The holidays

I had some time to think about this the past 3 days.  While I was driving to work on Christmas Eve.  And the day after Christmas. 

Christmas Eve is over-rated.  

At least at my world it is … and maybe it’s because I don’t have kids and I’m turning into “that” ole lady that just sees everything in a different perspective.  And not that I’m bitter about it … but dang!  What else do we not get to look forward too in ole age?

As a kid, Christmas Eve had this kind of warm fuzzy glow about it.  I got to sleep in on what would normally be a “school day”.  And then, for the rest of the day, I did nothing but slouch around the house, helping out in the kitchen to bake cookies or prep for the “big” meal.  Or, go outside and sleigh ride, in the mountains of snow that my dad had built with his bobcat.  

Then the presents were all there taunting me, under the tree in their red and green wrapping paper … just begging me to rip them open. Quickly.  And maybe if I was lucky my mother would let me open one … but that was it, because Santa was coming and then I’d have a whole lot of presents to open the next day.

That “warm, out of focus” Christmas Eve experience pretty much ended when I started working.  First in public safety and then in retail -- all jobs that just go on no matter what day of the year it is.  And then I moved outside of the acceptable limit for a one day car ride – 6 hours one way – and I usually only had Christmas Day off, so it wasn’t worth my time to spend half my day in the car for a few moments of bliss. 

And maybe I just have a warped sense of what Christmas eve was for me because for most of my childhood, my mother worked for the school system and was off on Christmas Eve.  So she was home to do that baking and what-not on that day.  And most of my friend’s mom’s didn’t work … so they all had that same fuzzy wuzzy experience.  But what about those people that did have to work.  Like my dad... who was usually out with the snow plows on Christmas Eve … making sure the roads were clear for everyone else to enjoy their holiday.  Or my sister-in-law who spent nearly Christmas Holiday working at the hospital...even though she had lil ones at home?

So my view of what Christmas Eve is supposed to be is a little tarnished.  And now as an adult,  I’m not really sure what it should be... because in the 28 years that I’ve been a working class citizen, I’ve had to work on every Christmas Eve … with the possible exception of one.  So I don’t know what I should be doing on that day.   Other than running around like a freak trying to get everything done for Christmas day.

Like this year, I worked from 6:30 until noon when one of the big bosses came by my desk and told me I could go home – just seconds before I went to lunch.  But before he showed up … I actually had to work – a lot.  And I was starting to get a headache over it.  Then after I got off work, I went to the grocery store to get some items that my sister, (AKA resident chef) needed.  And that probably made my headache worse … because people were acting like freaks.  The parking lot was packed … and inside the store,  people were rushing around like the store wasn’t going to be open another day. Ever.   Even the cashier had a chip on her shoulder that she had to be there … and that’s when it became clearly obvious to me … hardly anyone says “happy holidays” anymore.    Not that I say it much either … but its Christmas... for crist sakes?  Should everyone be happy about it?   

Once I got home, I hung out with my sister for awhile as she slaved away in the kitchen and then I took a nap for like 40 minutes.  Then we ate dinner, opened presents, cleaned up and then I went to bed.  Christmas day was a fun chaotic day – where I ate too much, didn’t drink enough and ended up with aching feet.  But in a good way. 

For the most part I was happy about Christmas -- because to me, Christmas is about giving to others.  I do like to receive too, but I get most joy out of making others happy.  I bought all my girlfriends at work a 10 minute shoulder massage.    I put a couple of books and toys in the Toys for Tots collection bin. I bought two presents for old ladies in the Santa for a Senior campaign.  (one that tugged at my heart for days until I went back and got the ornament and bought the present – a red winter jacket).   I sent a huge package of shower gel/shampoo to a women’s shelter in Dubuque and I put probably $100 in the Salvation Army kettles. 

Not to mention that I overspent on my family members.  I tried to buy things that would leave a lasting impression with my family.   Like the quilt that I had made for my mom, or the legion jacket I got for my dad – even though he’ll probably never wear it – veteran stuff is really important to him right now.   Or the print that my sister has been bugging me about all year – that I spent way too much money getting framed and then had buyer’s remorse up until the second the wrapping was torn away.  Or the necklace for my too hard to buy for niece with her initial on it.  Or the pictures of my parents and grandparents that I put together for my nephew.   These things they will have for a lifetime ….    

And of course, I’ll have my kitchenaide mixer that I’ve been asking for, for 20 years and finally  got … (never mind the only reason I got it was because mom’s broke).  But in 20 years when I’m still using it...  this Christmas will stand out in my mind. 

I guess in retrospect, the excitement of Christmas is really about being a kid. I still want to believe in the mystery of Santa ... even at 46.   One of my co-workers told me this morning that her kids were up at 5:30 yesterday scoping out the presents -- she had only gone to bed a few hours later -- because she was playing Santa for her kids.  She said that her kids still believe that there really is a Santa -- because someone told them once that Santa is real in the hearts of millions of people  I guess that's what Christmas is for me -- even if I don't know how to act.  And quite honestly ...Christmas Eve must suck for every working parent … because god knows they have 8 gazillion things to do to get ready for that 30 minutes of wrapping paper ripping frenzy.  

