Amygdala was hi-jacked.

Amygdala... the part of the brain that process emotions, positive and negative and is better known for its role in processing fearful and anxious emotions...… There are two of them amygdalas, not emotions), and I MAY have 3 or 4...JUST SAYIN

This small part of my brain processes my phobias and fears that have been with me since I was 2 years old. My Phobias and I are best friends. Claustrophobia is one. Tight spaces, elevators, dark small rooms, closets and even if someone holds my arms tight so I can't move.

 Research shows by age 25 adults think with the prefrontal lobe, the rational one.

Evidently My brain is till a teenager and thinks with the Amygdala...

Recently I went with a friend to visit a friend, 4 floors of condos. 

Enter Lobby door,

 push 3 buttons,

 phone rings, 

owner pushes button.

 I have seen this in movies, but have never 

Stepped out, looked both ways and see the hall like above,

 stretching in either direction.

We need the 3rd floor.

The elevator door opens to A Tiny Square Box, that might hold 4 people, packed tightly. I hold my breath. It opens on 3rd floor and my Amygdala  is hijacked, a mild sense of panic that I try to hide from my friend, who is tough, she is an army veteran and has no idea what Amygdala Brain Is.

We step off, I look both ways and SEE the Same 2 halls.

 If you have guessed the condo we need is 

THE LAST ONE at the end of the hall, you are right

. She takes off walking fast, I keep up in case I need protection.

I manage to walk without panting, and we step inside this gorgeous condo with sweeping views out glass doors.  I should be feeling better, but as we sit down I realize there is ONLY ONE WAY OUT.

I sit at the table and stare at the kitchen stove and think What if it catches fire. The stove wasn't even ON...
I wonder in my head if they have a fire ladder and where they keep it if they do.  A knife to cut the screen?
(today I am not worried about serial killers coming in the ONLY Door, because there are 3 adult women, 2 teenage girls and a hubby)

Have you ever lived like this?   Would you?

Keep in mind, The only motel I will stay in is ground floor, park in front of the door and it must have front door and either back door or a big window....MUST HAVE at least 2 Exits.

My research showed, ALL the fearful emotions are in that one tiny little part of the brain, the list can be limitless. OH NO! there might be MORE than what I have thought of?

AT LEAST NOW I KNOW THE REASON I HAVE PHOBIAS. MY BRAIN NEVER GREW UP PAST AGE 25, WHICH WAS FIFITY YEARS AGO....you know the part that would not let my hand or foot hang off the bed for fear something would grab it.

do you? woudl you?

If you have Windows 10, Do you get these photos when you boot up? If so do you wait until it gives you

This in the top right corner and click on I like it or Not a Fan? I love these photos. When this one popped up, my first question was

After discussing with myself the person is an idiot, I went to the other corner and clicked see more..
WOW OH WOW... I have often wondered why anyone would visit Iceland. Now I know and you can to if you click HERE..  I may have spent about  an hour visiting this beautiful country...

A Plumber's Apprentice

Photo snipped from FB page of our new Plumber

You may have read Big Boy's story of his new Best Friend the Plumber Guy HERE on FourpawsEtc.

I will state here, he is the best Plumber we have ever used, and there have been 6 in 30 years... This story is not about him, that was told on Fourpawsetc.

This is MY story... I am now officially unofficially  a Plumbers Apprentice.

Mike works alone. I stood and watched every move he made under the kitchen sink. No, it is not that I did not trust him, I might have been TALKING... He loved to talk to... YAY!

The thingy that is a snake, growled and growled and growled and it would NOT break through. Sink would not drain. I say, I am sure it is ROOTS, it was 9 years ago.

He stands up and says Can you show me the vent on the roof? I say sure, I watched the other plumber 9 years ago, I even know which one it is. (Bob is watching TV)


HA HA! little did he know. this is a list of all I did for him in the 2 hours it took to break through the clog.
Pointed out 3 vents on roof
Followed him out to front, watched him back his van under the garage overhang, watched as he took a 100 pound grinder twister thing up on van roof, watched as he lifted it on to roof and stood up on van roof and stepped on to our roof (can you believe he works without a ladder)

Twice I handed him a flashlight.. SEE? told you I helped.

