oops

I commute. Total, about an hour and 45 minutes, every day. Every single day I see drivers act like they're the only one on the road. Every single day, I see drivers doing their worst! Oh, ok, maybe not every day. But a good 4 out 5. Frequently, and by that I mean several times a month, I think to myself...I've been so lucky. I mean statistically, I'm bound to get into an accident sooner or later!
Uh huh. My day came. You know that horrible feeling you get when you look in your rearview mirror and for a split second you think, they aren't gonna stop? Yeah, that feeling? Ugh. It's worse when they actually DON'T stop!!! I just knew it too. I had been watching him for a couple miles because he'd get right up my ass, then back off. 3 or 4 times. Then, when traffic ahead of me was stopping, as I started to slow down I looked back again and thought, he's not gonna stop. So I stopped a little further back from the car in front of me, just in case. Then I looked back again and thought, yep, and closed my eyes. BAM! Jackhole. I can't even tell how ANGRY I WAS! Boy did I chew him out!!! I know that was kind of dumb - he could've been a real jerk, or on drugs! But I was SO ANGRY!!! whew!
There were a couple brief moments when I felt bad for him, but they passed quickly. Here's the front of his car

My car will need a new bumper and right tail light but I think that's all. I love my car. I figure I'm good now for another 20 years :-) Thank heavens. That was so stressful!

weather

At the beginning of the week, forecasters and prognosticators said, 8 - 12 inches of snow on Saturday (today). The next day they said 3 - 5 inches. Then they said 4 - 6, 5 - 8, and 3 - 5 again. We decided to shop early this week, to avoid the panic and rush on french toast; eggs, milk and bread. So we went Wednesday night at 8:00...PM. We walked in, looked at the lines and came home. Seriously, everyone in town was there, 1/2 them at the registers. Oh brother. It's SO RIDICULOUS! I mean really, even if it DID snow 12 inches, how long do you thing you would be stuck at home? A day, 2 at the MOST. Good grief. So my fella went at 7:00AM on Thursday and it was deserted. Nice. Last night I was really looking forward to all that new snow, being all cuddly and warm today watching it snow all day. It's noon and so far all it's done is rain!! sigh 

music in my ears :-)

Today I'm listening to music at work, in my ears. I'm trying to finish up these reports that I HATE doing. It should only take me a couple hours every two weeks. Instead, it takes me the whole two weeks. sigh Anyway, my goal is to finish it this week, for the last quarter of 2018. Good grief. So far I'm doing pretty good! I'm listening to 80's country music. So fun. Conway Twitty, Ann Murray, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Merel, Willie, Hank Jr., The Judds, Dolly, Eddie Rabbit, Sawyer Brown, Don Williams. I started listening to country music in the 80's so this feels kinda nostalgic for me. I dig it. Just now, there was a song called Tight Fittin' Jeans, by Conway Twitty, which he couldn't record today! I was smiling the whole time. They sang about sex differently in the 80's. It wasn't so blatant. It was much more subtle. I think that made it more fun. All those innuendos, using your imagination and wondering. It's making my morning A LOT more enjoyable!

All the world's a stage

Nobody ever uses that statement the right way. Shakespeare wasn't talking about a stage that actor's do their thing on. He was talking about the stages of life. Did you know that? Anyway, there are a lot articles out there about the stages of life. This one is pretty good;

http://www.planetofsuccess.com/blog/2016/the-four-stages-of-life/

I was thinking about all of that because, by the end of the month I will have entered a new decade. Usually, that kind of thing doesn't phase me. This year though, I HATE IT. It's taken me a little bit by surprise, that I don't like it. To be honest, I'm actually depressed. Isn't that dumb? Ugh. I think that some of it is that for the first time ever, I'm feeling my mortality. I'm truly passed middle age now and on the back side. That's new to me. Also, I'm not happy with the person I am. That's new to me too. Maybe it's just years of being bombarded with that whole stupid, narcissistic idea of being the best version of yourself and self love. (a different discussion for sure). Kind of like when my mom said that she hated turning 30 because she grew up with that idea that "you can't trust anyone over 30."
It must be a "stage" of reflection. You know, what have I done with my life, what have I contributed/accomplished, blah blah blah. And I don't need anyone to bolster my self confidence or anything. I know I'm ok, I don't need a list. 
I'm feeling very sorry for myself I guess. I know I'll get over it but damn! It sucks right now.

Lists!

I love lists! I love reading them and I love creating them...all the time!

Here is Amazon's Best of 2018 list;
* 2 Billion product ordered around the world for delivery in one day or faster.
* Most purchased item - Fire TV Stick
* Top pick for kids - Play-Doh 10-Pak
* Go-To-Gift - Baby Einstein Take Along Tunes
* Beauty bestseller - Mario Badescu Facial Spray
* Fastest Deliveries - 9 minutes
* Most binge-watched original series worldwide - Jack Ryan and Homecoming
* Most streamed artist - Justin Timberlake
* Most requested song via Alexa, globally - "The Middle" by Zedd, Maren Morris and Grey
* Favorite album of the year - Telling All My Secrets, Mitchell Tenpenny
* Most borrowed books - Harry Potter, the Handmaid's Tale and the The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
* Most read book of the year - Say You're Sorry, Melinda Leigh
* More than 50 million free games were downloaded
* Most awarded original series, which won more Emmys than any comedy series has ever won for a single season - The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
* Prime member bought enough organic apples from whole foods market to bake 350,000 apple pies

Science + technology + ethics + a whole lot more

This is a fascinating article!!!

http://time.com/5492642/dna-test-results-family-secret-biological-father/

It's about the results of one of those take-at-home-dna tests! I know some people that have done it and thought it was completely worth it and interesting. I'm going to do it. I think it's so cool. But if you think you family has secrets, you might not want to! I'd still do it. I want my husband to do it. I think his kids would be interested to know those things about him, later. My mom's going to do it too. Her great grandchildren will probably think that's cool, in about 30 years. 

By the way, welcome to a new year, full of things that have never been.