As many of you may have figured out by now, I am a bit of a nerd. I LOVE the hard sciences with the exception of physics. I just don’t understand it so well, although I can apply it to everyday life..I know… WEIRD. I never really have understood what they call the soft sciences. For those of you I have REALLY confused now.. the hard sciences are your chemistry, biology, biochemistry, physics, etc. The soft sciences are sociology, psychology and I usually put philosophy in this category as well. I am sure you are now wondering what the heck does this have to do with shopping…? well, I am getting there, give me a minute and you too will see just what it mentally DOES have to do with shopping…

As long as I can remember, my mother has tried to force me into shopping for clothes and enjoying it. I do not ever remember enjoying it in the least little bit. I especially hate having to go to the dressing room, try on something, model it for her to tell me, “no, it really isn’t you.” Duh, I tried to tell her that. Did she listen? Obviously not, but you know how mother’s are.. mother’s know best

Not only do I not enjoy shopping, but I am an Uncle Scrooge when it comes to my money. I HATE to spend it, I always have, and honestly get it straight from my momma’s daddy’s genes. It has to be inherited because everyone says I act just like he did. I know I didn’t get it from my father or his side of the family, they spend money as soon as they make it if they don’t have a spouse that is willing to watch their finances. My brother is unfortunately a spend-thrift as well, although he is now learning the hard way about credit card finances. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mean I won’t spend the money if I NEED to, I just don’t like to spend it.

When I go to the grocery store, I may come home with only 20 items, but I promise you I have spent no less than an hour and a half deliberating if I reallllllly needed those items or not. I also learned that to keep from buying a bunch of junk food, I will allow myself one treat, and one treat only. If I see something I want more than something else…then I have to put the other item back. I know it sounds crazy, but it does seem to work for me, and keeps me from eating only bad stuff which tastes just ooooh so good. The experts also say never to go to the grocery store hungry, and this is true, but if you MUST do so, then what I mentioned above will actually help you from buying up the whole store. I also create myself a preset limit on how much I will allow myself to spend for each trip, and try to keep a mental tally on it, so that helps as well. You have to do, what you have to do on a tight budget.

Then, there is the infamous shopping for clothes. You will shortly read just exactly how nerdy I now am. I am very paranoid about trying on clothes. Why? Simply because you do not know who tried them on before you, and you KNOW they haven’t been washed between those try-on’s. I became like this in middle school, so it had nothing to do with working in a pharmacy, but oh, after working in the pharmacy, it is SOOO much worse. Any article of clothes that I see a spot on or make-up on the collar, I immediately rule out for trying on. There are just soooo many contact dermatitis issues out there, not to mention what kind of viral/bacterial/fungal spores are lingering around the collar of the fabric. And let’s not even discuss swimsuits. All I can say is, ARHHH! Well, I think I WILL comment on them anyway since it’s almost as bad as trying on pants or shorts.

Do you KNOW how many people do NOT wear underwear out there? or if they do, only a THONG! OMG, how disgusting is that? Are you now grossed out too? I know most experts say you cannot usually catch sexually transmitted diseases or conditions from such things as restrooms or clothing, but this is not always true. You can actually catch lice, scabies, and a few STD’s through this method. When my little brother had just started junior high, he actually caught a cureable STD from the boy’s bathroom at school. See, we went to a very small school, so the junior high AND high school were all in one building, and the men’s room he frequented happened to be in the lunchroom area. Since my brother was a summer baby, he had JUST turned 12 when he entered the 7th grade (the beginning of junior high at our school). My mom knew where he was at all times when not at school, and then at school, he was constantly under MY foot. So when he finally came to my mom bawling about not knowing what was wrong with himself, she took him to our family doctor. The doctor interviewed my brother, discovered that he had NEVER had sex, but had picked up an STD by using the men’s restroom, which he frequented thanks to irritable bowel syndrome. I won’t say anymore about that, but now I am sure you understand just how he picked it up. I know it is harder for ladies to catch such diseases from toilets, BUT now you see why I am REALLY paranoid about swimsuits, pants, etc.

Moving on to shopping for shoes… this is my final disgust. My mom at least forewarned us kids to ALWAYS wear some sort of sock/nylon/etc when trying on shoes. You just do not know how many people out there have fungal foot infections. And yes, anytime someone has tried on that shoe with no socks on and has athlete’s foot, you have now become a prime target for that dirty little fungus once you have slipped you pretty little foot into the slipper of nastiness. And just to further disgust you, you can also pick up toenail infections this way too. Those little fungi are just waiting and saying, “I’ll get you my pretties, and your little nails too..”

Once I get past the trying-on point of clothing and shoes, I am back to the point of deciding just how bad I really want or need the article in question. I may walk around the store for an hour just to decide. At the same time, I am sure I am making the security personnel jumpy because I walk round and round because I can’t make up my pretty little head. BUT, if I do decide not to get the product, I make sure I put it back where I found it because then I know security has usually watched me enough to see that I have simply decided not to purchase their product. From working in a grocery store, I know that by making a product disappear all of a sudden from hand when you’re not in the area where you picked it up, makes security and managers go nuts and start immediately searching to see just where you either hid the item on yourself or where you discarded it on the shelf.

