Visitor

I went out to my window boxes last weekend and found a visitor.. so of course named him.. GI Joe Frog. I named him that because he is (or was because he isn't in the planter anymore, he moved on to new digs) camouflaged colored. And it changed, because he spent 2 days with us here on Oxen Hill Loop before he moved on, and his coloring changed subtly.

Of course I ran upstairs and looked what kind of frog or toad he was, at this web site. I believe he is a frog and I think he is a bull frog. He was pretty big. Although not as big as the bull frogs (or I believe they were bull frogs, the poor things) we dissected in high school. Either way he is hiding here under one of my Pentas, which by the way are not doing that well.... He didn't dig down into the dirt like a toad would have. He did pull himself in under the leaves though.

I would check on him throughout the day if I were home, and first thing in the morning and when I got home from work. I found him on a Sunday night, and he was gone when I got home Tuesday night from work. You could see where he got up on the railing the planters are hanging on, and took that first step, which was a doozy. Didn't see him anywhere around, so who knows where he went, or if he will be back. I hope so. He seemed like a pretty nice fellow.

That is about it, have alot of stuff to catch up on here, and will be in the process of doing that over the next couple of days.

Last weekend was our little get together with 10 of our friends. Only 7 actually made it here, but we had 2 extras come, so it all worked out. Food seemed pretty good, and I will post some recipes that I promised tomorrow.

Today, we at taking Mathie and Wesley for a ride in the car. Wish we could take them out to run around some place. Oh well who know's what we will find...

Ate breakfast at IHOP this morning. I had two eggs over easy, double order of hash browns and a side (and it was some side!) of French toast with banana's, caramel sauce and topped with whipped cream.... I don't think I will have to eat for the rest of the day!!

Ok, I am behind on my posts, about the things that I have been doing... Oh boy, we had company from Germany, we went camping... So here goes... the dinner...

I made Chilli, hot dogs, cole slaw, potato salad, cumcumber salad, Chocalate Roulade (chocalate cream roll), Bavarian Apple Cheese Cake, and Tropical Fruit Cream Pie (Mangos, Kiwi, Strawberries)

Well, we had a great time... the food turned out great, and I promise I will post the recipes for the deserts later. The Chilli was good, but could have been better, it was alittle dry. The salads were great... It was Julia Childs's American Potato Salad Recipe. My Aunt Betty's Cole Slaw Recipe. The Cumber's were my recipe I found somewhere along the way...

So, our guests were Evlin, Elin, Peter and Heinrich. Evlin and Peter, were the adults, and Elin and Heinrich were teenagers. They love the animals and the animals except Mathie, were all very happy with their company. Mathie is a worry wart, and she can't relax when there are people around that she doesn't know... Especially 4 at one time!!!

George loved the kids. They really were an absolute pleasure to be around. The polite. Joined in the conversation. It was an amazing contrast to the majority of the kids over here.

And they brought all these gifts with them, they brought 4 tee shirts from the German Soccer team from the World Cup, and Hat, then tons of chocalate, and Gummi Candy, glasses, and beer mugs...

And the most terrific thing out of the whole day was, George said that he would go to Germany maybe next year... Evlin and Peter asked him if he would come to Germany, and he said yes!!!

So, maybe next year, instead of a blog entry collection from Philly, there will be a blog entry from Germany!!!!

Wish I had a job where I could do something rewarding...

I have to admit, my paycheck is about the most rewarding thing about this job... and believe me, it is ok, but not obsene by any stretch of the imagination.

I find myself sitting at my desk, looking out the window... (yes I have a window), thinking about all the things I could be doing that are productive. Sewing, gardening, cooking, cleaning, taking care of the animals. Riding my bicycle to the store to pick things up (groceries and sundries). But instead I sit here typing orders, answering questions, getting yelled at by various individuals for things I have no control over.... etc., etc.

I have been working since I was 18 years old. That is 30 years... you do the math... I am not an old lady, by any stretch of the imagination, but I feel like if I keep doing this for very long I will be old.

I think I come into the office every morning, and sit behind this desk and obsess for about 15-20 minutes, about how much I wish I didn't have to come here....

Now mind you, there are those that would say... "Consider yourself lucky to have a job...", the first one being my employer, not to imply that I am not a good employee. And, to them I have to say, "I do consider myself lucky..." but I would like to be happy and lucky at the same time.

