As a home health aide I have to wear identification. The office stands you against a wall, takes a picture with a Polaroid camera, and then cuts the head portion of the picture out. Once it's the correct size, it's fitted to a piece of cardboard with company name and other pertinent information and run through a laminator to preserve it. You get a new one every 4 years. There's a spot on it where there are years typed in and the ID isn't valid unless there's a punch mark in the space under the year. It doesn't really matter to any of the employees because the pictures are always bad. Worse than drivers license pictures by a mile. We'd all just as soon go without but policy says we have to wear them conspicuously affixed to our persons when in a clients home.

I had to have a new one made last week because mine was nowhere to be found. I don't see how I could get a worse picture than the one I had on the other badge, but we managed it. We aren't allowed to smile when the picture is taken. I look much better when I smile. Really. Very much better.

Once the badge is laminated, they affix a clip to it so that there's a way to keep it conspicuously on our persons. It seems that for too many of us, that clip creates a problem. It's a nice shiny, silvery sort of thing that cats and some dogs find fascinating. I was unaware that my cat did so, until arriving home from work today. I walked in on her playing with the badge I thought I'd lost.

So, now I have 2 badges with truly ugly pictures of me on them. I decided to keep the newer badge because it was taken with old Polaroid film and is very washed out. Almost to the point where I am featureless. I still look like I'm ready to cry in that one, but at least my hair looks better. Plus, since it's so washed out, I don't look drunk in it like I did in the old one. Now I have to figure out where Bashful had it, and whether or not there are other missing shiny things stashed there.

Unlike many pet owners I've never spent much money on cat toys. I've purchased a few mice, but she gets real ones to play with twice a year so I can't see wasting my money. The real ones are so much more fun. I also have tried packages of balls but she has a black hole somewhere that they disappear into after a week or so, never to be seen again. I am quite content to let her choose what she wishes to play with. She seems to prefer shoe laces and the occasional creepy crawly or fly that gets in. Now that I know she also enjoys the silver clip on my badge, I'll keep the new one in my purse so she can't get at it, and remove the clip from the old one so she can play with that. Too bad she didn't lose the badge in the black hole where ever it is.

Now, there you have it. A serious blog background. It says female with good taste, brains and elegance. Colorful, yet not something that will hit you over the head like a hammer. No kitchy kitties, no winking blinking eyeballs. A perfect balance of texture and color. Soothing, yet not boring. Conservative but original.

It just needs one more thing.


see more crazy cat pics

Thirteen year old Patrick Kohlman has been the victim of 12 serious incidents of bullying. During one incident he was hit in the head with a rock causing a concussion. The adults in his school system appear to be unable to face the fact that bullying is dangerous. They are doing nothing to alleviate the situation except express to Patrick's parents and the parents of other victims that the school has an anti-bullying policy.

Patrick created a video, took it to a school board meeting and wasn't allowed to show the video to the attending adults. He was told that the video was too graphic and that the meeting was over. He posted his video on Youtube, and the school system is going to allow it to be shown to the teachers in his school system. This video is not that graphic. The only graphic image in this video is one of a young girl whose face was slashed multiple times during a bullying incident. Yet on the strength of that one image, he was not allowed to show this to ADULTS at a meeting. If adults won't protect them, who will?



I think it's a sad commentary on life in general and some adults in particular that despite policies supposedly in place, this situation continues. School yard bullies grow up to be bullying adults. Until parents and teachers understand that this is not a kids will be kids situation, children will continue to be seriously injured by their ignorance. This is a situation which requires an action other than turning a blind eye to it. Parents, grandparents, teachers and school administrators need to understand that yes it is your child, and yes you do need to do something.

When someone tells you your child is bullying others, BELIEVE IT!

Set boundaries and ENFORCE THEM.

Teach your child that you are there for them...THEY ARE NOT ALONE.

Be part of the solution...NOT PART OF THE PROBLEM.

If you don't know how to stop your own child...GET HELP.

Somewhere a child or a parent will thank you for it.

A few of the many reasons why I haven't really had much urge to blog can be found in real life. The sights and sounds of the country, growing a garden, and the music of the birds has kept me occupied. Unlike other places I have lived, the birdsong can be heard from dawn to dusk. It becomes a background music to the life I lead here at home. No need for the television, or the radio. It's an entertainment unlike any other, and it's free for the listening.

There are times throughout the day when I can take the time to grab a drink or a bite to eat and weather permitting, sit on our deck and just enjoy. I can see the woodpeckers and occasional flash of yellow from the chickadees and the warblers that have lately arrived. Ten or so feet from our deck is a world that I can hear yet only imagine. The rustling of the leaves as the breeze blows through, the flash of bright color and the song of many that I cannot see yet know exist.

Some notes speak of excitement, some of joy. Sometimes there appears to be stress in that world, yet it never seems to last very long. A loud cacaphony followed by a few brief moments of silence and the song begins again. A very few times I have seen the source of the stress, usually crows. They seem to be trying to molest the nests of the robins, and when that happens the bigger crows appear to be on the losing end of the upset. The bigger they are, the harder they fall and the faster they fly away.

I have twice watched the aerial battles between a robin and a crow. Both times the crow was chased away by the much smaller robin. I didn't know that something like that could happen. Learning by observation keeps me away from the computer for long periods of time. Now when I come to the computer I spend much of my time looking for the bird whose song I'm listening to.

I found this short video that only includes 5 of the birds I've managed to identify. I'm not exactly sure about the Oriole as I haven't actually seen one here, but the song is very similar to one that I hear. It's a quiz but it is worth the few minutes it takes to listen. Also, since it only includes 5 birds, with clues, it's not all that difficult. Maybe it will put a smile on your face and give you a glimpse of just how happy I am to be here.

more cat pictures

I was looking at my blog earlier today and thought that I really wanted to post something, but nothing was occuring to me. I checked in with Cheezburger and although the cats were cute today, still nothing. I had given it up and decided to read what passes for AOL news.

Now, that is a dangerous decision as most of it I find so boring that it puts me in the mood for a nap. I probably could do a whole post on that but I clicked onto an article that said it had the 10 worst excuses for arriving late to work. That was an interesting read.

I found out that a full 15% of American workers are late for work at least once a week, and that almost 25% of those will lie about the reason for their tardiness. Surprisingly enough it isn't oversleeping that accounts for most of the lateness. It's time management issues. Getting the kids off to school, and getting yourself ready for the day. I'd suggest the solution for that would be to get out of bed earlier. Then there's the traffic gridlocks. Excuse me, if it takes me 20 minutes to get to work under optimum conditions, and conditions are seldom optimum, I leave earlier. Forgetting something and having to go back for it. That happens, but why lie about it? If you feel compelled to lie about it it's probably because you're in the 15%. So take some responsibility here. Do something that changes that. If you aren't willing to make the changes, then I think you better come up with some better excuses.

Top 10 Worst Excuses
1. While rowing across the river to work, I got lost in the fog.

2. Someone stole all my daffodils.

3. I had to go audition for American Idol.

4. My ex-husband stole my car so I couldn’t drive to work.

5. My route to work was shut down by a Presidential motorcade.

6. I have transient amnesia and couldn’t remember my job.

7. I was indicted for securities fraud this morning.

8. The line was too long at Starbucks.

9. I was trying to get my gun back from the police.

10. I didn’t have money for gas because all of the pawn shops were closed.