Wednesday, September 29, 2010

There are Doctors and then there are Doctors

In June, 1994, actually the day that O.J. Simpson went on his wild driving spree after the death of his wife, Nicole, I was involved in a serious accident.  I had picked up my daughter from work and we were going home when a young girl, 15 years old driving on a permit with a 17 year old licensed driver in the pickup truck with her was speeding and ran a stop sign hitting my van in the middle of an intersection.  The impact threw my van up and over the northwest corner breaking the tire away from the wheel, back across the street and up over a curb and it stopped at the front door of a house on the southwest corner.

I was dazed and in shock and kept yelling for someone to call the police.  My daughter was not seriously injured was able to get out and the people who lived in the home had called the police.  It was a nightmare and the officer never really talked to me until after the other driver had left and then he spoke briefly to me.  The EMS was called but I didn't think my injuries were severe that I needed a ride in the ambulance and that I would have a friend of my daughter come pick us up and take me.  We arranged for the van to be towed to a friend's garage.

I was checked out at the hospital and sent home even though I kept telling them I felt as if I had some broken ribs or something had happened to my left shoulder, arm and chest area.  My neck was already stiffening up and I had a cut on my leg where I hit the gear shift plus a small cut on my left hand which we never really did figure out how it happened unless the impact which threw me towards the driver's door which took the hit on the post, somehow caused it.

I went home and tried to rest but the pain would not go away and the following weeks were frequent checks to the doctor's office and even the emergency room when I thought I was having a heart attack.  I couldn't lift my left arm up to even comb my hair or to get dressed was so painful it brought tears.  My neck continued to get worse and after countless x-rays, MRI's they did a cat scan and showed nothing.  The only diagnosis was that I was badly bruised and had some pulled muscles.  I suffered Whip Lash which no one considered an injury at the time, however since then, they are looking at this type of injury and its long term effects.

I was sent for therapy which only aggravated the condition and I begged my doctor to let me stop.  I was fitted with a tens unit to help control the pain however I couldn't use it near the heart area so only in the rib area and shoulder and neck and even then I had to be careful where I placed it.

I was seen and examined by over a half a dozen doctors, went to the emergency room and everyone seemed to think I was exaggerating and that I wasn't hurt as bad as I seemed to think.  They insisted that the therapy and tens unit would cure me and that it took time for "pulled muscles" and bruises to heal.

After several months, I was able to lift my arm again but there was still pain but I continued to use it as I didn't want it to freeze up on me.  I was unable to work and lost my job.  To supplement our income, as my husband was driving a floral delivery truck and making wood crafts on his off time which I would paint and finish so we could do craft shows to bring in the extra money.

I worried about him driving during the winter months and in September 1995 we had the opportunity to buy a farm in south west Arkansas.  My insurance company was giving me no support and told me I should settle with hers as I really didn't have a case.  So when we decided to move and leave the Joplin, Missouri area we made a settlement with her insurance company.  There again, when I asked about future medical they almost laughed and then had the gall to have my husband sign the papers since his name was first on our insurance.  He was not at the accident, not in the vehicle and was at work and never found out about the accident until 7 hours later when he came home and found me and I told him.

But it was done and I knew that I would have future bills.  The statute has run out now and after years of explaining to doctors, I was always told the same thing or that it was something else and that it wasn't related.  It didn't seem to bother them that I can only turn my head part way to the left and when I'm driving or need to look over my left shoulder, I have to turn my body to see.  When I complained about the soreness and pain in my chest, I was told I had Pleurisy and possible inflammation from Bronchitis.  I was treated with antibiotics and suffered through it even after the symptoms disappeared for a few days, they would return.



But since I was also experiencing allergy conditions, he checked me over and said he thought I had an allergy related asthma and prescribed an inhaler and gave me some antibiotics and meds to help me get through the initial siege.  But all summer I have suffered with the allergies, runny nose, sneezing, watery eyes, coughing and of course a heaviness in my chest making it hard to breathe at times.  I've worn a mask when I'm out and the pollen count is high but I still had all the problems as if I'd never wore one.

About a month ago, I began to notice some changes.  The pain in the chest was worse and the coughing made it awful.  It caused a sharp severe pain in the chest, muscle spasms which felt as if I had a belt tightening around my chest and then a pain down the left arm.  I admit I was worried that I could be having a heart attack.  It would come and go and finally I made the appointment to go see my doctor.

