Dagnabit...it's colder than a welldigger's hoo hah out there kids. We've had a blue Norther blow through here and it's dropped from 72 degrees or so at 7 a.m. to 42 degrees currently . It's official.....my blood has thinned out . SU has decided that Sgt. Andy Panda Pants will be in the house today which is fine....any " presents " that the lad leaves will be cleaned by his father...NOT MOI . 'Dems dah rules kids.
Maybe this cold snap will get me in the mood for the holidays.....yeah right. All the stores had their Christmas crap out last month..and the songs and all of that. Some of the people in our neighborhood already have their out door decor up..yessireebob . Lovely that. Our office management always puts up their foo foo the day after Thanksgiving..always so that is normal.
I just can't get into it . maybe it's too early. Maybe it's the fact that it's that post vacation let down...maybe it's the fact that I really miss my family and my father.....maybe I'm just in a mood.
We may not get a chance to put up the tree this year as SU has to work most of the Saturdays in December for a half day and I am fine with that. In his line of work, patients come in to get their prosthetics/orthotics tweaked before the end or the month, thus avoiding a new deductible for 2007 so soon after Santa Paws. This is business as usual in this line of work and for a lot of others in various medical fields. This also helps with the OT to offset his own medical insurance deductions from his payroll. Then there is still his golf league every other Sunday..also fine by me..I get some time for me and I can usually get a lot done at Casa de'Swamp.
It's just a time crunch. We don't get a real tree every year..yeah we are Heathens..cope with it. When we first moved into the Casa, there was a company named " Silk GreenHouse" that was closing down and they had all their crap marked way the F down. So off I trot. We have a really nice 6 ft. fake tree and all the goodies....in the attic . Then we bought a smaller ( LOL) table top thing.....also in the attic. Along with all the ornaments...and crap. And do you really think I am going to try to wrestle that crap down ???????? Have you met me ?
The first year after Dad died....I just couldn't cope with it. Last year I put up the tree and felt somewhat better..so I told myself....LIAR. This year which is the third year..I dunno.
It will have been three years in January.
Maybe I just need a good boo hoo.
Maybe I just need to lighten up on myself.
Maybe I need to stop overthinking all of this.
I definitely need chocolate.
Ciao,
Aunty Pol
Thursday, November 30, 2006
Monday, November 27, 2006
Maybe I'm Amazed...Or Not
I fell in love with a tiny human being. Her name is Dakota . I had been told she doesn't take to strangers, so I had some reservations. I am grateful this was not the case. She knows her Granty. SU and I went on a road trip to see her and the Kids. The weather was perfect, to the point that we had to go to TarJay to get teeshirts....why the hell they keep all the buildings so overheated is beyond Moi. I love my nephew beyond words and his wife is a great gal. But
But......
The tiny person..........
OMG I love her.
SU who is not a kid person....lets just say he had his moment .
With his putting his baseball cap on her .
" Little One....Little One....."
BN and I slid down the wall we laughed so hard.
I am an amazingly lucky gal to have these folks in my life.
Ciao,
Aunty Pol
But......
The tiny person..........
OMG I love her.
SU who is not a kid person....lets just say he had his moment .
With his putting his baseball cap on her .
" Little One....Little One....."
BN and I slid down the wall we laughed so hard.
I am an amazingly lucky gal to have these folks in my life.
Ciao,
Aunty Pol
Thursday, November 16, 2006
Update
Sigh.
SIL was right , bless her fuzzy lil heart. Sgt. Andy ate something that disagreed with him. He was a lot perkier last night when he came in and ate his usual kibs and drank his water. He was a bit miffed that we were out of bovine wine tho. I 'splained that it was his daddys fault. SU grabed the last of the milk for his cookies and refused to buy anymore pre vacation. Yes I am married to a 12 year old.
We always have some form of a crisis pre holiday. It just varies in the degree of oh shit...how much is THAT gonna cost. SU had gotten 2 new tires last week, and as always road hazard coverage. Smart man. This morning in the HOV lane we had a flat....yup. One of the new tires .
Within about 3 minutes we had a county sherrif pulled up behind us to check out the situation. SU got the donut mounted and we were on the way. He's at Discount tire right now getting a new tire and seeing if we have to replace the donut .Better here in town rather than on the road ...out in BFE Texas.
SIGH.
But...it's haircut and color day...........................wheeeeeeeeeeeeeee.
Have a great day and a safe holiday.
Oh and before I fergit.................
GO NAVY............BEAT ARMY.......again.
Ciao
Aunty Pol
SIL was right , bless her fuzzy lil heart. Sgt. Andy ate something that disagreed with him. He was a lot perkier last night when he came in and ate his usual kibs and drank his water. He was a bit miffed that we were out of bovine wine tho. I 'splained that it was his daddys fault. SU grabed the last of the milk for his cookies and refused to buy anymore pre vacation. Yes I am married to a 12 year old.
We always have some form of a crisis pre holiday. It just varies in the degree of oh shit...how much is THAT gonna cost. SU had gotten 2 new tires last week, and as always road hazard coverage. Smart man. This morning in the HOV lane we had a flat....yup. One of the new tires .
