It's morning somewhere

but what type bug, or beetle, is it? I checked for images on the Internet, but didn't find anything similar. How about the Eyed Click Beetle?

There is a family behind each one of those headstones. Think about that the next time you casually speak of war.

The Memorial Day post from Fixer, at the Alternate Brain, reminds us to remember what this holiday is all about.

Also, Operation Freedom From Iraqis, a post from Gordon (at the same blog) has a link and some selected paragraphs from a recent interesting (very) Frank Rich article.

Are you wearing the right shades?
This is one of the questions on one of the pages I open, when I sign on. It goes on to say that if you have a skinny face, you should wear these, and if you have a balloon face, you should wear those. blah blah blah.

Since I wear glasses, I'm quite happy to find sunglasses that will allow me to wear my glasses underneath...and in comfort. I've had the ones that clip on to the frame of the glasses and I've had the ones that go over the glasses. I, recently, bought a pair of sunglasses called Cocoons. They fit over the glasses and they have the most calming color. I think it's the gray green, but I'm not sure.

When I tried those babies on, I said, "These are the ones I want."

The guy said, "There's a mirror over there, if you want to see how they look."

I glanced at the mirror, but the image didn't matter. The minute those sunglasses and my eyes met, they knew. I've worn my sunglasses while kayaking, and couldn't be more pleased. They stayed on (and more importantly, my glasses stayed on) when I tipped, twice, a couple weekends ago. (I bought the safety strap, but forgot to put it on them, at the time). Wearing them while driving improves my vision, in the bright sunshine; no more squinting. I have to admit, I paid more for them than any pair of sunglasses, previously, but they were on sale, half-price.

After reading that question, I started thinking about vanity. You know, I don't care if the shades make my face look fat. Perhaps, it's because my face IS fat! I don't care if they clash with the outfit I'm wearing. Whoopee doo da day! I'm kind of tired of all that bull crap about looks, makeup, fashion, etc... Perhaps it's because I'm no longer young, but I don't recall having such a problem with having to wear the right junk, have the matching purse, covering the bags under my eyes, or covering the blemishes that show, even back when I was a youngster. (I would like to have less tight clothes, but until I lose some weight, that's probably not going to happen).

This fascination with looks seems to be more and more important to people. Why? Can't we all be who we are? I mean, sure, it's nice to see someone wearing clean clothes, but if they don't match, so what! There's a young lady at one of my jobs who wears striped pants and flowered shirt, sometimes. Some comments were made within my hearing. So what! She's clothed, isn't she? Isn't that the important part? That is her style. She doesn't want to conform to the crowd's perception of what is fashion. I salute her.

Sgt Mango Goldstein is just plain overwhelmed by all the goings on. He thinks we should just take a couple weeks off and sleep. I'm down with that... except the bosses think I need to work. The bank thinks I need to work, too. So, I guess he's going to hang out around the house and sleep...and eat...and everything else that goes with being a cat...and I won't.

As always, check out the wonderful animal pictures linked for Friday Ark at The Modulator.

My best friend, from work, retired a couple years ago. I called him, recently, to remind him that several friends are getting together for a monthly supper. He didn't answer, so I left a message on his answering machine. Today, I called him and didn't leave a message when he didn't answer. This afternoon, he called and asked me if I'd heard what happened to him? I told him no, and that I had tried to call him this morning. He hadn't realized.

He's the type of guy who keeps active. He's been riding his bike a lot. He does the 50 mile and 30 mile trips. He'd already ridden several this spring. A couple weeks ago, though, hanging out at home, he felt like he was punched in the stomach. He ended up on the floor. He started feeling better, so drove himself to the hospital. He'd suffered a heart attack. He had to have surgery on his clogged arteries, but is, now, out of the hospital and recouperating. He told the doctor he couldn't understand why it happened, since he is so active. The doctor told him that all that exercise probably helped, in the long run, from the attack causing much damage to his heart.

This incident reminds me that it really is important to exercise and watch what we eat. It may not stop the problem, but could help the healing. It also reminds me to remember to call, and visit, the people I treasure most.

Crossposted at The Fat Lady Sings.

