I recently had an opportunity which I turned down to learn about writing memoirs. From rough draft to finished published tome. Although at first it seemed exciting to me, I suddenly had a moment of doubt, oh heck, it was the phrase, " you can be my beta tester." that threw me back into reality. What I wondered was a beta tester? Now I could have researched and found out but instead I quietly walked away, step at a time. Plus I was going to be pretty busy in the next few months and I am not sure that I would have the time to devote to it. Those are my excuses and I am sticking to them.
Since I'm lax in keeping up with the the three blogs I do have, I thought I would begin the rough draft on this one as let my life story is hardly front page news, more the next to the last below the fold of a community weekly. Nonetheless there is no time like the present to begin I guess, so I will use this format to begin the Memoir which is actually just a history for my children and grandchildren should the latter ever come to be. The title will come later.
So if anyone is following this.. feel free to abandon ship now or after the first draft of the early years of my oh so ( yawning here) exciting life. Or you can hang in with me and offer any advice, as I will either gracefully take any or all comments on this new venture.
So the next time I'll be here it will be to start this blogging memoir of my 62plus years. I am sure I will forget some things, and have poetic freedom with others. I have noted over the years that some folks in my life do not remember events as they occurred and I often wondered if we actually are focusing in on the same events. But hey this is my blog and my memories. I just hope I do it justice.
So for now I'll bid adieu.
Maybe next time I"ll have a title.
Thursday, June 11, 2015
Wednesday, May 13, 2015
Hello Spring or We are planting a garden again?
Well spring has done sprung here in my little neck of the woods. The noses are running from a major pollen outbreak and no rain to wash away the sneezes. The cars are yellow from whatever tree decides to share it's bloom residue. Even the pets have sneezes.
Spring, that wonderful time of the year when days can reach into the eighties, and we don't have our summer duds out yet, and the discussion is, should we turn on the air or open the windows. Well we open the windows, but now there is that pollen seeping in through the screens.
We rush to the garden supply store and to the farmers auction to buy flower and plants. It's warm, and look at the perennials pushing up after a particularly long cold winter. If they survived, can summer be far behind.
We prepare the little garden, add some new soil, repair the fence, anticipate the fruits of our efforts, whether visual or by taste when it happens. The dreaded frost warning. Well it was brisk today. The sky is clearing so any heat will dissipate and it could frost. So luckily this year, so far at least, nothing was actually put into he ground yet. No tarps necessary, we can move them into the garage for the night.
I've learned living here that weather can be a fickle girl. Mother Nature likes to toy with me, from the first fourth of July I lived here. That fourth when we needed sweatshirts and a fire in the fireplace. Now I always keep warm clothes close by in case they are needed. Even in May, June or July.
So we patiently wait on the long term forecasts, as we debate the number of tomato plants to put into the ground. We always plant too many. The herbs are flourishing. I know that by the end of May, I will have my plants in the ground and the flowering plants set in their pots. Then comes the daily watering plan... not too early but never at night, supposedly that isn't good. Because you know it never rains at night. I guard my flowers and plants from the deer who have invited themselves as they do every year to the garden patches, a smorgasbord of goodies, deer food, don't you know.
If the garden gods look down on us.. we share our tomatoes, and our corn, and the summer is good. The song is wrong though, the summer ain't ever easy here.
Spring, that wonderful time of the year when days can reach into the eighties, and we don't have our summer duds out yet, and the discussion is, should we turn on the air or open the windows. Well we open the windows, but now there is that pollen seeping in through the screens.
We rush to the garden supply store and to the farmers auction to buy flower and plants. It's warm, and look at the perennials pushing up after a particularly long cold winter. If they survived, can summer be far behind.
We prepare the little garden, add some new soil, repair the fence, anticipate the fruits of our efforts, whether visual or by taste when it happens. The dreaded frost warning. Well it was brisk today. The sky is clearing so any heat will dissipate and it could frost. So luckily this year, so far at least, nothing was actually put into he ground yet. No tarps necessary, we can move them into the garage for the night.
I've learned living here that weather can be a fickle girl. Mother Nature likes to toy with me, from the first fourth of July I lived here. That fourth when we needed sweatshirts and a fire in the fireplace. Now I always keep warm clothes close by in case they are needed. Even in May, June or July.
So we patiently wait on the long term forecasts, as we debate the number of tomato plants to put into the ground. We always plant too many. The herbs are flourishing. I know that by the end of May, I will have my plants in the ground and the flowering plants set in their pots. Then comes the daily watering plan... not too early but never at night, supposedly that isn't good. Because you know it never rains at night. I guard my flowers and plants from the deer who have invited themselves as they do every year to the garden patches, a smorgasbord of goodies, deer food, don't you know.
If the garden gods look down on us.. we share our tomatoes, and our corn, and the summer is good. The song is wrong though, the summer ain't ever easy here.
Friday, May 8, 2015
Politics, Local style
Politicians. They deliver their spiels and promise the world and how things will be better if you just vote for them. They lean left. They lean right. Some are wise in the ways of the political game. Some are not as wise but hopeful and work hard to honestly give their all as they somehow are seen at every function, getting their name to match a face online.
Then there are the supporters behind the scenes. Running the phone banks, putting out the signs, arranging the fund raisers and the meet and greets. Small town politics are an entity like no other. The letters to the editor, the sudden scandal, all add to the flavor of the spring primaries. Ours are next week. School boards, commissioners, township folks, even judges and recorders of wills.
While most of the country is making a recovery, slow and steady, and the attention is on the big boys and girls getting into the race early, hundreds of small counties like ours, will be casting the vote to make things better. To bring living wages into an area by bringing in businesses that will offer more than a minimum wage.
Keeping the funding for the schools while lowering property taxes to free up money that will stimulate the local economy are issues are our minds.
I'll be voting to clean house. The dust has been settling for too long and it's time for a change, time to let new faces tackle the status quo. They have come to love this area, and I don't believe they will just settle. Like the good ole boys in office now.
Come election morning I will go to the polls and cast my vote for change. For the future.
Then there are the supporters behind the scenes. Running the phone banks, putting out the signs, arranging the fund raisers and the meet and greets. Small town politics are an entity like no other. The letters to the editor, the sudden scandal, all add to the flavor of the spring primaries. Ours are next week. School boards, commissioners, township folks, even judges and recorders of wills.
While most of the country is making a recovery, slow and steady, and the attention is on the big boys and girls getting into the race early, hundreds of small counties like ours, will be casting the vote to make things better. To bring living wages into an area by bringing in businesses that will offer more than a minimum wage.
Keeping the funding for the schools while lowering property taxes to free up money that will stimulate the local economy are issues are our minds.
I'll be voting to clean house. The dust has been settling for too long and it's time for a change, time to let new faces tackle the status quo. They have come to love this area, and I don't believe they will just settle. Like the good ole boys in office now.
Come election morning I will go to the polls and cast my vote for change. For the future.
Monday, May 4, 2015
Spring has sprung
After a particularly cruel, cold, snowy, and prolonged winter, spring has sprung in all it's glory. Well, let me say it has arrived. The grass is struggling to recover, the bare patches show how often the dog goes in the front yard, the flower bed is still empty and in need of prep but it looks like spring has returned. I had doubts at times, and I like winter weather, but even I was getting weary. I look good in turtlenecks and hats, but enough was enough.
With spring here in the Poconos, comes awakening bears getting into the trash cans and strewing the carefully bagged garbage and sharing it with the neighbors. The birds are returning, hoping to reap the benefits of the bugs making their way out for another season. The bugs. We have a variety and most at some point find their way into the house as most do. They crawl, they fly, they creep up on a person when you least suspect them. We have deer, still being lazy and eating anything they can reach, an occasional skunk, raccoon or possum.
Every spring though what amazes me is how we have nothing on the trees one day, and the next morning the trees are alive with blooms, and buds, and pollen. The dreaded pollen. The scourge of my home. When you can do graffiti in the yellow that covers the car every morning, it's a lot of pollen. So we take pills, spray anti pollen up our nostrils, and buy huge warehouse club size packages of tissues.
