Today is the last day of the year and wow, did it go by fast. I take time in small increments I always take note of Wednesday because it is the middle of the week otherwise known as hump day because half the week is gone and the weekend is close. I also take note of three dates in the month, the first, the fifteenth , and the last day of the month. I don't know why these are milestone moments for me but there it is.
What will the new year bring.?I just hope that some of the dire predictions are wrong and that we don't have a crash in the economy. Our quality of life and freedoms are slowly but surely being taken away. Twenty years from now I have no idea what the world will look like but I'm sure htat it won't be more of the same.

I just got home from my younger brother's funeral and all I can say is that I'm glad that it is over. He is at peace now after a sad and pitiful life. He had a lot of unrealized potential and I believe that if he had been raised in a different environment he would have had a much better and longer life.But we can only work with what we have.

I am now sitting up in bed working at my computer since I am unable to sleep. I feel that I need to have something to show for the hours spent awake. Well Xmas is finally over for the year. Today is the follow up-the after Xmas sales. I have thoughts of going out to buy something for the girls. Maybe pajamas and house shoes.

My brother's funeral is on Tuesday so this hasn't been a happy holiday time for the immediate family. But he is at peace now, he never had a happy life. If he had been raised in a different environment I believe that he could have had a much better life but we can't choose our childhood or our relatives. A sad end to a troubled life. His death makes me think on my own mortality and wonder just how many more productive years do I have on this earth.

I just returned from Xmas dinner at my uncles' house and it was good to see them again. I took lots of photos as usual and I'll try to make a slide show for them. I'm glad that they are people who
don't mind getting a picture taken,. I was sorry to not to have seen Regina's two daughters, but I did see some recent photos of them. They are very pretty girls. Ida had tons of food as usual. I have to admire her powers of organization in getting her Xmas dinner done. When her guests arrive they don't have to do anything except sit down and eat.

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I have been working on a eulogy and a slideshow for my brother's funeral. It's been a sad and stressful time for the rest of the family and I hope that we don't have to go through this again any time soon.

My brother's funeral is just about finalized and this has been a very stressful time for me and my sister, Bernice. My brother Larry had now savings and no insurance so it was iffy about what to do for his remains. While my sister and I no problems with cremation, other
people did. Many of his lifetime friends wanted to pay their respects which is okay but no one was contributing any money towards the cost. But everything seems to be working out. The funeral will be probably on the 29th of December.

I got a ticket on my way to work last night. This will encourage me to be more careful. The cost of the ticket is $130. Ouch! and right before Christmas to. Bummer.

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Yippee! I mean! I had added something unexpectedly to my blog which blocked my subsequent posts and I couldn't figure out how to get rid of it . I finally did today and now I can go back to posting on this blog.

this is a photo i manipulated in a free online program with just a few clicks. I really think that this is very effective

I had a problem with my vision over the weekend. It felt like something was in my left eye. I kept blinking, trying to clear my vision . I even tried eye drops. I had trouble focusing with my left eye for near vision. It really scared me because I thought I might be losing my eye sight. I went to the Cole Eye Clinic hoping that I could be seen right away and I was lucky in that there was a free appointment. They didn't find ant change in my vision since June but they did find a scar on my eye. I got a prescription for antibiotic
eye drops which I have to use four times a day. It seems as though my sight is getting better-I certainly hope so. It brought home to me how much I need my sight and how much poorer my life would be without it.

I got a text message on my cell phone saying that my debit card at US bank had been suspended and to call a certain number. Well, I tried calling the number given but it wouldn't go through. I was in a panic because I thought that someone had open an account n my name. I called their customer service when I got home from work and found out that it was a criminal scam trying to get information from people. I was told that I had nothing to worry about and I hope that they were correct in what the said.

I had a nice Thanksgiving holiday since I visited with family and friends. My uncle and his wife have a big dinner every year and they have been good enough to invite me the past few years. They prepare tons of food and this year I made two pumpkin pies for my contribution. They had a good turnout of family-it seemed as if forty people were there which was good because it meant that there wasn't a lot of food left over. Afterwards, I stopped by Bernice's and visited for a bit. I took lots of photos at both places and I will be making
a lot of digital scrapbook pages plus a slide show.
I plan to be in New York for the weekend. I have always wanted to see it at Xmas time, the store windows,the decorations,Central Park, and more. I don't plan to buy anything,just take tons of photos which is something that I enjoy doing. I just hope that the weather cooperates and doesn't snow. I can deal with cold.

