Women Politicians and Election Loopholes

I have been watching the ongoing bipartisan skirmishes with a lot of apprehension lately and I have become a little surprised at what the traffic bears today in the way of TV ads and newspaper commentary along with all the political e-mails I receive from family, friends and outright foes.

Perhaps you may not know that recently Supreme Court passed legislation called Citizens United to allow corporations and other special interest groups to spend unlimited amounts of money in our elections. So what, you say ? If we value this country as a democracy we would not want these groups to unbalance the former fairness of our election system by allowing any individual or group to practically buy our elections. I would urge you to not let foreign governments and foreign corporations to place ads attempting to sway the American population to vote according to their needs rather than our own. These may include government contractors, TARP recipients, CEOs of companies who often hide but fund these special interests. The Tea Party convention in Nashville supposedly has no leader but believe me this is no time to stand around sipping evil nectar! Republicans didn't want this legislation when democrats dominated the house and senate but now they've pulled a fast one by pushing their own version of it because they believe they have the public bamboozled with their so-called true agenda. If that's true, why don't they come out and admit what they support and don't in those ads? The people want to know: who really paid for this ad ?

I guess the best way to illustrate what can happen with this is to point to republican Jane Norton who is running for something here in Colorado. She claims in her television ads that the current government spending is what put this economy in its tailspin. If you've been paying attention at all you'd know that isn't true but the problem would be traced back to Bush's last act of treachery with the so-called failing banks bailout. Turns out he didn't give that money to failing banks. He put it in the hands of well-to-do bankers themselves. He also did worse than that but I don't need to tell you this do I ? Eight years of nothing but bumbling speaks for itself, I believe.

Well, this same Jane Norton is proposing to put taxes on our groceries and medications. A tax we've never had to shoulder here in this state. (This shifts the tax burden off of the wealthy and hits senior citizens on a fixed income right in the wallet.) She says the government should have no role in health care which is bad news for Medicare recipients. She also says that President Obama cares more about the rights of terrorists than protecting Americans. The funny thing is that you'll never see that on her TV ads. These double-minded tactics have become a new high-strung way of pushing a different agenda but covertly and with plenty of money to fuel it. It also makes no sense.

All those who think this is harmless ought to take a good look at Sarah Palin who looks as harmless as a jelly-fish but her stinger is poised at destroying Social Security and Medicare saying that people are being oppressed by these programs when as a matter-of-fact these current economic times would require that they stay in place. She's Going Rogue alright and she doesn't aim at anyone she doesn't think is a direct threat to her spending sprees or mismanagement of funds. Whatever happened to Bush Sr.'s, "Read my lips"? They want to tax more and take our programs away. What are those funds for? Think about it. We have a lot of people in this country who have no health insurance. If Medicare dies what will our options be, anyway? If Social Security is privatized, only those with lower benefits coming to them will be out on the street at a time of life when you would not want to be homeless. Is this our future under the Republican regime?

Just in case you're wondering what a legitimate special interest group might look like, take a look at what Leonardo DiCaprio is currently supporting and quite openly. www.ThisIsOurMoment.org It's an organization that is trying to push forward with a Clean Energy Bill which will be aggressive in getting carbon pollution dealt with, create jobs and will be a defining moment in what Obama said he would tackle if given some sign or initiative to help. He was looking for someone to roll up their sleeves and here it is with no hidden agendas or underhanded dealings. This is about solving problems, not who wins a bigger piece of the pie.

The pie is not all,

The Castle Lady

Don't travel funky ! !

     When I first started embarking on travel in earnest it was international all the way. My first trip out of the U.S.A. was to London which was probably the best place to cut my teeth with European travel since I was young. I was only nineteen and had never been outside my country- not even to Mexico (which I've never been to!) My first castle was the Tower of London and it was also probably a best first once again since I can't think of a better prototype model for a concentric medieval configuration of a castle than William the Conqueror's pride and joy in London.

     The other day I was looking in the travel section of my local newspaper when I spotted a book which just made me shake my head in disbelief. Actually it's two books: Beginner's Guide to Cruising and  Stern's Guide to the Cruise Vacation. Now, I ask you, if there is a no-brainer- just get on the plane and then get on the boat- ease of a trip, it would be a cruise. Why would you possibly need to read about how to go on a cruise ? Would someone please answer that in some way that won't make me accidentally shoot water up my nose through my throat again. That hurts you know!

