Wild wild west

As a documentary airs on PBS about some fellow in 1960 who filmed his wilderness journeys, I am basking in the warmth of my blankie and contemplating bed. This man felled the trees, build the cabin, fetched rocks, make a fireplace that works just great, an outhouse, a smoker and more.
Supplies (meagre) were dropped in by air in the Autumn.

Now I see the inside of his cabin. He is cooking peppery ram stew. The ram was taken down with one shot. Although this is 42 years ago, it seems like centuries. Can anyone in this year 2004 truly get totally away from the world?

The closest I get to communing with Nature these days is my morning sunrise coffee drank at the beachfront. I sit and watch the waters. This morning there was a Blue Heron standing in the waters a few metres in front of my car. It made me sad. There should have been a pair. They mate for life. Poor lonely Heron.

A couple of seals were playing further out in the Bay. A sprinkle of water and a leap followed by loud splashing. They seem to be having such fun. One of my clients told me she saw a whale one year in the Bay. I am not putting any bets on that one.

-------------------**
'We need the tonic of wildness
We can never have enough of nature' Henry David Thoreau

Firey Magnificence

We have meetings to discuss various clients, policies and procedures. We also enjoy getting together in one room. All of my team are on the road all day every day with the exception of the Team Leader who has an office. This last meeting we discusses a few of our "problem" clients.
I got my new schedule and --surprise-- one of those we discussed is now mine on Sundays.

Entering her home today, I felt a tiny bit of trepidation but mostly I was curious.
I remember this Lady from a few years ago. I did not find her that bad.
The next year I went once and I remember her because she told me the same story using the same words as she had the year before. I have an excellent memory for patterns and faces.
Last year I went again and yes, the very same story the very same way.
Again.

Today she was a little more bitter. Same stories but there were some new words in there.
Most of them were British slang terms.
She is very angry.

I looked at her and got real close and asked her:
"Where did this magnificence of spirit come from? Where you born with it? Did you inherit it from one or both of your parents?"

She absolutely shone like a flawless diamond under a laser.
She sat up completely straight and told me with great pride:
"When I was a little girl my father said to me: "Dont you ever loose your firey spirit my girl. It will take you a long long way in life."

84 , legally blind, severe bladder dysfunction and still a flame licker.
Right on!
===========

"Teach us that wealth is not elegance, that profusion is not magnificence, that splendor is not beauty."

Benjamin Disraeli (British prime minister and novelist. 1804-1881)

Will Rogers told me to put my money in Real Estate

'"You've got limited space here. It is a damned fine place to live. Put your money in Real Estate. The world is only getting more fullup with folk. And alot of them are all coming here."

'Will Rogers told me that."

me: "You knew Will Rogers?"

"Yer darned right! He was a good friend of Vic Flemings."

me: "You knew Victor Fleming?"

"Yeup. He was a decent fellow. The only one of that whole Hollywood crew I could stand.
Told me to look him up with I was in California so I did. And he treated me like a Prince.
And what was I? Just the Caretaker. Yes, Vic was a great guy.'

"Poor Will, he had a private plane and all. He liked to fly alot. Took me up a few times. His plane went down in Alaska somewhere. A darned shame."

Where but in Community Nursing could you hear a story like that?
I could tell you more but .... discretion is the better part of valour.

=============
"Thou has done a deed whereat valour will weep."
Shakespeare

shivering amongst the timbers

The timbre of my voice lost in a slow scream?
The timber all around us here, saturated by the Autumn rains after one of the driest summers ever?

No its the slow scream alas.

Land of opportunity!
A playground along the Pacific!
A dirty rotten scoundrel is in charge of my wonderful Land.
A rat who rammed through legislation allowing privitization and wholesale firings for no cause of employees who have dedicated lives of service to jobs they love.

Yet another Private Institution here has fired all it's Union staff and has given the contract to an out-of-Country agent who will hire at a much lower rate with far less benefits neglecting the continuity of care by plugging in new employees top to bottom.

Shame on you!
Shame on you all!
Your employees live and work here. Your Faustian middlemen do not.
Do you really believe profit is the only measure of a successful industry?

I think it is just another deathknell for a job that very few love.
Alot of the people fired are in their 50s and 60s.
They were told but a few months ago there was no chance of this happening so they all relaxed.
Merry Christmas.

