Stubborn Man

I locked Randy out of the house today in order to make my own cup of tea. I had just set the water to heat when he managed to break the chain on the back door- in my haste I hadn't been able to turn the lock properly and only put the old chain across instead- and he came in, sat me down and took over. The man positively insists on serving me! Now he'll have to fix the chain.

*sigh*

What's a woman to do?

Spot The (Millenium) Falcon?

Randy and I went to see Star Wars tonight with my mother and sister. It was especially meaningful to see this last movie with my mom, as she took me to see the original back in 1977. We've come full circle then.

I really liked this one, certainly far better than the last two. I still had moments though. For example, I've heard all the comparisons between Bush and Vader and frankly I don't see it. However I did note a marked resemblence between the Emperor's personality and Dick Cheney's. *G* Also, I will forever think of the fight scene between Yoda and the Emperor as When Donuts Attack. Overall though, I enjoyed this one and didn't feel that it was a waste of my time or money. I left the theater with an overwhelming desire to watch the original again as a reminder of What Comes Next. Perhaps tomorrow.

Illustration Friday-Envy

I hate how I lose detail when I save images for the web. This mostly happens with colored-pencil drawings. Ah well. What we have below is a young woman shivering in her t-shirt and feeling envious of the older woman with a coat. That woman in turn is looking at a slim young brunette and wishing she had her waistline. The brunette has troubles of her own as her boyfriend checks out another woman walking by.

Each person envies someone without seeing the bigger picture. Nobody's life is perfect.

Now will someone please give that girl a coat?

Photo Friday-Symbol

Depending on your faith, the acorn and the oak can symbolize different things: strength, fertility, a closeness to God, etc. This is a photo of the cover of my journal. The entire cover- made of leather- shows an old oak spreading its branches over fertile fields. A leather thong wraps around the metal knob shown below to close it up and keep the thoughts that I don't share here.

What Is Your World View?

My thanks to Lazygal for the following:

You scored as Cultural Creative. Cultural Creatives are probably the newest group to enter this realm. You are a modern thinker who tends to shy away from organized religion but still feels as if there is something greater than ourselves. You are very spiritual, even if you are not religious. Life has a meaning outside of the rational. Cultural Creative 75% Existentialist 56% Idealist 56% Postmodernist 44% Romanticist 38% Modernist 19% Materialist 19% Fundamentalist 13% What is Your World View? (updated) created with QuizFarm.com

Friends Give Me Hope

I'm sitting here feeling grateful and lucky.

My husband works six days a week and doesn't get home until after dark most of the time. This makes getting the yard work done and the lawn mown very difficult, as I am unable to push the mower myself. It seems whenever Randy is home during the day, it rains. So our lawn has been a shambles lately, as I was just telling Green-Eyed Lady. It's been embarassing.

Then a short time ago I heard a mower start up. I looked out the window and our friend Bob was outside, mowing our yard with his riding mower that he brought from home! He saw our need, knew our situation and came to help out. It may sound like a little thing to some- though it's big to me- but the gesture and the thought behind it mean so very much.

You know, life can be hard and things may happen but if you're blessed with friends like mine, I think things will be o.k.

Another Question

Not feeling well (tonsilitis?), so here's another question for you:

You walk into a room and see an ornate wooden box on a table. What's in it?

Lake of Sorrows

I've just finished reading Lake of Sorrows by Erin Hart.

This was a great mystery set among the peat bogs west of Dublin. An Iron Age body of a man is found in a bog, and Dr. Nora Gavin- forensic anthropologist- is called in to examine the body. The man appears to have been an offering in an ancient ritual sacrifice. When Nora arrives to examine the body, another body is found nearby. Though modern (he was wearing a wristwatch) he appears to have been killed in the exact same manner. How are they connected, if at all? As the investigation into the second man's death begins and rumors surface of an ancient treasure hidden away, more people start dying in the same bizarre manner. And Nora's boyfriend, Cormac, becomes the prime suspect.

This mystery was well-written and fast-paced. Hart tells the story through many different eyes, not merely the main protagonists'. I like this device as it adds dimension to the story. You can see how the events in unrelated people's lives converge into the creation of the end result. Everyone's lives are woven together, or each holds a different puzzle piece. Even after the murders are solved, the book continues for a while longer, wrapping up the leftover tangled threads and perhaps setting the reader up for the next novel by this talented author. For it is apparent early on that this is the second book of what may well turn out to be a series. The first book is Haunted Ground, and was Hart's debut novel. There were many references to things that happened in the characters' pasts, however you don't have to have read the first work in order to enjoy the second. I have yet to read Haunted Ground.

But I'm going to!

Fill In The Blank

You know you're sleep-deprived when ____

Illustration Friday-Aquatic

This brought up several ideas. In the end I went with this one because it was quick and easy. However I now have some ideas for proper (meaning time-consuming) paintings percolating thanks to this topic. If anything ever comes of it, I'll be sure to share.

It Went

Dr.: Have you ever injured this wrist before?
Me: No.
Dr.: Never?
Me: No.
Dr.: Are you sure? No previous breaks, fractures?
Me: No. Why, is there something wrong?
Dr.: No.

