Congratulations Dale Jr on your Busch Series win tonight!

Daytona Musings

How's that for the photo of the decade? Wouldn't you be proud to call him your son? I know I would.

I haven't written much about NASCAR lately because the last couple races weren't much to write home about ~ they literally sucked.

Budweiser's running a Red Alert game where they assign you a driver along with what the action will be for that driver. Who did I get? Ryan Newman, and his action is that he would be the points leader at the end of the upcoming race. Yeah, right! When the cows come home walking backwards. I was hoping I would have gotten something to do with Junior. No such luck. Well, at least there's always next week and the weeks after that. It's a fun game, no harm done.

I look forward to Daytona because it is an exciting track. It's also a night race which makes it even better. It's a track synonymous with the name Earnhardt and I hope Junebug does well. I always say, before each of his races, that a top ten would be nice, a top five nicer yet, and a win would be a plus. I also ask that there be no DNFs (did not finish for you non-NASCAR readers.)

In the past I've written some derogatory things about Hendrick and his drivers. I'm still not a fan and I am at a point where only three NASCAR-ites drive me to want to drink. Only wine, my people, only wine. Those three are Rick "The Cheater" Hendrick, Jimmie "I am so full of myself" Johnson, and Chad "Bad Boy" Knaus. I also am not a big fan of Jack Roush either. And I think it's because he has so many teams which to me is very selfish. Although I did say a few prayers years ago when his plane went down into water and he almost drowned. What was I thinking? No, that's not nice. Forget I said that. Not.

I also am not a Jeff Gordon fan, but I was glad to see him win last week at Sonoma and equally glad that the little runt got engaged. Good for him. He does look like a munchkin alongside Ingrid though, don't you think?

For now, I will let my thoughts as they are. They might just change after this weekend depending on the outcome of the race...

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Question: Johnny Benson, a Craftsman series truck driver, had LASIK-type eye surgery done a few years ago. So why is he back to wearing glasses again? Anybody know?

I Used To Be A Smoker...

...till my husband had a heart attack. And the only reason I started was to learn how to inhale so I could try the marijuana someone had given me. Turned out I was too chicken sh*t to smoke them. But I kept smoking regular cigarettes anyway.

I would say I smoked for about fifteen years give or take a year or two. And then came that fateful day...the day my husband ended up in the hospital with a heart attack. He was in the hospital for seven days. Seven very long days for me. Obviously he would not be allowed to smoke anymore as that is what the doctors say caused his attack.

So I had those seven days to smoke my brains out before I quit too. My reason for quitting was twofold: 1) I certainly didn't want to be smoking in front of him as he had been a smoker all his life from the age of twelve (I did not want to tempt him), and 2) it just wasn't healthy.

I had my last cigarette when I left to bring him home from the hospital. Cold turkey. And I haven't had one since. Neither has he. It will be seven years in August.
'

No Means No

When I send for information I don't expect or want a phone call. Lord knows I had to deal with enough of them where I last worked. Rather, all I want to do once the information arrives in my mailbox is look it over at my leisure. I want to be able to make up my mind without any pressure. If I don't like what I see, it gets tossed in the trash. Simple as that. Really. Really?

She came to the house. My husband answered the door, not knowing who she was or what she wanted. I kind of figured out who she was. How? She had knocked on the door the day before and I refused to answer. I don't open the door to strangers when I am home alone.

When she and my husband were finished talking at the door she left. He handed me her business card. I recognized the company and tossed the card in the trash. And I forgot about it.

The next day the phone rang. Caller ID told me it was her. I left the machine pick up, as I usually do with those types of calls. She called the next day. Same thing. And again the next day.

How desperate is a company when they send someone to the house and then have them make numerous follow-up calls?

Just a note here: I never give out my phone number when requesting information but I am a member of this organization so they had my number on file. Anyway, I think she finally got the hint that I am not interested in what she was selling. I haven't heard from her for over a week. And I hope it stays that way. Sales people are on my list right up there with telephones. I can do without them.

