Drug Addiction

Drug addiction is killing us.  There's no other way to put it.  To hear that drug addiction is now of epidemic proportion in North America is frightening.  It isn't just the raggedy street people who are addicted and therefore that's how they became homeless and living on the streets.  It's also the average working person who is slowly destroying their family and then their means to put a roof over their heads and food on the table.  Some have been stupid enough to try illegal drugs but many have become addicted first to prescription drugs obtained from their doctors.

Even good parents are unable to control the fate of their children who, for whatever reason, enjoy the risk associated with trying illegal drugs.  Teens are among the dumbest human beings on this earth and that's where they're making the biggest mistakes of their lives.  That period of time in their lives is when they're the most vulnerable to thinking they can play with the drugs and not become addicted.  And the drug dealers know it!

I watched a video of a city cop who filmed street addicts as they descended into deep addiction and he then showed these films to high school students.  I thought this was one of the most valuable ways to warn them of the dangers.  Surely a visual of a healthy young face that turned into a sore ridden spectacle after only a few years of addiction would scare the teens into abstaining from drugs...but, has it?

We spend countless hours teaching school children about sex and sexual orientation but wouldn't we now be better off teaching them about the horrors of drug addiction?  Somehow we've jumped on the wrong band wagon because of the political groups who are only concerned with making their sexual choices acceptable.  We get it.  No-one should be victimized because of their legal sexual choices but now it's time to address a much bigger issue.  Our education system should be including massive information on the dangers of drug use.  Being gay will not kill you but drug addiction will.

I know many people who use recreational marijuana and I've believed it to be no dangerous than alcohol but I'm reconsidering this.  Anything that diminishes your mental capacity, even temporarily, can't be good for you.  Anything you take into your body that affects the brain is and has to remain a worry.  

The more I hear about how rich the drug manufacturers are getting from pushing their wares, the more I'm understanding that the looming legal drug epidemic might not be accidental.  If enough of the citizens are in an unclear state of mind, then the populace is easier to control.  Our government knows that opioid overuse is destructive but they're still being over-prescribed.  It makes you wonder if the government is more concerned with lives or company profits.

My fear is that drug use will end up demolishing a generation or two but my hope is that the next generation will learn from it.    

Craft Sale

One of the two craft sales I sell at was on Saturday.  It was miserably rainy and cold, just like last year, and that kept many shoppers away.  The biggest problem with this venue is that it's out in the country and only accessible by car.  There would be very few walk ins.

Kim came down to pick me up to drive me there because it was a dark, rainy morning and difficult for me to drive.  She's been such an angel over the years taking up 1/4 of her weekend to help me sell my stash.  Where I love the time spent talking to people even if they're not buying, Kim is polite but not too interested in strangers.  Regardless, she does it for me.

This year, a lot of the people who stopped by knew about Swedish weaving and appreciated the time it takes to make the items.  I sold 4 or 5 table runners and a bit of the jewelry I still have.  I won't be buying any more jewelry to sell and will probably end up donating much of it to the Salvation Army and just concentrate on having one table to sell the table runners.

The next craft show is on November 18th and I can count on my precious Kim to help me there, too.  I think I'll only do this craft show next year and not the one in the country.  I also think I'll do this craft show until I'm too old and feeble to do it any more because I enjoy it very much.

Whether I sell or not, I really do enjoy talking to people.  I met one lady who doesn't do Swedish weaving but has a piece of the green monk's cloth she wants to give to me.  She teaches Bunka at the senior center where the next craft show is going to be held.  I met another lady who taught me all about selling my trailer in Florida.  I talked to many who have no family close by and who praised my Kim for being such a good daughter.  This happens a lot.  I know every moment of my life how lucky I am to have the daughters that I do.

I came home tired out and just left all the stuff in the car.  I'm taking today to just lounge around and do nothing at all...maybe some Swedish weaving...and will organize everything tomorrow.  Tuesday is root canal day.  Yuk!!

Dominoes At Cindy & Don's House

Kim picked me up from her work and we first drove to Shoppers on the mountain because they sell Lancombe products and I was still looking for my face cream...but I wanted the bonus, too.  They had the cream but not the bonus until Nov. 3rd so I'll wait.  

We then went to Costco so Kim could get boxes of coffee and we could both indulge in their tasty chicken strips and fries for dinner.  We were a little late getting to Cindy's.

