The Most Popular Job in Every State

8/31/2014

According to Parade Magazine, listed below are the most popular jobs state by state.  Read through the states and you may be surprised, as was I, what those popular jobs are. One state's most popular job was in New Jersey: Marriage and Family Therapists!  Imagine. And my own state of Maryland that job is subway and street car operators!  It appears that the median salary is around $60,000, which when you live back here in the D.C. area, isn't very much at all.

 

Alabama
Metal and plastic layout workers

Alaska
Zoologists and wildlife biologists

Arizona
Plasterers and stucco masons

Arkansas
Shoe machine operators and tenders

California
Farm workers and laborers: crop, nursery, and greenhouse

Colorado
Atmospheric and space scientists

Connecticut
Actuaries

Delaware
Chemists

District of Columbia
Political scientists

Florida
Motorboat operators

 Georgia
Textile workers: winding, twisting, and drawing out machine setters, operators, and tenders

Hawaii
Dancers

Idaho
Forest and conservation technicians

Illinois
Rail transportation workers

Indiana
Boilermakers

Iowa
Soil and plant scientists

Kansas
Agricultural equipment operators

Kentucky
Mining roof bolters

Louisiana
Riggers

Maine
Logging equipment operators

Maryland
Subway and streetcar operators

Massachusetts
Biochemists and biophysicists

Michigan
Metal and plastic model makers

Minnesota
Food scientists and technologists

Mississippi
Upholsterers

Missouri
Entertainment attendants and related workers

Montana
Forest and conservation technicians

Nebraska
Meat, poultry, and fish cutters and trimmers

Nevada
Gaming supervisors

New Hampshire
Metal workers and plastic workers

 New Jersey
Marriage and family therapists

New Mexico
Physical scientists

New York
Fashion designers

North Carolina
Textile workers: winding, twisting, and drawing out machine setters, operators, and tenders

North Dakota
Extraction workers

Ohio
Foundry mold and core makers

Oklahoma
Gaming managers

Oregon
Logging workers

Pennsylvania
Gas compressor and gas pumping station operators

 Rhode Island
Jewelers and precious stone and metal workers

 South Carolina
Tire builders

South Dakota
Pesticide handlers, sprayers, and applicators

Tennessee
Nuclear technicians

Texas
Petroleum engineers

Utah
Mine cutting and channeling machine operators

Vermont
Highway maintenance workers

Virginia
Legal support workers

Washington
Aircraft structure, surfaces, rigging, and systems assemblers

West Virginia
Mine shuttle car operator

Wisconsin
Foundry mold and core makers

Wyoming
Wellhead pumpers

 

ENJOY YOUR LABOR DAY!  :) 

P

 

"Last" Day of Summer

8/30/2014

I know as well as you do, that it's not really the last day of summer, but it might as well be.  Any school that didn't open last week, will be up and running on Tuesday.  Summer sales are in every store. If you dare, buy your bathing suits now, if your one of those lucky souls who's weight barely goes up and down.  I can't say that about my body, it goes up but it doesn't go down without a fight!

Every store right now are having back-to-school sales.  It's time they tell you, as if you didn't know, to stock up on your pencils, pens, markers and anything else school related.  As a child, I loved the start of school - new binders, that were clean and without all the writing I would eventually add as "decoration"!

I don't want to scare anybody, but at Costco this week, they already had their snow shovels out! Winter coats, mittens and boots can't be far behind.  But, if you don't need any winter gear, it's also a great time to get a good deal on air conditioners and fans!

Enjoy your long weekend, I know I will.

P

Three Day Weekends and Beaches

8/29/2014

Happy three, or if you're lucky, four day weekend.  If you were heading to the beach for the weekend, you should have left yesterday!  Unless you are landlocked in the mid-west, where there are only lakes around, you might, as I write, be dusting off your flip-flops and doing a last minute review of your beach equipment and attire.  

The last time Jeff and I went to the beach, we flew to a nearby airport and walked to the beach.  The flying to and fro was the easy part.  Hard part?  Finding our beach cart, getting Benjamin's sand toys, and gathering up towels.  By the time all that was done, it no longer seemed like a good idea to go the beach.

Today, going over the Bay Beach will be a joke.  Drivers will need to keep their cool about the long lines that may go back several miles.  Still, once you're on the other side, it's pure bliss when you hit the beach.

Those going in the other direction to beaches in Virginia will also have stop and go traffic on the interstate.. However, once you arrive at Virginia Beach or perhaps the Outer Banks, all thoughts of traffic and office work will dissolve - until the return trip!

There was a time, and it was a long time ago, when a trip to the beach included nothing more than towels, sunscreen and sand toys.  As the years progressed, we added beach chairs and umbrellas.  When we took Benjamin to the beach as a toddler, we added a wagon for him to ride in, rather than walk at his pace, which was super slow, because he wanted to investigate every rock and splash in any puddles!

