Grumbleeze

Bummer! Wanted to answer June's 'Whats on...... Right now' questions early for a change. Went there; got a message: 'No web site is configured at this address.' Checked a few other Blogger sites... some had this message; some didn't. Went to Blogger... did an updated post at my photo site and published it. It's there... that's for sure. Still got the same BS message. I think the 'script kiddies' are out in force today. Seems whenever it's a holiday/extra time off situation, this happens. Get 'em Blogger! Get 'em good!

Meanwhile... I started photographing my Day in the Life... transition 2003 to 2004... at noon today! You may think my life is boring but i'll tell you... sometimes it gets downright hectic! I treasure these 'boring' days. Want to know what's up in my life? No? Well i'm telling you anyway! Here's my commentary on a few special interests...

• Lake Association: I passed the Secretary torch to somebody else and chose to just keep up the newsletter and website. Since then, nothing has happened. It's like the group no longer exists.
• Saginaw Valley Computer Association: It's been going downhill the past few years... just the same tiny core group that remains involved. Is it this way with all organizations? Well.. here's one for you... I nominated myself to fill the Presidential opening. The last President was only 'on' for one year; the one prior to him - many.
• PhotoTime is going strong... a small but faithful and talented group! I love keeping up this photo challenge website. It provides a double challenge to me... coming up with ideas and taking the perfect photo.
• I'm trying to learn a bit more about some of my graphics programs. Thanks, OttO! It helps to have somebody you can phone when you get stuck!
• Family: We will continue running around the state whenever our kids or grandkids are involved in something. Sorry Bug... California is so far away!
• Home: I'd like to get a bit of redecorating done... especially painting in the bedroom, now that the waterbed isn't taking up all that space.
• Cottage: Now that our parking area is improved and expanded i expect more company stopping by to visit now and again during the summer. Anyway... the invite is out!

...just a bit of rambling. I just made a few minor changes in my template. Been thinking to write a bit about what's been happening the past few days. Decided to do it later and signed out of Blogger. I usually check the list of 'just published' blogs and check one or two. I usually find nothing i care to read again. This time was different. I clicked on 'Bubdaddy' and was drawn in to a sad blog.

It's written by a daddy longing for his daughter... 'stolen' from him by his ex-wife. I honestly didn't know a father could grieve so for a relationship with a child taken from him. I think i believe him. He admits to the blog as therapy but hopes his Amy will somehow read the blog and know her daddy loves him. He hopes Amy will respond to him in his blog.

I think about this. I wonder why i'm drawn. Could it be because i lost my relationship with my father at a young age? Could it be i remember how my father telephoned me when i graduated from high school asking me to come live with him? Could it be i sometimes regret not seeing him and reconnecting that relationship? Could it be because i sometimes dream about me and my daddy doing things together?

Silly me! That cannot be. I am a mature woman. My father is long dead... but my mother isn't. She is approaching 89 years now and i do not spend time with her. Could it be because of that broken father-daughter relationship? Is it really because my mother still seems to love my brother more than me... that she still feels material things are so important? Could it be i will regret this too?

Enough! About Bubdaddy... his daughter's name is Amy Elizabeth Ward. Do you know her? Maybe she needs to talk to her daddy... if only via the internet. Maybe she will have no regrets.

It's Christmas Eve... daytime version and it snowed a bit last night and a bit more this morning. It will be a white Christmas for us... but the snow will be off the roads enough to make driving easier for those who must. Life is good... or as good as we can expect right now.

• The husband's flu reverted to the cold i thought he had and the cough syrup is helping him recover.
• Son-in-law Richard is home recovering from removal of a tumor in his bladder, which was deemed by the doctor as most likely 'superficial' - which he explained is the least likely type of cancer to ever give the patient more problems.
• Grandson Geoff is home recovering from reconstructive surgery on his knee - an 8-week recovery time in which he can get around on crutches and with the help of his friends at school.
• Day in the Life 2003-2004? You'll find it here!
• I watch too much news on Fox. The latest event is what they call 'The War on Christianity' which i do believe is happening daily.
• I'm almost ready for Christmas but don't really have to be ready until Saturday, so i'm in good shape... i think.
• I posted two new photos on sherle's photos - depicting 'serenity' - my 29th PhotoTime theme.
• Peace and love to all and...
  Happy Holidays to people of all faiths.

Ain't nobody spends a more boring New Year's Eve than me but i'm gonna do it anyway! Record your transition into the New Year on camera and share it at...

This message for my kids...
Windy asked what to bring for the family get-together and chill down after Christmas thingy - next Saturday. Start time is whatever time you get here. Early is good. A new sign-up sheet is available at SalasFamilyCentral.

If you're not family, don't bother. This is a password protected website.

Published earlier today at Later Granni... with the following explanation...
'For some inexplicable reason... although i published this thing on my Grumbleeze site... it doesn't show up! So i'm publishing it here as well! I'm 'told' by the prompts that it is successfully published and even though i refresh my page i don't see it. Even though this blog is done through Blogger, it's published on my own domain so it works!' I really wanted it here at Grumbleeze, so here it is.

