Just Me Talking to Myself

Some People Just Give It Away

/ Janna Hill / 6 Comments

Before your assumptions make a hard left in the wrong direction please know I am not talking about sex, books or money.

I may be guilty of giving away the aforementioned but this post relates to donating body fluid; lifesaving liquid. The stuff mosquitoes, bedbugs, lice and ticks take without asking.

Literally your lifeblood.

Did you know you can donate (aka sell) plasma and keep your cells? That’s right, the red and white blood cells along with the platelets are returned to you during the process and a little stipend for your trouble.

The last I heard the pay was about $30 per donation. It usually takes two hours so hey, that’s fifteen bucks an hour. Not bad for a part time job. Most facilities allow you (even encourage you) to donate twice a week. That’s like what… $60 a week… $240 a month. Shoot, during months with five weeks you could earn as much as $270!

Some people I know [honestly] supplement their income this way and then some people just give it away.

Donating a pint of whole blood is less time consuming and pays much less. The average payout for whole blood is $0.00. Yeah, that is definitely not a way to supplement your income. I personally prefer to donate, not because of time constraints but because it makes me feel better… like a philanthropist. Maybe they’ll put that in my obituary.

Yes I donated blood today, hence the reason for this post. I left the bus smiling a juice mustache smile with a package of Nutter Butter cookie bites feeling like I saved the world.

If you are a donor reach around and pat yourself on the back. You’ve saved a life or at least improved someone’s health.

Please also consider your own health and the possible side effects of frequent plasma donation.

Pardon My French

/ Janna Hill / 9 Comments

Pardon my French or rather my lack of. While you’re at it please pardon my inability to speak any language that doesn’t include ain’t and y’all. I’m a Hick. There, I’ve said it.

I have at times been mistakenly called a hillbilly but that is not the correct terminology. For the record I am not a hillbilly. The only hills in my neck of the woods are inhabited by moles. I, sir or madam am a Hick. A Hick from the sticks, residing in a rural wooded area shared with other uncouth creatures and Hick type peoples. I do not live in a mobile home but would like to when I get rich.

I am however a worldly Hick.  My electronic travels have taken me places I never knew existed, far beyond the bounds of a barbed wire fence. I converse with all sorts of people from different creeds, castes and cultures made possible by use of a translator tool. I am getting quite an education.

I speak Hick and a little bit of French. You see around here we say “pardon my French” in conjunction with cursing. It is a built in irrevocable vindication. Calling it French makes it completely pardonable, e.g.  “He is a lousy son of a bitch, pardon my French.”

I think the translator tool is an awesome invention but sometimes what one intends to convey gets a tad bit distorted in the conversion. (Note: English is the closest dialect to Hick currently available)

Here is an example of how the aforementioned statement describing a worthless man can get misconstrued in a non- Hick translation.

From English to French “iI est un fils de pute moche”

From French back to English “He is a son of a ugly bitch”

No, no, no! Calling him a ‘lousy son of a bitch’ was about him. Calling him ‘a son of a ugly bitch’ directs the insult to his mother. (Whom you may happen to like very much)

I suppose calling someone a son of a bitch is technically an insult to their mother regardless, but calling her ugly just seems too rude.

Linguistics. Now that is some interesting sh*t.  Pardon my French.

The Rewards of Spontaniety

/ Janna Hill / 3 Comments

Last week my husband phoned form work at 7:30 A.M and said “start packing.” I didn’t question him I just threw a few suits of clothing into a suitcase along with the laptop and camera, gathered up the dog’s bare essentials and waited. He had been talking about heading south when October’s first cold front came through to do a little fishing but his work schedule did not look agreeable. Apparently something changed and he seized the moment.

“Carpe diem!” I said. “I don’t care for Carp – I’m after a Redfish.” He replied with a wink.

I think know he dreams of catching a trophy Red.

Within thirty minutes he has his 16 foot 1957 aluminum boat hooked up and ready to roll. We have a skiff but he likes that old dinghy. Anyway seven hours later we are standing in the salty breeze assessing the conditions. The tide, the wind, the weeds and the water temperature. Fishing is very serious business, that’s why I usually leave it to him. Thank goodness a cousin showed up to keep him company on the water while I undertook the tasks of reading and snapping pictures. All in the name of research of course.

Taking off on a whim is something we haven’t done in a very long time and you know what? I loved it!

These are the rewards of spontaneity

Hopefully he laughed himself to death
No, those are not Redfish but they will do.
The “cold front” brought some awesome clouds
I’d like to think they never knew what hit `em.
Trophy? No but by golly they are Redfish!
The birds gather as the tide goes out. I was so excited to catch a few shots of these elusive pink birds.

I Met a Frog Today

/ Janna Hill / Leave a comment

 

I met a frog today.

I pressed my lips to the window (my side was clean, his was not) and …

Nothing happened. So much for fairy tales.

So much for Fairy Tales

She Was… (A tribute to my Aunt)

/ Janna Hill / 7 Comments

She was… A giant spirit dwelling in a sassy petite frame and I once dreamed of being short like her.

She was… My first cab ride downtown because [though she was courageous] she never conquered her fear of driving.

She was… An angel who treated my first hangover like a bona fide sickness with tender mercy.

She was… The first to plant the seed in a young girl’s mind that one day she could be a writer and thirty five years later said “I told you so.”

She was… In my heart, a friend… a sister… a confidant and a mother

She was…  My Aunt Gloria

     ~~~And today my heart breaks for a spirit that will be so thoroughly missed~~~

Photo by SKG ~ The Last Trip to the Lake

Happy Birthday and R.I.P Gloria Ann  –  June 13, 1943 – June 13, 2012

Sunflowers & Bees

/ Janna Hill / Leave a comment

The sunflowers are abundant in Port Alto this year.

Sun Flower Honey by Janna Hill

 

It was a pleasant surprise to arrive and find the bright beauties waving in the South Texas wind and the little bees busy doing their part.

‘They’re not Pygmies’

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What happens when you don’t specify what kind of goat you want and just say, ‘bring me a couple of goats to clean up the place.’ You get two ‘No ma’am they’re not pygmies’. Well, pardon me but that is a ONE pound Chihuahua trying to herd them. It may take them a few years to clear the land but they are adorable : )Image