General Babble

[cineater]

Watched a documentary on The Farm.  1500 people left California in a bus caravan back in the 70's and for 15 years made it work.  Knew nothing about farming but ended up making advances in organic farming, solar power, natural childbirth, helping people in other countries and veganism.  Two girls who were raised there for a while did the documentary.  In the end the one girl who worked for MTV got cancer, no insurance.  This is years later and people from the commune sent her cards and money.  One of their things was to take care of each other and they continue though blown to the winds.

Forgot I can watch the great courses through the library.  College professors lecturing on different things.  Started watching a 24 episode on Archeology.  Visited Pompeii and Troy so far.  The professor said what struck him was that how little society has changed since those times.  True but maybe his interpretation of how society functioned then is based in his experiences in current society?

[cineater]

You can tell by the tone of the voice right away when something is wrong.  "Okay can you go in the ambulance with him and I'll come get you and take you back to your car when you know what's going on."  She was at the eye doctor with her eyes dilatated and couldn't drive when he started to feel funky.  I've handled many crisis calls so I can think through them pretty quick.  Thing is, you're here and they are there.  Not really much your immediate action can do.  Start thinking who there can do something, what needs to be done now and on scene.  An uber could have got to her quicker then me but she needs a cool head.  Not my personal crisis, I can be cool headed. 

No way he's not getting admitted.  He's one step away from needing a heart transplant.  No need for me to run over any time soon.  Check up on them and the ER is running heart tests.  "Want me to go by and let out the dogs?  Those coded locks on your house come in handy.  I know the routine, on it.

Know in a crisis, there is a lot of time where you're just not doing anything but waiting for it to resolve itself.

[cineater]

That was interesting, how do archeologist know where to dig?  If you have a straight line in the earth where the plants grow better, might be a ditch.  Grow worse, might be a wall underground.  Pottery pieces don't decay but rises to the top of the soil.  During a survey of an area, a group of people walk a straight 100 yards.  They click on a clicker how many pottery pieces they see every ten feet.  When you are in the middle of a city where more people were, you have more pieces.  The edges of the city have less.

There's more technology based ways but eventually you have to get down and play in the dirt.

Watched one on the Mesopotamia area.  Not a part of the world I'm familiar with but there are cities unpon cities.  No idea how they know a certain ruler was in power in 600 bc.  I always thought people didn't live very long in those times but into 70's and 80's kept popping up.  They discovered two stone tablets that talk about a great flood and compare it and other things to what is in the bible.

Once again history is recorded by wars.  We are the waring planet.  Pictures of torturing people are thought to be propaganda.  A way to show visiting dignitaries what would happen if they crossed them.  Not so much sex in the pictures from this time.  Is it only the Europeans fixated on that?

[cineater]

I forgot Agatha Christie.  She wrote a lot of her books on site of some of these digs.  She was married to an archeologist.

[cineater]

Wow a washer and dryer all in one machine.  My machines are from the 90's, maybe 80's.  Don't remember what happen to them in the divorce but I might have gotten those first ones back at some point or got new when I got this place.  Anyway, still working fine but their time has to be coming up.  That would really allow me to open up some space in the laundry closet.  Maybe get fix those folding doors I can't have installed right because I can't get the dryer door to open if they are.  Hate folding doors, right after double sliding doors.  I have a door preference.     And they don't need to be vented.  My vent is always coming disconnected.  Would solve some of my problems.

They are front loading.  People report smell problems with those.  I can tell you with my daughter's washer, I almost fall into it trying to get the stuff out of the bottom.  I am the shrinking woman so a front loader might be nice.  Energy efficient but they take fucking forever.  I like doing laundry but I want to click that chore off my to do list for the day.  Have to pause it to add dryer sheets.  Okay, that's not going to happen.  I do not have the attention span for that.  Can load it up and start it remotely later in the day.  Like I'd trust that.  There's no running water or cooking going on in the house if I'm not there.  Wasted feature with me.  Depends how you define a smart home.     Extra help is good but I'm still the brains in this house.

[cineater]

My daughter texts me, that's a lot of formula.  It is.    57, 4oz bottles X 4.  Should come close to getting him to age 1 when he can go on milk.  I guess I am my mother.  She kept me fully supplied with diapers and clothes when I had my daughter.  Meant a lot then and I know it's meaning a lot to my daughter now.  And when her son has a child, she's going to be thinking, I am my mother, what can I do to help out.   

[cineater]

I was going to sleep in and skip the parade tomorrow.  Now my daughter and her family are coming over and here friends and maybe my other grandkids.  Have only missed one parade in 26 years due to rain.  Guess I'm not giving this up any time soon.  Kind of nice living just down from the parade route.  And close enough to walk up to the fairgrounds.  It's just fucking hot and humid out there!

