For Natalie

Above the lake when thunder break
To shatter peaceful silence
With lightning flash an angry cash
Of force rekindles violence
And down below where rivers flow
To wash away the soil
They tear away the rock and clay
Undoing all the toil
But deep within away from sin
And safe from subjugation
Below the bed of watershed
A mere of lost elation
Is waiting there without a care
And quietly reminding
That safe and sound you’ve finally found
The one thing that’s worth finding

Jeff Hall

June 2006

I'm Bored

Ever since I was a young man perched on top of the garage gazing at the stars, I have had the philosophy that no matter how dull my life may seem at the moment, there is a wonderland of playgrounds in searching for rocks, star gazing, people watching , toying with ideas. Well you get the idea. Just please don’t say those two ugly words. “I’m bored.” Okay that was three words. See there? One can debate the very words we speak, but one cannot be bored without being boring. There, I said it. But don’t let me bore you with that.

Thoughts are like seeds in a field. Imagination is the rain. Your faith is the sun. Put them all together and the possibilities are endless. I like the way the world sounds when it snows. The smell of fresh cut grass. My face in the running water. Toes in the cold sand at night. The taste of my first vine ripened tomato. Why am I talking in sentence fragments? I don’t know. Try walking on the other side of the street. Better yet get out in the woods by yourself and just be. Then come back refreshed and make someone smile. Don’t forget children and seniors alike.

My point is, there is a child in us that refuses to let things or people become commonplace. The child, who plays with a stick all day, pretends to be a spy and marvels at a trickling stream. Sure the car won’t start or the kids are sick or money quit growing on trees. The real world doesn’t go away. It just gets a little easier to deal with and believe in.

Paging Dr.Seuss

I was having chest pains, right where my heart is located. So I went to the doctor, and another one and another one. “Let’s perform an EKG and blood work,” he said. What did they find? Anemia. Eat something. “What we have here, is a failure to communicate.” – Cool Hand Luke.

So that called for more testing and more testing… because that only addressed hunger pangs. Cardiac enzymes were not present, but evidence of internal bleeding was. “Let’s perform a colonoscopy and an EGD- esophagogastroduodenoscopy,” they said. That was all clear for the most part. “Let’s do a capsule endoscopy,” they said. Remember the movie Fantastic Voyage? It was like that only I swallowed it. As Craig Ferguson would say,” I got nothing.” I had to have an x-ray to verify that the capsule “escaped.”

Oh wait. Chest pains you say. Okay “Let’s do a nuclear stress test,” they said and another EKG and a mammogram of the heart and a scan of some kind. More nothing results ensued. Well you see where this is going? Good, I don’t either. But now I am only waiting for the results of my insurance claims. The chest pains are gone. I did catch T.B. or something from being around all those sick people.

Well it wasn’t a waste of time. I got to have some fun. While in one of the waiting rooms I was asked if I needed help with something. My stolen response was “No thanks, I’m just waiting.”

"The answer my friend..."

The era of customer service is rapidly vanishing. That having been said, I have finally found a service that “just answers” my questions. It is called “JustAnswer.” How often have you clicked on one of those obsolete links like: Contact Us, Cust. Service, Feedback and so on only to get a response like “Here are some FAQ’s” to chew on or “Visit our forum” and talk to someone else who is clueless? Live chat is popular if you don’t mind asking the same question three different ways.

Here is the catch. IT IS NOT FREE. Yes folks, the mighty dollar rules again. You might have to spend actual cash to participate. But for $14.00, $18.00 or $30.00 they will attack your question like a bum on a bologna sandwich. If the first expert doesn’t get it then your question is escalated to a bigger expert. If they don’t know, then everyone gets in on the action. No answer, no pay. These aren’t just your usual Internet know-it-alls. They include Doctors, Lawyers, Vets and Mechanics.

