Happy birthday to me

Egad,  it's that time again, and I cannot believe how many birthday greetings I got, except for Andy of course.  But now that he knows the day, I'll expect more next year!

Seriously, we all hate birthdays due to the stigma of "getting older" but we really appreciate, deep down inside, people remembering us.  And who ever wants to decline any gifts that may come our way?

One of my gifts was a gift card to a local chain eatery.  There's another eatery we frequent that also sends us cards for birthdays and our wedding anniversary, so for a few weekends every year, meals are almost free!  I'm beginning to think  that these gift cards are the way to go for ANY occasion. 

Excuse me while I go quietly burp, Andy, but it's been a good Day 12!

Friday and it's all good

Friday is one of those days, where if you're able, you take a few hours off early to start your weekend.  This is much easier if you have a fat job, like Andy's, or you're unemployed, like me.  But that being said, it's also a good day to start cruising in your favorite ride.

If memory serves me, Andy has a '65 Sunbeam Tiger which makes him smile.  Great little sports cars in their time, just not around any more.  I'm blessed with a slightly older Corvette, which makes me smile.

This is the time of year when there are a lot of car shows also.  You have to give credit to those people who take the older automobiles, and restore them to their former glory.   Back then cars all looked different, and you could name each and every model.   Today they all seem to look alike.

If you do a little research, it's amazing how far ahead of their time, various automobile designers and engineers were.  I believe disc brakes and seat belts were designed in the 40s.  They weren't used because it was thought they gave cars an image of being dangerous.  Nowadays you wouldn't buy a car without either item.  And seat belts are becoming mandatory to wear!  It was always a good idea. 

So Andy, top down and only good thoughts on Day 11!

Hard to keep up

Andy, I don't know how you do it!

Of course I'm trying to find something to gripe about on a daily basis.  And life just isn't all bad, all the time.  Oh, the election advertising right now is annoying.  The price of gas has been critiqued for years now.  Being unemployed is certainly something to gripe about, but overall trying to find something to complain about on a daily basis is not that easy!

And Andy, you only have to do one commentary a week, and you probably get plenty of help with some of the research, writing and editing.  I'm on my own.  So Andrew, gonna give me some ideas, on Day 10?

Size matters...

I weigh about 5 pounds more now than I did in high school.  Yet I wear two dress sizes less than in high school.  I used to be a 12-14, and now I'm a solid 10.   Since as you get older, your weight seems to shift south, you would think that the size should go up, wouldn't you?

So how and when did this happen?

I can remember when there was a 5-7-9 Shop in Chicago.  Nowadays those sizes are almost considered "big."  There are now dress shops that supposedly handle dresses that are size "0".  How can that be? 
 We wonder why girls are obsessed with their size, and that girls who used to be "normal" are now almost considered to be "plus-size."    Marilyn Monroe supposedly wore a size 12.  What size would she wear today?  Did anyone think then that she was "fat?"

 If the trend keeps up, will we have dress sizes in negative numbers?   Obviously a ploy of the fashion world.   It's all smoke and mirrors.

Okay Andy, how do you measure up, on this Day 9?

R.I.P. Daniel Schorr

Dan Schorr, a newscaster for longer than I've been alive, died recently.  He only rated a small blurb on the Internet, and a small space in the local paper.  I must admit, I've not looked to see how much magazine space his death commanded. 

He was on NPR (National Public Radio) until a few weeks ago.  He was not a newsman who retired years ago, and few of us remember him.  He was active until nearly the end.  I had recently wondered if I had missed his commentary on the radio, because I listen at different times during the day, only to hear he was hospitalized, and in fact passed away.

The reason this chaps me is because there was more space, on the Internet, devoted to Paris Hilton in a bathing suit.  Who cares???  What has she contributed to society in a positive way?  How has she enlightened us as to the ways of the world, except in a tawdry way.

Andy, what do you think about this, on Day 8? 

WikiLeaks...

When I first heard about this, I was mad because I hate these hackers who are just out to cause havoc in someone's life, by getting their personal information and trying to profit by it.  Then I heard it was about the war in Afghanistan, etc.

Being from the Viet Nam era (I had friends who died there) any war news affects me deeply.  I have no one in this war, but I feel others' pain for lost loved ones.    The fact that we were mislead all during Viet Nam (although many of us doubted what we were hearing) is happening again. 

I was not against getting the people responsible for 911, but I was very much against the war in Iraq, and the fact that we forgot all about Afghanistan until, it seems, just last year.   All the money spent (and still being spent), the lives lost, and now the lies.  And we want the world to love us???

Andy, this has been a very disheartening Day 7!

ADHD ruined my marriage...