The Calm Before The Storm

I love these two pictures. I shot them almost a month ago...

...but right now the sky is nowhere near what shows in these pictures. Some nasty weather is moving in ever so slowly.

I might have to get the canoe out. Now where did I put those paddles? Oh well, up sh*t creek again without paddles.

I Hate This Freakin' Commercial

This is what I hear and it sends me into quite a tizzy...

Head On, apply directly to the forehead!
Head On, apply directly to the forehead!
Head On, apply directly to the forehead!

Why, oh why, do they have to repeat it three, count them, three times! It's enough to make a grown woman cry. Don't they think we hear it the first time? Isn't once enough? Not to mention that the woman's voice is like fingernails on a blackboard. Yuck.

Just who are these yokels sitting on Madison Avenue dreaming up this crap? I would like to take their product and poke their eyes out with it. Enough already!

The funny thing is, the product is for headaches. Just listening to that commercial gives me a headache.

Some of these commercials today make me feel like I just crawled out from under a rock. Like I have no intelligence whatsoever. Well, guess what folks...I love my mute button. It's almost worn out.

Summer Solstice

Today is the longest day of the year. Everything from here on in is all downhill. They also say that this is officially the first day of summer.

The days will get shorter until we reach December 21st. That is the shortest day of the year and that is called the Winter Solstice.

I never understood why this time of the year is considered the beginning of summer. By this time, here in the northeast where I live, summer is one third over already. It should start on Memorial Day.

Speaking of that holiday...every Memorial Day my mother used to say "soon we'll be celebrating the Fourth of July and before you know it Labor Day will be here and summer will be over." It never failed. I used to get bummed hearing her say that. But she was right. Summer always flew by and it goes faster every year.

I love summer. I think I could handle this weather all year 'round. I think. I like the other seasons too but I really think summer should last longer than winter does. I think winter lasts way too long.

Food For Thought...And Eating Too

Saturday afternoon we went to a local church festival. We go every year ~ actually, my husband goes just for the food. It's the ethnic food on which he was raised. He's half Russian by way of his mother. Her people came from the Ukraine.

I'm German/Welsh, so our choices of foods were quite different when we first met. Since then, however, we have compromised and now we have diversified our taste in food.

My husband ate the following: halupke (like a stuffed pepper but rolled in cabbage instead), haluski (noodles and cabbage), pierogi (I think most of you know what those are thanks to Mrs. T's Pierogies and others in the supermarkets), belenies (potato pancakes), pulled pork on a Kaiser roll, and he topped it all off with ice cream and waffles.

We arrived an hour before the tickets for the food were being sold, so there weren't many people there yet. But you could smell the food cookling everywhere.


This was to be our dinner and I was very hungry as I hadn't eaten since breakfast. It was about 4:30 when I finally settled for coffee. We found seats under a tree near the tent where music was being played. By 5:00 food was being served. I sat, my husband bought and brought the food to me and so on and so on. I trained him well, wouldn't you say?

Once we were finished eating, we walked around. These horses and carriage were taking folks for rides around the premises.


At 7:00 a local well-known band that plays country music finally gave a much-needed concert. I had heard a lot about them over the years but never saw them in person. I gave them an A plus. They formed the band in 1979 specifically to sing the songs of Conway Twitty. And with Conway's permission they used his name as part of their name.


We didn't stay for the entire concert because I knew I had a bunch of cats and kittens getting mighty hungry back home. They are used to getting fed at certain times and it was getting late.

Oh Poop!

Blogger will not cooperate and let me post pictures here today. I am about ready to kick them to the curb with this issue. I sent an e-mail of complaint. What do they do? They send back a standard-issue reply telling me to do the things I already have been doing. Besides the fact that I know it works, it's just not working now! And that really upsets me. I expect things to work when they're supposed to work. In this day and age with all this damn technology floating around, why do things like this happen? Yes, I am ranting and raving. Yes, I am pissed off. And I had better stop now before I let myself get too far out of hand. Hopefully I can have something with pictures for tomorrow. But I won't hold my breath. My life is getting short enough without having to do that.

