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Posts archive for: March, 2007
  • Bow to the Empire, Jersey Cow!

    About the only thing that's helping me to keep going, these days, is humor.

    Oh, I'm no comic, I'm not even all that funny...but, I don't let that stop me. And, sometimes, telemarketing has its..erm...moments.

    The other day, I called a bunch of idiots. Yep, I called Texas, Kentucky and New Jersey!

    To try to butter her up to maybe make a sale, I told this person from Jersey that New Jersey is a nice state (yeah, if you like chemical plants and violent gangs)...and she got all huffy with me and said, "It's not New Jersey!"

    Ummm---did they rename it recentlY? New Jerksy? Chav-land? That Really Boring State Next to New York City?

    Anyway, I got my answer from the woman on the phone. This yuppie woman virtually yelled at me, all snotty like, "It's called 'The Garden State'!"

    Yeah, what wild optimist named it that??? I mean, have you ever seen New Jersey? I suppose there are nice bits--but I've never seen them. I think they preserve the nice bits under glass and trot them out whenever they see a tourist passing by.

    Anyhow, I had the overwhelming urge to say back to this woman, "OH YEAH?!? Well I live in friggin' New York--'The EMPIRE State'! Kneel and bow to the Empire you Jersey cow!"


    New York City skyline
    New York's southern Lake Champlain valley (my neck o' the woods)

    In the past, I've rung up people with funny names--and I'm sorry, but some of these are going to be a bit..well..rude. They are real people's names, I assure you, and it can get quite awkward, sometimes, trying to say the name--and also to verbally keep a straight face.

    Harry Balz, Joe Killer, Fred Rockstone (that's for you American cartoon fans), a Mrs. Fux, Harry Bottoms, and, for you Doctor Who fans, yes, I really did call a lady named Roseanne Dokter...cool. And, Wednesday, got to call a Martha Kunt, and a Louisa Parisa...geez, ministers must have a heck of a time, sometimes, at wedding ceremonies...

  • Lost pay, Ramen noodles, a barking Basset and Dr Who


    An old Vermont graveyard, March 2006.

    Well, my weekend supervisor says not to worry about coming in today, as it's the last day of a sales campaign, and there's not many calls being made, from the dregs of the list and all that...the good news is, (sort of), that I won't be laid off for two or three days, without pay, as planned--but will be switched to nights for Monday and Tues day--still means a 7 day work week, Mon-Sun. (I was getting Monday's off, before.) But night shift (5 or 6 pm to 10 pm) is better than no work at all. If I spend less than 40 dollars of this week's pay, and do the same next week--I may make the internet and rent...dunno'. May have to lose my internet--my only lifeline to the outside world and only real entertainment--soon. I'd hate that. I get to watch old Dr Who movies, on that...saw Curse of Fenric--brilliant! And David Tennant and Catherine Tate's CR sketch a zillion times--makes me laugh every single time..and don't I need the laughs right now?

    So, I lost another two or three hours pay--I don't get sick pay, and have not much in the way of hospital insurance and prescription coverage--the ER visit yesterday is going to leave me in a hole, financially--and I'm already in a financial hole--only now it's more like a deep dark pit of dispair. The govt. is going to take my pay checks soon, and then I...I don't know. I pray that the mental health advocate can help me, and soon. My food budget has just gone into the crapper, as well--back to Ramen noodles, hot dogs and beans on toast next week, I guess. I was hoping never to have to be in that place, again.

    Trying to cook is hell. I almost fell into the hot cooker, this morning, as I'm not too steady on my crutches, and the old vinyl floors in the kitchen are rather slick walking--even dry. But, I've not much of an appetite, at the moment, anyhow. Eh, I need to lose a few pounds, anyway.

    The pain in my foot last night--on a scale of 1 to 10 was about a 9. I was in tears a few times. But today, it's mostly just a big burning ache...which is tolerable. Hurts like hell getting up and down, tho'....this is really where I miss having someone around. My sister says, "oh that's too bad." But has no intention of driving up here from her mountaintop home in southern Vermont, to assist me, in any way. Too busy, she says...but she doesn't work, and her partner's 15 year old daughter is away for the weekend...so I'm not sure what that's all about. Ah well, it's about what I expect. My sister and I are virtually strangers...in fact sis hasn't rung me up since New Year's day--and then only to tell me her partner's mother had passed on.

    And...I am stuck at home, to boot. No tele, no one to talk to, just me, the cats and the internet. I may go to the store, later--I used the last tin of cat food, and I'm running out of Motrin for my pain. Had to take three last night--the bottle says take only one, but my prescription says I can take 600mg, and so, it's basically the same dose.

    The blasted basset hound in the next apartment is being encouraged to bark by his drunken owner, again--all morning long. He was at it around 1am last night, as well. He's not a bad guy, just a few fries short of a Happy Meal, that's all.

    So, here I am, bored and in pain and lonely--what to do? I pull out my half-finished naff old Doctor Who stories and play about with them--only, I got side-tracked by an idea, and went off and started a whole new story...not very good--I like writing dialog, but I totally suck at writing plots--all those writing classes, and I never once studied how to write a fiction story...and I'm afraid it shows, quite frankly. Anyway, I started this story...may finish it, I dunno'. Wrote a handful of short paragraphs this morning:

    Martha looked over at the Doctor, standing beside the console. His face, in the green glow of the column, seemed creased with worry. “What is it, Doctor?” She asked. He looked up at her, and for an instant, she caught a glimpse of the fear in his eyes. Then it was gone, replaced by that boyish grin she was coming to know so well.

