When Did THAT Happen?

I have a tiara that I keep at work.  When I'm having a particularly bad day, I wear my tiara at work and I call myself the "princess".  Ok, I'm not REALLY a princess, but at least when the guys see me in my tiara, they know I'm having a bad day and they normally back off.  Go me!

I have a vendor that is very similar to me in many ways.  We talk often due to business, but we always add some personal stuff in there, too.  She likes to take a lot of pictures and she also takes in stray and/or abandoned cats!  She's my kind of woman!

We were talking yesterday about bad days and I told her about my tiara and me being the princess.  She thought that was pretty funny!  You know my theory on things . . . it doesn't mean anything without pictures!  So, today I got Mike in a slow moment and I asked him to take a picture with me.  My vendor also thinks it's comical that I work for my brother!

Here is Mike and me in princess mode, tiara and all.

Mike wasn't sure if my vendor could really get a good look at my tiara, so he thought he'd take a close up of just the tiara for me.

Look at that picture!  WHERE IN THE HELL DID ALL THAT GRAY HAIR COME FROM????  I was kinda freaking out about that!  Mike tried to talk me down, telling me it's not gray hair, it's the glare from the flash!  Yeah, that's it!  He was going to take another picture without the flash to show me it's not as bad as it looks.

That did NOT help!

Holy crap, how did this happen?  I've never put hair dye in my hair.  I've never "colored" it as I always figured that gray WAS a color!  That was easy to say when you just had a few gray hairs.  My hair may not remain virginal for long after seeing this.

Holy crap, some how I got old when I wasn't looking.

I'm gonna need more than a tiara to fix this.  Dang, how did this happen?!

Ugh. That Was MY Fault

One thing about being a grown up . . . I should KNOW better!

I know I've had a food sensitivity to eggs since I was about 19 years old.  I used to eat eggs all of the time and then suddenly, I couldn't.  I'm not so sensitive that eggs bother me IN food.  Luckily I can eat breads and cakes and meatloaf with no problem.  But, scramble them, poach them, sunny side up them or even coat some bread for French Toast and I can't do it.  I will be sick, sometimes violently.

Some times, if I take an antihistamine like Benedryl, it will help with some of the side effects.  Not always, but some times.

The worst part about this food sensitivity, or allergy as I call it, is that I LOVE eggs.  Why couldn't I be allergic to peas?  Or lima beans??  I could easily live the rest of my life without ever eating either of those two items ever again.  But eggs???  O M G

The worst offender was at Easter time.  In Slovak, and this is kinda spelled phonetically, not correctly, is our ceetetz.  I don't think I could make it if my life depended on it, but it was an Easter tradition in our house.  My Mom would start with like three dozen eggs in a pot, add sugar and milk and cook it down sort of like scrambled egg consistency.  Then, we'd take it out of the pot and put it in a cheese cloth.  The egg mixture would be squeezed and pressed into a ball in that cheese cloth and hung up over night to get most of the moisture out of there.  In the morning, this "ball" would then be put into a pan and baked until the top was golden brown.  It ended up being a solid mass of egg and it was the most delicious thing I can remember!  Every year I'd whack me off a chunk of the ceetetz on Easter, and enjoy every single bit of it.  I'd be sicker than a dog for about 24 hours afterwards, but dang, it was worth it.

I no longer have ceetetz in my life but maybe once a year I still have to splurge and have some eggs.  They are just too good to stay away from for ever!

If I'm going to get that sick, I want to make it worth it.  My favorite way to have eggs is over easy with some wheat toast to dunk into the yolks.  I can't make over easy eggs to save my life though, so I like to go to a diner and order them up.

Last night, I was having trouble thinking of what to make Ron and I for dinner.  I have had eggs on my mind for a few weeks now, and I knew my resistance was down and I was going to end up eating some soon!  So, last night I told Ron we were having breakfast for supper!

I made some turkey bacon, then did a huge veggie omelet for the two of us.  I can't do over easy, but anyone can make an omelet!  I sauteed up some onions, green peppers and mushrooms and then added the egg.  Holy cow was it GOOD!  I just took a small portion of the omelet, but it was probably still two eggs worth.  I wasn't even done eating my small portion when my stomach started to protest.

Now, Ron tends to get over protective of me when I talk about eating an egg or even wanting to taste his when he has them for breakfast.  Hey, I'm a big girl, I'm an adult, I know what I can and can't do.  I don't need him to be the egg police on me!  Or at least that's what I tell him.

Last night, he was watching me and starting to mutter "I told you so" under his breath.  I did NOT want to give him the satisfaction!  I tried to put on a brave face and hold down my dinner until after he went to bed!  I tried to write this blog last night when the feeling was fresh in my stomach, but I was too busy being doubled over at my desk!  Sheesh, what I don't do for an egg!

Lo and behold, I got through the night in one piece with only a few "are you ok"'s from Ron!  I know I'm a adult and should be making better decisions about how I take care of my body.  I've been paying the price for my decision all day.  But sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do.

Was it worth getting that sick for the last 24 hours over a veggie omelet?  Damn skippy it was!  It was an awesome omelet!

Did I make another one tonight for supper?  Not on your life!  It will probably be another year or so before I put myself through THAT again!

Being an adult doesn't mean I can't sometimes make bad decisions.  But I will own my decisions, I have no one to blame but me.  This was a self inflicted sickness and I know it was all my fault.  It will be all my fault again about a year from now.  Next time, two eggs over easy with some wheat toast!

Mowing the Lawn, What an Adventure!

Friday I came home from work and I mowed the lawn.  As always, it's an adventure.

I start with what I call "policing the property".  I put a plastic glove on my hand, grab a garbage bag and go out and pick up the garbage from the lawn before I can mow it.  I've told stories before of stuff I've found in the yard.  Fast food bags are common as are beer and liquor bottles.  I've found condoms (see why I wear the glove?), dip sticks, home work papers, utility bills (not mine), a bag of crack and recently, I found this beauty.

As a side note, I have a new phone and I can't quite get how to get the pictures off of my camera and on to the blog.  On my computer hard drive, the picture is the right way!  But, I upload it here, and it's freakin' sideways!  I've done everything I can do, deleting and re-down/up/over/loading the damn picture and it remains the same.  So, turn your head to the right and you'll see the knife the way I intended you to see it!  Sheesh, what I go through for my blog!!

