Wench's Thoughts

Man I've been gone!

2007-06-30T02:39:00.000-04:00

I really should have blogged more!

UPDATE:
Johns still not well, but he's better. He's working and has insurance again.

I have 2 jobs now, neither have insurance, but I like them both - pays crap tho. *shrug* I guess you can't have a great paying job and like it too... I prefer being happy.

My youngest has graduated HS, my middle graduates college in Aug.

My van died and I had to buy a new car... went with a Toyota Yaris and love it!

I just realized I had to set permissions for ppl to comment to my blog so I missed Ethnes comment made last October! Sheesh!

Hope all my friends are well =)

The Clock is Always Ticking

2006-10-16T11:33:00.000-04:00

So, more time has passed since I was here last. But that's what time does... keeps moving forward. (Duh).

I've had several computer classes since my post in May. In fact, I have 3 students who keep coming back each month. I gave up trying to follow a curriculum with them, it's easier to go at their pace. It’s fun and frustrating at the same time. What seems simple to me is not so simple to them, and it’s not always about the obvious, its little things like someone’s desktop has a different picture than theirs. And seniors are afraid they will blow the computer up if they touch the wrong key. I mostly try to get them to understand there isn’t any thing to be afraid of.

I'm getting ready for another photography contest. I'm entering a few photos but I'm also in charge of the event itself. I have nothing to do with the judging, nor do I know the judges so I am able to enter the contest too.

And something fun - the city employees are wearing pedometers and keeping a daily log of their steps, we're having contests with prizes for the winners and the best thing is... you make yourself exercise more. I sure needed that incentive! Now I just need someone to pull me out of my desk chair on weekends!

Johns been sick since June, at first we thought it was a bad case of heartburn or gurt... but it’s something more than that. He has a hard time keeping food down, gets tired easy, and has no energy or strength. He's lost 60 pounds or more since this began and none of the doctors seem at all interested in finding out what’s wrong. Maybe cause we don’t have health insurance. We were able to get a doctor to line up some tests for him but they can't be done until November 21st... Seems like a long time to have to wait. He can eat some foods and drinks allot of beef/chicken broth. That helps a bit. I want them to run tests for some diseases that ticks carry, because he was working outside for a long time - but he has lost his job due to not being there every day. Also someone suggested he be tested for Chromes disease. I hope they figure it out.

Well that’s it for this time! Until the clock ticks some more!
Toodles.

Good Lord It's Been A While!

2006-08-02T22:33:00.000-04:00

The summer is just whizzin by and I can't make it stop! I haven't even been to the beach once and I only live about 5 miles from it. I have tickets to go see a local production of Oklahoma! this Saturday and I'll bet I won't get to make that either!
Work Work Work and lovin it!

I had my annual 4th of July party again this year and the food was delisious. The Friends Great and The Family ummm ooooo Fantastick! LOL (We kept it small). We went to the lake that evening and shot off a ton of fireworks. I always enjoy that part almost as much as the left overs!

Ta ta for now!

The Grass is Always Greener...

2006-05-31T23:49:00.000-04:00

The Grass is Always Greener...
Originally uploaded by NC Wench.

It looks like a zebra in greens. My boyfriend fertilized it for me and he didn't follow the tire tracks of the spreader, in fact his exact words were ... "Don't worry, the fertilizer will spread out as it gets wet" And me being a bit older (and sometimes wiser...ok, maybe just older with more experience at least!) tried to explain how it works, but he was having nothing to do with it. After-all he used to work for a landscaping company right?!

SO... fast forward to this past weekend, my kids have all come to take me to dinner and see The DaVinci Code (My belated mothersday because I HAD to see this movie) and my youngest daughter is walking around the yard showing her boyfriend my gardens and she stops in the middle of the lawn. And I say to John "Watch, she's gonna ask whats wrong with the grass" and thankfully he has a good sense of humor and lets me pick on him, and sure enough Holland says "Mom, whats up with your grass?" So I said we're just going for the zebra look this year.

Anyway... Since I don't actually want to say "I told you so..." bought two more bags of fertilizer AND a bag of powdered lime dust so this time when he spreads it he can see where the heck he's been!

And the lime will kill off fleas, ticks and help with the fireants.
______________

In other news:
NC had it's first power ball today. I bought three tickets. I lost three times. But I'm hooked. :D
______________

My middle child has moved into her own apartment today with two other girls. I'm excited for her.
______________

My youngest had her Junior/Senior prom last weekend and her and her boyfriend opted to rent a limo, get dressed up and go to dinner and then skip the dance and just go to the after parties. They plan to go next year though because they'll be seniors then. (I hope she doese cause I think she will always wish she had if she doesn't.)
______________

Work is going well and I'm busy every minute I'm there except on most Fridays... almost as slow as Saturdays there unless some special event is planned. BUT... we got in 3 new computers and now are setting up a 5 pc computer lab so we can offer some classes, which I will be teaching. I'm looking forward to that. I also wish I could get 8 hours a day instead of 5... and health insurance would be nice. Oh and paid holidays and one week of vacation time with pay. Is that asking too much? My towns government thinks so.

*Sigh*

Sorry I've been gone so long.

Interesting...

2006-04-02T11:30:00.000-04:00

Ready For Planting
Originally uploaded by NC Wench.

Yesterday was the Spring Bike Run here in BSL. They were raising money for the police memorial landscaping to be done in Memory of BSL Police Officer Mitch Prince. He was shot to death last year by an idiot. The trial has been going on for the past 2 weeks and Friday they found the idiot guilty of first degree murder.

My thoughts on this case
I thought first degree murder was when you actually *planned* the murder before hand. Actually gave it some thought over a period of time.

I'm thinking the idiot deserves the death penalty. I think it should be an automatic sentence if you kill a law enforcement officer no matter how much thought went into it.

I'm just a little confused though that everyone is so angry that this idiot took Mitch's life that they are over looking the fact that this was not premeditated unless a 10 minute fight and grabbing of the gun makes it that way. If that's the case why aren't more people being convicted of first degree murder?

I dunno...like I said, he deserves the death penalty anyway. But how we got to this stage of it is a little upsetting to my sense of the law.

Below is the local news paper article

MANESS GUILTY
First-degree murder verdict; sentencing next week

By Ken Little
Staff Writer
ken.little@starnewsonline.com

WHAT’S NEXT
The sentencing phase of the Darrell W. Maness trial begins Monday in Brunswick County Superior Court. Maness family members are expected to testify for the defense, which will try to establish mitigating factors that favor a prison sentence of life without parole, as opposed to the death penalty.

Darrell W. Maness took the life of Boiling Spring Lakes police Officer Mitch Prince, and a Brunswick County Superior Court jury now will decide if Maness dies.

Jurors deliberated about two hours Friday before finding Maness, 20, guilty of first-degree murder for the shooting of Prince early Jan. 18, 2005, after a traffic stop on N.C. 87 near Sunny Point.

Maness, who was also found guilty of seven other felonies in connection with his actions afterward, looked down and dabbed tears as the verdict was announced.
Loud sobs from Maness’ mother, Annette Tidwell, echoed through the courtroom

Sitting behind District Attorney Rex Gore and other prosecutors, Prince’s parents hugged, and his wife, Pamela, held the hand of mother Daphine Prince.

After two weeks of witness testimony, the trial enters a sentencing phase Monday. The jury of seven men and five women must decide between execution or life in prison without parole.

Jurors paid attention to the testimony of 16 prosecution witnesses, Gore said outside the courtroom.

“The state agrees with their decision in every verdict, and we will move on to the next stage,” Gore said. “This jury made the right decisions.”

Prince’s immediate family left the courtroom quickly and without comment.
“They still have a lot to sort out,” Gore said.

Rick Miller, of the N.C. Capital Defender’s Office, attempted to comfort Tidwell after the murder verdict was handed down. The defense never denied Maness shot Prince but sought a second-degree murder conviction.

“We’ve got work to do, and we’re looking forward to presenting our side to the jury next week,” Miller said.

Prosecutors focused during the trial on the brutality of the crime and what they said was premeditation and deliberation by Maness. Testimony showed Maness struck Prince on the head with a bottle and stunned him before gaining control of the officer’s Glock service weapon. Prince pleaded for his life before being shot three times at close range, two witnesses in the car with Maness testified last week.

The defense put just one witness on the stand, a psychiatrist who interviewed Maness and studied his school and social services records. Maness has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, had a nightmarish childhood and was addicted to marijuana, Moira Artigues testified.

In 1986, Maness’ father killed a retired police officer in Alamance County. Darrell E. Maness, 44, is serving a life sentence. Artigues testified the younger Maness was not capable of forming the “specific intent” to kill Prince.

Prosecutors said Maness fired on three officers after shooting Prince. Maness said he had “blacked out” but also made several incriminating statements during a videotaped interview with a State Bureau of Investigation agent after his arrest. The tape was introduced into evidence and shown to jurors this week.

Maness was a probation violator with a misdemeanor conviction for selling marijuana and told the SBI agent he didn’t want to go back to jail. He said in the videotape that he panicked during the confrontation with Prince and “wanted to get rid of him.”

Richard White, chief of the Boiling Spring Lakes Police Department, sat through the month-long jury selection process in Columbus County and every day of trial testimony. He said Friday that Prince’s death affected the lives of many people, and he strongly supports the death penalty for Maness.

“There is more to executions than justice for the dead. There is also protection for the living. Darrell Maness deserves the ultimate punishment our society has to offer,” White said. “It is my view that pursuing a death sentence in this case is appropriate. There is no adequate and acceptable alternative.”

The jury found Maness guilty of two counts each of attempted first-degree murder, assault with a firearm on a law enforcement officer and assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill. He also was found guilty of robbery with a firearm in connection with the shooting of Prince.

Maness was found not guilty of one count each of attempted first-degree murder, assault with a firearm on a law enforcement officer and assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill.

Ken Little: 343-2389
ken.little@starnewsonline.com

And He's An Elected Official!

2006-03-04T14:22:00.000-05:00

The Long Walk Home - If You're A Snail...
Originally uploaded by NC Wench.

So much ignorance in the world... and hatred.

__________________________

Surviving family members of Claude Welch who died of a heart attack are suing a West Virginia police chief after the police chief physically prevented his friend from performing CPR. The police chief blocked the CPR because he falsely assumed that the man, who was gay, was HIV positive and therefore a health risk.

"I'm heartbroken that I have lost my son over such ignorance and bigotry," said Helen Green, mother of Claude Green, Jr., who died at the age of 43. "I can't understand how someone who is supposed to protect the people of Welch could physically block another human from saving my son's life."

The ACLU filed a lawsuit on behalf of the surviving family members of Claude Green, Jr. against the City of Welch and Robert K. Bowman, Welch's Chief of Police. The lawsuit charges that Bowman discriminated against Green by preventing others from providing life-saving medical care to Green because of his sexual orientation and/or perceived HIV status.

Green suffered a heart attack while driving with Billy Snead, a friend, last summer. Snead was performing CPR by the side of the road when Bowman arrived and told him to stop because Green was HIV positive. Although Snead didn't stop, Bowman physically barred him from continuing CPR at a critical point in Green's resuscitation. Snead, who had not realized at first that Bowman was a police officer, obeyed his commands.

While Green fought to stay alive, Bowman prevented anyone else from aiding Green until EMS workers arrived. As they were putting Green in the ambulance, Bowman informed EMS workers that Green was HIV positive. EMS workers ignored Bowman's warnings and performed CPR, but he passed away shortly after arriving at the hospital. He did not have HIV.

The finished product!

2006-03-02T23:51:00.000-05:00

The finished product!
Originally uploaded by NC Wench.

GINGER - MAPLE PUMPKIN BISQUE

1 sugar pumpkin, 4 - 4½ lbs (or 3 cans of pumpkin, but be sure not to get the pumpkin pie filling, that's got sugar in it)
4 TBSP (½ stick) butter
1 medium or large onion (I prefer to use the purple kind because it's a bit sweeter, but not a vidalia, which is too sweet for this)
1½ TBSP peeled and chopped fresh ginger
5 cups of chicken broth (you can use home made or - I prefer to use the garlic and herb swansons variety)
2 TBSP Garlic Powder
1 TBSP Onion Powder
½ cup of heavy whipping cream
3 TBSP pure Maple Syrup. preferably dark or amber
¼ tsp cayenne pepper
salt & pepper to taste

1. If using a fresh sugar pumpkin - Preheat oven to 375. Cut open the top and scoop out seeds and fiber (save seeds to bake if you like). Put the top of pumpkin back on and bake in the oven for 30 minutes. Let stand until cool enough to handle. Cut pumpkin into wedges and peel off skin; it comes off pretty easy after baking. Cut pumpkin into 1 inch cubes. Measure out 6 cups. You can freeze the left overs for other recipes.

2. In a large pot, melt the butter over medium heat (that's the #3 on my stove) add the chopped onions and ginger. Cook until translucent - about 10 minutes. Stir occasionally. Once translucent, add the pumpkin and chicken broth, bring to a boil then remove from heat. Cool down a bit and then fill your blender half way up and puree the mix. Once pureed add to a LARGE bowl and continue until pot is empty.

3. Pour large bowl of mix back into pot and add cream, maple syrup and cayenne. Simmer for 10 min adding salt and pepper to taste. Serve hot alone or with sandwiches.

Great for beta-carotene!
______________________________________

A Letter From MoveOn.Org

Dear MoveOn member,

If you are active in a local civic or community group that depends on email to communicate with members, we need your help now—as we work to stop AOL's email tax.

AOL's proposed email tax would give membership groups a horrible choice: pay for every email sent to "guarantee" delivery, or face an increasing number of legitimate emails going undelivered.

This week, a diverse coalition was formed to stop AOL's email tax. Our 50-member coalition representing 15 million people was reported on in over 400 media outlets across the world, 100,000 people read our Open Letter to AOL online, and 300,000 people have signed MoveOn's petition. Our voices are being heard—now help us make them louder.

Let's grow our coalition against AOL's email tax from 50 member organizations to 500. Can you help recruit local organizations you are part of? Individuals (like you) and organizations can sign our coalition's Open Letter to AOL at:

http://www.dearaol.com/

When AOL was confronted with your criticism of its proposed pay-to-send system, AOL spokesman Nicholas Graham told the Associated Press, "There is no substantive news here...some disparate groups of advocates have come together for an event reminiscent of the bar scene in the first 'Star Wars' movie." AOL doesn't yet realize regular people can make a difference. AOL, meet MoveOn.

We know many MoveOn members are small business owners or are active in community groups—PTAs, local environmental groups, religious groups, charities, and others. Many groups you belong to depend on email to communicate and would lose their effectiveness in the world AOL is proposing—where the only ones who get reliable email service are giant bulk-mailers who can afford to pay for every email sent.

For example, after quoting AOL's attempt to marginalize our broad coalition with the "bar scene" comment, the Associated Press described one of our coalition partners—a free online network for cancer patients which cannot afford AOL's email tax, but which also cannot afford the life-and-death consequences if their emails aren't reliably delivered to cancer patients.

Another coalition partner is Craig Newmark, founder of Craigslist. Like MoveOn, Craigslist started small and never would have gotten off the ground if AOL's pay-to-send policy had been in effect. The magic of the Internet is that it is free and open to everybody—so small ideas can become big ideas. AOL's email tax is a direct threat to the free and open Internet, creating a two-tier system that leaves the little guy behind.

That's why we formed a big coalition—and need it to get bigger. Already, it includes state organizations like the North Carolina Harm Reduction Center, Marlyland League of Conservation Voters, and Californians Against Waste in addition to national groups such as the AFL-CIO, Gun Owners of America, the Humane Society, the Association of Cancer Online Resources, the Democratic National Committee, Democracy for America, the Community HIV/AIDS Mobilization Project, Free Press, The Electronic Frontier Foundation, Friends of the Earth, and others.

Please help us save the free and open Internet by growing our coalition from 50 member organizations to 500. Please reach out to organizations you are a part of. Individuals and organizations can sign our coalition's Open Letter to AOL at:

http://www.dearaol.com/

Thanks for all you do.

–Eli Pariser, Noah T. Winer, Adam Green, and the MoveOn.org Civic Action team
Thursday, March 2nd, 2006

P.S. Please be sure to sign the open letter at www.dearaol.com and if you have a website or blog, please consider helping the cause by posting this "Stop AOL's email tax" graphic on your site:

http://www.dearaol.com/action

I Love Boston Legal

2006-02-28T23:11:00.000-05:00

When Jonny Comes Marchin' Home Again Hurah Hurah
Originally uploaded by NC Wench.

Ever watched the show "Boston Legal"? Its fabulous. And it's for us liberal hearted folks, and that's the part that surprises me. You'd think a show about lawyers in BOSTON would be very staunchly STUFFY! Either its hollywood, or, because Boston is one of this countries founding cities, they try to keep what this country is about alive. Either way, I love the show. And tonights episode about an employer who fires one of his workers because she smokes at home (not on the job, but at home) was a good indication of where our civil liberties are going. When an employer can dictate what we do on our off time, you have to ask your self "WHERE THE HELL AM I?"

1984? Or was it Animal Farm? Can't remember - itber, but they were both required reading back in highschool. One of them was all about how your always being watched. It was suppose to represent Russia at one time... but I think it's representing us now.

If anyone reads my blog, please start paying attention to what is happening in our country and vote, shout, be heard!

Dick Buttons needs to retire!

2006-02-23T21:26:00.000-05:00

The Invitation
Originally uploaded by NC Wench.

Honestly the man has nothing nice to say about anyone. Or if he should say something nice, he then follows it up with something wrong with the girls performance.

Here's a clue Dick... I DON'T FUCKING CARE IF SOMEONE IS OUT OF SHAPE, I'M HERE TO WATCH THEM SKATE SO SHUT THE HELL UP!

