We Went Car Shopping

And I have lived to tell the story. Breanna is trying to buy herself a car and Dana and I decided it might be easier for use to do some of the leg work, since we both had the day off and she had class all day and had to work immediately after class. I HATE car shopping, but Dana loves it so we pressed on.

We began to look. At the first place we looked we found out that the banks are no longer loaning on cars unless you plan to finance more than $7,000. (and since our economy is melting down I am not surprised) Breanna has $2k to pay down and a $9,000+ car is not in her budget so we had to change our course of action just a little.

Her requirement at this time is just one thing.. she wants a blue car. SO we head out looking for a blue car that is under $9,000 at a car lot where she can maybe get financing. She has no credit, and as is customary in the good old USA no credit=bad credit.

Dana was a really good sport, he would go look at all of these cars and deal with the slimy, snake-like used car salesmen and I would sit in the car, under the AC. He even had one slimy, heavy pressured snake-like used car salesman call him... TWICE to try to get him to come back and look at some more of their cars. They were overpriced and we wouldnt buy from them anyway.

We think we may have found something that she might like. It is a 2002 Kia Rio, 4 door metallic blue REALLY cute little car. Dana test drove it, and tomorrow if it is still there, Breanna will go and look at it. If it isnt there, there are 3 more blue cars in the same price range that she can look at. This dealer does in-house financing so maybe that will work out.

I dont feel like the blood has been sucked from my veins like I usually do after car shopping, so all in all I think the day was a success!! Wish us luck tomorrow!

The Mosaic Game!!

Today I am playing "The Mosaic Game". I found this game on Tracy's blog A Priceless Journey- A Family Wounded By War . You create your mosaic of pictures created from your answers of the following questions.

1. Your First Name- Tonjia

2. Your Favorite Food- Mexican Food

3. Where you went to High School? Palisade High School

4. What is your favorite color? RED!

5. Who is your celebrity crush? Kevin Costner

6. What is your favorite drink? Diet Pepsi (of course)

7. What is your dream vacation? A cruise to the caribbean

8. What is your favorite dessert? ice cream

9. What do you want to be when you grow up? a job to work with dogs instead of people.

10. What do you love most in life?? Other than my family? PUPPIES!!!

11. One word to describe yourself" Funny

12. Your flikr sign in name? Veetach (as in ventricular tachycardia)

13. This is my bonus question because my template had 13 pics. GO BRONCOS!!!!

If you want to join in the game, go to this site The Computer Lady and play along!

The Birk Economic Recovery Plan

Maybe we need to nominate this guy for President???? Read on.... I LOVE his plan

The Birk Economic Recovery Plan:


Hi Pals, I’m against the $85,000,000, 000.00 bailout of AIG. These People put us in this position in the 1st place because of their Greed.

Instead, I’m in favor of giving $85,000,000, 000 to America in a We Deserve It Dividend. To make the math simple, let’s assume there are 200,000,000 bonafide U.S. Citizens 18+. Our population is about 301,000,000 +/- counting every man, woman and child. So 200,000,000 might be a fair stab at adults 18 and up.

So divide 200 million adults 18+ into $85 billon that equals $425,000.00. My plan is to give $425,000 to every person 18+ as a We Deserve It Dividend.

Of course, it would NOT be tax free. So let’s assume a tax rate of 30%.

Every individual 18+ has to pay $127,500.00 in taxes.

That sends $25,500,000, 000 right back to Uncle Sam.

But it means that every adult 18+ has $297,500.00 in their pocket. A husband and wife has $595,000.00. What would you do with $297,500.00 to $595,000.00 in your family?

Pay off your mortgage – housing crisis solved.
Repay college loans – what a great boost to new grads.
Put away money for college – it’ll be there Safe in a bank – create money to loan to entrepreneurs.
Buy a new car – create jobs.
Invest in the market – capital drives growth.
Pay for your parent’s medical insurance – health care improves.
Enable Deadbeat Dads to come clean – or else.

Remember this is for every adult U S Citizen 18+ including the folks who lost their jobs at Lehman Brothers and every other company that is cutting back. And of course, for those serving in our Armed Forces.

If we’re going to re-distribute wealth let’s really do it...instead of trickling out a puny $1000.00 ( “vote buy” ) economic incentive that is being proposed by one of our candidates for President.

