I’ve had fun this week reconnecting with childhood friends on Facebook. It makes me think back to what was the last time I saw them each. I left home when I was 18.  I didn’t wait until after I graduated.  I didn’t even wait until the end of the day.  Rather I skipped school that morning and Kris Krehmeyer skipped also.  As soon as my mom left for work, Kris and I piled my clothes into his little chartreuse Karmann Ghia and we dropped them off at Terry N’s house and went back to school.  Terry’s mom had agreed to let me live with them while I finished up high school, and she’d gotten us jobs with her at Sears, in the catalog phone sales center. While I was living at home in east Hialeah, my routine was to come right home from school and call my mom.  She’d give me instructions about things like bring the laundry in off the line and fold it, and what to take out for dinner.  She worked for Western Union from 11:00am until 9:00pm.  Mom would prepare dinner each morning, and I’d heat it up at night for my dad and brother. But the night of my 18th birthday, it would be different.  Continue reading →

Thursday, April 2, 2009. Yesterday was spent in the recording studio, working on some new mp3 files.  My brother Jerry is a big help to me there.  I do the scripting and recording, and he adds the background music and subliminals and does all the techie stuff.  Like taking out the sssssssssssssssss when I have the microphone at the wrong angle for the entire recording, where it amplifies my breath too much on words like catch, rest, voice, simply, reach.   I typically give everything a careful listen through before I send it on to him, but last week I didn’t do that.  I’d recorded a file and thought I’d edit it myself before sending to him.  I got all excited in the editing process, cutting and pasting, and happily sent the finished product on to Brothermine.  Without giving it a final listen through.  So he does his background music magic and sends the finished file back.  It’s when I listened to it from start to finish then that I heard that I’d done the induction twice and cut the countdown out of it both times.  Drat! Continue reading →

I got the below from my friend and astrologer Leslie Marlar.  Leslie is a real astrologer, with certifications, licenses, degrees.  I always find her to be right on.  The below tells me that we’re on the upswing on this economic cycle.  We’re already seeing housing and employment gains.  This tells me that we’re closer than we think to getting back into balance with the economy.

The Uranus/Saturn opposition is still in effect until Nov. ’09. It brings unexpected troubles and is one of the main correspondents of the recession. Difficulties should lessen after November. Today I heard that the recession is 17 months old. The great depression lasted 42 months. This one could end up being about 24 months. Continue reading →

Wednesday, April 1st, 2009.  Happy April Fool’s Day. I’ve had the luxury of a few days off and wow, that really feels good, even if I am just doing things around the homestead here.  I spent a couple of days picking up deadfall from the oaks and pines, taking it out to the street and cutting it into the size and shape that Waste Management says I have to.  I mowed the backyard for the first time since November; it took about 10 minutes.  I’ve got enough new growth on the eleagnus hedge that I can give it a topping with my hedge trimmer before next Thursday’s full moon.  I spent a lot of time debating which mulberry branches to cut.  The longer branches I’d like to cut are full of berries, so I will wait until the birds and squirrels have picked them clean before pruning.  One thing I need to do is move my rosemary back into the sun.  What used to be my flourishing herb garden has been under deep shade for a year, and my rosemary is leggy and not very happy. Continue reading →