IS IT OVER? CAN I COME OUT NOW???

Painting by Norman Rockwell

I'm not sure but it seems we all survived another Thanksgiving Day. I know we all ate ourselves into a stupor as we do every year. However, I wasn't sure it was going to turn out well, it sure didn't start out well.

My daugher called to say she had the mother of all headaches and could I pick her up since she was feeling sick to her stomach and didn't want to drive. Okay, I did that. On the way back to my house she decided she needed to ....well, get rid of whatever was making her nauseated but somehow it wasn't happening. She was holding a plastic grocery bag in her hand. Oh, oh. This can't be good.

I told her to think of anchovies on a pizza (my favorite thing) knowing that it would gross her out to the max. Three minutes later as I was turning the corner on my street, the "anchovy" thing worked. Unfortunately there was a hole in the bottom of the plastic bag she was....uh using. My seat (thank God for leather) my carpet and her pants got it. Thank God also for my son, who was detailing my grandson's car in my driveway. He got it cleaned up, my daughter was feeling much, much better and we were once again looking forward to dinner. Some things just work out perfectly.

My daughter decided she was going to make the turkey this year since she didn't like the way I did it last year. Last year I bought a $6.00 turkey, this year she bought a $20.00 Butterball. I don't cover my roaster, she does. This time it was HER turkey. Well I have to admit, it was much better. The entire turkey was a beautiful deep golden brown, juicy, tender and really delicious. I'm not going to live this down. Not EVER.

The table was filled with all of the good stuff we love for Thanksgiving and we had a great dinner. After dinner, sitting around the table, the discussion turned to whether or not Verizon would let you change your cell phone plan without penalty. Everyone said NO! I said yes, and the discussion got pretty heated. Was this the best thing we could argue about? Apparently. I called Verizon. I won. Thank goodness. I don't think I could take 2 failures in one day.

Time for dessert. Cherry pie with ice cream. Like we needed more food. More discussion followed, this time with lots of laughs and a nice feeling of having family together at the table. I was missing my younger grandson. His father gets him every other Thanksgiving and every other Christmas. We were also missing my former son-in-law and my husband.

The good news is that we'll be doing this again on Sunday with tons of leftovers and this time my grandson will be here.

Can we eat more turkey? You bet we can. But will we have to watch "Miracle on 34th Street" again????

I'M SOOOOO THANKFUL...

Every Thanksgiving Day we all sit down to the table and remember the things in our lives that make us thankful. This year is no exception. I've made a list of the things that have made a difference in my life.

I thankful that the man next door has stopped feeding the pigeons that have "painted" my stucco wall, rooftop, palm trees and patio.

I'm thankful that my clothes still fit even though I've put on a few pounds this past year.

I'm thankful I'm not waking up at 5 AM every morning anymore since I've had plantation shutters installed throughout my house and the blinding sun isn't shining in my face and the house is so dark I need a flashlight to go to the ....well. It's dark.

I'm thankful that I now live in a climate that doesn't see 100 inches of snow each winter and I'm not wearing boots, gloves, scarves, down jackets, wool hats, and heavy sweaters under all that just to go out to the mailbox. Sometimes I just get the mail in my jammies.

I'm thankful for my computer. Without my computer to keep me busy I would actually have to find a life. I would have to do housework, laundry, wash windows, keep track of my checkbook, mop the floors and hose down the patio. I used to do all those things now I can ignore them.

I'm thankful that I still have one week left of the three week library rental of Dan Brown's blockbuster The Lost Symbol . I got as far as the flyleaf.

I'm thankful that I will never have to say the name Lady Gaga out loud.

I'm thankful for being able to blog, therefore I can vent. And I'm thankful for you, the people who comment and send e-mails telling me that you love my blogs and encourage me to continue writing them. You are responsible for the fact that I have no life.

And I'm thankful for the confusion on Health Care Reform, causing me to not think about it; for choosing not to read the ever present Sarah Palin's book, or that star of stage and screen, Carrie Prejeans's book; for not giving one rat's butt cheeks about Levi Johnston and his Playgirl spread; and for not ever having to watch one segment of Glenn Beck because I DVR every one of Bill O'Reilly's programs and fast forward Glenn.

But I really, really am thankful that this year, everyone in my family will sit down to a wonderful Thanksgiving meal together.

Please God, let them all be in a good mood.

HEY! DON'T THROW THAT AWAY, WHO KNOWS...?

I've never been a hoarder.  Clutter unnerves me.  I can't stand to have things laying around and out of place.  So having said that, the photo doesn't describe me.  BUT there are those that save everything, no matter what it is or how useless it has become. Me? I'm a different kind of hoarder.  I'm a saver.  And that's worse.

While going through my cupboards, pantries, garage storage units etc. in my annual quest to dig out the holiday serving platters, dishes, glassware etc.  I realized that while I don't  actually hoard, I do save things.   Some things just can't be thrown out, so they get pushed back further and further on the shelves and eventually end up in a nice neat little box but there they stay.  Year after year, there they stay.  Howcome we safe stuff?

