Happy Halloween

Bad picture of the streetlight decoration during our Hurricane Sandy wanderings.

It is still cold and nasty and yucky for the Halloweeners. I remember poor Punkin Head was always sick on Halloween until he reached his teens. Asthma and allergies just did not get along with the nasty weather we usually had. The few times he did get out he usually ended up in the ER or the doctors office.

A few years ago they started having indoor parties for the kids. They said it was for safety I think it was for making sure that "certain" types were not on the streets. I am not sure what they do now.  I don't see many decorations on our streets.

Our roofing guy is coming Saturday morning so we will only leak for a few more days. It is not dripping water it is just getting surface bubbling on the fresh plaster.

Have a happy Halloween unless you are the scary spooky type.

Who do you trust

The old gas station in Grosse Pointe Park that is under renovation, it will be a restaurant with a wood burning oven. The exterior is gorgeous. You can see the fabric fence blowing in the Sandy wind.

Big Daddy and I drove down to the lake to take pictures of the huge and monstrous wave action. It is less than half a mile but the wind gusts and rain did not make for a nice walk. Well, I have seen choppier lake water on a bad day in any weather. Not a biggy. We drove around and took a few pictures but nothing really stood out.

The wind was horrendous all night, hard to sleep as it was so noisy. It appears the storm outer bands parked over Michigan and made themselves at home. It is noisy but there were no limbs down or stuff blowing about. The worst is my Sammy dog got blown over trying to pee pee. I need safety goggles for him  to sit outside and watch the wind go by.

Adjustments

Sometime between when I quit paying attention yesterday and this morning that fucking storm has changed her plans and my plans. I live in Michigan. Hurricanes should not be a factor in my life.

I feel really bad for everyone in the east that thought this was a joke. It is no joke and very serious. Serious enough that my roof guy cancelled as he almost got blown off a roof this morning. Looks like I will leak a couple more days.

I asked Big Daddy to try and get home today while it is still daylight to see the lake. They are saying the waves will be higher than the lake is deep. Lake St. Clair is large but not really deep.

I am concerned about the trees that always manage to shed a few limbs. I hope we don't lose power but I am sure we will. Becs talked about some wind-up powered flashlights and I told BD we should look into those. Well, we did not so I am sure we will need them.

And I do need to know, where do all those people on the east coast evacuate to? And how since they mainly do not own cars and Teterboro is shut down?

This is a mess.

Saturday and Sunday Snippets

This is my Gargoyle. Big Daddy has one too. They guard the backyard for us.


I have asked Big Daddy not to stand next to the microwave when he heats up the water for his coffee. The Homer Simpson thing. This was suggested by Punkin Head.

Roofing guy coming Monday to fix the leak in the roof. It is the old furnace thing that sticks up there. We don't want to talk about the roof anymore and how we got screwed on the roof job we had done before.

The electrical switches are what they are until we rewire the entire house, so we need to think of them as whimsical reminders of kinder and gentler times. I think I will just ignore them.

The gutters are clean, the fountains drained and covered, leaves mulched and we are ready for winter. More or less. BD still has to shut off and drain the spigots.

Indian Summer

The paper said we are having Indian Summer. I don't know if I agree with that but everyone can thank me for the warm temps this week. I went ahead and ordered winter clothes in fat sizes thereby guaranteeing warm weather. Today is the last day for 80; tomorrow the temps will be back in the 60's. Unless I order that sweater I have been musing over.

I am in love with Google Chrome tabs. When I have a word or topic needing more information it is so easy with the tabs. Today I looked up Durst and badgers, which are archaic dared and weasels. About the weasels they eat them in various locations like northern China and Russia. Everyone else uses  their fur in shaving brushes. And paint brushes. And England likes to mass murder them.

My hypochondria is alive and well. On one of the Google Chromes tabs I ran across a bit of information that smelling burnt odors were there is none is a sign of brain tumors. So yea, everything smells burnt now.

Big Daddy and I are having the house decorating wars. As we are only starting room one, this is a bit early. Our switches may or may not be able to be replaced. I forgot they are all low voltage. WTF. BD did get the new registers put in and the plaster is almost done. Now I must pick out the paint.

Now I must Google light switches.

On being approachable

This tree has fascinated me for years, it is one of our walking tours.

Big Daddy has evolved, actually he is a new man.

