The teenage daughter of the editor is getting better. She has been switched to a regular ventilator on Sunday and then taken off that Wednesday afternoon. The chest tube was removed on Saturday; the breathing tube Wednesday afternoon. At last report (Wednesday afternoon), she was only wearing an oxygen mask. Most of the IVs had been removed, except two of them which were left in to keep her hydrated. She will need therapy to teach her how to breathe on her own again.

As for the editor herself, she expects to be back to work on Monday, April 13. With her daughter's rehab, taking that extra week is understandable but the selfish part of me wants her back now. It's not that I've had to do everything on my own. The proofreader has been working extra hours so I can take off the last two hours the office is open on both Wednesdays and Fridays which is really nice of her. Of course, if the publisher hadn't authorized the extra hours for her, this wouldn't be happening so I appreciate the fact he did allow that, especially in these hard economic times where every hour someone works is a strain on finances, and that includes me as I've definitely been working overtime. And the publisher having to pay other people (correspondents) to do the editor's job but still pay the editor is also a strain on finances. And he wouldn't have had to give the editor another week off since we only get two weeks of vacation and she ran out of vacation this past Wednesday; he could have been a jerk and told her not to bother coming back since she wouldn't be working when she was supposed to but he kindly gave her the extra time needed. It's just a guess but I don't think she's getting paid for being gone past the time her vacation time expired.

Anyway...the community has been awesome about this whole ordeal. There was only one time someone didn't send me a picture of whatever it was they wanted in the paper when I wasn't able to be there to take it for them or send/drop off a press release that I just didn't have the time to gather the information from one or more person/people and then write it. Like I said, awesome. And they were awesome in another way. The editor's family was suppose to move last Saturday but didn't think it would be possible since they were spending all day every day at the hospital. So, with their church pastor as the supervisor, community members gathered on Saturday to pack up everything in the old place and transfer it to the new one, clean the old place, and do some unpacking in the new one. One of the teachers at the high school went to some businesses to ask if they would donate a lunch for those who showed up to do the moving. And three of them did. The meat market donated the hamburgers and hot dogs, one of the Kwik Trips in town donated buns and soda, and another place donated paper plates and something else. Although I had planned to be there to help, I wasn't. Nope, woke up with some kind of cold on Friday which turned into something even less desirable early in the evening. So I pretty much spent all weekend vegging out on the couch, watching either basketball or DVDs (Dharma & Greg, Atlantis, Starsky & Hutch). The headache finally went away Tuesday. 

Guess that's it.

This week used to be one of my favorite weeks (possibly THE favorite week) of the year. March Madness. Oh, I have favorite days but I'm talking WEEK now. And for me, nothing can compare to that first week of the college basketball playoffs.

But this week in 2009 has pretty much wiped away any excitement for basketball. Construction in my town started Monday. There aren't many ways to get from one end of town to the other since we have a major river winding through town. But our main road really needed to be fixed...was supposed to have been done back in 2000 but the state kept finding reasons not to actually do it. Well, now it's here. Of course, the main street is right outside the front door of my office. While it's been nice not having to deal with the traffic, it's hell trying to actually get to the office or any place else for that matter. For almost a year, we've been telling people about the upcoming detour and putting maps in the paper (which I work for, by the way) actually showing the detour through town for those who live in town - others are supposed to bypass our town. Key word there is SUPPOSED. Other than our main street, our streets just weren't built for heavy traffic which is why anyone outside of town was to take the detour. Did anyone listen? I tend to doubt it. It only took one day for the detour street to become almost impassable. I have to be honest and say a lot of that was because of semis.  But our cops were being nice and not ticketing anyone, just giving them a written warning for going through town when it wasn't necessary. But people are throwing a fit. They don't want to have to take the detour because it adds time to their trip. Some have even said the detour shouldn't apply to them. Wonder what makes them so special?

Anyway, the mayor told me the road crew that's supposed to be concentrating on fixing this main street had to take time away from that so they could haul away the chunks of street and lay down gravel so people could still travel on it. How fun to drive in my town right now...and through October since that's how long the project is timelined for.

On to the second reason why this week has become a terrible week instead of one of my favorites. And this is much worse than me just being pissed about the street deal.