First of all he said it was not a heart attack and after I told him about the accident and the pain, soreness and tenderness and that sometimes it felt as if my lung might be collapsed or something, he looked at me and told me that I have a condition called Costochrondritis.  It involves the cartilage connecting the rib cage to the breast bone and is an injury that never really heals.  It will get better but can also become inflamed from colds, allergies, viruses or any upper respiratory infection.

He even gave me a print out of the condition, its symptoms, the causes and what treatment is available.  It had taken 16 years but I found a doctor who knew and understood and now I will be undergoing treatment with anti inflammatory (non-steroidal) for the rest of my life.  He said it will be the only way to control the pain and soreness and the severe pain I experience.

This has been the biggest relief to me.  I know it is there and I will have pain and discomfort but I also know how to take care of it now and I can relax knowing it isn't my heart or that I am having a heart attack.  Not to say that some day I could but for now, we know my heart is good and isn't the cause.

I will be undergoing Pulmonary Function tests in a week to see what we can do about the Asthma which he thinks is the main cause of my problems with congestion and breathing. 

It is also nice to know that I can do my chores without having to worry if I'll be in so much pain later that I can't sleep or even sit for long periods as sometimes all I can do is walk or stand and try to stretch or do anything to make the spasms and pain go away.

Why after all the examinations and doctors I met with immediately after my accident and those I have had all these years, that they couldn't diagnose this for me and give me something, I don't know but I do know that I have been blessed with a knowledgeable doctor who has diagnosed it and is treating it.

This is a man who is more than just a Doctor.  He is caring and he listens and he knows his medicine.  He is a Doctor, one that can be trusted and I know one day he will retire and I will be lost as I've never met a doctor who I've had this much confidence in.  He cares more about taking care of his patients than how much money he will make.  I think back about some of the doctors I've seen with their fancy offices and all the latest equipment and the money that I've spent or when I had insurance, that was paid and then I look at my doctor now with a nice but older office, with equipment that is needed for the office and with our local hospital, he can order x-rays, lab work or whatever he needs.

He not only corrected my blood pressure medicine, but discovered my cholesterol levels were high and is treating me for that problem as well.  No other doctor had done that or even checked me for it. 

Yes, there are Doctors and then there are real Doctors and my Doctor is the later.  Thank you Dr. Farrow.

Saturday, September 25, 2010

A Different Kind of Vice

I admit that I have some vices, I like to have a drink or two now and then, I smoke but am really trying to quit and have cut back considerably.  I love playing games on the computer when I'm bored and I LOVE CATS. 

And to me cats are my vice.  I collect cats, the kind you put on a shelf and look at and I have shirts with cats on them, some have sayings, but I also have the real kind.  I even wrote a book about cats I used to have and other short stories about cats. Currently I have two indoor cats.  Ms. Kitty who is 2 1/2, a gray striped tabby who thinks this is her house and we are allowed to occupy it with her and Shadow, a one year old long haired white with gray markings similar to a Siamese or Himalayan who is gentle and loving and takes Ms. Kitty's abuse.

There are times when the two of them get along famously but then there are the times when for no reason, she decides he has denied her something and she slaps the dickens out of him.  He rarely retaliates but will slink away from her until she is over her tantrum.

I also have some outdoor cats.  I have a yellow tom named Freddie, a solid black tom named Midnight, a gray tabby called Mean Mama who I can't catch and is continuously providing me with more kittens to find homes for.  I did have another wild and mean female who has isolated herself from the others, but I don't think it was her choice.  I think she was banned for some reason.  Being wild, I have been unable to catch her but so far she isn't giving me litter after litter of kittens.  Then there are the twins, two little girls kittens that I've tried to capture and give away but evade me.  They are white like Shadow and beginning to show the gray markings so are beautiful cats but being female, I need to have them spayed if I am going to keep them and catching them is a job.

But this comes to a new segment in my outdoor cats lives.  Mean Mama has three little kittens right now that I am trying to tame down to find homes when they are weaned.  She recently brought them out so that they can learn how to eat the cat food and drink from the water dish I provide but they are also still nursing so not quite ready to take away yet.

But as with all kittens, just like babies, they are just so darn cute and it is so hard to part with them.  They bounce around and play with each other, climb up on things and fall off but get right back up and do it again.  They jump at each other as if they are big and brave and will scare the other one.   They are at that awkward stage when they often stagger or fall when they are running.  But they get right back up and keep right on going.

