This joke came in my mailbox today from a former vault man. The funny part is that something like this really could happen. I've heard of stranger things.



As a bagpiper, I play many gigs. Recently I was asked by a funeral director to play at a grave side service for a homeless man. He had no family or friends, so the service was to be at a pauper's cemetery in the Kentucky back-country.

As I was not familiar with the backwoods, I got lost; and being a typical man I didn't stop for directions. I finally arrived an hour late and saw the funeral guy had evidently gone and the hearse was nowhere in sight.

There were only the diggers and crew left and they were eating lunch.I felt badly and apologized to the men for being late. I went to the side of the grave and looked down and the vault lid was already in place. I didn't know what else to do, so I started to play.

The workers put down their lunches and began to gather around. I played out my heart and soul for this man with no family and friends. I played like I've never played before for this homeless man.

And as I played 'Amazing Grace,' the workers began to weep. They wept, I wept, we all wept together. When I finished I packed up my bagpipes and started for my car. Though my head hung low my heart was full.

As I was opening the door to my car, I heard one of the workers say, "Sweet Mother of Jesus, I never seen nothin' like that before and I've been putting in septic tanks for twenty years."

I took the truck in today and got a rejection sticker. I'm not surprised. I have to drive it 100 miles after the check engine light goes out before it can pass. I have 60 days to do that and get my retest. Now the question is, will the light come on again before the 100 miles, or not? My brother said he might take the truck out on the highway and give it a good run. It's never been on the highway before. It's actually never gone over 45 I don't think. It has left town before though, I can vouch for that. Kind of a waste of a V8, but then again, my brother better fill the tank when he gets back.

My stomach is acting up. Not sure if it's a bug or something else. Ug.

The class I signed up for will be starting Monday. Cool.

Well, I'm thinking there was more, but I didn't write it down.. so..

I know, you all missed me. lol

Too much going on to post, and too tired to worry. Too much Facebook time too.
I'm tired because it's leave season. Leaves leaves and more leaves. Which is fine but it wears on the bones. I'm not 20 anymore. We picked up 7 truckloads of leaves between Monday and Tuesday, then took a break from that to mow and blow more, while the weather is dry. It's going to rain tomorrow so we ground up more leaves today. They will have to be rounded up but if we get more dry weather next week maybe we can do that. Before any snow of freezing temps. Still a lot to do, but sometimes it just has to sit till spring.

Biv will be off tomorrow at another job, which is perfect as I have some banking to do and other stuff.

I have to get the truck inspected because of the new registration, and actually it's due this month. You know what that means don't you? Yes, it means one of the idiot lights on the dash went off. The check engine light came on the DAY AFTER I GOT IT TRANSFERRED! Can you believe it? You'd think it was a VW for gods sake. My brother has a device that can read the codes, not a professional one, but it gives you an idea. Anyway, he put out the light, so tomorrow I'm going to take it in and hopefully get the sticker before the light comes back on. I will still need to find out what the problem is if it comes back. The truck does rev. at odd times, and my brother said he had a fix for it, a common problem, just that he hasn't had time to do it just yet.

Last night I finished, or declared it so, my sculpture. I'm really happy with it. The face isn't as refined as some of the other statues, but I like her overall look, her theme and I think she has real character. And not freaking bad for my first sculpture if I do say so myself. I think I will take the spring course too. I just had too much fun not to. I also signed up for an drawing/painting/do what you want slot. It's not a class, just time with a model to draw or paint. I'm looking forward to it. I only have one conflicting time with my last oil class. But I'm not sure they even got enough people for the class so I'll have to wait and see.
The next step for the sculpture will be to poke holes in it (ug) so it hopefully won't blow up, then let it dry for a month, and some time around Christmas if it survives firing, I will get it back to be coated in the patina of my choice. I'm going to have to ask my MIL about that as she's done a lot of them and I could use some advice.