It’s okay, go ahead and call me paranoid. Go ahead and call me OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder). I will not take offense to it, I will just laugh it off. I work a pharmacy, so I have seen and heard it all, trust me. And yes, by-the-way, I AM a little OCD, but I think being just a tad that way makes me a more wary person. I think most people working in pharmacies are that way, we simply like to count things LOL.

And for one little last bit of personal advice, when you get home, throw those new clothes in the washer and make sure you lysol the inside of those shoes before you wear them because you never know who has “walked a mile” in those shoes.

My whole life, my mom has referred to me as “a cold-hearted bitch.” I always pretended not to be interested in anyone because of the redicule and constant picking she enforced upon me. Everytime someone showed a minute bit of interest in me, it was constantly, “how’s your boyfriend?” This began as early as second grade, and she will never know how much it damaged me.

I have always been a shy person, from as early as I can remember. It began with my embarassment in kindergarten. I sat in between two boys that would constantly look up under my dress, and I would go home crying and complaining because my mom forced me to wear that damned things to begin with. I quickly learned to hate being a girl, to hate frilly clothes, and anything else that was associated with being a weak, little girl. 

In the middle of first grade, we moved to a new town and a new school. The school I had came from, I had lots of friends, and other than those two boys, people were not mean to me. Even as a small child, I was abnormally tall and overweight (tall enough to ride the adult rides as Six Flags at age 5). So at the new school, I was taunted merciously with, “big momma and fat momma.” I didn’t understand why I was being called these names because I had never done anything to these girls. I learned to absolutely hate that school. I was so far ahead of my class coming from a big city to a small town, that I already had been introduced to Spanish, computers, and wrote in cursive. My new first grade teacher docked my papers because I was confused about whether to write in cursive or print. At lunch, when these weird red lights were turned on by the lunch monitors, no talking was allowed, otherwise you were given “licks” as it was called. This meant your teacher paddled your behind with a wooden board for misbehaving in the cafeteria. One day, a kid threw all of his lunch trash onto my plate. I said no, and put it back in front of him, and he proceeded to do it again. Well, sometime during this, the lights came on, so when I told him no and to throw away his own trash, I got licks for defending myself. He just got reprimanded for not throwing away his own trash. I quickly learned how unfair life is, that no one will stand up for you, and you had to be strong and keep your mouth shut and just take it. In no way will I say I never did anything wrong while at that school, but I won’t say that doing anything right got me anywhere either, and besides that I was just a little kid.

The next year we moved into our permanent house, and another new school. This time, kids were friendlier, as were the teachers. I enjoyed my time at that school, but was still a bit fearful of getting into trouble. I didn’t want to get whipped for something that wasn’t my fault again. By third grade, I was at yet another new school because of the convenience for my parents of picking us up after school. I made new friends and I had fun, although I was just wasn’t that outgoing. I had learned the hard way too early on to receed into my shell lest all hell break loose and it be blamed on me. By this time, my brother was old enough to start school kindergarten even though he was a summer baby, and ended up getting spanked nearly every day at school because of his misbehaving. He was also behind a lot of the kids since he had JUST turned 5 when he started school. My mom and the school wanted to hold him back a year, but my dad said no.

I really feel that my little brother would have benefitted from this by giving him time to grow up a little more. He was in trouble ALL the time. I mean REAL misbehaving, not just standing up for himself..and he honestly could have cared less. Because he was constantly in trouble for being too hyperactive and into everything at school, I tried to be the good child, to disappear and stay under the radar. If my brother did well, he was rewarded and if not, punished accordingly. My parents at first tried spanking him, but he laughed at them, so they would take away toys that he loved. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn’t..and shortly thereafter he was positively identified with attention deficit disorder after the recommendation by his teacher that he was quite behind compared to the other five and six year olds. This was before it was the big “craze” in the schools…when you could really tell who had it and who didn’t. Plus, mom always had this guilt complex because she feared that she personally caused it because she was drinking alcohol on a regular basis when she learned she was pregnant with my little brother. She’s always felt that she was the cause of his behavior problems by drinking when she was UNAWARE that she was pregnant.

See, my mother and my father did not plan on having anymore children. My dad had a son by a previous marriage that is eleven years older than me, so I was supposed to be the one and only. The doctors always said my mother would never be able to carry a child to term anyway, especially after multiple miscarriages, even a late one. There are women out there who do have menstrual cycles while pregnant, and therefore, do not know they are with child. Plus, I was supposed to be born twins. There were two heart beats for a long time, and we stopped moving, and were thought to have passed away. Eventually, I moved, giving my mother hope. This was in the time when sonogram machines were really new and the technology was still being developed so expectant parents did not get to take home pictures of their unborn children. From what I am told, she had a lot of trouble with her pregnancy of me. The doctor’s finally took me a month later than my due date after mom just could not seem to deliver me, but I fortunately had a good birthweight 6 pounds and a few ounces, but I was very sick often as a small child. The doctors did not want her to have anymore children, so that was supposed to be the end, until one day, my parents were surprised with the news of another baby on the way.

