Sun and Moon Sorcery

Micheal Jackson, R.I.P.

2009-06-26T16:07:00.001-04:00

I came back to the blogosphere to pay my respect to the King of Pop.

Micheal, I will always feel sorry for him, I hope now that he is dead that he can find some sort of peace.

This was a kid who was beaten everyday with his brothers when Joe came home from work to toughen them up. If they said anything out of line, or didn't clean their plates, etc, they would be made to move a concrete block pile from one spot in the yard to another.
Micheal had so many self image issues it is horrible.

He was the true talent in the family. He kept everyone of them in the luxury they felt they deserved. When he would be with other children, he was trying to get his childhood back, I don't think he liked or trusted adults.

Do I think he acted wrong with the children...perhaps but I don't really think so. The biggest issue here is why would the parents of these kids let them be with Micheal if he was a proven pedophile?
They saw possible dollar signs, to me that makes them the truly evil people.

Micheal had mental problems and there was no one there to help him, they were all there to suckle from the money tit of MJ Enterprises.

There are a big faction of people on this planet that adored him, they shut down part of the internet last night with all the newscripts coming in for info.

All Micheal really wanted was to be loved and who really loved him? His fans.

Like I said before, I hope he has finally found peace.

Soon to be goodbye

2009-04-06T11:12:00.002-04:00

I really cannot take this new Blogger.
Where I could at one time put my own html in the thing I now have to fight an unfriendly interface.
I am now in the process of looking for a new free blogging site.
I have been with blogger since, what does it say on the left side of the page here, 2004?
If they had only left it alone. Why can't people leave things alone that already work?

So, if any of you are on a cool blogging site and it is free, I will be paying a monthly fee for my website and I don't need another fee, let me hear it!

In the meantime, thanks to Heather, Lee and I will be leaving the Lowcountry behind this weekend and heading north to Myrtle Beach. I got Summer's kenneling scheduled (including her bath, shh, don't tell her!) and I am looking for a 4 star hotel on the "Deal Stallion" on Priceline. Medieval Times, Dicks Last Resort, Kiss Coffeehouse all better watch out!
Of course just to be fun, our car decided to give me a problem over the weekend.

Lee and I went out for a romantic meal at what has become our favorite Italian Restaurant, Amalfie's. The food is outstanding! They bring you bread and a plate of olive oil and balsamic vinegar while you look over the menu. Lee ordered a large steak stromboli for himself and I took the waiter's suggestions (lots of pressure on him!) of Chicken parm with a start of tomato bisque soup. It was delicious. The bisque was yummy with chunks of tomato, onion and basil floating in the creamy broth. Then there was this huge platter that comes to the table of the chicken parm. Lee and I both took halvies home!! The waiter was happy that I loved everything he suggested. Trythfully, he couldn't have disappointed me. The menu was great. Last week Lee and I went there for lunch and I had the meatballs. OMG!! Heaven was a place on earth when I bit into those meatballs! I may have Irish blood but there is pasta runing through my veins as well!

We had repeat of those meals last night for diner and they were just as good the next day. Lee said his stromboli had very light crust and it wasn't soggy at all like some stromboli's can get (cough, Bucks, cough). He even got his marinara on the side...which got dumped on my spaghetti last night!
Back to the car, I am still driving these days although Lee's foot is getting better. We are driving down 26 at about 60-65 mph and I notice a bad vibration in the frame of the car. Lee does't notice it but I have always had a feel for cars. I was born a gear head.
So to prove it to him, I took my hands off the wheel for a second ad the car definitley pulled right, severely right. SO I am going to have to check for missing tire weights, the tire pressures and the treads before I take it into Eagle Automotive (they are great there!!!), but it needs fixed before our romantic weekend getaway.
It is always something!!

I have a committee meeting tonight at Bon Secours St Francis Hospital for the Charleston County Relay for Life. It isn't too late to make up a team, you know and survivors, if you know of any survivors or patients or caregivers, please bring them to the Relay.
There are survivor registration forms on our website here and there will be a diner for the survivors earlier this year that what it has been. The dinner will be at 5PM at the West Ashley High School Cafeteria and the survivors lap will be at 7PM followed by the caregivers lap.
At 10PM we have the Luminaria ceremony which is a stunning representation of those lives that have been touched by cancer. Buy a luminary here to honor those who are fighting the fight and for those we have lost.
If any of you out there want to make up a team, contact me and I will get you a team captain's kit OR you can come to the meeting tonight. We take the stuff with us whereever we go!!
I should figure out how to put the Relay newsletter, which I write on this blog, hmmm.

I am now off to cruise the blogging sites for a bit, then work on more business stuff. Bad time to start a new business but orders are coming in!

AHHHH! Help!!!!

2009-03-25T10:51:00.002-04:00

I updated my web page per Blogger's request and look what happened!!!
Where is my graphics, my links anything??!!!!

Blogger said they saved a copy of the old blog, now how the hell do I find it?!

I feel like I have to start over with my blog now. As I said in an earlier post I barely have time for myself these days and now I have to rebuild my blog?

As I was going to add a link to my ew website but I have to fix this first!

It has been so long...

2009-03-18T18:09:00.003-04:00

I cannot take in all I have missed to spew on!
Banks, Barney Franks, raises and bonuses, the four way stop by my apartments, AHHHH!
Let's start with why I haven't been around so much.

Phase I - Shortly after my last February post Lee broke his foot. An emulsion fracture isn't a clean break. It is a chunk broken from the bone. It is going to take a long time to heal. We have a car with a clutch, I am now the chauffeur for Lee now. My day is divided into sections. The morning section is between dropping Lee off and going after him for lunch. The afternoon chunk is after I drop him back off from lunch and picking him back up at night.

Phase II - Add to the mix the dreaded and very hated around here DST. We hate it, despise it and wish it were dead along with all those who love being morning people. Vampires and Werewolves do not like the light. I am definitely of the Vampire class.
I have made over $1000 in jewelry recently due to a really hefty order I received from Fire Mountain Minerals. So I have been both busy at my design table and at my key board because of...

Phase III - I am the Charleston County Relay for Life Publicity/Newsletter Committee Chair! Whew, that alone is a lot to type! Every month, I gather stories from all over the cancer world and info concerning the teams and such and put it in a fun newsletter!
My personal Relay page is located here if you care to donate or buy a Luminaria bag.
If you can come to the relay at all, try to see the Luminaria ceremony at sundown. We will scroll the names of those "in honor of" and "in memorial of" on a large screen near the DJ.
The survivors dinner will be held earlier this year for those who do not know. The forms to join us for the survivor laps are here and that is no charge and you get a tee shirt and a ticket for the survivors dinner.
Please come and show the rest of the world cancer can be fought and beaten.
This year, I will be wearing a bright orange COMMITTEE shirt and not a survivor shirt. I will probably be helping out with the dinner or signing in the new people.
There is still time to sign up a team and our next meeting will be March 23rd at Bon Secours St Francis Hospital on Teckleburg Rd here in West Ashley from 6:30 to 7:30 in Mall class room 1.
Come and meet the other team captains and get some info on how to help make your team a success!
Uh-oh, got into preachy mode there, sorry.

Phase IV - I had a bad patch recently. After many blood tests and doctors visits it was a concern that I might have had another brush with cancer. They were doing tests to see why my blood counts were all low and consistently low for 3 months of blood tests. They started (not really wanting to) the words Aplastic Aemia. That is a blood cancer. My pelvic bone remeber was irradiated enough to destroy my lowers spine and cauda equina. The pelvis is also responsible for the majority of your white cells. They took all of this into account and was about to do the diagnosis when my last groups of blood work came back with a bad ANA reading. It was decided to do another blood test for ANA and TA-DA! The ANA came backbad and another diagnosis was made. the pretty name is SLE or Systemic Lupus Erythematosis.
The signs were all there. I had a butterfly on my cheek which is an outward sign of Lupus, low grade fever, aches in the joints themselves and really bad fatigue. I could wake up from 12 hours of sleep and be absolutely wrung out and loss of appetite. I have lost 24lbs since Jauary. My favorite bell bottoms are too big. THAT is upsetting!
The thing is, Lupus is bad but it flares. I may not have another flare for months. Right now, I am flaring. Hopefully, it will go away soon. I have had to adjust all of my meds. I am now on a steroid...YUCK!!!

Let's see, I think that is it for why I haven't been around much. Lee is still looking at 4 months of healing or so. Although he did need to drive himself one day due to me being flat out on my back. His foot was swollen after that.
So hopefully, I will find time in my chunks of time to blog a bit. DId I mention that I have a facebook page too that is being ignored? I also have a garden to weed and some tilling of my pots to do, Ostara is Friday!

Time for Action is now!

2009-03-08T16:21:00.003-04:00

South Carolina has the lowest cigarette tax of all 50 states. Let's stop this now.
Join the fight to raise the cigarette tax .93 cents.

It is our hope that the higher prices for cigarettes will keep them out of the hands of youth.

The American Cancer Society and the Relay for Life is dedicated to eliminating cancer as a major health problem. It is my life's ambition to see that there isn't another person on the planet who has to suffer radiation ad chemo in order to live.

Why A Cigarette Tax?

Increasing cigarette taxes is a WIN, WIN, WIN solution for states - a health win that reduces smoking and saves lives; a fiscal win that raises revenue and reduces health care costs; and a political win that is popular with the public. It's no wonder that 44 states and the District of Columbia have increased cigarette taxes more than 75 times since January 1, 2002, more than doubling the average state cigarette tax from 43.4 cents to $1.19 a pack.

Win #1: Fewer Kids Smoking

Studies, and experience in state after state, show that higher cigarette taxes are one of the most effective ways to reduce smoking among both youth and adults. Every 10 percent increase in the price of cigarettes will reduce youth smoking by about seven percent and overall cigarette consumption by about four percent.

Win #2: Higher Revenue for States

Every state that has significantly increased its cigarette tax has enjoyed substantial increases in revenue, even while reducing smoking. These funds have helped states balance budgets and fund essential services like health care, education and tobacco prevention programs. Contrary to tobacco industry arguments, cigarette tax increases are a reliable source of revenue for states.

Win #3: Public Support for Tobacco Taxes

In national and state polls across the country, there is overwhelming public support for tobacco tax increases. Democrats, Republicans and Independents alike want elected officials to increase tobacco taxes to help prevent kids from smoking.

Source: Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids

Why a 93-cent Cigarette Tax Increase in South Carolina?

A 93-cent increase in South Carolina's cigarette tax is a WIN-WIN-WIN for South Carolina:

A WIN for public health because it will reduce smoking, particularly among kids;
A WIN for the state's fiscal health because it will raise more than $168 million in new annual revenue for the state; and
A WIN for lawmakers who support it because of overwhelming voter support (71 percent)

A 93-cent cigarette tax increase will generate $168 million dollars in new, recurring revenue for South Carolina. It will decrease the enormous burden on our healthcare system by more than 1 billion dollars, while improving the health of approximately 33,800 current adult smokers who will quit and preventing approximately 29,400 smoking related deaths. Studies also show that teen smoking is reduced in states that increase their cigarette tax. In South Carolina, it is estimated that 64,100 South Carolina kids would never start smoking if our cigarette tax were $1.00 per pack.

In national and state polls across the country, there is overwhelming public support for cigarette tax increases up to $1. Democrats, Republicans and Independents alike want elected officials to increase tobacco taxes to increase revenue, reduce health care costs, and help prevent kids from smoking.

More Information

Please visit scbenefits93centtax.pdf to read more about the benefits of a 93-cent cigarette tax increase in South Carolina.

Please visit sccigtaxandkids.pdf to read about how South Carolina kids would benefit from a cigarette tax increase.

Please visit sctolloftobacco.pdf to learn more about the toll of tobacco in South Carolina.

Help us by sending faxes to your congressmen and senators. Tell them we want this tax passed.
Remember 1 in 3 people will get cancer this year.
Please, don't let it be you.

The stupidity of humans

2009-02-04T15:02:00.002-05:00

The birth of octuplets to a California woman last week raised a boatload of issues that can distract us from the central ethical question posed by the case: How do we take children's well-being into account in reproductive medicine?

Yes, it's puzzling why an unemployed single woman who already had six children wanted a passel more. And it is not crazy to wonder who will pay for these children's needs over the years, beginning with what is sure to be a gobsmacking bill for neonatal intensive care.

For now, we can put aside the lifeboat problem: A human uterus is not built for eight passengers; the odds for each child to be born alive and healthy go down as the number in the lifeboat goes up.

Her physicians offered to reduce the number of fetuses she was carrying; citing her moral convictions, she declined. As of the last reports, all eight survived. Still, knowing what we do about the many risks that come with being born too soon and too small, their medical course is likely to be complex and unsteady.

What this case really does is split wide open a fault line running through infertility treatment in American medicine. People who show up at fertility clinics are adults. In the typical case, they've been trying to get pregnant for a year or more without success.

When all goes well, a cycle of IVF (in-vitro fertilization) results in a pregnancy and the birth of one, perhaps two, healthy babies. As a son, a father, and now a grandfather, I can attest that there is no more important or enduring relationship in our lives than the one between parents and children.

Whether that relationship is forged through infertility medicine, adoption or the old-fashioned way matters not at all: What counts is that adults who want to love and raise a child are matched with a child who needs just that love and care.

The point of infertility treatment, after all, is to create a child. But that child-to-be is not the clinic's patient -- the would-be parents are. I believe that the interests of those children deserve at least as much consideration as the wishes of the prospective parents.

The vast majority of infertility patients are no doubt fierce advocates for the well-being of the child they so earnestly seek to bring into their lives. What happens, though, when the client's request shows little consideration or regard for the welfare of the would-be children? What happens if a woman in her early 30s with six children wants eight embryos implanted all at once?

A responsible physician could turn down such a request, citing professional guidelines that counsel implanting one, at most two, embryos in women younger than 35. How Nadya Suleman ended up with eight is a mystery. That's what Nadya Suleman is claiming.

Perhaps there is a physician somewhere willing to defy the wisdom of his or her peers; perhaps Suleman used fertility drugs rather than IVF as she claimed. Whatever the case, this guideline is based on safety. Carrying more than a couple of fetuses is dangerous to the pregnant woman and to the health and survival of the fetuses in her womb.

Citing safety is a prudent way to turn down requests an infertility physician thinks are ill-considered. But sometimes that gambit isn't available.

A psychiatrist friend who conducted intake interviews for a well-respected clinic described a rough-looking couple who carried for their up-front payment thousands of dollars in cash stuffed in a bag -- drug money, she was certain.

She was able to discourage the couple from following through on their plan. Here's the rub: Her concern was the ultimate well-being of the child that the clinic was being asked to help create. But the ideology of American infertility medicine allows physicians to escape from making any judgments about the suitability of prospective parents.

There is understandable worry that cracking the door to considerations about parents' motives and capacities would blast it wide open for nasty, petty stereotypes and prejudices. That would be an awful result.

The American Society for Reproductive Medicine acknowledged in a 2004 report that fertility programs may withhold services when they can provide "well-substantiated judgments" that the child will not receive adequate care. But that same report has a huge loophole.

Providers can abdicate almost all responsibility to anticipate the welfare of the children they help create by claiming "an obligation to treat all patients who would benefit from medical treatment." The statement goes on to say that "except when significant harm to a future child is likely," they "should not be required to make assessments of a patient's child-rearing abilities or other child welfare issues."

It's time for the profession -- and business -- of reproductive medicine to accept their firm, inescapable ethical obligation to give the interests and well-being of the children they help to create the same consideration they give to the desires of the adults they serve.

--Opinions of Dr Thomas Murray and ME!

A new day has dawned

2009-01-21T13:18:00.003-05:00

"For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus _ and non-believers." -President Barak Obama Inauguration Address.

An American president admitting that we have non-believers in this country just makes me so happy it is amazing.
There are those of my path who feel he didn't mean us. We believe in something that is different from the mainstream. I feel that he did. He could not stand up there in the freezing cold of DC and start listing every religion in America, just because he didn't say the word "Pagan" means nothing to me.
I see a man standing on the Capital steps who is more intelligent than the government he is leading, i.e. the Chief Justice messing up the words of the Presidential Oath of Office. Hey! The new guy knew the oath, I could have given you the oath as it was taught to us ages ago in high school, but the Chief Justice couldn't say the oath correctly? Hmm

I finally see light shining over our country. A time when perhaps our beliefs in what a person can accomplish has nothing to do with skin color or what their chromosomes are. Perhaps I am wrong in feeling that way I do. Perhaps I am jumping the gun. After all, nothing has changed for me personally since yesterday.
But I just feel awesome about our new President! I have no idea what the stand up comics are going to use for material now. The 8 years of Bushisms are gone.

I woke up this morning to NPR and there was an interview going on I only caught half of. It was about a small town in Oklahoma that were for the most part registered Democrats but this year they voted Republican.
Do you want to know why? It is because they "...don't believe in abortion or same sex marriage and that is what the platform of the Democrats was this time round".
That much I caught.
I can't believe it. The two things that are NONE of anyone business is the reason these people were going to vote Republican.
And since when was the Democratic Platform about abortion and same sex marriage? I hope that it is, but I don't think it was high on their agenda.
Of all of the things that are wrong and going wrong with our country that these people felt this was the most important of all.

So perhaps a light is shining over the land, but the old small minded mentalities are still hiding in the dark.

Pretty much sums it all up for me!

2009-01-05T15:07:00.002-05:00

In the words of Lewis Black, "I could be religious, but I have... thoughts", and everyone knows that thoughts are not a good thing in organized religion.

Since I am flooded with Relay work and other side projects along with that, I am not sure if I will be blogging much.

With the new year I should organize myself better and have a set schedule for doing these things, but trying to have schedules with chronic pain is almost impossible. It may work for a few days but then it is all in the crapper again.

The stress of the holidays along with the news we received just added to the levels already rising with tight budgets for gifts. For your Christmas day I was nearly paralyzed with pain. I nearly called my local nurse to ask her opinion, but it comes down to riding it out. It took a long time. Yesterday I was able to call myself over the bad patch...I hope that there is noother big stresses comig my way real soon. *keeping fingers crossed*

This year I need to reopen or find a new website for my jewelry. Etsy is too full for ayoe to get a good look at my stuff. There are so may people on there that you become one of a hundred selling a necklace or what have you. I can sell a few of my beads on Justbeads.com, but I want to sell the finished pieces.

It seems I am adding to my "schedule" doesn't it?

I received a new keyboard for Yule. I have to train myself to go to another button for end ad Home. I had my old keyboard for YEARS and I am so accustomed to hitting about 2: from backspace the end button, now it is 2" from the\ key. Doesn't seem like a big adjustmet until you actually try to do it.

OK back to the newsletter for me, I am still waiting a survivor's story to put in the new newsletter. tick, tick, tick.

Why do the holidays bring out the bad stuff?

2008-12-23T10:57:00.005-05:00

My Proof:

Thanksgiving 1968 - My father has a heart attack at home and he dies with me on his lap crying for him not to leave.
New Years Eve 2003 - We have a house fire that destroys most of my favorite things and displaces us into a really bad situtation. Try to find a house for rent in the winter in VA.
Christmas 2006 - We take a train trip to DC and then on to my brother's house where in a day of us getting there he has a heart issue and he goes into the hospital for a few days...including Christmas day.
Christmas 2008 - We get word that Lee's mom has acute Leukemia and has "weeks left".

Although we have been preparing for this since we saw her in March of this year, nothing fully prepares you to lose a parent. While she is not mine I see and feel the pain of my husband. Anyone who has been together for nearly 20 years knows when the other is upset. I am even more attuned than most.
So, while trying to have a little fun for ourselves this holiday season, I have the extra thoughts of logistics for another trip to Rhode Island going through my head and trying to keep Lee from thinking too much.
It was agreed that all of her children shouldn't all come visiting at the same time as it would scare her, so we are playing it cool.

The odd thing, and I want you all to make sure you READ your emails before sending them off into the ether, is how the email with this information came to us.
"I hope this gets to you. I am not sure if this is your corrent emaili address or not. Just letting you know that Mom is not doing well please call me at xxx-xxx-xxxx anytime. We are going to JAX for the holidays have a happy holiday."

WHAT?!!!

I mean HUH? Have a happy holiday? Mom is not doing well? You are leaving to go 8 states away while she isn't doing well?! This email was from Lee's sister who has mom living with her.
Of course, Lee calls his sister to confirm some things and that is when we got the full story of the cancer.

So please, in emails, write them as you would a real letter. Use puctuation and seperate your thoughts. Then reread to make sure you aren't scaring the shit out of anyone.

Looks like I will have yet another reason to Relay this year.
In whatever it is you do, meditate, pray, whatever, good thoughts and vibs are always appreciated. Please keep Lee in your thoughts.

Like I said, why do the holidays always bring bad things?

Happy Yule!

2008-12-21T23:16:00.001-05:00

To all y'all!!!

Cutting back this year!

2008-12-16T11:51:00.002-05:00

I sent out my Yule cards today and in doing so realized how much I have cut back. When I was married to my first hubby, I sent out 2 boxes worth of Yule cards (then it was Christmas Cards).
That was almost 100 cards. Who were those people? Mostly him family. But still.
Today, I sent out 15 cards. I still have to send 2 more I just remembered, but it is a lot better than 100.

I have 4 boxes sitting on the table by the door ready to go the the USPS. Hopefully, they will arrive in one piece and not in several as a tea set I sent to my sis in Philly did. I think she is still fighting for the insurance I put on the set. What is the point of putting postal insurance on something if they are not going to honor it? I used their boxes and a who;e roll of their bubble wrap. What more did the boxes need? Steph said it looked like gorillas played with the boxes before they came to her.
I hope she gets the insurance money, but I really wanted her to have the tea set.

I made my MIL a necklace that she will like. She seems to love sea themes and now that she is quite old she loves wearing jewelry but she was finding it hard to wear it. (Small clasps)
So, enter the magnetic clasps. The ones I buy are very strong and they just need to get within 4" of each other and they snap in place. I completely replace the clasps on the chains. I don't like the slipshod way of just lobstering the magnet to the already in place clasp. Besides that adds and inch or so to the length of the necklace.
This time, I got her an Omega chain, added the magnets and I found a really nice sterling silver Sea Horse charm downtown at the market. I added the charm to a decorative bail and now she has a pretty necklace she can wear without difficulty.
We got her a similar thing for her birthday except we got the charm with a whale tail and "Charleston" engraved above it. That set was the first magnet clasp I made her and she just loved it. SO I knew how to make her things after that. I hope she will be pleased with this as well.
So much going on or getting ready for this week. I have to order my turkey again from Earth Fare, I got peanut butter balls to make to send to my brother's house. I am afraid it will be their only gifts this year. We got a baby coming this year to the family that will be calling me "Grandma!".
Did I mention the housecleaning and wrapping presents and I still need to do some shopping on Friday for gifts for Lee.
Good thing West Ashley now has its own Best buy!! I have been hinting for a new keyboard myself so we may both shop there! LOL Being a touch typist helps having some of the letter missing from my keys but I am actually missing a complete key...unfortunately it is my targeting key for Guild Wars. I remapped my keyboard to get around it, but I always reach for the alt option key.
I am working on the next Newsletter for the CC Relay. I am waiting for a survivors story. I don't want the first spotlight to be on me. I figure I have my own CC Relay page if you want to read about me. Also you can see what I looked like bald!! Well, I am wearing a scarf, but still!

I spent an hour this morning screwing around on Facebook!! I could waste so much time on that thing!!!

I better get to my errand list.

Be naughty save Santa the trip!

2008-12-10T21:03:00.003-05:00

It has always been my creed!!!
This site is by my friend, Rachel. If you are a Vampire Freak or just a closet Vampire you will love her sight.
Bitten By Books
Check out her 15 Naughty Nights of Christmas!
It worth the look if you are looking for gifts!!!

Personally, I am a creature of the night. Blood has never bothered me and I am definitely a night person! Daylight! AHHHH it burns, it burns!!!

Lee is a definite Werewolf. Oh yes, another night person who turns into someone completely different during the day. But at night, oh yes, at night!!!!!! HOOOOOOOWWWWLLLLL!

Check out Racehl's site, I guarantee you will like it!

Cancer to be world's top killer by 2010, WHO says

2008-12-10T18:31:00.003-05:00

ATLANTA - Cancer will overtake heart disease as the world's top killer by 2010, part of a trend that should more than double global cancer cases and deaths by 2030, international health experts said in a report released Tuesday. Rising tobacco use in developing countries is believed to be a huge reason for the shift, particularly in China and India, where 40 percent of the world's smokers now live.

So is better diagnosing of cancer, along with the downward trend in infectious diseases that used to be the world's leading killers.

Cancer diagnoses around the world have steadily been rising and are expected to hit 12 million this year. Global cancer deaths are expected to reach 7 million, according to the new report by the World Health Organization.

An annual rise of 1 percent in cases and deaths is expected — with even larger increases in China, Russia and India. That means new cancer cases will likely mushroom to 27 million annually by 2030, with deaths hitting 17 million.

Underlying all this is an expected expansion of the world's population — there will be more people around to get cancer.

By 2030, there could be 75 million people living with cancer around the world, a number that many health care systems are not equipped to handle.

"This is going to present an amazing problem at every level in every society worldwide," said Peter Boyle, director of the WHO's International Agency for Research on Cancer.

Boyle spoke at a news conference with officials from the American Cancer Society, the Lance Armstrong Foundation, Susan G. Komen for the Cure and the National Cancer Institute of Mexico.

The "unprecedented" gathering of organizations is an attempt to draw attention to the global threat of cancer, which isn't recognized as a major, growing health problem in some developing countries.

"Where you live shouldn't determine whether you live," said Hala Moddelmog, Komen's chief executive.

The organizations are calling on governments to act, asking the U.S. to help fund cervical cancer vaccinations and to ratify an international tobacco control treaty.

Concerned about smoking's impact on cancer rates in developing countries in the decades to come, the American Cancer Society also announced it will provide a smoking cessation counseling service in India.

"If we take action, we can keep the numbers from going where they would otherwise go," said John Seffrin, the cancer society's chief executive officer.

Other groups are also voicing support for more action.

"Cancer is one of the greatest untold health crises of the developing world," said Dr. Douglas Blayney, president-elect of the American Society of Clinical Oncology.

"Few are aware that cancer already kills more people in poor countries than HIV, malaria and tuberculosis combined. And if current smoking trends continue, the problem will get significantly worse," he said in a written statement.

Please donate now...this is my donation site. Look at those HUGE glasses I am wearing on that site! It is a photo of myself, so young and skinny (Chemo will do that to you), scarf covering a very freckled head! The picture also has the reason I was fighting so hard. Isn't he adorable?

Lowcountry Bloggers

2008-12-09T14:51:00.004-05:00

I know I haven't blogged in a while, but I have been so busy!
I now have my pain pump serviced in my home!!!
No more trips to Atlanta except for twice a year...but the company who maintains my pump at home said there is one pain doctor ( beside the jerk who messed up my first pump!) and he is in West Columbia, It is an hour or more drive, but a lot better than 5-6 hours!!

Plus I am head of the Publicity/Newsletter Committee for the Charleston County Relay for Life.
We had a meeting last night and the bottom line is this...we need more teams and more publicity.
With the holiday season on us, it is good time to get donations, but budgets are stretched thin at this time of year, or the corporate sponsors do not want to give solid answers on sponsoring teams until the 2009 budget year.

I would like to ask the Lowcountry Bloggers....would you be interested in forming a team?
We are fortunate in Charleston County as the Relay here only goes for 12 hours. 7PM to 7AM, the reason is Cancer doesn't stop at nighttime. Most of the Relays I have been in have run 24 hours.

The Relay this year will be at the West Ashley High School Track, May 15th and 16th.
If anyone would like some information on the Relay or the reasons why we all should relay, please see the site at The Relay Site. If you wish to see my personal page just pick on my name listed in the top 5 participants. You can also donate to my fund on my page if you wish.
If one of the Lowcountry Bloggers wish to be team captain, I have the kits I can bring to you ro if you are interested in corporate sponsorship I have those kits as well.

The next Team Captains meeting is Monday, January 26th. 6:30 to 7:30PM at Bon Secours St Francis Hospital, 2095 Henry Tecklenburg Drive, Mall Classroom 1. You can stop by this meeting and meet the other team captains and get a hold on what there is to do and what is expected.

Luminaria are a great way to remember a lost patient or honor a survivor, the forms for those are at..Luminaria

We get together at times, so I thought it would be great for the LBC to have a team. Personally, I would walk on the LCB team as long as needed.