     Taking a vacation in the current economy apparently involves trying to think up ways of making traditionally boring ways to spend your week off in an even cheaper manner than ever before. Why try to spice it up with knowing the ins and outs of your particular nonsensical idea of a vacation? I may be a little harsh in my assessment but it seems to me that if you cut corners too much or attempt too hard to make something out of nothing it may be more like just going to work than you care to think about.

     Amusing vacations are in as well. I found these links and thought I would share them with you.  

 

Head cam videos of heliskiiing in Alaska

 

http://blogs.denverpost.com/sports/2009/04/28/oe-in-ak

http://blogs.denverpost.com/sports/2009/0428/oe-in-ak-ii

http://blogs.denverpost.com/sports/04/28/oe-in-ak-iii

http://blogs.dneverpost.com/sports/04/28/oe-in-ak-iv

 

     Maybe it would just be easier to stay close to home and find a nice spa to lay around in ! Good idea !

 

Ah ! Home again, home again, jiggity-jig!

 

 The Castle Lady

 

 

      

Who wins ? McDonalds or Burger King ?

      I am going to give everyone a fair chance to express their opinion on something that isn't a major issue but got me to thinking about the way the media is always trying to sway public opinion for their own selfish gain. The other night I came across this article on the internet:

http://finance.yahoo.com/career-work/article/108728/burger-king-draws-critics

    

     It struck me as rather ridiculous that anyone would make their decisions about whether they will patronize a business based solely on what type of advertising they do. I'm not saying that the commercials aren't juvenile and at times even insulting to more than a few identifiable groups out there but since when do people make their consumer purchases based on the commercial they watched on TV the other night? Does anyone seriously do this or am I being silly myself?

     Assuming that you've read the article from the link I just provided please give me your opinions in the comments. My personal feeling is a practical one. Since BK has been in business I have preferred their hamburgers over just about every franchise hamburger chain out there. I don't buy hamburgers from Wendy's but I like their salads. Period. McDonald's quality has been down since 1969 apparently. I've never had a decent hamburger from them. Period. Their fries are the best and that's about it. Carl's Jr. can give BK a run for their money but we only have one in the entire state of Colorado and it's luckily reasonably near where I live. Sonic might be fun if I still drove around in my first car- a vintage '67 Oldsmobile Cutlass. Otherwise it's insanity to try to eat finger food with half the contents dropping on my steering wheel. Those drive-in days are over- believe it !

     I think that someone out there (guess who? ) paid this guy to write that article. Special interest groups will tear them apart the same way they tried to do KFC in about their so-called mistreatment of chickens. Pshaw ! ! Activist- smack-tivist ! I'll go where the quality is and for me a decent hamburger will always be the flame-broiled decent-sized beef patties in a plump, non-soggy bun that only Burger King provides ! So there. Thbbbph ! !

 

Don't forget to leave a comment ~ BIG KISS !

 

 

The Castle Lady  

Inner Beauty

   We can't do much about our appearance through normal means but we have

total control over the kind of person we become.

 

 

    One of the least prized attributes of our current culture is quite possibly the most important to our health and well-being today. That is truly a shame. In a time when we most need the fortitude and tenacity that inner beauty can impart to individuals and team players alike, we seem to be seriously lacking. I cannot remember a time in my life when politics have ever been this mean-spirited and divisive or when so much of old game conning and some insidiously new trumpery in business has been so prevalent. Our values are all wrong but we cling to them because it's what worked previously.

     I believe it's time for this country to take a giant leap in character-building and reset our priorities. Helping Haiti is our chance to show the world what lies beneath the surface of our flag-waving courage and pride. Perhaps if we stop thinking so much globally as we ought to think to those who are truly less fortunate and put a stop-gap on what we think is worth spending our money on, we will be helping everybody including ourselves.

     A new face cream is not going to change your face so much as a heartfelt, genuine smile. A brand new racing style sports car isn't going to give you any more dash than a hands-up to a few hundred people who have never known anything but privation. I cannot look at a hugely expensive or over-priced item without thinking how many meals I could buy with that money for people who are starving.

