Saturday, March 10, 2007

Accumulated Thoughts on a Rainy Saturday


I know! I know! I've been missing from the Land of Blog of late. I'm not going to make excuses and just say that life takes some weird turns and distracts a body.

* Is anyone else already tired of the 2008 Presidential race? Nobody asked me but I think they're starting far, far too early. I'm already tired of Hillary and Obama and John Edwards although I did get a chuckle from John McCain's announcing his candidacy on Letterman -- he was, if nothing else, funny. Mit seems to be testing the waters and of course the polygamy card is over-shadowing anything else he might offer. At the rate this campaign is going by November 2008 we're all going to be so bored and disgusted we'll stay home! Rhetoric goes cold and I go deaf if I hear it too long and too often. And Hillary, lose the pants suits -- when they become a Letterman joke, you know it isn't attractive.

* In case y'all didn't know, I collect funny signs and they are scattered around my place. The other day I found two I particularly liked. The one now hanging -- appropriately as you can see in the photo above (another of the Man's masterpieces) -- above my desk reads: "My desk may be cluttered but my mind is EMPTY." It is, unfortunately, all too true of late and explains my absence here. Mea Culpa! The other states: "I can resist anything except temptation." It's hanging in my kitchen challenging me to pass on treats like my bakery's wonderful chocolate chunk cookies or my beloved Ben and Jerry's Dublin Mudslide ice cream. Okay so I have a couple weaknesses!!!! lol

* I thought I was getting too damned old for lessons in life but. as usual, I was wrong. I had an experience recently that taught me an interesting, albeit disappointing, lesson. Organizations that are openly and militantly anti-discrmination for their minority are not necessarily above committing discrimination against others. No, I didn't file a complaint -- it labels one a troublemaker and, hence, employers discriminate against you for that. Ironic, huh?

* From my "What's wrong with this picture?" Department: This may have made the news in your area because it so outrageous. A teenaged boy in Cleveland raped his ex-girlfriend at knife point. The magistrate who ruled on the case, instead of placing him in detention, put a house arrest bracelet on him and sent him home. A few days later he shot the young lady in question in the face with a shotgun so she couldn't testify against him. Her family is outraged and has gone public with their story. Their press conference was heart-wrenching. It makes me sick. The blame can be spread pretty broadly in my not so humble opinion. Someone said to me, "You don't know what went on at court." No, I don't, but I did see the magistrate tap-dancing to defend herself on the news and I read and heard the story where she said she didn't consider him a threat and stood by her ruling. When I see and hear the words "rape" and "knife point" in the same sentence, I'm thinking jail -- ADULT jail . I really would like to know why the police didn't charge Juan Ruiz as an adult for such a violent crime. Where were his parents that he was able to leave his home to go and shoot this young lady? And how in the hell did he get hold of a shotgun? Johanna was not killed but will spend many months recovering and undergoing plastic surgery. I know that the Constitution prohibits cruel and unusual punishment but somehow I don't think there's a punishment that will fit this crime adequately. I hope and pray that he is tried as an adult. Perhaps the inmates wherever he's sent will take care of that but it won't take away the pain and scars of Johanna and her family. The general feeling in Northeast Ohio mirrors mine: that the magistrate failed Johanna and her family and should be held liable and resign. Please hold Johanna and her family in your prayers.

* Children and crime were also an issue here in our city as our Mayor held a forum -- she does that a lot. This time it included community leaders and addressed keeping our young people from crime. All sorts of ideas were bandied about but there was one that seemed to be ignored: parental responsibility. What happened to parents demanding that their kids have rules and curfews? What happened to the schools being able to discipline unruly children? Don't know about y'all, but it was worth my life not to be on my block when the street lights came on in the evening. I furiously pedaled my secondhand Schwinn around the corner of 102nd Street breathing a sigh of relief more than once and got what we used to call a "lickin'" a couple times when I didn't make it on time. With my kids, I was of the school that miscreants sat in a corner for however long I thought appropriate or were "grounded" for a major sin. Frankly, today if you go to parents about something their child did, more than likely, they will turn it around so that you caused their little darling to commit the infraction or make an excuse about their being a single mother or other such nonsense. We elders grew up learning to accept responsibility for, and the consequences of, our actions. What happened to that? I might sound like what we used to call an old fogey but, damn it, it worked. Government isn't the answer to the crime problem among our children, it all starts at home and I emailed the Mayor to tell her so.