Cindy is a great shopper and gets the greatest deals on Kijiji.  She had just purchased 2 beautifully upholstered chairs with comfy curved backs plus the footstool for $225.  The frames look antique but the chairs look like new.  They look perfect in her livingroom.  Cindy appreciates the beauty of antiques and has filled her home with some gorgeous pieces, all bought as terrific deals.  She's like her Momma.

Don had already set up the kitchen table for dominoes and last night night there were just the 4 of us.  There's something so good for the soul about playing table games.  It's more the chatter and joking arguments that make it so much fun, too.  It's something I miss about not being at 3W because we play some sort of cards or Bingo about 4 times a week (some play more often).

Cindy drove me home.  It's come to that time of year when it gets dark early and, since I can't see to drive in the dark, I have to depend on someone to drive me.  It was a lovely evening spent with 3 of my favorite people!

Getting Ready for Craft Show

I don't buy jewelry to sell any more so my supply cost is next to nothing now.  I much prefer to keep making the Swedish weaving table runners and hoping they will at least pay for the tables I rent at the venue.  I think I'll leave the necklaces at last year's prices for the first craft show and then drop the prices for the second show.  I just want to get rid of the jewelry at this point.  I only need one table for the table runners and that would be nice for next year.

Kim is my helper at the craft shows and Kellie has joined in to help at most of them the last few years.  We have a lot of fun and meet a lot of nice people so it's something I don't want to give up until I have to.

I finished my last table runner yesterday and won't bother making any more to sell this year.  I want to concentrate on the red fabric that will be sent to Shelley's house for next year's Christmas table runners.  I'm taking my sewing machine to Florida and will prepare it all there over the winter.

I can't imagine how bored I'd be if I didn't have crafts to turn to.  I keep a neat home but also keep cleaning time to a minimum.  I clean as I go so nothing much builds up...until the sunlight hits something I hadn't noticed before.  That's always a shock and I immediately clean it up!  My sweet apartment remains a joy that I'm so glad I took the steps to move here.

Today my big job is to take out the garbage and then load up the car with the craft stuff.  I might go and get my bloodwork done, too, because that has to be done before the end of the month.  It's for a regular check-up with my family doctor.  I still have dermatologist and internist (from the colonoscopy) check-up appointments in November but I also have a root canal coming up, too.  I'll be so happy when all of that is over.  It almost feels as though I'm escaping prison when my doctors' appointments are through for the winter...especially after the horrid summer I had.

Right now I feel healthy and happy so I hope these darned doctors don't spoil my mood.

It Wasn't The Soup

I have rarely in my life thrown up.  It is such a disgusting thing to do that I fight it vehemently if the urge strikes but I have learned that, with food poisoning, it's really best to just let it happen.

On Friday night, I did have food poisoning that I thought had to come from the chicken soup I'd made so I threw it all out.  I felt great on Saturday.  On Sunday night I had a triple fold bout with food poisoning and realized the culprit hadn't been my lovely chicken soup but had to be the mayonnaise I'd eaten both nights.  Mayonnaise is always to be considered whenever anyone has food poisoning.  I had used that same mayonnaise on Thanksgiving to make devilled eggs for the family dinner and I'm glad it was okay then.  I may never make devilled eggs again, though.

My diet is pretty repetitious so it was easy to remember that I'd had the mayonnaise both Friday and Sunday.  I think you actually can die from food poisoning and me having two bouts of it in just a few days must have been really hard on my body.  Maybe the danger is in how much of the tainted food you eat and I might have had a tablespoon full of the mayo each night.  It was enough to make me very, very sick!

I'm kind of mad that I threw out all that delicious chicken soup.

Food Poisoning

I made a really delicious chicken soup yesterday with chicken thighs that had been in the freezer for maybe 4-5 months.  That may be a little past the length of time for frozen chicken but it shouldn't have made it rancid.  It looked and smelled fine.

I had it for supper and was pretty proud of myself because it was one of the best I'd ever made.  About 10 P.M., my stomach started to make noises and I felt a bit nauseous.  The nausea is what really worried me because I hate throwing up so much.  I'm lucky in that this almost never happens to me.  Anyway, I tried to ignore my symptoms and fell asleep.  An hour later I woke up knowing I was going to throw up and raced to the bathroom.  It was awful.  At the same time I worried about having diarrhea, too, but managed to just empty my stomach before shakily going back to bed.

