Cheryl Husbands

Posting

2011-09-01T04:36:00.001-07:00

Wow, I can't believe I have not posted anything for 2011. This year has slipped by so quickly. I will work on that since the year is almost over.

Wet Feet

2010-11-29T11:48:00.000-08:00

I used to have a car a while ago. It was a Toyota Corolla. This was back in the
80’s. I remember it having a problem with the air conditioning. Something got plugged up in it somewhere and every time I took a left turn, the water would drain into the car on the passenger side.

Well, I was reminded of this while doing a road test. I got into the Toyota Corolla; the carpet was wet and had a lot of mold. The car also smelled quite bad. I started my speech. The first turn was to the right (no problem) our second turn is to the left (whoohoo) I got my free foot wash. I was not happy. The young girl was so nervous. She kept apologizing over and over. I moved my feet so as not to get wet again. She ate up all her points in the parallel parking and the backing in. We made a left turn to go and do the quick stop and the straight line backing. Yeehaa! I held my feet so they would not get wet again. I was prepared this time. Again more apologizing from the young girl. Quick stop was good, however when she was backing up, she was weaving and she ran her tires on the curb. Well….too many points. The test ended with a failure and two wet feet.

GOING OUT WITH A BANG!

2010-11-29T11:36:00.000-08:00

Ok, so I’m doing a vehicle check on the next driver to test. I’m also watching another vehicle going through the course. (doing their parallel parking and backing in) There is another examiner in that vehicle, a Ford truck. I’m thinking to myself……..the truck is not doing well. He has probably eaten up all his points for the parallel parking and for the backing in. He has knocked over cones in the parallel parking and I didn’t recall blinkers from where I stood. Same thing with the backing in. Then I saw the vehicle move to the other side of the course. This is where the “Quick Stop or Emergency Stop” as well as the “straight line backing” takes place. When I heard tires skidding, I knew this person could not have passed the maneuvering with the points needed to get out onto the road. I thought at this point they were going to park the vehicle (too many points and you fail).
WOW! To my amazement the examiner was taking them out on the road! They left the parking lot! Guess I was wrong from where I stood. I was not inside the vehicle.

I took my person to test up to the course.
This person did not pass the maneuvering section so we parked the vehicle.

I moved on to the next. While I was doing vehicle checks on the next person in line, I saw the truck come back into the parking lot. I thought “well, ok, again, from where I stood maybe I was wrong, I wasn’t in the vehicle.” The last maneuver of the test is to park the vehicle. The Ford truck at this time was to pull into a parking space and ~*BAMM*~… he hit the back end of the vehicle that was already parked in the space.
(did he not see the SUV parked there? Did he miss judge the turn? ) Strange……What a way to end your road test! Going out with a Bang!
I walked over to see if everyone was ok and as I did I was calling the police department on my cell phone. The examiner said “she and the young man were ok”. I handed her my cell phone to advise the police what happened. I went to find the owner of the SUV.

When I walked back into the building, I loudly announced “Anyone own a Blue SUV parked in the road test area?” A young girl in line raised her hand and started to walk toward me. I immediately put my hand up to stop her so she would not loose her place in line and said “no no, stay there.” I walked up to her and said “I’m sorry to inform you, that you have been in an accident.” She said “but I haven’t even taken the test yet.” I informed her about what had happened outside and asked where the owner of the car was. She waived her mother over. I told the girl to stay in line to be processed for testing. I put my arm around the mother’s shoulder and advised her that “her vehicle had been in an accident”. The mother and I went outside. By this time the police were there and giving information to the examiner, the father and the son of the ford truck. The father kept asking “when can he test again? How soon can he come back?” I said “I think you have bigger problems here to deal with right now.”

After the police left, the son got back in the truck to move it to the next space over. When he got out of the truck, he had not put the vehicle in park. The truck rolled forward and proceeded to go up the curb. The father jumped in, hit the brake and put it in park. When he came out of the vehicle, he again asked “when can he come back to retest?” I just stood there and shook my head.

Sign

2010-10-06T17:33:00.000-07:00

Weird how no one wants to stop at a yellow or faded stop sign.

NO, it's not there to trip you up or make you fail, it just happened that way from the weather. Really!

It still says 'STOP' and it is of hexagon shape.

So everybody get with it and STOP at it!

FYI, I asked a 16yr old girl "why didn't you stop at this sign?"
Young girl "It's not red!"
me: Seriously?

I asked a young man "why didn't you stop at that yellow stop sign?"
young man: "There was a stop sign? Really? There was one there? Is that why the truck beeped at me?"

GOING OUT WITH A BANG!

2010-10-04T12:41:00.001-07:00

Ok, so I’m doing a vehicle check on the next driver to test. I’m also watching another vehicle going through the course. (doing their parallel parking and backing in) There is another examiner in that vehicle, a Ford truck. I’m thinking to myself……..the truck is not doing well. He has probably eaten up all his points for the parallel parking and for the backing in. He has knocked over cones in the parallel parking and I didn’t recall blinkers from where I stood. Same thing with the backing in. Then I saw the vehicle move to the other side where the “Quick Stop or Emergency Stop” as well as the “straight line backing” is to take place. When I heard tires skidding, I knew the person could not have passed the maneuvering to get out onto the road.
WOW! To my amazement the examiner was taking them out on the road. They left the parking lot.

I took my person to test up to the course.
This person did not pass the maneuvering section so we parked the vehicle.

I moved on to the next. While I was doing vehicle checks on the next person in line, I saw the truck come back into the parking lot. I thought “well, ok, from where I stood maybe I was wrong, I wasn’t in the vehicle.” The last maneuver of the test is to park the vehicle. The Ford truck at this time was to pull into a parking space and ~*BAMM*~… he hit the back end of the vehicle that was already parked in the space.
(did he not see the SUV parked there? Did he miss judge the turn? ) Strange……What a way to end your road test! Going out with a Bang!
I walked over to see if everyone was ok and as I did I was calling the police department on my cell phone. The examiner said “she and the young man were ok”. I handed her my cell phone to advise the police what happened. I went to find the owner of the SUV.