On his recent trip to Mexico he was being wanded at the airport in Monterrey. The 2 senors were obviously talking about him, to him, and laughing about it. As it was all in Spanish and BD is not fluent in that language he had to keep saying, "No Spanish speak English" which elicited no response. Finally one guy took pity on BD and told him the security guard said he looks just like Homer Simpson.

Yes, he has gone from Dick Cheney to Homer Simpson in a matter of months. I am sure everyone will have an opinion if this is a promotion or demotion. I have not decided. Although I must say Dick lost quite a bit of weight and has aged dramatically with his last heart surgery.

I have made a startling discovery with my new optical store bought glasses. I have to watch some TV programs on the laptop because that is the only one I have figured out so far. And the shows on the laptop must be HD because the picture is so much crisper and cleaner. First was Hell on Wheels, a western about building the railroad across the continent. This was recommended by Anne Rice, the author. The detail and photography was stunning, absolutely mind boggling. The rest are any show with an actress over 26. The camera is not kind to these women and I am amazed that I am not the only woman in the world with not perfect skin. If I could only see Susan Lucci on the laptop.

Falling

Bittersweet Vine

The leaves are supposed to be dark green and the berry is supposed to be orange. I think I accomplished what Punkin Head said was impossible. I killed the bitch.

The hydrangea is still turning, losing some green and gaining some more pink. The white is the in-between color.

I need Big Daddy to come home and help me with the chores.

Neighbors across the street, new owners, are getting the place painted before they move in. But the painters are doing the apartment thing and tying up the curtains and pushing them back and forth to paint behind them. Yuck Yuck Yuck.

My musical career, or why I went into automotive

Tribute to my dad. These were his peeps at a run down shack in the delta where people went to hear music.

For some long forgotten reason I started playing the flute very young. I do not have an ear for music. I could not tune in my own instrument. I was technically proficient and as an A type personality I practiced. But I was never the best. I always sat second chair because of the tuning thing. After my parents popped for the flute I was stuck playing it for rest of my school days. Almost. I quit in my senior year and you would have thought I had killed a fatted calf in the parking lot. Private lessons did not help, I just never had it in me.

My brothers escaped, the oldest was supposed to play guitar and that petered out after a time. The younger knocked all his teeth out pretending he was Evel Kneivel, that kinda shut down his using his mouth to play music and my parents were not gonna go the drum route. My son, Punkin Head is a drummer and a very good one.

I had favorite songs I played and none I hated. I hated the marching band and the wool uniforms in summer. I hated that concert band performed on nights and weekends and my parents never came.

Favorite always. And Audrey, oh my, and to this day I have nothing from Tiffany's.

This was an experiment in hell. The band director wanted us to do the long version for the spring concert and  very few in our band could handle the range of this music.

So I got my love of music from my dad and we never shared it. He shared with Big Daddy, not even his sons. Big Daddy loves music and so does our son.

So here is my all time favorite. Period, hands down, the best of the best.

Am so, Are too, Nah na na nah na

I am reading so many opinions on why Democrats and Republicans are idiots and assholes. As I belong to neither party it does not personally hurt my feelings. I do wonder though why people who seem to be rational and purport themselves to be ladies and gentlemen can publish opinions that are hateful and hurtful. And then act like they are the better person for pointing out that the other person is a bigger asshole than they are. 

People, anyone going down this road of "I am better than you" because I wear a certain color coat needs to take a deep breath and make sure that generalizations based on "groups" is where you want to plant your flag. 

Lets just do a couple generalizations:

Works under the table, never gives to charity, spends no money on personal medical/dental maintenance, loves Walmart. 

Signs up for government benefits immediately, volunteers often, has great teeth, loves Costco.

Does not claim tips and cash payments on taxes, eats and feeds their kids fast food, thinks Outback is fine dining, loves-loves-loves JC Penney. 

Is pretty sure the guy who killed JFK lives next door to him. 

Is not a racist, sexist, homophobe, asshole or in a cult because he is friends with all these people. 

Substitute he for she where it is appropriate unless you then have to question if it is suspect. 

Oh I forgot some:

Belongs to the union, heroin addict, losing house, car and family. 

Regular person, goes to work, pays their bills, wishes they could do something special this year. 

So I think everyone should vote and let me know which group is which. And of course which group you belong to and support. And I would also like to know if you think all the people who think a little differently than you do should be drawn and quartered, because you are the smartest tool in the drawer. 

Oh, and I personally know all of these asshats including the JKF guy. 

