Every season I have some favorite TV shows that allow me to disappear literally into the television set. If this is escapism, then I am guilty.
The fall brought Biggest Loser with all the drama of the big girls talking smack and picking on Phil. It was great fun as the intrigue played out and the two bad girls ended up not winning the $250,000. I even consulted the message boards for further fun and found that I was not alone in my contempt of the contestants as the words fat, bitch and psycho were common threads.
The winter brought the Bachelor even though I swore I would not watch it. My oldest son warned me that Jason Mesnick was a fool who was using his kid to get girls. I believe you now, son and I am sorry I even got involved in that! I did like Melissa and ABC paid her back for all her troubles by giving her a spot on Dancing with the Stars. I read somewhere that Jason Mesnick was receiving death threats...some viewers obviously get carried away. I was just disgusted that a grown man could act so childishly...and what was with the tears??
Lost came back and not too soon I might add. I was a late comer to the show and my son gave me the first three seasons to watch to "catch-up." I was intrigued by the plot and the twists and found myself watching the entire season in one day . It is sad but true. I consult the message boards on this show because they tend to explain things which I find very complex and confusing.I also call my oldest during the broadcast if something bizarre is happening. The story seems to follow parts of the Bible with names like Aaron and Ben and Jacob who are primary names in the show. Fascinating. My favorite characters are Sawyer aka LaFleur, Hurley, and Ben. One more season to go before the plug is pulled on this great show.
I have been a fan of Dancing with the Stars forever. The fans this season have allowed the computer geek, Steve O from Jackass and Lil Kim to stay on too long. The computer geek had judges' scores of 10 last week!!! Time to go. Julianne Hough and her bf are nauseating , Holly Madison looks so stiff, and Denise Richard couldn't buy a smile. Melissa is born to dance, the guy from Sex and the City movie can really cut some rug and the little gymnast is adorable and graceful. I hear there was a stalker with a gun watching her....more drama.
So this is better escape than drinking yourself under the table with absolutley no side effects!! However, there is a chance you may become addicted .
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Sunday, March 22, 2009
The Devaluation of the College Degree
I was always taught to stay in school and get your degree...that is one thing no one can take away from you. The longer I live, the less a college degree actually is worth.
When my oldest son graduated in 2004 from college, he was actively looking for business related jobs for 9 months with no success. In sheer desperation he took a job at a trucking company that had employed him through his summers in college. He was hired in as a dock supervisor and three months later applied for and got an operations job at the corporate headquarters in RIchmond VA. He has thrived and has since been promoted after 4 yrs. No other job offers have poured in since and he still sends out resumes.
Now my middle son after 10 months of sending resumes is still looking for a real job. He is in month seven of his marketing internship with no job prospects in sight. He did not do an internship in college and found out that without one alot of companies will not even review your resume. His seasonal summer job is still open for him but he wants to move on. I realize the economy is bad and the unemployment rate is soaring but when Renhill Employment Agency says you need a year of office experience to submit an application, I say something is wrong.
I remember the good old days....post college. I had an Education degree and there were no jobs in the area. I worked for Beneficial Finance, FIrst National Bank and Ohio Bell. So in essence I skipped from education to business. Hey no internship required and no Business degree needed. Those were the days. My degree meant that other doors did open for me.
My Dad could not understand the internship thing. "I thought only doctors did internships" he would grumble. "Just more hoops to jump through...what does the Business degree stand for then?" If he were here today I would answer him "Not a damn thing Dad, all that money down the toilet".
My middle son was in Kroger's recently ordering a meat platter for me. The young man behind the counter was struggling to fill out the paperwork. My son asked him if condiments came with the tray. The puzzled employee said "What are condiments?" My son answered " Well all I can tell you is that you don't use them for safe sex." When he came home he said even that moron at Kroger's has a decent job.
Hopefully in the next year the job situation will change. Maybe the bachelor's degree will again mean a decent job. In the meantime it is a rough world out there with companies like Smucker's receiving 2,000 applications for 2 job postings and the Toledo Zoo who also had an avalanche of 1,500 applications for their seasonal jobs like concessions.
Our kids are competing with laid off workers from all walks of life . It is a crazy mixed up world.
When my oldest son graduated in 2004 from college, he was actively looking for business related jobs for 9 months with no success. In sheer desperation he took a job at a trucking company that had employed him through his summers in college. He was hired in as a dock supervisor and three months later applied for and got an operations job at the corporate headquarters in RIchmond VA. He has thrived and has since been promoted after 4 yrs. No other job offers have poured in since and he still sends out resumes.