When I walked back into the building, I loudly announced “Anyone own a Blue SUV parked in the road test area?” A young girl in line raised her hand and started to walk toward me. I immediately put my hand up to stop her so she would not loose her place in line and said “no no, stay there.” I walked up to her and said “I’m sorry to inform you, that you have been in an accident.” She said “but I haven’t even taken the test yet.” I informed her about what had happened outside and asked where the owner of the car was. She waived her mother over. I told the girl to stay in line to be processed for testing. I put my arm around the mother’s shoulder and advised her that “her vehicle had been in an accident”. The mother and I went outside. By this time the police were there and giving information to the examiner, the father and the son of the ford truck. The father kept asking “when can he test again? How soon can he come back?” I said I think you have bigger problems here to deal with right now.

After the police left, the son got back in the truck to move it to the next space over. When he got out of the truck, he had not put the vehicle in park. The truck rolled forward and proceeded to go up the curb. The father jumped in, hit the brake and put it in park. When he came out of the vehicle, he again asked “when can he come back to retest?” I just stood there and shook my head.

Gatorade

2010-07-17T16:35:00.001-07:00

After my initial vehicle checks, I go around to the passenger side of the vehicle and get into the seat. I close the door. I start my speech. “hello my name is Cheryl, I will be the examiner for today.”

I fling the car door back open and hop out. What the….

I ask the guy “is this seat wet?” His response “well…ugh….I had my Gatorade there, must a spilled a little.” So, I said “oh well, ok here is some plastic on the floor, do you mind if I cover the seat with it. (the car was filthy by the way so covering the seat was a good choice anyway.) He said “no, go ahead.” I covered the lower portion of the seat with the plastic, and got back in. This car also had no air conditioning. So we got to sweat in the 90+ degree weather during the slow maneuvering. Yeah!

When the full test was completed, I felt like a had a pint of sweat on my back…..but noooooooo…..it was Gatorade. It had wicked up the back portion of the seat back, so my waist up was wet from the Gatorade not in the center of the back where the sweat would have been.

I think if a car has a wet seat or even a vehicle that is that dirty again, I will refuse to test. They would need to bring back another vehicle to test in.

YUK!

Oriential woman

2010-06-12T17:17:00.000-07:00

LAST MONTH
I tested an Oriental woman. As I usually do, I greet the people with the vehicle "hi how are you today, are you ready to be tested?" The man with this oriental woman states "she no speak good English. She need driver license. Her husband in hospital and she need to drive hospital." I let him know that I will do my best to say one or two word sentences to help her understand and also give hand signals. "Oh...good good, I appreciate" he says. I start the external checks on the car. "Honk the horn" I say to her. He repeats something in Chinese. She honks the horn. I say, "Left turn signal" again he says something in Chinese she puts on the signal. We go through the whole car check with his little mumbling to her through the window. He then asks if he can ride in the back seat. I tell him "no she must do this on her own and she must be able to follow my directions or she won't be able to pass the test."

So I get into the vehicle and start my little litany of what to expect, how to treat the driving portions in the parking lot as two way streets, at all intersections come to a complete stop, about following Georgia laws and signs, wait for my instructions and if you have any questions let me know and I will explain further so you may understand. During the time I am talking the woman is shaking her head in the up and down direction, she is also saying "yes", "yes" at appropriate times. (I think she is understanding some of what I am saying) When I am finished, she says "Parallel Park? OK...go?" I tell her "no, I will give you direction from here what to do next. I tell her to “come to the intersection in front of us and make a right. When we get to the next intersection, make a left and stop at the gate." Again she says "Parallel Park..ok..go." She starts driving, takes a right turn, (no traffic checks, she did not look left or right and did not use her signals) She then proceeds to take the left turn (again not looking for cars or using signals) she takes a right (past the gate) and proceeds to the left again and parallel parks the car without hitting any cones (however not using her signals). She then continues to drive the car out of the space and completes the reverse parking into the second space. She does not hit any cones; because had she waited for directions, she would have known that she had to pass the space and back in at a 45 degree angle back wards. That she could not cross over the center line of the road into on coming traffic to back into the space. (I am in such amazement of how she could memorize what to do and where to go, that I just sat there to see how far this woman is going to go in the program without any direction.) At this point there are two more maneuvers that I am not willing to complete with her. I tell her to make a left turn and go to the gate and stop. She does not want to make the left; she wants to go right which is where the next two maneuvers are to take place. I keep pointing in front of her and saying turn left, turn left (I get more stern and say TURN LEFT). She finally turns left. We go through the gate and I tell her park the car on the left. (pointing the whole time) She finally puts the car in (well... in-between parking spaces) I have to tell her put the car in park, turn off the key, take your key out. Now I have to explain to the brother that she failed because she cannot understand the language. She failed to follow instructions.

TWO WEEKS LATER

The woman is back for round two. I advise the other examiner who is working with me, that I have already failed this woman last week. Can you please give her the exam so that if she fails again, it does not seem like I have something against her? She agrees. The woman failed again.

