I Ain't Afraid of No Daleks

Just took my bin bags out to the dumpster/skip. Someone's tied up a poodle out there...cut little guy. I'm never for just leaving pets unattended, but the person has thoughtfully put him into the shade and left food and plenty of water out--and the dog's been recently clipped, so thankfully there's no worries of abuse here. Boots isn't thrilled with that doggy smell on my hands--bleh. Yeah, I adore dogs, but yeah, they can stink pretty bad sometimes. That's a one-up cats have on dogs, I must say. Tho' cats and dogs can equally give a good old smelly fart now and then.

Why is it that cat and dog farts smell worse than horse farts? Is it their respective diets? I'm a bit of an authority on horse farts you see. One time I was squatting down, almost directly under a mare's bottom, unwrapping her leg wraps, when she lifted her tail and blew an anal raspberry at me. Then, after I made the requisite "Ewwww!" noise, she looked round at me with a "What???" expression on her face.

I have to rest in between chores--been getting brief sqeezing pains in my badk. It's a bit uncomfortable, so I sit until it goes away.

I think, since it's very likely simply indigestion, from the garlic and onion in the pasta I ate last night-this-morning-this afternoon.

Yeah, Gilraaen's Bucatini Bologense (or however one spells it) really was gorgeous, and I do give it four marks and a few Michelin stars. Definately going to make it again. For about $5 I'm certainly getting a lot of meals out of it.

Tomorrow I plan on making a nice tomato-based pork stew with potatoes, carrots and onions. Then it's chimichangas (like a burrito only crunchier on the outside), and tuna salad 'till my food stamps are activated for August. Don't know what I'd do without them...definitely would be going hungry, some weeks, with the way food prices and certain bills have been escalating--sometimes literally overnight. Certainly wouldn't be able to have any left over funds for extras, and even "luxuries" like shampoo and carpet cleaner would be hard to come by.

Well, this stuff won't get done by itself, so back to work for me. Hope you all are having a lovely weekend.

...NOT!

I've seen no less than three different websites saying that some whacko is going around on MySpace or Bebo, or some such site, impersonating David Tennant.

Wow, there's a lot of nutters out there--well, maybe they've always been out there, and it's only that the intimacy and breath of the world wide web, that has made them more promenant in our eyes.

Who knows?

I guess it's not all that surprising though. Look at all the fan girls that have left messages for David T. on my blog. That I find quite surreal. Especially in light of the fact that I am the last person that would ever know someone like Tennant--or ANYONE famous, for that matter! I don't even know most of my own neighbours! Even if I lived in the Uk...even if I worked (that'll be the day) in his own industry or with the BBC, I wouldn't know David Tennant--I don't imagine we'd travel in the same cirlces...we don't have a thing in common (except we both love Dr Who, I suppose)..so it's really been very strange, getting messages for the man on my blog--therefore, I don't supose it's much of a leap, to find people pretending to be the man, on sites like MySpace, or to have some delusional and obviously mentally ill woman, stalking the poor guy in Stratford Upon Avon.

Photo thanks to Mr. Muir and the Daily Mail

Charlie is begging for attention. The puppy someone's tied out and left...people in this building do like to neglect people and pets--, interested Charlie for a while, with the yelping, howling and whinging...but now Charlie's bored again, and wants me to hold him and play with him.

He's in one of his "pet me, play with me--NOW" moods. I ignored him for a couple of minutes, and saw him sadly walk away into the bedroom ("mummy doesn't want me around any more")...awww. Pet owner guilt time. So, I called him back--and he literally loped in, happily bounding up to me--this cat is so expressive, there can never be any mistaking what sort of mood he's in. I mean, Charlie is enormous--he weight a couple of pounds over a stone (about 17 pounds), so you know he's happy to be called back into the room, and be petted and played with when he actually bothers to run--OWWWW!

Okay, sometimes cats get a bit carried away when they play, and Charlie just unintentionally clawed my hand instead of the plastic wand I was waving around. He hooked a claw into the meaty part of my hand, right under my thumb, bit tender there. So, I've got to stop and take care of it, as it's rather deep.

I'm fine really, just smarts a bit 'cos it's a combination pucture-tear, and those can sting. Charlie and I have both had our shots and certainly, after a lifetime of being around animals, I'm no stranger to minor injuries. Stuff happens.

Charlie senses something's wrong and is down laid down, upset with me again...I'll pet him and tell him it's okay, poor mite. He's such a sensative animal!

"Donna! I warned you not to do your Nan impression in front of the Daleks!"

Had a nice, very much needed sleep-in this morning. I really don't think I'll ever be fully comfortable with sleeping late...all those years of waking before or at the crack of, dawn. I used to glory in the morning...now, I just groan and wish it was still dark outside. Ah, the joys of middle age.

