Category Archives: Random Thoughts

Cracks in the rose colored glasses

Posted on by
2

I like to claim I’m an optimist. I see the rain barrels as half full, not half empty. I’m pleased by simple achievements.

Whatever is going on in my brain – stroke, migraine, or otherwise – makes the positive difficult to find. If I’m honest with myself, (which I’m not very often because it’s tough to face the truth that the worst may be yet to come), there are positives in this situation. Unfortunately, most of the positives are more along the lines of “At least it’s not….” which is a poor excuse for a bright side and more like a silver lining in a bank of tornado-producing thunderheads..

But here goes anyway.

I have a good ER nearby – less than 10 minutes away – which meant Chuck could leave the hospital while I was getting my MRI and make sure Amigo was doing okay (he was) and then come back to my side when the doctor had information. 

I work with compassionate people. They’re concerned, and they ask how I am, and yet no one is nosy. They accept what I’m willing to tell and respect what I don’t want to say. Within three minutes of my arrival at work this week, I had a stack of phone numbers from people willing to give me a ride to work if I feel unable to drive.

The neurologist wears awesome shoes. Dark red suede short boots with a jet black zipper center front – don’t judge me, people, I enjoy footwear. It’s a simple pleasure.

Still upsetting:

  • the inability to walk to work in nicer weather
  • the need to grab a wall or a countertop when I’m wobbling
  • the fear that the leg will fall out from under me while walking down a hallway or carrying a hot cup of coffee
  • parking in the crowded lot so I can use the elevator
  • feeling off-balance unexpectedly
  • the sheer irritation of feeling perpetually numb on one side of my face
  • the unpredictability of the weakness and wobbles in my left side overall
These make it tougher to don the rose-colored glasses each day. Optimism must be tempered with reality, and that reality is cloudy with a dense fog advisory carrying low visibility when I try to look ahead.

And yet, I feel thankful every day that the effects of this condition, whatever its name might be, have so far been purely physical. Nothing indicates cognitive trouble. My speech is clear and my language functioning is still strong. I can communicate. I can still think.

Maybe those rose-colored lenses have a little more wear left in them.

 

Share and Enjoy !

Shares

Shopping Season Looms

Posted on by
Reply

From an old post – can you figure out how much I saved on this jacket? It’s still in my closet. I’ve worn it a few times, about once a year, and that’s enough to get my $1.97 worth.


I am bargain-hunter, hear me roar! I rode along with La Petite while she was in search of a specific summer sweater that might be on clearance. I did not plan to buy anything for myself. Then I found this — and had to buy it. Frankly, if I wear it once I will get my money’s worth.

Share and Enjoy !

Shares

Virtual Talent?

Posted on by
1

Dear science students;

You may think it shows talent, but it’s a trait. A recessive trait, at that. Rolling your tongue, no matter how cool it seems, is a trait. If you said talent, it got marked wrong.

Dear Social Studies students;

It’s Social. S-o-c-i-a-l. If you can’t spell it, try calling it History. United States History. But please, my dear young ones, Both of these wild and crazy errors came out of my Gifted and Talented group. GT parents, let’s work to teach your children how to pick up a book (a dictionary, maybe) and look it up if they’re unsure.

Oh, you wanted to see the disastrous spellings?

1. Socil Studies (He left out the a in Social. Needs improvement, but there’s hope.)

2. Souchil studis (I don’t know where this one came from. Mars?)

Dear math students; 

Never mind. Today, you were the cream of the crop. All of the tests made me smile. None invoked tears or hysterical laughter. Keep up the good work.

Share and Enjoy !

Shares

Grandma Daisy thinks back to Election Day 2012

Posted on by
2

Readers, I think this might be the last Voter’s Voice for a while. I’m enjoying President Obama’s victory, Tammy Baldwin’s successful run for Senate, and the feeling that I may have contributed in a tiny way to the campaign. Meanwhile, let’s look ahead in time and listen to Grandma Daisy as she reminisces about women’s rights and the election of 2012.

Grandchildren, dear, did you say your history teacher asked about 2012? About the way women suddenly came to the forefront again? Oh, I remember it well – the idiocies and the intelligence, the outrage, the voter turnout, and more.

I was worried, children. If President Obama had lost his bid for re-election, we were facing some very difficult times. Many, many women were getting more and more worried. I saw protesters carrying signs saying “Didn’t we protest this s*** already?” and they weren’t kidding. If the other guy won, Mitt Romney was his name, we were looking at a serious loss of rights as women. His VP running mate was even worse in the way he looked down on women — but that’s another post.

