I Ain't Afraid of No Daleks

Well, this has been an interesting day...meh.

First, I got all these frantic (and crudely worded) message from some teenage fan-girl begging me to tell her where David Tennant actually lives--yeah, right. I'm sorry, but I sold my crystal ball on e-bay, last month...and, I really don't care where the bloke lives, for that matter...somewhere posh in some celebrity-infested part of London, I expect. Her e-mail kept bouncing back...so after the 2nd one she sent, I resorted to a blog post. How do these overly-infatuated teenage nutjobs find me??? And furthermore...why???

Got home from work, retreived the National Grid bill from the post--and nearly had a coronary. "WHAT??? $379????" Yeah, I paid my bill on time last month--I'm on the budget plan, so it's pretty much the same amount each month...and for some reason (not complaining, mind you), I qualified for an additional $100 heating assistance allowance, so...that $379 bill--which is over $200 MORE than my usual monthly bill, sort of threw me for a loop, for a few minutes...I was pacing the floor, pulling my hair, wondering where the hell I was going to do...then, I noticed the name on the bill---it was my NEIGHBOUR'S bill!

Fecking postman! My NAME is on my box. My APARTMENT NUMBER is on my mailbox--his box is on the other post of the porch, so it's not like they're next to each other...cripes. I never wanted to punch a postman before, but I'm telling you...

Just now, I got a comment in an old post about Dr Who jokes...some idiot wants me to hire hime to tell his "fabulous" Dr Who jokes---for the mere cost of $100 an hour. What??? Who the hell would pay some unknown git $100 an hour to stand there and tell (probably dreadful) Dr Who jokes?

Wow, what is this, National Idiot Day???

Well, it's snowing a good clip out there, but suspect it will stop soon--just a passing snow flurry. It's been flurrying and snow sqaualling all day--at times, producing wind-driven complete white-outs (scary stuff--worse than a dense fog, 'cos it's slippery, as well) on local motorways.

We're going back into the deep freeze, by next week, with lows ranging anywhere from 18 F (minus 7 C), down to 4 F (minus 15 C), and windchills averaging some days, around minus 11 fahrenheight. Not the coldest it's been, not by a long chalk. Actually, outside of a few nights when it got down to around -5 F (-20 C), it's really not been that bad--averging in the teens and 20's F, for the most part, with only a few days here and there, in the single digits. So, can't complain, really, in a part of the world that has been known to drop down to -10 to -40 F, from Dec. to Feb.

Ugh! I've had to delete comments of someone billing herself as "mrsdavidtennant1" who has a bit of a loo-mouth when it comes to her spewing out her compliments of DT's...erm--attributes. The F word seems to be the only descriptive word this teenager knows.

Now she's e-mailed me twice today--with a wrong e-mail address that's "undeliverable!"

Mrsdavidtennant1 seems to be under the impression that I know DT's address--how the hell I would know that, when I've never been to the UK and in fact, have only been out of the city/suburb of Glens Falls, NY--TWICE--in just over 2 years--is well beyond me.

So, if you're reading this kiddo, please stop asking me for something that not only I cannnot give you--something that I would not give you, even if I had a crystal ball and knew the answer. I do not know either Tennant's North London (or is that West London?) address, nor his future address in Glasgow! I don't know and really, I don't particularly care. The man could be living in a grass hut in Fiji, for all I know.

Please stop pestering me for information I don't have and wouldn't share anyway, out of respect for another's privacy, thanks.

I had a dream last night, where my sister and our friends on the street we grew up on, where holding a play. I don't remember much else than that.

Do kids today still get together and hold plays and things? When I was growing up, there were only three television stations, no video games or electronics--the only "electronic" game we had, was when the man's nose lit up when we played "Operation."

We used to do lots of stuff, when I was a young girl. For instance, one time in our garage, we hung a curtin from the wide open back window of mum and dad's Chevrolet station wagon, and staged a puppet show using Barbie dolls. Another time we staged a mock magic show. Still another time, we took turns dressing as gypsies and used the "Magic Eight Ball" to tell the other kid's fortunes.

In our basement, we held a fake "go-go" club, playing music and using dad's old camera light stand--the empty bulb socket was the "mic," and held "dances" for the other kids--each taking a turn at the "mic," lip snycing to the songs--an early form of karaoke, before there ever was such a thing.

One time we pooled our resources, pulling out some unwanted toys and burying them in the woods--we made a fake treasure map with clues, and had other kids go and find and dig up the "treasure."

Sometimes we'd just hang out and read stories out loud, or play board games, or play kick ball. Other times we'd build tree forts or snow forts, play "house" up in the woods--raking dead leaves or pine needles to form the "walls" of our houses. We'd take our Matchbox and Britain toy cars and trucks and make "towns" out of sand. Sometimes we'd simply hang out at each other's houses, listening to records, sit around telling scary stories to each other.

