Last Tree Standing

10/5/2012

Last Tree Standing

From the quiet surrounding me, I know the men and their noisy machines have gone - finally.  In a matter of days they managed to destroy an entire forest, except for me.  Day after day I watched the massive saws swipe down the trees and every day I thought was my last.  I waited every day for the inevitable to happen - to be sawed down and hear the men yell out "timber" as I fell to the ground where I would be hacked up and hauled away.  The animals left when the men came and they haven't returned.  Why would they?  I'm alone with the quiet and my leaves fall to the ground like tears because I wish I wasn't the last tree standing.

P

Words with Friends

10/4/2012

Words with Friends

One of the super neat things about my Smart phone is the ability to play games.  Well not games particularly - one game - Words with Friends.  And I'm here to admit that I'm not much competition.

I play with 6 people and have multiple games going on with one or two of them.  I am not a strategist so I seldom (no almost never) scour the board looking for the highest points.  This just doesn't occur to me.  I'm rather simplistic so if I add an "s" or an "ed" to a word, I'm pretty happy.

I'd love to be a big point word person - but I'm just not.  I did go out and buy a Scrabble dictionary in BIG print (so I can read it) to help me mostly with Q and Z words.  Just off the top of my head I can only come up with a few Q and Z words without help.  An example of those words: quiet, quiz or quick (and I never have all those letters).  For Z, I can think up zip, zap, zit and zoo and then I merely draw a blank.  I mean really how many times do you use a Z word in your daily life?  

In the dictionary there are only 8 pages devoted to Q words and here's some examples you can use in your future games: quadrumanous, quinalizarin or my personal favorite quinquagenarian (which I no longer am).  The definition of quinquagenarian is people between the age of 50 and 60 - who knew?  By the way none of the Q words made it through spell check!

Five pages are devoted to the letter Z.  For sure you could spell out stuff like zigzagger, zeugma or zibeline, but good luck getting all those letters in place.  Interesting fact about the letter Z - the words seem to be mostly related to chemicals and minerals, which may be why I don't know any of them.

Thanks to those who play the word game with me and who knows maybe someday I'll be able to come up with a super large point word - but don't hold your breath.  By engaging in word games I hoping to keep my brain from drying up - completely!  

P

Rain and the Interstate

10/3/2012

Rain and the Interstate

I don't know about where you live; but, in the Washington DC area any kind of precipitation that falls from the sky creates a driving nightmare.  I know the majority of us are transplants from other states; but, really people you can't drive in light rain?  Notice I said LIGHT rain - this was no deluge where your wipers run themselves into a frenzy trying to keep the windshield clean or you hit a puddle the size of the state of New Hampshire.  Yesterday morning it was raining (lightly), so I decided to rush out of the house super early for several reasons.  If I leave the house before 6:30 am I avoid the bottle neck of high schoolers and their mothers at the bus stop who are parked every which way so that Johnny and Jane don't get wet.  Hint to the mothers - use your flashers - it lets me know what you might be going to do - like move for instance.  One mother in particular parks right at the stop sign, minus flashers, so it's pretty hard to tell whether you should go around her or not. To be honest the urge to drive OVER her is not completely unreasonable.

Even at 6:15 am the interstate had already slowed down to a crawl and then we came to a complete stop.  Why?  Some poor unfortunate driver had his/her car break down and there the car sat in the middle of a lane creating one heck of a bottleneck.  I did feel bad for the driver because I think it would be next to impossible to push your car over to the shoulder - in the rain - in the dark - and during rush hour.  A very bad combination.  I'm hoping that some kind of good Samaritan came along after me to help get the car moving.  

Some of my coworkers who live much farther away than I do had commutes lasting over an hour which is a terrible way to start the day, not to mention hard on a coffee-filled bladder!  I don't know about you but if I sat in traffic long enough, making no progress the temptation to turn around and go home would be very strong.

Here's hoping for an easier commute this morning!

P

Fall TV Shows

10/2/2012

Fall TV Shows

I don't think anyone looks forward to the new parade of fall television shows more than I do.  I eagerly record what I believe will be something worth my time careful to avoid the genres that I know I won't appreciate (science fiction for instance).  For the most part the only shows that Jeff and I don't watch together are - cooking and aviation shows.  I watch my cooking shows while he's working and he watches his aviation stuff after I've gone to bed - works perfectly.

