Category Archives: Education

Confusion and Misunderstanding

Posted on February 7, 2014 | 1 comment

I think they still call them layoffs in the working world, but in my world it’s different.

Whenever I have a concern with our living situation, it’s always prefaced by confusion and misunderstanding, as if I’m stupid. I am not confused, but my questions and requests may be misunderstood… by you.

Why high-end organizations still treat women badly is always a mystery to me. We run our homes, pay the bills and make sure Brutus gets to the vet on time.

Hey gals who are all blonde and wear stilettos, we make more than you. Take math and science courses and marry someone you want to have breakfast with for the rest of your life, no matter his income.

My bank added my husband’s name on our checks at my behest. They made it his account even though we’re both signatory and wouldn’t allow me access to my account I’d had for years before meeting him. Being married is a continuous fight for me to get access to my accounts because as soon as I put my husband on them they would only deal with him.

Now he gets on the phone, gives his info, gives my info and says I’m OK on all accounts. Talk about confusion and misunderstanding. A shamed Dee

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The Man

Posted on July 25, 2013 | Leave a comment

I read people well. Instinct and experience. I don’t really think about it. Perhaps you’ll let me tell you something. When you, dear girlfriend, get married you’d do best to keep things in your name and both your names.

We were recently served notice from the owner of our building that we were not paying our utility bills and would be evicted. Neither the utility company (my husband came here two weeks before me so I put it in his name) nor our bank which will remain nameless, would talk with me.

When we married over ten years ago I let my husband be on my bank account and created another so I’d have my own name on an account and also savings. We are co-signators on each account. Now my bank will not speak to me about my original account without my husband’s authorization.

After 18 calls and emails, I finally found out how to send an email to the bank from my grocery account. Oh, I also said if they didn’t help me I pay all the bills and decide where the money goes and after 15 years I’d find another bank.

I also found that by keeping under $200 per month in my grocery account is costing us $8 per month so we’re going in together this weekend to change things.

The bank called and had our utility provider on a conference call. It was all worked out, and the next four months of utilities are pre-paid because for some reason our money was going to somewhere in Texas. They have the funds and it is their error.

So, everything is hunky dory in Dee-Land. We did have a dog play-date/walk today. Lesson learned, especially you, gal, is to keep your name on everything. If they don’t let two people sign up for cable or whatever, I’m making my name Josiah Danielle Murphy.

As the Privacy Queen I ask why government and banks they bail out have “privacy rules” that prohibit joint account holders access to information unless their husbands authorize access? I could see it under the Bushes, but now?

Think about it, Dee

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Posted in Editorial, Education, Friend Alert

100 To Go

Posted on July 16, 2013 | 1 comment

I’ve set my goal at 2,000 posts. It was initially 1,000 but I may have gotten confused as you actually liked me.

There are 100 to go so I want reader requests, come on, I love you guys and gals and now you get to take the reins on this old horse.

I hate to leave you as my husband has actually picked up a spoon or tongs and helped me out in the kitchen. That’s not a good thing. I’d rather he get water or Dr. Pepper and move out of my way.

Yes, above all I enjoy cooking for my family and guests. There are a few guests that are always welcome at my table, you know who you are.

100 to go. Let her rip! Dee

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Posted in Cooking Utensils, Editorial, Education, Friend Alert, Pet, Recommended Pantry Contents, The Ranch

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Rhubarb Trifle

Posted on June 17, 2013 | 2 comments

It is an unusual ingredient. Great with strawberries. If you want to impress your friends on the beach this summer (not in the sand, please) try this.

First, buy a trifle dish. Not from Williams Sonoma, go to another store and get one for $10. It’ll be useful, no matter what, throughout the year.

Get a brioche, a frozen pound cake or lemon pound cake or some day-old croissants from the store. Buy a ton of whatever berries you can find.

Cook the rhubarb, cool it, then get 2-3 cups of cold cream and whip it up. Keep the rhubarb separate.

I add a bit of sugar, about 2T to my whipped cream plus about a tsp of vanilla as it mixes.

Layer starting with rhubarb, bread cubes/shards, rhubarb, whipped cream, berries. Twice more and top with berries and you’re done.

