070 Headlines???

                                                           Seriously?

“‘Tis the season,” dear blog readers, to be either patient or irritated or wishing you had stayed home and used the internet for shopping. The weekend newspapers each had a veritable tree in paper ads. The traffic is getting more frustrating. Does everyone over 16 own a car? Or a BIG pick-up truck?

Thirty thousand folks (plus or minus) live in our town but driving from our west side home to the east side post office took 20 minutes – just to get to stand in line. The nearest ‘super store,’ grocery store, and pharmacy all had long lines this weekend, so I spent my waiting time, leaning on my cart, and reading the tabloids at the checkout counters.

The headlines are ridiculous, hysterical, and just down right dumb. But I just love’m and they helped me pass the time. 

My favorite is the New York Post, particularly p.6 where all the “juicy stuff” is.

I feel a need to share some favorites with you. (Some are a little risqué; if I offend, here’s the apology now.)

Population to double by 2040: Babies to Blame

• Missippi’s (sic) Literacy Rate Improves

• Dead Man Found in Graveyard

• Statistics Show Teen Pregnancy Rates Drops after Age 25 (really? 21?)

• Baby Found in Wal-Mart Trash is Burrito

• Shamed by You (sic) English? (an advertisement improving your English!)

Planes Forced to Land at Airports

One-Half Off or 50% - whichever is less (yes, another advertisement)

• Lawyer Back Despite Use of Bug Spray

• Hand Wash Facilities Required at Food Festivals (GOOD!)

Google Self-Driving Car Pulled by Cops (oops – who gets the ticket?)

• Study Shows Sex Enhances Pregnancy (so that’s how it happens? Eye roll here)

• Hospital Resorts to Hiring Doctors (no comment; just NO COMMENT)

People Who Prefer Black Coffee More Likely to Be Psychopaths

• Most Earthquake Damage Caused by Shaking

• Meeting on Open Meetings is Closed (Nebraska town meeting) 

Beekeeper Caught in Sting

• Dog Trigger Pulls Trigger on Hunting Trip (yep, shot his owner)

20% of Teens Surveyed Think Fish Fingers are the fingers of fish

• Feds Crack Down on Not-So-Hot Tamales at Airport (apparently this one is true – someone from south of the border tried to smuggle 450 pork tamales in his suitcase!) (TSA agent smelled something “funny”)

[too many Trump headlines from which to choose, but this image makes me laugh!]

                                    

                                    AND the BIG Question of the day: 

                                    Is Prince Harry’s One-Night Stand Pregnant??? 

                                    Two tabloids say “yea” and two say “nay.” 

                                    (Wonder what Queen Grannie has to say?)

I am sure you will see others headlines that make you shake your head and roll your eyes, but this sampling may help get you in the mood if you need to get out and about anytime soon! 

Regards, Glenne             

069 Vive la France

Vive la France!

Words are totally inadequate when trying to address the horrific attacks on the amazing city of Paris. Friday nights will never be the same for its citizens for many months or years to come. 

Parisians strolled the streets, stopped in cafes, watched a soccer match, took in a rock concert on a beautiful night in November. In a matter of minutes, their safe world was torn to pieces and would never be the same.

Who would have thought they would come so close to death or even meet death doing what they often do on a glorious evening in the city of lights.

During more peaceful times, we had the pleasure of being among those city residents this past summer. We fell madly in love with the friendly, exciting, bustling metropolis. Never did we experience any uncomfortable feelings or unfriendly comments. Everyone was delightful even if we asked some tiring questions about directions.

There was so much to do and see that we never had a moment to pause. We were struck by the beauty, outside with the many monuments and inside at museums, cathedrals, and restaurants. We soaked it all in as we toured and walked the boulevards and hilly streets.

Even the huge crowds at the Eiffel Tower did not deter us from joining the throngs of humanity. Everyone was amazingly civil and patient as the groups ambled peacefully along the thoroughfare.

Actually we could not get enough. We came back at the end of our tour and spent the last day traipsing to places we had missed the first days of our visit.

It grieves me so to think how that all came to a standstill Nov. 13 and precious lives were lost while taking part in the most ordinary of events.

 I think of the tour guides we met who lived in the city and shared their expertise with us. They were so proud of the many places they showed us as they explained the importance of the sites. Hopefully, they are safe and will return to the important task of sharing their amazing city.

But Paris and all of France cannot be dismayed. They must and will rally after this most egregious act. Watching the events unfold on TV (I could not hold back the tears), I was reminded of the shock and horror of 9/11 terrorist attacks in this country.

It was a dark time in the U.S. and was filled with troubling emotions that were hard to contain. Most of us could not stop watching every second of the TV coverage for weeks and weeks, hurt and shocked at how anything this horrible could happen. And there are remnants of the attacks both physically and mentally after 14 years have passed.

