Living In the World, Not on It

As if I wasn't convinced that local government is corrupt and all about the money or the power (or both)... Maybe Val Kilmer is an idiot for publicly airing some unkind comments, but apparently freedom of speech is no longer a right. And it gets your permit denied... Read on. "Bygones are not always bygone amid the limestone cliffs and pinon groves of northern New Mexico. When actor Val Kilmer recently applied for permits to turn his 6,000-acre ranch outside Santa Fe into an upscale bed-and-breakfast, several of his neighbors protested. They weren't worried about traffic or noise or the prospect of intruding tourists. They were incensed about comments attributed to Mr. Kilmer in magazine articles dating to 2003 and 2005. And they didn't want him to get his way on the ranch unless he apologized. "That's all he has to do, come and apologize," said Jose Garcia, who runs horses on a 50-acre ranch next to Mr. Kilmer's. "We're not intimida...

I was driving home from work, passed through a work zone that has been a work zone for a couple of years, where I never see any workmen... and I thought, "this must be a union job." Too much time is spent on the road. It's not me, really. I don't have a crazy commute. I go from one county to another. I drive though... let's see... Parsippany, Whippany, Florham Park, Summit and Springfield. It's an 18-mile trip on highways. The only local driving is about a mile and a half through Springfield, and the five minutes getting out of Parsippany and the 15 minutes getting in. Amazing what the time of day can do. I also don't take 287 North home, as I am adverse to sitting in traffic. I take exit 2 off Route 24, hop on Whippany Road, to Parsippany Road to Reynolds Avenue to South Beverwyck, which once across Route 46 becomes North Beverwyck and then after the light turn onto the little road and I'm home. Awesome. But how many people go into New York? Drive to ...

I love men! OK, people who do good deeds are driven to do them, and usually for personal reasons - and in some way, all self-serving. Donating to a group to assuage guilt for the death of a loved one, adrenalin junkies, being surrounded by men/women, whatever. People are human, and we are driven for reasons, not just pure, unadulterated generosity. Mostly I'm driven by adrenalin, but I'm not one to pass up the company of men! And EMS is full of men. We love EMS. We love what we do. We love telling war stories. We confide in each other. When I joined the squad I went from being an only child to having a unique set of brothers and sisters and friends. There are always some points of friction... there are some people we may not like, but we all get passed most of it to do the job. And we all help each other through the weird stuff. And then there are the men. Today we went with Parsippany's Rescue & Recovery to do a diving drill. There were six divers and four of them were...

We rec eived Planet 51 in the mail from NetFlix. It was cute. I didn't know much about it until the credits rolled... and at least 85% of the names are Hispanic! Look at that! Turns out it was filmed in Spain. I was thrilled. I would have been more thrilled if it was filmed in Latin or South America, but Spain is a start. If you're wondering why I'm thinking that, see the post from 28 May, "The Anti-People Society". That was the point of that post. And while the anti-people sentiment is by no means aimed completely at Latin and South Americans, in this part of the country, at least, that is the majority of it. I hate that sentiment. I never want to hear complaints about the Hispanic community when Americans don't want so many jobs because they are "beneath them". Well, here is the proof. The film is good, good vibes, great animation, excellent music and almost all Spanish staff. So there. Take that! The film's only problem was that it was releas...

That makes it sound like I sat in a dark room, glued to the computer, eyes wide open and affixed to e-bay. In fact, other than Friday's countdown to sharking that incredible crystal point, I hardly looked at e-bay. Most of what I bought fell into the $10 - $15 range. I needed anklets now that I'm wearing skirts so I found a lot of nice, inexpensive anklets that went from $0.99 to $14.99. One was $44.10 but the whole thing is sterling silver and I have a bracelet that matches; I like sets when it comes to jewelry. (I should search for footprint earrings and necklace, too, come to think of it.) I bought seven candles (including the grapefruit rosemary pillar for the uncontested amount of $17.50) and one, the Beanpod Green Tea candle, arrived yesterday and is filling the sun room with its delicious aroma. I won that lovely quartz point, which will come to a great home, along with another rainbow obsidian sphere stand. I can never have too many stands. In fact I need to get more, ...

You cannot believe this staggeringly beautiful crystal! I haven't been on e-bay in some time. There's a reason for this: it is dangerous. I love what can be found on e-bay - it's all there. Movies, bank notes, candles (I'm bidding on what has to be the last Grapefruit Rosemary pillar candle from Illuminations in the world), pens, CDs jewelry (yes!) and of course, crystal balls. This one is not a ball, but it is still amazing. One of my favourites, Crystal Art World, has an amazing quartz crystal point up for bid. I made the mistake of bidding a couple of days ago when it was a mere $14. It is now a mere $66.99 with 30 minutes to go. There have been 19 bids and it will be a miracle if I can shark this sucker out from under the other bidders. There are 8 bidders at this point, and gods know how many are watching. Most of the time I remain a watcher especially when it is a hot ticket item. Malachite is usually a problem - everyone wants it. There happens to be a lovely ma...

