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HIGHLIGHTS - 2000 * January to July * |
[ * August to December - 2000 * }
J A N U A R Y
Well, I just got back from the other place, sat with the B's cats and Tracey, the Doberman, and watched the change of years on TV. The two Bs went somewhere, so I was alone, as usual with some snugly WARM animals!
The new year came in at Times Square, New York, with Mayor Giuliani smiling his head off as that Waterford crystal ball dropped and the record crowd went wild. I sort of wish I could have been there!
The Washington event was kewl, with a moving speech by Clinton, and a spectacular fireworks display around the Washington Monument. It was NOT really all that warm, but people were seen standing and playing in the "reflecting pool", that long pond in front of the obelisk.
In Philadelphia, my birthplace, the fireworks continued for way longer than in the other two places.
I think the world experienced the BIGGEST SCAM of the 1900s with that damn Y2k bug-- people stocking up on tons of bottled water, supermarkets selling "staples" like mad, others renting power generators for the big blackout and other seemingly "reasonable" things. The MEDIA once again proved its effectiveness in helping sell now useless stuff! And government agencies around the world had their finances padded with piles of money to prepare for NOTHING - NO Y2k glitches and NO terrorism! I find it VERY amusing!
Summing up, the year ended with a LOT of really HAPPY people - NO Y2k glitches - all the lights are still on, the water runs, the heat is on, the telephone works, my computer did NOT die on me, the Internet still functions, cars are moving in the streets, there are NO emergency sirens going off anywhere, and I am able to write this brief new years report-- and I still have NOT had any champagne to celebrate the start of this YEAR BEFORE the NEW MILLENNIUM! I really hope that it will be a GREAT one for all of humanity.
My brother invited me to New Years dinner and I actually went. The boys were playing a new computer game, something about zombies in a chemical plant-- VERY realistic and loads of fun!
Pork chops, baked sauerkraut, mashed potatoes, ice cream and pumpkin pie-- all favorites of mine! I took a gift box of a bottle of Perrier-Jouet champagne (1990) and two of those neat flower enameled champagne flutes, one for Peter and the other for Matt. After a brief rest after dinner, we all went to the local Church for Mass, with guitar music, abundant three color varities of Poinsettias and all. Was kewl! I even brought back all the bones for the cats, who are now enjoying them, and one of Chris's cakes for my birthday on the 14th-- which I started already!
María de las Mercedes de Borbón y Orleans, mother of King Juan Carlos of SPAIN, died in Lanzarote (Canary Islands) on 2 January. She was 89 years old.
OK, the cake is gone - days ago! Tonight it is below 0, including the wind-chill - I can NOT see out of the windows due to the ice crystals - BUT
TODAY IS MY BIRTHDAY !
And I do NOT feel a day older than 24! Which is only 36 years LESS than I am just completing!
And because I seem to be an old FOSSIL -
I Get Taken For A Birthday Ride
The 14th was rather uneventful. Nothing special, EXCEPT a bunch of birthday greetings from friends via email ( a couple are in my latest personal GUEST BOOK section) and one from my brother via snail mail, cute web postcards, even one with a VOICE message - GAWD, how this cyber medium is rapidly advancing! Thanks to you all for your kind messages. Curious that I did NOT get one from my "bestest" friend in Trenton! At least that is what he suggests when he wants me to do something for him! Live and learn!
Then Sluggy suggested that we get together on the 15th with ALISON, whom I have not seen in ages. So, I thought, why not - it is a chance to get out of the apartment for a while and actually be able to talk to some breathing live people instead of my usual "impersonal" cyber exchanges.
Denise, a.k.a. SLUGGY actually found my place this time and we were off - after going the wrong way, following my instructions! All the way to Willow Grove (Pennsylvania), where I had not been since I was a kid, and sort of remember going to Willow Grove Park and the amusements and lakes or something (VERY hazy recollections). We talked up a storm and the trip seemed VERY short, although it probably took us at least an hour to get there.
Alison
was waiting for us in the parking lot 
- she looked a lot YOUNGER than
she does at the flea market, and as exuberant, vivacious and charming
as ever! Then to a sumptuous Chinese buffet which awaited us!
They had a kewl salt water aquarium with all kinds of critters
happily swimming around 
. After hours of munching (my fortune cookie says - "Your co-workers take pleasure in your
great sense of creativity" and my
LUCKY NUMBERS are : 5, 11, 17, 19, 22, 25 - so if you play them
and they win zillions, please remember me!) and talk of Beanies and other
things 
,
and the approach of nightfall, we headed out for some scavenging
at a couple local malls, where just about every place had discounts
of 50 - 75% on loads of stuff. I actually picked up a couple Beanies and Attics, and
my FIRST Clubby II kits - 3 Beanies or small ATTICS for $10, and the kits were the same 10 buckies! WOW, how things
have changed in the 13 months or so since I was last out! I also
HAD TO get my first coffee in hours, as I was already becoming
lethargic, nearing a catatonic state!
At the local Sears, Alison just had to stop at the
vacuum cleaner section to check out the Hoover hose sizes (a "local"
joke!). 
After they both adopted bags full of treasures, Alison bid adieu and Sluggy and I headed back to Trenton, via another stop at the Franklin Mills shopping center, another place I had not been to in ages! The unfortunate thing about the trip is that I was so excited to be getting out, I forgot to bring my cane, and each time we got back into her car it was more of a chore! How I wish that ALL of my "chores" would be as pleasant!
We had some munchables at the nearby Wendy's - where I do not think I ever ate before - and they had these cute WILD LIFE Beanie-type toys with the Kid's Meals. Once I saw the cute critters I was once again transformed into my usual juvenile self and Sluggy treated her "kid" to another meal. And the girl even gave me TWO toys when I almost cried and said I liked two of them, a neat coral fish that seems to be a change purse, and a kewl bee! Then Sluggy got the hint, and she too started sniffling about if I got two, why did she not get more than one! She got the same two!