Phewwww that felt good.
_______________________
It's hard to know whether to laugh or weep about the following.
________________________________________________

Saddam was a good guy when Reagan armed him, a bad guy when Bush's daddy made war on him, a good guy when Cheney did business with him and a bad guy when Bush needed a "we can't find Bin Laden" diversion.

Trade with Cuba is wrong because the country is communist, but trade with China and Vietnam is vital to a spirit of international harmony.

A woman can't be trusted with decisions about her own body, but multinational corporations can make decisions affecting all mankind without regulation.

Jesus loves you, and shares your hatred of homosexuals and Hillary Clinton.

The best way to improve military morale is to praise the troops in speeches while slashing veterans' benefits and combat pay.

If condoms are kept out of schools, adolescents won't have sex.

Providing health care to all Iraqis is sound policy. Providing health care to all Americans is socialism.

HMOs and insurance companies have the best interests of the public at heart.

Global warming and tobacco's link to cancer are junk science, but creationism should be taught in schools.

A president lying about an extramarital affair is an impeachable offense.

A president lying to enlist support for a war in which thousands die is solid defense policy.

Government should limit itself to the powers named in the Constitution, which include banning gay marriages and censoring the Internet.

The public has a right to know about Hillary's cattle trades, but George Bush's cocaine conviction is none of our business.

Being a drug addict is a moral failing and a crime, unless you're a conservative radio host. Then it's an illness, and you need our prayers for your recovery.

You support states' rights, which means Attorney General Gonzalez can tell states what local voter initiatives they have the right to adopt.

What Bill Clinton did in the 1960s is of vital national interest, but what Bush did in the '80s is irrelevant.

Robin Hood in reverse

2006-02-03T18:01:00.000-05:00

StarNewsOnline.com | Star-News | Wilmington, NC: "The Republican Congress voted Wednesday to pocket $39.5 billion that was headed for the elderly, the sick, college students and children in one-parent households.

Congress and President Bush want that money � and billions more � so they can make even more tax cuts that will benefit mainly the well off."

If you aren't outraged you aren't paying attention folks!

Wenchita

2006-01-31T19:12:00.000-05:00

wenchita
Originally uploaded by NC Wench.

Just pictures of stuff...

Just wanted to let you know the New Homeland Security Bill has passed. Things will be different now and Internet surfing as you know it will be tracked by what the FBI calls a "non-intrusive method." The FBI says you will not notice anything different.

For a demonstration, click on the link below:

Click here:

Some of my more "interesting" photos according to flickr

2006-01-30T09:38:00.000-05:00

I'm Up To 18 Now... But "My Little Visitor" Has Moved To The #3 Position
Originally uploaded by NC Wench.

1. My Little Visitor, 2. NC State Flower, 3. Yo Dude! You're totally hanging up the traffic here!, 4. Orton Plantation Grounds, 5. Tropical Storm Charlie: Beach Access (B&W) S.E. 53rd St Oak Island, 6. Freedom From Adult Hang-Ups, 7. Mmm That was tastey, where's the next batch?, 8. Meanwhile back at the office party: Ms. Wainwright did NOT appreciate Mr. Horndish's advances., 9. Dancing Gulls At Sunset, 10. A Little Murder With My Morning Coffee, 11. Dyeing Sunflower And Friend, 12. Pathway, 13. Bull Shit Protector, 14. Out for a swim, 15. Neke - Ahhh sleep at last, 16. It's smiling!, 17. Echinacea and Young Green Lynx Spider, 18. grasshopper

To see the photos larger, just click the photograph and it will bring you to the site with the links

Oh and I may have figured out why I'm such a terrivle speller. The english language is pretty hard to learn even for a natural born citizen. Just check these sentences out...

1) The bandage was wound around the wound.

2) The farm was used to produce produce.

3) The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse.

4) We must polish the Polish furniture.

5) He could lead if he would get the lead out.

6) The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert.

7) Since there is no time like the present, he thought it was time to present the present.

8) A bass was painted on the head of the bass drum.

9) When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes.

10) I did not object to the object.

11) The insurance was invalid for the invalid.

12) There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row.

13) They were too close to the door to close it.

14) The buck does funny things when the does are present.

15) A seamstress and a sewer fell down into a sewer line.

16) To help with planting, the farmer taught his sow to sow.

17) The wind was too strong to wind the sail.

18) After a number of injections my jaw got number.

19) Upon seeing the tear in the painting I shed a tear.

20) I had to subject the subject to a series of tests.

21) How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend?

So now you see, it's not as easy for some as it is for others.

Hemp...the original cotton.

2006-01-28T19:45:00.000-05:00

Hemp...the original cotton.
Originally uploaded by NC Wench.

Democrat - You believe that there should be a free

market which is reigned in by a modest state

beaurocracy. You think that capitalism has

some good things, but that those it helps

should be obliged to help out their fellow

man a little. Your historical role model is

Franklin Rosevelt.

Which political sterotype are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

Just trying to be artistic

2006-01-28T11:41:00.000-05:00

Just trying to be artistic
Originally uploaded by NC Wench.

I'm through with standing in line
to clubs we'll never get in
It's like the bottom of the ninth
and I'm never gonna win
This life hasn't turned out
quite the way I want it to be

I want a brand new house
on an episode of Cribs
And a bathroom I can play baseball in
And a king size tub big enough
for ten plus me

I'll need a credit card that's got no limit
And a big black jet with a bedroom in it
Gonna join the mile high club
At thirty-seven thousand feet

I want a new tour bus full of old guitars
My own star on Hollywood Boulevard
Somewhere between Cher and
James Dean is fine for me

I'm gonna trade this life for fortune and fame
I'd even cut my hair and change my name

'Cause we all just wanna be big rockstars
And live in hilltop houses driving fifteen cars
The girls come easy and the drugs come cheap
We'll all stay skinny 'cause we just won't eat
And we'll hang out in the coolest bars
In the VIP with the movie stars
Every good gold digger's
Gonna wind up there
Every Playboy bunny
With her bleach blond hair

Hey hey I wanna be a rockstar
Hey hey I wanna be a rockstar

I wanna be great like Elvis without the tassels
Hire eight body guards that love to beat up assholes
Sign a couple autographs
So I can eat my meals for free

I think I'm gonna dress my ass
with the latest fashion
Get a front door key to the Playboy mansion
Gonna date a centerfold that loves to
blow my money for me

I'm gonna trade this life
For fortune and fame
I'd even cut my hair
And change my name

'Cause we all just wanna be big rockstars
And live in hilltop houses driving fifteen cars
The girls come easy and the drugs come cheap
We'll all stay skinny 'cause we just won't eat
And we'll hang out in the coolest bars
In the VIP with the movie stars
Every good gold digger's
Gonna wind up there
Every Playboy bunny
With her bleach blond hair
And we'll hide out in the private rooms
With the latest dictionary and
today's who's who
They'll get you anything
with that evil smile
Everybody's got a
drug dealer on speed dial
Hey hey I wanna be a rockstar
Hey hey I wanna be a rockstar

I'm gonna sing those songs
that offend the censors
Gonna pop my pills
from a pez dispenser
When they ask why I drink all day
I'll say because I can

I'll get washed-up singers writing all my songs
Lip sync em every night so I don't get 'em wrong
Then listen to the fans tell me how damn good I am

I'm gonna trade this life for fortune and fame
I'd even cut my hair and change my name

'Cause we all just wanna be big rockstars
And live in hilltop houses driving fifteen cars
The girls come easy and the drugs come cheap
We'll all stay skinny 'cause we just won't eat
And we'll hang out in the coolest bars
In the VIP with the movie stars
Every good gold digger's
Gonna wind up there
Every Playboy bunny
With her bleach blond hair

Hey hey I wanna be a rockstar
Hey hey I wanna be a rockstar

(I'd actually be happy with enough money to pay my own way and live comfortably - not richly - and be able to go on vacations every couple of years. And forget fame... I have too many skeletons in my closets!)

Another Cannon - And It's Balls

2006-01-25T18:24:00.000-05:00

Another Cannon - And It's Balls
Originally uploaded by NC Wench.

I finally visited Brunswick Town and Fort Anderson... 5 minutes from my house and I've never been! Why is it that every where I've lived I rarely get to the 'sites' in my own back yard? Well this place was great. I enjoyed the small museum and history of the place as well as the out door sites it offers. Its located right on the Cape Fear river and I swear its the most beautiful place I have ever seen. I wish it were my property.

On another note: What Have I Been Doing In The New Year

Well I finally got over to P.A.W.S. Place, an animal rescue shelter and volunteered my time to them. So I clean dog runs all morning 3 days a week. Play with them, walk them, feed them and love 'em. They need that ya'know. So then the ladies who run it offered to start paying me, so I'm all for that since I am STILL looking for work. BUT *drum roll* I have a SECOND interview with 911 this friday. *Saying a small prayer* I sure hope this is the one!!! Even if I get the job though I will stay with the dogs on my free time because they've given me my smile back. I may even start taking their pictures too LOL!

NORAD Tracks Santa 2005

2005-12-16T15:21:00.000-05:00

This is the 50th Anniversary that NORAD and its predecessor, the Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD) have tracked Santa. The tradition began after a Colorado Springs-based Sears Roebuck & Co. store advertisement for children to call Santa on a special "hotline" included an inadvertently misprinted telephone number. Instead of Santa, the phone number put kids through to the CONAD Commander-in-Chief's operations "hotline." The Director of Operations, Colonel Harry Shoup, received the first "Santa" call on Christmas Eve 1955. Realizing what had happened, Colonel Shoup had his staff check radar data to see if there was any indication of Santa making his way south from the North Pole. Indeed there were signs of Santa and children who called were given an update on Santa's position. Thus, the tradition was born. In 1958, the governments of Canada and the United States decided to create a bi-national air defense command for the North American continent called the North American Air Defense Command. Canada and the U.S. believed they could better defend North America together as a team instead of separately.

The Command carried out its first Santa tracking in 1958 after inheriting the tradition from CONAD. Since that time, Canadian and American men and women who work at NORAD have responded to phone calls from children personally. Additionally, media from all over the world call NORAD on Christmas Eve for updates on Santa's location. Last year this Website was visited by millions of people who wanted to know Santa's whereabouts. This year, the information is provided in six languages.

NORAD relies on many volunteers to help make Santa tracking possible. Many people at Cheyenne Mountain and Peterson Air Force Base spend part of their Christmas Eve with their families and friends at NORAD's Santa Tracking Operations Center in order to answer phones and provide Santa updates to the many thousands of children who call in.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ok well I dunno about ya'all but I cried when i read that. I like things that are done spontaniously out of the kindness of peoples hearts rather than something planned out and with the underlying plan of somehow making money! This is wonderful and if you have kids, or grandkids...or like me, just like the excitement of it - go there and track him starting dec 24th. But also you can go before then and just read all the different things about them!

Pies oh Glorious Pies!

2005-11-30T10:13:00.000-05:00

Pies oh Glorious Pies!
Originally uploaded by NC Wench.

I had a wonderful Thanksgiving and I hope everyone else did too.

This year we had two Butterball boneless turkeys and they were scrumptious! We watched "March of the Penguins" and "Mr & Mrs Smith" and everyone had a great time and no one argued! WOOOOOOOHOOOOO!

Mr Bush is speaking on my TV right now (CNN) and I feel like I'm sitting in church. Am I the only person to notice how much he sounds like a preacher on a pulpit droning on? Droning in a tone that makes you keep looking at your watch wondering if your gonna get out of church early or on time? He does his little speach spin in such a monatone that you quit listening, only telling us what he wants us to know. Blah Blah Blah and no questions please because I don't like the questions you give me, they're too hard for me to answer. I might slip and tell you the truth.

Just shut the fuck up and get off my television because you aren't telling me anything anyway.

Gawd I can't wait till we get a new President.

PONDERISMS

2005-11-10T17:33:00.000-05:00

Good Morning
Originally uploaded by NC Wench.

I used to eat a lot of natural foods until I learned that most people
die of natural causes.

Does pushing the elevator button more than once make it arrive faster?

Gardening Rule: When weeding, the best way to make sure you are
removing a weed and not a valuable plant is to pull on it. If it comes out
of the ground easily, it is a valuable plant.

The easiest way to find something lost around the house is to buy a
replacement.

Never take life seriously. Nobody gets out alive anyway.

There are two kinds of pedestrians: the quick and the dead.

If Jimmy cracks corn and no one cares, why is there a song about him?

Life is sexually transmitted.

Health is merely the slowest possible rate at which one can die.

The only difference between a rut and a grave is the depth.

Do illiterate people get the full effect of Alphabet Soup?

Health nuts are going to feel stupid someday, lying in hospitals dying
of nothing.

Have you noticed since everyone has a camcorder these days no one
talks about seeing UFOs like they used to?

Whenever I feel blue, I start breathing again.

All of us could take a lesson from the weather. It pays no attention
to criticism.

In the 60's & 70's, people took acid to make the world weird. Now the world
is weird and people take Prozac to make it normal.

How is it one careless match can start a forest fire, but it takes a
whole box to start a campfire?

Never brag about your children, they'll be caught doing something soon enough to make you eat your words.

Politics is supposed to be the second oldest profession. I have come
to realize that it bears a very close resemblance to the first.

Blogger: Browser Cookies Disabled

2005-11-05T11:47:00.000-05:00

Blogger: Browser Cookies Disabled

My cookies work just fine damnit and I am fucking SICK of this error msg! Somedays I can blog somedays I have to take the back way in like I'm doing now! SCREW YOU!

*cough*

Ok alllllll better now.

Here's a cute joke

A Texan is drinking in a New York bar when he gets a call on his cell phone. He hangs up, grinning from ear to ear, and orders a round of drinks for everybody in the bar announcing his wife has produced a typical Texas baby boy weighing 25 pounds.
Nobody can believe that any new baby can weigh in at 25 pounds, but the Texan just shrugs. "That's about average down home, folks....like I said, my boy's a typical Texas baby boy."
Congratulations showered him from all around, and many exclamations of "WOW!" We heard one woman actually fainted due to sympathy pains.

Two weeks later he returns to the bar. The bartender says, "Say you're the father of that typical Texas baby that weighed 25 pounds at birth. Everybody's been making bets about how big he'd be in two weeks. So how much does he weigh now?
The pound father answers, "Seventeen pounds". The bartender is puzzled, concerned, and a little suspicious. "What happened? He weighed 25 pounds the day he was born!"
The Texas father takes a slow swig from his long-neck Lone Star beer, wipes his lips on his shirt sleeve, leans into the bartender and proudly says, "Had'm circumcised"

Texans always think everything in Texas is bigger...mostly it's just thier imaginations that are bigger!

;D

Give 'Em Hell Harry

2005-11-04T12:15:00.000-05:00

It's Time To Get Involved!

Hey guys

George Bush needs to lay out the facts about Iraq and his strategy to achieve military, political and economic success to bring our troops home. He needs to know this failure of leadership cannot continue.

Join me and tell George Bush: You can no longer mislead Congress and the American people. It's time for an Iraq success strategy that will bring our troops home. Join me by visiting:

http://giveemhellharry.com/page/petition/iraq
I signed and you should too.

Thanks!

BRING THEM HOME!

2005-11-02T20:58:00.000-05:00

The Butterfly Bush Looks Pretty In It's Last Blooms
Originally uploaded by NC Wench.

No more shell games. No more false reports of progress. No more misleading rhetoric about "staying as long as it takes."

It's time for the American people to demand that George W. Bush put forward a clear understandable plan for achieving America's goals in Iraq and bringing the vast majority of our troops home by the end of 2006.

The time is overdue for a plan with a clarity and vision equal to the valor and sacrifices of America's brave armed forces. Help make that kind of plan a reality by supporting our "20,000 troops home over the holidays" campaign. We're kicking off this vitally important initiative with a clear goal - collecting 20,000 signatures a day each and every day until Thanksgiving.

Sign our "20,000 home over the holidays" petition right now:
http://www.johnkerry.com/action/20000

It won't be easy to achieve our goal. But, every day that we gather another 20,000 Americans to our side, we'll be upping the pressure on the Bush administration to come up with the concrete, detailed plan for Iraq that our fighting men and women deserve.

North Carolina Flickr

2005-10-26T18:52:00.000-04:00

Too cool! This site has all the different NC flickr photo groups. Lots and LOTS of photos to see. "Carolina's" is a group I started because I'm so close to the South Carolina state line as well, and thought others might want to join in.

Have a look see sometime.

Western Thoughts

2005-10-20T11:38:00.000-04:00

Western Thoughts
Originally uploaded by Tirau Dan.

This is one of those "Hmmm" moments for me. I hear that Congress and Mr. Bush want to pass (a law?) that basically takes away the right to bring a law suite against manufactureres of guns unless it's to do with the gun breaking or something of that sort, what they intend is that you can't sue if someone takes an AK47 and shoots your family down at the local hamburger joint.

Now the reason I say it's a "Hmmm" moment is this... I myself wouldn't think of sueing the manufacturer of the gun, but apparently others have because of course regular people should not be able to buy those kinds of guns. Ok that makes sense... but not completely. How did the manufacturer put the gun into the 'regular' persons hands? Next we have the "Hamburger Bill" which again, takes away the right to sue fast food joints for your obesity... we need a bill for this? Why can't the judge laugh in the fat persons face and tell them to get off their ass and excersise? I'm not skinny...but I know that if I eat at McDonalds I'll gain weight, and if I walk around the block twice a day I'll loose weight. Do you need a higher education to figure that out? Do we need a bill to tell folks we won't allow frivolouse law suites?

So here's the last one... why can I sue the manufacturer of cigarettes then? They don't force me to smoke. They didn't give the smokes for free. If one law suite is frivolouse and the other is not, you (Congress) need to explaine to me why that is. Because apparently I don't have enough education in the Art of Bull Shit to understand the reasoning behind this one.

Just remember folks... the right to bare arms could have meant the right to go without a jacket!

