A couple weeks ago, I wrote a column about the medical profession, complained a bit about some issues and got reamed out by an angry reader. I wasn’t really shocked by that. I was kind of expecting someone to get fired up, although many others agreed with my opinion, so I wasn’t terribly surprised.

I was surprised when I came to the office today and found an angry e-mail in my in-box from someone who was upset because I took a couple shots at Tom Cruise. The same Tom Cruise who professes to know more about the medical profession than any doctor or psychiatrist on the planet, because he’s read a lot of  books. The same Tom Cruise who is an expert on postpartum depression, and the same Tom Cruise who criticized Matt Lauer for basically questioning his medical credentials on the air.

Let me make one thing clear, as an actor, I think Tom Cruise is pretty decent. I like “Top Gun,” and I used to watch “Far and Away” every chance I could get. I might even own a copy of “Jerry Maguire.” I take offense with any celebrity, or for that matter anyone at all, who tries to shove their religion down your throat. (Especially if their religion was created by the guy who brought us Battlefield Earth.)

Eating healthy is not a concept  I have necessarily tried to follow nor have I tried not to try it, it simply just doesn’t appeal to me. Being a picky eater I have a hard time biting into a big chunk of broccoli or brussel sprouts and saying yummy, usually it goes something like this… I take a bite and ask if the cook is attempting to kill people be offering such inedible foods.

Although people may judge my non-healthy eating habits, my twix bars for breakfast, fried chicken fingers with a bottle of ketchup for lunch and a greasy cheeseburger for dinner and chocolate chip cookie dough for a mid-night snack I pride myself on knowing the chances of food poisoning are relatively slim to nil.

Just a year ago and again this week Spinach is getting recalled for having salmonella and last year it was E.Coli. So as I hear about the 200 plus some people to get sick I know my chances of contracting such things from eating that big bag of green leafy garbage is nonexistent.  When people tell me I eat too many twix bars all I have to do is ask them when the last time a batch of twix were recalled for E.Coli and they back right down.

What does eating healthy really do anyway I ask? So it may help you maintain your weight, fight against cancer and other aliments but really does all that work or is it a ploy for all these healthy people to gang up on the chocolate candy bar eaters of the world such as myself like the smokers vs. non-smokers. Soon they will ban us unhealthy, twix loving, deep-fried eating scums of the earth such as myself from the so-called healthy restaurants right… It will be called “The unhealthy eating ban.” I bet you the health nuts will be all for.

No just kidding in all seriousness eating healthy does have its benefits and eating chocolate all day really is not recommended. But going to far in either direction is worse yet. People should enjoy what they eat as well as eat items that provide nourishment to your body. A twix bar for breakfast may not be the right way to go  but a salad for lunch may even it out a bit..HEHEHE

In the last few days, I’ve seen some strange sights in the beautiful Norwich area, and I have to wonder, is it me, or are these things as strange as they seem.

Monday on my way home from work,  I saw a little boy (probably around 5-years-old) sitting in a shopping cart that had been discarded on a curb blocks away from the nearest grocery store. Since there were no adults in view, I wondered if this boy had hitched a ride down town via shopping cart, or if he simply wanted to meet Mike McGuire’s shopping cart companion Barry.

For months, we’ve known about the Rite Aid chains plan to acquire Eckerd stores. Now the deal is complete, I was sure the two stores would merge into one building, but so far that has not happened. Instead, Rite Aid has spent who knows how much money placing Rite Aid signs on the old Eckerd store, which is located approximately 10 feet away from the other Rite Aid store. I’m not a great business person, but doesn’t that doesn’t seem to make a whole lot of sense. After calling Rite Aid’s public relations department, I was informed that business at both stores will continue as usual until further notice.

Also, this week, I saw the new playground equipment at the school, which could never be as cool as that awesome wooden castle thing they had. I never went to school in Norwich, but on the occassional weekend, we would come down to play on the coolest playground around. I’m sure the new stuff is fun, but nothing could beat that.

Keep your eyes open. You never know what crazy thing you might see next.

I had to convince three different people not to drive drunk this past weekend. I didn’t know them really, they were mutual acquaintances, but that shouldn’t ever make difference. What’s wrong is wrong.

And what struck me was the idea that I was being irrational about the whole thing. That taking a cab was a stupid thing. Is that an irrational idea? These people seemed to think so.

They’re not alone. There’s plenty of people out there who don’t have any fear, or consideration, when it comes to driving drunk. These are often people who have already been caught for doing it once or twice before, too. I was talking with someone else about my weekend experience, and they asked the question, “what is it going to take to make them stop?”

Short of killing themselves or someone else, no idea.