Anyway, a nice sharp knife on my tree lawn.  Ok, this was found a week or so ago and not yesterday, but still.

And, I've been looking through my pictures for a picture I've posted before of my water valve on the tree lawn.  Mine sticks up so far, I've hit it repeatedly with my mower and busted the top all up.  And, bent the blades of my mower and almost knocked myself off of the mower.  More than once!  While I can't find the picture, perhaps my explanation will at least paint a picture in your mind of what I'm talking about.

I was talking to my brother Mike at work about this recently.  The problem with the water valve is that I "forget" about it when I'm mowing the lawn and hit it.  My back can't take the beating it takes when I hit it with the riding lawn mower.  I've tried hand mowing a good 10 feet around that valve to give myself enough room, but still!  I HIT it!

I told Mike I was thinking of getting one of those "flags" that snow plow drivers put up so they know where the end of driveway is or where there is an obstruction in a parking lot.  Mike had a better idea.  We had some construction cones at work that we no longer used.  He suggested I take a cone, hand mow around the valve like I normally would, but before I got on the riding mower to put the cone over the valve.  Hopefully that would remind me that it's there and then prevent me from hitting it.  Sounded good!

It WORKS!!!  I see the cone and am able to drive around it, saving my mower, the mower blades, my back, my sanity.  Such an easy fix but such a life saver.  So, if you're driving by my house and you see my cone up, beep and wave!  I'll be the one on the riding mower cutting the grass!  It looks cheesy but it works.

Last, this DID happen Friday.  I have a couple of bird feeders in the yard.  It's a BIRD feeder, not a CAT feeder.  This is not what I wanted to see.  Yuck.

In case you can't tell, this is a line of bird feathers.  I'm assuming it was a kitty lunch.  Dang it, I don't put food out there to attract the birds for the cats!  I know it's the law of nature.  Big fish eat little fish, cats eat birds.  Mother Nature can be a bitch!

See?  Mowing my lawn CAN be an adventure.  I always mow the lawn to music.  I put my ear buds into my nano and I jam out mowing the lawn.  Before my shoulder messed up, my neighbors used to enjoy a good show of me air drumming on the mower all around the yard!  Since my arm doesn't work so well now, I've had to give up air drumming.  At least I still sing!  Loudly AND badly.  I am hoping the noise of the mower drowns me out an no one really HEARS me singing.  If you do hear it . . . I am sorry!  See?  It is an adventure when I mow the lawn.  C'mon over, pull up a chair and enjoy the show.  As long as you're sitting there, please pick up them feathers, huh?

Is This Your Idea of Safe? That's Just Wrong, Page 29

Personally, I would call it the Lorain Keystone Cops version of safety.

Let's back up.  Recently, metal detectors have been set up inside the front doors of Lorain City Hall. 

From an online article from 19 Action News:

On the outside there isn't anything different at Lorain City Hall, but on the inside, an addition that not everyone feels happy about but that everyone should feel safer about.

You can get a look at the entire article here.   Seriously, feel safer about?  Not in the least.

And, according to an online Morning Journal article:

In addition to overall increased security, there was a second reason for the change in security features. According to Ritenauer, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown and U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur are negotiating leases to move their offices to Lorain City Hall.

Here is the entire Morning Journal article.
 
After my personal experience at Lorain City Hall on Monday, if safety is what you are looking for, then Senator Brown and Representative Kaptur, you need to keep looking because it was nowhere to be found here.

Monday, Ron and I went to the Lorain City Council meeting at City Hall.  There were a few issues we were interested in, which unfortunately ended up not getting resolved but instead sent to committee.  (Fair warning - I intend to show up at that committee meeting too.)  As for the new so-called security measures . . . 

I was appalled.  Yes there is a nice shiny metal detector at the front door complete with a man in uniform with a gun (To be honest, I never looked at what his uniform said.  He could be LPD, he could not be.  I don't know.) and a belt to move your items through an x-ray machine, just like at the airport.  Well, except for the back scratcher this uniformed man had to use to get your articles OUT of the x-ray machine.  And, that was the closest I saw him look at what was IN the x-ray machine because I never saw him look at the x-ray monitor once.

You see, Ron and I went to City Hall, but Ron had to run back to the car.  So, I went in, got through "security" and waited there for a few minutes for Ron to join me.  In that time, I watched "security" let one girl into the building, with her purse, withOUT going through the scanner or x-raying her purse.  I guess if you're young and cute, you must be ok so there was no need to look.  He told her to just go on ahead.

Then I saw TWO different men (one of them Ron!) set the buzzer off while going through the metal detector!  Ok, I know Ron and I know what kind of man he is.  I KNOW that what set off the metal detector was one of his cell phones that he didn't take off of his belt.  This "security" officer didn't know that though and he just waived Ron through.  I'm not sure if he ever even heard that beeping noise the machine made. Or else he had no clue as to what that beeping noise meant.

Ok, I'm vouching for Ron for whatever that is worth, but what about the other guy that ran through the metal detector while setting off the alarms?  The "security" officer was more interested in using the back scratcher to get the bucket with his stuff in it out of the x-ray machine.  Seriously dude.  In the two or three minutes I was standing there, I never did see him look up the monitor to see what was going through.  He was overwhelmed if more than one person walked in the door at the same time.  THIS is what you are calling safe?  This was a joke.

In the few minutes that I stood right next to the x-ray machine I saw at least THREE people that should have been looked at closer but were instead just told to go on ahead by "security".

The new procedure was implemented on a suggestion from the Ohio Supreme Court.  I guess the City of Lorain followed that suggestion.  They ARE scanning everyone walking through the door.  They're just not doing anything about what might be brought into City Hall.  People, That's Just Wrong.

Life's Gentler Side

Last week I got an email from my friend Nick.  It was a picture email titled "Life's Gentler Side" and it had about a dozen pictures attached on this theme.

They are all beautiful pictures.  There is one of a pigeon drinking the water from a melting icicle, a woman and her dog soaking up some rays at the beach, a cute baby and a puppy seeing eye to eye, a soldier hugging his infant child, a father hugging his returning soldier son.  You get the idea.