TODAY

The woman is back for round three. The other examiner is giving a motorcycle test and cannot give her the test. So I'm up again. Yea!
Same situation as before on the car checks. The brother gives direction outside the car. This time, I let him know "she must listen to me.. and follow my instructions". HE continues with the little mumbling from the peanut gallery. (I roll my eyes as I walk around the vehicle to get in) I thought to myself; give her the benefit of the doubt. Maybe she has learned something, it has been a while. I tell her "my name is Cheryl; I will be the examiner for today." Her reply is "Parallel Park? OK...go". She takes off. Makes a right, makes a left, through the gate, parallel parks the car, pulls out and starts the reverse parking (again crossing the white line in the road). At no point during any of this driving does she look for traffic nor does she use any signals. Now, at this time the other examiner who is waiting for another motorcycle to drive into the area starts to watch what is going on with the car we are in. He knows something is wrong when she crosses the white line and is heading into the motorcycle field. Then she starts to back up into the parking space for the reverse parking and he starts to shake his head. He knows at this point she has not passed. Again I try to get her to turn left to go to the gate. I keep pointing and saying "left, turn left, go left" (the other examiner is now shaking his head and laughing) I am pointing in front of her face "left, left, left". "park the car, put the car in park, turn your key off, take your key out. She says "I pass?" (I take a deep breath and let it out slow) "No you did not pass". Again the brother tells me how the husband is in and out of the hospital and she needs to have a license to drive to the hospital. I smile and let him know that “we are not just giving out licenses today. She needs to learn enough of the language to take directions from the examiner, not just memorize the route”. I also suggest to him to contact a company that can teach her how to drive as well as enough of the language so she can complete the test. I tell him to take the paperwork into the building to counter number 9.

RIGHT TURN VS LEFT TURN

2010-05-30T08:56:00.000-07:00

Those who have me on FB know I now work for the Department of Driver Services. (DDS) I have had some experiences that I will share. I hope you find them amusing.

I got into the car with this young lady. I advised her what she was to do within the parking lot. I told her if she had any questions to ask, that way she would be clear on what she was going to be doing. That there would be no confusion. She proceeded to do the parellell parking and the backing in parking just fine. (not perfect but good enough to pass this portion) We go through another few manouvers and still enough points to pass.

Now it is time to go on the road. I asked her to turn left, she did just fine. After this first turn everything fell apart. I asked her to turn right, she turned left. I asked her to turn left, she turned right. I was wondering how were we going to get back to the building. Then we were on a road that she could only turn one way, I said turn left, whew! that was the only way she could turn. Now we are on a road that ends into a five lane road. I do not want to cross all this traffic with her so I said "turn right..... turn right, turn right, turn right. She proceeded across all five lanes of traffic and went left. She then got into the middle lane. I said "when we get closer to the traffic light we will be turning left. That is a left....at the light." She started to fade into the right lane at this point. I finally lost it and yelled at her also pointing in front of her face (to her left) "GET IN THAT LANE". We were finally in the left lane on the road back to the office. Good thing there is nothing across the street from our office. I said "turn left into the parking lot and park the vehicle in any space you would like".

No she did not pass. Failure to follow instructions.

I now carry my license with me.

What has Obama accomplished?

2010-03-18T07:14:00.000-07:00

Obama is a dangerous man. He has convinced millions of Americans that they are entitled to the fruits of another man’s labor. Virtually all of his policies to date have been designed to foster a dependence on government. But what the government gives, the government can take. As millions of enslaved peoples across the globe could attest - if they were allowed.
http://www.canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/17828

2010-03-16T08:14:00.000-07:00

Concider the postage stamp, it's usefullness consists in the ablility to stick to one thing until it is done.

crafts

2010-02-10T11:16:00.000-08:00

I needed to update my blog. Now that the holidays are over I think it is time to post some pictures of the crafts that were made. I had made 6 quilts, 9 fleece throws, 4 hats and two scarfs. (and a partridge in a pear tree) I was pretty busy. I call the fleece throws the "5 minute blankets" because when you're lying down and cover up with one........... you're asleep within 5 minutes. I hope you like the photos.

Scott with his hat and scarf on his knee. Close up on green chair.

Lindsey with her scarf and hat.

Laike and Conner

Continued Unemployment

2010-01-11T12:45:00.000-08:00

I am one of the unemployed. Six months so far of sending out resumes and filling out applications.

My suggestion to the President would be in lew of stimulus money, to give tax incentives to companies who keep their jobs here in the US and not send the jobs overseas. Bonus to those companies who have jobs overseas and bring them back to the US. Get our people back to work and we will have product to export.

Wooohooo!

Job interview on Tuesday.

2009-11-25T06:03:00.000-08:00

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/8375994.stm

Adam Lambert's gay kiss on stage gets 1,500 complaints

State Test for CNA

2009-11-24T08:03:00.000-08:00

I have now also taken and passed the state test.

CNA course completed

2009-11-03T07:51:00.000-08:00

Just to update everyone who is not on Facebook, I have completed the Certified Nursing Assistant course. Stringent course of 4 weeks 8 hours a day. We covered two chapters a day and tested the next day. My average for the course was 97.7, I felt pretty good with the score. I did however kick myself when some of my test scores were not 100. I felt they were dumb mistakes. My final I passed with a 100% and I also passed the skills portion. I have mailed off for my state testing. As soon as they let me know, I will be taking the state test at the same school. This should be within 2 weeks. So I have time to study and practice my skills.

With this behind me I feel I have opened up the job market for myself. I hope to possibly get on with the hospital or a rehab center.

Cheryl's Green Beans

2009-10-18T06:52:00.000-07:00

I have had numerous requests for my green bean recipe. I have given it out verbally and explained it is very simple. I have been asked to put it in writing. So for all those who want to have it written out:

CHERYL'S GREEN BEAN RECIPE

1 - (50 oz / 3 lb) can Green Beans
8 - Roma Tomatoes
1/4 cup Dipping oil (any kind will do, I prefer Mediterranean Garlic)

Set oven to broil, raise rack to second level.

Cover cookie sheet with tin foil. Dice tomatoes and put on the cookie sheet. Broil the tomatoes in the oven for approx 30-45 minutes or until they start to blacken.

