Rush LimpBalls taken to hospital with "chest pains"

Everyone over at Huffpo is falling all over themselves trying to out "classy" the WrongWing nuts by "wishing him well".

I'm not that classy.

My personal take is that this couldn't have happened to a more deserving individual, and my supreme hope is that he is incapacitated for the rest of his life and unable to spew his hate-filled venom at his fellow Americans in any way, shape, form or fashion. I wish him all the worst.

"But Sewmouse" I hear you say "Wasn't that last post rather vitriolic and hate-filled? How can you criticize El Rushbo for something you have done too?"

True.

However. I challenge you all to find me one. ONE. O-N-E American Liberal Female Progressive person who has ever tried to detonate a bomb on an airliner for "Allah". You do that, and I'll STFU about religous extremeism. Hell, I will shut up about Rush limpballs too - maybe.

Because really, when it comes right down to it, political "conservatism" is really a religion. They BELIEVE in their Corporate Deity, and worship the almighty Dollar.

So - Here's to an extended, hideously painful & expensive hospitalization, Rush. Don't get well soon.

To All the Al-Queda wannabes and friends

It is my understanding - and I may in fact be wrong - that your major complaint is that we aren't like you. We don't follow Islam, or Islamic law. We don't make our women hide themselves in unsightly tents because you can't keep your peckers in line. For the most part, we don't go around wasting our time worrying about other people's religious beliefs or "morals". We leave those kind of things between each individual and his/her deity.

We don't cower in fear and give in to fucktards like you. We don't go the appeasement route. We will hunt you down. We will bomb your countries back to the stone age you seem to prefer to live in. Your once-proud civilizations will never again rise, because you refuse to fix your OWN problems, but choose to try and inflict them on US. DIE IN A FIRE - and if that fire has to be the fire from nuclear missiles - then so be it, you will have chosen your own fate, Swine.

It seems you've tried again to blow up an airplane. Tried. You're not going to succeed, fuckers, because we are aware now. We are alert. We aren't going to let your fucktard murderers get away with it. We won't sit like sheep in the plane and not fight back. You fucked up on 9/11/01 - and we don't forget easily - and we forgive grudgingly - if ever. For my part - I will never forget, and I will NEVER forgive.

You fucked up again with this Nigerian boy. You seem to not get it - the more you try to force your despicable "Allah" on us - the less inclined we will be to acquiese to your desire. Allahu ain't akbar enough to cut through MY stubbornness. I would rather spend eternity in hell than even a fleeting moment in "paradise" with the likes of you misogynist pigs. I will purchase a gun and learn to shoot it if that is what it takes to keep you from forcing me into one of your shapeless "Abaya" or "Hijab" or "Burka". And if you think I'm going to take off my bra, lift my shirt and shake my tits at you - you've got several MILLION "thinks" coming, Asswipes.

I spit on your Quran.

Relativity

The extent to which you NEED your car is directly dis-proportional to the availability of said vehicle.

When deprived of your transport, 10,000 reasons why you simply MUST get your ass to Walgreens come to mind. Sweats, chills, shaking et al may accompany the feelings of entrapment.

Once said vehicle has been returned.... it will doubtless sit for the better part of the 4-day weekend in the driveway gathering copious amounts of sn*w.

Silly, really.

Merry Christmas!!

Chappy Channukah!
Happy Kwanzaa!
Blessed Yule!!
FESTIVE FESTIVUS!!!

I got my car back - can you tell??? *grin*

May your winter holiday of light be warm and cozy, may you enjoy the comfort of family, friends and awesome food. Be well, Internet Friends.

Day 3 - No Wheels

My hands become sweaty. My heart races. Tremors of fear wrack my frame. Paranoia begins to rear it's ugly head in the most dire imaginings.

If I don't get the car back today, I will be 4 days more without wheels, as the shop is closed for the 4-day holiday weekend. If I don't get the car back today, I will run out of cat food and Kili will start to gnaw on ME, like those pug dogs did to their dead owner, except I will be alive. EATEN ALIVE BY OWN CATS - film at 11.

(actually, I am hopeful that the mini-mart at the Shell station has cat food and I might could walk up there for some.)

I hate being car-less. I hate having to impose on co-worker D for a ride to and from the office. It's out of his way, and I feel like a terrible, terrible leech.

And there is a blizzard due.

Good thing I don't have a dog, I'm probably broadcasting fear pheremones like crazy.

Questions I ask and expect no answer

Driving home from work - or driving to work - questions fill my head.

What exactly is the attraction of a "Low-Rider" vehicle? The Chevy S-10 that had been spraypainted dull blue looked like a bar of soap with clown-car wheels going down the road in front of me.

I can understand the attraction of the jacked-up cars - it is NICE to drive a high vehicle, because you can see over everyone else and be sure you're not going to get surprised by someone braking up ahead.

But the whole concept of "low-rider" entirely escapes me. Just looks STUPID.

Had a "honey-do" 4-day weekend last weekend. I took 2 days off work so I could get things done around the house that just NEVER seem to get done. I'm a big one for making lists and then berating myself for not ever finishing all the stuff on them.

So - on the way to work I was wondering if anyone was SO busy, and SO organized that they'd put "masturbate" on their to-do list.

Ok - it IS a stupid question - but I've got a 30 minute commute, and my brain functions in bizarre ways before it has had enough coffee.

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The horrors of unprovoked war

Written by another:

The man was a teenage apprentice seaman, when he spotted planes coming in over the harbor.

He thought they were military aircraft conducting drills until explosions and flames erupted from stricken ships in the harbor.

Then came screams of sailors; the stench of burning oil and flesh.

Then, he and two other sailors were waiting to ferry passengers on a small boat to and from the a hospital ship that was moored in the harbor.

His motor launcher boat rushed to a large ship, which was hit by several bombs, one of which struck her forward and set off a massive explosion. Already fueled and manned when the attack began, their 30-foot boat was the first rescue vessel to arrive at the scene.

They found the water littered with people — some wounded, some dead, some unharmed. Many were covered in the leaking oil from the ships.

They loaded as many as they could and delivered them to the hospital ship before returning to the another ship for more.

"As we're pulling them out of the water, a lot of times the skin would come right off the arm," The man said. "They would just be black with oil, except maybe you could see the white of their eyes."

The planes kept coming. Dive-bombers plunged out of the sky, dropping bombs and strafing the water and ships with machine gun fire before roaring back up for another round. Torpedo bombers flew in level to drop their submersible weapons for underwater assaults.

The burning, sinking vessels at first lowered men into the makeshift rescue boat. But some sailors started to panic and jump into their small ship, forcing it to pull away so it wouldn't sink too.

"Some of the sailors would be like in shock and some of 'em would be like going out of control, screaming and hollering," He said.

The next morning — after nervously worrying the attacking planes would return — his boat unloaded men from their craft who failed to make it through the night and delivered them to land.

"We had them stacked like cordwood in our boat. The open end where the feet was sticking out was these big brown tags that said 'unknown, unknown,'" He said. Many couldn't be identified.


More than 2,200 were killed.

"We didn't survive by any skill," He said of his boat. "It was just luck, pure luck. Because all we were concentrating on was trying to save people, and not save ourselves."

Horrible. Senseless. Unneeded, and un-warned. The military predators struck again and again.

December 7, 1942. A day that will live in infamy.

Don't tell me we 'Merkans don't know about having our country attacked. Don't tell me we've always just sat back in our Laz-E-Boy recliners and watched in safety from a distance.

Stop your internecine squabbling and foolish tribal posturing and nonsense. Come together as a group, a people, a nation - and set your house in order. Accept that there are people who view "God" differently than you do - and that only GOD can say which way is correct - and He ain't talkin' just now. Quit blaming America for your own failure to organize, build, plant and educate your own countries.

Two generations of Americans have watched planes being used to murder 1000's of our citizens in a mere breath of time - UNPROVOKED. This may seem trivial to those who have lived through terror in places like Ireland and Israel and what WOULD be Palestine if the people who would like to be Palestinians would stop behaving like spoiled children and join the rest of the world in living (moderately) peacefully.

Things like 12/7/42 and 9/11/01 are only going to make things worse in the long run. Had the Japanese not perpetrated the atrocity above, there would have been no Hiroshima, no Nagasaki. Had Al Queda - or whoever it was - not committed the atrocities on 9/11/01, there would have been no Afghan war - and no EXCUSE for Shrub-boy to start the Iraq debacle.

War. What is it good for?

Absolutely. NOTHING.

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Good Morning.. No Sunshine

I don't understand how people who live wayyyyy up north can live in darkness for months at a time. Just the inconvenience of not having the sunshine pouring in my window to help wake me up in the morning for a few months is annoying - the thought of NEVER having the sun get up for months at a time is ghastly.

Mental Note: Do Not Move To Norway.

Not that I have anything against Norwegians - just... I think I'd go berk without sunlight. (Shaddup, Manda, I am NOT already berk)

I am angry at the grocery stores. None of them seem to think it is a good idea to stock mint chocolate chips. However, I have fooled them! One of the stores had mint flavor chips. So I bought a package of those, will add a package of REGULAR chips - and voila! I will have mint-chocolate-chip-oatmeal-cookies to send to favorite daughter.

Take THAT, grocery markets!!!

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Checking into Vegie

My natural inclination is to be an omnivore. I LIKE the taste of meat, I ADORE cheese, and I'm fond of things like yogurt, eggs, etc.

Unfortunately of late I've been feeling less and less well after indulging, sometimes even after only mild indulgences - and I'm beginning to think maybe I need to consider meat/dairy to be a "treat" and to change my intake to primarily vegetarian. As a start, I've begun to cruise the Vege/Vegan areas of the supermarkets.

Today I found a couple things that tweaked my interest. One of them is a soy-based cheese substitue. I bought a package of the "cheddar" flavor, and have tried one slice - it's not bad. It really DOES taste just like cheese. I suspect I could easily substitute this and not miss the "real thing" too terribly. I think this will be my first change. (Oh, yes, I checked the label - no GMO ingredients.)

