It's almost 1:30 PM, and, by now, Indianapolis is a little less stinkingly-cute and Anderson is a little more stinkingly-cute, because our awesome Can Man and Tab King is back home again!!!
He always hates to leave his Indy friends but is simultaneously-ready to return home and settle back into his life here again -- a life that just keeps on getting better and better!!!
While all of us who know and love him here are happy to see him go on his special and much-deserved vacation, we're always VERY happy to know that he's in town again.
Check out the neat pictures Rachel took of him last Friday (July 26), and read what I've written about him here. I hope a whole bunch of people show up!!!
On this note, I'm going to sign off, as it will soon be time for me to get ready to go. After all of this writing I've been doing about this, I would hate to end up not showing up.
Hurricanes are serious business -- However, there are parts of life that can be even MORE terrifying than having a hurricane heading towards the neighborhood where an individual/couple/family lives. I'm talking about something so terrifying that some people would take chances with riding out the storm instead of leaving to go to a safe shelter.
What is it that he/she/they is/are afraid will happen if he/she/they leave(s)?
Is/Are he/she/they afraid that looters will come steal from him/her/them if he/she/they vacate(s) the premises?
Is/Are he/she/they afraid that somebody (e.g. friend and/or relative) will come looking for him/her/them, find him/her/them gone, and be worried?
Back in 2018, John Pavlovitz wrote about people who were staying put during Hurricane Florence instead of leaving to go somewhere safe. Why would they take such a risk?
Read the answer below -- and be sure to click on it to read the entire Tweet sequence. It's an eye-opener!!!
Sickened tonight, listening to the stories of the many people living in this state, who refuse to evacuate areas threatened by Hurricane Florence; not because they don't believe there is a danger or because they aren't terrified—
When you click on the something very special happened hyperlink in the previous paragraph, scroll down to see what I wrote. Then, click on the [ f ] in the upper-right-hand corner of the picture to see what Rachel wrote.
Below, find a picture of Larry at Anderson Speedway showing off his 20,000,000th tab later that night.
On Tuesday, July 9, Larry and Rachel went down to Ronald McDonald House to drop off all of the tabs he has counted since the last time he was down there to drop off tabs, and he definitely had a whole bunch.
Check out these heartwarming pictures where you can tell that Larry really enjoys doing this.
Larry and some of the staff out in front of Ronald McDonald House...
Getting his latest total recorded...
This is what the records looked like with Larry's July 9 visit...
A page from Larry's own records that will give you an idea of how thorough he is. He says that, if he's going to be getting credit for donating so many tabs, he wants to make sure that there are that many tabs and not just an estimate by weight. He also wants to make sure that they're all aluminum (which is the only thing used by RMH in their tab-collecting campaign), so he goes over each one with a magnet to test them (non-aluminum ones will be picked up by the magnet).
When Larry began counting tabs back in 2003 (at the request of friends with a child in the hospital), he was planning on just counting a million and quitting. He had no idea that he'd still be counting 16 years later and would be counting this many.
He began doing this alone, but, after people found out what he was up to, they began to bring their tabs to him. He still goes out and collects his own, but he now has lots of help in getting them, so his main role is being the one to count them and get them to RMH.
He's quick to remind everybody that it isn't him doing this alone, and he considers everybody helping him with this ongoing mission to be part of a very special family.
Here's the next big event. Here's hoping to be there and hope you will be, too, if you're in the area. Larry is going to be getting extra-special recognition for counting his 20,000,000th tab!!!
He even has a new haircut for the occasion! Doesn't he look fetching!?!
Be sure to click on the [ f ] in the upper-right-hand corner of this pic to read what Rachel wrote about Larry's arrival in Indy. It will melt your heart!!!
Larry actually has his suitcase packed several days in advance from when he leaves for these special trips to Indy with part of the contents of his suitcase being packed even WEEKS before he leaves -- so, do you think he's excited or not!?!
Larry has the mission of collecting tabs for our local Ronald McDonald House, but there are other Ronald McDonald Houses with their own campaigns. Below find more about one of the people who does this and who got to meet Larry last year.
Giving a special shout-out to a lady named Jaz who has become buddies with Larry's buddy, Rachel.
More pictures and info about Jaz...
