Everyone has an opinion and I have mine doesn’t make them right, but we are each entitled to them. I have revised many of my opinions over the years and I can admit when I feel I am wrong about something even if I don’t like being wrong. I refuse to argue about politics or religion because I don’t have to prove anything and I don’t need someone to agree with me to validate my opinions.

It’s so funny that most of us humans have had the same type of experiences so we understand and can empathize easily when we hear our own stories being told by someone else. It just makes me wonder how individual we really are. Of course each story always seems to have a few twists and turns that we may not have experienced, but they are close enough that I feel like my life has been plagiarized at times.

Everyone wants to be special or gifted in some way, at least I know I did when I was young and it came as a big shock to me when I realized I was mediocre, but I learned to deal with it and accept it. My comprehension is pretty good and I’m usually a good listener so those are 2 good tools I have been able to use in my life time to fool people into believing I am intelligent.

I have always admired intelligence, but I admire common sense more. I have known many intelligent people and learned over the years that they love to talk and expound on their views of the world and everything and everybody in it and as long as you simply interject a profound word or thought every now and then, then they think you’re just as great as they are.

What a boring world it would be if we all thought and did the same things at the same time and we all developed the same special gift or talent. What lessons would we be able to learn? I know we all strive for the same things like love, understanding, peace, and all of the creature comforts that would make us happy and the great thing is we have choices that will make each life a little different.

Cult’s have always been a big concern of mine because the people that are seeking understanding for their life seem to be drawn in by strong minded opinionated people that promise heaven on earth and then they are brain washed into sharing that leaders opinions and sometimes it’s way too late before they realize they should have developed their own. I’m sure you remember the Jim Jones horror plus many others.

I am now happy not to be gifted or talented because there is no pressure exerted on me and it doesn’t bother me anymore that I’m just average. I like living in a world where average is the norm because I really don’t have the need to stand out, but I have the choice to be different if I choose and I can be just as opinionated as I want without having anyone agree with me and it’s okay.

I guess things are back to normal around here since Bill came home so here I am trying to catch up and not getting very much done. I was busy moving furniture and cleaning and it was a peaceful and lonely Memorial weekend without Bill, but I was determined to spend very little time on here to get some things accomplished.

I think it was appalling the way our Vietnam Vets were treated in the past and I’m grateful everyday for Bill. The Government was the culprit not our boys in the war they were forced to participate in. These poor young men were treated like criminals and I still remember the ones that I knew and how they felt. What a senseless war.

I took some photos below of some things that Bill sent home which were locked away out of sight because everything was shameful for his then wife Judy. He was not allowed to hang anything on the walls as a reminder, but that’s all changed now because I thought he needed a tribute wall for all of his memories, good and bad and a few years back I found all these memories that had been tucked away.

I am not a very good photographer, but I felt like sharing. I will make these thumbnails and if you want to see an enlargement just click on the photo. These are only a few items that I love the smaller ones are on the shelf and I didn’t want to take a 100 pictures, but there are medals, buckles, pins, Vietnam lighters and of course lots of Harley memorabilia mixed in.

The first picture is his memory wall, second is the hand painted Vietnam velvet plaque that says how much he missed Judy, third is the hand painted velvet scroll In Memory Of Vietnam, fourth is the doll he sent his wife and fifth is the throw pillow from Japan. These are only a few that I think are special.

Well, I guess you’re tired of admiring my scooter so I’ll post something to push it down. Bill is going to Ohio tomorrow morning to visit his family and I’m staying home to take care of things here. With the cost of gas I’m sure there will be less travel this year as reported. We were both going to go, but then I would have to find a house and animal sitter.

We figured up the cost for gas to go there and back and it was ridiculous because I think we only get between 11 to 18 miles per gallon with the jeep. I think we need a huge tune up and since Bills’ daughter and family are going this weekend and we were going next weekend for his brothers’ 50th wedding anniversary, we decided to change our plans and he will still get to see everyone and only pay half the gas, but he’ll miss the festivities next week.

I am not huge on family gatherings because I come from a dysfunctional family unit and there was always some kind of trouble that would arise when we all got together. Bills’ family isn’t like mine of course and we had fun when we went to his family reunion a few years back, but it was much more fun when we went back to our hotel and walked up and got White Castles.

We love those little burgers and growing up in Chattanooga we had Krystals which were the same thing. Everyone hung out at the local Krystal because it was open all night and when the bars would close the place always got packed with a bunch of hungry drunks. I told Bill that he has to bring me some White Castles back. You can buy them frozen in the grocery store, but they just don’t taste the same.

Bill was talking about riding his bike down, but I talked him out of that idea because I don’t want him riding alone and that’s a pretty rough ride straight through and I’d be worried sick. Some time this year we are going to pick a half way point between here and Ohio and ride the Bike to meet up with his sister and brother-in-law which happens to be his closest friend and that will be fun.

Since your tired of my scooter I’ll show you Bill’s, click for a larger view.

If you came here from your inbox then you might have noticed that I changed my Entrecard. Saturday we got my new scooter so I decided to use that for awhile. I didn’t get to play with my scooter Saturday because the weather was so ugly after Bill rode it home and Sunday was rainy until the afternoon and when the sun came out we took it up to the high school.
I blocked out my license tag for security reasons although I don’t know why because if you lived around me you could see it, but I have no clue what someone online might be able to do with it. The minute we pulled up on the Harley I spotted this one and gravitated to it. They had a pink one like it, but I didn’t want anything really girly looking and the thing that is so great is this dealer keeps parts in stock and services them there.

