Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in etcetera1's LiveJournal:

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Monday, February 27th, 2006
11:37 pm	another ethical dilemma My sister and I were walking the beach this afternoon, and came upon three large crab traps with many crabs and shells caught inside. As we stood fascinated with the various conch shells, a man pulled up in a truck, and walk toward us. In hopes of getting one of the shells inside, I asked him questions about the types of crabs, what he would do with them, etc. He tried his best to ignore me, then opened a trap, dumped all the crabs out and brought the first empty cage to his truck. When he returned for the second and third, I continued to asked him about the shells and why he was dumping the crabs....were they bad crabs? would they make him sick? Finally, he told me he didn't want the crabs, he just wanted the cages. This jerk was acting funny because he was stealing someone else's really well made cages! I took down his license plate and noted the vehicle type because I feel compelled to inform the police, or at least the beach patrol in case the person who placed the cages reports the theft. My sister said the police wouldn't care because no crime was committed. What do you think? What would you do? Current Mood: curious (5 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, January 12th, 2006
9:24 pm	A-Z about me A - Accent: Slight Philly B - Breakfast Item: Blueberry Pancakes w/scrambled Egg Beaters C - Chore you hate: Preparation for the chore itself. I like to get right to it. D - Dad's Name: John E - Essential everyday item: Blow Dryer F - Flavour ice cream: Vanilla (with hot fudge) G - Gold or Silver?: Both H - Hometown: Philadelphia, PA I - Insomnia: Absolutely! Damn menopause! J - Job Title: Queen K - Kids: One adult son L - Living arrangements: Currently living in PA and FL M - Mom's birthplace: Philadelphia N - Number of significant others you’ve ever had: One - husband of 34 years O - Overnight hospital stays: Three (Mononucleosis, Appendix and Child Birth) P - Phobia: Dogs wandering around off a leash Q - Queer?: No, but after 34 years living with a man, I see the advantages. R - Religious Affiliation: Non-practicing christian. S - Siblings: Three sisters and three brothers. T - Time you wake up: With above mentioned insomnia, between 9-9:30. U - Unnatural hair colours you've worn: Gray. Damn menopause! V - Vegetable you refuse to eat: I will NOT ever eat or cook brussel sprouts. W - Worst habit: Biting my nails, growing them, biting my nails, growing them... X - X-rays you’ve had: Teeth, shoulder, mamogram. Y - Yummy: chocolate covered strawberries Z - Zodiac sign: Cancer Current Mood: tired (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, December 19th, 2005
12:54 am	King Kong I just returned from seeing Peter Jackson's King Kong movie, and I must say that it is simply Spectacular! I know the word spectacular gets used often in the movie trailers, but this is surely the first movie I can say spectacular really applies. Having grown up with the original black and white film, in my view, Jackson has surpassed the original. Even knowing the entire story, I still was on the edge of my seat. Spectacular! Current Mood: jubilant (Comment on this)
Monday, December 5th, 2005
9:48 pm	Good Luck Pseudomuse! I'd like to take this opportunity to wish pseudomuse good luck on her first law exam on Tuesday, 12/6. We're cheering for you, and we have every confidence that you will do well!   Love and a long, warm hug, etcetera1 Current Mood: optimistic Current Music: You're Simply the Best, Tina Turner (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Tuesday, November 1st, 2005
8:20 pm	Who solved this problem? Person "A" walks to the thermostat and turns on the heating system. Immediately cold air comes through the vents and the temperature in the room drops. Person "A" tells Person "B" that cold air is coming from the heating system. Person "B" walks to the system, checks it out and returns to Person "A" and says, "Cold air is coming through the vents. I think you should call a professional. Come to the system where I will show you these two blinking lights." Person "A" and Person "B" walk to the system where there are two green lights intermittently blinking. Next to the green lights are instructions indicating what the lights mean. Person "A" reads the instructions and says, "The instructions indicate that if those green lights are blinking, the gas is low. That red knob there looks like the gas valve. Did you check to see that it was turned to the "on" position?" Person "B" turns the red knob, and the heating system immediately blows hot air. So.... Who solved the problem? Person "A" Person "B" Or, was it a team effort? (7 Comments |Comment on this)
