Happy Monday!!

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Weather in the Tries:
Beats me, I’m pulling into Dallas TX for a week. However, I have it on good authority that yes, there will be weather in the Tries. Sunshine, shade, blue skies, clouds, whatever—enjoy! Dallas will be hotter. San Antonio hotter yet. If you care, check where I am by date, and then check the weather there.

Happy Monday:
If you’re wondering how I’m travelling—well, I’m using Apple Maps, and following directions. Mostly. There does seem to be some minor differences between Google Maps and Apple Maps. My friend and I compared the driving times from Kennewick to Port Charlotte FL (she was on Google) and I on Apple Maps which was an hour shorter. We did not compare actual maps to see where the differences were, if any.

So, if you want to follow along, my itinerary follows:

21 Sep, leave for a 3-day drive to Dallas TX

not sure where I’ll stop at night along the way, but I’ll stop when tired. Hopefully in Laramie WY. Will turn right and head south through Raton NM and down to Amirillo TX then hang a lazy left and onward to Dallas for a week of gossip and writing, except I won’t be doing much writing, I’m taking a couple inches of printed out poetry and hope to get a book put together.

29 Sep, leave for a few days with my sister, in San Antonio.

3 Oct, leave for a good friend I met in ABQ but she moved to Marana AZ, I’ll probably make it a two day trip, as it’s more than 12 hour drive, and I want to stop in El Paso, at Rosa’s Cantina and buy a new tee shirt. Fortunately, they are easy off and easy on I-10. I’ll probably get something to eat, too. But I’ll forego the quart jar of margarita. Sigh.

7 Oct, I leave out for Henderson NV where I’ll pick up my old friend and travel buddy and head to Death Valley, for an o’night if the motel has a vacancy. Or, we can make it a day trip. Or maybe spend the night in Amargosa? We’ll figure it out.

12 Oct, leaving Henderson for a short drive to Castaic CA where I’ll spend the afternoon with poetry friends, and the night.

13 Oct, I head up to Vallejo, to spend a couple days with my brother. He’s on a different schedule, for the most part. But we’ll get to talk for a bit where our schedules overlap.

15 Oct, up to Vacaville (30 minute drive?) to spend a few days with my cousins, and then I’m gonna beat feet and head for home.

I make no promises about posting blogs on the trip. I’ll do what I can, but I’m on vacation, and if nothing else, I’ll post stories and photos once I return. I’ll drive north to Weed, then a lazy right and go up the bright side of the Cascades until I’m home 😉

I hope to be home the 19^th or 20^th of October.

And there you have it. My last Grand Tour Road Trip to visit friends and family, not sight see. Though I do want to go to the Alamo when in San Antonio. I was there when I was nine, with my grandparents. I’ve seen the photos. I have NO memory of it, and some of my childhood heroes died there! I remember wanting to see it, but every place else we went I have memories, not there. And of course Death Valley, that is pure sight see, but both Kay and I love the valley. (And I will take any excuse to drive through Pahrumps!!!;-) And a few fabric/quilt stores.

I do a couple of things on road trips that work for me. I stop every two hours, plus or minus, make a pit stop and refill my big cup with an iced tea or whatever. I eat light while travelling so I don’t get sleepy from too many carbs. If I do get sleepy, I stop for a nap. So, know I’ll be driving safely. My favorite pit stops are at Love’s Truck Stops. The store and restrooms are always clean, the staff are always smiling and friendly, and the choice of food is amazing. From the ubiquitous hot dogs cooking on the rollers to a bowls of fresh fruit and salads. And half a dozen different coffees, iced teas (sweet and not). They even have showers in case you couldn’t find a hotel for the night/s before!

Photos of Some Week to be posted on Some Day:
Honest, trust me.

from the desk of the crying chihuahua;
sniff. sniff.

Poor puppy. If I take him he gets horribly stressed, and two of the places I’ll be have dogs, and he’s not over fond of other dogs. If I leave him, he gets stressed, but he’s in his own den, sleeps in his/our room on his/our bed. And he’s not nearly as stressed as he gets in a car. And I’m less stressed when he’s home, too.