It had a retro look that I really liked. This is a Lance Charming 50cc well actually it’s 49.7 otherwise I would have to have a motorcycle license. When we were at the school Bill wanted me to practice starting and stopping and I did some of course, but I wanted to concentrate on putting both feet up and balancing and riding which I did and I was whipping around the parking lot and having a ball.

I have to get alot more practice before I take it on the street and remember to turn the throttle away from me when I want to slow and brake slowly and remember to put my feet down. That’s alot for this old mind to remember all at one time, but Bill said I did good and I was very proud of me. When I get used to it and feel more sure then I’ll putt along behind Bill to Gettysburg.

When I get it broke in I’ll be able to go up to 45 miles, right now it goes 35. The dealer told me that it will get 110 miles per gallon when it’s rode more, but from what it said online it’s between 80 and 100, but I’ll find out for myself eventually. The tank is 1.5 so I can get alot of miles for very little money now that makes me ecstatic. When I get used to this one I’ll trade it in for a 150cc and take the safety course and I can do that on a scooter.

I’ll be able to get a motorcycle license then and get out on the highway and freeway. I can’t wait.

I’ve been reading more about Feng shui and since everything is believed to have energy the placement of everything in your home and office can either hinder or help your goals. I want to understand more about creating good energy because it can even help your health. I did create good energy in my work space and I’m happy with this room.

The Ba-Gua and the compass are the two main tools of Feng shui. The Ba-Gua is a map that contains the symbols of the I Ching which I understand feng shui originated from. I want to find a class so I can learn more about those 8 specialized areas and what they represent. Along with the color scheme that is best suited to them.

Feng shui has really gotten popular in the Western world in the past 2 decades and many people believe that it improves their life. We all want that positive energy to feel well and healthy and meet the goals we set for ourselves. The main goal is to create a place of peace and harmony and to achieve that you need to use the five elements and they each have their own characteristics.   
                                                                                                                                  

The five elements are wood, fire, earth, metal and water and these are used to balance the positive energy. To increase the wood energy which is connected to the color green and placed in the east portion of your space live plants are used like a small palm and fern and they help filter the air and increase oxygen making the atmosphere of your space more healthy.

Fire which is connected with orange, red, and purples would be something that uses electricity or produces heat and this would be the south portion of your space. A television or lamp with a red lampshade could be used to increase the fire energy of the area.

Earth would be the NE portion of your space and the colors would be tans, browns, and beiges. Brickwork and anything that uses rocks also clay pots, tiles, and ceramics increase the earth energy.

Metal is in the west portion and connected to white and gold. Water is in the North portion and connected to blue and blacks and represents winter. Water can disturb all the energy in your space if used improperly. Aquariums and fountains would be the easiest ways to increase water energy.

I have also recently learned that my bedroom is all wrong and the shape should be square or rectancular, the bed should not be facing the door and the headboard should not be in front of a window, no overhead beams above the bed or mirrors facing the bed.

These things will negatively affect the Chi of your space, I don’t have the beams, but everything else I have wrong, the room shape is okay though, but if the room was oddly shaped I could use a divider to help. I really need to learn more because I need all the positive energy I can get.

When I worked at the Trail Lounge in York it was owned by a Greek and he had Greek food, but he also had a Chinese cook that specialized in wok cooking amongst other dishes that she would prepare and the menu was varied. They also served American, Italian, and Indian dishes so you could pretty much get whatever you desired.

Susie was pretty cool though and I loved watching her cook, the Chinese cook and she liked to give tips which I found very interesting. Chinese recipes usually call for very specific ingredients and ways to cook everything. There are many tips you can use to save time and money and still have a top notch meal or add ingredients to make a good meal great.

She would tell you how to cut corners on rice, and different kinds of oil, even the kind of meats you use. Many people take the meat out of a recipe and call it vegetarian. A delicious alternative to regular cooking oil is sesame oil. Sesame oil will give any dish a very unique flavor simply mix a few drops with your normal oil or use by itself.

When cooking shrimp in vegetable oil it simply makes it taste like greasy shrimp, but shrimp cooked in sesame oil taste like a Chinese treat. Sesame oil has a strong and unique flavor that many people automatically associate with Chinese food.  It is higher in fat so if you are on a diet, it might not be a good choice.

Rice is common in all kinds of Chinese recipes. If you make a lot of Chinese food, you can cook a lot more rice than you know you will use. You can freeze the excess rice and use it later for fried rice. This will save the trouble of cooking a whole new batch and it tastes just as good. You shouldn’t  be afraid of changing the  recipes.

Many Chinese recipes call for noodles and the Chinese noodles cook a lot faster than Italian pasta because the ingredients are different and the shapes vary greatly. Boiled noodles can be used in soups, stir fry, with a hearty sauce, or almost anything. Noodles can also be substituted for rice in many different dishes.

If you have a great recipe for chicken, you can use crab or shrimp the next time or change up some of the vegetables to make your own unique recipe. Bill is such a stickler for following a recipe and he is very precise with ingredients, not so for myself. I change everything because it’s fun and you can create all kinds of different meals.

I have so many cookbooks, but I never follow any, well sometimes I do, but I still change things. We love a good stir fry and Bill is great with those and it’s such a simple meal to prepare. I love salt, but I have to stay away from soy sauce the amount of sodium in that would kill a Horse.

If you’re a beginner then you might want to start with something easy and fun for most people, the best Chinese recipes to start with are single course dishes. The easiest are usually rice, a few vegetables and one kind of meat and that’s why we love a simple stir fry. Bill is making Chili tonight, but I’m hungry for Chinese now.