patchwork and politics

I usually stay out of politics, but this story caught my attention. While typing away I was halfway listening to the Today Show in the background. It was Monday morning after Hillary Clinton announced her run for presidency on Sunday.

They were discussing the logo being used for her campaign, the tweets that went out about how it looked like different things, from the symbol for Hospital to flags of different nations. Then I heard the word 'quilt' and stopped typing to watch the story. Someone had used Hillary's logo to make a picture of a virtual quilt, very creative.  (pictured at top)

I googled Hillary Clinton quilt and found another recent story about her and a quilt, this one from Huffington Post about an excerpt from her book, where she is talking about the gift of a quilt she received at the birth of her granddaughter:

"Among all the gifts and cards that arrived not long after Charlotte did was a package … [where] inside I found a red, white, and black patchwork that included panels with inspiring inscriptions and famous photos of Chelsea through the years. I held it up to the light and had to smile at the familiar images. A 'memory quilt' was a good name for it," she writes.

"I wondered for a moment what a quilt of my own life would look like. There were so many people who had taught me so much. And now I had one more. In just a few months, Charlotte had already helped me see the world in new ways. There was so much more to do. So many more panels waiting to be filled in. I folded up the quilt and got back to work.”

I went to Hillary's twitter page just to see it, and found her profile description amusing:

LOL hair icon, pantsuit aficionado.

Not an endorsement, just interesting at this point. Maybe one of the other candidates will talk about quilts, if so I will let you know! 

senior advice

went to lunch with my OLDer sister-in-laws (? sisters-in-law), today is the OLDest one's birthday (Kay Curbow is 72!). These two OLDer ladies ordered first, receiving the SENIOR discount, then the server gave me the senior discount by association - GEESH!

These ladies are always entertaining and have a wealth of experience to share with us younger folks, like…

Always take your coupons

Always ask for the senior discount

And my favorite - advice on greeting cards - from my sister-in-law Sue some random person… "I have a whole collection of greeting cards - birthday, anniversary, valentines, every special occasion I just pull a card out of my stash and give it to my husband Alan, he admires it and thanks me and lays it aside - after a few days I pick it up and put it back into the stash for next year. I make sure not to put any dates or ages, he doesn't remember, I have been doing that for years!" ladies - let's keep this one a secret!

senior mail

Son-in-law Keith walks in and sees our mail on the kitchen counter 

and says to Buddy, "Didn't you used to get Playboy?"

and last but not least - we watched Last Vegas over the weekend, 

it was pretty good! (for a bunch of senior citizens)

got the time?

How do you tell time?

How do get the time? 

Look at your phone? 

Call Time and Temperature?  

Google it?

Do you know what a clock face is?

Can you tell time by looking at the hands and face of a clock?

What if it has no numbers?

I saw this math clock in the dorm room at North Georgia College when I visited my niece. Makes you stop and think, doesn't it!

The big hand is on the… remember learning to tell time, I think it was in 3rd grade. Yes, way before digital clocks. 

Is it obsolete now? 

Does the younger generation even know how to tell time? 

Does it matter?

I type medical reports and recently typed 'the mass was in the 2 o'clock position in the breast' - which made me think, do they teach this in medical school - how to tell time so the physician will know what the radiologist is talking about? 

This week the news talked about the SAGE test: The Self-Administered Gerocognitive Exam (SAGE) is designed to detect early signs of cognitive, memory or thinking impairments. It evaluates your thinking abilities and helps physicians to know how well your brain is working.

