What? Me Change?

Ah spring is here! With the start of Daylight Savings time, we are reminded by radio hosts and TV special service annoucements, to change our smoke alarm batteries. Well it got me thinking about all the other things we here at the Ochs house usually forget to change. I wonder if anyone else suffers from same.

1. Smoke Alarm Batteries - I suppose I should change them, but they're about 10 feet high and require a tall ladder. What a hassle! They're so obnoxious. If it weren't for that little thing called "safety", I'd be taking those little buggers out. I've boiled a pan dry or something dripped onto the bottom of the oven and my alarms are sent shrieking and our hearts racing. My poor doggy makes a quick bee-line out of the house (via the quickly opened door to waft smoke away) in order to save his keenly sensitive ears. The rest of us suffer while fanning near invisible smoke towards the windows and doors.

2. Soil - potted plants need regular re-potting with new soil to keep the plant happy with sweet soil. Apparently soil can go sour. Well, I don't change the soil and I rarely can keep a plant past a year or so. Go figure.

3. Furnace Filters - We firmly believe in letting the next owners of our house worry about any furnace problems.

4. Mascara - did you know that make-up can get old and breed bacteria and cause eye disease and even blindness? I actually don't forget to change out my mascara but am putting this in here to raise global awareness to the epidemic sure to threaten all females of the human species. CHANGE OUT YOUR MASCARA every three months! Save yourselves!

5. Loofahs (or other body brushes or scrubby-thingies) - ah just scrub off your dirt and old skin cells then set 'em in the shower and let 'em soak up the water week after week. There ain't nothing bad about that, right?

6. Refrigerator Water Filter - most of the newer refrigerators have great water filters that eliminate the need for us to purchase bottled water. Keep that filter changed and you can save yourself tons of money buying what you can get for free.

7. Passwords - please change your passwords regularly; particularly those linked with banking institutions or sites/applications that have personal information. The recommended norm is to change them every 90 days. Also, don't put yourself at risk by making all of them the same. Another tip: don't write them all down and post them by your computer.

8. Sachet - that 5 yr old lavender sachet that is in the lingerie drawer? I think it's time. I suppose you could always peel an orange and stuff the rind in there. They're sure to give off a nice citrus smell.

9. The vacuum cleaner bag - if you do that then it won't take 10 swipes to pick up the thread off the floor. You'll be able to do your vacuuming in 1/10th the time!

10. Glade scented plug-in - things will smell much better if you change out those old crusty cartridges. I hear they have lots of great scents out there.

11. Sunscreens - did you know that last year's sunscreens have lose their potency/strength? Don't kid yourself that your SPF 45 is still providing you with maximum protection. You might burn.


Other ideas on things you can change that help keep you fresh and relevant (and staying away from either being boring or being bored):

- Facebook profile picture
- Try new music preferences - step out of your box!
- Find a new hobby
- Your calendar; throw away the 2008 one with the great picture
- Get a new hairstyle
- The paint color in your favorite room
-

I'm a Bad, Bad Girl!

I remember my high school days when I lived for nights and weekends chatting on the phone. I lived for the phone. I wanted my very own phone with my own phone number. I hated sharing the phone with my two older sisters who had the same phone frenzy as I did. Being the younger of the three oldest girls in our large family, I always got last dibs on our lone communication device. I remember viewing each of my sisters departure from the home as a glimmer of hope at more phone time with my boyfriend.

I remember those talks well. I'd sit on the stairs and talk very quietly so as to not divulge my great secrets to the rest of my family (usually my little brother Rob would be lurking about somewhere close by). After hours of talking of almost nothing, the conversation usually took a turn like this:


Me: Well, it's late, I prolly better go before my mom catches me

Boyfriend: K

Me: You say "goodbye" and hangup first, OK?

Boyfriend: No you

Me: No way! I did it first last time.

Boyfriend: OK, I'll say "goodbye" first but you have to be the first to hang up.

Me: OK

Boyfriend: Good Bye and I love you!

Me: silence

Boyfriend: You're supposed to hang up now

Me (wailing): I can't!!!!! You hang up!

