MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING (11)

Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends. Well, here we are again, just a-rocking and a-sitting... a-sitting and a-rocking. Kick off your shoes, make yourself at ease and share your daily tribulations with the rest of us. Nothing is ever off-topic here because there basically is no topic.

We came from: http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/678897/

Have fun, everyone.
Sylvain.

Here is a picture of my dutch friend Tom with Kelly and myself in the pool. Some of you may remember we met this dutch couple at the Dusseldorf airport in May. They were flying into Florida to get Kelly into a hyperbaric oxygen treatment to try to alleviate the effects of a meningitis when she was 3 years old. She is now 8 years old. The treatments worked somewhat but she still goes into epileptic convulsions many times a day. She loves being in the pool. Tom will be leaving on Jan.10 and Kelly and her mother will be leaving on February 26th.

Sylvain.

Well, I'm checking in early.
Nothing to post.

What!! everyone screams - a post from Jeremy that is not 20 paragraphs long?!!!!!???

Jeremy

This message was edited Jan 3, 2007 12:13 PM

Jeremy---you are too funny! I sure hope you can put a trip out here into your South FL plans. Shoot, stay as long as ya want!
Michael would die Ginger! Darius' new thing is to sit next to you, whip around a paw, get ya in a head-lock. He then stradles you (say uncle) and licks you to death.
Molly- he would suffocate you! He's a big boy now but as sweet as ever. I'm just glad that he "barn storms" cars that pull up. They don't know he's saying "HI! Hi!". I still get a few scarey looking people looking for the junkyard. Molly- you would be very impressed at what we have done. Alot of the work is future things (seedlings) but so far we have really got alot accomplished. I hope you can visit again. Like Jeremy- stay as long as you want--I'll give ya the 50 cent tour around the area. Actually- I'll hold you captive and feed you to death! It's my passion! Molly- kudos to you! You have worked your hiney off there! Very, very impressive! Where do you get the energy?!

So Maggie! Come on down sometime! I am at the end of the earth! Pretty cool here!

Congratulations on your new bed and stove, Carol. I know that having these creature comforts will help make life easier and certainly more pleasant for you. You know that there are lots of people here wishing all the best for you.

I think Darius must weigh more than I do! That's some big dog.

Sylvain and Jeremy...What handsome couples in those photos!

Happy New Year, everybody.

It's funny, Biv--He already sat his butt down and wouldn't come in. He is sudh a stinker. Yet he is so lovable!

Carol, How much does he really weigh?

Hi, I love the pics of Darius. Lucy his sister is a stinker to, but more of a girly girl type. She has a stubborn streak but would not bite a biskit. With her being deaf she is a little skittish but makes friends fast. We have noticed a "protective mode" in her but as soon as we reliaze what she is doing we try and reassure her. Of course w/ me being lame haha she has dad convinced that she is the "angel" A couple of times she has bolted out the door but I believe that is from being so excited when she sees her friends {people} she forgets her boundrys. Since I am down w/ the knee a friend of ours loaned us a shock collar--it is on charge and the only time i actually would use it is if she did sneak out the door--being deaf if she got into a strange area she would be petrified. Okay luvs to all xoxoxoxo Corky

Well, friends, yesterday was a moment best described as "Ton of Concrete Day," in both good and terrible aspects.

I took a street out from my house yesterday that I don't often travel when leaving on errands. I was thrilled to find that a house is being renovated just around the corner and that the contractors had taken up a section of the driveway about 25 ft x 10 ft. The rubble that came from the driveway was my favorite variety of broken concrete, about 3 inches in diameter rather than being the usual 5 - 6 inch thick driveway concrete, and was already broken up into slabs small enough for me to lift and load, but still large enough to be used as effective paving stones to complete a garden pathway. I have previously hauled home tons and tons of broken concrete from various locations around town for a pathway that runs across the entire 150 ft length of my property as one of my "vista" landscaping themes to take advantage of the relatively large size of my lot. I am constantly on the lookout for the thinner variety of broken concrete and was ecstatic when the contractor said I was welcome to haul it all away (I sensed that he was very happy to have some fool come along that would relieve him of the need to load and dispose of a ton of broken concrete).