As my brother and I grew up, I slowly became the straight A student that was never in trouble, and he became the little hell-raiser. No one could get him to do his school work. My parents did everything they could, finally putting him on Ritalin so he could concentrate. He was on it for years until the point where he begged my mom no more because he felt so weird with it, and not himself. The teachers would berate him about why couldn’t he be more like his sister. That did not help matters. At home, he would get into trouble, and blame me for it, and for some STUPID reason, my mom would believe him..so once again, although MOST of the time, I didn’t do anything wrong, I got spanked or grounded for his actions. I love my little brother and my mom, but I learned to further recede into that nice chiseled, ice castle I had built around myself.

This will be continued in a further segment..so stick around if you want to see how things turn out…

Have you ever wanted to learn to dance? I mean REALLY dance..not just some little club beat that you might have picked up watching others. I have always wanted to learn ballroom dancing, both traditional and Latin. When I was in pre-school, I took tap dance and ballet, but after moving to a small town from the big city, my parents were unable to re-enroll me since it was simply not offered until I was much older.

As a child, I would often visit my grandparents, who happened to be very active members of their local VFW Veteran’s of Foreign Wars) post. Every Saturday night, they had a big dance that had a concession stand. I  would often help my grandmother in the concession stand while she was on duty with her Ladies’ Auxillary unit. Later, I would sit at our table we had reserved, reading books or playing with toys while my grandparents “danced the night away.” They were so good at it…along with all the other couples there. It wasn’t just older couples there, but younger ones too. They played everything from country slow songs to rock songs to genuine waltzes. I was always quite embarassed to dance because I was so shy, but my grandmother would make me get out there with my granddad when she was too tired due to her arthritis. Now, I am glad she did because until recently, I did not know that I actually had learned how to waltz.

To be honest, I had forgotten about it. I asked my mom about some catchy tune that was stuck in my head, and she said it was a waltz from an old movie. I asked her later if she knew how to waltz, and she said no..but that her father had when he was alive. She told me something about how it goes 1-2-3. It dawned on me, I DO know this..and slowly, I remembered all of those Saturday nights as a child, dancing around that big room with my grandfather at their local VFW; which included, all the times I stepped on his toes, and he never said a word about it. I also found out that one of his favorite songs was a waltz, so maybe I get my love of classical music honest. I have also always wanted to learn the other ballroom dances, including the Latin steps. I think it all looks so beautiful, refined and elegant, but it will have to wait until I am able to afford some sort of lessons at a later period in time.

A few years ago, I used to go dancing at local clubs a lot. As I became serious about my college studies, clubbing had to be side-lined, and will probably stay there for a bit longer as well. But I do miss some of those fun-filled nights. I was often surprised at the number of compliments I would get from friends and strangers on how well I danced or picked up new steps. And although I have confidence issues in my looks and relationships, I have never lacked for a dance partner at any club. That is really funny though because I feel more comfortable dancing in front of a bunch of strangers, than around a bunch of people that I DO know. At middle/high school dances, I was just a wallflower, sitting back, watching everyone else. To those who saw me later, they were very much surprised to learn that I had any sort of dance rhythm at all.

When I hear music with a beat, it makes me want to just get up and move to it. I tend to work out with certain tv shows on FitTV, but have discovered a show called Shimmy. It actually teaches belly dancing..so I think that until I can afford those much wanted ballroom dance lessons, it is time to try to learn a new dance brought to me courtesy of my FIOS network. Not only does dancing a GREAT form of exercise, it brings a joy to my life that I seem to be missing. When I was attending the local Arts & Jazz Festival this past weekend, I heard some Hispanic music playing that just made me want to do some basic mambo moves…or even a little merengue. Hmm..now to just find myself a dance partner…

I myself have lived in Tornado Alley my whole life. You may ask just what Tornado Alley is. It is an area in the United States that has a significant outbreak of tornadoes in that area every year. Most of them occur in area covered from Texas north to the Dakotas and east to the Appalachian Mountains. The states usually included in this area include Texas (due to its shear size), Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, Iowa, Ohio, southern Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Arkansas, northern Alabama, and the western halves of Kentucky and Tennessee. Below is a copy of a map from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tornado_Alley in which it shows the prevalence of tornado activity in the U.S.

Recently, my part of Texas has been experiencing the development of many supercell thunderstorms. These are the storms that spawn many of the tornadoes seen throughout the U.S. This is largely due to the area of the midwest sitting between two mountain ranges, the Rocky Mountains in the west and the Appalachian Mountains in the east. Warm, moist, sub-tropical air comes flowing up through Mexico and Texas and clashes with cold, polar air flowing down from Canada. When these collide, they form rolling thunderstorms, usually along a dry-line. A dry-line is the boundary between a warm, dry air mass and a warm, moist, sub-tropical air mass.

I overheard a young lady recently mention being afraid of all of these storms. She was not from here. I am not scared of these storms, but I do respect them. A favorite quote I like is from the movie, “Reign of Fire.” The quote is, “What do we do when we are awake? Keep two eyes on the sky. What do we do when we sleep? Keep one eye on the sky.” This is typically true of people from this area of the U.S., and as long as one pays attention, harm to oneself can usually be avoided. In fact, once a month, usually on Wednesdays, they test the sirens. 