Like for instance the person who was in a bad car accident, that survived, albeit banged up pretty bad... they are lucky, right? But, let's face it, they could be happier, especially if they are holed up in a hospital room with people they have absolutely nothing in common with, except that they are all in the hospital....

So.. that brings me to another thing... we have this committee, called the EAS committee... EAS stands for Employee Attitude Survey.... It evolved from a survey that was taken a few years back where the company found that there was a serious attitude problem in our office. So they formed this committee, (which I was a part of the inaugural committee), and did some research and found that there were policies that needed some tweaking, etc. Well, when the committee and management, came to some comprimises, there was nothing left to do, it was decided we should do things to lift moral. Well, that is when my philosophy and the philosophy of my peers in the office part ways.... I don't need to do activities in the office. I need to do my job, which is making my customers happy, meet my quoatas, and get the heck out of Dodge everyday at 5:00. But instead the EAS committee the following years started doing things like raising funds for a yearly Holiday Party, contests, cookouts. Well, I don't go to the Holiday Party... LIke I said, I have nothing in common with these people, why would I want to spend a Saturday night, eatting some sort or plastic Pasta Primavera (I am vegetarian), listen to some lame DJ or sorry excuse of a band. But, I am expected to get involved in the fund raising for something I don't have any desire to be a part of. So when they have a garage sale/silent auction, I am EXPECTED to bring something in to put on the table to sell, or if I have nothing at home, I am expected to bake something and put it on the table to sell.

Now tell me if that wouldn't piss you off. When I leave here at 5:00, it is bad enough I have to think about going to bed at a reasonable time, to get up to be here. I leave here on Friday night and I don't want to think about this place till I get back on Monday. I don't want to go home and bake something to bring here. I want to go home and do the things I wish I could be doing when I am sitting at my desk.

Is there something wrong with that...?

And.... the last day in Philly

Ok, Friday in Philly... I went to the Eastern State Penitentiary. This is an old prison, one of the oldest in the United States. Actually THE oldest Penitentiary in the United States.... Here's a link to the site for it....CLICK .

It was very interesting... Was actually created in the early 1800's. By the Quakers, the fundamental behind it was Quaker actually... that is where the word penitentiary comes from, serving "penance".

It is in the middle of a city, was open until the mid to late 1900's. And, when it was closed it was considered to be a wretched place. Actually it makes me kind of sad. It was put out there as a positive fix for a penal system that was non-existent. And it seemed to me that instead of trying to improve on the concept, the concept was exploited. Can't explain it right now (pressed for time), but it just seems that things were always the same, just in a lesser degree, somewhat.

It seems we have always been a throw away society. We either are throwing away things, or people. Or... maybe I am a hopeless optimist, idealist, romantic.

Anyway... I took some pictures, and you can probably see more on the website linked about, but here are mine.

Just some info... Al Capones cell. It is believed that at times it wasn't even locked. Also, there is a picture of what the cells looked like when the prison was first built, a cross section of the prison cell lay out with the individual excercise yard. And, last but not least, the statues of the cats (white), that are a memorial to the cats that inhabited the Prison after they closed it down. That is a neat story also...

I would recommend this attraction to anyone who goes to Philadelphia. It is in walking distancee of the downtown area, it is not expensive, and it is very interesting....

Ok, can't upload pictures again!!!

I will try when I get home... sorry! OK, as a side note... I could only upload 2 pictures... to this post. Sorry.. go to the website and you will see more...

Quick Post about Thursday in Philadelphia

Ok, real quick post....

Just some fill in info right now... Rod Smith lost the primary...what a shame... but we will probably lose the election in November, no matter who was elected in the primary.

Dinner on Saturday was a success.... Chili was alittle dry, but it was ok, and the desserts were a big hit... I will post the recipes for the desserts later this week.

Thursday in Philadelphia... Well that was really a disappointment. Decided to go to the Germantown Historical Society. First German settlement/community in the United States... Well, the unfortunate part is that I had to walk about 5 block, through not the best area... now mind you it wasn't a slum, but it wasn't great, and I was by myself, going someplace I was not familiar with. I took the train there, grafiti on the walls at the train station, had to walk through a pretty deserted commercial area. As I was walking, I was getting more and more uneasy, so I decided to turn around. Got back to the train station, and tried to go to the ticket office, and a girl looked at me through the window on the door, and said, we are closed, and disappeared. Needless to say I was still uneasy. I think the main reason was because, no one knew where I was, so if anything happened, there was no way to know where it happened to me, where I was, ... Just not a good situation.