Shame on the Voters of this Province who believe the head liar.
None of this ever affects people who have alot of bang in the bank accounts.
They are protected by the Tax Cuts that were pushed through that benefit, you guessed it, those at the top of the dollar chain. But to be seen to *balance the budget* to *get this Province back on track* to * take a tough stand on tough issues* this Government rammed Draconian legislation down our throats that is meant to bust Unions once and for all.
Who benefits?

The Workers who live in this Province?
No of course not!
We sell off our services to huge conglomorates from elsewhere, and we get a temporary cash injection that makes that bottom line look better. Too bad about the longterm. Too bad about the people whose lives are smashed to pieces.

"We offered resume writing workshops and Stress management for our Employees who were let go."
That was big of you.

Looking to the immediate gratification of quick dollar, this Government is rewarding companies who are sawing the legs off the working man here. Or, rather, the working woman.
Government is focusing their cuts on Teachers and Nurses and Healthcare Workers;
industries mostly comprised of women.

When the Longshoremen and Fishermen and Loggers are all gone, when the union busting has made it impossible for the average Joe to live here, who will be the servants to all these rich darlings who move here? Are they planning to import them?

A Province built on Natural Resources, spoiled by greed, and polarised in Politics.
What a Happy picture it is,
Oh look! What is that in my Mailbox?
A little propraganda, a little feelgood flyer from my Government congratulating itself on a job well done. I am sure those fired appreciate all you do.

I smell sulphur.
==============

A man from hell is not afraid of hot ashes.
Dorothy Gilman

twas a dark and stormy day

End of my workweek again and as always I am sleepsies.
It was an incredible day! I was all over my area.
Alllll over!

Rain, hail, wind, waves whoa!
Coming along the low road in gale force winds, I came around the Bay to see the waves *CRASH*-ing into the rocks and making spray with such tremendous power they were higher than the tops of the 2story homes of the oh-so-very priviledged. The will be coming home to wet balconies and soggy gardens very priviledged.

Driving along the Highway later I couldn't see for the leaves that were pelting into my windshield. A harvest hued mosaic organically blinded me. And then, it rained.
And then it rained HARDER! Furious drops screamed as they struck the car now slowing, now hydro-planing.

I was going less than 1/2 the posted speed limit on the road known for dragraces. Noone was passing me as they were too busy trying not to slide off one of the bridges sideways. Definitly two-handed work! By the time I got to my turnoff I was exhausted. Thankfully, the rain ceased before my returning back to the city.

The wonderful thing about today is that it is OVER!
HURRAH!
-------------------

Another tale from the Wordsmith:

After decades of working for a MultiNational company, and a sorrowful divorce, the Wordsmith found himself unemployed and without means in his early fifties. No golden handshake, no pension, nothing but a "your services are no longer required."

Never one to dwell in the negative, he packed a satchel, his paints and his jaunty beret and went a-travelling to the Caribbean. He made his way by selling his paintings and sketches to whoever wished them. After a few seasons of Carnivals, he washed up in the Eastern part of our fair Land.

Frank says that he didn't settle for any company or job but just worked piecemeal designing.
He found true love and happiness with the wonderful woman he is still in love with today and she encouraged him to apply for a very good position advertised with the Federal Government as an Engineer. He gathered together his portfolio and went off to the appointed place at the agreed upon time.

"I walked into this very adequate room which was dominated by a large desk. Sitting amidst photographs of important people and projects was the man who was to decide my fate.

'We spoke of my past achievments and I showed him examples of my work. His face betrayed nothing. He hrrrm-ed and hawwed and then finally deigned to ask:

"Mr. _, this is all very interesting but what degrees do you have?"

Frank stood slightly and leaned over the gentlemans desk.
He took his index finger and drew a circle on the polished oak.
"Those are my degrees. All 360 of them"

--- he got the job.

A Difficult Intake

I met this woman 4 years ago on the night shift.
The intake Nurses cried to me about what a difficult admission she had been. She was discharged from the Hospital to die at home.
She was skeletal.
She was very friendly and most determined to get better.
And so, she did.
Sort of.

