Trivia

What children's television show had the theme song, "Every Time I Turn Around?"

This one even has a few hints!

The song starts, "Maybe the world is blind."

The star of the show was Soleil Moon Frye.

Trivia Answer

The last trivia question asked was, "What was the very first song played by MTV and can you name the artist?"


The answer to this question is "Television Killed the Radio Star" by The Buggles.

Hotels

Hotels can be nice at times, but it does get tiring staying in them if you are not in them for a vacation.  Of course, the one (Crossland in Sulphur, LA) before the Studio 6 in Sulphur was horrible.

However, the part that was supposed to be in yesterday to fix our air conditioner was still not in today when I called the air conditioner repair company.  I'm not angry with the repair company.  I am angry with  Maratherm as this is taking too long.  We would stay at home if  it weren't too bad to stay there, but it is too hot in the house to stay there.

Yes, when I manage to save up some money for things other than general expenses and we have the rooms switched, I'd want to get some window air conditioners as long as a power source is near them and some of the tower fans, too.

Of course, our house needs to be clean for that.  I'm thinking about when it is cooler, if I have money for general expenses, that I am going to have a "lazy relative sale" like I saw a person online having an "ex husband sale."

Maybe that will get their butts in gear and if they don't get in gear, I get the money for general expenses, bills, or whatever.  Those two really don't understand what it is to HAVE to work to get money.  SSI comes no matter how active or how lazy they are.

I am the one doing the budgeting and I have to keep telling them that they can't tell me what they can and can't get now.  That's MY job.  We're not going to go out to eat all the time like they always want when we're at home (and I get sick of doing).

Thankfully, at this hotel, Briana has actually wanted to cook!  I'd cook, too, but she actually WANTS to cook.

I'd cook at home if Briana cleaned the kitchen and if I didn't have to take time to work, clean up  after my mom and my sister, take care of other things around the house, run my sister to school and pick her up, and a lot of other things.

If you are wondering, my dog actually gives me relaxation!

It looks like we'll need another week in this hotel. Hopefully they won't make us pay the dog fee again, though. That's what is so bad.

Trivia Question

I thought I'd go with some pop culture/music trivia today!

What was the very first song played by MTV and can you name the artist?

Trivia Answer

The last trivia question I asked was, "What is a shark's keenest sense?"


A shark's keenest sense is its sense of smell!

Dealing wioth a Possessive Dog

Today, we found out that Toggle is both friendly and possessive.  He's protective of his whole family, but he is also easily accepting of people when we are comfortable around them.  However, I'm not sure how to deal with a dog that is possessive of people when trying to work.

Yes, Toggle, if he is near me while I am working, is extremely possessive of me.

Thankfully, I was actually finished writing and submitting the current article and was looking for something else that had to do with Briana registering for school for the summer session when he started acting possessive.

I would try to type, and he would come up and snoot my arm away from my keyboard.  I would try to move my mouse and he would come up and snoot my hand away from my mouse.

I love that he protects us, but I don't need to be protected from my own computer or my own laptop. 

(Right now, I'm using  a computer up in Sowela's computer lab as we wait for registration for my sister to begin - which was supposed to start 21 minutes ago).

However, up in the hotel, I have a laptop and a USB keyboard (because my laptop's keyboard has gone all wonky) and a USB mouse (both because the touch pad is a bit odd and it is a bit difficult to use the touch pad wit the USB keyboard).

So, Toggle is a bit possessive.  I already knew Toggle sometimes tried to be possessive of Woofles (though Niblet is more possessive of Woofles).  Niblet is the alpha dog.  Woofles is the "beta dog."  Toggle is the "gamma dog."   They all get along with each other, though.

Toggle is also very possessive of his toys.  A few weeks ago, Niblet started playing with one of Toggle's toys that is in our backyard (it's a toy that's soft, looks like half a lime, and squeaks.)  Niblet loves toys that are like "balls" or flattened balls, so the lime was something he'd love.  Even though Toggle had two more of those, three toys squeaky bananas, three toy pineapples and other toys, he whined about Niblet playing with the toys!

Thankfully, the possessiveness isn't that bad.  It's whining and snooting. 

Trivia

What is a shark's keenest sense?

Trivia Answer

Yesterday's trivia question was, "The movie, Cruel Intentions, was based on a book.  What is the book?"


The book is Les Liaisons Dangereuses (I would accept "Dangereux," too, as I've made that mistake).   However, nobody gave an answer.  The book is by Choderlos de Laclos.

Overqualified

Overqualified is a word that I hate.  Ever since I started applying for jobs, I've been told that I was overqualified.  I didn't apply for a job directly after high school.  That's because I spent the end of my senior year and my summer applying for and getting ready for college.

I started applying for jobs when I was in college because I wanted to make more than I was making in my work-study job.  This is when I started hearing the word "overqualified."

How could I possibly overqualified if I had no work experience, but they were supposed to count schooling?   I could never understand the employers.  When I was in college, I was obviously younger and I could even get up to go faster and some further distances than I can now.  My back wasn't feeling as bad as it does on some days that it does now.  I didn't use a transport wheelchair at all  (I still prefer NOT using it when I don't need it, but sometimes my back is so sore that I need it.  Also, my legs aren't great - genetics - so I can't do anything about it).  Anyway,  things were more like employers would have wanted them.

The restaurants would tell me that I was overqualified to work at them.  I went to temp job places and took the tests at them. They never said anything, but they'd tell me that I didn't qualify for their type of work.

My mom says it is the "Conchis Curse."  (Her maiden last name is Conchis.)  I may be her daughter, but I am NOT a Conchis and I DO NOT believe in curses.  Believing in them only furthers them and makes things worse.

I know that overqualified is a real word.  Merriam-Webster even defines it as, "having more education, training, or experience than a job calls for."


Their example sentence is even, "They didn't hire her because she was overqualified for the job."


It says that the first known usage of "overqualified" is from 1954.


However, I don't think there should be a word such as "overqualified."  At least, if the word exists, it shouldn't be allowed for hiring people.  


If a person is overqualified for a job, the person is obviously qualified!  They have the qualifications and more!  It shouldn't be a penalty!


I'm sure that sometimes the word is used to mean, "You don't have the physical qualities that we want for our workers, so you can't work here."  I know it is stupid and it truly isn't legal, but I'm sure that is what some of the people who are hiring are really  basing a decision on when they use the word "overqualified."