If we’re going to do an $85 billion bailout, let’s bail out every adult U S Citizen 18+!

As for AIG – liquidate it. Sell off its parts. Let American General go back to being American General.
Sell off the real estate. Let the private sector bargain hunters cut it up and clean it up.

Here’s my rationale. We deserve it and AIG doesn’t. Sure it’s a crazy idea that can “never work.” But can you imagine the Coast-To-Coast Block Party! How do you spell Economic Boom?

I trust my fellow adult Americans to know how to use the $85 Billion We Deserve It Dividend more than I do the geniuses at AIG or in Washington DC . And remember, The Birk plan only really costs $59.5 Billion because $25.5 Billion is returned instantly in taxes to Uncle Sam. Ahhh...I feel so much better getting that off my chest.

Kindest personal regards, Birk T. J. Birkenmeier, A Creative Guy & Citizen of the Republic. ; PS: Feel free to pass this along to your pals as it’s either good for a laugh or a tear or a very sobering

We have angels! And they are BLUE!

The USN Blue Angels are in town for an air show this weekend, and they have been flying maneuvers over our house for the last several hours. As I am typing this they are flying a diamond formation, its one of those deals where you can hear them and you run out to see them and they are almost gone!LOL

They are awesome. And they are such a pretty shade of blue... Our elevation is just a tad under 5,000 feet and they are acclimating to the elevation and the closeness of the mountains in proximity to the airport.

Not only do we have the Blue Angels, but we have the US Army Golden Knights parachute jumping team, and the US Marine Corp C130 transporter, fondly called "Fat Albert".

Bre and I hope to get out to the air show on Sunday, if so I will provide pictures!!

Have a great night everyone, my hand bruised at the injection site and my finger is STILL locking down! I hope this gets better!

Before I leave, you should go over to Bre's blog at Maverick Miracles and take a look at her video of the Denver Bronco visit that she attended yesterday. There are 8 cities in the state of Colorado who are deemed "Official Denver Bronco Country" and we are one of them. So, twice a year they bring some of the players and all of their regalia over to sign autographs and pump the natives up for the football season. She had a ball. And created an amazing video!

uh oh!!

No big blog entry today, I have a numb hand! well not the whole hand, just one of my fingers. Went to the ortho, I have trigger finger and had 3 shots to relieve the swelling.

I am back to work tonight, ICK! I will write more tomorrow!!

One Step Back... a reflection

I guess I should really say, a step back in time. With the overwhelming deluge of the Presidential campaign raining down on all of us. I decided to just take a step back, and catch my breath.

I heard this song on XM radio today (the original versionof the song of course) and it made me think about this commercial. I will never forget how this commercial made me feel when I saw it for the first time when it was originally broadcast in 1971, I was sucked right in by the power of the presentation. Filmed on a hilltop in Italy, people representing all nationalities, colors and religions, coming together to sing. To a 14 yr old raised in a valley in western Colorado, this commercial represented "worldliness" to me.

It moved me. And hearing the song again, brought back all of those feelings. I wonder what kind of reception this song (without the Coca cola reference) would get nowadays. Has the 21st century and all that we, as a country, have experienced in the last 7 or 8 years caused us to be calloused?

Go ahead, call me a dork! But.....What do you think?

Dont forget to turn the sound off on my music player!

Happy 1st Day of Fall!

Fall in Colorado changes from year to year. When I was in High School, we enjoyed breezy cool days, with cool and sometimes cold nights. We had homecoming parades, football games, and looked forward to ski season..

The weather seems to be changing. Call it global warming or whatever, the days are now warmer, nights are warmer and the sun is still high in the sky.

The leaves are changing color on the mountain sides, the last Sunday in September is considered "color sunday". The ski lifts at our local ski resort run all day, transporting people up and down the mountain so that they can take pictures.

All of the pictures on this blog entry are of changing colors in our area.. enjoy

I am trying really hard....

To keep politics off of my blog. I know we dont all agree on the same thing when it comes to who should be President, or who should be Vice President, and we should be happy that we live in a country where we are all allowed to agree to disagree.

But today I am compelled to say whats on my mind...

I have a HUGE issue with the US Government bailing out these financial institutions! We are facing a 7 HUNDRED BILLION dollar bail out??? WTF?????

