I just can't get on the political soap box. I've tried, but I keep falling off. The political rhetoric starts in and it makes me sleepy. But since the political debates are on everyone's mind and pages, I'll try to keep on topic.... sorta.
I'm going to discuss the (nowadays) politically incorrect topic of kids and guns. Every debate has two sides, and this one is mine.
My son is involved with Shooting Sports with the 4H.
Yes, that nice, sweet little 4 leaf clover iconic group is armed. Unfortunately, these days to bring up the topic is poison. You don't mention kids and guns in the same sentence without shuddering. This post is not meant in ANY way to make fun of the danger of guns. So please, don't take offense.
If I touch on a nerve, I appologize. But there ARE some good things to be said, and if any of you have boys (or girls), you might understand.
I have 3 sons. I decided not to buy them toy guns when they were growing up. When they got to be about the age of 5 or so, I found out that in the hands of little boys, just about anything goes "bang." Cars went bang, the broom went bang, action figures went bang, kewl sticks went bang, bang, bang. In fact almost everything began to go bang. So I bought them toy guns that didn't resemble real guns. You know, green and purple guns or such. Soon after, cars returned to being cars, action figures became action figures, and sticks went back to whatever sticks do. And guns were no longer objects of fascination for my sons...well for two of them at least.
Which brings me to my point.. I know, I know.. it takes me long enough!
When my youngest son was in middle school, the 4H Club held a meeting for all the kids to talk about the clubs available. One club they were offering was a BB gun shooting team. That's all it took. My youngest was ecstatic. He lovd guns. So much it worried me. So to channel that interest, we joined the 4H Club'sBB gun team. It's a wonderful program. He was a team member 4 years. The team went to District and State competitions and small area meets too. Imagine 200+kids at these events, all with BB guns and not ONE person was ever hurt. No accidents with guns ever happened in the program for the 4 years (in fact before or since) that we were involved.
Now at 17 years old, my son is a competitive shooter with 4H and the ROTC in the Air Rifle 'Division'. There is an age limit for BB gun team members and when he reached it, he didn't want to quit shooting competitively. Together with another parent and the help of 4H we started our county's first Precision and Sporter Air rifle team.
We (he shoots, I watch and do the 'Mom' thing - fingers crossed, etc.) participate in a shooting event almost every month at Ft. Benning, GA. Matches are sponsored by the American Legion, Boy Scouts, and many other organizations. Some of the kids he currently competes against are literally world class shooters. There are Olympic shooters, World Cup Shooters, Junior Olympic Shooters, beginner shooters, ROTC teams, a wide variety skills levels are represented.
A perfect score on a target is a 10. To get a perfect score you have to hit the bulls eye which is the size of the head of a pin. It's the size of the head of a pin close up. Imagine how miniscule that pin head looks when it is down range10 meters (33 feet). You can't see it. All you see is a black dot. Inside that black dot are 10 rings. In the center of those ten rings is that pin head bulls eye. It ain't easy to hit!
Hey! Did you know that girls often out shoot the boys! (ssshh, we don't tell the boys that.) Many colleges have shooting teams, too. Some even offer Shooting Sports scholarships. This weekend there is another match at Ft. Benning... soooo (yawn) Saturday morning my son and I will get up at 4 am, hewill blissfully fall back asleep in the Jeep, and I will drive for 2 1/2 hours so he can place 3rd (again) behind two shooters who just happen to live in our state and just happen to shoot in the World Cup, and be on the USA Jr. team. OY! They've been shooting for years and he's only been shooting precision air rifle for one year. So I remind him he's come a long way in a short amount of time!
So, in this politically incorrect day for shooting, there is still a different side to guns and kids mixing together and sometimes it doesn't have to be a terrifying thought or a sad story.
I am notoriously bad. Notoriously bad at picking the wrong thing at the wrong time. Or just the wrong thing period. I'm used to it. I have learned to adjust.
For example: I had a choice between a gorgeous patio set for my pool or buying stock for the first time in my life. I chose the stock. It was an airline stock. Need I say more?
Another case in point......