There are other things that you could do if you do not wish to get a team together, we have so many open position on the Committees. AND, this publicity chick could use some help as well!

The monies donated to the Relay and the ACS goes to more than research, there are programs made availabel for free for cancer patients. Medicines when they cannot afford it, wigs, hats, Look Good, Feel Better is an organization that helps cancer patients who have lost their hair to feel better about themselves.

Remember 1 in 4 people will develop cancer this year, please help us to stop those numbers.
Let me know if you are interested in making a team.
My email is wiccan333@gmail.com

There will also be a silent auction at the Relay for pieces of my jewelry with all proceeds going to the ACS.
Here is a piece up donated to the auction.

To all my MST3K fans out there!

2008-11-17T13:06:00.002-05:00

Rent "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" and then go to rifftrax and buy the riff track for the movie!
Hilarious!
The boy, Kevin Smith, Micheal J Nelson and Bill Corbet are at their riffing best with this movie.
Granted the movie needed all the help it could get, I mean what was Lucas thinking? Aliens and Russians, now? The same pot smoke was floating around his heard writing this movie as floated around his head in 1978 when he wrote the "Star Wars Holiday Special" for TV!
Not even Spielberg wanted this movie was forced into it somehow.

SO please do yourselves a favor if you are trued MST3K fans and rent Indiana3 and download the rifftrack. It is only $3-4 for the riff. Put it in your MP3 player and listen while the movie plays.
Don't worry it is really easy to sinc up the movie with the rifftrack.

I got 25 of their rifftrax, makes movies like 300, Ironman, Spiderman, I am Legend, etc a whole lot better!!!

Right now at their website they are doing small clips of some of their movies. You will see they are hilarious.

Enjoy it!

Saturday Night at Village Square Apartments

2008-11-17T12:12:00.004-05:00

It started out like a regular Saturday night. Sort of quiet with 2 of the college students apartments having parties.
Lee walked Summer about 11 for the last walk of the night and Lee sees a man being forced to leave one of the parties.

It was cool Saturday night, we didn't know it would get down right frigid, so we had our windows open for awhile and we were in bed watching a documentary.
Then the loud voices started. The fight started (and nearly finished) in my front yard. Straight in front of our bedroom windows we hear the general drunk talk associated with 2 assholes getting drunk and having a fight. Then it got nasty. We looked out when we heard "What are you going to stab me man?" and the other gentleman said "You know I will!".
I turned at that time to call the police because someone was going to die at this rate.
As I turned my back to call 911 the guy screamed, "You stabbed me man, *expletive, expletive*." I have CPD on the phone then and I am telling them what is going on and that the stabbed man was lying on the ground under the parking lot large Auschwitz lights, you can't miss him!"

Three black and white cruisers come in a jack hurry and an ambulance. They carted him away and a police detective call us to come out to give a statement.
I tell them all because to me, if you want to fight, join the military. Don't bleed on my lawn. The detective who takes my statement was looking at our car and said, "Ma'am, you left your keys in your car." I knew that was impossible as I need my keys to get back in here.
So I go to open the car door and it is opened. I had noticed that the inside of the car was steamed up but I thought maybe Lee left the moon roof cracked or something.
I tell the officer that those are NOT my keys. Here is the great part, the keys had a picture of the guy with his wife and 2 kids on the key chain! Understand, I am in my robe and bunny slippers standing in 40 degree weather...maybe lower at that point.
We can see the person who was in our car had rifled our glove box and had made himself very comfortable in there as there was 2 boot prints on the driver window.

The police left and we were in the car making sure my wheelchair was still secure and some tools I keep for road problems and my nose detects (never doubt my nose) cigarette smoke. Lee looks and low a behold there is a lighter and a butt on the driver floor....but here is where it gets weird. On the passenger seat is what I thought were teeth. I called the police back and then Lee says to me, "Honey look behind you" (I was coming up the sidewalk from the apartment again as I had to go get the phone). Behind me trying to get into an empty apartment next to us, a tall dude was trying to get into the windows. He was also looking on the ground for something.
Maybe a knife or his TEETH?!

When I reported this 4 squad cars came rushing the area all at once with a K9 unit.
They looked for the guy I am not sure they found him but the officer who said he needed to process our car as a crime scene told me the "Teeth" are actually what young people are wearing on the front of their teeth and they are called "Grillz". It is like a big shiny dental thing they place over their teeth to make them look shiny!
Think of that 007 movie with Roger Moore and Jaws. "Moonraker" I think it was called. Same thing.
It is now 3AM and I have been standing for almost 2 hours in the cold. I offer to make the police coffee just to go in where it is warm.
The officers said as long as they had our permission to go over the car and to come talk to us again, we could go in.
So, finally at 4AM, the 2 cutey officers came over and told us they were done and they did their best to wipe the fingerprint stuff off of the car and they were done and they asked me what the detective asked me, would you be able to come to court should the need arise to give testimony. I told them yes, but you are talking about 2 drunk white rednecks wearing dark clothes in the dark! The only reason I knew they were white is because they acted like rednecks. To me, redneck=white.

I had heard back from the detective that the man was cut in the face, neck and stomach. It is a good thing I called the police as he may have died from bleeding.
Lee feels you shouldn't get involved and never witness anything, but I can't let someone die, can I? It really upset me that someone was actually wanting to take a life over, what? Being drunk.

So, that was our Saturday Night Show and all we had to pay for it was a smudged up car and a loss of sleep. It could have been worse. I am worried that next time it will be.

Catholicism Sucks! Part 2

2008-11-13T19:29:00.002-05:00

I just heard on NPR tonight that "The Church" is telling (they never ask!) all Catholics who voted for Obama to confess their "sins" and get absolution before receiving Holy Communion.

WTF? Are we back to the dark ages? Is Rome going to issue an Edict on America? Is the Pope going to excommunicate Obama and suspend all church services in the US?

Please.

I really think this one may bite them in the ass. After all, people were voting with their souls. That is what I was doing. Being a Republican for the last 24 years (back to Reagan) sure hasn't made me feel good about myself, I started to check every morning for a reflection in the mirror.
Voting for Barrak Obama brought the reflection in clearer and I actually was proud of myself for voting for him.
I feel like I did something for the good of the country and if everyone would just settle down and let the man take office first, they would see it as well.

One thing though. I would love to hear or read a statements from President Elect Obama that says something like, "I am going to allow the American people to do what they will about their faiths. You know what I stood for when you elected me. I am not going to flip flop on what I believe, what you voted for because a few people are afraid of change."

I am hoping our future president will be able to stand up to this foolishness.
It reminds me a bit of what happened in California over turning the gay marriage bill because a few churches got together to sabotage it.

Now on to another subject I hold dear to me heart.
Sarah Palin.
Just want to say one thing. GO AWAY!!!
I swear I hear her more now than I did when she was running for VP!
She was on NPR 2 days in a row, please go home to Wasilla, your people are waiting to worship before your altar of family values, *cough, unwed pregnant daughter, cough* for you!
Yesterday, she was somewhere and I heard, Well, I am from Wasilla, doncha know and we have different ways of dealing with...blah blah blah." OMG please turn off the cuteness already. You are an idiot who should never be allowed any public office. How did you ever get to be governor of Alaska, oh wait never mind.
Today, it she was at the GOP Governors meeting. Oh my GOD! Her own peeps wouldn't give her Kudos.
At Politico.org the article is all about how she stole the show from the other governors. Whatever.
The cameras that were there were waiting for her to pull another bit of her genius out.
Like the fact she though Africa was a country not a continent, when asked to name the 3 countries in North America, she couldn't do it. She has no idea of how civics work. You betcha I am sick of hearing her.

Isn't her 15 minutes of fame over???????

Catholicism Sucks!

2008-11-12T15:24:00.004-05:00

OK, everyone who reads this blog knows my stand on abortion.
It is a woman's body to choose what she does with it. If she finds herself without guidance and pregnant and she wants to abort, that is her right and her business.
Not the church's!
According to a story I read on the news, Catholic Bishops will fight Obama on his stands over abortion rights.
Sorry there Padre, you don't play the game (except with little boys) you don't make the rules.
So, the Priests keep quiet under 8 years of George Bush and 8 years of Bill Clinton. Now, they want to show social protest and unrest on the first black president of the United States of America. They want to force him to create a law to protect unborn, overturn Row vs. Wade.
Where were these same Bishops when the pedophile scandal was going on and thousands of priest, were accused and found guilty of molesting, and sexually abusing children?
Is it OK to abuse children as long as it is in the name of God?
Here, let's put this where it belongs...Will the church promise to support any children that women will be forced to have because they couldn't count properly?
Remember it is a sin in the church to use birth control as well, so better get that flow figured out to the day!!!!

If there is to be any separation of church & state in this country, we have to start at the very top.
Do you know how many CHRISTIAN interferences there are in our daily government?
There is a House Pastor who starts every session with a prayer. Great! That helps keep GOD out of the minds of our senators and congressmen.
I say, let's stop that crap right now along with no more convocations given by DC's Arch Bishop in the Capital. Also, when the new president is sworn into office, he holds his hands on the bible. Why not put their hands on a Bulfinch's book of Greek Mythology?
I would like to see that stopped and would like to see a president hold his hand out to the masses, to the American people and swear to us, (those who hired him) and vows to do all in his power to unfuck this country and to make it country that was founded on Freedom of Religion, not freedom of religion as long as it is Christian.

Let's face it my fellow non-Christians, we are not represented in this country.

I mean where are the other religions that this country supposedly were founded for as well? Where is the one person who will say, OK Christians, you have had the run of the country for 232 years, time to share it (I do not mean to exclude them) with the others now. The Hebrews, Wiccans, Hindis, Buddhists, Heathens, Muslims, Rinzais (school of Zen), Toaists, Shaolins, Neo-Confusianists, and all the others of our country want to play out in the open now too.

Cancer sucks!!!!!!

2008-11-08T15:21:00.001-05:00

My favorite comedian sums it all up very succinctly for me.

People suck!

2008-11-05T17:01:00.003-05:00

I am not going to apologize for voting Obama.

I am going to apologize for the intellect of some of the Lowcountry people.
~Lee tried very hard to get us a paper of this momentous day after the election and there were none to be had.~
I was reading the paper online, I read such bile and racist comments on the front pages stories of Obama winning the race!!!!
"My man hasn't won and now, I am going to act childish!!"
For Pete's sake, I wouldn't have been happy if McCain had won but I wouldn't have behaved the way those people on the comment section of the paper did! No, I would be too busy packing my bags and getting my emigration to Canada papers in order.

I was not that surprised that South Carolina stayed red, there are a lot of rich Yankees that have moved down here so the locals have no chance to give their opinions.
I was shocked over Louisiana being a red state. That really threw me a curve.
My own childhood state of Pennsylvania turned colors. A once red state turned blue last night. That is a subject I won't touch. I am sure my next phone call home will be very interesting!!

Once Pennsylvania came in and Ohio Lee and I turned to each other and said it was over. Obama wins. I watched the little flag on CNN's webpage change its colors while listening to my XM-Radio's POTUS channel that was on live and watching pretty much the same thing I was.
I heard McCain's surrender speech and I thought to myself, OMG! It is finally over!!!!!!

Nothing Obama can do can screw this country as badly as the last 8 years of W.

If the tone of those who wrote their "comments" is any example, I hope that the Secret Service is protecting Obama and watching every building around the Capital during the inauguration.
I don't trust racist rednecks...or any rednecks for that matter.

Election Day!!!!!

2008-11-04T13:58:00.003-05:00

As it was for the Primaries, election day in South Carolina was unorganized, not well planned for and not one thought was given to those people who couldn't stand in a 2 hour line!

So many people where I voted were taking the stacking chairs with them through the long twisting line they hatched up at the JCC.
The JCC itself is NOT to blame. It is the people who are in charge of moving people along putting signs up higher and more visible to everyone as to where the lines for certain letters are for signing in, where the sign in lines are as compared to the voting lines.
Would 3 sheets of Poster board have broken the elections budget? Hang the poster board above the tables and not have a little sheet of paper attached to the table itself! WHO CAN SEE THAT?!!

Lee and I got to the JCC and I was very fortunate to have found a parking space. Mind you, they handicap parking spots were roped off with a sign that said "VOTE HERE!". The other spots had people belonging to the voting groups just milling about again in a roped off handicap spot.
We got there about 9 or so....we got out at 11:30. I stood all that time with a few breaks where there were steps or a ledge to lean on. A man behind me had knee surgery recently. Elderly gentleman. When Lee found me a seat I gave it to him. We found a stacking chair for him and Lee put me in one as well. Just as I sat down the line moved an infinitesimal degree and we had to move on.
Oh boy, we moved 6"!!!!! The line we were placed it looked line a snake coiled up on itself. We wove and curved and lined so many walls I was getting seasick.

There was a lady who was at her polling station at 6:30 this morning waiting to vote. She said her husband got to vote but they put a different district on her card and she had to come over to the JCC to vote...I mean wait in line to vote!
Lee got to work by noon, so I suppose I won't be seeing him till late tonight.

I would like to think there will be a time where we will not have to go to a bunch of poorly paid, poorly organized baboons to vote. The system will be such that we can vote from our homes or our Iphones. Who knows.
What I do know is there must, MUST be a better way of doing this.

Charleston County Board of Elections, pay attention to this statement: Charleston has grown up. Look around you. There are no tables available at the better restaurants, (hell, any restaurant), there are no parking spots at grocery stores, malls or downtown even after tourist season is over.
We have more people settling here than we know what to do with.
So please, check the amount of applications you have on voters. Count them up and make sure you have enough machines, enough volunteers and enough space to let people vote.

I tried to count after I got in the voting line how many people were in front of me, I counted 68.
When I got to the front of the line the count behind me was 89, that was just what I saw in the room with me, the snake continued to coil outside in the lobby of the JCC.
With this amount of people and the number going by after work, there were 5 voting machines.
Five, that's all. Are you fucking kidding me? Is that all we have?!!!! With the tax dollars we pay to the county and the state?!!!!

Perhaps we should go back to tossing white/black stones in a pot, at least I could pitch my vote from across the room and I could get on with my day!!!
Just think of what the polls will be like at 5 or 6, I am not sure when they close but the polls should try to accommodate the people who tried to vote on their lunch HOUR and said "Oh forget it!"

Granted there were a few ballots I didn't vote in...I mean what is the point no one is running against them!
I wanted to know every incumbent on the Charleston School board so I could vote against them, I don't care what party the education system is a disgrace.
Of course, I voted for Obama. Hope not hate. The man is calm, cool and collected. There wasn't (that I have seen) any nastiness coming from the Obama team. McPain was all about the scare tactics and BOY am I sick of that!
I foresee McCain having a serious health issue again in a few years. Just think it could be President Palin!!! Well wouldn't that just be a super dooper day!
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

See, the Halloween scares aren't over yet!!!

I hope you all get out to vote and remember to take your "I Voted" sticker and get your free coffee at Starbucks, free donut at Krispy Kreme and free glass of wine with Lynn in Mt Pleasant to night.
I hope you get through the lines with a minimum of difficulty and that whoever we vote for, let them be the right choice for peace once again.

Zazzle Gallery

2008-11-03T08:29:00.000-05:00

Dare we stand up for Muslim women?

2008-10-27T22:02:00.001-04:00

Johann Hari article at JohannHari.com
This article can be found here: Dare we stand up for Muslim Women?

In Bangladesh, acid attacks on “uppity” women are epidemic, peaking in 2002 with more than 500 women having their faces burned off

It’s the smell I remember. Shahnaz’s face – what was left of it – reeked of a day old barbeque, left out in the rain. Her flesh was a mess of charred meat: her skin, the soft flesh of her cheeks, and the bones beneath had been burned away. Her nose was gone. Her lips hung down over her chin like melted wax. Her left eyelid couldn’t close, so it watered all the time in an endless stream of tears. Shahnaz – who was 21 years old – had been punished by having acid thrown in her face. Her crime was to be a Muslim woman who wanted to be treated as equal to a man.

Shahnaz loved education – especially science, and poetry. But when she got married – at the insistence of her family – her husband ordered her to stop schooling and start breeding. “You are a woman, that is your only job,” he said. But she refused. She wanted to work for herself, and enrich her mind. So she kept going to school, despite his beatings and ragings and threats. So one day her husband and his brothers carefully gathered up battery acid, pinned her down, and hurled it into her face.

She ended up in the Acid Survivor’s Foundation in Dhaka, Bangladesh, where I saw her earlier this year. In Bangladesh, acid attacks on “uppity” women are epidemic, peaking in 2002 with more than 500 women having their faces burned off. Fewer than 10 percent of the attackers are ever convicted, because juries and judges say the women bring it on themselves by wearing ‘revealing’ clothes, or refusing to obey men.

Munira Rahman, director of the foundation, explains: “From the late 1980s women were increasingly getting jobs in Bangladesh. Women were suddenly more independent, and they could start to turn down marriage proposals and choose for themselves. This is the backlash from men who see women as property.” It is just one tactic in a global war to keep Muslim women at heel. In Saudi Arabia women are kept under house arrest, banned from driving or showing their faces in public. In Afghanistan, the Taliban massacre teachers who dare to educate girls. In Iran, women are stoned to death for adultery. In Somalia, women’s vaginas are butchered, with the clitoris cut out and the remains crudely stitched up. These are not freak exceptions: they are often state policy.

It is here, in our open societies, that the freedom of Muslim women is slowly being born. Last week Amina Wadud became the first ever woman to lead British Muslims in prayer. All over Europe and the US, Muslim women are pushing beyond a literal reading of the Koran and trying to turn many of its ugliest passages into misty metaphor. Yet our support for these Muslim women fighting to be free is hobbled – both when it comes to ordinary people, and when it comes to governments. Many of us feel awkward talking about the rights of Muslim women because we have overdosed on multiculturalism.

We ask nervously: isn’t it just their culture that women are treated differently? Isn’t it a form of cultural imperialism to condemn these practices? The only rational response is to ask: whose culture do you want to respect here? Shaznaz’s culture, or her husband’s? The culture of the little girls learning in a Khandahar classroom, or of the Taliban thug who bursts in and shoots their teacher? The culture of Amina Wadud, or of the misogynists protesting outside? Muslim societies are not a homogenous block – and it is racist to pretend they are.

Our governments are equally hobbled from supporting Muslim women – for a very different reason. They claim to oppose the Taliban or the Iranian Mullahs because they abuse women. But when it comes to Saudi Arabia, they declare the just-as-vile regime “our close friend” and lavish cash on it. Why?

You can glimpse the answer by looking at the little-told story of the writing of Iraq’s constitution. In the original draft drawn up by the Iraqi political parties in 2004, there was a guarantee of equal rights for women – alongside a clause stating that Iraqi oil belongs exclusively to the Iraqi people. The Bush administration panicked. In the bargaining that followed, the US government demanded an opening of the oil fields to foreign companies – and in return they haggled away all women’s rights, allowing Shariah courts run by misogynist mullahs. While we as a society are addicted to oil, our governments will always put petroleum before feminism. While we suck on the Saudi petrol pump, smearing rhetorical oestrogen onto our bombs looks like an ugly trick.

So how do we practically side with Muslim women like Shahnaz and the tens of millions like her? Any answer has to involve three steps. First: no more bogus ‘respect’ for fundamentalism within open societies. If you literally follow an ancient Holy Text – whether it’s the Koran, the Bible or the Torah – you will hold disgusting views about women, and you should expect to have them criticised and mocked. By raising critical questions, we help the women inside Islam who are trying to turn the ugliest passages into metaphorical steam.

Second: kick our oil addiction. Until we do that, we will only ever see Muslim societies through the bottom of an oil barrel. Third: Once we’re no longer junkies, we can pressure our governments to create a programme of real economic empowerment for Muslim women. My friend Irshad Manji, the Muslim feminist, has called for the EU and US to fund a big programme of microcredits – small, no-interest loans – for Muslim women across the Middle East to start their own businesses or get a decent education. This would slowly give them a sliver of independence with which to reinterpret the Koran (or leave it behind). This isn’t only morally right: it helps us too. How much can jihadism – an ideology committed to enslaving women, Taliban-style – spread in a society where women are free to argue and answer back?

The battle for equal rights for Muslim women is the great civil rights cause of our time. Do we want to sit it out – or do we want to stand between Shahnaz and her acid-wielding husband and say: enough?

For those who wanted the facts....

2008-10-22T11:26:00.003-04:00

I was asked where is it said that Christianity is a dying breed in this country.
I don't think I said that in those words, but let's roll with that.

The Religious Tolerance Site...Religious tolerance, what a quaint idea!!!
Lee found this article about religious identification in the United States.

The footnotes can be read on the actual site. Please see the link above.

The shift away from Christianity and other organized religions:

The United States appears to be going through an unprecedented change in religious practices. Large numbers of American adults are disaffiliating themselves from Christianity and from other organized religions. Since World War II, this process had been observed in other countries, like the U.K., other European countries, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand. But, until recently, affiliation with Christianity had been at a high level -- about 87% -- and stable in the U.S.

Polling data from the 2001 ARIS study, described below, indicate that:

81% of American adults identify themselves with a specific religion:

76.5% (159 million) of Americans identify themselves as Christian. This is a major slide from 86.2% in 1990. Identification with Christianity has suffered a loss of 9.7 percentage points in 11 years -- about 0.9 percentage points per year. This decline is identical to that observed in Canada between 1981 and 2001. If this trend has continued, then:

	at the present time (2007-MAY), only 71% of American adults consider themselves Christians
	The percentage will dip below 70% in 2008
	By about the year 2042, non-Christians will outnumber the Christians in the U.S.

52% of Americans identified themselves as Protestant.

24.5% are Roman Catholic.

1.3% are Jewish.

0.5% are Muslim, followers of Islam.

The fastest growing religion (in terms of percentage) is Wicca -- a Neopagan religion that is sometimes referred to as Witchcraft. Numbers of adherents went from 8,000 in 1990 to 134,000 in 2001. Their numbers of adherents are doubling about every 30 months. _4,5Wiccans in Australia have a very similar growth pattern, from fewer than 2,000 in 1996 to 9,000 in 2001. ₁₀In Canada, Wiccans and other Neopagans showed the greatest percentage growth of any faith group. They totaled 21,080 members in 1991, an increase of 281% from 1990.

14.1% do not follow any organized religion. This is an unusually rapid increase -- almost a doubling -- from only 8% in 1990. There are more Americans who say they are not affiliated with any organized religion than there are Episcopalians, Methodists, and Lutherans taken together. ₆

The unaffiliated vary from a low of 3% in North Dakota to 25% in Washington State. "The six states with the highest percentage of people saying they have no religion are all Western states, with the exception of Vermont at 22%." ₆

A USA Today/Gallup Poll in 2002-JAN showed that almost half of American adults appear to be alienated from organized religion. If current trends continue, most adults will not call themselves religious within a few years. Results include:

	About 50% consider themselves religious (down from 54% in 1999-DEC)
	About 33% consider themselves "spiritual but not religious" (up from 30%)
	About 10% regard themselves as neither spiritual or religious. ₆

Read them and weep, baby. Wicca is the fastest growing religion doubling in number every 30 months.
Now you know where the info came from I stated in a previous post.

Now having said that, I will say that there is a percentage of those who are calling themselves Wiccans are in fact fluffy bunnies. Now to my sisters and brothers who look badly on those who bash fluffy bunnies, I am not, if this is their way of honoring the Goddess, then rock on. But to me a fluffy bunny is someone who buys a bunch of altar equipment, burns a few candles, some incense and dresses up like Stevie Nicks on a bender. They have no idea about the actual ceremony, ritual or meaning behind the cape, as it were.
So fluffy bunnies to me are someone who are playing at being a witch and when they get bored or are tired of shocking their parents they will go back to whatever they were doing before.
But, just from those I know, Wicca is growing. Non-threatening, nature loving, gentle and a giving path. No hell and damnation here. If you don't learn here, hopefully you will learn in your next life. No one gets that whole scare treatment, women are not to blames for the sins of the world in Wicca. Men and women are treated as equals for that is what they are. The balance of the male and female energies is important to the existence of life on this planet. You cannot set one higher than the other.
Without further getting into the dogma, I end my blog by asking you to look kindly on those who walk a different path than your own.

A very weird email - c'mon it had it coming!

2008-10-21T10:56:00.005-04:00

Hubby received an email from his nephew (who by the way is voting Libertarian so he isn't even in this fight!)
It was full of sarcastic bullet points on what the Democratic Party thinks.
Typical Republican propaganda.
The italicized statements are the actual bullet points from the email and the regular typing is Lee's and my response.
This could have a long argument but what is the point? This is just a rebuttal for the email regurgimailers out there who probably sent this very same email to their Liberal friends.

1. I believe the government will do a better job spending MY cash that I would......spreading the wealth to EVERYONE is good! It's Patriotic!
Personally, I would prefer to see the IRS abolished and the size of government reduced exponentially. That's not going to happen anytime soon, so I will settle for a fairer system instead. When Warren Buffet laughs about paying less taxes that the average middle class citizen, something is wrong.

2. Businesses shouldn't be allowed to make profits for themselves. Profits are evil and should be confiscated for redistribution.
Indeed they are confiscated; not only by the government but by labor unions that demand a floor sweeper be compensated 50K a year and by CEOs that withdraw their stock and make a killing just before the share price tanks and then expect a multimillion-dollar parting gift for running the company into the ground.

3. More regulation and taxes on businesses will surely STOP them from doing their business in countries with NO regulation and lower taxes.
There is too much regulation and taxation, but some regulation is a good thing and there is an awful lot of tax cheating going on. Corporations are pretty good at making profit look like expenses. Besides, those havens of non-regulation and low taxes like India, Honduras, etc. are not places where I want to work- capitalism flowers there but I don't like seven-day work
weeks or being locked into my workplace for 12 hour shifts.

4. I believe terrorists are entitled to trial in American courts. They should also be entitled to ACLU lawyers, who can help intimidate the Americans who serve on those juries.
I can't believe anyone would be intimidated by an ACLU lawyer. If the terrorists have any sense, they'll hire someone like Alan Dershowitz- he managed to get Von Bulow and OJ off. We have the best justice money can buy.

5. Gay marriage should be allowed and will probably give us better children as a result.
If two people can provide a loving, secure home for a child, why in the world does anyone care what they have in their pants? Whose BUSINESS is it what happens in a bedroom? Where does it stop? Remember several states have laws on their books already that tell you what kinds of sex you cannot perform in your bedroom already!

6. English should not be the primary language in the United States.
As absolutely sick as I am of pushing 1 for English, I think legislating it makes as much sense as anti-flag burning laws do.

7. Partial birth abortion is okay.......but water boarding a terrorist is disgusting.
Read me clearly here, a woman’s body is her own! You have no right to tell her what to do with anything pertaining to her body!!! What is next? Telling a woman in her 20’s she can’t get her tubes tied to protect any further children she may make??? Abortion is not a big issue for me, nor do I condone torture. It strikes me as ironic that those who profess to be so concerned with the rights of the unborn and the sanctity of human life often have no problem with torture or the death penalty. I am surprised you don't want to mention embryonic stem cell research here. I understand how important it is to respect the sacrosanct of a mass of biologic goo that might possibly become a human rather than help someone actually alive now.

8. Free government healthcare.......drug companies, doctors, nurses and hospitals will gladly donate their time and facilities.
I don't expect free anything. I just don't want to pay more than they do in other industrialized nations for my prescriptions. The pharmaceutical industry practically owns congress, so don't expect anything to change in our lifetimes. And they'll make sure you're kept safe from affordable, potentially dangerous drugs being re-imported into the country from barbaric lands like Canada.

9. I support trial lawyers, bogus lawsuits and outrageous jury verdicts.
Congress is mostly lawyers, and as long as they are making the rules there will be little in the way of reform. It's not in their self interest.

10. 9/11 was an inside job, so Bush could go to war for oil.
It wasn't an inside job. Bush and anyone else usually targeted by these conspiracy theories aren't competent enough to pull something like that off, much less keep it secret. Bush fabricated evidence of WMD's so he could go to war for oil in Iraq. The majority of red state morons think Saddam was directly connected to 9/11. They have no clue it's all about securing a strategic resource (but they'll scream bloody murder when they can't fill up their F-150.).

11. The red state 'inhabitants' are bitter, gun toting, religious zealots. Let's rid our country of guns AND religion!!
I'm willing to compromise on this one- the guns can stay. However, if I have to give up my rifle to get rid of those fundamentalist, Jesus loving, NASCAR-watching, pickup truck driving members of the intelligentsia, I'll make that sacrifice. Every time someone says we have freedom of religion in this country always preface that statement with an “I’m a Christian”. Right, you have freedom of religion in this country, free to be a Christian! For now.