So here it is the day after Christmas and I’m again at work.  Half of my department is on vacation and my account is closed until January 3^rd.  But I’m here … taking up my space. Writing my blog.   I haven’t had a new email come across my screen in 4 hours.   And just a few minutes ago, when I was perusing the newspaper – I saw a notice about Christmas Tree pick up.   Ugh .. so that’s it.  It’s all over.  

The day after Christmas sucks too.  

And don’t get me started on how much un-fun News Years Eve is getting to be. 

After a short hiatus .... here's my newest beef:

Okay ... so you all know that I am very health care sensitive after not having health care insurance for a year.  It was a good experience because it has made me really conscious of doctors that just go through the motions and then charge you an arm and leg for their crappy service.  And it has made me more likely to not go to the doctor for every little thing ... and when I do go, I get annoyed really quickly when I don't get good service. 

So a few months ago, I went to the doctor about my shoulder.  It had been bothering me for a couple of months.  I don't know exactly what I did to it.  I have some thoughts about it ... but nothing concrete.  I thought it would get better on it's own ... which, of course, didn't happen.  So I finally broke down and went to my regular doctor. 

She poked around,  got something to pop and caused me some pain and then said that she thought it would get better with a coritsone shot.  Then she said she needed to see it on an x-ray.  Okay .. fine.  I get that ... I guess.  But I had questions. Like for example, what was the x-ray going to tell her that poking around didn't?   And why a coritsone shot instead of physical therapy?  Why not physical therapy? 

After she answered my questions sufficiently, she said she was going to refer me to an Orthropedic specialist to administer the shot because she had only done it once -- on a manniquinn.  This I pondered a bit because ... she's in a clinic with at least 50 other doctors?  Couldn't one of them do it instead?  Why do I have to pay extra money to have an orthopedic specialist look at my shoulder and stick a needle in it?   I never actually agreed to go see the specialist, but two days later, her nurse called me with an appointment time anyway. 

So here is where I really really became annoyed about this whole process.  My appointment was at like 10:45.  I got to the office 15 minutes early because I figured there would be some paperwork I needed to fill out.  Then I stood in line and waited for 20 minutes to check in.  All the while I'm standing there, one of the receptionists was talking to another person in the office about her vacation!!  Loudly, I might add.   Finally after about 15 minutes of me being in line, she noticed that I was standing there and finally opened her window to see if I needed help.  

At this particular Dr's office, the check in window is about chest height ... which is fine if you're over 5 feet tall and you're standing ... but there was a woman in line in front of me in a wheel chair.  So when the receptionist asked if I needed help, I said,  yes, but I'm not next in line ... she is.  And I pointed at the woman in the wheel chair. 

So what did the receptionist do?  Rolled her eyes, stood up and yelled at the woman. (I guess being in a wheelchair means you're deaf)  Maybe if their window was more "patient" friendly ... the receptionist's sitting on your ass time wouldn't have been interupted by a handicapped person.  

When I finally got to check in .. sure enough I had a ton of paperwork to fill out.  Which I did quickly.  By the time I got it all turned back in, I was 15 minutes past my appointment time.   While I was waiting to be called, wheelchair lady rolled up the counter again and had to yell at the receptionists several times before anyone acknowledged her.  (I and two other people actually got up at the same time to help her ... because god knows the medical office staff wasn't going too). 

Roughly 30 minutes later, I was finally called into the dr's. office. The nurse made me put on this stupid halter top thing which I swear was designed for a 10 year old.  I couldn't even tie it because the strings were so short.  And why I even needed it on is still lost to me.  The doctor came waltzing in the office 15 minutes later and stayed all of FIVE minutes.  He moved my arm around, just like my primary care doctor did and then said I could either do some stretches or get the shot.   Then he said I should take 4 advil every 4 hours for the next three weeks whether I felt like I needed it or not.  He told me to do that just seconds after I said that I'm not a fan of taking pills.   Does he ask why?  No.  Does he offer an alternative?  No.  Does he tell me what my x-rays said? No.  Does he say what's wrong with my shoulder? No.

He also, clearly, didn't read any of the forms that I fill out about my medical history and he didn't listen to anything I said.   I try to ask a couple of questions and he gave me the brush off.  I even baited him with partial information and he just skimmed over it.  He asked me if I wanted the shot and I said no -- because no way in hell am I letting someone that doesn't even listen to me stick a needle into my shoulder.  Are you nuts? 

Then he said, "Ok, I think this can be managed with some stretches, so do the stretches and come back in 3 weeks if its not better."  He gave me some really lame directions on how to do the stretches ... but did he give me instructions on paper - like every other doctor or physical therapist that I've ever seen in my life has done? NO.