I know that others use it in the way that it is meant because the first interview was over the phone.


I hate the word overqualified.  It's been a bane in my life ever since I started hearing it. 


What are some words that you hate?

Trivia

Inspired by a friend's status update:
The movie, Cruel Intentions, was based on a book.  What is the book?

(Sorry that I've got no prizes for correct answers, but you win the prize of feeling good that knew the correct answer!)

Riddle Answer

Last time I asked a riddle.  It was, "Who makes it, has no need of it.

Who buys it, has no use for it.
Who uses it, can neither see it nor feel it.
What is it?"

Nobody answered.  The answer is "A coffin."

Obviously, the person who makes the coffin doesn't need it (okay, unless that person is planning on dying and being buried in it, but in general, that isn't the case).

Coffins are usually bought for the body of a dead person after they have died, so the buyer is usually not the person who is going to be using the coffin.

Since coffins are usually bought after the person died, the "person" who uses it usually does not see or feel the coffin.

Of course, there are rare exceptions to these conditions, but in general, they are true.

Love and Supoort

People wonder why I don't just move out of the house.

I have thought about that, but I don't have a job that pays enough money to actually pay bills.  I can't even afford rent with what I make from freelancing.   I know it's pathetic, but people just don't respect writers unless they are in a huge market area and can get into television or something like that.

I've tried to find jobs, too.  I've put in so many applications at the mall.

There is a huge problem when people are biased against anybody with any disability.  I have scoliosis and  only now are they finding out the later problems a Boston brace can have on a person.  That's what I had to wear.  I can't walk for long distances or stand for a long time.  Because of this, I sometimes use a transport wheelchair.

People look at me like I'm helpless a lot of times when I use it when that is the furthest thing from the truth.  It's an aid to help me.  I could technically move without it, but not as well.  I'd be sore and out of breath.  I'd have to stop after a little bit of walking, the slow down, and it would probably be about after every three steps.

People don't hire me.  Even before I had my transport wheelchair, people didn't hire me because they said I was "overqualified" (which is a stupid word and gives me a blog topic for tomorrow.

So, I do freelance work.

I'd like to find the time for a few days to stop writing for a bit so I can take some time to writer and gather information and prepare an application for a magazine.  I really want to do two things:  work for that magazine and be in the MFA program at McNeese.  (I tried poetry at first - program was full - things came up with my Daddy's health - more stuff came up - I've been writing more fiction lately, so I'd like to try to get an application for the fiction - then if I don't get that, I'd try for poetry again.)

Anyway, my sister, my mom, and I all help each other in ways, too.  Since I don't make enough money to pay for a place on my own, I can easily live at home (which we all own outright - no payments need to be made on the house at all).

My mom gets SSI and payments from  my Daddy's life insurance policy.  My sister gets SSI.  My mom pays most of the bills.  Briana pays for the "at  home entertainment," meaning cable, internet, phone (ours is a bundle) and the cell phone.   (She has been paying my credit card bills as instead of me because then I pay other weekly expenses she used to pay like groceries).

My mom's money cover utilities.

I do all the budgets because I found out that my mom can't handle hers as she was always overdrawn and Briana and I were always scrambling to help her find how to make it so her bank account wasn't overdrawn.

Briana was already horrible with money and I've been trying to teach her.

Yes, my mom did make it some years before me, but honestly, not much.  She lived with her parents.  She got married to my Daddy (never lived on her own).  My Daddy did the bills and things were fine.  When my Daddy got sick and she started doing the bills, we had tons of problems.

Then, she got worse and we found out just recently that it was the Paxil.

However, she still doesn't make much sense.  She can't drive because it is dangerous because of her low blood pressure.  She's passed out at the steering wheel of the car at least three times.  My sister can't drive.

With my mom's low blood pressure, she would not make it on her own.  She'd fall and she'd hurt herself and that would be it.

Riddle

Today, I thought I'd post a riddle.  Here it is:

Who makes it, has no need of it.
Who buys it, has no use for it.
Who uses it, can neither see it nor feel it.
What is it?

Trivia Answer

Yesterday's trivia question was, "How many knees does a spider have?"  The answer is 48.

Yes, a spider has 48 knees!  That's six knees per leg!

No more words . . .

I need to think of another topic or get some journaliing questions or topics in general, but right now, I don't have much time to journal because I need to write to try to make some money.  I hate to beg.  I hate to ask for help.  I'm the one that likes to help how she can.  However, lately, it seems that I have needed help.  Just quickly, right now, I HATE to ask or beg for help.  It seems it is all I can do lately to take care of my mom, my sister, our dogs, and myself.  However, our air went out and the stupid company hasn't gotten the part in YET.  We can't get window air  conditioners installed because they need an electrical source and the house is way too messy.  Can anybody help out monetarily in any way?  My paypal e-mail is fuzzyguy1982@hotmail.com


I thank anybody and everybody so much.  You have no idea how much it means to me!

Trivia

Today's trivia question is, "How many knees does a spider have?"

Trivia Answer

The last trivia question asked was "If a piece of music instructs you to play it "adagio," how should you play the music?"

Nobody replied.  The correct answer is "slowly."

What?

I know that I haven't written for two days. There is a good reason for this. Our air conditioning went out on Friday afternoon, and of course, it was after everything closed. We were able to get a hotel room thanks to our Grandpa. We were able to get a nice room at the Candlewood Suites.


When we went again because we came home on Monday after our scheduled stay and to meet the air conditioning guys, we found out that it is a leak in a tube and we won't have air conditioning until that part comes from the company. We are irritated because we know that we don't have the money to keep spending on hotels (the Candlewood was booked on Monday when we called again, so now were at Crosslands and it is not as nice . . . the beds are hard and we have no internet, so I'm at the Sulphur library).

[I absolutely HATE HATE HATE begging for help, but, obviously, when I, my sister, and our mom can't be in the heat as it is 90+F in the house without air, we need help. Anything that you can donate is great. We are more than appreciative and believe me, I cry every time a person gives a donation.]

At least we now have food for the week as I did go grocery shopping with Briana today.

Walmart was not fun to say the least, though.

After that, I also spend most of the day chasing the dogs.

Anyway, onto my word - what.

