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  My blog was filled up. I'm too lazy to clean it out. So I started a new one. |
| I used to work in credit. I belonged to a professional club for women in credit. There are still a lot of wrong ideas about credit out there among consumers who believe they are experts. And every retailer pushes their employees to open new accounts and sell extended warranties, an unrelated item. The primary reason for chain stores to open accounts is to create loyalty. If you have an account at Wal-Mart or Kohl's, you're more likely to go back there. Or you buy more than you had planned, if you know your credit card is good. That's great for people who have the money in the bank. But a lot of people should not apply or should pay it off in full immediately each month. People who should not apply include those who have had trouble and gotten behind in their payments any where. To clean up their credit records, they should go at least six months with all on time payments, making sure every account is up to date, and have no inquiries during that time before opening another card. If someone has more in debt, not counting the house mortgage, than they make in a year, they should not apply for an account. If they already opened a new account in the last 3 months, they should not apply any where even if their income is good, and all accounts are up to date. Excessive inquiries count against the applicant. I'm the kind of person who has good credit, but I have to pay in full each month as soon as I get the bill. I don't make enough to build up debt. And I know from experience in a bad marriage that when you think you're just going through a rainy spell and will catch up, the catching up almost never happens. You can't risk getting in over your head. Now people who don't need credit can take advantage of all those credit offers. They open one, get approved on the spot, save 10% that day on their purchase and get special offers through the year to use their card. They, too, should pay off as soon as possible, and resist the urge to go to that store just because they have the card. But they can take advantage of the savings offered. |
| The local orchard, at least the one nearest my house, features dinner and music on the grounds on Thursday nights in the summer. I had tonight off, so I went. The road was paved since last year. That's good. It winds around and snakes uphill. It's very narrow with a sharp dropoff to one side. You're on a small mountain already before you turn into that narrow driveway. It always scares me to have someone coming in the opposite direction. Even though it was 5:30 before we turned in, it was hot as blue blazes up there with no shade in sight. Those peach and apple trees thrive on the hot sun of day and the cool mountain air at night. The store is small and overpriced. There are picnic tables which fill up quickly. The food is expensive. The drinks are sold in a separate building. And there's soft ice cream at a separate stop before you go. We resisted the apple cider doughnuts. The crowd was friendly, people of all ages. The musician was good. He covered Johnny Cash and Hank Williams Jr, but made them sound like his own. He sang original songs, too. The food was good. The apple cider slushies were excellent. But the scenery was spectacular. Neat rows of grape vines stretched below us. Rows of apple trees stretched to the right of us as far as I could see. The vehicles in the city below looked like ants. The multi-billion dollar hospital looked like a Lego piece. The sun burned down on us with a cool wind blowing occasionally. I took my father who can't hear so good. So I had no one with whom to converse. I shouted at him occasionally. I took some pictures, but the sun glared too brightly. There was no way I could last in that heat until the sun set, about two hours more, especially with a feeble old man who couldn't hear. I hated to leave so soon. I had him wait on the pavement in the shade of the building, while I picked up the car in the gravel parking lot. I'm still satisfied. I had my mountain top experience. I saw the beauty. It felt like summer. I broke the routine for the old man now that he's retired. He enjoyed watching the children playing. So it was good. |
| I've seen a lot of Robert Ryan movies lately. I don't know why several different channels have been showing his films. In 1967 he was pretty grizzled as Ike Clanton in Hour of the Gun. He didn't look that young in The Naked Spur in 1953. He played a romantic lead opposite Shirley Booth, where he wasn't very romantic, but looked nicer. He was always sexy, even as his meanest, toughest role. Ryan stayed out of the tabloids. He wasn't a big glamour figure like a lot of stars. But he was very popular and starred in a lot of movie roles. He played a lot of heavies. Even as a cop, he could pretty hard and tough. |
| I read about the Leaning Tower of Pisa. It wasn't a bad job of engineering or architectural design. It was a poor foundation that caused it to lean increasingly over the decades. The soil underneath was too soft for such a large building. Reinforcements have given it a bit of a curve that wasn't there originally. The article compared it to the plumb line story from the book of Amos, which was aimed at the nation of ancient Israel. At that time there was a great chasm between the wealthy and the poor. The wealthy took advantage of the poor and just kept getting richer and more decadent. The plumb line was laid out in a vision to Amos, in which God found the nation he had built, Israel, "wanting". They had gone astray from the building code he had given them in the law of Moses. They were religious, but weren't practicing justice. The article goes on to point to modern nations. You could look at this in political terms or religious terms. It doesn't matter which nation. If you use a plumb line of ideals, of standards, you are lacking. A list of ways in which we are lacking becomes easy to make. Of course, I look at society in general, and not just myself, because it is easier to find other people's shortcomings than it is my own. But eventually, I feel convicted, too. First, in most countries, we have many with no respect for human life. The elderly are expendable. The sick and deformed are expendable. Unborn babies are expendable. People who don't believe or behave as we do are expendable; so "we" eliminate them. Terrorists, snipers, suicide terrorists, and paid assassins believe they have the right to take the lives of others. For some of us, we don't get personally involved, but we'd love to have someone else "take out" the groups or individuals that we feel are dangerous or intolerable. There is a lack of respect for other people's property. Take what you want. Rob, loot, steal, whatever you can get away with. If you're working at some old person's house, they don't need all that stuff in the garage, you can take it and hide it in your work truck. If you're cleaning someone's house, and you find a ten dollar bill on the floor, that person won't mind if you keep it. Or go through a desk drawer; you find an envelope with cash, take it; they 'll never suspect you. Never mind that you shouldn't have been snooping through drawers. That includes damaging someone's car in a parking lot. If they aren't there to see you, you don't need to leave a note that you backed into them, or scraped the paint off with your door, or dinged it with a grocery cart. Don't take personal responsibility for damage to someone's property that you caused. You know how expensive autos are and how expensive repairs are. That brings us to personal responsibility and the consequences of your actions. If you camp out in the city park as part of a protest, don't feel like you need to clean up your mess or haul away your garbage. Stay up all night talking, or playing your radio. It's not your problem if other people want to sleep, including people who live nearby. If you damage something in a store, you shouldn't pay for it. Let the store raise the prices so everyone pays for the loss. Racism exists in every nation. It is not an exclusive characteristic of white people Serbs hate Bosnians, for example. Greeks hate Turks. Blacks hate whites.French Canadians don't like aboriginals (Indians). Every human being is vulnerable to racism. It shows up in varying degrees, some ways more subtle than others. The writer of the article pointed to minimum wage. I have mixed feelings about that. Why should an employee at a fast food joint or Wal-Mart make more than people with college degrees? Or people who have had special training but can't find an opening in their field and locale? Raising the minimum wage in all places will put some businesses "out of business" or raise their prices so high, that eventually they will downsize or close. I, for one, don't like fast food that much, but if a cup of coffee goes any higher, I won't be buying one at a drive-through window. Maybe my paring back won't be such a bad thing, but what if everyone else does the same thing? The list of ills could go on, at length, including bad manners, irresponsible parenting, vulgar language in public, serial marriages as the norm, the break-down of the family, materialism, greed, etc. We are in a state of everyone for himself. We do not live for the good of others. I did not say "the common good" on purpose. They are not the same thing. Caring for others, living with a purpose, respecting the earth and others are pretty good guidelines. As a culture, as a nation, and as a world, we are not living up to those guidelines. |
| The idea of retiring early is in the back of my mind most days. But I've been working so long, it makes me feel guilty to quit working. Most of my younger adult years, I worked two jobs at once. Even after I married, I worked a full time day job and an evening and weekend job. Cutting back to one job was a big deal. After a year of unemployment, thank you Democrats, I found a job working 30 hours and one working 20. I was getting too old to keep that up long, so cut back to just one job, 30 to 32 hours. Keeping house for my elderly father was getting more time consuming. Now I work part-time at low pay for 20 to 33 hours, depending on the overall budget for the week. Between writing projects, preparing for my expanding family's weekly visit, to see Big Pop, and taking care of Big Pop in his decline, I'm thinking seriously about spending more time at home. I wouldn't have any spending cash, once my savings runs out, which wouldn't take but a few months without income. Social Security is out there, but it's not very much. The longer you wait, the more you get. That's a gamble. What if I wait and die first? I could settle for $80 less a month at the end of the year, or keep working a tedious job, with weird hours, and get more. No one can predict the future. If I'm going to live a long life, it's worth living on less money now, and having more later. If I'm going to live a short life, it's better to have time and some money now. My income producing days are behind me. Thank goodness, I used to have some decent jobs. And I managed to save which has tided me over these low periods. I don't have the best health. There is a remote possibility my father will outlive me. I worry about who will take care of him. Do I want to work one more year? It seems so easy for some people to decide. As long as I keep working, I'm still contributing to Social Security, too. For the foreseeable future, I'm working, volunteering, writing, and caring for my home and family. |