Eat This, Not That by David Zinczenko Recent Posts There is a potion that magically strips away pounds from your body, improves your overall health, lengthens your life, makes you more attractive to the opposite sex, and keeps you lean forever. Even better, you can have as much of this magic weight-loss potion as you want, for free, and start stripping away pounds—perhaps even several dozen pounds this year alone—without exercise, without dieting, without visiting the set of Nip/Tuck. What is this magical elixir? It’s water. Really? Really. You don't even need to mix in that fancy fat-burning stuff from the vitamin store. In fact, the less you supplement your food and beverage intake, the more weight you’ll lose (and the more money you’ll save). Keep reading this five-point plan from the new book Drink This, Not That! and begin your no diet weight-loss goals today. You'll sip your way to a flat belly in record time--and k...

This is not Oklahoma! If you believe that the only states to get the joy of twisters are in Tornado Alley, you are so mistaken. Tornadoes occur in every state, but some states average more than others per year. New Jersey averages three per year; Texas averages 124. I realise Texas is considerably bigger, however, I prefer the odds here. New Jersey is small but you can't fit 124 New Jerseys into Texas. I'll take my chances here. And what are the odds that I will encounter another tornado in my lifetime? I already had one roar down the road less than 200 yards from our first house. That was in May 1999, in Parsippany. I still live in Parsippany, across town from our first house, but really, what are the odds? Slim. I hope... That was scary as hell. And it wasn't the typical tornado. Most tornadoes occur between 1500 and 1900, with 1700 as the peak point. Most of them boil across flat land (hence the popularity of Tornado Alley). But tornadoes can kill at time, any moment. Th...

Yuck! Where did I find this? I didn't think that a. there was any in my backyard and 2. I wasn't anywhere that I'd be in contact with it. (Yes, you don't want me to index your files.) I moved my hammock on the already manicured lawn. I wasn't in the back lines where the weeds grow. I never see it at work and since it isn't creeping around the office (wouldn't that be weird!) or inside the house, where did I find it yesterday? I thought at first it was another evil bug bite but today it has a little bubble on top. The hallmark sign of poison ivy. Ugly! It won't spread unless I scratch it and burst the bubble. Then the liquid inside will spread it. I'm not worried about it - I know when to cover it and it's on my left hand, so I can't spread it so easily. And I have stuff to put on it from the last time I had it (maybe I should check the expiration date on it). So I'm all set. But still... eeeiiiiuuwwww. Again, I say, yuck.

I hate flip-flops. I didn't wear them when I was a kid and I don't wear them now. I do wear sandals and open-toe footwear, but never, ever, will you find the evil and heinous flip-flops on my feet. We'll shelve the "cheap, crappy footwear will never be on my feet" argument, since it's long since been established that I am a snob. I'm not a Wal-Mart shopper, I don't price shop at the grocery store. I get what I want and hang the cost. It's a foregone conclusion that I would not consider putting cheap plastic on my feet! There may be sandals out there that look like flip-flops that are acceptable footwear - but they won't cost $2.99 at the local whatever crap-shop. How about there is no support? How about kids running in them who trip, fall and break their arms (yes, waaaaaay more than one emergency call for that)? How about these are not real footwear? Just another bad fad with a low price tag. And here is the supporting argument: "At last...

Some kid in the Pacific Northwest is on a crime spree and - for reasons passing understanding - are idolising this loser. He's a hit on Facebook and has a cult following complete with tee shirts. This is not the best looking kid in the world and I'm offended that anyone wants to make him an idol. Colton Harris-Moore is loose and stealing airplanes and crash-landing them (a pity none of them have killed him), hot-wiring boats, breaking into homes and stealing. The police have been unable to apprehend this stupid kid. I feel for the police. They have a million things to worry about and now they have this kid creating more headaches than they need. I get the feeling from what there was printed on this that the mother, Pam Kohler, is rooting for her son. Yikes... what a responsible parent. (I'm not sure what is up with the kid's name, but that is the least of anyone's problems...) She seems to be less than interested in seeing him apprehended. But crash-landing planes s...

Once again, the horror of Snooki has shown up in People Magazine . I don't get it. She's wearing the tackiest bathing suit and it shows much more of her than I'd ever want to see. It's technically a one-piece bathing suit but that is only due to a very small patch of leopard print (ye gods) fabric covering not enough of her belly. It would be one thing if she just stuck out a little from this but entirely too much of her sticks out from all angles. You might ask who am I to criticise, not having the perfect body myself, but I will tell you that I wouldn't consider putting on that nightmare suit with this body. Even with the weight I lost it is not worthy of showing that much - and those parts - off. Unless I'm posing for "Fat is Beautiful". I partially admire people who are that comfortable with being overweight. Only partially, however. One should feel beautiful no matter what, assuming the "what" won't shorten your life or kill you. Bei...

