Susan's Scribblings the Blog

Tag: life

• All You Can Enjoy

  Posted at 9:28 pm by kayewer, on April 11, 2026

  Today was a girls’ day out, and I spent an enjoyable day with two long-time friends at a huge smorgasbord and gift shop. Some of it I spent eating, a lot of it sharing conversation, and a little shrinking my paycheck funds. This is the kind of outing that is becoming rare, but we find time to spend with each other whenever possible, and this was one of the nicest Saturdays this year.

  The three of us arrived in time to have an early pre-dinner packed with everything an empty stomach could wish for. Utensils are one set per person, but plates are dutifully taken away as we went to get fresh ones and fill up with as much food as we could hold. None of us had eaten so much before, being seniors and watching our waistlines as they grow in spite of dieting.

  I started reasonably enough with seafood: salmon served at a cooking station, followed by helpings from hot trays brimming with fried shrimp, cod, crabmeat stuffed fish and plenty of sides. The next plate was piled with vegetables, including broccoli, peas, Brussels sprouts, carrots, mushrooms and mixed beans. The one thing I avoided was salad, since I ate salads all week. Plate three included chicken tenders, baked potato, crab cakes and more sides. Finally, the meal ended with plentiful desserts of key lime and apple pie, chocolate cake and specialty puddings.

  Then we shopped. The gift shop is the size of a department store emporium and populated with collectibles and local crafts. We each have a favorite artist, and we grabbed a cart to take a tour around the building and choose our bounty to take home. I looked at wind chimes and found the pricing a bit steep, so I made a few choices of my favorite collectibles, and my companions narrowed their selections down to some much-desired items. By the time we left, we had hands filled with bags (and one large box for an oversized collectible that had no bag to fit in).

  The best part of the outing was the camaraderie and conversation, which I’ve lacked for most of the past three months. Bad weather and my return to the office have upended my life this winter, but we were able to make time at last to spend together, and the April weather didn’t make it difficult. The drive was calm, the crowds reasonable, and the overall experience was pleasant.

  It’s nice for once to not have a negative thing to say, and we should find ways to bring such joy into our lives as we move from a brutal winter into a (so far) promising spring. Fill your plates with happiness, let your tummies gurgle with delight and your soul sing from the enlightenment of interactions with others.

  And it’s okay to burp.

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  Posted in Uncategorized | 0 Comments | Tagged family, food, life, travel, writing

• To Go Quietly

  Posted at 7:30 pm by kayewer, on March 28, 2026

  Some weeks it is more difficult to find happiness in the news than others. This past week my heart broke for a woman named Noelia Castillo Ramos, a young woman of 25 from Spain. It’s alleged she was brutalized, possibly on two or three occasions. After the last degrading incident in October 2022, in desperation she jumped from a building to bring an end to her psychological torment, only to survive with partial paralysis and chronic pain.

  A policy in the country known as the Organic Law Regulating Euthanasia is available to put an end to interminable suffering, and Noelia applied in 2024 for the right to decide her own fate. Her petition was challenged by her father and a group of Christian lawyers who argued that she did not have the mental clarity to make such a decision. Three courts overruled the father’s protests. In one of her last interviews, Noelia said the decision was personal, and she did not want to appear as a torch bearer for euthanasia as a solution for anybody else but herself under her circumstances.

  On Thursday, March 26, Noelia voluntarily received an infusion of intravenous drugs designed to bring about a painless end. Her mother and a close friend were denied entry to be with her. She chose to leave life by herself.

  Of the more than 1100 people in Spain who chose euthanasia, only two were younger than her by 2-3 years.

  It’s not just the tragedy of somebody departing this world so young and aware of what tortures this life can bring, but the fact that none of the alleged assailants were ever brought to trial. There also remain questions about quality of life when the mind is clouded by images of inhuman indulgences and the body bombarded by jolts of pain from within (or worse, rendered lifeless by the disconnect of nerves and muscle response).

  Why is it we are so used to hearing about man’s inhumanity to man, yet we balk at some people’s attempts to humanely bring an end to themselves? Who are we to determine that one or the other is more abominable? Noelia’s suffering is over, and several men who hastened her end are walking free for all we know, when they are the true criminals.

