Desktop Calenders

Did you get one of those desktop calenders like the sell in the mall.  The kind that you read something smart, witty, or cartoonish on each day.  I did.  I get one every year.  They are nice and useful but I do have one complaint about them.  You have to wait one entire week to even use it.  I hate having to wait seven days to view the first cartoon or fun fact. 

 So here is my thought, why not have these calenders start on Christmas Day so that we can begin using them right away? 

In the meantime, I will just sit here and leave my calender in the box for a few days before I can use it.

Not Really A Donnaism But….

Her daughter wanted one of those mini reading lights that attach to a book so that she can read at night.  She was telling us that she looked all over the place and could not find it.  She went to Target, Walmart, Riteaid, CVS, Walgreens, everywhere.  My wife asked if she tried Borders or Barnes & Nobels to which Donna replied, “Why would I go there?”

 Without this woman I would have so little material.

Merry Christmas everyone.

Christmas Cookies

One thing I look forward to every year is Christmas Cookies.  My wife makes a great chocolate chip and molasses cookie but I have been really wishing for some other cookies I had growing up.  Cookies like oatmeal, peanut butter and the ones that come in shapes and colors like green Christmas trees, red stars and yellow stars and they all have colored sugar on them.

I once again commented to her that I would like to have them and for her to bake them for me and she gave me the tired lame excuse that she does not know how to bake them, she never baked them before and that she is not good at those kind of cookies.  I pointed out that if she never made them before then how does she know that she is bad at making them?

She hates when I make a good point. 

So the next day I went to the store and bought oatmeal, flour, sugar, food coloring, colored sugar sprinkle things, peanut butter and a bunch of other stuff.  I put it up on the kitchen counter and told her MAKE ME SOME COOKIES BITCH!

OK, so I didn’t say that last part.  I know better than to say that to my wife.  I’ll get my ass kicked by her.  I did do a lot of sweet talking and groveling to get her to make me cookies. 

She made them for me.  Five different kinds of cookies in one day.  The house smelled great and now we have a ton of cookies laying around. 

They say Christmas is a magical time of year and I believe it.  I have cookies. 

Another Award For This Blog

I have been awarded another award from my friend Teeni over at Vaguetarian Tea Room and no it is not the Blogger who has not posted consistently lately award. 

Here is what she had to say about me and my award

Mark at Idle Ramblings of a Slightly Mad Man – Like my buddy, Ms. Red, you have a way of tackling subjects nobody else would feel comfortable with. And you do it well. I oftentimes find myself cringing through a post you’ve written but I simply must read through to the end. And I must like it because I keep going back for more. You have earned my respect for that and you’ve always been nice and had kind words for me so you’ve also earned my friendship.

 That, I have to say, is the most interesting description of my blog ever.  I think that she is basically saying that I am a very bad car wreck with bodies thrown all over the road.  You don’t want to look at the bits and pieces of car mixed in with feet and arms of the bodies but you just can’t resist looking. 

Thank you Teeni for bestowing this honor upon me.  I will do my best to live up my standards.

TalkPa.net

I was asked questions by Teeni in another post about my forum TalkPa.net.  She wanted to know the how and why’s that TalkPa have come about.  Since she asked, I am more than happy to oblige.  She wanted to know how and why I got into it.  The story is fairly simple and since I am always looking for something to post about I figured that this would be an easy post.  I would also give me a change at another shameless plug for my site.

Here is the story…

I have always been someone that liked to visit local forums.  I enjoyed the information sharing, the different opinions or even the confirmation of my own thoughts and opinions by others.  I have been active in several and search out forums for my own fun and entertainment.

Sometime in February or March of 2007 I stumbled upon another local forum that was just starting up for Delaware called TalkDelaware.com.  They were just starting up but rapidly growing.  I became a strong poster there and the Owner/Administrator rewarded me by making me a staff member of the site.  Over the course of a few months TalkDelaware became more and more popular and as a result the site was awarded with the 2007 Readers Choice Award from The News Journal, Delawares largest newspaper.  TalkDelaware beat out the sites of Google and MySpace.  We knew that we had something good and now so did others. 

The Owner decided to create a new forum and thought that Pennsylvania would be a great choice.  And so was born TalkPa.  The owner, being the smart man that he is, recognized his shortcomings that he is not a Pennsylvanian and could not pull off the charade of pretending to be from PA.  He asked me to become the Administrator of his site, to guide, shape and mold the site into the greatness that it has the potential to be.  Of course I said, yes!

I had Moderated other sites before but never had I been given the keys to the kingdom.  It takes a lot of dedication, a lot of time, a lot of creativity and a lot of promotion.  I enjoy the opportunity and the chance to help create a site that people come to to kill time, share thoughts, ideas and opinions. 

So if you are from Pennsylvania, or not from Pennsylvania, want some place to hang out online, to share ideas, thoughts, opinions or to just network with others, then come to TalkPa.net.  Tell them Green Lantern referred you.

Thanks Teeni for letting me get a shameless plug out there. 

Kill Me Now

It was not a great start to the evening.  I thought that since there was very little traffic on the road last night that my commute home would be a breeze.  I made it all the way down the I-95 in record time.  Never on a Monday at 4 PM would I be able make the 2o mile journey in less than a half an hour.  And then it all changed.

I felt the slight pull to the left on the van.  As I slowed to a stop I heard the distinct flapping of my front left tire.  After I pulled into the restaurant parking lot I got out and looked and my suspicions were confirmed.  A flat tire. 

It was cold, dark, damp and just beginning to rain.  It was not the makings of a story that would have a happy ending.  The one inconvenience that this minivan has it the location of the spare tire and where it is located.  It is located between the front and second row seats.  These are the main seats that my family all sits in.  As such, all of the kids junk/shit toys and stuff, as well as my laptop and lunchbox all had to be moved.  It was awkward to remove. 