I left the office not making the follow up appointment because there is no way in hell that I was every going back there. 

After thinking about it for a couple of hours and feeling more and more crappy about that visit, I call the other clinic in town (the one that I hate because they are mean to people without health insurance) and talked to the Ortho department.  They were able to get me in the following day to see a shoulder and hand specialist.   I called my primary care doctor to get a copy of the x-ray and my doctor's nurse, after I tell her about my appointment experience, apologizes to me for him -- !!!   She didn't need to do that ... not her fault.  She doesn't even work in his office. 

The next day, I went to the other doctor and had a much better experience.  In fact, its probably one of the best visits I have had at that clinic -- considering that I hate the place.  I told him that I saw the other specialists and that he told me to do some stretches.  My new doctor asked what kind and when I told him ... he chuckled and said:  don't do those, they'll make it worse.   Oh great!  That's nice.  Then I asked the new doc all sorts of questions and he answered every single one of them and then some.   I asked him if he thought I needed to get the shot and he said: "No, I think you need to go to physical therapy for a couple of times."  The shot would be a last resort before surgery in his opinion.  (which is what happened before I had back surgery too ... so I know the guy wasn't lying to me). 

Okay, so that was one bad experience which in the end turned out pretty good, because I went to physical therapy for 4 visits and now my shoulder doesn't hurt at all.  But today, I had another horrible bad crappy doctor's office experience. 

I had to go to the eye doctor and normally I go to the Eye Clinic at the University of Iowa. -- and I love going there because they are always so nice.  But I decided to go somewhere local because going to IC requires me to take vacation time and I'm not going waste any of my last 4 days on an eye doctor appointment.  I should know better though ... last year about this time, I went to a local eye place to get some glasses and the doctor was a complete and total DICK and I could never see out of those glasses -- in fact they give me a headache every time I wear them.  Thank god the insurance paid for them. 

So to avoid another rotten appointment, I schedule my visit at this eye clinic here that I've been too before.  So the last time I was there was probably about 1997 -- but I had been going there pretty such since the age of 5 ... so I'm no stranger.  

My appointment was at 2.  I got there about 5 minutes early.  I checked in and waited about 15 minutes to be called, which put me 10 minutes behind the 8 ball -- and oh, by the way, I told my manager I would only be gone an hour.  (because that's all it should have taken -- I've been to enough eyes doctors to know the procedure).  So, I'm called in and a technician asks me a bunch of questions , then does some tests and then takes me to the exam room. By now, it's 2:30 or so.. and I haven't even seen the doctor yet.  After another 10 minute wait, he shows up and does his eye doctor thing and then decides he wants to dilate my eyes. 

So I stop him here ... because you only need to have this done once a year and I had it done in March.  There is really no benefit to having it done ... eye doctors have enough gizmos in their office to refract your eyes without it. So I express my dissatification with his doing this because it's now 3:00 and umm... I've been gone from work an hour.  The eye dude assures me that "it won't take much longer"  so I relucantly agree and go sit in the hallway. 

3:15.  I'm still sitting in the hallway waiting.  Another technician calls me in to do some bogus test on my eyes  and then tells me to go back and sit in the hall.  So I nicely ask, how much longer is this going to be -- and explain that I needed to get back to work since I told my boss I would only be gone an hour.  She literally snapped at me that I should have allowed for a 2 hour appointment.  Two fricken hours?  Are you nuts?  I didn't say that of course, but I thought it.  It didn't even take two hours for me to see the eye specialist in Iowa City or have eye surgery ... freaks.    

After that, she wasn't very nice to me and dumped me back in the exam room again.  Then after I heard the eye doctor dude and a female have a muffled conversation in the hallway, I heard him go into the room next to mine and start a exam with another patient.   I listen to this for about five minutes and look at my watch.  It's 3:35 .. and as it is, I'm going to have to stay at work til 6 to make up all the time.  So I fricken put my contacts back in and left. 

I stopped at reception before I walked and told the girl I had to go and she acted like I was committing some deviant act.  Yeah, well, too bad.  Maybe you should tell people to allow for 2 hours of horse shit crappy service when they make an appointment in your clinic. 

I cannot think of one time since I've been doctoring at IC eye clinic where my entire visit was over 90 minutes.  And they see a ton more patients there.  But.. clearly customer service is more important to them ....  where here, they think you are their exam room prisoner because you have limited choices.  Whatever ...  I will not be forced to endure bad customer service or lamo doctors that just go through the motions.   

So ... I still don't have eyeglasses.  But maybe that's not meant to be. 

The secret is out

About a year ago, our local newspaper went from a free online site to a paid online.  A revenue generator clearly ... because there is nothing in the paper that is really worth reading.  The local rag costs 75 cents on weekdays for it's 5 page glory.   A person would be better off reading the Chicago Tribune or New York Times to get the real news ... and the local news?  Well the local paper reports that like a week after it really happened, so you're better off just watching it on TV. 

