Monday, December 24, 2012

I wonder about Sandy Hook too...

Unfortunately just a few days before Christmas we had that awful school shooting known simply as Sandy Hook.  Too many children, and adults dead from a single gunman, who then took his own life, and we'll never know the motivation, although a few family friends have speculated.

The carnage was caused by an assault rifle, a legal assault rifle.  That is to say the owner of said gun purchased it legally.  But it wasn't the shooter.  It was his mother who bought the gun.  Which brings the first question.  Why did a mother, who admitted her son had mental health issues, buy an assault rifle?  Second question... why was it not put in such a secure place that he could not get his hands on it?  Same question for the other guns she had in her possession.

I'm not anti-gun, but I am anti-assault rifle.   I know the constitution gives us the right to "bear arms" but I believe the founding fathers meant to take up arms against those who would depose us from our homeland.  We use arms to protect our homes; to hunt; in war.  But only in war would an assault rifle be advised.   Are we now at war with future generations?

Therefore, a third question...why are we allowing the sale of assault rifles?  In my mind, they're hardly "sporting" rifles.  Hardly gives the game a "fair" chance.

As for Wayne LaPierre, from the NRA, saying that authorities had "blood on their hands" by not taking better care to secure schools, my blood boils at the assumption.  Does anybody really give him credence, with such amazingly thoughtless, heartless statements?

Too many questions, not enough answers on Day 227!

Monday, December 3, 2012

Goodby books!

Not so fast!  Oh sure, the new electronic readers are all interesting and handy, but I'm not sure they're going to take the place of a book, with real pages that you turn, any time soon.  Here's my argument.

If you go on a vacation, you can carry your little reader because it's easier to carry than a tote bag of books.   You can read in the dark and not bother to turn the light on and annoy others who prefer the dark (think bedtime, car drive, etc.)  You can look "up-to-date with modern technology!"

Unlike a book, the electronic instrument has to be recharged from time to time. The book you can set down, with just a bookmark in it.    Unlike a book, if you lose your place, you have to manipulate it a bit more to find where you left off.  You can trade your books on your reader with others, but if they don't have a device, then you can't give them a copy of that favorite book, unless you buy it in hard form.  If you take your books out in the environment, if they get wet, or otherwise damaged, you can get another.  If the reader gets wet, well, replacement cost would be quite a bit more, plus you've lost all the "books" and information you have stored on it.  With a book, you just lose the one item.

Lets face it, books have been around for hundreds, perhaps thousands of years.  Before that we had stone tablets we wrote on.  Some of those are still around, although not practical.  But we still have the Rosetta stone. We'd like to find the 10 Commandments and they were presumably stone.   Just watch Antiques Road Show to see how much an autographed copy of an old tome, or even a newer publication, can sell for.    You're not gonna get that out of your reader.

The computer has made our lives easier, there's no question about that.  But if we didn't make "hard copies" of much of what we read or write, and someone erased those important papers from the computers, then how would we confirm what we did?   If the Declaration of Independence were on a computer, and that computer was erased, we'd never know exactly what was said. We'd be guessing.These readers are just another, less involved form, of that computer.  And if you've got a really important "book" on one, then there's probably a "hard copy" somewhere.

You can still find me, braving the crowds, at Barnes & Noble, on Day 226!
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Friday, November 30, 2012

Men behaving badly...again...

I admit I wasn't up in arms when Bill Clinton committed his faux pas with Monica.   Although my best Republican friend was.  But he wasn't up in arms when Valerie Plame was outed by Vice President Cheney (okay, he wasn't blamed, but he's extremely suspect.)   Although Cheney's goof was not sexual in nature, it still bugs me, but that's another story.    But this latest goof by a man, namely General Petraeus, has me astonished, and scratching my head.

I would have thought, after all the indiscretions that have become public knowledge, and with the  media hype that goes along with it, someone in Petraeus' position would know better.  Especially when he's head of national security for the biggest country in the world!  Guess all that power went to the wrong head!