I relish spring for it's moderate temperatures in the day and the cool nights. For the chance to bring out the short sleeved shirts, and smile when I realize that I really do not have to buy new sandals this year again. Heck I may even shave my legs. It is spring after all.
With spring here in the Poconos, comes awakening bears getting into the trash cans and strewing the carefully bagged garbage and sharing it with the neighbors. The birds are returning, hoping to reap the benefits of the bugs making their way out for another season. The bugs. We have a variety and most at some point find their way into the house as most do. They crawl, they fly, they creep up on a person when you least suspect them. We have deer, still being lazy and eating anything they can reach, an occasional skunk, raccoon or possum.
Every spring though what amazes me is how we have nothing on the trees one day, and the next morning the trees are alive with blooms, and buds, and pollen. The dreaded pollen. The scourge of my home. When you can do graffiti in the yellow that covers the car every morning, it's a lot of pollen. So we take pills, spray anti pollen up our nostrils, and buy huge warehouse club size packages of tissues.
I relish spring for it's moderate temperatures in the day and the cool nights. For the chance to bring out the short sleeved shirts, and smile when I realize that I really do not have to buy new sandals this year again. Heck I may even shave my legs. It is spring after all.
Saturday, August 6, 2011
Sticker shock
Well there certainly is enough to comment on in the news lately, but most if not all the finger pointing is taking up front page space. Although I mentally make a list of topics for this blog, I really should write them down as I never seem to remember them when I finally block out time at the keyboard.
So today I've decided to rant a bit on sticker shock. Not the price of retail goods or cars or even groceries, but where manufacturers, drugstores, grocers, almost any retailer or wholesaler opts to place a price sticker on an object.
This sticky tactic first came to light for me when I realized that the drugstore that I occassionaly used as a quick shop pick up, knowing full well I would be spending more money there, opted to start putting the price sticker on over an important part of the "directions for use". Now obviously some things we already know how to use, but there are times when we would like to reinforce this knowledge as ingredients do change as does how to use a product.
Not only does the offending drugstore employ bad placement but uses a sticker that defies removal without destroying the label beneath it. We should all have access to such adhesive. It could be used to mend everything from a broken piece of china, to patching a hole in a bike tire.
It is science at it's finest.
Then there is the bagged product, an ice scoop I purchased yesterday at a restaurant supply store. It was protected by a fine plastic bag. Was the price sticker on the bag? Nope. It was firmly adhered to the heavy aluminum scoop itself, defying any normal attempts to remove it without leaving the inevitable sticky substance behind. Now had I been at home I would have used any number of sticky removal tricks, but I was not, and so soaked it with soap and proceeded to scrape away the residue as best I could rinsing it many times over in the process. All the while wondering who had the idea that the sticker would best be placed on the scoop and not the bag.
Lets talk about plates or cups or glasses. Seems to me that the perfect area to place a price sticker on the aforementioned items is on the bottom of such an item. But noooo...I think major and not so major retailers train their staff to adhere those offensive little squares on used areas only. They must feel that we need the challenge of scraping off the stinky stickers, before we can wash them and use them. Goo gone has become a staple in my household, but then requires an open window as well as a double wash to remove that residue.
Now the final pet peeve of mine doesn't really fall into the category of stickers, but printed dates and information on plastic bags that keep our breads, rolls and other items fresh. If the use by date is stamped on a bag, why would not the manufacturer place a date where we could actually read it. Instead I have been noting that more often than not, this special little code that lets us know if the bread will make it through the week without turning a lovely color of blue, is placed in an area of the bag which makes it virtually impossible to see. I am then forced to go through the shelf until I find one that is legible and meets my requirements of purchase.
So that's that. Not earth shattering by any means, and in the grand scheme of what is happening in our country right now, truly way, way, way down on the list. Isn't it the little things that irk us, that truly make or break our day. We cannot do anything about grown elected officials who seem to be having issues playing nice with each other, and therefore causing more mayhem, at least until the next election. Perhaps we can make our daily life a little better by a well written email complaint, or a call to a store. A little reminder that there are a whole lot of places to shop and perhaps we will start buying the products or using the stores that make it easier for the comsumer. Now where is my list.
So today I've decided to rant a bit on sticker shock. Not the price of retail goods or cars or even groceries, but where manufacturers, drugstores, grocers, almost any retailer or wholesaler opts to place a price sticker on an object.
This sticky tactic first came to light for me when I realized that the drugstore that I occassionaly used as a quick shop pick up, knowing full well I would be spending more money there, opted to start putting the price sticker on over an important part of the "directions for use". Now obviously some things we already know how to use, but there are times when we would like to reinforce this knowledge as ingredients do change as does how to use a product.
Not only does the offending drugstore employ bad placement but uses a sticker that defies removal without destroying the label beneath it. We should all have access to such adhesive. It could be used to mend everything from a broken piece of china, to patching a hole in a bike tire.
It is science at it's finest.
Then there is the bagged product, an ice scoop I purchased yesterday at a restaurant supply store. It was protected by a fine plastic bag. Was the price sticker on the bag? Nope. It was firmly adhered to the heavy aluminum scoop itself, defying any normal attempts to remove it without leaving the inevitable sticky substance behind. Now had I been at home I would have used any number of sticky removal tricks, but I was not, and so soaked it with soap and proceeded to scrape away the residue as best I could rinsing it many times over in the process. All the while wondering who had the idea that the sticker would best be placed on the scoop and not the bag.
Lets talk about plates or cups or glasses. Seems to me that the perfect area to place a price sticker on the aforementioned items is on the bottom of such an item. But noooo...I think major and not so major retailers train their staff to adhere those offensive little squares on used areas only. They must feel that we need the challenge of scraping off the stinky stickers, before we can wash them and use them. Goo gone has become a staple in my household, but then requires an open window as well as a double wash to remove that residue.
Now the final pet peeve of mine doesn't really fall into the category of stickers, but printed dates and information on plastic bags that keep our breads, rolls and other items fresh. If the use by date is stamped on a bag, why would not the manufacturer place a date where we could actually read it. Instead I have been noting that more often than not, this special little code that lets us know if the bread will make it through the week without turning a lovely color of blue, is placed in an area of the bag which makes it virtually impossible to see. I am then forced to go through the shelf until I find one that is legible and meets my requirements of purchase.
So that's that. Not earth shattering by any means, and in the grand scheme of what is happening in our country right now, truly way, way, way down on the list. Isn't it the little things that irk us, that truly make or break our day. We cannot do anything about grown elected officials who seem to be having issues playing nice with each other, and therefore causing more mayhem, at least until the next election. Perhaps we can make our daily life a little better by a well written email complaint, or a call to a store. A little reminder that there are a whole lot of places to shop and perhaps we will start buying the products or using the stores that make it easier for the comsumer. Now where is my list.
Thursday, July 21, 2011
The Ride is Chosen
This is an update on the replacement issue on a new/old set of wheels for my youngest daughter.
Turns out that after much searching, researching, kicking tires, and test drives, the decision reached turned out not to buy a car. Thus was the text I received, late this afternoon, after mounting yet another internet search for a car to replace the last lost to lightning.
What...what...no car. This just wouldn't do, and I expressed my displeasure through a return text. There has to be a car. What could he be thinking, plans were for her to take the car to school to enable ease of coming home, without someone to retrieve her.
Perhaps our heat wave has worn down the effort, but I was determined before the week ended we would at least have a line on a vehicle.
As I prepared my argument, and settled in the shady, yet still hot lawn chair, I listened to the decision. Before I could even present my opinion, a lovely little new car pulled into the parking spot, driven by my smiling daughter.
Seems as though after much forethought about repairs possible with an older vehicle, and being five hours away, the decision was reached to not buy a car but lease one instead. Any repairs would be covered, the gas savings would be substantial, and the warranty was great. After I thought about the choice, I could see how this would be a reasonable conclusion.