  We cannot find more happy news if we ignore and do nothing about the bad news.

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  Posted in Uncategorized | 0 Comments | Tagged euthanasia, life

• Melting Away Slowly

  Posted at 7:07 pm by kayewer, on February 28, 2026

  It appears we have experienced what could be called a “proper” winter this year. We had record-setting snowfall and temperature drops, sleet, ice, and the Olympics. The month of March promises to be a last hurrah for Old Man (or should we call him Elderly?) Winter, and warmer climates are promised in the coming week after a brief period of uncertainty in which we may receive more sleet and snow before all rain possibly melts away the remnants of the two big storms we had in two months.

  Unfortunately, I live on the wrong side of the block, with the sun casting shadows from behind our homes, so everybody on my side still has piles of leftover snow on the front lawns, while those on the other side are almost fully green except for a few leftover high white spots from shoveling. They’re the lucky ones. They can put winter behind them and start decorating for spring.

  My driveway is still patchy with piles of what I needed to slide off my car to go to work. For a full month, after the blizzard at the end of January, I couldn’t even open my side door because of a mound of solid ice which had drifted into a permanent statue on the steps. My gate was frozen in place, and I couldn’t even reach the bird feeders and resorted to scattering seeds atop the ice for them.

  I remember the famous blizzard of 1978, when it seemed like the last vestiges of that white stuff removal nightmare lingered into May. Parking lots in shopping centers still held corners piled high with condemned, compacted crystals blackened by car exhaust and sporting the occasional discarded paper cup.

  Sometimes it really does seem that winter won’t throw in the towel at all. Until the first crocuses bloom, or the trees sport the first buds, and it’s possible to step out the front door without a sweater, and the heating bills don’t make you faint. For those of us who are not fond of coexisting with winter, these are the rewards of patience and perseverance.

  For those of you unwilling to retire your skis to the closet for another season, may I suggest the South Pole?

  Truly, I have had enough of the season. It’s time for daffodils and tulips and lots of greenery.

  By the end of the week, I hope to have my front lawn back. If not, I will personally go out and shovel it away and into my back yard where the sun will make short work of it all. Let my neighbors look at me like I’ve gone senile. Perhaps I am nuts. Nuts for warm weather, bright colors and robins.

  Winter, begone!

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  Posted in Uncategorized | 0 Comments | Tagged life, nature, snow, weather, winter

• Free Secretary

  Posted at 3:24 pm by kayewer, on February 7, 2026

  I’m old enough to remember when high schools held typing classes. The business education room consisted of row after row of desks with huge and heavy IBM Selectric (R) typewriters perched on top. They were metal and weighed between 30 and 50 pounds, which was a task suited more to the maintenance workers (no IT back then) than the young women like me to try and move around. Even sliding one on the desk was a challenge.

  The machines came in colors such as blue, black and red, with stationary keys embedded in the top and a “golf ball” style interchangeable font device which snapped in place. The design meant no sideways moving parts, which was a miracle of modern technology then. Other typewriters had a platen or cylinder which moved from right to left as the typist completed each line and required a manual shift up to the next line of type and a return to the right. The type ball/golf ball instead moved internally from left to right and positioned itself to imprint the characters on the page as the keys were pressed, striking the inked ribbon in front of the paper inside.

  Anybody from GenX or younger is probably aware that their mouths are stuck open right about now.

  Young high school women trained in basic typing skills, and we had contests for speed and accuracy. Our grade system gave an A to speeds of 60 words per minute or better. Rumor had it that a nearby high school only required 50 words per minute. By the time I was 20, I had graduated to over 90, thanks in no small part to my high school typing class, and the high bar they set.

  So why did we take typing classes? We were anticipating working in administrative roles such as secretaries or clerks, which required typing letters, meeting notes and corporate materials. IBM had cornered three quarters of the business market by the 1980s, so we were graduating with an almost guaranteed skill we could use right away.

  Of course, clerical and secretarial positions in the workplace are not what they used to be. 96 percent of administrative assistants (the modern job title) are still women, but typing has moved from navigating those toddler-weight behemoths to computers one can carry in a hand. Children in elementary school learn basic keyboarding. The role of the woman professionally dressed in a blouse and skirt clicking away is nearly gone.