I finished my errands and came back for the first load of concrete and got it into my old van. As I was backing into my driveway, I suddenly heard a loud crash on the right front side of my vehicle. I was totally astonished to look over and see that a young teenage driver with only a learner's permit had tried to "thread the needle" in the small space that was between my van and the curb to try to pass my van while I was backing up. Apparently, he had not slowed down much and when I turned my wheel and began to back up the very tip of my front fender caught the driver's side door on his vehicle. No one was injured, fortunately, but there was a scrape of compressed metal about 2 ft along the door of his Kia Sephia, and just yet another minor ding to the old van -- damage which is barely perceptible amongst all the decades of dents, scrapes, and rust holes on the van.

When the police finally arrived, they somehow found the kid's story believable 's that I had stopped on the left side of the road, then pulled forward and hit his vehicle as he was coming around me, so I was cited for "careless driving." He was cited for driving on a restricted permit without a licensed driver present and no proof of insurance. He was in his mother's car with another teenage friend as a passenger. His mother had showed up at the scene and was trying to goad me into a confrontation before the police arrived, but I had simply said to her, "I'm not going to discuss it'" and proceeded with unloading the concrete slabs and ignored her taunts and verbal jabs.

I have a constant problem with near misses when trying to back into my driveway. Though my street is a curving, residential thruway, often with autos parked on either side of the road and kids playing in the street, it connects two major north/south routes and it is the custom for most drivers to ignore the 30 MPH speed limit and go about 55 MPH or faster and swerve from one side of the road to the other around parked cars without regard for safety. I took up the habit of backing into my driveway because backing out is even more hazardous since it is likely that someone is going to come flying around the corner and I am less likely to see them than if I'm moving forward.

The accident would have not been so bad, except that when I called my auto insurance company, I found that I had, in my recent spate of forgetfullness, depression, and distraction, failed to send in the premium due on Nov. 15 and that the "grace period" had ended on Dec. 30 and I had no auto insurance. I made the insurance payment online last night, but that payment won't help me any since the policy had lapsed and I had no coverage at the time of the accident. For some reason, the insurance company is following through with an investigation, even though they have told me the policy was not in effect.

So, I'm just taking prescription strength Tylenol to try to deal with the constant, severe headache this morning and waiting to see how this will all pan out. I've never been in a similar situation and don't know what happens when neither driver seems to have insurance. I do plan to request a court date to let a judge decide if the accident was truly my fault. I don't think the cops completely comprehended the situation of the teen trying to squeeze through in front of me when there was clearly no space for him to pass. I can look out my upstairs window from where I am typing and see the black mark along the curb where the rubber of his tires were peeling off in the attempt to scrape past.

If I were to have had a gun in my possession yesterday afternoon, it may have been yet one more occasion when I would have finished my painting career with a Jackson Pollock type canvas painted with my splattered brains. Christina and I were just beginning to see a glimmer of hope that the financial woes may be behind us, and we were beginning to look forward to a more comfortable, brighter day-to-day existence -- and then this figurative ton of concrete comes smashing down!

I called some friends after the police left to vent and curse and let my friends know that I was feeling suicidal, and they came to my aid with support and caring. I usually meet with close friends on Wednesday night for a weekly group dinner at a restaurant, but most people in the group were not able to attend, so we cancelled the standing dinner date. A violinist and librarian friend from the group, Virginia, came by my place and I made spaghetti here. It was nice to have the companionship and the activity of preparing dinner to take my mind off the incident, and I was able to calm down and put it all in a bit more perspective.