A new car, perhaps a little smaller than she had hoped for, but with enough style and bells and whistles to satisfy my tech savy kid.
So although I would preferred an older prepaid car, guess the payments will do and we can decide in three years whether we want to keep the car or find another.
So no true lies where thrust my way, we did not buy a car, but leased a new one. Thus the search has ended and we can now move on. Thank goodness.
Turns out that after much searching, researching, kicking tires, and test drives, the decision reached turned out not to buy a car. Thus was the text I received, late this afternoon, after mounting yet another internet search for a car to replace the last lost to lightning.
What...what...no car. This just wouldn't do, and I expressed my displeasure through a return text. There has to be a car. What could he be thinking, plans were for her to take the car to school to enable ease of coming home, without someone to retrieve her.
Perhaps our heat wave has worn down the effort, but I was determined before the week ended we would at least have a line on a vehicle.
As I prepared my argument, and settled in the shady, yet still hot lawn chair, I listened to the decision. Before I could even present my opinion, a lovely little new car pulled into the parking spot, driven by my smiling daughter.
Seems as though after much forethought about repairs possible with an older vehicle, and being five hours away, the decision was reached to not buy a car but lease one instead. Any repairs would be covered, the gas savings would be substantial, and the warranty was great. After I thought about the choice, I could see how this would be a reasonable conclusion.
A new car, perhaps a little smaller than she had hoped for, but with enough style and bells and whistles to satisfy my tech savy kid.
So although I would preferred an older prepaid car, guess the payments will do and we can decide in three years whether we want to keep the car or find another.
So no true lies where thrust my way, we did not buy a car, but leased a new one. Thus the search has ended and we can now move on. Thank goodness.
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Looking for a new ride
This must be the time of year when new car models are starting to roll out on the lot, and car sales fill the want ads of the local paper, and television commercials extol the value of auto shopping at Uncle Henry's Wheels for less automart. Then lest we forget the articles on line, opening our minds up to "The Ten Best Cars to Buy" and still have money for food.
I normally wouldn't pay any attention to this as car shopping is as rare here as a day off, but we just happen to be in the market for new wheels for my youngest daughter. Well new older wheels.
Her last car, a hand me down from her older sister was hit by a school bus and then one of our many deer in the area decided to give it up on the front of her car less than a mile from our home. Since the car seems to have a large bullseye, invisible to the naked eye painted on it, and she needed a reliable car to travel to work, and drive to friends houses, movies, and places eighteen year old girls travel, it seemed prudent to look for a newer old car.
Right around her high school graduation, her father took her out on what we will refer to as the GREAT CAR SEARCH. Amazing as it sounds she got a car within a few days, one that I would have liked to own myself, and one that she never expected to get until she graduated college, and had a job for a while.
Her father seemed to have a weak moment, and she became the proud owner of a nine year old Volvo SUV. What a smart buy except for the price, the gas mileage, and the fact the vehicle had three rows of seats. But she loved the car, note the word loved. After owning this dream ride for a total of two days, we left town for three, leaving her precious set of wheels in the capable hands of her father to be taken back to the lot to have a few things tweaked.
Before the aforementioned vehicle could return, our area had a set of thunderstorms. Here comes the target thing back to haunt us. Mother Nature decided to lay down a bolt of energy, which hit our well, disabled the brain module in the car, and disable some phone lines. In the big scheme of things we are grateful our home wasn't hit.
Well as the title of this blog infers, the car was deemed unfixable within the budget for the insurance company, and car number two was totaled.
So the car hunt resumes. Should it be an suv, a sedan or my choice, a small efficient car with a low repair rate?
I am nothing if not sensible.
Car lots, internet searches, still not a car that will satisfy budget as well as criteria that my daughter has deemed as important. I have noticed as the search continues, her criteria has been adjusted somewhat. Now she just wants a car and soon. Her summer is slipping away and without her own set of wheels, there are few mall visits, or even a day at the beach.
So we continue to look, and we will step up the search.
Wish us luck as we look for a new ride.
I normally wouldn't pay any attention to this as car shopping is as rare here as a day off, but we just happen to be in the market for new wheels for my youngest daughter. Well new older wheels.
Her last car, a hand me down from her older sister was hit by a school bus and then one of our many deer in the area decided to give it up on the front of her car less than a mile from our home. Since the car seems to have a large bullseye, invisible to the naked eye painted on it, and she needed a reliable car to travel to work, and drive to friends houses, movies, and places eighteen year old girls travel, it seemed prudent to look for a newer old car.
Right around her high school graduation, her father took her out on what we will refer to as the GREAT CAR SEARCH. Amazing as it sounds she got a car within a few days, one that I would have liked to own myself, and one that she never expected to get until she graduated college, and had a job for a while.
Her father seemed to have a weak moment, and she became the proud owner of a nine year old Volvo SUV. What a smart buy except for the price, the gas mileage, and the fact the vehicle had three rows of seats. But she loved the car, note the word loved. After owning this dream ride for a total of two days, we left town for three, leaving her precious set of wheels in the capable hands of her father to be taken back to the lot to have a few things tweaked.
Before the aforementioned vehicle could return, our area had a set of thunderstorms. Here comes the target thing back to haunt us. Mother Nature decided to lay down a bolt of energy, which hit our well, disabled the brain module in the car, and disable some phone lines. In the big scheme of things we are grateful our home wasn't hit.
Well as the title of this blog infers, the car was deemed unfixable within the budget for the insurance company, and car number two was totaled.
So the car hunt resumes. Should it be an suv, a sedan or my choice, a small efficient car with a low repair rate?
I am nothing if not sensible.
Car lots, internet searches, still not a car that will satisfy budget as well as criteria that my daughter has deemed as important. I have noticed as the search continues, her criteria has been adjusted somewhat. Now she just wants a car and soon. Her summer is slipping away and without her own set of wheels, there are few mall visits, or even a day at the beach.
So we continue to look, and we will step up the search.
Wish us luck as we look for a new ride.
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Not so quiet please.
I read a curious article today. Seems that the powers that decide this stuff, decided that hybrid cars are too quiet. Yes you read that correctly.
They are too quiet. Supposedly they pose a risk to pedestrians who may not hear a car coming.
So they are giving the manufacturers about a half dozen years or so to make them noisier.
We are bombarded by noise everwhere we go. From the boom..boom..boom of speedy cars driven by teens (how do they afford these by the way?), to the screeching of tires, the incessant honking of horns, siren, bus brakes. Very hard not to be bombarded by noise in some form or another everyday.
So what is bad about quiet, clean efficient vehicles? Are we as pedestrians so unaware of our surroundings that we have stopped looking when we cross the street, depending on the car with the dragging muffler to alert us that it is approaching?
Hopefully those with sounder judgement will review this new idea and find it to be faulty.
After all the blind don't see any cars coming but I am sure that most will hear the hum of the hybrid. The deaf don't hear anything, but will surely see the approaching cars.
Maybe we should all just listen and look, and the auto manufacturers can continue what they should be doing, building solid, sound, fuel efficient vehicles to take us from point A to point B.
Heck everyone I see have headphones on anyway, they are not hearing anything outside of those tiny outside sound blocking ear plugs. Let's just hope that they are looking.
They are too quiet. Supposedly they pose a risk to pedestrians who may not hear a car coming.
So they are giving the manufacturers about a half dozen years or so to make them noisier.
We are bombarded by noise everwhere we go. From the boom..boom..boom of speedy cars driven by teens (how do they afford these by the way?), to the screeching of tires, the incessant honking of horns, siren, bus brakes. Very hard not to be bombarded by noise in some form or another everyday.
So what is bad about quiet, clean efficient vehicles? Are we as pedestrians so unaware of our surroundings that we have stopped looking when we cross the street, depending on the car with the dragging muffler to alert us that it is approaching?
Hopefully those with sounder judgement will review this new idea and find it to be faulty.
