My bologna has a ........

My bologna has a first name...... It's O-S-C-A-R

My bologna has a second name..... It's M-A-Y-E-R

Oh I love to eat it everyday
And if you ask me why? I say,
Cause Oscar Mayer has a way with B-O-L-O-G-N-A


Oscar G. Mayer the retired chairman of Oscar Mayer died on July 6th 2009 at the age of 95.

Paintballing

The boy had his first paintball experience today.

Now all I am hearing about is buying a paint gun. Do you know how expensive those things are. I tried to log into my freecycle account but cannot remember my user ID or password.

If you know of someone willing to part with paintball equipment for FREE let me know. I cannot get The Hubby to agree to pay anything for equipment. He was not thrilled that CAL was going to begin with. Thank goodness it was through the church.

Rachel: If you would/could keep an eye out on your freecycle site (you have such good luck with that) I would really appreciate it.

I'm trying real hard....

to work out a way that I can go home and visit my family and friends for a week in August. This trip has just met roadblock after roadblock. First of all we only have one vehicle and with the business, the husband cannot be without a vehicle. Second the cost of gas seems to be going higher by the second. Third I don't have the money for either the car rental or the gas.

Those are some pretty big roadblocks.

I would love to rent a rv and then I would really be traveling in style. I wouldn't have to worry about inconveniencing my husband, or my family which will have to put me up for a week.

I have not been home in about five years. It has been months since I have seen my mom and years since I have spent any time with my brother and sister (and their families). Needless to say I really NEED to figure out a way to make this work.

Can you believe this guy

It has been the coldest June and July in New Hampshire history. I said to The Hubby last night that this is the worst summer I ever remember in my life.

That being said - we have elected a total idiot to be President. He doesn't care what the facts state, he just cares about creating another government agency to monitor a phantom problem. Global warming does not exist. It is like acid rain, the hole in the ozone, and all those other "the world is ending" problems of the past. At least those issues are in fact real just not as life threatening as they originally predicted. Global Warming is a total scam created by scientists that were more worried about job security. Personally I heard rumors that people were thinking about suing Al Gore. I would love to be a part of that lawsuit.

This Global Warming nonsense has scared our kids to death. A recent pole stated that our kids are more concerned with global warming than any other issue. The funny thing is the terminology has changed before our eyes. We don't see or hear too much about global warming, now the term is "climate change".

These nutty scientists have to cover their backside. We have gone from the earth burning up to another ice age, and some of my readers are upset that I don't trust scientists.

Has it really?

Has it really been almost nine days since my last post. Thank goodness that I don't have any loyal readers to complain. There are days that I really enjoy this little blog and other days (obviously several in a row) that I just try to ignore it best I can.

Life is pretty much the same here in NH. We are too broke to do much of anything other than eat, so eat we do. My weight loss contest with CAL is going nowhere. It doesn't help that..... since May 2nd we have only had six days of sunshine. SIX. Now this is something that my pastor said last night and I really don't have the energy to look up to see if this is in fact true, but he is my pastor for crying out loud, it must be true.

I am trying to work out the details for my trip home in August. I have to rent a car but cannot find a reasonably priced rental. I hate the sites that promise $19.99 per day and then when you log on and put in your dates it comes up $40.00 per day. There was one that advertised $9.99 a day in Boston. I thought...... I could drive to Boston to save that kind of money, I will need the car for about nine days. I get all excited and put in my dates and it came back $50.00 a day, plus $12.00 a day for life insurance, oops I mean car insurance. I have to check my policy though because I think that it comes with insurance for car rentals. I don't know if that only applies if there is something wrong with my car or not.

I better get working on this because it is only a month away and I really want to go visit my family for the first time in almost five years. I have been trying to set up visits with the many friends that I have reconnected with on Facebook. I would love to stop in Syracuse and visit my old roommate, but I just don't see how that is going to happen. If you know of any rental cars that are around the $20 a day range, let me know.

You're Kidding Right?

Last night was one of the strangest nights that I have had in quite some time.  

Yesterday we decided that we would tear CAL's room apart and rearrange it, while he is at camp.  We are cleaning it from top to bottom.  During the vacuuming process my vacuum cleaner, an Electrolux Legacy ($1,000+ vacuum) started shutting off and saying that the bag was full.  I had to stop doing the room and try to figure out what was happening.  

I checked the vacuum from top to bottom and could not figure out the cause.  I came down stairs and tried to find information online that might be helpful.  Finally I just decided to let it rest for a few hours.

