Misspent Youth

Both Jamie Dawn and Ole Hoss have been telling stories about their misspent youth, so I got to thinking about my own.

I was a pretty good kid. Okay, bratty to my three older sisters. Oh, yeah, there was that thing where my peeps and I would put condoms on tailpipes (makes a nice exploding noise when people drive off), but that's harmless, no?

Okay, all right, my friends and I did a bunch of stupid phone call stunts, but everyone does that I'm sure. But at least I never tipped over an outhouse.

But I did pull at least one dumb ass, really stupid deed, although it was not on purpose.

I was about 14. My church was having a hayride to which all my girl friends were inviting dates. I definitely didn't want to go with a guy from church, and I definitely didn't want to be the only girl without a date, and I definitely had a crush on a guy in my Algebra class whose name was Doyle.

So I spend two days or so working up courage to call Doyle on the phone. Couldn't risk rejection face to face. I call him. I ask him to the hayride. He says he has to ask his mother, comes back to the phone and says, "My mother says that I have to go visit my aunt that Saturday."

Okay. I can take a hint. Don't have to hit me over the head with a hammer. I know that he just doesn't want to go with me on a hayride. He's just been using me for my Algebra talents. I'm crushed and embarrassed, but I'll live. So, I move on. I call a sweet, dependable, smart guy that I've known since third grade, and ask him to the hayride. He says, "Yes." I'm saved. I have a date.

But wait. Doyle calls me the next day and says, "My mom says that I can stay home when she goes to my aunt's house, so that I can go to the hayride with you." Hoo boy. I have one minute or less, to do the right thing and say, "I really, really wanted to take YOU to the hayride, but since you said 'No,' I already asked someone else. I'm sorry." Did I do the right thing? Heck no. I said, "Great!" I'm a pig.

Do I ask an adult what to do? Of course not! I do a Brady-bunch-agony-twist-in-the-wind for days. My girlfriends both at church and at school are all on the job trying to figure out what I should do. The day of the hayride is drawing closer. What to do, what to do?

GET SICK. It was the only answer. And I did get sick. Really sick. Truly sick. I actually got Scarlet Fever! What a relief! The only problem then was that I was too sick to use the phone. I had to confess to my oldest sister, Mary, so that she could call and cancel the dates for me. She yelled and fussed and carried on at me, "A*** N******* P******** (my whole, entire name) what were you thinking? How could you do such a thing?" What a hullabaloo and brouhaha. (I've been waiting all day to use those words.) She almost told my mother.

But Mary called both guys and cancelled for me, fussed at me some more, then perked up because doctors made house calls in those days and she thought the doctor was very handsome.

And that's my tom foolery story. (Thanks to Melissa W for that word.) 

A Tightwad's Guide to Frugal Living

In yesterday's newspaper there was an article about a woman who lives cheaply. Maybe frugal is the correct word, or maybe, just maybe, tightwad is more accurate.
She's a recycling Nazi, which I can accept. We should all be careful with the planet's resources. But this woman takes a bucket into the shower with her, collects water in it that would just go down the drain, and uses that to flush her toilet. OOOOkay, that's a good idea in a real drought. But I'm afraid that I envision a toilet that isn't flushed often enough to suit me. I mean, are we talking saving stuff until you have enough stuff to flush? Ugh.

This woman sleeps not on a bed, but on "several layers of sleeping bags and blankets found in the trash or thrift shops." Okay again. It's her house and her sleeping. (BTW, she's not homeless. She lives in a chic part of town actually.) She says, "I want to write a book called '100 Uses For a Bandanna.'" She uses them as paper towels, hankies, napkins, and wrappers. She once brought leftover pizza home in her bandanna because she refuses to use a take-out container. (This bandanna had been in use on her head up until then.) She even saves the bibs from dentist visits.

Then the current Reader's Digest has an article called Cheaper Than Thou, written by Mary Roach. She says that each night "I remove my eyeliner with the end of a Q-tip and then set it aside to use the other end the following night." Hoo boy.

Listen to some Hints from Heloise:
1. Instead of throwing out used coffee grounds, leave half in the filter, then add half of the freshly ground coffee for a second pot. (Give me a break! Bet that tastes great.)
2. To make an inexpensive whiskbroom, roll a section of the newspaper lengthwise, then cut across one end a few times and spread out the fringe. Use to brush away cobwebs or crumbs, then toss it out. (What next? Tell your kid that Santa Claus died, save big on presents?)
3. Instead of facial tissues, use toilet paper, which costs less. Remove the cardboard core from a roll and throw away. Then place the roll inside an empty square tissue box and pull from the center of the roll through the opening. (We've all used TP instead of Kleenex, but only because we were OUT of the real thing.)
4. Instead of replacing my travel-size tube of toothpaste, I refill it from my regular tube: I simply hold the nozzle of the big tube against the small one and slowly squeeze. (Oh sure she does...NOT. Heloise has gotta be rich by now.)

Okay, so I confess that I save old pantyhose to use to tie tomato plants to a garden stake. And the hubby figured out that it was cheaper to buy the biggest sizes of French fries at McDonald's and then split them up among the kiddies, rather than buy each one of them their own individual fries. The man actually COUNTED the damn fries! This went on until the rebellion of 1975, when our son staged a coup and declared that he and his sisters would all get their own, individual, small-sized fries. (Note to daughters: I now have to share fries with your father again. It's not worth the fight.)