I save containers, bags from department stores, you know which ones I mean.  The ones with the handles and fancy artwork.  I have about 14 of them and I hate to use them because.....I want to save them.  I have no idea why.   If I use them then they get worn and I have to throw them out.  Got the picture?  

I save fancy containers, not the plastic stuff you store food in; I'm talking about things like the styrofoam stuff they ship wine in with the outline of the wine bottle so the wine can nestle in a styro bed during shipping.  I can't throw that out.  Who knows, someday I may need it if I decided to ship wine to someone.  Uh huh. 

I am saving one wine glass.  I bought two of them in Napa Valley several years ago so my husband and I could drink wine out of a beautiful, hand painted (and very expensive I might add) glass.  I broke one,  but can't get rid of the other one.  Why?  Who knows, maybe someday I may decided to have a glass of wine by myself and .......I can do it in style.  

I received a very nice box of Godiva chocolates as a thank you gift from a friend.  The candy came packaged in a box that looked more like a jewelry box than a candy container.  It is gorgeous.  I still have it and can't get rid of it no matter what.  Who knows, someday.......

About 15 years ago I bought an iron.  You know, the thing that heats up and takes the wrinkles out of clothes, or something like that.  It sits in the garage cupboard with the price tag hanging from the handle.  I've never used it, never will,  but there it sits.  Can't get rid of it because who knows......ahahahhahhaha yeah, fat chance.  

Several years ago Chevron ran a commercial featuring a toy car talking.  I made a remark to my husband that I thought that was "the cutest thing ever" and lo and behold he brought one home to me the next night after seeing it in the Chevron station while filling his tank.   I loved it.  However, wonderful man that he was, he thought I loved it as in "I'd love to collect the entire set" and he brought one home for me everytime a new one  was introduced.  So I have a set of 20 little Chevron cars, neatly packed away.  I will never display them, and can't bring myself to sell them on eBay  even though they're worth as much as $100 each,  since I have the original cars.  Who knows.......

It won't be long before I buy more storage units,  so I can move the stuff I already have to make room for the stuff that I buy that eventually will wind up in the garage because I can't bear to get rid of it.

So when I leave this world, my kids will have themselves a field day getting rid of all that stuff.  

On the other hand, they may decided to divvy it up for themselves.  After all who knows......?

THE WOMEN IN THE NEWS

WE, AND THE NEWS MEDIA don't kick Hillary Clinton around anymore. Sonia Sotomayor is now resting comfortably,  and Brittany Spears has no longer become a news interest.  Now we have a new batch of women ( and one guy) who are making headlines over and over and over......ad nauseum.

Sarah Palin's name comes up so often I see it in my sleep.  The woman runs for office along with the presidential candidate  and Sarah's name was  at the top of the list.  Does anyone remember who ran for president?

Now she's making news headlines again with her new controversial book.  The woman just can't seem to do anything right, anything that pleases the majority of the people in this country and so her name is in the headlines again and again.   Enough with Sarah Palin.  She isn't going away and apparently neither is her  love affair with the media.

Her grandchild's father, the creepy Levi Johnson, is in the news along with Sarah and it's hard to tell which of them is getting more bad press.

Levi, as you know, is posing nude for Playgirl magazine, a magazine read mostly by gay men.  He is also spouting out about the Palin family and their little sins and foibles.  He just can't wait to put Sarah in the public eye as a bad mother, bad presidential candidate, and a money-hungry- publicity seeking  bimbo.  I'm sure Sarah's family is glad he is no longer associated with them, or is he?  Her latest remark indicated that she would like to invite him to her home for Thanksgiving dinner.  I have a feeling she sees HIM as the "turkey she'd like to carve up. 

AND THEN  OF COURSE THE DRAMA NEVER ENDS with Carrie  (I am a Christian)   Prejean, the real bimbo in the ongoing saga of liar, hypocrite,  camera hog and one of the strangest women to come into the public eye in a long time.   

It seems that Carrie's boyfriend has admitted to having in his possession, not one but 7 sex tapes sent to him over a period of one year and that Carrie wasn't 17 as she claimed but 20.  That was 2 years ago.  The tapes are so graphic  (she's alone) that they can't even be shown on YouTube. 

But what I find most interesting in all this, is that Bill O'Reilly hasn't said a word against either of these women.  Is is because they are conservatives as he is?  If these women were liberals and doing what they're doing, he'd be having a field day with both of them.  He's treating both of them as though they can do no wrong.  

Who are  the real hypocrites here?  The women or the media?

I can't wait to see who the ax falls on next.

IN LOVING MEMORY

Four years ago today,  November 16, my life changed in ways I never imagined. 

My beloved husband of 45 years said goodbye forever. His heart just couldn't take anymore so it just stopped beating. Several people have asked if it was his first heart attack. No. It was his last. He had 3 previous attacks, 2 triple bypass surgeries, and the installation of a pacemaker/defribrillater.

