Another Day, a another...#2

So what happened? The hell if I know. No one called nor made any attempt to reach me - and I stayed home all day waiting just in case. I even took the cordless with me when I went in the back yard to water the garden.

What do I speak of? - The Rainbow Representative - they never showed, not at 10AM, 11AM, Noon, 1PM, 2PM or 3PM. No call, no sign that there was even an appointment scheduled. Now I suppose the Rep may have been sick, or maybe they no longer participate in this line of work or the Rep may not have even known about the appointment since it was the "Marketing Rep" - Jennifer who made the appointment for the demonstration by Stephanie and I suppose that they will be calling me again to set up another appointment, that is if they even know that the past Saturday's appointment was missed.

Not that I was going to actually buy the vacuum cleaner it was more to help Thelma & Travis get that air cleaner. Sigh, we'll see.

The "Children of Dune" soundtrack is playing and causing me to want to watch the mini-series again. I think the music is fantastic and the series is great as well - a Sci-Fi Channel production. Now I could go watch it - a form of procrastination - or I could get busy and work on the computer. I have run my anti-virus and Spybot, actually I started the anti-virus scan and then took off for the grocery store - Green Hills - $20.13 later I'm home, mainly milk, bread, bananas, radishes, carrots, celery some lettuce and a watermelon...oh and plums too. Saved $10.24 with my shoppers card.

I am going to try and eat more veggies, less meat, less dressings, and so forth. I saw this program that seemed to indicate you'll live longer and healthier if you consume very few calories. There appears to be a direct correlation between the number of calories we eat and how fast the cells in our body deteriorate and die. They've apparently found the those who eat and strive to eat few calories - their cells live longer and repair themselves quicker than those who eat a high number of calories per day. So we'll see how it works as I strive to eat veggies and so forth.

Off on a sidetrack there...anyway I ran Spybot and it seemed to indicate a problem with my Windows Security Center - something about notify disable for my firewall and anti-virus...well the firewall with Norton Internet Security is out to lunch anyways - it won't let me on to the internet so naturally that is disabled. (I need to deinstall and re-install it) And I thought I had enabled the WIndows XP Firewall - when I checked that was disabled too - funny I was almost absolutely certain that I had activated that one when I deactivated the Norton version. Now I shall monitor things more closely. At least everything else has not indicated a problem. And I do power the computer down when I am not using it.

Later....

Another day, another...well no I don't work

Well here it is Saturday morning and as is usual I sit at the computer going through the routine sequence of events - checking emails (and getting rid of spam which the vast majority of the email is), reviewing news items (Yahoo - really need to find something else more interesting I suppose, but it is my home page) and comtemplating all the things I need or should be doing. At 10AM the Rainbow representative comes to demonstrate a Rainbow vacuum cleaner. My father has one and I use it whenever they head to Texas (unless they take it with them), so I know what they are about and if the truth be told I would like to have one but and it is a BIG BUT is the cost - $1500 plus is a bit out of my budget. But I'm doing this so that Thelma can get an air cleaner...some sort of promotion if 4 of her and Travis's contacts agree to a demonstration then they get the air cleaner....I wonder what the air cleaner costs by itself? Or even if you could buy it that way.

Still have a ton of paper related activities to deal with...and I really need to clean out the cellar and organize it as well i.e. place all the tools etc in one location and label things. I also need to call Sears to get them here to fix the treadmill - the display has gone wacko - can't read it etc and the incline option doesn't work properly (hasn't since I got the damn thing) - you set it, it moves up but then the instant it hits your setting it drops down again to zero. It doesn't stay. I also need to get Sears here for the annual Washer Maintenance and that means doing some cleaning and arranging there too. Then there is my Garage Sale idea...LOL I have a Garage full of stuff that I gathered two years ago and there it sits awaiting some energy from me.

And then there are my thoughts...my personal thoughts I need to express or better yet sort through and make some decisions. Maybe by doing so I'll find some solutions or some purposes. Hmmm a Journal to write things down in might help, god knows I have enough books around I could use. Or maybe something online, but then I'm not sure I want to bare my soul to the internet and anyone who happens upon my writings. I've heard too many horror stories about that.

Then there is politics...but that is another avenue better left unexplored at the moment as I have to take a shower and pick up things a bit before the Rainbow Rep arrives.

Later...

