Creating Heather

Fairy Lights and Staying on the Path

2009-08-13T20:56:00.002-04:00

It is an archetypal scene. The protagonist is on a quest or journey and must cross or go through a swamp. In some cases (the Lord of the Rings) the hero is lead by a guide in others the hero is on his/her own. In almost every case the hero is warned to stay on the path. Don't be drawn down false trails by swamp lights or fairy lights...they will lead you away from the path until you are lost or drown. In most stories there is a point in this journey through the dangerous swamp where the hero or protagonist, despite the warnings, becomes enthralled with the fairy lights and wanders away to a near death experience. (In Frodo's case in Lord of the Rings, he almost drowns before his stalwart friend Samwise pulls him free).
These scenes speak to real life. We are all the protagonists in our own lives. There are times when we know we have to stay a course or walk a certain path and even with this knowledge the fairy lights beckon.
I find "fairy lights" can be a good indicator that you are on the right path. I feel pretty firm with the path I tread right now and today I had a "fairy light" moment. I received a call from a corporation offering consulting positions for training professionals. On the surface it seems like the perfect job for me (bright and shiny objects distract easily). After a few moments of building excitement something told me to take a closer look. As I spoke with the representative from this company I began to see the truth behind the shiny light. This was far from the perfect job. It was a great way to spend a lot of money to get access to resources I could access other ways to be one of 6.000 people on a list that companies could call to consult for them. No guarantees, no regular checks, lots of start up cost. In other words the rep talked a great game but in the end, much like fairly lights, it was all a bunch of hot gas that could have easily lead me down the wrong path and gotten me stuck in the mud or drowning.
This experience reminded me I need to stay clear on my vision and path.

Phoenix Rises from the Ashes Again

2009-08-04T16:04:00.002-04:00

We have continued to make custom jewelry and have relaunched our website.
We can custom design and make jewelry for anyone at very affordable rates.
Check us out and contact us if you are interested
Phoenix Rising Productions Jewelry

Back to school -- online

2009-08-03T21:11:00.002-04:00

Today I am officially the newest graduate student at Hope International University Online. I am now working toward a Masters in Education. Classes start in a couple weeks. For now I'm all excited...I'm sure in a few weeks after diving in my enthusiasm will dampen a bit but I am really looking forward to learning again.

Workman's Comp Displays of Wisdom

2009-07-14T15:32:00.002-04:00

Tara hurt her back at work unloading the delivery truck a few weeks ago. It hurt when she originally strained it but didn't seem life altering. Last week it really started to hurt to the point that she willingly went to the doctor.
Since the original injury is work related she contacted workman's comp. After the usual run around, poor attitude from the rep, disbelieving snide comments, etc. they set Tara up to go to their doctor today. Gave her an address in our town to get checked out.
This morning she goes to the address and finds..."For Pet's Sake Animal Hospital" The doctor they were trying to send her to moved offices two years ago. His old building is now a pet hospital....some times you just have to laugh...

Samwise the Defiant

2009-06-30T14:13:00.003-04:00

Most commonly heard phrase in the house right now? "SAAAAAAMMMM....NO!"
He has turned into quite the little spitfire and has already established himself as the alpha cat.
He loves all the cat toys, attacking anything from plastic bottle caps to balls to shadows to the other cats to my feet to the phone charger to the lamp shade to oh just about anything.
And he is still well named because he shows no fear...he is immune to water spray and will stop doing what he shouldn't be doing for as long as it takes you to say "NO" before blithely continuing on.
My favorite bad Sam routine right now is his attempts to get on the kitchen counter. The house has an open floor plan so the space between the back of the couch and the edge of the counter is very small. If I am in the kitchen washing dishes or preparing dinner he will climb up on the back of the couch to watch and then ever so slowly try to inch up on to the counter. When the inevitable, "Saaaammmm...NO!" is uttered he quickly backs up the the back of the couch before resuming his efforts.
We have had to resort to shutting the bedroom door at night. I hate to do it but he does not sleep as much as most cats and spends most of the night attacking anything that shifts under the covers or trying to attack the lamp or phone charger on the night stand next to my head. So for now all three cats spend their nights in the rest of the house. as he calms a bit (hopefully) we'll try to let them back in.
He is really persistent..attacks lamp on night stand- gets picked up told NO and placed on floor...immediately hops up and attacks lamp again...repeat 12 times...he's like one of the moles from the Whack - A - Mole game... just keeps popping up again.
Samwise the brave, defiant, energetic and smart is truly a one-of-a-kind addition to our household.

Famous Losses

2009-06-25T21:27:00.003-04:00

Ed McMahon passing was sad but not that shocking....
Farrah Fawcett was another loss that is sad but in light of her 3 year battle with cancer, not that suprising.
Michael Jackson is definately a shock.
May they all rest in peace...

Meet the New Addition

2009-05-29T09:42:00.003-04:00

It's a funny thing. You realize when you lose a pet that you can never, ever replace them in your heart but oddly enough your heart can grow and have room to love a new one. Meet Samwise or Sammy our latest addition. He was one of 6 kittens that a local woman was trying to find a home for. He isn't all black, there is a white spot high on his neck under his chin and white hair in his ears.

We named him Samwise after Samwise Gamgee in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. J.R.R. Tolkien described Samwise as the bravest character in the series and "stout of heart" and very loyal. Our little Samwise is very brave and virtually fearless and is already taking over the house. He has displaced Curious George from the top of the cat tree and Callie from the back of the love seat, attacks anything, never backs down and is very cuddly when he chooses to be.

Callie at first treated him like a day old kitten and George attempted to ignore him. Now they all play Thundering Herd of Elephants and seem to be getting along fine. Samwise initially was flea infested. The poor things first experience in our home was a Dawn soap bath in the bathroom sink and tweezers. He is flea free and fiesty now. The woman said they were 8 weeks old but judging from his size I would say he was closer to 6 weeks. He is litter trained and loves dry and wet cat food. He and George share the wet food in the morning.

Samwise is quite a delight to have around.

Max Cat Food Recall

2009-05-25T11:10:00.003-04:00

We went to buy cat food on Friday and the shelves in PetSmart where the Max Cat formula dry food usually is were bare. We went and asked and associate and she explained that there was a voluntary recall on almost all Max Cat food due to potentially high levels of zinc and potassium in the food.
This hit us like a sledge hammer. We switched to Max Cat last year and last winter switched to the indoor weight loss formula (one of the types recalled). And a few months later Charles was starting to lose some weight. Then the week between Christmas and New Years when we had a house full he got kind of run down and a couple days later was jaundice and one day later we had to send him over the rainbow bridge. The vet stated there were a few potential causes for his condition and one at the top of her list? Zinc poisoning.
If you have any Max Cat food take it back to PetSmart immediately! They will refund your money, exchange it for a different brand or give you store credit.
We are now in the process of getting all our information in order before contacting the makers of Max Cat and processing through a lot of what ifs (like what if we hadn't switched food?). Charles was barely 6 years old. We can't change what happened but it brought the loss of Charles right back to the front. The paperwork we have on the recall states that to their knowledge no cats have died but I think it is more likely that more cats were like Charles...hard to figure out without expensive testing that wasn't going to save him anyway.
The Facts:
Nutro Dry Cat Food Recall began May 21, 2009. Contact Nutro customer service at 1-800-833-5330 or visit www.nutroproducts.com. You can contact PetSmart at 1-888-839-9638 or on Twitter at @PetSmartTLC.
This recall includes just about every brand of Nutro Max Cat and Nutro Naturals brand cat food.

Wheel of Time Controversy

2009-04-20T15:16:00.002-04:00

I am a big fan of Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series. There were 11 books plus a prequel written as of the time of the author's death in 2007. He was working on the final volume, tentatively titled A Memory of Light when he died leaving some extensive notes and sections of the book written.
Brandon Sanderson, an author and fan, was chosen by Jordan's widow to finish the book. Originally, the hope was to have the book published this year and have all the little loose ends tied up.
If you know anything about the series, Jordan wrote about many main characters and more than numerous smaller characters. There are almost too many plots and sub plots to count. In the past, every time a new book came out I would spend the months leading up to the release rereading the previous volumes. Sanderson began researching, rereading the original 11 books, reviewing Jordan's notes and preparing to write and realized the enormity of this project. He had two choices as an author:
1. Cram everything into one book, leaving many of the smaller loose ends unresolved and not giving proper due to some of the main characters and basically all of the smaller characters and plots.
2. Write it as truly as he could.
Sanderson chose to tell the complete end to the story, tie up all the loose ends, and try to stay true to Jordan's vision. He admits he can never really fill Jordan's shoes but he wants to do justice to the work. So now the whole think is looking to go upwards of 800,000 words.
The decision was made to split the final novel into three books for a few reasons.
1. Its been 4 years since the last book: we fans want to read something.
2. It is now too big to publish as one volume anyway.
3. The whole thing still isn't written though Sanderson is working his tail off and if we wait for him to finish writing it all and for it to be edited, etc, it could be 2 or 3 more years. He's written over 400,000 words to date and if you know anything about writing that is impressive.

I'm pretty happy with the decisions made all around. I commend Sanderson for being true to the work despite the enormity of the task. I'm happy they are splitting it. I want to read something soon.
It will be an epic end to an epic series instead of a cheap flimsy wrap up.

The Memory of Light is now coming out in three pieces. Part one: The Gathering Storm, will be out November of 2009 and I can't wait.
To Brandon Sanderson I say thank you for keeping the characters and world of the Wheel of Time alive to the best of your ability. And thank you for pouring your heart and soul into doing it right.
You can keep track of Sanderson's progress and get more info on his website: http://www.brandonsanderson.com

Continued Signs of Spring

2009-04-04T17:31:00.002-04:00

My Black Pearl Slate colored Escape is currently a lovely shade of yellowish green. Spring has officially arrived with the OVER abundant production and release of tree pollen that has begun to coat everything.
At least the bare patches of my yard look like something is growing there since they too are covered in bright yellowish green pollen...

Sure Signs of Spring

2009-03-19T12:06:00.003-04:00

The sure signs of spring I've encountered or experienced over the past two weeks:

1. Illness - the upper respiratory infections are rampant right now. Most of my coworkers and friends and finally me have all gone through what I like to call 'The Crud."

2. Lots of stuff is blooming and starting to turn green. We have a lot of trees that start with white flowers. Very pretty and uplifting to see.

3. Birds, lots of them. I've got finches, robins, sand pipers and I don't know what else keeping the cats glued to the windows.

4. Carnival stuff. I had a bunch of carnival food booths go past me on I95 the other day. You could see the advertisements for Italian Sausage! Elephant Ears! Blooming Onion! It just made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

5. Potholes. Potholes are not nearly the issue in NC as they are in PA but they appear nonetheless.

6. Construction. The surest sign that spring is really here is a flashing sign that says "ROAD WORK NEXT 5 MILES" and a lot of orange and white barrels.

Star Trek TNG Reuniting

2009-02-27T08:41:00.003-05:00

Okay, I'll admit it....this made my inner geek squeal like a 10 year old girl...

http://io9.com/5160294/st-tng-cast-reunite-in-cartoon-form

The entire main cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation including Denise Crosby and Wil Wheaton will be voicing themselves on a March 29 episode of Family Guy. I admit it...I'm a Star Trek fan and a Family Guy fan so I'll be setting the DVR for this one.

Bookish

2009-02-21T21:12:00.003-05:00

Buddy the Bearded Dragon is now tucked in under the new bookshelves.

When we moved to this house in September we made the decision to upgrade the bookshelves. What we had wasn't enough so we sold off the old ones in a yard sale and planned for new shelves.
For the past few months the books -- all 500 or so -- have been stacked floor to ceiling in a small closet in the office. Reading became more than just an intellectual adventure. There was also the very real chance of being buried in books when you attempted to get one out.

Two weekends ago we were debating on dinner and a movie and instead went to Lowes. Four 12 foot planks, a few l brackets, some sheet rock screws, a stud finder and our circular saw and sander with a little time and effort turned into 63 glorious feet of bookshelves.Getting all of the books out of the closet and vaguely organized was a challenge but we've got shelves!!!! The books fill all 63 feet but they aren't double stacked and by my count there is some room left to add another shelf on one wall if I need to later.

The wrap around shelves have all fictional books.
This wall is all non-fiction with the exception of the entire Left Behind series in with the religion section and the Sweet Pickles books on the top shelf. The little closet to the left now has shelves built in as well and is being used to store office supplies.

Dental Wizardry

2009-02-13T09:00:00.003-05:00

I was sitting at work reading through training material when I felt something odd in my mouth. I spit out one of my fillings a moment later. Not a 15 year old silver filling but a composite filling that is less than two years old and done by a dentist I DID NOT like. Back lower right side right between two molars -- small filling on each. Instead of taking his time and doing two fillings he had done one that connected the teeth together and that is what popped out.
New state, new town, new dentist. I must say this guy was Fabulous. Very light touch with the gigantic nerve block needle, took his time and did it right all with a sense of humor. They did all the work to get rid of the old composite material and drill out getting ready for the new stuff. Went one tooth at a time. Oh and I got to watch TV inbetween while waiting for the nerve block to set, etc. My choice of channels on the flat screen computer monitor attached to the chair -- TV is video streamed in.
First tooth he filled in, buffed, polished, sanded whatever and told me to bite down to test and the composite went CRUNCH. Apparently, it didn't work. I was proving to be a bit of a challenge. The second attempt he turned into a master craftsman slowly polishing and grinding to get the composite to fit perfectly. The whole process took almost 2 hours between the failed first filling and finishing the other two but they are as close to perfect as you can get. Not cold/hot sensitive, fit nicely when I bite down, feel good. So here's to a nice smile and a good dentist I'll actually be willing to go back to.

Taking your Bat'leth Practice Too Far...

2009-02-05T10:35:00.002-05:00

I'm a fan of the Star Trek series but this is boldly going too far with fantasy weapons....

Man boldly robs Colo. store with Star Trek sword (AP)

What amazes me is the weapon the guy used is very large, rather hard to conceal and yet...he got away.

It's a Six Pack

2009-02-03T10:02:00.003-05:00

What a great game. Heart stopping moments, record breaking 100 yard interception return for a touchdown, beautiful catch by Holmes with 35 seconds left. Congratulations to the Pittsburgh Steelers for an awesome Superbowl XLIII win.

Today is the parade in Pittsburgh...how I wish I could be there.

