But If We Don't Vote for her then Trump will be elected! And other things bumming me completely out these days.

I have completely been enamored with Bernie Sanders since the late '80's when I first became aware of this Politician who defied all of the odds and won elections.  First locally, then up the chain until he was a very well respected Independent Senator.

 

I liked that he really seemed to believe in what he voted for.  He took some pretty difficult stances on things I agreed with;  War, poverty, environment, incarceration, corporate welfare, and just people's issues.  He seemed like a breath of fresh air!

 

I always imagined a day when Bernie could run for President and win!  Then the unexpected happened and someone finally talked him into it!  He said if Elizabeth Warren wouldn't then he felt compelled to do it.  He didn't want Hillary.  He didn't want whomever the likely candidate would be from the Republican side.  So, he rolled up his sleeves and went to work.

 

I personally believe that the whole thing was rigged from the "get go," with the DNC insiders and the Clinton's deciding just how to rig it to win it.  I will always believe this.  So when I hear that Bernie endorsed her but did not concede to her I imagine that he's still hoping for an upset at the Democratic National Convention.  As am I.

 

Listen, I get it!  Everyone is terrified of Trump (or should be.)  I get that you think that, at least with HRC, we'll get a better chance at a more liberal SCOTUS.  We should all "plug our noses" and vote for her at the polls come November........lest Trump  the racist, homophobic, narcissistic misogynist get elected.  WWIII may very well start.  He'll have the codes after all.

 

So what do you see happening if HRC gets elected?  She is Pro-Military Industrial Complex, Pro-Isreal, likes private prisons, thinks black males are "Super Predators" and will do just about whatever her Corporate Masters ask of her....including passing the illustrious TPP.

 

If you are unaware what the TPP is, then you need to find out as much about it as you can.  It will basically strip every inch of our constitution away from us.  Selling us down the rest of the river that NAFTA (you remember, her HUSBAND'S pet project?) didn't.  It really does gut the constitution completely.

 

Obama is already fracking in the Gulf all over the place.  If climate change isn't addressed immediately we will have NO world to govern (think Hunger Games on steriods) but I should vote for Clinton because she's better than Trump?????????????

 

I can't do it.  I cannot in good conscience vote for someone because they are a little less terrifying than the other guy.  I really do not think it matters anyway as my vote has as much chance of counting as Melania Trump has of staying Donald's wife after the first crow's feet show up on her face.

 

I am hoping the DNC sees that Bernie can beat Trump and HRC can't.  Short of that I will vote for Jill Stein.  I am tired of losing friends over this and I am tired in general and I think I need to disappear for a while.  You vote for whomever you want.  It's your right.  For now. 

Why I closed my yelp account!

Folks: I have closed my yelp account and here's why:
I have been a loyal yelper in Phoenix having been an elite for five years. This year I chose not to apply for elite due to time constraints of a personal nature.

I actively tried for years to get my parents on the site and when they did my mom put up a review of the place she lives. Holiday Spa. It's a 55+ retirement community here in Phoenix. She doesn't work there but has lived there for about 15 years. She reviewed the park after she figured out how yelp works. I was very proud of her for getting "social!" It was a proud moment. 

This park is like Payton Place (hope you get that reference). Or, rather like a Junior High School, in that there is a lot of in-fighting among the residents. Apparently one of them must have complained about my Mom's good review. Now, if you look at my account you would see mine for the community as well. It has been on yelp for quite a while.

The park is beautiful and they have new management that my parents get along with (as opposed to the old manager who was let go for various reasons but has many people who blame my parents for pointing out to corporate her short comings, which lead to her removal.)

My parents wanted a community which is safe and they were instrumental in removing management that did not share that view. They are not employed by the park in any way.
Because you have chosen to disrespect my mother (Lucinda Martin) after it took me SO long to convince her to be a yelper............I have decided that I am not going to help you make money from public driven content (mine!) Whomever "reported" her was petty.

So good luck, and I know you don't need me, but I will also be issuing a notice to all of my social media platforms about how you treat an older first time yelper. Good day!

Well, He Must Be A He Because He Is Beginning To Chirp And Life Goes On in General.

So Lex has wanted a buddy companion pet for quite a while now.  Tried to get a kitten that would snuggle her and honestly Ryleigh is overall NOT a snuggle kitty (unless it's 2 a.m. and he plops all twenty pounds of himself on your belly and demands love).