The Bastards Passed The Bill

2005-10-03T22:38:00.000-04:00

Perfectly round
Originally uploaded by NC Wench.

Briefing Paper on Congressman Pombo's Endangered Species Bill

Contact: Michael Bean, Environmental Defense, 202-387-3500

This Wednesday (September 21), Congressman Richard Pombo will hold hearings on HR 3824 – The Threatened and Endangered Species Recovery Act of 2005. The bill could be voted on as early as next week.

This bill would severely damage endangered species recovery efforts and undermine 30 years of progress under the Endangered Species Act.

The bill is available at: http://resourcescommittee.house.gov/.

Environmental Defense opposes HR 3824 for three primary reasons: (1) it will make the recovery of endangered species less likely, rather than more likely; (2) it will weaken, rather than strengthen, the quality of scientific decision-making under the Endangered Species Act (ESA); and (3) it will drain tax dollars away from already short-changed conservation efforts.

In short, this bill will tie endangered species recovery in an endless supply of bureaucratic red tape and starve it of the resources it needs to succeed. Congressman Pombo has criticized the ESA for being a bureaucratic, oppressive and ineffective law. His bill would make those claims true.

HR 3824 reduces the prospects for recovering species.
Representative Pombo has long criticized the Endangered Species Act because few species have recovered and been taken off the endangered list (though many others are clearly making progress toward that goal). Ironically, the Pombo bill makes the recovery of species less likely rather than more. This is virtually guaranteed by three provisions of the bill.

The first allows environmentally harmful actions to proceed if the Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service cannot evaluate them within a 90 day review period. Already, the cash-strapped Services are unable to meet many of the deadlines imposed on them. The new review deadline will exacerbate this problem for the Services, with the altogether new consequence that if the Services cannot review a proposed action within the deadline, the action can proceed – even if the result would make recovery unattainable.

The second provision undercutting prospects for recovery includes changes to the provision of the law requiring regulations for “threatened” species. Current law requires regulations that meet a highly protective standard (“necessary and advisable for the conservation” of the species). The Pombo bill eliminates any requirement for regulations protecting threatened species at all. If regulations are nevertheless promulgated, they no longer have to meet the existing protective standard.

The third provision putting new obstacles in the path to recovery are changes that make it harder for federal agencies to cooperate in the implementation of recovery plans. Currently, federal agencies often take on important tasks to implement recovery plans. Under the Pombo bill, they would be prevented from doing so unless they first enter into a draft agreement outlining what they intend to do, publish that draft agreement for public comment, and then publish both a final agreement and responses to all public comments received.

None of these bureaucratic obstacles to the voluntary implementation of recovery plans by federal agencies currently exists. All will add red tape to interagency cooperation, making implementation more costly and ultimately less likely. .

HR 3824 will weaken the scientific foundation for decision-making.
The Pombo bill purports to strengthen the scientific basis for decision-making under the ESA, but its practical impact will be the opposite. The Pombo bill does nothing to increase the capacity of the Services to generate or evaluate scientific information: it offers no new resources and no new relief from already difficult-to-meet deadlines. Instead, the Pombo bill will saddle the agencies with a host of new procedural requirements that must be met within those same decision deadlines.

HR 3824 will drain taxpayer dollars away from effective conservation efforts.
Although the federal endangered species program has never had enough resources to accomplish its aims, the Pombo bill will divert scarce resources away from effective conservation. Particularly egregious is a new requirement that the federal government pay a businesses or other private interests whenever it identifies a proposed activity that would result in the taking of an endangered species. The business or private interest does not need to have either the actual capacity to carry out the proposed activity, or the necessary approvals to do so (such as state or local permits).The claimant only needs to say he or she proposes to undertake the activity. This provision will not only waste taxpayer dollars but will also dramatically undercut the utility of habitat conservation plans. At present, those plans allow projects to go forward that result in the taking of endangered species, subject to mitigation requirements that can often be creatively designed to be more useful to conservation than simply foregoing the project. The Pombo bill pulls the rug from under this sensible approach, replacing creative mitigation opportunities with a requirement that the government compensate the project proponent for foregoing the project.

Congressman Pombo's effort to overhaul the ESA is based on faulty assumptions
A peer-reviewed analysis by Environmental Defense concluded that more than 50% of U.S. species listed as endangered or threatened under the Endangered Species Act before 2000, and almost two-thirds of species listed for 13 years or more, have stabilized or are improving. Further, species whose recovery efforts received significant funding are more likely to be improving.

The article can be downloaded here in PDF format [http://www.backfromthebrink.org/inthespotlight.cfm?subnav=story&ContentID=4716]

The study combined 14 years of U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) and National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) data on species’ status to get a single measure of each species’ recovery progress. This approach also allowed an examination of which variables might explain differences in recovery status. A key variable was government funding per species.

This study followed two other Environmental Defense analyses that directly counter Congressman Pombo’s and other ESA critics' faulty assumptions about the Act’s effectiveness. Click here to download PDF reports [http://www.backfromthebrink.org/inthespotlight.cfm?subnav=story&ContentID=4467].

For further information, contact:
Michael J. Bean
Chairman, Wildlife Program
Environmental Defense
202-387-3500 ext. 3312
mbean@environmentaldefense.org

###

Environmental Defense, a leading national nonprofit organization, represents more than 400,000 members. Since 1967, Environmental Defense has linked science, economics, law and innovative private-sector partnerships to create breakthrough solutions to the most serious environmental problems.

www.environmentaldefense.org

Barbara Bush Calls Evacuees Better Off - New York Times

2005-09-12T19:17:00.000-04:00

Barbara Bush Calls Evacuees Better Off - New York Times: "WASHINGTON, Sept. 6 - As President Bush battled criticism over the response to Hurricane Katrina, his mother declared it a success for evacuees who 'were underprivileged anyway,' saying on Monday that many of the poor people she had seen while touring a Houston relocation site were faring better than before the storm hit."

Gawd

I'm sure SOME are...but I can say that...she on the other hand is suppose to have some diploma for crying out loud! If you havent caught it, turn on the history channel sometime when they're doing the hurricane special, showing footage and interviews of people who've gone through the major storms since the 1920's, pay close attention to the Andrew segment. Mr. Bush Sr. took 4 days to respond to that one, and the folks down there were looting, fighting for survival, no food, no water, total devestation. And Mr. Bush Sr. said "Now is not the time to play the blame game". Sounds earilly familiar doesn't it? As I watched I got goose bumps, because I remembered vividly sitting in my home in Wilmington NC watching CNN all night as that storm tore apart Florida, and seeing the devestation as the sun broke through the following morning... and picking up the phone and beginning a campaign with all the area scouting groups to get out to the grocery stores with lists of supplies needed to hand out to shoppers, filling cars and trucks with these supplies and then loading it all into a semi and sending it off to these people. But it took 4 days for our government to start aide because "They needed the request in writing"

Thank GOD I am an American... because in America I can stand here and PROUDLY scream "My Government Has It's HEAD UP THEIR ASS RIGHT NOW!" Mr. Brown had his head up his ass, but is actually being used as a scape goat, as if he was the soul person responsible. Who put him in charge? That person is responsible too. Who looks into resume`s, why didn't our Congress demand that some things NOT fall under Home Land Security because if it aint broke WHY FIX IT?

GAWD GAWD GAWD I'm angry. I'm angry that anyone can even think this had to do with being poor and black... The floridians were mainly white and hispanic they werent taken care of for 4 days. No it's much more simpler and less diabolical than anything like race and income... it's called LAZY. VACATION. NOT MY PROBLEM. I mean afterall, the guys already been elected, and can't run again, so he wants his vacation time. I'm sure allot of folks feel he deserves his vacation time, but he can have all the vacation he wants after his term is over. It's his job to make sure all of his people are doing their jobs - correctly. Bottom line - The Buck Stops With The Prez.

Pheww... I feel better. I'd feel even better if Donald [Trump] would just tell Bush he was FIRED.

In Remembrance

2005-09-11T08:50:00.000-04:00

explocrsh
Originally uploaded by culturekitchen(tm).

September 11th, 2001 - September 11th, 2005

We need to go after the people who caused THIS & get the hell out of Iraq.

Damn

2005-09-10T23:41:00.000-04:00

Current Events
Originally uploaded by NC Wench.

All I can tell you is that right now and all day today we've been getting gusts of wind at 27 mph, and it isn't expected to make landfall until late Monday/Tuesday.

But the good news is: It's sitting still, so that pulls all the cold water UP into the warm water, which isnt good for a hurricane. AND, it's drawing in DRY air, which also isn't good for a hurricane.

BUT... if it moves slightly, it gets more warm water from the gulf stream and more moist air. But the projected path brings the eye over Jacksonville, NC, so that puts my house on the lighter side of the storm. I figure Monday morning I'll know if my plywood has to go up. (This is the problem with hurricanes, we never know exactly WHERE they will go until about 12 hours before they make land fall).

Peace

Best Laugh In a LONG Time!

2005-09-08T23:26:00.000-04:00

Best Laugh In a LONG Time!
Originally uploaded by NC Wench.

You may not admit it ladies...but we've all done something stupid like this before:

All hair removal methods have tricked us with their promises of easy, painless removal - The epilady, scissors, razors, Nair and now...the wax.

My night began as any other normal weekday night. Come home fix dinner, played with the kids. I then had the thought that would ring painfully in my mind for the next few hours: Maybe I should pull the wax out of the medicine cabinet.

So I headed to the site of my demise; the bathroom.

It was one of those cold wax kits. No melting a clump of hot wax, you just rub the strips together in your hand and then they get warm and you peel them apart press it to your leg (or wherever else) and hair comes right off. No muss, no fuss. How hard can it be? I mean I'm no girly, girl but I am mechanically inclined enough that I can figure it out.

*YA THINK!!!*

So I pull one of the thin strips out. Its two strips facing each other stuck together. Instead of rubbing them together, I get out the hair dryer and heat it to 1000 degrees. Cold wax, my rear end! (Oh how this phrase haunts me!) I lay the strip across my thigh, hold the skin around it tight and pull.

OK so it wasn't the best feeling, but it wasn't too bad. I can do this! Hair removal no longer eludes me! I am She-Ra, fighter of all wayward body hair and smooth skin extraordinaire!

With my next wax strip I move north. After checking on the kids I sneak back into the bathroom, for the ultimate hair fighting championship. I drop my panties and place one foot on the toilet.

Using the same procedure I apply the wax strip across the right side of bikini line, covering the right half of my vagina and stretching down to the inside of my butt cheek.
(Yes, it was a long strip)
I inhale deeply and brace myself...... RRRRIIIPPP!!!!

I'm blind!!!.....Blinded from pain!!!!....OH MY GOD!!!!!!!!!

Vision returning, I notice that I've only managed to pull off half of the strip.

S&%T!!!

Another deep breath.......RRRRIIIIPPP!!!!

Everything is swirly and spotted.... Do I hear crashing drums?!?!?

OK, back to normal. I want to see my trophy - A wax covered strip with my hairy pelt, that has caused me so much pain, sticking to it. I want to revel in the glory that is my triumph over body hair. I hold up the strip!

There's no hair on it.

Where is the hair?

WHERE IS THE WAX???

Slowly I ease my head down, foot still perched on the toilet. I see the hair. The hair that should be on the strip. I touch. I am touching wax.

S&%T!!!!!!!

I run my fingers over the most sensitive part of my body, which is now covered in cold wax and matted hair.

Then I make the next BIG mistake.......remember my foot is still propped up on the toilet. I know I need to do something. So I put my foot down.

S&%T!!!!!!!!............ I hear the slamming of the cell door.

Vagina?

Sealed shut.

Butt??

Sealed shut.

I penguin walk around the bathroom trying to figure out what to do and think to myself.... "Please don't let me get the urge to poop. My head may pop off"!

Hot water!! Hot water melts wax!!

I'll run the hottest water I can stand into the bathtub, get in, immerse the wax covered bits and the wax should melt and I can gently wipe it off right???

*WRONG!!!!!!!*

I get in the tub - the water is slightly hotter than what is used to torture prisoners of war or to sterilize surgical equipment - I sit.

Now, the only thing worse that having your nether businesses glued together.... is having them glued together and then glued to the bottom of the tub.

In scalding hot water.

Which, by the way, doesn't melt cold wax.

So, now I'm stuck to the bottom of the tub!! God bless the man that convinced me I should have a phone in the bathroom!!!!!

I call my friend thinking surely she's waxed before and has some secret of how to get me undone. It's a very good conversation starter.

"So, my butt and 'who-ha' are stuck to the bottom of the tub!"

There is a slight pause.

She doesn't have a secret trick but does try to hide the laughter from me. She wants to know exactly where the wax is located on my bottom.

"Are we talking cheeks or hole or what?!?"

She's laughing out loud by now...I can hear her.

I give her the rundown and she suggests I call the number on the side of the box.

YEAH!!!!! Right!! I should be the joke of someone else's night!

While we go through various solutions. I resort to scraping the wax off with a razor.

Nothing feels better then to have your 'girlie goodies' covered in hot wax, glued shut, stuck to the tub in super hot water and then dry shaving the sticky wax off!!

By now the brain is not working, dignity has taken a major hike and I slip into glazed donut land.

My friend is still talking with me and my hand reaches towards the saving grace....the lotion they give you to remove the excess wax.

What do I really have to lose at this point?

I rub some on and OH MY GOD!!!!!!!

The scream probably woke the kids and it definitely scared the dickens out of my friend, but I really don't care.

"IT WORKS!! IT WORKS!!"

I get a hearty congratulation from my friend and she hangs up.

I successfully remove the remainder of the wax and then notice to my grief and despair..................................

THE HAIR IS STILL THERE.......................ALL OF IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.

So I shaved it off. Heck, I'm numb at this point.

Next week I'm going to try hair color......

Best e-mail I've ever read...thanks goes to my sis-in-law!

Vow for probe of Katrina aid, funding to soar - Hurricane Katrina - MSNBC.com

2005-09-06T20:40:00.000-04:00

Vow for probe of Katrina aid, funding to soar - Hurricane Katrina - MSNBC.com: "Struggle to make up for shortcomings
�...In the coming weeks and months Congress will do whatever is necessary to help make up for the costly shortcomings in the preparations for and the management of the first stages of this catastrophe.� "

Congress will do what ever it takes huh? They'll have to start by fireing themselves because they tied FEMA's hands. They took away so much of FEMA's power and handed it over to big brother err Homeland Security that FEMA was unable to do all it normally could have.

Ok I'm so beyond being pissed it aint funny. I'm heading down to AL & MS sometime soon (Just waiting for the call from FEMA - seriously).

I'll post b4 leaving.
Hang in there America, if we don't do the jobs apparently neither will the Government. (But I'm real proud of us non-gov folks...we've been doing FANTASTIC!)

Where My dad Lives

2005-09-04T00:08:00.000-04:00

Where My dad Lives
Originally uploaded by NC Wench.

Click the photo to have a closer look and let me know if you have any info!

Does anyone know how this area fared? (The spot with the star).

I havent found him yet, and I am just looking for word that he and my step mom and sister are ok. They don't have my new phone number and address. So I'm just hoping I can find them listed as safe somewhere. I think they have my great grandfather living with them too.

The New York Times
September 4, 2005
Do You Know What It Means to Lose New Orleans?
By ANNE RICE

La Jolla, Calif.

WHAT do people really know about New Orleans?

Do they take away with them an awareness that it has always been not only a great white metropolis but also a great black city, a city where African-Americans have come together again and again to form the strongest African-American culture in the land?

The first literary magazine ever published in Louisiana was the work of black men, French-speaking poets and writers who brought together their work in three issues of a little book called L'Album Littéraire. That was in the 1840's, and by that time the city had a prosperous class of free black artisans, sculptors, businessmen, property owners, skilled laborers in all fields. Thousands of slaves lived on their own in the city, too, making a living at various jobs, and sending home a few dollars to their owners in the country at the end of the month.

This is not to diminish the horror of the slave market in the middle of the famous St. Louis Hotel, or the injustice of the slave labor on plantations from one end of the state to the other. It is merely to say that it was never all "have or have not" in this strange and beautiful city.

Later in the 19th century, as the Irish immigrants poured in by the thousands, filling the holds of ships that had emptied their cargoes of cotton in Liverpool, and as the German and Italian immigrants soon followed, a vital and complex culture emerged. Huge churches went up to serve the great faith of the city's European-born Catholics; convents and schools and orphanages were built for the newly arrived and the struggling; the city expanded in all directions with new neighborhoods of large, graceful houses, or areas of more humble cottages, even the smallest of which, with their floor-length shutters and deep-pitched roofs, possessed an undeniable Caribbean charm.

Through this all, black culture never declined in Louisiana. In fact, New Orleans became home to blacks in a way, perhaps, that few other American cities have ever been. Dillard University and Xavier University became two of the most outstanding black colleges in America; and once the battles of desegregation had been won, black New Orleanians entered all levels of life, building a visible middle class that is absent in far too many Western and Northern American cities to this day.

The influence of blacks on the music of the city and the nation is too immense and too well known to be described. It was black musicians coming down to New Orleans for work who nicknamed the city "the Big Easy" because it was a place where they could always find a job. But it's not fair to the nature of New Orleans to think of jazz and the blues as the poor man's music, or the music of the oppressed.

Something else was going on in New Orleans. The living was good there. The clock ticked more slowly; people laughed more easily; people kissed; people loved; there was joy.

Which is why so many New Orleanians, black and white, never went north. They didn't want to leave a place where they felt at home in neighborhoods that dated back centuries; they didn't want to leave families whose rounds of weddings, births and funerals had become the fabric of their lives. They didn't want to leave a city where tolerance had always been able to outweigh prejudice, where patience had always been able to outweigh rage. They didn't want to leave a place that was theirs.