THANKS, girls, for a great birthday treat and an excursion to remember!
S N O W !!
GAWD, has it been COLD and snowy! It snowed 5 times, and is so cold that none of it melts very much, so the streets, sidewalks and everywhere are still covered with the nice white stuff. I sort of enjoy it, BUT the cold gets to me for some reason. With the wind-chill, temperatures have not really gone above freezing for over a week already.
* F E B R U A R Y *
If
you have been following my YES for the last couple years you know that I got my UMAX (the LAST Apple clone maker) SuperMAC computer
(250 MHz), 3 Gb hard drive, OS 8.0, 13" screen, when I started
my site. 
Well, while I was at Sam's Club the first week of this month I saw a DEAL that really caught my attention - a G3 iMAC, OS 8.6, 333 MHz (mega Hertz), 6 Gig (Gigabytes) HD (hard drive), new USB (Universal System Bus) equipped, higher Bus speed, 24x CD, keyboard, transparent mouse, 15" monitor, 56k Modem - PLUS all kinds of software loaded, including the newer version of Adobe PageMill, the program I use to make my pages. And the flavor is LIME! Really kewl! Sam's never carried MACs before this, but they have always had many kinds of PCs.
OK, so what?-- you say! The speed is not all that super. With the new USB, NONE of my older periferals, such as the scanner and printer can be connected without special adaptors, which are NOT guaranteed to work. How the hell do I get my needed files from the UMAX to the iMAC? I can NOT use the floppy disks to load some of my older programs because the iMAC does NOT have a floppy drive. I could attempt to "network" both machines, BUT I have never done that before and have NOT the foggiest idea how it is done.
I reply - IF I had so much $$ to spend on a model I really like, I would get the newer high-end G4 with at least 500 MHz, CD R-W (compact disk read-write) / DVD (digital video disk) with twice the memory and a superior bus speed, plus movie editing and FIREWIRE equipped - and a flat-screen monitor. OR waited for the next generation, which I assume will appear later this year, with OSX. In any of these cases, the monitor is sold separately, thus increasing the cost considerably.
OK, I said to myself, it is really about time to upgrade - so I rushed back and the 10 they had were already sold! I speeded over, through the snow and all, to another Sam's and they had 3 left, so I grabbed one - at a measly $599!! THANK YOU, all you lucky eBay winners of my treasures, for providing me with $$ to pay MOST of my outstanding bills and to get a new puter! S M O O C H !!
It is still in the box until I can figure out how to transfer my old files - then I shall make a surprise visit to Peter, Matthew and Mandy (my brother's kids) with my UMAX setup. They will probably flip! Now they can finally play the X-Files interactive game I gave them two Christmas' ago!
S N O O P Y
Snoopy first appeared on 2 October 1950. The antics of the PEANUTS gang - Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Lucy, Linus, Schroeder, Spike, Woodstock, Sally, Pigpen and all the others came to an end on 13 February 2000.
Charles M. Schulz, the creator of this much-loved cartoon, was born
in Minneapolis on 26 November 1922. He died of colon cancer (the
same thing I was treated for) at his home in Santa Rosa, California
on 12 February 2000, just hours before the last PEANUTS cartoon appeared in
the newspapers! 
The
world will miss him and his cartoon kids.
Something is "Fishy"
I was SHOCKED to find, on my last visit to the koi ponds, that the large upper pond was almost completely thawed-out at the surface and ALL of my REALLY BIG koi were dead! So much for the care that Bart takes of things! Although he did "create" a large, rather elaborate "filter system" behind the back wall of the former greenhouse so that he would not have to frequently clean out the original smaller ones I bought- and they did seem to work well.
After the years that I tested the water, cleaned out all of the leaves and stuff on the bottom, immediately checked things when they did not seem right, took all the plants out for the winter, always kept some part of the surface ice-free during the winters, and the many other little details one has to attend to -- all that gone! And the bottom pond is still completely ice covered, so I assume that the ones down there are all dead also. And last week I saw them moving slowly on the bottom of the pond, which is what they do during the winter - the pond bottom does not freeze. Even the water looked weird - it was all whitish, as if somebody had poured something into it. I never saw it like that before.
So I emailed him (headed **URGENT**) asking what had happened, and was surprised to find a reply within a few hours - he has been online rarely lately (or so he says). He said that they had been dying for some days, and that he was "deeply distraught by this", BUT I, knowing him, cannot imagine him "distraught" over anything. Since he saw them dying for, as he says, about a week, why did he NOT call me or change the water or something? I would have been there IMMEDIATELY to try to save MY poor fish! The place is only on the north end of Trenton, about 6 minutes away! Why does it seem that I can understand a fossil walrus skull or Mastodon tooth better than I can comprehend how and why MOST people act and do some of the things they consistently do? Is it because I expect too much from them OR that my logic and expectations are somehow flawed? It may be one of the perplexing questions that will remain unanswered until my next life! I DO realize that NOBODY is "perfect", including myself-- it is just VERY annoying!.
OK, so I called my brother about getting a table ready for my UMAX, only to find that he was going out to buy a computer later that day! Oh, well, it was a nice thought anyway.
I have gotten a "cross-over cable",
hoping to link my 2 computers via File Sharing, BUT could not
get it to work. Probably some setting is incorrect. Then it occured
to me that I have a ZIP drive from a former computer, got it out, hooked it
up and loaded all the stuff that I want to transfer onto 4 disks
-
it may have taken 5 minutes! Now I am waiting for the USB ZIP drive to
get here from California to actually do the transfer and start
using my new iMac.
