I have been remiss on the ‘Memory A Day’ – now there’s a surprise, me being remiss on something – anyway, this deserves an explanation, and it’s a fun memory.
The company I drove truck for mostly ran a partner operation. That’s two people per truck and one is sleeping while the other is driving so the truck rarely stops for more than enough time to fuel, eat and take a shower, at least in between pick up and delivery points. Time allowed to make that distance, that’s a whole ‘nother story, not this one.
Since I did not have a ready-made partner (friend or ‘significant other’), I got who the company decided might work. Some did and some – not so much. Have I got stories about some of them!
This story, however, involves Winston McTeague. He had been a truck driver since ‘the old days’, and was entrenched in the thinking of another era of the business. He’d had his own truck at one time, but didn’t when I met him, which was in the mid 1990’s. Bill Clinton was the reason he didn’t have his own truck any more, but I never did find out why, except I’m pretty sure Clinton didn’t come into his yard in Maine and drive it away. He was not as obnoxious as some they had paired me with, and we did about four trips together.
He would come out of the blue with some comments, questions and ideas that made me go ‘Huh?’ a fair amount of the time. The truck broke down and we had to lay over in Cheyenne, Wyoming one trip to get it repaired, and Winston decided to do his laundry. The dryer didn’t work well, and when I woke up in the morning the hotel room was draped end to end with his drying clothes, outer and under wear. Hey, living with someone for a couple of weeks at a time in a space smaller than some people’s clothes closets will drop a lot of barriers in a hurry.
Anyway, *Cow knows. We were stopped for breakfast at the Flying J that’s a bit west of Rawlins, Wyoming. In truck stops, you get talking to people around you, to break the boredom of only talking to one person for so many miles, to see what’s going on in someone else’s world and just to be friendly. The guys at the next table were in a discussion about God, and how some people don’t believe in God. Winston joined in with much spirit. As we finished and got up to leave, he said: “These people who don’t believe in God, you just ask them ‘what about cows’”. I think one of the other guys said what I was thinking: ‘Cows? What about cows?’ Winston said, “Cows. Cows were put on earth to serve man and that proves there’s a God.” And having finished the discussion he just walked off, never said another word about it. So there you are. Cows prove there’s a God.
With no intention of being irreverent, I have used the phrases ‘Hand to Cow’ and ‘Cow knows’ since then. After all, we do get a lot from cows.
Sunday, May 3, 2009
A Good man
I went to the memorial service for the father of a friend yesterday. I had briefly met the man once or twice; the friend is Andrew Gmoser (the ‘G’ is silent, and that made for some of the comments at the service) who has been the lighting designer at the theatre for I think this will be 14 years now, and his family has come to visit and see shows a few times.
At the end of the service I was sorry I didn’t know him better. And I’m thinking that’s not a bad way to leave this world, after being in it for 86 years, to have had a life that the comments about it make people wish they’d known you better.
There was much singing, several readings, most of which brought many laughs, a program included stories from friends and family, and towards the end they played ‘The Stars and Stripes Forever, because he enjoyed Sousa’s marches.
He seemed a very Good man (and the G is pronounced in that). Condolences to his family and may his memories support you in the times ahead.
Of course any such event makes one think about one’s own mortality – makes this one think about it anyway. Also makes this one wonder what might be said at such an event for one. I think I’m gonna leave instructions on some music to play and/or sing, and to only tell funny stories – there ought to be enough of those, Cow knows*.
At the end of the service I was sorry I didn’t know him better. And I’m thinking that’s not a bad way to leave this world, after being in it for 86 years, to have had a life that the comments about it make people wish they’d known you better.
There was much singing, several readings, most of which brought many laughs, a program included stories from friends and family, and towards the end they played ‘The Stars and Stripes Forever, because he enjoyed Sousa’s marches.
He seemed a very Good man (and the G is pronounced in that). Condolences to his family and may his memories support you in the times ahead.
Of course any such event makes one think about one’s own mortality – makes this one think about it anyway. Also makes this one wonder what might be said at such an event for one. I think I’m gonna leave instructions on some music to play and/or sing, and to only tell funny stories – there ought to be enough of those, Cow knows*.
Sunday, April 26, 2009
The self-CPR email
Have you ever been forwarded this one? I have gotten it a few times. The email professes to show you how to do 'self CPR' by coughing vigorously. My big problem with it is that it is an email trying to promote a life-saving technique that may or may not work, as researched by snopes.com. My great big problem with it, however is, that is starts out by saying "It's 5:30 and you're driving home from work. Suddenly you feel pain in your chest and know you're having a heart attack. You know the hospital is only 5 miles away. Should you wait for an ambulance to get you there safely? NO - here's how you can 'do-it-yourself." The email then goes in to 'instructions' on how to do the 'cough CPR'. Well, here's what I think, the answer I gave to the most recent person who sent it to me:
I will add my 2 cents to this, pass along if you see fit:
As someone who has been an EMT for about 30 years now, and who has a CPR save to their credit (as well as many more that did not save), I have a big problem with this. If ever the people who started this rot can be found, I wish there were some criminal charges that could be brought against them, for perhaps contributing to the further medical problems or even death of someone trying this on their own.
