Squirrelly Notes

Should Karl Rove Go To Jail?

Would you be arrested if you ignored a court-ordered subpoena?

The True Cost of War

The Iraq war that is. Not Afghanistan or Iran, Syria or anywhere else that's on the list.

I'm Voting Republican

Yes? Or No? Or blink blink blink......

Scary scary man.

Will They Ask?

Do you think the media will ask about this? They should. John McCain wrote a forward in an edition of "The Best and The Brightest". My, how the "maverick" has lost his passion for peace.

It was a shameful thing to ask men to suffer and die, to persevere through god-awful afflictions and heartache, to endure the dehumanizing experiences that are unavoidable in combat, for a cause that the country wouldn’t support over time and that our leaders so wrongly believed could be achieved at a smaller cost than our enemy was prepared to make us pay. No other national endeavor requires as much unshakable resolve as war. If the nation and the government lack that resolve, it is criminal to expect men in the field to carry it alone.

The Graduate

The very best picture we took of Ben.

Could He Be More Clueless?

And more of a flip-flopper?

Fire Charlie Black

No more scum.

The Landlord with Will Ferrell

Ben has his Masters Degree!

Cutting what I could drag into a long story, after all that yard work a couple weeks ago I TRASHED my lower back!  Three chiro. adjustments and a massage in one week - I was NOT looking forward to driving solo for 11 hours to Ben's graduation in Durham, NC. But it was necessary to take both cars because we needed the room for Ben's stuff.

The picture below was taken with my cell phone, so it's not the best picture. But it's the only one I took of him alone. I'll add some others (better quality) of him with some of his friends.

There were approximately 130 students in the Masters of Engineering Management program - from 26 different countries. There were three events Saturday (plus a private picnic at someones house) and three events Sunday. Graduation was held in the open stadium and it was pouring rain. Ben did not want to stay for that so we went back to his place. He later found out that only about 30 from his group were there. Later that day was the commencement ceremony where they actually received their diploma.

Each day there was a reception - very well catered to a ton of people! The one on Sunday actually had sushi, but we'd just eaten at Carrabba's.

Monday morning we loaded up the cars and drove back to Tampa. A very long drive. But we came home with a young man whom we're very proud of.

Can You Say 'Mulch'?

Despite the fact that there is finally work in the lab for me, these Bozo's haven't gotten it ready for me, which meant every single damn day this week I'd get a call. To keep my anger in check, I've been working on the landscaping out back. It's looked like sh*t for some time now, too insurmountable to even begin tackling. But, I did. I shudder to think how much has been placed on the credit card (especially without working) but damn, the back is finally starting to look similar to what we've imagined for some time. As you can see, my little Fit can hold quite a few bags of mulch. If I really wanted to stuff it (which I don't, believe me, it's the furthest thing from my mind right now), I bet I could get 40 bags in there. There were three piles in front of the two you see here. (Click on pictures to enlarge)

It doesn't look like it should have taken 5 days to do this. But I made 5 trips to Lowes, loaded up the cart with bags (28 in the above pic) loaded them into the car, unloaded them at home and carried them to the back where I first transplanted a lot of stuff, planted new stuff, and then spread this stuff. It will probably never look better than it does right now, because all those little unwanted green plants will start poking up. I sprayed Round-Up twice, hoping to slow it down. I've also been hooking up the micro irrigation to all the new stuff. We decided that the drip irrigation doesn't work if you never turn it on. OOPS!

I'm tired. Real tired. There's still more to do. After Joe gets done with his second job and has some time, the rest of the bamboo needs to come out. Then I will plant a row of hibiscus along the back and keep them trimmed to thicken up and create a nice hedge. Lord have mercy. I think the end is almost in sight. There's still areas to plant more plants, but it will have to wait. We're having our drinking liberally group in tomorrow and plan another gathering after Ben's home.

The weather's been beautiful - mid 70's to mid 80's and perfect in the evenings. If it were still light out, I'd be out there reading. When I get too hot working in the yard, I peel off the work clothes (down to my swimwear), hose off and jump in the pool, float around awhile, drip partly dry while I read, then go back out and work. It works for me.

 

Sewing machine update: Got an email today from Mike, machine is done! And he says he's VERY happy with the outcome - it's like new! And he said it's a good thing that I agreed to fix the third thing because he found hairline cracks in it.  Can't wait to get it! We'll pick it up on the way to Durham next weekend.

Sustainability, Push for More Funds

Contact your representatives and demand more attention be given to this very serious problem. It's not too late, but we're in serious trouble.

GOP (grand oil party) = Oil Prices

Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-OR04) , stood on the senate floor begging members to get "this President" to close the Enron loophole so that the oil companies cannot collude to raise the oil prices strictly for greedy profits. Five members of Opec are in the WTO and were large contributers to the Bush campaign. Though Bush claims to be eager for more "rules based free trade", (when has he EVER followed rules? I ask) he refuses to address the WTO about rapidly rising fuel prices. Well said Mr. DeFazio.

How Little He Relates

(From CrooksandLiars.com)

As John McCain lives in the lap of luxury, the aging Senator and GOP presidential hopeful tells the American people that the problems with our economy are psychological and that all we, the unwashed masses, need to do is skip a vacation and maybe take on second job and our economy will get back on the right track. As the narrator of the video says; "if John McCain can’t understand our problems, how will he solve them?"

Prednisone Rocks!!