This morning has been tough, dealing with the headache, and feeling disgusted that such a happy moment of finding the concrete turned immediately into such a tribulation and burden and that there is yet one more hassle with which I have to contend. But, I'm going to go blithefully back around the corner today and finish loading and unloading the concrete treasure. It is just too wonderful to pass up. I've got some other details to handle with eBay sells and such, but most of the rest of the day needs to be devoted to digging through unopened bills and mail and trying to get some organization and feeling of control back into my daily affairs.

"Well, such is life, and que sera, sera, I always say!" (A quote from my full-length play in iambic pentameter verse.) Your expressions of concern and advice will be greatly appreciated.

Jeremy

Jeremy,

I am so, so sorry that in the midst of happiness that a fool teenager would happen by and take Some of it away. You were so smart not to answer a raging mother. I know, I have been one and we're not to be messed with. Knowing this, I still don't think that I could have kept my silence.

Tell us more about your ideas with the concrete, please. I probably will add one more thing to pick up at the curbs. LOL

Hap

Jeremy: I'm so sorry you are having such a bad day. Hopefully, it will all get straightened out. I can't believe you handled the mother so well - I'm sure I would have lost it. Especially since she was at fault for even letting him drive alone! Hang in there! We know that the good guys win in the end - it's just a shame that sometimes it takes so long.
Ginger

You will get through this accident.. It may set your financial plans a little back.. But you and Christina have a good thing going and that will endure some stupid kid and his b* of a mother.. I can't stand people that can't own up to something that is clearly their fault.. Little punk.. I wish I could slap people in the head without getting a lawsuit thrown at me.. Knock some sense into some of these idiots out there..

My dad recently tore up a slab where an old shed used to sit.. I don't know how thick it was (didn't measure = ) ) but he used it to make a raised flowerbed around a tree and as a walkway/decoration around their above ground pool.. These construction guys just don't know how valuable and useful their "junk" materials can be.. lol

Jacquie

Thank heavens they had insurance. As you know, my daughter had a small accident a couple months ago. No problem I had paid for a 6 months policy and there was still 2 months left. WRONG!!!!!!! Progressive said the the policy had cancelled on saturday, two days before the accident. My daughter was also cited for the accident. Progressive says that after they gave me the total for the 6 months, and I paid, that they ran my daughter DMV record and we owed more. We never got any notification of such. They said too bad you fools, we sent it, so your #$%^&*. Not only did we loose our bravada, as we did not have enough without the insurance to get it out of tow and fix it on our own. The other guy is sueing us because he only had comprehensive. He will win...we will have a judgement for many years....just plain stinks. I certainly hope you rebound very quickly....People ask me if I would have kids again..I say no. Its not the kids...its dealing with the other parentss ;-O, you did it well!

Jeremy, my sympathy goes out to you for this mishap and the subsequent downer on your psyche. Please don't let it ruin any more of the future.
Strangely, I had a minor but similar experience yesterday....... I went to pick up a FREE freecycle item, only to be unobservant when I backed my DH's pickup truck out of a parking space, and dented/scraped the side of the truck and the right rearview mirror on a post. DH is not pleased... it was the first scrape on this nice truck and he went and found out it would cost $ 500 to repair. :-(((
Minor compared with your hassles but strange how both our biorhythms seemed to be down. And any of you under 45 won't have a clue what I just said. LOL

LOL

Thanks to all for your encouragement. I'm sure in a few more decades of digestion of this mishap, it will seem like just one more minor footnote in the memoirs.

DutchLady, a musical friend (harpsichordist, of all things) that is not particularly into astrology reported to me last night that Mercury is in retrograde and that we can anticipate such scrapes and bruises. And though I seem to meet all the qualifications for being a ethereal air-headed Gemini, I don't particularly follow astrological predictions either, but I guess one explanation is as good as another. The plummie photos may be ready for pick-up today or tomorrow and that will surely brighten my outlook and provide me with a source of creative endeavors instead of stewing in remorse and resentment.

As one might well learn from the huge manure pile, "Smitten Happens."

Jeremy

I just read a nice quote in a little pocket calender from a little plant nursery.. "I take nothing for granted. I now only have good days and great days." Thought of you.. = )

Jacquie

Jacquie, I love that saying!!!!

