At the corner of Noisy and Loud - just a bit of a Rant

When we moved into this house approximately 23 years ago, it was a nice quiet neighborhood - you could have called it bucolic.

Slowly that has changed - just a little bit at a time As the crow flies, we are about half to 3/4 of a mile from the train tracks.  They have been adding another train here and there (where it used to be one or two trains a day, now it is one every couple of hours! - and most of them are coal or oil transport trains - long, loud and heavy) Add to that the three crossing gates that are in our area and the trains seem to blow their whistle about 5 times for each crossing.  I've come to decide that train engineers are sadists.  I mean, come on, it's the middle of the night, there is a drop down crossing gate that's got flashing red lights and bells  - do they really need to blow their whistle 5 times? 

And then there is the airport.  The crow has to fly about 2.5 miles to get to the airport from our house with our close proximity to Vancouver BC, and the horrible traffic to get to Sea-Tac airport, Bellingham International Airport has really taken a step up in the past 20 years with many planes coming and going every day.  And, dare I mention Interstate 5?. 


This map is a snip from a map put out by the US Bureau of Transportation that was printed in the Bellingham Herald a few weeks ago.  Do you see the dark red "ground zero" spot that I've circled - yup, that's just about where we live - at the corner of Noisy and Loud. 

Your Honor, I object....

I was on Pinterest the other day - Oh, yeah, digital hoarding - that's my middle name - and there is something that's been bugging me -

My home page is a mix of food, pretty flowers, cats & funny sayings.  I have noticed a proliferation of food items with "Crack" included in the name - The one I was looking at was "Cracked out Chicken Bubble-up"   Eh?

Just out of curiosity, I typed "crack" in the Pinterest search bar.  - Holy cow -

Cheese & garlic crack bread
Crack slurp noodles
Christmas crack
Crack dip
Crack cake
Maple caramel bacon crack
and of course
Cracked out chicken bubble-up

So, I'm wondering if any of the people who named these dishes have ever tried crack?

I'm wondering if any of the people who named these dishes have any friends or family members who have ruined their lives because they actually ARE addicted to crack.

Maybe they need to look up addiction in the dictionary - a habit of activity, often injurious  -  Synonyms include:  

    bag    bent    craving    dependence    enslavement

    fixation    hang-up    hook   inclination    jones  

    kick       monkey      obsession       shot       thing

    monkey on back    sweet tooth 

OK, so I get that "Dependence Dip" doesn't quite have the same "je ne sais quoi" as Crack Dip, but PEOPLE!!  Maybe think about it when you say something is "just like crack"  -  because, unless it's going to cause you to live homeless/on the street, it isn't "just like crack"  -  

Just sayin'  

And now, a happier thought for the day -  

Gracie - a few days after "gotcha day" in 2011 - when we FINALLY let them outside to explore the big outdoors - 

 

Gracie, last month - Bless her heart.

She's our little tootsie roll - & loves, loves, loves The Shepherd.  Sometimes when I come to bed, she is snuggled up as close to him as she can get - whiskers to whiskers - it's sooo cute (but you'll just have to imagine that one folks - ...I'd be looking for a new place to sleep if I took that picture, if you know what I mean...)

It takes all kinds -

See the lady mid-picture by the grey truck? She owns another business on our block. She thinks we take up too much of the parking. (he is parked a half a block away from her business entrance - and as you can see, there is a bit of parking available on her side of the street)

She is leaving a little pile of brown poo courtesy of her doggie where my co-worker will unwittingly step in it before he gets into his truck.

I guess she didn't realize that all the cameras on our building might catch her in the act....(we are a "security company" after all). Sheesh!

Just wrong on so many levels.

Pardon my rant......

Ok, there are a few things that have been driving me crazy - some for a while - some are new objects of craziness -

• People who wear their Bluetooth headsets ALL THE TIME - in meetings, or while they are talking to me, or, just in general... Do they think it makes them look cool? No, I think it makes them look RUDE. Like I am just not quite as important as a phone call they MIGHT get on their cell phone. (What did we do before we had cell phones anyhow? My sister saw an article the other day that more and more students are starting to use the food banks - Why? Because with the high price of gasoline, by the time they pay their rent and their cell phone bills, they have no money left over. Do you suppose any of them ever thought of cutting back on the texting?)
  
• What is the big deal with dissing Crocs? Now, some guy in Newsweek has a big article out about how much he hates Crocs. So, don't wear them, for cryin' out loud. Crocs are the only shoes that a lot of people can wear, myself included. Who died and made him the fashion police?
  
• People who leave rude comments on the "online articles" in our local newspaper. Last week there was an article about a young man who was killed on the freeway. Come to find out he was under the influence of drugs. Sad but true, a fellow whose family loved him despite his shortcomings, who had tried and failed to get clean and sober. What good are saying things like "Good riddance to bad rubbish" when a guy has died a pretty horrible death and a family is grieving? Will their Karma go bad? I hope so.

Ok, I'm done now.

Geeze, who put a nickle in her?