Ya' Don't Know Jack

Tomorrow is New Year's Eve and also happens to be my birthday. I'm not inclined to tell you "which" birthday.  Lucky me...always a party somewhere on my birthday.  Since it's my day and I choose not to think about any of the worrisome or unpleasant happenings in our world, I think I'll talk a bit about Jack Nicholson. Yep, Jack.

I would have to say that Mr. Nicholson is one of my favorite characters. He is definitely a character.  Because he is such a very splendid actor, whether he is playing a despicable and totally unlikeable role or a cuddly likable sort (not that often) you believe it. You either love or hate the man. Over his many years in the public spotlight, Jack has made some pretty interesting comments, personally and in his multitude of movies.  Here's to Jack and here's some gems of his wisdom:

My mother never saw the irony of calling me a son-of-a-bitch.

The minute that you're not learning I believe you're dead.

With my sunglasses on, I'm Jack Nicholson. Without them, I'm fat and 60.

I'll tell you one thing: Don't ever give anybody your best advice, because they're not going to follow it.

The camera photographs what's there.
 
I don't have any plugs or tucks but people do what they want. I look at it as mutilation.

I'm drowning here, and you're describing the water! (As good as it Gets)

 “You can’t handle the truth!” (A Few Good Men)


Happy Birthday to me....Happy New Year to you.   JO

One Child is Born

Twenty three years ago, on a cold and gray Christmas morning, I sat in this rocking chair, in a hospital room. I held the most beautiful human being I had ever seen, other than my own three adorable daughters, born to me approximately twenty years earlier. This was my first born grand child, less than twelve hours old. It was an amazing experience. In the days of the birth of my own children, you practically had to beg to get your sweet new baby brought to you. Now, here I rocked with my brand new first born grandchild in my arms. The most special Christmas gift that I ever received.

It was the youth of our grandparent-hood and we would be fortunate to have several more grand children. Each of them, are important and unique and so loved. Still, any grandparent would admit to a special little place in their heart for that very first one to arrive in your life.  The last twenty plus years have put gray in my hair and pounds on my body. The lessons learned as I watched my children's adult lives unfold and then my grand babe's are more than I can count.

I think that the biggest lesson I've learned is that we can't wrap up our children or grand children in a blanket of our own dreams and hopes and wishes. Oh, how we wish we could...look at that tiny creature in the picture. Wouldn't it be wonderful if we had a magic to insure that their lives would be happy and healthy. The truth of life, of course, is that there is no magic. We can only love them and teach them the best that we know how. They must find their own path, make their own mistakes and seek their own happiness.

Those we love have the ability to make us so proud and also the ability to disappoint and make us sad.  At my age, I've found this place of peace and acceptance.  It makes no difference if my prodigy go the direction I wanted, it only matters to me that they don't waste the gifts of intelligence  and opportunity that were given to them. It matters to me that they live their life with responsibility and accountability, in whatever direction they choose.

On this Christmas Day, I remember the pure joy that was in my heart on that morning so long ago, when that one child was born.  I remember all the years and children,  the dances and giggles, the anticipation of waiting for them to open their presents and the excited looks on their faces, the special days shared with family. Family that even with all their differences, shared food and laughter and a few hours when the world slowed just a little and we all felt safe and bonded....a touch of magic.

O. M. G. S. T. U. P. I. D.

Kids say "I want it, real bad."  I still feel that way sometimes. Today, I want real bad to gripe and complain, rant and scream about the politics and political correctness of America these days. But-t, I really promised that I would stay away from those things because they usually, in the end, make me the ass and tend to send my blood pressure through the roof.  So, as a compromise, I'm just going to talk about STUPID. Heaven knows there's plenty of that to go around. 

The Declaration of Independence stated that, We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal. The official definition of "all" is everything and everybody. All is 100% inclusive, there is no exclusion what so ever in all.  Why would anybody take offense or anybody have to apologize for saying "All lives matter."?    Human beings can be relied on to exert, with vigor, their God given right to be stupid---Dean Koontz

Our guaranteed right of free speech, to have a voice and to protest does not include the right to camp on taxpayer paid for public properties for unlimited time spans and use it for your toilet. It does not include the right to loot and steal from your fellow citizens or to damage and deface private or public properties. All have a right for others not to do that. For the first time, the weird and the stupid and the coarse are becoming our cultural norms, even our cultural idea.---Carl Bernstein

If you put naked photos of yourself on your phone, if you tell all of your private business on social media, if you go to parties and get stinking drunk or high as a kite...you do not deserve to have your privacy violated or to be raped. There are laws against those things. However, you still must be accountable and responsible for your own personal behavior.  As Forest Gump's mother told him (and probably your own) Stupid is as stupid does. 

Just because someone has been in movies, on television or joined the completely insane social media circus doesn't mean they know diddly squat about some things, particularly the extremely complex issues of our world. Visibility and celebrity does not make someone an expert. We need to stop listening to, giving credence to opinions and declarations that go dead against the self-evident truths that we hold in our hearts. We are all born ignorant, but one has to work hard to remain stupid.---Benjamin Franklin

The ever honest Ron White said, You can't fix stupid. I agree that it is an incurable and often fatal disease and obviously contagious.  Are all of our law enforcement officers racists and abusive? NO.
Are all of our black citizens criminals? NO.  Are all of our white, non black citizens racists? NO. Is our country currently being ruled by self serving politicians, severely tilted media and small loud groups who want to divide us? YES.  In order for the rights of all to be protected, those that believe in a free and democratic society will have to move to a middle ground and leave those that would purposefully divide us in the ditch. Some will always promote and perpetrate bad and destructive behavior but all have the right to speak against it. Every American citizen should find the courage to call ignorance what it is...stupid.

An intelligent hell would be better than a stupid paradise.---Victor Hugo

Is There Any High Ground?

 

I ask myself regularly, it seems, is there really any high ground to take these days?  I climb up on my lofty perch, confident in my belief in a certain rightness of thought. Then, the winds and waves of doubt blast away at my position and I begin to feel very alone there, often feeling that I'm on shaky ground.

The input, the data that we receive in our present times is more than just a bit overwhelming.  The media, like a big powerful new washing machine has our massive amounts of information on a constant spin and twist cycle.  Society, which includes our friends and people that we respect, look to for some type of guidance are very influenced by this glut of opinionated and biased presentation of the everyday events in our world...we are all influenced by it.

So where do we find a firm place to stand? I believe that it comes down to character. Einstein said, "Weakness of attitude leads to weakness of character."  If we let the current accepted trend of right and wrong cause us to doubt truths that we hold in our heart, we're stumbling. Though I believe we can't close our minds to a changing world with situations that we've never had to consider before, I feel we need to stand on our convictions.

I've never considered myself to be the most intelligent or the most righteous of humans. I certainly make mistakes and am often just plain wrong. The most difficult time to hold on to my small position is when I'm surrounded with people who tell me that I'm being unreasonable and inflexible. Like most folks, I want to be liked and respected by my friends and family. When I seem to be standing nearly alone, I have to sincerely question my rightness. This is where what is called "strength of character" truly matters.