Insomnia strikes again

Ahhhh...relief. The heat wave we had been under...the 90+ days with high humidity are gone. It is 57 as I write this, with quite a bit of fog outside, still it feels wonderful as I sit here in front of the computer. Now if only I could get eight hours of sleep consistently...back in the old rut of waking up three hours after going asleep and then lying there. Hence why I am typing this so early in the morning.

The real change occurred Wednesday afternoon when it started to rain, previous it was in the mid-70's and humid. I had harvested beans - yellow, green and flat italian from the garden and I was soaked with sweat etc. Of course I was wearing a t-shirt and long sleeve shirt as well as jeans. I have discovered that something in the garden...zucchini...beans...tomatos? Is giving me a rash when my bare skin touches it. Most apt to appear on my arms or legs...thus the need to cover up...never happened before to my recall. Anyway I now have a ton of beans and the zucchini have started in earnst...the tomatos look just about ready to burst as well.

Back to the temps...the rain came, a soaking steady downpour, not too heavy, but slow and steady the right kind of rain. The kind that you like to lie in bed and just listen too. I'm sure it will revitialize the grass etc which after the weeks of heat had stopped growing - only the weeds seemed to thrive. By evening we were down to 66. So we have shutoff the central air and opened all of the windows.

Checked out the parents garden while they are in Atlanta. Picked some zucchini and cucumbers and stuck them in the frig up there. Looks like the heat has done a number on the lower garden at least on the zucchini plants as they appear to be dead now...the butternut squash on the other hand are thriving.

Got my haircut too yesterday - $5 for the cut (hair & beard), $2 tip - a bargain considering what I used to pay which was between $15 - 18 at the barbershop, then I found this place a hair salon that does a basic men's haircut for $5 - walkins welcomed - not bad sort of fills in the blanks between the normal hair appointment customers.

Now I must get serious about some paperwork around here and my Tomb Stories. Once again I have been neglecting them for too long. I need to figure out what projects I want to do - those that can wait till winter - inside and those that can't - outside. Plus for two years I have been talking about having a Garage Sale and I really, really need to do that....or try Ebay, but that will probably become too much of a hassle.

Let's see off the top of my head :

- learn and create a webpage (at least I've started this Blog - but have alwayts wanted a web page)

- do a preliminary estimate on my Income Taxes - need to calculate Capital gains so far from the sale of the S&S Fund. Hopefully the Gain won't be too much - at least this year I've budgeted for estimate taxes - both State and Federal.

- scan the old pictures, label and create a photo scrap book. A lot of the pictures are my mother's and father's some are identified, some are not and then there are all the pictures I have taken over the years - oh boy!

- work on genealogy, both mine and Thelma's. Hers is on the Apple IIGS and I did get that out of storage and setup and it works!, now to see if the printer does and if the ribbons are not dried up yet. I need to print off her stuff, then key the information into the Family Tree program on the Windows PC....as for mine I have a Family Reunion coming up in August and I need to get to my Aunt Gen's to scan her pictures etc.

- then there is the Living Trust and to decide who should be my trustees and who should get stuff when I am gone etc etc etc.

- and I really should devote some time to reading...set aside a couple of hours to just sit and read.

The list could go on and on...but I will stop here for now.

Later...

Unions - a plague on our society

I have to give the City credit, they did respond (one of the three Councilors at least) to my email concerning the recycling of batteries and she elevated my concern to the Deputy Commissioner of Public Works who just happens to be a neighbor (a couple of blocks away anyway) and he called me the next day to discuss the issue. Asking me what I saw, Who was working that day etc. I told him about the previous incident two years ago and now this and all in all the conversation went well - he planned to touch base with the work crew on mine (and his) route and they had already issued a memo reminding all workers of the recycling policy.

It is strange there are actually two crews each trash day. One handles the recyclables - paper, cans, bottles etc, the other takes the non-recyclables - except this one month out of the year (July) the non-recyclable crew take the batteries - seems ridiculous, but apparently that is policy or maybe Union rules, and if so another example of a misguided policy.

