Please Support Jason's Law!

What is Jason's Law?

It is a potential law to address the ongoing and escalating problems with truck driver safety and security. In the last month we have been doing a great deal of research into the problems of trucker safety.

On Thursday March 5, 2009, Jason Rivenburg pulled his truck into a gas station that has been used frequently and considered to be some what safe. Jason was only twelve miles from his destination but could not make delivery because it was too early. His delivery never took place. Jason was shot and killed as he rested in his truck. Jason leaves behind a son that will be two in April and a wife that will deliver twins shortly.

Jason's family and friends are asking for your help to bring attention to the dangers our nation's truck drivers face to our legislators. Perhaps if truck stops were required to provide adequate lighting, cameras and if delivery sites provided secure waiting areas crimes of this nature could be prevented.

Please join our effort to make "Jason's Law" a reality by signing our petition and filling out our legislative survey.

May it Please the Court

May it Please the Court


Sometimes I read someone elses blog and it's just too good not to share. This is one of those times.

Maira Kalman is an illustrator, author and designer whose last column for Op-Extra, "The Principles of Uncertainty," ran from May of 2006 to April of 2007 and has been published as a book. She has written and illustrated 12 children's books, and her artwork is featured in a recent edition of Strunk and White's "Elements of Style." She recently created a panel story for The Rosenbach Museum and Library's 21st-Century Abe Web project. Her work is shown at the Julie Saul Gallery in Manhattan. Ms. Kalman lives in New York City and teaches graduate courses in design at the School of Visual Arts. "And the Pursuit of Happiness," about American democracy, will appear on the last Friday of each month in the New York Times.

Safe Driving Tips & Tricks

Driving Tips & Tricks


Cornering
The most important thing to remember when taking sharp curves or cornering [esp. in an eighteen wheeler in the wintertime] is to slow down before the curve and power through the curve. You always want to keep a pull on a trailer and never let a trailer push you through a curve.

Turning On Red
Did you know that it is legal to turn left on red? Only turn left on red when it is from a one-way to a one-way.

Cars Beside Trucks
Never, and I mean never, drive beside an eighteen wheeler for long periods of time. It is extremely dangerous. First off the wind turbulence is bad and absolutely can push you off the road or pull you into the truck if you are not watching!

Also, if one of those tires does blow it can rip your head right off your shoulders and that's no joke. I've seen it happen and it's sickening.

Cars Passing Trucks
When you pass an eighteen wheeler in a car make sure you see, at the least, both headlights in your rearview mirror before executing your move in front of them.

Right Hand Turns
When you see a truck driver trying to make a right hand turn NEVER get to the right of him as he CANNOT see you! I've seen literally hundreds of cars smashed because of total stupidity.

The reason an eighteen wheeler driver swings wide to make a right turn is basically because he can't see and it is always better to be safe than sorry than to pay a city thousands of dollars for a ripped off stop light or stop sign.

It is NO different than making a left turn except for the fact that you can stick your head out of the left window. Of course if you are a giraffe then you are ok on right turns!

Get Out Of The Left Lane
I don't care whether you are in a car or in a truck, when you are through passing get out of the left lane! It only breeds hatred and frustration when drivers are rude and just ride in the left lane for no reason. The freeways are designed properly if ONLY they would be used properly!

Two Lane Roads
IF you are on a two lane road with a mile long line of traffic behind you and you are wanting to make a right turn instead of stopping everybody get on the shoulder to turn right so everybody else can keep moving [ if there is a shoulder of course ].

Look Ahead
Always look ahead of you NOT just right in front of your bumper as many people do. Learn how to judge distance and speed to keep the freeways moving smooth. IF you see a truck or even a car coming up on a very slow moving vehicle ahead of them, you should realize they need to get out and, IF you keep moving up to them at a high rate of speed knowing this, then it's your own idiocy when you get mad because they pull out in front of you. Common sense is called for in these situations.

