Day One-Thirty-Four - Watch Your CATS!

Somebody in North Dallas is going to be in BIG trouble!  I woke up this morning and there is water standing EVERYWHERE!  You know what that means..... someone must have left their sprinkler on last night.  They don't cotton to that in Dallas!  You can get a big fine!  Before I went to bed last night there were bright flashes in the sky and loud rumbling that continued for hours.  In fact, all of the noise kept me up until well after 1 a.m.  I think that it could have been helicopters and trucks from the city trying to figure out where all of the water was coming from.

I went outside around 9 p.m. to see what was going on and some of the liquid actually got on my head.  I tasted it and it tasted like water.  That is how I figured out that it was probably coming from someone's sprinkler.  At first I thought it was mosquito planes......

Okay, I just read those paragraphs back and doesn't it sound like some crazy futuristic post apocalyptic movie?  Mosquito planes????  Really?  But yes, for those of you who do not live in the Dallas area there is talk of using airplanes to drop mosquito repellent on the area to get rid of the mosquitoes that carry West Nile virus.  Apparently we live in the worst area in the country for West Nile.  Wouldn't you think this would be a bigger problem along the coast where there is.... I don't know.... WATER?  It has only rained here minimally this summer.  At my house it hasn't rained at all until last night.  I literally had less than 1/4 of an inch of rain in the last 3 months until last night.  And yet, apparently, I am at ground zero for West Nile.  There are signs up everywhere about West Nile and mosquito spraying.  So, how are the mosquitoes breeding?  Apparently, someone is cheating on the watering restrictions.  I want them caught and executed!

Of course, nobody wants the mosquito repellent to be dropped from the airplanes because it will without a doubt cause some sort of horrible disease even worse than West Nile virus.  The news says that the repellent dropped from the airplanes would be the same stuff that they shoot out of the mosquito trucks that already make the rounds.  I haven't heard people screaming about the mosquito trucks causing mass deaths.  The only complaints I have heard about the trucks is that they don't come around often enough.  So, what is the difference in the way it is distributed?????  I guess I should be watching the news a little more closely, because I just don't get it.

What I do know is that I am tired of spraying myself with OFF so that I can go to the downstairs powder room in my own house.  I think THAT may be the actual Ground Zero for West Nile.  Seriously, there was another mosquito in there this morning.  He didn't bite me before I killed him.  But I just can't believe that I am constantly swatting at mosquitoes in the bathrooms in my house.  I'm going to have to see if I can get one of those mosquito truck drivers to back into my garage while I hold the back door open.

Yesterday I got an email from a "fitness expert" who sells detox programs.  He was hawking his product and saying that we all need to detox before they start spraying from the air because it will help our immune system to better fight the toxins in the air.  He finished by saying the these toxins were very harmful to cats.

Here is a copy of the email..... as you read it please do so in the voice of an overbearing fitness guru.  This guy has a Saturday morning radio show that I listen to from time to time and he sounds like one of those "We're here to PUMP you UP!" guys from SNL in the 1990's.

Hey Susan,

For the last 2 weeks I have offered Free Shipping on any purchase of any size. That ends today at midnight, so get your order in now and save.

Right now, I have something much more serious to discuss with you. Permethrin.

Permethrin is a neurotoxin, endocrine disruptor, carcinogen and also has links to Parkinson's risk. Permethrin exerts its toxic effects directly on the nervous system.

Why is this important to you?

Permethrin is an insect repellent and last Friday the Dallas/Fort Worth area was reporting that trucks were being used to fog neighborhoods with a mosquito chemical spray. They are also considering dropping huge loads from planes. The spray is Permethrin.

This is just one of the toxins that you will find in today's world that we are exposed to on a continual basis. I'm urging those of you in the Dallas/Fort Worth area who have not cleansed in the last 3 months to consider doing so ASAP.

If you are outside the Dallas/Fort Worth area, you are not immune to these toxins. They are found in our lives daily. Pay close attention to your local reports about pesticides or repellants being dropped in your area. If your system is already overloaded it will have a harder time and take longer to 'naturally' eliminate these toxins.

Do your body a favor and detoxify with a cleanse today.

To your excellent health!
George DiGianni

PS. Watch your pets. Permethrin is extremely harmful to cats.

PPS: For more information on Permethrin visit this link.

I get emails from him every week or so.  I could stop them, but I enjoy reading them.  When I read them in my head I always use his over testosterone inflated voice and it is entertaining for me.  You don't have to say it, I already know I am a freak.  But hey, you have to take entertainment where you can get it and this is free!