After all the blind don't see any cars coming but I am sure that most will hear the hum of the hybrid. The deaf don't hear anything, but will surely see the approaching cars.
Maybe we should all just listen and look, and the auto manufacturers can continue what they should be doing, building solid, sound, fuel efficient vehicles to take us from point A to point B.
Heck everyone I see have headphones on anyway, they are not hearing anything outside of those tiny outside sound blocking ear plugs. Let's just hope that they are looking.
Saturday, June 25, 2011
College visit -an orientation
So we are back from my youngest daughter's college orientation, and placement testing. It was a long two days but a necessary trip.
Seems as the college she has opted to attend insists on these visits by incoming freshmen. I know that she had stress, but all seems to have gone well, and her classes are scheduled, and now we have two months to finish all the necessary paperwork and prep work that we do for our children as they make the leap into adulthood. It does make me feel better that her older sister is working in the small town this large university consumes over the school year.
My youngest will still be a state away in just two months. I'm not exactly sure how I feel about this, but I have faith that she will try to make the best of her opportunity. She understands that the next four years will provide her with income potential, and this above all drives her.
I guess I am feeling as though part of my role as her mother is leaving now. I have never been a helicopter parent, chosing instead to allow my girls to make their own decisions, right or wrong, knowing that I have tried my best to instill the basics of being a good human being.
I also know at times I could have been a better parent, a better mom. Hindsight is just that, looking back cannot change how our children view the world.
I know from experience that we make our own way, and hopefully we will be happy with the path we choose. If we aren't I can only hope that they both realize that there are other options.
So in two short months I will be finishing the prep work and giving a hug, and driving five hours away. At this moment, I'm feeling okay, hopefully in two months I'll be feeling the same way.
Seems as the college she has opted to attend insists on these visits by incoming freshmen. I know that she had stress, but all seems to have gone well, and her classes are scheduled, and now we have two months to finish all the necessary paperwork and prep work that we do for our children as they make the leap into adulthood. It does make me feel better that her older sister is working in the small town this large university consumes over the school year.
My youngest will still be a state away in just two months. I'm not exactly sure how I feel about this, but I have faith that she will try to make the best of her opportunity. She understands that the next four years will provide her with income potential, and this above all drives her.
I guess I am feeling as though part of my role as her mother is leaving now. I have never been a helicopter parent, chosing instead to allow my girls to make their own decisions, right or wrong, knowing that I have tried my best to instill the basics of being a good human being.
I also know at times I could have been a better parent, a better mom. Hindsight is just that, looking back cannot change how our children view the world.
I know from experience that we make our own way, and hopefully we will be happy with the path we choose. If we aren't I can only hope that they both realize that there are other options.
So in two short months I will be finishing the prep work and giving a hug, and driving five hours away. At this moment, I'm feeling okay, hopefully in two months I'll be feeling the same way.
Saturday, June 18, 2011
What happened to manners?
Today I attended my youngest daughter's graduation from high school. It was a morning commencement ceremony as the original date was postponed due to the threat of rain. Turns out I liked it as much as the the evening commencement my oldest daughter had in 2005.
Unfortunately the same thing happened this year as six years ago. I am referring to the families and friends of the graduates in the stands.
When did it become okay for audiences to talk through speeches, or the announcement of names in the graduating class?
When did it become okay to stand up and stretch blocking the view of those behind you?
When did it become okay to cheer and yell so loud and long, complete with airhorns, so that the other families cannot hear their graduates names being called?
I noticed this issue years ago at a talent show at a grade school. This continued through almost all school activities I attended.
Parents, who should know better, for whatever reason feel the need to talk to their neighbors during the entire show or meeting.
Is it any wonder teachers or instructors have a problem with kids sitting quietly in their seats, and listening to the lesson. They are not learning this important skill at home.
There is a time and a place for everything.
Talking through a movie, or a play, or a commencement ceremony is not acceptable behaviour.
Like the shoppers with an earpiece in their ear, talking to whoever is on the other end, totally clueless that the other shoppers around them don't really need to hear about the woes of the speakers private life that they feel obligated to share.
What concerns me the most is the fact that these offenders seem to be clueless...they will never change.
We seem to be living in a society that accepts this, and I am deeply saddened by the fact that there is a whole big group of folks out there who never learned that sometimes you just need to sit and listen. I learned this as a child, as my children did.
How did they miss this important part of growing up?
Unfortunately the same thing happened this year as six years ago. I am referring to the families and friends of the graduates in the stands.
When did it become okay for audiences to talk through speeches, or the announcement of names in the graduating class?
When did it become okay to stand up and stretch blocking the view of those behind you?
When did it become okay to cheer and yell so loud and long, complete with airhorns, so that the other families cannot hear their graduates names being called?
I noticed this issue years ago at a talent show at a grade school. This continued through almost all school activities I attended.
Parents, who should know better, for whatever reason feel the need to talk to their neighbors during the entire show or meeting.
Is it any wonder teachers or instructors have a problem with kids sitting quietly in their seats, and listening to the lesson. They are not learning this important skill at home.
There is a time and a place for everything.
Talking through a movie, or a play, or a commencement ceremony is not acceptable behaviour.
Like the shoppers with an earpiece in their ear, talking to whoever is on the other end, totally clueless that the other shoppers around them don't really need to hear about the woes of the speakers private life that they feel obligated to share.
What concerns me the most is the fact that these offenders seem to be clueless...they will never change.
We seem to be living in a society that accepts this, and I am deeply saddened by the fact that there is a whole big group of folks out there who never learned that sometimes you just need to sit and listen. I learned this as a child, as my children did.
How did they miss this important part of growing up?
Thursday, June 9, 2011
My front page news
Today my youngest child, my daughter I had eighteen plus years ago came home with her graduation gear. White robe, and mortarboard and all at once it occurred to me that my baby wasn't such a baby anymore but a young woman who was about to embark on the next chapter of her life.
Lately I have found my thoughts going back through the memorable moments of the past 23 and a half years. Good and bad. My oldest daughter is 23 and starting her own new chapter. The fact that she is so happy, makes me happy, and I wish her always the happiness she feels today. I try to restrain from offering unsolicited advice, not always so sucessful doing that but I am trying.
My youngest however is a bird of a different color. Two children who could not be more different. She has gone from stage to stage, sometimes abruptly, sometimes without notice finding her own way. She is straightforward and brutally honest. No grays in these thought processes.
I am as proud of her as I am her older sister.
It's often hard for a parent not to compare their children, but doing so often raises rivalry that is not necessary.
I was an older mom when I had my youngest daughter, and she has had to grow up with the knowledge that some people probably thought I was her grandmother instead of her mom. She dealt with it as well as the few bad habits I have retained for years. She is not happy about them, and is vocal at times, but the spotlight isn't on them constantly, and I thank her for that.
She is smart and talented, and a fierce friend, but a stinging enemy. She is one tough young woman.
I want to tell her as she prepares for college what she might expect, but she would remind me that I did not go to college, and not really basing any of my advice on first hand knowledge.
There are times when I feel that maybe I could have been a better parent, maybe we all have those thoughts. I believe in children finding their own way, making mistakes, and fixing them, and learning to prepare for adulthood. Self sufficient, making their own way, having their own lives, were all part of the parenting plan.
I was honest with them, though wishing at times we could have offered them better.
When we couldn't afford something I said so, no beating around the bush pretending we had more than we had.
No disneyworlds or true vacations.
But my daughter knows the value of a dollar, and knows that college loans are hers to repay unless we win the lottery. This of course doesn't stop her for asking for the occaional overpriced item, but at the same time is no stranger to a sale rack.
So in one week I will dab my eyes, and wonder how the time flew by. Then the prep for college begins..and I will reserve my other tears for August.
Lately I have found my thoughts going back through the memorable moments of the past 23 and a half years. Good and bad. My oldest daughter is 23 and starting her own new chapter. The fact that she is so happy, makes me happy, and I wish her always the happiness she feels today. I try to restrain from offering unsolicited advice, not always so sucessful doing that but I am trying.
