Feel Like Complaining

I don't mind driving, either around town or while on vacation. But I have several rules I like to stick to. One is to not drive at night, my vision seems to be diminished when it gets dark. I don't really like driving while it's snowing either. But I guess it depends on the intensity of the snow. And I don't like to drive in unfamiliar territory, I just get too confused. Also, driving on the freeway is not my favorite thing either. So last week when my husband wasn't feeling well he came home for a short dinner break and asked me (told me, really) that I would have to drive the rest of his route for him. Say WHAT!!! He had a bad case of Vertigo and got so scared while driving he just couldn't finish the route by himself. He would go with me but I would have to drive. The only other alternative was to call the day shift driver but he would be in bed in order to get up for his own shift early in the morning. There were four things wrong with this scenario....

One of Grumpy's  recent posts was about him working as a kid and it reminded me of one of the few jobs I had as a teen. Small towns don't hold a lot of opportunity for youths to find a job. Since my hometown was a farming community, the farmer's kids had it easy, they were either driving combine or the wheat trucks in the summer. I did the usual babysitting when I was younger and then my mom felt she had to get me a job working for an elderly lady cleaning her home. I have not been able to get away from elderly ladies since. That probably only lasted one summer though because I don't have many memories of it. The job that holds the most memories was picking weeds in the bean fields. In the spring farmers plant their beans but don't have a mechanical way to pick the weeds. So he hires teens to do it. Some farmers were better than others to work for. A friend got me started and we'd have to meet the driver downtown for our ride to the farm. This sounds so fanc...

My husband and I haven't bought Christmas gifts for each other since our daughter was born. For the past 15 years we just concentrated on her and other family members. Besides, if there is anything we want, we just go buy it. Last year we did get a few things for each other but it was well discussed before hand so we were both on the same page. I pretty much had to tell my daughter what I wanted and then her and her Dad went shopping. How can I put this without sounding ungrateful; his gift giving skills suck. He claims he doesn't know what I like. We've been married for 27 years, if he doesn't know me by now he never will. And buying clothes for me always turned out badly and involved me in taking them back to the store to get what I want. So imagine my surprise when I get home this afternoon and although it took me awhile to notice, I saw 3 new packages under the tree that were not there this morning. They all said: To Kden from Santa. WTH??? I called him and as...

I've had my new glasses for one week shy of two  months. And I've been happy with them, uuuhhhhh never. I realize some sort of breaking-in period is natural, but not this long. When I picked them up I was told to wait until morning to wear them, so no adjusting was done. A few days later I went in and said the vision wasn't too clear. Adjust, adjust, adjust. "OK, wear them for awhile and let us know." I go back about a week later, still no better. I explain that I must look to the left to be able to see clearly straight ahead. That becomes a little difficult while driving. The optician thinks the left lens wasn't done right and the vision field is over too far. So she gets permission from the manager to order a new left lens. Lens is replaced. Adjust, adjust, adjust. "OK, wear them for awhile and let us know." A few days later I went back and said I still was not happy. The optician looks very concerned but we're still not getting anywher...

One size fits 'most'

The writer of a blog I follow left a short post the other day saying that he won't be writing for awhile. It sounded so sudden and final. Another blogger friend of mine made that decision awhile back too but thankfully she is back and although she writes less, it's still just as rewarding to wait for the next one. It makes me wonder, when a person decides to stop blogging, where do they go and what do they do? And why do they stop? I admit I've thought about quitting a few times. Either I was in a funk or just didn't have anything to write about. I'd rather not write anything than something lame and boring. Unless all my posts are lame and boring and I should just stop. right. now..... I enjoy it when I find a new blog or a new reader of mine. Right now I seem to have a nice little circle of friends. Some visit but don't comment and others are there before I even know it, like they are peeking over my shoulder and know right when I hit 'publish post'...

Since I have blogger friends from one coast to the other, I am curious. Are people as crabby everywhere else regarding their city and snow plow practices? Seems like every year we all forget that we actually get winter, and snow, sometimes lots of it. Last year was unusually mild which makes people even crabbier this year. We broke a record in November for our snowfall but the way people carry on, you'd think that the end of the world is near. With budget cuts facing every city, we have been placed on two level of emergencies. Stage 1 is after 4 inches of snow, the main arterials are plowed. Stage 2 means side streets are plowed after 6 inches of snowfall. But because the snow came pretty much all at once, the levels of emergency were pretty much thrown out the window. Now it's more like "We'll get there when we get there." And even when they get there, people complain. Oh, it's a pain alright when you've just finished digging out your front sidewalk...