one more thing---the new pic in my avatar is the view from where mr IRVING is planning to build an OIL refinery in my hometown--he already has ONE but he thinks he needs two----no sense looking for alternate energy sources like THE HIGHEST TIDES IN THE WORLD AT OUR FEET when you can stink up the town with smelly stinky oil crap.

That's infuriating Bagz. Money money money money. Are we demonstrating against this? That picture is so beautiful.

I was thinking about the comment that it's intent that counts. I don't know how far the local news reaches but a 14-year-old boy was killed at a local boot camp last year on his 1st or 2nd day there. He was kind of little. A bunch of guards and a nurse stood around him and did stuff til he died. Their intent was not to kill him. Here's from a news report.

Walsh detailed how he used pressure points behind the boy's ear and made him inhale ammonia to get his attention. He also said he used hammer strikes on his arms to get him to unclench his fists.

So they were trying to get his attention and make him stop making fists. I think they did this & other stuff for an hour. They showed film of two of them lifting his lifeless body by the arms. So .. if they didn't intend to kill him, it's ok?

I don't even know why he was there. He stole a his granny's car, had a stay-away-injuction-thingie (what are they called?) against him to stay away from school but he went to the school ... and then to boot camp. Doesn't sound violent or anything.

I am reading screen plays and finding some obtuse. Two guys look for something. It must be here. Trouble if they don't find it. Was mentioned the will as valuable and said it was here. ..Blah blah ... 20 minutes in to the film you learn what they're looking for. Is this normal? I hate it.

Ruthxxx, the last email I got from Schatzi was at least 3 weeks ago and she mentioned that her laptop only connected through her work network, so she hoped to fix that so that she could post online. I just emailed her too.

Oy I'm tired. My RV friend, my mom and I went to the pool pilates class and they totally wore me arse out. Then we went out to lunch and did a little shopping, helped my stepdad with his computer, came back to my sis's house and attempted to deal with WILD BOYS and their homework, helped with dinner and now I'm apooped.

Tomorrow the RV is going on to Fla. I lhave been keeping a big pot of mums in the shower (of the RV), which are an anniversary present for my sis and her dh. I hope I don't forget them in the morning.

I am looking forward to getting home and picking up my doggie. There's a lot of stuff I am doing in the meantime that I should be looking forward to, but let's face it, this visiting stuff is exhausting!

Thanks for the decorating advice, Sug, I was wondering about a rocking chair on the roof, but perhaps that is a little too too. If it makes you feel any better, the temperature dropped like a rock last night, and it was cool today, and cold tonight. Still shorts weather though...

Peachie, I can understand your disappointment about DS's thoughts of taking another year, but I can understand how it would make sense too. Especially if some of his classes take so much time he can't do justice with others. It's a tough call. DD's bf has found himself in a situation where his major suddenly looks like a 5 year program instead of the promised 4 (in his case, it kind of looks like false advertising on the university's part), and he is making some decisions that he didn't think he'd have to, like whether to spend a couple of summers in summer session, and whether to alter his major from math education to straight math.

Bagz, you are not a senior. Believe me, I saw my share of seniors today and you may not count yourself among them. No way. For one thing, they are all about a foot shorter than they used to be.

Seriously, my parents have gotten noticeably shorter. Maybe they should spend some time in the space shuttle. Didn't John Glenn go for a ride a while back and come home taller?

And yeah, that is disgusting about Irving. Even if they do have the best gas station bathrooms.

Kiwi

Kiwi, what's ddbf majoring in? My ds says only engineering students take 5 years.

I am eating ice cream out of the container. Pretzel caramel.

pretzel caramel!! that sounds fabulous----last night i had 'egg nog' ice cream and it was sublime----tonight we had a bday party for sissy who turns forty eight this week----at mother's===it was fun but after last weekend i am soooooooo looking forward to doing NOTHing-----i do have to work,but i have my girl working for me so i can come and go as i please---we had 33 cruise ships visit port last year----55 this year and they just announced that next year we will be having 89!!!! i am so happy----it really makes a more festive season with the boats--they are so beautiful and i love all those americans---most of them are delightful---esp the southerners====i love their accents---the new york/new jersey ones are funny and fun {a few bossy crabs,but mostly nice}-----it will make the dreary months of jan,feb and march more bearable!!!======I AM GLAD YOU ARE COMING HOME KIWONK--- for some reason i need to have you closer !!!! no reason ----just like thinking of you in your own house with your own doggie!!!====

