Life...as I see it

Dear President Obama

2011-02-17T14:36:00.002-05:00

I am writing regarding the 2012 budget that you have announced. From what I have read, you are reducing federal funding for many poor people; re: housing, heating assistance.

I am 54 years old and was raised middle class. I am now disabled and get a monthly Social Security check. While it's not a great deal, with a lot o work and going without, I am able to make do and get by from month to month. My 16 year old car no longer runs and I've not been able to save up to get it repaired. But I'll get it done because it's necessary.

George Bush and his administration came as close as possible to ruining our country. The housing crisis, unemployment, the lack of regulation, the corruption and lies that took place have caused our country much harm. I appreciate why you have already done to fix what has been fixed and understand there is much more that needs to be done.

But why should the vanishing middle class - now - poor continue to pay the price? We must stop all subsidies to the oil companies! We must get our troops home and stop the hemorrhaging of millions to wars that we cannot and will not win! The military has to stop spending millions on overpriced equipment and start paying better salaries to the men and women who serve this country!

Between your budget and the GOP House, poor people and women are being disrespected in ways that are unimaginable.

There are other areas where spending can be reduced. I beg you to find other ways to save money - we've all had to go without and make do - please don't further the decline of people who don't have any more room to fall.

Too Young At 61

2010-12-08T00:03:00.000-05:00

So Elizabeth Edwards died today. Very sad news. She was pretty brave in her fight against cancer, but ultimately, cancer won (as it does far too often!)

It's also sad that the last few years of her life were not totally happy ones for her and that every article I've read today refers to her (ex) husband's philandering and the child.

Finally!!!!

2010-08-31T19:20:00.004-04:00

President Obama will address the nation tonight from the Oval Office and will announce the formal end to the war in Iraq. "Ending this war is not only in Iraq's interest - it is in our own," the President will say, according to prepared remarks. "The United States has paid a hug price to put the future of Iraq in the hands of its people. We have sent our young men and women to make enormous sacrifices and have spent vast resources abroad at a time of tight budgets at home. We have persevered because of a belief we share with the Iraqi people - a belief that out of the ashes of war, a new beginning could be born in this cradle of civilization."

Very well said and long overdue! Now kindly send our men and women home!

Still Pissed

2010-02-09T19:32:00.003-05:00

I haven't blogged much lately. Mostly it's because I am too lazy. I'd rather be on facebook or playing games on Pogo.

Also, it's because I am still pissed off. I'm especially pissed that there is a republican in office where Ted Kennedy was. Really, what were those voters in Massachusetts thinking?

The polls all say that the Masshole voters are upset with the slow process of getting us out of the mess from when that Idiot Bush was in office.

What I want to know is this: Why weren't you people pissed off for the 8 years that Bush was ruining our country and the world?

So, I'm still pissed. Not at Obama, I'm giving him as much time as he needs to get this effing mess fixed. I think he's doing all that is humanly possible seeing that our economy was on the brink of collapse when he was elected.

Warning, I'll probably post on the blog again soon and I'll still be pissed.

MLK Day

2010-01-18T20:44:00.003-05:00

Happy Birthday Dr. King

Some Interesting Facts

2009-12-28T14:18:00.005-05:00

Wrapping paper -

The global packaging market is worth $429 billion.

Nearly 1/3 of Americans' waste is packaging. Just 43% is recycled after use.

In 2007, Americans threw away 78.5 million tons of packaging - 520 pounds per person!

Between Thanksgiving and New Years, Americans produce more than 1 million tons of additional garbage per week.

If every family reused the wrapping from 3 gifts, it would save enough paper to cover 50,000 football fields.

Last year, clam shell-type packages sent more than 5,700 Americans to the ER.

Americans annually buy enough plastic wrap to cover Texas.

A Daughter Holds On

2009-11-29T19:24:00.003-05:00

This image breaks my heart. The soldiers were deploying and this little girl would not let go of her father's hand when it was time to line up. She was allowed to join him and held on until he had to go.

Bridge Woes

2009-11-03T16:54:00.003-05:00

Talked to an engineer with the town today and, unless there is a miracle of money, the bridge will be completely out until sometime next spring. The town has started working on the steel frame, but the decking will not be put on until after April 15th of next year.

Yes, that means Patrick won't be able to walk over it to get to work. So now he will have to ride his bike over a mile in the dark both ways to work because of a 20 foot span.

I'm pissed about this. Finally, finally I had him in the perfect location. This took years and many moves and much money (mine, not his) and now he's back to riding his bike on dark windy roads with no lighting.

Tomorrow, I will go over and check this bridge situation out and see what the options are! There has to be a better, safer way for him to get to work besides me taking him and picking him up each day, which would be impossible to do on some days. Geez, I'm really pissed. Just about takes all the enjoyment out of the fact that we've had a dead end for months.

Bridge Work

2009-11-02T23:24:00.004-05:00

I knew this day would come, but I was sure hoping it would be later.

They're fixing the bridge! The wonderful, broken bridge that has made my road a dead end since May 1st!!

When the bridge was first closed, I was upset. But after a day of realizing that barely any cars were coming down the road, I was in heaven.

I heard some noise from there today and thought that maybe work had started. Patrick confirmed it when he got home from work. He had to ride all the way around. Probably over a mile instead of just a few feet.

Let's hope now that they fix the bridge quickly so that Patrick won't have to ride the loooong way to and from work in the dark! Because, yes, of course, now that we've moved the clocks back it's dark in the morning when he goes into work and dark when he gets out of work.

And the whole reason for moving here was so that he would no longer have to ride his bike in the dark!! So much for the best laid plans.

A Gun In The House

2009-10-10T17:50:00.001-04:00

Here's the best reason I can think of to not have a gun in your home:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33251920/ns/us_news-life/

From Michael Moore

2009-10-09T14:39:00.002-04:00

Friday, October 9th, 2009

Dear President Obama,

How outstanding that you've been recognized today as a man of peace. Your swift, early pronouncements -- you will close Guantanamo, you will bring the troops home from Iraq, you want a nuclear weapon-free world, you admitted to the Iranians that we overthrew their democratically-elected president in 1953, you made that great speech to the Islamic world in Cairo, you've eliminated that useless term "The War on Terror," you've put an end to torture -- these have all made us and the rest of the world feel a bit more safe considering the disaster of the past eight years.

In eight months you have done an about face and taken this country in a much more sane direction.

But...

The irony that you have been awarded this prize on the 2nd day of the ninth year of our War in Afghanistan is not lost on anyone. You are truly at a crossroads now. You can listen to the generals and expand the war (only to result in a far-too-predictable defeat) or you can declare Bush's Wars over, and bring all the troops home. Now. That's what a true man of peace would do.

There is nothing wrong with you doing what the last guy failed to do -- capture the man or men responsible for the mass murder of 3,000 people on 9/11. BUT YOU CANNOT DO THAT WITH TANKS AND TROOPS. You are pursuing a criminal, not an army. You do not use a stick of dynamite to get rid of a mouse.

The Taliban is another matter. That is a problem for the people of Afghanistan to resolve -- just as we did in 1776, the French did in 1789, the Cubans did in 1959, the Nicaraguans did in 1979 and the people of East Berlin did in 1989. One thing is certain through all revolutions by people who wish to be free -- they ultimately have to bring about that freedom themselves. Others can be supportive, but freedom can not be delivered from the front seat of someone else's Humvee.

You have to end our involvement in Afghanistan now. If you don't, you'll have no choice but to return the prize to Oslo.

Yours,
Michael Moore

www.michaelmoore.com

Very well said. acdc

WoW

2009-10-09T12:32:00.001-04:00

President Obama wins Nobel Peace Prize - that is something!

Priorities

2009-09-21T01:42:00.003-04:00

Being a news junkie (though I wish I weren't) I check the home pages of all the networks a few times a day. Listed on CNN's page tonight in the following order is:

Students can't name the first President http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/bestoftv/2009/09/20/holmes.perry.dumbkidz.cnn

Kid scores 1,019,000 on Guitar Hero http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/tech/2009/09/15/dnt.guitar.hero.record.king

You think maybe one has to do with the other?? Hmmm...

Is This Less True Now?

2009-09-20T02:27:00.005-04:00

I was watching VH1 Classics tonight, which is something that I do quite often. They show concerts and I watched a John Lennon concert from the early 70's.

One of the songs that he sang was his "Woman Is The N-word Of The World" and the audio cut out when he sang the N-word. He stated before he began to sing and play that "Yoko had said this to me in 1968 and it took me until 1970 to dig it" or something to that effect.

I honestly don't know what to think about that. It's such an awful word. I think I remember that the song was banned in some places...

Mostly I wondered what John Lennon would think of that? Would he be upset that his artistic message was changed by the omission? Or would he be glad that his song about women's subservience to men was still making people think, and who cares that it's been changed?

Either way, I thought many years ago that it was a song with a powerful message and I still feel the same way.

Woman is the Nigger of the World
John Lennon

Woman is the nigger of the world
Yes she is...think about it
Woman is the nigger of the world
Think about it...do something about it

We make her paint her face and dance
If she won’t be slave, we say that she don’t love us
If she’s real, we say she’s trying to be a man
While putting her down we pretend that she is above us

Woman is the nigger of the world...yes she is
If you don’t belive me take a look to the one you’re with

Woman is the slaves of the slaves
Ah yeah...better scream about it
We make her bear and raise our children
And then we leave her flat for being a fat old mother then
We tell her home is the only place she would be
Then we complain that she’s too unworldly to be our friend

Woman is the nigger of the world...yes she is
If you don’t belive me take a look to the one you’re with
Woman is the slaves of the slaves
Yeah (think about it)

We insult her everyday on TV
And wonder why she has no guts or confidence
When she’s young we kill her will to be free
While telling her not to be so smart we put her down for being so dumb

Woman is the nigger of the world...yes she is
If you don’t belive me take a look to the one you’re with
Woman is the slaves of the slaves
Yes she is...if you belive me, you better scream about it.

We make her paint her face and dance
We make her paint her face and dance
We make her paint her face and dance

Blah

2009-09-16T18:56:00.001-04:00

blah

Seasonal Flu

2009-08-31T20:42:00.004-04:00

Here are some healthy habits that everyone can follow to avoid the spread of germs this flu season:

- Frequently wash hands with soap and water, or an alcohol-based cleanser

- Refrain from touching the eyes, nose or mouth - the virus can only be caught in the membranes of these body parts

- Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you sneeze and dispose it in the trash

- Cough into your elbow or tissue

- Avoid contact with people affected with cold and flu

- Use a germ-killing disinfectant to clean surfaces

- Stay home from school or work if you become infected with the flu

This info should also help to keep the H1N1 swine flu away.

Ted Kennedy

2009-08-29T00:54:00.003-04:00

Driving through Warwick today, I was happy to see that flags were at half staff in honor of the life of Ted Kennedy. He deserves the fuss being made over his passing.

Rest in Peace, Teddy. You did more good than most.

A Sad Loss For America

2009-08-18T15:06:00.007-04:00

Sgt. Bill Cahir

As I have posted before, I am particularly fond of our military and veterans. One of my favorite bloggers is Jon Soltz, Co-Founder and Chair of VoteVets.org, is a leader of the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans community and is originally from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

From May to September 2003, Soltz served as a Captain during Operation Iraqi Freedom, deploying logistics convoys with the 1st Armored Division. During 2005, Soltz was mobilized for 365 days at Fort Dix New Jersey, training soldiers for combat in Afghanistan and Iraq.

He also served his country with distinction in the Kosovo Campaign as a Tank Platoon Leader between June and December 2000. Soltz is a graduate of Washington & Jefferson College with dual degree in Political Science and History. He has completed graduate work at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public and International Affairs.

Here is some sad news from Jon:

This week brought tragic news that particularly hit hard for the VoteVets.org family. Among the painful and heartbreaking losses of those Killed in Action was Bill Cahir, a Marine Sergeant, killed in Afghanistan.

Bill epitomized what is so great about so many who serve our nation in uniform. At the age of 34, he enlisted, motivated by the September 11th attacks. But, his first action wasn't taking on al Qaeda in Afghanistan. He was deployed twice to Iraq, from 2004-2005, and again from 2007-2008. If Bill, a political progressive, thought Iraq wasn't the war we should be in at the time, his willingness and readiness to go and stand by his men sure took precedence over his personal feelings. Then, this May, he was sent to Afghanistan, serving in the Helmand Province, which is one of the most violent areas in the region that very few Americans know about.

Between his time in Iraq and his service in Afghanistan, Bill ran for Congress. It would have been incredibly easy - and everyone would have said advisable - to come back and rest after two tours in Iraq. But Bill, whose line of work was journalism, saw that Capitol Hill needed more leadership. His own comfort took a backseat to his sense of responsibility.

The seriousness with which he took that responsibility is why VoteVets.org PAC endorsed him in his primary race, which he ultimately lost.

And though he will never be able to make a run for office again, we at VoteVets.org are not done talking about him, or the people like him all over America who are still alive, and mix patriotism, progressivism, and sense of duty. Continuing to remember Bill and what he stood for, and standing up for the people like him, is the best way to honor his memory.

It's essential that everyone know about people like Bill Cahir, whose overriding purpose in life was to help and defend others. That's why we were heartened to see Chris Matthews devoted a segment to Bill's memory on Hardball the other day.

We're hopeful that other news shows took notice, and remember that as we debate health care or energy or stimulus funds (all of which ostensibly are meant to improve America) there are real American lives being risked every day in Iraq and Afghanistan. They want to make America better, too. It doesn't take much for the news to put a talking heads segment aside for the day (including any that I might be called to do) to tell amazing stories like Bill's.

Note: Bill left unborn twin daughters and a wife. A memorial fund has been established to help provide an education to the daughters who will never be able to meet their amazing father. You can help by making checks payable to the "Bill Cahir Memorial Fund" and sending them to: Burk and Herbert Bank, c/o Mark Ragland, P.O. Box 268, Alexandria, Va., 22313.

Crossposted at VetVoice.com and http://www.huffingtonpost.com/

Bill Cahir will be buried at Arlington Cemetery. Funeral plans at this time are incomplete.

Exxon Mobil Pleads Guilty

2009-08-13T15:43:00.001-04:00

WASHINGTON (AP) — Exxon Mobil Corp. will pay about $7,000 each for dozens of birds killed at various company properties.

Exxon Mobil pleaded guilty to causing the deaths of approximately 85 protected migratory birds, most of whom died after exposure to natural gas well reserve pits and waste water storage facilities. Birds died in Colorado, Wyoming, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas between 2004 and 2009.

The firm will pay a fine of $600,000 and has also agreed to make changes to prevent such bird deaths in the future. The company says it has already spent $2.5 million in the effort.
Justice Department officials are discussing the case following a guilty plea by the corporation in federal court in Denver.