At first it was easy to accomodate her demands for these fussy things.
Then it became evident she did want any HealthCare so much as she wanted grande Theatre.
A production every mealtime. She directed, we played the prop directors.

She is so bad now that frequently when I come in she is in the process of throwing away this elaborately prepared food that she demands (and gets) in the garburator. Most of the Nurses and healthcare workers just roll their eyes and do it. If they don't she ends up calling and making them a "do not send."

I like Theatre.
I do not like wasting Public funds though.
Get the woman a Psychiatric Evaluation.
Send a Mental health Worker.
But sending people each and every day to puree boil blend stir re-puree, reboil etc...
what a collosal waste of time.

I do not understand why we are enabling this strange process.

----------------------------
we are all the same, we are all different.

The ideas of mental health and mental illness have replaced the idea of God and the Devil, and the institutionally legitimized explanations, justifications, and interventions of psychiatry have replaced those of organized religion. "During the Middle Ages," James Turner observes, "no clear lines separate the religious from the secular...The church and the world blended." Today, no clear line separates the psychiatric from the nonpsychiatric: the explanations, justifications, and interventions of psychiatry permeate the world and blend with it.
- Thomas Szasz

----> Remember me

Sometimes I wonder if the brain is like a huge warehouse, with acres of room;
albeit a finite space. Other times I think of our brains like a stomach that swells
and depletes with it's contents. Instead of a visible waste product I think of dreams
as the release mechanism. Of course it is also possible we are just another machine.

I remember so many things. As I age some different things come to the fore, current
obsessions occupy prime space, and various and sundry other things slip away.
When I am in my older years I wonder what I will hold dear to my heart when people speak
with me. More than a few of my very elderly clients have a fond place in their hearts for
ice cream. The first story amused me.

Little Lee is 94 years old and all of 80 pounds. She is very frail these days, and has to
be cooked for as she will often forget to eat or worse, cook something improperly.
It is even more important to sit and speak with her so that she does in fact eat the food.
I asked her if she wanted some cream for her coffee.

"Cream! Oh I remember my grandfather!"
She seemed so delighted in the remembering that I waited quietly for the connection.

"He used to pull up in his sleigh. I could hear the bells from a mile away."

A sleigh. With bells. Until that moment only the province of a carol to me.

"We lived fourteen miles from any place. We never saw much of anyone except each other.
Winters were lonely and Summers were just alot of work. I never thought life could be any different back then. We just lived. And then, once or so a season we had to get provisions.
That meant the sleigh."

"Grandfather would take me with him to "Town." "
I could almost see the quotation marks around the word.

"Grandfather would go into the store and get sacks of flour and sugar and coffee. Sometimes he would get a barrel of peanut butter."
Obviously no allergies in those times. A barrel!

"Then one day he said to me: "Lee you have been a very good little lady. I have a special surprise for you."

"Grandfather got me an ice-cream all for my very own! It was so delicious!
Imagine that! One for my very own!"

wow.

-------

Then there is Betty.
Betty was a farm girl too, and somewhat more familiar with "Town" living as they did on the outskirts. She has a burning memory of the prairie heat in the summer and the man who sold ices.

"We never had any money. Noone did really but I saw these pretty girls and dressed up Ladies lining up for ices. My mouth would just water."

Finally one summer Betty had enough of that!
"I went over to the vendor and asked him if he would trade 2 eggs for an ice.
And he did! That was the best ice-cream I ever tasted!"

where did she get the eggs?
"Oh I snuck them into my sleeves during my morning chores."

Tonight I am having ice-cream.
And remembering.

-----------------
"The ice-cream man would also come around every Sunday and sometimes on Saturday also. He rang a bell to let the people know that he was coming. Mama or Papa would give us each a nickel to get an ice cream cone. The ice cream was mostly vanilla, but sometimes strawberry soda was added so we asked for white or pink ice cream. The ice cream man would carefully measure one scoop of ice cream and put in delicious crisp, sweet, flaky cone. How good that first “lick” tasted! If Mama would buy ice cream for the whole family, she would take a big bowl and ask for as many scoops as was needed. Sometimes she would get 6 scoops for 25 cents, so she usually would buy 50 cents worth."

