Charlayne's Blog

Hi folks, I didn't fall off the map or get washed away by any of the storms. I've been home trying to gather strength to start school again this semester. I'm only taking two courses and I have to go to the teachers I dropped last year and see if they will let me open back the classes I took the F in (I didn't complete the incompletes when I dropped) and that may have to keep me going without writing.

 Be assured, I'm still a Fox26 fan, I wake up every morning and watch, even when studying.

 I'll try to write some updates as time goes.

 

I just posted my latest update on the knees and discovered that what I posted doesn't fit in any existing category.

Maybe there should be a "blogger area tab" where we can post more "non-news" stuff in our life.

Unlike about 9/10 of everyone on the planet who got the Harry Potter book that first night, I'm only on about page 45 of 759. It's hard to read with pain mends dusting your mind. I've slept most of the last two days (with the exception of getting my nails done, they needed it).

 I didn't go to the doctor right off, I probably will this week. I've had two arthroscopic  surgeries on my knees and I still own the very nice ice packs they gave me over the years. Those have helped.

 We had planned on going to the movies but I really couldn't go.

 So, I spent the evening watching the Simpson's marathon, some were episodes I had not seen before.

I hope I can start doing some moving around tomorrow, i have several things I want to do and need to get done, household chores, etc.

I had every plan to come up for the picnic, had the date circled on my calendar and everything.

 Last night I was going to go get my copy of Harry Potter and I tripped and fell in the front yard trying to get into my van. I am just starting to see the bruises come up, I can barely move, and my brain is now addled with pain meds. I couldn't even start reading my book because I've slept a lot of today.

From some of the comments, it seems that those who did get to go had a grand time.

We probably need to look into doing it again, maybe closer to Christmas and in a place inside.

 I missed something great by missing the picnic.

I'm 50 and for the FIRST time in my life I got "took" by someone that I thought would be ok.

 A guy with a SUV full of help and a trailer behind it that had a company name on it knocked on my door last week (Thursday) and said he could trim my trees out front and get the dead branches off them, move the big branch covering the magnolia tree, and cut and grind the tree that was growing between my air conditioner and house, spray the big tree for the ants killing the tree, and take the branches and stuff with them when they left. With a quick trim of the tree out back, the cost would be $350.

 I ran it by my husband who was at work and we decided it would be ok. We authorized it and they got to work. All pro tools, no suspicious people in the group and they were working hard. I had to go to the doctor and told them that I would be back in an hour and a half and pay them, it was probably about that to do a proper job. The lead guy wanted me to get it paid before I left (oh, should have been my first tip off, what was I thinking?) and he told me they would be finished in about 20-30 minutes.

 Dumb me, I wrote the check and ran off to the doc.

I get back, they are GONE. The job is not complete, the big branch and the little tree at the air conditioner are both still there, all the dead branches are not gone (just the ones he did when I was there) and the dead branches were laying all over the ground by my mailbox.

 To top it off, the check was cashed that day and I have no way to track them.

I feel so stupid that I trust anyone but someone I called after checking them out (I always do that, before) and my husband is mad that someone took me and made me feel stupid (he's so protective of me).

If someone, ANYONE, comes up to your house and says "I can do xx for you for $, just say no and go call someone reliable (check 26News site or BBB) to do the work.

I hate this. We didn't have the money to throw away on it.


 

"She should have stolen toilet seats (the woman who stole 3 rolls of toilet paper) instead so that the police would not have anything to go on."

OMG that's funny. Have you considered doing stand-up comedy? I love many of your jokes.

I was thrilled when the old 66 story came up today. They were featuring 6th street in Amarillo. I've walked those sidewalks a lot over the years and have some really good memories.

 If you are an antique and "junk shop" hunter, this is the place to be. There is a lot of stuff there and quite a bit of it is at a lower price than you can find here in the Houston area.

 My husband and I went back there in April to visit with my daughter and see the new grand baby (see my pic). During the week we were there, I introduced him to 6th street and some of the things there. One of my personal favorites is a little place on the west end of 6th called "Barnaby's Beanery".  Famous for beans and Cornbread, it also has great stew, hamburgers, and oh my gawd, COBBLER! The cobbler, with or without ice cream is the stuff of legends.

 I don't think Amarillo will let old 66 totally die off, once it gets out that it's running down, someone will come in and find out something to do to help.

