I will not be posting into my journal the paragraph that some of my friends have posted. I would love a good back rub though.

Today I was at the check out counter and on the cover of one of the rags was the headline "Who Killed Michael Jackson?" And all I could think of was his song "The Man in the Mirror" for an answer.

Obama may be taking up the Clinton's old vacation spot of Martha's Vinyard. When I heard that I immediately thought of The Inkwell.

I've already had someone come in this morning asking me about this, worried that we would do it. I thought she was talking about reselling unused graves. I think this is what she was talking about. She's a bit paranoid. But this is one of those things that makes the death care business look bad.


http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2009/07/arrests_for_chicagoarea_grave.html?ft=1&f=103943429

Arrests For Chicago-Area Grave Robbing, Body Dumping
cemetery body dumping

Burr Oak Cemetery, Alsip, Il. AP Photo/Chicago Sun-Times, Scott Stewart


By Frank James

From Chicago's south suburb of Alsip comes the very disturbing story of as many as 300 graves being opened and the bodies inside dumped so that cemetery employees could resell the plots.

The level of depravity it would take to do this is stunning. But considering how some people treat the living, maybe we shouldn't be so shocked after all.

NPR's David Shaper had the following report on the network's newscast:

The Cook County sheriff charges four people with one count each of dismembering a human body. Among those charged is the cemetery's superintendent.


The four allegedly took part in a scheme in which they would dig up graves in the historic Burr Oak Cemetery in the south Chicago suburb of Alsip, dump the bodies elsewhere in the cemetery or double bury them in other graves, and then resell the plots they dug up to unsuspecting members of the public.

Cook county sheriff Tom Dart says hundreds of graves may have been dug up as part of the scheme, adding that investigators found a pile of bones from more than 100 bodies, uncovered in an overgrown and fenced off area of the cemetery.


Burr Oak was one the first predominately African-American cemeteries in the Chicago area.


Among those buried there are lynching victim Emmett Till, and blues legends Willie Dixon and Dinah Washington.

As you'd expect, the Chicago Tribune is closely covering this story as well.

I let Biv drive the tractor today. I didn't have a choice, as I had to re-load the truck to fill tomorrow's grave, and I cant run both the truck and the backhoe at the same time, try as I might. Since there is no way in hell I'd let her drive the truck at this point (hell, I worry about driving it at times), I figured the machine was something she could handle. It's actually easier to drive than a car. You only have forward and backward petals. And a brake, which doesn't really hold well. To her credit, she did pretty well, although I wasn't sure she was going to navigate going by the wall, but she did. It's good that she can handle this, because it makes my life easier, and it actually fulfills a childhood dream of hers, or so she said. Kind of nice to be able to make someone's dream come true.

I didn't tell my father about letting her drive the machine. He's not ready for the heart attack just yet. lol.

As for me, I successfully loaded the truck. Ready for the next grave.

The fun never ends, but the funeral drought has. We have three this week.
Yesterday I dug half of one grave and let the Supt. finish, today because of the impending rain he dug the grave, which was a really easy one thank goodness.
We started this morning by moving a headstone. Normally we have a stone setter come in and move the stones, that way it's all done professionally, and he's insured if for some reason the stone is damaged by accident. He also knows what the hell he's doing. Biv and I moved this one, and at one point I thought "what the hell am I doing?" I've done it before, but working with Biv isn't exactly instinctive, although I'll give her credit, she did do OK and pusher her skinny little butt off. Once we finally got the stone high enough, we were able to get the rollers under and once that was done and we got it going, it went pretty well. The one thing I needed to do was to get the roller in the middle so the stone could rock side to side and could then get more rollers under. I'll have to keep that in mind next time I need to move over 900 lbs.

When we got done pushing the stone, we also had to push a car. Someone has dumped their car in the cemetery, "out of gas, please don't tow" but they left it right at the entrance. So Biv and I pushed it off to the side and out of the way, and we called the police who said they would try to find the owner. It had plates, but no inspection sticker. Later on Biv decided to see who the owner was by looking for a registration, and the guy lives right around the corner. He's a drug addict/dealer who was arrested numerous times for different things, one of them for breaking and entering on the street Biv lives on. How's that for coincidence. The car was still there when I left today. Hopefully it will be gone tomorrow. If not I'll throw some gas in it and move it.

Funeral each of the next three days. And one more dig. UG> Rain tomorrow. Hopefully it will clear up after that a bit.

I'm calling the monument guy to put the stone back.