 A large portion of our character was formed when we were just children, whether from a strong family, from school, from church or people we looked up to.  As we age and go through life, we apply the values we adopted when growing up and we add our own pieces of  things we decide to be right.  This is our character, it very much governs how we lead our lives. I do believe that the fabric of our character must be consistent and strong.  Like a heavy old wool coat, it should hang straight and not be twisted or altered. It should have threads of forgiveness and humility, it should have pockets to add new things. We should be able to wear the coat with pride but never with arrogance.

The world is complicated and we make choices and decisions, we make judgments each and every day. Our character should not be influenced by others version or lack of it. It should be the safe ground we seek when the earth sways beneath us.

It's Just Progress

Like most humans, I love change...as long as it's things that benefit me.  Like most older humans,  I fight, grumble and complain about changes that conflict with my little set and stubborn ways. Progress requires change. Change isn't always so easy to accept when it is rolling over your own toes.

The hubby and I were both more or less raised here in our home town. We went to school, formed long lasting friendships, met and married, raised our children and worked to better our lives here.  When we were young, the town was a nice sized town, big enough to have two high schools and all the basics for a comfortable life.  A prosperous town grows slow and steady and when you are so accustomed to living in it, you mostly notice the things that excite you..."Hey, did you see that we are getting a Big Baboo Seafood Restaurant right over there by the new Walmart?"

It's great to see restaurants, retail stores and entertainment develop.  Of course, more "Stuff" brings more population.  The medical services boom, more folks need more services, banks and churches.
More, more, more of everything.  The spouse and I moved into our rather modest  and older neighborhood about five years ago.  It was located about two miles from the busiest area of town and there was not much but housing in that two miles. In just these short years, there is now barely a slice of land left that isn't covered with the new fancy Gourmet Grocery store, the restaurants and other new businesses, a new elementary school and a new red light, with others soon to come. 

As we were just dawdling along, happy to have a new restaurant to dine out at, the city was booming and exploding and before you know it, the tsunami of progress had flooded over us.  First comes the tax bill that merrily reflects the increasing glut of valuable revenue around us.  Then one day, like yesterday when the hubby and I decided to have a day out, we found ourselves feeling like an alien in a strange land.  Up to our necks in progress and wondering what happened to our pretty and nice old town? 

We had planned to check out the new sprawling retail Village. By check out, I mean we just wanted to drive through the amusement park sized extreme shopping experience and gawk at the shoppers and stores. We would catch  a late lunch.  That was a major decision, even after we decided what kind of food we wanted, we crept through the bumper to bumper traffic, through stop light after stop light. There was a plethora of eating establishments to choose from, if we could just choose and actually reach one and didn't mind a twenty minute wait to be seated. How many people could actually be dying to eat a club sandwich at one time?

To top off our day we would take in a movie. Unbeknownst to us, the movie of our choice was showing in the special theatre.  Twenty five dollars later, we soon found ourselves sitting in cushy seats, looking right up the big star's nostrils on the massive screen and having our hair blown straight out behind us by waves of ear splitting sound. 

OMGoodness, we are living in a big city.  It was so good to crawl our way home,  take off our shoes and have a nice cocktail.  I suppose it's progress and it must be good. I found myself  thinking of a drive in movie, a hot dog from the concession stand and the only honking that we heard to get there was when you waved at your neighbor. 

Mental Prepping

  

I have often in my life been called a day dreamer.  I suppose that could be true.  Truthfully, anytime that I have a problem or a plan, it has always helped me to work through the details or solution in my mind. I do believe that in preparing for a catastrophe or for any crisis that might come along in your life, the mental prepping is the most important. It's great and smart to have all the physical basics of survival...water, food, etc., however if you're not mentally prepared for an upheaval in your life, you will be in desperate confusion.    

 

I think that it is very beneficial to think through "what if" scenarios. Allow your mind to explore the possibilities such as, what if  my car would not run, what if there were no utilities, no power, what if  I needed to eat and function right here for an extended period of time and protect my family?  I'm not talking about brooding or fretting over worrisome events, just thinking of some solutions, thinking of how you can insure that you have some options.  Mentally prepping for disasters will make you much more capable of dealing with difficult events that might occur.          

 

To me there is another part of mental prepping.  If you had visited my home for the big Thanksgiving meal, with my whole very eclectic family in attendance, you would quickly know that we are like the majority of American families these days. We are NOT a Norman Rockwell perfect picture.  The world is very complicated in our times. Families...grown children, grand children have tangled and far from simple  relationships and problems of dealing with the world of today. My family is no different from many. We love each other but we don't always like each other.     

 

The important thing is that we try to not live like we have an infinite amount of time to deal with disagreements and problems that arise.  None of us have that luxury.  I'm not saying we always totally solve all of our problems or that feelings are completely repaired.  We do try to find some middle ground, some places to make peace and accept our differences. The people that we love the most have the ability to hurt us or disappoint or make us the most unhappy. I honestly believe that we should not waste our energy or very precious time on anger, grudges or resentment. After all, tomorrow you may have to stand side by side against a threat to your very survival.

 

Mentally prepare for catastrophe.  Make thoughtful plans and do not bear grudges against those that may someday be your strongest allies.

 

 

 

                                                                                

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

Burnt Cookies & Maddening Calls

It really does just burn my cookies.  Is it not my own private phone? Does anybody at any time for any reason have the right to call.  I accept that I have the right to not answer the ring of my phone and very often...no recognizable number or area code or ID, unknown, incomplete...I exercise that right.

Still, it's the most aggravating and infuriating thing.  I detest the feeling that I have to be leery, study the blanking tiny screen to see IF I want to answer my own phone.  The solicitors, charities and fundraisers have become completely obnoxious, rude and and invasive. I just recently learned that many of the fundraising companies that have been retained by very worthy charities get a high percentage of the donations that are collected.  Smell those cookies scorching?

The strategies and tactics of these fundraisers are as despicable as old bill collecting agencies. Like most people I know, we give to the charities that we really feel are worthy or have a particular affinity with.  We give when and the amount as we are able to. Even one of my very favorite charities that I truly believe does immense good works and whom I have already given my donation to this year, has begun to call at least twice EVERY day.  Another, as I was writing a check out, I noticed that I had already written a donation out and sent it, less than a month before.  The phone rings with unwanted calls all day long and the mail box is clogged with slick begging envelopes.  There seems to be no real recognition of gifts just given and they bury me with labels, calendars, stacks of small freebees that I do not want. How much of such stuff can a person use?  Obviously, with your name already nicely printed, your guilt will make you send in another donation. 

These practices are so maddening and I'm so disappointed that reputable and admirable charities are using them.  I have already dropped several organizations from my list, refuse to donate to them.  I do not answer the calls and I often dump a pile of unopened envelopes into the trash, goodies and all.  What a waste!  These mailings, these calls cost the charity money.  I truly believe they are having a negative impact. 