This was his subtle attempt to discover whether or not I was trying to pass off a (non-existent) previous injury as a work-related injury. Other intelligent questions included:

Why are you still in pain?
You're the doctor. You tell me.

Why can't you go back to work at BM?*
Er, because I can't carry anything heavier than a coffee cup in that hand, let alone bathe or lift teens in and out of wheelchairs, or perform CPR if necessary. Not to mention the fact that they (unlawfully) terminated me when my medical leave ran out before I even had my surgery last year.

Why can't you lift?
What the ?!?

What did you expect the results of your surgery to be?
After surgery and physical therapy, I believed I would have a healed wrist. I thought that was the point.

Italicized notes above were thoughts only, not spoken. My responses were essentially the same but put more politely. To give him credit, he did warm up and become more friendly towards the end of our session, even going so far as to wish my orthopedist had taken more time to discuss things with me and inform me of the what's and why's behind what he did. As for where things stand for me now, once more I sit and wait to hear from them. I imagine the wait won't be long this time, though. They've obviously finally remembered that I exist and they want to resolve this somehow. I just have to twiddle my thumbs until they make their decision. Oh wait, that hurts. Never mind.

On another note, the rental car is still in one piece. It scared the hell out of me at one point though. There had been an accident somewhere further up the highway and traffic was at a standstill. While stuck in a tunnel completely surrounded by cars, I glanced down at the dashboard and saw that the thermostat had climbed almost all the way up to hot! In fact, it went all the way up to the "H" a couple of times, leaving me in a panic. I was hemmed in, nowhere to go and the car was overheating. This after my discouraging appointment left me close to tears. Fortunately, traffic finally started to move shortly thereafter and the thermostat dropped back down to normal and was fine the rest of the trip. The car simply didn't like the stop and go traffic jam. I'll have to let the rental agent know when I return the car tomorrow.

Finally, on an odd note, I mentioned that the doctor was almost two hours away. His nurse glanced at my paperwork and said "I have family in Canaan!" She told me their name and it turns out I went to high school with her cousin.

Small world.

*BM was my employer at the time of the accident.

Getting It Over With

I believe I'm good to go. I managed to rent a car today, though only because my mother-in-law works for the owners of the place. The company gave me some difficulties over my DWI of over 8 years ago. They decided to let me rent because they know MIL. They weren't unkind, however as I am already in a little bit of a depression the scene didn't help. But I have the car and will be able to keep my appointment. Now I have to get myself and the car there and back again unscathed. I would't normally give it much thought, but since it isn't my car and they were leery of renting to me, I am now paranoid.

Must relax.

Wish me luck with the doctor tomorrow. I believe the insurance company's final decision will largely be based on this, and I need the ability to find work and help support myself. Not only for financial reasons (although I won't lie; I'm almost broke) but also from a mental health standpoint. It's not good for me with my bipolar disorder to spend so much time alone. My thinking can become cloudy and I'll sink into nasty depressions. This usually leads to me sitting in a funk listing all of my faults, real or imagined. It rapidly goes downhill from there until I snap out of it. Work (or school) is desirable as an ego-booster and a distraction. I don't feel so useless when I am occupied with these activities. Ideally I would like to work from home. That would be ok because I would still have increased human contact and presumably deadlines to meet. I would be occupied with something that had to get done, as opposed to my optional current activities. So that would be my preference. Realistically though, I know it is difficult to arrange one's work this way. I'll take what I can get.

Alright, enough of that then. I take the next step forward tomorrow with this appointment, and it's about time too. The unknown is frightening. Change is frightening. However they can both lead to great things. I trust this is so for me now.

Photo Friday-Green

This is by no means an original concept, but I simply have too much on my mind this week. At any rate, it's pretty and I thought some of you might enjoy it:

Stuff Happens

Things always seem to happen all at once. I would ask if you've ever noticed this, but I'm sure you have.

Literally as I was getting ready to leave on Wednesday afternoon I received a certified letter from a medical group informing me that the worker's comp insurance company wants a second opinion regarding my wrist, even though the orthopedist I've been seeing is on their list of acceptable doctors. This medical group wrote to tell me that I am ordered to an appointment with them on Tuesday afternoon, way out in Springfield MA. almost two hours away. This wouldn't be such a big deal, however the transmission is going in my car and it isn't safe to drive until it's replaced. The first thing I had to do when I arrived home yesterday evening was arrange for a rental car for the trip out there. So that was worrying me a little while I was away. I soon made myself stop worrying about what it could mean, this command appearance at the doctor's in Springfield. I realized that there was simply no point in worrying about it, and any after-effects. Whatever is going to happen will happen, and Randy and I can work through whatever comes our way.

When I came home yesterday I noticed a paternal aunt's phone number on my caller ID, though she didn't leave a message. She's the one acting as administratrix of my father's estate, and was calling to let me know that she had mailed me some forms to sign. She has managed to get all parties to agree that James and I are Dale's children; nobody will contest that. She is trying to wrap things up with the estate. The paperwork to be signed now deals with one property, the house in which our 4 younger half-sisters grew up. They will be getting the title to the house, and James and I will each receive $20,000 as our share of it. There are some other properties, including the old bar which is now acting as a sort of sober club run by my cousin and her fiance. They want to buy it but, being newer in sobriety have yet to rebuild their credit rating enough to obtain a loan. The property has to sell, one way or the other. I really do hope that Marina and Bill are ultimately able to find a way to do so. When the old bar is eventually sold, the money will be split among the six of us children as well. In the meantime, once this current property gets through probate I'll have that $20k to pay off bills with a little left over. I just pray that it comes soon, or that worker's comp gets their act together and sets me up with classes so I can find a way to earn some money again.

