I moved to VA in November of 1988.  I bought a house in the boonies but it had a feature that made it ideal to me.  It was situated about 1/4 mile off the highway, down a private dirt road. A charter bus service ran a bus each day “across the river” to the primary employer of this area…approximately 45 miles from my house.  The bus stopped each morning at my dirt road and three men and I joined others traveling to work.  I left the house at 5:45AM and was lucky to step off the bus by 6:00 PM each night.  But I did not have to drive, or hunt parking where parking was never available, or deal with traffic.  No, for the HUGE sum of $21.00 per week, I could read, sleep, knit, chat or whatever suited me, in relative comfort for the hour plus ride to and fro.

One day I was running just a wee bit late leaving work and as I rounded the corner to cross the street to the bus stop, I saw the bus pull away without me.  Now, it was a cold day in February.  There was residual snow and ice covering the sidewalks. I was dressed in my business suit, long wool coat, high heeled shoes and was carrying my briefcase…but I saw my bus pulling away and I was, once again, a child.

Without a thought I took off after that bus.  I knew it had two more stops before it found its way to the freeway, and I was determined I would catch that bus!  Surely all those guys would take their time loading up and I could catch them! 

For the first two blocks I ran in my heels, though my little toe was KILLING me as it was only about three weeks since I had broken it.  But the high heels on the icy sidewalks succeeded in slowing me down and making me afraid I would twist my ankle, so I whipped off the shoes and continued in my stocking feet.  Once unencumbered by my shoes, I was able to FLY! 

I watched with dismay as the bus once again pulled away from the curb and lumbered on to its final stop before ending my chance of ever catching it.  I knew I had only one more chance and I ran for all I was worth.  The bus made the right hand turn that took it past the library and then made the loop back to come up to the final stop.  I was running without the aid of oxygen by this point, because my lungs had completely given up trying to perform the exchange of the frigid air. 

Just as I was certain I would not reach the bus, the bus driver glanced over and saw me.  He waited at the curb as I raced across the street and jumped on.  I had run 14 city blocks in a time I am certain I never achieved at the height of my sprinting career (not that I actually had one of those).

As I climbed up the steps of the bus and fell into the first available seat, all the guys were clapping and whooping and calling me Carl Lewis and such!  I smiled, embarrassed now at the sight I must have presented as I raced to my goal.  I could not breathe properly for days.  I believe I coughed up half my lungs (the parts that had completely rebelled against this sporadic demonstration of will over common sense.)

For, when I arrived home and proudly told my story to my then-husband, he said, “why didn’t you just go back in and call…I would have picked you up!”

I learned a couple of things that day. 

1. Sometimes I act without thinking.
2. No-Nonsense pantyhose must be made of IRON (only one hole the size of a dime in the bottom of the foot from running 12 blocks without shoes. )

I never lived that day down either. Until the day that bus driver passed away last year, every time I saw him in town he would tell whoever was willing to listen that Carl Lewis had NOTHING on this lady!

That a certain cartoonist is looking for a WORTHY charity to which to contribute proceeds from the auction of a new cartoon she has come up with.  Her request to me, the inspiration of the gigantic foreheaded offering, was "which charity did I want her to support...bald skin? wise sages? (also commonly called know-it-alls) or what?"

I had to THINK on that one and I wondered....

Is MENSA a CHARITY registered with MissionFish?

LOL!

Those silly customers...leaving me positive feedback...I think I am enjoying a "feedback frenzy!"  LOL

Actually, those customers are not silly at all.  They are wonderful!  I seriously appreciate the feedback.

Today was a long day. But much that needed resolving was resolved.  Three day weekends just mean less time to meet deadlines on the job, so, I always find I have twice as much to do after a day off from work. Today was no exception. On the positive side, the coil came in for the air conditioner and Tim, my new best friend, got it properly installed in the attic unit….hot work so we can be cool.

I popped in and read a couple of blog posts today, but really had little time to spend here.  I was, however, able to catch riv’s post about her son and the loss of his girlfriend.  That brought to mind my own experience with my daughter, as she faced the death of her best friend, who died in a single car accident on his way to pick her up.  She was 18 when her 20 year old friend died, and it shook her world.  My thoughts are with you riv.

I had an uplifting message from one who was struggling last night. I always think of the song, “You’ll Never Walk Alone” whenever I have the honor of being the recipient of a call or an email, any correspondence, from someone who is struggling with fear, depression or the likes. I know I cannot know their pain. I know I can always be a non-judgmental “listener.”  And I can tell them the things they already know. And because they already know them, they know, too, that I am no wiser than they.  I also know that there will always be someone I can reach out to, should the need arise.  And yes, most times, things look better in the light of day.

