Claudias AOL Thoughts

REALLY WANT TO KNOW

2008-10-01T06:10:00.000-07:00

What I really want to know, and maybe some other do too, is how would I copy and burn the contents of my journal and burn it to a DVD????

I formatted the DVD but the information I got from my computer was to click and drag the files. How would I put the journal in its entirity into a file (???) and then I could click and drag it.

I am sure others would like to do that too? I would also be good to save it on DVD

Even more cranky

2008-09-30T17:29:00.000-07:00

I am even more cranky now........Today, or possibly yesterday we heard from the GREAT AND POWERFUL AOL, telling the small and weak minions of AOL that they would no longer be having journals as of October 31, 2008. I would like to know what pea brained executive thought it would be a good idea.

Is the end of AOL in our futures. With all the economic woes of the last few months, are they trying to tell us something????? Now the suggestion is that we all shuffle off to Google.

Well, I did take their suggestions and set up my blog. But, alas, in my haste and feeling extremely irked, I spelled my name wrong. I have only been spelling it right for the past 57 years. But, never the less, it is done.

I only have to figure out how to move my journal:

http://whatclaludiaisnowthinking.blogspot.com/

I would have gone back and corrected it but the die has been cast and I will just go with the flow and not worry about how I have misspelled my own name.

Still cranky

2008-09-29T17:20:00.000-07:00

"The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good."
Samuel Johnson

That is a good thought, wish I had said it first.

I have been spending my time reading other journals today. What I did find out is that a lot of people seem to be down in the dumps or in a funk. I am not the only one who has penned some of the same sentiments this month.

I do not know what is the cause of my down mood. Maybe it has something to do with the change of season, barometric pressure or the lengthening of the night and decrease of the day time. I wish it would go away, what ever the cause.

Good news, Emily told me today that so far her average in Nursing School is 95. Way to go EM. I know you can keep up the excellent work. I love ya baby.

Monday

2008-09-29T15:29:00.000-07:00

I am feeling in sort of a crappy state. I just can not seem to get motivated. I go to work and can't wait to leave. I am glad I have a week off in a few weeks. I guess I will take my aggressions out on cleaning the house. That is good for getting rid of frustrations.

On Saturday I went to do the Household Hazardous Waste clean up. A few times a year in Western PA they will have one day a month when you can get rid of your hazardous things. Such as, oil, paint, insecticides, and other things of that nature.

This was the first year I volunteered because I felt it was a good thing to do. I live in Allegheny County, which was one of its sponsors..

There were a lot of volunteers and we got a lot of things done. BUT, as I am standing there waiting for the people to file in a woman asked me if I was an employee of Allegheny; County. NO, as we spoke and I found out, the employees of Allegheny County got paid time and a half to be there. What was the definition of VOLUNTEER???? I really felt that I was being taken advantage of....why was I there on my day off, blissfully thinking I was helping when the majority of them were getting paid for it.

I will not do that again. To think that my hard money, paying my county taxes was going to pay for alleged volunteers at this event. It really made me a bit angry.

Never again.

Friday, Friday !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2008-09-26T16:26:00.000-07:00

Another work week under my belt. Today I did hands. One of the most common hand troubles is Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. It is when the hand gets numb because the nerve is entrapped. This is a problem with repetitive actions. Such as typing and computer work. I give sedation and the surgeon injects a bit of local and then he releases the tightness surrounding the nerve. I think the hand is immobilized for about 2 weeks. Just think, you can not feed yourself or worse wipe you own butt. You really have to like someone to help with this.

Tomorrow I am a volunteer for the hazardous waste recycling. If you have hazardous waste, there are a few days in the summer and fall that you can take the stuff and paid $2 gallon and they will dispose of it for your. It is really cheap and they get rid of it in a prescribed manner. I think all I will be doing is passing our papers and things of that nature. They expect 2000 drop offs. I have a few gallons of motor oil to be disposed. I also get a free T-shirt and a $10 gift card at the Giant Eagle. (food store.)

I will take my camera and take pics of the guys in the hazmat suits. Back in 2004 when my dad died, my sibs and I cleaned out his garage and found all sort of hazardous waste. It was in unlabeled jars; my worst fear was being ass-ended on the PA Turnpike and turning the car into a fire ball. That did not happen, thank the Lord. I was a bit nervous.

New computer trouble. It keeps sending me information that my wireless Internet is disconnected/ connected. It is flashing like a beacon. I do not know what to do. I went into Acer Management and connected it,. but, why does it not stay connected. Guess the computer needs exorcising. I just got the damn thing back... Making me crazy, it is.

Think I need a picture. A few more gourds to add to the mixture.

I don't have stock!!!!!!

2008-09-24T17:17:00.000-07:00

Other than painting them and selling them at craft shows and in stores, what is the use of gourds???

At work: People who will remain nameless: "I don't feel sorry for all those rich people who have stock. I don't have any stock"

Claudia: "Do you have a 401K?

Coworker: "Yes, with Fidelity."

Claudia: "YOU HAVE STOCK"

What were they thinking?? Bet they hadn't looked at it since they set it up......

Today was an eight hour day. That was really nice.....I left "early"

Tomorrow is another eight hour day. I like these eight hour days.

Today I did cataracts with IOL implants. That is Intra ocular lens.. They can make your vision 20/20 after your cataract is removed.

Tomorrow I am doing Gall Bladder removals all day. One would think that everyone in America has had their GB removed. Except me and I am happy to report that it is fine. Of course, I make it a point to not abuse it with fatty foods. The food served in our cafeteria is absolutely a gall bladder test meal.

Scarey thought

2008-09-23T15:27:00.000-07:00

"There is nothing more horrifying than stupidity in action."
Adlai E. Stevenson

This is in epidemic proportions today. Also, never underestimate the power of stupidity in groups.

Tuesday

2008-09-23T15:25:00.000-07:00

I erased all the clickable links in the previous entrys. I discovered them when I went to add into my journal. It looked like an idiot wrote it.......

I just can't seem to get going. I am ready for a vacation. When I get this feeling, I can recognize it because I hate everyone and everything about work.. I just can not wait to go home.

I have off the second week in October and I can not wait for it to come......Today I went to Wally World. The main reason is the price of Pepsi Cola. It is almost $2.00 per bottle at the nearby supermarket. I personally, do not drink the stuff. I hate the fizzyness of it. I do not like Champaigne either. Well. Wall Mart has it for $1.25 per 2 liters. I bought other stuff too.

These are gourds. My freind Ruth grown them and sells them at assorted fall festival fairs. I hope you read this and see another idea Ruth.

question

2008-09-20T14:00:00.000-07:00

I wonder how long this will stay before it becomes a white space with a red X in a box. That is one of my questions???

Saturday

2008-09-20T13:56:00.000-07:00

"Do first things first, and second things not at all."
Peter Drucker

I wonder if Peter was refering to chores????

I have been lax at writing. Yesterday I worked 16 hours and worked from morning till about 9 PM. I was exhausted, and am wondering why I am doing this to myself. We are short of help again, not really, short of help but they have expanded the number of sites we cover and people are on vacation and medical leave. Someone is always off at any given time.

I spent today going over my genealogy information. That is very time consuming; but, sometimes, just like a squirrel you find an acorn or two. On Roots Web there are forums and lists where people post names, and locations. Today I got a reply from someone is Brazil (in English) and he was looking for information from Rosshaupt, Bohemia. (Now the Czech Republic) I did not have his information but got three more emails including one from a distant family member. That will send me on another search for the elusive deceased family lines.

Today and Tomorrow is the Shadyside Arts Festival. Emily and I will be going. I will take the camera but most people do not like yu taking pictures of their things.

So I did get the instructions on how to add clickable links. Now, how would I add it by using the words SHADYSIDE ARTS FESTIVAL as a link?

Thursday

2008-09-18T09:56:00.000-07:00

"Never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never - in nothing, great or small, large or petty - never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense."
Winston Churchill

Do you think he might have been a tad stubborn???

I am happy today, I found out that my stress test and GB, biliary tract, and pancreas ultra sounds were normal. I was worried a bit, because of my mothers malignancies, I guess that will be in the back of my mind with each major ache and pain. The chest pain has not recurred and if it does I think I will call my Gastroenterologist, maybe it is something in my stomach. There is a bacteria h. pylori, which causes ulcers and is indicated in stomach cancers. The treatment is about two weeks of antibiotics and I think one of those acid reducers.

The research docs who discovered that bacteria actually inoculated them selves by drinking the solution containing the h. pylori and then developed gastric ulcers. Maybe they won the Nobel prize, I have to look that one up for sure......

Emily likes Nursing School. She has to get up early (Normal time for Chuck and I, but it is the middle of the night for her.) To be in class at 7 AM. Guess they want them to become accustomed to early rising. I talked to an RN I know who retired and she said she now can sleep in to 7 AM. A fantasy vacation for me would be a week of sleeping in till 9 AM.

Irked this morning; I had to order a box of checks, and the cost is $20.00 per box. WTF. Although I pay my bills on line, I still need a few around. I also had a problem when someone had breached my account and charges $5,000 including a trip to Singapore and I have no idea how they got my ATM number. They had both Chucks and mine. He NEVER EVER used his for purchases and I RARELY used mine. And they got the number anyway...... Had to put a credit alert on the account.

The banks will do virtually nothing because the amount they will recover is less than the legal fees...What a system.

2008-09-15T04:21:00.000-07:00

"The cemetery is filled with indispensable men."
Charles de Gaulle

Now how about that thought......I always knew that where I worked would continue long after I am gone.

IT SEEMED LIKE A GOOD IDEA AT THE TIME !!!!!!

2008-09-14T17:43:00.000-07:00

Much to my amazement I have not written in here for a few days. It is not that anything was not going on I was just doing other things. Things like working and watching the idiots who refused to evacuate because they thought it was a good idea to ride out the storm.

Did you ever wonder what thought process (or lack on one) was involved in some of the most mind boggling decisions???? Anyone with an ounce of brains could look at the television and when you see that the hurricane takes up about 60% of the Golf of Mexico, what influenced you to stay? And these idiots were calling for rescue in the middle to the night and the storm expecting someone to come and get their sorry asses....... Now a lot of responders are risking their lives and safety to go and drag them out of their lairs like drowned rats......These are the same people who have a short memory span and have lost the visual images of New Orleans and Katrina.... WHAT WHERE THEY THINKING????

The wind is blowing in Western PA. It is almost 9 PM and it is 86 outside. The forecast says gusts from 25 to 50. I do not know if we will get rain. The forecast says no so I can expect to get some. I would like to be a meteorologist. It is the only job where you can be wrong 50% of the time and still have your job....What a life !!!

Wednesday

2008-09-10T17:47:00.000-07:00

Wow. Its Wednesday. Yesterday I had a stress test. You have to go and get your heart nuked, take pictures' and walk on the treadmill, they get it nuked again and take pictures. The treadmill goes from slow to fast, and increasing the the angle. I made it for the six minutes with no pain. I was short of breath but not enough to stop and fall over.

Chuck, bless his heart, decided to take me. So, in the waiting room, I am being interviewed by the RN. RN: "Do you have an allergies?" ME: "NO"

From the other side of the room, Chuck: "You're allergic to Sulfa" Me to Chuck: "You are one of those spouses when the nurse ask the patient, they answer for them...." Me, to the nurse, "It gives me an upset stomach. That is a side effect, not an allergy" Me to Chuck: "You are giving me fodder for my journal !!!" RN: "I am not getting into the middle of this one" LAUGHS.

I had awakened with pain in the middle of my chest a few weeks back. The Cardiologist said primarily it looks good. Another doctor will read the nuked heart scans.....Wonder what the half life of the nuking isotope is?

Next is a Gall Bladder Scan, along with my biliary ducts (I had mention to my PCA about my mothers bile duct cancer) and my pancreas after the discussion of "The Last Lecture" If nothing shows (I AM REALLY HOPING) I guess a trip to the Gastroenterologist is in my furture. What the hell; he has already examined my colon. Maybe he is in need of a new car !!!!! I will do my part for him to get one.

Sunday

2008-09-07T16:02:00.000-07:00

A tidy house is a sign of a wasted life.............

That was a sign at the Irish Festival, which Emily and I went to today. http://www.pghirishfest.org/ I ran off the instructions that were given to me, but when I went to start this entry I could not find them. They are somewhere and I will find them. We went early and I was looking for books, or at least I had an idea about them. I was looking for books on Irish Genealogy. But, there was not a book to buy. Just food, beer, jewelry and T-shirts and Irish knick-knacks. I did buy a t-shirt. http://www.kelticdesigns.com/ They really have a lot of nice designs. I bought a T-shirt that was a Pentacle Knot. You really have to peruse the bowels of this web site to find the T-shirts. Emily at a chicken pita and I had a gyro.

I wish I had purchased the above quoted sign. It is funny but somehow I feel it is true. My house is not dirty but neither am I Suzie Homemaker. Sometimes I feel that I should have had a cleaning lady. But, really, I would lose the only exercise I get.

Emily starts her clinical rotation this week. I can not remember my first day of clinical when I went......Guess it went well. I do remember my first day of OB and I hear a woman scream "You son of a bitch, you did this to me..........." That made a lasting impression on me. I never, ever, wanted to work on OB. This was pre epidurals.......

I think what I liked the most was the Operating Room; maybe, it was because, at that time, it was the only place in the hospital that had air conditioning.......I was a wuss from the start.....