* I've been spending more time with doctors of late than I really like and I'll spare you the gory details of most of it. However, one part it all struck me as rather funny. I had to report to the hospital's nuclear medicine department at 9 o'clock one morning. They gave me a sort of gray capsule and told me to report back at one so they could take pictures. I asked if I should get my hair done. These people have no sense of humor so I didn't get the laugh I deserved. I dutifully reported back at the appointed time and they took a a whole bunch of what I suppose were x-rays. When they were done they told me to come back the next morning at 9 to finish the tests and the tech handed me a card and told me I needed to carry it with me for the next few days. The card read in bold letters: "Security Personnel and Law Enforcement Notification." It went on to say that "Kay Dennison has undergone a nuclear medicine procedure. The residual radiation may be detectable externally." It also included what sort of nuclear material they used and how much along with the dates and the hospital's phone number. Soooooooooo for the next few days when asked, "How are you?" I replied, "Radioactive!" I also had this nearly uncontrollable urge to go out to the airport and see how many bells and whistles I could set a-jangling but I didn't. Somehow I doubt their security wouldn't have found it as amusing as I did which is what kept my whimsy in check. AND I've heard that they aren't too nice to dotty old ladies being silly.

* Our beloved Millie Garfield is teaching Yiddish on the 'Net now -- live on video!!!! Stop by Millie's Yiddish Class and join the fun! You can even subscribe so you'll be notified of each new lesson. Oy ve! Such things she and her son, Steve, cook up!!!!

Hope y'all are well, happy and having fun with the adventure we call life! I'm hoping I can manage a ramble to each of your sites, my dear, dear gentle bloggers and get caught up on all y'all! I've missed you!

Happy Blogging!

Kay

7 comments:

  1. Radioactive??? Who knew?
    I think it is a great idea to go to the airport...LOL

    I am also tired of the 2008 race already. It promises to be a long, hard and probably boring campaign. I think there should be a law that people cannot start campaigning until Jan. of the election year!!

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  2. Hi Kay,

    So good to hear from you again. What a sad, sad story of Johanna...it's such an injustice. I totally agree with you on this...that kid should be tried as an adult. My heart goes out to her family.

    Glad you're keeping a humorous attitude about your medical dealings....that's the best way to get through them. Sometimes it's the ONLY way to get through them.

    Take care dear friend...we're getting some nice signs of Spring here lately...how about you?

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  3. Anonymous7:27 PM

    Even I, sick and twisted political junkie that I am, miss the days when the candidates were chosen at the conventions in August, but now it's over before Easter. If you wait until then, your choices are limited to A or B... maybe a C.
    Good to have you back!

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  4. Anonymous9:36 PM

    Hi Kay

    Stopped by to visit you today to see what was happening in your lfe and lo and behold you mentioned my Yiddish Class!!!! Thanks for the plug.

    Sometimes I think of someone and the phone rings - and there they are - same thing happened with you and me. Sometimes I think I am psychic!!

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  5. Always a delight to hear from y'all!

    Judy -- I knew I liked you -- you have anarchy in your soul!

    Joy -- always a pleasure to have you come by. You keep me going!

    AQ -- at least you admit it -- it means you can start recovery any time you want. lol

    Millie -- I had to share your site -- what are friends for? And when I tell people I'm psychic, they tell me I'm mispronouncing it. lol

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  6. I wondered where you were -- out getting yourself radiated, I guess. I didn't know they allowed that in Ohio. Hang in there with whatever med tests you're doing.

    As for temptation -- if you get down to Columbus, head down No. High St. from Worthington to John Eagles Candies, where the grandson and his wife of the founder are busy making what my husband said was the best candy he ever ate. I made a beeline for there when in Columbus last summer.

    Glad you reminded me of Millie's Yiddish class. I need to visit more often as I occasionally need help with some words I encounter with which I'm not familiar.

    Good to have you back.

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  7. Thanks, joared!

    Hopefully the radiating is over as I have the better-than-I-thought results.

    We have an awesome candy maker here called Heggy's -- a real haven for us chocoholics! Took some to The Man's mama at Christmas and she loved it. Should I get down to Columbus, I will check it out. One can never have enough sources for chocolate.

    What's not to love about Millie's class! Such a fun thing it is!

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