I know this will be more expensive - but I'm going to work at learning what I can and cannot tolerate, and what I can/cannot afford in replacement foods.

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Monday Blues

I woke up this morning thinking about "riches".

It really struck me that for almost as long as there have been people, there have been people willing to KILL one another - to get shiney stones. Rocks. Pieces of compressed carbon.

And chunks of metal to hold them in so they can be worn and shown off to others.

I know where the thought line came from - I'm reading a book on Amelia Earhart, and it talks a lot about the social status of her family, and that of her husband. Social status, to me, is much like "riches" - people seeking desperately for something that in the end really has no lasting value.

I am not a poor person. I am not wealthy, but I am not poor. I own (with the bank) my own house, I own a car, I have food and clothing enough, and sufficient fabric to fuel my quilting hobby. I am warm in the winter, and hot in the summer, although I have enough fans to make the hot bearable. I have more books than some libraries.

Sure, there are things I'd like, goals I want to meet, places I'd like to visit... but none of these include the purchase and hoarding of shineys. I guess maybe I'm strange, but shineys don't have the allure for me. I like to look at them, but I do not yearn to own them.

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Is Our Country Ready...

Someone asked me 2 years ago if I thought the U.S. was ready for a woman as President. Obviously they were referring to Secretary of State Clinton, but although I did not think that SHE was the right woman at the right time, I said I do think the US is ready. The fact that President Obama was elected clinches the deal for me.

Black men were given the right to vote before white women or black women, or red, yellow, purple or green women. It was made constitutionally illegal to discriminate against people because of their race or national origin - but it is still NOT constitutionally guaranteed that people born without penises have equal rights.

I think the US has come far enough to realize (for the most part) that plumbing isn't the defining criteria for judging a person's ability to manage a large organization, whether a corporation, a NFP organization or a government body.

Sure, there are some neanderthal outposts that still believe the "barefoot and pregnant" mythology, but the majority of civilized men have learned that judging someone based only on excretory equipment is counter-productive.

I didn't think Secretary Clinton was the right woman, however. She was a polarizing force - one either hated her or loved her, there was no middle ground. There were enough "conservative" folks who would otherwise have not voted, who would have come out in DROVES to vote - against her. Limbaugh and his fellow liars had already had a decade to assemble as much ammuntion against her as possible, and whether it was truth, semi-truth or downright Swiftboating, they would have suffocated her campaign in rumor, innuendo and lies until she could barely speak.

I still think this country is ready for a woman President. I do not think that it is Sarah Palin, however.

Now, I'm going to stop being nasty for just a moment, and be as honest as I can. Sarah, you aren't strong enough to handle the job. If a cheesecake photo of you on the cover of Newsweek can send you into a froth, then what will you do when the photos get UGLY? And they will, Sarah. Nobody is going to serve you up softball interviews if you try for the #1 spot. The going gets rougher, the accusations and rumors more unpleasant, and if you thought Katie Couric gave you a "gotcha" interview, you are going to be in over your pretty little false eyelashes in a Presidential debate.

And as much as you shout "sexism" - you're just proving you can't handle the heat. What will you do when you encounter a world leader from a country that you NEED to keep friendly, but a culture that considers women somewhat less than human? Will you cause a scene? An international incident? Start a war over them leering at your clevage?

How are you going to legitimately defend yourself against the "Quitter from Wasilla" accusations that WILL come at you if you run for President? Frankly, I don't personally care what your reasoning was, but if you don't have something very, VERY strong to use against that accusation, there are many, many people who will consider you likely to bail on the Presidency if the going gets tough.

There are much better females out there who would make excellent candidates. Women who didn't use their physical attributes to gain political power. Women with quick enough wits and women who are intelligent enough to think CIRCLES around the questions from a pretty little talking-head newsreader. Women who understand our Government, the way it works, the text and INTENT of the Constitution and the separations of powers.

Just for the record - I don't think Rep. Michele Bachmann (Loony-toons R, Minn) is Presidental fodder either.

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Oh it is dark...

It is "morning". It is dark. This is not morning, this is still "night". Morning has that "sun" thing.

Poor Poor Sarah Palin. Waaaaaaaahhhh - Mean old nasty old pookie old Newsweek put a "cheesecake" photo of her on their cover and WaaaaaahhhhSexistWaaaahhhhh. WHY is the media giving this attention whore any coverage? Seriously - she's not THAT good looking, she's getting saggy and baggy if you don't photo-retouch her pics. Why isn't she home, caring for her "Special Needs" kid?

I made some kind of beef/onion/barley stew thing yesterday. It tasted ok, except it needed salt. Rather a lot of salt. I am so accustomed to not adding salt to anything (cardiologist says "NO!!"), that it didn't occur to me.

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Success... sorta

I did, in fact, manage to make the clam soup without incident, however I will make it differently next time. It had too much strong onion and bacon flavor, and I want to tone that down quite a lot.

I also want to try cream of mushroom soup. This cool fall weather is making me feel all Betty Crocker.


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Eating Healthy

Or, Eating Healthily.

Either way, I realize I need to do more of this. As a result, I’m trying very hard to do more fresh cooking instead of prefab meals, and looking to fruits and veg instead of meat and cheese. Oh goddess, how I love cheese, however.

Part of me likes the idea of a raw, vegan diet. Or, at the least, a mostly vegetarian diet with a bit of cheese and eggs. Maybe a lot of cheese. And yogurt. Every time I read about this kind of eating regimen I start craving veg and fruits – especially salad fixin’s, mostly raw, and a good healthy salad will satisfy.

So with this in mind, I saw this bottle of stuff called “Superfood” in the produce section of the market and I thought it worth a try. All organic fruit juices, pureed fruit and selected veg and some pureed grain kind of stuffs. And something called “phytonutrients”. Not overly expensive, so I thought I’d give it a try.

The first sip wasn’t too bad. I’m not a big apple-juice fan, and it was a bit more apple-juicy than I liked, but I was determined to try and get past that to see if I could enjoy the healthy green-ish life.

Um. No.

Maybe it is because this stuff is bottled. Maybe it is because of the oversaturation of stickysweet applejuice. Maybe it was the combination of veg/grains with fruit. Maybe phytonutrients taste yucky. I don’t know – all I can say is that I won’t be purchasing that again. It had a rather high “UCK” factor. I finished it, but….. no. not again. And it causes belches. Bleuch.

Now I wonder if maybe my vegetarian dreams are misguided and not workable. *le sigh*

I am currently simmering a pot of clam chowder in my crockpot at home. I’ve never made home-made chowder, so this is a big learning experience. I suspect it will also be like the Chinese Water Torture for Kili, as she is at home with the simmering clam soup. Maybe I will cool off a bit and give it to her as a treat.

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Been a long time

Been a very long time - since I spent hours and hours sitting at the quilting frame. Which explains quite adequately why the fish quilt has yet to be finished.

This weekend, however, I made a committment to myself to really stretch out and do a measurable quantity of quilting so I can get the Charming Young Man's quilt off the frame and into a box and off to Scotland so I can put the fish quilt back on, finish it up and then (hopefully) have Amanda's ready to go and Pirate's in the works.

So I did work harder at it, and I have calloused fingertips to prove it - and managed to get a goodly chunk done. I'm fair certain that given a bit of habit-forming, I should be able to complete a goodly chunk every day and have it finished sometime this decade.

Spent part of the time with The Lion King movie running in the background (set up my laptop on the ironing board and used it as a DVD player), a movie I for some reason remember as being longer and cuter than what played. I also started to watch the Blues Brothers twice, but never did manage to get to Aretha's song.

Little Blue Boxes

Having now finished 1/2 a row of the first-part of the quilting, I can say with some confidence that this is all coming out OK. Took a peek at the back and it will be fine. Nice marching row of little blue boxes. Considering how well the light gets through the unquilted part to show the color of the patchwork above, I'm totally certain the weight will be perfect for a summer quilt.

I've been looking at getting a new vacuum cleaner. I hate, hate, hate, hate, hate the bagless one I have. The little cup gets full of cat hair so fast I am constantly stopping to empty it, and for all it says it is HEPA filtered and all, there is still a mass of icky dust and pet hair all over. There is one at Sears that looked interesting - an actual Hoover - WITH A REPLACEABLE BAG - that has a "dirt sensor" - if the area you are vacuuming is still picking up stuff, a light stays on to tell you to keep going over it until it is actually clean. I like this idea. Kili is much the same color as my carpet for the most part, so it is hard to tell if you've gotten most of the shed cat hair up intil you lay down and it fluffs into your nose.

Got a flu shot yesterday (work provides them free). It didn't burn during the injection, which it normally does for me, so that's all good - but the nurse/technician/whatever who gave the shots not only did not provide lollypops - HE DIDN'T HAVE SMURF BANDAGES!! Only plain yucky tan ones. I was bummed.

The note they gave along with it states a number of possible side-effects, including.... "malaise". Malaise. Yes, I can just see me calling in to work "Hi, Boss? I can't come in today. I got that flu shot yesterday, and I have malaise." Yes, I can see that going over very well, indeed.

*LAUGH* It's funny - now without my "countdown" - I find it harder to end posts. Seems something is always missing.

I suppose I'll have to find something else to look forward to.

Progression

So. This weekend I wrestled the International Quilt onto the quilting frame. This morning I started quilting it. The quilt seems loose - floopy - and it's ploofier than I thought it should be - but perhaps that is because I only have large squares done and not the cross-lines that will fill in and make it (hopefully) less ploofy.

It feels good to be working on it. The top, thus far, looks quite a great deal like what I pictured, and I do like the colors. I've run it past 3 of my male friends and they all say they like the colors and pattern - so I'm sure it will go over well with the recipient.

Got a squishy package at work this morning. Juan came over with a silly grin and handed it to me. The last of the fabrics for the quilt for Pirate. (Remember Pirate, Amanda?) Now I have to dig out my drawing for the boat quilt.