12. All illegal aliens should not only have the same rights as our citizens, but additional rights Americans do not have, as well.
Rich republicans want illegal aliens here just as much as the liberals do. They are an unbeatable source of cheap labor.

13. Corporations should pay higher taxes. After all, won't that make the price of their products LESS expensive?
I would settle for them actually paying the taxes already imposed on them.

14. Groups like ACORN who register felons, druggies, wino's, drifters, illegal aliens, dead folk, children and Disney characters, make my vote count more.
If there was fraud involved, it needs to be investigated and the guilty can do their time. The sad part is I think it was completely unnecessary; if Obama can resist making any gaffes like yelling "Who let the dogs out, woof woof" then it's in the bag. Incidentally, Republicans have been known to practice some pretty unscrupulous tactics of their own these last few elections. They worked pretty well on McCain in 2000.

15. Celebrating 'winter holiday' definitely shows compassion for the SMALL MINORITY, that doesn’t celebrate Christmas.
Speaking as a member of that minority that doesn't identify as Christian, I don't give a hoot what you call it. I am getting to loath the hellish Season of Peace. Just remember, the percentage of Christians in the US has been steadily declining, and it has been projected that by 2042 they will no longer be the majority. Maybe then we can get away with calling it
something more appropriate, like JC Penney's Day. Have you guys read the article about how Wicca is becoming the fastest moving faith in the country? Every 30 months or so we get a big member boost!! So keep shoving your Christianity, it works really good for Coven membership!

16. Bush caused Katrina and blew up the levies which flooded the ninth ward.
The citizens of New Orleans were ultimately responsible for their own safety; but unfortunately they were pretty lethargic (they have enough difficulty just getting out of bed to pee in the morning.) Too many of the ones that did get away have become a crime problem in the places they have relocated to. Having said that, I thought it was disgraceful that our
government probably provided better relief to the tsunami victims in Indonesia than to our own people.

17. When we turn tail and leave Iraq, the terrorists will then be happy and think of us as good people.
Are you willing to die for the 'freedom' of the South Vietnamese Iraqi people? We have invested over 4,000 lives there now. How many more do we spend and to what good end?

18. Our military is AIR RAIDING villages and purposely killing innocent people.
The innocent civilians are considered collateral damage and acceptable losses if we get enough bad guys in the body count. It tends to make the locals take a dim view of America though.

19. Freedom of speech is cool......as long as it doesn't OFFEND anyone. Can't we all just get along?
I don't know which I like the least- the liberal grammar Nazis who invented words like "chairperson", "Native American" and "economically disadvantaged"; or the right-wingnut wordsmiths who came up with "warfighter", "enhanced interrogation", and "out of the mainstream". I do know which group I consider more dangerous.

20. We need to rid ourselves of the dependence to foreign oil!!! But not by offshore drilling for oil and natural gas, drilling in Alaska, building nuclear power plants or clean coal!
If we started today, it would take about ten years for that oil to get to the market according to experts. We could do far more than what we are doing now (nothing) to develop alternate forms of energy. We can't drill our way out of this. One very simple and effective strategy to cut down on our foreign oil dependence is to just drive more fuel efficient vehicles, but the idea of giving up their hulking, gas-guzzling McMansions of the open road is unacceptable to many Americans. As for Coal being clean, ask anyone who spends time in the rural areas of Pennsylvania (they still use coal furnaces) how clean coal is. Pittsburgh used to be under a cloud of black smoke and the buildings were an unrecognizable color as the coal smoke got into everything.

21. Finally, when the good Reverend Wright said 'Goddamn America' and our 'chickens are coming home to roost'...........don't we need to make those chickens a comfortable nest?!?
If I was held responsible for the conduct of all the people I was friends with over the course of my life, I would spend the rest of my days in the graybar hotel. Besides, Rev Wright isn't running for President and the returning chickens have already nested in the trade towers.

So why are YOU voting Democrat?
There are only two people in the election with any realistic chance of winning. One is a patriotic veteran with experience in government; the other is a smart guy. In the current situation, I have to go with the smart one.
As far as I am concerned, the Republicans have become the American Taliban. The party has been hijacked by evangelical kooks who really believe that the Earth is only 5,000 years old, that what the Bible says is literally true, and that we are winning the War on Drugs.
McCain is an old guy- he could stick his spoon in the wall at any time.
Then you'll have a half-baked-Alaskan in the Oval Office. President Palin-do you like the sound of that?

Feel free to email that rebuttal to all McPain supporters!!!!!!!

Way to go General Powell!

2008-10-20T14:18:00.003-04:00

Thank you for picking Barack Obama for President.
Irregardless of what those mental giants like Rush Limbaugh and McCain have to say about him.
General Powell was wise enough to get out of the Bush White House when he saw was a clusterfuck was going on in the Oval Office.

At one time, everyone loved General Powell for his honesty and his integrity. Now he is "making a huge mistake." I guess now that he isn't agreeing with the right side of the senate, that is why he is making a mistake.
Why? The man obviously sees that McCain won't make the proper president that this country needs. General Powell didn't exactly pull this out of his back pocket. He weighed the decision for months.
Powell had been contemplating — and planning — his move for months. Though a declared Republican since his near-run for the White House in 1996, and an occasional speaker at Republican events, Powell has never been blindly or even particularly partisan. He spent the year watching the race closely, issuing a quiet warning here or there in speeches or in interviews when he saw the race (and, more specifically, the GOP) go in directions he didn't like. Many of these little alarms went unnoticed, but foretold a change in his preferences. In those moments, close observers knew, Powell was laying the predicate for a possible out-of-the-GOP endorsement later in the year. As the fall approached and Powell began to prepare his endorsement, he had long eyed late October as the best moment to strike: he wanted to wait until after the debates were over before offering his considered assessment. - Time

I guess this is one veteran who won't be voting for McCain!

The Hulu link

2008-10-20T13:27:00.002-04:00

It seems I either forgot to put the link in or it didn't save completely.
SO here is the Hulu link, remember to hover your mouse over the video and hit the first dot to go directly to that section of film.

So here it is, live from downtown Wasilla, Alaska, Sarah Palin's constituents!
HULU

Racism? Not in Dixie!

2008-10-17T20:56:00.008-04:00

I could go into great detail on the Presidential debate on Wednesday; Obama won that one I think.
I would love to see if Sen. McCain ever finished the drawing of Tippy the Turtle on his notepad.
Every time Obama started speaking McCain would whip out his black marker and started drawing again.

I never want to hear again that people in the south are racists. Red necks, racists, the "Get'er done" crowd are not confined to the South as you will see int eh Al Jazeera videos.

I saw some interviews tonight online. Some of the people interviewed by (of all people) Al Jazeera TV in Pennsylvania, Ohio and The Daily show in Wasilla, Alaska, (OMG, the guy in the bear tee shirt scared the hell out of me!!!) were complete racists! The Wasilla guy I am talking about with the grizzly bear tee shirt can be seen on this bit on Hulu, hover your mouse over the screen and click the first dot on the bottom of the screen. (I wrote that for those who have no idea what Hulu is) Clicking the dot will get you past the first commercial break right into the segment with Wasilla. Spoooooky.
They had no idea they were speaking to Al Jazeera and the idiocy they were speaking about Obama and terrorists was astounding.
One guy while holding his kid said Palin was full of the Holy Spirit and she will bring morality to the White House. Um, hey there chuckles but have you noticed her version of morality is having an unwed pregnant daughter? Isn't that against your beliefs there?
You do not have to believe me. See the Al Jazeera bit here.

I still find it amazing how much McCain tells America that he is "Proud of Governor Palin". Dude, you are to be proud to be an American or proud that your daughter won the Dressage Freestyle Final title, but you do not tell people you are proud of your running mate! Is she your niece or something? Are you going to dandle her on your knee in the Oval Office...OK that was too much for even my mind to handle.

Here is a tip for people debating an opponent, please look people in the eye when speaking with them. It is common courtesy. Obama looked at you and never smirked at you or your comments like you did to him. I guess you learned nothing from the September debate. You were criticized for your stiff almost confrontation stance. Body language says a lot without you ever opening your mouth. I know a bit about body language. I learned how to manage my body to hide emotions and to really do well in job interviews. Your body language showed you didn't want to be in the same room as Obama let alone talk to him. You were as insulting to Obama as you were to Ron Paul.

I don't think you would make a good leader and I think your ideas of finance reform will bankrupt the country again.
Truthfully, I have no idea why Lee's tax dollars should bail out a group of people who lived well beyond their means and didn't read the fine print on their mortgage contracts. If I can't afford to make my car payments should I force someone else to pay for it? No!
I run my family on a budget. It is why we can take a vacation and get a few things to indulge ourselves. If some months we can't meet the budget, then we can't get those indulges, we don't whip out the credit cards for it! That would be another burden on the budget.
I am not the sharpest knife in the drawer when it comes to finance math. Oh, give me a geometry problem and I can figure the answer in my head, but the whole bail out and the fiscal crap the banks have gotten themselves into just gives me a headache. BUT, I can still put a budget book together for my family, why can't everyone else???

One request, no more Joe the Plumber, for the sake of all you hold holy, please no more Joe the frikkin plumber!!! Do Joe Camel or Joe Blow, but no more Joe the Plumber.
I guess McCain's handlers should have investigated old Joe before holding him up as your ideal American, huh? Doesn't pay taxes, no certification as a plumber, I bet Joe wishes McCain never heard of him now. One belief I have always held dear is this, if you do not vote you have to keep your damn mouth shut about politics. You have the ability with a mark of a pen to show your opinion, if you don't vote, you don't get an opinion. Old Joe the Plumber here isn't even registered to vote!!!

These people astound me!
Truthfully though, I am frightened for Obama. I am voting for him against both of my family's wishes. My brother loves McCain because he was a POW, my M-I-L is voting for McCain because Obama is black...and a democrat, but he is black too!

Totally astounding!

Charleston County Recycling Program

2008-10-13T12:30:00.006-04:00

It shames me to see how Charleston County conducts its recycling program.

When I lived in Wilmington, NC I would gather all my recyclables and have them washed, sorted and drove them to the recycling center.
There the bins were marked and separated into different types of recyclable materials.
I lived in the county and the trucks didn't do the recycling out our way. We had to go get the bins and bring the stuff into the recycling center.

I had my junk mail, newspapers and such all tied up and ready for the bin. Food boxes were broken down and went into the cardboard bin. My green glass bottles were put in a separate bin than the clear and all my #2 plastics went into its bin separate from the #7 plastics.
My aluminum cans were crushed and put into that can. They even had a special small drum for household batteries. Steel veggie cans were flattened and put in the bins too.
I always took my magazines out to my doctors office! He really needed help updating his office's mags!!

Now, imagine my surprise when I went to the Bees Ferry Recycling Convenience Center (One thing, GET A BIGGER SIGN!). I took the car right up to a huge dumpster. I get out to read where to put what and I swear to you, the dumpster said "All plastics, glass, steel and aluminum can in this dumpster only". Then there was another dumpster for cardboard and paper. There was no place to put household batteries.

This is what you call recycling?
Are those folk that I saw standing, smoking and joking with one another in Charleston County uniforms going to sort that out for the real recycling people?
I wanted to pick up a few bins for my own use for recycling but after what I saw I figured they are just going to put all of this stuff in the landfill anyway (there is no way they will sort it all out) so what is the point?
In the marked for everything but bricks and wood guess what we saw?
Bricks, blocks and wood!
I know how hard it must have been for those overworked County employees not to have seen someone drop those stones and bricks in the recycling bins.
I dumped the bags we brought into the properly marked bin ad I felt that after all the work we did washing juice bottles, Summer's Beneful dog food containers and spinach cans that it wasn't worth it.
I failed Mother Nature somehow and I was upset all week.
I looked at the recycling bins anyway just because I am stubborn and the ones they had were filthy. There was no way I was putting those in my car.
Perhaps the people there at Bees Ferry should stop jaw jacking and actually do some work like wash the tubs or help drivers who ask where to put the recyclables with proper directions.

If this is what Charleston County calls a recycling program then the county has a lot to learn.

Shame on you for the shabby bins, "convenience centers" and lousy attitude of your workers. Shame on you.

I am still saving Summer's Beneful dog food containers and lids, does anyone need any? Daycare centers? Crafters? Mothers?Anyone?

Church and State Cartoons

2008-10-07T11:04:00.003-04:00

The hell they don't dislike women. I had a priest tell me it was my duty to stay in a marriage where I confessed to being abused! He said he would talk to my husband and straighten everything out. I guess he had no idea on the psychology of abusers. The very idea that I had disobeyed and told someone of my treatment would have been worse for me! So don't tell me they don't hate women!!!

Sanctimonious bunch aren't they?

Isn't it time to get the religion, any religion out of politics?
We are making the future generations dumber by not teaching science, not teaching correct ancient histories. Let the youth learn then let them make up their own minds to their particular path when they are of an age to understand.
Of course with President Bush, that time hasn't come yet.

Some animals in Charleston

2008-10-06T15:56:00.003-04:00

This cat is just living the life of Riley. Too good to be bothered by those crazy people taking its picture.

Pretty self evident here. ADT is just back up to these boys!

If you look close, you will see a beagle where the red circle is. This little guy either has an inferiority complex OR he has a ego as big as the guys who step over him all of the time. The Dane's probably don't even see him when they walk. I know the feeling. I have a tall husband.

Downtown was beautiful this past weekend. Mt Pleasant was looking good too as I went to the Intergalactic Bead Show at the Omar Temple this Saturday. I noticed that only half of the regular vendors was there. Even the Fire Goddess herself was absent.
I heard from some of the vendors that gas prices has stopped a few of the smaller vendors from coming. The place was full of gemstone beads. They are not normally my forte. I prefer crystals, Czech pressed beads and unique lamp work. I bought some Bali silver spacers. Silver is still a good price and I made a haul on them. I bought a few lamp work pieces and got some lovely copper leaves. I also stretched the budget for a rose gold electroplated Oak leaf.

I took 2 classes for fun and learned a new technique and got several hints on wire wrapping.
My idea of making rings is to actually find a beautiful crystal or bead and buy a mounting for it and then mount them together. Now I learned to make my own mountings for just regular beads. Pretty cool although I wouldn't wear a ring that stuck that far off of my finger. I bang my hands too much.

So with Lee walking a few miles downtown and me in Mt Pleasant, our weekend was peaceful. I hope all y'all's was as well!
Now where is my torch....

Where is the loose screw?

2008-10-01T23:04:00.003-04:00

While doing some research for a friend of mine on Barbie Dolls I came across this Sarah Palin Barbie doll not by Mattel but by OOAK.

I was wondering with the list of things that came with this doll and stand, podium, Alaska state seal, microphone, stage, 2 US flags, 3 floral arrangements and a nice backdrop portrait.

Where is the folder of her ex-brother-in-law's employment records when he was a state trooper or the fistful of cash from Citicorp, Goldman Sachs, Meryl Lynch et al and most importantly where is the screw that we all know is loose on this woman?

I really feel her doll should reflect the truth.

The Prodigal Son

2008-10-01T00:39:00.001-04:00

On to the Senate!

2008-09-25T15:00:00.004-04:00

Due to the hard work of the American Pain Foundation, we have pushed a National Pain Care Policy Act of 2008 (HR 2994) through the House of Representatives yesterday and they passed it!!!

Thank you to all of my friends and family who have sent emails and such to their congressmen! You all deserve a pat on the back!

Now onto the senate. Where, I really think no matter how many emails my friends and fellow pain sufferers send, letters set, phone calls and the petitioning of the APF the senate won't pass it.
I got a lovely letter of "understanding" from Lindsay Graham's office and a rather odd email from Senator DeMint! When I black out my address on it I will scan the letter and upload it!! A full page to say absolutely nothing! I am not giving up until this bill passes.

National Pain Care Policy Act of 2008 (HR 2994), the bill's summary can be read here at the APF website.

The background of the bill is this:
On September 17, the House Energy and Commerce Committee approved a modified version of the National Pain Care Policy Act of 2008, HR 2994, sponsored by Lois Capps (D-CA) and Mike Rogers (R-MI). The bill authorizes an Institute of Medicine (IOM) conference on pain care, creates an interagency coordinating committee charged with identifying critical gaps in research and expanding collaborative pain research across federal agencies and the private sector and provides for a grant program to improve health professionals' understanding and ability to assess and treat pain. The measure also requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to develop and implement a national outreach and awareness campaign to educate patients and caregivers on the significance of pain as a public health problem. Fifty-four (54) organizations signed on a letter of support for the bill which was sent to Members of Congress in advance of the Committee's action. The measure will now be considered by the full House and, if approved, will move to the Senate.

A Senate companion measure, S 3387, was introduced by Senators Orin Hatch (R-UT) and Christopher Dodd (D-CT) prior to the August recess.

I have said it before and I will say it again, while anti-drug programs and people who have no idea what living with daily pain is like make the rules and laws, those of us who have the pain must pay the price for their ignorance and fear.
Chronic pain sufferers are not drug abusers. We just want to feel better. We do not sell our drugs because we need them so desperately. We are not people who go to the street corner to get our drugs. We want to be able to have sensible law enforcement that will not arrest us for getting a prescription filled. We want to be able to go into a drug store with a prescription and not fear being arrested because someone else judges us to be abusers.

You do not have to be a person in pain to help to push this bill through. There are links on the APF website that will take you to the offices of our senators to send them letter or emails.
The APF even wrote the letter for you if you do not want to think up a missive of your own.
Please help us get the message through to the senate that this needs passed.

STOP BEING SUCKERS!!!!

2008-09-25T13:30:00.005-04:00

Anyone who really thinks McCain canceled the debate because he had to work on the economy is a sucker!
He doesn't want to debate until his speech writers makes sure McCain can open his mouth without referring to the Hanoi Hilton!

He isn't being statesmanly, he isn't looking like a leader. When the issues are put before you to have "intelligent" debate you don't put your tail between your legs and make up excuses.

To those of you reading this and have sent me pictures of Palin holding a dead elk or moose with her rifle and her kid next to her or photoshopped pictures of Obama shining Palin's shoes are funny to me. I think them the height of distaste and it also shows me how low the followers of Mc-Pain are willing to stoop.

The scandal that tells you all you need to know about McCain and Palin

2008-09-24T10:38:00.001-04:00

Big Oil decided to buy the Presidency Article dated 09/19/2008 written by Johann Hari
	Is it possible to empty a presidential election of all political content? The economy is crashing, the climate is unravelling, Iraq and Afghanistan are haemorraghing – and the debate in the mainstream US media about who should be the most powerful man in the world was fixated for weeks on burbling trivia. Barack Obama called Sarah Palin a pig! (No, he didn't.) Obama wanted to tell toddlers about sex! (No, he wanted to warn them about paedophiles). The critics of Palin are sexist! (McCain voted against the Equal Pay Act. That's sexism.) Can the collapse of Lehman Brothers ram a rare taste of reality into the campaign? The facts are plain. John McCain enthusiastically backed every one of George Bush's moves to deregulate the banks and the mortgage industry that caused this collapse, while Barack Obama opposed them. This isn't just a credit crunch; it's a conservatism crunch. The right got their dream of a totally unregulated "shadow" banking sector – and it swiftly imploded, bringing the world economy down with it. Yet McCain's indignant promises to "close this casino" are being reported straight, without even bothering to look at this record – or noticing that he is cashing cheques from Wall Street lobbyists as fast as they can be written. They know their man: McCain's mantra even after this collapse began was: "I am always for less regulation." Indeed, McCain's current adverts saying he will not let the "recklessness" that led to Lehman Brothers' demise happen again are in part funded by left-over donations from... Lehman Brothers. McCain knows his stances on the economy and foreign policy are opposed by 80 per cent of the population as barely-trimmed Bush. So he needs to toss up a confetti of distraction-issues instead – and Palin was the biggest distraction of all. This attempt to run down the clock was working with slick efficiency until the stock exchange's opening bell started to sound like a death-knell. He is gathering fistfuls more of confetti as we speak. The best key to unlocking these tactics may lie in a story that might seem at first glance a yellowing old scandal, but it is actually as fresh as tomorrow's Google News. By 1920, the oil age had revved into first gear. Cars were being bought all over America, so the petrol price was at an all-time high. The bosses of Big Oil were desperate for new oilfields – and there was one in particular they coveted. In Wyoming, there was a vast oilfield called the Teapot Dome reserve, shaped like a teapot and containing more oil than the whole of California. But the oilmen were shut out: it had been set aside to supply the navy with oil if there was ever a national emergency. So Big Oil thought of a solution. They decided to buy the presidency. A consortium led by Jake Hamon – a JR Ewing for the Jazz Age – started to buy the delegates to the 1920 Republican Convention with brown-envelope bribes, one by one. Once they owned a hefty block, they approached the initial front-runner – General Leonard Wood – and said they would make him the Republican nominee if in return he promised to make Hamon Secretary of the Interior – and therefore boss of Teapot Dome. Wood yelled: "I am an American soldier. I'll be damned if I'll betray my country! Get the hell out of here." So Big Oil picked a different candidate instead: an obscure, bumbling Senator called Warren G Harding, who had been a 40-1 shot at the start of the convention. He had barely been out of Ohio and had only fuzzy ideas about politics – but he could be marketed as Mr Normal, the 1920s equivalent of a hockey mom. Big Oil lavishly funded a PR campaign selling him to ordinary Americans as One of You. He was pictured at baseball games eating hot dogs with his sweet family – while his opponent was presented as arid and "elitist". As soon as he won, Harding began the payback to the real elite. Teapot Dome was handed over to Big Oil. He even sent in the marines to clear the land. Eventually, the scandal broke, and Harding only stayed ahead of the investigators by dying. There's a consequential coda to this story. Not long after the scandal, Big Oil shifted tactics – but only by a few inches. They decided that instead of under-the-table bribes, they would start giving "campaign donations". This time, they would give to all sides, Democrat or Republican, and they would make their demands through "lobbyists." A scandal suddenly turned into standard practice: almost the entire American political class became an oil-igarchy. The other big interests – especially Wall Street – followed close behind with an open cheque-book. Until now. Barack Obama is the first major presidential candidate since Teapot Dome to refuse to take money from Big Oil or lobbyists, with 93 percent of his funding coming from small donors giving $200 or less. Every other leading candidate (even Al Gore) took their cash and saw the world through the bottom of an oil-barrel. Not him. Most of the recent disasters of US policy are due not to the will of its unfairly-maligned people, but to this oil-slick over Capitol Hill. What has been the price of Big Oil owning American politicians? The US government has vandalised all attempts to stop global warming, even censoring its own scientists' reports. It invaded Iraq, killing hundreds of thousands of people because, as Dick Cheney put it in 1990: "We're there because... that part of the world controls the world supply of oil." And it fawns over the House of Saud, which exports a toxic brand of Wahhabism – all the way to the Twin Towers. What has been the cost of Big Banks owning American politicians? Watch the front pages for daily updates. Obama offers a rare chance to begin to dismantle the petrol pump and the Wall Street cash-dispenser in the Oval Office. Yes, he would still have to work with an oil-and-bank-funded Congress, but public interest would at least be able to get a few lungfuls of air. Yet the people who brought us Warren Harding and George Bush are now expertly packaging McCain-Palin as defenders of Main Street – and they are outspending Obama's small donors for the first time. They are even paying for adverts which claim McCain and Palin "stand up to Big Oil". True, McCain did once flirt with campaign finance reform, but only after being caught taking money from a fraudster and in return lobbying on his behalf. Today, he's back to his gut instincts, with the Republican convention breaking into a chant of "drill, baby, drill!" led by McCain's men, and the delegates whooping and hollering for the men who caused this deregulation-crash. He is even committed to giving his Big Oil donors a $4bn tax cut – at a time of record profits. Jake Hamon couldn't have asked for more – and he would be delighted to see us revert to distraction-blather about Palin's cute kids and her ability to shoot moose for the next 50 days. Unless Obama and his army of citizen-donors can break through this wall of white noise, it would appear we all live in Teapot Dome now.

Nothing more needs be said here...

2008-09-24T10:21:00.000-04:00

Blessed Mabon to Y'all!

2008-09-22T08:59:00.002-04:00

Two days a year, the Northern and Southern hemispheres receive the same amount of sunlight. Not only that, each receives the same amount of light as they do dark -- this is because the earth is tilted at a right angle to the sun, and the sun is directly over the equator. In Latin, the word equinox translates to "equal night."
The autumn equinox takes place on or near September 21, and its spring counterpart falls around March 21. If you're in the Northern hemisphere, the days will begin getting shorter after the autumn equinox and the nights will grow longer -- in the Southern hemisphere, the reverse is true.

The Harvest Moon this month was glorious as I watched her sail over my head and realized that more than just another full Moon had taken place, I could really feel the Wheel of the Year turning.
Charleston isn't as hot or humid as it has been this month past. I actually felt a chill in my arms as I watched the Harvest Moon sink to the other side of the sky...yes, I was up late again.

Today, as I prepare for another Mabon and decorate my apartment with the signs of the harvest, I wonder how I have lived to see so many of these seasons pass.
With the same gratitude the farmers feel for the second harvest of the year I too feel thankful for yet another year spent in relative comfort and with a man who loves me so.
Sure, I have had my setbacks, but they have been shadows of a life well spent and as we all know, there is no light without dark. No colors without shadows.

The harvest is a time of thanks, and also a time of balance -- after all, there are equal hours of daylight and darkness. While we celebrate the gifts of the earth, we also accept that the soil is dying. We have food to eat, but the crops are brown and going dormant. Warmth is behind us, cold lies ahead.

Some symbols of Mabon include:

Mid-autumn vegetables, like squashes and gourds
Apples and anything made from them, such as cider or pies
Seeds and seed pods
Baskets, symbolizing the gathering of crops
Sickles and scythes
Grapes, vines, wine

I hope that you take a moment today to stop in your yards or parking lots and feel the difference in the air. Fall has come to the Lowcountry, indeed to all of the Northern Hemisphere.
Grab a pumpkin or some grapes on your way home from work and honor those who worked so hard bringing that bounty to your table.

It is time I spoke on Bicyclists

2008-09-20T03:07:00.003-04:00

This will make me persona-non-grata at all future blogging events and get togethers but I have to say my piece on this.
My hubby was attacked on his blog when he spoke his piece about cyclists. He dropped the blog when all of the mental geniuses thought it was OK to use profanity and small minded witticisms to attack his views, which were very honest in my opinion.

I won't drop my blog because I say what the hell I want here. If you don't like it stop reading it but this is where I have my say.

One night this week, I went to the grocery store not very far from where I live. It was dark when I was coming home and I tend to be a bit slower at night because being a seasoned driver I know the unexpected can and will happen in a residential neighborhood.

If you know about the West Ashley area near Orange Grove and Ashley Hall Rd you will notice coming down Orange Grove that there is a very quick turn from Orange Grove onto Ashley Hall and then into my apartment complex. I mean it is such a small turn that you have your left signal on to turn from one road onto the another and you just start making your turn when you need to put your right signal on to pull into this complex. Just as I put the right signal on and was making my turn a guy dressed in dark clothes ON A BIKE whipped through the intersection. He was on the sidewalk one second and then in front of my car the next. I was fortunate in that I saw the movement and reacted to it...I am also fortunate that the person behind me saw me slam on my brakes or he would have rear ended me!
The cyclist was INCHES from my bumper. I was starting to accelerate at the same time as well so I know if I didn't stop he would have been under my car.

Then the odd thing was he never stopped, he wasn't phased in the world that he came so close to oblivion. He looked over his shoulder and then drove on.
He had no idea how upset I have been for the past day and a half over his stupidity.
I do not know if I would have been able to live with myself if I caused the death of a person. But Jesus tap dancing Christ put some reflective tape on your clothes if you are going to pull crap like that!!!

You cyclists are always screaming for us to share the road, well, why don't you act like you deserve the right to be on the road.
Do you think a car would have driven like that?
Do you notice that cars have their lights on in the darkness?
Do you notice that our cars we have reflectors all over the place so oncoming traffic can see us?

This is not an isolated incident either. I have had this happen to me before. This was just the first time it nearly turned into a death.

I was shaking in Lee's arms when I got home, white as a sheet and as he tried to calm me down I wanted to go back out and find the idiot and smack him upside his head for endangering not only his life but mine as well.
Charlestonians are really nice drivers. Put your signal on and they will let you in, but be a half a second late getting through a green light and watch out for your bumper! Like I said earlier, the big SUV behind me was paying attention and saw me slam on my brakes. If he hadn't, I would have bee rear ended up on the sidewalk that the idiot just cycled off of.