    “What’s What?” He asked innocently--too innocently. “Oh come on,” she chided, “there’s something wrong, and you don’t want me to know about it, is that it? I’m a big girl, Doctor. If I can face the Judoon on the moon, alien Elizabethan witches and Daleks during the depression, what more is there to be afraid of?”

    For just a moment, the Doctor simply looked at her. In the space of his heartbeats, the Doctor’s eyes became suddenly filled with a seemingly infinite emptiness…then, it was gone. “Right, then!” He shouted. Let’s see just how scary, scary can be, eh?” He looked at Martha, and she almost shivered--his look for once, seemed alien and…almost insane. “You aren’t scared of being scared, are you, Martha? You humans love being scared: horror movies, roller coasters, bungee jumping, the deep South, Edgar Allen Poe--now there was a genius-- the Spice Girls…”

    Throwing off his melancholy like he would toss aside his long coat, the Doctor began playing his hands over the console switches with a flourish, muttering to himself in some language Martha had never heard before--it sounded almost like he was swearing under his breath--and enjoying it.

    Suddenly, the Tardis gave a great lurch, throwing Martha against the control room’s metal railing. The Doctor merely griped the edge of the console with one hand, and aimed the sonic screwdriver at some part, with his other hand. With a sonic buzzing, the screwdriver served to help the Tardis right herself.

    “Doctor!” Martha exclaimed, “Did you ever have to pass some kind of a driving test for this thing, or do you just make it up as you go along?” The Doctor was staring at his view screen intently and didn’t answer.

  • Oh pain and misery!

    Well, going to keep this short.

    This morning, the landlord and his prospective buyers (one assumes) were to do a walk-through of the apartments in the building--well and good--except moi hadn't washed or Hoovered her floors in nearly two weeks. I'd just been sweeping the kitchen floor, that's all. Well, last night, I had meant to do that, but was busy, during my lunch break, trying to look for jobs, and trying to make some calls--and by the time I got home, Thursday night from work, I was really knackered...just did the washing up and sorted some laundry for Saturday's trip (now postponed 'till Monday) to the laundromat. Guess I should have made the time to do the floors.

    The start time at work had be shifted up to 11am, and the walk-through was at 10, supposedly--they never did show up, at least, as far as I know. So, after quickly vacuuming the front sitting room, and my bedroom, I shifted to the kitchen and bath. Did a quick damp mop, ran a rag over the counters...went to go back into the front room, to pull a shirt out of the closet there...and took a header on the kitchen floor. My God! It hurt like hell! I felt something actually snap in two---turns out it wasn't a bone, thank God. After working the phones at work 3 hours, I found, when I went to use the loo, that walking was no longer an option--sent to the ER by the supervisor--who kept looking at me as if I was mad for even coming in to work at all----and bob's yer uncle, I went out of the office on a stretcher.

    Seems I very much may have ripped the hell out of some ligament(s) and/or tendon(s)...and got as bad a sprain as I've ever had (makes #7 for the feet/ankle area)...same foot with a permanantly distorted ankle, from a bad sprain 8 years ago.

    Well, I'm up the ol' brown creek with out a paddle--and a leaky canoe, as well.

    I'm in agonizing pain--just the simple act of turning over in bed, or walking through the kitchen to the loo, is sheer torture.

    I have to go up my two flights of stairs on my bum---found out the stairs are too narrow for my crutches--which I don't use very well, as I'm still recovering from the mild sprain to my left knee and ankle from my fall in the blizzard, 16th of March.

    As if my life isn't already becoming a living hell--now I've this to contend with. cooking for myself, laundry, shopping, banking--it's all going to be hell. And, to make matters worse, because of the cut in hours--I'm now going to have to go back to working 7 days a week. Not much chance of a rest, for me. I can't take out the rubbish, I'll have to pay someone to do it--have to pay 6 dollars or more a day, for a cab, can't afford the pain meds the ER doc prescribed to me, can't afford the orthopedist--or the cab fare there, since he's moved to the suburbs. I've still the Soc. Sec.thing and student loans to take care of, and now, seeing about getting that assembly line job--the one that pays 13 dollars an hour, full time, with benefits and pension--is completely out of the question.

    And, I can't see the new Doctor Who--least of my worries, I know, but...it's the one thing that really gives me something to look forward to--well, that and "talking" with my few friends.

    Life is fast becoming untenable, for me. How can I not see myself as a loser? How can I not feel down? How long can I keep this up, and still retain some semblance of sanity?

    There's no answering that question, I suppose.

  • So, I'm a bit like a scene in Dr Who Series 3 these days


    Warning: Series 3 spoiler.

    So, I guess, when all is said and done, the last few days, I've been a bit like Captain Jack in an upcoming Dr Who episode.

    He sees the Tardis, runs for it, grabs on to it as it de-materializes, and hangs on for dear life as it plunges into the space-time vortex, screaming at the top of his lungs in agony. Yeah, that would be me, right now--only my votex is my future, as I see it.

    I'm stuck. I mean, like I'm cemented in place. All I can do is try to ride out a storm that is promising to become a major gale--and I'm stark naked in the middle of a barren field (okay, not a pretty picture, sorry).

    It's spring, I should be light and happy. I should be out and about, humming, checking out the scenery, enjoying the sunshine--but, no. I can't. I feel like life is just crushing me into dust.

    I would give anything just to pack up the cats, some of my possessions, and just get the heck out of here. Yeah, but I'd be just carrying my problems with me. I'm not going to get a good-paying job to get me out of this dark pit of debt and despair, not going to win the lottery...just have to ride it out, and hope it doesn't crush me completely.

