Halloween.....

If anyone ever asks me what the scariest movie is that I’ve seen, it would have to be John Carpenter’s Halloween, without a doubt. I remember when it first came out, my kids aged 8 and 11 at the time, begged me to take them. I had no idea just what I was in store for, thinking it was a kid’s movie. I was a stressed-out working mom then and didn’t take time to do any research, shame on me. I worked a job with split days off, so on one of the off days, I took the kids, along with a girlfriend of my daughter’s, and went to see this movie.

It was early evening, not yet dark when we went in. Typical small town fall day. We lived on a tree lined street and the colorful leaves carpeted the ground and scampered across the roadways in the brisk fall winds. Much like the setting in the movie, I might add. The theater was a small one with only a handful of people there on this week-night. The kids excitedly sat themselves in the first row and I positioned myself half way back in the middle. I had hurriedly gotten dressed to take them, choosing to put a wig on rather than fool with my hair. That was the thing back then; wigs were popular.

The movie started and it wasn’t but a few minutes into it that I was wondering if this was really a kid’s movie. A few minutes more answered my question. In a matter of minutes my kids, along with my daughter’s friend, were leaping over seats in a mad attempt to reach me, eyes wide with fear. They resembled a herd of buffalo coming right at me. I was attacked on both sides by kids, the youngest one in my lap with arms hugging me. My wig went askew on my head and it didn’t fall off and land under the seats only because I had a firm hold on it. My kids were terrified and so was I but I had to be the STRONG ONE. I couldn’t show my fear and kept saying, “its just a movie”, but I was nearly hyperventilating. The bad guy just WOULD NOT DIE. And that haunting MUSIC...omg, brings chills to your whole body cause you just KNOW somebody's gonna get it. I never wanted a movie to end so much in my entire life. At the end, my youngest had to ask….’where did he go’….when the body, ONCE AGAIN had disappeared. To avoid nightmares later I said, oh the ambulance guys already picked him up, hoping to appease his curiosity. But, of course, the question was in MY mind too.

When the movie let out, OF COURSE, it was dark and basically deserted outside in the parking lot. I mustered up my courage, straightened my wig, hiked up my bra straps and ventured out, looking like I’d just fought the Boer War. I could barely walk because my kids were glued to my sides. They kept saying everything I was thinking and trying to talk myself out of….like, what if he’s under the car, what if he’s IN the car. What if he waits until we get in and then gets on the roof and rides HOME with us. Its bad enough to THINK this stuff but when its said OUT LOUD, well, it just makes it all the more intense. If someone would have said BOO about then, I KNOW I would have just peed.

I have watched the movie several times in the safety of my home, doors tripled locked, which of course would never keep HIM out. It still scares me at my age, which proves that for everyone, no matter what your age, there really IS a boogeyman. (just like the good doctor says in the movie) I don’t think a scarier movie can ever be made than the original, first release of Halloween. Now, I won’t talk about it anymore.

Tomorrow is November first and when most people should be thinking of Thanksgiving, what did I see being set up on the shelves of the drugstore tonight? You guessed it……Christmas stuff. This is just plain ridiculous. Its just shy of being TWO months away…….give me a break! And WHY was I in the store tonight after work, you ask…..well, to get Halloween candy of course. Procrastination is my middle name.

Before Harry Potter.....

Have you ever wanted to pretend to be something you’re not….just to see if you could pull it off? I have and actually managed to convince a couple of 10 year olds, although they’ve been sworn to secrecy and probably are still afraid I’d turn them into a couple of toads or something if they told.

Hubby was into dirt bike riding, climbing hills and falling and getting hurt and all that kind of stuff. He bought me a smaller version of his dirt bike and thought I would participate. Wrong. I did enjoy trail riding, which to me means leisurely cruising around on country back roads and enjoying the scenery. So one weekend we got together with old friends who also had dirt bikes and we traveled about 200 miles by truck, with bikes on a trailer, so we could ride in the country and he could climb all the hills he wanted and get as dirty as he pleased. We met up with a bunch of other people, families with kids, who also had dirt bikes. The next morning the men set out to get hurt on the hills and the women and smaller children set out on the trails to do some cruising.