I finally got to see Wild Hogs. It was quite a funny movie, but boy, did some parts irritate the crap out of me! 1-Throwing all four cell phones away at the beginning of the trip. 2-Dudley (Macy) putting his crap in a plastic bag, instead of burying it. 3-Dudley agreeing to trade his bike for a cool bike he saw outside the bar and it turns out it wasn't the bike he traded for. 4-Dudley, taped up with duct tape, had to fight like that, instead of someone handing him a pocket knife, or something sharp, to get loose.

The camping scene was pretty weird, especially the burning of the tent. The friend who was sitting next to me sometimes tells me that she doesn't "do" camping. I asked her if that was why? She said, "yup."

The skinny dipping scene was pretty funny. As soon as they're all totally unclothed, the family with kids show up.

The burning of the biker bar was pretty cool, but I kept wishing Woody (Travolta) would tell the others why they needed to ride away, as fast as they could. Shouldn't they be aware of the dangerous biker gang revenge? They ran out of gas because he wanted them to get as far away as possible, when they had been right there at the gas station, Dudley getting ready to fill his tank.

I thought the vulture, walking along with them, stole the scene, as they were pushing their bikes up the hill in the hot desert.

Once they arrived in Madrid, after they scared the people in the cafe, turned out to be a lot of fun. They were lucky enough to arrive at festival time. The things they found to do! Bull slapping was pretty funny. Who knew slapping a dozing bull would be so much fun?

The biker gang showing up in Madrid to wreak havoc was a scene done by The Magnificent Seven, and other great movies of the past, but it worked well in this movie.

The townspeople finally got together to take on the evil biker gang. They had bats, axe, pieces of wood, and other blunt and not so blunt objects. Then... the big man, himself, shows up. Tells the biker gang off. Turns out, he's the daddy of the leader. Nice!

The ending, shown during the credits was a great plus. Extreme Home Makeover rebuilt the bar. I kept waiting for the bikers to say, "Oh, My God!" over and over, like they do on the tv show, but they didn't. Drat!

Right after the race, they said the winning time was the fastest in history. I saw an article that mentioned two other horses had previously won the Preakness Stakes at such speed. It was an excitingly close race, there at the end, with Curlin and Street Sense. It's good for Curlin to have won, he's a beauty of a horse. However, because now the same horse doesn't have a chance to win the three races, it's too bad Street Sense didn't win. He's certainly a wonderful fast horse. Second by a touch of the nose isn't that bad. The third horse was Hard Spun. Just like the last race, he ran and ran. How strange. The same three horses that came in the first three places in the Kentucky Derby, came in the first three places of the Preakness, just different order.

I started the morning by watering my garden. I'm hoping it will give more produce than last year. Then it was off to pick up a co-working friend. We threw her bike onto the bike rack, along with mine, and headed for a trail. We rode about a mile when her pedal fell off. We put it back on, but it wouldn't tighten very much. She rode a couple yards and it fell off, again. Some young guys came by and she asked them if they had a wrench. The one guy says to the other, "you have an allen wrench, don't you?" I said, "not an allen wrench," but they didn't listen, and pulled out a pack of allen wrenches. One had a bright idea of getting some hardy twigs and using them to tighten the pedal. It didn't work because the branches were too brittle. We thanked them and I said I would go back to the car and get pliars or a wrench. My friend said she would start walking the bike back. I got back to the car and pulled out the tool bag, strapped it to the bike, rode back. We tightened both pedals and rode some more. We were planning, originally, on riding four miles up and four back. She told me she had a meeting a little later, so we needed to start back. All total, she got to ride five miles, and I rode about seven.

She said she was going to be sore in the morning. She apologized that I didn't get to ride the whole eight miles, but I was satisfied. Sure, it's not the 50 miles I rode, one day, several years ago, or the 30 miles my friend (the one that was in the accident April 06) and I would ride a couple times a summer, but it was something. It was the first real ride I've done this year. We can ride farther next time. My other friend couldn't join us, but she thought eight miles would be good to get her started riding again, too. We will do that, soon.

After that, my sister came over and we headed out for her birthday meal. Of course, we had to pick up a couple growlers of that yummy green chili beer. The restaurant has tables outside and the day was perfect. Not too cold, not too hot. The food was delicious, and the beer we consumed was marvelous. Stuffed and ready to watch the race, we headed to my place. After the race she headed home, but for me, it was naptime!