Not keeping up on my politics. This morning I was listening to NPR and they had someone, who's name escapes me, say about the trial of 9/11 'mastermind', when asked what happens if he's not convicted at trial "Failure is not an option." Now, begging your pardon, but if failure is not an option, if there is no way this guy will ever in a million years be found 'not guilty', then with that assurance, isn't this a Kangaroo Court? I mean, you might just as well come right out and say it. Why are we having a trial if he is assured of being found guilty? Something just isn't right there, if you get my drift.
And whether he should be tried in a military trial or civil, well, as was pointed out, the terrorists that tried to blow up the World Trade Center before also were tried in civilian court, so it seems logical that way that he be tried the same way. I do think we need some new definitions of what war is, and how we determine who a warrior is. Timothy McVey was just as much a terrorist as this guy is, (assuming he is guilty) but no one would say McVey should be charged in a military court I don't think. Time for some new guidelines I think.

Apparently there is a pumpkin shortage ergo a pumpkin pie filling shortage, according to Nestle.Gee, if I had known that I would have told them about all those pumpkins I saw rotting in the field after Halloween. What a shame to see them go to waste, esp since now there are not enough.

Maybe I should take in my remaining pumpkin decorations and turn them into pie filling.

Does anyone know why sinuses get worse at night? Not after going to bed, but after the sun goes down?

Hopefully going to see the new Twilight movie this weekend. I'm all giddy.

Well, ten, twenty, thirty, but still, not too bad. I finally got the title for my father's truck changed over. No line going in to the Reg. and then only about a half an hour wait. Not bad at all. I'd like to think that I cracked a joke about the broken ticket dispenser.

I was asked about my baseball hat today which boasts the logo of one of the products my husband's company sells. See, subtle advertising works. And it helps if what you do is in the name. Like "John's Roofers" or "Cooking with Art". Not "Presto" or "Vinallobo". IMHO

I got my recipe from Stop and Shop yesterday. Its fully three feet long. The last foot gives me a run down of my 'rewards'. There are Gas rewards, A+ Bonus rewards, A+ Extra Credit, Holiday card rewards, Play 60 program, and Maxwell House program. The only thing I even know anything about is the Gas rewards program, and one of the A+ things is something that gives money back to the schools, but there are two and I don't know which is which.

I have one more oil class after Thanksgiving. I won't be doing the winter course. I just think I'm not really getting all that much out of the class now. I wouldn't mind taking the time to do my own painting, but then if I do that, he will come over and commandeer it when I least expect it. I don't like that. I like to be told and maybe shown something, but not have someone take over. Then it's not mine, it's his, and it really annoys me. That's one reason I really like the sculpting teacher, he doesn't just jump in, he asks first, and mostly he tells you what YOU need to do, and lets you do it.

You know that anti National Marine Fisheries sticker I was telling you about? I saw another one today. After I posted that last entry there was an article in the Ledger about just that subject. I guess it explains pretty well why fishermen hate the NMFS so much. http://www.patriotledger.com/business/x1659496871/MASS-MARKET-Fishermen-s-frustrations-with-government-continue
Which makes more sense if you are trying to regulate fishing. Deciding how many days at sea a fisherman can spend, or how many pounds of fish he can take? Seriously, it's about the haul, not how long you are out at sea.

One of those add cards that are abundant in magazines fell out onto the floor. It read "Return this card to get your FREE issue." Great, a free kid just for returning a card. Awesome deal.

Yesterday I was going past my gr. grandmother's house, and saw that there was an open house. So I turned the car around and went in. The Realtor was just finishing up, but I explained why I stopped by, and that I just wanted to poke around and see the inside. I've never been in the house, never knew the woman, but it has always been referred to as the 'homestead' and I have pictures of my Gr. Grandmother in front of the house in 1923. It was a lot better looking then. The best thing I can say about this poor neglected home is that it still has the original mahogany banister and a sweet staircase that has a slight curve at the top. The rest of the house needs to be gutted. There are beautiful fancy radiators in the house, but you can see that over the years, rooms have been opened up but the radiators were never moved, so they sit in the middle of no where. Doors with boards over them, desperate need of a paint job. A claw foot tub that someone took and spattered with paint, I guess to hide chips and such, or as some kind of artistic expression, but Yuck! It makes one think of blood spatters. My father remembered his grandmother in that house, dying of something that made things smell bad. There was some kind of smelly stuff they kept around to try to manage the smell. I forget what it was called. Red something. Anyway... I emailed the photos I had to the realtor who was very happy to get them. I said perhaps someone will buy the house and restore it to it's former glory. One can hope.