I know people who get up, go to work everyday, pay their bills and are struggling to keep their houses and I dont see the government rushing in to bail THEM out!!!

In fact, I would like the US government to bail me out of all of my debts.. it wouldnt take near the amount that they are talking about for these financial institutions...

I do not want my tax dollars spent on this endeavor! Who is with me?

Sleepy Saturday

I subscribe to the theory that no matter where you travel, and no matter how much fun you have, nothing is as good as sleeping in your own bed! I think I am getting old....

We made it home safe and sound, saw some incredibly awesome scenery in Southeastern Utah and Eastern Utah on the way, we took a different route home than we took down. We travelled home through Monticello and Moab Utah. I wish I had taken pics.

All in all, I did well at the Ute Indian slots, I have never been extremely lucky in Las Vegas, but I found this machine in the Ute Casino that LOVED me! In a period of 2 days, I won $100 dollars in the PENNY slots! woo hoo!!!!! It was so much fun, Dana didnt fare so well but we still ended up bringing money home so the weekend was a financial success.

And the good thing about today? I still have 5 days off from work! YAAAAY! I dont ever want to go back. LOL

Here are some pictures that I took of Red Mountain Pass (11,000+ ft elevation). I hope you enjoy them!

The above picture was taken out of the car window, see the road to the left? that is where we are headed. The next picture is also out of the car window, over the embankment. There are NO guardrails on Red Mountain Pass!

Just a beautiful picture of one of the peaks in the San Juan mountain range, as we drive through the valley below.

Skywatch Friday!!

Sleeping Ute Mountain, outside of Cortez Co. Can you see him??? He is lying on his back, (head on the right) arms folded and his little toes are all the way to the left.

Please join me at skywatch Friday for more beautiful pics of skies all over the world!

Mesa Verde through my eyes.

What an awesome, mystical place it is. I have always loved Mesa Verde, the area made by the Anasazi people, who suddenly disappeared over 1700 years ago. These people, a nation with advanced knowledge of architecture and survival, who lived in this area over 600 years. Suddenly and without warning disappeared.

Standing looking out that the canyons and the dwellings makes me wonder what happened to force these industrious individuals out of their home? we may never know.

Before we went to Mesa Verde, we stopped at the Ute Mountain Casino, we are staying here for 3 days, doing some gambling and some sightseeing. The casino is awesome, the Utes are awesome and we had a ball!

This is a view from our balcony of the Shiprock in New Mexico. Kind of hazy today

This is a pic of Spruce Tree House in Mesa Verde. This dwelling was discovered by two ranchers, who were looking for lost cattle in 1888.

This dwelling is the largest known in the park, it is called "Square Tower House" and has a tower that is four stories high!

We had a great day of dwelling-seeing, taking pictures and some hiking. Before we left the park we saw some very savvy tourists... pay no attention to the bermuda shorts and pink socks, the fashion police dont visit Mesa Verde. LOL

And, of course, your STUPID tourist. Its no wonder people fall down cliffs and die. They have no respect for the elements. This guy climbed over a fence, through a bush and went way on on the ledge... This is a 500+foot dropoff y'all. Who do you think would have to go get this moron if he fell??? the local EMS.

The fence that this jerkoff climbed over is at the base of this trail. Its no wonder they have to post signs warning NOT to leave the trail!

We are going to visit the Indians!

And do a little gambling and sight seeing along the way and while we are there. Dana and I are leaving in the morning for southeastern Colorado. Cortez, Durango, Mesa Verde and Ute Mountain Lodge and Casino, not necessarily in that order.

I dont think I have wifi available, I am taking my laptop just in case.

So, if I get access to the internet I will download some pics and info, if not I will try to make a new post on Saturday or Friday night.

Have a great week everyone, I am off to Pow Wow!!

I couldnt pass this up!!!

Leave it to SNL to pull this one off. I predict it wont be the last time we will be laughing at Sarah Palin....



SPHC
Uploaded by Hishighness

No matter what your political preference, you have to admit that Tina Fey has SP's character down perfectly.....

Our vacation has begun!

We spent the weekend in Denver and had an awesome time! Thank you Mariott!!

