Happy Birthday, Willie Nelson

TWIT would like to wish Willie Nelson a very happy birthday today.  The music icon is 79 years old today.

I'm in awe of this man. He just keeps on going like the Energizer Bunny.  One of the best concerts I ever attended was a show by him about ten years ago at Kentucky Kingdom amusement park here in the 'Ville.  He performed "Whiskey River" a total of three times during the three hour concert. 

It would take a miracle to get my Dad to go to a concert, but I want to take him to see his idol Willie perform.  I'll make it happen somehow.

Happy birthday, Willie.  You are The Man.  I can't thank you enough for writing "Crazy" and for letting Patsy Cline record it. 

Link of the Week

As I mentioned yesterday, the Kentucky Derby is now just 6 days away, and the city is abuzz.  Well, truthfully the city is and will be very busy in the next 6 days getting things cleaned up after last night's devestating hail storm.  But I digress. It's Derby week and there are activities a-plenty.  If you're not in town and would like to see what's going on, of if you're in town and want to know what's going on, visit the official site of the Kentucky Derby Festival, http://www.kdf.org/.  Happy Derby!

Boat Race Anxiety

In case you don't live anywhere close to Louisville and are not in tune with horse racing, Derby week is here.  Yep, a week from today is the Kentucky Derby.  Derby festival events are in full swing already and started last Saturday with Thunder Over Lousville, supposedly the world's largest fireworks display.  I didn't go to Thunder this year, like I've not gone for the past few years, mainly because I just cannot deal with the traffic getting home.  But you also know that I would be very nerved up the week before Thunder, agonizing over whether or not my SFs (School Friends) and I would go. Well, now that anxiety has moved on to Derby week where I get nerved up over whether or not the SFs and I will have our almost-annual Great Steamboat Race Party on the riverfront at Cox's Park. With the screwy weather we've had here in Louisville you can't plan according to the weather forecast.  And it's the same this week.  We don't know if there will be rain or whatever.

I'm the Planner of the group, so I guess that's why I get nerved up more.  People have to plan with their jobs if they want to take off that Wednesday, and alternately they need to plan if they are going to go work on Wednesday instead of taking off.  That part doesn't matter to me - I take the day off regardless.  But there's things to buy and pack, and that gets me nervous.  I'm also the Hauler, so I have to have the Blazer ready to haul everything down to the park.  While that all nerves me up, once we get down to the park and get set up, it's actually one of the most relaxing vacation days I take during the year.  I spend most of the day just sitting in my folding chair watching the river.

We'll just have to wait and see how the weather and everyone's allergies shape up by Monday evening to make an executive decision. 

Flashback Friday

On my way home from work today, I was listening to a Heart CD, and when "Love Alive" came on, my mind drifted back to the summer of 1978 when I saw Heart in concert for the first time at the infamous California Jam 2 concert in California.  We were in California on a month long vacation visiting our relatives, and my cousin and his wife took me to the concert.  It was a life changing experience.  Sure, I saw Ted Nugent come on stage wearing a loin cloth and swinging on a vine like Tarzan, and I saw Aerosmith and other bands, but I also saw Heart for the first time.  As I said, it was a life changing experience. For the first time in my life, there was a woman on stage and she was belting out the rock and roll songs.  And then there was another woman on stage and she was playing the guitar. I don't mean to be sacriligious but to me it was a true life-changing moment.  It was a near-religious experience.  I knew then and there that was what I wanted to do.  The next day after the concert, while still visiting at my aunt and uncle's house, I grabbed Dad's guitar that he'd brought with him on the vacation, and found a music book he had stuck in the guitar case and I started to teach myself how to play the guitar.  The song, you ask?  "Stand By Your Man" by The First Lady of Country Music, Miss Tammy Wynette.  And as soon as we got home from vacation that summer, I signed up for guitar lessons at a local music store so they could teach me how to play "Crazy On You."  The rest, they say, is history.

As I think back that moment in California when I was watching Ann and Nancy Wilson perform on stage for the very first time, I wonder how many thousands, if not millions, of women they have inspired. Rock on Ann and Nancy. 

Another BOLO Brown Shoes Update

I even had Mom searching for the elusive comfy brown shoes today and she couldn't find them, either.  We've never had a search for a missing item go on this long at The Compound.  We're still not giving up, though, and when I'm not so tired, I'm going to continue the search. I've had a busy couple of days and I'm worn out, but I will find my comfy brown shoes.  As always, I'll keep you posted.

BOLO Brown Shoes Update

I'm sorry to report that my comfy brown shoes are still missing. I'm not giving up and am determined to find them. I'll keep you posted.