Exiting
Don't be a dummy and hammer down right before you know you need to exit and cut a truck off OR cut in front of them and slow down to get off. You truly have no idea how close to death you are. If the driver is looking down for even a second you will be in deep trouble. Possibly 6' of deep trouble.

Use your head and common sense to realize that you should slow down and not try to pass. Why be in a hurry to just get off anyway? Will one second matter that much?

No matter how big you are, how bad you are, how rich you are, how smart you are, how dumb you are, how young you are, or how old you are you will die with 80,000 lbs on top of you.

Shrimp Boil Recipe: Camping Style Low Country Boil

I discovered this site because of the Bacon Explosion recipe a couple months ago. The guys that write it are real characters and more importantly darn good cooks. I liked the site so much I added their link to my google homepage so I don't miss a single recipe and I follow them on Twitter too. :)

The following is directly from their site. Now I personally find the thought of men in the woods with guns, chainsaws and beer a tad frightening. Especially since I live in rural Georgia where this type of thing probably happens frequently. But darned if they don't just make it all seem like so much fun. :)

I do not camp. I'm black and I'm a girly-girl so that pretty much goes without saying. Don't get me wrong, I love nature; but I hate bugs, insects, arachnids, and I'm not overly fond of critters that bite and scratch and spread rabies and lyme disease. My idea of roughing it is a hotel that doesn't offer 24 hour room service. Anywho, I think I can manage this in the backyard cause it's basically a New England Clambake minus the clams and lobster and with meat added. Not sure about the Zatarain's seasoning as I've never tried it. I'm a Jersey girl and we swear by Old Bay Crab Seasoning, but I'll try anything once.

Shrimp Boil Recipe: Camping Style Low Country Boil
This post clearly doesn’t fall under the BBQ flag, but we’re posting it anyway because it can be paired with your BBQ quite nicely. If you’ve got a pork butt or a brisket on the smoker all day and your guests are demanding food at 2 o’clock in the afternoon, here is your solution. Tired of hot dogs and ham sandwiches while you’re camping? Well look no further because we have the best camping recipe there is. It’s quick and easy and much much better than a ham and cheese sandwich with Doritos smashed in it (wait, I like those…).

Since I was on our bi-annual men in the woods with guns, chainsaws, beer, and food weekend I’ll give you the method of preparing the delicious feast so you can cook it in about 30 minutes from start to finish. We’re big-time eaters so this served four of us, but we almost died trying. With normal human beings this probably serves six or so.

Here’s what you’ll need…

1 Bayou Classic Shrimp Boiler with Basket
1 propane tank
1 pair of cooking gloves
1 long spoon/spatula/stirring utensil

3-4 lbs large shrimp
1 package andouille sausage
1 package hot Italian sausage (can substitute a regular smoked Italian if you wish)
12 red new potatoes
4 ears of corn
4 lemons
3 boxes Zatarain’s Crab Boil (3 oz)
1 bottle Zatarain’s Liquid Crab Boil
1 can Nantucket Off-Shore Shellfish Boil
1 bottle of cocktail sauce

And to make it easy for the camping edition, you’ll need these items…

4 one gallon Zip Lock bags
1 ice chest
1 big newspaper
43 beers

The evening before you leave on your camping expedition, pack up your guns, ammo, chainsaws, explosives, fishing equipment and your cooking gear first because that stuff is really more important than eating. If you forget the food, you can always hunt things. Or chainsaw something. Once that is done, take your sausages and slice them into 1 inch wide chunks and place them in a zip lock. Clean the potatoes and shuck the corn and put them in a zip locks. Quarter the lemons and…put them in a zip lock (no more zip locks…really). The morning of the trip put them on ice and head for the hills.

Upon arrival at your favorite camping spot, unload your guns, ammo, chainsaws, and explosives. Open a beer and proceed to blow things up until you are nearing the point of starvation. Now it’s time to get things going. Open beer. Remove the basket and fill your 30 quart pot up to the fill line (about half) with drinkable water. Dump in the 3 bags of Zatarain’s, a couple pinches of the Nantucket Shellfish Boil, a third of the liquid crab boil, and all of the lemon wedges. Bring to a rolling boil. Open beer.