This picture was in the bunch of pictures and I can't put into words what this picture does to me.  I cry every time I look at it.  To me this picture is SOOO beautiful, and I absolutely feel the love these two people have for each other.  I just had to share this picture.

May God bless them both, and maybe we all have loving arms to lay in when we need them.

Happy Father's Day, Dad. I Miss You.

I don't need a holiday to remind me to think of my Dad.  I think of him all the time, and I miss him.  I still have SO many questions to ask my Dad.  He was a Renaissance Man!  He knew just about everything, or so it seemed to me.

I am the youngest of six children.  And, I'm a girl!  I'm not an expert, but I think by law that makes me a Daddy's girl.  He was my hero and I was his baby girl and like I said, he knew just about everything.  Plus, we were partners in crime!

One of my favorite Dad stories (and I'm sorry if I told this story before, but it's a good story!) happened years ago when I still lived in Erie PA.  I had my own apartment but I only lived maybe three miles away from my parents.  I lived in my apartment for a few months or so and I called my Dad one evening and told him I thought I broke my vacuum.  It was NOT working and I didn't know why.

Being the good Dad, he came right over to take a look at it.  He told me the problem was that it was too long since I cleaned my hair out from around the roller since the roller was full of hair!  I said "but I NEVER cleaned my hair out from around the roller!"  And I remember like it was yesterday, my Dad responded "well, that's because I always cleaned your hair out from around the roller!"  Ok, if you never told me I had to do this on my own now, how was I supposed to know???

After we realized how ridiculous this argument was, my Dad and I had a good laugh over it.  And, he taught me how to cut all that hair off of the roller so that the roller doesn't seize up.  I'm sure most of you grown ups know exactly what I'm talking about.  It's a nasty job that you NEED a Dad around for. 

After that day, that became our running joke.  I loved both of my parents dearly, and I was lucky enough to have a great relationship with both of them individually.  But in my lifetime, they never had a good relationship with each other.  The farther apart they were from each other, the happier they were.  I think that is one of the reasons that they are even now buried 100 miles apart from each other.  But, I digress.

My Dad would to up in the attic at home and secretly call me at my apartment.  He'd tell me to wait about 10 minutes and call Mom and tell her I needed something.  He just wanted to get out of the house, and he wanted to do it without Mom busting his balls about it.  So, I was his excuse! 

So, 10 minutes or so later, I'd call the house.  Mom would answer the phone and I'd be appropriately upset when I told her I needed to talk to Dad as my vacuum was broken again!  I'd hear her call up to the attic for Dad to come down to the phone as I broke the vacuum again!  I'd hear him bellyaching about having to fix that damn vacuum AGAIN! He'd come to the phone, he'd bitch and moan a little and then tell me he'd be over in about 15 minutes.  I'd tell him fine, but he better be bringing a pizza!!

Sure enough, shortly after, Dad would show up at my apartment with a pizza in hand.  We'd watch a movie, he'd have an evening away from Mom and all would be good in our worlds.  In payment for this little deception, I'd get an evening with my Dad, a free pizza . . . and he'd clean the hair off of the roller of my vacuum.  Win/win/win for ME!

So, yesterday I had the vacuum out while I was cleaning the bedroom and of course I heard my Dad in my ear saying "call me in 10 minutes!"

And Dad, just like the old days, I still don't clean my hair out of the roller in a timely fashion.  Mainly because I HATE that job!! 

Nasty, isn't it?  This is just one of the hundreds of reasons why I miss you, Dad.  In honor of Father's Day, we're having pizza for dinner.  C'mon over, Dad!  I'll save the hair in the roller for you!

Is the Glass Half Empty or is the Glass Half Full?

I'm trying to put a positive spin on things.  The same situation can be looked at two different ways. either the glass is half empty or it's half full. 

I cleaned our bedroom today.  With my shoulder being what it is, I haven't cleaned much of anything in the last year.  Then, locking up two cats in this bedroom for almost a month, trust me, it needed a good scrubbing.

Half empty:  I have been scatterbrained today and very disorganized.
Half full:  Because of being scatterbrained and disorganized, I ended up walking up and down 31 flights of stairs in the course of cleaning one small bedroom!  Very good exercise.

Half full:  My bedroom is clean, clean, clean!
Half empty:  My shoulder is now killing me.

Half empty:  My shoulder is killing me.
Half full:  I own a heating pad and I love my heating pad.

Half full:  Did I mention that my bedroom is clean, clean, clean???
Half empty:  As clean as it can be.  With four cats in the house.  OMG I have four cats in the house.

Half full:  Today was the first day all four cats were let out into the house together for any length of time.  They were together about 11 hours and all went well.
Half empty:  I am a wreck.  I think I am more nervous and upset about the damn cats getting along than they are.

Half empty:  All four cats seem to go nuts every day between four and five in the morning.  The upstairs two will chase each other around, jumping on and off furniture, knocking over what gets in their way.  The downstairs cats do the same thing downstairs, chasing each other, jumping on and off furniture, knocking over what gets in their way.  Between four and five in the morning, it sounds like WWIII and WWIV around here.  I wasn't sure how leaving all four of them out together would go at crazy time with Benny and the kitten Maggie.
Half full:  About 9:00 tonight, Blondie and Maggie came upstairs on their own and went into the bedroom to pee (their litter box is in there) and relax.  I thought perfect!  I made sure they had fresh food and water in their bowls and I shut the door to lock them in for the night.  Easy peasy.

Half empty:  Right now it sounds like the bedroom door is ready to come off of the hinges!  I better go look to see what is happening!
Half full:  Nothing cuter than seeing one yellow paw and one gray paw reaching out under the door to shake the hell out of the door!

Half full:  OMG, I have four cats in this house.
Half empty:  OMG, I have FOUR cats in this house.

Half empty:  I think this will be the last night I can get away with locking the two cats up in the bedroom for the night.
Half full:  I think tonight is the last night I have to lock up two cats in the bedroom for the night.  At least until I find a new home for Maggie and Blondie.

Half full:  I am still looking for a new home for Blondie and Maggie.
Half empty:  I am still looking for a new home for Blondie and Maggie.

Who Has the Right of Way?

On Thursday, it definitely wasn't me.  I seem to have had a target on me all day.

Right after work I went to the post office in Elyria.  I always park towards the end by the railroad tracks to stay out of the way as much as possible.  People can be nuts in that parking lot.