Stupid Is As Stupid Does

2009-08-08T04:06:00.002-04:00

Bill Maher wrote a column for the Huffington Post that was right on target - all about just how stupid so many Americans are.

I know, I know, but as I've said many times; Stupidity Should Be Painful.

Funny, though maybe that's why I'm always in pain. HaH!

Just wish I didn't care so much and could get away from watching and living the news.

Here's the link: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bill-maher/new-rule-smart-president_b_253996.html

Life Sucks

2009-08-08T03:42:00.007-04:00

Fatty's wife Susan died on the 5th and he has written a beautiful tribute to her. She was very brave and spent over 5 years battling this awful disease called cancer.

With all of the truly awful and horrible people in the world, I have just one question. Why?

Why a nice woman with 4 young kids? Why not that guy in Pawtucket who is accused of raping his 4 month old daughter. Why can't cancer find him and make him suffer for 5 years or even 10 years?

I realize that I will never understand everything that happens, but it sure would be nice to know why every now and then.

You can find and read his blog in the column on the right of this page.

Happy Birthday Mr. President

2009-08-04T18:18:00.004-04:00

And many more....

Dusting Or Huffing

2009-08-02T17:30:00.003-04:00

Years ago, when working at Sonitrol, we had dispatched the Providence police to Harris Lumber which used to be located on Atwells Avenue for a break-in. We could hear that someone was in the building moving around. When the police arrived, they found a teenage girl inside the store sniffing paint. Seems she needed to get high so bad that she broke a window to get inside.

I have never forgotten that. It just seemed so sad. Nowadays, there is a newer way of getting high. It's called dusting or huffing and it's deadly. Compressed air to clean your computer is being inhaled and killing kids, many dying the first time they use it.

Here's a link to an article on Snopes about a 14 year old boy who died. It's tragically sad and I hope that people read about it and learn.

http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/dustoff.asp

Take A Minute

2009-07-27T17:35:00.004-04:00

On the right side of this posting you will see a list of blogs that I follow. I've never met most of these people, but because they blog, I know them.

Stop by for a minute, if you can, and visit with Fatty at Fat Cyclist. His wife is desperately ill with cancer and isn't going to be with him and their 4 kids for much longer. Any words of encouragement you can give him will surely help him to get through this unimaginable time.

If no words come, that's okay and certainly not unusual. At the very least your problems will pale in comparison, as mine do.

Gone

2009-07-27T17:12:00.003-04:00

Hopefully she'll stay that way!

Today In Rhode Island History

2009-07-27T15:12:00.006-04:00

Wow, I don't remember this at all!! At that time - 30 years ago - I was five years out of high school and obviously wasn't paying attention to what was going on around me. It's a little scary that the law needed to be changed to keep your name.

Projo.com - Maria Armental

It was 30 years ago today that women gained --- in the eyes of the law --- the right to decide what name when married to use in registering a car once they were married.

Until then, women had to take their husband's names.

Requiring married women to use their husbands' names, said the state registrar of motor vehicles at the time, Eugene Petit, "is in the best interest of the safety of the community. It will keep bad drivers off the road and give us better control of the registry." The safety of the community??? Holy smokes, this guy was completely out of touch!

Petit, whose comments were including in the landmark state Supreme Court case Traugott v. Petit, called the requirement "patriotic."

"Listen," Petit is quoted as saying, "I respect gals in every phase. I hope they just respect society in this." Gals??? Certainly doesn't show a lot of respect when he called women gals!

To the ACLU and the women --- and supportive men -- for whom they filed suit, the matter was a simple one: "The very least you can have in this damned life is your own name." That's how Sheila Cabral-Sousa, the volunteer lawyer who successfully litigated the case for the Rhode Island affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union, summed up the case at the time. Damn right!

The ACLU issued a press release Monday recalling the anniversary, and adding: ""It is true that the past thirty years have seen many victories for women's rights. ... However, the struggle against gender-based discrimination continues to this day in the fight for equal pay for equal work and similar issues. A look at some of the comments made by public officials only 30 years ago in this case serves as a stark reminder that gains for women's rights remain of recent vintage and, therefore, remain far from complete." Sometimes, ya just gotta like and agree with the ACLU!

Walter Cronkite

2009-07-17T21:51:00.008-04:00

I didn't grow up on CBS News - we were a NBC News family - goodnight Chet, goodnight David!

So I didn't really discover Walter Cronkite until after he retired. And that's when I realized what I'd missed all those years!

In 1996 he wrote his autobiography "A Reporter's Life" and it help cement my affection for a truly remarkable man and the impact he had on our lives. Even though I didn't really know him when he was the face of CBS, his impact did affect my life and I'm so grateful for him.

I know there are others who feel as I do; but, with all the media coverage, you'd have thought that MJ gave more to us than Walter Cronkite did, instead of the other way around.

JFK Jr.

2009-07-16T14:06:00.007-04:00

Remember this little guy? He was cute, that's for sure.

Of course he came from some pretty people.

And he grew up to be one of the most handsome of handsome men.

But looks don't mean everything. From everything I understand about him, JFK Jr. was a pretty nice guy also.

It's hard to believe that it's been 10 years since his death. It was a Saturday morning. As usual, I didn't have the TV on and I wasn't on the internet as much as I am nowadays. I drove to Warwick in the early afternoon to visit with Chelsea and Matthew. My sister-in-law Beverly opened the door and I knew that something was wrong. What's going on, I asked and she was surprised that I didn't know. We sat in front of the TV and were glued there for the rest of the day.

It's still hard to believe that he's gone. If I happen to see a photo or some TV coverage, it all comes rushing back and brings tears to my eyes. He had such potential and we'll never know what could have been. Just like with his dad.

One Small Step For Man, One Giant Leap For Mankind

2009-07-16T13:45:00.007-04:00

I love the moon! I love it so much I always use it as my profile picture. I feel so connected to it and, as a kid, thought it was mine.

Forty years after America's launch of Apollo 11, the U.S. space program is at a different crossroads, challenged in recent years to return to the moon and to recapture the ambition that launched the space race in 1961. Back then, a dazzled nation heard the big dreams of a youthful Ivy League-educated, senator-turned president.

"I believe," President John F. Kennedy told Congress, "that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to Earth."

That was the same year Barack Obama was born. Forty-eight years later, Obama, a similarly youthful Ivy League-educated former senator is now in charge, and the nation wonders what his vision is for the U.S. space program.

Forty years ago this week was the Apollo 11 lift-off and, on July 20, the first landing on the moon! I can remember it so well. It was so exciting and I'm looking forward to the next time the US lands on the moon.

Kid Joke

2009-07-15T16:24:00.002-04:00

from Harlan Coben

27,900 Counts Of Accessory To Murder

2009-07-13T14:23:00.010-04:00

That number is kind of staggering, isn't it? Twenty seven thousand nine hundred deaths are attributed to a monster who came to the United States and hid behind a job as an auto worker after committing atrocities.

I'm not Jewish. I don't even know that many Jewish people. What I do know is that the Holocaust was wrong in every possible way. Too many people got away with murder, literally. How right it is that someone is being brought to justice, even all these years later.

"The effort to bring Demjanjuk to justice sends a very powerful message that the passage of time in no way diminishes the guilt of the perpetrator," says Efraim Zuroff, the top Nazi-hunter at the Simon Wiesenthal Center.

German prosecutors formally charged John Demjanjuk on Monday with 27,900 counts of being an accessory to murder at a Nazi death camp during World War II. He is accused of serving as a guard at the Sobibor camp in Nazi-occupied Poland during World War II. Being the sort of murderer he is, of course he denies it. He was a victim too, saying he was a prisoner of war.

But Nazi-era documents obtained by U.S. justice authorities and shared with German prosecutors include a photo ID identifying Demjanjuk as a guard at the Sobibor death camp and information that he was trained at an SS facility for Nazi guards at Trawniki, which was also in occupied-Poland.

"This is obviously an important step forward," Zuroff said by telephone from Jerusalem. "We hope that the trial itself will be expedited so that justice will be achieved and he can be given the appropriate punishment."

Charges of accessory to murder carry a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison in Germany. Even I can do that math 27,900 X 15 years each = a death sentence for a man who is 89 years old. I just hope he lives through the trial.

Vacation Over

2009-07-06T19:37:00.006-04:00

Bob and Don have now arrived safely back home in NY and once they get over the 8+ hour ride home, I hope they have time to think about what a good time we all had. Bob drives a late model Cadillac and I got to drive several times over the past few days which was quite a change from my car, I can tell you.

When I bought the Volvo new it had quite a few bells and whistles on it. Since 1994, a lot more bells and whistles had been invented and Bob has them all in his car. There's a compass in the rear view mirror. A dinging bell to alert you if you've left the blinker on (which I think should be mandatory on all cars!) The passenger side mirror turns down towards the curb when you put the car in reverse. There's lots of others things, I just can't think of them now.

Here's Bob and Don outside my house last night. I caught them by surprise and got a good shot, I think. Don sure likes to read. He always had a book, newspaper or travel guide handy.

Much of their visit was spent driving around (when we weren't eating, that is) as there had been a lot of changes since Bob moved away in 1997. The entire downtown area had changed. The Westin, Prov Place Mall and, especially, the highways. There have even been a lot of changes since I was in the city on a regular basis just 3 years ago!

We took a ride by Bob's old house and I decided to post a picture of it to keep all this info together. This was a gorgeous fixer upper which Bob and Richard worked on for years. Had many a good time in that house, I can assure you. It's where I learned to use a mouse also.

Bob and Don had a day without me as I needed to stay home and sleep on Friday. They went to Newport and did a tour of The Elms and then went to Theater by the Sea for dinner and a show.

On July 4th, we headed to Narragansett to Iggy's for chowda and clamcakes, clam strips and fish and chips. It was a gorgeous day and the line wasn't bad at all. When we got back to my house we watched A Knights Tale, which was pretty good. They headed to Bugaboo Creek for dinner and I skipped dinner that night.

Yesterday was shopping and the ocean for the guys, then a return trip to Apsara's for dinner, a cruise through RW Park and back to my house for our goodbyes.

I had a really great time. I knew that I had missed Bob all those years and having him around reminded me of the great conversations that we've always had. Now that he's got his TMobile phone, we can talk free, so there are many more great conversations in our future!

Cute e-card

2009-07-06T00:44:00.004-04:00

I don't know if this link will work far into the future, but for now, it's about the cutest e-card and I want to share it with whoever stops by for a visit.

http://www.jacquielawson.com/viewcard.asp?code=1901906766902&source=jl999

I just love Bo! Enjoy!

Declaration Of Independence

2009-07-03T18:26:00.003-04:00

Two-hundred and thirty-three years ago Saturday, church bells rang out over Philadelphia as the Continental Congress adopted Thomas Jefferson's draft of the Declaration of Independence.

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

— That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.

But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.

— Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government.

The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world. He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us: For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & Perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury.

A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people. Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us.

We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence.

They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare,

That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; And that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do.

And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

Vacation Continues

2009-07-03T12:12:00.004-04:00

My trust in human-kind has been restored.

Pete, the Volvo parts guy who I met through Craig's List, came through for me with the catalytic converter. Whew, is all I can say. I didn't think he would take the money and run and I was very glad that he didn't think of it either!

It is now being safely stored in the back hall of my house.

Our "gastrointestinal" tour of Rhode Island continued yesterday with Bob and his nephew Don. We went to Caserta Pizzeria for lunch - having had Wimpy's and a Pig in the Blanket. We also made a quick stop at Palmieri's Bakery so Bob could get his favorite pepper and wine biscuits.

We headed to Woonsocket to pick up the car part and on the way home stopped at Pearl's Candy and Nut shop in North Smithfield. OMG!!! My jaw hit the floor when we walked inside and it pretty much stayed there the entire time. Every kind of candy that you've ever had, loved or dreamt of is in that shop. All lined up so neatly literally from floor to ceiling. Bob found the pebble candy that he had wanted forever. I found the fruit nougat candies that I had been thinking of the for past several weeks (go figure) and we had a great time. Don was smart enough to stay in the car.

Bob brought some DVD's with him and when we got back to my house we watched PS I Love You which I very much enjoyed. Somewhat predictable, but very amusing and clever. Some of it was filmed in Ireland, which was just beautiful.

Last night for supper we went to Richard's Pub for calamari and a Reuben sandwich, which Bob is unable to get in the milquetoast food area of NY state where he lives.

Today, I was in a coma and didn't hear the phone when Bob called. I'm enjoying a quiet time home alone for now. Just too beat to think about going out! Having a great time though.

The Longest Storm

2009-07-02T00:38:00.007-04:00

What is with the weather? I think we must have gotten 4 or 5 inches of rain today. The puddles in my front yard got so big they merged into a single pond. Several times. And the thunder and lightning lasted from 7 am to after 3 pm.

I really wanted (and needed) to color my hair, but I couldn't even take a shower we had so much lightning - it just wouldn't stop long enough for even a quick shower.

Chelsea slept over, so it was nice to have her here. She couldn't get over the amount of rain either!

I had dropped my car off at the mechanic's on Monday. I have been picking up parts for the car; muffler and tailpipe, headlight, blinker and a few other parts that I don't need now, but will probably need in the future. Kevin was having trouble finding a catalytic converter at a decent price. He could find a new one for $815, but I really hated to spend that much money.

I called a couple of guys that I know in MA and one of them gave me a price of $450 so Chels and I got picked up by Veronica, went to Warwick to get my car, then off to Woonsocket to give a guy I barely know $500 to pick it up for me in Worcester!!! Of course, I had to have a little chat with him before I handed over the cash, just so he knew that he was going to have plenty of trouble from me if he just took the cash and didn't get the car part. I almost hate to say it here, but I don't think he's up to anything, he does seem like a decent guy. I've met some of his kids and his wife over the last few months as I've gotten other car parts from him. So, we'll see what happens.

I haven't even gotten to the most important and best part of the day. During all of this rain and running around, my friend Bob Stevens was driving to RI from upstate NY!! It's been 12 years since we've seen each other and once I was back in Warwick, I got a call from him that he and his nephew Don had just crossed into RI from CT!! I told him that instead of heading to my house, to go straight to the motel6 since I was just down the road.

I hung out with the kids for awhile and then headed to motel6. Bob and Don were waiting right out front for me! It was so great to see Bob. A little less hair and a lot more gray, but other than that, it was my old friend. I couldn't believe that it took me years to track him down, he called when he got my note 2 months ago, planned the vacation right then and here he was!!!

I got to drive his car - a 2 year old Cadillac! It was great, so smooth after my car. On the way I asked if they had heard about the man who was kidnapped from the motel6 a couple of days ago!! We had a good laugh over that. I couldn't believe that I recommended they stay at the same place where this happened!