I checked it out, it looks pretty easy. One of the questions: 

Drawing test
- Draw a large face of a clock and place in the numbers
- Position the hands for 10 minutes after 11 o’clock
- On your clock, label “L” for the long hand and “S” for the short hand

Probably the old folks who will be taking this test will have no problem with it, but I wonder about the younger generation? Maybe I will give this test to my grandkids… J

...if they have the time

is the ability to tell time is going the way of cursive writing- another 3rd grade lesson that is becoming obsolete

good intentions

a day late and a dollar short

so it is Jan 2nd and I am talking about new years resolutions, just one day late, but to be clear, I jotted some of these down over the last few days

and a dollar short - just finished a tally of income/expenses for the last year, whoa very enlightening - to see that we spent that much money - to see that I worked all year for that pittance amount - maybe enlightening is not the right word…

but back to the resolutions/ideas of things to do better this year/and excuses why they probably won't get done

lets face it, how many new years resolutions get accomplished, honestly?

lose weight, save money, you know how it goes, everyone has ideas posted on blogs and facebook etc., this time of year, so here are my thoughts

less clutter - more space 

less chair - more trail 

less coffee - more water

less junk - more fruit 

less surfing - more doing 

less sitting – more standing 

less standing – more walking

less solitaire - more social

less good intentions - more just do it

less hoarding - more giving

less facebook - more talking

less carpet - more beach

less work - more play

less texts - more hugs

change the view from looking out to being out

photograph something awesome

climb a mountain

create something beautiful and give it away

teach a craft

write a story

stop and smell the roses (but wait I can't grow roses), or stop and gaze at the mountaintops in the distance or watch the water flow in the stream or feel the soft pine straw underfoot on a trail or listen to the wind in the trees

as usual when making a list of resolutions, so many ideas flow out, only to be too many to accomplish and overwhelming, so just pick one or two, or if you like to make lists/organize then put them in order and start at the top, but you gotta try, if all of these ideas came out of your mind/subconscious then deep down these are things you really want to do, right? I know, day-to-day it is all about working and chores and repetitive menial tasks that will get in the way of your resolutions/ideas/dreams

so at this crossroad of old and new years, take a step back and look at the big picture, think about a year from now, will you be writing down these same wishes once again because you didn't accomplish any of them this year?

go ahead, pick one and just do it

you will be glad you did

and check back next year so you can cross it off the list

and have fun, isn't that why they say Happy New Year!

progress

In the past folks would write things down - important events like births and deaths - in the family bible and future generations could read them, see the handwriting of their ancestors, feel connected.

In the past families would be buried together in the family plot at the family churchyard and future generations would come on Decoration Day to gather with cousins and talk and share stories and compare family traits.

In the past pictures would be taken on special occasions and put into frames or albums and labeled with names and dates so future generations could see where they got their freckles or how tall their uncles were.

In the past folks would write down stories and publish them in hardback books that would sit on dusty shelves for years or maybe centuries and someone generations later would discover them and could just pick one up and read it, using only their eyes and mind.

Nowadays information and pictures and books are all on the computer or floppy discs or CDs or flash drives or memory sticks or e- or i- devices where future generations can… uh… wonder what these gadgets are and wish their family history didn't stop in 2000 when great grandpa got a computer. They will find and hold and read all the old classic books and wonder why folks stopped writing books around that same time.

What do you think? Progress? Or not?

The digital age is great - just take cameras for example - no more buying film or processing film and paying for prints. Now you can take as many pictures as you like - it's free! You can edit them and enhance them and delete the ones you don't like, and save them and… then what? Do something with them! You might get a computer virus or a hardware glitch and whoosh! Everything is gone. And even if nothing happens to them, they are stuck there in the machine, forgotten, never to be seen again.

Computers are great, the internet is wonderful for looking up stuff, sending messages etc., temporary stuff, but the long-term storage use?

And what about all those things you are saving onto discs now like precious family photos and important information - what is going to happen to it…

kind of like all those ballet recitals and school events that you lovingly recorded on VHS tape in the 1980s

and the trip around the country in the 1970s photographed with slides

what about the old home movies from your childhood in the 1960s that your dad used to show in the living room with the lights out using the movie projector and a sheet hung on the wall

So what is the answer? What to do about this rapidly changing format for storage of pictures and info?  Every so often do we need to pull out the old stuff and upgrade it to the new format, keep doing this over and over, as new storage is created? Is that the answer?

Is it too late for some of that stuff, are the old 8 mm home movies too deteriorated from being stored in the damp basement, or did you lose some pictures in a house fire, or maybe you inherited albums full of photos but the only people who can identify them are long gone. Don't let this happen to you!