As it states in the article, this is a complex procedure that might work, if done correctly, under supervision or specialized training. Do you not think that maybe if it was a universally saving procedure, that when we train for or recertify our CPR cards, we'd be taught it? Never heard of it except on these bogus internet postings. Even under the best of conditions, the constantly being upgraded CPR methods we are taught (that anyone can and should learn, btw) are marginal at best. I was lucky enough to save one person, because he was already in the ambulance, already receiving oxygen and already under the care of two EMT's when he arrested. And the key word there is lucky. One in 30 years. Don't get me wrong, CPR and the now readily accessible in many places defibrillators are livesavers, but facts are facts, everything has to be just right for them to work. That's not usually the case.
Also, this article advocates someone who thinks they are having a heart attack while they are 'driving home from work' to keep driving themself to the hospital. WHAT ARE YOU THINKING!?!?!?!? Do you have any idea of the number of accidents that are caused by people having a medical emergency while they are driving? Well, I don't know numbers either, but it is a lot. By continuing to drive, even the '5 miles to the nearest hospital' claimed in this story, you put not only yourself at risk if you pass out behind the wheel and hit a tree, but all the other innocent people on the road (add sidewalks, etc.) around you. People die daily from incidents such as this.
If you feel ill at all while driving PULL OVER AND STOP THE CAR. Call 911. Wait for help. Try to relax, keep still, take slow deep breaths.
Don't do something that puts others as well as yourself at risk. It's a lot easier to take care of you if we don't have to cut you out of the car first.
CRS224
I will add my 2 cents to this, pass along if you see fit:
As someone who has been an EMT for about 30 years now, and who has a CPR save to their credit (as well as many more that did not save), I have a big problem with this. If ever the people who started this rot can be found, I wish there were some criminal charges that could be brought against them, for perhaps contributing to the further medical problems or even death of someone trying this on their own.
As it states in the article, this is a complex procedure that might work, if done correctly, under supervision or specialized training. Do you not think that maybe if it was a universally saving procedure, that when we train for or recertify our CPR cards, we'd be taught it? Never heard of it except on these bogus internet postings. Even under the best of conditions, the constantly being upgraded CPR methods we are taught (that anyone can and should learn, btw) are marginal at best. I was lucky enough to save one person, because he was already in the ambulance, already receiving oxygen and already under the care of two EMT's when he arrested. And the key word there is lucky. One in 30 years. Don't get me wrong, CPR and the now readily accessible in many places defibrillators are livesavers, but facts are facts, everything has to be just right for them to work. That's not usually the case.
Also, this article advocates someone who thinks they are having a heart attack while they are 'driving home from work' to keep driving themself to the hospital. WHAT ARE YOU THINKING!?!?!?!? Do you have any idea of the number of accidents that are caused by people having a medical emergency while they are driving? Well, I don't know numbers either, but it is a lot. By continuing to drive, even the '5 miles to the nearest hospital' claimed in this story, you put not only yourself at risk if you pass out behind the wheel and hit a tree, but all the other innocent people on the road (add sidewalks, etc.) around you. People die daily from incidents such as this.
If you feel ill at all while driving PULL OVER AND STOP THE CAR. Call 911. Wait for help. Try to relax, keep still, take slow deep breaths.
Don't do something that puts others as well as yourself at risk. It's a lot easier to take care of you if we don't have to cut you out of the car first.
CRS224
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Gun Control Email
I received the first part of this in a forwarded email a few days ago. I’ve put my thoughts about gun control on this blog before, but I’ll do it again, just because – well, just because. I’ll say again, I’m not against RESPONSIBLE gun ownership and use. I’ve owned guns and used guns and had and still have family who hunt. (Although my father was a pioneer in hunting with a bow and arrow, and was the first person known to shoot a deer with those since the time of the Indians, back in the late 1950’s-but I digress, as usual).
What I am against is the urging ‘contact your congressman’ and sending half-assed things like this out to people who will do just that without having all the information – and I’m really against making it one particular person’s ‘fault’ because the guy you wanted didn’t get elected. And I’m not getting any more political than that because I hate politics.
Anyway, for what it’s worth to you personally, here’s what someone sent to me (a person I never knew was concerned with guns) and what I said about it. For what it’s worth, Here’s What I Think:
The email I received:
Time to ring your Congressman's phones off the hook. This is like revoking the 2nd Amendment of the Constitution. And it opens your homes to direct government invasion without a warrant or any reason at all.
D
Subject: H E R E I T C O M E S !!!
GET THIS OUT!
HR 45 Blair Holt Firearm Licensing & Record of Sales Act of 2009
Please send this to everybody on your list... this is Obama guncontrol by secrecy.
________________________________________
Very Important for you to be aware of a new bill HR 45 introduced into the House.
This is the Blair Holt Firearm Licensing & Record of Sale Act of 2009.
We just learned yesterday about this on the Peter Boyles radio program.
Even gun shop owners didn't know about this because it is flying under the radar.
To find out about this - go to any government website and type in HR 45 or Google HR 45 Blair Holt Firearm Licensing & Record of Sales Act of 2009. You will get all the information.