Then I have to question his sanity when the object of his affections is so immature  as to get angry with another woman, [NOT his wife, yes I said wife,] who she assumed to be vying for his affections also.  Can you get any more teenager than that?   And what about his wife!  Was she just a simple annoyance?

I'm not that fond of social media shouting everything and anything at all times of the day.  Information overload most of the time.  Like the tabloids, only quicker, and probably just as suspect in their assumptions.  But when they're right, everyone knows about it, all over the world, in the blink of a second, or at the speed of sound?  Light?  Whatever the satellites use.    What is that saying...the powerful fall harder, faster?  In this day and age, you're NOT "too big to fail," unless you're a bank.

Waiting for the next shoe to drop...on Day 225!



 

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

It's over!

Yesterday was the presidential election, and the Republicans are licking their wounds.  To tell you the truth, I almost thought they'd pull it off, and get Romney elected.  I was so disgusted with the whole political brouhaha, I couldn't even write about anything else, so I decided not to write at all!

Four years ago I (wrongly) predicted that Obama would not be reelected, or if he was, it would be extremely tight, because you cannot turn around an economy as bad as our was, in four years, when it took far longer than that to get so screwed up.  That and the fact that he's "black" was surely a total recipe for a one-term presidency.  I figured the Republicans would get in, and as the economy got better (because I thought it might take 6-8 years) they'd get all the credit, even though the recovery had started under Obama. 

I heard one political pundit say today that the Republicans have been working for four straight years to get Obama out of the house.  I too have thought that from Day One of Barack's presidency, politics was mentioned on an almost daily basis, as to how bad Barack was going to be.  Personally I think that the Republicans, although they would never admit it, were totally pissed that a black man got in office!

If the Republicans want to get back in, I think they need to start working with the Democrats, and not waste the next 4 years by attempting to stop all Obama's policies.  Sure, he'll make mistakes, and if they're egregious enough, then the GOP can take a firm stand.  BUT, if they work with him, AND get a more viable, charismatic candidate that the middle class can relate to, then they'll have a much better chance.   They can say "we worked with him, and we tried", but we have our own ideas.  Rather than coming out saying "he's wrong, always has been wrong, always will be wrong, and we're the ONLY way to go." 

I'm just glad it's quiet again, on Day 223!

Monday, September 17, 2012

45, 78, 33-1/3

Mean anything to you?  Might not if you're under 25 years old, and not too worldly!  Or your parents got rid of all those numbers before you were old enough to appreciate them!

They're the sizes or speeds that phonograph records were known by, when you were purchasing them.  The 45 record usually only had one song per side.  The 78 was an older record, with several songs per side, but a slow playing speed.  The 33-1/3 was the biggest, fastest record going, with multiple songs per side, again.

A record is a plastic disc that goes around on a turntable, with a needle "reading" the grooves on the record, and transforming this to something we can hear and understand. 

I describe all this because I was talking to a friend of mine, who found some of her parents' old records, and her teenage (at the time) son had no idea what they were.  He is of the CD and DVD generation.  And even some of that technology is going by the wayside.

Our worldly possessions seem to be going out of style so fast, they're becoming "antiques" way before their time.  An antique was once defined as any article over 100 years old.  Now things seem to becoming antique within a decade.   They may not be old, but they're obsolete and more of a curiosity that a useful item.  Would you, could you, say the same thing about a human who turned 100?

Watching and wondering what's next, on Day 222!

Sunday, September 16, 2012

Who is God?

Years and years ago I heard a very wise Catholic priest say that God is whomever you want to call him...Jesus, Muhammad, Buddha, Yahweh, etc, etc.  They are all one in the same person.  Rather controversial for a priest to say, wouldn't you think?  He was a very forward thinking priest, in my opinion.

I'd like to think that years and years ago, when there were far, far fewer people on the earth, that there was a charismatic, peaceful man who went around and tried to get his fellow man to be kind to one another.  He made friends wherever he went, but much to the dismay of the rulers at that time, he was probably more popular than them, even though he didn't ask for notoriety.  He had to be made an example, and therefore he was killed/crucified by the ruling party. 