So, disappointed I went back to the hotel and waited for George to get out of the convention.

You know you hear about people getting racially profiled all the time. But how often do you hear about a person who is afraid of being racially profiled. You know what I mean? Let's think about this, here I am, dependent on public transportation, by myself... all I want to do is go to a historic area, actually an historic settlement that could be part of my heritage, and I am reluctant to do so, for fear that someone will take offense. That they will have a problem with me walking throught their neighborhood. Like I said, had I been with someone, I wouldn't have felt so vulnerable.

You know I never felt this way before... There is something wrong, things are not what they should be, and I believe they are getting worse. I believe there is a problem out there, that I can't fix, because what is causing that problem is bigger than me, but I and others are the victims of this problem.

It is a very scary time in the United States... Things are not good, and people are being made to feel vulnerable. I think this is part of the huge divide that is happening in society. The huge divide of haves and have nots. What is happening is that the people in the latter category, right now anyway, are totally divided. I believe that before we hit the "revolt" stage of the have nots, there will be a kind of civil war at the bottom. I know who is going to win that war... it won't be people like me, I know that. I am not be part of the have's, in fact alot of people are not going to be part of the haves.... alot of people who think they are already there.

I bet that sounds like a bunch of nonsense... Maybe it is... but I don't think so. I just notice things happening around me in the last few years. What I notice has been slow and gradual, and it is effecting my gut feelings. Like I said a few posts back, I have never been so angry about this kind of stuff. I have been sad about it, but not angry.

Now, what do I do about it.... I am not going to change the world. Too late for that... so what do I do about it....?

A little Seminole DEC nonsense....

Well yesterday Carol Cox (Chairwoman of the Seminole DEC) pulled more crap, as would be expected from her...

We have a primary tomorrow in the state of Florida. I am supporting Rod Smith, and Carol Cox, (and I would say Ed, except....he can't vote...) is supporting Jim Davis. They are both Democrats.

However Carol, as unethical as she is, in my opininon (I had to add that because it apparently clears me of any wrong doing... according to Carol Cox anyway...) sent a letter out to people all over the state, with her endorsement of Jim Davis..and added her position as Chairman of the Seminole County DEC. That is really not ethical. A DEC, or any of the people on the board are not supposed to use their position to endorse one Democrat over another in a primary. Now mind you, it isn't written anywhere, but most points of ethics are not laws or rules. That is what makes it ethical or non ethical, versus legal or illegal.

First of all, she used e-mail addresses she obtained commercially from her business, Dems Link, to personally endorse a candidate, using her position of Chair of a State of Florida Democratic Organization, to qualify that endorsement.

And.... She also included pictures and video taken at an event, organized by one of the Precinct Commiteewomen, that was not meant as a "campaign" event for either of the two candidates, but instead to organize this paticular precinct.

What were the pictures of you ask...? Well they were of Carol Cox of course... she is always sending around pictures of herself. See, she really loves herself (good thing, because most people don't like her at all, and the list is growing....).

Oh, yes and the other subject of those pictures was Jim Davis... NOW you ask yourself, how would Jim Davis get to a precinct organization meeting. We know how Carol Cox got there... she was invited. She was invited because the Precinct Committeewoman wanted to get the Democrats in her precinct to become active in the Seminole County Democratic Executive Committee, and Carol Cox is the Chairwoman of the Seminole County Executive Committee. It make sense that she would be there. But how in the world did Jim Davis find the meeting....? He wasn't invited!!!

I believe there are over 5,000 precincts in the State of Florida. How would he happen to find a meeting in this paticular one, that Carol Cox happened to be at with Ed, and Ed just so happened have his camera AND video camera, and... Carol happened to have on a cute little pink suit. WHAT KIND OF A COINCEDENCE IS THAT....!!!!!???!!!!

Are you begining to smell a rat!?! Now, who is the head Rat...? Carol Cox, or Jim Davis!!!!???!!! Well my guess is it is Carol Cox, since how else would Jim Davis known that there was a meeting there?