What sirens are you talking about you may ask. Well, if you remember watching old movies about World War II, particularly that took place in Europe/Great Britain, in the background of air raids, you would hear a siren. This is pretty much the exact same sound because that is WHAT we use to warn the public of imminent danger from tornadoes. It means to take cover immediately, and that usually a funnel cloud has been spotted. A funnel cloud is the precursor to a tornado..it is basically a tornado that has not reached the ground YET, and if you’re lucky it never will.

The ideal storm shelter is in an underground concrete bunker, which many homes in the countryside have. But if that is not available, to take cover, you should take it in an interior bathroom or interior closet. These smaller, interior spaces tend to stay protected and intact if a tornado actually strikes. And although building codes in the alley area are more stringent than other parts of the U.S., 100+ mph winds can still force shrapnel through exterior walls and make windows deadly, leathel objects. Make sure to curl yourself in a ball, close to the ground, and protect your head and neck as best as possible. If out on the open road, seek shelter in a drainage ditch. Do NOT stay in you vehicle! The flatter and lower to the ground you are, the less likely for you to incur injuries from debris flying through the air. I wish my own family members had known this 44 years ago. My dad’s sister, brother-in-law, and 3 kids were all traveling in a car when a tornado struck. It picked their car up and slammed it like a toy into an oncoming pickup truck. My uncle and the 2 people in the other vehicle were barely injured at all, but my aunt and her 3 children were instantly killed. You cannot outrun a tornado, so please do not try. Being in a vehicle is one of the most dangerous places to be when a tornado is striking. Plus, don’t forget, it can go back up into the cloud, and drop back out at ANY other point as well. So running away may turn into running INTO the tornado.

Also, there are myths out there that should never be done. Such as opening a window to equalize the air pressure in your home. Duh, you just created a vacuum with suction doing this. Plus, if a tornado is hitting your home, it will probably break all the windows regardless of being opened or closed. Don’t waste your time on this, instead use it to protect you, your loved ones and your pets if you can get to them in time. Believe it or not, animal nature will tell most pets to seek shelter if it is available. Also, do NOT seek shelter under overpasses. Yes, a few lucky people have survived doing this, but many more have been killed than the media has let everyone know. Most people are sucked out from underneath those overpasses and DROPPED miles away, usually causing death or serious injury. Also, most tornadoes travel southwest to northeast thanks to the weather air currents, so seeking shelter in a basement is a good idea, just NOT the southwest corner of it. For more on myths or misconceptions, see http://www.tornadoproject.com/myths/myths.htm .

I suppose another reason people these days don’t fear them as much is due to the National Weather Service being able to issue warnings and hopefully give ample time to seek shelter. Also, in schools in these areas, tornado drills are frequently performed, teaching from a very young age what to do to be prepared. For us, it is a normal, everyday part of life..probably as much as earthquakes are to those on the west coast and hurricanes for those on the east. And yes, hurricanes do spawn tornadoes, but they are usually more in the form of water spouts and usually a lot less powerful. That means Florida also gets a lot of tornadoes, but a different kind.

A funnel cloud trying to form…

Above is a picture of a wall cloud that I took. Usually, the place where the strongest tornadoes form.

I don’t want people to fear tornadoes, but to simply respect them and be well informed. Fear causes people to act on rash thoughts and ideas in times of crisis. Keeping a cool, well prepared stance is what is best and needed when it is time to “keep both eyes on the sky.”

So, recently, through discussion on NK’s blogsite, we were discussing what we look for in a potential date/mate/etc. So instead of cluttering up her blog, I thought I would just write a blog post about it….

As for the dating scene, I would have to say I am totally inexperienced about it, along with being somewhat naive. My parents did not allow me to date until I was 16. They had to know where I was, what I was doing, and who I was hanging out with. That is not to say that they knew my whereabouts every moment in time…but they had a general idea.. at least they thought they did. We used to go over friends houses and play video games a lot, listen to music, etc. My mom would have freaked out to know that I was in a BOY’S bedroom, unsupervised. But the thing is, she should and could trust me. We were not doing anything more innocent than the above mentioned. We were just hanging out.

As time has progressed, I look back on high school and realize just how sheltered I really was. It was a blessing and a curse. I had a really horrible best friend that if I liked someone, she would go after him until they were hers. Then she’d tell me why I never wanted to date them because of the guy’s real opinions about me. I defended her until she broke me… I just let the rest of my small high school bash her..and I won’t say she didn’t deserve it, but that didn’t mean I took part in it. She’d hurt me too bad. She ruined me having a prom date my junior year..she was just never satisfied. I am too nice I suppose. My guy classmates never thought of me as dateable material, but instead as their little sister. I have heard so many times, “oh don’t worry, she’s just one of the guys..”

