Buy now Die later

It may seem odd to many people, but I have bought my cemetery plot and am paying now for a pre-planned funeral and burial.
Though I have paid into the standard life insurance betting pool of-I bet so much money that I'll live until I die.
It is a small portion that should cover any odd sorted costs and should cover travel arrangements for the executor of my will.
I like having it taken care of now, so that I, the person the funeral is intended for, have a choice in the matter.
Recently I was talking to a buddy and his wife and found out that they too have begun their pre-planned funeral and burial!
I know that when the time comes I shant hold on to the fragment of life concerned with the outcome of my burial. I can rest at peace because I took it upon myself to care for ME!
I love my plot because it is high on a hill with trees around and all my neighbors, that are already there, are a small melting pot-they are from all over the world-Japanese, Chinese, Polish, German etc..
I cannot say I look forward to my final resting place, but I know it gives me peace of mind to have it already planned and paid for.

Gripes

It gripes me when a friend or buddy gets so dialed into their own misery that, not only do they talk of suicide, but they have no consideration or forethought of the other person and what is going on in their life.
Depression sucks, but I do believe there are people in the world that thrive off attention and if they get something from it they will act accordingly.
I am not an enabler, one reason I don't get along with my family and all their issues; because I won't accept it and put up with their shit!
Well this buddy of mine has just about broken his friendship bank with me.
I am sick and tired of having to always concern myself about other people's problems when they are too inconsiderate to even think about the fact I have issues too!
Damn it! It's my turn!
On another note; I see why some neighborhoods don't gain the more economically advantaged renters.
The Windsor co. owns and rents a few of the ranch style homes in my area. One of them just emptied of what we would call a 'white trash family.' They moved back to Montana and all I can say is I hope the best for them because life is tough and it is even tougher when you don't have the proper education and you procreate in abundance it then will of course cause your life to be tough!
The four kids from that rental house were always noisy and troublesome. Glad they are gone, but I just noticed the Windsor Co. has put open house for rent signs up and yet it is obvious the house needs work, paint because their touch-ups are obvious, holes in the garage door and a huge pile of shrubbery clippings in the yard!
If I were looking for a rental home I'd turn around from this dump and high tail it elsewhere!
I'm considering calling the company to give them a piece of my mind!

With So Many Friends I Should Feel Pleased

I am experiencing an emotional conflict.
Having to go to the VA in Portland on a scheduled eye check-up: Yea! My eye pressure is OK so I don't have to have another check-up for 3 months!
So...having to go out to Portland and being the type of person that I am I planned to go see my dear friend out at Lincoln Memorial Park. I know all the folks out there because that is where the Vietnam Traveling Wall was this past Memorial Day week and I also have begun my pre-planned funeral plans with them.
I had a few small gifts for the holidays for her and she enjoys keeping up on all the news for Veterans so I pass along my Veterans organizations newsletters and magazines.
So I get there, thinking we will have a nice quiet chat for a spell and lo and behold all of them came out of the wood work and wanted to chat. We wound up in the lunch room having coffee and chatting and yet dear Sara looked a bit saddened, as if she had something she wanted to confide in me yet couldn't with everyone there.
I am pleased and over-joyed sharing time with these folks, yet feel the time was lost for Sara and I to explore our friendship which has gotten stronger over time.
I suppose it's hard to water one tree when the entire forest is thirsty.

Soup and a Great Game!

So here I am the day after Thanksgiving and having enjoyed it with family and friends at my brother’s house I came home to a house with no joyous scents of the season.
My Brother's wife did send me home with the turkey carcass, as she does every year, so I can make them my renowned Turkey soup.
So all day it has smelled wonderful in the house and then...what a game!
After the 1st quarter of the Civil War football game with the OSU Beavers vs. the UO Ducks it looked like the Beavers would take it home easily, but with 3 more quarters to go the Ducks played a good game, but the Beavers were better! Great game, Great soup-I hope you all had a splendid day too!

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

This is truly my favorite Holiday of the year!
Of course-because it has everything to do with food and nothing to do with religion!
On this Thanksgiving I can be thankful of the many friends around the globe that are doing well.
I can be thankful that my family is well and in good health-all things considered.
I can be thankful that my Social Security Disability appeal was approved earlier this year, allowing me a better quality of life.
I can also be thankful that the Democrats have the heavy foot in the door of The House and Senate!
My only prayer is:
"May we honor the dead, heal the wounded & END THE WAR!"

Beggars Shouldn't Be choosers

I am a bit perturbed at a fellow Veteran.
I am not the only one that has been helping him out and yet I finally realized that he is picky and fussy and seems to want others to do for him so he doesn't have to deal with it!
It seems he was born with a plastic spoon in his mouth and is expecting us-his friends-to turn it into Silver!
He just called and fussed about ALL this paperwork he now has to go through for the VA and how after 50yrs he won't have the paperwork and that it's probably a waste of time anyway.
I finally got the hint that what he wants is for others to do the hard work so he doesn't have to.
A mutual Veteran friend clued me in on his behavior and I finally am getting to notice it.
Well he is going to be the only person at his 'pity party' because non of us want to deal with it anymore.

