Monday after a No-Seahawks Sunday

It is 3:30 in the morning, and I should be sleeping.  I go in for my eye check up this afternoon, and my eyes are going to be tired and may thus test as weaker than they really are.  I am worried that I may get glasses that will end up too strong for what I actually need.  I will have to tell Dr. Lin what I have done.  I really like him.  He is young and handsome and of Korean descent.

I was not very good about getting anything done this weekend.  The leaves are not yet off the trees, and yet we are being bombarded by winter-type rains.  Poor Bremerton (and actually US, I think) were soaked in SIX INCHES of rain in 48 hours.  It is a new record, according to Channel 4’s Steve Pool, whom I like and follow for weather news.  At any rate, it was certainly not conducive to being very productive—not even to being particularly active!

I was tickled to receive a check from my dahling son—overpayment for shipping charges for the gazoodles of gold ornaments I got in the mail last week, so I got that deposited to the Credit Union account today.  I have the remaining gold ornaments that I intend to keep for future trees still in the car, but I didn’t take them to storage due to the pouring rain.  I didn’t want to let all of that moisture into the units.

Garbage was collected this morning, so Sunday night—in the pouring rain--I had to push the cans to the street.  Also had to go next door to push down Doris’ can—still in the pouring rain, and the darkness.  I need to tell her if she won’t leave her porch light on, I’m not going to do that any more.  That driveway is equally steep as mine and I don’t want to fall.  Her darned kids will be there on Sunday and still leave that chore to me.  I am slowly learning to resent them and I am ashamed of myself.  Walking across my yard to her driveway, I am painfully aware of all the fallen leaves that are becoming a carpet of sogginess that will not be good for my plants if they are allowed to stay there.  I have to wait for a few days of dryness to make them “blowable” with the leaf blower.

I also have to go to Home Depot (after payday) to get a bottle of spray on Moss Out for my roof.  While it *looked* all cleared off after Tyler swept off the old moss, the minute the rain hit, the remaining spores or seeds or whatever it is that makes moss grow, sprung back to life, and the north side of my roof is already tinged green.  Last week, while walking Little Man at Home Depot (to be out of the rain) I sought out the Moss Out aisle and discovered the bottled stuff that Stan had told me about when I lived in the big house.  It will take a week of dry weather to do any good.  I don’t know if that is anywhere in my future from what we are experiencing right now.

I’ve been sleeping on the daybed again this week, and last night I put Poco in his crate and closed his door so that I could have a whole twin bed to myself.  He was incredibly insulted and was talking to me through his door to come out and sleep with me at 3 a.m.  I ignored him till about 7-ish.  He was delighted to be free!  He does not like that door closed.  He will go to his fuzzy bed in the crate and nap there every now and again—but the door is always open and he can come and go at will.

I just finished my 2nd beer in a week’s time.  I have not been able to drink beer all my life—just hated the taste.  But research is showing that one beer or one glass of wine per day is good for women in various studies.  I can drink wine if it is a small glass and if it has some sweetness to it, otherwise I get a headache.  I wanted to learn to like beer to have with pizza.  I have found that I actually like Miller High Life.  It must be a very poor quality of beer for me to like it.  LOL  I wanted to find a Light beer, so will see if this comes in a Light next time I am shopping.

I am trying to learn to eat more beans.  Because of the gassiness, I have not enjoyed them in the past.   And I only liked them in the past if they were cooked with onions and ham hocks.  Now I am trying to include them in salads and soups.  I need more fiber.  I am very happy with the regularity I get from 400 mg of Magnesium, but I know more fiber would be better for me.

I had a posting on my FB page tonight that Hostess may not be going out of business immediately after all.  I hope not, for the sake of all the workers.  It may make their holiday season a lot happier.

I had a nice call from Richard tonight.  I was a little distracted because he called while Dancing With the Stars was on and some of the competition dances were going on.  He has a very original idea about how he wants to do the tree, and I hope it turns out smashingly for him.  He is the original Grinch when it comes to Christmas.  He told me that his goal is to get his Christmas decorations down to 1 box.  Sheesh.  It takes one box for just my Christmas cards!

It isn’t even Thanksgiving, and I have been playing Christmas music already and thinking about how to decorate my yard this year.  I am so much a Spirit of Christmas, but in a secular way.  I know that I am going to start looking for my Christmas sweaters this week!

My beer has made me sleepy, so at 4 a.m. I am going to try to sleep.  I hope I succeed!  I have a lot to do today.

MORE FACEBOOK POSTS FOR MY NON-FACEBOOK FRIENDS

October 21, 2012

Isn't it funny how your mental state and physical health can affect the way you see your environment? Just a few days ago I was so happy to see the first rain and was exclaiming about the "freshly washed leaves." After 2 full weeks fighting this blasted cold and doing the forced yard work when I was feeling so weak totally changed what I saw today. Everything looked soaked, and the leaves are more brown and drab now. It is chillier and there is a bite in the wind. I didn't see any beauty at all. My eyes saw winter.

 

My post about the Romney non-serving sons when their mother equated serving a Mormon Mission with serving in the military:

Sometimes one can hide behind "Thou shalt not kill" because it also means "Thou shalt not die." If you TRULY believe in not killing, why do you want a "formidable armed forces?"

Republican trick or treater

Sorry the print is so miniscule.  My program doesn’t allow me to decide how large the image will be.  It decides for me.  Sighhhhh

October 19th

I just went to a site where we could drop a comment predicting the next debate between Obama and Romney. The hatred was dripping. I could not stand it another minute, so I replied. I hope at least ONE of them will take it to heart. I doubt that they will. But I had to try...........

This is so incredibly sad. I spent a lifetime trying to teach children to seek the truth and be sure of the facts, to make good decisions for themselves because mama and papa would not be there forever to take care of them. Then to see these posts--so full of assumptions and opinions and so little facts. It appears that the teaching was a complete failure. Some of these posts come from the heart, but I don't know where the others originate. I had no idea there was this much anger and hatred walking the streets of our country. This is outright scary!

Obama has done all one man could do in his short term--and he was completely handicapped by the opposition who refused to even negotiate. NO ONE MAN can be responsible for all that the opposition wants to blame him for. In baseball, they blame the Pitcher, but there are 9 men on the team. In football, they blame the Quarterback, but there are 11 men on the field for each play. In government, they blame the President, but there are TWO HOUSES OF CONGRESS who can stop him dead in his tracks. The Republicans were willing to SHUT DOWN THE COUNTRY rather than negotiate. IMO, they should be charged with treason. You don't need guns to destroy a country. The House Republicans are living proof.

Romney has said that he will create new jobs when he is President, but he KNOWS that NO SINGLE MAN can do anything that powerful. The best he can do is provide ideas. His rich cronies are sitting on the hundreds of millions of dollars that went to bail out the banking industry, watching the middle class squirm in agony. The economy would be in mid-recovery if they would lend that money out, but INTEREST RATES ARE TOO LOW for them to continue to rape the middle class as they have over the past decade. So they play on their yachts and in their European and Asian vacation homes, while here in the USA hundreds of people each month are still losing their homes or falling deeper and deeper into debt while they wait for a job.

The Republicans said the reason for blocking the bill to give Americans jobs was "to cut spending." That bill should have been called THE JOBS BILL. That's what it was. This was money that would have gone TO the PEOPLE. It would have been spent IN the ECONOMY. It would have rebuilt failing roads and bridges and would have put thousands of people to work. The same can be said about the bill to provide help to returning veterans, but the Republicans have tunnel vision--and apparently, no hearts.

It is easy to call us "bleeding heart liberals" because we care for our fellow man, but as a Christian, that was what I was taught Jesus wanted me to do. I am on Social Security and I would not benefit from any of the cuts Romney wants to initiate. I do not have a portfolio. I am not concerned with interest and gains. Not a lot of us are. And yes, I am one of the 47% he is willing to disregard because--paraphrasing his own terms--I don't count to him.

I am white, but I am happier about the Obamas in the White House than I have been about any First Family before them. I cannot relate to millionaire Presidents--and they cannot relate to me or any of the people I know. I hope all of you who are so viciously angry at him will take some time to think about what a single man can do. Look at the fact that Bin Laden is DEAD. Look at the fact that the government is trying to keep us safe. Hug your loved ones, and "do unto others as you would have them do unto you." If you can do that, we can come out of this okay. If you can't, we are in real trouble.

POTUS has achieved an amazing amount in his first term!

Tonight was the 3rd of the Presidential debates, and I am happy to see that the media surveys indicate that the country saw it as I did—an Obama win.  After the debate, I was bopping around on the Liberal sites, looking for stuff I have missed, and I found this very complete posting of everything Obama managed to achieve during his first tern.  I saved it, but files can get lost, so I am going to post it here in hopes that Google will have better luck!