I am starting my car to leave when the guy 3 spots or so to my right, towards the exit, is just getting IN his jeep.  I have backed out of my spot and already put the car into drive when this idiot looks me square in the eye and backs out quickly forcing me to jam on my brakes.  Seriously, dude.  Was that necessary?  There is only one reason I can think of that made his mind think he had the right to do that.  I am sorry for your small penis.

Then I go to the bank.  As I am pulling into the lot to go park my car (I still can't do drive up banking with my shoulders), a woman is coming from the ATM lane on my left, just pulls out of the lane, directly in front of me to go to park to go INTO the bank.  That lady almost had me drive right into her back seat for crying out loud!  She was just an idiot and to make matters worse, she was an idiot with a child in the car.  This is a free country.  If you want to be an idiot, BE an idiot.  But if you have children in the car, it's MY opinion that you LOSE that right.  Someone has to be in charge and be responsible and that job does not belong to the beautiful two year old in your car.  Shame on you and lucky for you I recently got new brakes and was able to avoid THAT collision too.

Now I think I am a safe driver.  I am not a speeder, I am overly cautious in a parking lot (thank goodness here!) I keep my phone in the back seat so there is no distraction, and I always drive with my lights on to make sure people see me.  I can't do any more than I am doing to be safe.

The last one was still on Thursday on as I just finished my shopping at Sam's Club.  (As a side note, the BEST part of shopping at Sam's Club is getting a huge hug from Margaret at the front door!  Eighty years young and she doesn't want to be bored at home so she goes to work as a greeter at Sam's Club and hands out hugs to anyone that wants one!  I love her!!)  I was walking out of Sam's Club pushing my cart to my car when suddenly, the van I am about to walk behind starts backing up.  HEY!  I shouted.  She couldn't be bothered to put her phone down long enough to acknowledge that she almost flattened me!  Seriously, there ought to be a law.  I jumped, pulled my cart back and jolted my shoulder.  I stood there saying a few other things to her under my breath as the pain caused tears in my eyes, but she was too busy to notice.  Once I got my heart under control again, I proceeded to my car.

Seriously, people, what is WRONG with you?  Small penis, small mind, small ethics, small morals, what is the excuse?  When did we quit caring about other people to the point of being complacent about hitting someone with a 2,000 pound WEAPON?  The right of way - it's not rocket science.  What has happened to treat others as you wish to be treated or at the very least, the rules our Moms taught us when we were young:  PLAY NICE.

What saved my day was the bumper sticker I saw on a car in front of me on the way home.  It said "I'm only speeding because I really have to poop!"  Lady, you win!!!  In that case you definitely deserve the right of way!  I hope she realized why I was laughing my butt off behind her at that light.  She made my day.

So, I take back the small penis comment, the no brains or morals comment, and I'll just go with the bumper sticker.  The three of you yesterday that tried to do me harm with your vehicles . . . you're all just full of shit.

The Elephants in the Room Need a New Home.

I am trying.  I am trying to get back to day to day life, but I am still a work in progress.  I miss my Penelope.

I feel that I want to get back to blogging.  Not cat problem blogging, but regular blogging.  I think before I can do that though, I need to talk about the elephant in the room.  Once I get this off of my chest, hopefully I can move on to other things in my life.  Sorry, you have to go through this part with me!

Where to start this long story about my outside cats?

Last summer, I had four kittens find my porch.  I had three orange tabbies and one small gray striped tabby.  I am assuming the orange tabbies are all siblings and the gray one could be too, but I never considered her their sibling.  Don't have proof one way or another, just a feeling.  Since cats can have more than one male father a litter of kittens, she COULD be, I just don't know.  Anyway . . . .

The gray striped cat is Adrienne and the three orange tabbies are Tarzan, Junior and Blondie.  They have been coming to my porch for food since last summer and have stayed on after winter.

Y'all know how I feel about my cats, even my outside cats.

Adrienne has been strong, healthy and independent since her first day on the porch.  She has never let me get near her and will run if I try to get close.  She is the only one of the four without eye infections.

At first with the orange tabbies, I didn't know the boys from the girls.  Blondie was much more blonde obviously while the boys were more orange.  She was named first, just because she was more different in coloring than the other two.  I kept finding Tarzan up in the pine tree next door, hence his name.  Junior was named last.  I saw he had a black mark on his lower lip, just like Hemingway did.  (I am also assuming Hemingway is their father!)  The black spot earned him the name Junior.

All three quickly warmed up to contact.  All three would wind around my legs and let me pet them.  All three would lay on the porch next to me and expose their bellies to me.  That is huge in the cat world!  I had never picked any of them up but would pet them every day.

They have been with me through last summer, fall, winter and spring.  Blondie and Adrienne had kittens on my porch.  Adrienne is a great Mom and out of these four, three are still around.  I don't now what happened to the fourth, I'm hoping someone took him in.  My fantasy world, I'll live in it.

 

This picture was taken April 29th so the kittens are MUCH bigger now and they are all over.  They spend their time in the area and they are amazing to watch as they grow and chase each other and pounce on Mom.  Like their Mom, they won't let me get close to them.  Good for them!

Blondie has not had such good luck in the kitten department.   She had a litter of five but one had died at birth.  I buried the still born one in my yard.

Of the remaining four, I had to take one to be euthanized shortly after this picture was taken.  Then another died in the nest and then another died in the nest.  The last dead kitten I found on May 19th.  That was a red letter day for me.  I buried the third kitten in my yard.

I took the dead kitten from the nest and went to the garage to get the shovel to dig another grave.   When I went to the site where the other two were buried, Blondie was there.  I don't know if she really knows her ktitens are there or if it was just happenstance that she was standing on their graves.

That same day, for the first time, Blondie had her last surviving kitten out and about and the kitten did not look good.

Between Blondie's eye infections and seeing this little one literally blind from eye gook, it broke my heart.  The final straw on this same day of kitty sadness, I watched Tarzan get hit by a car right in front of my house.

This was Tarzan.  What a beautiful boy he was.

Such a good and loving cat.  This broke my heart.  I still close my eyes and see him get hit.  That one was all my fault.   One more dead kitten, one dead cat, and one injured cat mama and baby.  Mentally I was done and succumbed to an emotional decision.  Not a good decision, but an emotional one. 