Yes, Amanda - yours will be first!

Blogging, Quilting, Video Games

I like to write. I like to read more. I suspect that has some bearing on why I update on infrequent and sporadic occasions, not necessarily due to any specific impetus, but just 'cuz I wanna. I read more blogs - and I comment on some of them (not all, and not always). I am bad that way, because essentially I"m saying "Entertain Me - I don't care if you're entertained" - which is BAD and WRONG.

I like to try and imagine how my posts sound to others - so I try to write them coherently (EPIC FAIL) and with an eye to letting others have a bit of a chuckle along with me wherever possible - such as in the possessed toilet post.

I certainly don't write for personal financial gain (hysterical laughter) or for fame (yeah - avg. 7 readers per day - uh huh... fame. RIGHT). I just write about what I know and what I think and how I feel. This would be why there are only 7 readers and I'm related to at least one of them.

But that's ok! The writing itself is cathartic - helps purge some of the deamons and quiet some of the nagging self-recriminations and anger-management issues in my head. Being as far from "perfect" as I most certainly am - I am just grateful for anyone enjoying what I write - or even reading it, for that matter.

They say that plagiarism is the sincerest form of flattery.

Got an e-mail from a teacher in another country, telling me that one of my posts had been purloined by a student and with small variations presented as their own. Just in case said student returns - That was VERY VERY BAD. Please do not do that again.

Scolding aside, I'm rather amazed, amused and a bit flattered to imagine someone thought MY ramblings worth such effort.

So, yes. I do like to write and read - and I've been glued like a plecostumus to the Adventures of Sherlock Holmes volume 1. I can't find Volume 2. I'm sure it is in one of the bookshelves somewhere.

Even more than reading, writing or - for that matter - playing online computer games, I love quilting. I love picking out the colors, the fabrics and the patterns. I love sewing the little pieces together and watching what was a mental-image (occasionally translated into a very horribly childish black & white pencil scrawl) turn into a finished blanket.

I love silently critiquing the work of other quilters who work in the same sort of patchwork "genre" as I do. I love to watch the layers come together and the patterns from the stitching outlining on the back side. (Yes, I've been known to lay on the floor underneath the frame to check for "puckers" and also just to amuse myself with how "blankety" it is becoming)

So, since I know that at least ONE of my dear online gaming friends reads here occasionally - I do feel a tad guilty for ignoring the game for so long, but as of late last night I finally finished piecing the top for the latest of my "creations" to survive my inner editor and become a reality. Tonight I will wrestle it onto the frame and begin the hand-quilting part. This bit is time-consuming, tedious, and utterly wonderful as a meditation-type exercise. As long as my hands don't cramp up, I hope to have this finished in time for Christmas.

Now that we are at the very boring hand-quilting stage, I suspect World of Warcraft will again have some small appeal for me.

FOR THE HORDE!

Thursday, and the Auditor is in....

So I got up this morning, and the Pumpkin Toy was at the top of the stairs. I kicked it down, went to the bathroom, and when I came out, Kili was at the top of the stairs, staring at me. Angrily.

She proceeded to tell me off, in no uncertain maows. I don't speak Cat, but it was fairly obvious she was unhappy with me because she couldn't find Mindi. They'd been together since before birth. How the hell do you explain to a cat that another cat just isn't gonna come back? This promises to be a difficult little while at la casa de Sewmouse. Spent an extra 15 min. this morning snuggling with Kili, but I still felt sad when I left for work.

Helen, of Margaret and Helen commented on the Glenn Beck 9/12 protesters. One paragraph stood out from the others for me. Click the paragraph to read the entire piece:

Let me just say something about the 9-12 Project. On September 12, 2001 everyone was an American. There were no Blue States and no Red States. There were no Black Americans and no White Americans. There were no Europeans, no Asians, no Hispanics, no Africans… The world was standing with America against the evil that is terrorism. The globe was united like never before. And what did our President do when given that moment? He told us all to go shopping while he and his buddies planned a war. And 8 years later the 9-12 project has been reduced to a movement of no Blacks, no Hispanics, no Asians… just 78,000 white people who can’t spell.

R.I.P. Mindi

It is never easy to lose a pet.

Mindi was the snugglebunny - the one weaned too soon, who sucked on shirts and blankets. I couldn't sit on the sofa without her crawling up into my lap and trying to spit-wash my shirt.

Today Mindi went to wait for us at the Rainbow Bridge. Her kidneys shut down and she could barely move, unable to eat or even get her head up long enough to drink. There were no options. I could have prolonged her life perhaps a few hours to a few days - but only by putting her into the pet hospital and having her hooked up to IV's and catheter &etc. Hardly a "quality of life". I made the decision to let the vet ease her way.

We are now a 1-cat, 1-human family. It will be lonelier without her throaty MAOW to remind me to fill the food and water dishes. I hope Kili will be OK.

I am disgusted

Shame on you, Joe Wilson.

You don't deserve the respect of being called "Representative". You are no-class, disgusting, and unfortunately a typical example of how low the Republican Party has fallen. Shame on you.

Shame on the voters in the 2nd Congressional district of South Carolina.

Shame on Nancy Pelosi for not having his ass hauled out of the joint session.

Even at the lowest point of GWB's "approval ratings", the Progressives, Democrats, Independents, etc., never stooped to the level of HECKLING the President during a speech in the chambers of Congress.

You, Joe Wilson - are NOT a gentleman. You are a thug, a reprehensible piece of bought-and-paid-for corrupt political hackery. SHAME ON YOU.

I note that your chutzpah in behaving like an ill-bred, in-bred Professional Wrestling fan, (as opposed to a civilized member of Congress) doesn't extend itself well - you've removed your website (Coward!!!) and are not answering your office phones (COWARD!!!)

Shame on you.

Updating

Ok, so I went to the Dentist yesterday and came back out with one less tooth. Again, not overly PAINFUL - but that whole bit of chomping down on cotton and waiting for the bleeding to stop was miserable.

It took several hours for the bleeding to stop enough for me to feel comfortable taking out the cotton gauze. Do. Not. Want. Dry. Socket.

Of course, then it took another couple hours for me to settle down and be able to sleep for about 10 to 15 min. before it was time to get up and struggle to work. I ALMOST called in, but since I wasn't throwing up, I dragged ass in.

Been dragging ass all morning like a dog with hemmorhoids. *sigh* Yogurt and protein drink for breakfast, I have another protein drink and some applesauce for lunch. Maybe for dinner I will make myself some scrambled eggs and jello. It's as bad as being in the Hospital. I hate Dentists.

In the mean time, while I was being miserable last night, I updated my linky thingy over on the sidebar there ---->>. I took off people who have taken their blogs "private", and those who don't update anymore or deleted them. If you think you have been disincluded in error, please e-mail me at my profile address and I'll reinstate you.

If you've gone "private" and not sent me an invite - sorry I'm not good enough. I miss you. Bye.

I've also added a couple that I've followed for a while but hadn't added due to terminal laziness. Hi.

When Toilets Attack!!!!

Or maybe it should be "Toilets Gone Wild!!!"
Perhaps... "Rosemary's Toilet". "The Haunted Toilet"
"Revenge of the Potty" would just be silly.

So Friday night I got home a bit late. Fell asleep reading, and awakened to the feeling as if the bed had grown a set of "Magic Fingers". Leg spasm, or mini-earthquake? You decide.

Of course, waking in this manner requires the obligatory bathroom visit. In the dark. Because I don't want to turn on lights. Mission accomplished, I reset clothing to rights and reach for the flushing lever. I push it down. Suddenly the floor begins to shake. Clanking noises! Banging! The water tank sounds like there are rattlesnakes in it, hissing and slapping against the sides. My heart races! Adrenaline pumps! The thought of a huge plumbing bill and possible flooding of the entire house looms! I yank up the handle and silence prevails again. I stop shaking. There is no sound of water overflowing anywhere.

Slowly the adrenaline seeps back into wherever adrenaline seeps when it's done scaring the woohoojus out of you.

I turn on the sink to wash my hands.

The water spits and gurgles. The pipes bang and clatter. But only for a few moments. Then the only sound is water rushing into the basin.

Only then do I remember.



On my way to work Friday morning, I saw a fleet of village trucks and a backhoe over near the local swimming pool. Apparently there was some sort of water-main leak.

Bet they had to turn off the water.

Uh huh.

Air gets in the pipes...

No, the toilet is NOT possessed, Sewmouse, you twit.

I flush again.
No problems.

You know - ya can't make this shit up.

I can no longer eat almonds. *sigh*

Bought a can of almonds (dry roasted, lightly salted) - and was enjoying a small handfull at lunch when CRUNCH... CRUNCH... CRUNCH!! but no owie.

But I certainly wasn't gonna keep chewing that really hard bit, so I spat it into my hand (nobody else around. I'm usually not quite that uncivilized) - and found a rather large piece of dental material.

Yes, I broke my tooth. *sigh*

It doesn't hurt, but I sure as hell am not going to be chewing almonds with it anytime soon. I have a dentist appointment on Tuesday evening. Again - no pain, no sensations at all - but you know how your tongue gets all excited and interested in the "something different" like a nosey puppy? grrrrrrr

Hate that bit.


I have gotten the camera to work. The colors aren't quite as screwy as I thought they'd be - still not "right" - but not as bad as I feared. I would love to post photos here, but I asked the Charming Young Man if he would rather see progress reports or have it be a surprise, and he wants to be surprised, so I'm taking the progress report photos anyhow and will post a Flickr slideshow when I have confirmation that he has, in fact, received the package. (which may be a bit yet - do not hold your breaths.)

The Parable of the Good Samaritan (Updated)

A man went down from Chicago to Atlanta, and along the road he fell among thieves, which stripped him of his clothes, and beat him and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.

By chance there came down the same road, Preacher Billy Joe Bob, on his way to tape his weekly Television Sermon in his new shiny Caddillac with the Right-To-Life bumperstickers all over it: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side, muttering about how terrible it was that the Lib'rul Governmint let the roadsides get all cluttered up with these indigents and illegal immigrants.