Meet Gizmo

This is Gizmo. She reminded me of the movie about gremlins and that's why she has that name. She has two sisters that look like her but have very little orange coloring on their face; their names are Bear and Wolfie. The other sibling is called Trucker Red and that one looks nothing like Gizmo.

Growing Up In New York

(I first posted this last August and I felt it should be revisited)

Oh how I miss my summers in New York! Entire summers. Every year.
My siblings and I stayed with our aunt and uncle. First it was on 80th Street in East Manhattan. Then they bought a home on Long Island. I remember Floral Park NY and Flushing NY in particular. But Manhattan was the best.

Opening fire hydrants and cooling off till the cops came. Pink rubber balls (we'd each get one every year). Sitting on the stoops at night (and everyone was friendly).
Playing on the roof of the highrise they lived in. Wonderful magical moments.

I miss Coney Island Amusement Park and those wonderful hot dogs--I believe they were Nathan's. My favorite ride was the Wonder Wheel when the car swung out over the ocean. When you're little it seems so much worse.

We went to Jones Beach alot. And Central Park. And the Bronx Zoo. Sweet memories. Except the time I got a "hole in my head" from a kid who was above me on the bars and put his foot on my head. He stepped down without looking. I remember that like it was just yesterday. The scar is still there.

When we were older we went to The Worlds Fair. At one time we also drove all the way out to Montauk Point just to see what it was like that far out.

Nothing today comes close to the magic of childhood so I will hold those memories very close to me.

Like my husband always says: "Your heart is in New York but your a** is in PA."

Awwwwww, Aren't They Cute?

"Don't worry, mommy, I'll protect him...he's my little brother."

"Hi!"


There are 3 of these little guys and we call them the triplets. Small, Medium and Large. I so want to scoop them up but they belong to their mommy right now.

When I first took these pictures, they had their backs to me just as it is posted. After I snapped the picture they turned around. Little hams.

Damn Lucky

This is a followup to my post yesterday on Big Ben. His injuries consist of a broken upper and lower jaw, the loss of two teeth, a broken nose, broken facial bones and various cuts and bruises. Oh, and don't forget the concussion.

All those injuries were above his shoulders. Imagine, if you will, that he was wearing a helmet at the time of his accident. He may have been able to walk away unscathed. On the other hand, he could have died! Or he could have ended up in a chair.

Now...here's the best part: he was driving on an expired temporary permit to ride motorcycles. That's two strikes. Yes, I would say he was damn lucky. It just wasn't his time to go...

Life Is Full Of Choices...

...if only we all knew enough to make the right ones. When I first read on a fellow blogger's post yesterday what happened to Ben Roethlisberger, the 24-year-old quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers, I was horrified.


As I thought about what he must have gone through, I also thought it could have been so much less severe had he made a better choice.

The helmet law in Pennsylvania was repealed back in 2004 after being on the books for 35 years. At that time I couldn't understand why it was changed. I still don't understand it. When we see bikers without helmets we refer to them as "heroes." (We are being sarcastic)

You may feel better without a helmet, you may see and hear better without a helmet, but it is truly ludicrous not to wear one. I personally will not get on anyone's bike without my helmet. Neither will my husband. We value what few brains we have left to risk scrambling them any further than what they already are.

Ben received a broken jaw and nose, perhaps a small price to pay for not wearing a helmet. (He hit the windshield of the car that hit him first and then bounced his head off the pavement.) He could have been, and may be, a lot worse off. The final analysis is not in yet. Whether he plays football again remains to be seen also.

By opting not to wear a helmet, he made a bad choice. People...he's only 24 years old! Was it worth the risk? I totally think not.

I pray for his complete healing and I also pray he makes better choices in the future as a result of what happened to him. I can only hope, if he chooses to continue riding during his career, that he will wear a helmet.