Getting TIREd
So I go out to get food because there is none left in the house, and find that the FOUR tires on the Festiva were slashed overnight! Cops called - said that another car on the other street was damaged also. Called insurance - could not understand the lady because her southern accent was so accentuated and she hung up after I said I could not understand what she was saying! The neighbor said he would take the car on his flat-bed to the tire place some miles away.
That was TWO days ago and the car is still sitting there! The neighbor never got around to moving it. The insurance company is mad at me because they asked me "What is the tire place going to do with the tires", and I replied "Hey, I do not care if they eat the things!" I called 2 towing companies and they are NOT sure they can get the Festiva to the place BEFORE 17h, when they close.
Incidentally, when I was working on the shop before Christmas, hoping to open "for business" for the holidays (after some 8 years! I never finished the work I wanted to do, so it never opened), I moved the surveillance camera from the window facing the car to inside the shop - so I did NOT capture the assholes who slashed the tires on video! I already moved it back to the window facing the car.
So I am stuck in the freekin apartment and actually did something! A neighbor kid helped me move some 20 LARGE boxes and plastic containers to the shop, downstairs. Now I have to, eventually move the crap somewhere else after sorting through it all! At least now I can see the book shelves, open file cabinet drawers and move around the apartment without worrying about breaking a leg! Actually this was STEP ONE to getting my new computer set up, which was a blessing in disguise. I still have about 12 smaller boxes to move, and then I can mop and dust and all those normal things - and finally get my new iMac out of the box!
Just when I was saving $$ to pay the back taxes BEFORE 8 March and, once again, the place may be auctioned off, this new expense enters in - since I have an insurance DEDUCTIBLE, I assume that MOST of the expense of towing and the 4 new tires will come out of my pocket! Life sucks sometimes!
WOW, another neat character analysis!
Medieval Vocational Personality
"Even though we now appear to have the freedom to explore many different career alternatives, we still have a medieval vocational personality within each of us. This personality, properly identified and understood, can motivate our success but, if ignored, may set the stage for our ultimate failure. Since times appeared to be simpler then, let us return to the kingdoms of medieval Europe and see what we would have done then, regardless of what our names are now."
Mine turned out to be -
"Your distinct personality, The Discoverer, might be found in most of the thriving kingdoms of the time. Your overriding goal is to go where no one else has ever gone before. Regardless of the number of available natural problems to be solved, it is not unusual for you to continually challenge yourself with new situations or obstacles that you have created. You are an insatiable explorer of people, places, things and ideas. You thrive on constant change and anything new or different. On the positive side, you can be creatively rational as well as open minded and just. On the negative side, you might be an impractical and indecisive procrastinator. Interestingly, your preference is just as applicable in today's corporate kingdoms."
OK, so Carlos, the neighbor, got my Festiva
loaded and taken for new tires 
. Now I can get some food and
stuff.
GAWD, this switching from
one computer to the other is MORE
difficult than I had imagined! 
I
was able to transfer most of my files via ZIP disks 
-- sort of a form of VIRTUAL ZIP COPULATION (is it like "cyber sex"?)!
BUT, the Kodak camera software is NOT
compatible with the iMac, so I still have to use the old computer
to get the pics from the camera and do the formatting, etc., then
use a ZIP to get them to the iMac
and process them with the new version of PageMill.
I am using a different font now, which one may do with the 3.0 version of PageMill - hope it shows up on the Internet exactly as I am doing it?? Kewl, huh? I just read the program specs, and MY font selections only show up IF the viewer's computer has them installed on his/her puter in their FONT folder in the System Folder, which is logical.
I did NOT sleep last night trying to get the major stuff transferred and am sort of tired already! What this means is that I shall have to use BOTH computers for a while, until I find out if Kodak has an updated program for the iMac (I assume that they should). PLUS, all of my scanning will have to be done on the old UMAX!
And for the first time since I have been on the Internet - over 4 years already, my iMac internal modem actually connects at close to 50bps! My old external modem was supposed to work that fast BUT I never got on at more than about 33bps!
* M A R C H *
Well, after 3 years I finally stumbled across how to do a link map on a page - meaning what you saw on my main index page when you got here. I was just "playing" with the new version of PageMill that came with the iMac, and low and behold - something I did led me to press more buttons and there it was!
I have been up for about three whole days fabricating the composite pic and arranging the new links and all. I must have tried about 8 different versions, and still am NOT totally happy with the results, but it is kewl as shit compared to what has been there for a couple years already! (at least I think so!) I still have to redo the main toy link page, more or less in the same way.
I also found out how to download new pics from my old digital Kodak DC50 to the new iMac, so all that is pending now is a new scanner when I can find some extra $$. The new one will have to have a slide adaptor so I can scan the zillions of slides I have from my years in Europe, and finally start working on that part of my memoirs.
A Taxing Situation
So I finally was able to go to the local property tax office to pay my backdue taxes. The properties were already listed in the newspaper for the next city sale of "delinquent taxpayers"!! Trenton seems like a great city to get places cheap at these sales-- they had some 3 FULL pages of them, hundreds of listings-- which suggests that people would rather let the city take them then pay the stupid overvalued and inflated tax bills in the generally unkept and dumpy neighboorhoods!
The lady at the office took so long to do her calculations, and she was even using a computer-- so I sat in a chair and closed my eyes and almost fell asleep! She finally woke me up and handed me some papers. Then I go to pay only to find out that what she calculated was about $500 MORE than what the original paper stated! Hey, me being as calm and collected as usual, went back and LOUDLY, with other people standing in line, said that I have a suspician that she made an error. She redid the thing in about 500% less time than her first calculation, and simply handed me back the new figure-- which was the same as that on my original bill!. So, to rub it in, I asked her what the problem was-- and she replied that she had made a mistake. GAWD, some mistake! I guess I had taken away from her travel fund-- she did have nice screensavers of palm-lined beaches on her puter!
