Posted 9:51 AM by Bonnie

The older I get - This is just going to be a rambling post, so if you choose to read it bear with me. For some strange reason, maybe the earthquakes we had over the weekend, my arthritis has kicked up another notch or two and the arthritis pain medications don't help as much. I have had a few sleepless nights due to this, so if anyone feels I have been ignoring them - I'm not. I'm just tired and getting through my normal daily chores exhausts me. Even now the pain in my hands and shoulders will limit this missive.

But as I sweep and clean I think there are so many better ways I can be spending my time. The sweeping and mopping will need done again in another couple days anyway. The beds will need remade tomorrow..the litter boxes will - well, never mind they need done :-)...but the point is the older I get and the more friends I lose the more I realize it isn't the endless summer of youth but that time is passing faster and faster and there are still things I have yet to accomplish.

I am working on my second book of poetry, my sisters and I are going to start on a book about growing up in Erie, PA and our experiences as young girls growing in the 60's and 70's. We all had exciting and interesting lives and there are a lot of stories between us. I think it will be a compilation of short stories and poems and hopefully some pictures from that time period.

So, my time could be better spent writing... but alas, the beds do need made, the dishes need washed and that darn kitchen floor needs mopped! So I guess I will get that done and then turn my time to more creative things.

In the meantime, hopefully, we can get my arthritis back in control so I can enjoy a good nights sleep again!

Posted 9:53 AM by Bonnie

Open Mic Night at Drew's Blues Cafe! I am trying to find the words to describe the event last night! I knew when I asked Colette Jones to be our guest poet it was going to be something different, something special, and something very exciting... and Colette didn't let us down! Her poems are powerful, moving, enriching and after the kids went home..well, let's just say the erotic side heated things up a bit. Oh yeah, she was spectacular!

We were honored and pleased to have contingency from Morris College and Bates School! The Morris College students came more to observe, but some have promised to bring poems next month. This time only one young woman, Shekelia Baccus, shared some of her poems.

Lindsey Castle, Madeline Lawson and Patrick Nelson, part of the creative writing club from Bates school, joined us and read some of their poems. I am more and more impressed with the young people and the courage they have to get up and read their poems to a room full of mostly adult strangers, and at the depth of their poetry. Hopefully, they will continue to grace us with their presence. I hope they see this because no sooner did I walk in the door last night than my phone rang. On the other end of the line was someone who had been there and just wanted to let me know how impressed they were with these young kids and to comment on the courage it took for them to do what they did.

Michele Reese, and English professor and author joined us last night. She didn't read but came up to chat with me after the event. She was very gracious and commented on how impressed she was with what we were doing and has promised to join us again. Although she said next time she would get there early enough to get a better seat! She ended up by the door which isn't the best viewing spot.

In the end, we had a total of 12 poets, which included me, and a packed house! We laughed, we hooted, we applauded like crazy, we oohed and aahhed and felt the pain of some, the quixotic of others, and just enjoyed the night and each other. Yeah, it was quite a night!


Colette Jones Elizabeth Platts Shekelia Baccus Eric aka "Jerzey" Maria Crady

>
Joyce Williams Ms. S. York Morris Students



Ms L. Castle Ms M. Lawson Mr. P. Nelson

Posted 11:45 AM by Bonnie

Walgreen's update: In all fairness to Walgreen's, since I wrote when they did things all wrong, I am following up with their follow up.

Monday I got a call from the top store manager and the head supervisor of the pharmacy dept. Both apologized profusely and were very upset we had this experience. The first said my letter was so detailed and so well written it made him realize he needed to do more training of new employees on how to treat customers.

The pharmacy supervisor personally called in the two prescriptions that had not yet been filled, needing doctor call backs and personally called to let us know they were ready. Normally you get that automated call back.

When I went in to get them today two clerks, stocking in different aisles said good morning, how are you? with a smile! And at the pharmacy the young woman told me they had talked the doctors into giving Keith 5 refills on both meds instead of the usual two to avoid delays waiting for doctor call backs. Wow! what a difference!

I guess that letter did open some eyes and hopefully things will continue on the more positive note now.

Posted 8:13 AM by Bonnie

IQ test: Just for fun every once in awhile I take one of these online IQ tests to make sure my brain is still functioning properly. I have to admit my score was a bit lower this time (generally score in the 130's) but still up there so I guess when I claim brain dead it isn't really true. Although, I can claim some brain cells are on vacation!