It was a beautiful day and the scenery was gorgeous. About noon some of the women knew of the location of a small restaurant so we headed there for lunch. We had a great lunch and when we went to start up our bikes to resume our journey back to the camp area (probably a good 25 miles), one of the boys in the group could not get his started. I would say that he was probably about 10 years old. He didn’t know me at all and I had never seen him before either but his mom was there with others in the group. He had his friend with him, also about 10. After many attempts, he was very upset that he couldn’t get the bike started so I went over to him and whispered to him that if he could keep a secret I would start his bike for him. I swear my horns were out that day and I was really feeling my oats. I told him that I don’t normally tell anyone this but because I felt bad his bike wouldn’t start, I revealed to him that I was a witch and to stand back while I did my work. They both looked at me with widened eyes. In the dirt parking lot, I made an X in the sand on all four points of the bike with my boot, saying some stuff under my breath at each. Then I wiggled my finger and mumbled some more stuff. Looking over my shoulder, I whispered to him that he could go ahead and start the bike now. He got on it and it started right up. The look on those kids’ faces was worth a million dollars. I reminded them to keep our secret with a wink and a wave and we all went on our way. I’ve never seen that group or those boys since then.

Every time Halloween comes around I think about this with a smile on my face and have often wondered if those boys ever told anyone. I wonder if they still remember me and further, if they still believe…….rather than realizing it was just flooded and needed to sit awhile before being started.

Timely meanderings.....

I was doing some computer bill paying earlier today when I happened to come out of my fog to glance at the clock in the lower part of my monitor. Hmmm.....not as late as I thought. No, Wait! I glanced at the clock on the wall.....an hour's difference! Oh no. Here we go again. Daylight savings time. How could I have forgotten? I was just about ready to start changing all my clocks when something told me to double check.

I googled it online and sure enough.....we don't have to change our clocks until the first Sunday in November, that being November 4. WHY do they keep messing with us? Who dictates this garbage? Is there a group of mean-spirited gnomes sitting around somewhere slapping each other on the back, laughing their butts off at all the confusion about to be unleashed this weekend? How come Microsoft, in their infinite wisdom, did not release a patch that would have made our computer clocks correspond with the "real time", whatever that may be? Is this a conspiracy to drive us all nuts? Scratch that last thought.....sometimes I get carried away. (although it DOES make one wonder).

I have never really understood "daylight savings time". It doesn't really "save" anything, not even your sanity. They need to just LEAVE. THE. TIME. ALONE. One hour backward or forward is not saving us enough of anything to justify the confusion caused, not to mention our inner clocks being thrown all out of kilter.

They should split the difference to make everyone happy and then LEAVE IT ALONE. So, on January 1, I promote that they put the time AHEAD one half hour and then leave it alone forever. Let time go on, unhindered, and let us get used to something stable in our lives.

Plus that, now all the Halloween trick or treaters will be begging in the DAYLIGHT and what the heck is SCARY about THAT!!! If I were a kid again I would be protesting this big time. Where is the ACLU when you need them.

Son to the rescue.....

My son has redeemed himself. I will forget about what he did to my laundry because he worked on my car and probably saved me about $150 in labor.

If any of you follow astrology you know that Mercury is retrograde right now and when that happens things to do with communication, contracts and transportation can get messed up, misunderstood or break down. I’m not into this in a big way but I do know that a lot of times when it happens, something of mine needs repair; last time it was my garage door, the time before that, my computer. After that my mind draws a blank. Its an age thing.

So I was not surprised when I drove home Monday evening and my dashboard light came on next to my battery gauge. My battery was low…….very low. So I came home after my stop at the jewelry store and put the car away for fear I would get stranded somewhere, which is not a fun way to spend an evening. I didn’t have to work again until Friday so I knew that I was going to have to get it fixed within the next 3 days. Visions of dollar signs danced in my head.

I called my son and described the symptoms to him and he said it was probably my alternator – definition “big bucks”. Or I may need a new battery…which costs a lot less. He came over and fiddled around with it and said, Yep, it’s the alternator. (of COURSE it would be, YOU knew that) He called around and got a price then took my money and picked it up. He got his tools and went to work. How did this offspring of mine, who I had such a hard time potty training, learn how to do this stuff? I was impressed. He fixed it for me, saving me the labor costs. I offered to pay him, but he refused, saying….I might need a favor sometime. That caused my blood pressure to rise just a bit and my heart to skip a beat. Anyone who has children knows that a “favor” can be a loan of $5 or a request to co-sign on a new vehicle. I just hope his favor won’t be too expensive.