Avant debate and apres voting

I certainly hope no one does something so egregious tonight that I have to apologize for the next 4 years, just because I voted for the putz early. We have voted for many years now by absentee ballot as it just became too difficult to count on being able to vote in person. And no boss really gives a shit if you vote or you get your task completed. My boss did my job before he was the boss and he always referred to the job as that scene in Pulp Fiction where the clean up guys came in. That was us. And it is usually better if that stuff happens with no witnesses.

I am not positive I know exactly what the jumping of the shark phrase means, but, when TV shows that showcase B Listers, has-beens and almost made its have to resort to recycling them into the All Stars of the Hopeless shows, well I think that is really sad.

I have to find a new bottled water to drink. I am a huge fan of Fiji water which Punkin Head hates. He says it is a huge energy waster and so stupid, but I really do think it tastes the best. Well, I have a new project and I need round water bottles. Who would have ever thought someone would be shopping for plastic water bottles by size and heft.

Big Daddy narrowly averted disaster this evening. He went to dinner and ordered soup and salad. As they set the salad down and he looked at it a big light bulb went off in his old bald head. WTF was I thinking, he said. In developing countries salad and diarrhea seem to go hand in hand.

For some reason this week is remembering my musical days. This was another favorite I played back in the day. Another 8th grade I think.

I also babysat and that home had this album and I loved it. This could explain why I turned out the way I did.

Too many books

Just stacked on the newly polished marble. These are unread.

Every surface has books.

Every Sunday or Monday we go through the NYT book reviews and look for new books. We have books on the list that we have not read. We have books that we are waiting to go to paperback. We collect books. We have books out the yazoo.

I am currently reading Creole Belle by James Lee Burke and am undecided if I like it or not. Big Daddy is reading an old Jonathan Kellerman paperback. I have the new JK Rowling "adult" book- Casual Vacancy, Bob Woodward's The Price Of Politics and too many more. I need to start reading faster.

The dining room baseboard has been replaced, the ceiling plaster is 3/4 finished and we still need to order the switch plates. Then paint, paint, paint. The rugs are ready for Hagopian to pick up and clean.

Sammy has a new hobby. When the frost comes we have crispy grass and he finds it quite appetizing. He doesn't want to stand on it, just nibble on it.

Cringe worthy stories from the past

The Graduate, Punkin Head and the Fiancee.

The 999 roses wrap.

For a while now I have been remembering incidents from the past that just make me wince. But some of these stories make me wonder why they bother me now when they did not phase me at the time. When I was first at Plant Loco one of my cohorts was leaning on a new vehicle in the audit bay waiting for the main  ass kicking meeting of the day. The Plant Manager walked in and as he started speaking he came over and gently removed her from the vehicle. She said she wore that skin for a long time.

I am wearing the skin now and wonder why it sometimes did not phase me at the time. Okay, sometimes it did but today's story did not.

We moved so many times when I was growing up I forgot counts of the places. I do remember I went to 12 schools in 12 years. Amazing as I spent the last 3 years of high school in the same school and 3 years at the same lower school. Anyway in the 8th grade (or so) I moved to a new school and was enrolled in band. This band director wanted me to audition, I thought this was a hoot as it was a first but okey dokey. I played Georgy Girl which is quite difficult on the flute and he said okay, sit last chair. We had a football game that weekend and for some reason he had me play the cymbals. The large, hand held, slap together cymbals. I had no clue how to do this and the drummer told me he would stick his arm out when I was supposed to crash the cymbals. This did not work out well and I just smacked the hell out of those cymbals during the fight song on the field. I was never asked to play the cymbals again.

What I can't believe is at the time it did not embarrass me a bit. I had never been in marching band, never marched in formation, did not know one person in the band and just went out and made a total fool of myself.  Today I would never have the nerve to do that.

It is all about the hair

All I have to say about the VP debate is:

Joe Biden had a shitty haircut, just look at the back sticking out like a ledge. Maybe he borrows Hillary's hairdresser.

Paul Ryan looked like Eddie Munster all grown up.

Martha Raddatz did a fine job and had great hair.

New ideas for a change of seasons

My Porcelain Berry vine is making a comeback. The berries are all different colors.

 

The limelight Hydrangea is just starting to turn color, when finished it should be brick red and then I let it dry on the bush for the birds to have cover.