I have seen cyclists around here with talking on the phone while riding and not watching how they were swerving in the traffic. I saw a cyclist run into a car because he was messing with something in his hand, when I asked my neighbor she said he was messing with his iPod.
Since living here with the populace being mostly the immigrant help for Kiawah or Charleston Art Institute students I have had to clean bicycle tire prints off of the drivers door of our car. The sidewalk ends at the parking lot and we have a handicap spot right by the sidewalk.
We are fortunate that our doors are flexible.

So go ahead and flame this post all you want. I stand my ground. You do not belong on the same roadway that cars are on. Period.
Our cars can kill you no matter how many hats you put on. Cycling at night without any reflective gear has got to be the dumbest thing I ever, EVER heard of and I lived in WV for a few years.

My blog is ready to recieve your insights on why I am wrong.

Nothing more needs be said...

2008-09-16T15:01:00.003-04:00

Remember how old McCain is, remember he has had a brush with cancer already. Palin might be president during McCain's reign, er, I mean presidency.
McCain's only, ONLY platform is he was a POW and that drilling offshore is the answer to our oil consumption problem.
Does anyone know how long it takes to build an offshore drilling rig? A jack up rig can take 2-3 years and a semi 3-4 years. How long will it be before the oil is brought to the surface and then refined into gasoline? Who is going to pay for these rigs?
This is not an immediate answer to the country's oil teat!
But all you hear is "DRILL NOW!" from the rabid McCain/Palin supporters. Yes, drill now and you might get some gas from the rigs in 2020! Hooray!

Idiots.

To all my fellow MST3K fans!

2008-09-15T23:09:00.001-04:00

View the complete RIFFTRAX LIVE! riffs PLAN NINE FROM OUTER SPACE tour schedule

Jealous? Yes I can feel it in you!

2008-09-11T20:57:00.007-04:00

In this, I am speaking of any Tolkien enthusiasts out there who did not get the birthday gifts I received on the 9th of September!

I got as a gift from my big bro and the guy who owned the the first Tolkien books I ever read, the 1193 page "Illustrated Lord Of the Rings". Illustrated by Alan Lee.
Jealous? Yes, I thought so.
When I opened the box I just couldn't believe it. Lee came over to see and I yanked the book away from him as he had just turned on the deep fryer and I thought his hands had oil on them. *GASP* He teased me that I was going to wear white gloves to read the book, but no I won't do that, but it sure is tempting to treat this particular book with respect. It is a cloth and leather book with a red ribbon marker and gold embossed with Tolkien's initials (see the image here) and the original sketch of The Eye of Sorrow from the first edition of Lord of the Rings. Sorry I can't find an image of that right now.

Also, I received a book that was hard to get. It was either out of print or it was waiting to be printed I don't know but "Treason of Isengard" was given to me by my best friend from Philadelphia along with "Unfinished Tales".

Oh yes, I feel the jealousy! Bwahahahahahaha!

You may ask, "Are you one of those freaks who goes to the conventions, wears the outfits and talk in Quenya?"
No, I am not. I wouldn't mind being able to speak in Quenya but I could never get my tongue wrapped around the Scandinavian vowels. (For a sample, I think Kate Blanchette is speaking it in the beginning of the first movie) Truthfully a lot of my clothes already look like those worn by Arwen and Eo'wyn in the movies, but Iwas wearing those before the movies ever came out, so there!

I enjoy the books for many reasons. Everything you need in a good action and fantasy is all there. A protagonist, the hero, the good guys, the bad. The one that desires power above all things and actually thinks he has the main bad guy fooled into believing he isn't after his job as well.
The thing with this story is it has been fought for generations of the characters lives.
Most books have no history. They may have a preceding book involving the same characters, but there is no history.
LOTR have thousands of years of history.
JRR Tolkien set out to write a mythology for Great Britain. He felt, and indeed it is true, that any mythology Great Britain might have had died with the Norman Invasion in 1066. After that, a melange of other myths were told to represent Britain's mythology. Even the tale of King Arthur had its basis in France.
Professor Tolkien felt that had he started earlier he could have made an epic history for Great Britain, what he didn't realize is he did that already with "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of The Rings". What is an epic saga if not one that makes you think of great heroes facing great evils?
Beowulf facing Grendel, Perseus vs the Gorgon and so on.

There are 12 books that are called "The History of Middle Earth". In these books lie the history of the Lord of the Rings. The story of Elendil and Isildur (Ancestors of Aragorn) and how they fought Sauron in the Battle of Dagorlad giving Isildur possession of the One Ring. These books also tell you the story of the Numenoreans and about the elves.
Like did you know that Galadriel is actually Arwen's grandmother?
Shocker there huh? Nice to be an elf really, you are born beautiful, slim and tall and you never age past a certain point. You can be killed but are immortal as long as you don't go looking for trouble.
In the books of Middle Earth history you can learn more about Celeborn and Galadriel, Beren and Luthien and others.

So for someone like me, having these books is a true gift. I will read something in Simarillion or The Hobbit and think to myself, "Now where does that come from I wonder." and break out my Complete Guide to Middle Earth book and look up what book I will find more about whatever it was I was wondering about. Of course, I could look up these things online. I am sure there are many Hobbits out there like myself who have history websites and Wiki has the information as well. But I prefer a book in my hands and read my own interpretations into the history and not have it interpreted for me.

You are not the only one to poke fun at me as do it myself. I realize I am a bookworm and geek.
I grew up as a Hobbit.
As I said, my brother gave me my love for the books, and by my brother's chair will be a pile of books he is in the process of reading. I come from a line of ale drinkers, pipeweed smokers (although for the most part it was just Borkum Riff or cigarettes) and food lovers. It is no shocker in my family home to have breakfast, second breakfast, 11-sies, luncheon, afternoon tea, dinner, supper and midnight snack! We love food and there is always plenty of it around. My 6'2" hubby goes with me back to my family home and he hits his head a lot at low door frames and low hanging lamps or fans very much like Gandalf does in the Fellowship of the Ring movie. We actually have a step down in the upstairs bathroom and he still ducks his head in the shower!
Big Bro must work on getting himself a round door! As round as we all are it would make better sense.

So from this Charlestonian Hobbit (that must be around Mirkwood or somewhere) to George, Steph and Lee, "Thanks, for feeding the monkey on my back!" (I have no idea how that monkey fits up there with the beading monkey!)

Time to get a small pot of tea and one of my books and head to the couch for a "spell".

This Saturday, my birthday part 2 begins!! Lee took the day off on the 9th, but he had to be available for work, but on Saturday, his phone will have a slight accident, in that it will be left home!!! We will be hitting downtown again after we break our fast at a favorite local restaurant and one who I may score a witch or two for my collection.
We are hitting the market and a favorite thirst quenching place for me (no booze for me on these expeditions), City Lights Coffee. No pretension just good drinks. So vendors of the Market beware...I am coming baaa-aaaack! I bought a beautiful pottery bowl for myself the last time.... and a watch.....and a tee shirt...... and a present for my sister-in-law's birthday, but other than that I kept to *cough* budget *cough*.

So if you are in downtown Charleston on Saturday stop me and say "Hey, you're that crazy hobbit chick arncha?" and I will say, "Yeppers that's me!"

With a hurricane on its way I have but one question...

2008-09-02T14:07:00.002-04:00

Where the hell is Jim Cantore?

Wherever he is that is where the hurricane will be.

He was in Wilmington, NC twice in 1996. Once for Hurricane Bertha the first week of July and again for Hurricane Fran which hit Sept 5 taking a similar track as Bertha and causing $3 billion in damage. Hurricane Fran was the strongest hurricane to direct hit the coast of NC since Hurricane Hazel in 1954.

So, someone find out where Jim Cantore will be!!!

In the meantime, we Lee is already in meetings for the hurricane. These people have no idea if he is in a meeting he can't get any of the work done! Plastic wrapping computers backing up servers, that can't be done in a conference room!

For myself, I suppose I will go out and get more batteries and another case of water. If the hurricane gets closer to us, I will fill the bathtubs up with water as well and bring in my plants. Fortunately I have plenty of candles and I will pick up some charcoal for the big grill out we will have if our deep freeze starts melting!

That is about all I can do in an apartment!

No matter what hits us, we will not behave as those people further south. I just know it.

A better President, I think would be.....

2008-08-28T19:11:00.001-04:00

Thank goodness for VSP!

2008-08-28T13:57:00.003-04:00

I went to the eye doctor today. I have been putting it off for a few reason, the main one being I KNOW how much my glasses cost.
My eyes are too bad these days for contacts. Oh, I could get them, but my first born male child isn't available at the moment for payment!

I hate the frames I have now. They are too small for my face but I bought them 4 years ago because they were covered by the insurance we had at the time. But I hate them.
I wanted to replace the lenses in my old frames but I cannot for the life of me find them!!!!!!!!!
SO I went just to look at frames while waiting for my eyes to dilate. I found the pair I wanted. The optician was kinda cringing at my love of larger rounder glasses. My right eye is -10.75 O.D & O.S. The left eye is -10.50 O.S. & O.S So the smaller the frame the thinner or better they can make the lenses.
Whatever.
The frames I picked were at the limit of what she considered safe for my script.
They really bad news in this is I was really hoping to get a pair of my favorite sunglasses in these lenses. But when I showed them to her, she said "No way." So, my beloved Ray Ban Wayfarers will not become prescription sunglasses, WAAAAAAAAAAAAA!
Being a contrarian, I am going to go over to Pearl Vision and see what they say! Bwahahahahaha.

Thanks to VSP a new insurance my hubby got this year, my frames were free and my lenses that should have cost $927.75 will only cost, $239.75 Big savings there.
Hubby founds frames he likes there as well. But they were out of the network so those are out of our pocket but still his glasses all total will be $124.
So you got to love vision insurance when you can get it!
In the meantime, I drove Lee to work cause he insisted on going with me. I got my eyes dilated but I was fine to do a few errands. But now I have a headache. I looked in the mirror and my pupils are just started to close back up!

I was going to lie down in a dark cool room for a bit but then the cacophony of the lawn service started and it is that time of year that Kiawah's staff start packing up for the trip back to Jamaica. They have been given these huge round cardboard tubs to pack their stuff in. Those keep getting drug along the steps leading to the upper apartments. Oh, and Summer thinks that is just a great thing to bark at!

Oh my head.

What the hell was with this headline in the P&C?

2008-08-23T19:47:00.003-04:00

Thursday, August 21, 2008 in the Business Section.
There is "news" that the SC Aquarium will be getting some warm weather Penguins from Africa.

That is nice and all but the headline read like this, "Feathered friends from off"

What the hell is that supposed to mean?
Where is the editor or the copy checker?
Am I missing something in this thought provoking headline?

And they wonder why so many people are tired of the paper. Maybe they are tired of the stupidity of the printed word?

Also in that business section was a farewell to some local restaurants. The only one in that list I will miss is the Backyard Grill here in WA.
There are so many restaurants in the downtown and surrounding areas that have what I call "snoot food". I certainly get sick of the overpriced, over-seasoned, undersized, over-priced and over priced menus around the Lowcountry.
S.N.O.B. (Slightly North of Broad), Fulton Five, High Cotton, Fig, Twizt, etc all have menus that are so out of the world who wants to eat things that rich AND have to pay for them!
I jokingly told Lee tonight that I bet you if you had a restaurant downtown (besides Jestine's) that served food like the Cracker Barrel but you gave it a fancy name you would have lines around the block.
I would think that restaurateurs would want repeat business and not to just cater to the once in a season tourist.

My nephew is a chef and a restaurant owner in Pennsylvania, He knows his clientèle's taste and he has people coming in every night. lots of food and a competitive price. His menus are simple with a dash of sophistication thrown in here and there for a bit of pizazz but nothing that will burn out your palate from the richness of the food. Everything is cooked fresh not reheated.

When Lee and I go out we like Queen Anne's Revenge, California Dreaming, Noisy Oyster or the Crab House. If we want a fun lunch it is TGIF's or Alex's in Mt Pleasant. We have a wider variety of places we like to eat breakfast at!

But I like to think we are what you see, simple people with simple tastes.

Those closing restaurants won't be missed by us, but I hope others who want those spaces pay heed to the locals who live here and not the rich blow through types.

The Soul Quiz

2008-08-23T15:19:00.003-04:00

Hmmm, nearly tied between Thinker and Hunter. Interesting combo.
Leader and Spiritualist is also a tie, as is Creator and Performer. Very odd quiz results.

The Soul Quiz
Thinker 19
Hunter 18
Caregiver 16
Leader 14
Creator 13
Performer 13
Helper 12
Spiritualist 14
Educator 6

Thinker
Most Thinker types are cerebral, skeptical individuals, who often discount their emotions or intuition in favor of rational analysis. This intellectual approach to life can cause some Thinkers to appear restrained and unemotional to those around them. When hurt, they have to analyze or rationalize what happened before allowing themselves to feel their emotions. Once the emotions kick in, however, Thinkers can feel things as deeply as any other soul type.

A love of books is one of the most common markers for this soul type. In fact, librarians are almost always Thinker types, as are most scientists, writers, and college professors. That doesn’t mean that every Thinker ends up in a library or university. They can find their place anywhere in the world, though they can always be recognized by their analytical approach to life.

If you’re a Thinker, academic learning should come naturally to you, as should writing. You might find it useful to carry a notebook with you to help analyze your thoughts as they come. You will enjoy good one-on-one conversation, as this allows you to process your thoughts through discussion and analysis. Your life will be a constant search for knowledge and understanding.

Hunter

As a Hunter, you have both feet firmly planted on the ground. You are goal-oriented and will see a task through to completion, working in an orderly manner. You have a strong practical streak and may sometimes forget to take time to stop and smell the flowers. A Hunter type might drive through an ugly industrial area rather than taking a picturesque country road, just to shave a couple of minutes off the journey. Your pragmatic nature might result in your home being more functional than decorative.

Thousands of years ago, the survival of the tribe would have depended on your ability to stay focused on your mission to track down and catch your prey. This trait remains in Hunter types and is what makes them excellent providers for their families.

Your logical approach to life sometimes makes it hard to access your emotional and intuitive self. Like some Hunter types, you may be suspicious of those who base their decisions on gut feelings or something other than plain facts.

Your loyalty to your family, friends, or co-workers is strong, as is your ability to organize others. You may be drawn to team sports or group activities, though you can work alone equally well. Solitary Hunters occupy offices throughout the corporate world, while small groups of them can be found scaling mountains or otherwise seeking adventure and the chance to prove themselves. If you want to see Hunters in a larger group, simply take a look at a football team or a platoon of soldiers.

Caregiver

The quintessential characteristic of a Caregiver type is the desire to take care of others. For this reason, Caregivers may be drawn to the long-term care of children or the elderly. Though some Caregivers find their need to nurture satisfied by raising a family, many others seek out work in such venues as schools, hospitals, and animal shelters. The long-term care of those with Alzheimer’s, autism, and mental illness often becomes the responsibility of Caregivers.

If you recognize yourself as a Caregiver, you may already have noticed the tendency to put others’ needs ahead of your own. This trait makes it essential that you go out of your way to take care of yourself as well as those around you. Remember that you’re no use to others if you’re not healthy or fit enough to help them.

You are loyal to the extreme, and you guard those who are entrusted to your care with your life. Fighting another person’s battles can be important if that individual is unable to stand up for themselves, though you should be cautious not to disempower those in your care by not allowing them to do things for themselves.

Your empathy allows you to understand nonverbal emotional signals. This ability will tell you when someone needs your help, and how best to assist them. It is common for Caregiver types to intuitively know what someone needs at any given time.

Leader

It would be hard to imagine you being anything but the leader in any group. In fact, taking any kind of subservient role may feel demeaning to you. As a Leader type, you have a natural air of authority, and a charisma that makes you stand out in a crowd. (Think how out of place Elvis might have appeared if he’d stood in the background playing saxophone instead of being the front man.)

You bring to this life an innate wisdom, which is why people will look to you for advice. You may sometimes make decisions on your own without thinking to involve others, and once you’ve made up your mind, you may be reluctant to change it. This may work in an emergency, but in other circumstances it can give the impression that you are arrogant or condescending.

It can be hard to find good role models, given the scarcity of Leader types, but you can always refer to history to see how individuals such as Alexander the Great and John F. Kennedy used their leadership skills. Not every Leader becomes a president, of course, and many end up in humbler circumstances. You can always recognize Leaders by their inner confidence and occasionally by their coterie of followers or assistants.

Creator

As the name suggests, Creators are drawn to creativity of all sorts. This includes conventional artistic pursuits such as photography or painting, and activities including dance, gardening, cooking, and playing music. Great artists like Michelangelo and van Gogh were Creator types, as are filmmakers like Steven Spielberg and entertainers from Barbra Streisand to Julia Child.

Without a creative outlet, Creators can become miserable, which is why, if this is your type, you will be drawn to express yourself creatively in anything you do. You have the ability to be original, and will use your imagination to find new or better ways to convey your ideas.

The sensitivity that is a mark of the Creator can be hard to manage in this harsh modern world. It does, however, give you an advantage when it comes to accessing the intuitive part of yourself. For this reason, many people who make their living as psychics are Creator types. The Creator trait of idealism allows you to see the good in others and the potential in people and situations. Focusing on the big picture will come naturally, though paying attention to details may not.

Performer

Performers are outgoing, charming people with a strong sense of fun. Because of their desire to communicate, they tend to be more talkative than many other soul types. If you are a Performer type, you’ll tend to be good with words and perhaps even show a dramatic flair when it comes to expressing yourself. You will generally feel comfortable being the focus of attention and may dress or behave in a way that attracts attention to you.

Your passionate nature and tendency to express strong emotions may make you appear a little volatile to more down-to-earth types. A caricature of this type would be an entertainer like Jim Carrey or Joan Rivers—both of whom share the Performer’s love of hamming it up.

More than any other type, the Performer needs the approval of others. You need to be told when you’ve done a good job. Speaking of jobs, you may find it unbearable to spend eight hours a day in a solitary cubicle—your need to connect with others is too strong. You may go out of the way to make your job fun or to entertain those around you just to keep things amusing.

Helper

You can find Helper types at the scene of an accident, behind the counter in a shop, or doing laborious work—such as garbage collection—jobs that others feel are beneath them. From fruit pickers in California to hospital staff in Boston, Helpers are everywhere.

Helper types have plenty of common sense, and a pragmatic approach to problems that ensures things get done. With their no-nonsense, roll-your-sleeves-up-and-get-the-job-done approach to life, Helpers keep the modern world rolling. Without them, our cities would grind to a halt, and the infrastructure of our societies would crumble.

If you’re a Helper type, it’s important to find something or someone you can devote yourself to. For that reason, dedication to a career, partner, family, or friends will come easily to you. You might even throw yourself behind a cause, like getting someone elected, or ensuring that a ballot measure gets passed.

As a Helper, you are unlikely to seek out a leadership role, since you’re probably happiest diligently working behind the scenes. Many Helpers will spend long years in the same job, proud to have never missed a day of work. On the downside, your soul’s desire to be of service can get you into trouble since it can be hard to say no, and you may become overwhelmed by all the tasks you take on.

When it comes to expressing emotions, you rarely allow yourself to get too carried away. Being stable and grounded means keeping a strong attachment to the Physical Plane and not being distracted by flights of fancy. Your purpose is not to change the world, but to keep it turning smoothly.

Spiritualist

What unites Spiritualists is a deeply held belief in a world beyond this one. You will have a desire to express your spirituality in some way, and may be drawn to religion or other spiritual practices. Many Spiritualists are highly intuitive, which is why you may have had psychic experiences in the past and why you will tend to use your sixth sense when it comes to decision making.

You have a great deal of compassion, and may feel a strong need to create a better world, or to help people make the best of their lives. Charities and nonprofits are places where you and other Spiritualists can express your soul’s desire to help others. Whatever work you choose, you must feel you have a higher purpose. It is not enough for a Spiritualist type to simply pick up a check at the end of the week. There has to be a feeling that someone has benefited from your efforts. That’s why many doctors and healers are Spiritualists.

Whether you know it or not, you frequently inspire others through your behavior. By expressing Spiritualist values such as compassion, fairness, honesty and altruism, you encourage others to live by these values—especially younger Spiritualists who will wish to emulate you.

Educator

Educators are drawn to teaching. If this is your soul type, you’ll have a gift for persuasion that can be used in a conventional setting, such as a classroom, or in a less traditional venue like the boardroom or an online discussion forum. Getting your point across is something that comes naturally to you.

Since education is your purpose, if you do end up in a classroom, you’ll have no problem with repetition—going over the same point until it sinks in, or teaching the same subject year after year. Whether it’s in a classroom or in a less formal setting, you may show remarkable patience when it comes to explaining your point. It is important for you to know you’re being understood. You may have a tendency to be long-winded or to adopt an air of superiority at times.

Most Educators have a desire to demonstrate what they know to others. There’s little point in having knowledge without having students to pass it on to, which is why you will generally be comfortable in front of a class or other groups of people, knowing you have much to offer. Family members make great students and may become a captive audience at times.

Much of what you know may come from reading and study, but you may also have natural insight into a subject, often accumulated over many lifetimes. Educators are comfortable in academic pursuits and enjoy acquiring knowledge, particularly through books.
You can learn more about your soul type and how it influences your soul’s age, mission, talents, and challenges in Ainslie MacLeod’s book, The Instruction: Living the Life Your Soul Intended.

Making an addition to the DST post...

2008-08-20T19:58:00.003-04:00

I decided to make this a new post edit because I realize that people do not go back over old post just because it has been edited or updated.

Morning people should be forced to just once (on their own body clock's schedule) be forced to attend a meeting at 1AM. Let's see how they can stay awake and be a "team player" when their body's are screaming for sleep. Lets see how damn perky you will be then!

That is how a night person feels every damn day that they must exist in a Morning Persons world.

You will say to me all you have to do is to go to bed early and then you will be ready for work the next day. Well, that is damn hard to do when going to bed early means trying to sleep in the daylight and telling your head to shut the hell up!
Then in the morning your brain is still sleeping while you are taking your shower or trying to drive to work.
My body wakes up with Lee every morning. Fortunately, I can stay in bed for a little bit. Lee always makes me a bit of breakfast, juice and a cup of tea. He leaves, or should I say zombies out the door by 9AM and I get up dress, make the bed and tidy the kitchen. I have to find something for my body to do that takes very little thinking (Go ahead and laugh but my brain is still tucked in bed at this time).
Lee comes in for lunch and we are both exhausted but starting to waken a bit.
Lee and I are more functional through the night hours. My head gets going around 5PM. I get more functional, that is the only way I can explain it. I enjoy music more, I retain more information from books in the evening. I do my best jewelry designs at night, I do my officer duties in the evening for my Guild Wars Clan.
In the softness of the evening is when I want to go out, shop, go to the pool, take a walk or take the dog to the park, anything. Lee would be more creative than he already is if he wasn't exhausted from working all day and being up since 7AM.
I can always have a bit of lay down if I get too bad, Lee insists on it me lying down but he cannot just come home for a nap because his hiney is dragging.

There is nothing we can do to change the corporate world we live in but we can change our attitudes on how we all function differently on this planet.
There isn't anything more horrid to a night person stuck in a morning person's world than hearing, "Someone is having a case of the Mondays!" said in Perk Factor 10.
About that time, visions of staples being shot into things they were not meant to be in drifts through my mind.

A little respect is all we ask.

Another post for today - Had to share this one

2008-08-20T11:19:00.005-04:00

A friend sent me this picture.
She said, "I know how much you hate to iron so I thought something like this would make it easier for you!"
Pretty good timing as I have a full basket of ironing awaiting me.

I wrote her back and told her that unless one of these guys are coming over to do my ironing I don't see how it will make my ironing easier!
I don't see the attraction. These guys are all hairless on their chests, ewwwww. My brand of Confucius saying, "Bird does not make nest in barren tree."

As I go and do ironing on a regular board, the very idea of having one of these mental giants as my board cover will give me a chuckle.
So thanks Belladonna2 for the laugh.

Ah, it is that time of year again!

2008-08-20T10:42:00.003-04:00

That is right! So much to look forward to (except one) in the next month or so.
When Lee and I were in the mall on Friday taking pictures of eunuch dummies I bought my first witch of the season!!!
I see the school supplies in the discount bins now and in their place is Halloween goodies! Hooray!

I have favorite places to hit for my witches but sometimes the witches are silly or they decided to sell Frankensteins instead of witches. Last year (see the top picture here) Lee bought me a 3' tall Victorian Witch at The Cracker Barrel. We usually go up there about Samhain. Odd that we rarely go any other time of the year. Must have something to do with my birthday in September.
Yankee Candle is good to add to my witch collection AND my tart burning collection as well.
The last 2 years I have been able to get a nice witch tart burner from Yankee. I haven't been up to N Chuck to the store to see what they are offering this year. I saw the catalog but there were only small items in there for Samhain.
I don't buy every witch in sight. Mostly because they are badly painted or there is too much going on in the statues. Too many frogs, cats, bats whatever. I would pay big bucks if I could find a witch with a DOG! Not all witches have cats for familiars. I knew one who had a 4' iguana named Hecate. That lizard followed her around like a dog. She told me it was littler box trained. I believed her!

Besides the heat coming down a bit in the Fall there is my birthday on 09/09. Hey, every year above ground is a great year when you are a cancer survivor! I will be 48. Only 2 years left until the AARP comes knocking at my door!
Well, that was depressing for a second!
I think I will go bake a cake to take the edge off of my nerves...and put a few inches on my butt!

Also around the Samhain time of year the damn clocks change back! Those of us who despise Daylight Savings time will give out a collective shout! Just the idea of needing to go to bed while it is still light out confuses my poor brain. My insomnia is always at its worse when DST first starts up. I am a freakin' night person, always have been. I always studied better after 9PM, I think clearer and see better when it is dark out. I have blackout curtains in my bedroom for DST because I cannot sleep in the light evening hours!!!!!

I want someone to explain to me how DST saves on energy. Anyone? You still have to get up at a certain time and make breakfast or put on the coffee, most people will put on their bathroom lights anyway to get ready in. How many bathrooms have windows large enough to see to get ready? At night same thing, not enough light to see to study cook whatever so on goes the lights.
Where is the energy savings again?

All in a weekends work!!!

2008-08-18T20:37:00.002-04:00

There is a store in both of our local malls called Hollister

Each store front is the exact same thing. Some sort of thatched roof over "open" patio windows with a small porch front. On the porch front is some of the most cut mannequins I have ever seen.
Last Friday, I decided to see if the rug matched the drapes on these dummies.

Sad to report that although Mr Dummy has a 6 pack tummy, he has no dick. That is right, no dick.

Truthfully though, I would be embarrassed to have my daughter see a dummy like that. Its pants are worn so low that it should be packing an erection just to hold the pants up. Oh well times have changed and I am not sure it is for the better.

In other news we decided to do a day out in downtown on Saturday. We walked through the market, bought a few treasures and ate a few goodies. We saw that tourist season isn't over yet.

I started the journey with a crisply ironed shirt over a tank top. Unlike so many over weight girls today I do not think having a stomach encased in a too small cotton tank is pleasant to look at.
By the second market stall my crisp shirt was gone and in its place was a damp wrinkled mess. I had unbuttoned the shirt and swept my hair up in a tail but it was HOT and HUMID downtown on Saturday. We were just heading home when the first drops of what became a torrential rain started falling.

Lee had his new camera out for a stroll, that is why you will see so many pictures of me!!

We saw a huge plane going over Charleston and couldn't see what it was. Lee took a pic and we ran it through a database of planes and TA DA, it is a Russian Antonov, a heavy cargo plane.
I guess it is going to haul more stuff over to our open ended war for us. Look at how many wheels it has on its belly! According to the description of it online, this plane can carry locomotives and yachts! It has more cargo space than our C-5 Galaxy's.

All in all I was happy to see I could walk again unaided. I didn't start out with the cane, but Lee insisted it be folded into his backpack. During the course of the whole day I took 2 pain pills but they were the short term pills not the really strong all day pills that I was popping like M&M's before the surgery.
Even though I still get tired easily I feel better. There are some muscle groups that haven't been worked for months now getting use again. My calves for example ache a bit still today but it feels good. I got errands ran, laundry done and the 1 bathroom and kitchen scrubbed. A homemade meal and buttermilk biscuits on the table for dinner made me feel like I really accomplished something today.