All that glitters.....

I just HAVE to share this story with you. A few days ago I spoke of giving to a few of my favorite charities. I actually mailed those off on Friday on my way to work. Remember how I said that when you give, you also receive? Ok…. now I have to back up to about 6 months ago.

I had a diamond ring that belonged to my great aunt. The ring was very old (probably 80 years or more) and the diamond very precious, not only because it was valuable, but because it had sentimental value as well. One day at work I looked down and to my horror, discovered an empty setting in my ring; the diamond was gone. I was absolutely sick. I knew I had seen it on my hand the previous evening at home. But I had covered a lot of ground since then. I looked everywhere I could think of to look. Against all odds, I even looked in the toilet when I got home. No luck.

I kept thinking to myself that I would find it but days turned into weeks, which turned into months and I finally began to accept the fact that it was gone.

Today, Monday, I was working updating some business books at work and when I went to put the one binder back in the cubby on my desk I noticed something nestled in the corner inside the cubby. I took my nail and nudged it and as it turned around I could see it was shiny on one side. Upon closer inspection it looked like my diamond….but I had never seen a loose diamond before and I wasn’t sure if maybe it wasn’t a fake rhinestone that may have fallen from someone’s bracelet. I was too scared to let myself HOPE.

I could hardly wait to get off work. I drove directly to the jewelry store and asked the man to look at it, telling him the story. He said it was a diamond….a nice one at that. Worth about $750 all by itself. I cannot think of words to express how elated I feel. But in the back of my mind I keep thinking about what I’ve always believed. Karma. This is my pay-back. This is my reward for helping others less fortunate. I am not a lucky person, so I know it wasn’t luck. To find it after 6 months is amazing. And yes, I did remember to thank God.

Isn’t this a great story? I think this may be one that will be told and re-told in our family. In the meantime, I am going to get it re-set in a new ring; this time with 2 extra prongs to make sure that stone is super secure.

I’ll end this post with a little reminder. If you have diamond rings, take them to the jeweler and have the prongs checked twice a year. Won’t cost you a thing and may save you the heartache of losing a precious stone. I’ve learned my lesson.

My Endorphins are Missing.....

I was making the rounds of my favorite blogs and on one of them exercise was discussed. It brought back some vivid memories.

A girlfriend and I decided we are tired of looking frumpy and signed up for a free trial of exercise sessions at a local business that specialized in that. We had visions of being clones of Suzanne Somers dancing in our heads. She and I, dressed like the Bobbsy Twins in black leggings and sweatshirts, enter into this world of the fit and fabulous. The first thing I notice is that we are the heaviest two in the whole building, including the janitor and the butt-crack showing plumber working in the restroom. I cannot see one inch of fat on any woman in the place. The biggest female there is maybe a size 6, if that. This does not make you feel like you're one of the girls. You immediately feel like an outcast, the red-headed step-child at the family reunion, so to speak. But you stiffen up your upper lip, hike up the bra straps and venture on.

These women are bouncing around, happily using the equipment and chatting with one another as they adjust their sweatbands and flip their ponytails. You can tell they all feel very comfortable. They all look fantastic. We start out on one of the simplest pieces of equipment, that being the stationary bicycle. I had never in my life felt so out of place as I did then. The walls are covered in mirrors so there is no way you can avoid seeing the image of yourself as you are puffing away, putting effort into the pedaling. Where the other women look cute with the thin line of sweat on their upper lips, you only look like a sweating pig. All that's missing is the grunts and snorts. There is absolutely NO way to regain any kind of self-esteem you may have had before you entered through the doors of this building. Endorphins? Where the hell are they? They sure never showed up to make ME feel great. They had packed their bags and deserted me a long time ago. Even when I was sweating copious amounts and grunting like a pig, red-faced, on that bicycle, I had absolutely NO indication that endorphins were happily surging through my body. They had jumped ship.

I tried various pieces of equipment. Some of it I was unable to do. I kept going back to the bicycle and eventually just stayed there. At least I could sit down while doing it. I must have pedaled 1900 miles on that bike that day. My friend was a little more adventurous than I because she tried more things but also ended up doing the bicycle more than anything. I think its because we felt comfortable with it and lord knows any sort of comfort was worth grabbing in this hostile atmosphere.

