SueWorks

Ron Paul for Democrats

Pkin could say more, but I'll share that I'm in a very Democrat-friendly part of the country and there are quite a few signs urging drivers to register Republican to vote for Ron Paul to put him in the ballot in November.  Now isn't that amazing!?!

If I can find a safe way to drive down the crowded highway, in the rain and dark, and take a picture I'll post it.

Rainy Day with Pkin and Sue

So Cal has been drenched and it seems to be continuing which means Pkin and Sue are in hibernation-like mode.  Pkin is actually suffering from a very bad cold, the kind that keeps you in bed and in your jammies for days.  Pkin usually goes au naturel for sleepytime but with the cold and rain he's been covered up with t-shirt and flannel bottoms so you know he is really sick. 

I've been chafing being house-bound so I've rebelled.  Yesterday I enjoyed the sunny daytime with my Mom, running the streets just before the rain came down.  Pkin rested.  Today I ventured out looking for vacuum bags.  Vacuum bags are very hard to find for the machine I own.  The machine was easy to find, funny that bags are not.  Anyway, it was very, very wet.  My jean legs were nearly soaked when I got home and I had to place my clogs in a warm place to dry slowly. 

I just finished cleaning the kitchen after both breakfast and dinner dishes and had such great thoughts of my rainy days that I was determined to capture them on my blog but now that I'm sitting here there are no thoughts in my brain.  Darn it!  Where did they do?  Lawrence Welk pushed them out. 

Lawrence Welk?, I hear you asking.  Yes.  Pkin is watching PBS from San Bernardino or somewhere and they are celebrating the polka or something like that.  Now I'm listening, out of the side of my brain, to this guy with a curly, curly black wig is talking about the good old days.  Oh, oh, now it's the SAG awards.  Did you see the movie, My Left Foot?  Daniel Day-Lewis has come along way and is celebrating Heath Ledger.  Do you remember, years ago, when Peter Finch won the Oscar because he was dead?  Ok, I'm sure the role was well-played but I do think his death was the better, and winning performance.  Pkin doesn't like Angelina Jolie, neither do I actually.  I wonder is Brad Pitt ever wished he'd chosen differently.

These thoughts are not what inspired me when scrubbing the rice pan but at least I'm writing.  I could tell you about Bob and Buster.  Buster snuck in the bedroom and I found him resting like a king on our bed.  He didn't move a muscle when I opened the door and walked in.  For a neutered kitty he's got some big ass balls.  Bob got locked in there yesterday but he cried like baby when he realized he was alone.  Bob is sensitive like his daddy.  It takes all kinds.  Rosey's been a bit anxious with the rain.  There've been a few accidents and she's been generally bothersome.  I'm sure she's both cold and tired of being wet.  I offered to place her gently on the toilet today but she declined.  Maybe tomorrow.

Oh, oh, oh.  The newspaper guy usually throws the paper against the screen door in the little alcove that is our entry way.  It's covered and dry and a very nice place to wait until being picked up.  Well, since the rain, the paper has been hitting the stairs just outside of the alcove.  I'm sure it's the rain making it harder to throw accurately and with distance.  But it's very funny to me to have to go out into the rain to get the paper when the other 360 days of the year my dry paper is clanging against my dry screen door at 5 AM.  Life in So Cal is just grand.  It really is.  The only thing that I wish is that my Mom were closer.  She's not far, just 15 miles or so but I've prefer she were closer.  She was a little lonely this week; I would have liked to help her not be lonely.  A friend is slowly closing her mother to age and disease and I'm so glad that mine is doing pretty darned well. 

She'll come to live with us, I hope, one of these days, perhaps when she retires from her retirement job.  I guess that would be the "second" retirement.  She's one of those Baby Boomers you read about with a pension and Social Security.  It must be nice to retire and actually get paid and then to work for the fun of it.  Oh, she does work and there is bother, but I'm sure it's a little easier to handle knowing that you're getting a monthly infusion to your bank account regardless.  Oh well, my life is different, I get to blog and bitch and moan among other things.

Hope you all have a great week!  Happy last week of the first month of this New year!  Jesus, I'm getting old. 

2008 Elections

Everyone in the world has an opinion but in the USA, I've heard, that only 20% or so of eligible people actually vote in elections.  Here's a funky site about the 2006 Congressional elections that I'll read some time soon.

Why do you vote?  Why do you not vote?

A Girl Has to Do What a Girl Has to Do

Recently I received a parrot as a gift. The parrot had a bad attitude and an even worse vocabulary. Every word out of the bird's mouth was rude, obnoxious and laced with profanity.

I tried and tried to change the bird's attitude by consistently saying only polite words, playing soft music and anything else I could think of to "clean up" the bird's vocabulary.

Finally, I was fed up and I yelled at the parrot. The parrot yelled back.  I shook the parrot and the parrot got angrier and even ruder.

So, in desperation, I threw up my hands, grabbed the bird and put him in the freezer.  For a few minutes the parrot squawked and kicked and screamed.  Then suddenly there was total quiet.  Not a peep was heard for over a minute. Fearing that I'd hurt the parrot, I quickly opened the door to the freezer.