And so New Orleans prospered, slowly, unevenly, but surely - home to Protestants and Catholics, including the Irish parading through the old neighborhood on St. Patrick's Day as they hand out cabbages and potatoes and onions to the eager crowds; including the Italians, with their lavish St. Joseph's altars spread out with cakes and cookies in homes and restaurants and churches every March; including the uptown traditionalists who seek to preserve the peace and beauty of the Garden District; including the Germans with their clubs and traditions; including the black population playing an ever increasing role in the city's civic affairs.

Now nature has done what the Civil War couldn't do. Nature has done what the labor riots of the 1920's couldn't do. Nature had done what "modern life" with its relentless pursuit of efficiency couldn't do. It has done what racism couldn't do, and what segregation couldn't do either. Nature has laid the city waste - with a scope that brings to mind the end of Pompeii.
•

I share this history for a reason - and to answer questions that have arisen these last few days. Almost as soon as the cameras began panning over the rooftops, and the helicopters began chopping free those trapped in their attics, a chorus of voices rose. "Why didn't they leave?" people asked both on and off camera. "Why did they stay there when they knew a storm was coming?" One reporter even asked me, "Why do people live in such a place?"

Then as conditions became unbearable, the looters took to the streets. Windows were smashed, jewelry snatched, stores broken open, water and food and televisions carried out by fierce and uninhibited crowds.

Now the voices grew even louder. How could these thieves loot and pillage in a time of such crisis? How could people shoot one another? Because the faces of those drowning and the faces of those looting were largely black faces, race came into the picture. What kind of people are these, the people of New Orleans, who stay in a city about to be flooded, and then turn on one another?

Well, here's an answer. Thousands didn't leave New Orleans because they couldn't leave. They didn't have the money. They didn't have the vehicles. They didn't have any place to go. They are the poor, black and white, who dwell in any city in great numbers; and they did what they felt they could do - they huddled together in the strongest houses they could find. There was no way to up and leave and check into the nearest Ramada Inn.

What's more, thousands more who could have left stayed behind to help others. They went out in the helicopters and pulled the survivors off rooftops; they went through the flooded streets in their boats trying to gather those they could find. Meanwhile, city officials tried desperately to alleviate the worsening conditions in the Superdome, while makeshift shelters and hotels and hospitals struggled.

And where was everyone else during all this? Oh, help is coming, New Orleans was told. We are a rich country. Congress is acting. Someone will come to stop the looting and care for the refugees.

And it's true: eventually, help did come. But how many times did Gov. Kathleen Blanco have to say that the situation was desperate? How many times did Mayor Ray Nagin have to call for aid? Why did America ask a city cherished by millions and excoriated by some, but ignored by no one, to fight for its own life for so long? That's my question.

I know that New Orleans will win its fight in the end. I was born in the city and lived there for many years. It shaped who and what I am. Never have I experienced a place where people knew more about love, about family, about loyalty and about getting along than the people of New Orleans. It is perhaps their very gentleness that gives them their endurance.

They will rebuild as they have after storms of the past; and they will stay in New Orleans because it is where they have always lived, where their mothers and their fathers lived, where their churches were built by their ancestors, where their family graves carry names that go back 200 years. They will stay in New Orleans where they can enjoy a sweetness of family life that other communities lost long ago.

But to my country I want to say this: During this crisis you failed us. You looked down on us; you dismissed our victims; you dismissed us. You want our Jazz Fest, you want our Mardi Gras, you want our cooking and our music. Then when you saw us in real trouble, when you saw a tiny minority preying on the weak among us, you called us "Sin City," and turned your backs.

Well, we are a lot more than all that. And though we may seem the most exotic, the most atmospheric and, at times, the most downtrodden part of this land, we are still part of it. We are Americans. We are you.

Anne Rice is the author of the forthcoming novel "Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt."

* Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company

Anyone heading into Gulf Port?!

2005-09-03T21:19:00.000-04:00

Yes, I'm Back - Better Than Ever!
Originally uploaded by NC Wench.
I've been looking daily at the lists of people who have survived and still cannot find my dad's name, his wife or my half sisters name listed anywhere.

So... I'm looking for Jack, Sylvia & Helen Marie Treasure. Last I heard from them they were in Gulf Port MS. I do not have their home address, because it was lost in a move. I know they are still living in GP, but do not know if they got out for the hurricane.

If anyone is heading down that way, pass the word to them that people are wanting to know they are ok! (Give them this URL at least)

Thanks

Bush lands in eye of the storm (More like the eye of the People's storm!)

2005-09-03T19:01:00.000-04:00

bush lands in eye of the storm
Originally uploaded by villany.
Argentina's Clarin
Katrina had more than the power of the wind and water, because, now, when they have subsided, it can still reveal the emptiness of an era, one that is represented by President George W Bush more than anyone.

Spain's El Pais
Up until Monday, Bush was the president of the war in Iraq and 9/11. Today there are few doubts that he will also pass into history as the president who didn't know how to prevent the destruction of New Orleans and who abandoned its inhabitants to their fate for days. And the worst is yet to come.

Spain's La Razon
Proving that even the gods are mortal, it is clear that the USA's international image is being damaged in a way that it has never known before. The country will probably be able to recuperate from the destruction, but its pride has already been profoundly wounded.

France's Liberation
Bush had already been slow to react when the World Trade Center collapsed. Four years later, he was no quicker to get the measure of Katrina - a cruel lack of leadership at a time when this second major shock for 21st century America is adding to the crisis of confidence for the world's leading power and to international disorder. As happened with 9/11, the country is displaying its vulnerability to the eyes of the world.

France's Le Progres
Katrina has shown that the emperor has no clothes. The world's superpower is powerless when confronted with nature's fury.

Switzerland's Le Temps
The sea walls would not have burst in New Orleans if the funds meant for strengthening them had not been cut to help the war effort in Iraq and the war on terror... And rescue work would have been more effective if a section of National Guard from the areas affected had not been sent to Baghdad and Kabul... And would George Bush have left his holiday ranch more quickly if the disaster had not first struck the most disadvantaged populations of the black south?

Ireland's The Irish Times
This is a defining moment for Mr Bush, just as much as 9/11 was. So far his reputation for prompt and firm crisis management has fallen far short of what is required.

Saudi Arabia's Saudi Gazette
The episode illustrates that when the normal day-to-day activity of society disintegrates, the collapse of civilisation is only a few paces behind. We all walk on the edge of the abyss.

Musib Na'imi in Iran's Al-Vefagh
About 10,000 US National Guard troops were deployed [in New Orleans] and were granted the authority to fire at and kill whom they wanted, upon the pretext of restoring order. This decision is an indication of the US administration's militarist mentality, which regards killing as the only way to control even its own citizens.

Samih Sa'ab in Lebanon's Al-Nahar
The destruction caused by Hurricane Katrina... has proved that even the No 1 superpower in the world is helpless in facing nature's 'terrorism'.

Pakistan's The Nation
To augment the tragedy, the government of the world's richest nation defied the general expectation that at the first sign of the storm it would muster an armada of ships, boats and helicopters for the rescue operation. For nearly three days it sat smugly apathetic to the people's plight, their need for food, medicine and other basic necessities.

Hong Kong's Wen Wei Po
This disaster is a heavy blow to the United States, and a lesson which deserves deep thought... [It] is a warning to the Bush administration that the United States must clear its head and truly assume its responsibility to protect nature and the environment in which humankind lives.

Hong Kong's South China Morning Post
Even if our money may not be needed, at the least we should be offering moral support. Our skills in dealing with storms may be useful to help Americans prevent other such tragedies. We should be offering this help rather than shrugging off what should be our humanitarian duty.

Ambrose Murunga in Kenya's Daily Nation
My first reaction when television images of the survivors of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans came through the channels was that the producers must be showing the wrong clip. The images, and even the disproportionately high number of visibly impoverished blacks among the refugees, could easily have been a re-enactment of a scene from the pigeonholed African continent.

These were copied from a conversation thread in the Hurricane Katrina group on flickr.com and though I don't agree with some of the countries statements, I am embarressed that the world has to see us with our pants down - AGAIN.

Great Countries Seem To Last Only 200 Years B4 Idiots Start Crumbling The Empires.

2005-09-03T12:56:00.000-04:00

Hurricane Katrina - Biloxi Lighthouse, Flag
Originally uploaded by Deep Fried Kudzu.
Aren't you embarrassed that once again the world is seeing America as a week pathetic country?

At this time, most of us are watching the television and asking ourselves "who's fault is this really?" Well... really it's Mother Natures. BUT, the scale of this disaster is directly attributable to Bush. For as long as anyone can remember, the purpose of the National Guard is to take care of situations exactly like this. We have hurricanes all the time and the evacuation, feeding, clothing, and defending of the population is handled by the National Guard. They supply virtually all of the support engineering and maintenance of the levee system! Had our National Guard been here doing what they are meant to do instead of being deployed to the other side of the globe because some spoiled, ignorant drunk decided he wanted even MORE oil (and if you don't recognize that as a fair description of Bush and if you aren't outraged - you aren't paying attention!) then maybe the levee on Lake Ponchatrain wouldn't have burst; maybe the water level wouldn't have risen 20 feet; and most likely hundreds (or thousands!) of people would still be alive! There is no one who deserves more blame for this fiasco than George W Bush.

If your sitting there now asking me "Could Clinton have done this better?" Well he was president through 4 hurricanes I rode out and he was surveying the destruction within 2 days. The National Guard was there within 24 - 48 hours after the strikes. New Orleans was NOT the only city hit, and reporters are screaming "Where's the help?" Well where the hell is the help anywhere? The National Guard didn't get to Gulf Port any sooner than N.O. I really don't believe it's a color barrier, I believe it's a Southern Barrier. Suppress the poor of the south, grab the riches, and get out. I hope the politicos wake up soon and realize that the south is being over run with all their northern retirees. Maybe that will make a difference soon. It is almost laughable that Bush seems to always be on vacation or doing something that is not as important as watching over the nation when disaster strikes our nation.

People, I realize how important it is to all of us to believe that help is on the way, and that our leaders actually care whether we live or die, but it just isn't so. Those who say we should quit complaining and support our president are forgetting that massive public pressure is one of the only things our leaders do respond to, and it’s the surest way to get these fat cats off their asses to do something about this tragedy. Oh, and I remember how after 9/11 we were all supposed to shut up and "support our troupes" and not criticize the president, and look where that got us. This president cares as much about poor people staggering around the muck as he does about freedom for the Iraqi people. Give me a break. We need to make the hard realization that our country is run by looters who are robbing the world blind while people die, here there and everywhere. Let's just stop kidding ourselves for one moment. It's not all Bushes & the Republicans fault, no, the Democrats suck ass too. But Bush so richly deserves blame this time - out loud, because he's been allowed to escape it all in the past.

Human survival trumps property rights any day. Do you think Wal-Mart is going to re-sell that stuff people are taking? But that said... survival is not a flat screen TV, or a DVD player. We all know the differences. The people who are truly acting badly are the exception, and I can understand how a desperate situation pushes marginal people over the edge. But every thug with a weapon has the blood of hurricane victims all over them for stopping the relief efforts. Let's remember that many people are too poor to leave, and these people should have been evacuated not left to fend on their own and for this we have to lay the blame at the mayor of N.O's. feet. He knew who his people were, he knew how poor they are. So if you're hopping mad about looters today, remember that the real enemies wear suits and own about 80% of the country. Do you think Exxon profits are up or down? Remember also that we working people are in this together whether we like each other or not.

Now I've had my rant and I have one more thing to add...have you contributed any help yet? Go to the American Red Cross and Donate. If not money, then blood, if not blood, then your time. Donate to help our people and let the rest of the world see that we can pull ourselves up each and every time and come together and make things work out!

Looters Will Be Shot

2005-08-31T23:05:00.000-04:00

Looters Will Be Shot
Originally uploaded by JordanMGregory.
As they should be!

And I don't want to hear any crap about how poor they are and blah blah blah. A good portion of the world is poor and if we all went out and stole shit from other people what kind of world would this be?

I might be a liberal but I'm not a bloody bleeding heart IDIOT liberal. The damn looters should be shot...shoot a couple and word will get around and they will stop looting. IF this had been done right at the beginning, these assholes would not have stolen all the guns from Wal-Mart and local gun shops. But now, there is a city in fear.

Usually in situations like this where you have a natural catastrophe, most people come together, you see the best in them. But not there, not in that city. It's sad. If they were just taking food, water, diapers, and other things needed to SURVIVE, I don't think it would be an issue. But I can live without a DVD player, cell phone, gun, new tennis shoes, new clothes. Can't you? So, yeah...shoot the dumb asses.

Luis Royo - Body Art

2005-08-29T14:19:00.000-04:00

Luis Royo (17)
Originally uploaded by evelnogueira.
Beautiful isn't it?

Just seen the Cindy Sheehan commercial for the first time - pretty powerful. I might have said similar things had it been my son who's 22. But my son refused to join the military because he DOESN'T want to fight in a war. that was his choice prior to 9/11, knowing full well that the possibillity existed. And low and behold it happened. Anyone joinging the military HAS to know this is a possibility, so please do not act surprised when it happens.

BUT... we cannot pull our troops out now. The time for that is long past. I agree that Mister Bush lied to us. As President of the USA he knew full fucking well that there was no conection between Iraq and Al Queda. This was his enemy. But it's done now and we have no choice but to finish what we've started or we'll have lost men and women for nothing. And even though Sadaam had nothing to do with 9/11, he was killing people, maiming people and promoting genocide, so we've done the world a favor. Next stop should be in Africa since we have made ourselves the Moral Judges of the world.

Anyway Cindy, the country greives with you for the loss of your son, as we grieve for all the other mothers who've lost sons and duaghters, wives who've lost husbands, husbands who've lost wives....and the list goes on. You are not the only one. Mister Bush won't talk with you face to face because he'll loose face. You've said your peice, now lets move forward in a positive way.

Don't stop speaking out. We have to question authority or we'll just become part of the sheeple of this country. But this war with Iraq has to go full circle. Even if we don't like why it started, it's too late to stop or we won't have brought another country into the 21st century and taught them about Democracy.

But please...move forward now.

Highway 90

2005-08-29T13:38:00.000-04:00

Highway 90
Originally uploaded by kenyahudson.
US 90 is the highway along the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Nothing separates it from the beach in most areas. (It's the highway, parallel parking and the beach or beachfront property.)

Here is a website from flickr of photos as well as updated blog lists of folks going through Katrina: http://www.flickr.com/groups/45871688@N00/ if your interested in hearing what people are saying who aren't paid to report it.

Katrina is not happy...

2005-08-29T00:18:00.000-04:00

katrina is not happy, 8pmCDT - possible last update from this cowboy...
Originally uploaded by sautdeau.
Well I've been keeping an eye on different peoples photo streams who live in the path of Katrina, and at one photo I left the message to be smart - be safe. I'm thinking they are doing just that because there's been no further activity with their photos nor comments. I'm glad, because there are enough Darwin ricipeants on this planet don't you think?

I'm sorry for the folks along the Gulf Coast...but I sure as hell am thankfull it's not us. I've been through several cat 3's and I once went through a 4 as a young child on Okinawa (they call them Typhoons over there). I know that if we got a 4 here I'd pack up with my cats and sleep in my van in Raleigh if I had too. No way in hell would I ride out a 4 or 5. 3's are intense enough beleive me.

And Katrina is such a pretty name, why'd they have to have that name?

Bull Shit Protector

2005-08-24T13:16:00.000-04:00

Bull Shit Protector
Originally uploaded by NC Wench.
Bill Moyer, 73, wears a "Bullshit Protector" flap over his ear while President George W. Bush addresses the Veterans of Foreign Wars.

A friend sent me this photograph...and I just love it!

Caterpillar Aerobics

2005-08-22T21:31:00.000-04:00

Catapillar Aerobics
Originally uploaded by NC Wench.
Well, all my caterpillars are gone. No clue where they went, no chrysalis’s around, and I'm hoping they weren't eaten. They were there when the sun went down, but not when it came up again. One by one they went. I hope to build their cocoons somewhere safe. They won't break open until March, so they have a long winter ahead.

Watching the news tonight I heard the Christians are very upset that the book "The DaVinci Code" is being made into a movie. This is a touchy subject for me because I reallllllly loved that book. It was great fun reading and I hope they don't fuck up the movie. As for the Christians being upset about it - WHO CARES?! I'm sorry, but damnit I'm an adult and I sure as hell don't need someone else feeding me their idea of right and wrong or morals, or even weather or not if Jesus Christ was a married man. Ummm... if he was a good Jewish son, he sure was married by the ripe old age of 35. And last I heard, he was Jewish and they didn't believe a man should be a bachelor back then. So I have to ask, why the hell is it such a big deal if he was married - and had children? It's not as though any miracles have been happening. At least not by his side of the family. Only miracles we're being spoon fed are the ones the last Pope did. So he can be a saint. Yeah. Thank you oh high priests of our morals for trying to make us believe the man was a saint. But I'm not buying it. Have I pissed off all the religions? Oh wait, I haven’t mentioned the Baptists... only thing wrong with them is they aren't held under long enough.
=D
No seriously, be any religion you want, but don't feel it necessary to FORCE others to believe your way. Is that even considered Christian? I thought it wasn't our job to pass judgment on others.

Still looking for a job. Went out today to local shops and businesses. No luck and I always feel like they just plan to throw away the application as soon as I leave. It's not as though they have a "Help Wanted" sign out front so, I guess I just expect it. I'm loosing faith. And yes, I do have faith, and I do believe in God, and the Goddess. I live as good as possible without hurting others. I work hard. If I don't know how to do something I learn how. I'm still trying to figure out why I'm doing worse than my parents instead of better... aren't we suppose to do better?

Oh hell, it's Monday - what did you expect?

These are a few of my favorite thingssss (C'mon, you know the tune - sing it with me!)

2005-08-16T15:15:00.000-04:00

Favorites 3
Originally uploaded by NC Wench.