I have seen a summary of these activities posted on a liberal site that posted to my FaceBook page, but this is the first time I have seen this full list.  I had NO IDEA that he had achieved so MUCH.  I have read it word for word twice, and I will read it again in the daylight when I am (supposedly) more alert.

In the meantime, I am going to Romney’s home page to see what he says his plan is for the cuts he will make in deductions.  I have to figure my taxes by short form, so I have no deductions, but it will make a difference to Dick and I don’t want to see him suffer when Mittens said he was going to close the loops for upper income people.  He is such a liar.

I hope POTUS is sleeping well tonight.  He was superb in Florida!

…………………………………………………………………………………..A LONG List of President Obama’s Accomplishments – With Citations
Posted by Milt Shook
Republished with permission from PleaseCutTheCrap.typepad.com

If you’re one of those folks who thinks President Obama is a “disappointment,” you haven’t been paying attention the last few years. And those of you who try to draw comparisons with the Bush Administration should put away the hallucinogens and have your memory checked.  If you were in a coma for the eight Bush Years, I apologize and forgive you. But please join the real world. So far, this president has done most of what he said he would do if elected; imagine what he could have done by now if progressives had supported him and not given him a Congress that doesn’t look at him as if he’s the demon seed.

Not only is he NOT a “disappointment,” he’s pretty much the opposite. And no, I don’t just say that because he took out Osama bin Laden, helped Libya determine their own destiny for the first time in a while, and because he seems able to handle international incidents without starting a new war. The guy does nearly everything we elect a president to do, and he doesn’t brag about it constantly.

Is he perfect? No, he’s human. Does he deserve some criticism? I suppose, but I must admit I haven’t seen any complaints that were of based on anything having to do with the real world. One I can’t forgive him for is pulling Janet Napolitano out of Arizona. But the thing is, on balance, he’s mostly stellar. Besides, criticism about certain specific problems is one thing; taking on an overall “Obama sucks” meme not only has the potential to put Willard Romney into power, it’s also a lie. Just because you wanted a president who would give you a glitter-farting unicorn and didn’t quite get that doesn’t mean he’s not doing well at the job we hired him for.
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What follows is a PARTIAL list of Obama’s accomplishments so far. Unlike many such lists, there is a link to a citation supporting every single one.

Legislative Prowess............................................................................................

Despite the characterizations of some, Obama’s success rate in winning congressional votes on issues was an unprecedented 96.7% for his first year in office.  Though he is often cited as superior to Obama, President Lyndon Johnson’s success rate in 1965 was only 93%.   http://n.pr/i3d7cY

Fiscal Responsibility.......................................................................................

Within days after taking office, he signed an Executive Order ordering an audit of government contracts, and combating waste and abuse.   http://1.usa.gov/dUvbu5
Created the post of Chief Performance Officer, whose job it is to make operations more efficient to save the federal government money.   http://n.pr/hcgBn1
On his first full day, he froze White House salaries.  http://on.msnbc.com/ewJUIx
He appointed the first Federal Chief Information Officer to oversee federal IT spending. http://www.cio.gov
He committed to phasing out unnecessary and outdated weapons systems, and also signed the Weapons Systems Acquisition Reform Act to stop waste, fraud and abuse in the defense procurement and contracting system.  http://bit.ly/hOw1t1     http://bit.ly/fz8GAd
Through an executive order, he created the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform.  http://bit.ly/hwKhKa

Improving the Economy, Preventing Depression.............................................

He pushed through and signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, otherwise known as “the stimulus package,” despite the fact that not one Republican voted for that bill. In addition, he launched recovery.gov, so that taxpayers could track spending from the Act.   http://1.usa.gov/ibiFSs   http://1.usa.gov/e3BJMk
In his first year, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act created and sustained 2.1 million jobs and stimulated the economy 3.5%.  http://reut.rs/i46CEE
He completed the massive TARP financial and banking rescue plan, and recovered virtually all of its costs.   http://1.usa.gov/eA5jVS   http://bit.ly/eCNrD6
He created the Making Home Affordable home refinancing plan.  http://1.usa.gov/goy6zl
He oversaw the creation of more jobs in 2010 alone than Bush did in eight years. http://bit.ly/hrrnjY
He oversaw a bailout of General Motors that saved at least 1.4 million jobs, and put pressure on the company to change its practices, resulting in GM returning to its place as the top car company in the world.  http://lat.ms/zIJuQx
He also doubled funding for the Manufacturing Extension Partnership which is designed to improve manufacturing efficiency.  http://bit.ly/eYD4nf
He signed the Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act giving  the federal government more tools to investigate and prosecute fraud in every corner of the financial system. It also created a bipartisan Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission to investigate the financial fraud that led to the economic meltdown.  http://abcn.ws/g18Fe7
He signed the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure (CARD) Act, which was designed to protect consumers from unfair and deceptive credit card practices.  http://1.usa.gov/gIaNcS
He increased infrastructure spending after years of neglect. http://bit.ly/f77aOw
He  signed the Helping Families Save Their Homes Act, expanding on the Making Home Affordable Program to help millions of Americans avoid preventable foreclosures. The bill also provided $2.2 billion to help combat homelessness, and to stabilize the housing market.  http://bit.ly/eEpLFn
Through the Worker, Home Ownership, and Business Assistance Act of 2009, he and Congressional Democrats provided tax credits to first-time home buyers, which helped the U.S. housing market recovery.   http://bit.ly/dZgXXw   http://bit.ly/gORYfL
He initiated a $15 billion plan designed to encourage increased lending to small businesses.
http://1.usa.gov/eu0u0b
He created business.gov, which allows for online collaboration between small businesses and experts re managing a business. (The program has since merged with SBA.gov.)   http://www.business.gov
He played a lead role in getting the G-20 Summit to commit to a $1.1 trillion deal to combat the global financial crisis.   http://nyti.ms/gHlgp5
He took steps to improve minority access to capital. http://bit.ly/f9xVE7
He created a $60 billion bank to fund infrastructure improvements such as roads and bridges. http://bit.ly/e1SSaQ
He implemented an auto industry rescue plan, and saved as many as 1 million jobs.  http://bit.ly/ibhpxr   Many are of the opinion that he saved the entire auto industry, and even the economy of the entire Midwest. http://bit.ly/gj7mt5
Through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, he saved at least 300,000 education jobs, such as teachers, principals, librarians, and counselors that would have otherwise been lost.   http://1.usa.gov/ez30Dc
He dismantled the Minerals Management Service, thereby moving forward to cut ties between energy companies and the government. http://nyti.ms/bw1MLu
Provided funding to states and the Department of Homeland Security to save thousands of police and firefighter jobs from being cut during the recession.  http://bit.ly/g0IKWR
He used recovered TARP money to fund programs at local housing finance agencies in California, Florida, Nevada, Arizona and Michigan.   http://on.msnbc.com/i1i8eV
Crafted an Executive order establishing the President’s Advisory Council on Financial Capability to assist in financial education for all Americans. http://bit.ly/eyqsNE

Wall Street Reforms and Consumer Protection.............................................

Ordered 65 executives who took bailout money to cut their own pay until they paid back all bailout money.  http://huff.to/eAi9Qq
He pushed through and got passed Dodd-Frank, one of the largest and most comprehensive Wall Street reforms since the Great Depression.  http://bit.ly/hWCPg0   http://bit.ly/geHpcD
Dodd-Frank also included the creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau http://1.usa.gov/j5onG
He made it so that banks could no longer use YOUR money to invest in high-risk financial instruments that work against their own customers’ interests.  http://bit.ly/fnTayj
He supported the concept of allowing stockholders to vote on executive compensation. http://bit.ly/fnTayj
He wholly endorsed and supported the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act of 2009 that would close offshore tax avoidance loopholes.  http://bit.ly/esOdfB    http://bit.ly/eG4DPM
He made a deal with Swiss banks that permits the US government to gain access to the records of criminals and  tax evaders.  http://bit.ly/htfDgw
He established a Consumer Protection Financial Bureau designed to protect consumers from financial sector excesses.  http://bit.ly/fnTayj
He oversaw and then signed the most sweeping food safety legislation since the Great Depression.  http://thedc.com/gxkCtP

Civil Rights and Anti-Discrimination................................................................

