Ever Get the Feeling...

that the whole world is sort of holding its breath right now?

Waiting to see what is going to happen next?  Wondering when, exactly, the other shoe will drop?

There is just so much going on across the globe that one can hardly keep up.  Naturally, MSM is failing to put the most important things at the top of the reporting list but that is nothing new.  Throw a bit of celebrity gossip at the masses and bury the stuff that will (rather: should) get the masses riled.  The ones that are waking up are edgy, angry that they've been kept (allowed themselves to be kept) in the dark for so long...but not angry enough yet to act.

The whole thing is just a tinderbox waiting to go up in flames.

Adding a New Dimension...

to the preps...ladies and gentlemen, I am now the parent of a "special needs" child. Funny how one little visit to the doc and one little test can take you from being the parent of a somewhat normal, happy, healthy kid into a googling the medical terms maniac.

The oldest screamer was diagnosed with bilateral permanent hearing loss (lower decible levels) a couple of days ago. Meaning: Hearing aides for the rest of his life as the condition (whether genetic or caused by birth trauma, at this time unknown) is irreversible by medication and/or surgery. Oldest screamer is 6. We do not yet know what kind of hearing aides (digital or analog) Tricare will pay for, or the full extent of the loss...have to get into the ENT for a consult and go from there.

But this means a whole new level for prepping. Specialized batteries, cleaning and care of stuff, etc. On top of that, I've pulled out the ASL book for a restart in lessons for the whole family this time. Basic signs for youngsters and us adults for now, then onto more intense stuff. Why? Well, because the condition MAY be progressive/degenerative, because I want to be able to talk to my child should the worst happen and finally, because it's the smart thing to do. Silent communication. Why not.

At this very moment....

I'm watching something that is more than a little disturbing. I am watching streaming video from NASA as they crash a $79M rocket into the moon...$79M...and that's not really the most disturbing part.

The part that bothers me the most is this: Doesn't the moon affect our planet? Tides, weather? Is it really so vitally important to find water on the moon that you risk screwing up the order of nature and the universe?

I guess so. I hope, beyond hope, that they find what they want without too much damage....but I won't be holding my breath. It could take weeks, months, years to truly see the effects of this little science experiment...disturbing.

Edit to add: Obama wins Nobel Peace Prize

Seriously!? For? Lousy explaination for reasoning in my opinion...it's all based on what he wants to do, not what he's actually done. Again....disturbing.

Been thinking (oy the heat!).....

Busy chic…that’s me! I love it though. Between the screamers, school and all the running about that we’ve done in the past month I’ve had very little time to actually sit and think on the blog…my apologies. The good news is that with a little wandering about in the area around the apartment, the screamers and I have found a little spring to play in on super hot days, a massive blackberry bramble to pick at in a few weeks, a huge wild strawberry patch just begging to be relieved of some of its bounty and a fishing spot in said stream that the screamers can’t wait to “pish” in.
Amazing what a little wandering in your neighborhood will yield. I know this, of course, and know that I should have taken these wanderings last year…I certainly didn’t expect to be here still, stuck in this little place with no yard. Since I am, and don’t know for how much longer, I figured that with all the happy joy in the world (knyuck, knyuck) I might as well make the most of the area I have to work with. I have heirloom seeds hidden away for a small garden (do it now folks), mapped the area immediately around the apartment with emphasis on natural food sources (morels, persimmon and nut trees, etc) and have been taking the screamers on progressively longer treks into the woods. It keeps the skills sharp, right?
I’ve been thinking lately on skills that I acquired in the service, however brief the time I was there. A lot of these beauties are forgotten art forms in truth, the rarest being map reading. It’s not a lost art form, but is definitely not as well used as it was once upon a time.
Very few folks use maps, not the atlas kind…real maps, with elevation and such. The exceptions are serious hunters, soldiers and the majority of hikers. Now everyone (well, not everyone but you get the point) depends on GPS. Nice to have to a point, not that I have any, but one little zap and the GPS is shot all to hell with no chance of getting it back.
I am curious as to the company I keep here online…anyone else practice the fine art of real map reading? Anyone else love to pull out their topos and a compass just because?
All this pondering has left me with a desire for some really good topo maps. I mean countrywide style. So today I begin my search for some decent topographical maps that are fairly comprehensive of the North American continent…dreaming? Perhaps, but I don’t mind piecing it together…or the challenge of trying to find it for free, lol.

It's all about Adaptability...

so I've been saying. Got a real test on that theory this weekend.