We headed north to Providence to go to Apsara's, an Asian restaurant that Bob and I have been talking about for the past 2 months. The food was as good as we remembered and we had a nice little feast.

Then I took Bob and Don on a quick tour of downtown, which had drastically changed since 1997! And then back to the motel6. When we pulled in there was a police car roaming the parking lot and while in the room we saw him again. When Bob walked me out to my car a few minutes later, there he was again. I was very glad to see a police presence, though Bob had said that if anyone kidnapped him, they'd give him back. I agreed, Bob is such a curmudgeon.

Finally

2009-06-29T23:22:00.005-04:00

Exxon to pay interest on Valdez oil spill damages

By MARY PEMBERTON, Associated Press Writer

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – Oil giant Exxon Mobil Corp. has decided not to appeal hundreds of millions of dollars in interest on punitive damages resulting from the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill.

The Irving, Texas-based company will pay about $470 million in interest on more than $507.5 million in punitive damages following the 11 million gallon spill of crude in Prince William Sound, company spokesman Tony Cudmore said Monday.

The company expects to make payment on the interest in the next few days, said plaintiffs' lawyer David Oesting. Exxon's decision was first reported Monday by the Anchorage Daily News.

The decision is a turnaround for the company. Exxon Mobil since the mid-1990s has appealed court rulings on punitive damages.

"I think they recognized they weren't going any further from a legal standpoint," Oesting said.

Earlier this month, Exxon Mobil was ordered to pay interest on the punitive damages. The ruling issued by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco nearly doubles the average payout of about $15,000 to 33,000 Alaska Natives, fishermen, business owners and others.

Numerous studies have found the region has not fully recovered from the disaster that fouled 1,200 miles of coastline in the nation's worst crude oil spill.

In June 2008, the U.S. Supreme Court set punitive damages at $507.5 million. But two months later, the high court declined to decide whether Exxon Mobil must pay interest on the punitive damages and instead sent it back to the appeals court.

Cudmore said he couldn't elaborate on why Exxon Mobil decided to pay interest, except to say the company felt it should adhere to the appeals court decision.

Exxon argued unsuccessfully that if interest had to be paid, it should be calculated from the date the punitive damages were set last by the Supreme Court. But the appeals court said interest on the $507.5 million judgment should run from 1996, when the original settlement was entered into court records, at a rate of 5.9 percent.

Legal battles over the Exxon Valdez spill have lasted years but now appear to be ending. The only remaining sum in dispute is $70 million in court fees, Cudmore said.

An Anchorage jury in 1994 awarded plaintiffs $5 billion. That was cut in half by the 9th Circuit. The Supreme Court in a split decision reduced the total to $507.5 million.

Oesting said the plaintiffs' have "clearly prevailed" in the case, even if the original $5 billion judgment was drastically reduced.

Give Me A Break

2009-06-26T22:52:00.005-04:00

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The country's smallest state has the longest official name: "State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations."

A push to drop "Providence Plantations" from that name advanced farther than ever on Thursday when House lawmakers voted 70-3 to let residents decide whether their home should simply be called the "State of Rhode Island." It's an encouraging sign for those who believe the formal name conjures up images of slavery, while opponents argue it's an unnecessary rewriting of history that ignores Rhode Island's tradition of religious liberty and tolerance.

The bill permitting a statewide referendum on the issue next year now heads to the state Senate.

"It's high time for us to recognize that slavery happened on plantations in Rhode Island and decide that we don't want that chapter of our history to be a proud part of our name," said Rep. Joseph Almeida, an African-American lawmaker who sponsored the bill.

Rhode Island's unwieldy name reflects its turbulent colonial history, a state that consisted of multiple and sometimes rival settlements populated by dissidents.

Banished from the Massachusetts Bay Colony for his unorthodox religious views, minister Roger Williams set out in 1636 and settled at the northern tip of Narragansett Bay, which he called Providence Plantations. Williams founded the first Baptist church in America and became famous for embracing the separation of church and state, a legal principle enshrined in the Bill of Rights a century later.

Other settlers made their homes in modern-day Portsmouth and Newport on Aquidneck Island, then known as the Isle of Rhodes.

In 1663, English King Charles II granted a royal charter joining all the settlements into a single colony called "The Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations." The name stuck. Rhode Island used that royal charter as its governing document until 1843.

Opponents of the name charge argue that "plantations" was used at the time to describe any farming settlements, regardless of slavery.

Rhode Island merchants did, however, make their fortunes off the slave trade. Slaves helped construct Brown University in Providence, and a prominent slave trader paid half the cost of its first library.

Still, Stanley Lemons, a professor emeritus of history at Rhode Island College, said changing the state's name ignores the accomplishments of Williams, whose government passed laws trying to prevent the permanent servitude of whites, blacks and American Indians.

"There are different meanings for this word," Lemons said. "To try to impose their experience on everyone else wipes out Roger Williams."

By RAY HENRY, Associated Press Writer Ray Henry, Associated Press Writer – Thu Jun 25, 2009

Morphing Of Michael

2009-06-26T06:59:00.004-04:00

Then: Later:

Hideous:

I'm already tired of the love fest over Michael Jackson. There are probably others out there who feel as I do - good riddance to a totally screwed up pedophile.

Yeah, Thriller was a good album. Yeah, MJ had some moves. Doesn't make up for the total mental illness, emotional illness and eff-ed up way he led his life.

I feel bad for his kids - but I've felt bad for them all along.

I can only imagine that we're going to be Anna Nicole'd to death with this death. I gotta figure out how to escape it.

At least we might be hearing less about Jon and Kate. We can hope anyway.

Anniversaries

2009-06-23T16:30:00.007-04:00

Two years ago today, my buddy Dawn married her Joe. I've written about it in the past (one of my best posts, in my humble opinion) but I never had a photo to post until I stole this one from her Facebook photo album. Didn't she look absolutely beautiful? Joe looked very handsome that day as well. What a cute couple, eh? So in the two years since the wedding, guess what they've been doing, er, look what they made...

This is their daughter Haley (I stole this photo from Dawn's Facebook page as well) and she looks to be one sweet, happy and gorgeous little girl.

I could not be happier for all three of them! Happy Anniversary Dawn and Joe. May you have many, many more happy years ahead.

Drive Safely

My own personal little anniversary today is that 15 years ago I picked up my brand new spanking clean and shiny Volvo at Auto Show. A mere 15 years later, that Volvo has seen better days, but I love it as much today as I did 15 years ago.

I haven't had a car payment in 11 years, which may be why I love it so much. Still gets me from point A to point B without too much worry.

Orbiting The Moon

2009-06-23T06:33:00.005-04:00

As of just a few minutes ago, NASA successfully has a spacecraft orbiting the moon!! I don't know about anyone else, but I am extremely excited and interested in this.

While orbiting the moon, this craft will be mapping out the topography of the moon, which will ultimately help to get man (and women) back on the moon.

I guess I'm kind of a geek when it comes to space and our universe, as I love to watch NASA TV. Could be from growing up in the 50's and 60's and following the space program from it's infancy: the Apollo, Gemini and Mercury programs.

As a kid, I always thought the moon was there for me and was mine! Don't ask me why I thought this, but it may be that I never felt that others around me watched the moon as much as I did. Maybe they didn't. I know that most people don't look up at the stars nearly as much as I do nowadays.

Over the next few weeks, we will be able to watch the pictures sent back from this little moon orbiting craft. YOU can watch too, here's the link: http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/

How amazing is it that we can watch space missions on our computers??!! I love it!

Father's Day

2009-06-21T04:39:00.009-04:00

Hmmm...

I'm not even sure I know why I'm posting today. I think it may be because just last night I came across a quote written by Anne Sexton:

"It doesn't matter who my father was; it matters who I remember he was.”

I don't have a relationship with my father and I'm okay with that. I saw him at a funeral several years ago. It was very strange to see him, and I remember thinking how nice his complexion was - go figure. Surprising, it was very unemotional for me.

At times, he could be the best father. But, mostly he wasn't.

I guess the best word to describe how I remember him would be disappointing.

And, I also wonder, just when do parents fall out of love with their kids? I've seen it repeatedly where a child is born and the parents are head over heels in love with their little bundle of joy.

Then the years pass and before you know it there's no longer respect for this child. They find it okay to spank (or worse) this little person. They use sarcastic tones when speaking to this little person. They forbid, with no explanation as to why.

Over time, the actions of the parent start to chip away at a child's confidence.

Parents should love their children more than anything else in the world. Anything and everything.

Remembering...

2009-06-13T23:30:00.020-04:00

Tim Russert

It was one year ago that Tim Russert of NBC news died. One of his favorite sayings was "What A Country" and what a year this country has had. I still feel sad after a year because of the impact he had on me. His demeanor, sense of humor and integrity was something I much admired and I miss. There's a lot of press on how the mainstream media has a 'love affair' with President Obama - if Tim were still here, and I so wish he were - he would be the one journalist who would treat our President the same as he treated everyone else, with respect. Tim's wife and son have shown remarkable composure in this past year and I admire them for that.

Julia Langello

This past Thursday, the 11th, was my birthday. As I do every morning, I was looking through the obituaries at projo.com and I saw a name that I knew I would be seeing before long. Many years ago, I met Julia Langello while I was working for ADT. My job was to place a 'I've fallen and I can't get up' type unit at her home. She was 91 years old at that time and was one of the nicest, sweetest women I had ever met. She lived with her daughter who worked full time and was concerned about her mother.

When I got to their house, Julia was waiting by the door for me. I knew the moment I saw her that there was something special about her, (really, look at her picture and tell me she isn't one of the cutest grandmother type women you've ever seen) and I was so very right (for once!)

Even though she was elderly, and had lost her right eye at some time, she was a spirited woman whose mind was as sharp as a tack. She wanted the unit placed in her bedroom because she spent much of her time in there. As we sat on her bed, we chatted a bit while I set the unit up.

She told me about her family, her late husband who had died quite some time ago, and her life as it was at that time. I explained the unit to her as I plugged it in and tested it. Unlike many other seniors, she understood how it worked right away and that left some time for us to visit before I had to leave.

She called me a couple of months later and I went back to her house and swapped out the unit because it was acting up. So, we had time for another visit while I was there. A few weeks later she called me as she was trying to reach her grandaughter Melissa, who worked for ADT in Florida. I tracked Melissa down and asked her to call her grandmother. And so it went. Julia and I spoke on the phone several times over the last few years and I enjoyed every minute of it.

Whether I was helping her or just chatting with her, she was just the sweetest woman. So, I was sad to see her obituary on Thursday. Last night I deleted her number from my cell phone. She was 96 years old. I'm sure her family will miss her dreadfully. I know I do.

Ann Grady
My first real boyfriend was Eddie Grady. I met him through my best friend Beverly Sardelli's then boyfriend, Bob something. This was 1972. Eddie had long wavy hair and boy did we like to make out. No matter where we were, we were always trying to get somewhere so we could kiss. One of our favorite places was under a big shrub on the grounds of the Aldrich mansion. We loved it there because no one ever knew we were there.

I don't recall why we stopped seeing each other, but we remained friends. We saw each other in school and for years after, he would come to our house each Christmas day for a visit. He wanted to be a fireman back then and today he is Deputy Chief of the Cranston Fire Dept..

In today's projo.com obituaries was the notice of his mother's passing. I had met her a few times and, of course, as a 15-16 year old, I was scared of her. She was a single mother as Eddie's father had died when he was younger and with two daughters as well as Eddie, she had her hands full.

I have a really clear memory of going to his house one day and we were up in his room. The walls were covered with posters and he had the black-light on, the windows were covered with aluminum foil (no idea why, but it seemed to make sense back then.) We were kissing, as usual, and his mother threw open the bedroom door making us both jump and his front tooth hit my front tooth which chipped. To this day, I often think of him when I run my tongue over my tooth chip.

Shortly after 9/11/01 I won at auction, a bid on two firefighter rememberance artwork in frames. I gave one to the EG fire department and the other I delivered to Eddie's (he's called Ed now) office in Cranston. He wasn't in, but I left it for him. I'm so very sorry for their loss.

Boy Hit By Meteorite

2009-06-12T13:20:00.001-04:00

A 14-year old German boy was hit in the hand by a pea-sized meteorite that scared the bejeezus out of him and left a scar.

"When it hit me it knocked me flying and then was still going fast enough to bury itself into the road," Gerrit Blank said in a newspaper account. Astronomers have analyzed the object and conclude it was indeed a natural object from space, The Telegraph reports.

Most meteors vaporize in the atmosphere, creating "shooting stars," and never reach the ground. The few that do are typically made mostly of metals. Stony space rocks, even if they are big as a car, will usually break apart or explode as they crash through the atmosphere.

There are a handful of reports of homes and cars being struck by meteorites, and many cases of space rocks streaking to the surface and being found later.

But human strikes are rare. There are no known instances of humans being killed by space rocks.

According to a SPACE.com article on the topic a few years, back:

On November 30, 1954, Alabama housewife Ann Hodges was taking a nap on her couch when she was awakened by a 3-pound (1.4-kilogram) meteor that crashed through the roof of her house, bounced off a piece of furniture and struck her in the hip, causing a large bruise.

On October 9, 1992, a large fireball was seen streaking over the eastern United States, finally exploding into many pieces. In Peekskill, New York, one of the pieces struck a Chevrolet automobile owned by Michelle Knapp. Knapp was not in the car at the time.

On June 21, 1994, Jose Martin of Spain was driving with his wife near Madrid when a 3-pound (1.4-kilogram) meteor crashed through his windshield, bent the steering wheel and ended up in the back seat.

In 2004, a 2,000-pound space rock bigger than a refrigerator exploded in the late-night sky over Chicago, producing a large flash and a sound resembling a detonation that woke people up. Fragments rained down on that wild Chicago night, and many were collected by residents in a northern suburb.

from space.com

Making History

2009-06-05T00:59:00.005-04:00

How about that President of ours?

What a great job he did giving the speech in Egypt. No one else could have given that speech - could you imagine the Idiot Bush? The crowd would have been throwing more than shoes at him.

We are so lucky to have him as our President. And while I'm not happy with everything he has done, he's been pretty much on task, considering that much of what he is dealing with was not what he campaigned for. He certainly has my support and appreciation for all of his hard work.

NBC news did a 'Behind the scenes of the Obama White House' special this week which was fascinating to watch. It boggles the mind to think of everything they have going on there and Obama, man, he is the coolest guy.

I'm very impressed with him. And grateful too.

A Sad Dad

2009-05-30T15:30:00.006-04:00

A few months ago when John Travolta's son died, I blogged about how I thought that the John Travolta we knew was gone, that he really wouldn't be the same after losing his son.

Today there's an article that he is, in fact, having a tough time with his grief. So much so that he is unable to help promote "The Taking of Pelham 123," with Denzel Washington.