I quickly ran through the  house and into back yard to watch him run it down through the vent.
He assigned me the job of going in the house and filling both sides of the sink to the top, and watch it and let him know when it broke loose and emptied. (do you think my yada yada was on his nerves?)

I watched and waited, it sounded like there was an earthquake in and under the house. IT Did NOT Work. I ran outside and said to the man on the roof in bright sun that was 93 degrees in the shade with heat index of 111, it is not draining.

As the sweat ran off in rivulets, He said I KNOW! it is touching something that will not move... this went on for about 40 minutes, I ran in and out.

I told him once again it is roots. he said I think it is a collapsed pipe, it is harder than roots.
I offered water which he took after I sat in on the bumper of his van and he climbed down to get it.

I am smart but how to get a glass of water up on a roof was beyond me.

He climbs back up, and more earthquake sounds. I hear a WORD! he doesn't know I have the hearing of a dog. I go out and he says the snake is stuck, I can't get it out, and this is a brand new machine. I heard the panic in his voice that I was feeling.

I return inside, we listen to the grinding, he is yanking on it trying to get it out. I prayed over and over for the Lord to loosen that snake as I sat going over the list of what we would do if the hundred pound THING could not break lose.

He told me after it was over that he was thinking the same thoughts. that he never had one get stuck.

Suddenly IT BROKE LOOSE and it was ROOTS lots of roots.. the machine was FREED... the sink drained. I said I told you it was roots, just like last time.  This was not my first rodeo job as plumber assistant. I DID Not say that but thought it.

I came in to change into something cooler because working as an apprentice was really hot out there.
As I changed clothes I heard him shout my name. I panicked, thought he had fallen or had a heat stroke and I ran through the living room saying to TV man, did you hear him shout? HA ON THAT

I went out and he said YOU HEARD ME?  I thought I was going to have to climb down. He needed the hose, I handed it up and WATCHED as he poured root killer that we already had, down the vent and flushed with water. something called copper sulphate that the other plumber told us to use but Bob never did.

He climbed down and I found him sitting on his bumper with head in hands and looking like heat stroke. I said come in the AC and sit down and drink more water, he said I have gator aid and came in and sat at the breakfast bar.
WHOO boy! Bob came over and we had a Real Good Time because he and Bob are from the same place, within 50 miles or each other.
HE COULD NEVER HAVE DONE THE JOB WITHOUT ME... Right?  He did not pay me when I paid him but he did give a 20 dollar discount for Cash... and it was half what we paid the other plumber... he is a keeper... I put FIVE STARS by his name in our address book...
JUST SO YOU KNOW! HAVE PLUMBERS LICENSE WILL TRAVEL.....

MadSnapper Saturday TALE part 2

THIS POST continued from Prior Post HERE.

If you have never smelled boiling vinegar mixed with Kerosene, you have not missed a thing. The man who complained bitterly of the smell of vinegar, had come in from the garage, sat down at the breakfast bar, spread a rag, and had the carburetor from the weed Wacker in PIECES, spread all over the rag.

He brought a lamp, set it up right in front of the SINK and ME the MADsnapper, close enough for me to lean forward and touch him.

All this WHILE I was slicing fruit and placing in a container. Instead of leaning forward to smack him upside the head, I grabbed my cell phone and said KIMCHEE, which makes it take a photo.

He said WHAT ARE YOU DOING?   Really???   What are YOU DOING? is the question.

PS will keep you posted on how the fruit taste this week... I keep the fruit for fruit kabob snacks.

MadSnapper Saturday TALE

Our Saturday is always a busy one, we do the floors, I go to WM for weekly supplies while the sheets from the bed are drying, they go in the washer at 5 AM when we get up. In the dryer before I back out of the garage.  Bob takes Big for his walk and watches TV..

This Saturday started early, I woke to the sound of a KNOCK! Knock! Knock! 3 times and thought what NOW?  I eased down the hall just in case the serial killer was already in the house trying to wake me up in order to get me to creep walk down the hall. 😜

The noise was coming from the kitchen, not the front door.