Big Daddy and I need to go out and discuss the yard when he gets off his conference call. Yep, he is back at it with work stuff. When I originally designed the plantings I wanted some color and silhouette year round for eye appeal and the birds. Now I am pretty much into a redo and need to figure out a new direction. BD's horseradish experiment behind the garage has exploded and we think there are three plants back there now. That has to go and 2 areas need to be totally wiped out.

The dining room is almost bare and plaster is being readied for repairs. I need to pick out the colors and my peach ideas are not going to work. The rug is mainly a dark wine color, forgot about that as I had a different rug down. So we are probably back to all white again. And we need to discuss and figure out the electrical switches and seek out replacements. These are from the fifties. The house was built in 1954.

Last night we went took the kids to dinner for Punkin Head's graduation. Just to brag it is his second Master's and from U of M. He was quite proud as U of M does not like to take alums back for graduate work. His other Master's is from Temple. Anyway, we went to the Dirty Dog Jazz Cafe and it was fun. The food and drinks were on the high side and okay, the main entertainment was the crowd. We don't have many spots for live entertainment here and this was an all kinds crowd. There was no cover so that may have shaped the audience as mid-week is not the top draws. My favorite was an old guy that every once in a while just had to  "chair" dance. He was so cute. And he was drinking dark beer and then it looked like Spanish coffee. Gotta love it.

Sammy and I are gonna put on our coats and sit by the door waiting for BD to come out of the office.

I must be odd

Even the birds took a vacation.

Big Daddy will never retire. I know this because he cannot take a vacation. 

When I used to take a vacation from work I never answered my phone unless I was sitting at the Touche Bar in New Orleans or on a balcony in Northern Michigan. And I only did that to piss people off. I never even checked my email when I was working until I went to work. Granted some days I started at 5 AM, but even with the Blackberry I was never tempted to peek unless it blew up. And even then sometimes I chose to let it wait. Of course my boss had my home phone number but those calls were rare, not rare enough, but rare.

This week Big Daddy has checked his email every morning, was asked to do a tool tryout Friday, found a replacement for Friday after he saw my reaction, and reported he is going to Mexico next Tuesday. Oh yes, he went to the office this morning to drop off the part for the trial on Friday for Mr. Replacement.

And it is only Wednesday morning.

Project Pomandor success

My handmade pomanders.  Cloves poked into oranges.

My grandmother had the most amazing closet. She was quite the stylish dresser and she was quite beautiful. She also knew she was beautiful and some of the pictures of her posing in her finery outdo the fashion magazines of the day. In her closet by the shoes hung a pomander, not far from the fox stole with the head and feet. When I was young I loved her closets and drawers.

I finally found a recipe that was easy from Joseph The Butler, you simply bake them at 200. Now that I have a few I may also try some different techniques and fruits. I am also thinking of making dried orange slices for decorations. Big Daddy has a mandoline and I can work the oven now.

So in the evening while we are watching television and having tea we make pomanders.

October fun

Some industrious neighbors, I thought it looked like a happy house.

Today I got my first eye checkup in many many years. And I bought my first pair of custom glasses. I like that better, custom glasses versus I need glasses to see glasses. My dad was hilarious, he had seeing eyeglasses and hearing eyeglasses. My eyes are as good as can be expected for a woman of my age and I can still wear readers for shopping and eating out.

I bought the final touches for my big project and I think I can take pictures and post on that tomorrow.

We took Sammy dog to the pet store as he needed a winter coat. He was shorn on Saturday and has been sleeping under the quilt the last few nights. I am sure my mother-in-law who hand made the quilt will love that. Finding a dog winter-covering is as difficult as finding me fat clothes. And according to the owner of Lou's Pet Store, not profitable. Sammy squealed and squirmed when we put the coat on him; I am sure he has had a coat before. When we put it on him this afternoon for an outing he showed the same enthusiasm --both booty shaking and vocally.

Our Detroit Police Chief with the wayward peenee has retired, at 44 years of age. The woman who started all of this by publishing a picture with her gun in her mouth, has been given her gun back and ok'd for return to duty. She works in Internal Affairs. I sat next to a woman at lunch today saying a bunch of these women are ready to sue. She was saying it into her phone. In a very tony restaurant. WTF. And the Mayor says he knew a lot of this stuff but thought the Chief  had changed his ways. Like a leopard changes his spots?

Tomorrow is hairdo day to get ready for the Wednesday graduation party.