He advocated for and signed the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, which made it a federal crime to assault anyone based on his or her sexual orientation or gender identity. http://bit.ly/gsMSJ7
He pushed through, signed and demanded the Pentagon enact a repeal of the discriminatory “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” policy that forced soldiers to lie to fight for their country, and put our troops at risk by disqualifying many qualified soldiers from helping.  http://bit.ly/fdahuH http://bit.ly/mZV4Pz
He appointed Kareem Dale as the first ever Special Assistant to the President for Disability Policy.  http://1.usa.gov/fi5IY0
Helped Congress pass and signed the Civil Rights History Act. http://bit.ly/th0JC8
He extended benefits to same-sex partners of federal employees.  http://1.usa.gov/g2RLCj
He’s appointed more openly gay officials than anyone in history.  http://bit.ly/g1lA7D
He issued a Presidential Memorandum reaffirming the rights of gay couples to make medical decisions for each other. http://1.usa.gov/aUueGT
He established a White House Council on Women and Girls  http://1.usa.gov/rFfqMM
He signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, restoring basic protections against pay discrimination for women and other workers. This was after the GOP blocked the bill in 2007. Only 5 Republican Senators voted for the bill.   http://bit.ly/fT3Cxg
Wrote and signed an Executive Order establishing a White House Council on Women and Girls to ensure that all Cabinet and Cabinet-level agencies evaluate the effect of their policies and programs on women and families.    http://bit.ly/e1puTk
He expanded funding for the Violence Against Women Act. http://1.usa.gov/dSbI0x
Under his watch, National Labor Relations Board has issued final rules that require all employers to prominently post employees’ rights where all employees or prospective employees can see it, including websites and intranets, beginning November 2011.  http://1.usa.gov/qu2EhQ

Fighting Poverty...........................................................................................

He provided  a $20 billion increase for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (Food Stamps). http://nyti.ms/gfLqyM
He signed an Executive Order that established the White House Office of Urban Affairs.  http://wapo.st/eWECA8

Improved Foreign Relations and American Status Abroad.........................

He visited more countries and met with more world leaders than any previous president during his first six months in office.   http://bit.ly/hZycda
As he promised, he gave a speech at a major Islamic forum in Cairo early in his administration. http://nyti.ms/dKvY4g
He did much to restore America’s reputation around the world as a global leader that does the “right thing” in world affairs, at least according to the rest of the planet.   http://bit.ly/h743y7  http://bit.ly/ho4TCr
He re-established and reinforced our partnership with NATO and other allies on strategic international issues.  http://1.usa.gov/e7QuDj
Closed a number of secret detention facilities. http://nyti.ms/rpUc9l
He improved relations with Middle East countries by appointing special envoys. http://1.usa.gov/tiGAGe
He pushed for military to emphasize development of foreign language skills. http://bit.ly/AxUCLV
Offered $400 million to the people living in Gaza, called on both Israel and the Palestinians to stop inciting violence. http://bit.ly/9axfWh
He refused to give Israel the green light to attack Iran over their possible nuclear program. http://bit.ly/xVmSZK
He worked to make donations to Haiti tax-deductible in 2009.  http://huff.to/6YkAVY
He established a new U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue.   http://1.usa.gov/eX28DP
Issued Executive Order blocking interference and helping to stabilize Somalia.  http://1.usa.gov/hxdf8U
He established new, more reasonable policies in our relations with Cuba, such as allowing Cuban-Americans to visit their families and send money to support them.  http://n.pr/hY3Kwa   http://nyti.ms/emQBde
He ordered the closure of the prison at Guantanamo Bay. It was Republicans (and a smattering of Democrats) who prevented him from following through.  http://bit.ly/eW6CVF
Ordered a review of our detention and interrogation policy, and prohibited the use of torture, or what Bush called “enhanced interrogation.” He ordered interrogators to limit their actions to the Army Field manual.  http://bit.ly/g6MTuC
He ordered all secret detention facilities in Eastern Europe and elsewhere to be closed.  http://bbc.in/h6N9ax
He released the Bush torture memos.  http://bit.ly/hWJ5z0
On his second day in office, he signed a detailed Executive Order that banned torture, reversed all  Bush torture policies, and put the United States in compliance with the Geneva Convention.  http://1.usa.gov/dL6Zve    http://nyti.ms/hzWWys
In response to the emerging “Arab Spring,” he created a Rapid Response fund, to assist emerging democracies with foreign aid, debt relief, technical assistance and investment packages in order to show that the United States stands with them. http://bit.ly/zfmGv9
Passed the Iran Sanctions Act, to prevent war, and to encourage Iran to give up their nuclear program. http://1.usa.gov/wLtNjb
Ended the Iraq War…http://tgr.ph/ru0tyS
He authorized and oversaw a secret mission by SEAL Team Six to rescue two hostages held by Somali pirates. http://bit.ly/y8c9Fz

Better Approach to “Defense”.....................................................................

Created a comprehensive new strategy for dealing with the international nuclear threat.  http://1.usa.gov/gDX1nE
He authorized a $1.4 billion reduction in Star Wars program in 2010. http://1.usa.gov/gLFZl2
He restarted nuclear nonproliferation talks and built up the nuclear inspection infrastructure/protocols to where they had been before Bush.   http://lat.ms/gkcl3i
He signed and pushed to ratification a new SALT Treaty.  http://bit.ly/f3JVtw
Negotiated and signed a new START Treaty that will last until at least 2021.  http://1.usa.gov/cI1bC4
Through the Defense Authorization Act, he reversed the Bush Administration and committed to no permanent military bases in Iraq.   http://bit.ly/hk73OJ
He developed the first comprehensive strategy with regard to Afghanistan and Pakistan designed to facilitate the defeat of al Qaeda and the withdrawal of most troops, as well as the rebuilding of Afghanistan. http://wapo.st/ee4Xcs
He returned our focus to Afghanistan, stabilized the country, and began the process of withdrawing our troops. http://bit.ly/lNXUna
Fulfilled campaign promise and ended our involvement in Iraq, and will complete full troop withdrawal before Christmas 2011. http://onforb.es/nTUk4Z
He took steps to severely weaken al Qaeda and limited their ability to terrorize the world.  http://yhoo.it/n5lXs6
He negotiated and signed a nuclear nonproliferation treaty with India. http://1.usa.gov/aHp0Cn
He took decisive action to use NATO to limit the slaughter of innocents in Libya, so that the Libyan people could topple a despotic government and determine their own fate.  http://aje.me/qAh4Sj

****************Treating  Soldiers and Veterans with Respect**************
1. He made sure that families of fallen soldiers could be on hand when the body arrives at Dover AFB, by providing funding for it.  He also ended the media blackout on coverage of the return of fallen soldiers.http://nyti.ms/glqN66   http://bbc.in/gWSSkA
2. He funded Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) with an extra $1.4 billion to improve veterans’ services. http://1.usa.gov/huhqfo
3. He provided the troops with better body armor.  http://bit.ly/hzSv2h
4. Created the Joint Virtual Lifetime Electronic Record program for military personnel, in order  to improve the quality of their medical care.  http://1.usa.gov/f4yaxW
5. He put an end to the Bush-era stop-loss policy that kept soldiers in Iraq/Afghanistan beyond their enlistment date. (personal note: my son will be in harm’s way for six fewer months with Obama as president, so you know I love this one). http://nyti.ms/e2YQ7Q
6. He supported and signed the Veterans Health Care Budget Reform and Transparency Act, which made more money available to enable better medical care for veterans.  http://1.usa.gov/fN4ur1
7. He ushered through the largest spending increase in 30 years for the Department of Veterans Affairs for improved medical facilities, and to assist states in acquiring or constructing state nursing homes and extended care facilities.     http://1.usa.gov/gY8O3x
8. He created the Green Vet Initiative, which provided special funding to the Labor Department to provide veterans with training in green jobs.  http://bit.ly/epwUQY
9. He oversaw a $4.6 billion expansion of the Veterans Administration budget to pay for more mental health professionals.  http://bit.ly/gjzTxX
*************************************************************************************

Education

He has repeatedly increased funding for student financial aid, and at the same time cut the banks completely out of the process.   http://bit.ly/gYWd30   http://bit.ly/e9c7Dr   http://bit.ly/eEzTNq
Completely reformed the student loan program, to make it possible for students to refinance at a lower rate.   http://nyti.ms/dMvHOt
Through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act , he invested heavily in elementary, secondary and post-secondary education.   http://1.usa.gov/gGRIAr   This includes a major expansion of broadband availability in K-12 schools nationwide   http://bit.ly/fNDcj3 , as well as an expansion in school construction.  http://bit.ly/fYwNrV
Also through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, he put $5 billion into early education, including Head Start. http://1.usa.gov/tzT2Rr
Signed the Post-9/11 GI Bill, also known as GI Bill 2.0 http://bit.ly/hPhG7J
He oversaw expansion of the Pell Grants program, to expand opportunity for low-income students to go to college.  http://bit.ly/hI6tXz
He passed the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, which provided an extra $12.2 billion in funds.  http://1.usa.gov/dQvtUe

Greater Transparency and Better Government..................................