Within about 3 minutes we had a county sherrif pulled up behind us to check out the situation. SU got the donut mounted and we were on the way. He's at Discount tire right now getting a new tire and seeing if we have to replace the donut .Better here in town rather than on the road ...out in BFE Texas.
SIGH.
But...it's haircut and color day...........................wheeeeeeeeeeeeeee.
Have a great day and a safe holiday.
Oh and before I fergit.................
GO NAVY............BEAT ARMY.......again.
Ciao
Aunty Pol
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
Man, I'm hoping SIL is right.
It never fails.
SU and I think that Sgt. Andy is sick. He was fine the night before last, just a little quiet . Last night when we got home , as usual we opened the back door and instead of him running in....SU had to call him. He moseys into the kitchen where we'd dipped up food..not really all that " Gimme Gimme", even the milk.
Not interested....
An 8 month old kitteh.
Yipes.
Unsually when he comes in he goes straight to the icey box. He will sit and stare until I get his milk set up.
SU had him up on the sofa, and he stayed a while. We'd decided that he would stay in last night as the weather is getting weird. SU had to get up and at one point placed him on the rug under the coffee table. He didn't move.
ALL NIGHT.
He didn't budge.
Not Once.
SU let him out and he took off.
Tomorrow when he gets off work, SU will race home , put Andy in thePTB ( Prisoner Transport Box) and take him to Petsmart. Hopefully we can bail him out on Friday.
We are leaving for Denver this Saturday to see the cutest baby in the known Universe and her parents. I have been planning this trip since April. This is THE vacation for both of us.
Andy does have a medical issue and I hope that is not kicking up .
I offered to cancel the trip but SU said not this close.
You see, to us...the brofurs and sisfurs are our kids. Yup..We are those people . The people who hang stockings every year for the kittehs . The people who refer to each other as Mommy and Daddy. The people who do this in front of and in conversations with the kittehs. The people who refer to the kittehs as the Grand Katz when talking to their parents.
We are those people.
I really didn't realize how fond of Andy Panda Pants I'd really become.
And I am not making the following up.
I swear this on my fathers watery grave.
I dreamed this happened to Andy Sunday night. It was one of those terribly vivid dreams.
I never told it to Gordon until he said that the lad looked like he felt puny.
Please say a prayer or think a good thought for Sgt. Andy while he is at the 4077 Mash Unit.
I emailed SIL and she said upset tummy mebbe ?
I hope so.
Ciao
Aunty Pol
SU and I think that Sgt. Andy is sick. He was fine the night before last, just a little quiet . Last night when we got home , as usual we opened the back door and instead of him running in....SU had to call him. He moseys into the kitchen where we'd dipped up food..not really all that " Gimme Gimme", even the milk.
Not interested....
An 8 month old kitteh.
Yipes.
Unsually when he comes in he goes straight to the icey box. He will sit and stare until I get his milk set up.
SU had him up on the sofa, and he stayed a while. We'd decided that he would stay in last night as the weather is getting weird. SU had to get up and at one point placed him on the rug under the coffee table. He didn't move.
ALL NIGHT.
He didn't budge.
Not Once.
SU let him out and he took off.
Tomorrow when he gets off work, SU will race home , put Andy in thePTB ( Prisoner Transport Box) and take him to Petsmart. Hopefully we can bail him out on Friday.
We are leaving for Denver this Saturday to see the cutest baby in the known Universe and her parents. I have been planning this trip since April. This is THE vacation for both of us.
Andy does have a medical issue and I hope that is not kicking up .
I offered to cancel the trip but SU said not this close.
You see, to us...the brofurs and sisfurs are our kids. Yup..We are those people . The people who hang stockings every year for the kittehs . The people who refer to each other as Mommy and Daddy. The people who do this in front of and in conversations with the kittehs. The people who refer to the kittehs as the Grand Katz when talking to their parents.
We are those people.
I really didn't realize how fond of Andy Panda Pants I'd really become.
And I am not making the following up.
I swear this on my fathers watery grave.
I dreamed this happened to Andy Sunday night. It was one of those terribly vivid dreams.
I never told it to Gordon until he said that the lad looked like he felt puny.
Please say a prayer or think a good thought for Sgt. Andy while he is at the 4077 Mash Unit.
I emailed SIL and she said upset tummy mebbe ?
I hope so.
Ciao
Aunty Pol
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
Tick Tock The Vacation Clock is On BABY
Well, almost every thing is done for the trip . Got SU some gloves last night after realizing that the only ones he has are golf gloves.
Gloves.
Funny things. SU being the picky shit that he is ( yes you are dear...everyone knows it and loves you in spite of this) hates the bulky fabric ones, the two tone leather ones were just fugly..bleech . I splurged and got him a nice pair of leather ones. I realized at some point today that this once again is me being a product of my parents and they way they did things. My father for example was the sort of man that thought every one should have certain things in life.