It's been a long time since Jeff and I took the boys' and their families to a two week vacation at a rented house in the Outer Banks.  Those weeks, even though I was the designated cook, gave me some of my most wonderful memories.

Kick back and enjoy the last splurge of summer! 

P

 

Homeless People

8/28/2014

Yesterday while driving to and from appointments, I became deeply concerned about the number of people waiting on street corners holding up signs asking for money.  The ones that stay on the curb, don't cause me much lot, as I drive by in my car.

The people who walk in the street between cars does cause me some concern.  For one their safety, but two it makes me uncomfortable when they approach my car. I'm sitting in air conditioned comfort, listening to my favorite radio station, and their dressed in dirty rags.

So how much money do beggars make? Here's a few statistics:

In 2013, a South African study found that beggars could make the equivalent of $18 per day.

In 2008, it was reported that some Oregon beggars outside a WalMart make $100K a year or $300 per day.

In Oklahoma, makes $60K per year or $30 per day.

We assume that beggars just want money for alcohol and drugs.  Statistics say that isn't always the case.  They buy some of the things we do: clothes, food, etc.  Some people suggest instead of giving someone money, you should bring them something to eat.  I have never seen overweight beggar,  just the opposite in fact - they are thin.

I don't know about you, but when beggars approach my car, I find that I can't look at them.  Am I self-conscious about owning a car? Or am I embarrassed that I don't stick my arm out the window and give somebody a few dollars?  I suspect it's a case of both of those things.  I recognize some beggars due so to a change in their circumstances.  We all know that if you don't have a real address, then likely you won't be able to get an apartment.  Many people's stories plays in a continuous loop.

Just something to think about.

P

Mosquitos

8/27/2014

Driving around a neighborhood yesterday, I noticed a sign "No Mosquitoes Beyond This Point".  Hmm, I thought.  Was the sign there to make folks feel comfortable?  Is it okay to wander around in your yard without spraying yourself down in anti-bug medicine?  Do mosquitoes read and know they aren't welcome?

I'm still trying to imagine how the sign-puter-upper knew that there was or had been mosquitoes.  Sometimes signs along the road make almost or no sense at all!

No standing is another one that if you're not used to seeing that sign, could mean different things to different people.

When I first started driving, there weren't as many road signs and there certainly wasn't any running a red light camera.  Sometimes I wonder if we need all this protection, or does government - public, state, national, you name it, believe all of these things are for our own good.

Happy driving!

P

Actresses

8/26/2014

I didn't watch the Emmy's last night.  I thought that I could record "better" TV shows, use my thirty second skip on the Tivo to avoid commercials, and return back to my shows quickly.  I know that any award show is riddled with commercials, which I refuse to watch.  Besides, the next People magazine will have great coverage of the award show, and pictures of actresses and maybe even an actor or two,

I read in today's paper that several stars that were interviewed, couldn't remember the name of the gown designer (talk about negative publicity), who designed their fancy mini clutches, and where the jewelry came from.

Julia Roberts, a personal favorite of mine, was a class act in her beautiful and short dress.  Advantage of a short dress: no tripping on hemlines!  Cleavage was in abundance, which is the par for actresses.  I wonder how they keep the tops of their dresses to stay in place.

On line I saw a dress slit up to the imagination line on both sides.  Sitting in that dress must have been awkward.  More often than not, less is best.  The "girls" don't have to be out front and on display.  Think wardrobe malfunction!

Here's an idea what a night out at an award ceremony costs.  An "average" star consumes about $75,000 worth of goods and services,  The triple A- list the number rises to over $1 million. 

The stars spend their own money on beauty treatments and an additional $5,000 for services in the weeks prior to the event.  Everything else is on the studio's tab, is loaned/borrowed, or is gifted/donated from the provider who wants a brush with star power.

Award shoes give stars a glorious chance to play Cinderella, at least for one night.

P

Wilma

8/24/14

I think most of you know that I'm trying to write the next "greatest novel" and that my heroine is an old gal named Wilma (who incidentally looks a lot like me - go figure).  Early on I thought it would be fun for Wilma to turn up Lincoln's Missing Diary (this is truly fiction, because his diary is at the Smithsonian. Wilma would then find her way to Washington and using a map her husband had left for her, would uncover all manner of secret things.

At the moment, I have redirected my words to describe slaves, trading of slaves, their treatment and escape.  While poking around on the Internet, I found that there was a church founded in Baltimore by a free black man.  The church still stands.  Underneath the church was a sub-basement and a tunnel. I have done quite a bit of reading about the Underground Railroad and found pictures of quilts that would hang outside to let the slaves know that it wasn't safe for them to go to the house, building, etc.

