It's a Conspiracy!

First let me state, I'm not paranoid.  I don't believe the government is monitoring my calls, reading my e-mail and following me around.  Maybe you if you lead a less than honorable life, but not me.  (I'm not going into the constitutionality of it, that's a whole different rant).  I'm talking about my Smart phone and the weight equipment at my gym.  Yes, I said gym.  Those of you who know me well, know that is equivalent to a swear word to most of the civilized world.  I joined Total Woman Gym & Spa and I joined both, the gym and the spa (And I'm proud to say I've used the gym now more than the spa...just for the record).

They have this equipment there from a company called Peva through Precor that has an App.  Yes, I said app.  I'm turning Apple savvy.  Anyway, you scan the QR code on the machine it tells you based on your age, your weight and your work out history how much weight and how many reps and then you can do the set of reps as many time as you want.  So, I did leg presses.  It said 100# and 12 reps.  So I did 100# and 12 reps....twice.  I felt okay, pushed a little, the muscles weren't worse for the wear, but they were cranky at me......That was Saturday. 

Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and today I have been in pain.  Not just oww-I-tore-too-many-fibers-in-my-long-muscles pain but my back feels like it's going to snap at the base and my left hip (which I broke a few decades ago when I was just a wee lass) feels like it's half out of the socket.  I touch the outside of it and it hurts.  So, I'm taking something called "Pain Away" which worked great yesterday but I'm on my second dose now.  I'm a big baby when it comes to hip pain, it brings back the memories of believing I'd never walk again without pain. 

So, how is this a conspiracy......Where to begin.....

- My 'Smartphone' is supposed to be smart, it shouldn't have let me do something so dumb.
- The weigh machine is out to get me because I think I weigh more than it and so it wants me to stay away.

If this keeps happening I'll have to just use the spa services.  Dang!  I hate conspiracies.

My Latest Addiction.....

For those of you in the 'know' you recognize the house to the right.  Downton Abbey.  I thought I had sworn off my Soap Opera Addiction after my mission because, seriously, how many times can one person marry or come back from the dead with a different face?  Seriously, how bereft of imagination do they really think their viewers are?

Maybe it's the clothes, maybe it's the jewelry, maybe it's the utterly British stiff-upper-lip that allows the nose to rest so completely high in the air when it comes to the rest of us, I don't know.  I just know I can't get enough of it.  And strangely enough, they had one character come back from the dead, with amnesia, but so severely burned they couldn't be sure it was him.  So completely All My Children.   The utter blackness of the souls in the kitchen (Thomas and Mrs. O'Brien), the kindness and love between Anna and Mr. Bates, the absolute rightness of Mr. Carson are all such well fleshed out characters that I don't really see it as a show, but more as a window back to the days of Downton Abbey. 

What got me hooked was the first episode I watched when Lady Sybil gives birth and dies.  I couldn't get the people straight at that time, so I knew I had to start from the beginning because by that time Lady Mary was married to Matthew, Lady Edith was married to some other guy (but not the one armed old codger she was going to marry in the beginning of Season 3), Thomas was making passes at a poor footman that isn't on the show yet, and SYBIL DIES.  How can you kill off one of the family.  Maybe a beloved staff member but a member of the family......that's what hooked me.  No one was safe. 

Having that peak ahead I knew Lady Crawly wasn't going to die of Spanish Flu, I knew Lady Sybil would be running off with the chauffeur, and that Lady Mary and Matthew would get married and be happily married.  My mistake was yesterday when I thought I'd find out when Season 4 would be coming out, because, trust me, 8 episodes a year aren't nearly enough of a season for my rabid curiosity as to what's going to happen next......

If like me you're still working through Season 3, beware....

-SPOILER ALERT-

MATTHEW DIES!  There is some small talk about making the widower and widow coming to terms with their losses in each others arms, but then what about the babies?  Yes, Sybil has a girl and apparently Mary has a boy, are they going to become brother and sister instead of cousins?  And will Lady Mary inherit the estate or does it all go to her baby boy?

-SPOILER OVER-

I've been working at finding ways to take my mind off my current troubles (hence the reason of my silence...too much yeast not enough bowl, if you know what I mean), that I might set up a crafting station in my small garage and I'm going to start trying to reproduce the jewelry that they wear.  I'm sure there are hoards of people doing that, so it's hardly original, but it should be fun.  They wear a lot of black crystal and jet stones, I could probably throw in some black pearls, onyx and hematite too.  My current addition is soap making and bath and body products from natural products.  I've made some salt scrub that smell like heaven, if heaven was made of English Roses.  But the jewelry should provide a good long focus instead of just adding things willy-nilly like I do with the other stuff. 

If you know when Season 4 is going to be released, please let me know.  I want to make sure I'm home or my DVR is set to record.  I've been told I need to watch Sherlock Holmes as well, so I guess I can fill the blank space with that until BBC releases it.



Kiss Kiss! Bang Bang! Buy Bye!

