Wordless Wednesday: Black Lives Matter

Twelve Tuesday Thoughts

Ten... no, TWELVE Thoughts! On a Tuesday.

1. Quarantine still continues. I think are around Day 95 or something like that. Day 95! Ugh.

2. Right now, the system is that we can go in on a volunteer basis. I'm not volunteering for anything if there is not a clear plan or protocol. Something is in place, but not enough to me. I will go back into the workplace when I receive an email telling me an exact date of return. That is it. *LadyLee stomps foot. Two times*

3. I really hate the Geico commercial with the "Motaur", where the brother is half man, half motorcycle.

I just don't like it, and I wonder who the heck came up with it. Ugh.

4. John Bolton's book comes out today. He spills a lot of tea, same as all the other people who leave this administration. But I won't be buying that one. Besides, a pdf file of the book is all over twitter and Facebook. I read the first few pages and uh... no ma'am. Just no.

5. So our beloved President's klan rally in Tulsa was a BUST, where only 6200 people were in attendance. But they were projecting a million people. (When I first heard that, I knew something fishy was going on). Everyone is saying that the tik-tokkers and K-Pop teens were responsible for that, where they ordered hundreds of thousands of tickets, just to trick the system. That is genius. I would have never thought of such. But I think what really happened was folks know there is a pandemic going on and they could stay safe and watch the event on television.

They said he was livid. He do look mad... and sad.

6. During the rally, the President used a racial slur: "Kung Flu". He later tried to play it off. Sir, just apologize. Ain't nobody got time for all that.

7. Also the president is talking about slowing down the testing so that the cases of virus will be lower. His peeps were later asked about it, and said he was just joking. Just joking? About this type of thing? Ain't nobody got time for that, either!

8. I was talking with one of my Asian friends about how she is getting exercise during the quarantine time. She said she loves to walk, but her family isn't allowing it due to all the bigotry. So she works on her yard. For a moment, I was wondering what she was talking about. Then I thought about how Asians are getting attacked. People, we gotta do better. And the President saying stupid stuff isn't helping the situation.
9. This is day 1251 of the current president's term. I am emotionally exhausted, and I am sure that I'm not the only one.

10. While at home, I occasionally hear loud booms, sort of sounding like Godzilla is throwing stuff around. That isn't the case though. A huge condo complex is going up at the end of my street.

The beltline is passing through, and there was a huge bank of pine trees there. I was happy with that, as I don't have to worry about folks wondering up the street. But alas, all the trees are gone, and they are building the condos!

11. I bought a new blood pressure cuff.

My old one gave out. Pressure is looking good, though!

12. The a.ir.b,nb house next door is SUPER quiet. I am so glad for the cool and calm. I wonder who will be there next weekend, tho?

That's it for Tuesday Thoughts! Enjoy your day!!!

Friday Freestyles - The Juneteenth 2020 Edition

Happy Juneteenth to you!

Come on down to the House of LadyLee Virtual Cookout.

We having ourselves a low country boil...

No need to stick your hand off in the pot. Everything is laid out on the table on some black trash bags.

We have some extra over in the big aluminum pan in the kitchen.

We have pastry items for desert... because nobody wanted to be bothered with baking a cake.

We are FREE. Well somewhat... Still a lot of systematic stuff going on. But we're getting there...

BLACK LIVES MIGHT MATTER!!

You know, with all that's going on, the White Folks have discovered that Juneteenth exists. Why, even the president said yesterday that nobody knew about Juneteenth and that he made it popular.

*crickets*

This is pretty much somewhat almost equivalent to Columbus discovering America.
Hmm.

Anyway, I first learned about Juneteenth back in 1992. In fact, one of my white friends was all excited about some festival she was attending. She said it was a Juneteeth celebration, and she looked at me sideways when I told her I hadn't heard of it. Once we talked about it, I told her I might go just to have a look. And I would look for her.

Well, I told a classmate (I was in grad school at the time), and we went. The big Juneteenth celebration was in Grant Park, the Park next to the Atlanta Zoo, about a mile from where I live now.

We had a good time. There was food, art, and all kinds of exhibits...

And there was a main stage.

