Saturday, March 26, 2011

Local Boy Does Good! (mancans)

Thanks to everyone who has or is planning on placing an order. I really hope you enjoy your candles. I have been swamped with orders since my story has gone national. Please be patient, these are still made in my kitchen, and I still have to go to school during the day. : (
I am working with some help from my parents on getting orders out as quickly as possible. If you have any questions please e-mail me and I will do my best to reply quickly. We are trying to work with more sources (Hospitals, schools, etc.) to donate soup.
I have a couple of new scents for the spring, check out my scents page. I also have a new package deal for your favorite coach called "Opening Day", it is just around the corner. Opening day includes New Mitt, Bubble Gum, and a new scent Cracker Jacks. Add one of my best selling scents Fresh Cut Grass for the price of a ticket in the cheap seats.
As seen on TV! I have been fortunate enough to have my product featured on both 10TV and Channel 4. Below are links to both the Channel 4 piece from their website and the 10TV interview on YouTube.
Also search YouTube for man-cans and see my other wacky promotional videos.
Green is more than just a color at Mancans:
All of our cans are recycled soup cans and the brown wrapper is made of recycled paper. We are always looking for places to donate soup. Churches, food pantries, and any special occasion during this cold winter. Thanks to Our Daily Bread in Lima, Ohio for helping out by accepting over 200 cans of soup.

TV Shows in my Furthest Memories

I can remember them making these announcements before television shows - "and now in living color".

I remember the tv going off every night at 12:30 or 1 with the National Anthem playing and seeing nothing but snow until a test pattern started early the next morning before the Today Show came on. There was no local morning news back then.

I remember my mom watching "The Secret Storm" and "The Edge of Night" every afternoon and the waves crashing on the beach when one of them started.

I used to sneak and sit behind her recliner and watch "Dark Shadows". I wasn't allowed to watch it because I had nightmares. I quit watching one day when someone was calling the name, Angilique, over and over and drew her to a cliff and a very scary dead woman was standing there.

My mom loved the "Tom Jones Show"!

Every Sunday we would watch "Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom" while Marlin Perkins would sit there and tell us what dangerous deed Jack Hannah was going to do. Then "The Wonderful World of Disney" would come on.

"Gun Smoke" was every Monday night.

I can remember "Laugh in". Lilly Tomblin as the operator and the little girl in the giant rocker. "Sock it to Me" was the hilarious catch phrase. I loved the little man on the tricycle (I can't remember his name) and Ruth Buzzy's little old lady character.

I was in love with Bobby Sherman from "7 Brides for 7 Brothers" and I wanted to be Candy.

Saturday morning cartoons were the bomb and so was Mr. Cartoon. Mr. Cartoon was a local cartoon show that was on every afternoon at 4 o'clock after school. He was always telling us to say, "please, thank you and your welcome."

My friend, Sherri, and I would play along the fence between our houses. Our heroes were Monelito (High Chaparrel) and Danny (Thomas). They would come save us in our adventures.

I remember "Branded" and "Wagon Train".

"Carol Burnett" out lasted all the variety shows. I remember watching them but I don't remember who the stars were in particular. I know they were people like Dean Martin and Sammy Davis and Phyllis Diller...

Friday, March 25, 2011

hometown pictures stolen from topix

I am in a hurry. These are not my pictures but they are all pictures taken in my hometown. I have stories to put with the pictures later.

I Couldn't Go Home for 3 Days!

One time I left some eggs sitting out. There were about 9 of them. Instead of throwing them away I decided that I would boil them and feed them to my 2 greyhounds that lived in the house.

BIG MISTAKE! BIG MISTAKE! BIG MISTAKE!

Those dogs farted non stop for 3 whole days. They were low, sizzling farts that I could hear. The sulfuric blast which emanated from their bodies burned my nostrils and my eyeballs. I would walk in the door and the smell would be hanging heavily in the air.

I NEVER fed dogs boiled eggs again.

Surprise Visit to the Nursing Home

My dad was in several nursing homes before he died. At the first 2 homes he received excellent care. He truely loved living at the second one (Morrison Memorial Nursing Home in Milton WV). Unfortunately the VA lost their contract with them and he had to be moved to a nursing home in Southern Ohio (the name escapes me now). As soon as I saw it I had reservations about it.