  • Beauty Outside, inside...not so much

    Well, it's a lovely spring day outside, not a cloud in the sky, sun shining, birds probably singing, nice cobalt blue sky.

    It's the sort of early spring day that I used to treasure.

    But...I don't want to go out. I don't want to do anything, but lie in bed, moping. I hate that.

    I spent most of this morning, pursing the want ads, yet again. Nothing. I was told there was an opening for a librarian at Queensbury Elementary. Yeah. They want a min. of 1 year experience (got 17 yrs, so that's okay)--but, they also want 2 reccomendations--well, mum's dead--as are are all three of her assistants and her friend at the library federation as well, and I don't know any other librarians, anymore. And they want my college transcripts--and you have to have a 4 year degree! I rang up the school, just now, and inquired about that--told the lady (who was rather snotty) that I had 17 years hands-on experience, and a 2 year degree--but wasn't able to get library reccomendations due to the fact that none of them were still among the living--would they take some other sort of reccomendation? Well, you think I'd asked the woman to show me her knickers! My God! She was so mean and nasty...I had to have a four year degree, plus a masters in library science--apparently 17 years experience is meaningless in New York state, without that precious degree--and I must have 2 reccomentaions from other librarians!

    Well, screw that. I moved on, called about a position at the local newspaper. You had to have Quark Express and Excel skills--okay, me an Excel--with my dyscalculia--not going to happen. I've tried to learn Excel so many times--just not. No. And Quark--what the hell is that? I know it's some kind of printing/publishing software, but beyond that, ????

    Sadly, writing skills are at the bottom of the list, when it comes to jobs in my part of America. Reading and writing aren't important in America, half as much as knowledge of computer programmes (lots of them) and math skills. We're a full bore, all out, capitalist nation, and things like writing well...not so important as math and computers..and there's so much I don't know, and am not mentally equipped to learn, quite frankly.

    I've applied 7 times for a position at the Glens Fall Hospital laundry and housekeeping departments, but get turned down every time. I suspect, even tho' it's illegal, they likely have seen that I've been a former behavioral health outpatient and are steering clear of me. They hired this teenager from our office--who had no experience--but they won't even give me--who's done laundry and cleaning---a first glance.

    There is an opening for a cashier at Aldi's---but it's 10 dollars a day by cab to get there, and I have dyscalculia--and numerophobia! I may apply for it anyway, as it pays 10 dollars an hour. What've I got to lose?

    But I so am discouraged.

    Even my recreation is being taken from me. I posted to things to an Dr Who site last night--and neither one is there this morning! Either deleted or moved, with no notice given...why bother spending half an hour doing something, only to have it chucked out? Nuts to that, I say. I quit. Move on to something else...stick to computer cribbage, ey? Doctor Who can live without me.

    And I've got a cut in hours, next week, my 689 dollar loss of income April 1st, my student lenders threatening to take my already meager salary, and social security making me pay back the three 689 dollar payments...I just don't see the point of even trying, anymore. Hope is dead to me. I have no future now--my life is just a smoking ruin. I feel like a total wash-out as a person. What chance do I have?

    I look at myself, and I see no chance at all. None. What good am I, as a worker? I guess my former boss was right, I am a bottom-feeder--an expendable drudge laborer, easily replaced, with no chance of advancement, not ever. No real marketable skills, nothing...and with outstanding loans and rotten credit (and American businesses do check your credit rating before they hire you)..no chance at all.

    The trouble is, I do see my future--and it's scaring the hell out of me.

    That's my reality.

  • Living in Purgatory

    Well, I'm not doing so hot, today...got yet more bad news heaped on me--cutting back my hours again--they just rang me up and changed my schedule on Monday, for Tues thru Sun--now they're changing it yet again, starting tomorrow! And I may not be working much at all, next week--no clue--I don't really mind having my schedule messed about with--as long as I get a decent pay cheque (as in able to pay the rent and bills and buy food), but...I don't know. Things aren't looking good for me.

    I'm NOT sucicidal, okay? But, that said, I'm not much wanting to see old age, either. I'm stuck in a living Purgatory. I've been looking and looking for another job--there just isn't anything! I don't have great computer skills, I suck at anything to do with numbers, most good-paying jobs are too costly to travel to, or just plain too far away. there's...just...nothing. A few low-wage part-time jobs...I already have that, thanks. I mean, I'm not crabbing about getting 9 dollars an hour--but working part-time, it's not great. And my hours are so crazy...how can I work a second job and still keep this one?

    The situation is...just untenable. I don't know what to do...except cry. And just keep living, from day to day, whatever happens. But sometimes, I do envy my mum. I hate to say that, but I'd be lying if I said different. She's got her peace, now. What I wouldn't give for some peace again. Just one more time...but...no. No point wishing for what's gone.

    Ah, I don't want anyone thinking I'm out for sympathy...heck, I'm too painfully aware of the fact that there's people--all over the world---worse off than me. It's just hurts so much inside, sometimes, that I'd give anything, anything in the world, just to make it stop.

    Honestly, tho', I really am trying to hang in there, through this, and keep my sense of humor--it's really the only thing left to me, now. It's just that some days it's really rough dealing with all this crap alone--I really, really miss mum. I miss being hugged and having the occaisional shoulder to cry on. It's hard. It's really hard, some days.

    Northeastern NY landscape scene, late March.

  • My Life as an Amusement Park Ride


    Painting depicting "Early Spring," in nearby Vermont.

    I do so want to thank those friends--and new folks, as well, for your very kind thoughts and wishes during this trying time.