And likewise a Republican, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side, eternally grateful that he was not paying for "Socalized Medicine" that might be wasted on such a one as laid by the roadside.

But a certain Dirty Fucking Lib'rul Hippie, as he journeyed, came where the man was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, and went to him, and bound up his wounds, and performed basic first-aid, and set him behind him on his moped, and brought him to an Emergency Room, and and asked the Emergency Room staff to take care of him.

And the Hospital Staff did say unto him "Does this man have Blue Cross/Blue Shield? Is this Hospital in his Network? Who is going to pay his deductible??"

Which now of these, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves?

The 2-day 4-day weekend

Or maybe that should be the 4-day 2-day weekend. I took some strange naps this weekend and ended up feeling as if I'd had 4 days off instead of just the two.

Which wouldn't be bad if I had actually DONE something more productive, but I'm still having motivational issues.

I did, however, piece the center of the "man quilt" - it looks like it will be fine, and I am well pleased that the size looks as if it will be perfect. It will certainly fit on the frame, which is a HUGE plus, as I think one of the things that got lost with GreenThing Mach1 was the hated hated hated quilting hoop.

I wish I had an extra 1500 bucks, as there is this AWESOME quilting frame that not only has 3-way feed and tension, but also has the ability to work either tiny baby quilts or huge King size ones. Alas, being "poor" has its drawbacks.

The cotton "machine-quilting" thread is working fine so far in the machine whilest doing the piecing, so that is a plus.

Ah well - the sun is coming up. I suppose I should be getting into the shower and getting ready for work.

Kennedy and Camera

So, Teddy Kennedy died this week. I find it hard to work up any tears or any other emotional response. Senator Kennedy wasn't someone who's career I chose to follow. I've heard comments both glowing and disparaging of him in the past days, and I suspect that both are probably based on some amount of truth.

Nobody is a saint, certainly not Edward Kennedy (or me!). However to remember a man solely for his actions as a terrified 20-something young man on ONE NIGHT in his life is just as unfair as choosing to look only at his Senate career and ignoring his drinking, womanizing and possibly supporting the IRA (not Individual Retirement Accounts...)

In the end, if my Christian upbringing was correct - there is only one Judge who can decide whether Teddy Kennedy's heart and soul were in the right place, and it ain't me, it ain't you, and it sure as fuck isn't Rush Limbaugh (much as Mr. Limbaugh seems to THINK he is Deity). I'm quite content to leave these matters in the hands of Deity and not stick my nose in.

The camera is officially dead. RIP camera. Actually, RIGarbagecan, as there is no response from it, even after replacing the batteries. New Digital Cameras are a bit pricey, and I'm not trusting the dubious folks on E-Bay, so I guess I'll wait for the Xmas super-sales.

Thursday again

The days, they all kind of run together. The local market is having a price war with their competitor, and there have been some good prices on beef lately. I got 3 nice steaks for $7.88 and a lovely roast for $6.50. Met my co-worker C in the parkinglot and discussed it - which is funny, as she sits about 10 yards down the hall from me, but we usually don't lunch in the same places. This week we've gone the same place 3 days out of 4.

Tomorrow the boss is buying us pizza for lunch to celebrate co-worker R getting his college degree. Yay R!!!!

The nights are spent mostly working on my quilts or reading. Not playing much computer games, as my hands have been complaining the last week or so. When I play WoW, I use my left hand to work the arrow keys and my right hand to "mouse" - and the odd angle this puts on my wrist had been having the effect of numbing my last 2 fingers on my left hand - and finally became unpleasantly painful. So I'm taking a "rest break for my health" - although I will check in from time to time because us addicts are like that, ya know.

Meanwhile I am sleeping with my hand on a plushy teddy-bear to keep myself from grabbing the mattress and cramming my hand between the bedframe and the mattress in the night, which exacerbates the problem. Don't ask me why my subconscious hand likes to burrow between the mattress and the bedframe. I asked it and it just shook itself at me. The bear doesn't seem to mind.

I've been trying to take photos of the current quilt - but as the twitter tweeter twatter thing says over ---->> there ---->>, I was taking a photo and there was this ginormous POP and no photo and the camera won't power up. I will try changing batteries tonite, but I strongly suspect that my 10-year-old $70 camera has given up the ghost-image. *moment of silence*

So while I don't have a lovely photo of my current work - the fabric for the man's quilt I'm making when cut into strips looked like a batch of neckties hanging off the table - I did get the pieces for part of it cut and I laid them out on the quilt currently in the frame for a trial-run, and WHOOO BOY do I like how it will look.

This doesn't mean the recipient will love it, of course, but *I* am well pleased at how the colours mix and blend and how the pattern works. It's not overly bright, it's not overly dark - although it does have a very dark element to it. Since I RAN OUT OF PINK THREAD *rolls eyes at self*, I'm putting the brown/green/pink thing on hold for now and will work on this one as soon as I find a free bobbin for the machine.

I'm trying something a bit different this time. Going to use 100% cotton thread to put it together. I read somewhere that if you use cotton thread on cotton fabric, the seams are less likely to split along the thread-line, because polyester thread is stronger than cotton, and cuts the threads of the fabric.

I think it made more sense when I read it, because I think I suck at explaining things.

Wet Monday

Most all of this weekend it has been raining cats and dogs and small furry creatures from Alpha Centauri. Woke up to yet another thunderstorm. I sure do hope Mom Nature is getting all this wet out of her system so this winter will be dry. Cold I can deal with. Sn*w.... Not So Much.

As a result, I've spent most of my time indoors, doing a little housework, and rather a lot of napping - but also working on quilt stuff. Chopping up fabric, for the most part.

There is the Pink & Brown thing to finish - I never did get it completely cut out, and even though it is EASY PEASY to piece, it isn't making me anxious to finish it, which suxxors.

Then there is Amanda's Green Thing MachII - I've cut a few strips out of each color and as soon as I get the blocks done for the Pink & Brown Thing, I'm going to piece a few of the blocks for that one and see how well it looks. I am positively optimistic about it - which may be utterly unfounded - but we shall see.

Then there is a quilt that is a bit of a challenge for me. I got a list of colours (UK spelling intentional) from a friend and am trying to make a special light-weight one for him with them included. Not easy, as he is primarily a Dark One in terms of colour preference, but I think I've come up with something that will work well. I've got the fabric, now I just need to cut and piece. This one is also calling to me to work on it.

I also have the blue&white card trick to cut and piece. I'm really motivated again for some reason, and I'm glad glad glad about it.

I think I'm going to have to take some more pictures.

Warning - Politicallish stuffs and quilts. And flies. ugh.

Birthers.
*snicker*
Ok, there is really only ONE way to deal with people like this. No proof will ever be good enough for them. GOD HIMSELF could come down from the heavens and proclaim in a voice heard by all in the universe "BARACK OBAMA WAS BORN IN HAWAII" - and they'd claim it was the short-form God and wouldn't believe it.

No, the only way to deal with their childish antics is to answer them in kind. POINT... and LAUGH.

The lady who stood up in the town-hall meeting and screeched like a harpy about her birth certificate? How would she have handled it if everyone around her, instead of sitting like headlight-struck-elk, had turned, pointed at her, and laughed their asses off? LOUDLY!!

And that, my friends, is how I intend to handle EVERYONE who mentions this stupid non-issue to me. Point at them. Laugh AT them. Louder than they can screech. I can laugh REALLY LOUDLY when I want to do so.

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

I have found some excellent fabric for a couple new quilt tops. One for Manda, as the one I made for her some while back was ... destroyed by accident. Sorta. Long story. Regardless, I am in process of making a new, similar, one. I just need ONE MORE green bit to pull it together. I am determined to find that bit in my stash and not purchase any more.

I also have another top in the works - this one for an offshore friend. Just need to do cutting and sewing. It should be highly dramatic. I love that. Bright, colorful, dramatic... I am so utterly against making dull,insipid, pastel things. Not sure why. I used to like pastels. Now they just turn me right off.

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

So last nite I come home from work and discover my entire kitchen has been invaded by small black flies. Not gnats - real flies - but small ones. UGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. Utterly grossed out, I grabbed the cats, tossed them into the upstairs bathroom, shut the door and set off a bug-bomb in the kitchen.

This morning we are fly-free. Thank the Goddess.

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

For Croila - this link goes to a photo of a car that is kind of exactly like the Little Blue Neon - except mine is dark blue and has a dent in the driver's door and has no sunroof and the AC doesn't work and there is a 1/2 bowl full of shredded wheat in the passenger foot-compartment that I need to vacuum out tonite.

I have no actual photos of tLBN as far as I know.

Neon Hell - Part 2

So. I got about 2 weeks worth of OK out of tLBN before it decided yet again to refuse to start. *sigh*. This time I got smarter and had it towed to the dealership where I purchased it. I figured if they couldn't fix it, I'd guilt-trip them.

Well, I ended up having to rent a car for one day, but I finally did get them to fix tLBN, and it's worked fine since. Broken wire in the wiring harness to the starter.

Seriously expensive repair, in all, but at least it works now.

Another post a little later on more recent things.

Neon Hell - Part 1

I wrote the following blog post about 1 1/2 weeks ago but didn't post it for no known reason, and while I COULD update it to make it more currently correct, I have no intention of doing so. I will write an updated post later.

******************
Where in the world has Sewmouse been?

Home, mostly. Buried under a pile of laundry and the inside of a closet. Not in that order.

I've decided to clean out my dont-wear, don't like, don't fit, don't need clothes and feed them to the charity box. This has necessitated my going into my tiny walk-in closet and tossing out stuff I wont/cant wear. This has made a heap in the middle of the bedroom floor, which then becomes a huge laundry pile, as even though these clothes have been hanging in the closet for eons, I feel that it would be rude to give them to the charity box in their current condition, as they are a bit musty and dusty.

