Saturday, January 28, 2012

I was a "Shit Chipper"

What's a "shit chipper" you ask?

In the winter the dog poop freezes almost as soon as it hits the ground. The only way to pick it up is to take the shovel or rake and "chip" it off - then pick it up. This leaves little, frozen chips of shit that have to stay until the ground thaws!

Another effective method of removal is to just kick the pile and watch it fly through the air like a football!

My White German Shepherd Puppies

I had 2 absolutely gorgeous white German Shepherds named Maxx and Skye. I especially adored Maxx. I got him from a man who mistreated him. When he brought him to me he had on a training collar (this means a collar with 2 inch spikes pointed IN TOWARD HIS NECK!) and and electric collar. The man kept telling me I had to control Maxx. I asked him if he had ever tried love. He just looked at me. It took me 2 months to heal the cuts on his poor neck.

Maxx and I had a few battles and I did have to show him who was boss but I also showed him love. He came to adore me and eventually turned into a big, white teddy bear. I bought 3 footballs for him and Skye and Disney to play with and Maxx wouldn't share. (he was big enough to enforce this afterall) He loved to run in circles with me throwing the footballs and singing "Maxie's got the ball!" over and over to him.

Skye was given to me when I was working the fuel desk at the TA truckstop. I saw her in the guy's truck and I asked him if that was a white German Shepherd. He said it was. I told him I had one. He laughingly asked if I wanted another one. I surprised him when I said yes. He gave her to me on the spot - papers and all!

I bred them about a year later. They had the puppies in the picture above. They were born in the winter and I built a doghouse big enough for Skye and her 8 puppies and me. (I fit in there halfway) I had a heat lamp in it for heat and it was quite cozy. They looked like little polar bears until they were about 3 weeks old and then they started to look like puppies.I had a ball raising them and started selling them for Valentine's Day when they were 7 weeks old.

Later Skye got pregnant again. This is when I went in the hospital with my heart condition. (I was dying) I had to find Maxx and a very pregnant Skye a home because I was unable to care for them. I gave Skye away instead of selling her to the best home I could because they agreed to take Maxx too.

My mom was furious with me because I wouldn't deposit all my animals in the shelter and move in the housing unit a few miles from her house. She still is for that matter. I managed to find everybody homes though and everything is working out.

Here is a list of animals that I had when I got sick. I found homes for all of them.

1. Maxx
2. Skye (pregnant)
3. Disney (lab mix)
4. Maltese
5. Chinese Crested
6. 2 cats

WV Bee Man

I saw a man wearing a beard of bees! It was pretty cool. They advertized the exhibit to be done at the Capitol Market which is a local produce market. That was good because I knew there wouldn't be too much walking involved. I was walking along looking for it when I saw a booth with smoke coming out of it. So I made a beelinefor it.

There were 2 men in the booth from the WV dept. of Agriculture explaining that they were going to take a queen beeand put her in a box and hang it around the man's neck. So that is what they did and then they took a box of bees and POURED IT ON THE MAN'S HEAD! There were bees everywhere (in the booth). They immediately started to settle on the mans neck where the box with the queen was and in less that 30 seconds he had a full beard of bees.

It was enough to make me sqirm. He stood up and he started to face in different directions so the crowd could see. I had a video camera, so I filmed it. I would like to put it on here but you can't upload stuff at the library (that is why there is no picture of me). He wore the beard of bees for about 10 minutes and then he bent over the hive and jumped and most of the bees just fell off into the hive. It was really quite interesting.

Just so you know they said the bee population in West Virginia is doing quite well. There are over 1000 beekeepers in the state. They said there are no wild bees left. If there are any in the wild they said that they just escaped from the hives. Apparently it is only you city people that need to worry about the declining bee population and I worry about you as much as you worry about West Virginia.

I made 3 videoes. They are in my video section because I couldn't get them to post here for some reason.

Friday, January 27, 2012

Thursday Thoughts

1. Well shoot, it's Friday

2. duh, duh, duh, duh

3. I need a nap

4. zzzzz.....

Thursday, January 26, 2012

It's the Boogerman!!!

I remember my Pepaw Brennan coming home from the mines and being black as night from head to toe except for the whites of his eyes and his teeth. I was terrified! He would flash those pearly whites at me and I would run screaming in the other direction. I was so scared that if he knew I was there he would stop and rinse off in the creek before he came home so he wouldn't scare me. I do seem to recall the devilish glint in his eye though, so MAYBE he kind of enjoyed it too.

He would make sure that he left something in his dinner bucket for the kids too. (my aunts and uncles are just barely older than I am) Nothing tasted so good as a pack of nabs or a moonpie from that lunch box. Occasionally there would be some "vi-een-nies in there (vienna sausages - that's how we say it around here). We would open that can and share the little sausages. They were great! However you can't pay me to eat one now.