Then it was "I want a snake (Grandma would shit bricks!), I want a Gecko or cold blooded something or other.  Finally She said, "Okay, I want a friend!  Someone who will pay attention to me.  I want a bird!"  So we started off with the idea of Doves.  Then she did some more research and found out that Cockatiels in particular, when only one is owned, really bond to their human.  So a hunt for the perfect Cockatiel commenced.

We like to support local businesses whenever possible and found a wonderful Bird store owned by a family.  They only carried birds and when I called twice I was given very helpful information with a cheerful tone.  We made our way to the store after confirming they had a few baby Cockatiels in stock. This store is known for hand training the birds well which is something not usually found at the big box retailers.  Also the big boxes usually have older Tiels.

Right away in the door it occurred to us that the birds seemed very happy and vocal!  There was a big Parrot that was chatting away and he got my Mom's attention!  The entire store was spotless, including all of the cages.  I was really impressed.

The two kids working there must have been the owners kids.  They were very helpful!  They showed Lex the birds available and told us they were about 9 weeks old.  Perfect time for adoption!  They had been hand trained and would already "Step Up," onto your hand.  I asked which of the three was the gentlest and nicest and they said the Cinnamon. Luckily that is the one that Lex was drawn immediately to!  (He was also the least expensive and WHEN does THAT ever happen!)

The guys explained to us that they really didn't have a way to tell if Lex's bird were male or female (Males are generally more able to bond deeply and they sing whereas the females are very quiet and are harder to work with)  Well, given the fact that we were taking a chance on sex we brought the new guy home and left him alone in his new cage with water, food and a new toy.  And waited for him to chill.  They said to wait a day or two until the bird looks like it wants to interact.

This bird took less than a day!  He was ready to be with his new friend!  We had some issues getting him to figure out how to work his cage (They have long tail feathers and at first we had the perch too close so an adjustment back gave him enough room to slide down the cage to the door.)  Then if you open the big door and tell him to come down he just does it.  Then he Steps Up to her hand.  Then he just goes around with her and climbs all over her.  He loves getting "treats" which consist of Fruits and Veggies.  He's had Kale (really obnoxious green poop!), Orange sections (sticky) and I think today will be Grapes.

The good news?  We think we have a boy!  The Pet Shop Boys (ha!) said it would probably be a few months but he'd start chirping and then singing if he was a boy.  He started yesterday morning all ready.  One little chirp.  Today he's done several.  Some right after each other.  He wakes up in the morning and if Lex doesn't pay attention to him then he lets them know that he is going to DEMAND attention!

It's really a great thing for both of them.  Lex learns how to be responsible for a living thing (Yes, we have had some "New Mama Moments" like I did when she was first born:  Will I keep her alive?  Will she flourish?  Am I doing this right?)  But overall it's been an awesome first bit of their journey!  I love it!

What this Holiday means to me....4th of July.

It's a bittersweet memory.  Growing up the 4th of July was this amazing day that we spent at my Aunt Helen and Uncle Ron's!  They lived on a lake in central Michigan and the entire family (my dad was one of eight kids) and their friends would stop by throughout the day.

There was a lot of love at the lake!  First thing you smelled was the Pine Sol and cigarettes and then you smelled the coffee in the pot!  There was shouting and card playing, kids running around in semi-wet swim suits and laughter.  Tons of laughter.

Aunt Helen had oddball games planned and they were sure to make you laugh some more!  Egg toss or balloons passed between knees.......you never knew what you were in for.  Except good times!  There was food everywhere but her golden rule was that you couldn't swim until at least a half hour after eating.  We tried to tell her that wasn't real science when we were older (and full of ourselves) but you weren't changing Helen!

Then as the years passed and life changed my parents and I opened our store in a tourist area along the coast of Lake Michigan.  It was a seasonal store and all the money had to be made between May and September with Holiday time usually being the most lucrative.  So my 4th of July celebration became waiting on customers and trying to find the time to eat a quick burger or pizza (before ceilac diagnosis!)

And more fitting when Aunt Helen passed on her favorite Holiday.  We were going to close the shop but some amazing friends stepped in and we stayed open.  

I made some terrific friends during that almost fifteen years.......and then moved to Arizona where the 4th was not really the same Holiday at all!  It was too damn hot here to celebrate!  Halloween and Thanksgiving were amazing but the summer Holiday time was just not the same.

Flash forward to 2012.  I booked a vacation for me and my kid to go to Michigan during late June into July.  We trekked cross country with my parents in their truck to Minnesota where Lex met her online friend.  Then we went to Michigan where my parents dropped us at our rental car place and they continued on to their friends and we went to see mine.

