The hotel gurus of the beach are what will bring forth the Zombies

I went for a ride the other day with my Calvin and we decided to cruise along Ocean Boulevard.  For those of you that have not been to the beach in the last 5 years, there has been a great deal of change in the infrastructure and aesthetics of the Boulevard.  It was approximately 10 a.m. and I noticed that it was rather cool for a sunny August morning. Then, it occurred to me.  There is no sun on the Boulevard?  This is because, when the city opened a construction window, all of the smaller hotels were replaced by behemoth hotels that literally block out the sunlight unless it is high noon.  Upon further inspection, I realized that it was on both sides of the Boulevard that these buildings had been placed.  This would mean that the only sunlight to reach the street level on this road would be at…wait for it…high noon.  That leaves a very small window of sunlight for the street to be lit up. 

I found that to be horrible.  People come to the beach for sunlight.  Not inner city appearances.  I understand the need to accommodate more people, I do, however it is terrible to decimate the landscape like that.  Not to mention the fact that you are quite possibly changing the weather patterns for miles inland.  The breeze off the water is wonderful and it makes for quite a windy area when the wind has nowhere to go but up.  Some of it will not go up but waift around on the beach front for a while before dying down.  This makes it warmer further inland when the only wind in the forecast comes off the water.  Sure, it can come in through the space between the buildings but mother nature is a finicky sort and is not too fond of people interfering with her art.  She gets angry and lets humans know with her wrath. 

Why would a greed sumbish want to do that and cause economic hardship that could ultimately hurt his own pocket?  I may be grasping for straws but let’s look at the big picture here.  The buildings at the waterfront reach to nosebleed heights.  Then there is no sun on the Boulevard and you affect weather patterns that come off the beach.  The weather patterns themselves can be catastrophic if there is a massive hurricane or tidal wave.  Even flooding could hinder the foundations of the buildings and end up in required condemnation for repair.  Then you affect the weather inland.  For the farmers, they have to find other ways to protect their crops and even spend their hard earned money on different equipment to irrigate their land to ensure that their crops are growing properly.  If they are spending their extra money on equipment due to scorching weather patterns due to unnatural fixtures at the beach, then they are not going on vacation to come and spend money in your shiny new hotel that you just built on the beach.  In turn, they have to raise the prices on their goods or sell their land off to developers which results in higher prices for the consumers and allows for consumers to purchase things other than going on vacation from the homes they already have.  Higher prices for necessary goods like food and clothing causes consumers to travel less and they will not come to the beach either and stay in your shiny new hotel because they are too busy trying to survive on the money they have and are only purchasing necessaries. 

Now, all your stuff in this new behemoth of a building is shiny and you may have the nine pools and other amenities.  But people come to the beach for sun, sand, and surf.  You are creating a society of cave babies because they are too busy spending time in doors and not enjoying the relaxing areas that mother nature provided for us to use in the first place.  Cave babies will turn into zombies and then we have an apocalypse on our hands and you definitely get no riches then.  If a zombie apocalypse occurs, life goes back to a simpler time and those with the big face money in their pockets and no idea how to survive are no longer rich and become the bottom of the food chain or even a zombie themselves.

These rich hotel owners spend their lives sucking the life out of people by making money the most important thing ever and forcing people to aspire to some material god that they fail to realize they are their own downfall.  What kind of world is that to live in?  Where do we go from here?

I know that, without a doubt, my family will survive and will be quite “wealthy” were there every be some catastrophic thing as a Zombie Apocalypse.  Thanks frivolous hotel owner for bringing it upon all of us.  If I ever see you being chased by one of your creations (Zombie) I will sit on my roof top and chuckle.  No worries, I will use your newfound “friend” as target practice….after it is done with you.

What do YOU think?

My Hot Beverage Part Deux

Those of you who are my dear readers know my affinity for coffee first thing in the morning. I made a discovery regarding my morning ritual. 