My husband only calls to say he’s coming home. We do not talk throughout the work day. Today he called to say the Trifle was a hit and that he only was able to get a couple of berries off the bottom of the dish.

It’s certainly not a first date kind of dish. It is something I used years ago to surprise our Nanny. That one was a riff on a Tyler Florence dish with blueberries and lemon curd. Check that one out on http://www.foodnetwork.com

Once you know how to make it the world is your oyster and you can choose the bread, fruits and filling. Happy cooking! Dee

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Posted in Editorial, Education, Recipe Ideas, Recipes

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Tea for the Tillerman

Posted on June 10, 2013 | 3 comments

As I age I realize some things I learned, and many I did not in my birth to 18 stage of life.

I had a good education in my hometown, then we moved below the Mason-Dixon Line and I was supposed to shoot a gun in gym class, as well as take classes that taught me nothing. When I moved back North, I had to take French and History and Math all over again, then won a scholarship. Small, but useful.

There were two gyms in the South, the boys’ had a gleaming wood floor. We had concrete topped with cheap tile. We got shin spints. The boys shined, as did their wood floors until a remodel was due.

When they wanted to re-do the boys’ gym, we were relocated for two months, mostly to portable classrooms so they could use our gym. Then we were actually sent to a dance studio where they played Cat Stevens.

Tea for the Tillerman. No-one taught us. We danced on our own because someone in the administration found out we were languishing in portable classrooms when they were required to teach physical education.

While I don’t know why the former Cat Stevens changed his identity (perhaps once again, because no-one names their kid Cat) I do remember him and how his music saved me from boredom in the early years.

Perhaps this was my early leadership training. We had no structure, so I made one of girls being themselves. In later years I was elected gymnastics captain two years in a row and still I was very shy and uncertain of my abilities.

When I write and remember these difficult and proud days I think of kids today dealing with drugs and bullying. We never locked our house or cars. Now I am religious in doing so. I lock car doors manually, so that someone cannot get my car code, even though we’re in a locked garage.

There was a day in 1972 when I listened to Elton John’s “Tiny Dancer” and it was Pop but it got me into folk, rock, country and got me a guitar at age 12, another at age 50. My heroes are Bob Dylan, Joan Baez. Johnny Cash, Marty Robbins, Alan Mills, Burl Ives and many others including fabled Western entertainer Juni Fisher.

Who were your musical mentors? Even if you don’t write them down, think about them as I think of my violin, piano and voice teachers. They always hold a special place in my heart. From the happy wanderer, Dee

 

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Vacation?

Posted on May 20, 2013 | Leave a comment

We’ve been away twice in the last 15 months, a weekend with my Dad over the summer and Thanksgiving weekend with my husband’s family.

We thought of taking a weekend getaway for ourselves, and even found a dog-sitter. We wanted to take the train to a nearby city and stay two nights. Now I find that a two-star hotel costs between $300-400 per night out at the airport, and a four-star costs between $500-700 per night, even on discount sites.

This is crazy! Our home is nicer and has much better views than anything we’ll pay a fortune to lay our heads down in for two nights. As far as I’m concerned it’s a big waste of money and I’d rather plan it better and do more research, find a hotel for one night and every activity we’d like to accomplish during our stay.

We could always go somewhere else that doesn’t charge horrendous rates. Dee

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News

Posted on May 6, 2013 | Leave a comment

http://www.gopusa.com/news/2013/05/06/nra-we-will-never-surrender-our-guns/?subscriber=1

This did not go out from the NRA today, it came from the GOP directly.

It says that they don’t want background checks, and will hang on to their guns forever.

I don’t mind people having guns. I’d like the government to check who has one, even if that data is erased the minute the new gun owner is clean.

First and foremost if you collect firearms, have a gun safe or cabinet where you lock up your weapons. If you live on a farm or ranch, you are expected to have rifles. Same as if you hunt. Just keep them locked up.

Keep them from young kids, even though you’re teaching him to use that .22. When it comes right down to it, gunfire and accidents account for a lot of deaths and injuries so you are actually burdening the healthcare system while rallying against it.

I am against automatic weapons and magazines because those weapons are used to kill people, not a deer. I’d actually like to learn how to fly-fish one day.

Nothing can be done until the black market in guns is erased. But that means gangs and drug cartels and we haven’t had much success there.