 Oh, and another Amarillo landmark has reopened to great fanfare: http://www.amarillo.com/stories/061207/new_7753127.shtm
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Well, it took less than 72-hours for Paris Hilton and her retinue of lawyers, doctors, and spokesmen to get her out of the slammer and get her an ankle bracelet that would limit her to the Hilton Hotel Mansion. Limits her going out but doesn't limit the party coming in to her place. Life goes on.

Usually I wouldn't care. The rich/famous are always different when it comes to how they are treated. Pee Wee Herman, Michael Jackson, O.J. Simpson, very much different than the justice meted out here in Texas.  

But Paris did something that I consider unforgivable, yet something that  has not been brought out in all the discussions about her actions: where is MADD? Paris was driving drunk. This is a totally irresponsible action and she should be in the jail for the entire sentence, which should be longer given the parole violation.

 And the sheriff giving her the boot out with the ankle bracelet should have been stopped. It's not up the him to make the decision as to who goes out and who comes in: there is a judge who makes those decisions. He should be hauled up on contempt of court charges and get to spend time in his own jail, then stripped of his office for abuse of public trust.

Paris is NOT above the law. She drove drunk and should serve all the time given (which was much shorter than anyone else doing that crime would have gotten. Our sense of outrage has been misplaced from that fact to the actions of seeing her get 3 days time instead of the 40 she was originally sentenced to.

The outrage should be that she received a sentence of 40 days instead of longer for the crime of DUI. And MADD should be all over this. 

My brother and I used to sell knives, swords, and replica guns back in the 1980's at renaissance recreation groups and science fiction conventions. The guns we sold were the same weight and just a few centimeters smaller than the real thing. They were also made of an alloy that would not allow for firing. These were the "movie quality" prop used for things like "Valentines Day Massacre" and other moves.

 We came down to Houston for a convention in 1979 in a hotel in downtown. We had a very good weekend in sales and one of our guns was sold with a box that belonged to another gun so that it could be transported by the new owner on an airplane as cargo. That left our Thompson Submachine Gun replica without a box and it didn't fit in any of our cargo boxes (footlockers).

We loaded our suitcases and some of the merchandise on a bellcart while I settled the bil and my brother went to the parking garage to get the truck (the bellman was having trouble getting it started).

 I looked over and saw one of the bellboys playing with the Thompson that had been hung on the cart to be put in the cab behind the seats. I went over and took it away from him, pulled the bolt back and checked the sight to make sure nothing had been bent or broken.

About that time, a guy in a suit flashed a badge in my face and said "I'm Captain...........with Houston dignitary protection"  (or something like that, in all honesty, I was more freaked out with the badge and the gun I had in my hands than remembering the first part of the conversation).  He went on to say "Put that damned thing away."

I started into my sales speech about how it was a replica, etc. He cut me off and said "I know all about it, I checked you both out several days ago. But the Israeli's won't stop to ask if you point it at them, they will shoot first and sort it out later.

Moshe Dyan had been in the hotel about 15 minutes.

 I wrapped the Thompson in my jacket and shoved it under some of the stuff on the cart, saying "Thompson? What Thompson?"

 We had never thought about the replica's causing that much of a problem.

Now we probably wouldn't be able to sell them, which would be good because I would hate to have to deal with the guilt over having sold one of the replica's that ended up getting someone shot.

I heard on Fox 26 this morning about these blogs and how we can get into sharing information here as well as on something like LJ (which I have an account under this same name; my blog there is over 4 years old). I like having places to write and share.

 Poor Greenville Kansas.  An EF5 tornado, estimated a mile and a half wide, made kindling and rocks out of that entire town. It's amazing that there weren't a lot more people killed. Having lived in "tornado alley" i Amarillo, I've heard the sirens and hid in the basement afraid of those large twisting ropes of energy. Scary stuff. And they are still seeking survivors.

 And don't get me started on Roger Clemens. I was hacked off last year when he was allowed to wander into the club house two and a half months into the season, taking time to work out as he would and keep everyone up in the year as to whether or not he would come in at all. No one would let my husband sit out from the job he has and come in a month and a half later--he would be fired on the spot. Now, I know Clemens has talent but between the really obnoxious "I set my own hours" and the money, he's got a lot of people upset. And I agree with some of the people interviewed, Clemens kept saying how he loved Houston and how he wanted to end his career here and now he's kissed up to Steinbrenner and he announced he was coming to Yankee's.

 So much for character and for being a good role model over making money no matter who it hurts. There are kids who look up to Clemens who will see that word means money when it comes to money and that it's ok to walk away when it serves your purpose no matter what you've said or done.