Wednesday, November 30, 2005, 19:04
Junk. . .
I could just cry.
It all started last night when I decided I could not stand the floor for another moment. We have a lot of sand out in the driveway, and of course, the sand gets tracked into the house by Randy and I and the dog (mostly by me and Pixie, I think) -- so I figured I really needed to scrub the floor. Mopping the floor is one thing, but if I want an exceptionally good result, there's nothing like getting down on my hands and knees to scrub. The recent rain-snow-rain-snow-snow didn't help matters, either.
And of course, since I was going to scrub the floor, why not wash the runner rugs that were (emphasis on were) by the back door and in the bathroom?
The rugs most definitely needed washing. And there's nothing like clean rugs to make you feel like you have accomplished something in the never-ending battle to keep the house clean. So, into the washer they went. I washed them, rinsed them, and let them spin out.
It was when I opened the washer this morning so I could take them out and hang them up downstairs that I wanted to cry.
The runner rugs -- the kind with a rubber backing -- had completely fallen apart. Bits of rubber junk covered the inside of the washing machine. Bits of rubber junk fell all over the floor when I took the rugs out of the washer.
I carefully carried the rugs outside and hung them over the railing. I don't know if they will dry. Most likely they will freeze. If they ever do get dry, guess what, Charlie? You can have them for the floor of your kennel in the basement.
As for me, I guess I will be looking for new rugs. Preferably ones that do not have a rubber backing. I have had many rubber backed rugs before, and yes, they do fall apart eventually, but I must say -- I have never had rugs fall apart quite as spectacularly as these fell apart.
On a brighter note, I'm going to have to get down on my hands and knees and scrub the floor more often. Sophie-the-kitten (who is growing to be quite big, actually) is a riot. She loves to run around and act silly, and now that the floor is nice and clean and slippery she's really a riot. This morning she ran into the kitchen, tried to put on the brakes, and ended up doing a "home run slide" into the garbage can. She picked herself up, tore across the kitchen and the dining room and then slid down the hallway a ways when she tried to stop.
And not only that, but the little pieces of paper that Sophie thinks are the best toys in the world slide around delightfully well, too, when she bats at them.
Influenza The physician's assistant from the clinic called me this morning. I called on Monday to find out if they've had any reports on how long this flu stuff is lasting. She tried to call me back, but I had tottered outside to feed the horses. She must have had some 'down time' today and decided to see if she could reach me. Guess what? I'm their first case of influenza this year. She also said that the flu shot could not possibly have given me the flu -- unless, of course, I had been exposed to something else, and then it most likely could have given me the flu because my immune system was already compromised. Huh? I'm still dizzy enough as it is without trying to figure that one out.
LeAnn R. Ralph
Tuesday, November 29, 2005, 18:48
Wish Big?
I am going to have to write to the big-wigs at Sears. Or call them.
What's the idea, anyway? What kind of a message is that to send during the holiday season? Wish big?
But that's exactly what the Sears television commercials are suggesting -- wish big.
Then again, why not?
People in this country are already living beyond their incomes and are charging all of those lovely 'extras' to their credit cards. So why not wish big at Christmas time? By all means, spend your available cash on necessities like food, shelter and clothing. And then put that expensive piece of jewelry -- or a large-screen television -- or a computer complete with a $4,000 color laser printer -- on the credit card and pay it off over the next two or three or four or five or ten years. If you do that, you'll feel better. Much better. Then you can do it again next year and extend that payment for another ten years.
Children are living with inflated expectations about what they 'should' want for Christmas, too. Toys? Books? Dolls? Stuffed animals? Certainly not. Expensive electronics. Games. Ipods. A computer for their rooms so they can roam the Internet and be a target for every sexual predator out there. That's the thing children need. Not something which will challenge their imaginations and their creativity and their thinking skills.
Materialism and consumerism and capitalism. That's what we should have more of in this world. That's what people need to get them out of debt and back on the road to financial solvency. That's what people need to help them be healthy and live more comfortably. After all, if people are busy working to pay for those "wish big" items, they won't have the time or the energy to worry about what the politicians or the big corporations are doing behind their backs.
Wish big, indeed.
Well, I can 'wish big' too.
Here's my idea of 'wishing big' for this holiday season --
1. I wish that people would be nicer to one another. You know -- the old 'golden rule' -- treat others the way you would want to be treated. Then maybe we could say that certain things no longer exist: CEOs who pocket huge salaries while they squander their employees' retirement funds, as well as other types of fraud and theft, not to mention wars and murders and rapes and child abuse and spouse abuse and elder abuse.
2. I wish that those people who are intolerant of other people -- whether it's because of skin color or lifestyle or economic status or religious beliefs -- would learn to be a bit more tolerant. Even a slight increase in tolerance would make the world a better place.
3. I wish that all of those people who are victims of natural disasters (tsunami, hurricanes, earthquakes) could have plenty of food and warm blankets and sturdy shelters and money to rebuild their homes and their towns and their villages.
4. I wish all of those people who are sick and dying and in pain could find a cure for their ailments or relief from their suffering.
5. I wish that those senior citizens -- and younger, people, too (especially those families living without health insurance) -- who have to make a choice between buying their medicine and buying groceries would not have to choose but would be able to afford both.
6. I wish all of those people in the world who are hungry could have an abundance of food, and I wish all of those people in the world who need shelter could have a home to call their own.
7. I wish all of those who feel lonely and unloved and unwanted could find find comfort in the love and companionship of friends and family and neighbors and the community around them.
These are a few of my ideas about 'wishing big' for the Christmas season.
What are yours?
LeAnn R. Ralph