MAXINE for President

Oldhorsetailsnake and I have decided to mount a Maxine for President campaign. You can check it out at http://oldhorsetailsnake.blogspot.com. It was the April 29th post. She's a no nonsense kind of gal, so we think she would take care of all the problems that have arisen in the past 5 years or so. At the very least, she could probably catch Osama Bin Laden in no time flat!

Can you take just one more post about the coffee pot saga? I promise it will be the last one. The Krups pot I bought on Wednesday leaked 2+ cups of water all over the counter top sometime during the night, so it will go back to it's former home (Kohl's) and I will go to Sam's and buy their cheapest pot. It will probably work better than all the others combined. PLEASE tell my husband that I didn't spill the water, neither did I overfill the pot.

Drowning in magazines

I'm drowning in magazines. It seemed like a good idea at the time; I received an offer to trade my frequent flier (or is it flyer) miles for free magazine subscriptions. I scanned the list of those available, and while they didn't all appeal to me, there were some I liked - and some that I thought might educate us a little - especially about current events. I chose Time, Newsweek, US News and World Report, Nat. Geographic Traveler, Travel and Leisure, Town and Country Travel, and another travel mag. I can't remember the name of right now. There was also W, Smithsonian, and Town and Country. My daughter takes Oprah and People and gives them all to me, so that makes 13 magazines, some of which come weekly.

I can just hear you....."Why in the world does that woman need so many magazines, since she spends most of her free time (and some that isn't) on the darn computer, reading blogs? And why would she take four travel magazines, when she can't afford to travel more than 50 miles from home, considering what the gas prices are nowadays"? Plus, she subscribes to Martha Stewart Weddings and buys other wedding magazines too!"

I know not the answer to your question. They caught me in a weak moment, and they used the word "free" which lures me like a magnet! The next time I get a similar offer, unless they have Veranda, Southern Accents and Architectural Digest on their list - they can shove it. By the way, if you are hard up for reading material, I will gladly give you some.

A rant worthy of a blogroll.......

If you want to read something funny - and learn how to handle salesmen and phone clerks - go to: http://www.mittenandmetchell.com/mettenupdate.html


I think I should have him call the coffee pot people for me!


FINALLY: the correct link!

Update: The coffee situation

On Tuesday, I bought a Krups pot from Kohl's, mainly because it had 12-cup capacity and a clock-timer. Unpacking it, I discovered it had no filter basket. I simply cannot believe that the packer failed to include such an integral part, considering the original price of the pot was over $100. . It was on sale, plus I had a 15% coupon, so my cost was less. Anyway, on Wednesday, I returned it and bought another, and I checked before I left the store to make certain it had all the parts. I have made coffee 3 times since then, and all is well, except - there was a little water on the counter under and around the pot this morning. What is it, people? Am I dumb or something? I know I am not overfilling the pots, so why, why, why does water leak out of them. If it happens again, I am going to take the advice of one of my commenters and buy a $19.95 pot, without a timer and smaller capacity. Maybe the cheap pots will work better than ones with all the bells and whistles??!!

It's Official.......I'm completely E-addicted!

It's now official: I am completely and totally addicted to the computer and more specifically to reading blogs. As if I really have time for all this. You guys simply have to stop writing such interesting stuff so I can get back to the other important aspects of life!

Since I am computer illerate and have NO clue how to make or get a blogroll, I have to do this the hard way. Choosing my very favorite blogs (out of the list of 52 in my favorites column) will be hard, but I think you ought to know whom I read everyday. Here goes:


www.63days.com
allurblogs.blogspot.com
www.bigredcouch.org/blog/
blackpunkin.blogspot.com
ellemental.net
everydaystranger.net
onceadored.blogspot.com (formerly Rosie)
agagreflex.blogspot.com
jameswagner.blogspot.com
www.looseleafnotes.com
www.micheleagnew.com
oldhorsetailsnake.blogspot.com
chapternext.typepad.com/open_book/
planetbrenda.blogspot.com
pratie.blogspot.com
weeklyscheiss.blogspot.com
sigcarlalfred.blogspot.com
silverlining.blogs.com/silver_lining/
www.thewsvr.com
theblogoftheday.com
andthistoo.blogspot.com
threeyearsentence.blogspot.com
timegoesby.net/weblog
tishasharpthewriter.blogspot.com

Thanks to all of you for the hours of pleasure, laughs and education you afford me each and every day. What ever did I do with my time before I discovered blogs?