Driving drunk seems to be as much of an addiction for some as drinking is for others. For some, getting behind the wheel after a night of partying is as, if not more important, than the party itself. Taking their keys is like taking an NRA member’s guns away.

I’d try to offer an explanation, some insight into why people feel the need to drive drunk, but there isn’t one. It baffles me. Passing out at home, not having to get-up and get your car and challenging the law are too important for some people. They have to do it. Hopefully those reasons, which are the only ones I can see as to why people drive drunk, will justify the consequences that’ll eventually come every offender’s way. But I doubt they will.

I don’t care who you are or what type of music you listen to, everyone knows what it’s like when that one song comes on the radio, and you have to blast the volume and sing at the top of your lungs. For me, there are a lot of songs that make me do that, and the list is growing every day. When people see you driving down the road rocking out to your favorite tunes, they might think you’re crazy, but when you do it at a rock show, you’re just like everyone else.

After months of careful preparation, which all fell apart at the last minute, I planned to attend a rock show at the Landmark Theater last night. My baby-sitter canceled, we had to leave late and all of the people who were supposed to ride with me had to switch their plans around, but we made it.

With feelings of guilt weighing heavy on my heart for leaving my one year old for the first time for a non-work related reason, I wasn’t sure I was going to enjoy the show, despite my love of music.

We arrived fifteen minutes after the concert had actually begun, but managed to only miss the opening act. We waited patiently for the band to take the stage, passing the time by remembering the last concert we attended and how mom nearly got into a brawl with a huge biker who kept sloshing beer on us. (In the end, he ran away, because moms, even the ones who are only 5’1”,  are scary.)

Finally, the lights dimmed, the crowd fell silent, and the band burst on to stage.  For a couple of hours, I sang at the top of my lungs, screamed really loud and enjoyed every ear splitting note. I also managed to keep my little sister out of trouble after she “accidentally” poured ice water down the backs of the insanely irritating girls in front of us, and almost got into a brawl of her own, but that’s another story.

It seems every time I have the need to see the doctor these days it is for the same reason I went to them the last time. For the past two years I have been seen for the same aliment and not once but at least five times I was told the problem would correct itself, well as I prepare myself to go under for a surgery to fix the aliment that never fixed itself i I feel like I should be singing along with Alanis Morissette. ” It’s like rain on your wedding day, It’s a free ride when you’ve already paid, isn’t it ironic. It is no smoking sign on your cigarette break, its like going to the doctors to find out your sick two years late… It’s like finally getting in for an important when your insurance is out of date…” Isn’t it ironic…

OK so these things can not really be labeled as ironic but they can however be labeled as typical in the life of Jill. It seems that in the life of Jill I am always running into the worst  predicament…here are just a few…

I buy a car from  the only dealer from here to Kentucky that would give me one without having credit.. I get the car, (which has no gas and I have no money and it is in Cortland.), I get to cincinatus and the alternator goes….Soooo the dealer brings me a new car from the lot. I get that one home and it dies as well. It seems in that type of car a plug in the engine needs to be unplugged for the car not to continuously die.

Next scenario, Nick and I buy a car for $600 but from a guy who is well trusted and we knew the car was in pretty good shape., which it was until we got it of course. The power steering was gone so we throw $600 more into it. The day after we get it back we head off to Tennessee where at the time we thought we were going to move. We get an hour and half away from our destination. BAM a rod in the engine snaps (or whatever a rod can do to make the car overheat and smoke in approx. 2.2 seconds)  on a Saturday morning in the one and only town consisting of a gas station, one  house and one very expensive tow truck.

We get a tow to the nearest town (25 miles away) walk four miles, (after driving from New York all night mind you) rent a car and head on our way. We put a down payment on renting a house in TN and start enrolling in college. We have to fly home only to find that after we sold our furniture, gave up our apartment and rented the UHAUL the college arrangement fell through and our trip cost merely a car, two houses, a ^*%&load of $$, and a lot of sanity . The moral of this story…Don’t go anywhere with me!!!

So these are among just a couple of the scenerios that I have come across thus far in my lifetime that I just want to grab a guitar and sing along with Alanis.

I hate hearing people bash working mothers or stay at home mothers. It seems like no matter which way you choose to go, someone is going to have something negative to say about it.

There’s been a lot of discussion on the forum lately about what mothers “should” do, and I just couldn’t let this one go without throwing in my two cents.

As the mother of a one year old child, I know all about the anxiety and guilt that goes along with choosing to work or choosing to stay home. There’s no question that your child is the most important thing, but it’s hard to know if it would benefit them more for you to stay at home nurturing them and caring for them, or if it would be better to get out of the house, communicate with other adults so you’re not so crazy, and find a way to help pay for the numerous costs that go along with raising a child.

