Thoughts to Ponder While Listening to the Crickets Chirping

     I just finished my weekend at work, and now it's time to relax for a little while.  Sometimes I don't have enough "material" for an entire blog essay, so it's fun to just write about a bunch of things. Andy Rooney called it  "Pieces of my Mind", local Boston journalist Mike Barnicle called it "I was just thinking".  I have thoughts to ponder while listening to the crickets chirping!  I just love to listen to the crickets at night. You know it means that summer is winding down.

      My vegetable garden is not up to par this year.  I just never gave it the attention it deserved.  We never even planted tomatoes because we wanted to rest the soil. We planned on cutting down some trees that we "temporarily" put in our old garden spot 12 years ago! Another summer passes and I never got it done. It's a big job, maybe we'll get to it before winter. It's on my to-do list.  

     But getting back to the current garden, all I planted was basil and four varieties of peppers. They are just getting buds on them this week.  I also had a zucchini plant, but I waited too long to plant, and even though it blossomed, I doubt it will do much.  The bean seeds I planted never even sprouted, and I have never had trouble growing those before. Oh well.

      I mentioned my free time "problem" now that my class is over.  I have actually been spending a lot less time on my computer.  I have spent more time working on creating movies from my photos. It's fun, but tedious.

The other thing I've been looking at online is the job sites, just to see if there are any activity director positions open in my area, and to help a co-worker find a job closer to home.  I found out I have to go to Woburn or Boston to take my national exam after I apply for the certification, which I will do soon. I feel very impatient, but it takes a few weeks to get the ball rolling. It took four months to get my certificate from the first part of the class.  

     Meanwhile, I have my writing class called "Breaking into Print", by the Long Ridge Writer's Group. I had started the class at the turn of the century, and it came in real handy to finish it now. It's a lot better the second time around. Instead of a correspondence course by mail, you can submit the lessons online, and contact your instructor via e-mail.  It's so much faster! My next assignment is 2,000-3,000 words, and it's going to be about my cats Bigfoot and Willamina and how they met and fell in love (don't laugh, it's true- you'll have to wait until my article is in your favorite magazine- wouldn't that be cool?!)  My instructor is a best selling author, and I'm lucky that she really likes my work so far, and has been supportive.

     The most exciting thing going on this week in my yard are the discovery of goldfinches!! They aren't actually in the yard, they have been on the sidewalk, eating seeds among the Queen Anne's Lace, and other weed flowers, those ones that are cornflower blue.  How beautiful they are, especially the males!! I have seen them as I walk to the bus stop, they obviously do fly away as I approach.  I have to recharge my camera batteries, and try to get some pictures. I tried to get some shots from the other side of the street, but the camera would not focus well. Sometimes a movie is better because birds tend to move around a lot, and by the time you get ready to hit the shutter, it has flown away. My plan is to get some thistle seed, and set up three or four feeders, and maybe one of those remote motion-sensor cameras to capture them on film.   I would love to get a fountain/ birdbath too! 

     I was kind of disappointed in last week's episode of Breaking Bad.  It just wasn't plausible to me. I realize that they have to get back into manufacturing drugs in order to advance the plot, but if Mr. White is reasonably intelligent, he would count his blessings and move to Canada or something. He's already cheated death, and if they had ended the series with the cliffhanger from October, it would have been OK if we knew he was going to go straight. 

     Of course, the reason he needs the money is because his dingbat wife gave it all to her ex-boss, who I accurately predicted was still alive after all. But since they own the car wash, why can't they just run a legitimate business and we can still be on the edge of our seats wondering when Hank, the brother- in-law, would catch on? 

     The other thing that didn't seem to be in character was Mike, and the restraint he showed in not killing Walt and Jessie in the previous episode, and the woman they introduced in last week's episode. Sure, I'm glad he didn't kill them, but someone as trigger happy as him who had incentive to put these people away just didn't seem to be in character. But what do I know?

