I’m mounting the flight of stairs going up to ride the roller coaster at the edge of a large body of water. I don’t know where it is located but it is in the south and you have to go through a good-sized city to reach it. This is the third or fourth time I have dreamed about this same coaster in my lifetime.
We (about a hundred strangers and I) ride the coaster, disembark and take the stairs back down to the exit. I can still feel the surge of the coaster’s big drop in the pit of my stomach as I walk (?) back home. 'Back home' is a mobile home park out in the country which seems to be the same park in another dream that I have from time to time.
Looking out the window of my (or someone else's) mobile home, I see smoke rising just beyond a hill and I remember saying that it must be the old ‘cracker box’ that is on fire and go to investigate.
I next find myself driving a red older pick-up truck on a one-lane road that is mostly up and down hills and through snow and deep water. I am now no longer driving the truck but am leading a large dog through the snow and water, still trying to reach the smoking what-ever-it-is.
All of a sudden, I’m in a car with Erin, Joe and the rest of the family and we are parked at the same roller coaster waiting for it to open. We also have a much younger version of my cousin Susie with us. Susie and I decide to ride the coaster and as soon as the gates open, we are climbing the stairs to get into the ride. Susie sits up front but I sit about eight rows behind her.
As the ride gets moving, Susie decides that ‘up front’ isn’t such a great idea and starts back towards me. There is an empty seat across the aisle. As the coaster starts to climb the hill to get ready for the big drop, Susie lands on her stomach and becomes impaled on a spike in the floor of the coaster. I start screaming at the top of my lungs, “NO, NO, NO, NO!”. Then, I wake up (kicking poor Peaches out of bed in the process) and feel relieved that it was only a dream.
God, I need help (or an interpreter)! But on the other hand, ‘tis the season!
Happy Halloween!
That’s the result of the Saints taking full advantage of an underdog.
That’s the result of poor sportsmanship just to break franchise records.
That’s an example of showing off just for the hell of it.
That was completely unnecessary and indecent.
That broke my heart.
I was in Walmart again yesterday. Sometimes, it seems that I live there. It’s just too conveniently close to the house.
Anyway, I was standing in the checkout line waiting my turn. There was a gentleman in front of me with no cart and no merchandise. Just about then, a woman and a young girl came pushing a cart and he said to them, “Here I am” and wouldn’t you know, they shoved that cart around and planted it right where he stood in line in front of me!
I didn’t get angry (for a change) but thought to myself “Well, if you’re in THAT big of a hurry, it’s fine by me!”. I’ll be nice and WAIT MY TURN even if it is back one space.
The man paid for their purchases and as they slowly got out of my way and left the store, I looked down and there on the floor in front of me was a nicely folded ten dollar bill! I said not a word but picked it up and put it in my purse. I figured it was a fair price for the space and time I had been denied.
Moments like that make me chuckle!
You thought I was kiddin’ didn’t ya? The HHR is now fitted with front seat covers that were pictured on a previous post and as modeled by the sixxy wooman to the left (and check out the arm tats while you’re at it). Oh, no I didn’t! Just the seat covers!
Anyway, I’ll start looking for some to cover the back seats as suggested by my grandson who likes them by the way (and so does Richard) but it may be difficult because of the construction of the seats which fold down to provide space for cargo. Or a crematory urn. Whichever.
This all goes to show ya that the older I get, the crazier I become. I scare me, sometimes!
Joe, my son-in-law made the statement on FB that the weekends seem to be the fastest two days of the entire week. Even though I’m retired and all of my days pass pretty quickly, I’ll have to agree with him; especially this past weekend!
Saturday late afternoon found us south of Greenwood attending the ISSMA Regional competition. We only stayed long enough to watch our 276 member Avon Marching Black and Gold perform but it was a pleasure to my eyes and ears. Those young people of whom my granddaughter is one of the talented flautists, can bring tears to my eyes in a heartbeat. Yes, I’m that proud of them and their talent!
Yesterday evening found us at the Indianapolis Arts Garden to hear the first performance this season of the New World Youth Orchestra of which my grandson is first-chair bassist. Once again, I was moved to tears by the wonderful music and talent of these young people.
Congratulations to AMB&G for advancing to semi-state and to the New World Youth Orchestra. They both gave wonderful performances!
It is such a joy to be entertained in this manner and my weekend, although very short, was well spent with my family listening to the music that I love!
To those who read my blogs and see me trying to use foreign words or phrases and find that they don’t make too much sense, I apologize.
You see, I don’t speak any language other than American English and I rely on the translator on the web to transform my English into whichever language I choose. So, I guess we could blame the web translator if ‘adiós poco los’ translates to read ‘feed my cat’ and I don’t even have one (a cat, that is).
I do however, speak a few phrases of German, the native tongue of my strongest family lineage, but I can’t spell them worth a dang so I’d have to rely on the good old web translator and here we would go again.
So please use an open mind when reading my dribble and remember that I’m no young thang hip to street slang or any other language for that matter. I’m just an Old Goat trying her best to relay what words of wisdom or crap I come up with when I come up with them in the best way I know how to relay them.