"What" is one of those words that I sometimes say at the end of sentences. I use it more with my mother and my sister. My sister would use it a lot, so I'm sure I picked it up from her.

I'll end a sentence and ask, "What?"

I'm pretty sure it stands for, "What did you expect?" or "What did you think I was doing?" or "What did you want me to do?"

After all, my mother and my sister can be confusing. I also say just "What?" alone a lot of times because I don't know what my mother or my sister is saying. This is many times my mother, but it can be my sister, too.

I don't understand my mother because she tends to mumble and she also has dentures. She's never learned to talk properly with them. She mumbled for a long time before that, too. It seems like she is losing, like, really losing, the ABILITY to speak. She seems to have forgotten how to form sounds.

My sister is just confusing and sometimes talks under her breath. Sometimes it is a mumble, but as loud as she is, she'll get quieter and quiter and quieter as she talks to me. This is especially true if she reads something. She'll also laugh while reading if she finds that something is funny.

So, there's the word for the day - "What?"

Trivia

If a piece of music instructs you to play it "adagio," how should you play the music?

Trivia Answer

Yesterday's trivia question was, "What is the name of the novel that was written that never contains the letter E?"

Ruth Cox said that she knows the answer, but didn't answer the question.  This means I'll have to assume that she knows the answer.

The answer to the question is "Gadsby" which was written by Ernest Vincent Wright.  The novel should not be confused with "The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald.    After all, there is an E in the title.  "Gadsby" does not contain the letter E in any of the words.

Wright said the hardest challenge for him was avoiding the "ed" suffix for past tense verbs.  The novel is a favorite for fans of constrained writing (a literary technique in which the writer is bound by some conditions or bound by a certain pattern).

My sister just issued me the challenge of writing a poem where every stanza is a pangram.  That is a form of constrained writing and feel free to join me in this writing challenge.  There's no time limit for it, so just give it a try!  Share you poems in the blog!

Stay tuned for today's trivia question!

Definitely

It's a word that I use fairly often, but not all time.  I prefer saying "definitely" rather than saying "yes."  I know in the south it is considered "polite," to say, "yes, ma'am" and "yes sir," but I had teachers that didn't like that and parents from California, so I never really said "yes, ma'am" or "yes sir."  I also never said "no ma'am" and "no sir" for the same reasons.

Sometimes saying "ma'am" or "sir" made people feel old. Other times, the teachers or parents didn't like the way it sounded because it would sound like other words or just sound strange to that person.

Anyway, with my mom and sister having Asperger's and having it difficult at other times for people to catch a one syllable word, "definitely" works better than "yes" because then the word "no" is the only one syllable word. 

Sometimes I say "negatory," but I usually don't.  At least it would still be easily distinguishable from "definitely."

Of course, sometimes I still say "yes."  The word "yes" isn't banned from my vocabulary.  I've simply found that a word that is longer than "yes" usually works better for people to understand. I still say "yes" when a short or quick answer is needed.

I also use "definitely" with the correct usage unlike how many people use "literally."  After all, if a person "literally dies" that means the person is dead. 

The Oatmeal has a great cartoon about the usage of the word "literally."

See The Oatmeal's literally cartoon.

Trivia

What is the name of the novel that was written that never contains the letter E?

Trivia answer

Yesterday's trivia question was, "What is considered to be the most haunted place (plantation) in Louisiana?"

The answer is "The Myrtles."  "The Myrtles" is in St. Francisville.  I'd write more if I had the time, but our air conditioning has gone out and it is getting hot.  We want to get Toggle to a kennel and bring the little puppies to a hotel with us.

So, instead, here is a link to the website about The Myrtles.

Swoggling

Swoggling is a new word to my vocabulary.  It's not truly a word as in the sense that it is in the dictionary.  It's like Schnuffles (or sometimes Schnoofles - I spell it whichever way I feel like it when I write it, really).

Swoggle means "to steal" or "to swipe."

My sister has a dog named Toggle.  He got his name because he tended to toggle the switches and button in cars and on remotes.  In fact, his middle name is Switch.

Anyway, she was trying to figure out how to tell him to not "steal" food off of plates and from people.  He would try to take the food off of plates and you'd have to be quick and pull it away before he could grab at the food.

She tried telling him not to steal.  She tried telling him not to grab the food.  It didn't seem to work.  She turned to using the phrase "Swiper no swiping!" from Dora the Explorer.  It still didn't work too well.

The next time he tried to take food, since she used that, I said, "Toggle, no swoggling!"  It seemed to work.  Briana used it and my mom used it and it seemed to work.  So, "swoggling" has become a word that mean "stealing."

After all, "hornswoggling," means "bamboozling" or "hoaxing."  So, why not have "swoggling" mean stealing?"  It seems to make sense!

Trivia

I thought that I'd ask a trivia question today.

What is considered to be the most haunted place (plantation) in Louisiana?

Riddle Answer

Yesterday I asked, "What can go up a chimney down but not down a chimney up?"

Briana the Magnifi-can't seems to have answered correctly, though her answer was not completely correct. She wrote, "t's bmbrsht..."

Her answer seems to be missing the vowels. "Bumbershoot" would be a correct answer as it is another word for "umbrella."

Don't get it? Think about it. If an umbrella is "down," that means it is closed. A closed umbrella could easily go up a chimney. However, if an umbrella is "up," that means it is open. An open umbrella cannot go down a chimney.

Woofles Schnufles

"Woofles Schufles" (Schuffles rhymes with Woofles, even though I spell it differently). is not a phrase I've said a lot of times in my entire life. However, it is a phrase that I have said a lot since early 2009. That's when I got my dog, Woofles.

My mom, my sister, and I all decided that his snout was just too cute to be called a snout. Since I named him Woofles, we decided that a perfect name for his snout would be a Schnuffle. We already said that the dogs "schnuffed" (which started as "snuff," but we didn't like that because it mean to "die" or to "expire" or "extinguish") at things. We'd say that they "snooted." I know that "snoot" is a real word. However, we don't use the verb like Merriam-Webster defines the verb. That is as, "to treat with disdain : look down one's nose at."

"Snoot" is also a noun for "nose," and that is where we get our meaning of "snoot" for the dogs. They "snoot" as in "nudge with the nose." I'm not sure, but this may also be a correct usage of the verb "snoot." Merriam-Webster doesn't have it, though.