  Why do I bring this up?

  I was recently tasked at work with taking customer calls to back up a growing queue during severe weather. One of the incoming call options enabled the customer to receive a callback based on their place in the queue, so they wouldn’t need to hold. In the time many people spend what they consider an annoying amount of time on hold, they might have typed 90 words per minute. Or won a round of the latest video game.

  As I was taking one of these incoming callbacks, I received a voice message asking me to identify myself for the person whom I was calling.

  The person’s phone was the secretary, without the front desk, typewriter or keyboard. The device was screening its user’s calls so they could accept or reject me. A few calls came through like that. One even acknowledged my name when relaying the message, which I found slightly creepy.

  All those years of perfecting my typing skills so I could sit at a desk and interact with people, replaced by a digital entity.

  Makes me regret never having bought an IBM typewriter.

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  Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment | Tagged Books, computers, ibm-selectric, life, technology, typing-classes, writing

• False Start

  Posted at 3:46 pm by kayewer, on January 3, 2026

  I don’t know what happened to 2026, but it got off on the wrong foot if you ask me. In my region, we awoke to a January 1 surprise. I went to bed early since I had made no plans to celebrate (and no food in the house with which to do so), and I woke up to a coating of snow on the ground containing a mix of sleet. This meant I spent part of the morning scraping, shoveling, sweeping and chopping to clear the sidewalks and my car.

  Fortunately this chilly start to the year didn’t put a damper on the Philadelphia tradition of marching the Mummers along Broad Street, but it did affect the competitive portion for the string bands. They performed without their large props due to high winds. The committee responsible for the judging and awarding of prizes for the best of the bands are working out when and how to reschedule the event so they can receive the accolades they deserve.

  The string bands march last in the outdoor portion of the parade, and their elaborate performances are the highlight of the entire day. Leave it to Mother Nature to start the New Year with a long-winded weather event. It’s prudent to postpone; however, the leader of each band carries a large backpiece which, if picked up by a heavy wind, could blow him to Pittsburgh, and they still marched wearing them. The other performers, who sport smaller backings, could be bowled over by high gusts, so safety first makes sense for the staged episodes (they bring everything with them to perform at designated spots throughout the parade route). There were no reports of flying Mummer sightings.

  On Friday I had to work, so I promptly signed in and began doing reports for the end of the month and year, followed by customer feedback. We have an online form which asks for the basics, but of the dozens of incoming notices I received, practically none of them were filled out properly. I blame the lingering effects of reveling on Wednesday evening, but also wonder if people are just unable to perform such simple tasks anymore.

  When I went out to run errands today, you wouldn’t even know there had been December holidays. I stopped by a mall for a few essentials and found that Christmas had been dismantled, and much of the winter gear was on clearance with swimwear on the racks. I decided not to buy clearance sweaters, since I already have a decent supply, as well as enough to get me through spring and summer.

  The local patisserie was quiet, and I didn’t need to wait in line. However, they ran out of tongs for the usual “grab and go” ritual. I skipped going to the supermarket as this is the first weekend of the month and the benefit check cart brigades fill every store all weekend long. If you’ve never caught the spectacle, it’s a comedy of confusion as a car filled with shoppers descend and grab carts to fill to overflowing with a month’s worth of food at once. It’s not as if the stores close down, but more that the money needs to be put in the proper place right away so the family can at least eat for 31 days. Thank goodness for February and a shorter month to stretch that benefit a bit more.

  My last stops were the bird food store and my favorite bath needs place for supplies. The birds get yummy seeds, and I get cleansers and moisturizers. Luckily I still have funds left, as it was my payday as well yesterday.

  The overall impression was that we’re all exhausted from December, and returning to what we call normal on Monday won’t be easy or pleasant. But we now have 356 days before the next Christmas madness, which will fall on a Friday, as will the New Year 2027. The best we can do is soldier on and look forward to other milestones such as the start of Daylight Saving on March 8, the end of winter on March 20 (spring equinox), and Memorial Day, which is 142 days away on May 25.