Wooooo Hoooooooo I am sooooooo friggin happy! My trojans have been anialated at last! You see the problem wasn't that I couldn't do it, the problem was that my boyfriend (sweet man that he is) added himself as an administrator to my pc *cough* so now mine will no longer take my password and his won't allow me to delete anything from safe mode because he really ISN'T the adminstator. So I had to go in through DOS... wich of course again wouldn't let me in that way. SO my boyfriend called a fellow FF who works with computers for a living, and he came over and anialted my trojans... but he was unable to fix my admin stuff, but that's ok, because like I've said before: I will buy a new PC when I get a job and GOD IS MY WITNESS! (Along with a new car and etc. etc. etc!)

I did finally go through my 1000's of fotos and burn them to cd this morning, and now my pc is running a bit faster, but I think I'll head over to TigerDirect.com and see how much 2 256 PC100's will cost me to up the memory in this bitch. Right now I only have 128 o it's slow as snail lime.

Yo Dude! You're totally hanging up the traffic here!

2005-08-15T18:15:00.000-04:00

Yo Dude! You're totally hanging up the traffic here!
Originally uploaded by NC Wench.
My swallowtail caterpillars are back. My whole garden is busy with bugs! I'm glad I have the bugs to amuse me because my computer is driving me NUTS! I need more memory and of course the freakin Trojans aren't helping. I have spyware doctor on my computer to help me keep this shiot off, and I have Nortons as well... but the trojans still keep poppin up now and then. And no I do not download stuff.

Ok enough of my woes. In other news, 2 boys out on Bald Head Island (Ages 11 and 9) were struck by lightning yesterday. They were air lifted to Chaple Hill and are expected to make full recoveries. (The 9 year old went into cardiac arrest!) There was not a storm at the time this took place but one did pop up within 10 - 15 minutes later. Beware the old saying: If you can hear it, it can strike you.

Vanidad de vanidades

2005-08-11T17:41:00.000-04:00

Vanidad de vanidades
Originally uploaded by threelunaticdevils.
Is this just not freakin adorable?

Phewww... 96 F here today (That's 35 C for those of you on the other side of the world) and I had to go grocery shopping. YES my wonderful beautiful van is working again. It was the starter mechanism this time - she's practically been rebuilt! I bought her 17 years ago in California... where you do not have to have air conditioning once your car gets moving. (I lived in sunny Northern Ca.) So here I am toodling along home when a downpour starts. Yes George, the sky opened, and rain came down and my windows had to go up! So I had to swealter my way home.

But at least the van is working again!

Grasshopper, Irene and My Horoscope...

2005-08-11T10:00:00.000-04:00

Really - Very Nutricious
Originally uploaded by NC Wench.
This guy has mad himself at home in my sunflower seeds (Along with other bugs) and is eating the leaves and loving them.

He better enjoy them, because they may not be there this time next week if Irene follows the path thats being predicted. Strike probability for Tropical Storm Irene is at...

http://www.emergencyemail.org/irene2005.asp

(If you leave a web browser open on the page...
....the page automatically updates continuously)

Those of you not on the coast probably aren't interested... but if she does hit here, you won't be seeing me for a while because the power always goes out. *Sad Face* But seriously, a hurricane couldn't come at a better time. I have no job so I'll be able to focus on the house and not have to worry about much else.

Your Thursday Horoscope Wench!
Career opportunities are linked to your recent work routine. Someone in a position of influence could be convinced that you are the right person to move up. Make an appeal today.

Career opportunities huh? Linked to my recent work routine? I'm doomed!
Everyone who's called me before setting up an interview has asked me for my experience... and I tell them the truth. Should I lie? I am not comfortable lieing or even stretching the truth because I figure it's going to come out in the long or short run anyway. What should I do?!

Sucking My Blood Out

2005-08-08T11:48:00.000-04:00

Sucking My Blood Out
Originally uploaded by NC Wench.
I realize this is a burry picture... but I'm right handed and at the time of this photo, my right arm was already in use.

