Robbie's Ruminations

Okay! Here's the deal: I've been hemming and hawing about how to say this, when to do it, should I do it, why I was doing it, and what exactly it was that I was doing. Where was taken care of, at least that much I do know.

Tomorrow marks the two year anniversary of my journal, but today will mark the closing of it. Yes, that's right. I will no longer be posting entries to this journal. I'm not leaving the blog-o-sphere. I'm just moving to different digs. I'm going to keep my AOL subscription and this journal up until I have a chance to transfer over all of my archives. It's just too difficult maintaining two locations and it has reached a point that Blogger's benefits far out weigh those of AOL, for me anyhow. I'll let the powers that be know this much, that the breaking point was them offering email free to anyone who wants it.

You see, I don't need AOL. I pay extra to have access to their service just so I can keep my journal up and be a part of this community. And, it seems senseless to continue paying for something that they are giving away. Yes, you can now get a journal AND free email from AOL. The only hindrance is that you can't roll your journal over into an AIM account which I think they should have offered from the get-go when they decided to give the farm away on the backs of their loyal subscribers.

I think leaving the journaling community here will be bitter sweet because I realize some people will not follow me and stay in contact with me at my new location, nor will I get to participate in the fun community things that go on like the Vivi Awards, the floats, the graveyards, and so much more. But, I believe we create our own communities and I have a knack for doing that where ever I go.

I'll still be around to comment and cheer everyone on in their journaling journey. However, since I am leaving, I don't think it would be fair to possibly grab an award then up and leave. There are fellow nominees who deserve it so much more than I do and hope you'll give them a read and agree.

Take Care! From now on, you can find me here: Robbie's Rumminations

P.S. I don't think you will need to be registered in order to comment at my new place, but you will need to enter a code that is provided when requested to do so. Sorry, but it protects my virgin eyes from the spammers. If you do have to register, please let me know. My email here will be good for a while. I have over a year's worth of entries to transfer and, well, a couple hundred journals to check out before voting closes on the Vivi.

krobbie67 at 8:44:16 PM PDT Permalink | Blog about this entry |  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this This entry has 25 comments: Show Recent | Add your own

VIVA

LA

VIVI

P.S. To those or maybe the person who nominated me, I thank you very much. With all the journals out there, I'm amazed to float to the top of anyone's list enough to garner a nomination.

krobbie67 at 10:56:12 PM PDT Permalink | Blog about this entry |  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this This entry has 12 comments: Show Recent | Add your own

You don't know what you've got until it's gone. It's an old saying but, I'm sweating here because right now it feels oh so true. I just hit unsubscribe on a Bloglines feed that hasn't updated in months. My entire 140+ subscriptions all disappeared. I sure hope I wake up tomorrow and they are back. Or, I'm screwed! Just in case they don't return, please leave a link should you decide to comment here. Thanks! :::gulp:::

krobbie67 at 11:05:22 PM PDT Permalink | Blog about this entry |  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this This entry has 24 comments: Show Recent | Add your own

I've been tagged by Lisita. The directions are as follows:

1.  Go into your archive.
2.  Find your 23rd Post.
3.  Find the 5th sentence of that post.
4.  Post text of that sentence with these instructions.
5.  Tag 5 other people to do the same:

My sentence:

I'm disappointed in the Democratic party because they laid down after 9/11 and let Bush have full reins.

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I'm going to be rebellious and not tag five people. Like I told Lisita, I hate these things. It seems I always have something lame in my archives. On top of that, it has the feeling of a chain letter.  You know it's not a big deal if you don't do it, but there's a certain innate guilt for not doing it and being a wet noodle on someone else's fun and games. As such, if you want to do it - do it. You have been tagged!

However, I found it quite ironic that I landed on that sentence. I received a phone call yesterday from the local Democratic party. It's my second one this week. The first one was a call requesting a financial donation. I told them as much as I appreciate their need and efforts, now was not a good time for me. So, when I received a second call yesterday, I was a bit impatient and cut the woman off, telling her I already received a call earlier in the week and I can't afford to make a donation at this time. As I munched on my foot, she informed me that wasn't why she was calling. She was calling to see if I would consider volunteering since we have a "special" election in November. As interested in politics as I am, you would think I was more involved in the process. I've wanted to be and thought of it many times but never really acted on it beyond getting my butt to the poll and voting. So, I decided to give it a shot. Heck, maybe it'll be the start of a political career. Just maybe, I could be the first woman president. Hmmm....would I have to say I didn't inhale, or instead of snorting I actually blew?  "Madame President" - damn that sounds good!

krobbie67 at 10:08:23 AM PDT Permalink | Blog about this entry |  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this This entry has 12 comments: Show Recent | Add your own