Saturday afternoon, Bre went to her convention and Dana and I spent some time at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. I love that place, and could spend hours and hours there.

http://www.dmns.org/main/en/

Then we had dinner at Black Eyed Peas and went back to the hotel to hit the hot tub. It was so relaxing. Today was game day in Bronco Country, we did some shopping at ParkMeadows shopping center (my favorite mall in Colorado) and this morning spent some time reading and relaxing at Borders book store.

Our next stop.... Southwestern Colorado on wednesday! Mesa Verde, Cortez, and points beyond!! Did I mention gambling at the Ute mountain Lodge??? woo hoo!

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ......

I should be sleeping right now, but we are driving to Denver for the weekend. Bre has an anime convention to attend and Dana and I are going to breathe in some city air for a few days. Maybe take in the Museum of Natural History or the Aquarium and absolutely do some SHOPPING!!!!!!

My birthday is Monday and I am sure I need something that can only be purchased in the Flat Irons Mall! LMAO

Snow has already been falling in the high country and Loveland Ski area started making snow yesterday! WOO HOO! Winter is right around the corner...

Before I go, I have a few things to say:

ALL OF YOU PEOPLE IN GALVESTON AND CORPUS CHRISTI TEXAS, GET OUT OF THERE!!!!

I just heard that they estimate 40% of the residents are going to stay put and try to "ride out the hurricane". WHY????

Its Friday!!!

Vendredi, Freitag,Venerdi, Пятница.. No matter how you say it, what language you use, today is FRIDAY!!!!!!! For most of you, it is the last day in the work week, the day before the beloved weekend, the day that you can stay up late and not worry about getting up to go to work the next day.

For me this week, it is the same. My last day of my work week, by Saturday morning I will have ELEVEN, count them 11 GLORIOUS days off from work!! Woo hoo!! YAAAAAY!

I can hardly wait. Before I leave, I have to share the most awesome PSA that I have ever seen.. meet the Cheerleeding dad.. dont forget to turn the sound off on my music player, this is priceless.

Lest We Forget...

Todays blog is dedicated to the memory. The horrible devastation on that day in mid September of 2001. I remember it well. They say you will always remember where you were on certain days in history. The day JFK was shot, the day man walked on the moon, the day the space shuttle Challenger exploded, and September 11, 2001. The day we were attacked.



Dana and I had worked the night of the 10th and we were sound asleep when the phone rang. Dana was put on county disaster alert, because the twin towers and the pentagon had already been hit (we lived 80 mi from DC) and our town was home to a large military ammunitions depot. Officials thought the depot might be a target. Little did we know that in less than 1/2 hour flight 93 would go down less than 10 minutes by air from our home.



I will never forget, it was almost surreal. And here we were sitting ducks right in the flight pattern that United flight 93 was taking towards the White House.



We saw no air traffic in the days that followed, only USAF F15 fighter jets were in our skies, as they flew patrols from Andrews AFB over Site R (20 minutes from our house by ground) where VP Cheney was being detained...

This picture was taken by me. It is currently sitting in Battery Park in NYC as a tribute to those who lost their lives on 9/11. Originally, this sculpture sat between the twin towers in a little parkway. You can see the dents where the debris from the collapse of the towers came down and hit the sculpture and knocked holes in it. An eternal flame burns on in front of this memorial.

Who am I kidding? We will NEVER forget...

Where is Caylee?

I have been following this case for the last 7 or 8 weeks, and I am truly amazed at what has transpired.

In a nutshell, 3 yr old Caylee Marie Anthony of Orange County Florida is missing. Her mother did not report her missing. After 5 weeks, her grandmother reported it when she called and told 911 dispatch that her granddaughter is missing and there is an odor of a dead body in her daughters car. This started the search. in light of evidence being found in Caylee's mother Caseys car trunk, (hair, body fluids, gases consistant with decomposing flesh, chloroform vapors), Casey has still not been charged with Caylees death. So far, there is no body.

Casey has told several stories regarding where Caylee is. None of them check out. It is a frustrating case for authorities I am sure.

This video gives you an idea of what has happened so far. How very very sad.



Please say a prayer for this little baby and her grandparents...

Oh Horror of Horrors!!

I head today that there is a chance that N'SYNC will be making a comeback and going on tour again! What is this world coming to??

First the Backstreet Boys came out of hiding, then The New Kids on the Block and now N'SYNC????? This is surely the decline and crash of pop music as we know it.