He signed an order banning gifts from lobbyists to anyone in the Executive Branch. http://bit.ly/fsBACN
He signed an order banning anyone from working in an agency they had lobbied in previous years. He also put strict limits on lobbyists’ access to the White House.   http://nyti.ms/gOrznV
He held the first-ever first online town hall from the White House, and took questions from the public. http://bit.ly/gVNSgX
The Obama White House became the first to stream every White House event, live. http://1.usa.gov/kAgOP5
He established a central portal for Americans to find service opportunities.  http://www.serve.gov
He provided the first voluntary disclosure of the White House Visitors Log in history. http://1.usa.gov/hQ7ttV
He crafted an Executive Order on Presidential Records, which restored the 30-day time frame for former presidents to review records, and eliminated the right for the vice president or family members of former presidents to do the reviews. This will provide the public with greater access to historic  White House documents, and severely curtails the ability to use executive privilege to shield them.
http://1.usa.gov/gUetLb
He improved aspects of the Freedom of Information Act, and issued new guidelines to make FOIA more open and transparent in the processing of FOIA requests.   http://1.usa.gov/gjrnp2

National Safety and Security......................................................................

He’s restored federal agencies such as FEMA to the point that they have been able to manage a huge number of natural  disasters successfully.   http://bit.ly/h8Xj7z
Authorized Navy SEALS to successfully secure the release of a US captain held by Somali pirates and increased patrols off the Somali coast. http://nyti.ms/efBO7B
Has repeatedly beefed up border security http://bit.ly/mMYB4i

****Ordered and oversaw the Navy SEALS operation that killed Osama bin Laden. http://bit.ly/jChpgw

Science, Technology and Health Care......................................................

He created a Presidential Memorandum to restore scientific integrity in government decision-making.
http://1.usa.gov/g2SDuw
Opened up the process for fast-tracking patent approval for green energy projects.  http://bit.ly/j0KV2U
He eliminated the Bush-era restrictions on embryonic stem cell research. He also provided increased federal support for biomedical and stem cell research.   http://bit.ly/h36SSO    http://ti.me/edezge
Through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, he committed more federal funding, about $18 billion, to support non-defense science and research labs.  http://nyti.ms/fTs9t7
He signed the Christopher and Dana Reeve Paralysis Act, the first comprehensive attempt to improve the lives of Americans living with paralysis.  http://bit.ly/fOi2rb
He expanded the Nurse-Family Partnership program, which provides home visits by trained registered nurses to low-income expectant mothers and their families, to cover more first-time mothers. http://bit.ly/jRRRJc
His EPA reversed research ethics standards which allowed humans to be used as “guinea pigs” in tests of the effects of chemicals, to comply with numerous codes of medical ethics.  http://bit.ly/bKgqdS
Conducted a cyberspace policy review.   http://1.usa.gov/gmbdvC
Provided financial support for private sector space programs. http://bit.ly/fn8ucr
He oversaw enhanced earth mapping, to provide valuable data for agricultural, educational, scientific, and government use.   http://bit.ly/dNTRyP
He ushered through a bill that authorized the Food and Drug Administration to regulate tobacco products.  http://on.msnbc.com/fiKViB As a result,  the FDA has Ordered Tobacco Companies to Disclose Cigarette Ingredients and banned sale of cigarettes falsely labeled as “light.”
Through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, he provided $500 million for Health Professions Training Programs.  http://bit.ly/ecQSgA
He also increased funding for community-based prevention programs.  http://bit.ly/frMPG3
He oversaw a 50% decrease in cost of prescription drugs for seniors. http://bit.ly/e5b1iq    http://1.usa.gov/fVNkt9
He eliminated the Bush-era practice of forbidding Medicare from negotiating with drug companies on price. http://bit.ly/fOkG5b
Two weeks after taking office, he signed the Children’s Health Insurance Re-authorization Act, which increased the number of children covered by health insurance by 4 million.   http://bit.ly/fDEzGv
He held a quick press conference, and urged Congress to investigate Anthem Blue Cross for raising premiums 39% without explanation. Rep. Waxman responded by launching a probe, and Anthem Blue Cross put the increase on hold for two months.    http://yhoo.it/e8Tj9C
Ushered through and signed the Affordable Health Care Act, which expanded health insurance coverage to 30 million more people,  and ended many common insurance company practices that are often detrimental  to those with coverage.  He also established  http://www.healthcare.gov/
Through the Affordable Health Care Act, he allowed children to be covered under their parents’ policy until they turned 26.  http://nyti.ms/fNB26V
Through the Affordable Health Care Act, he provided tax breaks to allow 3.5 million small business to provide health insurance to their employees, and 29 million people will receive tax breaks to help them afford health insurance.  http://nyti.ms/fNB26V
Through the Affordable Health Care Act, he expanded Medicaid to those making up to 133% of the federal poverty level. http://nyti.ms/ekMWpo
Through the Affordable Health Care Act, health insurance companies now have to disclose how much of your premium actually goes to pay for patient care.  http://nyti.ms/fNB26V
Provisions in the Affordable Health Care Act have already resulted in Medicare costs actually declining slightly this fiscal year, for the first time in many years, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Last year’s increase was 4%. Compare that to the average 12% annual inflation rate during the previous 40 years. http://1.usa.gov/oMxpTh

Strengthening the Middle Class and Families.........................................

He worked to provide affordable, high-quality child care to working families.   http://bit.ly/fNfidS
He cracked down on companies that were previously denying sick pay, vacation and health insurance, and Social Security and Medicare tax payments through abuse of the employee classification of independent contractor.   http://nyti.ms/fOGLcj
Through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act , he cut taxes for 95% of America’s working families.   http://bit.ly/eSEI4F
Under Obama, tax rates for average working families are the lowest they’ve been since 1950.  http://bit.ly/f74pD8
He extended and fully funded the patch for the Alternative Minimum Tax for 10 years. http://bit.ly/eFeSdP
He extended discounted COBRA health coverage for the unemployed from 9 months to 15 months, and he’s extended unemployment benefits several times.  http://aol.it/evtVxD   http://nyti.ms/emrqKJ    http://bit.ly/hOtIpg    http://bit.ly/fTT7kz

Environment and Energy...................................................................

He fast-tracked regulations to allow states to enact federal fuel efficiency standards that were above federal standards.    http://nyti.ms/e8e94x
He fast-tracked increased fuel economy standards for vehicles beginning with the 2011 model year. It was the first time such standards had been increased in a decade.   http://politi.co/hiaPKM
He oversaw the establishment of an Energy Partnership for the Americas, which creates more markets for American-made biofuels and green energy technologies. http://bit.ly/lZp73y
His EPA reversed a Bush-era decision to allow the largest mountaintop removal project in US history.  http://bit.ly/lP3yEL
He ordered the Department of Energy to implement more aggressive efficiency standards for common household appliances.    http://1.usa.gov/g3MTbu
He ordered energy plants to prepare to produce at least 15% of all energy through renewable resources like wind and solar, by 2021. http://reut.rs/fV155p  (As you can see, Republicans are trying hard to kill it.)
He oversaw the creation of an initiative that converts old factories and manufacturing centers into new clean technology centers. http://bit.ly/mjnq2R
Bypassed Republican opposition in Congress and ordered EPA to begin regulating and measuring carbon emissions.   http://bit.ly/froaP5
His EPA ruled that CO2 is a pollutant. http://bit.ly/iQTSNN
He doubled federal spending on clean energy research. http://bit.ly/iN0sCE
He pushed through a tax credit to help people buy plug-in hybrid cars. http://bit.ly/j8UP5Y
He created a program to develop renewable energy projects on the waters of our Outer Continental Shelf that will produce electricity from wind, wave, and ocean currents.   http://1.usa.gov/fgfRWq
He reengaged in the climate change and greenhouse gas emissions agreements talks, and even proposed one himself. He also addressed the U.N. Climate Change Conference, officially reversing the Bush-era stance that climate change was a “hoax.”  http://bit.ly/dX6Vj3  http://bit.ly/fE2PxK  http://nyti.ms/hfeqvv
He fully supported the initial phase of the creation of a legally binding treaty to reduce mercury emissions worldwide.  http://bit.ly/eJ6QOO
He required states to provide incentives to utilities to reduce their energy consumption. http://bit.ly/lBhk7P
Following Bush’s eight year reign, he reengaged in a number of treaties and agreements designed to protect the Antarctic.  http://bit.ly/fzQUFO
Created tax write-offs for purchases of hybrid automobiles, and later he and Democrats morphed that program into one that includes electric cars.   http://bit.ly/glCukV
Mandated that federal government fleet purchases be for fuel-efficient American vehicles, and encouraged that federal agencies support experimental, fuel-efficient vehicles.   http://bit.ly/h5KZqy  http://1.usa.gov/fLWq5c    http://1.usa.gov/hmUSbk
He oversaw and pushed through an amendment to the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 authorizing advances from Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund for the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. http://1.usa.gov/yTRYVo
He also actively tried to amend the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 to eliminate the liability limits for those companies responsible for large oil spills. http://nyti.ms/bxjDi3
He initiated Criminal and Civil inquiries into the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. http://nyti.ms/bVuB7a
Through his EPA, he asserted federal legal supremacy, and barred Texas from authorizing new refinery permits on its own. http://bit.ly/ww8eMd
He strengthened the Endangered Species Act.  http://bit.ly/hscjsH
His EPA improved boiler safety standards to improve air quality, and save 6500 lives per year.  http://bit.ly/jYH7nt
Through the EPA, he took steps to severely limit the use of antibiotics in livestock feed, to increase their efficacy in humans. http://bit.ly/fBuWd2
He increased funding for National Parks and Forests by 10%  http://bit.ly/fbJPjY
He announced greatly improved commercial fuel efficiency standards. http://1.usa.gov/oQiC1K
He announced the development of a huge increase in average fuel economy standards from 27.5mpg to 35.5mpg starting in 2016 and 54.5 starting in 2025   http://1.usa.gov/qtghsW

Other Stuff.....................................................................................

