Is it Christmas yet?

Early Wednesday evening I posted Mannheim Steamroller's "Silent Night" as my introduction to this year's favorite Christmas music. Nothing since. What happened?

Well, we had a pretty good-sized 'norther' come in during the wee hours Thursday morning. What was kind of weird with this one is that tornado warnings started being posted shortly after I published my last entry. They think it might have been a lightning strike that knocked out a big chunk of power at Hobby Airport and camera shots showing the hundreds of people waiting in humongous lines outside the terminal to be checked in were more proof positive that traveling during the holidays is perilous and fraught with risk and made me shake my head at their frustration and concern at the distinct possibility of not being able to get to their destinations on time.

Thank goodness those that I drove to either airport experienced no such delays, but you never know about the returns. I have one scheduled to come back in to Hobby Monday evening (late, with a Chicago connection) and another next week. Hopefully, their return schedules will be as delay-free.

Thursday afternoon I decided that I had to make one more Randall's stop. I hadn't found the 'perfect' Christmas card for my granddaughter. Had one that I really liked for the whole family, but wanted one really special for her. This year my granddaughter decided to become a Christian - a 'biggie' for me, as those of you who read some of my previous posts already know - and I wanted a card that would exemplify how I felt about the combination of her new faith melding in with that of her family. Without it actually saying so, if you know what I mean. You probably don't, but it's the best I can do here. I wish I had copied down the message - I'd share it with you - but I didn't.

[I gave her three ceramic figures of the holy family that I'd had for many years, and she seemed to like them. Also, a Bible that was given to me - either when I was baptized or when I joined the church, one or the other (don't know, because the dedication page is missing) - some 60 or 65 years ago. It was in the trunk of the taxicab all the years I was driving, and is now in a very fragile state. It's the old King James version, with Jesus' words in red.]

But back to Randall's. The temperature outside was now in the very low 40's (Fahrenheit) and winds were blowing at a constant 20-30mph, gusting to 41. I didn't dress anywhere near warm enough! I was not expecting the temperature inside the store to be the same as that outside.

Initially, however, I didn't realize that fact and decided to shop for chili and fudge ingredients 'as long as I was there'. Well, it took me a whole lot longer than it should have because this particular store's layout was unfamiliar to me. I got a good chill that went right on down through my bones and - tell you the truth, have still not quite recovered from.

The rest of Christmas Eve day and all of Christmas Eve were spent with me either in bed, tossing and turning - moaning, groaning and coughing, or watching "It's a Wonderful Life" for the 89 gazillionth time. I should have sent my son-in-law an e-mail before going to bed - telling him I wasn't feeling well and to 'start without me' Christmas Day - but I didn't. Guess I didn't think I'd sleep that long.

And so, around 9am the phone rang, waking me up. I knew who it was. I lay there for a few more minutes and then got up and staggered around, trying to find the phone so I could call them back.

I did get out there eventually - early afternoon, maybe - but felt really lousy the whole day. I ached all over. I had tried to go back to bed that morning and get some more sleep, but it just didn't happen. Tossing and turning while moaning, groaning and coughing were the most I could accomplish.

All things considered, it was a nice day. Well, the best that could be expected, I should think. I tried to lay down for a nap before driving back home, but was sleepless. Just all achy. I don't want to drone on and on and on here about how I felt, but it wasn't good.

I decided to get back up after a couple of hours at the attempted nap farm - as long as I was awake, anyway - and visit with the family before starting back. My daughter was upstairs napping, my granddaughter was on her second book of the day - she skim reads, she says (probably why she couldn't tell me what the book was about when I asked her) - and my son-in-law was prowling around, having just gotten up from his nap. Thank goodness someone was getting their sleep!

When I first began writing this post, I intended to say something more about my favorite Christmas music - and possibly include another selection or two for your enjoyment, but have decided that this is enough already! [Also, I have not forgotten that I owe you another "Simon Says" for December.] And so, without further ado, I wish you and yours the very best for this Sunday, December 27, 2009.

2010 is now just around the corner. How is that possible? Later!

Favorite Christmas music - 2009 - #1

We'll begin this season again with Mannheim Steamroller's exquisitely-performed "Silent Night". I can think of few other pieces of Christmas music that better epitomize this most holy of days.

[Now, for some unknown reason, the first 30 seconds or so of this recording have no sound, but it's worth the wait. I've listened to it three or four times now, and it's the same every time. What happened? I don't know.]

The violinist who performs this wonderful tune has a pureness of tone matched by very few others. Just close your eyes and be transported - as I was - a few years back when I heard this group perform live here in Houston. Here we go ... ...



Wasn't that just wonderful? More coming.

Just for grins

A couple of weeks ago, Chuck posted a list of the world's shortest books. I asked him if the list was original with him and he said that it was from a mass e-mail a long time ago, altho he did revise and edit it a bit. Might give you a chuckle or two ... I know it did me!

And then, just a few days later, he dug up reasons why there would be no nativity scene in Washington this year.

Now, a little further north and quite a bit east, Steven has devised a way to make it snow on his blog. Isn't that clever? For the past couple of months or so, ever since Steven changed his background and type colors, I have been unable to read, enjoy or comment much on his blog. (I think I'm the only one of his readers bothered by this. I keep checking back - every other day, maybe - hoping that I'll be able to read something that he posts, because he's got lots of good stuff to offer, but the snow sure is fun!)


Much further west - out in Idaho - and not 'just for grins', Tammy posted the results of publishing (via Blurb) her 2007 and 2008 blog entries. What a lovely idea! Has anyone else thought of doing this?


I have been remiss in posting much about Christmas. Last year at this time, I was happily listening to a lot of special music and ended up with eight posts altogether that included some of my favorites. I hope you enoyed that series. I will be listening again and posting #1 later on today.

Scattered thoughts

I drove Joanne, one of my old-timey customers, to Hobby Airport this morning. Traffic was very light, as expected, and we got there in good time.

Joanne celebrated her 86th birthday last week and I wished her a belated happy birthday. She looks great, all things considered! I mean, she's got steel where most people have bones and always has to arrive at the airport early so she can get through all of the metal detectors.

She's traveling to Boston to visit her sister and family and is worried about the weather. Well, better today than last weekend, right? She's also worried about her connection coming back through Chicago. She's due to arrive back here in Houston at 10:45 pm Monday night.

Not to worry, Joanne. It is what it is and will be what it will be. She'll call me from Chicago if there are any delays or cancellations, which are not at all unlikely at this time of year, and I'll adjust my plans accordingly.

We talked nonstop all the way to the airport, as per usual. I asked her if she'd seen Celia lately - Celia's the one who initially referred Joanne to me - and she obliquely replied that they go to the same church and are members of the same band.

Well, that didn't mean she'd seen her, right? But I ignored her non-answer and chuckled over memories I had of Celia playing her banjo and in costume. Can't you just see these guys? In a banjo band? In costume? Grins stretching from ear to ear? Rrvit!


Let's see, what else? Oh yes, in an update from the story about my intrusion the other night, I have a couple of things to add. My father's fishing gear is no longer in the garage. Perhaps the thief will now go fishing instead of stealing from others?

One other thing. The thief (think there might have been only one) opened a 12-pack of diet A&W root beer - I keep them in the garage - and took a can. I find that quite amusing. Either he/she drank it all and threw the empty can in one of the paper bags I keep in the garage for such, or he/she kept drinking it while he/she made his/her escape. Anyway, I did not find an empty can littering either the garage or the yard.


The car seems to be running just fine, thank the good Lord. Years and years ago, when I was still actively working with my stamp collection, a friend and I left the church (Celia's church, as it happens) where the browse was being held and decided to go for a walk.

I didn't want to carry my purse or stamp books with me and, after quickly looking around to see if there were any "suspicious" characters hanging about, left all in the front seat and locked the door.

Does that sound stupid to you? It does to me, but only because I now have years of jaundiced experience as a taxicab driver behind me. I mean, I could see a couple sitting in a parked vehicle nearby, but thought nothing of it. Oh, my!

We returned from our very pleasant walk only to find that my car had been broken into (passenger side window smashed) and my purse taken. They left the stamps. Hmmph!


I need to put out an all points bulletin for large kleenex. I am completely out and my son-in-law, who has been very reliable in the past for procuring same, tells me that he hasn't seen any for at least a month.

Please, if you can help by pointing me in the right direction for this most wonderful product - see this post for a full description - let me know forthwith. This is an emergency! Helpp!!

An intrusion

I was in here earlier today, working away at the computer - probably updating my latest post - when there was a knock at my front window. I ignored it.

A few minutes later there was a knock at my front door. I ignored it. Then the doorbell rang. I ignored that!

I could hardly believe it when, a few minutes later, there was a knock at my back door. I opened it in my disheveled and now somewhat angry state, a little ticked off at this latest unwelcome intrusion into my life, and said, "Yes? What is it??"

