...start building the Ark

Isn't it great to see that Washington, D.C. is under water (realtively so)? Just imagine, the IRS building has been closed, I do so hope they don't loose any records (heehee). Can you see Dubya on the back of a boat crossing the Potomac? Not a pretty picture. He would have Mexicans rowing for him I am sure. (Never guess how I feel politically, could ya?)

I would choose sunshine and no rain if I had my druthers, sunshine is so revitalizing for me!! Like the Caribbean. It is comforting to know my ashes will someday be warmed in the ocean. Now isn't that a droll subject.

On to more exciting things. Let me think.....hmm..... theson had a terrific blog yesterday about his father's mistress (see Nomadic Tendencies). It fired up him, his sister and myself, not to mention our friends.

theson is one of the most interesting, vital, smart individuals I know. (Not that I am predjudiced or anything.) He was never a problem while growing up, he was always my staunchest supporter and rock. He made his way through one of the toughest and prestigious universities (Case Western) and after his "free" freshman year, made me very proud of all his accomplishments. And then I find out his father's mistress communicated with him via email, which upset him tremendously and he definitely does not want me to be upset. But just so you know son, nothing that person says or does can upset me. She is not worth a minute of my time one way or the other. Nor should she fester in your mind. She no more knew what life was like with your dad than the man in the moon. He was a pathological liar and perpetuated his lies with her. You and I (and a good many people around us) know what really transpired in our lives, and the bottom line is - we don't dwell on the past. We learn and go forward.

Russell has probably taught you more than your father ever did. And he is always willing to bend your ear or pass on his knowledge (in fields you are lacking.) Mom2 ALMOST loves you as much as me. We have adopted that family as our own and vice versa. Mom2 is my sister for all intent and purposes. We have been through a lot and probably have a lot waiting in the future.

I loved your blog though - there is nothing wrong with the feelings you have. As long as those feelings can be expressed and not repressed you are a whole person. Just knowing what a terrific husband and father you will be someday, makes me content. For not having a good example you have certainly made some headway in your life.

And that is all I am going to say at this time. Should you need me to stand up for you - just ask. That's my job. Love ya baby. MOM'S GOT YOUR BACK!!!

OK folks, stay healthy, till next time.

...really going to try pics

I have stated how much I enjoyed the cruise and I am going to see if I can get the pics in here. The first pic is taken from the ship looking out onto Port Everglades. And the following are from St. Thomas and St. Maarten. I got a beautiful sunset shot leaving St. Thomas. OK - that's 2 for now, thought I had more time but have to do some things. will add more or give the flickr site to view more. stay healthy all.

SHELBIE REMEMBERED...

Today was a very sad day for my friends - they had to have their pet and friend Shelbie put to sleep after 15 years of companionship. Shelbie was a black, white and brown sheltie, and the protector of the domain for many years. She was companion and friend to Russ, who truly loved this family member.

The one bright side, is the memories that they have over the past many years; their son and his antics with Shelbie when she was much younger, like blowing into her nose to make her jowls flare out. Poor baby, what she had to endure. But always the friend and protector.

Having to say goodbye to our pets is not now, or ever has been an easy task. But a pet should suffer no more than we would have a human endure. Saying goodbye for the last time is hard and will be for days to come, but trust me, the decision made was compassionate and made out of love.

My heartfelt sympathies are with you all.

GOODBYE SHELBIE GIRL!!!

..........so there, MY THING!!!

Just to be funny for theson - he apparently just caught on to the openings for my blogs the (...) or endings, whichever the case may be. I have no clue why I started it, but I think it comes from conversations, I am always being interrupted and what I have to say usually comes out rather choppy. So I feel I am usually starting everything in mid-sentence. How is that for an explanation?

Back to the cruise. When you enter Port Everglades, you have to wait in a winding line to enter the building which houses INS, TSA's and Cruise Personnel. Once in the building there are a multitude of lines again, one for each floor on the ship. One only has to go to their designated line and again wait to be processed through, and then onto the ship. there is also a line for Platinum and Elite members which is considered an "Express Check-In." NOT!!! I stood in line maybe longer than those on the various other lines. They also now have a line for "WHEELCHAIR ASSISTED TRAVELERS." OMG - that line reached to the back of this building (approximately 300 feet). From the moment I saw all those in the "handicapped" line, I knew I was going to have some fun.