We had, at that time three month rotations in all the specialities. I loved the OR.....When I was a senior I was interested in the Nurse Anesthetist. http://www.aana.com/ I would only have one patient to take care of at one time.. After working for six months I applied and was accepted.. That was the best career move for me.....The anesthetist worse a lot of jewelry, and I liked that. When I went not too many people were interested in the field, so, they paid me a stipend to go. NOW it is in a Master prepared field and soon to become a Doctorate prepared career. I wonder, why would anyone do this when the same amount of time is required to go to Medical School. You would get paid about 4 times as much if you had a MD behind your name.

It is a push by the colleges and university's. Most of the Professions are now on a doctorate level. The Pharmacists are required a PharmD, the Occupational and Physical Therapist. I really feel it is a money making ploy by the Higher Education Gurus. If they want to control cost, making the entry level positions a Doctorate level is definitely not the way to do. But, it is set in motion and we can not change it.

They would probably do that for the entry level RN, but there is such a shortage that it would be impossible to do.

Going to the Vets

2008-09-05T12:52:00.000-07:00

Emily and her new found cat friends. This was taken about ten years ago.

I keep getting post cards and I know I have to do it. What, make an appointment to take the cats to the vets. It is traumatizing for me and the cats. Lucy, ALWAYS poops in the travel box, the thing I am glad about is it is (this is disgusting) always solid and I have a fresh specimen. One is always needed when you go.

Henry, screams like a mountain lion in the back of the car. Really loud and frantic.

Molly, who just squeaks and never meows, let go with loud full fledged MEOWS.

Jenny, meows loudly every four seconds during the whole trip; both going and return. When Emily moved back from Cleveland, Jenny meowed for the two and a half hour trip. I was ready to open the window and let her out. She was inside her travel box, but the thought did enter my mind.

I have had pets most of my life. The latest thing is cat dental hygiene. A new young woman, just recently graduated from Vet School, told me that the cats had bad teeth and some needed to be removed. The estimate was for about $1,000. Now, I ask, how many people have $4,000 just lying about dedicated to cat extractions. I could spend that getting my own teeth implanted. I have decided to take them to the older woman (my age LOL) who had never mentioned the cats teeth to me. Seriously, that is a lot of cash to remove a few teeth.

Emily's second week in Nursing School is done. She still likes it.....She said she has made a few friends, which is good. I think they will have a study group. She also wondered why they did not accept her Developmental Psychology from college. She went to see and the course and its grade was not noticed because it was under the OFFICIAL STAMP. She was happy because that is a few hundred less she has to borrow. Yeah.......

It is still hot, I am really waiting for it to cool off. I hate hot weather. Anytime I have to use the A/C it is too hot for me.

Thursday

2008-09-04T13:31:00.000-07:00

"The height of cleverness is being able to conceal it."
Frantois, Duc de La Rochefoucauld

"It is hard to believe a man is telling you the truth when you know you would lie if you were in his place."
H. L. Mencken

Just a few quick quotes, we are off to play Trivia tonight......Have to start thinking and being clever.

Henry again...

2008-09-03T11:53:00.000-07:00

Henry was sooooo small when we got him at the Humane Society. My red cat Ginger has recently died and I love red cats. I think he was about 6 weeks, so small with such a big MEOW. I swear he said "Pick me, pick me"

WE got two cats that day. Including Lucy, she was a bit of an odd ball. She is very pretty, "when you are very pretty you do not have to be smart." That's what my daughter said.... Lucy is still odd, I do not think she had been properly socialized. You get three pats max; she would have made a good solitary pet.

We had removed the carpeting and were going to have another installed. The basement door is about 2" higher because of the removed carpet. The first day I had the two kitten sleep in the basement; their bed, litter box and food/water dishes were down there. They came up when one of us were home and down for the night.

One night, I put the two of them to bed and I could hear meowing and then some scratching. To this day, I do not know how Henry did it, but he crawled under that door in the 2" space. I heard the noise and next thing I knew there he was walking across the living room and I swear he was smiling.....He only did that one and the problem was self resolving because in about a week he got to big to do it again. After I knew they could climb the steps the graduated to the upstairs.

LUCY

2008-09-03T08:34:00.000-07:00

This is Henry; he is getting old. He will be somewhere about 10 next year. Henry is starting to slow down. He used to go into my bathroom, jump on the sink, and then he would calculate his trajectory and leap upon the window sill to look out the window at his backyard domain. Now he will follow me in and stand below the window and meow for me to lift him up so he can watch.

Emily also noticed that he is slower coming up the steps from our basement. He was taking the steps slow and carefully placing his feet. He still is hot on getting to the food dish...

Today I received my replacement Office 2003 CD. Somehow the old Office 2003 got scratched. I was trying to find an old disc from some source. I had posted an inquiry on one of the computer sites and, much to my delight, I found out that if you had registered your CD Microsoft would replace it at a minimal cost. YEAH !!

So yesterday it came and it is installed. I had also ran a scan to see if there were any updates and found that I needed MS VISTA Service Pack 1. That took about an hour, I decided to not do any more today; just incase something went wrong and if I found something I could uninstall the program. Do you know that some people pay big bucks for others to install their things ???? Really, if you can read and have half a brain, they easy to install. I will preface that with, if every thing goes well. I always seem to find some glitch that is not covered by the FAQ'S and end up sending emails to whomever to solve what ever dilemma may have happened.

Work was not to bad on my 16 hours. I finished up about seven and then perused the Internet for a bit. I could take my laptop but it would be on the hospital site and filters "ENTERTAINMENT" which is what this journal is considered. What I find irksome is that they allow "SPORTS" web sites thought.

GRRRRRR.

Monday, Monday....

2008-09-01T13:46:00.000-07:00

My day was spent reloading the computer. Before I sent it back to ACER I had moved everything to another hard drive. Actually, I had moved some to a flash drive and everything to the external hard drive. I actually forget what I had moved. So, I spent today moving my photos back. I still have to download the printer and scanner. Did you notice that the electronics rarely come with CD's anymore. What you have to do is connect the device to the computer, access the Internet and download the program for its operation. There must be a lot of money spent in making those installation CD's to go with your purchase...

Above are bromeliads, I think they are related to pineapples. I really like fresh pineapples, but the pineapples are about $4 to $5 each. I refuse to spend that on a pineapple.............I just can't do it.......Maybe, if I were taking a fruit salad to a picnic I would.

Back to work tomorrow, another one of those 16 hour shifts. Tomorrow will be a busy day, all those non emergent emergency cases will be stacked up and need to be done. I have off Wednesday and Friday.

This week is going to be a hot one. It is more like the July-August forecast than September. It is strange, the first week of September to be so hot. But, really, this summer has been a nice one; a little cool weather and a little hot weather. It has also been cool at nights.

I think that Wednesday will be devoted to connecting my devices and then try to make clic links. Beth, thank you for the instructions....

Crazy

2008-08-30T10:41:00.000-07:00

Now that I have added another picture to the one below it did not go where I wanted. I seem to always have problems of this nature. But, WHERE IN THE WORLD IS THE EDIT BUTTON FOR THAT ENTRY?????

These things seem to disappear and make me crazy. What I wanted was to have one photo under the other. ARRRRRGGGGGGGHH.

I am my own worst enemy.......I have figures it out. Thank goodness

I would really like to know how I manage to get myself into electronic limbo....

Lazy Saturday

2008-08-30T05:48:00.000-07:00

This picture is really from long ago and far away....This is a picture of my grandfathers family. My grandfather, Willi Schridde, is the soldier in the WW1 uniform, standing in the back. It was taken circa 1816. He was German born and fought in the War to End All Wars. The couple seated are my great grandparents. Heinrich Theodor Frederich Schridde and Anna Meta Margarethe Hackmann They were both from the area around Hamburg, Germany. Willi Had five sisters, Dina, Minna, Lily, Johanna and Oona. I wish I knew which sister was which. I have been trying to find information on them but with out knowledge of the German language it has been a great problem for me.

I am going to a meeting the first week of November in Williamsburg VA. I have a notion to peruse Half Price Books and see if they have a German Language CD and play it during the trip. I will be a prisioner in the car and maybe some of it will be absorbed into my cranium.....

If you compare the family to the snapshot of me and my sibs you will see a great resemblance. At least I do. My brother in the top middle I think looks like my ggrandfather. My sister on the lower left looks like her ggrandmother. I think I resemble my Aunt who is seated in in chair in the front. It is amazing how that genetic works.

I have been working on my genealogy for about two years and I have made progress but I have hit a major brick wall. Some people can trace their ancestory back to Adam and Eve, but I am stuck at the great great grandparents.

Off Today

2008-08-28T06:02:00.000-07:00

Here is another view of Elfreth's Alley in Philadelphia.

Got up this morning at 7 AM. That was a two hour sleep in for me. It is amazing that a day off can be refreshing......The weather outside is rainy and COOL. I love the coolness of the air. The rain was from tropical storm FAY. I guess she is about to run out of steam. We hadn't had rain for a while and things were dry, we really could use it and probably a day or two more.

I love the sound of gentle rain on the roof at night. I woke up and heard it pattering on the roof; then fell back asleep.

Not much on my agenda. Chuck is at work and Emily is at school. Soon the first week will be over for her. This is mostly orientation and I think some basic Nursing Class will start today. A & P had orientation on Tues and will also start for real today too. It is nice to sit at home, it is quiet and I have the cats for company. I think I would like to spend a week as one of my cats. They get to sleep most of the day and have their food handed to them in a little dish.......of course, they are neutered and we have eliminate a large portion of their activity. LOL

Wednesday and Tired again.

2008-08-27T16:14:00.000-07:00

This is the last of the three cat photos from the Betsy Ross House. This one just looks contented.

Today was another busy day. Did gyne all day. That is woman's parts, for those who don't know. We did minor procedures and a woman with an ovarian cyst. She had felt uncomfortable for three months. She had a cyst that made her look like she was 7 months pregnant. First they did a small incision and removed the fluid in the cyst. It totaled 13,350 ml of fluid. One 2 liter bottle of fluid has 2,000 ml. So, it was the equivalent of the fluid of 6 and a half bottles of soda. WOW. The good thing was that with this contained cyst it was NOT cancer. Good for her.

Today I took 3 Motrin when I got to work. I also wore my Birkenstock shoes. Yesterday my feet hurt so bad, and actually every bone in my body ached. Last night was a Motrin PM evening. I was so sore that I had trouble falling asleep, after the Motrin kicked in I was able ( with the help of the Benadryl to fall asleep.

I think taking the Motrin when I go to work maybe the answer to my aches and pains. I am off tomorrow and damn glad of it.

Emily likes the Nursing School. Right now all they are having is orientation. Her clinical starts in September. She has the uniforms washed, but the length needs hemmed. She is five foot two inches tall.

Another of Betsy Ross's cats

2008-08-26T16:49:00.000-07:00

This is the second of the three cats on the fountain at Betsy Ross's House. Did you ever notice how cats stretch..........they really look like they enjoy their stretches...wish I could do that............

Tired from work.

2008-08-26T16:44:00.000-07:00

"The greatest tragedy is indifference."
Red Cross

It's not that I am indifferent, but sometimes I am just all compassioned out. I see the same type of people making the same bad life choices and really wonder "What were you thinking???" Abused women always pick the same type of partner who abuses them again and again. People who don't take responsibility for the upbringing of their children. People who abuse their bodies with what ever vice..

Some times I would like to open their heads and insert some common sense.

2008-08-24T06:49:00.000-07:00

This is one of three cats on a fountain outside of Betsy Ross's home in Philadelphia. It looks like a typically pleased feline behavior.

My repaired computer was waiting for me when I got home from Philly. I have been slowly putting things back on. There are still a few things to go. My Office program, iTunes, and a myriad of pictures. I am still investigating photo editing software. All I can say is I am glad I backed up my stuff. I also have the photos, music and genealogy things on a flash drive too. Those flash drives are great. Emily said that the flash drives now contain as much memory as her first computer that she took to college in 2000. That amazing. The first to go back on was AOL, they had downloaded Adobe, but the trial version of Office was not there.........

Emily has off today and school starts tomorrow for her and probably half the population of school students, or maybe more than half....

Do not know what I will do today. Does everyone sit around on their day off and try to decide what to do? I like drinking a cup or two of tea and contemplate the day....

Saturday and the living is easy.

2008-08-23T14:43:00.000-07:00

The upcoming week is the last of August. School is starting for many, including my daughter.. That means that getting to work will be a hassle and you have to watch out for all the kids. I have been wondering, since all the traffic stops and lets the kids cross, what happens when they become adults? So, do they think that the traffic stops as if by magic and do a lot get hit by cars? I leave for work at 05:30 and it is a 15 minute drive. I run into the school bus traffic when I go home at 3 PM.

I will be glad to see the autumn. I love the colors and the crisp nights and warm days. I hope the color of the trees are good this year, the past few the colors have been muted. We had a lot of rain this year but not so much for the past few weeks. The lawn is beginning to look a little parched. The water costs too much for me to water grass; but I will have to go out and water my tomato crop.

The tomato crop is in one pot. Maybe I will take pictures of my container garden. I think I will do that tomorrow.

Those vegetables look so good. The colors are fantastic. This was a market it Philadelphia. What I should do is start my water color painting again. I love color and I have a lot of candidates for color in my collection.

Tomorrow we were going to do to the Shaker in the Woods Festival; but it is suppose to be hot and humid and I will be miserable and cranky, so we opted out of that. This festival is in Colombiana OH. It is suppose to be one of the best. They also have a fall and Christmas Festival. Maybe I will go then...........

