Pet Peeve

One thing that has always - and I mean always - irritated me is when people mispronounce common words. Two instances - a contestant on American Idol who could not pronounce words like trachea and larynx. What's with that? The other word that really bothers me is when people say libary instead of library. Back in the cold north where DH and I lived for most of our lives, I worked with a woman who said libary on a regular basis, even going so far as to answer the phone where we worked by saying "Civic Center Libary." Grrrr. Here in Tennessee, I am shocked by the number of people who say it wrong.

It reminds me of people who say aks instead of ask. How can you expect to be taken seriously when you can't even say common English words. Unfortunately, the people I am talking about are not people for whom English is a second language.

Coffee, Audiobooks and Miscellania

I am so thankful for MP3 players. Thanks to my Sansa e140 I have had many pleasurable hours of listening to audiobooks. Which is a big thing here in Tennessee because our library here has no where near the number of audiobooks that the library I worked at in Michigan did. Fortunately, the state library has a program whereby I can go on their site and download audiobooks. Unfortunately, due to budget cuts they won't be getting any new audios until July when their fiscal year starts.

So I have started reading books again. You know those hardcover and paperback books you can buy at bookstores or borrow at libraries. Unfortunately, sitting and reading usually leads to sleep. Unless I am reading an action/adventure book - those keep me awake.

Besides being bourbon connoisseurs and beer snobs, DH and I love good coffee. Back in Michigan there were places such as Westborn Market and Joe's Produce, where we could buy whole bean flavored coffees. Here, very occasionally, Books-A-Million will sell whole bean Southern Pecan regular or decaf coffee. DH and I easily got hooked on it and then BAM will discontinue it. Last fall while in Michigan for a wedding, we bought a couple bounds of Southern Pecan regular coffee from Westborn - their supplier is Cadillac Coffee. Yesterday, DH and I placed an order for a case of it which consists of two five pound bags. We can hardly wait!

I thought the inauguration was interesting. Nice to see a flub during the oath of office. Really can't believe that Roberts didn't use a crib sheet.

Bummed that my counter is no longer working and I deleted it!

Holidays I Can Do Without

Number One on that list is Martin Luther King Day. I'm not saying he wasn't a great man, but celebrate what he stood for not him.

Number Two is President's day. It is an invention to get Federal Workers a long weekend. It wasn't bad when I was still working because it often extended the weekend around MY birthday!

Number Three is sure to get me in trouble - Memorial Day. This holiday was originally instituted to remember our Civil War dead. Now it is also used to commemorate our war dead from all wars - awfully similar to Veteran's day, wouldn't you say?

Number Four is Labor day. It basically honors Union members. I've never heard of non union members marching in a parade on Labor day. They mostly are at home drinking beer & eating burgers.

Number Five is Columbus day. Columbus DID NOT discover America. He missed us completely. And he was not even searching for America. Oh wait, the banks and post office get this day off don't they.

I like Veterans' Day. In my humble opinion we do not do enough for our veterans. And it seems that latter veterans are just short of being ignored. Can't we rename it Armed Services Day and celebrate the living and dead who fought for our freedom?

I think those are all the ones that really bug me.