So now that is done, and I only OWE the current quarter -- the property taxes are due quarterly.
GAWD, Another Trip
Bernie went to Maui, Hawaii for a week with the other B -- so I have to go over and feed his cats and Tracey, the doberman again -- at least I get to read the New York Times once more while the news is still fresh!
And he finally gave me my Christmas present -- a case of absolutely fantastic red wine. I was hoping that he would have come over to give it to me at the apartment, but for some reason, he does not find the time!
Last Friday, one of his Sphynx cats was found dead -- the male that was totally hairless! Was discovered by one of his "roommate" boarders-- is now in the freezer until he gets hack from Hawaii. I assume he will be distraught over the news. The cat was so friendly and all, and I do not think he was more than a year old. I assume that he fell from his favorite perch on top of a heating pipe, but that would be strange. Maybe his heart gave out after a full night of wild sex?
And on the 22nd my Guichi had 4 kittens. I found the first one cold on the kitchen floor, and it was AT LEAST 4 times the size of the other 3! One of the others, all sort of blackish, died a day later, seemingly crushed when her aunt laid on top of her. The other 2 appear to be doing OK -- thus far!
BACK AGAIN
OMG, today I was packing eBay stuff to send out, reached down for some shredded paper and for the second time in 2 weeks, my lower back got out of whack! Is this old age? So I have been walking like a hunchback, having to hold onto everything along the path. It is EXTREMELY painful.
I really have NOT been feeling too well lately, probably due to my weird sleep pattern, having to NOT move in bed because Guichi has her 2 kittens under the covers, have strange pains in my chest, and simply try to do MORE than one normally can in 24 hours-- although things such as apartment cleaning and the like have NOT fit into the "schedule" for many months already. And it really bothers me!
It is 6am now-- crawled into bed at about 2h and awoke at slightly past 4. I could not find a comfortable side to lay on to get back to sleep and decided to get up to send my latest winning bidders their emails. It is light already outside. What I may need is an extended period AWAY FROM the computer, and the cats, and the auctions, and the work that never seems to get done. Will I last that long?
* A P R I L *
Would you believe that it actually snowed twice last week? And there was enough to last on the ground most of the day!
The 2 new kitties are now 4 weeks old, and they spend most of the day in MY bed with the other 2 their mommy cat and another female (lesbian?) Sphynx I have. It makes it sort of difficult to sleep-- which I have been doing LITTLE of lately, anyway!
I still use the old UMAX computer to scan stuff for my auctions, and I may set it up on another table next to my new iMAC, IF I ever get the table from the other house. It does come in VERY handy for stuff.
With luck, I may get up early enough to get to the flea market about twice a month, instead of the WEEKLY as I used to do 14 months ago. I do not sell anything anyway, but it is just the habit of getting fresh air and seeing real live people once a week that keeps me going back, I think!
Packing stuff for my winning eBay bidders keeps me busy, and the never ending stuff I have to scan and make an item description for are a Herculean task! Hey, I even cleaned the apartment a LITTLE last week! Every little bit helps!
I also have to update my bears/toys section SOON. I hope to have a really great sale and giveaways (with adoptions!) in a couple weeks! Then maybe I shall finally sell something after almost 2 years of NOT a single order! ** KEEPING MY FINGERS CROSSED! **
Well, Easter is almost here again. As one gets older it seems as if one holiday comes a couple weeks after the last time!
I think I am catching a cold-- have been really ratty for about a week already, and the last few days find me sniffling and feeling dumpy. I really need a REAL rest, I think. Hey, I had better get my next batch of treasures ready for posting on eBay! Another couple hours of making item descriptions and all!!
Incidently, before I forget...
HAPPY EASTER and PASSOVER
Look What The Fishermen Caught!
Some guys were fishing-- all sweaty, probably drinking wine all day and chatting back and forth in Spanish. Along floats this kid on some kind of floating thing, and they fished him out of the Atlantic, somewhere off of Florida.
It turns out that the boy escaped from Cuba, as MANY have in the past - with or without success, and was one of the only survivors of the attempt. His DISTANT relatives in Florida take him in, and daily photos in ALL the media depicted him playing, with a dog, on a swing, ad nausium. They sold papers and had high viewer ratings!
His father wanted him back. Castro wanted him back. Clinton and Reno wanted to get him back to his dad. The obvious snag was the political, legal and other tactical ploys of the so-called family in the U.S. seeing it as "freedom" thing-- due to their distaste for the Castro regime AND, although the media did not play it up, on their financially MUCH better situation in the U.S.. I ask myself - IF Castro were gone and they had the chance to go "back home", how many of them would?
OK, so a lot of the local hick politicians, and "would bes" jumped on the band wagon, with demonstrations and other negative anti-social activities. The distant relatives and the government were in negotiations on how to get the boy back to his father, who was already in the U.S. waiting for the happy reunion. These same self-righteous APROVECHADOS kept making more excuses and demands of the authorities, totally flouting any reason or logic, except their own twisted pseudo-political agenda.
So the poor kid was being displayed at every waking moment, had to endure all the dumb ass contrivances of some people who called themselves kin, BUT probably never even saw him until he was rescued.
Then the law finally stepped in and he was "rescued" a second time and finally returned to his father. Loud cries of foul play, not allowing for yet more fruitless totally lopsided "negotiations", demands and legal tricks, use of force, etc., PLUS the obvious partisan political screams! FUCK THEM! Elian is now where he should be-- end of story! Incidentally, wouldn't it be a joke if his father, wife, other kid, and all the friends that seem to want to come over STAYED HERE??