Thought

2008-08-23T05:15:00.000-07:00

"The things that will destroy America are prosperity-at-any-price, peace-at-any-price, safety-first instead of duty-first, the love of soft living, and the get-rich-quick theory of life."
Theodore Roosevelt

2008-08-22T16:11:00.000-07:00

A bit from the hotel in Philly there was a coffee shop. The barista made the design, I felt bad drinking it, but it was good. I was impressed with his art work.

After the 16

2008-08-22T06:02:00.000-07:00

Here is another picture from Philadelphia with a shop on Pine Street. I LOVE color and its contrasts. The only black and white I like is Ansel Adams. AOL Image Search results for "ansel adams" I hope the search is there when you look. I have yet to master how to keep the type style the same when you add pictures and links.

Yesterday was not too busy. I set up OB, you have to be ready at an moments notice to do STAT csections. I did breaks and lunches and after seven sat around and perused the Internet. We do not need a person on till 11 and I wonder how long it will last. It is a big expense for someone to be there and usually doing nothing.

Today was a very light day. There were only three rooms running. We have thirteen rooms available. Thirteen people were "staff leveled" That means they were told to stay home and go without pay or take 8 hours vacation pay. This is common in the health care business. It doesn't matter if you have bills to pay....just too bad for you. I am glad I am off.

Nothing else going on here. Emily is getting ready for work and I am contemplating the day.

wednesday's madness

2008-08-20T16:07:00.000-07:00

Here is Claudia's version of "Sunflowers" Sorry Vincent...........

Today I was in the GI Lab. I decided hell would be doing colonoscopies for eternity. I did 16, a few of them were gastroscopies too. The youngest person was 44 and she weighted about 130 pounds; she was also the skinniest. WOW what a day. Just got finished at 4:45 PM and I was glad. I was tired and called Emily and asked if she wanted to eat out; she said to pick up Chinese. I have a new favorite of Chinese dish. Garlic Chicken, it has lot of vegetables and not very garlicky. I ordered a small portion for both of us (Emily had shrimp Lo Mein) and there is enough for left overs for tomorrow. The two meals cost about $9 total for two.

Tomorrow I am working for 16 hours. I am assigned to OB, who knows what that will bring.......it is either very busy or very slow....I am hoping for slow. I will spend my day doing lunches and breaks....

I now have an offer for a book club (thanks Beth!!!). I will peruse the list and see what I want to do. Finding the time is sometimes complicated for me. It is funny, if I take something to read for tomorrow to read in my down time I will be busy as could be, if I take nothing I will be sitting around with nothing to do. It always happens, I wish I knew how that worked.

Emily was reading POSSIBLE SIDE EFFECTS by Augustine Borroughs. She liked it better than RUNNING WITH SCISSORS, that book I thought was the stupidest bookI had read in awhile. Maybe I will give Augustine another chance and read the first listed.

It is hot outside; and to be hot tomorrow. I am ready for fall. I like it when it is warm during the day and cool at night. Soon it will be there...Most people I talk to tell me that fall is their favorite season. But the bad thing about is you know the winter is soon to follow. Here is Vincent Van Goghs version.

After dinner

2008-08-18T15:30:00.000-07:00

Here is my daughter Emily pretending like she doesn't know I am taking her picture. This was in the Inn we stayed at in Philadelphia. She said if we stayed there again she would take the WIFI booster and plug it in our room. I do not know how it works but it takes the signal from the original site and boosts the signal. Works by magic I guess.

She completed her CPR class and met some of her new classmates. There were also some people she knew from her Microbiology class. Just 6 days till Nursing School starts. She has to take her Nursing courses and Anatomy and Physiology. She had that in high school and enjoyed and did well on that unit.

Emily and her dad are going to see a movie this evening. They both like spoofs and weird comedies. I do not so I am staying at home and typing and reading other journals.

It is amazing that people all over the world have the same thoughts and our lives are basically the same wants, and needs; no matter where we live.

For dinner I made Jamacian Jerk chicken thighs, noodles, corn on the cob and lettuce salad. That chicken is good. Now, a thought from long ago. When we lived in Europe we found out that they do not have corn on the cob. The corn is fed to the animals and even if you cook the corn for a long time it would never get soft. I guess they do not have the same variety of corn here in the USA, I love corn on the cob.

Last DAy Off

2008-08-18T11:08:00.000-07:00

Festive colors at a sidewalk sale. Took this picture at a shop on Pine Street in Philadelphia.

Today is the last day off for this vacation season. Sat around and did not a whole hell of a lot except to go to the library and grocery store. Chucks last day off is tomorrow. Emily has gone to her CPR class, I will hear about that later.

Somedays at the library I find a lot of books and some days none at all. Today I found a few. I go to the bookstores and write down the titles and then go to the library and borrow them. I can read about three novels a week. Somehow I have not been finding a lot of good reads. Am I in a slump? I should google book clubs and lists and go with them. I do not want to be in a hurry, just read at my leisure...which is usually fast.

The picnic was great and I will add one of the pictures of my sibs and I. I didn't have on my glasses so I was sort of squinting.

My sibs and I at Kathys picnic. I am center, front row.

Picnic

2008-08-17T11:08:00.000-07:00

When everything appears to be going right, you've obviously overlooked something...

We had the family picnic yesterday. The weather was great, the kids are all past the swimming pool stage. The water was too cold, a few years back they wouldn't have cared how cold it was.

We had hamburgers, chicken, lettuce salad, potato salad, macaroni salad, baken beans, a lot of deserts, plus chips and other munchies. I took some pictures but have to do a little editing. Next Monday all those kids will be off to school, most of them in college. Three of the kids were working and couldn't make it. I guess it won't be long before marriages and grandkids. WOW !!!! That's a scarey thought.

Tomorrow Emily has her CPR class. She is getting an A on her Micro class. She will also be starting school on the 25th along with the rest of the cousins.

Two more shots from Eastern Penitentiary

Eastern State Penitentary

2008-08-15T17:46:00.000-07:00

Our last day, after checking out of the Alexander Inn, we went to see the Eastern State Penitentiary, in northwest Philadelphia.

This was mostly because of the reference written by Beth. http://journals.aol.com/luvrte66/nutwoodjunction/ She had mentioned it in one of her journal entries.

Beth: It was worth more than the price of admission. If anyone goes to Philadelphia, you have to go and see it. Emily mentioned that it gave her the same feeling as in the dorm of Kohler Hall and Lang Halls at Baldwin Wallace College. She said the feeling was that something was not right. Sort of a creepy feeling some of the time, she never say anything but had the feeling "that you weren't alone."

Forgotten Ohio: Baldwin-Wallace College

ESP looks like a medieval fortress, it was built in 1829 on the farmland surrounding Philadelphia. It became the Pennsylvania Model of prison design and there are about 300 designed on this plan.

ESP :: Eastern State Penitentiary Website

The prison was antiquated and abandoned and inmates transferred to other places. It was undecided what to do with the facility, and in the end some of the areas were refurbished and it is open to tourists. It is downright spooky.

I have many more photos, the cats in the last two photos are the "Ghost Cats" which are sculptures of a colony of cats in residence. They were trapped, neutered and released back into their colonies. The last of the cats died in about 2002, about the same time as their caretaker, Dan McCloud, had passed away. The cats were designed by Linda Brenner,who had dedicated them to Dan McCloud.

Home Again

2008-08-14T12:00:00.000-07:00

Home again, home again.....I have added some pictures to the Philadelphia entries. The Inn had wifi but we were on the end of the reception, or so Emily and I thought....Links were hard to load, and close to not downloading. I wanted to add pictures at the time but it would not do that.

After the Mutter Museum, we were talking to the volunteer at the gift shop. He told us that we could get the city bus there. It stops at the end of the block, ride north about 8 blocks, and there you are. It was just a two block walk up the Ben Franklin Parkway.

We are members of the Carnegie Museum so we got in for free because most museum, zoos, conservatories (flowers) have reciprocating agreements that if you belong to one you can potentially get in for free at another. Yea, $30 saved. You were allowed to take pictures here, as long as you didn't use the flash. We started at the top floor and walked down. They had an elevator there that was so large that it could have fit a medium sized elephant in it. Guess it is needed so big for hugh works of art.

This is the front, there are two wings out of the ends of the main building. It has three floors, and a basement level. There are about 100 steps which I walked up. This is the east entrance, I found out that they also have a West entrance that only has about 10 steps.

Next is a picture of the Philadelphia skyline.

This was immortalized in 1976 by Sly Stallone in ROCKY.

Does anyone out there know how to make this picture larger??? Here is the link to: I tried to find the music, but no luck. It is out there but I didn't find it.

Rocky (1976)

After three house of walking and looking at art we were tired and took the Phlash bus to the READING TERMINAL MARKET. The Phlash bus is a tourist bus that takes you almost anywhere you want to go along the tourist highlights. It cost $5 per day or $2 for one ride.

Reading Terminal Market - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Emily bought some tea and a woven market bag for $1. I have a few bags but the problem is remembering to take them in the market. Besides I recycle my plastic bags I get at the grocery store. ( The recycling process involves cat litter. Enough on that process)

I love markets like that one, another nice market is in Cleveland. Wish we had one in Pittsburgh. That evening we ate at the IRISH PUB.

Food was better at the first restaurant.

Last Day in Philadelphia

2008-08-13T04:01:00.000-07:00

This is our last day in Philadelphia. Yesterday was very busy; we spent the day going to Museums. The Mutter Museum was too far to walk, so we decided to take a cab. The man at the Inn desk had called for two cabs; mine was the second. There was a young man waiting before us and his fare was a long ride. So the first called arrived last and the cabby was expecting the long ride had lost the ride. He was angry with the hotel man and the dispatcher. He moaned and groaned all the way to the museum. My action was do not make eye contact, give a good tip and get the hell out of the cab. I can understand his frustration, but get there in a more timely fashion.

The Mutter Museum was very interesting. The most was the examples of the bacterial diseases such as TB and syphilis on the body. They had wax facial masks of both. I had not realized that TB could become a skin lesion; it was quite gross. They also had TB of the spine (Potts disease) with a few vertebrae which were bent causing the person to walk with their head facing the ground.

The syphilis had also examples of skin lesions and lesions in the bones also. There was bone destruction from infections, osteomylitis where the bone was eaten away from the bacteria. These are thing you read about or hear about in third world countries; but for the most part you do not see in this country today.

Disappointment: You are not allowed to take pictures in the Mutter Museum. There were a lot of things to take pictures of; guess they do not want people fainting in the streets.

:: CCP - Mütter Museum ::

Walked our feet off

2008-08-11T17:13:00.000-07:00

Betsy Ross House.

Today we got up and hit the breakfast in the Inn. The usual continental breakfast servings.

Then we trekked to Independence Park and went via Pine Street also know as Antique Row. There weren't many stores; a few stores selling some interesting things. A lot of the antique stores were not open or sitting unopened behind the metal closing gates.

We went by Pennsylvania Hospital which was the first hospital in the USA. Then to Washington Square which has the tomb of the unknown Revolutionary Was soldier. Diagonal from that square is the Independence Park. We perused the Liberty Bell, walked around the Independence Park and the Gift Shop. Did you ever notice that all the gift shops are set up the same and have the same trinkets. The only thing that changes is the name on the T shirt or coffee mug. I actually saw a coffee mug that had written on it the Declaration of Independence....WOW.

Next was the Christ Church Cemetery that is the burial place of Benjamin Franklin and other Revolutionary War leaders. Up the street was the Betsy Ross and Elfreth Alley which is the oldest, inhabited street in America.

I took about 100 pictures but do not have them downloaded yet. On the way back to the Inn we went up the street of Jewelry Row and then back for a brief respite.

Tomorrow is Museum Day, who knows what we will see. The first is the Mutters Museum and the Philadelphia Museum of Art; which is the third largest Art Museum in the USA.

The Liberty Bell with Independence Hall behind.

Elfreths Alley, the oldest, continuously inhabited street in the USA

Five day forecast a lie.

2008-08-10T12:37:00.000-07:00

The five day forecast was a lie. Last night the front came through and it rained very hard. We left this morning and the drive was smooth. There was very little traffic until we got past the mountains and Harrisburg. I have never been to Harrisburg, but have driven past there a few times. They have a state museum and other things to see.

After the exit for Lancaster we stopped for a break and although the gas tank was between 1/3 and 1/4; I filled it up. My thoughts being that the price was right, even though it was the turnpike it was less than in the Pittsburgh area. Moving east on my sojourn in the distance there were dark and menancing clouds. Reminded me of the clouds in the movie WAR OF THE WORLDS.

In about five minutes, the deluge began. The traffic on the turnpike slowed to about 40mph; which is half of about the speed they usually go. People were pulled off the highway en mass. Large semis were also stopped. The rain was so hard that the sounds of the rains sounded like the car was being hit with pellets of metal. There was quite a collection of deceased insect carcasses on the windshield, which the rain cleaned in no time.

The driving was extreme and I am glad I had the AWD Subaru. That car stuck to the road like glue. We found the exit for Philadelphia and spent a bit of time looking for a place to park so we could unload the car. I spent bout 15 minutes driving in squares. Philadelphia is laid out in squares and they are mostly one way, so where you need to turn you can't you keep having to go back and around again. On our second approach there was a space in the unloading area. Parking time was limited to 20 minutes so we unloaded, took our things to our room and out again to park the car. The inn keeper told us how to get to the garage. Just a two block walk from the Inn.

I wanted to go to the Independence Park area but it is a 15 minute walk, and it is raining. Tomorrow looks better. We can walk there via Pine Street which had "Antiques Row" And on the walk back we can peruse Jewelry Row.

The Inn was built in 1900. You can see how narrow the building is; I asked the Innkeeper why and he did not know. He thought maybe it was because it was the only piece of land available was that narrow. My hats off to the architect.

