Casual Friday – 8/21/2015

On Fridays I join Aimee of Aimee Writes for Casual Friday, a post with “no structure, no prompts, no rules, anything goes.” Check out her blog here and join us in Casual Friday if you would like.

This was one of those weeks when I was reminded that no matter what is planned, there are times when you are just not going to get done what you intend. The week seemed to move very rapidly while I hopped from one task to another. Much got accomplished, fires were put out and all crises were averted. I am left exhausted and discombobulated.

Who even uses the word discombobulated? That is a word that sounds exactly like the way I felt and how my week went–addled, befuddled, rattled, in a tizzy, shook up, off-balance, at sixes and sevens, baffled, flummoxed, jumbled, muddled, and all such other ridiculous crazy synonyms. There were no really bad things that happened. We just kept running around dealing with issue after issue. Time flew by. Almost everything got dealt with but wow! I really need the reprieve that the weekend provides.

At work I had intended to spend much time preparing for a couple of important meetings that are coming up next week. I maybe managed an hour on those tasks. I have been at this job long enough that I know I will manage to do all right, but I won’t feel as prepared as I like to be.

At home, I had to finish up a project as a gift for my sister/roommate’s birthday which was today. I managed to get it done early this evening but I sure prefer to give myself more time to make sure I am doing a good job. At a different issue, I spent (wasted) a great deal of time looking for photos that where rather urgently requested. I, who am generally a well-organized person, have never done a good job in keeping snapshots in any kind of order. I have several shoe boxes with photos in no particular order. I am full of admiration for those people who have every picture labeled and dated and cataloged. I have never been that person so I end up wasting much time looking for exactly what was needed. For probably the 80th time in my life I vowed to get those pictures organized–and once again I will probably forget that vow until the next time that I am scrambling to come up with a picture.

I did not spend any time with my blog since last Friday night when I posted the previous Casual Friday post. I did not read any other blogs and made no comments. I did not respond to  any comments received from others. I did not manage to post even one of my regular posts. It makes me wonder what I possibly was thinking when I gave blogging a try. I do really enjoy it but there are times when it just not seem like a productive way to spend my time. I still am troubled with finding the right balance.

The one thing that I was able to do consistently was my early morning mile walk with my yellow lab. With everything seeming to be disrupted it is great to have one thing that I can be depended on to do. If you could see the look of sadness that my dog has on her face if she doesn’t get that walk, you would understand that I could not live with myself if I let her down. The bad part is that now it is dark when I start out for my walk at 5:45 and it is barely getting light by the time I get home. It feels a little eerie and I am not totally comfortable with that walk in the dark. I may have to adjust our walk.

I am hoping for a calm, quiet weekend so that I can face my rat race come Monday morning. I hope for all of you that your weekend will be all you want it to be.

Casual Friday 8/14/2015

On Fridays I join Aimee of Aimee Writes for Casual Friday, a post with “no structure, no prompts, no rules, anything goes.” Check out her blog here and join us in Casual Friday if you would like.

Another week is in the books.

My work week was busy with 20 hours of learning new computer software functionality which left 20 hours to concentrate on the rest of the job. I love learning new things and we have a very effective facilitator which made for a good learning experience.

Gates We Have Known – A Quiz – Throwback Thursday

Yesterday the initial hearing was held in the law suit between the National Football League and the Player’s Association which centers around the punishment for footballs being under-inflated in a football game.  At one point, the judge was reported to have said, “This ‘Deflategate’. I’m not sure where the ‘gate’ comes from.”

No doubt the judge was being facetious as the word “gate” is commonly used to denote scandals in politics, sports and other arenas.  Its use started with the granddaddy of them all, the Watergate scandal of the early 1970’s. Since then it has been used scores of time, the latest being the continuing National Football League scandal dubbed “Deflategate”.

Today my Throwback Thursday post is in the form of a quiz, where the names of some “Gate” scandals can be matched with the description of the scandal.