In between, I have been sleeping too much. Or maybe it's not too much, because even though it is too much, it seems to be having a beneficent effect on my levels of energy and ambition. I guess being asleep too much but more active when awake is better than being a semi-comotose slug with normal sleep patterns.

I've also found a new addiction - this silly little online version of Civilization or Age of Empires - called "EVONY". It is online and multiplayer. Rather primitive, but addictive too. It's not WoW, but it's a nice little distraction.

It has been raining cats and dogs and small furry creatures from Alpha Centauri around here the last few days. The humidity is oppressive, even though the temperature is not. It's like living in a tepid-mist vaporizer. The dehumidifier gets full too fast for it to do any real abatement. Yesterday morning while waiting for D from work to pick me up (more on this later), I started the washer, the dryer and the dishwasher all at the same time. It was like a sauna in the kitchen. I ended up going outside to wait for D in the rain rather than stay in the house. I fully expected the cats to be all fluffed out like cartoon cats when I got home. They weren't. They were sitting on the sofa looking at me like "WTF do you think YOU are doing here?"

So anyhow - I had to have D pick me up because he took me home the night before. The morning before, the Little Blue Neon decided it didn't want to go to work. Unfortunately, the Little Blue Neon does not have this option on weekdays when I have the outside CPA scheduled to come in and still need a couple of hours of uninterrupted time to finish getting things together for him.

Oh well. Called the tow truck, had them drag tLBN to the repair shop near work, and they drove me to work. EXPENSIVE TAXI!!

However, they've had tLBN now for 3 days, and even though they know that there IS a problem, because it screws up for them - it is the dread "Intermittent" problem, and it will not screw up when the repair guy has his tools with him. /facepalm

The CPA and I came up with an answer. We think tLBN has a crush on the courtesy van from the repairs shop. As the CPA put it - "That's why it only gets TURNED ON when it is at the shop".

I do so desperately hope they can find out what is wrong with it today so I can run errands and stuff over the weekend without fearing that I'll get stuck somewhere with a nonfunctional Neon. (Nonfunctional Neon at the Dysfunctional Dennys perhaps? *giggle*)

I also have discovered something about me. I cannot write when people TELL me to write to them. I get all blocked and can't think of dickall to say. Just sayin'.

The Death of a Dream (not emo) or "Mindi's Great Adventure - NOT"

I had a thought the other day. My cats were born, have grown up and lived their entire lives indoors. The only times they've been outside they've been in a carton or a crate. (Carton to bring them home, official "cat-carryall" crate since.)

So I thought - Hey! The back yard is fenced, Mindi is Fat, I bet she would enjoy sitting in the sunshine on the back patio while I have my coffee in the morning on the weekend! I had these sweet mental images of Fat Kitty laying in the sun - swiping at the leaves of the now-defunct daffodils, watching the birds...

So. Yesterday morning I pulled out the lawn furniture from the garage, cleaned off the winter dust and made a nice cup of coffee, then brought Mindi outside.

She cried. Oh dear LORDY how she cried. At least 4 other cats in the neighborhood took up the caterwauling - it was Drama Queen Central in my back garden. You would have thought I'd pulled her skin off. Then she hid under my chair. Which was ok, but I kept telling her it was ok, and she didn't need to be such a chickenshit.

So she started to do a little exploring, and decided to hide between the fence and the air conditioner. Which would have been ok, but she got herself stuck UNDER the fence, 1/2 in my yard and 1/2 in the neighbor's yard, where Ike the Dog lives.

She would NOT come out. not even for a can of tuna. No Noms were good enough for her to leave her tidy little cave. I would have left her there until she felt safe again, but ... Ike the Dog lives there, and she was 1/2 in HIS yard. I couldn't take the chance.

Ike the Dog's owner (you will note, I know the DOG's name, but not the guy or his wife's names... *rolling eyes at myself*) locks his back gate, so I could not do an end-around and yank her out from his side, so I leaned over my AC unit and tugged and pulled and pushed and tugged and swore and pulled and pushed and re-positioned and pushed and shoved and pulled and tugged and... KITTY. Picked her fat arse up and tossed her into the kitchen, closed the door and sat down in the sun and drank my coffee and realized that the buccolic dream of spending a morning in the sun on the patio with the kitty was just never going to happen.

[emo moment] *sigh* [/emo]

Quick Update

The drain cleaner stuff is called "Insta-Flo".

It was gorgeous this morning - I had my coffee outside and the cool breeze, fresh air and sunshine was utterly PERFECT.

I think I am going to try taking Mindi the Fat Kitty outside in the back and see if she likes it. I don't think she can get under the fence and get away from me - and she might like to sniff stuff and sit in the sun.

Back to work.

The Weekend of Memorial - and Noms.

So this last weekend was Memorial Day weekend. The day we remember stuff. I think it's like remember the troops stuff. Mostly it is about mattress sales and the First Official BBQ of the Year - and now you can wear white shoes for a few months without being technically a dweeb.

This was also "unclog the bathtub drain" weekend. Saturday morning's shower was marred by the fact that by the time I was done, the bath had filled up so far the water was over my ankles. This is NOT GOOD©. So, I went to Ace Hardware, and talked to the Helpful Hardware Man. Actually, he was like the Helpful Hardware Teenage Boy - but still, in the finest tradition of Radio Shack, he did his gosh-darndest to help out the poor, clueless old lady (me) and get her out of the store as fast as possible. In the Ace Hardware, I suspect they want to go back to shining up table saws and testing the Sawzall's. At Radio Shack, (AKA Pocket-Protector World) I'm much more convinced that they want to get back to their D&D game in the back room. Geeks.

Anyhow - so I went to Ace, talked to the kid, and ended up with NO DRAINO. Instead he sold me this small bottle of stuff that you can't even get on your hands without it burning you - that you pour into hot water running into the tub, and then let it work for a while and then flush it out with more hot water and VOILA! No clog.

Or so said the kid.

So I went home and used it. Sunday morning was the Big Test Day - started up the shower and if I hadn't washed my feets, only the BOTTOMS would have gotten wet, because the drain worked THAT WELL!!!. I do not, however, remember the name of the stuff and it's at home and I'm not so I'll edit it in when I know. Or not, if I forget.

So flushed with my success, I made the Chicken/Lime/Cucumber salad that I'd been drooling over in the cookbook. It was ok. I think I will cut down the amount of sourcreme/mayo mixture and increase the amount of ginger. It seemed a bit too "creamy" for my tastes. It has cilantro in it. Steven Colbert says NOBODY wants to eat cilantro. Heh. Fine. More for me.

Had BBQ Monday, now my back is complaining, I'm not sure the 2 are actually related, but it gets everything caught up to current.

Tonight I shall vacuum. Bleh.

No Helicopters Were Harmed In The Making Of This Post

I never did find out anything more about the noises that woke me up the other day. Perhaps it wasn't a broken helicopter at all, but my neighbor with his window open and snoring REALLY REALLY loud. *sigh*

Which doesnt' explain the yellow police tape, but maybe someone was doing a Tony Orlando and Dawn tribute show in the middle of the expressway. It could happen.

Some good things.

A guy I've been fighting with over the phone at work sent an e-mail yesterday to my boss - admitting he was WRONG. I love being right. I really, REALLY do.

Managed to get 4 bags full of clutter out of the house this week. Made enough of a dent in the mess for me to feel pretty good about it. SOOOOO much more to do, but my back limits the amount I can get done at any one time.

I will say, however, that this is the longest sustained "positive energy and resolve" mental period I've had in years and years. If this is what I can expect from menopause, and if I can get my back to cooperate, I may someday have my dream living area makeover completed. I am determined to start with new bedroom draperies. I'm tired of the deep burgundy curtains and the dark floral swags. I think I want to go with something pastel turquoise and seafoam green. Lighter. Cooler. More user-friendly.

I found the local "progressive" talk radio station here. It has shows from Air America, as well as some local programming. While I do NOT agree with absolutely everything they say, I don't feel as if they want to tar and feather and deport anyone who disagrees (although they may poke some pointy sticks at them), and much of their "agenda" are things with which I agree, having had MORE than enough Faux Noise thrown at me over the years, this feels just lovely.

I know that last sentance is a grammatical mess - and I don't give a rat's ass.

Not so good things:

The Fat Kitty, Mindi, has gouged my arm in at least 8 places. I am a wonderland of cat-scratch scars. No wonder the nurse at my Dr.'s office keeps asking me if I am afraid of anyone I'm living with.

"Yes, I'm terrified of my cat..."

Right. Might be good for a laugh.

I broke yet another of my pretty blue and white Corelle dishes. You can't buy them retail anymore - unless you go to one of the used-china shopping sites online, and they want a FORTUNE for just one piece. I could buy a whole NEW set of Corelle for what they want for just one cup and saucer. As my 30-year-old dishware is slowly getting destroyed, I'm thinking that perhaps along with the new curtains I'll have to get some new dishware.

Maybe I'll count it as a "reward" for myself if I ever get the bottom level of the house completely "decluttered". It's actually a "reward" that I'd consider giving some thought (and effort!) toward achieving.

Maybe periwinkle and seafoam, instead of pale turquoise....

I feel a quilt pattern coming on... AEGH!!!

Helicopter Update

No news on the news.

Which is a good thing, one supposes.

However!! On my way home from work last nite, driving down the HIDEOUSLY mis-named Elgin-O'Hare Expressway which goes to neither Elgin, nor O'Hare, there was an ominously Helicopter-sized area with Yellow Police Tape fluttering all around it in the median (tape wound around 4 of 6 light standards).

No rubble, however.

Which is a good thing, one again supposes.

You would have THOUGHT that if a helicopter had to land in the median and there were police and yellow tape that they would have put it on the news, though...

Stay tuned for more updates and further developments as they become available.

Don't I sound Newsy?? *giggle*

Many things

So first thing this morning I am awakened by a rather scarey sound - a helicopter flying low enough for me to hear the flub-flub-flub of the rotors - but then a coughing engine sound - then silence - then flub-flub-flub again, cough, silence... 5 or 6 times.

