Are things looking up?

Well, it has been a few months since my last blog.  Just haven't been in the mood to type anything.  Since February, we did take a cheap vacation that didn't turn out so well.  My husband did get a job - that he absolutely hates - they treat him like poop.  He's been in the hospital with a serious bacterial infection.  We adopted 3 horses.  I had a job interview on June 10th and made it to the 2nd round.  That round won't happen until a certain person gets back from vacation on Monday.  I am so hoping I get this job.  It is only 6 miles from my house and it's 8-5 most of the time instead of 10-7 with an hour commute each way.  This company also offers full benefits - which means hubby could quit his job and go into the hay cutting business that he wants to do.  I know - a lot of risk, but it could be worth it.  He and a neighbor are working on the detail.  We took our 12 acre field out of the CRP program - wasn't happy with the requirement to spray Monsanto's Round-up products - they make enough money poisoning our food supply and I'm not going to help them.

We are currently babysitting a friend's puppy while they are vacation for the 2nd time this year.  He's a sweet puppy, but he keeps pooping in my bedroom - even after we take him outside.  Frustrating - thought I was past the puppy phase of having dogs!

I am currently bottle feeding 2 orphan rabbits.  Their mama is a Red San Juan mix, but refused to care for her litter of 8.  These 2 are the only ones left - they are almost 4 weeks old now.  Starting to reject the formula because they are eating grass, pellets and carrots.  I have installed a water bottle for them, too.  I guess I am adding 2 more pets to the herd as I told my hubby that they were not getting sold and they were not going in the freezer.  He just frowned. I've worked way too hard to keep them alive thus far. Going to try to figure out to build a hutch for them with scraps and a little farmgirl ingenuity.  We'll see what happens.

I failed miserably with my seed starting this year.  Oh - it started out great, until I put them outside to harden off and I forgot about them until about 2 weeks later.  They were certainly crispy.  Oh well.  We have direct sowed many other seeds and things are growing.  We have some volunteer pumpkins coming up in some very strange places, too.

Hubby built 4 raised beds for me.  He also built 2 stalls in the barn and we are going to start on a 3rd one this weekend.  My 2 year old horse is at the trainers for the month and so we have put off building it.  We put the 10 year old in his stall and the 15 year old in her own custom built stall.  She's only 28 inches tall so everything had to be built to scale for her.  Seems to working.

That's it for today - getting ready to head home from work.  Yes - I did this while at work.  I can do things like this while at work because we are a very slow store.  As long as we help customers when they walk in, the boss doesn't really care what we do.  That's one thing I will miss.  See ya' next time.

Sometimes in life a little heartbreak....

My grandfather is 96.  Four years from a century of being on Earth.  I knew it would happen sooner or later.  No, he hasn't passed on.  He's losing his memories.  June 9, 2012, my beautiful niece was married.  After the wedding, we stopped by Grandpa's house to visit.  He seemed to be doing just fine.  We were carrying on a conversation like usual.  Then it happened.  He looked at his 12-year-old grandson and said "And who is this fine looking young man?"  Lliam, being the sensitive type, burst into tears.  I kept cool, but I think I was in shock.  I suggested to Lliam that he go outside and try to find some rabbits.  I sent his daddy after him to try to explain what just happened.  Grandpa looked at me sort of stunned and asked "Did I say something to offend him?"  I said no, that he had just had a long day with the wedding and all.  He asked who got married.  I explained it was his great granddaughter.  He thought about it for a few minutes and asked again who the boy was that had been sitting next to me.  I had to fight the tears.  I explained it again.  Then I changed the subject.  I asked him if he wanted to send Jessica a check for a wedding gift.  "Who's Jessica?"  I explained it again.  He decided he had better send one if she was his granddaughter.  I wrote the check out for $50 and let him sign it.  I also wrote a note explaining who, why and how much so when my mom visited next, she could explain it to him again.  I also balanced his check book and wrote on the bottom of the check "wedding gift" so he wouldn't think someone had just coerced him to give them money that he didn't know.

I had been given a warning about what was happening earlier in the day, but it didn't register until that moment.  My brother had explained to me that when he and his son were out to visit the day before, the exact same thing happened with his son.  It's heartbreaking when someone you love with all your heart doesn't have a clue who you are.