How about the Republican Party hire the NRA to go vigilante and deal with the bad guys? No? Oh, yeah, there is a Constitution. So everyone has to have guns.

If this is the Republican Party’s attempt to take over Congress and the Presidency, keep it up. You’ll assure that Biden is the next President. He’s brilliant and would be great but you can’t see beyond the guns. Dee

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A Phone Number

Posted on April 10, 2013 | Leave a comment

I just called a phone number I used to call every week to have my Dad pick us up from piano lessons. He forgot us once, so I was allowed to call when my sister started her session so that he would get off of work and be there on time.

This number is in my heart forever but not today as I ran up the chain of command and know that 40 years ago my father was head of that department and today everyone was asleep at the wheel then put me on perpetual hold.

So I called the President’s office and was told I’d get a callback. I said I have a great story, but I’m really looking for my 3rd grade teacher’s email address and here is the year she graduated and you just gave her an award.

I wrote because I just named my guitar after a song she had us sing in 3rd grade music classes.

Close your eyes. Think of the earliest phone number you remember. It’ll be your mom, your dad or a grandparent, or a best friend. If they’re still around, call them and say you’re thinking of them.

It was my Dad’s work phone.  He’s still with me today, but all over the world. He is a connection to my past, present and hopefully will be in it for the near future.

The president’s office called me back (apparently the PR office is still hung over from last night) to say they can’t give me any information. Another organization she participates in won’t give me any information or an email address.

So I emailed one of her kids who might give me the correct email address. This is a woman who taught me to love music. Her husband used to sing at our concerts, and played Puccini’s Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly (my sister was the baby who was supposed to pretend to sleep, she actually did). He sang to rival Frank Sinatra when our chorus sang “Would You Like to Swing on a Star” a year later. I doubt he remembers that performance but I do.

So if you ever doubt where you are, you could be swinging on a star, or just be a happy wanderer as I and my guitar are. Make some music! Dee

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Instruments

Posted on April 9, 2013 | 1 comment

I had a revelation today. As the lightning, thunder, wind, rain, snow and sleet came down around me I realize I have a voice.

When I was young, it was channeled into violin, piano and ballet. Then my parents got me a cheap guitar and I started up a mainly tone-deaf band at age 12.

I gave it all up. Singing a solo and being second then first chair violin was stressful. I was very shy and one parent told me I could do anything or be anything, and the other said I was worthless. That guitar was stolen.

A few years ago after I filed our taxes (which I’ve yet to do this year) I went in and bought a starter guitar and signed up for lessons. I took private lessons from  a gospel singer, then a drummer. I bought a fancy guitar and the only thing I do for it now is keep it hydrated.

I wondered why I couldn’t keep up the music, then just figured it out in this storm. I’ve found a voice. Some folks around me don’t like it, but for the past 15 years I have a voice. I called both my US Senators today. My voice and my pen (keyboard now) are my instruments for now.

Yes, every once in a while I lay back, close my eyes, tune my guitar and play Bye Bye Miss American Pie, or Teach Your Children, or even 500 Miles. Perhaps I’ll do that now.

My voice needs to be my voice and words until they are no longer needed, then I can play another instrument. I am a multi-tasker but with everything else… Think about it, Dee

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Posted in Editorial, Education, Music, Pet, Recipe Ideas, The Ranch, Travel

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Blackbird, Bye Bye

Posted on March 18, 2013 | 4 comments

Pack up all your cares and woes,

Here I go, singing low, bye bye blackbird

…… blackbird, bye bye.

Last post, they’re selling my posts. I never wanted or got a nickel from them, I will be removing them from WordPress.

I don’t know how to do this as I’m a writer and not a techie, that’s probably why they allow people to steal my words and sell them.

To my readers, I salute you and will be back on other than WordPress. Thank you for being with me and inspiring me these few years. The grandmother who died before I was a year old sang that song to me, to get me to go to sleep. It’s that time. Dee

 

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Posted in Cook Books, Cooking Utensils, Editorial, Education, Friend Alert, Greece, haiku, Home Improvement, Italy, Music, Pet, Recipe Ideas, Recipes, Recommended Pantry Contents, Scotland, The Ranch, Travel, Uncategorized, Utah