That brings me to the idiocies of the campaign. One of the old, white guys in Congress was running for Senate in Missouri, a fairly conservative Southern state. In response to a question on abortion in cases of rape of incest, he claimed that in cases of “legitimate rape” women had ways to “shut that whole thing down.” I would have laughed, too, honey, except that he was serious. Seriously stupid, that is. Later on a candidate from Indianapolis tried to tell women that if they got pregnant from being raped it was “God’s will.”

Both of these dinosaurs were defeated. Women voters decided it was God’s will that we shut their whole thing down. 

Now Mitt had some women problems of his own. He sidestepped a question about the Lily Ledbetter Act – equal pay for equal work, sweetie, it’s in your history book – by claiming he’d made efforts to seek out qualified women for his state cabinet. He had supposedly asked women’s groups for referrals, and they gave him “…binders full of women!” Binders full of resumes, that is. The outrage came from people who said, “Hey, Mitt, it was already the 21st Century. You didn’t know any qualified women in 2003?” and worse, the Massachusetts Women’s Political Caucus came forward and said, “Mitt did not come to us. We went to Mitt. After he won, we gave him resumes of many potential candidates.” Oops. Twice bad, Mitt. Twice bad. 

So – we were dealing with old farts who didn’t know their basic reproductive science, and potential leaders who thought women were second class citizens not worthy of the same rights as men. There were bright moments, though. 

Some of the best and the brightest moments in 2012 were women who skipped the binders and went straight for the ballot. Claire McCaskill of Missouri. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts. Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin. Oh, Tammy! I was so excited when she decided to run for Senate. I was even more excited when I, a lowly campaign volunteer, got to meet her. She was articulate, smart, and very personable. She listened more than she talked, and when she talked, she gained our attention and our respect. When Baldwin’s victory came, the headlines were all “First openly gay senator elected in Wisconsin!” And we said, “Oh, yeah, we knew that.” But her being gay didn’t matter one way or the other. We Wisconsin voters, gay or straight, female or male, elected Tammy Baldwin to the Senate because of her skills, her intellect, and her record in her fourteen years in Congress. 

So, young ones, there’s more to say on the mood of the election. I could go on longer – the battleground states, they way Mitt and his VP didn’t even carry their own states in the end, the closeness of the popular vote, the issues of birth control and more. Voter suppression attempts, early voter turnout, oh, my the list goes on.

I was looking forward to hearing and saying “Senator Baldwin.” It was like hearing “President Obama” for the first time. And now that Obama had won his re-election, I could look forward to saying President Obama for another four years.

Well, my dears, that’s the main thrust of the story of women’s rights and the 2012 election. Now I’m going to make a pot of coffee. Does your mother still have a package of Obama Blend Coffee in the cupboard? It’s a blend of Hawaiian, Kenyan, and Indonesian beans, and it’s as delicious as it is clever. I’ll have some in my Born in the USA mug.

Share and Enjoy !

Shares

Dear family; ’tis the season

Posted on by
1

It’s gift giving season again, which means gift buying, which means spending. I’d like to suggest a few possibilities that save money and might even be practical.

Might even be practical? Oh, family and friends, you know practicality is my middle name. You know that anything related to canning is a good bet. As I see my net pay shrink and my right to a contract wind its way through the courts, putting up stores for the winter is an investment in both groceries and health. The corn I bought and froze in August was cheaper by the ounce than a bag of frozen corn in the stores, and it will taste oh, so much better. The same goes for the peas, the beans, the asparagus – hey, Amigo, we have asparagus in the freezer! Your favorite vegetable! But I’m going off topic.

Any tools related to food storage are a good investment. Keep an eye open for a mortar and pestle. We’ve learned from experience that the herbs that are so prolific on the deck in season do not do nearly as well in the house over winter. Drying these herbs and crushing them will make the kitchen smell great and fill the spice rack.

A kitchen scale would come in handy, too. Making tomato salsa and marinara sauce was interesting. I measured out one pound on my tiny little scale that measures in ounces up to one pound. Since the Roma tomatoes called for were fairly uniform in size, I then estimated enough one pound piles to make the full amount I needed. It worked, but a real scale would work better. Four to five Romas make a pound, in case you were wondering.

Last time I watched an Alton Brown recipe video, I noticed how he used the gravy separator. How is it I’ve gone this long without one? I’d use it for making soup stocks, too. I like the one with the removable strainer on top.

Don’t spend a bundle, though. If you spot jars in a thrift store or at a rummage sale, go for it. If you see a second hand mortar and pestle set somewhere at a ridiculously low price, grab it. A well known kitchen supply store asks $40 for a ceramic set. Ouch. That’s ridiculously high; don’t bother.

Chuck needs jeans. He wears them a lot, and he wears them out. Contact me for size and style. He pretends he knows, but…. you know the drill. Don’t tell him I said so, but second hand jeans are fine as long as they’re the right brand, style, and size.