There stood my neighbor, who apologized for the interruption, but then went on to say how his garage had been broken into last night. He had noticed that my gate was ajar (My gate is always ajar!) and my garage door was open. (My garage door seems to have a mind of its own. It comes open when it feels like being open.)

Said I might want to check out my garage. Well, the last thing I wanted to do was check out my garage and so I put it on the back burner. The only thing out there of any value is my car. Well, almost. I've been told that my dad's fishing gear is valuable. (Do thieves bother about such things? Probably not.)

Later, after publishing my much-revised post, I ventured out to the garage and peeked at where my car should have been to see if it was still there. It was. And, it appeared to be intact.

Slowly moving closer towards the vehicle, I looked down towards the tires. Both were still there and fully-inflated. (Keep in mind that I could see only one side of the car at that point.)

I inched forward, hesitant to touch anything, but then finally decided to try and open the driver's side door. It opened too easily. Whomever was in there had not firmly closed it when they left.

I took a quick glance around inside. The glove box was agape, but what was still in there - from what I could see (had not brought a flashlight out with me, and the interior lights did not appear to be on) was what I always have in there ... insurance, registration and deposit slips for the bank. Stuff like that. That's it.

My wonderful Christmas gift from Walter Freitag, my nighttime bridge mentee, was still there - intact, altho the colorful wrap had been strewn all over the back seat - along with a couple of groceries that I had yet to bring in from the car. I think my gift from Walter might be worth a little money, but they must not have known that.

What was it they were looking for, anyway?

I got really nervous about the fact that there were no interior lights on in the car and decided to come back into the house, get the car keys and go back out to see if it started. Did they wear down the battery?

I did and it did. However, this was a few hours ago. I probably need to go out again to see if it starts. Give me a sec here while I do it, ok? ... ... It does. Just as soon as I publish this, I intend to go out for a short drive. See if everything works as it should.

There doesn't appear to have been any damage done to the car. I mean, while they were in there they could have 'keyed' the exterior, slashed the seats and tires, taken my driver's license/Randalls' and Kroger's cards, WellCare identification card, Shell credit card ... who knows whatall damage might have been done?

Kids? Adults? I have no idea. I am thankful that there was no personal ill will.

I had a momentary hard time when I sat in the driver's seat, only to realize that it had been set back farther than I like it. That wasn't a good thing! If it hadn't been for my neighbor alerting me that there had been a break in, I probably would have had a much more nervous reaction that I did. Which reminds me. While I am not fond of my neighbor, I do appreciate his efforts in letting me know about this one! I'm going to have to write a very nice thank you note and leave it at his front door.

Have you ever had a break in? This will be my third time. There really are no words adequate enough to describe the feeling of personal violation.

An update

This is a post that I have been putting off, putting off and putting off until I just cannot put it off any longer.

'Tis the season for jolliness, for frivolity ... for parties, music, smiles, dancing and happy faces, right?

Well, this post has some good news in it, but also some bad. You remember my friend Jennie, who was diagnosed with a brain tumor - this after having successfully overcome breast cancer (twice!) - and underwent surgery? I wrote about her here, although there have been other posts as well.

Jennie is doing fairly well. Actually, she's doing very well, all things considered. She writes, "I have much to be thankful for. I was able to have my 6th and 7th chemo and am now down to five more. Those nurses are angels. To keep my white blood cell count up I get three shots of neuprogen three days in succession and that seems to be the trick. My regular oncologist returns to the practice the third week of January and in preparation I will have my PET scan and MRI. There are some side effects to my medicine but they are temporary. My new wig is quite comfortable and cute." (I can almost hear Jennie chuckling as she writes about her cute wig.)

Her daughter Julie, on the other hand, who is my daughter's age, discovered a tumor through self-examination on her chest wall. According to Jennie, this could not have been discovered if Julie had undergone the reconstructive surgery after her last bout with breast cancer. (Little blessings? Mixed blessings?)

She and her husband Matt flew to Houston recently to get a second opinion at MD Anderson. The last I heard they were considering the various options available and whether or not they would treat in Michigan, Texas, or a combination of the two. According to the last e-mail I received from Jennie, this latest tumor appears not to have metasticized and will involve a combination of surgery, chemo and radiation. "The fact that she is dealing with cancer again after such a short time is very worrisome," Jennie says. (Well, I guess!)

Also, this tumor appears to be "unique". Well, aren't most of them? At least, it seems that way to me. It's almost as if - as soon as a way is discovered to cure whatever initially attacks your body, the dreadful disease metamorphosizes into something equally devastating and potentially deadly.

[When I was a kid, penicillin was discovered and for a time it appeared to be the cureall for everything. Anyone remember that? You had the flu? You got a shot of penicillin. You had an infection of some sort? You got a shot of penicillin. I, perhaps among many others, developed an allergic reaction to it - went blind for a few hours, and to this day am always very careful to alert my doctor.]

Barry Fraser, on his blog, eloquently shares his innermost thoughts and feelings in dealing with his bouts with cancer. I recommend, for any of you who are interested in learning more about cancer and how it affects individuals, that you put his blog on your "Favorite" list. It is a serious read but not a "downer", as such. He sees a lot of humor and irony in some of the most banal situations. Barry is someone I would like to meet personally.

When I published this post yesterday, it had a lot of self-chastisement in it. Why was that? Well, when I heard that Julie and her husband were coming to Houston for a second opinion, my first thought was, "I wonder who will be picking them up at the airport?"

That's a taxicab driver's thought, not one a friend first thinks of, but you should remember that I was a cab driver for nearly 18 years and airport trips meant $$$. It was perfectly natural that I should have that question in my mind. However, I was so embarrassed about it that I didn't even respond to any of Jennie's e-mails.

After I publish this revised version of "An update", I will send her an e-mail of explanation for my silence and hope with all my heart that she keeps me as a friend.

I know that some of you maintain prayer lists. Please add Jennie and Julie to your list. They live in Michigan. They need your positive thoughts, especially during this holiday season.

Be careful what you say

I entered the bridge studio yesterday morning to play with Julian and tried to make a beeline for the coffee and water. As usual, I was running smack dab on the button, but it would quickly be game time, and I had to try and find Julian as soon as possible so we could get started on filling out a current convention card. There were a few things that had to be discussed.

I say "tried to make a beeline" because I was instantly waylaid by Margie, one of the members of our Swiss team for the Regional coming up in February (see yesterday's post), who gushed, with a big smile on her face, "Oh, I'm so happy (or some such) that you'll be playing with us in February."

She was a real threat to distract me from my current focus, which was to grab my coffee and water and get on over to where Julian was waiting, and I responded with something so outrageous, so ridiculous, so unbelievable (I thought!) that she would immediately know I was not serious and was making a joke. We would visit later, I thought to myself as I continued on my way.

What did I say? Well, I don't remember exactly, but the gist of it was that how could she possibly think I'd be playing with them on their team in February? Am pretty sure I told her I said "No way!" to Evelyn, and you know what? She believed me (!), altho I didn't find that out until much later in the session when Julian and I played against Edna (who will be my partner on the team) and Margie for three boards.

I had just returned to the table from refreshing my coffee and was dismayed to notice Edna carefully wiping some sort of foodstuff off of Julian's bright yellow shirt with a napkin. (My napkin, btw.) Oh, no! He and I had only moments before been congratulating each other on not spilling any food on ourselves or our clothing. (I was wearing white pants. Just as bad. Normally, it takes me all of about 10 seconds after I first put a pair of white pants on to spill something on them or brush up against something dirty, doncha know?)

What food? Well, it was the official Unit 174 Christmas party at the Houston Bridge Studio and there were three long tables chock full of absolutely delicious goodies. Julian had visited the tables twice already - he got there well before I did, and at one point I saw him happily consuming a very large piece of coconut cream pie.

After his shirt was pronounced presentable again, we all exchanged pleasantries and were taking our hands out of the first board when I turned to Edna and said, "We'll have to schedule a date." I meant a practice session prior to February where she and I could fill out a mutually agreed upon convention card.

And this is when I discovered that Margie had been completely fooled by my smartass comeback earlier. Oh, my! Edna said, "You're not available in February, right?" "What are you talking about?" I answered. "We're going to be partners in the Swiss."

Towards the end of my response, of course, I remembered what I'd said to Margie an hour or so prior and my voice kind of trailed off. I turned to Margie and asked, in a semi state of shock, "You didn't believe what I said, did you?"

Oh, my! Shades of Gloria Visser - an Upper Peninsula neighbor of ours from many years back, for whom my first husband would lie awake some nights trying to figure out ever more convoluted, but still semi-believable lies - embellishments of the truth, he liked to think of them - to tell her. He wanted to see how far he could actually go before she would stop with the huge wide-eyed "Oh, really?!?" It took a while, but eventually - with her husband's and my help - she caught on. In the meantime, my husband enjoyed every moment.

But getting back to Margie and Edna, I believe that everything is now all straightened out. At least, I hope so! Will have to give them a call later today to make sure. I should probably call Evelyn, too. She played in the game yesterday. I don't recall who her partner was, and I didn't happen to see any of them after the game.

