...reminiscing again...

I was reading a book the other evening, and it brought up some old memories of what it was like growing up in Chicago in the early 50s.  Some memories are rather vague, but they are occasionally, crisply revived by passages I've read in others' writings.

The corner butcher shop was one such reminiscence.  When I was in school, I would buy a cow's heart, or kidney, or some other odd organ, for a science project.  For example, I could cut open the heart and explain the chambers, and the function of the aorta, etc.  I remember seeing live chickens, ducks and rabbits in the window too.  You could go in, pick out which one you wanted, and it would be processed later that day.  I do not think my mother ever bought anything there, but I sure enjoyed looking.

With all today's food regulations, this would never be acceptable, but I never knew anyone to get sick eating from the butcher shop.  And you knew that meat was fresh!

A while back I wrote about penny candy, another "blast from the past."  I meant to write more about olden days, but got sidetracked.  I've got lots more memories in the dusty hallways of my mind, so  I'll try to do better, and invite you in again,  after Day 122!



 

Drug free at 93!!!

I have a friend who is 93, and had to go to the hospital recently.  She broke her hip, had it operated on, went through rehab and went back home.  She had a minor complication a few months later, and went back to the hospital.  The doctor on duty asked her what meds she was on.  She said none.  he said "What?  What do you take on a regulas basis?"  She said "A vitamin."  He then asked her what pharmacy she used for her prescriptions.  Duh...if she doesn't have any prescriptions, she doesn't use any particular pharmacy.  Get a clue Doc!

When you turn on the TV you see just a myriad of drug commercials.  They shout that you simply must use the latest, newest, most effective drug for everything from hangnails to hangovers (while glossing over all the side effects.)  I don't know how a person can make it through the day without some sort of medication.  Simple aspirin for a simple pain is just not enough!  But that's all I use.  That and my daily regimen of vitamins, and fish oil (for my presumed cholesterol control.)

That's one more pill than my dear old friend uses, and I want to be just like her now and after Day 121!

Wheeeeeeeeeeeee...here we go!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Geez...just when you think some lawmakers cannot get ANY dumber, they'll shock you yet again!  I read an article in the morning's paper that said the state of Texas is thinking of raising their speed limit to 85, especially since "out west" there is so much vacant land, and long intervals between towns.  Anyone see a problem with this?  What's the hurry?

First of all, gas prices are on the rise, dramatically.  And I believe that as we get "accustomed" to this, those prices will not fall.  (Another blog to be sure.)  Most people know that MPG, or miles-per-gallon, go down the faster you go.  There is an optimum speed, and then there's a speed at which you burn even more fuel than necessary.  I can assure you, that in my cars, 85 MPH (miles-per-hour) is NOT the optimum speed.    Therefore you'll be spending even more money on gas!

Secondly, and this may be too graphic for some, if there's an accident at 85 miles per hour, I daresay you won't need paramedics, just a sponge mop and bucket.   Newer cars are better made, but those crash test dummies are only travelling at about 35 miles per hour, or less...NOT 85 or more!!!  You know the majority of people think it's okay to go at least 5 miles over the posted speed limit.

Lastly, this may be one way of cutting down on population growth!

I think I'll just stick to roads that are in the 65 MPH range so that I can stay part of the population...on Day 120!

  

Working on into "old age"

...sure works for Andy.  A very belated Happy Birthday to he, who is now 92 and still going into the office on a daily basis, although he's not on 60 Minutes as often.  He was quoted by the Minneapolis Tribune as saying he didn't have to work, he just wants to!  To that I say hurray, and wish him well, and envy him also. 

I'd love to work still, but after getting ousted from my last position, it's been over a year, and I still have not found anything yet I can call a 'real"  job.  Of course I read all the articles related to getting another job, such as: go back to school, write a brilliant resume, reinvent yourself.  Then there are the articles relating to the age factor:  the young can't find jobs because there are too many seniors still working; the seniors need to work because they don't have enough to retire on, or need the health care provided by a job.