Maybe half an hour later the diarrhea hit and kept on for a couple of hours.  I thought I might have the flu but it seemed more like food poisoning because I gradually felt better as my innards thrust out the offending chicken soup.

Our bodies are true miracles.  Vomiting and diarrhea are automatic reflexes used by our bodies to remove food or liquid that could harm us.  We might not like it but it's there to protect us.  

I'm a little queasy this morning and not too anxious to eat anything but I don't actually feel sick...therefore, it had to be food poisoning.  I'll be throwing out the rest of that delicious but deadly soup, though.    

Up At Dawn

When I was younger I could have slept all day and rarely saw dawn break.  I used to attribute that to sleepless nights where I wouldn't even fall asleep until near dawn but that might not have been the case.

These days, the slightest bit of morning sun filters through my closed eyes and will wake me up.  I don't know what else to blame except my bladder when I wake up before dawn.  In any case I really do love seeing the world brighten as the sun comes up.  I view it as another chance for a happy day.  In my middle years waking to a new day meant waking to an overwhelming sadness so I treasure the happiness I have now.

I often think of what I could have accomplished with my life if I hadn't had to deal with depression.  The world is so full of possibilities but, when you're deeply depressed, you can't see that.  It's just a struggle making it through one more day rather than making that day a useful one.  My doctor at the time treated me with strong antidepressants off and on instead of really helping me.  It was my new family doctor who actually took steps to give me back my life and I'll always be grateful to him.  He is the one who diagnosed me and got me counseling.

Anyway, that's off the subject of waking up to this beautiful new day.  October has been pretty cold and windy but, when the sun is shining, it doesn't really matter.  The day is beautiful!  I haven't yet done my drive out to the country to see the lovely autumn colors and I'm afraid I might have waited too long.  The strong winds we've been having have torn a lot of the dying leaves from the trees already.

I don't do much in the early morning except drink coffee and play on the computer but that still leaves me a long day to fill as I choose.  Today I choose to take that drive into the countryside! 

White Privilege

I watch a lot of talk shows on T.V. and this was the topic on one today.  Immediately, as I heard the topic, I got my back up and dozens of reasons why "white privilege" is a fallacy ran through my mind.  And then I listened.  And then I began to agree.  I know we white people carry a great deal of guilt about being white when we think of what other white skinned people have done to blacks.  It's sort of an inherited guilt by association and it's terribly unfair.  But the hard cold truth is that we, as white skinned people, do have privileges not afforded to black skinned people based on that ridiculous fact.

What is comfortable for us is that we are largely unaware we are receiving those privileges.  It's like being very rich all your life and used to living the high life and just accepting that this is the way life is supposed to be.

I still don't like to be referred to as enjoying white privilege.  What I'm enjoying for the most part is being treated with a respect that should be given to everyone.  It's so illogical to treat someone badly or differently just because of their skin pigment.  Now I have to backtrack a bit because I just might treat a dark skinned person a little differently than I do a white.  I wonder if they're judging me unfavorably based on the color of my skin.  I wonder if their politeness is false.  This is only if I don't know them but it's still odd to admit that.  I don't concern myself at all with how a white stranger is feeling about me personally so there is a difference.

Everyone is prejudiced in some way and it doesn't matter what color your skin is, whether you're male or female, or what your career happens to be.  People will judge you either favorably or unfavorably based on many things.  The thing about white Anglo privilege is that we are rarely made to feel suspicious or inferior based on our skin color and that is something that often happens to other skin colors or nationalities.

When I was a child, I don't remember having any black people in my schools but today I see a huge variety of skin tones, nationalities, and cultures everywhere.  It seems that getting to know a variety of people should dissolve prejudice but it still exists.  This makes me wonder if all human beings have an innate need to feel superior in some way.  We do tend to bind closer with people "just like us" and that goes for every race and nationality, not just whites.  I'm hoping that will change in the future.

I have to admit that white privilege is an ugly fact.  But I also believe it's us wanting to and expecting to be treated in a certain way.  Not better than anyone else but simply with fairness and respect.  The fact that everyone doesn't receive fairness and respect doesn't make me demand anything less for myself.  The good news is that most whites also want and demand that same treatment for everyone else, too.  We have been enlightened to the plight of others.

I'm too old to expect to see a world of peace and universal respect in my lifetime and I'm doubtful it will ever happen even in the far future.  It could be that we humans are so deeply flawed that we are unable to behave decently.  We're very clannish and that's obvious in every aspect of our lives.  Different religions separate us.  Skin color separates us. Nationality separates us.  We have certain expectations and prejudices based on sex.  Politics (hard to believe) make enemies of neighbors.  