That being said ... I still like to read the local paper -- not the paper version, rather the online version.  There is a couple of reasons for this ....a.  it's quick and clean. No ink on my hands or transferred to the table and it takes less than 5 minutes in most cases.  b. I'm nosy.  Occassionally they have "breaking news".  c.  I want to see who died -- I rarely know any of them ... but still.  d. I don't have a valid reason -- even though I do support buying local.  It's just the thing to do ... drink your morning coffee .. read the newspaper. 

So in the beginning of the big switch over to a paid online subscription, my mother bought one and set up her account.  Did she ask for my opinion before doing so?  No, because if she had I would have told her to make her login name something anonymous -- something that clearly wouldn't identify who she was when she was attempting to make a comment about something.  Yeah, she didn't ask for my opinion -- so her login name, the name that would display on every comment anyone wanted to post makes it pretty obvious who it is.   So much for jumping on the forum boards ----- if the local paper allowed such of thing. (which they don't ... by the way ..... comments are disabled for pretty much every story because the paper and the powers to be don't want to hear the truth or our opinions for that matter.)

Anyway.  After she set up the account, she gave me the password -- because a year subscription to the online version is $7.95 a month or 90 some dollars a year.  It's actually a pretty good deal, considering the Monday - Saturday "paper" paper charge is like $5 a week.  Sundays go for $1.50 (which is another rip-off ... because all the Sunday edition is, is a recap of what happened all week and then a bunch of stories that were picked off the AP wire about news in other places that happened ....er, days ago -- and then a few ad pages, nothing worth an extra 75 cents.) 

Okay ... so life was good for a while with the password.  I could login once and then everytime I went back to the page I would still be logged in.  And this would happen whether I was checking on my smartphone or my laptop or on mom's desktop. 

Then a couple of months ago, I started having problems with the login.  I had to login every time I wanted to read the paper and then sometimes in the middle of my reading I'd have to login again.  At first I thought it was something wrong with the website, so I called the paper to complain ... the IT guy I talked to said it wasn't anything to do with the paper ... it was because there was multiple logins with that login/password combo at that exact time.  Like on the day that I called -- he checked it and said that there were 6 login attempts from different IP addresses within a 20 minute time span.  

I freaked out.  I thought that someone had hacked my mother's account.  And not that "they" would be able to access any important information ... but still.  So I came home from work and told my mother that she needed to change her password because of bla bla bla. 

Then she dropped the bomb on me ... No one had hacked her account.  She gave her "secret" password to EVERYONE in the family because she didn't want them to have to "pay" for a subscription.   Okay ... everyone in my family is well over 20 people.  So when I'm trying to login to get my morning news fix at 10:30 am ... it's very likely that at least 3 other people are trying to get theirs too.  And when there are multiple login attempts from different locations -- they end up bumping each other out.  Mid story I might add.  It's like the virtual fight for the sports page over the dining room table.   And she thought "that" was a good idea?

So, here was my attempt to read the paper today:  

6:30 a.m.:  I figured that most of the family is either still in bed or getting ready for work and not on their computer.  I tried to read the early morning news.  Tried.  Never read it.  Attempted three logins on my cell phone and all the phone did was take me right back to the login screen. Guess everybody is trying to read the paper!!! Frustrated I threw my cell phone back in the desk drawer. 

10:00 a.m.:  Tried again to read the paper.  I'm on my break now and have all of 15 minutes to keep informed about the outside world.  After 6 minutes of trying to login, I finally do so successfully -- only to get kicked out about 2 minutes later.  Needless to say, I'm pissed.

11:30 a.m.:  Lunch.  I have 30 minutes.  Make another attempt to login in.  After being in and booted twice, I have to just settle for reading the headlines and the summary paragraphs of 2 stories I wanted to look at.  (which is about the only thing you can do for free). 

3:30 p.m.  I'm home from work now and my mother isn't anywhere near her computer, so I think this is a "safe" time to read the paper.   I login ... and I'm in for exactly nine minutes and then when I try to read an obituary, I get booted again.   UGH!!!  

6:30 pm:  I try one more time to read the obituaries.   I'm in less than 5 minutes and I'm booted out.  So much for that. 

I'm just finished reading all the interesting stuff in the Chicago Tribune, the two local tv stations sites and Yahoo.   

Tomorrow?  I'm buying my own subscription to the local rag and you can be damn sure I'm not sharing my password with anybody!!!

My vacation bucket list

So I've been on vacation for the past week and I've done absolutely nothing that I really wanted to do.  In fact, I did nothing at all ... and it really kind of bugs me because when I go back to work people are going to ask me what I did ... and I'm going to tell them my lam-o story. 

This is really nothing new for me. I pretty much don't do much of anything on my vacations because I'm single and feel like a dork going places by myself.  I'm sure there are lots of people out there that travel alone ... but I'm not comfortable with that.  As much as I don't like being around people ... I don't like going to places alone.  

