Detroit Tigers - Opening Day

Comerica Park, Detroit

"A hot dog at the ball park is better than steak at the Ritz."
~ Humphrey Bogart ~


(I'm listening to the game at work)

*** Final ***

Detroit Tigers loss opening 5-4 in the 11th vs KC Royals.

No Boys Allowed

Last night, Cyn, Sue, and I had plans to go to the Blue Goose, to dance and have fun with our favorite band, The Regular Boys.

During the week, Cyn was talking to her friend "Biker Bob" and since he lives within a few miles from the Goose, she invited him up.

Sue, works with "Gay Ted" who lives within, as he says, "crawling distance" of the Goose and knows what fun and crazy times we have, so he too said he'd stop in.

My friend Don, the yacht broker, lives, works, and plays on the water in that area. He knows we go there at least once a month and during the week, I told him we'd be there. He said he'd show up also.

When I picked Cyn up, she said Biker Bob called, he left for warmer weather at the last minute that morning.

Once we were at the Goose, Yacht Man Don called in sick. It's not high school Don ... what? Are you hoping I'll send you to the principal for a paddling! *wink* (Don reads this blog)

Gay Ted? He must have got a better offer than to spend the evening dancing with 3 wild and crazy over 50 women because he never showed or called!

... and we had a blast!

The muscles in my legs hurt from our night of nonstop dancing.

Table for Three, Please

He was tall, well dressed, and quite handsome.

He walked back into my office with confidence and a sheepish smile.

He pulled up a chair to my desk as I handed him our final invoice.

His shirt was crisp white. He was clean shaven.

He had perfect teeth behind his smile.

He reached into his suit pocket and pulled out a black leather checkbook.

As he looked down and began to write his personal check out, he spoke.

His voice was low and flirtatious.

He was left handed, and his precise script writing had the backwards slant that most left handed people have.

Before he dotted his "i" and crossed the last "t" ... he asked.

"Will you meet me for a drink when you get off work tonight?"

I answered. With sultry eyes and and a soft but assured voice.

"I will, if I may order two drinks"

He smiled. A big smile.

"You may order what ever you'd like"

I reached for his hand.

The perfectly manicured left hand with an expensive gold band on it.

And I accepted his personal check, the one that had two names on it.

I replied.

"Perfect, then let's call your wife and ask her to join us."

As he stood up, he never lost his composure.

He continued with his smile, looked at me and said ...

"Touche', well played."

Mrs. Fussypants aka Energizer Bunny

Mrs. Fussypants, is Mom to 4 boys, a 5th (boy) to arrive shortly, as well as step mom to a 12 year old daughter. She and her husband are in the process of relocating their family to a new home ... in a different state than her current Tennessee.


I have been reading her blog, Mrs. Fussypants Guide to Life, for a few months now and her endless energy exhausts me!

Between home schooling, and maintaining her household, she has several blog sites that have become an addiction, not only to me, but many followers. This woman is Mrs. Pied-Fussy-Piper!

Check out HomeSchool Hacks, Blissfully Domestic, The Gentle Art of Ruling Your Husband, her awesome, ahem, PhotoShop sKILLS, and best of all her Etsy site. She also has a review page and a fab blogroll page. Buttons and awards, and links Oh My! (Mover over Dorothy!)

Fussy makes beautiful bling! Necklaces, bracelets, and earrings. The photos simply do not do them justice. They make beautiful gifts ... especially to your deserving self!

With such reasonable prices, she must just be doing this to fill in all her free time. [smirk]

You can contact her to inquire about ordering at iamfussypants (at) gmail (dot) com.

Send her a note just to let her know you are enjoying her hilarious sense of humor or to offer to take the kids for a weekend or come clean her house. *wink*

Thanks Alli ... bless you!

BLING!

Insane or Amazing

IMHO, David Cook has already won.

If he doesn't make it all the way through, he still has won.

I thought his performance of Lionel Richie's "Hello" a couple weeks ago was awesome.

Last night he did it again. Even Simon, the one who can find fault with everyone, said to attempt this, you'd have to be insane or amazing.

Simon gave it "amazing".

David Cook singing Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean"

Brother has a Big Arrogant 'Tude

I wrote about the investigations in Detroit of Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick.

You can catch up here and here and here.

