Each Day Already is a Challenge

Sizzlin' Sunday

I wish. Weatherwise, that is. It's a bit chilly this morning. The TV says that it's 49 with 7 mph winds. Feels colder than that. Son was just complaining. His room is always the hottest or the coldest.

I don't know how or why I found this (isn't that always the way?) but here's a link for A Time Line of Recent Worldwide School Shootings. Recent here is defined as about the last ten years. The time line starts with February 2, 1996 in Moses Lake, Washington and ends April 16, 2007 in Blacksburg, Virginia.

You know what I find amazing? Two things. 1) That I don't remember most of the US shootings. Most of the US shootings were fewer than 6, so I wonder if the number decided how much new coverage there was. I feel badly that I don't remember... 2) I am downright certain that I never heard about most of the shootings that were outside the US. And that's just not right.

I surely don't remember this one: March 13, 1996. Dunblane, Scotland. 16 children and one teacher killed at Dunblane Primary School by Thomas Hamilton, who then killed himself. 10 others wounded in attack.

Or this one: April 26, 2002. Erfurt, Germany. 13 teachers, two students, and one policeman killed, ten wounded by Robert Steinhaeuser, 19, at the Johann Gutenberg secondary school. Steinhaeuser then killed himself.

Here's the link: http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0777958.html

Some folks left comments about Viva paper towels. That got me to thinking. I know some folks who just won't buy anything but the most expensive name brand stuff. Personally, I think I've been blessed by those really lean years as a single mom. I discovered that Kroger's brand of chocolate syrup is better than Hershey's. And that Kroger's macaroni (with the creamy cheese, not the powdered stuff) is better than Kraft. Those are great discoveries, since you can save a bunch of money. Of course, when we my son and I first bought these - and other store brands - it was because of economics. We also discovered Angel Soft toilet paper. Lots cheaper than some of the major brands. A little bit more than the store brands. But soft and not scratchy, and that's real important for tp.

Here's another "I don't remember how I got there" link. America's Most Literate Cities. Is your city on the list??? http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0932809.html

Here's one for America's Smartest Cities. {http://money.cnn.com/2006/08/29/real_estate/brainiest_cities/index.htm} Seattle, Washington is at the top of both of these lists, most literate and smartest. Cincinnati made the top ten most literate, but is not on the top 25 smartest list.

My dad passed away two years ago in August. Still, there are stories about him that I must share from time to time. (Hubby says I have to. )

I was complaining to my folks once about a 3 day stay I had in the hospital to see why I had abdominal pains. They never did discover anything, but at 6 am the third day, the doc arrived to tell me I could leave. They had me so drugged that I couldn't even hardly lift my head, but suddenly I was supposed to shower, dress and drive home. I did.

My insurance was that 80/20 stuff. And as I went to check out, the hospital insisted that I pay my 20%. I didn't have the money in my checking account, so they insisted that I put it on my credit card. I thought for sure that Visa would reject the charge, since it would make me over my limit. But they didn't. The hospital maxed out my credit card and I was off, still not knowing why I had such bad pains.

As I relayed that story to my parents, my dad just did his wonderful daddy grin. "What?" I asked.

"You should have done like I did. When they told me I couldn't leave without paying, I picked up my bag and started walking back the way I had come. The lady at the desk asked where I was going. And I said, 'Back to my room. I can't afford to leave."

I told my dad that I surely wished he had shared that when it happened, 'cause I might have tried it myself.

Dad was a great example in the area of finances. When he was a working man, he never touched a credit card or check book and didn't really know much about either one. My dad was the bread winner, and Mom took care of spending and paying bills. (She was NOT a good example. But more about that another time.)

When Dad retired, Mom and Dad tried being nomads for a while. They traveled to California to visit relatives. Oddly, they never took any pictures of their trek from Pittsburgh, PA to Chula Vista, CA. I have no idea what route they traveled or where they stayed along the way. As one who loves to document trips, I always found that rather odd.

They also visited relatives in Virginia and Tennessee. Again, there are no pictures to document their trips. But they didn't like the traveling life, and ended up living in a retirement mobile home village in St. Petersburg, FL.. Mom went back to work part time and Dad did some odd jobs around the mobile home park for widows - mowing grass, cleaning out gutters, etc.

He also learned how to shop for groceries, make bank deposits, pay bills and balance a check book.

Each day, after the mail man had left the mail in the mail box, Dad rushed to write checks for the bills he had just received. Then, he rushed outside to meet the mail man coming down the opposite side of the street.

At first, I thought that was a bit strange. My dad was a true Scotsman. He liked hanging onto his money. But he soon explained that by rushing those bills off in the mail, he paid less interest on the balances. Yep, he was a great example.