This page contains my thoughts about current events and life in general. What is an aberration? The dictionary defines it as:

[n] an optical phenomenon resulting from the failure of a lens or mirror to produce a good image [n] a disorder in one's mental state [n] a state or condition markedly different from the norm

Some of my thoughts may indeed be aberrations and some, well, not so different from the norm and quite orderly. Myers Briggs categorizes me as a variable E/I, N, F, J if that helps. (I know you love that plug, Mary.) My eyesight is awful; nearly blind, I'd imagine, so maybe that accounts for some of the aberration factor. That's my story and I'm stickin' to it!

Thursday, November 20, 2003

Some of you who know me personally, understand that I am fascinated by the situation in Iraq. I read the news about events but have to admit, the news factories are lacking in depth and perspective. Things tend to get a bit slanted at the major news agencies so I seek out personal stories about the situation over there. Namely, bloggers from Iraq. Their take on things is intensely personal and slanted in their own right but nonetheless, fascinating and real.

You must understand that these people are literally taking their lives into their own hands by talking about political and military happenings. Not so long ago, they would have been captured and tortured, possibly murdered, for speaking about events in their country. Life in Iraq is still unbelievably hard and cruel but at least these few brave souls (twelve to date) have the gumption to write about what they're really thinking and feeling. I may not always agree with them or understand their perspective but their online diaries (blogs) are interesting to read.

There's even one U.S. army private that started a blog. Kevin's spelling is atrocious but he offers a unique perspective to some of the current events. http://bootsonground.blogspot.com/

These are some of the Iraqi bloggers pages that I read regularly. They get knocked offline for days at a time due to the frequent power outages. "Where is Raed?" started my fascination with all of this. http://dear_raed.blogspot.com/ I found Riverbend next. She's fairly radical and prone to emotional outbursts toward Americans who just don't get it. She also does an Iraqi recipe site. I'd steer clear of the sumac suggestion in one of her recipes: damned weed nearly killed my neighbors' kids when they decided to tramp through a thicket of it. Evidently, they use a non-toxic variety in their dishes. http://riverbendblog.blogspot.com/ You'll find the other links to Iraqi bloggers on Riverbend's page.

Friday, November 28, 2003

Another Thanksgiving come and gone. I started a tradition with my sister's children when my nephew was just a kid. Every year I pick them up around lunchtime and we head to Denny's for breakfast (it's the only place open around here). A few folks that go to Denny's year after year dress up like Pilgrims. It's always neat to see them. After that, if the weather is nice, we go to a nature trail in North Park called the "Trail for the Blind." A Scout Troop built it many, many years ago. You can close your eyes and use a cable to feel your way through the path which winds through a hillside. Someone cut some of the cables a few years back so you're taking your life in your own hands using that method. We prefer to blindfold Christopher, the eldest, and his two younger sisters (Julie and Jennifer) guide him through. They drag him off the path through creekbeds, thickets, and whatever else they think might be funny. Sometimes we shoot hoops at a local park. If the weather's bad, we go to my house and play games. This year, Chris is in Europe studying overseas for a semester with Virginia Tech. He spent Thanksgiving in Ireland. The girls and I made bread pudding for dessert and played "Clue" at my new pad. It was a great day but we missed Chris. Cheers, lad! Dinner at my Mom's house was incredible, as usual. She always makes too much food and we somehow manage to eat most of it. Julie, Jenny, my brother-in-law George, and I watched the "Real World versus Road Warriors" episodes where players were subjected to a Gauntlet and played "Sequence" in the den all evening. Jenny kicked our butts.