Brenna and her family aren't among those who have stayed in a Ronald McDonald House, but I'm including her story as a very remarkable young lady whose life was interrupted by leukemia during her senior year of high school.
I have also made another blog-entry here about her that also includes, among the other shout-outs, a shout-out to Larry.
I'm going to finish this with the story about another special young lady.
Don't forget to click on the [ f ] to read more than what's showing up here -- which is a great idea for ANY embedded items like this one that I post here...
While Larry's enjoying all of the positive attention, awards, etc. he's been getting -- and is still a bit baffled by at times -- he says that this has never been what it's about for him. It's about the kids -- plain and simple -- and he's just one person out of many who have made this possible.
I love this video of him that was made in the late autumn of 2017 when he was counting towards his 16,000,000th tab. It pretty much says it all, and viewing it will really melt your heart!!!
Please make this blog-entry go viral -- and, if you're close enough to get there, please show up on Friday at Monument Circle and/or drop by his hotel to say "Hi!" -- with or without tabs!!!
I'd like to first give a big shout-out to Delta Air Lines where Kristi Lizzy Rice is employed for their past and continuing understanding, compassion, and overall kindness to not only Kristi and her family but to their other employees as well.
Until today, I didn't even know anything about Kristi; her daughter, Brenna; and what they're going through until I found a post from her in a comment section of one of Abigail Disney's status reports on her Facebook Page.
I'm copying and pasting a copy of it here:
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kristi Lizzy RiceThank you! While I am not underpaid, I am unable, even with full-time employment and insurance to financially survive 34 months of cancer treatment. It is NOT realistic - single mother, $20K in deductibles, no pediatric cancer treatment facility within 100 miles - have to double our living expenses to rent in a city to be close to hospital. Like those who cannot afford their insulin, my daughter won't die because the treatment failed, it will because I failed to afford to treat her. @brennas_journey
This will make it even easier to share with others.
You can go to the top of this page, copy the URL, and paste it into any place that you might want to share it.
Rest assured that the GoFundMe meme for Brenna is safe to enter. It won't make you donate even a penny against your will, so don't be hesitant to enter and read her story and her progress reports; look at photos; view messages that other people have left, etc.
You can even share Brenna's page from there as well as inviting others to view it.
Kristi has already acted on my invitation to write in the comment section of the Status Report about what she, Brenna, and her the rest of her family are going through.
Let's make this go viral!!!
Before I sign off, I would like to end here with a another shout-out to an awesome friend and share a very important milestone that he has recently reached.
Scroll down past the meme, and read what I wrote in the blog-entry. Then, click on the meme, itself to learn even more.
I believe I joined Amazon around 2002 and created this profile around the same time. It's past time for an update, but I wanted to be sure to make a copy of my old bio block first as it will show you the life I once lived... Hi! I'm Ainsley Jo Phillips, a 'Heinz 57' freelance writer born, raised, and still living just south of Anderson, Indiana. I live in a converted barn--a work in progress--that I'm turning into an oversized enchanted cottage. My folks live a few feet away in the house we had custom-built in 1967. Originally, we lived in the house that came with the farm when we bought it back in 1954, but we sold that and a large lot around it to another family. I cringe at some of the horrible stuff that many people call 'adventure' (e.g. bungee-jumping, roller-coasters, paintball games, etc. and the even worse ones like substance abuse, head-banging, crowd-jumping), but I would still describe myself as adventurous, especially, when it comes to meeting new people, travel, food (though no raw fish or catmeat for me), and the creative arts (but, in my book, adventure is no excuse for smut). I'm active in my church (Colonial UMC, 538 E. 31st. Street--come visit sometime!)and believe that church service is a 24/7 thing that goes way beyond the walls of my chosen house of worship. My motto is simple: W.W.J.D.? I rejoice at any sign that the American Dream and genuine childhood still has blossoms and vines running through our contemporary chaos. I am not--and refuse to--become a cynic!
As you can see if you read THIS, I have my own longing for a return to times like this yet celebrating my present life as well...Definitely had the blues yesterday but feel better today.
I'm growing weary of not knowing where I stand with people and where I fit in...I believe that this is the storm before the rainbow, but I wish the rainbow would hurry up and get here...