And who were the performers on that main stage:

Parliament Funkadelic and The Ohio Players.

Man...when I tell you I had a GREAT time? I had a great time!

I looked out for the chick that told me about it. I didn't see her. Not sure I could have found her in a crowd of at least 5000 people.

I spoke with her that next week about it.

"Girl, we were there half day. It was good!"
"I was there, too," she said. "We were up front by the stage."

LOL

So, what was that? 1992? That was 28 years ago! Doesn't feel that long ago.

But the moral of the story. Just because the mainstream populous doesn't know about it doesn't mean it doesn't mean anything.

But hey, now, all of a sudden, some major companies are making it a paid holiday.

Good.

I am a gub'ment employee, and they gave us 1 hour of early dismissal.

Good.

Song of the Week. So the LGBT had a major victory in the Supreme court this week.

They have the right to not be discriminated against on the job. And I think the president was trying to cut off some health care rights or something. ALL that got kicked to the curb!

I am so lost on this. This my thing: How you gonna discriminate against people who are citizens of this country and pay taxes? Pay taxes! I feel like if certain groups don't have equal rights, then they shouldn't be required to pay taxes. Period.

Oh, but the USA gonna get their money, tho.

Anyway, this isn't a rant... this is Song of the Week. My favorite LGBT song "Mighty Real" by Sylvester.



That song came out when I was 8 or 9 years old. I remember stopping everything when that song came on. I would get up and run and dance. That was the song! It makes me think more of the LGBT these days, though.

Quote of the Week. One from our beloved president concerning the testing for coronavirus.

"If we stop testing right now... we would have fewer cases [of the coronavirus]."

*blink blink*

I guess that could be true. Kind of like if we stop giving pregnancy tests, we would have fewer pregnancies.

Oh ok... I see what we did there. Hmm. That's call word play!

And ya'll gonna go to a big azz rally tomorrow in Oklahoma... inside a big center... no masks... laughing, hollering and spitting... no social distancing at all.

Ok. Let me know how that works out for you. My hope and prayer is that there is nary a new case of covid stemming from that. At least they could've had it outside. But hey, this may be a social experiment. But it all feels a bit... Jim Joneish to me.

That's it for my Friday Freestyles!

There's new folks at the ai.r.bn.b next door.  Amazon shows that the ink pens I ordered are out in my mailbox. I think I will go check the mail and spy on the folks next door.

LOL!

Have a great Juneteenth weekend!

Ten Thursday Thoughts

1. I am not sure what day this is. Day 87? Day 87! I am really ready to go back to work. Management still don't have a definitive plan in place, though. Sigh.


2. My girl cat Sister Callie Jo is chewing on the USB chords I use to charge up my phones. Maybe she will stop if she gets shocked.


3. I think I forgot to pay my power bill. That's the real reason I thought my power went out this past Sunday. It was a neighborhood outage, though.


4. The rowdy a.ir.bn.b neighbors are GONE. It is generally quiet over there right now, but I do think there are some people over there. I hear the lovely laughter of little children playing in the yard. That is SO much better than some woman wailing about her $200 that somebody owed her. (Hope she got her money. Yes, and amen.)


5. Vice-President Biden has spots on social media where he's asking for campaign donations. I have never donated to campaigns, and probably won't in the future. Well, I might if they come up with a system to refund my donation if they lose.


6. I personally think our beloved president is going to cancel the election and declare himself president until death. I really think that.


7. One of my friend's sons, who has degrees in political science, said it can't happen. I hope he's right.


8. I had a great baby spring lettuce, strawberry, peach, green apple, psyllium husk smoothie this morning, It was so good!


9. I have the attention span right now of a puff of smoke. It's there, then it disappears into thin air.


10. Last night I went to sleep around 3:00 am in the morning. I would give anything to fall asleep at a decent hour, like midnight.


That's it for my 10 thoughts on a Thursday!

Wordless Wednesdays: In Memoriam... Five Years ago Today

A Time to Sanitize

So...

Hand sanitizer use to be all over the place, but it's hard to find during the pandemic. It's almost like trying to find a needle in a haystack.