Will try to write and post as I go along. Stay well, and Let Americans Laugh Again!!!

Darth Vader Will Speak No More

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Hot Links in this Blog:
Carole King, I Feel the Earth Move https://www.smoothradio.com/features/top-songs/carole-king-songs/

Weather in the Tries:
One 80F day, and the rest are high 70s. Not parka weather, yet, but it’s a comin’. A couple of Dark Days (cloudy) but most sunny, or a combination of Dark & Light 😉

Darth Vader Will Speak No More:
I loved that voice. David Prowse, of course, played the character of Darth Vader and did a bang-up job of it, but speaking through the filter in his Darth mask made his British accent almost beyond the ability for Americans to understand. So, James Earl Jones was hired to do the voice over. He felt that Prowse did the work, he should get the credit, so he requested his name be left off the credits!

I have seen some of the movies in which Jones acted, for me, he always stood out. He became that character, and that voice. For me, he will forever be the voice of Darth Vader, and of course, can anyone forget, “This is CNN!”

Railroad Spikes:

The two tiny little pins came out of my toe a week ago today. I asked the doctor if I could have them, but he said they had to go into the Sharps box. The point of those little suckers was sharp! So, I just have two photos. It really went well. The doctor poured something on my toe that was cold, and said I’d feel a pinch. He then said, ‘pinch’ and repeated it a second time and both the pins were pulled out. He was pleased I didn’t jump, flinch, etc. I learned years ago, to relax, at least as much as I can, before medics get near me with things that could hurt. I also tell them if they hurt me, I’ll scream. They treat me very gently.

More Medic Stuff:
Went to pharmacy to get my latest vaccinations on Tuesday. Needed three, and really wanted them before I took off on my road trip. The last thing I need or want, is to get sick on the trip! I’ve had just about every vaccination offered by pediatricians when I was a kidlet, the military, and every one that’s come out since. Yes, some affected me. I do now and then have a sleepy day or two, but it’s so worth it not to get the disease, whatever it is.

I remember when the polio vax came out. I remember some of my friends at the time had died of it. Yes, the shot hurt, or I thought it did, and I probably cried being the wuss I was and am. But it’s so much better than having the disease. I’ve also had friends who had it as kids, survived it, and then relapsed when they were in their 70s or so. I’m so glad my kids are grown. I’d hate to send them to school in this day and age where they not only have to fear live shooters, but school mates whose parents won’t let their kids get vaxxed.

And now RFK, Jr. is touting his anti-vax crap. Or is it Junior? Does Junior speak, or does the worm in his brain speak? I dunno. Only the Shadow knows.

Knew Addition to Coffee Break Escapes:
I have a few friends who have been diagnosed with Macular Degeneration and find reading to be more and more difficult, and they’ve asked me to record my blog, so I shall attempt to do that. The recordings will be posted in Spoken Word. If there are hot links mentioned in the recording, they will be in the body of the written blog. Or maybe at the very beginning of the blog as well as where called out within the body? Ideas?

Photos of the Week:

OK, here be the two pins that were in my dainty toe. They are a touch over an inch. The ‘T’ in BEASTS is 3/10^th of an inch. Best guesstimate is they were about 1/20^th of an inch in diameter.

I drove by the Duck Pond the other day, a bright, sunny day, and had to stop the car as a platoon of geese crossed the street. Not sure what they wanted on the other side of the street, but here they are.

from the desk of the brave dog;
we have cooler nights now. it’s wonderful, and i can snuggle my human all night long, now. my human likes the cuddles. I remember last dark time when it was really, really cold, she called those three dog nights, and said I had to snuggle like three dogs—or let her adopt two more. I snuggled. not gonna share my human with other dogs. or those other furry fiends so many humans have and can’t even bark.