Of course he had some very ardent followers who kept his dreams alive, and spread his good will.  Through the years his good will, and good works, became, like all stories and rumors, embellished.  He was raising people from the dead.  He was turning water into wine.  And what he preached, was reinterpreted to make the people of any particular region feel that he was speaking to them only.  This may be where the separation of religions came about.

Religion, itself, is supposed to be a good thing.  But now we have people saying their religion is better than someone else's religion.  We are presently condemning Muslims, but think back to the Crusades.  The Christians, at the time, were a rather bloodthirsty bunch!   And there are probably plenty of other examples, on all continents, where religion is used as the reason to  get rid of someone you consider your enemy.  This is not what "God" wanted, when he walked the earth thousands of years ago.  This is not what any peaceful, free person would want.

But today we were interpreting, and reinterpreting the bible, or other holy books, to serve our purposes.  It's a story book that has been told, and retold, with embellishments along the way, to fit the mood of the time.  Too many people read passages that seem to fit their agenda, and if not, they find a different interpretation that will.  They want their "God" to say what they want to hear/read.

I'm just trying to understand it all, on Day 221!







 

Thursday, September 13, 2012

So what is it with gas prices?

I think I may have had a mental breakthrough on this issue, for me anyway.

This is an election year, and if you didn't know that, you're living under a rock!  And you walk everywhere you go, or use non-motorized transportation.  And that's probably a good thing; the eco-friendly transportation, not living under that rock!

But look at it this way...the president of the moment, is somewhat of an environmentalist.  He wants to explore more efficient means of producing and conserving energy.  Heavens, he wants to have cars to get up to 54 miles per gallon!  And he wants to explore alternative forms of energy, such as wind!  And this all means the oil companies won't sell as much oil!  And their astronomical profits and big salaries and bonuses may diminish, although I doubt they'd disappear entirely.  Other countries (think China) are still increasing their own consumption, and for big oil, that's a definite plus.

So they raise the price of gas at the pump, and everyone wants to blame the president, as if he has anything to do with it, except for his dream of more energy independence.   And they'd probably like to get the "other guy" voted in, who might, just might allow drilling of oil, indiscriminately, in pristine, natural, wild areas of the globe.  Drilling in itself is not a bad thing; the waste left behind (think spills, disturbed ground, displaced and disturbed people and wildlife should be considered.) 

And then there's a pipeline that some want to be built, which would go from Canada to the Gulf, and not a drop of oil in that pipeline, for the U.S.  Oh yeah...that makes all the sense in the world...if you're an oil magnate.

I'm still driving, albeit less, and looking for positive alternatives, including political candidates, on Day 220!



 

Wasting a month, for good reason...

Just as I was putting pen to paper, and making notes, while driving around on my "real job", I was struck down with an aneurysm.  Fortunately I got the best of care at the hospital I went to, on an emergencuy basis, and I came through surgery with no ill effects, or after effects.  But it did take the entire month on August, plus a couple weeks in September, to get the doctor's release, so I can go back to my job.

I did find myself reading a lot of books, as there was nothing worth while on TV, for the most part.  We can listen to the candidates on either side, and not just the presidential candidates, nitpick on what each other thinks, decides, stands for etc, etc, etc. but after a while, who cares?

A few observations on the whole "adventure."  When I went to the emergency room, it was full of people who really didn't look that sick except for the gal who was in labor.  I heard people complaining that they had been there "X" amount of hours, and were going home if they didn't get service.  Now, if they're really sick, why would they even think of leaving the emergency room?   And if not that sick, why did they choose the emergency room in the first place?

I did have the co-pay with me ($100.)  I wondered how many people just said something like "bill me"?  I'm sure if they paid their $100, they wouldn't be contemplating going home for "lack of service." 

While I was in one of the examine rooms, there was another woman in a room yelling that she wanted a cigarette.  She was told she couldn't have one, and she started throwing things.  Security was called on her.

I have received a couple bills, which say on them "this is not a bill" as the insurance companies have to hash out who is going to pay what.  The stay was definitely not cheap.  But in retrospect of what the doctors, nurses, and other staff personnel go through, they probably earn every dime they make. 