[Mysteron]

That was interesting, how do archeologist know where to dig?  If you have a straight line in the earth where the plants grow better, might be a ditch.  Grow worse, might be a wall underground.  Pottery pieces don't decay but rises to the top of the soil.  During a survey of an area, a group of people walk a straight 100 yards.  They click on a clicker how many pottery pieces they see every ten feet.  When you are in the middle of a city where more people were, you have more pieces.  The edges of the city have less.

There's more technology based ways but eventually you have to get down and play in the dirt.

Watched one on the Mesopotamia area.  Not a part of the world I'm familiar with but there are cities unpon cities.  No idea how they know a certain ruler was in power in 600 bc.  I always thought people didn't live very long in those times but into 70's and 80's kept popping up.  They discovered two stone tablets that talk about a great flood and compare it and other things to what is in the bible.

Once again history is recorded by wars.  We are the waring planet.  Pictures of torturing people are thought to be propaganda.  A way to show visiting dignitaries what would happen if they crossed them.  Not so much sex in the pictures from this time.  Is it only the Europeans fixated on that?

They have equipment that can scan the ground. I think metal detectorists sometimes initially find areas, then it continues from there. Sometimes, you can see history from space, lines on the ground.

We used to have a TV program, Time Team, that was about archaeology. It was popular for years, and still carries on on YouTube.

[cineater]

That was interesting, how do archeologist know where to dig?  If you have a straight line in the earth where the plants grow better, might be a ditch.  Grow worse, might be a wall underground.  Pottery pieces don't decay but rises to the top of the soil.  During a survey of an area, a group of people walk a straight 100 yards.  They click on a clicker how many pottery pieces they see every ten feet.  When you are in the middle of a city where more people were, you have more pieces.  The edges of the city have less.

There's more technology based ways but eventually you have to get down and play in the dirt.

Watched one on the Mesopotamia area.  Not a part of the world I'm familiar with but there are cities unpon cities.  No idea how they know a certain ruler was in power in 600 bc.  I always thought people didn't live very long in those times but into 70's and 80's kept popping up.  They discovered two stone tablets that talk about a great flood and compare it and other things to what is in the bible.

Once again history is recorded by wars.  We are the waring planet.  Pictures of torturing people are thought to be propaganda.  A way to show visiting dignitaries what would happen if they crossed them.  Not so much sex in the pictures from this time.  Is it only the Europeans fixated on that?

They have equipment that can scan the ground. I think metal detectorists sometimes initially find areas, then it continues from there. Sometimes, you can see history from space, lines on the ground.

We used to have a TV program, Time Team, that was about archaeology. It was popular for years, and still carries on on YouTube.

Hi there, yeah it is cool how they find this stuff.  There's an abundance of finds in the jungles of South America still waiting to be explored.

[cineater]

Wrap on that parade, the baby's first.  He won't remember it but he sure was taking it in.  The motorcycles caught his eye, made his daddy proud.  My daughter and their friends.  Couples with young kids and all the stuff you need to take them somewhere.  They were talking about it.  I reach in and grab the baby, "they brought a grandma".  They were all envious.    Take it all in folks it goes by so quick.  Lot of work and stress but I'd do it all again and many more times after that.

[cineater]

Looked at some prehistoric cave art in France and Spain.  They've made replicas of these caves so you can see them but preserve the original caves.   The animal paintings are amazing.  The one wall has lions hunting and the texture of the wall was used to make the animals look more life like.  That's some pretty sophisticated thinking if you ask me.  Curious, in those 1000's of animal paintings, no people.  

Always liked the cliff and cave paintings.  Lots of reasons to do that.  Wonder what they used for paint and if that's just the faded color.  These things are really old.  I know one.  I look but I never can find the one that's in my head.  It's a bird, probably a thunderbird, sitting with its' wings held out.  It's painted red and is high on a cliff wall looking out over a big, dry valley leaving a mountain range.  I had a side view of it.  My memory is fuzzy but I always think of that one.

[cineater]

There's a commercial of a mother and daughter shopping for the wedding dress.  Daughter loves it and mother is god awful.  I was not going to be that mother when I went with my daughter.  I just told her she would know her dress when she saw it.
We went to the store she was most excited about.  I thought cheap rags when we went in but not going to be that mom.  She found one, again cheap material, looks like a rag but I had good things to say since she kind of liked it but let's put it on the list and keep shopping.  The store I liked neither of us saw anything there or at the wedding store.  We went to the sister store to the one I liked.  They told her she could try on 10 dresses.  She was liking them and picked out 8.  One of her friends picked out the 9th and I pulled try this one on for me.  She looked at it and said okay but not much else.

She came out first in the dress she picked.  I'm thinking that's pretty close to the one I picked.  Big smiles, thank god because it's really stressful picking out a wedding dress.  She wasn't sure about the back, pretty open and really showed her shoulder tat.  Second dress was my pick.  She had this horrible look on her face.  Got on the pedestal and broke out in tears.  You know your dress when you see it.    Tried on one more but no it's number two.  All the bridesmaids, because they all have to come too when you're picking out the dress, agreed.  Nobody said, that's the one your mother picked.  It was actually the only one I picked out of all the stores.

