Stray thoughts

From things I've heard in passing lately, the problems with the nation's economy are not hitting as hard here in Louisiana. I'm not any kind of expert, as a matter of fact I'm pretty under-informed about the whole situation so I don't know if that's true or not. However, everytime someone talks about it in my hearing I think about a country song called "Song of the South" by Alabama. More specifically, I think of two lines from the second verse:

Well, somebody told us Wall Street fell
But we were so poor that we couldn't tell.

Even though the song is about the Depression, the lyrics make me think of quite a few of the people I know.

Thinking about all of this brings to mind the other stray thought. My toilet is making noises like a Yip-Yip and flushing itself at 6 am. What a lovely alarm clock. So either the plumbing has been invaded by fuzzy little aliens from the planet Henson or I'm about to discover an expensive problem. Yay for me. I'm calling my dad.

Bits 'n' Pieces

Just some random thoughts floating around my head. I'm too tired and brain-numb to sort them out. My brain is jumping around like a flea on crack. Maybe if I just unload some of it here I can get it to settle down.

I've shared my views on politicians before. Obviously, I don't care for them. Political stuff doesn't excite (or incite) me. I just wish all politicians were required to live on the average income of their constituents. No matter how low it is. It won't make much difference to some, but maybe it would discourage a few of the more unscrupulous and greedy ones. Plus, I think it would be as amusing as hell to watch Senator Porker and Representative Swine try to get by on $32k a year. Of course, if it ever happened, there wouldn't be anyone holding public office in Louisiana. All we've got are the unscrupulous and greedy.

If I hear BL refer to the moving sale as her "last big hoo-hah for good customers" one more time, I'm probably going to lose it. I'm sure she means "hoo-rah" and it's taking every last bit of my self control not to bust out laughing. I'm not the only one who's amused, I caught a couple of customers snickering the other day.

I'm as prepared as I'm gonna get for Gustav. The only thing I'm really worried about is something I can't do anything about. There are a lot of trees around my house, mostly pine. Every time the wind gets stronger than a breeze, branches fall. Lots of big branches. Needless to say, a hurricane makes me a little nervous, waiting for a big branch to come through the roof. Or maybe a whole tree. Yeah, that'd make my week.

I'm going to resort to drugging Skye, if and when we get hit by Gustav. Storms make her really nervous and jumpy. Since she's just had surgery, nervous and jumpy is a bad thing. I really don't want her busting either set of stitches. I'm gonna give her some Ace and hopefully, she'll sleep through it.

There is a pet evacuation center at DCI. The local officials have finally figured out that a lot of people will not leave their pets behind. After Katrina, DCI was used as a shelter for a lot of rescued animals. It worked so well, it's being done again. Oh, DCI stands for Dixon Correctional Institute. Yep, the pet shelter is the local prison.

One last thing. I hate when hurricane season overlaps with lovebug season.

Party time!

Too bad it's a pity party. I'm sitting here pouting. It's 10:30 p.m. and I'm not the least bit sleepy. I keep trying to convince myself it's bedtime but nothing works. I'm normally a night owl, though I've learned how to get to bed at a decent hour and get up early in the morning. I hate doing it and I'm usually a bitch until I've done the caffeine and nicotine bit.
The problem tonight is the pity party. As crazy as T drove me these last 6 months, I started missing him something awful when he drove away this evening. His shoulder is mostly healed, the surgeon released him Thursday. He's due in to work tomorrow morning at the office. The office is a 4 hour drive from home, so he headed out tonight. And as ready as both of us were for him to get back to work, I almost cried when his truck got out of sight.
The first night he's gone is always the hardest, especially since he was home so long this time. Tonight it will take forever to fall asleep. And unlike most nights, I'll wake up at every little sound. One miserable Monday coming up.
So Skye and I are sitting here, eating Cool Whip and pecans and snuggling. And waiting to get sleepy.

Does the first post of the year set the tone?