Tonight I was thinking of a tale to share, one from the growing up years.  But the tale will have to wait for another day, for tonight I need to get to bed.  I wish you a good night.

But I love it!

	Another good tool for my fiddle "tool" chest
	BUYING YOUR STUDENT'S VIOLIN - A GUIDE E-BOOK .99 (#120053547476)

Ha!  I bet nobody ELSE got a feedback like that!

LOL

This was a productive weekend in many respects. I worked hard in the yard and in the house, getting some of the annual and semi annual chores completed.  I worked with hubby and we worked well together (not a given, I assure you).  We are now able to relax in the house that is pictured in my Judy’s Corner Blog Banner, knowing that the ravages of country living have been pressure washed off every surface that did not run away (the cat and dog kept their distance.)

The regular chores were also accomplished in spite of the fact that I have been entertaining a headache for three days.  Not that I find the headache entertaining, mind you, but apparently I entertain it, because it appears to have taken up permanent residency.  Never mind, there’s room for all inside this giant noggin.

I was also given the gift of heat.  Yes, just when the weather decides to get warm, and outside work brings on visions of cooler temperatures waiting inside, my upstairs air handler decided it was time for a vacation.  No problem. We have two “zones”.  Our upstairs is the tropics and our downstairs is the artic.  We are, once again, sleeping in the guest quarters tonight (thanks anyway for the offer of the tropical vacation…maybe later.)

Now, oddly enough, the most enjoyable moment of this three day weekend did not occur with the satisfaction of completing necessary chores.  Nor did it come with the knowledge that we did not have to suffer just because the upstairs AC quit. Nor even with the singing of the song, “America the Beautiful” in church yesterday (the third and fourth verses always make me cry, which makes seeing the chords hard, but I muddle through.)

No, the most enjoyable moment came when the phone rang this afternoon and it was my daughter calling, all the way from CA, just to ask a quick question…”did I remember some of the Oak Ridge Boys Christmas songs?”  LOL!  You could not have surprised me more if you had told me you were going to staple my lips to the floor!

So you see, the regular rhythm of life can be interrupted by irritations, but just as easily by delightful nonsense.  I’ll take the bad with the good and continue to have confidence that both will continue to keep me on my toes!

All those customers y'all are looking for...I know where they are....

They are busy leaving me feedback!  LOL.....

After a trickling in of feedback over the past week, everyone seems to be handling that part of the transaction today!

No complaints...I'll tell them you are awaiting their business at your stores!

Sometimes we have to realize that our actions can really result in destroying another’s livelihood, and even their life.  What follows is a true story.  A friend of mine is the main character.

Bill is a successful attorney.  He is the senior partner in his law firm.  He has a family and is a stand up husband and father.  He is a community giver, both in the form of his time and financially.

One day, Bill was notified that the ex-wife of a former client was charging that her ex-husband had engaged in transactions with Bill and his firm to hide funds from her. The client's ex-wife got an order freezing his bank accounts per her allegations made against him and 26 others that they were hiding or had hidden $6 million of her husband's funds. A matrimonial judge ordered him to produce financial records on ALL his clients so the offended wife -- who had sued 27 people, everyone who had anything to do with her husband, including 6 lawyers, could "check" and see whether any of the real estate transactions or corporate mergers had been done with her husband's money.

Bill did not comply with the Judge's order, but objected and appealed it. If he had complied, many of his clients would have been subject to unwanted scrutiny that could have been harmful to them, and all would have felt betrayed. If the woman had followed form, as she did in suing all of her husbands business associates, all his clients would have been at risk of being sued by her. The Judge did not have to wait for the outcome of the appeal, and gave a preclusion order against Bill; meaning he could put on no evidence in his defense, and the jury found against him and his firm.  His accounts were frozen.
 
Because his accounts were frozen, checks drawn on his accounts began to bounce. Other clients, to whom he owed sizable amounts of money, but who could not cash the checks, charged him with stealing their money.

Bill was arrested and held in jail while his wife tried to get the money for his bail.  Without access to any of their funds, this proved very difficult. Bill was feeling very low and even considered suicide.

When the bail was raised (by many friends helping out) he was released from jail.  Charged with grand larceny due to the bounced checks due to the frozen accounts, he has been suspended from being able to practice law until such time as his case has been heard and he is found innocent.

His story is likely not as unusual as it sounded to me when first I heard it.  My immediate response was, “why didn’t you just turn over the bloody records?”  He contends that had he done so, this woman would have added every single client to the list of 27 she was already suing.  He could not, in good ethical conscience turn over confidential records to her.  Even today, though he struggles to remain positive and works toward successfully being proven innocent, he is positive he did the right thing…for this woman has sued every staff member of the law firm, contending that by accepting paychecks and insurance benefits, they participated in the fraud she believes her ex-husband and the firm perpetrated against her.

