Sunday, April 26, 2009

A Safe Distance From...2



This picture was sent to me by my sister from her job, this morning. (Friday and Saturday, the winds and the smoke wasn't noticable at her job).

However, with the change of the winds, smoke as thick as smog, making it hard to see as she drives the beverage cart around the course.

Friday, April 24, 2009

A Safe Distance From...

"S.C. fire destroys nearly 70 homes in Myrtle Beach area
Story Highlights
Wildfire destroys thousands of acres in Horry County, South Carolina
Nearly 2,500 people ordered to evacuate; no injuries have been reported
Governor declares state of emergency in coastal South Carolina county
Area is home to popular tourist spots, including Myrtle Beach".

Yes, I live here in Myrtle Beach, yes, I can see the smoke in the distance, and no, I'm not near the fires. Nor am I the type that rushes to see a disaster. I stay away, but that's just me. However, my sister works across the street from the "Grand Dunes", in "The Dunes". Hope she doesn't get choked up from the smoke. She will tell me about it when she gets home from work.
Hope they stump it completely out today, it's still not contained.
My heart goes out to anyone that has lost their home with all their possessions. That has to be too hard to handle. Thank goodness, no one has died from this! That is the only saving grace of this tragedy.

Thursday, April 23, 2009

They Really Come In Threes. Don't they?

It seems when something goes wrong, it comes in threes. First the car rental crap,which by the way, is still on going, they (corporate) are "investigating" the matter.

Then I opened a piece of mail while cleaning around my computer, which was dated back in February. The letter was from my bank stating that my debit card may have been compromised. So, I proceed to check my account, (which I don't do, other than the balance or if I'm looking for a particular item that has gone through). Come to find out, an on line company, which I never used their services, was taking out 19.95 a month, now are you ready for this?, since December!


I called the company, they asked for my account info., which was my email address. When I gave it to her, she was silent, then said, "you don't have an account with us". That is when I exploded, "yes, I know, that's why I'm calling! For someone that doesn't have an account with you, why are you taking money out of my account! I demanded to speak with a supervisor, who, thank goodness, said it would be returned in two business days. Then had to deal with the bank, and get a new debit card. Now for number three.


We went to Wally World to purchase some more plants, for her flower bed. She put them in yesterday. Ninety dollars later, it was blooming with color, from the new plants and fresh soil.

Today, they pressure washed our building. The first thing I asked the young men doing the work, was about our flower beds. (I had placed all the potted ones back into the house). I was assured that the flowers will hosed down, then they will lay plastic over them. Everything will be alright. So, sis and I headed out for the day.

When we got back, the plastic was on the plants and they didn't do our back yard yet. The sun was directly on the plastic, making it a hot bed. They finally came into the yard, about an hour later. By then it became nap time for me. When I woke up, I decided to return the plants back outside.

When I stepped over to look at sis' flower bed, I noticed the tops of the plants, where the plastic touch, were brown! When I called her to come check it out, she said it was the plastic, "they probably put it on the wrong side, and it was too hot for them to leave it on for such a long time".

Poor plants were in shock or are suffering from chemical burn. The owner of the company came by to look at them, his response, "maybe they put the plastic on the wrong side, and or didn't rinse the plastic off first. And with the sun being so hot today...etc", the same thing sis said. (I had hosed off the plants with water, off before he came). He then, proceeded to hose the plants off. Thank goodness he was very nice about it, said he'll check back to see how they do, and would be happy to replace them, if they don't improve. They really come in threes, don't they?
Question Mark