The Washington Post has an interesting and timely article about doing something about it, NOW. One of the ideas listed is to use one of the online book making websites like Shutterfly or Blurb:

"Choose a focus for the book, perhaps zeroing in on images from a particular period of your life or one specific place you lived. Then write long captions related to these photos, sharing personal observations and details with future generations."

I like this idea - it accomplishes several things at once - old photos are identified with dates and names, and right along with the pictures - the family stories are told and recorded in print - and it is in a tangible form that can sit on the coffee table or gather dust on the shelf, to be brought out and passed around whenever families gather, and best of all to be found one day by a yet to be descendant who can say, "This is my family!"

sorting priorities

Post Office at Oak Grove, KY 42262

So I wonder what folks do around here for fun?

Watching movies is one of our favorite pastimes, so I guess we fit right in here!

circle of life

I saw this on friend Bonnie's blog - the biodegradable urn for cremated ashes, with a tree seed inside. "When planted, the tree seed is nourished by and absorbs the nutrients from the ashes." 

I like this idea.

For as long as I can remember, I have wanted to be cremated when I die. Maybe it was the funerals attended as a young girl. But mostly I didn't want to take up 6 feet of good earth, what a waste of land. If indeed your spirit leaves your body at death and goes wherever it is headed, why save the empty shell as a shrine? I don't save egg shells or mayonnaise jars after I get the good out. But anyway, the above urn is just one of the many things you can do with the ashes.

Many years ago I made out my will with a local attorney. One of the first lines in a standard will form is, "I want to be buried in a Christian like manner." That is when I said, "But I don't want to be buried." She changed the line to cremation and advised me to go to the local funeral director and share my wishes with him, because as she said, the will won't be read until you are already planted.

Next stop, local funeral director, where I asked all kinds of questions about cremation etc., and was told that the body was transported to the crematory in Atlanta. There is a crematory closer, but it would involve crossing the state line into Tennessee, and the body would have to be embalmed first to cross the state line. Anyway, back at the crematory in Atlanta. After the cremation, the ashes would come back to the local funeral home in a cardboard box via UPS.

So those arrangements were made, but I never did decide what to do with the ashes. Doesn't really matter, once again the good part is gone, I don't save coffee grounds either. We have a friend whose ashes were scattered at her favorite place, at a certain castle in central Florida, and a cousin whose ashes were scattered in a nearby state park. I imagine neither of these acts are condoned by the property owners, but no harm was done and the evidence is probably long gone now, absorbed back into the earth.

This biodegradable urn is a nice idea, plant a tree, and at first I thought it would be a good idea for me. But don't go out and buy a special container, recycle an old McDonald's cup or something!  And then I remembered my bad luck with growing most anything, and figured the tree wouldn't even sprout, LOL. 

So back to the question, what to do with the ashes? We have lots of woods, mountains, anywhere would be fine, and of course there is always the final FLUSH!  To my kids, don't take it too serious, have fun with it, just remember I am watching…

circles

take a break and look at the clouds

I've been running 'round in circles for a week or so, lots of work going on. Lots of work at my paying job - I asked my boss, "Lots of work, someone must be out?" "No, we are all here." Job security!?

t-shirt rug

Lots of work at home, so many projects, deadlines, I wonder when/if I can retire? But the day job pays for all the other stuff I do, so I guess I will keep on plugging along.

Just found out we may be moving to Kentucky soon for work, so my To Do List just got longer, things to do before I leave town. Things like income taxes, quilt to finish, several family birthdays coming up, a housewarming to plan, whew! I hope my resume says, "Works well under pressure!"

Last night was spent working on income taxes. I use a computer program to do Federal and Georgia taxes and e-file, but last year we also worked in Maryland and Kansas, so there are two more states to file… and I am too cheap to buy the programs for those two states. Tax preparation has really benefited from the computer age. I printed and filled out tax forms for those two states, old school, line-by-line with a pencil. Wow, that brought back memories, and not good ones! 

This morning I was working away (at my day job) and noticed the clouds and mountains out the window, so I just stopped, went outside, took a few deep breaths, taking it all in.

