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I sometimes like to visit my blog during my lunch hour at work.

Sometimes during that visit I write...

Sometimes I post...

Sometimes I visit the other blogs that I follow...

It is a nice break from work.

Or, more accurately, it WAS a nice break.

When I tried to visit my blog this week, I was warned that the site I was trying to visit was restricted because of its' adult content.

Ok, then.

A long productive weekend...

I took Friday off just because I have some vacation days to use or lose  before the end of the year.

I took advantage of the long weekend and got a few things accomplished...

• I started by sleeping in Friday and then taking a couple of extra long walks to make sure I met my October goal  to average 12100 steps a day....nothing like procrastination.  But I did it. And I set a goal for November of 12150 step a day.  I do not want to push it too much and leave room for failure.  
• I also made some (aromatherapy) bath salts.  I had been wanting to try my hand at this for awhile and it was actually pretty simple.  I made grapefruit and chamomile. 
• I slept in again Saturday.
• I made a  good size dent in reorganizing my bedroom and cleaning up the spare room. I had acquired some stuff from my son and am storing some other stuff for him.  I just kind of threw everything in the spare room and finally started going through it all this weekend.   
• I slept an extra hour Sunday morning.  I still need to move the clocks back that do not move themselves.
• I grocery shopped for the week.
• I filled out and mailed my absentee ballot.
• I visited my parents and watched the Browns beat the Buccaneers.
• I visited the Natatorium and picked up the pace a little on my 25-lap (3.125 mile) time. My PR is now 46:23.

And that's all folks.  I am now relaxing at my computer.

I hope you had a productive weekend.

My treat to myself...

It is halloween and I decided to treat myself by taking the day off of work...

All week I was looking forward to this day of:

• No meetings...
• No work-related emails...
• No Lync messages....

Ooops...

Trick....

Apparently, I forgot to sign out of Lync on my phone and, of course, someone messaged me at 8:30 AM...before I was ready to be out from under the spell of sleeping in.

Hey, I am trying to schedule a meeting for early Monday and your calendar says you are busy...are you really busy or can you join us?

Ummmmm...

I am still in bed and my calendar is not...but if it says I am busy Monday morning I probably am...have a good weekend...

Exit Lync...

Damn...

I hope life was all treats for you this halloween.

Will Oregon have me ???

I have told my kids numerous times that if I ever get too sick to take care of myself, I want to be able to die peacefully with some dignity.

I do not want them to have to take care of my sick, bed-ridden self - if it ever comes to that.

I want them to remember me the way they like me best - hopefully that is not on my death bed...lol.

I am not going to lie - I am a fan of  the late Jack Kevorkian.

I just realized, thanks to Brittany Maynard, that at least three states, including Oregon,  have  "Death With Dignity" laws.  

I want to be living in one of those three states,  if i ever become terminally ill. I choose Oregon because it is west and probably the warmest of the three. But I am open to any state with a DWD law.

Just so you know.

I like Brittany's attitude that dying with dignity is not suicide. She is not killing herself - the disease is.  She is just choosing the way and time she lets that happen. I hope I have the strength to do the same if my life ever comes to that.

I have also read the essay written by Joe Neyer in response to Brittany's choice and her actions toward public awareness of the DWD option.  I like Mr. Neyer's  attitude that dying with dignity can include continuing to live a quality life.  How true.  Doctors are not always right, and there are lots of options. 

I wish them both the best as they continue their journey.  I appreciate that they have shared their story.

My head hurts...

I have been fighting a cold/sinus congestion for the past week...

I even worked from home most of the week so  I could:

1. Make use of the heavy meds and vick's to stop the pounding in my head.
2. Keep the germs to myself (in case it was something contagious).

It is the weekend and my head still hurts...really bad....

And then I realized something...

I have been drinking tea with honey and lemon and emergen-c and a little apple cider vinegar thrown over the past few days...at times I would normally be drinking coffee.

While the tea is great for what ails me, I am also a coffee addict.

Two cups of coffee later and I am still congested, but that head pain has subsided considerably:)

I do love coffee...and it loves me.

All is well....at least in Belize...

It has been a crazy couple of weeks....

Despite all that went awry in the two weeks before they left and during the trip down, my son,  his girlfriend, and their dog, made the move to Belize.

And they left Akron at a good time, just a week before the Ebola scare hit the area.

I can only think that if they did not leave when they had, Belize may have not let them in.

Because, I must admit, Belize has the right idea...

