For everyone 55 years of age and older, or who has senior citizen parents---

www.seniordiscounts.com

(800)372-7513

SeniorDiscounts.com
POBox 541912
Houston,Texas 77254


I saw this website in the local newspaper the other day. I don't know if they're any good or not, but it doesn't hurt to check it out, right? A penny saved is a penny earned.......


Tawny
tawnyford@webtv.net

I've got something for you to read:

http://www.news.com.au/story/0.10117.15739502-13762.00.html

This is an Australian news site. I've been told that it is a reputable news site.

The above article has to do with researchers creating 'zombie dogs'. They kill the dog, declare it to be clinically dead, replace its blood with some other fluids, leave it that way for x-amount of hours, then replace the blood and wa-la! the dog is alive again.

Creepy as all hell, isn't it?

According to the researchers the dogs suffer no brain damage as a result of this process.

Do you remember Stephen King's 'Pet Cemetary'? Remember what happened to those animals when they were brought back from the dead?

The article says they anticipate being able to do this with humans in the next few years.

Read the article.

Tawny
248-615-1300

On the local news this evening a reporter was sitting at a picnic table holding one of those huge round temperature gauges. The gauge read 102 degrees. She had what she said was, up to four minutes prior, a double scoop ice cream cone. All we saw was a glass of what appeared to be milk and an empty messy cone.

It was a scorcher today!

My house isn't air conditioned. I have fans in each room that I turn on, turn off as I enter and exit the room(s). On a typical summer day they're more than adequate to keep my house comfortable. On days like this, well, they're more decorative than anything else.

As a result of the excessive heat and humidity, as well as my feeble attempts to deal with it, I'm not as pleasant as I generally am. I try hard to stay nice and cheerful, but days like this wear me down.

How come the people who like to be spoken to roughly, and you know who you are, why don't you call me on days like this? I could rip you big time, without any effort, and not even feel bad for it!

If you've called me during the heat wave-the last one, this one, or the ones yet to come--and I've been anything less than sweet and pleasant to you, please forgive me. I am not at my best when the weather is like this.

Tawny
tawnyford@webtv.net

Someone suggested that I was unfairly picking on the Illitch's the other day when I said that I thought they should have come up off their wallets and paid people to clean up the area around their stadium and work the All Star Game. Hey, everyone has a right to their own opinion.

I will say that it was a brilliant business move on their part to offer free tickets to Tiger games to the volunteers. 1. They get to write the cost of the tickets off to charity and take a tax deduction. 2. They get to unload tickets to games of their choosing (games with another suck team that wouldn't have sold anyway). 3. The free tickets will bring in revenue for them because each free ticket holder will spend money as they watch the game for drinks, food, souvenirs and parking. The Illitch's can't lose financially on this one. It's a win-win for them.

Had they paid people to do the work they got volunteers to do for free, they would have been out the money. End of story.

Unemployment is rampant in Michigan. I don't know what the offical figures are, but whatever the government says they are you need to times it by 2 or 3 or 4 to get the truth. Why? Because for many many many people their unemployment benefits run out and they still haven't found work. Once they fall off the grid (unemployment bennies run out) they're considerred employed.

The economy is bad here in southeastern Michigan. Houses are not selling. Not even after they've been reduced two and three times.

So while the Illitch's made a briliant move for them, I think a lot of people would have appreciated a day's pay.


Tawny

This is Day Two of the most recent heat wave to hit the metro Detroit area. I beieve the temperature topped out at 95 with a heat index of 100. The excessive heat would be bad enough if this were our first run in with it this year, but we just came off of something like 10 days of above average temperatures a week ago.

The people who live next door to me, the folks that bought Dave + Diane's house--remember me telling you that Dave + Diane lost their house to the bank?--had a party in their backyard this afternoon. The Dad coaches a little kids wiffle ball team and he and his wife and children threw an end of the season barbecue for the players and their families.

While my backyard has a gazillion trees, and even when it's beastly hot like it was today my yard is a good 15 degrees cooler because of the trees, their backyard hasn't got even one tree. I loaned them three of my big table umbrellas and stands because otherwise I'm afraid they would have perished in the relentless sun.

Tomorrow is supposed to be as hot as today, so is the rest of next week. I am not looking forward to this.


hot Tawny
tawnyford@webtv.net

www.theworldiscoming.com

The above website is one they're been pushing in the metro Detroit area for awhile. Why? The All Star Game is coming to Comerica Park in Detroit in Juky and they need volunteers to clean up the downtown area, as well as work the day of the ball game. Are they paying the workers? No. It's all volunteer. But they say they'll give you 2 free tickets to a Tigers game of their choice if you volunteer.

Volunteering one's time for a worthy cause is a good thing. Most religions encourage their members/followers to do regular charity work. To feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the sick........

