Nana’s Helpful Hint–and you MAY NOT NEED a PLUMBER!

Okay…Bathrooms are a pain in the ass to clean.  They are even more of a pain if you don’t live in an apartment complex with a maintenance person OR a halfway decent super…I’ve known too many people that had to wait a week for the super to show up or wait through a holiday weekend for a bloody plumber.  Before I go further, you need to know that if you use PVC piping on your plumbing neither lye nor things like Draino or Liquid Plumber are good for the lines.  DON’T USE ‘EM!  Over time, that can cause major problems especially if you live in an area like I do with hard water…Again, it’s a pain in the ass to fix! But if you’re too afraid to try what I am about to tell you, then call the plumber…It’s much safer–especially if you’re prone to making problem situations worse by trying to play Mr. or Ms. Fix It!

That being said, I am going to give you something to try FIRST.  Do NOT pick up that phone until you do unless you want to spend a minimum of $200.00 that you might not be able to afford.  There are only TWO things you need for this concoction…You need 1-30 oz. bottle of CLOROX bleach.  DO NOT USE STORE brands. The concentration of chlorine varies and this works best.  Then you need about 32-40 oz. of COKE CLASSIC. AGAIN, do not use store brands and such. If they don’t have COKE CLASSIC, Use ORIGINAL PEPSI. This is for the acid content and either one is pretty strong by itself.

CAUTION: Above all make sure the area is WELL VENTILATED.  The smell of this shit can knock the hide off of a buffalo AND/OR cause the meanest billy-goat to humble himself very quickly!
If it is a sink, try to plunge it to get rid of excess water first. If you can’t just do the best you can.  If it’s the toilet, same thing.  After you do that, pour in the soda first.  It looks freaky at first but when you add the bottle of bleach it will clear up. Wait a few minutes and it will start bubbling like mad…Once the bubbling slows down and/or stops (about 45 minutes) try putting hot water down the sink.  If it’s the toilet, flush it.  If it works, then great! I just saved you a fortune and you can thank me later.  If it only speeds up the draining (or flushing a little) then repeat it one more time.   Either way it’s worth a shot before calling the plumber. I know because I used this on my toilet tonight. BOOYAH! Have a great Sunday!

 

 

Nana Learned a Lesson on Thanksgiving…

Sometimes misunderstandings can lead to a lot of grief this time of year. I totally misunderstood something one of my boys said–well actually, I misinterpreted what he said, but let me start at the beginning.  I got off work and got home late on 11/21…Spent 2.5 hours cleaning up the kitchen that one of the boys messed up…No one EVER confesses to such messiness but I did clean it up.  About 30 minutes later one of the boys comes in and puts some food in the refrigerator which I felt was food for Thanksgiving Day.  So much for that.

I then heard one say they were spending Thanksgiving with the ex…Knowing my boys, that translates into they are cooking T-Day dinner at MY HOUSE.  I had to be at work at 2 p.m. and nothing was done by 11. In fact, nothing was cooked.  Nobody wanted to get up to go to our local truck stop, which had turkey dinner and all the trimmings either…I went alone.  I worked my fanny off thinking my ex was in my house enjoying the day, with me not getting anything.

I came into the house and found out that the ex never showed up and nothing was ever cooked.  The boys decided to can the idea. The part I misunderstood was the part about the ex eating with them in MY HOUSE.  THAT complicates things since the man tends to go through all the food in the house if I am not there–OR he leaves some of  his stuff there which irritates the hell out of  me and I’ve told him NOT to do that.

Anyway, while I was feeling sorry for myself at work, a man who had come to my defense once thinking someone was disrespecting me as a lady entered the store. I wasn’t being disrespected, so that was cleared up quickly.  He didn’t understand what Thanksgiving was about and hadn’t eaten in a day.  He said, “America sucks!”  I knew something was up so I followed him outside and asked him what was going on.  He didn’t know how to get to the Salvation Army so that he could eat a hot meal, and I didn’t know how to get there from where I was, but I remembered how he tried to “stand up for me” when he thought I was being yelled at.

I knew he wasn’t acting normally because he is usually very friendly.  I asked him what happened and he told me.  To make a long story short, this man is from Australia and he’s writing a book–traveling on foot across the U.S.  I explained to him what Thanksgiving means to various cultures  and that those who judge one another in an  unkind way have not learned that many people in this country have not learned that we all bleed red yet.  He felt a little better after that and my co-worker and I bought him something to eat.  It was the least that we could do.  Isn’t this what Thanksgiving is about? Sharing?

He smiled before leaving and was telling another man, “Now I know what Thanksgiving is!,” then he turned to us and said, “Thank you for giving me something to be Thankful for!”