For Example:
1. Well polished shoes.
2. A decent overcoat
3. A decent pair of gloves.
I am certain that he got this from his parents . Even tho my paternal grandparents divorced when I was about the Bugs age, they were very much a product of their generation. You did things a certain way. Appearence and proper decorum were required...not as a special thing, but as an everyday way of living one's life. SU says that I sometimes am a tad intolerant of things and he is right. LOL...he doesn't realize that I have in fact mellowed out quite a bit since my callow youth . And picking out gloves last night reminded me of my connection to my father and the lessons I absorbed rather than learned. SU and my late father had many common traits. Among them was a fondness for hats. Daddy favored a Homberg or his Beret if he was feeling dashing and sassy. And yes, he could be that at times..you just had to really know him to know when he was gearing up for a full Bogart. SU on the other hand usually has a baseball cap on..habit and precaution since the lad is damn near bald on top. The other hats he favors are fedoras and straw Panamas's ala Leon Redbone . Other than my father , SU is the only man I have ever known who bought a hat in an old fashioned haberdashery. The definition is a tad more broad according to Websters...but you get the idea. The store was called Dobbs and it was a downtown land mark of a sorts. You could get a hat fitted, re-furbished or cleaned. Those days and those stores are gone . Yes..you can get a cowboy hat still..this is Texas after all, but you'd be suprised at how many men don't wear them down here. SU does not wear one . Back when that silly ass movie came out and every one wanted to by Gawd go to Gillys, every one wanted one of those fuggly ass straw cowboy hats. And they all thought you had to keep them pristine. I knew a rancher years ago ..actually my ex-father in law , and yes he and my late mother in law had a ranch in Pendleton , Oregon......anyhoo...said that a real cowboys hat was dirty and dusty and the sweatband on the inside was stained for a reason. It was called work. So SU got his gloves and yes..a black fedora. His old one was too small. And he knows the value of a good hat .
Dad would be proud.
Have a great evening.
Ciao ,
Aunty Pol
Gloves.
Funny things. SU being the picky shit that he is ( yes you are dear...everyone knows it and loves you in spite of this) hates the bulky fabric ones, the two tone leather ones were just fugly..bleech . I splurged and got him a nice pair of leather ones. I realized at some point today that this once again is me being a product of my parents and they way they did things. My father for example was the sort of man that thought every one should have certain things in life.
For Example:
1. Well polished shoes.
2. A decent overcoat
3. A decent pair of gloves.
I am certain that he got this from his parents . Even tho my paternal grandparents divorced when I was about the Bugs age, they were very much a product of their generation. You did things a certain way. Appearence and proper decorum were required...not as a special thing, but as an everyday way of living one's life. SU says that I sometimes am a tad intolerant of things and he is right. LOL...he doesn't realize that I have in fact mellowed out quite a bit since my callow youth . And picking out gloves last night reminded me of my connection to my father and the lessons I absorbed rather than learned. SU and my late father had many common traits. Among them was a fondness for hats. Daddy favored a Homberg or his Beret if he was feeling dashing and sassy. And yes, he could be that at times..you just had to really know him to know when he was gearing up for a full Bogart. SU on the other hand usually has a baseball cap on..habit and precaution since the lad is damn near bald on top. The other hats he favors are fedoras and straw Panamas's ala Leon Redbone . Other than my father , SU is the only man I have ever known who bought a hat in an old fashioned haberdashery. The definition is a tad more broad according to Websters...but you get the idea. The store was called Dobbs and it was a downtown land mark of a sorts. You could get a hat fitted, re-furbished or cleaned. Those days and those stores are gone . Yes..you can get a cowboy hat still..this is Texas after all, but you'd be suprised at how many men don't wear them down here. SU does not wear one . Back when that silly ass movie came out and every one wanted to by Gawd go to Gillys, every one wanted one of those fuggly ass straw cowboy hats. And they all thought you had to keep them pristine. I knew a rancher years ago ..actually my ex-father in law , and yes he and my late mother in law had a ranch in Pendleton , Oregon......anyhoo...said that a real cowboys hat was dirty and dusty and the sweatband on the inside was stained for a reason. It was called work. So SU got his gloves and yes..a black fedora. His old one was too small. And he knows the value of a good hat .
Dad would be proud.
Have a great evening.
Ciao ,
Aunty Pol
Irony ~ Not Just For Breakfast Any More
Sigh.
Every year the firm puts on it's annual dog and pony show at the GRB Convention Center , ( George R. Brown for the Touristas) .
Every Year.
This is the 40'th annual , which...say it with me...we've done 40 of those bastards.
40.
It is a blessing in untold ways that ol Pol didn't have access to any form of fire arm yesterday because I would have ended up in the pokey. All damn day long people ran amok looking for power point and a place to rehearse . People..this ain't the Old Vic here. You have know about this for 6 to 8 months. You have your speeches ready, your bullit points, your altoids and you laser pointer thingy's.
And still you persist in coming so unglued that forget Gorilla Glue...I'm considering an a welding torch....and no pain supressors.
Jeebus H Roosevelt Tap Dancing Christ .
Did all y'all have a collective blow to the head and forget the date ?
Does this years speech really diviate all that much from the snore fests of previous years ?
The irony is that the ones thatdon'y become the most unhinged are usually the biggest egomaniacs that we can't get to zip it any other time.
" Blah Blah Blah di Blah Blah Blah"
A**Hats
The Hatted ones
The poor co-ordinator has to endure the hatted here and then in Atlanta. Then if she's lucky she can have a nervous breakdown..or a few days off....or both.
Thankfully , I have enough to do to keep busy before vacation on my desk that I can Ignore the hatted ones.