In addition to all of this, as my regular readers know, I have been struggling with some type of affliction that the doctors have not been able to figure out as of yet.  This illness made me cough so hard I tore the cartilage between my ribs. 

Pulling out the spare left me in terrible pain.  I was nearly crying as I struggled to remove the spare from its hiding place.  You might wonder why would I put myself through this agony and not call someone like AAA.  The reason is, I had to pick up the kids and then take my daughter to Brownies.  I had an hour to do all of this.  AAA, while a very good service, is not known for it’s quickness.  That just leaves me, in pain, to deal with the flat.

Cold.  Dark.  Rain.  Pain.  Through all that I was able to change the tire and put the flat into the trunk, which was another struggle.  I made it to the daycare and picked up the kids.  Before I was even able to get them into the car I went into a coughing fit.  I was out in the rain coughing and trying to stop, trying to catch a breath, trying to stand, trying to keep from crying because of the rib pain.  My kids were scared and upset.  My son began to cry.  This attack may have been only 30 seconds but it seemed to last for nearly 10 minutes. 

I was able to finally get in my van and out of the rain where I sat trying to catch my breath.  I sucked up the pain and composed myself and then worked on calming the kids.  I assured them that I was OK and with that I took my daughter to Brownies. 

I am now in so much pain and discomfort that I just want to die now.  The doctor called me in this morning to do more X-rays and tests.  Who knows what they will find.  But whatever it is, I hope they figure it out soon. 

Animal Testing – A Suprise

I wrote about my thoughts on Animal Testing and then revisited the topic a few weeks later and what I have discovered and surprises me is that they are the most popular posts read on my blog.  Every day they are getting hits and some days as many as 12.  That is very interesting to me. 

Who knew that there are people that are that interested in what I have to say on the matter.  I don’t profess to be an expert in the matter, or on any other topic, but people are reading my thoughts and opinions about Animal Testing.

 I have had a few comments telling me how bad and wrong my opinions are on the topic as well as a few that were supportive of my thoughts.  My thoughts are my thoughts and I don’t apologize for them. 

I do like that people are coming here to read my little Rambling blog.  If I create a little controversy along the way, well, it happens.  In the mean time, thanks for coming by and reading and check out some of my other post, not just the Animal Testing ones. 

Why Havn’t I Posted Regularly

I have not had much of a chance to blog in the past few weeks.  In addition to feeling so sick I have been trying to put a lot of time into my Pennsylvania Forum – TalkPa.  It has been doing well and growing.  I have been trying to get it to grow more by luring enticing new members, encouraging them to post, finding new and interesting topics to post, etc….

 It has been taking up a lot of the blogging time.  Now that it is taking off I hope to at least blog a little more. 

As far as my health, I tore the cartilage between my ribs on the right from coughing so hard.  There is not much they can do about it except for fixing the cough.  I am trying mot to twist and turn or lift anything.  It is just an uncomfortable feeling.  For the cough, I am taking steroids.  They also took blood to test for a few other things including mono. 

I have been taking the steroids and they are giving me a little bit of a buzzed feeling.  It is also making me feel a little tired.  My cough today is much better after just one day of the steroids.  I just hope that this cough does not return after this treatment. 

Time will tell.

That’s All

Hey, this is a fun one! Heddy over at When Life Hands You Lemons… tagged me with a meme that involves rocking to your ipod.  So, I have my iPod classic on shuffle, here goes!

The Rules:
1. Put your iTunes/ music player on Shuffle
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER WHAT(this is in capital letters, so it is very serious. No hiding your showtunes, folks!)

After you’ve answered all of the questions, tag 5 other people and then let them know they’ve been tagged to do the meme themselves!

IF SOMEONE SAYS “IS THIS OKAY” YOU SAY?
Love Her Madly – The Doors

WHAT WOULD BEST DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONALITY?
With A Little Help From My Friends – The Beatles

WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?
All Shook UP – Elvis Presley

HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY?
Just What The Doctor Ordered – Ted Nugent

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE’S PURPOSE?
Before He Cheats – Carrie Underwood

WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO?
Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds – The Beatles

WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?
Champange Supernova – Oasis

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR PARENTS?
Kickstart My Heart – Motley Crue

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?
Beverly Hills – Weezer

WHAT IS 2+2?
Touch Me – The Doors

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?
At This Moment – Bille Vera and the Beaters

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
Someday I’ll Be Saturday Night – Bon Jovi

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?
Heaven Laughs – The Hooters

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?
Wild Side – Motley Crue

WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
Even the Losers – Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers

WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?
God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen – Bing Crosby

WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING?
Icky Thump – The White Stripes

WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?
Work This Out – High School Musical 2

WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?
Scooby Doo – Kidz Bop Kids

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET?

Here There and Everywhere – The Beatles

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?

Birdman – The Hooters

WHAT SHOULD YOU POST THIS AS?

That’s All – Genesis

So, now to tag….

Teeni, Kara, Rusty, Red, and Calamity

I’m not so good

I am going on my fifth week of feeling lousy.  I have had a terrible cough that I have not been able to shake.  I don’t know what it is bet I figured it is time to go see a doctor. 

From all of this coughing I think I tore the cartilage between my ribs again and I am in pain from it.  Every breath, everything I lift, even a slight twist is painful.  I have been dealing with the pain well though. 

I see the doctor tomorrow.  All of the armchair doctors out there have diagnosed me with everything from mono to walking pneumonia to bronchitis.   I figured that it was now time to get the opinion of a real doctor. 

We’ll have to wait and see tomorrow what he says. 

Regardless, today is as good as a day as any to die.