I Ain't Afraid of No Daleks

FROM "boobycakes"

Whats your middle name? Beth
How big is your bed? single
What are you listening to right now? classical music
What are the last 4 digits in your cellphone number? 449_
What was the last thing you ate? homemade shepherd's pie
Last person you hugged? It's been ages since I've hugged anyone, I've no idea whom
How is the weather right now? Cold windy and overcast, few flakes of snow in the air
Who was the last person you talked to on the phone? my sister last night
What is the first thing u notice in the opposite sex? smile
Favorite type of Food. Pizza
Do you want children? Nope
Do you drink? nope
Ever get so drunk you don't remember the entire night? nope
Hair color? salt and pepper brown
Eye colour? brown
Do you wear contacts/glasses? yup
Favorite holiday? none--well, marginally Christmas.
Favorite Season? Autumn
Have you ever cried over a girl/boy? nope
Last Movie you Watched? The Outlaw Josey Wales
What books are you reading? just started Dark Thicket by Elmer Kelton
Piercings? me? get out!
Favorite Movie? Arsenic and Old Lace
Favorite college football Team? I detest college football
What were you doing before filling this out? talking to a friend through skype chat
Any pets? 3
Dogs or cats? three lovely, lovely cats--except Flamey when she's in heat.
Favorite Flower? Iris
Have you ever loved someone? In the romantic sense, no. Family and friends, yes.
What one person--one living, one dead would you like to see right now? My late mum. And, either Catherine Tate or Dawn French--could I would love a good laugh right now.
Have you ever fired a gun? yup
Do you like to travel by plane? Meh--it's okay, I'm not particular how I travel.
Right-handed or Left-handed? right
If you could go to any place right now where would you go? the UK
Are you missing someone? my mum
Do you have a tattoo? me? get out!
Do you still watch cartoons on Saturday mornings? I don't have tele, but probably not.
Have you told anyone a little secret about yourself lately? Yeah, I just told my friend online something I'd never told anyone before--nothing scandously or big, though.

FROM someone named "freakinowt":

ARE YOU OVER 18? yup
WHAT IS THE WALLPAPER ON YOUR CELLPHONE? a virgin selection that came with the phone
DID YOU GET ENOUGH SLEEP LAST NIGHT? yup
FIRST THING YOU THOUGHT ABOUT THIS MORNING? I need to do the laundry
WHAT DO YOU HAVE HANDY AT YOUR BEDSIDE? nothing--bedroom's too small for a bedside table
GRILLED OR FRIED? tie
WHAT MAKES YOU UNIQUE? That would take too long to answer
ARE YOU AFRAID OF THE DARK? no
FAVORITE HANGOUT? used to be the woods, now...sometimes my balcony or a park bench downtown
4 THINGS YOU CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT? my cats, my computer/internet, my dr who dvd's, my books
FAVORITE SONG? I honestly don't have "a" favourite song. I love too many songs to pick one.
WHAT ARE YOU AFRAID OF? homelessness, spiders, lightning, fire, numbers/math, being sectioned.
ARE YOU A GIVER OR TAKER? more the former than the latter, I think--it's hard to judge yourself objectively, though.
WHAT ARE YOUR NICKNAMES? don't have any, any longer
WHAT IS YOUR DADS MIDDLE NAME? John
WHATS YOUR MOTHERS MIDDLE NAME? Marie
STUCK ON A DESERTED ISLAND & COULD TAKE ONE THING? I don't know--works of Shakespeare or Plutarch's "lives?"
FAVORITE T.V. COMMERCIAL? I don't have tele, but I used to like the old Alka-selzter adverts--"I can't believe I ate the WHOLE thing."
WHO'S YOUR CELL PHONE PROVIDER? Virgin
FIRST THING YOU'LL SAVE IN A FIRE? Cats of course!
WHATS YOUR FAVORITE COLOR? blue--particually, cobalt, cerlulean, indigo, midnight and deflt blue.
WHAT ARE THE THINGS YOU ALWAYS TAKE WITH YOU? clean underwear and my eyeglasses
WHAT DID YOU WANNA BE WHEN YOU WERE A KID? a cowgirl, forest ranger or actress
WHAT DO YOU USUALLY DO WHEN THE CLOCK TURNS 11:11? nothing, who cares?
THE COLOR OF YOUR BEDSHEET RIGHT NOW? navy blue
WHAT DO YOU DO AT BEDTIME? Check the cat's food and water, take my meds, set my alarm clock

I came upon and advert, where British ex-pats could get a device where they can watch all the live UK tele they want--BBC One, Three, ITV, etc...for a "bargain" price. It's called "Thetelly" and supposedly it's for British expats.

What is this fabulous bargain? about 50 pounds a week, or 150 pounds a month---blimey!!!

That's around 100 dollars a week, or 300 dollars a month! No wonder the British live in America--they're filthy rich, if they can blinking afford that! And then they complain about having to pay a license fee? If they can bloody well afford those kinds of prices, they should stop whinging about license fees!