"Schnuff" means to sniff or snoot around at the floor or in blankets or at anything. Basically, the dog is sniffing all over. The dog may be tracking something or just sniffing out of curiosity.

Now that I have Woofles and he has the Schnuffle, one of his nicknames has become "Woofles Schnuffles." Sometimes when he is schnuffing, I'll say that he is "Schnuffling."

Of course, his middle name is really Syrup. Sometimes he gets called "Woofles Syrup," too. More often, it is yelled when I want him to behave. After all, you have o have that middle name so he knows that when it is yelled, he is in trouble.

There are times that I also say it excitedly or sweetly. However, he usually gets called "Woofles Schnuffles" when he's being sweet and cuddling.

Woofles is featured in the picture for the following articles: How to Give Your Dog a Bath Top 5 Foods that Are Dangerous for Dogs

Briana made this for me to post.

 X             Uncaught exception: (Forgot my net.)

 OK    Cancel    Call Ghostbusters.    PANIC! 

Riddle Me This . . .

What can go up a chimney down but not down a chimney up?

Trivia Answer

Yesterday's trivia question was, "What is the shape of the Washington Monument?"

  aikakone got the answer correct.

 The shape of the Washington Monument is an obelisk.

 Merriam-Webster defines it as, "an upright 4-sided usually monolithic pillar that gradually tapers as it rises and terminates in a pyramid."

 This would basically be a really thin trapezoidal prism (or however many make up the long pillar) and then a rectangular pyramid on the top.

Honestly

Honestly is one of those words that I know a say quite often.  However, it is not one of the words that I don't tend to realize that I say.  I know I say it.

I think the reason that I say it is because I want people to know that I am going to be honest.  I don't believe in telling somebody that their clothes look great or that they have done a wonderful job if those things aren't true.

I know that my hair is usually a mess.  I don't mind people telling me that.  I say "I know."  It's usually a mess because I rarely have time to take care of it these days.  I never LIKED having to take care of it, either.  I'm not one of those people that likes to spend time on her "beauty," which really isn't beauty because it's not me.  It's makeup if time is spent applying it.

I do need to find my aloe acne prevention pads because those help with my dermatitis and I realized I didn't know where they are the other day, so my face has been getting redder and itchier.  However, that's not the same thing.

Even when I am writing about the word "honestly, I have used the word "however."

I don't like when people assume that I have said something that I have never said.  There is one person who is a writer online.  The thing about her writing is that it's not very good.  At times, she has some good ideas, but even then, her writing is bad.  It's good that it's not Stephanie Meyer's bad, but it's still bad.

She wonders why certain places won't publish her stuff.  The reason is because her writing is bad.  She won't look at herself and her writing.

I've never once told her that she is a good writer or that her writing is good.

When I've come across her writings, I've only said I've visited or put a smiley face.  Sometimes I may have left a message letting her know what is happening with me.

She has never asked me what I think of her writing and I've never told her.  If she asked me, I'd ask her, "Honestly?"  If she said yes, then I would answer honestly.  If she said no, I'd let her know that I'm only saying this to flatter her and that it's not true.

I tend to try to mark my sarcasm with at the end if not also at the beginning with .  Some people just don't get it, no matter how obvious it is that a person is being sarcastic.

If you want to know what I think of your, well, your anything, remember that I will be completely honest while trying to be as nice as possible.  If you want me to be harsh about it, I will.

Empire Avenue

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I don't understand a lot of Empire Avenue, but it told me to copy the key into the next blog post that I do.  I'm on Empire Avenue, so you can add me there if you understand it or are on it.  It says adding this as a blog requires that code.  So, there's the code, I guess.

Trivia Question

I didn't say it would always be difficult trivia.  I'm sure lots of people know the answer to this.

What is the shape of the Washington Monument?

Trivia Answer

Yesterday's trivia question was "The name of the sailor on the product Cracker Jack is obviously Jack.  However, there is a dog that sits next to him.  What is the name of the dog?"

The name of the dog on the Cracker Jack box is "Bingo."  You can find it on the Internet.  Just search, "Sailor Jack and Bingo."

However

One of the most difficult things for a writer to do is to find a good transition to a next part of a story or article.  There are many transition words, but not all of them work.

Sometimes no transition word is needed due to how the story is written.  A space can be put between paragraphs to show the change of time or the change of day.  Sometimes all that is needed is a phrase like "a few years later . . ."

However (see how I used it there), sometimes a transition word is needed.  I know that it is not good to always use the same transition word.  When I write, though, I find I have to keep myself from always writing "however."

I know that I say it quite a few times as well.  Yet, it seems that it is not needed as much in speech because the transition of time is obvious to everybody when speaking.

I try to keep "however" as not being my "go to transition word."  The problem is that "however" only has a few words and phrases that are synonymous with it.  Changing the line of reasoning can be difficult without using "however."  The only other words that seem to truly work are "on the other hand," "but," "yet," "nevertheless," and "on the contrary."   I forget to use "on the contrary."  When it fits, that is a good one to use.  However (there it is again), "on the contrary" doesn't always fit when wanting to use "however."

If using vernacular in your writing, you can change up how people say transition words.  Instead of "however," there is saying "howe'er."

On that note, it brings me back to a poem I've loved since I was little.  It's called "Eletelephony." I don't know the author and I think it may be anonymous.  If it's not, apologies to the author if it is not wanted online.

Eletelephony

Once there was an elephant

Who tried to use the telephant.

No, no, I mean an elephone

Who tried to use the telephone.

Dear me, I'm not certain quite

That even now I've got this right.

Howe'er it was he got his trunk

Entangled in the telephunk.

The more he tried to get it free,

The louder buzzed the telephee.

I fear I'd better drop the song

Of elephop and telephong.

Trivia

The name of the sailor on the product Cracker Jack is obviously Jack.  However, there is a dog that sits next to him.  What is the name of the dog?

Trivia Answer

Yesterday's trivia question was "Who was the first athlete to appear on a box of  Wheaties?"  Perhaps I should have written "Who was the first athlete depicted on a box of Wheaties?"

The answer?

Lou Gehrig

Y'know

I don't think about it, but I know that when I talk I tend to say "Y'know," after a lot of my sentences.  It's not that people really do know.  It's just how I tend to talk like how many Canadians follow their sentences with "Eh?"

