A Series of Unfortunate Events.......

A whole series of unfortunate events has left me computerless still. The new one arrived, but it was defective. I have to send it back to the mfg. and wait for a replacement - which may take 2-3 weeks. I am inconsolable, as you might imagine. I promise to be back as soon as possible. I am at the mercy of friends who will let me use theirs for checking email, but I can't post to the blog until I get mine back. I hope you will hang in there with me! Thanks for all the nice messages........back soon, I hope. Judy

Shouldn't Be Too Long Now.....

New computer ordered - should be delivered Saturday and set up soon. I miss all of you!! Judy

Gone, But Not Forgotten, I Hope

Hi, everyone, I thought I should explain. Last Tuesday, our computer get fried in a huge thunder and lightning storm. I have been blog-less for 5 days! I am in TN, visiting my cousin, and hopefully, when I return home, the computer will either be fixed - or we will buy a new one. I have really missed reading, commenting and getting them. Hope to be back on-line soon! Judy

"Maintain Your Brain"

A recent article in our paper tells how to prevent or delay Alzheimer's disease. Among the recommendations:

1. Exercise your brain: do a new type of puzzle, learn to play chess, take a foreign language class or solve a vexing problem.

2. Socialize: Don't sit in front of the TV. People who are part of a group, whether it is a church or a book club, age healthier. Declining social interaction predicts declining cognitive function, government research shows.

3. Relax: People who have chronic distress - extreme worriers - are twice as likely to develop some forms of dementia; their brains are more vulnerable when disease strikes.

4. Exercise your body: Bad memory is linked to heart disease and diabetes, because clogged arteries slow blood flow in the brain. Elderly people who were less mentally and physically active in middle age are about three times as likely to get Alzheimers.

5. Eat right: Avoid artery-clogging fat and try for omega-3 fatty acids, found in fish and nuts. Eat dark-skinned fruits and vegetables (high in vitamins E and C). B vitamins and folic acid are also important.

The goal is to build up a "cognitive reserve", so that if illness strikes, you have the ability to withstand the attack longer before symptoms become obvious.

May I take the liberty of adding a # 6? My answer to growing older (in mind, at least) is to write. Everyday. It forces you to exercise your brain. To that end, I blog, and reading other blogs also exercises my brain - and often provides humor - which is shown to be extremely useful for good health. I am sure all of you reading here know this already - but it bears repeating - doesn't it?

Amusing Signs in Other Places

These were sent to me by the wonderful Maria, at http://silverfox-whispers.com/ , after reading the post about my "dyslexia". Apparently some of us have problems in translation as well!




In a Bangkok temple: "IT IS FORBIDDEN TO ENTER A WOMAN, EVEN A FOREIGNER, IF DRESSED AS A MAN."


Cocktail lounge, Norway: LADIES ARE REQUESTED NOT TO HAVE CHILDREN IN THE BAR.

Doctors office, Rome: SPECIALIST IN WOMEN AND OTHER DISEASES.

Dry cleaners, Bangkok: DROP YOUR TROUSERS HERE FOR THE BEST RESULTS

In a Nairobi restaurant: "CUSTOMERS WHO FIND OUR WAITRESSES RUDE OUGHT TO SEE THE MANAGER."

On Athi River highway: this is the main road to Mombasa,leaving Nairobi. "TAKE NOTICE: WHEN THIS SIGN IS UNDER WATER, THIS ROAD IS IMPASSABLE."

On a poster at Kencom: "ARE YOU AN ADULT THAT CANNOT READ? IF SO, WE CAN HELP."

In a City restaurant: "OPEN SEVEN DAYS A WEEK AND WEEKENDS."

A sign seen on an automatic restroom hand dryer: "DO NOT ACTIVATE WITH WET HANDS."

In a cemetery: "PERSONS ARE PROHIBITED FROM PICKING FLOWERS FROM ANY BUT THEIR OWN GRAVES."