An exercise in futility.....well not totally futile.....

I went shopping today. BAH! Humbug! I need a coffee pot that won't leak after a few months of hard use, and I'm not sure any company is making good ones nowadays. Someone who makes 3-4 pots of coffee per day must have quality! Over the past 3 years I have had 4, count 'em 4, replacement pots from Mr. Coffee. Here's the pattern: I bought a Mr. Coffee with all the bells and whistles (clock, automatic timer, temp.- adjustable warming plate, adjustable strength setting, 12 cup capacity) which my husband says looks like something from outer space and requires a Master's degree in engineering to program it. That's not true, you only need a B.S. However, the first pot leaked clear water after 5 months. I called the company and they were so nice; offered to replace it free of charge, if only I would read them the number off the plug-in prong. I did, and 3 weeks later, here came a brand-new pot. That pot lasted a few weeks shy of the last one, except it leaked part water and part coffee. I called and got a new one delivered soon. I asked the customer service woman on the phone if she thought it might be a good idea for the factory to institute some quality control so they wouldn't have to replace pots all day long. She agreed with me, but didn't seem to care one way or the other. The whole process happened again with the next pot, except this time it only took 3 days for it to leak
pure coffee all over the counter top. I called again, mad as a hornet, and got the promise of a replacement immediately. The last pot has been in service since 2-2-05 - and guess what - it is now leaking. I put 12 cups of water in it and I get back 10 cups of coffee and 2 cups leak out all over the place. You and Mr. Coffee can rest assured I will not buy that brand ever again. I am now in the market for a good quality pot, one with 12 cup capacity and guaranteed quality control before it leaves the factory. I looked at Bunn and Krups today, but I am so afraid of making another bad choice that I walked out of the store empty handed. Well, not completely empty handed; there was the red sun hat and the 2 pairs of shoes. I had to buy those to help me get over the sadness of the coffee pot problem!

P.S. I drink decaf, so it is not as bad as it sounds. What brand of pot do you use and would you buy another one just like it?

Update: I called the company this morning and they have offered to send a full refund if I can produce the original purchase receipt (which I can) and will send it to them along with 4" of the cord and the wall plug. As soon as I purchase a replacement pot (water on the counter top is far more agreeable than no coffee at all), I will do just that.

Are you compulsive too?

I am compulsive about a few things, one is that my hangers all have to face the same direction in the closet. My Mom, who was as compulsive/obsessive as anyone I've ever known, taught me that. As she put it, if you have a fire and you want to take your clothes from the closet pole, always put the hangers in the same direction, then you will be able to remove them easily. I suspect if we had a fire at our house, I'd be thinking about more important stuff than which way the hangers faced, don't you? And still, I do it.

Another compulsion I have is to remove pricetags and sticky labels from everything I buy. Books are a good example; I cannot stand a price label left on the cover of a book. Don't know why, it just can't be there if I'm handling the book. Same with plastic bins and storage crates. It's gotta' go!
Even if it's on your bin or crate, it's gotta' go.

The worst peeve I have is with magazine inserts. Nothing bothers me more than to pick up a new magazine and have inserts drop out all over the floor, and worse yet, there are still more of them stuck in the pages. The first thing I do is remove all the inserts and toss them into the trash. So if you are a magazine publisher or advertiser, I advise you to nix inserts, because I don't respond to them or even read them. Does anyone?

Poor Memory = No blog tonight

All my best ideas for subjects to blog about come to mind while I am speeding down the highway. Thinking it best not to write down ideas while I am driving, I try committing them to memory - but by the time I have come to a red light - or a parking lot - they are gone with the wind. Should I keep a tape recorder in the car? It would have to be simple to use, or else it would defeat the purpose. What would you suggest? How do you come up with ideas to blog about? What method do you use to keep them in mind until you get to the computer? Thanks, in advance........

Jim and Tammy have left my building.....

Years ago, when my son was small, his favorite TV program was The Jim and Tammy Show, filmed in a local station in Portsmouth, VA. They always showed a cartoon called "Davey and Goliath" and my boy loved it, but he also loved to see Jim and Tammy. They taped the show live everyday and we decided to take our son to a taping for his 3rd birthday. The children sat on bleachers on the set, and parents were seated nearby, but off camera. During the show, Tammy was blowing up balloons and making animals, and she dropped a balloon. My baby jumped down off the bleachers and picked up the balloon and tugged on Tammy's sleeve to get her to notice so he could give the balloon back to her.

