Happy Halloween!

Hope everyone has a safe and happy Halloween! Booooooo.......

Sharon Osbourne on Sarah Palin

I'm sorry but I laughed my ass off on this one. Sharon made very valid points, though.

Let's hear it for Stand By Me!

This is beautiful...

SNL Strikes Again!

You Know You're Old When You Can't Tip Drill

Seriously, there's a phenomenon called tip drill and I can't do it.

My daughter just got up and was standing at the toaster. I was hanging out the back door killing my lungs with a smoke and she said out of the blue, "Look, I can jiggle."

She proceeded to stand on her tip toes or something and make her backside do a little dance.

Being as I had a little more to my backside than her, I decided to do try to see if I could do it. I knew I had no rhythm, but why when everything else jiggled, my backside looked as stiff as John McCain at his campaign rallies? Not that there wasn't enough there to shake, I just couldn't get my groove on as much as I tried.

If there is a secret to this, will you please let me know?

In case you don't know what a tip drill is, here's a video clip I found on YouTube...



And Boomer Chick tried and failed. It's just not fair.

Tough Love or Free Love?

Before I begin today's post, I want to state that I am a strong advocate for teaching people to stand on their own two feet and survive without relying on others for help. Don't play the poor me attitude with me because it's not going to work if I'm not seeing you trying to help yourself first. I'll help anyone but when they regress to the point where they are asking (or hinting) for bailouts, don't count me in.

I've been there, done that. I know what it's like to be the helpless mother of two who was thrown into the working force because of a marriage breakup. I know what it's like to have to count pennies and rely on food stamps. I know because I was there and didn't like it one bit.

But instead of continuing to play the poor me act, I learned how to stand on my own two feet. It wasn't easy but once I declared my independence from poverty, things took an upward climb and I've never looked back.

Maybe it was luck, you say?

Hardly. I worked hard to get where I am today and it didn't happen overnight either.

But for some, it just isn't happening. And I can understand the economy is putting a financial burden on much of the United States and that's why we're either heading into a recession or as one commentator mentioned today, we're already in one.

That I can understand...we're all feeling it.

But there are also people out there who are looking for government agencies, churches, you name it, to bail them out when they are down on their luck and it's not because they've had a disaster strike, or they have children to feed or for any other reason besides the fact they just never learned how to stand on their own two feet and go after what they want instead of knowing in their back of their heads that people will bail them out. That's looking for disaster and not good for them in the long run.

One person who comes to mind is a co-worker I've mentioned before on this blog, I think. She's always complaining about not having money but yet wouldn't do anything about it. She's always complaining about her rent being late and she'll probably be homeless after XX amount of years, but yet she didn't do a thing about it. Don't tell me that she didn't know how to change things around because I had told her on numerous occasions that she needed to stop the sad act and take positive action - a tough love approach. I figured if I drummed it in her head that she deserved more than she was giving herself credit for, she could turn things around and you know what she told me? "It's too late." The woman is 2 years older than I am!

Well I go into work Friday and this woman isn't there. In fact, she's late by an hour and that's so not like her. She had her phone turned off because she couldn't pay, so there was no way to contact her.

I was worried and told a customer who came in that night who had been asking about her. Concerned, they drove out to her trailer and knocked on her door. The smell of cat feces was coming right through the door, that's the way this woman lived. I've had cats and I know they just don't go in the litter box, no way of getting around it.

She finally, according to this other woman, dragged herself to the door and when she got to her feet, she couldn't hold her head up but kept it lowered to the ground and I mean literally. Her hip had finally gone out on her. She had told me previously she had some kind of hip disease and the doctors told her she had to have an operation, that was the only way she could cure this. Instead, she relied on pain killers to ease the pain. The reason why she wouldn't go to the hospital? The cats wouldn't have anyone to feed them as she had no family or close friends who would take care of them.

The woman was concerned and went next door and someone came over and carried her to their house where she made a phone call to work to explain why she didn't come in. They told her she needed to go to the hospital but she kept saying she had no money, that she was late in rent and would get evicted if she had to lay up in the hospital for an undetermined amount of time.

She ended up going to the hospital but was released the next day.

I've not heard anything else, but I'm racked with guilt. I want to throw out all my convictions of making her understand that she has to help herself and not rely on others to help her, but I'm at a stale mate with this.

I think it's too late for her as she told me over and over again but I refused to believe it.

But when it's too late, the downward spiral begins and never stops until you are forced to live on the street and I don't want that to happen to her either.

The woman needs an operation to survive, yet she won't be able to work and will lose her trailer and her cats, which are her only loved ones at this moment. Her mother who used to live with her died about three years ago and she has no one. The sad part about this is that no one wants to have her over because of her roach problem and that's another thing she never got around to fixing. Instead, she wears them in her hair, they're all over her car and God knows what it's like in her trailer.

So what do you do? How do you help someone who lets themselves get this low? Did I mention she's still paying child support for a daughter that was taken away from her?

