What was I thinking

What was I thinking.   I signed up for second call on New Years Eve?????   Much to my dismay I was called in.   On the night before, no less.     We were so busy,  senior citizens falling and breaking their hips.   Gall bladders, cardioversion, and ERCPs for gall bladders tomorrow.    Six and a half hours of overtime.   I REALLY don't need the money that bad.   It is a bummer to have four days off, and one of them I spend working.

I jokingly told the guy for the GB.  "look on the bright side, you won't have to pay a new deductible"  He probably would have if he had waited till tomorrow.  It wasn't too much of a consolation.

Don't know what I will do tomorrow.   New Years and not a drop to drink..........

 

 

 

 

IT IS JUST ABOUT OVER.

I feel like getting up and singing a few rounds of Handel Hallelujah Chorus.   I got the money and the buyer got the keys.    All I have to do now is a few odds and ends and close the estate.    I hope there is not some major thing to do that I know nothing about.

That leaves 2 more stressor for me.   The major is my job or perhaps the lack of one and will my daughter ever find a permanent job.   Her problem is  she had an education but not marketable skills.  Except for playing in the orchestra.  I think she is not willing to work hard enough on that to make it a full time career.    

Even so, I feel better with one major hurdle navigated.

 

Evening

Back to quiet and serenity.  The dinner was good.   My sister made 10 pounds of mashed potatoes.   That is a lot of peeling of  potatoes.   My other sister made pies and they were good too.

I made the turkey in the roaster oven.   It cooked very fast and very well.  But, the skin was not browned.  The meat did not seem as moist as other years.   Guess the next time will be in the over again.   I just don't have any room to cook the side dishes.

Another great discovery is cooking the stuffing in the crock pot.  The recipe said 5 hours but that is too long.   Two and a half hours would be enought.  By the time next year rolls around I will for get again.

It was a nice Christmas.  

Merry Christmas

 Merry Christmas..............

I am soon going to be in the final stages of my preparation.   The bread is cut and soon on to putting the turkey in the oven.   This year I am making easy vegetables.  What I would like to have is two ovens.   Thee isn't any place to put a second over.   On holidays is the time that I wish I had another.   I did buy a electric roaster.   Maybe the turkey will fit in it.

It used to be that Emily was up at the pre-crack of dawn trying to wake us up to open her gifts.   This year big gift was a computer repair for her computer.   My brother in law repaired it for her.   It needed a new "mother" board.   I am glad he is computer savvy and was able to fix it.   If I had taken it to a shop the cost would have been almost cost prohibitive.  I got him a restaurant gift card.  He can take the entire family.

The tree is up and decorated.   It used to be a big trauma, choosing the tree.   Chuck has exacting specifications.   I haven't been to deduce what they are exactly.   It would be very frustrating.   HE LOOKS FOR THE PERFECT TREE.  They all look good to me, but he finds they are not what he wants.   The problem is solved, after many years we found it is MUCH easier if he just goes and picks it out himself.   I will be happy with whatever he brings home.   

Now that we have cathedral ceilings in the family room, he can get a VERY tall tree.    He never tells me what he paid, but the taller the more expensive.   When it is time to set it up we always have to cut about $30 worth off the top and some of the bottom..........At some point I think we will get an artificial one, but as yet, I do not see any that compare to the real.

The family will be here between 4 and 5.  I sent them an email that if they come too early I will put them to work.   My sisters always help with the final cooking preparation.    

 

AOL I am glad you put the spell check on this blog.   I can spell good, but typing is another thing.

 

 

Tuesday

"The old believe everything, the middle-aged suspect everything, the young know everything."
- Oscar Wilde

Guess I will be middle-aged till I die.   Or perhaps, Oscar never thought of the baby boom generation who are still suspicious as they approach 60.   I still think they don't trust anyone over 30.

"Common sense and a sense of humor are the same thing, moving at different speeds. A sense of humor is just common sense, dancing."
- Clive James

This probably, because I feel that if I wasn't laughing I would be crying. 

Haven't resolved any problems from yesterday.   And the stupid color of this journal keep popping of of the color and bold print.

Still have a few things to do today.   Don't know whether to get ready or have another cup of tea and read the paper.

 

Cranberries

Would you believe........  In the midst of my frustration, I decided to go and get the nonperishable things for Christmas Dinner. 

 (Am I still allowed to mention Christmas in my journal???)

Went to Shop and Save and there were no cranberries in the produce section.    So, I asked the manager where they were.   He told me that no cranberries were available bbecause " they went bad???"   Were the cranberries on the FBI's most wanted list or what???  He said that they couldn't get them from the supplies.    Told him I had to go to the competing supermarket,  The Giant Eagle.   So my next trip was to the GE.   There were all  kinds of cranberries there.    They really had a lot of them piled neatly in their produce section.

Since I was there I decided before another shortage was declared I would get the yams and everything associated with the meal, including the turkey.  Just wait till the hungry masses discover the absence of cranberries............And I got mine.............the rest be damned.   I have one extra 1 pound bag and I will sell it to the highest bidder.

Peck, peck, peck.