Tokyo hotel's rules and regulations: "GUESTS ARE REQUESTED NOT TO SMOKE OR DO OTHER DISGUSTING BEHAVIOURS IN BED"

On the menu of a Swiss restaurant: "OUR WINES LEAVE YOU NOTHING TO HOPE FOR."

In a Tokyo bar: "SPECIAL COCKTAILS FOR THE LADIES WITH NUTS."

Hotel, Yugoslavia: "THE FLATTENING OF UNDERWEAR WITH PLEASURE IS THE JOB OF THE CHAMBERMAID"

Hotel, Japan: "YOU ARE INVITED TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE CHAMBERMAID."

In the lobby of a Moscow hotel across from a Russian Orthodox monastery: "YOU ARE WELCOME TO VISIT THE CEMETERY WHERE FAMOUS RUSSIAN AND SOVIET COMPOSERS, ARTISTS, AND WRITERS ARE BURIED DAILY EXCEPT THURSDAY."

A sign posted in Germany's Black Forest: "IT IS STRICTLY FORBIDDEN ON OUR BLACK FOREST CAMPING SITE THAT PEOPLE OF DIFFERENT SEX, FOR INSTANCE, MEN AND WOMEN, LIVE TOGETHER IN ONE TENT UNLESS THEY ARE MARRIED WITH EACH OTHER FOR THIS PURPOSE."

Hotel, Zurich: "BECAUSE OF THE IMPROPRIETY OF ENTERTAINING GUESTS OF THE OPPOSITE SEX IN THE BEDROOM, IT IS SUGGESTED THAT THE LOBBY BE USED FOR THIS PURPOSE."

Advertisement for donkey rides, Thailand: "WOULD YOU LIKE TO RIDE ON YOUR OWN ASS?"

The box of a clockwork toy made in Hong Kong: "GUARANTEED TO WORK THROUGHOUT ITS USEFUL LIFE."

In a Swiss mountain inn: "SPECIAL TODAY - NO ICE-CREAM."

Airline ticket office, Copenhagen: "WE TAKE YOUR BAGS AND SEND THEM IN ALL DIRECTIONS."

A laundry in Rome: "LADIES, LEAVE YOUR CLOTHES HERE AND SPEND THE AFTERNOON HAVING A GOOD TIME.

Is There Such A Thing As Adult-Onset Dyslexia?

Edit below!

What is happening to me?

Lately I cannot type the word "that"; I leave out the "a" every time. I have also noticed that I am transposing letters and numbers; for example, I type the phone number 555-1586, when it really should be 555-1856. Or I type the words "beautiful dreamer", for example, and it comes out "baeutiful draemer".

I am spending more time correcting typing errors than I am in actual post writing. Do any of you have that problem? I hope I am not the only one!

There was an article recently floating around the web purporting that it doesn't really matter if some of the letters in a word are scrambled, since we tend to read the word as a whole and process the meaning anyway. Though it may be true, I spend so much time trying to correct my errors in consideration of my readers. God forbid I should tax your brains any more than absolutely necessary!

Numbers are an entirely different story, however. If I am typing a phone number - or some such important numerical info - it behooves me to type it correctly. Short of proof-reading again and again, I don't know how to cure the problem. Any advice?

I feel so much better now tht I know many of you have the same problem - or a smmilar one. I have always been a good speller too, but a typist, I am not! See, I told ya'! I read that addition as perfect, until I hit publish, and then I saw the errors. LOL

The Armchair Travelogue - Miscellaneous

Top: The Biltmore House in Asheville, NC
#2. The Washington Monument
#3. Sunrise in Virginia Beach, VA.....2000
#4. Bright Angel Trail in the Grand Canyon, AZ
#5. The Grand Canyon
#6. Red Rocks outside of Sedona, AZ

Can you tell I am too busy to write a post? Perhaps I'll have a good story to tell after tomorrow's wedding is but a memory. Wish me luck!