I love her to death and I feel sorry for her, but what do you do? I still refuse to believe it's too late for her.

Saturday Night Live Strikes Again!

Thanks for sending, Nick!

Happy 30th Birthday to Melissa

Today is someone's birthday and it wouldn't be right without mentioning her here today. She's someone very, very special to me.

Two weeks ago, I had something happen to me that happens to a lot of people, only it hit me as rather strange. Eye-opening. Intense. Dramatic. Life threatening.

My daughter and I had gone to Ruby Tuesdays for lunch and on the way home, I got excruciating pains and literally passed out right there in the passenger seat. According to the story, I was slumped over in the seat with my eyes open and breathing funny. She thought I had died.

She tried calling 911 but because it was one of those new touch cell phones, she did something wrong. Anyway, the call didn't go through. She said she straddled me and started yelling my name. My eyes at some point started to close and my breathing took on a new slower pattern.

I finally came to and I remember her saying, "You have food poisioning and you're going to the hospital," and all I could think about were new tours going out in 2 days. The last time this happened was about 15 years ago and I ended up in the hospital for a week. No way Jose was I going to let that happen again, I don't care how close to death I am.

I told her to just get me to the bathroom. She helped me up the stairs and into the bathroom on the 2nd floor where it came out of both ends. She then tried to help me to my bedroom on the 3rd floor but we didn't make it past the 3rd step. She put me on the couch in the living room and pretty much the first couple of hours I was there, she kept a vigil on me.

What I didn't know was how upset I had made her.

It's an awful thing to be in the situation where you might even "think" one of your loved ones is dying. I was the first person to see my own mother dead and it has haunted me to this day.

But not only was it a moment in her life that she will never forget, it was also a moment in my life that changed my silly notion that I was invincible and that nothing bad was ever going to happen to me. At least not right now in the prime of my life when everything else seemed to be going great.

How silly of me.

It's times like these that make you realize how fast you can go. I didn't even have time to put my head between my legs - pfff I was out.

But I am here today, alive and kicking, to wish my daughter, Melissa, the happiest 30th birthday ever. She was there for me that day and I know how much I worried her and really hated that that situation ever happened. But maybe sometimes we need reality checks. Maybe we need to see how fragile life is. Maybe we need to see we're not the invincible person we think we are and that shit happens all the time.

To you, Melissa, I wish you the happiest birthday ever.

Can you tell us why?

Wow...got this from This Full House. The guy is now 17 but the message is ageless...

The Last Debate between Obama and McCaine

Courtesy of Political Graffiti

I was sitting on my deck watching the tide as it rolled in past the shoreline and into the marshes alongside the walkway leading out to the dock. It's so quiet, you could hear a pin drop. Earlier, I watched as two lines of birds headed south - one line forming the infamous V pattern flying high, then the second lower near the shoreline and in a straight line.

One wonders why some birds chose the higher road to travel and others chose the lower, closer to the shoreline. I'm not a bird expert by no means, but it does ground you in the fact that not everyone flies the same route or walks the same walk. And that's what makes America the beautiful place it is - our right to be ourselves and express our opinions and differences and not be condemned about it.

That is, unless you're a politician running for office and your opponent is out for blood.

If you're a politician running for office, you better have a thick hide and have a plan of attack because your opponents - colleagues even - are going to stick it below the belt whenever and wherever they can.

One thing that's popping up all over the Internet was a comment Obama made to a guy they're calling Joe the Plumber. Joe mentioned his business falls into that 5% that Obama is going to raise taxes to help the middle class and the poor. Joe didn't like it one bit and, of course, McCaine used this in his strategy to persuade undecided voters last night to vote for him.

I, like a lot of Americans, am tired of hearing these back and forth attacks. It's not going to make me vote for the one doing the attacking but only make my approval meter slink lower than a blue-tailed skunk.

The subject of these attacking ads came up and I think both candidates handled it pretty well. "It's just the way these things go," was sorta the opinion I got after listening to both. Reminds me of a movie I once saw of two grammar school kids - one boy one girl - who was running for office and each was determined to convince the voters to not vote for the other by bribing them with treats, etc. Did it work?

Not in the end because in the end, the blue tailed skunk finally shows its true colors. We can only hope the American people sees through this when they go to the voting polls in November.

I have watched all three debates, plus the one debate between Joe Biden and Sarah Palin and I am not undecided. I know full well what candidate I want to represent us in the White House and I decided this before the name smearing campaigns began. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out who would be for the middle class (as I am) and who would try to be but wouldn't do as well a job, in my opinion. I did listen to the issues from both sides and at one point my vote did sway toward the other side and that was when there was a documentary on one of them and I got to see their personal side, something I never saw before, but I straightened back up and said, "Boomer Chick, vote for the one who represents you, the middle class majority, and who will do the best for you."

I have nothing against the upper class and I do not wish more taxes on them (I don't think that's the answer either), but Barack Obama made a good point. He said something to the effect of "No one likes taxes. I don't like taxes, but it's a part of life." My grandmother once said there's two things we can be certain - death and taxes - and even though we don't want our taxes raised, the money has to come from somewhere to help change America and put it on the right path.