Hang on a second..bliss alert.....wheeeeeeee.
There is before me one of my favorite lunches and it was free...gratis...jack friggan pot.
From Palazzos.
Out Friggan Standing !
Bow tie pasta and chiggin...real chiggin with artichoke hearts, sun dried maters , spinach and capers. I love capers.
Capers in the Morning
Capers in the Evening
Capers at Suppertime.
HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY
:) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :)
Bliss a rama....and the really good bread too..... now if I only had a nice dry red wine. Oh well.
Damn.
Life is good.
Ciao
Aunty Pol face down in the pasta, heading for a carb coma.
Every year the firm puts on it's annual dog and pony show at the GRB Convention Center , ( George R. Brown for the Touristas) .
Every Year.
This is the 40'th annual , which...say it with me...we've done 40 of those bastards.
40.
It is a blessing in untold ways that ol Pol didn't have access to any form of fire arm yesterday because I would have ended up in the pokey. All damn day long people ran amok looking for power point and a place to rehearse . People..this ain't the Old Vic here. You have know about this for 6 to 8 months. You have your speeches ready, your bullit points, your altoids and you laser pointer thingy's.
And still you persist in coming so unglued that forget Gorilla Glue...I'm considering an a welding torch....and no pain supressors.
Jeebus H Roosevelt Tap Dancing Christ .
Did all y'all have a collective blow to the head and forget the date ?
Does this years speech really diviate all that much from the snore fests of previous years ?
The irony is that the ones thatdon'y become the most unhinged are usually the biggest egomaniacs that we can't get to zip it any other time.
" Blah Blah Blah di Blah Blah Blah"
A**Hats
The Hatted ones
The poor co-ordinator has to endure the hatted here and then in Atlanta. Then if she's lucky she can have a nervous breakdown..or a few days off....or both.
Thankfully , I have enough to do to keep busy before vacation on my desk that I can Ignore the hatted ones.
Hang on a second..bliss alert.....wheeeeeeee.
There is before me one of my favorite lunches and it was free...gratis...jack friggan pot.
From Palazzos.
Out Friggan Standing !
Bow tie pasta and chiggin...real chiggin with artichoke hearts, sun dried maters , spinach and capers. I love capers.
Capers in the Morning
Capers in the Evening
Capers at Suppertime.
HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY
:) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :)
Bliss a rama....and the really good bread too..... now if I only had a nice dry red wine. Oh well.
Damn.
Life is good.
Ciao
Aunty Pol face down in the pasta, heading for a carb coma.
Friday, November 10, 2006
Houston ..We Have A Problem
Years ago , my late father introduced me to the Wall Street Journal and what is commonly referred to as " Third Column Over". It's always interesting but hard to classify as to what genre it would fall under. I think of it as human interest stories.
Todays is a real hoot.
" Buzz in West Texas Is About Jeff Bezos And His Launch Site ."
Jeff Bezos has purchased aproximately 290,000 acres over the last three years . The latest is a land purchase in Culberson and Hudspeth counties, 25 miles east of El Paso. Bezos purpose : to build a launch pad for his fledgling commercial space venture, Blue Origin LLC, which will offer suborbital trips to space.
What the Hell ??
Hello ?
WTF ?
The articles mentions that as many of the squillionaires do, Jeffey boy lawyered up and did all of the deals thru attorneys and so forth. Standard Bidness. Keeps ol Pol here in scooby snax and Jack Daniels. But I digress.
Seems that some of the locals are off put at the lack of information and disclosure about the new feller down the road. Um..All Y'all...this is the way Big Bidness is done. This is the way J.R. did things...remember ? Settle down. Yes, it's true, Van Horn is an itty bitty town where every one knows far too much about every one else. Yeah, bite me....Mayberry RFD sounds quaint and charming and blah di blah blah blah. Till you actually live in a town that size or GAWD help me ..smaller.. I have and it SUCKED.
That being said, the other side of the coin is that during the purchase negotiations and due diligence and the closings..( told ya..I really do work for lawyers) , the potential sellers had to go thru lawyers in Seattle. Straight answers to questions ..? Have you had a blow to the head ? You think that Jeffy Boy the Squillionaire is going to allow his lawyers any where near 10 feet of an honest and direct answer ? The article indicates it got pretty fugly a, as these things will..but in the end...after three years of drought in the area..the deal was done. Jeffy Boy got his Ponderosa and the sellers got iron f'g clad confidentiality agreements all but branded on their asses.
But here's the thing.
Have you been to Amazon lately? I shop there and check the status of certain authors new releases. If I can I pre-order with my buddy " 1 Click". The description also includes the future release date.
I am not making this part up.
I noticed that on a lot of the " New and Future Releases " the release dates were along the lines of :
1/1/2010
2/2/2020
3/3/2030
You get the idea. I thought weird..they have a glitch of epic nature....heee.
I waited a few days and repeated the process. Same results.
1/1/2010
2/2/2020
3/3/2030
Yipes.
Even if Pol here had the solaris, do you really think I'd pay it out and strap my ass into a chair of some home grown Enterprise built and run by some one who thinks I want to preorder books in advance..say..4 years, 14, years or 24 years.
