The primaries are coming up for many states, including Oklahoma and Missouri.  Though I had some major reservations about Edwards, I had fewer about him than any of the other democrats that are running. 

 I feel that Hilary is two-faced.   I don’t feel Obama has enough experience at anything.  He’s only been a senator for 4 years. 

The last thing I’m going to do is vote for Romney or Huckabee.  I feel that Romney doesn’t understand over half the population — the half that lives from paycheck to paycheck.  He paid for some of his own campaign, so what does he know about being poor?  How is he going to fix the economy? For Huckabee, he pushed to have a convicted rapist released in Arkansas.  That so-called man went on to rape and kill at least one more person, maybe 2. 

I hate how the media doesn’t give equal time to all candidates, some of the ones that dropped out because they didn’t get enough votes also didn’t get enough media coverage.

Blame it on Main Stream Media, they know who they want as president.  Let’s just hope it’s someone who understands the changes that need to be made in this country.

Well, tonight a second person told me they found my blog when looking for the new address for Apoc.

So, for any of you Apoc MUDders out there, yes this is Shar, and the address for ApocFE (Apocalypse Forever) is apocmud.usurped.com 4000.  I’d say you know the rest.

See you there 🙂

After several questions below, I asked on Facebook for what the current address is.  Hacket has the old url from Pestilence – apocmud.org 4000.  We also have a Facebook group – Apocalypse V – that a number of people are posting their quests.  Since I don’t have Internet at home at the moment, I have been unable to MUD lately, but I’ve been keeping updated by watching the group there.

Shar

Last night I decided to log onto the MUD I used to play.  For those who don’t know, a MUD or a Multi User Dungeon is the precursor to the MMORPG’s that many people play now.  It is a text based role playing game. 

 The MUD I used to play was Apocalypse IV, later to become Apocalypse V.  Now some of the long time players took over for the first game implementor.  They changed the name to Apocalypse Forever or ApocFE for short.

 I was surprised to see an old friend when I logged on.  Seeing him reminded me of how far I’ve come since I first started MUDding so many years ago.  In a way, it made me feel old.  Especially when I remember that my son was only 3 when I started playing.

Today, I had my niece again. My SIL asked if they could come over and hang out for 45 minutes then her daughter would stay with us until we dropped off my step-son. I said fine. Of course, SIL only stayed for maybe 20 minutes, but that didn’t surprise me. She won’t give her daughter up for adoption, but she isn’t the one taking care of her either.

DH’s mother died the year his son and niece were born. When his niece was 18 months old or thereabouts, she was taken from her mom for a lack of clean house/neglect. Their grandparents took his niece in. Once my SIL was able to have her daughter back, she still didn’t take care of her much. Or at least the last 2 years since I’ve been living here in Enid, she hasn’t been.

I think the grandparents are using my niece as a replacement for their daughter, or at least the grandmother. She talks as if no one else is capable of making sure DN’s homework is done, or even that DN is safe when we have tornado warnings. Umm yea, I was a single parent for 10 years, I don’t know anything about making sure that kids do their homework.

It’s really draining on me to watch this. I watch grandma treat DN as a baby. We’re talking about a 7-1/2 yo still drinking out of a sippy cup. She gets whatever she wants, all she has to do is start a screaming fit. Well, everything but one, she doesn’t get her mother’s attention like she should. Instead, she’s living with the grandparents (who are in their late 70’s/early 80’s). No one fun for a 7 yo to live with.

I watch as everyone gives in to what DN wants. The grandparents don’t like the tantrums, so give up and tell her she can do whatever she wants. SIL just gives in. I’m not sure if it’s because of guilt, or what is on her mind. She’ll say no the first time, then after the 3rd or 4th time, she says yes. DN doesn’t even bother asking me a 2nd time when I say no. She knows I won’t change what I say.

My heart breaks for that little girl. I really wonder what she thinks when she can get whatever she wants. Candy and sweets are the least of it. She’s so defiant, even with me. The only way I can get it to stop is to give her a time out. Of course, the first time out lasts about 30 minutes because she doesn’t stop screaming long enough for me to run the timer for 7 minutes. I finally have to tell her no, for the last time, she is not getting a drink until she is out of time out. I don’t care how thirsty she is. All she has to do is sit quietly for 7 minutes. If she hadn’t thrown this tantrum, she’d already be out of time out.

Actually, the last time I gave her a time out, she was quiet almost immediately. I think she finally gets it. Now if I could handle having her more often so I could help her. Before she goes too far and turns out like her mom, never able to hold down a job, always just living off others, mooching money for cigarettes and gas. Spending what money she does get on beer or other alcohol. Blowing her tax return on game systems for the latest guy she’s trying to keep.

Poor kid, my heart really breaks for my DN. One of these days, the grandparents are going to be gone. At that point, I suspect that DH and I will be the ones who are taking care of her. I only hope it is not too late.

I’ve been thinking about my father today. It would have been his 85th birthday. Wow, that just doesn’t seem possible that it has been 4.5 years since he died.

Whereever you are, daddy, I love you and miss you.

I used to make candles, but haven’t since I left Branson.  One of my favorite scents was Amish Friendship Bread.  I still have the link to the company who sold the fragrance oil, so when I finally do start melting wax again, I can use that scent.

Recently, a co-worker asked me if I wanted a starter for Amish Friendship Bread.   Since I have such fond memories of the candle scent, I said yes.  That was before I realized what was involved in this tradition.  When it comes time to make the bread 3 days from now, the directions say to put 1 cup of the starter in 4 different ziploc bags and mark them with the date.  Then I am to give the starter to friends with a set of directions on how to make the bread.  That sounds great in theory.  I’m just not sure I know enough people here in OK that would like the friendship bread starter. 