Now is where the real story begins.  Around 8 p.m. last night the hubby wanted to go to bed and read.  I decided to give the vacuum one last try.  I noticed that it appeared to be a short in something.  I grabbed my electrical cleaner and thought I would give it a few squirts of that.  There is a little switch on the inside of the container so I gave it a few shots.   Not a good idea, the switch seemed to immediately dissolve.  Great now I have really broke the stupid thing.  I took a vacuum that would run hit or miss to one that was definitely broke.  This didn't go over well with the hubby.  See I "try" to fix things but it doesn't always work that way.

Naturally I am very upset.  On the verge of tears.  Business yesterday was non-existent and we are faced with a mountain of bills.  Just stressful.  I decided to head to bed before I messed anything else up.

I am at our sink washing my hands and my WWJD bracelet pops off my wrist and goes down the drain.  We have an old sink in our bathroom and it does not have a plug or a trap to prevent things from falling down the silly thing.    

At this point the tears start to fall.  I look down under the sink and see what tools I will need to take the pipes apart.  After a quick inspection I know this is not going to turn out good.  The parts are all green and nasty.  This means there is no way they are coming apart.  

I have to get the bracelet out it cannot stay there, one - it is my favorite and two - I am so upset that I just have to fix something.  I grab a wrench and gently (ever so gently) try to turn the connector.  All the sudden I had a big squirt of water and it was going everywhere.  I should have had a bucket ready but I was so upset I didn't think the job through.  

After the water stopped I pulled all the pipes out.  What a mess.  It scares me to think what our wonderful city water did to these pipes.  One section of the pipe had been replaced with the past year.  You would have thought it had been there forever.  The elbow portion of the pipe disintegrated.  I would hate to think what that water is doing to our insides.  

It is now about 8:30 p.m. and I said the hubby "get dressed we have to go to Home Depot".  I could not believe my ears when he actually agreed.  Usually something like this would take days to repair.  My hubby also has absolutely NO repair abilities.  I am on my own on this.  Just before we got into the Jeep, I asked the hubby if we should write out a will real quick. 

After arriving at Home Depot it didn't take long to realize that they didn't have the material that we thought we needed.  So I tried to build one from what they had.  Nope it just wasn't going to work.  The hubby kept looking at the PVC pipes and I kept telling him that I didn't think we could mix chrome with PVC.    He finally convinced me that we "probably" could.  I decided to wait a few minutes for a Home Depot "specialist".  We waited and waited while the guy talked with another customer.  The customer was trying to Jerry-Rig something together and wanted "advise" on what might work.  For 20 minutes we waited patiently to ask the question "can you mix PVC and Chrome pipe on a sink repair".  

If you know anything about me you know that I have zero (I MEAN ZERO) patience.  I thought I did pretty good.  I let them know we were waiting and was hoping that the customer would eventually do the right thing and send the worker away while the "thought" about what he needed.  The Home Depot guy literally just stood there while the customer brainstormed.

Finally I told the hubby to wait while I looked for someone else.  I found someone quickly and said "can I just ask a quick question?".  The guy said "Oh I don't know I am helping......." as he appeared to be lost.  I just blurted "I have this pipe that broke, (showing him the pipe) you don't have the materials to rebuild that exact thing, can I use PVC even though the pipe coming from the sink is chrome."  He said "YES", and just looked at me. I said "great" and started walking away.  He said "Well that was easy", and I lost it.  I said "yeah and it was very frustrating to wait 20 minutes to ask this question while this guy................." and I just kept ranting as I walked away.

Oh well I tried.  

Upon arriving home and trying to following the installation instructions, we were getting nowhere.  Finally I told the hubby I was going to install it my way.  Five minutes later I was filling the sink with water to give it a test run.  

We were in bed by 10:00 reading.  After we shut the lights out we both tossed and turned until well after 1:00 a.m.  I was sick about the vacuum, and not looking forward to having CAL's room totally tore apart and no vacuum to finish the job.  

I got up early this morning to see if I could somehow by-pass the bag full indicator on the vacuum.  I did learn that Electrolux has a 10 year "limited" warranty.  I am waiting for the store to open before I give their service center a call.   Of course, they don't have a service center in the two largest cities in New Hampshire, it is located in a smaller city about 45 minutes from here.  GRRRRRR.