They see you at your worst, and try to help you any way they can, often with little respect.  If you doubt this, jut go sit in an emergency room and watch the action...might be better than people-watching at the mall!

Just glad to be alive on Day 219!

 

Monday, July 2, 2012

It's easier to ask forgiveness...

...than to ask permission.  Or so said a friend, recently.

Perhaps that what Glaxo-Smith-Kline was thinking when they sold drugs that were not totally approved for the total audience they were targeting.  One such drug was Paxil, an anti-depressant.  Supposedly when children of a certain age, or younger, take this drug, they can become suicidal.  Now isn't that what anti-depressants are supposed to stop?  I don't really understand the reasons for all these anti-depressants, anyway.  The second drug was Wellbutin.  I have no idea what this is good for, but according to GSK, everything from weight loss to better sex.  Uh huh...

The company, or some of its minions even bribed doctors with such perks as European pheasant hunts, and Madonna concert tickets, to push the drugs on their patients.  The first would be interesting, the second, I'd have to sell on eBay; personally don't like Madonna. 

So...those two drugs must have made them a tidy profit because they were just handed a fine, from the FDA, for between 1 and 3 billion dollars.  Yikes!  Now, that's some kind of forgiveness!  Although I do wonder how many people, especially the underage Paxil users, who may have been hurt by the drug.  There's no amount of money that could justify that!

As for me, I'll stick to aspirin...Day 218!

Saturday, June 30, 2012

Coward's way out

Sad but true, two former Wall Street traders took their lives recently, in separate incidences, since they were under water on their mortgages, and facing financial ruin.  At least to them, it was financial ruin.

The first guy found another job, after he lost his first, but he was only making $125,000 or so a year.  Well, I can tell you, from a double income family that does NOT even bring in $100,000, you CAN live on less!  But why wait until everything seems hopeless.  Why didn't you give the house back to the bank, find a nice apartment to rent, tell your kids the truth as to why you're downsizing, and LIVE for them?  Nope.  Too much ego?  Too macho?  Too humiliating?  Hey, there are a lot of us out here who would have envied your $125,000 salary, and would have thought you did the right thing by your family.  Rather than taking the coward's way out and leaving them in a potential lurch.

The second guy, more recently, torched his house because he couldn't pay the mortgage.  Which was in the range of $17,000 a MONTH!  That's more than a lot of people LIVE on per YEAR!  But although he was a Wall Street broker, he wasn't very bright in the ways of the world, and got caught as the arsonist.  So after his trial, which he was found guilty, he decided to take the coward's way out.  Again leaving his family in a lurch! 

Obviously, both these individuals loved money more than their families, and if they couldn't have it all, then they didn't want to live.   A very sad legacy to leave their children.

Living poor by some standards, and enjoying life...on Day 217!

No good deed goes unpunished...

This line was in an e-mail sent to me by someone who did not think along the same lines as I did, concerning conservation, and tearing down a house.

I simply said that the people who bought a house on the property adjoining theirs, for over $4 million dollars, only to raze the house so they could have a "better view" perhaps should have considered the house could have been salvaged by people who wanted the wood, windows, etc, for architectural purposes.  I don't care that they wanted to tear it down, after all it's their money.  I just though that rather than go into a landfill, the pieces could have been conserved, for other more useful purposes.

It would have taken a bit longer than a bulldozer, but so what! 

The writer of the note said in not so many words that he/she never got any satisfaction from good deeds, and so did not do anything along those lines.  That most people really don't give a crap.  I tend to disagree.  I thought he/she was being very cynical.

I'm not rolling in dough, but I do make contributions if I think it's for a good cause.  I also hold the door open for people who need an extra hand.  I let people cut in line in front of me, or if I'm in my car, provided they're using their turn signals!  Even a smile can lift some spirits.  I don't expect to get a "hurray" every time.  If I think the benefactor is obviously ungrateful, then I just don't help that person again.   But most people are grateful, even if they are not effusive about it.  It just makes me feel good. 