I act tough emotionally because instead I am as fragile as a flower inside. I am scared to let someone past my shell. I have absolutely zero confidence in my relationships. Everytime I get close to a guy or admit I like him, to him.. I get, “I just don’t think of you like that…I like you, but just as a friend. It’s like you’re my sister or something, you know… you’re just one of the guys…” I try to never let others see my disappointment or hurt… I just want my friends to be happy. But I guess, I am too nice. My weight has also never helped with the matter, I hate having hormone problems that have caused me such misery, but I could have a worse plight I suppose. In fact, one of the most hurtful things I have heard recently is, “do you have any friends that you think would date me?” Inside I am screaming, “what about me?” and then I go on and say..”sure, I’ll see what I can do…”

I am very skittish about getting close to anyone..once you’ve been burned by someone you consider close enough to be a sister, and have been backstabbed as much as I was.. you just don’t know who to trust anymore. I have an elite few people I consider my closest friends, but I never tell them the whole story for fear of letting them past that innermost shell. In fact, someone that I was getting to be good friends with about 1 & 1/2 years ago, let her real opinion show when she was drunk. She made the mistake of commenting that she was smart, she only hung out with people uglier and fatter than she was so that we made her look good. Needless to say, I’ve had more than my fair share of mean friends that just use me.

So what am I looking for in a guy someone asked… well here’s the list..

1) Honesty

2) Truthfulness

3) Not using me just for me to “hook you up” with my friends

4) Intelligence.. I want to be able to have conversations, but not have to explain every single thing with a definition.. I do have patience, but it is not infinite..

5) A non-smoker because I have asthma

6) Someone caring, but not controlling, and who can get along with a cat

7) Not a jealous person, but one who just wants me to be genuinely be happy

8.) Someone who likes to laugh/smile

9) Kind eyes

10) Sense of humor

I consider my list to be fairly simple, and I don’t think I am asking for too much..but then again..maybe I AM too picky. Do I have a feeling that I will see positive results..no not really, I am realistic, but a forever optimist as well. I can always dream….

This thread is entirely dedicated to those who have been scammed…in hopes that others don’t fall for the same thing.

Recently, my aunt by marriage, I’ll call P, had a sister that got involved with a con artist. We’ll call my aunt’s sister, R. R owned her own home, it was paid off. She worked as a home health care aide, and made just enough to pay the bills. Then, one day, she met a man we’ll call, Jon. Well, Jon just swept her off her feet. Supposedly he has a degree from Clemson, and was from S.C., USA. He told her how he’d just sold his company there for a lot of money, and had decided it was time for a change in scenery, so he moved to Texas. He got a job in a plant, but later just quit.

R, let the guy move in with her. They bought a motocycle…in her name. They refinanced her home… THAT WAS PAID FOR.. to get some money needed to finance for a business he decided to start up. The bank put both their names on the title after that. R and Jon never officially married, but there is a law that many people don’t know about called “common-law marriage.” In the state of Texas, if you live and share the same bed with a person of the opposite sex for 6 months, you are legally, common-law married. That means, anything Jon bought, scammed, etc, R is ALSO now liable for. Such as Jon carrying a cashier’s check to a local bank for $100,000, and keeping out $20,000 for himself. First of all, whoever at the bank that allowed this, needs to be prosecuted because I personally feel it must be an inside job. I have used that same bank for years, and they put a hold on my own payroll checks from a major corporation that I received weekly. They even put a hold on IRS refund checks..so who in their right mind would knowingly fall for that? Yeah..right.. inside job I say.

Needless to say, Jon did not really have that money in another bank. He owes so much money now..and had it all financed in R’s name. She moved in with her sister now because she doesn’t have the money for the utilities. She’s also having to file for bankruptcy because he stole all that money from the equity of her home. She called the police, but they said since they LIVED together..common-law marriage was in effect, so there is nothing they can do. The officer told her on the side though (off the record), to move the motorcycle and sell it before Jon could get a hold of it. At least she can get some of that back with today’s gas prices..and it doesn’t have many miles on it. Obviously R has no common sense because my aunt kept telling her that this was all too good to be true. If Jon had soooo much money supposedly coming in from a sell out of his business in SC, where was the money, why did they need to re-finance R’s home..etc? Turns out, according to the police, Jon has been convicted of all sorts of con-artists scams all over the country. He seems to get away with most of it, simply because he cons an unsuspecting needy-type lady. Mom kept telling my aunt P, her SIL, that something was up with the guy because he had prison tattoos, and needed to have him checked out, but R was madly in love, and wouldn’t listen. Now she’s paying for it…49, broke, bankrupt, and nothing the law can do for her all because of her being common-law married. Plus, R, is not real smart, and we suspect maybe some mental learning issues, although she won’t get tested for them. This is just HORRIBLE! All we can do to help her is pray at this point.

Then, the other day at work, mom’s boss, we’ll call A, came in talking about some wonderful man that she’d met. That she had a date this coming weekend with…and his name was Jon.. from S.C., etc. My mom told her immediately that it sounded just like this other “Jon.” A was clearly upset, esp since she doesn’t know if they are one and the same. A’s Jon said he has a motorcycle, that he went to Clemson… hmm sound familiar. I told mom to remind A, that he is STILL common-law married as well.. so maybe, A can help the police some how set him up in a sting operation if it is the same Jon…which is what we suspect.