The editor has 3 children, two girls and a boy. Last week the middle child, one of the girls, was out almost all week with one of the flu bugs that's going around. The oldest child, the other girl, was next. She was out of school Monday and Tuesday. When the editor came in Wednesday, I asked how her daughter was doing and she said, "better; she'll go back to school tomorrow". Couldn't have been an hour later the phone rings...her fever spiked back up to 101. They take her to the doctor and the doctor puts in two IVs. By 4:30 that day, she's being transferred to the hospital. And now she was med-flighted to the University hospital and a breathing tube was inserted. I haven't had an update since 8:30 so I'm making myself believe that's a good thing.

So I've been on my own here at work since Wednesday morning. It's been interesting to put it mildly.

Greyias gave me my "five things".

Beta

I luv being Grey's beta. Mainly because I love her stories. From the ones done for only laughs to the most angsty, there hasn't been one that I haven't enjoyed. Even the ones that still haven't let her complete yet. I hold out hope they will one day be brought back out again and finished. Of course, she makes it easy to beta - correct spelling, complete sentences (with periods instead of trying to figure out where one sentence ends and another begins as some of the POSTED fics do), great plots and interaction between or amongst the characters, and (usually) snark and laughter.


Television

I'm becoming a TV junkie. Wait, I need to rephrase that. I'm becoming a TV junkie...again. For several years, there really wasn't anything on that I wanted to see...other than SG1 and Atlantis for series TV and sports. The 90s had (ones I can think of right now) Due South, Young Riders, Magnificent Seven, The Adventures of Brisco County Jr., and ST:TNG; the 80s had MacGyver (what can I say, I've loved RDA since he was Adam in Seven Brides For Seven Brothers), Simon & Simon, Cagney & Lacey, and a lot of sit-coms I can't even remember anymore; the 70s (when I was a young'un) had Emergency!, Adam12, Starsky & Hutch, the Rookies, and some others that only lasted a season. 

But having to spend so much time on the couch after the emergency gall bladder incident, I became hooked on a couple of my sister's shows. She'd already gotten me hooked on The Closer the previous year. She'd try to tell me about NCIS (so did Grey) because I'm such a fan of Mark Harmon (who looks better now than he did back in the 70s, imo) but my job didn't allow me to be home to watch it at the time. That changed about a year ago so now I pretty much always get to see it. I became hooked on NCIS after Jodi received Season 1 for Christmas 2007 from the brother born between us. So hooked that I went ahead and ordered the rest of the available seasons from Amazon as soon as we were done with the previous one. And Grey was right...I do like Ziva better than Kate, just like she told me would happen. I didn't believe her at the time. Abby still rules though. I want to be Abby when I grow up...wait, I want to also be Vala (she saved SG1 for me in the final 2 seasons).

Back to this past November. Criminal Minds. Jodi reeled me in by saying, "Greg Montgomery is in it." Oh. Okay. I'll give it a shot. I loved Thomas Gibson as Greg in Dharma & Greg. He's even better as Aaron Hotchner. We ordered all 3 seasons a couple weeks ago - we're on Season 2 right now. Anyway, in one of the special features, the guy who plays Derek Morgan is talking about all the other actors. He calls TG "The Living Ken Doll". Anyway, I only needed two episodes before I was hooked on the show itself.

And then there is Bones. I had never heard of any of the actors in that show. Jodi told me the guy who plays Booth was the lead in a show called Angel, a spinoff from Buffy. I tried watching Buffy a handful of times but it didn't talk to me so it fell by the wayside. I'll even admit to trying to watch Charmed. Those 3 women may be wonderful people in real life but the characters turned me off big time. Anyway, Bones has a great ensemble cast. 

That's what really pulls me to certain shows, I think - the ensemble cast. Yes, I also love buddy shows and it's an even better show when both of those things are involved. SG1, Atlantis, NCIS, The Closer, Criminal Minds, Bones, Emergency!, Rawhide, The Mag 7, Young Riders - they all had great ensemble casts. Then we get the buddies - Rodney and John on Atlantis; Provenza and Flynn on The Closer; Roy and Johnny on Emergency!;  Zach and Hodgens on Bones; Vin and Chris, Buck and JD, and Nathan and Josiah on Mag 7 (poor Ezra didn't seem to really have a "buddy"). 


GARY JONES

OMG! Gary Jones called me! Compliments of Grey. She even warned me to keep my cell phone handy cuz I'd be getting a surprise call one day. I did just that; even kept it on while charging it. But I missed him! I'm going to get groceries one Sunday morning, driving along a stretch of street that has parking on only one side of the street (because the houses are too close to the street on the other to have anything there other than the street) and it's not on my side. And of course there was a ton of traffic so I couldn't, um, speed up to get to the next street and turn off on it. So I missed the call. But he left a message. Thanked me for being a fan. It was a week or so before Christmas. He said he wished he could send Christmas trees through the Stargate. What a crazy guy.