A flock of chickens are at my door.   Dealing with the federal government is no prize.   I guess now I should worry if they are tapping my phone lines or reading my joural.   

My fathers house.    I went down 10K and accepted the buyers offer.   I want this to be over.   But, I will not give this house away.  I have to pay the utilities, insurance and taxes on this house.   Renting it out may be the  next move for me.  Now FHA/HUD didn't like the circuit breaker box.  It had "doubled up" circuits.  This was repaired.  My father, the electrician, had it doubled for a heater on the porch and a timer.   He was real big into security and the like.  I guess it was a bit of paranoia 

(Maybe he was right.  Who would have thought the feds were wire tapping with out an order.   Really, I am not surprised.   The eliteist in the government always think they know more and better than the average Joe Citizen. ) 

Now  they want the box replaced,  they want the two windows repaired (they do not stay up when open)   I doubt if there are parts available.   Next will they want all new windows??    But the thing that really irked me the most is they want the PAINT SPOTS ON THE WINDOW SILL REMOVED AND THE PAINT REMOVED FROM THE FOUNDATION.   Like I am going to get out there with a sandblaster and do this.

What's next, a new furnace, an A/C., a new kitchen????   I have really come to the end of my rope.   If this deal falls thru I will never accept any offer related to the federal government bureaucracy again...  I told the realtor that the buyer should ante up with some money in escrow and do these repairs.    I think they will nit pick the entire 32 page report and put demands on every item.    I can't stand it one more minute.

Tuesday

I feel like I am begining feel like I am pecked to death by a chicken.   There are some many stressors I can't begin to deal with them. 

My daughter and her eternal quest for a degree.   The house of my father and the situation of the job.  

I would like to runoff and join the circus, but they were here in November and they have gone.

Monday

"We are shaped and fashioned by what we Love."
- Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

I guess we are also shaped by what we hate.    We decide what we don't like and then are shaped by that too.  But I guess Goethe is dead and I can't contact him about that.

Going to Duq with the kid tomorrow/  Going to see what she needs to get her teaching certificate.     Wonder now if she would like teaching better than dealing with the dregs of society in the thrift store.

Saturday

Going to try to get thru the latest assult on my mind.   The report from the house inspection says to replace te distribution panel.  The only electrician I know is dead and he installed the panel in the first place.   Good thing that was the only thing he found. 

My life is filled with stressors.  Mostly, my job.   But others keep heaping more and more on.   I tried to scan the report and send it, but theprinter wouldn't scan.    HP gives some long dissertation on what to do, none, of which, I understand.   

Thursday

"Only choose in marriage a woman whom you would choose as a friend if she were a man."
- Joseph Joubert

This would also apply to a guy.   I told my daughter, who refuses to date her friends, that you have to be friends with a person before it becomes romantic.   She doesn't believe me.  Said it would ruin her freindships..........

Things get more interesting day by day at work.   Think I will stick around just to see what happens.  

Snow scheduled, or should I say in the forecast.  Like who would schedule snow, except for the ski resorts.   I have had a number of days off and all I got done was a haircut and cleaning out the hall closet.     I just have no ambition to do anything.   I think it is related to work related stress.

 

 

"Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does."

The quote also applied to bad or good things.   Still trying to get things done.   I am now having dreams (or nightmares??) about the goings on at work.....   It is bad enough to have it on your mind during the waking hours but now I have them at night.     It does't give me a warm fuzzy feeling when the MDA's tell you they are getting their  license in other states and they would be willing to relocate.    And you  hear that your boss has his house on the market...

I try not to let things bother me but this is beginning to do that. 

Words

Today's Word: Pulchritudinous (Adjective)

Pronunciation: [pêl-kri-'tud-nês or -tyud-nês]

Definition 1: Possessing physical beauty.

Usage 1: Doesn't sound like its meaning, does it? But this word can be used to describe anything that is exceedingly beautiful.

There is a web site that sends you words of the day.    This is an ugly word, but it means beautiful.  The English language is interesting.  It takes the words of every language and takes it into the language and makes it its own.

Unlike the Germans and French who strive to keep their language "pure"   the speakers of English incorporate everything, and then add things that are "new"

Got the license plates all transfered and reassigned to the proper cars.   All we hav to do it get the newest car inspected and we will be all set.

Going to Johnstown with my daughter.   It is a long and boring drive.   Made even longer and more boring because the sun is down.   The concert is this Saturday and then she has a month off, with the next concert for Valentines Day.......

http://www.yourdictionary.com:80/cgi-bin/spread.cgi .

Here is the link for the word of the day.   If anyone cares to check it out.

It works in theory

Well , it was copied and pasted but all that is showing up is a blank space.   Where did it go???    

Thursday

Every person takes the limits of their own field of vision for the limits of the world."
- Arthur Schopenhauer

This is driving me crazy.    I still (after a length of time) haven't got the nuances of the font size.  My friend just sent me some cartoons in an email and I would like to put them here but I haven't a clue how to do that.

Work is driving me crazy, as usual.   It is like rats that are leaving a sinking ship.    I used to be such a nice place to work.    Every day is a new problem and who knows how to fix it.