— WatchOut4CrazyPenLady! (@AJ1952Chats) July 15, 2019
There is something missing now, and I keep hearing life's woes being blamed on immigrants (especially, dark-skinned ones) and other marginalized people -- and, at this time, I'm feeling marginalized myself.
There's just a lot going on in my life right now, and I've been seeing some people looking at me with scornful expressions on their faces and/or scornful tones in their voices.
This too shall pass, but I just needed to write this down. I have feelings, too...
— WatchOut4CrazyPenLady! (@AJ1952Chats) July 16, 2019
Don't think that you're above me and that a situation like mine will never happen to you.
Each of us has a story to tell.
Each journey is unique...
What I'm going through now isn't a lovelorn problem even though some of these songs are lovelorn songs, but it has to do with finding where I fit in otherwise and feeling kinda like this:
A friend from Louisiana Tweeted about her Wi-Fi acting up, and she was wondering if it had to do with Hurricane Barry.
Anyway, I had been having some frustrating experiences with my phone and computer (and friends in my area as well as other places have been having trouble with their OWN phones, computers, etc. where there has been no hurricane or even any other kind of newsworthy weather to blame it on), so I began writing this Tweet as a response.
Then, I realized that what I was putting together was quote-worthy and decided to sign and date it for posterity.
And, now, I've taken it a step further to illustrate it with a GIF and embed it here as a blog-entry.
Who knows? Maybe it will make it into one of those quotation books in the future and even be turned into a cryptogram.
Anyway, I thought it should be preserved just because it reflects our culture at this particular time.
Yeah! I know the title of this is Pig 'n' Bling (And A Little Ringo), but that doesn't mean that I'll be presenting each one in the same order. I think I'm going to mix things up at bit just because I can and just because they will give this blog-entry the best presentation.
I was actually going to have this blog-entry posted right on Ringo's 79th Birthday and on the grand-opening day of Casey Croy Laub's five dollar Bling store, but I've been having a lot of things going on that I won't go into here except to say that they all seem to be coming at me at the same time.
Some of them are things that elate me. Others are things that could deflate me -- though I'm determined not to let that happen, and I'm (as that familiar song goes) getting by with a little help from my friends.
Do you know that tomorrow will be the 44th anniversary of when that song was sung to me in a way that I'll never forget by a puppy dog of a man named Mark!?!
The first full week of July is a celebration week for me because, in 1975, I borrowed either 20 cents or a dime from Mark so I could get an orange out of the vending machine on campus as the bookstore wasn't open to where I could break a $20 (one of those Harriet-Andrew bills that was simply an Andrew bill at that time). It turned out that the bookstore opened up sooner than I thought it would, so I went and got some change so I could pay Mark back.
He kept telling me not to worry about it, so I finally convinced him to at least sit at the table in the canteen and share the orange with me.
He told me that he had recently been screwed over by several people, so he wanted to get to know someone better who was so intent on paying back such a small amount.
We became lab-partners for the class and forever friends for life -- and it was on July 9 (Aunt Kate's 46th birthday -- and the 28th birthday of some guy whose nickname is the short version of orange juice) that Mark brought his "gee-tahr" with him so that he could dedicate that song to me.
Anyway...back to Ringo and Casey...at least, I had time to give both of them a shout-out right on the day (July 7, 2019) over at Facebook -- and this entry is still up-to-date, as Casey's still wanting people to know about her store and Ringo is still promoting peace, love, and music.
So, just click on the item I've embedded right below this one to find out more about the Bling. After that comes Ringo, and after that comes the Pig.
Are we having fun yet!?!
Next, A Little Ringo...
I'm happy to report that I DID remember Ringo's birthday and celebrated it at noon with messages of peace and love.
As I've said in the second status report in this section, I think that Ringo out to get to know my special friend, Larry, because they're so much alike in a lot of ways.
I think you should get to know him as well, so please click on that status report to find out about not just Larry the CanMan but, also, Pete the DogMan.
Finally, Here Comes The Pig... If you happen to look to your left, you'll see a cute, little pig between the message: Tips Are Greatly Appreciated
and a simple hyperlink:
Tip Jar
Do you wonder what would happen if you were to click on that hyperlink?
Would you automatically have a fixed amount of money come out of your bank account just for clicking on the link?