Clotilde Pitre Mire

March 1974

tumtum tummies

In the junk folder of the most excellent ideas department:

Why have breakfast when you can drive through and get a bagel and a coffee?
Why have a decent lunch when you finish work at 13:30 and can come home and make a delicious meal?

Why?
Because it never happens that's why.
My tumtum is owly. I needs my foods.
Another fainting spree this week. I learned my lesson though, I am NOT mentioning it to anyone.
I will just eat my oatmeal tomorrow morning.
----------------
Dear Alice,

I would like to know the importance of breakfast. Why do we have to have breakfast?

Breakfast Boycotter

Dear Breakfast Boycotter,

Your brain (and central nervous system) run on glucose -- that's the fuel you need to think, walk, talk, and carry on any and all activities. Let's say that the last time you eat something at night is at 10 or 11 PM (not optimal, just an example). The following day, you don't eat breakfast but wait until about noon or so to eat -- you've gone thirteen or fourteen hours with nothing in your system. Your poor brain is surely deprived -- and your body has to work extra hard to break down any stored carbohydrate or turn fat or protein into a usable form for your brain to function. That's a lot to ask for when you're sitting in a classroom, trying to concentrate on reading, or doing any other work. Eating breakfast has been proven (many times) to improve concentration, problem solving ability, mental performance, memory, and mood. You will certainly be at a disadvantage if your classmates have eaten breakfast and you've gone without. On average, they will think faster and clearer, and will have better recall than you. School or work can be tough enough without this extra added pressure.

Breakfast skippers also have a harder time fitting important nutrients into their diet. Many foods eaten at breakfast contain significant amounts of vitamins C and D, calcium, iron, and fiber.

Some people believe that skipping breakfast may help them lose weight. Not so! Skipping meals often leads to overeating later in the day. Becoming overhungry often leads to a lack of control and distorted satiety signals (meaning it's hard to determine when you're full). This can result in taking in more calories than if one had an appropriate breakfast. As a matter of fact, it's easier to control one's weight by eating smaller meals and snacks more frequently.

What if there's just no time in the morning to eat breakfast? There are plenty of items you can bring along with you to school or work. Carry a resealable bag of easy-to-eat whole grain cereal, or bring a yogurt or small box of skim milk, juice, or fruit. If you just can't stomach food in the morning, try to have a little something -- such as some juice -- and bring along a mid-morning snack. Other good portable items include: whole grain crackers, a hard boiled egg, cottage cheese, low-fat granola bars, or even a peanut butter sandwich. Single serving hot cereals, such as oatmeal, are handy -- all you have to do is add hot water, available at most cafeterias or delis.

Whatever your choice, eat something. If you think you're doing fine with no breakfast, just try changing your tune for a week -- Alice is sure you'll notice a difference. You will undoubtedly perform better with some fuel in your system, and, hopefully, become a breakfast believer.

Alice

TUMTUM tree

So rested he by the Tumtum tree,
And stood awhile in thought. --- Lewis Carroll

Thinking today about all the Veterans from wars long ago and recent.
Thank you fine Sirs, and Women.

Because of your sacrifices I live free.
--------------

tiny rant au jour

http://www.emogame.com/bushgame.html


'nuff said

Beware the Jabberwock

>Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
--- Lewis Carroll

I am feeling a tad Jabberwocky myself today.
Yet again, I encounter someone in the system who has a great deal of allotted time and yet, for some unfathomable reason it appears her hair has not been washed for months.
Oh it got worse.

I am not her shower person I am her medication remind and lunch insist person.
After talking her into washing her hair at the sink I decided to talk her into a foot massage also.
This is my covert way of seeing if her toenails are attended to.
They aren't.

It upsets mel to see a woman whose toes are stuck together with dead skin.
To have to soak someone's feet to even be able to separate their toes.
It really upsets me to see a client with nails that curl around to jab into her sole.
To have to hold a warm cloth to a person's ear for a few minutes to get the crusty yellow skin that has blocked the entire area from the back of her ear to the nape of her neck to release.
And if it upsets me, although I hide it from my client, what must it do to her friends and family who come to visit; who have brought us in there to ensure she is clean and bathed and fed?
What can I possibly say to myself to make it all right?