I have discovered that while I am a morning person, I am not so much without the warm mug I carry through the house as I get my morning routine going.  This morning, I thought it would be nice to do my morning chores (feed the dog, chickens, fish, scrub the dishes left from the midnight marauders, sweep out the barn, etc.) WITHOUT my tasty hot beverage.  The whole intent there, was to enjoy the coffee while I was sitting at my desk ranting about other things that I have had bouncing around in my head for a couple of days. (Sorry, this is a digression I don't want to take right now because it will go off on a tangent I am not ready for yet.) Boy was that a big mistake. I even reached the point where I forewarned my dear Calvin that I would bite as I had not had coffee yet.  What a brave man he is, however, he still approached me with a warm hug and kisses even though his life was in danger.  This is why I married him! (Ok, there is the digression! Hehe.)

Point being, my discovery is that I am NOT a morning person at all. Well, without coffee I am not one. I am a vicious, snarling, black widow who has been backed into a corner and is ready to strike when you get too close. In reflection, I was not very nice this morning. However, I have calmed a great deal as I have to reheat the second portion of my preferred hot beverage.  Yes, reheat.  Go ahead and get the ews and yucks out of the way. Part of my coffee routine.  I do the same to those of you with the foam and the double mocha lattee with just a splash of some other black oily substance.  I get about as fancy as putting flavored cream in mine and call it a day. Yea, I have tried that other crap but to tell you the truth, why am I going to get up, get dressed, fight the stupid drivers, stand in a long line and spend eight dollars on a cup of coffee that is truly crap once it becomes cold. Those things are not reheatable and I can take my eight dollars and drink coffee for the whole damn month and never have to deal with stupid people before I even get my caffiene injection in the morning. 

Yea, yea, it is trendy to put a second mortgage on your house to visit your favorite barista first thing in the morning. Go be trendy.  When my house is paid for, and your doctor tells you no more caffiene, you will think again about that 8 dollar mug of YOUR steamy goodness in a different light huh?  By that time, I will be paying only taxes and insurance on my home and sitting on my porch relatively stress free with my preferred hot beverage (likely decaffinated....**shudder**) watching the grand children play in front of the house smiling. I will be retired and you will still be trudging away AND, likely still at the local coffee shop every morning.

Ah yes, me and my tasty hot beverage. Friends for LIFE!

What do YOU think?

I love my hot beverage.

Every morning, without fail, I wake up and am unable to officially start my day without my first hot beverage. Coffee. Similar to many people in this world, coffe is a staple in my home and life is simply not plesant with out it. I absolutely love it with my 8T of french vanilla, irish cream, or caramel creamer. (Preferenced in listed order.) After the first sip, I can face the world and life is good. **Excuse me while I go put my fathers "tea pot" on with some water to boil.** Now, I have come to the conclusion that life is just as good ending the day with a different hot beverage. I prefer hot chocolate. In the past, I was not hip to hot chocolate in the winter. While I enjoyed them then, I prefer to have a cup o' cocoa on a nice summer evening as a perfect end to a summer day. While most people have tea or a drink, I prefer the old stand by. I have discovered that it has become more of a habit this summer and it is a great way to relax for the evening. I love it almost as much as I love my morning coffee, actually. I guess it was a given since I don't mind my sodas warm and can drink on a 20 oz soda for the better part of my work day. Normally that starts out ice cold, right out of the cabinator, it is not necessary for it to remain ice cold. Are there benefits to drinking hot beverages? I would certainly like to think so. However, I put enough fattening junk in mine to warrant any healthy promotion off of such a waste of time. If I am out of creamer (or marshmallows) I will simply have my beverages just as they were conceived for. Plain, and black. I have even become accostomed to having my cocoa made with plain water. While the watery variety of even the top shelf cocoa varieties is less than brain sparkly, it will suffice just the same. I guess you can say it is the experience. (Yes, you can say the morning is more of necessity but the evening is truly the experience.) Conversely, I prefer my water to be ICE cold. I find water that is anything warmer than just below freezing to be absolutely awful. Not sure where that came from. I am VERY picky about where my ice comes from. So picky, in fact, that I refuse to take ice in my drinks at any restauraunt or fast food establishment. There is a story behind that. Let me explain. My first job that was working for corporate America was in one of the more popular fast food chains of the time. It was with in walking distance of my home and it was the perfect job. I was used to working for family and was exposed to so much more of what the very fabric of this country was made up of in the REAL working world. During my first few months of working at this wonderful establishment (at $4.25 an hours, seriously! A servers wage by today's standards,) I noted that the icebin that normally hangs on the side of the ice machine had a slanted flat bottom and would stand on its own were it left on the floor. (UCK!) One day, during a particularly busy Saturday afternoon, I noted that the ice bin was not hanging on the side of the ice machine but, on the floor. I then watched a co worker (who had worked there for at least 2 years) pick up the ice bin, scoop it into the ice and then proceed to walk it to the front counter and fill the ice pockets at the cash registers. Absolutely beside myself, I then looked at the floor which was slimy with grime and stamped gook from the grill area. I about croaked! I vowed from then on NEVER to get ice from a restauraunt. If I "accidentally" get ice, I will refuse it and make the person fix me another in a different cup. Mind you, I worked in food service and I know some things. If you allow the person to take the cup back, they will dump it out in the drain and use the same cup to fix your beverage with no ice. NOT GONNA HAPPEN. Ah, but I digress.... Back to my hot beverage. I now hear the water boiling happy in the tea pot. In reality that is simply a small sauce pan. Nothing bigger than to hold a standard can of green beans. Just small enough for an amount of water for an evening beverage. As I sit here and watch the steam come out the rim of my mug, my mouth anticipates the hot chocolatey goodness it contains. I fancy grabbing my mug, my King novel, and a blanket. I will curl up on the couch and wrap up another day. All with my hot beverage. Yes it is made with water today and yes, it is truly an experience... What do YOU think?