But of course, we have come back with a fierceness and determination to conquer evil and not let it consume us. This country, founded by so many diverse groups, would not let this band of miscreants take us down as we rebuilt and restored what was destroyed. We still must be strong to preserve the life fought for by so many and valued by all of us.

France, be strong ! The rest of the world feels your pain and suffering. 

Pope Francis recently called terrorist attacks, “a piecemeal World War III,” and I am afraid he may be correct. Never would I have ever predicted this state of events for my children and grandchildren. A young adult in the late 1960s and early ’70s, I was so hopeful that peace would prevail.

We must be vigilant to stop these affronts on our lifestyle and values by expressing our feelings and backing our leaders. We must flush out the enemy and remove them, making sure we don’t include everyone of a certain nationality or religion. We must never lose our faith and commitment to freedom and democracy. Life is too precious to take for granted.

Everyone, please join me in keeping our French friends uplifted and hopeful that a feeling of peace will soon return to the battered city. Vive la France!

Frances            

068 50 Years a Diabetic

My 50th Year of Diabetes

I am celebrating(?) my 50-year anniversary of being a type-1 diabetic this month.

Karen Adams, who is an excellent diabetes educator at Winchester’s Valley Health, submitted my name to Eli Lilly and Company, a pharmaceutical company that first made insulin in 1923. They sent a nice necklace to commemorate the date!

My diabetes is not something I talk about much—mostly because I have known a few diabetics who have used their chronic condition as a way to get sympathy or to get out of doing something. Plus, many people when they know you are a diabetic seem to want to give you advice about your diet, your exercise or to treat you like some sort of invalid. I was annoyed just yesterday when someone saw my medical bracelet and had to know why I was wearing it. She wasn’t anyone I would every see again—she was just nosy! Anyway, breaking away from my usual reticence, I am sharing my story today.

I was a 17-year-old college freshman when first diagnosed. Since I was living away from home, it was a big adjustment for me—and for my anxious parents. Being a Navy brat, I went to Bethesda Naval Hospital, where I had good training, using a syringe on an orange for practice. Then I was sent back to Radford to manage on my own. 






Things were a bit different then. I used glass syringes and re-usable needles that had to be sterilized after every use. Checking blood sugar levels was done by testing urine. I took one shot of long-lasting insulin a day. I was very excited the first time I was able to use disposable needles—much less painful.




Then came disposable syringes with needles attached. Twenty years after my diagnosis, new technology allowed me to determine blood sugar level by testing a drop of blood. More pricks, but much more accurate. Sometime around then, fast-acting insulin was added to the shot routine. 









For a long time, I consulted a list of exchange values to figure out how much to eat within a certain calorie diet to work with my insulin dosage.




It didn’t always work out right. I was never hospitalized with blood sugar too high, but made it to the emergency room several times with low blood sugar. And there were many other close low blood sugar episodes. Those who know me understood what it means when I ate piece of candy after piece of candy. 

One time I did not catch the low sugar onset fast enough and passed out, falling into the bar at a cocktail party. Fortunately, my husband Harry was able to bring me around with sugar. Very embarrassing!

In recent years, matching food to injections has become much more accurate. I count the carbs in each meal and then had an injection before each meal and at bedtime. That mean four to five shots per day!

Happily now, I am equipped with a new device—an insulin pump. It delivers a base dose every hour, which replaces the long-acting insulin with a more uniform delivery schedule. Then at meal-time, I pull the pump out of my pocket and input my current blood sugar level (still requires 4 pricks a day) and the carbs I will be eating. The pump calculates how much insulin is necessary and asks me if it should deliver it. Yes, please!

That the good side of it. The bad side is that a small needle is placed in the skin. The needle connects to the pump with thin plastic tubing. The site the needle in which the needle is sticking must be changed every three days, and the pump also needs to be refilled. This process is not yet routine to me but hope it will be with practice. 

Sleeping next to a dog while wearing the pump and tubing can also be exciting. I now pin a pocket to my bedclothes close to the needle site and place the pump inside. It may not be necessary, but I sleep much better!

That is my saga so far.  I am looking forward to pumps that can automatically determine blood sugar level.  This advance is close so I am hoping to embrace that change in a few years.  

Overall, I am very grateful for the advances in diabetes care and feel lucky that after 50 years, I am doing pretty well!

067 The substitute

        The Substitute

Hello, Readers! This is going be one of my shorter blogs. I have been a substitute teacher for 13 days the past month or so and have signed on three more days this week. Frankly, I am exhausted. I think there is a nervous breakdown coming!

I taught for 30 plus years, but having been away from the early rising and, at lunch break having to choose between going to the bathroom or a diet Coke and cheese crackers, I AM, repeat, exhausted. Not only that, I am grumpy when I get home in the afternoon. Very grumpy. Very, very grumpy.