Drain green beans and empty into large mixing bowl. Pour in 1/4 cup Dipping oil. Pour in the darkened tomatoes. Mix very well. Pour into microwave safe serving bowl. This last step can be done right before serving, if you are taking the dish to a dinner. Microwave for 3 minutes on high.

Serves 12. Enjoy!

Wood's and Yang

2009-08-17T10:02:00.001-07:00

Wow........ if you just experienced the golf on Sunday......... wow!

Most of Tiger's drives were great........his putting was awful.

Sometimes Yang's drives were awful but capitalized on them and his putting was good.

Well.......obviously good enough to beat Tiger!

It was a great match! Very exciting!

CONTINUED JOB SEARCH

2009-07-27T10:02:00.000-07:00

I continue the job search.............. I have found a website where I can play games. I know this may sound strange however.......... what I am able to do with playing only these certain games is to improve my typing speed. So I am playing and typing approx one half hour each day. And yes, within one day my typing speed has improved so far by two more words per minute.

Alaska

2009-06-22T17:38:00.000-07:00

The latest and greatest from the home front.

When John came back from Iraq on this last tour........ Tracy was told she would be going to Korea for a year. What this meant was that if Tracy were to go away for 1 year, she would be away from the kids and John. John did not like this because........he is always being deployed to Iraq around Halloween until around just before Easter. That meant if Tracy were gone and John got deployed also .....the kids were up in the air possibly going to Grandmas house, for who knows how long........
Well, what they decided to do was to cross train and John would take a top secret clearance job as a courier of top secret papers. This means a move to Alaska........ for three years...

Well.... they figure if they went to Alaska, they would both be receiving overseas duty pay. They would get their overseas tours over at the same time and still be together and with the kids.

wow.........long way away.......... but maybe after the three years.... maybe just... maybe they will get to move closer to Grandma in Georgia?

JOB SEARCH

2009-06-19T12:43:00.000-07:00

Here we go again... looking for another job....... with the economy the way it is........ well.....I was laid off and am looking for another job....

OK....OK.... NEW POSTING

2009-01-19T11:53:00.001-08:00

I know I promised new pictures. So here they are. Daniel's picture is his graduation from boot camp. Since the picture, he has come home for Christmas and just before New Years, Scott and I helped him drive his car out to his home base in Phoenix AZ. He is now living and training for his new job at Luke AFB. He will be working on the fuel systems of the F-16.

As for John, he went back to the Mid East just before Thanksgiving. He will return home again (in CA) in March. (Kind of stinks when you have two little ones at home, but that's the job they choose.)

Tracy has not had to go back to Iraq since she gave birth to Jillian.

Here are two pictures of John with numerous "stars". Some one star, two star, three star and the one shaking his hand is 4 star Generals. He was explaining the suite. The suite is like what the astronaut's wear in space. He is in charge of these as the U2 is capable of going that high. You can see the U2 in the back ground of one picture. This is why we can not know where he is when he goes over to the Middle East.

ALL WORK LITTLE PLAY

2008-10-26T13:14:00.000-07:00

I know it's been awhile. I have been working, working, working. I handle the west coast, so my hours are from 10-7pm. est.
1 hour and 20 minutes are spent on driving to and from work. So, I do not get back home until 8pm. I don't get much time to do anything in the evenings. I try to accomplish all my chores on the weekends.

The latest on our home front......well....... Daniel has completed his boot camp training for the air force. Following in big brothers foot steps. At this time he is at Sheppard Air Force base in Texas for his technical training. Fuel line mechanic??? I'm not real sure exactly what he will be doing. Working on the fuel lines for the aircraft.

I have tried to add his picture here in the blog. I'll have to wait for Scott to come home from deer hunting and help me figure out how my new scanner works. I'll be able to scan the picture and save it in the computer.

He has matured quite nicely. I'm just surprised at how much my water bill has gone down.

WORK

2008-07-11T08:41:00.000-07:00

Up date on employment.

Real Estate is still in the dumps. I have been writing only contracts for lease purchases.

The working at the doctors office did not work out.

The working at the nursing home did not work out .

My being a domestic goddess and a trophy wife just does not pay enough.

I have been offered a position with a company that manufactures high end plumbing fixtures. I believe this one will work out the best. I'll give updates.

If you would like to check out the products, here is their web site.

www.totousa.com

Patch work project

2008-06-11T07:44:00.000-07:00

here is the latest in a .....so far.... 4 year struggle.

I have been sewing together squares (off and on....."more off than on) to make a quilt for John and Tracy.

They had asked that I make them a quilt in brown and beige.

I am getting close to completing the front side. I have a 6" brown trim piece to add and then the stuffing piece, backing and edge.

Under the piece I am making, you can see part of my own quilt in the green colors.

I believe the reason this is taking me so long is that, 1) I made my squares too small. 2) when I started I was told to make it a queen size and once I started, I was then told to make it a king size.

BEAUREGARD Nicolas Jacques

2008-05-05T16:03:00.000-07:00

Whomever can read french, can you give us all a clue as to what this says? I believe it is some sort of obituary.

BEAUREGARD Nicolas Jacques, âgé de 42 ans, sous lieutenant au 17ème régiment, domicilié à Versailles, département de la Seine et Oise, condamné à mort le 8 prairial an 2, par le tribunal révolutionnaire de Paris, comme convaincu d'être complice des manœuvres pratiquées de concert avec le traite Dumouriez, à l'époque de sa trahison, tendant à ébranler la fidélité des soldats en vers la nation, et à marcher contre la convention.

Put to death by the gillotine somewhere between 1789–1799 could this be someone related to us?

I had heard there was some family history done by "the twins" was this ancestory ever put on CD or maybe the internet? I understand that our family came over here in the 1700's? Could he be family?