I giggled when I read this yesterday.  It's the last day of free shipping... oh and by the way, the city is spraying stuff that might be deadly......  So, if I had ordered his program yesterday I could have gotten it for the low low low price of $297 plus tax but with no shipping.  Then for the next 21 days I would only drink his shakes and organic veggies along with his vitamins.  I have done his program before.  I lost 8 lbs in 21 days and truly did feel great afterward.  I guess I am just bothered by the way he is trying to sell it.  I can probably be accused of under reacting to a lot of things.  But I really think this is overkill.

I like the picture of the mosquito trucks in Galveston that he threw in for effect.  I'm thinking that it would suck to be in one of the 4 trucks behind the first one.  If I'm going to be a mosquito truck driver, I want to know what it takes to always drive the front truck.  Are the guys driving the four trucks in back in trouble for something that they did recently?  And why do they drive along one in front of the other?  Couldn't they cover more ground if the split up?  

Okay, I'm going to go cover myself in OFF now so that I can walk out on the patio and sweep.  Watch your cats!!!!  This stuff can be harmful....  I'll talk to you later.

Day One-Thirty-Three - The On Going Celebration of Shark Week

Ugh!  Last night I was flipping channels after 11 and DirecTV had one of those stupid banners on their guide that entices you to look.....  They currently have Jaws on Instant Demand.  So, a few minutes after midnight I bought it and staid up until around 2 a.m. watching it.  Like I haven't seen Jaws a hundred times and don't know what happens.  But I love it and had to watch it again.

Jaws was the first grown up movie I was allowed to go see with a friend.  I remember the summer that it came out like it was yesterday.  Mary K. Sanders and I were playing Monopoly in her bedroom floor when the topic of going to see the movie first came up.  She said she wanted to see it and I said I did too, but my parents probably wouldn't let me.  She said I should ask.  She was a year older than me and I thought she would probably be allowed to go but I wouldn't.  The next day my mom and I went to the store and on the way home, I asked if I could go see Jaws with Mary K.  She said, sure!  I was shocked!  Up until then most of my movie experiences were animated.  I mean, I was 12, but back then I think we were just a little more protected.  Either that, or my parents had me snowed which wouldn't surprise me a bit.  Anyway, Mary K. and I got to go see Jaws at the twin cinema in Nacogdoches.

It was great!  I screamed just like everyone else when the guy's head came out of the boat.  I totally understood the fear that people had.  But Jaws never effected me in a scary way.  It was just kind of suspenseful.  Last night as I watched it, I still kept my feet on the couch at all times.  After all, there is no point in leaving dangling feet for any rogue sharks to nip at!  In all of the appropriate parts of the movie, I moved my body in hopes of helping one of the struggling actors out of the water.  No matter how much I moved my body I could never help Robert Shaw out of the water in that last big scene.  I liked Robert Shaw's character Quint a lot.  There's something about a crusty old fisherman that you just have to love.  I saw a documentary a year or so ago that celebrated the 35th anniversary of the making of Jaws.  In it they talked to Steven Spielberg, Richard Dreyfus and a number of the other principle players about the making of the movie.  They all said that Shaw was drunk most of the time and some of their biggest suspense in the making of the movie was to see if he would be able to make it through his lines.  But they all said that in his long soliloquy about the USS Indianapolis he did it in one take and it was amazing to watch.

I think that Jaws is one of those movies that leaves you thinking for the rest of your life about it.  You know, when you start wading out into the surf at the beach, you sort of flashback to it.  There are a few movies that effected me that way.  Psycho not only scarred the bejeebers out of me when I saw it initially, but for a few years, I never took a shower.  I became strictly a bath girl.  When I finally went back to showers, I had a strict rule against taking them in motels.  To this day, if I go on a trip, I am VERY careful about checking locks on doors and making sure that I am totally safe before stepping into a hotel shower.

You see, I was a kid when I saw Psycho, so it has been effecting me for years!  My cousin, Terry was a student at SFA at the time and she and some of her friends and her brother, my other cousin, Mike had all come over to our house that night.  While they were there, for some reason, everyone decided to watch Psycho.  I must tell you, I hate scary movies.  I always have.  I did then and I do now.  But that night, Terry was there and a lot of the time when she came over at night she would spend the night at our house.  When she spent the night at our house, she slept in my room with me!  So, I thought in my stupid little kid mind that Terry would be staying with me that night and how scary could the movie really be anyway.... right?  So I sat in the living room with all of them and watched the movie instead of going to my room and playing by myself.  BIG MISTAKE!!!!  At the end of the night, Mike and the friends started to leave.... and Terry went with them!!!!!  I was horrified!  That was the moment I realized that I would be in my room by myself that night with Norman Bates in my mind haunting me!  I think I went a little nuts and threw a huge fit.  It did no good.  Terry left and I had to spend the night alone.