Slaves also looked for moss growing on the north side of a tree, migrating birds fly north in the summer; and finally the North Star always points to the north.  The slaves called the Big Dipper the "drinking gourd".

One woman escaped carrying her grandchild on her back.  When she approached a river that had large chunks of ice on top, she literally leaped from one piece to another.  A slave trader was waiting on the other side of the river, but he was so impressed with hard she was trying to escape, he let her go.  Situations like this were rare, and more times than not, escaped slaves were caught and punished generally by beating them with a whip.

I have books piled up on a side chair with varying titles but all of them are about the slave passage on the ships, slave treatment before and after auction and lastly 

The history of the slaves, their brave attempts to gain freedom and the Underground Railroad, have made for some fascinating reading.

P

The Dissolution of a Marriage

8/23/2014

For those of you who don't live here in the D.C. area, you are probably unaware that the Virginia Governor and his wife are on trial for accepting "gifts" from a businessman in exchange, so they say, for the Governor's patronage regarding a product that the businessman was hoping that the Governor would promote for him.

The Governor and his wife received from this businessman about $177,000 in gifts.  You remember the old adage: if it sounds to be good to be true, then it's too good to be true!  Apparently the Governor's wife failed to check her Chinese fortune cookie which may have told her to stop fishing in the same pocket!

The interesting part is that party A (Governor) and party B (wife) appear to have not been sharing information during the time that the Governor and his wife's purse and wallet  was being lined with all sorts of extravagances, like shopping trip and  trips on a private jet.  The Governor admits that he enjoyed the luxurious vacation or a custom golf club bag.  We all know that there are no "free" gifts - there's a cost hidden in there somewhere.

The Governor turned down a prosecution offer to let him save his wife from trial by pleading guilty to one felony count, has moved out of the family house. Here is a husband who is throwing his wife under the bus and she is likely to return the favor.

One thing I think is pretty clear: when this ongoing trial is over, their marriage will be over.  And it's anybody's guess whether the Governor would run for another term or feel he's better off without 24/7 press.

I think it's a sad case full of greed and lies.  I am always amazed at the things that rich people do and generally get away with.  I wonder what they see when they look in their mirrors?

P

Aging

8/22/2014

When I was a teenager I couldn't wait to be 18, because everybody knows that an 18 year old knows everything! Or not.  Unlike my peers I wasn't dying to be 21 so that I could drink.  The only time my Dad had something to drink was a cold beer after mowing the lawn.  So wanting alcohol wasn't on my agenda.  At 64 I can say that I only drink minimally now and that's generally when we go out to dinner - someplace that has a waiter - and not a walk-up window!

The years went by, I had children and certain parts of my body began to shift downwards!  Oh how I envied those women who were still perky on the top.  It never occurred to me to try running because "the girls" could possibly do me bodily harm by bouncing around.  I at least thought that was a reasonable excuse.  Sounds better than just saying I'm just too lazy to get off my sofa!  Besides everybody knows that you can burn a lot of calories (not) by doing the dishes and folding laundry!

Without notice these small brown spots began to show up on my hands and arms.  Yuck.  Some people call these spots "wisdom spots".  I call them UGLY spots.  Unfortunately, over the years those little spots have multiplied, there now being too many to count.  Never a good sign.

Okay by now I have sagging skin and wisdom spots.  There is only one thing left for my body to do to me, start turning my brown hair gray!  Super yuck.  I don't object to having gray hair, it goes with the territory, but gray hair doesn't curl - easily!  I tried coloring it for a bit and the cost of keeping the gray at bay, was costly and wasn't good use of my time.

Here's to growing old(er) graciously!

P

My Week

8/21/2014

You may have noticed that I didn't blog yesterday.  I do have a good excuse, at least I think so.  Three days a week I volunteer at a non-profit agency, which makes me set my alarm (shock) and get to "work" on time. I basically just answer the phone and transfer people to hopefully the right place.

On Tuesday I took a data entry volunteer job with the Humane Society of America, and the keying in the data was the easy part.  The hard part was attempting to read people's handwriting.  When I was in school we practiced penmanship but from the forms I had to work with yesterday, I don't think they do that anymore.

Certain letters in a name could either be an "a" or an "o".  Likewise "I" or "L".  The good news was that I could work from home, using my IBM "click" keyboard, which I don't think anybody uses very much anymore.  When I press a key I want to hear the sound of a letter being pressed down.  Plus, as an added bonus, I can type like the wind because the keys aren't "mushy" or maybe the right word is soft.  I know that newer keyboards don't make much or any noise, but I'm old school, I like the sound of clicking keys!

In my spare time, I have been working with my old friend Wilma.  I will start writing again today, but first I must get my kitchen in order!  My OCD doesn't like disorderly, but I gave myself a pass since I was working and I wanted to finish the project as quickly as possible.