Random Childhood Memories

I truly didn't have that bad of a childhood.  When I talk about memories it seems that the bad ones are discussed more than the good but...... I think that is only natural.

I never really knew my maternal grandfather.  He divorced my grandmother many years before and I can only assume that upon starting a new family his old one suffered.  Mom never really talked about him much but there were visits - just not often.  About the only real fact that I know about my grandfather is that he died of cancer.  He knowingly and willingly worked in an environment that exposed him to asbestos.  Granted back in those days I know people didn't realize the effects of working with this deadly material.  Now days there are Mesothelioma lawyers to help people.

My paternal grandfather was a pretty big part of my life.  He died of cancer when I was in the sixth grade.  His cancer was caused by my grandmothers chain-smoking habit.  He is proof that second hand smoke kills.  She would light a cigarette and most of the time it sat in the ash tray just burning.  He was not a smoker but his lungs were as damaged as a lifetime smoker.  Oddly enough my grandmother is still going strong at 95.  

The other day I was trying to determine if I had any relationships in my life which I refused to speak to family members.  My initial answer was no but now I remember that I have no desire to ever speak to my grandmother, and I didn't speak to my dad for a couple years.  Other than that I am good.  

Could it be......

that I have a reader on my site that I am unaware of?  I have never given the address to this person but after the "encounter" the other day, that would be my only guess.  Oh well, I guess I should only blog about "those things" on my other blog.  

Busy Summer

It looks like CAL is going to have a very busy summer.  I am happy for him because we definitely will not be taking a vacation.

It is a fun, yet stressful, time for him.  He is still only twelve but is on the verge of being a teen. At church, after you have officially completed the sixth grade, you are considered a teen and can then join the teen youth group.  He has made the jump in a few areas but he has made a few friends that are not ready for the jump so he is still very active in the younger youth group.

CAL's summer weeks will look like this.  

Sunday - Two church services

Monday - Day of Rest

Tuesday - Day in the Park.  They get together and play sports at a local park.

Wednesday - Church - Summer Blast thing they have at the church

Thursday - Community Service 

Friday - The Lake 

Saturday - Depends on the week, but trust me there is always something.

I think the Saturday we are going to try to get the "night games" going at the house again.  Of course, we will try to use a totally different group of kids.  Hopefully these kids will be talking about the best acne treatment and not who drinks, smokes, and has started having sex.  They are only twelve.  That seems much to young for that type of talk.  

There are also several other events that are scheduled.  He is trying to talk his dad into letting him join the paint ball group but so far dad has refused.  Once school starts again he will leave the younger group and be a part of only the teen group.  This jump will bring many new and exciting activities.  I am so pleased now I don't have to plan everything.  

Extremely Disturbed.

I listen to PLR.org out of Washington State.  

I have turned the station off today and sit here listening to myself breathe.  This is a much better choice considering their programming today.

They are "honoring" Michael Jackson.  They have come up with a song montage and you cannot go more than a couple minutes without hearing some Michael Jackson nonsense.  

I find this incredibility disturbing.  This "man" is not someone we should be "honoring" in anyway, shape, or form - lets not forget the fact that you are a Christian Station and claim to be family broadcasting.  I don't care to have my child exposed to this individual.    

PLR it is very disappointing that you have taken this stand considering when I first started listening to your station I sent you an email to enquire as to why you didn't play more Amy Grant.  Your answer floored me......  It was something along the lines that you stopped playing her when she was having her martial problems.  I thought this was strange considering the fact that you played Sandi Patti during that same period.  Now you are "honoring" Michael Jackson.  

Soccer

Now Soccer is my game, or at least it used to be.  I played on my high school team from 7th grade through my senior year.  I loved it, as a matter of fact one of my reoccurring nightmares that I am too fat to play soccer in my senior year and I am forced to sit out.  

CAL never enjoyed soccer, he was a baseball man.  I signed him up for youth soccer when he was in first grade but he never had the love for it, like I did.  Oddly enough this never bothered me.  He said he didn't want to play and I didn't force it.  I dislike it immensely when parents force their children to play.  It is not fair to the child and it is not fair to the team.  

Today CAL received a letter from his school encouraging him to try-out for soccer and gave tips and conditioning suggestions.  My Boy says he wants to play soccer.  I am so happy.  I just spent the past half hour teaching him how to juggle.  This type of exercise is going to help me win my contest with him, and if it doesn't I might be checking out a diet pill.

It is amazing how bad I am at this sport now.  Then again juggling was never my real talent, knocking people down, now that was my talent.  

