So, it has been quite a while since I've posted on here! Almost a year! For those who are/were loyal readers, I'm sorry if it seems I fell off the face of the earth. I didn't. I just found a new place on earth called Facebook. I am addicted to it. I HAVE to go on at least once a day. Except when on vacation. When Dean and I did our World Tour every weekend in September, I didn't have computer access. So, no Facebook. I did post via text messages from where ever we were, though. And there was internet access at the house in Deep Creek, so really it was only 2 weekends + this past weekend when we went to Raccoon Creek Park for our anniversary weekend!
That was a great weekend. The weather was beautiful. I slept like I haven't slept in a long time...9 good hours or more a night! We didn't do much but relax and enjoy each other's company. I read alot like I usually do when we camp. I read Poison Mind. It's a true story about the investigation and arrest of George Trepal. He poisoned his neighbors by putting Thallium Nitrate in Coke. The Mom died. Her son and stepson have all but recovered fully. The whole family drank the cokes that were planted in their house, but the mom got the worst of it because when she got sick, they thought she needed hydrated and kept giving her more not knowing that that what was making her sick!
Last month while on the world tour, I read Barbara Walters' book, AUDITION. It is very well written and since she is still on The View almost everyday, it was her voice in my head as I was reading. I could actually hear her telling me the story. A very interesting life she has had and continues to have!
So, I have been applying for jobs that I find on line at different websites like Pgh.jobs.com, simply hired.com, monster.com, appone.com. It's horrible to be trying to find a job when PA has a very high unemployment rate right now. Thank you Ed Rendell. I voted for Lynn Swann. I wish more people had. I know it's a national problem though too. I am just a little discouraged. I keep kicking myself for staying the employ of Parker Plastics and not taking the job at the restoration company. Maybe I would not have had to be laid off.
Other than that, there's not much new. Other than my cousin got engaged yesterday. A new beginning............

Not much going on........