Basically this would make it illegal to own a firearm - any rifle with a clip or ANY pistol unless:
.It is registered
.You are fingerprinted
.You supply a current Driver's License
.You supply your Social Security #
.You will submit to a physical & mental evaluation at any time of their choosing
.Each update - change or ownership through private or public sale must be reported and costs $25
- Failure to do so you automatically lose the right to own a firearm and are subject up to a year in jail.
.There is a child provision clause on page 16 section 305 stating a child-access provision. Gun must be locked and inaccessible to any child under 18.
The Government would have the right to come and inspect that you are storing your gun safely away from accessibility to children and fine is punishable for up to 5 yrs. in prison.
If you think this is a joke - go to the website and take your pick of many options to read this..
http://www.opencong ress.org/ bill/111- h45/text
It is long and lengthy. But, more and more people are becoming aware of this. Pass the wordalong.
FAILURE TO DO SO AT YOUR PERIL!
Any hunters in your family - pass this along.
Peter Boyles is on this and having guests. Listen to him on KHOW 630 a.m. in the morning.
He suggests the best way to fight this is to tell all your friends about it and "spring into action".
Also he suggests we all join a pro-gun group like the Colorado Rifle Association, hunting associations, gun clubs and especially the NRA..
This is just a "termite" approach to complete confiscation of guns and disarming of our society to the point we have no defense - chip away a little here and there until the goal is accomplished before anyone realizes it.
This is one to act on whether you own a gun or not.
The Second Amendment... .America's original homeland security
My response:
Sorry, but: Virginia Tech last year - 30+ shot and killed if I remember right? Two weeks ago in Binghamton, NY - 13 shot and killed. Two days ago in Schenectady, NY - 2 shot and killed. Last week in Albany, NY - shooter sentenced to life in prison for 3 shot and killed last summer. Alabama about a month ago, what was that, 7 shot and killed or was it more. A pre-teen boy at a gun show in Westfield, MA - shot and killed himself looking at a gun. Two or three or more families, children and all in the past couple of months - shot and killed, murder/suicides.
I am for as much legislation as it takes. This is not forbidding people to have guns, and if it saves one person from being shot and killed, I cannot argue with it.
I have read the provisions below several times and I don't see where it takes away your right to own a gun. Anyone wanting a gun for LEGAL - like hunting - purposes should have no problem with this.
I also went to the website allegedly quoted, wondering who Blair Holt is, and why this is 'Obama gun control by secrecy' and found this:
on the afternoon of May 10, 2007, Blair Holt, a junior at Julian High School in Chicago, was killed on a public bus riding home from school when he used his body to shield a girl who was in the line of fire after a young man boarded the bus and started shooting.
So it appears that Blair Holt is yet another person shot and killed.
The bill was introduced January 9, 2009 - before Obama was inaugurated.
And what is so secret about this? It is obviously out there where anyone interested can see it, read it, and form their own conclusions. Looks pretty straightforward to me. The government wants to put stronger gun controls into effect. Maybe I'm not getting it, but all the parts I read (and I admit I didn't read it thoroughly, just skimmed through) made sense. Background check on who buys a gun - that's pretty much 'DUH' to me. Registering guns, when so many are used to shoot and kill people - another 'DUH'. Reporting a gun stolen within 72 hours - well, wouldn't you want someone who stole something from you caught? Only can help. Wouldn't you want to feel that your gun wasn't being used to shoot and kill someone?
I don't have guns any more, but I have. I don't hunt but come from a family who did. None of us would have had a problem with this legislation. Especially if it meant it might keep even one person from being shot and killed.
Sorry, folks, can't sign up for this one. And I would take the chance of pissing people off to say that maybe you should just read the proposed legislation for yourselves, without having Peter Boyles, whoever he is, in your ear, and without trying to make it a political thing against Obama. Just read the words and then think how much of an inconvenience you would be willing to put up with if it prevented one person from being shot and killed.
Nope, I don't mind if you disagree with me and tell me you do.
Barbara
PS: so far not one of the people has responded, and I did ‘reply all’ the response.
What I am against is the urging ‘contact your congressman’ and sending half-assed things like this out to people who will do just that without having all the information – and I’m really against making it one particular person’s ‘fault’ because the guy you wanted didn’t get elected. And I’m not getting any more political than that because I hate politics.
Anyway, for what it’s worth to you personally, here’s what someone sent to me (a person I never knew was concerned with guns) and what I said about it. For what it’s worth, Here’s What I Think:
The email I received:
Time to ring your Congressman's phones off the hook. This is like revoking the 2nd Amendment of the Constitution. And it opens your homes to direct government invasion without a warrant or any reason at all.
D
Subject: H E R E I T C O M E S !!!
GET THIS OUT!
HR 45 Blair Holt Firearm Licensing & Record of Sales Act of 2009
Please send this to everybody on your list... this is Obama guncontrol by secrecy.
________________________________________
Very Important for you to be aware of a new bill HR 45 introduced into the House.
This is the Blair Holt Firearm Licensing & Record of Sale Act of 2009.
We just learned yesterday about this on the Peter Boyles radio program.
Even gun shop owners didn't know about this because it is flying under the radar.
To find out about this - go to any government website and type in HR 45 or Google HR 45 Blair Holt Firearm Licensing & Record of Sales Act of 2009. You will get all the information.
