CSI:Inquiring Minds Wanna Know....

2:45:40 PM EST
Hello to anyone reading this.....yes I know I haven't been writing in forever, but I guess that happens when you don't have a PC available, so I'll make this short cause I probably won't be reading any e-mail soon, as a matter of fact I just looked at my mail and there were 879 junk mail and I decided I wasn't going to go thru them all. LOL. Let alone take the time to delete them. As for me.. I'm in Atlanta and doing fine, presently I am working part-time for a friend that has an Oriental rug business at an Antique Mall here in Atlanta and also sewing my ass off for a few cabaret performers. Which is getting me by and paying the bills, so I'm not too worried about it. I hope everyone had a good holiday season, sorry for not writing but it just seems to creep up, and if I had bad news ,you'd probably know of it. No news is good news, so they say. Hope everyone that reads this is doing well and it's presently too damn cold in Atlanta!I guess I'll try to write when I have a chance...I actually miss writing....anyone got a cig? : )

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12:16:52 PM EDT
Well... I haven't heard of Stone Cold Ice Cream...but I will look into it, obviously it must be popular since 2 people mentioned it. Most of the frozen treats I'll be learning to produce will be Gelatos, and for those that don't know what it is, it's lighter and less fattening. Like any kind of dessert needs to be? I was also wondering who came up with the name Stone Cold. If it was from author Kinky Freedman it might be something like "Kill 2 birds and get Stoned" LOL.


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12:09:06 PM EDT
So sorry to keep all on pins and needles awaiting my next story.....
To catch you all up to date: I've just been working with good ol' Martha for the past few weeks and deciding on my next big adventure. My boss walked out last week (literally), and it's been hell at Martha's Shop ever since!
On to... a new journey! I'm leaving Mayberry and heading back to Atlanta the home of the '96 Olympics. I can't believe it's been 10 years of my life since then, and I WAS there at the time! I've been offered a good job (full time) working for a previous employer and friend, and also found a place to live as well. Hopefully there will be a computer handy nearby so I can continue my rants and raves of the Atlanta Streets and butting cigs! (LOL) Just kidding. My new job will be managing an "ALL HANDMADE" ice cream shop called "What's the Scoop". Owner and Baker , Alon Balshan (Alon's.com) yea, I'll plug his shop. Is opening an Ice Cream Parlor adjacent to his Bakery in Virginia Highlands. And if it's anything like his baked goods, it will be perfectly to die for! All his goods are the best I have ever had, but when I worked with him before, I got tired of the sweets quickly and stuck to the gourmet sandwiches that he serves. (Thus my love for cookies as well) So I will continue on my journey and as soon as I get a PC , or one is available I will keep on writing. (Remind me I said that, cause I know it's been quite a few weeks since last entry.) So That's the Scoop on what's been keeping me busy for the moment............


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12:28:37 PM EDT
Welcome to the glorious world of Gardening at Super K ! It is indeed a glorious day, it's cool out, the sun is shining, and the sky is blue. What a great week it's been (especially the mornings) getting the plants watered and fed,  before all Hell breaks loose!
And I mean that literally. I've been enjoying my new job at the Super K Garden Shop. I've dubbed it the Martha's House of Plants, since almost everything in the shop has Martha's name on it except the plants themselves. I've been busy everyday (since no body, and I mean NO body in the Big K likes to work in the Garden shop, but ironically I do (so far). The reason they don't like working in the shop? Well because you actually WORK your butt off in there and the days seems to fly by for me. This is when all hell breaks loose. (When the doors open and the customers arrive ALL expecting personal service as well as carry out....and I'm the only person working in the shop!) Yea, it's a wee bit short handed at the Big K.  So far, I'm the cashier, stock person, plant advisor, the carryout, and what ever else should turn up. Thus far, if I don't know the answer to a plant question, I fake it. Not really, but I do read a bit up on the plants as we get them. I'm going from Artist , to Restauranteur, and now to  Horticulturist. (Anyone in need of a residence Artist that cooks and gardens, please let me know.)LOL.  So this is what I have been doing for the past 2 weeks, and guess what? Since I have to be to work in the mornings, and I have to leave by 7:30 am for my 2.67 mile hike, no body has bugged me for a smoke! Now THAT is a GOOD THING!  : )


