Saturday, September 2, 2006

Word of the day:  orotund\OR-uh-tund\ adjective:  1 : marked by fullness, strength, and clarity of sound : sonorous.  *2 : pompous, bombastic.

"I owe all my success in life to having been always a quarter of an hour beforehand!"  Horatio Nelson, Vice Admiral of the Royal Navy

Last

Friday, September 1, 2006

Word of the day:  savvy\SAV-ee\ verb: understand.

"I must govern the clock, not be governed by it!"  Golda Mier, Prime Minister

Last

Thursday, August 31, 2006

Word of the day:  Paradigm\PAIR-uh-dyme\ noun:  *1 : example, pattern; especially: an outstanding example or archetype.  2 : a philosophical and theoretical framework of a scientific school or discipline.

"Common sense often makes good law!"  William O. Douglas, Jurist

Last week, my neighbor Ms. Wilson and I were discussing our property boundaries.  I wanted to plant some

Tuesday, August 29, 2006

Information I Learned About My House

Word of the day:  Job's Comforter\JOHBZ-KUM-fer-ter\ noun: a person who discourages or depresses while seemingly giving comfort and consolation.

"No revenge is more honorable than the one not taken!"  Spanish Proverb

Last week, my neighbor Ms. Wilson and I were discussing our property boundaries.  I wanted to plant some Crepe Myrtles and wanted to consult with her prior to planting the trees to ensure I didn't inadvertently plant the trees on her property; both for present and future neighborly good relations.

Without my asking, Ms Wilson proffered a plat of the entire Autumn Ridge Subdivision having each lot marked with their boundaries, selling prices, as well as an attached official realtor communication on letterhead with the selling prices of the two original houses here prior to this ever being a subdivision.  The two original houses were the yellow brick house and its "guest house" (my present home) with their "asking" 1985 prices.

I purchased my house in 2002 for flat ASKING PRICE.  I didn't blink an eye at the price with no other offers on the table to the seller.  In 1985, the previous owner of my home paid a little less than the asking price of it noted on the realtor letter Ms. Wilson gave me.  During the time between 1985 and 2002, my home underwent significant upgrades.  When I purchased this house in 2002 the information on this letter showed that I paid the previous owner less than $10,000 more than what they paid.

To me this is an egregious wrong.  I sure hope I don't learn more details about this, or that another realtor had suggested the price.  I wish I had the resources to correct this wrong to the eldery lady I bought my home from.  This is sad.

Word of the day:  anomaly\uh-NAH-muh-lee\ noun:  1 : the angular distance of a planet from its perihelion as seen from the sun.  2 : deviation from the common rule : irregularity
*3 : something anomalous : something different, abnormal, peculiar, or not easily classified

"Wisdom is hte reward you get for a lifetime of listening when you'd have preferred to talk!"  Doug Larson

NASCAR

Sunday, August 27, 2006

Word of the day:  anomaly\uh-NAH-muh-lee\ noun:  1 : the angular distance of a planet from its perihelion as seen from the sun.  2 : deviation from the common rule : irregularity
*3 : something anomalous : something different, abnormal, peculiar, or not easily classified

"Never measure your generosity by what you have given, but rather by what you have left"  Fulton J. Sheen, Clergyman

NASCAR

Word of the day:  skylark\SKYE-lark\ verb:  1 : to run up and down the rigging of a ship in sport.  *2 : frolic, sport.

"One of the strongest characteristics of genius is the power of lighting its own fire
"  John Foster

NASCAR

Friday, August 25, 2006

Word of the day:  recumbant\rih-KUM-bunt\ adjective:  *1 a : suggestive of repose : leaning, resting b : lying down.  2 : representing a person lying down.

"What would life be like if we had no courage to attempt anything?
"  Vincent Van Gogh, Artist

NASCAR

Thursday, August 24, 2006

Bluetooth Connected Red Necks

Word of the day:  pariah\puh-RYE-uh\ noun:  1 : a member of a low caste of southern India.  *2 : one that is despised or rejected : outcast.

"Compassion of oneself is the most powerful healer of them all.
"  Theodore Isaac Rubin, Psychiatrist and writer

NASCAR brings to Bristol some really interesting people.  A very welcome mix of everyone.  Probably the most populous of that group of NASCAR fans is the stereotypical redneck.  This morning I was in the Food City buying some groceries and I turned down the snack food aisle and low and behold there was a redneck in the Food City browsing the Little Debbie snack cakes talking on her bluetooth connected cell phone.  The image was moving to see a redneck with a Jabra headset stuck in her ear talking Jerry Springer on the phone right there in front of Little Debbie!