Keeping up a positive attitude on Day 216!





Thursday, June 21, 2012

For love or money?

Ho hum, Rielle Hunter has penned a tell-all book about her tawdry affair with the one-time presidential candidate, John  Edwards.  If you've been sleeping under a rock, you may not know that he was married at the time, to a woman with terminal cancer.  Of course he was one of those "born again Christians" (before the affair, in fact!), and now he's oh so remorseful.  All the more disgusting turn of events. 

This affair even produced a child.   Of course Rielle, who seemed to be smarter than she looks, did not practice safe sex, and obviously John didn't either.   Being a woman, she should have known her cycle better than she did, or if she was practicing the Catholic standby of rhythm, she should know its effective only 50% of the time.  In essence, it's a crap shoot. 

So, I'm wondering, does Rielle not get enough child support from John, that she expects to reap a fortune with her book?  I can tell you unequivocally that I will not be reading it, even if the library has it in stock, where reading it would be free to me.

Saving my money for more important things on Day 215!

Sunday, May 20, 2012

Buy patterned socks!

That's my new mantra!

I'm doing the laundry, and as usual, I'm coming up with a couple odd pair of socks.  You know, the kind that don't match, so the mate must have been turned into lint in the dryer screen.  I mean, what other explanation is there?

Earlier, as I took the socks out of the dryer, of course I had to pair them up, and, although this may be rote to some people, I finally  noticed how easy it was to pair up socks when they had a pattern.  No all- black, or all-navy, or all-brown again!  Give me a bit of color, or a small, unassuming pattern, and I'm all set.  Should make the missing sock easier to spot also, in case it got caught in the static electricity of a shirt that also went through the same spin cycle.

If you want to go overboard, you could buy colored socks, such as yellow, red, green, but then just one of each, otherwise you're still in the dilemma of matching up the correct reds, yellows, or greens.  But patterns are individual.

My money's now going towards patterned socks on Day 214!

I'm not a hoarder...

...but I could be, I think.

I hate to throw some things away.  A favorite shirt, a favorite pair of shoes, even some older underwear, even when they're in somewhat tattered condition.  I guess I think maybe they'll "repair themselves" when they're stuck away in the closet or a drawer.  Maybe I think i can get just one more wear out of them before they definitely have to go. 

I find myself keeping old newspaper clippings thinking that I may write an article to combat what I've read.  I cut coupons for a while, thinking that I'd use them, but I always left them at home when I went shopping.   I bought hard back books thinking that they were a better value than a paperback, or a trip to the library.  Mind you, I still buy an occasional hard back book, but then I donate it to the library so others might have a chance to read it, in case the library didn't see fit or ahve the money to buy it themselves.

I try to purge myself of some of these things on a yearly basis, when some piles just seem to get too high.  But it's two steps forward, and one step back.  It always seems  that as soon as you throw out a favorite "thing", that "thing" is needed in some way, shape or form, and you end up buying another, and swearing you'll never throw it away again!

I don't hoard old newspaper.  I don't hoard food; that I eat! Enough said there!  I can walk comfortably from room to room.  I don't have to "find" a place on the bed to sit, or sleep.  I'm not that addicted.  I cannot understand how that can happen, but I can understand some clutter.  Or at very least, I make allowances for those who keep things a bit past their prime, as long as it won't smell bad.

I could see my desk last week, but not so much today, so I guess that's my next area of concern.  Here's to yet another trip to the trash can, on Day 213!

Thursday, May 17, 2012

Whatever happened to permanent press???

When permanent press was invented, I thought the age of the iron and ironing board was close at hand.  Finally, you could wash and wear your clothes, and never worry about slaving over a hot iron, trying to keep them from get "re-wrinkled" while repositioning them to make sure you got all the little corners of your collars, and cuffs.

Oh sure, if you didn't get the clothes out of the dryer on time, you might have to iron out wrinkles.  That being said, I did have a "boss" who put his clothes on directly from the dryer, but not right after they were dried; more like a week later.  I'd like to think that was the story, rather than he just dumped everything on his floor, and took whatever was needed to wear.  He was way beyond wrinkled.  He was absolutely disheveled.  But I digress.

