The Name Game

Whenever I work at the library I notice most of our patrons, the one's who check out books, are either very old or very young. The younger adults come in to either check out books-on-tape or magazines. The older children come in to use the computers to either play games or go online.

The last time I worked behind the check-out desk I was very conscious of the names of the people who checked out books. I had a child called Shakotah (a boy) and an older gentleman called Elmer come up to the counter within five minutes of each other. Only in this day and age would someone name their boy Shakotah. Plus I think I can safely say that you are not going to run across a little boy named Elmer anytime soon. That got me thinking about how children's names come in and go out of style.

For the rest of the day I kept track of the names of the young children, five years-old and younger, and the names of their great-grandparents, people born in the 1920's and 1930's.

Great-grandparents:
Girls- Hattie, Ethel, Bernice, Pearl, Gerty, Minnie.
Boys- Norvin, Otto, Ruben, Delbert, Elmer, Alvin.

Children:
Girls- Brandi, Breanna, Jacy, Mallery, Piper, Chasisley.
Boys- Tyler, Kale, Logan, Shakotah, Cody, Brett.

It's interesting how old-fashion the great-grandparent's names look in this day and age. Someday names like Piper, Mallery, Kale and Shakotah will seem just as antiquated.

Baling Twine

-Stephanie Davis

Way out in the country, miles from town
Things have a way of breaking down
At the most inconvenient of times.
Which can make the going rather rough
Unless of course you know enough
To always, always, carry baling twine.

Baling twine, you know what I mean
Fluorescent orange polypropylene
That for wrapping bales of hay has proved a winner.
Ah, but friend that's just its start in life
The stuffs got more uses than a Ginsu knife
At the annual Donner Party reunion dinner.

It'll close a gate
Hold your bait
Fasten on your license plate
Tow a sled
Lace a Ked
Hang your deer in the shed
Keep your 'mater plants
And your pants from falling down.

It'll fix a cinch in a pinch
Let your stirrups out an inch
Double as a fan belt
Stretch a pelt, catch a smelt
Baling twine keeps this old world spinning 'round.

Well, I was driving one dark rainy night
Not another soul in sight
When suddenly a deer steps into view.
I brake and swerve and hit the horn
Next thing I know my truck's airborne
And I'm repentin' for things I didn't even do.

Now friends you might not believe this part
But swear to Pete and cross my heart
Just as I'm beginin' my decline
Right out my driver side window
A creature in a UFO
Appears and motions to my baling twine.

Which of course is sitting on the dash
So I toss him one end and lash
The other 'round my truck in record time.
Then he gives me a big thumbs up
And tows me like some astral pup
Safely back to earth on baling twine.

(It could happen)

Well, I leap out and kiss the mud
Hug the neck of my new bud
We toast the lucky stars and talk in mime.
But friends what really steals the show
And flat makes his antennas glow
Is when I give him a piece of baling twine.

There's no moral to this tale
No deep insights to regale
Just a few suggestions you might keep in mind.
Watch for deer on rainy nights
Stick to planes when making flights
And always, always, carry baling twine.

It'll close a gate
Hold your bait
Fasten on your license plate
Tow a sled
Lace a Ked
Hang your deer in the shed
Keep your 'mater plants
And your pants from falling down.

It'll fix a cinch in a pinch
Let your stirrups out an inch
Double as a fan belt
Stretch a pelt, catch a smelt

Tie your turkey legs together
Pitch a tent in any weather
Make a leash for your lizard
Save your family in a blizzard
Hang a wreath, knit a sweater
Floss your teeth, nothing's better
Than baling twine.

Whoa, Whoa, baling twine

When your hanging in the brink
When your running out of luck
The solution might be right there
On the dashboard of your truck
Hey, baling twine
Just a little piece of baling twine.

Always, always, carry baling twine
Hey, always, always, carry baling twine.

You can listen to the song here. Just scroll down and click on the Segment 2 link. The song starts at about 19:25 minutes in on RealPlayer.