In the last few nights I have parked myself on the sofa and started checking out these highly anticipated offerings - and several of them aren't going to make it to round two of recording - in my house.  They were just that bad (only in my opinion to be fair).  Jeff and I and some of my more avid television watching friends believe that all shows deserve to be seen twice before you pull the plug.  This season there are several that I deleted from my recording list after the first show. One in particular should have been deleted while I was watching - it was just that bad.

One show is so downright creepy that I'm removing it from the "must see" list.  I've seen it - once - and that's going to be enough.  Another show, supposedly a comedy, was just too boring and unfunny so it has also hit the trash pile.

Jeff and I are at the moment trying to catch up on Season One of Homeland which we did not watch last year.  Luckily, Showtime was nice enough to run a marathon of season one over the weekend and we very guiltily watched one or two shows during the day (which is shocking I know)!  Happily, we are well on our way to the end of season one because I believe the new season started on Sunday.  This show is exciting and believable and the hour goes by really fast.  To be perfectly honest I also really enjoy the hour of commercial free television.  

I do have to be careful when planning my Sunday night lineup to pay attention to the football games which go long thereby throwing off an entire evening of shows.  I've pretty much gotten around this dilemma by adding 3 (yes you read correctly 3) hours to my last show of the evening.  I'm thereby guaranteed not to miss anything.

If I didn't have a Tivo and had to watch my shows real time then I'd be screwed - because I just can't get stay up that late at night and get up the next morning at 5:00.  That no longer works for me, I'm not a 20 something anymore.  I tend to get crabby when I'm tired!

Happy Tuesday.

P

Books

10/1/2012

Books

Amazon, my electronic books in particular, love me.  Since I’ve been on vacation this past week I have bored through a lot of books and getting new ones to read is particularly easy with one click buying.  So on Friday, I decided to return to what was once my favorite haunt – the library.  Did I want to go?  Not really but I was trying to be economical if only for a day.

The library hasn’t changed much in the years since I’ve been inside.  People are still sitting at computers doing research (I assume), some are reading and others, like me, are browsing the aisles looking for a good read.  It is not true what they say – you can judge a book by its cover – at least I do.  As my fingers trace along the spines of the books (in alphabetical order of course), I’m looking for a pleasant picture.  Porch, winding flowers, awnings on shops – well you get the idea.  Mind you, that just because the book looks pleasant doesn’t necessarily make it a good read; but, it’s a good place to start.

I find several pleasant looking books with peaceful titles like “The Wedding Machine”.  I get them home and plop into my reading chair which is also where my reading glasses live - hence the title reading chair.  I open the first book eager with anticipation and realize that the print is very small and that unlike my Kindle I can’t magnify the stupid page and even with my reading glasses, it’s a strain.  Darn it all.  Okay I toss that book aside and grab up another.  This one I can actually see the print but the story is weak and the characters boring.  I only took out four books and I’m already down two.    I hit pay dirt with the third book, engaging, fun story, bright characters and a predictable plot.  But, I stayed the course and finished the book and it wasn’t bad but it wasn’t good enough to get me to read the author’s other books either.

Truthfully, by the end of Saturday I had put my library books on the chest all ready to be returned to the library sometime next week.  Economics be damned I went back to Amazon, typed in the name of the last book I read that I enjoyed so that I could get that lovely line-up of similar books.  Of course you can have a sample for free so that you don’t have to commit to a book you eventually find you don’t want.  I like it when I select a book and Amazon gently reminds me that I already own that book.  It’s easy to do especially since I have 15 screens of book titles on my Kindle, most of which I have read.  There are some sleepers in there to be sure that I should probably delete because I’m not suddenly going to become interested in the book in the future.

 While browsing for a book on my phone, which was a big mistake, one of my big fingers selected some boring research book about economics.  I pushed everything on the screen that I could to make that purchase go away – particularly since that book was $35.00 and probably dry as toast!  Luckily, you are given 7 days to return an electronic purchase and I was able to get my money back.  But, there for a moment I was sweating and dreading how I was going to explain to Jeff why I had spent $35.00 on a book and a research book at that.

So I’m off library books again and back to the Kindle which I have grown to love.  So apologies to Jeff for my reading habit which I find hard to control.   On the plus side there are fewer stacks of books, I don’t or won’t read mocking me as they sit around collecting dust.