Grey Feather loves screens. She likes to hang on them. In this picture, she's measuring the screen just in case I decide to replace it. She's planning on laying on the screen, full out, and I can cut it to that length. What a good cat! As you can see, Rocky Girl is supervising. My cats manage to get things done around here.

As always, check out the wonderful animal pictures linked for Friday Ark at The Modulator.

The kitties are excitedly awaiting the 132nd Preakness Stakes. They wanted me to remember that the horses are running this Saturday, May 19.

Grey Feather decided she's going with the Kentucky Derby winner, Street Sense. Lady Fortuna thought Hard Spun ran such a good race in the Kentucky Derby, he'll probably win. Rocky Girl likes King of the Roxy (her name used to be Roxy) and Mango thinks Flying First Class will win. Cotton was antisocial when the photo was taken, and hasn't decided who he likes to win the Preakness Stakes.

My cousins and friends invited us on the first kayak trip of the year. The trip was really great.

I had a Little Debbie cake for breakfast, river water for lunch, and river water for an afternoon snack. I think I managed to drink it down fast enough, I didn't notice if it had a good taste. We traveled down the river and saw ducks, snakes, hawks, blue herons, turtles, and a stork. Of course, there were plenty of trees and rocks to look at, too.

There were some areas where the current was going pretty swiftly. I managed to get through several just fine. Then! It happened! My kayak dumped me and turned over. I was pretty worried about my camera and other stuff that was sitting behind my seat. Sure enough, a Diet Mountain Dew can went floating (which was trapped, later, floating along) as did my oars. Luckily, someone caught the oars before they were carried too far. We dumped the water out and I hopped back in.

A mile later, I got stuck on a big rock. I tried to get the kayak loose, and guess what?!? Another dump in the river. I jumped back in and caught up with the others. They hadn't gone very far. They decided we needed to stick around and see how the canoes, behind, would fare. The canoes did just fine. I was the only one that didn't make it through THAT path. Oh, yes. Other people capsized, too, just not there:)
I posted other pictures of the trip, camping and such, on a different blog.

Pay no attention to the cobwebs. I didn't realize they were there, until I saw the photos blown up. They will be taken care of:)I finally got a photo of Rocky Girl walking the curtain rod. I think she jumped up from the bed. Sometimes, I'll wake and see her standing up there. When she jumps down to the bed, she tends to land on the other side of me. I'm hoping she never decides to land on me. Those claws would hurt.
I'm not sure if Grey Feather is saying, "Wow!" or if she's saying, "that's nothing, I can do it, too." However, she always jumps to the curtain rod from the dresser. The distance isn't as far.

As always, check out the wonderful animal pictures linked for Friday Ark at The Modulator.

To pass the time while working, we sometimes talk. The other night, we had an interesting debate on ex-boyfriends and if it's allowable for one of our girlfriends to date our ex-boyfriend, especially if we already have a new boyfriend.

A couple of the girls (younger than 35) felt that if they and their boyfriend broke up, and they were dating someone else, they still wouldn't want any of their girlfriends to date the ex-boyfriend. I and another lady (older than 35) felt it was okay if someone wanted to date the ol' ex-boyfriend. The two that thought it was just plain wrong, and that if their girlfriend did date the ex-boyfriend, the girlfriend would no longer be their friend, said, "no, it's just not done." Well, why the hell not? If he's a decent guy (and I don't recall any of mine being scuzballs, not that I've had that many, mind you) and the girlfriend is a decent woman, then go for it. Life's too short and there aren't that many available (non-scuzballs and unmarried guys) running around loose in the wilds, waiting to be caught.

If one of my friends wanted to date one of my ex-boyfriends, more power to them. The ex-boyfriend isn't my possession, and if my girlfriend and ex-boyfriend want to be a couple, at least they have a chance at happiness. Just because it didn't work out with me doesn't mean it couldn't work out with them. Now, if I'm still dating the guy and he and my girlfriend decide they want to date, too, I do draw the line at that!