The next day I could barely walk. I had hurt my knee badly with all that pedaling and so ended my journey to having a beautiful body. (which would have taken no less than 2,900,000 visits and the frequent use of a highly skilled plastic surgeon). We felt more comfortable doing stuff in the privacy of our living rooms in front of the TV with no mirrors and no sized 2 females prancing about. We kept it up for maybe a couple weeks before getting side-tracked onto something else. Some bodies were just not meant to be put in these awkward positions......besides I had a lot more important things to do like tweeze my chin hairs and nap.

Those pesky critters.....

Reading Janet's blog yesterday brought to mind my battle a couple years ago. I opened my silverware drawer one day to find itty bitty mouse turds. Yuck! I actually couldn't believe it. I've lived here all these years and have never had a problem with those critters. So, keeping in mind the old quote, "know your enemy", I went to my trusty computer and googled "mice". I read all I ever wanted to know and then some about them.

We were raised with "Mickey", courtesy of Disney. Mice are supposed to be cute and sweet and make you go "awwww". This is definitely the other side of the coin here. This mouse in my house was causing a problem. I can't say I felt any sort of fondness toward it at all.

I trudged to my local hardware store and stocked up on mousetraps. I bought 6 of them. The guy there talked me into buying some sort of 'glue pads' too......DON'T EVER DO THAT! I'LL TELL YOU WHY IN A BIT. I only got four of those, thank heavens!

I read that one mouse can produce up to 80 turds a DAY. Hard to believe, isn't it? Also read that they have poor eyesight and tend to run with their side against the wall so you should set the trap against a wall, not in the middle of the floor. And THIS tidbit just made me feel so good. They LEAVE A TRAIL of mouse pee so they can find their way back and also as a map for others. AAA has nothing on them; they have their own little trip-tik. I won't go in to just HOW FAST they multiply but it was enough for me to want them out quickly.

I have one drawer next to my stove that I keep all sorts of envelopes containing mixes like gravy, meat loaf seasoning, cheese sauce, etc. Needless to say, my little visitor had found that drawer and was having a real ball ripping into every single one and trying them out. I think he bathed in the cheese one. That was the first place I set the traps. I put one at the back of the drawer and another one at the front just in case the first one missed him. I put two more traps in a bottom cupboard that I found some more turds in. Two more went under the sink, just in case.

The next morning I got up and opened that drawer like it was going to explode. I was amazed to find not one, but TWO mice, one in each trap. I checked the bottom cupboard and also found those two traps filled, under the sink got me nothing.

I reloaded and waited. Where I had thought I had ONE, I had FOUR. This time I used some of those glue pads in the bottom cupboard along with the traps. The next morning I checked to find the two traps in the drawer filled again and in the bottom cupboard the glue pads both contained a mouse, WHICH WAS STILL ALIVE.

Now this is the hardest part of my story. A dead mouse is just a dead mouse, but a live one is cute. Those big soulful eyes and cute little ears. The glue pads had them caught good and secure but they were very much alive and totally confused. This is why I say to NEVER buy those because I had to do the dirty work of killing them and I still feel guilty over it. I did it the most humane way possible (drowning) if you can honestly think that killing anything is humane. It was horrible and I never want to do that again.

All in all I killed nine mice that had taken up residency in my humble abode. Mama had shredded an oven mitt of mine in the back of one rarely used cupboard (only wide enough for cookie sheets) and made herself a lovely little nest. These cute little things caused me a LOT of work. Everything had to come out of the cupboards and drawers they had wandered through and everything had to be washed. The insides of the drawers and cupboards with bleach water and everything else in the dishwasher. I had to throw away all the mixes.....about $50. worth, not to mention placemats and of course the oven mitt.

I remember reading on the internet that if you can put a pencil through an opening, a mouse can fit through it. I never did find out how they got into my house......maybe it was just one that got in and the rest were all her children. But now I am ever vigilant. I am constantly looking for signs that they might be back. Maybe I should get a cat again.

Helping Where Its Needed.....