You know, ever since Arlene Weingarten published "A Talented Funny Lady" on November 15th, many people in the duplicate bridge world have come up to me and said how much they're enjoying my blog. Not one, however - with the exception of Arlene, has left a comment, which is about par for the course. I don't leave comments on all the blogs I read, either!

And just because many in the duplicate bridge world are following my blog and enjoying the posts doesn't mean that everyone in the bridge world is! Certainly not Evelyn, Margie, or Edna, right? Otherwise, they would have known better than to believe what I said to Margie upon first entering the studio.

So, Goldenrod, and anyone else reading this who might occasionally be guilty of being flippant and accidentally believed, be careful what you say.

A day in my life

It began at 9am yesterday, when my alarm went off. I was due to mentor Roop Prasad at 10:30, my regular partner once a month during the day.

First thing I did, of course - after hitting the ladies' room and putting a fresh pot of coffee on, was come in here and see what was going on in my computer world.

Well, to my surprise, there was a notice from Zone Alarm, telling me that my subscription had expired. I thought, "Whaat!?!" (My son-in-law takes care of all such things. Surely there must be an error!)

I rebooted, thinking that something was amiss with the system. No, nothing was amiss with the system. Meanwhile, without really giving them a whole lot of consideration, I okayed a couple of requests from someone/something trying to access my system. And so, all **** is probably breaking loose in there. My firewalls are down and I am unprotected. Who knows if I'll be able to access the internet when I try to get back on later?

Sent my son-in-law three e-mails all told, then had to exit the house for the bridge studio. Meanwhile, back at his ranch, he's in business meetings and unavailable for comment/getting on to see what's happening/renewing my subscription, etc. and blah. Ye gods and little fish hooks!

Roop and I played and had a decent game, altho it could have been a lot better. We scratched, which is a bridge term for placing amongst the top pairs. Interestingly enough, several different notrump bidding sequences came up - ALL of which she mishandled. Would have made a great article for the Examiner, but I've all but given up on that rag.

I spent over four hours a few weeks ago trying to get my article on Arlene Weingarten published. I had some really good things I wanted to say about her, too. She's some kind of woman!

I had articles 'in the works' about Beth Stuart and Dottie Ann Goodloe, Eddie Wold, bridge teachers ... all sorts of great stuff, actually. Last week, when I tried to 'get on' to start the article on Eddie's squeeze class, I was interrupted in my signing in by Examiner's request for me to fill in a form so they could declare my income.

WHAT income??? I have made a total of 13 cents so far. I kid you not. If anyone in the bridge world wants the title of "Houston Duplicate Bridge Examiner", they can have it as far as I am concerned. However, I must warn you that the pipe-smoking frog is my personal property and may not be used without my express written permission.

Meanwhile, Roop and I had a really good after-session about notrump bids and I'll be creating a fairly hefty e-mail for her future reference on that subject. Hope she takes it to heart, studies and learns from it. She's a nice lady and I enjoy playing with her. We'll not be playing again until January 20th, for some reason - it's usually the second Wednesday, so I wished her a happy new year.

She surprised me with a gift. A lovely stone (of some sort) pendant on a silver chain. I was pleased as all get out, as you might imagine, and went around showing it to everybody.

Ran into Julian Barr, with whom I'm playing later today (another 10:30 start). I told him, "I found our card." (Referring, of course, to a convention card.) His response? "Does it have any similarity to what we've been playing?" I answered, "Vaguely." We both got a good laugh over that.

Evelyn James - one of my students for many years - came by to ask if I would play with Margie, Edna and her on a Swiss team in the Regional coming up in February. It didn't take me very long to accept. Years ago, I was the fifth on their team. (Anne was still with us then.) This was when they were all still students of mine. I played with each one during the two sessions. It was a lot of fun. We just might decide to dedicate this one to Anne.

Well, that's about it for my day yesterday. Tried to stay awake for Andre Rieu's special on PBS (They're having another fundraiser.) - are you familiar with him? (Wonderful!) - but couldn't. Had to hit the pillow. Just in case you don't have the foggiest idea who he is, here's what he looks like ... ...


Wiki has a nice writeup about him here. He's a tremendous showman and exudes great warmth, love and joy in all of his shows.

I'll leave you with an excerpt from one of his performances. You won't get anywhere near the total picture from this little bit, but perhaps it will entice you to look further into this man's persona.

A joke (in kind of bad taste)

Whalechaser posted an "in kind of bad taste" joke on her site a few days ago that, when I first started reading it, thought sure it was going to be one I'd heard before (although it had been a long time).

But no, it's a little different. Now, for those of you who are offended at slightly off-color jokes, read no further. For the rest, read on. (Just about everybody, I'll bet!)

I recommend that you begin with Whale's joke. It's funny. Then, when I tell you mine, you'll see why I was reminded of it.

It seems that there was this traveling salesman who suspected his wife was dilly-dallying around while he was away on business. And so, one day - having already told his wife he'd be out of town - he came home unannounced.

Immediately upon entering their apartment, he suspected foul play. He could smell cigar smoke and neither he nor his wife smoked cigars.

He accused his wife of entertaining a gentleman friend and went charging through the apartment, opening closet doors and looking in cabinets and under beds. Nothing. No culprit to be found.

In a state of total rage, he happened to look out their kitchen window and saw a man getting into his convertible. Positive it was his wife's lover, he picked up their refrigerator and threw it out the window. And yes, it landed on the convertible.

Later, during the police investigation of the incident, a man was questioned who said, "Gee, I don't know what happened, officers. I was just sitting inside this refrigerator smoking my cigar!"

Friday afternoon ramblings

It's going on 3pm, and I've just returned back home from a couple of hours of semi-serious grocery shopping ... I say "semi" because it's not like we're going to be snowed in for a couple of months or anything like that but, according to Polimom's "Winter Storm Warning" posted at 7:55 am this morning, we're due to receive our earliest recorded snowfall EVER with some deliriously 'out there' forecasters predicting as much as a 6 inch accumulation.

[Actually, I should have left the house earlier but was having way too much fun playing bridge online.]

I say 'semi' because I took a good bit of time last night to clean out my refrigerator. I threw away a lot of what once had been perfectly good food. I'm simply not eating - in a timely fashion - foods that I have already purchased. I threw away watermelon, strawberries, some cheese and a ton of Yogurt that I didn't think I could trust to eat!

[I have been a very bad girl. Not only am I not taking my daily Calcium requirements, but my regular diet leaves a whole lot to be desired. Good stuff, but not very nutritious.]

Anyway, Friday is one of our two garbage pickup days and - if I don't put it out the night before, it's missed. Boy, you can set your clocks by the garbage people, usually ... 8:30 am on the dot! Not today, however. When I left the house to go shopping a little after noon, all of the trash was still sitting there.

It couldn't have been the weather, not that early! Some folks might be out sick or perhaps a truck was down for repair. By the time I got back, tho, everything had been picked up. In fact, their truck was just leaving our complex when I pulled in to the drive.

I took my ice scraper with me to the store, just in case. Actually, it wasn't a 'real' ice scraper that I put in the car. It was a hard plastic spatula. Does the trick just as well, did you know that? It was snowing very heavily at that time. No wind, so nothing approaching blizzard conditions, but lots of snow coming down nonetheless.

The temperature was hovering right around the freezing mark and I thought, "Goldenrod, you idiot! You left the house too late!!" But, I continued onward. No icing conditions. Not yet, but I wasn't going to be traveling over any bridges, either! They're always the first to cause trouble.

Tonight, now, is going to be a different story. The temperature is expected to dip down into the mid-20's (Fahrenheit). The roads are all wet and will not even beGIN to dry out before ice starts to form. HISD (Houston Independent School District) dismissed early today. I think that's a very good idea. It takes those buses a long time to safely deliver all their charges home.

[My hope was that I could make it back home before one or two of those teenagers who had been dismissed from school early decided they wanted to try a spinout on a slick or possibly icy - even better! - road to impress their friends/girlfriends. And I did, thank goodness.]

It's going on 4pm now. I just took a look outside. It's not snowing, but it's continuing to precipitate. If the temperatures drop as predicted, there'll be **** to pay this evening and throughout the night on the roads in this area. Glad I'm not driving a taxicab, I'll tell you that !

Have decided that this will be a four blanket night. Doesn't that sound just delicious? And speaking of delicious, I want to assure all of you that - as I was shopping and placing foodstuffs in my cart - I paid particular attention to questions such as: How long will that last? Am I really going to eat that?

This would have been a good time to put some chili together, wouldn't it? Three things wrong with that idea, however. 1) I'm absolutely positive that I don't have all the ingredients on hand. 2) I decided I'd already wasted enough time playing bridge online to further delay my getting out of here by finding the recipe, checking to see which ingredients I had and which I didn't, adding to my list, etc. 3) Once you put it all together, it's a several hour slow cooker thingamajig (but a good thingamajig!), so it's really a morning 'do'.