On the ride home, Lliam was still weepy so I tried to explain in a way that he might better understand.  Here's what I came up with on the fly.  "Lliam, you know when it is really, really foggy outside and you want to pull back the fog like curtains so you can see better?"
"Yeah."
"Well, that's kind of how it is in Grandpa's mind.  We are all in there somewhere, but he can't find us. It's sad, I know, but it happens to most older people.  Sometimes it happens way before this age, but it does happen. He's losing his memories in the fog."
"Oh."
"You know what else I think?  I think that when he goes to heaven to be with Grandma, he will remember every single thing that has ever happened in his life.  I also think that when he remembers something that involves you, that's when you think of a fond memory of him."
A small smile appeared.  "Dad, can we go fishing when we go camping?"

Choices - Good or Bad - We've All Made Them

Yesterday at work was not such great day.  Why?  Our sign carrier verbally exploded.  Let me back up a few and give some background on this issue.  When the company owner was in the process of opening his fifth store, his maintenance guy happened upon a homeless fellow that was looking for work.  Mr. Fix-it was all about the company  owner hiring this guy.  I questioned it.  Don't get me wrong, I do not have a problem with someone who is down on their luck getting a boost from those who can give.  However, we knew nothing about this person, where he came from, his criminal history (if he had one), his mental state, etc.  In this day and age one can't be too careful.  This wall comes from working in law enforcement for almost 10 years.  I've seen and heard about an awful lot of well intending people getting hurt by those they are trying to help.  Mr. Owner hired the guy to carry the sandwich boards advertising our business. Let the drama begin.

The first few days weren't so bad.  Mr. Signs got paid daily at the end of the day.  After a few days, he started asking "Can I have an hour or two for lunch money and cigs?"  Mr. Owner obliged him.  Mr. Signs is supposed to be walking from 10 am until at least 5 pm.  We close at 6 pm.  Mr. Signs might work until 3 pm then come in and tell us he was done.  Reasons?
1.  It's too hot.
2.  It's too cold.
3.  Going to a ball game.
4. His girl was giving him trouble.
5. His girl was in trouble - needed to go to another town to get her.
6. Had to go to court.
7. It's raining.
8. Tired.
9. Had enough of people making comments.
10. Got in a fight.

Really?  One day last week another employee and I were looking at a video online of a dog riding a rocking horse - it was hilarious.  Mr. Signs comes in and wants to be clocked out because he has something to take care of.  It just so happened that at the same time he asked that, we laughed because of the video.  Mr. Signs went postal.  He started screaming at my co-worker.  The f-bomb was flying out of his mouth every other word.  He made threats to my co-worker, telling him he was going to rip his head off and ^&*( down his throat, f-this-f-that m-f.  I tried to intervene by telling Mr. Signs he needed to take it down a notch and stop making threats.  He looked at me and said "They ain't threats, they is promises."  I told him that was enough and he needed to leave.  After about 5 more minutes of belligerence, he screamed that he quit and stormed out the door.
Just so happened that Mr. Owner pulled up and Mr. Signs went over and started yelling at him.  Mr. Owner got him to calm down and insisted that he come in and apologize to my co-worker.  Mr. Signs did that, but I was not convinced.

A few days later, a couple of younger people came in saying that Mr. Signs was trying to start a fight outside and some woman was trying to restrain him.  I went out to see what was going on.  It's not good for a company representative to fight with the general public.  The lady was still with Mr. Signs and insisted that the two people who came in the store started the whole thing.  Mr. Signs apologized to me for losing his temper and throwing the sign on the ground.  I informed him that if I got another complaint about him-whether it was his fault or not, he was done.  He protested, but I calmly explained to him that as a business we cannot have this much negative activity going on as it would hurt the reputation of the business.

Moving up to yesterday, it was near the end of the day when a fellow business owner entered the store.  Mind you- Mr. Signs clocked out around 3:30 pm and this happened around 5 pm.  The business owner was obviously very upset about something and wanted to speak to Mr. Owner.  We informed him that Mr. Owner was not present, but was there something we could do to help him.  He claimed that Mr. Signs was in his business parking lot soliciting business right out from under him.  We asked him to explain.  He said the guy in the blue shirt was telling his customers to come over to our store because we paid more.  He expressed his disapproval of this practice to Mr. Signs.  He then told us how Mr. Signs got mouthy and started yelling at him.

I told the business owner that it would be dealt with appropriately.  He said he didn't want any bad blood between the two businesses, but he couldn't let things like that happen.  I told him we understood, that Mr. Signs was currently off the clock, and it would be dealt with.