Will Obama ever get a protocol expert on his team? This is the second bow fauxpas he's done.

Picked up leaves today using the machine. License... we don't need no stinking license. Actually, I really do need to get that damn thing.

The winter moths are back. Kill them, Kill them all.

One of the neighbors had her check book stolen out of her husband's truck last night. So far the thieves have spent $1000.00. Now, I have to say that you can barely cash your own check in your own back, so how can someone take your checkbook and spend your money in this day and age? Seems they are cashing or using the checks in a bunch of towns. They may have them on camera. And one of the other neighbors also had something stolen out of their car before that. So now I'm thinking it's the same kids that slashed the tires a few months ago. Bad apples. I hope they find them and let us know, because if there are some thieves in the neighborhood, I want to be aware of who they are.

Before my MIL went to Italy, she had to get Euros for the trip. She went to one of the BIG BANKS, which wouldn't give her the amount she needed unless she opened a checking account. Now me, I'd tell them to go screw, but she had waited too long and needed them, so she did it. Then she got a coupon for a free turkey. So she got her money, got her turkey, when she gets back she can cash in any remaining Euros for free, then she is going to close the account. And do you think she'll ever be a customer of theirs again of her own free will? Doubt it.

Got to go catch up on Flash Forward.

The painting below is one I just did, but from a photo I took last year or the year before. The photo is below it. This year, as I mentioned, the leaves were much more yellow on many of the same trees than they were in the previous year. I don't know what changes the colors, but it's interesting. Both photo's were taken on a semi-dreary day, so it's not the sunlight of the day that changed anything. Both were also taken in the same time period, as the same trees are still green behind the main tree.

I got a letter and email to let me know that the foo foo valve in my gas tank may not work right. But that's okay, we don't need it anyway.

"During a quality review, we discovered that the one-way fuel valve located in your vehicle’s fuel tank may not perform as intended and could cause a condition that may damage the catalytic converter. To prevent this condition, the one-way fuel valve must be permanently removed from the fuel tank. Removal of the valve will not adversely affect the performance of your vehicle because it has been determined this valve is unnecessary. "

Two of my automatic door locks are now malfunctioning. No, it's not the fob. While waiting for the part for the driver's side door, the passenger door decided to stop working. Of course, it's not consistent. Sometimes if you press the open button twice it works, sometimes not, but now when it doesn't work at all, I some times cant get the back door open to reach in and open the front. I have to look on line and see if anyone else has had this problem with their Forrester.

I was just checking my bookmarks and found a blog I had bookmarked that had this in it.
I thought it was worth re-posting.

From too much love of living,
From hope and fear set free,
We thank with brief thanksgiving
Whatever gods may be
That no man lives for ever;
That dead men rise up never;
That even the weariest river
Winds somewhere safe to sea.


From The Garden of Proserpine

Algernon Charles Swinburne

Ever wonder what we could make out of leaves?
We've been mowing and blowing them at work. It's been a remarkably dry fall. I know that because the leaves are still dry and fluffy. Even the ones that were once mowed and piled up are still very dry. That will change tonight..

Biv took half a day off today to go to another job. She works at this other place around the holidays, which is fine with me. I had half the day to myself.
When I went to get lunch, I saw a guy walking down the road who looked a bit odd. He was carrying a bottle of Vodka and a bottle of Gateraide. I was expecting to see him at the cemetery eventually, because I know he hangs out there since I've found those two bottles multiple times. I didn't see him, so either he never made or went somewhere else.

The wind has also been odd these last few days. Usually it tends to blow toward the east. But the last few days it's been consistently blowing SW. So with dry leaves and a good wind, I've tried to round up as many leaves as possible. But as usual there is just never enough time.