I need to be able to move on with my life, both financially and in the case of my father's death, emotionally. I'll think I'm fine until another thing goes wrong with the family or the estate and it just rehashes all of the old bad feelings. It's been difficult.

Oh my goodness, I almost forgot! Randy's father is in the process of signing this house over to us. By the end of next week, we'll finally own our home! This is something that we've been wanting, yet at the same time it's scary. The house needs a lot of work. It will require us to take out a home equity loan at some point, and a debt of that size worries me. Right now the house is debt-free. So when I consider the fact that we are about to be home owners, I feel both elated and frightened.

And that, my friends, is where I'm at now.

More About Our Trip

Now that I am feeling a little more awake and alive, I thought I would tell you about the trip.

The first evening we arrived, checked in and got settled in our room (pictured below). The only non-smoking rooms they had left were Accessible rooms for people with wheelchairs and other disabilities. Having ascertained that they had plenty of these rooms available for people who actually need them, Randy and I opted to take it. I hate stale cigarette smoke smell, and hotels are never quite able to get rid of it. When we got up there, it was huge! I could have done cartwheels and backsprings across the floor! Instead I settled for collapsing on the bed for a moment before unpacking. We discovered that our room door was powered to open at a push of a button. However since it was made to allow time for wheelchairs to maneuver, it would take forever for the door to close. Also, we didn't have a tub. Instead we had a large walk-in shower area with a chair inside to sit and relax on while showering. Across from the bathroom was the closet. When I opened the closet doors I discovered that it was a good thing I brought skirts, not dresses, to wear. The hangers were at my waist level and dresses would have pooled on the floor. Around the room the light switches and temp control were all lower as well. None of which we minded! Our room was spacious and comfy.

Randy took a quick shower- he had worked until the afternoon, when he came home and picked me up- and then we headed down to the reception dinner. There were no big name rock groups this year, but both evenings the entertainment was excellent. We met up with the other people from his store and had a nice meal while catching up with one another and sharing our plans for the next couple of days. During this time I was fascinated by a spry older couple, probably in their seventies, who were out on the dance floor. The music was mostly classic rock and they were out there completely grooving to it. They were having such a blast and obviously not caring at all about what others thought. They wore huge smiles and their love for one another was evident. It was just so cool to watch!

Afterwards we went back to the room where I watched the conclusion of Revelations before heading to the casino. The combination of those two activities strikes me as odd, but it didn't stop me from enjoying myself. Randy and I only played for about an hour or two, then headed back to the room for the night. Randy had a full day scheduled at the food show the next day. I was feeling a little tired and curled up with a book until I was ready to go to bed. He had to meet the others from his store at 8am. This year I opted not to attend the show, at least not on the first day. Instead I chose to lounge around the room reading, watching t.v. and thinking my thoughts. I didn't leave my room to shop or eat. Between the food that I brought and the samples from the show, there was no need to. I just spent the day being lazy. It was so nice.

Randy came back in the early evening and hung out while I got ready for the dinner hosted by Haddon House Foods. But first I injured myself as I demonstrated a flying leap instead of a running leap off of the ottoman, which capsized during my demo thus changing what I actually demonstrated. I was essentially o.k. but landed in part on my bad wrist. It still hurts but is usable. It was a wiser Aravis who prepared herself for dinner! *G*

The food was excellent and I met some new people. This year they served dinner in two rooms: the quiet room and the party room. Both had music, but different atmospheres. We found our group in the quiet room, as we suspected we might. There was a very talented man playing acoustic guitar and singing in the background while we ate and talked. Afterwards everyone split up to do their own thing again. We went back to the room, watched Kendra being named the new Apprentice followed by Noah Wyle's last appearance on E.R. before hitting the casinos again. That was the night I referred to in my last post, so I won't go over it now. Next day I went to the food show while Randy finalized some orders, then we grabbed a bite to eat and played poker for about an hour before we left.

It was nice and relaxing (for the most part, but that will be tonight's post) to be away for a couple of days. I feel better for it. But I also feel better for being home now!

I still have more photos of course, but this will be the last of the mass groupings:

FaerieWizard, there's two orbs in this that shouldn't be there and for which I cannot account. I think your ghosts have been wandering to Connecticut! The room goes back behind me another 10', with bath and closet to either side of me.
Chair and ottoman from which I fell...	Place in which I did not spend enough time.

Returned Relaxed and Tired

I have returned, and though an old man hovered over me for hours I refused to move from my lucrative video poker machine. I did learn my lesson last year you see. I played the same machine all night long (11:30-4:30 AM) on only $10! I'll frankly admit that I hadn't planned on staying out that late, but without windows or clocks time really gets away. I was up $100 at one point, but finally lost it all. I didn't care though, because all I really lost was the $10 I put in the machine. The rest was merely hypothetical unless/until I cashed it out. They have a ticket system now so that instead of quarters pouring out, the machine keeps track of of the credits. If you're tired and want to quit or move, you print out the ticket. When you've chosen another machine, you put the ticket in where you would put the bills in, and the new machine reads the ticket and credits you for gameplay. A lot less messy, and most of the machines make digital noises replicating the sound of the coins hitting the metal trough.