That's my Pepaw and Granny Brennan. The kids are my dad and Aunt Wanda

As I reread this blog I wonder if my pepaw used to actually wash in the creek. They spent my childhood telling me to stay out of that creek because it was full of sewer and mine runoff. I know now that most coal mines had showers for the miners. I am thinking that maybe that is just one of those stories that pepaws tell their grandkids.

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

My Poor, Poor Brother

When we were in grade school the kids on the school bus substituted a whole box of "feen-a-mints" (laxitive product for those of you too young to know) for a whole box of "Chicklets" (gum - again, for those of you too young to know). They gave the whole box to my little brother. He promptly gobbled the whole box down.

HE DIDN'T MAKE IT OFF THE SCHOOL BUS BEFORE THE EFFECTS OF THE ENTIRE BOX HIT HIM - AND HIT HIM HARD! We were all rolling deliriously in the aisles. My poor brother (and the bus seat unfortunately) were an awful mess.

Of course I have the good sense now to feel guilty about it. I didn't know then that we could have killed him doing such a thing. In my defense the idea was not mine although by the time the "chicklet" box made it to him, I did know about it.

YEARS LATER MY BROTHER GOT EVEN WITH ME! One day out of the goodness of his heart (we were in junior high then). He brought me some scrambled eggs. Such kindness should have immediately been suspect but I graciously accepted the eggs and ate them. WHAT A MISTAKE! Within 5 minutes I was running to the bathroom. I didn't quite make it. He never would tell me what he put in those eggs!

Some of MY Political views

1. Nobody should pay 30% of their income...I don't care how much they make. But everyone should pay the same amount. No deductions. No shelters. My dad told me once that the man who makes $100,000 can pay $10,000 easier than the man who makes $10,000 can pay $1000.

2. I am pro abortion. I hate it but that's the way it is. Most women would never get an abortion if the men in their lives would support them. We need to change the way we raise our boys when it comes to birth control and family.

3. I believe there is a happy medium to drilling for oil and mining coal. It can be done so that it is environmentally responsible - not just the cheapest way to maximise profits.

4. I believe that if we don't have good roads and bridges then we should quit building sidewalks and parks until we get them.

5. Go back to low interest student loans. I got my loans for 3%. Now they pay 18%. Who thought that brilliant plan up anyway?

6. When someone's insurance drops them because they reached their lifetime limit, do you think they just stop being sick? NO! Then the government steps in and pays for their medical care which means taxpayers are paying for it.

7. When companies drop retiree benefits because they are too expensive (even though the employees paid into their company retirement), who do you think picks up the slack? The United State Government does - which means you. Then the CEO gets a big bonus for saving the company money

8. When coal companies and chemical companies shut down and file bankruptcy, they don't clean up the mess they leave behind. The government steps in and pays millions of dollars to do it.

9. There has been tremendous progress on the environmental front in the past 30 years. That is why you see white smoke coming out of smokestacks instead of black smoke.

10. America is the greatest country ever!

Oh yeah, I'm glad we are out of Iraq. Bin Laden is dead so it's time to leave Afghanistan. Fuck Pakistan. They are stabbing us the back while they are taking billions of dollars. If they try to nuke sombody we can nuke them first and decrease our stockpile. It will kill 2 bird with one stone.

if they want peace...so much the better. so do I. then nobody gets hurt.

We should not do business with China or any country that uses slave labor. We won the cold war because we DIDN'T do business with the Soviet Union for decades. NOT because Reagan said,"tear down this wall"

WHY I HATE FERRELL GAS

Here is why I will never use natural gas in my home again.

One time I moved into a trailer that had one of those giant natural gas tanks beside it. It was January. It was freezing. I called Ferrell Gas to come fill it up and I learned that the minimum order was $500. I only had $250. They told me I would have to wait until they were driving past my house anyway that they would not make a special trip. The woman also told me I should have called when I was down to 1/3 a tank. It didn't matter to her that I had just moved into my house.

I called everyday for 10 days to see if they would be coming by that day. In the meantime I was freezing - literally, not figuratively!

One day she even had the nerve to say to me, "honey, you don't understand. He has to pull up to your tank and drag that big ole hose up to your tank and stand there and fill it up and it just isn't worth it for $250! I cut her off and told her that wouldn't be any harder than filling up the gas tank to my car for $25.

Finally they came on the 10th. day of a freezing January winter day. That tank lasted me until March. It was late enough in the year that I told my landlord that I would do without heat until he could install the smaller tanks. They held around 10 gallons or so. I told him if he didn't change the tanks that I would move before winter. If I had $500 to fill oxygen tanks then I wouldn't be renting a $200 a month trailer to begin with. He agreed and he changed the tanks.