Once you achieve a rolling boil, dump in your potatoes and sausage (use your gloves, the lid is hot as hell). Boil the sausage and potatoes for 20 minutes. Open beer. At the 20 minute mark, dump in your corn and boil for another 10 minutes. At that time, dump the shrimp in and stir. Boil 3-4 minutes until shrimp are pink.

Everything is done! Open beer. Spread out some newspaper and dump everything in a big pile (get ready to catch rolling potatoes when you dump it, we always lose a couple). Chow down!

If you would like to turn it into a crab boil/shrimp boil, just toss in your crab after the first 10 minutes of cooking!

Down the Shore in Belmar, NJ is lovely this time of year

I'm a beach baby. I grew up down the shore and it's by the ocean that I feel most alive and happy. Sitting on the hot sand, just yards away from 10th Avenue Freeze Out and listening to Bruce and Bon Jovi on the radio is my idea of a perfect day. Add a couple of slices or a hoagie from Wawa and I'm so content I could plotz.

One day I'll roll in a Corniche convertible

Rolls Royce Corniche

Corniche Convertible in Forest Green with caramel leather interior. To me the Rolls Royce has always been the epitome of luxury and opulence. I went to school with a girl whose family had one, along with 3 or 4 other lesser, luxury cars.

4/21/2009 - My Sucky 43rd Birthday

* Woke up with that awful, telltale pain on the lower right quadrant of my back. Haven't had one in years, over a decade at least. Checked symptoms on Google then double checked with mom. I have a kidney infection and I still had my period...on my birthday!
*Grab 2 bottles of water from fridge take Motrin go back to bed.
*Can only sleep for 2-3 hours at a time because kidney pain wakes me up.
*Money is tight so we didn't do the usual birthday dinner out at Red Lobster or Olive Garden. All for the best cause I can't sit upright for too long anyway, I'm in too much pain.
*Dad brought the mail in and surprise, surprise. I apparently forgot to pay a parking ticket in Filthadelphia on 6/30/2002. At first I thought it was a mistake. For one thing it's 7 years ago and for another I didn't remember the license plate listed. That was like 4 cars ago. :p Meh, summer of 2002 sucked big time I lost my job and my bf of 10 years dumped me via e-mail. The ticket is only $63 no biggie I'll pay it.
*Publix makes the best cakes around. I ordered chocolate cake with buttercream frosting and strawberry filling, pink roses. They gave me whipped cream frosting. I hate whipped cream frosting. If I wanted cool whip on my cake I'd buy a tub of it.
* I am getting a zit on my nose. Great! I'm gonna look like Witchy Poo from HR Puf N Stuf
* No one called me to say happy birthday. :( Don't get me wrong I'm not some loser with no friends. I received numerous texts and e-mails wishing me all manner of happy birthday wishes. The forums on which I am active had whole threads where people wished me well. It just would have been nice to pick up the phone and here a friendly voice say Happy Birthday.

4/22/2009 - The misery continues

* Mom and I have food poisoning, not sure from what. We all ate the same leftovers for dinner last night and dad isn't sick at all.
* Today my body rejected everything eaten in the last 2 days as well as cherry jello and a buttered roll.
* Thus far being 43 BITES!

Taking A Break From Caregiving

Taking A Break From Caregiving
How do you avoid caregiver stress or caregiver burnout? Parents of high-demand children need to rest and get away.

Many people worry about burning out from the constant drain of caring for a child 24/7, and this can be an even more crucial issue for the parents of a child with bipolar disorder, ADHD or other serious mental health condition.

Parents frequently hear questions such as "How can you stand to be with your kid 24/7?". The answer can be found in one word… Respite. Without planning adequate opportunities for the parent/educator/caregiver to be free from demands, rested and rejuvenated, parenting is likely to rapidly deteriorate into a painful power struggle benefiting no one.

