American Idol and House Hunters

As usual, the final three contestants on American Idol has one surprise. I didn't think Chris would be there rather than Allison, who is a phenomenal singer at seventeen years of age. I predicted from the beginning that Adam and Danny would be the final two because they each outsang everyone else. A couple more weeks and it will be all over til next year. I love this show - I think because it gives obviously talented young people a chance they wouldn't otherwise have.

Now, if only there could be something similar for visual artists, without the age requirements, of course. At this point in my life, I have a huge amount of artwork and I need to start selling it. Not only do I need the money, but I don't want my kids to have to deal with it when I am gone. Half of them would toss it all out, while the other half will treasure it.

I have a question for the people of House Hunters: Are there really that many people who have large enough incomes to purchase all those mega-expensive homes? Or were those programs all filmed prior to the housing bust? I especially dislike the young couples who look at half-million dollar homes and proclaim the kitchens or bathrooms are out of date or ugly or just won't work. Gosh, they should have been born into an earlier generation who had to have a twenty-percent down payment and excellent credit to buy a house - all without any government assistance. People were grateful for what they had. When I look at the House Hunter International shows, I am appalled by how much people in other countries have to pay for very tiny and often ill- equipped apartments - houses seem to be totally out of reach or just not available.

Trail of Tears

I was doing some research on the Cherokee Nation yesterday and today, and once again was appalled at what was done to Native Americans. The Trail of Tears that happened because it became known that gold existed on Cherokee land makes me think of the way Americans were cheated out of their life savings by Bernie Madoff and others. It is so easy to say that America has slid to the bottom of the moral heap with this latest example of greed. However, this form of immorality has existed for perhaps the entire time humans have existed on earth.

There isn't any other ethnic group that has been treated so badly in America as were the Native Americans. None.

Pittsburgh Tragedy

When I turned on my tv this morning at 7:30 AM, I heard the beginning of what has become the lead story on all three major Pittsburgh television stations. A domestic call that was answered by four city policemen resulted in the deaths of three policemen and the serious injuries of two others. The 23-year old male who perpetrated the deaths and injuries used what newspeople are saying was a high-powered assault rifle. The suspect, with gunshots to his legs, was finally apprehended several hour later. What a tragedy. As the granddaughter of a policeman, I have always held the police in high esteem and am saddened when others do not.

The Ghosts of Slippery Rock University

As I wrote at the beginning of March, a team of investigators of paranormal activity spent an overnight in Miller Auditorium at Slippery Rock University in search of ghostly activity. Today a local paper reported the team has evidence of 4 ghosts who apparently hang around the stage and dressing room. So to all the SRU students who heard the legend over the years, it looks as if the haunted auditorium isn't just a myth!

I have a daughter in grad school at SRU and she hasn't heard about the ghosts. I am a graduate of SRU, and I don't recall hearing about it. I have one grandson who recently graduated and another currently enrolled and I am wondering if they are familiar with the story.

Last week I went fishing twice and the only thing I caught was a blue gill. Trout weren't biting at all. Maybe I will try again this week. It sure was nice to be out at the lake and fishing once again. I walk there daily, unless it is raining or too cold.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Erin go bragh! My Irish policeman grandfather taught me to say this Irish greeting when I was young. Grandpa was perhaps the most dependable, kind, and loving man I have ever known. Grandpa loved St. Patrick's Day, and had a kelly green corduroy shirt he wore only on this holiday. As was common in the old days, grandparents taught grandchildren all sorts of things through conversation. Whether it was family history or historical world events, my grandparents shared this information with my brother, Bill, and I. Grandpa told me the names of his grandparents who came from County Donegal, Ireland, as well as the names of other ancestors and relatives. Apparently, these Irish ancestors came to America prior to the Great Famine.

As I have mentioned before, Grandpa loved to fish. Normally, he and his brother John fished in the Allegheny River near New Kensington, PA. He also enjoyed going to my uncle's hunting and fishing camp on the northern shores of Lake Ontario. The only time I have fished in Canada was trolling in a boat with my grandfather. Maybe that is why I love to fish today - good memories of a really good man.