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I was listening to the financial channel on cable tv as usual and now they are trying to say that the recession is at an end and the economy is starting to turn around. Maybe, maybe not. I remember in 2007 when different guests would come on an say we were in a recession there was widespread denial until the high gas prices of the summer of 2008 pushed things over the edge. Now, just in time for the Xmas buying season they are trying to say things are looking rosy in order to make people feel good and spend money. But millions of people are out of work, millions of jobs have left never to return. In coming years historians will look upon this time as the beginning of the shift in world power, influence and finance. I wonder will western values still have the same force that they do now.

tower bridge

tower bridge, originally uploaded by veracortes.

I have an ongoing problem with my current sleep pattern. Since I work a night shift I am awake at night and try to sleep during the day. After 35 years of doing this I am unable to sleep at night on my days off. I had two weeks vacation in October and I didn't accomplish much because I was obsessing about my sleep cycle. I look forward to my days off because I have plans to catch up on my sleep and I get upset when it doesn't happen. I don't like to use sleeping pills but when all else fails...

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I had my gutters cleaned yesterday since all the leaves have finally fallen.While they were cleaning the back gutters the back banister, which is rotten and needed to be replaced fell down. So I will have to replace my railing on the upstairs porch. Oh well, at least I got the gutters cleaned before the first snow fall. One year, it snowed before I could get my gutters cleaned and it caused problems for the house. We have yet to get our first snow fall and I'm never ready. When I was a kid I used to get excited to see the first snowfall but now that I'm older and have to drive in it I don't care if I never see another snowflake.

I was listening to the financial channel as usual(I want to know how close I am to the soup line) and I heard that General Motors was trying to come out of bankruptcy and even though it lost money they were hopeful for the future because of strong sales in
China. The Chinese market has overtaken the American market and GM has higher sales in China than the U.S. The american consumer is no longer the engine that drives the world economy which was foretold by several pundits which was poo pooed by most of the talking heads.











ge

Yesterday was a beautiful fall day. It was warm for November, at least 70 degrees. I was running around in short sleeves. I went to visit with my sister and great nieces for awhile and took some photos of the girls playing. I didn't get as many as I would have liked.

Hi ,just this morning , someone came pounding on my door. I thought that it was the lawn service people and I was debating about whether not I was going to get up to answer the door since they woke me out of a deep sleep. I'm glad that I did because they said they were from the water department and were here to shut off the water. I said "why? I've paid my bill and don't have a shut off notice. "He said it's a foreclosure." But I'm not in foreclosure." So they called their office and it was for the house next door which has been empty for several years.
I give thanks that I was home to set them straight because I would have thought that I had a water line break if I came home and didn't have any water. So thank heaven for small mercies.

Today is Friday the 13th. Will it be unlucky? I think that I may just stay in all day. Lord knows, I have more than enough to keep me busy around the house.

Well, today was payday and I went shopping groceries and later I went to Target to get the chair covers for my dining room chairs which were on sale for $7.99-a real bargain. I believe that I paid $20 each back in 2000. Of course everything comes from China. I looked in at TJ Maxx to see what they had and I fell in love with some of their handbags. I have to save up to buy a couple of them. I especially like the ones by B.Makowsky. They have such luxurious leathers. The stores are full of Xmas merchandise but the recession is still in full force and it looks to be dismal season this year.

This is a photo of me in England in 1978 at Hampton Court. It was amazing to me that such a huge residence could be the home of one person. There is a maze there but it was closed off because people had damaged it in the past. I went on the tour with someone that I had met at my hotel, a minor official with the Liberian government. He was at a loose end with no particular plans and I could tell that he was bored with the tour which was something not to everyone's taste. Afterwards, we went to lunch at Mr. Chows restaurant which though I didn't know at the time was a very exspensive and exclusive restaurant. I remember thinking to myself-I came all the way to London and I'm eating Chinese food.

this photo was taken in the Louvre in 2002. It was the achievement of a lifetime for me to make the trip to Europe.The dollar wasn't as shaky as it is now and I don't think that I will ever be able to make a return trip to see the the sights that I didn't get to see the first time around. I was looking at some brochures yesterday and I called to ask the price of one of the tours which was one going to Egypt. It would have been at least 3000 which was way out of reach for me. But if something were to happen which would enable me to go then I would jump at the chance.