Happy Monday.

P

 

Just Things

9/30/2012

Just Things

Last day of September.  Can you believe it?  I certainly can't.  The leaves are falling faster from my oak tree than I can pick them up.  And about all the acorns I've been picking up - well according to the web instead of tossing them out - I should be selling them!  There are people who are actually selling bags of acorns.  Apparently, some varieties of the acorn can be ground up for eating - who knew?  I was thinking more about lining up my acorns on paper and spraying them gold and using them for decoration.  I know it would be more time consuming than tossing them - but think how pretty they would be all sparkly in a bowl.

Yesterday afternoon Jeff and I went to Wegman's (grocery store) for dinner!  This place has the most amazing food section I've ever seen.  Jeff went straight for the Asian fare while I stuck to comfort food - fried chicken and mashed potatoes.  Water is free.  Of course you don't drive all the way to the grocery store and not buy ANYTHING.  So we bought apples (two varieties), some crab soup makings, mini scones (230 calories if you eat three) and a mini multi-berry pie.  Okay I know it was heavy on the sugar side - but that does happen to be my weakness.  Jeff is all about salt and fat. 

We are catching up on Season 1 of Homeland because the show has received some great reviews.  We took sometime yesterday in the middle of the day (shocking) to watch several episodes.  Luckily, Showtime was running some kind of Homeland show day and I think we captured all of season one. 

Speaking of tv, I hope that all of you have planned out your tv watching for this week.  666 Park Avenue starts tonight as does Amazing Race (a must see for Jeff and I).  Good Wife returns and the finale of The Great Food Truck Race ends tonight.  I realize that last show may not be compelling to everyone; but, I enjoy it.  It just seems like there is an excess of good shows on Sunday night and then the rest of the week dwindles down a bit.  If you're as anal about this as I am, then you have already highlighted the must record shows in your tv guide (I use orange) so that you don't miss anything.

I went to the art studio and picked up the latest art projects that Stacey and I did earlier this week.  All I can say is beautiful.  Stacey made a glass flag and it looks amazing.  I made a bowl for Benjamin to eat popcorn, ice cream or cereal from and other than the kind of wiggly line dividing blue from yellow it looks good.

Also, noticed today that I'm up to 13 followers which always gets me excited. 

Last but not least I have completed (finally) a draft of part two of Wilma (next greatest novel).  Jeff is getting anxious for that new plane I keep promising him if I ever publish Wilma, so I had better get cracking.  In part 3 I need to wrap up my loose ends and figure out a way to have the good guys (Wilma and Jane) win.  There is no way that I will allow Wendell (evil villan) come out on top. 

Have a wonderful Sunday and tomorrow I'm back to the office, which is okay because this past week has been amazingly relaxing.

P

Last Day

9/28/2012

Last Day

This is my last day of vacation because Saturdays and Sundays don't count.  So this time next week I'll be sitting here, probably about this same time (early) and counting the hours until quitting time that afternoon.  Such is the way of life.  With regard to what we would call good times (vacations for example)  - we are either looking forward to them or dreading the end of them.

Except for the trip to the beach and the art studio with Stacey this week, I have stayed home.  I'm good with that.  After all here at home I have endless cups of free coffee, plenty of food, comfy slippers, my Kindle, my iPhone with games, coloring books and the second half of "Wilma" (world's next greatest novel for those of you who don't know who she is) to revise.  Why go out?  Pretty much everything I need is here.

I need this down time to recharge my batteries (the mental ones) to keep plugging along.  I worry as little as possible, am grateful every day that the mail comes and "we" (the battery company we run as a family) aren't being sued!   It's the little things that count.

I miss work - some.  I miss my daily catch-ups with my friends.  I miss the mental stimuli of tending to my work and realize (though I complain) that I do need my job to help me feel vital and to give purpose to my life.  I remember well when my parents both retired fairly early and then sat in matching chairs rocking their days away until they died, which didn't take very long. 

My extra days off, along with medicine, help me with my depression and anxieties.  I need a little more quiet than others.  I know this and so I arrange time off, generally without pay, to tend to myself.  Luckily, I have bosses who understand my kind of "crazy" (which is my word for depression) and are okay with the down time.

Today I'm going to enjoy the dappled sunlight that comes into my living room in the mornings and sit quietly.

P