Window Shopper

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Now, first of all, I am not an expert in computers. Frankly, if my husband does not tell me what’s wrong with my computer, I have no clues at all. So, take it slowly here and from a layperson’s point of view. For over a year now, my PC has been working just fine. At least, I thought so. We upgraded to DSL some time ago and it changed a lot of things with our computers. But then, I noticed that my computer wasn’t really as fast as all that. It was not one single thing. I did all the clean outs that you have to do. We have programs to clean out viruses and worms so that wasn’t it either. Sometimes, the computer just gathers a lot of information, duplicate logs and so on. My husband put in a program that cleans out all that too.

What it came down to was that my computer memory simply was not enough. I got online and bought some. It was to be shipped out by August 1st. Hey, my computer was going to be fast once that memory got put in there. I was looking forward to it. Uh huh. August 1st was the day that I went into the hospital the first time. After I got out, I was a bit busy. It hadn’t come yet anyway. The PC sat without me being on it. Then….I ended up back in the hospital. This time, I wasn’t going to be able to get to the PC, possibly for months. And guess what? The memory came while I was in the hospital the second time. The memory is nicely installed. However, I have yet to try it out. I have not been on that computer since sometime in July, I believe. Ah well.

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Ever have a month or two when nothing is going right and the money just isn’t there for all the groceries you need? Then, just as you think that everything will be all right, some bright soul decides to invite the boss or a couple of friends home for dinner. Or possibly, you have something like we did. Our niece’s boyfriend needed a place to stay until they got married but the marriage wasn’t going to happen for a couple of months. And right around the same time, some bills came in unexpectedly so that our resources had been drained dramatically. But the thing is, you still have to feed that person, regardless of whatever else is happening.

The question then is…how do we stretch the meals to include the extra person but not make it look that way? Have I got a few pointers for you.

1) For stews and soups–just add the big stretchers like diced potatoes, veggies (extra can or two or if fresh, just add what you have on hand), creamed corn is good, dried beans. You can also add things like spaghetti, other pastas.

2) Meatloaf—easy one. Just add more bread crumbs, crackers, rolled oats or rice. We add the rolled oats now. It used to be crushed crackers.

3) Chili–like the stews, you can add things like pasta, spaghetti, a can or two of diced tomatoes, rice.

4) Noodles and Ramen–adding spices, veggies, any leftover chicken, ham, burger, turkey is great.

5) Salads–for the leafies, add diced meat, leftovers, canned tomatoes (drained..reserve the liquid for another meal), hardboiled eggs, diced cooked potatoes.

6) Eggs–they are so versatile that you can add so many different things. Scramble and add veggies, diced chicken, diced spam, diced turkey, diced ham, cheese, green pepper, pepperoni, olives, make an omelet. Be creative.

These things will stretch that meal without anyone being the wiser. And the family will love it!

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In case you have not noticed, this is the age of the video. People are doing videos for all sorts of reasons. Our nieces love Alvin and the Chipmunks so they look at videos with that. I love old music and I was surprised to find that I could listen to it on a video because lots of the old television shows were put onto a video to preserve them. And someone puts them up for me to find. And, of course, I love my gospel music as well. What I did not know was that you can find nearly anything that you want on a video.

The problem we found was that since it is the age of the videos, sometimes you just need to do one of your own. Now, my laptop has a really great program that makes videos. Well, I would make the video. It just stores all the info, gives me the graphics to use for transitions and making titles and credits. I love it. I have ventured into making one or two of them. One was good but the sound was really crappy because we used the only thing available…a webcam. I am not thrilled with those. They are tethered to the computer so you have very little wiggle room. And the sound quality leaves a lot to be desired. So, what do we do? We step into where some of the rest of the country has already been, a camcorder. Now, when I started looking at these little gems a bunch of years ago, they recorded a video tape. That gives you a small clue about how long ago that might be.

Anyway, these days, those things are tiny and much less expensive than they used to be. Recently, we found out that we were going to need one for a video we need to make and soon. I got into a search for a camcorder right away. There are so many out there. Of course, there are many recognizable brand names out there but there are some that I have never heard of that seem to be pretty good too. We ordered one. Should be here next week. I do not know how well it will work but for the price, if it just gets the job done, it will be worth it. Time will tell.

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I want to take this time to stop what I am doing and remember the tragedy of September 11, 2001. This devastated a nation but also brought a nation from a state of political couch potato status to that of a nation of courage and unity. We must not forget the date nor what happened that day but we must also remember that good things happened too. I do not want to downplay the losses from that day. It was horrible and horrifying and I remember the pictures and saw the towers as they fell. I saw the second plane crash into the second tower. I will never forget that.

But we must remember that though we were bruised and battered, we were also a nation brought together in unity, something that had not happened in a multitude of years. Perhaps it would be best if we remembered more about that, the unity. I was proud of our country again. We stood tall for all that was good in the world. That should not change from then to now.

I would like to encourage all of you to think upon what we turned into as a nation for those few days after the tragedy. People cared about each other again. We were united against an enemy. It was awesome. That, of course, has gone away now due to the political atmosphere. Now we are at each other’s throats again because one does not believe the same as the other. We could come together again. We could become what we once were, a unified country with a single purpose. I wish and pray for that.

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I know. Late as usual. Well, this year we did not go. The nieces did but we did not. Too many problems for us to go. But I have been there before. In fact, I worked at the carnivals when I was young and stupid. The main thing about those places is that you can smell the diesel fuel all over the place. Stupid as this may sound, I loved that about it. All the sounds, sights, music, smells. All of it was really special to me….then. Now, it would be more of a nightmare since I do not walk well. But it was so much fun then.