My youngest however is a bird of a different color. Two children who could not be more different. She has gone from stage to stage, sometimes abruptly, sometimes without notice finding her own way. She is straightforward and brutally honest. No grays in these thought processes.
I am as proud of her as I am her older sister.
It's often hard for a parent not to compare their children, but doing so often raises rivalry that is not necessary.
I was an older mom when I had my youngest daughter, and she has had to grow up with the knowledge that some people probably thought I was her grandmother instead of her mom. She dealt with it as well as the few bad habits I have retained for years. She is not happy about them, and is vocal at times, but the spotlight isn't on them constantly, and I thank her for that.
She is smart and talented, and a fierce friend, but a stinging enemy. She is one tough young woman.
I want to tell her as she prepares for college what she might expect, but she would remind me that I did not go to college, and not really basing any of my advice on first hand knowledge.
There are times when I feel that maybe I could have been a better parent, maybe we all have those thoughts. I believe in children finding their own way, making mistakes, and fixing them, and learning to prepare for adulthood. Self sufficient, making their own way, having their own lives, were all part of the parenting plan.
I was honest with them, though wishing at times we could have offered them better.
When we couldn't afford something I said so, no beating around the bush pretending we had more than we had.
No disneyworlds or true vacations.
But my daughter knows the value of a dollar, and knows that college loans are hers to repay unless we win the lottery. This of course doesn't stop her for asking for the occaional overpriced item, but at the same time is no stranger to a sale rack.
So in one week I will dab my eyes, and wonder how the time flew by. Then the prep for college begins..and I will reserve my other tears for August.
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Teachers, teachers everywhere and not a class to teach
Here in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, school districts are preparing for cuts in state funding at all levels, including the university system.
What this means is that school districts are looking to save money so that the state of education can continue as is.
But the cuts are being taken on the backs of our teachers and our children.
Hundreds of teachers in our immediate area are being furloughed, staff as well, and now in one all assistant varsity coaches have been handed a pink slip.
Classes are being eliminated, as well.
Electives in one school district took a dire hit, teachers in others have agreed to a pay freeze, and as administration the highest paid employees on the totem pole have agreed not to take their raises.
All this due to the deficit our state is facing along with some other states.
Here we have an unusual situation. Pennsylvania happens to the be the land of the greatest gas rush since the California Gold Rush. Drillers of this commodity are coming in droves, and yet are not taxed one cent.
They are destroying our forests, and tainting our water supplies and yet not one cent is being paid in taxes or fees for the trouble.
So who gets the ax to help balance the budget.
Teachers, school districts, and upper education.
Welfare, health benefits for the those who need them the most are being slashed or eliminated.
What is answer, what does our present governor owe this group who financed his campaign.? Why aren't there more answers being given?
So many questions and so few answers.
What this means is that school districts are looking to save money so that the state of education can continue as is.
But the cuts are being taken on the backs of our teachers and our children.
Hundreds of teachers in our immediate area are being furloughed, staff as well, and now in one all assistant varsity coaches have been handed a pink slip.
Classes are being eliminated, as well.
Electives in one school district took a dire hit, teachers in others have agreed to a pay freeze, and as administration the highest paid employees on the totem pole have agreed not to take their raises.
All this due to the deficit our state is facing along with some other states.
Here we have an unusual situation. Pennsylvania happens to the be the land of the greatest gas rush since the California Gold Rush. Drillers of this commodity are coming in droves, and yet are not taxed one cent.
They are destroying our forests, and tainting our water supplies and yet not one cent is being paid in taxes or fees for the trouble.
So who gets the ax to help balance the budget.
Teachers, school districts, and upper education.
Welfare, health benefits for the those who need them the most are being slashed or eliminated.
What is answer, what does our present governor owe this group who financed his campaign.? Why aren't there more answers being given?
So many questions and so few answers.
Monday, May 30, 2011
Celebrity Politicians
Today I perused a recap of the past few weeks news that has hogged the headlines.
A particular one caught my attention as it was about yet another philandering public official who was once an actor, and then a governor,and was found to have at least one child with a house staff member, meaning he was screwing the maid or the nanny, and gee whiz got caught.
Since I filed this under the category as not my business and it has little to do with anything of any great importance, I do not know the details. Guess what? I do not care to know the details. I wonder when the American public decided that they have the right to know every personal detail of anyone elses lives?
Unless it has to do with National Security, or raising taxes, or somehow actually affects me personally, I am a believer in the theory that there are some things that should remain behind closed doors. Personal lives and issues are just that...personal.
I believe in the TMI or too much information. Sure I feel bad for the insanely well off and famous wife of this cheater, but hey, it's her business. I do not need to know how it happen in minute detail, or why she didn't realize that it was happening under her roof, or that the child conceived bore a striking resemblance to her soon to be ex husband. Not my business.
Yet private lives of the famous and not so famous are thrown at us on the internet, on front pages of less than reputable newspapers, and those all so reliable so called magazines that assualt us at the grocery checkout.
Not my business and I don't care.
I do care that if these so called adults have trouble managing their private lives, why were they elected in the first place. Even the most upright, and ethical politicians seem to be in the position of being caught with their pants down. Is there something in the water, or did they just hide this personal flaw until their public lives became everyones business.
If they can't help themselves perhaps they could practice a little discretion. And I could then concentrate on more important things like the picture blog of a dog going from a puppy to a year old dog. Well maybe not.
A particular one caught my attention as it was about yet another philandering public official who was once an actor, and then a governor,and was found to have at least one child with a house staff member, meaning he was screwing the maid or the nanny, and gee whiz got caught.
Since I filed this under the category as not my business and it has little to do with anything of any great importance, I do not know the details. Guess what? I do not care to know the details. I wonder when the American public decided that they have the right to know every personal detail of anyone elses lives?
Unless it has to do with National Security, or raising taxes, or somehow actually affects me personally, I am a believer in the theory that there are some things that should remain behind closed doors. Personal lives and issues are just that...personal.
I believe in the TMI or too much information. Sure I feel bad for the insanely well off and famous wife of this cheater, but hey, it's her business. I do not need to know how it happen in minute detail, or why she didn't realize that it was happening under her roof, or that the child conceived bore a striking resemblance to her soon to be ex husband. Not my business.
Yet private lives of the famous and not so famous are thrown at us on the internet, on front pages of less than reputable newspapers, and those all so reliable so called magazines that assualt us at the grocery checkout.
Not my business and I don't care.
I do care that if these so called adults have trouble managing their private lives, why were they elected in the first place. Even the most upright, and ethical politicians seem to be in the position of being caught with their pants down. Is there something in the water, or did they just hide this personal flaw until their public lives became everyones business.
If they can't help themselves perhaps they could practice a little discretion. And I could then concentrate on more important things like the picture blog of a dog going from a puppy to a year old dog. Well maybe not.
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Finding a new Home Town
When does a person decide it is time to relocate? Are we weary of the city we currently reside in? Are we looking for employment or better employment?
I read that women have an easier time hunting for a new career or at the very least a new job than men do. I found this to be an interesting comment and wondered about the validity of it until I spent some time thinking about this concept.
First, the article must have meant single or women without children, as most women I know go out of their way to keep their kids in the same school district unless it is absolutely necessary to move. So they keep less than lucrative jobs, and relegate themselves to "living with" their current employment status in their efforts to keep the family unit status quo.
So I am picking one group of women today, to focus on...that is women with grown children, no husband, and in a less than stellar job situation.
Perhaps the author of the aforementioned aticle knew as we do that we wear different hats throughout our lives.
We are party planners, bookkeepers, childcare providers, cleaners, cooks and run a taxi service. We serve on PTA boards, sell unknown quantities of cookies, gift wrap, raise funds, and do charity work.
So it shouldn't be a surprise that we are able to move into a new job or career, or even into a new city for that job easier than most men do.
