MONEY!!! Wait, what?

Well, have found out an interesting fact I didn't know about myself.  Notice how long I haven't blogged?  I put my computer in the back room, at my nice desk, where it was spacious, and nice to sit and write at...

And it was outta sight, outta mind.  I didn't have it right in front of my face, and so I didn't write.  Thusly, I decided to put the computer back in the front room, and with a little mini-lap desk I now have, I can write in the front room, where I have it nearly underfoot.

Like my cat. Hee hee.

So, the money.  For real! Or not real, but I did find money.  $120 worth.

Husband and I were taking a drive to look at a clear cut our neighbor had mentioned.  We drove up to the cut, and looked out.  It was a beautiful view, but I can see why the neighbor was upset.  Her lovely view of a forested expanse, GONE!  We could look down right at the back of her house, and all around it...

So, we started back down the hill, and I was looking at the view...  WHA?  STOP! STOP! BACKUPBACKUPBACKUP!!!  Husband looked alternately panic stricken and confused, but did what I said.  (Or shouted, take your pick.)  We both looked, and I asked him, is that a $100 bill on the sign?  He said I think so, and I hopped out to look at it.

Sure enough, it was a C note...  But what's all the red ink on it?  I realized that it had Chinese printing on it, about the same time I kicked over a $20 at my feet.  I picked it up, and we both saw the printing wasn't a stamp ON the bill, but part OF the bill.  Husband decided we should leave the 100 there, but I took the smaller bill, to look up the info on it, and we could ask the neighbor about it.

After a check with the neighbor, (no, not anything they knew about, no kid's scavenger hunts or such), I got on Google, and found out there had been a rash of the things used as counterfeit funds in another county relatively nearby.

We called the Sheriff's Office.  He came out and took the funds. After a quick ask on how we came upon it, he said, bet it had you going there for a little bit.  I said, yep, figured I was having McDonald's tonight!  He cracked up.  Turns out, they have to destroy "funny money", so he was taking it to be incinerated.  However, I do have a photo...

And the bills have been used in various places, so you might check your cash...  Pink isn't a good look for greenbacks...

You can see the Chinese writing on the left of the bill.
According to a numismatist website, it is actually a bill to train bank
employees in China.  It says something to the effect of Bank of  Whatever,
Training bill, do not remove, or words to that effect.

Cleaning House. So to speak. If a blog is a house.

I was looking at the right side of my blog.  You know, where the blog list is.  I was thinking about the A to Z challenge.  I am a hoarder of blogs that catch my interest, and if anyone has looked at the list I have accumulated, it's not tiny.  It isn't the full list, as I have a few that hadn't blogged in over a year, or were  personal to me, what have you, and are private.  But looking at the list, I keep thinking, I really want to do something to make the list a bit more tidy.

I have been thinking of a shorter minimum for removal, like what... 6 months?  3 months?  ONE month?  I don't always comment on blogs, and I am the first to say, I sure don't write everyday, as a rule.  (A to Z being the exception...)  I don't want to 'punish' someone for being busy, but I don't want to have such a long list, either.  I know some have just the names, that would definitely shorten the list.  I will have to see what the mighty Blogger has for different doohickey formatting.

Doohickeys is a very technical term for itemization.  At least that sounds good, right?

Anyway, if any of my readers has an idea about cleanup of that section 'o the blog, I am quite happy for suggestions.

I also changed the face of my blog a bit.  I was going to put a personal photo in the back, but Blogger says the photos I have are too big.  Huh.  I will have to see if I can lower the resolution on my camera, or use a different format on the photos, or something.  Meanwhile, enjoy the pretty clouds, I guess...

So, as time wears on, maybe the blog will look a bit different, and I will have it cleaned up.  But if it's like my craft room-

Never mind...

See what the day brings...