So you see? It is people like Carol Cox that gives politics a bad name. The fact that she is supporting Jim Davis is enough of a reason for me not to support him. I have other reasons. I decided on Rod Smith long before I knew who Carol was supporting... Probably long before Carol knew who she was supporting.

Isn't it sad that politics is constantly being brought down to such unethical levels, when it could be used to help. That is why I am Democrat. And it is because of people like Carol Cox, and the people she surronds herself with, that I just can't be involved locally in Seminole County anymore. She does not represent me.

Never got to Tuesday night or Wedneday

Sorry about the editorial the other day... Just in one of those moods.

But, in my "moment", I left out Tuesday night and Wednesday...

We went to a Phillies/Mets game... Phillies won. George says there there is nothing as pretty as a baseball field... and think he is right. It was awful pretty... The Mascot was pretty good too. I forget his name, but he came up in the stands by us...

We took the subway to the stadium, and it was pretty neat. The subway comes out about 2 blocks from the subway entrance. Let me tell you, I am not a BIG fan of subways, but it was OK to travel on one with George.... I am a girl from the burbs, and never have been, probably never will be a city girl.

Wednesday I went to Rittenhouse Square/Shopping District. (the picture on top is a residential street in the Rittenhouse District of Philadelphia) I started down that way to find Antique Row. I found it, but didn't really find anything I was dying to have, so moved on to the regular shopping district. Found Barnes and Noble, and a Kitchen store. I bought a book for Audrey and Al, and a vegetarian cook book, and 4 Rooster mugs. That has sort of become my theme in my house because of the "Oviedo Chickens". Then last week while shopping, and walking through JC Penney's, we found that they have a whole set of dishs. Actually it is a service for 4, dinner plate, dessert plate, mug, and soup bowl. So we got them.

Also almost got some pictures of the Mets coming out of their hotel in Philadelphia, on their way to the stadium for the game that night. The were staying at the Westin... Man, they sure don't slum it do they?

Ok, lets see I think we are up to Tuesday and Wednesday. Tuesday I got up and after having breakfast with George we went to the caucus (Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina). Then I went for a walk up past Logan Circle, over to the Free Library, back to the Book Store for the free library, then to Whole Foods, and on back to the Philadelphia Museum of Art. You know the one that Rocky ran up the stairs too. Walked around the library, and realized that this was the beginning of Fairmount Park. Now there are things to see in Fairmount Park, but it is an enormous park, and would have taken days, and probably a car and or a bicycle to really explore, but I did my share. Found a statue of General Von Steuben, and then some Canadian Geese and Boat House Row, and a little damn, and the black stuff you see sitting on the damn are Canadian Geese sitting on the edge of the damn. They also had a museum there to teach kids what a precious resource our water is, and that tap water, although may seem like an endless commodity, it isn't.

But you know what....? I have to throw in some editorial here. Honestly, unless the children are raised with the correct values, and that is a conservative (not politically I might add, but lifestyle), you can bring kids, and I am talking about all children, inner city, upper and middle class, and extremely well off to these attractions and it means nothing.

First of all, the bad is all around them, it is common place and "normal", so it isn't bad to them. Smelly water, mean people, mean animals, apathy, concrete, homelessness, fast food all the things I find very, very sad, and dis-heartening is just part of their very existance. A day with the Boys and Girls Club, or even a summer vacation with a few college kids earning some college credit in an intern program, is never going to make a difference to change things. What will make a difference is a longing and yearning to make a change in the world. By a whole lot of people, parents, Aunts and Uncles, neighbors, etc. So that it becomes a way of life, instead of the other I listed earlier. An example has to be set by alot of people. Not some activists, or some self serving teen agers trying to get something for a resume', so that they can get out of their graduate program and get a starting salary of at least $50,000.00 a year.

And you know what... that just aint happening out there. Oh there are some people like that out there, but they are like a grain of sand in the sahara. And the other powers, are getting louder and stronger. I have said it before.... It is all over. I wish it were different. I wish I could make a differece with activism. But I can't, and I won't. I have tried. George and I have worn ourselves out for years. Together and alone, and honestly I don't think there is one person out there that I have influenced enough to care. I may have enlightened them for a day or a month at best, so they they became outraged, but then they went back to Walmart of bought that Escalade, and it was obvious to me that they totally missed the point.