I kept waiting for the CRASH with fear - I really did NOT want a helicopter to crash in my yard. (911 - Hello, police? There is a helicopter in my front yard. I think you might want to come investigate...)It then stopped. No idea what it was all about. Traffic was a mess this morning, but no mention of wayward helicopters on the radio or internet news, so hopefully it was just noises and no problem.

Heh - that phone call would have probably woken up the dispatcher like the time I called because an SUV had overturned and crashed into a tree outside my parents' house in the middle of the night.

On my way to work there is a place that sells/rents/somethinglikethat heavy earth-moving equipment. Bulldozers and skiploaders and backhoes and fronthoes and stuff like that. BIG flashing mobile sign there this morning "RED TAG SALE".

Like.. HUH???

They have red-tag sales for earthmovers??? Since when??? WHO BUYS THEM??? "Yes, Jane, I brought home a surprise for you - a BULLDOZER!! Happy Mother's Day!!"

Supposed to get up to 70F today. This will be nice. I opened up the window a bit to give Lime Tree a little more light and air. He's doing very well, starting to fluff out a bit and not be quite so stringy looking.

Cats are still doing well. Mindi is having a bit more trouble with what I suspect is arthritis - but she keeps on plugging on, so we take it day by day. Should probably get her back to the vet again soon, perhaps as soon as money gets a little less strained.

Was an article in one of the "ladies magazines" - the ones with 20 diets in screaming letters on the front cover - and 20,000 recipies for cakes and pies and cookies inside - about diet benefits of lentils. I have not, to my knowledge, ever eaten a lentil. The pictures of them in the recipies in the magazine looked a lot like rabbit turds. I'm kind of leery of eating anything that looks like rabbit poo.

It's about time to do some wardrobe upgrades. Many of my shirts and sweaters have gone past their "use by" date - stained, worn, ripped, etc. I hate buying clothes. But I guess I'll have to bite the bullet some. 2 of my favorite sweaters and about 3 or 4 of my usual work shirts need replacing.

Ok - back to work.

The world smells good

So I'm driving to work this morning and every few miles I get a whiff of a wonderful smell - freshly mown grass. It smells so fresh, so GREEN, so ALIVE. (Even though the part that is cut off now is in fact... dead.)

Yesterday there was a male cardinal strutting around on the picnic table outside the office window as if he owned the damn place. *smile* I think it is Spring.

Singing the Pumpkin Toy Song

Mrraaoooooowwww
Mrrrgarglewooooooowwwwwww

Kili has a toy. It is a pumpkin toy. The pumpkin toy is, naturally, orange and it is also about 3" diameter, with black arms and legs and the most gruesome expression on its little pumpkin face.

Kili brings the pumpkin toy upstairs and sits it right in the walkway path by the stairs. I kick it down. She brings it up. It's like playing "fetch" with a dog, but only on HER terms, when SHE wants to play. Cat Fetch, if you will.

Usually I sleep with a fan running in my bedroom. Even in the dead of winter. Why? Well, I live rather close to the end of an expressway, and the noise from the traffic keeps me awake sometimes (not to mention the noise from the neighbors), and the fan acts as "white noise" and covers up the others.

Last nite I decided to try and go without the fan - partly to see if I had become accustomed to the noises (after 17 years...) but also partly because the birds wake me up in the morning and it is kind of pleasant.

3 am. 3 fucking am. Kili decides it is time to play Pumpkin Toy. She brings it upstairs. Apparently my lack of enthusiasm for the game (I'm SLEEPING, you stupid cat!) requires that she let me know the pumpkin toy is upstairs and ready to be kicked...

Merooooowwwwwwww

I ignore it. I roll over. I put the pillow on my head.


Mrraaoooooowwww
Mrrrgarglewooooooowwwwwww
Mrraaoooooowwww
Mrrrgarglewooooooowwwwwww
Merooooowwwwwwww
Mrraaoooooowwww
Mrrrgarglewooooooowwwwwww
Mrraaoooooowwww
Mrrrgarglewooooooowwwwwww
Merooooowwwwwwww
MRRRGARGLEWOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!

I turn on the fan.
*sigh*

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...

I finally understand the Tale of Two Cities - from a different perspective. Sorta.

Actually, I understand the entire French Revolution in a much more up-close and personal way, and it is all thanks to Mr. Geithner, Mr. Bernake and the miscreants at AIG and the other banks.

I see all around me folks being evicted, forclosed homes being sold at auction – sometimes for pennies of what they were worth. Not all of these homes are McMansions, some of them are very, very modest dwellings where people lost their jobs, or had some medical tragedy that just destroyed their delicate financial balancing act.

And then I hear that someone who FUCKED UP – and destroyed the financial system in general and the savings of many of these folks who are being evicted in particular – are getting MILLIONS of dollars as a bonus.

A BONUS – a REWARD.

Think about this – this isn’t their usual Salary. This isn’t money they depend on to pay their bills and feed the dog – this is a BONUS – EXTRA money. Presumably their regular pay would be considerably larger – as a BONUS is usually just a fraction of the amount of one’s annual salary. No wonder these assholes can’t figure out why people are angry at them. They not only don’t “get” it – they cannot possibly FATHOM a life without their every slightest whim being immediately catered.

The amount of just ONE guy’s bonus would probably pay off the ENTIRE mortgages for 20 or more of the houses in the area around my subdivision that are empty due to foreclosure. And now the government wants to calm us down about this – they don’t want a “mob” mentality.

I’m sorry, but I disagree. We NEED a mob mentality. We need Madame DeFarge and the knitting ladies, and Madame Guillotine – OFF WITH THEIR HEADS. Grab pitchforks and torches. It seems that every few generations it is necessary for the MANY to remind the privileged FEW that they only get to beat us SO much before we take it back – and do so in rather painful ways.

The Marie Antoinette’s and Barbara Bush’s need to both be treated equally. The time for “peasant revolt” is NOW.

Viva Le Revolution!!!!

Disfunctional Banking - one red flag at a time

I am typing this today having had only one cup of coffee and seriously needing another pot or 3 to get my blood moving around my body in a serious "capable of performing simple tasks" sort of way. This is my excuse for what will probably be disjointed and incapable of being followed logically.

Shaddup, Piston - it is NOT always like that. Just mostly.

So! I've had a number of issues PROBLEMS with banks in past. The majority of them have been with business accounts - the only personal account problem had to do with Harris Bank deciding to put a "service charge" on savings accounts that didn't meet their "minimum balance" requirements.

Now, I dunno about you, but my savings are in 2 diff. categories. Retirement savings that I can NOT ever touch ever ever ever ever for any reason ever ever ever, and savings for STUFF.

The savings for stuff account starts small, then gradually builds up until it is big and I spend it all on something like a new car or remodelling the bathroom or suchnot, at which time it goes back to real small and works it's way up to big again - rinse, repeat.

Harris Bank, however, did not like this idea. So they started to charge me $7.50 every month if my balance was below $350. They did, however, give me interest on my savings. At the rate of like 0.0000005%/annum. So the upshot was that I'd get my statement, and I'd have $0.02 interest and $7.50 in bank fees. I was literally PAYING them to steal my money. The part that REALLY cracked me up was the dumbfounded look on the face of the bank agent when I went to close my account - he just couldn't fathom WHY it was that I had a PROBLEM with that.

That's really the only personal banking problem I've had, and switching banks certainly solved it. I've had a few "we miss you" mass mailers from them, but I just chuck them into the trash and ignore it. Of course they miss me... DUH!! I'm sure they'd LOVE to get their greedy mitts back on my cash. Probably would use it to pay some fucking MBA middle-management-tard a big undeserved bonus, the asswipes.

At work, I've had a few problems, but most of them were simple and easily solved... until I started working for my Most Excellent Employer.

Do not for a moment think this is a jab at my Most Excellent Employer - heaven's no! None of the incidents that have happened over the last 5 years, involving TWO different banks, has been my Excellent Employer's fault. Sometimes it's not even been OUR bank's fault. But nonetheless, I've had more, and more INTERESTING problems with banks in this job than I've ever had before in the entirety of my Loooonnnngggg working life. (I'm old. I am going to die soon - be nice to me.)

The work problems have been much more spectacular. An interesting example:

Sent a payment for a HUGE sum of money - (to me, huge is anything over 10K, and this was much, much, much more than that.) - to VendorB (not to be confused with VendorX from a previous post) in payment for a number of huge invoices. Note: Huge is pretty much a standard unit of measure in my bizarro world, k?

About 2 weeks later, I get a call from VendorB looking for payment. I cheerfully (yeah, right) give them the payment information and they go away happy.

About 2 more weeks later, I get another call from VendorB - they haven't gotten the payment yet. Now, this is a bit unusual, as their remittance address is to a "Lockbox" - which is usually much faster getting the cash to the vendor. Just so happened that I'd gotten my bank statement that day, so I checked - and the bank statement said that the check had cleared several weeks ago. I told VendorB this, and they determined to check with their bank.

Later that day I got another call from them - No, their bank had no record, blah, blah... Can I send copy of front and back of the cancelled check? Of course I can. This is S.O.P., and the major reason that for years and years I would put all returned checks into numerical order and file them along with a copy of the bank statement in the fireproof safe. Now banks make you beg for a copy of F&B of checks. Asshats.

Anyhow. I sent them the copy. Oh - did I mention that it was kind of odd that a business check sent to a lockbox had a SIGNATURE endorsement? **Red Flag #1**

Yes, Gentle Reader (and you too, Piston) - the check had been stolen in the mail, or from the lockbox, or something - and then "endorsed" and CASHED by someone. The check was for more than many people make in a YEAR. How that bank could have allowed it to be cashed is purely amazing.