It was a little run down and as I watched the interactions between patients and caregivers I saw things I didn't like but nothing I could call abuse. I made sure my dad was comfortable and I increased my visits to the nursing home because I could tell his health was deteriorating. Again this deterioration was more than likely due to the seriousness of his health condition and not because of care.

He had been there about a week when he started to complain to me about his catheter causing him pain. I went immediately to the nurses and they told me he had not said anything to him but they would look into it. Over the course of the next 2 weeks everytime I went to see daddy he would complain about the pain his catheter was causing him. Each time I would speak to the nurses and they would tell me they were doing what they could and I could see that the catheter had been adjusted.

They were also telling me that he never complained to them. I assumed that he just wasn't comfortable talking to them yet and I had no problem being a liasson between him and the nurses.

One Friday evening I decided not to go to work because I was worried about him. I went to the nursing home. I was walking to his room and I could see my dad talking to the nurse dispensing medication. Both of their backs were to me and neither could see me. As I walked up I could see my dad begging the nurse for help because the catheter was hurting him. There was no way she couldn't have heard him. It was also plain to me as I stood there for several minutes that she was ignoring him completely.

Finally I could stand it no more. I walked up and told my dad to get his coat that I was taking him to the nursing home. He looked at me with gratitude as he started to wheel himself to his room to get his coat. The nurse wanted to know who I was and I had no problem telling her. She tried to tell me that I had no right to take him to the emergency room. I informed her that I had medical power of attorney over my father and I had the right and the duty to take him to the emergency room any time that I saw fit. It was obvious to me that they were not treating his pain and whatever they were doing about the catheter was not working.

As daddy wheeled back to me she told me that I couldn't leave until she did her paperwork. I told her if her paperwork was ready by the time I loaded him in his van then I would be happy to take it. Otherwise I'm sure they could figure out what was wrong with him at the ER without any help from her.

Surprisingly the papers were in my hand a couple minutes later as I finished loading my dad into the van. We went to the VA hospital. The nurse that saw him didn't even wait for the doctor to give her an order to fix the catheter. They had pulled the catheter so far down into his urethra that the balloon that was supposed to be inflated in his bladder was inflated in his urinary tract.

They treated his pain. They treated him for infection. His relief was immediate. I stepped up my visits to the nursing home. I started to look for another home to take him but it was too late.

He died a couple weeks later. (not due to the bladder issue) That is a whole another story that is elsewhere in my blog.

Thursday, March 24, 2011

I woke up thinking I was dead last night

I was lying there wondering if I was alive or dead.

My head was turned to the side and all I could see was my lifeless hand.

Then I thought, "you can move your hand if you are alive - DUMMY!"

I moved my hand.

I thought, "good. I'm alive."

I went back to sleep.

I was caught in a hail storm yesterday

It started to rain and I made my way to the gazebo. I thought it would be a nice afternoon to sit and enjoy the rain a little. I made it just in time. As soon as I stepped into the shelter all hell broke loose!

At first the hail was pea sized. Then it was dime sized and it grew to nickel sized. The ground was snow white and so were the sidewalks. The rain was blowing so hard that I couldn't find a dry spot in the gazebo. It's direction kept changing as well. I kept moving to the far side of the gazebo according to the wind so I wouldn't be pelted by those viscious little balls of ice.

I got caught in a hail storm once when I was a kid. We were on our bikes at Summersville Lake. We peddaled as hard as we could to get to a shelter but we weren't quite fast enough. The hail felt like pins hitting us all over our bodies. I knew I never wanted to get caught in a hail storm in my life again, they hurt so much!

Anyway, I was safe yesterday, but I watched as several kids ran from the playground to shelter. It made me remember that long ago time time and I truely felt sorry for them.

How to Catch 50 Dogs at One Time!

For most people this wouldn't be an issue. It has come up in my life more than once.

I was waiting outside my kennel one day to do afternoon. This particular kennel was all the way in the back corner of the compound. Everything was peaceful and quiet just as it should be, when all of a sudden I look up to see Old Man Willy rounding the corner at a full out run. His eyes were huge, his scruffy afro was blowing in the wind and his arms were pumping as he ran as fast as he could for the gate to his kennel.

"What in the world!" I thought to myself. "Why would that old drunk be running like that!" It was a sight to behold.