That's it from here for a Friday afternoon, folks. Hope you're doing ok and are looking forward to your weekend. Stay warm!

Metaphysics, dream steps, poetry

Are you into stuff like that? Usually I am not, but for the past nearly two years I've been following the blogsite of Michael Patton, another of those I discovered while cruising the net.

Sometimes his poems make me laugh out loud. Sometimes I cry. Sometimes they lose me completely and I don't see much meaning in them. One day I found myself rereading a poem that I had commented on earlier and I saw something completely different in it. Kind of like art, I guess. Sort of depends on the mood you're in.

Michael never just writes poetry. He always begins with a few words of explanation and an illustration of some sort. It could be an actual photograph, but often he will treat us to one of his original drawings, such as this one ... ...


... which headed up "Permanently Evanescent", published just a couple of weeks ago. I seem to recall his having used this drawing at least once before. The explanation then had something to do with Prometheus (sp?), I think.

His drawings of cars and the people driving them are very funny! I spent some time just now trying to find the exact one I was looking for, but cannot. It would have been published several months ago. In its stead, here's one ... ...


... he used to accompany his poem, "Driving Naked", which he published on August 12th of this year. This is one of those that made me laugh out loud. I've just tried to link it directly for you, but for some reason or another have been unable to do so. If you'll go to the first link on this post and scroll down on the sidebar to August 2009 and bring that month of published poems up, you'll find it.

Anyhow, just thought I'd share - once again (I've recommended his poetry before) - one of my favorites with you. Hope you're having a great day. It's pouring down rain here!

Beth's delicious fudge recipe

This is per request from Nancy and I'm glad to share it.

Most of you know, I think, that I am - basically - an absolute and utter failure (no hope whatsoever!) as a cook, so when I come across a recipe that I am able to put together and have it turn out delicious each and every time - ho, boy, that's A#1 in my book!

It's really simple. (Has to be!) I'll be making a personal comment or two along the way.


Melt together in saucepan on top of stove a 14-oz. can of sweetened condensed milk along with 18-oz. semi-sweet chocolate bits.

Have you ever dealt with sweetened condensed milk? Sticky, isn't it? Keep the burner low while the chocolate is melting, stirring every so often, while you are tending to the nuts (which come next). Make sure you have something handy to set your stirrer on between times so you don't have sticky stuff dripping everywhere.

Add a dash of salt, 1 cup chopped pecans, 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla and 1 tablespoon butter to the above.

Those pecans have to already have been chopped into bits, ok? When you start adding everything, the texture almost immediately changes. There's very little time for you to futz around with chopping nuts. In fact, it's almost more than I am able to do to get it all mixed together before it begins hardening!

Set out on waxed paper (I use a cookie sheet - perfect size!) and spread around with a spatula to even as desired. Let harden. Cut to size. Salivate. Eat.

So, how was YOUR day?

Mine was great! Couldn't have been any better. The temperature outside was just a little chilly, but it's getting to be that time of year, right? Inside their house was a lot of warmth, and I'm not just talking about the fireplace, either.

We ate and ate and then ate some more. I took over some of Beth's delicious fudge that I had made the night before. It's probably all gone now. The last I saw of it, there were maybe a few pieces left and my granddaughter and her friend Jessica were busy grabbing one or two every time they went past the counter.

Sam - you remember Sam, don't you? - has been hibernating in my closet for a few months and I thought I should get him out, grab his clothes, and see what we could come up with in the way of a Thanksgiving outfit for him.

Well, my granddaughter thought Sam should be "Samantha" for the day, so here he/she is ... ...


with bow on head. The photo came out a little dark, but you get the idea. Anyhow, Samantha was at the center of the table while we ate. A nice touch.

As an added plus, Samantha had no fear of being beheaded, defeathered, or any of those bad things that happen to other of her fowl friends. Beth sent me several jokes related to Thanksgiving and turkeys. Thought I'd share a couple with you.

This first one has all the turkeys running around mooing ... ...


... ... and this second (my favorite) shows a woman looking all over for the turkey she is sure she brought home with her! Can you find it? :)



Many games of bananagrams and a few of charades later - I suck at charades! - I was ready to call it a day. Just a fabulous Thanksgiving. Fantabulous!

A sixth year anniversary?

That's what my selective hearing ears thought I heard on the radio when I was driving back home from a couple of errand trips just now. Lots and lots of people out there fighting for parking spots today, doncha know. I did only what I had to and then came back home to the safety and relative calm of my private habitat.

Did I hear that right? This is the 6th year anniversary of the "invasion of Iraq", as it's now termed, and Tony Blair - among many others - is being called to be a witness before some sort of tribunal?? Is he on trial? Will "W" be on trial? Will they be charged with war crimes? With crimes against humanity?

Sometimes - oftentimes, actually! - I guess I'd prefer to be an ostrich. Just hide my head in the sand and pretend nothing is happening around me.

That's ridiculous, of course! However, the last time I was actively involved in the political scene - I must admit - was in the mid-70's. Since then, I have preferred to 'pretend it doesn't exist'. You might even say I stopped living - cocooned in my own little web of life.


This Thanksgiving has me filled with such joy, warmth and contentment. Very different from those in recent years. I am going to be with my dearest ones in just two days. My son-in-law said that they might need some help with a 'naked bird'. Well, I'm not very good with naked birds, but I'm planning to make some of Beth's delicious fudge to take out there to help contribute to the feasting.

I have been composing a list of whatall I'm going to take to Katyland. And yes, I confess I even bought them something for Christmas. Yeah, I did! I mean, who knows? They might not be around this neck of the woods next month, right? I intend to fully enjoy this holiday! Maybe we'll even get in a game of bananagrams. (?)


Today has been a little different from yesterday. My next door neighbor, who is evidently off this week, hasn't chosen to have his stereo blasting through my walls yet. Nice and quiet. zzzzzzzz

Regarding AAA? I'll just have to look at their literature more carefully the next time they send me a solicitous inquiry through the mail - which they will! - won't I? I was just speaking from feelings of bad memories in that last post, and a bunch of you caught me up on it. Good on you!

Tonight, I'll be watching the two-hour season finale of "Dancing With the Stars". It's kind of hard to believe that I haven't been glued to the television set for all of the episodes this time around, but I haven't. In fact, I'm not sure I even remember who is participating. Donny Osmond, maybe. (?) Who else? I don't know. Anyhoo, I'll be watching. It's a good show. I enjoy it.


I really don't have a whole lot more to say here, so I'll just close - in case I don't post another tomorrow - by wishing you and yours a most happy Thanksgiving with your loved ones.

AAA

I'm talking about the American Automobile Association here, the letters not to possibly be misconstrued as Alcoholics Anonymous or any other such similar-sounding names.

I was a member for years and years, and always thought highly of them. There was a branch office located not far from where I lived here in Houston, and I often went there for free maps and assistance. Wonderful, wonderful!

But then I started driving a taxi, beginning with Yellow Cab. I didn't see the need to continue my relationship with AAA because Yellow Cab could - and would! - respond to my emergency needs much quicker than AAA.

One night, however, after having a most enjoyable game of duplicate bridge with Tom Jahnke - who was one of my regular partners at the time - we came out to the parking lot only to discover that one of the rear tires on my taxi (the right, I think) was flatter than a pancake.

I knew that I couldn't change the tire (I was driving a full-sized Chevrolet Caprice at the time) - I had a good spare in the trunk - and hoped that maybe Tom could help me.

Well no, he really couldn't, he said. I said, "That's OK. I'll call Yellow Cab. They'll come over and change it for me. It'll only cost me $35."

"No, don't do that," he said. "I'm a member of AAA. I'll call them. They'll be here quickly and it will cost us nothing!"

Sure enough, it didn't take AAA very long to arrive at the scene. However, they refused to work on my taxicab because it was a commercial vehicle. !!!!! Nowhere in their literature - even today's, I've checked - does it say that if your vehicle is a commercial one, it is excluded from their services.

And nowadays membership in that (what I call "hoity doity") illustrious organization costs upwards of $100 per year.

Scattered stuff

This will be pretty much what you've come to expect from me on a Sunday. I just got back home from playing on a Swiss team with Julian Barr and the VanDames. We were second in our bracket and I want to tell you, folks, that I had an absolute blast. Just a great time! It had been a month or so since Julian and I last played, but it was almost as tho we played together yesterday. Most pleasant!!

To add to my enjoyment, we started off the evening against Harry Selldin et al. While we were shuffling cards, the repartee came and went almost faster than our eyes could blink. Turns out that both Harry and I are avid BBO players. We exchanged user names. Watch out, opponents! :)

A downer occurred on the way home, when my "check tire pressure" light came on. Come on, guys, give me a break here, will ya? It was 10:15 pm on a Sunday night! But, I pulled over into the first well-lit area anyway to take a gander at the tires. They looked ok to me, so I kept on going.