Now between me and you, and I realize I have a different way of looking at things sometimes, but the Illitch's own the Detroit Tigers, the Detroit Red Wings, Little Caesars Pizza, and a host of valuable expensive real estate that houses various other financially solvent businesses in the city of Detroit. I would think that they could afford to pay people (real money, not ball game tickets) to work the All Star game, wouldn't you? I mean, would you do volunteer work for Ford or Chrysler or Microsoft?


Tawny
248-615-1300

The local weather forecasters say that tomorrow is going to be HOT + HUMID, a repeat of that dreadful weather we had a few short weeks ago. During that last heat wave I was unable to get alot of my outside work done, it was just too doggone hot for me to care if the grass was cut or the bushes trimmed. Not wanting to get caught like that again, I spent the better part of today manicuring my lawn, front and back. It looks really nice if I do say so myself.

After all of my yardwork was finished, I hauled out the cushions for the lawn furniture and parked myself in the shade to cool off. Kathleen, my trusty pal and much loved cat, came out too. She sunbathed, I read. I'm reading 'The Celestial Jukebox' by Cynthia Shearer. So far so good, I'm enjoying it.

If tomorrow is as hot as they're predicting, I'll probably have alot of time to read my book in front of the fan in the living room because it'll be too hot to do anything else.

If it's hot where you are remember to drink plenty of liquids!

Tawny
www.tawnyford.com

Does your city or area have a free weekly 'alternative' newspaper? There's one in Detroit, the MetroTimes, it hits the stands every Wednesday. Sometimes I advertise in it, although not as much as I used to and for a bunch of different reasons.

The reason why I asked if you had a newspaper like this in your area is because often times you can find some cutting edge reporting in them, and a take on the news that is missing in other more 'established' news mediums.

The latest issue of the MetroTimes (www.metrotimes.com) is an interesting one. The lead article/cover story has to do with a young woman who writes urban fiction. She went from being a church going teenager to a drug dealer to a federal prisoner to an author.

There are two columns in this week's issue that are worth taking the time to read. The first, Politics & Prejudices: Times that try men's souls by Jack Lessenberry. The second, Opinion: How I See It: This is not America by Ric Bohy, the editor. These are long articles. If they weren't, I would type them in here for you to read. Hopefully they can be accessed via the website.

Tawny
tawnyford@webtv.net

While reading today's newspaper I stumbled upon an article dealing with blogs, celebrity blogs. If you're interested, here are the links to some big name bloggers:


www.jeffbridges.com

www.rosie.com

www.barbrastreisand.com

www.jamieoliver.com

www.williamshatner.com



That ought to keep you busy for awhile!


Tawny

tawnyford@webtv.net

One of the many good things about summer is fresh produce. Me, I love strawberries! For the past couple of weeks, every time I go to the warehouse store--Costco or Sam's--I pick up a big container of luscious strawberries. I keep meaning to make jam out of some of them, I have the jars and the pectin all good to go, but before you know it they're all gone.

Once a week, as you may already know, a number of folks meet at my house for services. I belong to a loose knit non- denominational 'church' group, we call ourselves the Body of Believers, and we meet Saturdays at my house because I have the biggest basement.

We always share a meal at the end of services. This week, because the weather finally cooled off and got reasonable, we had some wonderful spaghetti, salad and rolls. Dessert ws strawberry shortcake.

I realize you can buy those little shortcake thingies at the grocery store to use as the base for your strawberry shortcake. That's what my Mom always used. Me, I prefer a nice slice of poundcake to hold my strawberries and whipped cream.

Baking an old timey poundcake is not difficult. And it tastes a heck of alot better than that stuff they pass off as poundcake at the grocery store.

This is the recipe I use. I got it from 'The Lady + Sons Savannah Country Cookbook' by Paula Deen. Try it, I think you'll like it!

*********

Grandmother Paul's Sour Cream Pound Cake

2 sticks butter
3 cups sugar
1 cup sour cream
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
6 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
(I use 1 teaspoon lemon extract and 1 teaspoon orange extract instead of the vanilla.)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Cream butter and sugar together, add sour cream. Sift flour and baking soda together. Add to creamed mixture, alternately with eggs, one at a time, beating after each. Add extract(s). Pour into a greased and floured tube pan and bake for 1 hour and 20 minutes.

Sometimes, and it's my oven I think, but sometimes it takes another 15 minutes for mine to be done. I stick a toothpick in the center to test. When it comes out clean I know it's done.

I set the cake (in the pan) on a rack to cool for 15 minutes, then I remove it from the pan to a plate and let it cool completely.

*********


I'll tell you, sometimes I cut a thin slice while the cake is still warm. It's so good!

What I always do though, is make the cake a day before I want to serve it. Why? Because I think it tastes better
after the first day.

And what's really good is to take a slice, butter it on both sides, then lightly toast it in a skillet. Mmmmmm!