So, with that said, if Boomer Chick was president, I would go through Washington and find every single politician who is making the big bucks by lobbyists' contributions and make them pay for these new reforms that Barack Obama will put in forth once he gets in the White House. Make them pay for new forms of energy to help us rid of our dependency on oil from foreign countries, make them pay for new jobs so that families can afford to heat their house this winter and send their kids to school on a full stomach, make them pay to bail out home owners who are losing their houses because of mortgage institutions foreclosing because they can't pay, but more importantly, make it so that it never happens again. That's a pretty tough bill to follow, but it's time Washington got a Fall cleaning in November and time for the American middle class people to finally have a voice.

And that's the only system I know that will work.

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NEW DIGS!

Is this the coolest thing or what? Boomer Chick has a new face! Thanks to Zoe at Chic & Sassy Designs, Boomer Chick is now rockin'! I had been looking for a template for a long, long time. I was sooo tired of the same ol' same ol,' but when I would find one that wasn't too bad, it had a code I couldn't use and didn't know how to translate it over to a code I could use.

And then...my prayers were answered. In a search, I found Chic and Sassy Designs. Perusing through their available template, one stood out and was so perfect - this one!

How do you like? Is this just the bomb place to hang out or what???

The Best of Boomer Chick

Welcome to the best of Boomer Chick (some not for the squeamish):

Boiling Water Ain't for Sissies
California Dreamin'
California Dreamin' - Pt. 2 - My Humble Beginnings
California Dreamin' - Pt. 3 - The Last Ferry Ride
California Dreamin' - Pt. 4 - Glucose Intolerant, Anyone?
California Dreamin' - Pt. 5 - California, Here We Come!
Did You Grow Up Too Fast?
Don't Come Near Me When I've Had a Rejection
Finding My Father Part II - Aunt Carmen
Finding My Father - Part III - Remembering Mother
Finding My Father - Part IV - In My Daddy's Eyes
Finding My Father - Part V - The Alyson Jolly House of Hope
Finding My Father - Part VI - The Euphoria Takes a Nosedive
Finding My Father - Part VII - Opening Old Wounds
Having a Celebrity Moment
How NOT to Hook Your Soul Mate
How to Tell When You've Really Lost It
I Have a Father!
I'm No Betty Crocker
Is Your Book a Golden Retriever or a Chihuahua?
Miracles Do Happen...I'm Going Back to California!
My Favorite Memories of the Bicentennial: Jack Daniels, a Camping Trip and Getting Arrested
News from Buena Vista Library & LA Times!
Off the Beaten Path for a Minute
On the Street Where I (used to) Live
She Works Hard for the Money
Strange Encounter of the Santa Kind
Taxi! Taxi!
The Blind Date From Hell
The Christmas Experience
The Further Adventures of Max, The Bed-Pissing Dog
The Games People Play
The Goose That Almost Wasn't
The Search for the Dream Ornament & The Perfect Punk
The War on Christmas Continues...
When Taking a Dump, Watch Out For Falling Objects
You Can Never Go Home Again...Or Can You?

More to come!

Teaching Old Dogs New Tricks

And they said it could never happen. I'm about to change this 2 column blog into a 3 column blog. Why, you ask? I think it's kind of obvious...there's too much junk in the 2nd column over there, don't you think? Wish me luck...it should go live tomorrow if this head cold doesn't do me in overnight. Accccchooooooo!

Saturday Night Live strikes again

That Tammy Faye...watch the latest spoof from Saturday Night Live!

Who watched the VEEP debate last night?

Was that great or what? Did you watch the vice-president debate last night?

I am so into this election. The night before, my daughter and I had been sitting on the bed watching all the SNL videos on YouTube, mocking Sarah Palin. I screamed in hysterics. At first, I really didn't care for her being a REPUBLICAN and all, but I think she grew on me. I still favor Obama without a doubt, but you gotta absolutely love Sarah by now. If she doesn't get into the White House, SNL will have a shit fit because of all that material they could have. And what can you find funny in Biden, you know?

Oh, I love the election this year. There is so much drama. And hysterics.

I like Biden, though. He came through with flying colors last night. So did Sarah, as a matter of fact, and I think she fooled a lot of people. Both addressed the issues with professionalism I thought. Even better than the 1st presidential debate.

So, what did you think of the VEEP debate last night? Did it change your views on Sarah?

Boomer Chick's Favorite Videos

Boomer Chick loves the videos she posts so much, she decided to have a handy dandy place to watch her favorites without looking up and down the blog for them. So, for your viewing pleasure (and for her sanity), all the videos that she enjoys so much will be posted here over the years. This will be ongoing and will be updated when needed.

And so for your viewing pleasure, here's the best of Boomer Chick's favoritest videos...



The Power of Love

Sharon Osbourne on Sarah Palin



Let's hear it for Stand By Me!



Can you tell us why?