At about 10 minutes to closing, Mr. Signs came in the store asking if we bought a ring.  I told him no one came in to sell a ring.  I then asked if he had been at the antique shop.  He immediately went on the defensive- yelling and screaming at me.  Throwing the F-bomb every other word.  Accused us of being hoity-toity rich people living in air conditioned homes, driving nice cars, taking vacations and eating out all the time and that he lived in a tent.  I looked him square in the eyes and told him he was where he was because of the choices he had made and continued to make.  He called me a bitch. (not the first time I've been called that - I dealt with angry truck drivers as an inspector - it's part of the job).  I told him that was his opinion and that it was his choice to express that opinion.  I told him that Mr. Owner had explained to him how to get a new ID card since he lost his and he chose not to follow Mr. Owner's advice.  I told him that if he had followed Mr. Owner's advice about the ID card, he could have started the process of looking for more permanent living arrangements.  I could tell by the look on his face that he was getting madder and madder.  I suggested that he go to his tent and chill out for the evening.  To that he said "F*&$ YOU, F*&$ this job and I quit."  I said "That's your choice."

This morning when I drove in the lot, I could see Mr. Signs sitting on the embankment watching me.  Creepy!  Before I could get inside the building, he was right beside me.  He was begging for his job back.  I told him it was out of my hands.  He begged some more and again I told him it wasn't up to me.  I unlocked the door and went inside as he walked away, mad.  He then started calling the store phone.  At first I didn't answer because it wasn't time to open for business.  At about 2 til 10, I answered it.  He wanted to talk to Mr. Owner.  I asked him if he saw Mr. Owner's truck in the lot.  He said no, but he needed to talk to him. He begged me to call him and ask if he could have his job back.  I said if I talked to Mr. Owner, I might say something.

I did indeed talk to Mr. Owner.  I expressed my concern about Mr. Signs verbal abuse to my co-worker and me, his unstable state of mind, his paranoia, his explosive behavior, the fact that he can't follow direction, gets defensive with constructive criticism,  and - most of all-doesn't know when to shut up.  I also expressed concern that Mr. Signs made me uncomfortable and that it creeped me out how he watches us all time.  I told Mr. Owner that it was my opinion that someone who was that violent with words and was ready to fight anyone at anytime could cause harm to me or my co-worker or worse - the customers.
I now worry that Mr. Signs will start stalking us.  He has said previously that he was an Army Ranger.
I pity him too.

Now before anyone gets their feathers ruffled - I don't have a problem with homeless people or people who have had a run of back luck and are currently down and out.  However, don't judge me because I have a job, a house and a  couple of cars.  I have worked hard to get those things and even harder to keep them.  I know about losing a job, being without money, being within a payment or two of losing everything.  Then I lost my home to a fire.  Thankfully I had insurance - that I work hard to pay for.  When I lost my job, I lost a few friends as well.  They couldn't handle having a poor person hanging around.  Not such good friends.  During this dark time in my life that began in 2009, I went through so many emotions.  The depression was the worst and it almost consumed me.  BUT I MADE A CHOICE.  I chose to keep fighting for what I worked so hard for.  I chose to get off my butt, get a job and get back on my feet.  I chose to take responsibility for caring for my family.  I chose NOT to ask for welfare or food stamps. Yes, I got unemployment for awhile.  I was entitled to it.  I've worked since I was 16 and I earned it.  If we didn't have the money to buy something - we didn't. At Christmas, my husband and I didn't buy any presents for ourselves and used what little money we had to buy a couple of toys and some clothes for our son. We didn't go beg for toys at the toy drive.  If the groceries ran low - we made do with what we had even if it was only rice and beans. We didn't go to the food pantry and ask for hand outs.  It wasn't fun, but we muddled through. When we lost the house to the fire, I chose not to wallow in sorrow and self-pity.  I went to work the next day - no sense in sitting around thinking about what happened.  I couldn't change the fact that everything was gone.  I was going to have to start over, again.

How do you depreciate the value of a pet's life?

When our house burned down, I never thought dealing with the insurance company could be so blood boiling.  I've mentioned how we have to write down everything we can remember that we lost and how much we paid for it.  Then the insurance company will depreciate it.  After that, they send us money to buy the item back, but things cost more these days.  If it costs more to replace than we paid, they supposedly will send the difference.  Ok so our sofa cost about $2,000 when it was new 5 years ago.  I don't know how to figure the depreciation, but say they will send us $1,000 for the sofa.  How are we supposed to repurchase the same sofa with only $1,000?  I don't understand.

