reaching back

It's almost Christmas and even though I don't 'do' Christmas anymore - I do still believe in presents ... the to me from me kind. Except this year I haven't really seen anything that really excites me -- well except for my new Lapinator -- which I really am happy with.

I did buy something else though that the OK! cousin introduced me to. She had purchased a bunch of the Dead Sea salt and mineral items and we did a makeover the last time I was there. I fell in love with the Swisa Dead Sea salt 'peel'. So, I went out onto eBay and won myself some -- at 1/5 the price she paid -- yikes for her.

The malemate turns 60 on Dec. 27th. He is into the party and 'give me all the attention' thing. He is married to the wrong person for that -- cuz a party-planner Martha Stewart, I am not. I probably could have just left that last sentence at simply 'he married the wrong person' :)
Regardless ...
I bought him a Chicago Bears bowling ball (he has been a Bears fan for over 50 years) and the OK! cousins are coming up for the weekend. They will arrive on Friday and will depart on the 2nd.
That's about all the party I am giving him -- anything more, he'll have to get on his own.
I so wished I felt like I used to feel about him.
Maybe in 2008.

hotmail f_k_d!

I cannot believe how badly Microsoft, with all it's money and collective wisdom, could FUCK a perfectly fine working email (hotmail) so badly. They have fucked it up so badly with this LIVE bullshit, that I think I am going to have to change my primary email address ... AGAIN.

Yeah, it's a pretty ugly start to the day.

recall from the 70's

I was listening to our dear JockfullofPodcast and for some reason I started to recall my first Mr.
Yes that would be the first man that made me a Mrs.
I so loved this man. But, he was 11 years my senior and had 'seen the world' -- well, enough so that he was ready to plant it all back in Iowa.
Me? well, not so much.
He was done sampling what was outside of his safe zone.
He had served 2 tours of Viet Nam as a Marine during the bowels of the 60's.
Obviously, I could not, or did not relate to this.

Have you ever loved a soldier? Have you ever loved a Marine?
Have you ever been loved by a Marine?
He had the ability to give all of himself, and did so. If only I had been 'adult' enough to know and appreciate that quality.
Ah, the regrets of life. We all have them.

Intereresting thing about my first Mr. ...
I had not had much sex prior to meeting him. Anything beyond missionary sex was a new experience. Oral sex was unfamiliar territory for my mouth. But, my friends had told me about it and instructed me -- savor an ice cream cone, they said.

One night the #1 Mr. and I were getting reacquainted for the day -- and I thought I would try the cone on him.

Oh my God! you would have thought I was going to circumcise him with my teeth!

The #1 Mr. had a very hard time using the word no with me - but he pulled my face up toward his face and said, "NO, no more."

We finished with the intercourse and later I asked him why he stopped me. He said there were whores in Nam that would place razor blades in their mouths and give head and he could not remove that thought from his mind.

My dear #1 Mr. had many things that he could not stop his mind from associating to his life during the Viet Nam conflict. I was too young and ignorant to understand the depth of traumatic stress syndrome. He died at the young age of 39.

ice ages and kotex

I took a trip to the OK! cousins this past weekend. It was a late Thanksgiving celebration and was supposed to be my first sampling of deep fried turkey.
The turkey thing did not evolve because the turkey cooker had a hole in it and the oil was leaking. Luckily, the cousin had a smaller backup -- which did not accommodate the turkey, but did accommodate a chicken.
So, deep fried chicken it was.
Simply not the same as broasted.

I have been hit with ANOTHER fucking ice storm! The second one in the same year. However, Oklahoma has it much worse this time than here in Missouri. When I left the OK! cousin's house this morning they had no electricity -- which means they also had no heat and no water. I called them about 15 minutes ago, they still had no power. I invited them over, but they can't let the fireplace go cold for fear of the pipes freezing.
Sucks to be them.

I stopped at an Asian market in Tulsa - but they had no eundan. The clerk did not know where I could get it. On the up side, I still have not smoked. I even stopped at the Cherokee casino and gambled for a bit and did not smoke.
Yay me.
I missed it terribly at that point.

If you are as old as me or older, you will absolutely see the humor in this.

Classic Kotex

where o where is the eundan?

Tonight, around 7, it will be 7 days since I sucked some nicotine into my lungs.
I miss it.
I need a replacement.
I need eundan.

I used to get this stuff called eundan when I lived out in CA. I would get it from this quick mart that was owned by Koreans.
It reminds me of sen-sen. Okay, you have to pretty old to remember sen-sen. Eundan is tiny licorice mint balls.
I really want to find this again, but am not having much luck. I am sure there must be Korean markets around here - but where?
I thought one could buy anything online. Guess not.