You might be good enough to get a crystal clear photo with one hand while having blood sucked from your arm... But I'm not!

~~~~~~~~~
This was taken when I was giving blood for the first time to the red cross... and passed out.

You need to eat before giving blood. (Now they tell me!)

The Sun Sure Does Rise Early Doesn't It?

2005-08-06T07:08:00.000-04:00
I woke wide awake at 4:30 this morning... now mind you I did not fall asleep until after 1, so today isn't going to be a day to perform brain surgury.

I think the problem was that John didn't make it home from the roadside fiasco until almost 11:30 last night and I still had not eaten because in between phone calls with him and the tow truck dispatcher I was in the bathroom being sick to my stomach. So when he finally did make it home I was starved, but that too was another mistake. Having eaten and then going to bed, I woke around 4:30 as I said, only to have to run to the bathroom to be sick... heartburn and post nasal drip had set in and was not sitting well!

I feel wonderful now. Seriously. I took a tylenol sinus day time tablet and feel great. No heartburn, not drip, and no cough. But it's bloody bright outside and it hurts my eyes!

Poor John has to work today, and he's none too happy himself having spent his friday evening along the side of the road.

Well... here's to a better Saturday. (Just as soon as I find out whats up with my van!)

Today Was Hell

2005-08-05T22:35:00.000-04:00
Ok, my van is ready finally... pick up time 1:00 this afternoon. So I get there and it's 100.00 more than expected. Ok I can deal with it. Leaves me absolutley broke but hey I need my wheels right? So I get it and off I go.

Decide to take a side trip o the community center to find out some information on an upcoming photography contest here in my little segment of woods. When I get there I get more than I planned. The Red Cross is there too for a blood drive and so I figure sure why not? I always wanted to give blood but somehow I never have and since I'm A- I figure I should. Uhh... maybe I should have eaten before attempting this though because after all is said and done I passed out. And hour later I'm free to go and go I do! Get me home!

I get home and lay down on the couch and John comes home, since I'm not cooking he orders us subs. Off he goes to pick up our hot sandwiches. I get a phone call 30 minutes later. The van has died. Dead. Gone with the wind. WTF? So I call Geico and they call Youpon Beach Towing, and John waits... and waits... and waits. The time now is 10:30 as I type this and he is still waiting. Are we pissed? YES!!! And not just at Youpon. I'm pissed at the mechanics too. WHAT THE HELL DID THEY DO TO MY VAN?

More later.

International Guide For Freedom

2005-08-04T13:26:00.000-04:00
International Guide For Freedom

I have 2 photographs entered in this, if you go to that website, click on the M-Z button and a second window should open, then look for NC Wench and please choose one of my pictures. They are suppose to represent freedom in an abstract way, not necisarilly Freedom in a country, but just human freedom. After you've chosen a photograph, scroll to the bottom of the page and click on the vote now button. You can vote every day.

Thanks & I appreciate it.
Shelly ~ Wenchie

My Little Visitor

2005-08-04T02:06:00.000-04:00

My Little Visitor
Originally uploaded by NC Wench.
I took this picture Aug 2nd. And man I think it turned out pretty!

On a side note:
I have just enough money to pay for alllllllll the repairs I need done to my van. Thankgoodness!

I'm totally chill now

2005-07-30T00:28:00.000-04:00
Thank the good lord for small favors... and the goddess too. I got a crink in my neck, pretty bad, couldn't move it - probably stress related. Well you know, I am under quite a bit at the moment even if I do try to laugh it off, which helps. But it doesn't quite pay the bills. Anyway, I had one of those pain pills the dentist gave me for my root canal left over (ok I should have thrown it away a few months ago (Last summer) but I'm never one to waist things that cost an arm and a leg, and a good thing too, that thing loosened up my neck within the hour and I called my ex, to ask if I could possibly hold off sending this months CS for H, and explained why and he was very understanding and said sure and even told me what was wrong with the van (same thing Kenny told me) and how to save a little money when I take it in by asking what parts were needed and going to the auto store and buying the parts myself and having the mechanic install them. Johns cousin Dallas will be the one to work on it this time and John thinks Dallas won't charge me too much. I sure hope not. John is paying for the new tires I need as it is (well he should since he's the primary driver at the moment!)

My mom (bless her) was easy going about the whole thing, I just did not need another person getting upset about something I couldn't have forseen, and it's not as though I'm not trying to find work. I have an application going out almost daily if not more than that. I'm just frustrated. Don't worry people - I'll be my old self in a day or two. Just need to winge - as they say in Australia - now and then.

My son has a terrible summer cold, but it's a bit more than just that because he's been sick to his stomach as well, so he's taken a few days off work which is going to be hurting him. As a parent I of course want to help and I just get angry with myself because I'm unable too. Both my older kids tell me not to get upset, because it's making them tougher as well is more self reliant which I'm glad they have that outlook, but it's KILLING ME! The youngest lives with her dad and she just got her first job so really hasn't had much of an education for making it on her own. She's been the lucky one. (Course the other 2 say she's the 'spoiled' one, but it's all a matter of perspective isn't it?) The real question is this... which ones will be able to have fullfilling lives, stand on their own and know they can make it? I hope all 3, but I'm unsure of the youngest because she's really not ever had to earn the things she's wanted. I love them all more than my own life, I want them to be able to make it in this world and be happy. Success isn't the amount of money you have, it's the people you make into your friends and family along the way. It's how happy you are when you hit 'middle age'. It's how confident you are your whole life.

Toodles.

P.S.
If any of my 3 children just read this - you better know how much I love you guys. And... twice on Sundays.

What's Right?

2005-07-29T18:51:00.000-04:00
For the love of everything I hold dear in my life PLEASE tell me what is RIGHT! Because I sure know what's wrong!

Ok so I'm driving my van down the road today for the 1st time in weeks, because John has been using it non-stop since I presently am without a job and he presently is without a car. So I'm driving it, and the front end starts shaking and I start smelling burning rubber. I lean down to make sure the emergency break is off and yes it was (why it would be on anyway since it's as flat as a pancake here I wouldn't know - but he does things like that sometimes so I had to check.) So I pull over to the side of the road and John pulls up beside me (we were taking his company truck back to the offices) and I tell him what's wrong and didn't he notice it earlier today when he was out with it? No he says... hrmmm. Anyway I refuse to go any further in the wrong direction and instead I went home, called Kenny, my mechanic (ok so he's other peoples mechanic too, but when I call he says "whad'ya do to it now" so as far as I'm concerned he's MY mechanic - I just share him.) I describe the problem, he says, sounds like your break lines held up. To repair the break, 60.00, but if he has to replace it ALL... 3-400.00 *choke*. Oh... and DON'T DRIVE IT!

Ok I did mention I don't have a job right now right? So I have to figure out how the hell I'm gonna pay for this because I already know where all of john's money and my mom's money goes, and there isn't any to spare. I have 2 job applications pending, and I guess I will have to break down and go get a miniature minimum wage job (You know... the kind that pays about 6.00 an hour works you to the bone and after the government takes their share your left with cigarette and gas money.) Now if WAL-MART won't even call me in for an interview (which my mother says is because I won't work from 7 bloody am till 11 PM (their loss) then what the hell makes me think McDonalds will call me?

Always the optimist I guess.

Of course I am... I drive a 17 year old van after all! Dear lord... I'm a grown woman with grown children and have moved back in with my mother who I love dearly but everyday reminds me why the hell I left when i was 18! (If you think I'm an impatient person you have got to meet my mother.) As my bio-dad likes to tell me, "your mom could try the patience of a priest". At least I'm not a lesbian trying to live with my mother all over again. Of course having a sex life at all with your mother in the same house isn't all that fun either! Oh just shoot me now! Here I am in my prime at last with a boyfriend 15 years YOUNGER thank you very much and I have to wait for her to a. Go to bed or b. work late. GAWD it is high school all over again! Why the hell does she have to be so parochial? She was a young adult in the 60's for cryin' out loud! The way she acts you'd think she'd grown up in the Victorian age. Sex is sex woman, how the hell did YOU conceive your three children? Which reminds me, both of my brothers tell me I'm brave. BRAVE! Because I'm living with her. Yes I guess I am or I'm very very stupid. But lets go with brave. I prefer that. So now I'm brave and they are both on the left coast so that leaves me to take care of her because they think she's going to go senile eventually. No she won't. She'll get emphazima and become a royal bitch like my grandmother. Won't that be fun?

Wilmington Star News: Woman accused of killing her mother by stepping on the air hose. "Honest judge, it was an accident!" No seriously, I have these great plans of getting a decent job if someone would just OVER LOOK the 2 years experience part, hire me and let me work... then she can quit her job and sit on the couch all day watching the oxygen channel (GAWD I HATE THAT STATION!) She can 'retire' and I will take care of the house bills because damnit I want to! I want to tell her "I'm paying the bills around here so you'll do what I SAY! How many of you want to be able to say that to your parents? C'mon, don't be shy, raise your hands you know you want to say that! I want to leave the out door lights on and see my yard after sunset and when she bitches about the electricity I am going to say "You're not paying for it, I am" And when she wants to watch something at night I don't want to watch I'm going to say "Excuse me, but I pay for the cable" EVIL LAUGH!

Phewww all that ranting made me feel so much better.
And because I lost my temper and screamed today... I'm not cooking dinner, it's being cooked right now as I'm typing. Maybe I should loose it more often.

Ok in all fairness before I sign off I want to say this... I do love my mother. I appreciate that she has given me a home and allowed me to go back to college and earn my degree (while working too), she's helped me financially and because she is so much stronger than I am, she's taught me to be tough. Yes my brothers love her too, and we all 3 wonder if it wouldn't have been just a bit easier in our life if she had let us see hwe when she was down, cried in front of us once in a while. Then we wouldn't feel like such failures in front of her when we do break down.

Smile - It's the 2nd best thing you can do with your lips! =)

Ta Ta

It Was So Hot...

2005-07-28T00:09:00.000-04:00
How Hot Was It?

Unofficially - but officially according to my world - which I might add is all that counts to me anyway - it was 98 degrees in the shade on my porch. It's so bloody hot I've almost polished off an entire box of Missile Pops (you know... the red white and blue ones that taste wonderful!)

So hot that the fish are begging to be caught so we'll put them in our freezers.
So hot that when the rain hits the pavement you can hear the hissing sound as it dries on contact.

Oooh... my brother called tonight from Ca. He's not using my dad's old camera anymore so he's going to give it to me. YAY! It's actually a FILM camera, I learned on this one when I took photography in high school. I just don't remember what kind it is, or for that matter, anything I was taught way back in the dark ages and dark receses of that era. You know, way back when the Reagans were in the white house the first time? Yeah - that long ago. And what with the passing of time, old age and too much partying back in my youth, well, the memories come slow and hard. ;>

Hard? Did someone say hard? Oooh not that kind. Well then.
I wonder what I'll do tomorrow? Technically it's already tomorrow, but since I haven't been to bed yet it's still today. And afterall this is MY world.

Just hope it's cooler.

Ta ta.

If You Think Yesterday Was Bad...

2005-07-27T10:37:00.000-04:00
Wed-Jul-27

The National Weather Service has issued a EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING
North Carolina counties
Bladen, Brunswick, Columbus, New Hanover, Pender, Robeson
South Carolina counties
Horry

What this means folks is this: STAY INSIDE! If your boss won't give you the day off, demand hazzard pay. Make your pets stay inside. Make your children stay inside. If you HAVE to go anywhere, drive with 2 fingers until your air conditioner has cooled things off. If you have vynle seats - you're an idiot! If you don't have air conditioning in your car - you're an even bigger idiot for going out today!

TUE JUL 26 2005

.EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING IN EFFECT FROM NOON TODAY TO 7 PM EDT THIS EVENING. .EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING IN EFFECT FROM NOON TO 7 PM EDT WEDNESDAY.

THE NATL WEATHER SVC IN WILMINGTON HAS UPGRADED THE EXCESSIVE HEAT WATCH TO AN EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING. THE WARNING WILL BE IN EFFECT FROM NOON TODAY TO 7 PM EDT THIS EVENING. AND AGAIN FOR WED FROM NOON TO 7 PM EDT.

HIGH TEMPS OF 98 TO 103 DEGREES WILL OCCUR AWAY FROM THE IMMEDIATE COAST BOTH TUES & WED AFTERNOONS. WHEN COMBINED WITH HIGH LEVELS OF HUMIDITY.IT WILL FEEL EVEN HOTTER OUTSIDE. THE HEAT INDEX.WHICH INDICATES THE COMBINED EFFECTS OF THE HEAT & HUMIDITY.WILL REACH A STIFLING 115 DEGREES THIS AFTERNOON.WITH SIMILAR CONDITIONS EXPECTED ON WEDNESDAY.

THE HEAT & HIGH HUMIDITY WILL COMBINE TO CREATE AN EXTREMELY DANGEROUS SITUATION IN WHICH HEAT RELATED ILLNESSES COULD EASILY OCCUR BOTH TUES & WED AFTERNOONS. DRINK PLENTY OF FLUIDS. FREQUENT AN AIR-CONDITIONED ROOM.& STAY OUT OF THE SUN. YOUNG CHILDREN.THE ELDERLY.& PEOPLE WITH CHRONIC AILMENTS WILL BE THE MOST SUSCEPTIBLE TO THE EFFECTS OF THE HEAT. BRING IN OUTSIDE PETS & PROVIDE LIVESTOCK WITH PLENTY OF ACCESSIBLE SHADE AND DRINKING WATER.

MON JUL 25 2005

.HEAT ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM NOON TODAY TO 6 PM EDT THIS EVENING. .EXCESSIVE HEAT WATCH IN EFFECT FROM TUES AFTERNOON TO TUESDAY EVENING.

THE NATL WEATHER SVC IN WILMINGTON HAS ISSUED A HEAT ADVISORY.WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM NOON TODAY TO 6 PM EDT.

HEAT INDEX VALUES WILL REACH AROUND 105 FOR A PERIOD OF TIME THIS AFTERNOON.

AN EXCESSIVE HEAT WATCH HAS ALSO BEEN ISSUED THE NATL WEATHER SVC IN WILMINGTON.FOR TUES AFTERNOON. STIFLING HEAT INDEX VALUES WILL REACH AROUND 115 FOR A PERIOD OF TIME TUESDAY AFTERNOON.

FOR THE HEAT ADVISORY TODAY.THE COMBINATION OF MID TO UPPER 90 DEGREE AFTERNOON TEMPS & INCREASING HUMIDITY WILL COMBINE TO CREATE A SITUATION IN WHICH HEAT ILLNESSES ARE POSSIBLE. DRINK PLENTY OF FLUIDS.FREQUENT AN AIR- CONDITIONED ROOM.STAY OUT OF THE SUN.& CHECK UP ON RELATIVES AND NEIGHBORS. PROVIDE OUTSIDE PETS & LIVESTOCK WITH PLENTY OF ACCESSIBLE SHADE & DRINKING WATER.

FOR THE EXCESSIVE HEAT WATCH ON TUESDAY.THERE IS A POTENTIAL FOR THE COMBINATION OF WIDESPREAD 100 DEGREE AFTERNOON TEMPS AND HIGH HUMIDITY TO PRODUCE 115 HEAT INDEX VALUES. THIS WILL CREATE AN EXTREMELY DANGEROUS SITUATION IN WHICH HEAT ILLNESSES COULD EASILY OCCUR. DRINK PLENTY OF FLUIDS.STAY IN AN AIR- CONDITIONED ROOM.STAY OUT OF THE SUN.& CHECK UP ON THE ELDERLY & INFANTS. BRING IN OUTSIDE PETS.& PROVIDE LIVESTOCK WITH WELL VENTILATED SHADY LOCATIONS ALONG WITH PLENTY OF ACCESSIBLE DRINKING WATER.

I WON!

2005-07-23T23:52:00.000-04:00
First AND second place in the B&W division for the counties Parks and recreations photography contest.

91 photos entered in the contest with only 16 to get 1st, 2nd or 3rd's in the different catagories and 2 honorable mentions in each of the catagories and I got both 1st and 2nd in the B&W's!!! Yeah I am freakin HAPPY about that! (No contest money though... just 2 plaques) But hell, it just makes me feel good to know others found my work to be as pretty as I felt it was.

the 1st place winner.

Life as I know it...& Other randomeness

2005-07-20T15:54:00.000-04:00
I went to Wall World and filled out an application... guess I was over qualified because they still have not called me. That sucks.

My dog has been missing from her home for 3 weeks, and I feel she's dead. She stayed with my ex when we seperated. he hates animals but he had the yard and Grumpy was mine and my sons dog. (His sisters loved her too, but he and I trained her). The dog has never run away in the 11 years we had her. So your guess is as good as mine.

I house sat for 2 days while it was being painted. The painting crew were 2 women, who've been together for 15 years. They are getting ready to take a vacation of a life time to England to meet up with another couple they've been friends with on line for 2 years. I think it's wonderful. I did that 6 years ago, went to Alaska and loved it. You meet some good folks and some not so good folks on line, have a back up plan but get out there and have some adventures!

The House is meeting this Thursday, July 21 to vote on H.R. 3911, the PATRIOT Act Reauthorization Bill.Â Call your Representatives on these Committees and urge them to OPPOSE any expansion of the PATRIOT Act and to SUPPORT the addition of reasonable safeguards, such as those in the bipartisan SAFE Act (H.R. 1526), which would make sure that the FBI isn't left to its own devices but is subject to judicial and congressional oversight. See the Patriot Site for more information.

It's so bloody hot here the asphault is gewy! I kid you not. Right now the T&L is very strong and the sky is black but still no rain. But - my new grass is looking great! I've been keeping busy taking pictures, what I need to do is get to the beach a few more times, but I may wait till terrorist season is over and the roads clear out! But if your interested in viewing any of the photographs, just go to my flickr site link (to the right side of this page) and it will get you there.

Anyway thats about it
Hugs n smootches to my fan club of 1 =D

We're not Afraid!

2005-07-14T20:30:00.000-04:00
We're not Afraid!
Hell no we're not afraid - and they can kiss our asses!

Great photo's and anyone reading this probably already knows about this place. If you don't, it's been on most every television station today so it was rather hard to miss unless you really never turn on the tv.

Enjoy the images.

The Mystery of the Haunted Vampire: An obituary

2005-07-13T20:50:00.000-04:00
Message to my children: When I die - I want you to be as creative as these children were for their mother!
The Mystery of the Haunted Vampire: An obituary: "An obituary
From The News & Observer:

On June 3, 2005 at 10:45 p.m. in Memphis, Tennessee, Dorothy Gibson Cully, 86, died peacefully, while in the loving care of her two favorite children, Barbara and David. All of her breath leaked out. The mother of four children, grandmother to 11, great-grandmother to nine, devoted wife for 56 years to the late Ralph Chester Cully and a true friend to many, Dot had been active as a volunteer in the Catholic Church and other community charities for much of the past 25 years."

Please - go read the rest, it's WONDERFUL! (Ok... it will leave you with your mouth hanging open and you thinking "Is this for real?!")

=D

Ahh GOD the humidity SUCKS!

2005-07-13T00:36:00.000-04:00
It's so humid you'd think it was raining here. I can hardly breath, and of course the fact that I smoke doesn't help. I love summer, more than any other season, I just wish 2 things. 1: I owned a swimming pool and 2: I had never smoked a cigarette in my life. But alas I cannot turn back time nor do I have the courage and stupidity to rob a bank in order to own a pool at this time in my life. So, I shall sit here in the dark, looking out my porch screen at all the stars, wishing for a breeze and maybe a down pour.

So now I must mention the hurricaines... since we've had 4 in the atlantic already you could say those of us along the southern coasts are a bit worried... how can we not be? This is the first time in history they have ever recorded 4 hurricains in the month of July! That's more like September. We usually don't watch the weather channel seriously around here until August, and then it's like once a day, but come Sepember, we tune in several times a day or leave it on if there is a system in the atlantic. Here are, July and watching it on and off all day every day! Yeah, we're all nervouse and I need a pine tree cut down desperatly!

Tomorrow is the big day!
We officially submit our photographs for the county amateur photography contest. I have 7 to submit and am a bit nervouse even if family and friends love the pictures. But I have to admit, what was once really nice pictures have turned into some awesome works of art once matted and framed!

Hope you all are well and happy, and having a great summer!

In Loving Memory

2005-07-08T15:41:00.000-04:00
This is just a short note... In memory of a dear and loved friend. I found out today that Evan Hunter (also known as Ed McBain) passed away on the 6th. He and several other authors have always come through for me when my depressions hit, their story's never fail to pull me through. I will miss his work very deeply.

Goddess bless

A Sad Day in the World Once Again

2005-07-07T19:10:00.000-04:00
Once again terror has been thrown at the world of (for the most part) good people. Anyone who might read this already knows London England was bombed today in 4 different areas, and 2 or 3 other bombs have been found before they went off (thank goodness). And I hope this time the *good people* of the world won't focus on Muslims or jihads, and instead realize that it's a GROUP of bad humans, like as if a section of Baptists got together and bombed a family planning bldg in the name of GOD. Ewps, that really happened! They don't represent the religion as a whole, they represent their own twisted interpretation of it.

I guess this is as good a time as any to get on my soap box and spout out once again why we should have stayed focused on the religious sickos responsible for all of this bullshit and not have gone traipsing off to Iraq and accuse them of being a part of it. And no matter what those sweet natured homeboys in Washington tell me there is no way they will make me believe Iraq had anything to do with the New York and Washington tragedies.

Ok *stepping off my soap box* all that BS aside, I am sooo sorry that London had to experience this tragedy just the day after such a joyous occasion of being named the city to host the Olympics in 2012. But I must admire the way they all pitched in helping (and so did a few American tourists). They are a tough crowd - Bravo!

4th of July Bar-B-Q

2005-07-05T13:46:00.000-04:00

Bar-B-Q
Originally uploaded by NC Wench.
Directions:
Soak clams in warm water with seasalt, soak shrimp in 2 bottles of beer (1 lb each)
Brown Italian sweet sausage in olive oil and 1 head of crushed garlic (yeah, a whole head!)
Add clams& 1 cup of beer, then add water to cover to top of clams, cook until clams open on medium low heat. Add seasalt, Old Bay (to taste), oregano & pepper and mix well, then add muscles and cook until they open. Now add shrimp and cook only until they turn pink, then drain. You now have a southern coastal beach stew.

This years pork bar-b-q recipe was straight out of Southern Livings July issue page 126. Turned out AWESOME!!! Everyone at the bar-b-q wanted the recipe so I just told them it was in the magazine.

Try it, you won't be sorry! (But follow the directions!)

Saturday - in the park... I think it was the 2nd of Julyyyy

2005-07-04T11:28:00.000-04:00
Saturday night we sat in the grass down at Waterfront Park in Southport to listen to "Peace and Love" who sing all the Motown hits from the 60's & 70's. That was very enjoyable. The 82nd Airborn (Army) chorus sang first and they were wonderful!

Today I'm cooking up some clams, shrimp, muscles and sausage to go with the bar-b-q we're having over at Tony's house. I made a rub and a sause yesterday, which Tony put on the pig to marinate it over night and he's started cooking it around 9 this morning. Should all be ready around 4 in the afternoon. (I'll post some pics of the food next)

Saturday's Competion

2005-07-03T10:30:00.000-04:00