Well, how in the hell do you put a price on the life of a pet?  Are they going to depreciate his value because he was 11 years old and a cat can live for more than 20 years? Is he less valuable because we adopted him? Because he was declawed? Because he was neutered? WTF?  I just don't get it.  He can't be replaced.  Zeke was Zeke.  Every pet is different their own special way.  His life was priceless.  

What was that about?

Lliam will soon be 12 - less than a month away. Our usual tradition is to spend the night in a hotel so he can go swimming. This year, he mentioned that he wanted a backyard bug safari party. So like any good mother, I have been looking into ideas for such a party. It shouldn't be too terribly difficult.

He had also mentioned that he really liked a certain BB gun he saw at Traderbaker's. Well, we went ahead and bought the gun. We were going to save it for his birthday, but decided to give it to him early. Now my husband just bought the gun today and was going to give it to him this weekend. Why would we give it to him early? Well, he's been through so much lately, including having to change schools in the middle of the year. Hard enough for a regular kid, almost impossible for a special needs kid who HATES changes. He's been doing very well and we thought we would just reward that awesome behavior.

When he was picked up from school today, he asked if the gun was still at the store. His dad told him someone had bought it. OMG....the world just ended. Lliam started crying and blubbering about stupid people and he never gets anything. Lance was trying to get him to calm down and finally shouted out that HE had bought the gun as a surprise for him. Lliam calmed down then said he didn't want a birthday party and didn't want to stay at a hotel for his birthday this year.

Now I ask, was this a statement of stubbornness or was he feeling guilty for blowing up and acting out?

He called me and said he didn't want anything for his birthday. I asked him why several times, but he would only say he didn't know why, he just didn't want that this year. Is he finally realizing that people can do nice things on other days besides Christmas and birthdays?

I hope so, because we do nice things all the time for him. Take the new dog for instance. She wasn't in the budget right now, but she seemed like a perfect fit for him. I rearranged a few things and came up with the money for her. I don't know. It seems like to me that he doesn't always see the nice things, just the times he doesn't get what he wants. That's when we hear what terrible parents we are. How nice. Oh, I know, every parent gets told at one time or another how horrible they are. It's inevitable. It's part of growing up and finding out there are rules and limits to everything. All I can do is hope that someday he sees the light.

Buying in the USA...

As we get ready to start building our new home, we were talking about all the problems with imported building materials. Things like drywall imported from China is substandard to that manufactured in the US. Ours might be just a bit more pricey, but I would rather pay a little more and know it's going to last. The same goes for steel. I keep reading articles about low quality steel used in buildings that have since collapsed. When the steel's path was retraced it came directly from China. I understand that builders are trying to save a buck to make more profit, but is it really worth loosing integrity and respect and money if everything you build falls down?

Our builder said he would evaluate our budget and do his very best to by US products. He did say however, that it would be nearly impossible for him build our house with 100% US made due to costs. He has agreed to consult with us on what would be acceptable and what would not. Here are a few things that we know are going to be Made in the USA: the bricks for the exterior, the lumber, the drywall, the paint, and the windows. We are currently looking into bath fixtures, kitchen fixtures, appliances, local cabinet makers, furniture, and flooring. Also checking out light fixtures, outlet covers and wiring.

We have also adjusted the size of the house to try to allow for more USA made materials. I am going to do my best to purchase accessories and such at local flea markets, garage sales and auctions. There's still a lot of really neat things out there that were made in the USA a long time ago.

I challenge you to buy American next time you go out shopping!

I've been away.

Wow, it has really been a long, long time since I posted anything. I guess I kinda got lost in life. Its been a rough couple of years. I am hoping the last major snafu will be the last for a good long time. We lost our house in a fire in October. Undetermined electrical was the cause. What a nighmare. Thankfully we are all ok. We did lose a much loved kitty named Zeke though. He was about 11 I think. An adoptee from the Anderson animal shelter, he was a good kitty. We'd had him since 2004. My husband said as he was running out of the burning house calling "kitty, kitty, kitty" he thought he saw Zeke run back in. Poor critter was confused. Our other 2 kitties were secured after the fire in the garage. They lived in there for 5 weeks while we lived in a hotel room with the 2 dogs. We are all now living in a rental home until ours is rebuilt.