I need an eundan fix. I need to find a source.
Can you help?

bitch on a keyboard

I have not smoked since about 7pm on November 30. So yes, I am in a bit of a snit these days. The bottom line is, if I really intend to get some lipo done - I am quite sure I cannot be a smoker. The good news is, now that I am eating everything in sight I can get it all lipo'd off when the time comes. There are pluses (or would that be plus sizes?) to everything.
Something to bitch about.

I won a bid on a Lapinator Plus. I wish I would've had one for the trip back to Iowa over Thanksgiving -- instead I had my makeshift board that is so heavy it would like to break my wrist just picking it up. And now, we are taking off this weekend for the OK! cousin's and I am pretty sure I placed the bid too late for it to get here before Friday.
Another thing for me to bitch about.

The work issue was all in my panicky pinhead. All is fine on that front except LLS said she would not have anything for me on Friday and would I like to work on Monday (yesterday). "Sure", says I. So, I wait around the house all day, checking in on the ftp throughout the day -- nothing gets uploaded to me. I could've been out gambling - but no, instead I hung around here waiting on work that never materialized.
The third item for me to bitch about.

My sleep habits are so fucked up. I often go to sleep at 9-9:30 and wide awake at 2am. I am not one to lie in bed and hope to fall back to sleep - as history has shown that that does not work for me, I just get achy and bitchy (bitchier). I am not sure what to do about this. I have tried alcohol, sleep aids, reading, tea, xanax, self hypnosis - nothing has straightened this out. I would think that now that I am post menopausal this would have resolved.
The fourth thing for me to bitch about.

Something that has been on my mind lately. I take xanax - it's no secret. I have taken it off and on since the early 80's when I had a panic attack during the Christmas holiday. Yeh, I think I have hated the pressure of the "holiday season" since way back then. Needless to say, I don't "do" the Christmas thing anymore.
Anyway, back to the gist of this. I have come upon people in my life that have been in that panic state and at which time I have offered them some xanax. Now, I know it is a narcotic and highly addictive -- IF IT IS ABUSED. Some of these people that I have given this to have their own medical insurance - so after they have tried them and found that they worked for them, why the hell don't they go to their doctor and get their own script? I have had 3 different people tell me they want to buy my script.
WHAT? Go to your own doctor and get your own script! I am not a drug dealer!

Not too long ago I made a comment to one of them, "if it weren't for the xanax I would not have any friends at all."
I'm starting to think that is truer than I care to admit.
And that, my textual voyeurs, is my last bitch of the day.
Be well and save the bitching for your blog. :)

let's try this again

While I was in Iowa this past weekend, I ran into this couple that I have known since junior high. We have stayed in touch and often times chat online. I convinced them that the three of us should stop smoking by December 1, 2007. I told them that since we are all online during the day, that we could give each other support.
I have been smoking heavier than I have in the past 5 years since that conversation.
Wish us luck.

The cooked duck sucked -- I started gagging.
Apparently it is an acquired taste.
I was going to have chimichangas for a backup, but instead I went with Paula Deen's hot spinach-artichoke dip.

I am having a problem with my work again. I missed the word left in one of my reports from a week ago. Left, right ... to someone that does not have a left or right knee -- what does it matter? I communicated with her (LLS) both on the phone and via email a few times yesterday, but so far there has been no communication and no work uploaded today.
This MT work is so simple in concept -- but it's so fucking hard some times.

gobble gobble quack

It was off to Iowa on Wednesday. I managed to get the power car/notebook adapter about 2 days before -- so I did my work all the way there. Worked quite slick. Kept my mind and attention off the malemate's driving.
No speeding tickets again this year.
Kinda pisses me off, because I told him about 3 years ago that the next speeding ticket he got that I was getting some plastic surgery done. I guess he doesn't want to foot that bill.
He will though.

I got to see the latest addition to the Faulkner clan who is not named such. He is a beaut -- unfortunately the mother (my niece) did not give him our sir name -- sad too because we have no more boys to carry on the name -- my 2 brothers are the end of the line unless one of the nieces has a boy and gives him the name. Sad when it comes to that.

We had the traditional turkey dinner with all the trimmings. The turkey was dry - as always. Why is that? I have decided I am going to get myself a turkey this season and see if I can make it without it being dry. The challenge.

One of my cousin's husband is an avid hunter. It's duck and goose season. She hates them both. I have never had duck.
Thanks to her, I now have two - which I will attempt to roast tomorrow.
However, I will have a backup option ... just in case.

i think i can, i think i can

1This past weekend the malemate and I did a tango workshop in Arkansas. Talk about a humbling experience. One of the instructors is from Argentina and the other is from Brazil. It was an quite the exhausting and fulfilling experience.
It would be nice if we could have retained a least one step that we learned for the $170 that we spent on the afternoon.

A couple weeks ago, our regular dance instructors ask us if we still did any swing dancing. Well, the malemate responds with a much-too-quick 'YES'. I am cringing, as I know there is more to come and i know we have not done much swing dancing in almost 5 years. End result, he volunteered us to do a demonstration for the chamber of commerce here in town.
Okay, I can do this. After all, there will probably only be 25-40 people there.

