So Angry I Can Spit

My lawn care guy up and quit on me.  I knew he was getting married, but I had spoken to him about a month ago and it seemed like things were on track.

Yesterday I sent him a text to see if we were on schedule for this week. I knew he had a 3 week honeymoon. (It must be freaking nice) He responded late, he wasn't doing grass cutting this year..and maybe my boss' son or a neighbor kid could do it.

WTF!

Seriously, I always liked this guy. He was kind and seemed smart. But no joke, this is not how you treat someone. He could have at least done one week.

My lawn looks like shit right now, because I was expecting it to be done this week and because of the monsoon like weather we were having.

Thankfully my brother in law will be able to do my lawn, because otherwise I'd be screwed.

Also this guy was the one that was going to look at my bathroom for me to see if doing the wall surround was a viable option..so yeah, I'm doubly screwed.

Whatever Happened to Family Sitcoms?

If you watch a lot of classic tv and hang around the channel's message boards/Facebook pages etc, you'll see a lot of people bemoaning the lack of good tv.

Well there is good tv out there, you just have to look for it, but really the family sitcom seems to be a thing of the past. The Middle was really the only show in recent years on the major networks that the whole family could watch. It was also good in the way that you didn't have a "smart mom" and "stupid dad" thing going on..or even better...the goofy looking dad and the "hot mom."  It kind of falls under the Leonard and Penny thing from Big Bang Theory. How does a goofy looking smart guy get a girl like Penny, even when THE HAVE ABSOLUTELY NOTHING IN COMMON.  Sorry, that whole dynamic has always bugged me, especially when Howard and Sheldon both end up with equally smart partners.

Early sitcoms had parents at least on equal footing or absent parents..because the dad's were always widowers. The family sitcom starting dying in the 90s, after The Cosby Show ended its run. Sure shows like Full House, Family Matters and of course Home Improvement lasted well into the 90s..and later Boy Meets World..but the amount of shows with family being a central figure...and without sex being the premise of almost every episode, has faded into obscurity, especially if you don't watch cable.

Its really a sad sorry shame that this type of programming can't make a comeback.

What's your favorite family sitcom?

Oh and as an aside, Disney really did the best sitcoms in recent years, like Good Luck Charlie (which my dad loved) and The Wizards of Waverly Place.

I Am Mad At Mommy

Is it wrong of me to be mad at my mother, even though she's been gone almost two months now?

I'm mad because I'm going to be working two jobs, not because I want to, but because I have to.

I've said before, I would never have changed what I did for her, daddy or grandma. I love them all with every fiber of my being. There weren't opportunities at the time that would have taken me away from them, and truth be told, I didn't go looking.

I am mad that we didn't start trying to get more stuff in order before it came to this. That I didn't have the chance to get on the budget plan for my gas bill.

I guess this is just beating a dead horse, and lordy that sounds awful considering, but I would have liked to have been better prepared for what I'm dealing with right now.

I'm doing my best to make a go of it on my own, but its scary and I don't have many people I can turn to for help.

Will Someone Explain This To Me

Since the Grand Jury report has been released there has been so much said about the Catholic Church and the sexual abuse by priests that was covered up for years.

This is what I need explained.

How did parents not notify authorities. I mean who did they go to that allowed the hierarchy in the church to sent priests to rehab. WTF rehab for pedophilia? Is this really a thing?

Did our police not go after these guys?

I just don't understand.

I grew up Catholic.

Two of my parish priests were on that list.

I'm angry at a lot of things involving this. I'm angry with the church for the culture that allowed this to happen. Seriously, priests need to be able to marry. It would foster normal relationships with clergy.  How can you take marriage advice etc from a man that's never been married?

I'm angry that someone justice wasn't served for decades...probably more than that.

I just don't understand. If my child was harmed, I'd go kicking and screaming after them.

I'm Done With Summer

I'm sick of hearing the word "vacation."

I haven't had one since well before my father got sick and he'll be gone 4 years this Nov. I'm sick of other people whining that they can't go on vacation.

Look, I know I can't go. I have responsibilities to my mom and to my kitties. I also don't have any money or anyone to share the expenses of even a weekend trip.