I stopped at an Exxon all-nighter within a mile or so of my house to look at the tires again. Still looked ok. I thought, "As long as I'm here, I might as well go inside and see what kind of lighters they have." My granddaughter gave me this really pretty holder for Bic mini-lighters a few years back, but I've had just a terrible time recently trying to find refills for it. So, I've had to resort to regular lighters.

Would you believe it? They stock the mini's! Hip hip hooray!! So that was an upper. Now if the tire pressure will somehow hold within steady and reasonably-driveable range until tomorrow morning, then I can get the car over to my trusted garage guys to see what's going on with one of my tires. (I had the grease and oil changed last week and everything checked out ok.) Let's hope I caught just a little dinky nail and it's not flatter than a pancake in the morning. Wish me luck, please.

I've talked with you before about how much I'm enjoying local channel 2.2, which shows movies 24/7, haven't I? Well, if I felt so inclined - which I don't, I could now be watching "The Great Escape" for the 5th or 6th time within this past week. My goodness! I mean, it's a wonderful film, but enough already!!

However, this afternoon I was treated to a Jodie Foster film that I hadn't seen in a while ... "The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane". It's classified as a horror film, and I couldn't disagree more. Are you familiar with this story? There's actually a pretty good summary of the plot here. Only a couple of errors, and I say 'errors' with some certainty because I just viewed the film.

She is some kind of talented actress, isn't she? I rate her on about the same level as Meryl Streep, and that's saying something for me! Over the years, I heard many stories about how her mother ran her life and directed her acting career. I'd pretty much figured out that she's a private person and really didn't know that much about her.

Not many pictures of her coming out of restaurants and such. I don't know how these actors handle it, tell you the truth, what with the paparazzi following them around and sticking cameras and microphones in their faces all the time. Wiki has a decent-sounding writeup on her. I can't vouch for the veracity of any of it, altho a lot of it sounds plausible. Here's the link, if you'd like to read it for yourselves.

Lastly for today's post, I want to inform all of you that I am going to be partaking of 'the big bird' Thursday. And at my daughter's house, no less! The invite came today. Not a total surprise. Her comings and goings have been greatly curtailed recently by back surgery. She's doing really well, but still and all, their annual trip to California on this holiday was cancelled. Perhaps they'll go over Christmas. (?)

Whatever their plans are for December, I'm heading out to Katyland Thursday and am very much looking forward to it. In fact, today - while doing some brief shopping - I picked up a couple of doggie toys for Genie, their black Lab. Won't this be fun!

Well, I think that's about all for now. I'll just go back and proof this one more time before hitting 'publish'.

Calling for help

Chuck's mom fell last Thursday and broke her hip. She lay there on the floor of her apartment for seven hours, vainly calling for help, until someone went to check on her because she wasn't at lunch.

It sounds to me as tho she lives in the type of retirement community where people care about one another. That's a really good thing. Chuck, of course, has been very concerned, as am I (and I don't even know her!).

I have been mildly bothered, especially these past few years, over the fact that I live alone and am not getting any younger. Now, Chuck's mother is 85 - 13 years my senior, but the difference in years is of no importance whatsoever here.

I heard just a horrendous story recently about a fellow bridge player - one of my regular partners from years back - who had an accident in his kitchen. I don't want to go into all of the gory details, but he lay there on the floor and bled to death before anyone discovered his body a day or two later.

I asked my daughter a while back to check on me - by phone or e-mail - at least every couple of days or so. That doesn't happen. I guess she figures that if I'm publishing on my blog that I'm ok. But what about the times - and there have been some, particularly recently - when I'm not regularly publishing?

I don't want to put all the weight on her, either. She has a busy schedule and her own immediate family to think about. I've investigated having some sort of gadgets installed inside the house, at the same time wearing something around my neck - a necklace of some sort, whereupon if I do happen to fall and can't get up I can say so and (supposedly) someone monitoring a switchboard in India (Afghanistan? Timbuktu?) will report the incident and 'come' to my rescue. Sounds expensive!

What happens if I have a fall while I'm out in the backyard? It's fenced in. No one would see me. All the critters out there - including the fire ants - would have had a good old time with my body long before anyone would discover me. I'd probably be unrecognizable. Ugh! Just the thought of such a thing sends chills up and down my spine. Btw, it's the A#1 reason I'll never have another cat. Just so you know.

I grew up in Munising, Michigan, a little town in the Upper Peninsula. It was one of those places where everyone knew everyone else and - in many cases - was a relative. We lived next door to Lavinia Meyland, whose sister lived right across the street.

Lavinia was living alone at the time. Her husband, Walter, of whom I was very fond - he was a fellow philatelist, had passed away some time before and their two sons were grown and gone. I was either away at college or married and living elsewhere, I don't remember.

Anyway, she fell coming down the stairs of her home and lay there for a while before she finally was able to summon up the strength (!!!) to get up and walk to the telephone, where she called for help.

As a taxicab driver, I felt safest and least alone. How could that possibly be? Well, I had immediate radio access to a living person. (Assuming I was in the cab, of course.) Think about it for a second. It's true.

Kind of a 'downer' post, huh? This is a serious issue and not one we willingly choose to face. What plans have you made 'in the event of'?

The double nickel

Yesterday was my son-in-law's 55th birthday. I tried to get myself invited over to their supper outing, but every time I suggested such a thing, either he said, "I'll connect you with my wife. She knows the plans." or she said, "We don't know what time yet, where, or anything."

There was no "Yeah, we'd love to have you join us. We'll call you later and let you know what's going on", so I gave up on the idea of joining them. I knew I had to get out there, tho. I had a special gift I wanted him to have. It wasn't the world's biggest deal, but I wanted him to get it on his birthday.

It was something that my sister gave me for my 55th (just a couple of years back, doncha know) ... a silly plywood/cardboard-type sign dealie attached to a wooden dowel that says "55mph" ... it's cute, nonsensical and absolutely perfect for the person who has everything!

Over the years, I have shared it with a few of my friends. I'd 'Indian give' it to them for just one year. Well, this year has seen its last giveaway. If he wants to save it to give to my daughter when she turns 55, that's his business I figure.

I didn't get out to their house until just after 9pm. Well, shoot! I knew that my granddaughter was in bed and was pretty sure that my daughter was, as well. She's an early go-to-bedder these days ... has been for quite a while, actually, trying to keep up with her daughter's busy schedule. However, I also knew that my son-in-law would be up. He's kind of a night owl.

I parked the car in their drive, leaving the engine running, and walked up to the porch - peeking in various windows as I went. Lights were on, but I didn't see anyone. Well, shuckeydurn anyway!

I didn't want to knock on the door or ring the bell. (They have a black Lab who gets very excited!) I looked for the little table that they've had right by the front door in the past. It wasn't there.

Well, poop! I left his card and the 55mph sign on another table further away from the front door, rang the bell and took off out of there. In retrospect, I wish I had just left those two items and then called him after I got back home. (I didn't have my cell phone with me.)

And so, my birthday gift was probably not very much appreciated. I no doubt woke up the whole household. (Haven't heard from any of them since last night, so I'm pretty sure that's the case. I'm in the proverbial doghouse.)

To be fair to them, someone from their house tried to call twice yesterday - eeh, I don't know, maybe 5:30 or so? - and left messages both times. The problem there was that I had already decided - at least two or three hours earlier - that I would be persona non grata and so was not available to answer the phone. (Still haven't checked my messages, either.)

I can be like that sometimes. If you were under the impression that all is right, pleasant and amusing in Goldenrod's world 24/7, I am sorry to inform you otherwise. I will often retreat into my own inner sanctum until I'm ready to come out again.


ANYhoo, I'm out again. Had trouble sleeping last night. Finally figured out that I was cold. Got up and turned the furnace on (first time this year). Stayed up a little bit to watch some TV with a little space heater blowing that wonderful warm stuff on my tootsies and then went back to bed. Woke up just before noon.

It's Wednesday. On Wednesday mornings I take my weekly calcium pill. It has to be taken after several hours of sleep. I had met that requirement, so took it - all the while downing water for the next hour or so like a good girl while I played some BBO with one of my regular partners, Ann-Sophie from Sweden.

I'll have to do a post for you soon about some of my experiences with Bridge Base Online and the people I've met. I know I talked about predators a while back. Will have an update on that, as well.

Just checked my messages. Both yesterday were from my son-in-law, the first one (going on 5pm) telling me they were planning on being at some sort of Mexican restaurant by about quarter till six and the second (perhaps a half hour or more later) telling me they were running late. :)

Got another call an hour or so ago from Walter Freitag, my mentee on Thursday nights (once a month), wanting to confirm our date for tomorrow evening. Will have to return that one.

Hmmph! Not much else to report, actually. Hope your day is going well!

Looking the other way

There's a huge difference between driving a car that's a taxicab and driving that same car as a personal vehicle ... even tho it's the same car and has the exact same driver!