BOLO: Brown Shoes

As you already are well aware, I frequently lose things and go on a mad search through the house to find them.  Tonight is no exception.  Be On the Look Out for my lost pair of cool brown shoes.  I honestly haven't seen them since last spring and I have no earthly idea where they are.  I've already turned my bedroom upside down, and I even looked in Mom's closet since she has a black pair just like them.  And still no brown shoes.  I'm cutting this entry short so I can continue the search.  I hope that in a short time I will be back here giving you an update saying that I found the.  As always, I'll keep you posted.

This Day In History

On this day in 1956, Elvis Presley makes his Las Vegas debut, with Shecky Green and the Freddy Martin Orchestra, at the New Frontier Hotel. The reaction is so negative, his four-week booking ends after two weeks.


But he turned all around and for a period, the King owned Vegas.  From 1969 till just before his death in 1977, The King performed at the Las Vegas Hilton to sold out shows every night. And there's a statue in front of the Las Vegas Hilton to prove it. On my many trips to Las Vegas, I can honestly say there's not another statue in the city proclaiming something like that.  I just wish I could have attended one of his Las Vegas shows. 

Link Of The Week

I hadn't mentioned this before but a couple of months ago, through some trading and bartering, I became the owner of an extremely cool Android tablet.  The first thing I did was go online and find a tutorial that showed me how to get the full "Android Market" app added to it.  And let me say I was very proud of myself for being able to follow the instructions and get it to work.  Believe me - if I can follow the video directions and have my device actually work, anyone can do it.

That having been said, I'd like to share the site that helped me.  If you or someone you know has either a tablet or phone that has the Android operating system on it, you need to check out Android Central.  You can find everything you need to know about your device.  Visit at http://www.androidcentral.com/ and sign up and then start learning.

I Really Feel Stupid

Today, I really feel stupid.  Up until now I considered myself to be very tech-savvy.  I was hip and could help people when they had problems with their phone or computer.  Today, the tables have been turned and I am the one needing help.  Yesterday, I upgraded my old little LG Envy phone to a LG Spectrum.  I already had a contract with Verizon for my wifi hotspot, so they said I didn't need an additional data plan and could connect throught the hotspot for wifi and data.  Fine.  I got the phone and thought they copied over my contacts, pictures and ringtones.  Well, they didn't.  I found this out this morning after making a trip back up to the Verizon store. We got that issue fixed and then I still felt stupid.  The instruction book that came with the phone was about 20 small pages and basically told you how to turn on the phone and make a call.  Nothing else.  They didn't give any instructions on how to find my ringtones and pictures.

While at the store this morning, I asked a bizillion questions and wrote down everything the guy said.  Later on tonight when I'm not so frustrated I'm going to try and find my pictures and ringtones.  As always, I'll keep you posted.

Flashback Friday

On the way to work this a.m., the radio station I was listening to said that today was National Record Store Day.  Well, I don't really put much credence into that since the online music stores have forced most of the mom and pop record stores out of business. 

I started to think back on the rich history that I have with buying records.  It started way back in the day at Murphey's five and dime store.  I would buy 45's there, and each week they would have a list of the top 40 songs and albums from the previous week.  Then I graduated to buying albums from TG&Y, a discount department store, and then worked my way up to getting my albums from the very cool Phoenix Records and Shively Records.  I would get my albums and concert tickets from Phoenix Records, and the awesome folks at Shively Records,  Patsy and Sam, would special order any 45, album, tape and eventually CD that I wanted.  It was a very sad day when Shively Records closed its doors.

Now, I get most of my CD's online, where I can order and have them shipped to my home.  Most of the time it's free shipping.  You can't beat that, unfortunately for the few bricks and mortar record/CD stores of today.

So Happy It's Thursday

There's a lot I'd like to say tonight, but I'm just going to take a coward's way out and say I feel kind of stupid tonight. I'm going to get off of this computer right now and go hop in my trusty Schwinn and hopefully get in 10 miles of riding tonight before it gets dark.  I know from past experience that pedaling the bike tonight will get all of my frustrations and feelings of stupidity out of the way and when I coast back into the garage after riding 10 miles, I'll feel stronger and invincible. I apologize for not posting anything else exciting or newsworthy.  Maybe tomorrow.

Farmtown 2012

I'm very happy to report that Farmtown 2012 is underway.  The 'Rents set out 9 tomato plants today, and they already have some metallic streamers tied to stakes to hopefully keep the birds and rabbits away.  They even have the trusty battery-operated owl out in the corner of the garden to scare away the small varmints. They're taking precautions early on this year, in hopes of being able to grow 7 foot tall tomato plants like they did last year.