Amigo? He needs independence. If only we could wrap it up and put it under the tree for Christmas. Until then, he’ll keep doing his own laundry and making his own lunch and setting the table for supper.

La Petite is working her way into the real world of, you guessed it, work. If anyone can deliver more work to her, in particular work with health care benefits, please tie it up in a bow and place it in her stocking.

Oh, did I get distracted again? The underlying message is this: our world is a scary place. The future is uncertain, and sometimes I feel like the odds are not in our favor. Save the cash for the important necessities in life. Holidays are important, but spending oodles of money isn’t necessary. 

Meanwhile, I plan to make a trip downtown on Small Business Saturday, the antidote for Black Friday at the malls. It’s so much calmer and so enjoyable that I might even time my trip to the small shops on the Friday itself. Join me, anyone?

Share and Enjoy !

Shares

Closed Captioning provides more entertainment

Posted on by
1

In a story about Olivia Newton John and John Travolta reuniting to sing the Grease soundtrack – “Greece is the word.” Well, maybe in the story about the global economy  This piece of pop fluff meant “Grease.” Tell me more, tell me more…

During an NFL football game I noticed some interesting errors. According to the captioner, I was watching the “Guam of the week,” not the game of the week, and the teams were the New York Giants and the “Cow Biz.”

On a similar wavelength, a few Pet Peeves —

Music while on hold. If it’s too loud, I don’t dare turn it down because I might miss it when someone actually picks up the call. If it’s too quiet, I will be tense and worried because (you guessed it) I don’t know if I’m missing the actual person who might pick up my call.

Random Babbling.  When the scheduler on the other end of the phone line is scanning through the openings on the computer screen, sometimes she talks to herself. Of course, I only hear muttering, and have to respond with “Pardon me?” only to be told that she hasn’t said anything. What?! Methinks these people need training in people skills, not just how to use the software.

Advertising before the call connects. The local Pharmacy that shall not be Named is notorious for this. Before I even reach the pharmacy, I hear an ad for the store. When I push one for pharmacy itself, I hear an ad for flu shots. The worst of the situation is this; no one reviewed these recorded answers before setting them to play. The first part of the first word is cut off. It’s like proofreading; check your work, people! Let’s be professional.

 

Share and Enjoy !

Shares

On election day – in others’ words

Posted on by
2

We share a vision of an America where, no matter who you are or where you’re from, you should have a fair shot at the American dream. And like you, I don’t want to see that vision fade on Election Night. — Michelle Obama

I’m with you, Michelle. The American dream includes everyone paying their fair share. It includes affordable health care for anyone. Most of all, the American dream needs a strong and vibrant middle class in order to continue. – Daisy

I’ve been fighting for women’s rights my whole career — in the United Nations and as Secretary of State — and in all those years, I’ve never seen a Republican Party and Republican presidential ticket as extreme as this one. — Madeline Albright

Madeline, I am SO with you! I remember writing a report on Anne Hutchinson, an early colonial advocate for religious freedom, and finding so little information I nearly failed the assignment. It was a wake-up call in which I learned that women have played backup to the guys for much too long. Today we risk going backwards, moving back toward that kind of attitude where women were considered worth less than men. -Daisy, still an activist and feminist

A woman voting Republican is like a chicken voting for Colonel Sanders. — source unknown

I might add – with the attitudes they hold, the R-R Republican ticket is like Doc Hopper trying to appeal to Kermit the Frog. The trouble is, some frogs have blinders over their eyes. If too many frogs vote for Doc Hopper, there may be too many little frogs on little crutches.

Never mind.

There is no greater gift we can give our children than the opportunity to learn. -Dr. Jill Biden

This is so, so true. Supporting public education for all and funding that education well is a necessity, not a luxury. -Daisy, public school teacher

If we want four more years of a president dedicated to protecting the air we breathe and the water we drink, and who is committed to addressing climate change, we have to do more than vote….I’ve been fighting for the environment for more than 40 years, and I’ve never lived through an election so critical to its fate — not just for the next four years, but for the next 40. — Carole King

Just call out my name – and I’ll do the best I can, too. – Daisy, environmentalist and volunteer

Let’s end with another from the former secretary of state.

Perhaps the Republican Party thinks that it’s better for women to have their decisions made for them. I happen to think that women want to take care of themselves — and control their own bodies and personal health. Women deserve the ability to fight for a fair wage, and to speak out in support of legislation like the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. This shouldn’t be a lot to ask — aren’t we in the 21st century? — Madeline Albright

Amen, sister. Now let the choir vote.

 

Share and Enjoy !

Shares

Vital Signs for Teen Drivers

Posted on by
Reply

Did you know that close to one million high school students drank alcohol and got behind the wheel last year?  When teenagers drink any alcohol at all, not only is it illegal for them to drive, but it puts them at extremely high risk for a dangerous crash. Zero tolerance for underage drinking and driving is the law, but some teens still ignore the danger in favor of behavior they think is “cool”.