That 4th of July radically changed my life.  While I was away my world at "home" changed.  Everything I thought I knew about my relationship with my husband tilted and twisted off into an unknown Universe.  It became that point between "before" and "after".....only I wouldn't know the full ramifications of that weekend of that 4th of July for about six months.

Flash forward to tonight.  The eve of another 4th of July weekend.  Still reeling in uncertainty in many areas of my life. Still learning that life is not always fair or that sometimes no matter how "good" you've been or how much you have always played by the rules, you cannot make others abide by them.

I am reminded of this Holiday and the great Joy and Pain that it can cause.  I will try to focus on the good memories;  of people that helped shape the person I am today.  Those with integrity and hope.  I will let go of the bad memories and be at peace with all the things to come.  I cannot control everything, especially people, and I understand that now.  I only hope the future will contain a return to happy Holiday 4th of July memories for me...and maybe some in a cooler climate!

Josh Duggar: Why Are We Surprised?

Why is it that every single time there is a MAN spouting rhetoric regarding how to live without sin.............he's found to be a scumbag of the lowest order in regards to his own "morality."

It's not like this hypocrisy hasn't existed for years! (My own abuser was a backbone in our church not to mention my own grandfather!)  But after a while with ALL these scandals it's a surprise that women everywhere don't just rise up and annihilate all men.

 

Not that I want to get rid of all men.  I don't.  My own father is an amazing man and  I had uncles and a Godfather who met that standard of good men as well.  I know good men and I know more exist. 

Maybe the issue is with religion.  There are some religions that seem to embrace sexuality in the correct manner but it seems the more rigid and conservative the religion, the worse the sexual issues in regards to "scandals" tend to be.  

 

 For those who are homosexual and unable to live their authentic lives and cover that up with marriage to a woman always tamping down their true selves for what they consider to be living a "Godly life" I just feel sad.  To not be able to be yourself due to an archaic religious desire for "perfection" is really sad.

 

 But then there is this whole pack of sexual predators who prey on those who are weaker by age, gender or mental acuity.  These are the men who get all twisted up by the morality versus desire scenario.  Or those who are just sociopaths hiding in plain site.  Bob Moorehead,  Douglas Goodman, Earl Paulk, Tony Alamo, Joe Barron, Frank Houston, Eddie Long......and the list goes on.  All church leaders accused or convicted of abusing children or women in their churches.

 

I feel for Josh Duggar on one level.  I know enough about abusers to know that in most instances the victim was abused.  I get that.  And it makes me wonder who his abuser is or was.  However as I have always stated:  Every single abuser makes a choice to abuse.  There is a choice made to ruin another person's life. 

 

I also know that it isn't easy being a reality star and that kids rarely are given any choice in appearing on a family show.  I can appreciate that.  I don't get why anyone would subject their children to that type of life.  

 

And I will admit that the subjugation of the women on 19 Kids and counting makes me rather biased in my reactions to these accusations.  I am tired of women being "less than."  In whatever form it takes a religion who treats women in such a manner is not my idea of a great way of life.  For the women!

 

I wonder if anything will be done to help the female children in this family.  How many were abused by Josh?  Was he the only abuser?  Why did his parents cover it up?  HOW CAN A MOTHER ALLOW THIS?

 

HOW CAN A MOTHER ALLOW THIS?  I will never understand this stuff. 

 

How Retail Became My Life!

My first real job was working at Hudson’s Department Store.  I remember my interview.  The Human Resources Director was Blanca Fauble, and she was exotically beautiful,  with an accent which made you wonder what South American country she hailed from.

She asked me a few basic questions and then she handed me a coffee mug and told me to sell it to her.  I looked at the mug and then smiled a great big smile and proceeded to tell her that she “really needed this fantastic cup.  It’s really big and will hold enough coffee that you don’t have to refill it as often as a smaller one.  It was a stylish design as well in a basic color which would go with practically any décor and the sleek lines made it different than most other basic mugs available.  It was obviously a mug for someone of a certain class.  Someone ready to define themselves as trail blazers of fashion!”

I got the job and started in Women’s Sportswear.  I met everyone in the department and quickly sized up the personalities.  There were three full time women and then several part timers.  Chris was the maternal worker bee, always helpful and lived by the rules, Kathy was a little negative but a hard worker and Karin was kind of the happy go lucky, helper type.  The part timers must have been rather boring as I cannot remember many of them.  I think I worked really hard and tried to learn the ropes.  Our Department Head, Libby Linder was pregnant when I started.  She had a nasal voice and was very pleasant!  She would write us little motivational notes.