Guest Bedroom Re-arranged

I have realized how little my guest bedroom is used as a bedroom-like never since I moved here.
So, I had heard from my brother and his wife how they needed to get a bed for Sue, my mother-in-law for her visits on Holidays such as up coming Thanksgiving.
Well I told them they could have the entire bed and linens as that they needed it and if and when I have guests visiting I could use and air bed or such.
I have been contemplating getting rid of it and moving my Treadmill and cycle in there.
So now it will be happening today! Solving a problem for my brother and sister-in-law and having their help to move my treadmill-which is an issue as that I have Italian furniture and scuttling around it is difficult in an American sized home!
I am so happy to have this change AND to top it off-helping out family!
How cool is that!

Trouble With This Years Greeting Card Order

Each year I chose an organization to purchase my Holiday greeting cards from. Many times, like last year, it has been an animal organization-WWF & others.
This year I HAD chosen The Lone Sailor org. Supporting the memorial in D.C. Unfortunately I have waited over three weeks and haven't gotten them. So I called only to find they are lacking in the support arena! All-in-all my order was never posted and they promised to get back to me and haven't!
Enough said! They lose and a new place has gotten my order of Military type, but cute, Holiday cards.
I am looking forward to receiving the order and then the few evenings I sit back and address them to send!

The Da Vinci Code

First off I always love the book much more than the movie, there are nuances and time lines etc..that cannot be instilled in 2-3hrs of film.
With that said Ron Howard did justice to Dan Brown's novel.
All the important action and events were there. Although the character's backgrounds were lost and only a slight vision/scene of the Priori ritual is shown. The fact that the last cathedral is in Ireland is completely missed, but as Ron Howard knew, it really doesn't make much difference!
Sir Ian McKellan and Tom Hanks played their roles fittingly that I cannot think of anyone better in them.
The creepy thing was that Audrey Tautou is exactly the vision of Sophie! Great work in all!
The film was exceptional! Great screenplay, photography and I was especially surprised to find that Dan Brown had composed and played a piece of music in the film. Things like this are missed by most who are too lazy to sit and view the end credits and notice some very interesting points about the film.
It also gives respect to all those who worked on the film. I always watch them, at least the first time of a film viewing.
My only complaint would have to go back to Dan Brown and all lazy persons that do not make an effort on better language skills.
If they had then the title would have been the Leonardo Code as that Da Vinci-properly spelled da Vinci means of Vinci.
Leonardo as everyone knows was a bastard child and thus didn't have a father to give him a last name as was the custom. So he was Leonardo of Vinci the city!
So to say da Vinci is stupid because you are saying of Vinci! Many people are from therefore of Vinci!
It's like all the uneducated Christians using Christ as if it were Jesus' last name. It's NOT! It's a title meaning Messiah!

Another Reminder That The US Is Becoming A 2nd World Country

Yet again my power went out! It is bad enough that PGE had to pull things together after the fall of Enron, but my power has gone out more times than the years I have lived here! (3.5yrs & power outages are 4, for those who like numbers!) On top of that the power has been out for more than an hour each time with a max time of 14-16hrs! If we aren't a 2nd world country we don't have long to go to become one! India, China and other countries are now in fierce competition for much of our out-sourcing jobs. So if you want to stay and keep your job you had better make certain it is in a profession that cannot be out-sourced and has the human element in it. I am now certainly going to put an UPS unit on my computer system so that it doesn't lose power again!

Fed Up With Republican Brow Beatings

Good Grief!
I am so sick and tired of the snide remarks and lies my Republican so-called friends are hammering out and repeating!
Number One: I know no Democrat who is into flag burning, though I do not appose it on the auspices that we women have less rights under the Constitution than the flag!
Is it that Republicans are less educated, groomed and socially seasoned than we?
Any Republican that has come out with a negative Hillary comment that I have cornered asking them why is she such a Bitch, could never tell me why!
I have nothing to go by on this.
I know we Dems had a few of our own, such as-I can't wait for 2008 or I believe in Abstinence: No Bush and No Dick!
But this heckling lately since the Mid-Term Turn-Over is ridiculous!

We Democrats Have Returned!

We all have something to look forward to for these next two years. With our foot in the door and our passage back in weight we have a chance to make a difference!
I am appalled yet again at this blathering Idiot in office! The Republicans kept joking with us that Kerry was a flip flopper and yet what has GEE-Dubya done but flip/flop on the Rumsfeld issue!
All I can say is one down three to go!
(Bush, Cheney & Rove for those who may need a hint!)
I recently finished the book:
Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq~Thomas E. Ricks. There is a statement he makes, near the end of the book, that reminds me that we haven't gotten an apology nor have they admitted fault!
"In Iraq, the U.S. position also suffers from the strategic problem of the fruit of the poisoned tree that is, when a nation goes to war for faulty reasons, it under-cuts all the actions that follow, especially when it won't concede those errors."~pg 431:FIASCO-Ricks
Years from now the idiots will blame the Dems that just came in office for the end results of this war and by all means we will not come out shining nor with there be any winners!
Counterinsurgency and ongoing occupation of another country go hand in hand and the Iraqis are like holding a lion by the tall.

