Things I hate about New Jersey

Things I love about New Jersey:
- people pump our gas for us

Things I hate about New Jersey:
- Very high property taxes
- Top in the nation for car insurance costs
- 4th in the nation for number of active hate groups

MY car insurance seems to be TWICE the average rate, even for NJ. time to shop around. It HAS been time for quite some time but I have been paralyzed by the good customer service received from Palisades and the sheer number of companies who want my business.

More books I have read

The hurricane sisters (book), by Dorothea Benton Frank: Enjoyed the interaction between the generations. The story is told alternately from the viewpoint of the grandmother, the mother and the daughter. Theme of abuse of women comes along eventually. Author is lightweight but I like the southern milieu of her stories, which usually take place around Sullivan's Island, near Charleston.

Two boys kissing (audio book), by David Levithan: Heard about this book during a wedding of two gay guys. The preacher mentioned it during the service. Two boys try to break the world record for kissing. They have to stand up kiss for over 32 hours. Interwoven with this story are a few other stories. The author got the ideas from some true stories.

Last night was stuck in Camden in the DARK, and in the RAIN, with a FLAT TIRE. Now I remember why I try to get home every night and stay there before dark. Also had to drive for an hour to get home in a hideous lightning and rain storm. It was really scary. Going to the only gas station in Camden in the dark wasn't really that scary (sometimes I don't know enough to be scared). A nice man changed my flat tire. He put too much air in it, but I remedied that today. He did work for the gas station and charged me $22 but they weren't really even OPEN.

I want to eat something right now

An apt phrase for me....learning in the car with Pimsleur.  It is a good thing I already KNOW French.  Don't know how I could do this audio lesson if I DIDN'T know French!  I have noticed that proper pronunciation gives your face and neck a workout.  The conversations are sort of stupid...stopping someone on the street and then asking her how she is.  I am trying to get ready for all of that helloing and goodbyeing and politeness that the French go in for.  It is hard to be on a diet when you are constantly having to say in French....Do you want to eat something?  Yes.  What do you want to eat?  I don't know.  Very good. (see what I mean about stupid conversations?)  WHEN do you want to eat something?  Je voudrai manger quelque chose maintenant! (I want to eat something RIGHT NOW).

Hearing loud drunk people on the streets of Bridgeton.  Maybe every downtown has loud drunk people?  There were some hanging outside of the Millville Public Library the other day.

Heard an oldies station on the radio today.  WIBG?  I thought that was defunct...or maybe it was just on AM and moved to FM?  So, I looked it up.  It seems to be broadcasting out of Ocean City now..... I guess they weren't OLDIES the first time.  WIBG is pronounced WIBBAGE.

About

Wibbage 99 was Philadelphia's original rock and roll radio station, introducing millions of Delaware Valley teenagers to the sounds of Elvis Presley, the Beatles, Motown and much more.

Wibbage FM 94.3 is our tribute to the great Philly station of our youth.  You'll hear retro commercials, jingles and airchecks, but you'll also hear local news, weather and events.  Plus, that great music you know and love!

Your favorite songs from...
The Beatles, Beach Boys, Four Tops, Billy Joel, Herman's Hermits, The Association, Temptations, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, Elton John, Van Morrison, Roy Orbison, Rolling Stones, America, Buckinghams, Martha & the Vandellas, Doobie Brothers and so many more!!!

You can't make this stuff up

Comment when I told the tale of my sister, who dropped her keys down the slit in the elevator on the way to her apartment in Soho on Christmas eve.  The next night she left her car unlocked and running.  No one noticed until we woke up in the morning.  Luckily, that was in someone's back driveway in New Jersey and not in Soho.

Returning this book to the library.  I didn't really enjoy Drift, by Rachel Maddow.  The subtitle is: the unmooring of American military power.  OK, so not too inviting.  I had gotten enthralled with her on TV around election time so I checked her book out of the library.  According to a blurb on the back, "she tells the epic story of how American warfare came to be both never-ending and practically invisible."

Had a nice trip (my annual) to the Reading Terminal market in Philadelphia today.  Got really busy and crowded.  Nice that it is all indoors, once you get there.  A panoply of mostly food stands...cheese, honey, spices, teas, breads, restaurants, meats, ice cream.  It was quite bright and festive.  Bought a few things until. I couldn't carry anything more.  Buying spices in bulk reminds me of when I lived in Barcelona and went to the market every day.

"educe"

The roadside sign was impaired.  Had a not-very-pleasant drive home from Christmas at my sisters.  First there was horrendous traffic..."Reduce speed (har-dee-har) congestion ahead". So, I was forced to go 5 miles per hour and the LOW FUEL message came up.   Then I got hungry and thirsty and bored and it began to SNOW.  What more can happen?  It is only a three hour drive but it seemed like it took ALL DAY.

Spent a techy time with my my nephews.  They all got new Galaxy droids phones for the holidays.  They all had iphones and now, suddenly, not.  So, I try to listen and learn.  Also watched a difficult movie called The hunter and discovered a fun TV show called Archer.  It is an outrageous cartoon James Bond spoof.

Kind of depressing coming home in such disgusting weather.  My ceiling was leaking and I couldn't stay home.  Schlepped all of my stuff over to the library to spend the evening on the computer and was appalled to discover that they were going to CLOSE at 5 PM cause it's Christmas!  Grrr.  So I dropped in on a friend and wangled a dinner invitation in addition to getting to use the computer.