I found this information on the following web site in case anyone else knows of any more family names they would like to check on.
http://les.guillotines.free.fr/

LUNCH

2008-04-10T07:02:00.000-07:00

Just thought I'd share this with you.

I moved my bird feeders 10-12 feet off the ground and 10 feet away from our deck so as to keep the squirrls from eating the bird food.

My feeders are attached to my kitchen bay window with suction cups.

We have one persistent squirrl.

Our little flower

2008-03-28T07:05:00.000-07:00

Well, here she is.........

Bright eyed and well......

I don't know about any bushy tail......

But cute as can be.

Projects

2008-03-17T08:32:00.000-07:00

Yes, as my mother always says, we work in the projects. Tim is usually working on wood craft projects or some kind of computer project. They are exciting to see the progress. Mom's latest project was the valance that everyone had a hand in. Due to the latest addition to our family (Jillian), I felt I needed to do a special project. Special request coming from her father. So here is the project I had been working on for a couple days prior to my trip to California and the second picture is the project I did for Jillian for Easter.

Arrival

2008-02-13T06:48:00.000-08:00

Right on time. Jillian made her arrival on February 12th, 2008. She is 7lbs 12oz and 19 inches tall. Enjoy the pictures.

LOOK OUT GEORGIA DRIVERS

2008-02-08T11:22:00.000-08:00

Daniel turned 18 on Tuesday. I took him to get his own insurance for his car, then to the tag agency to get his first auto tag. On the way to the voting booths, he let me know he left his paperwork at home. So we went back to the house. I told him I needed to make a phone call and while I'm on the phone, you can go put your tag on your car........well.......when he came back in the house, I told him he was going to drive us to the school to vote and then we will go to the library to pick up the tax forms you need to file your taxes. The picture is his reaction to that information.

Funny........ I thought he would be excited........he just kind of laughed and said " you're kidding right?". What a nervous nelly........ he didn't want to drive............anyway......he did great........he hadn't driven in a couple of months.

Now... he has a permit to park at the school, so he is driving to school and to work......................

there he goes>>>>................

as you can see.........not much room for error when going down our drive way.

ETA February 2008

2008-02-02T12:04:00.000-08:00

Baby girl Doyle will arrive in February. We are patiently waiting for the arrival of our only granddaughter. I hope to make a trip to California to see her when she arrives.

The Bottom Fell out

2008-01-24T12:04:00.000-08:00

So with the housing market the way it is, I have resigned myself to the fact that I must return to the 9-5 work place, in order to receive steady income. Working on commission only, does give you the freedom to come and go at will however, when nothing is coming in, bills don't go out. I have had my resumes out and have finally accepted a position as an office manager at a chiropractor's office. I am working for a couple of Doctors we go to church with.

I feel that the market is not going to get back on track until after the elections. I feel that the up swing or back to where it was, will not be until 2009. So I am going to continue the real estate as a part time job until my license expires.

So, I guess what I am saying at this point is I may be blogging less, or at least try to blog once a month.

Wendy's for dinner

2007-11-13T13:09:00.000-08:00

We went to Wendy's for dinner one evening. I wanted their chili poured over a garden salad. Scott and Danny's thing to do is, the double burger with chili and fries and drink.
Any way...... we sat down to eat and Danny got up to get a spoon for his frosty. I asked him to pick up a fork and knife for me as well. Scott forgot a straw, he got up and Danny came back. As Scott was on his way back, I over heard the young man sitting with his back to me say " be more quiet, there are people sitting right here". So I turned to my right and saw two young ladies sitting to my right with the young guy. The young guy and one young lady had their backs to me. The other young lady sat facing me and she looked right at me when I turned to look in that direction. Scott sat down........
The young lady was about 15 or 16 as were the others.

My mistake........no young lady.......... her comment to the young man was extremely loud and she sounded angry ......"who cares what they think.....they're old farts anyway........."

Old farts?........Ol' farts?.......... when did we become old farts?

I turned to Scott to say something about this and realized while looking at him,... OK, ....yeah he did look like an old fart..... With his grey hair and some wrinkles... but.....when did we cross over that line? I don't remember having that celebration of becoming an old fart. I don't think I'm an old fart. When did our age become the old farts? I missed something. I'm not an old fart. My mind just kept racing these thoughts over and over in my mind....I'm not an old fart.
I said nothing to Scott and ate my food in silence.

Then as we got up to leave, Scott and Danny were already throwing their items out as I got up from the table. I pushed my chair in and said in a low voice " at least I never was a young piss ant"....

I only had one indication that they heard what I said.

When we were backing out of the space in the parking lot, the girl with her back to me fingered us.

It's nice to know that, .... we are the number one old farts.

Deer Hunting

2007-11-08T11:07:00.000-08:00

For all of you who know Scott, he likes to hunt deer.
For all of you who don't know Scott, he likes to hunt deer.
Here in Georgia, it's now deer hunting season. He drives about three to four hours southwest of our place to hunt on another persons land. He has quite a few friends from Florida who meet at this same property. They all stay for the weekend. They have trailers set up and have a place to stay. They all pitch in and purchase food for the time they are there. They cook by the camp fire and shoot the breeze in the evenings. During the time when the deer are active, they choose a "deer stand" to sit in during the early morning hours and wait for deer to pass in front of them or around them to possibly shoot. So far I believe there have been three to four weekends of this. Last weekend, Scott chose not to go down to the lease. We were watching TV on Sunday night after dinner. Scott said he would like to have some pizza rolls to munch on. I told him there were some in the freezer. He got up to look and proclaimed that what was in the freezer was egg rolls not pizza rolls. He then decided to go to the local shopping store to pick some up. I was watching some of the programing for about a half hour and decided to pick up my book and read a little. About an hour into reading, I paused, looked at my watch and wondered to myself.....why....does it take an hour.... to buy pizza rolls? He must be talking to someone in the store or has been strolling around looking for something else to munch on........ He'll do that sometimes.... stroll the store just looking for some garbage food.