Superbowl Nightmare

2009-01-28T13:48:00.001-05:00

If you are not aware…I am a HUGE Pittsburgh Steelers fan so I am beside myself with happiness that they are in the Superbowl this year. In the lead up to the big game on Sunday my office is slowly getting covered with more black and gold, the excitement is building and I can’t wait for the game.

Apparently, I’m already subconsciously thinking about the game. Last night I dreamt Arizona was winning the game 27 to 24 and the Steelers did an odd pass play that results in what looks like a touchdown. Which would mean the Steelers would win 31 to 27.

BUT WAIT

The referee won’t call it a touchdown. Instead he states the booth is reviewing the play. There is only one second on the clock.

And then I woke up.

Tonight I better dream about the Steelers winning handily.

Here we go Steelers Here we go!!!

Snowy Video

2009-01-21T12:19:00.001-05:00

http://www.wral.com/news/local/video/4364350/

http://www.wral.com/news/local/video/4365720/

Here is some links to the local television station. They have aerial video via their helicopter from after the snow storm yesterday evening. We ended up with 7 inches at my house and over 5 near work. This is the most snow this area of North Carolina has seen since 2004. We had some ice this morning and will have the same problem tomorrow morning but the temperature is on the way up so all the snow will be gone by the end of Friday.

Let it Snow

2009-01-20T09:36:00.002-05:00

We are having a fairly rare event here in the Raleigh, NC area...snow and lots of it. It is snowing hard enough to remind me of all my years in Erie, PA. Lots of snow -- up to 6 inches -- that will be completely gone by lunchtime Thursday.
A few notes to my friends in the area from an experienced snow driver:
1. TURN YOUR LIGHTS ON!!! I followed a white pickup truck in heavy snow going 21 mph in a 55mph zone with no lights on. He was very difficult to see.
2. DON'T TAILGATE! Give yourself room to watch what the special person in front of you is doing so you can react to it and not slam on your brakes and either rear end them or slide off the road.
3. CLEAN YOUR WINDOWS! I know snowbrushes aren't common down here but take some effort to clean your windows off so you can see.
4. DRIVE AT A STEADY RATE! If you can't bring yourself to drive above idle speed -- get off the road. You are a bigger hazard than the snow.
I drive 53 miles to work 30 of which is interstate and the rest is 2 lane highway. The interstate wasn't bad. I saw some accidents but things kept moving. The two lane roads tried ever bit of patience I have. I expect 2+ hours to get home tonight as well and possibly some issues tomorrow morning but then we are back to warmer temperatures reminding me of why I moved here. Hopefully everyone will stay safe today and the people that do get into accidents won't be injured.

SUPERBOWL 43

2009-01-18T22:32:00.003-05:00

Here we go Steelers...here we go...PITTSBURGH'S GOING TO THE SUPERBOWL!!!!!
Steelers are off to face the Arizona Cardinals in Tampa Bay for the 43rd Superbowl!
I am beyond excited right now!!!!

Cable Saga Continues

2009-01-15T13:30:00.001-05:00

Is it a good thing or a bad thing that I have the wireless numbers for a cable technician and his boss?

Of course the cable was working this morning when Harry the technician showed up. I was smart though and DVRed the image I was getting the night before. Once again the lines were checked, plates pulled off walls, wiring tested, box tested and this time he went outside and redid all those connections.

He also activated the line for the closest bedroom. The next time I have this issue I’m supposed to call one of them so they can track the issue real time. I can also run a line from the other cable hookup in the bedroom to see if it will work from there.

In a nutshell, nothing is fixed but they believe me when I say there is an issue. The theory right now is, “an intermittent issue with the main line.”

Time will tell…

As long as things are working for the Steelers vs. Ravens game I will be patient.

The Gremlin in the House

2009-01-14T11:12:00.000-05:00

Since the day we had the cable hooked up we’ve had issues.
First the cable box would reboot 7-8 times per day. Rebooting takes up to 10 minutes and can be especially irritating when you are on the last 10 minutes of your show. So we got a new box. That didn’t’ work. Picture would freeze up and pixilated and shows would not record on the DVR.

Next we got new caps on the ends of the coaxial cable and another new box.

A little better for a while and then back to the same issues. So out comes the senior technician. He calls us, “THAT house,” and replaces some connectors outside.

Last night in the middle of Family Guy I lost all my channels except TV Guide. Same issue. Pixilated, black screen, issues. So I can watch the TV Guide channel and get a list of what shows I can’t watch.

Called tech support and spent 20 minutes on hold waiting to get someone live. After explaining the multiple issues we’ve had she decides resetting the box will fix everything. I explain that I have already done a reboot. She says her master reset is different and should resolve the issue. So she reboots the box remotely and as it is starting to count down to diminishing the reboot she attempts to get off the phone with me.

Rep, “Is there anything else I can do for you today?”

Me, “Yes, stay on the line until the box is finished booting and I test to see whether my cable works or not.”

Rep, ‘Wellllll, I can stay on the line for a few more moments.”

Me, “I understand you have time considerations on the call however, I spent 20 minutes on hold to get to you. What happens if you disconnect and my cable still isn’t working? I’ll have to call and wait another 20 minutes. Look the countdown is already at 6 now 4.”

Rep, ‘I understand Ma’am and it isn’t time it’s the number of calls.”

Me, “So what is the next step if this doesn’t work?” (I had a pretty good idea that it wouldn’t)

Rep, “We’ll have to schedule a technician to visit your house.”

Me, “It’s done booting lets take a look…oh goodie…all I have is the TV Guide channel and….nothing else.”

So a technician is coming to the house tomorrow morning. The crazy thing? Internet works fine. I’m going to ask the technician to pretend the cable has NEVER been hooked up to this house and start from scratch.

25 Random Things About Me

2009-01-10T20:01:00.002-05:00

A friend tagged me to do this in Facebook so I thought I would share here as well.
1. I'm originally from Raccoon Township Beaver County...go ahead...laugh. We had a state park and were next door to one of the oldest nuclear power plants. We didn't need night lights we glowed on our own.
2. I was raised Roman Catholic, went to 2 Catholic elementary schools and a Catholic university.
3. I have two cats named Callie and Curious George and a bearded dragon named Buddy as pets.
4. I've lived in William sport PA known for the Little League World series. That's all that happens there. It is four hours from civilization in any direction.
5. I went to Lilith Fair the first year it happened at the Starlake Amphitheater in Pittsburgh.
6. I actually performed CPR on someone. Unfortunately he had a massive heart attack and my efforts and the efforts of the paramedics and doctors were unsuccessful.
7. I'm now a very active member of St. John's Metropolitan Community Church in Raleigh, NC.
8. I can sing first soprano.
9. I smoked from 12 years and quit 6 months ago at the same time as my other half with a lot of help from Quitnet.com and a smoke cessation study at Duke University. I like to think Tara and I are skewing their research data in a positive manner.
10. I'm a training manager and have been involved in training and training development for almost 9 years as a professional
.11. I don't have kids. I do have 5 beautiful nieces.
12. I love to canoe and camp out rugged style. It is a lot of fun and very relaxing.
13. I am a book addict. I am always reading something. It is almost a physical need for me to read a least a little a day. I'll typically take a book over the TV and will sometimes take a book over people.
14. I'm a Trekkie. Yes I admit it. Voyager was my favorite but I'd watch all of them. Despite being a fan I went to one convention with some friends years ago and the people there scared me.
15. I like scifi while I'm at it. Old 50's giant animal (attack of the giant bunny, spiders, ants, 50ft woman, Gila monster, etc) are fun to watch. I also love movies like Blade runner.
16. I'm allergic to walnuts and penicillin. I love walnuts but they cause things like hives and anaphalactic shock so I can't have them. You'd be amazed what contains walnuts. Penicillin allergy is so bad that I worked with the mold in a microbiology lab in college and ended up in the ER.
17. I have a degree in Science with a minor in English from Gannon University.
18. I used to play the flute and still own my flute. I would like to pick it back up again some time in the near future.
19. I can paint ala Bob Ross...happy little trees and happy little mountains. I'm far, far from an artist but at least you can tell what it is.
20. I have a dream to create training material and work as a freelance training developer and speaker/trainer. Who would have thought the painfully shy little kid would turn out to be someone who loves to get in front of a group and train them on something new?
21. I volunteered and worked at The Zoo, Gulf Breeze Florida part time. I used to drive the train through the 30 acre wildlife preserve and accidentally let Gabriel the Giant Eland out one time. They got him back in safely.
22. I've acted in a few plays or musicals for high school and then community theater. Can be a lot of fun but I have more fun with the behind the scenes stuff. If I could choose any part to play I would be the stage manager in The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told.
23. I worked for USAir as a Special Assistance Rep. assisting special needs passengers such as unaccompanied children, elderly, disabled, etc. I worked 2 summers and a Christmas season in the Pittsburgh, PA airport doing this. I used to drive the golf cart around and had Little Richard hop a ride one day.
24. I love the smell of coffee but don't like coffee. I don't like tradional pizza at all. Something about red sauce on bread is just...ick...I will eat an alfredo or chicken ranch pizza though.
25. I am a HUGE Steelers and Penguins fan...that is American Football and Hockey the Pittsburgh teams.

New Look

2009-01-06T13:41:00.001-05:00

This blog has been up and running for quite awhile now and really needed a face lift. This year is the Year of Possibilities and despite starting so roughly with Charlie Bear crossing the Rainbow Bridge I need to have a brighter outlook. I though a brighter look to the blog might help.

I miss Charlie more than I can describe with words but while he always enjoyed lounging he couldn’t stand when someone was upset. I wouldn’t want him to be mad at me…

I’m going to keep remembering the good stuff while looking ahead to a brighter year.

Charles Baron 2002-2009

2009-01-02T17:29:00.005-05:00

Our wonderful Alpha cat Charles Baron aka Charlie Bear crossed the rainbow bridge peacefully at 4:50pm est today. Charles had been sick the past week and took a turn for the worst today. The vet believes he had an autoimmune disease and there was nothing they could really do for him. He was only just barely 6 years old and the best to have around when you were feeling ill. I feel like someone just ripped a piece of my heart out. He would climb right on top of you and purrr for hours. He purred right up to the end.

I hope there are plenty of pop caps to chase and cat trees to lay in over the bridge.

We love you Charlie Bear.

Happy New Year

2009-01-01T16:59:00.002-05:00

Happy New Year to all!
It is the Year of Possibilities for me and my friends...
despite the woes in the economy the possibilities are endless in a lot of other areas.
I hope you had a wonderful start to the year.

Holiday Cheer

2008-12-26T21:37:00.002-05:00

Another Christmas has come and gone with the best gift we could ask for...Tara was hired as an assistant manager for a retail pharmacy chain! Christmas turned out to be a pretty nice event this year. only a few gifts but meaningful ones and a lot to be thankful for.
My friends and I started a tradition four years ago of giving each year a title or theme. I started it with calling a major shake up of a year the Year of Change. The next year was the year of Growth and last year was the year of Love. It is back to me to name the year again and I'm currently debating a few choices. This past year has been interesting to say the least and the upcoming year has a world of possibilities so that may very well be the title...
The Year of Possibilities
I hope you and yours had a wonderful holiday.

This and That

2008-10-10T11:38:00.003-04:00

Today is 95 days smoke free. According to the website Quitnet.com I'll be an Elder at day 100. Its kinda nice to be smoke free. I've added quite a bit of time back into my day.
We just moved 2 weeks ago to a house in the country. We're really nearby convenient things like the grocery store and closer to the city than we were. If we could just finish getting unpacked I'd be a very happy camper.
The cats love the new place. It is well laid out to run the Kitty Nascar race circuit nightly and the windows offer good views. The cat tree is close to the TV too so George can sit in his tree top and watch now which makes him happy.
The past few weeks have been insanely busy and I have lots boiling in my head. I will attempt to be disciplined enough to stop by here and start putting some of it down.

Eh

2008-09-10T11:41:00.004-04:00

Hanna brought some rain, a little wind and not much else. We didn't loose power, nothing flooded near me, the trees are all still intact and I don't think I even heard thunder. The plus side to Hanna, we are at a surplus of rain for the first time in years. The worst that could be said is the basement of our church had some water in it but it always gets water in it in heavy rain. A mob and a squeegy and everything is better.

Hanna Reloaded

2008-09-04T14:17:00.003-04:00

1st This is My 100th Post (WOOHOO!)

Now back to my regularly scheduled blogging. I have lived in North Carolina for just shy of 1 year now and have learned a lot of important history about the local area. In 1999 Hurricane Dennis sat off the coast and dumped a foot of rain on this area. Two weeks later Floyd a category 2 hit head on and added an additional 19 inches of rain. The result? Massive flooding. There were areas of this town completely underwater. Two weeks after Floyd, Irena put some icing on the cake with another 6 inches. They called the flooding from Floyd a 500 year flood...lets hope "they" are right.
We are officially still in a drought however: recently we got a lot of rain from the remnants of Fay (the one that beaned Florida 4 separate times in 4 areas) which has saturated the ground. Tomorrow or Saturday Hanna will hit as a week Category 1 or Tropical Storm adding anywhere from 4 inches to 10 inches of rain...behind Hanna?
Ike a nasty category 4
Ike is looking a little scary right now. He is really too far out to accurately predict beyond next Tuesday however, right now he is looking to follow a similar track to Hanna and ...right up the east coast. If Ike hits I will be further inland than I already live.
We are praying he doesn't get anywhere near us. Hanna is not a big concern...Ike could be.
On an odd side note, I've only ever been in one tropical storm before when I lived on the bay in Pensacola, FL. That one was named Hanna as well. I remember going out to my car and looking out at our little park and thinking, "There are waves between the pine trees." The storm surge had pushed water from the bay up onto land. If you are wondering how I could end up dealing with Hanna six years ago and am now looking at Hanna Reloaded...the National Weather Service reuses storm names in a 6 year cycle. Names are only retired if it ends up being a really major storm with lots of damage (Andrew, Floyd, Katrina, etc. will never be used again).
Praying for the best and preparing for the worst...keep your eyes on the Atlantic for the next week or so...it could be a windy, wet ride.