     Only a decade and a half ago Americans were being referred to as the Ugly American in most global capital cities around the world because of their blatant self-indulgence and tawdry life-styles. Wouldn't it be nice to change the world's view to one of inner beauty and radiance on our part? We could stop throwing epithets of liberal and fascist at each other and start showing a new face to the world which might truly make a difference globally. All we would have to do is change the way we act- here and abroad- but mostly here on our own shores. There isn't any quick way to wealth and once it's gone you cannot buy back your health. If you think about the impact you have in your own sphere and mind what you're actually doing you may be able to change the world for good without even fully realizing it. It's worth it to appear like a movie star without wasting the money on that Gucci rag, isn't it ? 

 

Putting a new face on and loving it,

 

 

The Castle Lady  

Do we need an Airline Passengers Bill of Rights ? ?

I don't know how many of my readers have been watching the TV news lately but a recent item that came up just before Thanksgiving made me so mad that I vowed I would write something about it even though I'm neck deep in projects. Last Monday I watched a brief news story on the late afternoon CBS telecast that described an unbelievable act of barbarism in the form of a wheelchair-bound woman being taken off of a plane and left in a baggage area at the DIA airport. Apparently, while she was waiting for help she died of a stroke and was found abandoned where she should never have been left.

A couple of days later this woman's daughter was on the news. She lives in Latvia and expected to see her mother come home on a plane. She sure didn't expect to get a call from the authorities that her mother had been wheeled to a baggage area and left there to die. I will not disclose the name of the airline but I cannot believe that a human being could be treated this way for any reason or under any circumstances. The daughter said she just wanted an explanation of why her mother was taken off of the plane. This newscast ended with the anchor relaying that the airline had been contacted by them and no explanation was given. They called the hospital where the woman had been taken and they gave no explanation to them as well.

We see items in the paper everyday about our relationships with other countries but what must they think of the United States when these intolerable acts happen and our authorities shrug? Why would the rest of the world not hate us under these circumstances?

Just the day before, I had read a Washington Post article about a bill being passed for passenger rights. It expounded on a few other problems that have existed for quite some time. It went on and on about code-sharing which I've known about since I was a teenager. One expert that had been consulted by the author Christopher Elliott was consumer advocate Edward Hasbrouck who felt that truth in advertising, problems with federal pre-emption and failure to enforce existing consumer laws were greater issues but how can that be seriously heeded when a bigger issue is staring us in the face like this?

I can pick up a paper or turn a news telecast on any day of the week and I'll hear about gay rights, animal rights, and Miranda rights but I am wondering about basic human rights. Whatever happened to treating your common everyday citizen with compassion, respect and care? The same consumer rights advocate I cited above was quoted as saying, "Airlines routinely engage in practices that would constitute fraud if engaged in by any other business." I'll go a step further in saying that they also routinely engage in the practice of treating people worse than cattle. Apparently, people that work in airline terminals need to be given classes in human compassion and responsibility toward your fellow human being along with CPR and basic medical care. I doubt if it will bring that woman's mother back, though.

Blowing off steam !

The Castle Lady

Cheap! Cheap!

     One of my favorite quotes is from William McKinley, our twenty-fourth president:

 

"I do not prize the word cheap. It is not a badge of honor... it is a symbol of despair.

Cheap prices make for cheap goods; Cheap goods make for cheap men;

and cheap men make for a cheap country."

 

     My strongest feeling about today's economy is that it is nearly nonexistent. It exists electronically or if you're lucky, on paper. Our virtual economy is even more precarious than the failing economy. A lot of people bank only online but I watch my mother, who wouldn't touch a computer (out of plain old fear and probably mistrust) snubbing ATMs in favor of real live tellers. I must admit that if I did not have a building in which I take my deposits, periodically, I would feel as if I had lost touch of something tangible. We have all lost something tangible, truly.