I own a 2005 Buick LeSabre. It's a beautiful shade of blue. I bought it a few years back when I was driving a taxicab, and it still goes everywhere I go and rests in my garage when I'm at home, altho now it's not so 'visible'.

What do I mean by that? Well, let's see if I can come up with a couple of good examples for you so you know what I'm talking about. Outside of the 'obvious', where all of the lettering, numbering, decals and stickers have been removed from both the inside and outside of the car - including the windows - and the cruise light at the top has disappeared, the first thing that comes to my mind is turn signals.

When I use them now - and I always use them, of course, doesn't everybody? - it seems to me as tho people are either in a hurry to pull out in front of me or, if I'm on the freeway, speed up so I can't get over. Those two things almost never happened when my car was a taxicab. I've tried to imagine why that might have been, and the only answers I can logically come up with are that - in the first instance, they were pretty sure I'd come right up on their behinds and treat them to a great blast of my horn if they pulled out - and in the second instance, they figured I was coming over anyway so they gave me room.


Impossible things are sometimes expected of taxicabs. Probably the best example I can think of here is when we have high water and flooding conditions exist in parts of the city. As a cab driver, you make it your business to quickly learn which areas are prone to flooding and therefore avoid. You can't make any money if your car is in the shop because you carelessly subjected it to high water and flooded it out.

[Well! Hmmph!! I have just concluded a several hour search that I began yesterday for a post that I thought SURE I had already done on driving while flooding conditions existed here in Houston. It's not here. Either that, or it's mis-labeled, which is certainly a possibility.]

Let me get right to the point (without going into great detail of what I thought I'd already published) and say that many times - it was my experience as a taxicab driver - people expected incredible things from my car just because it was a taxicab.

This one time in particular I was over near Sharpstown Mall on the SW side of town. (That area had been absolutely impossible to get to earlier in the day.) I'd picked up a fellow from IAH who wanted to go to a hotel in that area. I told him that I didn't think I'd be able to get him there, that the area had been heavily flooded all day. "That's OK," he said. "Just get me as close as you can. If I can see the hotel, I can walk there." What a reasonable man!

And so I told him I'd see what I could do. Well, the closer we got the more it became evident that his feet were going to get wet. We got within a couple of blocks of the place, actually, which was better than I'd thought we'd do. The last I saw of him he was walking barefoot in water up over his thighs, suitcase precariously perched on top of his head.

No sooner had I let him out of the car than this other fellow came slogging up to me, wanting me to drive him home. He lived just a few blocks 'over that way', he said as he pointed towards what appeared to be nothing but water. "Sir," I began, "that doesn't look passable to me."

"Sure, it is!" he insisted. "I tried to drive there myself just a few minutes ago, but I accidentally flooded my car out." That admission gave me a ton of confidence, doncha know! I asked, "Where's your car now?"

He pointed to this humongous van, which was sitting in what looked like at least two feet of water. It was all I could do to keep from laughing. What did he think my taxicab was, a boat?? (And no, I didn't take him.)


[It is now Tuesday, the 17th. Speaking of humongous, we have had a pretty good-sized change in the weather. I ALmost turned the heat on last night, but then decided not to. I was nice and cozy and snuggly warm under my blankets, and right now I am nice and warm wearing one of the world's most comfy robes ever ... it was given to me for Christmas last year by my family. Thank you again, wonderful family!

I had a semi-crisis recently when I couldn't find it, but then I finally did - under a pile of stuff at the foot of my bed. (I've told you before what my house looks like, haven't I? Well, it doesn't look nearly as bad now as it did a few months ago, but still! One of my sincerest wishes is that I am able to get everything sorted through and the 'junk' thrown out before I kick the bucket. Not that I'm planning to expire any time soon, but you never know, right?)

Anyhoo, I'm going to try and get back to what originally prompted the idea for this post, which was Steven's comment on my last one, to wit: "It's kind of hard to look the other way when all that's going on around you, isn't it."]


As a taxicab driver, I was at all times fully cognizant of what was going on around me - a matter of defense and self-preservation, as you might imagine - and that awareness has (most of the time) carried over to this day.

And just because I was driving a taxicab and was so keenly aware of what has happening, I was often called upon to be a witness. Thank goodness that - at least most often - the police officer on the scene would interview me first, take my statement and info verbatim and then let me go. (He/she knew that time was money to me.)

One instance that stands out vividly in my mind is when I was sitting at a stop sign at Tirrell and Allen Parkway. I was an eyewitness to a really stupid accident, where one vehicle ran into another that clearly had the right-of-way. I wouldn't have thought much about it except that the guilty party immediately exited his vehicle and began verbally assaulting the victim, who - as it turned out - spoke almost no English and seemed to be in an apologetic mode.

VERY quickly, I exited my car (after first getting on the horn with my dispatcher) and went over to the scene. I said, "Sir?" to the guilty party, "Please don't go anywhere. I have your license number. I saw the whole thing and the police are on their way." (Which, of course, was an outrageous lie. I hadn't had time to call the police yet.)

I was furious! How dare a native English-speaking (albeit American English) person try to take advantage of one more timid than he? How dare he?!? I flagged down the first police car I saw (lots of them cruise up and down Allen Parkway, thank goodness!), gave my statement and left.


I'll leave you today with a funny story ... at least, I think it's funny!

I was sitting at a red light at the corner of Wilcrest and Harwin. I was heading north. Probably on my way to Randall's again. Heard that name before, right? I was in the left lane. Had left the right lane open for any who wanted to make a right turn after first stopping at the light.

Right next to me, not making a right turn as it turned out, was a city cop. We waited for the light to turn green. It did, but neither of us was able to move because vehicles going east on Harwin were still making left turns - illegally, of course - long after their left turn signal light had turned red. It wasn't just one or two of the bad guys, either. It was a bunch!

I rolled down the passenger side window and said to the cop, "Well? Have you decided which one you're going to nail yet? I'll be your witness. Go ahead and pick one."

After his eyeballs stopped rolling around inside the back of his head, he took off and got one of those suckers. (I don't remember whether or not I was able to get through on the green light. I mean, those foulers were flagrant!)

The Indiana stop

I just cannot go another second without posting this one, folks!

Years and years ago, when I lived in Indiana, I was often slightly - sometimes more than just slightly - appalled when my dear friend, Jacky, with whom I was riding as a passenger at the time, made what I came to think of as an "Indiana stop".

Do you know what that is? It is what happens when, upon coming to a 4-way stop, you just barely tap on your brakes and then cruise right on through the intersection. She did this more times than I'd care to try and recount. And always without incident!

[She might term it a "rolling" stop, I don't know.]

Well, tonight - coming back home from Randall's and Luby's, where I got some of the world's best vegetable soup to go - I saw the alltime record-holder for rolling/Indiana stops danged near get his comeuppance (and a banged-up car in the process).

The light was red. I was stopped. The person on my right decided to just cruise right on through the intersection, intending to make a right turn, even though the person coming the other way was making a left (on a left turn only green light, I want you to know!)

There was no tap on the brakes, nothing like that, until - all of a sudden - the person 'cruising' decided he'd better stop or he would hit the legal car. (?!?) To compound matters slightly, he had a sheep right behind him, who was hellbent on following him over the cliff.

Lawdy, lawdy! You know what, folks? The very last thing you need when you've made all of the stops on your list and you're really anxious to get back home is to have to stand around and be a witness when the police finally arrive - an hour or two later.

Thank you, Lord, for all your blessings. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Paraskevidekatriaphobia

How's that word grab you? Ten syllables, I think I counted, maybe eleven. Too many, that's for danged sure!

What does it mean? It means "the fear of Friday, the 13th". In doing a Google search for this word - Who in their right minds would have at their memory bank's beck and call a word like this, I want to know?!? - I discovered three different* spellings for it (LOL) and a bunch of interesting stories.

*I just arbitrarily chose one of the three. Figured I couldn't be far off.

So, what am I doing this Friday, the 13th? Not much, I'll tell you that. (So what else is new, right?)

I don't have a 'fear' of Friday, the 13th, per se, but I notice that my conscious self is always aware of when it comes around. Does it seem like it's here way too often to you, or is it just me? I guess I could take the time and do the math on this one, but I just don't feel like it. Too much of a bother.


What I really want to talk about today is the fact that next week is officially Geography Awareness Week, according to my monthly newsletter from National Geographic.

All sorts of specials will be offered on the National Geographic Channel, for those of you who have cable. (It's a cable channel, isn't it? I don't have cable.) Home-schooling mothers (and fathers) will be particularly interested in watching these with their students, I would imagine.

This year's theme is "Get Lost in Mapping", and there's a world map that you can download for free if you visit their website. All you need - according to the article I read - is paper, tape, and a world of imagination. I'm really tempted to do it, but I figure I have way too much paper gathering dust around here as it is!

However, I might change my mind and add to the clutter, anyway. A current world map would be of great interest to me. I wonder how big it is when it's all downloaded and taped together. If anyone does download it, add a comment to this post and tell us how big it is when it's all put together, will you? Just for grins.