I believe I am steering away from Lincoln's diary and leaning more towards slaves and the Underground Railroad.  The internet is a virtual font of knowledge, and I have learned many interesting facts about the slave trade and slaves trying to escape plantations.

There's no pressure to write other than I promised Jeff that if I ever earned more than a buck fifty for my writing, we could buy a jet.  The jet would, of course, be after I have a complete body lift.  I just want someone to start at my ankles and just pull my skin all the way up to my ears, tighten everything up - I don't think that's asking too much!  

P

Grocery Shopping with Jeff

8/19/2014

The year is 1974 and Jeff and I had just started dating. I worked as a secretary and earned about $100 a week and $25 of that went to pay for nursery school for my son.  Shortly after I met Jeff, I suggested that he could come to the apartment and I would fix dinner.  Now the ability to fix dinner with the meager contents of both my cupboard and refrigerator, was a stretch.  This many years later, I don't even recall what I thought I was going to make.

When Jeff came over, and he looked at my barren shelves, he suggested a trip to the grocery store.  I pushed my cart buying the cheapest bread I could find, the smallest bottle of milk possible and a few other necessities for my son and I to live on for a week.

Jeff, had his own cart, and he was busily piling oodles of food into his cart.  When the two carts met somewhere in the middle of the store, I was horrified at the amount of food he had.  I told him that there was no way I could possibly pay for all of those groceries.  He'd have to put most, if not all, of those things back because I simply could not pay for that much food. He had bought cookies, a luxury for me as well as other food that I hadn't been able to afford since becoming single. Jeff told me that he would pay for all of the groceries!  That was the first nice thing that had happened to me in months.  I knew that he was a keeper.

In the end, the groceries from both carts were taken to the cashier and Jeff wrote a check (do you remember those) for everything, and I was grateful for his help.  Flash forward 40 years, and I'm still grateful for his help.

Grocery shopping today looks a lot different than in did in 1974.  There were grocery stores and retail stores like Target, but no "Mart" stores.  Now you can go to a "mart" store and buy groceries, clothes, cosmetics, furniture (generally on the cheap side), toys and you name it.  Last night Jeff and I went to WalMart and bought necessities, though we view necessities differently!  I believe the cart's not right unless there is a package of cookies and/or some kind of candy.  Jeff wants tomatoes, a certain kind of cracker, cream cheese and hot salsa.  He likes salt and I like sugar, so we make the ideal couple!

P

Summer's Over

8/17/2014

Well it's not really over, according to the calendar.  But, for all the large and small retailers, including those famous on-line ones, it's time to think about fall - now!

Backpacks, binders, pens, and any other back-to-school type item are all on sale now, because the large retailers, don't want to have too much stock left over when "gearing up for school" time is over, and everyone knows that Halloween is just around the corner.  

You want to be first on the block to get your orange and brown decorations up on the front door and your pumpkin on the front porch - never mind that pumpkins don't live forever, so you may need to replace it before the trick 'n treaters come around!

Right now you can buy fans, window air conditioners, beach towels and pool and sand toys at low prices.  I don't know about you, but I don't want to have to store new summer gear, just because something is on sale.  There was a time when Jeff and I, and the boys, went to the beach.  In California, it was Newport Beach and here in the East, it's the Outer Banks.  Our years of renting a house big enough for all of us at the Outer Banks, is a distant memory now.  But boy did we have fun!

I don't suppose it's too far fetched to think that you'll be seeing ads for fall/winter clothing in the next few weeks.  Now would be the time to stock up on bathing suits and all things summer - or not.  

Traffic this month has been a breeze because a lot of folks in this area are on vacation, so fighting traffic isn't much of a problem.  In a week or two traffic congestion will become the norm again as it does every year.  Luckily for me, my volunteer job doesn't start until 10:00 and ends at 1:00, so I miss rush hour traffic each way.

I have some fake spray-on that I use on my legs during the summer.  Once shorts and capris are not part of my daily wardrobe, I go "pale" until the following summer!

Oh and one last thing about summer - tv watching sucks.  We're sort of in that no man's land of reruns and super cheesy television, while we await the fall line-up.  For the new fall shows, I try to watch most of them at least once - I do want to be fair after all.  If, after the second show I'm  not wowed,  I stop watching and find something else to watch.  And yes, if you're wondering, I'm fickle when it comes to television shows.  I can always find a cooking or reality show, both of which I love, most every day and night.

P

State and County Fairs

8/16/2014

During the months of August and September, county and state fairs abound all across America.  There are some things that don't change about fairs - rides, smells and last but by no means last - FOOD!  As a teenager, going to the fair meant indulging my sweet tooth with cotton candy.  Fast forward to the present, and the gooey stuff just makes my teeth hurt.  I think this is a sign of maturity - or putting in another way - getting old!