My family didn't talk like this.  My mom, which bothers me, says, "Yeah, right" meaning, "yes."  I don't know when she picked up that habit, but I always told her that, "Yeah, right" is a sarcastic way of DISAGREEING.

Anyway, I'm pretty sure that I picked up the "y'know" habit from growing up and being around Lutherans.  I'm definitely Lutheran when it is a cultural thing.  I have the habits, mannerisms, and humor of Lutherans.

Many Lutherans grew up in Minnesota where they say, "Doncha know?"  I think some have shortened it to "y' know?"  I've also seen some people online put "yanno?"

I know I've heard other Lutherans say "y'know."  The guitar player in Lost And Found says it a lot.

While I know that I say "y'know," I say it without even realizing it.  I think this is the case for a lot of people.

Trivia

Today, it's a trivia question:

Who was the first athlete to appear on a box of  Wheaties?

Riddle Me This Answer

The last riddle asked was "Riddle me this:

What type of food do you get if you put Fluorine in the middle of Kansas City?"

The answer is "fried chicken."

If you still don't understand, the common abbreviation for Kansas City is KC.  The chemical symbol for Fluorine is F.  So, you put F in between K and C to get KFC.  KFC is Kentucky Fried Chicken.

G'nite

I can remember that when I was younger, I always wanted a "cool" way to sign off of a chat.  I tried different phrases from different cartoons.  There was one cartoon that I watched where the phrase used was "Later days."  I tried that for a little while.  I also tried "Laters" for a few days.  Neither stuck.

I stopped trying and just went with whatever I would end up typing.

I don't know exactly when it happened, but I found that when I would chat at night or early into the mornings, that if the chat was a pleasant one with a friend, I started typing "G'nite" at the end.

I know what makes it this way personally for me.  Sure, it is "good night," but I've found that even when I have said "Good night," out loud that I tend to almost swallow the "ood" of "good," so it is more just the hard G sound followed by the word "night."

I started typing it the way it sounded when I said it.  That would be "g'night," but "nite" if often accepted in chat, and it is quicker when you are tired, so I went with "g'nite."

However, it is not night right now, so I guess I should tell everybody "g'morning!"

Riddle Me This . . . .

Riddle me this:

What type of food do you get if you put Fluorine in the middle of Kansas City?

Gaybois

I don't really have an exact reason as to "why" I use this word.  However, I once saw somebody refer to the males that were homosexual as "gaybois."  I thought it was a great way to refer to those people, especially being that I like "gaybois."  I love them.  They can be the best friends for a straight girl!

After all, they tend to like to talk fashion (though I'm not much of a fashion person), and cute boys.  Then, there's no real competition between a straight female and a gay male.

Then, "gaybois" always seem to be so nice and cute!  The word just seems to fit how nice and cute they are!  I don't understand people who are against homosexuality.

I didn't CHOOSE to be straight.  I just know that I am.  I also find women pretty or attractive, but I just don't have sexual desire towards them.  I've no drive that way.  I don't care about homosexual women, either.  It's great that people are different and everybody should be able to love who they want to love!

If anything, government should not be involved.  Either all marriage should be legal or all marriage should be illegal.  If people are so concerned about gay marriage, they really just need to go join a church that doesn't allow it and stick with that church.  The government really shouldn't have a say.  Then, the homosexual people can join churches that let them marry.

Yeah, I love all my "gaybois," whether I am close to them or not.  They are all awesome.  At least, I've never met one that isn't awesome!

Decision!

I've decided that I will start posting on words or phrases I tend to use, either out loud or in writing.  Also, I will post riddles or trivia each day.  That should keep things interesting!

Mom's Discharged . . . but No Diagnosis :(

Valerie is now at home.  I just got home. Briana and I needed a break from all the stress, so we stayed the night in a local hotel.  Unfortunately, they (either hospital or the doctors) have not come up with any diagnosis and she is still very bad.  She goes into these "episodes" where she has no idea what she does and other times she does things and remembers part of them, but not much of them at all.  Like, now, just when we got home, Briana was in the back yard and our mom opened the door.  All our mom did was yell "Niblet!" and then Briana told her that Niblet couldn't be out back because the dog door had been closed.  Her response was something like, "I know, but I just wanted to see if he was out back."  She is pretty hard to understand.  

They did a CT Scan and an EEG, but the neurologist saw nothing.  

She needs care, but the hospital discharged her on a Friday night and only gave us papers that said there were referrals for home health care and social services.  They didn't give us any numbers.

The moment we got her home, she fell when she got out of the car!  She said she needed to use the bathroom which was an improvement over the general situation.  When she fell, I told her to crawl up the stairs, into the house, and to the bathroom.  Briana was going in afterwards and our mom was on the floor writhing around like a fish.

My mom is much heavier than me and much taller than Briana.  Then, with my scoliosis and Briana's scoliosis and other problems resulting from her surgery to make it better, we can't take our mom falling on us like she does.  It's been happening every day.  

My back and my legs hurt so much right now and Briana's ankle hurts - and this is all from our mom falling and not helping to get herself up off the ground.

Yes, she has been declining rapidly.  There used to be a few times these weird "episodes" happened, but it wasn't much.  However, they've increased in frequency.  We need to get help to switch our rooms, too.  There's lots of heavy furniture that we can't move on our own.  The house is also a mess and this is mostly because of our mom, now.  She thinks she is "cleaning" when she throws things around.  Briana and I worked so hard to get rooms clean before, and our work is now seems like useless.  Sure, sometimes Briana made and makes it difficult, but she KNOWS that!  Her making it difficult does not help, but it helps that she understands what happens.  Our mom doesn't seem to understand it at all.

Still no diagnosis?

The doctors and hospital staff still have no diagnosis.  We really want to know what is going on with my mom.

The "seizure" type things are apparently not seizures.  However, I don't know to explain her being completely unresponsive, shaking, and even sometimes drooling or foaming at the mouth.  Briana and I were very scared when we saw that happening on Tuesday.

Thankfully, she will have orders for physical therapy, home health care, and a bed side commode.  However, I don't think even all those things are going to help.

I just don't like this "possible discharge" without them finding anything.