Monday, April 20, 2009

Triggered Memories

Funny how when reading someones blog, it can trigger memories, that as a blogger, one feels compelled to share. I follow "An Explorer's View of Life". His post today brought back so many memories. He's from Canada, where they have a "Go Train", which looks like the New York version of the Ell trains. It's their subway system above ground.
In the mornings I used to get on the Ell, the same people always on the platform, and no one ever saying "Good morning" or even a nod of recognition of each other. By the time we get to the end of the line and go down stairs to the subway, which I began to think of as the "dungeon", the craziness really takes over. You get so used to the madness, one really doesn't think about it. Your body, along with your mind goes on auto pilot.
Riding the subway system was my way of life. I never thought a whole lot about it until, one day it was like something snapped me awake, as I was heading to work. I started looking at the people around me, and realized I had seen them everyday I went to work.
As the train was nearing the end of the line, it had gotten so crowed, people were standing close, breathing in each others face. Morning breath mixed with the sent of garlic, making me want to up chuck on an empty stomach, and strangers too close for comfort, touching and bumping into you, Yuk!
Then down stairs to the "dungeon", to continue on my journey, which would take me to other trains. Local, express, the A or D train.
Instead of my usual rushing to make my connection, I inched myself away from the fast paced shoving, pushing and bustling of the people and found myself against a wall, just watching in amazement, as though it was the first time I was seeing my surroundings. I compared the scene to a "cattle drive" I have seen on a television western.
All day at work, I had a hard time shaking the images of my morning commute. Yet, at the end of the day, when I was going home, I was so very aware of everything around me. I watched a short elderly woman, a brown shopping bag hanging on each arm, stretched out, pushing her way through the crowd, trying to get off at her stop. "Oh my God, I don't want that to me when I get older", I'm saying to myself.
It's not that I haven't seen craziness in the subways, like men urinating down there, drunks, homeless people and sickos. I was always aware and stayed clear of them. It was just the whole thing in general that I truly wasn't aware of. The thought of myself being part of the "cattle" was so disturbing to me, I started making plans to leave New York.

Friday, April 17, 2009

"Hey You"

It was about six thirty this morning, when I was awoken by the squawking of Nettie the duck, demanding their food. Usually they don't come until the afternoon. This also happened the other morning, but, I was unable to get out of bed at that time. (I've had a spell of Meniere's Disease, symptoms these past couple of days. This episode wasn't as long or bad as others I have had. It's an inner ear problem that makes me feel drunk without the booze, accompanied with nausea. This has been the mildest attack I have had. I finally feel decent this morning!)

I wonder what Lenny "n" Nettie have to do on these early days. Who knows? Maybe an evening of social engagements they can't escape from unnoticed. They weren't here last night. Guess I'll just have to put food out before I go to bed. Six thirty is too early for me, unless I'm going fishing or on a trip!

Duck 3 "Hey you, wake up, we're hungry!", is not something I want to hear through the summer! Bad enough, my Tuffy, wakes me up every morning, he at least lets me sleep till something after seven. Yeah, I know, I'm lazy, but after all these years of working, I feel, I earned that that right.

Monday, April 13, 2009

And The Garden Grows

"Mary, Mary, quite contrary, how does your garden grow?" With weed and feed, and many seeds, that's all I need to know. LOL (silly!)The Azalea's are blooming and soon my sister's little flower garden will be filled with a mixture of beautiful colors. I can't wait.
This past Friday, I put my plants outside, but by the afternoon, the winds got so strong, I had to bring them back in the house. Saturday, I put them back outside, but put plastic around the stand to protect them.
The top shelve has the squash plant on the left, and the cucumber on the right. Funny how protective I feel towards them. Yes, I'm one of those people that talk to my plants.
My tomato plants are still inside, coming along great.