Basically this would make it illegal to own a firearm - any rifle with a clip or ANY pistol unless:
.It is registered
.You are fingerprinted
.You supply a current Driver's License
.You supply your Social Security #
.You will submit to a physical & mental evaluation at any time of their choosing
.Each update - change or ownership through private or public sale must be reported and costs $25
- Failure to do so you automatically lose the right to own a firearm and are subject up to a year in jail.
.There is a child provision clause on page 16 section 305 stating a child-access provision. Gun must be locked and inaccessible to any child under 18.
The Government would have the right to come and inspect that you are storing your gun safely away from accessibility to children and fine is punishable for up to 5 yrs. in prison.
If you think this is a joke - go to the website and take your pick of many options to read this..
http://www.opencong ress.org/ bill/111- h45/text
It is long and lengthy. But, more and more people are becoming aware of this. Pass the wordalong.
FAILURE TO DO SO AT YOUR PERIL!
Any hunters in your family - pass this along.
Peter Boyles is on this and having guests. Listen to him on KHOW 630 a.m. in the morning.
He suggests the best way to fight this is to tell all your friends about it and "spring into action".
Also he suggests we all join a pro-gun group like the Colorado Rifle Association, hunting associations, gun clubs and especially the NRA..
This is just a "termite" approach to complete confiscation of guns and disarming of our society to the point we have no defense - chip away a little here and there until the goal is accomplished before anyone realizes it.
This is one to act on whether you own a gun or not.
The Second Amendment... .America's original homeland security
My response:
Sorry, but: Virginia Tech last year - 30+ shot and killed if I remember right? Two weeks ago in Binghamton, NY - 13 shot and killed. Two days ago in Schenectady, NY - 2 shot and killed. Last week in Albany, NY - shooter sentenced to life in prison for 3 shot and killed last summer. Alabama about a month ago, what was that, 7 shot and killed or was it more. A pre-teen boy at a gun show in Westfield, MA - shot and killed himself looking at a gun. Two or three or more families, children and all in the past couple of months - shot and killed, murder/suicides.
I am for as much legislation as it takes. This is not forbidding people to have guns, and if it saves one person from being shot and killed, I cannot argue with it.
I have read the provisions below several times and I don't see where it takes away your right to own a gun. Anyone wanting a gun for LEGAL - like hunting - purposes should have no problem with this.
I also went to the website allegedly quoted, wondering who Blair Holt is, and why this is 'Obama gun control by secrecy' and found this:
on the afternoon of May 10, 2007, Blair Holt, a junior at Julian High School in Chicago, was killed on a public bus riding home from school when he used his body to shield a girl who was in the line of fire after a young man boarded the bus and started shooting.
So it appears that Blair Holt is yet another person shot and killed.
The bill was introduced January 9, 2009 - before Obama was inaugurated.
And what is so secret about this? It is obviously out there where anyone interested can see it, read it, and form their own conclusions. Looks pretty straightforward to me. The government wants to put stronger gun controls into effect. Maybe I'm not getting it, but all the parts I read (and I admit I didn't read it thoroughly, just skimmed through) made sense. Background check on who buys a gun - that's pretty much 'DUH' to me. Registering guns, when so many are used to shoot and kill people - another 'DUH'. Reporting a gun stolen within 72 hours - well, wouldn't you want someone who stole something from you caught? Only can help. Wouldn't you want to feel that your gun wasn't being used to shoot and kill someone?
I don't have guns any more, but I have. I don't hunt but come from a family who did. None of us would have had a problem with this legislation. Especially if it meant it might keep even one person from being shot and killed.
Sorry, folks, can't sign up for this one. And I would take the chance of pissing people off to say that maybe you should just read the proposed legislation for yourselves, without having Peter Boyles, whoever he is, in your ear, and without trying to make it a political thing against Obama. Just read the words and then think how much of an inconvenience you would be willing to put up with if it prevented one person from being shot and killed.
Nope, I don't mind if you disagree with me and tell me you do.
Barbara
PS: so far not one of the people has responded, and I did ‘reply all’ the response.
Monday, April 20, 2009
Anniversaries of tragedies
Yesterday and today are anniversaries of tragedies in our country.
April 19, 1995: Oklahoma City bombing
April 20, 1999: Columbine High School shootings
The Oklahoma City bombings were, I just hear on the radio, the largest act of ‘homegrown’ terrorism ever in this country.
The Columbine shootings were (I think) the largest number of victims up to that time, in such an incident.
Please, take a moment to remember the events, the victims, the effect on those involved and on the rest of the country.
Offer up the kind of prayer you use to ask that it not happen again.
What was the result of either of those tragedies? Much heartbreak. Many headlines, then and each year after. What were the perpetrators trying to prove? What gave them so much hatred, so little concern, that they felt their cause would be bettered, their acts justified, by slaughtering so many innocent people? We will never know, no matter how much evidence is found to their state of mind at the time.
I can almost understand wanting to strike out at someone who has directly caused you harm. I cannot understand striking out at those who have nothing to do with you. I doubt anyone ever will. I also doubt that these are the last of this kind of event – well, we know it was not the last of the school shootings, those continue.
