A Year of Blogging: September 28, 2011

September 28 was 'Ask a Stupid Question Day'. I am an inquisitive person. If I don't know the answer to something, or the 'how' or 'why', I do not rest until I have the answer. For example, it is not enough for me to know where friends or family work. I want to know what they DO. My sister used to work in clinical research. I asked her 'so what do you do every day?' When she explained it to me, then I understood it. I could very easily tell people that I am in charge of the Domestic Membership for a professional organization for financial planners. But I expand that to tell them I do some marketing, some sales, and a lot of communicating. I believe there are no stupid questions. If you don't ask the questions, you don't have the answers. Sometimes I will say 'I don't mean to be dense' (or I may say dumb), 'but why.... ' and I ask the question. It doesn't make you stupid because you don't know the answer. We can't all know everything! I don't think you are 'stupid' to hold back from asking the question, but I do think you are doing yourself a disservice. Go ahead! Ask the question! If someone laughs at you, have the confidence to laugh along with them. But get your answer. Don't just accept things you don't understand. Investigate, inquire, explore. You never know- there may be someone else who was wanting to know the same answer!

A Year of Blogging: September 27, 2011

September 27 is 'Crush a Can Day'. For all the days that there's been something interesting to write about, or the days that I've had to choose from one of a multitude of things to write about, then there are the days like today. 'Crush a Can Day'. That's it. I don't know what the purpose is of crushing cans. I know people do it. We were quickly trained by my Dad not to do it. New York State has had a five cent deposit on all cans and bottles (like beer and soda) since I was a child. If you return the empty can to a participating store you get your five cents back. My father is a big supporter of the deposit program. As he walks along the road, he picks up bottles and cans. When he worked for Caterpillar, he'd take all the soda cans that the guys threw out after their lunch. Some people might think it's odd. Ok, we do a little too. But as Dad says, if you don't take the cans back, you are throwing money away. Dad always has a milk crate next to the garage filled with cans he has picked up. When he gets a good collection, he washes the cans and takes them back to the store and gets his money. You don't have to wash the cans, but Dad always felt it was nice to do. Washing cans is disgusting! Especially if the cans are ones he picked up on the road. However, when I went to work at a grocery store in high school, I had a new found appreciation for my Dad washing the cans. One of my jobs was to take the returned cans down to the basement and sort them by distributor. The cans were not always empty, so you ended up smelling like a brewery. It was the job I reserved for the end of the day on a Saturday. That way, I could go straight home and get a shower! If the cans are too damaged, or crushed flat, you can't tell who the distributor is. Many times the stores will not accept crushed cans. So Dad always told us not to crush the cans. If you did, you were throwing away the nickel. It might seem like Dad was obsessed with this. The 'can money' went into the piggy bank, and many times was our mad money on vacation. And not only were we putting money in our pockets, we were also helping the environment by recycling. I wish we knew how much money Dad has gotten from picking up cans. I'm sure it's in the thousands of dollars! If you live in a state without a deposit (such as Ohio), it's ok to crush the can. But if your state has a deposit on the can, think twice before you crush that can. Sure, one nickel isn't going to make you rich. Twenty cans is a dollar. Yeah, you really can't buy much with a dollar either. Once you start returning the cans though, you could find yourself saving money for something special. It makes the hassle all worth it!

