Hungry

Don't know what's up with today but I have been starving and that would read stomach growling and rumbling starving. I ate two breakfasts. That can't be good. I guess I have to walk to Connecticut to get rid of that. Maybe my metabolism is roaring into some new gear? Ya think? No. Me either. I hope I can do lunch as a normal human being. Wish me luck.

Tribes

Just read somewhere in my wanderings through the net that affirmative action is a tribal concept. We want equal representation on the tribal council and since adademia believes that all right thinking people think as they do, affirmative action will remain deeply rooted in their tribal mores.

Multicultural societies are nothing more than tribes. They share nothing with other tribes unless forced to do so. Each tribe considers itself to be sovereign and usually superior to the others in the area. Our elite class has been working very hard to push the tribal mentality. We are not American, we are (Insert tribal name here)-American. Even our entertainment highlights this thinking. Think Survivor and then gasp at how popular it is and how Lord of the Flies we have all become.

I fear for civilization.

Memory moment

I just thought of a moment when we were kids and there was a movie theater downtown and we could walk to it. Certain Saturdays we could get in for a donation of food. My brother would peel the label off the dog food and get in with that. My mother found out way later and although she thought it was awful...he was just so darned cute and smart, wasn't he?

Another family moment.

Oh My

Get a grip everyone. Seriously. McCain? yikes that's like electing Jimmy Cagney and his palm tree or Humphrey Bogart with the strawberries or whatever that movie was. You know what I mean. You look at the guy and, forget about his love for amnesty and no borders and high taxes and controlling speech and impounding legal weapons, forget about that and look at him. He's wound tighter than a drum and deep inside he feels we owe this to him. He took one for the gipper way back when, he shook it off, he feels cheated and used by the big R party and now, if he can just hold on to that contempt he has for most of us he just might make it through the big door. Well, we get what we need and all too often what we deserve. Who knows who among them all is the one.

whaddya think/

Seriously. Has anyone ever thought that maybe during all those months and years that McCain was held by the Communist North Vietnamese, maybe, just maybe he was brainwashed and doesn't even realize that he is being used by the Chinese to undermine our nation's sovereignty with this amnesty crap and the tax and spend stuff along with whatever other alliances he made with the liberal left which seems to be his true home? Has anyone? I thought not. He could be the Manchurian Candidate. Then again...look at Hillary. Everyone calls her the Commissar and Bill just recently said that she and Mc Cain are soooo close... Later .. more developing

We are at Home

Happy Saturday! This is a great day though a cold one. We just came in from the walk with the girl and it is COLD but the wind is gone so the cold is not as cutting. Got that? Good.

Today will be a day unlike any of the past few Saturdays have been. We are, as the Victorians would say, at home. Oh we have our errands to tend to, I have to get to the library and return a book and pick one up they are holding for me, there's the grocery list to see to, beef stew to make for the FIL, the oven MUST be cleaned as well as the coffee pot, laundry has piled up and finally, the bird feeders have been on the to do list for months and they have to be cleaned and filled. The birds are ready to totally move away from here. I have not cared for the feeders for ever. So there's the day's plan. I'll let you know how it goes. It feels so good to be able to plan these things and have a chance that they may all happen. Lately we have been squashing all the chores into short and rapidly closing windows of time since the FIL and the nursing home and friend's husband passing away and obligations of all sorts have pressed in on us removing any thought of at home get things done at your leisure.

I might even buy some daffodils and have a breath of spring here. On that note, let me share with you our friend and neighbors gorgeous garden..do you wonder why I pine for Spring? We are so lucky to live here.

Doing Great

Well, my FIL is home and great. My BIL is staying over for a while so that Fil won't be alone at night and to be sure that he is back in his normal at home routing and safe and sound. I went over for the day a couple of days ago and sat with him to cover the phone and be sure that we won't be reported for neglecting an elderly citizen. I listened to him tell me what a waste of my time it was and had to agree. He needed very little of my help but we had a great visit for the day. We take him to the surgeon next week and at that time, I'm sure, the report will be that he is back to business as usual with the normal services he has always had. He will hopefully get some at home physical therapy since he won't do any of the exercises on his own or for us. He is the boss of himself for sure. Gotta love him, he is fiercely independent. The visiting nurse and the therapist who have been by are amazed at him. He's not at all as the Nursing Home Rehab Social worker describe to them. They expected to see a confused and befuddled old gent unable to steady himself or make decisions. Instead they see the guy we all know, a capable elderly gentleman who may repeat himself throughout the conversation and could care less what he just had for lunch and so doesn't remember it. He knows he ate and that's that. "I had food" he will say and that to the social worker was most distressing.