Earworm of the Week:
Carole King, I Feel The Earth Move, #9 on the top 10 of her songs

,LALA
Let Americans Laugh Again

Heroes and Hallowed Ground

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I have been asked by a friend who has recently been diagnosed with macular degeneration, if I could read and post my blogs. I am going to try to do so each time I write and post a Coffee Break Escape. The recordings will be on The Spoken Word page above. Heroes and Hallowed Ground is now posted for your listening pleasure.

Weather in the Tries:
Huzzah! Huzzah! Monday, today, will be 91F and it goes down from here—all the way to 74F during the days, and the nights drop from 68F to 53F. While it’s not bring out the down jacket, it may be time for a light sweater when out at night. And for sure a light blanket on the bed, or a summer quilt or two!

Heroes and Hallowed Ground:
A great cartoon I found on Facebook: shows an old fashioned Catholic Nun in her black habit & white wimple walking down a school hall with a cat following. She had one hand holding the ear of a young Vance and the other hand holding a ruler. The bubble from the Nun says: “We’re going to have a little talk about childless cat ladies.” Love it!

Another Facebook one I love shows a GI, with all identifying tags blocked, holding a sign that reads: “I have never stood in front of a grave and given a thumbs up with a big smile, but if I live longer than he does it could happen.” And now you know why last week’s post was so short. I was too angry to really write anything light and not angry.

It’s a week later, and I’m still irritated over his desecration of the graves of my family in uniform. Note, I said irritated. I was angry. By the time you read this, I expect the irritation to be mostly gone. There is nothing I can do about it, besides vote against him. And you already know I’m going to do that. Yes, I hope you do, too. But all I’m going to say about that is I encourage you to vote your own conscious, your own character, vote for the best woman to heal our country, just get out there and vote!

I am not fond of plane travel. I do not like forced sitting that long. But I for sure will wear my WAC Veteran tee shirt and fly back east to have my thumbs up photo taken over his grave. I do intend to live that long! Besides, I pinky-swore with my friend Ann, to never die! Maybe I’ll do a “Fonzie” with both thumbs up, Aaayyyyy!

By the time you read this, I should have the two pins out of my toe and be able to walk more or less normal. At least, it should be my choice whether to continue hobbling or not. I imagine my foot will be a tad bit tender, but still, having the option… I can’t tell whether my foot is swollen or not, but there are times when it feels like there is some swelling under the assaulted toe, but since I can’t put my foot down flat, I don’t know if it really is, or just feels that way because of my current walking on the side of my foot.

Public Service Announcement:
Getting ready for my road trip, leaving out at 0:Dark:00 on the 21 September. Have ordered some junk food to eat on the road, have ordered some instant coffee to take with, as I will be staying with people who don’t drink coffee, am beginning to figure out clothes, etc. The first week will be a writer’s retreat in Dallas, TX. (It will take me 3 days of driving to get there). Since I’m not writing anything prosy, and will only have my iPad to take, I am printing out a stack of poetry, and hope to maybe put a book together. A whole book, not a chapbook.

Speaking of chapbooks, remember, Saying Goodbye to Thomas will be ready for pre-order next Feb/Mar. The amount books I sell on pre-order will set my royalty amount. And I want a huge amount. Not for me, but because all my royalties from the book, or any poems therein I sell individually, will be split between End of Life Washington and the ALS Association. So, start putting your list together of people you want to give the book to, and when I post the link, you can pre-order.

For those of you who pre-order, and would like a signed copy, or copies, all you need to do is send me a self-addressed stamped envelope and tell me how you would like it/them signed, and I will send you back individually signed book plates that can be placed in the books. You can email me when the time comes, to get my snail mail address, if you don’t already have it. 😉

Now We Know:
For years now, I’ve wondered when mass shootings happen and people want some honest gun control, not taking all guns, just banning assault rifles and asking for background checks, a certain party that claims family values, and children are important, and … yadda, yadda, yadda … and when the topic comes up, these people who bow to the NRA say, “Now is not the time.” Many of us have wondered if not now, when? Now we know. J. D. Vance told us, and NO ONE from the Republican Party changed or corrected what was spoken. I can’t remember the exact words, but basically, he told us that mass shootings in schools is the new normal and kids, teachers, and families have to learn to live with it. Now is not the time to discuss gun control, not gonna happen—EVER! If they have their way.