OCD. It is in all of us.

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Or Obsessive compulsive disorder. Or obsessive compulsive disorder.

I know that this is what some people would consider a disease.  Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) is where someone constantly does some habit over and over again in an attempt to maintain control of the world around them. While that is not the standard definition, that is my layman’s take on it. I believe that we all are a little OCD about things in our lives. Some have OCD more than others.  I believe it becomes an issue or something that is considered wrong with the person when the world notices and becomes bothered by the behavior or the mere doing of the said behavior becomes so exhausting for the person doing it that they are unable to live a normal life.  For my dear readers that know how I love to have my nose stuck in a book, you can expect a story reference in this rant. You can pretty much bet it is also from a King novel.  “Ayup” as King’s characters often say.  You nailed it.

This one story in Just After Sunset was so obsessed with counting, touching, and placing things, that it became exhausting to even breathe.  Every step was counted and it had to be even numbers, every color, lines and circles of objects meant to ward off evil, checking and quadruple checking every lock in the house to ensure they were all locked.  Not THAT was exhausting just writing about it.  There is true OCD. Textbook even.  Still there are others that have it and can be noticed by those around them or have become so accustomed to the behavior that they can actually live and not let it overcome their entire being.  Psychiatrists would say they have a control on the OCD behavior.  Maybe it is something like washing their hands all the time or lining up a pile of something that is randomly sitting there (a pile of buttons, for example.) Even so much as to not walk on painted pavement or step over the cracks in the sidewalk.  Those are not so bad. Not so crippling. Maybe hurtful every now and again when the cracks are to infinite to step over or around or the whole damn parking lot is painted over…solid.  That could certainly lead to a bad day. I understand that.

However, there are even others who KNOW they have an OCD behavior but are not so overcome by the event that it is catastrophic if it is not done properly.  They do try to exude the same behavior whenever the need arises, but they are not stressed out by the fact that it did not go according to plan. Let me explain this one because I can partially relate.  Let’s say, for example, you have a bag of m&m’s.  There are five colors in said bag. (I know these are not the exact colors, this is just an example folks.) These colors are red, yellow, blue, green, and brown.  While sitting in a meeting, everyone has a bag of these chocolate covered bits of heaven to keep them occupied and awake during the most boring meeting of the day. Now, most people would either pour them into their hand out of the bag, pluck them out with pincher fingers one by one, or dump them on the table and randomly eat them.  Not you, no way.  There is a method to your madness.  You have to dump them out and either separate them into piles by color or line them up in straight lines by color. You always eat the browns first (your least favorite color.) Then proceed to yellow, red, green and the blues are always last.  Yes, because green and blue are your favorite, even though all the candies taste the same, you do this with every bag of m&m’s you have ever eaten. They are just better that way. 

