Signs and More Signs

As I was searching for the lesser reported news stories this week, it occurred to me that maybe some of the assorted victims and perpetrators, might of done well to look for guidance along the way. 

I have always wavered between the ideologies of how our lives play out.  There are those that might believe in destiny i.e.  that everything is predetermined and we just need to follow the signs.  There are those that believe that we chart our own course, use free will and land where we deserve to land.  Some might believe that it is a total crap shoot due to being in the right place at the right time,  with a little luck and "who you know" thrown in. 

I am not convinced that our purpose in life is all mapped out for us but I do think that there might be some hints along the way to steer us

in the right direction.  It can't hurt to keep your head up and your eyes open.

Here's A Tip For You



If you are planning of skipping out
without paying, this might not have been
a good sign.

 Here is a TIP for anyone that plans on dining and dashing at the local Applebee's Bar and Grill.  Make sure you don't pick the evening that the local police department is doing a fund raiser. 

According to the Dona Ana County Sheriff's Office, that is exactly what happened on March 1, at the Applebee's restaurant in Las Cruces.

Alan Golden, 22, ate dinner at the restaurant with two women and left without paying his bill... leaving a $30 balance, police said.

Golden didn't get far as that was the night the police department was hosting a "Tip a Cop" fundraiser where all  the regular staff was replaced by police officers.  The officers waited tables in an effort to raise money for the New Mexico Special Olympics.

Authorities arrested Golden and charged him with obtaining services less than $100. He was booked into the Dona Ana County Detention Center on a $250 surety bond.

(Shaking my head)...really, someone would skip out on the bill at a restaurant full of cops???  Dine and Dash DumbA**.



Is That Mummy Mommy?

Gladys Bergmeier was known by her neighbors to be a pack rat who filled her house with plants and plastic bags stuffed with a mix of important papers and trash. Outdated newspapers and magazines were piled throughout her house in suburban St. Louis.

On February 7th, a relative found Gladys dead within the piles of "stuff" that filled her small home.  That wasn't the worst of it, though.  Three weeks later, when a relative was going through the piles of trash, they found a mummified body that authorities believe may be the remains of Glady's long unseen mother, Gladys Stansbury.

Neighbors described Bergmeier as a sweet person and somewhat of a loner. They recall that her mother moved in around 1993 when the area was ravaged by a flood.  No one recalls seeing Stansbury since that time.

The St. Louis County medical examiner's office is trying to determine the identity and the time of death of the mummy. 

If you house is so full of stuff that there are dead bodies buried, perhaps you just have too much....seriously...TOO MUCH STUFF.

First Rule of Dating

If you are trying to make a good first impression to win the favor of a girl, you might want to not rob her and her mother.



Which way should mugger man go to get
to his new home????

 According to KDKA TV in Pittsburg, John Jardini faces charges after approaching a woman and her mother on the street and robbing them of $60.00.

Shortly after the robbery, Jardini called the woman twice to ask her if she had a boyfriend and if she would like to go out with him. The woman, who seemingly wasn't equally besotted with Jardini,  called the police to report the robbery and the unwanted phone calls.

Police used the cell phone to track  Jardini's location.  He was in the process of assaulting the young woman for the second time that day.  Seems the lovestruck loser was smitten. 

A neighbor of the victim was interviewed by KDKA TV and asked question "How could you be that damn stupid?

Jardini is being held without bail for robbery and assault.


The answer to the neighbor's inquiry.....it would seem there is no upper limit to this guy's "amount of stupid".


Now that is just Fowl!

A Michigan woman says she is a prisoner on her own property.  She is being stalked and assaulted by a 25 pound turkey that she  calls by the name of Godzilla. 

Edna Geisler told the Detroit Free Press that the turkey wanders her property in Commerce Township and attacks her as she comes and goes.  Recently she couldn't enter her front door after returning home with groceries.

She said she now tries to go to the post office at 6:00 AM in order to avoid him.  (Are we to assume that Godzilla isn't an early riser?) She has tried to alter her schedule  to avoid him but he is ever vigilant.