Facebook

I am officially hooked on Facebook.  I usually have it open in a browser at all times.  I enjoy the games but mostly I enjoy reconnecting with people from my past, but most of these people I honestly could do without. 

I came from a very small town in New York.  The Southern Tier is what we called it.  I have other names (but I am trying to keep my blog clean) and I could not wait to get out of the hick town and for the past 25 years I basically have not looked back.  I do miss things about my hometown.  Off the top of my head I cannot think of much but there has to be things, right?

The other day I noticed a girl that I went to high school and college with.  She was in a picture with her daughter (who was holding a can of beer).  The caption under the picture read something like "enjoying another 3 a.m. party together".  I emailed the girl and said wow I didn't realize that your daughter was 21.  She emailed back and said "she is not, she is only 18 but that never stopped us when we were kids, right?"  Right you are..... but with one major difference.

I never partied with my MOM!

You might be from (my Hometown) if you are almost forty and party with your underage children.  

Contest

CAL and I have decided to start a summer contest.  

The challenge is to see who can lose five pounds first.  Yesterday we both had an official weigh in on the Wii.  I won't tell you what I weigh but I think I have this in the bag.  I mean it should be much easier for me to lose five than for him.

CAL is getting a little chunky and he most certainly can  afford to exercise more and eat less, we both can.  

But then again I might be a little too confident.  CAL is rather active and yesterday he spent five hours doing raking and other yard work as a community service.  I guess I should have skipped the Dunkin Donuts this morning.

Next week CAL will spend camping with the church.  I think he might eat less and exercise more that week too.  Who knows he might lose all his weight within a week.  

I just might have to purchase some of the best diet pills in order to win this competition.  

Actually I am going to get off this computer and go for a bike ride.  

Pet Peeve

I have many pet peeves,  but one has been on my mind all day.

When we first moved to this neighborhood there were only a few family that had kids CAL's age. Because CAL was only 15 months when we moved in, there were not many kids younger than him.  During the past several years we have seen a major shift in the make-up of families. Now the age seems to be five through eight, and there are tons of kids that fall into that age bracket.

Now on to my Pet Peeve.  These parents allow their kids to SCREAM!  When I say scream I mean that blood curdling scream that makes you come running because you just know that someone has been severely injured.  

I cannot stand this.....  There is a house a block away that has a pool and the entire day I have listened to kids scream to the top of their lungs.  Now it is not just a few kids it is like ten to fifteen kids.  Their screams are not just a little ahhhhh they are constant drawn out screams.

I don't mind kids, as a matter of fact I kinda like kids.  I just think that kids can play quite nicely without all the SCREAMING.  I never allowed CAL to scream nor did I allow kids that played with CAL to scream.  I never even allowed the kids playing on the playground at school to scream.  It is totally unnecessary.  

Mom's if you allow your kids to scream to the top of their lungs during play....... you are WRONG.  It is not only annoying but how in the world do you expect to know when something might be horribly wrong if you become immune to the screaming.  

Computer Issues Again?

Yes I have just about had it up to my neck with computer issues.  

Several months ago my computer started shutting down with no warning and for no apparent reason.  Then the USB ports started fading in and out.  One minute they would work and the next they would be gone.  Then just last week the keyboard starting shorting out.  It would only function if you pushed as hard as you could on the space right above the keypad.  This was a major issue so I dug out an old lap top that I had and started using that.  The problem was,  that computer is pretty old and would take 30 minutes to boot up.  I am not exaggerating that time by one second.  Then after it was up and running you would click and literally wait 30 seconds to a minute between clicks.  

It became very clear to me last week that I needed a new computer.  I have also made a promise to myself that when the time came we would only purchase a MAC.  I am so tired of all the nonsense that comes with the others.  

After looking at the Apple Store I knew that, frankly we are months away from being able to afford a new computer.  I talked to The Hubby about upgrading to ddr3 on the memory but he didn't think that would help because all the computers are so old.

So I had to make a deal with my son.  I took the PC out of his room, that is older than both lap tops) and that is now my computer.  I have to be honest folks, I don't think I will go back to a lap top for my computer again.  This thing is like lightening.  I am so happy that I finally made the switch.  There is no reason why this computer cannot last for several months until we are able to purchase the MAC that we really want.  Even then the MAC will become the main business computer, CAL will get the Toshiba that The Hubby uses, and I will stick with the PC until..........