Nightie Pockets

So yesterday I bought a cute retro camper/tent camping sleep shirt with assorted woodland animals. When I realized it had pockets I laughed.  Who needs pockets in a sleep shirt?!

Tonight after work I came home, fed Moggy his cat food, watered plants, put TheGirls outside for a potty break, nuked a couple taquitos for dinner, grabbed a DDP (breaking my new goal of only 1 DDP a day--which I have been very successful in abiding for several months), put out TheGirls dog food, changed into the cute new sleep shirt with the useless pockets, and put the phone on to charge--that's when I realized I was supposed to pick up Rx refills at Walgreens.

What to do? What to do?  Put bra and real clothes back on?  Wait until the second reminder text tomorrow to pick up the meds? Or break the new nightie pockets in.

Today was a labor intense day. 

I left 2 hours after my shift was over--and still didn't complete all my tasks.

Yes, what to do...

Needless to say, the Pharmasists,  Pharm Techs, along with the Neighbors across the street (and their visiting Friend),  now join the neighbors on either side of me, and a couple previous fast food drive-thru workers in seeing me in my night clothes.

And since I am on this side of town, I'm going to run the SUV through the car wash as soon as I pick up my meds.  We'll the CarWash Guys to the list. 

Nightie are not just for WallyWorld anymore. And the pockets came in handy after all. 

"My People" are branching out and invading every establishment.

. 

The Value in Worthless Leaves

A couple months ago, as I rushed off to somewhere exceedingly important, I spied a crinkly brown leaf in my potted plant by the door. 

My hands were full.  Or maybe I didn't have time to stop and remove the leaf.  I told myself,  it's acting as mulch, keeping moisture in and heat out. Maybe the Swiss Cheese plant--whose leaves are still whole--likes its roots to stay cool. Kind of like roses. Besides, leaves are biodegradable right? It's probably adding some much needed nutrients. 

It's basically the same argument I make when I'm too lazy to rake up fallen leaves or newly mown grass.

So I left the useless withered leaf in the potted plant without giving it much more thought.

The next time I watered my plants the leaf was gone. The wind had brought it to my front door, and later blew it away. No big deal.

A few weeks went by and another leaf was blown into the pot. Again, it was brown and crinkly.  Useless, except as mulch or plant food.

This occured a few times over a couple months. Each time I saw the leaves, there occured a small niggling sensation in the back of my mind.

Almost all of the leaves on the trees in the neighborhood are still green. Some in my back yard are turning yellow. Only a few of the yellow leaves have actually fallen. And none of the fallen are as old and brittle as the leaves that are being blown into my potted plant. The wind must have blown these leaves in from a far off spot.

Or maybe they are "mulch" from a neighbors yard.   😉

Tonight as I watered my plants I noticed another leaf had blown into the pot. With this much fairly regular traffic,  my "sheltered" area apparently  isn't as sheltered as I thought.  As soon as the water hit the leaf, it startled--which in turn  startled me! 

My leaf was none other than Mr.Toad!

Toads are great critters to have in the garden. They have a voracious appetite and can consume ten thousand  slugs, bugs, gnats. and skeeters in one summer. I welcome any animal, amphibian or not, that gets rid of skeeters and gnats so I can enjoy relaxing outside.  Mr. Toad looks like he could very well be an Insect Eating Champ.  He has the physique of one who has obviously let his figure go to "waist."   Can we say "skeeter Buda belly?"

Since I want to encourage Mr. Toad to take up permanent residence here, I have started looking at frog shelters.  Thus far, I have only found two I've liked.  One looks like  a gnome cottage built by the Artist Owner of That Art Place during one of her clay building classes. I've considered taking one of her clay building class--she usually hosts one  each month. Unfortunately, my schedule and hers have not meshed.   Case in point,  her next class is on a Saturday I'm scheduled to work.

The second frog shelter I like is one my Garden-Buddy ordered online. I can't be a copy-cat and get the same one. Well, I could; however, I'm not.

The most  important characteristics I am looking for are a bottomless structure to allow for burrowing in the cooling mud or earth, and a frog shelter that is Moggy-proof. I really want it to have a back door. An escape hatch as it were. Or a vestibule a cats paw can not get around. I would be heart-sick if my Toad SafeHaven turned into  Moggy's private  SnackPantry. 

So I'm on the lookout for a Toad Abode worthy of a king--or at least my new Prince.  

As in Charming. 🤴

Nothing is too good for my worthless leaf. 😉

My Personal B Slasher Flick

Disclaimer:  Recycling  FaceBook Memory from 2012. 

I survived staring in my very own "B" slasher movie. 

During my recent vacation, I drove all day and arrived at my first nights destination:  an Arizona motel with all king size beds--my choice was between  a "mountain view" in rooms on the front side, or a hot breakfast included with the rooms on the back side of the motel. 

Luckily  I chose the mountain view.  

I used a travel site to reserve my room just six hours before I checked in rather than dealing  directly with the motel, so I was not too alarmed when they didn't have my reservation.  

I also knew the motel was rated 1-2 stars, and would be rather worn and run down.   

However,  I did not expect to be the ONLY guest--and I expected the manager/owners to know how to run my card, as well as know the travel site did not charge me (so they needed to).   I also did not expect "Bubba," their rambunctious Pitt-Lab puppy  to jump up on me and "nuzzle" my neck. Oh, and did I mention my phone had sketchy service? The only reason I could show them my reservation on my iPhone was because it was on the last window I opened--and was still in memory. 

My overactive imagination saw the makings of a really bad slasher movie:  single woman with no access to the outside world, makes a late night arrival and spends the night as the only guest of a remote, run down, motel. The manager/owners that didn't know what they were doing are really impostors  that killed the real manager/owners, and the neck-nuzzling Pitty-Lab  is their people-eating answer to Cujo. The inaccessibility to the outside world is a given in every "B" slasher. 