Imagine my surprise as I rounded the corner into the living room and it was the coffee maker that had been on The List for a vinegar cleanse for a week.

The racket would raise the dead, but of course Bob with hearing aids out would

A. not know if it was a serial killer. B. not hear the knocking noise and C. would not care either way.

 Said list was:
Run Vinegar through pot...  (not necessary to write which pot, but that might change soon)
Sheets Back on Bed
Boil Big's Weekly supply of eggs (he gets one a day)

As I put away the last of the supplies  I added to the list, Slice Strawberries, Chop Pineapple, Wash Grapes

Poured my last cup of coffee to clear the pot, added the vinegar and as the smell wafted through the house, causing the coffee to taste like vinegar, I put the eggs on to boil, started to hit the computer for emails and realized I am not allowed to leave the kitchen while the stove on... (not that I have ever boiled the water out of the eggs)

Deciding to do the kitchen list first while eggs boiled, I used the sprayer to clean the strawberries and grapes and suddenly smelled  KEROSENE....   to be continued

Guessing Game

The towel draped over the back of the sofa, says Kitchen Closed, Lets Eat Out... In the distant past it hung on the wall in the kitchen. Due to distant past, it is so faded it is hard to read. Can you guess why it is draped on the back of the living room sofa?

Scroll Down for answer

Scroll Down for answer

Scroll Down for answer

Scroll Down for answer

Scroll Down for answer

It is to remind me a load of towels is washing in the washer! 

NOT that I have ever forgotten and left them in washer WET until they soured in the heat and humidty.

The reminder I use the most, is the laundry basket on the bed, that is on the path to the potty. NO chance of missing that one...

What Reminders do you use?

My Walmart Mission

I drove to Wal-Mart Wed morning to meet my Friend Sue, treasurer of TOPS. Meet Up in grocery side entrance at 10:15.

I had to return something, and chose to go early. After customer service, I decided to walk the outer perimeter of the store. Exercise was part of my Mission, Can you guess what the other mission was?

Think hard, remember my Phobias and Fears...…… you should know by now...…

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Have you guessed? 

I wanted to find the EXITS! after the week end of News, I said to Bob, where are the exits in our Wal-Mart. Neither of us knew. 

You will be happy to know that I located 17 exits, 19 if you count the two cubbies where the baskets are stored, the space at the back where they push them inside.

For 15 minutes I walked the store, peering down every aisle I came to, staring at every EXIT sign, marking them in my memory bank. 

I then paid for the one item, put it in a bag and went in the rest room to you know what.

I go to the proposed meeting place and sit next to a man eating hash browns. THE SMELL WAS KILING me.

I said do you think we are safe sitting here? he said I hope so and moved away from me.

Sue was late, I had to wait 20 minutes. I paced and sat, went out and peered at the parking lot, Stood by the door peering out. It was drizzling rain and I realized Wal-Mart has no over hang. Who Knew?  I Looked at all the GAMES in the nook, in other words, HOVEREING and PEERING..

It never once occurred to me what I must have LOOKED LIKE on the hidden cameras.

Sue came, we walked to her car to transfer things to a basket to put in my car and while telling her about the exits, I notice a police car parked 20 feet from me, as in the photo above.

I said OMG Sue, he has been watching me HOVER and what about the cameras in side?

She was happy to know the exits I found because she said to me.

LOOK at me. I look Hispanic! She is full blooded Italian and an immigrant.

I said OH NO.. lets make a name tag that says I am Italian!

IF they come knocking on my door can Bob call you for donations for bail money? How long do they keep those recordings?

Clathrus ruber mushroom

Clathrus ruber mushroom, of the Stinkhorn Mushroom family. A.K.A. (also know as) basket stinkhorn, red cage mushroom, latticed stinkhorn.
I DID NOT TOUCH it.... It STINKS, it was covered in gnats and ants. soft and squishy about 3 to 4 inches long.
NOTE: the stink draws the bugs, the bugs swarm it and travel afar spreading the spores. OH NO! I don't want a yard full...