Scandals

1. 2015 – Sports – The New England Patriots allegedly deflated footballs to be used in a game below the league regulations for required air pressure for game balls.
2. 2014 – American Politics – The administration of New Jersey governor Christie is accused of causing a road construction traffic jam in retaliation to the mayor of Fort Lee who did not endorse Christie in his re-election bid.
3. 2012 – Sports – The New Orleans Saints was found to have a bounty system where players were paid for bad hits and injuries to opposing players.
4. 2011 – American Politics – A New York congressman was found to text indecent photographs of himself.
5. 2010 – Journalism – A collection of classified State Department cables are published by WikiLeaks.
6. 2009 – Sports – A professional golfer admits to a series of extramarital affairs.
7. 2008 – American Politics – Alaska Governor Sarah Palin allegedly fired the state’s public safety director for failing to comply with the governor’s demand to fire her ex-brother-in-law.
8. 2007 – Sports – The New England Patriots were punished after illegally filming signals from the sideline of an opposing team.
9. 2006 – Journalism – Two published photos from the Lebanon – Iran conflict were digitally altered.
10. 2004 – Entertainment – A wardrobe malfunction during the half time show at the Super Bowl resulted in Janet Jackson’s breast being briefly revealed to the television audience.
11. 2004 – Journalism – Forged memos were used to discredit George W. Bush’s military record which led to the resignation of the CBS Evening News anchor.
12. 2003 – American Politics – The name of a CIA spy is made public after her husband criticized the Bush administration in a published editorial.
13. 2001 – American Politics – President Clinton pardoned 140 persons and commuted 36 sentences on one day before he left office.
14. 1998 – American Politics – The U.S. President is accused of having an inappropriate relationship with an intern.
15. 1993 – American Politics – The revelation that presidential nominees for attorney generally had illegally employed immigrants which led the individuals to withdraw their names from consideration.
16. 1980 – American Politics – In the presidential campaign, Ronald Reagan gained access to Jimmy Carter’s briefing papers to be used in their only debate.
17. 1972 – 1974 – American Politics – a burglary of the Democratic National Party headquarters started a series of revelations leading to the ultimate resignation of President Nixon.

And the names attached to the scandals:

• A. Bountygate
• B. Bridgegate
• C. Cablegate
• D. Debategate
• E. Deflategate
• F. Lewinskygate
• G. Nannygate
• H. Nipplegate
• I. Pardongate
• J. Plamegate
• K. Rathergate
• L. Reutersgate
• M. Spygate
• N. Tigergate
• O. Troopergate
• P. Watergate
• Q. Weinergate

Answers: 1 – E. Deflategate; 2 – B. Bridgegate; 3 – A. Bountygate; 4 – Q. Weinergate; 5 – C. Cablegate; 6 – N. Tigergate; 7 – O. Troopergate;  8 – M. Spygate; 9 – L. Reutergate; 10 – H. Nipplegate; 11 – K. Rathergate; 12 – J. Plamegate; 13 – I. Pardongate; 14 – F. Lewinskygate; 15 – G. Nannygate; 16 – D. Debategate; 17 – P. Watergate

L’Engle – Words Crush Wednesday Favorite Quote Challenge

The thing not so great about growing older is that you might not remember all the other ages you have been. Certainly the details of prior experiences become somewhat foggy and maybe event distorted. We are a total of our life experiences. Each person we meet and each incident that occurs affects who we are. The older we are the more such experiences and people influence us, for better or worse.

Madeleine L’Engel (1918 – 2007) was an American author of young adult fiction, best known for A Wrinkle in Time and A Swiftly Tilting Planet. She also wrote in other genres such as poetry, essays, Christian fiction and science fiction.

On Wednesdays I participate in Words Crush Wednesday Favorite Quote Challenge hosted by Rebirth of Lisa.

Check out her blog and join the fun.

Pet Peeves V. 2.0 – A Tuesday List of Ten

Last week my Tuesday List of Ten enumerated 10 of my pet peeves. People who commented on my list contributed pet peeves of their own. I am using their items for my list this week. Any of these items could easily be included on my original list but ten things is enough to complain about at one time.

Pet Peeves V. 2.0

1. Drivers not using blinkers.
2. Stopping at a light and not turning when there is a green arrow.
3. People who get mad at me when I do that very thing (see #2).
4. The downward spiral of the quality of things.
5. Packaging that you can’t get into, and you don’t have a knife or scissors handy.
6. Terrible grammar in ads and news broadcasts.
7. People who wait until all their groceries are bagged and the checker has told them what they owe before they get out their wallet to get their credit card and/or cash.
8. When you want to turn left at an arrow, but there isn’t enough room to squeeze between the median and the car in front of you, who is sitting 3 car lengths behind the car in front of him.
9. Being stopped at a red light in the right lane at an intersection marked “No right turn on red” and having cars behind you honking because you are not turning on the red light.
10. And an additional pet peeve of my own because this seems to be the story of my life this week: a computer that randomly freezes and stops working and displays random error messages that this non-techy does not understand.