If I had to give a theme to the past four to six weeks of my life, I think it would be Health and Welfare. It seems that everything and anything has been attacking that area of my life, or some component of it has been my focus. First it started with my quitting smoking. And, yes, I am still a quitter. As a matter of fact, I no longer rely on nicotine at all. It was six weeks as of last Saturday . According to the schedule, I was supposed to remain on the patch until late October. However, I was having some problems last week and decided to discontinue all ingestion of medicines except the Wellbutrin.  I only continued with that one because some anti-depressants will give you flu-like symptoms if you quit them cold turkey. Causing those symptoms would not have helped what I was trying to achieve. Actually, more like what I was trying to discover. For several days last week I felt edgy and out of balance. I couldn't quite describe what exactly it was that I was feeling but I knew I wasn't feeling right, like myself. The best description I could muster was that it felt like I was hungover. I had that weak, jittery, tired, dehydrated feeling you have after a late night of binge drinking. Considering I haven't been drunk in over ten years, I assumed that it had to be a recent medication that I was ingesting. Since I went from only ever smoking cigarettes and popping over-the-counter sinus meds to ingesting Wellbutrin, popping sinus meds which recently had an ingredient change, Nicotine patches, Rhinocort, Flexiril, and 880mg of Alleve daily. I figured something wasn't jiving with something else, or I had developed some kind of toxicity. As such, I dropped it all and here I am adding back 800mg of Ibuprofen and 500mg of Amoxicillin every eight hours.

I can't win for losing. I've had sinus headaches, ear-aches, high blood pressure, back strain, and as of yesterday I suffered through three teeth being extracted. I'm seriously afraid to ask what's next. I already had a close call with a crazy driver who managed to crash his car into a brick wall right in front of me as I was driving home from work. I really hope there's nothing else possible. A girl can hope. Right?

Speaking of hope, there was an adorable little boy in the dentist's office yesterday. He asked his dad why he was kicked out of the house. It sounded to me like mommy needed some "alone time" and insisted that her husband take the precocious child along with him to his dental appointment. You could tell the father wasn't the primary care giver. Most of what he talked to his son about was WAY over the head of a child who looked to be no older than three or four. However, he was a smart little one. His father asked him what he wanted to be when he grew up. He said a pilot, then an astronaut. I was seriously impressed. When I was a little girl, not all that much older than him, I thought it would be awesome to grow up and become a secretary. If only I had higher aspirations, maybe I would have figured out my career path a lot earlier on in life. 

A different dentist than my usual two pulled my teeth out yesterday. Other than the pain and fear, I didn't mind so much. He was a cutey-pie! In his attempt to make small talk, he asked me what I did for a living. I told him I was an Accountant but if it would help my cause any at that moment I'd lie and say I was a lawyer. He chuckled but I noticed he went over the procedures and patient waiver quite thoroughly. As he was straining and stressing to remove the teeth while suffering through my whining and near panic attack, I thought who the hell thinks as a child that they'd like to grow up and become a dentist. Y'ah know, I think the same thing about proctologists, podiatrists, and nursing home attendants. It must begin with a masochistic disposition. I just can't imagine a cute little four year-old telling his father  that one day he wanted to pick at peoples' teeth, poke their butts, clean out their toe-jam, and clean up shit for eight to ten hours every day. At least, I hope not.

krobbie67 at 10:39:25 PM PDT Permalink | Blog about this entry |  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this This entry has 19 comments: Show Recent | Add your own

Gratuitous Photo: Santa Barbara Pier

 

I've been tagged by Gretchen and Carly to do this: 

7 Things I Plan To Do Before I Die  

~ Become self-actualized

~ Adopt or be a foster parent

~ Get a dog (it's the next step in being able to do #2)

~ Take a trip to Greece

~ Drive a race car

~ Live some place other than here (not sure where but I just kind of know that this isn't my final place)

~ Paint a picture

7 Things I Can Do  

~ Cook and Bake really well

~ Craft stuff like sewing, knitting, crocheting, etc.

~ 10-key by touch like nobody's business

~ Read a map

~ Walk into a room full of strangers and be fine with it.

~ Drive a stick shift

~ Anything I set my mind to do

7 Things I Can't Do 

~ Trust easily

~ Do something I feel is unethical

~ Tie a cherry stem with my tongue

~ Everything I want to do

~ Deal well with car problems

~ Put on a game face (I can't hide how I feel very well.)

~ Tolerate liars

7 Things That Attract Me To The Opposite Sex

~ Fun-loving spirit

~ Lips

~ Dialects and some accents

~ How they treat me and others

~ Confidence

~ Hardworking

~ Adventurousness

7 Things I Say Most Often

~ This is Robbie (I get way too many phone calls at work)

~ Sorry I haven't called but....

~ What day is it?

~ Awesome

~ I can't. I need to do laundry.

~ I don't think so.

~ Dude

7 Celebrity Crushes  (in no order) 

~ Brad Pitt

~ Jon Bon Jovi

~ Robert Redford

~ Paul Newman

~ Andy Garcia

~ Patrick Swayze

~ Mathew McConaughey

7 People I Want To Do This  

I think, as usual, I'm probably one of the last to do this. So, anyone out there left who hasn't done this, consider yourself tagged by me. :-D

krobbie67 at 6:47:25 AM PDT Permalink | Blog about this entry |  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this This entry has 15 comments: Show Recent | Add your own

I haven’t written too much lately that is worth seeing the light of day here. Things come to me in blurps then quickly fade away.