The most heart breaking thing that happened to me lately.  A very old dear friend passed away from cancer. It so happened that on a day very close to her leaving, when she was so desperately ill, a fund raiser from one of the cancer charities called. I answered the phone that day, not wanting to miss any calls. So sad and with my stomach twisted, I politely told the person that I had a friend dying of cancer and that any help I would have to give would personally be given to her and her family at this time.  This rude beggar actually argued with me, tried to get me to give my friend's info. so they could offer help. Really?! Offer help or add her family to their solicitation list. "Shame, shame, shame on you...aren't you ashamed of yourself?" My grandmother's voice echoes in my ear.

I will never give to that charity again and many others. I look up the record and information of any charity that I wish to donate to. I'm perfectly happy to use my own envelope and stamp and do not want money that should be spent on the cause used on insignificant trivials and  to annoy me.

Small Space Prepping

My recent contact with the website The Survival Mom, (http://thesurvivalmom.com) has reminded me how much I truly believe in the varied and sensible philosophy of the prepper movement.  A wonderful website, one of the top respected prepper websites, owned and managed by a "mom"...the site is filled with practical, clear and useful information. As I was reading through the articles and tips, I suddenly realized that a plan the spouse and I recently birthed would mean a lot of thought about my survival preparations; the preparations I've been able to gather and future accumulations. 

Over a time span of a year to year and a half, we will be downsizing and changing our summer cabin in to our primary residence.  With children, grand babes and even a great grand child here in Texas, not to mention old friends and ties, we will not be abandoning our home state, we just will no longer maintain a home here.  Even though, I've always been what I would call a practical prepper and have never had vast stores or an underground bunker, etc. the changes will make it necessary to rethink my survival supply storage.  Our cabin is small and it's likely that a travel trailer will be our residence when we are visiting our hometown. 

Here are a few thoughts I've had about using small spaces and still maintaining a reasonable amount of preparations in case of a major disaster or crisis:

                    *Dry canning is an excellent way to store dried goods. The food stays much fresher for a long period of time. Boxes are not near as good for long time storage and take up more room.  A box of hamburger helper will fit in a pint jar, a box of cereal in a quart jar or two.  Some of the things you see on my shelf (in the picture) are jars of powdered eggs and powdered milk, rice and noodle dinners.  If you live in an area or fear earthquakes, I've thought before that putting your jars back in the box they came in would provide some protection. It would require much better labeling, since you couldn't view the jars but would make them very stackable.

                   *It's amazing how much stores will fit on even 2 or three feet of several shelves. Under beds is great storage space. You don't have to have fancy containers, just a shallow box that cans or jars, etc. can lay down in, not loaded too heavy to slide out. A suitcase or two, stacked in a closet would hold a lot of first aid and medicines, toiletries or other necessities.  Of course, the plastic buckets from the hardware store also are water proof and hold a lot of small items and they stack well. Put paper goods and soft goods like flour sack towels in a large trash bag, tie it on a hanger and push it to the back of your closet.

                  *If you really look around, even if you live in an apartment or small home, you can find spaces to have some storage.  If you are limited on closets and cabinets, then use containers that serve double purpose, such as old suitcases that stack to make a table, but can be filled.

I don't think that living in small quarters, not having a whole room to spare, should keep you from being prepared.  Use your imagination and as I've always said, just a thing or two at a time and you will not be without if tomorrow is not what you expected it to be.

Wasted

One of the many definitions of waste is to use or spend to excess and carelessly. Even when it is used to describe someone way into the depths of some drug or alcohol, it's the same, a careless use of mind and body.  It can't be denied that as a nation, as a people, we are excessively wasteful.  We live in a land with such extreme plenty that it's very difficult as humans not to partake to the fullest.

Many of us, especially the older population, or folks from a poor background, often carry a lot of guilt about the excess.  The hubby and I often comment that sometimes things just feel obscene. Even the poor in our country, with their televisions, cell phones, food stamps, food banks and a multitude of assistance resources, aren't in the "living in filth, disease and starvation" situation of other unfortunates in the world. If they are in abject poverty in America, there is a belief by many that they have mostly put their selves there. And we aren't speaking of those with chronic debilitating bad health or events in their lives that were completely out of their control or those with diminished mental abilities. There's not a single person that I know, who would not be willing to take half the dinner on their table and share it with another.  Americans are not selfish. We give very unselfishly, even though corruption and evil misuse of charity takes the gifts from the needy in many instances.

 So, in a society that seems to be swimming in the comfortable waters of abundance, what has brought us to be so thoughtless and wasteful of our gifts? Answer number one is that we are human. Humans have an incredible ability to quickly adapt to prosperity, to become spoiled. Our motivation for being wasteful is the belief that there will be more where that came from.  The garbage, the food thrown away, behind just one of our local restaurants is truly obscene. The spouse and I often share a meal because the portions are so huge. I have friends who buy a restaurant meal, take it home and divide it into two more meals for later. Why do restaurants serve excessive portions? Well, because we are spoiled, we demand bigger, better and more. Those that are trying to make a living selling food, cater to the wants of the public. 

There is no stronger motivation for any behavior than experiencing personally something. You very easily want more of that something or never want that to happen to you again and typically act accordingly.  I have known what it's like to go to bed hungry.  Of course, I was determined that me or mine would never be in that situation.  Fortunately, as that child, I had family or others that cared that would've never let me truly starve. There was a time, when only family, good neighbors or the church would be there if you were down on your luck or an unexpected crisis arose. You tried to be as self sufficient and prepared as possible for a stroke of bad luck. You worked because if you didn't, there was NO money to live on, you went to college to be able to work at a better job, you put your extra change in a penny bank and any few dollars you could spare in a savings account. You took care of what you had acquired, it was not something to just throw away or neglect. You wanted your family to have enough but an excess just didn't feel right.

We waste because of a false security that there will be more.  Food will always be on the loaded store shelves, gas at the corner station for our multiple cars, water and electricity at the touch of a switch or handle.  If we get down on our luck, one of the numerous government programs or assistance agencies will be right there to take care of us.  Why be a conservative? It's there for us, isn't it?  We have children who are so completely devoid of empathy for their fellow humans,  they think if someone offends them, if things don't go as they want, if people don't give them all that they deserve, then just like the game or television show, they will shoot them. As if they have no concept of ceasing to exist, no more life. Precious lives wasted.

While very few of us can claim these days to not have waste in our lives, some have come to believe that a people who so carelessly use their resources with no personal accountability and responsibility will surely find them selves with no resources.  The people who prepare for a possible disaster, in ways both small and large, do so because they believe that very likely there will be a day when only their own self sufficiency will allow them to survive. They are not wasting any opportunity to prepare for an uncertain future.  What others do, think or believe should have nothing to do with what your heart and mind tells you is right. I believe character is not about being perfect, it is about always striving to be better.  Ask yourself, what did I waste today?  Is there even a small thing that I could have saved or left for someone else?

Dark Days

The one thing in life that is absolute and certain is the loss of life. We are not immortal.  Most of us have made our peace in our own way with that fact. The thing that we are never prepared for is the loss of someone we love.  As much of  "be prepared" person as I am, I know that there is no preparing for the pain and grief of loss. The single thing that we humans can do is to prepare to survive such a loss. 