I can go to social events alone ... if I know I'm going to know someone when I get there. Or there are occasions where I'll go alone and not know anybody .. but that's within driving distance of my house ... not halfway across the country.   I've even gone hiking and camping by myself. I've gone to NASCAR races alone because I couldn't find anyone to go with ... and I've done other things alone ... but bottom line ... it's more fun to travel when you are with someone. 

So anyway ... I decided this week that next year when my vacation time resets -- I'm going to do something with my time off ... and enjoy myself ...even if I'm alone.   I was thinking about taking out a personal ad for a traveling companion and for like 4 seconds I thought that would be a good idea.. but then I had flashbacks to a David Duchovny movie called Kalifornia -- where he picked up someone to share the ride with on his cross country trek - -and that dude (Brad Pitt) was a serial killer.   Yeah, I have enough weirdos in my life without any of that drama going on ... so scratch that idea. 

Here's my bucket  list of places I want to go to before I'm dead:  (in no particular order) 

• Every NASCAR race track on the circuit.  
• The Grand Canyon and the other national park out there. (Whatever its called)
• The Hoover Dam
• Hang out on the beach in San Diego CA. 
• Key West Florida.  (I don't know what I'd do there ... but what the hell)
• Gettysburg PA -- the war grounds.   
• Philadelphia PA  (even though I was there in HS -- I wanna go back as an adult where I can appreciate our history more)
• Washington DC
• Newport Rhode Island (I've been here too ... but I loved it, so I want to go back)
• New England 
• New York City 
• Niagara Falls  
• Toronto Canada
• Vancouver British Columbia
• Alaska  (This could be on a cruise though .. because I know from watching Alaska State Patrol that is gets damn cold up there) 
• England  (I want to see that cute little fishing village where they filmed Doc Martin and the Castle in Downton Abbey)
• Ireland -- (to see where my peeps come from)
• Germany -- (so I can drink some beer.) 
• Skydiving (my friend Deb just did this ... seemed like fun). 
• Spain  
• New Orleans  (sober this time)
• Cedar Point and all the other great roller coaster parks. 
• Mall of America -- (which is dumb, I can drive there ... I just don't want to go alone okay) 

Okay, I can't think of any more ... I may add more later.    .

 

Eighteen Bucks, a glass of lemonade and a barf bag

I went to the Dubuque County Fair again this year ... but not as a worker -- as a spectator.  It was just as hot as last year .. but I wasn't cooped up inside a box at least.   

The week before the DBQ County Fair, I took my niece, Abby,  to see Blake Shelton at the Jones County Fair.   She admitted to me when we got there that she had never been to a concert before. WOW! She's 22-ish!  Weird.  Okay, so that put some pressure on me to make sure she had a good concert experience.  

So we drove to Monticello and parked at my friend Tina's and hung out there for a few moments ... and then walked over to the fairgrounds ... which was literally 3 blocks away, paid our $10 admission and then went inside to eat some fair food.  We both had corn dogs and both agreed that they were gross.  (Even though I ate the whole thing) Then after walking around looking at how long the lines were for the restrooms ... decided that we should head on down to the track.  

Abby wanted to be right up front .. and well, frankly, I did not because there are a lot of shenanigans that go on up there .. but I didn't want her to get smashed ... so up we went.  Here's how close we were to Blake -- Literally just a couple of rows from the stage.  (excuse the bad photo -- a pro photographer I'm not)

Okay, so being that close has advantages and disadvantages. Advantages:  You're so close to the talent that it feels like they are looking right at you when they are talking and singing.  You can see everything ... like, for example, Miranda Lambert standing on the side of the stage during Blake taking pictures with her phone (which were later posted on Twitter).  You're close so in the rare event that they throw something ... like a guitar pick, you can catch it.  (not that I did ... I'm just saying that it could have happened)

Disadvantages: You and the 300 other people that are jammed up next to the stage are packed in there pretty tight, so there is no fresh air to breath ... and trust me, you smell everything.  And because you're packed in there tight, people start to get stupid ... and fight.  Abby witnessed one fight in front of us -- that I completely missed because I was drooling over Josh Thompson.  And she completely missed the one behind us because she was drooling over Blake.  It's a trade off, I guess.   Other disadvantages are not being close to the porta-potties -- which technically were right next to us, but there was no way in hell I was leaving my "spot" to go anywhere ... including the beer truck.  

So that was a fun night.  I think that Abby had fun.  (although I asked her if she wanted to go to Toby Keith the following night too -- and she ditched me to hang out with Carol)  ...  I didn't have tickets to Toby however,  I was just going to sit in the free seats .. but no one wanted to go  with me .. and that's no fun, so I stayed home.  

Okay, fast forward to last Saturday,  after a couple of days of practically begging ... I convinced my friends Dave and Lisa to go to the DBQ County Fair with me.  Originally we were going to go on Friday night (and hence, could have heard Kelly Pickler) but then found a "deal" for ride bracelets for Saturday ... so that's when we went.  