We had a really good time Saturday. John and I went over to the fire department and the crew cleaned up the truck and got it all shiny, then we drove into Southport followed by the fire truck. We got there about 9:30 and I tried to find a good spot that would still be in the area that spectators get wet from the fire hoses. Ashley and Nathan showed up around 10 along with other friends, and then my best friend drove down from Jacksonville (NC) with her son to spend the weekend. I took tons of photos, but most of them with John's Kodak digital camera which is NOT allowing me to up load on my computer so that makes me mad! I'm having to copy them onto disks from Johns computer and then try to open them on mine, but some won't open.... things to do later today. LOL
The best part of the whole day though was watching the small children playing in the sprinkler off to the side that the firemen set up every year for them.

Southport Firemens Competetion

2005-07-02T07:18:00.000-04:00

3 Station Fire
Originally uploaded by NC Wench.
Today is the Firemens Competetion. All the fire departments (in the state) are invited down to Southport to compete in fun and games against each other. Winner gets a huge trophy and all firemen & families get a free pig pickin'.

Note:
This years winner was Sunny Point Ocean Terminal (Army Depot) They were fantastic... even if they are a PAID Department and train every week! LOL

Mamograms

2005-06-30T00:00:00.000-04:00
I actually kept my mammogram appointment. I've never had one, but every thing I've heard about them lead me to believe this was going to be a nightmare...

I was met with, "Hi! I'm Belinda!" This perky clipboard carrier smiled from ear to ear, tilted her head to one side and crooned, "All I need you to do is step into this room right hereee, strip to the waist, thennnn slip on this gown. Everything clearrrr?"

I'm thinking, "Belinda ... try decaf. This ain't rocket science."

Belinda skipped away to prepare the chamber of horrors.

Call me crazy, but I suspect a man invented this machine. It takes a perfectly healthy cup size of 38-C to a size 42-LONG in less than 60 seconds. Apparently us girls aren't made of sugar and spice and everything nice....it's Spandex. We can be stretched, pulled and twisted over a cold 4-inch piece of square glass and still pop back into shape. (Look how well we do at childbirth!)

With the right side finished, Belinda flipped me (literally) to the left and said, "Hmmmm. Can you stand on your tippy toes and lean in a tad so we can get everything?"

Fine, I answered. I was freezing, bruised, and out of air, so why not use the remaining circulation in my legs and neck and finish me off?

My body was in a holding pattern that defied gravity (with my other boob wedged between those two 4" pieces of square glass) when we heard, then felt a zap! Complete darkness and the power went off!

"What?" I yelled.

"Oh, maintenance is working. Bet they hit a snag." Belinda headed for the door.

"Excuse me! You're not leaving me in this vise alone, are you?" I shouted.

Belinda kept going and said, "Oh, you fussy puppy ... the door's wide open so you'll have the emergency hall lights. I'll be righttttt backkkk."

Before I could shout "NOOO!" she disappeared. And that's exactly how Bubba and Earl, maintenance men extraordinaire, found me, half-naked and part of me dangling from the Jaws of Life and the other part smashed between glass! After exchanging polite "Hi, how's it going" type greetings, Bubba (or possibly Earl) asked, to my utter disbelief, if I knew the power was off.

Trying to disguise my hysteria, I replied with as much calmness as possible. "Uh, yes, yes I did thanks."

"You bet, take care" Bubba replied and waved good-bye as though I'd been standing in the line at the grocery store.

Two hours later, Belinda breezes in wearing a sheepish grin and making no attempt to suppress her amusement, she said. "Oh I am soooo sorry! The power came back on and I totally forgot about you! And silly me, I went to lunch. Are we upset?"

And that, Your Honor, is exactly how her head ended up between the clamps........

FLOODS!

2005-06-29T12:04:00.000-04:00

Woohoo Just in time for the hurricains! That's right... get the ground nice and soggy wet so when the winds come the trees don't break, they just fall over roots and all!

That's what happened when Floyed came, we had lots and lots of rain prior to it and then when Floyed hit, we flooded and huge trees (including 2 of my 60 foot pecan trees) fell over - roots and all.

Always fun.

Makes me laugh every time I read it.

2005-06-29T12:01:00.000-04:00
Here's a truly heartwarming story about the bond formed between a little 5 year old girl and some construction workers that makes you believe that we CAN make a difference when we give a child the gift of our time...

A young family moved into a house, next door to a vacant lot. One day a construction crew turned up to start building a house on the empty lot. The young family's 5-year-old daughter naturally took an interest in all the activity going on next door and spent much of each day observing the workers.

Eventually the construction crew, all of them gems-in-the-rough, more or less adopted her as a kind of project mascot. They chatted with her, let her sit with them while they had coffee and lunch breaks, and gave her little jobs to do here and there to make her feel important. At the end of the first week they even presented her with a pay envelope containing a couple of dollars.

The little girl took this home to her mother who said all the appropriate words of admiration and suggested that they take the two dollar "pay" she had received to the bank the next day to start a savings account. When they got to the bank, the teller was equally impressed and asked the little girl how she had come by her very own pay check at such a young age.

The little girl proudly replied, "I worked last week with the crew building the house next door to us."
My goodness gracious," said the teller, "and will you be working on the house again this week, too?"
The little girl replied, "I will if those assholes at Home Depot ever deliver the fucking sheet rock..."

Kind of brings a tear to the eye.

What The Hell Does It All Mean?

2005-06-27T11:10:00.000-04:00
So I'm listening to CNN News this morning and hear that the Supreme Court of the United States of America (You know the one) has decided that we will take out all things doing with GOD where our judicial system is concerned.

Hmmm...

What's that suppose to mean?

Will we change our money? Will we change our pledge of allegiance? Will we tear down buildings that have been standing for about 100 years or more because there are statues and freezes of biblical implications engraved in said buildings?

And if we do all this will it change who we are? Us as Americans... you know, the folks who TRIED to make a country that took in refugees of all denominations or lack of... all races... even those FORCED to move here and become slaves for a time in this countries history.

I'm not of any one denomination, if you were to break down my beliefs you'd probably call me a druid, yet I'm not fully that because of other factors as well, but one thing I do know - taking the word GOD out of the picture, as well as removing anything to do with the bible will still not make EVERYONE happy. I don't want other peoples beliefs shoved down my throat, but I also do not want the history of America wiped clean as if it was never there.

Newcomers to America... either accept us as we are, be happy we are taking you in or GET THE FUCK OUT! And Atheists... DEAL WITH IT! Quit your fucking wining about this bullshit and deal with the fact that you are going to have to SEE the damn 10 commandments if you break the law and have to go to the courthouse.

THE FACT IS... THIS COUNTRY WAS BASED ON THE WORD OF GOD. LIKE IT OR NOT THAT IS JUST THE WAY IT IS AND I AM SICK AND TIRED OF US HAVING TO MAKE EVERYONE FUCKING HAPPY. HAVENT THESE JUDGES EVER HAD MORE THAN ONE CHILD? IT'S IMPOSSIBLE TO PLEASE EVERYONE SO DON'T TRY!

Have a good day.

*Deep Voice* OH YEAH

2005-06-24T15:59:00.000-04:00
A letter from the "Move On. Org" folks:

In an unexpected move yesterday afternoon, the House of Representatives approved a measure to restore $100 million of funding for NPR, PBS and local public stations.1 Republican leaders were proposing to slash $200 million from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, but you helped stop them.

Everyone said it was impossible to reverse any of the House cuts with Republicans in control. Yesterday's Washington Post described the divide between Democrats and Republicans like this:

"[O]n Capitol Hill, it's hard to find a Republican with anything nice to say about National Public Radio or the Public Broadcasting Service. Instead, they denounce them as liberal and elitist, when they bother to talk about them at all."2

Public broadcasting shouldn't divide Republicans and Democrats. More Americans trust NPR and PBS for balanced news and children's programming than any commercial network.3 Yet many Republicans have been intent on either gagging or starving public broadcasting.

So why did 87 Republicans break with the majority of their party and vote to restore the funding? In large part, because over 1 million of you signed the petition calling on Congress to reverse course. And over 40,000 of you made phone calls to your elected representatives. There was a surge of public outrage that couldn't be ignored. This victory was possible because we were joined by Free Press, Common Cause and strong allies in the House—Representatives Markey, Obey, Lowey, Dingell, Hinchey, Watson, Schakowsky, Blumenauer, Eshoo, Slaughter, and Leach, a brave Republican.

Despite this incredible progress, the House Republicans did manage to cut over $100 million, including funding for children's programming like "Sesame Street." We'll take our fight to the Senate when it considers the budget later this summer. But yesterday's vote makes it much more likely we can restore every last cent for NPR and PBS by acting together.

Yesterday also brought darker news in the fight for public broadcasting. The Republican-dominated board of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) hired a former Republican National Committee chair as the next president, injecting partisanship into the very organization designed to shield public broadcasting from political meddling.4 This is only the latest effort by White House ally and CPB board chair Kenneth Tomlinson to remake public broadcasting as a partisan mouthpiece. To save NPR and PBS, we'll need to take on Tomlinson, but today we showed that the public can and will defend public broadcasting from partisan attack.

For now, we have a lot to be thankful for. Our kids can keep learning from PBS' children's programming. We can keep enjoying public broadcasting's in-depth, trustworthy news and cultural offerings. Most of all, we can be thankful for the ability of ordinary people to band together and do extraordinary things.

Thank you, for all you do,

–Noah, Joan, Marika, Wes and the MoveOn.org Team
Friday, June 24th, 2005

P.S. Your Congressman, Rep. McIntyre, voted the right way on NPR and PBS funding.5 You can call to thank him at 202-225-2731.

Please let us know if you call at:

http://www.moveon.org/call?tg=FHNC_07&cp_id=42&id=5703-4172888-tjNx137jH56_A0mWxY81_A

Sources:
1. "House votes to keep most PBS funding intact," USA Today, June 23, 2005

2. "Opponents On Different Wavelengths," Washington Post, June 23, 2005

3. "CPB's 'Secrets and Lies': Why the CPB Board Hid its Polls Revealing Broad Public Support for PBS and NPR," Center for Digital Democracy, April 27, 2005

4. "Public Broadcasting Chief Is Named, Raising Concerns," New York Times, June 24, 2005

5. Roll Call Vote in House of Representatives (An "aye" vote is the right vote.)

It's Smiling!

2005-06-23T09:48:00.000-04:00

It's smiling!
Originally uploaded by NCWench.
I really hate spiders... like an arachnophobia type of dislike. But I find viewing them through the lens is somewhat easier.

I don't know what kind of spider this one is, but I have allot of them around the outside, building webs. They are rather small, it was hard to get a shot of this one because my camera seriously couldn't get a strong focus on it most of the time. Once I found a position the lens could see it, then I just shot as many as I could in focus and picked out the best shots to display.

Onto other matters:
One of my photo groups has been talking about the recent banning of UAE from flickr.com Flickr didn't ban them, their government did. Mainly (and to make a long story short) it was because of this one person nicknamed 'Thursday' who made the complaint to the officials that flickr.com was basically a porn site because some photos show women's bare backs, bare legs etc... So the people within UAE can no longer access the site and a few others as well. I should also mention this guy 'Thursday' doesn't even live within the UAE... he lives in London. What an ass.

So anyway... I expressed my thoughts that I find it painful, and a bit shocking that countries that have internet access, educated people, the arts, etc would still feel necessary to treat it's citizen like children. I meant no disrespect, nor was it a put down. It's simply that if/when my government denies me anything, they do it in such a way that I don't even know it's being done (which is just as bad I suppose) but to do it so blatantly open within America would surely cause us to rise up and say FUCK YOU to the government don't you think? (Now I did not say this on the group forum, I actually said Freedom of choice!

No one should have their choices denied to them... and I guess it's hard for me to understand that it happens. It seriously boggles the brain to think a Government out there in the world... in 2005... still thinks to treat it's citizens like children as if they cannot decide for themselves right from wrong...and of course a Government that also makes up the religious rules is also something very foreign to me.

I mean no ill feelings by this - I am simply blown away to see art, education, or personal freedoms taken away.
" And what the other person said was this: "NCWench, I have a horrid feeling that your post was absolutely serious and not ironic. There are many many Governments out there doing EXACTLY what you say (including your own and my own). The UAE approach may simply be more transparent than ours.") Excuse me for sounding naive, I'm not. What I am is innocent. Mainly because I've lived such a protected life of freedom here in the US that I find it appalling when people in other countries are denied those same freedoms.

The jist of it all is this... Someone's nose got bent out of shape because I would say anything at all. If no one said anything would the problem go away? If no one said anything does that make it better?

What makes my country great, and that person's country great is this... I can say what I said, where I said it, and he can say what he said where he said it, both of us do not have to look over our shoulders in fear of not only what we said but where, without fear that our ip's will be traced back to our personal homes and us arrested for being at a site we weren't suppose to be at, and for expressing our anger at our government on said site.

So excuse me if I sound naive... but I will fight to keep my freedoms and a government wanting to take them away can kiss my rebel ass! I do not need another country to come in and fight for my rights, I will fight for them myself. Because freedom is not free, you have to stand up and fight for it to earn it.

(But here's a question for you... out of 18 posts... and everyone of us are just as outraged or appalled as each others - why'd he pick mine?! If your in a group of people and something goes wrong each time everyone will look at the redhead first I swear it! And yes... there is a picture of a redhead next to my nickname). LOL!

The Full Moon Rising

2005-06-22T00:38:00.000-04:00

The Full Moon Rising 15
Originally uploaded by NCWench.
I love a full moon. Makes everything look different in it's light.

This time, it's for real: Save NPR and PBS

2005-06-21T02:11:00.000-04:00
Hi ya'all,

You know that email petition that keeps circulating about how Congress is slashing funding for NPR and PBS? Well, now it's actually true. (Really. Check at the bottom if you don't believe me.)

Sign the petition telling Congress to save NPR and PBS:

http://www.moveon.org/publicbroadcasting/

The House of Representatives is about to vote on whether to slash funding for NPR and PBS, starting with "Sesame Street," "Reading Rainbow" and other commercial-free children's shows. If approved, this would be the most severe cut in the history of public broadcasting, threatening to pull the plug on Big Bird, Cookie Monster and Oscar the Grouch.

The cuts would eliminate more than $200 million for NPR, PBS and local stations immediately, with more cuts likely in the future. The loss could kill beloved children's shows like "Clifford the Big Red Dog," "Arthur," and "Postcards from Buster." Rural stations and those serving low-income communities might not survive. Other stations would have to increase corporate sponsorships.

The House will vote on the cuts as soon as Tuesday. Can you help us reach 1 million signatures calling on Congress to save NPR and PBS?

http://www.moveon.org/publicbroadcasting/

Thanks!

P.S. Read the New York Times story on the threat to NPR and PBS at:

http://www.moveon.org/r?r=753

Closer

2005-06-20T12:21:00.000-04:00

Closer
Originally uploaded by NCWench.
The echinacea has been the most fun to take pictures of. The colors are so vibrant and the semetry of each little seed pod in the center is so awesome when looked at up close.

People who don't get into flowers and nature probably won't enjoy the pictures, but I think that the powers that be must be fantastic mathmeticians, when you compare the center of a flower with the univers itself - there is a striking similarity!

Sod it All!

2005-06-17T12:52:00.000-04:00

Herb Side Back Yard
Originally uploaded by NCWench.
Ok so I figured I better show a photo of the grass... it's in, but we ran short and had to order 2 more pallets, so only half the back yard is finished.

If you'd like to see the rest of the photos go here. My Sod it All Set

Oh and the NC Wild Life folks came out on Thursday while my new lawn was being put in, and we located 2 more nests to the RCW family... She's going to try to see about saving this lot next door because too many trees surounding it have been removed, and these woodpeckers need all the help they can get to survive. Did you know only 3% of it's population is in existance now? They were just discovered in 1806 and are now almost wiped out. Man kind is so smart...

Saving The RCW'S Set

.HEAT ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM 11 AM THIS MORNING TO 6 PM EDT THIS EVENING.

2005-06-15T15:56:00.000-04:00
THE NATL WEATHER SVC IN WILMINGTON HAS ISSUED A HEAT ADVISORY.WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM 11 AM THIS MORNING TO 6 PM EDT THIS EVENING.

TEMPS WILL RISE TO THE MIDDLE TO UPPER 90S THIS AFTERNOON. COMBINING THE HOT TEMPS WITH THE MOIST AIR IN PLACE ACROSS THE AREA.HEAT INDEX VALUES WILL RANGE FROM 105 TO 110 DEGREES THIS AFTERNOON.

A HEAT ADVISORY MEANS THAT A PERIOD OF HOT TEMPS IS EXPECTED. THE HOT TEMPS & HIGH HUMIDITY WILL COMBINE TO CREATE A SITUATION IN WHICH HEAT ILLNESSES ARE POSSIBLE. DRINK PLENTY OF FLUIDS.STAY IN AN AIR-CONDITIONED ROOM.STAY OUT OF THE SUN.& CHECK UP ON RELATIVES & NEIGHBORS. ENSURE THAT PETS HAVE PLENTY OF WATER TO DRINK & HAVE A SHADY PLACE TO REST.

That said... My bf has a job that doesn't allow him to be inside & bosses that sit inside an airconditioned office talking on the radio, telling them "It's not hot outside".

Ok... something else

I HATE WHEN PEOPLE WANT TO HAVE A FREAKIN CONVERSATION WITH ME WHEN I'M TRYING TO TYPE!

*Deep Breath*

My lawn is being put in tomorrow finally... all last week it rained, mother nature watered my sand. Next week it won't rain a drop and I'll have to water the sod so I won't loose it. But at least and at last I will have GRASS!!!!!!!

Political Cows

2005-06-14T12:13:00.000-04:00
DEMOCRAT You have two cows. Your neighbor has none. You feel guilty for being successful. Barbara Streisand sings for you.

REPUBLICAN You have two cows. Your neighbor has none. So?

SOCIALIST You have two cows. The government takes one and gives it to your neighbor. You form a cooperative to tell him how to manage his cow.

COMMUNIST You have two cows. The government seizes both and provides you with milk. You wait in line for hours to get it. It is expensive and sour.

CAPITALISM, AMERICAN STYLE You have two cows. You sell one, buy a bull, and build a herd of cows.

BUREAUCRACY, AMERICAN STYLE You have two cows. Under the new farm program the government pays you to shoot one, milk the other, and then pours the milk down the drain.

AMERICAN CORPORATION You have two cows. You sell one, lease it back to yourself and do an IPO on the 2nd one. You force the two cows to produce the milk of four cows. You are surprised when one cow drops dead. You spin an announcement to the analysts stating you have downsized and are reducing expenses. Your stock goes up.

FRENCH CORPORATION You have two cows. You go on strike because you want three cows You go to lunch and drink wine. Life is good.

JAPANESE CORPORATION You have two cows. You redesign them so they are one-tenth the size of an ordinary cow and produce twenty times the milk. They learn to travel on unbelievably crowded trains. Most are at the top of their class at cow school.

GERMAN CORP You have two cows. You engineer them so they are all blond, drink lots of beer, give excellent quality milk, and run a hundred miles an hour. Unfortunately they also demand 26 weeks of vacation per year.

ITALIAN CORPORATION You have two cows but you don't know where they are. While ambling around, you see a beautiful woman. You break for lunch. Life is good.

RUSSIAN CORPORATION You have two cows. You have some vodka. You count them and learn you have five cows. You have some more vodka. You count them again and learn you have 42 cows. The Russian Mafia shows up and takes over however many cows you really have.

TALIBAN CORPORATION You have all the cows in Afghanistan, which are two. You don't milk them because you cannot touch any creature' private parts. You get a $40 million grant from the US government to find alternatives to milk production but use the money to buy weapons.

IRAQI CORPORATION You have two cows. They go into hiding. They send radio tapes of their mooing.

POLISH CORPORATION You have two bulls. Employees are regularly maimed and killed attempting to milk them.

BELGIAN CORPORATION You have one cow. The cow is schizophrenic. Sometimes the cow thinks he's French, other times he's Flemish. The Flemish cow won't share with the French cow. The French cow wants control of the Flemish cow's milk. The cow asks permission to be cut in half. The cow dies happy.

FLORIDA CORPORATION You have a black cow and a brown cow. Everyone votes for the best looking one. Some of the people who actually like the brown one best accidentally vote for the black one. Some people vote for both. Some people vote for neither. Some people can't figure out how to vote at all. Finally, a bunch of guys from out-of-state tell you which one you think is the best-looking cow.

CALIFORNIA CORPORATION You have millions of cows. They make real California cheese. Only five speak English. Most are illegals. Arnold likes the ones with the big udders.

My Guy.

2005-06-13T16:15:00.000-04:00

3 Station Fire Cinema Scope
Originally uploaded by NCWench.
When asked what he's feeling emotionally when he's about to fight a fire he says: On this particular fire I was dreading it. It was 87 degrees and about 100% humidity and I have to wear this turnout gear that doesn't let you breath and enter a building filled with more heat and work with a bunch of guys I don't normally work with. So yeah, I feel dread.

'Queer Eye' for the Baseball Guys

2005-06-10T00:18:00.000-04:00
'Queer Eye' for the Baseball Guys: "Baseball, while tolerating great diversity of drug choice, has remained a miserably homophobic universe. Which accounts for why there is not a single openly gay player in the Major Leagues (nor are there any, to be fair, in the NFL or NBA either). And why a superstar would feel the need to hold a press conference just to deny rumors that he was gay."

This article was great... I won't tell you any more about it, just go read it, it "should" make you smile.

Echinacea

2005-06-09T01:02:00.000-04:00

Echinacea
Originally uploaded by NCWench.
I think this is my most favorite picture. I am really happy with how clear it came out!

Mars

2005-06-07T10:12:00.000-04:00
A friend sent me information about Mars that I think is pretty interesting, if anyone knows more, please let me know!

The Red Planet is about to be spectacular! This month and next, Earth is catching up with Mars in an encounter that will culminate in the closest approach between the two planets in recorded history. The next time Mars may come this close is in 2287. Due to the way Jupiter's gravity tugs on Mars and perturbs its orbit, astronomers can only be certain that Mars has not come this close to Earth in the Last 5,000 years, but it may be as long as 60,000 years before it happens again.

The encounter will culminate on August 27th when Mars comes to within 34,649,589 miles of Earth and will be (next to the moon) the brightest object in the night sky. It will attain a magnitude of -2.9 and will appear 25.11 arc seconds wide. At a modest 75-power magnification

By August 27, Mars will look as large as the full moon to the naked eye. Mars will be easy to spot. At the beginning of August it will rise in the east at 10 p.m. and reach its azimuth at about 3 a.m.

