This is how close our family cottage came to flooding. The river (Susquehanna) crested late yesterday and is now going down. In the flood of 72 the water reached the top of the second floor! We are all relieved not to have to clean up the mess.

If I start going to the spinning classes 2x's a week it should be gone by the time I go to Florida at the end of April at the rate it has shrunk already.

The one thing that might get in the way of my work out routine and my life in general is my wrist. I started getting dull pain in the right wrist about 6 months ago. My right wrist is my dominant and I believe it is related to repetitive actions and working on the computer. It freaked me out a bit and I started taking glucosamine. So far I have taken a 100 of them and the pain has been on and off since then. Now the pain is on and I am recently out of glucosamine and am not sure if it is worth continuing. From what I understand glucosamine really can't harm you but the scientific data is inconclusive as to whether it really helps with joints or not.

I definitely need some help in ergonomics at work and at home. I'm pretty sure the first thing I need to start with is the mouse. Not sure what I should do really. I question going to a doctor for this particular thing because I'm not really sure what they can do for me. Does anybody have any suggestions as to what to do? Any kind of advice about ergonomic mice or whatever? I don't know if it is carpel tunnel or if it is the beginning of arthritis or what.

Mike and I went to the Clarence Center Flea Market today. Here is a bit of the creepy.

Still have the post mortem photos for sale. I'm sort of surprised nobody snagged those yet. I'm not sure I would buy those for $35 for the entire set even though I sort of want to see the rest of them.



Creepy bébé



Bare chested warrior lawn jockey?

Today I flipped my lid and spent a good part of the day swearing and screaming. Mostly only I could hear me but a decent portion of it was directed at another human being. I really let her have it short of calling her the big C. Without getting into all of the specific details it basically goes like this, I am totally getting screwed over. This stupid company I have to deal with has got all the power and I have none. They can do whatever they want to me and I just have to take it because they are more powerful than I am. They are totally in the wrong and I am in the right but it just doesn't matter.

So I yelled and screamed at this girl who really was being insensitive. Her biggest problem is she REFUSED to have a supervisor call me back. This is when I unleashed my wrath on her. In my opinion, this is absolutely not fair. It is a reasonable request based on the problems that I have had with this company to have a supervisor call me back. So after hanging up on her, I had to call back after a suitable amount of time had passed to calm down to ask to speak with a supervisor. I got some stupid schmuck who wasn't a supervisor of anything, just a glorified schmuck. He wouldn't listen to me and constantly talked over me. Nobody has really ever acknowledge that the company has messed up, they actually try to blame it on me and I KNOW that it isn't my fault.

The thing is that I can be really patient for long periods of time but eventually I will explode. This problem has been going on for several months now. I feel good in knowing that I probably made this girls day worse, but I feel bad that it probably affected everyone else in her environment in a negative way.

After watching this documentary about stress being related to not having any power I completely understand. I need more power. I'm not just referring to this particular situation but just in my life in general, I have no power. I'm not really sure how to change that.

I'll let you guess which couple are my great grandparents. This is my dad's father's father and mother.

This really should be a concern for all us including those many miles away. The amount of toxins entering our great lakes is alarming. I would assume hydraulic fracturing would add greatly to the amount of hazardous material handled by Chemical Waste Management.

Every time I go to Florida I am amazed at how much cleaner the air is compared to living here in Buffalo. Florida just does not have as much industry and the air from the Gulf and the Atlantic is so pleasant.

WNY is home to 7 of top state polluters
EPA data lists CWM Chemical, Huntley Station, 3M Co. as top 3 in the region
By Aaron Besecker
NEWS NIAGARA REPORTER
Published:
December 28, 2010, 7:44 AM

Seven of the state's 25 biggest polluters are located in Western New York, according to recently released data from the Environmental Protection Agency.

Erie and Niagara counties are each home to three of the top sites, and another is in Cattaraugus County, according to the EPA's Toxics Release Inventory for discharges made in 2009.