I was just thinking about our ‘civilized’ times. In the early days of our country, our wilderness frontiers, and those who settled them. In the ‘wild west’, shootouts were common. Indian raids (by and on the Native Americans) were common. There are stories of atrocities, and we can smugly say, well, that was the ‘old days’, those things don’t happen now. Really? Read the news. Are we more civilized? I think not, judging by headlines every day. If anything, there is more senseless violence, and an equal, if not less, concern for life.
Are the ‘gang-bangers protecting their turf’ that much different that the settlers and Indians fighting for land? That’s a whole ‘nother discussion.
Just to quickly play the ‘where I was when I heard’ game: you know, I don’t even remember about Oklahoma City for sure, but it seems like I was home, and heard on the news, just as most of the rest of the country.
Columbine I remember distinctly. I was doing a solo trip to California, and, as I often did at this time of year, making hiring calls for the theatre from truck stops and rest areas across the country. I had fueled in the Pilot in Amarillo, Texas, and went inside to grab supper and call some girls from Hudson to be in a children’s theatre show. The mother I reached sounded a little distraught, and apologized for it, saying she was watching the news about a lot of kids being shot at a school, and that she just couldn’t get it out of her mind. I went to the always on tv area, and joined a group watching the stories, and then kept hearing them across the country – and I couldn’t get it out of my mind.
In 2000 or so, I took my grandson with me in the truck. We were supposed to go Memphis, Tennessee and back, but that load fell through, and my dispatcher took it on herself to ‘get that boy to California’. She found a load, and we went west. I tried to find some places to stop to show him special sights, one was the Meteor Crater in Arizona, another was the Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial.
We had a personally conducted tour of that. I stopped outside the city to ask directions and if I could get a ‘big truck’ there; after being assured I could, I missed a turn somehow, there was construction and I think the street I was told to take was closed off. Anyway, it was pouring rain, and I wasn’t sure where to go, and noticed a building up the street ahead of us with a lot of police cars parked around it. Thinking it was a ‘cop shop’, I parked and we went in, and asked what the best way to get to the memorial was. Turns out it was a place that prepped cars for the police department, and they were quite surprised to see us come in. After having debates about the best way for us to get there with the truck, one of the men said ‘I’m not doing anything, come on’, and drove us there, drove around the site so we could see the fence where people were still leaving memorial signs, gifts and more, then he parked, pointed out the highlights, and waited while we walked around. It is a magnificent site and I recommend going if you ever can. We got back in his car dripping wet and very impressed. He told us personal stories of where he was when it happened and of a friend who worked in a nearby building who could not go back to work there afterwards. Stephen still remembers that as the thing that impressed him the most on the entire trip.
Say a prayer to whoever you believe in that other pre-teen boys don’t have to see other memorials of such events to be impressed by. And another for the victims, and another for those contemplating such acts that they find another way.
Then hug those close to you.
April 19, 1995: Oklahoma City bombing
April 20, 1999: Columbine High School shootings
The Oklahoma City bombings were, I just hear on the radio, the largest act of ‘homegrown’ terrorism ever in this country.
The Columbine shootings were (I think) the largest number of victims up to that time, in such an incident.
Please, take a moment to remember the events, the victims, the effect on those involved and on the rest of the country.
Offer up the kind of prayer you use to ask that it not happen again.
What was the result of either of those tragedies? Much heartbreak. Many headlines, then and each year after. What were the perpetrators trying to prove? What gave them so much hatred, so little concern, that they felt their cause would be bettered, their acts justified, by slaughtering so many innocent people? We will never know, no matter how much evidence is found to their state of mind at the time.
I can almost understand wanting to strike out at someone who has directly caused you harm. I cannot understand striking out at those who have nothing to do with you. I doubt anyone ever will. I also doubt that these are the last of this kind of event – well, we know it was not the last of the school shootings, those continue.
I was just thinking about our ‘civilized’ times. In the early days of our country, our wilderness frontiers, and those who settled them. In the ‘wild west’, shootouts were common. Indian raids (by and on the Native Americans) were common. There are stories of atrocities, and we can smugly say, well, that was the ‘old days’, those things don’t happen now. Really? Read the news. Are we more civilized? I think not, judging by headlines every day. If anything, there is more senseless violence, and an equal, if not less, concern for life.
Are the ‘gang-bangers protecting their turf’ that much different that the settlers and Indians fighting for land? That’s a whole ‘nother discussion.
Just to quickly play the ‘where I was when I heard’ game: you know, I don’t even remember about Oklahoma City for sure, but it seems like I was home, and heard on the news, just as most of the rest of the country.
Columbine I remember distinctly. I was doing a solo trip to California, and, as I often did at this time of year, making hiring calls for the theatre from truck stops and rest areas across the country. I had fueled in the Pilot in Amarillo, Texas, and went inside to grab supper and call some girls from Hudson to be in a children’s theatre show. The mother I reached sounded a little distraught, and apologized for it, saying she was watching the news about a lot of kids being shot at a school, and that she just couldn’t get it out of her mind. I went to the always on tv area, and joined a group watching the stories, and then kept hearing them across the country – and I couldn’t get it out of my mind.
In 2000 or so, I took my grandson with me in the truck. We were supposed to go Memphis, Tennessee and back, but that load fell through, and my dispatcher took it on herself to ‘get that boy to California’. She found a load, and we went west. I tried to find some places to stop to show him special sights, one was the Meteor Crater in Arizona, another was the Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial.