I keep listening to the weather, and they are talking storms with high winds for this area. (Oh, joy...)  I am on shift, right when they are supposed to pick up.  Husband decided I shouldn't drive, (big surprise...), and so he will take me in.  We have firewood put up, and some fuel for the generator, the emergency supplies, so we are set if the power should quit.  I sincerely hope it doesn't, but we shall see... 

Or not see, if the house is dark. 

Heh...

On the bright side, I will also be getting my first haircut since... Uh... Well before Thanksgiving!  I don't quite look this bad yet, but I think that my creative methods of keeping the hair out of my eyes are getting more and more limited. I haven't quite come to the point of rubber banding the bangs over my eyes like my MIL did to her shihtzus, but close.  

Husband asked, well, why don't you just grow out the bangs to the length of the rest of your hair.  Which, I suppose, I could do.  But I had that hair style, and it is really limiting on what you can do. Pony tails continuously, at least to keep the stuff out of my face.  And I have heavy, thick, hair, which gives me neck and head aches if I let it grow too long.  So, no.  Plus, it's starting to look 'ratty', some growing a bit faster, so it's uneven.  All things being equal, it is so time to get this taken care of...

The Case of the Scale Stuff.

On my scale stuff to the side.  I am going to make a change.  It is getting so ponderously long, I am only going to show my last ten weeks.  It will still 'keep me honest' to the fact I need to lose weight, but won't take so much of the side space.  I will put the short goal up top (i.e., I am aiming for 220 at this point), that way it's obvious what is happening...  I am even being honest that I gained 2 pounds this week.  Not getting enough exercise and eating more, yep.  Fairly one to one correlation there... *sigh*  So, I go on, work on dropping it... Rag on me folks, I have been letting this slide.  I know that, even though I can't get out much, I should be able to get the weight going DOWN... Hmph.  

So, I hope to be reading blogs and possibly writing more blogs, but we shall see what Mama Nature has up her sleeve.  the animals are as ready as I, uh, well, Husband, can make them, so we shall see what transpires...  I don't know if it's an improvement for Buzz, she had never been around snow, that I can remember, she HATED that stuff, it was falling, and she'd run on the porch and glare at it, then lick her coat like crazy to get rid of the snow.  She does fine with rain (she is a cat from Oregon, after all), but the snow threw her a complete curve ball!  

 

Motivation for next month's blogging... 26 days worth, anyway.

I did last year an "A through Z" blog.  I think I will try that again for next month.  It works out that you basically blog each day except Sunday.  I might have to work hard to do this, as next month sounds a little busy, but I need to really commit to writing again.

 Blog, book, what have you, I have not...  Not good.

Especially now with Baby Hal, it is much easier to do (most) things.  I still have some strange moments, like when B. Hal decided to increase the magnification on the screen to G*d knows how big (there was one or two HUGE letters on the screen, from a web page full of writing...), and also locking up the mouse once or twice, but that seems to have stopped for the most part.  I found out my rubber bracelet drives Hal nuts occasionally, the mouse reacts to the band much like my finger, for whatever reason, leading me to desperate clicks to find what I have accidentally brought up or removed.  Other than removing said band, I haven't quite found a cure for that one.

I have finally pulled all the tomatoes out of the garden.  I felt like it wasn't a complete waste, but I felt bad taking the stuff out.  It wasn't going to grow much more, and I was afraid that if I left them in, I would lose track of the cages, and we would have a repeat of Husband nearly impaling himself on one when he rototilled.
(Husband was fine.  The cage was terminal...)

I am so horribly disappointed with the cages I bought this year.  I was sold cages that were supposed to be heavy duty, and galvanized.  Well, they were galvanized.  That much was true.  Heavy duty, my fat fanny!  Heavy duty tinfoil, maybe.  EVERY ONE fell over, all of them warped and bent, and several lost the prongs on the bottom that drive them into the ground.  I am going to give them away to the first person that I can pawn them off on.  Next year, I will go back to using T posts... Or hog fencing with ties.  Hmph.