Going to the fair as a teenager, romances blossomed over sharing food, hanging on to "that guy" during a scary ride.  Of course, the male teen always had to try and win a large stuffed animal for his girl.  Nobody wanted those wimpy little stuffed animals - no it had to be ginormous!  Of course, dragging it around you all evening and on rides, made those huge animals a burden that had to be dealt with while you dragged or pulled that giant panda around with you all evening.

Let's get to the good stuff - fair food!  Fair food has evolved plenty since the 60's.  Here's what you can get today - oh and none of it is healthy, which is why it always tastes so good!

Deep fried food has become popular. You can now fry Oreos, candy bars, coke, ravioli, Twinkies, Kool-Aid, beer, Pop Tarts, Frito pie and a club salad.  In 2011 Wisconsin State Fair had the ultimate fried food item - BUTTER!

Oregon State Fair serves "Road Kill" and Tennessee State Fair has Deep-Fried Goo Goo Clusters.  In Arizona, if you're feeling daring you can eat a Maggot Melt Sandwich (I believe I'll skip that).
 

I'm not even going to try and tally up the calories that are consumer every day at a fair.  Pretty sure we're talking about LOTS and most of it comes from sugar!  I am a sugar person, but even I have my limits.  If you eat enough sugar, then you have to wash it down with salt, back to sugar and so on!

So grab your comfy shoes (those are the ones in the back of the closet) that you won't worry about if you step in something squishy!  Take your motion sickness pills and an empty stomach!

Enjoy.

P

Wilma

8/15/2014

I haven't talked about my old friend Wilma in awhile.  I took the plunge and now have an editor, which was a real leap of faith for me, seeing as I don't really have a book.  At least not yet.

I initially was going to call the book "Lincoln's Missing Diary", but have switched horses mid-stream.  I have been on the internet, which for those of you who remember,  is so handy compared to dragging out encyclopedias!  

Looking into Baltimore's Civil War history has turned up quite a lot.  Apparently, in 1935, construction workers laying pipes under the city, found a dirt tunnel about three feet high.  I'm sure that was part of the Underground Railroad.  

A former slave founded The Orchard Street Church in 1825, which has been renovated and is now the home of the Baltimore Urban League.  I believe that when we go to Hopkins, we are very close to that church.  Apparently, there is a tour that you can take of the Underground Railroad, and The Orchard Street Church is one of the places you can visit.  The church has a secret tunnel and hiding area that indicates that it was a stop on the Underground Railroad. Orchard Street Church is the highlight of the tour because the legendary escape tunnel is there.

Since I'm turning up so much information about Baltimore and it's part in the Civil War, it seems likely that Wilma might be telling the story about the movement of slaves through the city.

Here's what I do know: if I think writing a daily blog is hard, it's even harder to write something that you hope might someday be complete enough, as well as good enough, to actually be a book - but no pressure!

P

Penn and Teller

8/14/2014

Perhaps you have seen these two perform their magic either by watching them on television or if you were even luckier - on stage.  Jeff and I loved watching their tv show "Bull ....".   They know have a new show called "Fool Us", where magicians perform their acts on stage and try or hope that they can stump Penn & Teller.  Most of the time, the P&T figure out easily how the trick was done, but not always.

There are two things about Penn & Teller that make me curious.  One is that Teller never speaks. The other is that Penn has one fingernail painted red.  Why?  You know me off to the internet to see if I can get answers for my questions.

Teller does not speak while performing although there are occasional exceptions, mostly when the audience is not aware that it is his voice that is being heard. Teller's trademark silence originated during his youth, when he earned a living performing magic at frat parties. He found that if he maintained silence throughout his act, people got bored with heckling him and stopped.In Las Vegas after one of their shows they had a meet and greet afterword. Apparently, Teller asked some lady in the crowd if she liked the show. and she freaked!  He told her "It's an act sweetheart" and walked away. 

As for Penn's one red fingernail, it's in honor of his mother. When he was first starting out, his mother told him to get a manicure because people would be constantly looking at his hands. As a joke, he had all of his fingernails painted red but now only has that particular one done. It looks good and is a way to create misdirection while he is doing his tricks 

So there you have it.  You may other "burning" questions, but these were the two I was curious about.

P

Robin Williams

8/12/2014

Robin Williams committed suicide yesterday and that makes me sad.  Robin apparently battled drugs, depression and was bipolar.  That's a lot for a person to deal with.  

The first time I remember seeing Robin Williams was on the tv show "Mork and Mindy".  Maybe you remember it also?  He was an alien from outer space.  The show was funny, and he played his part well.  His movies such as "Patches", "Mrs. Doubtfire", "Hook", and my all time favorite "Good Morning Vietnam".  