    I am afraid that's the way it's going to be, for a while, with me. I have my good--well, really more like "okay" days--where I'm somewhat on a level flooring, and days where I'm sort of down in the old sub-basement again. I wish I wasn't like this, but, no much I can do.

    I suppose I should be on anti-depressants or something, but simply can't afford them, right now--and can't afford the co-pay at the doctor's--or the cab fare to get there. Every cent I've saved, now has to go towards my rent, with this big reduction of income.

    But, I'm trying...it's just that some days, lately, it's much harder to "try," than others. And, for some reason I'm not sure of, suddenly I'm grieving for my mum again. That was a bit unexpected. It may be the way I'm feeling, or my loneliness, or...I don't know, something going on inside me, that I"m not quite aware of.

    Sometimes--well, a whole lot, this past year--my life is a bit like some of the amusement park rides, that I used to run for Six Flags/Great Escape. (pictured)

    Full of ups and downs, corkscrews and...like the Condor (pic above)...sometimes gets stuck in mid-air! Sometimes it goes round in circles, and sometimes it just floats merrily along.

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  • The nightmare continues

    It's nearly five in the morning, I've been up for about an hour. I'm so worried sick over things, that sleep is impossible.

    I am in the place, I so very often spent most of 2006 in...worrying about making the rent, paying the electric bill, keeping my precious internet service...having enough to eat...it's happening all over again.

    And, quite frankly, I am swiftly running out of strength. I don't know if I can endure yet another year of fear and insecurity and uncertinty. I hate my life, I hate me. Living is such a nightmare.

    I don't know. It hurts so bad inside, some days I just don't know how to cope with it all. I ran into a former classmate from my broadcasting class. She was working at WalMart. Said her degree proved useless in our area. She's going back to school to be a teacher. I just don't have that option. I'm 46. I am barely going to be able to make ends meet.

    I did manage to get a little vacuum on sale today, for 23 dollars...hated spending the money, but with my injury making sweeping the carpets so painful, and the cat's shedding--no choice. Had to have one...even a cheezy one. I thought I'd have to spend 40--but did the math and decided that under 30 was the max I could handle--what with cab fare and other needed items to add to that.

    I don't know. All I wanted, since I turned 40, was to do something I was good at, and hopefully could make a living at, as well. Now--I don't know. I've only had one job I've truly loved in my life--working with horses--tho' I liked working in the library, as well--tho' I never got paid for that...unless you count mum treating me to pizza, on Saturdays.

    I wish I could sleep, but I'm too agitated. I'm scared about my so-called future, and I'm scared of being alone, and I'm scared of losing more things from my life--there's not much more left for me to lose tho--except my few remaining possessions and the three cats. Everything else is just plain gone.

    I wish I could be anywhere else but here.

  • Street Tough Girl VS Nature Girl

    I can't get the thought of "Raccoon Pie" out of my head--it brings back some memories, let me tell you--oh, not the pie--bleck!

    No, I'm remembering the raccoon's around our house, when I was a youngster.

    My sister, ah...she was always street smart--which is saying something, as we grew up on a quiet dead-end street.

    And I do mean, QUIET. It was bordered on the north by fields and the Catholic cemetery (there were three, all told in our area, all joined together, St. Agnes, Albany Rural, and Beth Empth, encompassing approx. 500 acres.) Our street was bordered on the east by more cemetery, a huge vacant lot (now a cemetery), and the Delaware and Hudson rail tracks. On the South, it was borded by State Route 378--built up onto a steep hill--the "hill" being virtually more like a wall of grass, rising out of the valley, with a four-lane divided highway on top of it--which pretty much cut us off from the rest of the village proper. To the west--more fields and trees--and a few of homes of the local "old money."

    Anyway, early on, sis developed this street-tough attitude. Which is odd, but,then sis is a bit...odd. She likes Rush Limbaugh and kisses the ground George W. Bush walks on--need I say more? She started a big grass fire at 11, ran away from home--was gone nearly a year-- at 12, dropped out of school at 14, had her first baby at 14, got married at 17, divorced at 19, hit the road with a trucker at 20...and the list goes on...a couple of years back, she got mad at her partner and fired a gun into the caravan where they were living--he wasn't home at the time, but she was arrested , anyway. When she drove a cab, she argued with a robber and got knifed, and one time mum and I took her and my then 5 year old nephew out for the day to a zoo, and sis had crack withdrawls on the way home, and tried to beat me up (one time she succeeded) and then, tried to jump out of the car while I was driving it down a mountain road--taking her son with her--sis was..and in some small way, still is...a trip and a half.

    Why am I mentioning all this, you are wondering, perhaps...and what does all this have to do with raccoons?

    Well, one time, we were all sitting 'round the living room, one summer night. I'd just taken out the garbage (rubbish), when I heard a bang, coming from outside, around our mailbox down by the road. Well, I wasn't going out there! (I was a big coward, as a kid.) So, sis was ordered by my dad to check it out. She went down there--one can was tipped over. Sis bent over to righten it--and let out the biggest shriek, I've ever heard a girl give--it was a bit like Mel, the 7th Doctor's companion--a realy girly terror scream--straight out of a sci-fi movie! I think she broke the land-speed record, bolting back into the house! Seems she bent over to pick up the garbage--and a huge raccoon popped its head out at here!

    Now, unless they're rapid, raccoons are mostly harmless--highly curious, but sort of friendly-I mean, they're kind of laid back and mellow, really, so they aren't usually aggressive.