Women make friends easier and have more friends than men. We are queens at networking and sensing when someone needs a helping hand.
That is just how it is. We are wired differently.
As the future unfolds, we will see more women as heads of countries, owners of businesses, and in the political arena. Women are getting tired of "dumbing" down to make men look better.
We have a lot of catching up to do, so changing careers or locations is just another step in that direction.
I read that women have an easier time hunting for a new career or at the very least a new job than men do. I found this to be an interesting comment and wondered about the validity of it until I spent some time thinking about this concept.
First, the article must have meant single or women without children, as most women I know go out of their way to keep their kids in the same school district unless it is absolutely necessary to move. So they keep less than lucrative jobs, and relegate themselves to "living with" their current employment status in their efforts to keep the family unit status quo.
So I am picking one group of women today, to focus on...that is women with grown children, no husband, and in a less than stellar job situation.
Perhaps the author of the aforementioned aticle knew as we do that we wear different hats throughout our lives.
We are party planners, bookkeepers, childcare providers, cleaners, cooks and run a taxi service. We serve on PTA boards, sell unknown quantities of cookies, gift wrap, raise funds, and do charity work.
So it shouldn't be a surprise that we are able to move into a new job or career, or even into a new city for that job easier than most men do.
Women make friends easier and have more friends than men. We are queens at networking and sensing when someone needs a helping hand.
That is just how it is. We are wired differently.
As the future unfolds, we will see more women as heads of countries, owners of businesses, and in the political arena. Women are getting tired of "dumbing" down to make men look better.
We have a lot of catching up to do, so changing careers or locations is just another step in that direction.
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Bullying and Implications-This IS front page news.
The news has been inundated with the tragic results of teenage bullying. It is a widespread problem and finger pointing accompanies each and every article. What these articles don't seem to address is how do children and adults become bullies, and what needs to be done to curtail this old/new issue that has become front page news in many cities.
Obviously bullies have been around since, well, since forever. I don't recall bullying to be so prevelant when I was a child or teen, but then there wasn't the instant news updates through the wire services, or the internet when I was a child.
There were bullies, we have all seen them in action or been the target, but it never seemed to be such a virulent situation.
The finger pointing in my youth went to the home these young thugs lived in, and were dealt with by a parental visit, or by the victims themselves. Parents were held responsbile for their childrens actions, but every once in a while it was found that the parent was a bully as well, passing on the "wrong" model to their offspring.
As young girls we were given instruction to protect our younger siblings, and basically given permission to deal with any bullying issue in the best way possible.
Bullies pick their victims to a variety of reasons, and weakness is a key factor in who becomes a victim.
Just like a young child who throws a tantrum as long as there is an audience, so does a bully (now entire groups as well) need an audience or reaction to be successful.
So who is indeed responsible for halting the actions of these young miscreants? I use that word without remorse, for to me bullying is something that can be controlled and should be either by parental units or the law, or by peers. Can the victims themselves stop this harrassment. Old movies show resolution to bullying by a good punch in the nose, or by the underdogs winning a sporting event. Is bullying glamourized in some of these movies?
Where do these kids ever come up with the idea that bullying is okay? Are they so in need of attention themselves that somehow they think that this is an acceptable way to get this attention? Are parents so self involved that they turn a blind eye to what their children are capable of; part of the "not my child" syndrome. When did it become okay not to be responsible for ones actions or activities?
Researchers, affiliated with major universities are attempting to find these answers right now.
I believe we all need to look hard at this lack of civility in our youthful population today. Maybe it begins by looking in the mirror.
Obviously bullies have been around since, well, since forever. I don't recall bullying to be so prevelant when I was a child or teen, but then there wasn't the instant news updates through the wire services, or the internet when I was a child.
There were bullies, we have all seen them in action or been the target, but it never seemed to be such a virulent situation.
The finger pointing in my youth went to the home these young thugs lived in, and were dealt with by a parental visit, or by the victims themselves. Parents were held responsbile for their childrens actions, but every once in a while it was found that the parent was a bully as well, passing on the "wrong" model to their offspring.
As young girls we were given instruction to protect our younger siblings, and basically given permission to deal with any bullying issue in the best way possible.
Bullies pick their victims to a variety of reasons, and weakness is a key factor in who becomes a victim.
Just like a young child who throws a tantrum as long as there is an audience, so does a bully (now entire groups as well) need an audience or reaction to be successful.
So who is indeed responsible for halting the actions of these young miscreants? I use that word without remorse, for to me bullying is something that can be controlled and should be either by parental units or the law, or by peers. Can the victims themselves stop this harrassment. Old movies show resolution to bullying by a good punch in the nose, or by the underdogs winning a sporting event. Is bullying glamourized in some of these movies?
Where do these kids ever come up with the idea that bullying is okay? Are they so in need of attention themselves that somehow they think that this is an acceptable way to get this attention? Are parents so self involved that they turn a blind eye to what their children are capable of; part of the "not my child" syndrome. When did it become okay not to be responsible for ones actions or activities?
Researchers, affiliated with major universities are attempting to find these answers right now.
I believe we all need to look hard at this lack of civility in our youthful population today. Maybe it begins by looking in the mirror.
Thursday, April 8, 2010
The world we live in.
This isn't exactly a headline, as much as a comment a friend made today. She pulled out of her parking spot only to note a flat tire. So leaving the car and flashers on she called AAA and waited.
She pondered the world we live in when a neighbor slunk out of her house, grabbed her mail, and made her way back to her door, never once looking up or making any eye contact. No conversation, not a word volunteering a phone or other aid.
My young friend could only become more depressed, therefore commenting on the state of the world we live in.
This subject has been touched on many times recently. It is the "not my business" syndrome, or the "I didn't see anything, therefore do not wish to be involved" mantra. A sub text of this would be a "not my kid" statement. (I'll save the last for another time).
A recent headline screamed " Is Civility Dead?".
Well young friend, it is a heck of a world we all live in now. There are many folks who feel that if there isn't anything in it for them, then they can't be bothered to lend a hand or an ear. We are a self absorbed society, and during a recession it seems to get worse. When we could use a hand or an ear the most, it is absent.
We tuck in, not letting anyone in, lest they wish for something we have.
Guess what? This is not the first recession this country or world has been in. It may take a while but it will eventually turn around. It is just the nature of things.
We were growing fat on plastic and big fancy houses mortgaged to the hilt. Some of us weren't paying attention.
Eventually the plastic had to grow thin, and the bills come due.
When I was a young woman, in my early twenties, another recession plagued this country.
I was young and in love, with good friends and a whole family, and friends families, and we somehow all came through it.
Looking back I realize that I just assumed that since we all were young and struggling, and just starting out in adulthood, it was okay. We learned how to scrimp and save, and make our meager ends meet.
We really didn't have any thing to lose.
I believe that this stinky old world will change again and for the better. It will not be tomorrow or next week, or even next year, but it will change. The calamity of our times, will help to make us all wiser, and less wasteful, and maybe kinder to our fellow man, or woman.
This change will begin with each and every one of us. A helping hand without a request. A ride offered, a meal shared, a donation to those needier made. A smile, a thank you, a genuine conversation, and this world will change.
I am not naive. There will always be armed conflicts and problems that continue on with no end in sight. But in our own little neighborhood, in our ever expanding circle of friends, things will get better. Step at a time, our lives will improve.
We read of strangers rushing in to help, of extreme gestures to aid those in need and homeless, and of the cabbie who returns a large sum of cash found left behind. Little steps my young friend. Who cannot smile back at a smile. Who can pass by a collection can for a worthy cause.
So be the person who smiles first, who holds the door open for a stranger, or who reaches high on the shelf at the store for an elderly shopper.
Doesn't cost anything, and we can't afford not to be that person, can we?
She pondered the world we live in when a neighbor slunk out of her house, grabbed her mail, and made her way back to her door, never once looking up or making any eye contact. No conversation, not a word volunteering a phone or other aid.