By the way, the hummingbirds did leave here for their trek south on October 4, 2011!
I called the bank today.
The reason my debit card didn’t work was as I suspected and read in the pamphlet. If you don’t use it at least once every few months, it becomes inactive. But I read something else wrong, I suppose. They do not charge to get it reactivated as long as you have sufficient funds.
If I had insufficient funds, I would expect it (the card) not to work in the first place. Once again, the establishment has me so confused!
If technology is moving too rapidly to keep up with it and a 70-year-old brain has difficulties with mundane thought processes in the first place, why in the hell anyone would want to live to be 100 is way beyond me!
So anyway, the bank and I are cool once more and I may now use my card after the manager punched a few keys on her “master board” as I call it. But I’m still a little rankled that the simple change from inactive to active with the push of a button does not erase the embarrassment suffered by yours truly nor does it answer the question of why I have to use it (the card) often so it doesn’t get deactivated again.
Modern man/woman’s way of thinking is JUST NOT LOGICAL! I guess that’s why I don’t write programs for computers anymore!
I was just that angry yesterday and it’s still lingering today! What made me so angry? Well, I’ll tell ya!
For the first time in a long time, I had a little extra green left over in the bank after paying bills on-line. There were a few things I wanted to buy that normally, I wouldn’t have the extra money to do so such as a couple of new boobslings (who says bra anymore?) and a new top to wear to my grandson’s first concert with New World Youth Orchestra. Nothing fancy mind you; I was at Walmart.
Since it was Sunday at Wally World, it was rather busy but I found a checkout lane that was moving pretty fast until I got to the register, that is.
I thought this was a perfect opportunity to use my debit card since I usually pay cash for groceries because I normally would not have extra in the bank to warrant the use of said card.
I went to pay for my purchases but the damned transaction would not go through. So, we tried to use it as a credit card and twice again, it was rejected. The expiration date was January of next year and I knew I had money in the bank, so what gives? I ended up writing a check for the amount while the line got longer behind me. I was thoroughly pissed and embarrassed to say the least. After my check was accepted and I apologized to the line of people patiently waiting for their turn at the register, I took my purchases and stomped out to my baby hearse.
When I got home, I went through my bank stuff and found a pamphlet that was about six months old that was sent with my monthly statement. It explained some changes that were coming to the bank. Who reads that crap, anyway?
To make a long story shorter, I found (in the small print that takes a magnifying glass to read) that if you didn’t use your debit card on a regular basis, it would be deactivated and a modest charge of $30 would reactivate it. Bullshit! What’s the use in having one, then?
This morning I called the bank only to get a recording that “We’re closed today and will reopen tomorrow”. Of course, it’s Columbus Day! I’d like to think that it’s because they knew I’d be calling and didn’t want the explosion coming from my telephone to knock down the walls of their precious money-grabbing institution!
But hey, tomorrow’s another day and I’m sure I’ll still be spitting enough nails for another phone call and will be doing a little shopping around for another bank to handle my pittance! Meanwhile, they can take my debit card and shove it!
The time has come. The hummingbird feeder filled with fresh nectar has been hung on the balcony for the last time this year. The mamas and their offspring left a couple of days ago and the feeder awaits any stragglers of little ones passing through on their way south. The time they spent here seemed so short this summer.
It’s time to get ready for the inevitable cold weather to come. It’s time to get out the coats, scarves, gloves, sweaters and other warm clothing. It’s time to make sure everything possible is ready for the harshness of winter.
We are in the final quarter of another year. For me, today it is a sad time. I don’t know why; it just is.
I know I told you that our gas water heater went out this summer and we had our neighbor down the street (who is also the maintenance person around here) install a new heater. In order to do so, of course he had to turn off the gas. He asked if I had anything upstairs such as a range or clothes dryer run by gas and I said no, they were all electric except the fireplace and I had the gas to it turned off for the summer.
While installing the water heater, he had to reroute the gas line just slightly and after he was finished, the new heater operated as it should and all was well.
Since we had a slight gas leak last year at the furnace that was detected by the furnace man, we had it looked at by the gas company and repaired the same day it was detected so I am always in the sniffing-out of natural gas odors mode. Yeah, I know natural gas has no odor but the foul-smelling crap the gas companies add to it before distribution sure does!
This morning, the temperature outside was in the low 40’s and about 58 degrees in the condo. I stood it for as long as I could and to my chagrin, had to turn on the furnace. Before I did, all kinds of thoughts went through this lame brain of mine: Did our man remember to relight the pilot on the furnace? Were there any gas leaks that I had not detected with my natural gas crap added smell detecting nose? Would everything go KA-BOOM when I flipped the switch? . . yada, yada, yada.
Anyway, I walked up to the thermostat, put my finger on the switch, held my breath, shut my eyes and turned her on. No ka-boom, thank goodness or I wouldn’t be writing this.
Pretty soon, blessed warmth was wafting through the condo and I thought to myself: Have a little faith, Goat; have a little faith.