I'm pissed off that my father refuses to let my brother do any of the meds. I'm trying to get the afternoon off so I can have fun, and goddam if he is being his asshole self today.
I took over and did everything for a week while my brother was away, and I do his job whenever it might need to be done, which thankfully is rare, but he's not 'allowed' to do my job, which he is perfectly capable and willing to do, when I want some time off. I know some people will be saying "well, he won't be around much longer.." but you know what, why not make the time left bearable, rather than continuing the same old tradition of asshole reasoning.  I know things will get worse before they get better, but he could at least try to make things easier for us just once in a while.  Its just one day for god's sake. My days revolve around him. It would be nice to have some time off for a change.  Boy, do I miss the hospital. UG.

Happy Fourth of July, or Independence Day for Americans. N. Korea was so excited for us that they shot of some really big fireworks today. Thanks guys, it's good to know you care.

I'm out of sorts this holiday. No annual get together, which I miss, but hopefully some time soon we few, we happy few, can get together again for some chow and chat.

My first pastel


We went to the parade this morning. My neighbors boys were on a float and other neighbors down the street had his little girls on another. Minutemen, old cars, some bands... and hawkers. The usual. But fun.
The girl in front of me seemed to think the idea of the parade was to gather as much of the thrown candy as possible. They had a bundle. One woman said a local parade threw out so much candy the kids were leaving it on the street. Yes, this is America, land of plenty of waste.
I will say the candy hoarders were at least good about clapping for the parade participants. Ever notice if one person claps, others will join in? I think it's the least you can do is clap for the people who make the effort to march 2 miles or so for your gratification.
Standing behind me on the side of the road were a few younger people. They were chatting about the parade the whole time. I gathered that they were not from around here. But where they were from I could not tell. They all sounded American, not a bit of an accent. But they seemed clueless about history, and one asked why there were only American cars in the parade (old cars, muscle cars). He also didn't recognize one band's rendition of a Star Wars tune. I probably should have concluded they were aliens after that. I mean, who the hell doesn't know the music from Star Wars?

My mother in law told us she is participating in the open studio in November where she rents space to do her sculpture. Only problem is that she and her husband are going to be in Italy. Oops. So she wants Ryther and I to run her open house, and excuse her absence by explaining she's studying the Masters in Italy. lol. It could be fun. We have to serve wine, sell stuff if anyone wants to buy. She said I could put out any of my own stuff if I wanted to. I might just make some jewelry or maybe even some small paintings. Oh, yeah, right. I guess I'd have to paint something to do that. Maybe I'll just do some bracelets. Cant hurt right? And hey, Christmas would be just around the corner. I've go to do something with these beads that I've acquired.

And speaking of junk I've acquired, I was whipping at the cemetery Friday and noticed something tucked behind a rock in the wall. I took it out and what I thought was a drug stash was actually a little Tupperware type box with a notebook in it, and a rubber stamp. Inside the book were other people's stamped entries, dated with different notes. So since Grafix has left me with all these stamps from her days as a Stampin Up addict, I figure I would add my own stamp entry to the collection. I have the perfect stamp, one of a cluster of old gravestones. I wonder if it's a geo cash thing. Not sure how those work.

Ok, on to politics, boring stuff.

Palin, run for future office? No way. She's done. You don't' get respect by leaving the job in the middle or your term, esp. as things are getting 'difficult'. It again shows how wishy washy she is. I don't care how down homey you think she is. She's a bad politician. Kind of like how all our previous governors have bailed out to go somewhere better. It didn't do them much good. At least Romney finished his term. He was the first in a while. (and no I don't miss him, and what's up with the 'official' portrate, with his head framed by another frame in the background? Bad Bad positioning, unless it has some hidden meaning.)

Gay rights. I know Wolfgaar likes to say about the gay marriage debate that gays already have the same rights as everyone else, and they want special rights. NPR had something on about Don't ask Don't tell this morning. How is it equal when if you are gay and you live with someone, you have to 'de gay' your house so that no one knows you are gay and have a lover? What strait people, even unmarried or hell, even married to other people and having affairs, have to take down photos and diplomas off the wall or risk being thrown out of the military? Why is it equal that when you are gay, your partner cannot be listed as the person to notify IF YOU DIE in the service of your country? But if you are strait, you could list some whore off the street to be notified and the government would pay to have them sent over to see you if you are injured? Fair, right? Equal, right? Even if you are legally married in a state that allows gay marriage, you still cant get the same benefits as a strait couple. That's not equality. And it's not 'extra' rights to get the same treatment. Just pisses me off that people still think that if they don't talk about something, it doesn't exist. It's just really stupid.

So Happy Birthday America, with all your flaws. Because I can write this, and so far, no one is censoring it. Still beats Iran ten ways to Sunday.