Today's fashions seem to have spandex included in all of them.  So my pants, and blouses have a bit of stretch.  While I like this particular factor, when they come out of the dryer (on time) they still do not have that "finished" look.  They aren't wrinkled, in the old fashion sense, but they're not smooth or crisp either.    So tonight I took to ironing all the things I've not worn, as I thought they needed to look better, fresher.  Perhaps no one would notice any way if I wore them directly from the dryer, but it makes me feel better knowing I'm not "wrinkled." 

I used to iron a lot more things in my youth...sheets, pillowcases,  blouses, shirts, skirts, pants, never underwear.  I even made money ironing men's shirts, as that was almost a special skill.  Or maybe it was because it was such an awful chore, it was worth it for people to pay me to iron those shirts.  The bottom line of all this, is that I believe I even need a new iron!  After all, I did get mine almost 35 years ago. 

You may find me appliance shopping, on Day 212!

Sunday, May 6, 2012

"the most radical, leftist president in American history."




Gees...let's not mince words, Newt!  After all, you are the paragon of all things good, correct, and fair, aren't you?

The man never fails to amaze by his virtiolic words concerning people who seemingly stand in his way!  Now that he's officially out of the presidential race, he'll probably take back some of those things he said about Romney, because he needs some of Romney's money to pay for the costs of his failed run for the roses.

He did say this evening he is totally not interested in being a VP candidate.  Hmmph...and why not?  You'd be a cinch to run Romney's candidacy into the ground!  You'd have about as much negative influence, with voters with a brain,  as Sarah Palin did when she was teamed up with poor John McCain.    Cute does not win elections and you ain't cute!

There has got to be someting more interesting to read and write about than the presidential election, but not as of Day 211!


Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Women

I find myself unable to come up with a catchy title to this post.  All I want to do is write about women, and complain about the way we're treated by others at times.  By others, I mean men!

In some countries women can't even go to school.  In some countries they're held accountable if they get raped, not the man.   In some countries abuse is tolerated and perhaps even condoned, to keep the woman "in her place." 

I have news for you fellows who think all the above is acceptable.  You seem to forget that if there were no women in the world, there would be no men either!   You would have no sons were it not for a woman.  You would not even exist were it not for a woman!

Keep us down, if that's your intent, but when we're all gone, you'll be alone with a bunch of other guys who cannot, will not, increase your ranks!    All the testosterone in the world will not make you a baby!

I'm not speaking for myself.  I'm speaking for all the other women, worldwide. We are necessary and needed, and not just for making babies.    Someday we will be appreciated for all we can do! 

Glad I'm not one of the wrongly oppressed, on Day 210!

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Boys will be boys...

Right???

WRONG, especially when it involves the Secret Service among others. 

There has been plenty of news, other than election brouhaha, about men behaving as boys, and behaving badly.  Coach Petrino from Arkansas lost his job because he was running around with a woman who was NOT his wife.  John Edwards is going on trial because he may have used money, earmarked for his presidential bid, to set up his mistress and baby, out of wedlock, while he wife was dying of cancer. 

Although these guys may be called "pigs" by many women, they did not put national seurity at risk, or not that we know of.

The Secret Service though, could have done just that.  A team of them, along with other military personnel, while on assignment in a foreign country to do preparatory work for Obama's upcoming visit, decided to get a group of prostitutes and have a party.  The story goes that one of the girls did not get paid, or paid enough, so she squealed, and they were all exposed for their bad behavior.

I was listening to a talk show out of Oklahoma,  (narrator, guests and call letters unknown) and the narrator was concerned about potential national security leaks.  I thought that was a viable question.  One guest agreed; the other said that there are so many people involved in a presidential visit, that the possibility of a snafu is almost nil. This particular guest also said that the secret service are a testosterone-laden group, and basically boys will be boys.  Then a caller said while he was in the service overseas, it was common practice to visit brothels.  He went on to say that as long as you "didn't bring home a disease or a child" the wives didn't mind.  Oh yeah???!!!