He's is such a sweet, sensitive man and that boy was his world. I'm hoping that he gets through Fathers Day and then, maybe, a little at a time, he can get beyond it as much as he possibly can.

Letter To Editor And Town Officials

2009-05-30T06:10:00.004-04:00

May 11, 2009

I was dismayed, but not surprised, when the small bridge over the Hunts River on South Road was closed on May 1st because the surface of the bridge had dropped.

Living just one house away from the bridge, I have been constantly amazed at the amount of traffic on South Road since I moved here. On a daily basis there are assorted sizes of trucks traveling through the neighborhood, many of which far exceed the capacity weight of 12,000 pounds posted on the signs at either end of the road.

I would presume that the daily traffic has taken its toll on the bridge. However, the real culprits who caused the beginning of the end of the little bridge, in my opinion, are the logging trucks that National Grid used when removing hundreds of trees to make way for the power lines that were added in the fall of 2007. The logging company cut a wide swath of trees all the way down to South County for the high voltage wiring that was installed at the end of this massive project.

On a daily basis, once the tree cutting was started, empty logging trucks would travel over the bridge, line up on South Road, right in front of my house, and wait to be filled with the cut trees. Then, once their trucks were filled, they would then travel right back over that bridge. I can’t even imagine the weight of one of those logging trucks empty, never mind once they were loaded with trees.

During that same time, National Grid was also trucking in large railroad ties that were laid down in the marsh areas and used as temporary roads for the other heavy equipment that was used to install the huge stanchions that the wiring was eventually added to. These railroad ties looked to be approximately 12" x 12" and they were very long. I’m sure the weight of moving them in and then out again put much added stress on the bridge.

Now, having read the article in the Journal yesterday that stated the Town of East Greenwich would be financially responsible for the repair and/or replacement of this bridge, I’m pretty peeved that the taxpayers in the town would be required to cover the damage that National Grid no doubt caused, or, at the very least, contributed to.

The work on South Road by National Grid started during the last week of October, 2007 and continued through the end of January, 2008. The reason I know these dates is because I have a blog and I blogged about the activities that took place right outside my windows. I also took some before, during and after photos that I used in my blog postings.

You can see that there is no doubt in my mind that National Grid and the logging companies that they used should be responsible for some of the cost of the bridge repair. They ignored the posted weight restriction signs on a daily basis, and that, along with daily traffic, has now caused the bridge to fail.

I hope that the town has some success in getting National Grid to accept their responsibility in all of this.

Random Thoughts

2009-05-27T21:47:00.005-04:00

Here's something that I never thought I'd ever say; I feel bad for Mike Tyson. His little 4 year old daughter died by accidental hanging and, no matter how I feel about him as a person, no parent should ever have to go through that kind of loss.

I love our (my) president. That's something else that would seem to be pretty foreign to me. Each and every day I watch the news, or read the internet, or just think about what President Obama has to deal with, how much he's already started to get done and how much work is still ahead. I like his choice for Supreme Court; a strong, smart woman who just happens to be a minority.

After having total diarrhea of the mouth lately, Dick Cheney seems to finally be shutting up. Let's hope it lasts. Even the GOP is turning against him.

Lil, Jason, Kyle, Chelsea and I had a seafood feast Saturday afternoon. Chels took a picture of the food which I will try to post soon.

Miserable cold and crappy cough since Saturday - thank you Mike for the germs. I'll try to return the favor sometime soon.

A 5 year old girl is missing in Michigan - how does this keep happening?

I love my dog.

The Lovely Little Hummingbird

2009-05-25T14:41:00.003-04:00

Late spring signals the arrival of special spring visitors — those flighty little jewels called hummingbirds.

If you haven’t put your hummingbird feeder out yet, you may want to do it in the next few days, because those gorgeous birds will soon look for food and nesting sites.

Hummingbird experts recommend this recipe for your feeder: Use one part white cane sugar to four parts water. Some say boil the water, some say don’t boil the water, so take your pick.

Never use honey or artificial coloring, and store unused portions of your recipe in the refrigerator.

Always keep the feeder clean, not only replacing the sugar solution but washing all parts of the feeder every couple of days, because disease-causing mold appears quickly during hot, humid weather. (Would you eat food that had been left out for two days in summer heat?)

In addition to a feeder or two (a second one is needed if you have male hummingbirds engaging in territorial battles), fill your yard with plants that entice them. Although red flowers are supposed to attract them best, hummingbirds are enticed to many other colors, including blue, yellow and purple. Hummingbird flowers often have long tubes for their long bills and tongues.

Hummingbirds like to be around people and have no trouble flying close to where you sit, so put feeders and flowers close to where you can sit and enjoy them.

Their nests, on the other hand, are not easily seen, because they are so small and in out-of-the-way places like a small tree branch 10 to 20 feet tall. Shaped like an open cup, the nest of a ruby-throated hummingbird is fashioned from thistle and dandelion down, all secured with spider web and covered with lichens on the outside.

If you like to put out dryer lint, twine and other soft material for songbirds to use as nesting material, you may want to try the new Hummer Helper ready-made nesting material. One member of The Hummingbird Society testing it found 15 active hummingbirds nests within 100 feet of the bright-red wire frame holding the soft, fluffy stuff. You’ll find Hummer Helper and similar nesting products at local birding stores and online at sites such as http://www.songbirdessentials.com/.

PLANTS TO DRAW HUMMINGBIRDS

Azalea
Beautybush
Buckeyes
Butterfly bush
Chaste tree (vitex)
Glossy abelia
Hardy hibiscus
Mimosa
Wisteria
Flowers:
Ajuga
Bee balm
Begonia
Bellflower
Black-eyed Susan
Butterfly weed
Cardinal flower
Catmint
Cleome
Columbine
Coral bells
Daylily
Flowering tobacco
Gaillardia
Hollyhock
Hosta
Lantana
Petunia
Purple coneflower
Salvia
Verbena

Four Forty AM

2009-05-12T04:43:00.003-04:00

Every morning, exactly at 4:40 the birds start tweeting outside! Not at 4:39 or 4:41, but 4:40 right on the dot. It's almost like an alarm goes off somewhere in nature and wakes all the birds up.

I noticed this last year as well, and may have even blogged about it. Now that I'm on the 2nd floor I'm much closer to the tree tops and hear them even better. Thank goodness they don't get the birds inside started, they wait for sunrise.

Something to look forward to. Chirping and tweeting birds.

Dick Cheney - Just Shut Up

2009-05-11T04:09:00.005-04:00

In the 8 torturous years that Cheney was VP to President Idiot, we heard him speak about a dozen times. Thank goodness!

Since he's been out of office, it's like he has diarrhea of the mouth. "Obama has made us less safe" seems to be one of his favorite lines.

My thinking is that when he opens his mouth and lets all that crap come out, it is so he can say "I told you so" if and when we have another terrorist attack.

What he doesn't realize is that he is making us less safe by opening his pie hole. As his buddy would say "You're either with us or with them!"

I rarely say the words SHUT UP, but it seems so appropriate now.

Shut the eff up, Cheney! Climb back into whatever hole you belong in.

Let Obama undo all the mistakes you reptilian republicans did, and leave him the eff alone.

Is that clear enough?

Castle Looking For King, Queen or Princess

2009-05-05T20:43:00.004-04:00

It's finally happened!

The Castle is now for sale, and I couldn't be more excited. Here's the link if you're interested: http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/Warwick_RI_02889_1108993027

It's listed for $120,000 which isn't much more than my father bought it for back in 1976.

However, it's not in move-in condition as it was then. This house needs some serious attention. The present owner hasn't lived there in a couple of years. The copper was stolen out of it not too long ago. Some of the walls and ceilings have fallen down. The kitchen is just as it was, along with some of the carpeting, when my father sold it in the late 1980's.

The good news is that the house is a one-of-a-kind dwelling that could again be a showplace. The built-in furniture and shelves are absolutely gorgeous and they would only need to be cleaned and polished once the other work had been completed.

I'm so glad that I can finally do something to help this house get into the hands of someone who will love it.

It's Not Delivery...

2009-05-04T00:25:00.005-04:00

it's DiGiorno's!!!

Okay, you know those TV commercials, I'm sure you've seen them. I always wondered if it were true, but never tried one.

On Friday night Vanessa and Jae were here. Vanessa had been craving DiGiorno's for a few days, so her way here (to visit) Veronica picked up a supreme DiGiorno's pizza and we heated it up. O M G! That pizza is absolutely delicious. I mean really, really, really delicious. The veggies tasted really fresh. There was a good amount of toppings and the crust was as good as fresh dough.

DiGiorno's is so much better than the Domino's pizza's I've ordered lately, for sure. Vanessa said they were only about $7 which is a bargain if you've ordered a pizza from just about anywhere lately.

Today Patrick, Emilee, Matthew and I went to BJ's. Thank goodness Matthew remembered that I wanted to get DiGiorno's pizza while we were there, because I forgot to write it down. And if I forget to write something down, it certainly doesn't stay in my memory.

We got two 3-packs, so for about $25 I got 6 pizzas. Three supreme and three pepperoni. So the next time Vanessa and Jae are here, I will be able to offer them a choice of which DiGiorno's pizza they want to eat.

I will never order delivery pizza again. Really.

Buying Minutes = Contentment (for me at least)

2009-05-03T23:12:00.008-04:00

I just spent a couple of hours on the phone talking with my friend Bob Stevens who I have found jst two weeks ago after losing track of him when he left Rhode Island and moved back to Pennsylvania in 1997.

We've had a few phone conversations in the past two weeks and I cannot explain how happy that makes me. We've lots to catch up on and each and every conversation covers a little more ground.

Bob doesn't have a house phone, just a cell. I'm not sure how it works, but he buys minutes to add to his cell account, and until I came along he was doing just fine. The other night he bought 900 minutes and I'm afraid our two conversations since then have used up most of those minutes. He may be broke before long if we keep talking!

After we hung up tonight, I was thinking that I should just buy another phone to add to my T-mobile account. It's just $10 per month with unlimited T-mobile phone to phone. I could give him the phone and then he wouldn't have to worry about buying any additional minutes. I'm going to have to mention this to him when we talk next!

Again, the words are hard to find to describe how I feel now that Bob is back in my life. Somehow it seems that my life is more complete now or just more correct, I'm not sure how to put it. All I know is now that I've found him I'm never going to lose track of him again!

P's And Q's

2009-05-02T23:00:00.003-04:00

There is a benefit, I find, to living on a road where the bridge is closed.

No cars!

Just a few times today did people drive down to go to the bridge. They then turned around and floored it to go back.

Other than that, it's been very, very quiet.

I like quiet.

Peace and quiet.

An Inconvenient Route

2009-05-01T17:09:00.003-04:00

Town officials Friday afternoon shut down a 20-foot-long bridge on South Road just east of Route 2 after discovering that its support structure had rotted and its road surface had dropped two to three inches.

The state Department of Transportation inspected the bridge Friday afternoon and agreed to the town's decision to shut it down. Concrete blocks were placed at either end of the bridge by mid-afternoon Friday.

Public Works Director Joseph C. Duarte said the steel and concrete bridge, which goes over the Hunt River, will be closed indefinitely.

"It's got to be repaired, which will take months and months," he said. The bridge is on a town road, so the town will be responsible for fixing it, he said.

The town received a call just before noon that something seemed wrong with the bridge, which officials say is about 30 years old.

Town Manager William Sequino said the School Department and the bus company that busses local students had been notified.

South Road is just south of the intersection of Routes 2 and 4, near Richard's Pub. It feeds the Woodland Greens Golf Club.

Seeing that I live just one house down from this bridge and it is the route I take to get to the highway, it should be an inconvenience every time I go out. I knew this would happen after all of the trucks that were used to transport the hundreds of trees that were taken down last year by National Grid. I should have called the town and/or the state at that time so this problem could have been averted.

My plan is to write some letters and see what can be done to get National Grid to pay for some of the repair.

Pandemics In Perspective

2009-05-01T05:34:00.004-04:00

This is the best article I have read regarding the H1N1 flu. acdc

How bad can a flu epidemic get? The raw numbers indicate that over the past 90 years, far more people have been killed by relatively run-of-the-mill seasonal flu viruses than by the exotic bugs that have grabbed most of the headlines - such as bird flu or the current strain of swine flu.

But to get a more useful perspective on a flu epidemic's potential impact, you have to go back to the mother of all pandemics: the "Spanish flu" of 1918.

Newly published research supports the view that the H1N1 virus behind the current outbreak is a distant cousin of the virus that sparked the infamous 1918 epidemic. But all the signs so far indicate that the 1918 flu was much more lethal. In fact, some researchers report that today's headline-making microbe lacks some of the molecular machinery that made past versions of the virus deadlier.

Citing such reports, the Los Angeles Times noted today that the current outbreak "may not even do as much damage as the run-of-the-mill flu outbreaks that occur each winter without much fanfare."

So far, the raw numbers bear that out. Typically, about 36,000 Americans die each year due to flu complications, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The worldwide toll is estimated at 250,000 to 500,000 annually. If you go back to the most recent officially recognized flu pandemic, the 1968-69 Hong Kong flu, the death toll is about the same: 34,000 in the U.S., 500,000 globally. The figures for the 1957-58 Asian flu pandemic are 70,000 U.S. deaths and 2 million deaths worldwide.

Even those figures pale in comparison with the 1918-19 flu pandemic: At least 550,000 people died in the United States alone. The worldwide death toll was estimated at 20 million to 40 million, or perhaps even as many as 100 million by some accounts. The flu killed more people than World War I (which may have contributed to its spread).

Compared to past pandemics, the current swine-flu outbreak is hardly a blip on the chart. (Speaking of charts, you can click onto a couple that show you mortality rates since 1900 and since 1950.) Last year, MIT researcher Peter Doshi pointed out that not all pandemics turn out to be as serious as the annual seasonal flu. And in its swine-flu FAQ, the Canadian government makes a similar point.

So does that mean the current outbreak is just a piddling pandemic? Not necessarily.
For one thing, it's far too early to assess how this outbreak will end up. For another thing, the pattern of the deaths so far is distressing. Both those caveats draw on the lessons learned from the 1918 flu.

The age factor
"The big difference between seasonal flu and pandemic flu is that when you move to pandemic flu, you get a pattern that the older people are not affected," said Lone Simonsen, an epidemiologist at George Washington University who is also the founder and president of SAGE Analytica. The age distribution curve for a typical seasonal flu looks like a "U," while the distribution pattern for the 1918 flu was more of a "W," as seen on this chart.

Experts worry that the distribution pattern for the current outbreak looks similar. Every death from the flu is a tragedy, but it's particularly tragic when a significant number of the fatalities come in the 20-to-50 age bracket rather than the over-85 bracket.