I'd like to write something profound tonight, but I have to sort meal worms. Seems all the aliens that I put asside and that turned into healthy beetles have produced a large number of tiny meal worms, and I want to put them in their own happy home. Or should I say I want to take the dead beetles, since I cant sort 2mm long worms. I'll just dump the lot into a new container.
Funny thing, the store was out of mealworms again last time, with a sign up saying there was a shortage. WTF goes with the mealworms?

Back and forth, back and forth. Because there is an abnormally cool summer, global warming is bunk. Of course just in the last two years, weve had very abnormally warm winters, Jan and Feb's with temps in the high 60's for extended periods. It's not about today, it's about a trend. But that aside, I still would like to call your attention to other man made problems, things that do need to be addressed.

Overfishing. More and more people depend on fish to eat, and they just aren't' there. and if it isn't overfishing, it's just plain poisoning or polluting that kills the fish. Look at what's happening in Somalia because fishermen have toxins dumped in their waters, and foreign vessels overfishing their waters. Human activity, human pollutants and fertilizers are killing what was once thought to be a never ending food supply. But humans cant change the planet, right? Just ask the whales.

And lets not forget the coral reefs that are dying. Is that just another natural cycle, or is there a possibility that man made pollutants are having an effect on that. Like acid rain killing the trees, can we be altering life for coral? NAAAA.
Invasive plants brought from one place or another choking out native everything. Great show on PBS about how one aquarium's plants spread like a disease and made a virtual desert out of a stretch of ocean.

Speaking of dying trees, its not getting warmer, but strangely plant bloom times are changing, birds are arriving earlier (even when it's not good for them) and diseases and bugs are spreading further and further north, unstopped by lack of a cold enough winter. Check out those fuzzy hemlock killers.

Mold. I've worked at the cemetery for 20 years, and I've never seen so much mold on the old stones. I have photos to look back on and I can see how fast this has progressed. Why? I don't suppose too many people have been washing these stones in the past, so why all of a sudden are they plastered with heavy tough mold and moss that has to be scrubbed off, or it eats into the stone? Its new. It's something that hasn't been there for over 200 years, but now it shows up.

Pollution. Well, like I've said before, the skies were bluer when I was a kid. Many days they are ugly hazy now. Yellowish. China's Olympic struggle to clean the air for the games is a good example of how low we can go. And it can be changed, but that doesn't dispute the cause. And what does that do to your health boys and girls?

Water shortages. The aquafurs that were tapped into after the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl are drying up. What then? How do we grow all the food we need and use when there is no water to water the crops? The water levels in the Great Lakes is dropping, California constantly suffers from lack of water, or is that just mismanagement? Florida/Georgia fight over water rights in recent droughts. Too many people for too little water?

Are the ice caps shrinking or growing? Are the mountains covered in snow or not. I guess you can ask the ski resorts how things are going. Photos past vs present seem to say things are getting meltier.

And all this rain, well, I figure what goes up must come down. If you melt it it will rain. And rain a lot. So at least that might solve the water problem, if only we can capture it and store it, instead of letting it just wash our streets clean of oil and gas.

This is a bit rambling, but I'll close with the fact that oil, gas and coal are all still limited resources, for a population that, baring a good flu epidemic or global war, is still growing by leaps and bounds. Regardless of whether you buy into global warming, or if it's man made or natural, thing are changing, and we need to find other ways to get power. Ways that are renewable that are non polluting, for the generations and generations that are yet to be born.

Oh, I forgot to mention that our air filters, the trees, are being supplanted by soy beans. But hey, they are so good for you. Suck so tofu into your lungs and enjoy.

Happy Canada day to any of you Canadian, or once Canadians. Somewhere in my distant ancestry is some French Canadian. Scoundrels I think. With a name like Ursala, (doesn't that mean bear?) how can you be trusted?

I don't have time to get into responding to Wolfgaars questions about my views on abortion. Some other day.

I was listening to NPR today about the Tylenol (acetaminophen) controversy. Too much will damage your liver, and new recommendations are that the FDA lower the advised doses. The person they were interviewing said that in 10 years, 600 people had died from liver failure due to high doses of the drug. On the site, it said that Despite years of educational campaigns and other federal actions, acetaminophen remains the leading cause of liver failure in the U.S., sending 56,000 people to the emergency room annually, according to the FDA.
It seems to me that the reality is that clearer labels could help people know what products contain this drug, so people don't overdose. The fatalities are very small if you ask me, a drop in the bucket almost, but the emergency room trips for this one thing is serious. (don't get me wrong, a death is a death, but statistically, 600 in ten years is nothing. Probably more people die for bee stings.)
Vivid labeling of anything with acetaminophen seems to be in order, not so much reducing the recommended dosage. JMO

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2009/07/actor_karl_malden_97_has_died.html?ft=1&f=103943429

Actor Karl Malden, 97, Has Died
description

Malden at a rehearsal of the 10th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards in Los Angeles on Feb. 21, 2004. Vince Bucci/Getty Images

By Mark Memmott

Karl Malden, who starred with Michael Douglas on TV's The Streets of San Francisco and won an Oscar for his film portrayal of Mitch in A Streetcar Named Desire, has died, the Los Angeles Times reports. It cites his daughter, Mila Doerner, as its source.