I started making my own hand sanitizer, and it was a sloppy mix of 91% rubbing alcohol and aloe vera lotion.

And when THAT started running out, I had to be on the lookout for commercially available hand sanitizer.

Here is some I bought at the local Asian beauty spot.

Here are a few I've been able to find in the past few months.

Hey, I was just happy to see a sign on the beauty supply store door, as simple as it was: a white piece of copy paper with the words "Sanitizer available" written in green sharpie.

And It cost $8.99.

And it smells HORRIBLE. I don't even smell the alcohol in it.

I have to be careful what I buy at the Asian beauty supply spots. No telling what it is. I may just throw it out. But this one had good amazon reviews. So it is legit. However, I will not be purchasing it again.

These next ones are really good.

I spotted these while grocery shopping. The purchase limit is two bottles. So I grab a couple of bottles whenever I do my grocery shopping. I have six or seven bottles of it. They are $3.99-$4.99 each.

Good enough. And they're better than what I bought at the Asian store.

Here is my FAVORITE hand sanitizer.

Every Man Jack. $8 for 7 ounces. It was the first hand sanitizer I came across around a couple of months ago. I saw it at the Whole Foods. I saw it was for men, but heck, it could've been for dogs for all I care. I just needed some hand sanitizer.

It is really nice. The scent is woodsy and citrusy. I would buy some more if it wasn't so expensive.

Right now, I think I will stick with the ArtNaturals brand.

Until Purell and Germ-X make there return.

And that might not be until the Corona is over.

And who knows if and when that'll happen!

Monday Night Fights

So....

Saturday night, I was sitting here, minding my business, crocheting. I don't remember what I was watching on television. (That means it was downright boring). I heard a few booms. I thought, hmm, that's not gunshots. And it doesn't sound like fireworks.

My phone started blowing up. Folks wanted to know if I was alright.

Ain't that the Wendy's over by you?

Turn on CNN!!!!

I learned later that they were the flash grenades, the noise gear used to push back protesters.

What happened, you may ask?

Well there was a protest down at Wendys that is 1/2 mile from my house.

Someone was shot by the police there the night before. I didn't know about this, as I try not to watch much news on the weekend.

And of course, it was all captured on cell phone camera.

So some white folks got mad. And burned down the Wendys.

A half mile from my house! WTF!!!!!!

I haven't been to that Wendys in a couple of years. Why? Because the drive-thru was the slowest on the planet. It would be ok in the mornings, but at night? You will be waiting for 15-20 minutes. Sometimes longer if you go at the wrong times. I myself have dozed off sitting in that danggone line!

And what happened with Mr. Brooks was that he was sitting in line, in his car in the drive-thru, and he fell asleep. The police came, got him out the car, and they had a civil conversation from what I can see for some 20 minutes. They determined he was legally intoxicated, so they tried to arrest him. But when they were trying to arrest him, there was a struggle. He broke loose and ran. And he got shot.

Yes he turned around and pointed the taser.

It was a FRICKIN' TASER.

Knock it off. What kind of training do the police get? Lawd.

Alas, the Wendys is gone. This is crazy. And when that was going on, a whole azz protest March passed down the cross street next to my house. I could see it from my house. And it was LOUD.  I think this was just a neighborhood March. They have had them up in Grant Park by the Atlanta Zoo. They seem to just pop up.

This is TOOO much.

I heard an interesting comment on a talk show out of Cincinnati today. And I have been thinking about it all day. It concerned the psychological mentality of us all right now.

Tell me, the caller said.. What is imprinted on all of our minds right now... for the past couple of weeks.

Watching George Floyd die on TV right in front of our eyes.

So what will happen if the police try to handcuff you right now?

The caller said... getting the hell on. Fighting for your life... because they are going to kill me.

Who knows. But it is most likely the most probable scenario. Especially after I watched the 20 minutes of body cam video.

You know what is sad, though? We are all armchair quarterbacks. We don't know what we would do in that situation. Me, I probably would have broke out crying, or fainted. Because the police got me and they gonna kill me.

Why not? Didn't we just see that play out on TV?

Man oh man... it's too much to think about. Too much.

Coronavirus. COVID-19 is still out here in these mean streets.