As I said: I am feeling a tad Jabberwocky today.
================

and speaking of JabberwockY:
Today's quote is from a cached website SUPPOSEDLY on nursing ethics.
This is either a random computer generated site to attract hits OR it is the worst translation ever. Reminiscent of all your base belong to us in its total weirdness.
It is just too bizarre not to share:

Go procacious away code ethics nursing up work ethics article on ethics they. Internet maybe then into flew and code ethics nursing softly.

Curiously, dialed internet ethics thought afterwards he education ethics in fatty significant local. Without liked ethics research whilst copy code ethics personal into media ethics old code of medical ethics code ethics teacher coming into material police ethics of. Ethics government office code ethics nasw in 3 short minutes money plus code ethics nursing phone financial one inc ethics leadership procacious to announcing.

http://66.102.7.104/search?q=cache:KqJ7bI5Nqa0J:www.theethicsguy.com/chicago/internet_ethics.html+%22quotes+%22+%2B+%22work+ethics%22&hl=en
.... put THAT in your pipe and smoke

Gire and gimble

Weekend is over and again to work we go.
What a week!

The Wordsmith is back in hospital with another respiratory infection.
It is compounded by a toe infection brought on by pressure to his frail skin.
It has been a long haul for him. A very long haul.
This is for all the people who dont bother to think about the weight of bedcovers.
Go back to school and retrain. You are in the wrong job.
*grrr*

<------------------- nasty --------------------------->


The weather here continues to get wetter and colder.
I find myself actually wearing a coat! Now that's rare.
Lots to say going to say it later on.


tttfn

Heavy Rain

The winds are blowing a gale out there and the rain slashes the sky.
I do not feel like hieing myself out the door but go I must.

The daylight savings time is over, thankfully, and now when I get up in the morning there is at least a little sunshine. My litebook and I are fine without it though. ;)

-------------

I worked this morning with a smoker. Another worker that is.
She really smelled bad. It was only 8:15 am.
Imagine her at 5pm.
She has this little way of giving me advice all the time laced with veiled threats.
Of course she is also one of those workers who writes not so nice things in the client notes about other workers.

When I rule the world some things will be banned from my workplace.
#1 is that no Nurse, Nurse's Aide or Worker will be allowed to smoke during work hours.
They stink!
#2 is that no Nurse, Aide or Worker will be allowed to have long nails.
Those big fake nails have alot of potential to transport pathogens.
#3 is uniforms. I think everyone needs to look professional on the job in HealthCare.
It is just nicer for everyone. Especially the client.
#4 is that every employee must get retrained on the proper use of gloves.
I see things that make me sick.
But I do not rule the world. I am only the boss of me.
And like all human beings, I make alot of mistakes.

Not those ones though.
-------

Men are more apt to be mistaken in their generalizations than in their particular observations.
- Niccolo Machiavelli

Frankly speaking my dear

It is a delight to go into the homes of people and provide a service they require.
I am so fortunate to be able to do this.
Today was a wonderful day.
Ooops, there is that word again. "Wonderful"

this should be called "Superlative abuse "
---however----
I do find wonderful the correct word.

admirable, amazing, astonishing, astounding, awe-inspiring, awesome, brilliant, cool, divine, dynamite, enjoyable, excellent, extraordinary, fabulous, fantastic, fine, groovy, incredible, magnificent, marvelous, miraculous, outstanding, peachy, phenomenal, pleasant, pleasing, prime, remarkable, sensational, something else, staggering, startling, strange, stupendous, super, superb, surprising, swell, terrific, too much, tremendous, unheard-of, wondrous

nope... tis definitly wonderful that I mean.

This is today's story from my wordsmith:
---------------------
He was a little bit of a thing and tagged along everywhere with his 2 elder brothers.
His father was in Her Majesty's army in India and retired to private civillian life only to find there was little call for Edwardian gents with cavalry skills.
The family went from a life of plenty to living in a single room of his Aunt's attic.
Noone slept in a bed and they counted themselves fortunate to have blankets.

The boys found a great respite in the Boy Scouts.
The panjamdrum of the neighbourhood was a Mrs. Prescott, still hoop-skirted and ramrod straight. She would allow the Scouts the freedom of her Estate and come out of the parlour onto the spacious veranda with apples or sweets to reward the winners of games and contests.
Frank was a very small boy, obviously too young to be in this group, however his mind was bright and sparkling and his enthusiasm boundless. He had won more than a few of the word games and distinguished himself enough for Mrs. Prescott to pay close personal attention to him. As the grande dame approached the little fellow, she noticed he had a black eye.