My mother and father in law are going to Italy tomorrow. I hope I at least get a T-shirt. Maybe a post card?

Seems like an odd thing to say. Ancestry sent me an email saying they have free access to their military records for the next few days. I don't have much to look up, but I punched in my mother's aunt's husband who served in the Pacific, and Ryther's gr. uncle who served in Italy as a paratrooper. The record gives their wight at enlistment. My mother's uncle was 111 pounds when he joined. Ryther's gr. uncle was 135. Paul (111) carried a flame thrower through the islands. He would wake up screaming for years after. Tony (135) took part in the assault on Monte Cassino I am told.
I'm not a patriot as it were. I've been raised with too much skepticism for the Army, (my father and both his brothers served in the army) a government agency lest we forget. And while the bulk of the military is probably made up of average Joes and Janes, they don't get halos over their heads just for signing up. They are all still human, not a breed apart. I was thinking that esp. today while I was in the old section blowing leaves. All those 'non professional' soldiers who fought the first war for America, and then went home.
Yet as unpatriotic as I am, cynical to say the least, I get very emotional at the though of people who have fought and died in wars. It's kind of strange.
Just today I heard something about the governor signing legislation that sets aside a certain percentage of jobs or grants or something for veterans. That seems wrong to me. I can understand giving Vets tax breaks while they are away, or if they are injured, but to set a number on jobs that have to go to them? I just don't get the rational. Everyone should have a fair shot at something. If it were by gender or color, I would think it just as wrong. I'll have to look into it a bit more, but that one aspect of the bill bothered my sense of fair play.

The news had a case of cemetery vandalism today. Wonderful. We always need to publicize this stuff so other shitheads get it into their heads that they should do it too.

I did not win anything for my painting that I entered into the art show. But my mother in law won an honorable mention. I didn't expect to win. Not my best work to say the least. But it was fun.

I am sitting at the computer and somewhere faintly I hear familiar music. It's the background music to my son's computer game. I go over and listen more closely, and by gosh, it sounds like Kitaro playing. So I pull out the CD and pop it in, and sure enough, it is. Too funny.

I think the only holiday that we don't do a morning paper for is tomorrow. Yay! I hope to sleep a little later. Then I have lots to do. Not sure what exactly, but I know I have lots.
I just noticed today that Mrs. Moose and Wolfgaar are friends on FB. How did I neglect noticing that? My stalker powers must be slipping.

http://www.thewirelesscatalog.com/cgi-bin/hazel.cgi?randomizer=1101713024&action=DETAIL&item=VH5322&template=popup_temp.html

"Awlaki said the only way a Muslim can justify serving in the U.S. military is if he intends to "follow in the footsteps of men like Nidal."

"Nidal Hassan (sic) is a hero. He is a man of conscience who could not bear living the contradiction of being a Muslim and serving in an army that is fighting against his own people," Awlaki wrote. "

So, how do Muslims condone the killing of innocent Muslims when suicide bombers ravage buildings and people alike? Where is the Muslim conscience then? Like the Westboro Baptist Church loonies. Read your damn Koran or Bible or whatever it is you supposedly believe in. Cover to cover if you please.

West's comment about Pyrex made me think about the Wilton cake brand that is so famous among people who decorate cakes. Wilton makes everything from pans to frosting and is mentioned on certain cake batters as 'recommended by' Wilton. But when I go to places like AC Moore and Michael's and see so many items under the Wilton name, non stick cake pans and, well, everything, I seriously wonder about the quality. Because I know damn right well that the stuff is made in China, and what quality control is there on that non stick pan? Or that silicone bakeware? I just have become very suspicious.

Which brings me again to the dollar tree, the dollar store, of family dollar, or any number of other stores with the word dollar in them. I've never been in one. The closest I can think of is the Christmas Tree Shoppes. I have to venture into one just out of curiosity, because I am sure in this economy a lot of people are shopping in dollar stores, and I just wonder how much of the food there is from out of the country, and how safe it is. Like the toothpaste with the melamine in it.