Geez--and I thought 90 dollars a month for Time Warner's premium cable televsion service, was expensive!

Do you have any idea how bizzare it feels, to know someone actually Googled "David Tennant lucky underpants" or, "David Tennant naked," and finding out that it's YOUR blog that comes up first on the Google list?

It really feels strange--and I'm not even a DT fan-girl!

...for being nominated for yet another award--this time, the Theater Goer's Choice awards.

I was e-mailed the information that the Theatre Event of the Year nomination is for Tennant's return to the stage as Hamlet.

Also, the production of Hamlet itself is up for an award as Best Regional Production, so congratulations to the RSC and its cast and crew for that, as well.

The awards are sponsored by the website: http://www.whatsonstage.com

I believe--from what I was sent in the email--that voting is still open on the website, though I've not visited this site in a few months, so I don't know.

Woke to a quarter inch of snow on the ground and a bout of arthritis in my joints.

Well, it is winter, afterall.

We're to get little bursts of snow on and off all week, with a few days of sunshine here and there. The high tomorrow is now only supposed to be 18 F (-8 C), with the low that night about 7 F, or minus 14 C. Then it's supposed to warm up, after that to as much as 49 F--might even get some rain instead of snow, by Wednesday.

I woke at half-past eight, all set to go to the laundromat this morning--then, apparently fell back to sleep, 'cos I when I opened my eyes again, I was shocked to see that it was 10am! That was a bit freaky, 'cos I honestly don't remember falling back to sleep, as I was pretty much awake...or so I thought.

I did a lot of running around on Thursday, and worked a full shift and went shopping after, on Saturday, so I guess I must have tired myself out, without realizing it. So, suppose I will go to the laundromat tomorrow morning, instead.

I have off until Tuesday night--and, it still feels weird to have two days off in a row, after months and months having my days off separated. Lovin' it!

I watched my Outlaw Josey Wales DVD last night---but, like the last DVD I bought, it got "stuck" halfway through the picture, so I ditched my Windows media player and downloaded Realplayer.

Lots of people walking around out there. There's still some Christmas activities out there downtown, today.

I decided to stay in, most of the day, and catch up on some household chores I've been neglecting, these past few days. The fridge needs a serious cleaning out, for one thing--haven't done that for at least two weeks. Hate to think of what I might find growing in there. Our American refrigerators I've noticed, are about twice the size of those in the UK:

Anyway, going to be sort of a busy day for me. I decided to treat myself to making an American shepherd's pie tonight. In the USA, our shepherd's pie is generally made with ground beef (mince) with a tiny amount of gravy and mixed veggies (usually, carrots, corn and peas), topped with mashed potatoes. It's served with or without a bottom pie crust--usually without.

Mine however, is with a bottom crust (a pre-made refrigorated crust from the grocers, which I have leftover from baking that peach crumb pie on Thanksgiving)--I'm using ground beef, Bistro gravy, and "california" vegetables--in America this is what we call a special blend of frozen vegetables: cauliflower, carrots and broccolli...and of course it will be topped with freshed mashed potatoes.

I make up my dinner menus in advance--this helps me in two ways: 1. I know in advance what I'm having for dinner, and since the list is on the 'fridge, I (usually) can use it as a reminder to take meats and stuff out of the freezer to thaw. 2. Saves my brain from having to decide what the heck to have for dinner each night, ha-ha. And, okay, gives me something to do, and, helps me with the food budget, as well, sometimes.

I was looking at my dinner planner and noticed that I'm sort of going international this week: I have British, American, Italian, Chinese, Polish, Mexican and Greek type of meals this week...not intentional, by the way, that's just the way it worked out. There were some faboulous meat sales on at the store yesterday. I got a pork loin rib roast for just $3.11 !!
I got a prepared campana pork loin for just $1.71, and a Maryland crab cake for about the same price. The turkey cutlets were around $4 (which I'm going to make with a butter curry sauce, by the way), and I got a corned beef round roast for about 8 dollars--gonna' have a boiled dinner for my Christmas day meal.

Republican Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee, a member of the Senate Banking Committe, has recommended sharp wage reductions and benefit losses, as "tough love" for auto workers, as part of a potential bailout package for the auto industry.

This would be only for workers working for American car companies. It's interesting to note that while Tennessee is home to Saturn--a division of General Motors, Toyota and Volkswagon also have plants there.

While plants in America's northern mid-west were laying off workers right left and centre, plants in the southeastern US were actually hiring more workers. Between 2000 and 2006, about 300,000 jobs in the U.S. automobile industry were lost. Many workers either retired, or moved to places like Tennessee, citing that besides the jobs, there were also the added benefits of a cheaper cost of living and a much milder climate. Part of the reason of this shift to the southeastern states by the US's "new" automakers, is that many parts suppliers are also located in the southeast--thereby greatly reducing shipping costs.