A Year of Blogging: September 26, 2011

I don't know what September 26 is. One calendar tells me it is Johnny Appleseed day, which can also be celebrated on March 11. Although, in March, one of the calendars told me it was March 18, so that's when I wrote about it. In March, I read that he died on March 18. Today, I read that he was born on September 26 and died on March 11. So anyway, I've already covered Johnny Appleseed. The other calendar, the one that was in the paper on January 1 and started this madness, tells me today is Good Neighbor Day. But www.holidayinsights.com tells me that Good Neighbor Day is always September 28. I'm feeling very confused, and I think it is more than just the fact that my allergies are out of whack from working in the 'lower level' (my boss doesn't like it if we say basement) of our office building today. I always work in the 'lower level' but today was extra special as heavy rains overnight flooded the building. Again. So lets take a look at history and see what happened on this date. On this date in 1960, the first of the Kennedy-Nixon debates took place. It was the first time that a debate between the major party presidential candidates was televised. I'm not really feeling up to giving a communication lecture tonight, so if you don't know about the debates and want to, I'm sure you can find everything you need to know (probably even videos) online. On September 26, 1888 T.S. Eliot was born in St. Louis, Missouri. I don't know that I've ever read any of his works. Perhaps I should add him to my TBR list. That list keeps getting longer and longer! If you prefer visual entertainment, West Side Story premiered on Broadway on September 26, 1957. Did you know that it was originally written as East Side Story? In East Side Story, the star crossed lovers were Catholic and Jewish. I didn't realize this is based on Shakespeare. It's been a very long time since I saw the movie, I've never seen it as a play. I'm not a big fan of musicals, so maybe that's why I remember seeing it, but don't have very strong feelings about it. And if you are more into tv than theater, you might want to sing about that mother with three daughters with hair of gold who married that man named Brady. Yes, on this date in 1969 the Brady Bunch aired. The last episode aired in 1974. Two years before my birth, yet I grew up watching the Brady Bunch. In 1987, we had a huge snowstorm in October, which took out a lot of trees. As luck would have it, it gave us a nice clear path up the mountain, thus giving a satellite dish a clear shot. So Mom and Dad bought a big satellite dish, and we went from getting one channel to an endless supply of channels. We watched a lot of reruns of the Brady Bunch. While we laughed at the hippie fashions, it really wasn't that absurd for us. We had already been watching 50's sitcoms like Leave it to Beaver and Ozzy & Harriet. The Brady Bunch just seemed to be the natural progression. I guess my sister and I were odd because we watched the sitcoms our parents grew up watching. Now, I spend a lot of time watching sitcoms that were on when I was a child or teenager. So when I'm 50, I'll watch the sitcoms that aired in 2011!

A Year of Blogging: September 25, 2011

September 25 is 'Comic Book Day'. I have mixed feelings about this. As a child, I enjoyed reading the Archie & Jughead comic books. It was a special treat for my sister and I when we knew Lionel had gotten in new editions at the Corner Store. We bought the books and shared them with each other. I always kind of thought comic books were for children. As a teenager, it seemed to be a guilty pleasure to read a comic book. Then I went to college and met my ex-husband. He was obsessed with comic books. I guess, the best way to explain it is the comic books were to him like the bears are to me. He even wrote his senior thesis on comic books! I didn't understand it. I still really don't. But I know plenty of adults who like to read comic books. To each his or her own. I think I would still feel funny picking up an Archie comic book now. I never did get into the superhero things like Batman or Superman. I don't care for those movies either. For me, it's just not believable. If you're into comic books, today is a good day to enjoy them. If you aren't, that's ok too. Just don't spoil the party for others.

A Year of Blogging: September 24, 2011

September 24 was 'International Rabbit Day'. It is a day to protect rabbits, both as pets and in the wild. As a mom to two beagles, I have to say, rabbits are not something protected in our house. Before all the animal rights people jump down my throat, let me clarify. I do not encourage my dogs to hunt rabbits. I haven't trained them for hunting. However, I can't undo hundreds (thousands?) of years of breeding in which beagles were bred to hunt rabbits. We regularly have rabbits in the yard. They are cute sitting in the yard munching on the clover patches. They are not so cute when they hop into the garden and strip the young plants of all the leaves, thus killing the plants and our money. One year, in frustration, I did an Internet search looking for ways to keep rabbits out of gardens. The number one way? Get a beagle. So yes, when the rabbits were devastating our garden, I turned the hounds loose. And I will say, the rabbits won. The beagles chased them, but never caught one. In fact, in their almost ten years, the beagles have only come close once- when they caught a bunny's tail as it was going through the fence. There was another time they discovered a nest of bunnies, but thankfully Erich discovered it about the same time they did and we were able to get them away from the nest. Beagles are my favorite dog. That is why I am Mommy to two of them. I'd have a whole pack if "Someone" would allow me to. I love their sounds. I love the 'beautiful baying of the beagles' as they call it on the dog shows. Except when I have a migraine. But most of the time, their barks and yips and howls are delightful. I especially love it when they are on the trail. A non-beagle person might think their yip was a yip of pain, but beagle owners know it is excitement. They are on the trail of something great: maybe a rabbit, maybe a squirrel, or the stray cat in the neighborhood or a bird. Their foreheads wrinkle as they put their noses to the ground and the little white flag on their tail goes straight up in the air. Noses down, tails up- it's beagles doing what they do best. If you have more than one, they talk to each other through a series of grunts, snorts, and yips. For me, it is funny and cute and wonderful all at once. Not all beagles are rabbit hounds. My aunt owned a beagle, Rusty, who made friends with the rabbits. He never tried to chase them. In fact, Rusty would crawl up under one of the trees and the bunnies in the yard would curl up next to him. Together, hound and bunnies napped in the Florida sun. Rusty was a weird beagle! My beagles believe the best way to celebrate International Rabbit Day is to eat some rabbit. Since this is the complete opposite of what is supposed to be done this day, you will forgive us for not celebrating it in our house.