In other news, I have a family member not doing so well, she is in one of those elder apartments, and became very ill.  Turns out, she has been having problems remembering to take pills, and some other 'stuff' going on, so the family has finally sat her down for a talk that she needs to go to the assisted side of the apartments.  She is not really happy about this, but she is getting to the point she needs more help than the occasional look-see by family members.  It will work out, but she is in her 90's, and rather... proud of her mental strength, so she is sort of taking this a bit hard.  We all are trying to let her know it's not a failing, it's just to keep her healthy and safe.  (I think maybe she is starting to agree, but time will tell).

I am going to be taking an online class, this should be interesting.  It's a class on chronic pain management.  I have been doing okay, in that area, but I still have times when I am not able to do, or cope well, and I hope to maybe get some perspective that I might not have thought of.  Besides, then I can tell my gripes and complaints to someone who hasn't heard it several times before! (wink)

And lastly, on a funny note:
I think Rudee understands English better than I give him credit for!

I was walking, and for some odd reason, right after I had gotten a good pace going, and built up a good head of steam, Rudee walks right in front of me.  And stops.  I walk around him, start up again, then he does it again!  The third time, he wanders slowly, blocking me.  I was getting rather annoyed by this point, and told him, "Move, or I am going to stick this pole up your a**!"

Next thing I know, he's turned, looked at me with wide eyes, and gets out of my way, walking waaay over to the left, and not daring to walk in front of me.

Smart dog...

Thank you, thank you, and you, too! reverb 31

Ok, plan B is in effect, folks...

I was working on my computer.  It crashed, twice.  I fixed it. Twice.  I then received a notice from my virus protection that IT wasn't working.  No more nothing on that, until I can figure out what happened, and how to fix same.  So, I figured, well, I will go in and watch TV.  And promptly had that go mammaries skyward. 

I have decided to stealth on Husband's computer while he isn't home.  I will try NOT to change anything, but I really want to make my 31 days of blogging complete.  I suppose it's just the darn principle of the thing now... 

So, I want to thank everyone that has been following my navel gazing for this month.  I think I will return to my Wednesday and Sunday blogging.  This was a slow month (hence the reason I chose for a blog everyday.  Even then, I cut it close on a few of 'em...)  I know I didn't put responses on a lot of the stuff people wrote to me, and I didn't like that, I try to respond when people say something, and it felt like I wasn't able to as easily.  Probably could have, but just seemed like a bit to do... (Excuses, excuses...)  :)

Huh.  I might write on other days, as well, when the mood strikes me, but I found I like reading other people's blogs and writing comments, so that will probably be more the 'thing o' the day'.  And there is that book I keep talking about.  I don't know about growing extra sets of arms to type, knit and so on, so I guess perhaps I need to get the time in on the book.  Silly thing still won't write itself, no matter how much I try to convince my computer... 

And here, for... the last one of the month, is reverb 31. 

***

Prompt: Core story. What central story is at the core of you, and how do you share it with the world? (Bonus: Consider your reflections from this month. Look through them to discover a thread you may not have noticed until today.)

My core story?  Gee, make it an easy one.  My core story is what I am, and what I do.  There's no mystical wonderment, no grand enlightenment (that I know of), it's just a bit of this, a touch of that, and see whence it goes. 

You know how that people put things on Facebook, and so on that later comes back to bite them on the posterior?  I guess I am sorta boring.  I have very little that I would avoid putting on FB.  (I wouldn't put my pictures on there anyway, but that's because of the agreement with my husband, more than anything else...) 

I suppose my core story also is how I feel and react about things.  I have been called a lot of things. (Recently been called a witch quite a bit, but I really feel that it's not meant in an insulting way, if you can believe that.) I can be upset with the tags, titles, and names, (Ma'am sort bugged me... I am a ma'am, already?), but I can learn from them, too, if I make an effort.  Am I being called stubborn?  Is that because I am being obnoxious?  Or am I finally learning how to stand up for myself?  Am I called shy?  That could be because I am shy, but it can also be because I have found people intensely interesting to listen to, watch, and (try to) understand.  Fascinating stuff, if you pay attention.

