...in the news

This is great news!!

http://www.msn.com/en-us/health/wellness/10-things-that-happen-to-your-body-when-you-take-a-nap/ss-AAlKwKQ?li=BBnb7Kz

It's Groundhog's Day. The little furball saw his shadow. That means 6 more weeks of winter. I hate to break it to you, but the first day of Spring is March 20th. Which is 7 1/2 weeks away. So 6 more weeks seems like a deal to me!

An anti-Trump movement is calling for a boycott of 33 retailers that sell Trump merchandise. I looked them up - most of them are on the list because they sell Ivanka Trump's clothing line. Forgive me, but I fail to see what Ivanka Trump has to do with the presidency. Why does the country want something to hate, so badly??

If you've ever wondered what's in the filling (between the layers of wafer) of a Kit Kat bar, here's your answer: It's not chocolate! It's actually recycled Kit Kats. Technicians pull any imperfect Kit Kats - with off center wafers or not enough shine, for example - and grind them into a paste.

Safety

Do you worry about your safety, or the safety of your loved ones? When do you worry?
I do some things that are definitely purposeful to be safe. For instance, I always have my keys in my hand way before I get to my car and I throw my purse in first thing. I never leave my purse in the shopping cart. I always lock my car when I get gas. And at night, I try to be aware of who is around me, if I'm alone. Those are all things I've been doing for 30 years though! Past that, I guess I don't think that much about it. I don't worry about a crazy person bursting into the theater while I'm watching a movie. I'm not always looking at people as they walk into a restaurant. I don't worry about terrorists when I'm flying somewhere. In general, I don't take extra precautions. Do you? Curiously however, I do worry about my fella driving across the country by himself. And I can say with confidence that I would NOT approve of my mom doing that either! No way! 

Today, I was cleaning out a folder in my email and it had a couple things in it that I wanted to mention here, then forgot. One of them was about the victims of the theater shooting in Aurora Colorado, a few years ago. Basically, it said that 4 of the survivors, who chose not to take a settlement, sued the theater for not keeping them safe. A judge ruled against them. I can't begin to comprehend the trauma et al. they faced. Not having ever been in any kind of situation like that, I can't say how I would feel. But I'm pretty sure I wouldn't blame an establishment for what some totally whacked out, nut job did! And isn't it a shame that their attorney led them to believe that they had a case. (That's a whole different topic though)

Really, you aren't "safe" anywhere. It doesn't matter if you're armed either. Does that stop you from going places though? Is it someone responsibility to make sure you're safe from other people? Would you even go to the movies if you had to be searched before you went in? How much of your freedom would you give up to be guaranteed you would be protected from other people?

Karma

kar·ma

ˈkärmə/

noun

1. (in Hinduism and Buddhism) the sum of a person's actions in this and previous states of existence, viewed as deciding their fate in future existences.

   • informal

     destiny or fate, following as effect from cause.

   • Karma is the destiny you earn, through your actions and behavior.

Do you believe in karma? I believe that you get what you put into life. If you're a pessimistic, negative, selfish, toxic person, who does nothing but whine and blame others, who is never kind in thought or deed, well...your life is going to suck! Duh. Is that karma? Even you won the 5 billion dollar lottery, you would still be unhappy. You'd be rich, but you'd still be unhappy. Good things might happen to you, but you'd still be unhappy.

I was thinking about that today because an employee in my agency is retiring. She's worked here for 20+ years. She threw herself a retirement party. She provided all the food and decorations and invited everyone. To the best of my knowledge, there wasn't a "chip in" for a gift or anything. Isn't that sad. I guess she's wasn't a nice person to work with. But still, how sad that she had to throw herself a party. 

things people with short hair don't know about

Static electricity in the winter. OK, maybe your hair might fly up a little. But if you have long hair, it sticks on everything; the back of your chair, your back, your face, your coat.

One long hair in your underwear. Don't laugh. It's SO annoying! Especially that one in your butt crack. I hate that!

And if you have dogs/4 legged vacuum cleaners, they inevitably will eat one of your long hairs. Eventually, it has to come out. Usually on that last little poop, that's hanging off one of your long hairs. And while it is kinda funny watching them dance around, it's gross to have to help them get rid of that last little poop that's hanging from one of your long hairs.

And what about that one invisible hair stuck inside your sleeve? Geesh.

Oh! and I don't know if this happens to other long haired people, but if you pull your hair up or back or to the side, and leave it there all day, when you take it down all your little hair follicles scream in protest and your scalp literally hurts!

Nah, I'm not gonna cut it off but dang! Long hair is rough sometimes.

I've got a secret!