I met Dr. Ruth Dixon Turner, a Harvard-based malacologist, at the funeral for Dr. Henry Pillsbry, one of the MOST classical names in shells, of the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia, in the late 1950s, as I remember. After the service, a few of the ANSP staff went somewhere for brunch, and they all signed something for me (even then I was into autographs!) I have it in a frame somewhere, and when I find it I shall include a scan. Dr. Turner was born on 7 December 1914 in Melrose, Massachusetts and died at the age of 85 in a nursing home on 30 April in Waltham, Massachusetts. "Do what sets you on fire. If you do what you love, you'll succeed", was her advice to her students.
* M A Y *
When I returned from my latest adventure in North Carolina, I found that Yakshini had 4 Siamese kittys! So I brought her into my bedroom and put mommy Sphynx and her 2 babies to roam the apartment and get used to the other cats. This means that I shall probably get another 4 weeks of little sleep while Yakshini jumps up, licks me, and eventually brings her kittens onto the bed. What fun! They are cute, and this is her first litter. One is a LOT smaller than the other 3.
WAVING AT YOU!
HEAT WAVING, that is! OMG, we have had 3 days of SWELTERING red hot days, ABOVE 90 degrees, and I do not have a working air conditioner! Until now I had the venetian blinds rolled up to let the Sun in -- NOW they are all down and closed to try to cool things off. This is ridiculous! I have absolutely NO energy to do anything.
O M G !!
Nicky was one of my favorite cousins, son of my Mother's brother. Unfortunately I had not seen him for probably over 20 years because they sort of "disappeared" for "political" reasons. My brother just sent me a reference to a Philadelphia NEWSPAPER article telling how he was shot to death outside of his home in that city on Wednesday, 10 May! A LATER STORY. When I receive more info I shall include it.
A somewhat naive presentation on the radical "sect" MOVE.
His last major film role was that of Prospero, in Prospero's Books, 1991, one of the most memorable films I have ever seen! Sir John Gielgud, the last of the GREAT classical Elizabethan actors (Laurence Olivier and Sir Ralph Richardson being the other two), was born on 14 April 1904 in London, and died on 21 May at his home near Aylesbury at the age of 96.
EDUCATION 2000 + Beyond
I do NOT find it surprising in the least that the top 3 winners in the National Spelling Bee were ALL taught at home! After teaching in the public schools, seemed like forever, my ONLY opinion of them is that they are a BIG waste of taxpayer's $$! There are way too many vested interests in keeping the DEAD WOOD teachers and administrators slothfully plodding along until retirement-time rolls around than in actually teaching the kids anything! Higher salaries are NOT the answer. Periodic testing of the teachers AND administrators IS THE ONLY SALVATION!! The teachers' unions are against this though -- is it not a tad strange? Some of the teachers I knew could NOT even speak English correctly! Had they to be tested, AT LEAST half of them would NOT pass! Then what?
ADD to this, the extremely POOR Parental Involvment found in many inner city schools -- the parents do NOT come in to see the teachers UNTIL the end of the school year when they get yet another notice that their kid/s are going to fail!! It is way too late by then!
And the 1st Prize winner was also came in 2nd place in the National Geography Competition some days earlier! Politics, as usual, and the future, IF there is to be one, of the children is at stake!
I started a couple new pages on the RARE BEARS I now have a few of...
* Limited Edition Bears and Sets * PROMO BEARS *
* J U N E *
There is a website, actually two by the same person, that deals with foster care children and the legal difficulties some people have with adopting these kids. Both sites received my Award for Internet Creativity. Incidently, BEFORE they received my Award, I received theirs for the BEANIE content of my site -- and believe it or not, there was NO connection between the 2 awards! I do NOT work like that!
In order to help Joanna out with her CONTESTS, I offered to be the "host" for her June contests, which, theoretically, bring more people to her site to read about the foster kids. So we shall be awarding some VERY RARE BEARS for 4 Fridays this month, and if it goes well, I may continue doing it next month.
I have ALWAYS tried to help others, within the limits of my means and ability. This brings up a recent thing, also along BEANIE lines :
A certain someone has a rather commercial BEANIE site, and a rather good one at that! Their posts are on ALL the BEANIE boards that I post on, and they ALWAYS add a LINK to their page and contests, etc.. So I posted a couple things on their board about my page with 23 LINKS to other posting boards in the United States and Europe (which is helpful to those new at trading/selling/buying of toys - collectibles for their collections), and received the following email from them : << Repeatedly you have posted links to other sites from our message board. You are no longer welcome on our message board. We do not want you posting anymore. We welcome posts but don't welcome links or lists of websites because it is in direct competition to our website and we pay a lot of money to advertise our site. people can post email addresses >>
Hey, I can "sort of" empathize, in a way! I do NOT have shopping carts and all that other crap because I envisioned my site as NONcommercial, simply as a way for me to offer my goodies at a couple $$ more than what I paid for them at retail. ALL of my treasures are NOT available in the stores, and I foresaw providing a SERVICE to collectors, NOT trying to make millions! And I do NOT have PAID advertisers anywhere on my site, while MOST of the others do, which means that they are making $$ without doing anything at all! I always thought that exposure and competition were keywords to success? PLUS, in big business, take the Bill Gates affaire as a great example, trying to monopolize is against the law.
Matter of fact, I have NOT sold a single thing from my site for almost 2 years! So much for the BOOM in internet commerce over the last couple years! I have FUN working on my site, and it takes my mind off of physical problems and other negative things which constantly seem to appear in my life. Amen!
Do You Also Have T Bills??
After a few days of exercise in the form of going to the flea market and to a country auction about 30 minutes from home, the last week of this month saw me barely able to move! All of a sudden my hip was SO painful that I was almost crawling around the apartment!