The parrot calmly stepped out onto my outstretched arms and said, "I believe I may have offended you with my rude language and actions.  I'm sincerely remorseful for my inappropriate transgressions and I fully intend to do everything I can to correct my rude and unforgivable behavior."

I was stunned at the change in the bird's attitude. As I was about to ask the parrot what had made such a dramatic change in his behavior, the bird continued,

"May I ask what the turkey did?"

Miscellany

The dry cleaner attaches skirts and pants to the hanger with safety pins.  I have lots of safety pins, tons of them.  Sometimes I use them to pin together pants when the buttons fall off because the thread is all corroded by the dry cleaning chemicals.  That accounts for one out of every 24 pins.

Do you have favorite movie dialogue?  "I'm tired" is one of mine.  It's from Blazing Saddles and is sung by Madeleine Kahn.  Another is a paraphrase, Audrey Hepburn comments, on seeing a stripper in Breakfast at Tiffany's, "is she deeply and importantly talented?"  One of my favorites, used when driving oddly or just poorly, "Whew, shifting!"  This is Lily Tomlin, in Steve Martin, in All of Me.  There are many more but none that I can think of now.  There must be something you say care of a movie or TV show. 

I'm wonder how Anthony Hopkins chooses his movies.  He's playing opposite Alec Baldwin and it looks like a bad, bad movie.  FX is my good, bad movie channel.  The movies won't make you sick but I really wouldn't call them engaging.  It's the only thing on HD in my computer room at home.  It's drizzling today in So Cal which translate to Storm Watch of the Century on TV.  Boring even to fold clothes to.

Happy Birthday Martin Luther King Jr! 

Oh, now I'm reminded of Hoover's smear campaigns -- see the movie Smoking Aces, if you tolerate the gratuitous violence.

Checking In

I've been working too much, eating too well but healthy and haven't had anything much to say.

There is something I've been thinking about:  We all complain about our managers, little things and not so little things.  I think it's human nature.  Heck, if we complain about our own behaviors then we'll definitely note the ticks, inadequacies or even hard-assedness of those we work with. 

Think about this:  If you have people you manage and you complain to those people about how ineffective your manager is, or how distracted or how overwhelmed he/she is making you; do you think that the people you manage are going to be inspired to see only your strengths?

Uhmmmmmm.................

Too Much Stock or Just Enough Far Side

There is so much emphasis placed on beginnings.  Rightfully so I'm sure.  Healthier women tend to have healthier babies who tend to have better day care and a better start in Kindergarten ... and so on.  Another example is breakfast.  You start your whole day off well by eating a nutritious breakfast; I've heard doctors (OK, one doctor) say that a well-balanced breakfast is key to managing and perhaps even preventing diabetes.  As a final example, consider a new car.  If you buy a new car and start maintaining it from day one, you'll be much happier overall with fewer automobile headaches later on.

Well, each year we have a chance to make a new start with the New Year.  Today is January 15 which is technically halfway through the month and 1/24th through 2008.  There is still time to make a good year with a great start.  At about Noon on January 16, all will be lost.  Thank goodness I have Gary Larsen to keep me on my toes even if we all place too much stock on the New Year.

Pkin Cares

Pkin cares but apparently the Bay Bridge authorities not so much.

If you're depressed about not having a cell this will definitely put you over the edge.  Although I do appreciate the informative nature of the signage:  the consequences are fatal and tragic.  But isn't that the point?

Pkin shared this with me.  It's not as titillating as Beancounters and the Polish day worker though good for a great laugh followed by a sigh at the stupidity of it all.

I Love Bananas

What is not to love about a banana?  They have a nice wrapper, that gently opens to reveal the luscious fruit inside.  You can eat bananas with dirty hands.  The firm flesh is sweet while also having substance.  You have to love a yummy banana!

There is one drawback with the banana; they have a very short window of "peak of perfection."  I define this peak as the four hours when the banana is 22% green and 78% yellow.  Before this, they are too hard and leave a sticky taste and feel in your mouth.  After this and you can already taste the fermenting fruit.  My family has different ideas about this.

My Dad was inspired, because of my birthday, and the color of these bananas.  Let me tell you that I'm still waiting for their 4-hour peak, I've been waiting since Sunday.  It is the thought that counts.

Just Started ...

I started an eating-taking-care-of-Sue program, as known as the ETCS which is pronouced e-TECHS program.  Wish me luck!

The new year has really put me into a funk.  I'm sure the birthday didn't help.  Pkin called me middle-aged.  He could have chosen more appropriate words especially with how down I have been.  And then he was "unwell" at my birthday dinner.  It's a long story but we had our food packed up immediately.  I was afraid something else was going to happen.  He almost choked but it wasn't like stuck food.  It was very odd.  Anyway, we can right home, and he ate everything just as soon as we got home.  I still have my leftovers in the fridge.  I'm not good with leftovers.

It's all part of life, I guess.

I did get a really nice card this week: