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 |    My random thoughts and reactions to my everyday life. The voices like a forum. |
| I do not know quite what happened or when , but my hubby and I now qualify for seniors' discounts at some venues. This creates a quandary; in order to save money, but not face, we have to admit to our age. HMMMM..... We definitely do not consider ourselves to be old. In this day and age ,when people as a whole are living longer and healthier lives why are 'young seniors', those in their fifties, like moi, considered 'old'?? It's so true that age is just a perception! "Maturity" is very objective/subjective, and I object! Whew, a few years have skittered by since I composed this biography block. Those "fifties" are in the rear view mirror and they are distant, fond memories. Oh, I do not plan to stop writing any time soon. |
| attempt #4 to log/save a reply to July 22nd prompt..... PROMPT: Creation Saturday! This is the cover of your next book. What's the title, who are the main characters, and what's it about? Don't forget to give us a little inside-back-jacket blurb of the author! Hmmm, a book you say? Okay, here's a working title for my book, Planet Retail. I plan to explore the bleak, barren wasteland of urban retail. The artificial light has a harsh glare. There is nothing but stale air and constant noise. Too many customers whine, pout, argue, stomp their feet, wave their arms, rant, rave, and curse. A rare few smile, and make a point of saying thank you. Philomena is a thirty-something, single, heterosexual female struggling with her managerial duties. She prefers to be addressed as Phil. The name confuses most people and she likes to knock them off center. She kinda likes to irk the mother that saddled her with this awful name, too. So what if this lame name was good enough for a saint? Phil wanted a moniker that was trendy and edgy, so Phil it is. While attending a design college, she manages a sewing supply store. It pays the bills plus she needs the generous discount for supplies. To Phil's mind, her store is a jungle. Customers lurk and loiter along pre-set paths that criss- cross the landscape. The displays and racks of merchandise replace the foliage of trees and shrubbery. At any moment, disagreements could potentially burst forth with shrieking. Phil sees her role as more of a referee. If only she could blow on a shrill whistle and penalize people. A penalty/ time out box would be a great asset. Her staff members seem to want her to be a confidante, a therapist, and a cool babysitter rolled into one. Lorenzo especially tests her tolerance and patience. He is so needy. He confided in her that he identified as gender neutral. She has no idea what this means. All she could fathom was that sometimes he came to work dressed as a female in skirts and dresses, while other times he chose to wear male clothing. More than once she had to admonish him, and remind Lorenzo of the store dress code. If he wanted to attire himself in a skirt, fine, but it had to cover delicate areas, and be more demure. He liked to test boundaries. He seemed to enjoy shocking the older female clientele. Company dictates frowned upon discrimination of any kind. Lorenzo was also a hypochondriac. He worried out loud about every twinge, sneeze, and tic. Phil heard it all. She could not judge. Recently, Adriana had requested that Phil now refer to her as Gabriel. Her new girlfriend liked this name. Gabriel thought his boss should re-introduce him to the staff and change his official paper work to reflect his new persona. Phil suggested she, Gabriel, inform her co-workers, and chat with the company PR rep. Ah, well it's a work in progress... Now an author blurb? Sandy explores the new employment landscape through the eyes of her main character, Phil. It is not her normal. This author embarks upon a journey of discovery. No one is ever too old to learn. |
| PROMPT: The Sunday News! Trump again... How much force is enough to catch the average criminal? Trump okays use of more force by police. Really?? What is Trump's interpretation of average? Is there an average criminal? What are the guidelines for the police re this determination? Why advocate the use of any force? Not all criminals are armed, and in turn willing to use their weapons. Is this a return to the shoot first and ask questions later mentality? We'll sort it out later after the dust settles. I imagine in the heat and struggle of some arrests , violence is inevitable and unavoidable. Adrenaline is pumping, emotions surge. Police officers try to subdue. Sometimes, cops must protect themselves, or prevent worst escalations. It's a judgement call made on the spur of the moment, and it's reactionary. I'm not a law enforcement official. I have never experienced what they do. Yes, I believe there are times when they over react. Force begets more force, doesn't it? Should the police strong arm every person they apprehend? No. Cool heads can prevail. Negotiation and communication can work wonders. Yes, they require time and finesse, but they also generate less damage. |
| July 29th PROMPT: Creation Saturday! Come up with a 10-step minimum process for a simple household chore. 1. Search for the wayward dirty laundry. It tends to loiter, linger, languish on floors. Look behind sofas, in closets, under beds, in vehicles, etc. 2. Gather/scoop said laundry and lug to laundry room. 3. Sort clothing into piles, whites with whites, dark with darks, and colours with colours. Note that too much is actually drab, grey, and permanently stained. 4. Empty pockets!!! Bugs, chewed gum, candy wrappers, pebbles, sticks, pieces of paper, coins, and more do not aid in cleansing clothes. 5. Pre-treat stains with special cleansers and good ol' elbow grease. Grass stains on knees require extra effort. at least attempt to eradicate the stains. Most will prove resistant. 6. Stuff prepared garments into washer. Add detergent and water. Scoop out toy cars that have floated to the surface. 7. Wait, or find something to occupy yourself. 8. Wrestle tangled mass from washer. 9. Cram, squish damp clothing into dryer. 10. Repeat steps 1 to 6. 11. Pull/extricate dried items from dryer. 12. Repeat step 9. 13. Repeat steps 1 to 6. 14. Fluff and fold first dryer load. repeat ad nauseum..... |
| PROMPT: Fun Fact Friday! On this day in 1973, Lee Majors, and Farrah Fawcett were married. Who is your favourite ( past or present) celebrity couple? Lee and Farrah? What a blast from the past. The Six-Million Dollar Man and a Charlie's Angel. Now, there was a union that didn't last, what a surprise. Oh, I remember one of my younger sisters, Laurie to be precise, who spent hours everyday with a curling iron and lots of hair spray, emulating that famous hair do of Farrah's. Laurie's hair was naturally blonde ( like the actress?), but it was thin and super fine. It did not want to be sculpted into waves, or an up turn framing her face. Laurie was determined. I once babysat a young boy who worshipped ' teve Austin, the character known as The Six-Million Dollar Man. This kid was forever launching himself off furniture, and battling invisible bad guys. He tried very hard to move in slow motion as did his hero, 'teve. Have you ever seen a kid try to move slowly with exaggeration? How do you move, but not really move? He succeeded in teetering a great deal.During this segment in the t.v. series, Steve\s actions were announced with a signature noise/sound effect to indicate he was using his machine-like powers. The kid always recreated his version of this sound as he ran like 'teve. It still cracks me up! Okay, enough of a tangent....I do not have a favourite celebrity couple, no really, I do not. So few of them remain as committed partners. Bollywood, Hollywood, whatever, it's all fantasy. Wait, are Mickey and Minnie a couple? If so, then Donald and Daisy are a twosome. |
| PROMPT: The Wildcard Round! Would you want the ability to read people's minds? Why or why not? How often have we heard someone say, "I'm not a mind reader"? Think of the times we wished we knew what others were thinking. Most of us have thought " get a clue", when we witness something stupid. There is that expression, " it boggles the mind." So, would mind-reading be a useful ability? I don't believe I\d want to read, or interpret an airhead's mind. I imagine it's vacant, empty, and full of stagnant air. If you hollered in that brain, you'd only hear an echo. Somehow, such a person has successfully banished all reasoning. There are certain people that should probably keep their ideas to themselves. They have sudden flashes and bursts of fanciful, illogical plans. They are scatter-brained, and incapable of following through. If I were a mind reader, I'd forfeit the element of surprise. I'd already know what others were thinking. It would become a one-sided conversation 'cause there'd be no need for anyone to reply. Special occasions would lose their lustre. No gifts, or gestures would be special, or spontaneous. Everything would become blasé, ordinary, ho-hum. There are times when I find myself shouting, "What were you thinking?", to maniac drivers. I'd like to temporarily crawl into their brains, and make a few adjustments, a tweak here and there. I'd grab their grey matter to shout and shake some common sense into them. Could it be some kind of injection, or a painful wake up call? I'd stress that they were only attempting to manage a moving vehicle. I'd force them to concentrate on the here and now. Eyes on the road. Hands on the steering wheel. Forget the distractions of cell phones, navigational devices, hair adjustments, reading material, make-up application, shaving, and more. Pay attention. My youngest granddaughter, Emily can be frustrating. I'm not certain if she willfully chooses not to focus, or if she really does have concentration issues. Yes, at times she has selective hearing, but she does cause me to wonder. She believes she is just stupid, so any effort to learn math is a waste of her time. Many people have tried different teaching methods, but she is resistant. She prefers to guess at an answer rather than figure it out. She seems to abhor effort. She has mastered other skills, so she has the ability, the wherewithal to succeed. If I could read her stubborn mind, would I be illuminated? Could I somehow rearrange numbers so that they made sense to her? |
| PROMPT: War Chest Wednesday! Tell us about one major change in you or something different about you between now and this time last year. Shrug. Scratch my head. Furrow my brow. I'm still me. Oh, wait, because of the contemplative thinking, and inevitable aging I seem to have more wrinkles. They are indelible evidence that I am one year older. So, yep, I've survived another year of the same old, same old. Okay, okay, there appears to be more of me to drag around. Sigh, grumble... Extra weight has settled itself on me. My left knee and I have endured another surgery. Neither one of us is pleased with the results. We cannot quite shake a painful limp. Soon, August to be precise, I will be the official mother-of-the-groom. A wedding should be fun. Oh wait.... in the I-am-older vein.... I actually have more miles behind me. I've winged away to Vancouver Island for a vacation/reunion. I'll admit I am stumped. No major growth or change here. |
| PROMPT: Talk Tuesday! Tell us about a store or restaurant you refuse to go to because of poor service. With all the road trips, and travelling I've experienced, there has only been one memorable restaurant fiasco. It happened during Christmas'ish 2015 in Florida. My family and I had driven from our Northern Ontario, Canada home to the Disneyworld area of Florida. Every evening, we graced a different restaurant for our meals. We liked variety, and lets face it, we were tourists. This particular suppertime, it was just us girls. The men had opted to attend a classic car show, and we had to choose a venue within walking distance of our motel. We discovered a Chili's. When we first entered this eatery we thought we'd lucked out, it was not busy. Huh, that should have been a red flag, but, hey, what did we know? We were saddled with a surly female waitress who didn't believe in the formality of a friendly greeting. She was by far the worst server we have ever encountered. She did not care. She took our orders and then scurried off. She was never occupied with other customers. She just had us to ignore. First it took a half hour before she deigned to bring our beverages. Not once during the course of our stay did she bring, or offer refills. Our meals arrived in fits and starts. My eldest granddaughter wasn't served anything. We shared with her after we approached the waitress to ask where this food was hiding. She never once apologized, or explained, or offered to make this right. After almost an hour of further waiting, the lost meal appeared, and lo and behold, it was not as ordered. We've dined out enough to know that servers make a habit of removing empty, dirty dishes from the table on a continuous basis. Not this waitress, she let the dishes pile up. During our stay, the waitress hid in an alcove next to the kitchen door and played with her cell phone. It seemed to be the only thing that snagged her attention. When we were vacating the premises, we made sure to inform her that she was a lousy server. Several of us have worked in the profession in the past. We always make a point of thanking those who wait on us, and often we chat with them. This Miss Congeniality/Work Ethic reject just shrugged. We were a long way from home at that time, but we have not forgotten. Should we as a family ever return to that neck of the woods, we will be avoiding that particular restaurant. In stark contrast, we loved the waitress we met two mornings in a row at an Orlando IHop. |
| PROMPT: Motivational Monday! Actress Ruth Buzzi born on this day in 1936, once said, " Life has all sorts of hills and valleys, and sometimes you don't end up doing what you had your heart set out on, but sometimes that's even better!" When has something like this happened to you? Becoming a mother set me on a path of discovery. Not all of my three offspring were planned. Their arrivals ,as in the actual dates ,were not pre-planned. Even their actual conceptions were not planned. Trying to have a baby is a crap shoot. Things can be set in motion, but none of it is fool proof. The sex of the baby is not guaranteed. The health of an infant is not a given. Raising the child is accomplished with fortitude, perseverance, grit, flexibility, and a sense of humour. So much is unpredictable. There are many tears; tears of fear, tears of frustration, tears of exhaustion tears of anger, and tears of laughter. Most of this water works emanates from the mother. The timing of my parent initiation had never been set in stone, or fleshed out in detail. I had always assumed I'd be a Mom someday, as vague as that sounds. Instead, I had three children in four years. Yes, I now know what causes that, hindsight is everything. It wasn't my first career choice, but I have never regretted it. Perhaps, I'd have gone into teaching. I suppose I created my own students. We taught each other. |
| PROMPT: The Sunday News! British t.v. show,' Doctor Who', announced a woman would be taking over the main character's role for the first time in its history... naturally, men are upset... When are men gonna finally understand that everything isn't about them, and that they have to share things and realize women are just as capable as they are? Especially when it comes to acting.... First of all, I must confess that I have never viewed this television program. Yes, to me it is Doctor Who? So, it has caused controversy? No, not something audiences/fans care about! Oh, the audacity, the sheer nerve of it all! How dare the show's writers and creators not follow the accepted script! I perused the accompanying article, and gleaned the following. 'Doctor Who' is a series about aliens from the planet Gallifrey. Okay, got it. Apparently, the Doctor is able to evolve, or shape-shift. It has already been established that these Time Lords can switch genders. So, it's not a bombshell falling from left field. The precedent was set, just not yet activated. There are only two sexes. and if the past Doctors were always males, why not stir things up and try something different? Sure, both men and women are capable of acting. No one has a monopoly. Either may be heroes, or villains. Think of the many comic book characters who are represented by both sides. There's a Superman and a Super Girl, although some would argue she did not get a mature name. Complaining men, get a grip. Aren't there more serious kerfuffles in this world? Er, um, just for the record, I do not agree that men have to share everything. I'd be pleased if they kept NASCAR, wrestling, farting gags and competitions, and lewd whistling to themselves. |
| oh come on. seriously!!! what is wrong with this site? Three times I have composed a blog in response to July 22nd's prompt. I clicked on the WDC save button, and three times my entries have disappeared. This is aggravating. |
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