Saturday 9: Up the Ladder to the Roof

 
Good afternoon, Saturday friends! It's after 4:30 PM, and I am so tired. I've just woken up from my second nap! Still sick from this Terrible Ick. I hope some or all of you have managed to hold out thus far and stay healthy. At the very least, knowing what's going on with our country within our own borders right now, I wish you well. 

It looks like today we'll be talking about this song from none other than the Supremes! I've always loved them, especially of course Diana Ross, but it's her daughter Tracee Ellis Ross I'm obsessed with the most. So we'll see if she comes up on the questionairre.

If you're playing, make sure you're linked up here, and now let's all have a go:

Saturday 9: Up the Ladder to the Roof (1970)
Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.

1) Many people are uncomfortable with ladders. Some feel unsteady on the steps, others have a fear of heights. Then there's the superstition that warns against walking under ladders. Are you afraid of ladders?

I'm not afraid of a stepladder. I'm not afraid of walking under a regular ladder. I'd climb a normal ladder, but with all my health issues and also my meds, I am often shaky and have tremors, so that is not a good match.

 

2) In this song, the Supremes advise us to go up the ladder to the roof to be closer to Heaven. While poetic, that's not really why most homeowners climb onto the roof. They're more likely replacing shingles or cleaning the gutters. Have you ever been on the roof of your building?

No. We moved into our home here in Maryland pretty much the day it was "finished" in 2021, so there's been no need for going on the roof for doing any repairs yet. Hopefully not for a while, unless we're fortunate enough to add solar. Also, unless one of those rascally kids of ours has been on the roof on the sly!

As for this picture I took in November 2019, that was the roof of our neighbor in Podunk, Idaho, in the middle of a mountainous area. We in that neighborhood were often visited by some un-owned, what you might consider feral, peafowl, and they enjoyed sitting on the roof of that particular neighbor. Especially early in the morning. And if you didn't already know that peafowl are loud, I'm here to tell you.

 

3) The record was the Supremes first and biggest hit without Diana Ross. When Jean Terrell replaced Diana as lead singer, the two ladies appeared together at a press event to launch this new iteration of the Supremes. Have you ever met your replacement at a job, or perhaps the person you replaced?

I don't think I have.

 

4) Mary Wilson was a member of the group when it was formed in 1959 and stayed through 1977, when the Supremes officially disbanded. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average American stays at a job 3.9 years. Looking over your job history, how long did you typically stick with an employer?

That statistic seems about right on average for me, too, or maybe over until I became a stay-at-home mom in 2001. And then I became permanently sick and then disabled, so I have not been able to return to the workforce, even online from home. 

The one exception is mystery shopping, which I did heavily, working up the ranks and becoming frequently requested for the big jobs (while still taking the menial ones if I wanted/needed), starting in Virginia Beach in 2006 when the kids were really still quite small. I did up to ten per day sometimes. I still shopped frequently in Miami until my health got the throat punch, but then I continued here and there. I did some in Idaho even still, and I have even done some here. So raise your glass to 20 years of mystery shopping despite more than  that number of "major disease processes," I have, according to the anesthesiologist on a recent procedure I had, haha.

 5) The third Supreme performing on this record was Cindy Birdsong. After the group broke up for good, Cindy finished nursing school and practiced at UCLA Medical Center. When did you last interact with a nurse or nurse practitioner? 

It should've been Thursday, but I missed that appointment because nobody felt the need to inform me that my provider had moved to a new location. I went to the old one, of course, and wouldn't have had time to make it to the new. Shockingly, for me, I think it's been since December 18th since I last saw a nurse. And I do have an appointment with an NP, my endocrinologist who deals with my hypoglycemia, hypothyroidism, and a third important thing I can never remember, this coming Tuesday.

6) In 1970, when this song was popular, TV shows about doctors like Marcus Welby, MD and Medical Center ranked high in the Nielsen ratings. Medical shows are still popular today, with Grey's Anatomy entering its 22nd season and The Pitt earning critical accolades. Do you have a favorite TV doctor?

I've watched a lot of medical dramas, but when ER started the same semester I started college, I was hooked. I hated the semester I had a science lab on Thursday nights and had no way to record the show! Noah Wyle's Dr. John Carter was my favorite on the show, and he seems like a massively decent human in real life, too. I'm pinning the medal on him.

 7) Also in 1970, when this song was popular, audiences were lining up to see the movie Love Story. Without looking it up, complete the film's most famous line:  "Love means _______________." 

I have no idea. Is it one word or more? I don't know if this is right or is absolutely bananas, but I'm going to go with, "Love means never having to say you're sorry." I'm still not going to look it up, either! I'll just discover the correct answer on someone else's entry. We all know that's a bullshit idea, though, right, what I wrote? Of course you must. Especially to your loved ones.

 

8) Slumberchums™ were all the rage among pre-teens in 1970. These sleeping bags had attached pillow "heads" that made it look like you slipping into sleep inside a plush bear. When did you most recently sleep in a sleeping bag?

I found Slumberkins online, to see the ones from the question, but these appear to be an entirely different thing.

We went camping at Craters of the Moon National Monument in Idaho in October, 2019. I've spent at least the last hour going through photos from that trip (like the one above, where our late son Jack was hilariously pushing Chloë around on the camp's reclined tricycle) to try and answer the question about whether we used them then. I've asked my husband, the coordinator and Chief Camper for that trip. After exhausting my search, I still don't don't know whether we used sleeping bags! C'est la vie.

 

9) Random question: Did you take a multivitamin this morning? If yes, did you swallow it or chew it?

I'm not currently taking any vitamins or minerals. I am deficient in a few things, so I'm supposed to be! But I'm already housing a small arsenal of prescription meds, which I much take every day, along with some "prescribed daily" OTCs, along with RX and/or OTC as-needed meds, so my multivitamin just isn't in the budget right now. Along with some of my scripts, actually. I talked to my therapist about it recently, and she gave me some people to call about it. Assuming the Right Coast world isn't buried under snow and ice, I guess I'll start doing that Monday!

Well, stay warm, folks. I like seeing all your names up there on the link-up, and I don't want to lose anyone to some monster storm. Capisce? Get out your sleeping bags if you need them!

xoxo, M