The first thing Monday morning (May 20th) I scooped up Blondie and her baby Maggie and took them to the vet.  Upper respiratory infections and eye infections.  They both got a shot of antibiotics and sent home with oral antibiotics and a gel that goes into their eyes.

Here is Maggie, the day of the vet appointment where they did a great job of cleaning out her eyes.  Poor little girl is still in pain though.

The next day things were a little better and mama and baby were making themselves at home on their new bed.  Once they found OUR bed in the room, this bed doesn't get used so much! 

Because they were contagious, they had to be kept apart from Ava and Benny, until they got through their meds.  So, Blondie and Maggie spent their first 10 days at our house locked in our bedroom.  There is only so much exploring a young cat can do in there, especially one that is busting to get out and explore, now that she can see!

She explored me just fine.  Trust me, those baby claws are sharp as needles and I have the marks to prove it!

She plays with her Mom constantly.  Mom's tail and ears are Maggie's favorite toys.  She will also chase her own tail!

 
She is growing so fast!  And getting into everything.  She climbs to the top of this scratching post like it's Mount Everest.

I took Blondie back to the vet on Monday since I didn't think her eyes were 100% better and she was out of meds.  I have to tell you about Blondie and meds.  The eye gel comes in a tube and looks like Vaseline that you put into their eyes.  Maggie was small enough to over power and make it happen but I was a little worried with Blondie, especially since she has all of her claws.  But she was a champ.  Ron would hold her, I'd grab her head and pry her eyes open and put the gel in.  She would bring her paws up to my hand and push back a little, but she never opened up her claws.  She may not have been thrilled with the eye meds, but she took them without trying to do any damage to me or Ron.  Good girl!

Anyway, we went back to the vet to have her eyes looked at.  They gave her a stronger shot of antibiotics and this should do the trick.  I think since she'd had these eye infections for so long (before winter at least!) she just needed a good dose to get her healed.  She does not have feline leukemia or any other disease that they thought would slow down her healing, so we just need a little more time.  This picture I took Monday night after going to the vet.  Are they happy and healthier kitties or what!  That baby is too much.

 

I have tried to integrate all four cats and things go okay until they don't.  I think part of it is the kitten.  Mom is ok with Ava and Benny until the kitten is in the room and then there could be bloodshed.  Ugh, not good.

I made an emotional decision, not a good decision, when I decided to bring them inside.  I really need to find homes for Maggie and Blondie or at least Maggie.  Blondie is scheduled to be spayed on June 20th and I will even agree to pay for the spaying of Maggie when she's old enough if someone would like a kitten.  They really are good cats, just not good for my house.  Four of them are just too many.

I have tried calling the Friendship APL (a no-kill shelter) but they are FULL of cats and won't be taking any more until after August at least.  I don't want to just boot her out of the door, I need to find a good home for them desperately.  I can NOT keep them.

Blondie is about a year old cream colored female, to be spayed on June 20th.

Maggie is a gray tortoise shell who was born on April 15, 2013 which makes her 8 weeks.

Anyone out there need some kitty love?  I desperately need some help.  It's not fair to any of them to lock up two of them at a time since I can't seem to get them to integrate together.  They all deserve better than this, better than I can give to them.  

So, if you would like a cat, or know someone that could take one in, please let me know.  Blondie and Maggie are anxiously waiting to meet you.  Please help me help them have a better life. 

I'm Cranky, but I'm Here

Yes I am still alive.

I am honestly having more trouble right now dealing with things than I should be having.  It just seems like it's all piling up on me now and I am bending from the pressure, ready to break. 

I feel like an idiot that I am falling apart over here over what is going on.  People suffer through and live with MUCH worse than I am going through.  I think my coping mechanism is broken maybe because I am just not coping with everything.

Penelope dying stopped my heart.  While I love all of my cats, she is the one that loved me back.  I know that sounds stupid, even as I'm typing it.  But I just feel so lonely now without her.  My heart still stops when I look at her bed and see she's not in it.  Honestly, I am one big baby over here.

My shoulder is still killing me.  In case  you forgot, I have frozen shoulder.  That is the STUPIDEST thing I have ever heard of and I thought my family doctor was blowing smoke up my ass when he told me that was my problem.  I fired him and I went to THREE different orthopedic surgeons over this shoulder.  C'mon people, medical science can transplant a human HEART from one person to another but they can't do anything about frozen shoulder.  This is just ridiculous to me.

Just as ridiculous, is the treatment plan that differs from doctor to doctor.  I have joined a support group for people with frozen shoulders which has been a TREMENDOUS help.  They don't take the pain away, but it's nice knowing I'm not nuts.  Outside of this support group, most people seem to look at me like I'm crazy since no one (or very few people) have ever heard of this before.  Of the 500 or so people in this group, the common factor is that surgery and physical therapy does not help.  This ailment will run its own course, no matter what you do, in anywhere from three months to over three YEARS.  Not all doctors understand how painful this ailment is.  Some people are on heavy narcotics.  All of MY doctors told me to go home and take a Tylenol.  Life isn't fair.

The frozen shoulder group is a wonderful support system for sure.  We revel in others accomplishments, like one woman celebrating being able to put her own bra on for the first time.  I still can't put my own bra on.  And we cheer on those who are not as far along as others are, like the woman who was crying that she could no longer put her hair in a pony tail.  I can do it, but it hurts like hell to do it.  Frozen shoulders touches EVERY part of my life.  No daily routine is routine any longer.  I can't shave under one of my armpits, deodorant is hit and miss if I can do it or not.  I don't do drive up banking any longer.  I had to have Jennifer rearrange my refrigerator to bring the things I use all the time to the front.  If something gets pushed back into the refrigerator, it might as well be in Timbuktu since I can't reach it.  Brushing my teeth hurts, opening a door hurts, washing my hair still makes me cry, freakin' breathing hurts.

Sleep is a thing of the past.  I doze, I don't sleep.  If I'm lucky, I will get a solid hour of sleep before the pain wakes me up again.  I'm trying not to bitch, I'm just sayin'.  This is what my life has become.

Lack of sleep and constant pain can make a person CRANKY.  So, if you know me and I have bitten your head off for just saying hello, I am sorry.  I am in my first year of frozen shoulder with no end in sight.  Like I said, this can last more than three years to run its course.  And I am armed with a bottle of Tylenol!  Yeah, life sucks some times.