What happened next almost caused me to leave the set and scream. She swatted at my boy and told him in a tight-mouthed hiss to "get back in your seat and stay there!!", while flapping her arms in the general direction of the bleachers. I. was. livid., as you might imagine, and as I was also 5 months pregnant with my second child, hormones were raging. My poor baby did as he was told, but sat for the rest of the taping looking as though he had lost his best friend. All she had to do was take the balloon and say thanks. It made me so sad to see him hurt, and it was hard to explain to him later why she acted the way she did, without taking all of his sense of wonder away or making him cynical at way too young an age.

From that time forward, I didn't trust Jim or Tammy. We moved away from VA., and forgot about the Jim and Tammy Show. Lo and behold Jim and Tammy show up on TV many years later, acting all loving, and moral, and sweet and caring and Christian as all get out. I was not impressed, and I didn't believe they were sincere. I guess I was right.

Pollen, pollen go away..and take Scott with you!

Pine pollen has hit full force this week, covering everything with a thick yellowish coat. My car, which is hunter green, looks like it is layered with chartreuse powder, and my 2 cats, normally black as night, look celery green after rolling on the garage floor. Car wash shops are doing a booming business, but I wait until the pollen leaves for good. Otherwise, it is a total waste of money.

Update on the abcessed tooth: it is gone, but not forgotten. Someone forgot to read the full directions given him by the oral surgeon, and did not use an ice pack - on 20minutes/off 20 minutes - for 6 to 8 hours following the removal. So we have the chipmunks residing in the cheek again, but only 2 of them this time. I am somewhat tired of cooking soft foods; it will be good to get back to a normal diet, and popcorn every evening. He, of course, loves a good excuse to eat ice cream and pudding, but that will fade away soon.

AMERICAN IDOL FANS: Do you think that Scott Savol has paid a lot of people to call in and vote for him? That is the only reason I can think of that he is still in the game and Anwar is out. What's your take on it?

Who wanted to know?

Who wanted to know where I read a post about dropping off all the child molesters in the Arctic? I finally found it again:
http://tishasharpthewriter.blogspot.com

but I lost the email asking where I found it. Hope whomever wanted it sees it here. Maybe I'll find the email again................

Planned obsolescence

Most of the time I resist the urge to rant about "the way things used to be", but I noticed something recently I am compelled to mention. When both my parents were gone and I was cleaning out their house, I brought home all the towels, washcloths, sheets and bedspreads they had. I am an only child, so don't be thinking I was stealing from siblings. I have now had those towels, etc. for 10 years and most of them had been bought between the years of 1950 and 1982, after which my Mom was too ill to shop. Would you believe that most of those things are in better condition now than the towels and sheets I bought between the years of 1980 and now? I have been using Mom's towels and sheets since 1995, and they are none the worse for the wear, while the ones I've bought recently are noticeably thinner and in some cases, shredding on the edges.

I have towels that I used at summer camp in the late 40's, and I know this because they are marked with my name in the corner. They are still usable and while they are a little thin, you would never believe they are more than 50 years old. Why on earth cannot the current manufacturers make towels and sheets that withstand the rigors of washing machines the way they used to? That is a rhetorical question, of course, I know they CAN make them, but they don't because it would mean we never have to buy them again unless we get tired of the colors. It is too bad that the work ethics and product standards of previous times have been forgotten - or more likely - set aside for the almighty dollar.

Be afraid......Be Very Afraid

Brenda, who writes from Planet Brenda (http://planetbrenda.blogspot.com) has previously voiced that she is terrified of robots. Something I saw tonight on UNC-TV might make her hide under the covers for a while. On the program Scientific American Frontiers, there was a segment about engineers at MIT who have created a robot named Leonardo, who looks like a large, first generation Furby. Leonardo is said to be the first robot with artificial intelligence. It was fascinating to watch him (or it) move upon voice command and respond to the questioners' (Alan Alda) directives. Leo has cameras in his eyes which help him mimic the movements of the person with whom he is interacting. According to a woman who was instrumental in his creation, they are attempting to make a robot with which you can interact as you would with a human, and would respond to much as you would a human. This has been difficult before, since most robots have looked more like machines than people (except for R2D2 - or was it C3PO?). So Brenda, avoid this program at all costs, should it be repeated.

