Spam

What is spam? Who chose the name? I grew up eating Spam and loved it. I haven't indulged in the salty mystery meat in years, but it is still on the shelves..........No really, SPAM. It clogs the arteries of our information superhighway. I have an AOL account that I no longer use as I realized that 99% of the mail I received was Spam. Unrequested emails from sources unknown that are generated to annoy, taunt, sometimes embarrass (don't ever use the word erect........) and generally waste our time deleting. My fear is always when I choose "delete all"--what if there is one email that has some importance that I missed that was buried in the other 258 spam emails that I am deleting? What if someone is reaching out to me after all these years......what if..........but my finger lingers over the delete button......now? No wait, let me peruse the offending correspondences one more time....NO I do not want to cleanse my colon......NO I do not want to spend 5 days and 4 nights in beautiful Bermuda for $99.00....NO I do not want to know who is searching for me to award me my villa in Spain........NO I do not want to earn $5K per week from home (well, yes I do, but really?? In my spam folder??) Ok.....hhmmmm that email from jjones392@___.com who claims to know my mother's sister's next door neighbor's cousin who knows that I need a new laptop....nah, it's spam. And where does it go after I delete it?? Into the void of my hard drive...infinite space?? Words and letters unread by me......Am I being wasteful or am I avoiding a deadly virus that would send me into the bowels of the unknown world of someone telling me my motherboard is fried.......I feel like I am in a world of Star Wars.......

I feel self righteous.....no unread mail.....no spam.....a clean slate waiting for that unexpected email from a past friend......a cool website.......but alas.....a new day......more spam.......here we go again.....

Not to mention the time wasted on unsubscribing to emails.......

Now that is another blog entry for another day!! 

I must go...time to purge my inbox........

Earl

I have a dog named Earl. He found us while we were at a wedding in Black Mountain, NC a year and a half ago. I say he found us as he was the puppy of the owner of the inn where we stayed. At the time Earl was 9 weeks old and already weighed 24 pounds...........do you see where this headed?
Earl is half rottweiler, half a combo of dalmation and bassett hound. So we were told. You can't tell he isn't all rottweiler, except for the fact that he has a tail..............a tail that could take a small family if needed. Earl now weighs around 90 pounds. And he isn't done growing.
Earl. What a name, right? It suits him so well. We also have Sadie, who is 8 years old, the sweetest dog in the world, I believe that she will be a saint someday. She puts up with Earl to a certain point. Then the teeth start getting bared, and a low gutteral growl starts. Earl likes to "herd" Sadie where he wants her. We always say with Earl, it's all about Earl. He is an attention whore, but in a good way. In so many ways he is like a child, a child that needs reassurance and also needs discipline..........just last night I had some chopped cooked chicken on the counter waiting to be used for quesadillas, I sat down for 2 minutes (no doubt to do something on the computer) and there's Earl, on his hind legs chowing down on the chicken. He normally doesn't do stuff like that, but I guess the smell of roasted chicken was too much. He knew, the minute I said his name that he had overstepped his boundries............in the crate he hid.........Jim got him out, but he managed to slide past me to get outside, and it took an act of Congress to get him back in the house. There wasn't alot of eye contact made for the rest of the night. I guess it just sucked the life out of him and he passed out on the couch until it was bedtime. Earl can be very emotional............................(I know, it's a dog, but once you meet Earl you understand!!)
I'll save more Earl stories for another day.
Until then.........peace out!!!

Sunday at the flea market

So today we went to the flea market at the local fairgrounds. The usual fare, snow cones, hot dogs and fresh squeezed orange ade. The flea market hasn't changed much in all the years I have lived here. What has changed is the venue itself. It can accomadate several different events, all going on at the same time. Today was a Greek Festival (the food is to die for!!) A Hispanic Festival, a Dog Show, a Military Vehicle and Memorabilia show, and what looked like some kind of Pagan Festival. Something for everyone.............My big purchase? A beautiful bouquet of fresh asparagus which will meet their fate being either grilled or broiled with olive oil and sea salt....and two pair of fun funky earrings. There was a trailer full of fun weathered hooks and wall decorations at $5.00 per pound. Sitting on top of the pile of horseshoe hooks, mermaids, stars, and so many other handmade shapes was a frog. He looked like he was ready to leap into someones purse...take me!! take me!! I didn't buy him, but in hindsight I should have. Maybe next week. The flea market will soon be closing for about 6 weeks. The state fair happens here the second week of October.....that will be another post, I'm sure.

We made friends with an English Mastiff, where at 8 months he already weighed 110 pounds. He proceeded to slime my purse and Jim's pants, but no worries. He had a great personality and he will grow into a great friend for his owner. On the flipside we also met a puppy that couldn't have weighed 3 pounds soaking wet. It was some time of "something-poo" and we were told she weighed less than a pound at birth. She also will grow (not much more!!) into a loyal friend.

That's it for now.............Happy Sunday!