We are about to have some brownie sundaes. I made our brownies in mini loaf pans because Lee loves brownie crust. One of those mini loaves split in half with a scoop of Horizon Vanilla ice cream and heated caramel sauce over top. A bit of whipped cream and a cherry on top finishes the dessert.

Want to come over for some?

Summer Storm pictures - and it isn't what you think!

2008-08-14T15:19:00.003-04:00

These are pictures of the most neurotic dog in the Charleston area.
Summer Storm...
This is her shirt, she nearly tried to chew through her own skin to get it off!

"Get it off of me!!!!!"

With her squeaky kitty.

"I got you now, Kitty!"

"Why doesn't my toy squeak anymore?"

"I am about to do a super freak out!"

I had a picture that was a mural of her waiting by the closed bedroom door. The reason? I was trying to sew one of her stuffed squeaky toys back together. If she is in the room with me, she tries to pull it out of my hands as I am sewing it. It is better (for me) that she is elsewhere while Kitty, Bunny or Lamby is being operated on.
I must find the picture, she is so funny. You would think the mother load of Milk Bones was on the other side of the door the way she carries on.
I should do a movie it would be a hit on You-Tube!

And Finally....
Lemon Head

She has a lemon sticker on her head, don't ask.

A question for the times.

2008-08-11T19:37:00.004-04:00

In this world of "convenience" you come to find out that the convenience of some stores or shops are not convenient at all.

This weekend Lee and I went on a quest for first aid supplies. Target was cleaned out, no band aids, gauze or kits which I never buy as there isn't anything worthwhile in them! For the price of that plastic case of band aids you can fill up a 12 pk cooler with real first aid supplies. Of course you first have to find them.

We decided to go to a drug store. You know, those stores where at one time, you could buy medicines, first aid supplies, feminine supplies if you know what I mean) perfume and candy. I know about the perfume and candy because when my dad was alive he would buy my mom a box of Whitman's Sampler and a bottle of White Shoulders at our local Rexall. I would always score a ice cream soda while he was shopping.

Now when you go into a drug store, you can buy so much junk that there is no longer room for the things a drug store should sell!
At the local Rite Aid, there is a 3-4' section of aisle with first aid supplies. That's it. I will give them credit for having the Tegaderm patches that I need for my incision but basic supplies are really low on choices. I was looking for tape, rolled gauze, individual 4x4 squares and 6x6 squares, Steri-strips, large band aids and Dermablast. I was able to buy the Dermablast and the rolled gauze but that's it.
If I wanted toys, milk, beer, cheese, eggs, greeting cards, house keeping supplies and deck chairs I could have bought them all, but gauze? Forget about it.
Now what makes this "convenience store" inconvenient is the fact I didn't find the things I should have been to find there. So I have to go to other stores to find the items. I try so hard not to go into Wal-Mart but at least they will have a whole aisle full of first aid supplies.

Do I need to go online for everything these days?!

Also, I have been looking for a new pot. I had my 2 Qt pot get super heated in the oven (I didn't know it was in there) and the bottom has turned blue and the inside bottom turned a strange color that no abrasive can take off.
Since this was a set, All-Clad doesn't replace the pots from the set. If it was an open stock, I could get it quickly. Lee and I set off for Bed, Bath and Beyond, one of my favorite stores.
I had done some comparison shopping online and to replace the pot that got burned it would cost me $100 plus s/h.
However, I could go to B,B &B and get a whole new set of Emerilware for 200 more!
Oh that blasted devil on my shoulder saying, "Go for it! You love cookware, just buy it. Look it is 18/10 stainless steel with an aluminum core! You know you could use them! Just do it!"
Fortunately, the little Jewish accountant on my other shoulder says, "Are you crazy? Just keep scrubbing that pot and save the money! How important is a 2 Qt pot anyway? You got a Paul Revere copper bottom in 3Qt. Save the money. Do not charge it!"

I will put it off. Even though the mail delivered a 20% discount coupon for a purchase from Bed, Bath & Beyond. I also understand that on the set I want, the coupon will give me $60 off of the set. Oh sweet temptation! GO AWAY!
Finally, I turn the pots over and every set of the pots was made in China. We looked at my favorite knives, Henkels, they should be made in Germany...and some of them are, but you must be sure to look for the twins on the knives. If you only see one red man on the blade and it is called J.A. Henkel, it is a knock off and made in China. SHEESH! Is there anything made in good countries anymore? Oh, thank you labor unions for pushing the work out of this country .

In other news.
I am getting better. My incision is finally down to a trickle, just a drop or two an hour. I still must wear a blasted dress so nothing rubs against the incision.

I am chafing at the bit to get my life back.

When will it stop?

2008-08-08T14:47:00.003-04:00

I have 2 things that this relates to.

Remember the last post I made where I took out my own staples? Wellllll, perhaps I was a bit premature in removing all of them.
There is a spot not quite sealed all the way and twisting to get out of the car at one point made it pop open. Now it is draining.
I go through a whole surgical bandage a night. A surgical bandage is about 9" long and reminiscent of the old "thigh burner" Maxi Pads of the 70's.
It is made for any drainage from a surgical site. Preferably one that hasn't been tampered with!!

Fortunately, between Steri-Strips and Tegaderm bandages the opening has healed up a lot better and has slowed in the draining process.......until today.
I decided I was tired of wearing a nightie or a long tee shirt. I wanted to wear some damn pants!!!

So I put on some blue jeans and started work on a double order of pepperoni rolls for Lee. It has been awhile since he had some good baked goods.
While those were rising, I came in here to do some filing and catch up my Guild Wars Clan website. The Clan of Elders. I am a medals officer. I have requests daily for medals that I have to verify and then award through Guild Portal. (Who has time to play!) You can guess really fast who I am on the site!
My jeans were rubbing on the incision site. It didn't hurt, but it made the damn thing leak again!!The leakage is exudate and it is the accumulation of fluid and can contain cellular debris, WBCs and bacteria. Drainage can be serous (clear), serosanguinous (blood-tinged) or sanguinous (bloody). (Ex-medical transcriptionist!) Mine is clearish but still a pain in the butt. I got to change the bandage because the incision must be kept dry.
To say the least I am back in the dreaded cotton dress. I swear I am going to burn this dress after this is over!

In other news, I got an email today that was a forward, of course, but it still made me angry enough to do some research...of course the whole thing is made up and proved false after 3 seconds on Snopes.
Records and facts stand more than lies spread with trickery and deceit.

The email I got recently spoke of how Obama went to Bagram Afghanistan and just blew off the soldiers.
Do not listen to this email.

The real proof of Obama's vist can be read and watched here at snopes

I am fairly sure that this will be the first time since I registered to vote when I was 18 that I will be voting AGAINST the Republicans.

Does anyone want McCain in the Oval Office?

He is so loved by the vets and I cannot understand why. He survived the Hanoi Hilton. OK, I survived cancer, so the fuck what? At least I support the ACS and my fellow survivors.
Has he ever, EVER voted for bills that would benefit the vets in anyway?
NO!
Read his roll call in the senate for those bills. The organization for common sense for the vets have his FULL voting record on their site. In April of 06 McCain was 1 of 13 senators that voted against a bill that would help the DAV with the medical expenses of the vets.

What veteran in their right mind would vote for this man?

I have a sick feeling in my stomach that should he win the white house, not only will we be in Iraq for the next 100 years but we would also be at war with Iran.
Anyone remember Nostradamus's Prophecies? Perhaps they are coming true.
Time to build that bomb shelter.

Surgical Staple removal day

2008-08-04T11:05:00.004-04:00

"If this is to be our end then let it be an end worthy of remembrance!"
Or words to that effect. I cannot remember the exact lines of Tolkien here but I think it was the second book, spoken by King Theoden.

My staples have been itching me mercilessly for 3 days now. I called my doctor but she is on vacation this week. Hmmmm. I could go down to the emergency room, but that is a $100 charge and they probably will want to bandage me up afterwards with tape that I am allergic to! No thank you.
There is only one tape that doesn't break my skin out and they used it in the O.R. after surgery. It is a clear patch that covered the whole surgical site and wondrously didn't break out my skin.
I have no idea of its name or if it is possible for non-medical people to buy it.

So, staples, yes. Hmmm. OK I am a jeweler. I have delicate, small tools and I have balls of steel so lets get these puppies out of there!!!

I washed a flat nose plier and a bent nose plier in alcohol. I got a pair of washed hemostats nearby in case.
First one, OK, second one got stuck under the edge of the incision. OK its out.
Is it hot in here? I am suddenly sweating.
Third through 9 got out relatively easy, but another7 or are very crusted over on one side....a little peroxide (and don't that burn a bit) loosens them up. They are now gone.

Whew! Let's take a breather. Believe me, I will remember the end of these staples! I am going to keep them in my memento box!

OK, here we go, YIPE!!!! That one was attached to my spleen or something! Oh hell! Oh, #@$%&*&#%$@!!!!!!!!!!!! Get. Out. Of. There. You HEATHEN!!!!!! OK, it is out. I feel like I need to practice my breathing for labor pains! I remember how much THAT worked.
Well, I got 17 out with 17 more to go. Curse you overzealous staple tech!!!!!
More peroxide, more yipping and they are all gone!!!
All 34 staples are now gone from my body!!! Hooray!

I have washed the area with peroxide and goobered up some Neosporin onto a large bandage and it is in place now instead of heavy bandages and STAPLES!

Phew!!! Good thing I have a new morphine pump in me right now or that might have hurt!!!

Ha, ha, *thud*

I saw it before!

2008-07-28T12:42:00.003-04:00

A Post & Courier article today speaks about the triglyphs on the Maj. Gen. William Moultrie statue was wrong.
I said in an earlier post at the time that it seems to me the "pillars" on the base of the statue was upside down.
I took Architecture as a minor in college and it just struck me as so wrong. I mean here you are, the sculptor looking at the designs for the statue base and you don't question the artist?
Did the sculptor make the mistake or the designer?
If it was the designer, we know the design had to be approved by some committee or some such thing for approval. So where was their heads at??

If the original plans are still around city hall, which they should be in an archive somewhere, they should be checked and if the mistake was theirs, well, the city has to eat the cost of the correction of the statue. If the plans are alright, then the designer or sculptor should be made financially responsible for the replacement or correction of the statue.

I would like to know what has taken so long for someone in the business to mention it.

I am home!

2008-07-27T12:42:00.005-04:00

It is so good to be in your own house and not a hospital. The hospital I was in was called Emory Johns Creek in Alpharetta GA. Very swank.

The patients had a chef to prepare their meals and there was no set times for meals. Meaning if I didn't want to get up to eat precisely at 7:30AM like most hospitals that was fine as breakfast was served until 9:30. You got a menu and you called the kitchen to place your order.
Guest trays were from the same menu and lunch and dinner was $10 and breakfast $5.
You could get things like strip steak in white wine reduction. Salmon with dill sauces, etc.
One thing they couldn't get right was tea!
I have only one thing to say to Royal Cup Coffee Co, STOP MAKING TEA BAGS!!!!!
They tasted like burned coffee! ICK! Yuck, someone get me some turpentine to rinse my mouth out! BLECH!

In other news, my pump seems to be working fine. How fine? I will tell you. When I left Charleston my pain levels were 7-8 with spikes to 9. My pain level at the moment I am typing this is 2-3. That is nothing to me. I can still function at 5, but it is really nice to not have to hold the pain in the box. The box is nearly empty now and it is great! After a few weeks I may toss my cane behind the couch!!! I may even be able to take a shower without needing to sit on the bath chair!!!! Cool, huh?
No one knows better than I that this cannot last. Soon the pain or my body will get accustomed to this level of medicine and it will need adjusted but this new pump makes it all very easy to do! They put a wand over the thing, read the output and turn it up! That is all, no need for a higher concentration of morphine just a slight adjustment in the amount hitting the spinal cord. There may be a time for stronger morphine but it will be in the far future.

Hubby helped me wash my long hair and get some refreshment done to my person and change my bandages but what I long for is a hot shower. That is not allowed for 5 more days. Ugh!

Summer is out of the kennel and she is THRILLED to be home. I know the feeling!

The flight back home was good, Delta flight #1600 wasn't very full and we had bulkhead seats, lots of room. Lee protected my left side but no one sat in the other seat!

One small pimple, our a/c lost its freon....again.....AHHHH! Man was it warm in here when we opened the door. The last time they had to refill the thing was July 4th weekend, so that wasn't very long ago. I have to be firm with these people here at the apartment complex. My brand new dishwasher from the right hand sink! Whenever you run water into that part of the sink it fills the dishwasher so that I have to put the d/w on a drain setting before I can run the load!!!!

Right now the freon has been shot in to the a/c by the weekend tech and it is taking a long time to cool this place down. But I am home and not in the hospital. IT is a good day!!

Thank you for all your love and concern for me over this time.

Sony = Aperture Laboratories?

2008-07-22T11:30:00.004-04:00

Lee loves a video game called "Portal" It came bundled in the "Orange Box" for Microsoft Windows.
The game can be downloaded for free from "Valve Corporation" and a subsidy called "Steam".

The game is to hurl yourself through these portals and land certain places. You have boxes to move with a special gun. The same gun you open 2 portals with, one you jump through and one you come out of, sorta.

Anyway, all over the walls of the laboratory there are signs showing simple drawings of how you can't of shouldn't go through the portal, or touch things or jump somewhere where there will be nothing remaining of you.

Lee loved this game until he beat it in every mode there was. I tried to do some but I have a problem heights, even virtual ones. Lee loved the game so much we decided to do some product art for the Aperture. If you go to zazzle and type Aperture in the search box you will see several designs there from Wiccan3. We have had a lot of buyers for the bumper stickers, I wish someone would buy the Cake Tee Shirt. It is cool because if played the game you will know that the cake is a lie.

Over the weekend we bought some Sony DVD's and the DVD on top had some simple drawings that showed what not to do with your DVD.

The top of the above picture shows Sony's version and the lower half is the signs you see in the game.

So you can see for yourself from these photos why we think Sony is the Aperture Labs.

I fly out of here tomorrow, I hope there is no weather like yesterday. I saw hail and the tree out front almost bend over...It seems to me to come out of a clear blue sky. One sec it was just cloudy with a bit of sun and the next my windows were getting pelted by hail!!
Everyone keep their fingers crossed that tomorrow at 3PM that Mother Nature decides to give my Delta plane a bit of good weather.

Someone remember to feed my penguin!

Journey to the center of Cinebarre

2008-07-19T18:48:00.005-04:00

We decided to go out today to see a movie. I have only 3 days left before I fly off to Atlanta and get my fourth spine surgery and my second pain pump.

Mt Pleasant had my favorite movie theater. It was the one on Northcutt Blvd by Whole Foods.
It has been remodeling for some time now and finally a few weeks ago it reopened as the Cinebarre.

Unfortunately, I lived in Melbourne Florida once upon a time and they had a little hole in the wall in West Melbourne called the Metro. (I doubt it is there anymore) It was a theater that showed movies after they were shown in the big theaters and before they went to video. All movie tickets were $3 a person and you could get some food there. Pitchers of sodas, pizza breads, french fries, candy bars, etc. For a working mom it was a great place to take your kid for an afternoon of movies. Heck, it was great for a cheap date too! When Lee and I first started dating hit there several times. I could never talk him into the Saturday midnight showing of Rocky Horror though.

This place in Mt Pleasant is an upscale version of the Metro. Pizzas and french fries yes, but they also have burgers, chicken fingers, Mozzarella sticks, milk shakes and CAKE!! They also serve beer and wines. The food is named after movies for the most part.
It was fun.
We went to see Brendan Fraser in "Journey to the Center of the Earth". Like I have said many times on this blog, when I pay to see a movie I want entertained. I do not want to think. I do not want to cry. I just want to be taken from my own world of pain and problems and be transported to a good action movie. NO CHIX FLIX for me.
A great thing about this movie is it makes you want to get the original book by Jules Verne and read it.
Brendan Fraser is one of my favorite actors. He may not have any shiny statues with his name on them but he can always make me laugh or hang on to my seat. He did that with both Mummy movies and with George of the Jungle and Dudley Do-Right and many others.
So I couldn't wait. I didn't eat breakfast this morning because I knew we would be going to this place.
We ran a bit late so to facilitate our journey I bought the tickets on Fandgango, big mistake.
I thought by buying the tickets online I wouldn't have to stand in the cue at the windows. WRONG. Not only did I have to stand inline, but I had to pay extra for a convenience fee per ticket!
All that aside, I presented my credit card to the window and got our tickets. Lee put us in a spot where it was less likely to get bumped or moved and we settled it.
A nice young girl told us how things go with the food ordering and we placed our orders.
Lee got the Cine-burger, fries and a vanilla milkshake. I got the chicken fingers, fries and a root beer float. Yummy! Lee got most of my fires because I filled up. During the movie our waitress came by to ask if we needed anything and we got a large soda to split. As usual I had pills to take to get me through the movie.

It all ran really smoothly. The wait staff was very unobtrusive. I am really glad they left the old seats in the theater. They recline just a bit and the arms between the seats fold up for cuddling or in my case, it allows me to put my legs up on Lee! They give every 3 seats or so their own roll of paper towels mounted under the tables in front of the seats. Very handy when you have a gooey float or a ketchup soaked burger. All of your condiments are on the table in front of you all very handy and within reach.

I will warn you though, this is a movie theater so it may be a bit on the expensive side for those of you with lots of kids or on a tight budget. Shakes were $5 a piece just FYI.

What kids were in the theater were well behaved either totally involved with the movie (I shut my eyes a few times!) or zoned out on the home made popcorn with real butter melted over! I am full right now and I could still go for a bowl of that popcorn!!
Most of the kids I think were in the Wall-E (?) movie next door. But I heard a few hoots and laughs at the antics of our movie.
There was a young, and hot (in my hubby's view) blonde female lead and of course Brendan himself for me.
The movie had everything, For the teen (and middle aged) males in the audience the movie has the blonde taking off her mountain climbing gear and later he clothes in order to stay cool. For the women in the audience, we have Brendan taking his gear off and ripping his sleeves off of his shirt. Nice to see he is still packing his guns from George of the Jungle Movie!
The movie had some nice landscape from Iceland in it. Beautiful country. A bit stark and waaaaay too cold for me.

Overall, we had a great time at the Mt Pleasant Cinebarre.

Look over the menu before you go so you will be ready when you get there to enjoy yourself.
Food Menu
Drinks Menu

You should all try it sometime!

A good topic for a Sunday.

2008-07-13T13:09:00.003-04:00

Are there still people out there who think this is a country of religious freedom?
Do you believe that not being a Christian isn't really important?
Do you think that Atheist, Baptist, Jewish, Pagan, etc are all free to worship as they will and will have no affect on your job or your safety?

Boy! Do you have a lot to learn!!!

Do you know that right now in the military, there is a full court press against our soldiers/sailors/airmen/marines to be Christian?
The very people who are defending our "supposed" right to Freedom of Religion are not allowed to have that same freedom.

A soldier announces that he is an atheist, should he now be unsure whether or not his Christian squad will back him up in a firefight?
Absolutely he should be unsure according to an article on CNN's webpage.

Army Spc. Jeremy Hall was raised a Baptist.

Like many Christians, he said grace before dinner and read the Bible before bed. Four years ago when he was deployed to Iraq, he packed his Bible so he would feel closer to God.

He served two tours of duty in Iraq and has a near perfect record. But somewhere between the tours, something changed. Hall, now 23, said he no longer believes in God, fate, luck or anything supernatural.

Hall said he met some atheists who suggested he read the Bible again. After doing so, he said he had so many unanswered questions that he decided to become an atheist.

His sudden lack of faith, he said, cost him his military career and put his life at risk. Hall said his life was threatened by other troops and the military assigned a full-time bodyguard to protect him out of fear for his safety. Video Watch why Hall says his lack of faith almost got him killed »

In March, Hall filed a federal lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Defense and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, among others. In the suit, Hall claims his rights to religious freedom under the First Amendment were violated and suggests that the United States military has become a Christian organization.

"I think it's utterly and totally wrong. Unconstitutional," Hall said.

Hall said there is a pattern of discrimination against non-Christians in the military.

Two years ago on Thanksgiving Day, after refusing to pray at his table, Hall said he was told to go sit somewhere else. In another incident, when he was nearly killed during an attack on his Humvee, he said another soldier asked him, "Do you believe in Jesus now?"

Hall isn't seeking compensation in his lawsuit -- just the guarantee of religious freedom in the military. Eventually, Hall was sent home early from Iraq and later returned to Fort Riley in Junction City, Kansas, to complete his tour of duty.

He also said he missed out on promotions because he is an atheist.

"I was told because I can't put my personal beliefs aside and pray with troops I wouldn't make a good leader," Hall said.

Michael Weinstein, a retired senior Air Force officer and founder of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, is suing along with Hall. Weinstein said he's been contacted by more than 8,000 members of the military, almost all of them complaining of pressure to embrace evangelical Christianity.

"Our Pentagon, our Pentacostalgon, is refusing to realize that when you put the uniform on, there's only one religious faith: patriotism," Weinstein said.

Religious discrimination is a violation of the First Amendment and is also against military policy. The Pentagon refused to discuss specifics of Hall's case -- citing the litigation. But Deputy Undersecretary Bill Carr said complaints of evangelizing are "relatively rare." He also said the Pentagon is not pushing one faith among troops.

"If an atheist chose to follow their convictions, absolutely that's acceptable," said Carr. "And that's a point of religious accommodation in department policy, one may hold whatever faith, or may hold no faith."

Weinstein said he doesn't buy it and points to a promotional video by a group called Christian Embassy. The video, which shows U.S. generals in uniform, was shot inside the Pentagon. The generals were subsequently reprimanded.

Another group, the Officers' Christian Fellowship, has representatives on nearly all military bases worldwide. Its vision, which is spelled out on the organization's Web site, reads, "A spiritually transformed military, with ambassadors for Christ in uniform empowered by the Holy Spirit."

Weinstein has a different interpretation.

"Their purpose is to have Christian officers exercise Biblical leadership to raise up a godly army," he says.

But Carr said the military's position is clear.
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"Proselytizing or advancing a religious conviction is not what the nation would have us do and it's not what the military does," Carr said.

The U.S. Justice Department is expected to respond to Hall's lawsuit this week. In the meantime, he continues to work in the military police unit at Fort Riley and plans to leave as soon as his tour of duty expires next year.

See the part I put in bold there? The army should be "ambassador's for Christ in uniform empowered by the Holy Spirit." I guess that leaves the Jews out then? They have fought and they have died fighting for their country. But are they going to be annexed out of the new vision of the armed forces?

So according to this soldier's story, it is best just to go along, don't worry about your belief system, just play along with the Christians...or else be ready for hell fire damnation and no promotions and no back up from your fellow Christian soldiers.

Nice. It is so awesome to see the Golden Rule used this way, isn't it?

Onward, Christian soldiers, marching in your fascist war,
with the cross of Jesus going on before.
Christ, the royal Master, is ashamed of just how low;
His loyal followers has made His banners go!

An email sent to me

2008-07-10T14:01:00.002-04:00

I got this in a forwarded email. I usually don't read them if I see more than one FW in the subject line. It gets too confusing.
But I decided to read this one and I wasn't sure whether I should laugh or cry!!!
I don't forward emails unless it has something in it that among my circle of close knit friends all need to know. A familiar dying or an imminent birth, etc.

I am not forwarding this one, I am posting it!!

Recently large demonstrations have taken place across the country protesting the fact that Congress is finally addressing the issue of illegal immigration.

Certain people are angry that the US might protect its own borders, might make it harder to sneak into this country and, once here, to stay indefinitely. Let me see if I correctly understand the thinking behind these protests. Let's say I break into your house. Let's say that when you discover me in your house, you insist that I leave. But I say, 'No! I like it here. It's better than my house. I've made all the beds and washed the dishes and did the laundry and swept the floors. I've done all the things you don't like to do. I'm hard-working and honest (except for when I broke into your house). According to the protesters:
You are Required to let me stay in your house
You are Required to feed me
You are Required to add me to your family's insurance plan
You are Required to Educate my kids
You are Required to Provide other benefits to me & to my family
(my husband will do all of your yard work because he is also hard-working and honest, except for that breaking in part).
If you try to call the police or force me out, I will call my friends who will picket your house carrying signs that proclaim my RIGHT to be there. It's only fair, after all, because you have a nicer house than I do, and I'm just trying to better myself. I'm a hard-working and honest, person, except for well, you know, I did break into your house
And what a deal it is for me!!! I live in your house, contributing only a fraction of the cost of my keep, and there is nothing you can do about it without being accused of cold, uncaring, selfish, prejudiced, and bigoted behavior.
Oh yeah, I DEMAND that you learn MY LANGUAGE!!! so you can communicate with me.

Why can't people see how ridiculous this is?! Only in America . if you agree, pass it on (in English).

If not blow it off......... along with your future Social Security funds, and a lot of other things

This email was cleaned by emailStripper, available for free from http://www.papercut.biz/emailStripper.htm

Now you tell me, is this funny or is it sad?

Time for catching up

2008-07-09T13:47:00.003-04:00

It has been so long since I blogged. It seems my heart isn't in it anymore.
Lee and I have recently come to the conclusions that my pump, the one about to be replaced, isn't connected. I get burning pain around the pump site, caused by the leak. But I have been feeling pressure and then sharp needles in my legs, I must wonder if the cannula got lose again.

SO on the 23rd I fly to Atlanta and will be in the hands of one of the best pain specialists in the country...according to his website! LOL!

I was able to attend last night, with the help of my hubby, the last blogger meet up. I was never at that bar before and I defied my meds by having one Guinness. One creamy, nutty, divine pint of Irish heaven. It was like angles dancing on my tongue! Ahhh.
It was a nice visit with Heather and the gang. Truthfully, I only recognized 2 others beside Heather, but the blog world is getting larger.

I want to speak about the 4th of July for a sec.
When I was young, the 4th of July meant my dad grilling hot dogs or whatever on the three legged grill we had and mom made some great potato salad and macaroni salad. We would eat and then sit in our front yard on a towel to watch the fireworks with pieces of watermelon to munch on.
Now that I am middle aged, I see crap going on in neighborhoods. Our neighbors across the chain link fence have built a pavilion thing for their parties. Every weekend you will see people hanging there with music blasting. That is one thing, but I have no idea why they feel the need to scream when they laugh. It is almost like being next to an asylum! Add beer and explosives and watch out!!!!
Lee and I went to the battery last year and we swore we wouldn't do it again. I will grant you that they are pretty to look at but are they worth heading downtown among the tourists and the drunks just to fight for a foot square of space to stare at the sky? Not to me anymore.

My sister in Philly has talked to my doctor in Atlanta and got the things I need, our flights are booked and hotel is bought. Between my sister and Lee they are trying to keep my stress level down.
It is kind of hard!!! I am getting freaked and it is still 2 weeks away. There are still things we need to pay for and money is so tight that I could play a KISS riff on my budget.

Well, time to make a pot of tea and settle down to my beads, they always chill me out a bit.

Bif Barf is dead.

2008-06-23T13:44:00.004-04:00

George Carlin was a funny guy.
He threw the world's problems in a blender and hit frappe`.
He said he wasn't a cynic "The real cynics are the ones who tell you that everything is going to be alright, I don't want it to."

Why wouldn't you want things to get better?

Carlin's attitude was "F**k hope". But you cannot constantly go through life being angry when you have no idea where the anger is stemming from.
I remember sitting in my brother's house listening to Carlin records and Cheech & Chong records. Being young, I didn't understand a bit of what was being said but I understood the tones. I liked C&C better.

Right now, Reddit is having a complete hard-on about the death of Carlin and while I think Carlin was funny he wasn't a true observer. He saw the negativity of the world and he never looked for or observed the positive.

A man who roots for the destruction of the species is part of the negativity. He was a "has been" of a generation that never was. The peace, love and grow your own dope generation has become "The Man", the government of wire taps, hidden cameras and personal liberties being ripped from us like tube tops at a Mardi Gras parade.

He may have been considered a cultural renegade but when you constantly rip on problems facing the planet you are not helping, you are hurting.
Being in front of the cameras or whatever the media and scream about the unfairness of war or what have you doesn't help rid of us the problem, if just gets
you in the spotlight.

The Hippy Dippy Weatherman and Biff Barf were funny characters, but as a cultural icon, I prefer someone more human.

Get those carpets really clean!

2008-06-16T15:51:00.002-04:00

This is a little attachment I think all women will like.

If it works as well as the inventor says it does carpeting cleaning services will be a thing of the past!

The attachment is only available in the UK but don't worry, the company ships internationally!

The Vacuum Screamer Attachment.

