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Good Day, Lovely Lunatics!!! I am having a "moment" at the moment - sort of one of those days when I'm thinking about how nice the summer months were for me, contemplating the fall and winter and hoping that it's enjoyable and fun. As usual, I have a lot to say :-] and no where to say it all - some of it's relevant to here (very little, that's why it's only about 1/8th PG-ish!), some of it's relevant to my personal life and some of it's relevant to my professional life (but can't really risk posting on facebook because some of the corporate types might not like what they read - even though it's dead-honest!), so I decided to create this thread and will now proceed with my random ramblings. My disclaimer: If you don't wish to read it, please don't. There is nothing in here that is going to change the way you live your life, nor is it going to solve any of the world's problems; it's just me having a chat with myself here :-] and who knows, perhaps one or two of you might read it and smile, or laugh or cry (I hope not!)(I would have to have a different disclaimer in the title: "Read it and weep!"). I had a lovely summer which began early in May (spring,I know) when I attended the PG show in NYC and met with so many of the lovely lunies I've come to know here on the moon. Matching names with faces was fun and the gathering was great (coordinated by some of the world's finest lunatic coordinators). The show was fabulous and it was a nice way to begin the summer for me. During the summer months, June through August, I hosted my young nieces (grandnieces, to be exact) during various times over the 3 months and we enjoyed ourselves a great deal. Some of our new ventures included visiting dairy farms and having the opportunity to milk a cow, feed a baby calf (this was by far, the most fun thing to do), hold chickens, roosters, bunnies, etc. and topping it all off with having the homemade ice cream! Our summer was incredibly hot - record-breaking temps in the 100s on many days so we spent a lot of time at the pool/lake, swimming. I always thoroughly enjoy the time spent with my family, especially with the young ones because I know that this gives them such a great treat - to be out of the city for a few weeks and is giving them some really good memories (I used to do this with my aunt also, so I know how special it was (and still is)). Having them here gives me a mini-vacation also because I get to "play" all week while we're visiting places and doing things. Since September, I've been keeping incredibly busy with work. We have been extremely busy, with a full census on a daily basis - and while that is "good" for the business, it's not always good for the patients who are sick nor for the staff who are working. The shifts I work have been incredibly hard - both physically and emotionally - because our patients are getting sicker - that is, when patients come into the hospitals these days, they are incredibly sick and require a lot of care, long stays in the hospital and it's sad to see how this healthcare situation has become so desperately bad. (Not on a soap box here, just my own personal/professional experience). We often do not have the adequate staff to care for the patients (with this level of acuity), so we're working doubly/triply hard to get the job done. When I come home from work, I often feel as if I've been run over by a truck - I catch a few hours of sleep and return again for more! Although I "only work weekends" (this is a comment that I loathe to hear someone say), my work "weekend" is a 3-day stint of overnight shifts (already not good for the body) and they are 13-14 hour shifts for 3 consecutive nights - not at all as "easy" as "only work weekends" sounds - it's quite difficult to do. I basically am working a full week's worth of work in 3 days (nights, in this case), so it's no picnic. And as for having "off" all week long - well, again, Tue-Wed-Thur are the only absolute days off for me - Mon is spent trying to recuperate from the weekend and Fri is spent trying to prepare for the weekend ahead. But, all in all, I wouldn't trade nursing for anything else in the world (except for winning the powerball!); I love what I do; I love the people (patients) I meet and it is my true calling. (Thanks for listening to my random rambling about my professional life!). I love the fall season and we are in full swing here - the trees are just gorgeous, with the various colors and I just love the smell of the fall. I've seen some deer in the park behind my house and I decided that I could never be a hunter or even a naturalist/researcher - I simply cannot stand to wait so long for the deer to appear :-] I'm watching and saying, "C'mon already, you know the berries are on the trees here, c'mon out and get it." Eventually, when they do arrive, they appear almost out of nowhere, first there's one, then there's five, 8 or nine. All beauties (and of course, they're protected here in the park, so no fear of being hunted). There is a rooster who lives across the river from the back of my house. I've yet to see him (because the trees are still full), but this guy cock-a-doodle-dos all freakin' day long - he has no sense of time and certainly has no sense of rhythm - he's going at it right now as I write this and I'm never sure when he'll stop (if he'll stop). He's a mighty rooster, that much I can say, but I worry that he's lonely and needs a few hens to keep him company. I was so happy to read about the PG shows in Europe and really wished I could have gone, but I know that all the lunies who were able to attend had a great time and share their experiences with us. I'm hoping for a dvd, some cds and more. I was very sad to hear about Tina's leaving and I wish her the very best in her future realworld adventures - watch out for those eagles and falcons, dear Tina! I think there are a few things that we lunies can always agree on and Tina's greatness (and Oracle-ness) is most definitely one of them. Well, enough random ramblings by this lunatic for now! Please feel free to add your ramblings - good or bad, but nothing hurtful, please, I don't have the will/strength to battle over lunatic ramblings :-] Kind regards to all,

