Happy Thanksgiving!!!!

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Maddie here. Tonight Carol and I sat outside, simply enjoying the evening. My human mentioned how lucky we were to have each other and a place to call home. She was so spot on with her observation that I even let Little Darling sleep in her lap while I lay beside her on the pool deck. Life is good. Even though Carol will go to a friend's house for Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow, I know she'll bring me a treat. In the morning we'll sit together and watch the parades, and she'll scratch me behind my ears...heaven!

I'm a lucky pup and I hope everyone tomorrow has a great and safe Thanksgiving. Maddie

The Bachelor

Monday, November 19, 2007

I 'discovered' The Bachelor show during its second season. A number of people at work would discussed the cat fights and who would be the final pick. I began watching the program and was fairly dead on about the final woman/man. But after the one goofball bachelor and his 'promise' ring, I called it quits. You knew exactly the personality types the producers would pick to make the show enticing to viewers.

Due to Dancing With the Stars, I caught a number of previews and because I was doing the touch-up painting tonight, I listened to the final episode as I painted. Same old, same old. The first thing that struck me as odd was one of the earlier previews had shown the foot of one of the two finalists stepping out of the limo...and she was wearing a red dress. I thought it was strange for unless all the women wore red, the producers had given away 'the one'. Then I saw the two ladies and neither wore red. So I thought the twist might be the guy reverting back to a woman he'd already dumped.

Nope, he dumped both of the final two. I'll have to give the guy credit. In the past, the Bachelors would lie through their teeth and once the camera faded, then dump the unlucky woman. At least this season's Bachelor had the courage to say, 'no, I don't want to marry either one and I don't want to make empty promises.'

But it is really time for this program to go. After all these seasons, only 2 success stories in terms of relationships. I would think the 15 minutes of fame just isn't worth all the strife the contestants go through.

Shrug, Carol

Another glitch in the family room makeover

Murphy's law in home improvement projects: they always take longer than one figures.

Case in point. This weekend I finished sanding all the areas where the paint tape took off the paint and applied the primer. But late Saturday I spotted a corner of the carpet sticking up so I decided to pull up a bit to see what I would be dealing with. My original plan was to use the upcoming 4-day weekend to rip up the carpet and lay down the tile.

Well, when I lifted the carpet I found another carpet underneath. Yep, the people just put the current carpet over another. I don't even want to think about the accumulated dirt and mold. This means I will have to tear up 2 carpets. The one bright note is that it appears the bottom carpet was rubber based...so they may have used it in place of a pad. The rubber's disintegrated but when I scraped away some of the rubber muck, it looked like no mastic was used over the concrete [this room used to be the garage]. Scraping off rubber is a heck of a lot easier then dealing with carpet glue. But room makeover isn't going to be finished by next weekend like I was hoping. Probably looking at another 2-3 weekends of work. Sigh, Carol

Ms. Tool Time

Thursday, November 15, 2007

I'm so far gone in the home improvement arena. My sister wanted to know what is on my Xmas list, and my number one item was a screwdriver. Sometime over the course of the family makeover, I have lost my belowed screwdriver that I'd bought from Sears.

Granted, it was girly-girl with purple flowers on the handle, but in addition to the regular screwdriver head, it came with a Phillips head that you stored in the handle. The sucker was fabulous for the hurricane shutters as there are a myriad of screws used to secure them, and I could simply switch the driver around.

I loved that screwdriver; I miss that screwdriver.

So it's my number one item on my Xmas list. :) Carol

Florida Dept of Health

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

The entertainment news shows were buzzing about someone's mother dying after surgery. A number of people came forward about medical malpractice actions against the doctor, and the question was being asked why the mother went to the doctor in the first place.

If you're looking up Florida doctors, you can access information about any malpractice awards or disciplinary actions online. I suspect other states also have public access to the information. Here are the links to the Florida Dept. of Health.

FL-DOH MQA Services Home page

http://ww2.doh.state.fl.us/mqaservices/

Click on the Citizen/consumer link and then plug in the name; to narrow the search, enter the county. Then open up the various tabs of information to learn whether the doctor is board certified, hospital privileges, etc. If you are unsure of how the doctor's name is spelled, type in the first few letters you do know. Many a claimant butchers the name of a doctor he/she has previously seen [deliberately or otherwise], and I normally can hone in on the right doctor using this method.