In my case, probably not. Unless you count random thoughts and silliness. Anyway, I'm semi-recovered from the holidays. Now if Boss Lady will just stay in town and come in to the store occasionally, I'd be just fine.
Since I haven't posted in 2 weeks, I've got all sorts of stuff whirling around in my head. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be a way to work everything in under a single topic. Owls, T, presents, barbarians, and theft. Just for starters. Nope, I just can't see a way to do it. So, before somebody starts making wild stories up to cover all those, I'll go ahead and throw it at ya.

Theft isn't usually amusing, especially to someone in retail. We really, really hate shoplifters. And of course, the holidays are wonderful opportunities for the sticky-fingered. Boss Lady was pissed, steam coming out of her ears, when she realized someone had stolen a couple of hardback books the Saturday before New Year's. I just tried very hard not to laugh, since I didn't want Boss Lady to go off on me. But really, it struck me as funny. This woman stole Nelson's New Illustrated Bible Commentary and Halley's Bible Handbook. Somehow, I don't think reading religious material you stole will win you any points with Jeebus. "For it is written, vengeance is mine; I will repay saith the Lord." Hey, is that ozone I smell? Just kidding!

Presents are good. I love getting presents. My Christmas present from T came in early and since he's the impatient type, I got it a few days before Christmas. Which left me without a Christmas present to open on Christmas Eve. T decided that needed to be fixed, so this is what I found when I came home from work Dec. 24th: Note to self: Don't let T play with the camera anymore.

Owls. Now where was I going with owls? Oh yeah, the owl incident. If you look back a bit, you'll see pics from my ride to work. Obviously, I'm out in the boonies. Coming home after dark on these back roads is always great fun. Deer, raccoons, opossums, rabbits and the other night an owl. It was late, I was going slow (for me anyway) and got the hell scared outta me. I came around a sharp curve, headed across a little bridge and thought a deer was about to run out of the bushes. Instead a HUGE frickin' owl swoops out of the trees on one side, down into the middle of the road and back up into the trees on the other side. My first thought: Oh shit, brakes!!! My second thought: What was THAT? A fucking pterodactyl? Boys and girls, real owls do not look like Big Mama from The Fox & The Hound! So, lesson learned, no more doing 75 m.p.h. at night on curvy little country roads.

Lastly, barbarians. I took the local members of the Horde their presents the day after Christmas. Everybody liked their books, even the mini-barbarian. Of course, little Genghis used his books to beat on the floor, his sister's head and any other handy surface. But, hey, what's a holiday without a minor concussion for your nearest and dearest? I wouldn't know how to handle it if we didn't have to take someone to the doctor every year.

That's little Genghis. Cute little monster, but of course I could be a wee bit biased. The arm belongs to his older brother, Porkchop. (And yeah, that's my voice, are ya happy now? You know who you are!) This vid may not stay up long, if I can figure out how to move the other one from the camera to the computer I intend to replace it. Enjoy it while it lasts.

OK, enough for me now. I'm tired and I have 5 more very long days to get through before Boss Lady gets back to town.

One damned thing after another

Let's see if I can do this. First, there was Thanksgiving. The Barbarian Horde decided to play football about 8 p.m. Since they didn't have enough barbarians for even one full team, it turned into Tackle Tag fairly quickly. I had a blast watching them, only took a few pics, I was laughing too hard. Here's one:Then it was Shadow's birthday on Nov 28th. Then T's birthday on Dec 1st. My dad's birthday is Dec 4th. Some of my family got together for Dad's birthday, and I took a few pictures. This one is my younger brother (aka Toothpick), his girlfriend and her son. My dad and his wife, the same day. Continuing the birthdays, Sarge is today, AC was yesterday, Toothpick is the 15th, Wes is the 18th, JJ is the 25th......I know I missed someone, I just can't remember who it is. In the midst of all of this, I am trying to get ready for Christmas, working waaay too many hours, and dealing with T. He has a torn rotator cuff which requires surgery. Soon. So, he is home for a while, with nothing to do. That's a bad thing. The gods only know what he will decide to fill his time with, but I can guarantee it's going to be unexpected. I'm just hoping he doesn't decide to reorganize my books again.
Just for grins, I thought I would include this picture to prove there are advantages to living in the boonies. This is part of my route to work: Pretty nice, huh? I think I am one of the few people who enjoys driving to work. When I compare my commute to my friends' all I can do is smile. I get to speed down empty back roads lined with trees and you guys get wall-to-wall, bumper-to-bumper traffic. It takes me 20 minutes to go 23 miles. Plus, I see things like hawks sitting on power lines and deer meandering across the road. By the way, there is so little traffic that I was able to park my car and stand in the middle of the road to take that picture.