The Associated Press says it also has confirmed the news with Malden's family.

He was 97.

He'll also be fondly remembered by many for his "don't leave home without it" American Express commercials.

The last DVDs we rented from Blockbuster was the whole first season of True Blood. It's not as good as Six Feet Under, but it's fun. I don't like some of the characters, but I'm willing to give it a shot. Pretty good for light porn. HBO is always good for that. lol.

Met with the Hospice nurse today. Hopefully they can help my father feel a bit better. Although hes so stubborn and doesn't want to help himself. As Frank sang "I did it my way." The good thing is they cover the cost of some of the drugs he's on, the really expensive one, and even the Tylenol he takes. Small consolation I suppose.

Boy, you'd think with the way the news is reporting things, that every accident is caused by an elderly driver. I wonder how many accidents they are not reporting on that are not elderly drivers? I know there are elder drivers that need to be tested, but I seriously think if people just LOOKED before they crossed instead of expecting cars to stop for them, a lot of this would be avoided. But we have a whole generation of kids that were told the cars will stop for them, and hell, half of them dare the cars to hit them. You've seen them do it I'm sure. I saw a kid on a skateboard in the middle of the lane with earbuds in. You've got to give them some of the credit.

Not to insult anyone on my friends list, because I know many of you believe in some kind of deity or other, but I was just thinking here on the subject because Mrs. Moose has been writing about looking for god to guide her decisions, and that anything bad that happens to her isn't really bad, it's just part of the master plan.
I was thinking of this just now as my husband doubled my already sugared coffee. What was god trying to tell me? Was he saying I shouldn't bother having coffee, that it will keep me up, and that throwing the coffee out was the right thing? Or was god telling me to make another cup, because my cup was already too sweet to start with? Or was it just an honest to goodness human accident, and if nothing bad happens from drinking the second cup, like I fall asleep as usually into a sound slumber, having forgotten all about what god might have wanted...then it's no harm, no foul.

Every decision you make you can say is influenced by god, guiding you. But in reality, it's just you making decisions, and then reacting to how that all carries out. How you react to those outcomes will help influence future outcomes. Have a bad attitude, not much good it going to come your way. Have a good attitude, then even when bad things come your way, you can deal with them, and perhaps get some good out of them. It's a human thing, not a god thing.

Anyway, that's my opinion on the idea that "everything happens for a reason". Everything just happens, and we humans reason. Again, not to be offensive, but that's what I think.

( more moose musings, look away )Biv demonstrated she is a total racist today. Or just utterly ignorant. Two Navy guys came by looking for the burial site for today's funeral. One was an Asian-American. I told him where the grave was and the time we had for it. When they left Biv was like "I cant believe they let him in the military, wasn't it a security risk?" I said flat out "and I thought my father was a racist!" She didn't really say anything after that. I mean WTF? She sounded like she came out of 1941. I wonder if she's ever even heard the words Internment Camp? I wonder if she has any clue the work that Asian Americans have done in this country over the last hundred and more years? There's a girl that should have watched Kung Fu as a kid. Maybe she's the kind of Masshole Mrs. Moose meets. Not half and hour later Biv commented on the vault truck driver. "He's an islander" and implied they were wild. I honestly have no idea what the hell she was even talking about. What island? I think she's referring to the island of South America. UGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!!!!

Our local Blockbuster is closing. Today is the last day to rent anything. They will be selling stuff as of tomorrow. UG. I like browsing. It give me ideas. I like books stores for the same reason. Now we are forced to do some kind of Net Flix mail order thing or download everything. I really hate downloading too much. It takes too much time. I like to just pop in  a movie. I think NetFlix is going to be the way to go, at least as long as that lasts. ho hum. I don't like change.
Plus the guy at the store was always nice. He and a few other people are now out of a job.

