office next door alarms their co-worker sitting at the next desk. What? What are we going to do? Students sitting there with nothing to do! The co-worker jumps on the horn to their manager and the alarm begins as a rigmarole spreading from one person to another like some kind of wild fire out of control.

Again, usually I recognize this for what it is and I try to calmly contact the person closest to the failing equipment. I try to get them to "calmly" reboot the unit and try connecting again. No shortcuts because the kids are getting restless. A shortcut was taken and more time is wasted. The unit is slowly re-setting. It seems to take forever when time is a-wastin'. In this day and age of lightning speed Internet access, we are befuddled by the slow-booting older machines. It takes minutes instead of seconds. Nerves are frayed.

Oh, and the icing on the cake? When an alarmist comes to my office for help, she notices dark red painted toenails sticking up from underneath my co-workers desk. She gives me a quizzical look. I shrug my shoulders. Yes, my bizarre co-worker is laying on a neck brace underneath her desk because of her endless pain episodes. She is on her back and her legs are on her chair.

She has used up all of her sick days and has even borrowed some so this is what she is reduced to. Laying on the office floor sucking on her "FOR CANCER PATIENTS ONLY" pain sticks. Mumbling about how long it is before she can slap another pain patch on herself. Given half the chance and a gun, I'll put her out of her misery. And the reason she doesn't go home on her "lunch hour" to perform this rather personal deed? The pain medication makes her woozy and she is afraid to drive too much. Feel safe on the roads, do you?