Well, its getting close to the holidays now and with it comes tons of mail from different organizations requesting donations. They are relying on your ‘good heart’ along with Christmas being the season of giving. My name must hit just about every list out there because I get so many requests. I do donate to a favorite few because they are dear to my heart for one reason or another. But I do have a pet peeve about a lot of these charities. I really wish they could be objective and really “see” what WE see on the receiving end.

What is with this enclosing a penny, nickel or dime in the letter while making the plea for your kindness in a donation? I can’t help but sit and think to myself that if they quit doing that, they could put a small fortune into their charity. What brainchild decided that this was an attention getter? If anything, its getting my negative attention.

So, please….you charities out there that are doing this….please stop it and put that money to good use. I don’t want to even BEGIN to think about how much money you’re giving away. For that reason, I have NEVER donated to a charity that does this. My first thought is that you must not need it that bad if you can afford to give it away, albeit nickels and dimes and pennies. They add up!

That being said, I sat down and wrote out checks to a few favorite charities. Sending early to Toys for Tots so they will have time to buy all those toys. Another one to buy a Thanksgiving meal for 15 who are less fortunate than I. Can’t forget about the animals so a check went to the Humane Society. Another one will go to a rescue facility. Another goes to disabled Vets. Every time you give, you get so much back. Even if its no more than a warm feeling, it makes you feel so blessed that you are ABLE to do something for someone else.

My daughter had surgery yesterday. It was some sort of nerve block on her spine. It was risky and we were nervous but put our faith in God as well as the technology that makes this type of surgery possible. She walked out of there only 3 hours later and is fine but it will be a while before we know if the surgery will do for her what its supposed to do. In the meantime I’m grateful for our blessings. Go hug someone today. I mean it. Makes you feel soooo good.

Laundry woes.....

My son, like so many others, got laid off and was in a mess. He’s a single dad, raising his 3 year-old daughter, so I told him he could move it for a while until he got on his feet. It was a huge adjustment for me since I’ve lived alone for so many years. Not to mention the stress level for my dog.

He was actually pretty good while he was here. He remembered to put the toilet seat down every time and I didn’t have problems with him hogging the remote because he had his own TV set up in the downstairs family room. He took it upon himself to get my yard in better shape and actually got on the roof and cleaned out the eaves. My yard hadn’t looked this good in a long, long time. He washed down my house and cleaned out the garage. He even cooked some meals and had them ready when I got home from work. It was kind of nice….until he took it upon himself to do MY laundry.

Oh merciful heavens! What that boy did to my laundry I will never know. HE doesn’t even know. He does know enough to separate whites from darks and he did that, but along the line something went terribly wrong. My whites are not too bad, although not as white as I’d like them. My daughter has since re-washed them all and brightened them back up. Its my lightly colored clothes that have suffered the most. They are dingy. Just no other way to put it….dingy. And I won’t wear them like that. I think maybe a three-year-old sized pair of blue jeans may have found their way into that load of my light colored. They could be easily missed and would do their dirty work just as well as a big sized pair. But what happened with the rest of the loads is only speculation.

My daughter is coming over while I’m at work and is trying to rectify his error. There are about 4 or 5 loads of clothes involved. It remains to be seen if she can accomplish this or not. I certainly hope so as there are some nice clothes affected, not to mention a majority of my bath towels and even a set of sheets. The white ones are light gray. Ughhhhh! I do have some Oxy-clean….so we will certainly put it to the test. Any suggestions??

I also had to throw away a navy blue sweater I’d only worn one time because it looks like bleach was spilled on it. No matter what, it was totally ruined. The spots were too big to even use the magic marker trick. I had to tell him that I appreciated his gesture, but to stop washing MY clothes.

So, even though men are great for doing all that nasty outside work, they are like bulls in china shops in the laundry room. I appreciate what he tried to do, but am a little miffed at MYSELF for not teaching him better…..or else…did he just decide on his own to take some short cuts? He would never admit it to me if he did.

However I am proud that he is raising his daughter; he has found out that its not easy being a single parent. I will give him another talk on how to sort laundry before he leaves. He is now in the process of moving out so he can be all settled before winter sets in. I’m glad I could help him out when he needed it but I’m also glad to have my privacy back so I can once again leap merrily from room to room adorned only in my birthday suit……..yeah, right. LOL

And the Survey says.....

This morning I received a phone call from a ‘survey taker’. Now I would usually say that I’m not interested and politely hang up, but something about this young woman’s demeanor made me continue to listen.