I also have shingles that fell off my roof.

Sometimes you have to just suck it up and deal with it.

I've been dealing with it.

Its making me a little bit bitter, but I'm dealing with it. As long as I get a coffee or so from Perked Up Cafe or Starbucks, I'm ok.

I can always look at pictures of Cape May or Atlantic City or Boldt Castle or Put In Bay...or even Erie.

It won't make it better, but it will remind me that its out there.

People Need To Give A Damn

I was taking my afternoon walk through my small town of Charleroi On Mon and I've come to the conclusion that the poorer you get, the less likely you are to care about how your home looks.

My town's median income is below the poverty line...go ahead google us.

The rental properties all look like hell. The lawns are full of toys and are just messy. The curtains and blinds look like they've seen better days, if in fact they have them, and not just a blanket or something hung over the window to keep out the light. WTF people.

If not for my mother I wouldn't have much, but I still take pride in my home. I don't want to live in a hovel. I like my things to look nice. I may not be able to have expensive things, but I want to be proud of what I have.

I truly can't understand why anyone would want to live in filth.

There are places where you can get curtains or any decorations to pretty up a place cheap. Seriously, Big Lots, Dollar General, Family Dollar...I could go on.

If you don't have any pride in your living area, how can you have any pride in yourself. Which makes it hard for anyone to pull themselves up out of poverty.

You have to care.

It sucks to be poor, but there's no excuse for living in a pigsty. Cleaning products are sold at Dollar Stores.

It really isn't hard to clean up after yourself and make your space in the universe look decent.

Why is this an argument?

Here's another reason why I should stay off of social media: The Kindle/E-reader argument. I am so sick of people arguing the book over ereader thing.

I have a house full of books. I also have an ereader full of books.

Why do we have to argue about this?

It burns me up.

Everyone should read the way they want to read. If you have limited space, an ereader allows you to have as many books as you want, without taking up space.

Every reading group I belong to on Facebook has a post about this at least once every day or so. I think people just like to argue and it makes no sense.

People should read, whether it is a book, or an ereader, or if it is on a tablet or phone.

Things I Don't Understand.

I don't understand all the hate in the world. I watch the news and I try to understand. There are always going to be different belief systems when it comes to politics.

At one point in time I could understand both parties.

These days, not so much.

I understand not wanting the country in debt.

I don't understand not wanting healthcare for all Americans.

I don't understand people that think it would be awful for their children and their children's children to have cheaper college educations. Just because you are saddled with debt doesn't mean the upcoming generations need to be. The more educated we are, the more jobs and new ideas there will be.

I don't understand people that don't read. Books are such a fabulous thing and so much better than most TV and movies these days.

I don't understand hatred of one particular group of people.

I do however understand how instilling fear can cause that to happen.

I don't understand how we can let the fear take over our lives and in all actuality let the terrorists win. There's a fine line between making things safe and making things a prison.

Its a sad world we live in.

I need to give up Facebook

Facebook is the devil.

I got started there because of a friend that played one of those stupid farm games.  I've made some wonderful friends there, but Facebook is detrimental to my health.

Why you ask?

I have a tendency to read comments.

On political posts and recipe posts.

That is enough to make anyone's head explode.

Not to mention those time sucking games. The are freaking addicting. I really want to increase my reading next year. I am at 100 books so far this year. I'd really like to go for 200 next year, and I think the only way to do that is to abandon Facebook.

Plus it would be nice to get back to more regular blogging.

Facebook Brings Out The Stupid In People

I have met a great number of good people through Facebook, however when I read comments on food sites or political sites...no even worse entertainment/pop culture sites, I know that there is no hope left for mankind.

We are well and truly doomed.

There was an article posted about how millennials don't want grandma's heirloom silver and china. This is really not always the case, but I made the mistake of reading the comments after reading the article.

Big mistake.

Someone commented that all millennials want to do is rebel, protest and kill unborn children.

WTF.

What the serious fuck.

I understand that there are many viewpoints out there. There will always be more liberal minded people and other more conservative.

But let's be serious.

Why do people think that women want to have abortions on a whim?

Its not a choice I'd ever want to make, and people that I know who have had abortions have weighed their options heavily.