He finally came back home.... Motioned for me to come outside.
I said " it sure took a long time to get pizza rolls! Or did you get in a wreck!"
..... He said comm'ere.....and pointed to the front of his truck. I said " holy crap... did you hit a wall? What did you do? Oh my gosh..... are you OK? what happened?" He walked around the side of the truck, of course I followed and he pointed in the back of the truck..... I said " oh my god... you hit a dog...." He said "no!". ........ As I came around the full back of the truck, I could then see the "rack".

He never got the pizza rolls.....
He got his deer alright.......with his truck. This was one expensive deer...... $4500 dollars worth of front end damage.
He was 185 lbs.
Yes he took him to the processor to see what could be salvaged.
Yes, he kept the rack.
For those who want to know points.......I believe it was 7 or 8.

Not the way you want to deer hunt.

Mountain Music

2007-10-05T13:40:00.001-07:00

Scott and I were asked to go to visit with some friends. We were going to meet ½ way. Our friends live in Illinois. So they asked if we wanted to meet in Pigeon Forge or Gatlinburg. Not knowing anything about either of the two we said it would be fine. All we knew about either was what was shown on commercials. Looked ok........ We went....... We drove up, around the mountains. Scott thought that would be quicker, it was, not by much. His GPS was telling him to go one way and he wanted to go another. He did not understand why the GPS was wanting him to go this route.

Ok, so we got there. oh….my….gosh…
Well, I don’t know how many of you have been there or how many like it, but, here goes.

It was awful ! It was like riding through a permanent carnival. With sooooooooo many go cart tracks and sooooooooo many mini golf courses. Oh my gosh. There must have been fifty of each in each town. And then there are the shows.

Ok, this is the kind of town our friends like. We don’t care for this kind of “things to do”.

Well, we played cards for awhile, then we walked the town for a couple of hours. Our friends went to a show one evening and we went to the Bass Pro Shop! Now ! that’s our kind of walking around. We went back to the hotel and played more cards. When the men went to play golf, (not mini golf) the women went to town to the area called “the old Mill”. It was a lot of craft type stores. So I had a great time. More cards in the evening and then on our last day there, I said I would like to go find a water fall. So we asked at the front desk and they pointed the way to one just a couple of miles from the hotel. We hiked 1.2 miles up to the water fall. Our friends only went part of the way. Not realizing they were more than ½ way there, they turned around and went back to the car. It was almost worth the walk. A water fall is music to my ears. However, when you are under them or near them, you can’t hear very much, unless you talk loud or yell.

On the way home, we followed the GPS monitor. What….a….trip. Yes, it took us longer to go home but well worth the time. It took us through the mountains with quite a few stopping points to take pictures. Here are two of the best. (Scott missed his calling).

What the almighty has made………

Awhile

2007-10-02T13:08:00.000-07:00

It’s been a while since I bloged and I am just enjoying the cooler weather we are having. I’ve been doing some reading lately…. Mainly everyone’s blogs.

Beauregard party time

2007-08-08T11:08:00.000-07:00

Well, it was the family gathering for another party.

Mom has now had 75 birthday parties.

Quite a few family members were there. Karen and her two boys, Sean and Ryan.

Ryan is in orange on the left
Karen and Sean are in the
Picture to the right.

Myself, Scott, our son Daniel was working.

Duane and his wife Debbie with their daughters Tracy and Amber were there. Tracy's husband was working somehow Amber did not get in any of my pictures.

Debbie and Tracy to the left

Duane is in the yellow shirt with Dad Behind him.
Scott is to the right of Duane.

Dawn and Mark were there.

Tim and his son JP were there.

Tim to the left with the birthday girl.

There was swimming during the day and the bar-b-q in the evening with cake and presents.

Hope everyone will enjoy the pictures. Here is one of the five of us.

Dreaming in a dream

2007-07-25T10:17:00.000-07:00

Does anyone know someone who interprets dreams?

I get very frustrated in a dream only to find out it was a dream.

I had fallen asleep, and started to dream...... that I was going to bed and had fallen asleep. I found someone in my house who was not supposed to be there. I was scarred and started screaming.... as I hollered for Scott he came running..... He was shaking me saying wake up, it's only a dream......it was very hard to wake up because then I realized......that was a dream and I was still screaming and then Scott really woke me up saying that it was a dream.

For a while I stayed awake....... I don't like it when I dream in a dream.
Has anyone else had this experience?
Does anyone know what this means?

Baggage pick up

2007-07-11T13:31:00.000-07:00

I have found I am blogging about as much as Aunt Monica or Uncle John. So I was told I needed to step it up....

Recently my mother went on a trip to Detroit. On her way back, she was to bring some kielbasa home. I was instructed to pick mom up at the airport, specific date and time.... Not a problem.. I arraigned my schedule to be at the airport. Well, the day came to go to the airport. Mom called me and said, "I'm not on the plane, however, my bags are on. This means the kielbasa is on it's way. Can you go to the airport and pick up the bags?" Again.......no problem.

At the specified time, I was at the airport to collect the bags. I was afraid if I did not look like the people who had gotten off the plane, they may not let me take the bags. So I asked around to find out which carousel the bags would be on. I was instructed to carousel seven. No one was even around number seven and there were no bags around number seven. I kind of stood around number six and then finally backed off toward a wall. I was thinking that the plane had not yet shown up and I was early.

I stood by the wall and was watching some policemen with a search dog. They would take a piece of luggage from this stack about 20 feet away from where I was and then have the dog sniff that bag and walk on. I watched this go on for quite a few bags.

I was getting quite impatient that the carousel had yet to turn and that people were not showing up to retrieve their bags from the flight Mom was supposed to be on.