Geisler says she has been bumped and clawed and her friend, Rick Reid, said the turkey attacked him and bit him on his elbow. (Frankly, Rick, I think you need to consider yourself lucky.  An elbow isn't the worst part he could have picked.)

Geisler is anxiously awaiting hunting season which starts in April.  She was quoted as saying, "Every time I eat turkey, I smile."

Hey, Godzilla, I think you have cooked your goose and are soon  to be "a dead duck".  Have fun while you can you jerky turkey.  Your days are numbered.

Lucky or Unlucky

A couple of days ago, I got a text from a friend that wanted to know if the day that I was embarrassing myself over at the Sweet Tomato Restaurant choking on a chunk of broccoli, if I thought I was going to die.

 For those of you that were reading my blog last February, you might remember that I did a post called  Random Acts of Kindness that told about my stellar move of trying to simultaneously talk, breath and eat some raw broccoli only to discover the breathing part went MIA.  As I literally was turning blue, I faintly recall snippets of the stir that I was causing. I heard a woman's voice on the phone with 911.  A few people commenting on my odd coloring. Several "OH MY GOD's". A lot of commotion and commentary surrounded me.

  Sweet Tomato is a salad bar kind of eatery, so my friend wasn't back to the table when all my "lunch disruption antics" started but she did come running when the crowd started to form. Gal Pal  tried to get around me to try the Heimlich Maneuver but she  is so small she couldn't get enough "oomph" to help.

 Fortunately, some really nice man intervened taking over with considerably more strength, reaching his arms around  me with the appropriate maneuver but nothing was working.  Actually, he tried a couple of times before picking me up over his arm and hitting my back much as a person would do with a small child.  That works on small adult women too, as it turns out.  Finally the offending broccoli made it's reappearance. I am sure much to the chagrin of the nearby diners.

  There are bits and pieces of that day (not referring to the broccoli here) that I was aware of and some that I wasn't aware of.  I remember the 911 calls but I didn't realize until my friend told me that there was one older lady that just kept eating her lunch totally undisturbed.  All, I can say about her is "there is a person that is totally able to focus on the task at hand". I am 100% sure that  I spoiled a perfectly good lunch hour for probably a 100 people and a couple of  EMT's that had to get in their ambulance all  for naught.

Anyway, back to my friend's question.  In that case, no I didn't have clear thoughts in those moments about dying.  I didn't have the experience of "my life flashing before my eyes"  I was trying to think, what might I do  to help dislodge that Fu**** piece of broccoli. Later, I thought, HOW EMBARRASSING!!!  Still later I thought....that would have been the worst obit in history.  Fifty-eight year old Kansas women died in the Sweet Tomato choking on some broccoli, she leaves behind some humiliated family members and a slew of diners that lost their appetites for their lunch.

  In this instance I  was shaken but the fact, I knew the ambulance was on the way, gave me a measure of hope.  There have been at 2 other times in my life that I really, truly thought I was a goner.  I was much surer in the other 2 times that there wasn't anyway to save myself.  Turns out I was wrong, so that is another couple of posts somewhere down the road.

Anyway, Gal Pal had been for whatever reason thinking about the events of that day and had questions.  Her first being  "did you think you were going to die" and the second being "did I notice the lady in the booth right next to me that didn't stray from eating her lunch?"  Gal Pal found the lady thought worthy.

So, to get around to the point for today....seemingly I have a knack for getting myself into messes.  I am klutzy to say the very least and not known for being "lucky".  However, because I have managed to actually survive and walk away from some of my antics, should I consider myself an extremely lucky person?

Do you believe in luck?  Do you believe in fate or destiny?  How about Devine Intervention or Guardian Angels??   Have you had an experience that you knew that some  outside force rescued you or intervened in some way?

I have no idea why the video used a pumpkin but I love the sentiments of the Michelle Featherston song, Good to Be Alive.




The Good for the Day....I have survived broccoli


The Bad for the Day.....People are very nervous around me over at the Sweet Tomato


The Weird for the Day... The lady that sat totally undisturbed my me trying to die next to her booth.