He has expanded trade agreements to include stricter labor and environmental agreements such as NAFTA.  http://bit.ly/etznpY
He oversaw funding of  the design of a new Smithsonian National Museum of African-American History, which is scheduled to open on the National Mall in 2015.  He protected the funding during the recent budget negotiations.   http://on.fb.me/fD0EVO    http://bit.ly/ff5Luv
Oversaw and passed increased funding for the National Endowment for the Arts. http://bit.ly/dFb8qF
He nominated Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court. Sotomayor is the first Hispanic Justice in the court’s history, and the women represent only the third and fourth women to serve on the court, out of a total of 112 justices.   http://huff.to/eOChg6  http://bit.ly/i02wgP
He appointed the most diverse Cabinet in history, including more women than any other incoming president.   http://bit.ly/dX6vNB
He eliminated federal funding for abstinence-only education, and  he rescinded the global gag rule.  http://bit.ly/eCFAI1  http://bit.ly/f92drF
He loosened the rules and allowed the 14 states that legalized medical marijuana to regulate themselves without federal interference.   http://huff.to/eQfa7j
His FDA banned the use of antibiotics in livestock production. http://bit.ly/jUjLzo
Ushered through and signed national service legislation, increasing funding for national service groups, including triple the size of the Americorps program.   http://bit.ly/idgQH5

 

Read the original article at http://pleasecutthecrap.typepad.com/main/what-has-obama-done-since-january-20-2009.html

The following were a few of the comments attached at the end of this post:

labman57 on September 2, 2012 at 10:48 AM..........................................
Romney to RNC crowd: “I wanted Obama to succeed”.
Perhaps Romney forgot his own previous public statements and those made by McConnell, Boehner, Limbaugh, and many other conservative politicians and pundits who unequivocally stated that the NUMBER ONE PRIORITY of the Republican Party during Obama’s first term was to do whatever was necessary to undermine the success of Democratic proposals, policies, and programs — even at the detriment of the majority of the American people — so that Obama could be perceived by conservatives as a failure.
And this is the message that the Republican Party is now desperately trying to sell to the electorate. Well, they’re right. Obama HAS failed.
He failed to kowtow to the demands of the self-serving Congressional Republican leadership, opting instead for a strategy of compromise.
He failed to be deterred or distracted by the ill-mannered, irrational tea party crowd, by the racist birther loons, or by the bombastic, bellicose pundits and members of the blogosphere who continually attempt to portray him as an unAmerican, Marxist, Christian-hating tyrant who “sees the U.S. differently than do normal citizens”.
He failed to permit sanctimonious, intolerant, socially-regressive conservatives free rein in their quest to scapegoat Hispanics, persecute the gay community, or attack the rights and health care needs of women.
He failed to allow devious, avaricious fiscal conservatives succeed in their efforts to completely undermine the nation’s economic recovery.

June 8, 2012 at 11:33 AM......................................................
FACTS:
The May unemployment rate of 8.2% is just the tip of the iceberg threatening to take down this great ship called the United States of America. Unfortunately, there’s much more:
The share of Americans who’ve been out of work a long time — now at 42% of the unemployed — is the highest since the Great Depression (source: Labor Department).
The proportion of the civilian working-age population actually working, at 58%, is the smallest since the Carter era (Labor Department).
The rate of new business startups — the engine of job growth — has plunged to an all-time low of 7.87% of all businesses (Census Bureau).
3 in 10 young adults can’t find jobs and live with their parents, the highest since the 1950s (Pew Research).
54% of bachelor’s degree-holders under the age of 25 are jobless or underemployed, the highest share in decades (Northeastern University).
Black teen unemployment, now at 37%, is near Depression-era highs (Labor Department).
Almost 1 in 6 Americans are now poor — the highest ratio in 30 years — and the total number of poor, at 49.1 million, is the largest on record (Census).
Total government dependency — defined as the share of Americans receiving one or more federal benefit payments — is now at 47%, the highest ever (Hoover).
Federal spending, now at 23.4% of GDP, is the highest since WWII (CBO).
Food Stamp usage up 100% since he took office. (Dept of Agriculture)
The 69,000 jobs created in May 2012 were the fewest in a year. (US Commerce Dept.)

DHFabian on May 31, 2012 at 8:44 PM.....................................................
One of the first things President Obama did was restore full Social Security benefits (which had previously been slashed) to the seriously ill/disabled. If you recall, the former cuts had resulted in the disabled/ill becoming one of the fastest-growing groups of homeless people in America, and they don’t tend to have a good survival rate on the streets. To me, this spoke volumes about President Obama’s integrity and human decency. The second most significant thing (at least, so far) is that he is the first president since the 1970s who has not directly harmed the poor. Considering the Dem Party leadership, which has repeatedly offered up the poor as a sacrifice in hopes of appeasing Republicans, this is a life-saving change.

SATURDAY GONE—IT IS ALMOST NOVEMBER

I can’t believe how I wasted another day—my days are now completely and totally reversed.  I could not go to sleep until the sky was clearly light.  It was after 6 a.m.  What is worse, I didn’t wake up till mid-afternoon.

The house was chilly when we woke, and every time I tried to talk either to Poco or on the phone, that annoying cough returned.  It is much clearer sounding, but the “mini-explosions” in my larynx are not helping my voice.  I still croak like a frog at one time and squeak like a mouse at another.

This is now officially the end of the 2nd full week that I’ve been fighting this darned thing.  I have not had orange juice of a couple of days now.  It is still over $3.00 when it is on sale, so this close to pay day, I am drinking what is in storage or in the cupboard.  I have apple juice and several bottles of crangrape and cranapple, but none of them is particularly appealing right now.

This was a very bad day for my left over Minestrone soup.  I put it on the stove in a pan instead of warming a single serving in the microwave, because I figured I would have it for brunch and again for an early supper.  But I turned on the burner on what I thought was a low enough setting to barely let it simmer, and went down to the bedroom to take my daily meds.  I take them as soon as I get up, because Dr. Oz told us that it is good for the liver to drink a full glass of water first thing on arising.  It starts the clearing of toxins that may have slowed during the night.  (I have no idea if that is true, but it sounds right, so I just do it.)

Well—knowing ‘The Case of the Missing Brain’--which seems to be my life of late, I forgot it was on.  I got back under the covers and snuggled with Poco.  By the time the aroma of scalding soup reached the bedroom, my whole pan of soup was burned on the bottom and the flavor had been ruined.  What a waste of $$ for all that food.  I was so mad at myself!  So I had a banana on a bowl of Cheerios.  Sighhhhhhh…

It was cloudy and cold looking outside and I didn’t feel like watching college football.  Both of the Washington teams have been suffering dreadful Karma all season long, and only my brother’s Oregon State team (plus the U. of Oregon) are doing well.  It seems so sad—like it is payback for all the years when the Washington schools went to the Rose Bowl and the Oregon schools were also-rans.  These poor kids who are suffering the losses were kids in junior high when our state schools were doing so well, so it seems unfair of the Universe to punish them for things done in our past.  Of course, this whole idea is silly, so I’m off the subject!

I spent the last few hours watching the History Channel—from 11 p.m. till 3 a.m.  They were running a series on the Men Who Built America.  It is a series on the multi-millionaires who introduced the Industrial Revolution.  I got to see how Vanderbuilt took over the railroads, and Carnegie and the oil industry.  I actually learned a TON.  I don’t remember any of this being in our history books.  It may have been, and I may have forgotten, but I didn’t know how Standard Oil got its name.  I didn’t know why they built the first pipelines or whose idea it was.  I didn’t know about the evolution of kerosene.  I didn’t know that Ohio was at one time the mid-east of the oil world.  Now I know all of those things.  I hope I can remember them past tomorrow.  LOL

I got to see the first machinations of the stock market by “those who have.”  I do not like them any more than I did—and I do not like the filthy rich, at all.  We have not graduated that far from serfdom, when you get right down to the nitty-gritty.  I also watched a train topple off of a high trestle—one more reason for me to feel anxious when I’m in a train on a high bridge.  LOL

I watched my first “pawn” shows this afternoon.  I also watched an episode of Antiques Roadshow on PBS.  There are some really interesting things that show up on those programs. One gal came in with 5 pieces of what appeared to be rhinestone costume jewelry—she had gotten them all at swap sales for ten dollars or less.  Ended up that some were real diamonds and the turned out to be worth over $25,000.  Another woman came in with a single diamond and ruby necklace that her mother had told her was worn by Marie Antoinette.  Turned out that it was from some Empress much later than that, but it was an early Tiffany and was worth between $25 and $35 thousand!  She was a happy camper, for sure.