My young friend could only become more depressed, therefore commenting on the state of the world we live in.
This subject has been touched on many times recently. It is the "not my business" syndrome, or the "I didn't see anything, therefore do not wish to be involved" mantra. A sub text of this would be a "not my kid" statement. (I'll save the last for another time).
A recent headline screamed " Is Civility Dead?".
Well young friend, it is a heck of a world we all live in now. There are many folks who feel that if there isn't anything in it for them, then they can't be bothered to lend a hand or an ear. We are a self absorbed society, and during a recession it seems to get worse. When we could use a hand or an ear the most, it is absent.
We tuck in, not letting anyone in, lest they wish for something we have.
Guess what? This is not the first recession this country or world has been in. It may take a while but it will eventually turn around. It is just the nature of things.
We were growing fat on plastic and big fancy houses mortgaged to the hilt. Some of us weren't paying attention.
Eventually the plastic had to grow thin, and the bills come due.
When I was a young woman, in my early twenties, another recession plagued this country.
I was young and in love, with good friends and a whole family, and friends families, and we somehow all came through it.
Looking back I realize that I just assumed that since we all were young and struggling, and just starting out in adulthood, it was okay. We learned how to scrimp and save, and make our meager ends meet.
We really didn't have any thing to lose.
I believe that this stinky old world will change again and for the better. It will not be tomorrow or next week, or even next year, but it will change. The calamity of our times, will help to make us all wiser, and less wasteful, and maybe kinder to our fellow man, or woman.
This change will begin with each and every one of us. A helping hand without a request. A ride offered, a meal shared, a donation to those needier made. A smile, a thank you, a genuine conversation, and this world will change.
I am not naive. There will always be armed conflicts and problems that continue on with no end in sight. But in our own little neighborhood, in our ever expanding circle of friends, things will get better. Step at a time, our lives will improve.
We read of strangers rushing in to help, of extreme gestures to aid those in need and homeless, and of the cabbie who returns a large sum of cash found left behind. Little steps my young friend. Who cannot smile back at a smile. Who can pass by a collection can for a worthy cause.
So be the person who smiles first, who holds the door open for a stranger, or who reaches high on the shelf at the store for an elderly shopper.
Doesn't cost anything, and we can't afford not to be that person, can we?
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Eight year old boy crashes family van going for gas.
If for some reason you didn't read or hear about this event, here is a recap.
Seems like this young boy, takes the keys, starts the family van and decides to take it out to get fuel for his family. Outcome, boy crashes van.
About every six months or so, there is a story similiar to this that makes the news, and when it does, the same thoughts go through my mind.
Where were the parents or guardians when this occured? Why did this young child believe he/or she could drive the family car? How do children drive as far as they do without someone noticing that it looks like the vehicle is driving along by itself?
This most recent event answers at least one of the above questions. Dad was sleeping.
Where was Mom?
Dad fluffed it off saying that his son was just trying to do a favor by fueling up the family vehicle. Nice gesture, but bad follow through.
Okay so somehow the young lad manages to start the vehicle but if it is like most cars, doesn't the brake have to be depressed to shift the car into gear? Unless he is a NBA prospect, how does he do this?
To the boys credit he seemed to be going only five miles an hour. I have followed drivers who have gone that speed but they usually have white hair and are driving a car that is old enough to be considered an antique, and gets taken out of the garage or driveway once a month for errands. So no one else in this community is up early enough to see a creeping van and the boy hits a tree or pole.
My guess is that at some point Dad let this child ride on his lap and "drive" or puts him on the riding mower with him. Why else would a young lad or lass begin to think that they could drive a vehicle?
Suppose this young boy had made it the gas station. Making it to the gas station, and he manages some how to pull next to the pump?
Did he know how to pump gas? Did he also take the credit card out of Dad's wallet, to pay for the gas?
So many questions but so few answers.
I come from a large family and even the most mischevious of us would never have thought of taking the family car out before we had a drivers license.
Nope, never.
So where does this mindset begin?
Perhaps we will never know, but if you are out one day driving and notice a vehicle creeping along, with a just a top of a head showing through the windows, do the right thing.
Call 911, and get on another road.
Seems like this young boy, takes the keys, starts the family van and decides to take it out to get fuel for his family. Outcome, boy crashes van.
About every six months or so, there is a story similiar to this that makes the news, and when it does, the same thoughts go through my mind.
Where were the parents or guardians when this occured? Why did this young child believe he/or she could drive the family car? How do children drive as far as they do without someone noticing that it looks like the vehicle is driving along by itself?
This most recent event answers at least one of the above questions. Dad was sleeping.
Where was Mom?
Dad fluffed it off saying that his son was just trying to do a favor by fueling up the family vehicle. Nice gesture, but bad follow through.
Okay so somehow the young lad manages to start the vehicle but if it is like most cars, doesn't the brake have to be depressed to shift the car into gear? Unless he is a NBA prospect, how does he do this?
To the boys credit he seemed to be going only five miles an hour. I have followed drivers who have gone that speed but they usually have white hair and are driving a car that is old enough to be considered an antique, and gets taken out of the garage or driveway once a month for errands. So no one else in this community is up early enough to see a creeping van and the boy hits a tree or pole.
My guess is that at some point Dad let this child ride on his lap and "drive" or puts him on the riding mower with him. Why else would a young lad or lass begin to think that they could drive a vehicle?
Suppose this young boy had made it the gas station. Making it to the gas station, and he manages some how to pull next to the pump?
Did he know how to pump gas? Did he also take the credit card out of Dad's wallet, to pay for the gas?
So many questions but so few answers.
I come from a large family and even the most mischevious of us would never have thought of taking the family car out before we had a drivers license.
Nope, never.
So where does this mindset begin?
Perhaps we will never know, but if you are out one day driving and notice a vehicle creeping along, with a just a top of a head showing through the windows, do the right thing.
Call 911, and get on another road.
Friday, April 2, 2010
Laying off Ronald McDonald
When I first decided to write these headline blogs, I had imagined that they would be about the little funny or quirky fill ins, either on line or in print that gets picked up and inserted to fill a space. ( yes I do still read actual newspapers as well as the virtual ones).
This particular headline caught my attention today in the business section, though I am not certain that it really belonged to that category.
The quick synopsis is that there is apparently a group of finger pointers who feel that the fictional Mc Donalds representative ( also the name of a very important "house" that caters to very ill children and their families) is responsible for childhood obesity and all the problems that accompany it.
This anti Ronald group wants him laid off or retired, thus I guess, solving all the woes of the over weight children who have been lured by the promise of a Happy Meal.
Now I consider myself I pretty good reader, who grasps literary concepts on the first read most of the time, but this I read over twice. I guess that I couldn't actually believe what I was reading.
Then I read almost all of the comments as well, and had a breath of relief, when I realized that almost all the posts I read had basically the same opinion as I did.
Are we as a society so inept at being parents that a bunch of us get a group together along with "social specialists" and dietary watchdogs and blame childhood obesity on a happy meal and the clown whose image is printed on the cup?
I was dumbstruck at the thought.
First...have you ever had a Happy Meal, even pre the healthy substitutions? A tiny burger, a handful of fries and a mini drink, with the toy being the lure of the whole meal. We all have swung into the drive in lane of that restaurant with the golden arches and spoke those words into the crackly speaker, I'll have a Happy Meal with soda and the toy is a girl/boy.
No ketchup please.
Then for a time, when the meal is passed into the back seat, a few minutes of silence while a lunch time hunger is satisfied and we proceed upon our way.
So we (the parents) drive our children into the take out lane, we pay for the food, we choose the food, and Ronald is the villain for making our kids overweight.
Hello...is anyone there?
Supposedly sixty percent of those surveyed believed that Ronald and the evil Happy Meal was responsible for the sad state of the health of our children.