This is where we ate the first night. They had the usual bar fare; plus a minute amount of Irish Food. I had Potato Soup (I give it *****); the best I have ever eaten. They also had ham and cabbage and Shepard's Pie.

I had mentioned before I left that I had found out the Inn was in the Gay Friendly Area. Just check out the rainbow below the street name; if there was any doubt where you were that reaffirms it !!!!!

Chuck said it was named the city of Brotherly Love, that's not what they meant Chuck.

Weather Nirvana

2008-08-09T08:10:00.000-07:00

That is Emily in the back with the blue helmet. I checked the five day forecast for Philly and the weather is to be in the high 70's and low 80's. That should be good for trekking around the town. They are calling for a thunderstorm Sunday evening so I must remember to take the umbrella and wear real shoes. I hate when my feet get wet.

Chuck, bless his heart, said I could take his computer. So, hopefully I can keep on writing. I am looking for a slot for the camera card but I do not see one. I wonder if that goes under don't download anything ????? I will have to ask him.

Today I will review my itinerary and make a list. I love making lists, I think I like making them better than doing the things on them. That won't be the case for the trip, but I will have a few alternatives just in case. The main item on the trip for Emily is a visit to the Mutter Museum. It has medical oddities. Should prove interesting to see.

The picture was taken on the Ocoee River in NC. This was the white water river used for the Atlanta Olympics....or so they tell me.

Palm Pilot

2008-08-08T10:15:00.000-07:00

I have a Palm handheld that I use at work. It contains many programs that I use routinely use. I have been trying for an hour to get it to Hot Sync. It is set up that you can do this with WI FI because I can get online with it. It would not sync; I really hate when things to not work like they are intended. This applies to all sorts ofelectronic things, which frustrates me the most. After playing with that for a long time, changing the connections on the program and the handheld I decided that maybe it would work with its umbilical cord attachment. Good grief it worked on first try.....Now, why will it work with the cable and not the wireless application. It worked wirelessly the last time...... I just have no idea.

We are going to be leaving for the Philadelphia trip on Sunday. Did you ever look forward to something and have it turn out to be a bust? I always worry about that with vacations. After you spend time and money researching, planning and anticipating it ends up not how you had hoped.

The drive will be on the PA Turnpike which can be another story by itself. This will be about a five hour drive. PA is a wide state. Driving in Philadelphia can be maddening, I have done it before. Traffic can be awful, but, (I hope) it will be lighter because it is Sunday, which leads me to worry on Wednesday because that is the day I will be leaving. The car will be parked until we leave. I sincerely hope it is still there when I get back to the garage....I think it will be because of two items. One the car has amanual transmission and no one wants them and very few can drive them. It is the best anti theft device there is......

I have the itinerary work out in three days. The first is arrival and the historic sights. The next two depend on the weather. One will be shopping and the other will be the museums. Philly is very walk able and flat. I have two pair of shoes, or one shoe and one pair of Birkenstocks.

Still haven't gotten my computer back. This is frustrating to me. They sent me an email yesterday stating that the computer is now in the repair department. I called them and told them that I got the same email 7 days earlier and exactly what was going on. Acer told me they have 7 to 10 days to repair, you have already had it 7 days I said. The technician is working on it, the only bright spot is that their native language was English.

It is actually cool outside, the high today should be in the low 70's. The change is refreshing to me. I turned of the A/C and have a cool, north wind going thru the house.

I plan to take a lot of pictures, and someday hope to get back my computer so I can download and post them....

Off till who knows when !!!!!

2008-08-07T05:39:00.000-07:00

Another old photo, pre digital that is. Rafting on one of the Mountain River in NC. Worked for 12 of the 16 hours. The sickest people come in as emergencies. I think they all stay at home, hoping each day that they will feel better the next. Then, all of a sudden, the decide that they are NOT going to get better, so they come to the hospital......They are then, in REALLY poor shape when they get there.

One day, about five years ago, I asked my patient who was in his 80's, "When was the last time you went to see your doctor?" Patient: "Oh, after the war" Claudia, "Do you mean World War II?" Patient "Yes." Claudia: "OHH. You managed to stay healthy for a long time !!!" Guess he waited till it got really bad. It was funny, although I didn't laugh at the time. It was a non critical procedure and he did just fine, despite his avoidance of the medical profession.

Or maybe he stayed healthy because he stayed away from doctors. LOL LOL

Another thing they sometimes say; usually upon being wheeled into the OR. "Is my doctor any good?" Really, this is definitely NOT the time to look for a second opinion. I Honestly can not tell you I think your doctor is an incompetent fool. All I can say is he/she would not be my choice for surgery. Going into the OR is NOT the time to ask.... My in laws were in the same mind set. Chuck suggested they get another primary care person. And they asked "Why? He went to Medical School" Yes he did, but as health care professionals we had questioned some decisions. But people don't change, they still cling to the belief that ever thing will be OK; and sometimes with disastrous result.

We are going to Philadelphia in four days. My compter is not back yet, and will not be by the time I leave. I had hoped it would be back by now. I will have a camera card loaded with lots of pictures and no where to download them to. More importently HOW WILL I CHECK MY EMAIL AND WRITE IN MY JOURNAL.

I guess I should grovel and maybe Chuck will let me take this one.

Another bad thing, the freezer door was left slightly ajar, and the frost was 1" thick. A lot of food was unthawed and I had to pitch a lot of the Lean Cuisine and packaged things that were no longer solid. I did not want to risk food poisoning. We are going to Wally Worldl (aka WallMart) and stock up on lunch entrees. I ate in the hosptial cafeteria and consumed too many calories over two days from the high fat, calorie laden, hospital lunch offerings.

2008-08-05T16:43:00.000-07:00

I liked the purple. Long day at work. Today I did vascular and two lung cases. Now they can do VATS, video assisted thorascopic surgery. A while back they had to make a huge incision to open the chest cavity. Now they make a small incision, and can insert a camera and take a look and see. This saves a lot of pain for the patient, and they can do minor things. Like take biopsies, drain fluid, and fix little things. We have tubes that are inserted down the windpipe and you can block off the breathing to one lung. Then the lung is deflated and you can see a lot and operate. At the end of the case the lung is reinflated and then the doc puts in a chest tube and the lung stays reinflated. In a day or two the chest tube is removed and usually they can go home. Now major lung surger requires a large incision and an area to work. But the VATS is a major development for the patients.

Tomorrow I am working 16 hours and I will be exhausted, and then off for the next ten days or so......

Still waiting for the information on my computers return, they haven't me notified me of it status. I know it will be while I am in Philadelphia...

Thought I was out of luck

2008-08-04T17:41:00.000-07:00

I have the link to my journal on my toolbar. Today I clicked on it and it would not let me add an entry...............I tried it from my favorites and still not luck. Then I did the restart the computer bit and it went on from my toolbar. I was starting to mentally compose my nasty gram to the powers at AOL...............saved by rebooting...............

I read an article on the front page of the Wall Street Journal. I have to re peruse it, but the gist of the article states that (this is a good one)

COMPANIES TAP PENSION PLANS TO FUND EXECUTIVE BENEFITS.

Just when you thought you were finished getting screwed by the executives at corporations another one comes to bite you on the arse. I wanted to post the link but, alas, it is not available for the peons to read.

The information is an example of corporate greed gone wild. With many companies freezing their pensions and putting the responsibility onto the worker, some corporation are putting their plans into resources to fund the executives perks.

I have often wondered how these corporations are able to pay such outrageous sums and ala the way of the real estate debacle it looks like they are not and the regular workers are getting royally screwed again.

The date of the WSJ is Monday August 4, 2008 and is located on the front page.

Family.

2008-08-02T10:18:00.000-07:00

There is so much going on now. My sister is in CA, and hasn't been rousted by the wildfires. My other sister may have a chance (hopefully) of going to Italy and Ireland. She is getting her passport, requesting time off and will be ready just in case. I hope it goes well for her plans.

She is having a cookout this month and Bill (brother) is coming up from VA. She usually has the cookout because she is the one with the pool. This is everyone bring a dish and she does the meat.

It is freezing cold in that pool. A lady at work has a heated pool and she said it cost her $800 last summer to heat the damn thing. I hope that Saturday is warm and sunny. One year it was so humid and everyone was so miserable. You could have cut the atmosphere with a knife.

I have all kind of photos from years past so maybe I will get some from this year.

My nephew has an interview for a job, his major was in speech (as in remedial) and they said they will call him for a second. I besiege the powers that he gets this job. They will pay for the masters which everyone needs in his field.

Another thought

2008-08-02T05:44:00.000-07:00

"If you steal from one author, it's plagiarism; if you steal from many, it's research."
Wilson Mizner

I wonder what they call my cutting and pasting of the quotes ????

Truth

2008-08-02T05:41:00.000-07:00

"When a thing ceases to be a subject of controversy, it ceases to be a subject of interest."
William Hazlitt

Really, did you see the picture of Elizabeth Taylor going to the hospital with millions of dollars in jewels hanging around her neck like a horses bridal??? The hospital workers can not be responsible for your stupidity when you jewelry gets lost, or missing.

An old rule that is now being seriously enforced. If you can't take off your jewelry for your operation, it is going to get cut off.

IF YOU ARE GOING TO HAVE AN OPERATION, LEAVE YOUR JEWELRY AT HOME. Your're wasting my time trying to get it off, and I personally am not going to remove your piercings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Quiet...........ahhhhhhhhhhh

2008-07-31T16:50:00.000-07:00

Emily and Chuck are both working and it is quiet. There were a few rolls of thunder and a scattering of raindrops; then a huge boom that sent the cats scattering like duckpins in a bowling alley. It was so loud that it even made me jump.

Work was uneventful today. I did gyne. That is important if you are female. I had a student today too. He was from Ghana; his accent is British. He has lived in the USA for 7 years. He said in Ghana it is always hot. He doesn't like the cold and doesn't like it too hot. I told him the ideal place for him would be Virginia or North Carolina. He did a good job. His wife is still in Florida, because he could not sell the house. He has about one and a half year to go. It must be difficult to live away from your family and I would imagine it would be hard to move to another country, learn another language and know that you were going to live there forever.

But we all know the streets in America are paved with gold. Honestly, life is what you make it. You can be a success or a failure; it is all up to the individual.

I am glad tomorrow is Friday and the end of my week. Just three days next week and then I am off to Philadelphia. Tomorrow is not too busy and that suites me just fine.

My sister is in CA. She is in Mariposa County; that is where the wildfires are. It is close to Yosemite National Park. I texted my niece and she said so far all was good. Shawnna said she would take pictures and I could post them here.

The second week is going to be a trip thru the Napa Valley and they have a rental near Reyes National Seashore. She will come home when I am in Philadelphia. I can't wait to see the pictures..........

Wednesday

2008-07-30T15:38:00.000-07:00

Today was a noneventful day. I am on Chucks laptop. Typing on it that is, He is at work. Did you ever notice.......When something goes wrong with my things it is because I DID SOMETHING WRONG.......When somethings goes wrong with something of his.....IT WAS AN ACCIDENT.......i THINK THE WOMEN CAN RELATE TO THAT.

Only five days of working before I can go to Philadelphia. It will probably be 100 F and 100% humidity that week. I am still looking at things to do, and I am looking forward to the visit. It is about a five hour drive from one end of PA to the other.

I am sort of tired today and think I will end with a picture.

Bless his heart

2008-07-29T17:46:00.000-07:00

Chuck, bless his heart, has given me permission to use his laptop.

I checked on my package tracker, and my laptop has been delivered to it destination in Texas. Now it will be seven to ten business days until the repair is done. So at a minimum I will not have the computer when I go to Philadelphia. And, I wanted to download my pictures each day. I will be bummer for sure.

Today was orthopedic day. Nothing to serious but it took all day. That group has ten patients on the ortho floor who have had fractured hip surgery. I wondered if there was a senior citizen hit squad out there knocking down the seniors?? Tomorrow are cataracts......

I do not like the set up of these keys. The shift keys are not identifiable by feel......makes it hard to type.

Guess that is all for today.....I have run out of thoughts. And the address of all the other journals are lost to me for now. I need to have something to do to amuse myself. I read two more books. Well, actually I started two and only read one.

????

2008-07-27T05:51:00.000-07:00

I was, somehow, under the impression that AOL stored the favorites on their site. I went to peruse my new favorite list and what I had saved are not there. Guess they are lost forever. All the links to other journals and my geneaology sites are gone.

I did not click the link to only save them on the computer. Maybe they will reappear when I reload them on my laptop.

Easter at the Phipps.

Sunday

2008-07-27T05:46:00.000-07:00

I started this yesterday and the computer somehow d/ced the internet and all was lost. So, I gave up for yesterday. My notebook should arrive in TX tomorrow. They said 7 to 10 days to fix it. Then the slow trek home.

UPS added a $10 surcharge for fuel.... I, like may others, wish there was someone who I could add for my increased cost too Our gas, energy and food costs have all risen and we have to bear the brunt and get others tacked on to ours. The price of gas has gone down but I haven't noticed any decrease at the gas stations. Guess that will happen tomorrow.

Emily and I are going to the THE DARK KNIGHT today. One of the docs at work saw it and said something gets blown up every 5 minutes. He didn't like it. It remains to be seen.

I have read three books since the computer left. WINTER STUDY by Nevada Barr, which is the typical Anna Pigeon mystery adventure.

BLACK FLIES, by Shannon Burke. This is written by an EMT and after the first three chapters it was the same scenerios only with different names. I got tired of listening to how the EMTs are the only ones who can save lives. I didn't finish it.