Made me want to say "As long as we girls are at home, and our estrogen might be raging, should be just go out and 'shop' or can we find some guys and get laid also???!!"  As long as we don't bring home any diseases, or have an unplanned/unwanted pregnancy?

But regardless, these "men" were picked because they were (I assume) to be above reproach, and honest to a fault.  But if they let their testosterone take over their better judgement, what's to say they won't slip and talk about anything and everything, just for a "better experience?"

Thinking out loud with the head on my shoulders, on Day 209!

Friday, March 2, 2012

Did I really read that?

Did Rush Limbaugh really say that a college student, a law student at that, was akin to a slut or a whore because she was in favor of insurance-covered contraception?   I cannot even fathom that absolutely everyone who has a mother, sister, daughter is not up in arms over such a crude slur from this moron! 

After reading comments on the Huffington Post, I also cannot fathom that there are so many people who share his views.  I suppose the really well-informed aren't bothering to give Rush any credibility by replying to his idiocy and vulgarity.

I'm actually speechless about this poor excuse of a human being on Day 208!


Thursday, February 16, 2012

When cheap was cheap...

Anyone of a certain age, who grew up in Chicago, remembers a furniture store called Polk Brothers.  For about $599.99, you could buy a complete living room set, including couch, (which was usually a 2-piece deal known as a "sectional"),  easy chair, end tables, coffee table, lamps, maybe even a rug.   They were rather ugly, but it was an instant room full of furniture.  A gold plaid and/or hideous floral comes to mind when I try to visuallize the old ads.

Now fast forward 50 years or so, and you can get almost the same deal, at some of the "discount" furniture stores that have popped up. 

My question is "How good can this furniture be, if it's the same cost 50 years later?"    Think about it...take inflation into account...was Polk Brothers rather expensive, or is this "new" stuff made out of balsa wood, and paper mache?

I'll just stick with my old furniture, that did not from Polk Brothers, on Day 207!

Friday, February 10, 2012

Downsizing...

...seems to be hitting everything.  A few years ago I believe Andy touched on the fact that candy bars were getting smaller, but the price stayed the same or increased.  But then, do we really need oversize candy bars, since so many of us seem to be "oversized" from eating all that "extra" candy??!!!

It's also hitting other foods in our lives.  Half-gallons of ice cream are now 1 and 3/4 quarts (1.75 qts.)  Orange juice is no longer a half-gallon either, but is being reduced from 64 ounces to 59 ounces, although the cost appears to be stable, for the time being. 

What I did see that really through me for a loop was what was boxed up as "ultra thin diapers."  Now folks, I don't have children, but I've seen and been around them, and I cannot understand why someone would want a thin diaper on a pooping/peeing machine!  I would think that the average parent would prefer something as large and absorbent as a bolster pillow for catching the "mess" as opposed to an ink blotter!

Standing waaaaaaay back, and shaking my head on Day 206!

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Your vote DOESN'T count!

Really!  And all these years we've been told that it's our "duty" to vote.  Of course I'm talking "primaries" in this case.  But if THEY don't count, why should we be expected to vote when the "real" election comes about?

Okay, let me explain all this angst.

Yesterday, February 7th, were the presidential primaries in Colorado, Minnesota, and Missouri.  My state of Missouri is also holding a "caucus" which will determine which candidate gets the state's delegates.  Many people in the state thought the "primary" was unnecessary since it has no bearing on the caucus.  I found myself telling voters that their vote should influence who the caucus gives our delegates to.  I may be dead wrong about that!

From what I heard on the news, even though three states went heavily for Rick Santorum, he's not necessarily going to get those state's delegates.  Huh?  If he wins the states, but doesn't get their support, why should he even bother?  And no wonder the "other candidates" didn't bother to campaign here.  Why one didn't even bother to get his name on the ballot!