Yesterday, Detroit and the Mayor became national news.

Wayne County Prosecutor, Kim Worthy filed felony charges against Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and his former (high school friend, college friend) Chief of Staff Christine Beatty. Each charge is 5-15 years in prison. 15 total were filed.

Mug Shots of the Mayor and Ms. Beatty
They both turned themselves in for booking.

Ms. Worthy gave a live news conference announcing each charge being handed down to both Kilpatrick and Beatty. The charges are for perjury, obstruction of justice, etc.

Wayne County Prosecutor, Kim Worthy
This woman is NOT one to mess with.
After watching her news conference, she's my BFF.

It all started back when two police officers (also black, for the record) were fired for blowing the whistle on the affair Kilpartick and Beatty were having. One thing lead to another (read in my past post links) and it has cost the City of Detroit more than 9 MILLION dollars because of this arrogant mayor.

Ms. Beatty did step down immediately when this all surfaced and has kept a very low, private profile. It doesn't right her wrong, but it shows remorse and better character than Kilpatrick.

Kilpatrick is so arrogant about the whole mess, he thinks he will be exonerated. I could go on and on about how he has wasted the people of Detroit's money over and over for his personal gain, possessions, entertainment, vacations, etc. I'm talking MILLIONS again.

The City Council voted, and asked he step down. He refused.

When Prosecutor Kim Worthy, read the charges, with explanation, I was so proud to have her protecting the City of Detroit's back. She eloquently put that arrogant man in his place by reminding him the simple rules we teach our children. Do not lie, follow the rules, honor your vows you take when entering public office.

Afterwards, it was buzzing around the best thing he could do for the city, is to step down.

Again, he refused, and publicly stated he would not step down.

Detroit is majority black. The Mayor has the audacity to pull the race card. In his speech, he used the N WORD, has said this is a "lynching" and a conspiracy.

The Detroit City Council, voted to have him step down:

As I look at all these people above, the very people that want to right his wrong, make him admit and own up to his lies, take the punishment to fit his crimes ... I wonder why he'd even think he could pull the race card.

And if he really felt that strongly about white people being against him, why did he hire this high profile attorney out of Chicago (Why not an attorney from Detroit?) to defend him, at the reported $700 an hour that the people of Detroit will be paying for.

Dan K. Webb, Attorney at Law

Who pee'd in the gene pool?

Sunshine, is lucky enough to be on vacation. She is also the lucky winner of S*irt's great big grand prize. I don't know if she was aware of that before she left on vacation, but she hit the big one. Congratulations Sunshine!

Speaking of hitting the big one. She asked if I'd sit in today and tell a story about well --- you know, the one person in our family we all have. Yes, that one. The one you hoped was not really part of the gene pool. When I read her request, I froze.

Head over to her site, ... and the pursuit of happiness, to find out about my crazy gene pool.

3 Candidates

(all in jest)

Another PSA ~ Women & Heart Attacks

I'm fine.

I spent 8 hours in emergency yesterday.

The first 5 weren't fun. The last 3 weren't fun, but at least I wasn't in as much pain.



Yesterday, I was awaken about 5 in the morning with sever chest pain. I though it must have been from eating pizza, salad and birthday cake the night before. I took some Tums and waited for it to go away. Since I wasn't feeling the usual heart attack symptoms we hear about, I kept assuming it was heartburn. Then I took 2 Tylenol PM hoping it would knock me out, and when I woke up, it would be gone. (can you tell I am stubborn about not feeling well) By 11am, I decided something was wrong, but if it was a heart attack, I'd be dead by now, so I still wasn't worrying too bad.

I decided to call the doctor. They could get me in at 2 pm, but by 1pm I was driving myself to emergency. After an EKG, x-rays and blood work, they decided my heart was fine. They kept me for observation and to run another set of blood work before I went home.

So now I have to figure out what it was. I'll follow up with my doctor. Gallstones?

Point being, women usually have different symptoms than men when having a heart attack. My sister sent me this and it is a perfect layman's way of understanding what to look for. It described my exact symptoms except I never got to the part of pain in my arms or jaw. I was aware that female heart attacks are different, but this is the best description I've ever read. Please read it and pass it on to other women in your life.

FEMALE HEART ATTACKS

Women and heart attacks (Myocardial Infarction).