Then it made the pain of the misunderstanding go away, and that got resolved later.

The moral of this is that things are never as they seem and someone ALWAYS has it worse off than you do…It is my fervent hope that the injustices to the homeless in the area gets taken care of soon.   As I said in an earlier post, winter is coming.  Too many people in Midland, TX have lost their homes (even though they make a decent salary)  due to the price-gouging on the rent and the hotel fees there.  Somewhere along the way some of these people who run the hotels, apartments and rent houses have lost sight of the fact that the boom will one day bust  They had better hope that Midland has a  kinder spirit toward them should they ever fall upon hard times.

 

Happy Thanksgiving to All!

And I hope you all have a wonderful time with family, friends, and/or loved ones. I’ll be at work and will go to Mom’s after or early in the a.m.

Here’s a laugh for ya!

Oh Come on! You knew this was coming! LOL Have a great one!

Reflections on Today’s World, and Becoming a Grandparent

Well, I just celebrated my 49th birthday on 11/25.  Two of my sons, Kevin and Brian went with me to the club and it was great!  We had a party and such.  Now for the wilder part of the day. I opened a present the my son and his girlfriend gave to me.  I thought it was a gag because it was a pregnancy test!  Kevin said, “Mom…Just read it man!”  I looked at it and it said “positive”.   I looked at him and his girlfriend and they told me that I am going to be a grandmother.

I think it’s not really overwhelming me yet, but it is overwhelming my son, Kevin.  He’s still taking in the “I’m going to be a dad.” bit. I admit this inspires me to work on clearly defining, organizing my goals and moving forward with plans at a better pace than what I have been.

I do know this much, this woman will never be a “rocking chair grannie“. I’m too head strong for that. I know this much, I am the last person a school wants to encounter if I am the alternate person to pick up my grandchild from school, or the one who is on the list to help care for the child and I end up having to deal with some administrator who says that bullying is just something kids have to deal with and they should get used to it.

Schools are not prisons.  To me that is the same thing as when an officer in a prison tells an offender who has been assaulted, “Well, you shouldn’t have come to prison.”  Well excuse me but public schools are the only institutions that are MANDATORY for anyone who has never broken a law–e.g:  OUR CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN,  so that is the LAST comment any teacher or administrator had better make in my presence.

If the system wants to treat these children like little offenders (which is what this amounts to) then they should be held accountable for deliberate indifference when a child gets assaulted and/or killed on school property if it can be shown that there was an ongoing problem and it was NOT addressed effectively.  IF the legal departments are the ones creating the problem by tying the administrators hands and threatening to not represent them if THEY don’t agree with discipline methods–then the district should be able to fire them and hire independent attorneys.

The same holds true if the bullied child commits suicide and the school KNEW there was a problem and failed to act.  If they are held liable for not reporting child abuse/neglect, then they should be held to the same standard when they allow children to be terrorized on their own territory.   They may be part of the government machine–but they should not be above the law by any standard.

See what is happening here? My grandson or granddaughter is not even on the planet yet and I am already concerned for the future of that child. At least I’ll get some days where I can color and teach him/her how to do a dream board.   I know that when I’m around, I’ll shelter that child from as much as I can and so will Kevin and his beautiful girlfriend, Daphne…She is one tough mama and she will not fail to protect her young!

Now I think it is time that she and my son get pics of themselves together with her other 3 kids…For one, they call me grandma anyway and for two, they are part of this family.   THAT’S what they should do–GET FAMILY PICTURES!

I am also starting to do some more soul-searching again…It’s almost like the same thing I did when I was having Eric (my oldest son) who was born on my 20th birthday…I guess this means I need to take a considerably less “charged” tone with my blogs too.  However, it will be very, very difficult when talking about bullying because I am so vehemently passionate about it.

However, pursuing one’s dreams is very important also. I want to impart to this grandchild that only he or she can choose the greatest path for himself/herself in life but it is important to make decisions one can live with and sleep with at night because nobody will walk in those shoes but him or her.

If there is one lesson I have learned in my life, it is that it is one thing to put your dreams on hold–but another to let them die.  Nobody should ever to the latter because that is when that word called “regret” haunts one until the end of their days because they always wonder what might have been.  I really believe now that I can have my dream.  I won’t share what that dream is here, but I know it will one day come true.

I will also be giving that book “The Alchemist” to Daphne’s oldest son, “Jabez” when he gets older.  I think that will open that boy’s eyes to a lot of things.  The Universe has really blessed me, but I’ve got $10 in my pocket that says I am one of the few that has learned to be content with what I now have for the simple fact that I definitely know that a good change is coming.  I can feel it and it will be good for me when it comes.  I also think that this is true for some friends of mine and I am usually not wrong when I feel it this strongly.  2012 is going to be a great year for a few of my friends! I feel it!