Drawing herself up to her imperious maximum height she looked around at the group of scouts
and then asked Frank:
"My boy, who gave you that black eye?"
He replied without hesitation"
"Noone gave it to me Mrs. Prescott, I had to fight for it."


Years later he found himself on a day off in the old neighbourhood. He lounged against the Estate walls and then, overcome with curiousity scaled the wall and looked in on the grounds.
A maid was just exiting the henhouse at the moment and looked over to see what weed this was growing down the wall.
"Do you know if Mrs. Prescott still lives here?" Frank asked.
"Yes she certainly does and get off of there and come and see her."
"Do you think she will want to see me?" Frank asked.
"Oh yes."

Frank followed the maid into the Manorhouse and there in the parlour sat the redoubtable Mrs. Prescott. She took one look at him and pointed her finger.

"I remember you!"
------------------

What a delight it is to be in Frank's company.
Frank recently turned 96 years old. A Master in the art of living.
So many memories he shares with me. And indeed us all.
He always tells me to write about him if I wish and to use his real name.
I can't do that without endangering the privacy of everyone I write about.
HOWEVER, his name really is Frank.
The only real name used in my ponderings.

---------

Many web sites are established by anonymous individuals who hide behind nicknames or nom-de-plumes with no postal address. Please be advised that information obtained via the Internet can be single sourced, horrendously biased and notoriously inaccurate.

Can you hear them?

Can you hear them
They talk about us
Telling lies
Well that's no surprise

Can you see them
See right through them
They have no shield
No secrets to reveal

It doesn't matter what they say
In the jealous games people play
Our lips are sealed

Careless talk
Through paper walls
We can't stop them
Only laugh at them

Spreading rumors
So far from true
Dragged up from the underworld
Just like some precious pearl

It doesn't matter what they say
In the jealous games people play
Our lips are sealed
Pay no mind to what they say
It doesn't matter anyway
Our lips are sealed

There's a weapon
We must use
In our defense
Silence

When you look at them
Look right through them
That's when they'll disappear
That's when you'll be feared

Hush, my darling
Don't you cry
Quiet, angel
Forget their lies ---"Go-gos"


===========

Online sources attribute that song to Belinda Carlisle of "The Go-Gos"
It seems to me it was written by someone else. I cant put my brain in gear.
Oh wait, I think I am thinking about "Girls Talk"
For some reason I want to make that song by Nick Lowe or Dave Edmunds.
You know.... "Cruel to be Kind" etc etc

All those lyrics blending together in my brain. It is a mess in there all righty.
Still: it does seem to me that an old rocker wrote that. hmm

=============
My return to work was of course heralded by alot of comment.
"Where have you been?"

Here are some of the things people said to me.

"I heard you went on a cruise."

"I heard you quit and went to work for the Theatre."

"How was Scotland?"

"You only work in ___ now I heard."

"I heard you had back surgery."

"How are your new teeth?( I loved that one, considering the tooth jewellery I have)
----------------------

One of my very best friends said to me yesterday:
"There certainly IS a difference between the happy you and that other one."
uhm... what other one? There is only me in here. Right? Right!

Cheery Autumn

It's the Litebook (tm) !
People are remarking on my happy mood everywhere.
Perhaps they underestimate 5 weeks of cabin fever and the threat of brain surgery.
hah!

Another fine Autumn day to wake up to.
My little man and I went for a long walk on the Nature trails; long by my standards.
Oh, let's face it: anything in the woods is long by my standards.
City-girl! Still remember the first time I had to use a portipotty.
It was so traumatic.
("You want me to what?")
One of the best things about a dog is the enforced exercise that comes with ownership. Responsible ownership.

We got a new front door installed yesterday.
Not only is there less heat-loss there is alot more light in the hall from the tempered glass etched window. It is amazing what a small change can do for esthetics in a place this size.
The installer was laughing at my choice of playlists and was asking certain younger family members why something more contemporary wasn't playing.

"Hey!" I intervened. "I am Queen of the downstairs noise... you want contemporary its upstairs with headphones thank you."