Any thoughts on the matter would be read:)

After, stupidly, blowing money like it was going out of style... and grew on trees, I did something right. I went to the dentist to get a teeth cleaning. I love my dentist. Not only is he a great dentist, but he's a hottie! So, he comes in the little room and tells me that my sister was there, not too long ago. She told him about her horse having the colt, and she had shown him pictures! He asked me how many cats and dogs she had. I told him, then told him the potbellied pig story. Apparently, he hadn't heard that one. If I want to keep a secret, I'd better not tell him. My mother sometimes tells me that she has to go to the dentist to hear what her daughters are up to:)

I was astounded to hear that I hadn't been for a cleaning since Dec 2005. I'd been in for a filling and a sensitive tooth, since. I realize, now, why my teeth felt so good after their cleaning.

The dentist poked around and looked at the teeth to make sure there were no problems. He mentioned that we've done pretty well in the last many years. He mentioned the old building he started out in, and I asked if he had just gotten out of dental school when he took over that practice. He agreed that he had. He said we've been together for 29 years! Now that! is awesome!

After the dentist, I stopped at the gas station to fill up. I didn't notice the price had risen from 2.859 to 2.959 because the pump still said 2.859. The sign outside had changed, but I had made it in time to get the lower price. That makes me happy:)

I don't know nothin' 'bout horses!"Grey Feather's choice, of first place, in the Kentucky Derby didn't make it. Cowtown Cat ended up 20th in a race of 20. What an exciting race! At first, we thought Hard Spun would win because he stayed out front, almost until the end.

Street Sense won, Hard Spun came in second, and Curlin was third. Of her other picks, Any Given Saturday came in eighth, and Storm in May came in 16th. Yes, it's a good thing she didn't bet any money on her favorite nags, she would have been very sad. Even the horse the others kitties liked, Scat Daddy, didn't place in the top three. I think he placed 18th.

It's funny how limber Grey Feather is. I guess I should expect it, because she is such a youngster. She probably turned one year old in April. I'm almost sure of it. I got her at the end of July, last year, and she was three months old at the time. She's long and lean with the sweetest disposition. That day at the pound, I was really lucky that the kitten I wanted to see had gone on a field trip. Sometimes, things really work out!

As always, check out the wonderful animal pictures linked for Friday Ark at The Modulator.

**********************
By the way, Grey Feather's pick for the 133rd Kentucky Derby is Cowtown Cat to win, Any Given Saturday to place, and Storm in May to show. Of course, she is a cat so she doesn't know much about horses.

Yesterday, I read that Tom Poston died. Boy, that name brought back memories of great laughter. The show I loved him most in was Newhart. Poston played George Utley, the handyman, and was one of the many wonderful zany characters that made that show. One of my favorite episodes, 153. One and a Half Million Dollar Man, was the one where Stephanie's rich former boyfriend, Scooter Drake, showed up wanting to purchase a Vermont inn. Joanna showed him several inns for sale, but he ended up wanting the Stratford Inn, and offered them a million five. Dick and Joanna had to think about it. By the time Dick and Joanna decided they wanted to sell, Scooter had already flitted off to his next whim. At the end of the show, Larry, Darryl, and Darryl came in with a huge garbage bag, filled and tied, ready to purchase the inn. They thought the offer had been a million flies. George Utley, of course, was in the background, but added to the general hilarity of the episode.

Just thinking about the show brings to mind many of the different characters. There was Chester and Jim, nutty members of the town council. The big mouthed librarian lady, Kirk, the owner of the next door Minuteman Cafe, and his car-thieving grandmother who showed up in a couple episodes, and of course Michael, who, after he lost his job at the tv station and broke up with Stephanie, became a mime.

Now, that was good television!

**************************************

The picture, below, and thanks for all excellent the guesses, is of tea in a French coffee press. The grassy texture is of a "white" tea, and the color was from mixing with some usual darker tea. When the press is pulled up, the tea leaves rise, swirl, and fall, creating a really cool effect.

Can you tell me what this is? I thought it looked pretty cool.

So, what's going on in the world? I read about the tanker crash in California, and saw the pictures. I thought it was remarkable that no lives were lost!

As I was leaving work, tonight, someone was coming in for his/her shift, and he/she said that Breaktime told him/her gas was going to be raised to $3.00, tomorrow. I hussled on over and filled my gas tank: 1.707 gallons at $2.78 a gallon!