Grandpa also loved playing cards, especially cribbage, and he would attempt to entice any visitor to play a game with him. The only times I know of that Grandpa indulged in alcohol were at the Elk's Christmas party and the times when the whole family gathered to play cards. I never saw him drunk, only a little "happy".

My brothers and I were his only natural grandchildren (were the others unnatural??) and he often did little things that showed us that we were special to him.

Last year, fishermen of the Alle-Kiski Valley were asked to give fish from the Allegheny River to environmentalists of the Allegheny Township Environmental Advisory Council. This group wanted to study the possibility of toxic elements in the river, as so many industries have dumped waste products into the Allegheny. Their results show very high levels of selenium and mercury in the river, particularly in the Kittanning/Ford City portion of the river. Expectations were that the levels of these materials would be highest in the Pittsburgh area, but that has been found to not be the case. Tomorrow evening, March 16, the results of this study will be presented to the public at the Allegheny Township Environmental Advisory Council meeting. I plan to attend, even though I haven't fished the Allegheny in years. I would like to fish there one day, and would like to know if the catch would be safe for human consumption.

With the weather moderating each week, I am walking once again. The excess weight gathered to my bones over the very cold winter months needs to be shed prior to hot weather, and walking seems the quickest way to do that short of starvation.

As I type this, I am watching a series of tv programs on China. Fascinating. This very old culture, one which I have always believed pre-dated those labeled "ancient" by Western civilization, has levels of sophistication never matched in other old cultures. Not being an anthropologist, I venture to say the Chinese culture is perhaps the oldest in the world, not Africa as some folks are currently saying. Tell me if you have concrete evidence to the contrary.

Appliance Repair Lady

I wanna hear three cheers for this old lady! After being without my clothes dryer since I moved in November, I decided something needed to be done before the weather gets hot and humid. I surely don't want to have wet clothes hanging indoors in warm weather. The first thing I did was call a local appliance parts and service company to get some prices. The cost of the part was quoted at $15, and the cost of having a repairman come out and fix the dryer was $125. No question as to what I was going to do! I bought the part.

When I began to remove the old part, the nuts wouldn't come loose, so I blasted them with WD-40 and when that didn't work, I tried PB Blaster. Nothing. I didn't have nut drivers, so I was using pliers to try and loosen the nuts. I finally gave up and went to K-Mart and bought a nut driver set that cost me about $25.

When I came home, I blasted the nuts again and then tried the nut driver and after a while, they came loose. One of the wires had burnt off, so I used one of those connectors that you heat with a lighter til the plastic and metal melts and fuses the wire to the connector. I began to reattach all the wires to the new terminal block, but then discovered one nut was gone. I went to my tool box and found a couple of nuts and tried them, but they were either too small or too big. So off I went again, this time to the hardware store. I bought new connectors that were heavy duty because I was worried the one I had attached might not be heavy enough. I also searched for brass nuts. I felt incredibly stupid having to ask how you found the right size (I had one from the dryer with me). Turned out it was simple to get the right ones.

I came home and attached the new connector and began to reassemble everything. I then attached the dryer vent, plugged in the dryer, put in some towels, and turned it on. Then I waited to see if anything caught fire. So far, all seems ok and I finally have a dryer again.

I decided that if my brothers all all good at doing this kind of stuff and if intelligence runs in families, then there isn't any reason that I can't learn to do what they can do, within reason. You must remember that I do not enjoy doing mechanical things. However, without a husband or boyfriend or willing friend who wants nothing in return (if you know what I mean), getting things fixed is a real problem for women who cannot afford to pay a man to come and fix something.

Incidentally, was my work worth the $85 I saved doing it myself? You bet your sweet bippee it was. From now on, I demand to make as much money as a man makes! Even those without degrees make a lot more than I do, so I want some equality here.

Needless to say, I am quite proud of myself. And I have a nut driver set ready for the next project.