Kind of reminds me of toddlers as they begin to walk and run.  And I guess baby kittens are like that too. They go through a toddler stage.

Now, comes my dilemna.  There are three little cuties, a gray tabby which is a little girl, a calico with white, also a little girl and then there is Tippy.  He is dark colored with white feet and white under his chin and on his face and just a tip of white on his tail.  And he is a little boy.

Today, friends of my daughter were here and talked me into brining Tippy inside.  He did settle down on my lap and went to sleep and seemed contented but I knew he isn't quite ready to leave Mama just yet so I did take him back to her later.  Now I have to decide if I do want to bring him in and let Ms. Kitty and Shadow have a new playmate and also another stumbling block that will be at my feet or if I leave him outside to be with Freddie and Midnight who for tomcats seemed to like it here and never venture far from home.

Right now, Tippy is cute and sweet and cuddly but he will grow up to be a big cat and that is where I am having a problem deciding.  With three cats inside, I know that will mean another food bowl, another litter box, more cat hair and more danger of one getting tangled up under my feet and tripping me.  But then there is that moment when they are so loving and sit on my lap and close their eyes and purr, kneading me and letting me know how much they love me.

It is a hard decision and I know if I do leave him out, I will worry about him just as I do Freddie and Midnight.  There is always the chance that they could get run over by a car if they would happen to run out into the road, or be attacked by a dog who is a cat hater, as we do have a few around the neighborhood, or even a wild animal as I have heard the coyotes running in the open area behind my house.

Freddie and Midnight have learned and as I said, they don't stray to far from the house and they have learned to avoid some of the pitfalls but there is always that chance they will be caught unawares and something could happen to them.  I try not to think about it, but it happens. 

Both are gentle souls who often play with the kittens and I'm sure that should I keep Tippy, they will take him under their care and train him the way things should be for a cat living outside.  They do have a special place to go when it is raining or cold and so are kept warm and dry.

I do have allergies and I think my indoor cats do add to that but at the same time, I would be lost without their companionship.  They seem to know when I'm sad or I'm ill and are right there to give me comfort and for me there is just something about having a cat or two in the house that makes it homey.  I've had a lot of cats through the years and felt the heartache when I've lost them but I have been fortunate to find a new one that doesn't take their place, but gives me the comfort and companionship and fills my heart full of love for them while keeping my memories of the love I had for my lost companions.

Common sense tells me that I really don't need three cats living with me inside the house, while the softer side who loves cats is saying yes, please bring in the new bundle of joy to add to the family.  And probably my common sense will just disappear once I know that Tippy is weaned and I expect that he will become a fixture inside, joining Ms. Kitty and Shadow and giving me a lap full of cats to love.

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Progressing? Regressing?

It is a question that I often ask myself these days.  It seems since our government has deemed that they know more about what we want or how we want to live, we are not Progressing but we are Regressing.

They have reduced the size of our cars so that the safety features have all but disappeared.  With the smaller and lighter weight, they may reduce fuel usage by a couple of miles per gallon but they are a hazard and a danger.  If you look at a new car that is even in a minor crash, it is almost destroyed.  Now, if it is a major crash, the chance of injury or even death is much greater.

I'm all for conservation, but sometimes it can be carried away with fanatics and the car is just one of those fantasies.

And why can't we produce our own oil and gas in this country?  We did for years and it was a very good livilihood for several people.  Our costs were low at the pump, we had refineries that that we didn't have to pay to have it hauled halfway around the world and pay the exhorbant prices that we are forced to pay.  Not only did the oil field workers lose their jobs, the refinery workers were laid off too as refineries were closed down.  They said because the cost of upgrading would be too much.  Please!  The American people are not stupid, not when there were millions being made daily on the production.  The CEO's just didn't want to part with any of their profit.  They would rather put it in their pocket than put it back into the business.

One of the main principles of business is that the profit can only be after all the bills are paid and that also includes maintenance or even upgrading.  That is a very simple principle and common sense if they have any, should realize that you can't spend your money and then try to fix something or complain that it might cost you an extra dollar that you can't take home to spend on a fancy car or boat or a trip around the world.  Please! Get real and know your business practices.

And the government wants to control our food, either by telling us we can't buy fast food or making our work areas free of pop machines as we might have too much sugar.  Since when are they the food police.  If a person is going to eat fast food, no one is going to stop them, if they become obese, it is by their own choosing.  They need to find the will power to eliminate the fast food if they want to lose weight.