Quick update: Took the Prednisone last night and I can almost walk normal today. The gout stuff is 80% better already!  Now I'm back to feeling the twisted side of the foot more. That's ok, I'll take it!

WooooooHoooooooo!!!

My old sewing machine is in surgery as we speak. I just received a very detailed email explaining what is wrong with it, and how my luck must be good right now because one of the parts that is broken, in his words, "must be replaced - it cannot be repaired and the part is obsolete".  So he, the wonderful marvelous "factory-trained Husqvarna mechanic" checked his storage facility to see if he had one. He says he has one "..probably the last brand new part in captivity". So it's even brand new!  He says there are three main components that give out on these machines over time, the one he'll be replacing, one I had done a few years back, and another part that he will also replace now if I want him to for about $75. So I said to go ahead. It will be about a $350 bill, but well worth it. I paid $600 for it new back in 1974. I feel like a parent who's child has just been saved. (So Mary, you still need a machine? I'll have two for sale soon - and I did receive the ebay one and have been sewing with it - and it's a good machine. If I wasn't repairing mine, I would definitley keep it. The newer one is an option too, but in my expert opinion, the old one is far better.)

Another WooHoo - after next to no work the last few weeks, some work has started to find it's way to me. I thank all of you for your thoughts and prayers, but don't stop it now. Let's keep this going! I need to pay for sewing machines!!

A bummer - A few nights ago I stepped on one of the little super balls that we throw for Jeebus to fetch. My foot rolled sideways on it which caused me to lean the other direction, and completely twist my ankle under my foot just before falling down onto the hard concrete. Choice words were used for this act. My foot has been very sore, so I've been limping around again. What's with the bad luck I have with my feet? If that wasn't bad enough, I couldn't figure out why my foot was aching last night, but not on my injury side, on the inside of the foot around the big toe and bunion area. Yes, gout is back. OMG!!  I just had this problem a few months ago. And I don't even eat seafood or drink beer and wine (much) The doctor asked me today if I drink wine or beer and I told him that actually, I prefer the hard stuff. He said 'Like what?'  I confidently replied, 'like Rum, Crown, and Vodka.' He said 'Good girl! You'll live longer.' Hmmm, I guessed they've changed their thinking on the whole wine thing.  FYI, seafood and alcohol and red meat are high purine foods which can contribute to gout issues. He's put me on a strong two day Prednisone treatment, followed by a prescription dose of Alleve (double what it says on the box). He said I'd be surprised how fast the prednisone will flush this out. YAY.

Ok, that's it for now. B'bye y'all.

New Project

Ok, one good thing about not working is that I get to do stuff. I already had the paint for the pool bath door and today I finally got started on it. It's a nice wine color. Only problem is, is that it doesn't go so well with the terracotta colored faux tile. Another project! I took the same paint and started experimenting. It looks better than before! Because I made it darker on the edges of the tiles, it has more depth and actually looks more like real tile. The door still has tape over the white part so it looks weird in the picture.

And good news, my boss Rick called and said I have 14 units (teeth) to do next week! Woohooooooooo!!

Good Weekend Trip

Our drive to Durham this past weekend was quite a bit more enjoyable than the previous one for a couple reasons. We took a different Hwy through Florida which was a little faster and more scenic. It also let us avoid going through Orlando which is sometimes slow, and also we got to skip most of Jacksonville - which can also be slow with lots of road construction. It was also reassuring to know that Ben is nearing the end and he'd be feeling better than the last time we were up when he was just getting over the nasty flu and trying to get caught-up with homework.

We took my car since we planned to bring back a few things of Ben's like his snowboard and some things he could live without for the next month. Since we don't have the Outback anymore our hauling capacity has diminished some. I was looking forward to the first real trip in my car to see how the seats felt after hours of sitting and to see what she'd get in terms of hwy miles. I joked to Joe that my car would be the first to log 40mpg. (I didn't really know if that would happen but one can hope - right?)  And you know how hard Joe's been trying to hit 40 in his and not QUITE made it yet (though 39.98 is pretty darn close)!  Of course his car gets that kind of mileage as a daily driver where mine is around 32/33 around town. I told him I wanted us to drive normally and not do things to try and get that number. For a couple tanks I got 37 and 38, but not 40. Then....one lonely tank where we'd been solidly at fwy speed and stopped only twice for quick bathroom breaks, I got 40.24mpg!!  Aha!!! And that was at 70/75mph with the AC on low.  My car gets the win (for now anyway). I told Joe the result and he flipped me off as I laughed. Ah, good times. Good times indeed.

My back didn't bother me nearly as much this trip, but I don't know if it was the seats, or the fact that I've been having a massage every two weeks lately. But let's just say it was the seats and that my car wins again.

We did drop my old sewing machine off with the guy in Jacksonville. I'm anxiously awaiting to hear what he figures out. Is it death or resurrection? I'm also STILL waiting for the ebay sewing machine. It was allegedly mailed this last Monday (it's coming from Richland WA). I'm hoping it will arrive by the end of the week.

We took a few scenic pics along the way and one pic of Ben's guitar lesson from Joe. We ate out for every meal and hung out with Ben in his room. He demonstrated what he's learned on the guitar and some favorite riffs from songs that he likes. YouTube has been very helpful to him with videos people have posted for teaching purposes. The internet is amazingly useful.

When we left Sunday morning on I-40 we totally enjoyed having the road literally to ourselves. We only saw a few cars along that 48 mile stretch. Awesome.

condimustgo.com

Six Month Installment Plan