Spare me. Thanks for your thoughts and prayers and we are all so happy that he is doing so well. We will back off our constant attentions to him gradually and he should be back to normal by the spring. Normal is where we just annoy him with daily multiple phone calls and visits but he will have moments on his own where we are all out of his hair. He likes it that way.

Homecoming

Went to the Nursing Home and sat next to the Social Worker who proceeded to dictate to us that our elderly relative....my FIL their father and grandfather ... would only be released to a "safe" environment and that meant 24 hour supervision 7 days a week. She pounded that home by telling us that services were randomly sent to the home and if they found him alone they would refer to elder services and he would be in jeopardy. I questioned her authority. I questioned it mightily. I asked her how many attendants they had that sat in the rooms of each and every inmate to assure the world that they would never take a step that was unobserved. I asked her if a patient EVER fell. I asked her what if the attending family member had to walk to the neighbor's for who knew what reason. What if one had to take a shower? What accommodation should the family make....do two people resign from paying positions to sit and watch an elderly man 24 hours a day 7 days a week? Tag team watchers. That's the ticket. Bear in mind that when a child is in jeopardy, those social workers leap into action. Shall I list the numbers of deceased children who died in the hands of brutal and uncaring parents, foster parents or family members that the SOCIAL WORKERS of this glorious commonwealth arranged for them to be cared by? Now this tootsie is dictating that standards higher than the Nursing Home holds for themselves must be met by family members who have cared for this man for the past decade. I am exhausted and enraged and only a little gratified that she finally backed off, sat down, inhaled and became a human being. We were ok when it was over and who knows where this will end.

He comes home tomorrow.....Bless us all and pray mightily. He's really doing great. He's stronger than he's been in months and really looks good. He is eager as can be to come home.

A Good Friday

Have to say that I am still fascinated with how many people stop by to see that YouTube Knitting lesson I wrote about a while ago. Between that and the sociopath thing I could keep the traffic moving.

Well today is a busy one. Among the normal work issues which I am completing from home I have laundry going. This gives me my stairmaster workout since the dirty clothes are on the second floor and the laundry is in the basement. All clean clothes then need to be brought from the basement to the second floor and put in the various bureaus, closets etc. Lots of ups and downs. Every time I hear or use that ups and downs phrase I think of Auntie Mame. Anyone remember that movie with Rosalind Russell. Patrick's fiance from Connecticut was something or other Upson (I think) anywhat . . her parents had a home there named Upson Downs...you have to say it with clenched teeth and a prominent chin thing.

After the laundry comes the trip to the Nursing Home where the FIL is to be released tomorrow into the care of all of us. They say 24/7 care but honestly, the things they are concerned about are things this man was doing for the past 20 years. He had a hip replacement replaced and actually is way better than he was before he went in. Now his hip is working properly. His short term memory? Never. He will go to his own house and, as before, he will have services and family checking in multiple times a day. Initially, he won't be alone since he hasn't been home for quite some time. But down the road, if all is as it was before except that his hip is fine..then all will be as it was before. All safety measures have been taken and he will be fine. The alternative solution? Long term placement. That will kill him quickly. Keep me from the social workers PLEASE.

Pray that I keep my mouth shut during this exit interview. He won't be released until tomorrow and if this meeting goes south...who knows? They have already said that Medicare has run out as of Saturday and then.... they will charge over $300.00 a day. I don't know where they think it will come from.

It's a wonderful life if we don't weaken. Have a good one and Happy Friday.

Don't Blame Me I Voted for Muffie

Today I am political. Call me what you will but I believe that people who enter this country illegally should not be handled as citizens or better than citizens. Better than means...they drive cars without paying the fines and insurance bills, no waiting in line at the registry for them, no insurance of the medical sort, no worries about income tax since that social security number isnt't theirs anyway. When you do the paper work at your place of employment you use that phony number and claim so many dependents that there is little with held. Who cares? It's not you. Your kids go to school without any charges, you get the free breakfast and lunch and subsidized living spaces. Now our esteemed governor, Duval Patrick feels that even though the citizens are outraged when the subject comes up, those illegals and they are illegal, should get in state tuition at state colleges. The bill has been voted down decisively already but that doesn't matter. Duval is going to introduce the in state thing without going through the legislature. They don't count. Why should they? The people don't count so their elected officials don't count. Duval has crowned himself Emporer of the Commonwealth.