The “cool factor” isn’t what teens might think. My local school district conducted surveys and then asked students to create posters sharing the results, and the results might surprise some.

 78.6% of 9th Graders have not had an alcoholic drink in the last 30 days. You don’t need a drink to have a party.

88.2% of 9th graders have NOT smoked cigarettes, 86.6% have NOT smoked marijuana.

When asked, students often overestimate the percentage of their peers who use alcohol and other drugs. When they overestimate, they justify use by their peers and are more likely to use themselves. Our goal is to challenge and to correct students’ incorrect perceptions of peer alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use and to consistently provide a ‘no use’ message to students. Seeing statistics like this helps debunk the “Everybody does it!” mythology.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) asked bloggers to pass on these sites for parents and teen drivers alike.

Vital Signs; Teen Drinking and Driving

Vital Signs Social Media

Parents are the Key; a website devoted to safe teen driving in general

 

Share and Enjoy !

Shares

Life in perspective

Posted on by
2

There’s nothing like an ER visit to put life back in perspective. Armed with a faithful husband and a sense of humor to take the edge off the worst, I wobbled into the closest hospital’s Emergency entrance last night.

The symptoms, by my estimation, had come on mid-morning. Numbness on one side of the face, shaky left leg, dizziness. I shook off concerns and stayed in my cubicle all day, and then (typical teacher) called the doctor when I got home. The nurse on call said, “ER. Definitely. Do you have someone who can drive you? Soon?” Well, yes. Chuck was pulling in the driveway moments after the call.

While the nurse was getting me wired up to the beeping and blinking equipment, she asked basic questions. “What’s your name? Do you know where you are? Do you know why you’re here? What month is it?” Was that a trick question, we asked? It was November 1st. We told everyone who treated me about my hearing impairment, and they all handled it professionally. Well, mostly professionally. This is the first time anyone has called my hearing aids “cute.”

So – I was exhausted. Chuck pointed out that I’d been fading since earlier in the week. I’d been tired, very tired, but chalked it up to stress. Campaign stress, election fears, work stress due to state testing – you name it, I’ve felt it. No, he told me, it was more than usual.

CAT scan was an odd experience – my first. Hold still? No problem. Let me doze off and we’ll all be happy. Results were normal, so ER doc talked to the neurologist on call and ordered an MRI. We got lucky with timing; the MRI tech was in house due to routine equipment testing, so they took me almost immediately. Here again, lying still was no problem. “Can I take a nap?” They thought I was kidding.

MRIs are loud, though, even to one like me. With my hearing aids out and earplugs in, the rhythms and changing tones kept me awake. Has any composer written an atonal piece based on MRI sounds? If it hasn’t been done, some talented and creative musician needs to write it.

Ultimately, all life-threatening possibilities were ruled out. No stroke or TIA, no blood clots or bleeding in the brain. My orders included an anti-dizziness medication, a day of rest instead of school, and two follow up visits: one to my family doc, and one to a neurologist.

So here I am, resting on my couch, watching MSNBC and promising myself that I’ll turn it off if bad news or campaign news becomes upsetting. I dropped a note to friends and family on Facebook and emailed my bosses and secretary after I put in for my sick day. Petunia, good mother that she is, picked up my prescription and promised to drive me to the family doc. La Petite checked in within minutes of my online update. It’s the opposite of the sandwich generation; this time, mother and daughter are taking care of the one in the middle: me.

Meanwhile, I still have that post-dental work feeling in one side of my face, and I still wobble on my left leg. I’m leaning left now literally as well as politically. As long as I do this Weeble style and wobble but avoid falling down, I can move on.

And if my blog posts sound one-sided, you know there’s yet another reason for that point of view.

Share and Enjoy !

Shares

Finalizing and winterizing the garden

Posted on by
Reply

Now that the plants are gone and the tomato supports are stashed for the winter, now that the leftover and used-but-usable potting soil has been added to the garden, now there are only a few tasks to get the yard truly ready for that first (gasp) snow.

  • Raking leaves
  • Draining and turning over rain barrels
  • Storing screen tops and stretchy cords
  • and more…

I mentioned the potting soil. I’d like to stir it, turn it into the soil and let it hibernate with the rest.

That shouldn’t take long. I can turn the soil while the rain barrels are draining. Then – I like to pick up the boards I call stepping stones. They’ll lean against the garage in a pile waiting for next year.

And finally, the leaves now covering the grass will end up piled in the garden plots to decompose and keep the moisture in the ground while the topsoil sleeps.

When winter passes and spring arrives, I’ll come out to play in the dirt again.

Share and Enjoy !

Shares