Andy lucked out because he has a job he loves, and he's not been ousted for any reason.   There are too many of us who have not had those opportunities.   And there are too many of us who are not ready to just give up and  accept it, calling "it"  bad luck/fate/karma.    I can't speak for the legions, but when Andy decides that he's not taking any more cab rides from his Manhattan apartment to his office, I'll be waiting in line, with my not-so-brilliant resume, to take his place. 

Well, I guess that would come under the headng of "reinventing myself" on Day 119!

Terry Jones is at it again!

From the Huffpost on AOL News...

"...Jones insists his message is not intended to cause any violence or gain exposure for his small Gainesville church: "We are actually not doing it because we desire to be killed, we are not doing it because we desire publicity. We really believe our message is that important, that the radical element of Islam is a danger to our society..."

Oh really!  And is YOUR own radical element of Christianity NOT a danger to OUR society???!!!

Somebody please stop him, or at least have a heart-to-heart talk with him, and let him know HE'S AN IDIOT!!!

Again, religion is the bane of my existence this Day 118!

Religion in all its glory...

So some yahoo pastor, Terry Jones by name, out of Florida, gets the hairbrained scheme to go to Afghanistan to burn the Quran, their (the Muslim) version of the bible.  And of course there's backlash and about 9-11 people have been killed over it, the number has been fluctuating.   He could argue that if they were truly "god fearing" they would not kill anyone.  But he certainly set some wheels in motion, in my mind, for someone to do something heinous.   All in the name of religion.

Let me clue you in, Pastor Jones...those people have religion!  It may not be your religion, but it is religion, and they're entitled to believe what they think.    And the truly religious do NOT believe in violence,  just the yahoos.

If you read any religious book you can  say that some sort of violence is prescribed.  An "eye for an eye", for example.  And if you think "christians" are not violent, look no further than the Crusades.

So why oh why did you choose to go to Afghanistan to do this?  Who paid for the trip?  Your hard-working parishioners?  If I were part of your church, and knew my tithing paid for that trip, I would have you excommunicated, or whatever it is they could do in your religion.  

If you want to "do the right thing" read the 10 commandments.  I think all the religion a person needs is right there, not in a book that has been written and rewritten over thousands of years.  Quoted  and misquoted to serve the narrator's purposes.   

I had a wise priest once say to the congregation that all religions follow the same God, be you Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim, Taoist, etc.  "He's" all the same person.  And I'm sure He would not condone burning any of His books, however written, whenever written, and the awful aftermath, on this Day 117!

What's in YOUR garage?

Cars or crap?

I see so many cars sitting in driveways because there's too much stuff in the garage, and they can't get their cars in.   I must admit though, I do have friends whose own garage is immaculate, and they still don't park their cars in there.  But they are the exception.
Basements are now living areas, and often added into the square footage when advertising a house for sale.  They used to be for storage, but now all that goes into the garage.  Three car garages now seem to be the new norm.  So that's additional storage, when the basement is now divided into bedrooms, in-law quarters, etc, etc.

There was a time when garages were too short.  I can remember our neighbor across the street buying a new Cadillac back in the late 50s, and he couldn't shut his garage door because it would hit the trunk.  They've increased the space a bit, but not by much.  My brother had to put down a strip so he would know when he had pulled in far enough to clear the back door, but not hit the front wall.  But now some cars are too wide for the allotted spaces given,  so some have side mirrors that you can fold in when entering the garage so you won't hit them on the sides of the doorway. 

You would think there was a building standard for garages, just like there is for stud spacing when putting up walls in new cosntruction.  But maybe the builder knows that there won't be cars in the garage, only crap, anyway.  I say crap, because if it's relegated to your garage, and takes up so much floor space that you cannot get your car in, how important is it?

Call me old fashioned but I have my car in my garage, on Day 116!