I took tons of photos, and will decide what to do with them later. Some were taken strictly with the idea of playing with the images graphically later. Others are really beautiful and may be held back for future Photo Friday submissions, etc. I don't know. At this point I've only had 4.5 hours of sleep and am feeling it. So here are some photos in which I tried to capture the lobby and waterfall as described in my last post. In order you'll see the large pool in the center of the lobby(which opens on the mall and has balconies that overlook the lower levels), the spot where the water leaves the pool to make its way out of the lobby upstairs , the small falls between the escalators it becomes as it travels down, and then the large waterfall which stands around 80' tall. Not pictured is the bridge at the base of the smaller falls under which the water flows before disappearing underground to be used in the creation of the larger falls.

Enough. Here they are:

Going Native (American, that is)

As I sit here I am unwinding from a busy day. I've been doing tons of laundry, tidying up my house and trying to locate one classmate for another regarding Gilbert's death. I'm the one who has seen her most recently and she lives somewhere locally, so I've been asked to try to locate her. She moved recently and I don't have her new number, which so far is unlisted. I've got some calls out to those who may know how to contact her and am waiting for the results.

However, as I am off to Mohegan Sun Resort and Casino this afternoon for a couple of days, this matter will soon be out of my hands.

Yes, it's that time of the year again. Every year Haddon House Foods hosts a huge food show at the resort, and my husband is among the hundreds invited to attend along with other representatives from store he works for. Haddon House pays for everything and provides free live entertainment as well. Last year Jefferson Airplane played the second night. The food is excellent, the people are friendly, free samples abound and you can't beat the location! Luxurious accomodations above and hours of playtime below. The hotel lobby and the small mall between the casinos are breathtaking. It's like being in a marble and wood hunting lodge with a perfectly still reflecting pool that silently feeds a little brook at the far end of the lobby, which in turn feeds a multi-story waterfall opposite the lobby on the other side of the mall. I'm doing a poor job of describing it, but it really is both beautiful and peaceful. The two casinos each have theme- Earth and Sky- and are decorated accordingly. My favorite is Earth, with it's Wolf Den entertainment area. It's loosely circled in with "log" poles but if you allow your eyes to travel to the tops of them, you'll see an animatronic wolf pack, one atop each log in different poses but all seeming to be watching and protecting you below them. Wonderful! Less interesting to me but moreso perhaps to some of you is the Star Bar located in the Sky Casino. It's located at the top of an abstract, golden-lit "mountain peak" in the middle of the casino.

Chances are though that after the day's activities are done and Randy and I are free to do whatever we want, you'll find my butt plopped down in front of the slot machines, losing slowly and steadily but enjoying myself in the process. At least it takes longer to lose my money that way than at the tables with their $5 or $10 minimum bets.

I do have a cautionary tale to tell however, both for you and as a reminder for myself even moreso. On the last day that Randy and I were to participate in the food show last year, I decided I didn't feel like going back in and wandering around while Randy finished up. He was only going to be gone about an hour so I thought I would just play the slots to kill some time.

I cruised the room until I found a machine that gave me a good feeling. I sat down and began to play. I won. I lost. I won. I lost. I began to get bored. There was a woman frantically playing the three machines to my right, and a little old lady settled down to my left. She and I smiled at one another and said a couple of polite words but mostly played on. Eventually as the winning/losing streak wasn't changing and I wasn't getting anywhere, I decided to go play at a nearby video poker game. I gathered myself up and said good-bye to the old lady. I sat down and plugged money into the poker game, glancing up as I did so. I was just in time to see the old lady put a quarter into the machine I had just been playing and hit the jackpot!

Now, I am very happy for her. I like to think that she was living on some sort of fixed income and was richly deserving of my that jackpot. Oh, but I was mad though! *G* I figure it serves me right for gambling in the first place, but it won't stop me from doing so again.

Maybe I'll stick to video poker this time and leave the slots alone.

Nah.

Photo Friday-Space

For this topic I chose to share with you the beautiful boundary between two countries: The US on the left and Canada on the right. It's the space in between that makes standing on the border such an amazing experience.

Justice, Texas- Style

It's nice to know that in 20 years, nothing has changed.

Fury washed over me when I read this. It's been 20 years since I left Texas, and I see little improvement with the passage of time. This was how things worked when I lived there. There was a lot of racism, sometimes thinly disguised but more often not. If you dare to interfere with their little games, you're labelled a traitor and given an even harsher treatment for "betraying your own kind."

Now, as an adult I am aware that not every Texan is like that. However when I read stories like the one above, it brings the horrible memories rushing back and makes it difficult to be fair to the majority of people there who are not walking malignancies.

There really are good Texans. I even believe that. I know several now. I just need to remind myself sometimes when I start imagining a Bugs Bunny scenario in which he takes his saw and cuts Texas adrift in the Gulf of Mexico to be its own little island country.

This is one of those times.