Also, if you find abortions so abhorrent, wouldn't you rather have birth control readily available to any woman that wants it?

Plus, most people that are pro life tend to be anti-welfare..

Which to me is a catch 22, but I wont go there, because that's a whole different can of worms, but lets just say that low income single parents seem to be the one's you see on the news when their babies are abused or murdered.

So I'll leave that out there for you to ponder.

And now I'll just go and play a few Facebook games

Stupid Photobucket

OK, so I thought I'd try to fix the broken image links which were hosted in my two photobucket sites.,

That lasted about 15 minutes as I tried to edit an old blog post from way back when. (Like back in 2002).

Nope it wasn't happening.

But that was when my blog had a different address, so maybe that was why I could do nothing.

I have a tendency to be a perfectionist, so knowing their are broken links on some of my blogs just really irks the hell out of me.

I think going forward I'm going to use very few images in my posts unless they are from my phone or something of the like, so I don't go crazy.

~sigh~

Let's Talk About Climate Change

OK, some of you don't believe that climate change is real.

I feel sorry for you.

The climate of the earth has been changing...

Dinosaurs are gone...we've had an ice age.

Sure with some there was an meteor or something that caused the changes to the planet, but what about what's going on now.

Why are the ice caps melting?

I think what people really don't understand is that in the last 200 years we've had more developments that caused us to use our natural resources. Coal and other fossil fuels send gases into our environment. Not to mention what we do when we drill.

I wasn't the best student when it comes to science, but I understand that there have been changes in the weather where I live in the 42 years that I've been alive.

I remember there would be days at a time when it would rain. I can't really remember when we had all day rains for any amount of time.

Our changing weather patterns alone should make people wonder.

How much of this is man made?

Heck if its even a small percentage, why don't we want to do something so that we don't speed it along. After all, this is the planet we hope our children and grandchildren etc will make their home.

Why do we want to waste money on coal when we could be researching clean energy. Why aren't there more wind farms?
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Seriously, why would you want your husband, father, brother, child working in a coal mine?

Yes, we need more blue collar jobs, because not everyone is suited for college, but couldn't they be in industries that aren't sending our planet to hell.

Granted if you are like me and keep a tin foil hat in the closet you might think, "Hey, Mars might have had life and look at it now."

Maybe I'll just wait for the aliens to come and take us somewhere else.

Everyone Needs To Chill Out

I've come to the conclusion that when it comes to the holidays Americans if not the world, need to chill the fuck out.

We make everything to damn hard and we make ourselves crazy for a few days that end much too quickly. It usually leaves us depressed too.

Our expectations are high and the outcome is very seldom what we want.

We all need to stop worrying about stuff.

Here are some things to think about.

Thanksgiving is just another dinner.

No one needs thousands of dollars worth of presents.

2 days shouldn't make you crazy or broke.

Chill out. Make turkey, your potato of choice, stuffing and a veggie and enjoy your meal.

Buy nice gifts that you can afford.

Chill out.

Oh and if a store clerk says Happy Holidays and not Merry Christmas..

REALLY CHILL THE FUCK OUT!

Christ can still be in Christmas without the world ramming him down everyone's throats.

CHILL OUT

Rushing The Season

I was at the store yesterday doing  my usual shopping when I came upon the creamers.

One part of the store had all the pumpkin stuff. (geeze)

The creamers were all ready for Christmas.

CHRISTMAS

Spiced Latte, Marshmallow Hot Chocolate, Peppermint Mocha (Not to mention pumpkin spice on the other side of the refrigerator case)

Can I just say that this is absolutely nuts.

It is the middle of August.

Isn't it bad enough that Halloween candy is out. (Seriously decorations I can deal with but if I buy Halloween candy now, it will be eaten long before anyone can come knockin' at the door).

I can't even begin to think of either holiday when its so darn hot outside that when you step out of your door you start to melt.

PS...any city dwellers see flying roaches yet?

Remember When?

TV networks are cheap.

We can see that by all the reality crap that they put on every day.

Yuck.

But what really gets me is when talk shows are reruns.

Come on? Are we that cheap? Apparently so.