And for the bonus question, I saw no unexpected threads, animals, writing, health (both physical and mental), my family.  Yep that's the biggies. 

Oh, and Tom Petty.  How'd he get in there?  Heh.

So, if there is a blog here tomorrow, great.  If not, I will see you Wednesday.  If I don't manage to destroy any more computer stuff. 

More or less halfway!

Well, this is the 15th, and I don't believe I have missed a day blogging this month.  I think, once I finish the 31 questions, I will go back to Wednesday, Sunday, and random days to be determined.  I find that I seem to be digging a bit for topics...  Let's face it, I enjoy writing, but I can get repetitive.  (And, according to the spell check, I keep screwing up the word "repetitive", but I digress.) 

So, it's been interesting here at Fur 'n Feathers Farm, there has been talk of people camping that no one knows who are nearby.  There is shooting, off and on, at hours that I am rather sure people aren't supposed to be hunting.  There is talk of starting a Neighborhood Watch group.

And guess who is the one elected to be the Law Enforcement go between?  ; )

I am fine with helping, but I am sort wondering if some of the folks don't realize THEY can call in 'suspicious activity'.  I haven't seen these mysterious campers.  I don't know where the shooting is coming from, though I have heard it.  But I keep hearing from the neighbors, well, since you work with them...

(I am overly sensitive, I am the very first to admit this, but when some of the folks say this, the word "them" is said with the same tone of voice to describe stepping on a slug with your bare foot.  You want help, don't make it sound like you are dealing with Satan incarnate!)

So, I have been checking with one of my bosses, who heads up Neighborhood Watch in this area.  I will have the first meeting at my house, I suppose.  Since the Great Cougar Party of 2010, people around here certainly know where I live!  (I think I am slightly jealous of that silly cat, more people have come to see it, than have ever come over to visit me. Jealous...  Me? Snort.)

As for the shooting?  Eeesh.  It's a fact of life in this area.  I guess I try to ignore it, but it did wake me up at about 2 in the morning... Somehow, I don't believe that's a legal hunting time... So, perhaps it's something that can be brought up at the meeting, by someone else, who might actually have a clue about where it's coming from?  Or am I just being unreasonable... 

Nah.  Unreasonable is what I said when the guy was shooting this morning... 

Or at least anatomically improbable.

(Small Edit.  Just so you know, I have gone to ACTION.  It's not much, by a long shot, but I have written a few sentences on my book.  It actually has a start now!  Let the turtles hurdle!)

***

5 Minutes. Imagine you will completely lose your memory of 2010 in five minutes. Set an alarm for five minutes and capture the things you most want to remember about 2010. (Author: Patti Digh)

Without a doubt, I hate this question.  I guess I understand the reasoning, but having a family member that had Alzheimer's, this question struck me wrong...  But I guess I will play the game.

DING! Go.

Blood drawing for my 5th or 6th gallon.  Classes to help me learn what a Public Information Officer does, and finding out that I knew quite a few people there.  Cougars, cougars, cougars...  From the one that killed my llama, to meetings about others that have had problems with cougars, to talking with the deputies that have dealt with real cougars, stuffed cougars, and thought a dog was a cougar.  Finding out that a stuffed cougar takes up a HECK of a lot of wall space...  Tom Petty concert, seeing the guy I love to listen to on stage for real!  Seeing the Heartbreakers all going at it for one tremedous dose of power listening (well, with earplugs).  Walking the hill and finding I like it.  Losing ONE PANT SIZE!!!  Finding out I have a really smart chicken, as she can figure out how to fly over and get on my arm...

Ding.  You know, I would have probably had more written, if I wasn't trying to "beat the clock" and made quite so many typos...  And I think I see one or two still.  Pbbt.  It said 5 minutes.  That's five, folks...