He was planning to do a math education major, which is actually a double major. The university told him that it was a 4 year degree; I think he actually asked when he was deciding on colleges. Now he finds that the course load and course scheduling will require at least some summer school and a tough schedule during the year, and there will still not be any guarantee that he can finish in 4 years because of possible class cancellations. He was pretty discouraged when he found that out and decided to change it to just math. He hated the education course that he had begun this year anyway; he thought it was stupid.
That's neat. Southerners can be quite entertaining. There was a group of them at Plymouth Rock when we were there, and one of them asked, in her very lovely accent, why they didn't just uncover the whole rock so we could see it all. The tour guide replied that "they don't want you to know how big it is"

Thanks for wanting me to be home! I need to go home after tonight! My parents and I took my sis's 3 kids to dinner at my parents' dining room (retirement complex), then I had to get them to bed. The kids were good at dinner, although my mom kept nagging at them for no good reason, but at home they were hideous trying to get them to bed. Little A, the 4 year old, was not too bad, she's hard to say no to, but she was sweet. But the boys drove me crazy.

Gotta go to bed. We are going to a 9 am football game -- of 7 year old boys. Oh joy.

Ta!

Kiwi

Yay me: 2 whole weeks of WW compliance. I'd been starving before I went the first time (which of course, they don't realize... they think I've lost 3.5 pounds, but it's actually closer to 10.

Bought 2 tubes of PAINT to celebrate.

Baggz... the photo is gorgeous. I'm surprised it's "just" Mr. Irving and not BP or Exxon or someone.

Cowper-- I did hear about the dismay upon the jury verdict with the Boot Camp case. It seems that, like Abu Ghraib, there was no excuse for what the "guards/trainers" did.

But, c'mon... stealing grandmother's car? Violating a protective order? If someone went to the trouble of getting a protective order AND was actually granted one, there was a reason. He couldn't have much of a sense of appropriate boundaries.. i.e., what's his, what's not. If FL is at all like Texas, some judge had a choice of sending him to adult prison or a "special prison." I don't imagine he would have fared well at a prison full of adult men, either. It doesn't mean he should have beaten and killed... don't get me wrong.

Kiwi-- traveling is challenging! Hope you can go home and rest! I missed the bit about a rocking chair on the roof. It sounds like Tevye or something. Hope the roofs there aren't pitched as steep as ours. It is still in the high 80's during the day here. Jeez.

DS did astrophysics and physics with a minor in math as an undergrad... took an extra year for a MA in education. He was certainly employable! though we had a few nailbiting months prior to graduation.

I am amazed and impressed that both my kids finished their undergraduate programs in 4 years. Think it had anything to do with the fact that there was only an offer of 4 years of tuition payments? DS had to be especially cagey to take the classes he needed at the right time, because they weren't offered every semester. (Probably economical for the college, but tricky for students who didn't yet know how to plan ahead.) I've heard of students suiing when there aren't enough sections of required classes.

My cousin told me that his son has now been attending junior college for 5 years!!! Actually, my cousin wasn't good at school stuff... though he started, maintained and just sold a very profitable business. Dyslexic possibly. Wouldn't surprise me if his son was cut from the same cloth.

Happy weekend to all.

before i start ranting,let me tell you about my poor dying kitty----she wasn't complaining of pain---or at least she seemed comfortable whenever i picked her up---I rocked her in the rocking chair everyday and this morning before i went to work,she came and found me in the living room and i picked her up and rocked her ----when i got home from work i went looking for her----she had gone into the living room and laid down on the carpet--------when i found her,she had her poor sweet eyes still open,she was still warm but she had passed on. I was sooooooo sad,but i am glad she was here and loved and not taken to the cold steel table to get a needle-----if she had been crying or unable to move or gave some indication of pain,i would have opted for euthanasia but she just slipped away -------------poor Ashes---14 good years,an outdoor cat and a very pretty girl was she--------------sooooooooooooooooooooo congrats on the ww compliance there Painty!!!! it is pretty hard to stick to those point totals---they are very skimpy i do recall!!!!----we are still fighting here in our community to KEEP OUR UNIVERSITY!!!! the stupid government would like to turn it into a polytechnic college and only offer first year or maybe second year courses in degree programs----we have been marching and protesting and petitioning for weeks and the government still has not acquiesced.It is very frustrating as we have so many kids who can only afford to go the local university due to the crazy tuition fees everywhere----i went to UNBSJ,my nieces and nephews did ,my daughter does and the whole town is having a fit about this stupid proposal-----This whole province is virtually run by big business {Irvings again} and we all think this is just a ploy to churn out tradespeople for as long as Irving needs them to build his new oil refinery and his LNG terminal---depressing. The good news is---KIWI IS COMING NORTH---GUESS WHAT KIIIIIIIIIIII----THEY HAD FLURRIES IN NORTHERN NEW BRUNSWICK TODAY!!HAHAHAAAAAAAA---HERE WE GO AGAIN!!!------

So sorry about your beautiful Ashes. I'm glad you're fighting the government. It is mean of you to take Kiwi away from me.