She worked for a marketing firm and they were taking a survey about grocery stores. I decided to cooperate. I’m glad I did because in some very small way I was able to get my revenge on a local grocery store. I am not naming the store but it’s well known and I rarely go there anymore because of the ridiculous wait times. Also their meat is terrible. So for all the times I was forced to wait in line behind shoppers with full carts when I had only 3 items because only two registers were open, I was finally able to have my say where it may count. Muwa ha ha (evil laugh)

This store is nice and clean, the employees are friendly and its in an area that is easily accessible. However, no one I know likes to go to this grocery store (its not just THIS one either, its all of their stores) because of the extremely long wait times at the register. Grrrr.

I notice grocery stores are closing like crazy but this one still manages to stay in business. Maybe this survey is just a prelude to its demise. I can only hope. After the basic survey was through, she started to ask those dreaded personal questions…i.e. how many people are in your family, how much is your total household income, etc. I interrupted and said that I didn’t wish to answer any personal questions and she said that was fine.

After I hung up I started thinking about all the grocery stores that were once in existence. What in the world happened to them all? I can think of five right off the top of my head that we no longer have around here any more. I know of two empty buildings that are fairly new which used to be grocery stores.

Another thing that is changing, very slowly but changing, nevertheless, are the malls or shopping centers as we knew them. The super malls are beginning to be a thing of the past. In place of them are the mini malls or strip malls. I’m not in marketing so I don’t know what the appeal would be for them over the super mall except for maybe ease of entering and exiting. Also lots of kids are known to hang out at the malls and can sometimes intimidate the shoppers or just plain cause a distraction. The parking lots for these places are huge. Ever lose your car in one of them? I have and its downright scary. I used to imagine it would be great if we pushed the remote button on our key chains and your car would start up and come to you. A while back they sold these brightly colored balls that you could put on your radio antenna so you could find your car easily in a crowded lot. One big problem….lots of people bought them so you were looking at a sea of brightly colored balls sitting atop antennas. Glad I never fell for that one. I just look for the antenna that has nothing on it. LOL

Change doesn't just mean menopause.....

A thing about people my age is that they do not like change! We just get nicely used to something being a certain way or being able to buy a certain product and then suddenly it has changed. Seniors do not adapt well to change. It takes a good while before we will admit that maybe its for the better, if it is.

Computers keep us in a constant state of upheaval because of so many changes taking place. The computer world changes so fast, you can barely keep up with it. We just get used to using a program and can whip around in it like crazy and they will bring out a different version with a whole new bunch of stuff to learn. You can never feel secure in your knowledge of software programs. My co-worker got a new computer for her work station a few weeks ago. She told them that she did not want to change her operating system or the programs she had become accustomed to using. The tech department was nice enough to install all the older programs back on for her, but she had to upgrade to XP operating system, which wasn’t too bad. She still grumbles about it every morning, but as time goes on, she’s getting used to it.

I guess one of my biggest problems is finding some products that I have come to love over the years. I was using a favorite bleach because my mother used it. This product has been around FOREVER. Well…..no more. I cannot find it. No good bye, no “see ya later”, no “we’ve been taken over by….” ----…….NOTHING! Just one day, they were no longer there, sitting on the grocer’s shelf. I don’t like chlorine bleach but I now have to use it. I grumble about it every time I do laundry.

I think that these companies who are going to just up and leave town or change their products or totally drop making a product should have the decency to let people KNOW. A nice little….”its been nice having your business” type of thing. Instead of you going to the store to search in vain for the product and finally being told by the store manager, “oh, they no longer make that”. What a let down!! You feel cheated on….betrayed….divorced.

And to add something more to these thoughts about change;….the bank I have a loan with has changed hands 3 times during the life of the loan. This does NOT make you feel very secure. I figured the bank was in trouble this last 12 months as they put a “$3 fee” on the privilege of paying your payment online. Then they UPPED that fee to $5……which is absolutely ridiculous. I think it was a last ditch effort to stay afloat. I have since refinanced and paid off that ARM loan, which was the source of many a sleepless night for me, since the interest almost doubled on it. I have the new loan through a larger bank that, hopefully, won’t be changing names in the near future. I think that any bank that charges their customers a fee to make a payment actually deserves to be bought out. What do YOU think?