For the first couple of days, in conversations with various people I met, I insisted that the jogging track should be turned into a route for the wheelchair races. Of course there would have to be two separate races, one for motorized and another for non-motorized units. Most saw the humor in my effort. I also thought we might have to divide into age groups as there appeared to be a 30 year gap between some. I figured wtf, how much more liability could there be, since most were on their last legs and needed oxygen, how bad could they get hurt (other than death!?) That was the sick side of my humor.

Princess had to supply an attendant to "de-embark" each and every one of those dependant on wheels - which I assumed was a liability based decision. They damn near ran me over just getting to the gangplank.

There was also a bunch of teeny bopper young girls which about drove me over the edge. Sickening, how they flaunted their little bodies all tanned and shapely. Ha!!! Someday after they have multiple children, they will find out what happens to that body! Probably picked me as a perfect example, all tanned and ROUND! hee hee.

OK, that's enough for now, have to get up early in the morning, so I have things to do. So everyone stay healthy and I will just sign off...

...i'm back - vacation NOT long enough

Hi All!!! I'm back to the humdrum life again. A week's vacation is definitely not long enough. I honestly need to hit a lottery so I can indulge my fantasy of at least ONE MONTH on a cruise ship. Met some very nice and interesting people on this cruise and managed to relax and enjoy myself completely. No clock to dictate my every moment and no schedule to adhere to - wonderful!!!

My very best friends picked me up on Friday the 9th at 6 am and drove me to the Pittsburgh Airport. Now there was a challenge - never in my wildest dreams did I figure it would be bedlam at that ungodly hour of the morning. Since I had to get my ticket from the US Air kiosk, I had to stand in line almost an hour then take my bags to the X-ray department, then go through the screening process and on to the gate for boarding. I stopped at O'Briens and had a quick coffee and cigarette and made it to my gate 5 minutes before boarding proceeded. Whew!!! That was fun. We left 15 minutes late and arrived in Ft. Lauderdale 10 minutes early - not bad and a good flight to boot.

Got a taxi to the hotel (very glad I switched hotels @ hotels.com). It is a very old hotel which has been refurbished and is right in the center of the "posh" shopping area. It was sort of a Rodeo Drive in Ft. Lauderdale. After a two hour nap, I walked all around the area and "window shopped"; there was even a Vera Bradley (cloth bags) store that I did enter. Still didn't buy anything, then I stopped at a sidewalk cafe for dinner. Nice atmosphere and ambience and a nice Mediterranean fare. While I was finishing my meal, everyone came running out of the bar next door screaming "fire" whilst still holding their drinks. It was two minutes before two ladder trucks; a pumper truck and ambulance were all parked in front of the building. I was not even allowed to leave as the police had yellow taped off the exit. So I did what any normal person would do, I called my friend and daughter on my cell to let them know what was going on. The fire was from the AC unit on the roof and the fire department had every thing under control within a half hour. A little excitement to end my day. Back to the hotel and the MOST COMFORTABLE BED in the world.

I got to Port Everglades to board the ship around 12:15 pm and there was already a long line. Cruise personnel opened the doors and the line moved smoothly after that. I was through the check in procedure and in my room by 12:45 pm. Swimsuit on and off to the pool. I was in heaven. There is always a "going away" party and a Caribbean band playing, dancing and lots of fun. That lasted till we were about a half hour out of port. Showered and up to the Caribe buffet. Terrific - lobster and crab legs - yummy! There was a great musical show in the Princess Theatre as always, then I closed my evening out at Club Fusion with a gin and tonic and "Scene It" games followed by the beginning of a week long "Princess Idol" contest.

I will get out the manual for the cacorder/digital camera Slyght bought me for Mother's Day, and try to figure how to download and hopefull get into a future blog. The older I get the dumber I get!!

Have to take thedaughter to Columbus for a check-up today, so will try to add more tonight.

Stay healthy all!!

I am almost outta here...

OKay, the countdown has begun. I will be leaving for the airport in 17 hours, and in 51 hours will be sailing to the Caribbean. I have not slept well for the past few nights, and everyone says I must be excited. I am not sure what to call it!! There is only a handful of people who can truly understand how much I need and will relish "getting away!"

I do well when I am on my own, and just imagining relaxing by the pool and DOING NOTHING, is the ultimate rush. Thank you Slyght for everything!