Thanks to Suzanne at Words Rock.......

Thanks to the wonderful Suzanne at Words Rock, I will now receive all my comments in the correct email box. YOU ROCK, Suzanne!

I'm off to the dentist with my husband, whose jaw looks like he may have stuffed 3-4 chipmunks in it. Seems he was told 6 months ago that he needed a root canal, but he ignored the warning and now he is paying dearly, in more ways than one.
Wish me luck; I've written before about the perils of having a sick husband.

Update: The dentist says he should either have the tooth pulled or have a root canal and a crown. He has to take antibiotics today and call back tomorrow with his decision. There is not, of course, a good time for this kind of thing to happen, but this week is the worst, as a group he belongs to is having their annual expo Friday through Sunday. He started this group and is integral to its function, but they might have to get along without him this year. Actually, that might not be a bad thing - as some of the men might realize that they are capable of running the show without my hubby, instead of leaning on him for everything! See, there really is a silver lining to the storm cloud. At least that is what I tell myself daily.

A Job Well Done

A job well done is cause for feeling self-satisfied, and today, that is my state of mind. My florist friend and I (with 4 other helpers) designed and delivered 4 weddings in the last 3 days. All went well and we are very proud of ourselves. There is a lot to be said about the satisfaction that comes with doing a job well and knowing it. I am the poster girl (I do use the term "girl" loosely) for that, and the American work ethic is alive and well here! Truly, though, if you knew how much I enjoy working with flowers, you would make me pay you for the privilege.

Old Horsetail Snake (http://oldhorsetailsnake.blogspot.com) mentioned most embarrassing moments in his post today and I have already written about two of mine. You can check them out in my post of February 22 - sorry I don't know how to link to it for you. Snake was impressed......maybe you'll be too.

Do you play Michele's Weekend Meet and Greet? It is a fun game, and brings all sorts of nice people to read your stuff, as well as introducing you to some you might not otherwise see. Check it out at: www.micheleagnew.com

Those of you who like good writing which also happens to be funny should check out www.theWVSR.com . Jeff posts every weekday and gets many comments, some of which are even funnier than the original post. I never miss it and it never fails to make me laugh.

I am now taking my tired body to bed and a good book awaits me. Have a wonderful weekend and come back soon.

"Downtown" is gone forever

A post I read yesterday, on http://jendomain.blogspot.com got me to thinking about the downtown area of the town I grew up in - which happens to be the same town she was writing about. I'll never forget the first time I was allowed to walk through town alone; I asked if I could walk to my grandmother's house which was a good mile and a half away. I was 6 or 7, and I felt so grown-up. Little did I know that my Mom was following me in the car, about a block behind.

The following summer, when I was playing with a group of friends, we went onto a bridge near our houses and I stuck my head through the bars of the railings to see what was in the water beneath the bridge. Stupid me couldn't pull my head back through the bars and the fire department had to be called. They finally coaxed me out by having me twist my head to the side. I like to say now that my ears were so big I couldn't pull my head out. Maybe that's why an old boyfriend told me that when my hair was in a ponytail, I looked like a Cadillac head-on with the front doors open.

Jen blogged about 2 diners in our town; I remember one of them, called the Quarrier Diner. I took some classes in a building across the street from the diner, and every morning we would order grilled sweet rolls. I can still conjure up their taste - as near to Heaven as I am likely to get. Back then I could eat stuff like that everyday and never gain an ounce. They also had excellent barbecue sandwiches, and I have never been able to find another one like it. Speaking of "Quarrier". I remember reading that the only street in the world with that name is in Charleston, WV.

I used to work in the Diamond Department Store, multi-floored and fabulous, back in the 50's. I started there as a member of their "College Board" one summer and worked as a gift wrapper,model, sales clerk and finally their "Personal Shopper". This was a great job, as I got to spend other people's money buying gifts for people they didn't have the time or the inclination to shop for. It was a little like going out on a treasure hunt each time we had an order, and some were easier to fill than others. Once a young man came in to buy Christmas gifts for his fiancee, and I helped him spend $100, which was a whopping sum back in the day. Turns out she had been one of my junior high school classmates, and she loved all the stuff I picked out for her. The Diamond had a snack bar as well as a cafeteria, and you could run into many people you knew by eating there. If I had a dime for every time I sat at that counter...........