Good weather is in the forecast tomorrow and part of the day on Friday, so it wouldn't surprise me if they didn't plant some more.  As always, I'll keep you posted.

File Under: WTF?

Background:  At work, one of my responsibilities is employee sales.  We offer a very generous deal where an employee can buy a pump or any product that we sell at a hell of a deal, and they get thirty days same as cash.  Yep, just like when you go buy a mattress in one of the many mattress stores in town.  My job is to write up a sales ticket when an employee wants to buy something, and take their money or check when they pay and lock it in our box.  Well, believe it or not, there's a good percentage of employees that buy an item through the employee sale program and they are late paying it.  They get 10% added to their bill when they don't pay by their thirty days, and they also get on the infamous Bad List.  This means that for the next three years, if they want to buy a pump, they can but they have to pay on the spot - they don't get the thirty days like those in good standing. For three years, they are strictly COD.  A guy in the plant bought something, and it wasn't a cheap item, either; it was an expensive pump.  Yep, he didn't pay it on time and got the past-due notice from Accounting and HR.  Here's a transcript of the phone conversation between me and him:

Him:  Do I owe you any money?

Me: (slightly hesitating)  Nope, you didn't borrow any money from me, John Doe. You don't owe ME anything.  However, you might owe the company for that pump you bought two months ago.

Him: (another slight hesitation) Well, how much do I owe?

Me: (who is thoroughly fed up at this point) John Doe, do you call LG&E every month and ask them if you owe them any money?

Him: (a few seconds of silence) No.

Me:  Then you shouldn't have to call me and ask if you owe the company any money. My job is in the production scheduling department - I'm the supervisor.  My job is to make sure that pumps are scheduled when they need to be.  My job is not to make sure that people in the company pay their employee sales bills on time.

Him:  Well, how much do I owe?

Me:  You need to read the 2nd past due notice that you got from HR.  If you don't have a copy, give them a call and they can tell you.  It's not my job to take care of your bills.

Believe me when I tell you I wanted to ask the guy if he sat at home at night in the dark, with no electricity, cable, or running water because he didn't pay his bill.

Bonus Link Of The Week

This is just too funny to make you wait till next Sunday for me to share in a regular Link Of The Week.  So I'm sharing it in a Bonus Link Of The Week.  My dear friend, coworker, and faithful reader SH shared the link to this video with me last Wednesday morning.  It ranks up in my top 5 videos of all time.  I hope you think it's as funny as I do.  Please take a moment to watch Sweet Brown's interview after the big fire.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JaAd8OuwwPk

Spring is here and summer is not far behind, and with the warmer temperatures we all like to have something to cool us down.  This week I found a website that has simple instructions to make a straight-up version of the Dairy Queen Blizzard.  Visit http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Your-Own-Blizzard-or-McFlurry-at-Home and just follow the easy instructions, and in a few minutes you can be enjoying your own Blizzard. 

Sneezy Saturday

After trying a different OTC med last Sunday, I thought my allergy issues were in check until Thursday.  It hit all over again.  And in full force.  I spent most of my time at Slugger Field at the Bats' game last night sneezing or being miserable.  I was fed up and called my allergist today.  Thankfully he called in a prescription for some stronger meds and a 3-day dose of Prednisone for my itching etc.  And he also wants me to come back to do another grid test to see if there's anything new I'm allergic to.  But the meds ain't a-working. I'm still sneezing and miserable. You know I have to be feeling pretty bad to miss a Bats baseball game.  But there's no use in going and sitting there miserable for 3 hours.  I'm in for the night and am hoping for a better day tomorrow.

Flashback Friday

I want to write a lot tonight, but I'm in the midst of a major allergy attack and am having trouble concentrating and typing.  And my heart is also heavy over the loss of a young life.

Let me just say as a flashback, please take some time to remember the people in your life that mean a lot to you. Take time to tell them how much they mean to you.    Today, I made a funeral home visit to pay my respects to the parents of a young man just 23 years old who was taken away from us way to soon - he, himself, lost his life the night he was celebrating his birthday.  As we think back, let us take time to remember not to take life or our loved ones for granted.

I've Got Skillz

I received a very amusing email today.  After all that's been going on around me lately, I needed a good laugh.  And I sure got one after reading this email.  It was a job offer.  From a big, well-known company, even.  And they were sure impressed with me - so impressed that they offered me a job. It seems that they found my resume online and got in touch with me.  Before I go further, let me say that I have not been looking for another job.  At least not in the past 23 years, anyway.  The last time I posted my resume online was for a class while I was working on my first Masters Degree; it was part of the assignment.