But when they begin saying, "You can't have a garden," because they are afraid you might give away or sell your excess produce, or even if you have a truck garden, then that is a no-no.  Why?  We have had gardens for years and ate from our own gardens or shared with our family, friends and neighbors.  Since when is it a crime to grow a tomato or bean on your own property for your own food source?  Since the government has decided that it will cheat the big farmer who has all the prepared foods in the grocery store.  It comes down to the bottom line again. 

We cannot have gardens to grow fresh vegetables, but yet it is perfectly all right for us to buy vegetables at the grocery store that are grown in foreign countries that have no laws in regards to use of pesticides or growing conditions.  Then when an illness breaks out, they are all flustered.  I'm really surprised more people don't get sick and die eating food that is grown outside this country.  I refuse to buy it.  I will grow my own or go without before I will by foreign grown food.

Today, a giant in the industry of this country shut down after doing business for over a century, providing us with something so simple and yet much needed.  The electric light bulb.  I really think Thomas Edison had a great idea and wanted Progress when he invented the light bulb.  It took us away from the dim light of the kerosene lamps which weren't that good and hard on the eye sight.

So today, General Electric, stating they were shutting down because of the demand of the public for the new curly Q light bulb the government is forcing on us, is no longer.  More people out of a job because some ignoramus thinks he knows what the people want. 

I feel like I might as well pull out my Great Grandfather's oil lamp and find the fuel to use it as the new light bulbs don't put off much more light than that oil lamp.

Supposedly it is a cost cutting factor.  The new bulb uses less electricity so therefore it is supposed to be better.  WRONG!!!  When you have to use more than one in close proximity just to have enough light to read or even see if you are sewing on a button, then how is that cost effective.   So you use six bulbs in the overhead instead of four just so you can see what you are doing.  Is that cost effective?  Is that Progression?

Security lights?  Forget it.  The outdoor light will be so dim, that it will almost invite unwanted visitors to your door as they can hide in the shadows much easier.

No, I think we are REGRESSING and will continue to regress as long as we allow our government to make decisions about our daily lives.  It is not PROGRESSION when jobs are removed because they feel they aren't viable or when they take the attitude that LESS IS BEST.

I am mad.  Really mad.  So I will continue to drive my older model car and I will have to pay for the high gas prices but at least I'm comfortable and feel I have a fighting chance if I should have an accident.  And I am going to buy up all the incandescent bulbs I can find so that I will have good light when I need it and I refuse to use the Curly Q that is antiquated before it ever gets started.  And I will grow my own garden and eat my own food even if I have to meet the inspectors at the gate to my private property to tell them to go away. 

I refuse to regress and I will progress the best way I know how but I will not allow anyone to tell me that I can't do something, or won't do something or how to do something as long as I am an American and I am free.

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

AH CHOO!!

I've always had a little trouble with what was called "spring fever," when the pollen counts were up and I'd be out but not a real problem until the last few years when my doctor told me it was allergies that was causing my constant sneezing, coughing, runny nose, watery eyes thing. 

 WHAT?  I'm to old to be suffering from allergies.  I thought that was for the younger crowd.  Wrong.  Anyway now I have Asthma associated with the allergies so there are days when I am miserable and even worse trying to sleep.

I have an inhaler and wear a mask when I'm working outside.  I hate the mask and am now called "The Masked Bandit of the Neighborhood."  But it does help so I put the silly thing on.  I wear it when I'm out with the trimmer, or riding on the mower and sometimes just when I'm out messing around and the pollen count is so high.

I can really sympathize with allergy suffers now as I am also one of them.  But to me, it seems there are more and more these days.  Maybe it is just that there are more people around and so it is more noticeable.

Kind of like food allergies.  Used to be no one heard of anyone really being allergic to any foods, but then we used to grow our own and our grandmothers and mothers prepared it in their own kitchens without all the additivies that are in our prepared foods we buy at the grocery store.

And with the pesticides which are used and they are regardless of what the law says about using them.  If they didn't, the crops would be eaten alive by the pests. 

Another thing is that most of our fresh vegetables and some of our fruit isn't even grown in our country and allowed to grow in foreign countries with no control over pesticide use or for that matter, control over the sanitary growing conditions.

