Cannibalism! Really?!?

Every time I think that I can't be surprised by the gruesomeness of what's going on in the world, I am proven wrong.  "Alexander Kinyua, 21, was being held without bail Thursday at the Harford County Detention Center after being charged with first-degree murder, first-degree assault and second-degree assault" (CNN). His crime, killing his housemate, Kujoe Bonsafo Agyei-Kodie, and eating his internal organs, more specifically, "his heart and portions of his brain" (CNN).

Shocked an appalled yet again! Holy Shnikes Batman!!! Perhaps Kinyua thought that he could gain some of Kodie's wisdom by consuming him. Kodie, "had earned multiple master's degrees from schools in Ghana and was also a graduate student at Morgan State University, even though he wasn't taking classes there at the time of his death" (CNN). I can't imagine eating another human being. I feel so sad for Kodie's family. 

 Alleged murderer? Kinyua confessed the murder and cannibalism to authorities so I disagree that he should be considered an "alleged murderer".  Call a spade a spade and a murderer a murderer!   

 
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Honor Student Jailed for Missing School

Ok, I have heard of people being accused, tried, and/or convicted of many different crimes. And most of the time I am on the sidelines hollering, "Throw the book at'em. But there are times when the spirit of the law meets the letter of the law, and I feel the wrong interpretation wins. 

Diane Tran has recently been convicted of Truancy under Texas state law and sentenced to spend a night and jail and pay a $100 fine. While I understand that this law was probably put into place to make sure that all parents are complying with the law and sending their children to school (the letter of the law), (the spirit of the law) did not take into account that Tran is an Honor Student who after her parents' divorce has been working a full and part time job to support her two younger sibling.

I am thoroughly disappointed in this judgement!

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Not his place?!?

I am shocked. When the story broke last week that the 1979 murder of Etan Patz's was finally being solved I was glad that the six year old's family would finally have closure, although saddened that it was not a happy ending. But to hear that this family could have mourned and laid Etan's body to rest 30 years ago is beyond my comprehension. Apparently, Pedro Hernandez, the man being charged with Etan's murder, confessed the crime to his prayer group at St. Anthony of Padua Roman Catholic Church in Camden back in the 1980's. 

How does one, as a human being, hear that a horrible crime has been perpetrated against an innocent child and not speak up? How do you hear something so soul wrenching and not become angered with the loss of innocent life and compelled to see that justice is carried out? Well, that's exactly what the prayer group that Hernandez attended did; NOTHING!!!

"Tomas Rivera, 76, of Blackwood, a leader of the prayer group, told the Times he did not feel it was his place to notify the police because the confession was not made to him exclusively," (N.J.com). Well, Tomas Rivera of Blackwood, NJ, if it were not your place then whose place was it? I will answer you; it was the civic responsibility and duty of each and every person in that prayer group to speak up!

Where are we with our humanity that we can sit idly by and not act when a heinous crime is brought to our attention? I would have marched myself right down to the nearest police station and told them everything! I would have handed Hernandez over gift wrapped. As far as I am concerned, each and every person who heard Hernandez's confession, either directly from his lips, or by third party (I know someone from that prayer group told somebody something) should be brought up on charges of obstruction of justice. At the very least, they need to be made accountable to Etan Patz's family that they were forced by the group's inaction and silence to wait over 30 years to have closure and see justice carried forth.

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Customer Service- The Life Blood or Distruction of ANY Business

Every business is about customer service, not just businesses that are sales oriented. The minute your customers (those you serve) become dissatisfied with your service, is when you need to re-evaluate your practices.

I have become irritated with yet another gardener. Really, how hard is it to show up on your scheduled day, perform lawn and garden maintenance, and pick up your pay check? Here's the deal, I hired a gardener to maintain my lawn and landscape every two weeks for the price of $50 a month. A fair price for the area in which I live and the minimal duties that are required of him. For that price his duties begin and end with mowing the lawn, keeping weeds down, and trimming the bushes and trees a couple of times a year. I enjoy gardening so I maintain my rose bushes, fertilize and amend my soil, tend my fruit and vegetable bed, and plant my annual flowers. I think what I pay him for his services is more than fair considering the amount of work that I do on my own.

So he was supposed to arrive to perform landscaping services May 4th. He didn't show. When he didn't show the week following, I considered that to be his resignation. Well, three weeks later he shows up when I am not home and "weeds the rose bed in the front" destroying four of the new annual seedlings that I planted just last week that I grew from seeds. He left a card on the door stating what work he had performed and asked that I call him if I was still in need of his services.