Was that a television show? I've got a secret? 
Well, that's not what I'm talking about...I actually DO have a secret. Top secret! Sworn to secrecy!! Noooooooo! I hate having a secret! Who am I going to tell?? I didn't mean that to be funny, I'm serious! Who can I tell?? I have to tell somebody! Whew. Thank heavens...I told my fella :-) I felt better immediately. 

Are you like that? Or can you honestly keep a secret all to yourself? I'm only a good secret keeper if I can tell someone. So I choose someone who doesn't really care about my secret. Someone with no interest in the people affected by the secret. Like, once I knew that a whole department was going to lose their jobs and I couldn't tell anyone. THAT sucked! I told my fella though. That it made it easier for me. Usually, it's my husband. Sometimes, it's Chuck's daughter - she's a good secret keeper because she's an HR professional. Her whole job is about secrets! I would suck at HR! Besides the fact that I don't like people, I couldn't keep all those secrets. My poor fella. He'd probably make me get a shrink!

But where are WE?

See this picture?

There's a big ice storm headed our way. Yay! Weather!! I suspect that all the grocery stores will be packed tonight, in anticipation. You know, because staying home for a day or 2 is SOOOO devastating!! Why does everyone in the Midwest want to make french toast when the weather is bad?
Milk, eggs and bread...always the first to go. 

But where is my home city??? The population of St. Louis is 318k. The population of Wichita is 386k. The population of OK City is 610k. The population of Indianapolis is 853k!!! Indiana is in that blue swatch. But there's no little dot for Indianapolis! Chicago isn't even in blue swatch but IT gets a little dot and name recognition! What the hell???

random things...

I love this story. It says that if you have a potty mouth, you are a more honest person than most!
Yay!!

http://www.msn.com/en-us/health/wellness/people-who-swear-may-be-more-honest-than-those-with-a-less-colorful-vocabulary/ar-BBxRoIQ?li=BBnb7Kz

I LOVE this story. It's a bout a teen boy who wore a suit to meet his newborn neice, because first impressions matter. How awesome is this guy????

http://www.wthr.com/article/ohio-teen-wears-suit-to-meet-baby-niece-because-first-impressions-matter

And this story?? It tells me that my salt craving isn't just a random thing. It's in my genes!

http://www.msn.com/en-us/health/nutrition/craving-salt-your-genes-may-be-the-reason-study-suggests/ar-AAkfaSx?li=BBnb2gg

The most annoying word of 2016? For the 8th straight year, it's...........whatever.

And now that 2016 is over, you should check out the Washington Posts data base on police shootings for the year. I suspect that the results were surprising to a lot of people. 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/national/police-shootings-2016/

It says that 963 people were shot and killed, by the police, in 2016. 465 of them were white, 233 of them were black. There were 22 unarmed white men killed by police and 17 unarmed black men. Interesting. I wonder why we aren't talking about the 963 people killed by police, as a total number, instead of by race? Don't you wonder? 

Happy New Year!

2017.
2017?!!?!?
Geez, already? So cliche I know, but where does it go?

Well, did you make any new year resolutions? I never do that. Oh, I guess I shouldn't say never, because in fact I did make a resolution this year. To put my shoes away. I'm the worst with my shoes. I just take them off wherever I am, when the mood strikes. Not necessarily a bad thing, except I leave them wherever I take them off. Kitchen, living room, at the computer table, under the dinning room table...you get the idea. Before I know it, shoes will be everywhere, except in the closet where they belong! I know my husband will really appreciate this resolution.

Also, as a team we resolved to get back on the healthy eating plan. We sorta fell of the wagon a few months ago and it shows. It's nice to do it as a team. It makes it seem like less of a chore and more like a lifestyle. You just can't eat like you did before 40 anymore. Oh sure, we'll splurge sometimes, but it's ok. Life changes all the time. This is just another change. I'm good with that.

Let's see, anything else? Hmmmm. It's been brought to my attention by a couple people, that I wasn't nearly as active on my blog in 2016 as I've been in past years. I wish I knew why. It's not because I was too busy or I didn't have anything to say or because I didn't do anything. I did A LOT last year. And a lot happened in my life last year. I'll have to think about that.

Anyway,
HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Amen, ahem

The past few weeks, my fella and I have been watching the Leah Remini, docu-series about Scientology. I have a lot of respect for her, for standing up to them. It can't be easy to admit how naive and/or gullible you were/are. Clearly, Scientology is a cult. Any organization shrouded in secrecy, has something to hide. Duh. I always wonder though, about those people that get sucked into a cult, what happens in your brain that stops you from reasoning? If any organization told me that my family was the enemy because they didn't hold the same beliefs of that organization; I'd just have to say, go to hell. What stops some people from doing that? And for those people who get out, what happened in their brain that finally made them say, go to hell!

We've had some pretty interesting conversations about religion. I was raised in the Catholic church and he was raised in the Mormon church. We both became adults that have no interest in organized religion. I know that some people find that kind of sad. Others would say, hallelujah! 