He left me with 45 years of wonderful, warm memories of a man who loved me more than anything else in his life and never stopped showing it. He taught me what true love and devotion meant and for this he will always be placed on the same pedestal he placed me on. He was unique.

He saw our 2 great kids grow into adulthood, saw both grandchildren born, and lived long enough to enjoy 5 years of the retirement we both looked forward to enjoying together.

He loved life and never dreamed it would ever end. Nor did he ever want it to end. He enjoyed everything we did together and it seemed to be all he wanted out of life. We had plans, big plans for our future and he looked forward to every minute of that future. We had planned a long trip to the East Coast in September of 2005. The trip would take us from Maine to Virginia, a region we had never seen but put off seeing for several years. Too busy. He had the heart attack in late July and never fully recovered. He was very disappointed that the trip was, as he said, "postponed." There's a lot of truth in the adage, "never put off til tomorrow......." He never like the idea of growing old, and hoped he never would. He got his wish. He was 72.

Here's to you my love and the wonderful memories I keep. May you rest in peace knowing that I never stopped loving you and never will.

IT'S DEJA VU ALL OVER AGAIN (Yogi Berra)

I woke up this morning with an overwhelming feeling of deja vu.  I can't seem to shake it.  I have no idea where it came from or why, but it's here and I'm going to enjoy every minute of it.  

Snow.  Yes, snow.  The feeling of walking out of my house early in the morning and experiencing a light, wet snowfall.  The snow is sticking to the lawn and shrubs but not to the pavement - too wet and the temperatures are too warm - mid to upper 30's.   The wind is calm.  The air is crisp and fresh with the falling snow and the aroma is intoxicating.  You can actually hear the snow falling.  

The cars passing give off a "swissssshh" sound as their tires pass over the wet pavement.  I can still hear it.  I can still smell the air and I can "feel" the experience.  Deja vu. 

Living in the Nevada desert brings with it  wonderful  warmth, daily never ending, sunshine and balmy breezes at this time of year and throughout the winter months.  The temperature is still in the high 70's to low 80's and with Thanksgiving around the corner it's possible we'll have dinner out on the patio.  Nice.  But....

I still miss the snow scene.  I'm talking about light snow with mild temperatures just as I described.  Wet snow, no wind and the air......!

My husband and I would start out on Saturday morning running errands or, at this time of year, Christmas shopping.  I vividly remember stopping for breakfast at our favorite diner.  The wet snow was falling and because the diner was warm inside, the windows would steam up.  Somehow that scene is very comforting and pleasant in my mind.  We took it for granted at the time, but now I want to experience it again.

The windows never steam here in Nevada.

I'm seeing that scene at Christmas time.  The lights are lit even in the morning and I'm seeing the lights through falling snow.  And the approaching holidays seem to give the air a festive feeling that I miss terribly.   

 Michigan, where I grew up and spent most of my life, is known for harsh winters with blinding blizzards, temperatures hovering near zero, and winds so strong they bring the wind chill factor down into the below zero mark.  Those are the times I want to forget.  I never want go back to the horrendous driving conditions, the constant shoveling of 6 to 10 inch snowfalls,  constantly scraping the snow and ice off of my car's windshield  or having to wear boots, gloves, scarves, down jackets and having to take them off and on where ever I went. 

But the deja vu scene in my mind is not like that.   As Christmas approaches that scene is more my thoughts than ever. 

Those of you who have spent your lives in warm climates probably have no idea what I'm feeling and wonder why I'm missing snow.   But if you live in the northern, northwest or northeast sections of the country, you know what I mean and if you don't then it's time to go outside and experience the feeling.   Pay attention to what you're seeing, smelling and hearing and hopefully you'll  understand. 

 I don't want it to go away.  Not just yet.

AND ON A HAPPIER NOTE.....

This has to be the most "feel good" video ever.  With all of the technology, know how and creative ideas that we have,  why can't we Americans do something like this?  We can, we just don't.    What you are seeing is an ad for Volkswagen but the staircase is real and is in operation in Sweden.   People are now taking the stairs instead of the escalator.  What a great idea!!

THE MAYANS BELIEVE that the world will end on December 12, 2012.   Somehow their celestial predictions indicate that is  a reality.  If this is so, if we are really done as a planet, then does this means that I can stop watching my diet and denying myself all that great ice cream out there, eat tons of lobster dripping with butter,  spend every dime I have on shoes, clothes, that Lamborghini I have my eye on, traveling the world and just spend time having fun   for the rest of my life, which by the way, is only   two years from now.  On the other hand,  what if they're wrong..........

WALMART IS NOW SELLING CASKETS, and urns for your  loved one's ashes.  Well that's a welcome bit of information.  This sure makes my Christmas shopping easy this year.