Are you clinically insane ?
And..no one noticed these weird ass dates ? Who's running their website , Alfred E. Newman ?
Hee Hee Hee
On a sad note , RIP Jack Palance. I have had a crush on you all my life. A gifted actor and artist, you were one of the rare breed.
Have a great weekend.
Ciao,
Aunty Pol
Todays is a real hoot.
" Buzz in West Texas Is About Jeff Bezos And His Launch Site ."
Jeff Bezos has purchased aproximately 290,000 acres over the last three years . The latest is a land purchase in Culberson and Hudspeth counties, 25 miles east of El Paso. Bezos purpose : to build a launch pad for his fledgling commercial space venture, Blue Origin LLC, which will offer suborbital trips to space.
What the Hell ??
Hello ?
WTF ?
The articles mentions that as many of the squillionaires do, Jeffey boy lawyered up and did all of the deals thru attorneys and so forth. Standard Bidness. Keeps ol Pol here in scooby snax and Jack Daniels. But I digress.
Seems that some of the locals are off put at the lack of information and disclosure about the new feller down the road. Um..All Y'all...this is the way Big Bidness is done. This is the way J.R. did things...remember ? Settle down. Yes, it's true, Van Horn is an itty bitty town where every one knows far too much about every one else. Yeah, bite me....Mayberry RFD sounds quaint and charming and blah di blah blah blah. Till you actually live in a town that size or GAWD help me ..smaller.. I have and it SUCKED.
That being said, the other side of the coin is that during the purchase negotiations and due diligence and the closings..( told ya..I really do work for lawyers) , the potential sellers had to go thru lawyers in Seattle. Straight answers to questions ..? Have you had a blow to the head ? You think that Jeffy Boy the Squillionaire is going to allow his lawyers any where near 10 feet of an honest and direct answer ? The article indicates it got pretty fugly a, as these things will..but in the end...after three years of drought in the area..the deal was done. Jeffy Boy got his Ponderosa and the sellers got iron f'g clad confidentiality agreements all but branded on their asses.
But here's the thing.
Have you been to Amazon lately? I shop there and check the status of certain authors new releases. If I can I pre-order with my buddy " 1 Click". The description also includes the future release date.
I am not making this part up.
I noticed that on a lot of the " New and Future Releases " the release dates were along the lines of :
1/1/2010
2/2/2020
3/3/2030
You get the idea. I thought weird..they have a glitch of epic nature....heee.
I waited a few days and repeated the process. Same results.
1/1/2010
2/2/2020
3/3/2030
Yipes.
Even if Pol here had the solaris, do you really think I'd pay it out and strap my ass into a chair of some home grown Enterprise built and run by some one who thinks I want to preorder books in advance..say..4 years, 14, years or 24 years.
Are you clinically insane ?
And..no one noticed these weird ass dates ? Who's running their website , Alfred E. Newman ?
Hee Hee Hee
On a sad note , RIP Jack Palance. I have had a crush on you all my life. A gifted actor and artist, you were one of the rare breed.
Have a great weekend.
Ciao,
Aunty Pol
Thursday, November 09, 2006
Dibs and Dabs
Aging is a funny thing . Middle age creeps up on you without warning . If you are like Moi and at times cursed with the heart and inner mind of an 18 year old....the realization that you are a part of the demographic that made shows like "NCIS" a hit slaps you up side the head. I believe the quote was along the lines of referring to the 50 plus year old viewing audience..blah blah blah that carried a tone to it that made me think I had by Gawd one foot in the grave and the other on a greased ball bearing. And any one in real life who knows ol Pol knows that gracefull ....she ain't.
Take the news. I grew up in a house that watched Huntley and Brinkley , a personal favorite of Dads. We watched Uncle Walter also. We trusted these guys and they in turn trusted their audiences to have the brains and common sense to understand what the hell was going on. These gentlemen didn't pander to the camera, worry about the lines on their faces or perform stunts to increase the ratings. They covered the war in Vietnam, the assassination of many gifted people taken far to soon and did it with respect. They were journalists, not personalities and for many of them , when they spoke about the war , you could sense that maybe they had been in country during a conflict....and knew what the F they were talking about. They didn't let their personal opinions color their delivery, except with the noted exception of the historic emotion on Walter Chronkite's face as he announced the death of JFK. It was an historic moment because it just didn't happen on a regular basis..
I consider most of todays news reporters here in the US to be little more than floating heads. There are a few exceptions...Christine Amapoor ( sp) comes to mind. We lost the other one today.
Rest in peace Mr. Bradley.
SU and I have a habit of watching " 60 Minutes " every Sunday. It's the law in the Casa. Even the reruns. SU has a fondness for Andy Rooney and I note the similarities of the two as SU ages. I call the SU a Curmudgeon in training. Ed Bradley had the gift of being respectful in his delivery, humorous when appropriate and keenly interested in being in the moment . But more than anything else, he listened. He gave his full and undivided attention to the topic at hand. When he covered war torn areas, you remembered that he himself had been injured in Cambodia without being hit over the head with it. There was no chummy " Hey Buddy, I can relate " crap that is so patronizing that it makes me want to gak. He had the ability to take his work and not himself seriously which is an art. I shall miss seeing him on Sunday nights and had hoped that his passing was swift and gentle. Sadly it seems that was not the case. He's two or three year battle with leukemia resulted in the need to remove his spleen. That resulted in his body shutting down and thus causing his untimely demise. The fact that the man had the grace to keep a clear divide between his personal and professional life speaks to his character. In a world of idiotic celebutants and stalkerazzi whores where you aren't famous until you've had your very own " Nip Slip", been thrown out of the latest " in " club or busted like a Baldwin...there are those with style, grace and a sense of propriety . That rarified and select group gained a new member today. And the world lost a member of a dying breed, a gentleman.
