Star Jones, don't let the door hit ya...

...where the good Lord & Lady split ya, but then again we all know it would hit her enormous head first!!!

I am so thrilled beyond belief that the big, endless talking head is leaving The View, i'm not sure i can even explain it in words!!

I tried watching The View when it first hit the airwaves, i wanted to like the show because i have great respect for Barbara Walters and i think both Joy and Meridith are really funny ladies with interesting real life viewpoints. The one obstacle that i could not get past was Star Jones and her constantly saying in almost every conversation, "....well, you know i'm a Lawyer and..." UGH!!! If i had a dollar for every time that woman started a sentence with that phrase, i'd own my own home!! I even watched a few times when Elisabeth joined the show, because i really liked her on Survivor, i mean, even if she is a huge Red State lovin' kinda girl...Red-Stater's are people too, so i was willing to overlook that, but once again it was big-head Star Jones who just put me right off. I have never seen any talk show personality more full of themselves, i mean, she's even been more over the top than Oprah can be at times...and that's saying something!!

I had planned on trying the show again once my Gal Rosie joined the Gals, even if Star was going to be there, but needless to say, i am totally beside myself with glee at the fact that she will be gone then...oh, wait, she already is gone!! Her big-head has even been removed from the official website for the show, talk about moving fast. Whew!

Did you hear what happened? Apparently it was determined that Barbara and Star would announce on the show Thursday that Star would not be returning, but Star took it upon herself to go off script on yesterday's show and spill the news with all of her stunned co-hosts sitting right there. So, ya know...'the show' was not happy about that and BAMO!!, today, she's gone!

From what i've been reading online, Star Jones' ratings with viewers of The View have been going downhill right along with good ole GW's...people don't find her to be trustworthy. I'm guessing that some of it is due to her shadiness and not talking about how she REALLY lost all of her weight....diet and exercise alone, my fat-ass!!! Also, i think people were really put off with all of Star's 'bridezilla' activities, ya know, the ones where a very wealthy woman who's getting hitched to a very wealthy gay man, woo's companies into sponsoring her wedding and/or supplying goods and services in lieu of her giving them a big Promo Plug on air during episodes of The View. I mean, c'mon cheapo...pay for your own damn wedding!!Sheesh!!

Ok, i better go do some good deeds to help undo some of my bad gossip karma!!

Knit On!!

~Suz~

I LOVE Reality TV

I swear, i'm such a freakin' addict!

Here's my current knitting times, errr i mean, viewing lineups...

On Mondays we now have : Treasure Hunters on NBC In case you missed the series premiere, it's being aired THREE more times, yikes!!! Friday the 23rd at 8pmEST, Saturday the 24th at 9pmEST andMonday the 26th at 8pmEST right before it's new time slot home of 9pmEST, when the second episode will air for the first time! Treasure Hunters is sort of like The Amazing Race except instead of racing to the end destination, the teams are racing to find a hidden treasure by following clues that are revealed by solving riddles and puzzles. A bit more interesting and a bit more like my beloved & defunct "The Mole".

Also on Monday nights is the current version on MTVs Real World/Road World Challenge one of my little guilty pleasures from my late teen years that still clings on like wet sand! In this seasons version, called "Fresh Meat", 10 Road Rules/Real World Veterans hook up in teams of two with one player of the opposite sex, who is the "Fresh Meat". Each week there is a challenge where the winning team chooses one team to go into Exile and then the rest of the teams vote a second team into Exile; those two teams go up against each other in a challenge and the winning team returns to the game, the losers leave Australia!

Tuesday nights are now filled with: Kathy Griffin's "My Life on the D-List"

And it's looking like Wednesdays, as of tonight will behold the newest season of Big Brother the All-Star version. Vote your faves into the house tonight!!!

Thursdays are for: Celebrity Poker Showdown (Mmmmm, Jennifer Tilly!!!!) and i've also been watching "Windfall" on NBC,...great show so far! And i've seen episodes of "Last Comic Standing"on the BravoTV repeats...i'm cheering for Josh Blue, he cracks me up!

And when i have time i watch as much CSI, Law & Order Criminal Intent & Law And Order SVU as i can find on TV...as well as Charmed, Medium, and whatever else i stumble upon...damn, i really need to get out more!!!

Knit-On!!!

~Suz~

Breakdown Number Two

Yep. You read that correctly. The van that we put nearly $3000.00 down on, a little over a month ago, and have since made two additional payments on, has broken down for the second time, leaving us stranded on the side of the road for the second time, making one of Deb's parents interrupt what they were doing in order to come and cart our asses home for the second time. I'm really tired of tryng to scrounge up towing, ya know, since normal people don't carry phone books in their vehicles and especially since the man who sold us the car PROMISED that they would tow us if we were in the area...which we were. That promise is BS. We called for our dealer, Ron's Automotive - in Manchester, MD to tow us and darned if NO ONE even answered the damn phone! No one. No 24-hour automated answering service to leave a message on, nothing. Stranded. A-Fucking-gain!!! And ya know what makes it even worse? Huh? Do ya?? It's with the same fucking problem that occurred the last time we were stranded. SAME. FUCKING. THING.