When I want to use it for strawberry shortcake, I cut slices, then mound cut-up strawberries (that I've had in a bowl with sugar for several hours in the refrigerator) on top, then cover with whipped cream.

This is so good!

Tawny
www.tawnyford.com

First off, that link I gave you yesterday, you need to put a www in front of it, but you've probably already figured that out by now, right? Sorry for any inconvenience.

Secondly, here's another site to read in the same vein as yesterday's:

http://timbayly.worldmagblog.com/timbayly/archives/014339.html


Who'd have thought these holy types would be so scandalous?


Tawny

I don't know about you, but I read a lot of different stuff on the internet. I'm not locked into one or two subjects, I wander far and wide reading whatever comes my way that I find interesting. And this is my latest find:


http://worldmag.com/subscriber/displayarticle.cfm?id=10576


The article I'm referring to is "More and more pastors lift entire sermons off the internet, but is it wrong?" by Gene Edward Veith.


Again, I don't know about you, but I find it shocking, scandalous and more than a little pathetic that a pastor would plagarize another pastor's work (pawn it off at his own).


I come from the school of thought that if God has not given a message to a pastor--if the pastor is at a loss as to what to preach to his congregation--then he ought to sit down, shut up and let someone who has something to say, say it.


The article mentions how there is a website:

www.sermoncentral.com


where a pastor can pay $9.95 per month and have access to gazillions of sermons. The site says that it gets 170,000 hits a week! A week!


Again, this is me, but where I come from the leader of a congregation is divinely inspired and called to serve by God. He/she is not a graduate from a dnomination-backed school of theology. He/she has been chosen by God to serve His people.


Tawny
tawnyford@webtv.net

Drum roll, please! Today is a momentous day! Why? Because the third season of Northern Exposure, the most incredibly wonderful televison series ever to be shown in the US!, went on sale today!

I picked up my copy this morning at Costco. This season is 3 dvd's full of episodes and outtakes.

I can't wait to watch it!


Tawny
www.tawnyford.com

Today's mail brought one of the things I most hate to receive---a chargeback notice from a credit card company.

What is a chargeback notice, you ask? Let me tell you.......

It's when someone, let's call him Mr. X, uses my services. Then his credit card bill arrives in the mail. Mrs. X opens the bill and starts going over each charge listed. Mrs. X finds two from me, questions Mr. X as to what they were for, and instead of Mr.X having some balls and dealing with it like a man----he tells Mrs. X he doesn't know, he didn't make the charges, etc. From there, Mrs. X contacts the credit card company, tells them there are two bogus charges on their bill which they refuse to pay. Then the credit card company contacts me, and I must document the charges or I not only will have to repay whatever amount Mr.X charged with me, and which I provided services for, but I also have to pay a fee of $25 per disputed charge. And I get a black mark against my company.

A great many companies such as mine simply eat the loss. Me, because I am truly a small business and not a huge conglomerate, I fight tooth and nail.

And if I have trouble collecting on a debt, or am unable to convince the husband to do the right thing, then I call in a collection agency.

But what really gets me is how some people, thankfully not many, at least not many crossing my path, can live
with themselves after they have done something like this to a small
merchant.

Shame on them.

Tawny

Today's food for thought is once again taken from the pages of 'Life's Journey's According to Mister Rodgers: Things to Remember Along the Way' by Fred Rodgers.


"There's a part of all of us that longs to know that even what's weakest about us is still redeemable and can ultimately count for something good."


I'm telling you, this is the book you should buy.


hugs,Tawny
www.tawnyford.com

The book I was telling you about yesterday, 'Life's Journeys According to Mister Rodgers: Things to Remember Along the Way', by Fred Rodgers, have you had a chance to pick up a copy yet? If not, then this is your lucky day! because I'm going to share some of the book with you.

I bet you didn't know that Mister Rodgers was so deep.......


"My personal introduction to the Dalai Lama was by way of television-in a hotel room. I was in Washington, D.C., preparing for a conference on children and the media and was looking for a certain news program when I happened upon His Holiness saying, "Someone else's action should not determine your response." I was so intrigued. I wrote down those words, turned off the television, and thought about nothing else the whole evening.

"Someone else's action should not determine your response." It sounds so simple, doesn't it? And yet what if someone else's action should be shouting angry words at us or hitting us with a rotten tomato? That doesn't affect what we do in response? Not if our compassion is genuine. Not if our love is the kind the Dalai Lama advocates."


That's something to think about, isn't it?

hugs, Tawny
tawnyford@webtv.net

You know who Fred Rodgers is, right? Mister Rodgers Neighborhood, the wonderful childrens show that's been on public television for years and years, that's him.

While at the library I picked up a book by him, 'Life's Journeys According to Mister Rodgers: Things to Remember Along the Way'. If you see it, pick it up, you won't be disappointed. It is a wonderful book for adults.