I went to take a pill, which I rarely ever do, and found the container empty -- I had NOT been to the orthopedist in over 2 years and the prescription was probably at least that old already. So I called the HMO phone number I have on the list posted on my bulletin board, right beside the computer. Got a freekin recording telling me to call the phone number on my insurance card. NO PROBLEM, it is in my wallet.
OK, slight glitch, it was NOT in my wallet -- looked all over my desk for it, piled high with papers and stuff which I had better get to organizing one of these months. Could NOT find it buried anywhere there either! After trying to remember where the thing could be, I thought that I might have a spare in one of the 2 five-drawer filing cabinets right next to me. Opened drawer, got HMO file and there it was! WOW!! So much for my organizational skills!
Called the number and got the longest damn list of options I ever heard! What I wanted was to speak with something that was more or less alive...
Hello, can you connect me with Dr. Bills office please.
What is your membership number?
69-2F-U!
I don't see a Dr. Bills listed. Is he your primary physician?
NO, he is my orthopedist. [ I often joked with him about the similarity of his name with that investment thing, Treasury Bills]
Well, I can connect you with another orthopedist.. please hold...
I do NOT want to speak with somebody else. Do you not have a Dr. Bills listed anywhere?
NO, sorry, but if you have his office number you could call it. CLICK
GAWD, now I have to try to find his business card! Luckily I have a business card index box, so I can look there...found it!
Hello, I would like to get a renewal on my prescription please.
What is your name?
Kardas.
Can you spell that for me? [holy shit, I can spell, can you?]
K A R D A S
First name? [as if she has thousands of Kardas' on her computer screen!]
Doctor is at his other office today; would you like to call him there?
Yes, that might be easier. Can you give me the number please?
Doctor sucks CLICK
OK, let us see if I can finally get this moving already!
Hello, I would like to get a renewal on my prescription please.
What is your name?
Kardas.
Can you spell that for me? [holy shit, can any of these gals spell?]
K A R D A S
First name? [NOT AGAIN!!]
Sigmund, like in Freud [OK, is this deja vu or what?]
When was the last time you saw doctor?
Probably about a year ago [INSTEAD of saying about 2-3 years ago, just to make it seem that I really enjoy seeing doctors more frequently]
Our records show that doctor hasn't seen you in about 3 years. What prescription did he give you? [like she does not have the data on the screen in front of her generously-sized tits!]
Some kind of little caplet, with another larger pink one to theoretically counteract eating-away the stomach lining caused by the first one. BUT, I would prefer some new one that came out last year that is supposed to be MUCH better.
Doctor would have to examine you before he could give you new medication. Would you like to make an appointment?
OMG, I assume that his next open appointment might be in 3 months? What am I supposed to do, die of pain before I get some pills?
But doctor has to evaluate you and can't just give you a prescription over the phone.
If you ask Dr. Bills, he knows who I am. I have been a patient of his for over 6 years, at least. He told me to call if I ever needed medication instead of coming all the way to his office. [and he is probably standing less than 5 feet from you right now!]
Doctor is very busy with patients [shit yes, and between his BRIEF visits with patients he bullshits with the female staff for a while before seeing the next one!]
Hey, I have progressive arthritis of the hip from an auto accident in 1982, I think it was, he knows all the details of my condition.
Can you leave me your phone number and if I get a chance I will speak with doctor.
(609) UP YOURS
Thank you. I will call you. CLICK
OK, an hour passes -- NO return call, so what should I do now??...
Hello again, this is Kardas. I called a while back about a prescription I really need.
I have not been able to speak with doctor yet. Do you have the number of your pharmacy? [GAWD! Now I have to find the shittin number in the phone book!]
Hold on please while I look for it [operators LOVE to be on hold -- they can then seem busy on the phone and not have to do anything else!]
OK, here is is..... Do you think he might be able to call it in TODAY, as I really can NOT move and the pain is the worst I ever had?
I'll see what I can do. Doctor is really busy today [yeah, you must be able to think of a better excuse!] CLICK
Hey, by this time the pharmacy will only be open another hour or so, and if I can not get these damn pills I just might die before the day is out! You already know what I am going to do now...
Hello, this is Kardas again. I hate to keep bothering you but the pharmacy will only be open another hour or so, and I am really in a lot of pain.
Doctor said he will prescribe CELEBREX for you, This is the new medication which you mentioned.
Will he call it in today? And please get refills.
I will try to do that in a short while. CLICK
Fifteen minutes later I called the pharmacy to see if they got a call from Dr. Bills -- they had NOT! GAWD, just how long does it really take to pick up the receiver and call-in the prescription? Twenty minutes before they were to close I called again, and the pills were waiting for me! So I rushed over to the supermarket, as fast as I could crawl, basically, and got the things. Took one, and within about an hour I was at least able to move a little easier. They do seem better than the old meds, BUT the side effects seem to be potentially even more scary than those of the old stuff I was taking! At least I can move again. Thank God for little pills!
** J U L Y **
After years of SLOW flea market sales I finally dicovered the KEY to paying for the tables and having a wad left over!
BRING JUNK!!
The last couple weeks I have gone I put out wonderful super-eBay quality stuff:
- boxes of worn-off designer-brand non-matching
ceramic dinner ware and loose cups, similar to the fabulous display
I had at my FIRST yard sale at home 
- a wonderful chicken painting I found in the neighboorhood trash, of slightly lesser quality than those things on fuzzy cloth that one might find along a highway, sold by Mexicans
- ceramic planters that had that antique crackled look -- which were actually just plain cracks
- really precious one-wheeled diecast cars that badly needed a paint job
- plastic swizzle-sticks with skull tops and REAL diamond eyes (although I did not bring my diamond tester to verify their authenticity, they bought them anyway)
- boxes of exceptional books I could not even sell on eBay-- after 2 trys!