I can only hope that the bastards fix it PROPERLY THIS TIME or i'll be finding a lawyer!!!

~Suz~

104.2

Sounds like the numbers to a groovy radio station, doesn't it??

Oh!, but no!!! That was my temp yesterday when Deb finally said, "That's it, you're going to ER". I then conned her into coming into the bathroom with me while i took a cool shower, to see if that would help...i had her there in case i fell over or something. It didn't help much.

It all started on Sunday morning when i woke up at Karen's cabin in West Virginia. I just thought that i was feeling crappy because we'd gotten a severely late start to the cabin on Friday, got there late and didn't get to sleep until about 1am and then had to be up at 4am to get some quick chow and take Deb's Dad to the drop off point for his "50 mile" walk. After Randy hemmed and hawed about where he wanted to start, and we'd driven him to about 5 different locations, he finally was gone...three hours behind schedule. I was about to open the side door on the van and push him out!! We met up with him about 9 miles from where he started and gave him gatorade & a powerbar and did that the rest of the day until about 3:30pm, when he finally called it quits after 30 miles. Ok, so he didn't do the 50 he'd wanted, but hell...30 is nothing to sneeze at!! But back to me...

UTI. That's what was causing the fever, Urinary Tract Infection. UGH. So after some IV fluids and Levoquin (sp?) i was sent on my merry way...and i'm feeling better today, but tired.

On the knitting news...i finished my Sockotta socks, (and will post pics when i feel better) during the weekend and started another pair with KnitPicks "Parade" yarn in Forest. Wow, what a difference in thickness. I'm also using my new flexible dpn's from (will post info later) and those are taking a bit to get used to.

Knit On, kids!!

~Suz~

Supporters lose in gay marriage ban vote

Yes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you to the smart, informed, open-minded members of the Senate...and to the rest, get a clue and quit being haters!!!

The true MAJORITY of Americans DO NOT wish to write any type of discrimination into the Constitution. What's next? You take away the ability for Women to vote? You take away the ability for African Americans to vote? You segregate bathrooms, schools, drinking fountains and make a certain minority ride in the back of the bus??? Oh yeah, that's it...gay people - to the back of the bus!!!!

Give me a break!!!

I LOVE what Barbara Boxer of California had to say during debates yesterday...

"On a personal note, let me say that I have been married for 44 years to the same person. I have to say as someone married for that length of time, the fact that two gay people decide they want to take care of each other for the rest of their lives and care about each other for the rest of their lives, that doesn't threaten my marriage one bit. It doesn't threaten me. It doesn't make me worry about my marriage. My marriage is too strong for that. The fact is, if someone feels their marriage is threatened because two gay people care about each other, then their problems go way deeper than they are caring to admit.

Throughout our Nation's history, we have only amended the Constitution to extend rights and equality, and that is an important point. So I think we have established in this debate that the States are taking care of this issue, and they are coming out in all different places."

Thank you Senator Boxer!!!

Knit on!!!

~Suz~

The Muppet test

I ADORE The Muppets. I still, to this day, 16 years later, tear up over the death of Jim Henson. I know...i'm a sap!!!

If i were a Muppet, i'd be...

You Are Kermit

Hi, ho! Lovable and friendly, you get along well with everyone you know. You're a big thinker, and sometimes you over think life's problems. Don't worry - everyone know's it's not easy being green. Just remember, time's fun when you're having flies!

The Muppet Personality Test

Heeheehee!!!

Knit on something GREEN!!!

~Suz~

Merino Knits

Oh!! Look what made it's way home to me today thanks to Deb's Mom!!!

Yes. It was FREE book day today!! Yippeeeeeeee!!!

I've looked through the book but have yet to decide what i want to make out of it, i have too many projects in the que as it is!!!

So there!

~Suz~

She's Home

Well, we got the minivan back today...

...supposedly our dealership, Ron's Automotive in Manchester, MD, had their tech drive our vehicle for 300 miles at 75mph and it never recreated the incident. And then the tech drove it another 100-150 miles and it still didn't do it again. And then the dealership did a search on the internet (this is what we were told) and found out that there's some type of transmission cooler part for the Ford Windstars (???) and they got one and put it on our minivan. And being the nice dealership that they are, they didn't charge us anything, not even the $50 deductible.

I'm still skeptical. I'm still not trusting that the problem is fixed. Maybe years of automotive mishaps has me a bit cynical?

Well, we will know for sure this weekend. We will be recreating the trip and then some. Originally we'd taken the trip to scope out camping sites for this 50 mile walk that Deb's Dad wants to take along the C & O Canal. Well, this is the weekend he's doing it. It ends up that we don't need to camp, Deb's parents know a lady who has a cabin that will accomodate all of us. Also, Dear Readers, please know that the decision has been made to make the trip in two vehicles even though there are only four of us going. Just in case!!!