I think he was just amused to hear Echo and the Bunnymen unabashedly wailing in a place like this. Hahaha.
He did mention more than once that our cookie cutter condo had more character than anyone elses. I do not think he was talking about the walls. Hee hee.

In starlit nights I saw you
So cruelly you kissed me
Your lips a magic world
Your sky all hung with jewels
The killing moon
Will come too soon

---- Echo and the Bunnymen "the Killing Moon"

head and shoulders knees and toes

Frost settled on my car last night.
Tonight the moon is a huge pumpkin in eclipse, beautiful and eerie.
Suitably October-esque.

Carelane was crowded today. I feel old in this cold. My knee is grumbling.
This is what happens to people who spend too much time on their knees for reasons other than prayer. Perhaps even the devout suffer arthritic knees.

It is strange to think how normal the bodies of the elderly are to me.
Not in a dehumanizing way, just familiar. I see alot of skin in my work.
Some people are just very genetically gifted and age little externally.
Today I met such a gentleman.
His body looked 70. His mind however has every minute of his 93 years well-etched and has run out of space. Now he is in the forgetting to clear a little room.
We spoke about Henrika who was in the other room. How wonderful she is.

As I left she told me Henrika was her late mother.

I motored on to my least favourite call.
--sigh--
We are not supposed to play that game.

=============

You're a better man than I am, Gunga Din!
Rudyard Kipling

Sunshine girl

Happiness spills from my fingertips like sparks.
I love my job.

I have a wonderful gentleman on my list for 8 hours per week.
That would be awful if we did not click.
---click---
But we do!
I met his wife and him this morning and the relief in her eyes was visible.
I suppose she did not know what to expect.
Let's see how she feels about me in a week's time.
For now I am their *sunshine girl*

ya-hoo!

o/~ back in the saddle again! ~\o

I'm back in the saddle again
Out where a friend is a friend
Where the longhorn cattle feed
On the lowly gypsum weed
Back in the saddle again

Ridin' the range once more
Totin' my old .44
Where you sleep out every night
And the only law is right
Back in the saddle again

Whoopi-ty-aye-oh
Rockin' to and fro
Back in the saddle again
Whoopi-ty-aye-yay
I go my way

---- Gene Autrey

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Whoopi-ty-aye-oh indeed! I am back back back as a matter of fact I'm back!

Whether I am just elated over being back to work or the LED medical device I am using for
SAD syndrome really works, life, she is good. www.litebook.com hmm where are all the little formatting buttons where I can link... hmm... ( ok got em in edit mode...)

This little "litebook" (tm) belonged to my private client~
ie: something on the side I did for cash.
She was a woman of 80 in the throes of a vascular dementia.
Her son had graciously allowed her to stay in her home as was her wish, til the money ran out.
Private care is expensive. I worked for the woman he hired.
She of course paid me less than she was making, and it was all cool with me.
I enjoyed being with this lady a great deal.
She was very happy and serene.
She now resides in the extended care wing of a "rest home" and has settled in very nicely.
The litebook is one of the things her son tried to keep her as cognitive as possible.
She certainly is a great deal more alert than most people suffering from the same disease.
I bought this from him as it apparantly eases carbohydrate cravings.

Not that I am concerned or anything BUT: (teehee)
I do seem to be taking on some of the physical manifestations of a hobbit.
--and we aint talkin hairy toes here---

ah to be free and living here!
Bliss sublime.

I am going to post this and try to format it.
Hang on now..

A fine idea indeed!

A friend of mine who happens to live in Macedonia pointed me to a very interesting website.
Usually I smile and nod when people recommend websites to me but this friend is very much the Tolkien fan along the same sightlines as my own little obsession with the works of his pen.
The site is: http://www.ancanar.com/
and I think you should go browse around it.

Morgostas you are a very discerning dwarf indeed! (make sure you have adblock on for that one and pop-up removers too... still it is very interesting to see exactly what my dwarf friend does in his off-middle-earth hours)

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I probably already pointed to this site but here it is again...
I find this fellows reading very interesting.
http://www.simulation-argument.com/

I do not have any inspirational quotes today.
Still on hold irl.... it is somewhat disconcerting.
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