    Now me, I'm nature-girl, the tree-hugger. I've gotten muddy, stuck with burrs, snowed on, rained on, whatever. I've spent hours observing birds and wildlife and such. I've had my surprises over the years--sudden flights of birds--great blue heron, pheasant--very startling!, fox, coyote, in Yellowstone--moose, buffalo, bull elk. So, yeah, it can startle you--but really, don't think I ever screamed like a little girl. Well, maybe with the moose--that really was a close shave, that time...as in a really could have been killed, close.

    Anyway, now that sis is living on top of a mountain in Vermont---she's all, "gee whiz" about animals. And I humor her--but I've been "gee whiz" about that stuff, for about 40 years or so--seems weird, to hear my citified sister casually talk about the black bear that hangs out near her driveway, teasing her five dogs chained up in the yard. Still, she refuses to go out there whenever there's a wild animal around--she stays inside a lot. And she HATES the raccoons!

  • Cheered Up by the Mad Priests & Strange Recipes

    Well, wasn't feeling well when I got home. Took some antacid but still a bit woozy. No clue why, as I'd not had much to eat today. Anyhow, I was still a bit stressed, so I surfed to see what I could find on the web, to cheer me up a bit.

    This is what I found. Gales of laughter--well, during certain bits, anyhow.


    So, I'm sitting here, sneezing. I've a closet in my front sitting room, and it's against the outside brick wall, and has an atmosphere more akin to a cellar--so, always rather chilly in there--which is why, on cold winter days, I had to take my clothes out of there early on in the morning, so they'd warm up a bit before I put them on. But every single time I open the door, in very short order, I begin sneezing...and sneezing. I reckon we might have a bit of a mold problem in there, or something. I have few allergies, but it seems I've developed something entirely new...or am encountering something I've never done before. Not that is bothers me much, just a mild annoyance--hard to type when your eyes keep watering.

    I wanted to find an old sandwich recipe that my late mum used to make--thought it might be in her old Meda Givens cookbook, that she got as a wedding gift, back in 1950. It's quite a read, for us modern cooks. It was geared to the country cook, partially.

    Nowadays, you want a chicken, or different cuts of chicken, most people just go to the supermarket or butchers. This book tells you to "pluck and singe" the chicken, before each chicken recipe.

    Some of the odder recipes, I will list below:

    SANDWICHES:

    Bologna Frech Toast sandwiches (I kid you not.)
    Peanut butter and watercress.
    Toasted ham and banana
    Ham and tuna fish
    Sardines with peas and tomato sauce (served open face on toast)
    cucumber, onion and pickle
    Hot prune sandwiches (ummm--you could serve this to your gran, I suppose.)
    parsley butter sandwich

    SALADS:
    Pear salad with peanut butter dressing
    Fruit salad with sour cream and olive dressing
    Tomatoes stuffed with kidney beans
    Molded prune salad
    tomato-anchovy salad
    Peach, prune and cottage cheese salad
    apple, turnip and celery salad
    Hot baked beans and sauerkraut salad--and you'd better leave the windows open if you serve this one.

    MISC.
    Opossum and Sweet potatoes
    Muskrat Fricasse
    Roast beaver
    "Ding's" Raccoon pie (I kid you not)
    Squirrel pot pie--hey, a squirrel misses that high tree limb in your back yard--dinner!
    Woodchuck pie

    FISH:

    Codfish balls (Okay, not going there)
    French-fried frogs legs (try saying that three times fast)
    Tuna fish and eggs ala king

    DESSERTs:
    Orange-buttermilk jelly
    Broiled grapefruit
    Vanilla ice cream with orange-prune sauce
    Chop Suey Sundae: Chopped chopped prunes, peaches and dates cooked in syrup and served over vanilla ice cream.
    prune ice cream (oh, bet that was a big hit)
    mincemeat ice cream
    avacado ice cream
    baked prune pudding (no need for laxitives with these old time recipes, ey?)
    corn flake kisses (cookies/biscuits)

    There's more...but don't get me wrong--there's also some wonderful old-time recipes in there, as well--especially the desserts. Today's gourmets haven't really invented anything that's truly new--it's all been done already, for the most part, anyhow, one way or another.

  • Back to the old grind, tomorrow

    So, starting tomorrow, I'll have yet another funky new work schedule---not that I mind--over the years I've worked weird hours, long hours, 7 days a week, 1 day a week...my weekly pay checques have ranged, in the past 12 months, from 22 dollars to 367 dollars (halve that for pounds)--the weird thing is...those two pay cheques that I got this year (both this summer), represent both the lowest week's wages, and the highest week's wages, that I've had, in the past 25 years.

    My new hours: Tues-Fri. 9-2 and 6-8, Sat. 2-4pm, and Sunday 2-7pm. Funky, ey? Still have all day Monday, off--if I want it, I'm told. Told them I'd think about it.

    Ah well. Doesn't leave much room to get a second job tho', I must confess. Still I've been bringing home a 172 dollar weekly pay cheque lately, so going from 22 to 35 hours will be a big help--especially in light of my 689 dollar loss of monthly income in April that I hadn't planned on--and the 3 689 dollar pay cheques the govt. is threatening to make me pay back. Man, I hate being a poor American, I hate it so much. I would give anything to be a citizen of another country.

    Social Security is refusing to even discuss my case--and won't even tell me how the hell I'm supposed to pay them back. The mental health advocates office is constantly busy--or, I get an answering machine and they've yet to return my messages. I'm scared and deeply depressed over this--but trying to "maintain" through a combination of humor, loving the cats, and a healthy dose of Dr. Who. It's all I've got, so I must make the most of it.