Hi, I heard on the news today that the unemployment rate is over 10% for the first time in 26 years. So many jobs have been lost never to return as the world economy shifts and changes to I don't quite know what. I have heard some interesting interviews over the past year and a half. Basically, most of them were about the decline and the irrelevance of the United States and how people should get used to the idea. This was downplayed by the different hosts of the different shows as though the very idea was ludicrous and un-american. It might be painful to face reality but putting one's head in the sand could be dangerous. I feel that that this country could very easily cease to be one united country from sea to shining sea. It might happen in my lifetime.

It's the mating season for deer and I just happened to see a young buck in my yard.
when he noticed me he just wandered off.

hail November

Today is the first day of the month and we had a nice day today. It was mild and sunny. Usually fall in northern Ohio is cool and rainy and we had our share in October. It made it difficult for me to get my sundeck stained and sealed. I still need to plant my tulip bulbs for next spring. Its only 50 bulbs to plant but I can't get myself motivated to do so.
The hurricane season will end in December and the United States has been spared a major hurricane making landfall. Speaking of the weather, I came across a story on the the internet of a snowfall in Beijing caused by the Chinese seeding clouds to cause it to snow. This was done to help with drought supposedly. I just wonder if the story was true.

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I ordered a faux fur from one of the shopping channels,qvc. It was a grey faux sable three quarter length coat. It doesn't look that bad but it doesn't look that great either. I paid $140 and I guess that is a fair price but no one is going to look at it and say I like your fur but the effect is ok. The designer was Dennis Basso and his quality is not what it was several years ago. This is the last item by this designer that I will purchase from qvc.
SO many times while watching qvc the show hosts will say something is much prettier in person. I've never found this to be the case. I watch the clothing shows mainly to get ideas about the latest styles and how to put different things together.

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Well, October is almost over and nothing earth shattering has happened. I was listening to the financial channels as usual and they are trying to say that the recession is coming to an end but you can't tell that to the people who have lost jobs and have yet to find a replacement for said job.
One thing that has happened is that the flu season has happened earlier this year than in the past. Could this be a side effect of global warming? Epidemiologists have warned that disease patterns would shift. Thirty years from now I would like to be around to see if any progress has been made in the treatment of infectious disease and chronic diseases such as heart disease and diabetes.

Last night was my first night back to work and it was as if I never left. I found out that several people had been out with the flu and one of my co-workers had the swine flu but he is ok now. The flu season is shaping up to be much busier than in past years. It's following two tracks. On one hand there is the regular flu which has complications for elderly patients and the swine flu which has killed a number of young patients. We will have to wait till spring for a final analysis.

Today is the last day of my vacation and while I didn't accomplish much I did get some rest. I just need to organize myself and get my priorities in the right order. I just hope something doesn't happen to knock me sideways off course. Tonight, it's back to work. On one hand, I would like to pick up some overtime but on the other hand I hate putting the time in.

Picasa Web Albums - vera - Random Creations

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tI went shopping today at Golden Gate Plaza because I wanted to :
1.sell my excess books that I have lying around the house
2. check out the new laptops loaded with Windows 7 at HH Gregg
3. Look in at various stores to see if I could find the style of cardigan that I wanted plus try on some shoes. I didn't find the particular style of sweater that I wanted but I did see some things that I thought were worth buying but they would have been a frivolous expense for me when there are more positive ways to spend what little money that I have.

I finally sent off for my renewal of my passport and I hope to get the chance to use next year even it's only for a trip to Niagara falls. Maybe Northcoast Tours might have a trip going to Toronto. I really love the city.It seems to work as a major metropolitan center, not like my poor hometown of Cleveland. Of course, I would really like to go to Europe again, Paris, especially. However, the dollar is really weak and the exchange rate would kill me. When I went in 2002 the euro was equal to the dollar and the prices were reasonable to me,no more than what I would have paid in New York city.

today was a lazy day for me. I didn't get dressed or anything. I just checked the tv every now and then created a few digital layouts and read some of the mysteries that I had checked out of the library. They were by a British author, Frances Fyfield. She reminds me a lot of Ruth Rendell and Elizabeth George. I got hooked on British mysteries as a teenager, Agatha Christie, to be specific and I have preferred stories set in England ever since. Maybe in a past life I lived there since I have a great liking for the British Middle Ages. I loved reading about castles , knight ,nobles, sword fights,sieges,etc. It was probably a short and brutish existence which I romanticized from a distance.