I do not want to romanticize that type of life. It was really difficult and would be even more dangerous now than it was then. But I did this in the 60s when some people still regarded themselves as being kind. Now, it is very difficult to find such people in that line of work. But, like Sophia Petrillo (Golden Girls for the uninitiated), I am going to ask you to….picture this. Carnivals: 1960s. I was driving my Honda motorcycle then down the midway…just because I could. No, not during the time it was open. Before we had set up everything. Lots of rides were halfway up. The games were already set up since they don’t take as long. All sorts of people running around there in funny shirts and strange looking hats. The cook tent was the first thing to be operational.

One of the things I loved about the food was the…..don’t choke on your coffee now….fried baloney sandwiches. Those things were awesome. So good. Funnel cakes were pretty good too. I used to work in the cotton candy tent. That was fun. People have no idea how much sugar they are choking down with that stuff. The whole thing is pure sugar spun out. Foot long hot dogs are 9 inches long.

The games do not have to be actually rigged to keep people from winning. The games are just pretty hard to do. You have to practice. Some of the ones with sort of a betting thing going on? Don’t bother. You will NOT win. The rest are win-able just not very often. Sometimes, it is the judgment of the person in the game. If it is, you lose. Period. But it is still fun if you go out there to have a good time. If you go out there to challenge everyone for the bear or the stuffed toy, you will go home usually unhappy. One guy did get the big stuffed toy but he had the police out there and saying someone ripped him off. Not true but that’s what he said. In that particular place, the police believed him. Uh huh.

We did go to some places I would not go back to if I was paid. There was a city that would NOT allow us, who worked with the carnival, to shower at the fairgrounds. That particular place then had problems with the “dirty carnies”. Yeah. That was good. Ah well. It was one place out of so many others. All in all, I had a good time then. But today, I would not go through that again if you paid me to do so. I am older and hopefully wiser.

The fair is still a fun place to go. I love the county fairs and the state fairs. That will never change.

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Before anyone gets goofy and goes to PH to see about the contest, that is on a blog called Lisa Cooking. As for what’s new at Pizza Hut…a new Tuscani Pasta dish called Premium Bacon Mac ‘n Cheese. For anyone who happens to like mac and cheese plus bacon, this dish is for you. It has a cheddar cheese sauce, more cheese and topped with bacon. Who could resist that? Not I. Oh, you get 5 breadsticks with that. Now for the great news. Lisa Cooking has a contest going on to win a certificate to try that particular dish.

She has three available certificates for this contest. In order to enter the contest, you will need to go to Lisa Cooking and follow the directions she has given. You can enter a number of ways. Each entry gives you a chance at winning a certificate to try the Premium Bacon Mac ‘n Cheese Tuscani Pasta at Pizza Hut. I know that you will like it. Why not check the contest out. Remember, go to Lisa Cooking and put in your entries today!

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Yes, there are still tattoo artists that will give you that “tat” if you want it. I have seen some really covered individuals. Frankly, I do not see what the shouting is about with that. Hey, it’s permanent!!! What happens if you have a change of mind in a couple of years? What if you suddenly decide that the eagle on your chest has turned into Big Bird and is too droopy now? Yeah, that’s one of the risks of that sort of thing.

Ah but now there is a new thing on the horizon. Did you see the 3 Lord Of The Rings movies? We have them and watch them once in a while. We were particularly interested in the elves. Weren’t you? When I first heard about elves, as a kid, I envisioned some little guy about 3 ft. tall with pointy ears and a fat belly. Those little guys were more or less like leprechauns. Not quite the same but in the same creature style…..at least that’s what I thought. Then, when I started reading about elves in fantasy books, it occurred to me that they were tall and thin with pointy ears. So I got the pointy ear thing right. My first experience with pointy ears was Mr. Spock though. He wasn’t an elf.

I digress. The newest rage is to truly have pointy ears. Yes, people are actually having their ears altered to be pointy. I suspect most of the people doing that are more or less obsessed with either Lord Of The Rings or elves in general. Of course, the hobbits also had pointy ears, lest we forget. But it would not surprise me if someone who had that done were to speak elvish. Honestly, I cannot imagine a plastic surgeon who would want to cut the cartilage on a person’s ear and then sew it back on with a point just to look like an elf….forever. At least with a tattoo, if a person does change their mind, they can have it removed. You know, I cannot imagine going to all that trouble and pain for either thing. But to have someone cut the ears and make them pointy is absolutely insane. It was really hard to believe anyone was that stupid but then I think of all the stupid stuff going on in the world and I realized that someone having their ears altered doesn’t sound that stupid anymore. Sigh. What a world.

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We watched with a prayer on our hearts while Gustav plowed into New Orleans. But it did not pack the punch they, the experts, thought it would which is fantastic. We were so worried that the hurricane that was a category 4 would turn into a living nightmare that was worse than Katrina. They were blessed that it did not do that. And right now, the upper edge of what is soon to be just a rain storm is coming to our neck of the woods.

Were we living in New Orleans or somewhere close by in Mississippi, I would have been thinking about taking out some senior life insurance (I would have to have the senior kind. They think I’m a senior these days) simply because of the previous problems associated with Katrina. After all, you just never know what might or might not happen. However, since we live here instead, we can look forward to some simple rain for the next couple of days. The usual forecast from our local tv station is as vague as it gets. What a surprise. Uh huh. The lady on this morning was so definite that she said we would be getting some rain, she thought. Really? Rain, you say.

Ah well. If we want some real information, we usually go to the Weather Channel on the television or to couple of sites online. There is one guy at our local station that has a clue but he isn’t on in the mornings. Sigh. For now, we have what used to be a hurricane knocking on our door. Not too bad considering it was horrible in Cuba and other places where it took lives. There were eight lives taken in the Gulf coast states. How horrible. We pray for those families and for those who are dealing with the after effects of the storm.

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