The difference:  I survived. 

I piled all of my bags on the chair I placed in front of the door before I went to sleep.  Of course, that would not have stopped anyone intent on breaking in--there was a HUGE picture window next to the door--but it made me feel like I was being proactive rather than reactionary--and I didn't talk to the TV like I do when I watch slashers.  :~)

The next day I was able to see just how rundown the place was:  the pool was dry, the flower beds were overgrown, there was trash and broken objects littering the grounds, and the rooms on the backside (meal included) were totally uninhabitable--broken windows, doors ajar, doorknobs missing, etc. and my wonderful mountain view on the front-side was blocked by junker semi. 

My bed was semi-comfy, the fridge ran warm, and the shower ran cold. The room and linens were clean and one towel was actually almost lush. The dining area and lobby were  actually kind of nice and the "bones" of the place could be quite charming and picturesque with a lot of work. But it really was eerie being the only guest and the owners not realizing they needed to charge me...

Not the best place I've stayed--but wonderful material if I ever decide to write a slasher. :~)

Facts and Stats

I read a medscapes.com article this week that referenced the CDC report I am sharing.  I'll add the medscapes link in the comments when I locate it.  In the meantime I've added  a CNN link that says a lot of what I reference, and a link for a Colorado story along the same lines.  Both links are at the end of my post.

Medscaped.com said Massachusetts reportedly has a 69% fully vaxxed population. If true, Massachusetts likely leads the nation in the race for vaxxers and herd immunity.

Interestingly, the medscapes.com article went on to say basically what the CDC report I'm sharing  says (medscape reported even higher percentages; however, I"ve linked the CDC report since it's what the article was based on): 

Of the 469 Barnstable County, Massachusetts folks who recently tested positive for COVID-19; a whopping 346 (74%)  occurred in fully vaccinated people.
 
Let me repeat: 74% fully vaxxed folks. contracted covid.

On a positive note, only 5  of the 469 Covid positive people, were actually sick enough to require hospitalization.

Repeating: only 1%  required hospitalzation. 

The media bombards us with stories about the hospitalized being almost exclusively the un-vaxxed.  HOWEVER, the CDC reported that of the 5 Covid positive requiring hospitalization, FOUR  were fully vaxxed.

Repeat: 80% of the Covid positive, in this particular study, who required hospitalization  were fully vaxxed.

There were no covid deaths reported.

Repeating:  0% fully vaxxed and 0% un-vaxxed Covid deaths.

274 of the 346 fully vaxxed who tested Covid positive were symptomatic. The remaining Covid positive were asymptomatic (without symptoms).

Repeating:  79% fully vaxxed, Covid positive showed signs of being ill.  The REMAINING 21% of the fully vaxxed, Covid positive did NOT show signs of being ill although they were.



I'm NOT disputing severity of covid, and I feel  deeply for those affected by it. I'm just saying the EUA vaccines are not the end-all solution everyone is pushing to be mandated.

The EUA vaccines do exactly what they said in the very beginng they will/will not do:

1.  The current EUA vaccines  will  NOT keep the vaxxed from contracting covid. (74% were fully vaxxed)

2.  The current EUA vaccines will NOT keep the vaxed from transmitting covid. (79% fully vaxxed Covid positive were symptomati, and therefore COULD take precautions against transmitting.  HOWEVER. 21% fully vaxxed Covid positive were asymptomatic--and therefore totally oblivious.)

3.  The current EUA vaccined  WILL reduce the symptom severity, and likely avoid death when you contract Covid. (Only 5 people required hospitalization. No deaths. HOWEVER, of the 5  hospitalized, FOUR--or 80% were fully vaxxed. The media would have us believe the vast majority of those contracting Covid, and the Covid potistive requiring hospitalization are the un-vaxed.)

The CDC says their report is "insufficient" to draw conclusions about the effectiveness of these EUA vaccines against Covid.  That's true--since the beginning of time, well at least since the first statistical reports--ALL research articles end with a disclaimer saying something along the lines of, "more research is required." The statement sparks interest, leads to increased funding and research, and additional  independantly corroborating research lends validity to findings.
 
Just so, you know, Massachusetts is not alone in this:  Colorado is experienceing a similar high number of fully vaxxed people contracting Covid.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.reuters.com/world/us/vaccines-less-protective-colorado-county-with-delta-variant-surge-cdc-study-2021-08-06/&ved=2ahUKEwjgg7v0h5_yAhVYj54KHc_nB3kQFnoECDUQAg&usg=AOvVaw3wDBCJFLaq0KoJ7nO7kHlH

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2021/07/30/cdc-study-shows-74percent-of-people-infected-in-massachusetts-covid-outbreak-were-fully-vaccinated.html&ved=2ahUKEwiMj-CXv53yAhWwAp0JHVaFBWkQFnoECCAQAg&usg=AOvVaw3ADR7TXEzmbHYsYFrIa8yt&ampcf=1

https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/70/wr/mm7031e2.htm

Blowing Up

I'm going to blow up.

Has nothing to do with the day I had at work (my 24th year Anniversary BTW 😀).

Or having to circle the block before one of the cars, parked and empty in the curbside space, moved.

Nope. Not even any kind of  emotional outburst reason. 

I'm going to blow up because I bought a cheese burger and fries from Whataburger, and the fries, took me back to the McDonald's fries of my youth...

Remember them?

They were deep-fried to perfection: crisp outside, tender inside, and best of all...sprinkled with that supper fine popcorn salt! 

Oh man! Pure comfort food heaven.

But my ankles are gonna blow up.

Today it's totally worth every last milligram.