We had a personally conducted tour of that. I stopped outside the city to ask directions and if I could get a ‘big truck’ there; after being assured I could, I missed a turn somehow, there was construction and I think the street I was told to take was closed off. Anyway, it was pouring rain, and I wasn’t sure where to go, and noticed a building up the street ahead of us with a lot of police cars parked around it. Thinking it was a ‘cop shop’, I parked and we went in, and asked what the best way to get to the memorial was. Turns out it was a place that prepped cars for the police department, and they were quite surprised to see us come in. After having debates about the best way for us to get there with the truck, one of the men said ‘I’m not doing anything, come on’, and drove us there, drove around the site so we could see the fence where people were still leaving memorial signs, gifts and more, then he parked, pointed out the highlights, and waited while we walked around. It is a magnificent site and I recommend going if you ever can. We got back in his car dripping wet and very impressed. He told us personal stories of where he was when it happened and of a friend who worked in a nearby building who could not go back to work there afterwards. Stephen still remembers that as the thing that impressed him the most on the entire trip.
Say a prayer to whoever you believe in that other pre-teen boys don’t have to see other memorials of such events to be impressed by. And another for the victims, and another for those contemplating such acts that they find another way.
Then hug those close to you.
Monday, April 13, 2009
Emails that will bring a miracle
Just got one of those that we all are blessed (or plagued, depending on your mood at the time) with – “if the water is moving you will receive a miracle” – yeah, right.
Here’s what the person who sent it to me had to say, and what I sent back to him:
BUT I STILL DO NOT BELIEVE THAT A PICTURE CAN BRING A MIRACLE !!!! I DON'T CARE WHAT "THEY" SAY !!!! AND THE WATER DOES MOVE !!
The water is moving - but I'm with you - all these things that come through saying they will bring good or bad luck or miracles or money or whatever - hmm, nope, don't think so. The everyday miracle is in the fact that someone cares enough to use that as a way to contact you, say they are thinking of you, think that you would enjoy something that brought them pleasure. That's the miracle of friendship, a blessing that we have.
Does anyone know anyone who really did experience a miracle, receive money, have something they wished for come true from forwarding an email? I mean really KNOW someone, or have it happen to themselves? Not the friend of a friend of the next door neighbor two houses down and across the street from the hairdresser’s cousin’s brother-in-law that it somebody told them it really did happen to?
If so, please tell me.
Meanwhile, the miracles are all around. The miracle of the friend who sent this to me - I have never met him in person, but we have been friends since sometime early in 2002, through the electronic miracle of the internet. And through him I have made two other friends, same way. One I even got to meet in person, and I am still holding hope that I meet the others.
The miracle of spring, the awakening of the new season.
The miracle that my friend Andrew sent, that his father is slowly recovering from terrible complications after a somewhat routine operation.
The miracle that I can call open heart surgery somewhat routine – which nowadays it is. And., of course, the miracles of the countless lives that have been saved and enriched through it.
Miracles are all around – had one happen to our family this past week, the birth of Ethan, my 3rd great-grandchild and second great-grandson. He’s a cutie, and Megan and Josh will be great parents. Heather, mom of Madeline and Richard, the first two greats, is showing a bit of a miracle herself, as we didn’t think she was the best candidate for motherhood and she’s doing a pretty good job with them. Go figure.
Who knows, maybe because the water was moving in the email in question, I will experience a miracle and get the rest of my tech people hired, and the house cleaned, and the bathtub caulked and the yard raked and flowers planted. All before oh, maybe September? Who knows. As Tevye said ‘It was a miracle!’
Here’s what the person who sent it to me had to say, and what I sent back to him:
BUT I STILL DO NOT BELIEVE THAT A PICTURE CAN BRING A MIRACLE !!!! I DON'T CARE WHAT "THEY" SAY !!!! AND THE WATER DOES MOVE !!
The water is moving - but I'm with you - all these things that come through saying they will bring good or bad luck or miracles or money or whatever - hmm, nope, don't think so. The everyday miracle is in the fact that someone cares enough to use that as a way to contact you, say they are thinking of you, think that you would enjoy something that brought them pleasure. That's the miracle of friendship, a blessing that we have.
Does anyone know anyone who really did experience a miracle, receive money, have something they wished for come true from forwarding an email? I mean really KNOW someone, or have it happen to themselves? Not the friend of a friend of the next door neighbor two houses down and across the street from the hairdresser’s cousin’s brother-in-law that it somebody told them it really did happen to?
If so, please tell me.
Meanwhile, the miracles are all around. The miracle of the friend who sent this to me - I have never met him in person, but we have been friends since sometime early in 2002, through the electronic miracle of the internet. And through him I have made two other friends, same way. One I even got to meet in person, and I am still holding hope that I meet the others.
The miracle of spring, the awakening of the new season.
The miracle that my friend Andrew sent, that his father is slowly recovering from terrible complications after a somewhat routine operation.
The miracle that I can call open heart surgery somewhat routine – which nowadays it is. And., of course, the miracles of the countless lives that have been saved and enriched through it.