This has been a long process and won't be over for months. I never ever thought in a million years that I would have to actually list every single item in my home. I'm not kidding. Insurance wants to know how many rolls of toilet paper we had to how many magnets were on the fridge. Really? I don't know! My husband and I have spent hours trying to remember. Why is it so hard you may ask. Well you have to understand that I am a collector. (hubbs calls it borderline hoarder) Without looking - can you say how many pairs of socks, undies, bras, purses, jeans, pants, shorts, shoes, belts, bags, makeup brushes, q-tips, bandaids, tea bags, spices, plates, cups, forks, spoons, knives, pens, pencils, buttons, spools of thread, kitchen gadgets, utensils, cleaners, rags, towels, sheets, blankets, pillowcases, movies, cd's, notebooks, stamps, pins, scissors, quilt fabrics, paints, brushes, earrings, necklaces, etc. You get my point. Its not easy.

Did you notice how scattered the list is? Well that is what happens in my head when I am trying to list stuff. I will try to focus on one room - say the kitchen- when all of the sudden something will pop in my head and off my mind goes to that room, then on to the next room. Before I know it, my brain is ready to explode and I have to walk away. Been at this for 3 months.

Insurance also wants to know when we bought/aquired it, how much we paid, and current replacement cost including tax. OMG! Some stuff will never be able to be replaced. I had a lot of discontinued quilt fabrics, antiques and pictures. HELLO!!!!!!!

I had a bunch of vintage trade blankets from the 1930's and 1940's. I've been collecting them for years. I recently checked an online auction site - WOW! I didn't pay anywhere near those prices!

Oh and my pink leather jacket. I found what was left of that in the rubble. I haven't found another one yet.

Why am I not thinking of things right now instead of posting? Well, it's time for one of those breaks. Thankfully I have the kind of job allows me to do this kind of thing. After all, there's not much I can do until a customer actually walks through the door.

Stay tuned.

What's the point

I was going to blog away this evening, but decided to forget about it. No one reads these anyway. I wanted to bitch about work, insurance, autism, so called friends, families, stalled creativity, fleas, flea killers that don't kill and illness. Here's one thought for it all PPPBBBBBBBBBBLLLLLLLLLLLLLFFFFFFFFFFFHHHHHHHHHHHH(for those who might read this - that's a raspberry) I am going to take a shower and go to bed before I punch somebody.

Ugh -football season is back

Well so much for evening television when I watch. And it is only preseaon. Take this evening for example - was getting ready to watch a movie with George Lopez and in walks hubby and changes the channel to watch the Colts. EXCUSE ME!? AND at posting time they were losing!! Why do you want to watch them lose?

I need answers

I am SO tired of dealing with autism. Medication after medication. Hospitalizations. Meltdowns - his then mine. No time away. Oh sure, I just had a 5 day vacation, but damn after 9 years that's not very much. We can't go out - no one will watch him. We've lost most of our friends because he is out of control. The few we do have, haven't really seen much of a meltdown, YET.

I cry myself to sleep so often - I should be out of tears. Hell, I'm crying right now. He had a meltdown this evening in public - one lady threatened to call the police. I said 'Go ahead, I could use a break.' She huffed and walked away. Gee, lady thanks for the help!

Why?

Looks as though Zeke has the right idea for these bitter cold days we've been having. It a bit warmer today than it has been. Looks like a balmy 26 degrees out there. The horses are enjoying 2 bales of hay and the ducks and chickens are enjoying some sunshine. Yesterday, after we discovered a broken frozen pipe, we called the plumber. They were able to fix one problem, but when we turned the water on, we found another. They asked us if we thought we could make thru the weekend w/o running water because if they came back on Monday it would so much cheaper. We are waiting until Monday. We shoveled snow in the horse tank. After that load melts, we add more. One strange thing that has happened since the plumbers were here though, is the outside cats have found a secret passage that somehow leads IN THE HOUSE!! I haven't found it yet, but I think it is around the old furnace. We don't use it anymore because it was so inefficient. The plumbers had to remove some of the duct work to get to some of the pipes. I am just sure that is where the kitties are getting in! AND if they are getting in - what else can get in- oh the thought!!!!!

I really hate not being able to do laundry. (did that sound sincere?) No - really - I like doing laundry. The only problem is since I didn't get to it last weekend from helping my mother, the mountain is growing! It will take a week to get caught up. We only use the dryer for my uniforms because of the lint. We even went out and purchased another wooden drying rack. Now I have three. I line them up in front of the pellet burner and let the heat from that dry the clothes. It also helps add moisture to the air. As much as I like the pellet burner, it really dries the air out!
Another drawback to not having water is that no dishes are getting done. We are trying to use compostable tableware, but unfortunately, we are eating out frequently. I am out of pans to cook in. I was holding out, trying not to buy water, but I am afraid we are going to have to get a couple jugs anyway. We are using hand sanitizer and baby wipes to clean up with. What about the bathroom, you ask - Well we have that covered as well. You see, a while back, my husband read about making a port-a-pot out of a 5-gallon bucket, wood shavings, and an old hose winder. You know the square kind that is supposed to look nicer next to the spiggot that a coiled up hose. Our plan was to take it with us when we went trail riding with the horses since, a lot of times there are not bathrooms close by. I guess you can say we are roughing it. It doesn't smell too bad.....you just have to layer in a bunch of shavings after you "go". It sure beats having to spend money on a hotel room or going outside!! Afterall, we are still going to have a hefty plumber's bill.