I used to go to the local Woolworth's Five and Dime (as they used to be called) and buy doll clothes, candy, gum and toys. That store had a smell that permeated the whole building, and I think it was stale hot-dog chili, emanating from the lunch counter. I spent many an hour there, looking and dreaming as only a small girl can. I also spent many hours in the library. In the summer, Mom would take me there every week, and I would check-out 10-12 books and read every one before they were due.

Parades in small towns are usually fun; as a member of the local "Rainbow Girls" close-order drill team, I marched in many parades, up and down "The Boulevard", which is the main drag, beside the Kanawha River. When we came to the viewing stand, usually filled by city dignitaries (or wannabees), we would stop and show off our latest drill, except that we were holding batons, not guns. Two years ago, I got to see the Marine Corps Drill Team perform at Marine Headquarters in DC and they did it with such style and grace it was amazing. They hold real guns, with bayonets attached. Part of their drill is to toss those guns back and forth to each other, and viewers are certain that someone will lose a body part, but it appears they seldom, if ever, make a mistake.

I said in the title that downtown was gone forever. In Charleston, it isn't gone as completely as in some other cities. The reason is that space is so limited there, due to the rivers and mountains that stores and malls only have just so much area to build in. Consequently, there still remains a vestige of the way it used to be. But in my mind, it is gone forever. Too bad that small town America has gone "poof" like smoke from a bonfire.

I can't get no satisfaction..........

I lied, yes I can. I spent almost 2 hours on the phone with a Road Runner service tech today, and I finally was able to get activated and set up a new email address. But I must say, it was like pulling teeth in the dark without pliers. See, I am so illiterate (computer-wise) that service techies have to work hard to suppress their obvious disgust with me. I always start off telling them that I know nothing about the workings of a computer, so they will have to explain everything well and speak more slowly and louder than usual. This makes them edgy right off, and they would prefer to get me off the line ASAP. The guy today could hardly hide his boredom with my kind. though he persevered and now I can surf quickly and read more blogs in a shorter period of time. That's all I really wanted, you know.

Lightning before my very eyes!

I was on the 28th floor of a local building today, delivering flowers for a wedding reception, when lightning flashed right in front of my eyes! It appeared to be about 100 feet away, and I am sure that was an illusion, but it sure looked too close for comfort at the time. Quite an unnerving way to work, I assure you! One time before, I had a wedding in the same location, and the bride told me that thunder and lightning were so bad during her ceremony that they couldn't hear the minister. A microphone was brought out and they resumed the ceremony. Kinda' makes you wonder if it was meant to happen at all, doesn't it?

One wouldn't think that being a florist would put you in these types of situations, but it can be exciting in a sort of scary way sometimes. The worst hurricane to hit our area came through on a Thursday. I had a wedding on the Sat. after that, and no one knew what to expect of the site for the ceremony and reception. It was an historic home, and the ceremony was to be outdoors and the reception in a tent.

On the day after the storm, with no electricity in my shop, I had to work like a fool to get all the flowers done during daylight hours. Luckily, I got them finished. On Saturday, I headed to the site, not knowing if I could even reach it, due to all the trees downed around here. It was dicey, but I finally got there. Everyone connected with the wedding had done all they could and more to see that it went off without a hitch. The site was littered with downed tree limbs and branches, but everyone pitched in to help clear the grounds. The tent crew came late and worked fast, the caterers had to change the menu to things that could be cooked over a gas grill and drinks had to be iced in coolers. But in the end, the grounds were beautiful, the flowers were great, the food was excellent and the bride and groom were happy and above all, grateful for our efforts. And that is what makes it all worthwhile, lightning or no lightning.

Bad things come in threes........

Pope John Paul touched the lives of countless millions, many of whom were not Catholics. He was beloved by many people who had little apparent reason to love him, except that no matter what their religion, they recognized the innate goodness and sanctity of the man. HIs life and his death was a model for us all. Dignity and Grace and Determination to the end. Ciao, Papa and vaya con Dios.

Terri Schindler Schiavo, second of the week's deaths; a tortured soul now lain to rest. Or is she? I have so many thoughts on this debacle, but many of them are contradictory. Since I know few of the real facts, I won't comment further.

Who will the third person be? Some have already mentioned a singer who died, but as I am unfamilar with him, I think someone else will round out my trilogy.