Here and back again

2008-08-18T19:31:00.002-04:00

It has been an incredibly busy few weeks since the last time I blogged. First, today is day 43 smoke free. For non-smokers, I'm sure you are thinking, "Great, you are over it," for those who are former smokers you know what a huge deal it is. I assisted with our companies 3 year Luau celebration on Friday and stood out on or smoking patio grilling 600+ hamburgers and hotdogs on 5 charcoal grills and never once thought about smoking.
Second busy item, our praise and worship team at my church has gone through a lot of changes over the past few months so they decided to celebrate a "coming out" with a concert on Saturday. I did the sound for them so many, many rehearsals and of course the big event. The concert went really, really well. We had visiting singers from other churches in the tri-state area. One in particular, Rev. Greg McGraw from St. Jude's in Wilmington, VA has a phenomenal voice. Beautiful tenor that was amazing to listen to.
All things told, I've been so busy at work and home I haven't had time to really even lurk and read anyone elses and I haven't been commenting either.
Oh well, I had a break tonight and thought I would pop on.
We are moving at the end of September. No more crazy downstairs neighbors. Right now we have put in our notice and are searching for the next place to live. I pray all goes well and smoothly. It can be tough to find a nice place at the right size and price that likes cats.

Curious George at His Finest

2008-07-17T13:44:00.002-04:00

I know the LCD TV we got last spring has really good picture quality. I just didn't realize how good until Curious George (true to his name) started watching TV. He started by sitting on the floor about 10 feet away. Now if the image is really interesting he gets right up to it...apparently he was hungry for hot dogs (its a Hebrew National hot dog commercial in the background). I feel like my Mom when I tell him, "Not so close! You'll ruin your eyes!"

BTW, took this photo with our nifty new digital fujifilm I got on eBay for a great deal.

The Good, The Sad and The Bad

2008-07-15T11:23:00.002-04:00

I thought I'd start with the good news. Today is Tara and my 8th day smoke free! I must say the patches are a big help. I haven't had huge cravings and have been calm at work.
The sad news. Tara got a call from her sister Angel yesterday. Angel and Chris (her husband) had to put their beloved dog Shusky (half shephard half husky) to sleep yesterday afternoon. Shusky was an absolute sweetheart of a dog with lots of love and patience. She was diagnosed last week with a massive tumor on her liver and the vet said their really was no way to remove it. Shusky has been their dog since she was a puppy and will be missed by a lot of people. She started showing she was in a lot of pain over the past few days though if you asked her if she wanted to go for a walk she would still get up, wag her tail through the pain and get her leash. She spent the afternoon with her family and went on her last walk before going to the vet. She's over the rainbow bridge and hopefully having a fabulous time there.
The Bad: Our downstairs neighbor Rich. Rich is a functioning alcoholic with a really nice surround sound system. He has been going through a really rough time with an ill father and unfortunately handles issues by not handling them. He just drinks more Natural Ice and turns up the stereo. Lately the stereo has been on to an extreme degree. I was woken up early Sunday morning to "Ring of Fire" by Johnny Cash. Last night he turned up Patsy Cline. At 10:15pm Tara went down and said, "Rich could you please turn it down?" He complained and turned it down slightly. When she asked him to come to the door and speak with her he flat refused. So we called the police on the non-emergency number and they came and told him to turn it down at 11pm. Then he stood in the courtyard with his buddy from across the way and complained loudly until after midnight.
We went to be at midnight and at 3am were awoken to Rich's bass on his surround sound turned up as loud as possible. Just the base with what I would guess to be a dance song on. He would play it for 5-10 minutes and then switch to a loud TV show then go back to the dance mix. We called the non-emergency number again at 4am. The police showed up somewhere between 4:30 and 5 am. I finally just got out of bed at 6am.
I called the apartment manager today and she is going to send him a letter....
Great help there.
She also told us to keep calling the police if he's loud since, "He's not that financially well off and maybe a ticket will wake him up."
Again, Great help there.
We are actively looking for a new place to live, preferrably a home. In the mean time, based on the conversation overheard last night with Rich's buddy, I'm parking the car away from our apartment in a different area of the complex parking lot away from him to protect our paint job and tires and saving the non-emergency number in my cell phone. I'm also continuing to pray for Rich. He needs some serious professional help and I hope some time soon he sees that.

Miracle on the Horizon

2008-07-08T12:10:00.001-04:00

I am now officially smoke free. I've been on the nicotine patches since 6/30/08 but was also provided with Quest 3 non menthol nicotine free cigarettes to help combat my habit of picking up a cigarette. Funny thing happened from the first day...I used to smoke a pack a day but with the nicotine free ones I was averaging 8 a day. This gave me a chance to really focus on the habit without dealing with the cravings thanks to the patch. As of 7/8/08 I am completely smoke free. I'll be walking around with a patch on for quite a few more weeks. I'm involved with a quit smoking research project at Duke University and I'm following their directions to the letter.
So far so good. Cravings are very mild and not very frequent...much better than my previous attempts. I am dealing with some sleep issues (hard time falling asleep and REALLY vivid dreams like watching my own nonsensical cinema at night) but those will fade away too.
As far as the rest of my life, in the last few days I've been learning some important lessons about faith and taking things one day at a time. I'm learning to trust that all things will work out and I'm becoming much more relaxed.
All in all the past few weeks have been very eye opening and enlightening. I can't wait to see what today brings.

Good Night Sleep Tight...Don't Let the Bed Bugs Bite

2008-07-03T12:11:00.002-04:00

When we traveled to Lancaster, PA for Lancaster's first ever Pride event we planned in advance. I know I would have to work on Friday and the trip from North Carolina up would take us through Washington, D.C. and Baltimore so I booked a hotel room in advance. We wanted to keep costs down in hopes of making a profit with our jewelry and t-shirts. I worked until 4pm, finished loading the Escape in 95+ degree heat in jeans and then we headed out. We got to the Super 8 at 11:45pm. I wasn't expecting the Ritz. Just a decent bed, working shower and overall cleanliness. As soon as we got to our room we set the bag on the counter, I dug out the shower stuff and went directly to the shower. I felt icky from sweating while loading the car and overall, having a long day. While I was showering, Tara pulled down the comforter and sheet on the bed, sat down on the bed with her foot on the bed and turned on the TV. She also had on all the lights.
When I got out of the shower, she went to stand up and a bug crawled off her foot and across the bed. She immediately grabbed a tissue and squished it. It was full of blood...her blood by the bite mark on the top of her foot. It was a bed bug!!!! Major ick moment. I immediately got dressed again, took the offending, dead critter in the tissue and marched to the front desk. The young man offered another room at the opposite end of the motel. From watching all those news articles on bed bugs in hotels I knew it was likely they only had them in one or two rooms, brought in by a guest so I agreed.
First the key card didn't work. I had to go back down and get another one. When we finally got into the room we immediately removed the head board to search for signs of bedbugs. The back of the head board was covered in black specks. Basically, dried, digesed blood from bed begs. Then I look down at the bed and the side of the box spring has a very large old bloodstain on it. It looks like someone bled profusely in the room in the past. I called down to the desk immediately. The young man sent his grandfather up. The grandfather's English was very, very poor. We showed him the problem, his response was, "The room okay!" over and over again. Finally, we got him out of the room, picked up the phone book, stood in the middle of the room and started calling. It was now 1 in the morning and we are trying to find another room. I went down to get a refund. They wanted to offer us another room! By the time I got a refund, Tara had another room booked at a privately owned place called the Country Inn. Very nice place, a little more money but totally worth it. The first thing we did was take of the head board and found nothing but clean, shiny wood. The room was clean, brightly lit, country decorated and just fine by me. Its unfortunate we paid $90 to sleep for 6 hours but the extra price was well worth it for the atmosphere and bed bug free zone.
The kicker to all this is, we know people in Lancaster County. Vision of Hope MCC is a sister church to our church, St. John's MCC. We just didn't want to bother any of them since they were so integral in organizing the event on Saturday. While we were at the Pride event, Pastor Debbie walks over to our booth and say with a smile, "Now you are staying at our place tonight, there is plenty of room (if you don't mind 5 dogs) and since you already offended us by not calling ahead and staying with us to begin with, you can make it up by staying tonight, coming to church tomorrow and heading home rested." Who am I to resist?
BTW, 5 dogs included 1 golden retriever, 1 black lab, 1 retriever/lab mix, 1 rotweiler/chow mix (all female) and 1 miniature poodle. Glory, the golden retriever was nice enough to wake me up early by sitting on me. I will never complain about our 18lb cat sitting on me again. 100+ lbs of dog is a whole different ball game. I couldn't move anything but my arms which was just fine by Glory. She did a great job of ignoring my entreaties to get off of me too. Any time I told her to move, she became very interested in the ceiling.
All in all it was an interesting and educational trip. Always check for bed bugs before settling down and if you have friends to stay with instead, that's always a better choice.

Creative Ways to Pay the Bills

2008-06-29T19:13:00.002-04:00

If you are anything like me right now the bills are looming up. I have an extensive library of books ranging from sci-fi to biology texts to Christian theology to fiction and on and on. Some I'm quite attached to but others, I'm willing to part with. I discovered this great website that will pay cash for quite a wide range of books. So far I've sent them 24 books and got just under $50.00. Not a bad deal at all and the books are going to book people. Check them out.

Record Turnouts and Great Laughs.

2008-06-23T13:40:00.003-04:00

Well, Lancaster, PAs first ever Pride event went really, really well with a record breaking attendance for first time Pride events of over 2,800 attendees and only a scant half a dozen protesters. We had a great time at the event and actually had an easy time setting up. The only down-side for us were so many people had never been to an event like this that many did not bring any money to spend so are sales of jewelry were not as great as we would have liked. A lot of people liked the wares, took business cards and kept saying, "I should have saved up!" My bills and I are hoping these individuals go to our website and purchase in the near future. Despite the lack of profit, I wouldn't have turned down the chance to be there for anything. Our sister MCC church, Vision of Hope, members were an integral part in getting the festival up and running and it was great to see all of them and see their success.
Here is the article in the Lancaster newspaper. Lancaster is traditionally a very conservative area of Pennsylvania however, the festival was well received and the organizers couldn't be happier. http://articles.lancasteronline.com/local/4/223466
That evening after the festival a comedy show was held to raise money for HOPE Connection, a new, non-profit organization aimed at assisting GLBT youth and community members suffering from HIV. The show had Vickie Shaw as the headliner. If you've never seen her, she's worth looking up on YouTube, as well as Sabrina Matthews and Jennie McNulty. The ladies did a phenomenal job. We would have never been able to go if it wasn't for friends providing us tickets and it was worth ever minute if sitting in the short middle-school auditorium seats to watch them.
I mentioned earlier that there were protesters at the Pride event. Well, the comics were there too and had a bit of fun at the protester's expense. One protester had the obligatory, "Homosexuality is a sin" sign so the ladies made their own sign that said, "And apparently Judgement is a Virtue" and stood right next to him. The few protesters stayed out of the park (none of them wanted to spend $5 to get in) and the Silent Witness PA volunteers made sure people coming to the park had no issues and no confrontation. Once inside it was great food, great entertainment, lots of vendors and a lot of laughing and talking and generally having a great time. I look forward to going again next year.

And So We Begin

2008-06-20T14:52:00.001-04:00

We are off to our first official festival of the season, Lancaster, PA's first ever Pride rally and event. The car is packed, the jewelry's been made and we are ready to go...wish us luck!

Smoke Gets in Your Eyes

2008-06-13T11:54:00.003-04:00

I find it ironic that the day I'm going in to Duke University to become part of a smoking cessation study, there is so much smoke in the air I can't see across the parking lot at work. A forest fire has been burning in Hyde, Tyrell and Washington Counties in a a wildlife refuge since June 1. It was started by a lightning strike. The fire (Currently over 40,000 acres) is close to 100 miles away from me but the smoke is blowing in due to winds from the south east. It smells like a barbecue gone horribly wrong. Pray for rain for us. The fire is in the peat moss and could burn for months unless the area gets a really, really good soaking.

I'm still going to join the study at Duke. I'll let you know how it goes. Quitting on my own has never worked so I thought I could use the help.

Vacation, Car Lag and Eye Opening Experiences

2008-06-04T10:41:00.004-04:00

I've been off line for a bit while preparing for vacation, then heading out on vacation, now trying to recover from vacation. We left Friday, May 23rd and returned Sunday, June 1 and crammed a lot into 9 days. Instead of sunning ourselves at Myrtle Beach, SC (which we were invited to do) we decided to visit family and friends whom we haven't seen in quite some time.
Our vehicle was FULLY loaded with bags of clothes to give Tara's daughter, our luggage, cooler (long drive), laptops, all our Jewelry stuff (two nifty toolbox totes with wheels), pillows, air mattress, air mattress bed frame and our canopy and peg boards for festivals. We had asked our one friend to assist us with how to display our wares so we had to take that up with us.
On the plus side, we drive a 2008 Ford Escape and got 27-28 mpg on the whole trip. I'm fairly impressed with that, especially considering the load.
Our first stop was Tara's best friends who live in the Cincinnati area. For 4 years now we have always opened the summer with them. Took us 9 hours to reach their house and as we unloaded our suitcase and cooler Tara asked, "where's the brown leather duffel bag?" I said, "I thought you put it in the car." Turns out we left it on the bed with all of our other shoes, personal jewelry and toiletries...off to WalMart we go to pick up what we need. the 2.5 days with our friends was okay but the whole time there seemed to be tension. Tara finally confronted them and discovered: a. they are having some personal issues b. they only consider us friends when we've always thought of them as pretty close to family c. they weren't really up for a visit and d. they didn't want to "ruin" our trip so they didn't tell us. Oh and as a bonus, perhaps we shouldn't come next year...
They could have saved us the drive and told us all this before we got there. Quite frankly, we could have spent more time with our families and skipped Cincinnati had we known. That was a bitter pill to swallow and when Tara found out they only considered her a "good friend" it was crushing to her. We left there early and went on to my parents in Pittsburgh. Cincinnati was an eye opening experience.
Pittsburgh was actually quite enjoyable. My Dad was really sick last year and it was really nice to see him healthy and doing well. Actually, both of my parents looked great. We had a good time and genuinely got to relax.
Our last leg was up to our old stomping ground in Erie, PA to visit Tara's daughter and all of our friends and family there. It was fabulous. I also stopped in to my old work site (I'm still with the same company just in NC now) and caught up with everyone there. We cooked out, hung out, played cards, went to bed too late each night and got up too early and it all seemed to go too fast.
Sunday we held out as long as we could before driving back to NC. Only took 10 hours and we backroaded quite a bit. Saw some beautiful scenery in the mountains of Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia and Virginia. Got in late, unloaded Monday morning and back to work I went on Monday afternoon. Today is the first day I'm starting to feel human. I didn't think you could get car lag but apparently you can.
Oh, if you were wondering, we had a good friend take care of our feline children while we were gone. They had lots of love and attention though they did actually miss us. For three mornings now I've woken up with 3 cats glued to me.
Now the rest of the summer we will be going to various festivals to sell jewelry and t-shirts but we plan to find a weekend and go somewhere just for us. you know, an actual vacation with no watches, work etc.