I love this email I got from Tina just before she left - and she says some nice things about us lunatics: Hi Cyn, As long as you are sure. In that case I shall be happy to keep it. Thank you very much. My teacup likes to travel? That could be a song. Many thanks to you for interest in the world of PG. It has been a real pleasure to have been in contact with you – and in fact with all Peters fans. You are a great bunch of people. It's been amazing. 20 years? It doesn't seem like it. That only goes to prove the old saying that time flies by when you're enjoying yourself! Must dash – need to catch up with answering my e-mails before I chase after that pesky raptor! Wishing you all the very best for the future. Much love, Tina My daughter and I had a stressful and traumatic summer - at the end of June we got notice that the owners of our townhouse wanted to do renovations and we had 2 months to move We've lived there since Spring of '93, in July of 1993 Alysia went with me to Vancouver to see Peter Gabriel and his Secret World tour - she liked his shoes I discovered how hard it is to move with two cats - and most places either didn't accept pets or had something called a pet deposit - we bit the bullet and went into debt to pay the pet deposit We found a nice apartment on the third floor - we are in the same area as our former home - close to Bowen Park so this place is called Parkside Manor The downside is our cats have to be indoor cats - but they are adjusting I met our across the hall neighbour and found out she's into the weird, creepy and occult like me - only she has way more spooky stories than I do There's a very nice vibe here that hasn't nothing to do with the smell of marijuana wafting through the hallways at times So when we first got the news that we had to move we both were devastated, 17 years in the same place is a long time But it has turned out be a good thing and I have a feeling that life will be getting better and more interesting for me - as the songwriting seems to have moved up a notch in that I feel close to finding my Elton John

There is a rooster who lives across the river from the back of my house. I've yet to see him (because the trees are still full), but this guy cock-a-doodle-dos all freakin' day long - he has no sense of time and certainly has no sense of rhythm - he's going at it right now as I write this and I'm never sure when he'll stop (if he'll stop). He's a mighty rooster, that much I can say, but I worry that he's lonely and needs a few hens to keep him company. he sounds awesome. he just does what he does. no humans control him.

That's weird. . . no roosters control me. :-]

he will if he puts in for a twenty week maternity leave, paid.

Nice to read you again Dahli

Thanks for the notes, folks! Ezri - I also have a lovely letter from Tina (is it selfish of me not to want to share it? :-]) In any case, she did say the same things as in your letter and I know that she really enjoyed all of us, each for our own special ways. I hope that while she's waiting for her raptors to appear, she can pop in here now and then and read about our goings-ons. (I would think after so many years of being in PG's RealWorld, it's a bit tough to break away easily, so she might be easing out of here and into her new Real World). Dahli - So nice to see you again and I believe you're right - that rooster is definitely his own bird! Not knowing too much about roosters, I had researched it to check out why/when a rooster cock-a-doodle-dos and found that the idea that he only does it before sunrise is a myth. I did learn, however, that roosters will often do it to protect their hens from any impending dangers and they also do it just about any time they feel like it! LOL! So much for extensive research on the behaviors of roosters - they just do it if they feel like it; some are more vocal than others! Well, I've got meself a nice cock-a-doodle-doing rooster, who has a nice voice and apparently likes to hear himself rule the roost. I'm curious as to whether or not he's actually protecting any hens or just calling out to them. I'll have to take me a little field trip one day soon to find out. Rev - I'm trying to find a way to make this rooster work for me (and then I can "rule" him in a sort of way). If only I could get him to cock-a-doodle-do on specific times, I could promote him as a living, breathing alarm clock. I'll let you know how I make out. Well, I'm off to take a nap for work tonight (working an extra night to help out). Hopefully that rooster doesn't decide to wake me any time soon. Have a great weekend, everyone!!

Pat, this is for the work side, a little light of hope, two hours ago news : Discovery of a universal cancer marker http://translate.google.fr/translate?js=n&prev=_t&hl=fr&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&sl=fr&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.lefigaro.fr%2Fsante%2F2010%2F10%2F20%2F01004-20101020ARTFIG00713-decouverte-d-un-marqueur-universel-du-cancer.php

Well Pat, this thread may not have any useful information to save mankind and/or the world itself (or more important, my own problems :-]), but it's always a joy to hear from you.

Hey Pät, received the mail!

Pat, nice to read you again! Bob, Dali - am i missing something in the rooster exchange? i don't get it. is it because i occasionally listen to Phil Collins?

I think the rooster thing started in Pat's post "There is a rooster who lives across the river from the back of my house. I've yet to see him (because the trees are still full), but this guy cock-a-doodle-dos all freakin' day long - he has no sense of time and certainly has no sense of rhythm - he's going at it right now as I write this and I'm never sure when he'll stop (if he'll stop). He's a mighty rooster, that much I can say, but I worry that he's lonely and needs a few hens to keep him company."

Elliotte listening to phil is a definite/cetainly you're problem. Pat. the alarm clock would be ideal for most normal roosters but as you described this behavior, I have the notion that this big boy is not going to let anyone sleep on hia shift. lmao