Tawny
www.tawnyford.com

Don't you just hate people who complain about the weather? Me too. But.....It is so doggone hot here today! Last I heard the thermometer had hit 92! Okay, it's not a record, the record is 93, but it's mighty darn close. Thank goodness the humidity is reasonable or it would be even worse.

I've spent the bulk of the day right in front of the fan, doing my darnedest to stay cool. I've watched alot of tv, way more than I usually watch in a whole week. One of the most interesting shows was on the food channel. Paula Deen, my favorite, was making tuna burgers, sloppy joes and burgers stuffed with blue cheese. It all looked good. If it wasn't that it's so darn hot it would have made me hungry.

I also did quite a bit of reading. Just finished a book by Willam Queen, Under and Alone. It's a true story of an ATF agent who went undercover and infiltrated The Mongols, a violent outlaw motorcycle gang. It was an interesting read.

I've also taken a bunch of showers today, all in the name of coolness.

Hope you're handling the heat okay wherever you are.

Tawny
248=615-1300

Technically it isn't summer here yet but you wouldn't know that by the temperature. It's another hot day, the second in a row. The saving grace today is the breeze, there's been a fine one all day, plus the utter lack of measurable humidity. All of this makes a hot day almost tolerable. But it also makes me wonder if it's this hot in early June.....what is August going to be like??????


Tawny
248-615-1300

Today was Memorial Day at my house. On the nationally designated day, when everyone else in the US was barbecuing with their friends, my friends were all sick at home with some wretched intestinal bug. So today, with everyone finally fit as a fiddle, we all got together to have our fun.

We could have picked a cooler day though, I'll tell you that. Today was unseasonably hot and humid. We went through alot of cold water and kool aid!

There was chicken and beef brats on the grill, as well as asparagus and mushrooms and corn on the cob. Potato salad, baked beans with hamburger in them, chips, devilled eggs were but a few of the side dishes. Dessert was apple cake, chocolate chip cookies and peaches off the grill.

Everybdy ate too much, but that was the point. And we all had big fun.

For those of you who like to bake, I've got a tip for you for some great chocolate chip cookies. Get a bag of chocolate coverred caramels. Make your chocolate chip cookie dough however you usually do, but make the 'balls' bigger and stick a piece of the chocolate coverred caramel inside each dough ball, coverring it up real well. Bake them a 350 degrees for about 12 to 15 minutes. Let them cool on the cookie sheet for 2 minutes, then remove to a cooling rack. These are the best cookies!

hugs,
Tawny
tawnyford@webtv.net

Is there a Starbucks near you? We have one here in town and it's one of the most popular places for people who like to hang out and be seen. They have tables and chairs that sit out in front of Starbucks, right under the overhang of the store, and no matter the weather--hot + sunny, cold and rainy, light snow, etc.--there isn't an empty seat to be found. The inside tables appear to stay full too.

I'm not a coffee drinker so I've never wanderred in to Starbucks and can't tell you if it's good coffee or not. The folks on the cooking newsgroup (there's a link to it on my website) never have anything too good to say about Starbucks in general, for what it's worth.

I just get a kick out of sitting at the pretty outdoor fountain (located in the same shopping plaza as Starbucks) watching the Starbucks customers suck down their expensive coffees while they try to act cool and sophisticated. I think it's a hoot!

And at night, particularly in the summer, they just about have to get the police to roll throgh to disperse the Starbuck crowd that doesn't want to go home when the place closes. It's insane.

I wish I owned that Starbucks. I bet they're making a fortune.

Tawny

My family is all a buzz over the upcoming wedding of one of my cousins in August. The soon to be married couple has been engaged for five years! They've been engaged longer than the average marriage lasts.

A number of my family memebers have said they're not going to the wedding. Why? Because it's going to be hot. Now this is the same crew that's going to Mississippi on July 4th for a family reunion. They don't think Mississippi will be too hot, but Michigan will be. Right.

I think the real reason they're going to boycott the wedding is because the aunt that's hosting it is uppity. She has a little bit of money, the result of her deceased husband leaving a good pension and a sizeable insurance policy, and she's always flaunting it. She has a tendency to act like her shit doesn't stink.

Last summer she married off two of her other daughters and the weddings sucked. At the first one, held outdoors at a park on a steamy hot day, we were kept waiting two hours for the ceremony to start. There were no water fountains, the caterer wouldn't give out any cold drinks, and people were getting sick. Then when it was time to eat, there wasn't enough food for everyone. Second wedding, the reception was held outdoors on another beastly hot day, and people fell out from the heat and lack of water.

One of my uncles said that aunt isn't going to get another chance to try and kill him this summer, he's not going to the wedding.

I haven't decided if I'm going. I intend to see what the weather forecast is for that day before I make my decision.

Tawny Doppler