Phoenix Rising is born (or at least grows up a little)

2008-05-07T17:29:00.003-04:00

The website is not only up and running but it now works properly too. Click the logo above to view. You can bigify the photos to view the jewelry. We also do custom work as well and are extremely reasonable. Got questions? call email or drop me a comment.

This is our way cool logo created by Leigh out of Atlanta. Go see her sketch blog at http://sketch-sketchily.blogspot.com/ She is amazingly talented.

Phoenix Rising Productions Now Online

2008-04-29T12:31:00.002-04:00

My other half and I have finally gotten our website up and running. Phoenix Rising Productions is now open for business. We specialize in bead and crystal jewelry. Tara is a master at creating a unique, custom designed piece for each individual. Please go check us out. The website has a few bugs yet but I am working on them so you will see things change and improve through the next few weeks. We are taking better photos this Thursday and I will be programing in larger images for each item. We also have a selection of T-shirts as well. The sight is linked to PayPal so you can pay by credit card or through PayPal or send us an order. You can also call and have a piece or set designed just for you.
http://www.phoenix-rising-productions.com

Feline Elizabethan Hades

2008-04-24T10:33:00.002-04:00

My smallest cat, Cali, a tiger stripped calico with an average weight of 7lbs is an obsessive cleaner. Maybe it comes from the abuse she suffered as a kitten, maybe she's just really fond of cleaning her fur, whatever the cause she will clean her self to injury.
She has been really good for over a year now, keeping her fur clean and neat without balding herself but a few weeks ago she got obsessed with her hind quarters. Now her whole backside is bare and raw and sore. Every time it starts to heal it itches to back to obsessively cleaning she goes. I tried anti itch sprays and antibiotic creams but the end result is the only way to heal her moist dermatitis is to keep her from cleaning it while treating it until the raw skin heals.
So my poor cat is suffering through a week of wearing an Elizabethan collar (the thing that looks like a clear lampshade inverted on her head).
She is REALLY NOT HAPPY WITH ME. I've been making sure I pet her and scritch her ears for her which prompts her to purr at the same time she is giving me the I REALLY DON'T LIKE YOU look. The plus side is the antibiotic cream is working really well and her backside is healing quickly. The downside is she is going to be stuck in that collar for a few more days until the healing is complete otherwise we'll just have to repeat the whole process again.
I'm positive she will find some way to pay me back once that collar comes off for the indignity of having to wear it for a week to 10 days.

Native Wildlife

2008-04-21T14:11:00.003-04:00

Driving home from Raleigh yesterday we were coming up a 4 lane road level, with a 45MPH speed limit and an unlimited view for at lease half a mile. Up ahead in our lane we spotted a LARGE land tortoise slowly making his/her way across the road. Not the safest endeavor for a tortoise but he was at least 2 1/5 - 3 feet long and over 1 1/5 feet wide, brown and difficult not to spot. I thought he might be a non-native former pet on the loose.
We easily went around him and started looking for a spot to turn around and at least move him off the road when in the rearview and side mirrors we witnessed a white, early 90's sedan swerve....
to hit the tortoise...
It was a very intentional move. There was no one on the car's left and plenty of time to see the LARGE tortoise in the road. It's not like it was going to dart out in front of the car but the driver chose to swerve in such a way that two tires hit the tortoise and we witnessed it all.
We turned around. I was desparately hoping the shell protected him but he was really, really dead when we got up to him.
I found out today this tortoise is a native species to the area. I'm still really angry about that. It was a gopher tortoise and it is federally protected!!!! http://www.gophertortoise.org/tortoise/faqs.htm I had a mean thought that if there is any justice a piece of his shell wedged in both of the tires that hit him and that driver woke up to two flat tires this morning.
You certainly shouldn't put your life in jeopardy to avoid hitting wildlife with your car but you REALLY shouldn't aim for them either. A tortoise that size had to have been on this planet for quite some time and all it would have took was a tiny bit of consideration to keep him here instead of making him road kill.

In honor of Uncle Gary

2008-04-16T15:14:00.003-04:00

On May 3, 2008 I plan to walk 3 miles in the AIDSWalk +Ride. Supporting this cause is important to me. In the spring of 2005 my Uncle Gary died from complications of AIDS. The last time I spoke with him he was still working, doing okay but his T-cell count was 17, basically meaning he had no immune system. He was unable to take the drug cocktail to combat HIV stating the side effects were too strong. Overall, he was lucky. He came home from work, sat down to read and had a fatal heart attack. He was buried with full military honors in Arlington National cemetery.
His death prompted me to join a group in college called the AIDS Action Team. This is where I got my start in training. I became a certified HIV/AIDS instructor teaching at middle school, high schools, universities, drug and alcohol treatment centers, etc all in an effort to prevent others from contracting this disease. I also wanted to teach others the truth about HIV, how it is contracted and why they should treat those with the disease as human beings, not pariahs. As part of this group in the fall of 1996 I had the opportunity to travel to Washington DC to see the AIDS quilt laid out in its entirety for the last time and my Uncle's spot in Arlington. The Quilt took up the entire Mall. The curvature of the Earth prevented you from seeing all of it if you stood at one end and looked across. They cannot lay out all of it at one time anymore because it is too large. Sections travel the country to help promote HIV/AIDS awareness and education. My Uncle’s name is on one of those panels.
Currently, many of the grants and government funding programs for HIV/AIDS services nation wide in the U.S. have been reduced or cut completely making it difficult for those dealing with HIV/AIDS to get the help they need. Medication and treatment are exceedingly expensive. Those dealing with the disease cross all age, sexual orientation, racial and socio-economic backgrounds. Some of the fastest growing populations are young adults and women. Funding needs to be there for both education to prevent further infections and care for those already infected.
This year I am walking with a team from my church, St. John’s MCC to raise money to assist those in North Carolina dealing with this disease and I need your help. Click the image at the top of my blog and you will be sent to my donation page were you can donate whatever you feel capable of giving. It only takes a few minutes. If you know anyone else who would be interested in donating, pass it on.
My Uncle Gary was a great man. Smart, funny, well spoken, and someone I looked up to as a child. One of my favorite stories from him was a discussion we had on books. Someone asked him if he had ever read Stephen King. He explained he tried once but decided that wasn't wise for him or his health. Gary owned a large, long-haired gray fluffy cat that was very well trained and well behaved. The cat was not permitted in the bedroom let alone on the bed. Uncle Gary started reading Pet Cemetery on the suggestion of a friend. One night, lying in bed, reading Pet Cemetery, right at a particularly suspenseful part, his large gray, fluffy cat ran into the bedroom, onto the bed and did the frightened cat routine where he puffed out completely, stiffened up, arched his back and meowed loudly. The cat then jumped down and ran off. Uncle Gary took that as a sign, put the book down and never picked up another Stephen King book again.
I want to raise money in honor of Uncle Gary and all of the people I have met over the years infected and affected by this disease. I know the economy is in terrible shape right now and money is tight but even $1.00 is helping. Reach into your heart and into your wallet and take a few minutes and donate. Feel good about helping make a difference for a lot of people. If you can't donate right now, send some positive vibes and prayers out to the team from St. John's MCC that we succeed in our goals for helping others.
Thanks all

Tag, You're It! (Loss of Childhood Lessons)

2008-04-15T10:31:00.002-04:00

I just read an article where a principal at an elementary school has banned tag at recess. She stated that students were becoming too aggressive and too many students were ending up in the nurses office. The funny part of the article is how many parent complained that tag should not be banned and I agree. Many schools have either removed recess all together or placed many limits on the games played. No more dodge ball, red rover, tag, etc. All in the name of protecting kids.
I'm all for keeping kids safe however, children need to run into some obstacles in life to learn how to cope and grow and work within groups. It seems to me as a society we are being way too overprotective. Kids need to take some knocks in the process of learning. It will make them stronger. You learn to get up when you fall and keep going.
I had a horrible time in elementary school. I'm a geek; always have been, always will be and as an adult I'm proud of it. I was the quiet bookworm. My parents moved my one older brother and I to a private Catholic school when I was in 4th grade. My brother wasn't doing well in school and they thought the better school would help and it did. We both got wonderful educations but I also ran into a lot of social issues. My family wasn't rich, many of the other students were. And I was far from cool. I didn't have the latest clothes nor was I good with quick come backs. I was picked on. When I switched schools again in 6th grade I ran into the same sort of problems of not fitting in. Was it painful? Yes, but I also learned to cope and grow and still gained a few friends along the way. The skills I learned on the playground have served me better in some ways than the book knowledge I gained in class.
We played all the standard games. I have been clotheslined trying to break through in red rover and I've been to the nurses office for the standard gel ice pack to reduce the swelling from getting hit in the face with a dodge ball (my school had the balls with the crow's feet pattern). All the times I was picked on, I learned. I learned to stand up for myself, to speak out when there is a problem, to think fast on my feet and I learned that there are ways to win against a bully. In the end, I learned how to navigate through life successfully. By the time I was a college freshman I wasn't the odd one out anymore. I was a mature, young adult able to handle a lot.
As an adult, I have friends I can rely on, acquaintances I can hang out with and people with whom I connect. I found out I'm not the only geek on the planet. I can proudly say I like science fiction and usually find quite a few others who agree. I can also handle the curve balls that life throws. Despite the pain of getting picked on, I wouldn't change it if I could go back. If I did, I wouldn't be the strong adult I am today. Our experience prepare us for the road ahead and I think my experiences have equipped me well.

Beware the Penguins

2008-04-09T21:20:00.003-04:00

NHL hockey playoffs started this evening. I'm a Pittsburgh Penguin fan... I even have the Sidney Crosby jersey. I grew up watching the Penguins and even went to games on a fairly regular basis with my Dad when Mario Lemieux and Jamir Jagr played together and the Penguins won the cup. I've been waiting for awhile to see a good Penguin team again and here they are.
One of the few downsides to moving to North Carolina is I don't get to see many Steeler games during football season and even less Penguin games during hockey season.
I was really excited to watch the outdoor game between the Penguins and the Buffalo Sabres on New Years Day. Now the Playoffs are here and the playoffs are on cable.
The game has been very good tonight though the Penguins need to be smarter on the penalties. Give a team a power play over and over and eventually they are going to get the puck in the net. I'm looking forward to the whole series against the Ottawa Senators and I'm very hopeful for the Penguins to continue. I really want to be sitting in front of my nifty new LCD TV in my Crosby Penguin hockey shirt cheering on the team.
Beware the Penguins!
Go Pens!

House Cleaning

2008-04-08T11:56:00.002-04:00

We helped a friend this past weekend. She moved in a bit of a rush and left a lot behind in her house. It's hard to list a house if it is't clean so a group of us got together and cleaned. The downside, the electric and water was shut off. Cleaning was a challenge. At the very least, we were able to remove the few pieces of furniture and other various junk left behind. The plus was I added to my book collection and picked up a few other nifty items proving once again that one person's trash is another person's treasure.
The house is a nice split level with a two car garage but it needs some work. The wallpaper is outdated, carpets need replaced, some minor roof repair and a new sliding door but it has a lot of potential so hopefully she can sell it successfully versus continuing to pay a morgage here and rent in her new town...
We are looking in to one more repair/cleaning day to help her out.

Catastrophy

2008-03-26T12:56:00.003-04:00

A few months ago we got one of those nifty cat litter boxes that scoops itself. We left both the new and old litter box out and slowly phased the old one out. The only problem with the new litter box is its size. It was too big to place in the corner of the spare bathroom and between its size and the ability of the cats, specifically Cali, to fling litter when digging, the guest bathroom has not been user friendly for humans.
We had a good thought to put the litter box in the bathtub of the spare bathroom figuring, we don't use the bathtub, the show curtain will keep the flung litter contained and the rest of the facilities would be human friendly. This worked great for us, not so great for Charles Baron. Charles has decided he doesn't like using the litter box in its new location and instead, prefers the carpet by the dining room table....
This really hasn't gone so well for him though in the end I suppose he won...
Charles got the cold shoulder for three days from me and Tara but the litter box is back to taking up the entire bathroom floor in the guest bathroom and I spent three days scrubbing the carpet.
So far the carpet is remaining clean but that bathroom is back to being property of the cats alone.

Happy Easter

2008-03-23T17:27:00.003-04:00

"He is Risen. He is Risen, Indeed!"

I hope everyone has a blessed Easter. I attended a wonderful sunrise service at St. John's MCC the cumulated in the sun lighting up the entire sanctuary right at the end.

AIDS Walk and Ride

2008-02-25T13:30:00.003-05:00

I need your help. This year I plan to walk 3 miles for the AIDS Walk and Ride to raise money to support Alliance of AIDS Services Carolina. In college I was a certified HIV/AIDS instructor and I’ve known a variety of people who have lived and died with this disease. I am walking with a team from my church, St. John’s MCC. The 19 of us are attempting to raise $10,000 or more. If you can help, please click the image above put some money in. From $5 to $100, whatever you can afford to give would be a great help.
If you know anyone else who would be interested in assisting, please forward the link onward.

Go on...click on the link, give a little money...feel all warm and fuzzy because you did a great thing...

And I promise to post images of me walking the miles in May after the big event...

Cats not Kids

2008-02-22T12:41:00.002-05:00

I get asked every so often, "Don't you want to have children?" My answer is usally, "I have cats not kids for a reason." I like kids, love my 5 nieces more than I could possibly describe, but I also have no drive what-so-ever to have a child of my own. Maybe I'm a little too much of a kid myself. I enjoy the duties of being the Ciocia (Polish for Aunt) Heather. I spoil my nieces and a few of my friends' children and grand children. Basically, I have all of the fun and very little of the work. Plus, I've been paying my one brother back for years of childhood torture (getting locked in the shed, scaring me, etc) by sending toys like the rock and play piano and the singing and dancing Elmo. If it makes noise and is somehow still educational, I will make sure it ends up in his house. I even taught the girls how to put batteries in.
Mostly, I'm happy I have cats. They're like permanent 3 year olds that I can leave unattended for hours or very occasionally weekend at a time. They give me love and attention, I give them great head scritches and fun sessions chasing the laser pointer dot and playing fetch with a cap or toy mouse.