If I buy anything from the grocery store, I make sure I wash it thoroughly as I have no idea where it came from or the conditions for which it was grown.  I prefer to buy locally from growers that I know so I feel safer.  My husband loved to garden and we used to have a garden to grow our own, but I'm not a gardener so I have to rely on buying either prepared canned or frozen or buy from a country market if I can find one.

And we have so many different fibers in our homes and clothes.  I'm sure there are many things in the fabrics that can cause allergies.  It used to be that we only had cotton or cotton blends but even now some of them can cause allergic reactions.

Spring, Summer and Fall.  The best seasons to get outside and enjoy ourselves and yet the worst time of the year for allergy sufferers.  Seems only Winter is allergy free unless you are allergic to the wood burning in the fireplace or foods.

I guess it is just another one of those things we have in our daily lives that we have to compensate for.  We take our meds and use inhalers but we aren't going to give up what we enjoy even though we know we will suffer later.   Ah Choo!

Monday, September 20, 2010

Chitlins to Caviar

When I struggled to find a title to my latest book, I wanted something that would reflect two completely different life styles.  It suddenly came to me that the young lady in this story lives a simple life with little fluff or glamour, until she is catapulted into a new life style, one that allows her travel to all the places she has dreamed about, giving her the things she always wanted, a life of style, glamour and notoriety.

Chitlins, a slang of Chiterlings is a common staple among rural families who often make their own Chitlins, a snack similiar to those we often buy in the grocery store.  Chitlins are made from the belly of a pig and would be considered in the same food category as pork rinds or some chips.

Caviar, of course is the eggs from fish, served as an appetizer for the elite who think eating Caviar is the epitome of class and style.

To be honest, I've never eaten either one and really don't care too but if that is someone's taste, then who am I to say anything against it. 

Chitlins to Caviar

     Martha Rose dreamed that one day she would have the fine home and exquisite dresses of the beautiful women she saw on the movie screen or in the magazines.  Living on a farm, her attire most of the time were denim jeans and a plaid shirt and of course being barefoot as she ran through the tall grasses or waded in the streams.  Lazing by the side of a creek waiting for the fish to bite were her times when she could look up in the sky and dream of the day when she would have everything she ever wanted.
     Martha Rose had a talent that was discovered by accident.  If it was from all the photos and movie scenes she had seen, she didn't know but she had a fashion sense and when a friend of her brother discovers this talent, she helps Martha Rose go to school and also helps her find a position in the fashion industry as a designer for a well known Paris fashion salon.
     Martha Rose studies and learns but she also has her own style that she would like to show.  And by working with a French designer, the thrill of a lifetime is presented as she goes to Paris and her designs are in demand.
     But there are problems in her personal life.  She met Richard, a friend of her brother and slowly she falls in love with him thinking that he could never care for her.  Then there is Gerard, the designer who is in love with Martha Rose and could give her everything she ever wanted and more.
     As Gerard puts pressure on her, Martha Rose leaves the salon, going back to her small home town, not facing defeat but a new determination.  She can start all over on her own and with that determination, she discovers that Richard wants to be a part of her life.
     Martha Rose embarks on her new adventure with enthusiasm and love but can she transform herself from the poor country girl who loves Chitlins to the successful designer with Caviar taste?


A delightful story that makes you want to cry and laugh but most of all, you want to be there to help Martha Rose and encourage her as she faces the fashion world and the disappointments and the joys as she discovers what she really wants and what is really important in her life.

For more information about Chitlins to Caviar visit my website at www.writer43.webs.com

Monday

Monday:  The first day of the week.  The day that many go back to work after a weekend of relaxing, or go back to school.

But what about Monday?  It can either be a good day or a bad day.

For the good day.  You are refreshed after a nice weekend, and you are bright and ready to hit the books or get to work.  You grab that first cup of coffee at your place of employment, greet your fellow employees and even share what you did over the weekend.

It is the beginning of a new week with new projects and even if it was hard getting out of bed and getting started, once you have, then you are ready and raring to go.  You have the ambition to tackle that new project or learning project and you are anxious to get it done before the end of the day.  There is something about starting off on a good Monday morning that helps you get motivated and stay motivated for the remainder of the week.

But what about the bad day.  It was hard to get up and get going, perhaps because you knew you had an unfinished project that you would be facing at work, or a hard test at school.  You might have overslept as you overdid on the weekend and still feel tired and sluggish.