I bent over to pick up the tiny avocado, to keep it from being scarfed down by Big Boy, and said out LOUD.. What is this?

I thought someone had thrown a toy or a piece of fruit in the yard, then  I realized it was GROWING I went to get the tiny shovel and dug it up.... When Bob wanted to know what I was doing, I showed him the ugly but beautiful basket shaped mushroom. Neither of us have ever seen one.

Do a search for Clathrus ruber mushroom and you get THESE PHOTOS not mine. Wikipedia is HERE

I made the good choice of not touching it and dumped it in the poop bag that hangs on the fence and said to Leonard Lizard, I hope the bugs on this thing don't kill you.... It was covered in ants and gnats. They love bugs... research found it is poisonous, my apologies to the Lizards that dine on the Poop Bag Buffet.  (in case you are wondering, yes we do have indoor plumbing, the bag is to pick up dog poop so we don't smell like a stinkhorn when we step in it) my niece pays big bucks for a service to come each week and pick hers up. Just so you know.

I used my cell phone to take the pic, my hand was trembling and i could not see the screen. OOPS! but I like it.

Joining LLB in my Backyard for Nature Friday

WORDY WED

I shared with all of you, that spending to much time on my devices was wreaking havoc on my concentration skills. While reading up on it, I found two articles that you might want to read, if you spend a lot of time poking your phone and/or tablet. I have cut way back on use of tablet/phone and I find I am a little better.

Problems that can be a result of smartphone/internet. Underlined are my results.
Anger
depression
relief
mood swings
anxiety
fear
irritability
sadness, loneliness, boredom, restlessness
procrastination
lack of focus or concentration
flitting from one thing to another without completing any of them.


Dopamine, Smarphones and YOU..... this is scary, you might want to take 10 minutes to read it.

this is one sentence from the above link.....Although not as intense as a hit of cocaine, positive social stimuli will similarly result in a release of dopamine, reinforcing whatever behavior preceded it.

More about Dopamine and YOU  The Psychology of Social Media.    



IF YOU DON"T NEED THIS IT IS OK TO SKIP IT...  

Clever Me part 2

In yesterdays post, you saw my clever way to travel a thousand miles to see Colonial Williamsburg. By Calendar was the answer... Have you ever had your favorite calendar tear at the hole where it hangs on the nail? It falls off the wall.

Clever Me put a large paper clip there and it hangs perfectly.... Then clever me after putting appointments on the correct day, stores the little handy dandy reminder cards from the appointmet givers under said paper clip, on the correct month. It is a visual reminder to check the boxes when I turn the page to current month....

Clever Puns, just for you.

She had a photographic memory, but she never developed it.

A whiteboard is so remarkable!

To whomever invented the zero, thanks for nothing.

Clever ME

Clever Me wants to know if you can guess where I am in these photos.

Now can you guess how I got there?

NOPE! not by horse and buggy.

Did you guess Colonial Williamsburg by way of my Favorite Calendar? To Be continue to find out just how clever I am

YOU are just my TYPE

UPDATE: I am adding a thank you to Yamini for telling me in yesterdays post, that covering the touchpad on my laptop would stop all the crazy stuff my laptop keyboard does.... it works. I am typing now with an index card taped over the touch pad. it is that or hold my hands up. to old to do that... I use a wireless mouse not the touch pad. to see her comment in detail click here and go to comments.

You are just my type....  Can you touch type?

 I just typed this without looking at my screen. I am so thankful I took Typing 1 and 2 in high school in early 60's.

I had several jobs that required typing in computer screens, but never had one using a typewriter.

For that I was thankful, no changing ribbons or need for white out and throwing that carriage back and forth.

Have you used any of these? What jobs have you needed typing skills?

My dad typed his sermons on one just like this, and he did it with his two pointer fingers. And lots of white out.  he typed so hard his sermons had holes in them.