Of course, the people around you notice what you are doing. But, it is not so bothersome that they stop what they are doing to gawk at you. Afterall, you are only eating your m&m’s and you are not too noisy about it. Maybe even the person to your left will lean over and say “OCD much?”  That is not going to bother you. You may even accidentally eat a blue one first. That is ok so long as there are still blues left for the very last.  This is not wholly life consuming, nor is it tiresome behavior.  It is just something that makes you happy for the moment and it is not taking over your life. Besides, next time, you will NOT eat a blue one by mistake before all the other colors are gone. It didn’t kill you.

Even further down the spectrum, there are ones who have some sort of OCD thing going on in their life and it may be so ingrained into them or such a valid part of their personality that nobody notices it. Even the person with the behavior does not notice it either. This is not as simple as putting your seatbelt on every single time you get in the car to go somewhere.   It is something like ensuring that your pen is sitting on your desk in the perfect spot while you are talking on the phone at work. It can even be that when you put your shoes on, it is always the right and then the left.  It is not a skipped heartbeat if it is not that way, just makes you feel better is all.

My query here is this:  What happens to people that makes them surge from the minor end of the spectrum that I just described to the other end where it takes over their entire being and they become so stressed about it that it simply wears them out?  It has to be some sort of experience that triggers the behavior for that to occur.  I can pinpoint what happened in my life that has me so off about mildew in the shower or anything but a pristine toilet.  But what horrible thing can possibly cause someone to believe that they have to have that sort of control on the world around them. So manic to the point that they have to continuously control everything.  It makes me tired just to think about it.  I can certainly feel for those people because living life to its fullest and keeping up with normal stuff can be tiring. Not to mention it also depends on how busy you are.   I think I am going to look into this further because I find the topic fascinating.

Am I sounding like a nerd?  Well, of course because (secretly) I am!  Off to the people that know about this stuff! I am definitely going to rant more about this topic. 

What do YOU think?

Relationships

I had a co- worker mention that she would like to read something about relationships. While I am no expert, I wondered: Did she mean ships that were relation? OR relations that had ships? OR simply relatives and their ships? OR vice versa?  Ok, so maybe she meant social or love.  Ya, that is not something that I am adept at providing information about but let us see what my warped mind can come up with.  You already got my two cents about ships and relatives. Not that any of my relatives HAVE ships or are even remotely close enough to purchasing one, it was quite witty. (If I must say so.)

**Love**

I love my husband dearly. I love my kids. All of them are why I breathe. I love my dog. I love my various other pets, plants, siblings, and my parents. I even love my mother in law.  All of those are very different situations.  Being said, that means that I assume my take on this one would be to live right and the rest will follow.  Don’t try to fix something that refuses to be fixed. (My sister hasn’t spoken nicely to me in years.) Also, don’t walk away simply because it gets too hard. Every relationship will run into rough waters. It happens.  Especially between those who are in love with each other.  I can tell you, my husband I have been through thick or thin. But we have never walked away from each other and said “I quit.” For us, that is NOT an option!   We just keep chugging along. I guess that attributes to our longevity as a couple! J

I have nothing more on that particular subject. I am no expert. I just know what is right for me. Each situation is different and it is all a matter of trial and error.

**Family**

Not speaking to a sibling?  What about your kids?  Try to fix it if you believe it to be necessary. If the whole spat is something silly or this long complicated thing, just let it ride. There will come a time when you will need to speak to each other and that may be the day that things will come full circle.  Blood is thicker than water and while some blood may never be happy around each other again, that may be for good reason or no reason at all. Just live life right and to the fullest and the one who is in the wrong will see the err of their ways one day.  You will see.  No expert here either but this is what is working for me.

**Pets/plants/strays/other things**

If you don’t have some sort of bond between you and your pet or a connection of sorts or if you simply hate them; get rid of them. They need to be loved too, just like humans and they DO have feelings.  It is not right to simply have a pet to bring out and put away as you please. Would it be fair to lock your children in a cage when you did not want to deal with them?  Well, the same goes for your pets. If you don’t have time or it is not in your heart, find a better or more appropriate home for them.  While it may be a hard decision, it is the better one. 