In other news, I wrote a card to the woman who we got one of our cats from. She had to move so we took the cat, who was old. She died two years ago, eaten by coyotes. But that aside, I wrote to the woman but got a note back from her sister in law saying her senility had worsened and she was now in a nursing home. I feel bad for her. I don't know what condition she's in, and I cant really visit, she's out in Western Mass. Not sure she'd even know me. But I'll send her some more cards to her new address. At least that might brighten the day a bit. Sucks getting old.

Biv has a new boyfriend. I get to hear about her feeling hung over more. Oh yay. I'm glad for her, because her old boyfriend was a shithead. Then again, I feel I should warn the new one. lol Hell, he's a big boy, right?

I'm skipping oil class tonight. I'm tired. I didn't sleep well half of last night. I think I pinched something in my neck. Once I too the Ibuprof. I was fine. Hanging out laundry is hazardous.

At work it's leaves leaves leaves. The day was beautiful today. The leaves are dry, the wind was brisk.. If it only could last a few weeks like this with no funerals to muck up the works.

Yesterday I went to a 'jewelry party' down the street at my neighbors. Not that I need any jewelry, but what the heck, it was only four houses down the street. As it turned out, the woman who was doing the selling was someone I went to school with. She recognized me, I didn't recognize her. Not until she said something to me. She looked great. I guess the jewelry business is doing well by her.
Anyway, she did her shpeal, and I actually won the first 'game' and got a pin. Yay me. Then we looked at the beads and baubles and sold half the neighborhood... well, not really. But close. I bought two things, a ring and a necklace. The thing with this jewelry though, is that it's all made in China. Most of it is stuff I could make with a trip to Michael's or AC Moore's bead ilse, and the quality would be about the same. So when you think of all the give away stuff they do to get people to book parties, it's because they can well afford it. They are selling junk, and they probably pay pennies on the dollar for it, and sell it for way more than it's worth. It's pretty, but it's not too much above what Kohls sells. They do give a lifetime warranty, but of course they can afford to, they are making a killing on it. And it's a pyramid scheme on top of that, because they will then use all your connections to get more buyers. Thankfully, I don't know anyone, so I won't be having any parties. And I won't be going to any more of those jewelry parties either. I think that was enough for me.

We went to Gloucester today for lunch with Ryther's side of the family. It was very nice. Great restaurant on the almost water. I say that because we had a fine view of the fish processing pier. There were two fishing boats in the water that we went down to view, and lots of people fishing from the wharf. It was an amazingly warm day today for Nov. 8. 68 perhaps or more? We ate outside on deck. Lots of seafood was consumed.
One car at the dock had a bumper sticker that I found ironic. I was something like "Marine Fisheries Management, putting fishermen out of work since ()". All I can think of is if it weren't for some fishery regulators, there wouldn't be a fish left in the ocean by now, and there would be no fish left. If you doubt that, ask yourself what happened to the whales? I feel bad for fishermen who lose their lively hoods, and I'm sure that like most government agencies, they aren't run as well as they can be or should be. But without someone to say no, there would just be no more fish. Of course, they should be saying 'no' to the commercial fleets more often than the little private boats. Strip mining for fish seems like it should be illegal to me.

I worked on my sculpture a bit today. It's down to details now.

My cat's kidney's seem to be failing. She drinks tons of water and fills the litter box. And the other lizard is now blind it seems, which means she won't eat, although she still drinks. I tried to dampen her eyes to get what I thought might be her skin to shed, but she just went through a shed and still has gunk on her eyes. I don't dare poke too much to try to get anything off of them. No more lizards. I'll stick with mammals.

I'm watching You Tube trying to get the hang of doing eyes, which might be good if I were doing a full sized sculpture. That and the fact that I don't have real sculpting tools at my house, so I am improvising with paper clips and wooden dowels and emery boards. ( I cant find my sandpaper either, I think it's in the shed). I also can't see what I'm doing because it's so dark in the house, and my eyes are pretty shot and tired at the moment. Maybe tomorrow. I need to bring my piece downstairs to work on, but there is preciouse little light down there and I'm thinking my hands are going to freeze. I guess we'll find out.