The time draws near (last weekend, and the event is Thursday) and I hear one of the other 'performers' tell that she had to get a new a dress.
WTF? It's just a quick demonstration and you went out and bought a new dress?
She proceeds to tell me that the theme for this event is 'dancing with the stars'
WTF? What kind of chamber gathering is this that they need a theme?
So, I fat finger my way through the internet to check out the chamber's calendar of events.
OH SHIT!!! This is their annual banquet with installation of officers! This is much bigger than she led on for us to believe.
shitShitSHIT!
So, on the day of the event, I call the chamber to get the gist of just what the hell is going on. First, I am told by the voice on the other end, whose name is Donna, that they have sold about 253 tickets.
WHAT? And will all these people show up? "Oh yes," Donna says, "it's our biggest gathering of the year."
shitShitSHIT!
And what is the agenda, I ask. Donna tells me about the happy hour (thank GOD!), the dinner, the presentation of awards and installation of officers, and lastly the entertainment. I ask what is the entertainment.
Donna tells me that there are 4 sets of dancers coming in to perform.
oh FUCK! Now, it all comes to surface. The malemate and I are part of the entertainment.
Thank GOD I got my Xanax refilled yesterday and thank GOD I got my scotch refilled last weekend --- and because of these 'tools', I am pretty sure I can do this.

Late in the afternoon we started donning our duds and doing some practicing.
Then it was off to the event we went.

First thing on my agenda: Locate the bar and get my order in, as does the malemate.

The program starts and they go through their looooooooooong list of kudos and then the time has arrived -- and we are on.
shitShitSHIT! I need more scotch. I need more Xanax. My mouth is dry. The floor is sticky.

The music starts and it's just the malemate and me.

Bottom line, it was not flawless. But, we made it through and many people came up to us afterward and gave us sincere thank-yous and compliments.

The malemate is such a good lead.
Thank you God for that.

old ladies gone drunk

I took a trip to the 'Palm Desert of the Midwest' this past weekend. I wanted to see Cap'n Max, Sharon and Kat.
It was just a quick overnight trip.

I arrived on Saturday morning - just in time to hit the last hours of one of the big twice-yearly tag sales. Unfortunately (or maybe not) it was pretty well picked over and I only ended up with some tote bags to use as trash bags in the car. That is probably a good thing though, as I really don't need anymore junk.

Then Cap'n Max took his harem out for an excellent lunch. One of the harem members could not make it because she was making 'goodies' for later that afternoon. I am so damn glad she didn't come with us because she was making my new favorite snack: bacon wrapped jalepeno poppers.
Good God those things are fabulous!
Dammit, I wish I didn't have such a taste for the fat foods.

I brought the flow-bee because Sharon was in need a cut. She and Kat took off for early mass (because with all the scotch in the house, there was no way they would be able to make it to Sunday morning mass). I went out to the deck to get the 'salon' set up for when they returned. They were back in no time and the scotch was poured and the haircuts began. Sharon was very pleased with her cut and although we all liked Kat's, I don't think she was too happy with it.
Like our mother's always told us - 'it will grow out'
I am thinking that is not what she wanted to hear, so I only thought it :^/

Then it was off to the den for a good ol' girltalk session. The Pinch flowed ever so smoothly as did the topics of conversation.
Too bad I can't remember all of them.
What I do remember is that it was such a pleasure to be back in the warmth of friends I love.

I miss them.

silly stuff I do

I drink coffee - not out of a china cup, not out of a ceramic mug, not out of a stainless steel thermos.
I drink coffee out of styrofoam cups -- not just one, but 2 styrofoam cups -- one stacked inside the other.
I do this because it keeps the coffee hot longer.
Makes sense doesn't?

However, when I pour the coffee into my double styro cup, I start the pour close and then quickly lift the pot away from the cup, whilst still pouring.
This is to cool the coffee down before it even enters the double styro cups.

Ridiculous.

I know you want to chat me ... no?

It is Saturday. For some reason I was looking forward to this day. No reason in particular. Perhaps it had something to do with exchanging emails with Peg yesterday and finding out that she got herself a new computer which brings her back online. I have missed her so much these past few months. So, I phoned her this morning. It was 10:00am my time, 7:00am her time.
I was being courteous and let her sleep in on a Saturday morning.

Me: You are not online!?!?! You need to get your ass online so I can get the rundown on what has been going on the past few months.

Peg: Can't we do that now while we are on the phone?

Me: Well, yes, I guess we can, butButBUT, don't you want to use your new computer so we can chat?

Peg: Uh, no. I have to prep the living room so I can paint it today.

Me: So, you aren't really going to be focused on the conversation are you.

Peg: Probably not.

Me: Okay, I'll keep it short then. CLICK!