Now that the Dirt Late Model season has ended at Pa Motor Speedway, our life has become mundane for all intense purposes. Fall is here. NASCAR has 3 races left, then that season is over as well. Thank God for Steeler football and Penguin Hockey to get us through the winter months! At least we have bowling every other Saturday night! So, there is not much going on at the Rump household these days. But, I will bring you up to speed on the little events or whatever you might call them....
Dean burnt his arm with bacon grease at work. Bad burn, too. It was probably the size of an orange when it first happened, with 75% of it being a 2nd degree burn and 25% being 3rd degree. It is now a little over 2 weeks since it happened, and it is now about the size of a golf ball. But, due to health dept. regulations, the dr. will not let him go back to work since the 3rd degree portion is steal unhealed. He goes back to the burn treatment center next Wednesday, and I think they will clear him for work. Since he has been off so long per dr.'s orders, we were informed that he will get full worker's comp for the time he has been and will be off. So, that's good news!
Our deep fryer at home went bad, so Dean found a really nice one on QVC and bought it. It is called a multi cooker! It can deep fry, steam, roast, fry and slow cook! It it pretty cool!
Then, on QVC, he saw the TSV (Today's Special Value for those not up on the QVC lingo) and bought it! What was it, you say? A Wii! So, we are now in the Wii realm of gaming. I really got find things for him to do. If he keeps finding things on QVC, I'll never get the QCard paid off!
Tomorrow night is the Dirt World Championship Race at Charlotte. Dean knew he wanted to see it, so we rolled off for tomorrow nite's bowling. Ginny (Virg to some of you) and her boyfriend Nick are coming over to watch with us. So, today, while I was out taking Dee Dee to the dr., Dean went and did the shopping for what we needed for the menu for tomorrow nite. Pasta Bake, Kielbasa and Kraut, Veggie Tray, Chips, Pretzels, and Chips n Salsa. We always have a great time with Ginny and Nick, so I am really looking forward to it!
But, it turns out, that he forgot a few things at the store, and I forgot to put them on the note. And I was supposed to stop at Cibrone's and get freshly grated Parmesan cheese, and forgot that. So back to the store he went. The dogs are always waiting to go bye-byes, and since it was going to be a quick trip, the got to go! When they got back, Bitsy jumped out of the truck from the passenger seat and hurt her leg. She yelped and I though Dean had stepped on her. I run out to find him standing on the sidewalk holding her. I take her from him and try to comfort her. I wanted to check out what she did to it, so I put her on the couch and felt her entire leg and that didn't cause her any pain. Good. So, I stretched it out, and that was ok too. So, I put her down and she wouldn't put any weight on it whatsoever. So, I got the liquid baby Motrin I keep for the grandkids, and gave her a dose. She finally settled down and after she had dinner, she went to sleep. She is still limping, but it is better than when she first did it. The vet has told me that both her and Bailey have knee displacia in there back legs, and she might have knocked it out of joint. It has bothered her on occasion before, but not this bad. It was pretty high jump for her! She is only about 10 inches tall!
As for me, I am still unemployed, and getting unemployment. It doesn't pay much. After the taxes are taken out, it's close to half of what you made working. And you have no medical or other benefits. So, if you go away, and you're honest, you get nothing for that time. Luckily, I am still taking care of Dee Dee 3 or 4 days a week. It is supposed to be 5, but she always cancels at lest 1 day a week. And the President just announced this morning that he is extending Unemployment for another 20 weeks. When you first file, you get 26 weeks, paid bi-weekly, which means you get 13 payments of whatever your determined rate is. Then they have Tier 1 Emergency Unemployment for and additional 20 weeks. Then a Tier 2 is another 13 weeks. Now Obama is adding an additional 20 weeks! So, as long as I can take care of Dee Dee, we should be ok eventually. Christmas will be a bit lean this year, but we'll get through it. Dean will get his worker's comp, but we aren't sure how long it will take to come through. They really don't like to pay out that money, ya know.....The rep tried to push him into going back to work, but the dr. said no way. Only if he could do modified duty and that modified duty being a desk job. No preparing food, no cleaning the equipment due to the chance that he might get cleaning chemicals in the wound. So, there is no desk job for him where he works, so no work for him!
So, that about catches you up in my life. Seems I don't post as much anymore since I joined Facebook. And I love Facebook. I like reading the little snippets that give you a glimpse into the daily lives of your friends!

World Tour

Well, September is over and here comes fall! I hate fall. Things die, or go dormant, and then winter hits. I don't like snow. I don't ski, snowboard, or snowmobile. I don't like snowball fights, sled riding, or making snow angels.
But I must say that we had a great September. It is my favorite month of the year. I wish I had been born in September like Shan. Her birthstone is my favorite gem (outside of diamonds)--Sapphire. Dark Blue and so beautiful. You would think it would be amethyst since my favorite color is purple!
We had a great Labor Day weekend. The kids were all here-Sara, Jordan, Wee Wee, and Alea. Sara's mom was here and Nick. It was really nice. The following Thursday, we went to the World 100 @ Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio. The track was owned by Earl and Bernice Baltes until Tony Stewart of NASCAR bought it a few years ago. The racing was good. Camping was good and we got to see our friends from Iowa. Marty, Jason, and Kurt. Jason brought his fiance for the first time this year--Amanda.
The following weekend was the Pittsburgher and we always have a great time there! We camp with our friends, Tom and Lisa. This year, Angel and her son Andrew joined our camp! It was awesome! The food was incredible!
Last weekend was our trip to Deep Creek. We had an extra day this year! It really made it seem like a vacation rather than a long weekend! Again, we ate really good food! Every one makes something or brings something and it turns out so good! Friday, Tom and Dean did a fresh ham on the smoker. They pulled it apart and added BBQ sauce-Baby Ray's, the best there is-- and it was awesome. Saturday Dean did Prime rib. It was fantastic! We had salad and Baked taters with it. Just awesome!
This weekend, we went to Pumpkinland at Janoski's Farm in Clinton PA. We took Jordan and Wee Wee and they had a great time! They got their faces painted, picked their own pumpkins in the pumpkin patch, went through the petting zoo, and had funnel cake and kettle corn! It was a great day for them!