| Holiday weekend. WATCH OUT FOR CRAZY DRIVERS! It was so much worse than usual this afternoon. People doing U-turns at my road never yield to people who have the right-of-way with the light in their favor. They don't even look, but that's an every day thing. Today people were jutting out of parking lots, changing lanes without looking, and no one using signals. I noticed a little more weaving in and out on business roads. The only thing I could figure is that they were getting off early to start a long weekend. I'm working all weekend, even Sunday after church. But I'm off Monday. We'll cook some hot dogs for dinner--the grill is broken. Then we'll have another water balloon battle. Maybe we'll have dessert, some blue cake, after that. They'll probably break up to go to fireworks at various locales. Dad and I will just seek higher ground to view the city fireworks over the trees, then watch the DC fireworks on TV. And I'll recall the year I saw them in DC myself. Have a great weekend, whatever you do. |
| I have to share a website I just found with my fellow writers. www.petticoatsandpistols.com has been around a while. It's for women who like to read or write westerns. There's a blog and related articles and a long list of books. You might find helpful information for your own book or stories or just find a source for another genre. |
| A 1956 movie, this title isn't very catchy. You Can't Run Away From It. I can see it working for a book, but it kills as a movie title. IT starred Jack Lemmon, June Allyson, and Charles Bickford. I watched it primarily for Bickford. They've run a few of his old films lately on various channels. No surprise with June Allyson in it, but it was a bit of a musical. I say a bit of a musical, because it didn't seem anything like a full blown musical. It was adapted from a stage play, and a remake of the movie It Happened One Night. June's voice was beginning to fail and was too low for the songs she did. Jack sang better than anyone else, and that isn't much of a commendation for this as a musical. There is one dance sequence as a scarecrow which June is okay with. It's more comical than anything else. It has a happy ending after many convoluted mishaps and confusing perceptions. Lemmon is impressive as always, even in this lightweight comedy. Bickford is different from anything else I've seen him do. He plays a Texan, by the 50's that was expected of him, but was a modern, gentle tycoon who spoiled his little girl. Despite being being controlling and authoritative, his character was insightful, patient, and indulgent. He brought those qualities together quite well. Other faces that rang a bell in that film were a brief encounter with Jim Backus, Mr. Howell from Gilligan's island, and the guy who played Floyd on The Andy Griffith Show, Howard McNeer. Jack Albertson also did a quick scene. It was directed by Dick Powell, whose name I recognized from Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theater. All in all, Lemmon and Bickford were great. It wasn't Allyson's best. But it was mostly the weak story, not so unique, that held it back. |
| I once was in a group where the leader asked everyone an icebreaker question. If you could have one or the other, but only one, would you want more time or more money? We got a lot of really interesting questions. It obviously made a big impression on me, because years later, I still debate it with myself. A. If I had more money, I would have more time. I wouldn't have to go to a job every day that I don't particularly like, so I'd have more time. I might not stress so much and enjoy the time as well. B. If I had more money, I could pay someone to do my laundry, cook dinner, clean the house, and so forth, so I'd have more time. C. If I had more hours in the day, I could get more work done, so I could save money or work more hours or even get a second job and earn more money. Money is not a goal in and of itself, but what it enables you to do. D. I could have more years (they didn't specify what kind of time), I would need more money. But who wouldn't want to live a longer life as long as he wasn't in pain? I guess you'd need good health for that kind of more time. I think I really want the time. But the money would make the time so much easier. I couldn't choose. Well, maybe. I've been poor. I know what it's like not to have money. I got through that. But I haven't been dead yet. I want the time. |
| Water balloons! Now there's some summer fun. And the toy stores are ready to help us cool off. We had a balloon battle at my house Sunday night. All the kids were 7 and under. We used two models of the ones being advertised. First, we had color balloons. You attach a plastic nozzle to your hose and hold the balloons on the ground. Turn on the water. The balloons have long stems and will separate by themselves when full. We found that if you hold the balloons up off the ground, they fall off before they're full due to the weight of the water. That also leaves dye in the hose attachment. One of the girls was wearing a white dress. By the time we had gone through all four colors, she looked like it was a tie-dye dress. Supposedly, these dyes wash out. I haven't had a report on that. The four year old blonde ended up with blue hair and blue streaks on her face. They loved it. You fill about 25 balloons in 60 seconds, so there's a big pile ready for the next person to come grab one. These girls went through them pretty fast, chasing each other and Grandpa. Others who were't holding babies got the occasional balloon or splash from one. When the color balloons were done, I got out the plain ones, but I read the directions. So those balloons operated the same way, but when done properly, they were fuller. The hose attachments can be saved for your own water park party on a hot day, without balloons; it sends out 25 tiny streams of water. You determine the force of them. The balloons were tough. When one landed on the patio, it would take a second or two before it exploded. The little kids didn't really understand how it works at first. They would stand there squeezing a balloon until it popped. A big splash would occur, but it took a lot of squeezing to do it. So it looks like older children could pick them up and run with them without breaking them. Lots of fun. I highly recommend it. Get your towels ready. |
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. Isn't it funny how we take things like electricity and plumbing for granted... until we don't have them. Happy for you!