For years Norman Bates has been haunting my dreams.  I realize now that Terry staying that night would have accomplished nothing.  Because she would eventually have had to leave and then Norman Bates still would have been there in my memory.  Over the years, I have met a few men named Norman.  Each time I have been introduced to someone named Norman, I start twitching a little.  Who would name their kid Norman after seeing that movie????  I mean, why don't you just go ahead and name your kid John Wayne Gacy???  It's the same thing!  Even if you never saw Psycho, you must have heard of it.  Everyone knows that Norman was the name of the scariest guy ever!  That would be like if one of my brothers had named one of their kids Jason.  I have never seen any of the Friday the 13th movies, but still, I know that you don't go around naming kids Jason Meyers!  That would just be crazy!

Over the years, I have learned that I was not cut out for scary movies.  Some suspense is as much as I am able to deal with.  In all honesty, I am happiest at a stupid comedy.  Even intelligent comedies are sometimes too much for me.  Give me a good old fashioned Dumb and Dumber type movie anytime.  The more Jim Carey and Adam Sandler in my life the better.  Not many people ever had nightmares after watching Happy Gilmore, right?

Well, since is it nearly lunchtime, I guess I should make something of this day.  I hope you enjoy your Tuesday.  As for me, it is time to get back to the gym.  Adios!

Day One-Thirty-Two - Memory Gone.... Whales Good

A few months ago, I placed little notepads strategically throughout my house and car so that when I thought of a good blog topic I could write it down before I forgot it.  You know how it is when you start getting old.  The memory is always the first to go.  Mine left ages ago.  Yesterday I thought of a great topic in the middle of the day.  I didn't write it down because those strategically placed notepads are no longer strategically placed.  But it was such a great topic that I thought I would have no trouble at all remembering it.  Last night when I went to bed, it was still top of mind.  So, I was sure this morning I would get up and half of my blog would be written in my mind. I am sure that if I could remember anything at all about that topic at this moment, you would all get such great joy out of it.  You would all be reading along thinking to yourselves, "why didn't I ever know that Susan was such a genius before this?"  If there was a Pulitzer Prize for blogs, my name would be up for nomination right now.....  But alas, I haven't the slightest clue what that topic was now.  If I suddenly remember, I will write it down for future reference.

In the meantime, how about those Olympics, eh?  So I guess it all ended last night with The Spice Girls singing a disappointing song.  I didn't see it.  It's Shark Week just in case you didn't get that memo.....  I am currently consumed by sharks.  I wish there was also a Killer Whale Week because they are really cool too.  Last night while I was watching the sharks flying through the air chasing seal decoys I started thinking that this must be the biggest ratings week of the year for Discovery.  Otherwise, they wouldn't still be doing it after 25 years.

So, why don't they figure out that people are interested in documentaries about marine animals and parts of the world that we can't get to, like the bottom of the ocean, and televise more shows about that stuff rather than Mythbusters and Auction Kings and all kinds of car and motorcycle customizing shows.  I hate all of that stuff.  Discovery used to be a good "go to" channel when there was nothing else on. Now it is mostly geared toward unemployed white guys who have shut down the meth lab for the evening and gone into the house for a little entertainment.  I guess Discovery figures that they have to entertain themselves in front of the TV since their wives left them years ago.  So they air crap that will perform that public service for the meth lab owners of the world.  I can still watch Deadliest Catch, but when that became a big deal they started throwing other fishing shows at us like we just wanted to watch people fishing.  I think the attraction to Deadliest Catch is more about experiencing in some way something that most of us will never be able to do.  I have no interest in watching some guy with an obnoxious Maine accent fish for Tuna with a rod and reel.  Borrrrrrrrringgggggg!!!!!!

I used to work with a guy at the employer who shall not be named who was really freaked out by killer whales.  I had a picture of some that I had taken in the San Juan Islands on my computers wallpaper and he hated it. That of course, made me always call him over and show him other pictures of the killer whales.  When you are lucky enough to find something that a guy is afraid of you have to take advantage of it.  I mean, it's easy to find something that girls are afraid of since we are afraid of so much.  But with men you get commitment and then maybe one other thing if you are lucky and usually the one other thing is heights.  Heights are not an easy thing to throw at a co-worker unless of course, you are a window washer or something.  But if you have been on a whale watching trip in which you took hundreds of pictures of killer whales..... well then you have something to throw at a co-worker if you find out he is afraid of them.  So, I did!  It was fun and he could have stopped coming over and looking at my monitor at anytime but he didn't, so why not take advantage of it?  It wasn't as though I had pictures of the whales feeding on little baby seals or anything.  They were just swimming through the water.  But every time he saw them, he would get this funny look on his face and talk about how evil killer whales are.  By the way, he was wrong.  They aren't evil.  They are smart and they have to eat so they figure out ways to catch food.  Then they teach their young those methods, which is really smart.  I mean unless you are a vegan, you are just as evil as he believed killer whales to be.  We have to eat.  We choose to eat meat so we figure out ways to do so and teach it to our young.