You'll never moan over hoovering again!
(FYI, hoovering in the UK means vacuuming the carpets.)

I wonder how long it takes to get one, the attachment, I mean.

Jewelry bits and pieces

2008-06-16T11:40:00.006-04:00

I have been building up my jewelry inventory for a party. The lady wants me to bring my jewelry to her home to show a group of her friends.
I am for that and all, but building up the inventory hasn't been easy.

My back hurts if I stay over the beading table too long and I have tried taking a project with me into the bedroom, the fact is I never know what I may need! I cannot keep calling Lee on the intercom and tell him, "Pumpkin, please bring me my tube of scrimp beads and the screwdriver that goes with it? Oh and bring my round nose pliers and my 4mm seamless SS round beads."
He would be frustrated in 2 minutes! I know where everything is in my beading stuff...well most of it, and to ask someone else to find something isn't fair.
Trust me it wouldn't be too long before Lee would have my whole inventory in the bedroom along with my tools!

I got lots of things done now. I need to make up a few simples. Like a dozen or so earrings and a half dozen bracelets with a few anklets tossed in as well. People at the party may not have $75 for a necklace set but they will have $15 for a pair of earrings or $20-25 for a bracelet.
I will take with me a few tools for some simple repairs and a few finding for those who may love those Ametrine (a gem stone that is a combination of Amethyst and Citrine) earrings, but does not like the fish hook or lever back finding. I can usually change something like that to a post earring in a few seconds.

I had a lady once tell me she loved a pair of Jade earrings I made but she would prefer them to be on an ear cuff or perhaps a ear threader. I asked her which one she preferred as I had brought both ear cuffs and a pair of ear threaders with me! She was so shocked she bought those and a few others I was happy to switch out for her!!
I will make and take a dozen necklace extenders in both silver and gold (colored metal). Those sell really fast once they know you have them. Earring supports and hypoallergenic backings will go as well.

I need to purchase a small salesperson book so I can keep track of what inventory I am selling and to have something they can have a receipt for.
Remember last week I was talking about some blue chips? I took the darker blue turquoise and made a braided collar, I finished the necklace with Bali silver cones and lobster clasp. I gave the closing end a 2" length of sterling silver chain (so the person who buys the collar/choker will fit it more comfortably) and I finished one end of it with a small dangle of the turquoise chips on a head pin!! It is a heavy piece but it could go with anything with a U neckline or an open neckline.

I finally found a good equation for getting a proper price for my jewelry.
I take the price I paid for all materials and multiply that by 3 (for design, materials and labor), then I add 30% for overhead (lights, use of kilns, etc.). It isn't a really high price unless there is a lot of expensive material going into the piece. I want my customers to feel they have a one-of-a-kind piece of artisan jewelry for a good price. I don't want them to feel they are being taken advantage of. Personally, I would love to buy lavishly at the downtown Farmer Market jewelry vendors, but I can't because I won't be taken for a rube. I know what the material costs for those pieces. They feel they can up the price because it is downtown Charleston and out of town guests, have a good bit of money.

I like what I do and I am not a greedy person, I know what the findings and beads cost so why gouge the price?

Friday the 13th!

2008-06-13T11:18:00.003-04:00

Today is my big brother's 60th birthday! It took the calendar 60 years to have another Friday the 13th in June I guess because he was born on a Friday. That is what I was told all my life why discount it?
George and I were both born, believe it or not, in Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, 13 years apart. Coincidence? I doubt it as I do not believe in coincidence.

Happy birthday, big Bro, I would have never made it through most of my childhood without you!

As for th rest of the hooey on the 13th all I can say is plbbbbbbtttttt. Don't believe it. It is when you firmly believe in the fact that bad things happen on this day is when you will work to make them happen subconsciously.
So move through the day thinking it is the 15th if that will make you feel better.

I was reading a website THE APF's site.
It talked of the 3 'S's' of chronic pain, Sadness, Sleeplessness, Suffering.
They left one out and it is an important one. It one that a lot of pain doctors must face when dealing with pain patients.
The FOURTH 'S' should be Suicide.
Unless you have this pain and you get the feeling of complete despair because even you hair moving hurts, you wouldn't understand.
Fortunately, I got a stubborn streak in me and a very competitive one too. When I am sometimes at my lowest I scream out, "This is NOT going to beat me!" And I put another foot in front of the other.

Many do not have my stubbornness or my support staff! My sister who is probably making arrangement right now through Emory's Patient liaison, my hubby who will shield me from most of the logistics of this trip so I can worry about getting better and my brother who will kick my ass if I even think of checking out.

So thanks again Bro and HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!

I got a date...I think!

2008-06-12T15:36:00.004-04:00

Wednesday, July 9th at 10AM - I am to be there by 9am. No later! It takes that long to prep. Especially with my veins.
***edit***
WRONG!!!! Already got a new date and place of surgery!!!
New date is July 24th at 8AM, must be at hospital no later than 7AM!!!! Surgery is scheduled for Emory John's Creek Hospital in Duluth GA!! OMG the very idea of the new machinations to make this work tires me!

Aetna wants it done at Emory Hospital for an overnight stay.

The procedure may take a minimum of 4 hours, then there is the waking up part of the program. They won't let me leave until I can walk without help, hmmmmm. Hard to do with stitches in your GUT and SPINE! So overnight it is!! Actually, it is a 23 hour stay

Anyway, I am not sure how this will affect our return flight. I sure would like to schedule the return flight at the same time as we schedule the first one. I hope and I hope some more that we can pay for the tickets, in other words that the flights are available at a relatively low fare and that we can get a medical dispensation to load first onto the plane for the return flight.

I want flowers this time damn it!!!!!!! Joking, kind of. Every time I get surgery, it is done so quick or I didn't tell anyone, no one shows up with "Get Well!" flowers. I have always said give me my flowers while I can smell them not when they become part of the compost with me!!

I am going to get a new Synchromed 2 pump and my old Isomed 60 will be donated to the medical mistakes museum!

I spent last evening in bed and dearest Lee wrote a note for our front door, "Do Not Disturb" for me today. I get a lot of, let's say, traffic through here. From screaming babies and frantic mothers to dishwasher repairmen to toddlers knocking on my door for "pop-pops"(lollipops) that I cannot rest in this apartment at times. Hence the sign.
Today I was in bed too until the doctors office starts calling...and Oh did I mention that dishwasher repairmen are blind? Or perhaps they cannot read said sign?
I think it has finally been decided that the dishwasher needs replaced...well, no shit. I said that last month when it started leaking for the fifth time!

Anyway, back to a bigger sign and bed...I will take the phone WITH me this time!

This is a moody post

2008-06-10T16:00:00.007-04:00

I am waiting for the phone call.

I am hurting up higher than normal, up where the tube goes into the spine. The muscles there are inflamed and hurting. I couldn’t sleep last night, Lee gave me a massage along with some Motrin and I finally relaxed enough to pass out around midnight.

Things should be going right for me or at least less stressful.
The baby shower was a complete success. I was the hit of the party...at least my cream filled cupcakes were. Lee was told to have more cream on the side for next time. That French vanilla cream went over big! I bought the sugared booties, onesies and baby blocks online but the frosting was my own recipe of butter cream that takes the food color paste easily...almost too easily. I thought the pink came out like Pepto-Bismal instead of cotton candy pink! They loved it though. The party favors matched the colors of the cupcakes. Purple, green, yellow and Pink.
Also that day, I sold some of my jewelry with orders for a few more. I sent a new one to work with Jeff yesterday and a woman snapped it up. She really loved the tessellated bracelet I made with pinks and beige, but I decided to do one with blues and greens with AB highlights, the real star of the show was a dolphin clasp. Really pretty and I didn't even have time to get it photographed!! More is coming. I got a show in July; I need to get some inventory. I will only take orders for certain pieces as I hate to recreate my work too many times. It becomes boring and you won't have an original then!!
Right now, I am finishing up a “liquid silver” with Red Sunstone dice necklace.

I got an envelope of blues in the mail on Saturday. I got three large strands of gem chips all in blues.
One strand is denim Lapis Lazuli. Let me give you a fast lesson on Lapis. There are grades in the Lapidary journal on Lapis Lazuli. The very best is grade A and it is a dark cobalt blue, some veins of green and flecks of pyrite (fool's gold) are allowed in this grade. It is expensive. Want an example? OK, I bought a 16” strand of 4mm round grade B Lapis Lazuli beads. The color leans toward Cyan blue. The price for this little strand of little beads was $14.53 at Fire Mtn. That grade is used only for small beads and chips. Don't be fooled by cobalt beads calling themselves Lapis. Lapis is a rock, not a mineral. The highest grade Lapis will have a lot of pyrite in it! It is beautiful, just like the dark blue sky at night with golden stars shining from it.
A lighter blue or downright pale with flecks of dark blue is NOT Lapis Lazuli at any grade. It could be Sodalite, a stone that is often times sold as Lapis or it could be a dyed Howlite. Always check the edges of your beads for dye coat leftovers or better yet, take a soft emory board, rub it along the bead, if the color comes off, it is a fake. Which are OK as long as they are not trying to sell the stone as genuine Lapis.
A milky blue with white and some brown is now known as Denim Lapis because the color looks like a beautiful pair of aged blue jeans...but it is synthetic not genuine.
Also just FYI, Lapis got its name from the Persian word “Lazhward” meaning blue stone! There is something for your Jeopardy game!

The other strands are a genuine green turquoise but it leans more to the blues. You can never be guaranteed that the turquoise you get will be blues or greens but this time I got lucky. The other strand is Sodalite and another is blue coral. I am dying to do something with them. I thought maybe I would restring them all with some crystals or silver beads and then braid the strings together…I also saw an idea that takes chips and weaves them individually into a 4 strand flattened collar. But I am still not sure what to do with them, but I will make something from the blues.

So here I am working and thinking I should be in a good mood! I was up early finished the laundry and the ironing. Took out what I needed for dinner. I made a cup of tea and sat with my feet up to watch some LOTR (The Extended Version) with Peter Jackson and his fellow directors talking over the voice track. I enjoy hearing the 3 of them talking about the exploits of making the movie.

But my pain started building and I got up to take my breakthrough pain medicine. I came into my office here to make my calls for the pump revision.

I couldn’t do it. I am so tired of fighting the pain and the insurance company. I need to get things pre-certified; I need to make arrangements for things before I can just go to the hospital. I just couldn’t get back on the blasted phone.

Another trip to Atlanta, don’t know if we got the strength or the capital.

I keep telling myself that I should be expecting a call this week from...somebody, telling me to report to Atlanta for testing and to talk over the latest models of pain pumps. Then of course is the surgery I swore I wouldn't have this year...which will be at least an overnight trip. Lee will have to put Summer in the kennel and that will just make her even more schitzo. My 85lb Lab mix is afraid of everything! Flies, balloons, kitchen timers, etc. Let's talk of separation anxiety! Whoa boy!! This dog needs Xanax!
There is a fly in the house right now; Summer has herself wedged under my chair! If I move an inch she scrambles out just to come back again. Problem is sometimes, I forget she is there and when she scrambles, I do the super-freak-out myself! (Forgive the lingo, I am listening to the 70's channel on my XM radio).

I got pain and nausea for the last 3 days. From what I have read it is a symptom of the leaking pump. Fun? No. I know when the pump “goes off” and it leaks because I get woozy and nauseated. Yesterday afternoon it had me talking to Ralph on the big white phone. So you can see why I want this fixed. My pain can be held back with the breakthrough medicine but only to a point.

We must prepare for at least an overnight stay. Lee wants to stay with me in the hospital room.
We have discussed whether we should fly down then rent a car for the trip back or if we should just fly both ways. I think we have decided on the latter. I will insist to the airline that I must be boarded first for the flight back and that we get business class. If I get boarded first I won't have anyone pushing me to move along. I will have stitches in my back and in my stomach. I will not want touched with the huge bags women stupidly bring with them to put in the overhead compartments (that barely fits!) I will have to be wheeled by a skycap in a wheelchair to the plane as well. Charleston flights always load at the last gates, no way I will be able to walk that. So we must prepare for tips and pillows for protection. The flight before last, I asked for a pillow for my back. The attendant said they had no pillow but she would give me a blanket and I appreciated it. But for the return flight, I will need a pillow for padding!

I am sick of it and the situation. No matter how much joy I get from my jewelry I cannot shake this mood. I hate the whole situation.

I better get back to my orders.

A very cool bookstore on a very hot day!

2008-06-04T15:31:00.003-04:00

Dutch scholar, Desiderius Erasmus (1466-1536). He said, “When I get a little money, I buy books, and then if there is any left over, I buy food and clothing.”

Hubby took me out for my errands today while on his lunch. I went through my stocks for tomorrow's baking frenzy (I have a baby shower on Friday to cater) and realized I never keep 6lbs of powdered sugar in my larder and it was time to go to Publix.
After doing the marketing we decided to go to another store, a bookstore!
Now, my favorite store, Barnes and Noble on Sam Rittenburg was flooded out on Sunday night and half of the store is covered with plastic wrap! So we went to BAM a little further down the road.

So, first, let’s talk about how nice it is to walk into a store where you don’t have to try to decide what to buy for dinner or buy clothes that you really don't need. No thank you! For me, I’ll choose a quick pick-me-up at Barnes & Noble or Books A Million.

Next, have you ever truly smelled a bookstore? That mixture of crispy newness that wafts through the vents from those freshly printed books mingled with the flowery perfume lofting up from the magazine racks and just for kicks, throw in a good dose of freshly brewed coffee and baked goods and you have such a hypnotic concoction that I’d love to bottle it and take it home with me. I think they pipe it into the vent just like movie theaters do with popcorn.

Once I’ve had a nice lingering whiff, I open my eyes and stare openly at the possibilities! Where else can you walk into a store and feel instantly brighter, or uplifted, or smarter, or inspired? All around there are shelves and shelves of opportunities to heighten your knowledge, live happier, be more connected, become a better person, or just read a fantastically good story. And the moment you load up with anything from the shelves there’s that antsy anticipatory feeling about what you’ll learn, where you’ll go and whom you’ll visit.

I haven’t even mentioned yet the amazing fact that within those humbled walls are contained the greatest minds of all time! You’ve got Plato, Socrates and Homer. There’s Einstein, Edison and Curie. Over here we have Roosevelt (both Franklin and Eleanor) Lincoln and King next to Churchill, Gandhi and Lenin. Down by that last rack we’ve got Tolstoy, Salinger, Austin, and Vonnegut. And over there’s Tolkien, Rowling, Dickens and Seuss and the lists go on, and on, and on until you’re dizzy with the enormity of knowledge, talent and genius!

And I know that for any of you who have ever entertained the idea about where you would go if you knew that the world might end tomorrow, and most, I know, would head toward the nearest bomb shelter, basement or cave, but for me? Yeah, well I think I’ll head to the bookstore, if I am going to die then I am going to put my head on my husbands tummy while reading Zimmer-Bradley and go with a smile on my face!

For now, however, I’m content to enjoy and be inspired by Stephen Lawhead, James Patterson and Diane L. Paxton. But I want to encourage the rest of you to take a day soon to venture out into that world of possibilities and get lost in the endorphins at your local bookstore.

What a mess of a week!

2008-06-03T19:06:00.005-04:00

Last week, we flew to Atlanta to get my pump refilled.
What a mess! It was my fault but hubby never blames me.

Let me first mention that my pump actually ran out earlier in the week. I went through a bad case of withdrawal. I never want to experience that again! Fever, chills, nausea, weakness. It sounds like the flu but just think of the last time you had flu then multiply that by 3. I had it for 2 days. I was still suffering the dregs of the thing for 3 more days. I didn't call the doctors office because there was nothing they could do. If I got sent to the ER, I would have to pay a $100 copay and they will tell me to go home and rest, perhaps give me a script for Phenergen and a shot of Demerol.
After getting over the withdrawal my pain went crazy. I got permission from my doctor in Atlanta to take my pain pills more often. Instead of every 6 hours I could take it every 4 hours.

We flew out in the late morning. We made the plane no problem, I even had a relatively easy time getting threw the security.
I got off the plane in Atlanta and I was sick! I was woozy and couldn't get my footing. Hubby gets me off and to a kiosk with food. I ate a fairly decent burger and a fruit punch. I went to the bathroom and checked my blood and it was way too low. I was sure the ride on MARTA to the docs office will give the food time to get in my blood.
The doctors office was packed! Lee and I was figuring the time to get back to the airport in time for our return flight. Usually my pump refill doesn't take long and the office has all of my scripts ready for me. The office was running late due to a procedure going south. It seems a patient didn't do well and had a heart attack, so this threw everyone late.
Before I could get into the room we knew we wouldn't make the next flight to Charleston.
This was my fault. I shouldn't have made the flights so close together.
While Lee was trying to talk to AirTran I went into my room.

My doctor started his probing for the pump's port. He gave up and moved me to the fluoroscope.
The pump has developed a tiny leak. Not life threatening, I am told. The pump needs replaced.
As I was being led back to my original room, my doctor introduces me to the head of surgery there at the Pain Center.
He gives me a hug and tells me, "Oh you poor thing! I cannot believe anyone would put an old IsoMed pump in you!" Then he goes on to tell me when he removes it he is going to add it to his museum of old medical artifacts!
The pump they want to put in and the one I originally wanted was a programmable pump not a mechanical one. Granted the pump inside me right now never needs a battery replacement, but I would prefer a small incision under a local to replace my battery than have a pump that is next to impossible to fill and is leaking.
While I was being hugged by the head of surgery, a commotion hits a door near where we are. The surgeon goes running to the door along with my doctors nurse. My doctor puts my head down and nearly runs me from the surgery area telling a nurse to call my husband back.
I ask him WTF and he says sometimes patients or their partners are upset about prescriptions or lack thereof and try to bully us or break into the clinic. Sometimes they have guns.
Lee walked into my room and told me about some guy who was out front and making threats and such, the security people walked him out but he didn't go far! He came around to the surgical entrance and tried to get in there! My scripts were increased until we get the revision done.

To top it all off, Lee couldn't get our ticket fixed unless we wanted to pay over $400 bucks. I went to the AirTran booth and told her our problem. She told us we could just be on stand by and not pay anything. She told us the last plane to go to Charleston was at 10:30PM and it was just now 6PM and that the plane was relatively empty! So she went ahead and assigned us seats. We were so lucky to get the same seats we came down on. Row 10, seats A and C. It is the seats just behind the business class...lots of leg room!!!
While we were in the airport we ate some dinner and sat to wait. We both had books and lots to look at!

The biggest problem was of course, Summer. If things would have worked out right, we would have been home in under 6 hours. But as it happened, she was alone for nearly 12 hours. But she was so good. Not one puddle or pile! She was taken out and given cuddles and we collapsed.

Whew!

I am not sure I am over that adventure yet!!
The pump is still not right as the meds aren't going into my spine correctly. I have made my calls to the docs office for the revision to be called in for approval and I have been fighting with the insurance company to approve the surgery and hospital stay.
This would be so much better or easier if a doctor in South Carolina had the balls to open a pain practice. Preferably a doctor that isn't one flight away from a malpractice suit...Like the doctor who gave me this pump!!!!

So this week, I forge ahead with the things I have in my appointment book. I have a catering job on Friday at Jeff's office. I have a friend who wants me to do a jewelry party in her home.
I brought my jewelry to her office and I made some sales and I will make a few more after I do some adjusting to a bracelet. People around here, including myself, have tiny wrists. Six inches for a bracelet is the norm now instead of seven inches.

It seems a few months ago, I made a bracelet. It is a pretty thing, I also remember that it was a pain in the ass to do, but once it was done it was pretty and I swore never to do another one...this bracelet is one of the adjustments. It means I need to rethread the whole thing!
OMG! I got the 3 strands through the end and weaved back through, then I realize I will NEVER do this one again!! 6 strands through one pearl is too much to ask for any bead or beader!

So my week ahead is busy and I get to bug an insurance company, Wheeeeeeeee!

I need some peace...tomorrow, the bookstore!

I must honor Memorial Day

2008-05-26T21:47:00.004-04:00

I was just going to enjoy my day and play a little Guild Wars, tidy up my work area or perhaps find all of my decorating tips. I have a catering job on June 6th for a baby shower.

But I had my email box filled today with a bunch of spam emails about how I should not "break this email", or how I should "keep it going for all the world to see".

Yeah right.

Give me a break all of you Rah-Rah people.
Your forward these damned emails to all of your friends and family and feel you have done your patriotic duty to remember the troops. Wow, do I pity them. They haven't a clue of what Patriotism really is.

WHAT is patriotism?
Is it love of one's birthplace, the place of childhood's recollections and hopes, dreams and aspirations?
Is it the place where, in childlike naivety, we would watch the fleeting clouds, and wonder why we, too, could not run so swiftly? The place where we would count the millions of glittering stars, wondering if God truly lived up there and was looking down on us? Is it the place where we would listen to the music of the birds, and long to have wings to fly, even as they, to distant lands? Or the place where we would sit at a loved one's knee and hear wonderful stories of myth and magic? In short, is it love for the spot, every inch representing dear and precious recollections of a happy, joyous, and playful childhood?

If that were patriotism, few Americans today could be called upon to be patriotic, since the place of play has been turned into factory, mill, and mine, while deafening sounds of machinery have replaced the music of the birds. Nor can we longer hear the tales of great deeds, for the stories our loved ones tell today are those of sorrow, tears, and grief.

Is patriotism a belief in a nation or a nation of ideals.
Patriotism meant words like pride, honor and selflessness.
We were once a great country but arrogance, sloth and greed became our new words of patriotism.
Labor unions have made it so nothing is made in America anymore, at least nothing affordable! The unions have told the members do less and get paid more to the point we shipped all of our business into the East.

The very same people who push these damn emails across the country have no frikking idea that those "Made in China" Yellow Ribbon on the back of their gas guzzliing SUV's are causing more death in this war, not less.
You want to support the troops? Start educating yourself on just what is going on for the troops?
Since war began (03/19/03) to 05/26/08 the fatalities in Iraq is 4083 total, 3329 in combat.
Do they realize that while they are filling up at the gas tit?
Do they know that there are no plans in place to take care of the thousands of troops that will be coming home with PTSD? The ones with medical problems so bad that had to leave the military. The very same government who sent these brave men and women into danger and death will forget them as soon as their boots hit American soil.
My brother, who is a vet of Viet Nam, is still waiting for care for his PSTD and associated health problems.
It is not a day in the future for the troops, it is now. I have friends who served 2 or 3 tours and they are home now and suffering. Where is their help?

Hubby and I listen to "Old Time Radio" on XM-Radio and it is amazing how much our parents or grandparents suffered through WWII. Everything was on ration. Gas, sugar, meat, everything! Plus, you were asked to give back as well. You bought bacon? Give back the bacon grease for explosives. That sort of selfless behavior will never be repeated in this country. Oh, wait a minute, I forgot! President Bush has given up golf out of respect for the troops!

Patriotism in its most common usage is best defined as the last refuge of elected scoundrels, who label every infamy and abomination as patriotism. Let me list some of the things these above-mentioned scoundrels define as patriotism:
Fighting wars of aggression thousands of miles away.
Fighting wars of colonial oppression.
Ruthlessly destroying the forests.
Promoting racism as a means of winning elections.
Cutting away at civil rights.
Lying about every question of the public good.
Bleeding the people dry and destroying all that America stands for with an armaments industry large beyond reason or need.
Spending our wealth on armaments (2 billions dollars for a B2) while our cities crumble, our infrastructure disintegrates and our schools are left without teachers.

It is time to stop being Kool-Aid Quaffers!

According to the Wiki-Pedia, Patriotism relies heavily on symbolic acts, such as displaying the flag, singing the national anthem, participating in a mass rally, placing a patriotic bumper sticker on one's vehicle, or any other way of publicly proclaiming allegiance to the state. Symbolic patriotism in wartime is intended to raise morale, in turn contributing to the war effort. Peacetime patriotism can not be so easily linked to a measurable gain for the state, but the patriot does not see it as inferior.

Hmm, I guess if you have those stickers on your car that makes you a patriot after all, I hope you can live with yourself on what those ribbons are really representing.

But this is Memorial Day. A day to remember those who were lost to war and those still fighting.
Every Memorial Day in my hometown in Pennsylvania, three generations of names are called out to be remembered for their duty to their country. George Czapp Jr, my father, George T Czapp, my brother and Steven D. Czapp, my nephew. Add to those names my husband, my son and the women of my family who were never really recognized for their work and sacrifice for their country.

I do not have a placard, I have a handicap plate.

2008-05-15T15:33:00.004-04:00

I knew this would happen. Now for the selfishness of those who think they are handicapped are going to make it very difficult for those of us who are truly handicapped.

I use a cane, always. I have a wheelchair that I must use on occasion when the pain of a disintegrating spine is too much. But I still need to be out.
If I were to stay inside and just be handicapped I wouldn't be alive long. Depression would be so overpowering that I would not want to live anymore.

Is that what the cheaters want? For all handicap people to suffer for their selfishness?

I read the story from last night about the vendor downtown who no longer has high blood pressure because she no longer needs to worry over a parking ticket because she has a placard!
Oh Brother!!!!!
If only everyone had that kind of out for their high blood pressure. I will tell you one thing, my blood pressure certainly raised over the article!!
Personally, I only want to park closer to my destination so I don't have far to walk. I have fed meters downtown for our car. I don't want free, I want a spot near tot he shops I love and the restaurants I wish to go to!

I realize the abuse starts with the doctors. Look around, how many actual handicap license plates do you see in the handicap parking spots???

When I read the part about the young girl coming out of Pivotal Fitness and jumped into her placarded vehicle I just shook my head, I have seen it personally for myself.

However, what gets me is I have seen people look at me when I pull into a parking spot that isn't handicapped. Hey, I try to park where I belong but, there they are all of those placards!!
Just yesterday at Publix, I was having a very bad day from the tests I had done yesterday. I barely got around Publix and I was missing an item that Lee said we would go to the mall for. At that point, Lee got my wheelchair out for that journey, there was NO WAY I would have made the walk through the mall.
But at the Publix, I saw 2 young girls park in the handicap spot next to us. They pulled in the wrong way and had to K turn a few times to get in, but there they were running into the store!!

RUNNING! I can't remember the last time I ran anywhere.
I know the placards are are issued to people not the vehicle. I had a placard at first. We do have 2 vehicles and I was hoping to get better so I wouldn't need a plate, but as the Fates would have it, I got the plate and the wheelchair.

I realize that the cheaters will not stop. One of the reasons is there just isn't anywhere to park downtown! We were at Ropers Hospital yesterday, we parked at the Doughty Street Garage and we marked down the plate number on the ticket they gave us and I signed it.
We got out without paying, however I wish I had a regular plate and no placard.

I would pay and be happy that I was a normal person again.

Is it genetic?

2008-05-15T15:16:00.003-04:00

Is it genetics that will not permit a man to replace a toilet tissue roll?

I have lived with men in my house and I have been married twice! None of those men, including my own beloved Lee, can replace toilet paper!!!

I really get tired of doing the turtle to the bathroom closet to get a roll of paper!!!

So, is it genetic?!

If we hired like we vote

2008-05-12T11:00:00.001-04:00

A question for the veterans.

2008-05-07T16:16:00.003-04:00

I want to just ask a question to Veterans who are voting for McCain.

Other than surviving 6 years in a POW camp, which many others did by the way, what has he actually done for you guys?

My brother who is a Viet Nam war vet with 2 tours of duty before having to come home to take care of me, loves McCain.
"Why?" I asked him. My brother said, "Any man to have survived 6 years in a V.C. POW camp must have huge balls of steel."
So the hell what? I am afraid a lot of veterans are voting for this idiot for the same reasons. Oh, he is a vet, he will do right by us!
Well, he sure hasn't proved it so far! Have any of you checked his voting record on veteran affairs?

The current Montgomery GI Bill, passed in 1984, asks active duty members to accept a pay reduction of $100 per month through 12 months of military service. When they return to school, they receive $1,100 monthly for a maximum of three years of education benefits. It is an amount that doesn't come close to covering the cost of a modern college education, veterans say.

Advocates are supporting a bipartisan bill by Sens. Jim Webb and Chuck Hagel that would bring back WWII-era standards of providing vets with full tuition, room and board. So far 51 senators have signed on as co-sponsors. But the bill remains nine votes short of the supermajority necessary to dissuade a filibuster.

John McCain has refused to comment on the bill. Numerous calls and e-mails to McCain's Senate office in Washington and campaign office in Virginia seeking comment on this story went unreturned.