Did you know that women rarely have the same dramatic symptoms that men have when experiencing heart attack...you know, the sudden stabbing pain in the chest, the cold sweat, grabbing the chest and dropping to the floor that we see in the movies.

Here is the story of one woman's experience with a heart attack.

I had a completely unexpected heart attack at about 10:30 PM with NO prior exertion. NO prior emotional trauma that one would suspect might have brought it on. I was sitting all snugly and warm on a cold evening, with my purring cat in my lap, reading an interesting story my friend had sent me, and actually thinking, A-A-h, this is the life, all cozy and warm in my soft, cushy Lazy Boy with my feet propped up. A moment later, I felt that awful sensation of indigestion, when you've been in a hurry and grabbed a bite of sandwich and washed it down with a dash o f water, and that hurried bite seems to feel like you've swallowed a golf ball going down the esophagus in slow motion and it is most uncomfortable. You realize you shouldn't have gulped it down so fast and needed to chew it more thoroughly and this time drink a glass of water to hasten its progress down to the stomach. This was my initial sensation---the only trouble was that I hadn't taken a bite of anything since about 5:00 p.m.

After that had seemed to subside, the next sensation was like little squeezing motions that seemed to be racing up my SPINE (hind-sight: it was probably my aorta spasming), gaining speed as they continued racing up and under my sternum (breast bone, where one presses rhythmically when administering CPR). This fascinating process continued on into my throat and branched out into both jaws.

AHA!! NOW I stopped puzzling about what was happening. We all have read and/or heard about pain in the jaws being one of the signals of an MI happening, haven't we? I said aloud to myself and the cat, 'Dear God, I think I'm having a heart attack!' I lowered the foot rest, dumping the cat from my lap, started to take a step and fell on the floor instead. I thought to myself, 'If this is a heart attack, I shouldn't be walking into the next room where the phone is or anywhere else.......but, on the other hand, if I don't, nobody will know that I need help, and if I wait any longer I may not be able to get up in moment.'

I pulled myself up with the arms of the chair, walked slowly into the next room and dialed the Paramedics. I told her I thought I was having a heart attack due to the pressure building under the sternum and radiating into my jaws. I didn't feel hysterical or afraid, just stating the facts. She said she was sending the Paramedics over immediately, asked if the front door was near to me, and if so, to unbolt the door and then lie down on the floor where they could see me when they came in.

I then laid down on the floor as instructed and lost consciousness, as I don't remember the medics coming in, their examination, lifting me onto a gurney, or getting me into their ambulance, or hearing the call they made to St. Jude ER on the way, but I did briefly awaken when we arrived and saw that the Cardiologist was already there in his surgical blues and cap, helping the medics pull my stretcher out of the ambulance. He was bending over me asking questions (probably something like 'Have you taken any medications?') but I couldn't make my mind interpret what he was saying, or form an answer, and nodded off again, not waking up until the Cardiologist and partner had already threaded the teeny angiogram balloon up my femoral artery into the aorta and into my heart where they installed 2 side by side stents to hold open my right coronary artery.

I know it sounds like all my thinking and actions at home must have taken at least 20-30 minutes before calling the Paramedics, but actually it took perhaps 4-5 minutes before the call, and both the fire station and St. Jude are only minutes away from my home, and my Cardiologist was already to go to the OR in his scrubs and get going on restarting my heart (which had stopped somewhere between my arrival and the procedure) and installing the stents.

Why have I written all of this to you with so much detail? Because I want all of you who are so important in my life to know what I learned first hand.

1. Be aware that something very different is happening in your body not the usual men's symptoms, but explicable things happening (until my sternum and jaws got into the act). It is said that many more women than men die of their first (and last) MI because they didn't know they were having one, and commonly mistake it as indigestion, take some Maalox or other anti-heartburn preparation, and go to bed, hoping they'll feel better in the morning when they wake up....which doesn't happen. My female friends, your symptoms might not be exactly like mine, so I advise you to call the Paramedics if ANYTHING is unpleasantly happening that you've not felt before. It is better to have a 'false alarm' visitation than to risk your life guessing what it might be!