So Lisa had never been to a fair - ever and found the whole thing interesting.  (even though she never went into the 4H building or other exhibits).  Dave and Lizzy (their 5 year old) walked through the Dairy Barns ... and we looked at the rabbits -- that I thought were overheated.  That took all of 5 minutes. The bulk of our day was spent on the midway making the most of our ride bracelets.  

Okay, let me first just say ... you don't to the fair to ride on "safe rides".  If you want safe rides, then go to Six Flags for your summer vacation.  Seriously.  I'm sure the fair rides are safe and have to pass some safety inspection by someone ... but it's the overwhelming sensation that they are "unsafe" that is the total thrill here.  

Case in point.  The Ferris Wheel.  When I was sitting in the "gondola" waiting for the other gondola's be to unloaded and loaded ... I seriously felt like I was going to fall to my death - for a couple of reasons.  First of all -- here's the only thing keeping a body inside the "car".   There's no lock on that door ... it doesn't freeze in place when the ride is in motion.  Nothing.  It's you and that flimsy little door and a long ass drop to the ground. 

 
















Secondly, while they are unloading and loading.. the cars circle around in slow-motion .. and shake like an earthquake just hit ... giving you the feeling that the bolt holding it together is going to snap any second.  And then, there's nothing to hold onto ... so you're left to cling to the plexiglass.   

Here's a shot of Lisa demonstrating the plexiglass hold. 

Ironically, once the ride was in motion, you completely forgot that any of that was a factor.  It was very smooth going and gave a great view.  






Here's the country side to the North-East. 

 And here's a great shot of the midway:

While we were up on the Ferris wheel I convinced my pal Lisa to go on this other ride called the Orbiter.  It is just like the scrambler of days gone by.  At first she said no way .. but I was insistent because it just looked like a lot of fun. I remember it being a lot of fun as a kid.    So finally she agreed.  So we got on.  We were the oldest "kids" on the ride.  So the thing started and it was really fun for about 90 seconds.  I was screaming and laughing and having a good time.  But then mysteriously it started to not be fun anymore ... I'd say at about 91 seconds in.  I could feel my stomach and all the crap that I had just devoured sloshing around.  Lisa said she couldn't hold her head up anymore.  I could barely even keep my eyes open, let alone hold a conversation.   Clearly everyone else on the ride felt the same way ... because the noise level went from screaming to dead silent.  Thankfully the ride stopped before I barfed all over the place. I was sick for a long while after that too.  I even had to go get a Sprite to calm my tummy. 

The orbiter  -- aka barf mobile.

 
So the other rides that we went on included the Himalayan ...  which I forgot was one of those rides that squished the rider on the outside.   

Here we are before the ride starts.  Love the old-time lights and decor on this ride.  And the "hidden" section behind the "duck blind.  Such a throw back!!   I truly tried not to smash Lisa but that was impossible. 

My other all time favorite fair ride is the Tilt a Whirl.  Love Love Love it.  Lisa's husband said he had never been on this ride before ever ... so when we were getting into the car, I commented that I loved this ride because its all gravity.  Well, he had to argue with me that there was no way gravity had anything to do with the spinning. He was convinced that it was motorized or something.   So, the ride starts ... and after about 30 seconds or so of us spinning around really fast, Dave says .. wow, maybe it's not motorized.  Ah ha ...  

I think ... in my non-scientific assessment of this ride .. it's gravity and the pitch of the platform the car is sitting on and the track that the platform and car swirl around on.   There's nothing mechanical about ... but a lot of weight in the car is a positive.  

Then we went on the "tornado" a couple of times.  This is a big mechanical swing with 4 seats -- and a steering wheel in the middle that, if so inclined, you could spin making your little quad swing spin around in addition to the actual ride spinning.  We went on this a couple of times -- even after I went on the barf-mobile.  


Other than than ... Dave and Lizzy went on the bumper cars, which after watching them for the 2 or 3 minutes the ride ran, I realized that bumpers cars are only fun if you know the other people riding them. Otherwise it's a bunch of nameless people driving around in and running into people they don't know .. or a bunch of kids getting stuck in the corner.  Boring.  


Lizzy, Dave and Lisa rode the kiddie roller coaster about 25 times.  In fact, Lizzie was off the thing and back in line a couple of times before we were even aware of where she went .... and she did this despite us telling her to stop or someone would steal her.  She didn't care.  


Then we watched her play some games ... very badly I might add... but clearly the object for a 5 year old isn't winning ... it's just throwing the rings -- balls-- or mallets because it's fun.  Who cares if you win anything.   (although unfortunately for Lisa, she did win a couple of things -- which guess who had to carry).  


So -- over the course of the 6 hours that we were there ... I ate another corn dog (and thank god I won't be eating another one of those til next year), a couple of glasses of lemonade, a chocolate ice cream cone,  2 1/2 cans of Coors Light, a Sprite and a slice of Papa Johns pizza.  So that about did me in for this year.   