I DISCOVERED THIS GEM while watching a little show on the FoodTV network called "Unwrapped."  They did a piece on butters and spreads for bread and crackers and this came by on the screen.  Had to rewind it when my eye caught the words,  dark chocolate and peanut butter on the jar.   Naturally I had to get on the internet to find out more about this company  with the clever name:  Peanut Butter & Co. take a look.  Discovered that my local supermarket carried this, bought it and wow!!!  great  on waffles, French toast, melting over ice cream  or scooping out of the jar with a spoon,  (you know you all do that.)    They also carry a hot and spicy peanut butter.   Satay sauce anyone?

WILL JAY LENO SURVIVE  the prime time spot?   I love Jay Leno and his show has always been the one I watch  (can't take the obnoxious Dave Letterman)  but I'm not sure the prime time audience "gets" a lot of the humor on Jay's skits.   His  Headlines,  Jay Walking and 99 Cents Store products skits are still the funniest things on TV.  Maybe it's because those segments deal with real life and real people.   You just can't make up the stuff on these  bits. 

HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE are losing their jobs and homes by the week, but we still have to stand in line at restaurants.   Why hasn't the recession made a difference here?   No matter how little money people are left with, they're NOT cooking.  Period.  LOL.

ARE YOU GETTING AS TIRED AS I AM of all the religiously inspired e-mails that keep telling us to send  on to 5, 10, 15 people and we'll have something wonderful happen to us?  Do people not realize that these things are started by computer hackers, who know you'll send it on?  When you get these e-mails take a look at the dozens of names and e-mail addresses that show up on your copy.  Hackers get names for spamming and phishing from your e-mails.   This is why they start the religious oriented sites, because they KNOW you'll send it on and on and on and.......think about how many multiples there are in sending one e-mail on to 5 people ad infinitum.  Don't buy into this scam.  God doesn't work through the internet.

 I AM SADDENED AT THE OUTCOME of the elections in New Jersey and Virginia. not because of who won, but why they won.  During interviews of some of the voters on the street,  many of them commented that they were voting Republican in protest of Obama and his policies.  Are we putting people in office not because they're qualified, but because we have an "I'll show you " attitude?   If this is so, we are in big trouble.  Remember, Obama was elected because many people voted for his color.

JUST GOT MY NETFLIX COPY OF one of  the most talked about videos in recent years,  FOOD INC.    This is an interesting and  scary account of the food industry and one everyone should see.   Nothing gross, nothing to make you queasy, just  an expose  about the food we put into our mouths and how it's processed and grown and scariest of all, how it's controlled and by whom.    I'm not so sure it's even real food anymore.  Very interesting information. Worth a look.

AS YOU ALL KNOW, I GRIND my own beef.  In view of the constant recalls of ground beef contaminated with e-coli and God knows what else,  and in view of the recall last week after 3 people died and dozens ended up in the hospital,   I'm lovin' my grinder more and more.   Y'all oughtta think about it. 

And that's all I'm saying.  

 

KEEP YOUR HANDS TO YOURSELF - A LESSON LEARNED.

SOME PEOPLE HAVE NERVE, YA GOTTA HAND IT TO THEM:  And speaking of "hands"   Carrie Prejean, the Miss California beauty who was passed over for making a controversial statement on gay marriage, is back in the news yet another time.   Like Jon and Kate she just won't go away.   

Seems this "holier-than-thou" Christian goody two shoes, is showing those shoes on clay feet.  First came the expose of her topless photos,  forbidden by pageant rules,  and lying about their existence  til the photos surfaced on the internet,  magazines, newpapers and TV.  Then came the revelation that she had breast implants paid for by the pageant people,  (you mean she isn't a natural beauty? gasp!)  Then she filed a wrongful termination lawsuit saying the pageant officials fired her for her deeply religious and moral views and NOW, the blockbuster of them all,  "Carrie baby" dropped the lawsuit minutes after it was discovered that she did a porno sex tape in which she is having sex with- her favorite person - Carrie herself.   The tape is a graphic showing of her uh, handiwork,  and in such detail that it can't be shown on YouTube and several news sites have been told not to air it on the internet.

  But you can bet somebody will show it as soon as they can find a buyer who is interested in paying the $10,000 price tag.  Christian morals?  Carrie was due to speak at an event on "Defending the Family"  but was removed from the schedule when the tape information became public.

Had she answered the gay marriage question that she was asked instead of showing off her "moral character" by giving her opinion, which wasn't asked for, she'd be wearing the crown and she and her family wouldn't be facing the humiliation they face today.  

  Carrie  joins the Hypocrites Hall of Fame along with Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker, who bilked  thousands of followers out of millions of dollars  in the name of God;  Oral Roberts,  whose  lunatic ramblings that God appeared to him and said he would "take him to heaven now" if he couldn't raise 1 million dollars,  got him sent to  a rest home;  Rev. Tim  Haggard who lied about not having a sexual relationship with a gay, male  prostitute and using chrystal meth;  the crying, lying, Jimmy Swaggart, who raved and ranted on every segment of his televangelist show on the evils and degradation of pornography, including calling for a boycott of the 7-Eleven stores because they sold dirty magazines.   Jimmy was arrested for solicititing a prostitute, one that he had used many times. While  searching his home police found boxes of porno mags, books, videos, etc.   His show was cancelled shortly after he came back to cry like a baby asking forgiveness.   Three months later he was again arrested for soliciting a prostitute on a street corner; and the father of the year,  "balloon dad" for teaching his children to lie.  