But peeps acting like everything is all good now. NO IT AIN'T. There are spikes in many states. We need to be on lockdown longer. I go to the store once per week, and I am not seeing any family (Only my Uncle's wife- I take supplies to them every 4-6 weeks- and we stand outside, some 10 feet apart).

But things with get worse with people all out, with no masks. It is daunting getting the masks and sanitizer together before leaving to go to the store. It is daunting to make sure I go at a time where there are less people at the store, usually in the mornings on a weekday, before lunch time. It takes a psychological tole on me.  But daggonit, I am just trying to stay alive. That's it!

Power outage.  there was a power outage at my house around two o'clock in the afternoon on Sunday. And it was funny because, the power outage woke me up from a nap. I had dozed off on the couch, tv all up loud, and then I noticed... complete quiet. And that woke me up.

I jumped up, because it was an opportunity to change the heater element in my oven. It had gone out three months ago. Somehow it broke. I think some cheese dropped on it from a pizza or something, and I never really got it off (Yes, I thought it could just burn off). And lo and behold, it cracked in half.

I ordered another heating element 3 months ago. But I wasn't pressed about changing it, though.

Why? Because I RARELY use my oven. I use it to make cookies. That's it, most times. And with the covid-19 going on, I ain't baking nothing for nobody. I use my toaster oven for most things: baked chicken, warming up food, everything that requires an oven. Over the years, I've just hated turning on a oven unless I am doing pizza or baking multiple items.  I do not even have a microwave (although I would have liked one during these times. Really, tho).

But I jumped up and changed the element while the power was out. I didn't change it earlier too, because I didn't want anything to go wrong with the breakers for the stove. Don't know why that bothers me, but it did. So I changed the element... in 5 minutes, once I figured out what Philips head screwdriver I needed. I also changed the backup battery for my cellular house alarm. In 2 minutes. Go figure.

"Lord, you must've let this power go out so I could get this stuff done," I sang.

Maybe. Maybe not.

But I am always consoled in the fact that God thinks of me in that way. By faith.

That's it for Monday night fights! I do not have a song for the day, as I didn't listen to any song a bunch of times like I usually do. Sigh.

Wait a minute. Yes I do. Song of the day   "Sally Ride" by Janelle Monae.



This is one of my favorite songs. I am thinking of one lyric from the song in particular. It's how I feel right now.

"I'm packing my spacesuit, and I'm taking my shit and moving to the moon!"

Because it's just too much mess going on, man!

Today you're alive. Tomorrow you can be a #hashtage.

UGH!

And peep this: we haven't even made it through the first half of the year!!!"

*ladylee fights air with fists*

But I am happy for a new week. I had to tell myself that, as I attended the 15 minute pep talk and prayer and confession that my pastor does on the Facebook every morning. Doggonit.

Jesus take the wheel! We need your help! Ugh.

Rest in Peace, Rashard Brooks.

Friday Freestyles

Friday!

And it is PaYdaY!

And it is not like I can go anywhere. I, as usual, imagined balling out of control. Then I dragged myself back to reality.  I sat down and paid my bills. Then I went to the store earlier this morning, just because I needed to pick up my prescriptions. While there, might as well do some shopping. I did not need much of anything since I did my grocery shopping this past Monday morning.

But I needed my meds. So I found my gloves, my mask, and my sanitizer. I wrapped my head up in a headscarf. Gotta do all that, because that corona is still bouncing around in these streets.

First I went to the beauty supply store. This is an adventure in itself, but this is the only place to find gloves. I bought four boxes and when I got to the register, they said the limit was one. I apologized, because I didn't see the sign. But they gave them to me anyway. This is the only place to buy them right now. I told them my aunt needed them for use with my bedridden uncle. So they told me to call beforehand next time, and they can make sure to set some aside for me. As many as I need. I thought that was nice of them. Because this is the hood. They could have easily called the police on me.

Ain't trying to mix it up with the police over some gloves. No sir. No ma'am.

They had some nice hair up in there, though. My hair is, like, an inch long right now. While in there, I learned you need different hair for long hair down your back and for bangs. Someone was in there in high discussion with them. That was my one new thing I learned today. (I learn something new everyday).

