Thanksgiving is over and the Christmas rush is here....hoorah....bah humbug.... I love the holidays ordinarily, but if you are a service worker, you know what I mean. Instead of bringing out the best in everyone, it brings out the worst; rude, grouchy, pushy people who only have a mind for themselves. And then there's the passengers....loll. Seriously, I realize when people are traveling, they have a single mind of just get me where I'm going. Hey, I am no different, but there IS such a thing as courtesy people! My case in point: part of my duties is to go inside the gate and watch for incoming planes. Then when one arrives, I am the one who is holding open the exit door (that takes them out into the "hall" of the terminal) so that they can get their baggage, etc. When the plane is in, the arriving passengers have the "right of way" so that they may leave and then allow the departing passengers to board the plane. I don't know about other airports, but KCI does not have borders up to keep the two groups apart. So, when a plane arrives, most likely you'll see people sitting on the floor in the isle of the "pathway", books/laptops/baggage/strollers/food spread all out around them. Then you'll see groups of people chatting with each other, also in the middle of the isle, with no heed to the arrival of the plane. Then I must go to the knot of people and announce the plane is IN and would they please move to the right so that the oncoming passengers may leave. This announcement is always met with looks of dismay, disgust, boredom, and/or anger. The folks sitting will walk on their behinds a pace or two to the right, leaving their things still strewn about the floor. The knot of chatters will take a careful 2 steps to the right still remaining in the path of the oncoming passengers. I usually notice this when I am removing the border from in front of the door and unlocking the exit. So, again I have to go to the groups of people and tell them they are still in the path and must move. Finally, when passengers are trying to pick their way through I get that bit of Irish/Scottish temper of mine in gear and bellow from my post "PLEASE REMOVE YOUR SELVES AND BELONGINGS FROM THE PATH OF THE INCOMING PASSENGERS!!" One lady remarked to me "Like a bunch of stubborn 2 year olds, aren't they??" Sighhhhhh........... I should be more like Marie, our employee who is originally from Queens, New York. She doesn't mince words and will stand in the path (before the plane arrives) and uses her most New York-y tone "REMOVE YOURSELVES FROM THIS PATHWAY. YOU CANNOT BOARD THE PLANE UNTIL THE INCOMING PASSENGERS HAVE COME OFF. COME ON PEOPLE....MOVE IT!" I asked her once (seeing how well her method produces results) if it bothers her to see people giving her those murderous glances as they move. Her reply was "Nope...I don't know these people and probably will never see them again, but it doesn't matter. If they are too stupid to realize they are in the way, then they deserve to be told off. I got a second chance in life and am not wasting it on stupid people who cant see that this is all for their own safety!" I can't disagree with that one bit. She nearly died in New York in an adjacent building to the WTC on Sept 11 2001 and the fact that she's alive tells us we all should use that chance as wisely.

I wish that I could take my Dyazide; the fluid buildup in my inner ears is really heavy now, but the Dyazide is a diuretic and running to the bathroom every 5 min is impossible at work. I feel very off balance with so much fluid stuff in there, but taking the Antivert is also impossible, since it puts me to sleep within 15 min. I wonder how long I can handle all this while working??

Why the Stephen King blinkie? Well, I just finished "The Dark Tower", volume 7, the last of the Dark Tower series by Stephen King. I started this series way back in 1994, when I picked up "The Drawing of Three" (volume 2) in a flea market in Hermitage, Missouri on a trip with my late husband and the kids to his father's place. I don't like starting series out of context like that, but I had not bought any books lately at that time and this one looked intriguing. Like all of his books, I was hooked by the first page. It left me craving more of this story about Roland, the gunslinger and his ka-tet (group who are brought together by ka/fate). I've never liked westerns, so the "gunslinger" part threw me off, but instead of shoot outs in the OK coral, Stephen writes about the quest of Roland, and his "drawing of three", which are 3 unlikely others who have their own strengths and weaknesses, giving their ka-tet an unbreakable bond. And I, who own just about every book Sai King has written, am delighted to find alot of references to his other books within these. This last book, while heartbreaking after following them for over ten years, has filled me with so much wonder and peace! Yes peace...I can take the determination of Roland, the jive talking of Eddie (who began as a heroin addict), the compassion and guts of Susannah (who began as Odetta/Detta Walker Holmes, with no legs below her knees but a gunslinger in her own, say true) and the loyalty and love of Jake (who began as a spoiled prep school boy of 13, but a true man of gunslinger heart inside) and use their lessons in my own life. They travel between worlds, this one and others, in search of the Dark Tower, by which all the worlds are connected by the Beams. Their duty is to save the Dark Tower from being taken over by the Crimson King, who would destroy the Beams and send the worlds todash (insane), winking out all existence. I have read with such an intensity I have never used before in reading while following this story, may it do ya fine. In Stephen King's afterward in the last book, he remarks that many will not like the ending, that they feel they need more, what happens to the ka-tet that is no more, what happens to Roland, but I say, Sai King, we were well met, say thankya. The ending is what the ending is, and while I could myself read forever and ever on such rich and wondrous writings, I truly understand the ending and while I myself did not like it, it WAS right and true. I can think of no other ending that would have ended the tale properly. Your mind can rest at last, Sai King, and may it do ya fine. Long days and pleasant nights to you, sai, and someday we will meet at the clearing of the path ourselves.