Boyfriend: I can't either, you'll have to hang up.

Me: No you!

Boyfriend: You said you'd hang up first if I said "good bye!"

Me: OK, you're right. Long Pause

And so on. Sometime it took us hours to hang up. Some of you can probably relate to these silly teenage romances. However silly they may be, I am lucky enough to have married the above mentioned boyfriend, James.

Anyway, I digress. I am a bad, bad girl because I have ceased to do well at catching up with people on the phone. What once was a distinct competency has now become a chore that gets relegated to the back burner. I admit it, I procrastinate!
I have family and friends who I love to get together with for coffee, outings, and email, but when it comes to picking up the phone for a chat - not so good. I owe you all a sincere apology. However, I would like to suggest that you lower your expectations you have of me in this regard. I am not good at catching up by phone.

I believe this reluctance comes from spending the better part of every day on the phone in teleconferences as part of my job. It means that when my day is over, one of the last things I want to do is get on the phone. Selfish of me, I admit, but I doubt I'll change until I'm an old cane-totting granny with no job, and am lonely and bored. Then watch out! I'll become a phone calling freak: kids, grand kids, family, friends, acquaintances, repair men, neighbors, and whomever else I can get to lend me an ear.

[NOTE: I remember a similar situation when I worked at the mall when the kids were little. I ended up hating going shopping (much to my husband's delight). I hated going to the store since I worked at one. This has actually paid off over the years, until such time as online shopping came onto the scene. My sweetest dreams were realized.]

I may be a bad girl, but at least I acknowledge it and ask for forgiveness.
you've now seen my explanation and read my apology (notice I didn't call you) and have a sincere hope that you will all understand and give me grace for another 20 years or so.

Then watch out!

I Can Walk and Chew Gum - at the Same Time!

I can walk, chew gum, and participate in a teleconference at the same time. But wait, I have opposable thumbs and walk upright!

Take a peek at this video of a species that isn't supposed to be able to do what he does.

Unbelievable!

How Messy are You?

I'm a moderately clean person. I am not overboard with the organizaton and neatness, but I do find myself bugged when the house hasn't been vacuumed for a while, or dust is piling up in drifts. But when I read the following story, I began to feel pretty good about myself. There's always someone worse, right?

I found the article first on Foxnews.com and then followed it further in the originating publication in Britain http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article2104946.ece
Foxnews says that a guy in Britain hoarded so much trash he had made tunnels throughout the junk just to navigate his home. Apparently he got lost in the network of tunnels and died of thirst.

The article states: "The compulsive hoarder is believed to have become disorientated inside the walls of rotting trash and unable to find a way out — then collapsed with dehydration.

Neighbors raised the alarm after failing to see him leave his house in Broughton, Bucks, for several days.

When cops arrived, the stench from the garbage was so foul they brought in a police diving team equipped with breathing apparatus."

Breathing apparatus? My goodness. I guess my house isn't so bad after all.

Always Do Your Best

January 4, 1982 is significant to our family, and more importantly, significant to James Gibson and the scientific community. On the same day Bryant Gumbel became the co-anchor of the Today show and James Gibson discovered a planet.

Hard as it may be to believe, but the Today show’s success will be more fleeting than that of James Gibson. Gibson was a troubled teen in the 40’s. Even in the small farming community of Ellensburg, Washington, there was mischief to be made and James was sure to find it. Peter Tjossem, one of the local businessmen took it upon himself to mentor James and other needy teens. What resulted was that James determined to go to college and make something of him. Several years later he became a scientist in the astronomy and physics field.

In a show of gratitude, when James discovered minor planet #3090, he named it Tjossem after my great grandfather who pushed him to excellence. Though Peter Tjossem was long gone from this earth at the time of the discovery, the honor bestowed on the family through the chosen name, is one of significant for all of us.

As John Wooden, an early 20th century basketball coach once said, “Success comes from knowing that you did your best to become the best that you are capable of becoming.” Peter Tjossem believed in Gibson and Gibson believed what Peter told him. Imprinted with that belief, he worked hard to accomplish all of that which he was capable. I, for one, am very thankful he didn’t settle for anything less.