Miracles are all around – had one happen to our family this past week, the birth of Ethan, my 3rd great-grandchild and second great-grandson. He’s a cutie, and Megan and Josh will be great parents. Heather, mom of Madeline and Richard, the first two greats, is showing a bit of a miracle herself, as we didn’t think she was the best candidate for motherhood and she’s doing a pretty good job with them. Go figure.
Who knows, maybe because the water was moving in the email in question, I will experience a miracle and get the rest of my tech people hired, and the house cleaned, and the bathtub caulked and the yard raked and flowers planted. All before oh, maybe September? Who knows. As Tevye said ‘It was a miracle!’
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
About public bathrooms
I was reading someone’s blog the other day and she had one posting chastizing the person who had been in the ladies room stall before her, who apparently was a ‘squatter’ with bad aim. Now to you men, this might not mean anything, but to us women, it’s significant. We’ve all followed one – the person who won’t let their lily white skin touch the seat, but who has no problem leaving their dribbles for the next one in the stall. Grrrrrrrrr! May their 2-year-old never become toilet trained and be stricken with projectile diarrhea – in public.
I think one of the biggest water wasters in the world are the automatic flush toilets. I don’t know about the rest of you, but I usually wipe the seat, and put either the provided paper seat cover or toilet paper down before I sit (isn’t that just TMI, though?). Trouble is, with the automatic flushers, about the time I get the paper down, the toilet decides I’ve been standing there long enough and flushes. Which sucks the paper down the drain and sprays water on the seat, so I have to start all over again. Why women take longer than men in the rest room, to say nothing of the fact that we have to get all undone, while they just have to step up . . . oh, never mind.
Speaking of the paper seat covers, I’ve noticed that although more and more places have them, the one type of place that doesn’t is hospitals and other medical facilities. Do they know something we don’t, like these really don’t help prevent you from getting cooties off the seat, or are they just too cheap? Seems like a place where people are sick would be a place to have things to prevent the spread of. . . . but what do I know.
How about the automatic sinks? Either water is still running long after you have washed, rinsed, dried and left the room, or there’s barely enough water metered out to dampen your palms. Plus, usually I have to hit at least two of them to get one to give me any water.
And the automatic hand dryers, now aren’t they a treat. Although I have run into a few here and there that will blow the polish off your nails, most of them are ridiculously slow and ineffective. And you go into the ladies room – anywhere from say six to a dozen stalls, maybe four to six sinks – and one automatic hand dryer. Really? Obviously designed by a man.
Bathroom stall layout? How many have you been in that you have to fold yourself around the toilet paper holder to get to the seat? Or you sit down and have one side resting against the holders for the used unmentionables. Once again, set up by a man.
Speaking of bathrooms - - when I was driving, I said there were three things to never pass up: the chance to take a shower, the chance to brush your teeth and the chance to go to the bathroom. That third one has become more pertinent as I am getting older. But when I was in the truck, where your options of where to stop for anything are dictated by there being a large enough space to get something 8 ½’ by 13 ½’ by about 65’ that folds in the middle, it was something to always be considered and sometimes thought out ahead of time. And it seemed like any time I was sleeping and woke up needing a rest area, by the time I got up and into the cab, we had just gone past one. I still say it is the only time I get penis envy, when I have to tinkle in a place with no facilities.
Some of the facilities I met on the road were – let’s say interesting. For one thing, it continues to amaze me the number of women who do not understand the basics of indoor plumbing – you leave it in the bowl, push the handle and it goes away. Yeah, it’s that pushing the handle thing that some of them have trouble with, I guess. Next stall, please!
Bathrooms and rest areas I have met include one in the middle of Ohio that was pretty much an outhouse, with about three stalls, and those had walls that came about up to my shoulders. And the woman in the next stall was tall! Enough said. Then there was the one on I-10 in Arizona that was a little 2-holer that I always swore a rattlesnake would be waiting inside of some time for me – thankfully there never was.
Now that I have started camping, there are many campgrounds with marginal facilities at best. Many have the ‘vault’ toilets, that are ecologically sound, from what I understand, but that do test the ladylike sensibilities, of which thankfully I have few. These are a cross between indoor plumbing and an outhouse, a step below the one and step up from the other.
And I gotta say, places like Yellowstone and Yosemite, where there are ‘beware of bears’ signs all over, make you think about hiking to the little building in the middle of the night.
Then there’s port-a-potties. Everybody has a story about someone getting locked in one and it getting tipped over. At Camp Katrina I was the self-named ‘Port-A-Pottie Nazi’, trying to keep them clean and in useable condition for all. People were throwing trash, including soda cans (!) in them, until I put up a sign: “Please DO NOT throw trash into the tank. If they company gets pissed off and takes these away, we will have no place to piss in!”
My all-time favorite port-a-pottie story, though, is when I was delivering electrical material to a huge construction project in Dallas – I think it was a new sports stadium of some sort. I got there in the wee hours of the morning and of course had to wait hours to unload – this after being given wrong directions on how to get in to the place and almost getting stuck in some tiny streets in a questionable neighborhood – anyway, of course after a while I had to use one. There were two a little ways into the project from where I was parked, so I walked over, opened the door, and let me tell you, I don’t know how any of those men could possibly have driven a nail if that’s only how good they could aim. I’ve seen neater cow barns, with less – manure – spread around. I sure did squat that time, and held everything away from touching anything! And cleaned my shoes before I got back into the truck. Still waiting, I was watching what was going on in the site when one of those huge roof mounted cranes started swinging over towards my side of the project. It stopped, and the cables came down and someone attached them to – a pair of port-a-potties – and it lifted them up and swung them over to the other side of the construction. I was so amazed, I called the office because I had to tell someone – these two port-a-potties swinging from the cable, a couple of stories in the air. Hope they were empty.