I'm in the midst of losing my oldest and dearest friend. Not only has she been in my life since I was just a girl but her spouse and family have been like family to myself, my spouse and children.  The memories of things shared would fill up a boat.  Indeed, that boatload of memories is the best comfort that I have. And it's typical that life has said to her, "You didn't really think I was going to be fair, did you?" with a vicious laugh.  It is taking her through a cruel illness. The pain that her family has and is enduring only doubles my family's sadness. So, in all this deep sadness and grief, there is the knowing that we can never be prepared, get ourselves ready for the losses.

I personally am an optimist. One of the things that is often said about my post apocalyptic novels is that there is hope. I honestly see no point in NOT having hope.  Just as all the clichés say, the sun will come up in the morning,  life will continue around us (we hope).  If you open your eyes and you are still here on this earth, no matter how miserable or horrible yesterday was, you are here and will have to move through today. 

I believe that a person should prepare in any way available to survive. I believe you should buy that extra box of mac and cheese and stick it in the closet, not live in fear but be aware of the results of a catastrophe in your world.  In our everyday life, I believe we should remember to tell those we care about that we love them and I believe we should store up good memories as if they are gold and toss away the bad ones. After we have cried our eyes out, after we have allowed the pain to squeeze our hearts and twist our stomachs, we have to find the courage to appreciate the time that we were given, the memories that we can cherish of someone we love. 

It is a privilege to be living on this earth and your life is what you make of it. It is of no benefit and in truth if you drown in the floods of sorrow, you will be no more than a ripple on the water. The secret is to survive and to honor the person you loved by holding them in your heart and taking them with you as you continue the walk through life. 

Unable are the loved to die. For love is immortality.---Emily Dickinson

The Naked Truth

If only I was smart enough to claim that this is just one thing that I don't get about life...not so.  My mind literally crawls with bugs of doubt all the time.  While this does not rise to the level of terrorism, viruses and congress, it still just perplexes me.  Blame it on my age, if you like. Makes me no never mind. 

In the news recently and occasionally, there are the stories of the poor, sad and maligned celebrities who had their privacy invaded. Oh my goodness, they spread nude pictures of themselves on electronic devices and some person of low character had the nerve to make those images available for the world to view.  Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not saying for one moment that I don't think celebrities have a right to privacy.  I honestly believe that much of the media world are slimey stalkers that will do anything for a picture or story.  However, here is where I get real "bugged" with non comprehension.

As has commonly become the routine these days, the spin is my rights trump your rights.  The paparazzi would certainly claim that the public has a right to know.  Know what? that their favorite famous person has a freckle on their butt? Wrong...not a right of the slinking reporters to know things about those they stalk and not a right of the general public voyeurs who somehow find it tintillating to know any little scrap about someone they've seen on tv or in the movies or on the internet. Our society is so bass-ackwards these days that criminals sue their victims. Obviously, someone doesn't have the right to by whatever means,  steal information from your phone. 

Here is the burning question. Someone please explain to me why a person would take naked pictures of themselves and put them on their phone?  Is it for their life partner, the person they're intimate with?  Seems to me that the partner doesn't need a picture...they've seen you naked, right? Then what else is the reason,  for your family, your mother, your friends?  I'm sorry but why would you take and display nude pictures of yourself?  If it's private, just for yourself, then I just don't want to think about the weird-ness of that. 

It is the same kind of ridiculous logic that makes a person stand in front of the corn flakes in the grocery store and out loud talk about the most personal things. If I was to say, "Excuse me honey, I think you ought to see a doctor about that rash" or "shouldn't you report that s.o.b. to the police?" the talker would be appalled, even though they are "sharing" their private information with all of the poor unfortunates merely trying to buy food. I mean, the rest of the world is supposed to put their hands over their eyes, ears and mouths like monkeys...the idiots actually believe they have a right to public privacy.

 I must be old fashioned and totally not savvy. It seems that if you're on your own private property, if you're behind closed doors, you do have a right to your privacy.  Public places are not your private spaces, you are to share those with others.   If you are on the wide open world networks, facebooking and tweeting, texting, sans clothing and you think that your privacy is promised, that you are secure, then you've got a lot more missing than your clothes.  What gets me the most is that in today's world, you would run down the street naked and then have the nerve to complain, that pervert looked at me!

If we want privacy, we have a huge personal responsibility to insure it.  I may not be a genius and this is just my opinion. If you don't want something seen, shared or talked about, do not make it available.  Don't display your bare bottom selfies on your cell phone. You might as well rent one of those big flashing billboards, spread your lovely nudeness across it, and title it, "Don't Look at This".

The Threat

America's and it's citizen's biggest threat these days is complacency, political correctness and a cum-ba-ya foreign policy.  I'm about to express my extremely concerned, politically incorrect and unfriendly world view opinion of why our country is in such high peril. 

We are as a whole, so complacent, so confident that there couldn't be a real effective invasion of our soil. I myself, don't deny that sometimes I refuse to even watch or listen to the news, not wanting to hear the horrendous happenings of the world.  Someone I actually respect said, no one person or small group could do us widespread harm.  We have weapons, guns. We will not just be run over by an invading force. Really? what is not massive? not widespread?  Was 9-11 a small incident?  What about if a quarter of Texas was blown up or half of Houston with a suitcase bomb? It's true, an enemy might not be able to accomplish the complete take over of our country, but the catastrophic results of multiple attacks would shake us to our core and could cripple us on many levels.

You are very naïve if you don't recognize that a terrorist such as the one in the picture...who is about to behead the person beside him has no soul or conscious or respect for life. "Behead" is actually a sanitized term for this act of evil. Just ask any doctor what it would actually entail to take the head off a human with a knife.  Such a person would not blink at swimming across the Rio Grande with a suitcase bomb or indeed, tying it to the back of a child. And you are just plain stupid if you don't accept by now that our southern border is not a border, it is a freeway. 

And here is the totally incorrect thing.  These people are not just over in some distant land, sliming along on the sand and taking off people's heads. These enemies are right here, already in our midst. Douglas MacArthur said, I am concerned for the security of our great Nation, not so much from the threats from without, but from the insidious forces working within. Funny, how that applies. And much more recently, the ever charming late Hugo Chavez said, America will fall without a shot fired.

We have become so entrapped in our own exaggerated political correctness that if the devil himself was walking down our street, we wouldn't dare say, "Wait a minute! That's the devil."  If he's not the devil, then why would he be trying to appear to be. Make no mistake, that person in the picture is an evil threat and he wants all of us to know it.  I am not a racist, I am not a bigot and other than the normal human prejudices that we're not supposed to admit to anymore, I'm a fairly tolerant and accepting person.  If it looks and quacks like duck, good chance it's a duck. I have a right, it is not an insult for me to say, "You are a duck, right?" Instead of using common sense, we seem to be determined to rush madly to the opposite end of reason. We're putting on our blinders and allowing potentially dangerous people to merge into our society and we are loosing our freedom to even ask them if they mean us harm. 

The cold hard reality, folks, is that Americans are not well liked in the world. Mostly because the world is rapidly becoming infested with terrorists that make no bones about hating us. We are truly not safe outside of America and very threatened inside.  I do not feel friendly, I do not want to hold your hand and sing around the campfire while you saw away at my head. America's closed eyes, open borders and refusal to smell the stinking tide of hate that is spreading across the seas to us, could
be our doom.