On the internet where everything is true, factual and up-to-date, there was an article that said many adults have ADHD and that's the reason their marriages fail.  So, nowadays, who DOESN'T have ADHD?  Take that to be a sarcastic remark.

 I know there are some out there who are truly impaired by this disorder.  I'm not a doctor, but I don't think that every time someone cannot concentrate, hold a job or keep a relationship, they're ADHD.   It's becoming an excuse, which in my opinion, is controlled by too many drugs, and not enough discipline.  But let me get back to marriage and ADHD.

Puh-leez...maybe it's not working out because you got married too young, or you had an unwanted pregnancy on the way, or you've got too much debt and too little money, etc, etc, etc.   So you're not listening to your spouse  and finally the word divorce comes up, and you weren't paying attention to the warning signs, so it must be ADHD!!!

I'm not a marriage counselor so I'm not going to try to critique your marriage and tell you how to improve upon it.    But before you claim ADHA and get put on meds, try a more conventional approach to try to analyze what really went wrong!

And this is the end of Day 6!  

Faceless on Facebook...

I'm not sure I understand the concept of Facebook either. As the advertising says, it's a social networking site.  So I signed on and got an account.  I think I'm up to 8 friends.  I guess I'm still "faceless" as I read about people who have hundreds of Facebook friends.   Really?  Are you going to invite all them, and their friends to your wedding?  Are they real? 

Then there are the other sites which link to Facebook.  Farmville being one.  This is an interesting, albeit confusing for me, game on how to manage your farm, add animals, grow crops, build buildings, etc.   But what does this have to do with keeping in touch with friends?  I should say you can invite your friends to play.  And at certain levels there is an incentive by the game company to get you to pay money for certain opportunities.   Hmmm...

As for keeping in touch, I don't think I need to go to the computer to find out someone as just gone to work, or is thinking of reading a book, or taking a nap.  I could call them and they could tell me that.  But by putting it out there for all to see, you also invite people into your house who you don't want to be there.  I understand some people have included their addresses in their profiles, which encourages unscrupulous people to go by and rob them when they're obviousy not at home, because they put it on the web for the world to see!  Another hmmm...

I know I posted this a day late, but I started it on Day 5!

I don't text and I don't tweet

Nope, not at all.   I just don't feel the need to get all the latest updates at the very moment they happen.  I can turn the radio on in the car, turn the TV on at home, or turn my computer on to the internet.  Each and any of these tell me what I need to know.

 In a restaurant recently, I saw a young family with grandparents in attendance and, the father seemed to be preoccupied with his cell phone.  Especially when his wife took the kids to the bathroom.   I was wondering what the relationship was between him and his father-in-law.  It would annoy me to be seated at a table with someone who chose to ignore me for updates on their phone.

Let me clarify this by saying this was a Sunday afternoon, not a business day for most.  So what was he getting?  The latest sports scores?   There were TVs in this particular restaurant so he could have read the runner at the botton of the screen for most sporting event updates.

Now businesses are getting in on texting and tweeting to let you know about their latest "deals."  I don't really need to know if Kohl's has a great buy right now!  I shop when I need something, not just to spend money.  And there are so many sales out there, usually I can find a good deal, without prompting. 

So what do YOU think about this, Andy, on Day 4!

Still nothing...

...happened today.

I got a call from a prospective employer, or rather got two phone messages from a prospective employer.  That makes a grand total of 3 call backs since I became unemployed over 3 months ago, amid applications too numerous to keep count.  I had two interviews, but nothing came of them, unfortunately.  The third potential interview, today, I still have yet to talk to a human.

Also did not hear from Andy Rooney or CBS, as to when they want me to take over!  So again, nothing happened on Day 3!

Nothing new to report...

Oh wait...there were those annoying political ads that stretch the truth, or manipulate sound bites to make the opponent seem like the devil incarnate, and the candidate like the new Messiah.  Thank heavens the primaries are only a bit over two weeks away.  But then the real campaigning takes place.  When do they ever really WORK in government.  Seems all their waking moments are spent bashing the other party and working towards the next election whether it be a month, a year, or 4 years away. 

Whoops...looks like a diatribe, and I thought I had nothing going into Day 2!

Move over you curmudgeon!

You don't have the corner on the curmudgeon market, but you're the most well-known.  Some day you'll give up your post at CBS' 60 Minutes, and I'm here to take over.  In fact I'm available immediately since I'm currently unemployed.  I know in the past some of the female replacements on news programs have been blonde (think Leslie Stahl, Diane Sawyer).  I've got that covered.  I was born blonde, and have kept it up through the years.  Like you, I've never had plastic surgery (or at least I don't think you have) and no botox; however, I'm not opposed to either. 

They say when you lose a job, sometimes you have to reinvent yourself, to get ahead.  I'm ready.   Let's call this Day 1!