A Year of Blogging: September 23, 2011

September 23 was 'Checkers Day'. But before you reach for that old checkerboard and argue with your sibling over who will be red this time, perhaps you should also know that it is also 'Dogs in Politics' Day. Dogs in Politics? What? Although, I have to say, they'd make better candidates than the offerings we've been presented in the past few years. Dogs are loyal. They can sniff out trouble. The only lobbyists they would bend to are those offering belly rubs and treats. How could the country not feel that things are better with a cute fluffy puppy making the decisions? Well, the connection is actually that on this day in 1952, Richard Nixon gave the 'Checkers' speech. Nixon was running on the Eisenhower ticket for Vice President, and there were questions about an $18,000 campaign donation which people suspected he had used for his personal use. In the speech, Nixon defended himself, but said he would be keeping one gift. That gift was a black and white dog that was given to his children. The children named the dog Checkers. I had to study the 'Checkers' speech as a Communication major. We also had to study the Nixon- Kennedy debates from 1960. When I was in college, I knew them forward and backward. Even now, 13 years after I graduated from college, I know more than many other people my age about speeches that happened twenty some years before I was even born. In fact, I'd have to say the Checkers speech is more memorable than any speech I've heard our current President give. So maybe instead of playing checkers today, we should be playing with our dogs. Wait, the dogs want that every day. I sense the influence of the Dog Lobbyists!

A Year of Blogging: September 22, 2011

September 22 was 'Business Women's Day'. It is a day to celebrate the contributions women make in the business world. I think we should celebrate all women in the workplace. For women, it is so much more than just going to work each day. At least, for most women I know. We do the laundry so everyone in the house has clothes to wear to work. We go to work, giving 100% or more for 8 hours. When we come home, we are met with that horrendous question. "What's for dinner?" Then we make dinner, eat dinner, and pick up after dinner. Even if you have a dishwasher, it still has to be loaded. When we sit down we realize the carpet needs to be vacuumed, or the dogs need to be fed. Too tired to do much cleaning in the evening, we put it onto the ever-growing 'to-do' list for the weekend. Whereas, for instance, in our house, Erich eats dinner and goes upstairs for the evening. Sometimes he loads the dishwasher. But when he unloads the clean dishes, he piles them on the dish drainer. I'm not sure why. He claims to know where the dishes go. Yet they never find their way into the cabinets. He also loads the dishwasher backwards. I don't want to say incorrectly, because the dishes get clean the way he does it, just as they do the way I do it. He just puts the plates and bowls in the reverse of what I do. I honestly don't know how women do it. Especially those like my sister, who has children to juggle as well. I don't know how Mom worked full time, had a healthy, fulfilling meal on the table, and juggled the house and my sister and I. I have the house and work and the dogs and I can barely keep up. I have one day on a weekend to truly enjoy. Friday nights I'm too busy unwinding from the week and Sunday I'm decompressing for the upcoming week. That leaves Saturday as the day to go shopping or run errands or do anything else I didn't have time for during the week. Women in the workforce deserve a big hand. And yet, for all that we do, we are still rewarded with smaller salaries than our male counterparts. If we're really lucky, we also get to deal with bosses who treat us like inferiors. It's no wonder some nights we come home and flip out when someone cheerfully asks 'what's for dinner?'