"It's time for Senator McCain to stand up for veterans and be a leader," the chairman of VoteVets, Iraq war veteran Jon Soltz, said in a statement. "The success or failure of this bill largely rests on his shoulders. He is the de facto leader of the Republican Party. If he signs onto the bill, it will pass and become law. If he doesn't support it, he needs to explain why he doesn't."

McCain's silence on the GI Bill may surprise some observers, given the senator's six years behind bars as a former prisoner of war in North Vietnam. On the campaign trail, McCain speaks almost daily about "supporting the troops."

But organizations that have followed the senator's voting record have noted that McCain's actions are rarely in line with the interests of veterans' organizations. In 2006, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America gave Senator McCain a failing grade of "D" based on his voting record.

The same year, McCain supported the interests of the Disabled American Veterans just 20 percent of the time. The main reason for the low scores is a consistent pattern by Senator McCain of voting against appropriating money for veterans' health care and disability payments.

According to Disabled American Veterans, McCain voted almost a dozen separate times against spending additional money on veterans' health care in 2005 and 2006, even as hundreds of thousands of soldiers and Marines were returning from Iraq and Afghanistan and filing disability claims with the Department of Veterans Affairs.

During that time, McCain voted against expanding mental health care and readjustment counseling for returning service members, efforts to expand inpatient and outpatient treatment for injured veterans, and proposals to lower co-payments and enrollment fees veterans must pay to obtain prescription drugs.

"There was an effort to increase the budget for veterans' health care beyond what President [George W.] Bush had requested as part of his budget," Disabled American Veterans spokesperson Dave Autry said. "The idea was to increase funding for veterans' health care by cutting back on tax breaks for the wealthy. The proposals were pushed by Democrats and opposed by Republicans in almost straight party-line votes."

McCain's vote also helped defeat a proposal by Democratic Senator Debbie Stabenow that would have made veterans' health care an entitlement program like social security, so that medical care would not become a political football to be argued over in Congress each budget cycle.

"The budget and appropriations process for veterans has been late the majority of the time the last 20 years and the funding proposed by the president is almost always insufficient," Autry said. "As a result, the VA could not plan for the number of returning veterans and staff the medical centers based on the likely demand. So we tried to make the funding sufficient, timely and predictable. If the Stabenow bill had passed, it would have been a big step in that direction."

Like the other funding bills, the Stabenow Bill failed on a virtual party-line vote with John McCain voting against the veterans. According to Autry, virtually every single initiative to support veterans was defeated in Congress until the Democrats took control of both houses in January 2007.

McCain's Democratic rivals for president, Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, both support the bipartisan effort to improve the GI Bill. In 2006, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America gave Obama a B+ and Clinton an A-. Obama and Clinton both voted with the interest of Disabled American Veterans 80 percent of the time.

Add to that, the Senate recently failed to pass the Fair Pay Aact. Worse than the defeat, were the downright insulting comments about women. Senator McCain who didn't even bother to vote, said that instead of legislation allowing women to fight for equal pay, they simply need "education and training."
How many women out there right now is furious at this comment..or are you so beaten down that you have given up?
I worked in a "man's field" and my job description was the same as the 26 year old working in the next office. He made more than I did. Now why was that? He wasn't married and had no kids to support. Whereas I was a working mother. So the whole argument of a man has a family to support doesn't hold a bit of water now does it?

But I have come to expect such stupid comments and thinking from Senator McCain.
This is the man who said the "economic problems are psychological" and we just need to work a second job or skip a vacation to make ends meet.
Gee there Senator how would you know?The man is worth $100 million. He got his money the old fashioned way, he married it. Those 9 properties from AZ to VA including a $2.7 million condo on Coronado Island with corporate funded jets and a Black Centurion Card, (a Centurion card is by invitation only and only for those who spend $250,000 annually on the car). That kind of background doesn't tell me he has any clue on what the average American needs to do to stay alive and his voting stance certainly doesn't show any sympathy with his own brother and sister veterans.

So I must ask, why are you so hot for this guy to get into the Oval Office?

OK fine, but his balls have not been voting any relief for you. He has no platform that even whispers about the veterans and I strongly feel (though I am not the smartest person to discuss politics), this guy will have a lot more Americans involved with war and conflicts all around the world. Perhaps he knows he will create so many new veterans the country's budget will not be able to afford them?

I am Legend...I am bad!

2008-05-06T15:07:00.004-04:00

Lee and I watched a stinky, rained on dog turd called, "I am Legend" the other night.
Oh my GOD! How bad and predictable was that movie? This will be a spoiler for the movie...in case it isn't spoiled enough.
Even with the Riff Trax playing in my MP3 player this movie was intolerable.

OK, the beginning. There is a cure for cancer. Now fast forward, people are trying to get out of Manhattan, there is some sort of virus that is changing people into NPR radio DJ's, er, zombies.

See Will Smith run with his wife, child (bit of nepotism here, that was Will's own daughter) and Shepherd puppy toward the line of soldiers.
The soldiers are checking peoples eyes for the virus. After a false start on the wife, Will gives the child to his wife and says he has to stay behind and find the cure...or something.
The child gives Sam, the shepherd, to Will and says, "Stay with Daddy Sam, keep Daddy safe!" or some Disney crap like that.

See his wife and child on a helicopter with many other helicopters lifting off at the same time...can you guess what happened next? I sure knew as did the Riff Masters! Boom! Two helicopters crash into each other leaving Will a childless widower.

Now fast forward another 80 years (joking) man and beast the only two daylight living things left on Manhattan, are on the hunt for food. Of course they have to do this in the daylight because the zombie people come out at night! Now Will has survived the virus. This is supposed to be a brilliant doctor of virii and bacteria. He keeps testing different forms of the virus on mice and such but he isn't smart enough to realize why he hasn't died from the same crap that has killed everyone else?!!! I am not that smart and I know why!

Still no explanations on why that is or why the cancer cure started this thing, or if it even did!!!
No one explains how the lions get out of the zoo either but there they are hunting the same deer Will and Sam are. Will has set manikins up in the video store so he has something to talk to. There is a weird moment where a new manikin is in the store (I would think he put it in there!) and he asks the check out manikin who the "new girl" is!

As they are living off of the land so to speak, Will has a nice crop of corn growing on Avenue A and he plays golf off of the USS Intrepid.

Back at his house where it is fully powered due to the huge generators he runs. He has a fully equipped kitchen stocked with foraged goodies, a medical lab in the basement and upstairs he has a nice slipper bathtub that he and Sam sleeps in. I don't know why.
Shrek is playing on his TV a lot, all three of the movies in pieces can be seen throughout the movie.
Paraphrasing Bill Corbet here, "If Shrek isn't beheaded and Donkey not torn in half it will ruin the whole tone of the movie."
Now can anyone guess that Sam is not going to make it? I called him "Dead Dog Barking" and the riff Masters were calling him "Old Yeller", and guess what?! The dog gets bit by one of the zombie dogs and Will has to put him down.
So to mess with an already fragile mind, I mean mine, the dog is dead and Will has to sleep in the bathtub by himself now....then comes the home invasion!

A few people heard his radio broadcast calling out for survivors to meet him, then he gets surprised that someone actually hears the call and comes to visit!
The survivor is a young woman and a child. They come into his house while he is sleeping off the Sam killing and the lady makes bacon and eggs.
They are on their way to a survivor colony up in Vermont. You see somehow the virus can't live in the cold. Hey, who can?!
Will says no one is alive out there, this goes on for a while, yes they are, no their not, until he throws his food on the floor like a petulant child shouts that he was saving that bacon and goes to bed.
Egads!
Then the ending, I know thank goodness, huh?
To say the least we all should know including those who have read this and not watched the movie how it will end. He is in his lab where he had taken one of the female zombies..now just a side note here, they are zombies in the movie but they are vampires in the book.
A male zombie who must be this females mate, but Will once again isn't that bright to make the connection as to why this male zombie is so adamant about getting this female back.
The male zombie gets his whole pride together and goes after Will, they are breaking into the lab as Will shoves the woman and the kid into a fireplace (?) with a steel shield. He tells them they will be safe in there. At the same time a light bulb goes off in his head as to the cure and he gives the woman a tube of his own blood (GET IT NOW?!!!) and then pulls out an incendiary grenade he kept in the lab for emergencies I guess.
Just as the male zombie breaks through the glass Will pulls the pin and dives through the glass after the male and Ka-BOOM!!

Fast forward again and you see the woman and the kid driving one of Will's many cars up to Vermont where there is indeed a survivor colony and she gives the tube of blood to a soldier and says this is the cure.
Well, no shit!
Anyone besides this dumb old cancer survivor ever hear of antibodies? He had a natural immunity to the virus, therefore he is carrying the seeds of the viruses's destruction.

At the end of that movie I was nearing my own destruction! The Riff Trax made it somewhat better but not even Kevin Murphy, Mike Nelson and Bill Corbet could save this turd hammer. If you listened to the Riff Trax you would know from where that term came from!

Hollywood, stop trying to entertain me! I will get a piece of string and make Cat cradles for a few hours, that would better entertainment than "I am Legend".
I am glad I didn't pay to see this waste of celluloid.

Relay for Life Reception

2008-05-04T12:28:00.004-04:00

Rt 26 was a freaking parking lot while I watching time float by on my way to Goose Creek. I don't mean to complain, but who the HELL made the reception time for 6PM in Goose Creek????
Even the food for the reception was hung up on the parkway!!
We got there about 15 minutes late and another table had to be set up, but things came along.
I saw people in various stages surviving. Hats, scarves, bald heads and regular heads all there to bear withness to the fact that we are beating the disease!
Those of us who were there and who have survived wanted to show those who are suffering the various horrific effects of chemotherapy that you can beat this thing! You can. You have support and you have proof.

Here I am, 26 years after being told I had 3 months to live. Yes, I have some long range damage from the major chemicals and radiation they had to pour into me, but the fact is every day I am aching is a day I have survived.

As survivors we were asked to stand up and sound off that we have survived. We got a small gift of a Hope Angel Tea Light holder.
We played games and we saw films on the ACS. We had our pictures taken and we were asked to make scrap book pages with our photo. The scrap book pages will be on display at the Relay.
Look for mine if you go! It has pagan symbols all over it, it is hard to miss, but my favorite line that I wrote on it was given to me by my husband. It says, "The Grim Reaper can kiss my ass!" Edited on 05/05/08...Hubby told me I messed up the line!

As we played games, a few of us won special tee shirts, shirts that won't be given out at the Relay itself, a "Survivor" shirt with "Hope" on the front.

I am looking forward to wearing the shirt on the 16th at the West Ashley High School.
So please come to the Relay, it isn't too late to get a fast team together.
If you don't want to put together a team, you can buy a Light to remember one who has fallen, or buy a light to honor those who are still fighting.

Come and watch all of the survivors as they walk or get rolled around the track. See how they are fighting and winning for each day they are alive.

Happy Beltane!

2008-05-01T15:07:00.003-04:00

Attend the night of crystal fire
when Sweet Delight weds Wild Desire
tis the greening of the year...
Beltane, Beltane, Beltane's here!
Feel the world's Regeneration
Dance the pole with Veneration!
-Raven's Wing

Oh, what a very busy day today!
I baked my loaf of bread for the fairies tonight...Of course I made too much and Lee generously has offered to take the excess of of their hands. But believe me, they will get their share!

I have been making bread, getting my ironing done that really seems to keep growing. I need to be more firm with myself and do some ironing every week or else the pile will be mountainous like today!

Due to a diabetic, I don't know what you call it, fit or something, my blood sugar fell to the 70's and I got sick, suddenly like. I got woozy and very shaky. I never seen that sort of shaking from my hands since I was told I was pregnant! I absolutely hate not being in control of my body like that!
My GP told me to watch my blood try to keep it under 120. Stop or minimize my sugar and starch intakes, etc. BUT she never told me what to do if my blood drops suddenly like that!
I made the decision to eat 5 small meals a day, like an orange, or half a sandwich, something small for the between meals snacks.
But that sugar drop like that was something I do not want again! I had a headache for a bit afterwards. It was not a good time to have something like that!
I am still not finished with the ironing, but I got the bread, the cinnamon rolls and my pasta salad finished. Also, Lee helped me make up my sandwiches, but them in half, vac wrap them and stuffed them in the freezer. My job is to remember to take out 2 halves in the morning for my snacks.
I will try!

At 6PM, I have a Cancer Survivor Reception to go to up in Goose Creek. Lee says we are leaving no later than 5 because Rt 26 can be a parking lot at times with people coming out of the Battery at that time.

By the time that is over it is ritual time!!!
Time for honoring the Goddess and the regeneration of the Earth.

For my kind it is a beautiful time a wonder to behold when the Earth is full of greens and She is fertile with rich soil tilled for Summer's growths. My front door garden is overflowing with herbs, flowers and vines all tended to with respectful hands and a loving heart.
Remember tonight, if the mood hits you and your mate, you are honoring the earth by regenerating your seed!
The very fact that Beltane this year coincides with the Lunar Energy ripe for spells of passion and sexuality is perfect for joining bodies, hearts and minds tonight.
Even if you are having sex alone, you are honoring Beltane.

Enjoy this night!

Live and Let Live
Fairly Take and Fairly Give!
-The Wiccan Rede

The 2008 Charleston Air Show

2008-04-27T11:51:00.001-04:00

We went to the 2008 Charleston Parking Lot, I mean, Air Show.
We left relatively early. Lee has a new digital camera with a changeable lens and we went off to take pictures of the planes. You can see how great the Canon SLR is when you see the pictures!We left here about 10:20 and I figured the slow up would start on Aviation somewhere, I had no idea it would begin at the Rt 26 on ramp for Aviation.

We saw some very un-American signs on the way in...At least I think they are. Remember the constitution anyone?
Three hours later, we finally got to a decent enough parking slot.
The problem at with the traffic was NOT the amount of cars, if anyone who organized the air show would just go to the County Fair they would see the traffic they would have to deal with.
No, it wasn't the amount of cars, it was the lack of traffic control. You have merges that you did not see until you were on top of them.
There were no traffic cones, no cops telling us to move over or anything. What we did have was a bunch of teenagers moving their hands to go forward...um, where are we supposed to go forward to there, Sparky?
Due to the heat we saw a few cars pushed off the edge of the road over heating. Then we get to Midland Park road and they have their own lane and they are moving quite steadily...why were we at a stand still then?

Bottom line with out going too much into a bitchfest, was it worth it?
Truthfully? No, I have seen better air shows at smaller air fields. I expected more from a show on a military base.
Raptor
I have been to a small field in Greensburg, PA and saw a B-17 and a harrier that really showed off. That Marine Pilot was a true hot dog. He made the harrier do all kinds of tricks then he bowed the plane to the audience.

The Thunderbirds used to do amazing tricks and so close flybys you thought for sure they would blow up but they came out great. These guys are probably hampered by new safety regulations and such things. Where the hell was the "Missing man Formation"? I didn't see that one.

It was 88 out and I was glad to have dressed lightly but still covered enough not to burn. I also had my sunblock with me. Lee set up our chairs under the Charleston Airlift's C-17 wing.
We got a really nice pair of folding chairs. Much to Lee's delight they are Craftsman and says so right on the backs of the chairs!

I could say that even though I had to walk through a metal detector and have a nice police officer wand me, (The TSA could learn something here) I had a good time...but while Lee and I were in the C-17 taking pictures, two women who were seated near us the whole of the show tried to steal our folding chairs!

We walked down the ramp of the plane and I told Lee, "Look! They are taking our chairs!"
When we got to them, they said someone else tried to steal them, so they were folding them up and putting them back into their bags to place somewhere safe. Uh huh, your car trunk perhaps?

As we were leaving the storm moved in. You could see it coming while the Thunderbirds were up there. Thunder, lightening and fortunately the rain held off until we got to the car. Whew, what a walk!! A few Airmen helped us get our directions right and off we go! We were out a lot easier than we got in!! We took Midland Park.

Other than a few pictures, a near theft and Lee's new shirt. The air show will not see me back next year.

Mental disease, the deadly secret.

2008-04-23T12:11:00.006-04:00

We got word this morning that a former friend of ours from Virginia has killed himself.

I had to take Lee to his cardiac testing today and as he was getting ready (we had to be at the downtown Roper Hospital at 8AM) I looked over my emails.
A person I email back and forth and we were all friends at one time while we lived up there emails me with the news.
It wasn't just a suicide, it was a fiasco.

According to the sensationalist news coverage in Augusta and Bath Counties, third and fourth hand stories it seems Don was firing at the police from his little building up on the hill above his father's house.
I always thought those buildings were called Yurts but it seems the news is referring to it as a gazebo.
Because of the "fired shots" on a police or perhaps it was the fire trucks, they aren't sure now, the county responded like they had a whole army in that yurt.
It was an over reaction and by the time they all got there and suited up Don was gone. I wonder if the shot at the police officer wasn't really Don killing himself.
I don't know if any of that was true or not. What I do know is a person is dead and at one time I considered myself a friend of both him and his wife. Lee and I knew that when he was on his meds and talking to a counselor Don was OK, but when he went off of them he became erratic.

Don needed help and he needed his wife up there to talk to him, not some police covering him like he was America's most wanted. If you look at the video link I put in this post you will see a sniper positioned on the roof of a near by house. Nice community relations there, boys.

Here is a thought to all states...perhaps you should do a health check as well as a background check on people who ask for rifle permits! Don had himself an armory and he was more than happy to show it off. Some people collect comic books - Don collected weapons.

I am sorry it ended this way. All he needed was help and his own blood family were blind to his suffering and called his previous suicide attempts as "just trying to get attention" .

If that were the case, he got all he could stand this time.

Good bye Don, I hope you find some peace.

Religious Intolerance again.

2008-04-19T20:08:00.004-04:00

I am not up on all the crap that is going on with the "Sect" situation. I try to stay away from sensationalist journalism and let's face it, that is what it is.

I understand the need we all feel toward those young girls forced to wed older men.
Some may say if the young girls agreed then it wasn't forced.
OK, I can agree with that. However, have those of you who think that way ever talk to a 13 - 14 year old girl? They are children in what may be a blossoming woman's body. Their emotions and hormones are not prepared for sex let alone motherhood.
I cannot believe they knew what they were agreeing to. The next 60-70 years being married to an old man, sorry, men who tells her what her place is in Zion

The adult mothers shouldn't be arrested. There are no grounds for it. They decided to have polygamous marriages, that shouldn't be a crime. We shouldn't legislate morality.
So the children are now being punished. They are stripped from their mothers and tested for their DNA. What will this accomplish? The moms could tell you who the kids fathers are, but it better to spend thousands of dollars to test for parentage.
The children are being kept at the San Angelo coliseum and fairgrounds. Once parentage is determined they will be moved to other sites.

The whole thing makes me a bit nervous. Why did the police get involved in this?
Anytime there is a different religion involved int he story the press automatically scream "SECT!". Most people will think something heretical is going on with the word.
That sect was another follower of Christianity. It may not have been the Big Three, (Catholic, Protestant, Jewish) but it was a religious group.

Once again there is the showing of religious intolerance in America.
Freedom of Religion? Hell no, it is a sect and therefore must be raided and shown to the world as nut balls and heathens!!!

I also read they still have not found the 16yr old girl who allegedly call 911 about her 50 yr old father beating and raping her.

DO NOT GET ME WRONG HERE!!!
I do not think these young girls agreed to be married and like I said above, if they did agree, they had no idea what they were in for. Perhaps a bit of indoctrination occurred to get them to agree, who the hell knows.
Abuse and rape charges are well worth proceeding.
The ones who really need their asses put in a sling is the men. How can a man take a child to bed? Put her to bed, yes, but take her to bed?! Talk about a person on the high end of the sleaze factor.
Those poor girls, thinking of a romantic wedding night and then Grandpa Jones comes into the bedroom. Oh, ICK!!!!

In other news...
I nearly fell off of my chair when I read the story of Snickers. I am so glad that puppy was able, through the love and care of a whole bunch of humans and corporations, to get Snickers home.
But what made me nearly fall was this..."Getting the canine cleared for travel involved the Hawaiian Humane Society, state agencies, and the Department of Homeland Security."
Yeah, you never know Dept o Homeland Security, that spaniel might me a terrorist! Better make sure before you clear it through!

I am going back to reading books instead of the newspapers!

I think I am back!!

2008-04-16T11:12:00.002-04:00

Yesterday, Blogger accused me of being a Spam blog.

I have no idea on what that is, but I know I am not one. I was allowed to make a post but not publish it until they decided I was human!

I put in the request for a review and now this afternoon, I am back in!

I was about to move to WordPress this morning and Lee told me to be patient for a bit.

I have no idea how I became a "False Positive", but I am now back to blogging...I am still considering going to WordPress though!

America, Land of Gluttony

2008-04-15T13:33:00.009-04:00

I was listening to Old Time Radio on the XM Nation. No, it isn't the 90's station, I am talking about real old time radio, like Frank Sinatra playing Rocky Fortune on the LUX radio show.

It was 1945 on this program. Frank Sinatra was dealing with some children who were about to beat up another kid because he had a different religion.
Frankie went into the reasons as to why we were fighting the war and religion was not an issue. Catholics were bleeding and dying next to Jews and Presbyterians were flying and sailing with Baptists. Religion is not an issue.

Then Frankie does what Frankie did best, he sang a beautiful song:

Writer(s): Robinson/Allen

What is America to me
A name, a map, or a flag I see
A certain word, democracy
What is America to me
The house I live in A plot of earth, a street
The grocer and the butcher
Or the people that I meet
The children in the playground
The faces that I see All races and religions
That's America to me
The place I work in
The worker by my side
The little town the city
Where my people lived and died
The howdy and the handshake
The air of feeling free
And the right to speak your mind out
That's America to me
The things I see about me
The big things and the small
That little corner newsstand
Or the house a mile tall
The wedding and the churchyard
The laughter and the tears
And the dream that's been a growing
For more than two hundred years
The town I live in
The street, the house, the room
The pavement of the city
Or the garden all in bloom
The church, the school, the clubhouse
The millions lights I see
But especially the people - Yes especially the people
That's America to me

What has happened to that America? I must wonder if we will ever be a united nation again.
There are so many classes...in a country who swore there would be NO classes!
What do we do to fix this place?

I see the offerings for President and I shudder. I cannot think which of the three I like less! I will be voting this year, but I refuse to abandon my principals. IF I do not believe in the candidate I will not vote for him simply because he or she is popular.

So what do we do? How do we fix the country? People are losing their homes and stores are closing. I ordered some flowers for my Mother-in-law today and had to pay a fuel charge.
People are griping about the price of groceries going up and yet they have no idea that a lot of Americans are to blame for the prices.

We are a gluttonous nation. We buy huge vehicles that drink, no guzzle gasoline and no one realizes that there is only so much oil to be pumped and we keep demanding it. Plus, the Chinese are starting to get cars! A whole new market to be supplied by the oil companies!

Look at the way we eat! All you can eat buffets, super sizing, giant this and ultimate that! So much food in one order that most of it goes to waste! I saw at a local Dunkin' Donuts one of the servers pull trays of donuts out to replace them with fresh, but instead of boxing the donuts up for the local food banks, the server just filled up a trash can. I asked him what he was planning on doing with those and he said they must be tossed because they were 3 or 4 hours old.
WHAT!!!!! ARGGGHH!

I have no idea how to stop it! I know a lot of bloggers who read this will say it is their right to get the "Colon Buster Burrito" or the "Artery Clogging Black Angus 4lb Super Burger".

Our nation is getting fatter for the same reason we are getting dumber. Our expectations have slammed through the earth's crust. A full belly is more important than a stimulated palate and an hour dispensation from thought is preferred over any sort of mind play.

What did I just say there?
I said, Americans think it is better to get the "Colon Buster Burrito" to go than to go to an actual sit down restaurant and enjoy the cuisine. We demand an hour (or so) of televised stupidity over a game of chess or a book.

Now did you get that?
I am no one to talk. I am over weight, I have Type II Diabetes and I need to control it with meds and diet. I will never be thinner. I enjoy Fresh Coconut cake and sweet tea too much, but I am not one of those eaters of huge portions. I just can't fit it! I have no idea how anyone can!

To this day, that Dunkin' Donuts episode has stayed with me. I wondered how many kids would have gotten a treat for free on those "stale" donuts when they got home from school because Mom went to the Food Bank where DD was nice enough to donate all of those donuts!

Gee, I guess I do have a soul!

A very different weekend

2008-04-14T19:32:00.003-04:00

Let's see, on Friday, I was told I have Type II Diabetes and need to start taking medicine for it.
I took my first dosage Friday night.

We went to Queen Anne's Revenge Restaurant on Daniel's Island on Friday night and we had a great time. The food was delicious and the atmosphere was really nice even if there was a few small raucous children in the place after 9:30 at night.
The salads were very good with a nice vinaigrette and the steaks were so tender you could have cut it with a fork! No dessert, I was good.

Saturday was a day in the 80's and too pretty to stay in. After breakfast which I took my second dose of diabetes medicine, Lee decided to take me downtown. We should have called first to see if any cruise ships were in dock...because there was a huge one there!!
We parked the car at the garage next to what was a favorite downtown bar of ours called "Dengate's". We saw that "Dengate's" is no more and it is now called "Moe's". What? Like the Simpson's?
Anyway, there went the best onion rings in the Lowcountry and nice cold pitchers of Guinness. WAH!

We walked further than I have been able to for quite sometime. Thank you Dr. Sheahan!
We went into Black Market Minerals, I stopped by one of the silver traders in the market..I needed some chains. I found a nice charm as well for my Mom-in-law.
We walked so far and into so many different shops. We walked up to the snob mall. I have never been in that place but it sure was pretty to walk around. I don't care for Gucci but Godiva...yum, Godiva! The Thoroughbred club has a proper tea served through Saturday but we were too late for it. We may have to try it in the near future.
We found a nice restaurant to be tried at a later night called, "Fulton Five". It was tucked inside of a little alleyway. Lee went in to look over a menu and it seems to definitely worth a try. A good wine list as well.

I was really starting to see the wall by the time we got out of there. We walked a bit more and told Lee I needed a snack, I was getting sweaty and very shaky. I didn't bring my blood glucose kit with me so I was winging it. I am not normally a sweaty type of person. But at this point it was rolling down my back.
We found a little place called City Lights Coffee. It was a really nice little cafe. Lee got a stout and I had a delicious iced tea. Fresh brewed, thank you!
I had stupidly left my pain pills in my purse which I left locked in the trunk of the car. So Lee went after the car and came back for me.
Once we got home, I laid down for a bit. I really wasn't feeling good. Dizzy, nauseated and sweaty!
Very early Sunday morning I awoke very ill. I cannot think of the last time I was that sick. Lee looked over my new pills and saw the side effects were just the exact things I was experiencing.
All day Sunday I stayed in bed as weak as a new born kitten. By the evening I was strong enough to move around. I got a shower and rebuked everything my hubby wanted to feed me and his attempts as amusing me. I fell asleep early and got up this morning feeling a lot better. I didn't take my Sunday pills!

I saw my family doc this morning and after half joking with her about her attempts to kill me, she said that is sometimes a problem for patients and changed me to a different med.

I got the thing filled and it is setting in front of me. I think I may be too big of a coward to take it!
The name of the medicine that made me so sick was Metformin. Remember that name should you ever need to take it....and beware!

BOYCOTT - #2

2008-04-08T16:31:00.005-04:00

Here is one more way to NOT pump dollars into China's economy...and this is going to be a tough one!
Stop buying all the junky shit that comes from China!!
How many recalls did we have last year?
How many items labeled "USA..." actually has a small "Made in China" label on it?

I have 2 candle sitters in my house. I bought them cause they were cute and I burn a lot of Cobblestone Candles. That is right, I stopped buying Yankee candles and I am buying the Lowcountry's own Cobblestone Candles.
I have to thank a friend of mine all the way out in Washington state for showing Cobblestone! they sell tarts as well! Try the Lowcountry Palm scent_ Yummy!

Back to the candle sitters, their names are "Stay On Tops, Our America". That was made in China. It is a licensed product by Yankee Candles Candle Toppers...I am not making this up. If you have one, look at the bottom of it!

So start looking at the bottoms of things. Also, stop shopping at "China North America", AKA "Walmart".
They used to be a store that had American made stuff in it, remember all those years ago?
Now, I just want you to try and find one item in that that was made in America.

They can call it a world economy if they want to, but the only part of the world I see benefiting from the millions of dollars that we dump yearly into Walmart is China.