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6:53:14 PM EST
       Well, I did get a job yesterday, and I started today, thus, a late entry....
       So, as I explained the cab/bus thing yesterday...I walked to work this morning.(2.6miles) thank god it was a nice day. SO I left at 8 am and I'm not EVEN 3 blocks away from home, and guess what happened? "Hey, got a cigatette?" And I wasn't even smoking. Continuing on my trek down the street, this occurance happened 2 more times from the time I left, til I made it to work. I swear, I'm a magnet for these people! I think when ever I see a person walking my way, I'm just going to start asking them before they can ask me! Maybe this will detur them? Probably not, cause they want more! Even today at work, (The wonderful world of Martha Stewart's KMart. But at least it's a SUPER Kmart) A woman bought a DVD a few weeks ago during a disney promotion. Buy the video get a free doll with purchase. (I'm not sure what movie it was, or which character the doll was suppsed to be. I was just listening . Evesdropping on one of the cashiers) So the woman came in and wanted a refund on the doll, since she didn't want the doll. Well, you figure it out. How to you get a refund on a FREE doll? You don't. She just wanted MORE.
I think for the time being, I won't smoke when I'm walking and hopefully they will keep me off the register so I won't have to deal with that type of mental insulance that hasn't reached the point of a human being yet. I worked in the garden section today, it's outside, and guess what? You can smoke out there....


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11:50:18 AM EST
I'm not sure what it is with me, but I seem to attract streetpeople. Whenever I'm walking to the library , or any other place, it seems like the homeless or streetpeople fly to me like a mexican to a bottle of tequila. And they all wanna smoke. "Got a smoke?" "Got an extra smoke?" Now I wanna know , how you can have an extra smoke? There's 20 in a pack. Not 21. No extra. Go figure. If there were extras, smokers woouldn't have to go and buy another pack. "Hey look, there's extra!" This would be a good thing. So would extra potato chips in that big air filled bag that only holds half a bag of crumbly greasy flakes. Or better yet, extra cookie in a bag! No need to buy another bag of Oreos, cause there's extra! And have you ever noticed when you are in the grocery store, products advertise "20% More!" ? Wait, the container is the same size, it's not extra, it's more. 3 more chips in that air filled bag of Lays. 3 drops more of that Herbal Essence Shampoo. Sure, everyone wants more. I want more. More money.But that doesn't come extra or 20% more. But I still want it. Doesn't everyone? The streetpeople seem to have more. Their grocery buggy always has more the next time you see them on the street. They have More stuff. More empty cans. More bottles of thunderbird. They get more. Even from the government they get more. They don't spend it on rent, so they have more.
No, I don't have an EXTRA smoke, but I'd like some more.

I hopefully will be employed soon. I plan on moving back to Atlanta when I save some money, just so I can look for another job there. (Go figure). I'll be able to get around with public transportation. Bigger cities have these things called busses and subways. Smallville South Carolina doesn't. They have "Trolly" Busses. They are like a mini bus, that travels from downtown to the mall andback. Once an hour from 8-5. So if you don't work those hours you have to cab it. To take a cab from downtown to the mall is (and I'm not joking) $7.75 one way, no tip. That's $15.50 (still no tip) round trip, each day. This is just going approximately 3 miles! Now, I live in NY for a stint, and it was less that $5 to go crosstown or from midtown to downtown. Then (as I smoked outside on the library steps, it dawned on me) It's only 3 miles from uptown NYC to Downtown. I guess the traffic just makes it seem longer. But a bus or subway is way cheaper, then you don't deal with traffic, just crowds of people. And there are plenty of streetpeople, but they seem to act different in the city than most people's concept. They usually don't harass you as much since Disney came to town. At least in Atlanta, they have busses and trains and I can get around with no car, and even though I was mugged in Atlanta about 8 years ago, it wasn't by a streetperson. And even when I did live there, I rarely saw street people. I guess they had a good idea with the 96 Olympics when they PAID the streetpeople, and put them on a bus for New Orleans. (Go figure). See, they still got more.
Anyone got a smoke?