I've decided to give my kitchen floor a good scrubbing today, while the weather's still reasonably cool--the kitchen can easily reach 95 F in the hot weather, so much of the summer, I've been only giving it a quick damp mop a couple of times a week, so I thought I'd take the time to do a really thorough job of it. I'd like to clean the oven as well, but forgot to buy oven cleaner, so that fun little job will have to be put off for some other day. And, when the floor's done, think, just for a lark, I'll do a bit of hoovering as well.

Just think, a couple of miles away, there's thousands of holiday-makers swimming, rafting, golfing, cycling, hiking, para-sailing, riding horses, strolling the streets eating ice creams, shopping for bargains at the big name brand discount shops, riding in carriages, cruising the lake, screaming on roller coasters, watching the thoroughbreds and harness horses race to the finish line, playing crazy golf...and they're missing all the REAL FUN! I mean, how often would they get to see some cranky old fat broad down on her knees scrubbing thrity year old lineoleum? How cool is that? I should charge flippin' admission!

For a treat, the tourist can walk the exciting streets of this city at night...see people walking home with their shopping, kids riding bikes and skateboarding, the crickets chirrping in the dark of people's gardens, the guy in the back of the police car alternately blowing loud raspberries and screaming "F_ck you!" out the open window. A very peaceful and relaxing town, is our Glens Falls.

Some creep shot a lady's pet cat with a shotgun at 8am yesterday morning, in the suburb of Queensbury. The cat had to later be put down by a local vet. Police are still looking for the suspect. Meanwhile, the sentencing hearing has been postponed, for the Long Island police officer who shot a neighbours dog, while the vacationing officer was out for a morning jog-- (what kind of nutjob takes a gun with him out jogging on a utterly peaceful mountain road in a (until now) zero crime neighbourhood, I can't guess).

It's strange--it is raining out, has been doing so for the last 15 or 20 minutes..yet the road is still mostly dry--I can see the rain falling, so it's a not merely a sprinkle. Seems odd...yesterday it was pretty, the rain was falling through the sunlight, and there was this group of guys in the park shooting baskets in a pick-up basketball game, with the rain streaming down through the sun...kind of made for a cool picture, made me wish I still owned a camera.

So, spent the morning listening to some tunes on Pandora radio, puttering about, after I eat it's off to do the nasty and clean the loo, before finishing the kitchen floor. My life is so exciting, sometimes I think I should write my biography--instant best seller material, ey?

SONG/ARTIST

Don't Stop Believin'/Journey
Forever Live and Die/Orchestral Maneuvers in the Dark
Streams of Whiskey/Shout Out Louds
Plans/Bloc Party
Impromtu for Piano in A Flat (Chopin)/Murry Perahia
Cactus Tree (live)/Joni Mitchell
Houses of the Holy/Led Zepplin
Song for Sorry Angel/Franz Ferdinand
In the Future When All's Well/Morrisey
Hight and Dry/Radiohead
It's Raining Men/The Weather Girls
One of these Nights/The Eagles
Told You So/Barenaked Ladies
Funk-O-Nuts/Ohio Players
Pennslyvania 6500/Glen Miller
The Next Time I Fail/Amy Grant
Just You and Me/Chicago
Running on Empty/Jackson Brown
No Sugar Tonight/Guess Who
After Midnight/Eric Clapton
In-Gadda-Da-Vid/Iron Butterfly
The Daily Planet/Love
Touch Too Much/The Arrows
Reunion Monticello/Carbon Leaf
Someday Soon/Gin Blossoms
Highroyds/Kaiser Chiefs
Black and White Town/Doves
Way Out/The La's
Yeah, yeah, yeah/The Minders
Life from a Window/The Jam
Rubies in Her Hair/Ian McLagan and the Bump Band
Razorblade/The Strokes
Miss Teenwordpower/The New Pornographers
Island in the Sun/Weezer
Harvard Hounds/The Foxy Morons
Love Comes Quickly/Pet Shop Boys
Joy to the World/Three Dog Night
In Recognition/The Proclaimers
Yellow/Coldplay
Ain't No Good/Cake
We're an American Band/Grand Funk Railroad
The Engine Room/Runrig
Please Sir/Marylyn Joseph
Dreamer/T.S.O.L.
Rockin' Chair/Heartsfield
Sweet Georgia Brown/The BBC Big Band Orchestra
Cobwebs and Dust/Gordon Lightfoot
As Tears Go By/Rolling Stones
Spirit in the Sky/The Kentucky Headhunters
Jet Airliner/Steve Miller
Selfish Jean/Travis
Kokomo/The Beach Boys
Feeling a Moment/Feeder

Word has it that there will be a big reveal in one of the upcoming specials for 2009. As rumour has it, the Doctor's real name will be revealed!