Arro? Ez dez de reddie ah de ouz.....

(Title Translation: Hello? Is this the lady of the house?) My phone rings and interrupts me doing something important like napping, reading or tweezing my chin hairs. Its bad enough that it’s a solicitor but it adds insult to injury that it’s a solicitor from my power company who, of course, has to have my phone number on file and is exempt from the “DO NOT CALL” list. That this solicitor is OBVIOUSLY a foreigner who has a VERY strong accent only puts the cherry on top of it all. Now I have nothing against foreigners and I am happy that this woman has a job, but wouldn’t you THINK that a company as large as a power company, for crying out loud, would have enough positions open for her to work in a capacity that DOESN’T require her to call customers on the phone and try to sell a service? I could only understand about every sixth word this woman had to say. I kept saying “excuse me”, “pardon me” and “would you repeat that”….until finally, my patience nearly gone, I just said, “I’m sorry I cannot understand what you’re saying”, then she said something else and I said, “Oh, I already have that, good-bye”. I just hate being unnecessarily rude and try hard not to be. After all, its not her fault they are making her do this crappy job.

Yes, we are a melting pot. Yes, its wonderful this lady is working and not tapping our welfare system. I give her big hugs for that. But, CORPORATE AMERICA….use some common sense here. Why would you put someone who has such a strong accent in telephone SALES or in TECHNICAL SUPPORT (which justifies a whole other future blog entry of its own)?? What is WRONG with this picture? I’m sure we have an ABUNDANCE of people available for work that can speak English just fine and can, therefore, be understood. And, on the other side of the coin…just imagine how SHE must feel at the end of the day….after having repeated her sales pitch over and over again only for the sole reason that she can’t be understood. It must surely be as frustrating for her as it is for the ones on the receiving end. I bet she drives home in tears every night and just hates her job! Is it just me? Am I turning into a cranky bitch? Are people in upper management the blooming idiots I think they are? My male hormones are jumping around giving each other high fives about now. Lord a mercy. I’m shaking my head again.

There! I’m off my soap box now. Sorry if I offended anyone but you know its true.

To Toss or Not to Toss.....

I’ve been really busy cleaning and trying to de-clutter, as well as working more hours at my part-time job. I am such a pack-rat. I really get mad at myself for that. (I still have my Tonette from 6th grade) I gave away a lot of clothes but still have more to go through. At this point I think I will just go through things a little at a time this winter. It broke my heart to give away stuff I really loved, but I needed to face up to reality. I could not get myself into those clothes right now and even if I went on a strict diet, they would all be out of style and possibly dry rotted by the time they did fit me. So I bit the bullet and gave them up. My reward was more closet space and a pile of empty hangers. Although I did get a bonus. I found $7. in cash and a brand new sweater, complete with tags, that I had forgotten about. It is my current size too. Scary that I can’t remember buying it. It had gotten shoved to the back of the closet. Shows ya how much I must have needed it. I have a definite problem with buying stuff on sale that I anticipate needing. Stores love people like me. Charge card issuers love people like me.

This charging is going to stop. I have turned over a new leaf. I am in the process of consolidating my bills and will only have one charge card to pay on after everything is set in place. My part time job may not last much longer so I have to make sure I can get by comfortably on my pension and social security, which is a guaranteed income. I would like to still work a couple days a week but am not sure what’s going to happen with the position I’m filling right now. If it goes to full time I would be unable to do that. I don’t want to do that. I enjoy being retired and just dappling enough in the work world to keep my brain from rusting.

In my little corner of the world we are experiencing what they call Indian Summer. We have very warm temps, as high as 85 on some days, and the trees have all turned into a bright array of nature’s colors. Its beautiful and my favorite time of year. I was just thinking about it and Mother Nature is cleaning too. She is shedding her present coat of leaves in anticipation of getting all new clothes next spring. And thinking of Spring, makes me think of a winter season we have to go through. I’m not looking forward to Winter. I love the snow on Christmas Eve and Day, but not any other time. It seems as though the seasons go so fast now. My dad always told me that time flies as you get older and he sure was right. I’ve been thinking about getting one of those “day clocks”. They tell you what day it is, along with the time. Don’t laugh. If you don’t have a set routine, the days all seem to run in together. You’ll see. LOL