This year I was lucky enough to buy my house and decided to put in a pool. I still don't know how I managed to do this, but am thrilled ~ in spite of the glitches that continually pop up... Oh you know, glitches like Frances, Ivan, Jeanne... you've heard of them no? But it figures. I knew when I came up with the idea in May to put in a pool, that it would either, A) be the coldest summer in history; or B) be the rainiest summer in history. It's rained. Then it rained and rained, and then it rained.
Soooo, almost 4 months later, the pool still isn't finished and it's still raining. But as you can see at least somebody is getting to enjoy the pool. The neighbors dog. She's having a blast every day.... You just gotta laugh.
(hmmm maybe NOT so 'bad afterall. See the update.)
Tonight, I decided to see if "I" was having fun somewhere else in the world. I Googled my name to see if any of my 'alter ego/sisters' were leading more fun lives than I was. It's a moot question really... Just about anyone has a more interesting or fun life than I do... But here are the top ten searches that come up.
I found out that "I" am:
1. A critically acclaimed storyteller, performer, recording artist. ~ Interesting... cept the part about being in Alaska for a long time. I'm not a fan of cold weather... Pass!
2. I currently chair the department of Curriculum and Instruction for a University. Ummm, No. next....
3. I'm a scholar in the field of criminal procedure. ~Now this could have come in handy during the the fireworks episode at my house a few years ago when I had the usual suspects lined up... but that's another story.
4. I'm a professor who teaches Chemistry at the college level. Huh? I don't think so... tho I did get a chem set for one of my birthdays as a kid and LOVED it!
5. I'm in the medical profession dealing with Geriatrics. Ok, suddenly I'm feeling like I'm letting my name down!
6. I'm a designer of jewelry. Cute, but not my style... I prefer the Deco style.
7. A doctor. Again with the professional occupation? This was supposed to be fun. Suddenly I'm feeling very unworthy of my name again.
8. A school of dance 'I' created that became a technique for rehab. I wonder if she could help my two left feet.
9. A conservation assistant with an Ivy league school.
10. Another professor, this one of Language Arts at a college. Ok, so maybe I come by the the grammar police thing honestly.
Geesh.. What a party group WE are.
I love to read. I can go through a book in a day and would, if I could. (sigh) So many books, so little time. Like all addictions, this one too has to be monitored. I try to stay away from Barnes and Noble so my kids can eat on a regular basis. I won't even type up the word Amazon.com if I can help it. I don't want to think about how easy it would be to spend hundreds of dollars with the click of a mouse.
Although sometimes I do window shop there, making sure my debit card isn't anywhere near the computer. I'm weak, what can I say.My favorite reads are usually froth. Delicious, fun froth (my applogies to the authors for using this term). It really is a compliment... really! Froth is wonderful. It's life escaping.
Most of the time, I couldn't tell you the main character's name after I've finished the book (from no fault of the authors), but I can tell you whether it left me smiling or marvelling at the authors imagination. Some of the premises/plots that writers come up with make me feel soooo damn unimaginative.
I mean... what are they doing exactly when some of these ideas pop into their heads? What makes somebody think of creating a character who is ~ single, young and newly undead, AND is a vampire with a penchant for shoes? (Mary Janice Davidson ) I can remember the first time I realized that there were extremely witty, clever people out there in the world and that I wasn't one of them.
I was a teenager watching "The Happy Hooker." Yea.. that's what I said. Hey I was 16 or something... cut me some slack. Anyway, the scene that led to the sad realization that I was not one of these imaginative, creative minds was when Xavier Hollander (yes, I remember her name.. who forgets a name like that?!) was stripping for some corporate mogul a Wall Street or stock guy and he just wasn't responding... (men not responding HA! see we know this is fiction, but anyway)... She is standing on the Board Room conference table half undressed and sees his utter look of boredom and stops. To make a long story short, she then starts stripping again while talking about the Dow Jones rising and something took a dip in the market, etc. etc. and that more than does the trick (no pun intended) for him. A stupid movie, a generally forgettable scene to most. I sat there marvelling at the writers. I still marvel at writers.
I've been browsing J-Land alot lately... both the AOL Journals and the more private Blogger site we use, and every once in a while I stumble across a writer that takes me back to that Xavier moment. And I marvel, read in awe, just a wee bit wistful that I don't have the author's gift.