I cost Ferrell Gas that account and I have also got other people who were thinking about using them for business to not have their tanks installed. I will forever cost them any money I can so that their drivers won't have to worry about dragging that big ole hose to another house!

The Adventure of Pam and Megan

At least it was an adventure for me. Poor Megan's dad had a stroke and he was in the hospital 3 hours away. She had no way to get there, so I volunteered to take her if she paid for the gas. She readily agreed. I was happy to take her because I haven't been anywhere for a couple of years, partly because of my health and partly because of the price of gas.

We left this morning and had a good time on the way up just talking away. It surprised us both when we got there because the ride went so quickly. I only had one wrong turn the whole way and I corrected it immediately. I also took healthy snacks so I wouldn't be tempted by high salt fare but that didn't last. She had forgotten to eat so we swung by Burger King and I couldn't resist, so I got a whopper jr. At least I didn't get the big one so that was am improvement.

We got to Morgantown and I was following my directions from the internet to the hospital when Megan saw a sign that said we were going the wrong way. I turned around and we figured out pretty quickly that the hospital wasn't going to be in out in the sticks somewhere so we turned around again. We were wondering if we were going the right way again when Megan saw the "big H" signifying we were on the right road to the hospital, so we went on our merry way.

We decided to stop and ask some guy where the hospital was and happily we were only a couple of blocks away. We forgot to get gas though and we had even asked for directions at a gas station! I dropped her off at the hospital and told her to call me in an hour and let me know if she wanted to stay or leave. If she wanted to stay that was fine but she would have to come out and buy my gas so I would have enough to get home. I went to find somewhere to stretch my legs.

I was looking for a store where I could blend in or something but I couldn't find one. I ended up making a wrong turn and riding over the hills and valleys which Morgantown is famous for. I kept driving until I happened upon a strip mall that I remembered seeing when I first left the hospital. I was thrilled. I wasn't lost anymore.

I decided to go to a Pizza Hut and eat a few wings. Mostly because I needed to use a restroom and I knew wings were on sale on Wednesday at Pizza Hut and I had always wanted to try them. I saw when I went in that they had free wifi and that thrilled me because I had brought my laptop with me and I was worried that I had used too much data on my mifi. I ended up not using it though. I took the time to call ntelos and ask them what happened if I went over my data plan and I found out I had read my bill wrong. I had only used 8% of my time so I can mifi all I want to apparently.

By this time I was getting tired and wishing Megan would call and she did. She didn't want to leave her dad so I picked her up and bought gas and dropped her back off. So far, so good....but that was the end of so far, so good.

I got back on the interstate and had driven about 20 miles when I started to think something was wrong. I wasn't using good judgement in my driving, so I put on my oxygen. I felt better. I wore it awhile and took it off. I wanted to stop at a rest area but it was closed so I had to drive 40 miles to another. I thought I was doing fine until I got out of my truck. I was dizzy. I was so dizzy I had to hold on to my truck.

I got a bottle of water out of the back and sipped it. I ate some carrots with ranch dressing thinking they might pick me up. I made myself relax and breathe some good cold air and I knew I had no business driving but I was still 2 hours from home. I had no choice but to press on.

I got in the truck and cranked my O2 as high as it would go and felt better again immediately. I took off for home with the knowledge that I needed to make sure that I made every move perfectly and double check every thing I did. I played silly games to keep myself aware and I changed my oxygen to the pulse setting that normally irritates the hell out of me but I knew it would keep me alert. It did.

I made it home, proud that I did it without mishap. Then I got out of my truck to come in and once again I was aware that I was doing terribly. But I'm home now. I put on my oxygen and bipap so the high powered air hit me (portable oxygen isn't as good as the home oxygen. it doesn't have the same power)

I wasn't home 5 minutes and I feel fine. I am resting. There will be no more road trips for me. It was too much. Thankfully all the excitement happened after Megan left. She didn't need my drama on top of her dad's right now. He is in ICU and could use your prayers. For those of you that say,"well, she could have driven." She can't drive a standard.

EVERYBODY SHOULD LEARN TO DRIVE A STANDARD!

I Won?

Here's the newest in the saga of Pam and Eddie. For those of you who don't know, Eddie and I have been hanging out for a couple of years. We break up and we argue and we get back together and we do it all over again. I have never had a relationship like this and one of the reasons I put up with his stuff is because I am so sick and he helps me when no one else will. We also live in the same building so we can't keep from running into each other.

He told me Monday he was moving.

I told him, "good, I don't want to see you anymore. Don't visit me and I won't visit you. A clean break is what I want and need and now I can have it."

He didn't like this. I quit taking his phone calls. He wanted to borrow my truck to move and I told him no because I don't even want to know where he lives that way I won't be tempted to "stop by".