LCD

2008-02-19T14:11:00.001-05:00

Can it be considered a sign from God that my 12 year old 32 inch TV is shutting off randomly and not working properly a week before the tax refund will be deposited into my account? There's a really nice 37" LCD with HDTV at WalMart just calling my name...

Super Fat Tuesday

2008-02-06T10:34:00.000-05:00

The Giants celebrated, the canidates stressed, and the partiers partied. What a way to roll so much into one day. Me? I did my usual work thing followed by my usual home thing.
I'm happy for the NY Giants even though I'm a Steelers fan. I think it's great the underdog won. The primaries really didn't hold too many surprises. Clinton and Obama have been going back and forth and the basic tie right now wasn't really a shock.
As far as Fat Tuesday goes....I wish I could have been there. Looked like a load of fun. One big party before 40 days of fasting and reflection.
If you follow Lent, what are you plannning to sacrifice for the season?

the underdog

2008-02-03T20:56:00.000-05:00

I'll admit it. I'mrooting for the NY Giants. The underdogs. I don't particularly care which team wins but if I had to chose It would be the Giants.
Really, since my Steelers aren't in the Superbowl, I'm really watching for the commercials.
So far, Justin Timberlake in the Pepsi commercial and the Careerbuilder commercial where the singing lightning bug gets eaten by a spider rank as my favorites.

Cat's Meow

2008-01-23T23:11:00.000-05:00

So I got a new phone, the old cell phone finally broke. One down side to switching phones is you lose all your ringtones and images. I started searching for ringtones and on a whim typed in, "cats" into the AT&T search and lo and behold there were multiple cat ringtone sound effects. So I turned up the sound and hit play. The one ringtone has a rather unhappy cat meowing repeatedly. I played it once and looked up to see all three of our cats on high alert, gathered around me and searching for who was in trouble. I couldn't resist. I hit play again. All three jumped up and started looking for the cat in trouble. I actually had to calm them down and let them know it was okay, just a sound effect. It's nice to know they cared.

The perks of travel

2008-01-15T22:36:00.000-05:00

God bless the alcohol allotted on business trips. The rules say 2 drinks but they don't give a size limit. Two double Captain and Cokes count as 2 drinks....hee, hee!
The simple pleasures you look for when traveling for your job....
This training is going to be very useful and this is far from a wasted trip but after 9+ hours in one room with the same people it is nice to have a good meal and a good drink or two to finish off the day.
Not drunk but definitely happy ( I can always get on the fitness equipment nicely provided by the hotel to work of the extra calories!)
Here's to 3 more fun filled business trip days and nights!

It's been awhile

2008-01-11T18:07:00.000-05:00

And back again I come. I guess it was just a bit of blogger's block cause I've looked at my blog and other people's as well and just couldn't come up with anything.
Life has been crazy in a good kinda way and by the time I'm done working each day I've pretty much sworn off the computer until the next day.
I'm off to Dallas, TX for work next week. I'm hoping the weathers good, the work is interesting, and the time passes quickly. I'm also praying my team does a good job while I'm away. I know they are all capable of it but after some recent events I sometimes worry about whether they actually will.
Here's to happy travels in the aisle seat.

Santa's Reindeer

2007-12-15T22:37:00.000-05:00

Watching one of my coworkers walk by with a set of antlers on got me to thinking of Santa's Reindeer. A few years ago I was with a friend and her young nieces when they visited a local farmer's market advertising "Live Real Santa's Reindeer." I walked up to the little petting zoo area with Emily, a three year old at the time to look at the reindeer. It was only 2 days before Christmas and Emily in all her three-year-old-wisdom looks at Dasher and Prancer and then back at me and says, "If Santa's Reindeer are here, how is he going to fly his sleigh?" I swear every mother and child in the area stopped and looked at me.
Thinking fast I replied, "Well, these are the back up reindeer. You see, Santa has his first string team that he always uses but there are also extra reindeer in case one of the regulars gets sick. These are some of the extras that Santa lent to the farm so you could meet them. He still has his regular team and some of the backups at the North Pole."
After a short pause Emily simply said, "Oh. Can I feed them?"
While she put the change into the feed machine a mother walked past me and quietly said, "You're good."
Another Christmas crisis averted. Whew.

Speaking Up and Speaking Out Part II

2007-12-09T17:25:00.000-05:00

We have been getting more involved in St. John's MCC since moving to North Carolina in September. Pastor Belva often says no one comes to the church by accident. I think we are a pretty good example. Last spring Tara and I sat down and said okay, we don't want to spend the rest of our lives in Erie and quite frankly we don't really want to spend another winter in Erie either so if we could choose anywhere in the U.S. to live where would it be? After much debating we put our finger down on Raleigh, NC. The weather is much better, the job opportunities are there and we are still not too far from family. Plus NC has mountains, ocean, rivers, etc. that we enjoy. Raleigh also has a Metropolitan Community Church, an inclusive Christian church.
So we did pretty well, in September we moved to Rocky Mount, NC, 50 miles east of Raleigh when I was promoted to Training Manager. We attended the church as guests the first time and were greeted warmly. By the third service we were assisting, and now 3 months later we are members of the choir and about to become full members of the church.
It's funny to me to look back at the past few months and see all this fall into place. The skills that Tara and I have are ones that were lacking to help in the coming year. The past two weeks we have been attending the annual members forums and vote. Mainly to observe and this week to help count votes for board member positions since we are not yet members ourselves. We both had an opportunity to speak during the forum last week and I had a chance to see the power my words can hold. Thankfully I'm using them for good.

Speaking Up and Speaking Out Part I

2007-12-02T23:02:00.000-05:00

Saturday was World AIDS Day. A day to remember the disease is still out there and still growing. I was an HIV/AIDS educator in college and used to keep up on the statistics. I learned a few scary ones today. The vast majority of people contracting the disease right now are between the ages of 15-25 and over the age of 55. It seems the young still think they are invincible and the old think it doesn't apply to them. Every 60 seconds another person under the age of 25 gets the disease.
I lost an uncle to the disease in 1997. Now parents are facing losing children. Apparently, we need to step up education in school. Unfortunately, just saying, "don't have sex" doesn't work. Education also needs to be stepped up for the AARP crowd as well. Just because you are old enough to get an AARP newsletter doesn't mean you are safe from a sexually transmitted disease.
BTW, one of the fastest growing groups of people getting HIV are straight women. There's some interesting food for thought.
I had the good fortune to be present in the 1990's in Washington, D.C. to witness the last time the AIDS Quilt was laid out in its entirety. The Quilt is composed of large panels created by friends and family in memory of someone they lost to AIDS. The reason the whole thing hasn't been laid out since the 1990's it it is now too large to do so. When I saw it, the Quilt took up the entire Mall. If you stood at one end you couldn't see the other due to the curvature of the Earth. I can't conceive of it's size now. Different organization can request a section of the Quilt to display. Part of the agreement is you will read all of the names of all of the people who have a panel. The list takes days to read non-stop. It's a powerful experience to see a Quilt section. It puts a face to such a large epidemic.
I know, I sound like I'm lecturing but I stepped away from educating others on this disease years ago and feel like I should take some steps back toward that.
The visiting pastor in church today spoke of Linus from the Peanuts. She mentioned that if you go through life with your thumb in your mouth like Linus, you can't speak up for yourself or others who cannot speak for themselves.
Take a moment and remember those who have HIV and those who have lost the fight. Most importantly, take a moment to think about those who are at risk for contracting it, especially the teenagers.

back in black

2007-11-26T22:07:00.001-05:00

I've been quiet for awhile mainly because I've been rather busy with life and all the amazing changes that can and have been happening.
Funny how all tends to work out. When we moved to North Carolina we looked up and found a Metropolitan Community Church in Raleigh, less than an hour from us so off we went to church at St. John's. For me it has been a really long time however, I used to go to the MCC in Pensacola, Florida so I was actually looking forward to going here. It has been a good experience thus far. We are both now in the choir and often help with some part of the service or another. We've also found a great group of people.
In the mean time there has also been work going full speed ahead. It is a slow uphill battle to get my teams in shape. Most have never worked in a professional setting and have poor to non-existent work ethics. I keep feeling like I'm channeling my former training manager Kyra when talking to them which is really a good thing overall since she taught me quite a lot.
On top of all of this we have quit smoking. I pained myself into quite a corner by starting a quit smoking club at work. I can't smoke at work or some of my coworkers would hunt me down! I was pretty angry on my first non-smoking day but then, I knew I would be. It's worked so far though to use my own morals against myself.
There is so much more it is just bunching up in my head right now so I'll just come back on a regular basis again to get it all out.

Watch those spines

2007-11-17T23:53:00.000-05:00

And I thought our cat Charles had to loose some weight...

Week in Review

2007-10-26T21:23:00.000-04:00

Another work week has come and gone. I completed interviews for one of my positions and after much agonizing between two canidates, picked the one I think will work best. I know, however, that my choice will cause a lot of waves since the one who didn't get the job has been temping in this position for a couple of months. We'll see in the next few months if my choice was wise.
We finally got some significant rain here in eastern N. Carolina. It was desperately needed though sad to say, desipite 3 straight days of rain, the extreme drought is still present. The down side to the switch in weather was the headache I've been walking around with for three days. It was strong enough to keep me from the weekly basketball game. I went to bed last night instead and awoke to Curious George chasing his own tail on top of me at 4 am. Despite almost 2 years of serious effort on his part, his tail is still firmly attached to his ass.
Life continues to shift and change all around me. I think for the better though sometimes the changes and realizations happen frighteningly fast. I just strap myself in with my trusty 5 point saftey harness and hold on for the ride.
THe headache is still twinging at the edges so I'm off to relax some more...more on the changes later.

more random things

2007-10-16T21:06:00.000-04:00

This week has been as busy as ever. I'm slowly filling the holes in my two departments. It never ceases to amaze me how slow the corporate machine can run.
We're still playing catch up from the move. I anticipate getting all the bills up to speed by November just in time to start buying Christmas gifts...
I had a moment of insanity this week and signed up for NaNoWriMo this year. I've been writing for a long time, for pleasure, for work, for this for that, now I'm actually taking a shot at writing a novel. If you are interested in joining the insanity look it up at http://www.nanowrimo.org. 50,000 words, one month. Here's to one hell of a challenge.
I've discovered a way to feed my reading habit inexpensively. http://www.paperbackswap.com. The site allows you to list books you're willing to give away and swap them for other people's books. List 9 books, you get 3 credits to use. Every time you ship a book to someone, you gain another credit. Every time you request a book, you use a credit. So far I've gotten two books and given away one. I have 175 other books listed so if you are interested, go take a look. All you pay is the cost of shipping to get your books out to others.
Despite still playing catch up we splurged big time on the cats this weekend and bought them their very own Supreme Commander Kitty Tower. A carpeted monstrosity with a hiding hole and four platforms. It is a HUGE hit. Curious George, the lowest cat in the cat hierarchy claimed the top spot first and spends hours a day up there guarding his new domain.
If you are the praying type, please keep Tara's son, Robert in your prayers. He is on his second tour in Iraq right now on guard duty. 14 hour shifts and he is wearing down. He really wants to come home and we want him to stay safe and sane. Keep him in your prayers, his unit is there until May. He was due to be released from active service in the National Guard last year but the military used Stop Loss to keep him. He's a good guy with a great wife waiting here for him. We're putting together a care package for him. Apparently cookies and beef jerky are hugely popular items with his unit. So are calling cards. It is very expensive to call home. A 500 minute calling card will give him 60-90 minutes of talk time but the phone can be a life line.
On a totally different note, I joined a church basketball regular Thursday game. A few of my subordinates invited me and I surprised myself by actually keeping up. I've learned to stay out of the inside when the boys get rough but I'm not half bad at defense. I've even bought a pair of basketball shorts! I figure it's a good way to get some exercise and get out of the house during the week. Now if I could just make a basket under pressure I'd be doing really good. What's interesting is the cross section of people playing. I'm having a good time of it though.
Last but certainly not least, A huge Congratulations to my best friend Gary. He got promoted to training developer back in Erie, my old job. He'll make an excellent developer and should be a big help to the team there.

Random Thoughts

2007-10-09T21:00:00.000-04:00

Curious George has decided I need to be up at 5:30 am every morning for the express purpose of giving him attention and playing with him and his toy mouse on a string.
My alarm does not go off until 6:30 (not including 2 snoozes I allot).
Terminating someones employment never gets easier and unfortunately, as a manager of a training department, I'm going to have to do this more often when trainees don't meet goals.
Hiring people is also not an easy task. I have open positions in my department and there are times in the course of interviews that I wish I had a real magic 8 ball to ask, "Will this person work well on my team?" Alas, I have to go with facts and instincts. I guess I'll find out over the upcoming months if those facts and instincts were right.
Having carpeting in the new apartment is apparently a great thing for the cats. We now have a nightly Kitty NASCAR Race Circuit though the apartment (including over me in the bed) as the cats celebrate their ability to corner like a BMW.
Neighbors in an apartment building are both a blessing and a curse. They will give you good things like a free beer as you walk to your apartment. They will play old school country music with a top notch stereo system providing a free vibrating foot massage for those who live above them (namingly me).
Chic-Fil-A has the best chicken nuggets EVER.
That's about all my brain can handle for now...

Technicalities

2007-09-28T14:21:00.000-04:00

My other half took me to dinner last night at Red Lobster for my birthday (see previous post). I told her on the way in, "Absolutely, under no circumstances, do I want anyone in the restaurant singing to me tonight." She agreed and promised. And then proceeded to tell the waitress, Ashley, not to sing to me.
So the end of the meal comes and Tara has that evil look that cats get when they are plotting something and I emphasis again I don't want anyone singing to me. She promises again.
Then Ashley and three other servers walk out with a scoop of ice cream with a candle on it, set it in front of me, I give Tara the look of death and then....
the servers proceed to HUM the entire birthday song. Patrons joined in...
Tara looks me in the eye and says, "You said no singing. You didn't say anything about humming..."
Caught on a technicality. Next year I'm going to say No musical interludes...
Revenge will be sweet and I have until March 31 to figure it out...

Happy Birthday

2007-09-27T09:50:00.001-04:00

I'm going to have a rare egotistical moment and say:
Happy Birthday To ME!
I've made it through another year with flying colors.
Now I have a whole new year to try to figure out if getting a year older really makes me a year wiser...
I can't wait to see what the next year brings...