Speaking of misguided policies & Unions: Case #1: The local Community College once had a Dental Assistant program but found the cost of the program in relation to the graduation rate was too high to maintain. But it did supply local Dentists with a pool of assistants and provide free Dental Care - i.e. guinea pigs while people were training on how to clean teeth etc. But it closed. Then over the course of several months dentists and educators got together and made an effort to revive it and after months of work it appeared that the program would be back - though not run by the local College, instead another College from Northern New York with more experience and a better track record. They would use the local College's facilities, but supply their own educators/instructors and associated educational programs. It was a win for all - local free care, Dentists and students and then the local College's Union spoke, threatening to sue because the action violated a clause in their contract with the local College, even though all the local college was doing was renting the facilities to another - in the end both colleges walked away to avoid litigation. So who won? The Unions I suppose, they succeeded in denying educational benefits to students, free dental care to those who can't afford it and local dentists who now must search elsewhere for assitants and raise their costs appropriately, oh and their members they are still without jobs though my understanding is that when the program closed those involved retired and most likely are not interested in returning.

Then there is case #2: A Convention Center Hotel, something like a $65 Million dollar investment in the Community. Construction jobs, Hotel jobs, and the spill over effect for the local businesses and restaurants - all held hostage by another Union and their demand that before any State funds are approved to assist in the development or construction of the hotel the Hotel's Developer and Managers must agree to a "Neutrality Clause". Which essentially from what I have been able to determine would compell the Managers of the Hotel to remain silent concerning any efforts to organize future Hotel Workers into a Unionized workforce. Other issues were also involved but they have all been negotiated - and from what news reports say the Hotels Managers bowed to all of the Union's demands, the Union has yet to concede a thing. All except this last clause which the Hotel Managers will not abide to and rightly so. This clause is akin to saying that only Democrats can campaighn in an election. Only Democrats can voice their positions on issues or candidates - the Republicans must remain silent unable to express their points of view or ideas leaving a one sided discussion of the issues of the pro's and con's.

If I were the developer - I'd walk away and lay the blame squarely on the shoulders of the Union, for right now it's members are unemployed and have been so now for several years when the Hotel Syracuse closed downtown due in part to mismanagement and Union demands. And all I can see is a radical Union whose leaders are more interested in being obstructionists rather than facilitators and consequently are not looking to provide jobs to it's members, but instead to exercise control and power over others.

Arghhhhhhh

Well my morning started off well...already ticked off. July is Household Battery Recycling month here in Onondage County - City of Syracuse and we are instructed to place our used batteries in an orange bag on top of a close trash can or bag. Then when the Sanitation Engineers pick up our trash, the batteries are supposed to be separated from the non-recyclable trash. Supposed - is the key word here as for the second time in three years they have thrown my bag of batteries into the back of the truck and compressed them with the rest of the trash. Last year I didn't recycle my batteries, instead I held on to them until now...though now it appears as if my efforts were fruitless.

So why bother?

I called the City's hotline - yeah right - no one there bothered to answer and thus I have sent emails off to two of my Councilers at Large (two of them don't have email - which is ridiculous state of affairs for an elected official to be in) and my own District Counciler as well as City Hall registering my displeasure and my belief that an Eductional Program needs to be put in place for the City's Sanitation Engineers. Especially when Household Battery recycling occurs once a year during the month of July.

That elusive thing known as sleep

Still can't seem to sleep. maybe once a week I'll get a good night's sleep, one where I'm in bed by 11PM and don't wake up until 8AM or so. Usually I end up in bed by 11PM or 12Mid and then wake up two or three hours later, after lying awake awhile I get up and go get on the computer and tackle some mundane task - email, finances, or play a game or two.

This morning I woke up at 1:45AM, thinking there was water running, only to discover that it was someone's boombox on the street behind me. The street is a dead end with the dead end being at the creek that runs along my back yard. Lately - actually it doesn't matter but there seems to always be a party or something going on at 1, 2, 3, and 4AM. I sometimes wonder how the other neighbors feel - I'm about three houses away from the offender and they would be right next door. If it isn't the music, its the yelling and arguing that will wake you. In the winter once the leaves are all gone from the trees, the lights from the cars coming down the street shine right into the bedroom...and there is one person who's car talks - when the back up it says "Attention please...the car is backing up...Attention please...the car is backing up"

Anyway aside from that distraction, I'm just not sleeping well. I guess too many tasks at hand, too many things to decide, too many demands on my time and too many problems to solve. Partly because I'm "retired", everyone thinks I should be available for them. Consequnetly my mind is thinking and thinking and thinking and thus I am not sleeping. Typically I'llslepp for two three hours be up for another two or three, catch a quick nap and then get up "officially" by 8 or 9AM, then later in the day it's nap time as very thing seems to want to shutdown. In short my sleep sequence has gotten disrupted.