We were looking at withdrawal symptoms of Paxil (Paroxetine), and while my mom is taking it, the things that make her complain seem to be the same as the symptoms for withdrawal and addiction to Paxil.  She gets hot and cold.  She gets headaches.  She has panic attacks.  She sometimes has sharp pains suddenly in places of her body.  At times, she has had suicidal thoughts. She gets nauseous.

Paxil says that you should not take any other antidepressant medications with it.  The trochees that she has been taking, Clonazepam, are also used as antidepressant medication and that means that they and Paxil should not be used together.

Then, things got worse when she switched from Detrol L.A. to Oxybutynin, too.  I really wish they could just find something and make it all better.

I miss my mom that made sense.  Even if it were just my mom that fell about once a week and was dizzy the rest of the days, but made sense - I miss that mom.  She's not been around for months.

The one thing this has definitely made me decide is that I am NOT going to take any antidepressants unless they are going to save my life!  I don't want to have any of the horrible addiction that they can cause.

I'm not one of those people who insists on things being natural and I am glad for doctors and medicines that help us.  I understand that some people really need antidepressants to function, but it is better if they don't.

On a not so serious note, maybe my mom should smoke marijuana!  She'd not be so depressed and she'd eat!  Heck, maybe we just need to put her in a room filled with marijuana smoke - just put her in a room where others are smoking marijuana.

Z is for Zonk

Last night, I eventually and finally got to zonk out so I was not so overwhelmingly tired and stressed.  I got to sleep and relax and cuddle with Woofles.  He slept with me all night and he's been wanting to cuddle or be near me when I am home which is very cute.

Zonking was good for me with all of this stress.

I've been so stressed with my mother. She says that her health is not bad, but it has been getting worse and worse, and worse.

I know that talking about her urinary incontinence and fecal incontinence may not seem like giving her dignity, but she can't take care of herself with it.  Briana and I have had to clean up after her so much that it's become our burden and she doesn't care one bit.

A huge problem is that she'll have these accidents in public and then she'll just turn to us and say, "I had an accident."  We'll have to bring her home and then she'll go in the bathroom (after falling all over and making huge messes in places) and then make a mess in the bathroom and be uncooperative about letting anybody help her get clean.

Briana and I have tried and it never works.  She has a fit when we try to help her.  She insists that she is okay.  We've learned that she's not.

I'm concerned that some of this has to do with her switching to oxybutynin from the Detrol L.A.  She was having problems before that, too.  However, I think it has gotten worse since she did that.  She won't admit it, though.

I'm also concerned about the long term effects of the Paroxetine (Paxil) and the doctor just keep increasing the does at her insistence because she is getting depressed.

I'd honestly like to see how she is off of all these medications that she is taking.  If she's only depressed but she can actually function, I'd rather see her be depressed and functioning because then we'd at least know that the medications are the problem and it's not more serious than that.

However, I don't know if that's the case because of her orthostatic blood pressure and how many times she has hit her head.

People say that it takes a long time to get off of Paxil, too.

Anyway, I hope I can get more nights sleep like that because I really need sleep.  Zonking feels great.

I also thought of writing Z is for Zeus.  That's what the vet office was first calling Woofles before I adopted him.  However, he is definitely not a Zeus and is definitely a Woofles!

I need help switching my room with my mom's room.  It would be great to have help to do this while she is in the hospital so that she is not in the way of the work.  She's ALWAYS in the way of work being done in the house.  She doesn't help at all.

She won't admit it, but she is a hoarder.  She doens't throw out any of her trash!  Instead, she throws it on the ground.  She throws her dirty clothes on the ground.  She then wears the dirty clothes for days afterwards!

I need more nights of zonking.  I need to have times when I can just sleep and zonk out so peacefully.  However, I also need to work and write articles to make money.

Now that I'm at the end of the alphabet challenge, I need other blogging ideas to keep me writing!

No Real Diagnosis

All we know so far is that our mom has orthostatic blood pressure.  Sometimes I wonder what would happen if they took her off all the medicines that she takes.  She only has four, but none of them are for actually keeping her alive.  She might be depressed and weepy and have more urinary incontinence and be dizzy, but I wonder if that would stop the fecal incontinence and not even feeling that she's gone to the bathroom on herself.

She says she doesn't want to be a burden for us.  However, then she starts whining and making us feel guilty.  I wish somebody could just take me for a day and give me a break from everything.

Briana is trying to be good, but the thing is that she KNOWS she needs to work on the things that I have to do.  I've just had to drill it into her mind over the days, weeks, months, and years.

Here's more information:

My mom is currently at Christus St. Patrick Hospital. She is in room 4143. Briana and I cannot keep going up to the hospital every day and we cannot keep calling her all the time. I do need to work and I need to be able to take care of our dogs and the house.

If anybody that is in Lake Charles can visit her, that is definitely appreciated. Then, if anybody ANYWHERE can call her to talk to her (all she does is say the same things over and over to us), it would be appreciated as she "doesn't have friends" and she tries to make me (and Briana) feel guilty about that. 

Call St. Pat's at             337-436-2511       and then ask for room 4143. That's her phone to her room and you should be able to contact her. Yes, she is always that hard to understand.
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Then there's all this:

Also, prayers are appreciated! She would never tell the health professionals the truth. She still doesn't tell them the truth. We need to know what is behind this "passing out" or "fainting" or "seizures" and all the falls and the slurred speech and sometimes feeling like one whole side is paralyzed. Then, also, what is going on with her not being able to feel that she needs to go to the bathroom. She has no idea when she needs to go #1 or #2. The not knowing when she needs to go to the bathroom constantly happens in the house and she says it doesn't, but it does. She wears the off-brand depends and it started only for a few accidents and now she says she can't feel the urge to go at all. She can't even feel when she HAS gone to the bathroom in her pants.

She gets up and it is very disgusting and she trails it through the house wherever she walks. Then, she makes a huge mess in the bathroom (it looks like four or five monkeys have been throwing poop around in the place) and she claims that she tried to clean the bathroom, but she hasn't tried at all. Briana and I always end up cleaning the toilet and the walls and the floor and anything else that happens to be in the bathroom.
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She tries to make me feel guilty for having friends. She tries to make me feel guilty for wanting to find somebody to date. She tries to make me feel guilty for wanting to go back to school.