Take care and have a great week! This was one Thanksgiving Holiday for which I am expressing a lot more gratitude to the Universe!

Gratitude for All Things Remembered this Thanksgiving…

Have a Happy Thanksgiving! Keep on dancing while you're at it!

With this Thanksgiving Holiday rapidly approaching I have had to sit down and reflect on all the things which I have been thankful for.  I go up to my mountain when I can to express this to God (and you can call that force what you like–that is what I know it to be because it’s easier for everyone to comprehend) and take in whatever lessons that entity decides to impart to me at that time.  I have been truly blessed with mild weather this week and will go up  there again in a few hours.

The Universe is so infinite, yet people constantly try to say that one day all of that will end as will all life forms on this planet. I do not believe that for a minute.  I believe life will continue in cycles.  I believe it will be shaken, altered, stirred, beaten down, pressed into a new shape, or simply allowed to continue to slowly evolve into something none of us could have ever imagined in over 500-1000 years time.  Whether we witness it or not is anyone’s guess.

Sometimes during this time of year, I truly miss my father, my Grannie Ainsworth and other relatives who have passed.  I am grateful for them having been in my path because I know that somewhere in the back of my brain lies that wisdom and with that they all imparted to me.  It is this time of year I also remember some things that made me chuckle a time or two as a child.

Today I want to talk about my Grandpa, Elton J. O’Neill.  He passed away in 1987 while I was living in King  City, CA.  I will never forget how mad someone got when they found out that he showed me how to play 5 card stud and I was beating most at it.  I haven’t played in years, so I’ve forgotten much of what he taught me, but this is a man who had an  interesting  history of his own.

At one time he was a caddy for some of the best golfers and ran pool halls and domino halls, which were big business in those days.  He enjoyed playing dominoes and such until he could no longer do so.

There were times during the Great Depression that he and my grandmother (Mary) would pick potatoes (or cotton) and such to get by.  Grandpa told me more than once that he stole chickens to feed the family once in a while and would take a little money to buy vanilla extract.  Why?  IF there wasn’t a still around, that is how many people would get drunk in those days.

I also remember a story my father told me about how when he was 9 years old he got caught smoking in the boys bathroom and got his fanny worn out by the principal.

I have one interesting memory of my own.  Please bear in mind that my Grandpa O’Neill could not see very well.  It was around 1976 or 77 and one day, my father decided to go to Abilene to see if he could find some yard sales to find stuff in.  We all loaded up in Dad‘s new “Minnie Winnie”–which was a small Winnebago and headed out.  To this day, I also remember Uncle Jackie (my dad’s older brother) being there also.  I believe it was either right before or right after Thanksgiving–not sure of the exact date.

We had just passed Cisco, TX and there was a hill up to the right which had a nativity scene on it.  It looked real–especially at a distance and with snow on the ground (as there was on this day).  My grandpa took a look out the window and squinted at it very hard.  Suddenly he said rather loudly, “Look at those hippies up there! Those fools are gonna freeze to death!”  We got a kick out of it.

Then of course I miss my Grannie Ainsworth who sometimes danced a jig and played harmonica.  I remember eating in “shifts” as what I call “the herd” came over! There were often 30+ people over there during the holidays and when we got finished eating at one grandparent’s house, we’d let it settle and then go to the other ones!  I truly miss the porcupine meatballs and the chocolate pies as my sister reminded me of one day. Disclaimer:  For those who never heard of those meatballs, they are made from beef–not porcupine meat!  I got a laugh out of being asked about that once!

I also have fond memories of Young School.  Despite being bullied there are two things that I do not think any former student will disagree with me about and that is the fact that they had the best home-made rolls and fresh vegetables and fruit there was!   And we always bought extra chocolate milk (well most of us did anyway).  I also remember that there were bats, but I loved going into the auditorium.  To this day I remember the swamp coolers, the wood flooring, and the smell of the rolls as they were cooking every morning.

For having all the wonderful people in my life I did have I was truly blessed, and even those who cause adversity in my life blessed me in the end.  Without their existence I would not be who I am or where I am today.  For those in my life now, I am also truly thankful!  Have a wonderful Thanksgiving Day with  your families, and may you all have more wonderful experiences to come your way in the years ahead!

Just adding this because it is beautiful...

For Students: SCHOOL is in session…Oh My God! Don’t Panic! Writing is not THAT Hard!