The Classic IQ Test
What's Your IQ?

Congratulations, Bonnie!
Your IQ score is 127

Descriptive Classifications of Intelligence Quotients

IQ Description % of Population

130+ Very superior 2.2%
120-129 Superior 6.7%
110-119 High average 16.1%
90-109 Average 50%
80-89 Low average 16.1%
70-79 Borderline 6.7%
Below 70 Extremely low 2.2%

Want to try it? Click here.

Posted 3:14 PM by Bonnie

One of my Connecticut Yankee friends sent me these fall photos she took and gave me permission to post some here. She says...I took these pictures several years ago and thought you might enjoy them. They were taken at a local State Park called Devil's Hopyard. There are many caves in the park and according to Indian legend, one of them leads to Hell. I've never gone cave hunting but I doubt any of them lead to Hell. Enjoy! Bernie

Posted 8:11 PM by Bonnie

And how many stupid pills did you take this morning? Instead of rewriting my Walgreen pharmacy experience, I am just going to paste part of the letter I emailed off to corporate.

.....In April his doctor put him on a new drug called Lunesta. To make sure he could tolerate it, along with a prescription for 30 tablets and 2 refills, he gave him a coupon for a free trial of 4 tablets to try first.

We got the trial pack and then had the prescription filled. The pharmacy explained because the prescription was for 30 tablets and we had already received the four free ones, we would receive 26 to complete the first fill. That was fine. No problem with that reasoning.

Today, I went in for the first refill and the pharmacist gave us 4 tablets. This was not discovered until my husband came home, from work, and checked the prescriptions. I then called the pharmacy and this is where the problem begins…
(note: I picked up 6 prescriptions and then he checks to make sure they are right)
The person I spoke with was very short and nasty telling me we got the free ones because we didn’t have insurance and we could only get 4 in the refill. I tried to explain we had received a complete fill of 30 last time (the 4 trial + 26 to complete the fill) and that yes we did have insurance and the insurance covered the completion of the fill. She started yelling at me that I wasn’t listening to her and I should just be quiet and let her explain. I told her she WASN’T listening and finally got her to check and see there were 30 tablets on the original prescription. I asked to speak to a supervisor because by that point she had me very upset and my husband ready to switch pharmacies. She snapped there were no managers in the store. I then said I would be in tonight to pick them up and she said fine and slammed the phone on me.

I called back right away and got another department, asked to speak to a manager and Ms. McDaniel, the store manager, came on the line. I explained the situation and she apologized and said she would take care of it. Shortly after, Amanda, from the pharmacy dept. called back to apologize, so I presume she is the one who was so rude to me during the first call. As we were speaking she said this would be the last refill and there were no more. I told her there were two refills on the original prescription and since we just did one refill there should be another left.

When I got to the store she told me we already had two refills. She said we refilled it once for the four pills and now were getting the second refill for the 26. I asked her if she didn’t realize that made absolutely no sense. That the first fill was for 30 pills, So, because they made an error and only gave us four to match the trial and now had to complete the first refill with 26 more pills, that did not make two refills. She stared at me blankly and then said, well, the original refill was for 60 pills and you already got 60 with the first order and today’s. I sighed and explained the first fill was not a refill but filling the prescription and the 60 pills was for the two refills after the first fill. The one refill we got today and then we should have one remaining. It took awhile, but the light finally clicked and she had to go back in and fix it and put a prescription of Lunesta on hold for my husband. So, now when I call next month I can’t use the automated system but must speak to a pharmacist and tell them to check the records because there is a prescription on hold.

(The funny part is the bottle we got today said 1 refill remaining but she argued that was wrong since we were now getting the second refill - okay, can everyone say... DUH!)

Posted 1:13 PM by Bonnie

One of the big things I miss about the north is the dramatic change in seasons. Right about now the leaves are turning gold, red, orange, yellow and shades in between. It's an amazing and spectacular sight! So amazing people from places, like here, drive up just to witness the phenomal beauty of it. We northerners call them leaf peepers. We don't get a lot of dramatic change here, but yesterday I noticed the tree across the street had turned! The leaves, though not the bright array of colors we get up north due to the extremely cold nights, had turned. I feel at home now as I sit and look out the front window and have at least this tree to keep me company.