GARDEN SPELL, by Sarah Addison Allen. This was a delightful easy read. It put me in mind of PRACTICAL MAGIC by Alice Hoffman. In Garden Spell the gist of the story revolves around Waverly sisters and each of them have a special magical talent, and it revolves around the house and garden. It is a chick book. This book is rated PG

THE LAST OF HER KIND by Sigrid Nunez. This starts about two women who start college c.1968 and the first is Ann who comes from a well to do background and Georgette who is dirt poor. Ann has angst because of the wealth and becomes a fanatic or "changing the US and the class inequality." Georgette is trying to find what to do with her life." The books was well written. I was in school at the same time; but, I was just to busy with getting an educationand my family had no money that I just could not relate with Ann. By the end of the book I felt that Ann was just a fool who never learned any thing about living.

GRRRRRRRRRRR

2008-07-24T06:46:00.000-07:00

I know I spend a lot of rants about my computer. But this time it is not my fault.............It has crashed.................I got the blue screen of death..................I called tech support..........They were very helpful....The computer is going to Texas.....................It will be gone two to three weeks.................All I can say is I am so damned glad I have an external hard drive and I have been diligently backing up my stuff. I actually have 10G of music and thousands of pictures and documents from my ancestry research. Not only on my hard drive but the pictures and documents are on a flash drive also.....AND ENGLISH WAS DENISES NATIVE LANGUAGE. BLESS US AND SAVE US........I REACHED COMPUTER SERVICE NIRVANA WHEN I TALKED TO HER.

Word to the wise:

ALWAYS, NO MATTER HOW BORING AND TIME CONSUMING, BACK UP YOU STUFF.

I will not be able to add new pictures, but can recycle the old ones that are on AOL.

Right now I am on an elderly (5 to 8 year old) desktop. But the sucker is still working.......................

Tuesday

2008-07-22T16:16:00.000-07:00

Something is wrong. I feel out of sorts. I haven't been keeping up with anyone's journal. I really do not feel like writing in mine. I think it is the weather, I just do not like hot weather; I feel cranky and drained. I really do not know a solution to that. We are on the home stretch of July.

Chuck has one more day off and I have been working since Monday. I was off last week and so was he. I really didn't get to do any thing restful.

I have only been back two days and I feel like it is two weeks. Maybe I should quit writing for the day and go to bed.

I worked in the GI Lab today. Spent the whole day doing colons and gastric scopes. Did 13 cases in 9 hours; I am exhausted and seriously considering taking a shower and going to bed. Fiddle dee dee, tomorrow is another day.

Boo Hoo, that sad child above is me. When I was little my parents were building a house. I guess I was of no help, they tied me in the play pen. You can see the rope on the side of the containment vessel. CYS would have a field day with that one today. It is funny, but what they said was discipline in yesteryears today would be considered child abuse. Guess they thought I was funny enough to take the picture of me in my misery. BOO HOO

That is an appropriate picture for my sour mood; or did the photo make me sad?

Rainy Sunday

2008-07-20T14:12:00.000-07:00

The sound of raindrops; I haven't heard them for awhile. The heat was 88 and the humidity probably about 98%. It was beastly outside. The rain started a few hours ago, and Chuck and I were on the back deck, covered with an awning, and listened to the sound of rain. The temperature had dropped about 20 degrees and the coolness was refreshing.

We usually go out to eat on Sundays; The Gateway Grill, Chucks favorite. I think that is because they Blue Moon on draft. Emily will join us after her day at work, selling jewelry.

Her Micro class is 2/5 done. They have both class and lab the same day. Chuck is off till Thursday and I am back to work tomorrow. They have a call in voice mail that you can listen to your assignments; I think that if you don't like it you can call off. LOL LOL Tomorrow I am doing blephroplastys That is the procedure where you have your eyelids done, they take up the slack. The guy I am working with is such a perfectionist that they will look great and also take all day for two procedures. Hopefully it will be a stress free day for me.

Gateway Grill - A Wood Fired Grill and Restaurant Click here to the left.

That miserable looking female is me. The one with the ugly hair. Somewhere in 1962 my grandmother, bless her heart, decided that I needed a permanent. I did not ask for this permanent, and my mother told her I didn't want the permanent, Gertrude thought my mom was lying. I HATED THAT PERMANENT. I was 15 and it was the most traumatic thing to happen in my life. Not only had I started a new school, I looked hideous, and to top that off I had swimming and the hair looks worse after it got wet. It was revolting; and I NEVER, EVER, got a perm again. Another note, it was the sixties and the beehive and all those other big hair dos were in. In retrospect it probably didn't look any worse than any of those ugly dos. I hope they NEVER make a comeback.

And that's the truth

2008-07-19T05:16:00.000-07:00

"I never cease being dumbfounded by the unbelievable things people believe."
Leo Rosten

And that's the truth......and I want to ask...."Do you know how stupid you sound ???"

Claudia

Second time I have started this

2008-07-18T16:23:00.000-07:00

This was taken somewhere in the late 60's. I probably was in Nursing School at the time. The rest were in grade or high school. I am the oldest of the six. I guess you could say I was in charge of the sandbox.

Today we went to Home Depot and bought a gas grill. We had looked at Lowes and this had been on the agenda all week. The grills were on sale. Guess they will be getting the fall things in soon; can snow blower be far behind????? After looking this week we got to the point of "just buy the damn thing."

It took Chuck three hours to put it together. It was about 90F and and humidity about the same. After the construction of the grill I cooked steak, mushrooms and baked potato. Served with a Beringer White Zinfandel. Tasted good. Just two more day off and I go back to work.

The mirco class is going well at this point in time. She is 2/5's of the way done. She has to write a paper and they have a test every Thursday, as well as turn in their lab projects. She also has a CPR class on August 18th.

I downloaded the HP photo editing program. It wasn't what I needed. There are a lot of programs out there. I just have to find my fit. I like the "watercolor" feature and HP didn't have it. What was I thinking !!!! I did find a Corel program. You can download and use it for 15 days to see if you like. I may do that.

Here is my mom and I, I guess I am about 4. I remember this day because we went to Frick Park (in Pittsburgh) and we would feed the squirrels. The thing that stands out in my mind of that day is that my father teased the squirrel and got bitten on his thumb. That was my first lesson of things not to do.

Success

2008-07-17T08:20:00.000-07:00

This is a picture of my sisters c.1962, They were on vacation at Cape Hatteras National Seashore and on the ferry boat ride. I did manage to get some of the snapshots open. I had to click and drag and put them in the AOL pictures album. I am wondering if the inability to download pictures has something to do with the picture in a folder, maybe I have to move it to a file ????

On this vacation it was a shake down cruise, and I have a few more to add. This was the first time to the ocean. I had elected to stay at my grandmothers. I was a teenager and we all know what they are like. Sleeping in a tent, sitting under an awing to eat, and getting bitten by mosquitos was not my idea of a fun time. It still isn't I like an air conditioned house with a pool when I go to the shore.

Here is the car loaded and the tent behind assembled some state park in PA. Down below is the tent at the beach, Oregon Inlet NC. We looks like a traveling band of nomads. I guess we had a lot of fun, but none of us would do that now. We rent a house and live in style. Can you just imagine what kids would say today if they were told of the accommodations !!!!!

2008-07-16T18:27:00.000-07:00

I am extremely irked. I have just tried to down a photo or two and my computer tells me it can not be downloaded. GRRRRRRRRRRRR.... I have been downloading pictures from this damn computer for three years, and why, today does it decide not to work ???????

I had edited my all about me space earlier today and added a picture of Chuck and Claudia and it worked fine about two hours ago....

Another VISTA annoyance I am sure.

Today was day three of my so called vacation; to me it is a week where I do not have to go to work.

On the north side of the house, up high, and close to a large pine tree, the gutters are covered with algae. Chuck pointed it out, I had no reason to peruse the north side of the house. There is six feet between my property line and the side of the house.

Well this week was the week Chuck decided it was time to clean the gutter. He got some Green solution (don't know what it name is but it included the work Green in the title) The problem is the gutters are all up high and you need an ladder to do the work. In the front, the gutters are about 30 feet from the driveway. (I will look for a picture and if the computer is in the mood I will post it) On the north side it is a slope and I held the ladder so he could do the cleaning. Just a spray and a scrubbing with a cloth then a rinse and it was clean. TA DA.

That algae will grow in places that never see the sun. Tomorrow he is going to attempt to go one the roof and on the same side of the family room, scrape off the moss and spray it some other cleaner that you leave on for 5 minutes and then squirt off. I think he should tie himself to the chimney for that maneuver. He is taking Plavix and I do not want him to hit his head and have a cerebral bleed. That would ruin the week.

Scanning Family Photos

2008-07-15T14:12:00.000-07:00

Here is a picture of my mother and her parents c 1926. The man is my grandfather Willi Schridde, Anna Bartels Schridde and my mother Gerda Schridde. I do not know if it was taken in PA or Germany.

They came to this country in 1926 but the picture of my mom seems to be at around the age of 2.

My sister and I spent the whole afternoon scanning, editing and adding pictures to my files. I want to put them on CDs and give them to my sibs. I am lost to nuances of putting individual pictures in a file. I have been clicking and dragging. There must be an easier way. I tried to start one folder and then put the pictures in one folder but I couldn't seem to do that.

Next I have to put them on my external hard drive. If Picasa has them on an external album they should be there too.

It is always a technical challenge for me to get where I want to to go with files and folders.

Invidious

2008-07-15T05:33:00.000-07:00

Word of the Day

Invidious (adjective)

Pronunciation: [in-'vi-di-ês]

Definition: (1) Offensive, insulting, causing ill-will;
(2) envious.

Usage: Here is another word we have confused with a similar one that sounds a bit the same, "envious." Although the two words share the same origin, their meanings should not overlap. Envy is envy and invidiousness should be invidiousness. The adverb is "invidiously" and the noun, the expectable "invidiousness."

Suggested Usage: Anyone who insults or offends you is invidious, "Miss Givens is an invidious presence that creates far too much tension in the office." However, invidiousness is not restricted to people: "Before Civil Rights legislation of the 60s and 70s, the US was home to many invidious laws discriminating against minority groups."

Etymology: From Latin invidiosus "envious, hostile" from invidia "envy." "Envy" itself comes from the same Latin word butvia French envier "to envy." "Invidia" is a noun from the Latin verb invideo, literally, "I do not look at," but meaning "to be prejudiced against, to envy." This verb is based on the prefix in- "not" + videre "to see," similar to Russian nenavist (not looking at) "hatred." In fact, Russian videt' "to see" comes from the same root as Latin "videre." The original root was *weid- and, as we have seen a few times before, words beginning on [w] often end up with "gu" in French, so we are not surprised that French "guide" comes from the same root. In Celtic we see it in "druid," which originated from dru "tree" (whose root—if you'll pardon the pun—we discussed recently in connection with "dendrochronology") + wid "see(r)."

–Dr. Language, YourDictionary.com

New Yorker magazine was invidious in its "satire" of the Obamas on its cover this week.

Waiting for dinner

2008-07-14T15:16:00.000-07:00

Just sitting here and wondering what is going on that I should write about today. I am contemplating the state of the country, and it is not very good.

Karl Marx had said something to the effect:

Each civilization has within itself the seeds of its own destruction.

I would quote it but I do not know if that is an exact quote.

But, I digress......I think, we in the United States are there now. Each day the news is more grim and depressing. The rich are getting richer and the poor are poorer and the middle class are paying thru their collective noses to support the rest. How long can we go on with the escalating cost of oil??? I would not be surprised to see riots over food and fuel.

The mortage mess and the increasing debt by people with their credit cards. I read about the lenders, loaning money to people who did not have a chance in hell of meeting their obligations on their mortgages. They really should have known better. It was all magical thinking.

I had wondered for the longest time how were people buying those McMansions, there could not be that many people making that much money, and I was right, there are not.

Where has gone the common sense, buy what you can afford? Save up before you buy, never charge things that depreciate....For many the bubble has already burst....How can people afford to save for their retirement when they can not afford to live today?

The defined benefit pension plan has gone the way of the Dodo. Now it is 401K's and save your own. I read articles on how 75% of the BabyBoomer can not afford to retire. The collective they think the "government" will bail us out, THE GOVERNMENT IS US, WE THE PEOPLE. And we are trillions in debt and that legacy will fall to our children, grandchildren, and the great grandchildren.

Our children will never know the way of life we knew as we grew up. They will be saddled with expenses from outrageous college costs. How will they ever be able to afford decent housing when their college loans amount to the equivalent of a house payment?

What can we do about it? I really don't know. To quote the retired cartoon POGO. "We have met the enemy and he is us."

2008-07-14T14:54:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Emily and I saw the best movie. It was a Pixar film, and it was absolutely great. No sex, drugs or violence. This is great for kids or adults. Get a kid and take one with you, it is a must see.

WALL-E : Official Site

To Think

2008-07-14T07:14:00.000-07:00

"To think is to say no."
Emile Chartier

To me I think this says: When a guy asks you "how about it???" a woman can say "I'll think about it." That is the equivalent of NO

"One resolution I have made, and try always to keep, is this: To rise above the little things."
John Burroughs

Don't sweat the small stuff and go with the flow.

Sunday

2008-07-13T09:18:00.000-07:00

'A government big enough to give you everything you want, is big enough to take away everything you have' - Thomas Jefferson

I really like Thomas Jefferson.... Someone asked me one time; if I could have dinner with anyone, living or dead, who would I choose?? I chose Thomas Jefferson.

I would really like to know what they meant when they set up the foundations of this nation and what would they think when the would see it today.