     While everybody goes on and on about a global economy, I sit and ponder what happened to businesses in my immediate community which are simply gone and had been thriving up until the day I saw the closed signs go up, recently. About twenty years ago an initiative for Colorado in which they had set up shops all around the state called simply, "Made in Colorado" received a little publicity. All the products were made in Colorado, of course, but the most amazing thing is that they were making it easy for Colorado to continue to have a true local economy without having to resort to expensive and annoying advertising. Today there are no such stores. Nobody supported them apparently. Tourists and residents walked away shrugging. I don't know if any such organization was attempted elsewhere in the country.

     Buyers and consumers think because their finances move at a fast pace with lowered prices or faster ways of shopping that they are contributing toward the recovery of our economy. I would look askance at the products they find acceptable. Products and services are more shoddy than ever. How often do you look to see where the product was made as you shop? Do you read labels? People have been complaining about the junk sold in stores and how you can't get good service for as long as I've been alive and probably longer than that- truth be told. Today I would concur with those who have been saying so and with the emphasis on the quote I cited above. This whole economy is being hampered by the dominoes theory.

     When you buy cheaper made products you are supporting a business that does not care what they sell you as long as you buy their product. A cheaper price is not good enough for me if it will not last or perform as it should. This problem is nearly across the board now. The quality has gone down on everything from acrylic fabricated containers to tissues to zinc oxide sunscreens. The less you pay, the more likely the product will break, fizzle out or show some lack in workmanship or quality. By buying these products you are also supporting the level of quality.   

     Do I have a solution to this problem? The answer is yes and the solution is much easier than you would think. Let me count the ways:

 

     1. Start buying locally and pay with cash when you can. Find out about these products by contacting the local manufacturer. When a company knows that its customers care about the quality of the product, in all likelihood, they will rise to the occasion and make sure they inform and please their client base. If you support local farmers you will probably get the best produce you can buy and it's the strongest way of building up our country's economy on a large scale. It's a win/win situation.

 

     2. Barter services and goods where you can. Garage sales are now bartering as well as selling. It's the oldest form of an economy and it works. If you trade Nellie's apple pies for the quince jelly you make every year, you both know where to go if something went wrong. Instant feedback wins the day.

 

     3. Start conserving your stock of goods. Recycle the old fashioned way. Reuse something. (This year I am making quite a few Christmas presents from containers and presents I received in the past.) Don't regift- remake! Families appreciate hand-made gifts many times over anything you can buy at a store and the reason is obvious. You will be saving space in landfills and conserving on rampant consumerism as well.

 

     4. Before you buy a major purchase do your homework and find out what the best components to the product are and educate yourself about its use. If you are considering a service, don't just check prices. Get educated on the service through expert opinion and find out how to get the best for your money. Money spent blindly is nearly always money wasted. This is especially true of service related expenses.

 

     5. Try to think of ways of saving money for your individual needs that don't compromise the quality you receive. 

 

     By following this basic plan you can make the economy a reality and you will save money in the long run. Thinking globally is wonderful when we are thriving but a good part of the reason why our economy is in such sad shape is because we are almost devoid of factories, many jobs are being outsourced outside of our country and we stopped supporting local businesses in favor of business franchises who don't think locally or support their communities. If you must do business with large chain stores and shops, engage them in your neighborhood through charity outreaches and encourage them to buy locally manufactured products instead of those produced overseas. The economy you save might be your own !

 

 The Castle Lady says charity begins at home !

      

 

 

honor virtutis praemium

Honor is Virtue's Reward

At the beginning of the last presidential campaign I made keen note of all the issues and tried to decide early on who I would watch closely and to see who had the most integrity to carry out the ambitious promises I expected each candidate to make. Most of my attention focused on Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama since they were the only candidates which were tackling the issues I felt were the most important. Barack's were all about change which were a little vague at first and Hillary's were very cut and dried. I did not agree totally with everything on Hillary's agenda but most of it was very acceptable and I felt she was the most qualified since she had actually spent two terms in the White House in an advisory capacity.

Nobody seems to talk about being humble anymore but I think it's a wonderful virtue for anybody taking the Presidential seat especially with the current caustic political climate. When was the last time we had a humble President in the White House? It seems to me that Jimmy Carter tried to fulfill that quest and he did very well at that but he also made some grave errors. I think we all are aware of what those are, or at least those of us who have been keeping themselves reasonably informed when it comes to politics.