My self whining doesn't last for long because fortunately journals are free so it looks like there'll be dinner AND desert this month. Sometimes Life is just sooooo good!
I admit it. I love computers. I'm a computer geek of sorts. That's not the bad part. I'm a computer geek that is behind the computer curve. But that's still not the worst part. I'm a computer geek, behind the curve, who is now the backup network, IT manager where I work.
Now, I can crash a hard drive with the best of them, I promise. But I don't think that qualifies me to work with networks, servers and routers that connect our two offices. I mean I don't even know my DNS from my DCHP. WTF were they thinking when they came up with THIS bright idea?
Normally I am the very spoiled admin to the CEO. That means I send my boss out of town and get to play on the computer, not troubleshoot the mess.
It would be ok if the network was not problematic. Severely, critically problematic. It seems there's a severe lack of trust between the machines..... none of the servers are sure who's who in the scheme of things. Oh and like I'm going to be able to tell them which one they are?! pfft. All hard drives look alike to me.
But I can follow directions (when I want to) and I can push reset buttons without breaking a nail... and the real IT guy is patient, smart, and ultimately the person that gets the 2 am phone calls from my boss when the RAS goes down and he can't get his mail while travelling, even tho the computer's in one city, and the IT guy is in another and I'm at home asleep.
The worst part is working in the freezing cold computer room. I wonder if I can write off a new winter coat this year.
The conversation went something like this:
"State Farm, can I help you." And from there it was all downhill.
See, I've got a water leak. I know this because hurricane Frances came thru and my front living ceiling fell down, wet. Wet = Leak. See how that works. Simple, right? I have homeowners insurance, so wouldn't the rationale be that I was covered? HA! That's what I get for trying to be rational.
"Did a tree hit your roof?" the agent asked nicely, after taking down my policy number, etc.
"No, no tree. and it's not the roof. It's the bay window that's leaking I think. The room is on the middle floor of my house, it's not on the roof line," I offer.
"Did a tree hit the window?" She asked. I can see this isn't going to go well. (sigh)
"No tree hit my house." I replied, again.
"Was it storm damage?" She asked...
"Well, there is a storm. Hurricane Frances." I explained.
"But is it storm damage?" she asked again.
"Well," I try again.."there is a storm here, and my house is damaged."
"Did a tree hit your house?" she asked. So far she's tried to get that damn tree on the roof, the window and now she's shooting for the whole house.
"No. There is no tree involved. The heavy rain and strong winds from thehurricane have forced water into my house from somewhere, and the living room ceiling has partially collapsed." I give it one more try.
"So your roof is leaking."
Grrr... I'm ready to plant a tree on my roof about now. But I take a deep breath and continue..."No, it's the bay window, I think. I'm taking an educated guess here. It's kinda hard to tell at the moment where exactly the problem is coming from." I'm trying sooooooo hard to be calm now, which isn't easy for a redhead to do sometimes.
"Is there plumbing above the room?" YAY, she didn't ask a roof question! I might have a chance afterall.
"No, there is no plumbing above the living room. There is a bedroom."
"Is there a lot of water and damage?" She asked.
"Uhmmm," I look around at the soggy couch, pooled water, mushy ceiling drywall scattered everywhere ... "What's a lot?" I ask...
"More than your deductable." she crisply replies.
"I don't know. I haven't had time to get a 'construction guy' out here to look at the damage." (And I realize I have no idea WHAT my deductible is either!)
"Well, since there wasn't a tree that did damage, I'm not sure this is covered. Call back the Claim office this afternoon and one of the claim teams will talk to you." end of conversation.
So I get "construction guy" out here 2 days later. Turns out the damage was less than my deductable. (Learning curve) I make a note to seriously review my homeowners policy and make some changes, and tell "construction guy" to go ahead and fix the problem. YAY! It's caulked, sealed and new drywall is up! I'll take a loss on the couch, clean the carpet, and will plant a tree close to my house just in case I need one one day.
Then Ivan hit.... and so did the ceiling, again. Seems it's more than the bay window...
Quick! Anybody got a spare tree?
I asked for it, didn't I. I said.. "I'd glady trade him for 'Water guy'."
Thursday, the "Water guy' showed up. Boy was that quick.
Ivan have you met Frances?
