What ZephyrBird thinks
Life According to Zephyr

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Sunday, May 30, 2004


United we stand agains the war in Iraq!

Blogger Vigil Against the War



Wednesday, May 26, 2004


I think I got them all, but the states in red are the ones I have visited more than a day or lived in over the years.



create your own personalized map of the USA
or write about it on the open travel guide





You're Egypt!

Curator of ancient mystical secrets, your life on the surface is fairly
typical these days.  Though you are in denial about more things than most people.
 Nevertheless, you're trying to convince people that you're safe despite your more
volatile and unstable times that seem to be behind you.  You like cats a whole lot.
 You'd probably really appreciate The Blue
Pyramid.

Take
the Country Quiz at the href="http://bluepyramid.org">Blue Pyramid



Friday, May 21, 2004


Below is a post listing all the taxes we pay. My husband emailed it to me, but we don't know the origination of the list as it had been forwarded several times. My husband also requested I post the latest humiliation I inflicted upon poor Mr. Fuzz.

Mr. Fuzz is our big black male cat who is very attached to me and I mean attached! At times I can't walk because he is so wrapped around my feet. Well, I was cleaning up the living room the other day, and Keith had had a beer the night before. My hands were full and as I picked up the can it turn upside down. There was a little beer left in the bottom and yes, it emptied out onto Mr. Fuzz. Mr. Fuzz headed to Keith (in his office) and when I went in I said Mr. Fuzz wants you to pet him. When he did he noticed he was all wet and smelled like a brewery. I told him what had happened and that was why Mr. Fuzz had changed loyalties for awhile. He was not pleased with me at the moment and went to Keith for some pampering. Fuzzy cats!!!! That will teach him to stick so close to me... nah!!!



TAXES

Accounts Receivable Tax

Building Permit Tax

Capital Gains Tax

CDL license Tax

Cigarette Tax

Corporate Income Tax

Court Fines - (indirect taxes)

Dog License Tax

Federal Income Tax

Federal Unemployment Tax - (FUTA)

Fishing License Tax

Food License Tax

Fuel permit tax

Gasoline Tax - (42 cents per gallon)

Hunting License Tax

Inheritance Tax Interest expense - (tax on the money)

Inventory tax IRS Interest Charges - (tax on top of tax)

IRS Penalties - (tax on top of tax)

Liquor Tax

Local Income Tax

Luxury Taxes

Marriage License Tax

Medicare Tax

Property Tax

Real Estate Tax

Septic Permit Tax

Service Charge Taxes

Social Security Tax

Road Usage Taxes - (Truckers)

Sales Taxes

Recreational Vehicle Tax

Road Toll Booth Taxes

School Tax

State Income Tax

State Unemployment Tax - (SUTA)

Telephone federal excise tax

Telephone federal universal service fee tax

Telephone federal, state and local surcharge taxes

Telephone minimum usage surcharge tax

Telephone recurring and non-recurring charges tax

Telephone State and local tax

Telephone usage charge tax

Toll Bridge Taxes

Toll Tunnel Taxes

Traffic Fines - (indirect taxation)

Trailer registration tax

Utility Taxes

Vehicle License Registration Tax

Vehicle Sales Tax

Watercraft registration Tax

Well Permit Tax

Workers Compensation Tax

COMMENTS:

Not one of these taxes existed 100 years ago and our nation was the most prosperous in the world, had absolutely no national debt, and had the largest middle class in the world.


Saturday, May 15, 2004


The Week in Review:

On Tuesday I started teaching tennis to one of my friends here. She was so quick to learn that by the next lesson on thursday I had her serving into the proper court :-).

Wednesday morning, early (4:30) Keith and I left for Columbia so he could have his cataract surgery. We were back home by 12:30.

Thursday morning we went back so the doctor could check the eye and things looked great.

Friday Keith was seeing so well he was reading the scrolls on the bottom of the tv without his glasses!

Thursday my sister Linda left a message on my phone that someone had rammed into my parents car on 8th and peninsula. No one was hurt and thank goodness it was a hot day and the window was down. The woman hit them on the drivers side and smashed the drivers door and of course the window. Someone had signaled her to go, she did, without looking and bam!

Saturday I talked with my sister Linda who had been having headaches and had a small seizure awhile back and they had found a small cyst on her brain. I did some internet research and told her they usually dissolve themselves, so the surgery the doctors were talking about was probably a moot point. Today, she confirmed, that the last MRI showed the cyst had dissolved itself.

And that winds up my week :-).


Monday, May 10, 2004


Stole this from my sister's blog.

1: Grab the book nearest to you, turn to page 18, find line 4. Write down what it says:
SMARTWEED – To find money, one should make up a conjure bag containing a….. (The modern herbal spellbook – the magical uses of herbs by Anna Riva)

2: Stretch your left arm out as far as you can. What do you touch first?:
The telephone

3: What is the last thing you watched on TV?:
CNN news this morning

4. WITHOUT LOOKING, guess what the time is:
12:35 P.M.

5: Now look at the clock, what is the actual time?:
12:44 PM

6: With the exception of the computer, what can you hear?:
The tv in the living room where my husband is watching a movie.