Illustration Friday-Nourishment

I'm going out of town for a few days soon, and am therefore posting this a little earlier than I normally would. This week's Illustration Friday topic is Nourishment. My first thought was of this. A walk through the woods always nourishes my soul.

Night In The Park

Did They Or Didn't They?

I don't know what I find more disturbing: the fact that a serial killer was to be put to death tonight at his request, or the fact that the media didn't cover it.

Michael Ross was going to be executed tonight at long last. The last appeals of his family had been denied by the Supreme Court. Michael Ross, admitted serial killer, was finally getting his wish to be put to death. This was to happen at 2:01 AM, and the only one who could stop it at this point was Michael Ross himself. One assumes he went through with it.

But I don't know for sure. While I know that the local news stations had reporters there- they gave reports from the prison at 11 PM describing what they were going to see- they never reported on the execution itself. Apparently reruns of Leno and Conan O'Brien (NBC) or a rebroadcast of the 11 PM newscast (CBS) were more important than letting us know if Ross was executed as scheduled, or not. I wouldn't have prioritized the coverage that way, but then I'm not in the broadcast journalism business. These are the same people that will spend half a newscast covering an abandoned building on fire in which nobody is in jeopardy, mentioning only one world news item before moving on to sports for the rest of the show. I don't know why I'm so surprised by the way they're handling this. One would think that with all the fanfare they've been trumpeting up surrounding this execution, they would follow through to the bitter end and beyond.

Lest you think I am a vulture, I was simply wondering if the execution had taken place this time. Generally speaking I am against the death penalty. The fact that Ross requested his execution caused a huge sensation here in our little state. I am perhaps a little less upset about his execution because it was something he wanted. He went through a barrage of psychiatric testing and passed every time. So if he was ready to go, to make this final amends he said he felt it was time to make, then let him.

Assuming that the execution took place, I lit a candle for him at 2:01 AM. I hope that everyone may find some peace now.

I seem to be saying or thinking that a lot lately.

UPDATE

It is now 4:30 AM and a news program just came on. They mentioned in passing that Ross was in fact executed.

Sad News

Tonight I learned that the first of my high school classmates has died, having contracted meningitis and being unable to fight it off. He leaves behind a wife and two children.

This struck me forcefully, and I'm not quite sure why. To be honest, Gilbert and I were never friends. To be really blunt, he was a complete jerk to me when I moved to the area. He was best friends with a couple of girls who hated me before they ever said "hello" to me, and since they hated me he was determined to be as nasty to me as he could. This bothered me a little at first, but then I stopped caring and simply ignored their existence. So you wouldn't think that I would be too terribly broken up about his death. But when I heard the news, I had to fight back tears. I felt overwhelmed by death's presence once more, and I truly felt sorrow for his loss; diminished as the old poem said.

Gilbert joined a branch of the armed services out of high school and served for many years. He only returned from Iraq last Spring and was stationed stateside now. One would expect that he had high hopes of spending the rest of his life close to his wife and children. I have no idea what sort of man he turned out to be in the end. Due to his military career he was never around for the reunions. I would like to think he matured with age. Most of us have. However no matter how he turned out, his life has ended suddenly. How tragic for his young family, and for the mother he left behind as well.

I feel so badly for them all. I hope that someday they can find some peace.

As I think about it more though, I realize I shouldn't be surprised by the strength of my sorrow for his loss. It's only just over a year since my father's suicide, and yesterday was the 1 year anniversary of the death of one of my uncles. He was stationed in Germany with the ANG when he was in a fatal motorcycle accident. And June 2 will mark the 1 year anniversary of my grandmother's death. So I am in the middle of a cycle of anniversaries of deaths.

No wonder I was so upset tonight!

Illustration Friday-Mischief

As soon as I saw that the topic was "Mischief" this week, I thought of this sketch in my notebook. I've always thought it looked like it was up to no good! I tried coloring or painting it, but in the end found that I didn't like the results as much as I liked it as a simple sketch. So here's my submission for this week's Illustration Friday:

Photo Friday-Action

For Photo Friday this week I did my best to capture one of the penguins zipping by in its tank. They move fast! It was a lot of fun to watch them swim and play. They're a high energy bunch, used to being the center of attention.

Population Crisis?

Seen at the Central Park Zoo yesterday:

The turtle pond had more turtles than they probably knew what to do with! It was pretty amazing.

Meandering through Manhattan

The weather was perfect today. It was warm and breezy with bright, sunny skies. Though I only managed about 4 hours of sleep last night I felt wide awake and ready to go this morning. A trip to New York is one of the few things in life I don't mind getting out of bed in the morning for, as long as it isn't an every day event. I rarely feel tired there. The one thing I find odd about myself- or perhaps it's my true inner self coming through- is that I live in the country and yet when I make one of my rare forays into the city, I am content to wander around Central Park for hours. I almost never shop while in NY, instead exploring the park or museums and galleries. And restaurants! Today we had lunch at Rosie O'Grady's just north of Times Square. The food was delicious and I loved the illustrations of thoroughbreds and horse races on the walls coupled with dark wainscoting, and wooden beams on the ceiling. Very nice.