Another scam I was made aware of.. the jury duty scam. Early last fall, I was visiting my mother, and she received a phone call asking for my older brother, W. She asked what it pertained to, and she was informed that W had missed jury duty, and they need to verify his information to send him his ticket for failure to show. We had heard on a radio broadcast about a jury duty scam going on just the previous afternoon. Mom was immediately suspicious. She refused to verify anything about my older brother’s information. She then asked for the caller’s info, and he identified himself as investigator M. He gave her a case number and a phone number to call. She then asked why he called her, and he said that W listed her as a next of kin person to contact. All I can say is warning bells went off…

My older brother, W, is my dad’s son by a previous marriage..so he’s my mom’s STEP-SON. And although his mother has passed away, he and my mom are not close..and probably never will be. Also, he lives 8 hours away from us..why would we be his nearest contact when his wife’s family lives across town from him?!? Investigator M wanted to verify my mom and dad’s names and addresses..she wouldn’t..then he wanted to get in contact with me..not knowing I was sitting there listening to the speaker phone. She wouldn’t verify my address either. As soon as she hung up, we immediately called W. He was very upset. He called the county he lives in, along with a neighboring county, and they have no record with that number, nor has he missed anything. After calling mom back and telling her what he discovered, mom decided to contact the state attorney general’s office..as the radio program had suggested, but it didn’t say if it should be state or federal.. and they acted like they had no idea what to do. So she called the sheriff’s office and asked if they knew who to call.

The sheriff’s office had her come down to the station and give a statement. Mom had also taken down the phone number off of the caller ID where the “investigator” called from, and it was a New York area code. She looked up the number the “investigator” said to call, and it was all over the internet that it is a SCAM. The sheriff said anytime something like this happens, immediately give them ALL of the information. They filed a report and turned it into some federal division dealing with it because it had crossed statelines. We were told we did the right thing by NOT verifying anything and by not giving out any information. We were also told that you will NEVER be called by phone for anything to do with jury duty.

The best we could figure out, is they used a phone book to find the information. I guess because of all of the genealogy research I have done, I know that you can look in old telephone directories, but I will not tell you how because I will NOT help out any scammers that might decide to read my post. Another major warning flag that went up for us, they had forgotten to mention as a contact..my younger brother that still lives at home with my parents due to financial reasons. He doesn’t have anything but a cell phone..so they used lan-line numbers to look up the info..my older brother works for a company that puts together phone books, and said that was the best guess he could come up with..because it usually lists your phone number and address.

The next step we all took to protect ourselves was to get a hold of www.equifax.com. It is one of the major 3 credit bureaus. Basically from that, I took their phone number, called them, and had a warning placed on my credit/SSN#. I also had the option to have them call me if someone tried to access my credit, and I placed that on it as well. The warning is only good for six months from the time I did it, so I will place it again soon. I tried contacting one of the other credit bureaus first, but could not get through the long automated phone system. I found equifax to be the easiest to deal with. Also, equifax contacts the other 2 for you, and they put up the blocks/warnings as well. Each person in my parent’s household did this, and each person in my older brother’s household did it as well, including his 8 year-old child.

There are companies out there that will help protect you from identity theft as well. One such is called Lifelock. Their website is http://www.lifelock.com/ . Basically, they do what I told you about above. They actually contact the credit bureaus every 90 days from what I read and provide a million dollar guarantee to clear up your name if you do become a victim. As for the reduction in junk mail and credit card offers, when you place a warning/block through the credit bureaus, they actually are the ones who stop that for you.

Another thing I was also told to never do…never fill out to win free stuff in malls, grocery stores, etc. They “say” someone wins, but I have never actually met someone who has. It is simply a good way for them to get your infomation not only for mailing lists, but for persons wanting to steal your identity. Because if you think about it, it asks for your name…including maiden/married, address, phone number, email address, and good contact times. Well, you have just basically told someone where you live and just when you’ll be home. Other kinds of thieves can use this information to their advantage then, especially since no one stands guard over those win free stuff boxes. It is easy for them to just grab a few names out of the box and walk away with YOUR information.

The lessons I have learned from this, if it SOUNDS too good to be true..then it probably is! And to be paranoid in today’s society is to be safer.

As a child, I never had a single allergy. I only suffered from sinus infections. I never went through the sneezing, itchy-water eyes, etc that I saw so many of my classmates afflicted with. I never broke out in the hives from being outside when the cedar trees were pollinating. I could smell the flowers, and ENJOY them. My mom was allergic to everything it seemed. All types of evergreen trees, periwinkle flowers, dog dander, erythromycin, tetracyclin, penicillin, etc. I was very PROUD of not being allergic to anything, well except to carrots, but it was a very mild reaction. Then one day, my life changed.

When spring rolled around, my eyes would either water or dry up. My skin would get all dry and itchy, no matter HOW much lotion I applied. And then, after having a cut on my arm and playing among the trees, I actually got a poison oak/ivy outbreak. It spread like wild fire. Now, I can bring in firewood, and if there is residue on the wood, I break out from it. If someone is burning poison ivy/oak, I break out on all sorts of areas of my body. As I have aged, it seems like now I am allergic to EVERYTHING. I have become.. dum, dum dummmm….my mother ARGHHHH!!!