- boxes of loose greeting cards that somebody's grandma stored for years in her dresser drawer until she croaked
- fabulous toothbrush holders made of luxurious plastic that obviously fell off somebody's bathroom wall
- various and sundry coffee mugs of dubious parentage that really needed washing as it seems the estate must have just thrown stuff from the sink in boxes after the septicimia death of some ghetto dweller
- large spools of very colorful yarn that had sat out in the sun and rain for a week before the auction but got no bids, and were found in the open dumpster behind the auction barn two weeks later
- and many other treasures too numerous (and hillarious) to mention!
Incidently, I had some visitors at the flea market today, for the first time in ages!
1) Some friends from New York, Jim and his wife, who I had not seem in over 3 years -- they brought me a box of dunuts from a well-known Staten Island bakery - Dominick's Bakery-Cafe "Authentic Old World Bake Shoppe"(there are now 3 pastries left!)-- and a LARGE coffee to try to wake me up after yet another sleepless night adding an exposé on CYRK to my Beanie Newsletter
2) SluggyWuggie (Denise) - whose eldest son asked why I ran up to her screaming SLUGGY WUGGIE and gave her a BIG bear hug! I could not go into all the sordid details of our nights in that hotel room during the last Ty Convention -- which you ALL already know from Bonnie's GRAPHIC convention report on my site!
Her kiddies all got some surprises, as did Sluggy.
She got a kewl box load of numbered limited edition bears from mua, and as she was taking them out, her littlest, Noah, grabbed the pink Princess Diana bear, dragging it around where ever he went for hours! Matt got an original animation cell with flying dragons or something in it, and Holly (who incidently, would not leave a cute white AMERICAN BEAR COMPANY bear alone -- I discovered it for $1! The poor oso was dizzy when she left!) Her daughter got some vintage childrens' bookies.
Sluggy got me some french fries and a Coke -- which I didn't even devour until they left -- and the kids seemed to THRILL all the dealers around me the whole while! I even was one of the LAST to get packed and out -- the FIRST TIME ever -- and it has been over 10 years going to the same place, same spot! (when I wake up in time and can move! -- or do not sleep for 24 hours, as was this case!) And I had to take that new medication again today to keep me from simply collapsing!
It seems as if an enjoyable time was had by all, especially me! Sluggy did take a couple candid photos, which I hope she does not put on her site!
A New Site Award !
Wow, I received a new award for my site, this one from one in the UK! It is nice to see that this hard-working Webmaster is appreciated for all my effort -- at least in my Beanie sections.
B A L L S !!
Naturally I am referring to the great game of baseball -- AND one of the biggest mistakes I ever made in all my life! I am NOT very sports savvy, but friends always tell me to get sports trading cards to sell on eBay -- so there I was, at a REAL COUNTRY AUCTION about half an hour away from Trenton. Evelio and I would go there EVERY week to search for goodies, but that was like over 10 years ago. I started going back, perhaps noted previously, a couple months ago, basically just to get out of the apartment for some live people and fresh country air.
Well last month they did have a bunch of sport card lots, entire box fulls, and there was one lot that seemed somewhat special because about 100 cards were in individual plastic sleeves and sealed grading holders in a hinged wooden box. I sort of looked through them all and noticed a couple that looked oldish. One had Gretzky on a label and I thought to myself, why the hell is HIS name on an older card holder.
I was able to get a couple box lots of assorted cards in plastic boxes, and the bidding was HOT on that wooden box full. I, despite the fact that I did NOT have that much $$ in my account (but thought that the auctioneer would not mind holding my check for a few weeks until I could cover it, hopefully), I bid up to $600, BUT the only other major bidder on ALL the cards went higher and I had to stop.
Well, to my surprise, a couple weeks later I saw notices online about a RARE sports card being offered on eBay, so I went to look -- BALLS !! The seller was from New Jersey. How curious. Then I looked at the photos of the card in its sealed grading holder, with Gretzky on the label!
OMG!! I had that exact thing in my paws in June and could
NOT
bid more than I did for the entire box full of apparently rare
cards!! You will notice that they give a nice history of the card
-- conveniently leaving out any mention of the Country Auction
where they STOLE acquired it for probably an average of about
$6, dividing their bid of slightly over $600 by the total
number of cards in that neat wooden box!! COJONES!! I
could have really retired IF I knew something about that stuff!!
I guess you win some and you lose some in life!! I only wish I
would win more than I lose sometimes!!
So I put 5 of the older ones that I did get in the lots at that auction on eBay -- starting at a crummy $1, WITH FREE shipping -- and they still do NOT even have a bid on any of them!! BALLS!!
Oh, did I forget to mention what that Honus Wagner card sold for on eBay? ONLY $1,100,000 !!
** 1 0 0 0 **
Well, the evening of 22 July I was thrilled to see that my eBay feedback reached a magical 1000 mark!! Little did I ever imagine that in eight long months of INTENSIVE slaving away at getting items scanned, adding my gushy extended descriptions, and foresaking family (my brother and his kids), friends (well, we can count them on one hand!), not to mention house cleaning, needed property repairs, playing with my neglected kittys and even taking showers would come to this landmark status. -- and despite the usual stupid negative from some idiot every 100th feedback or so!
I have changed my item file names several times during this period, from just a number, eb, e, s, and now x. I have gone through 40 pages of my legal-sized hand-written item log sheets, each having a total of 33 items listed -- OMG, that amounts to some 1,320 individual listings!
I shall send the winning bidder who gave me the happy 1000 a little surprise -- have not figured out just what yet though.
OK, I figured out what I would send Renee -- one of my signed Limited First Edition leather bound books, like the ones I have been putting on eBay over the past few weeks.