When I was a kid, growing up, I used to love watching the political conventions.  One never knew until the bitter end, which candidate would get enough delegates to put him over the top, and get the presidential nomination nod.   Now it would appear to be decided behind closed doors, and be a "done deal" before the convention even starts.  So what's the convention?  Just a party hearty sort of event?

I talked to a friend of mine who said he has never voted because he's never heard a candidate tell how he was going to fix things.  He only hears one candidate telling how bad the other candidate is.  I can uinderstand his thought process.

Call me disillusioned yet again, on Day 205!

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Why is Romney running?

Really...if the news is true that he made $22 million last year with just his investments, why doesn't he just sit back and relax?   That's more money than the majority of us will make in a lifetime of working, let alone one year.  So what's the deal with running for president?  What does he have to prove?  Who's he really trying to help?    What's he been doing with those millions anyway?   Does he miss politics, or is he just "looking for a job" like so many of us?

I have listened to him on TV, and those awful debates, and I've perused the internet about his views on various subjects, but I'm just not sold on what makes Mitt want to run.

Just trying to figure out his motivation on Day 204!





Wednesday, January 25, 2012

There's a cord for that!

With the advent of all these wonderful, new electrical gadgets to  make our lives more interesting, I am awash in power cords!  These gizmos may have batteries to power them when you're out and about, but at the end of the day, they probably need to be recharged, and that means a cord!

I have cords for my GPS (that I use hiking); my digital camera, my cell phone, my Nook, my "handheld' (computer) that I use for work, my lap top computer, plus the power cords for recharging while I'm in the car, and that means one for each of the aforementioned devices too.   I have taken to keeping all of them in separate sandwich bags, which are labelled.

I wonder if it's too much to ask manufacturers to make some sort of universal cord (like a universal remote for your TV?), or perhaps with interchangeable plug-ins.  Any savvy inventors out there?  I assure you, it's not me!

You'll find me searching, yet again, for the proper cord, on Day 203!



Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Celebrity perks...lawyers?

O.J. (you remember him?) Simpson sits in jail, and his Florida house is in foreclosure.  His attorneys are trying to stop the proceedings.  So my question is...if he can afford lawyers, while he serves a prison term, why didn't he pay his mortgage?   Or are the lawyers working gratis since he's "O.J."?  Because he's a "celebrity" kinda? 

Keeping my mortgage paid, and my own lawyers unemployed, on Day 202!





Monday, January 23, 2012

Nobody's ever satisfied.

This winter (as of January 2012) has been very mild in southwest Missouri.  But there are still those who would complain. 

The worst thing about ANY winter in this area is the fluctuation of temperatures between sunrise and early afternoon.  Typically you get up and it's around 25 degrees, and then goes up into the high 40s to low 50s, or even warmer.  This means you wear your heavy winter coat when you leave the house (or you freeze) and you carry it over your arm later in the afternoon.

This is also the reason children lose so many coats during the winter months.  They need them in the morning, but not so much in the afternoon, and so leave them wherever they took them off last.

But really, with no snow, or very little up to this date; with no cold except for the mornings, and one day last week when it didn't get above freezing, this has been a very, very mild winter.   And still people complain.  Perhaps they just want to make conversation.

Enjoying today and every day, regardless of weather, and with no complaints, on Day 201!

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Nothing good going on...

Geez...I really want to write like Andy, but with the daily news just being bad and worse, it's hard to find the "fun things" in life to write about.

Between corrupt governments, drugs and alcohol rages, use of guns at even seemingly innocent events (e.g. birthday parties), infanticide, pedophilia...sometimes you don't even want to pick up the morning paper, or listen to the news on the radio. 

Then there are the politicos running to unseat the president.  Listening to them, they hate each other, and they all seem to infer that the current president is the one who, all by himself, within the span of only 3 years,  bankrupted the USA. 

The only bright spot is, depending upon where you live, this has been one heck of a mild winter.    Of course there are those who are not happy about that either, namely the ski resorts.  I can appreciate their pain, but since I do not live in a snow belt, nor do I ski, I cannot commiserate any more than that.

Looking forward to more sun, less "downer" time,  on Day 200!