Plants?  The same. It drives me up the wall for someone to get a plant and not try to keep it watered. It is not horribly difficult to do. Some plants you just water when the soil feels dry, others you water more often. Most store bought plants come with instructions on how to water and what kind of light they prefer. Like anything else, it is trial and error but, if you do not have time or you are travelling a lot, give the plant to someone who will care for it. They are living things too and need care just as a pet or fellow human would.  Heck, when I was a kid, I was convinced that talking to my plants helped them grow. What I didn’t realize was that it helped me too because you can tell a plant a secret and they will never turn on you!  While a bit eccentric, it is great therapy! I promise!

Strays?  Well, this is something else entirely.  You can feed a stray once, but they do come back. If they find it a very cushy deal for them, they will bring friends. Be careful in doing this because it may cause issue.  Also, turtles belong in ponds. This is especially true if you find them in your yard or on your porch.  Just take them to a pond and turn them loose. No lost love there. Easy peasy.

Other stuff?  Stuff is just stuff. While you may have a heirloom or sentimental value, it is nothing compared to your own life and do not let your stuff consume you to the point of intervention.  The first step of letting go is always the hardest but you find it easier the second and third time. It is ok to keep things and keep little trinkets that are sentimentally significant, but do not take it to a level where it damages you and your other relationships…or relations with ships their ships will sink if you load up their ships with your stuff and they will not want to be related to you anymore….

What do you think?

WAR....Good God Y'all.

I found myself watching a music video which had used scenes from  the movie Saving Private Ryan.  This video was also set to my favorite song and that may be what has me started on this emotional rant. While watching the video, I found it to be quite graphic and began to imagine how horrible it would be to actually live through something like that.  I am not referring to survivors remorse or PTSD or any other after effects of war but just to have the experience and the images that result from it burned into your memory until you either lose your mind and forget or pass on.

I have never been a fan of war and find it silly that there are people willing to go fight and put their lives on the line for some aristocrat (or politician, if you prefer) that they have never met. All for the sake of “saving the country.”  Are they really doing that or are they pawns in a chess board that these evil leaders have and are being pushed around to see how much chaos they can cause for the peons that depend on them to rule the masses.  It truly is something to think about.  Think about it I have. ALL DAY LONG.  There was some lag time at work and we were sharing YouTube videos to keep each other ‘s momentum for work.  Usually, they are funnies but this particular day it was all music.  Not so interested in what other people listen to, I went on my own and began watching the video I mentioned earlier.  Since then, I have been thinking about this war issue and it is eating away at my very gut because it is a horrible, horrible situation to put people in and they go into these thing so willingly and blindly and come back disturbed, maimed, damaged, dead, or not at all.

Looking at the excerpts from Saving Private Ryan, it was a reference to the D-Day invasion at Normandy.  I am certain the movie creators did their best to depict the raid historically accurate and with the technology available during that particular war, people were watching their team mates and friends blown to bits not even inches away.  That is something I cannot even fathom.  To be in the middle of all that fire and all that destruction; trying to cover your own ass and not get killed yourself and to turn your head and see the person you have become best friends with or the person that “has your back” simply explode into bloody hell has got to be a very sobering experience, no matter how cold hearted you are.

Yet people do it…..every….single….day.

For powers that are who could care less about them as an individual. Only that they are of the masses that are sent to fight a war that likely started off as a spat between two spoiled people with a bit of power underneath them to intimidate and show that they can run things. Horrible, horrible, horrible.

Now, for you readers that know my philosophical side must know that I am to touch on the whole good vs. evil argument and the Utility of it all.  Because of the very nature of humans, they have to have some sort of control over things or there would be mass chaos.  They even have to exhibit control over themselves or there would be no such thing as good at all.  Life would be unbearable and mortality would be as close to triple digits as it can get without eradicating the whole species.  So, there must be control and not everyone is a leader.  Those of us who choose to step back and let others do this messy business of being leaders remain the sheep, or the pawns in the chessboard for the ones who WANT and DO lead (yes, not can and are able to because not all leaders can lead and not all leaders are able to lead,) to push around and play their sick little game. I refer to it as a sick little game because when people find themselves in positions of power, they tend to become corrupt and use it for a personal agenda instead for that of the greater good.

