I have a complaint.
I called my insurance company to remove my son’s broken down jalopy from our coverage. That went just fine. We put him as primary driver of the truck and all is well.
Then the agent said, “Have we discussed your liability coverage and that, maybe you’ll want to bump it up a step?”
Now, in the state of Ohio, liability is mandatory and a good thing, I think.
But the agent said they are recommending that liability insurance now be higher than the $50,000.00 property damage. And her reason? Because so many cars nowadays are worth more than $50,000.
What?! So, if I have the misfortune of being in an accident and being found as being the cause of said accident, I should have to pay more than $50,000 to the owner of the luxury vehicle I hit? But, if he would be found to be the cause, he would only have to pay $15,000 because I don’t have to show my net worth by driving it?
I ask, am I seeing this wrong? Should I just pony up the extra money for coverage, that I hopefully won’t use? I am choosing to opt out for now. My liability coverage will stay the same.
But should people be driving vehicles that are worth the cost of a modest house? Shouldn’t they be shouldering some of the responsibility of liability if they choose to drive their expensive vehicle out there on the public roads with us peons?
Or is this just my insurance company’s way of getting more money? Hmmm…. ya think?

This is my weekend off. I am enjoying it immensely.
Yesterday, I did a little housework and played on the computer in the morning. Then in the afternoon, I took a nap.
My son then drove his broken down car to our house to keep it until it is sold as junk or traded. A few days after my husband fixed its front deer damage, a rear suspension problem became evident. The car is a ’93 Subaru and parts ain’t cheap. So, now my son is driving our pickup, after learning to drive a stick shift.
He and his fiance decided to spend the night and the three of us went to see a movie. Rog wanted to see Doomsday, but Ali and I wanted to see Shutter.
We travelled to New Phila to see Shutter. We had to take detours to avoid flooding. But I was able to get an amazing picture of the sun and clouds.

The movie was excellent. But it makes me a little camera-shy. I ain’t afraid of no ghosts but… I have seen pics with some strange images before and I wonder. Now, the picture above looks like it has a “ghost” on the left side there. But that is actually a hole in the cloud cover where the sun was shining through. I saw it with my own eyes.
We arrived at the theater just as the movie started. Sitting near us was a group of teens. One girl had a cell phone and she kept laughing out loud for the first ten minutes of the movie. One of the other patrons went and told the usher and he made a walkthrough but the girl hid the phone. As soon as the usher left, she pulled it out again and began giggling…loudly. Very annoying. It made me wonder why you would waste 9 bucks to see a movie if you were just going to sit and play with your cell phone the whole time. Finally, I am told, an older lady in front of me yelled, “Shut up!” and she did. I missed the wonderful moment as I was totally engrossed in the movie at that moment. But I did notice a short time later that all was quiet.

After the movie, we went out to eat. Ali and I ordered breakfast. Roger ordered a sandwich and fries. He said he can’t eat breakfast except at breakfast time. Growing up, he would refuse a supper of scrambled eggs with sausage and toast. He would have a PB & J sandwich instead. Mike and I like a supper of breakfast food occasionally. Don’t know where the kid got his aversion.

Today I will probably not do much of anything. The kids are still here and I think maybe we’ll go visit Mom and Dad this afternoon. Maybe get pizza.
I haven’t had pizza for a couple of months.
Hope you all have a nice day.

I have started a new blogring, Weekly Writing Challenge. I invite all who are writers or readers to check it out and join in the weekly challenge. Go to my new site here to get the new challenge and to link to your site.

grammarboy has issued a writing challenge:
“A man and woman are in an elevator together in a tall building. Using only dialogue, tell the story of their elevator ride.”
I am throwing my hat in the ring, and here is my entry:

“Hello…Fifth floor, please.”
“Sure thing. “
“Excuse me for being nosy, but I see you must be a proud new father?”
“That’s right, Ma’am. My wife just gave birth to a beautiful little girl! I left long enough to go to the flower shop and get these flowers for my beautiful wife and this teddy bear is for my little girl.”
“Oh, how sweet. Congratulations to you and your wife.”
“Thank you. Are you visiting someone here in the hospital?”
“My husband…he isn’t doing too well.”
“Oh?”
“He was in an accident. Actually I’m meeting with the doctor. He says there’s no brain activity. He wants to talk about the possibilities.”
“God, that’s tough.”
“Yes, it is. We’ve had such a good life, even though we had no children.”
“Are you …here…alone?”
“Yes, I’m afraid so. I have no close friends, because he was my best friend. ….Anyway! You! You have such joyous news to celebrate. Have you chosen a name for your little girl yet?”
“Um…Yeah, I mean…Yes. Her name is Taylor Renee. ……I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to make you cry.”
“It’s alright. It’s just that Taylor is my husband’s name.”