Then I went back to the computer and there was my friend Debbie in CA.
Happy is me.
Debbie was stuck doing floor time. And if you know anything about the real estate market in California you know that she had LOTS of time to chat with me, because the phones in the real estate offices are not ringing these days.
Needless to say, I had her attention most of the afternoon...whether she wanted it or not.
Poor Debbie.

annual turkey drop

The WKRP tv show, with the now famous line of: ""As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly!!!" -- Arthur Carlson, WKRP in Cincinnati, brought much attention to the annual turkey drop in Arkansas. Many think this no longer occurs because of the outrage associated with that particular episode.

They would be so wrong. The annual Turkey Trot celebration carries on, along with the live turkey drop

dance dance dance huh?

The Argentine tango lessons have continued.
That has GOT to be the hardest dance the malemate and I have tried to learn.

However, after everyone left last night, and it was just the instructors, the malemate and me, the instructors asked us if we still did swing.

I responded with: "yeh ... kinda"

and simultaneously the malemate responded with: "oh yeh! we do the west coast swing"

All i could think was Ohhhhhh shit! What is he getting us into?

The instructors asked if we would be willing to do a swing at the Chamber's mixer next month.
The malemate said, "Sure"

huh???

I think the Friday dance date is going to last a little longer than usual this week and the next and the next ...

eBay - I miss you skippy

I haven't sold on eBay for a couple years. I became disenchanted with all the rules and regulations regarding what can and cannot be sold on there and what wording can and cannot be used, etc. But, I had/have a few things that I cannot get rid of at a tag sale. So off to the turbolister I went.

All the descriptions, categories, shipping weights, photos were in place and I held my breath and hit the button that uploaded the whole lot about 9pm. The next morning I rush to 'my eBay' only to find that eBay had already killed one of my listings for unacceptable wording! And of course all 7 listings had the same wording for accepted payments. Apparently eBay finds the wording "instant CASH transfer" unacceptable, even if it refers to their beloved PayPal.

So, I decided fuckum - I'll remove everything that has to do with PayPal and take my chances that the items will still sell at prices I could live with.

They did all sell. And I am okay with the winning bids. There was only one little hitch and the woman felt it necessary to contact eBay AND PayPal. I can't believe that she actually thought I would risk my 100% pos feedback for a niggling $64 transaction -- and this woman says she's a doctor.
Yeh, I know, a PhD doesn't necessarily mean there is any common sense.

Now, if I could just find a buyer for the 40, framed and matted, with team and score plate, super bowl programs AND the helmets.
Maybe next month.

Does anyone remember skippy from eBay?
10 years ago, on the eBay support forum, skippy was the man.
But then, that was back in the day when eBay still cared about customer service.

My GOD! has it been that long? Damn, I am getting old.

jailhouse rot

I called Jim and asked him what was going on with Magg and he told me she was out and was staying with some friend's in CA until after the restitution hearing on the 11th. It dawned on me that I could actually call and talk to her now. I got the number from Jim and ringydinged her. It was so good to hear her voice. She sounded very shaken and it worries me. She said she never did get to see the evidence, but she heard something to the effect of all the voided receipts for the past 7 years. She told me about what caused voided receipts in the system she was required to use. I remembered about them after she said it ‑‑ the realtors that were non‑paying on their yearly association dues were carried for 3 months and then they were taken off the books by entering a voided receipt ‑‑ because that was the only way that system would let them get a 0 balance. It all makes sense now and what a shame that the e.Diane.smith and 12 people on the board of directors cannot even interpret their own records.

Unfortunately, her nightmare still is not over as she thinks she will have to do the balance of her time in jail because they will not accommodate her on doing work release in OK.

Jim is having a very terrible time with this news. I know they are both mentally shattered right now. I can only hope and pray that they will find the inner strength to wait it out ‑‑ for each other's sake.

mish mash of bits and pieces

I spent a few days at the OKie cousins this weekend. Lots of poker, cocktails, food, bowling and fun. But on Sunday we took a roadtrip to OKC to see some of the sites. The main site was the Oklahoma City National Memorial for the 168 that were killed when mcveigh and nichols blew up the Murrah building. It is fascinating art. The reflecting pool is amazing, so seamless. The symbolism and the architecture is impeccable, very well thought out.

I've been trying to find a decent .flv player that does the few things that I want it to do - mainly resize quickly and maintain somewhat of a play list. I came across this VLC player It seems to be pretty good for a freebie. The other one I checked out is Sothink flv player

Today Magg goes to court for the restitution hearing. I wonder if she will get to come home soon. She wrote that the bitch e.diane smith was present at the last court date. She said she really looked like shit. Did my heart good to hear this.

I started out on my morning walk around the hood and didn't notice the neighbor sitting on his stoop. He greeted me and I stopped to chat with him for a few minutes. Something caught my eye and I looked down. I said to the neighbor that there was a baby snake about 5 feet from me and that it was a coppery color. The neighbor made his way down to where I was and announced that it was a copperhead. YIKES!
The neighbor did the hero thing and that copperhead is no more. Sure hope the mom and/or brothers or sisters don't avenge the death. double YIKES!