 People come through work wearing certain perfumes, and it sets my allergies on crazy alert. Freesia especially sends me into orbit. Also, I seem to be allergic to medications that my mother is not..such as cephalexin (keflex), augmentin (but not amoxicillin which means I must be allergic to augmentin’s other half or a filler of it), to zoloft, and any sulfa antibiotic. That being said, not all medications containing sulfa will cause an allergic reaction, it just depends on the specific type of sulfa medication because of its chemical make-up. I am also allergic to sulfur itself. You want to see an itchfest, then just put me in a non-ventilated room, and strike up a bunch of matches. I can’t breathe and my skin just breaks out in rashes everywhere. And not all doctors know exactly which medications contain certain things.

I was on zoloft for many years, but as time went on, I started having itchiness all the time, plus, it got to the point where it felt like bugs were crawling in my skin. Do you know how scary that is? I called up my pharmacist, he asked if I had any allergies, and I said sulfa..and was told to immediately stop the medication because of the MAJOR allergic reaction I was having to it. My doctor was upset that I stopped my medication suddenly when it should be tapered off, but after explaining my reaction, apologized to me for not knowing that it contained sulfa.

I also enjoy eating Mexican and Tex-Mex food. Unfortunately, it seems that many restaurants want to place cilantro in all of their dishes. WHY? I scream! Parsley is one thing, but cilantro?!? It is not a necessary herb to the dish. I have asked my Hispanic friends and been told that traditional Mexican food doesn’t use cilantro. You want to see anaphylactic shock, then put cilantro in my food. It turns out cilantro AND carrots are both part of the parsley family..DOH!

And you can forget me walking into Hallmark or Bath and Body Works. I LOVE the lotions from Bath and Body Works, but all the fragrances from both places not only give me a sick headache, but they start up an allergy attack, and when it gets to that point, my asthma usually flares up. Plus, lots of companies kept putting fragrances in their products now, which is almost just as bad, especially detergents. I jokingly tell my friends that I really need to trade in for a new body, but they like to point out, I could end up with much worse. I know some kids outgrow their allergies, but I’d like to de-evolve mine

This past week at work was like a waking nightmare. I work in a pharmacy that started up a $4 generic program. It has simply brought in soo many new customers, making things busier than usual. I don’t mind the program, in fact, I am for it. It especially helps out the elderly because it doesn’t bill their insurance, and even if they end up in the medigap, they can still afford their maintenance medications that are on the list..well at least hopefully they can.

But that wasn’t the only thing that made my life stressful. A co-worker of mine, ..that I will refer to as M, really angered me. He doesn’t want to wait on customers at the register, he doesn’t want to re-check the prescriptions (a mandatory 24 audit, as it is called), he doesn’t want to take prescriptions at the drop off, he doesn’t want to answer the phone..etc. I think you see where I am headed with this. He only likes to count pills to put in the prescription bottles..that’s it, and doesn’t double count the controlled substances like is mandated, although he says he does.

Well, the yearly reviews came around, and he scored very poorly from what I understand. He’s such a sour person that he blamed his scores on me, telling our other co-workers than I am just evil and that karma will get me because of what I have done to him. I do what I am supposed to do at work..no complaint, just work. I really thought he was my friend, but learned otherwise this past week. Another co-worker, W, also informed me that he tried to find a copy of my review in my personnel file, and was angered when he couldn’t find it, but found everyone else’s copies of their reviews, M told other co-workers what others earned

The same co-worker, W, that told me he had searched for my file, likes to instigate problems. M actually did do an audit the way he was supposed to the other day. Usually, he’s told me in the past, he just throws it in the file drawer with his name on it, saying it’s checked off and finished. So W, made the comment that we’d misfilled something and I had typed it, and that M made a huge deal about it because he was the one who found it. I DO care when I make a mistake, although it was the right drug, wrong strength, I still am my own worst critic. I said that I was happy he actually caught it, but I was surprised he actually checked the scripts. Unbeknown to me, W, immediately texted M and said I was talking bad about him. I have no idea what all W told him, but why do people have to just start stuff? Why even tell either one of us what the other does? Why does W blame others when she was the one actually that started and KEPT talking bad about M.

I totally dislike problem instigators. I also totally dislike two-faced people. I was really hurt to know that for the second time, M, had talked and tried to spread crap about me. I try to follow the rule, “fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.” I don’t give people 3 strikes you are out, you only get 2 shots. It makes me question all the times we hung out outside of work. Was it because no one else was available? and was I just the left-over? I don’t hear people so well upclose, I have one ruptured ear drum that will never close-up and another one with so much scar tissue, it barely vibrates..ear problems are inherited from my dad’s side of the family.. but I CAN hear things spoken far away from me in soft tones. Go figure, so it continually hurt me last week to hear M whispering bad stuff about me last week especially since he thinks I can’t hear what he’s saying. Everyone except W is ignoring it, but that still doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt. To have your trust and friendship betrayed and drug through the mud is just not a good feeling. And finding new friends is easier said than done.

A good friend of mine, CS, told me to leave M alone and not to worry about him at all. That I don’t need people like that, but that I did need to find new friends to hang out with because this is a lonely world. That I need to find friends that have schedules closer to mine so I could actually hang out with them. After our conversation, it also made me realize that I am not sure CS has feelings other than friendship for me anymore. So, maybe he’s right, I should just let people go..