And of course, the thousands of priests who have been indicted for forcing small children into anal and oral sex.  This one is the vilest of them all.  There can't be a punishement hard enough for these snakes.

One St. Louis priest was recently arrested for trying to pay for sex with a 16 yr. old on Craigslist.   They found tons of child pornography material on his computer.

WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO OUR SENSE OF MORALITY?   Why are we using God to play our little  lying,  cheating,  "let me show you what a good Christian  I am"  games?  Why do we keep making the same stupid mistakes over and over never seeming to get  that we will be caught?

We can't believe anyone anymore.  Do you really know who the good people are?  No you don't and neither do I.  

 I hope God does.

SHAKEN, NOT STIRRED

This will be short and funny.  I hope you get  the same kick out of the video that I did this morning.  If you missed the  newscasts,  here is the incident as it happened. 

The accident took place in Russia in a vodka distillery.  The warehouse forklift driver wasn't injured but  but he was shaken up and ohhhhhh the martinis that went to waste.  Hundreds of cases of vodka and cognac were destroyed to the cost of $150,000.00.  Was this a case of drink driving?   His career may be on the rocks. 

Take a look and enjoy this.

HALLOWEEN, BRINGING OUT THE WORST IN PEOPLE

It's about to hit the fan, trust me.  If it doesn't I'll be suprised. 

Lester Holt, The Today Show's  weekend anchor and all around nice guy, donned a Halloween costume sure to get some people irate and others writing letters, e-mailing , phone calling  and, well, blogging.

Lester, a black man, came out in white face as Susan Boyle, the singer of America's Got Talent  fame.  Now with all the hullaballoo about the Australian talent contest,  with the white singing group in black  face, mimicking the Jackson Five, and the Tanya Banks' white models in black makeup causing such a stir, dontcha think this is going to cause some problems too?  Will we see a double standard here or will whites be as outraged as blacks were?  Gonna be interesting to say the least.  And that's the least I can say.  Click here for the video of this morning's segment. 

Another segment on the show featured a young man, an employee of Home Depot who was fired for wearing a badge that read: "....one nation under God, indivisible."  The man said he was fired only for wearing a badge that had the name of God written on it, but Home Depot said he violated company policy which forbids the wearing of ANY badge except Home Depot's own badge that reads "United We Stand."  It was agreed by his lawyer, that Home Depot has the right to set company dress standards. 

The man was asked to stop wearing the badge but continued to wear it saying he was supporting his country, his God and his brother, who was about to leave for Iraq.   Seems to me that United We Stand pretty much says support for his country and his brother.   He insisted that HD fired him because of religious discrimination and is sueing HD.  The company has said that  religion had nothing to do with the firing and he was given every opportunity to remove the badge and wear the UWS badge.  He refused over and over.

Now the way I see it, looks like "badge guy" decided to  hell with company policy and thumbed his nose at the rules.   He did what he wanted to do BUT, the big  words to keep in mind are "God, and Fired."  A law suit in the making for sure.  He's going to get paid.  Why? Because he found a way to make money by screaming "religious discrimination."  Home Depot will, in all probability,  settle, which of course means "badge guy" will  come out a winner, the badge goes away in the drawer and so does the issue.  

This ain't over yet, you can bet on it.

WILL THAT BE CASH, CHECK, DEBIT OR HAHAHAHAHAHA OUTRAGEOUS CREDIT CARD?

I'M ON A REAL RANT THIS MORNING!

Yesterday's Today Show featured a segment on the new credit card rules put into place by Bank of America with others to follow.   The new rules will punish anyone who does as we were asked to do; pay off our credit cards, don't carry a balance if we can help it, and try to curb credit card spending by keeping your purchase level low.

Well, as Suzy Orman says, "guess what.?"  We're being punished for being good consumers.  This is what is now in place and is already happening with Bank of America:

If you pay your bill in full each month you will be charged a fee from $29.99 to $99.00  depending on the amount you've charged. Even though every merchant pays a fee when you use your credit card in their shops, the banks will still charge you for carrying you on their books.  Okay I get that and I might even go along with it but read further...

If you keep your balance too low, even though you don't pay your card off in full, you will be charged a fee.  You must carry a revolving balance of $2400 per month in order to avoid the fee.  That means that you have to charge that amount or more and pay the already outrageous percentage rate or you will not only pay that rate but you get slapped with a fee for not charging enough.  WTF????? The financial people are telling us not to charge too much and the banks are punishing us for it. 

If you close your account you will lose your credit rating on that card, especially if it is a card you've used for years.  If it's new card, then go ahead and close it.  But.....

If you decide to keep your account open but not use your card, you will be slapped with an inactivity  fee.  Than banks have us by the short hairs and it's starting to make my eyes water.