I developed a roll of film from the cemetery camera that was about a year old. This is one of the photos that were in the roll. If my memory serves, I think this was a tomb who's door had been pried open. Before we closed it up (yet again) I took a picture. Everyone always asks "what's inside" and I tell them. Sometimes nothing. Some of the tombs who's doors have been pulled off or pried open are almost swept clean. Others have a floor full of broken and unbroken wooden boxes with bones here and there. Over a hundred and fifty years, numerous people have undoubtedly broken into these tombs. Grave robbing is not new. At least at one point it was done for 'scientific' or medical knowledge, but now it's just assholes who do it. No, you don't need a real human skull on your coffee table. And as you can see, the skulls really aren't all that attractive looking. There appear to be two in this photo, which surely were put there long after the dead were buried.
So as a curiosity, this is what the inside of a tomb looks like. An impressive little granite building, but nothing really to write home about. And not much worth breaking into for.
Oh, note the white orb in the picture. I get a kick out of the people who think that orbs on photo's are ghosts. Boooo hhaaaahahhaah

Thursday while doing the paper route I saw a sparkly shiny object on the ground, and figuring it was a sequin or something, I bent to pick it up. It was a shiny diamond like thing. Very pretty, very shiny. Too shiny. It had depth. And a little dirt on it. I put it away and looked at it at home. It cut glass. It was very very shiny.
So I took it to the local jeweler yesterday. I said I had a stupid question. I figured if the thing was a real diamond, I'd bring it back to the house where I picked it up (one of our customers) and see if they had lost any jewelry. But I didn't want to embarrass myself if it was just a sequin off a pair of jeans or something.
The jeweler wasn't sure. He took out some kind of electrical gizmo and fired it up. When he touched the stone, it didn't register as a diamond, then he touched his own ring, and it did. He double checked. So no, it wasn't a diamond, it's just cubit zircon. It's only worth about $10.00, not enough for me to embarrass myself by asking if anyone had lost it. But it is very pretty. A nice find. Maybe I'll have it made into a ring some day. It sure does sparkle. And I don't even like diamonds.

LOL! The fox didn't want the grapes after all either.

So I finally dug out the pastels that Sushi and her soon to be ex hubs gave me for my 40th. That was back in December. I haven't done any art since the fit hit the shan about a week later. So I took them out, with no clue what to do with them. They are not quite what I was thinking. I was thinking they were the soft crayon type things, but they are more like chalk sticks, but smoother. They are different to work with, but I like the results, although I've just done one as yet unfinished picture. I hope to find some time today to try them again. I have no clue what I'm doing, and I think I need a fixative so the whole thing doesn't fall off the paper eventually. I really need a good instruction book. I have two books with great pictures, but not a step by step kind of Pastels for Dummies book. Hmmmmm....

It's sunny out by the way. Yesterday was very humid and warm, but not horrible. Oddly the mosquitoes were not out in force. I guess a few days of heat will bring them out. I'll enjoy the lean times while I can.

We had a dig today, so the Supt., who is licensed, came in to do the dig. I had already taken the machine out and fueled it up. (I've been told you never let a diesel get low on fuel, it's very bad for the engine. ) He came in and took the machine to the grave, I took the truck. While backing the truck up and following Biv's guidance, I nearly backed into the Supt. That's the last time I trust her to watch behind me. She was standing right next to him too. Christ.
Anyway. The Supt. had said "You're going to dig today" and Biv got all excited. I just wanted to get it done, and I didn't want to deal with her wanting to get involved in things, certainly not at a grave site. So I told him he should just do it and get it done. He started the dig, then after the first truckload was dug, Norman Bates the grave diver came over to 'chat'. I didn't have time to deal with him, so I answered his question and went to dump the truck. When I got back and put the truck back in (thank you I'll get out and line it up myself, don't you all trouble yourself to help me...) he was still there, now talking to the Supt. So they keep chatting and finally I said "fine, I'll dig the grave.. and I got in and started digging. Maybe that was his plan after all, or maybe he just doesn't want to work... but in any event, with much encouraging from Biv, which honestly I can do without, I filled the truck the second time. The Supt. put the last three or so scoops in. All in all it took an extra hour to do the work. I didn't hit the truck or a stone once, which was good. And I didn't cave in the side, also good. I do find judging the distance harder, which could be due to my needing new glasses.

The Supt. called me today to remind me to call the guy about getting the license for the machine. I did call, but got a machine. I'll try to remember to try again Monday. Sorry, I'm just a little pre occupied these days.

You heard it here first... yeah, right.
Wow, Michael Jackson dead at 50. Who'd a thunk? Did he still own all those Beatles rights, or were they sold to pay for his indiscretions? And Farrah.. well, I thought she was really good in some of her serious acting. The Burning Bed for one.
All good things....
I just watched the Thriller video on Youtube. Would you believe I've never watched it all the way through before?