My thoughts would be that they would probably be to see how the constitution has been interpreted. I really do not think that when they decided for freedom of speech me porno movies.

The most common answer when asked the above question was "Jesus."

Friday Morning

2008-07-11T08:09:00.000-07:00

I love mornings; especially when I am home by myself. I can just sit and read. Or type in the journal. It was rather coolish this morning (58 F) so I opened the windows and have a nice breeze wafting thru the house.

Emily said her Micro test was a non event. He just asked questions relating to the end of chapter reviews. She complained that after she had studied hard too. I told her she may get to use some of that info she studied so don't think it was a waste of time.

What to do today. I have started the laundry. When we were first married we (as most everyone) had to lug the basket to the laundromat. The only good thing about the laundromat is you can use all the washers you need and two dryers and get all the things done is a short period of time. Also, you can do a large quilt there too.

Getting the washer and dryer was one of the big thrills after we bought our house. My friend Ruth told me how her daughter was so ecstatic when she got her w/d. I remember that well. My last washer purchase was a Sears brand that is a front loader. I noticed a decrease in the water usage, but the Municipal Authority keeps decreasing the amount of water you can use for the basic fee. I am curious now. My water and trash collection costs me about $180 quarterly, what does everyone's else costs?

I also got the low usage fluorescent light bulbs and the usage went down but the cost is rising with the deregulation. Has any cost gone down with deregulation of anything?????

This picture is one of an old mill; it has been converted into a craft/antique store. It is located in Volant PA. My sisters and I are planning a trip there this summer. It is on PA RT. 208 and if you go west your will come to the town of New Wilmington PA. There is also shopping there, and a delightful campus of Westminster College. PA is filled with small liberal art colleges.

Volant Village Shops

Emilys Micro class

2008-07-10T07:10:00.000-07:00

Emily has completed the first week of Microbiology. She has a test today, on the first three chapters. When I came home at 11 PM she was making notes on index cards.

There are 16 people in her class; she said that not all of them were incoming freshman. Some were older than her, some were her same age and a few younger. I asked if there were any guys and she said only one and he had his eyebrows pierced. She wanted to know why anyone would do that and make them selves look like an idiot. I DO NOT KNOW She speculated what his patient would think when it was time to care for them.....PROBABLY THINK HE LOOKED LIKE AN IDIOT... would be my guess.

She said he sat in the back and talked to two blonds all throughout class. I told her they would be gone at half time. To study Nursing is a lot of hard work. There is a high attrition rate because most people blow off Micro and A&P and you need to really study. I asked when the start to "save lives" and she didn't know.

Yesterday was not bad considering I was there for 16 hours. I had a light room and did breaks and lunches on my down time. We were finished at 6:30 PM and then waited for some emergency that never materialized.

Chuck told me earlier this year that he was going to take the same weeks off as me. (Pounds head on table and groans.) I think I will make him a list of things to do. I have a few items in mind. One of the things I want to do is scan old pictures and slides...I have to call my sister and she what her schedule is like. She is a school nurse and has off the summers. It is only a half time position. After working at that job she could write a book.

Actually, long ago my husband worked for a MAJOR company who built nuclear power plants. We lived in Korea and Yugoslavia. I have a lot of pictures from Asia and Europe that I want to scan.

I digress, when I lived in Korea I found a job on a US Army base as a school nurse. It was funny I went to the US Army School with one of the other expatriates as she was signing her children up for class. The principal asked me if he could do anything for me. I said "No, not unless you need a nurse." He said "As a matter of fact, I do" That was the easiest job I ever found. It was also half time. The biggest thing was checking immunizations and listening to the kids who came when the wanted to get out of class. The biggest perk of that job was I got to use the US Mail system. In a lot of countries the mail is censored, and things have a way of disappearing and making their way onto the Black Market.

I must admit that I utilized the black market myself but that is a story for another day..............

Tuesday

2008-07-08T18:13:00.000-07:00

My feet hurt and I am too tired to write. I am working 16 hours tomorrow and then off for about 10 days. Good thing too, I can tell when it is time I need a vacation because I hate everyone at work. I think nurses ought to get sabbaticals. I know each and everyone of them would sign up in no time flat.

2008-07-06T11:45:00.000-07:00

This is the last of the fireworks adventure. This was a non telephoto shot. Yesterday Chuck and Emily were both at work and I did what I do best.............nothing. Well, I cleaned two bathrooms, but that is far from exciting.

I am back to work tomorrow.....I am doing general surgery, I know the first the a cholecystectomy (gall bladder removal) It is amazing that there is an infinite supply of GB's to be removed. General surger is my favorite. I have a Grad Student in Anesthesia tomorrow. That means they have to do all the set up work. They are really doing well, I have to make sure they learn everything correctly. I may come in some day as an emergency and they will be giving my anesthesia.

The ironic thing is that they pay thousands per semester for "clinical fee" I would like to know exactly who is the recipient of this money.....None of the anesthetist who work there are getting any extra money for being a "clinical instructor." It is something that needs to be done for the sake of future people having surgery.....

Picture of Johnstown.

2008-07-05T09:21:00.000-07:00

Google Image Result for http://www.robertpence.com/johnstown_pa_06/20061020_368_johnstown.jpg

Saturday

2008-07-05T09:05:00.000-07:00

This is the same view as below, but with the telephoto shot and one lonely firework. I was just too dark to see my camera buttons. Guess I should not have waited till the time of the display to try to figure out what to do.

Yesterday Emily and I drove to Johnstown. On the way the music director call and said the concert would be indoors. That was a good thing, when we got to the higher elevation, it was raining. Parking was a problem but I found a spot and spent 5 minutes trying to back up and still be within the confines of the lines. I saw some of the cars have a camera in rear and you can observe the back of the car when you put the car in reverse. I am extremely interested in that feature.

The concert was good. They played all the usual patriotic favorites. They played indoors because the rain would ruin expensive musical instruments....They had the pyrotechnics but we decided we really didn't need to see them and we started for home.

The road out of the valley is a two lane country road thru the Conemaugh Gorge. It is dark, isolate and straight up the mountain. I guess the drive is about 15 minutes. The fog was coming in and heavy in some areas. It was the kind of drive that you would expect in horror movies when some malevolent creature would come out of the mist. EKKKKKKKKKKKKK. That did not happen.

I must say that on this route (PA 403) there were reflective indicators on both side of the road, and a sturdy guide rail on the raving side. The lines in the middle were freshly painted and bright. Even with the fog you could easily see your location on the road surface. It has the potential for a disastrous occurrence. The rain was pouring of misting off and on. I was glad to arrive home safely.

http://www.scrip.pa-conservation.org/natural.htm Gorge Information...I will google pictures at a later time.

Morning of the 4th.

2008-07-04T06:38:00.000-07:00

Last evening I went to my friends house for a 4th of July celebration. Even though it was the 3rd. That is when the town across the river had their fireworks and she was working today so she did the 3rd. She lives on a bluff overlooking the Allegheny River. They have five acres, it is really a $1,000,000 view.

This is a test shot. I took at twilight....I was playing with the settings. I found that I need a tripod, I didn't have one with me so I substituted the railing of her deck. I tried a long exposure, that didn't work because there was still some movement. What I needed was a tripod and a remote or a cable cord to press; I had neither of these. So this shot I did while resting the camera on the railing and setting it for "no flash" It worked well, but the problem with the HP is that after the shot the settings need to be reset. I wish they had a feature to keep the setting till I go back and reset them. The other problem is that this was taken at twilight and after the sun went down and the fireworks started I could no longer see the buttons to go into the bowels of the cameras computer and set them with each shot. Grrrrrrrrrrrr.

4th of July

2008-07-04T06:19:00.000-07:00

"Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."
Benjamin Franklin

Rainy day picnic

2008-07-03T13:05:00.000-07:00

I had off today. The morning was nice and now it is raining. I am suppose to go to a friends picnic this late afternoon. She lives atop the Allegheny River and can see the town of Tarentum which is across the river. They have their fireworks display this evening. My contribution will be a Blueberry Pound Cake. I actually made two, and I will give one to Chuck to take to work tomorrow. They always have food to celebrate what ever holiday and every brings something into work on the Holiday, which ever one it is.

I checked the weather map and it looks like rain, rain, rain.....Guess I will wear shoes and an anorak.....

I had off today and Emily and I went to the Penn State Book Store and got her Microbiology text book and lab manual...she starts Micro on Monday.....Then we went and ordered her uniforms. The uniforms the student wear now are colored scrubs. Hers are a Forest Green. She looks really good in that shade. When I went eons ago, we had 100% cotton and they starched the damn things. The uniforms would stand up by themselves. At that time none of the hospitals had A/C and you can just imagine how hot and scratchy they were. Now you would be hard to find a hospital without it. The only place that had A/C was the OR, maybe that was the lure for me.......an air conditioned work place.....

Most of what she needs for Nursing School is done. We found out from the uniform store woman that there are about 100 students in her class. They are now going on rotation to a lot of hospital sites so their experience will be good. One of them is a Level 1 Trauma Center and their they have clinical in the ER and ICU...This hospital has a plethora of ICUs.

I had off today and also tomorrow and the weekend. So, that is four days in a row. Point to ponder, Why does a persons day off go faster than days at work?????

Bears

2008-07-01T17:10:00.000-07:00

Bears Spotted In Plum, Westmoreland Backyards - News- msnbc.com

I read about others having all kinds of critters in their yards, but this takes the cake. The link above is close to where I live. This is 15 minutes out of the City of Pittsburgh; we have bears. I haven't seen them myself but I am glad I have inside cats, and no outside dogs. Actually I do not have a dog at all. I like dogs but it wouldn't be fair to a dog to have to live with the cats (meow) when we are all at work all day.....I will keep my eye open for the bears. I have the camera charged and ready to go.

Today was a rather slow day at work. I did eyelids. Actually it was quite interesting. The first man had Bells Palsy. He could not close his eye, he had this problem for two years. the opthomologist inserted a tiny (1.5 gm. gold weight inside the upper eyelid. The little bit of weight would hold his eyelid down so he could close his eye. The doctor also took up the slack in the outside corner so his eye would not droop. It looked very nice when he was done. I guess it is true that a person learns something new every day.

Bell's Palsy InfoSite & Forums: Bells Palsy / Facial Paralysis FAQs

Thought

2008-06-30T17:01:00.000-07:00

Follow your bliss and the universe will open doors for you where there were only walls
Joseph Campbell

When pigs fly................Claudia

Saturdy Afternoon

2008-06-28T14:11:00.000-07:00

Our house is a frequent stop for the Fed Ex guy and the UPS man. Two of the occupants send for things. They shall remain unnamed, but one of them is not me. Did you know that Fed Ex delivers on Saturday???? Chuck likes old watches and peruses eBay; he is going to repair them, or so he says. If he goes first I will sell them back on eBay. LOL

Emily is into perfume oil samples and get things in the mail also. (The Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab) I feel like I am missing something in my life. I got a spam from someone who said there was a problem with my eBay and one from my PayPal account. I knew it was spam for sure because I do not have either. I want to know AM I THE ONLY PERSON IN THE USA WITHOUT ACCOUNTS WITH EITHER EBAY OR PAYPAL ??????? I think I will have to look into forming a support group. Emily just told I need a hobby that requires things to be delivered. I think I will collect precious gems.

Saturday

2008-06-28T12:16:00.000-07:00

Selected BY the guest editor, there is a difference and I have nothing to do but read and write.

On my day off I woke up momentarily at 05:30 when I heard Chuck start up his car as he was leaving for work. Then I fell back asleep and woke up again at 06:54, via the digital clock. I read an article somewhere that a lot of younger people do not know how to tell time on an analog watch or clock. I, somehow, feel this is probably true. Hard to believe, but true.

This was a relaxing day. Emily and I went to the Frick Cafe and the Art Museum. They are having a new show. It is in celebration of Pittsburgh's 250 year anniversary. What it was mostly was the same theme over and over again. After reading the reviews I was disappointed, I though it would be a little more than the same vista repeated over and over again. The food at the cafe was good, but I was disappointed again. The portions were good, but minuscule. I had eaten there before and had always been happy with the food, but today was a bit of a downer. Somedays it would have been better to stay at home.

http://www.frickart.org/features/fam/

WOW

2008-06-27T15:15:00.000-07:00

WOW. My peeps are telling I have been selected for guest editor....exactly what does that entail??? I received a lot of kudos but what do I do???? I hope this isn't too difficult so, as soon as I find out I will tackle the problem with my usual zest. If it is to find out the solution to world peace, I must decline; we haven't solved that enigma in 2 millennia.

Today was a sort of busy day at work. All day I was thinking, I can't wait to go home. I did orthopedics today, and what we did was hand surgery. WE do a lot of carpal tunnel releases; most of the problem is with people who have repetitive stress on their hands. Typist, hair stylist, computer people etc. Everything went well, then onto lunches and at three, relieving the people who were to go home. They were still working in four rooms when I left. I am looking forward to two days off.

I am looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow. My idea of a fantasy vacation would be a week of sleeping in till 9 am. I will be up at about 6 am. I have some sort of internal clock mechanism that wakes me up. I just think of what time I want to wake up and I do about 95% of the time. I always set my alarm but I am usually awake before it. Wide awake, awake not somnolent, thinking lucid thoughts and raring to go. That is down right disgusting............I wish I could get over that. Maybe it is just conditioning. Many years of taking in house call (at the hospital) and having to get up and run at a moments notice for things such as cardiac arrests and stat c-sections; I would like to get over this when I retire. I have high hopes but realistic expectations.