Sunday, October 9th, 2005
10:53 am	Ruth's Needs Ruth needs a hug Ruth needs to be cleaned desperately Ruth needs a man (or a woman!) Ruth needs to heed Ruth needs to make a dentist appt as soon as possible Ruth needs help Ruth needs a team of committed people to pray for her Ruth needs help knowing what to do Ruth needs to photograph things Ruth needs a short course in label-reading Ruth needs volunteers Ruth needs to chill Ruth needs to be mentioned Ruth needs the community to continue to partner Ruth needs her stuff Ruth needs her home oxygen supply Ruth's needs are different Ruth needs to know Ruth needs prayer for health Ruth needs friends the most Ruth needs to become aware that she created her own personality disorder by self-defeating thoughts. Ruth needs to learn to tolerate and gain comfort from non-medical handling (Comment on this)
Friday, July 22nd, 2005
9:21 am	My morning fiasco Two weeks ago I decided that I was going to get back on track and clean my house every other week like I used to. So this morning I woke up early and went right to work. I went down to the game room and was vacuuming my little heart out. The room is really big, so I was down there a while. When I turned the vacuum off I could hear this high pitched sound and thought it was my fire alarm. Oh my god, maybe I had an electrical fire! I ran upstairs, already out of breath from vacuuming so long and hard, and for several minutes could not figure out what the piercing sound was (I even thought it was coming from the TV) Like duh! It was the house alarm! Oh my god, I was vacuuming and now somebody is breaking in my house and I didn’t know it!! Should I turn the alarm off if a burglar is there? My ears were saying OH YEAH! Finally, I realized I had no idea how long it had been going off and the police were certainly on their way, so I turned it off, went to the phone and called in a false alarm at the same time my doorbell rang with the cops at the door! And, I was in my JAMMIES!! Wow, Officer “Boyle” was a hunk! I just stood there embarrassed as all get out in my “morning doo” and told him what happened. He was so sweet I almost asked him if I could make him breakfast! You know, just little ol’ me in my pj’s with a cop. Maybe I’d let him handcuff me. Oops, did I say that out loud?? Anyway, after talking to the security company, I learned that the glass break system we added a couple months ago is VERY sensitive. And, while I was vacuuming, I banged into the game room door, and the system “heard” that bang as someone trying to break in. Suffice it to say that NOBODY is getting into my house when the security system is on! Hmmm….that cop was really cute...I'm sure I saw more dust by that doorway, so maybe I should go down and vacuum a little more ;) (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, July 13th, 2005
8:38 am	What would YOU do? I walked into a department store ladies room and a woman was yelling at a little girl that looked about three or four years old. I went into the stall and the woman went into the stall next to me still yelling at the child, saying, "You BETTER have to go!" and "Don't even THINK about crying!" She was a big woman with a booming voice, and frankly, with a voice like that, even I felt like crying! When I got out of the stall, she did too, and as I washed my hands she kept yelling. Finally, the little one couldn't hold the tears. And so, THAT BITCH smacked her across the face!! With soap still on my hands I thought of killing her right there, and then I felt my blood pressure rise so high I got dizzy and knew I had to get out of there. For ten minutes I walked the aisles of the store calming myself down, and trying to think what I should/could do. I wanted to do SOMETHING to that woman, including taking the child right out from under her, because she certainly didn't deserve her! In the end, I did nothing. And now, I toss between hating that woman and being furious at myself for being a chicken-shit to protect the little girl. I've been in this situation before, and said something to the woman, but of course, I was told to mind my own f'g business. I don't know what to do to really make a difference. What would YOU do? Current Mood: pissed off (11 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, April 27th, 2005