Monday, December 01, 2003

I lost the tunnel jockey game tonight. Many of you who endure traffic every morning and evening may play games with other cars on the road. One of my recurring games involves picking out the one car I do NOT want to beat me through the tunnels at Squirrel Hill. Usually it's some jerk that has to switch lanes without any turn signal or anyone that cuts me off to zig zag between lanes. "Yeah, sure you'll beat me," I whisper under my breath as I begin the jockey game. Tonight, the bozo in the blazer blew my doors off. He switched lanes five times that I could observe, nearly creaming some poor teenager in his Honda Accord. Ahhh well, there's always tomorrow. Maybe I'll try the "Squirrel Hill Tunnel Pick" Tom's so fond of. : )

Thursday, December 04, 2003

Tonight, on my drive home, I noticed a tractor trailer hauling (a) a garbage truck compactor -- you know, the huge cavity that sits on the back of a garbage truck and (b) a military camouflage truck used primarily to transport troops. My question? What in the world could that combination be used for? Hmmmm.

Monday, December 08, 2003

What is it with telephone fundraisers these days? I thought I had finally broken free from the uninvited calls when I signed up for the "no call" list. Not so. Now I find myself barraged with fundraisers. It's irritating on an entirely new level. I feel badly that I can't give money to every organization that calls me and yet I'm also getting increasingly irritated with all of these people calling me with an intro script that runs for five minutes. I can't get a word in edgewise and it would be impolite to simply cut them off. Wouldn't it? Maybe I'm just too nice.

Here's a new scheme by collection agencies, while we're on the subject of unsolicited calls. Evidently, they now have autodialers that search for deadbeat phone numbers and begin calling and leaving messages about a "very personal matter that requires urgent attention." They leave an 800 number with someone's name you should ask for when calling. I guess one deadbeat had my phone number at one time. How lovely. I did a reverse lookup online to trace the 800 number and it came back the Credit Bureau of Erie. Just wanted to pass this one along in case it happens to you.

December 17, 2003

Merry Ho Ho and all of that good rot! I find myself sick for the second time since Thanksgiving with this insidious flu, cold, cough, fever, aches, fatigue thing. I take vitamins every day. I watch what I eat and try to get plenty of rest. So why me? Dammit. This blows. Not that I'm a pessimist but I'm sure the rest of my family will have it just in time for Christmas and New Years. Once again I'll be rustling up dinner for the family and handing out Kleenex's. Merry freakin' Christmas, folks. One more thing ... I wish people at work would stop leaving little gifts on my desk each morning. Yet another gift to buy in gratitude for this most festive season. BLAH! Make it stop! Maybe I'm turning into Scrooge. YIKES! May be time to dust off the old Christmas CD's and bring a little spirit into this house. For some reason, that always does the trick. May your holidays be joyful, peaceful, and full of hope.

Friday December 26, 2003

At one point yesterday, amidst the family and the gift giving, I decided I was done with all of the meaningless gift buying and the stress that accompanies it. Maybe it's just me. I spent the past few weeks battling the flu/cold onslaught, mustering up enough strength to go out once again to find that perfect gift, and ending up buying something (anything) to place under the tree. I am not a big shopper to begin with so enduring several weeks of crowded stores, annoying shoppers, and traffic is NOT my idea of a good time. Add to that the look of utter complacency my family had when opening those gifts and you have an idea of what drove me to this decision. Did I forget to mention that my Sister gave me and my parents IDENTICAL gift suggestions for her daughters? Imagine their unbridled glee in opening not one but two of the same freaking perfume! The very same perfume I stood in a line 20 minutes to buy! BAH HUMBUG! Oh, and buying something for my Dad is not unlike Chinese water torture where the freezing water slowly and constantly hits me in the forehead over and over and over again until I finally crack and just buy him socks again. I don't care what my Sister thinks, next year we're doing a grab bag. I refuse to get a list of everything people want; let them be surprised! We can all jot down general interests and sizes and go from there. This is the last time. I mean it. **Stomping around** No, really, it is. I swear on my first gift's grave!