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10:50:35 AM EST
          Yes, the thought of re-cycled toilet paper make you wanna go ewwwww...(if you've read Dorn's "Dust Bunny Club " Journal)  But I had a recent ewwww yesterday.
       A few months ago, when I came to being where I am, I was working for my (so-I-thought) friend, helping her with her restaurant business. One morning I was unloading the meat truck and a box of frozen chicken dropped on my toes! Yes, bullseyed both my big piggies! The next day , of course, they were black and blue, but not broken. Then a few days later, underneath the nail turned into a lovely icky blister. So, of course I had to stick a needle in them and drain them. (EWWWWW) well, what was left turned into a lovely dried up scab (under the nail) this in turn turned into a lovely cruddy mess. So now it's been 3 months and finally, I was able to pry those ugly ass toes nails off my toes! (It's amazing what surgury you can do with a exacto knife and some tweezers) But alas, they came off, and I cleaned and scrapped them and low and behold , there are new nails under all that gobbly-gook!. SO I cleaned those up, and now have half-nails that are growing back. Ahhh just in time for spring and some open toed shoes!




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1:27:32 PM EST
Just thought I'd add these Photos to go with the Shambala Story below...


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12:16:27 PM EST
  Deslily had a big brain fart yesterday, (see her journal...I'm sure you all got the message) But before that , and she remembered how to do things on her journal...she did start this page for me! We were chatting on friday and needed some pics to add to my blog/journal and she sent this one along. And since she added Shambala's link to the blogspot, I thought I'd add this photo of me too.
   This of course, is Timbo, over me, that is. I had gone to visit mom when she was living in California and volunteering at Shambala during the weekends. So of course, I had to go and see all the great animals that were there.( If I remember correctly, this was after the earthquake, and her camping for a week outside, incident.)
   If you've read about, or seen some of the pics from Shambala, then you already know it is an animal preserve run by Tippi Hedren. Along with Timbo are lions, tigers, (no bears, oh my) and some other exotic animals. At one point I know ther was a very large albino python (mom will send the pic and I'll post it later.)
While there, it was an "Open House" weekend. One weekend a month Shambala is open to the public for tours. I took the tour along with the other guests, while mom did her volunteer work.       Along the way, the trainers (or keepers) are usually with the animals to talk to the guests. I remember one very funny incident. Walking along past the animal pens, we came upon the male lion. Now, the trainer had been in there with the big cat, just to make sure the animal wasn't aroused by the guests, even though the lion was from a circus or zoo and had, at one time probably entertained guests. As we approached the pen, the trainer warned the guests not to get too close to the pen boundry. But, by this time it was too late! No, the lion did not attack the fence, or the trainer. The Lion simply had walked up to the fence, then turned around to walk back towards the trainer. During which time, the lion "sprayed" a few guests! I was glad I wasn't among them, I stayed to the back of the crowd! The cat was just marking his territory and a few people, too! I laughed so had I was crying, and was glad I wasn't hit. Those of us that have house cats know what a fatal smell cat spray can be!(If not nutered.) I obviously had someone watching over me that day, and a few people brought home a souvenir that they probably didn't forget for a long while!

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12:07:24 PM EST
A Birthday Conversation between Cats....
Meercat 1 : Did you hear it's DESLILY's Birthday today??!
Meercat 2 : No really? I heard she doesn't like them. So , how old is she?
Meercat 3: (whisper...whisper...whisper...)
Meercat 4: WOW! Is that ,like, in Dingo years??!!


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