Have a happy and safe Friday the 13th, everyone, and I'll catch all y'all later.

Seeing Alaska

One of my favorite bloggers, Chuck, has just concluded an 8-part series of posts which include videos he made and narrated about his Alaskan trip a few years back, but before you begin perusing any of those - my personal favorite is the one he did on the Kenai Peninsula, I recommend that you begin here.

This is just a wonderful post where he gives a really good overview of his "great Alaskan adventure" in 2004, traveling 10,000+ miles altogether from start to finish. Lots of photos. Lots of cross references. (He has a lot of fun cross-referencing.) Lots of detailed information.

His header really says it all ... "Adventure is not outside man, but within, for you cannot cross the sea by simply staring at the water." Chuck hasn't done much staring, and he's definitely crossed a lot of seas.

Getting back to Alaska, however, here is only one of the photos you will be treated to in this first post,


which was published on July 29th this year. It shows an aerial view of Glacier Bay National Park. Beautiful photograph!

Part 1 of Chuck's videocam series is titled "The Inside Passage -- Aboard the Alaska Ferry, Ketchikan, and Juneau", and was published in late October.

This month Chuck was really busy getting it all together and you can view selected posts or all, at your leisure. Part 2 (Nov. 1st) features "Skagway and the White Pass & Yukon RR". Part 3 - "Flightseeing Glacier Bay National Park" - followed the very next day.

Eight of these altogether, #8 publishing just this past Monday. Thank you, Chuck, for sharing with us so much of your wonderful trip. I, for one, have enjoyed seeing Alaska through your eyes.

Universal Sports,

I think (!?), is the name of a new digital channel here on local television. (You kind of have to remember that I don't have cable.)

Recently, I have been treated to previews of the upcoming Winter Olympics in Vancouver, BC, in addition to "Grand Prix" figure skating competitions from around the world, in which both the individual and pairs skaters are vying for a spot on their country's Olympic team. Wonderful, wonderful!

Tonight, however, I will definitely forego watching the speedskating events. That's about all that's showing on that channel. I mean, folks, those suits leave absolutely NOTHING to one's imagination in re the genital department. Come on now, give me a break, will ya please?? (And people thought men's ballet tights were bad. They've got nothing on those speed skaters!)

Within the last couple of weeks, tho, I have been fortunate enough to view various recaps of Ironman Triathlons from the past few years. Up until 39.2 (this local digital channel) showed up, I had never even heard of such a competition. Had you?

Oh, man! Talk about grueling!! This competition, which takes place annually in Hawaii all in the span of one day, combines a 2.4 mile swim fb (followed by) a 112 mile bike ride fb a 26 mile 385 yard marathon ... all without a break, I want you to know. Can you believe such a thing?

Lots and lots of really interesting stories here, including one of a 76-year-old nun who was competing in her 20th Ironman* event! Incredible, just incredible!! Btw, she finished - these events are timed - with only one minute to go. Good on her, wouldn't you say?

*Wiki has a very nice writeup on the Ironman competition. If you'd like to read or learn more about it, please go here.

Meanwhile, of course, I'm sitting here on my 'you know what' doing very little. I mentored at the studio earlier today with one of my two regulars. She's coming along very nicely. What's happening your way?

Simon Says ... #2

I first introduced this word game here, on October 24th.

Just to refresh your memory banks ... ... in order to come up with the correct solution at the end, which will be an amusing word or phrase that is apropos to where you started, you must do the steps in the order presented and follow the directions exactly.

As I said in October, it is only rarely that I get these right the first time, so have a little patience with yourself. We had some fun with that first one, didn't we? (Including some hilarious answers.) Let's see how we do with #2.

1. Print the words A KING'S ROBES, omitting the spaces and apostrophe.
2. Delete the central letter.
3. Double the fourth consonant. (When directions like these are given, always assume that they mean starting from the left.)
4. Double the last vowel.
5. Insert a W in the fourth position.
6. Switch the second vowel from the left with the second vowel from the right.
7. Delete the last consonant.
8. Move one R to the left end of the row.
9. Delete the fourth letter from the right.
10. Delete the second consonant from the left.
11. Repeat step 7.
12. Move the last consonant to the right end of the row.
13. Switch the first and last vowels.
14. Switch the fourth and sixth letters.
15. Switch the third and seventh letters.

What did you end up with? If you had REIGN WEAR, I hereby proclaim you an official member* of the Simon Says Solver Club. If you had some sort of gobbledygook? Sorry, you'll have to go back to the beginning and try again. Just go a little slower.

*Tammy, Emily, Katie, Kayla and Bug are already charter members. Do we have any more takers?

Btw, I want everyone to know that "the pig" has been found - this'll be the one especially for Jacky - and will be included in a Simon Says on down the road. It's a little more difficult. I'm trying to present these in order of difficulty, but what's difficult for me might not be for you and vice versa, right?

Meanwhile, happy word puzzle solving, and I'll talk atcha later!

The Gesundheit! Institute

I just finished watching "Patch Adams", the 1998 movie starring Robin Williams as Hunter "Patch" Adams, the controversial humanitarian who was very nearly denied his PhD in medicine due in part, according to the movie version of his story, to being "excessively happy".

The official review of this film, as it appears in my TV Guide, includes the word "cloying". Say that word slowly. Let it rattle around in your mouth for a while. Move it around with your tongue. Doesn't it almost make you want to spit it out? Nasty, disgusting stuff. The reviewer didn't think much of the movie, obviously, even though "an over-the-top Robin Williams" (the reviewer's phrase) did his very best to make Dr. Adams' story believable and palatable.

I could hardly disagree more. I am not the world's biggest Robin Williams fan, but he was the perfect choice to portray Patch, a firm believer in holistic medicine and healing through laughter. Through his portrayal, I came to know Patch Adams as a deeply compassionate man who wanted to improve patients' quality of life.

Here is what the real Patch Adams looks like, by the way ... ...


Is that one of the world's more colorful mustaches, or what??

The trailer at the end of the film described how Patch had provided free medical care to more than 12,000 patients, and went on to tell how plans were in the works to build a 40-bed facility on land that had been purchased in West Virginia.

I was a little distressed to learn a few moments ago, in doing research for this post, that the monies needed to build such a facility still have not been procured. That makes me sad.

If you would like to read more about Patch Adams' personal philosophy and the Gesundheit! Institute, go here. He even has his own blog site.

Trying not to get sick

Why do they keep hospitals so cold?

You know what the prep nurse told us all in pre-op? That the operating room temp is kept at 52 degrees. (I'm talking Fahrenheit here.) It's a state law, she said. ??!!?? My daughter questioned her on that statement, and she repeated it.

Well, it wasn't that much warmer ANYwhere in the hospital. Even though I had brought a wool wrap and was wearing wool socks inside my fur-lined moccasins, I was not warm enough. (I hardly ever am, but this really went beyond the pale!)

But then, to top it all off, I spent most of the night Wednesday in here at the computer playing bridge. (I wanted to be up and at 'em when my son-in-law arrived to pick me up.) Every time I lay down to try and get some sleep, my mind would insistently remind me after about an hour or so that I had no alarm set (in the car), so I would get up and play some more bridge online for a while.

The rest of that day - Thursday - was spent trying to take naps whenever I felt tired (which was most of the time), but I think I must still have been in too much of a state of continued anxiety - even though it appeared that all was going along very well, for my body to relax that much.

Yesterday, now, was a completely different story. I spent most of the day sniveling, blowing my nose and frequently napping. It had finally caught up with me! Not only that, but I could hardly walk.

Even though the hospital was quite small (by today's standards), the amount of walking it took to get from where I was to anywhere else was significant, particularly for one who - basically - does little more than sit around on her behind all day.

Much better today. Got a really good night's sleep. Thank you, Lord. No big aches anywhere and constant sniveling has almost completely disappeared. I'll keep a close watch on it today, but I think I'm over the hump.

Did you know that there are a few people running around out there with surgical masks on? For the H1N1 virus, doncha know. I read about it a lot on other blogs, particularly the eastern Ontario ones, but I'm really not anticipating much (if any) of an outbreak here.

All for now. Have a couple of other posts I'd like to do today. Let's see how awake I am after the next one!

Back surgery (update)

I got back home perhaps half an hour ago. Didn't intend to be away from the house this long, but - in my haste to get inside the hospital where my daughter would shortly be undergoing surgery - I parked in a restricted zone and got towed. "Oh, no!" you cry. "Oh, yes," I embarrassingly admit.

So anyway, my son-in-law will be picking me up again tomorrow morning and taking me over to where I can retrieve my car ($191 for the privilege). Then, he will head back over to the hospital where my daughter, hopefully, will almost have finished her breakfast - having left just enough for him to scarf up in an instant - and be ready to go back home out to Katy, only this time she might be able to actually sit up in his vehicle instead of having to lie down while traveling in it.