Bits 'n' Pieces

OK, I tried three times to bring a photo from my album for posting here and it didn't work. I thought Blogger was fixing that problem. It is so frustrating. Sometimes the photo will pop up in less than a minute and other times it takes forever. But this time...nothing. I'm glad I don't have to pay for this blog.

We met a woman at our local grocery store on Saturday who feeds stray cats like we have been doing. We talked to her for quite some time, in the pet food aisle of course. She was thrilled to find others like her who share a love for strays. She is involved with a place that picks up strays, neuters or spays them, and then returns them to where they found them, with the owners' permission of course. I don't know all the details because I didn't ask. I felt as long as our cats and kittens stay here on this side of the road, we would be OK. But they don't. And Saturday morning we had a harsh lesson. One of the older kittens became road kill sometime during the night. I wish I could build a huge fence all around our property so they would be safe from the idiots on the road. And the sad thing is, a lot of drivers aim for animals no matter what it is. Hopefully God will deal with them when the time comes for that. However, it doesn't make me feel any better.

About yesterday's race at Pocono? I really don't have too much to say about it. I was glad to see rookie Denny Hamlin win it. He deserved to win. I also was relieved to see Jeff Gordon climb out of his car after a horrific crash. I'm not a fan of his, but I don't wish harm on any of the drivers. Junior was doing good all day till the end, when his crew made an adjustment on his car that wasn't suitable. And that's all I am going to say about that. This race is over and we move on to Michigan. I can't wait to see the paint scheme on his car ~ it will honor both his grandfather and his father.

Yesterday was full moon; no wonder everything went wrong. I just knew there had to be a reason. I am still upset that I can't post photos. They make life more interesting. But...Blogger is being ignorant...again.

It's Finally Over!

Settlement on my parents' house was last September. A lot of loose ends had to be tied up since then. I finally received my inheritance this week. And I don't have to pay taxes on it. That was done before it was split amongst my other two siblings and myself. It's been a long road from way back then to now.

And yes, there was a lot of blood, sweat and tears.

Blood: From all the bumps, cuts, dings and bruises of moving things here and there, not to mention things that had to be fixed. My husband incurred the most because he was the carpenter.

Sweat: Most of the work on the house was done last summer. It was hot and the work was hard. There was a basement, first floor, second floor and an attic. So there was a lot of stair climbing ~ constantly. From the attic, down the stairs to the second floor, down the stairs to the first floor, and out the door to the back porch. That's where we put most of the smaller things so we could sort through them. What nobody wanted either went to charity or got burned. More sweating. I have never sweated that much in my entire life. I had strength I never knew existed. Especially when I moved a mattress down an L-shaped staircase. Everyone else was outside and I didn't have the patience to wait for anyone.

Tears: Shed by all, as this indeed was the final goodbye to two wonderful parents. Mom, dad...we all love you and miss you, and even though the house and contents are "gone," we will never forget it and all the wonderful times we had while we lived there. It was one great ride!

And so I wrap up another chapter in my life. This one started when my Dad passed away in December 2004 and Mom went 2-1/2 months later. They named me executrix in their will and with that the fun was to begin. Did I say fun? I have gone through every emotion known to mankind and probably some that haven't even been discovered yet. If that's possible. But it's now over and done with, and life goes on for the rest of us.

Early Memories

The first eight years of my life were spent in what we called "the country." Neighbors weren't on top of our house, our property was huge with a creek running through, my school only had 2 rooms, we had to travel a good distance for groceries into the "city", and also our relatives lived far away. It seemed they did anyway. I loved it all. I spent many a day in the woods, by the creek, communing with nature. Pure heaven.

My parents rented that property. We did not have a bathtub. Us kids washed in a tin tub, made for that purpose and it was portable. Water came from a well. We had to pump for it. No indoor plumbing. Rather, we did our business in an outhouse. Ah, the good old days.