Here are a few:

Main Entry: ref•u•gee 
Pronunciation: "re-fyu-'jE, 're-fyu-"
Function: noun
Etymology: French réfugié, past participle of (se) réfugier to take refuge, from Latin refugium
: one that flees; especially : a person who flees to a foreign country or power to escape danger or persecution

I try my best to be politically correct. Not out of fear, but out of respect. Sometimes though something comes along and makes me want to sit down in the middle of the road and scream out of frustration until the cows come home .

Refugee. Evacuee. It’s just a matter of semantics. Why does everything have to be an issue? Really, a label is the least of our worries right now.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This isn’t so much by me but by John Donne. Can’t say I agree with all that he wrote in his treatise, but these two are powerful thoughts to ponder, of which I return to often.

“And when she buries a man, that action concerns me: all mankind is of one author, and is one volume; when one man dies, one chapter is not torn out of the book, but translated into a better language; and every chapter must be so translated; God employs several translators; some pieces are translated by age, some by sickness, some by war, some by justice; but God's hand is in every translation, and his hand shall bind up all our scattered leaves again for that library where every book shall lie open to one another…”

“No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friend's or of thine own were: any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee…”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I don’t know where I was going with this.  I guess that’s why I didn’t write anything else. Who knows, maybe the rest will come to me.

It is moments like now that make me feel like smoking, desperately so. Intellectually, I know it’s just a form of self-medication. However, since when are feelings rational? I argue with myself. The existential hedonist tells me to smoke, drink, and be as merry as I can make myself, because tomorrow I die. We all die – eventually. It’s the eventually that stops me from smoking.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Then there was this bit of creative writing, not really sure I can call it a poem, not sure what it is, maybe just another blurp expelled from my brain.

May I borrow your rose-colored glasses?
I don’t like the view through mine anymore.
I’ve tried to close my eyes.
The images flash like a movie on my lids.

Can I go back to being ten again?
Scratch that, five is what I need to be.
Maybe four would be better.
By seven, life wasn’t lookin’ so sweet.

Was life really simpler back when?
I think, maybe, we were lied to.
It grows harder, meaner, uglier the older you get.
Reflection is an opiate like religion.

Will you sell me your pipe dream?
The real dope just doesn’t smoke like it used to.
It seems lately reality is a bitter pill to swallow.
Maybe I should chase it with a little ethanol.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So there you have it, a few of my blurps from the last week, or so.

Ah, you ask, what a blurp is.

Well, a blurp is like a burp. A burp is a release of gas but not powerful enough to be a full out belch. In farting terms, it would be breaking wind.

As such, a blurp is a thought, or maybe a piece of a thought that doesn’t quite stand alone but there’s no energy to add more to it. So, it’s a blurp. You can add the rest.

NOTE: Gratuitous photo is of Santa Barbara as taken from the pier. Went there last weekend. Beautiful! Hope to goback soon.

krobbie67 at 6:06:03 PM PDT Permalink | Blog about this entry |  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this This entry has 13 comments: Show Recent | Add your own

I'm here. I'm quiet. I just needed to be for a while. Sometimes, that's just how I deal.

However, I break this silence to direct you to another journaler's fund raising efforts. I know that there are at least a couple of y'ah out there who haven't commented there yet. So, I beg you, go now. And, that includes you too Mom!

If you couldn't find the link, click here. :-)

Okay, back to my regular bizzznesss. I'll be back and write something soon.

krobbie67 at 8:32:45 PM PDT Permalink | Blog about this entry |  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this This entry has 5 comments: Show Recent | Add your own

I had the good fortune to select the topic for this round of the photo challenge.  I thought since it was so close to Labor Day, the word "Labor" would be a good theme. Holy freakin' cow! What was I thinking? I had such a tough time coming up with something. Then it dawned on me as I drove to work yesterday morning and I thought about what would be a good representation of the slave-driven labor performed by the bulk of America. As our nation becomes more and more service related and technologically advanced, more people use the computer at some point throughout their workday. 

As such, I give you my interpretation of "Labor":

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I couldn't decide which variation of the picture I liked best, so I thought I'd include them both.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For many more photographic interpretations click here.

P.S. That's not my sweaty hand. I found a hand model - real cheap. It's Hollywood afterall, everyone wants to be a star here. ;-)

krobbie67 at 8:47:44 PM PDT Permalink | Blog about this entry |  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this This entry has 15 comments: Show Recent | Add your own

Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap!

I'm in a crappy mood. I thought this might help but it's not. I'm not really in the mood to write or talk about it or anything else. I'm still in the denial phase. But, think blue, think bumper, think crunch. Think Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap!

krobbie67 at 6:24:25 AM PDT Permalink | Blog about this entry |  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this This entry has 24 comments: Show Recent | Add your own