But the worst part about a bad Monday is trying to find a solution or fix a problem that occured on Friday or over the weekend.   Car trouble, plumbing problems, appliance failures or any one of a number of things that seems like if they could go wrong, they do go wrong.

Then it is a constant race to try to do your work, fix the problem and hope that by the end of the day, you can go home with an easy mind.  If not, then your Monday goes on and on until the problem is fixed. 

So Monday is probably the most important day of the week.  It is the day that gets us started for what the rest of the week will be.  Sometimes we can control how it starts and other times we can't, but either way, it is always a Monday that seems to be the busiest and the most worriesome of all the days of the week.

I wonder if we traded Monday for a Wednesday if it would be better.  I doubt it as it seems Monday is the day that we have to face one way or the other and I hope that all the Mondays can be good days.

Saturday, September 18, 2010

The Scoop

The title of my novel The Scoop, pretty much tells all.  I got my inspiration from two local TV reporters.  One I had seen from the time she started with the station to becoming an anchorwoman today.  She worked hard to move up the ranks and is a good reporter.  The other was a young man who came to our local market and I just enjoyed watching him.  He had a sense of humor and it reflected in his reporting so it gave him a distinction of being a professional and yet he could make a story interesting if not amusing.

The story kind of evolved as I took those two people and tried to give them a new life in my story.  I have to admit that even I was surprised at the ending.  I wrote the story and it paralleled a lot of what is going on in the world today, only I might have emphasized it a little more to make it more interesting.  But then I got to the point that I did not know what was going to happen.

I sat there looking at the screen, after re-reading what I had previously written and then I decided to just start typing and see where the muse would take me.  I often do this and sometimes it works and other times I erase the whole thing and start all over.  But this time, my characters actually took over and finished the story for me.  I let the muse guide them and later when it was finished, I marvelled at what the imagination can do when put to the test.

I consider The Scoop to be one of my best novels and another favorite like The Lewis House Saga.  It gave me an opportunity to put into words a story with substance that grabs the reader and makes them want to keep reading until the end.

I was fortunate that I had some knowledge of the newspaper field as well as the television field as I have a dear friend who is a publisher of a small town newspaper and I became friends with his editor when I first started publishing my books.  And my oldest daughter worked in the television field for a number of years, behind the camera in the control room or even running a camers if needed.  She had some producer experience as well.
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The Scoop

     Maggie Madill was given a raw deal by the newspaper she worked for as a stranger, Jeffery Coleman, comes to town and charms his way into her position.  But his charm doesn't work on Maggie and it is the beginning of a cat and mouse game as Maggie makes up her mind that she will show Jeffery that she can hold her own.
     As a scandal hits Brownsville, the two reporters vie for the information to beat out the other for the headlines.  It is during the trial, that they both hear something in the testimony that puts them on the trail to get more information.  When the prosecutors neglect to follow up, Maggie strikes out on her own as does Jeffery.
     But as Maggie digs and gets closer to the truth, the threats on her life and that of her daughter become serious.  She gets the chance to work for the local television station where she meets David McCoy.  A relationship soon develops until she discovers that David is under cover for the FBI and feels he is restricting her investigation.
     Even when the new prosecutor is shot at, Maggie suspects there was more to it.  She is shocked to find out that he is also an undercover agent.  But when she along with her camera crew are returning from another trial and are run off the road.  Maggie is scared, but more so, because she now knows who is behind it all.
    The race is on to uncover the unknown leader behind all the corruption and when Maggie has her proof, she goes on the air with the breaking news, beating out Jeffery for the Scoop.

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In this day and age with television ready at a minute's notice to bring us breaking news, the newspaper is behind the times.  In this story, it shows how when it is important, the television is our first source of news, while we have to wait until the next day to read the headlines in the newspaper. 

We have relied on our newspapers for years to bring us the headlines of breaking news or what is happening in our communities but with progress, it is now becoming a dinosaur and soon will be a thing of the past.  Not only television, but the internet as well can provide us with information of what is happening around the world or in our own locale.  We are informed of community events and celebrations much faster than waiting for the newspaper to be delivered to our door.

It is a shame to see the demise of an important part of our lives, as it also takes away something else.  The reporters who find the words to write their stories, to give us a vivid picture in words only, will also be a part of history.  It is the last vestige of our communications via the written word and one day it will be gone forever.

For more information about The Scoop, visit my website at www.writer43.webs.com