My friend's appointment wasn't until 5pm so we slowly continued to wander up to Central Park, making fun of all the tourist traps along the way. She smokes and couldn't find her lighter. I tried to talk her into buying a cheesy one of the the Statue of Liberty, but she wouldn't bite. She finally found her own.

So we entered the park and wandered aimlessly. They're renovating a large playground for kids. Where the skating rink is in the winter, they were setting up a kiddie carnival which is sure to amuse when it's open. We walked on until we found ourselves at the zoo. I have actually never been into the zoo at Central Park, so we went in. I was quickly dismayed at the sight of a very small child of about 2 yrs. of age alone by the seal tank, no supervision. On the other side of this large tank there were quite a lot of people, so I kept a protective eye on the boy from about 20 feet away while scanning this crowd for an adult seeking a child. I was about to send my friend to notify personnel of a lost child when his mother came strolling over casually from the farthest point on the opposite side of the tank/pool. There are rocks rising up from the center and she couldn't possibly have seen her son from where she was. I was furious, but relieved to see her pick him up and put him back in his stroller. Grr.

We saw all sorts of critters, including the famous penguins. We even saw the polar bears being fed. Baby ducklings, monkeys, red pandas and more amused and entertained us. Look for my Photo Friday entry soon for another picture from the zoo.

At last it was time to head to the doctor's office on the upper East side. It was located on the ground floor of a very posh apartment building. While my friend went in to see him, I hung out in the lobby, people-watching. I made friends with the doorman/concierge (poor guy was wearing both hats tonight and doing an excellent job of it) and took some pictures there, too. The meeting with the doctor went well and my friend was happy with him. This was an initial visit. She'll have to go once a month for a few months and has already asked me to accompany her again for them. Barring unforeseen circumstances, I'm sure I will.

I sit here now tired and content.

NYC in AM

I'm heading into Manhattan in the morning. A friend has a doctor's appt. and asked me to come along with her. We'll take the train in early to grab a bite to eat first. Due to a family situation which arose today she's a little bit of a basket case right now, and I don't anticipate as much fun tomorrow as I had hoped for. To make matters worse she used to live in NY and has a lot of bad memories from her time there. Like me she's a recovering alkie, but unlike me she drank a couple of weeks ago and is shaky. That's why I'm going with her.

I'll take my camera with me, however I'm not sure that I'll really have the opportunity to take any pictures this time around. But I'll probably make my way back to the city again soon, and will take more then. We'll see.

Time Warp

Happy Mother's Day to all of you out there with cause to celebrate!

And that's all I have to say about that.

I was finally able to watch last week's episode of Cold Case. I think it's my favorite yet. It had a Rocky Horror Picture Show theme! Barry Bostwick even played the serial killer. Every flashback had wild mood lighting with one of the songs playing in the background while the characters spoke to each other in that campy way! I happily sang along while my husband groaned and tried to mentally will himself elsewhere. He eventually succeeded by dozing off. That didn't stop me from singing along anyway though. I will not be quenched by a man with limited tastes, no matter how much I love him! *G*

In case it isn't obvious, I love that movie. Now I feel the need to dig it out and watch it. Yes, I know it isn't nearly as good as when you see it in the theater. I'm not a virgin; I've gone a couple of times when I lived closer to a city. But here in the sticks we're stuck with the video. Unless we can teach the cows some of the roles. Hm...

So I watch the video, sometimes with friends but just as often alone. I sing, I dance, I shout things out, much to the perturbation of Sam, Wheezy and Patches. How much worse would it be if I threw slices of bread and toilet paper rolls as well? Best leave that alone.

Ah well, it's too late to do anything tonight. I have been humming and singing the tunes all day. I even had my sister joining in at supper tonight. I took her and my mother out to eat for Mother's Day, since my mother has to work tomorrow. Mom just shook her head and smiled. She knows she raised warped and twisted minds. Well, she raised me and I took it upon myself to warp and twist the siblings. I think I did rather a good job of it, too! All it took was dangling them by their ankles over the toilets and threatening to flush them when they pestered me.

Mom always wondered why she had such trouble potty training them. I had the kids afraid the toilet was going to suck them in if they walked too close to the bathroom door, let alone entered!

That's what my parents get for treating their oldest, teenaged daughter (me) like a built-in babysitter against her will.

Come to think of it, I can't remember the last time anyone asked me to babysit. Somehow I think it's just as well.

A Spate of TV Cattiness

I can't stand Tom Cruise and could care less who he dates, other than to feel sorry for the flavor of the month. Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie? Like their activism but not so much their activities. If Jessica sneezes and Nick isn't there to say "Bless you" does this mean they're getting a divorce? I doubt it.

I think Jackson needs to spend years in a quiet, relaxing place where there are no children. I think this Corey Clark guy needs a good swift kick in the ass. BTW, I have never watched American Idol and feel no need to start any time soon. I think Katie on Survivor needs a severe reality check. Gregg (and by extension, Jenn) just received his. I think it's sad that Tana (Apprentice), a woman who sells cosmetics for a living, is so bad at applying it on herself. I just want to scrub her face every time I see her and tell her to try again. But I guess it's part and parcel with her personality: phony. On Amazing Race, I want Joyce and Uchenna to win. Which means Boston Rob and Amber will.