Thanks to Mary of Walking My Path, Mary-Anne at Breathing Life and Salpal1 at What I’m Up To Today for their contributions to my list.

A Small Project Finish – A Saturday Stitching Post

After completing a long term project, I spent a great deal of time considering what to make next. I finally selected an autumn sampler. In spite of the fact that I have an unbelievable quanity of fabric for stitching, I decided I wanted to order the specific hand-dyed fabric that the pattern called for.

While I waited for the fabric to arrive, I chose a small projec to work. The result is that I have completed another stitching project in less than two weeks. I needed that feeling of a quick completion rather than having to spend the years that it took me to finish the last one. It is a very small project only about 2 1/2 inches by 3 1/4 inches.

The above photo shows the project after the cross stitches were completed. Many projects including this one require back stitching, which basically means outlining design elements with thread to bring out detail.

The second photo shows the piece with the backstitching completed. Many stitchers dislike doing backstitching but it brings out the detail in the design.

The piece is now ready to frame.

Project Details: Apple Time designed by Lois Winston published in The Cross Stitcher, October 2005. Worked on 18 ct. tan Aida using DMC floss with 2 strands for cross stitch and one strand for backstitch. Stitch count is 43w x 53h. Design was modified replacing a chicken with the pumpkin.

Inspiration

I happily reblog this post from my friend Mary’s blog, Walking My Path. I love the photo and the quote from Chief Dan George that accompanies it. I want to keep this quote handy especially for those times when life is not so gentle with me when I need something uplifting.

Check out the rest of Mary’s blog. It is a thing of beauty and of quiet inspiration.

Walking my path: Mindful wanderings in nature

In response to The Daily Post Weekly Photo Challenge.  This one calls for Inspiration.

“May the stars carry your sadness away.     May the flowers fill your heart with beauty, and may hope forever wipe away your tears. ”                                      Chief Dan George

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Casual Friday – 8/7/15

On Fridays I join Aimee of Aimee Writes for Casual Friday, a post with “no structure, no prompts, no rules, anything goes.” Check out her blog here and join us in Casual Friday if you would like.

Another work week is in the books.

I had a pleasant, productive week at the office other than the first two days when the next door building construction was particularly noisy. By the end of the week they were still doing grading and dirt work but the equipment was so quiet that I barely heard it in my office.

Tom Brady and Watergate – Throwback Thursday

A recent headline in the world of the National Football League has been the punishment meted out to Tom Brady, the New England Patriot’s quarterback, for his alleged involvement in deflating game footballs and the suggested coverup. Last week the NFL commissioner announced that he was upholding the 4 game suspension of Tom Brady. The matter has been dubbed “Deflategate”.

This post isn’t about whether the suspension is proper or not or even if Brady was actually involved. I will let others sort that out.

There have been headlines and articles that compare Deflategate to Watergate, the political scandal of the early 1970’s that led to the probable impeachment and subsequent resignation of President Richard Nixon. Last week I saw headlines like “Brady’s Deflategate the Nixon to Watergate”; “Tom Brady and Richard Nixon: Gates of a Feather”; and “Tom Brady and Richard Nixon Share More Than Just the Word ‘Gate’.”

Dreams – A Words Crush Wednesday Favorite Quote

I first heard of Langston Hughes when his poem, Dreams, was included in my reading book in junior high. I was a young girl and the poem spoke to me. As I read the poem today, despite many years that have passed, I still embrace the important message from the poem. I have been called an idealist by someone who meant it as a criticism. I wear that name proudly. I don’t want to give up on the ideals that have been ingrained in me my whole life and I certainly don’t want to give up on my dreams.

Langston Hughes (1902 – 1967) was a poet and writer who is credited with interpreting the black experience in the United States for the world. He is an important  figure in American literary history.

On Wednesdays I participate in Words Crush Wednesday Favorite Quote Challenge hosted by Rebirth of Lisa.

Check out her blog and join the fun.