Thanks for reading. Leave a comment if you wish.

Greetings from Alex!

I tried to post last night but the server failed (again). I am loving the MaryJanesFarm.org site. It's heavenly. I have learned so much and am learning more everyday.

I would like to take a stand tonight about our food and where it comes from. Did you know that MONSANTO is trying to control our seeds? In a nutshell, they want to make it illegal for seed banks to sell organic seeds. They want to be the only provider of seeds to the world. They already have seeds that will not germinate if you save them, so that means you have to buy more of their seeds the next growing season. What a crock. MONSANTO can kiss my big rosey red behind. To them I say "You will not tell me I can not save seeds. You will not tell me what food I can grow. If you think you can, you are wrong and can go straight to hell!" Please go to MaryJanesFarms.org and look up the "Danger of Extinction" thread. It is so important. This is our food, people. Still don't know how dangerous MONSANTO is? They invented PCB's and Agent Orange. Need I say more?

Now some other things I need to vent about.
1. Our roof. 3 years ago we hired a contractor to put a new roof on. It has leaked ever since. He came out several times and slapped some crap on the roof but it didn't help. I think it made it worse. I filed suit and it is still pending. I have mold growing from my bedroom walls and ceiling, my walk in closet ceiling and my bathroom ceiling. I have since hired another company to proceed with the repairs, but the mortgage company is dragging their feet. Yes, I had to get a mortgage on a house that was completely paid for to get the roof fixed. Doesn't that suck? Here's why: To take off the new crappy roof, put in new insulation, new decking, and standing seam steel, gut the bedroom, closet and bathroom, repair other places in the house, remove everything from the house and demold it, demold the house, carpet included is going to cost around $60,000. All that for a $7000 roof that ended up costing $16000 because of Hurricane Katrina (at least that's what he said). Had to pay it - he had the old roof and decking completely off the house when he raised the price!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We have to move out of our home into a camper for 1 1/2 months to 4 months while this is going on. The camper is borrowed from a co-workers brother (God bless them). I am dreading it though. We have 2 dogs, 1 inside cat, and 3 of us. We can't feasibly leave the property because of the livestock.
After new contractor and his crew (Servicemaster) clean our belongings, they will be stored in a POD in our front yard until we can move back in.

All of this was supposed to be done over the summer while our son was not in school. Now it looks like we may be spending our Christmas in a camper in front of the garage. I am trying to see the bright side of this, but haven't been able to get through the crap stuck on the glass.


2. IVY TECH college. I was supposed be taking classes this fall, but since IVYTECH changed data bases, they lost just about everyone's financial aid info, mine included. No classes for me. I may never get that nursing degree!

3. Work. Need I say more? Sure - I drive a squad car that has 161,000+ miles on it. I have the highest miles in the district so I've been told. They have supposedly ordered new cars, but they won't be in for 60 days then they have to be "put together". Given that time line I am guessing I will have about 167,000 miles racked up. My last car quit about 168,000.
I have a pair of uniform pants with a hole in the back pocket. Hope I don't have a complete blow out while inspecting a truck!! I have another pair with white paint that I have colored over with a black marker to hide right in the middle of the butt seam. That's what I get for holding the door for one of my elders, huh. Thanks to the painter at McDonald North in Anderson for that. They didn't have any wet paint signs posted and I didn't see that it was wet.

4. I sincerely hope WAMU goes under!!

5. Medicaid. Wow that's a touchy one. I work for the ISP and still my son qualifies for this benefit. That's sad. However, the lady at the office is being rather pushy. She called last week and wanted us to get some papers filled out by his psychitrist as to the extent of his condition. And she wanted it done before she called about it!!! When I took the papers up to the doctor's office to get this done, the dr. said he would not fill them out because they were for a medical doctor, not a psychitrist to fill out. Ok - now what ms. medicaid lady?


I'm done for tonight. There's more, but it can wait!!