She has these health problems. She lies to the health professionals. She fights off the EMTs if we call them. Thankfully this last time she didn't do that. However, that was a rare case and we were so relieved that she didn't fight them. She complains about not having friends, but she is the only one to blame for that. Years ago, she stopped going out and stopped talking to people. Then, when she did know people, she stopped calling them!

She even met one gal and talked to her all evening while Briana and I brought a dog house for Toggle to our house in trips. She told the gal that she might call her again. She never called the gal. It's not like she didn't have a telephone. She had her cell phone at that time. She just never called.

Y is for Yard

A quick post today to keep up with the blogging alphabet challenge.  Y is for yard.  Just like most people that live in a house, we have two yards.  We have a front yard and a back yard.  Both yards have fences and gates.  There's a dog run in the back yard thanks to one of the people from First Christian.  Toggle has to be on this run the majority of the day because if we leave him off the run, he jumps the fence.  It's not that he doesn't love his family or that he really wants to leave.  It's just that he is used to running around because he was a stray that somebody had and dumped at a gas station.

There is a dog door out to the back yard and Niblet and Woofles love to go through the dog door to get to the back yard.  They especially love doing this on a nice day.  There were a couple of days in a row that the weather was really nice, so they kept running out to the back yard and back into the house, out to the back yard and back into the house.

We also have a front yard.  We got the "white picket" fence around it as my mom always wanted a white picket fence.  It's not wood, though.  It's that plastic or vinyl so that it doesn't have to be painted or have upkeep.  If it needs to be washed, you just spray it with water or you might need to do a little bit of scrubbing with a sponge that has soap and water.

Niblet and Woofles love to lay in the grass in the front yard.  The people who installed the fence had to come back a few days afterwards to put chicken wire over the open spots of the fence because Woofles could get through them!  He's that scrawny!  While I wasn't sure if he was able to do such a thing, I had him out one time and he did when my grandpa drove up into our driveway.

So, we have two nice yards that all three dogs love.  Yes, Marbles even loved the yards and his ashes are buried in the back yard.

X is for Xyster

I obviously have a lot of stress going on in my life right now.  However, I  am going to try to keep up with my blog and my writing.  I especially need to keep up with my writing as it is my source of income.  It's just like if I had a job, I'd still have to go to work.

Honestly, right now, that might be better because my mom couldn't expect me to go up to the hospital and to be able to do things for her because I'd have to be at work.  It's too bad people won't hire me just because I need to be able to sit because of my scoliosis and always having a really sore back.  I even have my transport wheelchair, which I maneuver on my own unless my sister wants to push me - and she usually likes to push me as it gives her something to lean on so she can walk or run and get exercise.

Anyway, X is for Xyster.  Xyster is a strange word, isn't it?  The Y nestles into the x if the X is capital.   If it is written later than the first word in the sentence, it is xyster.  It's not quite as comfy looking as it was a first, but it still has a neat type of fit for the letters.

If that was boring, don't be concerned.  I'm not going to be spending time analyzing the looks of words in my blog posts.

Years ago, my sister and I came across the word "xyster."   We were curious if there was such a word, since our mom would be silly and say things like "bring this to your zister" instead of "bring this to your sister."

We still remember the word, even though some dictionaries don't have the word.  It is a medical device used for scraping bone, or what they call a surgical rasp or a surgical file.  Briana and I maintain that we not xysters, no matter how much our mom would call use zisters.  We say that the words sound alike, so we are not going to be either.

Is There a Dcotor in the House, er Internet?

I was going to try to write article today, but that didn't happen.

My grandpa tends to come by most days and see how things are going.  For awhile, even when my mom was getting bad, they were okay.  I could handle what was happening and just make sure she didn't do much.

However, in the past year, things have not been good.  She has seemed to decline rapidly in the past two to three months.

She goes to the ER, to our GP, to a neurologist (a pretty bad one as we don't like him and cant understand him and his ratings are also the lowest of all neurologists in Lake Charles!)

The only thing that these doctors have been able to tell us is that she has depression, low blood pressure, Asperger's, and neurological degeneration.  She also often has a bladder infection or a UTI (or are they one in the same?).

Now, it is no doubt that her low blood pressure doesn't help her keep her balance.  However, years age when my Daddy was alive, she tended to drink.  She would get drunk and then she'd fall down.  So, her falling mostly started when she got drunk and it later turned into all the time even when she was sober.  I can remember her falling a few times when my Daddy was alive, but nothing like she does now.

She has problems that they will not address.  The one thing that was addressed is what my sister and I always tell her.  She needs to exercise to keep her leg muscles strong as if she does not, her muscles will atrophy.

She has these "seizures."  I don't know what to call them, but that's what they seem to be.  She is unresponsive to everything around her and she shakes.  These seem to happen when she is sitting.

She falls and she has hit her head many times when she has fallen.  Of course, we care about her and the doctors have looked and they don't find anything.

She goes into these "episodes," where she doesn't really know what she is doing.  She will often spend money on things that are not needed.  She'll go out to get food from somewhere. (We didn't know that's what was happening until later).   She'll do things (like unplugging the phone or trying to talk to her dog) that she won't remember.   I've said that it is kind of like Sybil, if you've ever read that book.  However, when she's in one of these "episodes," it's not like another personality that will remember what happened.  It's just gone from her memory.

Every now and then she'll remember a little bit of something she did during one of these "episodes," but it'll be just a bit of stuff, and then if you ask her about it more, she'll change the subject.  It may be related to the topic, or it may just go to her saying, "While I'm thinking of it . . ."

Briana and I can't take care of her like she needs.  She is taller than Briana. She is heavier than me.  She fights and argues.  If we try to help her, she falls on top of us.

However, she doesn't wash up properly.  That's one of the hardest challenges.  How can we get our mom to showers and wash herself properly?  I keep telling her to let Briana help, but she doesn't let Briana help.  She says that she is capable of taking care of herself.

However, today, when she was in the ER at very first, they put a catheter in to get a urine sample.  Before that, though they had to take down her pants and her off brand depends underwear.  Then, they had to clean her vagina because feces was all over it!  Briana and I had no idea that she had a huge accident.   She didn't tell us about this.  She didn't get up out of the bed.

It would be nice to find some hospice care or a nursing home facility for her.

The thing is, we can't afford it!  My mom gets SSI.  My sister gets SSI.  I work.  We pay our bills with the three incomes.   We've been lucky at times that I've had money to make it so my mom's bank account is not overdrawn.