Thursday January 1, 2004

I cannot believe it's the new year already. Honestly, where did 2003 go? It seems the war in Iraq just began but no, that was back in March. New Year's was once again heralded in at Schmoo's house. Kind of subdued this year. The big party was on December 27th at his pad. Sera brought a huge bowl of super balls and Patti and I ended the evening with a super ball battle in Schmoo's sparse living room. Great fun! You should try it sometime. I won the Dead Pool this year -- all three of my picks died this year (Gregory Peck, Buddy Ebsen, and Bob Hope). I collected my $100 last night. Cool! We didn't pick the 2004 Dead Pool yet since Brian and Debbi couldn't make it to the party. Brian is becoming the Dead Pool Nazi! He wants to set up some elaborate rules for this year's Dead Pool. Sheesh ... just when I was on a roll. Tom said he thought I was dangerous and feared I'd pick one of us for 2004. The Stacey curse, he called it. Too funny. For the first time ever, I'm actually pondering my goals for 2004. I'm not big on resolutions. They're too easy to break. This year, however, I would like to accomplish a few things; namely, quit smoking and start working out again. I'd also like to begin working on a book of short stories that I've been mulling for some time. I need to find a good writing refresher course so I've been perusing online writing groups. Good stuff! I feel ready to make a career switch as well which may be very exciting. I finally revamped my resume and posted it on Monster.com. I've received a few inquiries from the usual suspects -- financial advisor positions and sales. BLECH! No thanks. I'm feeling healthy and ready to take on 2004 with a renewed spirit. This is going to be an exciting year. I'm also ready to start dating again. HOO HA! Line up, ladies! Happy New Year to all!

Wednesday January 21, 2004

It's been cold here for the past few weeks. Perhaps I should elaborate on the word "cold." What I mean by cold is that within moments of stepping outside, my hands are frozen and my breath catches in the back of my throat when the wind picks up. My Jeep churns several times before catching in the morning. Perhaps because it's negative 10 degrees Farenheit with the wind chill. Now that's COLD! The forecast calls for the same long into the horizon and I'm beginning to wonder if I'll ever adjust or someone will find me frozen to my front door handle in the Spring thaw.

I've been having some problems with my furnace staying on which makes the cold mornings downright brisk. I had the heating gurus in today to take a look and they ended up replacing my thermocouple. I had that replaced last year too; evidently by some inept rookie based on the silence followed by head shaking today as Scott peered into the guts of my blower. The furnace has been on without incident for four hours now. Cross your fingers that it's fixed this time. Oh, and a gentle reminder to change your furnace filters. Mine, which hasn't been replaced since last year because it was welded into place (I kid you not), had a fully grown furry animal on its surface. "Hmmmm ... this does NOT look good," was all Scott could muster without breaking into hysterical peels of laughter. I don't know Scott but Scott knows a very good friend of mine and you know how that goes -- people who know someone you know automatically assume you have an identical sense of humor with the aforementioned friend. Not so in this case; however, I did manage a smile when he told me that replacing the filter would definitely help with heating the house faster. *smirk* Something about air actually being able to pass through the device instead of slowing to a standstill.

Let me just say to those of you afraid to relight your pilot lights; it ain't hard. I've done it half asleep at five in the morning for the past eight days. You can certainly master it in broad daylight by reading the instructions. Those Aim-N-Flame lighers are a Godsend. I think I can successfully relight the pilot in my dreams. It's second nature to me now and a possible new occupational path for me. HVAC STACEY has a certain ring to it, don't you think?

Saturday February 7, 2004

It has warmed up, finally, and now we're confronting ice storms and severe flooding. Maybe I just don't remember what last winter was like but it seems to me that this winter has been much worse. No sooner do I scrape and salt the walks when another ice storm heads our way. Last night we got a good four inches of snow on top of the ice. I had to take Zoe to the vet this morning and the roads were awful. My trusty Jeep powered past cars slung sideways on the hills. I passed several accidents. Zoe looked on in amusement from her back seat.

My animals are like my kids. I love them both in ways that's hard to describe. A few months ago, Zoe's eyes started to run. They didn't look infected or anything so I didn't worry. I thought it might be some type of allergy since it began when the weather changed and she started scratching around her neck. A few nights ago, I noticed that she was developing a white film on her left eye. Hmmm ... not good. So, off we went to the vet this morning. She was such a trooper! The vet tested her tear production by placing a strip of paper in the corner of each eye and then measuring the moisture. Next, he numbed her eye and administered a yellow dye. He used a white light to peer into her peepers with the lights off. You could see the patches of milky build up on her corneas. Diagnosis? Pannus.

