Category Archive: Things

The Incovenience of All This Convenience

I went to Costa Rica by accident. I mean, I knew nothing about Costa Rica, or why I wanted to go there. That was in 1992. A couple of years later I was in Africa, then the Yucatán Peninsula, and after that, a riverboat on the Amazon.  I became a traveler well-after I became a mother of teens.  How did I get so adventurous? How did I discover irresistible deals? Elizabeth.

I met Elizabeth at Riverside Plaza, the same building I met Cathy, my “redeployment specialist.” Cathy was there to cheer-lead me to a new career, and reassure me of my value. Elizabeth sent me off on my first international travel.

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Living in Abundance

I’ve been in mourning.  Mourning the loss of my freedom.  Wishing to have more without giving anything up.  I made a list of all the things that make be cry when I think about leaving my business of free-lance writing and consulting:  long commutes, walking in my yard anytime I want, my office, lunch with Loved-One, fluidity…

I know, I know.  In these economic times, I should be happy that I have this opportunity.  Especially, since I was minding my own business and two, yes, two firms contacted me.  I’m really am sooo lucky.

So why do I feel sad?

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Abortion and the Presidency

English: United States Supreme Court justice H...
United States Supreme Court justice Harry Blackmun. Photo from official public domain Supreme Court multimedia 

Every year, on the anniversary of Roe v Wade, I set out to research and read the Supreme Court Opinion and share my own opinion.  Every year I chicken out or I get lazy, or something else is more pressing.  I know my opinion is sure to anger both my pro-life and my pro-choice friends, many of whom see things through a black-and-white, all-or-nothing lens.  As in so many things in life’s journey, this issue a complex one.

But this is an election year, and many people will vote for their President based on his position on this issue alone.  So it’s high time I did the research.  But first the disclaimers:

You will find no pictures in this post of fetuses, babies, or demonstrators on either side of the divide.  I support Barack Obama; I tend to vote Democrat.  I am pro-life.

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Cecil Lyon and Eliza B.

Did you ever buy something you just love and then can’t find it again?  Did you ever get so delighted with a purchase that you had to tell someone?  Did you ever meet someone who impressed you with his or her commitment to quality?  All three things happened to me just before I went on my camping trip.  (Spoiler alert:  remember last week’s Photo Friday.)

I bought these great pair of flip-flops in Hilton Head.  I was attending a conference and the flip-flop sandals were an end-of-season-great-price in the resort gift shop.  The flip-flops were $30.  On sale.  It was 10 whole years ago.

What? You’re probably asking.  $30 for a pair of flip-flops?  I hate to shop; I’m not that woman who moans when she smells good shoe-leather. (That’s my sister, Deanna.)  Still, every once in a while, I decide to treat myself to something purely unnecessary; something that makes me feel pampered; something a wee bit extravagant.

This year, one of the sandal toe-ribbons on my flip-flop broke.  Oh how I love that gentle gross-grain ribbon between my toes; no break-in-my-flip-flop blisters to welcome me to summer.   Okay, maybe it is time I gave them up anyways.  The fabric is getting a little tattered looking.

My 10 year-old sandal; the one with the ribbon still intact. Okay, it IS a little worn out.

 

Yes, I was wearing the same sandals for the past 10 years.  A quick trip in the washer, and dried in the sun, and I am set to go again.  Good as new.  Lucky for me, the leather Peanut still proclaimed loud and clear:  Eliza B.  So for $30 over 10 years, that’s just $3 a year.  A pretty good deal.  One I want to repeat.

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A Bitter Pill to Swallow

Harold Cole Watkins, PhD, overcome with remorse, killed himself one rainy night in late 1937.  A few months earlier, Dr. Watkins was on cloud nine. His new, sweet, raspberry-flavored, Elixir Sulfanilamide made it possible for parents to administer the bitter sulfa medicine to their children sick with Streptococcus infections, commonly known as strep throat.  A few months earlier, Dr. Watkins was on cloud nine. His new, sweet, raspberry-flavored, Elixir Sulfanilamide made it possible for parents to administer the bitter sulfa medicine to their children sick with Streptococcus infections.  Sore throats.

A pharmacist employed by S.E. Maassengil Co., Dr. Watkins met the company’s goal in response to public demand for a liquid form of the hard to swallow pill.  Now, over a hundred people were dead, most of them children.  Some children died in their mother’s

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