Religion in general, fills a need for people though. I was not interested in attending church as I grew up because I felt like they were hypocrites. I didn't like it at the time, that all religions basically said, if you aren't Catholic/Methodist/Baptist, etc., you're going to hell. Most of what I learned about God in the Catholic church, led me to believe that God just wanted you to believe in him. I figured, then why does it matter what denomination you are? 

No, I'm not saying all church goers are ignorant. And I'm not saying all churches are only interested in domination. There are plenty of people out there who strive to be good or better or kinder, in the name of God. In the last couple decades though, NON denominational churches have been popping up everywhere, and gaining in popularity. I suspect, it's because they are driven by the teachings of the bible and not the Pope or the Bishop or the Prophet.

Organized religion is just too subjective. How else can you explain radicals? It's all about power and control for them.

Funko POP

It's so great that I didn't discover these years ago...I would a hundred of them by now! I love them!

They're so cute! My guy just doesn't realize how lucky he is sometimes :-) 

Mwahahahahahaha!

Tired faces

We have a new ad campaign going on in my home town. It started out being directed at drives. Apparently, the number of pedestrians being hit by cars has skyrocketed! A lot of it is texting and not paying attention. But then they realized that pedestrians are just as much to blame.
I like this campaign. One, because it puts at least some onus on the pedestrian. Honest to God, I can't tell you how many times each week, I have to slow down or brake for nincompoops crossing the street whenever and wherever they want. Also, you numskulls on bicycles are NOT exempt from the rules of the road. If you're riding on a city street, number one, use the freakin' bike lanes that we spent millions of dollars on to accommodate YOU. Second, you don't get to blow through stop signs and turn lanes. Geesh! And parents, teach your kids to look around when they're riding their bikes. Why the hell is everybody in such hurry?!?!?!

http://fox59.com/2016/11/15/group-launches-tired-faces-campaign-to-promote-pedestrian-safety-in-indy/

the IRS

First, this is just a little "you're invading my space" rant.
Just because the things on my desk are accessible, doesn't mean you can use them. I hate it when people just take things off my desk, without asking!!! Stop it! It's rude AND it's rude!! Geez.

Now, on to the worst government agency in history, the IRS. Does anyone actually appreciate the IRS? I don't think so. I don't want to be angry, because I happen to have just won my argument with them, but I am. It took 2 years of diligence on my part. I had to succumb to many threatening letters, duplicate and triplicate copies, ignorance and bullying. Me, Jane Doe, a regular citizen with a regular income, in a regular home in the Midwest. Because they came to their senses, I've now officially overpaid the IRS $1837. Yesterday, we received yet another letter from them stating basically that they accept what I've been trying to tell them, for the last two years and that I can expect a partial refund. 
Excuse me? PARTIAL??? What about the interest on what I overpaid you? What about the penalties you made me pay?? How about a refund on the whole amount, assholes. Honestly, I just can't be happy about my win and that really pisses me off!

On a happier note...we're having our first significant snowfall of the season! It's awesome!!
2 hours ago, there wasn't any snow on the ground. Now look:

Merry, happy, joyful!

I wish people could decorate with Christmas lights all year long. It's so pretty and colorful and cheerful! I dig it. I like it so much, I just bought those super cool fairy lights, so I can "tastefully" decorate indoors!

Remember when...

...you were a kid...what were you're favorite toys or games?

I loved Battleship. The old version.

I think the new digital version is cool though - you can't loose the ships!

My favorite board game was Uncle Wiggley.

I liked building models and making things, like creepy crawlers.

You could make bugs and scare your mom :-)

I liked Colorforms too. I had a few Barbies but she wasn't really my thing. I wasn't really a doll kind of little girl. I was more of a, "it's my backyard, my tree, so I get to be Tarzan!" kind of girl. 

I liked stuffed animals but I didn't have too many of those. But I really loved Breyer Horses! I only had 4 or 5 though. I remember that they were kind of expensive for just just a sit around kind of thing. I had these;

I saw one today on sale at Amazon and it made me remember them, so I looked them up. It was fun. 

Did you play jacks? Me either. Did you do Chinese jump rope? We did that all the time at recess, in Catholic school. How about Lego's? I loved Lego's when I was in 2nd/3rd grade. But when I had Lego's, we only had 4 shapes. That was it. So we had to be creative all on our own. Now they have every size imaginable and Lego's are expensive!! Geez! What about an Erector set or Lincoln Logs? 

It's fun to remember when 

I didn't get it

There was so much I wanted to say about this article, but at the same time, I can't say anything. It was really tough for me to get through and I had to stop and start 3 times just to finish it. 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/dear-every-cancer-patient-i-ever-took-care-of-im_us_58348345e4b050dfe61876d7