When it was well after dark, I put a sweater on Poco and took him up to Petco and got another bag of doggy turkey jerky and then went to pick up a DVD I had reserved last night and got me some cantaloupe and a bake-at-home pizza.  I have never thought of this before, but I don’t have to bake the whole thing.  I can bake half of it at a time if I use it up in a couple of days.  That will be lunch tomorrow.

I hope it doesn’t pour rain all day.  I have to finish moving my plants to please the owner tomorrow.  I got the bark put down and much of the small stuff onto my little porch as a mini-garden for a few more weeks.  All I have to do tomorrow is to move the three containers I am allowed to where I want them for the winter and either tear down or carry the remaining ones to the back yard.  I’m just going to pick several dozen of my little grape tomatoes and throw the rest away with the bushes.  I hope my stupid owner will be happy.

I have a lot of stuff I HAVE to get in the mail this week.  I have found multiple gifts that were purchased for dear Rosie in Toronto and I have not mailed them because when I had the $$ for postage, I couldn’t find the gifts.  When I found them, I didn’t have postage money.  I am so sad that some of the stuff is now useless.  I bought her nice calendars with Chihuahuas on them, and now she will only have a couple of months to use them.  I have done stupid stuff like this before.  I hope I grow up before I die.

I got an e-mail from Universal Sports telling me that the new Ice Skating season is about to begin, but I don’t know if I want to pay the $35 for the season or not.  Comcast no longer carries that channel.  They carry NBC Sports instead on the channel that had been there for Universal.  Ice Net will also have most of the competitions except the ones in China.  Too much red tape for that, I guess.

It is almost 5 a.m.  I need to go lights out and see if I can join Little Man in sleeping.  He is my only dog not to snore.  At least, I can’t recall him ever snoring.  He is a very active dreamer.  He runs and paws and whines and growls.  Right now, he is content to just saw logs.  Hope I can do that, too.  I can’t hear the rain on the skylight here, but I think it is raining again.  This front is smaller with no wind associated.  BUT.  SNOW ON THE PASSES already.  I don’t know if I should try driving to California this fall or not.  I have to take the car in to have them check my tires and brakes.  Sheesh.  If it’s not one thing, it’s two others.

I hope all of my friends and family are sleeping soundly.  Dear Richard and Jonathan are tearing out their old kitchen and installing a new one from Ikea.  I hope it all goes well for them.  It is a stress-inducing event, for sure.

This was a Working Wednesday…

I spent 4 very hard hours on the front yard with Tyler here to help.  We weeded the walking space, cut back all of the ferns in the rock (again!) and put down newsprint which we watered well and then covered with shredded bark.  We raked to level off the walking surface a little more, then spread the bark only on that surface, not under the bushes.  We weeded and cleared the debris beneath the shrubs, but when I put down the newsprint under them, I will cover that with mulch instead of bark.  We used up 6 big bags, but we need another 6 to make it deeper and to cover the lowest level.  We only covered the top 2 tonight.

While Tyler was hauling around the heavy bags, I was planting the last of the annuals that had not gone into the ground and raking up those MISERABLE decayed *cherries* that had fallen from the Dogwood tree by the corner of the house.  I cut  back another big hill of calla lilies and transplanted some dahlias from containers to the ground under the front windows.  They will have time to get rooted in over the winter and will have the house to be tied against next summer.  I have several iris that need to be moved, but it got dark before I could finish.

I cleaned up the driveway and put away tools and the yard tote (now 3/4 full already) by the light of the street light.  We made a quick run to the storage unit to put some more stuff away, then came home and fixed us some pork chops and salad.  Now I am trying to warm up.  The thermometer read over 60 degrees when I was working, but I was chilly after we stopped and the perspiration dried up.

Tomorrow my *to do* list includes cleaning up the hose from the yard next to Doris—back or side, never know which one to call it.  I am going to dig and dispose of 2 big plants with huge leaves.  They look like a relative of rhubarb and they take up too much room.  Color them gone.  If it doesn’t rain, I am going to use the blower and clear Doris’ and my driveways from wind-blown dried needles and leaves.  Then, I sadly must cut down my pretty tomato plants.  I would love to keep them until the 2 or 3 dozen little tomatoes could ripen, but my owner gave me till Friday to have only 3 plants showing from the street.  I hate that man.

Some time in the afternoon, I have to take the car over to Les Schwab’s to have them rotate the tires and check how much brakes I have left now.  Dick called about my making a trip down this fall and taking down the stuff for his Christmas tree, but I can’t afford to have the brakes done now because of all of my yard work/help that was not budgeted this month. 

Then I have to make 3 appointments—Dr. Lin for my eyes, Dr. Henne for my mammogram and Dr. Peck to use up the last of my dental benefits for the year.  I am looking forward to the mammogram this year. Dr.; Henne is pioneering 3-D imagery for mammograms now, at no extra cost.  It is supposed to be more accurate for people like me with denser tissue than normal/usual.  I have put it off for more than a year.  I hope I haven’t allowed something bad to start growing unattended.

It is almost midnight and my feet are freezing.  Time to change to my sleepy sox and to fill the hot water bottle.  Silly little Poco knows what it is, and when I put it under the covers, he roots his way under them, as well, and drapes himself completely over the center of the bottle.  That leaves me about 2” of space on each side of him for my feet.  Generous, isn’t he???

He has taken himself off to the kennel for the evening.  He doesn’t like to fight for my attention when I have the laptop out.  So he punishes me.  What a pill!

I am going to the NFL page and check out what they are predicting for the Seahawks!  Wish us luck!

My FaceBook gripe from earlier October 17th

I am so upset I can spit nails. On the way back home I was trying to find a radio station that might be discussing the debate. There is NOT a SINGLE Liberal station on my AM dial. If it's not church, it's Conservative Talk radio or various kinds of music. I stayed on the one Conservative station to hear what they had to say. They were discussing the fact that insurance should NOT be required

to pay for female contraception because--if a "woman wanted that as a means to relax after a hard day at the office, she should pay for her own recreational activities." He went on to say that mountain bikers paid for their own equipment. People who went to the gym paid for their membership. Then he went back to discussing the wanton females who wanted to be so promiscuous but wanted someone else to pay for their equipment. I turned of the radio and swore every dirty word I knew at that fool and all of the other self-righteous males out there who find it so easy to unzip their zipper, but somehow avoid all mention in this discussion. I am so disappointed in our society in general. Posters on the internet can't spell basic English and have no sense at all of punctuation. Their vocabularies belong in the gutter or the toilet, but not on the internet. It's a good thing that I'm not a drinker. Tonight, I would have tied one ON!!!!!

What a miserable day of disappointment….

Man!  October 16th and 17th are going down as prime days of disillusion for Darlene Anderson.  After my dismal night trying to find follow-up on the 2nd Presidential Debate and the subsequent discovery that my area is being over run by conservative and religious programming on the AM band of radio, I had turned to the computer for solace.

Since I had picked up my movie of "Obama 2016" from Redbox, I thought I would watch that and investigate what had been so important that the news had reported bus loads of people going to see it.  I was a child during World War II, so I got to see what propaganda movies were like.  We were fed a regular menu of them interspersed with pleas for us to invest in war bonds and savings stamps to "help Uncle Sam."  That is EXACTLY what showed up on my computer tonight!  Propaganda!

The opposition said that this film was supposed to be as important and as informative as Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 911" which had been a visual record of what Dubya had done following the attack on 9/11.  I still recall the image of Dubya leading a robed Prince-of-somewhere up a rocky path, holding his hand, as the narrator explained that Bush had helped the relatives of Bin Laden escape on OUR planes to avoid the wrath of the American People following the crashes of the 2 planes.

Well, THAT was sure the wrong expectation.  This was pure propaganda to alienate voters who may have held Obama in any esteem at all.  They used some of Obama's narration of one of his early books, "Dreams From My Father," and after painting as dark an image of his father as they could, they ended up with the prediction that Barack will lead America into a dark, dark ending because of his feelings for his father and his early tutors and friends.

Nothing in the film speaks fairly to any action on Obama's part.  It shames him for leaving his brother living in a shack in Africa, although an on camera interview with the brother shows the brother has no ill will whatsoever.  There are many, many minutes of filming of shacks and children playing in the dirt.  I have no idea what the purpose was other than to denigrate Obama's background.