RIP Mr Bradley.
Take the news. I grew up in a house that watched Huntley and Brinkley , a personal favorite of Dads. We watched Uncle Walter also. We trusted these guys and they in turn trusted their audiences to have the brains and common sense to understand what the hell was going on. These gentlemen didn't pander to the camera, worry about the lines on their faces or perform stunts to increase the ratings. They covered the war in Vietnam, the assassination of many gifted people taken far to soon and did it with respect. They were journalists, not personalities and for many of them , when they spoke about the war , you could sense that maybe they had been in country during a conflict....and knew what the F they were talking about. They didn't let their personal opinions color their delivery, except with the noted exception of the historic emotion on Walter Chronkite's face as he announced the death of JFK. It was an historic moment because it just didn't happen on a regular basis..
I consider most of todays news reporters here in the US to be little more than floating heads. There are a few exceptions...Christine Amapoor ( sp) comes to mind. We lost the other one today.
Rest in peace Mr. Bradley.
SU and I have a habit of watching " 60 Minutes " every Sunday. It's the law in the Casa. Even the reruns. SU has a fondness for Andy Rooney and I note the similarities of the two as SU ages. I call the SU a Curmudgeon in training. Ed Bradley had the gift of being respectful in his delivery, humorous when appropriate and keenly interested in being in the moment . But more than anything else, he listened. He gave his full and undivided attention to the topic at hand. When he covered war torn areas, you remembered that he himself had been injured in Cambodia without being hit over the head with it. There was no chummy " Hey Buddy, I can relate " crap that is so patronizing that it makes me want to gak. He had the ability to take his work and not himself seriously which is an art. I shall miss seeing him on Sunday nights and had hoped that his passing was swift and gentle. Sadly it seems that was not the case. He's two or three year battle with leukemia resulted in the need to remove his spleen. That resulted in his body shutting down and thus causing his untimely demise. The fact that the man had the grace to keep a clear divide between his personal and professional life speaks to his character. In a world of idiotic celebutants and stalkerazzi whores where you aren't famous until you've had your very own " Nip Slip", been thrown out of the latest " in " club or busted like a Baldwin...there are those with style, grace and a sense of propriety . That rarified and select group gained a new member today. And the world lost a member of a dying breed, a gentleman.
RIP Mr Bradley.
Tuesday, November 07, 2006
Huzzah For Sgt. Andy
LOL..I guess my being so excited about this confirms once and for all that ol Pol here is just flat out nucking futts. In our ever present effort to get the lad to be an in door kitteh, we bought him his own litter box and out it outside on the patio. He hopped in and began to play , which to me was .." Hey...close enough." His daddy reported this morning that the boy had infact piddled in said box so progress is being made. SU is determined that the lad will be an indoor kitteh so it's more or less a contest of wills. Personally I just want the boy to be happy...and for his daddy to can it Yes dear, as I know that you are going to read this...Andy will do what he wants no matter what you or I say , think or do. Just be glad he's not po'd about being neutered...twice.
On the upside, everything is pretty much set for the trip. SU went to the tire joint to get one replaced and the rotation thingy. Good thing he did since one of the other tires had a nail and was thus un-fixable. I highly recommend spending the 10 dollars to get the road hazzard coverage. Down here with the endless construction and krep on the roads..heh. Then he ditty bopped over to Jacque Penney to pick up some sweats on sale....it doesn 't get very cold down here , but when it does with the humidity...BRRRR. We live in the damn things in the winter. I still have no idea what the weather is going to be like, our paper says 50's to 60's swith overnights in the mid 40's. El perfecto to me, and the SU will grumble a bit. And of course I got the " practical " boots in , and by practical I mean FUGLY . Just flat out FUGLY . Moi was NOT put on this planet to suffer fugly footwear, but on the other hand an emergency room visit is a complete bummer. I will have something besides the fugley's so it will work out. Not that I am overthinking all of this.....LOL. That's SU's domain.
For example:
SU: " Have you picked out the music for the trip?"
Moi: " Nope"
SU : " Don't you think you should start on that ?"
Moi : " Probably"
SU : " You know we leave in a week or so . "
Moi : " Yup"
SU " So......."
Moi : " Asked and answered, move on."
Two things become clear , first of all I have worked for lawyers far too long and second, I can in fact channel my late father. Not as well as Brudder , but still. Must be the gene pool.
Thank goodness the Mid term elections will he a memory after tomorrow. One of my favorite bloggers in Atlanta said in his latest tome that if a candidate runs a mud slinging negative campain that said candidate will lose Elisson's vote. Great in theory, tough to put into practice as this seems to be the overall norm. All I can say is :
1. I voted.
2. There may be a sale price tomorrow on my candidates tee shirts.
Like the Kinkster says " How hard can it be ? "
Have a great week....and if you haven't yet and need to...get off yer arse and VOTE !