How long do you think it will be before the American public has enough of this nonsense  and gets off their apathetic asses and revolts?   I think that day is coming soon.

I have a very good credit card.  It's good for me because it has a great rewards system.  I charge EVERYTHING I purchase so my rewards build up fast.  But I pay my card off every month, and have been doing that for 10 years.  I have never carried a balance.   I'm going to get penalized.  They raised my percentage rate from 4% to 30% just a couple of months ago.  I didn't care because I never pay it anyway.  But now I have to charge more than I want to or need to in order to avoid the fee. And I have to pay the outrageous percentage rate by carrying a balance each moth.  Let's see, if I charge $1500 per month and pay it off I get hit with a double penalty fee. one for not charging enough and one for paying it off.   If I don't use my card for a month, I get hit with a fee for not using the card AND not keeping a balance of $2400.   Those reward points are not looking too good to me right now. 

If I don't use my card anymore, I get penalized.  If I close my account, my FICO score, which is above 800 will drop. That's not a problem for me since I'm not looking to buy a home, a car,  or take out a loan.

But for those who need to keep their FICO scores up there, and for those who can't afford to buy more than they're buying now, and for those who like to sleep at night knowing they don't carry a balance on their cards each month, these fees are going to build up.  Anything you save by buying on sale or through smart shopping will go into the banks' pockets.  It seems that in order to avoid the rise in percentage rates, people have been using their debit cards more than credit cards and the banks are pissed.   They're pissed???

This is our thanks for bailing them out with billions of OUR tax dollars. 

And by the way:  Bank of America has already started this.  CitiCorp and others are following this week.   Click here for the video. 

It has been suggested by many financial experts that now is the time to look into credit unions.  Their cards don't carry fees.  

Yet. 

THE WORLD WITHOUT SOUP

"The Soup" is gone. I'm referring of course to Soupy Sales, the icon of the fifties and sixties and the one person I will remember always. Soupy died last week at 83 years of age.

Soupy Sales is often described as "zany." Soupy was beyond zany, he was just plain nuts. And we loved him.

Having attended Catholic school in Detroit and not having a school bus service, we walked home for lunch, 11:25 til 12:30. Soupy's show was on at noon so we were able to watch, then run like the dickens to get back to school on time. Sometimes we gathered at each others' homes for lunch but we NEVER missed an episode. When I started watching the show in the early 50's, it was shown live from the Detroit studio it was called "12 O'Clock Comics" and oddly enough, I can still remember the theme.

Soupy had his own brand of humor and many things he said and did were more for his own benefit and the benifit, and subsequent hysterical laughter of his crew and staff. You could hear them in the background and when Soupy looked at the crew and started laughing we knew something was going on behind the cameras.

For some reason, unknown to anyone, he called us, his fans, Birdbaths.

Soupy had two dogs, White Fang, a white paw that would come from the front of the screen, touch Soupy and talk to him:

White Fang: "Er er er er er er er.

Soupy translates: "You have something for me that you've been wanting to give me for a long time?"

White Fang: Er er.

Soupy: "Well give it to me." At this point a gun shot with a high pitched whine could be heard as a pie came flying into Soupy's face. Soupy inevitably would yell, "White Fang, you are the meanest dog in awllla Deeeetroit." Awlla, of course, meaning all of.

His other dog, Black Tooth, a black paw that would grab him, pull him toward the camera and slobber kisses on him. Soupy would wipe his face then say "don't kiss." Then added "you are the best dog in awlla Deeeetroit." It was the same every day and we waited for it.

Soupy other charcters, Willie the Worm who lived in an apple and always had words of wisdom, whistled to speak.

Willie: " ♪ ♪ ♫ ♪ ♫ ♪ "

Soupy would translate by ad libbing after some conversation with the worm much of it with double meanings, and personal remarks to the staff or crew.. Everyone would wind up roaring with laughter. The show belonged to Soupy and his staff, we were just there to watch them have fun with each other.

Pookie the Lion was another character, he wasn't my favorite, but This Video will give you a better perspective of what Soupy's show was really like. Stay with it.

The door was what we really waited for. There would be a knock, Soupy would go to the door and there, out of camera range, would be a person with a message, usually the message was punctuated with a pie in Soupy's face, or being hit with a bucket of water. We loved it.

Take a look at the most famous of all "door scenes." Seems that the staff had some ideas of their own and this one was hilarious. Soupy wasn't aware that this was going to happen so his laughter and puzzled look were genuine. He couldn't stop laughing. Caution: This video contains a woman naked from the waist up.

Next to the door was a plug stuck into the wall with a sign that read, "Do Not Touch." He always pulled the plug out, got squirted in the face with water, and we laughed just as though we were seeing it for the first time. It looks trite and sounds unfunny til you realize, as we did, that it wasn't always water, sometimes it was beer or some other liquid. Soupy himself was often unaware of what would come out of the hole.