I have been battling with trying to get my laptop to show on LCD tv. I bought the cable the walmart clerk told me I needed and I tweaked and adjusted and cussed and still the pc would not show on the tv. It consumed me - the fact that I could not make this work.
Today, I went to the local computer shop and the kid there sold me 2 cables to replace the one.
AND he even told me that if I could not get it to work, to bring the cables and my notebook down to his shop and he would get it working for me.
Now, that's the kind of service we all love ... and miss.
But, the kid sold me the right cables and all is working beautifully!

And dammit, wouldn't ya know, that pilates dvd plays perfectly on the tv now via the notebook.
I am left with no excuses.

who is the real racist

I read that jesse jackass jackson thinks Obama is "acting white", huh?

Obama probably has more class in his dingle berries than that piece of black trash jesse jackass jackson will ever hope to have.


thoughts from yours truly,

a conservative :)

all by myself ... temporarily

I got happy when I realized that I wouldn't be going bowling with the malemate this afternoon.
I got happy when I realized I would have the house to myself for a few hours to do whatever I wanted.
I got happy when I realized I could turn the tv off and just listen to silence.
Ahhh yes - silence.

And now, here I sit at this machine.

The OK cousins arrived on Saturday and it was pretty much a drunken, sleepless weekend. We had some other people come over on Saturday night and we played cards. It was a whopping $5 buy in. Yeh, heavy gamblers are we.

Sunday we did some road tripping and then around 9pm we went bowling til midnight.

Monday we did a float on the Elk. The weatherbug showed that it would be mostly sunny with a chance of rain. Well, fuck the weatherbug. It rained almost the entire time we were on the river.

The float was not so relaxing this time.
First, we had heavy rains almost every day the week before so, the river was very high ... and running very fast.
We are used to it being shallow, where the bottom is visible the entire float. I knew we would probably going to have some problems with as fast as it was running.

The malemate would make sure of it.

We get the canoes in the water and about 5 minutes into the float I see a huge uprooted tree in the middle of the river. The left side of it looks a little calmer than the right side. The OK cousins take the left -- cuz they are older, you know ... and wiser.

The malemate gets this 'gotta be in the lead' and aggressive attitude.
Off to the rougher right he steers us ... right into a large root that is about head height.
I grab the root to try to push us off and away from it.
The malemate leans to the right and I can feel the canoe is going to tip.
Sure enough. The canoe tips and dumps us out into the water and then flips completely over.
Life jackets? Nah, we don't need those bulky , ugly, dirty things.

The water is moving so fast and I know I have to grab the canoe, because I have no idea when we'll see it again if I don't.
I finally get a hold of it, then the malemate also gets a hold of it and we struggle our way to a little tiny area of shore.
We didn't have anything strapped down inside. At that point, I'm assuming that all is lost with no chance of retrieving because of the fast current.
We finally reach the tiny beach and attempt to get the canoe flipped over ... full of water
and
I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw that all 3 bags/coolers, 2 aluminum chairs and the oars were all still there.
We finally got it unloaded so we could dump out, what seemed like tons of water, and then reloaded and off we went to finish out the wet, rainy trip.
I'm glad that was the last Monday of the season to do a float. I don't think I have it in me to do it again this year.

On a lighter note -- when was the last time you saw a walking stick bug out in the open?
I had one visit me yesterday. It stayed above the front door all day long. Then, when I went to check it after the sun went down, it had moved on. It measured about 6" long from tip to tip and it looks like it was missing one of its legs. Curious looking critters aren't they?

paint me a rainbow

Today will be a good day. I hired a painter to come in to paint the peak ceiling in the living room. It's going to be the luscious color of ceiling white. Yeh, sounds boring, but since white is my favorite color, it will be a welcome change. I'm hoping that painting away the blue will paint away my blue attitude toward this house. Sometimes that is all it takes to spur me into decorating. I can only hope that is true this time -- and if not, at least it will brighten up the living room ... somewhat.

The 3 day weekend took me gambling two times. Both times I lost my ass. I figure I am down $300 now. Sure hate that. The good news, en route to gambling, I got me a new pair of bowling shoes -- and they are gaudy! Shiny white with purple stripes -- they will go perfect with my neon ball and socks.

The new work is interesting but the billing is a fucking nightmare and for that reason alone, I'm not sure I'll last after the 6 month commitment. I'm hoping I can move over to a single account rather than three accounts. The owner was on vacation this past week so I had very little work, which pissed me off. But, I am at her mercy. I really think there is something strange or maybe the word is 'shaky' going on with this new company. I can't put my finger on it, but I'm leaning towards perhaps she is going to be taken over by a national in the near future. I just hope it doesn't happen until after the first of the year, as then I will have the 2 years experience that many of the companies require.