No More Bed Head!

Years back I always had long hair.
My mother started me on it when, as a Tom Boy, I wanted short hair and she wanted me to keep it long.
We compromised and I had this ugly hairdo of short in the front and long in the back.
I finally just got used to it long and even when riding/racing my motorcycles I just pony-tailed it and stuck the ponytail under my leather jacket.
It was difficult in the Navy. After having cut it short before Bootcamp, knowing they'd DO IT FOR ME, I allowed it to grow long.
After Bootcamp it was a hassle to pin up each day to be in regulation.
Then I married and the spousal unit liked my long hair...the hair stayed long.
Right after my divorce I cut my hair and enjoyed this new freedom. Soon I realized that I am a long hair lover and allowed my hair to grow out.
It is just shoulder length now and I still have to remind my hairdresser that we are keeping it long.
Some day I may have it as long as when I was stationed in Italy and my hairdresses-Bruno had to have me stand up to trim the back!
Now it's long for me! And now it is long enough that I do not wake up with Bed Head. With all my hair squished here and there!
Sometimes we need change, but sometimes we realize that the old standard is just right for our personality and my hair will most likely stay long for some time now!

Welcome Back Beatles!

The Beatles are back in my life!
While I was married, my husband wasn't in to them and thus I didn't listen to them and for some odd reason I didn't have any CDs of theirs in my collection-a few LPs, but not CDs.
Now that I have been divorced over three years I am delightfully bringing in missed and almost forgotten music that I once enjoyed!
I have also added singers and groups I hadn't known much of prior; such as Alanis Morissette, The Indigo Girls, Dixie Chicks, Rush, Avril Lavigne, Barenaked Ladies, Barry White & Uncle Kracker.
I also have added more CDs to my library of some singers or groups that I enjoyed and didn't have many CDs of.
Such as Chris Rea-he can sing to me anyday! Love that voice!
Dave Matthews Band & many of the Blues and Jazz era that I love so much. I have a large collection now of Billy Holiday and Fats Waller, Thelonius Monk and others.
Music is an everyday delight in my life and I cannot believe in my Ex-husband's belief that 'life is too short' for anything new!
I am delighted everyday in hearing something new!
I recall, as a kid in school, being asked if you had to lose one of your senses which one would it be?
I replied-'My Sixth Sense!'
I would hate to be deaf! I enjoy sounds and for me the sound of music is embraced with a passion everytime I experience a new song!

Mission Impossible III

The Mission Impossible movies I & II were great action entertainment - so when I had the chance to see III, now that the DVD is out, I jumped at it!
They are getting into more and more technical wonders that make the movie that much more interesting.
It appears the writers & producers, like Tom Cruise and Paula, are attempting to be exacting & believable; but I had to shake my head at the unbelievable scenes of the cocktail party in the Vatican.
Not as much the party as the women! They have a strict dress code in Vatican City and a woman in a slinky dress cut up the side to show all that skin would NEVER be allowed!
For the 5.5 years I served the US Navy & NATO in Italy there were many tours I had taken, as well as friends & we were ALWAYS reminded prior to the tour of the dress code! No shorts, tube or tank tops. Shoulders must be covered and dresses or skirts 4 inches past the knees minimum.
I recall a couple of people having to stay on the tour bus the entire time we were in Vatican City because they did not follow this dress code.
I wish that movies were a little more critical and believable such areas.
Reminds me of that really stupid movie STEALTH with Jamie Fox.
He must have a new house he had to pay for so he took this acting job.
The movie shows this hovering jet stealth land like a hover craft right on the Korean DMZ! DUH!!!!
With a mile wide mine field the craft and the people would have been blown to smithereens!
Let's get real here people!
Why not create intelligent films for us intelligent people!

October Anniversary Dates

I had two anniversaries this month of October, besides my 46th Birthday!
As of October 4th I have been a member of The Military Order of The Cootie-(The Honor Degree of The VFW) for two years now!
I have been Blanket Bum-Sr. Vice Commander of my Pup Tent/Post for two years as well. I have been the Grand of Oregon Adjutant for two years too.
This year I am also the Grand of Oregon Surgeon which is the lowest office of the Grand. I am now in position to 'Run the Chairs' to Grand of Oregon Commander if I chose to!
My other anniversary was just yesterday! I have been in the VFW-Veterans of Foreign Wars for three years now! I was Post Commander for two years, as well as District Commander last year. I have been on the Dept. Of Oregon Membership Committee for two years and am also the first Certified Nat'l Recruiter for the Great State of Oregon.
With all that behind me, I wonder what else I'll get into!
With great Mentors like my Marine Buddy Gary who always has a word of encouragement for me-I believe the sky's the limit!