I have a dilemma. Went out this morning to get the mail from yesterday and this black cat was by the road. Zoom, he runs to me. I didn't want him run over and petted him. Picked him up. Fed him. I guess he's been dumped here as he was hungry. Buttttt if he lives outside my house, he'll beat up my other cat who goes in and out. It's almost Halloween and I don't want creepos to get him.

I take my cats to a cat vet and her office is by where I work. I'd like to get him in there but she won't just take strays, naturally. What to do?

Oh Bagzie, I'm so sorry to hear about your sweet kitty. We get so attached to these pets of ours. My old Lucas dog is getting so old and gray I worry about him all the time.

I went to a water exercise class with my sister, Kiwi. I kept up with the oldsters, but I suddenly felt absolutely geriatric. My sis is the youngster in the class, and she's in terrific shape. The exercise felt great, but I don't like the sensation of my blubber bouncing around under water. It's quite disconcerting.

I've sold the business. I'm here at home in my robe, after 9 am, eating caramel corn and drinking coffee. I haven't bothered to brush my teeth yet. Who knows, I may not bother all day. Actually, I need to get moving here. I'm going to the OB with my daughter for one of her bi-weekly check ups. She's got preclampsia and they may have to deliver baby early. It's been touch and go for weeks now. She's on bed rest and going stir crazy.

My son had sold his house to pay off his ex's share of the equity and her spousal support that they awarded her. All repairs had been done to the house, he had moved all his things out and cleaned. Signed his papers and the buyer just didn't show up for closing. Now the real estate market has turned here, so he thinks he may just keep the house and get an equity loan to pay off his ex. In the mean time, he moved in here with me, but next weekend he's moving back to his place. Last weekend was his visitation weekend, so baby Kaydy was here all weekend with us. We went to the pumpkin patch and rode on the train out to the farm animal petting zoo and climbed on the hay bale pyramid. It was a busy weekend and by the time she went home on Sunday evening, I was beat, but in a good way. I fell asleep in bed sitting up with my glasses still on. Nothing like a 20 month old to wear you out. The cuteness factor with this child is totally off the charts.

So wonnnnnnderful to hear from Wabby (who lives closer to me than she does to Bagz). I know Kaydy is adorable. She takes after Wabby. Isn't it funny how children can be like their parent or grandparent or someone and how can dislike that person but still LOVE the child. I recall ds's grandmother, who didn't like me at all, saying to him, "Well, you love her don't you? I guess you can't help it."

I already told Wabby but for the others, I thought I was being so sneaky by mailing her socks unannounced. I took them to the local satellite post office and the woman had trouble deciding on the postage. Days later, I mailed other socks at a post office and was charged twice as much. So either Wabby will not get her socks or there will be postage due. Some surprise!!

I took an RV, a car, an airplane, a bus, a seat at the opera, another bus, and my car, and finally got home. Today I got my puppy back home, so I am happy.

I was thinking more along the lines of Beverly Hillbillies...

Humane Society?

Hadn't noticed that -- I must not be exercizing hard enough (clearly it is not for lack of blubber...).

Will write more later when the house warms up -- I forgot to put the heat on today and my fingers are like ice!

Kiwi

You rode home in a seat at the opera. Way impressed.

There are beautiful people in Canada. I seen them.

whee! All the cows have checked back into the pasture. Now we just need to find Schatzi cow.

More later. Must go to library and teach the little nippers something. Spent almost all day last Saturday PAINTING said library with a bunch of other crazy volunteers. It's yellow now.

okay,so we are mostly all here {maybe not in the head}---WABBY!!!! so glad to hear of your wonderful weekend with your gorgeous grandbaby---AND it is so exciting to know you will have yet another darling soon!!! your daughter must be so happy to have your support----i can imagine it is very hard dealing with the extra problems that have cropped up----thank heavens the reward is worth the pain!!!====so ,I THINK IT IS TIME WE STOPPED STARING AT THE FENCEPOST AND SOMEONE STARTED A NEW THREAD----SOMEONE----DO IT!!!! COW ALERT!!!