No, we can only hope to see progress in the future in how we treat one another.  It's going to take a lot of hard work by a few to educate many.

Addicted

I watched an interesting but frightening documentary yesterday about the dangers of the younger generation becoming addicted to their cell phones and games.  I've watched how many teens will be together but not interacting, just all doing whatever in their own little world on their cell phones and predicted this would lead to a generation with no social skills.  And this is what is happening.

The documentary was partly about a young man becoming suicidal when his parents took away his cell phone and he had to have intensive therapy.  How did this happen??

I wonder if parents who work all day and are too tired to interact with their children when they come home at night don't mind a quiet child mentally attached to their cell phone.  Dinnertime used to be a time to eat and talk to each other about our day but too often now it's a fast food dinner watched in front of the T.V.  

There are so many dangers on the internet, too, with predators searching for neglected or naive children.  These "cell phone/internet" babies are already isolated and easy prey.

I commented a while back about how we seniors go out for lunch and everybody is laughing and talking.  Next to us is way too often a group of teens who are not talking to each other but silently staring at their cell phones.  There is a greater loss here than anyone ever imagined and it won't change any time soon.  Parents are giving even their pre-teens cell phones "so they can keep track of them".  Bull crap!  Those kids need more personal interaction and attention from their parents!

Isolation is a very bad thing if it isn't counterbalanced with face to face social interaction.  That is needed for a teen to develop into a mature adult.  It's foolish to think we can now just take the cell phones away because they have become a way of life for most people.  I've actually been told that a person's "whole life" is on their cell phone.  They have become an essential part of them.

I see no quick solution here except to attempt to minimize cell phone and game usage.  And we'll need pro-active parents to do that.

Old Friends

I've had the wonderful opportunity this month to hook up with 2 old friends, one I hadn't seen in many years.  One of the miracles of life is that, when someone is a true friend, that never ends no matter how long you go without seeing each other.

After many years, I did see Anne last year but it, unfortunately, was at her husband's memorial service.  I was leaving soon for Florida so we promised to get together this year.  Again, unfortunately, I spent a summer seeing one doctor after another for an illness I didn't have so I waited until the doctor visits ended.  Anne called me before I had a chance to call her, though.

We spent a lovely day on Thursday eating Thai food and catching up on things.  We went back to her house (still the same house and gorgeous beyond words with lovely gardens) for cake, tea, and more catching up.  When I left, Anne hugged me tightly and said how it seemed no time at all had passed and that was true.  Once a good friend, always a good friend.

Anne does volunteer work and excels at lawn bowling but she still feels lonely at times without Bill who was the love of her life.  We made tentative plans to meet again, maybe for an afternoon movie, and I really hope we can manage to see each other often now.

I noted how different Anne and Irene had aged.  Both are within a year of each other and poor Irene has suffered a stroke which has left her slightly handicapped.  Anne, on the other hand, moves around like an 18 year old and takes no medication at all...just like Faye.  Being an active senior really does matter and I know I should be more active but I'm lazy.  Maybe I'm still here and fairly healthy despite a sedentary lifestyle because I was blessed with good genes.

Anyway, I'm ever so happy to have met up with Irene and Anne again after so long because you can never have too many friends in your life.

Registering For Tables For Craft Show

I'm going to be registering for my tables for a craft show next month and I'm already mad about the stupid procedure.  The twit who runs it decided a couple of years ago not to offer tables at a first come first serve way and, instead, chose a lottery.  This means you could arrive at the registration at 8 A.M to get your ticket and then have that the last ticket drawn in the evening.  I hate this process and I can't stand the twit who implemented it.  I think I scared him when it was first implemented because I complained quite vigorously.  He looks like a skinny little Hitler.

Anyway, the tickets will be available until 4:45 P.M. and then the drawing will start at 5 P.M.  Hopefully I can be on my way home before dark.  If not, I'll sleep over at Kim's because I can't see to drive in the dark.

I really love the 2 craft shows I do each year and I'm really lucky to have Kim and often Kellie to help me.  Kim is a workhorse and Kellie is a great salesperson.  I still have a few sterling pendants and more than a few costume jewelry bracelets and necklaces but I'd like to sell those all off and just sell my Swedish weaving.  The jewelry was fun for a while but I'm over it.  I think I'll always love making the Swedish weaving table runners.  What I don't sell I can give away and that's fine with me.  I have fun making them.