San Antonio

Ah, San Antonio. What a great time that was in July 2007, Grey stuck in Houston for several hours because of a downpour and the two of us driving around to find a portable DVD player and getting lost on that freeway system, notwithstanding. Grey was driving, I was "reading" the map off her cell phone. Still have no idea where I went wrong. Would have sworn I followed the directions to the letter. Grey finally decided to pull over and read them herself. Smart girl. She got us back on track, we got the DVD player, had lunch, and went back to the motel until it was time to meet up with everyone else later in the afternoon. I would love to visit San Antonio again. It'll probably never happen but I'd still like to do it.


lemon pie

I love lemon pie, lemon cookies, lemon cake, lemonade. I'm not big on sweet stuff but if it's lemon, I'll take it. I drink lemonade year 'round. Back to the lemon pie. I make a post on lj telling how November was not my best month because of what turned out to be The Gall Bladder Incident. I mention how I can't eat certain things yet and mention some of the things I really missed at Thanksgiving. Grey emails me to be on the lookout for a package. It turns out to be a lemon pie. I had to wait almost 2 weeks before the doctor said I could go back to eating what I wanted but it was a frozen pie so it kept well. Which was a good thing because it took me almost another 2 weeks to eat it. Jodi hates lemon so without my sister to help me eat it, it lasted a long time. But it was wonderful and I certainly enjoyed each piece.

It's been around a month now and I'm still trying to adjust to life without Atlantis on Friday nights. Sci-Fi's not even showing reruns. Which means I want the DVD done NOW. Telling myself to be patient, that maybe since it was the last season there will be a ton of extras isn't really working. I have such a soft spot for buddy shows and I considered Atlantis a buddy show even though it was like an ensemble buddy show - Carson and Rodney, Rodney and John, Ronon and Teyla, and the team buddy of Rodney, John, Ronon, and Teyla. Just like team buddy of Jack, Daniel, Teal'c, and Sam or Chris, Vin, Ezra, Buck, Nathan, Josiah, and J.D.

The ultimate buddy show for me will always be Starsky and Hutch. I still love the Starsky character...and Paul. He was perfect in that role. It's possible another actor could have done just as well but I always find myself wondering if someone else could have done better with a certain character when said character isn't doing anything for me. For instance, I liked Jessica Steen's performance of Dr. Elizabeth Weir better than Torri Higginson's. But I digress. PMG was the perfect Dave Starsky. He was in a recent episode of Criminal Minds (he also directed that episode). Not a big part and, in my opinion, his scene was at the beginning and really had nothing to do with the episode. It was like he was making a cameo. And maybe that was really what it was. Shrug. It was still better than six months earlier when he was in an episode of The Closer. I was more than a little disappointed in that. And if you watch more than an hour of TV a day, you get to see him in that commercial for some financial company. 

I love humor. And most often what TV shows I watch are at least partly humorous. Starsky & Hutch. SG-1. Atlantis. The Closer. Emergency! Magnificent Seven. NCIS. Bones. Due South. Another buddy show is Due South. Benny and Ray. The first Ray, Ray V. Sorry, Grey, but I just could never get into Ray K. The Adventures of Brisco County Jr. became a buddy show after a handful of episodes...even became an ensemble buddy show with Brisco, Bowler, Soc, Dix, then adding Whip...and Viva...and Professor Wickwire...and even Pete (snort). Because I love the acting of Bruce Campbell, I would even watch the Xena episodes he was in. And I keep trying to watch Burn Notice. I really do love Bruce's Sam but the other two main characters just don't do anything for me. So I find it hard to really care about the show and instead basically pay attention when Sam is around. The same thing happened with Eric Close. Discovered him with Dark Skies; fell in love with him as Vin; but his Martin in Without A Trace leaves me cold and since he was the only reason I even tried to watch it, EC is only in my life when I put in a Mag7 DVD. I have a feeling that's what will happen with BC as well. I've tried to watch Psych but the Shawn character really irritates me.