By the end of August when the two planets are closest, Mars will rise at nightfall and reach its highest point in the sky at 12:30 a. m. That's pretty convenient to see something that no human being has seen in recorded history. So, mark your calendar at the beginning of August to see Mars grow progressively brighter and brighter throughout the month.

Now I don't exactly know what an arc or an azimuth is but can you imagine... NO ONE ALIVE TODAY WILL EVER SEE THIS AGAIN! I may just have to go sit on the beach for this one!

New Element Discovered

2005-06-05T10:51:00.000-04:00
A major research institution has recently announced the discovery of the heaviest element yet known to science. The new element has been named "Governmentium." Governmentium has one neutron, 12 assistant neutrons, 75 deputy neutrons, and 11 assistant deputy neutrons, giving it an atomic mass of 312.

These 312 particles are held together by forces called morons, which are surrounded by vast quantities of lepton like particles called peons. Since Governmentium has no electrons, it is inert. However, it can be detected, because it impedes every reaction with which it comes into contact. A minute amount of Governmentium causes one reaction to take over four days to complete, when it would normally take less than a second.

Governmentium has a normal half-life of 4 years; it does not decay, but instead undergoes a reorganization in which a portion of the assistant neutrons and deputy neutrons exchange places. In fact, Governmentium's mass will actually increase over time, since each reorganization will cause more morons to become neutrons, forming isodopes.

This characteristic of moron promotion leads some scientists to believe that Governmentium is formed whenever morons reach a certain quantity in concentration. This hypothetical quantity is referred to as "Critical Morass." When catalyzed with money, Governmentium becomes Administratium - an element which radiates just as much energy as the Governmentium since it has half as many peons but twice as many morons

And this would explain why I'm having so much trouble getting help for my little feathered friends in the lot next door.

I can't breath!

2005-06-04T09:26:00.000-04:00
Summer is here... and so is the humidity. I sure as hell never miss that each winter. But without it we wouldn't get great t-storms so I guess I won't complain

YET

I've got a question maybe someone can answer... Why are they wanting to make the old Pope a saint? Did he perform any miracles I was unaware of when they occured? Or are they trying to feed us some BS that he did perform some miracles but just didn't tell us about them. No matter what they feed us I'm an unbelieveer. He was just a man.

Locally:
Behind my house and also one lot next to it are solid woods, or were until this builder bought the lots and started clearing them to build. Not just taking out a few trees to make room for the house/garage and septic tank, oh hell no, this ASSHOLE has removed every single tree on the lots! (Thank GOD not the one right next door - yet) Well I've been taking photos of the red cockated woodpecker that lives with his family in a long leaf pine tree next door and they are on the state and federal endangered list. So I have begun a campaign to save the trees. So far I've only been able to build up my long distance phone calls because the wild life biologist that represents our area has not returned my calls. I'll do my best to keep it all posted here - provided my computer cooperates.

The reason I hardly post anymore is due to my lazy ass computer. No matter how many pop-up stoppers, nortons, and spyware doctors I have, I get so overwhelmed with websites that pop up and wont go away when I come here that I just crinj at the thought! So I only come post when I have allot of patience.

Other than that how is everyone? LOL

I'm still looking for a job and no I have not re-applied to Wallyworld yet. That's my last resort. I did put in for a job on Bald Head Island with the Conservancy. I think that would be a cool job. I'd have to take the ferry to and from work and traffic would be bad durring dolphin and turtle seasons, but as long as I bring my camera along I think I could tolerate the wait. LOL Damn that would be a cool job. I probably won't get it just because I want it.

I have a house full of teens this week. Schools out and I live at the beach - that makes me more popular than their dad's place. Unfortunatly for them it's been a solid rainy week. Hot - but wet. A thunderstorm woke me at 2;30 this morning, so I sat on the porch and watched that for a while.

Well toodles for now.
;>

Young Australian gets 20 years in Bali drug case - Asia-Pacific - MSNBC.com

2005-05-27T08:08:00.000-04:00
"Indonesia, like many Asian nations, imposes tough penalties for drug offences. Australian media have reported that judge Sirait has never acquitted a defendant in some 500 drugs trials. He could have given Corby the death sentence.": Jesus... what do they do with murderers over there? Kill them and then sentence their souls to hell?

Don't you think this is over reaction in the punishment? Seriously, it just doesn't fit the crime. If Bali wants to have a court system like the rest of the free world, someone really needs to explain about over-punishment. You don't ground a child to his room for a year because he stole cookies. I know drugs arent cookies, but robery is robery at any age, you just have to make the punishment fit the crime and person. A tourist should be kicked out of the country and not allowed back in... then let that person's country decide how best to punish them.

But in this womans case, I think she is innocent. And there seems to be allot of that in Bali's jails.

Why Rednecks Don't Make Good EMT'S

2005-05-22T13:59:00.000-04:00
A couple of rednecks are out in the woods hunting when one of them suddenly grabs his chest and falls to the ground. He doesn't seem to be breathing; his eyes are rolled back in his head.

The other redneck whips out his cell phone and calls 911. He gasps to the operator, "I think Bubba is dead! What should I do?"

The operator, in a calm soothing voice says, "Just take it easy and follow my instructions. First, let's make sure he's dead."

There is a silence...... and then a shot is heard. The redneck's voice comes back on the line, "Okay, now what?"

Which Ones? - My photoset on Flickr

2005-05-19T14:21:00.000-04:00
The photos for the contest... My county is having an Amateur Photographers contest for residents of this county, the catagories are Black & White Rivers/Coast, Color Rivers/Coast, Black & White Wildlife and Color Wildlife.

So which ones should I choose? I'll be adding more as I take them, please help me choose which ones to make black & white & which ones to keep color & what ones for the contest!

Here is one example:
Please tell me what you think.

W00t!

2005-05-18T22:23:00.000-04:00
It's been awhile since I last blogged... I got caught up in my photography and gourd designs. And then theirs been the vegitable garden, the herb garden and getting the yard ready for the sod. Still no word when it will be in, but I'm excited - actual grass this summer!!!

Well lets see, Star Wars opens tonight at midnight - or is that tomorrow at midnight? Either way I wont be at it. If I'm lucky I'll be at it on Saturday - anytime as long as I'm there!

And then War of the Wolds comes out soon, I wanna see that AND I'm extreamly excited about seeing "The DaVinci Code" I freakin LOVED that book!

And it's the last 2 weeks of allllllll my shows! OMG What the hell will I do all summer?! Oh I know - I'll open my Nikon book and learn how to change my ISO settings. I'm trying to capture the perfect pictures for an amateur photographers contest being held here in my county. If anyone is interested in giving me feed back on some pictures, please go to the flikr site (on the right under the pictures) and click on the set titled "Which Ones?" I could use the feedback.

Anyone watch Lost tonight? How the HELL did that ship get in the middle of the damn island? Musta been one huge hurricain! All the CSI's are rockin and ER finishes for the season tomorrow night...and then there is Desperate Housewives, GAWD what a freakin show! I love it! Television hasn't been this good since I was 8 years old and the Partridge Family and Brady Bunch were back to back on Friday nights!

John Sleepin

2005-05-12T12:12:00.000-04:00

John Sleepin
Originally uploaded by NCWench.
Thought this would look great with my blog on it being summer here already.

The cats keep killin the lizards and dropping them by the doors as "thank you" gifts. The morning glories and moon flowers have broken ground. They hydrangias and starting to bud and it's light till 8:15 now or maybe it's 8:30... dunno!

Summer is here

2005-05-12T11:54:00.000-04:00
Ok it's 10 minutes to 12 and almost 85 degrees out. I've weeded the veggie garden and spread out some soil over my back yard (which is primarily sand) *sigh* but the good news is, we're getting sod put down in a few weeks! TFG for that!!! Now it's time to start planning a small above ground pool to go beside the house where we won't be putting down sod because eventually we plan to either have a patio or have the deck wrap around to the back. Either way I want that damn pool before the 4th of july this year because by god that is the HOTTEST day of the summer around here. I think it's mainly because we sit in the swealtering heat starting at 8 am for the parade, then we watch that for 3 hours (because we have the biggest celebration in the state crammed into this tiny town and every political rival wanting to be re-elected will be in it, and as many fire companies, high school bands, every Sudan in the state and some from SC as well and a half a million clowns etc... it never ends. The street fair is all week long, beach music on the water fron, dancing in the streets, live bands and it will finally end the night of the 4th (unless it's a Sunday, then we prolong it into a Monday because GOD forbid we mess up church services) but anyway so on the night of the 4th we have a HUGE fireworks display that last 30 minutes and takes you 2 hours to get home (and you only live 15 minutes away) and that is because EVERY tourist in the vacinity of about 2 hours away will drive here to spend the entire day and evening just so they can experience the "Small town-old fashion 4th of july festivities of Southport NC" Guess what... it hasn't been a small town festival in over 10 years. Locals go to it about every other year - just to remind ourselves why we don't go EVERY year. Instead we go to SC and buy all the illegal fireworks we can afford and then have a HUGE bar-b-q at home with friends and family and everyone brings their fireworks, we roast clams, oysters, brats, chicken and pig and swim, and get drunk.

I love the 4th of July.

Oh, I'm thinking of applying for Wal-Mart again - that way I'll have more to bitch about =)

LOL

Shacking up: N.C. anti-cohabitation law under legal attack

2005-05-09T14:50:00.000-04:00
Shacking up: N.C. anti-cohabitation law under legal attack: "RALEIGH, N.C., May 9 - There are some 144,000 unmarried couples living together in North Carolina, and they are all breaking the law - a statute that has been on the books since 1805. "

Dear Lord, please save me from your fan club! At least from the over zealouse ones please?!

The law against cohabitation is rarely enforced. But now the American Civil Liberties Union is suing to overturn it altogether, on behalf of a former sheriff's dispatcher who says she had to quit her job because she wouldn't marry her live-in boyfriend.

And the sad thing is, this is just 2 counties over from me. The same county I moved from.

"The sheriff told the Star-News of Wilmington last year that Hobbs' employment was a moral issue as well as a legal question. He said that he tries to avoid hiring people who openly live together, but he doesn't send out deputies to enforce the law. "

Who's morals? His? Well who fucking died and made him GOD?

"At least one judge, U.S. Magistrate Carl Horn in Charlotte, regularly asks defendants whether their living arrangements violate the cohabitation ban. Horn, who declined to be interviewed for this story, has refused to release violators unless they promise to comply.
''We think that it's good to have a law against cohabitation because the studies show that couples that cohabitate before they're married, that their marriages are more prone to break up, there's less stability in the marriage,'' said Bill Brooks, executive director of the conservative North Carolina Family Policy Council.
But the Rev. Jack McKinney of Pullen Memorial Baptist Church in Raleigh, which counts gay couples among its 900-person congregation, said: ''I think the state's got better things to do than try to dictate people's private lives to that degree.'' "

Fallen Soldiers

2005-05-08T11:58:00.000-04:00

00041
Originally uploaded by ShaSpleen.
What can be said other than some mothers won't be celebrating today.

Busy Time

2005-05-06T10:05:00.000-04:00
Since I'm not working, and I can only clean the house so many times, and rake the yard so much, I've been getting into my camera allot.

A very sweet person on flikr gave me a pro account because she likes some of my pictures, so that allows me more room to upload them.

I'm no professional, but I sure enjoy taking pictures for an artistic angle rather than always just to record some personal family history. I've seen some pretty amazing pictures other people have taken on that site.

Yesterday it rained all day, most of us don't take pictures of rainy days, but I belong to this group that makes art out of rainy days, it's called "Rain in the city...and the country" and those who live in the city are able to capture great pictures with the way the lights from stores play off wet roads, sidewalks and windows, even wet cars. So I made it my business to try to capture something yesterday. I failed. But I had fun doing it! And I guess that's what this is all about. So I'm not sitting around feeling bad.

Take the time, go look at the pictures. They're great.

Disgust

2005-05-04T00:28:00.000-04:00
Its truely a sad day when we make the national news AND Jimmy Kimel Live over a cut up finger tip in a frozen yogurt because the fat fuck who found it, wants to sue the yogurt company rather than give it back to the person it belonged to so HE could have it sewn back on. And did I mention that fat fuck says he's a man...but looks more like a woman with a mustache. He probably wanted the money for a sex change.

We also made the news when 2 boys were rescued off the coast after 6 days drifting at sea, but the weather channel called us "cape fear" Do they not look at a map? Can they not see that CAPE FEAR IS A FUCKING RIVER? We are the town of SOUTHPORT ya schmucks!!! There is no town called Cape Fear. None. Zip. Nada! They do this every time when we get hurricaines too. GAWD!

Smile

2005-05-02T23:58:00.000-04:00

1122_hey
Originally uploaded by andrew collins.
Everytime I see this picture I can't help but smile.

So much better than flipper (because s/he looks retarded).

Uploaded by andrew collins on 10 Mar '05, 8.59pm EDT.

Police: Ga. bride-to-be fabricated abduction tale

2005-04-30T09:23:00.000-04:00
32-year-old surfaces in N.M., reportedly 'needed some time alone'

Glad to hear the Groom-to-be was not involved in this... poor guy, for the rest of his life he's now going to have the honor of being able to tell the biggest "Left at the Altar" story in America.

Sounds to me like this woman has quite a few issues in her personal life if she could do this at that age. At 32 I was raising 3 kids, the thought of running away from family and friends was a day dream, never allowed to become a reality. And my run-away- dreams were centered around running away to a spa for a week. LOL Her story smacks me more along the lines of "Smokey and the Bandit" with out the Bandit. She gets to play the part of Sally Fields.

That poor family. How embarrassing.

Whatchya think?

2005-04-29T23:18:00.000-04:00
I've been watching this case of the missing bride-to-be in Georgia... I keep thinking it's going to turn out to be a loved one that did it. I think because everything thats been making the news in the past 10 years, the majority has turned out to be a family member or a neighbor.

Doese anyone know what the outcome was of the 2 yr old & 3 yr old brother and sister who's bodies were found drowned? Have they said who they suspect? Anyone?

I'm so tired of hearing it's a family member or neighbor. If I was being killed... I would want it to be someone I don't know and trust and/or love to be doing me in. I could fight against a stranger, but for it to be someone I know, trust, love... my heart would be breaking and I'd probably not have the will to fight them.

Scared

2005-04-28T14:20:00.000-04:00
What do you do when your scared - Your unsure of yourself & your future. Your basic needs and wants are minimal. All you really want is to be happy, safe & sure.

To have a job you can count on, be happy with & enjoy going to.
To have a home that is yours, with no fear it will be taken from you.
To be safe on the road, without fear of being stranded.
To be confident you can pay all your bills & still save.
To have people who love you.
To have fun enter your personal world weekly.
To not be scared anymore.

Marketing

2005-04-28T13:17:00.000-04:00
The buzz word in today's business world is marketing. However, people often ask for a simple explanation of the concept. Well, here it is -- everything you need to know about marketing.

You're a woman and you see a handsome guy at a party. You go up to him and say, "I'm fantastic in bed."
That's Direct Marketing.

You're at a party with a bunch of friends and see a handsome guy. One of your friends goes up to him and, pointing at you, says, "She's fantastic in bed."
That's Advertising.

You see a handsome guy at a party. You go up to him and get his telephone number. The next day you call and say, "Hi, I'm fantastic in bed."
That's Telemarketing.

You see a guy at a party, you straighten your dress. You walk up to him and pour him a drink. You say, "May I?" and reach up to straighten his tie, brushing your breast lightly against his arm, and then say, "By the way, I'm fantastic in bed."
That's Public Relations

You're at a party and see a handsome guy. He walks up to you and says, "I hear you're fantastic in bed."
That's Brand Recognition.

You're at a party and see a handsome guy. He fancies you, but you talk him into going home with your friend.
That's a Sales Representative.

Your friend can't satisfy him so he calls you.
That's Tech Support.

You're on your way to a party when you realize that there could be handsome men in all these houses you're passing. So you climb onto the roof of one situated towards the center and shout at the top of your lungs, "I'm fantastic in bed!"
That's Junk Mail.

Go Work in China, Immediately. - But don't buy any stocks from there. By Henry�Blodget

2005-04-28T10:40:00.000-04:00
"A few readers did resent the send-the-rookie approach, and others were annoyed by my requests for help, as if I were offloading work that I should have been doing on my own. To this I would say again, with deep gratitude, that many of the better stories in the series were gifts from Slate readers to Slate readers, with my playing the role of grateful delivery boy."

And it seems to ME that this just goes to show you how so many people in the world are out for themselves and only themselves. Because I'll bet most of them said "what do I get out of this?" rather than "What will it hurt to help someone else out?" Surely the answer to both would be "NOTHING". So what does it hurt to help someone else out if it hurts nothing? One thing you will get out of it though is a bit of self respect, knowing you contributed to someone elses growth, knowledge and maybe monetary gain, but it cost you nothing except a few minutes of your time.

It takes allot of inner strength for anyone to travel alone - imagine traveling to another country where they don't speak your language? Nothing is familiar, because your a part of the western world and they aren't... To go it alone is more frightening to me than anything else. If I had that strength I'd try doing this at any age. I could always come home again right?

No thanks - it's just too scarey!

Who Makes These Rules Anyway?

2005-04-27T20:52:00.000-04:00
I was sitting around daydreaming in my garden today, kind of wishing I could own a coffee/book/herbal shop type of thing and of course call it "Herb-an-Culture" and then my mind started wandering as it tends to do and I was thinking of all the herbal remedies and then I wondered why the majority of the states in our country refuse to allow people with certain problems to be able to smoke pot, you know like folks with cancer - it gets rid of their queasiness and helps bring back their appetites. Why would our state and federal government disapprove that, but will allow someone to take other prescription drugs? Last I heard pot wasn't addictive, and is less harmful that oxycotton or morphine as two examples. I'm not deeply informed on this topic but it just got me wondering about it.

If certain groups wants us to be run less by government and more on our own personal responsibilities, why then should the government get involved in some of these cases we hear about - one being the Schivo case. That pretty much should have been left alone to the smaller local government, after all it was a 15 year old case.

Why is Michael Jackson so prominently in the news over his alleged child molestation case, but we hear so little about the Catholic Priests who allegedly molested children? The recent passing of the pope made allot of people speak highly of him, and yeah, he didn't seem like such a bad guy, and me not being catholic is probably going to piss a few folks off saying this, but what the hell ... the pope was just a man. Saint? I think not. He surely welcomed Jews into his church as well as attended a few of their religious ceremonies, but he had no tolerance for gays/lesbians. Sure being gay is not a religion - it's actually deeper than that, it's what someone is born. It's like saying I hate all women or all men or all blacks or all Mexicans... you hate them for what they were born? Damn.

I'm no pope, I'm no Saint, and God knows I'm no politician - but it just seems to me we really SHOULD be held accountable for our own personal responsibilities and use some common sense too! And if the pope couldn't tolerate gays, then he was no Saint, because even a non saint-like person should be able to tolerate the differences in human beings. Common sense says "The person has cancer - let him smoke some pot so he can feel better" "That person is what she was born to be, and I'll get to know her for who she is, not what she is" "That person has a personal belief that is different than mine - I'll share with them my belief and listen as intently to their belief, and we'll find a common ground to walk together on"

It's kind of strange to think that the young people of the 60's who made such radical changes in our lifestyles here in the USA... are the same old farts ruining the show today in our Governments. They were liberals when they were poor and became conservative when they got their 401k's - more folks need to become moderate to make this a better place. I like to say I'm a liberal with a side dish of conservative but the truth is, I'm mostly moderate. I believe we should have a death penalty, not because it's a punishment, but because it's more of a punishment to those of us who pay taxes to keep the murderers alive. So get rid of the trash. I believe a woman has the right to a choice when or when not to have a child. It's her body, her conscience, she who has to live with her choices. It sure as hell isn't hurting anyone and no do not tell me it's hurting that baby because hello... its not breathing yet. I suppose I could think deeper about that, and make myself believe that we are hurting it - but hey, we'd be hurting it worse by making it's mother give birth to it only to hate it, neglect it, raise it poorly with no morals etc etc etc... so let women have their choice. I believe also that if you do NOT vote - you do not have the right to spout your opinions to me. Voting doesn't cost you anything, and damnit, it's what makes us feel like we have SOME say in what the hell goes on in this country. Even if we lost our vote - we didn't loose our voice. Someone heard us when we voted for the other guy/girl.

Why isn't smoking pot allowed for people who need it? Or even those who don't... it isn't worse than alcohol, and non addictive. No I don't smoke it - I need to get a job in this nation of ours, that would preclude a urinalysis to get one don't ya think? Why isn't beating someone up for their sexual preferences as bad as beating someone up for being a different color? And why is killing someone because they are different so much worse than killing someone period? Murder is murder regardless the reason. Even in the south we no longer kill someone cause they needed killin' (though I wish we could sometimes!).

Anyway, that's pretty much how my thoughts ran... out of whack one thing leading to another, only I seem to be able to make the links.

Meow

2005-04-26T09:15:00.000-04:00

Meow
Originally uploaded by Jenny.
I just had to share this... Is this not the CUTEST baby picture ever?! I just wanna pic it up and cuddle it against my ear so I can hear it purring!

2005-04-25T11:28:00.000-04:00
A Very Easy to Make Recipe that is also VERY YUMMY!