7th Heaven is full of the most obnoxious busybodies I've ever seen. Everwood's drama has slipped over to melodrama. I love Judging Amy's characters, as long as we're not talking about Amy or Maxine's love lives. I have no sympathy for those two in that department anymore. And Amy's daughter Lauren often makes me twitch to smack her, season finale notwithstanding. Brat with a capital "B." ER is just tired.

Thank goodness for shows like Medium, CSI and CSI NY (I hate CSI Miami), Without a Trace, Law & Order, Joan of Arcadia, Numbers and Cold Case. I still like Everwood most of the time too. And I love the quirky insanity of Gilmore Girls. These shows help balance out the horror of the others.

As for the stars' personal lives, which kicked off this post, it's really none of my business so thankfully I don't have to care.

I'm just tired of hearing about it all.

Just for Giggles

Just for fun I thought I would treat you all to what might well be an unprecedented scene: George Bush and books in the same photo!

and the view from behind:

And for those of you who are wondering why I have a Bush doll, it's one of those stress doll things that you squish and pulverize. Though I bought my Smush Bush doll at a bookstore, they are sold at Philosopher's Guild which carries these and many other fine products. *G*

A Meme

I was "tagged" by Green-Eyed Lady to continue a meme. You can find further details on her blog, in addition to her own answers. I have chosen to take part, however I will not be tagging anyone in turn. Should any of you feel like doing this, feel free! But I won't curse you or anything if you don't. I save that for politicians. *G*

You'll find my responses in the Extended Entry, if you care to read them. :0)

The Rules: The idea is to pick 5 and complete the

sentences, then pass this little meme on to 3

more of your blog pals! But no tag backs!

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

If I could be a scientist…
If I could be a farmer…
If I could be a musician…
If I could be a doctor…
If I could be a painter…
If I could be a gardener…
If I could be a missionary…
If I could be a chef…
If I could be an architect…
If I could be a linguist…
If I could be a psychologist…
If I could be a librarian…
If I could be an athlete…
If I could be a lawyer…
If I could be an inn-keeper…
If I could be a professor…
If I could be a writer…
If I could be a llama-rider…
If I could be a bonnie pirate…
If I could be an astronaut…
If I could be a world famous blogger…
If I could be a justice on any one court
in the world…
If I could be married to any current
famous political figure…

1. If I could be a gardener, I would invest in full leather body armor. I get poison ivy when I just look at the stuff. Anyway, I wouldn't choose to be a gardener. I'd hold out for landscape designer/architect.

2. If I could be a linguist, I would be that secret agent in a foreign land that I dreamed about when I was younger. Danger and excitement, yeah!

3. If I could be an architect, I would create homes and office space that blended in with the environment and which was environmentally friendly. Tranquil, inviting and yet visually interesting.

4. If I could be a justice on any one court in the world, I'm not sure whether it would be the ICC or the Supreme Court. Something along those lines.

5. If I could be married to any current famous political figure, I wouldn't. It occurs to me that Hell comes in many forms...

And on a side note: a llama rider? Really? *G*

Illustration Friday-Ambition 2

In the end I scaled this second one back. The original plan was to have the girl looking in a 3-way mirror, with a different career choice in each one. Unfortunately both Randy and I are sick today and I just couldn't find the energy. So without further ado, ladies and gentlemen I give you Madame President:

detail

When you were a child, what dreams did you see looking back at you in the mirror?

Illustration Friday-Ambition

This week has been kind of crazy for me and I'm running behind. I threw this illustration together quickly. I have a much nicer one planned which I hope to be able to submit. It depends on whether I find the time to paint it or not. But I wanted to make sure that I submitted something, so here's entry #1:

It's simplistic, but then it's the first time I have done an entire illustration on my computer. I've always at least sketched and scanned in before. For what it is, I don't think it's half bad.

Photo Friday-Fancy

This has always reminded me of Jeannie's bottle for some reason-

Update on Florida Girl

The 13 yr. old Florida girl won her case today. After receiving the results of the psychological evaluation he had ordered Judge Alvarez lifted the injunction, clearing the way for her abortion.

Speaking of updates, I recently read that the soldier's family who was trying to get copies of his emails from Yahoo a few months ago, did finally receive them.

Corrupting a Minor

Every week Randy and I tape Survivor for a co-worker of his who works Thursday nights and is unable to do this for herself. This works out well because then friends and family who might have missed an episode ask to borrow the tape and it makes the rounds as needed.

So when my mother told me that she and my 14 yr. old sister missed it last week and asked to borrow the tape, I said it would be no problem. Randy had it with him at work, on the front seat of his car. I drove over there, picked it up and dropped it off for my mother. It wasn't rewound and I never bothered to check the video. Perhaps I should have.

Hell, I know now I should have!

I received an interesting call from my mother tonight. The guy who had the tape last had given Randy the wrong tape back. My mother and sister sat down to watch Survivor and instead were treated to a porn show taped off cable!!! My 18 yr. old brother and his girlfriend were there too. The unspoken questions weighed heavy in my mother's voice as she told me what was on the tape my family had sat down to watch. I quickly assured her that not only was that not the right tape (obviously) but that it was not ours!

I promised her that I would get the right tape from Darren and this time I'll check it first.

Horrifying!

(but kind of funny...)