They show interviews with people who recall memories and give opinions which are exactly that--only opinions, based on those individual's feelings.  They end up by deciding that a great deal of his character is based on what his father was and did.  Malarkey!  I hate to think how I would be judged if people knew that my dad ran away from home when he was in the 6th grade and worked in the oil fields of Colorado, or that he ran booze in tanks under the seat of his new automobile as soon as he bought one, and was chased by the police.  Who am I?  I follow the rules so well that my husband used to “Baaaa” at me for being such a sheep!  Not my father, for sure.

I *am* genetically my father's daughter.  I have his large feet and hands.  My ankles are not slim--they are like my dad's.  My brother got my mom's ankles and had to tape them to run the mile.  Life if crazy.  But we are NOT our parents!  We are the sum of all the people we have met  and all the places we have been, all tempered by the choices we make and how we react to things that happen to us.  We build our own character!  Nothing in this ridiculous film made me question Obama’s character!

They make the same broad strokes of assumptions about how he feels based on people he has honored and been close to in his life.  Stupid.  I spent hours on long correspondence over the past few years with a woman whom I ended up dropping because of her hatred for Obama and all things Left.  Based on this film, they would have assumed that I was a right wing conservative because of her actions.  Not in this life.  I am me.  Obama is Obama--not their contrived collection of opinions.

This film makes scary statements about how Obama feels and what he is planning to do--all based on these opinions.  They attribute reasons for his actions that do not match the politician I have watched and listened to.  They think that he hates Israel and supports the Muslims, although it *wisely* stops short of calling him a Muslim.  There is no mention of a missing birth certificate or sealed records, as we see rumored on the Internet.

The film predicts a United States of Islam that will be a reality in 2016, if Obama is elected.  They predict that Iran will have nuclear weapons and blame him for taking no action to date to stop that.

Our Freedoms are going to end up being our downfall, I fear.  Freedom of Speech can be such a divisive issue.  I will return this DVD tomorrow and be glad that it is out of this house.  It is an ugly, ugly film--nothing like Fahrenheit 911.  I am not going to go to sleep without praying for our President. 

Fall is finally here……

Fall is falling all around us and all over us.  It is finally raining!  I had to pick up a carton of Coke at the storage unit today and had to get gas in the car.  The storage unit is a little over a mile away and there are not many maples along the roadway, but from Poulsbo to the Chevron station I now use, there are maples all along the highway.

I used to go to the Chevron that is just down the hill, but I finally decided to be more loyal to my checkbook and bank account than I was to the people I liked that worked there.  Their gas is almost always close to 20 cents more per gallon than the next Chevron which is between here and Silverdale.  It was such fun driving in the rain.  I know, I sound insane, but it was cloudy and wet and the trees had all been washed—the leaves were still partly green but there were a lot of yellow ones, so it was a pretty drive.

After I had gassed up and was starting home, I made what JD would call “an aggressive” right turn onto the highway and my back end actually squirreled around on me.  I felt silly!  I was glad there was no one there to see me.  I forgot how slick the streets can be when they haven’t been washed for almost 3 months.  Poco looked at me with the funniest look.  He had no idea what had happened, he was just looking at me—but *I* knew, and I must have attributed more to his look then he ever intended.

When we got home, I had to cook up a batch of boneless chicken thighs I had purchased a few days ago, so I put them in my 10” fry pan and did not use any olive oil at all.  I just put them in a cold pan and heated it rather slowly.  As the little bit of fat rendered, there was plenty to keep them from sticking.  I fed some to Poquito and I had some for Moi!  I also had a salad with that strong Chunky Bleu Cheese dressing from Marketside that I like so much.

While the chicken was cooking, I cleaned out the veggie drawers in the fridge.  It is amazing how quickly I will forget something is there.  I had to toss stuff that made me feel ashamed for being so wasteful.  I was thinking about Mom talking about the children in India.  As I was thinking about it, I began to doubt that she had ever said that.  I doubt that Mom ever had time to learn about India.  She dropped out of high school in 11th grade because she only had 2 dresses and she was embarrassed by being teased and ridiculed about it.  I wonder if that is why I am such a clothes horse?  (I doubt it.  I think I am totally responsible for that irresponsibility!)

It is 2:45 already and I should be trying to sleep, but I am watching an episode of MAJOR CRIMES that I missed.  I really like this show.  I figured I would, but I was a little worried that with Kyra Sedgwick being gone, the charm would be gone.  NOT.  The writers came up with a neat way to keep the cast together and yet have a different focus.  I have also missed about 4 days of my daytime soap, Young and the Restless, but I can only watch that on my laptop.  I just had a bright idea.  And I mean just NOW.  I have another laptop.  My old one is here under the bed.  I could get online with that one and be watching on that one while I wrote on this one.  How cool.  But I would need a new battery.  The batteries in both computers are dead.  I can only use them when they are plugged in.

I am relieved that the high winds that were forecast have skipped us (so far.)  Power is out in Seattle already and they have had one landslide.  Seems crazy.  We haven’t had enough rain for that.  Reminds me of that silly song,
“Strange Things Are Hap-pen-ing.”  I do need to go fetch the flashlight that belongs here in the bedroom.  I took it to the kitchen when I was looking behind the TV down there and forgot to bring it back.  Will do that as soon as I finish here.

I am very pleased with the work Tyler did on clearing the roof. He blew off the loose needles and dried moss, and then sprinkled the moss killer and will come back in a few weeks (if we have a dry day) and will clear off any moss that is left.  He took some photos when he was finished and I saw that the strip of metal they put up there that is supposed to suppress moss growth had been blown loose and twisted.  Tyler didn’t mention that to me, so I’m glad I saw it.

                         

I can’t figure how he got these 2 shots.  The house is only 66 ft. long.  This is the roof over the house.  The carport is in these shots.

  This is the front side of the carport roof with the trough where the slants meet.

This is the back side where the leaves tend to stay for a  longer time. I think it has to do with the direction of the winds we have here.  (It was a cloudy afternoon, by the way.  Thus the shadows and bits of sunshine.)

The really neat thing about finding Tyler is that he has decided that he hates the Pizza place where he is working, and until he finds another day job, he is going to do odd jobs.  So he is willing to even do yard work for ten bucks an hour, which is about half of what most yard people ask here.  I am going to call him to put down the bark that is stacked in the front yard now.  Wednesday is supposed to be dry, so I am going to call  him tomorrow.  I will be in sad shape if he is busy.  In fact, I think I will cry!

Our football game this past weekend was absolutely thrilling!  We have won or lost almost all of our games in that final 2 minutes.  This time we were in the red zone with 5 minutes to go, when Russell made a great pass to the end zone and we left the Patriots with a little over a minute to try to catch us.  They failed, and I was delighted!  The neatest thing is that the Patriots have the #1 Offense in the NFL.  The Seahawks have the #1 Defense.  The Patriots have won 3 Super Bowls.  We have the 3rd Youngest team in the NFL.  We have not won a thing.  For us to beat them was totally staggering!  I didn’t get to watch with anybody this time—my cold is still bad.  But I sure enjoyed the heck out of that game all by myself!

I called my Dr. today and asked him how soon I can go see Doris.  She calls every day now to check on my cough.  She says she misses me, but I suspect she misses my bits of housework around her house.  At any rate, Crystal (Dr. G’s nurse) called me back to tell me that if I go over there before my cough has stopped completely, I have to wear a mask and gloves.  I will call her tomorrow and tell her.  I’m grateful, really.  I have enough to do on my own instead of taking on her stuff now.

I think the cough is actually a lot better—in that the rattle is gone from my chest and I am actually spitting up whatever that stuff is when a cold is ending.  My voice is still a squeak and a squawk, but even that is getting stronger.  Best of all, I am not so weak.

Funny, but lately I am finding myself liking the looks of big dogs I am seeing on TV. They are just more loving than this little guy I have now.  He has STILL never looked at me as if he loves me.  He has achieved tolerance, but that’s about it.  He does like it when I am massaging him in a way that he likes, but he is bossy about that.  He literally sits beside me and YAPS for attention.  If he has crawled under the covers and has forgotten his toy, he yips.  If I get him a toy and put it under the covers, he is fine.  If I ignore him, instead of coming out and getting his danged toy, he will continue to YIP at me until I find a toy.  He can be such a PAIN. 

He still refuses to come at my first request. He has also taken to removing himself completely when I smell like too much Vicks or when I am too restless and am flopping around too much on “our” bed. He is perfectly content to sleep by himself. Bitsy would never have done that!

When he IS sleeping with me, like all of my last 3 dogs, he sleeps perpendicular to me so that his <10 pounds gets the same width on the mattress as my >200 pounds do, and he thinks this is just fine. He growls if I infringe on HIS territory, too. He is a little tyrant!

Hawaii Five-O is on now.  I wish I could have gotten to the islands one more time.  On the other hand, there are so many states that are this side of the ocean, that would be fun, too.  Frankly, the west coast has the best of everything, so I can’t see much sense of going inland.  I can see that my train of thought has been derailed!  I might as well just quit here. 