In a message dated 30/07/2000 10:38:49, da writes:
<< WOW Sonny that came out of the blue sky. We love the book. We are so glad to be the 1000 th feedbacker.
People like you have made Ebay what it is today. There are a few bad apple's but that's expected.
We are going to keep eyeing your auctions. Renee' >>
I feel VERY pleased, a sort-of personal monumental acknowledgement of all my hard work. I had better work a lot harder though, as I am STILL way back on various bills!! It is simply amazing -- the $$ dribbles in, and is sent out even faster! I really need a rest already! The problem is that I have NOT been to be able to sleep very well for the last 4 weeks. I just hope that it is not the prelude to something more serious.
In the final moment, will any of this really mean anything other than I simple survived somehow while attempting to share my interests with others while leading a hermit's existence? Matter of fact, I imagine that hermits even get a much-needed break in the routine sometimes!
eButt Plugged It!
OK, so eBay is NOT the most perfect NOR user friendly Internet activity that one might want to engage in. They seem to have watch-bitches (called watch dogs in other circles) who check every once in a while for trademark infringement and such weird things. Apparently mating with them are some obnoxious cyber studs who may have a grudge against certain eBay sellers, and need to get off by screwing their victims, suggesting that their item must be removed for whatever reason.
It happens with Beanies, usually BEFORE they are officially released, Celebrity Bears that are patterened after famous singers, movie stars, and other personalities, some computer software (which may be pirated), human organs, a spouse (!), stool samples from Elian Gonzalez when he was in the US, and loads of other really exciting highly collectible items.
How it appears to work : eBay gets a "complaint" from somebody, anonymous or not, eBay pulls the item, and may even suspend the seller for a month or forever! You could send them dozens of emails asking for an explanation, and never get more than a canned reply in return. BUT, do a quick SEARCH for the same item that you received notice about being cancelled and you will find others, probably MANY others which are still ongoing! So where is the reason and logic behind the whole thing? BUT, eBay has NEVER, since it's inception, been reasonable NOR logical in MANY of its auction related activities, so-called customer service/support, or anything else.
Yet weirder is an email I got last night from eButt, saying that an auction I was bidding on was cancelled! GAWD, I thought, what could have been wrong with it.
Dear eBay Community Member,
The bid that you entered
for the item
http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3889xx743
has been cancelled.
You can view the reason provided for the cancellation by selecting the (bid history) link from the individual item page.
Regards,
eBay
So I go to the page mentioned and find the totally absurd note from the seller :
On Jul-23-00 at 17:53:00 PDT, seller added the following information:
This auction had to be cancelled due to the fact that the current owner (the person who consigned this to me) decided not to sell. Thanks to all interested parties.
THAT IS ILLEGAL!! When somone puts an item up for sale, they enter into a legal, binding contract to sell what they described.
So now what am I going to do? I really needed this item for my proposed/planned Vintage Computer Museum, AND as a home security system to protect the thousands of items that I still have stored to put on eBay during the next 3.8 decades (Hey, I shall NOT live that long nor still be totally functional!)
I had hoped to install the item as a focal point at the entrance of my Museum, after reinforcing the floor with steel beams -- although the item is made of magnesium, probably derived from seawater, and would not really weigh all that much, it is better to be safe than sorry, as they say.
PLUS, what a fabulous home security system it would make!! Come on you crooks, MAKE MY DAY!!
MAN, and I wanted to be up to the MINUTE with this item!
Here, Doggy, Doggy!
OMG, there is a new woof-woof on the block.
Soooooooo real. Barks, pants, needs to be fed, and all. Great for modern kids who do not like their dogs digging up their hibernating turtles and stuff, BUT they say this one can be "trained" to do things, so watch out turtles!!
What is this world coming to anyway? Close down all the pet shelters and rev up the battery factories!
What do you feed the thing anyway? Rusty bolts and old keys? Does it bite when it gets upset? Does it chew furniture? Do they hump a leg? I hope they do not make a Dachshund model, complete with bad breath!
A toy site has a couple corny emails comments about the thing. "Just like a real puppy"!! Obviously the kids (?) have led VERY sheltered lives.
I think I saw them somewhere and wondered whether they would come up with Tecno political candidates just in time for the political conventions and elections, each equipped with a running mate, at extra cost. They certainly might be more fun than the real, live ones this time round! And you can program them to say whatever you want them to say!
I can still remember in the 70s, while I was teaching in Madrid. Some kids came to school all excited about seeing a bitch have some puppies, and said, "WOW, and they all came in little plastic bags!". Yeah!
I hear they are coming out with a battery operated, life-like, LARGE mosquito that hunts and devours those nasty Nile virus mosquitos. They should be a BIG hit in the NE this year.
In the year 2525 will there only be robot animals in zoos and as pets, and plastic plants and trees with photocells that glow at night instead of street lights? WOW!! And forget about depleting that kewl ozone layer-- man will have evolved to exhale ozone instead of CO2 by then-- with the help of modern gene-manipulation technology.
A Furby is one thing, a cute Gremlin that does not replace some other REAL critter, but replacing pets with these things that look like something out of a Star Wars movie seems a bit too much!
Will women of the future decide to buy their kids at Wal-Mart instead of having them the old fashioned way? NO inflated hospital bills, NO diapers to change, NO sleepless nights with the crying tantrums, NO empty fridge the day after stocking up, NO college tuition to save up for, NO additions to build onto the house... and they will be programmed to do ALL the housework!
The downside is that they would also get NO deductions at tax time! Hey, you win some and you lose some!
Hurray for the future! Back to the cozy world of wizards and fantasy to help alleviate the stress and strain of this wonderful world of ours.
[* August to December - 2000 *]
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