Do yourselves afavor if you want to break free of the Walmart's lower prices. Iused to be a shopper there, but I saw Walmart's quality go down in the food department and in clothes. Sizes are totally wrong in that store for clothes. It is hard to walk away from those slashed prices and really good deals. But I saw a DVD from the library. It is called "Walmart: The High Cost of Low Prices".
That video shows it all. Small town shops that had been in cities for hundreds of years having to close down because a super Walmart was built nearby.
Community action at the town meetings meant nothing as Walmart people know how to work communities. The hell with environmental impact studies! So we will build a little drainage pond and put some water plant in it and you will never see the amount of car waste going into the local rivers and streams.
It is all slight of hand! Hey, look at this beautiful pond with sidewalks and seat, don't look over here at the manhole cover that says "Direct to water" with the Walmart parking lot drains all heading that way.

The DVD shows you:

Small town America and how the Malls that used to take the blame for killing small town America are dying as well.

Has anyone really looked at the Citadel Mall lately? Stores are closing in that mall with no signs of other stores coming in to take their place. Sure blame Target if you want to, but Walmart is right down the road.
Look at Northwoods Mall, the same thing is happening. Stores are closing.

The other end of the price cuts as well. It takes you to China where workers are made to work in dimly lit rooms making the crap that you want to buy. The many hours a day these young girls and boys work and the spaces they get to live in for half of their pay next to the factory. They will never need to worry about being late when a guard rouses them for their shifts! These workers have to have even washing water deducted from their checks. If they cannot work one day they are out as there are others who desperately need work and will put up with those conditions. Human rights? What Human Rights?
The workers of Walmart and how they are bullied into working unlogged overtime hours. Health insurance nightmare stories on families working in the stores. Remember this recent story? There are hundreds of other stories out there, just Google "Walmart Insurance Stories".

Those are a few of the issues covered by that DVD. Truthfully though, what the kicker was for me. I would go into Walmart in a fairly good mood and then as I was checking out me own items because it was easier than waiting in the 2 lines they have there. They may have 16 lines in that store, but have you ever seen them all at work at one time? Maybe opening day and that is all! As I was bagging my own bags I realized more than once how much of a bad mood I was in. The people who go there are all grumpy and rude, the employees (and who could blame them) are grumpy and rude and by the time I am done there I am grumpy and rude!!

I couldn't take it anymore and decided to not be such a cheapskate and open my wallet a bit more and shop at Harris Teeter or Publix where the people who work there actually want you to be happy! I shopped late at night at the Folly Road Harris Teeter when Lee was getting his sleep study done. The employees that were there would ask if they could help me find something or reach something. When I thanked them they would always say something nice in return. The lady who checked me out refused for me to bag my own groceries as I had my cane with me. She called the night manager to help her with the cash register as it kept locking up on her. Then the manager stayed to bag my stuff herself.

It is that kind of service I was missing at Walmart and I swore not to go back. So far, only Publix and HT have gotten my grocery dollars, and "as God as my witness I will never shop at Walmart again!" Anyone like my Scarlet O'Hara?

So you want to boycott China even more, and this is the hardest thing to do as the products are so prevalent in todays America, stop buying junk from China.

You want to not buy China made things and be happy while shopping avoid Walmart.

Boycott !!!!!!

2008-04-07T14:54:00.002-04:00

"We believe the Olympic Games are not the place for demonstrations and we hope that all people attending the games recognize the importance of this." Thus spake Samsung Electronics, one of 12 major corporate sponsors of the Olympics, when asked last week whether recent events in Tibet were causing them any concern.

Coca-Cola, another Olympics sponsor, has stated that while it would be inappropriate "to comment on the political situation of individual nations," the company firmly believes "that the Olympics are a force for good." The chairman of the International Olympic Committee, Jacques Rogge, was also quick to declare that "a boycott doesn't solve anything"—just as quick as he was to dismiss the demonstrators who waved a black banner showing five interlocked handcuffs, in mockery of the Olympic symbol, at Monday's lighting of the Olympic torch in Greece. "It is always sad to see such a ceremony disrupted," he declared, rather pompously.

And no one was surprised: Companies that have invested millions in sponsorship deals and Olympic bureaucrats who have invested years trying to justify their controversial decision to award the 2008 Olympics to Beijing are naturally inclined to use those sorts of arguments. But that doesn't mean that the rest of us have to believe them.

Look a bit closer, in fact, and none of those statements holds up.

A boycott doesn't solve anything. Well, doesn't it? Some boycotts do help solve some things. The boycott of South African athletes from international competitions was probably the single most effective weapon the international community ever deployed against the apartheid state. ("They didn't mind about the business sanctions," a South African friend once told me, "but they minded—they really, really minded—about the cricket.") The boycott of the 1980 Moscow Olympics helped undermine Soviet propaganda about the invasion of Afghanistan and unify the Western world against it. I don't know for certain, but I'm guessing that from the Soviet perspective, the Soviet bloc boycott of the Los Angeles Olympics four years later was successful, too. Presumably, it was intended to solidify Soviet elite opposition to the United States in the Reagan years, and presumably, it helped.

The Olympics are a force for good. Not always! For those who don't remember, let me remind you that the 1936 Olympics, held in Nazi Germany, were an astonishing propaganda coup for Hitler. It's true that the star performance of Jesse Owens, the great black American track-and-field star, did shoot some holes in the Nazi theory of Aryan racial superiority. But Hitler still got what he wanted out of the games. With the help of American newspapers such as the New York Times, which opined that the games put Germany "back in the family of nations again," he convinced many Germans, and many foreigners, to accept Nazism as "normal." The Nuremburg laws were in force, German troops had marched into the Rhineland, Dachau was full of prisoners, but the world cheered athletes in Berlin. As a result, many people, both in and out of Germany, reckoned that everything was just fine, and Hitler could be tolerated a bit longer.

The Olympic Games are not the place for demonstrations. Aren't they? Actually, the Olympics seem an ideal place for demonstrations. Not only is the world's press there with cameras running, the modern Olympics were set up with a political purpose: to promote international peace by encouraging healthy competition between nations. Hence the emphasis on national teams instead of individual competitors; hence the opening and closing ceremonies—since copied by other sporting events—as well as the national flags and national anthems.

These elements make the Olympics special, different from other international competitions, but they also sometimes give the games a nasty edge. The old United States vs. Soviet Union basketball rivalry; the parade of East German women with husky voices; the lists of who has won how many medals—all of that is evidence of the decades-old politicization of the Olympics. There were black power demonstrations at the 1968 Mexico City Games. A Palestinian group attacked and killed Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Games. Australian aborigines protested at the 2000 Sydney Games. And everything associated with the 2008 Olympics, from the massive Beijing building program, to the Olympic torch that is due to be carried across Tibet, to the Chinese Olympic Committee's Web site ( it describes China's commitment to promote "mass sporting activities" on an "extensive scale, improving the people's physique, and spurring the socialist modernization of China") is blatantly designed to promote the domestic and international image of the Chinese state.

No wonder, then, that everyone who hates or fears China, whether in Burma, Darfur, Tibet, or Beijing, is calling for a boycott. And the Chinese government and the IOC are terrified that they will succeed. No one involved in the preparations for this year's Olympics really believes that this is "only about the athletes," or that the Beijing Games will be an innocent display of sporting prowess, or that they bear no relation to Chinese politics. I don't see why the rest of us should believe it, either. ---Anne Applebaum

************************************************

I am sure there are not many of us planning to go to the 2008 Olympics this year, but there is other things we can do to boycott.

Find the list of every company that is sponsoring the event and boycott them. Send letters to the companies stating you cannot morally buy a product from a company that is supporting an event in a country that is denying human rights to their people.

China is a brute and we are the kids against the school wall getting things thrown at them because American are apathetic. If it is going on in another country, what difference does it make to them. But this brute has tanks.

Anyone remember Tienanmen Square?

It is time we inundate Bush's email and mail boxes with pleas to boycott this event. I am sorry for the athletes who have prepared for this, but come on. Loosen up on the steroids and go have a cup of tea. This is not a time to be all about you.

Please people, send a message. Let the Olympics go on, but not with us. Let us finally grow some balls and take a stand. This is our chance.

Moses is Dead

2008-04-07T11:04:00.002-04:00

I know it was a few years ago that Charlton Heston announced he had Alzheimer's disease and was going to leave the public spot light. You know how understanding people like the press and pop TV are. Anyone remember the "jokes" about president Reagan when it was announced that he had the disease?
Those wasn't jokes, they were personal attacks yet again, even years after the great man had left office.
Doesn't anyone realize that President Reagan was the man that ended the Cold War? Sure Margaret Thatcher was in there too, but c'mon!

Now another great man is dead.

My least favorite Charlton Heston movie:
I think one of the worse portrayals of him was done by Micheal Moore in Bowling for Columbine.

The movie portrayed him as Michael Moore's polemic against American gun culture, Bowling for Columbine, in which Heston was lured into playing a cameo as a rich, foolish old voice of reaction.

He clearly had no idea what kind of film Moore was making when he allowed the camera crew to interview him. As the truth dawned, he abruptly turned them out. The last shot was of him walking back into his sprawling Hollywood house, like an old man retreating into his money to escape a world he had ceased to understand.

Heston made so many wonderful movies but it seems his political opinions followed him in his last years. Instead of remembering the man who was a believer in Civil Rights for blacks in the 60's. He not only spoke the words but could back them up with action. He protested in Oklahoma in 1961 against a White's Only restaurant.
He protested against the Viet Nam war but also went to entertain the troops stationed over there. He spoke out against political correctness and yes, he stood for the right to bear arms.

Again it wasn't just his words, it was his action in that right by becoming the President of the NRA. First elected chairman of the National Rifle Association in 1997, Heston was re-elected for an unprecedented fourth term in 2001. He electrified that year's annual NRA conference by holding a 230-year-old musket over his head and exclaiming: "I have only five words for you: From my cold, dead hands."

My favorite Charlton Heston movie?

This will surprise you, "The Three Musketeers". The one that was done in 1973, not the newer one. Heston played Cardinal Richelieu. That movie also had another of my favorite actors in it, Christopher Lee who played Rochefort. Of course, "Midway" was also good. It is hard to pick just one. OH! How about "The Mountain Men", I got that one from Netflix! I think the other Mountain Man was Brian Keith? I will have to look that one up or watch it again!

All I can say is a good man is dead and if they keep dying like this, Hollywood might as well close up shop. No, go ahead and close up. Hollywood hasn't put out anything on the scale "The Ten Commandments", "Grey Lady Down", "Ben Hur", "Julius Caesar", "The Agony and the Ecstasy" and so on and on.

Good night and good bye, El Cid.

I hope you are resting in a place where there are no "damn dirty apes".

No kidding

2008-04-05T16:46:00.000-04:00

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It is amazing how time flies

2008-04-04T14:42:00.002-04:00

It seems yesterday when I blogged last, before we went to Rhode Island.
On that front, everything is fine. I mean Lee's mom is in her late 80's and I know it is hard for him to see his mom with the signs of age upon her. Large bruises from her PT and blood infusions, and her weight! Even with my bad back I could pick her up. I am guessing she weighs about 89 pounds dripping wet.

The only reason I went and was on my best behavior was for Lee. He was really stressed with having to travel with a disabled wife and then to see his mom like she was.
It never failed when we were at different airports that our plane would be at the last gate!
Lee was joking with me about that Hank Williams Jr song about "The American Way". There is a set of lyrics in that song that goes, "...if you fly in from Birmingham you'll get the last gate. If you flew in from Boston, well you sure won't have to wait."

How True!

What was remarkable on the trip was the hotel. OMG is all I can say about it! IT was beautiful with hot and cold running room service! Lee did one great job on Priceline to get us that hotel!! The rooms normally go for $299 a night, we got it for $67 a night!
The beds we so comfy and there were so many pillows and they were all full of some sort of filling that actually blows back up after you lie on it!
There was a office unit in the room and a walk in closet that took you into the bathroom which was bigger than both of my bathrooms here in the apartment! They had a safe in the room you could reset the combo on every time you needed to use it. I did make use of it, my sapphires and my pain pills went in the safe when we were gone for the day.
There was a menu for room service which was 24 hours, AND when turn down service came in they not only changed your sheets and freshened the room, they put a "special menu" on your pillow with the mints!
This was the late night menu yes, and it came with the breakfast menu you needed to fill out and put on your door by 1AM yes. But the inside page was where the real fun began!!
There was the "Night on the Town" package where you got a split of champagne and a tray of Lindt and Godiva chocolates. The Intimacy Package which was champagne, chocolate covered strawberries and Reddi-Whip. You could order up ready whip all by itself as well! Then there was another package. I am not telling, but it was fun!!

The first night we got in there after 9PM. All I wanted was tea and bed. We had 2 planes and they were small ones. We didn't fly into Atlanta like I had hoped, this connection was in Cincinnati. Jeff and I were nearly sitting on top of each other in these seats. I also had to ask for a seatbelt extender. Very embarrassing, but hey, what can you do!
Lee says I am becoming quite the traveler as I slept though some turbulence going into Providence. I don't remember a thing except running all the way down the outside of the airport in bitter cold to get our rental car!
We got to the hotel and I kicked off my shoes and sank in the bed. I did eventually get up to get a shower and my jammies. I looked at the menu and we got a tea service and Lee got a few bracers of his own and we collapsed. His sister left us a message to be at their house at 10AM the next day for breakfast, UG! Two zombies coming up!

We saw a few things but for the most part my bod was on borrowed time. When we finally got back home it was pay back time, that is why my Facebook page was so empty and my blog had cobwebs.
So, I am back and trying to get the blog back together and figure out Facebook as well. I am trying to link the two of them so I can have the blog read from Facebook and visa versa.

Everyone have a safe and fun weekend!

Just when you thought it safe to play video games...

2008-04-02T00:59:00.002-04:00

I get really, pardon the pun, pissed off with the latest trend in movies, "The Pissing Scene".
It seems in movies there is a guy who is standing at a urinal or toilet taking a leak with some stupid dialog running through the scene.

Now you can get a strap on to help you hit the toilet! This would be a great game for men to play as well! Most guys are happy if they just hit something, this will at least give them incentive to hit inside the bowl!!
Perhaps it will "run over" into real life and they will WANT to pee in the toilet bowl.

Just thin people! No more scrubbing the floor around the toilet for pee, or the wall behind the toilet, or the outside of the tub or vanity next to the toilet!!

Ahhh, what bliss..see the movie here at YouTube!

I mean what self respecting girl would want a strap on of a penis to play 'Fill the Bowl" and "Whack a Mole" with her friends?

Of course this all could be just a April Fool's Joke!!!!

Happy April Fool's!!!

Packing and ironing and "Vacuuming". Yippee! - NOT!

2008-03-13T18:57:00.005-04:00

I remember when you could walk through the medal detector at an airport and you were not asked to remove the shoes unless a bell rang.

One of the reasons I buy genuine Earth Shoes is the fact you can get fully Vegan shoes and they could go through the detector without an bell. But now you must remove your shoes and put them in a separate basket than your coat and purse. They also make you remove your electronic devices and place them on the top of the case or bag in a separate basket.

All that aside, I am not taking an electronic devices except my Ipaq PDA and my cell phone. My PDA has all of my numbers and addresses in it along with a few cool games. My cell phone and Lee's will be with us for emergency calls from his work or other family things. They both will be in my bag. I got so many great handbags/purses and I take this cross body traveling purse I had bought for my wheelchair. I figure that even though it is a narrow bag even after I "expand" it, no one can steal my bag because they would have to take me as well! I packed a small really thin evening bag for going out at night.

Today as I was gathering the things together for packing tomorrow I asked my hubster what shoes he was planning on taking or wearing. He said his boots (ugh) and a pair of his 'dress' shoes. His dress shoes consist of 2 pairs of brown sneaker like shoes. We were lucky one day last year to find him a pair of "Irish Setter" brand shoes at Boater's World. But he has worn them so much not even a new set of insoles will help them now.

My poor sweetheart, he needs shoes. It is so hard for a tall man to buy shoes...or anything for that matter. Where is the tall stores? Not the big and tall stores, those stores are for men who are big AND tall. My hubby is tall but thin.

When he came home for lunch and I mentioned that we should both go shoe shopping. I think after the shock of what I had just said wore off he agreed. I am not one of those women who need 400 pairs of shoes. No, my addiction is handbags, purses, totes, clutches. etc. You see, no matter how bad my back gets, my shoes can only be so flat, but in my purses I can have anything!

So we went to Payless and there was nothing for either of us. There wasn't any size 12's at all. 12 is too narrow and don't fit him and 13's had lots of space in his toes and heel. As for women's shoes, the flats they have there may as well be just fabric. The soles were so thin that grains of sand would have felt like rocks under my feet.!
We were going to back to Boater's World when he asked where we found the Earth Shoes in town. I told him there was one on King Street in the heart of Downtown but Phillip's Shoes is next to Earth Fare (how convenient!).
We go in and get swamped with people bugging us. That is the problem with that store. I am glad there are people who are willing to help you, but Great Zeus! At one point we had 3 people come by asking if we needed help. I mean, Lee was sitting on a chair with 2 pair of Earth Shoes next to him. I don't think we needed help...or opinion. OF course they are going to say that shoe looks good on him, they are paid to say it!

It seems Earth Shoes doesn't make a 12.5 shoe or a 12 wide. We looked at a few more styles of other brands and we found a pair of Hush Puppies in 12 extra wide! These are a casual shoe but not lace ups! So they can go with jeans or his sport coat. Plus they will be easy kick off through security.
After we find those we head to the woman's section. I told Lee I know I will find something I like. He looks at me and says "yeah, if you do, we are buying them. No arguments."
Don't get me wrong, I love Earth Shoes. The REAL ones not the Walmart kind of Earth Shoes. If the shoe doesn't have a negative heel, then it is NOT a real Earth Shoe. But I have been stressed about money. We got this trip and I have been holding on to every dollar until Washington cried for mercy. I don't mind spending the money for Lee because he wears the baa-jee-bees out of his shoes until they fall apart and we go shopping again. I wanted him to have Earth Shoes because they last forever and certain types of them have a guaranteed sole. But he was really happy with his Hush Puppies so that makes me happy. I had mentioned that the colder weather up there will force me to wear my boots. Boots I haven't worn since we came back from our vacation 2 years ago to DC. I bought the boots years ago, just a woman's hiking boot. I have worn them for so long that the heel has no padding anymore. I can feel the waffling of the patterned sole under it. Ouch! I walked all over DC in those boots. It was December with cold and rain and we had a Capital Hill Hotel. Every thing in walking distance. My poor feet.
Lee didn't want me wearing those boots but all of my other shoes are sandals. Not very good for 40 degree weather! So we looked at the Earth Shoes for me.
Of course I found something. I found that for this season, Earth Shoes have a lot of sandals (thank Zeus!) and their flats all had a Mary Jane sort of style to them. For those who do not know what Mary Jane's are, they are shoes with a strap across the foot that holds the shoe on. Problem is I have a high arch and an unforgiving buckle strap like that would be pure misery, then add to the equation that my feet swell. Ouch, again!
I saw they still sold the original style of Earth Shoe. I looked for those but they didn't have 8.5 in that. Lee spotted a pair of shoes that I liked. They are called "Battu".
As I sat in the chair to try them on I was surrounded with 3 clerks! I felt like I had a pit crew to help me with these shoes!
I put them on and they were great! They have a elasticized laces on the top that do not need tying, they also have a strap across the foot but the strap is Velcro and not a buckle. They are very adjustable in that manner. They have a closed toe with a sling back heel. Although they are opened back there I think they would be fine but Lee found another pair that had a full enclosed design with a zipper up the front. They reminded me of surfer shoes. This time one of the salesmen told me that the shoes were very comfortable but they were difficult to get on. Once they were on, he assured me, they would be great! I had a hard time taking him serious when I looked at his feet and saw he was wearing those ridiculous Crocs shoes. I mean , YUCK! When is that trend going away?! But he was right! The zipper shoes were very unforgiving.
I mentioned to the man that I was disappointed that the shoes I was intending on buying had, and this is a head's up to Go-Green Charleston, was coming in the biodegradable bags instead of the great cotton bags they used to come in. I would use those shoe bags to store my shoes and I used them to cover the shoes for traveling in a suitcase. So while I was putting my old Earth Shoes on he found a pair of black shoe bags and put them in my shoe box. Pretty cool!

While I was checking us out, I saw a beautiful purse on the shelf behind the counter. It was lust at first site but I knew I couldn't afford it. I just kept looking at it. Finally, I asked the man, "How much is that green purse behind you there?" I thought it would be about $100.
He tells me, "$249.97". I paid the bill for the shoes and my lust would have to be assuaged elsewhere.

Lee kept asking me over and over in an incredulous voice, "Did he say $249? $249? Maybe it was 2 for $49". I told him, "No, it was $249." He asked me why would anyone pay that much for a bag? I told him that poor little hormone in my system that keeps me a female was screaming for that bag...so if I had the money it more than likely would have come home with me. But paying $200 on our shoes was enough for me.

We get home and I start the ironing. I saw Lee's sport jacket hanging and I used the lint brush on it then wondered if the jacket should go on the top on the suitcase or on the bottom.
I thought I would take a break and look it up online,
First site I hit was, Home-ec 101! I learn so much from that site. This old dog has no problem learning from a sweet young lady named Heather. Unfortunately, she didn't have anything about packing suitcases. I found a few other sites that contradicted each other.
This video said I should fold the shirts with the shoulders meeting with the fronts being out. Well, that is fine but I just ironed this shirt and it has a placket ironed in it. I actually fold the shirts back like how I bought it. So, right now Lee's shirts are ironed and folded and ready for the suitcase. I will fold my dress like one site suggested and fold our dress pants like another one suggested. But no one will tell me how or where to place the sport coat.
One site suggested to place a "Lady's dress inside the jacket and fold it in half, the dress will act as padding and the jacket will not be creased". I laughed after reading that. What if you are a single guy? Do you have to go borrow a dress to pad your suit with? What about if you are traveling with a woman. Will her dress be creased and wrinkled after being used as a jacket stuffer?
So I guess I will place it on top with the arms crossed and folded in half.

Oh, well, I will figure it all out by tomorrow night and if I know my husband, he will have a few last minute things to "pop" in the suitcase.

My order from Amazon finally came today. When I placed the order it gave me a delivery date of between March 17th and April 17th! I had no idea why! All I ordered was the 2 Food Saver jar vacuum sealers.
Now, I have the sealer for small jars and the larger jars. These things are used with your Food Saver Vacuum system. You seal canisters with a hose. With these sealers, you can take Mason jars, the large sealer for wide mouth and quart jars and the smaller sealer for pint and jelly jars.
I don't have time to play with my sealers now. That would mean a trip to Target to get Mason Jars and I dont have the time. I have been told to pour boiling water over the jar lids to soften the wax seal then dry it off and place it on the Mason Jar. With the pressure from the Food Saver sealer the jars get a better seal and there is no reason to put the jar rings on the jars unless you want to!
I have so many herbs and teas waiting to be jarred. It will be fun when I get back home to jar my herbs, bath salts, teas, etc...I am going to need a lot of jars! I will be able to reseal my quart jar of Vanilla sugar and the jar of Mint sugar! Those have been aging for sometime, but they really need a proper seal to keep the freshness it.

Well, dear readers, it is back to packing....and finishing up some jewelry orders.
Will post again when we return from Rhode Island and 40 degree weather.

Brrrr, I get chills just typing that temperature!!!

Note to the Medical Community!

2008-03-12T20:11:00.004-04:00

When a man is married, please treat the man as a teenager and then give all pertinent information to the mother, er, wife.

Lee had his sleep study last night. I was up all night getting the apartment together and making 4 new necklaces while watching a LOTR Appendices DVD.
I finally nodded off about 5AM and Lee walked in about a half hour later. I was greeting him at the kitchen counter when he told me he was hitting the shower because they hooked gunk in his hair. I tried to ask him how it went and he was unsure.
He couldn't sleep really and kept waking up but he thought he got about an hours sleep.

We popped into bed and passed out only to awakened by his alarm clock a few hours later.
I needed the car today to run over to the post office to have our mail stopped (something I didn't put on my blogger to do list!) and I saw the price of postage is going up again! Lovely and Lee just made these great stamps on Zazzle too!

The sleep clinic called Lee to give him his results. He had 17 apnea episodes in an hour. That justifies the necessity of a sleep mask system.
I asked him, when he got off the phone, what kind of system, Bi-Pap or C-Pap? Do they have smart card technology?

Lee just looked at me and said in a verbal foot shuffle, "I dunno".

They set an appointment for his fitting, of what I have no idea, for the 28th where they will let him sleep in it to see if it works.

I am going with him! I need to see how the machine works and how to set him up in it. They only way I will know that is if I go with him.

Also a note to doctors offices and hospital ER's. I noticed when I was in West Ashley's St Francis ER (isn't that the BEST hospital n the planet?!!!) They had rolls of different stickers to give to children and recalcitrant patients. I noticed everything from Sponge Bob to Hannah Montana. They need stickers for men. How about a roll of Jenna Jameson stickers or Briana Banks or both together? Lee will always want to go to the doctor!

This promises to be the week from hell!

2008-03-10T22:19:00.003-04:00

Let's see, this week we have had the horrid time change. I swear if one more person says to me, "I like having more daytime", I am going to punch them in the nose! The day has 24 hours in it. If you want to start your day early, then set your clock ahead and don't drag the rest of us poor schmucks along with you!!!
Yesterday was a great time around here. We both slept in and we enjoyed our leisure on Sunday and then we set the clocks ahead one hour. Oh look, it isn't 2 anymore it is now 3 and I should start thinking about dinner! So much for my comfy spot on the couch with a book!

Today I have to get our dog reservations at a kennel for our trip to Rhode Island on Saturday. Lee's mother as I had stated in an earlier email is in poor health and we need to get our butts up there before....you know.
In looking at my wardrobe (and the weather up there), I have all pastels and blue jeans in my wardrobe. I have several white pants, light blue, peach, sage green and light purple. I have no black at all. Yes, I know I am a witch but that doesn't make me a goth or Elvira! Well, a certain part of me looked like Elvira but that was years ago!

I must go to the mall. *GASP*! The Citadel Mall used to have a Lane Bryant but it has closed its doors. I go to Northwoods and park in front of Books-a-million because I know Lane Bryants is right next door.
I go in and find the black slacks (Thank goodness I thought it would be too late int he year for them). I am a big girl, I wear a size 24 in slacks. I look at these slacks and they are sized 4, 5, 6!
I walk to a young girl and say, "um, what is up with these?"
The girl says it is their new sizing. What you do is measure your hips and your waist then subtract the 2 numbers and that is the size you need!
Hmmmm. "Why" I ask. "It is to make you feel better about yourself!" as she hands me a size 6.
But I feel fine about myself. I feel confused about these sizes!
There are two types that shop Lane Bryant and I am not talking size.
One is like me. Very happy in their skin no matter how it is stretched and the other are those who are lying to themselves thinking if they scrunch their size 26 hips into a size 22 skirt they will look like a size 12. WRONG!
I walk out the door with a size 4 and a regular pair of slacks size 22. Both are black and the material is thin on one and medium on the other. With the dark sweaters I have it will be fine.
I must have a pair of jeans on me for traveling, but the rest will be semi-relaxed. Lee's family is very different from mine. Dressing for dinner types, at least they were. Who knows now.
While I was out I picked up a few more traveling bottles for shampoo and quart zip lock bags for TSA laws.

I have to get my hubby ready for his sleep study Tuesday night. We will be apart. I probably won't sleep unless I drift off watching "The Addams Family" marathon. We have both seasons on DVD. We should be knowing the results of Lee's blood work this week as well.

Wednesday will consist of making sure Lee's shirts are laundered and ironed along with a few pieces of my own. I am taking a dark dress. Just in case we go out to dinner.
Lee's suit needs freshened and his dress shirts ironed. His tie tack in my jewelry saver and ties rolled up inside his shoes.
I will probably take more jewelry than makeup. Mainly because I feel more comfortable in my jewelry than I do in makeup!

Thursday is packing, getting my meds together, books, laptop and phone recharger. Placing my leather coat over the recliner by the door and hopefully the bag by the door. I will keep the carry on open until final place ins by Lee. I must remember to pack my scarf and gloves in the carry on. I won't need them here but up there I will!

Friday, drop the dog off at the kennel, verify the flight arrangement, the hotel reservation and the rental car numbers. Try to get some rest because we must fly to Atlanta (again) and then to Providence, RI where the high today was a balmy 40.

Saturday morning, bright and early we are off to long term parking at CHS and the hassle of the body search.

I just wrote ou my weekly To-Do list! I will have to print this out!