The information is out there; please check out a doctor, get references and a second opinion before undergoing any serious procedure or treatment. Carol

18th Anniversary today

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Today was my 18th anniversary working as a staff legal attorney for my employer. My supervising attorney bought me a vase of purple flowers to celebrate the occasion. As with any job there have been ups and downs, but I've been really fortunate for the past several years. The two women who currently serve as the managing attorney and the workers' compensation supervising attorney are bonafide angels on earth. How they ever got stuck with me is a mystery. I can't imagine anyone ever referring to me as an angel; I'd probably punch the person in the arm and tell him/her to get real.

One of the claimant attorneys that I butt heads with on files calls me "feisty"; I can live with that description. However, today as I was speaking with another member of our firm who came in to congratulate me, I realized that angels on earth need warriors to protect them, and that's why I was placed with these wonderful women.

I can live with that notion as well. :) Carol

Thank God, the 'Chest' is gone!

I have to admit that I was getting very tired of Cameron's chest on Dancing with the Stars. When he bared his chest for the foxtrot last night, I had to leave the room. Enough was enough.

Even though I've reached an internal accord that if man won again, it would be due to the woman partner's superb choreography, still...

I want a woman star to win this year, even if it means Mel, whose personality grates me raw. Semi-finals next week and "Lord of the Dance" Michael Flatley dancing, can't wait! :) Carol

Those little white lies in instructions

Monday, November 12, 2007

I love all the lies they tell in instructions...or constructions as my nephew called them when he was young. I bought 3 Roman shades last weekend for the long window in the family room. One shade per window section, meaning a total of six brackets, 18 screws to install. The instructions said it would take 15 minutes to install one shade.

Ha! I spent nearly 3 hours getting the suckers hung. First there are those cryptic diagrams now used in place of actual written directions..if you can figure out the squiggles and arrows. Lining up the drilled holes for the screws drove me nuts [and yes, I used a pencil to mark the holes]. The drill bit would skid on the concrete sill, throwing the holes off.

But the shades are up and look good...as least I think so. Despite the instructions. :) Carol

A cab ride, a cigarette smoke and a pawn shop visit

Thursday, November 8, 2007

These were the price of a good man's life. Yesterday, an inmate, while being transported to the courthouse for the second day of his trial, overpowered the deputy sheriff, shot and mortally wounded him. After leaving the officer in a parking lot, the criminal drove the van a short distance before abandoning it. He then hitchhiked and also grabbed a cab ride. Finally, he bummed a cigarette off a bystander and smoked it before going into a pawn shop where he was captured.

Four hours of 'freedom' over.

Now for the kicker. The deputy was 76 years old and the killer in his 40's. Once he disarmed the deputy, all the cretin had to do was walk away. He didn't have to kill the officer. And for what? For 4 hours of nothing? The creep had already been convicted of 2 armed robberies and was up for a third, but now he'll be heading to death row.

The authorities believed there were accomplishes and this was a planned escape. Sure sounds like the idiots didn't plan beyond overpowering the guard.

The murdered officer? A retired postal worker who then became a respected deputy sheriff working in the transportation department. Reportedly he often worked 2 jobs to support his family.

Versus cretin who robbed grocery stores and killed a good man for a cab ride, a cigarette and a pawn shop visit. Carol

DWTS results

Wednesday, November 7, 2007

Jane Seymour brought such class to the show, but it was time to exit. However, who is going to win is a mystery to me with Sabrina being knocked out so unexpectedly. I rolled on the floor with laughter when I learned that everyone was doing their own lines because of the writers' strike...The hosts have written lines?!? I do wish the producers would stop with trying to make an hour show of the results. There is just too much filler. They easily could have canned that 'review' panel piece. I could well imagine the 3 wrote their own lines: they stunk.

My thoughts are with the Osmond family on the death of their father. I know the familiar saying is no parent wants a child to die before them, but losing a parent leaves such a hole in one's heart. I hope George got to watch Marie's performance on Monday night.

One thing I'll always cherish is Mom hung on long enough to sing me 'happy birthday' one last time. She passed away early the next day. While I now always experience a sense of sadness on my birthday, I also wrap around me the memory of her singing.

Carol

DWTS

Monday, November 5, 2007

My apologies to Jenny. Tonight I forgot to write down her number, and by the time I realized the omission, it was too late to look it up and vote. I've been splitting my vote among Marie and then Jenny and Helio [as I love the brother-sister dance team of Julieann and Derek].

I was glad to see all the teams bounce back from last week, although no one managed to pull together 2 great performances. Still, all in all, the level of performances is so much higher than prior years [conceding that I missed the first season]. For me at this point the loss of any team will be tough as I enjoy the nuances of each one's style. :) Carol