Quick off-topic comment: Jumping online from home is making me dizzy. The library connection was so slow I expected to hear the following while I waited, "All our modems are busy. Please hold for the next available modem. All connection will be made in the order in which they were received. Thank you."

Colleen Shannon Back Online

Doing my happy dance.

Last week we were informed (after we had been told one to seven days) that we would not be online until tomorrow (day eight) and that we were to give customer service a call on that date so they could walk my husband through the new set-up. This morning I turned on the computer to see if the DSL connection was working and got a green light. My husband called the company and fortunately got someone who, after checking and finding out that we were not scheduled to be hooked-up again until tomorrow, said she would walk him through the new set-up today. Thank you, you wonderful person.

Day Six

And here I am completely surrounded by no Internet!


But I do have the Denver Post to read where I found this in yesterday's paper. Proof that the Taliban is not the only group of religious wackos out there. Why do images of small children in KKK sheets and tiny Hitler SS uniforms flash through my mind as I peruse these pages?

HOW TO STAY YOUNG

Making the e-mail rounds:

1. Throw out nonessential numbers. This includes age, weight and height. Let the doctors worry about them. That is why you pay "them "

2. Keep only cheerful friends. The grouches pull you down.

3. Keep learning. Learn more about the computer, crafts, gardening, whatever. Never let the brain idle. "An idle mind is the devil's workshop." And the devil's name is senility.

4. Enjoy the simple things.

5. Laugh often, long and loud. Laugh until you gasp for breath.

6. The tears happen. Endure, grieve, and move on. The only person, who is with us our entire life, is ourselves. Be ALIVE while you are alive.

7. Surround yourself with what you love, whether it's family, pets, keepsakes, music, plants, hobbies, whatever. Your home is your refuge.

8. Cherish your health: If it is good, preserve it. If it is unstable, improve it. If it is beyond what you can improve, get help.

9 Don't take guilt trips. Take a trip to the mall, even to the next county; to a foreign country but NOT to where the guilt is.

10. Tell the people you love that you love them , at every opportunity.

What The......?

(via Superdickery)


Note: Day two without TV or Internet. Not being able to jump on the Internet anytime I want to is turning out to be more difficult than not having television. My husband and I are enjoying the quiet that comes with not having a television but no Internet access? It's killing me. If the company we are using right now wasn't the best of the three available here I would tell them to go screw themselves. You know this "one to seven days" thing is just a way for this company to keep their customers from changing their e-mail address easily because they (the company) consider it a pain in the butt. Their company motto should be: Our Customers Are Always Last.

I'm A Soul (Wo)man

You Are an Old Soul

You are an experienced soul who appreciates tradition. Mellow and wise, you like to be with others but also to be alone. Down to earth, you are sensible and impatient. A creature of habit, it takes you a while to warm up to new people. You hate injustice, and you're very protective of family and friends A bit demanding, you expect proper behavior from others. Extremely independent you don't mind living or being alone. But when you find love, you tend to want marriage right away. Souls you are most compatible with: Warrior Soul and Visionary Soul

What Kind of Soul Are You?

Television:

A medium - so called because it is neither rare nor well done.
-Ernie Kovacs




We disconnected the satellite television dish again today. When will we learn?

Old Dogs

...like old shoes, are comfortable. They might be a bit out of shape and a little worn around the edges, but they fit well.
- Bonnie Wilcox, Old Dogs, Old Friends




My dog Kate is now in her eleventh (correction- 12th)year. Her eyes are starting to dull with the beginning signs of cataracts. The fur around her muzzle is either fading in color or turning white. With each passing year the white has creeped farther and farther up her face and has now reached the area around her eyes. She has arthritis in her hips and her knees. When I run my hands over her I feel more bone and less muscle than when she was a puppy. Getting up off the ground when she is cold is more of a struggle these days and her gait is a little stiff when she walks. Being eleven means she is somewhere around 77 years-old in human years. My baby is geriatric.