"That's a lot of life years lost," Simonsen said. "It has another flavor to it."

Simonsen and her colleagues are still trying to figure out why the 1918 flu hit people in the prime of their lives so hard. One hypothesis is that the virus could somehow push a healthy immune system into such a violent response that the body suffered irreparable damage. Another idea is that the older people had acquired immunity from a previous flu epidemic, while younger people missed out. Simonsen said a third possibility is that some sort of bacterial co-infection made the flu worse. Or it could have been a combination of factors.

Wave of the future
Even if the current outbreak turns out to be relatively mild, that's not necessarily the end of the story. "When you look at the past pandemics, you observe that they often come in waves," Simonsen said.

She said a review of the records from 1918 show that the year's first flu flare-up actually came in the spring and summer, in the form of a less lethal but highly transmissible infection. That appears to have been the precursor for the deadlier waves of influenza that swept across the world that fall.

If the current outbreak turns out to follow a similar pattern, that would be "good and bad news," Simonsen said. It's bad news because a worse outbreak could conceivably follow. But it's good news, she said, because we'd have "more time to defend ourselves," using all the defenses that have been developed since 1918.

Patrolling the pigs
In recent years, the biggest concern on the minds of epidemiologists has been avian flu, not swine flu - but the current outbreak is a sign that experts will have to pay attention to the pigs as well, said Juergen Richt, a veterinary researcher at Kansas State University.

He and his colleagues infected pigs with the 1918 "Spanish flu" virus, as well as a virus from 1930 that is thought to be a descendant of the 1918 strain, under Biosafety Level 4 lab conditions. The experiment, described in the May issue of the Journal of Virology, showed that the swine suffered mild respiratory disease but recovered from the infection.

"A virus which is lethal to monkeys, ferrets and mice, and was lethal to people [in 1918], is not lethal to pigs," Richt told me. That suggests that swine could have played a role in maintaining and spreading the 1918 flu, he said.

It also suggests that swine populations might have to be monitored more closely for evidence of potentially dangerous disease strains, perhaps through diagnostic screening. It's not enough to wait until pigs drop dead, he said.

Richt said swine-flu strains appear to be undergoing mutations more rapidly today than they did a decade ago. "Something happened 10 years ago, where the whole evolution of swine flu changed and became very dynamic," he said. Why? Richt said the reason is unknown, although it may have something to do with a genetic change enhancing the virus' ability to jump between pigs, birds and people.

Richt is a big advocate for research that bridges the gap between human medicine and veterinary medicine, and he told me the current flap over flu viruses just underscores the point.
"It's not only bird flu and swine flu," he said. "There are lots of zoonotic diseases - tuberculosis, Rift Valley fever, Lyme disease. ... We have to realize that only together can we solve these problems."

Alan Boyle covers the physical sciences, anthropology, technological innovation and space science and exploration for MSNBC.com. He is a winner of the AAAS Science Journalism Award, the NASW Science-in-Society Award and other honors; a contributor to "A Field Guide for Science Writers"; and a member of the board of the Council for the Advancement of Science Writing.

Flu Prevention

2009-04-29T17:49:00.003-04:00

Avoid close contact.
Avoid close contact with people who are sick. When you are sick, keep your distance from others to protect them from getting sick too.

Stay home if sick.
If possible, stay home from work, school, and errands when you are sick. You will help prevent others from catching your illness.

Cover your mouth and nose.
Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when coughing or sneezing. It may prevent those around you from getting sick.

Clean your hands.
Washing your hands often will help protect you from germs.

Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth.
Germs are often spread when a person touches something that is contaminated with germs and then touches his or her eyes, nose, or mouth.

Practice other good health habits.
Get plenty of sleep, be physically active, manage your stress, drink plenty of fluids, and eat nutritious food.

Obama's First Hundred Days

2009-04-27T18:47:00.004-04:00

I love my President and think that he is doing an amazing job. He's well on his way to repairing the broken relationships around the world. He's overturned lots of the idiot's mistakes and he's signed laws that truly make sense.

I am proud of my President, which is something I haven't said or thought in 8 years.

He's confident, believeable, smart and literate. I don't envy him his job and it's only going to get worse if this swine flu turns into a pandemic. We will then see our economy crumble.

I have complete confidence in him and know that he's the best person for that riducously hard job.

I think that Michelle Obama is fabulous and that she has redefined the role of first lady. Their kids are adorable and as for their dog, who doesn't love a fluffy black dog?

Swine Flu

2009-04-24T22:11:00.005-04:00

I have previously warned about bird flu and a possible pandemic. It seems that this newest flu has taken the World Health Organization by surprise. Here's a link to help you know what to do to prepare for any type of global virus or pandemic: http://www.pandemicflu.gov/health/whatyoucando.html

A unique strain of swine flu is the suspected killer of dozens of people in Mexico, where authorities closed schools, museums, libraries and theaters in the capital on Friday to try to contain an outbreak that has spurred concerns of a global flu epidemic.

The worrisome new virus — which combines genetic material from pigs, birds and humans in a way researchers have not seen before — also sickened at least eight people in Texas and California, though there have been no deaths in the U.S.

"We are very, very concerned," World Health Organization spokesman Thomas Abraham said. "We have what appears to be a novel virus and it has spread from human to human ... It's all hands on deck at the moment."

The outbreak caused alarm in Mexico, where more than 1,000 people have been sickened. Residents of the capital donned surgical masks and authorities ordered the most sweeping shutdown of public gathering places in a quarter century. President Felipe Calderon met with his Cabinet Friday to coordinate Mexico's response.

The WHO was convening an expert panel to consider whether to raise the pandemic alert level or issue travel advisories.

It might already be too late to contain the outbreak, a prominent U.S. pandemic flu expert said late Friday.

Given how quickly flu can spread around the globe, if these are the first signs of a pandemic, then there are probably cases incubating around the world already, said Dr. Michael Osterholm at the University of Minnesota.

Epidemiologists are particularly concerned because the only fatalities so far were in young people and adults.

The geographical spread of the outbreaks also concerned the WHO — while 13 of the 20 deaths were in Mexico City, the rest were spread across Mexico — four in central San Luis Potosi, two up near the U.S. border in Baja California, and one in southern Oaxaca state.

Scientists have long been concerned that a new flu virus could launch a worldwide pandemic of a killer disease. A new virus could evolve when different flu viruses infect a pig, a person or a bird, mingling their genetic material. The resulting hybrid could spread quickly because people would have no natural defenses against it.

The most notorious flu pandemic is thought to have killed at least 40 million people worldwide in 1918-19. Two other, less deadly flu pandemics struck in 1957 and 1968.

Obama Handshake and the Politics of Civility

2009-04-21T15:43:00.003-04:00

From: thenation.com
by Melissa Harris-Lacewell on 04/20/2009 @ 9:51pm

I was going to blog today about this same topic then I read this at thenation.com. Ms. Harris-Lacewell says it so much better than I could. acdc

Why is it that Barack Obama's handshakes create such a stir?

The Obamas fist pump congratulation after the North Carolina primary win sent Barack's candidacy into a bit of a racial tailspin, raising the specter of a secret terrorist plot apparently masterminded by dap-giving black folks and urban youth of all races. Now the genuinely pleasant greeting between President Obama and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has some in the GOP concerned about the security of America's state secrets. Newt Gingrich seems to believe that the Obama-Chavez handshake signals to all the world that U.S. foreign policy now condones human rights violation, drug trafficking, and illegal border crossing.

I'm not completely sure how this transference of policy authority occurs through skin-on-skin contact between world leaders, but we might need to get some vaccine research going right away. Afterall, President Obama shook hands with Senator John McCain at least a half dozen times last year. Does this mean that Obama has also authorized a Republican domestic, policy agenda? (shudder)

Those who are alarmed about President Obama's easy, casual camaraderie with Chavez misunderstand the role of civility in public life. Barack Obama is, if nothing else, a civil and gracious political leader. In all honesty, he is a little too civil for my taste. I am cut from the sarcastic, snarky, blogger cloth. I hold grudges and prefer to punish my political foes with biting commentary whenever possible. Barack Obama appoints his adversaries to cabinet positions and asks those he disagrees with to pray at his inauguration. It is a core element of who he is. Even in Obama's pre-presidential book, The Audacity of Hope, he displays his brand of polite restraint. He condemns racism, but doesn't name racists. He blames conservative policies for creating our national mess, but doesn't attack conservatives. You don't have to like it, but that handshake was authentic Obama.

I was thinking about this streak of civility in the President a great deal today because April 20th is the anniversary of the Columbine massacres. For many of us who are teachers, this is a day a for reflection. We seek to understand the immensity of the horror in that murderous rampage, but also seek to encounter the agonizing reality that the murderers were just boys themselves. It is hard to imagine that our students, even at their worst, would be capable of such monstrosity. So the effort is to condemn the violence while honoring the humanity in both the victims and the perpetrators. The work is to examine our own complicity in both damaging and arming the young people in our midst. On April 20th it feels like a struggle to separate the acts we condemn from the human people with whom we share our earth.

So it is with Obama and Chavez. Barack Obama is no friend of Venezuelan economic and political policies, but Obama follows a political logic that separates human actors from the atrocity or banality of their acts. I sometimes vehemently disagree with this impulse, as in the case of his unwillingness to prosecute the perpetrators of torture, but I do see a kind of consistency in his approach. Obama is following a politics of civility.

Or maybe a handshake is just a handshake.

Persistence Pays Off

2009-04-20T19:50:00.005-04:00

OMG! OMG! OMG! I cannot tell you all how happy I am at this moment in time!

I have been looking for a friend of mine for many, many years. He moved from RI to PA and somehow we lost contact. Over 5 years ago, I started looking for him on the internet and have mailed letters to different addresses I've found, only to have them all returned.

Last Friday I mailed yet another letter to yet another address. At 17:10 this afternoon my phone rang with a number that I did not recognize. I hoped it was Bob as I answered and it was!!!!

We have talked for the past 2 and 1/2 hours and he's coming here for a long weekend for the July 4th holiday!!!

The really great thing about our conversation today is that, although it's been years, we picked up right about where we left off when we last saw each other. All those years (well, some of them) melted away now that we have connected again. He's doing fine, really good actually, and I am greatly relieved. Besides missing him so much, I was also worried about him.

I am so looking forward to seeing him in a couple of months, we've already talked about places we want to go to. Caserta's Pizza for a wimpy, Apsara's (Vietnamese/Asian food in South Providence) Newport, Waterfire (haven't checked the schedule yet, but probably is scheduled for the holiday weekend) among so many other things.

You know that bucket list that those of us at an age have, whether written down or not? Today, I can cross one item off my list. I have found my old friend and he is well!

And I am happy.

35 Years Seems Wrong

2009-04-20T03:45:00.004-04:00

This June 7, it will be 35 years since I graduated from high school! In so many ways that time seems to have flown by. In other ways, it seems so like a really long time since getting up and going to school every day.

My high school reunion is scheduled for sometime later in June. I've already sent back my questionnaire and let them (whoever they are) know that I will not be attending.

I didn't have a really great time in high school. It was okay and I was relieved to graduate and move onto working full time. I still stay in touch with the people who I want to stay in touch with. Jerry and I met in 11th grade cooking class, where we were assigned to the same table. He and Faith, who I met in 12th grade, got married a couple of years after graduation and I see them pretty regularly. I am godmother to their daughter and look forward to spending time with all of them. Tom, who married Janice about 3 years after graduation, graduated with me and Faith. Jerry had gone to Tollgate and Janice to Pilgrim, yet we have all remained best friends all these many years later.

So I did (very grudgingly) go to the 20th reunion. It was okay. Not great and not bad, just okay. It was strange to see people who looked familiar, yet different. There were no great surprises, just a bunch of people who used to know each other a long time ago. Now, 15 years past that, it seems pretty silly to go. I suppose it would be interesting to see who ended up where, but we did all that at the 20th and I don't remember who ended up where. I think I forgot because I didn't really care.

Faith/Jerry and Tom/Janice have gone to every reunion. Each time I would tell Faith to let me know if one particular classmate was there. If so, I would get dressed and meet up with them. But he never showed. About 6 years ago, I ran into his brother who gave my numbers to him. I got a call and we reconnected. He was living in DC and after talking for a couple of months he planned a trip to RI. I picked him up at his downtown hotel and we went for dinner and then to a PawSox game. During our dinner conversation I realized two things; the first being that he was a total and complete drunk and, secondly, he had no recollection of me at all. After all those years of wondering what happened to him, now all of a sudden, I couldn't get rid of him. It took some time and many late night calls where he was pretty loaded to finally get him to stop calling. I also moved and changed my phone number which may have helped as well.

So, mostly, I don't want to know the details of the lives of a bunch of people I don't recall all that well and didn't really care about to begin with.

However, at 52 years old, I am finding that life is pretty tenuous. Just a couple of days ago I ran into an old school friend. She is having some health problems and has lost most of her eyesight. She also mentioned that a guy from our class, who was at that kitchen table with Jerry and I back in 11th grade, had come to a mini-reunion that was held in March. A couple of weeks later, he was dead after suffering a massive heart attack.

A few years ago, I ran into the mother of another classmate who I was pretty close to in 9th and 10th grade. They were a pretty wealthy family and when I would go to their house, I was surprised that they had a live-in housekeeper and an elevator in their house. The big surprise, however, was the master bedroom and bathroom which was one big room. The bed was huge and round and the bathtub was a double and there was a beer tap right into the tub! We'd hang out in that bedroom, not that we drank the beer, but it was funny to sit on the round bed and look at the double tub and the two toilets, one of which had a phone next to it. Anyway, when I ran into Mrs. Casey, I asked how Mary was and found out that she had passed away a few years earlier from cancer. I couldn't believe that I hadn't known.

Just in the past couple of months there have been two other classmated who's obituaries were in the newspaper. One guy I didn't recognize at all, but I did remember the girl (hard to say woman.)

So my thinking is that why should I spend time filling my brain with information that I don't need to store, when there is so much I work hard to remember, mostly regarding my nieces and nephews.

The only thing is that 52 is much too young to die.

The Puppy Has Been Lei'd

2009-04-12T05:33:00.004-04:00

Meet Bo, the Obama family's new puppy!!
How cute is he? And how excited do you think those girls are?

None of the Obama's have ever had a dog, can you believe that?
I am just so happy for them all!

Deadliest Catch - New Season

2009-04-10T15:48:00.004-04:00

Starts Tuesday, April 14 at 9:00 on Discovery Channel

Here's Sig from the F/V Northwestern...

And the F/V Time Bandit crew...

Sig and the Northwestern crew...

And here's Phil from F/V Cornelia Marie...

All of my favorite fishing men!!