As American automakers restructure, foreign-owned companies like Toyota and Nissan who have factories in the states, are still relatively stable. Some say this shift from the "rust belt" states like Michigan and Wisconson, to states like Tennessee and Alabama, was the most dramatic change in US industry, since the Industrial Revolution in the 1800's.

It is believed that this shift does in fact play a part in what is happening now, in the USA--and the future of the birthplace of Ford and other American car companies--"Motown" "Motor city USA" aka: Detroit? Looking very grim, indeed.

It seems weird, to have bare ground here in the city--but you look up to the mountains to the west, and see reams of snow on the slopes--with the return to frigid weather--it's going down now, to 11 degrees tonight (about minus 12 C)...and down to 9 F (minus 13 C) tomorrow night- the snowmakers on the ski slopes have been going great guns, and West Mountain, the ski area about 15 minutes from this city, is about to open for business, for the season, despite the fact that we've yet to have an actual honest-to-god snow storm.

The public transit bus will be beginning special ski runs there, after the new year, so I've been toying with the idea of getting a snow saucer and going sledding on their little tobbogan runs that they have, right at the base of the mountain...if it's reasonably priced, that it. I've not been sledding for around 30 years--it was my all time favourite winter past time, right up until my early 20's (when for some reason, I think I decided it wasn't "cool" for me to do that, anymore, as an adult--the strange ideas we get, ey?

I rang up my sister in Vermont to see how she was doing--haven't spoken to her since October. Seems two days before the Thanksgiving holiday, my 18 year old nephew got himself arrested again--this time for violating his parole. Apparently, for not showing up for work. He claims he wasn't scheduled--they claim he was. I am willing to bet they are at fault--based solely on my own experiences with naf schedulers not knowing which end is up...forgetting to tell people of shift changes...or, conversely, forgetting when they assign someone a new shift, then marking them down as a "no call, no show."

Now, I'm not naive-- it is possible, that my newphew was being an idiot again, and simply forgot...but, why didn't they call him, if he didn't show up? At least check? He may have had a roadside break down or something or missed the bus or whatever. Why ruin a young person's life over a simple misuderstanding?

The thing is, from what I understand, the kid hadn't missed a shift before...if that's true, than logic would dictate that there would be a reason he missed that shift, most likely from human error on the part of the shift scheduler or shop manager. Allegedly, the shift supervisor just blew this off and made no effort to see if there was any error on their part, or if it really was Josh's mistake. Subway sucks--I'm glad I rarely eat there, and now I never shall again.

Now, my nephew is rotting in jail. He's got a crap public defender that refuses to return any calls. They gave a private lawyer 1500 dollars retainer--and the lawyer did help...but then the poo-head New York state public defender found out, and told my sister that she couldn't use this particular lawyer, because he also did pro-bono work with the public defenders office, the lazy sod public defender began screaming 'conflict of interest,' so the private lawyer had to withdraw...and my sister only got back part of their retainer, so now they are scrambling to find the funds to get a new lawyer. Of course, the piece of crap lazy public defender has done NOTHING for my nephew, and is such a scum bag that he pretty much doesn't care if his own CLIENT goes back to jail to serve out the rest of his breaking and entering sentence.

To make matters even worse, he got into a fight at the jail, the stupid bastard (like mother like son--'nuf said?) and beat some guy to pulp, getting 8 stitches in his head, as well.

And, to top off the festive holiday for them (they don't celebrate tho', being Jehovah's Witneeses or some other blather), her partner works at a automotive manufacturing plant--and most of you lot probably know the situation in the automotive industry right now. Fortunately, her partner has been there a long time, but still...hard month for them. I offered to send her some money, but she flatly turned me down--so, I'll send her a Pizza Hut gift card...she likes pizza hut, and there's a pizza hut in the nearby city, about a half hour drive from them, so at least she and her partner can have a meal away from home some night.

So, somber news. I've not seen my nephew since he was 15 years old, don't even have a current photo of him, so I've no idea what he even looks like, these days--tho' I imagine he's huge...he was well over 6 feet tall, even then. I do love him though, very much, and am so sad he's come to this. He had such promise as a young man...he learned to play guitar at age 5, he had a genuine interest in archaeology and science as a child. Then...I don't know. He turned into his mum, basically. How many times did my mum have to sit with sis in Juvinile court? Sis has been in jail twice, that I know of. She was doing crack when her son was a toddler. Now, she's fairly clean, turned into a full-time housewife, living on top of a mountain, with a redneck gun-lovin' hubby, five dogs and some stray cats for company...and she seems pretty happy, for the first time in decades. Now this has to happen. I am very sad, tonight.

Addendum:

It is hoped that his probation officer will have some positive things to say about my nephew, to the judge, but...we'll see. He'll either get a new probation, or be sent to jail to serve the rest of his sentence...won't know for a least another week or two, yet.