Humbleness comes in handy when people attack your character, decisions or even your moral compass. Without it you are left to defend what you may miserably fail at defending. I watched Bush try to defend our invasion of Iraq first with a deceptive motive, which was that they harbored weapons of mass destruction and then when that failed to hold water he told us we were morally obligated to these people while he went after his sworn enemy- Saddam Hussein. If he had told us the truth of his agenda from the beginning I certainly would have appreciated the honesty and conceded that something needed to be done with terrorists in a leadership role such as Saddam held. We did not receive the truth from him, however, and in my eyes he fell from grace at the moment he showed that he did not even want to admit that he lied.

Personally, I would like to see humbleness come back into vogue in every political office held in this country. I believe our foreign policies would start to line up with all the virtues that our founding fathers obviously cherished. It showed in their Bill of Rights, it showed in the Constitution and the Amendments. It showed, most importantly, in their lives which were far from perfect. I believe what showed the most, in certain cases, was a willingness to humble themselves when they most wanted to receive laudits. Abraham Lincoln, I understand, despised only one thing. That single most disgrace on his list comprised one word: grandstanding. He didn't do it and neither should our leaders. Self-esteem is really honor made manifest but honoring yourself is rarely worthwhile. Receiving honor after a job well-done is always better. I guarantee it.

I'll reward you with a guarantee

of my finest kisses !

The Castle Lady

What I Did for Twenty Years ! ! Conclusion

Why did I close my shop? The main factor was an unlikely occurrence on May 5, 1997. On that Sunday my mother decided to get overly busy and she broke her right ankle running down her downstairs staircase. As a matter of fact she broke both of her ankles in two separate incidences on that same day. My part was in taking her to Kaiser with the first one and getting her back home through the Cinco de Mayo traffic- which was horrendous in that decade in Denver!

After the shock of the second break and two ambulances later it became imperative for me to be close at hand in order to be of any help at all to her. She wound up in a nursing home for a short period of time but the house had to be made wheelchair accessible and it forced me to take time away from my shop. The only other instance in which I took that much time away from my shop happened when I was called in for Jury Duty during a Christmas season. It clearly was a hardship in both instances but in one I had no choice. When it came to my mother I wouldn't have chosen any different.

As a result, I closed my shop permanently, moved my business into hers ( home Beauty Salon) and stayed on because I felt it was necessary- even after she got back on her feet and went back to working in her salon. The down side to this was that I watched my business dwindle down slowly over the years. I had never found anyone who could take over my salon in my absence. This was the only negative factor of salon ownership during those seven years. Finding good, steady employees was always elusive and very frustrating. I don't feel I ever found a co-worker or employee that came even close to my standards. Most of the technicians I hired didn't have enough knowledge (a rather common occurrence because of the high burnout rate for this profession.) My goal was always to service a client according to their needs and objectives.

Apparently the different (and geriatric) atmosphere at my mother's salon was not conducive to my business which thrived at a storefront. Quite possibly, I had made an error in closing the prime location shop but I wouldn't have chosen any different given the circumstances. My family was first and there was no discussion. I hope I receive the same consideration someday when my time comes. Time will tell.

In 1999 I had two more life changes. One was positive and other was a learning experience that I'll not soon forget. That summer I sat down and wrote an inspirational book which practically wrote itself. If I have ever had an automatic writing experience I believe this was it, however, I was fully conscious of what I was writing. The result is a book about praise and worship titled, "In Spirit and In Truth". Once it was written I immediately started to try to find a publisher or agent. I met up with almost total silence and even in some cases hostility toward the ideas I presented even though every word of this book is scriptural and I supported it only with scripture. The response from publisher and agents was surprising and disappointing to say the least. Many did not bother to read it. Good reactions to the book came from ordinary church people. My only aim was to reach church-going Christians and so I view this book as a success. I still desire to get it published.

That same year, shortly after my birthday, I saw that my dwindling clientele was creating a financial hardship for myself and I decided to take a job in a bank as a teller. What started out as pleasant, menial work turned into a nightmare when I saw that the workload was being shunted my way too much. Within a year I quit because I started to develop stomach ulcers. I learned something about working in a corporate environment that I'll never forget and I don't believe I want to repeat the mistake because I believe that many of my clientele were put off by my irregular hours. I worked only evenings and Saturdays in my mother's salon at that time. This episode was debilitating to my spirit and created another hardship that I've never known. Taking in only half the pay I normally made in the past along with incredible amounts of stress was demoralizing.