I went shopping today and just carrying the bags gave a minor backache. I had to rest and lie down for awhile. I think that I will have do some kind of exercise pr strength training because I would hate to be an invalid before my time.
I bought myself two new purses mainly because I'm tired of my old ones. They are both fabric purses and therefore lighter than my leather purses. I am going to try to lighten the load that I carry back and forth to work. I also carry a backpack as well as my purse and I think that has had a deleterious effect on my back. Sometimes it hurts to keep myself upright but I keep making the effort because I see some women my age who are starting to get a hump in their back.

mission organization

Hi there, I called my supervisor to extend my vacation to a full two weeks. I might be sorry later on but right now I need the time because so far I haven't done anything around the house. It is soo hard for me to get motivated and moving. I have let thing pile up up and up some more . I think that I need a professional clear out. I'm a prime candidate for the tv show ,Mission Organization. Since I'm mostly alone its easy to get into bad habits. Here's hoping for positive ending.

I was just listening to Charlie Rose on one of the cable stations. the featured guest was speaking about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Basically,he was saying that what was happening in the field did not compute with what was being reported in the news. He said that the American public had little, if any idea, of the ssuffering and stress
that the troops face. He related the situation on one severely injured soldier , who at the age of 19 is totally disabled and disfigured and faced a life of pain and misery and for what? A failed and mistaken military adventure on the part of the American government. I feel deep,deep sorrow for the injured soldiers in the war.

Hi, I just checked the financial channel and the Dow just made it to 10,000. Why this is supposed to be a big deal I have no idea because unemployment is over 10% nationwide, millions of jobs have been lost never to return,and homes are still being foreclosed.Listening to some analysts, they say the next shoe to drop is commercial real estate. Some strip malls have closed around the country because the anchor stores have closed. I know for myself that my shopping habits have changed. I go to discount stores or the dollars store to do the majority of my shopping. I rarely set foot in a major department store. When I was younger the highlight of my week was going shopping at at a major mall. I loved Beachwood Place. The stores were high end and exclusive. Usually, I just window shopped and had lunch at the food court. I would fantasize about the clothes and where I could wear them. Since I had to wear a uniform at work I had no place in which to wear them. Now ,I am much older and my lifestyle has changed. I am almost at retirement age and casual clothes would be the most practical for me, jeans and sweats.

I feel that this is such a surreal photo of a country landscape. It looks more like a painting than a photo. I wish I had the talents of this photographer.

sleep cycle

Hi,although I'm on vacation at the moment my body is still on a work schedule. I had so looked forward to sleeping at night but my eyes pop open at about midnight and I'm wide awake for the rest of the night. Maybe I should take advantage of the peace and quiet to work on some projects that have been on the back burner for awhile,such as cleaning out my closets and organizing my scrap supplies. Oh well.

Whew! I just changed the looks of my blog because I wanted something more creative. It took some doing believe me since I have limited computer skills. But I succeeded in changing my blog to something more jazzy. I got the website from a book on online journaling yesterday. I just wish that I had some of the design talent that I have seen in other people. One of the books that I looked at related the story of her husband telling her he wished that he had an interesting life to fill a journal with and she told him-everyone's life has meaning and interest. Don't use other people as a yardstick for your own creative efforts. This really hit home to me because years ago, when I was a teenager I saw scrapbooks for sale at Woolworth's for 79 cents.(this was in the 50's). I had never seen a scrapbook that someone had made so I had no idea what to include. My sister Bernice made one which was really cute and I wished that she had saved it but she got tired of it and threw it out. Her children would have gotten a kick out of reading it. I had some things from high school that I had saved which I could use now in a scrapbook but unfortunately, I threw all the elements out. What was I thinking.

I made some pumpkin pies for my great nieces from some pumpkins that they picked on a school outing.

Hi, today is the first day of my vacation and I have high hopes of getting a lot of things accomplished around the house. I have put off so many projects. Basically, all I have done is just go back and forth to work. The economy is such that my priorities consist of just keeping my head above water, which is a major thing these days.
Today I went to the mall for the first time in a long time. I was good and just bought some items from Bath and Body works which I had
wanted for some time,mainly more cucumber/melon cologne. It's a fresh smelling fragrance which seems appropriate most occasions.
The weather is mild, for this time of year, cool, with some rain. I need to stain and seal my sundeck before winter sets in. I also hope to get my roof repaired before snow starts this winter. I know I have a major moan on but I am so tired of people just half dong a job and wanting to get paid for it. I wish that I had and inspection before I gave them the final payment because it's hard to get recourse.Oh well, I can pray that all goes well.