Spending time with your child is a blessing. I know I enjoy every moment I spend with mine, even when he’s pulling the freshly folded clothes back out of the laundry basket and stomping on them, but I chose to go to work. On the days I’m feeling the most guilty, I wonder if I made the right decision.

But I know that if I had stayed home with my adorable baby boy I would feel the same guilt whenever I bought something nice for myself or when the bank account started slipping lower or especially every month when it was time to pay those student loans.

In developmental psych, they show you numerous studies and reports that show absolutely no benefit from either lifestyle. The real difference lies in how you spend the quality time that you have with your children. So instead of arguing about which is better, lets just leave it at that.

“Seventy-six trombones led the big parade, with a hundred and ten cornets close at hand …”

Or not. Not, anyway, in the case of the Firemen’s Parade at the opening of the Chenango County Fair Tuesday night. More like four trombones. And if I knew how to precisely identify a cornet, I’d say three.

That’s because our “big parade,” while big and certainly parade-ish, had only one marching band. One. From Laurens. The Laurens that’s not in Chenango County.

Granted, I didn’t brave the torrential downpour just to hear high school bands trot out a little Sousa or massacre some movie theme, but I did expect that there’d be more than one marching band in the parade. Or at least one from Chenango County.

As a self-proclaimed band geek, I marched at many a county fair (this county and several surrounding) under the Blackhawk banner back in the day. Following the extracurricular with avid interest in my post-high school years, I’ve certainly witnessed the steady decline of the form. Apparently, we’ve reached a point where not a single school in the county has a summer marching band anymore, and that’s sad.

Sherburne’s Pageant of Bands used to be the start of the season, and these days it’s the end. For many schools, it’s the one and only, save for perhaps a tepid Memorial Day appearance. I know there’s lots of reasons for the decline - budget and time constraints, competition from other interests, yadda yadda yadda - but I still think it’s a cryin’ shame that not a single Chenango County school - Norwich chief among them - can’t field a band for a parade which is supposed to represent the entire region.

Bagpipers are nice, but that ain’t a parade, folks.

Tuesday was my day at the fair. It went great. I think we got a pretty good story out of it, too.

If I had had it my way, the whole thing might have gone completely different.

Originally, I was really hoping to spend the day “in the life” of a carnival worker. Didn’t happen.

Instead I worked with a bunch of real nice people doing a bunch of unusual (to me) odd jobs. Things couldn’t have worked out better.

So it’s like Garth Brooks sang, “Sometimes I thank God… da da dum… for unanswered prayers.”

Looking back on it, I’m not sure what I would’ve got out of working a carnival. Carnies have long hours and spend a lot of time on the road. From what I’ve gathered, it’s a job like most – not much glamour, plenty of hard work. A story, all by itself, that you can find anywhere.

What I learned to appreciate from the fair is; it takes all kinds. Not just carnies. Sounds cheesy, but honestly, most things in life are (I still get goose bumps when I hear The Scorpions “Wind of Change” – you do to).

It takes all sorts of people to make the fair work. It takes the derby car drivers who brought the fans who bought the pies. Or in my case, vice-versa. It takes the caller barking at you on the midway to play their game to scare you into visiting the ag area to see how a farm works. It takes people who can laugh at themselves and others to make the fair a good time, understanding that there wouldn’t be much to laugh at all if everyone were the same. I’ve learned to appreciate everyone and everything at the fair. Because it’s always been about the people.

The Ferris wheel,  tilt a whirl,  ring of fire, carnies and the smell of the fair as you enter, as you leave and on your body for several days after is back again in Chenango County.

Ummmmmmm…. The sweet smell of the fair.

One thing the fair is certain to offer daily are smells and sights you either have chosen to neglect to realize exist or smells and sights that flood your mind with memories of a time when as a child the sweet smells meant fun for all!!!

The county fair traditionally has not changed since I was a tot and on my way to the dragon roller-coaster for the 10th time in one afternoon. The taffy handlers still continue to throw the taffy on the metal hook while the carnies yell at unlucky participants to play an unlucky game  of lucky ducks…

It does seem however, whoever tries to win a goldfish is sure to take 3 to 4 of them home.

Anyway, back to the smells of the fair. I think if the fair did not have the distinct smell of food, garbage, sweat, aftershave, perfume, shampoo, gasoline, oil, hair-spray, hot dogs, chili dogs, who knows what dogs, candy, taffy, French fries, body odor, horses, cows and tobacco it simply would not be the same …

I am all about tradition and the county fair is one place tradition is present in Chenango County. As for the smell, turpentine may help …