When I discovered the card and saw the destruction he had caused I was livid! This is the conversation that took place:

Me - I need to discuss the work that you did today.

Him - Yes. I did some weeding in the front. I couldn't get to the back because of the dogs.

Me - You haven't been here in over four weeks and you just show up today out of the blue. 

Him - It's sometimes difficult to get out that way for the agreed upon price.

Me - That's what communication is for. If it wasn't working out for you, I get it. All you had to do was say so. But how do you show up after not working on my landscaping for over four weeks and just go to work?

Him - I understand what you are saying. I apologize. Can we discuss a pass due invoice?

Me - Excuse me. What pass due invoice? I paid you for April and you haven't been here at all in May? 

Him - Yes. You're right. We'll just consider today a freebee.

Me - That's fine. Can we discuss you replacing my flowers that you killed?

Him - Would you like me to bring you more seeds?

Me - I can't plant seeds when it's 100 degrees outside. It's too late in the season. You can bring me a six pack of Zinnias to replace what was killed.

Him - OK. I can do that.

Me - Fine. Call me when you're on your way.

I run two businesses. I know that consistency, quality, and reliability are the keys to building a strong and solid business reputation. Word of mouth can make or break any business. Your customers have a choice when they choose to spend their money and you need to inspire confidence in them so that they will feel like you are worth the hard earned money that they are paying you.  

My choice after this scenario, I will take two months of his gardening service fees and purchase a lawn mower. Since I do a lot of my own yard work anyway, I can just enlist the help of my two teenage sons to help me occasionally and save my family some money. 

Now, if he doesn't bring me my flowers, I will put his name and his business on blast.

How to Lose a Girl in 10 Days! Part II

Day 7 - I receive a text around 5:30 PM, "So, what do you like to do when you're not wrangling kids at the after-school program?" I send the response as I'm walking to my car at 6:15 PM (he knows where I work which means he knows I don't get off before 6 which is our program's closing time, "I'm driving. Call me." He calls me and we have a 20 minute discussion where we begin getting to know one another. When he asks me what I am doing tomorrow, I tell him about my second job where I work on Saturdays and tell him that I am meeting with a couple of girlfriends for drinks, one of which is going to be sharing some good news about her business. I arrive home and we get off the phone. He's going to do laundry and I'm going to do homework. I get a text around 8:30 PM, "Man, this laundry never ends. Well, good night baby". What?!? We ain't there yet!!! I send him a slanty face :-/ hoping he'll get the point that he's out of bounds. I thought he did because he didn't respond. Boy was I wrong!!!


Day 8 - I head to meet my girlfriends at 4:30 PM and guess who's texting me... You guessed it. Blowing my phone up! I receive one that says, "What time are you meeting your friends?" I respond, "I'm trying to have drinks now." Does he get the point? No! He texts back, "Send me a picture of you with your friends." I am mad at this point and I choose to ignore him in an effort to keep Shaquita (my alter ego) from coming out and introducing herself. For the third time today, he misses the point and sends me another text message, "Hellooooo". Uh uh... no he didn't (Shaquita is climbing out my purse)! About an hour later when I arrive home after having a wonderful, yet rudely intruded on time with my girlies, I send him this message, "Listen ______, I'm gonna say this as nicely as I possibly can, 'You need to kick back!' No, I will not send you a picture of me with my friends. I'm chillin' so BACK UP!" He sends back, "WOW. I just wanted to see you having a good time with your friends." I am now convinced that he his completely oblivious and I will need to be much more blunt with him. This is why some guys get cussed out! But I didn't go there. He wasn't worth the effort.


Day 9 - I'm formulating how I'm gonna put him in his place. During the conversation on Day 7, _____ was informed about the existence of my alter ego Shaquita. Well, he let her out the purse on Day 8. I've successfully wrangled her back inside but the reigns are loose, to say the least.


Day 10 - I text, "That was Shaquita being nice to you." He replies, "She's a lovely woman." Time for the hammer to come down, "_______, I've decided not to go on a date with you after all. Thank you for your interest, it was flattering." He calls my phone, which I don't answer because this is not a discussion, I am not ending a relationship. This is over well before it even started. He texts me, "How can you say that after the great conversation we had the other day." I choose to be 100% honest to give him the opportunity to learn from his mistakes as he moves forward... with someone else, not me. I text, "Our personalities are not compatible. You appear to be quite pushy and quite frankly you irritated me." He's dense, I determine as I receive a long message telling me that he is sorry he irritated me and that he is the most easy going guy. If I were to ask his friends about him they would say he's a great guy... I'm done! I let him have it in a final response, "This is not a debate. I'm done discussing it. Good bye." He sends back "Wow!" I ignore him.