I saw a killer whale show once where they were hunting seals that were sitting in the middle of a big piece of ice so that the whales couldn't get to them.  So, the whales would go around and bob out of the water looking for seals on ice.  One of them found one and went and got all of the other whales.  Then the camera showed the whales all putting their heads together in a huddle like they were drawing up a touch football play in the sand and then they basically clapped their fins and lined up.  When they got in a line, they all swam as fast as they could together toward the ice that the seal was sitting on.  Just before they got to the ice they stopped suddenly.  It created a huge wave that knocked the seal off of the ice and one of them grabbed it and they all had dinner.  Ingenious!!!!!  My co-worker thought that was evil.  He had seen the same show and we had discussed it.  He was horrified by it.  Here is an example of a photo that made him shutter.

Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you like that!  That is an evil mother and her evil calf.  I can understand how someone might be frightened by them.  It would seem to me that as long as you don't swim by in front of the mother acting like a seal, you are probably safe, but I could be wrong.  Below are a couple of pictures of the pod's patriarch, his name is Ruffles due to the shape of his fin.  With a name like Ruffles I can certainly understand the intimidation one might feel at seeing him.  The fin is approximately 6 feet tall.  So, he is a pretty big guy.  The whale experts there said he was in his 60's.  He spends most of his time with his mother who is over 80.  The pod that lives up there has been there for years.

Here are a couple of other of my favorite pictures from my day of whale watching.  It was probably the best vacation day of my life, even though I had left my purse along with my drivers license, credit cards, money and cell phone in a Starbucks in Lynnwood, Washington earlier in the day.  But that is a story for another time.  I think killer whales are pretty spectacular and I think they need their own week on Discovery.  The fact that my co-worker who was terrified of them watched the show where they were hunting seals on ice proves that the ratings would probably be better than some show where people in Georgia are auctioning off other peoples junk.

I want to live in a house where killer whales go by every afternoon.  If you live in a giant house like the one in the picture above and the heaviest traffic you see all day is that of the whales swimming by and the three boats following them, your life must be pretty amazing.  As we followed the whales all day, you would see some areas where a person was sitting on the rocks on shore watching the whales go by.  I think that would be much better than sitting in my living room watching the FedEx truck go by.  But I could be wrong.  I mean that FedEx truck is pretty magnificent!

Okay, time to stop the hallucinations for the day.  I'll keep thinking and try to remember that great topic that I was going to write about.  Maybe it will come to me before tomorrow, but don't hold your breath.  You might very well end up with another master piece like this one.  Sorry.....

Day One-Thirty-One - Saturday in Frisco... Bleh!

Yesterday my niece texted me.  She was at her brother Jacob's house in Denton.  Her boyfriend whose name is also Jacob was with her.  He brought her up here on Friday for the Rangers game.  They spent Friday night at her brothers house and then they wanted to come over to my house for Saturday night.  Her brother, my amazing nephew Jacob, who I shall call Jake for the rest of this entry for the sake of clarity suggested that we meet at Stonebriar Mall so that he could get them half way from his house to my house.  You have to remember that Rebecca and her boyfriend are 18 and from a very small town.

So, I got dressed and drove to Frisco.  Now, you need to understand that I dislike Frisco like other people dislike the plague.  Frisco has no redeeming value in my mind.  Too many people live there.  The town was never prepared for so many people to live in it.  It is too far north which means that at any given time, there are more people in Frisco from Oklahoma than any place else in the world including Oklahoma City.  The only place on the planet that I like less than Frisco is Oklahoma.  There are fewer Texans per square mile in Frisco than there are in NYC.  Texans do not live in Frisco.  Most of us have enough sense to steer clear of places like that.

Anyway for the love of my niece and nephew, Rebecca and Jake, I went to Frisco.  To make matters worse, I went to Stonebriar Mall.  Stonebriar Mall is to Frisco as the depths of hell are to the gates of hell.  It is the absolute worst place in the most horrific place you can imagine.  Don't go there!!!!  I'm not sure if you are aware but yesterday was the second Saturday in August.  The entire state of Oklahoma brought their kids to Frisco yesterday for BTS shopping.  Did I mention that it was unpleasant?