What can we do?  Prepare. On whatever level you are able to, for yourself and your family. Whether from hate or from nature, you have very little control. Only your own self sufficiently will give you a chance to survive.

Finding Your Smile

It's a bit rare to see the Queen of England in a full laughing smile. Obviously, she does laugh on occasion. I've always admired the Queen. I believe she is a strong and duty bound woman. She didn't wish to be the queen, just as her father hadn't wanted to be king. She loved her father very much, but felt that he wasn't a strong man. Elizabeth would do her duty to the best of her abilities and does until this very day. I've often thought of how incredibly difficult that duty must've often been. How many heartaches, disappointments and very hard decisions she had to face. The fact is, not station or wealth or beauty or intelligence, nothing makes us humans immune to life's troubles.

I certainly qualify as human. I can celebrate my unhappiness about life's zingers with the best of them, hold myself the biggest pity party. The kind where you sip from the cup of sadness, dance on the table of defeat and wake up with a hellava hangover.  My oldest friend is struggling through a terrible illness, the season at the summer cabin that I love is over, the children that I love have problems and heartaches, the hubby and I are getting old and have the short term memories of gnats...it's just not frickin' fair.  I taught my children that life is not fair but that was for them, not me...wasn't it?

Some of life's aggravations are just that, miniscule and some are humongous tragedies. I have a problem, however, with people that just refuse to and can't find their smile. The world is funny, you have to admit. There are the delightful children, the animals and the just plain goofiness of people. Even in the gravest and most serious situation, it's hard not to laugh when someone stumps their toe.

One of the things that I do when I'm down is read quotes. It always eventually makes me smile to read what other people do and say to combat the sad and unpleasant things in their lives. I really appreciated the faded copy of a quote on my mother-in-law's bathroom wall...it was so her and it was funny. One day as I sat all sad and weary, a little voice came to me and said Cheer up, things could be worse. So I did, I cheered up and things got worse.

Charles Shultz quoted that he vowed to only dread one day at a time...poor old Charlie Brown. If it wasn't for bad luck he would have none at all. He certainly must've helped his creator find his smile.   W.C. Fields said, I cook with wine. Sometimes I even put some in the food.  Makes me laugh and reminds me of when a dear friend and I get together to cook a shared supper.

It's very important to never stop searching for your smile.  A day without a single one is indeed a bad day.  Those days do happen, they are there. Don't let such a day be because you just didn't look hard enough for even one small piece of joy. 

They might not need me; but they might. I'll let my head be just in sight; a smile as small as mine might be precisely their necessity.-----Emily Dickinson

Nesters

Before the hubby and I retired, I thought that I really wanted to have a travel trailer and just move around, place to place for weeks at a time. Never a fan of motels or hotels, we were always campers, owned various camping vehicles from pop-ups to a small motor home. We dragged our poor bored children around everywhere within our limited affordability. "Oh look...isn't that beautiful/amazing/cool?"  I have to admit that they all do appreciate nature and the outdoors.

As we began our adventures, dragging our long travel trailer from one new place to the next, it didn't take me all that long to realize...as much as I loved seeing the things that I'd never seen, visiting those interesting places, I wasn't ever going to be near the traveler that I dreamed I would be.  The truth is, I'm an incurable nester.  Whether it's a huge campground near the Grand Canyon or  a spot at the local lake, once I'm all set up and settled in, I don't want to leave.  I get all my little thingees squared away, set up the lawn chairs and I hate to tear it all apart and move along. And now that we don't have the kids, not even a sweet dog baby any longer, I've become a fan of motels.  Throw your suitcase in, turn on the AC and TV and you're set. 

So, these evolving times in our life have brought us to the lucky and happy situation of having a summer cabin in the Colorado cool and our home in Texas, splitting our time close to half and half. Guess what?  This old bird still doesn't like to leave either nest.  It's the end of the summer season here at the cabin, it's been a great and cool year. Family and friends and things we've lived with for years are calling us back home.  It's time to go home and yet...I'm having big separation pains.  Typically, I've feathered this small nest in the high country just to our liking. I'm feeling sad at the friends here we'll leave and all the little things...the birds that come to the water bowl on the porch, the rose that is flourishing on the corner of the house, the horses and antelope in the meadow, the mountains and the mornings and evenings that make you dig out your sweater.

Of course, I'll be so glad to see everyone and our Texas home. By Spring and the time to return, I'll be looking sadly at the nice St. Augustine yard and hesitating to leave there...it's the curse of the nester.  Birds migrate don't they? Should be a good thing but as I look at the little hummingbird at the window,  who seems to be wondering where the heck did that sweet stuff go, I feel a tug at my heart.

Sigh-h, another season ending, but always a hope for next year.

Happiness

It is an overwhelming, complicated and frustrating world for certain. There are frightening events happening everyday, outrageous things, things that make us say what-t-at?  Peace and happiness are states very hard to reach and to hold on to, for most of us average humans.  Far wiser people than I, have said much about the pursuit of happiness. You know, that constitutional guarantee...not the happiness itself, just the right to pursue it.

I've always been impressed by the ability of some smart folks to lay out such pearls of wisdom in just a few words.  I love quotes and they often inspire a whole train of thought that makes me ponder the answers to life's vast questions.  My quote this week, made well over seventy five years ago, is a great one.  It has to do with the small things, not the huge mistakes that we make, the big destructive behavior that we preform but just the stupid little things that we seem to repeat that make our lives very frustrating.  Reminds me of another of my very favorites that more or less says, Don't keep repeating the same behavior and thinking you will get different results.

I'm just repeating the wisdom of many, you are truly the only person that can make yourself happy, you are responsible for your own happiness, no matter what life if throwing at you.  I'm more or less saying what I said in an earlier blog about getting organized, one little step at a time.  Don't try to remake your whole life, your bad habits or destructive attitudes in one day.  Pick some small thing that, if you put your mind to it, you could either improve or plain stop it...quit repeating that behavior.  Sometimes the organizing thing is very close to the frustration of your life. In other words, if you just make a solemn promise to yourself,  "I will never walk in this house and put the car keys anywhere but right there on that hook"....immediately you are a touch more organized but more important, you are far less frustrated and therefore a touch happier. 

Sometimes being happier is about rewards and sometimes it is about discipline.  If you're a frustrated writer and keep telling yourself, I don't have time or when I get a nice place to sit and write...stop it today.  Clear away a spot, a corner and sit for one hour. Write, or make notes or just think about what you want to write.  Just one hour and go back to it another day and do the same.  The two things that you can take control of in this world, are your environment and your actions. 

There are some awesome and spectacular people, the I'm going to climb that highest mountain type of person. Let's get real, most of us are NOT that. Personally, I've always felt those people teeter right on the edge of insanity.  The huge majority of us just want to find happiness, perhaps would like to feel that we made someone else happy.  That is a goal that any one of us can accomplish. Forget the mountain, merely move that one small rock from your path and go forward. Don't look where you've been and don't worry about the rocks farther ahead. Find your joy in the path you cleared right in front of you.