Mexico and Belize close ports to cruise ship carrying health worker who handled samples from 'patient zero' who died of virus

Good for Belize and Mexico. 

I do not understand the incompetence of the CDC (in my humble opinion).  

Why would they not quarantine all health care providers who cared for said 'patient zero'?

And why would they allow them to travel commercially? Out of the country, no less...

Is 21 days too much to ask to nip this thing in the bud?

And then there is that other beloved government agency ...

Dallas hospital that treated three Ebola patients had machine that can detect disease in just minutes ...but couldn't use it because it wasn't FDA approved

My favorite comment on the above article:

There comes a point in time in every persons life where you must say "Screw the FDA"  ~ Rick Jameyx2, AssVille, United States

Tales from the beach...

I really enjoyed my September beach getaway weekend with my daughter...

We left Akron about 3:00 AM on Thursday morning, hoping to make it to the beach right about the 3:00 PM resort check-in time.

I drove a little, then Carrie drove a little.  During her time at the wheel, I am happy to report that she successfully avoided being run off a mountainside by a swaying 18-wheeler.  Carrie claimed my cries of "oh fuck" scared her more than the wandering truck. I promised to keep the "oh fucks" to myself after that.

We did make it to the resort right at check-in time. And down to the pool about 10 minutes later. We spent a lot of the next 4 days at the pool/beach area.

Lots of good times and interesting observations.

A group of young Latin partiers took over the main spa for a few hours one afternoon, playing their loud music, drinking, dancing, eating, and fornicating in the spa for all to see.  They were young and full of life. And left evidence of that life in the spa. We avoided that spa until after the next morning's sanitizing.

The next evening, the main spa was quieter.  Just Carrie and I for a bit.  A few kids wandered in and out. And then a mid-life, giggling couple hopped in and started doing it;  yes, that  IT.  Not caring that little kids were wandering around all curious and shit, acting like they were teenagers and did not know that maybe they should get a room or just go to THEIR room...

They finally left and a couple of other guys and some girls showed up - all friendly and chatty. The girls' parents came by and between the parents and Carrie throwing the H word around a few times, the guys remained almost perfect gentlemen.

All was good...but the following evening we decided we would try to grab a smaller two or three person spa if available.  No room for out of control partiers and/or lovers or those looking for love in all the wrong places.  Just nice family folk who brought their birthday girl and friends to the beach for the night.   

Carrie introduced me to an awesome new tropical drink.  She sent me to the pool side cafe to get a beer and a margarita with an extra glass "so we could mix them into Beer-itas."  I tried to explain to the bartender what I wanted and what I wanted to do with them; he looked confused, but poured me two half beers from the tap and two half margaritas that were actually 3/4 full, put them in a carrier and sent me on my way. Four drinks for the price of two.  Those were some mighty fine drinks.

We were up fairly early each morning, considering that the sleeping area in our room was on the garage side rather than the ocean side so the sun did not wake us.  Sunday morning was the only morning we both seemed to be moving slower - maybe because, according to my phone activity monitor, we walked 10 miles throughout the day Saturday...

But vacation is not for sleeping in...

So said the early morning blaring broadcast informing us that an emergency was reported in the building and that we needed to leave by the nearest exit that was not an elevator...

The stairs were packed within minutes so we chose to walk down the car ramp, in our pajamas, before we could make our coffee, to greet the Myrtle Beach firefighters on Ocean View Blvd.

Well that woke us up...and we never did find out what (or who) started it all.  

But the rest of Sunday was lazy beach/pool day with a side of Seafood Buffet in the evening - yum. 

Monday morning we headed back to Ohio with almost a half tank of gas.  My car has a little tank so I always wait til the low-gas light comes on and then start looking for a gas station.  I know I have 1.5 gallons (25-40 miles depending) from the time the light comes on....

No problem, right?

Right, except when the next 4 exits do not have gas stations listed on their exit signs...WTF???

People need gas, even if they live in the  middle of  nowhere - which I did not think we were in until the gas light started glowing.  

I finally just got off the highway, determined to find gas, because I was running low. The car seemed to be guzzling faster than usual...

I started panicking a little (ok, more than a little) because the phone and TomTom GPS were not getting service to help us locate a gas station...

Finally, Carrie's service kicked in...and she said we needed to backtrack...Nooooo!  I am not sure we can make it back that far.  

But we made it - with a quarter gallon to spare.

Needless to say we did not wait for the gas light to come on before we filled up next time.

I miss the beach..

I wanna go back...