How do YOU save money? Big or small. (It's usually SMALL.) 

Old Horsetail Snake's Pile

Hoss' trying to raise a pile makes me think of ways to try to help him.
Here's one way to make a pile, fast. 

My American Job

Barbara from California has had a lot of discussion on her site about outsourcing, and buying things made in America, and so on, which has had me thinking about that all day.
For the most part I think that things made in the USA are well-made. We're hard workers I believe. I believe that labor unions are a good thing. Without the original labor unions we would not have retirement plans, paid health insurance, vacation time, sick leave, etc.
At the same time, perhaps American workers relaxed a bit too much. There is a lot of "It's not my job," attitude out there. Did our employers desert us first, or did we desert them first? Which came first? 

What Would Betty Do?

I've referred to Betty Bowers in the past, but that was before I knew The Pope.

I need to ask him if he's bothered by the fact that according to Google, the internet's #1 site for "Christian Advice" is Betty Bowers. Betty's site says that "thousands of lost souls turn to Mrs. Bowers for her tart, sage advice every day. And while Mrs. Bowers is vaguely cognizant of the fact that her guidance is probably the only thing standing between her readers and the sulfurous pits of an everlasting Hell, hair appointments at Jonathan Sahag Workshop in Manhattan..." and other good things, "keep her from answering all of her mail (unless, of course, it contains a tithing check that exceeds the monthly payment on one of her Bentley leases).

Betty gives loving Christian advice to unsaved trash and other hell-bound sinners. She answers questions such as, "If red is outside my palette, do I have to wear it in hell?" and discusses subjects such as the perils of allowing heterosexuals to dress you. Betty says that Rosary beads are always a fashion faux pas. The Pope could take a hint there. She also has a gift shop.

If you haven't already, check her out!

Memorial Day

All these Memorial Day celebrations have reminded me of my childhood.

I’m thinking of my father, who was in the Navy during WWII. He left my mother when I was 10, for another woman. I was never close to him even before that, as he was generally away.

But I do remember visiting him in the Veterans’ Hospital when I was just a kid. The hospitalized servicemen were in barracks. There must have been 100 men in a “room.” Two long continuous rows of cots against the windows on either side of the rectangular room, with a wide space down the center. Nurses would bustle up and down with carts, and the men (the ones whose wives and kids weren’t visiting at the time) would call out flirtatious remarks to the young pretty nurses. It was summer, and of course nothing in those days was air-conditioned, so there were big oscillating fans everywhere. My father’s illness was considered service-related, but he was not wounded in the war.

Many, many, years later, he died in a Veterans’ hospital, of lung cancer. He’s buried in a military cemetery.

Success

"Our lives are not determined by what happens to us but by how we react to what happens, not by what life brings to us, but by the attitude we bring to life. A positive attitude causes a chain reaction of positive thoughts, events, and outcomes. It is a catalyst, a spark that creates extraordinary results. " Anon.

What do YOU think?

 

Boston MA

Boston 
We had a beautiful day here in Worcester MA, so Aral suggested that we drive into Boston and see the Capitol Building. So we did.

We had been in Boston several times when Aral was in grad school, but somehow had never gone to the State House there. We also toured the old State House. Does that count as two "collected" Capitols? Nah. I guess not. We ate at a very good Italian Restaurant. What a fun waiter. Very old and very Italian. Dressed in a tux even. The prices were cheap for a big city. Amazing.

We saw two different street entertainers, both very good. Then went to Faneuil Hall and walked around, had coffee, etc. Ended up in a book store where I bought two books. I brought two books with me on the trip, but had finished both.

New Hampshire

I've been talking about Vermont and Maine, but of course we traveled in New Hampshire as well. We had been in New Hampshire before, but had not gone to Concord.

Since we "collect" Capitol Bldgs., we decided to hit New Hamphire's capital and see the state house. It's very nice on the outside, not very showy on the inside. Still nice. Godlessmom has seen more Capitols than we have, but we've seen quite a few. We've now been in every state in the "lower 48" except North Dakota. In some of our travels we didn't go to the capital city. Oh, well.

New Hampshire is an interesting state! They don't have a sales tax, or an income tax. They pay their state senators and representatives $100 a year, period. That's it. They get no benefits at all. They get the privilege of serving. The reps don't even get a parking lot. We drove right up to the building and walked right in. No special security, etc. If you have been to any Capitol since 9/11, you know how unusual that is.

We walked into the governor's office, accidentally. No one thought that was a big deal. The receptionist just asked if she could help us! Very refreshing. The Senate was in session, and the public can watch. Truly a welcoming place. They finance the schools with a statewide property tax, which seems more fair than PA's system of a local property tax. In our PA system, a rich area can spend far more on the students than a poor city. I was impressed with N.H.

We enjoyed Vermont, Maine, and New Hampshire, but as usual, I'm happy to be going home soon. . 

Some Vermont stuff

In Vermont we saw the Porter Music Box Museum. It was so enjoyable! I like music boxes, but I really didn't think I would like a museum of them so very much. It's a great little place. Beautiful things there. EVERYTHING is a music box. Many of them are very old, well over a hundred years old.

They also make music boxes of course. The box pictured here is a table and it plays double disks, so the music is lovely, not tiney at all. The music boxes aren't just pretty, they play good sound as well.