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

Dancing With The Stars: Shell-shocked

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Okay, Sabina/Sabrina was not my personal favorite, but given her performances up to last night, I figured she would be one of the final two. And while my sentimental favs are Jane Seymour and Marie Osmond [okay, so I'm dating myself], I knew it was time for both of them to take their final bows.

I don't know what happened with last night's voting, but if the purpose of the show is to award the best dancer, that premise got royally screwed. I realize popularity and the counter-vote culture that developed during this year's AI play a role, but come on. Sigh, Carol

Maddie on behalf of the Weekend Warrior

Monday, October 29, 2007

Maddie here.

Carol's a puddle of Jell-o on the sofa. Although she says that she's a puddle, she also complains that every muscle and bone in her body aches and she's too tired to write. I didn't know puddles had bodies. I love to splish-splash through every puddle I can find and if one had a bone, I sure would stop and grab it.

Carol finished painting the bookcase this weekend. Of course, I supervised and I think she did a fine job. For someone with two hands rather than four paws, she handles a brush quite well. Hopefully, she'll recover by tomorrow. I'll give an extra slurp tonight. Maddie

2-year anniversary

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

What was I doing 2-years ago today? I was feeding my generator gas, a routine I would have to follow for 10 1/2 days.

On 10/24/2005 Hurricane Wilma blew threw Palm Beach County. Even though I had ridden out Hurricanes Francis and Jeanne, Wilma was much more ferocious. Several urban hurricane myths got debunked that day. 1) Although Wilma came over Florida from the Gulf of Mexico, traveling west to east, it actually gained more strength over land rather than lose it. 2) The back side of the hurricane was much worse than the front side. I can still hear the wind howling.

When it was all over, I went outside with Maddie and got to work clearing out the debris. For the next few days I spent hours in gas lines as no one warned me how much gas a generator used. It was my first time using a generator. I was lucky enough to print out my book Shadow Lines and then spent many nervous hours traveling on roads with no lights to get to a post office running on a generator. I drovedrive miles to get to a grocery store that had a generator. It wasn't until this summer that the last blue-tarped roof disappeared in my area.

So here's hoping to a hurricane-free season. Wilma was enough to last me a lifetime of trials and tribulations. Carol