Author: JodiLea

I don't pretend to be who/what I'm not. I will be honest here unless I publish under the category "This could be news," which is 99% fiction and a wee bit sarcastic. ;-) I want readers who come here to have as much fun as I do. Not all subjects can be fun, but most can be funny if I do my job right ;-) My inner child is reflected in my logo and will change at a moment's notice.

Purple Haze ?

~ JodiLea ~ 1 Comment

I woke up early Monday, with nausea and a pounding headache. A smokey haze surrounded our house. It had infiltrated through our open windows during the night and the smell was unmistakable. Vaguely like  campfire, with a sickening aftertaste.

Purple Haze

There were no flames to be seen, and no helicopters or small planes buzzing overhead. This assures me that the fire itself was not too close.  But it’s a huge fire, if  it’s haze wafted over to us and still smells so strong.

For the first time since living here, I closed all the windows and turned on the air conditioning. I set the thermostat  to 84 degrees, and already it was blowing cool air at 6:00 AM because it was 85 degrees in the house, . A downside of having good insulation?

Anyway, I wanted to find out more of what was going on. I call it “staying informed”, but hubby says I’m nosy. Either way, I went  to the local on-line newspaper, The Pine Tree, and poked around awhile.

I found this interesting fire update article that I wanted to share with y’all.  The outstanding photos show the helicopters, jumpers, and air tankers working at the scene of the fire.

Fire Update…Ramsey Still at 250 Acres, 20% Containment, Moderately Active
Posted by: John_Hamilton of The Pine Tree on 08/12/2012 07:22 PM
Cottage Springs, CA…We just checked in with the USFS Dispatch Center in Sonora for the latest on the Ramsey fire as they get the last loads of retardant dropped to shore up the lines for the night. The fire is still being held in the 250 acre range but it is nibbling at the retardant lines and trying to break through. The risk is that with the lack of air drops that it could break through some lines overnight. Since it is down in the canyon an inversion factor can come into effect according to the USFS. This is where even as the temps cool out of the canyon the temps can remain high down in the canyon and keep the fire active. Air Attack 440 from Columbia will resume flight over the fire at 8am in the morning. Helicopters and Air Tankers will resume efforts shortly after. On the fire are 8 engines, 5 hand crews, 1 dozer, plus a water tender and other misc personnel overnight.
We would like to thank James J. Shinnick & Bill Minkel for the latest photos!

Don’t you just love how the reporter writes like he’s chatting with you personally?

Wait! Aren’t these the Olympic Games-

~ JodiLea ~ 3 Comments

And not high school sports?… A Fallen Hurdle

I was speechless (and you know how rare that is…) when I read Steven Atwood‘s article supporting Lolo Jones.

I have taped the Olympic Games  since they started. Because hubby & I are trying to settle in to our new home, we have not been watching “live” or seen most of the events yet. I had no clue about Lolo’s publicity (most would call it media bashing), until now.

I am so confused.

To my knowledge, our country (and the media)  is diplomatic towards athletes competing for other countries. So now are we making fun of our very own?  Why are we tearing apart athletes that don’t crank out medals for the USA? These men and women are already crushed about this. They don’t need to read about how or why they “failed”. Failed? They made it to the OLYMPICS for crying out loud. Have you, ever?  In my book they have already made this country proud. And you shouldn’t try to take that away from them.

Shame on you!

I have some breaking news for the American press – Athletes are human beings too. They make mistakes, they have good and bad days, and even if they have a Gold medal they are nowhere even close to perfect.  Let’s say your middle-school English teacher got on the evening news and exposed your literary flaws and horrible spelling to the world? At one point she says, ” <your name here> was so awful at writing I thought English was a second language to him/her.”

Now people are laughing. They aren’t thinking “Wow! Look how much he/she worked to overcome illiteracy”. Of course the morning newspaper spreads the story, and your family members all over the country are now reading this. Colleagues give you a bunch of crap about it to amuse themselves, and the New York Times is digging up all kinds of skeletons in your backyard.

How are YOU feeling about now? Abused? Unappreciated? Wanting to bash the media – with a club?

Oops! Sorry about this rant, but I spontaneously combusted this morning – it could be the 103F temperatures we are having, or maybe this subject is too close to my heart. I ran track in high school. And, I loved running the hurdles. I sailed over them gracefully during practice, but would choke during the event. Coach explained to me that because I was so nervous, and my muscles so tight that I had to struggle to get over a hurdle and it destroyed my rhythm.

I had no idea the muscles he was talking about were my vaginal muscles.   I would have blushed for the rest of the school year had I known.  Good thing I was naïve, as well as a virgin…

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photo credit: aurelie_solenne via photo pin cc

The Big Move: Mission Accomplished!

~ JodiLea

That #$%&@! box was hiding in the living room, under records & DVD’s. That’s correct, I still have a 3-foot stack of those large vinyl disc’s. The original Album’s. And the technology to play them – if you’re wondering.

I have to admire the efficiency of our movers. Whoever “packed” that #$%&@!  box of everything, did so in record time. No packing materials used. Just turn the desk drawer upside down over a large box, then tape the box closed. Done. They knew they could get away with this because when you opened that drawer you got the impression someone dumped a large box of miscellaneous crap into it.

It took 23 years to get that drawer full of crap. I think it will only take me a couple of days to disperse items to where they should go. Most of them are electrical & mechanical waste products, that men seem obligated to toss in a drawer – just in case. In case of what? Even if “what” happens, he will forget he has that junk and will buy more at the hardware store.

I should “forget” that I have a formal gown or a gorgeous tennis bracelet and run to the nearest mall and find one. It would be over an hours drive though, and I do not have the time to be a smart-ass now. So, I will file that idea in my brain for future thinking, and move on to unpacking that #$%&@! box.

Along with the “man junk” I find boxes of check receipts. Checks written in 2003. Why are we keeping them? Answer: Because no one has thrown them out. It’s the same reason we have a receipt from a drug store that went out of business before our kids were in school.

OK. Obviously I need to take on a new mission (impossible?). Slowly, as I unpack things, old useless crap will retire to the trash. Hubby doesn’t even have to worry his handsome head about it. The excellent wife that I am, will not bother him about those annoying little details.

Junk drawer contents
1/3 of what was in that #$%&@! Box!