No sleep, constant pain, my Penelope died, I have dead and dying kittens outside (you can read the update on that on my cats page above) and for shits and giggles, throw in a few hot flashes.  Mike thinks I need to get my gun out of my house for every one's safety.  HA!  I say we continue to live dangerously!

Some days I hold up better than others.  Lately, not so much.  I told Mike I needed a few days off of work and he agreed.  I have been on vacation yesterday and today, trying to put myself back together!  That's a big job to do in four days!! 

I explained to Ron and Phil and I was on VACATION.  While physically I am here in the house, my head is not here.  I told them I'm not cooking, not taking care of anything this weekend but ME.  

Day one of vacation was Thursday.  I got up and went for groceries!  Ok, that wasn't a smart move, but Thursday is my grocery day and actually it was much easier to do it early in the day instead of fighting the traffic and people after work to do it.  Besides, I got groceries out of the way, then came home, made myself lunch and then I even took a NAP!  I pretty much goofed off the rest of the day.

Today was day two of vacation.  I did a little better this time.  First I went to the library and grabbed a book and then went to the beach to read for awhile.  Any day at the beach is better than a day at work!

It's been raining like heck most of the afternoon and evening, so I timed that right getting some sun late this morning.  Good times.

Then I went shopping for ME.  I had a few issues at one store, but then went to another and hit the mother lode.  I bought myself new jammies and some tops for work.  AND, since I was a good girl, I even bought myself some BLING!!  I love watches and my watch has to be 15 years old.  But I wear it every day and I love it!  I got me some new bling here, on SALE for $13!!!  Yeah, I'm a cheap date, bling or no bling!

Aaah, today was looking up.

Then, I finally moved Penelope to the urn I bought for her.  I had her cremated and I wanted something nice to put her ashes in.  I think I found that in this urn.  She sure did conquer my heart and left a lifetime of memories for me in the two years, two weeks and one day I had the privilege to be her human caretaker.

 

So now I've had two days of vacation and I have the weekend.  Nothing got cured, nothing got settled, no one came back to life.  Maybe by actually stopping and concentrating on just ME for a few days, I can at least keep putting one foot in front of the other and making it look like I'm still plugged in here.

Pride Day and Black River Clean Up

Come one, come all!

My Penelope, 03/29/11 to 04/13/13

My beloved Penelope walked in my door on March 29th, 2011 and my life has never been the same.  She brought me nothing but love and only wanted love in return.  Ok, and food and water and a clean litter box!  But for real, she didn't ask for much.

We went out to dinner last night and when we came home, we found that Penelope had died.  There was no warning.  I just had her to her vet 2 weeks ago for her yearly check up.  I don't know why they gave her a clean bill of health when she died just 2 weeks later.  She did not get into anything here, I don't know what happened.  All I know is that my heart is absolutely broken without my baby girl.

Penelope would wake me up in the morning when she was ready for breakfast.  I know she couldn't tell time so I never got mad when she thought breakfast time was 4 in the morning instead of 6.  Close enough.  Every day we would have our love time.  She needed hugs and kisses and caresses almost as much as I did.

Penelope had been fine all afternoon and spent a good part of it in my lap.  She had come downstairs for supper just as we were getting ready to go out ourselves to dinner.  When we got back a few hours later, she was on her spot on the living room floor. That was her go to spot after she was done eating.  I think she ate, then laid down and just died.  I don't know why.  She was relatively young at about 7 years old, I don't know WHY.

I know my heart is absolutely broken.  I held her little body in my arms for as long as I could, telling her how much I loved her.  I hope she heard me, I hope she knew that.  Everywhere I look I see her.   I see her favorite spots, I see her toys, I feel her in my arms.  I know she was just a cat, but she as well as my other two cats, are as close to children as I will ever have.  I have a hole in my soul and I don't know how to fix this or how to move on.  I am broken and I miss my baby girl more than I thought possible.

Here are just pictures of Penelope, my little love.  She loved me like no one else does.  I miss her kisses and hugs, I miss her love, I miss her.

Penelepe, when she was still an outside cat:

 

Penelope's first day at home:

Some of my favorite pictures of my baby girl:

My heart is broken.  My soul is broken.  We did NOT have enough time together.  I miss my little girl more than words can say.  I love you, Penelope.

Time Warner Cable - Too Little, Too Late

Let's have a little background on our friends (that is sarcasm) at Time Warner Cable.

I have been a cable subscriber here in Ohio since I moved here in 2001.  When I bought my house in 2003, it had no cable lines run to it, so I had all of the cable lines installed into the living room and the three bedrooms.  A few years later, I added the high speed internet to our package.

That was back before it was Time Warner Cable.  Well, the internet might have been TWC but the first cable was definitely not.  We were at one time with Adelphia Cable and I think Comcast was in there before it became TWC and the problems began.

When the DVRs first came out, I knew that was something that I had to have.  I got one for the house. Then I got a second one and then a third one.  Yes, we all have our guilty pleasures and this was mine.  I paid over $200 a MONTH to Time Warner Cable for my TV addiction and internet.  You'd think that a person paying that kind of cash for a service, and paying on time I might add, would warrant some service.  Well, take the money out of it.  If I'm paying you ANYTHING for service, why shouldn't I be getting what I pay for?

I think it started with the DVRs.  Remember, I have three different ones and each tapes independently.  Well, that was how it was supposed to work anyway.  Out of 10 shows I'd set up to tape, I'd be lucky if one of them would tape.  When you would look into the history on the box, I would just get a message that said "set top box could not tape program" or words to that effect.  It wasn't just one box in particular either.  This problem was with all of them.  WTF.  Why couldn't you tape?  They weren't pay channels and hell, most of them were network TV channels, not even the cable channels.  WHY wouldn't they tape?

Not one that is shy, I was on the phone with TWC.  Often.  I have had technicians out to the house at least four times.  Each time we were told "wow, I've never seen this problem before".  I know now that they lied, but more on that later.  So, we would turn in the boxes we had and get new boxes.  Or at least other boxes.  Same problem, same answer from the technicians the next time I would have them out for the same problem.   During this time, we also had problems with the internet.  Now, our cable goes out.  Daily!