These hip and cutesy boy bands werent that hot when they originally set out to make music history, and they sure arent that great now.

These guys arent a boy band any more, they are a GROWN UP MAN BAND!! I shudder to think about them gyrating in their crotch grabbing choreographed dance moves, like they were in their teens again.....

I am sure Elvis is rolling over in his grave......

Happy 21st Birthday Breanna!!!

It does not seem possible, but today is Breannas 21st birthday! It just seems like yesterday, but 21 yrs ago tonight and 8:37pm 10lb 2 oz Breanna said hello to the world.

She was born at Riverside Community Hospital on the day after labor day. It was a tuesday. 2 weeks post term, the little stinker didnt want to come out, I was sure I would be carrying her into adulthood! LOL

The last 21 yrs has been an amazing ride, this daughter of mine, excels at whatever she puts her mind too, her heart is huge and loving and she has a special talent for singing that is a gift from God.

We are so proud of her.

She is going to kill me when she sees some of the pics that I have posted. I dont have any of her baby pics scanned in yet, but we used to get stopped when we were out, by people asking to have their picture taken with her. They thought she was Mary Kate Olsen!LOLOL

Happy Birthday Breanna, your future is bright, reach for the stars!!

Thank you

Thanks to everyone who commented on my post from yesterday. I really wasnt fishing for compliments, just using my blog as a media to vent some frustrations and feelings. But your comments touched my heart.

Putz, we dont make the big bucks like people think. 20 yrs ago nurses made big bucks, nowadays we make average pay compared to other professions who do NOT get kicked, hit, bit, puked on, bled on, cussed at, spit at, and lied to. And who do not work 12-14 hour shifts with NO breaks, and often, mandatory overtime. We do not get holidays off, or weekends off and some of us even work while you all are sleeping.

Law enforcement officers and EMS are the only other profession that comes close to putting up with what ER nurses put up with.

But I digress, no matter how much I whine, that is my job, and when anyone comes into my ER I am dedicated 100% to making sure that patient gets the best care possible.

Like all EMS, firefighters, police officers and other professions who serve John Q Public thanklessly we do what we do because of commitment.

Sometimes we ask why we put ourselves through this, and God always answers.....

Experience pays off!

Before I begin I need to preface this post by letting you guys know that I have been an ER nurse for 12 yrs now. 4 yrs past the normal "burn out" rate for ER nurses. I have worked in HUGE and busy emergency rooms, and medium size busy emergency rooms and now I am in a smaller busy emergency room.

Career-wise I am just tired. I hate the low lifes who jump from one ER to another looking for narcotics, I hate people who think their sense of "feeling strange" at 3:00am is an emergency, I hate people who beat their kids, and who beat their wives, and who drink themselves into a drunken stupor and then expect us to take care of them and jump to their every whim. I hate people who get pissed off because their sinus headache has to wait while I try to save the life of someone who cant breathe, or a child who has accidentally drowned. You get the idea.

Last night I told Dana if I could find another job in the hospital that was the least bit interesting and didnt involve direct patient care, I would take it. I am in a huge need of a break.

So, I go in to work and while talking with the unit secretary, I look up and this lady walks in the door holding a limp 22 month old in her arms. This baby had fallen off of a rock in the desert and a large (about 3 times his size) boulder had rolled down on top of him! My friend Elaine and I took this kid, got him immobilized, called a trauma alert, got him packaged and sent him up the hill to the trauma center! I think it took less than 15 minutes. Two old experienced, seasoned nurses shoved everyone else out of the way and helped give this little guy the major part of his golden hour. He went to surgery on arrival at the trauma center.

Then towards early morning (around 1:30 or 2:00am) a lady came in by private auto in anaphylactic shock. It became the Tonjia and Elaine show again, I had to push one of our new nurses (who has been chosen to TRAIN another new nurse) out of the way because she didnt know what to do and the patient was losing her pulse.... and Elaine and I stabilized this person. she came very close to death. Later the doctor came and told us that if we had not been there the lady surely would have died. This doctor NEVER offers pro-nurse comments, she is a real hard to please kind of doc.

Do you think God is trying to tell me something? LOLOL Maybe I just need a vacation.

Skywatch Friday!!