Knitting update...sock number two is midway through the gussett and the lacy looking object has had about 4 more repeats added on since last posing for a photo!!!

Knit On!!!

~Suz~

The Recent Haps

Yeah, i know it's been a long time since i last posted. It's been a bit crazy & busy.

So let's see...Deb's bday was the 25th, mine was the 28th.

There was a Memorial Day cookout here at Deb's Mom's house on the 28th. None of it was set up about an hour before people were due to arrive. It was a mad scramble to locate and try to put up at least one of three dining shelters so there would be a little more shade to sit under. There ended up being enough usable parts to put one 10x10 shelter up and then the patio table and picnic table had umbrellas on them, so that was good as it was scorching hot that day! I made my infamous taco salad and it seemed to go over well. The heat wore me out so i was dog tired by the end of the day...and only managed to knit about 5 rows on a sock.

On the actual Memorial Day, the 29th, Deb and i decided to hop into the air conditioned van (the house here has NO A/C) and go to scout out camp sites for what was supposed to be this weekend but is now next weekend...Deb's Dad wants to do a 50 mile walk along the C&O Canal and Deb's Mom, niece, nephew and us are all going along and we're going to be scattered out along his path to give him water and power bars....or so he thinks!! On the 29th we managed to make it to Fort Frederick State Park and check out their camp sites, we only managed to find the primitive ones and they are right up our alley. The primitive sites sit along the Patomac River, they consist of some grass and a gravel pad for parking and tent, a picnic table and a lantern post. There are only porta-loos and thankfully they do have a handicapped accessible one so it's wider for the big girls.

Here's a few photos that we took at Fort Frederick, we did not go into the Fort, the gift shop or the Museum, we're saving that for when we actually camp there.







We quickly left Fort Frederick to travel further West to check out Green Ridge State Forest but we never made it there. About 5 miles from our destination, our 'new to us' minivan broke down! Yes. We've only had it for two weeks. Yes. We've put nearly $3,000 DOWN on it. Yes. It's under warranty. But. We had to find towing. On Memorial Day. We were stranded on the side of the road for hours. Once the tow truck came, there was barely enough room for Deb and me both in the truck with the driver, so she had to sit all doubled over and halfway on my lap...it was a painful ride for her. We had the tow truck driver take us to the nearest Ford dealership, which was in Hagarstown Maryland. The tow cost us $75 PLUS a certain amount for each mile...a total of $213. UGH!! There went some of our saved up 'trip to Indiana money'!!!

Now, once we were to the Ford dealership, we still had to figure out how to get home. After several calls, it finally ended up that Deb's Dad left work early and her Mom got to work late and they drove the almost 90 minutes to come and get us. Thank you!!!

We had the dealership run a diagnostic on the van, at OUR COST...another $79...and they determined that the front seal broke on the transmission and that it would take $2700 to replace the trans. The place we bought the van from, Ron's Automotive in Manchester, MD decided they would do the work and they finally picked the van up from the dealership late in the afternoon on the 30th...we know, because we went to the van and got stuff out of it.

We decided on the 30th that we should have taken photos of where the van broke down, the puddle of trans fluid and gotten the name of the Sheetz Repair guy who pulled over right after us...he must've gotten a windshield full'a...thanks for stopping dude we appreciate it!!!! So, we took off in Deb's Mom's car on the 30th to retrace our path and take pics. This time we stopped at this amazing overlook that we had passed up the day before...maybe if we'd have stopped for the free coffee and cookies, we might have noticed a problem with the vehicle??? Who knows!!!



And here is a lovely shot of some of our transmission fluid on the ground...



...oddly enough, now that our dealer has the vehicle back and is checking it out, there's nothing wrong with the front seal? There's no leak of transmission fluid?? And the vehicle is not hesitating at all when you drive it??? WTF?!!!!! It's not like we imagined the vehicle hesitate, heard a popping sound and then saw tons of smoke coming out of the hood. It's not like we're trying to pull their leg...i mean, it's already cost us almost $300 for goodness sake...we're not that into pulling pranks, ya know?!!!! Especially when it ate up all of our saved vacation funds, Deb's off work with a hurt arm and i'm still unemployed!!!

So, the dealer still has our vehicle and is having his tech use it for who knows how long to see if the tech can recreate the incident. We'll get $75 back from our auto insurance co. The whole thing has been a huge pain in the ass.

I had started going to this government agency in town to help me find a job...they offer workshops and classes and job resources and stuff. Well, that's a bit off kilter now with no vehicle. I did have Deb just drop me off the other day so that i could take my Word & Excel assessment tests and i'll have her take me again on Tuesday for my Math & Reading tests...fun, fun, fun.

So, that's what's been going on here. SIGH.

No word back yet on Deb's sleep study other than the tech telling her she has "severe apnea". And no word back on the MRI on her left wrist/arm...we'll keep ya posted.

Knit on!!!

~Suz~