And you know what? We were rarely bored! We didn't swear at adults, or go online and be obnoxious--okay, we were obnoxious sometimes: we'd go 'round at night, tapping on the neighbour's windows and running away with fits of giggles..or we'd do the old ring someone randomly on the phone, then not answer or hang up. We weren't exactly perfect little angels! But, unlike so many children today, we NEVER said the 'F' word (we got our mouths washed out with soap and grounded if we swore, on my street--NO mum's in my world, ever let their kids swear or be rude to an adult, they'd be genuinely mortified!

In my part of the world, in the 60's and 70's, most mum's and dads genuinely wanted their sons and daughters to grow up to be respectful of others. And mostly, we were.

But we were hardly saints! As they got older, my sister and some of the other kids did get into trouble--setting a grass fire, petty theft, sneaking out to the pub, drinking, trying pot, etc. But, you still NEVER witnessed ANY kid or teen, mouthing off to an adult like they were equals. Where I grew up, kids never publicly spewed the "F" word and other swear words, like raw sewage coming from their tiny little mouths.

And, we talked to adults--didn't shout or scream or hurl insults at them, and yes, answered the telephone properly--still can't get over how many brats in America answer the phone, "WHO'S THIS!" Parents today...you suck if you can't even teach your snot-nosed little beasties how to answer a phone properly. Sorry, pet peeve of mine.

1 What is the most expensive meal you've ever eaten?

I think probably around $25?

2 What is the fastest speed you've ever traveled in a car?

I once drove 90 miles per hour from Albany, NY to Boston, Mass on the Mass Turnpike--made the trip in 3 hours.

3 What is the highest building you've ever been to the top floor of?

The Corning Tower in Albany, NY. It's 589 feet tall. In the late 1980's, we had a mini-Dr Who convention on the top floor observation lounge, once.

4 Do you ever talk to yourself out loud? What do you talk about?

Unfortunately it's my worst habit...I have a horrid tendency to "think" out loud. (honest, I don't hear voices)--it's a habit I've had for decades, always when I'm alone...probably started with me talking to my dog(s) when I was out hiking, or doing historical research in the cemetery, or out in the woods, hunting for antique bottles to dig up.

5 If you could change the custom of shaking hands, what would you replace it with?

Hugs, I love hugs.

6 What is something that you enjoy that is a chore for most other people?

I love cleaning saddles...I mean stipping them down, cleaning and applying a new leather finish to them, and making a mucky old saddle look like new again. (sort of like furniture re-finishing, only with leather)

7 List 3 foods you can't stand:

Mushrooms, scallops, cucumbers

8 What was your whackiest belief as a child?

I grew up next to a couple of very large cemeteries, and I thought if you stepped on someone's grave, you would go to hell.

9 Do you usually sleep on one side of the bed or another?

Usually on the right side, because of my bad hip.

10. Three things you'd like to accomplish by the end of this week?

Catch up with housework
Catch up with last of the laundry
Finish a chapter of Evil Waters

I'm still dicking around with my stinking micropix camera, trying to fix the flippin problem, per tech support instructions--only, 5 seconds ago, I had the imaging section in my hardware device manager---and now...GONE. Where the did the bloomin' thing go????

Son of a..beetle.

I mean, HOW could my image thingy be there one second, and be GONE the next??? Where do I even go to find it now??? Someone just shoot me, please, as a favour. I need a holiday from this life.

1. What are your thoughts on chastity?

I'm a virgin, it's simply my way of everyday life...it's partly choice, partly pain and partly just the way things are with me.

2. How many days do you think you could go with only your computer for company?

(laughs derisively) Erm--aside from my cats, that is pretty much normal for me and not an exception.

3. What, in your opinion, is the exact opposite of butter?

Flour?

4. Have you ever seen the musical "Cats"? If so, what did you think of it?

I'm not hugely into musicals--simply for no other reason than too often, the singing can get in the way of the story--for me, I just want to get into the plot/characters, without having things stop for some flippin' song and dance routine...that said, I've heard Cats is an excellent show, but I've never seen it.

5. What's #1 thing on your current wish list?

Practically speaking, I'd love to have a small sofa or love seat again. Impractically speaking, I'd love to visit the UK.

6. What's the last celebrity gossip you've read or discussed?

I was looking up info on Dr Who, and came across some story or other, about David Tennant buying a flat in West Glasgow...no idea if it's true, fan-girls, so calm down...and honestly, sorry Tennant, but I really don't care where the man resides, it's not my business. Not even sure why someone would even waste time writing about that, truth to tell.

7. If you had to join a pop band, which one would it be?

I think it would be a tie between Barenaked Ladies and The Proclaimers. I'd say the Beach Boys, but they aren't together any longer.

8. What two celebrities would you like to see in a celebrity mud wrestling match?

Sharon Osborne and Heather Mills might be interesting.

9. Have you read Mary Shelley's Frankenstein? If so,did you enjoy it?

Yes, I have it on my bookshelf here at home. It's OK, but it's not my favouite classic--I preferred Dracula (which I also have in the same book).

10. What is the first TV show you remember watching as a child?

Captain Kangaroo.