Back on line

Well: I know it's been a long time since I've been online with this blog. Sorry. Since my last blog, I've lost my mom, not been very successful finding a permanent job, had some very tiring health issues, and just been a bit out of it.

I am now trying to get something started in memory of my mom. It is going to be dedicated to veterans who are confined to a wheelchair. My mom always made blankets. They were made as quilts or afghans and she loved making them for the homeless people. I kind of feel that many of the veterans in the US are what we can consider "homeless". Yes they have a roof over their heads, but, they have been either injured in a conflict or have now deteriorated so much from their time in the military that they can no longer function without the help of a wheelchair. Some are even confined to the bed for the rest of their lives. We need to give back to them as much as we can. I am a veteran, but am still able to walk and function on my own. I am visiting a Veteran's Hospital for my medical care at this time and have seen so many vets who are riding around in our very cold climate (PA) and can see that they are very uncomfortable and many times very cold.

My project is called "Belle's Blankets for Vets". It is named after my mom, Annabelle, and I hope she is looking down on me blessing this project. If anyone is interested in either making a blanket, afghan, or quilt for a vet, please contact me at eirland@aol.com. I have started making afghans from all of the extra yarn that was left over after my mom passed away. I know that she would be pleased if I use the yarn for something like this. If you don't know how to knit or crochet, please pass this on to someone you know who does know how. If you have someone who has a bunch of yarn that can be used to make an afghan, please contact me. If you know of a vet who is in need of this service, please contact me as well. Realize that all requests for "blankets" will need to be verified for authenticity and it may take some time before the "blanket" gets there since at this time, it is just me making them. So please be patient and as much help as you can give me would be greatly appreciated.

It's a new day

Well! Have any of you been watching the Democratic National Convention? I have been and wonder how you feel about it. I have been for Hillary since I saw her and listened to her in Scranton High School. She is a very good and effective speaker. The speech she gave at the convention was inspiring and to hear the one delegate afterward saying that it was a Presidential Speech, I was taken back. She was totally right. That speech was fantastic. It could have been her acceptance speech with just the slightest bit of tweaking.

Does anyone agree that if Florida and Michigan had been included in the early counting, Hillary would have been the person giving the speech tonight and not Barack? I really feel that this year's election process was a setup. The democratic machine didn't want Hillary even though many of them played around like they did. They wanted Barack and they did everything to make it impossible for her. But she held her ground until it was not possible anymore.

I think we have a great uphill climb for us to take out the Republicans this year. Joe Biden will help the ticket, but, I really think we still have a lot to do. And Barack's wife can't really hide her feelings. She wouldn't be a good gambler. You could read it in her face that she wasn't happy that Hillary's speech was received so greatly. It was received much better than Joe Biden's and even President Clinton's. That's because it was so much better written and delivered than either of the other two.

Now to get to Barack. I think that the way they are just talking about him as his personality is totally wrong. He has ideas about the way the country should be run. He has ideas about how to help the world. His ideals are what this election should be about, not his personality and how much people like or dislike him.

I think the democratic party is the right way to go this time. I am a Democrat, but am also a person who feels that if I see a person who is better for the job, I will vote for him/her. The person can be green, blue, man, woman, democratic, republican, independent, tall, short, fat, skinny. You get the picture. No matter what the person looks like or believes, if it is what I believe is best for the country, that person will get my vote.

McCain doesn't even come close to my beliefs. Obama/Biden/Clinton do. So if any one of these three people had eventually won the nomination, I would have voted for them. I'm not sure if I trust Obama as much as I trust Hillary, but, his platform is as close to what I believe as Hillary's is. So, he will get my vote come election day and I will do anything that I can to help, even though I can't leave the house very much with my responsibilities to my mom.

So, now you must be the one to make the same decision. I hope you can do it, but whatever you do, make sure that you do vote. Don't give up and not vote just because it isn't Hillary that is on the ticket. We all have a responsibility to ourselves, our families and our friends to make our beliefs and values known whatever they are. We definitely have to take back our country and get it back on track. Please Get out and vote.

A long time coming

It has been a very long time since I have written, so, this will be just something to update what I have been up to. In the past couple years, I have gone from being an assistant manager at a retail store to the manager of the same store and am now unemployed. I am looking, but will not go back into retail. After 20+ years in that field, I'm done. So, for the time being, I am a full time caregiver for my mom who is 85 years old and is in very failing health. This is the way it needs to be and I am sure that this is not going to change in the very near future. If something great comes around, yes, I will take it and mom will again have people coming in to stay with her. But, I will not take just any job. It will have to be what I'm looking for before I will take it. I have also begun to write the book that I have been thinking about for many years. I am having a problem getting the research tools I need and am having to invest more money than I had hoped, but, I will get it back in the long run, I'm sure. If it works out, I'm going to contact the local newspaper as well and see if I can do a column for q&a for the craft I'm writing about. They've already seen my writing skills with at least one editorial that I've had published. Wish me luck with this endeavor. I'm hoping to have the book finished by Christmas and ready for publication.

Inventory Shminventory!!!!