Now I wonder if I should go to AC Moore and buy some tools tomorrow. I have to get cat food anyway... Did I just throw out those coupons? Ug, I think I did.

Himself has been 'sick' almost all week. Upset stomach. He missed 4 days of school, but finally feels ok. I called the doctor this morning to make an appointment, because at 4 days, I figure this could go on forever. They said a nurse would call me back. That was at 8 am. at 8:50 I had to leave for work. They finally called at 11:00. Needless to say, I was not home. Screw them. By the time I got home, Himself was feeling pretty normal. He ate dinner and seemed fine, although he did that 3 days ago too. We'll see. No fever, and very little 'sickness'. Just enough to qualify him for a four day vacation. Of course now comes the hard part, making up the work he missed.

Little improvements. I cut her face off yesterday and made it smaller. I have more work to do, took her home for a two week break. I hope to get some time to do some work. I've just now decided who or what she will be. Now if I can just pull it off. lol

One of the other students has done an AMAZING piece. His lady is twisting severely, while playing a violin, and his base is a twirl of clay that he is going to put musical notes on. I can't wait to see it finished. It's really amazing and quite daring. I hope it survives the kiln.

Did I have a comment? I'm sure I did.
Himself stayed home today with an upset stomach. But no fever, although he did have a headache later in the day. He seems fine, ate dinner and was 'starving' so if he is okay in the morning, he's going to school. My cousin on FB is in a quandary about this whole 'keep the kids home' thing. The schools don't want them in if they seem even normal 'cold' sick, stuff you would normally just tell your kid to suck it up and send them with some tissues and a warning to cover their mouths. After all, a cold can last a week or more at times. What are you going to do, keep the kid out for a week? And with the schools being such sadists on getting work done, including homework even if you are sick, you might never get the kid caught up. And there are issues of missing too many days and having to do some kind of summer school or not getting credit. You can't win. They need to either make exemptions this year, or face having a good chunk of kids fail this year.
So far the body count is one girl down the street has an on again, off again fever, next door has an ear infection, and mine has a stomach flutter. It's going to be a long winter at this rate.

And they are talking about some snow for Thursday? But I don't know where or how much. I don't like any talk of snow yet. I have leaves to mulch and move.

Speaking of sick, Biv has been sick for the last two days. I think she should stay home, but she craves the money, little that we make. I always feel it's better to work than to stay home if you have something minor. Getting moving usually helps. When you are really sick and run down, well, then you should stay home and sleep and recover. I don't know what stage she's at. She's on antibiotics and pain killers for some kind of lung infection or bronchial thing. I picked her up Monday morning and she was like a radio that someone just kept changing the channel on. Then she said she had had two Tylenol with codeine. Well, that explains it.

The breakdown of equipment continues unabated. Thursday while trying to get the small blower started, Biv let go of the pull cord and it snapped back, hitting the plastic choke leaver. I tried to glue the parts together, but no go. Now to start it, I'm going to have to take off the air filter ever time and manually move the choke closed and open. Just to start cold. Not a big deal, just a pain in the ass.
And today, the push mower I brought in from home because I use a reel mower now, had the pull cord break. Biv had just been pointing out yesterday that it was worn a bit from the way the handle moves up and down just a smudge (great engineering Craftsman, let me tell you) it was rubbing against the hole it went in. I didn't realize just how frayed it was, and when I went to pull it, zing, the rope snapped and the rest of it went right into the machine. Now I can spend another few hours taking That apart and trying to get a rope for it. MOG, I need more work.

Well, I need to relax and put my feet up and let my brain veg a bit. I finished the second Sookie Stackhouse book, Living Dead in Dallas. My neighbor gave me The Red Tent, which is a fictional account of Dinah from the Old Testament. She said it was really good, so I'll take a break from vampires and sleuthing and read about under appreciated Biblical women.