Because I don't have a 'real' credit card, the rental car company tacked on an extra $200 to my deposit for the vacation/getaway car. Um...no thank you. Canceled the car, canceled the hostel...gonna spend a week puttering around Portland instead.

Doesn't stink too bad, lots to see and do there (I'm particularly excited about that massive bookstore Powell's....yeah baby). The other upside is that with the canceling of the rental, I was able to get a cell that I can actually post to the blog from (oh the tech junkie in me is just ecstatic). Add to that the Portland is a leading city in 'green' living (yes, we know how I feel about the green wave) and I'm sure to pick up some ideas that I haven't already had to put into play here.

See, flexible plans. Now if I can just find something affordable to live in for a week, lol. The hostels there cost as much as a hotel room nearly...so I'm going all nuts looking for a sublet that I can actually afford...yeah, good luck!!

It's a Sign, I tell ya...

Call me a quack, but I really truly believe in 'signs'. Gut feelings, deja vu (I have this A LOT)...things written in the stars.

No sooner did I finish reading HermitJim and Cyg's posts (and commenting naturally, lol) and in my email popped a tidbit titled "Transformation Time." Weird, eh? It's astrology, take it as you will...BUT this was the main body:

Pluto, the planet of transformation, takes a whopping 248 years to complete a single cycle of rotation around the Sun. On average, it spends 21 years in each sign and 5 months of each year in retrograde.

Pluto turns retrograde in Capricorn on April 4, signaling in a time of destruction and rebuilding, rejuvenation and regeneration. It is a time for fresh starts and dead ends. The things that we hang onto the tightest can suddenly be taken away. We may be forced to reevaluate the things we cherish most.

During a Pluto retrograde period, we will feel pressured to eliminate and release the old, outworn, outdated and obsolete in our lives. We will be urged to let go of attitudes, thinking or communication patterns, security drives, and rigid emotions that no longer serve us. This is an excellent time to undergo an internal form of house cleaning, and look into ourselves to determine exactly what we do and do not need.

Pluto retrograde imparts an intense power for investigation, so we should use this time to assess what reoccurring patterns in our lives make us feel out of control, where and why do we continually give our power away, and under what circumstances do we react so defensively that we elicit attacks from others. Pluto retrograde marks a time wherein we should seek to gain greater control over our lives.

A little freaky if you ask me. What with all the massive change in the air and so many of 'us' ready to make some odd changes and decisions...well, this is just one of those hmmmmmm moments for me. The next 5 months should be interesting to say the least, would have been anyway but now it's REALLY going to get that way!

Sidenote Rant: Why the hell is it that my friggin' mp3 refuses to shuffle it's electronic butt to the songs I really want to hear...nooooooo....it has to go through all the stuff I'm not in the mood for first. No, I won't hit skip...I want it to read my mind and do what I want dang it!!

House Keeping and a Confession

Cleaned up the blog a little bit. Got rid of the Ping (it was eating up bandwidth and slowing down the blog...for me at least) but added a Twitter thingie. Which leads to the confession.

I am a tech junkie. I am utterly, unabashedly addicted to cool techno gadgets. This could be a problem. Probably is a problem. It's moot to say that I don't spend money on them, ya'll know I don't have a ton of cash floating around, but I have to say I'd love to. I'd love to have a rockin' cell that I could access the net from with all the cool little apps to connect me to my favorite online spots. Alas, it is definitely not in the budget.

So I suffer with my little online based fun and my pre-paid cell that lets me text updates to Twitter. This is a good thing really. Especially for May. 'Cause then you can go on my trekking trip with me if you want. Yes, my friends, I will Tweet all the fun I'm having (or not having) while I'm away. Short little updates like "I'm still alive" or "help, bear attack"...you know, the little things that make a solo trip fun.

There you have it...a confessed obsession with everything wrong with the world. I should feel dirty, but I don't! ;P

Cool...Technology Fun

See that...right there, on the right. That new little gadget hanging out over there with the mushrooms on it. That is called a pingbox. From that pingbox, you can chat with me any old time you want (if it says you can that is). Now ain't that just spiffy!?!

Of course, I would add it to the blog on a day that I'm going to be out and about. You'll have to catch me later on...after I've had my brain mushified by chatting with one who has no real opinions of their own (you got it...sewing day). Sigh.

Guess I better get...gotta shower AND get the screamers ready...may hang around for a minute or two and read the headlines...yeah, that's it. It's not procrastination if I'm doing something semi-productive to waste time, right?