In this video Soupy describes the type of gag he would do on his show, most of which kiddies wouldn't understand. But this one got him a week's suspension. I don't remember it, but learned about it later. I think it's hilariously funny, and this is typical of Soupy's brand of humor.

Soupy had a 15 minute show Soupy's On at 11 PM for the adults which was equally filled with off camera action, as he portrayed one of several different characters each night. The only one I really remember was Charles Vichyssoise, described as raconteur, bon vivant, man about town. Charles was a slippery, mustached, egotist who had to deal with unruly patrons in his Club Chi Chi nightspot. Funny stuff, risque dialogue just barely passing the censors, but funny.

Born Morton Supman, he took stage name of Milton Hines, the permanently changed it to Soupy Sales.

Soupy's is the only show I remember so well. There was something about his gentle character, his love of laughing at himself, and making us laugh with him, that keeps him in my memories.

Goodbye Soupy, you were the best comedian in awlla Deeeeetroit.

GET THEE TO A NUNNERY - OR A CATHOLIC SCHOOL

MOST OF YOU ALREADY KNOW that I have no shame.  So with that I'm going to give you a heads up on my new cooking blog before I start this entry:  Here it is.  My blog is now up and running and I'm going to have a lot of fun with it.  I hope you tune in and tell your friends about it.  The whole purpose of the blog is to give you information, instruction and recipes on cooking the best Italian food possible - and that means using fresh, simple ingredients with a minimum of effort.   This is the way Italians cook so you can too.

 Give it a look, just click on this:  The Simple Comfort Foods of Italy

A FEW DAYS AGO I SAW SOMETHING THAT SURPRISED ME.  Two nuns walking through a shopping center wearing full habits.  Haven't seen that in years.  The Catholic schools have closed for the most part and it seems that the priesthood and the nunneries are losing prospects, so seeing a nun at all is a surprise much less one in full habit.  

I got to thinking about my school days at a Catholic School in Detroit.  The order of nuns were  Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (pictured above.)   Those women were really something and my life was in their hands.  I've forgotten a few of them, maybe because they didn't leave an impression on me, but some of them will live in my mind forever. 

My first grade nun, Sister Mary Kind and Gentle  (they all took the first name of Mary, we tagged the rest of the name) was just that.  School was going to be a cinch if all of the nuns were like this one.  We were 6 years old and scared out of our wits just having a nun speak to us.  They were, well,  different and I think Sr. Mary K and G knew we were terrified.   She set the scene but it changed rapidly.  She always spoke kindly to us, we never saw the future  coming.

My second grade nun was non-descript, don't remember much about her but on to the third grade.  Now third graders, having gone through two years of school become a little complacent and we thought we'd breeze through third grade UNTIL...... we met Sister Mary Nazi.  Sr. M. N. had a baton, pretty much like one a musical conductor uses but hers was thicker and longer.  She kept a book on her desk for the sole purpose of keeping the desk from splintering when she whapped  the baton over the top of it to get our attention.    It worked, only because we were terrified that the baton would be whapped on one of us instead. Just for the record, I never saw a nun hit anyone at any time.  This woman tolerated nothing short of complete silence. She puncutated every sentence with a WHAP!  She wanted to beat something.  But we were there to learn and learn we did.   We wet ourselves in terror but we learned. I think she went on to train attack dogs and a night class in SADISM 101. 

My fourth grade nun Sister Mary Paralysis had a medical problem.  Maybe a mental problem too but the woman never stopped smiling for one entire school year.  It was as though her face was frozen in a smile.  Today we'd think "botox overdose" but this was 1950,  (yes kiddies, I'm that old.)  We always wondered why she kept that perpetual smile on her face.   I have a feeling she always wondered, "what am I doing here and why am I wearing this  habit?" and the smile kept her from blowing her head off.   Maybe the whimple was choking her. Nobody is that happy all the time.

Then along came Sister Mary Torquemada.   I've searched the history books and can't find her name but I know  she had something to do with the Spanish Inquisition.  She was angry, really angry and showed it. Meanest, nastiest woman alive.    Nothing pleased her and we never made a sound for fear she would retaliate.  She taught religion class and I think she secretely wanted to make us martyrs.   Maybe Sister Mary Paralysis' smile got to her.  Yep, that would do it.

And last but still up there at the top of the list is Sister Mary Weak and Wan.  He real name was Sr. M. Dolorita, which means "sorrow."  This woman was the personification of sorrow, anorexia, weakness, and the sickly look on her face made us purposely misbehave because we knew she didn't have the strength to get angry.    She could barely be heard since she was too weak to speak above a whisper and I honestly think she couldn't become angry if she wanted to.   We drove her nuts.  Bill O'Reilly has a book out called "Bold, Fresh Piece of Humanity."    I was that same B, F, piece of H.  That's what she called me over and over.  I still am.  The phrase must be in the Nun's Training Manual under the chapter, "What to Call an Unruly Student." Her lips would curl and she'd clench her teeth, "you bold....."  The class laughed and I loved it.