What do you do with no power, a house leaking like a mini on a bad day, 5 kids deciding your house is to be "hurricane central", and no possible chance of escape? You open up one of the garage doors for light, set up table and chairs out there, grab a deck of cards and play Spades as the winds blow debris past the house.
For extra fun you place a side bet on which will fill up with water first, the unfinished pool or the front living room. And, last but not least, you have a really great night with your kids and a few of their friends.
Ok. Now I've lost the traditional car key in my life. I've even searched hours for a pair of shoes I couldn't find. I've lost pens, clothes, directions and even misplaced my mind a few times...but I've never come close to losing anything THIS big. AND, if I ever do lose something this big, I'm sure as heck gonna do whatever I can to find it!
So this entry is because of the news report I watched of a clip of from ABC news with Diane Sawyer interviewing retired Lt. Col. Derek Duke... Bless his heart...
Diane Sawyer: "...During the cold war the United States lost 11 nuclear bombs...."
Ok folks, think about this... Ya lost an H bomb. Well actually 11 of them so it seems. But then again, who's counting? Ok, maybe somebody's counting but is anyone looking for them? I lost a sweater once in grade school and my Mom went nuclear. It wasn't even a hydrogen sweater. It was wool. She took the sweater away after I finally found it, cause apparently I couldn't be trusted with knitted apparrel at the age of 8. I didn't like the sweater anyway, it was yellow and clashed with my red hair..............................Anyway........
The story is that the retired Lt. Col. found an H bomb. The bomb is 100 time greater power than Hiroshima, about one a mile off shore, and in 12 ft of water. ( I have a friggen pool that is almost 12 ft deep!). It's off the coast of Savannah. WHICH incidentally is where I go to the beach every year. Good thingI never actually went in the water, I could of stubbed my toe and taken out the east coast.... But I digress....
Now if losing one H bomb isn't scarey enough (much less 11 of them) Ms. Sawyer has the ever quick wit that newscasters often have when interviewing people, to ask when he finds it, "...Do you set it off, do you detonate it?...." Uhhhhh, I'm not a rocket scientist, but I'm thinking the answer is...... umummm.... NO!? Which was the reaction of Mr. Duke (thank goodness cause he's the one that seems to know where it is and is going to aid in the recovery). It's so close to land they can pump the water away and make it a dry land recovery. Somehow that's not very comforting.
I'm not sure which bothers me more, people that lose H Bombs or people that want to know that when you find one, do you set it off......
Let's hope the recovery team doesn't have a reporter with them.
I swear I didn't ask for this. Ok, so maybe ONE night, I might have thought "It might be kinda nice to have a man around...." but I NEVER said the words outloud, or specifically asked God for it. I swear I didn't! I know better!
But, somehow I ended up with a few men anyway...That'll teach me to even vaguely think such thoughts. So now these men appear at my house a few times a week and I have to pay them. WHAT'S up with THAT?!! Anyway, here are a few things about the men in my life.....
First I have "Car guy": Car guy was referred by a neighbor. He was an out of work mechanic and comes to your house to fix your car. It's great. Well it's great as long as you don't actually need him to come work on your car.....Every night for the last two weeks he appears at my house.... I swear he smirks when he gets in his car and it starts and stops as it should.
Then there is.."Pool guy": "Pool guy" is all my fault. I admit it. I had this crazy idea of putting in a pool. Hence, I acquired pool guy. I've had him for 3 months now and I'm ready for a divorce, or at the very least a long separation. I'd gladly trade him for "water guy" if there was one around.
And of course you can't have "Pool guy" without "Tile guy." Tile guy is 70. Yes, 70. Coping and tile work took 10 days. I haven't seen him for a few days. He's either finished, or dead, I'm not sure which.
Then there's "Construction guy." Now I wouldn't mind "Construction guy" if he was like the ones in commmercials. You know, flanel, muscles, jeans that make your knees weak... but no, no such luck. But then I'm not keeping him so no matter. It would just make seeing him nightly a bit more enjoyable.
Anyway...after Tropical Depression Frances moved in, my living room ceiling moved out and I acquired "Construction guy." Hurricane Ivan is heading our way, so I'm hoping "Construction guy" will be finished and will move out soon. Of course "Construction guy', being a consctruction guy, had to notice the outside of my house (TaraII) is looking worn and promptly informed me that $5k would fix all the wood trim/paint/caulk and general repairs that were needed.