Ron works out of the house and is on the internet every day, all day.  And, at least once a day, the internet just goes kaput.  It doesn't usually stay out for long but it's out.  Whatever he was working on would most likely be lost so he'd have to recreate his work.  Plus, he has an IP phone for work, so that is also lost calls and time away from work.  How many times do I have to call Time Warner Cable to fix the SAME problems?  Hello?

I don't know what the number is but I had enough. I finally fired Time Warner Cable for their cable service.  I went to satellite and signed up with Direct TV.  I don't want this to be a commercial for Direct TV but I'm telling you, so far, so good!  Friendly, helpful, knowledgeable installers.  Service that does what I pay it to do!  (Imagine that, Time Warner!)  I LOVE the whole house DVR.  That means I only have ONE DVR, and three more receivers.  (So now I have service in one more room than I had with TWC for a LOT less money!)  We can set up shows to tape from any of the receivers to the one DVR and you can watch those shows from anywhere in the house where there is a receiver.  So, I can start watching my show in the living room, then decide I want to finish watching it in the office and I can do that!  That is pretty cool!  The only down side I had to switching to Direct TV was learning all new channel numbers.  Once I got through that learning curve I have been a happy camper with my choice to change.  If I am looking for a particular show and the next time it will be aired, the search capability for Direct TV is MUCH better than TWC.  Hmm, maybe I do want to be a commercial for Direct TV!  Aah, but I digress.

The day I had Direct TV in to install their service, I took all three of my boxes back to the local Time Warner Cable office.  I had a whole speech planned in my head that I wanted to say to TWC about why I was firing them.  I was going to let them have it with both barrels.  Never heard of this problem before?  Well, you won't forget it now!  That was my plan.

Then I got into the building at TWC on Elyria Avenue.  I am loaded down with my three cable boxes plus assorted accessories.  In front of me is a guy with a box and after me walked in two women with boxes as well.  Hmm, I'm not the only one turning in boxes today!  When the guy in front of me got to the window, he opened up on the poor girl working.  Everything he said, I wanted to say in MY speech!  He did it much louder than I was planning and with MUCH more emphasis on his disappointment with the service.  I was so proud of him, but I was feeling sorry for the girl working the window at TWC.  The thing that got to me was when he said "and the technicians keep telling me they've never seen this problem before"!  WHAT?  That's when I chimed in "that's what they told me too, for the same problem you're having" to which the women behind me added "us, too!"  Hmm, three households at one time turning in boxes and yet TWC claimed to each of us that they never saw this problem before?  I know a corporate line when I smell one and man, did that one smell.  I did take pity on the poor employee who has no control over how bad things are at the company she works for, so when it was my turn, I just handed over my boxes and said "what he said" while pointing to the guy walking out the door that was ahead of me in line.  She smiled and said thanks and took my boxes back.  I didn't get to say my speech but at least I knew I wasn't alone.

That brings us to current.  If you follow Loraine Ritchey's blog (link on the right under That Woman's Weblog, she has been having her own issues with Time Warner Cable.  While I never considered myself a wallflower, I take a back seat to Loraine's tenacity in getting things solved!  I gave up months ago and fired TWC while Loraine took this a step farther and was instrumental in getting Time Warner Cable to come into City Council chambers for a public meeting to face the unhappy citizens of this city.  Read about Loraine's plight with TWC here.

Last Monday was the public meeting.  Loraine knew I had issues with Time Warner Cable and asked me to come to the meeting to tell my story.  I'm all about helping out a fellow blogger!  So, Ron and I went.  Representing Time Warner Cable was Chris Thomas, the Government Relations Director for Northeast Ohio.  Chris sat there and listened to a handful of us speak about our dissatisfaction with Time Warner Cable and what we have done to try to get results on our own.  Mr. Thomas gave the corporate lines, promised to look into everything and asked that we write our names, addresses and phone numbers on a sheet of paper so that he could escalate the matters.

Here is the article that was published in the Chronicle about this public meeting and here is the article that was in the Morning Journal if you'd like to read about what others had to say.

So, I said my peace and explained my issued and that while I fired Time Warner for their cable services, until I find a better replacement, I am still stuck with their faulty internet service.  Mr. Thomas assured me he would get someone one it.  I didn't believe him, but whatever.

Lo and behold, I had a couple of phone calls on Thursday from one supervisor wanting to make an appointment to get in and look at our internet problem!  That was three days after the public meeting!  One point for Mr. Thomas!

Unfortunately, since I forgot to take my phone to work on Thursday, I wasn't able to speak with the supervisor until about 6:30 in the evening.  He said that another supervisor would be calling me on Friday morning to make an appointment to come look at our problem.

Sure enough, I got the call from Dave on Friday morning.  He kept saying about wanted to work around MY schedule to get out and look at our problem. Fine, I made the appointment for 11:00 am when I knew Ron would be home since he knows more tech-speak than I do. I didn't want them just talking over my head on this one.  Believe it or not, at 5 minutes to 11:00 this is what we had in my neighborhood:

Two vans on 24th Street with a guy on the pole:

And two trucks at my house, one with the supervisor and one with a technician.

Sorry for the garbage in the photo but it WAS garbage day!

Anyway, after all of that, we heard that there were problems on the pole and heard something about an FCC violation.  I have no idea what that was about but that's what happens when you only hear part of the conversation.  The supervisor and the technician then came into the house to look at our set up.

Since we got the high speed internet, we've used our own modem.  For that, I get a small credit on my internet bill.  Now, Dave the supervisor thinks that part of our problem is the modem not being compatible with the service.  He feels that our modem isn't current on the firmware  it needs to run properly.  So, now I lose my small credit and will instead have to pay for the TWC modem in my house.  Hey, if this is what it takes to fix the problem, so be it.  Before they left, Ron and I were both given cards from Dave the supervisor and Dennis the technician.  We are to call them any time we have problems. Aren't we just special now.

Yeah right, if it were only that easy.

First off, WHY does it take Loraine Ritchey having a cow and making the city get involved to get some figure head from TWC in to a public meeting about their horrible service to get ANY action done?  Do you think all of the numerous calls that I've made to TWC resulted in anything more than ONE truck being at my house at any given time, if I'm lucky?  Seriously, I'm a PAYING customer.  Shouldn't THAT be enough to get action AND results??