Wednesday, August 23, 2006

Word of the day:  consequential\kahn-suh-KWEN-shul\ adjective:  1 : of the nature of a secondary result : indirect.  2 : following as a result or effect : consequent.  *3 : having significant consequences : important.

"We have two ears,  but only one mouth, so that we may listen more and talk less
."  Zeno, Philosopher

It

Tuesday, August 22, 2006

Word of the day:  insaturation\in-stor-RAY-shun\ noun:  *1 : restoration after decay, lapse, or dilapidation.  2 : an act of instituting or establishing something.

"Self image sets the boundaries of individual accomplishments
."  Maxwell Maltz, Physician

It was

Monday, August 21, 2006

My Neighborhood On Green Tree Circle

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Word of the day:  lampoon\lam-POON\ verb: to make the subject of a lampoon : ridicule.

"Age is like love, it cannot be hidden
."  

Here are some photos of the houses on my street. 

Sunday, August 20, 2006

A Rainy Sunday....Dreery One Too

Word of the day:  dunnage\DUN-ij\ noun: *1 : loose materials used to support and protect cargo in a ship's hold; also : padding in a shipping container.  2 : baggage.

"The secret of human happiness is not in self seeking but in self-forgetting
."  Theodor Belk, Psychoanalyst

It was nice to have Charlie and my brother Jeff over for dinner last night.  I made Grilled Halibut with Mango-Pineapple Salsa, Asparagus and Steamed Potatoes and Corn on the cob; fresh from the garden.  Charlie brought some of his home-grown country tomatoes and I made a sliced Tomato salad with Feta, Olive Oil and Rice Vinegar.  For dessert, we had banana pudding as a special request - the kind made from scratch.

Saturday, August 19, 2006

Word of the day:  curfew\KER-fyoo\ noun:  *1 : a regulation requiring the withdrawal of specified persons from the streets or the closing of business establishments at a stated hour.  2 : a signal to announce the beginning of a curfew.  3 a : the hour at which a curfew becomes effective b : the period during which a curfew is in effect.

"Theories:  What people have about raising children until they actually have children
."  Joe Heuer, Humorist and speaker

I've been piddling around my house here in Bristol for the last few weeks and its beginning to come to life and is looking good.  Yesterday,  I was able to get my windows washed and freon put in my central air.  I'd been putting it off until a point where there were fewer more pressing matters.

Friday, August 18, 2006

City Attempt At Country Cooking

Word of the day:  tortuous\TOR-chuh-wus\ adjective:  *1 : marked by repeated twists, bends, or turns : winding.  2 a : marked by devious or indirect tactics : crooked, tricky b : circuitous, involved.

"Life is an adventure in forgiveness.
"  Norman Cousins, Editor and writer

I made a homemade banana pudding (a.k.a. "monkey puke" as Chris used to refer to it); all from scratch.  This is something that I make that everyone loves and so do I.  I also made a half-assed (city attempt) at making a meal I grew up on -- brown beans, relish, sliced tomatoes, cole slaw, and corn muffins.  Not all that was made from scratch.  I've just been craving a good home-made country meal for so long that I succumbed and made a less than preferred attempt at it.  But remember, I've done it single-handedly.

Oh, by the way, anyone wanting to get me a Christmas gift...here's what I want! 

Buck the Animated, Singing Trophy Deer
It can be found at your local WalMart in their hunting department.  Its "Buck" the animated talking/singing deer head.

Word of the day:  tortuous\TOR-chuh-wus\ adjective:  *1 : marked by repeated twists, bends, or turns : winding.  2 a : marked by devious or indirect tactics : crooked, tricky b : circuitous, involved.

"Every day I live I am more convinced that the waste of life lies in the love we have not given, the  powers we have not used, the selfish prudence that will risk nothing and  which, shirking pain, misses happiness as well.  No one ever yet was the poorer in the long run for having once in a lifetime "let out all the  length of the reins."
  Mary Cholmondeley, Writer

I

Word of the day:  tortuous\TOR-chuh-wus\ adjective:  *1 : marked by repeated twists, bends, or turns : winding.  2 a : marked by devious or indirect tactics : crooked, tricky b : circuitous, involved.