What am I supposed to do then?  Hand it out on the street? 

I can see that one now.  LOL! I suspect I would get some very strange looks when I tried to hand a bag of starter out. 

I saw some given away on FreeCycle.  I could do that.  Explain that I don’t know enough people in the area, and am not sure who I should give it to. 

Or I can make one batch, keep a bag of the mix for myself, then dump the rest down the drain. 

 After all, who would know what I did with it?  I’m sure Amari isn’t going to go looking in my trash. 

Or, since a batch makes 2 loaves of bread, I can figure out what would be left after taking out the 4 cups, double that amount and make 4 loaves of bread to bring some to work.  Then I can leave some starter on the desk with the bread, with the directions. 

Or I can make a single batch, and leave 3 bags of starter on the desk.  Then I can make some for the family in another 10 days.

 I still think the office is going to get overrun with Amish Friendship Bread starter. 

I was looking for a picture of the grade school I went to in the NorthEast Kingdom of Vermont.  When I’ve been talking to a few people here in Oklahoma, they’ve said they grew up in a small town.  Well, not many towns are smaller than Barton, VT.  According to http://city-data.com, the village of Barton has a population of around 750.  The neighboring town of Glover has around 950.  However, Barton has something that Glover does not have — there are two villages in the town of Barton.  That’s one of those irregularities of how Vermont figures out its towns. 

 Each town in Vermont comprises 36 square miles.  As a result, you can have several villages in the same town area.  Barton and Orleans are one example, Colchester and Mallet’s Bay are another.  I suspect the same goes for Essex and Essex Junction, but I’ve never lived there, so I don’t know for sure.

Which brings me to the title of my post.  Real Vermonters.  There used to be a series of books sold in local stores around Vermont talking about “Real Vermonters.” One of them was called “Out, The Vermont Secession Book.” All of Frank Bryan’s books are satire.  One of the running jokes is about ‘flatlanders.’ which by definition, is anyone who was not born and raised in Vermont.  Wouldn’t you know, I married a real ‘flatlander.’  As in someone from the great flat state of Oklahoma.  I know irony when I see it.

It’s the new year, and an election year to boot.  I’m going to be taking an in-depth look at the different political candidates and give my opinion.  Whether you want to listen to me or not, that’s your perogative.  Like Huckabee, I am Christian.  Unlike Huckabee, I do not feel we should be trying to bring God back into the US.  I believe that he never left.  God is only gone if we let him go. 

 Oh, and we can’t force our beliefs on anyone else. 

I know I haven’t posted much in the last 2 weeks.  It’s just been busy.  Like many all over the world, I’ve been working and trying to prepare for that most commercialized of holidays, Christmas. 

Don’t get me wrong, I believe that we should celebrate the birth of the baby Jesus.  I even insist on making a birthday cake either Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. 

I just don’t see the controversy over the whole Christmas vs Holiday vs Solstice argument.  If someone doesn’t want to celebrate on the 25th of December, that’s their perogative.  It’s not as if Jesus was actually born on the 25th of December.  Rather somewhere in the far distant past, the powers that be (not to be confused with the planet Petabee*) decided to take over the Winter Solstice celebration by the Druids in England.  They decided to move Jesus’ birthday celebration from whatever day it was originally to coincide with the shortest day of the year. 

 Instead of getting mad at those who want their preferences recognized, pray for them.  Remember, it’s not our place to judge.

 Granted, that’s not to say that we shouldn’t use our best judgement on electing a leader this next November.  It’s another case of pray for others.  Go by their actions, but remember that even the sinless Jesus told a prostitute to go and sin no more.  Everyone deserves a second chance.

 *Regarding Petabee — if you haven’t read Anne McCaffrey’s “The Powers That Be” ignore my reference entirely, or else go check out the book and stay warm this weekend 🙂

In the absence of any decent presidential candidate, I am going to revert to my Vermonter roots.  I say Bernie Sanders should run for president.  His focus is not on Iraq or a stupid declaration that since Iran has the knowledge to build nuclear weapons, we should wage war with them.  Instead, everyone knows where this Independant senator from Vermont stands on the issues.  His values have not wavered. 

According to a 2006 quote on the http://www.guardian.co.uk website (article is linked):

[Bernie] says his consistent electoral success reflects the widespread discontent with rising inequality, deepening poverty and dwindling access to affordable healthcare in the US. “People realise there is a lot to be learned from the democratic socialist models in northern Europe,” Mr Sanders said. “The untold story here is the degree to which the middle class is shrinking and the gap between rich and poor is widening. It is a disgrace that the US has the highest rate of childhood poverty of any industrialised country on earth. Iraq is important, but it’s not the only issue.”

At a time when Huckabee is being lambasted for pushing to free a convicted rapist, Romney is being accused of being Mormon (since when is this a crime?!?), Clinton and Obama are tearing each other’s throats out, Edwards is pushing mandatory mammograms (You know they’ve been shown to cause cancer, right, Mr. Edwards?).  I say we should throw all of the candidates out and start endorsing what matters to us. 

 So I say it again, Bernie Sanders for President.

Since Christmas time is coming, I thought I’d share something that is on our bulletin board at work.  Whether or not you support the war in Iraq, we need to support our troops.   They and others like them are the reason we are able to speak freely.   But more on that in a minute.

Since this is such a large list, I have created a .pdf version here.