Wahoo! I am back on Skywatch Friday !! Woo hoo! I am very excited to be back. This shot, made right over my head on a late summer afternoon in Colorado, I like the way the clouds look.

Just When you thought You had heard it all....

Someone comes up with something new, and bizaare. On September 3, 2008. Australia has broken the Guinness World Record for the most number of participants in a sprint, wearing high heels. The 265 women sprinted 80 meters in 3 inch stilletos.. I am still wondering why........

Introducing.... GOMEZ!!!

Before I introduce you to Gomez, I have to tell you about his owner, Linda. I met Linda 4 yrs ago when we were both members of a weight watcher support group (we are now co-moderators of said group) we met face to face during a hysterically fun weekend in Philadelphia and have remained good friends ever since. Linda is one of my closest online friends. Even though we live pretty far apart (she lives in Chicago) we still communicate daily. We like the same things, laugh at the same things and have shared good times and bad.

Linda LOVES Halloween, she loves decorating for all holidays, but she LOVES halloween. This is her first year in her own home and she is having a ball decorating. Last week she was looking for a mannequin to make up for halloween, and guess what fell into her lap via Craigs list??? thats right.. GOMEZ. He is the best looking blue man east of the Rockies, no doubt. And he is over 7' tall so he stands out in a crowd!

Gomez found his way to his new home yesterday. It almost didnt happen, but the gods of fate persevered and Gomez came home. We are so glad he did! LOLOL

Congratulations Gomez and Linda, may this be the 1st of many happy Halloweens together!

Oh did I mention that Linda and I have the same sense of humor? check out her new table centerpiece, I am so lusting after it! LOLOL

Speaking of Halloween, the nights are getting cooler here in Colorado. It was down into the 40's last night and we are now able to keep our AC off until noon and since the evenings are getting cooler, we can turn it off again after dark. YAY! I love fall and everything that goes with it. Leaves changing color, homecoming parades, football games, cold nights and warm days.

Halloween is just around the corner!!!

What has happened to Hollywood?

Specifically the movie industry? Have they taken a vacation?

I love going to movies, but I havent seen one in a while so I thought it would be fun to go to a matinee today since we have nothing in particular planned. I went to the movie listings and this is what I found:

1. Disaster Movie-"During one fateful night, a group of impossibly attractive twentysomethings must dodge a series of man-made and natural disasters. BORING!!!!

2. Hamlet2- I dont even want to read the description for this one...ICK

3. The House Bunny-"Sexpot Shelley Darlington (Anna Faris) lives comfortably at the Playboy Mansion, until a jealous rival gets her tossed out on her tail. With nowhere else to go, she winds up at Zeta Alpha Zeta sorority." I can see that this one is a real brain burner. No thanks..
4. The Long Shots-"a down-on-his-luck former high school football star - turns his niece, Jasmine (Keke Palmer from Akeelah & The Bee), into the quarterback of the local team, the Minden Browns, and gets his stride back when he becomes the team coach" Havent we done this plot like 2839354108 times before in other movies?

5. The Rocker- "As a drummer with the '80s hair band Vesuvius, Robert ''Fish'' Fishman lived his dream as a rock 'n' roll demigod. That is, until his band mates kicked him out. Twenty years later, Fish gets a second chance to sit on the throne of music stardom when his teenage nephew's group hires him as their new drummer. Been there, done that before...


I cant review the rest of the list in its entirety, I am getting nauseous. Here is the remainder of the list.. drab, boring, and no variation. I know Mama Mia, is kind of new and but I would poke my eyes out with a fork if I had to see it, I didnt like ABBA the first time around. LOL

6. Mirrors
7. Pineapple Express
8. sisterhood of the traveling pants 2- another sequal..
9. The Mummy- Tomb of the Dragon Emperor- and yet another sequal
10. The Dark Knight- Did I mention sequal already?
11. Mama Mia- refer to the fork statement above
12. Hancock- just your average Will Smith summer movie. blah
13. Wall-E- not interested
14. Fly me to the Moon- another animated cartoon.

What has happened to the great movies rolling out of Hollywood in the summer? I can enjoy different kinds of movies (except animated ones). But this choice is ridiculous.

What movies are showing in your area?? maybe this is just a geographical thing?

Pay-per-view HERE I COME!!!