And what got me started on this... well bunches of things, but one thing that just brought my heart down low was this very day. Tuesday, after seeing the statue of General Von Steuben, I walked across the park to where there was a flock of Canadian Geese sitting in the sun, pecking at the grass, just relaxing. Not bothering anyone, and, as would be expected it made me smile. It made me smile because inside I felt warm and happy looking at these wild animals at peace in an urban setting, albeit a city park, but they were happy and content, and that makes me happy deep down inside, and that makes a smile come to my face. But... it was short lived and replaced with a just as deep an anger, that it made me first sad, then angry to the point of wanting to hurt someone, and then sad because I was helpless. Apparently a group similar to a Boys and Girls club had spent the day a this park, and they were gathering up the little urchins to bring them back to their "cribs". When one of them saw the geese, and had to run or waddle his fat little self (can you tell I am still angry?) over to them yelling and flaling his arms in the air. Behind him were some girls, his age, obviously in his group, telling him to stop, but as they were telling him to stop, they were joing him and doing the same thing.

I just didn't get it. Why would they want to do that, why would they want to disturb the peace and well being of the geese? What was the purpose...? I mean let's break this down, they are being taken out of their element... They are being taken to a "world" that is supposed to be a contrast to what they are used to. Why are they being taken there, well I would gather a guess to show them something different, and teach them an appreciation of it, and hope that they could then bring some of that back with them to start to change their own world. But instead, they are bringing their own world into this one. I didn't see any adult supervision, so I started to go toward them to stop them, and tell them to stop. But I realized that they wouldn't listen to me, so I thought, maybe if they see me taking a picture, they would stop and have some respect... Oh yea right.. respect is about as foreign to them as the geese, or the swiss alps. That is when I found myself getting angry, and I have to tell you, it was not something I felt comfertable with. Then I heard the "adult" in the group, and it was a girl, a teen age girl, obviously of a different cultural class and "status" then these kids, who was calling them back. If she had put the effort into going after them, I could say that she was hearding them back to where they were before they made the affront on the geese. There was no explanation of what he was doing. No discussion. She totally ignored me. She wasn't calling him back because she didn't approve of what he and the girls were doing. She was calling him back because he wasn't where she wanted him to be, and or perhaps, this deviation of him with the geese was prolonging her time on the "job" and she just wanted it to be over.

That is when I became sad. I too just wanted to get away from there. It was just another sign of what I believe to be the beginning of the end for any kind of chance of any kind of civilized reformation. There isn't a chance to turn things around anymore. I truly believe that it is now each man for himself, to a certain extent. I hate that as much as I hate is bring us to that point.

LABOR DAY WEEKEND!!!

It is Labor Day Weekend... 3 days off from work... how good is that!!!!!?????!!!!!

We are also having company this weekend... I love entertaining... Like I said before, I always get scared that what I am preparing will not turn out.

So here is Sunday's menu!

Hotdogs, (vegetarian and non-vegetarian)

Now let's talk about the hot dogs... When I ate meat, I would buy Hillshire Farms hot dogs. They were great, very under rated compared to Sabrett's and Hebrew National. They were in natural casings, 100% beef, and not too garlicy. Well, Sara Lee bought out Hillshire farm, (who I believe was owned by Kahn Meats), and you can't find them anymore. So I bought some others at Whole Foods. They are 100% beef, no antibiotics or hormones used in the cattle, no nitrates in the processing of the dogs. Natural casing. They sound good, and I may even try one to see.

Chilli (vegetarian)

Hoagie Rolls (to make Chilli dogs if anyone wants to)

Potato Salad

Cole Slaw

Cucmuber Salad.

Fresh Fruit

Bavarian Apple Cheese Cake (not sure what is so "Bavarian" about it, but the recipe sounded good)

Tropical Fruit Cream Pie

Chocalate Roulade.

I know I am heavy on the desert, but that is because I love desert....

I have to plan the execution of this meal...

As would be expected, there will be pictures, when I get to add them to this blog... as soon as I can.

I still have to add Tuesday and the rest of the week in Philadelphia. I might add a few days at a time, for the sake of time.

Tomorrrow is weigh in, and I think I am still losing, although not working very hard a dieting...

Can't get too thin, or I will be in the same place I was before I lost weight... Nothing to wear....

Well better go have to get back to work, lunch is up!!!