Too bad they don't have go-carts at the fair.  

I see things ... and not necessarily alive things

 
 So, I believe in spirits ...  that people just hang around in certain places when they pass.  I think my house is haunted at times.  My dorm in college was haunted.  I worked in a building that used to be a funeral home and had a haunting presence in it ....I saw a ghost at work in the stairwell ... I even shared a drink with a guy at a pub .... a guy that was there one minute and gone the next -- and no .. .that wasn't a blind date either.  (although, I've  had a few dates like that too). 

It's no surprise to me that these entities just happen to find me ... it's like I'm ghost magnet.  So a couple of weeks ago, I had another "experience" with a ghost.  Just not the kind I was expecting.  (and no, not that kind. Please elevate your body out of the gutter). 

I went to this winery that is up the road a piece from my house.  I love going there.  The view is beautiful and it is so relaxing -- and the wine is good.  Its one of my favorite hangout places. 


So I went there with a friend and we order a glass of wine and some cheesy bread.  (And let me preface this story by saying that my friend is also sensitive to spirits ... although sometimes I think to the extreme.)   Okay, so we get our stuff and go upstairs to the loft area and sit down.  At first we are alone in the loft, but then some random people show up and my friend starts chatting it up with them.  


I, on the other hand, was totally engrossed in my cheesy bread, because it's more important to shove food in ones face then have an interesting conversation with strangers that want to know about the area.  I couldn't help it.  I was hungry.   So I'm munching on my bread and listening to the conversation .. and occasionally adding a comment or two and I feel something brush up against my leg.  But not like an obvious brush up .. just enough to make me look down at my leg and wonder... "what was that?"  


Then I reached down for another slice of bread and it's kinda stuck to the one next to it.  So I have to grab it with two hands ...  holding one slice still, while pulling the other way ...  if you can picture that.  When I've freed my slice ... the one I was holding was lying flat on the pizza pan.   So then, I'm back to the conversation for a few seconds and turn my head back toward the pizza pan to grab my wine glass -- only to "catch" something  trying to steal a piece of my cheesy bread!!!!!   


Yeah, and no, I didn't have too much wine.  I totally busted something pulling a piece of cheesy bread off the plate because the slice was pulled up as if someone was lifting it off the plate.  I didn't see the slice flying through the air or mysteriously disappear.  I just caught it in mid air and then watched as it slowly slinked back down to the plate.   And I immediately wonder if my friend "felt" anything "funny" ... but I couldn't say a damn thing because she was all involved in her conversation with these strangers and ... I didn't want them to think I was a freak or anything ... so I said nothing.  


About 15 minutes later, those people finally left, and I immediately told my friend what I had seen and asked her if she felt anything and she said no.  So I was bummed, but brushed it off as just a fluke.  Then she and I went back to chatting away and everything seemed normal enough until I set my wine glass down on the table next to my chair.   

My glass wasn't sitting there more than five minutes when something bumped into the table hard enough to make the it move a couple of inches. The glass rattled on the tabletop .. like something had really just hit it. But there was nothing there .. I didn't hit it with my arm or my foot and nothing fell against it.  My friend was sitting opposite of me .. so she hadn't hit it either. I trailed my gaze from the table to my friend and asked "now do you feel something?"  She said that she felt something -- but didn't think it was a person.  Whaaa? What does that mean?  Like what?  She felt ah ... ghost??  ah, the boogey man?  Jason?  What? 


Before I could ask what she meant by that, I felt that "brushing" sensation on my leg again, but this time when I glanced down ... I caught a glimpse of a black and white kitty right by my leg ... so I asked my friend "do you think it's a cat?"  


She gave me one of those .. how did you know ... looks and asked why ... so I told her there was a black and white cat on the floor by my chair and he keeps rubbing against my leg and batting my with his paw.  Busted  -- you little ghost kitty!!   

And once he knew that I knew he was there ... he turned on the charm ...I was surprised that I didn't have cat hair all over me when I left ...  


He kept it up  ... until the waitress came up with her bottle to give us a refill ... and then he was gone.  


So, now I have another thing to look forward too when I go there. 


Here kitty kitty kitty.  

nah nah nah you can't find me.

A couple of months ago I bought a tablet.  A Samsung Galaxy .. that was highly rated. I contemplated it for weeks before I finally pulled the plug.  I even brought this super cool case/keyboard and awesome bag for it because I was just sure I was going to be using it all the time.  Well, I don't use it that much ... for a lot of reasons that I don't really want to get into at the moment ... because this blog isn't really about my tablet.   

At least not exactly. 