Now to work on one of those mundane tasks (I did calendars, schedules, to do lists etc earlier this morning) - Taxes - going to calculate how I'm doing so far this year and get a feel for what the end result will be like. Also need to calculate my Networth - every Quarter I do that - and June 30th just past by. Who knows after I finish this I may discover that I need to get a job - boy that will screw things up royally!

The soothing sound of rain showers...

Started to rain around 10PM last nite. They have been predicting rain for days now, rain that we desperately need only it came in droves all around us but not here, until last nite. At least our rain was of the shower, steady, light consistency and not the heavy sudden downpours that come one minute and are gone the next and don't do any real good. So far and it is now 4:52AM, the rain has been the steady soaking type - perfect for us gardeners.

It has also been nice to lie in bed and just listen to the rain fall on the leaves of the trees and various plants, then a slight breeze picks up and the rain cascades from the trees and so forth. Now as dawn approaches the combination of the rain and the birds waking up, it seems so peaceful...as it will be for a few hours before area residents wake up, rev their cars and take off for the day's activities. Living in the City and sometimes you can miss the quiet and solitude of a country like setting.

Yesterday was the grocery shopping day - Aldi's, Green Hills, Eckerd's and Family Dollar. Actually I only bought stuff at three of the four places and by and large all of it was for Thelma. She is busy getting her house ready and stocked for Dorinda's visit beginning Saturday. Do will be here for a week and then return home to Indiana.

I went to Eckerd's for myself, looking for Rug Shampoo and since they rent the "Rug Doctor" steam machine I thought that they would have rug shampoo...well the did...but no way, no how was I going to pay $17.99 for a small bottle of shampoo. No wonder the rentals are so cheap...they get you in the supplies. So later today I shall go to P&C or Green Hills and see what generic brand - i.e. Bissell that they have for shampooing rugs. Elsie has a dirt devil shampooer, and she is willing to let me borrow it to do my rugs...which need it badly. But she doesn't have shampoo - we used the last of hers to fill up the machine so she could do some spot treating on her rugs. Oh well, I'm sure I will find something.

So our President falls off his bike and then later there are explosions on the London Underground. I guess unlike other G8 conference this one will not be uneventful. Market is expected to be down this morning as a result as terrorist fears are once again raised...sometimes the whole situation can get to be very, very frustrating.

Happy Fourth of July 2005!!!!

It's the Fourth of July, it is 5:30AM breezy and 68 degrees outside. Been lying awake awhile listening to the wind blow through the trees and ignite into song the makeshift wind chimes I have hanging in my garden (a stick, string and tin coffee can lids), meant to distract and hopefully keep the critters away from the garden.

It is a very nice morning...made my coffee, so I am all set for now. What I need for mornings like this is a deck that I can go and sit on and relax as the birds begin to wake. I suppose I could sit on the front porch, small typical concrete on houses like mine that were built in 1952. I'd much prefer a deck in back with more privacy or a front porch like my grandfather's that stretched across the front of the house. Pillars on either side of the stairs to the sidewalk. I wonder what it would cost to have porch like that? And if I would need permits and zoning variances. Started getting light around 4AM, but the birds haven't broken into full song yet.

Today is the day to fly the flag. At least two houses on the street will have flags flying, Mrs. A and me. We keep ours up year round and replace them about once a year. Sad when you really think about it how few people really do fly the flag. When I think back to my childhood nearly half if not three-quarters of the houses on the street flew the flag on the Fourth of July, now we're lucky if a hand full fly it. To fly the flag on the Fourth of July or Flag Day or Veteran's Day is a sign of respect and appreciation for being who we are and living where we do. It is NOT political, though many would have you believe so and in essence attempt to have you believe that to fly the flag - means you support the current government's or the party in power's policies - whatever they are - and that could not be farther from the truth. To fly the flag is simply a way of saying Thank You for living where we do and enjoying the Freedoms we have and a way of conveying those thoughts and appreciation to our Men and Women in uniform that have helped to make it all possible.