I spent some of the time this weekend watching a few vlogs. Those are strange and most not so interesting, alot like these blogs. But then, it was something, non-productive, to do while I nursed my scotchies.

I have nothing funny, catchy, informative, or interesting so I'm outta here for now.

momma needs a new pair of shoes

The Argentine tango lessons are going quite well. We received 2 free lessons during the time the regular facility was having the floors refinished and now because of the membership, we will receive another 6 weeks free. These are 2 hour lessons, which is very unusual and very generous of the instructors.

I have found that this guy: Emiliano Delau on youtube really gives some good instruction.

Last week the male instructor's wife was not there, so I got to dance with him quite a bit. It was my first time doing a close embrace -- manOman talk about a connection moment! That alone has made it worth learning the dance. The female instructor had talked about that 'connection' a few weeks ago, but not having done it, it meant nothing to me. I get in now. Unbelievable the difference it can make in one's attitude towards the dance.

So now, I'm off to net shop for some real dance shoes because the malemate and I have a standing date to practice on Monday afternoons.

Perhaps he and I will get to that connection moment.
I can only hope.

I know I really should ...

I know I really should be writing a letter to Magg. I am sure she feels very alone out there in lala land in the jail. And, I have very good intentions of getting that done this weekend. The public record said that she got a year in jail, but her hubby tells me the public record is wrong ... huh??? So, I'll write her and get the real scoop -- is the public record wrong or is she just pacifying Jim? I guess he'll figure it out soon enough when September 27 rolls around and she does not get released.

I know I really should be making arrangements to see my folks. I think it will be two years since I was 'back home'. My tinydot of a hometown had a huge quasquicentennial (125 years) celebration last weekend. I know the malemate wanted to go to it. I could care less if I ever go back, and I certainly won't go back when there is a huge function going on. Because of that attitude/fear I missed out on seeing friends from 'ago'.

I know I really should be getting this house decorated so if/when the day comes to put it on the market, it will be completely presentable and most importantly, 'sale-able'. Today it is one year since I moved in here and I still have not grown any fonder of it.

I know I really should get myself dressed and do the daily walk around the 'hood. But, I've got a cuppajo to finish first.

Priorities, it's always about the priorities.

It has been sweltering here. The temps have been in the low to mid 100's for over a week now. The humidity is a close second in percentages.
I can see the clouds in the distance, but I know they are not coming this way.
I miss the rain.

heating up

The heat is on here in the Ozarks so the outdoor activities have pretty much stopped. However, this weekend the malemate and I will volunteer at the first Salvation Army Ride for Hunger.

I don't ride.
Sux being ascaredycat when it comes to motorcycles -- cuz the bikers do have the best costumes.

I will be at the terminating point selling raffle tickets.
Initial thought = B_O_R_I_N_G
and you would be right.
But, the second part of my assignment, is to find a man for the gal that orchestrated this function.
hmmmm not so boring.

Sadly, I won't be putting Harley steel between my legs, but I will gladly paint my toes with their orange.

A splurge for me cuz painted toes is something I do maybe once a year.

Yes, wench, I have those freakish long second toes. So, do ya wonder if those were my toes you took a pic of and shamed to the whole wide world? ;^)






another li'l splurge ... I bought myself a new hat for the occasion.
I'm ready.

new to the 'hood

I have new neighbors.
Can you guess what nationality they are?

That is not a stereotype -- simply an observation.

floating away

The new work is slow starting. Apparently, the fact that I only requested work for Tuesday through Friday has created a problem for them. I don't know how much of a problem, but I do know there were no files on the ftp when I got up this morning and it's now 4pm on Tuesday afternoon and there still are no files. I would like it to work out as I think it will be interesting work. It's med/legal stuff for worker's comp claims outta California. If you know anything about worker's comp in CA, and all the phony bullshit that people claim, it's clear to see, it should be pretty secure and abundant work -- once I get rolling.

In the meantime, as I wait it out the anger festers. I have found myself falling back into the head-banging anger modes again. Yeh, time to start up with the fucking meds again, I guess. So, hello meds, good bye scotch ... maybe.

The malemate and I did manage to get an 8 mile float in yesterday. It was perfect weather and I really enjoyed the time out there. The banks of the Elk are privately owned, so some of the houses are right up to the waterfront. I think I need to make friends with some of those people. I rather like the thought of happy hour whilst sitting on the riverfront deck.
Would you like an umbrella and a skewered lemon in that scotch & soda?
Yes, yes I think I would.

weekend with the okies

The malemate and I took a weekend off before I start the new work. We were invited to the annual Woody Guthrie Folk Festival in Okemah, OK. We arrived in OK on Thursday and headed to the festival on Friday. We made it as far as the Lou's Rocky Road Tavern, found a roost in the beer garden, and that was the only place I needed to be. It was "open mic" there and many artists played during the 7 hour stay. I had a great view of the stage and the waitress was ever prompt with the brew.