Miscellaneous Facts.... aka Random Thoughts

1. Our brave troops captured Saddam!
2. They will get bin Laden too!
3. We have a wonderful President in the United States.
4. There are people in our country who hate him.
5. The judiciary in our U.S. legal system have too much power.
6. The only thing worse than having a sick child in the house is having a sick husband in the house!
7. The flu shots this year are ineffective against all forms of flu arriving in our country.
8. My Christmas tree is up.
9. The Communists... through the ACLU... in my country hate all things Christian and are tearing down my religious rights, one by one.
10. I have photos up... one at Day in the Life and one at Sherle's Photos.
11. There is a last sh1ft.org project for 2003. Here is a direct quote from the letter received by those of us who are on the mailing list: "Starting 12 Noon - December 31st 2003 and going straight through
    to 12 Noon - January 1 2004, take a photograph an hour to
    document how you spend the last hours of 2003 and the first hours of
    2004."
12. I will blog in more detail on one or more of these items... later.

This morning when he turned on the TV and said 'I wonder if they caught Saddam yet' ... they DID!!! We're visiting GR today... planning to attend Nicole's Christmas concert this pm! I love Christmas concerts! Thought i would be 'fixing' FoggyBloggy tomorrow when we're home all day but got a chance to do some PhotoShop stuff on peakay's computer. You might want to stop at Foggy's and say hi! ;-)

Ladybugs!

...a boon to the garden, they eat microscopic bugs that can destroy a whole garden if you let them! Many people do not like to use insecticides on their garden plants... especially the edible ones... so what's a poor gardener to do? Well, some ecologically correct gardening experts came up with the idea of selling ladybugs to the home gardener to fix the microscopic bug problem... you know, to eat aphids and things like that. Don't know why and don't know exactly when, but at some point they decided to import that Asian ladybug.

Now... at the onset of winter, many of us are invaded by the Asian ladybug! I've been sweeping and vacuuming up ladybugs for at least four weeks now! When will it stop? Who knows? All i know is i'm getting awfully darned tired of covering everything i cook or bake... even while i'm cooking it..... to avoid a ladybug from landing in the soup!

Did you know the dandelion was originally brought over to the U.S. by immigrants who enjoyed gathering and cooking the fresh dandelion greens in the springtime? ...and who hasn't heard of, if not tasted, dandelion wine? The zebra mussels invading our beautiful Great Lakes came to the U.S. in bilges and on the bottoms of ships... they now threaten water inlets etc. all over the place..... even in inland lakes where they arrive by way of small boats that the little mollusks attached themselves to! Then there's Eurasian milfoil... an import people liked to see in their aquariums... now choking the life from many of our small lakes! Have you ever seen Purple Loosestrife? It's making swampland out of many a pretty freshwater lake... it's so invasive.

Why do these imported organisms become so invasive? Why are they not a problem in their country of origin? .....because we did not import their natural enemies along with importing them! They are allowed to grow and multiply unimpeded by nature!

When will scientists learn that some things are better left alone... that some 'fixes' only create new problems?

It may look like i'm not blogging much... but i've had fun messing with other people's blogs! Notice my little Santa train? Today i was motivated to make special little holiday greetings for Sharba and the Bug. The bug's comment system was kind of plain and sort of unreliable, so i changed her over to a different one. It's kind of a bummer that the old ones were lost but i think she'll be happier with the new system.

Then i fiddled around some more with photos of me and Frank... for a Christmas idea i have... and in no time at all it was after dinner time. He's had an idea that he wanted to put streaming audio on his computer club New User's SIG blog for some time now so guess what i did? Helped him of course! Our friend Larry broke ground for us and provided a tutorial for doing this job at his Internet SIG website, so it was a matter of interpret and do... and i did! Check it out; it's really pretty cool! Opens up all kinds of new possibilities.

Oh yes... and i defragged! Been listening to the pro's and con's of this effort for some time now and i'm convinced. It should be done once in awhile. It took about an hour but now i'm all defragged and compacted... and i feel good!

Monday Madness
It's all about memes...........let's talk about memes!
1. How many memes do you participate in regularly?
I've counted 8 but try not to ever miss 5 of them:

• Monday Madness
• What's on...Right Now?
• Random Questions; Random Days
• Lulu's Lines
• PhotoTime Tuesday
• Theme Thursday
• PhotoFriday
• Saturday Snapshots
• ...occasionally others

2. How do you decide which memes you participate in?
If the meme is done by somebody i know personally, it has priority, but along with that is the challenge that meme presents to me.
3. Do you run one of your own meme? If so, please leave your link! If not, have you thought of running your own?
Yes... i'm a team member of BloggerSeeds where we have Random Questions and we just celebrated 25 weeks of PhotoTime, my photo meme. Occasionally, during moments of weakness, i think about doing a 'special project' as well.
4. Is there a certain day of the week that works better for you to answer memes than others?
Not really... i always manage to overload my capacity. I just catch up when i can. I do, however, find it easier if there is only one meme on any one day.