More crap I don't understand

It is okay to make huge soda purchases illegal. Why? Because it is bad for you and makes you fat.

It is okay to dictate school lunch contents and calories and raise the prices. Why because children are too fat and we said so on the money.

It is okay to charge people for 2 airline seats because they are too big to fit in the little ass seats.

But it is not okay to point out to fat people working in television that they are fat. WTF. This is according to the fat person on the air in Lacrosse, Wisconsin. And I must say if you want to work in television you need to have thick skin. We ran one bitch out of Detroit for crappy makeup.

It is now okay to refuse to even hire people in Michigan who smoke. At specific hospitals here employees who smell of smoke during their shift will be called out and disciplined or fired. One facility in particular is putting the onus on employees to turn in the scofflaws as they tsk tsk them. We will address the cancelling of surgeries at a later time along with reprimanding janitors and not reprimanding surgeons.

It is okay to say that smokers stink.

When smokers quit smoking they mostly get fat. But you are a bully if you call a fat person fat although you can dictate what they can purchase.

Now keep in mind it is LEGAL to be fat and/or stinky.

If smokers can be marginalized and made unemployable then fat people gotta be next. Next group to be picked on is gonna be the uglies.

Just fun observations

Geese

As Big Daddy and I were meandering about the park Sunday I noted the preponderance of dog shit. Shocking as dogs are not allowed in the park area. I was stunned when BD informed me it was goose shit. Those geese are pretty prolific with that bodily function.

In what seems to be a trend it is reported that another juror from the Kwame Enterprise trial was let go.

In an even larger trend another Detroit Police Chief is suspended and will probably be let go. For sleeping with the help. Last guy slept with the help and got fired, even though they were both single. This time they are all married and he is only suspended for 30 days so far. This is the third Police Chief since Mayor Bing was elected in November of 2009.

On to the debate:

Sad, Jim Lehrer should have stayed retired and rested on his laurels.

Too easy of a target, Al Gore saying Obama probably had altitude sickness. Al needs to go back to inventing the Internet, Barack does not need his help.

Comment that struck me as odd, Obama saying his grandmother was a Vice President at a bank and only had Social Security and Medicare when she retired. At that time most everyone with a white collar job also had secondary insurance, but the most stunning was that a bank VP did not have savings and investments.

Tomorrow I am off to get my mani/pedi fix and find the final touches for my project. You will be amazed. If not amazed at least mildly impressed.

Autumn

This is our bit of Autumn color.

Our weather is just a tad different, the lake makes us a little warmer in winter and bit cooler in summer. I wonder if that has an affect on the trees changing color.

Word of the day: effluent. It sounds and looks like a pretty word. Too bad we don't have any. It is liquid sewage that has been treated and our sewerage people are still on strike.

Favorite word of the day: Embarrass as in Embarrass Minnesota. It is the coldest place in the contiguous US today, 23 degrees. The town seems to hold many records for coldness. I wonder how you pronounce the name and I apologize for childish bathroom humor but this is just too funny in my mind.

The city inspector signed off on our new furnace, said Lennox and Randazzo Heating & Cooling were the best, that makes me happy.

What would Walter Reuther think?

Grosse Pointe Woods lakefront park view.

Our ducks being fed by old people.

The Detroit Water and Sewerage Department workers are on strike. The reasons are too numerous to cover here, the highlights being the workers are pissed they have to give up the horse shoer position and they do not like the Federal Judge telling them what to do. Yes, we have been under Federal oversight for years for dumping shit into the Detroit River. But what I am stunned by with this illegal action is that the picket line is now a sitting in a cheap drugstore chair line. The striking workers set up their chairs so they can chat and put the signs up against a fence. What Would Walter Reuther think?

The exciting news for the week is that I learned to work the oven. I am amazed it never occurred to me that something was wrong with my oven skills. I needed the oven set to 200 degrees and I could not for the life of me make that happen. When Big Daddy came home I informed him we had a broken oven and I would need a toaster oven to finish my project. He went over and set the oven at the right temperature and made me angry. Then he taught me how to set the temperature and made me feel better. This could explain some past snafu's. I will post on the project when it is finished.

And finally there is justice in the world. Justice One, Honey Boo Boo and her family got a raise of 10 grand or so per episode. Justice Two, a juror got thrown off the Kwame Kilpatrick Enterprise trial for sleeping.

Go Tigers, AL Central Division winners makes it a sweet October.