He made me laugh with his antics on the screen, but his movie roles, doesn't show the real person, who had struggles that eventually wore him down.  I speak from experience when I tell you that dealing with just depression, can wear a person down.  

Jonathan Winters was also a funny man, was bipolar and had nervous breakdowns.  He spent eight months in a psychiatric hospital in 1959 and again in 1961.  In his stand up routines he made obscure reference to his illness and hospitalization.  Winters died of natural causes at age 87.

After Winters passed away, Robin Williams posted, “First he was my idol, then he was my mentor and amazing friend. I'll miss him huge. He was my Comedy Buddha. Long live the Buddha.

We will surely miss Robin Williams.  

P

Alaska - The Bush People

 8/10/2014

It's no surprise to people who know me, I have a great fondness for "reality" shows.  I know that these shows are scripted and they aren't what could be considered "good" television.  Even knowing that, I still like these kind of shows.

The latest reality show I've found is The Alaska Bush People.  Husband, wife and seven people living "off the land".  The 5 acres of so-called Alaskan wilderness where, as the show claims, the “recently discovered” family shunned modern society to eke out a simple existence deep in the bush.  Apparently, at the end of filming 2012, sat in a subdivision less than 10 miles south of Copper Center..  The town is easily accessible from a dirt road just off the highway. There’s a pizza place about a half-mile away. The surroundings are wild enough -- the production crew even hired someone to carry a shotgun for bear protection, numerous locals say -- but the area is by no means wilderness.

We’re told to believe that the Browns decided to pack up, sell the land, sell their SUV and go back to Southeast Alaska by boat, thereby making everything you’ve watched so far utterly pointless. It’s like the producers said, “So, Billy, this cabin-building thing was great and all. But this stable home stuff, it’s just not good TV. And, you know, it’s a lot colder up here than we thought it was going to be. And the crew’s already sick of Grizzly Pizza. Here’s an idea: How about we pretend you get forced off the land in dramatic fashion and we go back to Ketchikan and show some whole new and exciting ways for you and your family to always be on the brink of death? We’ll get picked up for another season, and we can get someone blonder and perkier to play the part of Birdie. How’s about it?”

The father Billy has written three books each selling for $24.95.  This would lead me to believe that they must have a bank account of some kind.  I doubt that they would expect to "barter" for the sale of their books!  Also Mom Brown is working on a cookbook, which when finished, will likely sell for probably $24.95.

I have searched the internet and can find no site indicating how much the Discovery Channel pays the Brown people.  But, you know and so do I, that they are paid for allowing a film crew to follow them around.

If you can remove yourself while watching this show, and realize that these people are neither freezing, hungry or poor, and all you want is a "reality show" to watch, this one might fit the bill.

P

Movie Review - The Lone Ranger

8/9/2014

We children of a "certain age", lovingly remember watching Tonto, the Lone Ranger and Silver on our black and white television screens.  But whole generations of children didn't grow up on our heroes of the west.

Disney made a "Lone Ranger" movie starring Johnny Depp as Tonto and Armie Hammer as the Lone Ranger.  I've never even heard of this actor, but he played his part with perfection.

The setting: the wild west, railroads being built, Indians attacking and bridges and trains being destroyed.  While this is a movie that an older child could watch, some of the dialogue in the movies would be over their head.  In one scene, the Indian Chief looks at a pocket watch and says something like "bah, Sears and Roebuck".  

If you want action, lots of action with a fair amount of fun built in, this is the movie for you.  This is a good and fun movie to watch.  Disclaimer here:  I love everything Johnny Depp has ever done.  The Lone Ranger's character and antics remind me of his roles in the Pirates of the Caribbean.

Put this movie on your list to watch, I don't believe you'll be disappointed.

P.

Hell on Wheels

8/8/2014

When Scott recommended - highly - a tv show called "Hell on Wheels", here's what first came to mind.  Swarthy, heavily tattooed, long hair, clad in leather and chains hanging from their pockets.  Oh, and Biker Barbie in the back seat!

The show is about the building of a railroad to the west, through Indian country.  The characters are real and last weekend, while Jeff was out, I had a marathon session of watching all the episodes from season 1 and 2.  I was well and truly hooked.

There are bad guys, then there are the really bad guys, bad women, lots of "liker" and fighting and shooting.  Scenes right out of the wild west.  

The one thing I wonder about a series like this.  The men have dirty and sometime stringy long hair, beards of all sorts and are filthy.  The streets are muddy and the women were at that time wearing long dresses - yuck.

Do the actors/actresses wear the same clothes that look unwashed to me, day after day? Or does the studio provide them with a multitude of scruffy and dirty clothes to wear?