Took us over 6 months to resolve it. Eventually one of the involved banks (never knew if it was their bank, or ours that had to swallow the insurance claim) gave the money back to us, we re-paid the vendor with a check that was overnight Fedex'ed to them AT THEIR CORPORATE HEADQUARTERS - no more "lockbox" nonsense. "Mission Accomplished"

(more later - yes, there are more examples.)

Anger Management - indignation addiction

I was reading one of the progressive sites last night. They were very angry about a number of things, and about 1/2 way through I realized that I've been through a sea change. I don't know if it is the "happy pills", or if I've found some sort of zen calmness, but seems as if since Lea died, I am finding myself getting really angry a lot less. Maybe it's "perspective" finally catching up to me. (Or Lea is haunting me.)

There is something addictive about that "rush" of angry adrenaline. Something that makes (this) one keep "poking the bruise" to see if one is still angry about it, and rather satisfying when you realize you still are and it gives you another "jolt" of the angry serum. Satisfying and uncomfortable at the same time. I guess in some way it's vaguely similar to "self harm".

Lately I've made it a point to stay away from what I now consider to be "toxic" websites, forums, and family/friends - ones that trigger my anger, that bring me close to that brink of feeling the bloodrush. I started it by turning OFF the radio any time GWB's voice would start up - or a newscaster made an intro to an audio clip of him speaking. His very voice was enough to send the rage monster stampeding through my veins. Quit visiting some websites that would get me going...

The calmness is soothing and comfortable. Lea - if you are haunting me - thanks.

Happy Birthday, Mandamonster!

27 years ago, almost to the MINUTE, I made your acquaintance for the very first time.

You were rather small and wrinkly and had your eyes all screwed up tight shut and were singularly unimpressed with this entire thing called "life outside Mom".

My goddess, I loved you so much from the very first moment. "It's a girl" they told me, and all I could say was "AMANDA!!!" So beautiful, so tiny..... so loud. *smile*

Happy Birthday, Sweetie. I still love you more than Peanut Butter.

Coming Up for Air

Oi, I hate being sick. I really really hate it. Saps all my energy (what little I have anymore), and threatens to drown me in a sea of snot. Bleuch.

So now I'm better, and can type again. I was told that my "about me" bit wasn't reflective enough of me, so I slightly changed it. I may change it all. I dunno. Most of the time I have been feeling cranky and all. I KNOW I'm stubborn.

I've had the worst cold - and what has to have been the Flu, even tho I got a flu shot - but now the CDC is saying that our tamiflu shots didn't do anything for the type of flu that is going around this year - figures.

As I said to one guy - I've been dragging ass like a dog with hemmorhoids. Myabe I should BATHE in hand sanitizer.

So I see in the news today where Turd Blossom is going to testify to Congress.

Seriously, besides the standard "Over 35 years of age and a natural-born citizen", they need to add another qualification -

"Have you any intention of appointing or soliciting advisors to whom you have given nicknames like "Turd Blossom" or "Scooter"???"

If the answer to that one is yes - you aren't qualified!

If you are breathing...

Issues

I've got issues. I used to have Problems. But they became politically incorrect. I think some self-help motivation guru back in the 80's decided we have no more Problems (which could be SOLVED) - instead we have "issues" which can be "addressed". No wonder the world is so fucked up with nobody solving any problems anymore.

Issues.

"A" from the other side of the office came over to ask me if I had any "issues" with VendorX. I told him not today... So he gave me some information in case I had any "issues" with VendorX. At which point, I realized - I have "issues" with everybody. Everyone in the entire freaking world. Hell - if you are breathing, I got issues with it.

Ok, MAYBE, just MAYBE this is a BIT extreme. (The sound of howling laughter that you hear is probably coming from my daughter and Piston)

It's been a tough week with all the schmoozing I've been having to do to pacify the creditors and I'm just NOT the schmoozy type.

I'm so freaking tired of hearing about the economic meltdown, and the "issues" regarding it. I'm tired of getting lectured by collections people.

Maybe I should take up a new career path. I wonder if there's much call for professional Hermits out there. I should check Monster.com.

Presidents Day

When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary to break the chains and shackles of paying retail and go forth and stimulate your economy (I SAID ECONOMY, "Gentlemen"...)with sales on all sortes and types of merchandise...

No bank today - no mail. Boring day stuff. Fortunately if anyone calls me to gripe that they didn't get paid, I will have the LOVERLY excuse that there's no mail today, how the fuck do they know???

Croila - according to the website where I bought this, these are little miniature lime trees that can grow up to 5 to 8 feet tall, and supposedly CAN produce limes. I don't think mine ever will, as it lives in my house (Lime trees are like oranges, they need to stay warm or they die) and probably will never get enough sunlight to make fruits. Also, since the house is so dark, taking it outside for a while is tantamount to a death by sunburn. It is a pretty plant, however, and certainly does well for conversation-starters.

Lime Tree

This is a picture of my lime tree.
It is a very SMALL lime tree.
But it is MY lime tree, and I loves it.

Took the picture to send to Dad who is highly amused that I have a lime tree growing in a (relatively) small hanging pot in my livingroom.

Making Sense of Things - and Zombies

Dreams are annoying me. I had a dream last night that my brother, SPTLM was telling me how much he hates me and why. Ok, I know why he hates me, or at least what he told my Dad is why he hates me, which is a very childish and stupid reason - and quite inappropriate for a Christian, much less a Lutheran Minister...

See, let's get one thing straight here right off - I say what I think, sometimes to the point of passing "blunt" and moving into "painfully blunt". I do try to think before I speak, but sometimes the words just tumble out and I don't realize what I've come up with until well after. It is a fault. I try to correct it. I fail often and spectacularly.

Ok, so the day the kid brother got ministerized (ordained), there was this potluck thing the church ladies put on afterwards and we all went and ate, and there was this guy sitting across from me and he asked if I was "Rev. ___'s sister", ___ being my maiden name. I kind of blinked a bit, hesitated, then laughed and said "Oh, I don't think I'll EVER be able to call him "Rev. ___" - to me he will always be my lil' annoying brother Paul".

And it is true. I certainly don't feel "reverent" when I think of him. In fact, the opposite is usually the case. SPTLM and I weren't close growing up. We were very very different, and still are. For one thing, I am a virulent iconoclast. But I digress.

Turns out the guy sitting across from me was the President of the Synod or some such muckey-muck - and in essence SPTLM's new boss. SPTLM says this reflected poorly on him. Mind you, I got this 2nd hand thru Dad - but I can't see any reason for Dad to lie about it. Mind you also, this occurred like 5 years ago. What happened to "forgive 70 x 7"? and all? Whatever. One of them bible guys once said something about a prophet being unappreciated in his own city - and that's really the truth with this. Perhaps SPTLM is the greatest Lutheran Minister since old Marty the Church Door vandal himself - it is always possible. Unfortunately, he will ALWAYS be my kid brother, and I remember enough of our childhood to know that his halo isn't all that shiney.

(nor is mine - not by a LONG shot.)

However - I promised Zombies - and Zombies we shall have!

My very good friend Mr. Farty wrote this wonderful post all about some book about Jane Austin and Zombies and suggesting other titles that would benefit from Zombies, including but not limited to Of Mice And Zombies, Tarzan of the Zombies, Snow White and the Seven Zombies, Gone With the Zombies, and The Zombies of Wrath.

Many of his lovely commenters added their contributions, mine being:

Zombies Progress
The Scarlet Zombie
A Christmas Zombie
Zombies for Algernon
I'm OK,you're a zombie
All the Zombie's Men
The Zombie Principle
How to Win Zombies and Influence People
Murder on the Zombie Express

The thing is - this is FUN! And I keep thinking of more all the time. So if you feel creative - have at it in the comments. The world needs more braaaains.

Darth Predicts - and McCain Whines

Ok, this just in - Darth Cheney says he expects another Terrahist attack very soon.

Memo to Darth:

In the ever-so-appropro words of the fine Senator from California, "Elections Have Consequences". Eat shit and die. We don't need you, we don't want you, we don't care what you think, and despite your ill-founded self-importance, you have become irrelevant. We're tired of your "Terrah Threat" color code, your cocky "so?" attitude and your brazen disregard for the Constitution of the United States. Die in a fire. Go to hell. Or as Charlie Manson would say - "Cease to Exist".

Sincerely
Sewmouse.


John McCain is whining because "This isn't a stimulus package, it's a SPENDING package". This from a man who gave us such memorable quotes as:

"The fundamentals of the economy are strong."
"By fundamentals, I meant the American workers."
"I don’t know much about economics. Did I say that? I didn’t say that."

Memo to Senator McCain:

Dear John:

And I mean that EXACTLY the way it sounds.

You are a LOSER. You LOST. LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSer!!
Why did you Lose?
Because you are an idiot that thinks that they can keep pumping the same sunshine up the American People's butts and scare-tactic us into continuing to enrich your overly wealthy friends and lobbyists. I refer you to my Economics 101 diatribe from last month, written at a level even a 3rd grader could understand. Maybe you could get President Obama to read it and explain it to you.

LOSER

Please don't call - don't write - don't contact us in any way - you're a LOSER and we want to break off this "relationship". Now. Actually, WEEKS ago. Please go away. You're ugly and your wife dresses you funny.

Buh-bye.
SINCERELY
Sewmouse.

Collection Calls

I make 'em - I take 'em. Fact of life for us accountant types.

Making them is hard. Asking people for money without going all "Guido**" on them is an art form, and I'm just a scribbler at best at it. It's the non-Guido** bit that is frustrating. Keep the customer, but get the cash. I can't be rude, crude, abrasive. I have to be sweetie-nice - as I push people to give me money. Well, not me personally - but me the Accountant for my Most Excellent Employer.

I used to be scared to do them, but now I'm ok at it. Sometimes I'm too mean and I get in trouble, most times I'm not mean enough and I get in trouble. Trouble R Me.

Anyhow - getting the calls is something else. With the current State of the Economy and all the layoffs and stuff, people are getting both more frightened AND more understanding. This makes VERY little sense to me, but... *shrug*

A few pointers:

1) If I tell you I will run a check this week - you really do NOT have to call me every day for the rest of the week. You're wearing out your welcome.