In hopes of making this visit to Stonebriar less miserable, I suggested that we go into Dave and Busters and get a pool table and have appetizers.  It was after 4 pm and I had not had anything but black coffee since Friday night.  So, we did.  We spent about an hour playing a couple of games of pool and eating bad nachos, worse potato skins and mediocre spinach dip.  After about 45 minutes we were all bored and ready to leave.  As soon as we got our check and were able to, we left and went over to The Holy Grail.  I really like The Holy Grail, but they have enlarged it and taken the TV's out.  So, that was kind of weird that we couldn't watch the baseball game there.

After Jake, his girlfriend Jeni and I finished a beer we were all ready to leave.  Jake and Jeni were going back to Denton.  Rebecca, Jacob and I had decided to go to a movie.  So, we drove to my house to figure out the movie situation and pass time until we were ready to leave.  We had wanted to go to Studio Movie Grill so that we could get some pizza or something with our movie.  But they were sold out for The Campaign which is the movie we had decided on.  So, we wound up at Cinemark Tinsletown instead.

Taking teenagers from a town of less than 5,000 people to Tinsletown may have been the most entertaining part of my day.  They were totally overwhelmed by EVERYTHING!  The fact that they could get ice cream and a Slurpee at the movie was the most amazing thing ever to them.  Jacob ran into a little trouble with the Slurpee machine but otherwise, we had no issues.  Jacob lives in Central Heights and Rebecca lives in Douglass.  There were probably more people at the Tinsletown on Saturday night than live in both of their towns combined.  They liked the people watching aspect of all of it.

It is now a little after lunchtime on Sunday.  Things are winding down.  We went to Coffee House for brunch this morning.  It was nice.  Now Rebecca is upstairs making her bed.  Jacob and I threw his blanket off of the couch onto the floor so that we could sit.  Water Polo is on again.  Can I tell you how excited I am that this water polo thing is almost over for the next 4 years?  Rebecca and Jacob will be heading back to Douglass and Central Heights soon and I will settle in for Shark Week!  I can hardly wait.  It has been  a very exciting weekend with my trek to Frisco and a movie on a Saturday night something that I hardly ever do.  But Shark Week.... that is really what it is all about.  Have a good Sunday.

Day One-Thirty - GET OUT OF THE WAY!

I was just Facebook stalking.  I don't do this too often because you know....  I have a life.  But this morning I was looking for a topic to write about and if you ever want a topic to write about or that will just make you go...... what the hell???!?!?!?!  Just look at what some of your friends are commenting on.  I sort of feel like I am stealing a topic because of the way I have obtained this one.  So, I will go ahead and tell you that a FB friend of mine commented on the status of a person who I do not know and it appeared  in my little sidebar to the right.  I was intrigued by the first few words she had written and that was all I could see, so I scrolled over it and read her entire post along with those of her friends.  The topic was grocery store etiquette.

Since trips to the grocery store now seem to be one of the high points in my week, I thought I would bring this topic to your attention.  If you are one of the people who violates the rules of common courtesy in a grocery store, take notes.  I wouldn't even mind if you printed this out and carried it with you for future reference.  These issues must be fixed before people are injured in grocery stores, mostly by me.  This is merely my attempt to correct the problem for my own selfish reasons.

Rule 1
When you stop in the doorway to the grocery store to get a cart, do so in a quick manner.  Put your cell phone down, get the cart, move out of the way before you start to wipe the handle down with the sanitary wipe if you are so inclined to do that.  That is all!  Do not continue to talk on your cell phone and hold it with one hand while trying to pull a cart out with the other, all while pulling one of those sanitary wipes out of the container and wiping the cart down as if you are taking it into surgery.  It has been my experience that constant cell phone talkers think that the cart must be wiped down before they can pull it completely out of the cart in front of it.  This is not the case.  You can pull it out, with your bare hands, wipe it down and then.... are you ready for this... wipe your hands down as well, since you touched it, all outside of the cart area so that other people can get a cart also!

Rule 2
God Bless you if you shop with small children.  You are a stronger person than I am.  But if you do shop with your children and you managed to get them all the way into the store without a cart, you can probably move them 5 steps beyond the area where you pick up your cart before placing them securely in that cart.  SO GET OUT OF THE WAY before you start buckling little Johnny and Sissy in the cart!  We all understand that they are precious cargo and must be buckled in securely.  But it might also help to do this in a more expeditious manner if you PUT YOUR CELL PHONE DOWN FOR A MINUTE!!!!!  I understand that your friend Kate's husband is a pig and she must talk to you about it.  But not while I need to get a cart!