Ciao
Aunty Pol
On the upside, everything is pretty much set for the trip. SU went to the tire joint to get one replaced and the rotation thingy. Good thing he did since one of the other tires had a nail and was thus un-fixable. I highly recommend spending the 10 dollars to get the road hazzard coverage. Down here with the endless construction and krep on the roads..heh. Then he ditty bopped over to Jacque Penney to pick up some sweats on sale....it doesn 't get very cold down here , but when it does with the humidity...BRRRR. We live in the damn things in the winter. I still have no idea what the weather is going to be like, our paper says 50's to 60's swith overnights in the mid 40's. El perfecto to me, and the SU will grumble a bit. And of course I got the " practical " boots in , and by practical I mean FUGLY . Just flat out FUGLY . Moi was NOT put on this planet to suffer fugly footwear, but on the other hand an emergency room visit is a complete bummer. I will have something besides the fugley's so it will work out. Not that I am overthinking all of this.....LOL. That's SU's domain.
For example:
SU: " Have you picked out the music for the trip?"
Moi: " Nope"
SU : " Don't you think you should start on that ?"
Moi : " Probably"
SU : " You know we leave in a week or so . "
Moi : " Yup"
SU " So......."
Moi : " Asked and answered, move on."
Two things become clear , first of all I have worked for lawyers far too long and second, I can in fact channel my late father. Not as well as Brudder , but still. Must be the gene pool.
Thank goodness the Mid term elections will he a memory after tomorrow. One of my favorite bloggers in Atlanta said in his latest tome that if a candidate runs a mud slinging negative campain that said candidate will lose Elisson's vote. Great in theory, tough to put into practice as this seems to be the overall norm. All I can say is :
1. I voted.
2. There may be a sale price tomorrow on my candidates tee shirts.
Like the Kinkster says " How hard can it be ? "
Have a great week....and if you haven't yet and need to...get off yer arse and VOTE !
Ciao
Aunty Pol
Friday, November 03, 2006
Happy Birthday to the Beloved Nephew
Happy birthday sweetie. I was thinking about it the other night and realized it has been 13 years since I saw you last in Hopkins. It's hard to realize that Grandpa E has been gone that long. Seems so long ago and yet I think about him every Halloween. Hard to believe you are 28, Gawd , I remember the call from your father announcing your birth . I don't think I have ever heard such joy in a mans voice . And now you have a little one of your own. I see the look on your face in photo's when you are holding her and it's you and your dad all over again. I never grasped till then how much you really look like your father. Hee Hee.
We are getting stuff prep'd for the trip, your Uncle is making me crazy as usual. We are such opposites. He tends to over think things , and me..even tho it doesn't appear that I am working on stuff I am. It's all in my head and I don't need to play robot chicken to get it done. It's always been this was so after all these years I tune him out when he cranks it up.
Anyhoo..Happy Birthday to you and an early one to your Baby's Momma.
See you soon
Ciao
You know who
We are getting stuff prep'd for the trip, your Uncle is making me crazy as usual. We are such opposites. He tends to over think things , and me..even tho it doesn't appear that I am working on stuff I am. It's all in my head and I don't need to play robot chicken to get it done. It's always been this was so after all these years I tune him out when he cranks it up.
Anyhoo..Happy Birthday to you and an early one to your Baby's Momma.
See you soon
Ciao
You know who
Thursday, November 02, 2006
BRRRRRR
Well kids , it's that time of year when it can turn colder faster than you know what. For us down here in Tejas, that means a high in the mid 60's and lows in the 40's. OF course the coldest part will be between midnight and 4 a.m. but still........wheeeeeee. Poor SU was in shorts so I imagine I'll have to check to see that he has big boy pants for tomorrow.
Hee Hee
We went krogering last night which I truely hate. I hate the way people behave in the stores and worse yet allow their children to act. GRRRRRRRRR...Anyhoo, I had a coupon for the fake logs and so I know that while SU is over at the crazy cajuns playing poker, I will be at home inside with a nice bit of fire and an fresh ep of both Smallville and CSI - Lost wages. It doesn't get much better that gang. I suspect that Sgt. Andy may want to be an inside kitteh tonight , but we will see. After watching him for a while I realized a couple of things.
1. When he launches himself at the curtains in the dining room, this clearly indicates that he has had enough indoor kitteh time and has reached the 3 1/2 hour capacity.
2. Huge clue..when he sits on the dining room chair closest to the actual gateway to freedom and stares at the back of your head...yup. Time to go .
Andy has developed a fondness for hiding in the overgrown plumbago on one side of the arbor. We know this because he always has the petals in his tail fur. He is of the medium hair kinda Marmalade kitteh so it will be a challenge to keep the boy brushed. He doesn't mind it per say but everything becomes a toy after a certain period so its bitey time . I know that he is going to be mega po'd when we are gone to see the cutest child in the known universe so I will have to tell his sitter to be sure that he has his bovine wine in a plastic dish. Last night after he left , Munchkin came in and discovered the left over milk in a bowl on the floor...gonna have to watch that so they don't all get the idea. Yeah..I know ...good luck with that.