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

U-Save Car Rental Headache






My sister rented a car
for a trip out of town. She was suppose to pick it up the night before she was due to leave. Instead, she worked late and had to do it the morning of her trip. Needless to say, she was running behind schedule.
When she picked up the car, she was in a rush, and signed off on the car. Before she left the terminal, she saw the true condition of it.
Now, look at these pictures, one can tell by them, this did not happen within minutes of picking it up. Also, by the look of it, there is no way, the rental company could not have known about it, or did not collect on this car before.
On her way home, she called the car rental place, told them about the tail lights and marks on the bumper, and that there wasn't an attendant to be found anywhere. (Thank goodness, cell phone companies have records of times and dates of calls made. This comes in handy should someone have to go to court.) We live approximately ten minutes away from the air port.
I took pictures of the damage, on my cell phone, then sent them, along with a note, to the U-Save car rental customer service, on computer, while my sister got on her way. They did respond, with a "hope this matter is settled to your satisfaction" email. Thinking, everything is taken care of, I still kept all the information on my computer, just in case.
The car was returned on the second of April. She waited in line with everyone else for the rental company to open for business.
On the fifth of April, she is checking her bank statement, U-Save, charged her account five hundred dollars! They never called her about it, just took it! What nerve! If she didn't catch it at that time, her checks could have bounce.
The manager informed her, on Monday, that he has to "research" it and also accused her of just leaving the car, without checking out, to which she told him that wasn't true and explained about waiting in line with everyone else. She tried talking to him this morning, but wouldn't get on the phone with her, instead told the girl to tell her, "he's waiting on corporate to get in touch with him".
My sister called the corporate office, and they didn't have all the information and wanted her to fax everything to them. Nine dollars later, corporate received all pictures and communication they asked for. Now, it's a "wait and see" game. But, they did tell her they were going to check into it right away. We'll see.
Mad

Monday, April 6, 2009

Introducing, Lenny and Nettie

Introducing, Lenny and Nettie. Along with spring time bringing flowers, birds and unsteady weather, it brings back the Mallards, of which these two come to our front door for their daily picnics. They keep this place a secret and don't blab to their friends about the local cuisine. They have been coming here for almost two weeks now. Now, they have started getting vocal about their food.
As my sister takes this picture. Lenny is keeping a watchful eye on her.
We get a lot of Ducks, Canadian Geese and Seagulls here. We don't feed them all. Last year, there was a duck that made her nest next to the community pool, on a pile of rocks. There was no shade or bush for her protection from the heat. We would give her water, and she drank it thankfully. I picked some straw out of the landscaping around the pool, and laid it beside her. We watched in fascination as she built a nest around her. There were other adults besides us, that kept an eye out for her and gave her drinking water, but someone was taking her eggs. She started out with six eggs and in the end only had one left. Her baby was so cute, and even took a swim in the pool.

They say, Mallards always return to the place they were born, I wonder?

We also had a wild rabbit that used to come into our back yard, so we got it some rabbit food, and worried about it when it didn't show up. We named her, Bun-Bun. She loved apples, the green ones were her favorite. It has been a almost two months since we have seen her. In my mind, she got married and moved away, but that's just me.

Sunday, April 5, 2009

OMG, Enough Is Enough!

I just got on to check my email, when my eyes glanced at the CNN, news lines on my Google Home page.
My stomach is churning after reading what it had to say. " 5 children found slain in home"..
My god, what the hell is going on today? Yes, I know there have been killings, greed, molestations, etc ever since the birth of man kind. But, not as bad as it is today! That is to say, in my life time, that I have seen or heard of.
Parents killing their children, people killing strangers just to get to one particular person or to get their name in headline news, children killing their parents, classmates and each other! Taking one's child to rob a store!Not to mention killings of groups of people because they don't believe in the same religious teachings. (that has been going on forever! They need to stop teaching their children hatred in the name of their religious beliefs)
One doesn't know if when they leave their homes for work, shopping or just going out, if they will return home.
Has it come to the time when we need metal detectors in our schools, hospitals, churches, court houses, police stations and stores, besides our airports? What about cameras everywhere? What is it going to take to stop this useless violence?
Criminals being let out of jail for crimes against man kind, and not paying the full punishment that they deserve.
Bleeding hearts of Americans, yelling and picketing to stop someone from being put to death on death row, that really deserves it. Releasing hard core criminals back onto unsuspecting citizens. And then, what a surprise when they commit the same crime, dah.
Please don't get me wrong, I love my country. There is no place else on earth I would rather be, but I don't have to agree with everything here either, that's what makes it so great. I have the right of freedom of speech, as an American. So, here's mine. Take it, leave it, agree or disagree. Our judicial system is in dire need of change. More rights for the victims, less for the criminals. "An eye for an eye".
Why are we crying about prisons "overload?" Why are we housing and feedings murderers? I'm talking about the ones, where there is absolute proof. Bodies and body parts, videos, criminals being interviewed, saying yes they did it, but they don't want to die. Did their victims want to die? NO! So, why should they be allowed to live? They found "God". Yeah, right! If a rabid animal is on the street, killing, what do we do? We kill them. A killer is no different. I'm talking about the ones that plan it. Stalk their victims, the ones that show the police "where the bodies are", hard core murderers.
There are a lot of good people out there, and yes we do get to hear about some them, but it seems like everyday now, we are hearing about more and more senseless killings. If I were "God", I would be so tired of all the, inhumanity towards man that is happening today! There are things I would forgive, but also things I would definitely not forgive. I would, stop it before it began, or hand out the correct justice, not vengeance, JUSTICE!
I know all about humans being given "free will", etc. But, when "free will" comes to the point of, enough is enough. It's time! But that's just me.