Rule 3
If you see a piece of produce that you have never seen before, chances are that you don't need it for the Hamburger Helper you are cooking tonight.  So wait until you get home or at least OUT OF MY WAY before you stop everything and Google it on your cell phone.  The fact that you have never heard of Star Anise might indicate that you don't currently need Star Anise.  So again, GET OUT OF THE WAY!

Rule 4
Before leaving home, dress as though you might run into your preacher.  I don't care if you wear make up or fix your hair before going to the grocery store.  But at least wear clothing that covers up all of your bits and pieces.  None of us want to lose our appetite while buying groceries due to a glimpse in your direction.  This isn't Wal-Mart.  I know that because I do not go into Wal-Mart.  Please dress appropriately.

Rule 5
During your unending phone conversation over the bananas, watch your mouth.  The fact that Kate is okay with you calling her pig of a husband obscene names over the phone doesn't mean that the rest of your reluctant audience is okay with hearing it.

Rule 6
When you get to the meat / seafood department please observe that there are "take a number" devices.  "Take a number" devices exist so that you can.... "take a number".  Please "take a number" and then GET OUT OF THE WAY!  The fact that the "take a number" device exists probably means that other people are meant to "take a number" also.  They can't if you park your cart in front of it and then continue your loud conversation with Kate while browsing the meat counter.  Also, it is not necessary to park your cart in front of whatever meat you have decided on, marking it as your territory and allowing no one else within 5 feet of it until your number is called.  Once you have decided what you want, back off so that other people can shop while you wait for your number to be called.  The point of a "take a number" system is that they will call your number, and at that point, you then can take up all of the space at the counter that your little heart desires.  At the moment that your number has been called, the spot light is on you, honey!!!!  All of your dreams have come true!  YOU and only YOU are finally the center of attention!  Soak it up!  Then GET OUT OF THE WAY!

Rule 7
If the person cooking and passing out meat samples is wearing a microphone and speaking through it, this might indicate to you, that you do not need to stand directly in front of her for more than the time required to get your free sample and recipe.  The microphone allows her to speak loudly enough that you can hear her at a distance thus enabling others to also obtain a sample and a copy of her recipe.  So, GET OUT OF THE WAY!

Rule 8
Free samples in the wine department are not intended as a free happy hour where you mix and mingle for a few hours eyeing all of the poor unsuspecting men whose wives sent them in for a gallon of milk.  If you are interested in the variety of wine being sampled, get a glass and then GET OUT OF THE WAY!  You are not required to stand in front of the sample area the entire time you sip your wine.  And by the way, if it takes you more than a minute to sip a tablespoon of wine, you have no business sampling it anyway.  If you leave a grocery store wine department tipsy or full on drunk, please make your next stop AA because you have a problem!

Rule 8
Free samples in any department.....  Oh my.... where do I begin????  Free samples are not intended to replace your meals for the day.  They are intended to give you a sample of what the food tastes like so that you can buy it, take it home and cook it yourself.  If you notice that the free sample lady starts packing things up and covering everything when you come back for your fourth serving, this could indicate a problem.  And don't think that people don't notice that you have begun sending your children over for samples.  We can all see that the little heathens are yours.

Rule 9
Count the items in your cart.  If you have more than 15 this disqualifies you from the 1-15 item express lane. It is not that complicated.  If you have trouble figuring this out, you really shouldn't be out in public in the first place.

Rule 10
Before it is your turn to checkout, please take any and all reusable bags that you brought in with you out and place them on top of your basket so that the checker doesn't bag your order in paper or plastic bags inadvertently resulting in then having to remove all of it and start again.

Rule 11
It is 2012.  Learn how to use a debit card.  There is no reason for you to write a check at the grocery store anymore.  Pay attention while your order is being checked out.  Swipe your card before the checker has finished.  Then when she is done, all you have to do is approve it.  It is okay, if she charges you $100 for a gallon of milk, you still have the opportunity to dispute it before the final approval.  This technology stuff is AMAZING!

Rule 12
If it is necessary to push your groceries out of the store in a cart, then please take your cart to a cart return area when you have finished.  Lodging it between two cars is not acceptable.  Shoving it into the grass is also not acceptable.  In fact, doing anything other than taking it either back into the store or to a cart return area is unacceptable.  If you are too lazy to put your cart away appropriately, then you should stop buying groceries and sit at home and do without until you have lost enough weight so that you are able to walk the 10 extra steps to the cart return area.