I wish I could remember the name of the band in the photo -- they were the most unique. I don't know if you can tell it in the photo, but the drum is a suitcase and his cymbal is a ceiling vent -- the other, as you can see, is a trash can. The singer sounded like Satchmo. veryVeryVERY entertaining.

Then there was a young gal name Amanda Joy. She played two sets. I could've listened to much more of her. She was oh-so yummy on the ears.

Arlo Guthrie did make an appearance at the tavern whilst I was there, but he didn't sing. I only know of "Alice's Restaurant" - and would've liked to hear that from him. But, it was not to be.

Many musicians passed before my eyes as I filled my person with the OK 3.2 beer. Yeh, what a pisser huh? That's one positive for the show-me-state of MO, at least they have high point beer. But, on the other hand, with the candy-ass alcohol content of OK beer, I was able to stay sober longer to savor the sounds of the artists.

I even got flirted on by a handsome-hardbodied-single-blue-eyed-cowboy ... named Kenny ...5 years my junior. Yeh, I felt fine that night.

wanna dance?

The malemate and I had our first Argentine tango lesson last night. I think we'll need a few more than 5 lessons to accomplish what the tango dancers on youtube can do.

wash it down with a brew

Caption for the photo: Globe//Gary Crow ... Flooding on Steve Owens Boulevard made it appear that Miami, Okla., was awash in beer Wednesday, July 4, 2007, rather than water from the Neosho River.

While some parts of the country are sweltering in the "dry" heat, this neck of the woods has been seeing torrential rains. The photo above, of one of those huge billboards, was 'borrowed' from a local paper. It was taken on July 4. It is an excellent infusion of humor after viewing the slide show of the devastation.

I've been submitting resumes, getting responses and doing testing. I'm really out of my comfort zone here. The testing is tricky since I've not had the schooling for MT, which not only includes terminology, but the general accepted formats for the various reports. I've been made one offer, but the pay is so low I'm thinking it might be more fun just to do the CastingWords thing of typing podcasts. It's a bitch out there and I've been a bitch in here.

The good news is, the neighbors left on vacation this morning and left me in charge of their garden. The tomatoes are starting to turn. Needless to say, there will be BLTS with real Ts by the end of next week.

And now it's time for alcohol.

bang zoom crack pow kaboom sparkle

Here it is the 4th of July already.

I do love fireworks displays. When I was growing up in Iowa, fireworks were not allowed. However, we lived about 2 miles from the South Dakota state line and just on the other side of the bridge, one of those fireworks stands always popped up around mid June. Needless to say, it was the hotspot for the youngins that time of year.

When I lived in the desert out in Southern California, we were outlawed from shooting off fireworks. Hence, you would never see a fireworks stand. The droughts were persistent and in the 10 years I lived there, I think there were only 2 years that the city I lived in put on a display in one of the local parks.

Well, now that I live in the show-me-state of misery, fireworks are prevalent. About mid June the temporary tent firework stands starting emerging all over. One day there would be nothing on that vacant lot and then overnight one of those tents would be there. They pop up like mushrooms around here and it seems they are on almost every street corner.

I took a stroll through one of the larger ones the other day. WoWoW!

It's one of those times of year that I wish I was filthy rich so I could go blow a few thousand on fireworks displays. But, I settled for just a few (since I'm still not working), and hope that the neighbors all have jobs and lotsa bux to blow on the displays ... for my pleasure, of course.

life just gets worse

Friday, at the very end of the day, I received an email that said the company was assigning the entire account to another 'team'. It stated that there had been too many unacceptable errors lately.
I don't know how many people type for this institution as I only have 9 docs and the other gal that I know, only types 5. The surgery center has about 100 surgeons. I looked back on my files - as all my stuff goes through a proofer. There were no corrections other than the doc neglecting to name which knee, or the procedure or the pre- or postop diag.
The message also said to call on Monday for more detail. Yeh, the chicken shit sent the message as he was walking out the door right before the weekend.
I was out of town Monday and couldn't call.
So today I called and left a message with the receptionist at about 8:00 am.
No callback by 4:00pm so I sent him an email and asked 'when would be a good time?'
No response as of yet.

Saturday the malemate and I grabbed a bite to eat at a new place. I took a pain pill right before we left, as my fucking back went out earlier in the day due to thinking about the work situation. We had beer with the sandwich.
I felt good.
On the way home we started to have a chat. He started to be hypocritical about someone -- and I lost it. I started bawling and asked him how he can judge someone else's actions based on his bullshit? I took it a little further and then further and then I finally told him how much I hated this life with him and how ashamed I am to be with him and that I have things in position now, such that ... should anything out of the ordinary happen to me, all his fucking shenanigans will be made known to anyone that gives a shit about him - including his kids.
I'm sick and tired of being thought of as the bitchywitch of the Midwest.