Evidently, German Shepherds are prone to this disease. There are a few other breeds that get it but 90% are Shepherds. They're not sure why. It has to do with their immune systems malfunctioning in their eyes. Their systems actually begin to attack their own corneas. The vet gave me an antibiotic and some adrenocortical steroid drops that I'll have to administer three times a day to try and head off this outbreak. It's a chronic condition that, left untreated, would lead to blindness. She might still lose her eyesight at some point which ... well, I haven't really embraced yet. She may be on these steroid drops for her remaining life.

Bummer. For sure. I love her like my luggage, that dog. She's such a breath of fresh air. Speaking of which, they advise dogs with pannus stay out of bright sunlight for prolonged periods. Guess we'll have to adjust our summer routine which is to work in the yard all day. She's only six so this may be a long haul. Wish us luck!

Sunday March 14, 2004

The Zoe eye saga continues. It's been over a month and we cut back on the steroid drops but this morning her eyes have that runny green stuff again which indicates a possible infection. *Sigh* I feel so bad for her. I hope we can get this under control soon. On a funnier note, I did find some doggie eye sunglasses for her. She looks so darned cute in them. They call them Doggles and you can find their online shop to take a look. She's quite the bitchin' babe at the dog park. I really need to get a photo of her to post.

I was really saddened by the recent developments in Madrid, Spain. Ten bombs exploded last week on several commuter trains that killed more than 200 people. Disgusting. They still aren't sure who did it but there are two theories right now: one points the finger at ETA, an extremist group in Spain that hasn't been active for several years and the other points toward Al Qaida. I'm betting on the latter since Spain has been helping rebuild Iraq. They're such destructive and cowardly bastards. They continue to wreak havoc in Iraq too and documents revealing a quest to begin a civil war were supposedly uncovered several months ago. I say "supposedly" because our intell services could very well plant stories like that to take the heat off of a very hot kitchen. There were some very intense bombings in Iraq last month that left hundreds dead during an Iraqi celebration. The constitution was signed, finally, in hopes for some form of governing council/document. Formal elections are a ways off, unfortunately.

Things have really heated up in the run for President and the topic of gay marriages. I may take some heat for this position but I'll say it anyhow. I think the gay activists are taking the wrong approach in requiring gay marriage legalization. It's that word "marriage" that gets everyone's panties in a bunch, especially the average Joe's and Josephine's who take it as an assault on their religious institution - as sick and ailing as that institution may be with a 50% failure rate for hetero marriages. We should be fighting for equal rights, period. Call 'em civil unions or lifelong hell certificates, I don't really care. Just give gay and lesbian couples equal rights under Federal and State laws. As it stands today, gay/lesbian couples are not entitled to more than 1500 Federal rights. That's pretty sad. And hey, if we're game for a lifelong commitment in this lifetime and all that goes with it, why not grant us those rights?

George Bush is a ninny and heterosexual supremist. Maybe now, some can see him for the war mongering, angry, and intolerant President he is. Let the facts speak for themselves. I need not say more.

Here's looking forward to a Spring to rival all Springs! I cannot wait for warmer weather.

Thursday April 15, 2004

The weather is starting to warm here although my health has apparently gone down the crapper. So strange that a month ago I wrote to a dear friend and told her that I felt like something bad was going to happen with my health and then, last week, the bomb dropped. I had been having severe stomach pains for two days before calling my doctor's office. As I explained my symptoms, she urged me to go to the emergency room for treatment - definitely not the flu.

After several hours of poking and prodding and a CT scan, I was diagnosed with a case of diverticulitis, an infection of my lower intestine. I was in so much pain that I could barely walk upright and they put me on two courses of antibiotics and a diet of clear liquids for a few days. That was last week and I'm still feeling pretty bad. I can only eat a little bit of food and have dropped nearly 10 pounds. Guess they also noticed a few small spots on my liver so I have to schedule an MRI soon in addition to a colonoscopy which sounds dreadful.