The Death of a Great Author

2007-09-26T08:30:00.000-04:00

James Oliver Rigney Jr. better known to millions of people as Robert Jordan passed away last week from a rare blood disorder, primary amyloidosis with cardiomyopathy which caused the walls of his heart to thicken. He was 58.
Rigney Jr wrote the Wheel of Time series, a sweeping fantasy epic that I've been addicted to for years. The books were amazingly detailed, rich in a multitude of plots and character depth. I always made it a point to start rereading the series about 3-4 months before a new book would come out so I could catch up and remember all the important items.
My friend sent me a link to his obituary last week and I've been struggling with a little guilt since then. My first thought on reading the obit was, "@#$%, he died before he finished writing the series!" I did find out he was working on the last novel when he died. It's release date has been pushed back due to his illness a few times. I also know he was quoted as saying he had extensive notes so hopefully someone will be able to finish it and give his millions of loyal fans some closure on the fate of Rand Al Thor.
Reading his obituary I realized there was an extraordinary man behind the pseudonym with a family, hopes, dreams and I'm truly sorry to see him go as a person not just because he died before he could finish his life's work.
So here's to James Oliver Rigney Jr. I hope he's found something wonderful on the other side.

It's Been Awhile

2007-09-21T09:07:00.000-04:00

I know it has been many weeks since I've posted. My life has required a five-point harness and safety bar as of late and I didn't have a way to let go long enough to catch everyone up. I'm just going to fair warn you now...this will be a long one. SO MUCH to talk about.
First: Dad Update
My father had a resistant bacterial pneumonia that effused into his chest cavity. I'm happy to say after 3 weeks in the hospital, major surgery, 28 days of IV antibiotics and a lot of TLC he is doing fine. No more tubes, no IVs and he is down to 1 liter of O2 that he only uses for about an hour a day so that will be going away soon as well. He is also gaining weight back and is happily at home puttering around.
Second: Jewelry Update
The website will be up in a week. We went to a festival in Ohio and did not do as well as we would have hoped due to rain through most of the day but, we learned a lot, met a lot of fabulous women, and plan to return next year as well as attend some other festivals on the east coast.
Third: Job Update
This is the single biggest reason I haven't been online in so long. I was promoted to Training Manager at our Rocky Mount, NC location and was given slightly over two weeks to 1. find a place to live 2. pack my house 3. rent a truck 4. move to new location 5. sell trailer. Believe it or not, we did it all. After the festival in Columbus OH we drove to my parents in Pittsburgh, PA, stored our festival stuff there and visited. From Pittsburgh we drove to Rocky Mount, had 1 day to find a place to live. Accidentally ran into a wonderful Realtor and actually almost bought a house. We will actually be able to buy one in 6 months to a year. In the mean time we found a very nice apartment, signed all the paperwork for that, I met my boss and toured the site and the next day we drove all the way back to Erie. That was Wednesday, September 12th. On Thursday we picked up the truck and started packing. Friday more packing and loaded and a friend of a friend mentioned his brother-in-law might be interested in the trailer. We loaded 95% of the truck Friday, went out Friday night and closed the bar saying goodbye to everyone. Got up Saturday morning, finished loading and left. Tara's sister stayed to clean for us and her daughter brought the interested party in to look at the trailer at 1pm.
We left at noon on Saturday for what should have been an 11 hour drive. We arrived in Rocky Mount at 730 am Sunday.
Did you know 2 cats can meow non-stop for HOURS? Tara had Charles in the truck and he was perfectly well behaved. She had the cage door open and he happily sat in that crate for the entire trip. I had Cali and George. Cali successfully escaped the crate once and after we locked her back up she started to meow and George joined in. From 730 pm to 730 am, non-stop. We stopped every 2 hours and got them out on harnesses and leashes (oh the indignity) but even so, 12 straight hours of, "Mow. MEOW. MEW."
Despite there best efforts we survived and arrived safely. We hired some help from EMove.com to unload the truck. $140 for 2 guys for 3 hours. Money very well spent. They are professionals, treated our stuff with care, climbed the steps 400 times and even hooked up the washer and dryer. Thank you Ed and Jeff.
The guy that looked at the trailer loved it. Payed for it on Monday and we are out from under the trailer. He is already having the last few items fixed before he and his family move in. I'm really happy for them. They seem like great people.
I started my new job Monday and have by trying my best to keep my head above water. I have a lot to learn but the other managers are good people and I have a really positive outlook on this.
Last note. As far as the apartment manager knows we have 1 cat. So we have 2 fugitive cats and 1 fugitive bearded dragon. I figure we can pull it off for the few months we'll be there.
Happy blogging to all. I'm back!

Photos

2007-08-20T09:47:00.000-04:00

So I have some wonderful photos of my new car to put on my blog and some great shots of jewelry to put on our eBay store all taken on our nifty little digital camera. I went to download everything and low and behold, I can't find the cable to plug the camera into my computer. It turns out that while I have the camera and case, Tara has the cord in her computer bag. On her truck. In Texas this week....
She'll be back Friday or Saturday and I'll load everything then.
In the mean time, I'll be ghosting around this week but not very involved in the blogging world. Dad is getting better and should be able to go home at the end of the week and I'm playing catch up on the rest of my life.
Have a good week all.

General this and that

2007-08-17T08:24:00.001-04:00

I will post photos of the new car later today, I promise! I've been working like mad to make up for being at the hospital on Monday and Tuesday and it's been dark by the time I get home and can take some photos. The Escape's color is officially Black Pearl Slate so in honor of the Pirates of the Carribean movies she has now been named The Black Pearl or Pearl for short. I still don't know how to use all the options on the stereo but I did figure out the bass. I've also become a fan of the sensor in my rear view mirror. The mirror dims automatically so now I'm not blinded when the idiot behind me doesn't shut off his brights.
It amazes me how many new toys they've come up with for a vehicle in the past 11 years.

Work has been interesting. There's nothing like opening your e-mail after missing two days and finding 136 e-mails to deal with. I've been creating like a crazy woman and still have a ton of work to get done but that's ok, it makes the time go by quickly.

The jewelry making is going well. I've found I'm good a stringing beads. Who would have figured. We have our eBay store but, with everything, I haven't loaded the inventory yet. If you are a jewelry type person there will be earrings, necklaces and bracelets of various styles. Tara is also very good and custom jewelry to fit an individuals personality. I'll post our link as soon as the inventory is even partially loaded. Probably by Monday.

The cats, specifically the boys Curious George and Charles Baron, have been unusually attentive to me the past few days. They've been very cuddly and have been generally glued to me since I got home Tuesday night.

George took his addiction to leather cord to new heights yesterday. I didn't properly place the lid on the storage container that has our cords, string, wire, etc. for Jewelry. He apparently went onto the kitchen table (big no, no) repeatedly and pulled one pre-cut leather cord at a time out and then carried them to the bed where he proudly showed them off to me yesterday morning. I got my revenge and tied one loosely to his collar. He chased himself around for 10 minutes before he got it loose.

On a final note, my Dad continues to improve. He is now driving the staff in CCU crazy since he wants to get up and go and he still has 3 chest tubes...He refused his pain medication last night saying he'd be fine without it. That lasted until he had a coughing fit and became distinctly aware of those tubes again. He humbly asked for his drugs at midnight. His nurse just smiled and gave him his medication. I give her credit for not saying, "I told you so." I'm going back home tomorrow to visit him again. Hopefully his last air leak will close today and he'll get to go to a private room.

Good News Good News

2007-08-15T16:18:00.000-04:00

It has been one hell of a ride the past 5 days. There is the whole sick Dad thing (BTW, off the respirator and doing really well!) and then there was the my car died thing. Two big negatives. The positives:
1. My Dad will be fine and is now a non-smoker
2. dead car meant I had to get new car and boy did I ever get a new one (pictures to follow in next post). My other half, Tara, and I got a 2008 Ford Escape XLT with lots of shiny buttons and toys!!!!! It is an amazing, wonderful, stupendous vehicle.
3. I've had 2 sets of job interviews, both for positions in North Carolina - one with my current company and one with a new one. All interviews have gone well.
4. I may have a chance to be promoted to a coordinator if all else fails and stay here in Erie
Like I said, up and down but a lot more positive than negative.

Dad Update Part II

2007-08-14T20:53:00.000-04:00

The surgery took over 4 hours today. My Dad had a really bad infection in the space between his right lung and his chest wall. The bacteria/infectious material was dead thanks to the antibiotics but it all needed removed. They drained the fluid and scrapped the gunk out and placed 3 chest tubes in to keep the negative pressure in his chest and drain the last bit of fluid.
That was one of the hardest moments of my life-to walk in to the CCU and see three chest tubes, a ventilator, 3 IV lines, 1 arterial line, pressure cuffs, etc. all hooked up to my Dad. I hope I never have to see him like this again.
The ventilator is so his lung gets a chance to heal. As of this evening they were already begining to adust the respirator down very slowly so he can be weened off of it no later than Thursday, sooner if he is up to it. He has two leaks in his lung right now from the scraping, apparently this is common. The chest tubes have to stay in until these heal.
He was sedated and on some really heavy pain medication but he still managed to nod a few times and smile a bit before he passed back out.
The plus to all of this: 3-4 days in CCU, 4-7 days in a private room, then home. In 4-8 weeks he will be completely back to his old self, puttering around the house, working a few hours at the gas station to keep from driving my Mom nuts, mowing the lawn and eating his favorite, T-bone steaks.
The scary stuff: if he smokes again, he dies. He has the beginning stages of emphyzema and this infection weakened his lungs as well. Scary stuff part II: If he hadn't gone to the hospital on Sunday, he would have been dead before Monday dawned. Scary stuff part III: he has to be very careful of colds and flu now.
Thank you sooooooo much for your thoughts and prayers. My Dad is an amazing guy, quiet, dry sense of humor, strong sense of ethics and morals, very big on the Do Unto Others rule, smart, strong and confident and I am so grateful I'm going to have all of that around for a lot longer. I may be creeping up fast on 31, but I'm still Daddy's little girl (I'm the youngest and the only girl in the family) and I still need him around.

Dad Update

2007-08-13T22:12:00.000-04:00

Well, the down side is my Dad is still in critical care, the upside is they figured out what is wrong with him. My father is a stubborn, stubborn man. 2 months ago he had a chest cold that he refused to go to the doctor for. My Mom managed to get him to at least call the doctor who prescribed an antibiotic. Ever since then he has not been right. He has lost weight, been lethargic and generally unhealthy. Apparently, 2 months ago my Dad had pnemonia, not a chest cold. The anitbiotics took care of the infection but not the fluid. The fluid in his right lung effused to his chest cavity and has sat there for 2 months putting pressure on his lung and causing all other issues. If you can't get enough oxygen, you dont' have any energy, can't eat cause as you are chewing you loose even more oxygen 'cause you aren't breathing.
Last Thursday my Father was hit with a stealth, strong sneeze that doubled him up and put enough added pressure on his right lung to collapse it. Despite the sharp pain he still refused to go to the doctor. He finally went on Sunday to the ER where they discovered a blood saturation of 74%, hense the critical care. The doctors drained 1/2 gallon of fluid out and got his lung to reinflate. The doctor's tested the hell out of that fluid and discovered: A: it was not congestive heart failure - his heart looks fantastic and B: it was not cancer. It is left over icky fluid that is no longer infectious.
He has surgery at 8 am on Tuesday to remove the scar tissue and fluid so his lung can finish inflating and he can return to normal life. The surgery will be painful but necessary so I'll be at the Hospital with Dad for Tuesday and Wednesday. All should go well and he should be on the mend soon.
He just needs to be less stubborn in the future or my Mom, brothers or I might kill him.
The positive thoughts are so greatly appreciated. Keep them up. Despite the painful surgery, this was the best outcome possible. NO cancer, infection or mystery diseases.
Exhaused and need to be up in 4 hours. I'm off.

Thoughts and Prayers

2007-08-12T10:57:00.000-04:00

My father, Paul, is in critical care this morning in Beaver, PA and the doctor's don't know what is wrong with him. It started Thursday with sharp pains on his right side and now his lung is showing up white on the x-ray. They didn't know yet whether it was fluid or air. Everyone, please keep him in your thoughts and prayers. I want my next post to say he is getting better and will be fine. I'll be off line for a few days.

*****Update, the doctor drained 1/2 a gallon of fluid out of my Dad's chest. He said after initial testing it is definitely NOT congestive heart failure but the fluid is an inflammatory response. They are doing further testing to see if it is an infection or something else. In the mean time, with the help of draining the fluid and a CPAP machine (used for people with sleep apnea) his oxygen levels are good, he's feeling better and starting to joke around. He is, however, still in critical care. More in a day or so as I get info. Thanks for your thoughts and prayers. Keep them up, they are helping.******

Geek and Proud of It

2007-08-09T17:57:00.000-04:00

I've come to accept and love all my personality quarks, the biggest of which, I think, is my basic status as a Geek. I was a smart kid. My parents have a photo of me trying to read when I was two. Never mind that the book was upside down, I wanted to read. I went to school a year early, I was only 4 when I started Kindergarten, and drove the teacher nuts because she would hand out an activity and I would read the directions and start. She would say, "Heather, don't start yet, you don't know what to do." and I would reply, "It says right here, 'Color #1 blue and #2 red."
I was a smart kid with a nice personality but I never quite fit in at school. My style never quite matched, I was never the cool one, never with the "in" crowd. Don't get me wrong, I had friends, but I was never in that really popular click. Come to think of it, that popular click really irritated me in high school.
I read and still read voraciously, finishing the Chronicles of Narnia very young and Madeline L'Engle's A Wrinkle In Time series right after. Reading was a great escape where I could be anyone and go anywhere.
In middle school I cemented the Geek status by joining the band and playing a decent flute, even making it to honors band 2 years in a row for the Catholic Diocese (did I mention 5 years of Catholic school?).
High school brought an academic track of study, volleyball, newspaper, yearbook, health careers club, VIP peer group, oh and a little dabble in chorus and a musical.
It wasn't until college that I truly fit in or rather became comfortable with who I was and found others of a similar mind set. I was still a geek there getting a BS in Science while running the college newspaper, joining the AIDS action team as a certified HIV/AIDS educator and being a very happy member of Alpha Phi Omega coed international service fraternity where I learned to play pinochle and learned the call backs to Rocky Horror Picture show and all the lines to Monty Python's Holy Grail.
Now I revel in my geekdom. I love computers, writing, bad scifi movies, good scifi books and I'm even an admitted Trekker.
I'm the person full of useless bits of knowledge who likes to consume books and play on the Internet. I love to tell a good story and make people laugh. I've learned that I am way too geeky to ever properly speak some of the slang I hear in my training classes and unless I've got a significant amount of alcohol in me, dancing is not an option.
I am who I am and happy about it. I mentioned in the last post that I'm a proud Pittsburgh native. Believe me I am (Go Steelers!) but I'm also just a proud to be a geek.