Unnecessary car inspection

I went to get my car inspected today. It had a sticker on it that said 1 year extension. Somehow I didn't really get it and it seemed like I hadn't been to the car inspection in forever. But after I got into the building (after waiting in a short line) I found out that I did not NEED to come there until NEXT year. But since I was already in the building, I had to wait my turn.

Went to pick up some drugs and saw new parking signs. 11 spaces are now reserved for the Bridgeton Tourist center parking. That is a laugh. We don't have much tourism going on in our town and the thought of needing all of those parking spots boggles the mind. Two were occupied today. Another example of how the rules of the world keep changing in more strict and annoying ways every time something happens.
I dread all the new rules insurance companies are going to make after Hurricane Sandy.

Oh dear, I logged onto my work email and it was something new. It is called Roundcube - free webmail for the masses. Now, if the masses can just figure it out!
I knew they were threatening to close down the access point I use in December....I just hadn't figured out where else to go or how to proceed. I need to be dragged kicking and screaming into the future, that is just how I am. I relate to the poster of the cat falling down the wall that says, I never left anything that didn't have scratch marks all over it.

Don't let's go to the dogs tonight

Returning some library books today. I really need something new to read. Got too much nonfiction going. That is more difficult to deal with.

I read The confession, by Beverly Lewis. It is book number two in a series called The heritage of Lancaster County. Kind of schmalzy. I think Lewis was in the forefront of the Amish romance craze. or "bonnet books" as I used to call them when I worked in a library. All of them have a picture of an Amish girl on the cover wearing a lace cap. Actually, this one doesn't, but... I read the book cause a friend of mine has something to do with The confession, a musical put on in Bird in Hand, PA. So this is a story of a girl who finds out in the first book that she has really been adopted and she is not really Amish. She feels different and just can't bring herself to marry the bishop so in the first book, she gets shunned. The second book involves her search for her birth mother and a case of mistaken identity.
Her birth mother (rich) is searching for her, but others are trying to keep them apart for their own nefarious gains.

Don't let's go the the dogs tonight : an African childhood, by Alexander Fuller, is a coming of age story that is quite unusual. I listened to the audiobook and was intriqued (and sometimes put off) by the variety of unpleasant things she had to put up with. A mother who was often drunk or crazy, dust, heat, sweat and cigarette ash falling into her food, rats, snakes, civil wars, terrorists, and on and on. Glad it was HER and not me. She seemed to love it, though. She lived in many different African countries with her family farming tobacco, raising cattle, etc.

I was just feeling good about my day but then found myself rushing, trying to visit a friend, put in an appearance at a funeral and then get to an appointment in another town. My day plummeted between the funeral in Woodstown and the appointment in Vineland. I rushed through the receiving line, traffic was slow, I took a wrong turn, I underestimated how long it would take, there was construction, a light refused to turn green, my hives were itching. I was highly stressed by the time I got to Vineland. In spite of all of that, the weather today is beautiful and seasonably or unseasonably warm.

Tailgating, the sport of idiots

Funny thought posted on the back of a pickup truck. Reminds me of all the times I wish I could put up some signs out the back window of my vehicle telling off the jerks that are the other drivers.

Voting morass. Every day wondering, are they going to postpone the election? Good when Christie and Obama shake hands. Bad when residents are desparate and complaining already about FEMA (or the lack thereof). Good when Obama takes charge. But states in Hurricane area were already "blue" states. People are going to be too distracted to vote. Some polling places were washed away. My mind is a mess hearing all of this.

So many fortunate (me) and unfortunate (you) hurricane stories. Feeling sort of superficial. All I care about is, "Will my Vietnamese nail technician be able to get back from Vietnam?"

It's a jungle out there

Just finished a class on DRIVING for senior citizens. It was enough to make one paranoid. Even if I don't DO any of those things, there are a lot of people out there who are not yielding when they are supposed to and who are making crazy left hand turns. Those are the two biggest causes of accidents with the aged. We learned about how it becomes more difficult to SURVIVE an accident after age 75. I'm not there yet, but it was somewhat depressing to contemplate. Also learned a bunch of curious facts, such as you can be booked for a D.U.I. if you take your medication wrong. I know I drive other people crazy by driving too slow (the speed limit) but they drive me bonkers by turning out in front of me when they are going 10 miles an hour and I am going 50. So which is greater...the people who HONK at me, or the people at whom I would like to honk? I try not to honk, as much as I may want to. Teacher advised us not to encourage ROAD RAGE but to avoid it at all costs.

I tried to COOK the other day. It was pretty much a failure. I tried to make tuna casserole with a recipe with no measurements, just a list of ingredients. I may try it again with some adjustments. Or, maybe I will just rip up the recipe and forget about it. I had just suddenly gotten an urge for an old fashioned casserole with potato chips on top. I don't have the patience for cooking. Although, as the driving instructor pointed out, we have all EARNED the right to be patient.

My local paper is going to regionalize. I HATE that. It started out being the Bridgeton Evening news. I still call it that even though they changed the name to The news of Cumberland County. Now, any day it is going to become The South Jersey times. Libraries and newspapers and social service organizations do not IMPROVE when they regionalize. They just get more out of touch with the local needs. But of course freeholders and politicians LOVE regionalization. My paper drove me nuts the other day. A guy got murdered. Instead of James Penn III, they wrote James Penn!!! on the caption. Lame!