Today, I was adventurous! I went out and ate at Pho Pasteur, a Vietnamese restaurant. And I must comment, I am decidedly set on that Vietnamese eggrolls taste better than Chinese…IMO anyway. I was kind of scared, but just dove in anyway, and I am glad I did. I have to recommend the Beef Pho (pronounced kind of like fuh as I know it) with meatballs. It was VERY tasty. Adding hot, spicy chili sauce, hoisan (sp?) sauce, and soy sauce just made it even better.

In a way, it reminds me of chicken noodle soup, but with a LOT more stuff in it, and that it was beef, although it comes in chicken flavor as well. The restaurant also brought a lot of greenery, as I will call it, to flavor up the soup. One piece of greenery looked like cilantro..but I think it was parsley, but I left that one alone anyway. The other green leaves I added to the soup after watching others put them in their soup. I learned by following thexamples of others. The leaves had a vague lemon scent to them, even before adding a little lemon juice to the soup itself. I did not add the bean sprouts to the soup though, I am not wild about them. The soup uses rice noodles instead of pasta noodles, and I think they might have been better!

The funniest part of the experience was when I went to check out. Let me explain something. I have a mixed heritage including Native American Indian. Well, as someone recently pointed out, they originally came from Asia to begin with. A lot of their words even sound East Asian. A Vietnamese co-worker of mine used to joke with me and others and tell people I was half-Vietnamese. He would always say, look at her beady eyes and the shape of her face. He would then joke that one of my parents was secretly Vietnamese LOL.

Well, today, at the restaurant, all of the employees were Asian, although I am not sure if they were all Vietnamese or not. And there were many different ethnicities eating in the restaurant. When I went to pay out, the lady running the register looked at me, and tried to speak to me in Vietnamese. After my confused look, she said, “OHHH” and began to giggle. She said something in Vietnamese and her coworkers proceeded to all look at me, and then giggle. She told me how much my bill was, and when I handed her my check card, after swiping it, looked at my name…handed it back to me..said something again to the other co-workers..they said “OH” and proceeded to giggle some more. It did not offend me in the least bit, but I did find it amusing. I guess they thought I was at least part Asian..and then decided I wasn’t.

The joke was on me, but proves, you can’t judge a book by its cover, because you never know what is really between the covers.

Did you hear about home remedies and old adages aka superstitions when you were growing up? I have heard so many, that it is really not funny. A lot of them were passed down from my great-grandparents to my parents…and then to me.

Some home remedies that I have heard of are:

Use of vicks vaporub on the bottom of your feet, then cover them with socks before bed, and it will reduce a cough. So far, this one works.

My mother swears by the use of Mentholatum. My grandmother’s best friend, a wise old black lady told her to use it on bunions, corns, earaches, and sore throats. Placing it behind the ear or along the lymph nodes on the neck seems to cause a soothing effect, and for some unknown reason, it has seemed to reduce my mother’s bunions and corns. Strange..but true.

Hydrogen peroxide will get rid of blood stains. — This is true, but remember, it also acts as a bleaching mechanism, so be careful what you use it on, or you’ll get a lighter spot showing up instead of blood.

Pour soda such as Coca-Cola on your battery terminals to clean off the built up corrosion. — This one also works, I’ve done it several times myself.

To clean up spilled sugar or syrup, pour Dr. Pepper on it. Wait a minute or so, then clean up the liquid mess. — This works great, and a simple mopping will clean up any sticky residue from the soda itself. No grainy or super sticky syrup should be left behind.

If you burn yourself, immediately apply a generous amount of toothpaste to the area. Also, I have been told mustard works on this as well, but I haven’t tried out the mustard myself. We’ve used the toothpaste though as long as I can remember.

To keep insects from coming inside, pouring a line of cornmeal will stop them, and a chalkline will prevent ants from going where you don’t want them.

Supposedly, to cure a headache, rubbing your forehead with a lime wedge will stop the throbbing. I haven’t tried this one out yet because I am afraid of getting it in my eyes…which would definitely discract me from the headache.

Old adages that I have heard my whole life and that may not be as common are:

If it thunders in December, it will snow within six weeks. — This might be a duh factor since it is winter though..

If the firewood crackles or the smoke blows sideways out of the chimney, it means snow is on the way. — So far as I know, this one seems to always prove true.

There is a blackberry winter before Easter. Meaning: Don’t set out your vegetables or flowers before Easter Sunday because there is usually a late freeze right before Easter. I think this one holds mostly to the South though. I am sure it would pertain to a later date up North. — So far as I know, this seems to be generally true. Usually there is not another freeze after Easter in the South.

Itching palms of the hand. Supposedly one side means giving money, and the other receiving, but I don’t remember which one it is at the moment. — Whether this is true or not remains to be seen.

Dropping eating utensils. To drop a fork, means you will have a lady visitor. To drop a knife, means you will have a gentleman visitor. To drop a spoon, means a child will stop by for a visit.

If your ears are burning, then someone is discussing you.

If the clasp on your necklace makes its way all the way around to the front, where the pendant is held, then someone is thinking about you. You’re supposed to kiss the clasp, and turn it back around for the luck.

Here is a link to some more superstitions. http://www.oldsuperstitions.com/general.html and http://www.csicop.org/superstition/library/common.html .