"Neighbors".  So I wrote about my loud neighbors earlier this week. I figured I needed to introduce myself to these people. It felt something like some family reunion type thing going on, so what's the hurt in introducing myself?

Well, it turns out that house next door is now an ai.rbn.b. (I am writing it that way so this won't come up in a search). They are just renting it. I was like OH! Then I pretty much lost interest. Why? Because that meant they would hopefully be gone soon.

I looked up the profile on a.irbn.b. There were quite a few rules they are breaking. Hmm

How about after I talked to them, the noise and commotion levels went down by around 90%?  Still too noisy for me, though. I live in a downtown hood, but it has been very quiet around here lately (save for the protest noise some two or three miles away), and I like it that way. So I will give them the benefit of the doubt... because they should be gone soon.

But how about one night this week, around 2 in the morning, someone was out there hollering about some $200 they were owed? Lawd, they had to be good and liquored up. It may have been a memory of someone owing them $200. It may have been that at 2 in the morning, they had come face-to-face with someone who owed them $200. I couldn't tell. I thought they were gonna give themselves a heart attack! I would've stuck my head out the door and yelled "Shut the hell up" if I could guarantee they wouldn't come for me.

I refuse to call the police. The police have problems. Ladylee is not trying to hear her voice on the 911 call on the news for days on end when the police shoot up the house and kill everybody. LadyLee is not 'bout to be out here singing and protesting and having vigils for people. NO. I can deal with some noise. I will not be trading a little noise for a lifetime of headache and regret. Hopefully they will be gone soon.

But you best believe I will be calling the owner, who moved somewhere a few months ago, and letting him know... look dude, I was nice, but uh... you better talk to your tenants. I am not dealing with this all summer. I am accustomed to quiet.

Book of the Week. So... one of my top 5 favorite authors, Brandon Massey, put out a novella!

So Brandon Massey always announces his new books on his Facebook Page. I, being the ultimate fan, go and buy it IMMEDIATELY. I think this one was a free novella. Look, he can charge $19.99 for a one page short story and I am ALL IN. I just love his writing. He is such an excellent storyteller. He can spin a tale with a gazillion twists and turns with the greatest of ease. And I am here for it! And I love-ed it!

This story is about a couple, Dante and Nicole, who are having problems in their marriage, and are thinking about divorce.  They decide to go on a little vacation to hopefully rekindle the romance. So they rent a beachfront a.irbn.b for a romantic getaway. Once they get settled in good, all hell breaks loose! The host has stolen many of their secrets, and it is some CRAZINESS! Can their relationship survive the madness? Hell, can THEY survive the madness?

It was a VERY good read. At only around 60 pages, I read it in a little over two hours. And as always with a Massey book, I sighed when I read the last page. I want his stories to go on and never stop.

Lawd have mercy, I cannot WAIT until he puts out a 1000 page book. I may just faint if he does that!

LOL

Song of the Week. For some odd reason, I've been listening to this song this week.

Salt-n-Pepa "How Long (Betcha got a chick on the side)"



I love that song. It reminds me of my old boyfriend Eli's maroon Ford Escort with the booming car stereo system.

But now, I play it when I'm getting ready for bed...

... or trying to get my masks, hand sanitizer, head wrap and gloves together to leave the house.

Not sure why I associated this song this week with these tasks, but I did. It sure brings back great memories.

That is IT for the week. I am glad it is Friday. I hope to have a decent weekend, even though I will be house bound. Life has pretty much opened back up this week, but I don't plan to venture out more until mid July or whenever they phase us back into the workplace.


Have a great weekend!

Ten Thursday Thoughts

Ten Thoughts! On a Thursday!

1. I don't even know what Day this is of Quarantine. I think it is like, day 75. DAY 75! Who knows.

2. A plan seems to be forming for us to go back to work. Seems is the operable word here. Management seems to be up in the air about it. There is much navel gazing and staring into the sun going on. Which means they won't be seeing me anytime soon.

3. Hell, I have, like, 8 weeks of annual leave and 1000 hours of sick leave. Listen, they keep fooling around, they won't be seeing the Original Oldgirl until Christmas. It ain't nothing but a thang.