9.11 Are You Prepared?

In my lifetime...and that's getting to be a pretty sizeable number of years...there has been nothing more sad and horrific than the events of September 11, 2001.  Whether you were impacted close and personally or whether you were hundreds of miles away, this was an attack on America and it deeply affected us all.  Yes, life did go on for millions of us. After the burials, the mourning, the cleaning up and rebuilding, the country had a deep wound that for some will never completely heal.  Make no mistake, though life did go on, that was not the intentions of the attackers.

In the more than 200 years since we fought for our independence, died and sacrificed to establish the United States of America, no foreign enemy has ever attacked us on our own soil.  On a grand "War" scale, it might seem now that this was a minor attack.  This is not so.  It doesn't matter if an enemy turns your own citizens into traitors, as in the Boston Marathon atrocity... if a lone assassin creeps across a border that is totally breachable with a small suitcase that could blow up  half of Texas or Arizona or California...or if a missile its lobbed right into our bellies. It is death and destruction to our citizens and our way of life.  There is a determined and growing enemy on the march and their goal is to see that America and it's way of life NOT continue forward. 

We cannot deceive ourselves that this is a small and weak enemy, that we are invincible to their attacks.  This enemy will chop our people's heads off and proudly film it, this enemy will use their own innocent children as shields, this is an evil enemy that believes anything is justified to achieve our annihilaltion.  Every small act of terror they impose on an American is a huge victory for them.

Having said all this, these things that a very large number of Americans are already aware of but so many more are oblivious to, I have to say, Are you prepared?  If our enemies are able to perpetrate an attack on any scale or if a catastrophe of nature occurs, can you protect and provide for your family?  The cold hard facts are that we cannot control the majority of events in the world.  We must make some plans and preparations for our own survival. A friend said to me recently, "I'm making some preparations that would maybe get me through two months. If the world isn't getting back together by that time, who wants to stay around?"  I think, always, some is better than none. I don't fault that reasoning at all.  I've got to say that if you've given thought and resources to being self sufficient for even a short time, I'd like to talk to you on your "deadline" day...you think you might use your ingenuity and resources and hang in a few more days?  

Water, because humans cannot survive without drinkable water.  Beans, because you must have sustenance. Bullets, because you must protect your water and beans. 

Get Organized

A dear friend of mine told me that she had once been told, "You love the idea of organization, but you're not."  I'd say that is the case with the majority of us.  In my particular weird case, I am...organized that is.  I'm compulsively, OCD, anal-ly organized.  Since I always self analyze, I would say it comes a great deal from a young life where I had very little control.  Keeping order in my surroundings is my way of controlling.  There's still a huge portion of life that I have no power over but I can keep my little world ship shape and no one can stop me from it.

Of course, there are multi degrees of organization and dis-organization; from the complete slob, the person surrounded in clutter and disorder or the dysfunctional hoarder to the irritating nut that you literally could eat off of their kitchen floor and their home feels cold, you're afraid to touch anything.    You never sat a dish down in my grandmother's living room, it went straight to the sink and was washed, dried and put in it's place.  My mother-in-law was  not a dirty or unsanitary housekeeper but an incurable clutter bug and my own mother was a complete little pig.   I do have to say, I never knew a truly messy and unorganized person that seemed truly happy. There is something to be said for the Chinese philosophy of Fung Shui, the art of being in harmony and balance with your surroundings. 

Honestly, a person that is buried in their own clutter is truly a frustrated person. How much time can you happily waste, searching for something that you never put back in the same place twice, moving things around so you can put something else down, digging through piles of clothing or papers or what-ever?  Wouldn't be the first time that I was completely wrong, maybe some unorganized people are perfectly happy, it seems to me that most are very scattered and unhappy.

In the spirit of  let's get our s--t together, here's some of my personal suggestions to clear away your life a bit.

            ---Make up the bed. I know, you're going to get back in it. Doesn't matter, just make it up.
         
           ---Don't let the clutter of all the things you need to organize, overwhelm your mind.  Just pick one small thing.  Maybe the closet where you've been piling everything or smaller, just that catch all drawer.  Maybe the desk where you want to sit down and write, but depresses you to even look at it. Just choose one small area and work on organizing that spot to the max. 

          ---Containers and labels are BIG.  Contain it...herd it up...get six cheap laundry baskets, get six free boxes, empty coffee containers....don't place loose piles of any thing any where. Those piles tend to grow and spread. Label it. Socks, shoes, dirty, clean, mail, tomorrow, today, pencils, take outside....once you've stuck a label on, NEVER put anything except what it says in that container, even if one is empty and the other overflows.

          ---Do it right now, not in a minute.  If you're through with whatever is in your hand, walk right to where that "thing" goes and put it there.  If you're taking off your shoes, the moment you stand on your bare feet, walk to where they go.  And, I don't mean go outside in a huge storm to put away that "thing" in the shed.  You have a box for that, don't you?

         ---Chairs and sofas and beds were not designed as clothes racks. That's what hangers, closets and drawers are for.  Floors are supposed to be covered with rugs, useful pieces of furniture and feet. Flat surfaces, counter and table tops are meant to have smooth expanses of clear space. Cabinets, drawers and shelves were created to keep these expanses clear and available for all the temporary tools of daily life that we need to place there.

You will be amazed at how much simpler life will be if you just organize.  The best thing is when you have no control over other things in your life, when you are feeling depressed or overwhelmed, you will find such reward in just pulling together a single area of your world.  Even if it's just one drawer, it's a physical accomplishment. You can stand back and say Now, that looks good. Just do it.

Necessities of Life

This may be offensive to some people...well of course it will, in our times EVERY thing is offensive to SOME body.  I have had personal experience with the destructive and bad results of  over indulging in alcohol.  Most of us have someone in our family who has an abuse problem, perhaps knew someone that was hurt or killed by a drunk driver or at a minimum knows what it's like to wake up with that "I doubt I will live through the day hangover" from a fun night the previous evening. Having established that I understand all the negative attributes of alcoholic beverages, I want to state that the availability of a little nip on occasion is one of the necessities of life.

Yep, you heard me. I believe that as a survival tool, both in our present day world or in a world where catastrophe has befell us, a smidgen of alcohol will be imperative.  I once had a critic say of the characters in one of my first novels, They sure do drink a lot.  Really? I guess I never thought of it as a lot.  The characters not only liked their evening "cocktail", they were scavenging for alcohol for it's medicinal use and for it's bartering value.  On a story about Preppers, I saw a minister that had dozens of bottles of booze stored. He believed that it's value as a trading item would be priceless, he was right and smart.  Also, there are very good medicinal purposes as an antiseptic or an anesthetic. 

Think about it.  You're in a post disaster world, you've spent a long day searching for food and purifying water, hoping your chemical mask has protected you from the diseases floating around out there.  You've been fighting off the bad people who didn't do one flippin' thing to prepare for even a minor catastrophe...Zombies (if you believe in such) or just those folks who are starving and totally p.o.'d because the McDonalds is all busted up and closed, their cell phone is down and none of the plugs are working to charge it. You don't think that just a small alcoholic beverage would take the edge off that day? 