    I had treated a co-worker, a few weeks ago, to a soda--and Sunday, she returned the favour by bringing me some Starbucks coffee. Nice gesture--but...yech!!! You call that coffee? Well...overpriced coffee, at any rate. I am a die-hard Green Mountain Roasters user--and sometimes, Paul Delima, a commercial blend that's also available at the local convenient store, under the store's own name. I'm very picky about my coffee--I like it smooth. Starbuck's is far to bitter, for my taste--and way, way too expensive! I pay 75 cents to $1.25 for coffee, most places--Starbucks is almost $2--or more, depending on what you get. I can get a bag of freshly ground Green Mountain coffee for 6 dollars at WalMart's and get 10 to 12 cups out of it. Green Mountain Caramel vanilla creme--yummmy!
    I want to try their their other flavored coffees: chocolate raspberry truffle, mocha nut fudge, hazelnut cream, toasted almond, southern pecan..ummmm!

    Well, I'm off to WalMarts...yuck! Have to get cat food and look at vacuums--the carpet sweeper just isn't working well, now that the cat's are shedding--and with my bad foot/leg, sweeping the rug with a broom, I've found, is just a wee bit more painful than I'd like it to be. I can't afford a vacuum--but I can't not afford it, either, unfortunately.

    Well now, that's different.

    Right after I saved this entry, I happened to glance at the GoogleAds box..."Tickets to Heaven and Hell. You have to buy tickets, now? I'm screwed. Stuck in the grave or Purgatory, for me--knowing my luck, Hell will be the cheap seats, and Heaven will be full of rich neo-conservative Republicans.

    I'm guess they're a band of some sort--or a stage play, maybe? Never heard of it. Still, it took me aback, for a moment, seeing that ad.

  • Trying to feel better: Dr Who jokes


    well, to make myself get up and boogie today, I tried thinking of my favourite Dr Who jokes and lines from the show.

    Having discovered that Davros, using protein derived from dead bodies on his Funeral Planet, is supplying food to a starving galaxy)

    The Doctor: Didn't you bother to tell them that they might be eating their relatives?/ Davros: That might create what I believe is called 'Consumer Resistance.'

    Q:

    What goes bang, thud, bang, thud, bang, thud, bang, thud, bang, thud, bang, thud, bang, thud, bang, thud, bang, thud, bang, thud, bang, thud, bang, thud, bang, thud?

    A:
    A Time Lord committing suicide.

    EVIL ALIEN (TO THE DOCTOR) "Who are you?"

    DR: "That's right."

    EA: What's right?

    DR: No, 'Who's right."

    EA: Who's right?

    DR: Yes. Precisely.

    EA: What?

    DR; Who!

    EA: I asked you who you are!

    DR: Yes, I believe we've covered that already.

    EA: Covered What?

    DR: No, it's 'Who'. Who! I'm not Dr. Watt!

    EA: Doctor What?

    DR: Doctor Who!!! Oh hell, where's K-9?

    K-9: I am here, mas-ter.

    EA: Who's K-9???

    DR: Oh let's not go there. K-9? Zap him for me, will you? There's a good dog.

    K-9: *ZAP!*

    DR: No second chances.

  • Tough Monday: A depressing post about depression.

    Monday. My "day off." Yeah, right. I'm so incredibly down today. All I want to do, is lie in bed and sleep--or just not do anything. I am so frightened about what's going to happen to me--I'm in such an incredibly bad place right now--I am struggling just to help myself--I don't want to do anything but find a hole, crawl in and shut the cover for good.

    I hate feeling that way.

    Got a call from my only real close "local" friend, and she seemed agitated with me, for seeming so down--of course, I didn't tell her what was making me seem down--she is very, very uncomfortable with the notion of depression--and she rang off with a terse, "I'll call you some time, maybe."

    I miss my mum. I miss having someone around--anyone. But, maybe it's for the best. Who wants to be around a depressed person? Anybody? No.

    I've a lot to do, today, but no ambition to do it. Oh, I'll do it--some of it--anyhow, but..don't want do. I want desperately to quit and give up--but I won't. Too stupid to know when to just hang it up and let reality steam roll me and get it over with.

    I wish I had something to hope for, to hold on to...but...I don't. I've got a few good friends overseas, and my Dr. Who, and the cat's...and nothing else. It will have to be enough. But, sadly, right now, it's not. There's a great whooping space in my life, and I can't fill it. I don't think I ever will.

  • Hang-ups and David "Disco" Tennant?

    Well, today was pretty much the way I'd thought it'd be. Had a record number of "hang-up's"---calls where the person slams the phone in yer ear, right after you tell them who you are. Beat my old record by three calls.
    Oh, then there's the people who shout, "How DARE you! Why are you calling me on a weekend?"
    I dunno', I like to torture myself for five hours, talking to chav idiots? Or, "You can't be calling me today! Don't you know it's Sunday?" For which I'd really like to say to them, "Oh my God! It is???? What am I doing here at work? How'd I get here? And who are you?"

    I've got this person--nice person, but...---that's PM'ing me on a Dr Who website. Ugh! This person is a know-it-all, which is fine--but the person doesn't pay one speck of attention to what the other person (namely me) is saying, and just goes on and on and on...and on and on and on...:roll: I mean, I'm glad the person in question is taking an interest, but...honestly--I can't stand people who prattle on about stuff, when the subject has been addressed and it's more than time to move on to something else. Dang!

    On more than one PM or post, I've--I'm assuming-- stated my facts--and this person just rolls right over what I"ve said, like I've said nothing at all.