I was reminded of last fall (was it just 5 months ago that we were on vacation? it seems like ages) when we were in Glacier National Park. We were enjoying the beautiful view at Hidden Lake and a nearby photographer was complaining about the sunny sky, where are the clouds? Clouds apparently add depth and texture to an otherwise clear (and boring?) picture.   

Anyway, looking out at the mountains and clouds always make my tasks seem small in perspective, just try it sometime.

view from deck

summer memories

Remember vacation bible school when you were little? Arriving every morning at the church for a week, volunteer mothers would have crafts and games ready. Macaroni necklaces, recipe holders, place mats. Snacks of cookies and Kool-aid. Memorizing a bible verse every day. Singing Onward Christian Soldiers. I remember going to VBS at Epworth Methodist Church in Epworth, Georgia, I guess I was about 10. This is actually my first memory of attending a church, we had just settled here after moving around most of my life (army brat).

My next memory of vacation bible school was with my kids. I remember parents night at the end of the week out at Nine Mile Methodist. All the kids standing up in the front singing Deep and Wide, going through the motions, humming through the different stanzas.

And another one with my kids at Cartecay Methodist, with pastor Randall Massengill. This is the first one I remember being in the evening, after work, staffed by moms and pops with a few grandparents and teenagers in the mix (anyone they could enlist), everyone having something unique to offer. In contrast to many the many older pastors we had through the years, Randall was young and enthusiastic, and the kids loved him as did we all. I remember him cooking up a spaghetti dinner for everyone in the church kitchen. He loved to cook and always set a great example for the kids.

These VBS memories were sparked by a report I recently read about the VBS at Camp Morganton in Blue Ridge. The pastor is a high school classmate of mine, Denise Bryson Caldwell, and she apparently knows how to have a great VBS. Our high school art teacher, Kathy Thompson, was recruited to help the kids make tie-dye t-shirts (pictured above). Here is Kathy's report on Facebook:

3-day overnight Vacation Bible School at Camp Morganton. Slept on top bunk bed with kids. If you stayed here as a kid it is now air conditioned. Pastor Denise, her adult helpers and a Mission Team from Louisiana did a great job. Local kids, visiting teens. My job, tie dye.

Kids everywhere are making memories this summer at vacation bible school, memories of activities and games and songs and friends. They will treasure those memories and blessings they received this summer for years to come. Along with those wonderful shirts. I wonder what happened to that recipe holder I made when I was 10...


afterthought - granddaughter Madison has been helping out with VBS for a few years now, a special teenager giving a week of her summer to make some memories for this generation of vacation bible school kids.


~thanks to Kathy Thompson for the great picture!

bring plenty of film

You know when you are reading or scanning or just perusing a book and suddenly something pops out, grabs your attention, an obvious error or oversight. This is very helpful when I am proofreading my work, but when pleasure reading not so much.

I was looking over the travel guides we ordered for our trip out west. Sample itineraries, weather to expect, maps, when I turned the page and was surprised to see the heading "Gay and Lesbian Travelers" (in the section: SPECIALIZED TRAVEL RESOURCES, along with Travelers with Disabilities, Senior Travel, Women Travelers, Traveling with Pets):

"Wyoming and Montana do not have the reputation of being the gay-friendliest states in the Union. . . But larger cities tend to have a gay scene of some kind, and there is little for gay travelers to worry about. However, some of the more rural destinations are still rife with homophobia."

Wow, I was surprised, more like shocked, to see this. Do you think back in the 50s they had warnings about traveling as an African American? Anyway, I thought this information was a little outdated. I flipped back to the beginning of the book, published in 2010, very puzzling.

Then it happened again! Just reading along about the beautiful scenery when 4 words jumped off the page, obviously out of place:


bring plenty of film

OK, now I know this is outdated information - I cannot even remember the last time I saw a roll of film!

I realize if you are a travel guide book company, and have been publishing these books for many years, a lot of the information does not change. But a lot does. So you update and republish with a current date because who wants to buy a travel guide that is 10 years old, right?

Don't get me wrong, there is a ton of good info in this book, most of which I have not gotten through yet, so this is not a comprehensive review, just a little sample.

