And so Friday begins. It's not been one of my better weeks. Not that it was horrible. And actually it's more like Thursday sucked. Yeah....that's more accurate.
So I'm very relieved that it is Friday. A group of ladies are getting together to watch a few John Cusack films tonight....it's just the kind of fun I need.The only down side is I need to drive out to Silver Spring and it's supposed to be very rainy.
My parents are planning to visit next weekend. And my brother Joe and his kids have decided to tag along as well. So I'll be having a full house next week.
I just love people who come up to a 4-way stop that you are stopped at, slow down enough to look left at you and then preceed to go through the stop sign without stopping. Especially when they ignore the fact that you are starting to go straight, and instead cut you off to make their left hand turn. People are frickin' idiots around here.
It's good thing I took yesterday off. I still was fairly congested and tired. I even took a short snooze on the sofa. Gee, my gray kitty thought it such a good idea that he took a snooze with me, curled up against my belly.
I am annoyed that my HOA mangement company did not return my phone call as their answering service message indicated they would by a certain time. I guess that means I'll have to try calling again today.
News Flash -- I can finally breathe some. My sinuses have drained and I'm only mildly congested now. My face actually feels a bit tingly because of the pressure subsiding.
I'm taking the day off because I still don't feel 100%, I desperately need more sleep, and it's going to be a nice day where much of the rest of the week it's going to rain. Sound reasonable? And hey, my weekend was completely trashed by my feeling awful.
I'm just devastated. Yesterday some nimrod working for the landscaping company that is contracted by my HOA came around to do the edging/weedwhacking. There is some common area next to my property that these folks maintain. Well this guy took it upon himself to do more than the usual and customary work. He came behind our row of townhomes and started weedwacking several of the backyards. Personally, I became concerned he was casing the homes. I was going to go out and say something to him, but being sick and in my pajamas, I decided better of it.
However, later in the day when I went out toward my backyard, I found this nimrod had decimated my lillies that are next to the small piece of fence by my deck. I mean, he whacked them to the ground. I'm sorry, but I don't think it takes a rocket scientist to know the difference between grass and weeds and lilles. Not to mention, this area was on MY PROPERTY, not the common area he is responsible for. I was simply fuming and livid, yet at the same time very saddened that my lillies which had been growing nicely, will not likely bloom this year. Heck, he may even have killed them.
My HOA is gonna get an earful on this one.
I'm here, sick as a dog. Congested and miserable. Though in some ways I'm better than I was on Thursday. For instance, I'm not achy and feverish anymore. But having my head clogged with congestion adds a different form of torture. And not sleeping, due to Nyquil causing me to be wired, doesn't help matters. (Sometimes Nyquil works great and sometimes it causes more harm than good....I can't figure out the disparity....)
It never fails. I'm sick and stay home one day. The next day I need to go to work to take care of X, Y or Z. I don't feel too bad and work a whole day. Then the next day I'm back to feeling horrible. And in this case, I feel horrible on what appears to be a lovely Saturday. Arrgghhh....
It's just not fair.
At least it appears we didn't have a freeze last night. I covered most of my new plants just in case...but I'm still thankful it didn't freeze.
I'm kinda bummed right now because I believe my dogwood tree is not going to bloom properly. All the buds have started to open, but they appear stunted and haven't progressed to the white flowers as they should have. I fear the scattered mold I saw on the tree last year has damaged the buds and the health of the tree. I've only had the tree two years....I really don't want to have to replace it. :(
Hey! We actually managed to get some great weather for the weekend!
I took a lovely walk around the lake this morning. I even spotted a Black-Crowned Night Heron perched in a nearby tree. I've only seen one once before. Apparently this one has been hanging around more recently as both my brother and a neighbor spotted him in the last week. I also spotted some cute turtles out sunning themselves on a log.
I pulled some weeds and wild strawberries and removed more leaves from my garden. I think I might stop and get some plants for the garden. Might as well get things started if spring has finally arrived. Ohhh...I'm just so thrilled it's spring....It's my favorite time of year.