I think one of the biggest water wasters in the world are the automatic flush toilets. I don’t know about the rest of you, but I usually wipe the seat, and put either the provided paper seat cover or toilet paper down before I sit (isn’t that just TMI, though?). Trouble is, with the automatic flushers, about the time I get the paper down, the toilet decides I’ve been standing there long enough and flushes. Which sucks the paper down the drain and sprays water on the seat, so I have to start all over again. Why women take longer than men in the rest room, to say nothing of the fact that we have to get all undone, while they just have to step up . . . oh, never mind.
Speaking of the paper seat covers, I’ve noticed that although more and more places have them, the one type of place that doesn’t is hospitals and other medical facilities. Do they know something we don’t, like these really don’t help prevent you from getting cooties off the seat, or are they just too cheap? Seems like a place where people are sick would be a place to have things to prevent the spread of. . . . but what do I know.
How about the automatic sinks? Either water is still running long after you have washed, rinsed, dried and left the room, or there’s barely enough water metered out to dampen your palms. Plus, usually I have to hit at least two of them to get one to give me any water.
And the automatic hand dryers, now aren’t they a treat. Although I have run into a few here and there that will blow the polish off your nails, most of them are ridiculously slow and ineffective. And you go into the ladies room – anywhere from say six to a dozen stalls, maybe four to six sinks – and one automatic hand dryer. Really? Obviously designed by a man.
Bathroom stall layout? How many have you been in that you have to fold yourself around the toilet paper holder to get to the seat? Or you sit down and have one side resting against the holders for the used unmentionables. Once again, set up by a man.
Speaking of bathrooms - - when I was driving, I said there were three things to never pass up: the chance to take a shower, the chance to brush your teeth and the chance to go to the bathroom. That third one has become more pertinent as I am getting older. But when I was in the truck, where your options of where to stop for anything are dictated by there being a large enough space to get something 8 ½’ by 13 ½’ by about 65’ that folds in the middle, it was something to always be considered and sometimes thought out ahead of time. And it seemed like any time I was sleeping and woke up needing a rest area, by the time I got up and into the cab, we had just gone past one. I still say it is the only time I get penis envy, when I have to tinkle in a place with no facilities.
Some of the facilities I met on the road were – let’s say interesting. For one thing, it continues to amaze me the number of women who do not understand the basics of indoor plumbing – you leave it in the bowl, push the handle and it goes away. Yeah, it’s that pushing the handle thing that some of them have trouble with, I guess. Next stall, please!
Bathrooms and rest areas I have met include one in the middle of Ohio that was pretty much an outhouse, with about three stalls, and those had walls that came about up to my shoulders. And the woman in the next stall was tall! Enough said. Then there was the one on I-10 in Arizona that was a little 2-holer that I always swore a rattlesnake would be waiting inside of some time for me – thankfully there never was.
Now that I have started camping, there are many campgrounds with marginal facilities at best. Many have the ‘vault’ toilets, that are ecologically sound, from what I understand, but that do test the ladylike sensibilities, of which thankfully I have few. These are a cross between indoor plumbing and an outhouse, a step below the one and step up from the other.
And I gotta say, places like Yellowstone and Yosemite, where there are ‘beware of bears’ signs all over, make you think about hiking to the little building in the middle of the night.
Then there’s port-a-potties. Everybody has a story about someone getting locked in one and it getting tipped over. At Camp Katrina I was the self-named ‘Port-A-Pottie Nazi’, trying to keep them clean and in useable condition for all. People were throwing trash, including soda cans (!) in them, until I put up a sign: “Please DO NOT throw trash into the tank. If they company gets pissed off and takes these away, we will have no place to piss in!”
My all-time favorite port-a-pottie story, though, is when I was delivering electrical material to a huge construction project in Dallas – I think it was a new sports stadium of some sort. I got there in the wee hours of the morning and of course had to wait hours to unload – this after being given wrong directions on how to get in to the place and almost getting stuck in some tiny streets in a questionable neighborhood – anyway, of course after a while I had to use one. There were two a little ways into the project from where I was parked, so I walked over, opened the door, and let me tell you, I don’t know how any of those men could possibly have driven a nail if that’s only how good they could aim. I’ve seen neater cow barns, with less – manure – spread around. I sure did squat that time, and held everything away from touching anything! And cleaned my shoes before I got back into the truck. Still waiting, I was watching what was going on in the site when one of those huge roof mounted cranes started swinging over towards my side of the project. It stopped, and the cables came down and someone attached them to – a pair of port-a-potties – and it lifted them up and swung them over to the other side of the construction. I was so amazed, I called the office because I had to tell someone – these two port-a-potties swinging from the cable, a couple of stories in the air. Hope they were empty.
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