No Luck at All

Well, it seems I didn't luck out after all. About 5:30 I realized the furnace wasn't working after all. The small blower would come on but then it would never light. I tried calling them back but they were all gone. I left a message. I will call them at 8:00 AM and hope they can come before 9:00 AM. That's when Leslie, Karan, Sheri and I leave for Branson. The house will be cold Sunday afternoon when we get home again otherwise.

Goodbye Thursday

Scott left at 4:00 AM and I got up with him and fixed him a good breakfast before he left. He will drive to a location south of Atlanta to meet up with Becky and then they will drive on to Savannah tomorrow to see Ashley.

She did not get enrolled in her last class so she has lost her G.I. bill rent money. If she doesn't go to college full time the army does not pay the rent. She has a part time job but that does not pay the rent. I don't know what she will do now. She had a hard time finding that part time job. She should have got completely enrolled as soon as enrollment opened. She has an internship in surgery but she needs scrubs and she doesn't have the money for them. Scott can't help her. He's already making her car payment and her mother is paying for her car insurance. He leaves for Germany on the 9th.

I leave in the morning for Branson for the weekend. Bob A. will feed my animals while we are gone.

Keith seems happy. He has a new girlfriend. They are doing things together and that makes him happy. I am delighted he is happy to have someone to share things with. I only hope he doesn't rush into another relationship or marriage.

Leslie is the really staple one. She has been married over 35 years to the same man and she always seems to have her life together.

This computer crashed twice yesterday, I hope Keith can fix it when he comes. One of these days it may not reboot. I ran diskchek again yesterday.

Now my furnace is not lighting and I have called in a repair man. I was assured it would be 3:30 before they would get to me and while I went to visit Phyllis at the nursing home, they came. Now it will be 3:30 again. Oh well!

He came about noon and it was only a loose wire. So I lucked out.

Very Busy Wednesday

This morning I went to Independence again to get my hair cut. Scott went with me and got his cut too. Then we took Leslie's intellimover Cd out to her. After that, we decided to drive to Fort Scott and pick up Becky's van so Scott could drive to Atlanta and meet her for her birthday.

Then we came back home. We stopped at a Sirloin Stockade at Parsons and had lunch. We stopped at Brahms later and had a small chocolate chip milk shake.

Later we went back out to Wal Mart and bought an Atlas. Then we mapped his route to go get Becky. They will than go to Savannah to see Ashley before he leaves because he will be in Germany for two years.

So it was an exhausting day but not near as exhausting as his will be tomorrow. He is going to drive her old farm van to south of Atlanta to a little town south of Macon.

Scott bought a new digital camera yesterday and I took this photo of him at the dining room table.

Busy Day

I mowed this morning while Scott went to work out. We didn't eat breakfast and he didn't eat lunch either. he says he has no appetite. Leslie and I shared a lunch.

Then I went to the bank and got Bob's name taken off the savings, checking and IRA accounts. Now I need to have Leslie go in and sign the paperwork to get her name on them. She needs to be listed as beneficiary on the mortgage.

We came back home after that and Scott is researching how to get to Savannah to see Ashley before he leaves on the 9th.

More later...

Scott's Here

Late last night, Scott came in. He caught a ride from a man who was at Fort Smith who was coming this way. He will stay until Thursday afternoon. Then I will take him to Fort Scott where he will meet Becky again. We will go to Bartlesville today so he can get the ring he bought for Becky sized. Then we will eat at Garfield's and go see Secretariat at the movies there.

Scott likes to stay busy while he is here. He bores easily.

I have already fed the animals and have yet to take Slinky for his walk. I will do that when it gets light.

My neighbors on the east had a huge auction yesterday and sold all their furniture and are preparing to move to Georgia where the other child, a daughter, lives. I am happy they plan to move because they don't keep their yard up and it is only mowed when it is ready to be baled. My only concern is who will buy their house. Will they do any better?

We went to Bartlesville today and Scott bought a pair of Docker pants. I bought two pair of jeans (buy one get one free) and a jacket for $16.00 off the regular price.

We ate at Garfield's and then came home. Scott took a nap and I finished my book. Then we went to Independence to see Secretariat...a great movie.

Letter to the Editor

Before the November elections, someone needs to set the record straight. It has been said that the health care reform bill is illegal because it requires every American to buy health care. There has also been some controversy about whether it is legal for the government to require everyone to buy health care. It certainly must be. We are all required to carry auto insurance and we don't object to that because we realize that if we are involved in an auto accident, we want to be sure both parties have insurance. The problem with the health insurance law is that there is no public option included. We Republicans and a few Democrats insisted on omiting that part of the president's plan. Having no public option allows the insurance companies to raise their rates to astronomical heights and rake in more billions of dollars in profits.

And as for raising taxes: The plan to not renew the Bush tax cuts is only going to affect the top 2% of taxpayers. None of the middle class or the poor will even be affected. Only twice before in American history has so much been held by so few, and the gap between them and the great majority been such a chasm -- the late 1920s, and the era of the robber barons in the 1880s. And yet the Bush tax cuts of 2001 and 2003, which conferred almost all their benefits on the rich, continue. Unfortunately, Democrats have decided to delay voting on whether to extend them for the top 2 percent of Americans or for the bottom 98 percent until after the mid-term elections. In my opinion, that is a serious mistake.

Consider this: income in America is now more concentrated in fewer hands than it’s been in 80 years. Almost a quarter of total income generated in the United States is going to the top 1 percent of Americans. The top one-tenth of one percent of Americans now earn as much as the bottom 120 million of us. Much of the income of the highest earners is treated as capital gains, anyway — subject to a 15 percent tax. The typical hedge-fund and private-equity manager paid only 17 percent last year. Their earnings were not exactly modest. The top 15 hedge-fund managers earned an average of $1 billion. So, do we want the very rich to pay their fair share? Certainly!

And do we really want another Republican governor in Kansas who helped confer these very benefits on these very rich or another Republican in the Senate or House to bottleneck all legislation? This is the scariest time in American history.

I think not!

Scott Comes Today

Scott will be coming this evening and will stay until Friday morning early. It's the last I will see of him for two years. He is deploying to Germany.

I will make my coffee cake this morning to take to church. There will probably be quite a bit left so I will give some to Leslie to take home to Jeromy and John and bring some home for Scott too.

He wants to go to Bartlesville tomorrow to get a ring sized for Becky. Becky will be in Georgia. Then we will eat at Garfield's and go see a movie. Scott always wants to do things when he is here. He's not much for sitting around.

This is sweater weather. I got out a sweater this morning and it feels very good.

I'd better feed the animals now. More later...

After church. Five of us went to Independence and ate at the Railroad Inn. It was very good and I didn't eat much the rest of the day. Well, to tell the truth, I had a cookie and a Brahm's yogurt.

I read this afternoon and also watched some TV. When I went to feed the cats, I found I was completely out of cat food. I wanted to watch 60 Minutes so i waited until after that show to make a run to the Dollar general store. There I found Missy/Inky's cat food at a good price. Now they won't be nipping me around the ankles tomorrow.