I don't give a crap who gives him a glowing recommendation! If you have irritated me and we haven't even gone on our first date, then it's done. I have learned to listen to my gut and my instincts. And the way he handled my telling him that I've changed my mind about dating him tells me that I was right. Good riddance!

How to Lose a Girl in 10 Days! Part I

I told you that my blog would be an all encompassing space for me to share my world (ventilate at times). Well, here is my first entry on dating. Gee willikers, have men forgotten how to get to know a woman, court, date, or what-ever title you want to put on it?

Here's some background, I began working at an after-school program in September of 2011. Around December it is told to me by one of my co-worker that one of the kid's parents "thinks I'm hot." I have no clue who this guy is; I can't remember ever seeing or speaking to him (Clue #1). His kids are in 4th and 5th grade, I teach a 2nd grade class, so needless to say, no wonder I don't know who he is. To be fair to bug-a-boo, by Day 6 you will have some indication on how he earned his title, I have no clue what he is thinking or the motivations for his actions. I can only offer insight on my feelings, actions, and my opinion of him and his actions. Now, on with the story that begins May 11, 2012 (Yes, it took him that long to make himself known. Clue #2):

Day 1 - Man gives his business card to my co-worker with the message, "Please tell Ms. Valcine that I'd like to take her to coffee or something when she has the time." Woman is busy working and my co-worker gives the business card to me during a lull in the activity and relays the message. "Ok," I say, "Could you put it in my purse please, I don't have any pockets." 

Day 3 - I call him. Upon getting reaching his voice mail I leave the following message, "Hey ____ (in an attempt to be nice, I won't say his name. He should be grateful, I could put him on blast right now!). I'd love to go to coffee with you but I'd prefer to wait until after school lets out. Give me a call then and we'll set something up. Talk to you later.

Later that same day - He calls and leaves me a message complimenting me on the play the kids put on the week before and my work with the after school program. Says he can't wait to take me to coffee, lunch, dinner, or whatever I prefer.

Day 4 - I text him, "Got your message. Thanks for the compliments. I look forward to it." He responds, "They're well deserved." So far so good, if you could call it that.

Day 5 - I receive a text message that says, "Hi Valcine. I know you wanted to wait until after the school year lets out but I have a work dinner to attend and I would really like you to be my date. _____ and ______ (his children) won't know anything about it." I respond, "Thanks for the offer and consideration but my job has a policy against dating parents at your school site and being a woman of integrity, I would prefer not to violate their policies." He responds, "I can respect that." I'm thinking, "Do you always have this much trouble accepting 'No'? I mean, we're only talking a few weeks here. You've waited this long to finally speak up."

Day 6 - My class of 2nd graders and my co-worker with her class of Kinder and 1st graders are in the library doing an art activity. Who comes, and opens the door, and waits for me to look up? You guessed it. (Strike 1! I'm thinking, "The whole point of waiting until the end of the school year is because of my job and their policies. I do remember conveying that to you rather clearly.")

Please Bring Your Own Balls to Play

You can't rent, borrow, or play with mine. 

Now, I am certainly not the only one with dating trials, errors, and funny scenarios. Here is a recent tale played out, or not quite played out, to it's denouement. A girlfriend took a job in January in the career of her schooling and had the pleasure of meeting a very handsome man who worked for the same company and appeared to have his act together. Appearances can be deceiving...

After a month of circling, making up excuses to come near her office, lingering around the watering hole in sight of her desk, etc., he finally got up enough gumption to ask her out... via e-mail. Cue one that he might be a little short of playing equipment. After the first date, he began texting her quite frequently, inquiring about her day to day life, wishing her well for specific events with which she was involved, and flirting when coming by her office when no one was around... all the things a man would normally do to indicate his interest in a woman. Off to a great start, right?

But he fizzled... he never asked for a second date, didn't up his game from texts to actual phone calls, and he didn't make any moves in a forward direction. So, one might ponder that perhaps he became disinterested or had a change of mind. That would be conceivable except that all the activity from the above mentioned paragraph continued for over two months. That's a long time to circle the bush and not squat to do your business.

At first my friend was cool with what she perceived to be an effort on his part to take things slow, considering the fact that they work together and if things got messy or ended badly, it would make 40 hours a week pretty awkward. But after two months, we were all like, "Really?!? Is that all you got?" 