     Then there's Jessie. He was never known for his brain, but if he already checked his rumba for the ricin cigarette, why does he so readily accept finding it there? 

     Overall, I didn't like last week's episode because there were too many new characters, one who kills himself at the start of the episode, and another that gets shot, and then Mike has to kill the guy that shot him. I felt like I should take a shower after the show, just kind of creepy.

     Tonight's episode wasn't that great, either.  I don't much care for Skyler, but her sister Marie is even more annoying. The less seen of them, the better.  Walt and his partners decided to start cooking their product in houses that are being fumigated, which was kind of original (I give credit to the writers, I could never think this stuff up.)
However, the cost of doing business is high, and you know Mike and Walt are clashing big time until one of them is eliminated.  
    Well, have a great week!

    

My Class is Over, What Now?!

    I'm feeling good tonight. I just took the final exam for my Activity Certification class, aka MEPAP-2.  I was shooting for a perfect score, but got 90% (that means I got 5 out of 50 questions wrong). I won't complain, though, because overall, I still have an average of 99.48. In  MEPAP-1, I averaged a perfect 100, so I am feeling like I accomplished something.

     The biggest question now is, what to do with all the time I just regained? I've spent the past 32 weeks meeting deadlines, and fighting exhaustion. I have worked hard on this, and now I hope for the payoff: a nice promotion, or a juicy job offer from another facility close by.  I would much rather stay put where I am, though if the right job came along somewhere else, naturally I would give it serious consideration.

    Unfortunately, just taking these classes does not automatically mean I am certified. I still have to take a national exam (this started in January), and I need 12 college credits. However, I am well on my way to getting the first batch of seven credits, and I am allowed six years to get all 12 credits.  I also have to complete 30 clock-hours of continuing education each year to maintain the certification once I get it. 

      My advice to anyone who is putting off getting the job training or advancement they need is this: Get to work! Just do it! I know if I had done it three or four years ago, I would already be the director where I work. All the common sense and experience in the world does not mean as much to the people hiring as a piece of paper that says you are competent. And trust me. not everybody who has that piece of paper knows what they are doing!

     So, I think I will enjoy the rest of this weekend, and pat myself on the back once before I get back to work.  Wish me luck with finding that perfect job, and getting out of the union!

Breaking Bad is Breaking Back Into my Head

     Well, after months of hiatus, Breaking Bad will resume Sunday night at 10:00 (and again at 11:30- I usually catch the later viewing. If I was smart, I would tape it and be able to fast forward all the commercials).

     When we left off, Walt, the main character,  had just done away with his nemesis, Gus, and his henchman.  But there is still lots of danger lurking, and questions that will hopefully be answered by the time the remaining 16 episodes are completed.  Will his brother in law Hank ever figure out that Walt is   the one he's pursuing, and ultimately responsible for his paralysis?  Will Walt's son learn that his Dad manufactured all that Meth, and what will his reaction be?  What happens if his business partner Jessie ever learns that Walt let Jessie's girlfriend die as she was OD'ing and choking on her vomit? And this latest transgression, poisoning Jessie's latest girlfriend's little boy, to make it seem like Gus did it, so Jessie would go along with the plan to kill Gus?

      If you don't watch the show, I've already lost you.  I admit, this isn't reality. And it's not the type of program I would normally watch.  But it is very suspenseful and creeps into your head as you wait for the next installment.  Over the past four seasons,  viewers have witnessed a man go from decent and moral to a full fledged A-hole.  He has always been egotistical, but you found a way to forgive him.  He is dying of cancer and trying to raise money to leave to his family.  It all fell into his lap by accident, manufacturing drugs, and coming across all kinds of desperate criminals and characters along the way.  This is a scary show sometimes. Even though it isn't real, you find yourself getting caught up in the plot, and cringing as you watch these people make terrible decisions over and over again.  Sometimes they know they are doing the wrong thing, but they can't stop themselves. Other times they have no other options. 