I hate when stuff like the Tonight Show etc aren't new. I mean why can't they get guest hosts when Jimmy is off? They did it for Johnny Carson back in the day. Surely there are enough people that can do the job?

These shows involve pop culture and world news. Reruns are just...blech!

Its bad enough we don't get any good tv in the summer.

Dear TV execs, some of us can't afford to go on vacation. I know I never will see another one in my life...yeah and I'm just 42.

Blech.

So could you at least give me something to watch, besides Ancient Aliens.

Oh and a side note to Stephen Moffat, screw you for keeping Doctor Who off my telly until Christmas

Stop Telling Me How To Live My Life

I am so sick of celebrities telling us how to have a wonderful, healthy life.

I saw Kate Hudson the other day promoting this book.

I think most women wouldn't mind looking like Kate, who for those not in the know, is Goldie Hawn's daughter. If you don't know who Goldie is...well then I feel very old.

But back to the case in point, she's telling us how to get moving, but as she does it she says one little thing that sets her apart.

She was athletic from the time she was a little girl.

That my dear Kate is why you are a skinny little thing. What about those of us that aren't? I haven't an athletic bone in my body. I can't dance and exercise is just not fun.

Healthy ways to love my body?

It would be nice if these women that can afford trainers and instructors and stylists could grasp the fact that most of us just can't sit back and meditate and run a couple of miles or even get to the gym and that compiled with the stresses of day to day life make it damn difficult to love our bodies, let alone do anything healthy.

Damn it, I  want to find ways to get dinner on the table in about 30 minutes, without consulting Rachael Ray, who makes an awful lot of hamburgers and pasta.

I am sick of actors and actresses selling their brand of snake oil.

On that note, why can't reading burn butt tons of calories?

Stupid Cough

About a week ago I ended up with a cold. I was totally miserable. I had a cough, but it seemed to go away.

Until this weekend.

The cough is back with a vengeance.

I have always been a person that gets a cough that lingers and when I cough so hard that my head feels like it is going to explode.

Yay for misery.

Especially when I've got a big dinner to cook this week. Not that it matters, since no one comes for Thanksgiving anymore, and they never did even in the past years.

It is lonely.

I enjoy cooking, but I only cook for the same people all the time and no one comes to visit.

~sigh~

Stupid Cell Phones

I hate cell phones.

My Virgin Mobile Supreme is about years old and in cell phone years, that's pretty old. It was a pretty good phone too at the time. It was about $200 when I bought it.

Now there's nothing comparable to it.

All Virgin Mobile offers are the cheap bottom of the barrel phones or the super expensive Galaxy/iPhones which I neither need or want.

My service month is nearly up and I use between 1-2 GB of data and I pay $59.50. I'm actually getting 8 GB of data for that price, not that I have a phone that will do anything to use it.

It is so frustrating especially when your phone is on its last legs.


Grrr

Its Been Awhile

I don't know why I can't get back on the blogging bandwagon again and I really want to.

Can you say house issues?

I swear, I'm going to call this house "The Money Pit".

Remember that movie?

The sewer backed up today.

Yay!

So the plumber is coming out this afternoon.

Oh and the toilet seat broke and the plastic nut seems to be permanently attached.

I freaking GIVE UP!

And on an entertainment front....Damn Jon Stewart for leaving when there's so much crazy going on in the news!

Moving Sucks

Most of you know the old homestead is a three bedroom deal, 1 bath a living room, dining room and a kitchen.

Do you know how much stuff can accumulate in this much space since 1967?

A LOT!

Do you know how hard it is to move BY YOURSELF! With little to no help from any family members? ESPECIALLY THE ONES THAT LIVE IN THE AREA!

I've hauled over cooking supplies. I've hauled over some clothes (But I'm trying not to take stuff off the hangers since they are only moving 6 blocks down the road). I've hauled books.

Note the word, "I".

No one else.

The nephews have helped take stuff in but trust me it isn't much and the youngest nephew put together my bakers rack, but as far as helping me get more stuff than my Focus can haul. Well that's all been on me.

Pardon me while I scream.

Loudly!

At least when the furniture gets moved I'll have some help.

YAY!