Something Sad; Something Rude

Patrick Swayze
August 18, 1952 -
September 14, 2009

Whether you saw him in Dirty Dancing, Ghost or Roadhouse, he had a persona like very few.


He was a great talent. Wonderful actor and even better dancer. I was really hoping he would be one of the first to beat pancreatic cancer. Now I hope that his death came and he was taken to Heaven just like he was in Ghost. It was a beautiful idea as to what a spirit sees when being ascended into Heaven.

Only 57 years old. It makes you wonder. Do only the good die young? RIP Patrick. You will be missed by many. Maybe you could look for my mom up there. I know she'd love to dance with you..........
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Okay. Time for this week's soapbox topic. I maybe a day late and a dollar short in posting this subject matter but, Kanye West. Rude, obnoxious, self centered, upstaging, attention seeking, spotlight grabbing jackass of a man. What other reason would you have to jump on stage from the audience of an award show and take the mic from Taylor Swift while she is giving her acceptance speech for winning MTV's VMA for Best Female Video and announcing that Beyonce' had the best female video in the world? Asshole. No other word for it. I don't like rap music, they lifestyle they lead or anything they stand for. Drug dealers and criminals that somebody thought could "sing" er, uh, rap. They are thugs and that's not a compliment.
Beyonce' was obviously mortified by the whole scenario by her reaction shown on tv while this was happening.
It turns out she won Video of the Year at the end of the night, which means she did have the best video in the world.....of the males AND females. Bar none.
Beyonce', being a class act, while making her acceptance speech, invited Taylor back on stage to finish her speech. Way to go Beyonce'! Classy move there.

This Week's Soapbox......61 Yr. Old Stranger Slaps Child in Walmart!

I do not like kids. I know, I know! I have 3 grandchildren that I ADORE! I don't like kids that don't belong to me in some capacity. By that I mean that they are related to me in some form and I have some control over their behavior, or they are kids of friends and I am comfortable comforting the child or children, or politely correcting them.
The kids that belong to strangers that are in the mall, grocery store, Walmart or a restaurant crying and the parents are ignoring them are the ones I do not like.

If you are within earshot of me and your kid is in the grocery cart crying because it wants something and you've said no, I'm the one who will say loud enough for you to hear me "Give the kid whatever it wants to make it shut up! Nothing aggrevates me more. I can't stand a kid that's crying or whining in public. Especially in restaurants. I want to enjoy the conversation and people that I'm with, even if it's only my husband. I want to enjoy my meal and relax. I cannot do that with a kid crying, whining, screaming or just misbehaving child or children at the next table! Take the child out of the restaurant, mall or store until it calms down, or give it something to make it stop!
HOWEVER, I do NOT condone the action of the 61 year old man who slapped this crying child in Walmart! The baby he slapped is 2 years old! He warned the mother "If you don't shut that baby up, I'll shut her up for you!" Apparently she could not get the toddler to stop crying and the man slapped the child 4-5 times! He is under arrest and charged with 1st degree cruelty to children! He could face 20 years. To a 61 year old man, that could turn out to be a life sentence!

Wee Wee Spent the Weekend; What a Monday!

Wee Wee was at our house this weekend. Here's the pictures. Isn't he a cutie?