Now my middle son after 10 months of sending resumes is still looking for a real job. He is in month seven of his marketing internship with no job prospects in sight. He did not do an internship in college and found out that without one alot of companies will not even review your resume. His seasonal summer job is still open for him but he wants to move on. I realize the economy is bad and the unemployment rate is soaring but when Renhill Employment Agency says you need a year of office experience to submit an application, I say something is wrong.
I remember the good old days....post college. I had an Education degree and there were no jobs in the area. I worked for Beneficial Finance, FIrst National Bank and Ohio Bell. So in essence I skipped from education to business. Hey no internship required and no Business degree needed. Those were the days. My degree meant that other doors did open for me.
My Dad could not understand the internship thing. "I thought only doctors did internships" he would grumble. "Just more hoops to jump through...what does the Business degree stand for then?" If he were here today I would answer him "Not a damn thing Dad, all that money down the toilet".
My middle son was in Kroger's recently ordering a meat platter for me. The young man behind the counter was struggling to fill out the paperwork. My son asked him if condiments came with the tray. The puzzled employee said "What are condiments?" My son answered " Well all I can tell you is that you don't use them for safe sex." When he came home he said even that moron at Kroger's has a decent job.
Hopefully in the next year the job situation will change. Maybe the bachelor's degree will again mean a decent job. In the meantime it is a rough world out there with companies like Smucker's receiving 2,000 applications for 2 job postings and the Toledo Zoo who also had an avalanche of 1,500 applications for their seasonal jobs like concessions.
Our kids are competing with laid off workers from all walks of life . It is a crazy mixed up world.
Sunday, March 15, 2009
THANKS FOR SHARING THAT....
It has been an interesting two years "babysitting" two boys now 8 and 10 years old. Now I generally watch them two nights a week from 4-11:30 pm which involves homework, dinner, activities, friends and bedtime.
I have learned alot from the boys. I didn't know that 1. THERE IS AN ANNOYING VIDEO ABOUT A KID NAMED FRED WHO TALKS LIKE ALVIN THE CHIPMUNK 2. WRESTLING IS STILL ON TV...NOW IT IS WWE NOT WWF 3. THERE IS A WEBSITE CALLED CLUB PENGUIN WHICH HOLDS ATTENTION FOR LONGER THAN 5 MINUTES 4. THAT EVERY WRESTLER HAS A THEME SONG THAT I AM SUPPOSED REMEMBER FOR A WEEKLY
TEST 5. KIDS STILL PLAY MONOPOLY AND SORRY 6. I CANNOT SUBTRACT OR ADD LIKE A THIRD GRADER (NEW MATH) 7. THERE ARE SHOWS LIKE SUITE LIFE AND HANNAH MONTANA ON CABLE 8. I THROW LIKE A GIRL 9. THERE ARE TEACHER WEBSITES WITH ACTIVITIES FOR STUDENTS 9. TWO BOYS COULD MAKE SO MUCH NOISE 10. PARENTAL CONTROL OVER CERTAIN WEBSITES IS KEY.
I have learned alot of new things but there are other things that remain the same.
1. EVERYONE WILL HAVE A BAD DAY AT SCHOOL 2. TESTS WITH BAD GRADES STILL GET HIDDEN OR RIPPED UP 3. THERE IS ALWAYS A FRIEND WHO COMES OVER TO YOUR HOUSE JUST TO BEG FOR SNACKS 4. SOMETIMES YOU DON'T GET INVITED TO A "FRIEND'S " BIRTHDAY PARTY 5. OLDER BROTHERS ARE A PAIN 6. YOUNGER BROTHERS ARE ANNOYING 7. NEIGHBORHOOD PARENTS CAN BE CATTY 8. HOMEWORK IS SOMETIMES LEFT AT SCHOOL 9. THERE IS NOTHING LIKE PLAYING OUTSIDE AFTER A LONG DAY AT SCHOOL
10. AT THE END OF THE DAY IT IS JUST YOU AND YOUR BROTHER,
I have learned alot from the boys. I didn't know that 1. THERE IS AN ANNOYING VIDEO ABOUT A KID NAMED FRED WHO TALKS LIKE ALVIN THE CHIPMUNK 2. WRESTLING IS STILL ON TV...NOW IT IS WWE NOT WWF 3. THERE IS A WEBSITE CALLED CLUB PENGUIN WHICH HOLDS ATTENTION FOR LONGER THAN 5 MINUTES 4. THAT EVERY WRESTLER HAS A THEME SONG THAT I AM SUPPOSED REMEMBER FOR A WEEKLY
TEST 5. KIDS STILL PLAY MONOPOLY AND SORRY 6. I CANNOT SUBTRACT OR ADD LIKE A THIRD GRADER (NEW MATH) 7. THERE ARE SHOWS LIKE SUITE LIFE AND HANNAH MONTANA ON CABLE 8. I THROW LIKE A GIRL 9. THERE ARE TEACHER WEBSITES WITH ACTIVITIES FOR STUDENTS 9. TWO BOYS COULD MAKE SO MUCH NOISE 10. PARENTAL CONTROL OVER CERTAIN WEBSITES IS KEY.