7: When did you last step outside? what were you doing?:
this morning – errands – the college, the post office, Lincare, Walgreens, Staples

8: Before you came to this website, what did you look at?:
My scrabble games and my ebay site

9: What are you wearing?:
black stretch pants, white socks and a tshirt that reads “I got up early once – didn’t like it – won’t do that again!

10: Did you dream last night?
Yes, but I don't remember what they were about.

11: When did you last laugh?
This morning when my husband was singing one of his nonsense songs about me.

12: What is on the walls of the room you are in?
A clock. We live in an apt. with walls that are not conducive to having things hung on them.

13: Seen anything weird lately?:
One of the scrolls on CNN that said Resident Bush said America owes Rumsfeld a debt of gratitude.

14: What do you think of this quiz?:
It’s cute and fun.

15: What is the last film you saw?:
We watch so many videos I can’t even remember what the last one was… my husband is a collector… oh yes, I remember now… Magic.

16: If you became a multi-millionaire overnight, what would you buy first?:
The Erie Museum and convert it back into a home and then move in.

17: Tell me something about you that I don't know:
When I was 15 I wanted to be a nun, but my mother talked me out of it. Thanks mom!!!!!!! I owe you big on that one.

18: If you could change one thing about the world, regardless of guilt or politics, what would you do?:
I would make it possible for everyone to live their lives freely without censorship and without prejudice.

19: Do you like to dance?
I love to dance!! I even dance in the grocery stores when the music is a good dance tune from the 60’s. Took jazz for three years when I was in my late 20’s and loved it!

20: Imagine your first child is a girl, what do you call her?:
Well, if I had it to do over again I would name her Lila or Deborah… anything except Naomi.

21: Imagine your first child is a boy, what do you call him?:
At 56 I that isn’t even anything I can imagine… but for a boy I like Thomas or James.

22: Would you ever consider living abroad?
No, I would like to visit Ireland one day, but I would not feel at home anywhere else in spite of what is happening politically here.

23: Will you pass on this survey?
Not in an email, but people who read my blog will see it.


Thursday, May 06, 2004


Tuesday Newsday Meme:

Does the past matter in this election?
Much has been made of the pasts of both major Presidential Candidates in this election. It's been questioned whether George Bush went AWOL during his National Guard service, and whether he was arrested for illegally using cocaine in 1972. The other side has questioned whether John Kerry's injuries were really worthy of his purple hearts and whether he told people he threw away his medals at a war protest when he actually only threw away ribbons.

The question is, does any of this matter, or is it just a distraction from the real issues of the war, the economy and our status in world politics?
Two days late but haven’t been checking blogs lately. Somehow life is getting in the way of blogging. Does the past matter in this election? Like any other election each side is trying to distract from the real issues and what better way than to attack their patriotism. Especially now with us at war in Iraq and Bush correlating patriotism to agreeing 100% with whatever he says or does regardless of how wrong he is. In the perfect world John Kerry could and would ignore any allegations of his patriotism and not have to counter attack questioning Bush’s own patriotism, and would stick to the issues of importance. Like “IT’S THE ECONOMY STUPID” or is it “It’s the stupid economy?”

But since we are at war and Bush put us there and he questioned President Clinton’s right to be President because he protested the Viet Nam war, and he is questioning John Kerry’s right to be president because he realized how wrong the Viet Nam war was, maybe we should question the right of someone’s right who went AWOL also. He is putting our young people in danger every day and yet when push came to shove he ran. Is this leadership material? Does it matter? Yes, it matters when the pot is calling the kettle black (no pun intended regarding the word pot).
When someone is running for president of our United States every action, every thing they have ever done, thought or said should come under scrutiny. We should know everything we can about the person who will be leading us for at least four years. So, after reading what I wrote I find my thoughts going this way… we are at war, we were put at war by a president who went AWOL and suddenly, yes, of course the military history becomes an issue.

If I had any advice to give during election campaigns it would be to cover an issue and then move on to another. Don’t dwell continuously on one issue because that is the single issue that could hurt your opponent.





UPDATES: It's been awhile since I've taken the time to sit down and post, so figured I would take a few minutes now. It's TOPS day and I don't want to get involved in something and then have to stop and leave, so decided to stop by here.

Got measured at CURVES this week and lost another 10 inches (total measurements) for the month of April and according to their scales 9 pounds. The best part is 3 of those inches were around the stomach and that is the area I am working on the most.

To help with my get healthy plan I have been pretending I don't have a car, unless of course, I have to carry heavy packages home. Other than those few times I walk to the store, I walk to CURVES, I walk just to walk and what I have noticed is a year ago it wore me out just to walk around the apartment complex here, but the other day I walked 3 miles with no problem and was ready for more. So, regardless of weight or inches lost I am feeling so much better!

On the 12th we go to Columbia so Keith can have his catarac removed and since it is also our anniversary and the doctor needs to see him the next morning we are going to spend the night in a motel or hotel in the area and have a nice anniversary. I am going to ask our friend Julie to visit and feed our cats for that night and the next morning.

Our cats are doing well... Mr. Fuzz and Bug have started going outside and since they don't go far we feel safe letting them out. It keeps them from charging the door every time we go in or out.

The weather here is beautiful and perfect for walking so if you don't see me online much it's because I'm taking advantage before it gets too hot here.

Well, that's it for now. Hope everyone is doing well and is happy.


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