Pittsburgh at Heart

2007-08-08T08:05:00.000-04:00

I grew up 26 miles outside of Pittsburgh Pennsylvania in Raccoon Township, Beaver County (yes it's alright to snicker). Both of my grandfathers worked the steel mills and my father worked for the airlines for 40 years before retiring.

Though I don't live in the area anymore, Pittsburgh is still a big part of me. I caught an article about TV shows being filmed or based in Pittsburgh yesterday. That turned out to be an interesting read. When I was a child the Steel Mill industry was still very active and Pittsburgh was not an attractive looking city. Over the past 30 years the city has been transformed and has, in my humble opinion, one of the best skylines ever.

What I found interesting is the quote about Pittsburghers in the article, "A Pittsburgher is "somebody who is more down to earth, somebody who is a little more tougher,"

We Pittsburghers have, at heart, no matter what our professions and where we go, a blue collar outlook on life, you work hard, you play hard, you take care of each other.

If you don't believe me on the play hard thing, watch the fans when a Pittsburgh Steelers or Penguins game is on tv.

We also have our own version of English that is quite a bit different that anywhere else. First off, when a group of Pittsburgh natives get together enunciation goes out the window. Words are slid together and often not pronounced correctly: East Liberty is Ee sliberty, a sandwich is a sammich. We also have a lot of our own words: yinz - you guys, read up -- clean up or ready up, jagger bush -- a bush with thorns, jag someone -- poke fun at someone, gum band -- rubber band, crick -- creek, nebby/neb nose -- a nosey or overly curious person. If you want to learn more check out Pittsburghese. We also know how to poke fun at ourselves. Check out Chipped Ham Sam a Yappin Yinzer doll

My English is quite clear now thank-you-very-much however, the roommate had knee surgery in Pittsburgh (150 miles from home) two weeks ago and I went with her for her follow up appointment on Monday. Both her and my other half looked at me toward the end of the day and said, "Boy, it doesn't take much, does it?" I asked what they meant and they pointed out that 5 minutes of talking to a Pittsburgher and my Pittsburghese came back loud and clear. I can't help it though (nor would I) because I am and will always be a Proud Pittsburgh native.

End of an Era

2007-08-07T07:13:00.000-04:00

When I was a sophomore in college I went to buy my first car with the assistance of a stack of savings bond and a boost from my parents. The initial plan was to buy a used car but the universe, and my Mom's outgoing personality, conspired and I bought a brand new 1997 Ford Escort sedan in silver. She had 12 miles on her when I drove her off the lot. I put 6 of those miles on her myself test driving. I named my car Stardust (Dusty for short) after my CB handle (yes I grew up in the country and my friends and I all had CBs).
Dusty has gone everywhere with me, surviving winters in Erie, PA and 2 years in Pensacola and Gulf Breeze, FL. She's been in New York City and Washington, D.C. rush hour traffic and up and down the East Coast. She's survived someone putting bathroom cleaner in her gas tank and a Coke being spilled into the gear shift. Dusty has gone through mountains, countryside, cities, interstates and dirt roads and has for the past 10 years been a faithful and steady part of my life.
On Saturday night during a return trip from my parents (a trip we have done 100's of times), Dusty drove her last mile. The lifters went in the car 50 miles from home. I cried while waiting for the tow truck because I knew this was the end of the line.
I will say, she went out in style. We ended up on the side of I79 in a very dark area. Since there were three of us in the car, one of which was on crutches, the tow truck driver did not want to endanger our lives by having us get out of the car to get into our friend's car at that location. All three of us remained in Dusty while she was pulled up onto the flat bed and road a few miles up the road to a gas stations where our friends were waiting and cheering at us like we were in a parade.
Dusty is currently sitting silent in the driveway. I have her listed on Craig's list as a parts car or challenge. She is fixable, only has 130,000 miles, 2 new tires and a new radiator. I just don't have the means to do it myself. If you know anyone who would like to buy her, send them my way. I'll even tow her up to 100 miles for them. In the mean time I have to figure out how to get my next car, a Ford Escape. We've been talking about getting an Escape for 3 months now and there is a part of me that thinks my car died in such a spectacular manner just to push me along on that purchase. I realize now that if she hadn't chosen to bow out, I would never have willingly given her up.
Here's to all the great travels with Dusty. Looking forward to 10 years with another great vehicle.

Driving Mystery

2007-08-02T18:34:00.000-04:00

I drive 25 miles in one direction to get to work every morning. Almost the entire drive is on I90. Last winter the 10 miles of I 90 near my house went from smooth interstate to a lovely game of Dodge the Crater. Potholes big enough to seriously damage a car. The road shouldn't have fallen apart like that for a few more years if ever so PennDOT had to scramble to get funds to repair it. The repairs began on Monday this week and are currently on the Eastbound side only so I drive I90 to work and take local roads home. When they switch sides, I'll switch my pattern as well. So far this week the construction has caused a 10 mile back up a few times and I'd rather not be a part of it.
So, I was on the way home on Tuesday following 38th St to the Winter Green Gorge, a fun section of road with steep hills and sharp bends. From there to Station Rd to one other side street to get to Rte 20 that will take me home. Somewhere between 38th and Station I found myself behind a male drive that obviously had some issues. Ask my friends and they'll tell you I don't tailgate and am a far from aggressive driver. I've been known to get stuck in one lane on a multi-lane highway because I don't want to cut someone off to move over.
I had my blue tooth headset on and was discussing my day in general with Tara who was stuck in Baltimore, MD waiting to be loaded. I followed this gentleman down Station onto the other side street and was about 2 car lengths behind him when he suddenly slammed on his breaks and came to a complete stop. I stopped behind him in plenty of time and the person behind me got a little close to my fender for comfort. The man in front then stuck his left hand out the window and flipped the middle finger all the while staring out into his side mirror at me. I commented to Tara that this guy was acting strange and stated what he just did. I actually thought he was flipping off a house across the street!
He then punched the gas and tore off down the hill. I started up much more slowly however, the light was red at the bottom of the hill. A few hundred yards short of the light he slowed way down, I caught up and he proceeded to repeatedly slam on his breaks until he reached the light. He was then able to turn right on the red. I waited for the green light.
Now we are on a 4 lane road and sure enough he is moving very slowly up the road in the right lane. I stayed back for about a half mile and then decided to pass him. As soon as I sped up a bit and moved to the left, he swerved to the left. When I moved back to the right, he whipped in front of me again; each time slamming on the breaks.
At this point I was very concerned and just wanted to get away from this man so I pulled into a parking lot for a construction machinery company and counted to 100.
When I pulled out he was now 8 cars in front of me and after the next light, turned into a dirt driveway on the right. He had a companion in the passenger seat, arm hanging out of the car and seat tilted way back.
I honestly don't know what caused the burr under his saddle. Maybe he saw my lips moving and thought I was making nasty comments (those didn't start until after I got away from him). Maybe he was paranoid, maybe he thought I was someone else or that I was following him. Maybe 2 car lengths was too close for him. Then again, maybe he was drunk or just an asshole.
The unfortunate part of this is it keeps running through my head that he pulled into a driveway, which means he might live there, which means there is a good chance I'll see him again on the road. There is no other decent, timely way for me to get home so on the same route I will go but now I'm wary of the crazy aggressive driver that somehow picked me as a target for his anger.

Messing with Nature

2007-07-31T22:08:00.000-04:00

Tara makes jewelry and we are in high gear of jewelry making for an upcoming womyn's festival in Columbus OH. Consequently, we have lots of strings, leather cord, hemp cord, etc around.
Anything dangling is absolutely irresistible to Curious George and Charles Baron. My cat, Cali, could care less but the boys are addicted. After saying, "NO" for the 100th time I finally just cut a strip of leather cord and tossed it out for the boys to play with. George is now completely addicted to this 1 foot stretch of leather. If you pick it up and dangle it for a moment and then throw it he will tear after it.
I couldn't resist tossing the strip of leather and then calling George back. If he brought the leather cord with him I gave him lots of love attention and petting. Now George plays fetch.
I know, I know, it is against a cat's nature and I'm sure there are some blog kitties that would be upset to hear this but George and Charles both come when called and both now play fetch - Charles with the caps from plastic bottles and George with leather cord.
As far as the jewelry production goes, Tara will have a website on eBay up and running this weekend and I'll pass on the website and more info on the jewelry then. As far as the fetch thing goes....well, I'm an evil cat owner. I'm going to keep playing fetch and encouraging the practice. I just can't resist.

Expanding Possibilities

2007-07-31T13:44:00.000-04:00

I had a job interview today for a position in Raleigh, NC. Tara and I have talked about moving there for awhile now since it is still east coast, four seasons, ocean, rivers, mountains but has a much shorter winter. I've had my resume out for a bit and this is the first big hit I've had and it is a job that sounds like something I would really, really enjoy.
I'll hear back next week and if all is well I'll move on to round two where they will fly me out to meet the management and do a face-to-face interview. I feel really good about this one. Send some positive thoughts my way!

Fun at the hospital

2007-07-30T11:18:00.000-04:00

The roommate had reconstructive surgery on her left knee on Thursday to repair a torn ACL. The first doctor her company sent her to was one of the most rude, condescending individuals I have had the misfortune of meeting. He told her her ACL was torn but plenty of people get along fine without one and then proceeded to look her up and down and say, "Besides, you don't ski or play basketball." Apparently he only provides surgery to people who are the perfect weight and in their 20's. Thankfully, the roomie has a wonderful workman's comp nurse/case worker who immediately said, "You are out of here. You will never see this doctor again. I know a great doctor in Pittsburgh that one of my other clients went through and you are going there."
Enter Dr. Greer. This guy knows his stuff, has a great bedside manner and the right level of confidence to inspire a reluctant patient let alone someone like my roommate who wants to be up, back to life and work as soon as possible.
So Thursday morning we went to Allegheny General Suburban hospital and off she went to have her torn ACL replaced by a tissue graft. The staff in Ambulatory Surgery was fantastic and the surgery and recovery went fine. Everything was delayed slightly when the tissue graft was not at the hospital however, they were able to get a suitable graft from a hospital up the road and she is now on her way to being good as new.
We were the first people there along with our friend Jay and oddly, had a great time while waiting. I had the remote for the television in the waiting room and at 7 am I asked the room in general what channel NBC was. JK Rowling was going to be interviewed on the Today show and I was hoping to catch it. The Dad from a couple sitting across from us with their young daughter, also named Rachel (who was having surgery on a broken arm) replied, "Channel 12 but it's SpongeBob time." I said, "Oh," and looked at the young Rachel and asked, "Well, what channel is SpongeBob on?" They replied, "You don't have to put on SpongeBob." I said, "No problem. I like SpongeBob, especially the episode where he teaches Squidward to blow bubbles. 'Bring it aaaarrrooounnd town' (with hip and hand motions)"
I need to say I was running on 3 hours of sleep. We were up at 3 am out of the house by 330 and at the hospital at 545. It is 120 miles away. This is my only defense for actually doing the 'bring it around town" motion. It did break the ice though. Everyone in the waiting room began to chat and we chatted throughout the day as we ran into each other, checking up on how each family's patient was doing.
My loopy sense of humor, and Jay's, continued when the let us back to see our Rachel before her surgery. Since they had to wait for the tissue we hung out with her in pre-op for 2 hours cutting up, making jokes and laughing frequently. At one point the anesthesiologist nurse came by and said, "Hey, she shouldn't be this happy. I haven't given her the fun drugs yet!" The nurses joined in on the jokes and we generally raised every one's spirits.
Rachel is home now with a passive motion machine and one of the coolest ice packs I've ever seen. She's doing great overall and should move through all the healing pretty fast thanks to a good surgeon and hospital staff and a lot of laughter. Tara, my other half, came in from driving truck for the week on Friday evening and was able to help take care of Rachel but I told Rachel for all the care I've been taking of her and for getting me out of bed at 3 am, my birthday gift from her in September ought to be absolutely fantastic.

Breath Taking

2007-07-23T14:31:00.000-04:00

The Grand Canyon is one of the most amazing things I have ever seen. We made it shortly before sunset after a whirlwind 230 mile drive from Mesa, AZ to the South Rim. The entrance fee was well worth it for the view and the sunset.

Mather's Point South Rim

Yavapai Observation Station, South Rim

Biblical Proportions

2007-07-18T09:49:00.000-04:00

Tuesday was my first full day in Phoenix, AZ and the area gave me quite a greeting. We watched a larger, seething mass of black clouds build over the mountains while waiting for dinner and by the time we left dinner, the sandstorm was upon us. Thankfully the storm was dying by the time it reached us and it was followed by a fabulous lightning show and a short burst of rain.
This has to be one of the strangest things I've ever experienced - like something out of the bible or for a more recent reference, the sandstorm attack in the movie The Mummy. Pretty awesome display of natures raw power - sand, wind and lightning sheeting across the sky.

Stick a Fork in Me....

2007-07-16T20:23:00.000-04:00

I'm done!
Flew from Erie, PA to Phoenix, AZ today. 57 degrees at 600am this morning in Erie, 97 in Phoenix at 1005am local time when I landed. By the time I left work this afternoon it was 110. I know, I know, everyone says it's a "dry heat." They forget that July is "monsoon" season which apparently the definition of monsoon here is there is a very slight chance of rain. Humidity is up to 33% so the heat is NOT dry.
How did I handle the heat? Air conditioning everywhere and a great hotel pool. I can stand to be in 110 degrees if I'm in a pool. I plan to get one hell of a tan this week while working my but off. Always take your fun where you can get it.
I was here months ago and had a weird experience at the hotel. Apparently they notated that on my account cause I am styling it on the concierge floor. I feel like such a yuppie: free munchies, drinks, breakfast, desserts....no complaints from me!
They just delivered milk and chocolate chip cookies to me...I'm going to be spoiled by the end of the week!
I didn't want to come but decided I would have a fantastic trip anyway...so far so great!