That having been said, here's the email that I received from the HR Manager of J.C. Penney:

I have read your resume. Very well organized and descriptive. I would like to offer you the Gift Wrapper position (full-time or part-time). If you're interested let me know. Thank you.


I can only imagine how proud my parents must be of me; I have a Bachelor's Degree and two Master's Degree's and apparently I am qualified to be a gift wrapper in a department store.

For Once, I'm Speechless

Tonight as I write this post, I'm not really sure what to say.  So many people around me are hurting tonight, and anything I write in here about me would be so insignificant by comparison.

A long-time high school friend who is also a co-worker lost his youngest son early this morning in a car accident. The boy celebrated his 23rd birthday yesterday.  And after a night of celebrating, he lost control of his car on his way home and now he's gone.

For a week and a half, my favorite aunt and my Dad's only sibling has been clinging to life thanks to the help of a ventilator after she fell outside her home last Monday.  She was paralyzed in her arms and legs after she broke some vertebrae in the fall, but after a long surgery last Tuesday, she's able to move her arms and legs again.  There's still much concern over feeding tubes and breathing tubes, and I cannot imagine what my cousins - her two children - are going through.

I could go on and on about people close to me that are in pain right now - physical and mental, but I'm not.  I'm even dealing with a couple of big issues right now with my new business and with some things at church but in the scope of things, they don't really matter.  I'm going to just leave it at this, and thank the Lord that my parents and I are healthy and strong right now, and I'm going to pray that the Lord will give us strength and wisdom to help those around us.  I'm not ashamed to say that right now, with seeing friends and family struggling so, I'm fighting hard to stay strong; no offense to them, but when there's so much hurting that's gone on around me for months and months, and it's been so hard not to allow it all to drag me down. But I have already told myself I'm staying strong.  As always, I'll keep you posted.

File Under: WTF?

Boy, 5, brings 50 packets of heroin to school for show and tell

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. - Police say a five-year-old Connecticut boy brought

50 packets of heroin to school for show and tell, and his stepfather has
been arrested.

Bridgeport police tell the Connecticut Post that 35-year-old Santos
Roman went to the Barnum School on Monday to retrieve the drugs and
found police waiting for him.

He was detained on $100,000 bail on risk of injury to a minor and drug
charges.

Police say the boy wore Roman's jacket to school Monday.

When it came time for his show-and-tell presentation, the kindergartner
displayed bags of heroin. The teacher confiscated the drugs and told the
principal, who called police.

The boy was put in state custody until other relatives could be located.

And here I thought I was a badass for bringing the 45 record of Charlie Daniels "Easy Rider" to school for show and tell. 

Sandwich, Anyone?

In our lunchroom at work, I don't even think this Anti-Theft Lunch Bag would work.  I think if your sandwich looked good enough and someone wanted it bad enough, they'd steal it anyway.

Link Of The Week

TWIT and I would like to wish everyone a very Happy Easter, and in doing so I would like to share a video by Dolly Parton.  I know I've shared this link previously but today on Resurrection Sunday, it's worth watching again.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbRPWUHM80M&list=FLcvSvMMF8azRU1jGRL0co1g&index=23&feature=plpp_video

Spring Resolutions

Spring is the time for growth and new beginnings, they say.  Even though spring is one of my least favorite seasons (mainly for all of the severe weather it brings) I guess this year it's not so bad after all.  That's because this spring marks a new Puddin.  A couple of weeks ago I made a Spring Resolution, and have decided to do a few things differently.

I'm going to speak my mind more than I have in the past. I've always been one to just keep things bottled up and not speak out when I should. I would just watch instead of saying what I really wanted to say.  In the past couple of weeks, I spoke up on several occasions.  This did not go unnoticed.  I received a couple of emails or phone calls telling me "Way to go - I'm proud of you." I'm proud of me, too. 

I'm going to stand up to bullies - bullies in all form. I stood up to a bully this week and it felt good.  I didn't go off on them all that much; I merely called them out.  While I want to believe that it had an impact on the bully's behavior, deep down I know it probably didn't phase the bully one bit.  But it gave me encouragement for dealing with future bullies.

Probably the biggest spring resolution I made is I no longer am going to be taken for granted.  At least I'm going to try, anyway. 

Flashback Friday

On this day a year ago, Tammy Wynette's classic "Stand By Your Man" was added by The Library of Congress to the Nation Recording Registry. After all . . .