I don’t know a single Democrat, or Republican, who fears being deprived of their guns. They just want assault rifles banned. NO ONE needs an assault rifle unless they want to kill as many humans as possible in the shortest amount of time. That is the reason, not one of the reasons, the reason, those weapons were developed for the military—to kill as many enemy as possible in the shortest time. If you take an AR hunting Bambi’s daddy, and use it, you won’t have enough usable meat to bother packaging and placing in your freezer for later eating. A total waste of good venison!

When ARs were banned in “…1994, it was only for ten years. The ban applied only to weapons manufactured after the date of the ban’s enactment. It expired on September 13, 2004, following its sunset provision.” (Wikipedia) Once the ban expired and the party who loves fetuses, but thinks kids make excellent targets for practice, blocked the renewal of it.

“After Bill Clinton banned assault weapons in 1994, mass shooting deaths dropped by 43%. After the Republican Congress let the ban expire in 2004, they shot up by 239%. We don’t need to arm teachers; we need to BAN assault weapons again!” —Lee Turner, Democratic Congressional candidate for South Carolina District 04.

As Jeff Tiedrich said in his 5 September 2024 Substack article, everyone is entitled to my own opinion, “shove your thoughts and prayers, we’ve been thinking and praying since Columbine—and it hasn’t done shit.” I couldn’t have said it better. (If you’re paywalled on this one, let me know, it’s worth the read.)

In his Sunday article, “no, you fucking ghouls, school shootings don’t have to be a ‘fact of life’” Jeff has more good words to say. Normally, I’d apologize for the f-word, but y’all have heard it, deal with it. He’s right. And, frankly, if I knew of a stronger word, I think I’d use it. The time is NOW, lets get something positive done.

If you really want to own and fire an AR, then store it at your National Guard Armory, and only use it on their firing range. And for the sake of whatever god you may or may not worship, don’t buy one for your kid!!!

Photos of the Week—use your imagination and see:
   All the empty desks.
   All the smaller holes dug in hallowed burial grounds.
   The parents, siblings, grands, aunties, uncles, friends, family of blood and choice who cry.

from the desk of the very sad chihuahua;
mom says I need to write funny, but I’m still trying to picture the photos above. I don’t like what I’m seeing.

Earworm for the week:
Send In The Clowns — Ol’ Blue Eyes and Tony Mottola

MALA
Make America Laugh Again!!

OMG!! Dick & Liz Cheney endorsed and are voting for Kamala!!!

PIFA
Politics Is Fun Again!!

Road Tripping in 3 Weeks

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Happy Labor Day. Support Unions.

Weather in the Tries:
Oh, dear. the temps will range from 100 (one day) as a high to 88 (one day), most in the warmer side of the 90s. The lows will be the low side of the 60s. That really makes it pretty livable.

Road Tripping in 3 weeks:
I am getting ready to leave on a month-long road trip. The other day I sat down, and figured my traveling, dates of travel, dates of visit, etc. Got it all finalized, and then some friends in Berkeley let me know I need to stop and see them, too. Oh, the price of fame, poetry, family, and friends!

One week from today, Monday the 9^th, I get the pins taken out of my toe. I hope, oh how I hope, that I will be able to walk, if not like an Egyptian, at least with a modicum of normalacy. I don’t know how long it will take, but to be able to walk on my whole foot, not just the outside edge. A two-footed happy dance 😉 Happy, happy, dance, dance, dance!!!

For the first time since my surgery 5 weeks ago, my toe hurts. Sometimes. Housemate Dan figures it’s the nerves getting back together (yeah, it feels like needles in my toe.) Bad enough when I’m up, but oh, when it happens at 0:Dark:00 it’s enough to bring me out of a deep sleep.