    I don't want to hurt this person's feelings by repeating myself, as then the person may take that as I'm arguing with them--when I'm not! Oh, and that's another irritating thing---this is one of those over-the-top sensitive people---the one's who take something small and insignificant, that DIDN'T pertain to them, personally--and make it personal, and get all upset and hurt over absolutely nothing.

    I love my fellow Whovians--and have tried to encourage this fan to participate more on the website--but by gosh, I am ashamed to admit this--but now I'm really sorry I did. :**:

    So, at a friend's urging, I looked at some stuff out there on the internet, concerning the Series 3 Press launch of Doctor Who--looks fantastic...'course I am a tiny bit prejudiced.

    I noticed, that Mr. Tennant had to seriously deepen his voice to say, "Judoon." Don't know if that's because he's trying to convey seriousness---or if he's overcompensating for his Scots accent. I mean, think about it--"Judoon." The name sounds very Scottish to me. Tennant's pseudo-English accent is really quite sexy, when it deepens like that. Oh great. One more thing to turn on the already turned-on drooling, screaming fangirls. Yech. :zz:

    So, if the Daleks now have "feet," do they wear trainers, too?

    And, I hear the Doctor's first snog with Martha is really a "genetic transfer." Okay then, so now, when I tell people that I'm a genuine old maid, who's never been properly snogged--instead, I can make it sound more...erm...interesting. "I've never been genetically transferred."

    Of course, the rumors are rampant--one that the mysterious Mr Saxon--played from the actor from Life on Mars, whose name escapes me at the moment (I've only seen adverts for the show, but it looks terrific, even better than Torchwood--sorry, RTD---and I hope to see it, someday.) Anyway, rumour mongers say that this Saxon chap is really the Doctor's son. Yeah, well...and I suggest that he might be the Doctor's mother or gay lover. Afterall, the Doctor is an alien. :roll:

    I've no clue when I'll be seeing Series 3, but from what little I've seen and heard, I've a hunch the Who team has once again raised the bar, leaped all the hurdles and won the jump-off. (Like the way I managed to include a horsey reference here?) :))

    I would have given anything to be at that press launch, tho'. Imagine it must have been pretty spectacular, ey?

    Anyway, check out Tennant's threads in the above photo--very disco. I can honestly say, that I've not seen a suit like that, since around 1976 or '77. Of course, I don't think it's polyester, still...wonder if David ever sings, and dances to, "Stayin' Alive" while vacuuming. Oh, hang on. That's me...sorry.

  • Dr Who: Sci-fi or Soap Opera?

    I adore Dr Who--but, that said, sometimes it gets a little too soap opera-ish / "Friends"-ish for my own personal taste. Okay yeah, I'm an unsophisticated American small town hick--but still, sometimes--not often--but sometimes, "gag me!"

    And, it seems, one British chap, agrees:


    The Doctor has a rash on his bum? No wonder the poor chap looks so cranky. And I thought he was just missing Rose.

  • Rambling--And A Very Bad Dr Who Poem

    Looking back at my posts from last week--I guess I'm doing better than I'd thought--and owe a huge thanks to my few and very very special, internet friends. I've never met any of you, but I must say, you all are the very best people anyone could ever have the pleasure of calling "friends."

    I am coping--but still only on a marginal level. I don't know what's going to happen to me. I feel like someone who is trapped beneath the rubble of a collapsed building, waiting to see if I'll be rescued or suffocate--and, I do not envision any big buff firemen in my future, that's for sure--not even Lassie or Rin-tin-tin.

    I've not only got the huge Social Security thing, looming over my head, the reduced wages, as well--my student lenders are threatening to take what tiny wages (making less than 175 a week, at the moment--about 60 pounds.) I'm sick to my stomach with fear and worry.

    The only thing keeping me floating above the raw sewage of life, is...I don't know. I'm stupid, I guess--what I really should do, is become a drunk. I think drunks have the right idea--you may be living in a cardboard box--but who cares, you're drunk. You ain't feelin' nothin'. Too bad I hate the taste of alcohol. Damn.

    Ah well, my life was getting a bit too..sedate, anyway. Mind you, wild and wooly I don't mind, now and again--but, when placed up against this kind of impending doom--boring and mundane can be quite comforting. I feel like I'm straddling the fence between Purgatory and Hell, right now. Not a good place to be...but, it beats pure Hell, hands down.

    Here's a really bad "found" poem about being a Doctor Who fan. I took the lines from posts to threads on two different Doctor Who fansite forums. I was bored and...well, it beats cleaning out the cat's litterbox, or sitting here trying to match up my odd socks, ey?

    (With profuse apologies to David Tennant, Freema Agyeman, Russell T. Davis, and et. all)

    Doctor What???

    Are you addicted to Who?
    Who are you?
    Aliens of London.
    The Doctor’s new suit.
    Harriet Jones, M.P. for Flydell North.
    Jelly babies.
    Black and gold Dalek.
    The Doctor.
    Mickey the idiot.

    The relationship: the Doctor and Rose.
    The Doctor snogs Rose--again.
    The Doctor dances--with Rose.
    How will the Doctor deal with losing Rose?
    Where…does the Doctor sleep?
    The Doctor goes to bed with Martha!
    The Doctor and Martha kissing.
    Return of the pyjamas.
    Weng-Chiang Whoopise!
    Smith and Jones: iconic ttile
    The Doctor’s son?
    Glimpse of The Runaway Bride.
    The Doctor is getting married???
    I am horrified.

    Is David Tennant really considered sexy?
    Old and boring…discuss?
    DT--funny guy.
    David Tennant is sooo-hot!
    In my pants.
    Sonic screwdriver?
    David Ten-inch???
    UFO sighting.
    David Tennat: staying or leaving?
    The fans go crazy for Freema.
    David Tennant is committed.