I find myself rooting for the good guys, and there are some of them, and booing at the bad guys and there's a whole lot more of them obviously.  There is drinking and gambling and I suspect that the actors drink iced tea or equivalent for their "drinks" at the salon, because if it was the real stuff, I don't think any of them would be able to stay on a horse or shoot somebody in the head.

You might want to check it out.  It's contagious I promise.

P

Library Books and Things Left Behind

8/7/2014

I know it's no secret that I have, for most of my life, loved books.  I like cozy murders (the kind where there is a body, but no blood or gore - just dead), romance novels, and books that have a gorgeous hero just waiting to rescue a likewise gorgeous heroine.  I used to read the grizzly murder mysteries, but gave up on blood and guts, no longer my thing.

If I find a new author (to me), and I like book "x", then I am in hot pursuit of everything he/she has ever written.  Right at the moment, I'm reading pretty much back to back, books by Sujata Massey.  Her books are mysteries that occur in Japan. The heroine is half Japanese, half American who sells antiques and chases down clues after a murder. 

Another author is Rhys Bowen, who writes mysteries, but again just a body with no clues.  Are any of the books I'm reading great books?  Doubtful.  Fun to read? Absolutely.

When I check out books at the library, I'm always amazed at the "bookmarks" left in books.  One reader had her hair colored and face waxed in August, 2013.  Luckily, for her, the credit card that she used only shows the last four digits.

Somebody else had a dentist appointment last year, a Metro fare card with a zero balance was placed in other books.  None of these things I've found in books, could be damaging to the person who left them.  With all the present day challenges to keep your life private, I am very careful about what I use for a bookmark - I use blank envelopes as well as those annoying tear-out cards from magazines.

Sometimes I can tell if a reader smokes because of the smell that still resides in the pages.  Likewise, there is evidence of reading and eating at the same time.  When I was younger, I used to dog ear the pages, but at that point in my life, I was doing more buying of books than making use of the library.  I am happy to see that I haven't checked out a book from the library recently with any pages turned down.  

I can read books on my Kindle, which allows me to enlarge the print to make it easier for my old eyes to read easily.  What I have found on Amazon is that in many cases it's cheaper to buy a used book, than an electronic one.  I don't care how sophisticated we get about electronic data, nothing will ever replace the joy I feel in having a real book in my hands.

Since I'm trying to write the "next greatest novel", I've been all over the internet looking for research about the civil war, private diaries of Lincoln and his secretaries and the Underground Railroad.  I found a book on Amazon about Lincoln and instead of trying to read it electronically, I bought a used book.  Since I own it, I can highlight relevant parts for use in my story.  The unfortunate part is that book one was cheap, less than $5.00.  You want the other nine volumes?  Those cost over $300.00!  I'm hoping that volume one will have some historical information that I can use, because I'm not shelling out money for the other volumes.  

Remember before you return a book to the library, give it a shake to make sure that nothing falls out so that you don't leave any of your personal information behind.

P

Retirees Eating Out

8/5/2014

Eating out.  Who doesn't like to do that?  I know I'm all in, except for the niggling thought in the back of my head, about spending money on food - that could be prepared at home.  Just not as tasty and with no prep or clean up required.

Statistics show that retirees over the age of 65 bought an average of 193 meals last year up from 171 in 2009.

Retirees over the age of 65 bought an average of 193 meals each at restaurants last year up from 171 in 2009.  

Retirees are a great source of income for restaurants.  The average restaurant check for a retiree is $8.05 vs. $7.33 for other adults.  And we retirees frequent fast food places 63% of the time, and 37% of the time they go to restaurants with waiters and waitresses.

The early bird special was made for retirees, who let's face it, have a lot of free time.  I know that Jeff and I have been known to share one dinner, which obviously cuts down on the cost, but also solves the problem of eating too much.

I found a cookbook on Amazon that I think us retirees might be interested in, if for no other reason than the title "The Baby Boomer's Retirement Cookbook: or How to Eat Cheaper than Dog Food.  I don't know if the book is any good, but the price is certainly on the high end - used books from $36.31 and new books from $15.29.  What doesn't make sense is why does the used books cost more than a brand new one?  If I was even remotely curious I'd try and find the book at the library, and see if paying for the book is actually worth it.

For me, I'd rather buy  Dr. Seuss' book "You're Only Old Once: A Book for Obsolete Children!

Growing old is very much like being young - it's a once in a lifetime experience.

Enjoy your inner child today.

P

Things That Fly

8/4/2014

For the most part I like things that fly - planes, kites, birds, balloons. 

The other things that fly - flies, wasps, bees, etc., nearly drive me crazy (and we all know that's a short trip).  This weekend, for no reason that I can think of, my kitchen has become a battleground - Jeff and I and the flyswatter - and the flies.  I don't like to be dive-bombed by a fly when I'm sitting down and I don't like to see them hanging around my kitchen windows.