Photos of a Few Weeks Past:
Ice Dragons Dancing. Don’t you just want to shiver looking at them? Save them for those really hot days!

from the desk of Sammy brave dog;
oh, look. it automatically capped my name. it caps my name and if I type I it caps that, too. my human has a neat computer. and when she goes on her road trip, maybe housemate dan will turn it on and I can practice my typing. and send her emails.

MALA

Make America Laugh Again

A Kinda Sorta Political Post

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Weather in the Tries:
Oooooh! Temps will be mostly in the 80s with a couple dips to the 70s, and the weekend in the 90s. Can ya dig it? And the lows will be in the 50s with the weekend being low 60s. A few years ago, this week, I went to the hospital to give birth to my Favorite Daughter. It was sunny, warm, and summer. When I came home a few days later, it was cold, rainy, and fall. Ever since then, I’ve associated her birthday with the advent of cooler weather. Her birthday is Wednesday, which should be spelled Wensday.

A Kinda Sorta Political Post:
I watched most of the DNC in highlight snippets, but the last night, I watched live. What a blast! What humor! I don’t recall any of it being put-down, with the possible exception of one guy who said he was very impressed with the AI audience that filled the auditorium. He even managed to deliver the line and keep a dead-pan face, for a couple seconds.

The night before, I watched Tim Walz make his acceptance speech and was truly impressed. I would gladly sit at the table in the Walz kitchen and share an iced tea and maybe a white man’s taco/Bwahahahaha. One of the biggees of my admiration for them is the way they have raised their kids. OMG, that young man, Gus! Wow!! He was so proud when Dad gave his speech, Gus stood with tears of joy running down his cheeks, pointed at his dad on the stage and said, “That’s my Dad, That’s my Dad.” I nearly had tears running down my cheeks, too, from sharing his joy.

I’ve tried not to go political here, but, alas, I’ma gonna do it. Admittedly, I watched only the highlights, and darned few of them, of the RNC, but the biggest difference I saw between the two was Joy. The DNC was full of it, the RNC sorely lacked. In seeing the snippets on the news, the MAGA crowd are always not just serious, but angry, vindictive. Or they look that way. As do a tremendous number of the evangelicals supporting the MAGA movement, whereas the MALA (Make America Laugh Again) people, whether democrats or republicans, find humor in their lives. MAGA wants to destroy, tear down, lock up, kill. MALA wants to build, unify, help, laugh. Pessimists v. Optimists.

Several years ago, when I was a good bible-toting Christian, Pastor brought up the subject of humor in church one Sunday (Baptists allowed humor? /snort.). Based on the adage that the nut seldom falls far from the tree, he decided Yahweh, father of Jesus, had a sense of humor—somewhere. But he had biblical proof that the son, Jesus, had humor: Matthew 19:14, Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” New International Version.

Yep, that was his proof. Remember when you were a kid at the park, and at one end was a guy yelling at the adults and any kids who wandered by, shouting about sin and salvation, heaven and hell, with more about the latter than the former? A ways down the park was a guy making balloon animals and telling funny stories? Where did you and your mates go? I can pretty much guess—you went to the guy who smiled, who made you and your mates laugh. You went to the guy who told funny stories, who made you laugh and feel good about yourself and being alive. Unless, of course, your masochism made an early debut and you went to the angry preacher and reveled in the pain.

Jesus tells stories that make children feel good about being alive, who makes them laugh. I don’t know why so many (alleged?) Christians are so severe, so lacking in humor, so angry, unless it’s power. Some will have power and therefore will continue the severity, the beatings, the hate, until morale improves. Because everyone knows if you make people fear you, especially through your God’s anger as delivered by his “chosen” modern day prophet ie, you, that person, that prophet, will have power! The great Walt Whitman once said, “Re-examine all you have been told. Dismiss what insults your soul.” [emphasis mine]

Photos of the Week:
The Great Blue is usually on the big pond, this is the only time I’ve seen him on our pond, and yes, that’s ice next to and on top of, the water. The pix were taken Jan ’23.

from the desk of the confused chihuahua;
my human got stitches out of her toe last week, and then her toe was taped down. I don’t understand, was it flying away. and why would she have stitches in her toe, was it falling off. anyhow housemate dan is walking me. my human says her toe doesn’t hurt, but it isn’t comfy. I still wonder how she got her toe in her sewing machine. and why she would do it. and why couldn’t she pull her stitches. humans are very, very strange.