8:16 am	I finished the semester - Yay! Although I did have to defer the completion of my art history class because just at the point two final projects were due, my back and shoulder pain took over my life, and I still had a 10-page psychology paper to write. After crying for a day from a combination of disappointment and powerlessness, I relented and worked on the 10-page paper to finish one course (I got an A!) That was a difficult day for me because it seemed my shoulder had taken up so much of my life already, and now it has taken away the one personal goal that I protect: my education. After three cortisone shots, the pain of which is as bad or worse than the problem itself, I'm going to attempt my second MRI next week. This time, I'll be under anesthesia and they are doing the shoulder, neck and back because my chiropractor insisted that I tell the orthopaedic doc that although it looks like a shoulder problem, and could be, the central issue is in my neck and spine. By this time every year, I've usually completed all my spring cleaning and little projects are going on it all over my house. Not this year though. I count doing the wash and running to the grocery store among the list of daily achievements. One thing I have learned about are drugs. And honestly, I don't get the lure of narcotics on the street. They haven't made me feel like I'm scoring that's for sure. They make me nauseous, dizzy, lightheaded and weak. And, they make me repeat myself. That's when you can actually hear me, because they also take my voice box to such a low pitch that I wonder if I've actually spoken or if the words are just in my head. Maybe that's why I'm repeating. According to my husband, I've had moments where the conversation is pretty hilarious. I wish I could get in on the fun, because that's not what it feels like to me. (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, March 29th, 2005
7:29 pm	aging sucks! I'm serious, nothing in my life has prepared me for aging. Wait, that sounds ridiculous....I mean, every day since I popped out of my mother I've been aging, but I'm talking about aging here....genuinely getting old, and all the b.s. that goes with it - nothing has prepared me for that! It just seems that the day I turned 50, somehow my body got screwed up and thought it meant 70, and I've been trying to correct the mixed message since last June. In my whole life, the only "medication" I ever ingested was birth control pills, and that was so long ago I can't even remember them. Hell, I've never even had a medicine cabinet. Now, every week I'm on a new medication! Today, two more. It was recommended that I take another and I said, F-that! Anyway, instead of boring you with my entire mess of aches and pains, let me just say to anyone who wants to prevent what's happening to me from happening to them to do the following: Take your vitamins! Calcium ladies....calcium I say, with vitamin D and magnesium. I'm serious. I don't care how old you are, take it! Keep your weight down (not just for looks either, for health!), exercise 30 minutes a day at least 3 days a week, eat less red meat, or no red meat, chill-out with the saturated fats, eat fruit every day, eat a salad every day, eat high fiber as much as possible. If I did this stuff earlier, I wouldn't be dealing with aging the way I am now. You see, I was one of those people who said...Look at these hips! There's so much bone in there, what would I need calcium for? NOT! I also said...Vitamins? Look at me, do I look malnourished? Well, if any body needs vitamins, it's the overweight, because there is NO nourishment in crappy food. And then again, I'm also one of those people who too often has to learn the hard way...nobody's going to tell me what to do....I've got rights....it's my body....yata, yata, yata. So, I guess I'm just saying, if I could sit down with myself at age 30 or younger, I'd tell myself a thing or two about aging and healthy living, and I would like to think that I would do what my elders told me to do. Because while rebellion can be cool, when it comes to aging, if you don't follow the rules, aging sucks! Current Mood: pissed off (Comment on this)
Tuesday, March 22nd, 2005