  Are you blown away?

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  Posted in Uncategorized | 0 Comments | Tagged life, music

• 2025 The Year in Review

  Posted at 3:07 pm by kayewer, on December 27, 2025

  We have finally come to the end of a grueling and unpredictable twelve months. Next year America marks its 250th year as a nation, or semiquincentennial, with July 4 festivities and events filling our lives with a sense of hope and unity. Pragmatically, it should not matter what the populace in the capitol are like, as long as we hold to the values that got us through the other 249 years since the founding fathers signed documentation freeing us to be what we dream to be.

  Part of my dream was to be a regular blogger, which I have done for nearly two and a half decades, including here on WordPress. I haven’t taken a break for some time, posting each week on Saturday afternoons, occasionally adjusting when events in my life necessitated.

  In 2025 I posted articles about a variety of topics from South Korean business lunches, circus peanut snacks and how to properly fold paper around a McDonald’s Snack Wrap, to people who died and weren’t found for years, and word from the impoverished city of Camden that nobody died from violence all summer this past year. We looked at dieting and health, including cortisol and the last people using iron lungs to sustain them after surviving polio.

  I shared stories about crafting, decluttering, preparing tipsy holiday drinks, getting my feet too clean (they got blisters), and surviving being attacked by a sharp vegetable peeler.

  We looked at stadium webcam scandals, bullying, crosswalk etiquette, how to enter one’s name on an online form, the need for penmanship in schools and self-restraint in everyday life.

  With luck, some of what I wrote was enjoyable or useful.

  Now that 2026 is coming, it’s time to reflect inward and decide what the next year will entail. I know that I will probably be returning to the workplace, as my job informed me of it back in October. The target date has been pushed back to nobody knows when, but I will do what I have always done: carry on.

  The new year offers chances to make changes or new decisions, and I have quite a few coming up. Let’s hope the course is a smooth one for us all. We deserve it.

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  Posted in Uncategorized | 0 Comments | Tagged Books, faith, family, life, writing

• Yule Blog 2025

  Posted at 3:11 pm by kayewer, on December 20, 2025

  The holidays of 2025 have descended upon us again. By “the holidays,” I mean Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and New Year’s. And those are just the most commonly known ones. December 21 is Winter Solstice or Yule, the shortest day of the year. There is also Boxing Day (referring to the donation receptacle for the poor found at churches, not pugilism), and a little-known celebration on December 26 called Zarathosht Diso which commemorates the death of a prophet worshipped by the Zoroastrians for over 4000 years. Followers trek to temples or spend time in reflection and readings.

  For the second year in a row, I decided to make limoncello. Those of you who tuned in a few weeks ago know how the initial prep went on Thanksgiving. Since then my hacked-up finger has healed, and the infusion is now ready for simple syrup and distribution into jars to give to excited consumers who enjoyed my first batch.

  I still plan the usual beef for Christmas dinner and pork for New Year’s, though my beef this year will be a decent brand of hamburger as the eye roast prices are seriously over budget. A trip to “Ack-a-me” brought out the “Ack!” response upon seeing the price per pound. Albertson’s is having a bad year.

  As to other holiday traditions, I and others will tune into a Turner network at some point between Christmas Eve and late Christmas Day to watch Ralphie shoot his eye out with a Red Rider air rifle (A Christmas Story), and folks in Sweden will watch Donald Duck (or “Kalle Anka”) and the legacy Disney ensemble in a traditional holiday broadcast promptly at 3:00 PM on Christmas Eve. Also I will be bingeing a few episodes of my newest diversion on Passionflix, The Black Dagger Brotherhood. And for those rolling their eyes, there appears to be nothing about channel owner Tosca Musk’s character that screams negativity, so I’m checking out the broadcast story before reading the books and supporting the performers.

  The mall parking lots are the fullest they’ve been all year, a testament to the return of holiday shopping madness, so I have not set foot in any mall since before Thanksgiving. Also, the stomach virus has infiltrated nearby towns to our west, and so I’m trying to stay more than a lightyear away from anything or anybody from which I could pick up that gastrointestinal terror from the microscopic world of germs.