It's funny (not ha ha funny, but strange funny) how you start to really think about a lot of things that never would have entered your mind before becoming ill. Things like, I really need to do a will. And who would care for my cat and dog if something happened to me? Grander still, what's really important to me in life?

Of course only being able to lie on your back for a few weeks allows you plenty of time to ponder such things. It's all a little bit overwhelming and scary to be perfectly honest. I'm thankful for my family and my friends. They've been so supportive throughout this ordeal.

Wishing you, dear reader, much health and prosperity in this most lovely of Springs. If you're the praying type, I can use all of the well wishes you can cull from da big guy. *wink*

Tuesday May 11, 2004

I guess this is turning into the monthly update. That's okay. You only get the most pertinent facts that way, right? I'm feeling much, much better these days although still not back to normal. I'm pretty careful about what foods I eat but haven't experienced much pain which is a real bonus. Of course, I'm already starting to forget most of the ugliness and pain from a month ago. The "forget pain factor" allows women to have children after experiencing childbirth which, I read somewhere, having a bout of diverticulitis feels like. Uh huh ... YOW!

I found this really cool web message site with all sorts of health information from everyday Joe's and Josephine's. It has a whole section devoted to gut ailments which I found particularly useful. One of the regular contributors mentioned that he started taking these things called probiotics which are basically SUPER DUPER doses of live enzymes that live in your intestinal tract. Yogurt has them too but in really small amounts. I ordered some from a web site called The Garden of Life. I've only been taking them for a few days but they seem to help with my digestion. They're really good for people who suffer from acid reflux and other digestive ailments. The brand I take is called Primal Defense and it is rated very highly. Hell, I'll try anything to avoid another bout of that diver!

I was able to get out and start some weeding this weekend after I cut both lawns. My energy level has been a little low so I can only do about 60% of the typical weekend warrior chores I used to tackle. It felt so good to get my hands dirty again. I can't wait to plant my veggies and flowers.

Scheduled an appointment with a dog opthamologist in June for Zoe. Her eye pannus has been under control but now she has this weird cloud on one of her eyes that appears to be on the inside of her cornea. My regular vet, awesome guy that he is, wasn't sure what it was and wanted to call in the experts. Hope this doesn't cost an arm and a leg but we'll do what's necessary for her. Otherwise, she and Fred (the cat) are doing great although I could stand a night without their furry hot bodies pressed against me in this sweltering heat. Time to put the A/C unit in the window, I guess.

They held the first Senate hearings today on the Iraq prisoner abuse scandal. My two cents? This stuff happens all the time and has been part of wartime and so-called peacekeeping missions for centuries. The fact that we now have digital cameras and instant methods of transmitting images was the cat that ate the mouse. I feel for these grunt level schmucks who will inevitably take the fall and serve as a symbol to those will follow in their footsteps. This war is ugly and becoming more so each week. It needs to be over. Soon. And yet, we can't just walk out because civil war would ensue. They're still talking about handing over power to the Iraqi's in June. Sadr's thugs seem to be calming down a bit now that the Iraqi forces have resumed power in some cities. Let's hope it stays that way and that poor nation can resume some sense of normalcy. I sense bad things, unspeakable things, coming our way this Fall. Bin Laden and his followers were just warming up when they struck America. This time, it's going to be worse. Am I a pessimist? No, not really. I'm a realist. The writing's on the wall, folks. Be alert.

Well, wasn't this the cheeriest little post? Sorry. Sometimes this democracy makes me want to puke.

Tuesday June 29, 2004

Since I haven't been the best poster and since these long entries are beginning to get out of control, I thought a web journal program might help me stay up to date with my cranial aberrations. You have to click to reach my online web journal now but ... you can also leave me comments. How freaking cool is THAT?! Those folks at Bravenet rock. Enjoy! Use the View My Web Journal button below.