Posted 1:18 PM by Bonnie

Tiny Friend is 6 months old now, and while he didn't outgrow the deformities to his face, he is certainly an interesting kitten. He learned how to purr the other day and thought it was so fascinating and exciting he had to share it with me right away. Never mind that it was around 4 a.m.! He had learned to purr! He put his face on mine the way he had seen Marmalade do to purr me awake and purred his best and loudest. When I first woke up to the purring cat I thought it was Marmalade, then opened my eyes to see that funny smashed in face looking so pleased I had to laugh. Sometimes be awoken at 4 a.m. is worth it!

Posted 8:59 AM by Bonnie

The friggin! #$$@#%^^%#$^^ cat did it again! You all remember Percival, the one who pooped on my shoe as I sat at my computer, awhile back! Well, yesterday, I was sitting here working away, my shoes off airing out my feet, when I smelled this horrendous odor! OMG! I better check that out and find out where it's coming from so I slip my BARE foot into my shoe and into a pile of warm, gooey....shall I go on? Thank goodness we keep those WetOnes around because I first had to remove my shoe, wash my foot, find a plastic bag to throw away my shoes, the wipes, then spray the carpet, scrub the carpet and kill the cat. Okay, I didn't kill the cat, but anyone want a sweet, pretty, fuzzy Persian cat with a tendancy to poop on peoples shoes?

Posted 9:18 AM by Bonnie

Sometimes cats are too smart! During the week I get up at 6 a.m. M/W/F and 5 a.m. on T/Th. So, on Monday, when Keith had the day off and I got to sleep in Marmalade thought something was wrong when it was 6 a.m. and I wasn't up to feed them! Heaven forbid they should wait an hour! So, he stuck his face in mine and purred until I woke up. He then walked across the bed and stared at my radio/alarm clock indicating it was time for me to get up and feed them. Okay, I was awake, so why not.

So, tuesday morning I am again awakened by Marmalade purring in my face and once again he does the clock thing to indicate it was time to get up and feed them. I looked at the clock, groaned, and said, "Marmalade, learn the difference between 3 and 5 okay?" He's getting there but I guess and 3 and 5 may look a bit alike to cat.

Posted 4:45 PM by Bonnie

Farewell to a champion! When I watched the Jimmy Connors/John McEnroe 1980 U. S. Open slug fest I thought I had seen the greatest tennis playing I would ever see in my life time. And until this week no other match even came close. But when I watched the match between Agassi and Baghdadis this past week my mind and heart were changed forever! Those two wounded soldiers - Agassi in pain from a back injury from being rearended in a traffic accident in July and Baghdadis suffering from leg cramps so bad he could barely walk stayed on the battlefield... I mean the court to the final ball! And in the end - the final game of the fifth match Agassi took the set.

And then today... Agassi in obvious pain but not wanting to disappoint his fans stood across the court from Becker (no, not Boris of the old days) and battled his heart out! He lost but not without taking it to four sets. The crowd gave him an 8 minute standing ovation and he was so emotional over having to say goodbye. This was the last time he would be playing. When he walked back to the locker room everyone there gave him a standing ovation and at the end of his interview he asked the news media if they would really miss him or if they were just saying that and THEY gave him a standing ovation.

This young man entered the tennis field 21 years ago as a brash "image is everything" bratty young kid who defied Wimbledon by wearing denim shorts and a colored shirt! Oh my!! And he had long hair held back with head band. He was everything tennis was not. Over the years we watched him grow and mature into a spectacular player who excited us each time he stepped onto the court. He impressed us with his spirit, his sportsmanship, and his love for not only the sport but the people -the fans - who loved and supported him.

So, we say good bye to one of the greatest tennis players to ever grace the courts, and know in our hearts how much we will miss seeing him play. We wish him a happy life and hopefully a recovery from the back injury and maybe...maybe? we will see him and his wonderful wife, Stefi Graf in a mixed doubles someday. We can dream! He wanted to go out playing the U.S. Open and he did so. He didn't want to limp off the courts. He didn't. After a tearful and heartfelt farewell speech to his fans and pain filling his face he walked off with the dignity of a true champion. Off the court he gave in to the pain and we got a glimpse of how much pain he was in during that match. Which only made the match even more spectacular. So goodbye Andre Agassi and thank you for 21 years of chivalry and poise on the courts.

Posted 4:45 PM by Bonnie

Blogging for Books starts Monday, for anyone interested.