I Rest My Case

2009-04-04T19:06:00.007-04:00

A gunman wearing a bulletproof vest and “lying in wait” opened fire on officers responding to a domestic disturbance call Saturday, killing three of them and turning a quiet Pittsburgh street into a battlefield, police said.

Wearing a bulletproof vest and armed with an AK-47, a long rifle and a pistol, Poplawski fired about 100 rounds during the standoff.

Officer Paul Sciullo III, a 14-year veteran of the department, was the first to approach the home after responding to the scene around 7:05 a.m. He was shot in the head as he entered the doorway.

When Officer Stephen Mayhle tried to help his fellow officer, he too was shot in the head.

Officer Eric Kelly, who rushed to the scene on his way home after finishing his shift, was fatally shot as he attempted to assist his fallen colleagues.

Police Chief Nate Harper said the motive for the shooting isn’t clear, but friends said the gunman recently had been upset about losing his job and feared the Obama administration was poised to ban guns.

It just might happen now after this awful attack!

Also in the news tonight: A father apparently shot to death five of his children, ages 7 to 16, at their mobile home and then killed himself near a casino miles away, police said Saturday.

Constitutional Change

2009-04-03T14:57:00.005-04:00

I'm pretty sure when our founding fathers wrote the constitution, including the "right to bear arms," they weren't thinking too far into the future. There's no way they would have envisioned how the United Stated would progress over the next one or two hundred years. Back then, people needed to have the right to bear arms. They didn't know where or when an attack would come from; be it man or beast.

But, nowadays, all you have to do is go to school, or the post office, or a nursing home, or today - an immigration office in New York. I get a bit of grief for being one who likes to stay home. I rarely go out, the idiot and rude drivers annoy me to no end. It's just easier to stay home. And much safer as well. I might fall down the stairs or cut myself when cooking, but it's pretty safe here.

Somehow, as we have progressed, we've taken a huge step backward. Something needs to be done about the availability of guns, shotguns, rifles, and, especially semi and fully automatic weapons. The playing field needs to be leveled.

The New Place

2009-04-01T18:20:00.006-04:00

Though I'm still not sure where all my furniture is going to go, I am pretty much settled in at my new home. I really love it here.

I've changed the living room around a couple of times, but am still not happy with it. I can't decide what to do with the table - it's under a picture window now, but the floor is so crooked that anything round rolls right off - and standing across the room, you can tell the table isn't straight.

I've thought about putting the table in the kitchen, it would fit, but then the hutch (which is in the kitchen) would need to be moved out and I'm not sure where it would go.

My bedroom furniture has been moved around a couple of times. Veronica has my bureau, she has so many clothes that I had to give it to her so she could put some away and out of sight. I don't really need a bureau because the double closet that is in my bedroom now has shelves in half of it for me to put my clothes. Dennis did a great job on the shelves and the new double doors that replaced the very ugly pegboard sliders that were there previously.

One of the first things that we did was put up a clothesline. There were two of the little pulley thingys, one attached to the deck and the other attached to a tree about 30 feet away. Matthew and Emilee were here the day we put the clothesline up and were absolutely fascinated by it. I showed them how it works and we hung my pajama top on it so they could see. They couldn't believe how great it was and when Chelsea and Emilee were over a few days ago, Chelsea felt the same way and she and Emi made a big sign out of printer paper that said "Beware of Hannibal" and hung it on the clothesline. It stayed there for 3 days until I took it in and hung it on the wall as you walk into my kitchen. I explained to the kids that we only had clotheslines until clothes dryers were invented and they can't believe how "lucky" we were.

It reminded me of the time that I popped popcorn in a pan for Vanessa and Veronica years ago, they thought it was so cool and, again, I explained that this method predated microwave popcorn!

Thank goodness my nieces and nephews have me to show them the old school ways of doing things!!

Earth Hour 2009

2009-03-28T00:15:00.005-04:00

Saturday, March 28th from 8:30pm until 9:30 is the hour that we all turn our lights, our computers and our televisions off for (at least) one hour.

Earth Hour is both a symbolic act and the start of a practical habit, at least I hope it becomes a practical habit. Take it from me, someone who loves the dark and usually has most lights turned off, it can be a great experience.

Lighting accounts for about 11 percent of a typical American home's energy bills, while computers and electronics add another 9 percent. So by shutting off these things when we're not using them, we can lower our load significantly.

Turn your outside lights off also! I love looking at the night sky and find it almost impossible to find a truly dark spot to look for satellites, meteors and just the beauty of all the stars. Try getting timers or motion sensors so that the lights only come on when you need them. I recently bought some solar lamps to light the walkway to my deck. We need to use the sun more than we do.

Some famous buildings will be going dark on Saturday including: The Empire State Building in New York City, the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the St. Louis Gateway Arch, the Sydney Opera House, the Sears Tower in Chicago, Seattle's Space Needle, the Great Pyramids and Sphinx in Egypt, the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, and Broadway theater marquees in New York City.

Even the flashy Las Vegas Strip will turn dark for an hour.

So turn off the lights - have a candlelight dinner or just sit and enjoy the darkness and turn off all those LED lights from TVs, radios, phone chargers, clocks, and everything else that glows.

Think of it as a retreat, a time to be quiet and peaceful. And you'll also save some money on your electric bill.

Guide For Head Injuries

2009-03-26T16:04:00.003-04:00

Last week, when Natasha Richardson died so quickly after falling and hitting her head during a ski lesson, I wondered how often that happens to other people. Come to find out, it doesn't happen all that often. But, any head injury should be attended to. Here's a list of things to look for and do.

In most cases, it's pretty clear when someone needs medical attention after a head injury, says Greg Ayotte, a spokesperson for the Brain Injury Association of America and a cognitive rehabilitation therapist. "They're confused, they're agitated, or they might be dizzy or unresponsive," he says.

But then there's what doctors call the "talk and die" scenario, where someone seems fine, only to die hours, or sometimes even days later.

"Talk and die" can happen with several different kinds of brain injuries. In the case of epidural hematomas, the injury Richardson had, blood pools in the area between the lining of the brain and the skull. "Fluid is building up in a contained space, creating pressure. Something's got to give, and that something is the brain," Ayotte says. If you don't get to the hospital to have surgery to drain the fluid, "the deterioration can happen very quickly."

Here, from Ayotte and other experts, is a list of what to do after someone has suffered a head injury.

1. Be vigilant
Keep an eye on someone who has hit his head, even if the person never lost consciousness. "A lot of folks are still under the assumption that as long as you're not knocked out, you're OK, and that's not true," Ayotte says.

2. Look for dizziness, vomiting, headache and confusion
If the injured person has these signs, take him or her to an emergency room, says Dr. Jam Ghajar, clinical professor of neurological surgery at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York, and president of the Brain Trauma Foundation.

3. Look for changes in symptoms and behavior
Any sudden change, such as a headache going from mild to severe in minutes, means the person needs medical attention. For example, Ghajar says, if a person gets suddenly sleepy in the first 12 hours after a hit, it may mean the parts of the brain responsible for staying awake are experiencing pressure from a bleed.

4. Be especially wary if someone a) has been drinking alcohol, b) is on blood thinners, c) is elderly or d) is a young athlete
It's tough to distinguish brain-injured behavior from drunken behavior, so when in doubt, take the person to the hospital, Ghajar says. Also, blood thinners can turn a mild bleed into a major bleed, so be especially vigilant if the injured person is taking blood thinners such as warfarin.
He also warns people to be extra vigilant when an elderly person hits his or her head. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has information on traumatic brain injury and senior citizens. The CDC also has information on concussions in young athletes.

5. Go to a certified trauma center if you can
The American College of Surgeons has a list of certified trauma facilities; a hospital that's not a trauma center may not have a neurosurgeon on call. You can also look on this map from the American Trauma Society. Find your state, select trauma centers, update the map, and you can find information about trauma centers in your area.

Baby Talk

2009-03-25T17:56:00.006-04:00

I just got off the phone (not literally) from talking with my friend Dawn, the new mommy.

I did not expect a call so soon and it was such a surprise and so great to hear her voice. As with other new mothers, she's very tired. She told me about what she went through in those 38 hours of labor, and all I can say is that I am thankful she prevailed and she got to go home with a baby, which made it all worth it.

Here's her husband, Joe, who looks like a natural at being a dad.
Dawn said that Joe was a rock for her and gave her lots of support during the labor and birth. As I've said before, there is nothing that shows what a real man is more than how good he is as a husband and father. Looks like Joe's got both of those covered!

20 Years Later - Still Reasons To Boycott Exxon/Mobil

2009-03-24T11:39:00.009-04:00

Twenty years after the Exxon Valdez spilled 11 million gallons of crude oil in Alaska's Prince William Sound, oil persists in the region and, in some places, "is nearly as toxic as it was the first few weeks after the spill," according to the council overseeing restoration efforts.

"This Exxon Valdez oil is decreasing at a rate of 0-4 percent per year," the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council stated in a report marking Tuesday's 20th anniversary of the worst oil spill in U.S. waters. "At this rate, the remaining oil will take decades and possibly centuries to disappear entirely."

The council's findings come two decades after the March 24, 1989 disaster, when the single-hulled Exxon tanker hit a reef, emptying its contents into Alaskan waters. The spill contaminated more than 1,200 miles of shoreline and killed hundreds of thousands of seabirds and marine animals.

Captain convicted of misdemeanor
The council, made up of three state and three federal appointees, was created to administer the $900 million that Exxon paid to settle lawsuits filed after the accident, which also resulted in criminal charges against the ship's captain, Joseph Hazelwood.

Hazelwood, was accused but then acquitted on a charge of being drunk at the time. He was, however, convicted of negligent discharge of oil, a misdemeanor, and sentenced to a $50,000 fine and 1,000 hours of community service.

In the weeks and months following the spill, thousands of people tried to clean up the contamination. But two decades later, oil persists and is estimated to total around 20,000 gallons, according to the council. One of the lessons learned is that a spill's impacts can last a long time in a habitat with calm, cold waters like Prince William Sound, the council said.

"Following the oil and its impacts over the past 20 years has changed our understanding of the long-term damage from an oil spill," the council stated. "We know that risk assessment for future spills must consider what the total damages will be over a longer period of time, rather than only the acute damages in the days and weeks following a spill."

"One of the most stunning revelations" from studies over the last decade, the council said, "is that Exxon Valdez oil persists in the environment and, in places, is nearly as toxic as it was the first few weeks after the spill."

As a result, some sea otter populations as well as bird species have been slow to recover. Overall, some 200,000 seabirds and 4,000 otters were thought to have died from the contamination.

Oil found 450 miles away
Moreover, surveys "have documented lingering oil also on the Kenai Peninsula and the Katmai coast, over 450 miles away," according to the council.

None of that was expected "at the time of the spill or even ten years later," it added. "In 1999, beaches in the sound appeared clean on the surface. Some subsurface oil had been reported in a few places, but it was expected to decrease over time and most importantly, to have lost its toxicity due to weathering. A few species were not recovering at the expected rate in some areas, but continuing exposure to oil was not suspected as the primary cause."

It turns out that oil often got trapped in semi-enclosed bays for weeks, going up and down with the tide and some of it being pulled down into the sediment below the seabed.

"The cleanup efforts and natural processes, particularly in the winter, cleaned the oil out of the top 2-3 inches, where oxygen and water can flow," the council said, "but did little to affect the large patches of oil farther below the surface."

Sea otter concerns
That area is also biologically rich with mussels, clams and other marine life that help sustain sea otters and ducks.

"Sea otters usually have very small home ranges of a few square kilometers," the council said.

"In these small ranges, it is unlikely that the otters are avoiding areas of lingering oil when foraging.

As a result, "while overall population numbers in western Prince William Sound have recovered, local populations in heavily oiled areas have not recovered as quickly."

There is a plus side to the foraging by otters, since digging in oiled areas does release the contaminants to the water, where they are diluted and dispersed.

Bird concerns
The American Bird Conservancy issued its own warning, stating that while many bird species have recovered several significant ones have not.

The spill killed 5-10 percent of the world's population of Kittlitz's Murrelets, the group said, a species whose numbers declined 99 percent from 1972 to 2004.

"Prior to the spill, the rate of decline was 18 percent per year, but since 1989 that rate has increased to 31 percent," the group stated. "The growing impact of global warming in the Arctic and the melting of glaciers, caused by the burning of oil and other fossil fuels, may also be a factor in this decline."

Two other species cited are: the Pigeon Guillemot, whose populations have steadily declined throughout the sound since the spill; and the Marbled Murrelet, which has not met the recovery objective of a stable population.

The group cited a faster transition to double-hulled oil tankers as the best protection for wildlife. Single-hulled tankers are still allowed in U.S. waters until 2015.

"A similar requirement for double-hulled tankers needs to be made globally to protect birds and other wildlife from future spills," said Michael Fry, the group's conservation director. "Additional marine reserves and no-go zones for tankers during sensitive breeding and staging seasons should also be implemented to protect the most vulnerable species."

Haley Elizabeth's Second Day Of Life

2009-03-22T00:37:00.004-04:00

Here are some more pictures of Dawn and Joe's baby daughter, Haley Elizabeth. What a doll!

It's love at first sight when you see a baby - look at those cheeks!!

She looks pretty serious for just being two days old. I wonder what she's thinking about.

Haley Elizabeth

2009-03-20T16:53:00.003-04:00

Meet Haley Elizabeth Breault !!

She was born on Thursday, March 19 at 9:17pm after 38 hours of labor to my friends Dawn and Joe Breault. She weighed in at a healthy 8 lbs 2 ozs.

I am thrilled for them - the joy of a healthy child and the infinite possibilities of her life!

Spring Has Arrived

2009-03-20T11:58:00.003-04:00

Is your garden wildlife-friendly? Welcome wildlife to your yard by creating a Certified Wildlife Habitat™ through National Wildlife Federation. You’ll enjoy attracting all kinds of beautiful birds, butterflies and other small animals all year-round.

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YOUR NAME LISTED in NWF’s National Registry

FREE NWF MEMBERSHIP, which includes a full year’s subscription to the award-winning National Wildlife® magazine and more.

FREE SUBSCRIPTION to our quarterly e-newsletter,Habitats, which is full of wonderful tips and information on gardening and attracting wildlife.

Plus, your $15 application fee will help support NWF’s nationwide efforts to safeguard wildlife and wild places for future generations to enjoy.

So, bring your yard to life by certifying today!

Avoid Metal Detectors And Magnets

2009-03-18T02:03:00.002-04:00

Elaine Davidson, the Guiness World Record holder for the "most-pierced woman" just broke her own record, according to the U.K.'s Telegraph. When she was first awarded the title in 2000 she had 462 piercings. In this photo from May 16, 2008, Davidson poses for the camera in the Royal Mile in Edinburgh, Scotland, showing some of the 5,920 piercings she had then.