2. Note that I said 'Call the Paramedics.' Ladies, TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE!

Do NOT try to drive yourself to the ER--you're a hazard to others on the road, and so is your panicked husband who will be speeding and looking anxiously at what's happening with you instead of the road. Do NOT call your doctor, he doesn't know where you live and if it's at night you won't reach him anyway, and if it's daytime, his assistants (or answering service) will tell you to call the Paramedics. He doesn't carry the equipment in his car that you need to be saved! The Paramedics do.

Principally OXYGEN is what you need ASAP. Your Dr. will be notified later.

3. Don't assume it couldn't be a heart attack because you have a normal cholesterol count. Research has discovered that cholesterol elevated reading is rarely the cause of an MI (unless it's unbelievably high, and/or accompanied by high blood pressure). MI's are usually caused by long-term stress and inflammation in the body, which dumps all sorts of deadly hormones into your system to sludge things up in there.

Pain in the jaw can wake you from a sound sleep. Let's be careful and be aware.

The more we know, the better chance we could survive.

Another Year Older

I have been fortunate to have a great family, wonderful caring friends,
and ::: knock on Corian ::: (hey, that's my desk top) I have been healthy.

That only leaves this for me to look forward to:

Went Out With My Peeps Last Night

Somebunny got wild and crazy!

Gotta love a night out with the chicks!

HEMA

HEMA is a department store in parts of Europe.

Watch this creative on-line bit of advertising,
you can't help but to smile.


Then I found out how this department store handles shoplifters:

I Apologize

I am not mean spirited. I don't say things with intent to hurt someones feelings. I'd be lying if I said I wouldn't poke fun if I thought I couldn't get away with it.

That's all I was doing here, when I referred to Amanda Overmyer as "Cruella". It was the hair I was poking fun of. The fact that I think she sounded terrible was just my opinion. Obviously not the opinion of many others because she is still a favorite. Even to Simon.

Clearly I was wrong to call her Cruella.

I watched her again last night ...

I should have called her Beetlejuice.

Politics at it's Finest

I'm not listing a couple men in politics that may or may not have put better judgment on the back burner:





David Vitter, Mark Foley, John F. Kennedy, Gary Hart, Ted Kennedy, Bill Clinton, Eliot Spitzer, Larry Craig, *John Edwards, *John McCain

*The jury's still out on these two.

I goo/gled for female politicians caught on the down low and couldn't find anything in the first 10 pages so if anyone wants to dig deeper, have at it.

I'm not going to point out that Hillary and Barack are creating sound bites to be used against whom ever runs against John. You can't divide to conquer, unless your agenda is for personal proliferation. Valid facts should stand on their own merit without incorporating hypothetical scenarios.


Remember when I posted about Detroit's Mayor Kwame Kilpatrickgate? His perjury, his lies, his affair, his lawsuits that cost the people of Detroit almost 9 MILLION dollars? Well, that mess is still on going. Now lets add MURDER to the pot.

Tonight he is holding a State of the City address. Right now, more people would rather hear his speech on stepping down from office.

It has come to light that in 2002, Mayor Maggot Kilpatrick had a little party at the Manoogian Boogian Mansion where he and his WIFE and SONS reside. Mrs. Mayor arrived home early to find strippers exotic dancers as entertainment. One in particular, dancing for the Mayor. Mrs. Mayor joined in by hitting this dancer, Tamara Greene, with a wooden object. The dancer later filed charges.

Early 2003 Tamara Green was gunned down while sitting next to her boyfriend outside a home. The boyfriend was not shot. Just Tamara. Just like a hit.
::: insert shocked look here :::

Friends and family state she feared for her life in the months that preceded her death. She was trying to stay in hiding. Someone was threatening her. The family alleges the Detroit police hasn't handled the case properly and accused them of a cover up.

The Mayor's office denied any such party or involvement with a cover up. A retired clerk at the police department has come forward and signed an affidavit stating she was in charge of opening incoming mail. She recalls sorting a police report stating Ms. Green and 2 other strippers were dancing at the mayors home when his wife came home unexpectedly. The report included her trip to the hospital to seek medical attention.

You can't make this sh*t up. It's flying out of Detroit faster than anyone can keep track of. In the mean time, what is happening to the city? How much MORE money is this scumbag Mayor going to cost us?

March, Party Month

Most think of St. Patrick's Day as the party of the month.