When an opportunity to take a trip to see castles came along in 2001 I realized I was being given a chance to to make a long time dream come true. I have been interested in castles since I was a teenager- even before I took any trips overseas- my first in 1977 when I went to London for the first time. The Tower of London was my very first castle, which was a good place to start.

I seized the ring and set out for Paris- our starting point for the 2 week tour- on August 31st. To see castles in photos, diagrams and lithos in a book are great but it can't compare to being present to view them personally, walk their floors and study the individual architecture. I wouldn't trade the experience for any other trip I've ever taken. We took in seventeen castles in five countries in that span of time! In addition, it sparked a passion for architecture of which I had not been fully aware until I was there to see the castles for myself. I want to share this passion and I can truly say that my books will be those which I would want to use myself.

I hope you have enjoyed getting some details of my life which heretofore have been unknown to the internet reading public. If you still believe me to be a bit of a mystery all I can say is that each person must keep a certain amount of their lives in a strictly personal state. I share my feelings and hopes and dreams with those who don't mind getting close and sharing those details. This is why we have friends.

A friendly kiss and hug from

The Castle Lady !

What I Did for Twenty Years ! ! ! Part Two

Four years prior to that I had been working full-time and had almost full-time college course work in musical flute performance on my schedule plate, too. During the years between 1984 and 1987 I had played as third flute on what was then the Denver Symphony Orchestra stage (now the Colorado Symphony) on numerous occasions, sang and played for weddings and funerals and formed a flute/guitar duo with a Denver Public School teacher. I had started taking lessons when I lived in San Diego back in the early 80s and felt that I wanted to master my sound on it. This led to college even though I wasn't really looking to get a degree. My musicianship blossomed with every course I took whether it was theory, lab or an ensemble. It was a busy and exciting time for me but I always managed to find time to write poetry and composed my own songs.

I traveled extensively for years after 1983 attending trade shows for my profession in California, Arizona and even Massachusetts adding new services to my menu with each class. Very few nail technicians offer as many different mediums as I do so I took my artisanship in nails to the highest level. ( I know every type of artificial application whether it is acrylic extensions, gel, silk, linen, fiberglass or paper overlays (the latter of which is very passe'.) To this day I maintain my inventory to offer everything that is in my scope and capability. My vacations usually coincided with shows and classes but one year I really took a "time-off" vacation to Jamaica in 1989 which I found intriguing but also beguiling. Perhaps relaxing vacations were meant for other types of individuals. I remember renting a car and gallivanting all over the island!

A fond memory of learning about airbrushing comes to mind from the originators of the practice of doing this medium on nails. The people collectively owned a company called Colormist ( TM) and they developed the special airbrush stream to be 1/100th the usual width especially for nail art. The designs below show how muted and elegant the designs were and you could make your own templates to create the unique designs. We were only limited by our imagination. Imagine my dismay at what passes for airbrushing designs today. I don't care for most of them because they don't appear elegant to me. They get paint all over the fingers which has to be wiped off. The designs look crude and ostentatious. It may be a matter of taste but the designs below speak for themselves. Today I still do all my nail art with individual brushes to do hand-painted art and I have had many people tell me that my work is unsurpassed. I enjoy doing it my way and not the cookie-cutter method which prevails now.

After eleven years of working both in Colorado and California as an independent contractor (primarily) I took a month off from my daily schedule for a writing sabbatical to set about the business of getting my first book of poetry published. I'll never regret the time I took to find out what the life of a writer entails. The work is very solitary but quite fulfilling. I'll have to say that it is not the life for a loquacious individual unless you become a journalist. Otherwise, it is quite a bit of isolation combined with the fortitude of a nun and a very exacting business as well.

My book Seasons of the Heart was published in July and I did several poetry readings. When I went back to my work as a nail technician I found that my nail clients were the people most keenly interested in my book of anyone. They made my sales phenomenal for a first run book by an unknown poet. (For people outside of the literary world, poetry is the least money-making of all books published and they rarely print more than a few thousand copies even for well-known poets. My book paid for its own printing with the first one hundred sales!)