The only show I do watch that is basically without humor is Criminal Minds. Oh, ever once in a while someone will say or do something funny but for the most part it's not humorous. My sister got me into that show a couple months ago (same with Bones)...when I was at her mercy TV-wise due to basically living on the sofa while recovering from my gall bladder ordeal. I'll admit I watch it for one reason. Thomas Gibson. Yes, his character is completely lacking in humor but...it's Thomas Gibson. He plays that role so well. I do miss seeing his smile though. Maybe Dharma & Greg will be out on DVD some time in the future. I think Season 1 is out there somewhere but I'm not sure.

So what shows still need to be made into DVDs?

Season 1 of The Rookies came out a few years ago but nothing since so that is one.

Matt Houston is another. Especially the early years with Vince.  

Some westerns: High Chapperal, How The West Was Won with James Arness, The Yellow Rose of Texas with Sam Elliot, and the 80s version of Maverick. I doubt I should hold my breath waiting for any of these though.

Normally I don't do New Year Resolutions. Every once in a while I'll make a decision to do something that I normally wouldn't do, even if it's the middle of summer, and call it my New Year Resolution.

One of those was in May of 2006 when I decided I would face my fear of flying and get on a plane in July of 2007 to meet some of the other Rawhide fans I had corresponded with through the Yahoo group. Another time was one morning a long, long time ago (and it seems like it was in a galaxy far, far away since it was so long ago) when I made the decision to not bite my fingernails anymore. There was the day in August about 12 years ago when I decided to quit all community activities I was involved in because I was just stretched too thin and was tired of being the target for angry people because of my position within those clubs - I get enough of that in my work, thank you very much. Haven't gone back to any of those groups/clubs or joined any others either. I like not having to worry about meetings like that. And then there was the day I decided I needed to be a better friend to all my friends. I needed to learn to stop badgering them just because I hadn't heard from them in a while - let them have the space they must need from me. And on the flip side, be more available when they do need me. Both are difficult for me. The first because I always find myself wondering if I did or said something hurtful or offensive; the second because I'm just not good at giving comfort.

Anyway, sometimes it's just weird how you can tell yourself something you think you want/don't want but you just can't seem to follow through, but then one day you just "decide'. Yeah, sounds incredibly strange but that's the way it's always been with me. Which, for anyone who doesn't know me, means I am incredibly strange. And I am. I've never followed the crowd; I've always had to believe it was right for me. That doesn't mean I will not or cannot like/love someone who has totally different views or outlook than I have; it just means we see things differently. I read something a long time ago that really hit me: if everyone was just like you, the world would be very boring. Yeah, that's true but I still sometimes wish there was a happy medium. Then I realize I would have to change. Gasp! That can't happen. I am the poster child of resisting change. I've been working here for over 17 years and for about half of those, the owner will start a sentence with, "I know you don't like change but..." And to his credit, he really doesn't ask me to change the way I do something unless it's unavoidable. Like when we our printing company wasn't going to accept our newspaper for printing the way they always had because their technology had to change. And I discovered that although I miss doing things the old way, I like this way better. No more driving to the main office once a week any longer.

Okay, let's get back on track here. My New Year Resolution happened close to that actual day this time. After the November I had...and facing having to give up pizza, pork, and dairy products, I wasn't looking forward to life without a gall bladder. It was kinda funny to realize one day that I wasn't craving pizza which was weird because we used to have pizza at least once a week...sometimes two or three times in those seven days. It's easy cuz you don't have to "make" it. Just turn on the oven and throw it in there. On December 17, I had a doctor appointment and was told by said doc I could go back to eating whatever I wanted (happy birthday!) as all my test results had finally come back and he saw no reason why I needed a restricted diet. There was a "however" though. "However, you may discover there are certain things you can't eat. It will be a trial and error process of finding out if there are any of those things." The doc even told me where to go for "the best pizza I've ever tasted". I told him I'd check it out and see if I agree.

Well, a funny thing happened. I actually discovered I LIKE eating healthy. Oh, I've had pizza once - Jodi brought it home one day when she was out Christmas shopping. It was a large pan and it took us three meals to finish it. And I've made pork chops three times since that day of freedom. But I can eat salad, which I couldn't do before losing the gall bladder - well I could but then paid for it afterward. Trust me, you don't want to know. And having soup with a sandwich instead of chips of some kind makes a more filling meal anyway. We had Christmas this past Saturday night and, as she promised, Mom made cheesecake. I had a piece that night and one after lunch on Sunday but didn't even ASK to bring any home with me. I still like it but didn't CRAVE it.