Well, as I said, if it were only that easy.  Dave did call me back on Saturday to see how things were going with the internet.  Since Ron wasn't working Friday or Saturday, it's hard to tell how well the internet is working or not working since we don't spend that much time on it on the weekends.  We arranged that he'd call back Monday afternoon to see how things went.

I'll tell you how that went.  Sunday evening I was online playing Pogo and guess what!  The internet went down!  Wow!  Can you imagine?  So, another supervisor was scheduled to call Ron today to check up on our progress.  Ron let him know that the internet went down last night and Ron was having glitches today.  His IP phone was kinda wonky off and on.  The internet didn't go off totally but it was wonky enough to interfere with his IP phone.  So, another technician is being sent tomorrow to check up on this.

Again, WHY couldn't ANY of this be done for the last two years that I've been calling on this?  Is it fixed yet?  No.  Do I have any hopes that it will be?  To be honest, no.  Whatever the outcome is, I still think it's too little, too late for Time Warner Cable.  I will keep the internet for now, as I said Until I find something better.  I don't see me ever going back to their cable service, in spite of the phone calls and mail offerings I receive to come back. 

For anyone out there that HAS Time Warner Cable, and is having any troubles with it or are just unhappy with their overpriced product, look into Direct TV.  Tell them I sent you.

Trust Our Government, That's Just Wrong, Page 28

First off, I always thought I'd write a book.  Well, I actually have a few ideas in my head, but one in particular would be called "That's Just Wrong".  This would be a book of short stories or anecdotes that once you read them you'd slap your palm to your forehead and say to yourself "That's Just Wrong".  I've been posting this future book, page by page into this blog.  So far, I'm up to this entry, or page 28 of my future book!

Here is my story:

I am a huge fan of our right to free speech.  This is just one of the things that makes this country so great.  I have the right to say any damn thing I want to.  With that right however, I believe we also have a responsibility to use good judgement and common sense before we open our mouths and start spouting crap.

For example, I don't care if you're a Democrat or Republican or an Independent or any other party.  I don't care if you're Christian, Muslim, Jewish or Druid.  It is your right to be what you want to be and to talk about what you want to talk about.  I don't have to agree with you, but I will fight for your right to say what you want.

But here is where we need to talk about the common sense factor.  People that have been fired for bad mouthing their employer on social media comes to mind.  Yes, it's your right to call you boss an idiot publicly, but then you can't be surprised when they take offense to it and fire you.  Common sense.

I have called out the city I live in on this blog for their wrong doing to me, my neighborhood and my city.  That's why I was not surprised then when I was personally attacked by the city by means of a citation for a loose ornamental brick on my house.  Common sense.

You don't walk into an airport and yell "I have a gun" or jokingly say to your friend "Hi, Jack!" without
expecting to be thrown to the ground and then taken off to a room to be interrogated.  Common sense.

This brings us to one day last week when I was standing in line at the post office in Elyria on Bridge Street.  If you've ever been to this post office, you know you're going to stand in line.  They had two or three tellers working that day.  Suddenly, a young guy comes out of the back, walks up to each of the teller windows and was taking packages out of their bins to take to the back and sort.  I was AMAZED at the t-shirt this guy was wearing.  This wasn't the exact one, but the words are the same.  His t-shirt had a different picture of a Native American on it.

Wow.  My first thought was to get my camera out of my purse to take a picture of this guy at work!  I know I can take a picture of whatever I want to when I am out in public.  There is no right to privacy when you are outside in a public place.  However, I did not know what would happen if I started taking pictures IN a govenrnment building OF a government employee!  So I had to settle for a Google search for the t-shirt in question!

Dude, it's your right to say what's on your mind, even if it's about this government.  However, when you are EMPLOYED by this government, how could you have possibly thought this t-shirt was appropriate attire to wear to WORK?  And what about his supervisor?  You're letting this guy be seen by the public wearing this shirt?    I was just astounded.

I would have cared less if I saw this t-shirt on the guy while he was at the grocery store, at the mall, at the park or as a customer at the post office.  But this is what you wore to WORK at the post office.  For that stupid decision, I have to give you one piece of advice:

If you dislike your employer or your job that much, QUIT.  Along with free speech in this country comes a whole lot of other freedoms. You are not a slave who is owned by his employer.  Go find another job.  Good luck with that by the way.  Go find another job that pays what you are getting paid and has the benefits that you have as a government employee.

Not knowing how to dress yourself for work and for having no common sense, That's Just Wrong.

Rocky Update

A couple of posts ago, I told you about one of my outside cats, Rocky, getting stuck in my garage for a few days!  Well, in case anyone was worried about my Rocky, I wanted to make sure y'all knew that he is alive and well and back on my front porch!

I think Rocky has learned his lesson.  He's not running up to me in the garage any more when I come home.  Now, he waits safely on the front porch for me to come out there with the food.  He still comes to say hello to me and he still wants his petting and loving from me.  That's a good thing!  He just learned to stay away from the garage! 

He's really a sweet and loving cat!  But I still think he's had a rough first year of life.

Here is Rocky's face.  If you look at his right eye, on the left of the screen, the bottom of his eye has a big black spot.  It's been there since I've met Rocky.  At first I thought he had a bruise, but it never went away. 

That's his partner at the bowl with him.  She's a female about the same age as Rocky.  I've tried calling her Adrienne, but it really doesn't fit her and it doesn't just come out easily when I see her.  She's a pretty girl but much more shy.  She comes out when I have food, but she will not get close enough to touch me or let me touch her.  They are always together and rarely seen separately.  That should have been my first clue that there was a problem when she was at the food bowls with no Rocky!

And, here is Rocky's tail!  Again, to ME it looks like it's been broken at one time.  He doesn't seem to have any problems with it now, and that might just be the way his tail is.  I have run my hand all down his tail and he never flinched.  He seems to move it ok and he doesn't seem to be in pain.  I am hoping it looks worse that it really is for him.

 

There are actually two bends in his tail.  The one closer to his butt looks a lot worse, but there is a smaller bend a few inches in from the tip.

Rocky and . . . Adrienne for lack of a better name for her!  This was dinner time for them after I got home from work yesterday, so it was very difficult to get them both looking at the camera at the same time!

So there you go.  He is alive and well and living free on my front porch!  Life is good.