This was taken in the late 1970's. This is a little church in Slovenia; which was part of Yugoslavia at the time. My husband was working there for an American Company. Northern Yugoslavia looks a lot like Pennsylvania. I thought maybe that is the reason a lot of people from that area settled her in PA, probably reminded them of home. Those are the Alps in the background. Most of the people are Roman Catholic and there are churches in every village and they also like to build them on the highest hill. The Catholicism is a remnant of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Thursday, exhausted

2008-06-26T18:13:00.000-07:00

"Nothing is so wretched or foolish as to anticipate misfortunes. What madness is it to be expecting evil before it comes."
Seneca

Sometimes I feel misfortune just breathing down my neck....I am glad my feeling do not necessarily turn into reality.

Claudia

"The average person puts only 25% of his energy and ability into his work. The world takes off its hat to those who put in more than 50% of their capacity, and stands on its head for those few and far between souls who devote 100%."
Andrew Carnegie

Some days I feel like I have put in 150%, and today was one of those days.

Claudia

I am tired and do not have any witticisms to enter tonight. My only thought is to have a glass of wine and go to bed; only there is no wine so I will just go to bed. It is hot and humid, and thunder and lightening are rolling around the hills. I will just call it a day.

White water rafting on the Ocoee River NC. I was the photographer as usual.

Tonights dining delight

2008-06-25T17:27:00.000-07:00

This was actually very good. The thing that amazed me is although it was spicy the hotness from the jalapeno's was not there. I only used one, maybe I should have used two. I also made corn on the cob and green beans. I have discovered "I can't Believe Its Not Butter" has a spray pseudo butter spray. It gives a butter flavor but instead of the margarine flavor you taste the flavor of the corn. It was especially tender and sweet. I decided to eat it while it is on sale and before someone decides to go to the market and buy it all up to make fuel.

Jamaican-Spiced Chicken Thighs

Complete the menu with mashed sweet potatoes and a mixed green salad. For more heat, leave the seeds in the jalapeño.

1/4 cup minced red onion
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon finely chopped seeded jalapeño pepper
2 teaspoons cider vinegar
2 teaspoons low-sodium soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
8 skinless, boneless chicken thighs (about 1 1/2 pounds)
Cooking spray

1. Combine first 10 ingredients in a large bowl; add chicken, tossing to coat. Heat a grill pan over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add chicken to pan; cook 4 minutes. Turn chicken over; cook 6 minutes or until done.

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 2 chicken thighs)

CALORIES 187 (27% from fat); FAT 5.7g (sat 1.4g,mono 1.7g,poly 1.4g); IRON 1.6mg; CHOLESTEROL 115mg; CALCIUM 21mg; CARBOHYDRATE 5g; SODIUM 503mg; PROTEIN 27.5g; FIBER 0.5g

Wednesday

2008-06-25T07:50:00.000-07:00

This was taken somewhere in Western PA on one of my back road trips. I can't remember this location, mainly because I am dealing with 14 year old information. It would have been good if I didn't have the pole in the front of the house. I love old architecture. If I had the time and the program I could have removed it. I do have Photoshope Element, but the freakin thing doesn't work with VISTA, so there you go. I refused to buy anymore photography programs that will become obsolete when MS in the wisdom decides we are due for a change.

My day consisted of breaks and lunches. Sometimes that is difficult to do. There are potentially 10 to 14 people to relieve for lunch. Everyone gets a 15 minute break and 30 minute lunch. When you work in an Operating Room you just can't leave. This also applies to bathroom breaks. You have to call someone and if someone is available you can go after you have given report.

I read articles about going to the gym or for a walk on ones lunch hour. For me that is a joke. We get a half hour, which consists of going to the bathroom, going to the cafeteria and stand in line behind the visitors and volunteers, who gaze at the menu board like they are perusing the menu for a 5 star restaurant. Hospital food is not that great, it is in fact, downright unhealthy. One of yesterdays offerings was a pasta and mushroom dish that was sitting (No lie) in 1/2 inch of oil.

I usually take the remnants of dinners I have prepared. Then I can heat them in the microwave, people usually comment of how well it smells, and say "I know you didn't get that here" Right........... The last thing to do on my half hour lunch break is have a cup of coffee is the person who took the last cup was courteous enough to make a new pot. Some how the doctors I work with have a feeling of entitlement and think they are exempt from making coffee.

I have been trying to make even more healthyofferings. The newest web site www.myrecipes.com has things from Cookling Light, Southern Living and a few others. What I have made has been good. I am in the mood for maybe cutting and pasting what I relly like and if you are in the mood for something tasty and delicious you can try them too.

Going to get the passport applications in today. I am still a bit miffed about Mondays trek but this is the Federal Government I am dealing with. All I can do is rant a bit about it.

Here's a thought

2008-06-23T16:39:00.000-07:00

As a rule we disbelieve all the facts and theories for which we have no use.
- William James

Makes sense to me..........

Monday

2008-06-23T11:32:00.000-07:00

Another antique store, I think this was also along Route 30 but it may have been on PA Route 31. This is also in Western PA. Maybe someday I will get around to painting them. What I need is a place to set out my painting supplies and be able to leave them in place. I do not have that now. Where ever I would put them I probably would have little cat feet additions to the painting.

The Vogons are working for the federal government. I must admit it has taken a while to get all the family members together and get to the Post Office to apply for out passports. But when we got there WE DIDN'T HAVE THE CORRECT FORM. The Vogons are alive and well in the government. Doesn't matter what branch, they are all through the entire system.

“

Vogons are one of the most unpleasant races in the galaxy. Not evil, but bad tempered, bureaucratic, officious and callous. They wouldn't even lift a finger to save their own grandmothers from the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal without orders signed in triplicate, sent in, sent back, queried, lost, found, subjected to public enquiry, lost again, and finally buried in soft peat for three months and recycled as firelighters. On no account should you allow a Vogon to read poetry to you.

LOL LOL. I copied and pasted the Vogon description and somehow (by magic most likely) the computer has duplicated the print of the copied and pasted entry above. That is really interesting.

I'm so excited, I bought ticket to West Side Story. Its not till August, but it will be a good mother/daughter day out. I didn't even ask Chuck, he wouldn't know Leonard Bernstein from William Shakespeare. As a musician Emily likes musical theater, but is very selective of what she wants to see. She has even played in several of them in High School and College.

Successful people

2008-06-23T08:32:00.000-07:00

Fifty Habits of Highly Successful People

You probably don’t have time to read every self-help book ever written, so here’s a quick list of some of the highlights. These are qualities of successful people that have been noted on many books on the subject:

1. They look for and find opportunities where others see nothing.

2. They find lessons while others only see problems.

3. They are solution focused.

4. They consciously and methodically create their own success.

5. They may be fearful, but they are not controlled or limited by fear.

6. They ask the right questions -- the ones which put them in a positive mindset and emotional state.

7. They rarely complain.

8. They don’t blame, and take complete responsibility for their actions and outcomes.

9. They always find a way to maximize their potential, and use what they have effectively.

10. They are busy, productive and proactive.

11. They align themselves with like-minded people.

12. They are ambitious.

13. They have clarity and certainty about what they want.

14. They innovate instead of imitate.

15. They don’t procrastinate.

16. They are life-long learners.

17. They are glass half full people, while still being practical and down-to-earth.

18. They consistently do what they need to do, regardless of how they are feeling on a given day.

19. They take calculated risks.

20. They deal with problems quickly and effectively.

21. They don’t believe in, or wait for, fate, destiny, chance or luck.

22. They take action before they have to.

23. They are more effective than most at managing their emotions.

24. They are good communicators.

25. They have a plan for their life and they work methodically to turn that plan into a reality.

26. They become exceptional by choice.

27. They work through the tough stuff that most would avoid.

28. They have identified what is important to them and they do their best to live a life which is reflective of those values.

29. They have balance. They know that money is a tool and ultimately, it’s just another resource.

30. They understand the importance of discipline and self-control.

31. They are secure in their sense of self-worth.

32. They are generous and kind.

33. They are happy to admit mistakes and apologize.

34. They are adaptable and embrace change.

35. They keep themselves in shape physically.

36. They work hard and are not lazy.

37. They are resilient.

38. They are open to, and more likely to act upon, feedback.

39. They don’t hang out with toxic people.

40. They don’t invest time or emotional energy into uncontrollable things.

41. They are happy to swim against the tide.

42. They comfortable with their own company.

43. They set high standards for themselves.

44. They don’t rationalize failure.

45. They know how to relax, enjoy what they have in their life and to have fun.

46. Their career is not their identity, it’s their job.

47. They are more interested in what is effective than in what is easy.

48. They finish what they start.

49. They realize that not only are they physical and psychological beings, but emotional and spiritual creatures as well.

50. They practice what they preach.

This was sent to me by a friend and if we could only do a few of these things we would accomplish a lot.

Sunday

2008-06-22T10:58:00.000-07:00

This is an antique store in Shellsburg PA, also along Route 30. Maybe I will take another jaunt this fall.

I am still having woes associated with the computer. The curser was moving and clicking on things again. I searched in the bowels of the computer and found the download driver programs again. I reinstalled them for about the sixth time; and I unclicked the "tapping" feature.

What ever or whoever, gave Microsoft the idea that this was a good thing??????? It is the most annoying thing ever and it was not listed in the Vista Annoyances Book. Most of those problems were much deeper and complicated than I was able to ascertain. I guess, for me, if I didn't understand the problem how could it be one for me????? Anyhow, I got it unclicked again and what I want to know is how did this program get uninstalled in the first place? It took me a long time (15 minutes) to find and install it; I did not do it's uninstallation.....

A lot of my trouble is associated with MS automatic updates. I have a whole list of them on hold. I guess I should install one of them at a time to see the effect it has on the computer. Really this is just too much for a meer mortal such as I.

Dave Barry's colonoscopy journal I can feel you pain Dave !!!!!!

I called my friend Andy Sable, a gastroenterologist, to make an appointment for a colonoscopy. A few days later, in his office, Andy showed me a color diagram of the colon, a lengthy organ that appears to go all over the place, at one point passing briefly through Minneapolis . Then Andy explained the colonoscopy procedure to me in a thorough, reassuring and patient manner. I nodded thoughtfully, but I didn't really hear anything he said, because my brain was shrieking, quote, 'HE'S GOING TO STICK A TUBE 17,000 FEET UP YOUR BEHIND!'

I left Andy's office with some written instructions, and a prescription for a product called 'MoviPrep,'which comes in a box large enough to hold a microwave oven. I will discuss MoviPrep in detail later; for now suffice it to say that we must never allow it to fall into the hands of America 's enemies.

I spent the next several days productively sitting around being nervous. Then, on the day before my colonoscopy, I began my preparation. In accordance with my instructions, I didn't eat any solid food that day; all I had was chicken broth, which is basically water, only with less flavor.

Then, in the evening, I took the MoviPrep. You mix two packets of powder together in a one-liter plastic jug, and then you fill it with lukewarm water. (For those unfamiliar with the metric system, a liter is about 32 gallons.) Then you have to drink the whole jug. This takes about an hour, because MoviPrep tastes - and here I am being kind - like a mixture of goat spit and urinal cleanser, with just a hint of lemon.

The instructions for MoviPrep, clearly written by somebody with a great sense of humor, state that after you drink it, 'a loose watery bowel movement may result.' This is kind of like saying that after you jump off your roof, you may experience contact with the ground.

MoviPrep is a nuclear laxative. I don't want to be too graphic, here, but: Have you ever seen a space-shuttle launch? This is prettymuch the MoviPrep experience, with you as the shuttle. There are times when you wish the commode had a seat belt. You spend several hours pretty much confined to the bathroom, spurting violently. You eliminate everything.

And then, when you figure you must be totally empty, you have to drink another liter of MoviPrep, at which point, as far as I can tell, your bowels travel into the future and start eliminating food that you have not even eaten yet.

After an action-p acked evening, I finally got to sleep. The next morning my wife drove me to the clinic. I was very nervous. Not only was I worried about the procedure, but I had been experiencing occasional return bouts of MoviPrep spurtage. I was thinking, 'What if I spurt on Andy?' How do you apologize to a friend for something like that? Flowers would not be enough.

At the clinic I had to sign many forms acknowledging that I understood and totally agreed with whatever the heck the forms said. Then they led me to a room full of other colonoscopy people, where I went inside a little curtained space and took off my clothes and put on one of those hospital garments designed by sadist perverts, the kind that, when you put it on, makes you feel even more naked than when you are actually naked.

Then a nurse named Eddie put a little needle in a vein in my left hand. Ordinarily I would have fainted, but Eddie was very good, and I was already lying down. Eddie also told me that some people put vodka in their MoviPrep. At first I was ticked off that I hadn't thought of this, but then I pondered what would happen if you got yourself too tipsy to make it to the bathroom, so you were staggering around in full Fire Hose Mode. You would have no choice but to burn your house.

When everything was ready, Eddie wheeled me into the procedure room, where Andy was waiting with a nurse and an anesthesiologist. I did not see the 17,000-foot tube, but I knew Andy had it hidden around there somewhere. I was seriously nervous at this point. Andy had me roll over on my left side, and the anesthesiologist began hooking something up to the needle in my hand.

There was music playing in the room, and I realized that the song was 'Dancing Queen' by Abba. I remarked to Andy that, of all the songs that could be playing during this particular procedure, 'Dancing Queen' has to be the least appropriate.

'You want me to turn it up?' said Andy, from somewhere behind me. 'Ha ha,' I said. And then it was time, the moment I had been dreading for more than a decade. If you are squeamish, prepare yourself, because I am going to tell you, in explicit detail, exactly what it was like.

