Changes, Part II

OK, I think I'll blog again in time. I'm getting that writing feeling again. I've been over at Facebook quite a bit. I had checked it out early on and thought it was a boring social application and so I didn't join for a long time. But one day an old high school classmate contacted me on Classmates.com. She told me that many people we'd gone to school with were on Facebook. So, since it is completely free unlike Classmates.com, I gave it a try. I found many more people I know on FB than just high school friends.

I've found long lost friends from the multiple moves we've made over the years. We even got to visit some of them when we went on vacation this year. It was just so good to re-connect with them, find out what was new in life for them and yet be comforted by how the years haven't really changed them that much. One night we went to a soccer game of a boy I used to babysit. Then on another day I got to have lunch with a friend from my college days. She was as excited to see me as I was to see her. She actually wrote out all the questions she wanted to ask me so that we could catch up! The years have been good to her and her husband.

For some I've re-connected with, the years have not been so good. I pray for them and it makes me so much more thankful for what God has done in my life.

Changes

I haven't posted in quite a while. There are so many changes going on in the world both macro and micro. My little corner of it fits into the micro scheme of things. There is a lot to ponder and wonder about. On the macro scale I really wonder where this nation I live in is headed. It seems so foreign to me as of late. Yet overall, I am filled with joy in my micro corner of the world and I wait patiently and expectantly for my Heavenly Father to move heaven and earth.

So what have I been up to and where have I been since I haven't posted here in a while? I've been re-connecting with old friends and meeting new friends and it has been quite fun and interesting. It has kept me preoccupied and I haven't really felt like blogging. I wonder if I'll ever really return to it. We'll see...

Awwww!

This is sweet.

Digital TV: It's the Law

Love this video!

But seriously does anyone besides me think it is strange that the U.S. government passed a law concerning the big switch to digital TV? Is there a reason for the government to want everyone to have this new technology? Everyone knows that television is mind numbing. Is there a reason the government wants everyone to have a numb mind? I think they do want exactly that. TV is by and far the largest propaganda tool available.

I found this quote on the government's DTV web page:

If you have one or more analog televisions that receive free over-the-air TV programming with an outdoor antenna or "rabbit ears" on the TV, you will need to be prepared. You have three options: 1) purchase and connect a "digital-to-analog converter box" to your analog TV; 2) purchase a digital television (a TV with a built-in digital tuner); or 3) subscribe to a paid service such as cable or satellite TV. Each U.S. household is eligible to receive two $40 coupons to be used toward the purchase of two digital-to-analog converter boxes.

There is a fourth and less expensive option that they did not mention. Forget the whole thing and get a library card.

So Good It Hurts

We've started a new family tradition since my parents moved to the town we live in. Every Friday we have dinner together. I'm the designated cook. During the summer they come over to our house and we eat outside on our patio. In the winter we pack up dinner and take it over to their cozy little house.

My dad has Alzheimer's and sometimes gets confused about the time. Last Friday he had my mom call to tell me I needed to get over there with the food. It was 3:30 p.m. and I had just begun defrosting the meat. She explained that he was confused about the time and he was insisting that she call me. I told her to assure him that we'd be there in about two hours.

Typically, my dad eats like a bird and could care less most of the time whether he eats or not. But on the days that we eat with my parents, his appetite kicks into full gear. I'm not sure why that is. He takes unusually large helpings and scans the table for something that someone might have forgotten to pass to him. My mother loves it when we come over because it gives her one day that she doesn't have to fret over the small portions he eats otherwise.

Yesterday's meal was a combined effort. My mom made pinto beans and fried potatoes. I made cornbread and later on decided to make chili as well. It was quite the feast let me tell you.

During dinner my dad said to my mom, "What's this here?" He was referring to my chili.

She said, "That's Sherri's chili she made."

"It hurts," he said.

I got a kick out of that comment. His vocabulary is diminishing as the disease progresses and so "it hurts" was the best phrase he could find to describe my chili.

And it did hurt. Pleasantly warm, I thought. I make chili the way my mom taught me. Well, sometimes I fudge a bit and put tomatoes in it which was never allowed before. My mom has softened in her old age and now prefers a bit of tomato too. But I have never put beans in my chili. That was the most important rule my mother taught me. True Texas chili never has any beans in it. You can have beans on the side, as we did last night, but not in the chili. This is the chili I grew up to know and love.

