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.

Untitled

Blogged with the Flock Browser

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...

Untitled

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Untitled

Blogged with the Flock Browser

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.