Thankfully tomorrow is Friday and H shirtnight. Wheeeeeee. I have more snacks..yes , gang the good pretzels so it will be fun. We won't be staying all that late as I have just a real ton of stuff to do and it's going to be a busy 2 weeks.
Have a great evening and a better weekend.
Ciao,
Aunty Pol
Hee Hee
We went krogering last night which I truely hate. I hate the way people behave in the stores and worse yet allow their children to act. GRRRRRRRRR...Anyhoo, I had a coupon for the fake logs and so I know that while SU is over at the crazy cajuns playing poker, I will be at home inside with a nice bit of fire and an fresh ep of both Smallville and CSI - Lost wages. It doesn't get much better that gang. I suspect that Sgt. Andy may want to be an inside kitteh tonight , but we will see. After watching him for a while I realized a couple of things.
1. When he launches himself at the curtains in the dining room, this clearly indicates that he has had enough indoor kitteh time and has reached the 3 1/2 hour capacity.
2. Huge clue..when he sits on the dining room chair closest to the actual gateway to freedom and stares at the back of your head...yup. Time to go .
Andy has developed a fondness for hiding in the overgrown plumbago on one side of the arbor. We know this because he always has the petals in his tail fur. He is of the medium hair kinda Marmalade kitteh so it will be a challenge to keep the boy brushed. He doesn't mind it per say but everything becomes a toy after a certain period so its bitey time . I know that he is going to be mega po'd when we are gone to see the cutest child in the known universe so I will have to tell his sitter to be sure that he has his bovine wine in a plastic dish. Last night after he left , Munchkin came in and discovered the left over milk in a bowl on the floor...gonna have to watch that so they don't all get the idea. Yeah..I know ...good luck with that.
Thankfully tomorrow is Friday and H shirtnight. Wheeeeeee. I have more snacks..yes , gang the good pretzels so it will be fun. We won't be staying all that late as I have just a real ton of stuff to do and it's going to be a busy 2 weeks.
Have a great evening and a better weekend.
Ciao,
Aunty Pol
Wednesday, November 01, 2006
Too Weird To Be Made Up
Sometimes there are things in the local paper that catch my eye . You know the sort , the "wtf ?" variety . The following was in todays local rag:
" Web sites take how -to advice to emtremes."
By John Jurgensen
Wall Street Journal
" Do you know how to take a shower ? VideoJug.com is betting you don't - at least not as well as you think you do. "
The article goes on to discuss the newest and IMHO the dumbest iteration of the burgeoning self help industry: teaching people the obvious. Below are some of the examples the article mentioned, and no..I am not making this up.....
1. How to boil an egg.
2. How to peel and eat an apple.
3. How to freeze ice.
4. How to do nothing.
Step 1. Plan ahead so you can cancel your appointments
Number 4 for those who wonder is....wait for it.....yes....my favorite.
Jeebus H people . I mean really. This boggles the mind as my father used to say. Now Aunty Pol is the first to freely admit that there is a lot that she does not know how to do . It varies from the mundane.....sewing a garment that can actually be worn in public to the more complicated...splitting the atom. My parents , bless them , had the common sense of not the common decency to require their offspring to be able to do simple tasks...make a bed....a sammich....boil an egg...do a load of laundry . Their generation like the ones before them thought it might be wise to raise a self sufficient child. Good plan that. Even if the tools were available to them , I can guarentee that my parents would have taken the direct approach rather than doing a full press web search.
Things like this are what my father classified under the " Theater of the absurd."
Smart man , my Dad.
Have a great rest of the week...really.
The above article has made my head hurt so I guess I'd better do a web search on how to take an aspirin........NOT !
Ciao,
Aunty Pol
" Web sites take how -to advice to emtremes."
By John Jurgensen
Wall Street Journal
" Do you know how to take a shower ? VideoJug.com is betting you don't - at least not as well as you think you do. "
The article goes on to discuss the newest and IMHO the dumbest iteration of the burgeoning self help industry: teaching people the obvious. Below are some of the examples the article mentioned, and no..I am not making this up.....
1. How to boil an egg.
2. How to peel and eat an apple.
3. How to freeze ice.
4. How to do nothing.
Step 1. Plan ahead so you can cancel your appointments
Number 4 for those who wonder is....wait for it.....yes....my favorite.
Jeebus H people . I mean really. This boggles the mind as my father used to say. Now Aunty Pol is the first to freely admit that there is a lot that she does not know how to do . It varies from the mundane.....sewing a garment that can actually be worn in public to the more complicated...splitting the atom. My parents , bless them , had the common sense of not the common decency to require their offspring to be able to do simple tasks...make a bed....a sammich....boil an egg...do a load of laundry . Their generation like the ones before them thought it might be wise to raise a self sufficient child. Good plan that. Even if the tools were available to them , I can guarentee that my parents would have taken the direct approach rather than doing a full press web search.
Things like this are what my father classified under the " Theater of the absurd."
Smart man , my Dad.
Have a great rest of the week...really.
The above article has made my head hurt so I guess I'd better do a web search on how to take an aspirin........NOT !
Ciao,
Aunty Pol
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