A nursing home is about $5,000 per month. If my mom lives 50 more years, that over three million dollars!  I don't know of any jobs that would even pay that much (plus probably $2,000 for the bills at home) even if they would hire me.

Do any doctors have any idea what could be happening?  We keep getting sent back home without a diagnosis.  How can she be having these problems and not having them show up on a CT scan or MRI?

We need some type of  diagnosis and we need some help.

W is for Woofstock

You read that correctly.  W is for Woofstock.  It's not for Woodstock.  First of all, I wasn't alive in 1969.  Secondly, I'm not doing any research on the festival.  Thirdly, I do like Snoopy and Peanuts, but I'm not focusing on that, either.

Woofstock is a Purina Rally to Rescue event (I keep starting to type a Purina Rescue to Rally event and then I realize it and am able to correct myself either before I type that or once I get to first L in "rally.")

There are a few Woofstock events throughout the United States.  Obviously, this one is in Lake Charles, LA. I've been e-mailing people about donating items that are worth at least $20 for the silent auction. The donations are tax deductible, so if you or if you know of anybody willing to donate, I have the contact information for the people in charge of the event.

It is going to be a fun day.  There will be a pet blessing, vendors, rescue groups, a "mutt strut" parade, a black dog showcase, a silent auction, dog contests, and more.

Any monetary donations are nice, too.  They haven't been asking for them, but I know that it costs this volunteer organization $125 per vendor that is going to be there for using the Civic Center.

Then, they also need groups such as boy scouts, girl scouts, service groups, and 4H clubs that do service to help.  They need people to help set up the event (starts on the evening of Thursday, October 11) and then to take down all the stuff after the event (Saturday, October 13).  They want adults or at least adults to sit with older "children" (teens who can handle holding dogs) in front of bathrooms to hold dogs while people go to the bathroom.  The Civic Center is going to allow use of the inside bathrooms, but the dogs can't go inside unless they are service animals.  This means that "dog holders" are needed.

Like I said before, I have all the contact information.  Let me know if you are interested or if you know of anybody that is interested.

Oh, and the other thing, I asked one person, but it is "yes, if she is not busy."  They need people for the kids' area.  They are going to have things like crafts, coloring sheets, and face painting so the kids can also enjoy the event.

My Sister and my Mother Have Asperger's

This post was rejected for publication by Yahoo! Voices and I can't seem to get Bukisa to log me into their site, so I'll post this here because I do want people to read it.

I don't currently have any children. However, I grew up with my sister. When we were young, I didn't find anything all that different with her. However, by the time I got to middle school, I felt there was something different. She would yell at me for trying to help her with her homework after she had asked me for help. She would write my homework that I had started when it clearly needed to be in my own handwriting. Of course, this didn't make sense. She was old enough to know better. However, our parents didn't scold her for doing such a thing, which didn't make any sense.

As she got into high school, I could definitely tell that something was different. She stopped wanting to go to school. She would fake being sick. I knew she wasn't sick, but our parents would let her stay home. If it was a day that I did not have to go to school or if I was already back from college classes, she would be acting fine at home.

One year, our parents even made me come with them to her high school to talk about her missing classes so she could still graduate in 2002. I really wished they didn't do that and made her take the extra year of school and have her graduate in 2003 because she was learning nothing about consequences.

As much as I tried to tell them that I truly thought something was different with her and that she needed some type of testing, they ignored me. My friends and I went though different ideas. One of the ideas was that she was a chronic liar. Another was that she actually believed what she read in books. These were based on what was happening and instances from their own relatives and friends.

It wasn't until she tried to move to Minnesota to go to college and came back that she finally got tested and we found out what made her different. It started with a letter written to my parents and me by our paternal grandmother. A friend that she had made in Minnesota told our grandmother that all the things she did and how she acted, as well as some of her physical appearances pointed to Asperger's. She knew this because she had Asperger's.

I found an online test for people to take in order for them to see if they might have Asperger's. I don't know if the exact test still exists, but it was like the Asperger's Quotient Test at Wired. Everybody in our immediate family took it thinking of the answers that would fit my sister. This included herself, which she even needed some guidance to think about her own answers. Everybody, including herself, got the result that she had Asperger's.

We went to a local counseling agency called Family and Youth. They had an Asperger's program in place. They even had an official test, the Gilliam Asperger's Disorder Scale (GADS). After the results came back positive that she definitely had Asperger's, we went to work to get her officially diagnosed before she turned 23. I had learned that it was important to be diagnosed at age 22 or earlier to qualify for disability. She had other disabilities due to her scoliosis surgery, but some of them were also just from her body and the way Asperger's affected her.

I went to counseling sessions with her to learn how to deal with her. She constantly has to be reminded how to behave in public. However, at least, the more that she is reminded, the more she usually learns. There are behaviors that I have to tell her that she shouldn't be doing. I often have to tell her to take her hands out from between her legs. I have to tell her to not put her hands in her pants or her skirt.

It makes it difficult because she does not see a mess in front of her face. I do not know how she can't see it, but she can't. I can't work and clean up after her all the time. I don't understand how she can't understand that it is important that she cleans up after herself. She also does not have good personal hygiene. She says that it is because of sensitivities that she has due to the Asperger's. Sometimes this may be true, but other times it seems she is being too picky. It seems that she is often like a little child that doesn't want to come and take a bath and or wash hair.

I deal with what she needs every day.

When our mom realized that she wasn't cleaning and got closer to my sister with word games, addiction to computer games, and not doing what was needed, she also took the GADS. Her results were positive. She got diagnosed as having Asperger's. Then a neurologist also said she has a mental degeneration like Asperger's, but he is difficult to understand. I do not know why she has not tried to find somebody that is easier to understand. He also does not understand the concerns that we bring to him.

So, in addition to taking care of my sister, I also have to take care of my mother. It is difficult to work and take care of two people who can't seem to take care of themselves. Sometimes the only comfort I get is from my dog. Other times, I can get it from being with people at church or with my friends elsewhere, but it is a difficult thing to get away from my sister at times to be able to relax. She is often like a puppy dog, following me wherever I go.

However, it is important to get people diagnosed with Asperger's or autism if you think they have it. After age 22, it will not be counted towards having any type of disability unless they change the laws.