But, knowing myself, I will now be on the lookout not for trip info but for more outdated passages...

please and thank you

What is etiquette?

Websters: The conduct or procedure required by good breeding or prescribed by authority to be observed in social or official life.

Good breeding? Seriously, what are we, dogs?

Is etiquette dead? Is it my fault?

Where do you learn this stuff? At home? In school?

Etiquette - manners and how to set the table and sending thank you notes.

Yes, this was prompted by receiving a thank you note in the mail. I often tell young people not to bother sending me a thank you note, a verbal thank you is sufficient (or a hug), and most times they do just that. So my casual attitude is adding to the detriment of etiquette.

I was surprised to receive this small note in the mail, all the way from Georgia to Kansas, entirely hand-written even the address and return address, with a personal note and everything. I was also surprised about how much I liked receiving it!

I recently heard of a graduating senior who was reminded by her parents to send out thank you notes for all of her grad gifts, and the parents even bought the notes for her to send out. She printed out address labels on the computer along with a computer-printed message for the inside of the notes: "Thank you for your support!" In this age of computers and texting and email, how was she to know any different? This is probably the first time she has ever had to do this. Who's fault is this? The parents? The school? Society? [don't worry - the mother intervened and made her do them over]

And why is it so important? Or is it? Does anyone care? Isn't this an old-fashioned tradition? Is etiquette just another of the dying arts, on the list with cursive writing?

And don't even get me started on cursive writing! Speaking of cursive writing, this nice and proper thank you note that I received contained no cursive writing - very pretty printing, but cursive has already bit the dust I am afraid.

Emily Post was the official etiquette guru - believe it or not, her great-grandson Peter Post is continuing the family business. He says etiquette is not dead, and people are always asking him etiquette questions:

People have questions. They want answers. Not because it’s rocket science or because they really don’t know what to do. They want confirmation so they can be confident in their interactions with others, especially people they don’t know very well.

That’s the beauty of etiquette. It helps you be confident. So, no, etiquette really is not dead. If you have questions, ask. Until we meet, you can always go to the Emily Post blog, Etiquette Daily, and join the conversation, ask a question, and get your answer. ~Peter Post

Anyway, to all you graduating seniors out there, mind your manners, write your thank you notes, they are appreciated more than you know, especially by us grandmothers!

Manners are a sensitive awareness of the feelings of others. If you have that awareness, you have good manners, no matter which fork you use.
~Emily Post

stamps

While shopping online today, don't forget to order your holiday stamps here, they arrive in your mailbox in just a few days, and this year they even have holiday stamps that last Forever, no matter if the postage rates increase!

generation gap

Class is back in session and college teacher Bonnie discovers some interesting facts about this generation of students, such as - they don't write in cursive [seriously?] and they don't wear a wristwatch [I know, because whatever handheld device they are using has the time displayed!] Which brings up another question - can they tell time on a real clock with hands? Bonnie even found the teachers take notes on their Blackberry while she was scribbling away on paper.

The latest Mindset List is up to provide insight into the mindset of this generation of college student: It provides a look at the cultural touchstones that shape the lives of students entering college this fall.

Admittedly, about a lot of the things listed I am completely clueless, but here are a few of my favorites:

• Few in the class know how to write in cursive.
• Email is just too slow, and they seldom if ever use snail mail.
• They never twisted the coiled handset wire aimlessly around their wrists while chatting on the phone.
• Unless they found one in their grandparents’ closet, they have never seen a carousel of Kodachrome slides.
• They’ve never recognized that pointing to their wrists was a request for the time of day.
• Toothpaste tubes have always stood up on their caps.
• Having hundreds of cable channels but nothing to watch has always been routine.

For some reason this song comes to mind, something from my generation, about school and Kodachrome:


When I think back
On all the crap I learned in high school
It's a wonder
I can think at all
And though my lack of education
Hasn't hurt me none
I can read the writing on the wall

Kodachrome
They give us those nice bright colors
They give us the greens of summers
Makes you think all the world's a sunny day, Oh yeah
I got a Nikon camera
I love to take a photograph
So mama don't take my Kodachrome away
~Kodacrome by Paul Simon

the big yellow bus

It is that time again, the first day of school!