Me too!

Jeremy,
We've all been there. My son had 1 speeding ticket and 2 fender benders the first 6 months after getting his license. He has learned his lesson as he is required to pay for all of his insurance to the tune of $1450 for 6 months for a 1994 olds! His license has been clean since. I think we have all had moments when it just when things are looking brighter, something would come along to screw it up. LOL You just have to focus day to day and know life is worth living way beyond the importance of material things. Money and things can be replaced eventually even if it is sometimes a struggle. Sometimes you just have to change your priorities to accomplish your goals.

Boy you're last sentence is a mouthfulllllll !!!

Etherial, air-headed Gemini??? I think I both resent and resemble that description of a Gemini! I think we're twins Jeremy! LOL

I'm a Taurus.. Stubborn but steadfast and true..

Jacquie

Jeremy, I can well understand how this is stressful on top of the past few months, but please don't let it be the straw that broke the camel's back. In the grand scheme of things, 'tis but a minor blip on the radar of your very eventful life. Want some more clichés? LOL I could write a whole page full! And they'd all be absolutely true, too.

I'm a Libra and I love every one!

Gemini here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh, just like my daughter.....are you a handful!!

Sagittarius...... wise, gregarious, compassionate...... LOL

I think Corky and I discovered we are Geminis with the same birthdate -- May 28? but I will claim you as one of the twins I never had, BocaGinger. I had a close friend that was a Gemini and also an artist. You didn't want us in the same room together. We would eventually set something on fire and then just giggle and fan the flames!

Everyone thought I was going to be twins before I was born (back in the days before there was ultrasound tests). I weighed in at 12 lbs at birth and resembled Nikita Krushev.

Jeremy

This message was edited Jan 4, 2007 11:08 PM

I know about that fire thingy.....I have a daughter that is a Gemini. WOW, what a trip she is!!!!! She keeps me hopping.

Christina was watching Iron Chef tonight and the discussion of the food on the show mentioned that tapioca comes from Yuca plants. That piqued my curiosity, so I looked it up in Plant Files, and found that Yuca is spelled with one "c" (and is very different from Yucca - Spanish Bayonet -- plants), and is more frequently called Cassava, but is not the cassava melon (could there ever be so much confusion over common names? -- so let's call it by the botanical name, Manihot esculenta).

http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/1827/index.html

It is a beautiful tree, I think. I love the flowers -- the Manihots are probably a dime a dozen in South Florida? If so, I'll have to carry one home with me. They are rated for Zone 9a, so I could probably make a go of it up here.

Oops -- sorry to talk about plants in this thread. Am I off topic?? LOL

Jeremy

I love the matching wraps, Happy.
;)

Hello guys...and Happy New Year!
I have been up to my elbows the last few days in plaster making some new models for my concrete art work.
The little GD is off to another, better daycare situation so I can work...finally after 2 years I can work on art full time now. (Crossing my fingers so that can continue!)
I hope she likes this one, I know the lady personally and its much better than the one we tried in Oct.
I am so sorry about the fender bender you had Jeremy but, what a find for you with all that broken concrete! The free bricks DH and I keep getting when we have time to go get them makes me happier than almost anything someone could buy me. Don't you just love getting stuff to create with and FREE makes it all the better! On my wish list now is a whole lot of gravel for my work area.
We are an odd bunch for sure!
I do hope you win in court...that kid needs to learn a lesson, and hopefully this will be it rather than some terrible tragedy behind the wheel.

Once my Daughter went on a little trip with her boyfriend without my permission to Ft Myers. I had a bad feeling about the trip ( not to mention she was only 15) and I forbid her to go. She went anyway and they were in a bad accident on the way back. She was asleep and then he fell asleep at the wheel on the highway around Bradenton. Well thank the Lord they did not get hurt very badly ....cuts and bruises and did not have to be hospitalized...... They went off the road and hit a railing or something and he woke up in time to swerve and missed hitting a post head on.
But since she was a minor and he wasn't insured her Chiropractic care and medical exams were charged to my Insurance. It was quite a while before that came off my history......and she never never disobeyed me again ......( that I know of).... LOL!