I was off work yesterday and after I shoveled out the dog cage, I showered and went to Wally world to get a few items.
There was a recipe I saw for baked beans with a low sugar content. I wanted to try it because beans are a good source of protein. (as well as gas, but I am off today, too ) Now, this calls for a little bourbon, a “splash” according to the recipe. I am a tea-totaller because I have found as I grow older it takes a lot less alcohol to make me stupid. So, I have no spirits in my house. Now, Walmart has a shelf of DILUTED alcoholic beverages and I figured that would be okay, since this is just for a recipe meaning it just lends to the taste of the dish. So, I chose a bottle and added it to my cart.
When I got to the checkout, I added the bottle to the belt. The cashier scanned it and there was a message that flashed on the read out “Are you 27 years old?”
The cashier looked at me pointedly.
WTF?
I dug out my ID and said, “Well….Yeah!”
Then the cashier pointed out a sign indicating WalMart’s new policy- They ID anyone under 40 now!!
I was shocked, because of the under 40 distinction. Evidently, in this age of crack, many of our teenage ne’er-do-well’s can pass as over 27 due to the havoc wreaked on their systems by the drugs. ( Now, before you youngsters get up in arms, all the teens I know look like teens. I’m sure this is a minute part of the population.) But 40?!?
The second reason I was shocked is because the lady carded me! I may look a little young, but I think I look every bit of 41. (And this was after a grueling day of shoveling dog poo.) I don’t think she was really the conscientious type, either. She outright said she didn’t agree with the policy. And she called me “Honey.” I am so close to the half century mark, I am beginning to feel it. I do not think I belong to the “honey” distinction, unless it is with my husband.
She said it in a condescending manner that oozed “Trust me, I am so much older and wiser than you.” (Yes, I got ALL that out of two syllables.) And she had just moments before talked with the previous customer about her teenage adulation of David Cassidy! She’s my freakin’ age!
Anyhow, I am renaming the baked beans recipe.
From here on out they shall be known as:
Old Fart Beans.

This week’s challenge is “Frames”. I remembered when my son was in 4-H photography a few years ago, that framing was part of composition. I believe that framing referred to having a distinct foreground and that could be one or more objects. With that in mind, I went through my past photos and wanted to find something I haven’t posted yet. I came upon my day trip to Niagara Falls. It was supposed to be for gambling , but for me it was all about seeing the Falls again, this time from the American side. It was a beautiful day last October.

I’m probably stretching the rules a bit here, but I really just wanted to show my pictures.

Went to my parents’ today. This was some of what I saw on the way home:

Just a few of the many barns:

This barn is in a turn on a hillside:

A barn near our turn off:

This barn is 130 years old and still harbors heifers:

That’s all for the barns. Lozier’s deals in farm equipment and they use a few of the really old ones to decorate. This one is at the end of my road:

The first time my husband brought me to his home this way, I felt as if this was the end of the earth. It seemed as if you would drop off the side:

This is what the end of the earth looks like. Note all the mud and muck:

A neighbor’s cow and calf:

When I get home, my Boomer is always here to greet me:

I realize these are late, but I did them!