Messages from the Other Side

2007-07-12T12:39:00.001-04:00

Tara and I along with the roommate took a drive to Lily Dale on Friday 7/6/07. This was there first trip there and my third. Lily Dale is a Spiritualist community that has existed for 128 years. The residence are all trained and sanctioned mediums. It is its own gated community where outsiders are welcomed however, you do pay a fee to get through the gates. The fee goes toward upkeep and equipment for their fire department so I can't really complain. You can actually make an appointment with a medium or just walk around the grounds and go to various Message Services to possibly hear from someone on the other side.
One thing I truly love about Lily Dale is how peaceful the area is. There is a Old World virgin forest surrounding it and some of the meeting areas are within the forest. the whole place seems to settle peace over you.
We went to various message services and throughout the day the roommate and I received 2 messages. Mine were very positive and bright and quite accurate. Hers had a lot of hope and the one medium really hit home on some issues for her. The most fun for me though was running into an old friend. Janice Dreshman. Janice was the crisis counselor at my high school and I haven't seen her in 13 years. I was involved in a lot of the programs she ran and she was one of those bright spots in a school faculty. Someone who really cared about the students.
When a message service is happening there is a person who facilitates and the facilitator calls on various mediums: student mediums, registered mediums and guest mediums, to come forward and bring a message to 2-4 different people. Each service lasts an hour. At the message service at the Forest Temple the hour was winding up, I had received a message and the facilitator called the last medium, Janice Dreshman. My head whipped around and sure enough, here comes my old high school's crisis councilor. She didn't pick any of us but after the service concluded I quickly caught up with her and said, "Janice!" she turned and looked and all I had to say was, "Hopewell" and the light bulb went off. I look very different from when I was in high school so give her credit. We spent a few minutes catching up and then she went back to her house and we went on to the next service. Janice is now a registered medium! Pretty wild.
At the end of the day we went to Bob Evans in Fredonia, NY. On our way out Tara and I talked about the fact that she didn't get picked in the services but she was pretty good with that. We sit down to eat and a husband, wife and 2 daughters were sitting across from us. They kept looking at Tara. Right after our food came the wife finally stands up comes over and says to Tara, "I don't normally do this and I'm very sorry to interrupt but I have a message for you." Tara's father was coming in loud and clear to the husband and wife who, it turns out, both live in Lily Dale and are mediums there. The comment from them was that he started bothering them from the time we sat down and while they normally make it a point not to give unsolicited messages, they just couldn't ignore him anymore.
Leave it to Tara to spend all day at a Spiritualist community and then get a message after we leave in a Bob Evans of all places.
It was overall an amazing day and a peaceful recuperative one.

4th of July

2007-07-04T13:25:00.000-04:00

Happy Fourth of July everyone and Happy Birthday USA
Despite the small amount of rain today we are looking forward to a great fireworks show this evening. Hope you have a great one!

Personality goes a long way

2007-07-01T20:52:00.000-04:00

I don't necessarily agree with the Old Geezer and cynical comments but, this is what I came out as...

*** THE EVERYTHING TEST ***

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Traditionally, online tests would ask certain questions about your musical tastes or clothing for a stereotype, your experiences for a purity test, or deep questions for a personality test.We're turning that upside down - all the questions affect all the results, and we've got some innovative results too! Enjoy :-)

PERSONALITY
You are more emotional than logical, more concerned about others than concerned about self, more atheist than religious, more loner than dependent, more workaholic than lazy, more traditional than rebel, more engineering mind than artistic mind, more cynical than idealist, more leader than follower, and more introverted than extroverted.
As for specific personality traits, you are intellectual (74%), greedy (57%), adventurous (56%).

STEREOTYPES
Old Geezer (100%)
Punk Rock (73%)
White Trash (68%)

LIFE EXPERIENCE
Sex (38%)
Substances (22%)
Travel (35%)

POLITICS
Your political views would best be described as Liberal, whom
you agree with around 54% of the time.

SOCIOECONOMIC
Your attitude toward life best associates you with Upper Class.
You make more than 77% of those who have taken this test,
and 24% less than the U.S. average.

If your life was a movie, it would be rated PG-13.
By the way, your hottness rank is 55%, hotter than 29% of other test takers.

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Best Opening Line

2007-06-28T09:56:00.000-04:00

I mentioned in yesterday's post that John Irving's "A Prayer for Owen Meany" has one of the best opening lines I've ever read. If you've seen the movie Simon Birch, then you have heard this line spoken by Jim Carey of all people. Simon Birch was a miserable failure at converting this book to a movie though a decent movie on its own. Irving sold the rights to Owen Meany but asked them to change the character's name and the title of the film since it was so different from the book.
Opening line from memory; I apologize if the punctuation isn't correct:
"I am doomed to remember a boy with a wrecked voice--not because of his voice, or because he was the smallest person I ever knew, or even because he was the instrument of my mother's death, but because he is the reason I believe in God; I am a Christian because of Owen Meany."
The book does have some failings, Irving tends to side track on some political commentary via the narrator, John Wheelwright, but the overall story is worth reading.

Reread Again

2007-06-27T11:50:00.000-04:00

I'm working my way back through some of my books. I have a fairly large selection but, I'm out of books to read for the moment so I picked up John Irving's Cider House Rules for probably the fourth time. Funny how a story reads differently when you are in a different part of your life. Irving rights some great tragic characters and I really like this book, A Prayer for Owen Meany (best opening line ever), Hotel New Hampshire, Widow for One Year.
Some of my friends and coworkers think I'm nuts for rereading books but a good book I've read in the past can seem like curling up with a good friend with good insight in the future.
Looking ahead on my reading, come fall I'll pick up the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan again http://www.tor.com/jordan/index.html. His usual schedule is a new book in the series every 2 years so there should be one in the spring. The schedule of his book writing has extended due to illness. The story line is so in depth that I lose track of too much in two years and always reread before the new book comes out.
I need some reading suggestions. I've recently read some mystery books and I've always been a fan of good fiction and science fiction. If you know of anything let me know. The good friends have been nice to visit over the past few weeks but after Cider House Rules I'll be ready for something new.

Accident Prone Update

2007-06-26T14:42:00.000-04:00

The roommate did not actually break a bone in her knee. It turns out the radiologist who read her x-rays was a short bus rider. She had strained the MCL tendon last year and when you do that a calcium deposit tends to form where the MCL and the bone meet.
On the down side, she definitely messed her knee up. The doctor doesn't think she tore her MCL or ACL though she probably strained both. There is also a slight chance she tore the meniscus cartilage but that is a fairly easy fix. She has an MRI this week and a doctors appointment in 2 weeks so she will know more then. In the mean time it's physical therapy, ice and frustration for not being able to do what she likes.

This Blog has not yet been rated...

2007-06-24T21:08:00.000-04:00

Mingle² - Online Dating

Dang, I may have to get more creative in the future...I thought for sure I'd at least be a PG

Say What?!

2007-06-21T17:09:00.000-04:00

My friend, Gary, one of the best people I have met on this planet, had an amazing business opportunity present itself to him. Gary now has a fledgeling business selling shirts with outrageous sayings very inexpensively ($7.50 + S&H). Right now he is selling off the current stock. Then he has a notebook he has been adding to for years filled with some great sayings that he will slowly turn into new stock. Go check out his E-bay store. Warning: not all shirts are children appropriate, some make me laugh hard enough to shoot water out my nose though. Buy a shirt! Get a good laugh! Tell your friends! If you buy one from this link add the word ZEBRA into the comments. Every 5 ZEBRAS earns me a shirt!

Accident Prone

2007-06-19T12:37:00.000-04:00

All additional repairs and major work on the house are now on hold for at least 6 weeks. Rachel, a.k.a. the roomie, a.k.a. the girl who fell off her bike and broke her nose a few months ago, stepped up into her booth at work (she powder coats metal) and broke a bone in here knee last Thursday. The step is tall and Rachel is not and something in her knee just didn't like the experience. So, she is in an immobilizer and on crutches and has an appointment with the specialist on Wednesday. Keep positive, healing thoughts for her. I'm praying the fracture is all that is wrong so she'll be up and mobile very soon.
Regardless, I'm still going to call her Hop-A-Long for quite awhile...

Repairs

2007-06-14T17:38:00.000-04:00

The shed in my yard is like an extra room in the house with electricity, phone line, vent fan and loft. The original owners, our good friends, John and Mary, built the deck and shed. The shed was not just storage but also John's workshop so it is quite large. the loft space is great to store the camping supplies in the winter and the Christmas stuff in the summer. The workbench is handy, the shelving is great and the floor space allows for the bikes and lawn mower to be stored while I still have room to walk from one end to the other.
Our home was beautiful at the time John and Mary bought it and raised their kids in it. When they moved to Cincinnati, OH, they land leased it to someone who seemed nice. The land lease didn't work out. The person didn't pay on the lease, allowed the dogs to destroy the carpeting, ripped out a bathtub and water softener, the damage goes on and on. The land lease was withdrawn and the person was kicked out. Mary and John decided to sign the deed over to Tara instead of selling it to her. The damage was too great for them to feel right about selling. Since we have taken the place over we have done quite a bit of remodeling and still have quite a ways to go. The latest endeavor was the shed. The inside was fine, outside the concrete pylons on the right side were tilted significantly and I was beginning to fear the she would slide off into the house.
The roomie, Rachel, and I took a house jack and jacked the shed up off the pylons, discovered the front and back ones were tilted and the middle one had broken in half.
We then dug out the pylons.
Did I mention John is an engineer?
He builds things right. The pylons sunk over a foot into the ground. They were not meant to shift.
The shifted due to bad drainage.
My soil is full of rocks and roots.
It took a heck of a lot of work to get them dug out and leveled.
But in the end we prevailed and the shed is now sitting on beautifully squared and level concrete pylons.
I smile every time I look off the porch at them.
The entire time Rachel and I were working on the shed the cats were watching. Three cats in the window taking turns yelling at us for having the audacity to be outside, within their sight and not inside giving them attention. MEOW, MEEEWWW, PICMOW! It adds a bit of fun to the work when you know you have an audience. Even if it was a furry one.

Sunny Day

2007-06-12T09:24:00.000-04:00

The maker of my clock radio had a twisted side, placing the snooze and off buttons side-by-side on the top. They even have the same feel to them so you have to remember your left from right when not yet awake. Today I must have confused them and hit the off button so I woke up late.
But I didn't panic.
Full night's sleep, waking up on my own, not to the sound of loud beeping, two kitties curled up beside me and sun light sneaking through the curtains. I actually had a relaxing morning.
My work is at a desk so coming in 45 minutes later than usual is not really an issue. I stayed a little later yesterday and I can do the same to day and I'll be on time and still get to enjoy the sunshine.
The late start actually made the day better. It's going to be a fabulous day.

Shipping Out

2007-06-08T17:53:00.000-04:00

Tara's son, Robert has proudly served in the US Army National Guard. He spent close to two years in Kuwait and came home safe. He has been going to school and serving as part of the honor guard for military funerals. Two weeks before his service was up he was informed that due to a demand for more soldiers in Iraq Stop Loss was being inacted on him and he was being held in the National Guard for two more years.
Robert is currently with his unit in Texas going through dessert training to return to Iraq no later than the end of summer.
Regardless of your thoughts on the war and the US presence in the Middle East, please keep Robert, his battle buds and the other soldiers in your thoughts and prayers.

Semi Travels Part 4

2007-06-04T21:17:00.001-04:00

We had two days in Florida and spent a wonderful afternoon on Delray Beach. Due to Subtropical storm Andrea, the waves were very high and surf was rough which meant no swimming. We did have fun dodging the waves by standing on the beach and waiting for them to come in. We weren't fast enough at one point and ended up drenched.

The surfers, of course, ignored the red flag warning and were excited to get in the water and ride the waves.
The parking on Delray Beach is limited to road-side parallel parking. We left the trailer at the hotel and bobtailed to the beach. We took two spaces and paid both meters. An older gentleman in a Delray Beach sheriff's golf cart pulled up and started off by telling us trucks aren't normally allowed to park there (meanwhile, he forgot to set the break on the golf cart and it rolled a short distance before coming to rest on the curb). Tara turned on the charm and he relented saying, since we took two spaces it should be safe for someone to pull out from behind us or in front of us since we'd only be there a couple hours.
From Delray, we went back and hooked up the trailer, worked our way across Florida (I had no idea there were large cattle farms in central Florida) and picked up 10,000 lbs of plastic lids that went to Evansville, Indiana. From Evansville to Hawsville, Ky to pick up 45,000 lbs of rolled paper Bright white Xerox that hadn't been cut and delivered to Washington Court, OH. From there, back to the yard then the homeward load.
Overall, it was a great week together. I saw quite a bit of the East Coast and learned a lot about truck driving. It is a hard and demanding job and most of the drivers do a great job at it.
One thing I heard over and over is the truck drivers wish that 4 wheelers (people in cars) would be more careful. A truck fully loaded can weigh up to 80,000 lbs which means it cannot stop on a dime. The brakes are mainly on the truck. If a car jumps in front of a truck and slams on the breaks, it is in danger of being run over. Most truck drivers will sacrifice themselves and their load to save the four wheeler but the whole thing is needless. Truckers are the lifeblood of North America. No trucks, no goods delivered to stores and businesses. When you see a truck driver, respect them and don't cut them off or slam on your breaks.

To my Alpha Phi Omega Brother

2007-06-01T21:46:00.000-04:00

I joined Alpha Phi Omega in college. No, I am most certainly not a sorority chick. Alpha Phi Omega is a co-ed international service fraternity. Leadership through service. It was a great time with a great group of brothers.
I found out today, one of my brothers, Ed Dick, passed away two weeks ago from complications of liver failure. Ed was one of the bright people in my life, a lot of fun. During a regional conference in Louisville, KY one year we held a costume contest and 300+ lb Ed wore a nurses outfit (complete with skirt and hat). He didn't shave his face, legs or arms and stood there and said "Sponge Bath?" holding a sponge and basin. He won the contest by a landslide - way scarier than the monsters.
Ed, you were a great big brother and I hope you've gone on to a great party in the next life. Tonight is my evening to grieve, tomorrow I will go and party with the brothers as you requested. I hope you join us in spirit for awhile.

Here's to Alpha Phi Omega
Loyal Brothers we.
True to self and to each other
Firm in Loyalty
Daily working daily striving
Ever more to be
men (and women) of Alpha Phi Omega
Our Fraternity
Brothers clasp the hands of brothers,
Strong the circle we.
Ever mindful, ever serving
All Humanity.
Now we raise our grateful voices
In our song to thee
Men of Alpha Phi Omega
May we always be
ALPHA PHI OMEGA TIL THE DAY WE DIE! (and beyond)

We'll miss you Ed, God Speed.