If you listen closely, you will hear the big yellow bus rumbling up the mountain road, pause, start again, and then the sound that pierces the silence of the surrounding forest, YeeHaw! School has started back, finally! WooHoo! This of course from the moms on this long-awaited first day of school. They get their life back, their house back, no more entertaining the troops or picking up after them, well until this afternoon...

All you young moms enjoy this day, I remember it well. Just remember before long they will all be gone and you can have this feeling every day like I do - woohoo! Um, I mean, wow, it sure is quiet around here, what will I do? (LOL)

anticipation

A perfect shiny summer day and a crowd of jittery children in clusters on the corner, about to board a yellow bus, their backpacks in a pile, their mothers giving urgent last-minute reassurances, and I stop and stare at this Large Life Event. Kids from nice homes being abandoned by their mothers in broad daylight and sent off...

The vast love of the mothers, who are on the verge of tears, watching their pups board the bus. (Do the brakes work? Who is the driver? Is he licensed? Sober? Might he be carrying a pistol? Are the wheels securely fastened to the hubs?)

...and now the innocent children are on the bus, it swings out into traffic: Oh God, no seat belts!! Have mercy. more...

If you like Garrison Keillor you will love this, A Parent's Prayer. He rambles on about life and experiences, his story sparked by the sight of kids waiting on the school bus, then in classic Keillor style wanders off onto other related thoughts, weaving them all together until he comes full circle to finish the intended story. I love to listen to him tell his stories. They are sometimes long and sometimes disjointed but always entertaining.

It is that time, the annual rite of leaving the nest that will eventually lead to that ultimate Large Life Event. Every summer's end mothers are just practicing for their inevitable future, some are elated, some are sad, but all must experience it, as kids grow up and life goes on.



~ listen to Garrison Keillor on his weekly radio show - A Prairie Home Companion, find a station near you here.
~ or download the Podcasts here.
~ you can also get Garrison's daily update of literary notes and poetry, The Writers Almanac.
~photo cover of Country Gentleman magazine September 1929 by William Meade Prince

1001 blog posts

Surprised to see this on my blogger dashboard - 1000 blog posts...

I am still not sure what it is, this blog, or why do it - just for fun, something to do, a journal?

It is like a word quilt, colorful scraps of life pieced together like patchwork, stories of family, friends, home, nature, hiking, camping, quilts, memories, books, coffee, and chocolate (not necessarily in that order)!

Or maybe like a self-published magazine with something different every day or so, pictures, stories, reviews. Archives for research - what was that recipe? Or the name of that campground in Florida? Or what were the grandkids up to 4 years ago?

But definitely - Writing so that some day I can read it - that some day being when I can't remember what happened...

my job description

You might be a medical transcriptionist if/when:

The last book you read on vacation was a diagnostic guide to
tendon injuries.

Someone yells duck and you start "air typing" d-u-c-t.

You start correcting people's grammar mistakes in a chat room
dedicated to discussing movies and TV shows.

You know your gluteus maximus from your olecranon process.

Your favorite 3 words are "end of dictation."



You refer to making your holiday turkey as prepping and
draping in the usual sterile fashion.

You guess the outcome of CSI in the first 5 minutes of the
show after hearing the (not-so-mysterious) mysterious cause of
death.

You can't go into a doctor's office without asking the
receptionist "Who does your medical transcription?" or
commenting to your own doctor that you think he's a bad
dictator, and you feel sorry for the MT working for him.

Your doctor tells you that you have a problem with your back
but doesn't want to confuse you with the details, and you ask
him -- "Were sagittal and coronal T1-weighted images performed
and T2- and proton density-weighted images also obtained?"

You think percussion is something that belongs more in a
medical report than in a rock band.



You say to your honey, "Skip the flowers and chocolate for my
birthday, and get me the latest version of Stedman's Medical
spellchecker."

You offer your landscaper 7 cents per line of grass for mowing
your lawn.