Peeking My Head Out The Door

I was bored tonight and took several existing photos of spring flowers, stitched them together and "watercolored" them. This was the outcome.

I have been very busy, very social all weekend. It all feels foreign to me now, as though I am vibrating to a different frequency than those around me. Most of the past year has been spent in semi-seclusion due to injury and deaths in the family. Coming back out of it and surrounding myself with people isn't coming naturally to me yet. It will come with time. In the meantime, I have a friend coming over to my house every Friday to hang out. I spent Saturday with Ellen and then wound up attending an impromptu dinner party tonight after helping my friend Lolly with much simpler computer issues. The party was nice. I was able to spend time with friends, get to know some others better, and meet a few new people as well. I really enjoyed myself, though these things exhaust me now. Hard to believe that once upon a time I was happiest in a crowd. Now I prefer quiet. But the dinner party was just my speed.

When I got home tonight I watched Riding The Bus With My Sister starring Rosie O'Donnell and Andie McDowell. I was already familiar with the story (it's based on a true one) having seen the real Beth featured on a news program once. The cast really did a wonderful job. I was impressed. Randy came home shortly after it started and he was really able to get into it too.

So that's it. Pretty boring today I'm afraid. Better luck next time! :0)

24hr Service Because They Suck

Dell sucks. I could probably sum up this entry with those two words. But on the off chance that some of you may wonder why I have come to this conclusion, I shall elucidate.

A friend of mine (Ellen) helped her college- aged daughter (Amanda) with her purchase of a Dell computer in December. From the first they had problems with the sales staff and getting them to process the order correctly. Ellen dealt with them mostly. Amanda saved her earnings to buy the computer she wanted and then gave the money to Ellen so Ellen could put it on her credit card. The computer they ordered listed software as coming standard, including anti-virus. From day one Amanda has had problems with the computer and has called to report them and get help. Dell's return policy is that there are no returns after 21 days. However it turned out that the software they loaded in Amanda's computer were all demos, which she only found out after they expired a couple of weeks ago! On top of that, she didn't know her anti-virus wasn't protecting her computer anymore initially. She wound up with a virus that wiped out her computer. When she called tech support, they refused to help her until she paid them $39! They had her on the phone the other night from 8pm to 2:30 am, sometimes on hold for 1.5 hours at a time! Finally she fell asleep and, incidentally, failed an exam the following morning because she was so exhausted from being up half the night. They never resolved her problem and left her pretty upset.

So my friend Ellen stepped in and took over. She asked me to come over today to help her while she spoke to them because Ellen doesn't know as much about computers. First we got "Loretta." She's the one who explained to us that they would not take the computer back (which, remember, never worked properly in the first place and was reported as such. Conveniently, they can't find the records of those calls) because of the 21 day return policy, even though Amanda never received the software she bought and paid for. Loretta kept us on the line arguing for 2 hours, during which time we repeatedly requested to speak with her supervisor. She refused to put him/her on the phone. I talked Ellen and Loretta into some concessions. Ellen agreed to accept a replacement computer, though she really didn't want to have anything more to do with Dell. Loretta for her part gave us a coupon so Amanda could get the software she wanted. It was a done deal. Loretta said she would transfer us to the dept. that handles the exchanges. Almost an hour later "Anthony" gets on the phone. He makes us tell the whole story all over again, then refuses to give us the replacement. Then he basically called us liars by telling us that he's looking at the info Loretta sent to him and she made no mention of a replacement. He insisted that the only thing he would do for us was talk Amanda through fixing her computer, which is what Amanda just spent 6 hours doing with his crew the other night. They couldn't fix the problem then, what makes them think they can now? He absolutely refused to honor the deal between Loretta and ourselves. Angrily we demanded to be put back in touch with Loretta. He sent us back to customer service, but not Loretta. We got bounced 3 more times, each time having to explain from the beginning, only to get transferred again to someone else. Mind you, each time they put us on hold it lasted 30-60 minutes! At last "Gabby" came on the line. We told her the entire story again. She said that she would honor the agreement that Loretta made and set up a replacement. She just needed to wait to receive approval. Ellen took her dog for a walk, came back and made a cheese platter for us while we were on hold that time. Gabby finally came back and told us that they weren't going to replace the computer after all and the best thing they could do for us was to connect us with tech support, at which point we would have to pay $39 to receive help fixing the computer!!!!! Now, you have to understand that at this point I have been on the phone with Dell for 5 solid hours and the phone is beeping at me because the battery is about to die.

I snapped, and when I was done with her she agreed that Dell will give Amanda free tech support when she calls for help. Furthermore, they will still honor the $90 coupon promised by Loretta. I had had enough of their crap. Then I told Amanda that if she ever buys anything from Dell again I will personally kill her. Slowly and painfully.

The punchline of all this is that while Ellen and I were talking to Dell today, Amanda went to a new friend's house. Said friend's husband is in the IT tech field and promised to fix her computer for free! *LOL*

Oh well, I was spoiling for a fight and Amanda is taken care of. That's all Ellen and I wanted really. Once we calmed down Ellen and I laughed pretty hard about the whole day and its conclusion. It's was a day we'll never forget. :0)

But I will never, ever buy so much as a pen from Dell. The ink chamber would probably be only half full, but I wouldn't find that out until it was too late...