I will miss thegrandson more than anything, although I don't think it is a reciprocal emotion. Last night he was telling his mother, he wished I was leaving "yesterday." Maybe he is planning a big party, oh that would be his mother!! hee hee.

I have tried to limit what has gone in the suitcase, because I know I am taking more than I need. I will rummage through it one more time and remove any excess.

I bought "The DaVinci Code" for the cruise and started reading it yesterday and am now halfway through. It is excellent and very hard to put down. I will probably have it finished before I even sail.

OK - MOM2 --- DON'T GET BUMMED OUT. Since I have been unemployed, we have played almost every day, and she will have to resort to the "other" best friends while I am away. I know they are not as much fun as me - SO PRETEND!! I will email her from the ship - to let her know I have not gone overboard!!

Still much to do, gonna run for now. Will try to blog tonight if possible, but had a hard time getting to the site just to blog now. So we will see.

EVERYONE STAY HEALTHY!! Don't think of me in the sunshine, by the pool, with a daiquri - it will only depress you!!! TTFN

...five days and counting

It is 1:45 am Monday morning and apparently I have had enough sleep for the night- ARGHHHH!!! Tried to blog yesterday and the day before, but I did the "Personality Test" from Slyght's site and tried to put in this blog and really fukked things up. After deleting both posts, they were still showing up on this site and changed every aspect of the blog. It definitely wasn't pretty.

I have never considered myself as a dumb individual, but for the life of me I have more trouble adding links to this site, and slyght tells me how "easy" it is. NOT. I believe I do much better with visual instruction in my "twilight" years than the written word. When I was younger (soooo long ago) I could just read instructions and "go at it" but not anymore. I must have suffered some sort of brain damage along the way.

Thanks slyght for fixing the problem!!

Leaving this coming Friday for Ft. Lauderdale and sailing on Saturday. My very bestest friend, MOM2, is unable to cruise again this year, due to some physical disabilities, DAMNIT!!! But she better be fine and fit next year as we are planning a 9 day cruise on the Crown Princess out of NYC, and sails to the Turks and Caicos. That should give the neurologist plenty of time to fix what ails her. Definitely more fun with Mom2, as we have a blast "making fun of" all the other people on the cruise. Not in a hurtful way, but in a "they wish they were us" kind of way. YUK YUK! I was looking through all my paperwork for this trip (cruise papers, air reservations and hotel reservation), when I noticed that the hotel I booked had a one star rating out of five. After more checking, I started getting a little worried. So I called Hotels.com and was able to switch to a better locale (get this: a totally non-smoking hotel), for $20 more. I must be nuts.

Have you read about the massacre of the seven people in a home in Indianapolis? It was quite tragic, three children under the age of 11 and 4 adults were shot in their home by 3 or 4 home invaders. Well they caught one guy and then another surrendered to police at the local Hardee's with his minister by his side. My point is this: the sites for comments about this act and the perpetrators on the internet have had me irate as ususal. Especially the ones like - "it was an ACCIDENT, and to forgive the poor guys." Excuse me, I accidently swept my semi automatic guns throughout the room and these poeple just got in the way?????!!!! And to practice forgiveness, blah blah blah! NOPE - AIN'T GONNA DO IT!! Let me start the lethal IV drip, or pull the switch or whatever it takes to rid the planet of this kind of vermin. Between eyewitness accounts and forensics, it is proven that these individuals perpetrated the crime - BANG you are done!! No more tax dollars being spent for their care and housing. I have always chuckled at the statements that it costs more to execute an individual than to house them for 30 or 40 years. Last time I checked a bullet still cost under a buck. And the chemicals for lethal injection do not cost thousands of dollars. ENOUGH OF THIS MORBID SUBJECT. I just get very upset with the moronic mentality we face sometimes.

As for the Personality test, I did not amaze myself at all, guess because I already know who I am, and at this point I probably will not change much.

OKAY PAUL - get on the stick and blog. May 18th was such a long time ago, fill us in on what is happening, any exciting bike trips?? Work going well?? Anything, something!!! C'mon guy, I have no life, need to catch up on others.

Everyone email Emma (Saddle Tramp) on Tuesday, her 28th birthday!!! Wonder how good an Indian Birthday Cake really is?? Maybe Slyght will get her something nice!! Like a big hug and sloppy kiss!! haha!

Gonna go for now - have to go tan in 6 hours. hee hee. More later.

Stay healthy all!!