...for bed. Is this my age showing? I hate getting up late, I really hate being up late. It's 2349. Eleven minutes and counting. I normally go to bed around 2130. I don't want to see midnight. I don't want to know about ante-meridian unless it is waking time - around 0500. I certainly don't want to see a.m. unless there has been eight hours of sleep in between prime meridian and ante-meridian. Thank you, good night. But every Thursday night I see midnight and later show up, and I so don't want to see it (unless there is a Moon to look upon - then I might forgive it). I don't have a problem seeing the Moon setting - that is in the morning when I have had some sleep. It;s our good fortune that the call we had happened at 1820. I like that hour. I love daylight. Gimme all the calls in daylight. (That's not going to happen, but wouldn't it be nice.) So in the daylight we tromped up to St. Barnabus. If you are going to have a problem, get sick, whatever, you ...

We came back to the squad house from a call and on the table was the latest Galls catalog. I started leafing through it while we were chatting. And there on page 53 in the lower corner is Sabre Red Civilian Defense key chains... in black and pink . Seriously? Pink pepper spray? What for? I'm sorry - my pepper spray has to match my outfit. I guess I'll have to go for the black one, since I don't own anything in pink. It gets worse. As I leaf through more pages, I find the plastic disposable handcuffs. Those come in black, blue, orange, pink, red, yellow and grey. When I think about arresting people, I want to be able to offer them options. "What colour would you like to have your handcuffs?" Never say I'm not all about what people want. One can also purchase items that quite frankly I doubt anyone needs to have - such as leg irons. Why does the public need to have the ability to purchase this? Who needs to buy ballistic protection? Does the police department no...

Again. Luis started watching this show a couple of seasons ago. I vowed never to watch it, but eventually got sucked in. I don't usually care for Chef Ramsey, but this show wears you down. This season's contestants are an interesting mix. One woman wore high heels in the kitchen and fell on her face. I'm not a chef and I know not to wear anything but comfortable flat shoes that will not slide in any kitchen. One woman has dreadlocks and said that people have the impression that she's the gross unwashed girl. (Note: dreadlocks come from unwashed hair. So that is the right impression.) One guy likes to slaughter animals. He wants to get to walk-in freezers. One guy has a tattoo of Hell's Kitchen on his midsection. Yikes. I'm always shocked and horrified when people show up with piercings, blue hair, dreadlocks , high heels... stuff that is not something you want to see. On anyone. (I personally find the eyebrow piercings, lip piercings really disturbing.) I'm ...

7-Day Forecast for Latitude 40.68°N and Longitude 74.31°W OK. This is what I get for telling NOAA.org to just pop something in there. It should look like this: (and not just a link) NWS New York, NY Point Forecast: Springfield NJ 40.68°N 74.31°W Mobile Weather Information | En Español Last Update: 3:54 am EDT Jun 3, 2010 Forecast Valid: 7am EDT Jun 3, 2010-6pm EDT Jun 9, 2010 Forecast at a Glance Today Heavy Rain Chance for Measurable Precipitation 50% Hi 87 °F Tonight Heavy Rain Chance for Measurable Precipitation 60% Lo 69 °F Friday Chance Thunderstorms Chance for Measurable Precipitation 30% Hi 89 °F Friday Night Slight Chance Thunderstorms Chance for Measurable Precipitation 20% Lo 71 °F Saturday Chance Thunderstorms Chance for Measurable Precipitation 50% Hi 86 °F Saturday Night Chance Thunderstorms Chance for Measurable Precipitation 50% Lo 62 °F Sunday Chance Showers Chance for Measurable Precipitation 40% Chance Showers Hi 76 °F Sunday Night Chance Showers Chance for Measurabl...

By CARLA SALAZAR, Associated Press Writer Carla Salazar, Associated Press Writer – Mon May 31, 3:09 pm ET LIMA, Peru – Seven-year-old Daisy Cuevas, thrilled to see herself on television with U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama, didn't quite understand the predicament in which she had innocently placed her undocumented Peruvian parents. "She laughed, she jumped up and down. She was excited," after the encounter at Daisy's suburban Washington, D.C., elementary school, the girl's maternal grandfather, Genaro Juica, told The Associated Press. The TV appearance made the pigtailed second grader a voice of the estimated 12 million immigrants living in the United States illegally — and a source of pride for Peru's president, who visits Washington on Tuesday. "My mom says that Barack Obama is taking away everybody that doesn't have papers," Daisy told the U.S. first lady on May 19 at the New Hampshire Estates Elementary School in Silver Spring, Maryland. ...