2) If I tell you I can't run your check this week, but will try for next week, whining, crying poor or just generally keeping me on the phone and away from my other chores is NOT going to change my answer.

3) Lecturing me about your payment terms is ALWAYS counterproductive, Snookiedimples.

4) If YOU go all Guido** on me, please understand that I can, I will, and I certainly HAVE already caused several former vendors to lose our business. The guy in purchasing and I get along pretty well, and he doesn't like being beat up on either, so he listens to me.

5) If I tell you the answer is "no", calling my boss is not going to change that - I already checked with him before I told you "no". Eat it.

The understanding ones make it a LOT less stressful for me.

**(No offense intended to any actual persons named Guido anywhere in the world. I swear. Pinky swear. Please don't hurt me.)

(Piston - you are NOT Guido...)

Picking Your Battles

Been running about reading blog entries about various and sundry items regarding the new Administration in Washington, D.C.

I'd thought about this during the run-up to the inauguration. I'm finally getting around to mentioning it, because it seems that liberal folks have really been losing focus since 11/4/08.

Prior to 11/4, we had one goal - one purpose that united us - one reason for putting our best efforts forward. Getting Rid of Bush/Cheney and their Republican Regime. Period. I might not have agreed with every single thing that was said/done - but I was willing to put some things aside in order to achieve the prime goal.

And - YES, WE DID!!! The politics of Warhawk and Stupid are off the table for at least 3 1/2 years.

But then something happened. We splintered. We began to nit-pick and kvetch about things that aren't really the be-all-end-all that some would have us believe.

The first time I thought "Pick your battles" was when some of the GLBT folks got all up in arms about the guy who was going to give the "Invocation" at the inauguration. The guy got to speak for less than 5 minutes. It was a "prayer", not a sermon, and had those GLBT folks just said "I'm disappointed, but it is HIS party and less important to me than marriage rights and adoption rights", and refused to make a big deal out of it - NOBODY would have listened to him. Pick your battles. You're not going to win this one, and it's not important in the grand scheme of things.

President Obama has been on the job for a week now. SEVEN DAYS. During that time he and his team have already done rather a lot toward reversing the egregious errors of the prior administration. They haven't done everything - but they have been picking their battles, and tackling the hardest ones, the ones that will affect the largest proportion of the country - first.

Today I read an editorial by someone who was very upset that the "Economic Stimulus" package was not going to include money for contraception for poor families. While I agree that this is an important issue, I don't think the Democrats need to be villified if they choose to pull out (pun intended) this part of the package if it will get the rest of the package approved. It's been ONE WEEK, people. Surely you could let them tack the contraception onto another bill NEXT week maybe? PICK YOUR BATTLES.

I have too many books

No I don't. I just have my own personal library - of several 100 books. A friend of one of my ex-roommates had come to visit and asked him "How many of them has she read?"

His answer was correct - "All of them, some of them multiple times."

I'm a word junkie. I love to read; I'm not quite so fond of writing, but I enjoy it. I absolutely ADORE new vocabulary.

One of the downsides of this addiction is that I've now got so many books that I can't remember all of them. Walk into a bookshop and see something "interesting" by a favorite author and not sure if it is on my shelf or not. Aggravating.

So I have begun to take stock - I'm starting a "Card Catalog" spreadsheet. Author, title, soft or hardcover, location in the house (I have 5 bookshelves) and genre. So far I've listed over 100 books and have only just scratched the surface, so to speak. This is going to be a long haul. In the end, however, I'll be able to shop for books with confidence, because I'll know what I already have and what is new fodder for my library.

Mom used to jump my case about having too many books. Why didn't I get rid of some of them, she'd ask.

Simple. I can't get rid of ANY of them because invariably when I've taken a batch of books to the used book store, within a week I'm awake and insomniac at 2:00 a.m. and remembering 1/3 of a book plot and need to be able to read THAT book to get back to sleep. I am not crazy.

So I have a question from anyone who may read this - do you know of any good (cheap) software programs that handle this database function specifically for home/personal libraries/book collections?

Inquiring mice want to know.

Mice?????

The neighbor guy came over last night and asked if I have mouse problems in the condo.

EEK

I looked very carefully this morning, did not see any mouse "by-products", so I think I'm probably ok. I suspect that they got into his house from the garage. He has direct access from his house to his garage. Not to mention my two semi-incontinent old-lady cats. I don't think I've got a problem.

At least I HOPE not.

Ok, it's been the first 3 days (short work-week) for President Obama.

He did not walk on water.
He did not leap any tall buildings in a single bound.

However

He signed an order to close Gitmo and other "Black Sites" within a year.
My grade? I'd like to see this happen faster. A-

He asked a judge to put the Gitmo military tribunals on hold pending review.
My grade? Since he went the LEGAL route and went through a judge instead of UNILATERALLY "decidering" ... A+

He put a freeze on White House salaries for employees making over $100,000/year.
My grade? A+

He reversed Shrub43's misbegotten policy of secrecy and erring on the side of noninformation and trying to find ways to DENY transparency to the public.
My grade? A+

Not bad for starters.

My car is ok. Had to have a couple of belts replaced, but it's running like a champ again. Not bad - $125 for the 2 belts, and according to my mechanic, the old ones were original equipment (They still said "Mopar" on them) - 9 years on belts is rather amazing. For a car company that doesn't get all that high of ratings, this Chrysler is one of the best cars I've ever owned.

(Stock photo - mine is dark blue, not purple)

The United States of America has a President Again!!

The 43rd Elected, 44th Sworn-in President of the United States - Barack Obama

FREE AT LAST
FREE AT LAST
FREE AT LAST
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Today

Today we party - tomorrow we start back to work.

I've taken the day off of work, I'll be puttering around the house, getting ready for the party tonight, and doing something I almost never do - watching television.

Ding, Dong, The Shrub Is Gone...

Celebrate!

Tomorrow

On December 23, 2006, I pledged to myself to make a commitment to not post a single day without marking how many days were left in the Bush Regime's Evil Administration. At the time it was 758 days. For a little over 2 years I've done my best to keep that promise to myself. Tomorrow I'll be removing the coundown timer from the side of the blog and stop with the "XXX days" tag at the end of each post. Barack Obama will be the President of the United States. A constitutional scholar. A Harvard graduate. A man with a plan - and a brain. A "messiah"? No. A man. But NOT a Shrub.

I've had a lot of folks over those 2 years ask me in comments what the "days" countdown was, and about a year ago I pasted in the code to the sidebar to link to the official countdown site. Tomorrow the United States will have a new President. I do not expect miracles from my former Senator. I don't expect him to walk on water or balance the budget or end the war or do anything OVERNIGHT.

I honestly never believed I'd see this counter in single-digits, much less with "zero" days - only hours.... minutes... left. I wish Lea was here to see it too. She'd chortle.

I've been very politically vocal here - to the point of driving myself into an angry frenzy at times - and I've had to pull back to rein in my own blood pressure and welfare. Such a level of anger and hatred cannot be maintained without taking a serious toll on the person doing the hating, and eventually turning that person into a carbon-copy or mirror-image of the very thing they are opposing. I don't want to be like that. That's too much like the very people to whom I'm opposed.

We're not out of the woods yet. In fact, we may not even be within spitting distance of the PATH out of the woods yet - but at least we're heading in a different direction - since the last 8 years we've been going in all kinds of the wrong directions, thanks to our ineffective, criminal, lying, cheating, despicable "decider". I admit fully that I'm as prejudiced, as negative, as disgusted by GWB as any 12 neocons felt about Billy and Hilly combined. But the Shrub family is evil and should all - every last one of them - including Jeb the Savings & Loan cheater - be behind bars for life, IMNSHO.

Zero days. Praise the Deity of your choice. Namaste

Grrrrrr... Grrrrrr. Grrrrr. GrrrrrrrVAROOOOOM

Urgh. my car started. Sorta. Barely. I'm NOT happy.
Went to the "urgent care" - met a nice young oriental Vampire, got a bit of blood removed, then went to have some breakfast. Nice breakfast, but right before I got to the restaurant the "check engine" light came on my dashboard - oh shit I really don't need that. Really.

I should go to Sears and have them check that, as well as have them check the antifreeze and get them to sell me a oil-stick engine heater and maybe a battery charger thingy.

And now my computer is doing some strange crap - which makes me think I may have to do a virus scan... *sigh*


Two days

Hello, Dr. Nick

Well, good news for me. Saw Dr. Nick last nite and he said everything is going well. Apparently my eating and drugs and stuff regimine is working and I'm doing better than usual. He even said I do NOT have to give up red meat entirely - which is a good thing because I just CANT. I'm a carnivore at heart.

Continued very very cold - I hope my car starts this morning.

Put some more cash into the old credit union. Hope to have enough to remodel the bathroom in a few years. If I can keep from spending it....

Take care - stay warm.

3 days

The cold... it hurts

I hope my lime tree will be ok.
I want it near the window, but the windows are a bit leaky and I don't want it to die from cold. Citrus trees do, you know.

I am not about to set off a smudge pot in my livingroom, however.

I'm thinking about maybe bringing it upstairs for a few days until Canada gets my letter about their excessive gift. It's a few degrees warmer up here than down in the front - and might do well for the poor lil' thing.

5 days

Dear Canada

Hi there Canada! Long time no chat. *Wave to Babzy*

We need to talk, Canada. You're being wayyyy too generous, and it's kind of embarassing to have to say this, but... please stop.

The massive, enormous cold front is just too much, Dear. I know you want to share your rich bounty of frigid, arctic air that is less than 5 below zero F, but, really, it's just too much - we don't know each other all that well.

Please don't take this wrong, Canada - we love you. But... this is far, far too large of a gift for us to accept. The thought is appreciated, and we know that this was a gesture of great affection from you, but please.. TAKE IT BACK.

Freezingly yours,
Sewmouse

6 days