You press the left pedal in your car and you're surprised when
the car doesn't go into reverse.

Your neighbor comes to you to make a diagnosis based on a
series of symptoms and advise them on whether to have surgery
or not.

You can fix stuck keys on your computer keyboard by turning it
upside down and banging out the crumbs.



You have a Mr. Coffee within arm's reach of your desk.

The first place your husband and children look for you is at your
desk rather than in the kitchen.

Your husband and children wave their hand between your face
and the computer screen to get your attention.

You can fold laundry while sitting at your desk and listening
to the latest dictator who speaks 5 words in 60 seconds... and
still changes his mind 4 times on exactly how to put it.

You step on people's left feet to get them to repeat what they
just said.



You have a bladder capacity of more than a quart.

You have a bookshelf by your desk in which no two books are
the same color.

Your wrist rest has food spots on it.

No one who doesn't know how to touch type can use your
computer keyboard because at least half the keys have the
letters worn off.

Your friends have to learn your macro names in order to read
your emails to them.



Your husband and children have to learn your macro names in
order to read the notes you write them.

You are the only one in your family who can understand the
clerks at the 7-11.

You find watching only one TV screen at a time boring.

You correct the pharmacist's spelling.

It aggravates you that the keys on the telephone keypad are in
a different order than the keys on the 10-key pad on your
computer keyboard.



You have a mini refrigerator sitting next to your computer
tower.

More than half the icons on your desktop have to do with drugs
or dictionaries.

There are more coffee cups in your office than there are in
the kitchen.

You have your Mr. Coffee plugged in to your UPS (battery
backup).

Your friends want you to go to their doctor appointments with
them so you can act as an interpreter.



You go to the doctor with your spouse who tells the
doctor, "She's a medical transcriptionist, so I'll let her tell
you what's wrong with me." To this, the doctor
replies, "OK...would you prefer to tell me, or do you want to
type it?"

You flip back and forth between work and newsgroups.

You watch television commercials for prescription drugs very
closely to see what the generic form is and how both are
spelled.

You get an invitation to something that specifies "work
attire" and you wonder if that means fluffy slippers, flip
flops - or if it would be okay to show up barefoot.

You go to start the car to go to the grocery store and find
the battery is dead. You don't know how long it's been dead.

wasting time

Recently I needed to leave at noon, but wanted to get a day's work done, so I made a schedule and followed it strictly. Apparently I do better with a deadline.

Cutting out all the distractions - facebook, blogging, games people play, I find that I can get done with my work much earlier.

So on these beautiful spring days when I want to be outside or doing anything other than sitting at this desk, I buckle down and just do it, the work that is, and git-r-done early so I can go outside and play.

So when the boss comes around be sure you aren't playing solitaire, easy enough, but what about when you are the boss, who is to keep you in line and focused? What are your distractions?

dang, I just wasted 15 minutes on this blog post...

mail for oldies

Buddy gets this magazine in the mail, it is only for him as he meets the demographic... but sometimes I sneak and look at it when no one is around.

Really, I only read the articles...

This month there was a good one about movies for grownups - The Blindside, seen it,loved it! Julie & Julia, seen it, like it - It's Complicated - want to see it, waiting for it to come out on DVD. Some IRA advice (as if anyone had any extra money to invest) and some brain puzzles (use it or lose it).

The cover this month is appropriate, some wrinkled old man, apparently not enhanced by surgery or photoshop like some other magazine cover models...

And a good article about the man on the cover, Michael Douglas on life and the importance of family, trying to enjoy what time he has left with his father and kids, saying, "Time is moving fast - it's moving really fast. I'm just trying to slow it down."

moonshadow

this picture made me think of "moonshadow",
which made me think of Cat Stevens,
which made me think of hearing his voice
on a commercial the other day where he sings
"if you want to sing out, sing out"

it is good to hear his voice again,
to be reminded of the good old days,
of the songs we used to listen to
like "peace train" and "morning has broken"...

I'm being followed by a moon shadow
moon shadow-moon shadow
leaping and hopping on a moon shadow
moon shadow-moon shadow

listen to him on the commercial here