We have the evil people in power pushing the “good” people around the chessboard. These good people would continue on with their lives without even knowing that there is a spat going on amongst them in power and would not care in the least about it. HOWEVER, the powerful use the masses to push their agendas of greed and such and it directly affects the masses and they are pushed into the conflict. When that happens, the masses become aware of the powers conflicts and begin to form an opinion of sorts while others simply go off to fight whatever fight they have been sent to fight blindly believing that they are doing something for the greater good.  Maybe it is to protect their own lands but they are away from their homes and families.  In the modern world, that is protecting the home land from afar but at what cost?  Yes, there are horrible bombs and things that are capable of mass destruction but when there are multiple nations involved, what is it really protecting? Sure, we have so called friends and allies that we have agreed to help when they are being bullied by another country but, think about it.

You are fighting in a war because those in power are having an angered dispute about something political or some selfish disagreement has occurred and those people are causing YOU….the insignificant non leaders in the human race to go an risk your lives to watch yourself be horribly disfigured or to watch someone you have come to know as your friend or acquaintance blown to bits right in front of you.  For you to sit there and inhale their blood-spray or to eat a chunk of their flesh as you scream in horror at the atrocities that are going on around you, is unspeakable.  All this mayhem while the political aristocracies are sitting in their big rooms throwing about orders that will get you and your brethren killed. You believe this is the right thing.

Here is something else to think about. Why don’t THEY go out there into some foreign land, wearing countless pounds of warfare regalia and fight amongst themselves to resolve the issues they are spatting about.   Let them spray their  blood on the sands of the beaches and end the wars that way. What then?  Would that fix it or create mass chaos?

What do you think?

Well if that doesn't condone a Hitler-cannibalistic attitude toward life.

Have you ever paid attention to that cereal commercial where the cereal devises underhanded ways of eating each other?  In a world where bullying is a real issue in schools and the great movement to actually curb such behavior, we sit back and laugh and snicker at these fool pieces of cereal.  To what end?

Is that not the very thing that we are seeking to prevent the children of today from doing?  Is it not condoning cannibalism?  What if some child, who knows no better, ends up doing that to a peer?  Then what? Blame the parents?

Yes, the parents are to blame but only partially.  It is up to the parents to talk to and teach their children the difference between right and wrong and it is up to the parents to certainly tell their children that cannibalism is not something that people in this society do anymore.  We need to talk to our children about the things they are exposed to and to let them know what is reality and what is simply make believe. We also need to teach them that some forms of behaviour that are seen on television are certainly not appropriate for action in real life.  Would you not agree that the same needs to be done when they see one of the cartoony poptart commercials?  Those commercials are teaching kids that it is alright to treat a certain type of living thing a cruel way simply because it is funny.  Those kids trap pop tarts (who are personified) in toasters and devise ways to get them into a warm place simply to toast them alive.  Well if that is not teaching torture methods, then what is?

Yes, it is funny to watch but you need to realize that some children are exposed to this and are never taught that it is wrong or immoral.  They are exposed to these behaviours and see these characters laugh and giggle at their own behaviour and believe that off the wall things like locking someone different than you in a creamatorium is funny.  What the children aren't exposed to is that you cannot take behaviour like that back. 

Exactly, it does not show the consequences of said "funny" behaviour.  So tell me, who is going to guide our future generations along the path of salvation and non bullying behaviour.  Well, it certainly starts at home, with the parents that HAVE TO TALK TO THEIR CHILDREN. We were talked to growing up.  The only difference between then and now is that we had to live life and not be sucked into electronics hours and hours a day.  As a parent, you have the control to change that and encourage our children to treat each other with respect and as human beings. Put the electronics aside and let them know, cannabalism-you can't take it back and it is wrong. Toasting those that are different from you-you cannot take it back and it is wrong.  The latter even being Hitler like......eck.

What do you think?