Lately, I've received some emails about a service some folks are using to collect addresses and other personal info. The service is called Ringo. And the discussion has come up on a list I'm on about whether one should use tthat services. While on one hand, I can see the convenience. On the other, I can see how it could possibly be hacked or otherwise compromised, giving someone a listing of peoples addresses and phone numbers.
So the question is, are the risks low enough to make using Ringo or something like it worthwhile or is it best to avoid them? I know personally, I'd hesitate to use such a service and I'd rather just ask people individually for their updated info. But maybe I'm already in that territory by just using online email services such as Yahoo?
Added Note: Looking up Ringo I see you can even link your weblog or specific entries to your Ringo profile. Hmmm....I 'm really not sure what to think of this service given I've never used it. I can really see a few plusses, but I also can see how it could be abused. But then I guess that could be true of a lot of things that I use routinely.
Why is it we get beautiful weather during the work week and crappy weather on the weekends? How is that going to help me to have a good attitude towards work? LOL. ;)
While this weekend was a washout weather wise, on other fronts it was productive. I managed to not only do the normal kitchen cleaning, but I took apart my refrigerator, cleaning all the shelves and drawers. I shredded a bazillion credit card balance transfer checks that had been piling up. (Why must they keep sending me this shit????) And I vacuumed and did some laundry.
I also had a lunch date that didn't go badly, in spite of a shaky start. I was running late, but he ended up at the wrong restaurant. Once we ended up at the same place, all was well. We talked a lot. I just hope I didn't talk too much. But I guess that's better than the dinner that only lasted 30 minutes. LOL. At least lunch went close to 2 hours.
If we get to a second date, I'll know I didn't talk too much. If it doesn't, well....
Quicktime is evil. Whenever I try to use it to play back video, I either get audio and no video, or video and no audio, and most times neither.
I know people use it because it works on Macs, but unfortunately I never can get it to work. Grrrr....
Since Mikey has decided to make an appearance on my blog showing his ignorace equating Cerebal Palsy and Persistent Vegetative State, I will refer him and anyone who is interested to a medical doctor's blog who delves into the medical facts of the case and the misconceptions some conservatives have about Persistent Vegetative State. An excellent read no matter where you weigh in on the case.
Basically Cerebral Palsy is different that PVS. Cerebral Palsy involves limited brain damage that impairs movement but the patient is conscious and aware. I don't think anyone is advocating killing people with Cerebal Palsy or anything of the like. While folks with Cerebal Palsy do have a cerebral cortex (damaged, but not completely gone), Terri Shiavo completely lacked one. It became filled with fluid as a result of the amount of brain damage she sustained. There was simply no cerebral cortex brain tissue left.
With no cerebral cortex brain tissue, there was no hope of Terri ever improving with therapy or otherwise. Cerebral Palsy patients can improve with therapy, depending on how much/what kind of brain damage they have. Clearly PVS and Cerebral Palsy are two different conditions.
I hate to say this, but in the most layman's terms, the lights were on but no one was home. And she was never coming home. I'd rather see her in the arms of her maker and let her be in peace, than keep her hooked up to a feeding tube waiting for some infection to finally kill her. Because she stated in the past that she would not want to be kept alive in that kind of state.
And that is the key in this case -- Terri said on a number of occasions that she would not want to be kept alive in this state. She said this to family members and friends during the time another family member was dying. That's what the courts went by. That's what I'd want them to go by when a person doesn't have a living will in place. Otherwise, the wishes stated in a living will should be followed. It's a civil liberties issue. End of story. May she now rest in peace.
And may the TV networks stop focussing on what should now be a private family matter as the husband and parents wrangle over the burial details. This stuff is private and should be kept that way.
And I find it interesting that rather than discussing the facts of the case, some folks come around here trolling and spouting profanity. Personally, I couldn't imagine having so little life to waste my time doing that. LOL. And I wouldn't expect my arguments to be taken seriously if I didn't show a reasonable measure of respect in stating them.