Initially, we had the windows open, screens down and the more flies we killed, the more that showed up.  Ah, we decided let's close the windows feeling sure that would be the end of our fly dilemma.  As one comedian used to say "nay nay".  Jeff says that I should "gently" hit the flies which will kill them.  But I, want to smack them, making sure that my prey (at least that one) won't bother me again.

Yesterday evening not a fly in sight.  I come down this morning and they're back.  I have no idea where they're coming from, but I know where they're going.  I read on line that flies are drawn to apple cider vinegar, why I can't imagine and are repelled by whole cloves.

Sitting on my counter this morning is a container with vinegar and holes punched in the top and I have just added a small bowl of whole cloves.  I suppose as a last resort, I could spray around my kitchen windows, but I'm going to try all these healthy, environmentally friendly things first. 

Fair warning to the flies - you don't belong in my house.  You can stay outside as much as you want, but you're not welcome inside.  When I saw the flies yesterday I became Attila the Hun and was relentless in my battle with the flies.

I, like most folks, have one or two flies in the house occasionally, but these bad boys seem to be multiplying by the hour.  

Wish me luck.

P

DIY Cast Removal

8/3/2014

In the interest of full disclosure, I'm not always a good patient, as far as following instructions go.  Oh I hear what the doctor says, but I have been known to stray going in a completely different direction than what I am/was supposed to.  Okay we got that out of the way.

What you are about to read today is true, believe me I couldn't make this up if I tried.  Back when I was younger and had more spring in my step, I mowed the lawn every week.  When an old Toro mower died, we went back to the Toro dealer, and the salesman was quickly convinced that I was the one making the buying decision. 

In our yard there is a small hill going into the backyard.  I was mowing the lawn, and going down the hill slipped and was in pain with a capital P.  I managed to limp my way into the house, and made a more or less asked for an appointment with my GP now.  After my regular doctor examined my leg, he referred me to an ortho man because he thought I might have torn a tendon or something.  What do ortho docs do? Surgery and/or casts - I wanted neither.

The ortho doc took an xray and told me that I would have to be in a cast from just below my knee to my ankle for "x" weeks.  Good news, I got to choose my color and I picked yellow.  As long as you have a cast on, it might as well be covered in a happy color.  

I was dutiful and wore the cast for an entire week (this is an extremely long time for me to be compliant).  The IBM outing to the local amusement/water park was for the Saturday after my cast was put on.  To hopefully keep me amused while the boys were playing all day, Jeff rented a number of videos, including Gone With The Wind.

The fellas left, I dozed off and on while watching Scarlett and Rett, and in a moment of pure spontaneity, decided that I had worn the cast for an entire week, and my leg surely was healed by now.  I had no idea how you go about removing a cast, but I was determined.  What I did know is that I either had to have the entire cast removed before Jeff got home, or inflict enough damage to the cast, that he would have to help me remove whatever was left of the cast.

I was an newbie as far as cast removal goes, so first I decided to sit in the tub and was hoping that I could soak the cast off - nope - all I ended up with was a wet cast.  If the cast wasn't going to soak off, then I needed tools, and we have them in abundance in the basement.  I managed to get myself down the stairs and began rummaging around on the tool bench.  I didn't know what I needed, but I was thinking a saw of some kind.  No worries - no power tools were used by me in the removal of the cast.  I'm stubborn but not stupid.

Initially, I used the small pruning shears to try cutting the cast, and I actually made some progress.  Once I had finally been able to make a small cut into the cast, I began to try and tear off the cast, but just so you know, cast material doesn't exactly tear - easily!  I used a small hand saw and made some more progress.  I even went so far as to use a hammer - I was going to break the cast (don't true this, it doesn't work).  

Eventually, after many hours and too many tools to mention, I had the cast removed to my ankle.  My hands were shredded and the cast material at the ankle is thicker than on a leg and I threw in the towel.

Jeff came home, expecting me to be lounging on the couch and was surprised, but probably not as much as some husbands would be, to find the cast 3/4's of the way off.  He told me that he had a mind to leave the cast on and that I would have to go to the doctor's office and explain why my cast was mostly removed.  

Jeff finally relented and used a small, cutting tool, that I didn't know how to use, and was able to get the rest of the cast off.  He told me that I would have to call the doctor's office the next day and tell them what happened.  I didn't exactly do that.  I called up and canceled my next appointment and if anybody ever wondered why I hadn't come in to have the cast removed, they didn't call me for an explanation.

End of story: my leg was fine after the cast was off.  I suppose that by being forced to not engage in gardening or mowing for a week, was enough time for whatever was torn to mend, because the leg never bothered me again.

P