I guess that this all so powerful clown is also responsible for the lack of exercise our children get, or the hours spent in front of the television or video games. He is preventing us from preparing healthy meals for our families, healthy snacks for in between meals, why Ronald must be like the great and powerful oz. With all this power why hasn't he run for office?
I know that the time of the family dinner is an old concept, and that late work hours may prevent some regular healthy fare at the proverbial dinner table...but wait.
Here is an idea all you sixty percent, over the weekend, plan your menu, make double batches or choose a quick but healthy dinner and leave Ronald alone. It can be done, it just takes a little effort.
Take walks with your kids, go shoot a few baskets, have them help with yard work or help an elderly neighbor do the same. Limit the tv usage, turn off your cell phones and spend some time with your kids.
Find out what food is being served at school, subsidized by the government by the way.
Is it healthy? Are the healthy items a la carte and reasonably priced as well as available? You might just cringe if you looked at some of the items on the "regular" menu at your children's school.
Good nutrition and good health is taught and learned by observation.
Just place the blame where it should lie. Take responsibility for what your family consumes, and this just doesn't mean Moms but Dads as well.
But leave Ronald McDonald alone. He didn't do anything wrong, we did.
This particular headline caught my attention today in the business section, though I am not certain that it really belonged to that category.
The quick synopsis is that there is apparently a group of finger pointers who feel that the fictional Mc Donalds representative ( also the name of a very important "house" that caters to very ill children and their families) is responsible for childhood obesity and all the problems that accompany it.
This anti Ronald group wants him laid off or retired, thus I guess, solving all the woes of the over weight children who have been lured by the promise of a Happy Meal.
Now I consider myself I pretty good reader, who grasps literary concepts on the first read most of the time, but this I read over twice. I guess that I couldn't actually believe what I was reading.
Then I read almost all of the comments as well, and had a breath of relief, when I realized that almost all the posts I read had basically the same opinion as I did.
Are we as a society so inept at being parents that a bunch of us get a group together along with "social specialists" and dietary watchdogs and blame childhood obesity on a happy meal and the clown whose image is printed on the cup?
I was dumbstruck at the thought.
First...have you ever had a Happy Meal, even pre the healthy substitutions? A tiny burger, a handful of fries and a mini drink, with the toy being the lure of the whole meal. We all have swung into the drive in lane of that restaurant with the golden arches and spoke those words into the crackly speaker, I'll have a Happy Meal with soda and the toy is a girl/boy.
No ketchup please.
Then for a time, when the meal is passed into the back seat, a few minutes of silence while a lunch time hunger is satisfied and we proceed upon our way.
So we (the parents) drive our children into the take out lane, we pay for the food, we choose the food, and Ronald is the villain for making our kids overweight.
Hello...is anyone there?
Supposedly sixty percent of those surveyed believed that Ronald and the evil Happy Meal was responsible for the sad state of the health of our children.
I guess that this all so powerful clown is also responsible for the lack of exercise our children get, or the hours spent in front of the television or video games. He is preventing us from preparing healthy meals for our families, healthy snacks for in between meals, why Ronald must be like the great and powerful oz. With all this power why hasn't he run for office?
I know that the time of the family dinner is an old concept, and that late work hours may prevent some regular healthy fare at the proverbial dinner table...but wait.
Here is an idea all you sixty percent, over the weekend, plan your menu, make double batches or choose a quick but healthy dinner and leave Ronald alone. It can be done, it just takes a little effort.
Take walks with your kids, go shoot a few baskets, have them help with yard work or help an elderly neighbor do the same. Limit the tv usage, turn off your cell phones and spend some time with your kids.
Find out what food is being served at school, subsidized by the government by the way.
Is it healthy? Are the healthy items a la carte and reasonably priced as well as available? You might just cringe if you looked at some of the items on the "regular" menu at your children's school.
Good nutrition and good health is taught and learned by observation.
Just place the blame where it should lie. Take responsibility for what your family consumes, and this just doesn't mean Moms but Dads as well.
But leave Ronald McDonald alone. He didn't do anything wrong, we did.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Man Tries to Bring Possum Back to Life
So this is one of those stories that somehow made both online and print media.
First the blurb about a man who attempted to recusitate a dead possum. Now most of us I would assume, would know that obviously this person who would try to bring a varmint back to life was not a member of Peta. Nor a member of an animal rescue group.
Yet this story made the rounds.
It was chatted about on Facebook, that ubiquitous social network, tweeted, and I am sure was discussed around more than several water coolers.
After several days of press, it comes to light, that this person was inebriated.
Was anyone really surprised about that revelation?
This was not a beloved pet, but a wild animal who met an untimely end.
Yet the fact is that someone in the press must have felt that this was newsworthy.
The speed at which even the most inane act made the national headlines is something that perhaps we all need to take a look at with a fresh perspective.
Did we need to know this? Was there no other news item that could have been inserted in it's place?
Are we all so news deprived that this became the topic of the day?
Or is it that we are all so weary of all the bad news we are bombarded with on a daily basis, that a laugh once in a while is needed and because we need that laugh, articles ( though this was more a blurb) like this one continue to show up on our home page, as a filler on page five of our local newspapers, or as a tweet on someones twitter.
I personally would rather have the story that meant a little more than this example of person who had too much to drink, and so tried to revive road kill.
What do you think?
First the blurb about a man who attempted to recusitate a dead possum. Now most of us I would assume, would know that obviously this person who would try to bring a varmint back to life was not a member of Peta. Nor a member of an animal rescue group.
Yet this story made the rounds.
It was chatted about on Facebook, that ubiquitous social network, tweeted, and I am sure was discussed around more than several water coolers.
After several days of press, it comes to light, that this person was inebriated.
Was anyone really surprised about that revelation?
This was not a beloved pet, but a wild animal who met an untimely end.
Yet the fact is that someone in the press must have felt that this was newsworthy.
The speed at which even the most inane act made the national headlines is something that perhaps we all need to take a look at with a fresh perspective.
Did we need to know this? Was there no other news item that could have been inserted in it's place?
Are we all so news deprived that this became the topic of the day?
Or is it that we are all so weary of all the bad news we are bombarded with on a daily basis, that a laugh once in a while is needed and because we need that laugh, articles ( though this was more a blurb) like this one continue to show up on our home page, as a filler on page five of our local newspapers, or as a tweet on someones twitter.
I personally would rather have the story that meant a little more than this example of person who had too much to drink, and so tried to revive road kill.
What do you think?
Thursday, March 25, 2010
So much news, so little time.
My goal for this blog is to take a news story and give my take on it.
It may be a big headline or one that appears between two ads. It could be politcs, or it could be an obscure local headline, or maybe just something I think should be newsworthy to appear on actual newsprint.
Everyday something makes me shake my head. And hey, now my family won't have to listen to me comment.
I was part of a forum on a newspaper which was dissolved and has never come back.
It was like losing part of my family.
We chatted amicably, or argued vehemently, but in the end agreed to disagree.
Some of the members even went as far as to have a picnic, meeting each other for the first time and getting to know each other without their log in labels.
It's no doubt been done before,and that is okay, plenty of room on the internet.
As I have written before, it you like what your reading please come back if not..well there is a bazillion other blogs to read out here. I won't be offended.
I'll still pull out the proverbial soapbox and give you the dailykaws.
It may be a big headline or one that appears between two ads. It could be politcs, or it could be an obscure local headline, or maybe just something I think should be newsworthy to appear on actual newsprint.
Everyday something makes me shake my head. And hey, now my family won't have to listen to me comment.
I was part of a forum on a newspaper which was dissolved and has never come back.
It was like losing part of my family.
We chatted amicably, or argued vehemently, but in the end agreed to disagree.
Some of the members even went as far as to have a picnic, meeting each other for the first time and getting to know each other without their log in labels.
It's no doubt been done before,and that is okay, plenty of room on the internet.
As I have written before, it you like what your reading please come back if not..well there is a bazillion other blogs to read out here. I won't be offended.
I'll still pull out the proverbial soapbox and give you the dailykaws.
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