Watch the horizon since Barack is coming and Duval won the governor's seat with nothing more than a slogan "Together We Can". Barack has a similar slogan, as much experience and pretty much the same slant towards what should be done with our money. Duval is campaigning fiercely for Barack by the way. In Duval's case I guess that slogan meant that Together we can elect that man and then? Together we can watch him advance himself and his own agenda. Don't blame me by the way. I voted for Muffie.

Counting the hits

I check the counter on this thing fairly often. It reminds me of when I was in college. The dorms all had mailboxes in the foyer or lobby if the dorm was large enough to have a lobby and most weren't. I would check my mailbox very very frequently. Back in those days the USPS was the only way to move thoughts without running up a huge bill on the phone and cell phones? non-existent. Anyhow, there I would be more than once during the day checking to see if someone, anyone had written me something or had called since phone messages were also left in the mailbox. I do the same here. Log on to Sitemeter and see how many have checked this out. Not many. Not ever. Enough to keep me checking however. The most numerous check outs were referred by googling something about a sociopath. I wrote ages ago the signs of a sociopath and related them to someone I might have contact with. It was very brief and I got the info off of the net through a google search. Now it seems I am cluttering up the landscape with my foolish comments. Why are so many people checking out the signs of one of those creatures? Are there that many tormented folks out there? I think there must be.

Just Relax

So cold I don't want to think about going out there but here's the dog. She doesn't seem to care and in fact if it were also raining she would delight in strolling and pausing even more than she does in mild sunny weather.

That above stuff was written yesterday and today? It's much the same but last night my back was feeling the step on the HUGE dog toy and twist to keep from falling thing that occurred earlier in the evening so I took a muscle relaxer. It had been a while since I last needed one of those and I forgot how relaxed they can make me. Thank the Good Lord I only took one or I wouldn't have woken up until this coming Tuesday or so. As it is I made coffee and forgot to put the pot under the maker. Caught that before the real flooding occurred. I must shower and put my head together. Where's the shower kept in this place? The husband has walked the dog without me...he couldn't keep track of the two of us. Thinks he's funny. Later

Actions - Consequences

All morning the local talk show on the radio has been ranting and raving about a homemade "bomb" set off in the parking lot of a supermarket nearby. The young man responsible is 17 and got the instructions for this thing off of Youtube. Begin the arguing concerning the "prank" of a youth or the deliberate intent to set off a weapon of some destruction. In my mind I hear all of the previous nonsense instigated by the "youth" in the area and how it has been handled. From afar it seems that actions have no consequences other than parents shelling out a bundle for legal representation to first of all defend and then to sue to recover some of the costs of the defense.

I go back to my "youth" which I am sad to say lingered well into my adult years and realize that, for most of the nonsense we went through due to bad decisions and foolish behaviour, I thought all it would take was money to make it better. The consequences of our actions depleted our wallets and money is the most easily replaced resource. The consequences of our actions were easily dismissed. Tra la la la la until my late husband made a decision that could not be reversed or paid off or changed in any way shape or form. That was the first time I realized that this is not a TV soap opera where we get written out of the script only to return down the road with a story about the coma being reversed or amnesia causing years of wandering away only to be .. .. .. well you get it. There are certain actions that cause such consequences that lives are destroyed and people gone and I don't think there's any way to teach that except to live through it.

Would we have averted some tragedy if, as children, we suffered true consequences for our actions? I'll never know but I know I have a totally different outlook since that tragedy of my past. I sit and wonder what would happen if I do this instead of that? Who will be affected and how will it change me or them? Sometimes I'm paralyzed by my thoughts. Then I realize that God holds me in the palm of His hand and if I love Him it will be OK and . . . . I still wish that people could understand that we can't undo some things..and our actions or words have long reaching and serious impacts. Think and pray and then act.

Wow. I am really pondering today. Sorry.

Short and Rambling

Man it really is a new year isn't it? I have one more day to get in gear so this is truly a short week for me. Right now I am gazing at a distant sunrise through the bare trees..it's a peach hue, the trees are like a pen and ink drawing by Edward Gorey. The sky above the peach is heavy slate clouds. I makes me wish that I had a sketch pad. "Do I sketch?" you might ask. "No", I answer, "but I wish I did." Well then. That is one more resolution for the 2008 time frame.

I love, for some reason, the bare tangled branches of trees against the sky. What's that about?

My time at the computer for the moment is gone. I have a dog to walk and coffee to make and then I will be back.