The thing is, some of my days in the so called normal world, feel like that.  Life is spectacular these days and hard, complicated, full of things we have no control over.  A toddy at the end of the day can put things right back into mellow perspective.  My ninety year old mother-in-law, god rest her soul, used to call and say, "Honey, if you're going to the county line?"...that was the mystical place where stores exist with shelves of booze and you can buy all you want if you just put one foot on the other side of that boundary..."would you get me a small bottle of whiskey. You know, it helps me sleep." Indeed, it did. That precious woman would take just a shot of bourbon before bed and it was a great sleep aid.

So, my point is, I think that a good smooth alcoholic beverage of your choice is one of the nice necessities of life. Have a bit on hand, you never know when you might need a sip.  JO

Life on the Roller Coaster

It's probably totally cliche' but I've always thought that the most accurate description of life was it's like a roller coaster.  Once you're on, you have no control, you are definitely going to ride up and down...extreme highs and deep fast lows.  I personally never liked that chug, chug, chug pull to the top. That climb, it was nerve wracking like the work it takes to reach your goals and dreams in life. Then there is that thrilling, exhilarating swoo-sh-sh down. I always loved that excitement of going over the top. But, quickly you're down, in the valley, in the pit and you have to do the pull up again.

Oh, I absolutely believe that we have great influence on a great deal of our life, whether it will be good or bad.  So much of it though, we have no control over.  We only have control over how we make that ride.  I mean, are you going to undo your safety belt and stand up in the barreling car (like an idiot) or hold on tight and try to ride out, even enjoy the ups and downs?

We would wish, would like, if for every down we got a big up.  Not going to happen. Sometimes it seems that we are riding high and sometimes we feel that we will never get out of the lows. It is never balanced, never fair. And even worse, some folks seems to get a totally undeserved number of lows. I think my point is, if you step onto the roller coaster of life...and, hey we don't have a choice do we? don't ask to be born...you are going to take the ride.  I suppose you could just amble around, hold on to things, hide in the corners. Doesn't seem to me that would be much of a ride.

My oldest and best friend is battling a terrible disease. It is such a horrible experience for her and her family and for we, who love her.  My heart breaks, but would I give up any of the great times we've shared over the years? would I wish that to avoid the pain I had never known her? Of course not.  I have three beautiful daughters and there is never immunity to the ups and downs of their lives. Do I wish that I had never had children? OF COURSE NOT! 

You can't just get off in the middle of the ride.  I have to admit to having no understanding or empathy for those that decide that they are so unique to human existence that they don't have to put up with the hard part. Those people that think they can just check out.  We must cherish, relish every laugh, every wonderful experience, store them up and save them for the sad and bad times. It's the life ride, from the moment that bar clamps down until it releases us, the ride to the end. We have to hang on through all the ups and downs.

Amazon vs. Publishers

I'm the first to admit, I don't always pay close attention when a  story that is even somewhat interesting to me first hits.  I often find myself going back later and trying to really find out what was told, now, what is that really about? True, the story should have been quite interesting to me. A big television celebrity and his big publisher (he evidently wrote a book) were involved in a dispute with Amazon about the online retailer selling books too cheap. 

At the mature age of 65+, after years of my pure enjoyment of writing and often being flattered when a friend, a reader would say, You really should write a book....I had long ago resigned myself to travel logs and letters to friends and family and an occasional sad and creative euology.  Publishers, editors, none of that was feasible at all in the past.  Then lo and behold, a miracle! Amazon.com was offering a free platform, an opportunity for unknown authors to publish their work. I was damn sure that, an unknown writer.   I could actually have a novel, on the internet and only if someone chose to take a chance and read my creation, at a very cheap price, would I then share in the profits with Amazon, the store window that nicely displayed my book. 

All of us, the enormous unpublished, unnoticed writers enthusiastically flooded to the market place.  Happy to have our little bit of extra income and just a bit of recognition. I mean, OMG, there's my book...it looks like a book, it reads like a book, it has my name on it and someone even paid $2.99 to read it.   And more importantly, people who love to read suddenly had a smorgasbord of material for their library at a pittance.  But then, the publishers and the already successful authors begin to take some notice.  What were they missing out on? What was all this e-book nonsense? This was not necessarily good for the independent, self published authors. It was stiff competition when known  authors begin to offer their wares in our marketplace.  But, hey, that's the way it is...it's a free market.

And then, there was the story. I decided that I better try to find out what the dispute really was about, the two sides. It's truly not much deeper than what it originally seemed.  It's...surprise! just about the money.  The truth is, the big publishers don't want to offer their clients books at discount prices, don't want to compete.  Of course they have the perfect right, not to.   Well, gosh darn it, why should they want to give up their business plan? They want you to continue to go to the book store and pay at least ten times what it cost to publish a book and you get a lovely volume for your shelf.  And lucky you, you own one of zillions of copies of a book by a famous author.  Wait though, that's not good enough. They want to TELL Amazon how they should be conducting business and how much the "fair" price should be for books offered.

Sorry, but the way I see it is Amazon is great for authors (both new and seasoned), great for readers and of course, fantastically successful for the company.  How ludicrous that a publishing company would assume they should control the policies of Amazon.  It's amazing to me that only when someone has an innovative and successful idea, the hit dogs start to yelp. Of course, they hate Walmart and Amazon and other real world and online discounters...they want you to continue to pay $50 for their $5 t-shirts or whatever...like books. 

A Year Without Summer

In the wonderful place that I am privileged to spend my summers these days, the climate is something to brag about. Especially since I have spent my whole life in my beloved home, Texas,  where the summer is like a super sauna, sometimes for six month of the year.  One thing for sure, whatever the climate, you have no control.

This has certainly been a year that is out of the norm. At least, it seems so in my experience. I feel like the little cutie in the pic.  It's supposed to be the peak of summer, August the 1st. Today's high temperature was 58 degrees. It seems I  need my jacket and my flip flops. 

Are humans responsible for the weather, for climate changes? No question we have an impact on the planet. Everything on the planet has an impact on the earth. From the ugly old beetle, creeping along the ground, the gopher busy throwing up piles of soil in your yard or the beaver building  dams in the river.  The earth is extremely interactive and everything that is on it, is even the tiniest particle of it, everything that ends it's cycle and becomes part of the soil again,  has influence. 

Just my personal opinion, but there have been cataclysmic, earth shattering changes and adjustments on our planet, a very long time before we humans were even a part of the mix.  While I greatly respect our beautiful place to exist and think we should do all we can to not just recklessly cause destruction...you know that old saying, don't poop where you sleep. I doubt very seriously that mere humans have the power to change the unpredictable and inevitable consequences of hurling through space on a ball with hell for a center. 

I even heard a rumor that some believe our government has gained the knowledge and power to manipulate and control rain clouds and other weather. Really?  The closest we come to controlling mother nature's weather patterns is that expensive air conditioning that I pump into every place I happen to be when I'm in Texas in the summer.  Control the climate? As usual we humans are totally full of ourselves.

Surviving Vs. Preparing

I watched a program recently about a family being taught survival techniques.  I think it's a great and wise idea.  Any knowledge that you can gain is going to put you a step ahead in a crisis situation. 