The decision to close the door to what could have been was made after she put herself out there and offered to come by his place to give him a massage after he was done with a marathon in which he was competing. He ignored her text message. What man turns down a massage from a hot woman? So, that Saturday evening she called it done. 

As Monday morning approached she was afraid that things would be awkward as she had grown accustomed to his flirtatious talk, witty comebacks, and his continuous vie for her attention by was of strutting around her office like a peacock touting his plumage. However, the day went by in an uneventful blur. Why? He was a no show. Not because he wasn't at work, but because he spent two days hiding from her. Can you imagine how difficult it must be to hide from someone in a two story building? Armed with the self gratifying sense of satisfaction that comes with having a grown man run and hide from her, she washed her hands and said, "NEXT!"

Please men, for the love of all that is sane, when you decide to step-up and play in the Big Leagues, bring your balls, slap them on the table, and work your A-Game! A strong independent woman who knows what she wants yet is willing and wanting you to be the man, is a rare find. Add to that that she's beautiful, intelligent, sexy, funny, witty, and extremely HOT, you've got to have your own balls. You can't play with hers, you can't rent or borrow them, you need to bring your own and not be afraid to use them. Especially when all signs are reading "Let's play ball!"  

Watering and Pruning Rose Bushes

Rose bushes are best watered by soaking their roots and not by spraying sprinklers. In my rose bed my roses are watered by bubblers. When rose bush leaves are constantly exposed to moisture, especially in the evening and not allowed to dry before sunset, it increases the risk of mold forming on the leaves and rotting them. When temperatures are in the 70 -85 degrees I typically water my rose bushes with a thorough soaking every 3 - 4 days. When temperatures increase about 86 degrees I run the sprinkler system three times a week, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. The best watering practices are to water the roses deeply and thoroughly a few times a week instead of giving them a shallow watering daily.

As for pruning, don't ever be afraid to dead head your rose bushes (remove spent roses, roses that are faded and whose petals are falling off). Spent roses use up the rose bushes energy which would be better used in putting forth new blooms. However, there is a proper way to dead head your roses. You should cut the bloom right above the node (bump) that is pushing forth on the stem right at the closest five leaf section. Roses bloom on new growth so trimming off spent blooms encourages the rose to put forth new blooms.

Being the busy woman that I am, I try to dead head my rose bushes at least once a week but occasionally I get busy and stretch it to two weeks. Here are some pictures taken before and after pruning spent roses. The last pruning session was done two weeks prior.

Before
  
After

Before

After
  Notice the reddish small leaves at the tips of extended stems. These are the new shoots that will soon have budding blooms.

Before

After

Before

After

Russet Potatoes - Part II

I am pleased to announce that the potatoes are doing quite well. Here is a picture of their growth so far.




Now that I see the leafy growth that I was hoping for, my job will be to make sure that as the potato tubers are growing, spreading, and expanding in the ground that I keep them covered with soil. If potatoes are exposed to sunlight during their growth process they become green and toxic, rendering them inedible. 


To have more than one harvesting period for your potatoes I suggest you stagger their planting so that you can always expect a harvest. Depending on how large a role potatoes play as a staple in your diet, plant enough every two weeks during our desert growing period. That way, once you begin harvesting, you can expect to harvest every 2 weeks until the end of the growing season. The expectation time to harvest a few small potatoes is about 2 months from planting the seedling potatoes, when the potato plant is flowering. The rest of the potatoes should be harvested 3 - 4 months after the seeds were planted, when the plant dies back. With this in mind, my plan is to plant cut up sections of 2 - 3 potatoes every 2 weeks until August with the expectations of a final harvest for this season in December. We will see how this goes but we are certainly off to a great start!

Seedling Emerging - 2

As I watered my seeds this morning I noticed that more seeds have germinated. Here are a few labeled pictures of what has sprouted in the last two days.

Corn

Carrots

Seedlings Begin to Emerge

So, it's been about 5 days since sowing seeds directly in the garden bed and I am pleased to announce that all is going well. Here are some labelled pictures of what has begun to emerge.

Mammoth Sunflower Seedlings


I'm hoping to have more to report over the next few day. The seeds that I planted all had an expected germination time of 7 - 10 days. You may notice more than one seedling sticking in the same area. That is because I sowed 2 - 3 seeds in each area with the expectation that I would need to thin out the seedlings as they grow. But that won't be until they are about 2 - 3 inches tall.