I have learned alot of new things but there are other things that remain the same.
1. EVERYONE WILL HAVE A BAD DAY AT SCHOOL 2. TESTS WITH BAD GRADES STILL GET HIDDEN OR RIPPED UP 3. THERE IS ALWAYS A FRIEND WHO COMES OVER TO YOUR HOUSE JUST TO BEG FOR SNACKS 4. SOMETIMES YOU DON'T GET INVITED TO A "FRIEND'S " BIRTHDAY PARTY 5. OLDER BROTHERS ARE A PAIN 6. YOUNGER BROTHERS ARE ANNOYING 7. NEIGHBORHOOD PARENTS CAN BE CATTY 8. HOMEWORK IS SOMETIMES LEFT AT SCHOOL 9. THERE IS NOTHING LIKE PLAYING OUTSIDE AFTER A LONG DAY AT SCHOOL
10. AT THE END OF THE DAY IT IS JUST YOU AND YOUR BROTHER,
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Our Labs
Our first Lab came to us when my now 28 yr old son was 2 1/2 yrs old. We named the squirming chocolate brown puppy Barclay after the dog on Sesame Street. She was full of energy and a playmate for our only child.
Marley had nothing on our Barclay. She ate the livingroom couch one day when we were gone. A few weeks later she was on the operating table as the vet removed a pound of fabric which had unraveled and wrapped around some of her internal organs. She "died" on the table at 9 monthes and was revived by the veterinary team. Her recuperation was rough and she never get regain her bottomless energy.
Two years later we moved to Michigan and Barclay got a pool in the deal. She was a well mannered patient swimmer and never jumped into the pool without an invitation. Barclay spent nine summers lounging either by the big pool or inside her "kiddie" pool.
With our kid count now at three, Barclay would injure her knee galloping through the backyard. Her second operation would be as perilous as the first. She would once again "die" on the table and be coaxed back to life. I received a call from the vet's office saying that she blew her unoperated knee out when they got her to stand the first time. It would have to heal on its own. Another long recuperation. The neighbor's snarling dog would try to chase her as she limped out to the woods to do her daily duty. I would grab a stick and scare the dog away. 3 monthes later Barclay was up to no good and feeling fine. On the first day of school, my oldest son was waiting for the bus with his dog. Minutes later she was gone in pursuit of the neighbor's dog. With the noise that followed, she evidently bit the dog and returned home like nothing happened...pay back time. We saw and heard nothing.
Barclay knew when it was Wednesday...Garbage Day in the sub. She could find a small opening in the fence and squeeze her body through it like Houdini. Her love of garbage would contribute to her death in years to come.
Fleas, a tape worm and bouts of bowel and stomach problems followed her . It seemed that Miss Barclay was always at the vet's office for something. The good folks at the vet's office even concocted a powder to put on her food so as not to upset her stomach after eating. The boys called it Magic Powder and we sprinkled it on her dinner for five years.
Eventually our spirited beautiful Lab had grown old and fragile. When she could not climb the steps anymore, everyone ignored it. But the day she did not get up when the boys went to school, I knew it was the end.
She had given us 13 1/2 yrs. of love and devotion. Our oldest was now 16.
On December 11th 1996, I had Barclay put down. She was cremated and her ashes sprinkled in a pine forest by our vet's home. She walks and runs with hundreds of other souls in the forest now.
Occasionally we hear a dog's bark in the early hours of the morning. Two of our boys say they have seen her shadowy figure in our house. I am comforted by all of this.
We now have another chocolate Lab named Cozby who is in the twilight of his life also. In the next few years we will be making that same decision again.
Marley had nothing on our Barclay. She ate the livingroom couch one day when we were gone. A few weeks later she was on the operating table as the vet removed a pound of fabric which had unraveled and wrapped around some of her internal organs. She "died" on the table at 9 monthes and was revived by the veterinary team. Her recuperation was rough and she never get regain her bottomless energy.