One thing I know is her mind is as sharp as ever. She is still playful, sneaky when it comes to getting extra food, smarter than my other dog Duke, personable, charming when she wants to be, and stubborn. The stubborn part has become more a part of her personality as she has aged. I see this the most when we are on a walk. Before she was pretty easy going, You want to go that way? OK, let's go that way. Now she is like a tank that cannot be turned that quickly, Kate, this way. Kate, head down and pulling on leash, No, we are going this way.

Then there are the times she makes me laugh with her doggie ways. We had to switch her to a liquid pain medication for her arthritis since the one she was on before tore her stomach up. This medication is measured out in a small plastic syringe which we then have to squirt into her mouth. The first few times I did that she seemed to hate it. Whenever she saw me with the syringe in my hand she would get a Yikes! look on her face and quickly slink out of the room. I would have to follow her and then hold her muzzle while I eased the syringe inside her cheek and then slowly push the plunger. After it was over she would wag her tail and run back to the kitchen to wait for her breakfast.

After seeing Kate's reaction to this procedure my husband suggested that we put the medication in Kate's food instead of squirting it into her mouth. I agreed so that morning I put a dab of yogurt on top of her food and squirted her medication into that. Kate sniffed her food and then walked away. I called her back and she turned around, came back, sniffed her food, looked up at me, then walked away. I called her back one more time and she went through the same routine. She stood over by the refrigerator giving me the same look she does when she is waiting for a treat after her dinner. I looked at her a minute then picked up her syringe, filled it with water, dipped the end into the yogurt, walked over to her, squirted the water into her mouth and stood back. She wagged her tail, trotted over to her food dish, and started eating.

That's when I figured out what was going on. Kate liked the taste of the medicine (it has a very stinky smell), what she didn't like was the syringe in her mouth. The last time she had stomach problems she stopped eating and drinking. When we took her to the vet she was so dehydrated he put her on a saline drip. Then he told me to give her 40cc of water every hour for the next two days to help rehydrate her completely. The only way to get the water into her was by using a large syringe. Kate hates the syringe but loves the taste of the medicine. She has connected her very tasty medicine with the syringe. So, every morning she get a squirt of medicine right before her breakfast.

Book 'em Danno!

Murder one.
-Steve McGarrett in Hawaii Five-0


While I was ill I spent a lot of my time watching TV. One thing about watching TV when you are sick is that stuff that would normally annoy the hell out of you when your are well kind of lose their annoyance factor. This is how I ended up watching CSI Miami repeats every day for almost two weeks. Usually I can not stand CSI-M because two of the actors in this show drive me crazy.

The actor who irritates me the most is David Caruso as Horatio H. Caine. This guy has a serious Jack Lord as Steve McGarrett in Hawaii Five-O vibe going on. Both of these guys take themselves and their acting way to serious. Being intense all the time is not acting. Plus I always wonder what kind of accident hurt Caruso in such a way as to not let him hold his head up and face a person straight on when he is talking to them. He always stands sideways when talking to someone and keeps his head down and at the same time turned toward the person he is talking to. That has got to hurt after a few takes.

Today I watched an episode from 2003, Blood Brothers, which told the story of a man who commits murder but cannot be arrested because he has diplomatic immunity. Why does he have immunity? Because the United States had made a deal with his father, the leader of some small country in the middle east, to allow this country (USA) to send suspected terrorists to his country to have them tortured to get information that our government (USA) needs in their war against terrorism. Sound familiar? I will point out again that this was first broadcast in 2003.

Now, we have a president who has insisted in the past (2005) that we (USA) do not torture people. He must have forgotten about this. As Steve Chapman of the Chicago Tribune pointed out in his column yesterday , Bush's statement that we (Americans) do not torture is ... the most convincing declaration by a president since Bill Clinton told the nation, "I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky."

Then there is his attempt to get around the Geneva Conventions rules against torture. Today he was stopped, sort of. The American government would comply with the rules under the Geneva Conventions but the CIA would not be prosecuted for any illegal tactics they did use before today at those secret detention sites they don't have overseas. So, in the end, Bush got what he wanted and this f'ing farce know as the Bush administration keeps on playing.