One last thought—I feel isolated in this back bedroom.  I can’t hear the wind against the house like I can in the front, and I can’t hear the rain on the skylight.  I should feel “safe” but I feel “cut off” and vulnerable.  On that eerie note, I am going to try to sleep.  I know that I will be wired Thursday night.   The Seahawks are on the NFL network on Thursday Night Football when they go to San Francisco to play the 49ers.  As of now, Las Vegas has the Seahawks at 7 and a half points.  I have NO IDEA what that means, but the Go-To guy (whom I love) is a gambler and he always gives the odds on the afternoon ESPN show.  Until this past weekend, the 49ers were in first place in our division.  But we won and they lost, so for now, we are in a tie.  Our teams are very much alike, but theirs has many more *stars*on the payroll, and we are playing at their house, so I am afraid for my boys.  I am very afraid.  So I will be glued to the TV set!  But for now, I must try lights out!

 

 

 

Fall is finally here……

Fall is falling all around us and all over us.  It is finally raining!  I had to pick up a carton of Coke at the storage unit today and had to get gas in the car.  The storage unit is a little over a mile away and there are not many maples along the roadway, but from Poulsbo to the Chevron station I now use, there are maples all along the highway.

I used to go to the Chevron that is just down the hill, but I finally decided to be more loyal to my checkbook and bank account than I was to the people I liked that worked there.  Their gas is almost always close to 20 cents more per gallon than the next Chevron which is between here and Silverdale.  It was such fun driving in the rain.  I know, I sound insane, but it was cloudy and wet and the trees had all been washed—the leaves were still partly green but there were a lot of yellow ones, so it was a pretty drive.

After I had gassed up and was starting home, I made what JD would call “an aggressive” right turn onto the highway and my back end actually squirreled around on me.  I felt silly!  I was glad there was no one there to see me.  I forgot how slick the streets can be when they haven’t been washed for almost 3 months.  Poco looked at me with the funniest look.  He had no idea what had happened, he was just looking at me—but *I* knew, and I must have attributed more to his look then he ever intended.

When we got home, I had to cook up a batch of boneless chicken thighs I had purchased a few days ago, so I put them in my 10” fry pan and did not use any olive oil at all.  I just put them in a cold pan and heated it rather slowly.  As the little bit of fat rendered, there was plenty to keep them from sticking.  I fed some to Poquito and I had some for Moi!  I also had a salad with that strong Chunky Bleu Cheese dressing from Marketside that I like so much.

While the chicken was cooking, I cleaned out the veggie drawers in the fridge.  It is amazing how quickly I will forget something is there.  I had to toss stuff that made me feel ashamed for being so wasteful.  I was thinking about Mom talking about the children in India.  As I was thinking about it, I began to doubt that she had ever said that.  I doubt that Mom ever had time to learn about India.  She dropped out of high school in 11th grade because she only had 2 dresses and she was embarrassed by being teased and ridiculed about it.  I wonder if that is why I am such a clothes horse?  (I doubt it.  I think I am totally responsible for that irresponsibility!)

It is 2:45 already and I should be trying to sleep, but I am watching an episode of MAJOR CRIMES that I missed.  I really like this show.  I figured I would, but I was a little worried that with Kyra Sedgwick being gone, the charm would be gone.  NOT.  The writers came up with a neat way to keep the cast together and yet have a different focus.  I have also missed about 4 days of my daytime soap, Young and the Restless, but I can only watch that on my laptop.  I just had a bright idea.  And I mean just NOW.  I have another laptop.  My old one is here under the bed.  I could get online with that one and be watching on that one while I wrote on this one.  How cool.  But I would need a new battery.  The batteries in both computers are dead.  I can only use them when they are plugged in.

I am relieved that the high winds that were forecast have skipped us (so far.)  Power is out in Seattle already and they have had one landslide.  Seems crazy.  We haven’t had enough rain for that.  Reminds me of that silly song,
“Strange Things Are Hap-pen-ing.”  I do need to go fetch the flashlight that belongs here in the bedroom.  I took it to the kitchen when I was looking behind the TV down there and forgot to bring it back.  Will do that as soon as I finish here.

I am very pleased with the work Tyler did on clearing the roof. He blew off the loose needles and dried moss, and then sprinkled the moss killer and will come back in a few weeks (if we have a dry day) and will clear off any moss that is left.  He took some photos when he was finished and I saw that the strip of metal they put up there that is supposed to suppress moss growth had been blown loose and twisted.  Tyler didn’t mention that to me, so I’m glad I saw it.

                         

I can’t figure how he got these 2 shots.  The house is only 66 ft. long.  This is the roof over the house.  The carport is in these shots.

  This is the front side of the carport roof with the trough where the slants meet.

This is the back side where the leaves tend to stay for a  longer time. I think it has to do with the direction of the winds we have here.  (It was a cloudy afternoon, by the way.  Thus the shadows and bits of sunshine.)

The really neat thing about finding Tyler is that he has decided that he hates the Pizza place where he is working, and until he finds another day job, he is going to do odd jobs.  So he is willing to even do yard work for ten bucks an hour, which is about half of what most yard people ask here.  I am going to call him to put down the bark that is stacked in the front yard now.  Wednesday is supposed to be dry, so I am going to call  him tomorrow.  I will be in sad shape if he is busy.  In fact, I think I will cry!

Our football game this past weekend was absolutely thrilling!  We have won or lost almost all of our games in that final 2 minutes.  This time we were in the red zone with 5 minutes to go, when Russell made a great pass to the end zone and we left the Patriots with a little over a minute to try to catch us.  They failed, and I was delighted!  The neatest thing is that the Patriots have the #1 Offense in the NFL.  The Seahawks have the #1 Defense.  The Patriots have won 3 Super Bowls.  We have the 3rd Youngest team in the NFL.  We have not won a thing.  For us to beat them was totally staggering!  I didn’t get to watch with anybody this time—my cold is still bad.  But I sure enjoyed the heck out of that game all by myself!

I called my Dr. today and asked him how soon I can go see Doris.  She calls every day now to check on my cough.  She says she misses me, but I suspect she misses my bits of housework around her house.  At any rate, Crystal (Dr. G’s nurse) called me back to tell me that if I go over there before my cough has stopped completely, I have to wear a mask and gloves.  I will call her tomorrow and tell her.  I’m grateful, really.  I have enough to do on my own instead of taking on her stuff now.

I think the cough is actually a lot better—in that the rattle is gone from my chest and I am actually spitting up whatever that stuff is when a cold is ending.  My voice is still a squeak and a squawk, but even that is getting stronger.  Best of all, I am not so weak.

Funny, but lately I am finding myself liking the looks of big dogs I am seeing on TV. They are just more loving than this little guy I have now.  He has STILL never looked at me as if he loves me.  He has achieved tolerance, but that’s about it.  He does like it when I am massaging him in a way that he likes, but he is bossy about that.  He literally sits beside me and YAPS for attention.  If he has crawled under the covers and has forgotten his toy, he yips.  If I get him a toy and put it under the covers, he is fine.  If I ignore him, instead of coming out and getting his danged toy, he will continue to YIP at me until I find a toy.  He can be such a PAIN. 

He still refuses to come at my first request. He has also taken to removing himself completely when I smell like too much Vicks or when I am too restless and am flopping around too much on “our” bed. He is perfectly content to sleep by himself. Bitsy would never have done that!

When he IS sleeping with me, like all of my last 3 dogs, he sleeps perpendicular to me so that his <10 pounds gets the same width on the mattress as my >200 pounds do, and he thinks this is just fine. He growls if I infringe on HIS territory, too. He is a little tyrant!

Hawaii Five-O is on now.  I wish I could have gotten to the islands one more time.  On the other hand, there are so many states that are this side of the ocean, that would be fun, too.  Frankly, the west coast has the best of everything, so I can’t see much sense of going inland.  I can see that my train of thought has been derailed!  I might as well just quit here. 

One last thought—I feel isolated in this back bedroom.  I can’t hear the wind against the house like I can in the front, and I can’t hear the rain on the skylight.  I should feel “safe” but I feel “cut off” and vulnerable.  On that eerie note, I am going to try to sleep.  I know that I will be wired Thursday night.   The Seahawks are on the NFL network on Thursday Night Football when they go to San Francisco to play the 49ers.  As of now, Las Vegas has the Seahawks at 7 and a half points.  I have NO IDEA what that means, but the Go-To guy (whom I love) is a gambler and he always gives the odds on the afternoon ESPN show.  Until this past weekend, the 49ers were in first place in our division.  But we won and they lost, so for now, we are in a tie.  Our teams are very much alike, but theirs has many more *stars*on the payroll, and we are playing at their house, so I am afraid for my boys.  I am very afraid.  So I will be glued to the TV set!  But for now, I must try lights out!