  Next week will be a recap of 2025 and a look ahead. One must have something to look forward to, and a major event is our 250th anniversary as a nation, flaws and all.

  Be safe, don’t overspend, and don’t forget to watch something holiday themed on television.

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  Posted in Uncategorized | 0 Comments | Tagged christmas, family, holiday, holidays, life

• Cornered

  Posted at 4:28 pm by kayewer, on November 15, 2025

  I went to an event in Pittsburgh, PA today, which means that this Jersey girl drove across the entire commonwealth and back, which takes a little over nine hours round trip. Having done this excursion before, I got smart and took a hotel room overnight instead of spending an entire day driving to and from. By the time I navigated traffic in the infamous Philadelphia concrete car-choking freeway that is known as the “Sure Kill Expressway,” I was famished and tired. I did what any red-blooded average person does; I stopped at McDonald’s to pick up “linner.” That’s a word for when you get late lunch or early dinner, to the uninitiated, just like brunch is breakfast/lunch.

  The chicken wraps are a popular choice, and they still had a third spicy buffalo version available, so I bought one of each. When I got the bag home, each wrap was lovingly bundled like a baby with a sticker on the corner of the paper to prevent unravelling. The buffalo wrap was even given special treatment because it had no wrapper of its own, so the order slip was attached to it to identify it from the other two.

  This is where it got interesting. And forgive me for being such a detail-oriented persnickety person.

  The other two wraps were done the exact same way; same rolling technique, same sticker. Two cleanly executed handfuls of my not having to cook. When I unwrapped the first, however, I realized that the wrapper itself was designed to identify the two varieties of chicken wrap: Spicy or Ranch. The Spicy wrap has red labelling in the corner, and Ranch has blue, across from each other on the same paper wrapper. The trick is that the person doing the wrapping has to remember to put the hot item into the opposite corner of what it is, placing the Ranch wrap in the Spicy corner and vice versa, so that when it is rolled and closed with the sticker, the identity of the type of wrap is clearly marked on the outside.

  Both of mine were identified as Spicy. Inside one, though, was the Ranch I ordered.

  Who knew chicken wraps could have an identity crisis?

  As I bit into my Ranch wrap which identified as Spicy, I pondered the absurdity of the issue, wishing at the same time that whoever was cranking out the chicken wraps would actually experience an epiphany and figure out how the paper was supposed to be applied. I don’t know if this is just me or just them, but either the person wasn’t trained, or they didn’t realize that this was the key to something small but important in how to identify similar items. If three people ordered different wraps, the buffalo order was easy to spot, but the others needed to be unwrapped to figure out which was which.

  Anyway, the wraps were wonderful, the fries tasty as always, and the grumbling in my tummy has subsided.

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  Posted in Uncategorized | 0 Comments | Tagged food, life, restaurants, travel

• Redux

  Posted at 8:17 pm by kayewer, on October 4, 2025

  Life is truly a realm of transitions. From the moment of birth, we begin evolving and growing, and as we become sentient, we also make choices and decisions and change them constantly. Occasionally we cling desperately to some ideals and concepts at considerable cost to our sense of self. The changes we make alter the course of our lives from one time to another.

  In my decades of life, I have found a unique niche in writing which has been both a joy and torture. When an elementary teacher first took an interest in my assignment preparation technique, and later when I was sent to an advance creative writing workshop at the high school, the faculty treated me as if I were a burden by having any type of talent. It became clear that I was expected to not succeed, possibly in favor of other students with more desirable, but unspoken, traits.

  It’s wonderful for the ego to have those who are supposed to be shaping your character break it down by shoving metaphorical bamboo shards under your emotional fingernails.

  Occasionally my writing has brought positive responses and rewards, but on others I have lost privileges and my feelings of worth. At present I have had some tests of resolve which I cannot ignore. My current project is a series of novels which are being critiqued, and it’s been a harrowing journey. While I sort out the particulars of my project and try to keep the rest of my personal life in order, my blog may be shorter or more sporadic, though I will strive toward the former to keep my promise of consistency for you, my devoted readers.