Okay, I agree. I am nuts. Seven of the sub days have been with second graders. They are self-absorbed. “He said….” “She’s touched me ….” AND they want to tell it to the teacher immediately. (OH, give me patience!) One sweet-looking little girl raises her hand to answer every question. If called on, she replies “I don’t know.” After several days, I called her to the desk and asked why she raised her hand at every question. Her response: “Everybody else was raising their hands.” Hmmm. Well, I asked.

As a group, they are decent kids, but already (at ages 7 and 8) their peers are of more interest than the lesson on the smartboard (not chalkboard, if you please). One of the little girls who appears more 12 than seven runs to the door to see if “her boo” is passing in the hall. AT SEVEN?! A boyfriend?

A substitute, if he or she is to survive, must have a list of do’s and don’ts. Do stand at the door when the children arrive. Don’t let them in until they see you standing there – looming above them. Ask each for a name. You likely won’t remember it, but they have answered to you. Do make sure you know the teacher’s routine. Roll, lunch, weather, calendar are the usual firsts of the day. THEN, read to them. No matter what the lesson plans are, READ for five minutes. Something funny works. Often I use one from the Miss Nelson series. She’s a scary old broad. OR from the Black Lagoon series whose substitute is Frank N. Stein. Or just start “Charlotte’s Web.” Reading still can coerce children into learning mode.

Never, I repeat, NEVER let two go to the bathroom at the same time. They will be gone forever it seems and when they do return they will have stories they feel they MUST tell. You do not want to hear them.

But chatty, chatty, chatty they are. If they are working at their lessons, just let quiet talk go. But NO falling out of seat on purpose, no marking on another’s paper, no breaking of crayons. (Oh, how I hated anyone to touch my pristine crayons.) I find it strange that the seating arrangement now common is four to a table. No more single desks in a row. No wonder they chat!

So, fellow-subs, do remember you can go home at 3 o’clockish and have a drink --or at least an aspirin. The regular teacher can’t.

Try subbing if you are looking for a new pastime. You will remember it forever.

Best to all from frazzled Glenne        

       

066 Papal positives

Papal positives

Pope Francis’s visit to the U.S. is over, but the spectacular events are a lasting memory. I hated to see it all end. It added so much to our everyday lives, giving us a break from the tedious reporting of the presidential candidates’ latest escapades.

At first I was not that interested, but as the events unfolded, my attention never waned. I had to see every minute of his visit--the parades, the celebration of the Mass, the welcoming ceremonies--every tiny detail was of utmost importance to me.

It was enthralling and uplifting, to say the least, and brought back many precious memories. The High Mass with the incense and Latin responses evoked many past experiences, growing up in the Roman Catholic Church. While these practices are still part of the services of the church, they are not as frequent as they once were as I remember as a much younger person. 

Many newscasters were seeking meaning and understanding of the practices, but any Catholic raised in the 1950s and 1960s could explain them as the Mass--the most beautiful ceremony of prayer including all the beliefs of the religion. Mass is said daily in Catholic churches throughout the world--definitely not with as much formality as when the Pope is the main celebrant--but all the basic parts take place each day.

I realized the man himself brings something to us all--a sincerity that cannot be ignored, a humility that is refreshing, and a love that is given freely to everyone.

His sermons brought us all closer to the true meaning of Christianity, emphasizing the need to help the least of our brothers and sisters.

A man of the people, he made himself available by taking part in parades, outdoor ceremonies, and Mass unfolding in such public settings as Madison Square Garden in New York City. 

Circumstances kept me away from his Washington, D.C. visit--I only live about 60 miles from the amazing city. But a good friend kept me posted of his appearance on the streets of D.C. as she sent photos, watching for him and then seeing him drive by in his Pope Mobile. It was the next best thing to being there. 

It was interesting to watch on TV as he passed by on his many routes through the cities. The crowds would stand around afterwards in no hurry to leave--savoring each moment and soaking in the essence of a great man. I felt the same as he passed by on the TV screen and would hope to get another glimpse at a different angle.

What a welcome change in these troubled times of violence, mass shootings, and political polarization. I wish we could have bottled the essence of Pope Francis and spread it throughout the U.S. long after his visit, healing the hurts of the population and bringing us closer together while curing the ills of our modern world.

Sure the church really hasn’t changed, but it is still so nice to have someone in charge who leads in such a gentle, kind manner. He reminds me of a sweet old uncle who was always there and would offer kind words and deeds when needed.

I really did not want his visit to end, but he couldn’t take up residence in the U.S. The Vatican beckoned him back for his important work after such a momentous visit to our country.

Thank you Pope Francis for coming to the states and sharing your warmth and love with us. Here’s hoping it will have a lasting impact on our present situation, and we will all be kinder to one another, coming together on pressing issues. One can only hope!

Frances