I have no idea. Really. I slept through it. One moment, Abba was shrieking 'Dancing Queen! Feel the beat from the tambourine' and the next moment, I was back in the other room, waking up in a very mellow mood. Andy was looking down at me and asking me how I felt. I felt excellent. I felt even more excellent when Andy told me that it was all over, and that my colon had passed with flying colors. I have never been prouder of an internal organ.

Anyone who has had this done can truly relate to his commentary.

Computer Cleanup

2008-06-21T17:24:00.000-07:00

One summer I went on a road trip thru the back roads. I had wanted to paint a series of Antique Store Watercolors. I have painted watercolors before and actually have things framed and hanging in my house. Emily says I should sell them, and when we go out to Art and Craft Shows she tells me that mine look better than a lot. I told her to sell them when I die because they are always worth more when the artist is dead. LOL When I retire I plan on taking more art classes; there are a few at Pittsburgh Center for the Arts but most of them are during the day.

The computer has been driving me crazy so I had to take action. First I did a disc clean and then defraged the computer. Then I went onto the Internet Explorer and you hit tools>>>>Internet options>>>>>Delete temporary files>>>>>delete browsing history. Then I deleted most of the junk in the recycle bin and I must say it is loading much better. I could have cleaned the house in the time it was taking me to go from site to site. I am happy at this point in time.

This picture was taken in Bedford PA. It is a neat little town on Route 30 and the PA Turnpike has a stop there too.

Problems with AOL

2008-06-21T07:43:00.000-07:00

This is an antique store/ antique house in Jennerstown PA. Taken long ago and far away on Route 30. The drive along Route 30 is very nice and scenic. The best time of the year would be in the fall. Somewhere near the middle of PA you ascend a mountain; you also hope and pray you that when you are on the two lane highway; that you are not behind a large truck or bus. They climb the hill about 25 mph. and it will make you crazy. It can lead to bad decisions of an otherwise sane mind, to even think and then attempt to pass that truck on the winding road going up at an extreme incline. I have been sorely tempted to do that but my reasoning has kicked in and told me "forget it." I honestly think that trucks should be banned from attempting to use this hill. The rest of the road is mainly flat until you get to Laughlintown, where the road is on a extreme descending grade, the trucks are banned here. Guess they don't care if they go up, they just prohibit them going down. There is the option of going south on 219 and taking the PA Turnpike. You can also take the PA Turnpike and avoid the mountains all together.

Is anyone else having trouble with AOL? It is taking so long to load and stopping and the message comes up "Not Responding"? It is making me crazy....and very annoying.

Friday

2008-06-20T14:49:00.000-07:00

I was just perusing the news headlines and came upon an item. The floods in the Midwest. What I want to know is why would anyone believe FEMA. There are a lot of people who actually believed the Federal Government when they said that the levees on the Mississippi would withstand a 100 year flood. A lot of people dropped their flood insurance......the reason was that the government said it was ok,and their banks no longer required it.

What were these hapless souls thinking? I do not know what flood insurance cost, but, It is a whole lot less than replacing a destroyed house...... Another item was that some people in New Orleans did not know they were in a flood plain. How in the world could they be so naive, I have never been to NO and I know the city is surrounded by water and is actually a bowl that is lower than sea level. I feel for them but I think some people just made some bad choices.

The River Walk in San Antonia Texas.

Thursday

2008-06-19T16:11:00.000-07:00

One of the things I love to do it go for rides on Pennsylvania back country roads. This farm is somewhere in western PA, but I can't remember where. I think this pastime has met its end.......I don't want to use the gas.

Today was an interesting day. We had four fractured hip add on's (that means they were added and not scheduled the day before, essential they were emergencies.) and they were all in their 90's......I think some one is out there tripping the old ladies......When I first finished school (I am really dating myself with this statement) they put the fractured hips in "Bucks extension" So they lay in bed with the affected hip in traction and the poor old souls died of pneumonia..... With the advance of surgery they now have a plethora of hip pinning devices and fix thee hips and get the seniors out of bed and ambulating. I wonder as a follow up how many of these people actually get better I would think most of them start a downward spiral to debilitation and their death.

Tomorrow is the last day of the week and I am looking forward to the weekend, not because I have something planned, just because I have off.

Emily found out she was not scheduled to work the 4th of July so she is going to play in the Johnstown Symphony's extravaganza. They have a fireworks display and the symphony plays appropriate music. The best one is Tchaikovsky 1812 Overatures complete with the cannon. BOOM. The last time we went we got stuck in traffic and it took us an hour longer than usual to get home. At least I got home that night. Could have ended up driving the back roads of PA>

Work

2008-06-18T10:59:00.000-07:00

"Work isn't to make money; you work to justify life."
Marc Chagall

All thing being equal, with money is better..............Mark was an artist 1889-1987, or there abouts. The picture is my art work

I went on a job interview one time. The interviewer asked me "What motivates you, what makes you get up in the morning?"

Without a pause I stated "money." I thought that was one of the stupidest interview question....... I do not work for the good of mankind, I work to pay bills and I like to eat. I can not afford to be altruistic. As the interview went on she told me what the salary was and it was $10/hr less than I was making.

I said to her. "Quite frankly, I make more than that now. But I believe we are wasting each others time. I thank you for your time and consideration. Good bye."

They never did fill that positon and about a month later I saw they had upped their salary. I never did call them back. It was not worth the drive.

Tags:

TEXT button

2008-06-18T08:03:00.000-07:00

The TEXT button. Went to get the car inspected and gave the service person the email from Subaru. The gist of the story is the TEXT button can only read in MP3 format. So, the CDs you buy at the store can not be read. What kind of format are they manufactured in anyway.......Seems like I have to put the CDs on iTunes (they are already there now) and burn a CD and then the CD will be in MP3 format and be read. The tech demonstarted this to me, and I observed with my own eyes.

My question is 1) how many people with cars have a CD player in them??? 2) how many people with cars have iPODS that they play in their cars? Why would a car manufacturer make a CD player that can only read MP3s??? This does not make a whole hell of a lot of sense to me at all. I have an aux system that will let me play my iPod thru the radio/CD player. It does not read the MP3s. You have to have a special instillation ($300) that will let you read the text on the iPod......I should have know, there was money and sales involved.

I will just have to be happy to listen to the music and not be comcerned about the TEXT, because I have no intention of spending $300 to read the damn text.

Something wrong with the computer I got a message from Microsoft telling me Windows have recovered from a unexpected shutdown and now I can not add pictures. Grrrrrrrrr. I think I will have to wipe it out and run the start up disc which I do not have because they did not include one. Guess I will spend the rest of the day backing up the remnants of what is left over. Maybe I will try a system restore first...

Did the system restore and I can now add the pictures again. When I went to restore it seems that there was a Windowsupdate at 07:51 this morning and that is when the trouble began. I have the automatic update unclicked.....I have the option for me to download later, so why did it do that this morning???

Anyhow, I am glad I can add photos...

Mundane Tuesday

2008-06-17T16:19:00.000-07:00

I can not believe it.......today nothing happened. At least, nothing worth writing about here. I spent the better part of the day doing cataract extractions. Everything went smoothly and uneventfully. I really like it like that.....

Tomorrow I am off and have to get up and get out early. I have to take the car for its yearly inspection. Since it is relatively new, any thing that is wrong (hopefully) will be covered by the warranty. I do have a bone to pick with the service guy at the Subaru dealer. My 6 CD changer has a "TEXT" button, which does nothing. I have complained about this twice. I doesn't do anything when I play the iPod, radio or CD's. Tapping the button is an exercise in futility......The service advisor said that is was only for satellite radio. I told him I did not believe it.......Why would they make a button only for satellity radio when there are other things to be read; how many people actually have satellite radio. What percentage%%%%% I do not believe it is very high. Why in the world would anyone want to spend $100/ month to listen just driving around town. When I go on a trip I connect the iPod or play books on CD's, which I get from the library or buy at Half Price Books.

So..........I emailed Subaru of America and told him of my tale and the button. The text button is suppose to work on satellite radio AND........................IT IS SUPPOSE TO READ THE CD"S AS WELL...... Which it has not been doing for one year. I have a email in my purse and tomorrow I am ready for battle.........GRRRRRRRRRRRR......

The picture was taken at Acadia National Park in Maine. I would love to go back...

2008-06-16T15:09:00.000-07:00

The lighthouse is not listing, photographer was listing. For anyone who doesn't recognize this icon, it is the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse. It is on the National Seashore of the outer banks of North Carolina. This is my favorite beach, you can walk for miles and not see anyone else. I will try to find a link and article about it later. The interesting thing about this lighthouse is that with erosion of the beach, the ocean was encroaching on the base. So it was moved and now is 1/2 mile from the ATlantic Ocean. They used Ivory soap (I think) to lubricate the rails that the lighthouse rode upon.

I have been perusing and finding many photography buffs and contests to enter my shots. I am excited about that. I am finding things on this computer that I have forgotten I had. I had a 2g flash drive and it told me it was full. I saw one in the paper and it was 8g and $32. I may need something like that. I also have all my things backed up on an external hard drive.

I am off a week in July and the project for my sister, Shawnna, and I will be to scan the old family photos. That will be quite a job. When my sisters were teenagers, they went with Tom and Gerda on a sojourn on the National Park grand circuit. They left Pittsburgh and went across the top of the country, down the Pacific Coast, and then across the bottom. The most memorable thing was the got to Death Valley during the hottest time of the year and the truck did not have A/C. Tom did not believe in air conditioning, you had to "tough" it out. The pictures of the dogs looked like they were dying. The had to stop at the visitors center and take the dogs inside to recoup.

My sister has the map, maybe someday I will follow it. But in an air conditioned Subaru. I will stop at hotels, B & B's or Inns. That all remains to be seen. I will see if I can get Chuck to go, or maybe one of my sisters.

Today I did orthopedics. Spent the whole day doing total joints. This is really a miracle cure for people with degenerative joint disease. I am fortunate in that none of my joints hurt, but my neck and lower back hurt and there is no artificial joint for that. Although, they can now inject the stress fractures in the vertebrae, it is with a type of glue that cements the fractures and drastically reduces the pain.

http://www.nps.gov/archive/caha/lrp.htm Here is the link with information about the light house move. You have to delve into the bowels of this link.

Joe America

2008-06-15T17:12:00.000-07:00

YouTube - "Joe, American" Challenges the Presidential Candidates

Click on this link, this guy makes more sense that the entire elected population of the United States elected Congress

Fathers Day Part 2

2008-06-15T14:07:00.000-07:00

Here is Chuck, the father of my child. Emily said she know he is her father because of the cleft in their chins. I said "Emily, trust me on this one." She also said that lets her know she wasn't adopted, because of the cleft. I have one picture of me pregnant, I just need to find it. No one takes pictures of the photographer.

This journal won't let me make an entry beside the photo. Here is a young Emily and her grandfather Joe, Chucks dad. Somewhere I have a picture of Joe and Lois together. But I don't know where it is right now.

This is Lois, Emily grandmother. Joe and Lois have been gone since 1996. They died within 6 months of each other. She had been sick for a while and a few months after her Joe got sick. His passing was a real surprise and his decline was totally unexpected. Joe and Chuck would argue (in jest) all the time. Mostly about politics. Chuck would say that his dad would vote for a yellow dog if they ran him on the Democratic Party. Their spats were always worth a laugh or two. I wonder what he would think of the party now.......

American Flags

2008-06-15T12:28:00.000-07:00

After an inquiry I decided to add an addendum. This photo was taken at the Navy Museum in Southeast Washington DC. It is a treasure. It is located at the Washington Navy Yard. The exhibit is huge and full of history. There are submarines, a bathysphere, Things from the Revolutionary War and all the other conflicts that the Navy was involved. There are things on polar exploration, space and the opening of Japan in the 1850. A lot of it is hands on and would be exciting for history buffs and children as well. There is now more security since 2001, so I think you should call and be sure to bring your photo ID. phone number 202 433 4882, this number was listed in the AAA Spiral Guide Book.

Fathers Day

2008-06-15T11:59:00.000-07:00

Happy Fathers Day. This is one of the last photographs of my parents taken together. It was taken in 1994. The next April my mother died. She was a colon cancer survivor, but, she developed a secondary malignancy, cholangiocarcinoma. Which is cancer of the bile duct. It is very rare, just like Gerda to come up with something exotic. The tumor was up near the liver and even though it was small, it was inoperable.

My father was never happy after she died. He would say he didn't know what she did all day and after she died He found out. Said he didn't have time to do anything because he was now doing his work and her work. He was the type of person who if something were not a problem he would make it a problem. He worried about everything. I learned from that: Don't worry about things of which you have no control. You can change things of which you do have control. It took a long time for me to actually quit worrying, I still do today but not as much as before. Just run on faith that it will work out.

He died in 2004. The young girl is my daughter Emily; she is now 26. Emily looked at the pictures and said that you can tell my father is the same man who was in the earlier pictures. Some people look the same from when they are young till they are old. I miss them both. Here is their wedding photo, 1942.

Sundays mental musings

2008-06-15T05:33:00.000-07:00

"Three grand essentials to happiness in this life are something to do, something to love, and something to hope for."
Joseph Addison

Someone told me the essence of life, was eat, survive and reproduce. I think that is similar to the quote of the day. People need something to do, sitting around waiting for time to pass is a hugh bummer. Everyone needs love and affection. Something to hope for keeps us all going. I guess that ranges from wishfull thinking to major setting of goals.

My major set goal is now retirement. I am hoping and looking forward to that. After working for forty years I am looking for a rest.......then I will set a new goal of something else to do...