So I watch the security people move another bag...... Hey.... Wait...that looked like mom's bag........I walked over toward the bag... the policeman told me to get back and leave it there. I told him, "that's my bag!" He said, "leave it there for a minute...we're doing some training." I asked if there was a second bag with a gold ribbon on it? He said "yes," and pointed to the bag stack that was 20 feet away from me. He said I could go get that one. He mentioned that the dog kept going over there and they needed to find out why.

(I'm guessing they thought there might have been drugs in them)

I told them that there was polish meat in one of the bags.

They said that is not what the dog was looking for but they all burst out laughing.....

I took my meat and left.............

geraniums Continued from Mom

2007-06-18T12:11:00.000-07:00

The geraniums continue to survive.

I have picked, plucked and watered Mom's geraniums as she is out of town attending to another family member requiring aid.

When Mom and Dad bought this place in Georgia, the statement was how wonderful it would be not to have to tend to the yard work..... apparently potted plants are different, however they are still like having a pet, when you go out of town......you have to get a sitter.

So I am doing my share and bringing in the mail and watering plants, so far.... they live......

CHEAPER CHECKS PLEASE

2007-05-29T08:07:00.000-07:00

Wow, I had to reorder checks recently.
I remember when I used to pay $17.00 for a box of checks.
I would order two boxes at a time. I would receive 50 checks per bound, a total of 400 checks. I know the checks had been going up in price however, over the years they have been decreasing the amount of checks per box. I did not realize it until the price was $45.00 for two boxes and I am only receiving a total of 240 checks. I was not happy and told the woman on the phone, “I know this is not your fault, do you realize that this is what they did with the 16oz can of food in the grocery store? They increased the price and reduced the amount in the can.”
Guess they are going to get me one way or another.

Oh, by the way, those who think the price I am paying is totally outrageous, I pay extra to have top stub checks.

Free Flowers

2007-05-07T11:28:00.000-07:00

I had gone grocery shopping. Out side of the store they had a huge display of flowering plants. On the inside, they had potted flowers. I wasn't sure of the difference. The ones on the inside were however more expensive.

I took a basket and proceeded back outside to pick up a few inexpensive plants. I was pleased with my choice of three which would have amounted to around ten dollars.

As I was walking through the store, I was stopped by a woman who looked very surprised at my choices and said OH! You're a gardener?!! Do you know if "Blankity blank blank" (I don't even know what kind of plant she asked about now). if it comes back each year or not? I said I had just (no lie) asked a neighbor the same question not more than an hour ago. She planted hers last year and it came back this year, bigger and stronger, however I did not see any of those out front of the store. The woman told me " that's because I took the rest of them, Here." (she handed me one) It had a sticker on it that said $.50. I was shocked. She said they always put out the plants that are no longer blooming out side and they are all marked down. Her basket was full of plants. I told her I would just go out front and check that out. She said, "no, I took them all. You can have this one".

So I took the plant, did my shopping and then proceeded to the area where they would have these discount items. I had also picked up some wilted tulips for $1.00. That's all that she left. She aparently is not a bulb person. What a find. I'm going to keep my eye open for more buys like this.

By the way this was not in the same area as the new beautiful flowering plants. They, the new ones distracted the unknowing consumer from the wilting out of season ones. But , I now know to watch for these.

WHAT'S IN A NAME

2007-04-18T12:58:00.000-07:00

I just realized that everyone had updated their blog after the Easter holiday. So I now feel compelled to update mine.

When reading some of the response to blogs, I read one from Adrian with reference to what I believed was a grocery store.

OMG... How could anyone, name their food business ...."Ralph's"... Who would ... (if given a choice of other places).... actually shop at a place for food called "Ralph's" Or am I the only one who knows about vomiting to be called ralphing?

The blue birds are back

2007-03-28T16:20:00.000-07:00

Well, they're baaaaaack....

When we moved into our house approx three and a half years ago, we also had five existing bird houses on the property. They were spread amongst the hard wood trees in the back of the property.

One little red house has lost its bottom. No doubt, probably to termites. You'll also notice the little red house is in close proximity of the church.

There is one that looks like a miniature mail box. Never been occupied. Just like the housing market, This one has been foreclosed on and no one will ever occupy it due to it's construction. It is a metal house. Sort of like the old style trailer homes like Mom and Dad and numerous Aunts and Uncles had when they were younger. Probably the low rent area of the trees.

I had put up two of my own houses last year. One received as a Christmas present and the other purchased at an antique store. The purchased one was a wooden purse with a latch for a closure. (not foreclosure) I had modified it with a hole in the siding and waa...la.. instant bird house. I put them both on the market right near our drive way in the back. I never used any signage or advertising: the purse is now occupied by the finch family. The gifted house, is still up for sale. I will do a lease purchase if anyone knows someone who would like the house. The brown one on the right. Please note it is in a subdivision and in a non gated community. The pool is in close proximity.

We believe the blue bird family is back from winter vacation and reoccupying their original house. This is not the variety of "blue bird" that everyone knows of. The type of bird... "I'm not sure of". I'm a non discriminating landlord. They just happen to have blue feathers. They have brought another family with them and they have all been moving in for the last few days.

I'm sure within a few weeks, our yard will have much to sing about.

Amanda

2007-03-02T10:10:00.000-08:00

Just a note for all of you out there Amanda is back on line again. If you care to go to her blog. If you no longer have her on your favorites, you can click on her name to the side of my blog.

PACZKI DAY

2007-02-22T13:55:00.000-08:00

OK so who remembers this and who still celebrates it? I know my mother's sister does.