Of course things were different 40 years ago, you knew who your neighbors were and the neighborhood was almost like an extended family. For the most part people respected each other, their beliefs, their heritage etc. Today we are all primarily isolated unto a world of ourselves, polarized over religion, politics, foreign affairs, etc. suspicious of change, suspicious of anyone different than ourselves. It is Red State vs. Blue State, Right Vs. Left, Ultra-conservative vs. Ultra-liberal, Republican vs. Democrat, heterosexual vs. homosexual, those who believe that our government should be guided by religious principles vs. those who do not, those who believe marals are something to be legislated vs. those who belive morals are an individual's choice.

Polarization has become the norm, the everyone for one's self syndrome I call it. Now we only truly know a few select neighbors, most likely those who we've know for years, the rest we politely wave to as we go by not knowing their names or much about them, only that they are our neighbors. Sadly that seems to be the way of todays fast paced world...and we lose something of ourselves, and of life in the process.

Another day in the gardens

Seems like gardening and lawn mowing will never end. Even with these past hot and humid days things keep on growing. Oh well, soon maybe I will enjoy the fruits of all my labor. Mowed lawns today, mine and Mrs. A. Then spent a lot of time in the gardens doing more weeding and so forth as well as pulling more unproducing pea plants out and replacing them with pole beans. We'll see what happens.

Now I need to work on resolving my Computer problem and get thinking about a Family Reunion and so forth that is coming up. I have drawer full of pictures that I'd like to scan into my computer, print and see if I can identify everyone in them. They are a jumble right now some from my father's side and some from my mother's side.

I also need to work on the Living Trust and figure out July's bills. Got my City/School tax bill - $769.36 According to the tax bill to manage and provide service to a City of 140,000 it will cost $24,592,251.41 whereas to manage and provide educational services in the School District for 22,000 students it will cost $59,184,940.51

Friday My Day, Woodrow & the Supreme Court

Friday...my day...the one day of the week that I set aside just for myself. No appointments, no schedules, no activities unless it suits me. Supposed to be relaxing, but it was anything but this morning. Got up this morning, turned on the computer and - page cannot be displayed - or some such message no matter what website I tried to go to. Spent two - three hours investigating and trying different thing and I had come to the conclusion that the problem was with Internet Explorer (since the laptop computer worked ok - internet and all) on my main PC. Then for reasons I have yet to fathom I disabled my Norton Internet Security program and viola! problem solved. Further researched revealed that the Norton Firewall was blocking my access (and still is...sigh), so I turned the Norton Firewall off completely/permanently and turned on the Windows XP firewall, then ran a Security Check (from the Symantec website) and I passed. The first time without any firewall enabled I failed. So now I have the Windows Firewall activated and Norton Internet Security - without their firewall. At least I have access now and can take my time figuring out the problem. And the computer remains protected and so forth.

There has been some activity at the old shed...possible Woodrow has reaered his ugly head, then quite possible gravity or nature just cause my makeshift wall blocking an entrance to the shed to crumble. So I have reinforced it and restored it's function and we'll see if anything changes. So far though I haven't seen any sign of Woodrow. If I do...then I'll flood the burrow again...actually I should go out and clean up inside the shed, fill in the hole etc and see what happens. Hmmm maybe lay some chicken wire down on the floor and cinder blocks to hold it down around the entrance...not today though...maybe tomorrow.

My garden continues to grow...and grow...and grow...just isn't yet producing anything other then lettuce. I pulled two sections of peas out - they were not really producing and they are a pain - and replaced them with pole beans...regular pole beans and flat italian pole beans. The other pole beans in the garden are outgrowing the trellis's...they are 16 - 18 feet high and need to be 20- 25 feet I guess...but that isn't going to happen. At least I have blossums on the cukes, bush beans, zucchini, and tomatoes of course...I have little green tomatoes and at least one green pepper.

It will be sad to see Sandra Day O'Conner leave the Supreme Court - just heard a few minutes ago that she announced she was retiring. Actually I would have liked to see her become the Chief Justice, as she in my opinion was one of the few Justices on the bench who used common sense in deciding the cases. Now we'll have to wait and see if there is a battle over the next nominee, especially if there is more than one...the Chief Justice could still retire and some of the other Justices are getting up there in years. Unfortunately what we need - more moderate/centertrist judges we probably won't get - we don't need ultra conservatives nor ultra liberals on the bench...we need people who will take a common sense approach to cases before the bench. Sigh, it is going to be a long summer...