I usually worked about twenty five hours a week in that department but found it easy to pick up shifts as I went along.  Many of the girls were very social and willing to give up weekend shifts so I would do as many as I could.  I learned to ignore the training we received which stated that we had to approach a customer within three seconds of entering our department.  I knew from trying a few times that you would startle them or they’d just leave if they felt intimidated.  

I quickly became the number one salesperson in my department which was funny considering that I wasn’t really trying for that title. I learned quickly that there were a few of the salespeople who were very competitive and jealous of me for surpassing them, Kathy being one of them.  She became very irate and would purposely try to sabotage me with Libby.  I made Libby look good so she ignored the issue.  I learned all of the Managers and their quirks and all the Executives.  I enjoyed my job but after the first few months found myself being somewhat bored by the tasks assigned.

Then one day I pulled an angora sweater out of a bag during a return and all of a sudden I couldn’t breath!  I had to give the return to someone else to do and I had to leave the entire area.  I went to the doctor and was told I had an allergy to wool, angora and about thirty other things.  They also assumed I might be allergic to the formaldehyde that was used to treat MOST fabrics.  The doctor told me that I couldn’t handle being around those fabrics constantly any more.  Wool and angora were very prevalent in the fall of 1984. 

They sent me to Blanca Fauble again because nobody knew what to do with me.  I thought that perhaps I would lose my job but she told me that I had larger sales figures as a Part Timer than the full time people did with almost twice the amount of hours.  She figured that they’d have to find another place to put me with those fine selling skills.  I was happy!

She sent me home and told me to give her a few days.  When I went back she told me that she had come up with an idea of where I could work.  She told me that there was a program that was relatively new called the Gift Selector Program.  It ran from about October through the first of the year and they were in need of an Indoor Sales Representative. 

 She told me that this program was run by the Operations Director for the store, Vern Pachla.  Mr. Pachla was a very intimidating man.  He was second in charge, behind only the Store Manager, and he looked like a mountain!  Probably six foot, three inches and three hundred and fifty  pounds, I was quite honestly scared of him.  I went into his office and Blanca introduced me.  He told me that Karin from my previous department had run  the program the  previous year and they had made about six thousand dollars.  

He explained that there were these booklets called Gift Selectors, which ranged in price from $15 to $150 dollars.  Businesses could buy them and give them to their clients or employees during the Holidays and then the recipient would go through the book (which didn’t have the price on it) and select a gift, they would call the redemption number and order whatever they wanted and it was shipped to them.  I was listening to him intently, and he stated that I would cold call businesses to set appointments for our outside sales rep. and then I would also sell them in the store during the last few weeks before Christmas to those who didn’t make the meet with the outside rep.

Blanca came back in the room and asked Vern how it went and he looked at me, looked at Blanca and said to her, “Well, It would go a lot better if she told me she wants to do it!  Or tell me anything……….she’s just staring at me.”  To which I finally responded that I would be delighted to run the program.

Over the next few months I cold called businesses and got the hang of the program.  I got to know Vern better and really began to like my new job!  I had “banker’s hours” and got to basically do whatever I wanted, which probably rubbed some people the wrong way.  Retail is full of bitter people and I met many of them.

The only thing that got me nervous was that the nearer Christmas got I wondered what would become of me when the job was over.  Where would I go then?  Well, I was ecstatic when Vern took me to lunch three days after Christmas.  He asked me if I had any idea where we ended up financially and I told him that I knew we were over ten thousand but I didn’t know the final number.

We ended that year with nearly nineteen thousand dollars.  Just a bit of a leap from the previous years six!  He told me that he was really proud of the job I’d done and that I had been invited to a luncheon at the home office in Detroit where I had earned a prize for having the highest percentage increase over LY totals!  I got a $50 gift selector and a twenty five cent raise.  Now, the most I had heard of any raise was fifteen cents an hour, so I was in shock!

He also told me that he had decided that I would be his “Girl Friday” and do some special projects for him from time to time.  My next project was to be the Team Lead for Inventory Readiness.  And I learned how to do a store inventory for the next month.  That was a success so he decided when I wasn’t doing special projects for him I would work in the other department he was in charge of and that is how I came to work in the Cash Office!