  All of the publicity in our world says that a life should be well-lived, and the key is to not leave anybody out of that opportunity, and I include myself in that concept. For all the negativity, isolation, bullying, ignorance and cruelty I have experienced, the balance of positivity, companionship, kindness, knowledge, and empathy have put too much stress on the wrong side of the scale. My health has suffered, and I have felt banned from an essential part of what makes our country great: the pursuit of happiness.

  The process of reinvention can be difficult, but trial and error must eventually lead to success, and that is what I will be striving for in the weeks to come. I hope you will continue to follow my journey with me.

  After all, the year isn’t over yet; it’s only week 40 of 52. Anything is possible in twelve weeks.

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  Posted in Uncategorized | 0 Comments | Tagged blog, blogging, life, mental-health, writing

• Cut To The Chase Already

  Posted at 3:24 pm by kayewer, on September 20, 2025

  When I first began posting on this blog, I wanted to be sure I didn’t make my entries feel like interminable cliffhangers. So much on social media prompts viewers to “click for more,” and I don’t want to be one of “those” people who strings readers along without a reasonably timely payoff.

  Here, therefore, are some of the things you may have been lured into by social media like Pennywise trying to grab a child from under the sewer grate, without any suffering involved. Also included are some quick pieces of (what I hope is) sage advice. Nothing wordy. Just the advice parts.

  Pink Himalayan sea salt mixed with lemon juice and water is not a dietary kick starter, and definitely not a substitute for injectables or proper diet and exercise. What it may do is provide hydration similar to Gatorade(R) or other such beverages. Don’t waste your time, and ask your doctor or a dietician.

  There is a diet personality named Dr. Gundry who pooh-poohs the idea of eating oatmeal for breakfast because of lectins, which supposedly affect your gut health. Oats are for horses, he says. Many experts tout oatmeal, particularly the steel cut variety, as having great heart benefits and the ability to control diabetes and cholesterol because of another substance called beta-glucan. If you have digestive issues, ask your healthcare provider for personalized advice on what to have for breakfast, rather than watching a soapbox-standing barker on social media. I have eaten three-minute steel cut oatmeal daily for years, and my lab numbers are just fine.

  The best way to deal with procrastination is to not put off the entire project, but to start on a piece of the project you can handle, and work your way up from there. I managed to declutter with this method.

  Before becoming entrenched in a new series on a streaming service for which you would have to pay, check on social media for people who have already watched it and listen to their opinions. You may decide, as I did, not to get started on a show because it obviously was not what I had hoped it would be.

  I received negative feedback from somebody, and it really hit me hard. I recently found that somebody else had a similar experience with the same person. So it wasn’t just me, and I wish I had asked about it sooner. Not only am I re-committed to what I was going to give up on, but my being ticked off is fueling my rebound. That’s not a bad thing.

  If you need a restraining order, you need to get that person away from you with more than just a piece of paper. Somebody that desperate to cling to you is dangerous. Not convinced? Look up some of the people who are no longer with us because the restrained person simply did in the restrainer. Don’t be another one of them.

  Just because somebody posts an opinion doesn’t mean it’s gospel. Who is the person? What else do they support or detest? Do research before you click the like button.

  If a person provides an opinion you don’t agree with, remember all the opinions they gave that you did agree with, and measure against what you like and don’t like. You may simply chalk it up to being human. Humans are flawed, after all.

  Always look at the sender’s email address, especially when it’s delivered as spam. If the email doesn’t resemble an actual business or entity, it’s probably a scam. If they offer something with a series of steps that seems odd, it’s probably a scam.

  We in the US are subjected to more dangerous food additives than in Europe (including the UK), because we don’t ban as many of these chemicals. Their products may be less brightly colored, but they are certainly healthier. That says something for stores that carry imported versions of products, and they may be worth trying. They are expensive, however.

  When you step outside your front door, the world’s rules govern you. When you are inside your home, your rules govern all who enter. Just remember that they also have the option to not stay.

  I hope some of these snippets will benefit you, because I took considerable time to gather and present them in the simplest way possible to save you time, effort and possibly health problems. You are welcome to submit your own or let me know if any of the advice here has benefitted you.

  Excuse me while I prepare my oatmeal.

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  	Eden on And Her Shoes Were #9