Carol sooo glad you have a bed and a stove finally! Keep your chin up girl ....
Corky, lookin forward to your March RU ... it's still in your plans isn't it?

Molly, I have little Violet seedlings popping up around the Florida Violets from which I got the seeds that I sent you a few months back. Do you have any yet?

Jan are you full of ____ yet? LOL!

Michelle:)






This message was edited Jan 4, 2007 11:18 PM

Michelle,

I am not sure specifically about violets. I have a lot of seedlings in the beds by my back porch. Some could be them, the rest are bird seed discards.

Sorry my concentration is out of wack right now. Have had animal problems.

Molly

Jeremy, if I were you I'd get a photo of that curb with the tire marks and take it to court. I don't know if it would be allowed, but it's worth a try.

Hey Michele,
I'm supposed to meet Skaz after work today to load up unless something comes up. I have the purple oxalix that comes up here every winter. It comes up in the ground and in pots around the yard. I have pretty much given up on getting rid of it completely so I just pull up the larger clumps to keep it at bay. I would love them if they stayed in one area but they spread like kudzu. At least they give come color. I'll be in touch after this week about getting together to do some concrete.
Jan...

Good morning- He weighs 135, Hap. He's a big boy. His mom only weighs 65 lbs and it very fit and trim.

Yep- doesn't take alot to make me happy! I got a bed, a stove and some free pavers!

Today, I have to hustle an hour and a half across the Alley for bloodwork at 2 different places then hustle back here to cook for a group of uninvited company saturday. I love company but this is too much. A pile of guys that are friends of my son are coming to go ATV riding and shooting. That's not bad- they are very nice. The bad part is my old neighbor from Ft Lauderdale is dropping off her spoiled 10 yr old to spend the day with me. I told her I wasn't up for it but she insisted, saying the little girl could help me. She's very loud and hyper and drives me nuts. She hangs on me and I have too much to do to deal with it. She's like a bull in a china shop so I am always nervous. Bummer- it could have been a fun day. I usually can blow her off by telling her bear, snake or gator stuff. This time, I have nothing. She's terrified of guns so I know this will be a crazy day. Darn and I am getting good at shotgun bowling!

I don't want to sound like a monster- the little girl drives my husband crazy too. She's very obnoxious like that bad little girl in Willie Wonka. I have to cook special for her- hopefully not this time. Last time her mom even brought food for me to make for her. I wouldn't do it- I don't believe in mac & cheese in the box. Then she wanted to cook ME chicken marsala. Forget it- she was 8 at the time and I won't allow an 8 yr old near a hot stove or using sharp knives. She was a bigger clutz back then too! Plus yall that have seen my kitchen know 2 people can't fit in it.

Last time she was here, I told her I had an hour to make a computer deadline, then we would do something. She marched behind me and sang very loud the entire time I was working. Then we took a walk, she fell in the mud with my good binoculars on and pulled me down too. Then the entire way back to the house, she sang at the top over her lungs "Oo, ow, itchie, itchie" about 200 times. The good part was she didn't realize we shower in the front yard. She freaked.

We have the variegated tapioca here which is VERY attractive. I am currently rooting a bunch of sticks so holler if you want some!
see this link for info
http://www.houstongardening.info/manihot.jpg

Dear Jeremy,

I'm sorry you are having all this trouble. It is a full moon week- just ask my patients and their families and the staff and... I'm so IMPRESSED that you kept your mouth shut and kept your cool. It was so the right thing to do and so difficult. I'm glad you're fighting this, It seems to me that you can't help but win. Quick take a picture of those skid marks from the upstairs window. When you go to court, a view like that and of the drive and the angles involved should be helpful. Can you get any records of any other accidents or speeding tickets on your street?

Good luck,

Maggie