Anyway, I was washing her laundry the other day.  I can't just do one thing, like babysit the grandbaby when I'm over there for the day.  But I noticed several of her work shirts, same style I always wore.  And she likes the same kind of exercise pants I like.  Not pointing that out.  Nobody wants to be like their mother.   

[cineater]

Mike's got the Camaro looking pretty good.  He's been restoring a 66 Camaro.  First year they made them.  It's a deathtrap.  He drove it here when he moved from Ohio and then started tearing it apart.  Worked on it some but then lost interest when he started remodeling the house.  So it's been about ten years.  He's got the engine mostly done.  Don't think it runs yet.  He just finished the paint job, original gold.  Got new rims and tires.  He's ordering a kit for the interior next.  What year are you doing that?    But it's coming along.  I don't think there will be anything original but the frame when he's done.

[cineater]

Finally, I'm getting my pinball game back.  I lost it when I kept draining down the side almost as soon as I shot the ball.  I changed my stance at the machine and it seems to be working.  Put up some good scores on three of the games.  Dr. No routinely kicks my ass.  Tonight, got a replay and an extra ball.  But on the older machines that I normally win on, I can't do shit.  Mars Attacks, walk of shame. 

[cineater]

Finally got mom's 90th birthday party put together.  She doesn't feel like anything more than having the family over.  I have nothing in mind for decorating her yard so we are skipping that.  But to make it special, we are having a photographer come over and do family pictures.  Mom's a picture person.  I'll go along with it just tell me when to jump in and when to smile.  Not something I want on my 90th but I get the just have family over.  

I think she's more excited about spending the week with me in September than her birthday party.  She opted out of going to the GNR concert.    She wants to spend a lot of time with my daughter's family, see the baby.  Don't get that.  She always bitched about getting pregnant and having so many kids and now she's baby crazy.  My house is not feeble, old lady proof.  We'll probably end up spending most of the time at her place.  She has all this stuff she wants to do but I think I'll probably end up spring cleaning at her place.  

Holy shit, the place I'm taking my mother to for her birthday lunch has Reese's Peanut Butter Cheesecake!  This could be a winner. 

[cineater]

If your Writers Guild is on strike, what do you need actors for?  I haven't really kept up with the studio business since we left California and cable came along plus now there's streaming.  Seems to me there is a lot of independant players out there to negotiated with.  The regular players aren't as powerful as they use to be.  These strikes may just be union breakers.  I don't think this round will end them but I do think the union is going to find out they ain't all that any more because who they are negotiating with are not the beginning, middle or the end of that business.  It's a different world for the unions then when the teamsters and auto unions had the companies by the balls.  I think about the only business left where a union can really make demands is the airline business.

There's so much shit out there now I haven't seen, it could be the rest of my life before I need any new stuff to watch. 

[cineater]

Fucking Stern pinball machines.  I was winning that game.  Kathryn was coming up on my ass and the damn machine just restarts itself!  They do that when they get overheated or when they just want to fuck with you.  Replay, Kathryn kicks our asses.  Mentions she owns that machine.  Always takes her one game to warm up on it.     Fuck  I got third in the replay.  Okay night, 2 firsts, a second and a third or maybe I only got one first.  You get points based on what you score.  The last game, we were all pretty close.

[cineater]

Mom likes Sees Candy.  It's a California company.  You can only get it here at Christmas.  The woman is going to be 90.  I have to try.  She hated leaving California.  It's the only reminder she has left.  Their website says they have special shipping to accommodate the season.  It's fucking hot and even hotter in warehouses but I click buy.  It shipped out Monday and arrived today while I was out, in the fucking heat!    I pick up the box from the front porch and it's cool to the touch.  They had ice packs in there and some kind of cool holding in packing around it.  Should be okay.  I shoved the ice packs in the freezer.  It has to take a 45 minute ride in the car next week.  I'm just going to repack it and wrap the box.  Surprise for mom and a surprize for me if the chocolate is intact.

[cineater]

Aw, Tony Bennett died.  One of the great voices, always smiling.  98 and suffering from alzheimer's.  He must be happy to be on his way.

[cineater]

Checking out Del James facebook page.  He went to a pinball palace in Budapest.  Games I've never seen.  Town looked pretty cool too.

I'm debating cutting my hair off.  I normally wear it up so I'm afraid to cut it off to where I can't pin it up.  But I really hate having it around my neck when I'm trying to sleep.  There's that little voice that says a woman will not shorn her hair.  I knew a woman who got shit for that.  And to that I say, I'm a woman, do not tempt me, we've been flunking that test since the garden.