MALA

Make America Laugh Again

Something Different

Still Dancin’ the Happy

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Weather in the Tries:
We are looking at a week of day temps in the 80s, night temps in the 60s, with Tuesday being the outlier on air quality. All week will be in the yellow except Tuesday will be red—unhealthy. As much smoke as we have now, I’m surprised we’re still in the yellow, moderate level.

Still Dancin’ the Happy:
Yeah, my dancing is still one-legged, though I can now walk on the side of my poor, assaulted, wounded foot that is home to said toe. The use of the walker is now more for balance, and if I go to any sort of crowded venue, a protective cage.

And I’m still wearing the oh-so-stylish (NOT) shoe, also more as a visual to warn people I’m injured. The dr. was quite pleased with the foot once the dressing came off. I am now down to one band aid. And the shoe is now a tad too big. But I can wear my socks on both feet 😉

Still haven’t walked the beast. Hope to do that this weekend. I’m fairly confident that if I use the walker, and have something to hold onto, that I can properly pick up offerings to the Grass Gods and dispose them to nearest dumpster. Oops, I mean altar.

The stitches will come out in one week, the pins in four weeks. Then I’m good to go, and the dr. said my road trip won’t be affected. Phew! And once the pins are out, I can take a real shower! I can get my foot wet! Oh, it will be so difficult not to break into a happy dance in the shower, but I shall contain my enthusiasm.

I have a bath stool, but I have to cover my foot, and use the handheld shower. No way am I going to stand with one foot on edge. And if I cover my foot, and hang it outside, a certain amount of water goes out, no matter how careful I am, and then I have to clean it up, and life is, at times, hard, Bunky. So I’m pretending I’m back in the Army, and bathing out of my helmet. Except I use the sink 😉 Believe me, I feel considerably safer.

One of my super good friends bought me a walker, and lemme tell you, it has been a godsend! Now, I am happy to state being allowed to walk on the outside edge of my foot, I only need it for balance. I have to walk on the outside edge, and drive with the outside edge of my foot on the Go pedal. As long as I pay attention to where I put my feet, and stay on the level, I’m doing fine. Now, I’m wondering how long it will take me to walk normal once the pins come out. But it will be great to do a two-footed happy dance when it happens 😉

Photos of a While Back:
The bunny was a friend of Thomas. Bunny had a crippled leg, but was pretty brave when Thomas watched him in the back yard.

I think this is a Peony bud with a visitor. I truly appreciate the telephoto lens on my camera. I got my photo, and the Dude Stinger took off in an opposite direction.

Quote of the Week:

MALA!

Make America Laugh Again!

One-Legged Happy Dance

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Weather in the Tries:
Holy Kamala! Monday is the only triple digit day forecast for the week. Gonna be all the way down in the 90s. Oh, can you see me do my one-legged happy dance? Now, where is my parka……

And why, you are asking, is it a one-legged happy dance?
Because on Tues last, I had the double hammer toe of my right foot fixed. I can put weight on my heel, and only my heel, and I cannot pass Go or collect any moneys. Shuckins, I can barely make it from my bedroom to my desk, to the kitchen. My walker helps, but if I’m taking dishes with food in them, I have to use my cute little pink steno chair so I have something to set them on. A steno chair makes a fair walker, but probably not as safe as the real McCoy.