Time will tell whether this single woman, with probably a legitimate axe to grind with her ex-husband, will have successfully ruined the lives of anyone and everyone this ex-husband ever dealt with.  I know she has wounded them severely and the trickle down effect is enormous.

And so each morning when I awake, I think of how very lucky I am that nobody has decided to throw scalding water over this very thin skin that constitutes life as I know it.  And each night as I go to bed, I think with sorrow of the effect that a single angry person can have on so many.  I pray that I will never be so hurt by another that I am willing to hurt the world in revenge.

It makes me sad.  Lady Arrington is the latest to leave.  I thought I'd repost.  I wrote this originally in January.  Less than five months later, and it seems to be happening even more.

Where Have All the Bloggers Gone (the Song) - jcarolek

OK, so, remember how careful I am and how I pay attention to details, etc.  Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I just received an eBay message from another member, asking if my Buy It Now Price on a pair of NWT men's pants was correct, or perhaps a typo....

I went to look and what did I see????  Yep...for the HONOR of owning a pair of NEW WITH TAGS pair of Men's pants, I was asking only.....

$1,499.00!!!!

(But I started them off at a modest $7.99!)

LOL...what a dope!

Thank goodness that member took a minute out of his day to shoot me a message!

What does it matter if I’m wrong?

If everything upon which I have based my actions

Is just a thin veneer

Covering a truth I just don’t want to hear?

What does it matter?

What if I tell another my thoughts?

If they disagree and try to make me believe as they do

Perhaps suggesting I could better see

If I changed my rose colored glasses for clear

What does it matter?

Can I hurt someone by not accusing?

It matters to me that others treat me

As I would wish to be treated.

And for that honor, I am willing to pay a price

I will treat others

As I would like them to treat me.

So if I’m wrong

If I believed in you and you have provided me with a veneer covered

Cardboard box of unpleasant truths

I will lose a bit of faith in a single person, but not in mankind

And I will admit I was wrong

But I will have been the only one hurt by my actions

I will be able to know that I hurt nobody else

Through my speculations and preconceived notions

And I will continue to trust that most people are worthy

Of being treated as honest.

Well, not that I wanted to receive the email from my customer telling me that the lamp I sold her (for $1.25 plus S/H to CA from VA) arrived today, but the stem was broken, but at least it affords me the opportunity to see just how much trouble the claims process with U-PIC is.  Since the total claim is right at $20.00, it is hardly worth the effort, except to learn whether this service is "as advertised."

My customer sent me an email that was very polite, letting me know of the damaged lamp, noting that I had indicated it was insured and wondering what she needed to do to process the claim.  I replied that I was very sorry, and asked that she send me a signed letter stating that the lamp had been broken when received.  I immediately refunded her total payment.  She told me she would be happy to send the letter, along with a photo of the damaged lamp.  I filed the dispute to get my FVF back for the transaction, and she has already agreed, and the FVF has been granted.

So, once I receive her letter, I will complete the U-PIC claims forms, mail it in, and start the clock...and keep notes on the process.

I am happy I insure all packages, and, though I hope each arrives safely, I am, in a way, happy I will be able to put this insurance to the test.

Besides that....I got a lot of work done today.....my freshly powerwashed front of the house, front porch, sidewalk and driveway, are thanking me....the back and sides of my house and the back deck are crying out for their bath, but they will have to wait until tomorrow!

I hope you all are having a great weekend.

This is a repost from last week.

So what do YOU talk about at family gatherings? -- jcarolek

Ever been curious what you can win for a penny at Judy's Corner?  Well, here are some of my 1 Penny auctions...I have had several customers in the past week or so win their auction for just that 1 PENNY! 

Many of the items are New with Tags!

I hope you are having a wonderful Memorial Day weekend.

pr0gr4mm3r

Grading My Seller -- The Four By Five Badge of Stars

The news I read today made me sad. It takes away some of the country comfort I have enjoyed since moving to VA in 1988. 

What follows are a post I wrote a few months ago about James Store, followed by the article from the newspaper today.

James Store -- jcarolek

Posted Feb-19-07 21:21:47 PST

When we moved to Virginia from Florida in 1988, we bought a house in a little place called “James Store, VA.”  It is one of several “po-dunk” places in this neck of the woods and I was drawn to its rustic, quiet “ambiance.”  We did not have the luxury of mail being delivered to our house, but had the opportunity to go each day and chat with Mr. Cox at James Store, where, as the postmaster, he carefully rubber banded our mail together each day. 