Apologies

I apologize, faithful readers.  I let my temper and anger get in the way of posting in TWIT last night.  I let someone [whose opinion means nothing to me] get to me, and it completely overshadowed everything else.  I was mad all night, and in my anger and stewing I forgot to post.  I'm not ashamed that I stood up to this person, spoke my mind, and expressed the way I felt; I'm just sorry I dwelt on it for too long.  I

Way To Go, UK

TWIT would like to congratulate Coach Cal and the 2012 UK Wildcats on winning the NCAA Championship game last night.  They kicked the Kansas Jayhawks asses. 

I know I said I don't like March Madness and I honestly don't; but at the same time I need to give propers where they are due. 

You made the state of Kentucky proud, Wildcats, even though your over-zealous fans in Lexington showed their asses.  But we're proud of the team beside that fact.

You Know You're Addicted To Words With Friends When . . .

1. You know every two-letter word in the WWF dictionary AA, JO, ZA, KA, QI etc... (QI min. 11pts.)

2. You know every word that can be made with the letters J, Q, X, Z, from AJEE to ZYGOTE... (ZYGOTE min. 19pts.)

3. You realize it's sometimes worth it to leave open a triple when you can get a high score on a double-double. (HIGH min. 10pts.)

4. Number 3 didn't sound like gibberish to you. (GIBBERISH min. 17pts.)

5. You know that to win you need strategy and persistence. A good vocabulary is near the bottom of the prerequisites... and you're ok with that because you're a persistent strategist. (OK is not a word. Didn't see that one coming, did you?)

6. You can only use about 50 % of the words you play in an actual sentence. "Gi, your hair smells terrific." (GI min. 4pts)

7. You're willing to try every letter combo in your stack to make a bingo. (BINGO min. 11pts.)

8. When someone accuses you of using a cheat, you act all offended, but you're really thinking, "Awww geez, what a lovely compliment." (GEEZ min. 15pts.)

9. You play anyone that challenges you, even though you barely remember ever having known them. They may be flirting or their coinciding pic somewhat resembles the unibomber's -- all that matters is the game. (KNOWN min. 14pts.)

10. If you accidentally push the wrong name and challenge some random person you haven't seen since camp, you play them anyway. You don't want the loss on your record. Shout out to Adam O. -- I love our games, even though I wouldn't recognize you at a camp reunion. (CAMP min. 13pts.)

11. You find that you're actually holding your breath until those dashes stop circling. (FIND min. 9pts.)

12. You feel like a failure if you play a word under 15 points unless your setting your self up for a 40-pointer on your next move. (NEXT min. 12pts.)

13. You queerly give yourself a mental high five on words that rack up 50 points or more. No, make that 30 points or more. 50+ gets a fist pump and an audible "yes." 70+ may require an attempt at a cartwheel. (PUMP min. 14pts.)

14. You know your highest score on a single word and you're thankful that FB now has a score board to show it off. (OFF min. 9pts.)

15. You can distinguish the WWF ding from the 8,000 other noises your phone makes and you subtlety jump to attention when you hear it. (JUMP min. 20pts.)..."

16. You've actually woken up from sleeping to play a word. (WOKEN min. 13pts.)

17. You find yourself staring at your phone/pad/computer after putting in a word as if willing someone to play you back. Damn it, why aren't they on the same schedule as me! You tell yourself that this is the reason you need to play so many games. (BACK min. 14pts.)

18. You think Alec Baldwin's reaction to the airline attendant was tame. Please, she deserved his wrath, he might have been playing a multiword triple with a ZAX. Did anyone think to ask? How rude! (ZAX min. 19pts.)

19. You are keenly aware of how many S's and blanks are available at any given time. (KEENLY min. 14pts.)

20. You have actually played WWF in your dreams and woken to find yourself irked that your awesome word (which may have included numbers and hieroglyphics) didn't count. (IRK min. 7pts.)

21. You found this article while doing a search entitled "Help, I'm addicted to Words With Friends" (HELP min. 10pts.)

P.S.  I'm always open to a game.  You can find me through Facebook or look up PuddinPRP.

Link Of The Week

Even though I don't cook officially, I still dabble in the kitchen from time to time. When I do cook, it's usually a recipe that I found online or in a magazine.  Just because I don't cook I have a fascination with making something in a favorite restaurant via a copycat recipe.

This week, I found a cool blog where they have recipes for foods found in restaurants. Visit http://secretrecipes.blogspot.com/ and start cooking.  Keep in mind the recipes aren't indexed very well; they're not in alphabetical order, so when you click on Red Lobster, it will take a bit to find their awesome cheddar cheese biscuit recipe.  But keep on looking through "older posts" and you'll find it.