Wait! Aren’t these the Olympic Games-

August 13, 2012 ~ 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

Please, Bear With Me…

August 9, 2012 ~ JodiLea ~ 1 Comment

Black Bear sitting on tree stump While I freak out!

I looked out my dining room window this morning and choked on my coffee. I was afraid to move or make any sound. I figured if I could see out my glass dining room, he could see in. Not that I wanted to jump up and get it, but I still have not found my damn camera. We all know it’s in that #$%&@! box..

This photo, taken through a window screen, with my iPhone, as I am shaking, is the only proof I have for my argument: there ARE bears in these woods! An argument I didn’t particularly want to win, nevertheless, being right is always such a rush for me. (I can’t help this, it’s genetic -ask any McGuire.)

Why, oh why, didn’t I order that bear repellent I saw online? I listened to hubby’s opinion that it was a crock, and there was “no such thing as bear repellent”, – that’s why. This is the same man who told me “it hardly ever snows in Arnold”. And yet I’m still listening to him… Just one example of how love makes you stupid.

After staring through the window for five minutes, I began to suspect Mr. Bear was asleep. He was not moving around, or taking any notice of the occasional man-made noises. Does a bear meditate in the woods? I made a mental note to Google search on bears, as soon as I was free to move.

Speaking of moving – I have to risk it because I seriously have to pee (More like PEE). I quietly roll out of the chair and on the carpet. On all fours, the wall hides me from view and I make it to the guest bathroom in time.

My guess is that Mr. Bear is a Black Bear. Black Bears are vegetarians, who like to meditate (apparently). Unlike their carnivore cousins, the Grizzly Bears. I would bet money Grizzlies don’t meditate in the woods, or anywhere else.

Regardless, when I crawled back to the dinning room and peeked out the window, Mr. Bear was gone. I kept an eye out for him all day, but didn’t see him.

Whew!

The Big Move: Day 2

August 1, 2012 ~ JodiLea ~ 4 Comments

Saturday, July 21st – The Big Day

After the moving truck left, we locked up and drove our heavy laden vehicles to the mountains. My car was weighed down with books, files, a large ice-chest, loaded suitcases, and my precious computer, Hercules, and all his peripherals. My poor little Honda does not like going uphill with just me inside, so me + another ton went uphill about as fast as a pot-smoking snail.

Hubby, up ahead driving his Big Ass Truck with lots of horsepower, has no clue how frustrated and irritated I am becoming. Add the 99° F temperature to this equation, along with severe nicotine cravings courtesy of The Bitch, and I am approaching lift-off.

We beat the moving truck up the mountain. I wanted to relax and simply enjoy being here, before the movers arrived, but all Hell broke loose instead.

We heard a helicopter approaching, then two of them circled over the forest area. I thought that they were either hunting down fugitives or part of an Air Show. One of my new neighbors clued me in. The helicopter’s were “spotters”, searching for small fires splitting off from the main fire. Fire??? Next on the scene would be the small planes called “dumpers” or “bombers”. These would make repeated runs over the fire, dumping fire-retardant or water, depending on the circumstances. Neighbor Lady was very knowledgeable, but I had lost touch with what she was saying because my brain was too busy with There is a FIRE and it’s burning in the forest next to my new house!!

If you think I’m being over dramatic, this article is from the County’s website :

Fire Update….Vegetation Fire on Forest Service Land Behind Arnold
Posted by: John_Hamilton on 07/21/2012 04:51 PM

Sheep Ranch CA…Crews are responding to a vegetation fire on Mountain Ranch Road and Armstrong Road. This is a full wildfire response including all aircraft from Columbia. More to follow…..Update as of 5:35pm…This fire is actually closer to Arnold than Mountain Ranch on USFS property. The good…fire is still small and doesn’t seem to be spreading much. The bad is that this fire is in heavy fuels. Update as of 5:51pm…Initially the responding engines were accessing off of Sheep Ranch Road. Now they are rerouting engines around White Pines Lake and take Manuel Mill behind Arnold. Update as of 6:13pm…ground units have been on scene for a few minutes. One of the tankers has been released and Helicopter 404 is refueling now and Tanker 82 will probably be released as soon as 404 returns to the fire. Unless something drastically changes they should be able to get this knocked down as soon as the additional ground units arrive. Update as of Sunday Morning…We checked in with the TCU Command Center and the fire was held to less than an acre. In the photos below, the one on the right was taken at 6:55pm last night and you could already tell the plume was significantly reduced…

Forest Fire

Fire Out

Thank you, Mother Nature, for that warm welcome.