Getting out mail was an activity we all looked forward to and it was with a little sadness that we accepted the news, in the mid 90’s that this was one of the many post offices to close in the USPS restructuring.  When this happened, we were given the option of putting a box at the end of our dirt road (a quarter mile from the house) or getting an actual PO Box in another small post office about a mile north.  We decided on taking the PO Box for security reasons, and so our mail was then addressed to “North, VA.”

While the post office at North was still small, it lacked much of the charm of James Store.  I didn’t need to wait for Mr. Cox to finish his chat with another mail customer in order to get my mail. I had a key and went directly to my box to retrieve it.  Somehow, the “experience” of getting the mail was not nearly as fun as it had been.  Days could pass without either my husband or me having any interest at all in driving up to get the mail.

When I sold that house and moved into a neighborhood, I started having my mail delivered to the end of my driveway.  Convenience knows no bounds! And yet, though my mail is only 450 feet from my front door, there are days that I simply FORGET to go look in the box!

Today in my rummage through the box of memories, I came across a photo of James Store, as it was when we moved here in 1988.  It still stands, but is boarded up and vacant.  It seems such a shame.  It holds so many memories. I doubt I will ever enjoy the experience of getting the mail quite as much as I did those first seven or eight years.

 

Woman denied bond after fleeing police

The 41-year-old woman must now face a grand jury and may be charged with three felonies.

GLOUCESTER -- After hearing testimony Thursday that a 41-year-old Gloucester County woman struck a police officer with her car and then led police on a high-speed chase through the county, a judge refused to free her on bond until a grand jury hears evidence against her.

"If someone had been walking along the side of the road and she'd hit him she wouldn't have given a damn," said General District Judge R. Bruce Long.

"All she wanted was to get her drugs and get out of there. She's a danger to the public," Long added.

The defendant, Donna Strickland Foster, was trying to buy what she thought was cocaine, testified sheriff's Deputy P.W. Lutz. The March 25 sting grew out of the arrest of a man wanted on federal drug charges, Lutz said.

When a cell phone seized in the arrest kept ringing, Lutz said he finally started answering the calls, which were from people asking for cocaine. He told the callers that the man in custody was busy.

"I told them to come to James Store. My plan was to sell them gravel," said Lutz, who was working undercover at the time. Soon, he said, cars started arriving at the site of a former general store on Route 14 at Burkes Pond Road.

As Lutz and his partner waited for backup, some of the people who were waiting to buy cocaine called back impatiently and said they were leaving.

Lutz got out of his car and gathered up some pebbles from the side of the road. He wrapped them in a white napkin and approached a red Thunderbird that was parked next to the old store.

The female driver told him she wanted "50 piece," which is slang for $50 worth of cocaine, he told the judge. He gave her the napkin and she handed him $50. At that point, marked police units arrived at the scene and approached the Thunderbird.

"I was in front of the car. I put my hands on the hood, and showed her my badge. I told her I was the police," he testified.

The driver reacted by gunning the accelerator, he said. He said he jumped to the side, but the car hit his thigh before racing to the highway in a spray of gravel and heading toward the Gloucester Courthouse village.

Patrol Deputy J. Forehand testified that just as he arrived at the scene, the Thunderbird roared past him, so he gave chase. Forehand said the chase reached speeds close to 90 mph and was joined by state troopers before spike strips placed on the road finally stopped the Thunderbird.

The deputy said that as he chased the Thunderbird down Indian Road he could see the driver, whom he identified as Foster, talking on a cell phone and smoking a cigarette.

Long forwarded three felony charges for grand jury consideration: assault and battery, attempting to buy cocaine and eluding police.

At this feedback....talk about wrapping the stars ratings into the words in the feedback comment!  I love it.

	Five star rating. Thanks.... I'll be back. Wonderful shopping experience.
	ADVICE FROM A SQUIRREL T-SHIRT M NWT ANIMAL NEW TEE (#120090156398)

If you use Turbolister to create your listings, just copy and paste the Stopthief code into the DESCRIPTION BUILDER box at the end of the other code you see there (this is your HTML code). 

To do this,

• Click on the Description Builder button on the main page of your Turbo Lister
• You will be taken to a presentation of your listing with three tabs across the top Design View, HTML View, Preview
• Select the HTML View
• Insert your copied code at the end of the box
• Clisk the SAVE button

 Make certain you change the message to whatever you want (not Property of Judy's Corner, LOL).

Example of code in action: Item Number 120111889317

Repost from a few months ago --

One way to protect your listings -- jcarolek