Imagine

Thursday, November 12

Free Medal ~ Yours for the Taking

*******

Work takes precedence this week (and all the way to the middle of December), so visiting may be sparse for a while. I may be reading, but not commenting.

Wednesday, November 11

Handy Hints on Hump Day

1. Beer conditions the hair.
2. Pam cooking spray will dry nail polish.
3. Cool Whip will condition hair in 15 minutes.
4. Mayonnaise kills lice and conditions your hair.
5. Elmer's Glue: paint it on your face and allow it to dry,
peel off and see dead skin and blackheads.
6. Lipton Tea: makes hair shiny.
7. Nestea: for sunburn, empty a large jar into your bath.
8. Toothpaste (Colgate or Crest) is good for minor burns.
9. Sugar: use on a burnt tongue.
10. WD-40: spray on arthritic joints and rub in. It kills
insect stings too.
11. Meat Tenderizer: make a paste and spread on bee stings.
12. Preparation H: good for chigger bites and puffy eyes.
13. Grazy Glue or Chap Stick: good for paper cuts
14. Jello: good for stinky feet.
15. Cornstarch: Athlete's foot
16. Vicks Vapo-Rub: toenail fungus
17. Kool Aid: cleans dishwasher pipes and toilets. (yikes)
18. Kool Aid: put powder in yogurt to make kid's finger paints
19. Peanut Butter: takes scratches off CD's (wipe off with a coffee filter)
and ink from the face of dolls.
20. Pam Cooking Spray: removes paint and grease from hands.
21. Corn Starch:to make doll clothes slide on easily.
22. Vinegar: for dandruff; use as a rinse.
23. Club Soda and Milk of Magnesia: to preserve a newspaper clipping,
use 1 large bottle of club soda and 1 cup of Milk of Magnesia. Soak the
clipping for 20 minutes and let dry. It will last for many years.
24. Colgate Toothpaste: to keep glasses and goggles from fogging,
coat with toothpaste.
25. Morton Salt: pour on wine stains and watch it absorb.
26. Paper Towels: to remove wax, iron over the wax stain through a
paper towel.
27. Bounce fabric softener sheets: to remove baked on foods, soak a
dryer sheet overnight. You can also use 2 Efferdent tablets.
28. Listerine: dirty grout
29. Coca Cola: grease stains and corrosion on car batteries (yikes)
30. Clorox: to keep flowers fresh longer, add a little Clorox to the
water, or use some 7-up or 2 Bayer aspirin in the water.

Lastly, Gatorade helps migraine headaches.

Tuesday, November 10

A Quote about War and a "War Story"

The truth is that every morning war is declared afresh. And the men who wish to continue it are as guilty as the men who began it, more guilty perhaps, for the latter perhaps did not foresee all its horrors.

Are you listening, Washington, DC?

Marcel Proust, novelist (1871-1922)

///*\\\

Mr. kenju has had three different doctors of Urology over the last two years. One left the practice due to illness, another left for unknown reasons and the third one was out of a job due to to Duk* Univ*rsity Hospital's closing of the Raleigh division of Urology. He had to make a decision; to choose a doctor in Raleigh who was not in the Duk* system, or choose one in Durham at the main clinics run by Duk* Univ*rsity. I tried my best to get him to choose a doctor in Raleigh, since I hate driving in Durham for any reason. We have lived in this area for over 40 years and I still can't find my way around over there. At this point, I think I must have a mental block.

Today was the day for his first appointment in Durham. Yes, he made that choice, believing that it would be simpler for record keeping and the filling out of forms if he remained within the Duk* system. (More about that later.) It is about 25 miles away, so we allowed an hour to get there, find a place to park and navigate the miles of buildings, walkways and corridors that make up that huge complex. I got lost. The map I had so carefully studied suddenly turned to mush before my eyes and I was mentally turned around, as well as physically. The more lost I appeared to be, the more worried he got and voiced it (which didn't help, of course.) Finally, we asked for directions and found the building, which like nearly all of them, was under construction (or the roads were). When you are lost anyway, being confronted with construction barricades at every turn is not good for mental stability.

I let him out at the front of the building, where I was presented with the option for valet parking at a cost of $7, as opposed to finding the parking building and paying $1 per hour. I found the parking deck by myself (but you knew that already, didn't you? Stingy me) and after moving at the pace of a sick snail up and up and up, I finally found a space. Of course, it was diagonally across the huge deck from the place I needed to be. Once I reached the building, it was a further hike of about 1/2 mile to get to the spot where I had let mr. kenju out of the car. He had coaxed a sweet young volunteer into placing him in a wheelchair for the trek through the very confusing maze to the urology clinic. We got there with one minute to spare before his appointment. And then came the forms. Remember up there where I mentioned record keeping and filling out of forms? He had assumed that since his regular doctor was in the Duk* system, and his 3 previous urologists had been in the Duk* system, he wouldn't have to fill out any new forms (he hates them). But he was wrong. They handed him a single-spaced form covering both sides of the paper. I don't think he liked that I was hanging over his shoulder watching, but I needed to make sure that he answered the questions truthfully, didn't I? Yes, I did. Trust me on that.

Eventually, we were called to an exam room and a nurse handed him a few more forms, which he declined to fill out. And then, his worst nightmare happened, a woman doctor entered the room. A very pretty, tall, willowy woman doctor. I don't know why he objects to a woman doctor. If I were a man who had to have a prostate exam, I'd much rather it be done by a pretty woman with trim fingers, wouldn't you? After the dreaded exam was complete, we got good news and were sent on our way to the lab for some blood work. The whole event took four hours and we were hungry and tired from the stress of it all. Problem was, I had NO idea where to find a restaurant, so we had to drive back to Raleigh to find some place to eat. Guess what? Mr. kenju surprisingly admitted that he ought to have chosen a doctor in Raleigh. If I had a dollar for every time in the last 45 years I have heard him tell me after the fact that he should have done something I recommended, I'd be a wealthy woman. Men! They never learn.

Monday, November 9

Five Words Meme

LLCoolJoe, of Joey's Pad was one of the people I gave five words to some time ago, as a meme to be answered with how those words have affected your life or what they mean to you. I really thought Joey had given up on it, but on Saturday I got a surprise - his meme - all very nicely done.

My original thought was to post all of the answers, and I had given each of them the same words, because I thought it would be interesting to see how each person felt about the impact of each word or concept on their lives. Unfortunately, some time has passed; I lost my list of people who had already participated and the only others I can remember were Tabor of One Day at a Time and Jen of Starting Over and Greta of To Write is Right.

I hope you will enjoy (as I did) comparing and contrasting what each of these people has to say about the five words, and if you were another of the few who participated, please link to your post in my comments. Thanks!