I wonder if I divorce "Pool guy" if I can get a settlement? pfft... forget that, I just hope I end up with a pool when that one leaves. I guess "Construction guy" and I will be seeing each other for a while.
There have been various other "Guys" around of late.... all with muddy boots and hands outstretched...
So when people ask me "Don't you miss having a man in your life?" I can honestly answer "Heck no, I'm too damn broke for one."
Disclaimer: (For those of you that may be confused and don't get my sense of humor... I am NOT dating/sleeping with/involved with any of these men....!!)
I swear by all that is mechanical, I hate cars. Hate em, hate em, hate em. Unless of course they run perfectly, then I adore them. But when do they do that?!!
The mechanical law of relativity says....."If one car breaks down in any way, shape or form; any other vehicles in your possession (or driveway) will soon suffer the same fate."
For example. Car #1 and Son #1. This car lives at UGA. It resides quietly in a very cheap parking lot (kneeling, giving prayer of thanks for that at least), and really shouldn't be driven except for trips for son #1 to come visit his adoring, wonderful Mom (me) on the weekends.
Nope, this car decided to stray to the student center to gather with friends to watch the Bulldogs (insert obligatory woof woof here) play somebody (I mean is there any other team but GA?, now really). It was studiously parked in the visitor parking lot and then promptly towed. Seems Son #1 didn't get the memo that the alumns coming in for the games (bringing their alumn money and RV's) get the parking lots.
He summoned up the courage to call me the day after and tell me he's lost his car. After much scheduling, much like an air traffic contoller, I arranged for son #3 to drive to college where son #1 lives and shuttle him to get his car.
One week later, and $270 poorer, son #1 is once again the proud non-driver of a car at college....meanwhile back at car lot central...
Car #2 and Son #2: "Mom", he says tentatively. "My brakes sound 'funny'." I don't know where he gets his sense of humor, cause I don't call the sound of crunching, grinding, and barely stopping, "FUNNY."
Without this car, son #2 can't get to HS, ROTC, Shooting practice, Anime meetings, and generally ANYWHERE and becomes a nightmare, sulking around the house. Happiness is not free you know, so I place a call to the "Car guy". "Car guy" says he will be out to take a look at the car.
A week later "Car guy" appears. (See the "Man report" to be written later). "Car guy" gets in car... and guess what?! Car won't start. "Well," I think.. "at least now I don't have to worry about the brakes."
Back to air traffic controller mode as "Car guy" makes a list of parts I'm gonna need... and NO, the parts didn't come in, so now car #2 is resting on jacks in mydriveway, waiting. My neighbors love me.
Car #3 and Son #3: "Mom", says Son #3. "When "Car guy" comes back here can he look at my breaks too?" I suddenly have the urge to throw myself under the jacked up car. "Sure hon, why not." It's futile to resist. I know what is about to happen next.
Car #4, Mine. So, now I have schedules worked out while we wait for parts, "Brakes for everyone!" the car guy declares.... I pat my Jeep lovingly, whispering... "nice Jeep, nice Jeep". It rebels when you call it a car. I pull into the parking lot at work and turn the key and..... sigh..... it won't turn and come out of the ignition. Ok. I try to crank it again.. nothing. Dead. Not even the radio comes on. turn, twist, swear, jiggle, plead, try to trick.... nope that key ain't going anywhere.
I knew I should have laid down under that other car while I had the chance.
Get "Car guy" on the phone... "Car guy" is almost as incredulous as I am, 'cept he's happier, cause I'm supporting his family this month. I finally got the Jeep to crank on/off again, but the key is still stuck in the ignition. I stare at the Jeep thru the office front windows, hoping "it" can't hear me cursing at it. "Car guy" will come by tonight with the parts for the other two cars and look at mine while he's there. Assuming of course the Jeep will crank again and I can get home.
Make a note to be nice to the lawn mowers, I think..... I'm figuring anything with wheels and an engine is out to get me this month. I already have a car on jacks in my driveway, the last thing I need is uncut grass in the yard. I mean I may be southern, but at least I don't have to look like it.