To stop them, the Doctor goes undercover at Kings Cross College in London, disquised as a proctologist. In the course of the show, the Doctor is forced by NHS bueraucrats to provide his Galifreyan birth certificate, and fill out 50 pages of forms in triplicate, before health and safety can clear him to save the world from being gassed to death.

Sometimes I wish--fruitlessly--I were really smart. I mean, it's such a big world out there, isn't it? It's just so full of ideas and wonders and history. Yet, nearly verything I try to learn is a struggle. Like a soldier trying desperately to hurry to a battle, being bogged down by thick, gooey mud. DCD/dyscalculia sucks you down--pulls you into the mire when you geinuinely want to move forward and learn. Especially when you are so aware of how wonderful the world can be--there's so much to see and do, isn't there?

I used to adore going for country drives--long or short, it didn't matter. I loved the idea of the open road, the prospect of seeing something new, of having some broad vista opening up before you, a majestic sweep of mountains, gently rolling hills, twee farms, rich green valleys. A living artwork, laid out for my own eyes and heart and mind to enjoy.

And then, your car is gone, you walk with a painful limp, and you're stuck in Glens Falls...maybe forever.

That's what it's like for me and learning. I was in school, and I could see the broad vistas--but sometimes, my wonky brain trapped me. I wanted desperitely to learn, but my mind refused to cooperate...no one with a "normal" brain, knows how that feels. It's painful, fustrating and self-defeating, all at the same time.

And, when you add manic-depression into the mix--ha! Welcome to learner's hell.

Whoops! I meant the previous post to be an "only me" post--and so all of you (who bothered to read it) got to hear me vent...I just had to get that off my chest, as I really was appalled by the two videos someone (on another website) told me to check out--without warning me about the content.

So, just got home from the store with my week's groceries. I'm literally wringing wet--tho' it's not hot, it is extremely humid, and my hair is dripping--looks like I just got out of the shower or got stuck in a rainstorm.

I am also pleased to say that I shall be able to try out Gil's Bucatini bolognese recipe. I went to Price-Rite, which is a cut rate supermarket, one of those where you have to pay to use a shopping trolley, and also pay for shopping bags--or do like I did, and bring your own bags. I got my week's groceries and even had enough left over for a slice of pizza from Brooklyn Pizza next door to the grocers...which was wonderful, 'cos I was famished, as I hadn't had anything but some leftover mashed potatoes and gravy all day.

Stopped at the One Dollar store and got a couple of items I forgot to buy from Wal-mart's the other night...saved money there, as well...tho' I forgot to look for a new plastic cutting board, as mine has developed a big crack in it, and I had to toss it out. I used to have a couple of gourmet wood cutting boards, that my sister made for me--seconds she got on the cheap, back when she was working for the Vermont Butcher Block and Board company. But that was years ago, and they eventually wore out. Haven't had a decent cutting board since, alas.

But, all-in-all, I'm pretty chuffed with my takings this week.

For $23.48, I got:

3 1 liter bottles of calorie-free fizzy lemon drink
1 2 liter bottle of caffine free diet Pepsi
1 can tomato puree
1 one pound bag of fresh carrots
2 tins of chunk light tuna
1 box of bite size frosted shredded wheat cereal
1 package of meatloaf mix (a mince of veal, pork and beef)
1 package of bucatini pasta
1 package of pork tenderloin chunks
1 sweet onion
1 white onion
2 russet potatoes
1 package hamburger rolls
1 package frozen beef and bean chimichangas
1 small jar chopped garlic (they were out of fresh garlic)
1 package what I thought were sugar-free mini-cupcakes

Unfortunately, I picked up the wrong package of cupcakes, and discovered they were the regular kind--oh well, I'll only eat a couple, then divide the rest up into little packets and freeze them for a treat now and then. I still need milk, but that store only sells it by the gallon--and I generally only go through a pint a week, or more rarely, a half-gallon.

Because I don't like waste, and a pound of fresh carrots is more than I needed for the pasta dish, I decided to throw in another onion, 2 potatoes and the pork tips, and make a stew this week, as well.

I'm beat though--the shopping weighed around 25 pounds at least, and it's a bit of a walk from the shop to the bus--and not much fun manuvering through a crowded trolley bus, with three heavy shopping bags, let me tell you!

So now I'm smilin' again--I was worried that my shopping would go over 35 dollars, which was my budget...things are so incredibly expensive, everyone is muttering in disgust when they get to the till---well, except for the holiday makers of course--let's face it, if these tourists can afford a holiday away from home, they can't be hurting that bad for money, I suppose?