CAN YOU GUESS WHICH ONE IS ME?

I saw this story today about the FBI reopening a case on a little missing girl named Beth Gill. I looked at the picture of the little girl at 2 years old before she went missing and thought "huh ... that almost looks ......... like ................. me." NO, NO .... its NOT me folks and the years do not match but, my heart stopped for a minute though. The one on the right is me at 2 years old and the one on the left is Beth who the FBI now believes is a victim of a kidnapping.

It gives added thought to the saying 'but for the grace of God it could have been ......'

I remember when I was kid all the many, many little girls gone missing in the '60's. This was before the exposure of pedophiles, high tech-CSI, and the numerous security cameras around. Seeing the return of missing children of late, lets hope Beth finally comes home!

IRRITATING CRAP MY HUSBAND DOES with my stuff ...the working title..

The God of Organization (or G.O.O.) drives me up a wall every pay day. We … unlike many married couples I am surprised to find ….. do NOT share a checking account. We each have our own in which our respected pay checks are directly deposited to. We do share the household expenses. He pays his assigned bills, I pay mine. There are some “unexpected” expenses he takes care of and he puts the money in the savings account so, I pitch in a little cash on pay day. AND I MEAN PAY DAY! I think he believes if he does get it out of me fast he won’t see it at all ……. Geeze, you would think I was going on a trip without him …hmmm …..well I guess he does know me!

If I don't run to the bank and withdraw the cash for him to hold on to, he badgers me and then I have to tell him to STFU till I do. His answer to this martial strife: give him my bank card and he’ll take it out. SO, he has taken the liberty of removing my debit card and “helping himself”. The last 2 pay days he did just that but, guess what he forgot? TO PUT IT BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I pay everything with my debit card …. I mean EVERYTHING! So for two weekends I have been standing at a check-out in a ditsy blonde, heart thumping, pressure rising, emptying my purse on register counter panic. Last Saturday I drove home to get my debit card sitting on the entertainment center while my groceries were de-thawing in a closed grocery aisle …. Why was the card there? ….. Oh it was so I could take the card and check my check register …… this is when I “gently” .... as in gentle as a riled tiger .... explained that is what the little white slip under the card was for …. Let me introduce you G.O.O. its called the receipt!!!!!!! My card is in another place in my purse.

I'm NOT one of the "People of Walmart"

That's right ...... NO MATTER WHAT YOU HAVE HEARD, do not look for me on that web site you will not catch a glimpse of me!
I WON'T, DON'T, CAN'T, SHOULDN'T, WOULDN'T shop at Walmart. As a matter of fact, Walmart could close down and I would not miss them. They came to my area about ten + years ago and the first time I went in .... Christmas season no less ..... I could not wait to get the hell out! Since my harrowing experience that one Christmas season in the late '90's, I could probably count on one hand ... okay maybe a few fingers on the other hand too ...... the times I've been in a Walmart. My apology to those that shop there on a regular basis ..... but I never felt so high class flutin' in all my life. I know, I know .... BEEEOTCH! .... I gladly accept the diva crown and title.

MORE REASONS I DISLIKE WALMART ..........
By the early 2000's I was in an engineering school ethics class .... yes we engineers have ethics .... part of the class was a mid-term paper on an chosen ethical subject within the construction industry. I chose commercial and residential urbanism fleeing to the suburbs ..... I was channeling my influence from a Harvey Milk speech, I know, I know.... In my web searches for fault w/ structural designers stripping away virgin forests while brown sites vacated by former industries sat empty and forlorn in cityscapes ..... I'm getting off my soap box now ...... information of another recently exposed wastefulness in the construction industry caught my eye termed: "disposable architecture". The term was derived by the building practices of Walmart. Walmart may have not invented "disposable architecture" but they sure perfected it. In case you are unaware of the term, disposable architecture refers to the commercial practice of building structures to last roughly 20 years. 20 years is when the life cycle of significant ... i.e., expensive.... building components need replaced. Instead of replacing them Walmart tears down the whole building, throws it in a landfill and constructs another usually close by. Have you noticed the incomplete nature of the warehouse edifice of your local Walmart? Little drywall and paint, no completed ceilings, inexpensive flooring, exposed steel framing, electrical wiring, ducts, and pipes, and when was the last time your local store remodeled the public restroom? Probably never and they don’t plan on it either because the toilet warranty has long expired and using yellow caution tape over the door of a stall is much more cost effective. Of course other Brands now subscribe to this practice too since it works so well for Walmart.