I was told if I wear a bra, make it a sport bra, but nothing with an underwire. I had to ask the nurse why? Was I going to have a scar from my toe to my boob? Anyhow, Dr. uses a cauterizer, and though they have a grounding pad under me, they just want to be sure nothing untoward happens. Believe me, that was a relief. But that woulda been some kind of scar!

I spent the first 4 days either on my bed with my foot elevated, or at my desk with my foot elevated. No swelling. And really good drugs that did nada, so after two of the pills, I moved over to over the counter NSAID instead of the oxycodone. Those NSAIDS worked a whole lot better. And 6 was all I required! Last one was Thurs morning.

Housemate Dan has been in charge of the hound during this fun time. Since I can’t put any weight on the toe part of my foot, it’s a tad difficult to pick dog dishes up from and put them down again on the floor, and no way can I go outside and walk him, let alone bend over to pick his offering to the Grass Gods then throw it into the Alter/dumpster. Sammy is very happy that the Grass Gods always accept his offering. Me, too./snort/ 😉

Photo of the week:
Wounded foot. Isn’t that exciting? I have YES on my right leg, as well as the dr’s initials, and NO on my left leg. Indelible ink. The ink is still on me. I can’t get my foot wet, and even with a plastic taped to my leg, I can’t stand in the shower to scrub, I have to sit. And scrubbing the ink off is not a high priority. Yet.

from nurse chihuahua;
sorry, folks, can’t sit in my chair when my human is in it. and if she’s not in it, I have to be next to her and act as guard dog. it would be easier to take care of my human, if I had longer legs and opposable thumbs.

“A mind, once stretched by an idea…”

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Weather in the Tries:
Oh, baby, it ain’t gonna be cooler for long! Monday and Tuesday in the high 80s, Wed 91, Thursday and on–triple digit. Unless the weather person didn’t read the tea leaves correctly, or some activist opened the cage all the butterflies of Peking were wintering in, or the weather computers and storm models got hacked, or… well, you get the picture. I hope. In the meantime, the Brave Dog and I are enjoying nights cool enough to sleep well.

“A mind, once stretched by an idea can never return to its original dimensions.” Ralph Waldo Emerson:
Boy Howdy! Am I ever giving my mind a good stretching—up/down and across this way and then that way. You’d think, after the nine years five months and 23 days I spent in uniform, I’d have learned the age-old military commandment: Never Volunteer! But I didn’t. And the training I’m getting for my volunteer ‘job’ is pretty thorough and pretty mind stretching, for me at least.

I’m learning to become proficient and use a very involved and dynamic database. Of course, someone with all the fat fingers I have can’t be trusted to play around in the live data base, so they have set up a parallel (?) one we can use to learn on. Of course, it’s made to use Chrome or Google, and I use Safari. There are, I gather, some differences. In their favor is the individual classes, online, are quite good, and once I’ve done it, I’m pretty good to re-do it. Even that little bit of muscle memory helps. And all the folks I’ve met so far are very helpful and supportive. Aaah, who says you can’t teach an old lady new tricks? It just takes longer 😉 And oddly, I’m even remembering some of the stuff I learned at The Boeing Company so many years ago from some of the computer geeks 😉

All that to say, this will be short today, as I’ve got homework to do (before the dog eats it).

Photo of the Week:
Went out for dinner on Friday night, we ate outside, and yes, we could smell smoke, and you can see it here, but it was still better than being inside where it was loud. How loud you ask? Imagine a metal building with nothing in it to absorb sound except a few adults. Now, add to the mix 300 unsupervised two-year-olds running around yelling and screaming in their high-pitched voices that sound like huge mosquitoes buzzing. It was louder than that. And the air quality was in the moderate range. Still, a gorgeous setting sun.

Coffee Break Escapes with Auntie Lenora

Short readings for short times

Happy Monday!!

Darth Vader Will Speak No More

Heroes and Hallowed Ground

Road Tripping in 3 Weeks

A Kinda Sorta Political Post

Something Different

Still Dancin’ the Happy

One-Legged Happy Dance

“A mind, once stretched by an idea…”

FMQ Looks Soooo Easy!