8:43 am	damn Well, I guess it was bound to happen...although I diligently scope feedback before bidding on eBay, I've been robbed...damn! I bid on a DVD with a seller who had positive feedback from well over a thousand transactions. I even spent the time to read the neutral and fairly minimal negative feedback, and then I "bid with confidence," as eBay tells us to do. I paid my $16.51 instantly upon winning the bid, sat back and waited for my DVD. Weeks went by, with email after email to the seller asking for updates on the delivery status, with no response. In the meantime, the seller started receiving negative upon negative feedback, from auctions won at the same time mine was won. So, I filed a PayPal claim. Today, I got the response: "We have decided in your favor, however, we were unable to recover any funds from the seller's account. As stated in the PayPal User Agreement, recovery of funds associated with a Buyer Complaint cannot be guaranteed." Damn! A week ago, the seller was kicked off eBay, branded with the moniker, "No Longer a Registered User." She must have closed her bank account just after selling a ton of DVD's, and from the volume of negative feedback since I won my bid, took the money and ran. Damn! My initial reaction was to be mad at PayPal. I mean, what's up with the supposed "guarantee" they talk about? And, the "bid with confidence" bullshit? I keep wavering between being pissed at eBay, because you KNOW they got their fees from the sale, and being pissed at the bitch who took my $16.51. And then another part of me says "let it go!" What the heck is $16.51 in the big picture, anyway? Yea, some criminally minded thief stole my $16.51, but I haven't had my daughter stolen from her bedroom in the middle of the night, and then raped and killed. I haven't had my child shot and killed in his classroom by a crazed classmate. I haven't lost anyone I know in a tsunami. And, I didn't lose a son in a terrorist attack on two large NYC buildings (and I certainly could have!) So, injustice though it is, I'm not going to sweat the small stuff. Instead, I'm going to be thankful for what *hasn't* been stolen from me, and spend my energy praying for those who aren't as fortunate as I am today. Current Mood: grateful (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, March 21st, 2005
4:35 am	wide awake I'm wide awake, but not really. Inside I'm snoring my head off, but not really. I've been sleeping the last few nights with a drug so powerful that well, let me just say sells on the street for $30 a pill. No, I'm not auditioning for a seat in an NA meeting. I'm just desperate for a decent night of pain-free sleep. Two reasons I'm awake: night sweats (freakin' menopause!) and this freakin' pinched nerve in my back that is actually much, much better than last week. Wait...I'm awake for three reasons.... I'm awake because I decided I was feeling better enough not to take the $30 drug. I did fall asleep the second my head hit the pillow at 11:00, and then promptly woke up at 2:30. Damn, I'd be snoring my head off right now on those drugs. Aging sucks! Current Mood: cranky (Comment on this)
Monday, March 7th, 2005
4:18 pm	For hwar and anyone else who cares, so that you don't think you have the monopoly on idiocy out there in CA, I thought I'd post this interaction between me and a nutrition store clerk today.... Clerk: May I help you? Me: Do you have a natural pain relief formula you can recommend? Clerk: What kind of pain? Me: Pinched nerve. I'm seeing a Chiropractor who told me to take something along with his treatment. Clerk: Muscle pain? Me: No, nerve pain. It's a pinched nerve. Clerk: Do you have medical insurance? Me: Excuse me? Clerk: Well if you have medical insurance, I can recommend you to a chiropractor. Me: I'm seeing a chiropractor. He told me to take a natural formula pain reliever. Clerk: Well, if you have medical insurance I can give you the name of a chiropractor. Me: I have a chiropractor. I need a pain reliever for a few days until the treatment kicks in. Clerk: Well, if your medical insurance will cover it, I can give you the name of my chiropractor. Me: So, you obviously don't have a natural pain reliever you can recommend then? Clerk: Is it a muscle pain? Me: It's Ok. I'll just look around myself. Current Mood: sore (5 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, February 28th, 2005
6:35 am	Go figure I put a brand-new $25.00 vegetarian cookbook up for bid on eBay a couple weeks ago for $5.00 plus $10.00 shipping, because the book is large and heavy with over 1,100 pages. Pissed off people actually sent me nasty emails for charging $10 shipping, and nobody bid on it. So, I relisted it for $2.00 plus $6.00 shipping. I had 9 bids! The book sold for $15.50 plus $6.00 shipping. Now, you see, I was willing to accept $15.00 for the book and shipping, but no, people had to have it THEIR way and pay me $21.50 because nobody is going to screw them out of inflated shipping charges! Go figure. Current Mood: amused (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Saturday, February 26th, 2005