A little more than a year later, (1990) I decided to get serious about starting my own salon and I found a storefront in which the location was virtually untapped. There were no nail salons in the area and it was a prime business location. Two minutes after signing the lease contract with the owner of the strip mall I had a deja vu moment that told me I had made a decision that would change my life.

When I opened my doors on the first day half my clientele dropped off, telling me that they wouldn't drive as far as my location even though they all had followed me around a ten or more mile radius away from the location I'd started working when I returned to Colorado in 1983 ! I was a little stunned because it was obvious the snob factor had set in, of course. However, I rebuilt the missing clientele within a short time, due to constant prayer on my part and a faithful fortitude that I attribute to being the offspring of a long line of entrepreneurs and business owners.

After three successful years my lease was up and I started looking for a new location since my landlord decided to triple my rent! The only negative factor that I had experienced with salon ownership at that point was finding good, steady employees. This was very frustrating but I found that with being in charge I could make up for the lack of their standards with my own. Since I set the standard there was no one over me with any inhibiting factor of lack of expertise affecting the clientele. It was a great position for someone of my professional stature to keep.

Sure enough, I found a new location only three blocks away and I expanded my service and added a boutique. My biggest profit year occurred at that second location and I enjoyed it more as well. Because the space was quite small and cozy I felt it was necessary to completely redecorate it and I watched my clientele increase. I learned more about my capabilities in those seven years than at any other time of my life. If you want to build your character ( or test it!) start a business !

All during the years that I owned my salon, which was during the years 1990 to 1997, I used my flute playing skills by going back to a church I had attended many years before, on the strength of my mother's preference for the pastor's wife's teachings, to play in their orchestra. This is Marilyn Hickey's home base (ORCC) where I played flute or sang for their church for more than thirteen years! I also involved myself as an actress in the plays the director, Scot Aspromonte, ran from 1998 and really found my niche, I believe. For an interlude during the years '95 to '97 my flute playing and singing took a detour to a little church not far away from my relocated salon which was called "Good News". I was able to utilize my session playing very well there and had a very appreciative crowd for my solo singing, too.

More to come from The Castle Lady ! ; )

What I Did for Twenty Years ! ! ! Part One

From Spring of 1977 up to two years ago my steady source of income was the profession of manicuring and artificial fingernails. What most people consider tedious and menial work was a creative and financially well-rewarding vocation for me. Even when I started my own nail salon in 1990 I knew that I'd never become a millionaire- busy as I was- but the rewards were in the personal service of people (mostly women) achieving their individual beauty goals- a perk unmatched in any other personal service industry, in my estimation.

I never consciously gave up the profession. I'm still licensed and stock the materials to continue at any time ! The changes to this industry, however, have brought the standards of the practice to an all time low and the evidence of that is empty nail salons with one or two idle Asian "nail servers". Their unsanitary and dangerous practices have placed the integrity of the profession to the point of non-existence. Most of the "discounters" are not licensed and the public remains ignorant that this is a requirement in nearly every state of the union.

The blame for this lack of enforcement remains with the state boards who are supported by the licensed professionals. The boards don't even bother to inform the public of these standards and rarely hire enough people to inspect salons.

As a result I have watched my business diminish to nil even though I offer an impressive array of services, unmatched by most of the people in the nail service industry- professional or no. The discount salons simply offer basic and shoddy services at ridiculously low prices- but where are their clients?

Well, the proof is in the pudding, as they say and I haven't failed to see today's legendary drastic pay-cuts and job displacement as a parallel to the undercutting of the true beauty professionals supported by those who are only out to save-a-buck. I'm more concerned about saving what once was a wonderful profession from vanishing altogether.

During all these years of working as a nail technician I have been an avid reader and writer. I wrote from the time I was an elementary school student and took creative writing courses in high school. Poetry has always been a great love of mine and publishing my own book has been a dream come true. This happened in 1988 with my book, "Seasons of the Heart", a few years before I took the plunge into becoming a business owner for the first time.

To be continued....

The Castle Lady with TLC for all !