I am a retail manager for a well-known company called Rite Aid. Once a year, each store has to undertake an inventory of all of the merchandise that is inside their building. This can be one of two things, very easy or very difficult. In my case, our store is going to be difficult for two reasons. One is our Pharmacist, who feels that her only responsibility is to take care of her butt by placing it on a stool in the Pharmacy and looking at bottles of pills that have been counted and packaged by RX techs. The other is at least one person who does nothing in the store other than what she is directly told to do. This makes it a bit cumbersome to ensure that all is readied for the task of counting.

There is a group of people from a company who comes in to actually complete the task of counting the items, but your store must be prepared in order for it to be a successful inventory. Well, As you might imagine, if all are not willing or capable of helping to ready your store, you may end with a very stressful few weeks before the day of reckoning.

I do feel that we have pulled together better than I had originally thought would be possible. We have all but a few items finished and with that being said, I'm sure we'll come up with little picky things that we missed. For instance, today I spent most of the day scanning items where labels used to be but are no more. This makes for stress for the inventory techs. I printed out 13 pages of labels (36 to a sheet). But I know that there are probably some that I missed. When you are looking at labels all day, you tend to not see any more. Or if you are seeing, it's double that your eyes are envisioning.

But this inventory helps give me a bonus at the end, so say a prayer that it goes as planned.

Old Classic Movies

Have you ever noticed how easy it is to watch old movies over and over again? I tend to watch the Turner Classic Movie Channel all the time. It seems that no matter how many times I've seen the movies that are on, I'll watch them again. I think I was born in the wrong era. I see myself in the place of many of the stars in these movies and feel that they should be the story of my life. All of them put together would be the greatest adventure of all time.

My very favorite of all are the musicals with Frank Sinatra or Gene Kelly or Fred Astaire or the likes. They've always been my favorites. I don't know why I didn't follow that dream when I attended college and became a music teacher in school. I play a number of instruments and could play many more if I put my mind to it and could really do a good job teaching and getting kids interested in music if given the chance. But I guess I thought it was a dead end profession. My bad.

My intention is to learn as many instruments as I can before I die and even if I can't play them to perfection, it will be special that I can at least play them. I also hope to pass this love for music on to my grandchildren if possible. It is so important to me to let them realize the potential there can be in music. I've found that there is very theraputic value in music as well as the feeling of personal acheivement. Self-esteem is built through music. Discipline is also a by-product of music. Relaxation is one of the greatest benefits of music. And when you can present the music yourself, it is even more relaxing.

So if you are interested in something, please learn from this lesson. Pursue it. Don't let it go by the wayside just because you may not think it is lucrative. Dreams are the most important things in your life. From your dreams, come your life. Take care to follow the dreams you have and perhaps your life will be all you wish.

reunions

Reunions can really be a great thing. I've been trying to get a reunion together for my class' 35th reunion. As one of my classmates said, "wow, has it been that long?" It doesn't seem like it could have been that long, but it has. Guys, we're getting old. But I don't feel old. At least not everyday.

I attended one school for eleven years of my education and then that school was closed. So I had to change schools and attend another one for the last two years of my basic education. When I went to this new school, I went as a group of about six students and we had come from a class of 30 students. The new school we were attending had about 300 in each graduating class. Can you imagine how we felt? We were like Tom Thumb living in a world of regular sized people. But it didn't take long to realize that many of the others who were coming into this school were coming from the same situation and eventually, we all got together and although, I never did meet all the members of my graduating class, I think that I knew the names of most of them.

As I started trying to get this reunion started, there was one person who sent me a message, saying, "Do I know you?" And to tell you the truth, I don't remember everyone who I am writing to either. But what an opportunity to actually meet the people that you hadn't been able to meet when you were in school. I'd love to be able to say that by the 40th reunion, I have actually been able to speak with by snail mail or e-mail to everyone who was in my class. Granted that some of them are no longer living, but, those of us who are, should take this time to re-acquaint ourselves with as many as we can. After all, we spent at least two years of our lives in the same "hallowed halls". Who knows, maybe a great friendship will be found that didn't exist when we were in those same "halls".

So I will do my best to enable all of us who are available to find something that we missed during our time together years ago, while also continuing whichever enduring relationships were there to begin with.

Mother's Day Remembered

Oh! To have a wonderful mother's day. I worked this mother's day and that was fine, because I chose to do so. My son is in New Mexico and my daughter is still with me and had already given me a great present for my use. A digital camera. My mother was with my sister in Philadelphia and wouldn't be back til later on mother's day. So why not work and allow someone else whose family was available to take advantage of the day. I had my mother's day celebration with my mom today when we took her out to dinner. She seemed to enjoy it and was given everything she wanted to eat. So it was worth it.

I wonder who actually started the mother's day celebration? I will be right back. I must find out where and when it started. Well. Click the link to find out more about mother's day's history.

http://wilstar.com/holidays/mothers.htm

If you've read what was on this link, then you realize that it started long ago and is a wonderful thing to celebrate. I know that there are many days when I could kill my mother as I'm sure she could likewise do to me. But, my mom is one of the most important people to me and that's as it should be.