What a difference one year can make in a lifetime.
I don't remember the last time I hated myself this much.

the new yahtzee score to beat

My latest high score: 618
manOman does that fluster the malemate -- he hatesHatesHATES it when I beat him at anything.
yeh, it feels good -- it feels real good
although I guess it's obvious that I have nothing better to do than play with a stupid handheld game all day.

a note from the inside

I received a handwritten note from Mag the other day. She's still in jail out in CA. She never volunteered any information regarding her case. She only wrote of the conditions and how disappointed she is in the public defender. I was hoping for more.
I just don't want to be lied to by friends -- I get enough of that bullshit from the malemate. Perhaps when she gets out, she'll tell me the truth. I really would like to know where the money is though, because one of her concerns right now is ... how will she get back to OK after she is released. The airfare would only cost around $600 at the most, and she supposedly stole $350,000? and they don't have much in the way of material things and they are not gamblers ...

I've been keeping up with her doings by reading the court record online. She initially was charged with 3 counts of felony embezzlement. I guess some kind of deal was made and the judge dropped one count and she plead guilty to the remaining two. I would imagine that one count being dropped had to do with the 3 strikes law in CA -- a third strike felony is a given that the guilty will be incarcerated any where from 25 years to life. Her sentencing is scheduled for July 27.
It must feel like an eternity for her.

so much todo about nothing

manOman! the increased work has been great! Of course it's easy to say that when there is an ulterior motive. Now, if I could just get the ambition to get a bunch of 'junque' sold off. I dread doing eBay anymore, but it seems like the only reasonable place to move stuff and make a few bux.
I'll work on that.

About a month ago, we lost track of the TT, the granddaughter ... again
There was no trace of the mother. I was in a panic. What happened to her and her 4 kids?
TT's f_a_t_h_e_r (used loosely) is the malemate's son. Enuf said about that for now. I try to make sure that the granddaughter has and is acknowledged as I know she feels abandoned by the whole clan -- and why wouldn't she? Her mother, Delma, had 4 kids by 4 different dads before the age of 21. Sad, I know. But, I will give her this, I think she is an excellent mother to those kids. On the other hand, never having the guts to be a mother myself, what the hell would I know? :)
Finally, a couple days ago, and thanks to my friend's help in CA, she was able to locate one of the other grandparents and find out where she and the kids are. They are all safe and I now have contact information for Delma's sisters and some other information on her people in case this should ever happen again. Which, I have a an aching suspicion that it will.

I bought a new vacuum. A Dyson. I've been an electrolux person all my adult life, but dragging the tank around has simply become a pain in the ass -- not to mention storing it. So, an upright Dyson it is. I like it, and it's pr'E.

I've been reading a true story about a husband that poisons his wife with arsenic. A red flag went up on my brain after reading the symptoms that this woman suffered with chronic poisoning. Ya know, the doctors cannot seem to pinpoint what is wrong with Cap'n Max. He has been suffering for years now and does not get any better and they say his prostate cancer is and has been in remission. Yet, they have no idea what is causing his other problems.
My friend (and his wife) Shar is an absolute control freak and has to feel needed. She handles all intake to his body, which of course, is his food, liquids, medications, cigarettes, etc.
Oh, that is just ridiculous to think that she would do something like that. Isn't it?

I've been seeing the backcracker once a week. She is an interesting ,wacko kind of gal. She is into psychic stuff and homeopathy and acupuncture, and I could be wrong, but there is something else. Something like witchcraft perhaps??? I'll continue to see her. She has done wonders to my back problem. But then, I started smoking AGAIN, about the same time the back problem subsided. Personally, I think the back problem was a nicotine withdrawal symptom.

I need a different desk and I need a new project. I take pleasure in refinishing furniture and have done many pieces over the years. I was having a problem finding an old wood desk that was in good condition and a price range I was willing to pay and that had all the things I wanted. Finally, I posted the request to the local freecycle.com, and last night I got a response from a gal. She said she had one that will get thrown out if I don't come get it and the only problem is that it has one cracked drawer -- that could be easily repaired, she said. So, this morning I'll be taking a trip to check it out.

On an educating note, the OK! cousin has been looking for a part for a Chevy pickup that he is restoring. This has taken him to various 'car heavens'. He made an interesting observation: There are about 4 to 5 times more Fords in the car heavens than there are Chevys.
Draw your own conclusions.

And a little note to you textual voyeurs -- thank you so much for stopping by! I'm guilty of not responding to comments, but please know that I do read and enjoy them tremendously.
I have to ask a favor though. Please, if possible, don't link this site.
There are several people from my 'spaces' days that I simply cannot 'bloggingly' face after that idiotic and life changing act that the malemate did. Occasionally, I need a place to vent about him and the situation -- and what better place than a public forum --- incognito, of course! haha
yeah, right.

TIA :)