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Then Monday, I took Dean to work in the morning. Came home and went back to bed. When I got up, I found myself really wishing this menopause thing was in full force already (you can figure out what happened). Not pleasant. I go to the lady's house that I help. And she has a bug up her butt about something! She want's me to straighten out her closet. So, I open the door and everything she has bought recently is just thrown in there. It's a walk in closet and she has decided that she doesn't want the half million shoeboxes on the floor. "We" are going to put them up on the shelf. So, I take all the boxes, open them one at a time, and show her the shoes. She would then tell me if they stayed in the closet, or when to the basement for storage. After 3 hours of that, I go to Arby's and get lunch. When I go to open the front door, I dropped my iced sweet tea all over the front stoop!
Finally, it's time to go home. I hear a noise coming from the tire and feel a vibration. Dean checks it when I get home and finds I have a nail in my right rear tire. So, Tuesday, I have to have it fixed.
Monday! What else could have gone wrong? So, I went and did that on Tuesday, went and a battery put in the remote for the truck, and to the grocery store. A good day, but I still hear that noise and feel the vibration when I drive the car. I figure it's just my imagination working overtime cause they fixed my tire..........
Wednesday, I have to be at the lady's house at 7:30 a.m. because the electrician is coming to hang 2 chandeliers and a ceiling fan for her. She doesn't like to be alone in the house with strangers, so I go. I end up helping him--handing him pieces of the chandeliers and fan so he doesn't make 80 trips up and down the ladder- so it helped pass the time. We decided on Subway for lunch. I go out, and I have a flat tire! Not the same tire that was fixed the day before, the other rear tire! Straight up the street I go to the tire place again! This one has a piece of metal in it and I have to be another tire because that one's irrepairable! Go to Subway and get lunch and everthing is fine!
Yesterday, I spent the day cleaning and getting in touch with old friends via Facebook! The music for the song "Foot Stompin" always goes through my head. Except it's "Facebookin"! So, that was my week. I know I'm not the only one who didn't have a good one!
I'm glad it's now Friday!

It Really Pissed Me Off!!!!!!!

Get a big ol' tall ladder! This soap box is a biggie!!!

Today, the lady I aide, who I affectionately call D D cause her grand kids do, and I went to South Hills Village. She is an elderly lady who uses a device we call the wheelie cart to walk with. It's a walker on steroids, really. The rear wheels stay straight, but the front ones pivot. Much like those on a shopping cart. It even has handbrakes!

Anyway, she has the handicap placard that hangs from the rear view mirror as to legally park in the handicapped spaces. Well, the mall was very crowded today and there were no vacant hc spots available. But, the 3rd space from the door is open, and it is right next to the hc spaces, so we take it. After I get the wheelie cart out of the trunk and she gets out of the car, I see that the one occupant of a hc space is sitting in the vehicle with the motor running! He must be just waiting for someone who just had to "run in" the mall. Why he had to actually take a space is beyond me! Why couldn't he have waited at the curb, or in one of the aisles till his party came out?
Oh well. Whatever will be will be.
After doing our shopping, we come out to get back in the car and head somewhere for lunch. Isn't there a different vehicle in the other hc space doing the exact same thing as the guy that was there when we went in? OOOHHHHH! I was furious! 2 of the same offense in a matter of the 2 hours we were in the mall!!! To make matters worse, the car that was parked on the right of us (the hc spots are to our left) has left and somebody with a big ol' honkin' silver M300 has parked there and is extremely close to my car! And when I had parked, I hugged the left side where the yellow lines mark the space where the handicapped people should walk! So, you know that 300M parked close! There is no room now for D D to use her wheelie cart to get to the front door of the car. She has to abandon the device she relies on and go hand over hand on the car to support herself in order to get in.
People have no consideration!!! Don't take a hc spot if you don't really need it. Don't park so close to other cars that they can't open the doors to get in. Manners, people. Where are your manners?
I know the handicapped spots are the closest to the entrance of where ever you are going. The dr's office, the grocery store, Walmart, The mall, whatever. And you think, ah, I'll only be a minute. I just park here and hope I don't get caught. But don't do it. In that minute that you are inside, someone such as D D may need that space. That's why the sign is there. That's why the fine is so steep if you get caught. You are able to walk the extra distance. People like D D cannot!





RESPECT THE SIGN!!!!!!