The village we lived in was called Indianland. No Indians, that's just what it was called. My Dad worked at the Bethlehem Steel plant. He was a machinist. Eventually he decided it was time to move on and buy a house. He also wanted to be closer to his work, and civilization I suppose. But with three kids ages 2-1/2, 8 and 10-1/2 years old, he was also looking out for us in the way of better schools, church etc.

And so it was, one day in October way back when, we moved to our new house.

The new school had a room for each grade with a different teacher for each grade. The old two-room schoolhouse we had attended only had two teachers for eight grades. It was located right up the road a piece, in Cherryville.

Another big change was that we had neighbors with kids our ages and they were within a short walking distance. We could see their houses from our house. One particular family had twin girls the same age as me. We formed a quick friendship and became a threesome all over the neighborhood. But it was not to last long. Shortly after we moved there, one of the twins was killed on the highway that ran in front of the elementary school. I don't remember the circumstances, but I do remember I was so devastated. I had lost a very close friend.

I was always shy, so for me to form such a strong bond at that age was nothing short of a miracle. The twin that died was closer to me than her sister. We were inseparable.

So now when I look back to that particular time of my life, I wonder if that may have formed me as a person as to how I became later in life: I can count on one hand the close friendships I had and have with three fingers left over.

Some Nice Words for My Driver

I read some mighty nice words recently and I would like to share them with you:

The reason for Dale Earnhardt Jr's popularity ~ win or lose ~ is no mystery. Old-time fans of the father transferred their loyalty to the son. New fans are drawn to his edgy rock 'n' roll persona...

Most of all, Junior's genuine, free of pretense and guile and unsullied by fortune and fame.

He is a genuinely good guy, a humble celebrity who worked tirelessly to get where he is and ~ unlike so many famous sports figures ~ wise enough to appreciate what he's got.

This was written by Larry Woody for The National Tennessean.

Now maybe some of you can understand why I chose to stand behind this young man, Dale Earnhardt Jr. He does me proud. Very proud. And, by the way, that is his boxer Killer with him in the photo above.

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Now, about Sunday's race...

First of all I was very happy that Junior finished tenth. He moved into fourth place in the points, and as I have been saying all along, it's about the "big picture." He doesn't have to win every race to get into the Chase. His consistency seems to be paying off. He is happy with what he and the team are doing and that makes me happy.

There was one thing about that race that really, really perturbed me. How in the hell does that Johnson fella keep falling in sh*t and come out smelling like a rose? I just do not understand it at all, and it really pisses me off. OK, I have to settle down because my language is getting out of hand. Sorry about that. But really...I thought we would gain some ground on him today what with starting in the back and then going a lap down, and then WOW! going two laps down. But alas and alack he somehow overcame everything and wound up sixth. At least we didn't have to listen to one of his monotone victory speeches. I swear he stands in front of a mirror and practices ~ all day long. Oh Jimmie puh-leeze spare me your theatrics.

One Year Of Freedom

It's been a year since I have worked for "the man." All my life I have always worked for someone else, lining their pockets with money (not to mention Uncle Sam and his hands held out), helping other companies to be better and all the while wishing it were the other way around. But if you're not born with a silver spoon in your mouth, forget it. You have to work for what you want. And work I did. The only time I took off from working a job is when I had my daughter and I gave her 100% of my time for the first three years of her life.

I suppose I could have tried to do better but I never had the incentive, or the balls, or even thought that I was smart enough to start my own company. Doing what? That was the problem. No, I sat back and left the world go by. My choice at the time.

That's neither here nor there now ~ it just doesn't matter anymore. I no longer work for someone else. And I have never felt better!

I've had a whole year to look back on those days, especially the last job I held. When I first started working there things were so peaceful. It was just me, the terminal manager and an assistant to the terminal manager. Eventually more people were added to the payroll. Within six years the company moved to another town. What used to take me 3 minutes to drive to suddenly became 30 minutes. I wasn't going to move with the company, but the terminal manager talked me into it promising me I no longer had to type bills or answer the phone. My hours were changed so that I would be starting my job earlier and leaving earlier. And I took the bait. I thought that terminal manager would be there until I was ready to retire. Not. He was terminated. His replacement acknowledged my job specifications and things were still good.