So, yes, it's strange how things work for me. The day I decided to stop drinking soda, I was wondering if my life would ever be the same. Not that I was a big soda drinker, usually one per day, but it was still strange to not have it anymore. Certainly helped my health - no more constant heartburn; used to chew on Rolaids a couple times a day but since the absence of soda from my life, I've gone months without popping even one. The three-year (or is it four?) anniversary of that decision is coming up early next month. It's really only difficult when eating out since I don't drink alcohol. When I'm lucky, the eating establishment will have lemonade on its menu so I'll have that which I love anyway; when I'm not lucky, I stick with water. The point is, I haven't really missed soda. It's only been a couple months since my eating habits changed but I haven't missed the chips and other so-called unhealthy foods. I still haven't had popcorn and I used to eat popcorn at least a couple times a week. I just haven't wanted to try it yet. But I'm sure I will. 

The point of this post is that my New Year Resolution is to eat more healthy...at least for the most part. I'm not going to deny myself dressing on my salad or pizza or cheesecake. <Shrugs> Who knows, maybe I'll revert back; that this will just be a phase I'm going through but then again, it might be something I stick with like when I decided not to chew my fingernails or not drink soda anymore, or getting rid of the outside forces beating me down, or deciding to be a better friend...Guess we'll have to see.

Happy New Year. Good luck with your Resolutions if you made any.

 I admit to having watched Search & Rescue on YouTube a few weeks ago but I have a problem with that. The screen is too small in its usual format and when I do full-screen, the picture gets a bit distorted or blurry. So I miss things that way. For instance, I really thought it was Major Lorne on the cot next to Colonel Sheppard when John and Ronon were beamed to the infirmary so I couldn't understand why Sheppard was surprised when Keller told him Lorne and McKay were alive. Seeing it last night gave me the reason. It wasn't my favorite major on that bed.

Anyway, I liked the episode for the most part. Screen time for Lorne and his banter with McKay, Ronon continually trying to get Sheppard free, Sheppard's question that let them know it was Michael's bad guys digging for them and not people from Atlantis, the scene in the jumper on the way to rescue Teyla, seeing Caldwell again (yay), Rodney having to deliver the baby. There are probably more but those stick out in my mind.

Things that bothered me: okay, Teyla is a warrior, I understand that so there is a reason why she was't screeching and such; but for crying out loud, that has to be the cleanest delivery of a baby ever. And what happened to the baby's father? He helps them escape and then...nothing. We don't see him in the infirmary with Teyla and the baby. She doesn't mention him one way or the other. Was he killed on the way to the dart? Didn't survive being rematerialized? Is being held under guard until they can figure out how to help him?

And where was Chuck? Instead it was a woman's voice about the gate activating.
 

One of the reasons I loved Stargate SG-1 has left us. Don S. Davis died yesterday. I loved the character of General George Hammond . 

I got interested in the show because of my continual crush on RDA which is still going strong to this day. It didn't take me long to enjoy the show because of the characters. I honestly think I would have loved Colonel Jack O'Neill if someone else had played him the way RDA did; but then I probably wouldn't have even thought about watching it if not for RDA being part of the cast. I'm fickle that way. Have to admit I never did warm up to Cam Mitchell. Oh, he had his moments but for the most part, blah. Missed Janet when they killed her as she was also a favorite. Then Hammond leaves - didn't realize the real reason for that until I read in the press release telling of his death that Don Davis left for medical reasons. And then RDA cuts back on his schedule until he finally leaves altogther so he can spend time with his little girl.

But there was a saving grace for me. Vala. I so want to be Vala when I grow up :~) She was such a hoot!

Back to Hammond. Other than the episode introducing Hathor, I can't think of one time when I didn't like the character...and that episode had all the guys goofy. Janet and Sam save the day. Okay, he wasn't at his best in "Foothold" but that was technically an alien posing as Hammond so...doesn't count.

I usually don't even pause in my day when I hear about an actor's death but I did with the news of Don Davis suffering a massive, I believe, heart attack. I am glad to know I'll see him one more time - in the Stargate movie coming out the end of July...which obviously I can't remember the name of right now. Sheesh.

So long, Hammond of Texas.
 

 This is ALL Grey's fault. Evil woman finally found a way to force me to begin an LJ account. "I've posted the car story but you have to have an LJ in order to read it." She is so evil! Of course, I was so dumb because I caved in and did it anyway even though she had already TOLD me the story. I'm really not always that idiotic. Honest. Okay, I'm not a rocket scientist and Rodney McKay definitely wouldn't want me as one of his minions but I do consider myself fairly intelligent. Usually.