While some are already in school again, some of you had to go to summer school or had to simply pass the bloody state testing…I realize I go a little deeper into a lot of different things here, but if you can grasp this, you can write stories that will have your teacher going crazy–so be careful not to spend too much time on death and destruction like 3 of you that emailed me did!   Most of you that I talked to can put a sentence together…The art you have to figure out is how to put 5 of those sentences in a sequential order that will enable you to pass the essay part.  Of the 8 of you that emailed me last week, 7 of you can write coherent sentences and paragraphs. However you had your paragraphs out of sequence.  I am going to give you and example of what I am talking about before go any further into this character thing…

Let’s start with this one:  “I like Thanksgiving.”   Okay…There is your first sentence and they want 4 more to follow…So here goes an example:

“…I like Thanksgiving a lot.  During Thanksgiving I get to go to my grandmother’s house and visit my family.  I also get to enjoy a turkey dinner and all kinds of desserts my aunts make for the family!  I also get to play my guitar and sing for my grandfather who really loves music, but cannot play anymore.  It is a holiday for which I am grateful that I get one more day to be with the ones that I love the most!…”

There…Did you notice how I did this?  It covers your 5 W’s in that darned book too.  Now…That is your INTRODUCTION…Next is the other paragraphs, right? Check this out.

“…I like going to my grandmother’s house for Thanksgiving because it is big enough to hold all the relatives that show up, and there is plenty of room at her table for us all to sit.  Grandpa sits at the head of the table, and we take turns helping him to get  to it since he is not used to moving around in his new wheelchair.  When he’s there we all eat until we’re stuffed and then we all just want to take a nap so we go to sleep on whatever beds we find!  Grandpa goes back into the living room and watches T.V. with my mom and Grandma…”

See what happened there?  The reader knows what happens just before, during and after dinner.  Now let’s go further…

“…I woke up at 3:3o and sang a song I wrote just for Grandpa.  As I was strumming the guitar and getting to the last verse, I looked up and saw a tear rolling down his cheek and he was smiling.  He has been sick for about three months, but he always makes time for me.   We could have lost him earlier this year, so I am so grateful that we had this time together.  I hope to have many more of them because my Grandfather has been a very important part of my life!…”

Do you see what happened there?  It became less about the food and the holiday  and more about the love this child has for his/her grandfather, right?  THAT is what those test graders love to see!  That last paragraph can also be used as a great closing, can’t it?    You should practice writing ONE sentence about something important to you every day and practice building on it in a journal.  It does help!

NOW FOR THE OTHER STUFF that 3 other people asked me about:

‎”Even in the most oppressive of regimes, the spirit of no man can ever be caged…Just as the mustang roams this valley, man has to go freely where his spirit directs or he becomes a slave to his own shadow, which repeats lies to him constantly about how past errors are his own fault …”  Prelude to Awakening –Ch  1

This is the opening lines of a book I am working on.  My characters are slowly evolving, but I will use a profiling method to make sure the fit is right for the rest of the stuff I’m putting into it.  Yes, you read it correctly…I’m profiling…To profile a character, you literally have to create a ‘life” for them.  Who are they?  Where were they born?  What about family, IF they have one?  What do they like to listen to music-wise? Food?  Pets?  If they are evil, why did they become corrupted?  Were they abandoned, abused, or just hardened to the core?  Childhood memories–build them for your characters. It does help…YOU LITERALLY create an identity from scratch and make it real enough that even if you don’t  specify–let’s say–that they hate liver, it will come out in the story in another way.

Question one:  Could this person really exist?  If you need to ask that, watch “Stranger than Fiction“.  THAT will blow your mind.  Your character’s  profiles should be so believable that a stranger would think you were speaking of a real  people if they saw your notes lying about.  God help you if you are a student and it is your mother (who cleans up your room because YOU never do)  that finds a particular passage that mentions how a fictional character likes to sunbathe nude, but your mom actually thinks you’re writing about the minister’s wife two doors down because of everything else you’ve got thrown in there!   If you are writing something based on ANYONE around you and you are still attending school, I only have three words to share until it’s finished and someone you know you can trust reads it for you:  “Hide that crap!”  I didn’t and ended up in the counselor’s office at least 3 times a month all through High School.  This is especially true to you young men and women who love to write rap songs. God knows what they’ll think–especially if you live below the 36th parallel.

Just remember one thing when you are putting your heart and soul into anything you write:  “…Every moment that arrives you’re the greatest thing alive…” and it might get you through the day…Thank Duran Duran for that song “All You Need is Now”.  Give it a listen.  It’s about NOT giving up…If you’re ready to toss your manuscript or your paper, essay, etc…Then you do need to give this song a shot!  If you are writing for your own enjoyment, it’s even better because you don’t feel pressured to come up with the wording all the time–eventually, it will flow.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VvqnJ8AGhFg&ob=av2n