Saturday, April 4, 2009

Conclusion to Charlie, The Iguana

The Iguana's owner came and got her after Jennifer had "Charlie", for about ten to twelve days. It seems like she was pregnant. The questions that run through my mind, "Were they breeding her for profit?, Why would they let her out?" I asked my sister this, but she doesn't know. It seems, the owners knew who had her, but didn't come after her until three days after they found out where she was.

My sister told me last night, " The Iguana had twenty seven or twenty eight babies. Then she got out again, got hit by a car and died. Jennifer seems to think Charlie was trying to get back to her house, when that happened. The owner promised Jennifer one of the babies."

If it was me, I would do some investigating. See just what these people are doing, and what's going to happen to all those babies. If this is going on in your neighborhood, with pets or children, and you see something isn't right, you should speak up, ask questions. Help protect those that can't.

I just don't understand, how anyone can claim a pet or a child that you can't protect and keep safe in your home. What a sad ending to this story.

Thursday, April 2, 2009

Pass The Toothpicks, Please

Rainy dreary days and depression always gets me down. Yep, I'm one of those people that can't keep her brain or eyes open when it's raining.
My brain turns to mush and my eyelids get so heavy, one would think I was drugged.
Thunderstorms? Forget it! Someone, I think it's mother nature, has slipped me tranquilizers through the ions or eons floating in the air.
I want to bake a chicken today, don't want it to burn, guess I can set my alarm for an hour..yep, that's what I'll do.
Would someone please pass me the toothpicks, so I can prop my eyelids open until I get everything ready, please?
Tired

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Roadtrashtravels-Email

My friend Rhonda, is going to start her blogging soon. (right, Rhonda?) She has told me so many interesting stories, like a homeless man, her and her son helped or how she was chasing after a truck with an old sleigh in it, or how she acquired another dog, etc. Most of them filled with humor, and some with frustration and sadness.
I received this email from her, I would like to share, maybe, when her nerves calm down, she will start writing, I hope this helps her get started.

Sorry I haven't written anything, but Monday a guy that my son knew, fell from 2 stories @ the job site.
When I drove him to work this morning, as we were leaving a fire truck came flying past us going into the plant. I told my son before we got to the plant, there is always steam coming from the stacks. He said that there must be something wrong.
Before I could get half way back to the hotel, he called me, said I needed to come back and get him, that a guy had gotten killed!
They closed the plant, news people were every where. The guy that got killed was a xray tech. They xray the pipes to check for cracks. The steam is so strong that it will burst, so they have to constantly xray them. I am talking about the big round pipes about 100 ft. off the ground, you can see for miles before you get to a power plant. Anyway he got in this basket, that hangs from a cable, I guess it broke and dropped him, I am not for sure.
We haven't heard for sure. But this is the 2nd person in two months be killed at this plant. Very dangerous!
Anthony and I are going to site see, look for another house or apt. or camper. Just spend the day out.. I will write but a little bummed out today. Am blessed to get to spend the day together...love Rhonda