150th Anniversary

"Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate, we can not consecrate, we can not hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."

The Power Of Suggestion

The radio morning show was talking about superstitions and 'quirks' people have. 

The show host said when he pumps gas he HAS to stop it on a 0.25 cent increment.  

One caller has issues with 666. Like if playing cards and wants to lay down 6's, she will turn the third one face down. 

Another could only eat Skittles a certain way. Matching the colors. 

The last one had the quirk that if she did something to one side of her body, she also had to do it to the other side as well. To keep her even. 

The hosts were a little confused about this at first, but I knew instantly what she meant. Hubby likes his big toes popped. So if he is sitting with his bare feet up and I walk by, I'll pop his toes on my way by. But if I happen to be in a devilish mood, I'll only pop one. Drives him nuts. He'll beg me to come back and do the other one so he can feel even. It's not even the same if he does it himself. Has to be me. 

So the lady gave the example of if she scratches her left arm, then she has to scratch the right. And it has to be the same amount or she feels uneven and out of balance. 

Don't you know, since she's talking about her arm itching, mine start to itch. 

So I scratch my left arm. Then I think Hmmm. And I scratch my right arm in the same spot. 

I must admit. I felt more evened out. In balance. 

I don't think it will ever become a Thing with me, but I here by give notice that I will never again torture Hubby by making his toes feel uneven. 

Throwback Thursday

2010

Either end of June, around Thanksgiving or around Christmas.  

I know it was in Abilene, and that's usually when we were there.

Captain Jack Sparrow shops at KMart:

Answer To The Pet Dilemma

I have always had pets. 

As a kid, and into adulthood and parenthood, I have had, at one time or another: dogs, cats, rabbit, mice, hamster, gerbil, fish, parakeet, baby duck, baby chicks, turtle, guinea pig, hedge hog, snake, frog and for a few months, a baby squirrel my dad ran over with a lawn mower.  (Never got around to a ferret, but I always wanted one.)

I love having a pet. A house feels more homey with a pet in it. 

The older I get though, the less I want to deal with all that goes with pet ownership. I'm tired of the extra responsibility pets require. Especially, the ones that don't let you go out of town for a few days without making plans, and the ones that are messy. 

I'm tired of hair everywhere and on everything. 

We lost our sweet Australian Shepherd, Hayleigh, earlier this year. My husband and I agreed we would not replace her. 

The cats have been banished outside for several years now for suddenly peeing everywhere.  We tried bringing them back in a couple of times but they immediately went and peed on something. Nope. 

The fish were dying off and I gave the aquarium to my daughter. 

My house is pet less and kind of empty. 

But not for long:

Complaint Of The Day

Gripes #65385987 and 65385988

A two-fer!

First:  Customer service people who do not know what they are doing are the bane of my existence.

My husband lost his wallet a few weeks ago.  And there begins the fun.

Because what happens when you lose your wallet?  You lose your driver license, your CHL, 3 bank cards, and one check.

Oh, and cash.  All $15 of it.

As soon as it was noticed to be missing, we immediately went back to the last positively known location.

The movie theater.  He bought the popcorn because I didn't take my regular purse, just my 'movie purse' (nice and big and empty and perfect for sneaking in bottles of PowerAde Zero and popcorn seasoning and dental floss).

After checking the row where we had been seated and then checking with the office to see if anyone had turned it in, I started the phone calls and the monitoring of the accounts.

Now this occurred on a Saturday night.  I couldn't go to or call my credit union directly because they weren't open.  So I called the little 1-800 number on the back of the card and talked to the company the credit union hires to be oh so helpful in these situations.

I guess I should interject here that this is not the first time we had to go through this.  He lost his wallet one other time.  And THAT experience wasn't much better than this one.  So I was marginally prepared for incompetence.

We have 2 accounts at the credit union.  I am primary on one; he is primary on the other.  We both have a Visa debit card for each account.  That's 2 accounts and 4 cards.

I took great pains to explain to the customer service chick that 2 of the cards, the ones issued to ME were fine and PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE do not put a stop on all the cards, only the ones issued to him.  (Guess what the problem was the first time he lost his wallet.  Yes.  They put a stop on all the cards.)

While looking at the account he is primary on, she assured me she only stopped his card.  The problem came when she looked at my account.  She kept saying that she couldn't see a card with his name on it. I assured her several times that yes, I was absolutely positive that he had a card on that account too.  She kept saying she was afraid to do a stop because she thought it would be on mine because she couldn't see his.  I finally gave up and said just do it.  Stop all the cards you see on that account.

Better safe than sorry.  And I planned on going to the credit union in person first thing Monday morning.

Which I did.  They looked it up and confirmed that HIS cards, both of them, had been stopped and my cards, both of them, were fine.  Yay.