I understand that these rules are harsh and can be very upsetting especially if you happen to be Kate's friend.  But for the rest of us, they are called common courtesy.  It really shouldn't be necessary to put them in writing since we all should have been taught common courtesy from birth.  But obviously, many people today believe that they are starring in their very own movie in which they are the only cast members.  They apparently believe that the rest of the world is present only to observe their performance.  If any of those people are reading this, let me clue you in.....  This is NOT your own personal movie and nobody wants to watch you starring in it.  So, get over yourself and GET OUT OF THE WAY!!!!!

Day One-Twenty-Nine - Cold Thoughts!

Time to start thinking cool thoughts.  Yesterday it was 109 degrees here in Dallas and I don't like it.  I believe that the power of positive thinking does wonders and so if you all will join me at least 5 people will be thinking about something cool.  Maybe five positive thoughts is all we need.  So, let's all think about a time when we were colder than we ever wanted to be.  Don't just think of a day when the weather was nice or a day when you were kind of cold.  I want you to think of a day when you were so cold you thought you might die.  Hey, if only 5 of us are participating, we may need to do an extreme positive thought thing.  Work with me here!

I'm trying to narrow my extreme cold situations down to just one.  It is hard for me to do this since I hate cold weather so much.  I mean, I keep going back in my mind to San Diego a few years ago when it was cold and rainy.  It was only in the 50's, but did I mention it was San Diego and it was raining too?  I wasn't prepared for anything under 70 degrees and I was miserable and angry about it.  So, obviously it was not life threatening so it has to be disqualified.  I think my friend, Jenny, might go back in her mind to a similar day in Barcelona when it was in the 50's and rainy and her feet were wet.  She got chilled and she was not happy about it.  Sometimes I guess it doesn't have to be life threateningly cold to be miserably cold.

Another one that keeps popping to mind for me was that Christmas that I drove the Mustang home to Bay City from Nacogdoches.  I have already covered that in this blog.  If you missed that one, please refer to Day One-Thirteen http://reallydontknow-gah.blogspot.com/2012/07/day-one-thirteen-cars-and-crayons.html   It was really miserably cold.  Anytime you are willing to wrap your body in dirty clothes for warmth, you are cold.  Take my word for it.

Once when we were kids we went camping at Shirley Creek for a weekend.  This was back in the days when we camped in a tent with no running water and only a Coleman stove and a campfire for cooking and a cold front came through.  When we woke up in the morning there was frost all over everything.  That was really cold.  It was especially cold for our friend Don Bailey who fell out of my dad's boat and into the lake that morning.  That is a long story that I won't get into now.

I think maybe the coldest I have ever been was one winter in Nacogdoches when we had a really bad ice storm.  I honestly can't remember what grade I was in, but it was probably 7th or 8th.  I know this because we lived on Timber Ridge Dr. at the time.  It was February and we moved to Lumberton in February of 9th grade, so it probably wasn't that year.

We lost electricity the night that the ice storm went through.  I am not sure exactly how long we were without electricity.  But I think it was close to a week.  After the first night, we took all of the perishable food, out of the refrigerator and moved it to the backyard on our porch swing.  We packed a little snow around it and not only did it stay cold, but the milk actually froze out there.  Our only source of warmth at home was the fire place.  There was no TV since there was no electricity so we just played out in the snow all day.  Then we would come in the house and be soaking wet. By the time we would come in the house, we would be nearly ice cubes ourselves.  We would take all of our clothes off and change into dry clothes.  Then we had to hang our wet clothes up in front of the fire place to dry.  I remember my hands and feet being so cold I didn't think they would ever thaw.  You couldn't get close enough to that fire place to really get warm.  I think that was actually the first time I ever thought, snow isn't that pretty.  If you are a kid who is in a week long snow day, not having to go to school at all for a full week due to the snow, and you can look at it and think, "I hate snow", it is freaking cold!!!!  So, I think I am going to have to go with that moment as the coldest moment of my life.

Now, each of you needs to remember your coldest moment.  Maybe it was one time when you went skiing, although why anybody would ever go skiing is beyond me.  I have never understood why people pay big money to be cold and miserable.  But I digress.....  Anyway remember back to your coldest moment.  Then at exactly 9:00 p.m. Central time tonight lets all concentrate on that singular cold moment for each of us.  Then tomorrow we will reconvene here and see what the power of positive thinking has done.  Remember nothing but cold thoughts tonight!

Have a good Friday and an even greater weekend!  I hope it snows wherever you are!!!!!!

Day One-Twenty-Eight - Blog Topic Clearing House

I couldn't go to sleep last night.  I tossed and turned until 4 a.m. then I finally went to sleep.  That resulted in sleeping until 10:55 this morning.  So, it is pretty nice that when I cannot go to sleep, I still get sleep.  But I hate that I slept half of the day.