Let me state one thing I HATE GUNS.  I really don't see the need for them.  That said, I am aware that I am probably in the minority and I've accepted this.  Owning one or two guns for self defence and hunting for sustenance (not for wall trophies) I can comprehend.  When I was taught to use a gun my teacher said if I wasn't willing to empty to clip in the person going after me then owning a gun would be more dangerous for me than a protection.  That makes total sense to me, however, I don't believe I have it in me to kill anyone.  I guess no one knows if they are capable or not of something so taboo until they are actually put in the situation.  (I'm talking the average sane person here, not the wackjobs and gang members that seem to see it as a sport).
Gun violence today is becoming a common place thing mostly because people are all to willing to shoot off their gun when someone shoots off their mouth.  This being said, no one EVER needs to own a fully automatic death spitting military grade gun.  NO ONE.  I think they should be turned into the military when you are discharged, they get one back if they reenlist but they have no place on the streets of any country where they can be wielded by revenge seeking people with low self control and no thought beyond the tip of their gun as to the lives they are taking.

Though I hate guns I would never deny anyone their second amendment rights to own them.  As long as they are safe, kept in a gun vault or safe, out of the kids reach, and not taken out and showed to friends and family members how well 'protected' you are.  This doesn't include the survivalists that are stockpiling guns and ammo for protection from the very government that gives them the right to bare arms.  Yes, I'm talking about the militias out there that feel so impotent in their lives they have to invent conspiracies that the government is out to get them and they need to protect their family; from what, the government zombie Apocalypse?  NO ONE NEEDS THAT MANY GUNS, THAT MANY BULLETS AND THAT MANY GRENADES.  PERIOD!  Guns should be used for imminent danger not your own private war.  To add to that, no civilian needs armor piercing bullets.  It's only purpose is to kill cops, owning them should be considered attempted murder of a police officer and carried out to the fullest extent of the law.

I know the current administration is trying to get their heads around what needs to be done to curb the violence and keep the most vulnerable ones in our nation safe.  I don't think we will ever be able to do that unless we put those children in a prison like environment to keep them safe.  They haven't done anything wrong.  Children should be free to play and learn in a safe, open environment.  Otherwise, we're just raising them like veal, ripe for the slaughter on the streets or in prison because that's all they know. And it really doesn't matter how hard the current administration tries, the NRA has attached themselves like leaches to so many politicians that they will blockade any and every attempt that might limit the amount of guns a person can have, shoot, keep in the reach of children, whether you are crazy or sane, you have the right to own and operate a gun.

My solution?  I have to register my car, as it is a lethal weapon.  If you don't know this, you shouldn't be allowed to drive.  My registration fees goes toward (well supposed to go for) the upkeep on the roads and so forth.  Guns should be presented and registered EVERY YEAR.  It's not like we don't have the technology.  Everyone has to register with fingerprints, serial numbers, makes and models and the general ammo that you shoot with it.  Have the rifling patterns registered so when a gun is used in an illegal activity they know where the gun came from.  Every year, those guns need to be scanned and updated.  The sane honest people with guns shouldn't find this process as such a horrible experience as lets say the militia maniac who has hundreds of guns.  If someone is caught in the process of a crime, or on the street with a weapon that isn't registered the are to be arrested for attempted murder because the only reason to carry a gun on your person is to kill someone.  Now, if someone uses another persons gun and kills someone, not only is the shooter liable but also the registered owner, whether or not he knew that person has his gun.  Unless he can provide a police report showing it has been stolen, like a car, he will be liable and just as culpable as the shooter.  Hell, they can share a cell for all I care.

Fingerprinting can all be done electronically now, so people at gun shows can have a reader, or a person is read at the front of the show and an ID will come out with what they are able to buy.  If someone hasn't paid their registration they can't buy any more guns.  If someone has been reported as less than sane with violent idiations or fantasies, then that should send up a red flag and no one will sell to them. 

The problem with this idea?  Well, first, it will take money to set it up. The money earned from this effort would go to help the local police department, auditors that will go out and spot check and write tickets to people who haven't registered their gun, transferred the title or reported it stolen.  The biggest problem I feel will be getting the militia to play along, they don't like the government to know what they have, the definitely don't want them sniffing around their property.  If we are to draw our future from our past, many honest and hard working people will die because of one mans paranoia. 

When will the killing stop?  Will we as human beings ever stop seeing ourselves as disposable?

New Years Resolutions

For those that know me I am something of a New Years Resolution fiend.  I have a theme, and how that theme will work in each facet of my life.  My theme this year is HEALTH.  And to be healthy I need to write.  So armed with that ubiquitous theme I am going to resolve to do at least two blogs a month.  I've been so self-absorbed the past year.  Literally self absorbed to the point that I've turned my insides out and I'm still trying to put things back where they belong.  Believe me,  it wasn't fun.  Maybe I'll share some of those lessons learned in the coming year, maybe I'll just share the bits and pieces that make a life worth the taxes we pay for it.  No matter what it is, please hold on, as in most of our lives, it's going to be a bumpy ride.