But they couldn't tell me if new cards had been ordered.  Different company and all that.  The only way to tell was to wait and see if they came in.  7-10 days.  Sigh.

But at least my cards were ok.  So we juggled somethings around and I gave him one of my cards to use, so we would each have one.

2 weeks go by and nothing shows up in the mail.

The next Monday I stopped at one of the credit union branches, not the usual one I deal with, and explained the situation.  So she puts in an order for 2 new cards.

Then Wednesday, I use my card to buy something at the cafeteria.  Or I should say, I TRY to use my card to buy something at the cafeteria.  It was DENIED.  Me=NOT HAPPY.  I knew instantly what was wrong.

I go to the credit union branch in the building and tried the ATM.  DENIED.  I go in and tell them my cards not working and explain the whole situation.  They look it up and yes, my card was stopped when they ordered the new cards.  But just the one; the one my husband had was still good.  And, of course, they couldn't 'unstop' it.  They gave me a number to call and see what they could do.

I call the stupid number and, once AGAIN, explain the whole situation.  The only way they could restore my card was if I submitted a signed statement that the card was stopped in error and all the charges made on the card were valid and would not be disputed.  Then fax it and MAYBE they could fix it.

They fixed it and all is well.  We are still waiting on the replacement cards though.

I don't understand why this process is so difficult.  You stop the card(s) associated with the given name.  All other cards, YOU LEAVE ALONE.  When you stop a card, YOU ISSUE A NEW ONE.  Right then.  And you DO NOT stop the card(s) associated with a different name when you issue the new ones.

It's not rocket science people.

My other complaint….dishonest people.

If the jerks who picked up the dropped wallet had turned it in, NONE OF THIS WOULD HAVE BEEN NECESSARY.

Take the cash if you must.  But turn in the wallet.  Replacing the cards and everything else that people carry in their wallets, is a major pain in the ass.

$15.  I hope they really enjoyed that $15.

Throwback Thursday

Post from the past:

Tuesday, July 29, 2008:

He's not JUST handy

My hubby is not only handy, but he is a total BAD ASS!

This happened last night:

We went to bed around 10 pm. I had taken an over the counter sleeping aid and a couple of Tylenol (shoulder pain-not sleeping well). So I was dead to the world.

At some point I was vaguely aware of hubby getting out of bed. In my groggy mind I thought he said something about turning off the water. (We have soaker hoses around the foundation. We left the ones at the front of the house running on low when we went to bed. The doors aren't closing right.)

The next sound that penetrates the fog, is the sound of hubby's voice. YELLING very loudly. I can't tell what he is saying, but he is actually YELLING, so some sense of urgency gets me on my feet and stumbling out of bed.

Since I had a vague recollection of something about the water, I headed to the front door. The door was still dead bolted, so he didn't go out that way. I can still hear him YELLING, but still can't make out what he is saying.

I go to the back door and sure enough, it is unlocked. I go out on the porch and say "Honey? Are you back here?" Now I can finally make out what he has been YELLING.

"GET THE GLOCK. BRING A FLASHLIGHT. CALL 911!"

Well that woke me up and got me moving. I run back into the bedroom and open the desk drawer and grab the gun. Then I open another drawer and start rummaging for a flash light. While my right hand is looking for the flashlight, I realize the gun in my left hand is not the Glock, so I put it down and open the other drawer and grab the Glock. I get the flashlight and grab a cell phone and head back outside.

It is dark in the backyard and I can't see anything. I can only tell that hubby's voice is coming from the far side of the yard. I call out "Honey?" again, while I am heading that way. He yells again to get the gun and get out here. I told him I had it, but where was he?

He says "I'm over here. Call 911. This guy was looking in the bathroom window at Surly Teenager while she was in the tub."

I take the gun out of its holster as I walk towards the sound of his voice and I dial 911. I get to the fence and there is hubby on the other side, in the neighbors yard, sitting on someone face down.

The police came. They took the guy away, took pictures and hubby wrote out a statement.

Hubby had chased the guy, jumped the fence, tackled the guy, wrestled him to the ground, and pinned him down. What'd I tell ya? He's a BAD ASS! !

They are going to charge the guy with criminal trespassing. The police said if we see him anywhere on our property again, even walking across the front yard, all we have to do is call 911 again and he will be arrested.

Which is really good, because Surly Teenager recognized him. He only lives a block or so over from us.

Ugh.

Two Thumbs Up

Two thumbs waaay up!

I saw "Gravity" today.  In IMAX 3-D.

Totally worth the extra money for the IMAX.

Totally worth the extra money for the 3-D.  (And that's saying something because normally I have no use for 3-D.)

See it!!