Tag: Travel

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My Brother the “Golden Child”

My oldest brother has to be the hardest person to buy gifts for on the entire planet. I always have a hard time finding gifts for the male species, but my brother is just the worst. He has been the “golden child” as far back as I can remember, he could do no wrong at home or school and now is happily married with children, has a good job and lives on a working farm that takes up most of his time. He has basically every thing that he ever wanted and needs in life, sigh……

He will be celebrating his 35th birthday come this February, a huge party is in the planning, but I still have to find and buy him a gift for the occasion. I have a few months but am getting anxious about the whole ordeal. The only thing that I can think of that I know he would appreciate is something to do with his John Deere tractor that he spends so much time on in the evenings and weekends.

I believe that his would appreciate some new HID equipment lights for his beloved tractor. By the time he gets home, eats dinner, and then spends some time with kids it can be pretty late by the time he gets to his tractor so it would make sense to have a good quality lighting system in place to help him see where he is going and all. So I’ve spent a little bit of time on the Internet checking out the various HID products, so far MagnaLight has the best, I’ll have to ask my Dad for a second opinion, so I’ll make sure to send him the links for his guidance and approval.

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Fog

This morning the fog was so bad on the way to work that I almost turned around and went back home to wait until the sun had a chance to burn more of it off before heading out again. I swear, I could only see about 15 feet ahead of me and to be driving on the Interstate with other cars going anywhere from 60 mph to 75 mph was just crazy. If I had a more understanding manager I would have gone back home, but I didn’t. I was so thankful to arrive at work safe and sound and almost got down and kissed the ground, but didn’t want to get dirty in my work clothes, so I said a prayer of thanks and gratitude instead.

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Pop Stars and Their Demands Backstage

I found this list of backstage demands of Pop Stars on Yahoo and thought them to be so very outrageous and had to share them here.

• Keith Richards: A guitar strap. Chicken sandwiches. Diet Coke. Cigarettes.

• Nirvana: Macaroni cheese.

• Marilyn Manson: Air-conditioning always on full. Gummi bears. Doritos. Microwave popcorn. Bottle of Absinthe. A bald hooker with no teeth.

• Prince: A physician. All food to be covered in clear plastic wrap.

• Frank Sinatra: An ear, nose and throat specialist with the anti-inflammatory drug Decadron.

• Motley Crue: Mayonnaise. Grey Poupon Dijon mustard. Creamy peanut butter. A 12ft-long boa constrictor. A sub-machine gun. Local Alcoholics’ Anonymous meeting schedules.

• David Hasselhoff: Life-size cut-out of David Hasselhoff.

• Sammy Davis Jr: Assortment of groovy chicks.

• Britney Spears: Two boxes of Pop Tarts. Fruit Loops. Cable television. Two 6ft sofas. Odor-free carpet. A phone line.

• Led Zeppellin: Iron. Ironing board.

• Janet Jackson: Chaise lounge. Ten black roses. Male catering staff.

• Beyonce: Pepsi products only. Honey Nut Cheerios. Ginger root. A two-man love seat. Toilet scrubbed with disinfectant. No sweets, chocolate or chips in dressing room.

• Barbra Streisand: Rose petals in toilet.

• Madonna: A new toilet seat. 25 cases of Kabbalah water.

• James Blunt: 120 bottles of beer. 12 bottles of Magners cider. 4 bottles of vodka. 3 bottles of white wine. 2 bottles of champagne.

• Jennifer Lopez: White flowers. White tablecloths. White curtains. White candles. White couches. Low watt light bulbs. Coffee to be stirred counter-clockwise. Skittles.

• Elton John: 74 towels. Flowers (NO chrysanthemums, lilies, carnations or daisies).

• P Diddy: 204 towels. 20 bars of soap. Two bottles of Hennessy cognac. Two bottles of Santa Margherita Pinot Grigio. Two bottles of Veuve Clicquot. A bottle of Dom Perignon. Grey Goose vodka. Boom box. Bouquet of white flowers. Cheddar cheese and sour-cream chips. Sweet Tarts. A $300,000 bullet-proof Maybach.

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Beach Time in January

My BFF and I have agreed that we are going to look for north carolina beach house rentals for us to stay at in January when both of our kids, who are 16 now and will be 17 by the time January rolls around, will be out of school for the MLK holiday, which if I remember correctly is January 18 -21. The rates should be really good considering it will be in the middle of winter and of course we won’t be doing any swimming in the ocean. But there will be plenty of other fun things for us to do besides swimming. Hopefully we can find something that will have a hot tub that we all can enjoy if we feel the need for water.

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Home Made, Make Shift Boarding Stairs For Dad

I’m sorry but I’m just not as knowledgeable about Boarding Stairs as my brothers are at this point. But good grief I can’t even remember the last time I was on a boat or even talked about a boat for that matter. When our father finally got so ill and was having a hard time getting around back in the last years of his life, we all tried to figure out how to afford or to make some make shift Boarding Stairs for him to use to get off and on the numerous boats that we all owned and used and kept in his boat house. The same boat house that he built way before any of us where even thought of. And we did manage to have one built and he used it for several years, it looked so stupid and it stood out like a sore thumb but not a single friend or family member cared one bit as long as it made life easier and more enjoyable for our dad.