I have to say though, when they cooked a rat and distilled their own pee to drink...they lost me.  I'm not stupid, you could find yourself in an extreme catastrophic aftermath. You could possibly have no choices left other than the very unthinkable ones.  However, I'm more a believer in the being prepared way of thinking. 

As a "Prepper" you need to arm yourself with all the information that you can attain pertaining to water, food and protection.  I have notebooks with instructions and tips on all of those subjects, from medical to growing and preserving food.  The basics of that collection as well as the basic survival supplies are in my vehicle and in every location that I know I will be, such as this summer cabin.  I am better supplied at my primary home, but not UN-prepared anywhere. 

My point is, an average person over a time can accumulate a lot of survival supplies without spending a lot of money.  The most important thing is that you allow your mind to consider possibilities and how you would cope with those events. If you don't know, find out. Just as you were taught and taught your children, to have a plan to escape your home in a fire. You need to think ahead, not wait and think you will figure it out, IF it happens.  Pick a day in your life and mentally walk through it. How would you accomplish each thing you do in a day without power, running water, transportation? How would you take care of and protect you and your family for even one week without those conveniences?

It's fine and well to believe that you could be tough, that you could think outside the box if it was a necessity.  You have to possess a box, in order to have that option...step one, I need a box.  I've learned in my more than just a few years, you can never say never...but I promise you I will eat a ton of rice and beans and it won't be boiled in my own pee, before I'll be roasting up Mr. Rat for supper.

Perfect Proof

I've said before that my novels aren't The Great American Novels or even what you would call best sellers.  I have sold several thousand copies and learned what seems like several thousand lessons.  One of the hardest lessons was to try and ignore my reviews.  Think about it, if someone made a public comment about something you said or did or created, would you want to hear it?  I've managed to reach a point of  not compulsively checking on the reviews. I do periodically check on the number of books selling and yes, on the reviews.  I try to dig through, pick out the truths and address the criticism if possible and sometimes am actually able to say "forget you!" to a harsh comment. That is, say it in my mind.

 Keep in mind, if you don't know, my fictional novels all deal with the premise that a world changing event has occurred. A human created or natural event has knocked out the power grids, worldwide. It is "The End of the World as We Know It".  My stories are basically not about what specifically happened. They are about the results of such an event and the families, how they are surviving the aftermath.

That being said, late last evening I sat in my PJ's in my favorite comfy chair, scanned through some stats, etc. in the glow of my gadget...the hubby and I refer to our Kindles as "gadgets".  There was a new review of one of my books, so I checked it out.  It was a decent appraisal, not that it matters (?!)
About three or four paragraphs down, I noticed another review that I hadn't previously read. The first comment was tolerable, why hadn't anyone turned on the radio and found out what happened? Okay, even with no power there would be working, battery powered radios. Some prepared folks would have generators and other power sources.  Would any broadcasts be received? Optimistically, some emergency information. It would be dependent on how catastrophic the original event was. I give this critic that one.

Then came the statement that is perfect proof of the inane lack of logic in so much of the present population... for gods sakes, somebody check their Ipod to see what people are saying on Facebook !!  This is a direct quote, I swear.  It demonstrates exactly, the vision that I have of the chaotic scene of a complete power down situation.  Hoardes of people climbing out of dead vehicles in massive traffic jams, holding their cell phones in the air, cursing McDonalds for leaving them stuck in line. OMG, I began to LMAO!  The hubby just glared at me and I handed the gadget to him, for him to read.  He looked over his reading glasses, with the disgusted look that old folks like us so often display and then we were both hysterically laughing. It's so scary that it's just painfully funny.

Now, I'm about as tech savvy as the lady on the tv commercial that pops out her CD player and proudly places her coffee cup in it.  But, bless their hearts, these folks are going to be in deep do-do when the stuff hits the fan.  The only thing that cell phone is going to be good for is to beat someone with it that is trying to take the one package of ramen noodles on their shelf. 

The scenarios and possibilities for disastrous happenings are so numerous and varied.  I'm not a believer in not living in today's world and enjoying it. I am a believer in preparing, to the best of your ability and resources, for a day that everything would not fit into that perfect routine of life we have all become accustomed to.  I have my own little initials for the spoiled and totally unaware in our population...the CNs (complete ninny), GIs (genetic idiot) and HUTAs (head up their ass) masses that plummet down our highways, texting, tweeting, twirking and facebooking, utterly oblivious to the world around them. They will be "fiddling" with their phones, searching for someone on facebook to announce that the world is ending, so bend over and KYAG (kiss your ass goodbye).

Just had to vent, what amazing times we live in.  The most informed human beings ever in existence, therefore we should be the smartest human beings ever in existence...right?  Anyway, if the world crashes, the s--t hits the fan,  Call me....

What You Need...A Little Attitude Adjustment

Funny, how the statement, What you need is a little attitude adjustment can mean anything from the literal definition to "Maybe you need someone to knock a little sense into you."  Remember, in the old Cher movie, Moonstruck, when she slapped Nicolas Cage and screamed, "Snap out of it!".  Just like that, sometimes we need to just snap out of it. 

One of the hardest things for us to do is adjust our attitude. It would seem that with so much information easily available to us, so many views and versions being poured on us, that we would constantly be adjusting our attitude.  We should be sifting through all the data and searching for the truth, not that the truth is always clear or easy to uncover.  Amazingly, we have an uncanny ability to take huge amounts of information and twist it to support our already predetermined opinions. 

There are some wonderful giving, generous and open minded people in our world and the majority of us have some one or some thing in our life that we would sacrifice all for.  But, the bottom line, the fact of human nature is that the world revolves around our little center.  Things track right back to what we personally need, fear, want, how every small happening makes us feel and effects us...that is, ME. Perhaps it's a deep ingrained instinct in us for survival.

 Think about it, you get this bit of information that "You know, Mary just really doesn't like you for some reason."  You say you don't believe that, that's just silly.  But from that moment on, how hard is it to not take everything Mary says and does more personally.  Once it has been planted in your mind that someone doesn't like you, it's so easy to perceive something negative in every thing they do and say. You begin to gather proof that she does not like you. 

Attitude adjustment is complicated.  Our intelligence may be telling us that the possibilities are many, but our instinct is telling us, I'm just confident. I know what I know, believe what I believe. It's not that we shouldn't have our beliefs and be sure of them, but in order to not live in a very constricted world, we have to move away from that little self center.  We have to step over into the open part of our mind.  No matter how certain we are of our beliefs and positions, it will become very lonely and depressing in our little center.  If we don't give any consideration to the opinions of others, compare their ideas,  how can we be truly confident of where we stand.

Sometimes, we do need a little jolt .  We need to leave all of our preconceived certainties in our center and roam around in the open, check out some other folk's certainties, other folk's dreams. When we return to our small center, even though a little beat up,  perhaps we'll have a thing or two to add or OMG, maybe we'll throw a thing or two out.  Hank Williams, Jr. sang,
                      
                        It was an attitude adjustment, made me feel just fine.....
                       An attitude adjustment, it'll work every time.