Detroit
Michigan's first Catholic settlers were French, but the Fat Tuesday celebrations of modern times in Detroit stem from more the recent influence of the Polish Paczki Day. Locals flock to the local bakeries of Hamtramck to enjoy the large round Paczki doughnuts filled with raspberry, prune or vanilla cream. The colder climate of Michigan does not lend itself to a Carnival type celebration but the local media outlets do make a spectacle of Paczki day every year.

Anyone still celebrate pancake day? I know Ihop does down here however I think they are missled as to the meaning. They call it customer appreciation day.

For Sale

2007-02-12T08:53:00.000-08:00

I had not posted a blog since the Open House/Oscar Nite at Mom & ?Dad's? place.

I have been quite busy with putting 18 townhomes on the market.
It seems the housing market is starting to pick up once again. Not that prices are going up, they are staying the same so far.
Interest rate has dropped again, this should get those sellers and buyers out there.

Since our visit to Tim's house, Mom and I have somewhat completed my kitchen, we painted over the wall paper, put up a new border and valances and I bought a new throw rug. Everything else in the kitchen stayed the same. The only part we forgot was behind the refrigerator.

We then painted the 1/2 bath on the first floor.

With the exception of my laundry room, the first floor is complete.

I'm trying to keep up with Tim however, my projects involve paint, paper and fabric, not wood.

A Night at the Oscars

2007-01-19T07:46:00.000-08:00

Last night was a wonderful party, held at the new ranch condo's that Mom and Dad just purchased. It was an open house, the theme was an "Oscar Night at the Meadows of Jodeco".

It was amazing.

They had the bright lights that circled around in the sky. They were right at the entrance to the subdivision, letting you know you had arrived!

The main street was lined with luminaries (little white bags with a candle inside). As you drove up to the brightly lit building (club house), it really made you feel special.

There were gentlemen out front to open your door and valet park your car. (we did not do this part, we parked at Mom's)

As you walked up the front walk, they had a red carpet with stars on it. Mom and Dad, had their own star (on the walk of fame).

There was a woman taking pictures as you walked on the red carpet.

You were also met by "Joan Shivers" who was dressed in an Oscar gown and doing interviews. She stopped us and said to Mom, "It's not who you are, but who you are wearing!, Who are you wearing?" She talked a mile a minute and was very funny. The woman really looked like Joan Rivers. (I found out later she was a hired actress who did this for parties)

We went inside and signed in. There was a man doing caricatures in the fitness room. He was very good.

There was picture taking with Elvis, John Wayne and Marylin Monroe.

They had music, food and door prizes.

The music was fun and the food..........omg........there was so much food. Hard to choose what you wanted to eat. Then, all the desserts. WOW!

When they were giving out the door prizes, they would call the persons name as you would walk up to receive your prize, they played theme music. After you accepted your prize, there was canned applause as well as everyone in the room clapping.

When they were finished with the door prizes, they were giving out the Oscars. They had some of the home owners fill out some forms a while back a little background information and they read them out loud and presented them with a gold foil covered, chocolate Oscar. (again the music as they went up to accept their award and more applause)

We left the party as they started the music for the nightly dancing. It was "quite a performance".

Holidays in Iraq

2006-12-28T10:38:00.000-08:00

For Thanksgiving, my son John spent this holiday in Iraq. (thank you Bush)
After his 4-6 month tour over there, he got to come home for Christmas. John, (his wife) Tracy and (their son) Tyler live in CA. Such a long way from Ga. We did not get to spend this Christmas with them. Just glad he was back here in the States. (thank you Bush)
They live at Beale AFB in the northern area, NE of San Francisco I think.
We received news, Tracy is leaving today for Iraq. (thank you Bush)
We pray her tour goes well and she returns safe and alive.

Our Thanksgiving and Christmas went well. Tim and JP were able to join us in GA with Mom, Dad, Duane and his family. What a wonderful time.
My daughter Amanda and her son Matthew were unable to get to GA for either holiday. She had a recient job change and did not aquire the vacation time. We hope to see them durring the summer. She does appologize for not keeping up her blog. She said she will try this year to update at least once in awhile.(she can not promise anything at this time)

Scott has spent numerous hours in a tree stand during the holidays. I just can't understand sitting in the cold weather, in a tree, for hours on end. He likes it and has one deer so far to show for his efforts (or freezing his butt off) this year. He says he has seen quite a few but is being very picky about which he shoots. He does have one mount and is waiting for another "big one".

Happy Holidays to all and please y'all be safe and have a happy New Year.

Holidays

2006-12-21T10:38:00.001-08:00

AND THE COOKING BEGINS.
Baaakers..........start...........your...............mixers!
Coooooks.........start...........your...............ovens!

Christmas Cookies

2006-12-07T13:17:00.000-08:00

The other day Mom and I were makeing Christmas Cookies. She wanted to take some to Tim. I understand his favorites are the Peanut Blossoms and Snickerdoodles. He does like others, however Mom decided to make these two for him. I was there to help. If you are a cookie lover and a cookie maker, you know that you cannot substitute any of the fattening products for the non fat type of products. We tried! We tried to substitute no fat peanut butter and low fat ....something else........in the mix of the Peanut Blossoms. The cookies are supposed to look like cute little beige buttons with a chocolate kiss in the center. Looks like a puffy little cream colored hat with a brown pointed top......... Well.......... when you try to make them ........ok......healthy cookies..... they come out ...well..........looking like they were made for......... Holloween....... They look like little witches hats. The brim section is not button puffy..... it is very flat! Then the chocolate kiss added to it.......makes it look just like the witches hat. They still tasted good, actually Danny prefered these to the puffy ones. Puffy is a little crunchy and the flat was chewy.

Conclusion:

THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A NON FATTENING COOKIE.

My First Blog

2006-11-28T12:34:00.000-08:00

Still haven't figured it out yet. I'm getting there. Not sure what I would say on a daily basis. (or hourly as Sean) I'll try to update everyone as often as I can.