Be careful what you wish for

All my life I wished for naturally curly hair, and all my life my hair has been straight as a poker.  That is until a few years ago when I started being told by hairdressers that I had "a bend" in my hair.  Where I want it to bend down and under, it bends out and back and it isn't easy to control with my new haircut, but I guess if I had to complain about something, this would be the most laughable!  If I loaded up on styling mousse, hairspray, and dried it with a hairdryer it might be more manageable, but I love the freedom from using all that stuff.  It's also easier when my lifestyle takes me out on the road or trail.

I made another batch of blueberry muffins this morning, and added some chopped walnuts and a shake of cinnamon.  Delicious!  It is nice just being able to grab a couple of muffins along with whatever else I eat for breakfast.

I've watched several of the Ken Burns series on the National Parks, and find them a bit repetitious.  The scenery is breathtaking, and the sound clips from various park superintendents and former Interior Secretary Udall are very interesting, but I find the sections on corporate greed trying to exploit the parks, the drive to exterminate the original inhabitants and their source of food - Indians and bison - abominable, and I just can't stand to watch it.  I love the fact that the President can name National Monuments without congressional approval, and I think of all the wonderful National Monuments I've been to.  I worry that budget cuts will just put more of the running of the parks to contractors, whose first concern is profit.  There are some things you can't measure by profit or loss.  Having worked with National Park rangers and other employees, I find they are truly interested in providing the public with the best possible experience in the Parks.  I have never run into a contractor who gives a damn.

I've been having such difficulty with my kitchen faucet and the water running so slow, as well as taking forever to get hot water.  I took off the bottom part of the fixture thinking it must be terribly clogged, and it was fairly bad, but when I cleaned and screwed it back on it was the same tiny and slow stream of water.  It is aggravating considering I wash dishes by hand.

So I unscrewed the little filter piece and turned the water on hot, and waited to fill the dishpan - to my amazement it was almost instantly hot and the stream of water was normal.  I filled up my Brita pitcher with cold water and had to dump it out - full of grit and a yellowish color.  So I can't leave the part off of the faucet permanently, but will just remove it when I do dishes.  See, Billy Bob, I can fix things too!  (Yeah, I know it isn't a permanent fix, but it's a good redneck fix and will work for me!)