While I have never added any beans to the recipe, I have varied the other ingredients quite a bit throughout the years. Mostly I toss in whatever spices seem good at the time. So, without further adieu, here is Sherri's It Hurts So Good Chili:

2.5 lbs. ground beef or deer (browned and broken into small bits)

And then add:
chopped med. onion or onion powder added to your taste
minced garlic, garlic granules, or garlic powder added to your taste (for our tastes-the more the better!)
cayenne pepper added to your taste (the more you add, the more it hurts)
red chili powder - a quarter of a cup at least
salt to taste - but at least a teaspoon
cumin - a teaspoon or so
unsweetened cocoa powder - about 1/8 to 1/4 cup - gives the chili a dark red appearance and perks up the chili powder flavor
chopped green chili - optional, about 1/4 cup
tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, tomato paste thinned with water - optional
Enough water to thin the chili but not so much as to make it the consistency of soup. It should be thick.
Heat through to let flavors meld. Garnish with onions and cheese. Enjoy the burn. (Hint: a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar mixed with a bit of water will effectively stop heartburn in its tracks.)

This Momentous Day

This day is certainly one for the history books. I'm not excited that Barack Obama is president. I don't have high hopes that he will promote the things that matter most to me, my family, and our friends. I think he will probably have a successful presidency as long as the economic mess can be mopped up enough to please the masses.

Today I wave goodbye to the past. We have ushered in change this day, not because our new president has a darker pigment to his skin, but because he is the symbol of that new progressive image the world wants us to portray. (New? Progressive? Bah!)

At the same time I don't long for the recent past. If there is a past I long for perhaps it would be that day our founding fathers dumped tea over the side of a ship in Boston's harbor. What happened to those who had the spirit of our founding fathers? According to John Gatto the last of them was President Abraham Lincoln and upon his death was ushered in the precursor of what America has become now. The grand ideology of our founding fathers is dead along with Lincoln and we've become just like the other governments of the world, everything has come back around full circle.

I suppose that never quite realised past is what I really wave goodbye to this momentous day.

Walking with Sony, such Rhapsody

Sony Walkman. Those have been around for quite a while. I recently purchased a cute little pink Walkman. I didn't buy it because it was pink. I bought it because it was on sale that particular day. I bought it because my Sansa Clip died after a very short life. I bought it because it is compatible with my Rhapsody To Go music service.

I remember my first Walkman. It was much larger than the current versions. It played cassette tapes. Do you remember those? Flimsy little things that their players liked to chew up and spit out if the cassette tape happened to be one of your favorites.

The first Walkman was an ingenious idea. Music that could move from place to place with you. Stereo sound piped directly into your head via the ear canal.

The next generation was the CD Walkman. Still bulky but less prone to destruction. I was a latecomer on purchasing one of those. MP3s had already come out onto the market when I purchased a portable CD player. I can't remember if it was a Walkman or not. I bought it because it had a car adapter. My vehicle at the time had only an outdated cassette player.

A friend at the time (I say at the time because she's no longer a friend, but not because of this incident.) pointed out that portable CD players were passe. She said I should get an MP3 player instead. I pointed out to her that MP3 players were terribly expensive. At the time I equated all MP3 players with iPods which are still terribly expensive. She pointed out that there were cheaper brands on the market. She was right.

I did eventually check out the MP3 market. I found some reasonably priced Sansas and purchased four, one for me and the other three for my children. They came with a trial subscription to Rhapsody To Go music service. Unfortunately, Rhapsody only allows three MP3 players on one subscription at a time. We managed to work through this dilemma.

My children eventually upgraded their players. My sons bought a Sony Walkman that they would share using the Rhapsody account. I decided to upgrade to a newer Sansa which subsequently passed on. Hence my current decision to purchase a Walkman.

So far so good, it hasn't glitched yet which seems to be a recurring problem with Sansas.

I have created a stereotype in my mind for adults who own MP3s. They are athletic or health conscious types who like to stay in shape. They like to listen to music while they workout. I don't fit this stereotype. I simply like to listen to music while I work. If my work involves moving from place to place, I need my music to move from place to place. My husband knows this and at one time thought about putting speakers throughout the house, but that's a lot of wires and I hate a lot of wires. A Walkman works much better for me. Much better for me, but not much better for anyone wanting to hold a conversation with me. When I put my ear buds in I am enveloped in my own personal "cone of silence".

To alleviate part of this problem, my husband set up a nice little stereo system which plays my MP3 player over its speakers. When I know I'll not be moving around from place to place, I can listen to my music while I'm in the living room, dining room, or kitchen.

I like various genres of music and my Rhapsody subscription lets me listen extensively to all kinds of music. I am my own D.J. I have made nearly a dozen different playlists since I joined. I used to listen to the radio to hear to my favorite songs and find new favorites. When we moved to Montana several years ago my only fear was not having my favorite radio stations to listen to. Our little town has only one radio station and it plays only Country Western which is fine if you like listening only to Country Western. I was going through a Smooth Jazz phase at the time. I made extensive lists of my favorite songs and artists before we moved so that I could build a CD library.

I like Rhapsody so much better. For the price of one CD a month I can listen to an unlimited number of music files with my To Go subscription. Plus, since I make my own playlists, I don't have to listen to songs that I don't like. Perfect.