Okay, so like most people ... I was all excited to set up my tablet...so I loaded it up with all the gizmos and then set it on the nightstand to charge up .... and then it began.   My tablet starting talking to me.  It started innocently enough ... little noises like my cell phone makes.  (Which are both on the Android platform by the way).  The annoying part of these little noises was when they would occur ... not in the middle of the day or evening ... no that would be too nice.  Nope, my tablet would whistle that "hey baby" construction working cat call at me in the middle of the night.  Why?  I never really figured that out ... except that maybe it was to tell me that I had "NEW EMAIL" ...  cuz  I want to be notified of that at 2 am. 

So the first couple of days I thought it was cute .. but a week later I wanted to throw the thing out the window ... so I went into the settings and turn off all notification whistles.  I thought that would take care of the problem.  Umm, No.  Then it started buzzing at some equally god awful hour for I don't know what reason.  Again back into the settings to turn that noise off -- which actually took a couple of attempts because clearly I'm retarded in the technology department.  Finally after about 15 tries,  I was able to silence all noises out of the damn thing.  

And things were quiet for a couple of days .... and then suddenly one night at 1:30 a.m. I was awaken from a sound sleep by some buzzing sound.  It sounded like an old-style telephone ringing.  You know the ones we had when we were kids?  The kind that hung on the wall with the rotary dial and the silver hook/disconnect bar?  And if you're having a nostalgic moment like me .. you remember how those phones rang loud enough to wake the dead ... yeah?  Yeah, well, that's how loud this buzzing sound was for all of like 10 seconds.  

10 seconds to hell -- to ruin my deep drool infested sleep ... 10 seconds enough to wake me up but not awake enough to figure out what the hell was making that noise.  10 seconds times 30 days of going crazy trying to figure it out.  

Okay, so right off the bat I thought it was my tablet again, in that shoot first ask questions later mentality.  It had to be the tablet because there was no alarm going off in my room at 1:30 in my life before the tablet.  So I checked it AGAIN to confirm that somehow when I was playing Angry Birds or something I didn't accidentally set it to do something.   I checked and checked and rechecked the damn thing ... until I was ready to toss it out the window.  

Then finally I just shut the tablet off ...(which someone had to suggest to me by the way --  because why would I think of that myself?)  ...and I snuggled in for a long winters night, thinking .. "HA!  I got you.  There will be no alarms tonight!" 

BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.   

1:30 am.  On the dot.  Okay .. so the only thing I accomplished was ruling out that it wasn't my shiny new tablet.  So WTF?    

I knew for a fact that it wasn't -- but checked anyway ....

• My watch .. because there is only 3 alarm slots and I already had all three in use. 
• My clock radio on my night stand .. because besides that I barely knew how to set the clock, much less the alarm ... it was just flashing 12:00 because I had unplugged it weeks ago and never got around to resetting it.
• My cell phone because none of the alarm sounds I had programmed where the wake the dead variety.  
• The smoke detector to tell me I had a nearly dead battery because I had just changed the battery.  
• The alarm clock in my sister's room because I checked that too ... also just flashing 12:00.   
• The TV in my sister's room .. because she's practically blind and who knows... maybe she got all button pushing happy the last time she was home and pushed something that turned something on and didn't know it.  (or did and didn't know how to fix it so she just left it for me to figure out).

That just left my laptop .. .which never ever in the history of my owning it has made any random buzzing noises.  But I checked it anyway ...  looked every where for something that would solve something .. and found nothing.  The only thing I could think it might  be was the Google Calendar -- because I have all my work days programmed into the Google Calendar -- with an alarm that goes off on my cell phone.  I have never heard the alarm go off on my laptop. And the alarm is scheduled to go off at 4:30 am, not 1:30 -- but maybe the laptop time was off.  

So I ran a test by disabling the alarm for one day and then snuggled in for the night. And ta-da!!  No 1:30 wake up call.   Thank Gawd for that.  Only took 2 months to figure it out.  So sadly I had to edit all my calendar entries for the rest of the year ... and set the actual alarm on my phone instead.   

BBZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ 

The next night, 1:30 on the dot.  

I pretty much wanted to cry.  

Seriously. 

Okay, so another couple of days go by with me getting rattled from my sleep at 1:30 -- which actually was beginning to become routine for me.   I even started to get up and make my nightly bathroom run at that time. Why the hell not?  And that was all well and good until this past weekend when I was actually WIDE ASS AWAKE at 1:30 when the stupid alarm started to do its thing.  

I jumped out of bed quick and started to crane my head to "find" the culprit on the night stand.  And I FOUND IT!!!!   And it wasn't the tablet, or my phone, or my laptop, or the clock radio or any other obvious thing.  

It was the effing Heart Rate Monitor!!!

Who knew that damn thing had an ALARM function any damn how?  And why would someone want it?  (Because it's not like I would be just wearing the HRM around randomly)  But somehow the button got pushed to activate the alarm, which, after I played around with the button, I realized didn't take a lot of pressure to put into the Alarm On Mode.

Needless to say .. the monitor has been moved to a "safer" location and tonight will be an alarm free night.  

At least I hope.  

If not .. the next thing you read will be my obituary.