    Gay: Ricky and Jake?
    Daleks and Cybermen?
    Pete and Mickey?
    Is new companion a super model?
    Look at these fabulous bloopers!
    The Face of Boe’s secret: what is it?
    The Tardis wardrobe song?
    Doctor Who to die?
    Hugh Grant in Dr Who?
    Oh my God! Something freaky happened just now!
    Tardis: stolen and corrupted!
    The villain: Spiderwoman!

  • David Tennant: Mischievous or just a prat? & personal pics

    I wrote in my last post that David Tennant was being coy over whether he was staying or leaving...which is mostly a non-issue, with me--but still, I find this "maybe I will and maybe I won't business, getting just a bit wearing, by now.

    It was cute in the beginning Mr. Tennant, sir--but now it's just...old. Dunno' if Tennant has a mischievous sense of humor--or if he's just being an adolescent prat. Either way, I wish the guy would just suck it up and say aye, yes or no. I understand he must be sick of being asked that question--but I wish he'd just say it and have done with it...why do men have this serious aversion to saying "I don't know." Why is Tennant messing with the fan's heads? Who knows? (Pun intended.) Maybe it's something they put in the haggis, over there, ey? :DD

    Speaking of which, did you know that haggis costs 40 dollars a pound here? Which is why no one in the USA much, eats it--you can get a nice prime rib roast for that, and serve it with mashed potatoes with all the trimmings, besides! I tried haggis once, on a dare--before the person told me what was in it---not bad, actually. Bit rich for my tastes. But I must say I was glad that they didn't tell me what it was make of while I was still chewing, ha-ha.

    Anyway, here's a few personal photos I had burned to CD. I would LOVE to be able to show you the whole photo---but, the stinking lousy stupid blinking frickin' frackin' goldanged computer--will not allow me to! I re-size the photos on photo bucket--and they show up full size after I copy the re-sized pics! I don't know if it's this lousy Firefox upgrade, my mouse, or just the moron computer being a major pain in the arse.

    This was taken on a very scenic dead-end road in nearby Fort Ann, NY. It's about 20 minutes northwest of where I live now. The tarps are covering the pumpkin harvest to protect them from heavy frost.

    Jan. 2004, 7.30am Giza Plateau.

    Aprox. 1988, BBC Dr Who North American tour, Latham Circle Mall car park, Latham, NY (sorry, photo has been through the mill a bit)

  • Hangin' in There and Dr Who stuff

    Well, I'm still tryin' to hang in there. Feeling marginally better--well, as best as my circumstances will allow. It's a terrible way to live, knowing that at any given moment, the rug of life may be pulled out from under me---again. It's pretty scary. It's hard to be happy--or even pretend to be happy, when that happens. I was pretty good at faking it in public, most times--but I'm only human, and sometimes I could tell I was being rather tetchy with people, tho' I do try hard to avoid that--mostly by avoiding people, whenever possible.

    But I'm doing what little I can do to stay reasonable stable, but...it's a bit dicey, at best...depression is something one can't truly control--only manage. And life--well, when your life is out of control--or your control, whether through finances, relationships or other outside influences--is limited, you have one more huge concrete wall topped with razorwire, blocking your path to a secure existence.

    That's about all I can tell you, I'm afraid. I'm sad and scared and lonely--but I'm also fighting to stay positive--and slowly trying to shift myself out of my doldrums and resume my "normal" daily activites. But gosh, it's so incredibly hard.

    DAVID: "Check it out, Freema! Ol' Billie didn't call me "David Teninch" for nothing, ey?"

    FREEMA: (Muttering under her breath) "Oh Gawd! This is going to be one helluva' long nine months!"

    So, fears that Dr Who Series Four would be put on hold 'till 2009, seem to have been unfounded, as S4 has indeed been commissioned.

    I so am so severely dissapointed that the BBC has banned Americans from watching its short little YouTube video clips--with still no reason given behind it.

    Well, I suppose that's to be expected. After all BBC does stand for British Broadcasting Corporation--and the corporate mind is not geared to caring or common sense. At least, not in my experiences.

    But I do think that's a bit cheap of them--they want us Yanks to watch their programming, buy their BBC-related DVD's, tee-shirts, audios, etc...they want us to spend huge sums on premium cable so we can watch BBCAmerica--then, they begrudge us a minute or two of little video clips--clips that they asked us Yanks to subscribe to on YouTube--cheap chav stunt! Yeah, can we say "bad public relations?"

    I mean, American fans are really mad--and British fans are mad that the Americans are mad---it's not good PR. I think YouTube was a big mistake, on the BBC's part. But, then, Americans are known for their incredibly short attention spans--so who knows?

    So, Mr. Tennant may or may not be in Series Four, and may or may not be leaving mid-way on....this is not me saying that--love Mr. Tennant's Doctor, but if the man wants to stay or go, that's his business.

    That said, if he's not leaving--why the hell doesn't he just say so? All I've been able to get, is a cryptic comment from the man himself, that the Doctor "may or may not" survive though the whole series Four. Yeah, thanks for being so enlightening, Mr. Tennant. Well, if the man ever gives up acting--he'd make a wonderful politician.

  • Mum Was Right

    While looking for pics to illustrate my last blog entry, I found this:

    When I was in Emergency a week ago, I silently thanked mum for lecturing me on the importance of wearing clean knickers--now, if she'd only done the same about shaving my legs in wintertimes...ah well. Live and learn, ey?

  • Why There's no NHS in the USA