I AM WIRED

I am wondering if any of you prefer your keyboard that goes to a desk top over the keyboard that is on a laptop. I love the convenience  of my laptop but typing on the keyboard makes me crazy. for some reason it jumps and hops and opens things I don't want open.

a couple of weeks ago, I got so aggravated with it, I took out the wired keyboard that came with my desk top, which is 9 years old. I prefer wireless keyboards and this one has been in the box it came in and never opened.
I sat laptop on table, put the keyboard usb in and wow, what a difference. I sat the box it came in on my lap and I can type as fast as I did in high school on a typewriter.  Totally different experience.

Nature Friday-Back Yard

Leaning backward so far it hurt my neck, I aimed at the orange trumpet vine flowers and OOPS!

2nd Try, I got it. The blur at the top of the photo is power line to our house, the southern trumpet vine is a  creeper that  has climbed 30 feet into the pine tree.

Never Mind, You Know Who is hacking the bottom of the vine. It will die and then he can pull it out  of tree and off the fence. With the rain and HEAT the vine is taking over our jungle.

UPDATE: Bob is much better, the antibiotics have kicked in, we still don't know what they are treating but he is eating and sleeping again. Thanks for your prayers. These photos are from 2 weeks ago. Lab work normal, x-ray normal, urine showed bacterial infection, no idea where the infection is.

Doctor Visit for Bob

Photos are Wall art from Pinnacle Urgent Care lobby.

Our Doctor office is in the same building, we had no appointment. We know he is there at 7 because we always take that appt. We walked in at 6:45, and I told her how sick Bob is. she took his drivers license to the Doctor.

She came back out and said he will see him in a few minutes. As she spoke, The door opened and the Doc said to me, bring him in, if he is here he is really sick. He knows Bob only goes when I force him to and never without a planned appointment.

He poked and prodded and found nothing. Symptoms are BAD headaches, weak, trembling when he walks, doesn't want food. Normal temp, no flu symptoms. really odd.

The pee stick showed blood in urine, so maybe UTI or some other bacterial infection. NO ONE KNOWS

The entire trip took One Hour and Ten Minutes, drive time and waiting for radiology to open at 7:30.
We entered the office at 6:45 and left at 7:45 … Early Birds do get the worms fast service

A lady waiting said are you going to make some of those?

I said no, they are for my blog. I think she was thinking what is a blog, but they called Bob's name for his X-ray.  Blood work at 7 am today, Wed. more as it happens

I added the quote

YES, I did PicMonkey with it

Poster Mania -More PEEK less Speak

I borrowed the More PEEK less Speak title from Yamini. This is a poster I made for TOPS meeting.
Thanks Yam, I believed I could and I did... less speak I mean.

                             I am going to farm out the coloring part. NOT MY CUP OF TEA.

Crayola Art With Edge, Just Sayin Adult Coloring Book . 40 pages of quotes

Wat Hwat was I thinking?

It only take one short episode to start me investigoogling...

Yesterday, Bob stepped into the garage to help bring the groceries inside, as I stepped out behind him,

I said "Stay!"  he turned and said  "Hey, What?" and we burst into laughter. Yes, Big Boy did stay. He understood me perfectly.

Both of us use the word What as a statement or a question and we use it a LOT. We even say What? to Big Boy when he is trying to tell us something.

I simply typed the word What in the google search bar and wasted and entire half hour reading. The first page started with a song with What in the title, scrolling down I found

22 billion 830 million hits. NO kidding, that is what it said. I must not be the only What Investigoogler.

The most interesting of all was a list of What in other languages.   Also I found it is a pronoun, an adverb and a determiner.  Hwat? Wat? Hvad? if you don't know what a determiner is click HERE

hwat was I thinking??? but I did find wikitionary that I did not know exist. 

Have you seen my favorite commercial?     "What "Allstate Commerical HERE

I HAVE NOW WASTED 37 MINUTES CREATING THIS POST. WHAT HAPPENED TO ME TAKING LESS TIME ON THE INTERNET????

The Dumb Bunny at HOME

Continued from my Previous Post, The Storm, The meeting and the dumb bunnies.

As I left for my TOPS meeting, I said to Bob, take care of Big Boy, he will be terrified of the storm. I am glad you are home, I would not want to leave him alone during a storm.... HA!