Sometimes the other parent can provide "time off" for the parent, but for single parents or parents who have a spouse who travels, additional plans must be made. Grandparents might provide respite by taking the child(ren) for a few hours or overnight. A local high school or college student can be hired for a relatively low wage and provide respite. Schools who have psych programs or special education programs often have students who would jump at the chance to work with a child with a psychological condition. When more stable, many children with a mental illness benefit from classes such as art classes or volunteer work, and that time can provide a brief respite as well. It is imperative not to neglect this most urgent of issues if you are to remain effective parents and happy people.

Sometimes an article resonates with you; and this one sure did for me. I don't have children yet but I moved back in with my parents 2 years ago because my dad [80] has Parkinson's and my mom [78] just needed help around the house and with him.

As the only child, I am now the sole caregiver to my parents. I know many of you know what that is like. For me I liken it to living with 80 year old toddlers. There is a lot that they can still do for themselves, yet there is a lot that they are now unable to do and it changes by the day if not the hour.

They aren't senile, for which I am truly thankful. Though my mom is getting a bit forgetful she is competent and pretty fit for her age. Dad walks with a walker and as a former Army drill sargeant during Korea is still quick to bark orders. Don't get me wrong I love my parents dearly, but there are times when I just want to be alone. To go to the mall by myself without someone pulling on me that they are tired and want to go home NOW.

That's where my darling Tex comes in, he is my rest and my respite. Those 5 days I spent on the road with him last month were the happiest and most carefree I have been in ages.

Even better the stuff I can't handle around the house or yard he does and never complains. He actually likes manual labor and is glad to have something to do to keep busy when he isn't on the road. My folks adore him and my mom has taken to making 'honeydo lists' for him. I usually cut those short a bit and tell her he can't do some stuff just so I can have some time alone with him. Besides which I don't want her wearing my man out.

I also have a good friend up in North Georgia who I usually get to see about every 2 months or so. In the summer I go up and spend a week with her and she usually spends a few days here at Christmas or Thanksgiving. She lives with her 90 yr old mom and understands what I am just starting to go through, with my folks; so it's nice to have somebody to which to vent and drink margarias with.

Haiku

I wrote this early Monday morning when I was trying to sleep and texted it to everyone I know.


It's a grey Monday
Staccato gun shots echo
shooting range down the road

Another Year Gone By . . .

Today is April 20th and tomorrow is my 43rd birthday. Not sure how I feel about that. The past few years have been at best tumultuous for me. I was diagnosed with vulvar cancer 2 months before my 40th birthday. I went from wondering how to celebrate the big 4-0 to wondering if I would live to see 40. I survived the surgery and the staph infection, which actually came closer to killing me than the benign cancer did. I'm glad to be alive, don't get me wrong; but I just thought I would have done more or been more accomplished something more than I have by now. I know, I know if I don't like my life I have only myself to blame. The thing is I don't hate my life, I'm in a rut and I don't know how to get out.

I haven't worked since May 2006 because of this darn Meniere's Disease. However, the state of Georgia won't qualify me for disability or even general assistance. So I have been applying for work in and out of my field for over a year now, with no luck. Then there is the matter of my folks. Dad has more bad days then good lately and moms forgetfulness is beginning to scare me. Which makes me wonder if I can leave them alone to work full time.

I ordered my own birthday cake today . . . as usual. God forbid my mother remember the birthday of her only living child. I try to be sympathetic and understanding but it really ticks me off that she remembers April 21, 1967 as the day Valerie died rather than my first birthday. Valerie was her daughter from her first marriage and she was 16 when she died of a post-op pneumonia on my first birthday.


"All I have going is my looks. When my beauty goes, I'm through."
~ Ava Gardner

I know how she feels. I've always been told I was pretty, cute, beautiful, sometimes even adorable; but I'm not book smart. I somehow managed to accumulate more degrees than I have wall space to put them on. I have heaps of common sense, always have and it has served me well. I just hope it will be enough to carry me through the next 50 to 60 years.

Meh . . . enough whining about me, I have chores to do.