One last thing. For fellow PAN fiends, here's my latest ugly chef sighting. Found this in Hell-mart and then tried to explain why I was giggling my head off to T. The funniest part was realizing that this is a FRENCH chef! Ugly chefs go international:Ok, I think I am as caught up as I can get. Maybe I will be able to find some time to actually post something good, but I am not counting on it.

Little things

Ever notice, when you're having a bad day, sometimes the smallest things can change your whole outlook? A smile from a stranger, the light turning green as you reach the intersection, hearing a little kid giggling, your dog meeting you at the door or just standing in a patch of sunlight on a cloudy day.
I've finally learned to pay attention to the little things. Appreciating life's small joys has made dealing with the larger disappointments so much easier. It's amazing how much difference a call from a friend or a hug from one of the kids can make. Often, they don't even realize how much their actions affect me. So now I wonder, how many small things do I do in a day that make someone else feel better?
Enough, I hope.

I tried, but...

I've been more scatter-brained than usual this week, so random thoughts it is.

Crime and Punishment:
I have very mixed feelings about capital punishment and the prison system. On the one hand, I think anyone who has been proven,without a doubt, to commit a crime should be punished. Crimes like premeditated murder, child molestation, and rape should be punishable by death, at the least. On the other hand, I don't automatically believe everyone who has been convicted of a crime is a waste of skin, scum of the earth, etc. I knew the author of this story very well, and I considered him to be extremely intelligent, generous and compassionate. He was also a stubborn, arrogant SOB. People commit crimes for a wide variety of reasons, so maybe we should all be a little less inclined to judge people on their pasts.

Religion:
I had another one of those "Yikes!" moments today. This one occurred when a customer invited me to "meet with a cell of like-minded individuals" at a local church. The phrase "cell of like-minded individuals" made me think of Klan meetings and milita groups. Since I seriously doubt the man has any idea what my beliefs actually are (I don't discuss my religious beliefs at work, since I mostly like my job), I just thanked him for the invitation, and redirected the conversation.

Politics:
Wouldn't you just know it? I got home one day last week, and I was really looking forward to a hot shower. I mean, really looking forward to it. So much so that there was a trail of clothes from the front door to the bathroom. Just as I found a clip to pin my hair up, somebody knocks on the door. By the time I threw on shorts and shirt and opened the door, the knocker had gone. But he left me a political flyer stuck on my door. Right under the "No Soliciting" sign. I guess everyone around here thinks the word soliciting only has to do with prostitution. Even if that were true, it would still apply in this case, since in my opinion, all politicians are whores anyway.

Sex:
I don't understand why people get so uptight about sex. It's the most enjoyable, and funniest, thing a person can do to or with another (or more, whatever rings your bell). That doesn't apply to non-consensual sex or child molestation, which are sick. But between consenting adults, of whatever gender and number, well, have a ball (or two)! Too many people worry way too damn much about others' sex lives. I pretty much don't care, if I am not the person sleeping with you, then it's none of my business. So, I would appreciate the same courtesy in return. Unless I'm among friends, and then, it depends on just how close we are. Feel free to tell me a raunchy joke or two, I love 'em!

There, I think I've hit most of the taboo subjects. Don't take it so serious, I don't.