My question was about Windows Media Player 11. Not all of my prayers are answered but I am well on my way to the healing process. And now that I’ve proven to be a paying customer, I will be treated like royalty because I was a “fun” person with whom to work. So next time you say out loud “How come,” you can read the excellent books by Kathy Wollard or you can visit www.JustAnswer.com. Just ask for:Molinari





‘

My Facebook experience

I joined Facebook nine months ago and promptly forgot about it. [Except for some lady who keeps inviting me to polo matches in Argentina.] Then the other day it came. That loose thread that you just have to pull on. It was the question that starts out with “Are you the one who used to…? I calmly replied that I indeed was that person.

Next thing I knew eleven requests to be friends flooded my separate email inbox and they were all from people that I knew! This was Monday before last and it’s like someone lifted an upside down bowl off of an ant to expose a whole new world.
Are privacy issues at stake here? Could I have a bad experience? Will the bullies pick on me? Probably. So what?

Here it comes. The quote about “Those who would sacrifice liberty for security deserve neither.” I agree. But privacy is a whole other issue. I hate to say it, but if you want privacy, don’t use the web for social networking. On the other hand, I see no harm in a little gossip and fun with old friends. Plus I really rock at “cartoon trivia” quizzes and I get to taunt my peers with a challenge.

So is it harmless? Will it suck your brains out and leave you quivering on the sidewalk?
Only time will tell, my friend. In the meantime, did you know that the first bedroom scene on TV was with Fred and Wilma Flintstone?

The best bargains are still at garage sales

For no good reason that I can think of, I awoke at 4:30 AM. But it was a good thing I did. The garage sale across the street was at a fast rock n’ roll cadence by 7:30 AM. I moseyed on over like I had no interest in someone’s second hand junk
.
It was then that I spotted the blown glass swans mounted atop a mirrored, rotating music box that plays Swan Lake. My sister collects both swans and music boxes. It came at a hefty price of twenty-five cents. Then came the solid brass unicorn for another whopping twenty-five cents. One of my dearest friends collects unicorns. It weighs in at almost two pounds.
I had to dig out two quarters for a sack full of jewelry and stickpins. One of them was a solid brass unicorn.

Rounding out the long, grueling trip across the street in 76-degree weather during July, I purchased a working dinosaur skeleton, some cd’s [now playing] and other gift items. Now saddled with a single digit debt, I spotted two large antique matching pillows still in the original packages. Mine, not a gift, mine. As I returned with more than I could carry, an old saying came to mind. “Used to be a hand full of money got you a sack full of groceries. Now a sack full of money gets you a hand full of groceries.” Not at yard sales it doesn’t.

I just met big brother...his name is Skippy

I’m not sure if I want to believe what just happened right here in my office. Did big brother just pay me a visit? Should I call the FTC?
If you have ever turned over remote control of your pc during an online chat with “technical support” from Symantec, here’s what you just did.

By the time I got offline with them it was five hours later and I was at level three with the supervisors. No, my problem with their software was not resolved, and it wasn’t even security related, but that’s okay. I applaud their efforts. Here’s where it gets weird. After I signed off with them I restarted my computer, not because it is probably just a good idea, but because I was prompted to do so in order for some “changes” to take effect.

“Finally I can get some breakfast, it’s noon.” But wait a minute! What did I just see? The cursor on my screen just moved. Is that the theme from The Twilight Zone I hear? No. Skippy from India has remote control of my pc again! No I didn’t enter any access number or click “I agree” anywhere. Skippy just waltzed right up and hacked into my computer. Are you creeped out yet? No?
Well that’s not all. At one point he, “Skippy”, was reading my email, trying to access my 401k info and just being generally nosey.
No my “cards and log-ins” still doesn’t sign me directly into my Gmail like it does my Yahoo account, but that’s okay. A little privacy feels reassuring about now.
I’m sure this is all harmless or is it? I don’t know. You make the call. I’m going to unplug my computer and rest easy.