Puff, Sympathy Gone

2009-03-17T19:14:00.005-04:00

I've blogged before about how I don't really feel bad for people most of the time. I find that we all, myself included, create our own problems and it's hard to garner any sympathy most of the time.

I have, however, felt bad about Patrick Swayze. He's relatively young and has pancreatic cancer, which is one of the most deadly cancers. He was great in Ghost and it was fun watching him dance in Dirty Dancing.

Tonight I watched NBC Nightly News and left the TV on when one of the tabloid TV shows came on. They showed the "latest video" of Patrick Swayze and there he was walking on a sidewalk, smoking a cigarette!!!

My sympathy for him just went up in a puff of smoke.

Paraskevidekatriaphobia: Do You Have It?

2009-03-13T09:05:00.004-04:00

It’s called paraskevidekatriaphobia: a morbid or irrational fear of Friday the 13th. It's believed that as many as 25 million Americans will change their behavior today because of superstition: They’ll stay away from shopping malls and won't set foot on airplanes. The cost of all this fear comes close to $800 million per day in lost business, according to the Stress Management Center and Phobia Institute in North Carolina.

So what’s the truth? Is Friday the 13th hazardous to your health? Are you better off staying home today? I’ve spent the last few years studying who lives and dies in all kinds of everyday crises. When it comes to Friday the 13th, there’s some good news, some bad news and one thing you can definitely do to improve your chances.

It's actually safer than an average FridayOn the bright side, a recent study suggests that Friday the 13th is actually safer than the average Friday. Dutch researchers with the Center for Insurance Statistics looked at traffic accidents, fires and thefts and found there were fewer incidents on Friday the 13th than regular Fridays. Do people drive and behave more carefully on Friday the 13th? Or do they just stay home, avoiding black cats and ladders? “I find it hard to believe that it is because people are preventatively more careful,” a Dutch statistician explains, “but statistically speaking, driving is a little bit safer on Friday 13th.”

Nothing to fear but fear itselfOn the dark side, a Finnish study in 2002 found that women have a 63 percent greater risk of dying in traffic accidents on that date. Simo Nayha, the Finnish researcher, believes that fear causes them to crash. “It is not inconceivable that on Friday the 13th,” Nayha writes, “women who are susceptible to superstitions obsess that something unfortunate is going to happen, which causes anxiety and the subsequent degradation of mental and motor functioning.”

The Finnish study is supported by earlier data published in the British Medical Journal. Researchers examined auto accidents on Friday the 6th and Friday the 13th over a three year period. “Friday 13th is unlucky for some,” they concluded. “The risk of hospital admission as a result of a transport accident may be increased by as much as 52 percent. Staying at home is recommended.”

Bottom Line: You might want to exercise extra caution on Friday the 13th, but you shouldn’t be afraid. Indeed, if you’re fearful of anything, you should worry about other people who suffer from paraskevidekatriaphobia. Avoid them on the roads. Steer clear of them on sidewalks. After all, it’s not the day or date that will get you. It’s the fear.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt would not travel on the 13th day of any month and would never host 13 guests at a meal. Napoleon and President Herbert Hoover were also triskaidekaphobic, with an abnormal fear of the number 13.

Many hospitals have no room 13, while some tall buildings skip the 13th floor and some airline terminals omit Gate 13.

The number 13 suffers from its position after 12, according to numerologists who consider the latter to be a complete number — 12 months in a year, 12 signs of the zodiac, 12 gods of Olympus, 12 labors of Hercules, 12 tribes of Israel, 12 apostles of Jesus, 12 days of Christmas and 12 eggs in a dozen.

Butch Cassidy, notorious American train and bank robber, was born on Friday, April 13, 1866.

Fidel Castro was born on Friday, Aug. 13, 1926.

The ill-fated Apollo 13 launched at 13:13 CST on Apr. 11, 1970. The sum of the date's digits (4-11-70) is 13. And the explosion that crippled the spacecraft occurred on April 13 (not a Friday). The crew did make it back to Earth safely, however.

There Was An Old Lady Who Lived In A...

2009-03-11T20:49:00.005-04:00

So I moved again this past weekend. I'm not sure how many houses I have lived in over the years, but here's the list. You do the math.

Newborn home to New York Avenue, Providence

Toddler moved to Glenham Street, Providence

About 4 moved to 33 Lane 5, Warwick

At 11, moved to 121 Beacon Avenue, Warwick

At 18, moved to 699 Church Avenue, Warwick

At 18, moved back to 121 Beacon Avenue, Warwick

At 19, moved to 63 Commodore St, Providence

Then moved to 25 Hall St, Providence (1976)

Then moved to 260 Valley St, Providence (1976)

Then moved to 10 Vale St, Providence (1977)
During this time, I went to live in Florida with my Uncle Pete, which lasted all of 3 months. I returned home just in time for the blizzard of '78. While Michelle and Walter stayed at my apartment, I lived at:

The Castle, 200 Longmeadow Ave, Warwick

Then back to 10 Vale St, Providence

Then to Gough Ave, West Warwick

Then to Main St, West Warwick

Then to 51 Cromwell Avenue, Warwick

Then to Shaw Rd, Carver, MA (February,1988)

Then to I can't remember the street name, Onset, MA

Then to Barneyville Road, Swansea, MA

Then back to 51 Cromwell Avenue, Warwick

Then to WoodCove Road, Coventry

Then to Northup Plat Road, Coventry

Then to 183 Longmeadow Avenue, Warwick

Then to Old Baptist Road, North Kingstown

Then to Brayton Meadow, East Greenwich

Then to West Main Road, North Kingstown

Then to Stony Lane, North Kingstown

Then to Austin Road, North Kingstown

Then to 1st floor, present location, East Greenwich

Then to 2nd floor, present location, East Greenwich

I think that is it, though I do feel like I've forgotten something.

Moving sucks.

Sooo Busy

2009-03-06T16:07:00.003-05:00

I have been so busy, I've not had much time to post anything here.

Tonight and tomorrow, I am moving, thankfully upstairs is as far as I'm going.

Last week the carpets, tiles and paint were done in the upstairs apartment.

The week before, the old roof came off and the new roof went on.

There's been a dumpster outside for weeks!

I'm so pleased with our new President - just got an email that he has started the process of overturning the Bush administration rule that limits the rights of patients to receive complete and accurate reproductive health information and services.

Got another email that on Monday he will overturn the ban on federal funding for stem cell research!

How lucky are we to have a President who has common sense and compassion for all of us!!??

A Good Day

2009-02-15T09:08:00.004-05:00

Today should be one of my best days.

A few weeks ago my nieces and nephews got talking about how they wanted to have a party at my house before I move. As I am just moving upstairs, I suspect that they just want to have a party. Nevermind that my brother Patrick is moving into my apartment once I'm out!

I found out on Friday that the party is today!

I absolutely love and adore my nieces and nephews. They are smart, funny, cool, compassionate, witty, clever, creative and the joy of my life.

Last night I made chocolate chip cookies, and I'm proud to say that I didn't burn any!

Other than that, I've been told that I don't have to do anything!!

I'll post pictures and video later.

February 12, 1809 - April, 1865

2009-02-12T06:02:00.006-05:00

Our 16th President ABRAHAM LINCOLN 1809 - 1865

Lincoln warned the South in his Inaugural Address: "In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow countrymen, and not in mine, is the momentous issue of civil war. The government will not assail you.... You have no oath registered in Heaven to destroy the government, while I shall have the most solemn one to preserve, protect and defend it."

Lincoln thought secession illegal, and was willing to use force to defend Federal law and the Union. When Confederate batteries fired on Fort Sumter and forced its surrender, he called on the states for 75,000 volunteers. Four more slave states joined the Confederacy but four remained within the Union. The Civil War had begun.

The son of a Kentucky frontiersman, Lincoln had to struggle for a living and for learning. Five months before receiving his party's nomination for President, he sketched his life:

"I was born Feb. 12, 1809, in Hardin County, Kentucky. My parents were both born in Virginia, of undistinguished families--second families, perhaps I should say. My mother, who died in my tenth year, was of a family of the name of Hanks.... My father ... removed from Kentucky to ... Indiana, in my eighth year.... It was a wild region, with many bears and other wild animals still in the woods. There I grew up.... Of course when I came of age I did not know much. Still somehow, I could read, write, and cipher ... but that was all."

Lincoln made extraordinary efforts to attain knowledge while working on a farm, splitting rails for fences, and keeping store at New Salem, Illinois. He was a captain in the Black Hawk War, spent eight years in the Illinois legislature, and rode the circuit of courts for many years. His law partner said of him, "His ambition was a little engine that knew no rest."

He married Mary Todd, and they had four boys, only one of whom lived to maturity. In 1858 Lincoln ran against Stephen A. Douglas for Senator. He lost the election, but in debating with Douglas he gained a national reputation that won him the Republican nomination for President in 1860.

As President, he built the Republican Party into a strong national organization. Further, he rallied most of the northern Democrats to the Union cause. On January 1, 1863, he issued the Emancipation Proclamation that declared forever free those slaves within the Confederacy.

Lincoln never let the world forget that the Civil War involved an even larger issue. This he stated most movingly in dedicating the military cemetery at Gettysburg: "that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain--that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom--and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."

Lincoln won re-election in 1864, as Union military triumphs heralded an end to the war. In his planning for peace, the President was flexible and generous, encouraging Southerners to lay down their arms and join speedily in reunion.

The spirit that guided him was clearly that of his Second Inaugural Address, now inscribed on one wall of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D. C.: "With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation's wounds.... "

On Good Friday, April 14, 1865, Lincoln was assassinated at Ford's Theatre in Washington by John Wilkes Booth, an actor, who somehow thought he was helping the South. The opposite was the result, for with Lincoln's death, the possibility of peace with magnanimity died.

Our current President surely admires and looks to Abraham Lincoln as a source of strength and wisdom.

Abraham Lincoln said "I am in favor of animal rights as well as human rights. That is the way of a whole human being."

February Presidential Birthdays

2009-02-11T09:11:00.003-05:00

There are four presidents whose birthdays in February make up a historic lineup. They include two of the presidents, George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, for whom there are major monuments in Washington, D.C., and whose faces are sculpted into the side of South Dakota’s Mount Rushmore.

The bicentennial of Lincoln’s birthday, on Feb. 12, 1809, will be marked on Thursday. Lincoln, the 16th president, served from 1861 until his assassination in April 1865 at age 56.

Washington, the nation’s first president, was born on Feb. 22, 1732, making this year the 277th anniversary of his birth. He served as president from 1789 until 1797, and died in December 1799 at age 67.

The other successful February-born president was the 40th, Ronald Reagan, who served from 1981 to 1989 and is regarded by many Republicans as their most significant leader of the modern era. Reagan was born Feb. 6, 1911 and died in June 2004 at age 93.

The fourth February-born president made history, too, but for the wrong reason. William Henry Harrison was born Feb. 9, 1773, and died at age 68 on April 4, 1841 — exactly one month after he was sworn in as the ninth president of the United States. Harrison has since held the enduring record as the president with the shortest tenure in office.

Old Dog, New Trick

2009-02-11T01:11:00.005-05:00

I'm a big fan of dogs and dog shows. Last night and tonight was the Westminster Dog Show in NYC. There were over 2,500 entries which ended with one dog being named Best In Show. That dog is a 10 year old Sussex Spaniel named Stump.

Stump hadn't been in a dog show for 5 years, he had just been hanging around at home when his handler decided last week to enter him.

He looks to be a worthy successor to Uno, the adorable beagle who was last years Best In Show!

After being named Best In Show, Stump did what I have Hannibal do, which is "sit pretty!" What a funny little guy.

Football

2009-01-31T18:38:00.008-05:00

I didn't realize until a couple of days ago that this was Super Bowl weekend. That is pretty surprising for me. With the Patriots not going to the big game, I guess there really wasn't any reason to know.

Years ago, it was a different story. My TV would go on in the morning and off after midnight each and every Sunday. I would watch all the pre and post shows and whatever games were being shown in the Providence market. Teams I enjoyed were: Kansas City Chiefs (my favorite)along with the Buffalo Bills and Patriots (of course.) I also loved to watch Green Bay and the Pittsburgh Steelers (who I am rooting for this year!)

The Kansas City Chiefs were my favorite team, lead by Marty Schottenheimer, who is my all time favorite head coach. Steve DeBerg, Derrick Thomas (inducted posthumously into the Hall of Fame today) along with a great defense.

My second favorite team was the Buffalo Bills - Jim Kelly, Steve Tasker, Andre Reed and Bruce Smith - my all time favorite football player! Here he is, pictured below, back in the day:

What fun he was to watch! The determination he showed as a player was always something I admired the most of him.

“I am overjoyed,” said Smith, the career sacks leader who spent most of his career with the Bills.

A defensive end, Smith retired five years ago with 200 sacks and made two all-decade teams.

Drafted No. 1 overall in 1985, Smith had the most seasons with double-digit sacks (13) and the most postseason sacks (14½). He earned defensive player of the year honors in 1990 and 1996 with Buffalo and concluded his 19-season career with four seasons as a Redskin.

Smith previously said making the hall would be a bigger honor if two other Bills, Wilson and wide receiver Andre Reed, also got in the same year. He got half of his wish.

“What a phenomenal class, and especially with having Ralph Wilson, the founding owner of the Buffalo Bills, to be inducted in the ’09 class as well,” Smith said. “This is truly special.”

Then his thoughts turned to his family.

“Just thinking about my father and all the sacrifices he and my mother made when I was a child growing up to be a man,” Smith added, tearfully. “How he wanted me to have a life better than he had. I just wish he was here. He would be extremely proud of this day.”

Rhode Island Most Democratic State

2009-01-29T16:41:00.003-05:00

A poll released Wednesday by the Gallup organization showed that Rhode Island was the state with the biggest gap — 37 percentage points — between those who favor the Democrats and those who favor the Republicans.

Rhode Islanders who said they are Democrats or lean to the party made up 60.4 percent of respondents, to 23.8 percent who said they are Republicans or lean to the GOP.

The 60.3 of respondents in Massachusetts who affiliate with the Democrats was lower by a statistically insignificant difference. But a slightly higher number, 26.3 percent, favor or lean to the Republicans, making the gap 34 points. The same was true in Hawaii, the only non-New England state in the top four, where 60 percent identified with the Democrats and 26.2 percent did so with the Republicans.

Vermont scored 58.9 percent Democratic and 26.2 percent Republican, a gap of 33 points.

No state held a candle, though, to the District of Columbia, the Democratic stronghold that is the only non-state with electoral votes in presidential elections. The nation’s capital registered 84.1 percent Democratic to 8.7 percent Republican, a gaping chasm of 75 points.