He became a land owner early in his life, and his favorite property was the property that he built the log cabin on and was located right on the best water around for his needs and wants. The water is formerly called Buckneer’s Creek, but I can assure you that it in no way resembled a creek. It was perfect for swimming, boating, fishing, crabbing, tubing, canoeing, paddle boating, water skiing, jet skiing, water boarding and any and all other types of water fun you could come up with and it still is. Only thing wrong with the picture is that he isn’t in it any more, but we are so very lucky that we didn’t lose it when he passed on and that we still get to enjoy it year after year. We have a few pictures of the boat with those boarding stairs on it, it still looks awkward but at least you can see a smile on dad’s face there right along side it.

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Breaking In My New Boots

Today was the perfect riding day. I was so thrilled when my bud Mike called and said he was on his way over on his Harley to take me for a nice long ride up the Blue Ridge Parkway. I got a chance to wear my new Motorcycle Riding Boots for the third time, it will take a few more rides to get them really broke in, but they are nice looking and comfortable, so I’m a happy camper so far with them.

I have needed a nice break on the back of a bike, I’m so thankful for my friends that keep me in mind for rides all year round.

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Annie and Her Dogs

I have a dear family friend who lives alone across the river and I try to call her once a week or so to check on her. Annie lost her husband several years in a freak accident, and now she just has the family dog to keep her company. Without going too far into her personal life, I don’t think she will mind if I share this story with you.Annie needs assistance with mobility. She has a chair lift to help her with stair at home and when she goes out of the house she uses an electric scooter. Over the summer she decided to start talking her dear dog for a walk around the block, although that means that the dog is doing the walking by trotting alongside her scooter on the sidewalk.

Although she knows everyone on her own street, by walking around the block she was venturing into uncharted territory, and unfortunately as she rounded a corner with her dog, one of the neighbors from the other street has just chosen to let her dogs run outside without benefit of a leash. Of course, as soon as the neighbor’s dogs saw Annie and her little pooch on the sidewalk they ran over to protect their territory. Poor Annie was frantically trying to rescue her dog and fend off two large rottweilers running full speed at her.

Now that had to be a terrifying moment for both Annie and her little dog. She had no idea how to defend herself and her dog against a vicious dog attack, although she now has read an article about using pepper spray against an animal and knows what to do in the future. She told us later that night that her screams for help were heard throughout the neighborhood and several people did come running. The owner of the rotties as able to drag them back into the house so Annie could safely head back home. However, the owner was not the least bit apologetic and threatened her with obscenities to stay off her street. Now, that is ridiculous – the street is public and the dog owner has the obligation to keep her dogs on a leash or safely contained on her own property.

So Annie has bought several pepper sprays that come on a keyring to carry with her and defend herself in case those same dogs or any strays might come down the street while she is walking her dog. But she will staying on her own street now and we worry that she will be safe.

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My Bucket List Just Keeps Growing

One of the many things on my current “Bucket List” is to go on a Galapagos Cruise. I swear if I ever win the Lottery or find a check in the mail from Ed McMahon telling me that I’ve won the sweepstakes for the direct marketing company of American Family Publishers that we all wish we would win, I wouldn’t waste a minute booking myself and my BFF on the biggest and best of the Galapagos Cruises that I could find.

For those of you that don’t know about the Galapagos they are located about 600 miles in the Pacific Ocean, off of the west coast part of South America and there are over 60 islets and islands that have kept people entertained and scientists busy as ever with all of the native species that this wonderland has to offer. I have a second cousin who just recently returned from her adventure on a Galapagos Cruise Ship and listening to her stories and looking at all the pictures that she has posted on Facebook from that trip just really sparked my curiosity about that area. I sure hope I get the chance to see and do all the things that my cousin did and more!

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Get It Together Dude

A former boy friend got pulled over for drunk driving a few weeks ago. It wasn’t the first time, I’m sad to say, that was one reason that I stopped seeing him, the drinking would get the best of him much of the time, sigh… This time I believe that if he doesn’t get a good Criminal Defense Lawyers to represent him, he may be spending some time behind bars. I’m sure he was driving on a suspended license so I’m sure that this whole episode will cost him a chunk of change as well.

He moved out to California shortly after our break up, which ended pretty badly. His sister and I became fast friends and keep in touch via email on occasion. His latest misfortune has the whole family pretty well shook up, I wish him the best of luck in getting his life in order once and for all.

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Airport Phobia

Wow it has been such a long time since I had anything to do with airplanes and airports, since 911 air travel has become such a hassle that I have completely shied away from flying, as so many other people have done since then. So when my BFF just announced that she will be flying in from Alabama for her niece’s high school graduation and that she needed me to pick her up from the airport, I almost fell over.

Don’t get me wrong I would do anything for my long time BFF (best friends since the 4th grade and still going strong after all these years) but just the thought of all the issues that go along with airports just gets my tummy all in knots. I mean let’s face it the jfk parking issue is enough to get me all in a tizzy much less finding the right terminal. What really freaks me out is if the flight is delayed then what would I do in the mean time? If it was just for a short time, like an hour or two, I could handle that. I would of course bring a book, but I can only sit and read for so long.

What ever it takes I’ll do it, don’t mean to sound like I’m boo hooing about it all. After sitting here thinking and writing about it it does sound pretty petty, never knew I had such an airport phobia……