I'll try to be polite to the twit.

Canadian Thanksgiving 2018

This day was spent with most of my family...Kim, Cindy, Don, Nick, Bev, Kyle, Matt, Kellie, Nolan and Nash but my thoughts were also with my family that couldn't be there.  Bev asked us all to say what we were thankful for and most, including me, were most thankful for our family.  I forget what Nolan was thankful for but Nash was thankful for Kyle.  I think they might be soul brothers!

I know I harp on the importance of family all the time but just think where we'd be without our loved ones (family and friends) to complete our lives.  It would be lonely and meaningless as far as I'm concerned.  Some people are loners and might be quite content that way but it isn't a natural way.  We were meant to form societal bonds.

I got another nice surprise when I finally checked my telephone messages just before going to bed...too late to call her back.  Anne, a very old friend called and I'll call her back later this morning.  We hadn't seen each other in many years until the memorial service last year for her husband.  I never understood how our close friendship over the years had just dwindled away but that does happen sometimes.  Anyway, I'll call her back and hopefully arrange to meet up with her.  The older I get the more I realize that we should cling fast to our good friendships because they are as important as the relationships we have with our family.

It's another cool, rainy, and cloudy fall day today but my ray of sunshine will be a reunion with Anne.

It's A New Day

When you lose the battle you either back away with grace and live to fight another day or you whack your head against the wall and continue to fight what is not only a losing battle but a lost battle.

One of life's greatest lessons is that sometimes you win and sometimes you lose.  It doesn't mean you give up but only that your path will take another course.  There will never be a time we run out of worthwhile battles to fight because this is a world in turmoil.  There are wars all over the world based on greed and ego.  One of the biggest wars still being waged in our own country is that of equality for women.  We've come a long way, baby, but we still have miles to go.  

I won't live long enough to see full equality but it will come.  As each generation of women is strengthened by the last, there will come a day when our own generation will be laughed at as prehistoric for the way in which we have held women down.  I'm sure this will create problems of it's own because human beings are unpredictable critters.

Anyway, one battle lost is not the end of the war.

Politics Are Dirty

It's hard to believe that any politician becomes one in order to do well for the citizens.  Since Trump became the U.S. president I've been watching more of the antics these very powerful people get up to and it's really a national disgrace these days.  There is so much infighting between parties instead of attempting to get along for the sake of the country that I wonder if there ever will be peace...even after Trump is gone.

Maybe this has been the game all along but it was better hidden in the old days.  Now every little back stabbing moment is shown on CNN.  It must be very unsettling for the American citizens because it's unsettling for me as an outsider.  Canadian politics are no different...Trudeau is a dope who always seems to be doing something ultra liberal that offends most of us.  He just interfered to allow a child rapist/murderer to spend her prison time in a "healing lodge".  Apparently that's a nice comfy apartment where she'll be counselled by native healers.  How the hell is that a comfort to the parents of the little girl she kidnapped, raped, and murdered??

I don't usually watch even my own country's politics because they're usually boring but politics in the U.S. with Trump is not boring.  Frightening, laughable, shameful, ugly...but not boring.  I've watched Trump imitate and make fun of a handicapped reporter, do the same with a rape victim, and seen his audience applaud and laugh right along with him.  I continue to ask myself if the citizens are losing their morals or if they never had them to begin with.  How could anyone vote for a man who, on camera, joked about being able to grab women by the "pussy" because he's a celebrity.  It boggles the mind to try to understand this.

It's discouraging to see the depths some politicians seem to have fallen and still be able to gather up enough people to vote them into office.  Politics have always been dirty but now I see it's really the swamp that Trump is always describing.   

It's Always Something

Comedian Gilda Radner wrote a book called "It's Always Something".  I think she wrote it after being diagnosed with the cancer that killed her.  Well, my something isn't that bad.  After surviving a whole summer of medical tests and coming up clean, I went to the dentist yesterday for a regular cleaning but needed x-rays, especially because of some sensitivity in one of my teeth.  I need a root canal.

Root canals are very expensive and I don't know how I'd ever be able to afford it if I didn't have the money from the sale of my house.  I guess that's why most seniors will just have the tooth pulled and live with the gap it leaves.

I guess my "something" could have been a whole lot worse.