These pro-Democratic leanings were clearly evident in last November’s presidential election results. Democrat Barack Obama easily carried D.C. and the four top Democratic states over Republican John McCain , taking 92 percent of the vote in the District, 63 percent in Rhode Island, 62 percent in Massachusetts, 72 percent in Hawaii (which also is Obama’s birth state) and 67 percent in Vermont. The Republican Party does not hold a single congressional seat, Senate or House, in any of these places.

Yet, in an interesting anomaly, three of the four strongest Democratic states — Rhode Island, Hawaii and Vermont — have Republican moderates serving as governor.

Bushisms We Won't Miss

2009-01-28T18:34:00.003-05:00

This is historic times. (Washington DC, 2003)

I think it's very important for the American President to mean what he says. That's why I understand that the enemy could misread what I say. That's why I try to be as clearly I can. (Washington DC, 2008)

I don't particularly like it when people put words in my mouth, either, by the way, unless I say it. (Texas, 2007) I

'm the master of low expectations. (Air Force One, 2003)

It's clearly a budget. It's got a lot of numbers in it. (Reuters, 2000)

We ought to make the pie higher. (South Carolina, 2000)

You're working hard to put food on your family. (New Hampshire, 2000)

Families is where our nation finds hope, where wings take dream.

(Wisconsin, 2000) Rarely is the question asked, are, is our children learning? (South Carolina, 2000)

You teach a child to read and he or her will be able to pass a literacy test. (Tennessee, 2001)

Too many good docs are getting out of business. Too many OB/GYNs aren't able to practice their love with women all across this country. (Missouri, 2004)

I was like a pit bull on the pant leg of opportunity. (New York Times, 2000)

I want to share with you an interesting program – for two reasons, one, it's interesting, and two, my wife thought of it – or has actually been involved with it; she didn't think of it. But she thought of it for this speech. (Washington DC, 2008)

The Senator has got to understand that he can't have it both ways. He can't take the high horse and then claim the low road. (South Carolina, 2000)

The folks who conducted to act on our country on September 11th made a big mistake.… They misunderestimated the fact that we love a neighbor in need. They misunderestimated the compassion of our country. I think they misunderestimated the will and determination of the Commander-in-Chief, too. (Virginia, 2001)

I'm the decider, and I decide what is best. (Washington DC, 2006)

We need an energy bill that encourages consumption. (New Jersey, 2002)

You know, one of the hardest parts of my job is to connect Iraq to the war on terror. (CNN, 2006)

When you're marching to war, it's not a very optimistic thought, is it? In other words, it's the opposite of optimistic when you're thinking you're going to war. (Missouri, 2004)

It's in our country's interests to find those who would do harm to us and get them out of harm's way. (White House, 2005)

I'm telling you there's an enemy that would like to attack America, Americans, again. There just is. That's the reality of the world. And I wish him all the very best. (Washington DC, 2009)

Oftentimes I'm asked, why? Why do you care what happens outside of America? (Washington DC, 2008)

The German asparagus are fabulous. (Germany, 2008)

We spent a lot of time talking about Africa, as we should. Africa is a nation that suffers from incredible disease. (Sweden, 2001)

First, let me make it very clear, poor people aren't necessarily killers. Just because you happen to be not rich doesn't mean you're willing to kill. (White House, 2003)

We're making the right decisions to bring the solution to an end. (Washington DC, 2001)

I am determined to keep the process on the road to peace. (White House, 2003)

One of the great things about America, one of the beauties of our country, is that when we see a young, innocent child blown up by an IED, we cry. (Washington DC, 2006)

Thank you, Your Holiness. Awesome speech. (White House, 2008)

I've been in the Bible every day since I've been the President (Washington DC, 2008)

I'll be long gone before some smart person ever figures out what happened inside this Oval Office. (Washington DC, 2008)

I think we agree, the past is over. (Campaign airplane, 2000)

Bonus: There's an old saying in Tennessee - I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee - that says, fool me once, shame on - shame on you. Fool me - you can't get fooled again. (Tennessee, 2002)

93 Year Old Man Freezes To Death - Indoors

2009-01-28T17:14:00.004-05:00

Bay City (Michigan) Electric Light & Power manager Robert Belleman. Upon learning that 93-year-old Marvin Schur froze to death—"a slow, painful death" according to the medical examiner—in his home, Belleman defended the utility's decision to cut off the man's power, without warning, during last week's subzero cold snap. Installing "limiters" which put a cap on power usage and shuts off the juice altogether if an owner exceeds the limit, is company policy, noted Belleman, and he saw no reason to change it in the light of Schur's death. As for the utility's failure to inform Schur?

"I've said this before and some of my colleagues have said this: Neighbors need to keep an eye on neighbors," Belleman said. "When they think there's something wrong, they should contact the appropriate agency or city department."

Schur, who was $1,000 behind on his utility bill, was indeed found by his neighbor—four days after the limiter was switched on, in a sub-freezing room that had icicles on the insides of its windows.

Here is the email address for Robert Belleman if you'd like to give him a piece of your mind. I already sent mine.

rbelleman@baycitymi.org

Global Gag Rule Lifted

2009-01-23T17:18:00.008-05:00

With little fanfare, President Obama has reversed one of the most damaging GOP policies ever visited on developing nations, which deprived millions of women of family planning services.

The "global gag rule," which forbade US government support for any organization that in any way fostered, provided or even advised women about abortion. It was a policy foisted on an unsuspecting world by the Reagan administration at, of all events, a United Nations conference on women and development held in Mexico City in 1984.

What became known as the "Mexico City policy" was always a political football. It was rescinded in 1993 by President Bill Clinton, then reimposed in 2001 by George W. Bush, who also proceeded to deal a second harsh blow to the world's poorest families by cutting off American assistance to the United Nations Population Fund, the largest global provider of family planning assistance. The reason, or excuse--rejected by the administration's own internal report--was that the Population Fund was linked to forced abortion practices in China. The fund has lost about $250 million in American aid since 2002.

Millions of women and their families were the direct victims of these shortsighted steps, taken in the name of people who called themselves "pro-family," but appeared to be woefully ignorant of the harm they caused in homes around the world. The International Planned Parenthood Federation, based in London, estimates that in the last eight years alone as much as $100 million in US aid was lost to its affiliates in 100 countries because of their refusal to accept an abortion ban. The federation estimates this lost aid could have prevented 36 million unintended pregnancies and 15 million abortions, often acts of desperation. More than 80,000 women and more than 2.5 million children might not have died.

Not surprisingly, the rate of unsafe abortions is highest in the poorest countries, where at least 200 million women cannot get contraceptives. The World Health Organization, which supports safe abortion as a tool of last resort, estimates that of 45 million abortions globally every year, 19 million take place under unsafe conditions, causing at least 68,000 deaths. Forty percent of those most dangerous abortions involve teens and women between the ages of 15 and 24. A woman in the developing world--primarily in Africa and parts of Asia--is at least 100 times more likely to die of a botched abortion than a woman in the industrial North.

Which raises the question why President Obama--and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, once an outspoken champion of women's rights in the developing world--made so little of this policy reversal. Is abortion still too skittish a topic to talk about in public? Even when a presidential order signals a promising new approach to development aid?

President Obama also pledged to work with Congress to restore contributions to the Population Fund, known as UNFPA. "By resuming funding to UNFPA, the US will be joining 180 other donor nations working collaboratively to reduce poverty, improve the health of women and children, prevent HIV/AIDS and provide family planning assistance to women in 154 countries," his statement said.

Not lost on Thoraya Obaid, the courageous Saudi woman who is executive director of UNFPA, was President Obama's focus on poverty reduction as a byproduct of family planning, giving millions of the world's poorest women some of the same reproductive choices and life opportunities enjoyed in richer nations.

"President Obama's decision could not have come at a more critical time," Obaid said in a statement hours after the White House announcement. It was, she added, "an essential step towards creating a world where all women have the opportunity to participate as equal members of society." The rate of death from pregnancy and childbirth--99 percent of which occur in developing countries--has fallen just one per cent between 1990 and 2005 around the world, the UNFPA statement noted. "Every minute, a woman dies giving life, totaling up to 10 million women during a generation," it said.

UNFPA has argued tirelessly at the UN, where population growth is not a fashionable issue, that high fertility (mostly not a woman's choice) lowers per capita income, reduces education levels and consumes resources necessary to sustain healthy, productive lives. It also creates a generation of poorly educated, unemployable young people shorn of hope and open to recruitment by militant organizations of all kinds, threatening the stability of countries trying to make still-shaky democracies work.

Secretary of State Clinton, who has said she will focus on democracy and development, now has her mandate.

Steven Sinding, a former director general of the International Planned Parenthood Federation, a Columbia University professor and advisor to the World Bank, was working on family planning in the US government in 1984 when the gag rule was first announced in Mexico City, taking

American officials on the scene by surprise.

Sinding has been campaigning ever since against this destructive policy, which for the IPPF alone, he said in an e-mail, "necessitated clinic closures, staff layoffs and, ultimately, curtailment of family planning services to hundreds of thousands, perhaps even millions, of women in developing countries.

He described President Obama's reversal of the order as something akin to "a glorious sunrise after a long and exceptionally dark night."

Inauguration Day At Auntie's House

2009-01-22T15:18:00.006-05:00

Jaelyn and Vanessa joined me to watch the inauguration. Jaelyn, like her auntie and mom, really likes Barack Obama!
She was watching lots of different things...the crowds

And the President with his daughters...

She didn't seem to have a whole lot of interest in Senator Diane Feinstein, though.

We had bells and whistles to make lots of noise when the oath was done.

Of course, there was lots of clapping.

She watched even when the event was over...

I'm so glad that my niece and great-niece were with me on such a historic day. We'll show these pictures to Jaelyn when she is older so that she will know that she was part of history.

What A Day

2009-01-20T21:09:00.009-05:00

From Aretha's fabulous hat (that only she could wear) to Michelle's beautiful golden yellow dress and coat.

To the oath that our new President took to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.

To the history of Barack Obama being the only President (besides Abraham Lincoln) to use the Lincoln bible when taking the oath of office.

To the endearing way that the First Lady held onto the President's hand while out for a stroll.

To the love that these two share together and aren't embarrassed to show to us.

To the coolness of who they are.

To being a proud American again!! WHAT A DAY!!!

(and, oh, how badly I wish that Tim Russert were here to see all this) What A Country!

President Obama

2009-01-20T13:08:00.005-05:00

How lucky are we to have a new leader with such potential? It was a great speech!
If only Chief Justice Roberts brought his notes to give the oath to Obama, who knew right away that Roberts had screwed up!

I Thought This Day Would Never Come

2009-01-20T07:59:00.005-05:00

Finally!! New tenants are moving into the White House today.
All the best to them in their new home.

Goodbye Stupid Idiots - Hello Competence

2009-01-19T23:07:00.008-05:00

The city of Washington DC is abuzz like no other place on our earth has ever been. While I am physically here in Rhode Island, my spirit is in our nation's capitol with the millions gathered to watch and experience history.

The thing that strikes me is that the strongest message that can be sent to President Idiot of the absolutely awful job that we know he and his cronies have performed is the enthusiasm, joy and hope that is being shown to our incoming President and his administration. I hope he hears the cheers tomorrow and hangs his head in shame. Ah, but he would never admit it to us (or himself.)

The Idiot has shown in the past couple of weeks that he just doesn't get what a disaster he was and is! He finds it easier to blame others, or to use the excuse that he "had to make the tough decisions!" Hello!!, you stinking idiot, that's part of the job description when you are President, even my dog knows that.

There is no doubt in my mind that an investigation must be done into what this administration did - from torture to Katrina to Guantanamo to the economy. And NO pardons!

It almost seems that we could not last one more day. And thank goodness we don't have to.

An Email From Chelsea

2009-01-19T22:11:00.003-05:00

My niece Chelsea is in the 8th grade. Tonight I got an email from her that, surprisingly, consisted of more than just two or three words!

"Just one more night of the idiot in office. I am hoping to get out of class tomorrow to watch the big moment of history where the first African American becomes the 44th president of the United States. Big moment.

Also, remember, don't buy peanut butter crackers, cookies, etc. Jars of PB are okay. Officers believe these are being contaminated like spinach was."

Chelsea

She cracks me up.

August 1963 to January 2009

2009-01-19T11:30:00.005-05:00

I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.”

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification; one day right there in Alabama, little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.

This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

This will be the day when all of God’s children will be able to sing with a new meaning, “My country, ‘tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim’s pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring.”

And if America is to be a great nation this must become true.

So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire.

Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York.

Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania!

Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado!

Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California!

But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia!

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee!

Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi.

From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

And when this happens, when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, “Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!”

By This Time Tomorrow

2009-01-19T11:02:00.005-05:00

Barack Obama will be our 44th President of the United States! After 8 years of insanity, we have elected the right man at the right time.

A lot of people want to share this moment in history.

The cold didn't seem to bother the hundreds of thousands who descended on the National Mall to enjoy the concert and hear Barack Obama speak. He stood in the exact spot that Martin Luther King did when he gave his "I have a dream" speech.

Just 24 hours to go!!

Looking Back

2009-01-18T02:52:00.007-05:00

On that Wednesday night back in December of 2000, I sobbed as Al Gore gave the speech of his life - his concession after the Supreme Court stole the election from him. And, I'm sad to admit, my life and health took a downward turn that continued these past 8 years. Depression, weight gain, arthritis, insomnia among many other ailments. The past 8 years have been hell for me and so many others who love this country and felt the assault on their bodies and minds as President Idiot (as I call him) and his cronies turned our country into a worse mess than even I imagined.

We have been assaulted. My heart is broken over and over each time I hear of a service man or woman dying in Iraq, where they should never have been sent.

When I think of the attack of 9/11, as awful as it was, the repeated attacks by the Bush administration have been much worse. I knew that Barack Obama would be elected, and I knew I would be emotional. However, I was completely unprepared for my reaction when the announcement was made. I burst into tears and couldn't stop for almost an hour, that's how profound the relief was for me.

I hope this country and it's citizens NEVER have to go through anything close to this again and I pray that Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld are charged with crimes against humanity.

Whistle-Stop Train Rally

2009-01-17T20:57:00.009-05:00

The Obama family got on a train today in Philadelphia, PA headed towards DC for the inauguration. The trip is identical to the trip that Abraham Lincoln took just before his inauguration in 1861. Crowds gathered along the way to watch this historic journey.

After a stop in Delaware to pick up the Biden family, the train continued on with more people lining the tracks! Today is Michelle Obama's 45th birthday. They celebrated her birthday along the way.

Only 3 more days!!!

Cheney Sleeps Through Farewell Speech

2009-01-16T16:12:00.002-05:00

Hah! I just found this picture. Guess he wasn't into hearing what the Idiot had to say either.