First, I’d like to say sorry to my regular reader(s) for not posting since last week. I’ve been doing some pretty boring things and didn’t really have a whole lot to share. Still don’t.
With that disclaimer stated I am forging ahead.
I was scheduled to work a 5 day stretch over the weekend, beginning on Thursday. All went well, and I enjoyed it. Our facility was limited to visitors for the past few weeks due to upper respiratory infection. Signs were posted saying, basically, “If you don’t want green or yellow snot shooting out of different orifices, don’t come in here!”
Nursing the facility population back to health was not easy, but we did it and my weekend was relatively quiet. Sunday evening rolled around and the midnight nurse reported off because she had symptoms of the flu. I tried to get one of the other nurses to pick up her shift, to no avail. I decided it would look good on the next check if I just stayed and worked a double. It went smoothly but for one little old lady who thought she wasn’t getting enough attention from “that nurse on the other shift” (me) and she complained until I finally sent her to the hospital ward. She hates the hospital ward and now she hates me! It happens.
Monday morning after working 16.5 hours, I took my car for an alignment. It seems when my brother-in-law pulled my car from the ditch during the blizzard last week the car came slightly out of alignment. There was a strange vibration in the steering wheel. The service tech said the vibration was due to mud and ice being caked around the wheels. I’m a little embarrassed by this, but not really. I live on a dirt road and it is often muddy. What the tech didn’t know, and I didn’t share, was that right before the blizzard my father-in-law lost part of a load of manure on the roadway and I had to drive through it to get to work. Not a pleasant odor. Most of what was caked up in there was probably cow poo.
By the time I got home on Monday, my left foot was swollen and hurt so bad I could not bear to think of working eight more hours on it that afternoon. I called off. Then, when I woke up that afternoon I called my boss to discuss some small matters that came up the previous night. I apologized for calling off and she said…………..”That’s alright. You’re getting older, you know. Now is the time for you to slow down and let the younger ones take over.” She said she was forty when she made that decision.
I feel that what she said was right, but not something I am likely to do. I could have worked my afternoon shift had I been able to get to bed right after I came off midnights. Just not on two hours of sleep. Couldn’t have done it when I was 21, either. I gave in to my weight when I was 40 and let it rule my insignificant existence. I couldn’t have done a nursing job to save my life. Then at 42, I made the decision to have weight loss surgery and got a new lease on life. And, long story short, this is why I can’t give in to my age now.
Tuesday my son and I traveled to Columbus to see my weight loss surgeon. He was happy with my weight at 7 years out. I spoke with the dietician and she helped encourage me to keep eating right. She was surprised when I told her that I had been eating sugar at Christmas time and it had now effect on me, and that now, after having been on a sugar restrictive eating plan for a month that I experienced the dumping syndrome when I ate a cookie the night before. She said it rarely works that way. Usually once we become used to sugar, we can tolerate it for the duration. I feel lucky.
On our trip to Columbus, I decided I didn’t want to take the interstate highways and took the byways. This could have been a bad decision. We had that blizzard last week then a warming trend. I knew there was flooding near Mineral City and that it was within a couple feet of the roadway near granny’s farm. Well, as I was traveling St. Rte. 83, I crested this very huge ‘hill’and saw before me a valley that seemed to be covered with water! There was no place to turn around but there were no Road Closed signs so I went toward the bottom. Luckily, the water was not up over the roadway. But when I saw that expanse from the top of the hill, my heart sank. It was one of those few moments in life that grips you with fear. I would have pulled over and let the guy behind me go into the unknown first, but there was no place to pull over. I knew that when I got to the bottom I could probably turn my little car around in the roadway, if needed.
Once we got to the interstate, I stayed on it.
My brother lives in granny’s house a mile above Dover dam. The sheriff’s department went to his house Tuesday night and told him that he would need to make arrangements because the flooding is expected to be worse than it was in 2005. That was a record high flood. The US Army Corps of Engineers have been working inside the dam to fortify it due to aging. I’m not sure if they still are working inside with the water backed up behind the dam or not. That is not a job I would want. My brother and his new wife and kids are going to try to ride it out. They have went to the store and bought food and water and fuel for the generator. They have natural gas from a well there on the farm so heating should not be a problem. They hope to have enough provisions for three weeks. I’m not sure what I would do in that case. They don’t want to leave because three weeks is a long time to pay for a room and even with vouchers and such, one room for three kids and two adults doesn’t sound like fun. Of course family would take them in, but three weeks is a long time. I’d probably try to ride it out, too.
My son lives with his girlfriend and her family in Mineral City and their town will be stranded, too. I told him that he could bring the girl with him and stay at our home. Another brother and his kids are going to be staying with my sister. Yet another brother and his family live in a house that is right on the edge of the floodplain. If the water gets higher than in ’05, his house could be in danger. The water is supposed to crest next week.
My sister and brother-in-law got good news Monday. They were both accepted for disability. They have been trying to get it for the past two years. She has many health problems and he has a bad back. He retired last year after being on extended medical leave for two years and they only get $300 per month after child support is taken out. They are on public assistance and get food stamps. She called her lawyer yesterday and they qualify for back benefits for three years. He will get a cut of it, of course, but their monthly income will probably be $3000.00, according to their lawyer.
Well, this pretty much catches me up on my doings. I have been off since Monday morning and go back tomorrow afternoon. Hope you all have a nice week.

patriotic – having or expressing devotion to and vigorous support for one’s country.
I am devoted to the men and women who serve our country but I can’t say I vigorously support my country. I disagree with us sticking our noses into everybody’s business and I am not enchanted with our president. I would like to believe there is no evil out there in the world but there are many countries that have different value systems than ours. I feel lucky to be living in our country. Can I be classified as semi-patriotic? I don’t fly a flag, mainly because I don’t see the need for boasting. But I feel it is my duty as an American citizen to vote my conscience. I feel it all boils down to action versus “show”. *edited to show support for all who serve, no matter age or gender. : )

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My mom says she gave me my first name because she liked the sound of it and she was happy to have a girl after three boys. I like it because it sounds good coming from my husband (although he rarely uses it because it is also his sister’s name) and other loved ones. I am usually tater to husband, thus my xanga name.
My middle name rhymes with that of three of my cousins as well as my sister. It was also the name of a favorite doll of my mother’s childhood. My paternal aunt thought my mother gave me my middle name in honor of her, and Mom did not disenchant her. My niece carries my middle name and her daughter’s first name contains our middle name.

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