Today he came to me and told me he won't be moving. When I asked him why he said,"something just didn't feel right about it." I stopped by his apartment last night. On his list of things to take care of in the move he had also doodled my name all over it. Looks like he did some soul searching to me but he would never admit it in a million years!

I am happy.

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

I Donated My Body to Science

I have donated my body to Marshall University.

I have always been an organ donar but because I have heart failure and COPD they probably won't have much use for most of my organs. I figure there is so much wrong with me that somebody might as well learn something from it.

One big benefit is that there are no burial expenses. I am preregistered at Marshall. It is in my file at the hospital and I also have a card identifying me as a donar to Marshall University that is right behind my driver's license in my wallet. They will call my uncle and he will call Marshall and that will be that. I think this will also eliminate stress on my mom as well.

For some reason people like to tell me horror stories like it will matter - "Hell, I'll be dead. What do I care what happens to me?" One person told me I'll be kept in a big vat and pickled with other bodies then they'll pull me out with a big meat hook????

I have an aunt that is a doctor. I remember when she would come home from medical school she would tell us stories about her "friend". That is how she referred to her cadaver. She said you could even play music on their intestines. Sounds like a good time to me.

Monday, January 23, 2012

My Most Dishonest Customer Ever

One time I had a customer give me a $5 bill but I thought she gave me a $50 bill. I gave her change back for the $50. We were super busy and I moved on to the next customer but I looked up to see her looking at me with a strange look on her face so I asked her if anything was wrong. She said "no" and raced out the door.

I didn't think anything about it until about a half an hour later when someone gave me a $50. I saw a $5 in the slot and my heart sank to my stomach. I knew exactly what I had done and who I had given the money to. She was well aware that I gave her too much change and she didn't have the decency to say not one word about it. I immediately called my boss and told him what happened. We counted my till and it was as I thought. I was $50 short.

Fortunately they didn't make me pay it back but they had every right to because the fault was all mine.

The real kicker was that the woman had bought BOGO bags of chips so she was already getting a free bag of chips. She made about $47.00 on the deal.

Tonight I was $50 short in my till. I'm hoping they find it in the paperwork which is what usually happens. Usually I know exactly why my money is messed up but I don't have a clue this time.

:(

Proper Technique to Cook a Squirrel

My ex and I had an agreement. He would hunt them and clean them. I would cook them and eat them.

You fry the young 'uns'. They will fall apart when boiled.

Boil the old ones. They are too tough to fry. Then make some gravy and dumplin's and mashed potatoes and biscuits...

mmm mmm good!

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Quinn Computers comes through for me: January

Eddie has let me use the key to his apartment to watch tv when he has left town several times.

Lisa gave me some more clothes to put out for people in the building. I kept a scarf for myself.

Fruth gave me a snowglobe to use for a Bingo prize. They loved it so much they used it for the prize for their coverall game. I found out who was stealing the bingo prizes that I was donating from Fruth when they had the bingo a couple of years ago. It was William. He was a member of the Council. There is a Council that is elected to run activities for the building. I gave William and Tammy a very large portrait of the World Trade Center when they were the council members to use for a Bingo prize. It was a beautiful picture that was supposed to light up and didn't. That is why Fruth donated it. I know it never made it to the bingo game. I mentioned this when I was dropping off the snowglobe (there is a new council now. I cut the other people off when I discovered they were stealing). Linda heard me and told me that when William moved out he had a picture of the World Trade Center and he had bought tube lights and wrapped them around it. Tammy was there when I gave it to them to use for bingo. So she knew William kept the picture. William has since moved and Tammy died.

THE BIG GOOD DEED ALERT:

My brand new computer got a virus. I didn't even have it for 2 weeks. I called the man who sold me my Intelos mifi and asked him about it. He fixed it for me for free! He owns a business called Quinn Computers.

I've Been Reading My Own Blog

Not too shabby if I say so myself!

I haven't done that since I first started blogging around 5 years ago. I did it once about 6 months after I started and it was so boring that I started another blog called "pamblahh". It was supposed to be "pamblagh", a play on words about a boring blog but unfortunately a typo messed it up and I didn't know how to fix it.

Now pamblahh is dead (except for email) because 360 shut down. I managed to save many of my early, boring blogs at my other multiply blog. It is under Pam Brennan in my friend section. I warn you it is excruciatingly boring!

It is full of political stuff and stuff that I wrote just to try to get a rise out of people. I still like to get a rise out of people but I don't say nearly the outrageous things I used to say.

I'm on page 20 now which means I've probably read around a hundred of my own blogs. Many of them I have forgotten. But most are good and should not be forgotten which is why I wrote them in the first place.

All my stuff is original. I may not hit a homerun every time but at least I go to bat.