Of course ... warning .. hopping back on the soap box.... the long laundry list of Walmart atrocities that happens behind those cheap doors in that disposable building is probably more shocking to the general public: Low wages, preventing full time w/benefits putting a strain on public welfare healthcare system, contriving on how to close small local businesses, sexual and racial discrimination, child labor violations, uses of known foreign sweatshops ..... THE LIST GOES ON ..... all of it to provide cheap products while maximizing profits. WHAT OTHER COMPANY CAN YOU NAME THAT HAS MADE SIX PEOPLE BILLIONAIRES AT THE SAME TIME? Which brings us to the Bill Gates billionaires pledge .... yes I know it took me a long time to get to this point. There was much background to my dislike .... not one of these six billionaires have signed it. Think about it: Half of 22 billion (Christy Walton's est. fortune) is 11 billion .... she would still have 11 BILLION !!!!!!!

No ... Christy I know I'm done with Walmart .... gee I still hope you can still buy that next non-essential thing.

BIRTHDAY TRIBUTE TO JOHN CAZALE

Now, if you have to ask WHO? ... then you are giving away the fact you are not much of a 1970's classic movie buff ... and you will not be on MY "Phone a Friend" list ...... Look at the face you know you know it.

John Cazale co-starred in five feature films in his movie career: “The Godfather”, “The Godfather II”, “Dog Day Afternoon”, “The Conversation”, and “The Deer Hunter” …... actually 6 if you count the footage used of him in "The Godfather III" …. all best picture Oscar nominees. Often cast as pathetic, paranoid, feeble character he was praised for being known to entice audiences into believing him as a pitiful loser in the depth of instability beyond his control. One of his best friends … since they were teenagers …. was Al Pacino who described him: "When I first saw John, I instantly thought he was so interesting, everybody was always around him because he had a very congenial way of expressing himself." Though …. in my opinion …. not the most handsome of '70's film stars, in person his attractiveness was known to be in his kind, caring and gentle manner not shown in his movies.

At the age of 42, the height of his illustrious short-lived movie career, engaged to a then relatively unknown young Hollywood beauty and "Deer Hunter" costar Meryl Streep, he was diagnosed with terminal bone cancer. He died before the film was released in 1978 with Streep by his side. The roles he could have created .... and we will never see.

"P.A. CUPCAKES" ... OR you won't see this on TLC!

I read on YAHoO! a few days ago that the cupcake fad is waning. About time! I never got this fad. Cupcakes are just little cake. WHO WANTS little CAKE? I mean, I consider myself a cake connoisseur. Cake is MY dessert of choice. Not really cookies, pies, ice cream or even … yes get ready to feel the earth shake …. Cheesecake. Oh, don’t get me wrong I’ll eat all that stuff but, I’m really hoping for a 2 inch slice of 4 layer cake with an inch of icing on top.

Yesterday, I went to two picnics and I thought what could I make. You guessed it ….. if the fad is hitting the skids I’ll make sure it goes out with a bang! Now to start I couldn’t just buy 1 box of cake mix. I bought 3 PLUS 8 container of icing …. Yes 8! That is NOT a typo. I found out early that a can of icing only covers 10 cupcakes iced gourmet style …... a bag of toffee pieces, instant coffee packs, colored sugar, confectioners sugar, cream cheese, chili laced chocolate bar, gourmet chili pepper, mandarin oranges, sliced almonds, food coloring, peanut butter, raspberry fruit preserves, and flavoring extracts. I mean isn’t the many varieties you can create part of the craze? So, between two days, and 10 hours …. including the shopping for the ingredients …. I created:

• Red Velvet & Cream Cheese


• Chocolate & Chocolate


• Espresso & Toffee


• Vanilla & Peanut Butter


• Vanilla & Orange


• Sunset Red Velvet & Orange


• Vanilla & Chocolate


• Almond & Raspberry


• South American Hot Chocolate

…. Now I really hate this fad! But to my surprise when I brought these confections to my two events everyone swarmed over them like I just set down a platter of jewels and said help yourself. I think the fad is still going strong YAHoO! Me on the other hand, am officially over it!