Fast forward through yet another terminal manager and on to the one that is currently there. Not a pretty picture. He decided it was high time that I started answering the phones. Like I was fresh out of high school. What the hell is wrong with people these days that they think someone like me, who has been working longer than they have been living, should be relegated to doing menial jobs? And to me answering the phone was a menial job.

Sorry, I didn't mean to get so sidetracked. I guess I am still not over the reasons for my no longer being there. I had hoped that after a year the ugliness would disappear and I would feel better. (You'd have to see the man that left me go to understand and appreciate that last sentence.)

Luckily for me I saw the writing on the wall weeks before it happened. And so, little by little, I started cleaning out my files, drawers, everything I could take home that was mine. I stripped my Dale Jr pictures off the file cabinet. I stripped my bulletin board of everything that wasn't company related. And so, on that fateful day of June 1st a year ago, I was ready. All I had to do was gather up my purse and totebag and leave that god-forsaken place. Good riddance, I said as I breathed a sigh of relief.

Looking back on those days, the only thing I miss is the daily routine. I don't miss the long drive and I resented having to get up so dang early to drive in the dark that long. I resented sitting at my desk all day (including eating my lunch at the desk). I resented having to answer inane phone calls, acting like I really knew what I was talking about when it was a customer service call. Ugh! I also resented having to drive home in the dark at times only to come home and have a few hours of peace and then climb into bed knowing what was coming the next day. More of the same sh*t.

Just writing about all this depresses me. I really hadn't planned on such a long post, but I've had a year to think about this day. And I am glad to be out of that hell hole of a prison.

Looking back I realize one thing: I should have kept my enemies closer. But, damn, there were so many it was just too hard to keep track as they came and left. So I silently ripped their lips off, poked their eyes out, pulled out their tongues...well, you get the picture.

So now that this first year is behind me, I think it is best that I let go of what was and dig into what can be. Wish me luck.

A Quiet Memorial Day

We started the day off by having breakfast at a local diner. Nothing special. We then went to Home Depot because we need a certain wood protector for our newly purchased 6x12 trailer shown here.



We bought it on Saturday. It was just built last month and the man who owns the place where we bought it uses a certain brand of wood protector and we want to keep using the same brand. When we inquired about the protector at Home Depot, we were told to try Lowes. Not in my lifetime. I will never step foot into a Lowes store. Why? Because that is Jimmie Johnson's sponsor thankyouverymuch and you all know how I feel about him and his dang Lowes.

Our next stop was down the road at a plant/flower nursery where we bought two of these baskets for my front porch:





Our next stop was to find a microwave to replace the one we have that has gone insane. I swear it is possessed. It stops in the middle of cooking at times. And worse yet it starts itself when there's nothing inside. We found this one on sale at a really nice price.



It's stainless steel; I've never had one of them. It takes up less room than our current microwave but has a higher wattage and much faster cooking time. I like things done fast.

With all our goodies in tow it was finally time to go home and relax. We had also picked up lava rock for the gas grill which I haven't used since '04. I just wasn't in a grilling mood last year and made everything inside on my George Foreman grill. So I dusted off the grill outside, hosed it down (with the lid closed, of course), laid the new lava rock inside and turned it on. Nothing. I tried again and still nothing. OK time to call the husband (when all else fails that is what I do). He thinks the striker doesn't work anymore. So he lit it with my long butane lighter that I use to light my jar candles. And I took it from there.

All in all we had a nice quiet day, just the two of us.

Fast forward to Tuesday morning when I went out to feed the cats (with my camera in hand). Here's one of the triplets. It was all I could do not to scoop the little fella up and run.



But here is its mama and she takes good care of her babies. I know she wouldn't let me get too close to it.