Good news!  I finished the knitting project yesterday.  I also finished all but one load of laundry.  It never rained at my house, but it was overcast all day resulting in a high temperature on my patio of 90 degrees!  I will be worthless for the next hour or so until I have enough caffeine in my body to function.  Then I will finish that laundry.

I started knitting a pair of socks last night.  I love knitting socks.  They are fun.  With socks you never get really bored with what you are knitting since they are small and you only knit one sock at a time.  By the time you get bored with ribbing the cuff, it is time to start the body of the sock.  Then you hardly do any of that before you have to start turning the heel which is usually the really challenging part.  Then before you know it you are decreasing for the toe.  If I really work at it, I bet I can finish the socks in a week.  Of course, I also thought I could finish the 6 loads of laundry yesterday so, don't bet on me.

Yesterday I washed a cat bed that I took to Nacogodoches with us.  I never took it out of the car while I was there since it isn't one that the cats have ever used much anyway.  I just took it because I thought it might help them to feel safe in the car.  The only time it usually gets used here at my house is in winter when it is laying in front of the fire place.  Then Jingle lays on top of it while the fire is lit and roasts.  While I was in Nacogdoches, Mom and I went shopping one day and took a little ice chest with cokes and water in it since we were going to be gone most of the day. Naturally, the little ice chest turned over in the back of my car and leaked water on the cat bed so, when I got home, I threw it in the laundry.  I took it out of the dryer yesterday and threw it in the living room floor and this happened almost immediately.

That is Shiner in there.  He slept inside of it for about an hour.  Then I guess he got hot and spent the rest of the afternoon sleeping on top of it.  Shiner never sleeps on or in a cat bed.  I guess with the relatively cool temperature of 90 degrees yesterday and the 78 degree temp in my house, he was chilled.  Plus it smelled like fabric softener and who can resist that?  If I could fit, I might have curled up in there myself!  He is such a sweety!

I talked to Mom last night.  They had a lot of wind and some rain there.  She said that so many dead trees fell with the wind that they were without electricity from 6 p.m. Tuesday night until about 6 a.m. Wednesday morning.  Mom and Dad have a generator so, they were able to run fans and the little window unit A/C that is in their laundry room, so sleeping in the living room, they were fine.  She said that one of their trees fell across the road so Dad had to get on the tractor once it stopped raining and push it off the road.  Apparently, when he left the house yesterday there were dozens of dead trees down along their road.

All of the dead trees from the drought are making me so sad.  It will be even sadder this winter when we get bad weather if they do not fall or are not cut down before then.  It sure will suck when they all start falling across roads and power lines around here.  There are several big dead trees in yards in my neighborhood.  If they fall and don't hit a house, it will be a miracle.  Surely the HOA's will make them cut the dead trees down soon.

Okay, apparently there wasn't enough swimming in the Olympics already because now they are swimming outside!  They are swimming 6 miles in a park in London.  You can't see in that water.  I don't like swimming in lakes.  It freaks me out to swim if I can't see what is going on below me.  Who would want to do that?  I don't get it.  They would have to give me a lot more than a medal when it was over to get me to do that.  This is exactly why I never water skied enough to get any good at it.  I didn't want to be in that creepy lake water that you couldn't see into any longer than I had to.

When I first got up there was some girl dancing with a hula-hoop on one of those gymnastics mats.  I guess it was her version of the ribbon thing that I saw a few days ago.  But I never saw this girl do any gymnastics she just carried a hula-hoop around and danced with it.  So lame!  It is not a sport if you could exchange the hula-hoop for a guy and be on Dancing With the Stars.

Oh, this swimming thing is called the women's marathon swim.  They had to swim for 2 hours.... straight.... they have feeding stations like in the the Tour de France only you are in the water and don't stop.  So, you swim on your back for a second, take a gulp of Gatorade and then throw the bottle in the water and take off again.  They are swimming in the Serpentine which I believe is in Hyde Park.  I wonder if the Brits are thinking "can't these foreign pigs find trashcans to throw their Gatorade bottles in?"  Oh, yay....  The men's marathon swim is tomorrow.  I can hardly wait.....  It certainly gives me incentive to be up and functioning earlier tomorrow so that I don't have to watch crazy people swim in dirty lake water in cold London again.

Okay, I have to get busy I can't take it anymore.  A group of Russian  women just walked out onto a gymnastics mat with balls under their arms.  I guess it is some form of synchronized gymnastic volleyball or something.  Oh, here's a shock, the announcer just said that none of the women have ever participated in the Olympics before..... Uuuuuummmmmm..... maybe because this is NOT A SPORT!  Talk to you tomorrow!