He barely got the gate open when I saw a whole turnout pen full of greyhounds rounding the corner behind him. My initial panic was immediately replaced by astonishment as everyone of those dogs ran into the turnout pen behind him and the second the last one went past him he slammed the gate shut behind him.

I was amazed, but I knew enough to look around for any stragglers - which there weren't any. Willy had caught every last one of them!

"How in the world did you do that?" I exclaimed.

Willy just laughed as he hurriedly filled a water bucket for the thirsty greyhounds. "Ah, it was nuthin'," he said. "These dogs will chase anything. All you have to do is get the lead dog to follow and the rest will fall in.

"Whose dogs are they?" I asked.

"I don't know, but somebody will be along directly looking for them - don't you think?"

"You got that right." I agreed. Soon enough Bobby from McMillian Kennel came around in his truck. He stopped.

"You guys seen any greyhounds running around?" He asked. "I lost a whole turnout pen full. Pat's gonna' kill me."

"There right here." Willy told him as he waved his arm above the turnout pen full of dogs.

Bobby gasped for air. "Those are my dogs!" He yelled. "How in the world did you catch 'em," he asked.

"Old dog man's trick," Willy said as he winked at me.

I just started to laugh. We helped Bobby collect his dogs and then we did our own turnouts.

It wasn't a month later when I walked out of my own kennel. (this one was right by the front gate) I looked up to see a whole turnout pen full of dogs headed straight for me. I knew if they got past me they would run out the front gate and it would be nothing for them to get on to the main road.

I squatted down and clapped my hands and whistled. The lead dog saw me as I started to run for my kennel. I had to open my kennel door because both my turnout pens were already full of my own greyhounds. Fortunately the whole turnout pen followed me into the kennel and I slammed the door behind them.

Then I had to run back and forth between my pens because my dogs were in an uproar over all the strange dogs that had just run past them into their home. I had just got them settled and was worried about what in the world I was going to do because my dogs were ready to fight and needed to go to bed. I couldn't put them up because there was a whole kennel full of dogs running around inside the building.

I looked outside to see Danny running around with a crazed look on his face. I hollered and asked him if he lost any dogs. He said he had and when I told him I had caught them all he couldn't understand. He couldn't understand, that is, until he took a look inside my kennel.

"How in the world did you do that?" He asked in amazement.

"Old dog man's trick." I said with a smile and I winked at him. Silently I thanked Willy for the lesson. Danny was looking at me with a new respect and he was one of the old timers. If I had him on my side I was doing good - and I did.

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

You can ask my age but don't even think about asking my weight!!

I claim all my years. I have earned them. I have earned the way I look because of them. I am 48. I love to lie and tell people that I'm 58!

That way they think I look really good for my age!

There is no "I" in TEAM, but...

there is a "ME!"

hahahahaha

I thought this was TOOOOOO FUNNY

Eddie came home from church the other day.

They had a guest church in attendance and he gave the welcoming speech WITH HIS FLY DOWN!

HAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

He had convinced himself that no one noticed because he wears very long suits.

I DON'T KNO-OW ABOUT THAT.

hehehehehehe (snicker) hehehehehehe

Pamonyms

Here's a new one. For some reason the other people in my building call me "Miss Pam".

1. Pam

2. Pamala (my spelling)

3. Pamela (most common)

4. Pamelea (only met one of those)

5. Pammy (my most common nickname)

6. Pamalama (my favorite nickname ever!)

7. Pambella (from one special friend)

8. damnpamn (I've heard that one so many times in my life. It covers everything good,bad,unbelievable,right, wrong - get the idea!)

9. Wham Bam Thank You Pam (I won't get into that one!)

10. Spam (most popular insult as a child)

11. Pam Cooking Spray (most popular insult from children today)

12. Pamala Peehole (most hated nickname from my aunt's and uncle's)

13. SuperPam (my image of myself)

14. Pamburger (refers to the mangled mess that's my brain)

15. Pammalicious (another one that I won't get into)

16. Pamalah (emphasis on the "lah")

17. Pamblahh (how I used to refer to my blog) aka. Pamblahg

18. Paam-pers (another childhood taunt!)

19. Pambelina (another name from another friend)

20. Little Pam (as opposed to Big Pam-which is who I would be now. There were 2 of us Pam's working in one place and so they called us Big Pam and Little Pam-I was Little Pam because I was 20 and Big Pam was in her 40's)

My actual real name is Pamala Dee Brennan Jeffrey!