There was widespread controversy of the Nobel prize for Obama. I can agree with some of what was said because he has yet to complete his first year in office and what can he show that he has done to promote world peace? Time will tell if the committee made a premature error of judgement. This isn't the first time the people of Stockholm have face widespread criticism for their choice in candidates. Well, Obama will go down in history one way or another. I only hope that it is for good because future presidents will have to go a long way to surpass his efforts. I can't say achievements yet because some programs have yet to get through Congress. I will give an update this time next year on his report card.

I am keeping a blog in order to improve my literary skills.
when I read what I post I can see that I have miles to go before I can look with any pride on what I have written. When I was a child I read a lot and I mean a lot and I had fantasies of being a writer. But writing is much, much harder than one can imagine. I did write a few poems and started several short stories which I never did finish. I kept them in a notebook for years then finally threw them out. I wish now that I had saved my efforts because now I can barely remember what I wrote about. I just know that my efforts were pitiful. But at least I did try. Who knows I might try again.

Wow, I was watching the financial channel, Bloomberg, and they announced the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize,Barack Obama. I wonder why, what has he actually done to foster world peace. In my opinion he has just maintained the status quo. I'm sure the new analysts will be buzzing away plus scratching their heads, same as I am. I will give an update on what was on the news. He is one of three sitting presidents to win the prize. The others were Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson. Roosevelt I can go along with but Wilson was a hardcore racist.

I'm keeping track of the happenings this month since I have noticed in the past that events which have long range effects have happened in October or at least in the fall of the year. Things such as the revolution in russia, wwwII,
the stock crashes , the fall of the Berlin Wall, The Yom Kippur war, and many others. So far, this month there has been a crisis in the dollar as a world reserve currency..

Hi, I picked my car up from the garage and I hope and pray that it is fixed. The leak is gone and he flushed my radiator and put new coolant in. Car woes, where will they end? When I think of the money that I have spent over the past 35 years on car payments,insurance and upkeep I would be thousands richer if I could have put it all in my pocket. But then, I wouldn't have had the mobility and independence that I have had over the years.

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Today I discovered a leak underneath my car and when I touched it my hand came away red so it's a transmission leak. I'll take it in to be fixed in the morning . It seems as though I can never save any money something always happens.

My brother came by a couple of days ago and told me that the work I had done on my roof wasn't done right and that when the winter snows come I would have problems . So I'm going to have to call the roofing company that did the job and see what they can do to fix the problem. I try to be a responsible home owner and keep my maintenance up to date. I paid $2000 for the work I had done and the to find out that it was substandard is disheartening. Well, tomorrow I'll be trying to get in touch with them and if not I might have to pay extra to try to get it corrected. I really have no recourse since they have been paid in full and people don't return voicemails. I'm going to pray that I can get a good outcome to my situation.
By the way, this is my brother and nephew painting my house last year.

high heeled misery

I saw people wearing these type of shoes in Las Vegas and I thought that they looked so jazzy and sophisticated . I thought that I would give them a try and I bough a pair at Designers Shoe Wearhouse for 55$. Well, I got a backache and pain in my metatarsals for my efforts at trying to be in style. I'll give the shoes to a thrift shop and maybe some young lady will get some use from them. I'll stick to flats an low heeled shoes and leave the spikes to younger women.

Falls abundance, every Saturday, on Shaker Square, a farmers' market is held featuring produce and products from small farms and and entrepreneurs. While the items aren't that cheap, they are for the most part, organically grown and very fresh. There are also various baked goods and jams and cheeses. It's definitely worth a visit.

My tip of the pillow under the knees while sleeping is still working. Again, I can't recommend this highly enough for sufferers of low back pain. As long as it isn't a herniated disk or a pinched nerve the pillow trick should work .
This is October and I've noticed over the years how momentous world events seemed to take place in October so I'll be watching the news closely to see if anything earth shaking happens.

Today is the last day of the month and tomorrow is the start of fall to me. We are fall-like weather which is cool and rainy. I had originally planned to take two weeks vacation in October but I reviewed how much time that I had taken already and decided to cut down the amount of time in order to have more for next year or to have a cushion of time for emergencies in case I have to take off for some reason. Yesterday I had such painful back problems. I don't know what I did to strain my back but if I moved the wrong way It let me know right quick. I did a google search for low back pain and used the tip of sleeping with a pillow under my knees which helped tremendously. I'm telling everyone about this tip because it's such a simple thing, no drugs or surgical invasions. I was thinking of possibly calling off from work if I didn't feel any better. Now, my problem is with my sinuses which is due to allergies. But enough moaning for today. May tomorrow be better in every way for everyone.