     I guess I'm along for the ride, and eventually I'll find out- will Walt and Jessie die, will they try to kill each other?  Will Mike, Gus' bodyguard, recover and make it back from Mexico, and what will he do next when he finds out his boss is dead, and who did it?  Will Skyler, Walt's wife, botch things up again? And is her former boss really dead?

    If you are intrigued, go get the DVDs and catch up- or maybe you can find it online.  AMC has been showing re-runs in the wee hours for the past month or so. They usually have a catch-up marathon leading up to the premiere, but they didn't this year.

     Even if the culture of this show is the opposite of yours, it is still very entertaining. (I do wish it was a little less violent, but it's targeted at young men, so that's a lost cause.)

    I am putting the trailer here-I think it's a recap of the past season. If you are already a fan,  get ready for the next episode!  I'm just not getting my hopes up too high-there have plenty of boring episodes as well.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CINDY!!!!

 Happy Birthday, Cindy! I Love You!

It's hard for me to believe that my darling dog was born eight years ago today.  She is still young at heart, and a great pet.

     I first met Cindy as a six week old puppy. She was a member of "Featherwhisker", a company that visits schools and nursing homes with their farm animals and puppies and kittens.  Usually, there were three or four puppies. They did sell the puppies, but the prices were usually 3-4 hundred dollars, since they were purebred. Nice, but out of my price range.

      On this day, there was only one puppy. She was really cute. Small body, big head. Big bark! She kept on chasing the baby goat, and barking at him.  I could not resist her collie-like snout, and her eyes that matched her nose. She was adorable!

    Immediately, I told anybody within earshot that I had first dibs on this puppy. Then I asked how much was she?  It turned out that she was a mixed breed without papers, so she was only $100.  I called home and asked my Dad to come up to work right away and bring a hundred dollars. I must have mentioned that I finally found the right puppy for us, and he had to come up and look.  Since my Mom worked at the front desk, I must have called down to let her know what was going on.

     I found out that Cindy was an orphan, who had three other litter mates, and she was the last one without a home. Her mom had been hit by a car when the pups were three weeks old, so they ended up on the farm. A yellow lab that these people owned nursed the puppies until they were old enough to eat solid food and find new homes.

     I wasn't really prepared to bring home a puppy, but I did. It was August 24, 2004.  It was a hot, humid day.  I remember that when we left work, Dad, Mom, and my niece Emily were waiting in the car. She didn't know about the puppy, and was very surprised and excited. My Mom snapped a picture of her look of delight as I held my tiny puppy in her little blanket.

     When we got home, I got out the cage I had from when we had rabbits. Later, Cindy inherited Emily's playpen! 

     Cindy is half Australian Cattle Dog, half Collie. She acts like the cattle dog most of the time. She is territorial, and loves to bark. ALOT. But she is quieter than she used to be.

     The years have flown by. 

Look how big her leash is! This was from the first week we had her.

She was tiny enough to fit in the cat carrier. This was a day I brought her to work!

This was a day Cindy visited my grandmother. Doesn't she look intelligent?

Cindy liked to chew on the ice left in my tonic cup.

Cindy's first toy, Octoboy! She chewed him to bits, and a second one too.

We called her "Kennel Ration Ears" when her ears were still a little bit floppy.

This was the only day ever that Cindy let me put a bandana  on her neck.

Back in the days when we took off the leash for her to play. After some close calls, we stopped.

Isn't she majestic?

Cindy loves to play ball- this was December 2004, she was only a few months old, but she looks full grown, doesn't she?

One of the best pix I took of Cindy. Yes, she is smiling.

This is my all-time favorite picture of Cindy--from the same photo shoot. I love the color of her eyes, and the way her nose matched her eyes. And look how clean her teeth were!

Cindy, hope you had a great day! 
You are a wonderful pet!