As Seen on Facebook: Living a Sheltered Life
One of my Facebook “friends” just posted this:
Leaving aside the spelling buffoonery, she’s in her 50’s and today was the first time she’s ever set foot in a porta-potty? Really?
Wow. I guess I’ve had more than my share of exposure to porta-potties, having served in mobile radar units for so many years, but it’s astounding to me that a person could manage over half a century in ‘Murcan society without experiencing the joys of portable facilities. I guess she’s never attended an outdoor concert anywhere, either.
That’s all. Go back to what you were doing.
Not Right
A few months ago, one of the other percussionists in the community band asked me if I’d be interested in participating in the Singing Christmas Tree this year. It was an interesting question, given that he had no idea whether I could sing. They started rehearsals in August and I didn’t jump in until early October. I’ve since then started going to church there, and last night attended my first choir rehearsal.
Why I’ve decided to go back to church after a 33 41 year hiatus is a topic for another post. This post is about how welcome the choir members and members of the Singing Christmas Tree have made me feel, and also about how random events in the universe can seem and how fragile life is.
Last Friday and Saturday I spent several hours with other Tree members putting lights on panels and getting things put together for the tree, which is going to be constructed in the church starting November 4th. It’s a massive undertaking, and they’ve made significant changes to the Tree this year so basically it’s being built again, from scratch, sort of, at least where the lights and greenery are concerned. I’m a newcomer and all of these people have been just lovely. They’re all nice, helpful, welcoming. A group of us worked many hours winding lights up together in strands and then placing them on the lattices. We talked, or they talked; mostly I listened. Several of them are school teachers, have been for decades. All cheerful, happy people with great senses of humor.
Jeanette Harrison was sort of in charge of the light strands; she’d numbered them so we had the right colors in the right order for the lattices (red was number 1, white was number 2, blue was number 3, and so on). She kept us all working in the same direction, even announced when our breaks were over by starting back to work — never said a word, we just noticed she’d gone back to work and we knew we had to also. It was funny, and her friends were obviously well used to her way of keeping the process moving. I could see the schoolteacher in her; I expect her classes were never unruly.
Jeanette was killed this morning when a car hit her as she was crossing the street to visit a friend whose husband was in the hospital. A small dark colored car hit her and just kept going. Left her lying in the street to die. The title link takes you to the article, and read the comments. Her students over the years and her family are grief-stricken.
It’s just wrong. How does anyone hit another person, let alone a 70-year-old woman, and then just drive away?
The choir is a small group, and all of them knew her for many, many years. The fellow who recruited me for the Tree told me this evening that back when he first became involved with the Tree, 20 years ago, she was the one who brought him in.
Her funeral will be Sunday afternoon, unless something changes. We’ll be singing a couple of the songs from the performance we’re practicing for. I don’t know how we’ll manage it, it’s hard to sing and cry at the same time.
Goodbye Jeanette. I liked you, you were very nice to me. I wish I’d had time to know you better.
Delusional
One of Hubby’s cousins is an Obama supporter, and just posted this on Facebook:
Hmmm.
If Obama gets four more years, the “compassion and equal rights for all” will be “we’re all being screwed equally and nobody in authority gives a damn.” I’m thinking that’s not really what she wants. Unless she’s even more stupid than I’d previously assumed. She’ll have to talk about making wars “history” with the Islamic extremists, and I’m pretty sure their reaction would be to behead her. Strengthening Social Security will be impossible, and when we tax the millionaires more they’ll leave.
What an idiot. I hope I wasn’t that stupid when I was her age.
“Black Girls Run”
On of my dance class mates belongs to this group called Black Girls Run. According to the website, it’s intended to encourage African American women to exercise. Leaving aside the fact that not all black women are of African descent, can you imagine the outcry if someone created a group called White Girls Run and publicized it as a way to encourage white women to exercise?
I just thought I’d mention that. Because there is a double standard in this country when it comes to race, and allegations of racism. So much for that “post-racial” thing. Maybe we’ll get there eventually, but not until all people quit pigeon-holing people, including themselves, into groups based on skin color.