That would be rather scary -- and, in my opinion, wouldn't be right.
Therefore, this isn't what will happen.
Instead, it will take you to my PayPalMe address where, after logging in, you can (but only if you choose to) leave me a tip.
Thanks, in advance, for any, some, or all of the following:
1. Tipping me -- and being sure to mention that it's a gift or a tip
2. Leave feedback in that memo that I've just mentioned.
3. Share this blog-entry with others -- and encourage them to read other entries along with this one, as I write a blog in order to be read.
When you read other entries, you'll occasionally be treated to how I spend my tips -- for instance, I'm hoping to receive enough tips to get my minivan repaired, insured, tagged, etc. (in short, road-ready) a.s.a.p. That would make a big difference of the positive kind in a lot of ways.
Anyway, that's all on this subject for right now. Thanks for reading!!!
I was born on December 12, 1952 -- which makes June 12 of each year my half-birthday. Uncle Jim was born on June 12, 1923, which meant that his half-birthday was on my birthday.
Because of how both New Year's Day and Independence Day happen during the first parts of January and July, one might think of New Year's Day as the birth of a brand new year and Independence Day (a.k.a. The Fourth Of July) as being the year's half-birthday.
Anyway, I've decided to share a couple of memes here along with my thoughts -- with the gist of those thoughts being that, while we aren't a perfect country, we're so great in so many ways. We aren't where we might want to be right at the moment, but we've come a long way!!!
One thing that I would hate to see (I hate situations but never people) is for us to regress in ways that make us less than what we've become in the ways that matter.
For example, I would hate to see us go back to (naturally, as I'm a woman) those days when women weren't allowed to vote or to own property on their own. I believe that there will come a day in the near future when we'll have a woman serving as President Of The United States.
I remember watching the movie (something I'd done many times in the past, as it was one of my favorite movies to watch more than once) Guess Who's Coming To Dinner -- and (on this particular occasion) one part of it in particular made me cry tears of joy and grow goosebumps on my goosebumps.
It was the scene where John was discussing with his soon-to-be father-in-law how he and Joanna were going to deal with how their bi-racial kids would be seen and treated by the rest of the world. He said that he and Joanna would raise those kids to feel so loved that it wouldn't matter -- and that one of them might even become President Of The United States someday. I believe the movie (which had come out the same year that I graduated from eighth grade and entered high school: 1967 -- the last year when Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert Francis Kennedy would be around for the whole year and seven years before The World Trade Centerwould become part of the NYC skyline) was shown around Valentine's Day in 2009.
This was all part of dreams being realized, and I wondered about the people who had passed on and had those dreams of how things were on that day when a bi-racial man had just become POTUS44 a few weeks before!!! The first one might have been REALLY astonished, as he, likely, didn't think that Negroes had the intellectual capacity to go that far but just wanted them to be treated with dignity -- the way that he treated his own slaves.
The others likely actually could see a person who was bi-racial or Black serving in The White House but, likely, would be amazed that, given all other factors, it would happen this soon. They probably could also see a woman President being a reality sometime within the next 100 years. I wonder what John, Martin, and Bobby would think about how many different Presidential candidates are women this time around (here in 2019) and how not all of them are White.
The way I see it, we can't go back and right every wrong that has been done over the centuries -- we can only do better in the present and the future.
Or (though, hopefully, not) worse...
I believe these two words:BE KIND should lead us in the decisions we make and that these two words: BE CRUEL should be the description of what we DON'T want to be.
We should have grown enough to know the difference between the two -- and we should also choose love over hate and not let people get away with bullying others.
How would you feel if this were YOUR child -- removed from the comfort of home at a time when he most needs to have his parents and siblings close-by along with the familiarity of it all!?! He wasn't being mistreated.
The calls sic-ing #ChildProtectiveServices on him and his family were nothing short of spite calls -- but, because those calls were made by so-called medical experts, those calls were taken seriously while anything the family had to say was just blown off.
The boy in question was making it very clear that he wanted to remain in his familiar surroundings with his loved ones -- or, at least, have his "da-da" to go with him when he left.
This frightened and fragile 4 year old boy had his needs blown off, too.
Please watch the video and read the comment thread -- and please keep this going by sharing a link to it whenever and wherever you can!!!