Two years later we moved to Michigan and Barclay got a pool in the deal. She was a well mannered patient swimmer and never jumped into the pool without an invitation. Barclay spent nine summers lounging either by the big pool or inside her "kiddie" pool.
With our kid count now at three, Barclay would injure her knee galloping through the backyard. Her second operation would be as perilous as the first. She would once again "die" on the table and be coaxed back to life. I received a call from the vet's office saying that she blew her unoperated knee out when they got her to stand the first time. It would have to heal on its own. Another long recuperation. The neighbor's snarling dog would try to chase her as she limped out to the woods to do her daily duty. I would grab a stick and scare the dog away. 3 monthes later Barclay was up to no good and feeling fine. On the first day of school, my oldest son was waiting for the bus with his dog. Minutes later she was gone in pursuit of the neighbor's dog. With the noise that followed, she evidently bit the dog and returned home like nothing happened...pay back time. We saw and heard nothing.
Barclay knew when it was Wednesday...Garbage Day in the sub. She could find a small opening in the fence and squeeze her body through it like Houdini. Her love of garbage would contribute to her death in years to come.
Fleas, a tape worm and bouts of bowel and stomach problems followed her . It seemed that Miss Barclay was always at the vet's office for something. The good folks at the vet's office even concocted a powder to put on her food so as not to upset her stomach after eating. The boys called it Magic Powder and we sprinkled it on her dinner for five years.
Eventually our spirited beautiful Lab had grown old and fragile. When she could not climb the steps anymore, everyone ignored it. But the day she did not get up when the boys went to school, I knew it was the end.
She had given us 13 1/2 yrs. of love and devotion. Our oldest was now 16.
On December 11th 1996, I had Barclay put down. She was cremated and her ashes sprinkled in a pine forest by our vet's home. She walks and runs with hundreds of other souls in the forest now.
Occasionally we hear a dog's bark in the early hours of the morning. Two of our boys say they have seen her shadowy figure in our house. I am comforted by all of this.
We now have another chocolate Lab named Cozby who is in the twilight of his life also. In the next few years we will be making that same decision again.
Monday, March 2, 2009
The Shining
It occurred to me sometime in February that I was reliving a favorite movie. Trapped in my home by howling winds and record snowfall amounts, things looked grimly like deja vu.
December, January and February...all below normal COLD temperatures and the constant dipping barometer which brought piles of white stuff. If I was a skier or snowboarder, I would have been joyous...but since my favorite past time involves not being outside in -2 degrees, I was miserable.
Even the family dog grated on my nerves, and he has the status of a sacred cow in this household. I will leave it at that, you can fill in the blanks with how I felt about the rest of the folks in this house. By mid February there were alot of pregnant pauses in conversations and plenty of excuses to watch TV alone.
When my husband started to resemble Jack Nicholson, I questioned my initial deja vu and sanity. I started counting the knives in the kitchen drawer....5, 6, 7 all there. PHEW.
And then it happened, I glanced into my back yard and saw a red headed woodpecker and a robin the last week of February. I began to hear birds early in the morning chirping....now that didn't happen months ago!! I heard this morning that the time change is Sunday, spring baseball has begun and college spring break is in progress.
And just in the nick of time I might add. I never gave our feathered friends much credit but they definitely have their "ducks in a row" about fall travel to warmer places.
Now that spring is coming, I have to think of a safe place for those sharp knives.....
December, January and February...all below normal COLD temperatures and the constant dipping barometer which brought piles of white stuff. If I was a skier or snowboarder, I would have been joyous...but since my favorite past time involves not being outside in -2 degrees, I was miserable.
Even the family dog grated on my nerves, and he has the status of a sacred cow in this household. I will leave it at that, you can fill in the blanks with how I felt about the rest of the folks in this house. By mid February there were alot of pregnant pauses in conversations and plenty of excuses to watch TV alone.
When my husband started to resemble Jack Nicholson, I questioned my initial deja vu and sanity. I started counting the knives in the kitchen drawer....5, 6, 7 all there. PHEW.
And then it happened, I glanced into my back yard and saw a red headed woodpecker and a robin the last week of February. I began to hear birds early in the morning chirping....now that didn't happen months ago!! I heard this morning that the time change is Sunday, spring baseball has begun and college spring break is in progress.
And just in the nick of time I might add. I never gave our feathered friends much credit but they definitely have their "ducks in a row" about fall travel to warmer places.
Now that spring is coming, I have to think of a safe place for those sharp knives.....
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