She's doing well. No, she's not been up and walking around yet. That first big adventure will be later this evening when she has to get up to go to the bathroom. (Her IV apparatus and pole will have to go with her, so she'll have a nurse's assistance.) But, she's moving all of her toes and everything seems to be OK in that department, which is wonderfully welcome news.

She didn't go into surgery until 2:30. My son-in-law and I were with her for about 45 minutes beforehand, reassuring, talking, telling jokes and laughing, holding hands ... you know, all that kind of stuff that goes on when people who really care about each other are nervous. It was an anxious time.

Then she went into surgery and I went outside to have half a cancer stick. That's when I discovered my car had been towed. I had left my cell phone in the car (Of course!), so my son-in-law got on his to find out all the poop on where it had been taken, etc. and blah. Oh, my!

While he was doing that, I found my way to the cafeteria. Their offerings included shrimp scampi, which I ordered. I thought, "What's done is done, Goldenrod. Besides, you're hungry, so let's eat." I found a table and ate while playing some solitaire. (It had been years since I'd played solitaire. I can't believe I remembered how!)

And that's where he found me a few minutes later. After giving me the info about my towed car, he asked what I was eating. When I told him, he said, "Hmm!" And then he went to get the same thing. It wasn't bad. It was while we were still there in the cafeteria - I wasn't finished eating yet, but he was! - that his pager thingee went off.

Someone wanted to see us. We were a little nervous about the quickness of the page. After all, it hadn't been 45 minutes yet! What might have gone wrong? We quickly packed up "our" (mostly "my") stuff and went to the second floor, where Dr. Kushwaha was waiting.

He appeared calm, which was immediately reassuring. His first words were, "The surgery is over. Everything went as expected. We removed the .. ... .... and she'll be in recovery shortly." He answered a couple of questions that each of us had, and then gave us an important piece of information that we hadn't known before.

All three of us ... my daughter, my son-in-law and myself ... had heard, over and over again that day, how important it was that she restrict her physical activity for 'x' amount of time after the surgery. We all thought that it was to prevent any more extrusions from the damaged disc.

That's partly it, of course, but the surgeon told both my son-in-law and myself - we were standing there together - that the disc would, if given the uninfringed-upon space and time it needed, repair and seal itself. That sounded almost miraculous to me. I repeated this to my daughter, in my son-in-law's hearing, and he confirmed what I said. My daughter cried out in joy when she heard that. "There could be no better incentive," she said, "to do exactly what the doctor orders."

I had only a couple of bad moments today when, shortly after going into post-op to see my daughter, I thought I was going to pass out. I had to sit down quickly, a couple of different times. Very strange. This happened only once before that I can recall, in 1986, but that's a whole other story for another day.

When we first went in to see her in post-op, she looked exhausted to me ... absolutely exhausted! She was crying. She'd been so afraid she wouldn't wake up. The stress she must have been under the past couple or so weeks cannot really be understood or even imagined by you or me, I dare say.

She kept telling me how glad she was that I was there. I was glad to be there, but I know (for sure!) that I didn't add anything to the mix, except - perhaps - a mother's unequivocal love for her daughter, which she's always had.

I just finished sending her an e-mail. She has her laptop with her. I don't expect her to respond. I hope that she's in neverneversleepytimeland. I'd call my son-in-law, but my phone is in my towed car. Oh, the frustration of it all!

I'll know more tomorrow morning, of course, after he picks me up. Meanwhile, keep your fingers crossed that things are progressing as smoothly as anticipated, and I thank you all - once again - for your positive thoughts and supportive comments.

[9:05pm ... PS ... heard back from my daughter via e-mail ... she was still awake ... said she's "fixin' to" (that's a Texas expression) take another 'walk' and then go to sleep.]

Back surgery

Not something one wants to contemplate, but when there is constant shooting pain up and down one's left leg 24/7, it's almost as tho that conclusion is inevitable. No, it's not for me. It's for my daughter, and it's coming up tomorrow afternoon at 1pm.

I first heard about this last weekend, when my daughter left a voice message telling me she had something important to talk to me about. It sounded serious, so I got back to her as quickly as I could.

She really didn't have much information to share with me at that point. In fact, I had many more questions than she had answers. She was due to see Dr. Kushwaha at 9:30 this morning. Dr. Kushwaha is the chief spinal surgeon at Methodist Hospital, and a partner of the orthopedic surgeon in whom my daughter has great confidence. (He is the one who recently handled her broken foot so adeptly.)

I just got off of the phone with my son-in-law and took a bunch of notes. I hope I'm relaying everything correctly. Here's the situation ... ... it seems that the lowest disc on her spine erupted - the 'when' or 'cause' are both unknown, exactly - extruding unwanted material that is pressing against a nerve and causing all of the pain.

None of her leg motor functions have been affected, nor should they be by the upcoming surgery. "Where this disc is located," the surgeon said, "no motor nerves are still attached to the spine." In other words, the frightful word "paralyzed" seems to have no place in this conversation.

Still and all, however, it is my daughter and she will be undergoing back surgery. And so, as her mother, to say that I am concerned would be no exaggeration. I'll be at the hospital tomorrow with my son-in-law. One can only hope that I will conduct myself with more decorum than I did the last time I was in a hospital, waiting for her to come out of surgery.

This would have been about 45 years ago. She'd had a terrible bout with the mumps and developed abscesses on both sides, one of which 'popped' and drained itself in the middle of the night, but the other just kept on getting bigger and bigger. It scared the bejaysus out of me! It didn't seem to be painful, but was disfiguring as all get out.

This one would have to be surgically removed. My husband and I were concerned about a lingering and very noticeable scar. The surgeon assured us that any scar would fade and almost completely disappear over the years. (And that reminds me. I'll just have to look at her neck tomorrow when I see her, won't I? We never did order any plastic surgery for her years later.)

Anyway, while she was undergoing that surgery, I paced up and down the hospital halls like a mad woman, bawling my eyes out. Remembering how I acted, I am thoroughly ashamed of myself. I mean, there were children in surgery at that very moment whose lives were at stake, and there I was bawling over an abscess. But, it is what it is, and it was what it was.

Tomorrow's surgery is described as 'non-invasive' ... a 1" incision will be made and the extruded material from the ruptured disc cleaned out* ... a 45-minute procedure, the surgeon said, and she should be up and walking around by 3pm. That last just flabbergasts me! Would that it be so.

Because the procedure is scheduled for the afternoon, they'll keep her overnight for observation. Normal-sounding kind of stuff. *The MRI showed that disc's appearance to be flat. Hopefully, that means that all material that could have been extruded has been, and no plans are in the works as of this writing to remove the disc itself.

[Had a little break there. She called me. Had just woken up from a very long nap. She was exhausted after their almost four-hour visit with the spinal surgeon this morning. Well, not all of it was with the surgeon. Blood tests were ordered and an EKG was administered, as well. All in preparation for tomorrow's surgery.]

Will fill all of you in when I know more. Meanwhile, please say a prayer to help guide the surgeon's hand.

Recollections ...

... particularly personal ones, such as emotions - how one was feeling at the time, for example, or what one was thinking - can be terribly subjective. And, as a result, inaccurate.

Our memories are colored by the passage of time, by changes in our outlook and perspective, by what's important to us now, by how our definitions have been altered by our experiences, by how we feel or what's happening with or around us at the moment of recollection, by all sorts of different things - some of which we are perhaps unaware.

I don't think I fully realized that until just a few moments ago. I was reading Bug's latest post, where she is beginning a series about her time in Zambia a little more than twenty years ago.

Ten years after she returned, she put together two large scrapbooks - trying to re-create her experiences there - and then wrote a poem in which there is a line that perfectly describes what I was trying to say in the second paragraph of this post ... "remembered as in a dream edited by time reconstructed to suit myself" ... beautifully-expressed, Bug, and so true.

Since January of 2008, when I first began blogging, I have published over 600 posts, nearly half of which are labeled "About me", "Memories", or "Personal thoughts/comments". There is some overlapping, of course, but there is a lot of "me" in my blog.

I haven't been this prolific since the early and mid 80's, when I was going through such an emotional upheaval. I spent many hours writing it all down while it was happening - some in poetry form, but most in prose. It's here. I've saved it. It's pretty raw. Very emotional. I don't like to go back through it. Too painful, for the most part.

Some of the poetry I have shared with you on my blog, that which I wanted you to read. There might be more later. We'll see. Depends on how I feel about it. To describe myself throughout the great majority of my life as an "unrealistic romantic" would be pretty much dead on, I think.

However, there are a number of humorous poems that I have yet to share - ones that have nothing whatever to do with romance. I promise that I will include those in posts further on down the line.

I will be very interested in following Bug's continuing story of her time in Zambia. She went there initially as a part of her church's outreach program that included sending recent college graduates to fill temporary support positions in the foreign mission field, and was in Zambia for approximately 18 months.

I'm sure she has many wonderful stories to share with us, and I'm looking forward to reading every one of them.