Not in the blogosphere.

5 Minutes for Mom is hosting her Ultimate Blog Party, linky love, with prizes, from March 7th-14th.


Sunshine, at ... and The Pursuit of Happiness, is having a March birthday month party.


Joan, at Southern Suburbia, loves her birthday girl, errr, kitty so much, she's just asking you stop by and leave some birthday wishes for Chloe. In exchange, she will donate $2.00 for every wish left to her local humane society in honor of Chloe.

Party on!

Sleep On It

(My sister sent me this photo/story)

This bridge is on the Old Donner Pass Highway.
It has a spectacular view of Donner Lake and Donner Pass on Route 80.

A bear was walking across Rainbow Bridge (Old Hwy 40 at Donner Summit, Truckee) on Saturday when two cars also crossing the bridge scared the bear into jumping over the edge of the bridge. Somehow the bear caught the ledge and was able to pull itself to safety. Authorities decided that nothing could be done to help Saturday night so they returned Sunday morning to find the bear sound asleep on the ledge.

After securing a net under the bridge the bear was tranquilized, fell
into the net, lowered, then woke up and walked out of the net.

Napping, the new problem solver.

If I Only Had A Brain

flea
flea fly
flea fly flo
flea fly flo vee-sta

coo-ma-la coo-ma-la coo-ma-la vee-sta
oh no no no not the vee-sta
e-nee me-nee desa-me-nee
oow-ala-walla-me-nee
x-a-me-nee-zhal-a-me-nee
oow-ala-wah

bo-bo-ski-watton-dotton
wha-dot-n-chow

be-belly-oat-n-doat-n-bo-bo-ba-dee-n-doat-n
chhhhhhhhhhh


Now why in tarnation can I remember this nonsensical ditty from second grade but I forgot to take my garbage to the curb before I left for work today?

Born in the "D" the 313

Yeah, I was born in Detroit.

Downtown, streets of Detroit.

Bad azz Detroit.

Well, kinda.

I was born in Detroit, but in the 50's. Hardly bad azz at that time. Sure, no one was rich where I lived, but it wasn't ghetto. When my parents just had my older sister and brother, they lived in the "projects" on Conner Street. Yeah, bad azz projects. Kinda.

The ones my parents lived in, on Conner, were brand new. My mom told me they even had fancy-schmancy , state-of-the-art (at that time) underground garbage cans. She and my step-father drove by there a few years ago and it was pure ghetto ... like what the heck were they even doing there?

I Googled a map of the street and address ... looks kinda bleak.

Diana Ross of The Supremes talks about growing up poor in the projects. She did, but they were the Brewster-Douglas projects. Other side of the tracks I suppose.

By the time I was born, my folks had moved. Just a mile or so over. On Beniteau Street. These were older duplexes. We lived in the bottom unit, my aunt and uncle and cousins lived above us. The house behind us was rented by another aunt and uncle and cousins. I Googled Beniteau also. Yikes, nasty!

I do recall us cousins playing in the upper unit while the parents partied visited below. We'd hook hot dogs to fishing lines and lower them to my other cousins below. I think more ended up falling off and landing on the driveway.

Here I am, being all street smart, bro.
Check it out, only one strap holding up my overalls. Yeah, that's how I rolled. (probably because of the baby fat rolls)

When I was four, it was time to get out of the city. So they moved to the extreme opposite. The country. They moved to Troy, Michigan. Not a thing happening out there, except fields. Today, Troy is home to many major corporate headquarters.

One thing about Troy ... the development of this city in part, is proof that engineers really can have a sense of humor. One of the major main roads running through the city is called Big Beaver. If you are on I-75 and need to get off (ahem) on Big Beaver, it's exit 69.

"Hello"

I usually don't have a favorite performer on American Idol until they are down to about the last six. This season, they have some talent that will continue on win or lose.

Right from his first audition, I liked this guy, David Cook.
Tonight, the songs having to be from the 80's, David nailed it. I think he was best of the night.



... even Simon said he "loved it".

Jack and Hill

So you don't have to think:

Joker ~ Batman
Jack Torrance ~ The Shinning
Col. Nathan R. Jessep ~ A Few Good Men
J.J. "Jake" Gittes ~ Chinatown
George Hanson ~ Easy Rider