The area's largest polluter, according to EPA data, is CWM Chemical Services, a commercial hazardous waste landfill in Lewiston and Porter in northwest Niagara County.

CWM ranked seventh in the state, with its representatives reporting to federal regulators it released 765,544 pounds of waste, 99 percent of which it buried in its landfill.

Here are the other local sites that which ranked in the top 25:

• No. 8 -- Huntley Station, Town of Tonawanda.

• No. 14 -- 3M Co., Town of Tonawanda.

• No. 16 -- AES Somerset, Somerset.

• No. 18 -- DuPont Yerkes plant, Town of Tonawanda.

• No. 19 -- Niagara Generation, Niagara Falls.

• No. 21 -- Cooper Power Systems, Olean.

A CWM spokeswoman called the agency's methodology for its Toxics Release Inventory "misleading and counterintuitive."

"What is in fact an activity that provides a high level of community protection is inappropriately reported as a 'release' to the environment," spokeswoman Lori Caso said in a written statement.

The data, released earlier this month, is compiled by the agency from reports made by the companies. It includes releases into the ground, water and air, both on-site and off-site.

Regulators said the data does not reflect what exposure there may be to the public from the chemical releases.

Finch Paper in Glens Falls released nearly 3.8 million pounds of waste into the environment in 2009 and was the state's biggest polluter, according to the data. Eastman Kodak's Eastman Business Park in Rochester ranked second in 2009, releasing more than 2.9 million pounds of waste.

Statewide, total overall releases dropped about 26 percent to 18.3 million pounds from 2008, the EPA said.

The agency's latest annual inventory includes information from 646 facilities in New York.

Nationally, about 3.37 billion pounds were released into the environment last year, down 12 percent from 2008.

For more information on the Toxics Release Inventory, visit www.epa.gov/tri.
abesecker@buffnews.com

I just love it. It is the sturdiest I have ever seen. Opening and collapsing it is so easy. I love the Amish!



It is nice to know that I can extend the life of my clothes and also reduce my carbon footprint just a bit. I'm not going to use it for everything but I can avoid at least 1 load of laundry in the drier a week. It also adds moisture and a fresh laundry smell into your home.

I got Coco a grass ball. Here he is after I gave it to him. He kept on chinning it which really means he is marking it as his.



This morning Mike and I had a nice breakfast by my kitchen window after opening our gifts to the sounds of the Chipmunk's Christmas album. Mike got me a glass butter dish which I have been wanting.



My friend Lydia gave me this Amish made clothes horse. I love it so much. Can't wait to hang my clothes to dry.



Mike got me the Mason Pearson brush I have been dying for. It is everything I ever dreamed of. I'm so happy he got it because he kept on going on how he would not buy me such a ridiculous thing.





He also got me these salt and pepper shakes that I loved at the store.



I also got a down winter coat from my Mom which I didn't take a picture of. I love that too. So far, I love everything.

General Information
After 12 years the club is permanently closing on Friday, December 31, 2010 at 5 pm. It's been a great run and we are grateful for everyone that supported our franchise over the years. The property has been sold, but the new owner will convert the property to other purposes; it will not remain a health club. Anyone that has prepaid for membership and/or locker rentals will receive a pro-rated refund by March 15, 2011.

Members with rental lockers should remove their belongings by the close of business on December 31, 2010. Any remaining items will be donated to local charities.

Much equipment has already been sold, but there is still some equipment, accessories, furniture, and many miscellaneous items throughout the club for sale. Almost anything you see is available for purchase at great prices.

The club phone numbers will be disconnected on December 31, 2010. If you wish to reach us, please use the "Contact Us" tab on this website.

We wish our current and former members the very best and look forward to our paths crossing in the future. Thank you!

It's too bad they have to close. Seems like they were probably struggling to hold on for a long time. In January I will be joining JCC. I'm sure many of the people I knew at Allentown will now be JCC members. Former members of Allentown are being offered a discount, not sure if that is a better one than is offered to RPCI employees.