Nashville

I remember my days in Nashville. Michigan.  We lived on Queen Street and  the P's lived next door.  Now the only way I can describe this family is in the limited memories I have of them.  The mother had auburn red hair, all up in the updo that a lot of people did during the seventies, including my Mom.  Mrs. P’s was more bun ish on top than my Mom’s was.  Mom preferred the basket weave look.  

But I digress.  Mrs. P smoked a lot and had wire rimmed cat’s eye glasses.  She liked to wear polyester pants and short sleeve knit shirts of varying patterns.  Usually she was dressed in browns and beige.  There were always a lot of broken down cars in their driveway….or they worked on their cars a lot and there were the kids.  I remember Marsha and Jimmy.  Marsha, a year ahead of me in school, had a brown coat with beige fur on the wrists and hood.  She must have worn it a lot because all of my memories of her include it.

Jimmy was slow; really slow.  He was very awkward looking and had that look of; well, just stupid on his face.  I would try to be kind but really he was just not very bright at all.  He was always doing things wrong and getting in trouble all of the time.  There wasn’t a day that went by without hearing his dad yell, “Jimmy, get in here!”  More times than not, the police would show up and ask Jimmy about something that was missing in town that he’d been accused of taking.

One summer we went to my Uncle’s farm and got some huge bloodstones.  I believe that they weighed at least twenty pounds a piece or more and were quite a large size.  We put them in our side yard, next to the Palhamus house.  One day we came home from somewhere and those huge rocks were missing.  Gone.  Vanished.  My Mom yelled right across the street, “Jimmy , I am giving you exactly one minute to bring my rocks back!  I know it was you who took them!”

Out pops Jimmy and he looks at my Mom and says, “I didn’t steal those rocks!  Those are GOD’s rocks, so I didn’t steal them from you!”  To which my Mom looked at him and without missing a beat said to him, “Well, Jimmy, if God’s rocks don’t make it back to MY yard quickly, you can explain the whole God thing to Gene (the police chief).

Jimmy reluctantly returned the rocks and all was well….for a while.  I really don’t know how many kids they had.  They might have even been foster parents.  The tragic kind, not the good kind.  The dad got roaring drunk most nights and I don’t ever remember the Mrs. Having a smile on her face.  It was just sad.  

Nashville was full of interesting people.  Our other next door neighbor was Maude.  She was from England and I loved going over to her house just to hear her speak.  Also her house was filled with velvet upholstered antiques and you could look each time you visited and see some new little Victorian style trinket.  I was in love with her accent and everything about her.  

I remember the time that I went over as she was getting ready to eat and she asked if I’d like to join her.  I took one look at the dish and quickly told her that I really had to get home!  I went home freaked out telling my Mom that her dinner looked like a big tongue.  I did not know that cow’s tongue was  something ANYONE would eat and when I saw it on the platter, smelling lovely but looking like a tongue………..well, at least I remembered my manners!

Then there were the S's across the street.  They were Jehovah’s Witness.  Susie S. was my sister’s age and she had an older sister Theresa.  Wanda was the mom and I remember her being friendly with my Mom but I always felt bad for Theresa and Susie when it came to their birthdays and Christmas. We always felt guilty about having new things around them.  I didn’t really understand the whole Jehovah’s Witness thing and I hated it that Wanda always said that she was sad that we wouldn’t be with them in the Promised Land.  

Then there was the lady who worked at the bank.  We always made May Day Baskets for all the older ladies around town.  I had never given her a basket before because, honestly, she scared me.  She never looked happy to me, but that year Mom told me we should include her on our basket list.

So I fashioned my baskets out of doilies, rolling them up and stapling or gluing them.  I picked all the lovely flowers from our back yard or near my grandma’s yard.   

It depended on what was available but usually some lilies of the valley, violets, daffodils or tulips.  I made handles for the baskets and then the idea was to quietly go up and hang a basket on the door knob, ring the doorbell and then go hide!

I don’t think we hid really well because all the ladies usually saw the basket and then found me and thanked me with a big smile on their face.  That is until the year we did Bank Lady.  She came to the door and saw the flowers, saw me and got mad!  She accused me of taking the flowers from her yard and told me that it wasn’t nice to cut people’s flowers.  I was devastated.  I looked at her as I was crying and said, “But I would never take YOUR flowers!  I picked them from our yard like we do every year!”  And I ran home.  Apparently she felt very badly because she apologized to me soon afterward but I never did place another basket on her door.