The Job Search Continues
I hate looking for work. It’s miserable. It was miserable years ago, when the economy wasn’t in the toilet; now it’s worse. On the plus side, I expect there are lots of people with masters’ degrees looking for anything they can find, so I’m not such an anomaly anymore. On the minus side, employers can be as picky as they want to, there are so many of us desperate souls trying to find employment they can choose whomever they want, knowing they have the upper hand.
I’ve signed up at one employment finding business, will be signing up with another tomorrow. And I can still go downtown to the local state-run employment office and sign up there. Which I’d rather not have to do, the atmosphere in the place is laden with soul-sucking despair, but I can’t afford to disregard any job source.
My boss has cut my hours further this week. Today is a federal holiday so the office is closed. Tomorrow and Wednesday she’ll be out of town so she told me I wasn’t to come back in until Thursday afternoon. On the plus side, I can get things done around the house. On the minus side, I’ll get paid for 8 hours this week, max.
I’ll keep plugging, I have no choice. But it sucks, people. It just sucks.
Heh
Shamelessly stolen from Instapundit.
Daryl Hannah — What on Earth Did You Do to Your Face?
Daryl Hannah was arrested in Texas protesting a pipeline designed to bring crude oil from Canada to the Gulf Coast. She has plenty of money, so she doesn’t care how much gas costs.
The picture was what riveted me, though. Bear with me. This is what she used to look like.
In Blade Runner.
This is what she looks like now:
Yikes.
She was beautiful. Now she looks creepy. Why couldn’t she just leave her face alone?
As Seen on Facebook….
… when I went to log in a little while ago.
Whoa.
Is that… Is that President Empty Chair? Why, I believe it is. And he’s floating. Must be the thin air in Denver.
Goodbye, Lisa
Some days you log into Facebook and get your heart torn out. Saturday morning I found out that one of my dance class friends, a woman I went through real estate pre-licensing class with, who was in the Air National Guard, who had a loving family and a wide circle of friends and a terrific sense of humor and boundless courage, which she needed in her fight against the cancer that consumed her, lost her battle. She died Friday.
I’d lost touch with her, her circle contracted as her illness progressed. There was a bunch of us praying for her and her family, but intruding isn’t one of my things and I just kept hoping she was doing well. At one point she told us her doctor had said the cancer was gone and we were all doing happy dances. Right on the heels of that came the discovery that she had “baby cancer cells” — not sure about the medical terminology — raging through her bloodstream. She posted that they were trying a few experimental treatments, she went to Texas for one of them at one point. And we all kept praying and hoping. Until Saturday morning.
Goodbye, Lisa. I’m glad you’re not suffering anymore, but you are missed.
The title link takes you to her obituary, if you’re interested.
In Which I Engage an ObamaDrone on Facebook
My youngest brother-in-law, who is by birth my nephew and who was adopted by his grandparents, my in-laws, because his mother was a drug addict and wasn’t taking care of him, is married to a black woman. I’m not telling you this because it bothers me. I don’t care who he marries as long as he’s happy. And he is. She has one son from a previous relationship, he has two sons from a previous marriage, and they’ve had one son together. They just had a house built, the house they were living in they’re renting out. He takes the sons fishing and shooting, lots of male bonding time. Both of them have good jobs. They’re doing fine.
But he’s solidly in Barack Obama’s corner. I don’t know if it would be different if he weren’t married to a black woman, maybe not, but he made an announcement on Facebook today, which another brother in law responded to, and then I jumped in because I have no sense. It sorta snowballed from there. I’ve got screen caps, because I like to share. You’re welcome.
Here’s the guide — Dark blue is Young Brother-in-Law, the Obama Supporter. Green is the Older Brother-in-Law who’s actually had to run a business. Purple is Young B-i-L’s friend, an Obama Supporter whose command of spelling and grammar is at best tenuous. Light orange is me. Got it? Okay, let’s jump in.
For all images, click to embiggen.
Here’s the first screen cap:
The discussion begins….
Second screen cap:
And continues….
Third screen cap, in which she excoriates the eeeeevil rich for being smarter than she is.
I may have gotten the last word in, but I didn’t win anything. These people are going to be voting. So, we need to vote to. All of us. No excuses. November 6th, get thee to the polls.
Edit to Add — the Younger B-i-L’s wife has jumped in. She’s in pink. Enjoy.
Jeez.
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