"Look upon every day as the whole of life, not merely as a section; and enjoy and improve the present without wishing, through haste, to rush on to another
."  Jean Paul Richter, Writer and humorist

I

Thursday, August 17, 2006

Word of the day:  thank-you-ma'am\THANK-yoo-mam\ noun: 1.  a bump or depression in a road; especially : a ridge or hollow made across a road on a hillside to cause water to run off.

"Every April God rewrites the book of Genesis
."  Austin O'Malley, Physician

slept

Wednesday, August 16, 2006

My Wrist Hurts Like Hell

Word of the day:  apex\AY-peks\ noun:  1 a : the uppermost point : vertex b : the narrowed or pointed end : tip.  *2 : the highest or culminating point.

"Spring is nature's way of saying, "Lets Party!
"  Robin Williams, Comedian and actor

I slept very poorly last night.  My wrist was excrusiatingly painful.

Tuesday, August 15, 2006

Relief! NOT So Quick!

Word of the day:  saccade \sak-KAHD\ noun: a small rapid jerky movement of the eye especially as it jumps from fixation on one point to another (as in reading).

"If a flower blooms once, it goes on blooming somewhere forever.  It blooms on for whoever has seen it blooming
."  William H. Armstrong, Sounder

I went to see the doctor yesterday about my medical issue.  He was alarmed at first as it appeared to him as something that may require immediate surgery.  He did an ultrasound first and found it to only be an infection which could be treated by an antibiotic.  That relieved us both.

Those doctors at Georgetown have to be among some of the most beautiful men in the medical profession.

I suppose I spoke too fast.  I was just outside piddling around.  I lost my balance; fell and broke my wrist. Just what I needed,  LOVELY! 

Monday, August 14, 2006

Off To See The Doctor At Georgetown University

Word of the day:  discomfit \diss-KUM-fit\ verb:  1 : to frustrate the plans of : thwart
*2 : to put into a state of perplexity and embarrassment : disconcert
.


"Anxiety is a thin stream of fear trickling  through the mind.  If encouraged, it cuts a channel into which all other thoughts are drained
."  Arthur Somers Roche, Novelist and playwright

In just a few minutes, I'll begin my drive back to DC.  Hopefully, I'll be able to see one of my doctors at Georgetown University.  I'm very nervous that this problem with my health will be serious eventhough I'm not rushing to judgment by self-diagnosing.  However, I do know what I've read online and from all the different types of diagnoses it could be, it is more and more like the one which is most serious.  I hope not.

 

Saturday, August 12, 2006

Charlie's Living Off The Land...

Word of the day:  ambivalent\am-BIV-uh-lunt\ adjective:  *1 : simultaneously holding contradictory attitudes or feelings (as attraction and repulsion) toward someone or something.  2 a : continually fluctuating (as between one thing and its opposite) b : uncertain as to which approach to follow.

"We are living at a time when humankind can face whatever threatens it only if we, by which I mean each of us, manage to revive, with new energy and a new ethos, a sense of responsibility for the rest of the world."  Vaclav Havel, Czech President and playwright

Today, for the first time since I've known him; I went to visit Charlie at his home in East Tennessee.  I took Rhabi along with me and he seemed to enjoy the visit equally as much as I did.  Rhabi got to see chickens, turkeys, and sniff smells he'd probably never smelled before.  He even got to pee and poo in Charlies yard.  In a couple of ways, the visit with Charlie at his home brought back a number of childhood memories; picking tomatoes and vegetables out of a regular full-sized garden designed to support a family and its need for summer vegetables AND winter canned vegetables.  We picked fresh off the vine tomatoes which Charlie gave to me.  They are so good.  He had chickens, turkeys, vegetables, fruit trees, etc.  All the things I grew up with on the farm back in Mendota, VA.  Charlie showed me all the vegetables he had canned for the upcoming winter.  They looked really great and tasty too!  He gave me a sample of his green tomato pickles.  They tasted just like this relish my grandmother used to make and I've not had since years before her passing in 1991.

I really appreciate Charlie giving me the vegetables and inviting me to his place.  It was great to visit him there.  He always comes to Bristol to visit me.  Primarily the reason being is due to my ichtiophobia.  He did cover his fishtank and I was OK. 

As we were leaving, Rhabi didn't want to go.  He was most excited about visiting Charlie.

Thank you Charlie.