The nuns were quirky, strange, frightening at times and tough, really tough.  But we were there to learn and if there are teachers who deserve all the credit in the world it was these dedicated women.  I know that now. Didn't appreciate it then.  I learned, maybe it came easyily  to me, but I was a straight A student all through school.  Not a goody-two -shoes because my report card had a pemanent "F" stamped on it for conduct

That never changed.  My mother and my nuns never commented on my A's.  "You got another F in conduct"?   Hey ma, look at the rest of the card.  "I don't care about the rest of the card. Why can't you stop talking in class. Why do you do this?"

 Because  I've always got something to say, that's why.  AND the nuns taught me to say it properly.  And that's my next blog subject. 

SUNDAY MORNING RANTS AND OTHER THOUGHTS

APPARENTLY I DON'T HAVE ENOUGH TO DO so I'm seriously thinking of starting another blogsite featuring only Italian recipes.  I get a lot of e-mail from readers of my current food blog  Chew On This who ask for more Italian recipes so I'm going to devote and entire blogsite to this subject .  I don't know of any other ethnic food that creates such a feeling of comfort and satifaction  (notice how many Italian restaurants pop up all over town)  so I'll feature recipes, photos,  information, and write ups on Italian food.  I'll blow my horn when I get the site up and running in a few days and think up an appropriate name.    I hope you'll tune in.  In the meantime here's a shamless promotion for my other cooking blogsite.   Click here.  

A FEW DAYS AGO WHEN I POSTED the entry about "balloon boy" I hadn't been aware that Falcon Heene vomited on Good Morning America as well as the Today Show.  Seems strange that each time he was asked the question "why did you hide" he suddenly developed the urge to vomit.   Now we find out why.  I'm suddenly taken with that same urge.   Shame on the Heene family for involving so many people in the search,  at great expense and inconvenienc I might add,  all for a hoax.   How will we react the next time someone seems to be in danger?  Crying "wolf"  too many times can jade the American public.  

I RANTED ON FACEBOOK a few days ago after reading the article that 50 million senior citizens will not get a raise in Social Security payments in 2010 because the cost of living hasn't gone up and energy costs have gone down.  Really?  Then howcome so many of us around the country are seeing electric and gas bills rise?   And if the cost of living hasn't risen does that mean that all of these people deserve to live as they lived in 2009?  Tell that to that to the woman (and I'm sure there are many more like her)  who eats canned cat food because she can't afford to eat and buy her constantly rising prescription medication.   

Someone has to explain to me in childlike terms why the government is willing to bail out the companies that have been brought to their knees by greedy, incompetant and selfish company officers, then watch those officers get millions of dollars in bonuses while people in their senior years get nothing.    I'm not sure I understand this.  No, I DON'T understand this and never will.   Why is this country not protesting?  And where in the hell is our mouthpiece, AARP?

This was an article on the next  morning's home page Click here.

Let's hope something comes of this plan for the sake of thousands of Americans who are really struggling.

 

WHY ARE SO MANY PEOPLE STILL USING plastic grocery bags when we clearly have so many canvas bags available for purchase everywhere?   I went "green" a long time ago and I see more and more people using these bags not only at the supermarket but at other stores - Target,  Home Goods, Lowe's, Home Depot etc.  Good for them/us.   But there are an equal number of people still opting for plastic.  Are ya just not getting it?   These bags are so cheap that I keep buying them.  I bought 2 more at Target for .67 each. Hell, they're almost a fashion statement.

 I can't pass up a deal like that.   Come on people go canvas instead of plastic.  

AND WHEN WILL BILL O'REILLY STOP promoting his Fox News show with his ratings spiel and will he ever stop patting himself on the back because he is such a wonderful news analyst who tells it like it is, (NOT) and will he ever, ever, ever stop promoting his book?   Fox is coming under some heavy fire from the White House on down to the common viewer, yep that's us, because of their severe leaning to the right and their constant bashing of anything they don't agree with.  Bill is one of the worst offenders of this.  Any guest who shows any sign of disagreeing with his opinion  will not be able to get a word in because Bill overtakes the entire  interview.  He interrupts everyone who has anything to say and we never get to hear the rest of their point.   Bill  and only Bill has to be heard.   

And didya ever wonder why ALL of the women on his show are blond, young  and beautiful?  Are there no intelligent women, lawyers, news analysts etc. who are older,  plain looking,  and brunette?  What up with that?  Where's the pole?

I LOVE JOY BEHAR and I like her new show.  If you haven't seen it tune in and take a look.  Pro:  she has some great and interesting guests, her rant "Not for Nothing" is right on target along with being spiced with her brand of humor.  I wish I could think like she does.  

Con: It was going well for the first week or so now it's beginning to take on a "View" look.  I can't watch The View because I can't understand a word anyone is saying as they all talk at the same time.  The sound of 4 or 5 women yakking in shrill voices at once is like being in a hen house with a fox under my arm.   Come on Joy,  one at a time please. These people have interesting things to say.

Ciao.