When I returned home at 9:30, Bob the dumbest bunny of us all, had spent the entire STORM in the back yard REPAIRING the filter pump to the pool.

 I will refrain from repeating what I said, but it had a lot to do with danger of lightning, pneumonia and a terrified dog. inside. alone....YADA! YADA! #$%@^&% maybe.

The Rest of This Story... A year ago I ordered the $400.00 filter because the old one was dumping sand into the pool.
HE chose to use the old Container and put the sand filters inside it. To much work to install the Whole Filter. HE turned the pump on 2 days ago and POW! the filter shell exploded and cracked, a lot like the car hitting the church building.

I said just leave the pool pump OFF until all these storms are gone...

The cat left the rat at home and while she was away, He chose to remove the guts of the broken one, replace the container, install the guts back into it. The ENTIRE time I was trapped in the car in The Storm,

HE was out in it Working on the POOL....with a shaking crying dog home alone inside.... NUFF Said!
But wait, there is more.... There is NOW a LIMB on the top of our roof! HE said he is going up there to drag it off!   NOT WHILE I AM HOME I screamed. Now I am afraid to leave the house.

PS.... the flowers have nothing at all to do with this story, except they are in the back yard where he was working and I already had them sitting in drafts. Two Post with One stone, you know.

The Storm, The meeting and the dumb bunnies

Photos  I took from local news broadcast on TV. 

We have had violent storms, every single day, sometimes 3 of them a day, for 2 weeks.

in one evening , right at bed time, we had 1000 strikes in one storm.

NEED I REMIND you Big Boy is terrified of storms. YIKES

a few days ago, A man standing out  side of a restaurant on Clearwater Beach, was struck and  died 3 days later, 7 others standing with him were injured and burned. 

Life guards cleared the beach, they chose to stand outside. Not Good Choice!

It is common here for  people, cows, horses and homes to be struck during storms.  We receive automated warning calls when one of these is headed for our location, much like the tornado warnings in other states.

THEY warn. If you can see it or hear the thunder it CAN hit you and it can go many miles.

Thursday at 7:55 I left home for my TOPS meeting and  raced the coming storm to get there before it hit. I  made it by 5 minutes, so did Mable.

We stood staring at the walk way closed with yellow tape and red signs that said Condemned building, do not enter. We could see tire tracks that ended in our door, with walls crumbled and the poles that had propped up the ceiling to the walkway.
Marge drove up, the three of us stood gaping at the damage and taking wild guesses as what happened to the building.  The Storm Struck, KABOOM! and a flashflood of rain.

we Leapt 😁into Mable's Car.

We could not see out, the windows fogged from our breathing hard, the thunder rolled, the rain flooded.
Walking to the office was a NO, sense we were trapped in the car with raging bolts of lightning dropping from the sky... Marge read the phone number to the office, Mable dialed it and we got the fax machine. We decided the office was not open yet.

A half our later, we had called all the members and canceled the meeting and then decided to VERIFY the Phone Number. Aha! She had typed a 2 not a 3... The office answered.
We canceled for NO REASON! when they shored up the roof line, they moved our Cabinet into the main church building. There it sat, waiting for us to get brave enough to go inside.
IF I had gone inside instead of sitting in the car, we would have found we did not have to cancel the meeting.
The four of us decided to go find the cabinet. (did I mention during the storm, Sue arrived and was standing in the rain under her umbrella staring at the yellow tape, and had no idea we were all in Mable's car. remember the fogged windows?)  Marge cracked her door and screamed Sue, Sue leapt 😁 in the car.
It was still raining when we decided to go inside and find the cabinet, as we walked around the building, .. I kept screaming saying OUR UMBRELLAS ARE LIGHTNING RODS... We Survived but the meeting did not..... meanwhile when I got home...…………… To be continued

Locust Husk on Nature Friday

No locust puns today, that would really bug me!!!!! 

This locust husk is on the wall to the house. .. I have seen these many times but never with the stripes showing on the husk.

This is the mushroom I stopped to snap with cell phone, not good photos, I had it set on 1 mp and forgot, but this thing is as big as a football. Sitting on a stump.