4. Georgia voting for the primary was F*CKED up. Excuse my language, but that is the only word that describes what happened. It was a master class in voter suppression. People were in line for 2-8 hours. That is some mess. And my area is heavily gentrified, so I thought that they wouldn't mess over these white folks like that.

Humph. They surely did. Shocked the cheese out of me.

5. How 'bout I rolled around to my precinct and the sucker was closed. There was a sign of where to go. And someone put a map up on twitter, and they estimated the line for where I needed to vote to be quarter mile long. Get the heck out of here. How 'bout I drove right on past it. Oh well. I tried. But there is NO way I am standing outside IN THE RAIN for any length of time. NO.

Oh, and I got a notice in the mail about the precinct changes two days after the election. LOL! You can't make this stuff up. Voter Suppression 101!

6. But I will work it out for the presidential election. You best believe that. If I have to get my tail up there at 3 in the morning, then that will have to do. Because man... we have all been taken through some political MESS.

7. Personally I think our beloved president will cancel the election, and he will declare himself president until he dies. I would not be shocked in the least if that happens. And the folks around him are too hypnotized and weak to stop it.

8. So... we have zoom-type calls for meetings at work. These are usually pretty boring. We all make it a priority to keep our webcams covered. I have learned to put everything on speaker, and take that time to wash dishes or fold clothes. At any rate, I need to be able to dive for the computer if someone asks me a question.

9. How 'bout someone flushed the toilet yesterday during our group meeting call. Everyone was like REALLY? Who was that? No one fessed up. And I don't blame them.

10. The calls usually consist of group business and scientific discussions. Then we get over into "Someone talk about something they did this weekend" or "Someone tell us something funny."

And in my mind I am screaming:

ARE YOU KIDDING ME? THE WORLD IS ON FIRE!

Spiritual fire.

Ain't nobody trying to be funny right now.

That was what someone's toilet flush was about. Let that be the funny for the week. Otherwise, I don't wanna hear it.

That's it for Thursday Thoughts!

Wordless Wednesday

Ten Tuesday Thoughts

Ten Thoughts! On a Tuesday!


1. So today is the official day for voting in my state. The problem is that the lines are two to five hours long. I do not think I can stand in line that long, so I may have to sit this one out.

2. It is interesting that a lot of the voting machines aren't working. And many people who mailed in their application for absentee ballots did not get their ballots. Incidentally, most people expected this to happen. I wonder why? Hmm.

3. I meant to early vote. But with everything going on (this Corona), I was more concerned about staying out of the way. Only recently have they even specified their safety protocols.

4. I will drive up to my precinct around two o'clock and have a look. If it's too bad, I will have to take the zero on this one.

5. I am more interested in the November election. But you know what? I think the president will call off the election. Can he do that? We shall see. But it would not surprise me one bit.

6. I am having medical appointments again. I had one last Monday, and it was a bit scary sitting there in the waiting room. There were only four of us, but we managed to social distance ourselves in the large waiting room. And our temperatures were taken. And we were all required to bring our own masks.

7. This is all well and good. But people are ignoring the fact that there are a lot of asymptomatic people out here. They have no symptoms. They have no fever, and they are still shedding virus. No one wants to address that.

8. I had another appointment this Monday morning at a pretty popular hospital downtown. I was antsy about it. Again, they are requiring masks, and taking temperatures upon entering the hospital.

9. What was a trip was the elevators: only 4 people allowed in at a time. And you have to stand at each corner of the elevator. I wish I would've taken a picture of it, but I don't like to touch my phone while trying to concentrate on not touching stuff or doing anything wrong.

10. Man oh man. I tell you what. Much of this is giving me pure angst. I hope one day it will all be over and go back to normal.

Whatever "normal" is... or was... or will be.

That's it for my ten Tuesday thoughts!

If you can, get out and vote. I'm gonna go and try!

Vote!

I went out and tried to vote today. I waited too late to mail my absentee ballot :(

Lo and behold, my voting day is not today. I am in Georgia, and my voting day is on JUNE 9.

But there are a variety of states voting today:

Get out and Vote!!