9:13 am	ebay trip Well, my success with eBay continues. Since I buy a lot of books and DVD's, I've been cleaning out, and selling, selling, selling. I'm far from flush with eBay cash though, as said cash is supporting my eBay buying, buying, buying habit. I've won some items I've wanted for a while - mostly more books and DVDs :) - at incredibly lower prices than I've been able to find them elsewhere, including the s/h costs...yay! Today, I received an email from eBay about a bid I'm currently winning with a seller who *gasp* has been banished from eBay - yikes! Shoulda known a seller offering free shipping was too good to be true! It's ok though because after I impetuously bid on the item, I did my standard research, and found the item $3.00 less than my bid...whew. (Comment on this)
Monday, February 7th, 2005
1:42 am	ebay progress report Ok, so I'm pretty sure I'm either running an internet department store under my ebay name, or I've completely gone off the deep end. It seems that anything I get my hands on lately, I want to sell on ebay. I actually caught myself placing an item up for bid that I'm still using! I've sold several items, and at higher prices than I anticipated. I've either got cool stuff, or pricing too low. Either way, bidding wars have broken out on two items so far. That $10 initial bid I complained about recently brought in $43 in the last 5 minutes. Others seem to want to play the game, "watch" and not bid until the last few seconds. In the meantime, I feel like a kindergartner about whether I should badger people for the $ or just wait till they get around to paying for the items they've "won" from me. I worry about things like whether I should mail the package before receiving payment? No, right? And, where the heck is my well-deserved feedback saying what an amazing ebayer I am since I pay for the bids I "win" within the first hour of getting the invoice? Do those people wait for me to receive the product, give them feedback and then give me my feedback? Shouldn't they write wonderful things about me paying so amazingly fast? Give me my A++++ asap? Of course, all of these questions keep me on the ebay site even longer searching the FAQ's, chat rooms and links so I don't flub up and get a big fat freakin' red negative! The drama continues.... Current Mood: anxious (Comment on this)
Thursday, February 3rd, 2005
12:10 pm	NOW - Women for Women International On Friday, February 4th, 2005, Zainab Salbi, President and CEO of Women for Women International, will appear on “NOW” hosted by David Brancaccio on PBS. The show will focus on the current status of women in Iraq and the work of Women for Women International. Check your local listings for channels and times here. Current Mood: sympathetic (Comment on this)
Monday, January 31st, 2005
7:55 am	eBay panic Ok, so let's just say I've got the eBay bug and be done with it. I decided to see how the selling process works and put up a boxed set of CD's that I purchased back in 1998 and never opened the shrink wrap. The wrap still has the original $34.99 price tag on it. It's been in a closet and there's just no way I'm ever gonna listen to Garth Brooks sing country music. I mean, I don't even like country music, but I had some friends back in 1998 who did, and they somehow convinced me to stand in a long line for this limited series edition of Garth's. Hey...we had fun waiting and maybe the $34.99 could be the price of admission to the good time? Either way, I've got this box and no money, and if I sell it on eBay, it won't be a total loss. Now, I went on eBay and for several days watched two similar sets priced at $25.00 plus $15.00 s/h. However, NO bids. So I figured, these guys put the initial bidding too high. I put my box up for $10 starting bid yesterday. Well, today, I've got a $10 bid and I'm in a panic because if I don't get another bid, I've got to sell this brand new $34.99 item for 10 bucks! To soothe my panic I've been telling myself that the 10 bucks is more than I have right now because I've got this meaningless boxed set of CD's right? Okay, this is what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna consider this a learning experience. Of course, I know I've got 6 more days for higher bids (fingers crossed,) but the drama of it all! Geez, this relationship with eBay, I dunno...such drama so early. Yes, I know. I need to get a life. Current Mood: dorky (Comment on this)
Sunday, January 30th, 2005
12:29 pm	help I sure would appreciate any advice on uploading pictures...looks like my first batch took up a lot of space :) Current Mood: creative (Comment on this)
12:12 pm	Ah, sweet nature Nature Outside My Window This little guy never moved as I approached ....as I got closer ....and closer Wild Turkey A wild rainy day outside my window ...closer ...boldly looking inside my back door ...they got bored with me and move on across the street and up the mountain (6 Comments |Comment on this)